Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Romance Dawn ” was Law’s guilty pleasure. 

It was a serialised adventure-romance with some fantasy elements. The novels were primarily aimed at teenagers, although Romance Dawn had gained a large audience among the older generations as well. “For the young at heart”, as Shachi said. Law still blamed him for getting him hooked.

Law didn’t even care about romance, not in fiction and not in his own life. He was happy just going to work and seeing his friends, even if he was getting to an age where his friends started to have their own families and lives very separate from him. 

He had picked up the first volume of Romance Dawn while waiting for Shachi and Penguin to get ready for a night out. The volume had been lying out on the coffee table in Shachi’s living room and Law had picked it up out of sheer boredom.

Now, he was on the 31st volume while on the bus to work.

It wasn’t great literature. It wasn’t even good literature, by any stretch of the word, but Law found it entertaining. The protagonist was very different from what he would have expected from a series like this. Instead of a naive, but intelligent and beautiful heroine, it was a stubborn young man who took offence to the epithet “hero”. Monkey D. Luffy was a character all his own, and while Law seldom agreed with his decisions, seeing him make them was compelling enough to keep him reading.

The actual romance was a pretty standard harem-type plot. There was an array of female characters Luffy formed connections with over the course of his adventures, but even after 31 volumes, Law had no idea who was meant to be the endgame romance. The beautiful but arrogant Boa Hancock was a fan favourite, according to Shachi, but Law’s personal favourite was the mysterious Robin. Not that he would admit out loud.

The 31st volume ended on a cliffhanger, as usual. Law sighed as he closed the book. He would have to pre-order the next one. He just wished the story took itself more seriously, rather than flutter off into flowery romance tropes every five pages.

“Shit!” someone yelled, and Law’s heart went cold when he realised it was the bus driver. The bus swerved to the side, and Law barely had time to react before there was a loud crash and blinding pain…

And then nothing more.

“Doctor!”

Law slowly woke up, blinking his eyes open to see a wooden roof. He looked up in confusion. He would have expected a hospital, not whatever this place was.

He looked around, and there was… a bear.

A white, real, actual bear!

Law screamed, hurrying backward on the bed in panic. 

“I’m sorry,” the bear said.

The.

Bear.

Said.

Law stared at it. It was backing off, head hanging as if in shame. It was dressed in rags, Law realised. A white bear dressed in rags. It rang a bell.

“Bepo?” he asked, and the bear immediately looked up again, and fell on its knees.

“I’m here, doctor,” the bear said. “How can I help?”

Okay, he was dreaming. And for some reason, in his dream, he was the doctor in Romance Dawn. The weird side character that popped up every now and again when the main character got injured. The strange doctor with the white skin patches and the talking bear companion. He was an ass, but Shachi and Penguin always found him funny, mostly because he and Law shared a name. The main character called him Torao, for some reason that was never quite made clear.

“Sorry for yelling,” Law said. “You surprised me, that's all.”

“It’s my fault. I’m sorry,” Bepo said immediately, and Law frowned. That was the reason Law didn’t like this character. He treated his companion terribly. He wasn’t physically abusive, at least not in the narrative, but the things he said, the flippant way he treated him, like the bear was a pet rather than an intelligent being… Law hated it. He himself may not have been the most considerate friend, but even he could see the doctor was a douchebag.

“Are you alright, doctor?” Bepo asked uncertainly when he didn’t say anything. “You suddenly collapsed. Are you ill?”

Suddenly collapsed, huh? Law didn’t remember that happening in any of the books. Maybe his dream was providing a convenient way for him to suddenly be the doctor. “I don’t think so,” Law said. “Maybe-”

There was a loud knock on the door. 

“Excuse me, doctor,” Bepo said, then hurried out of the room, towards the sound. Law sighed, and got on his feet. He felt fine. A little disoriented, but fine.

He looked around the room. Everything was so clear, clearer than any dream he’d ever had, even his nightmares. There was a small hand mirror by the desk, and Law took it to look at himself. He was surprised to find he looked basically like he usually did, same hair colour, same eyes, same nose. His haircut was different, more appropriate for the setting, and he had the doctor’s white patches on his skin, but otherwise, he was basically the same. A little thinner, maybe. And no tattoos. His hands looked strange without them.

He heard raised voices from the other room.

“Like I said, the doctor is unwell, please…”

“We need help! He’s hurt badly,” another was shouting. “Please!”

“Let them in, Bepo,” Law said loudly, walking over towards the door. He was unsurprised to find a green-haired man carrying a very familiar young man over the threshold as Bepo stepped aside. He had seen that round face and red vest on 31 different book covers, and would have recognised him anywhere, even if he did seem a bit smaller in person.

He recognised the wound, too. The X-shaped sword wound that would appear as a scar on every cover after the 10th volume. It was the first time the doctor had been introduced in the narrative, but not the first time the characters had met him.

Law sighed, and got to work.

He had often complained about the author's lack of any medical knowledge in Romance Dawn , sometimes making the doctor do very stupid stuff that would endanger or kill his patients, so Law wasn’t too worried about screwing up the operation, despite the lack of modern surgical equipment.

The wound looked worse than it was. It would leave a big scar but there wasn’t any major damage to his organs. That was a blessing at least, since he wouldn’t have been able to do much with the limited tools at his disposal. Mostly all he could do was stop the bleeding, clean the wounds and sew him up. The needle was bigger than he would have liked, and the thread was coarser. There was a large risk of infection, but he had no alternatives.

When he was done, he sat down in the kitchen, and Bepo made him tea unprompted.

“Thank you,” Law told him as he sat the cup down in front of him. He wished this world had coffee.

“You’re welcome,” Bepo said happily, and Zoro gave Law a weird look. Right, in this scene in the book, the doctor had yelled at Bepo about the tea not being brewed right. Zoro had met him before, and probably expected an outburst. Law took a sip. It was fine, definitely better than the usual tea Law drank at home. The doctor must have had a bad day, or a screw loose. 

“You should go rest, doctor,” Bepo said carefully after tea. “Don’t worry, I’ll watch over him.”

Law frowned. “When was the last time you slept, Bepo?”

“Um, yesterday,” Bepo said. “I’m sorry.”

“Go to sleep,” Law told him. “I’ve rested enough, I’ll keep watch.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Bepo said, and hurried away. Law sighed, and moved to check on his patient. No change so far. If he remembered correctly, Luffy should wake up around dawn, just in time for one of the love interests, his friend Nami, to run through the door. Romance Dawn, indeed.

“Did you and the bear…work things out?” Zoro asked, and Law snorted.

“That’s one way to put it,” he said. “But I suppose we did, yes. Or something like it.”

“Good,” Zoro nodded, then leaned back with his arms behind his head, ready to sleep. Law knew better than to offer him a bed. Zoro would sleep anywhere, at any time, as long as there wasn’t a fight, but rarely if ever in an actual bed. It was a running gag already at this point in the story, and only got more absurd from here.

Law made himself another pot of tea, less skillfully than Bepo, then continued his watch. He idly thought this dream had gone on for quite a while already. 

A movement from the bed brought him back from his thoughts. Luffy blinked awake, several hours early. Law wondered if that made him a better or worse doctor than his counterpart.

“Torao?” Luffy asked.

Right, the weird nickname.

“Zoro brought you to me,” Law nodded. “You should keep resting. Don’t move around or your wound might reopen, and I don’t want to stitch you up again.”

Luffy frowned. “You seem different.”

“I’m in a good mood,” Law said, which wasn’t entirely true, but hey, he was talking to the main character of a series he kinda enjoyed reading. Dream or not, it was pretty entertaining.

Luffy gave him a wide grin. His smile had been described as “brightening up the room”, and as cliche as the phrase was, Law had to concede that it was a fitting description for Luffy. 

“I think I like the good-mood-you,” Luffy said.  Law rolled his eyes.

“I’ve spoken about four sentences. Be a bit more discerning with who you like,” Law said, but he knew it would fall on deaf ears. Half the conflicts in the books resulted from Luffy deciding that he liked someone, with few or no reasons given.

Luffy laughed again. “Ow,” he said, making a face. “That kinda hurts.”

“That’s what happens when you get your torso sliced open.” Law said dryly. “It’s going to take a while to heal, but I promise it will heal faster if you rest.”

“Alright, Torao,” Luffy smiled, closing his eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Law didn’t promise. After all, he expected to wake up any moment now.

As expected, a young red-headed woman burst through the door the following morning, and as he had not expected, Law was still there to witness it.

Nami was a fan-favourite for several reasons. Her beautiful appearance, her spunky personality, her heartbreaking backstory…it all served to make her a popular choice for Luffy’s endgame romance. Law doubted it. Nami and Luffy had known each other since the first book, but despite the copious amount of romantic situations they had found themselves in, nothing had happened. It was pretty clear they didn’t see each other like that. Though that could change, he supposed.

“Where’s Luffy?” she demanded, and Law wordlessly pointed to the bed, where Luffy was snoring loudly. He expected her to head over to him and wake him up, but she didn’t. Instead she sank down by the table, shoulders slumping in relief. Law tried to figure out why her reaction was different from the novel, then realised it must have been the loud snoring, or Law keeping watch instead of Bepo.

“How is he?” she asked as Law filled a teacup for her and pushed it in her direction.

“The lacerations into his torso were pretty deep, but missed his vital organs. He also lost a lot of blood,” Law said. “He still has a long recovery ahead of him, but barring complications or infections he will recover.”

“Good,” she said. “How much do we owe you?”

Law blinked. Right, he was charging directly for this. He tried to remember how much it had been in the book, but all he could remember was “an arm and a leg”, which wasn’t helpful.

Nami studied him carefully. “We’re good for it,” she said. “I know your usual fees. We can pay, but if you could give us just a little discount…”

Law raised his eyebrows. Most fans liked Nami, but some really didn’t. Usually because she was greedy as hell.

She seemed to take his expression as a negotiating tactic. “I’m not trying to place a monetary value on Luffy’s life, of course. That can’t be measured. But surely-”

“I’ll tell you what,” Law interrupted her. “You pay for and provide all the food he’s going to eat while he stays here to recover, and I’ll take 50% off your treatment fee.”

Nami looked surprised, then frowned. “Luffy eats quite a lot. Make that 75%, and we have a deal.”

“75%, and you make sure there is enough food for me and Bepo as well,” Law said, holding out his hand. The lack of tattoos still bothered him. “Deal?”

“Deal,” Nami smiled. She probably just fleeced him, but Law didn’t particularly care. In all likelihood, she would make Sanji cook, and Law had read enough full-page descriptions of his food to want to try it himself.

Bepo stumbled into the room just a little while later, looking panicked.

“I’m sorry, doctor, I overslept,” Bepo said. “I’ll get started on your breakfast immediately.”

“It’s fine, Bepo, this lovely young woman has promised to provide all meals for the duration of Straw Hat’s stay,” Law said, smirking when Nami made a face at him. “Though it might take her a while, so eat if you’re hungry. I don’t need anything yet.”

“Oh,” Bepo said. “But, doctor, you haven’t eaten all night…”

Law got up from his seat and clapped Bepo’s arm as he passed him. He looked a little scared, but didn’t flinch. That was good at least.

“I’ll be fine, Bepo,” Law told him. “I’m going to check on the patient, and then go to sleep. Wake me up if there are any changes.”

“Of course, doctor,” Bepo said, and he sounded so happy . Law frowned at him. He was so fucking cute. Law wanted to hug him and press his face into his fur, but they would probably call a doctor for him if he did.

He turned towards Luffy instead and put a hand on his shoulder to wake him. Luffy blinked drowsily up at him. He was pretty cute as well, but in an entirely different way. It came with the job as a protagonist, Law supposed. Not many people could look cute on a sickbed after getting sliced open and losing that much blood.

“Oh. Hi, Torao,” Luffy said, yawning widely with no attempt to cover his mouth. “Good morning.”

“I need to check your wounds again,” Law said. “Are you feeling any pain or discomfort apart from the wound itself?”

Luffy frowned. “My throat is a bit dry.”

“That’s because you were snoring with your mouth wide open,” Law rolled his eyes. “I’ll get you some water in a bit. Now hold still.”

Luffy was doing as well as could be expected, if not a little better. He was healing faster than Law would have anticipated in the real world, but from what he remembered from the novel, it seemed par for the course. Law used to be so irritated about it. He still was, a little, but considering the primitive conditions he was working in, he’d take whatever he could get to to stave off infection. Even if "plot armour" was a terrible recovery plan.

“Are you still in a good mood?” Luffy asked, tilting his head to the side. It took Law a moment to remember what he was talking about.

“I suppose,” Law said dismissively. “You’re healing well, but you need to remain in bed for today.” Luffy gave him a disgruntled look, and Law scowled at him. “Don’t give me that face, it’s for your own good. If you get up and drop all your guts on the floor I’m not picking them back up for you.”

Luffy looked surprised for a moment, then laughed. “Okay, Torao.”

Law narrowed his eyes. “I can tell you don’t mean that. I will tie you to this bed if I have to,” he said, and Luffy just laughed harder. Law gave up. At least he was the protagonist, so he probably wouldn’t die. 

Probably.

After getting a few hours of sleep, Law thought more about his situation. He tried pinching himself again, but it didn’t work. Whether this was a hallucination or a coma dream or whatever, it didn’t seem like he was going to wake up any time soon. Not to mention, everything still seemed so real. Things looked real. Felt real. Smelled real. He even had dreams while sleeping. 

Law sighed as he sat down on the porch, looking around the garden. He had a well-tended little medicinal garden outside his house, and he recognised most of the plants. The house was located some ways away from the village, which was on the outskirts of Goa Kingdom, where most of the plot took place. 

Right, the plot. Of the novel he was living in. Absurd as it seemed, it was his reality now. Or reality as far as he could perceive it. So why was he here?

Law vaguely recalled reading a comic like this when he was a kid, where the protagonist got sucked into a fictional world, and into a fictional character. “Transmigration,” he believed it was called. That protagonist had been forced to play the role he’d been given in order to let the story play out as intended, and had been unable to act “out of character” the beginning of the story, being severely punished when he did.

Law was already acting out of character for the Old Doctor, but no one had appeared to punish him or give him any sort of instructions. If he really had “transmigrated”, it seemed he was on his own. So why?

Maybe he was supposed to see the story to its conclusion. Maybe whatever deity existed had taken pity on him in the traffic accident, and decided to fulfil his wish to know what happened next in Romance Dawn. 

Or maybe he was in a coma and his mind was just playing tricks on him.

Law buried his head in his hands, trying to think. He knew how the story should play out, at least as far as the rebellion against the king. The last book had ended before that story concluded, but Law could pretty safely assume Luffy would win. And possibly marry the princess, but who knew? There were so many girls he could end up with at this point. 

Law had a brief thought that maybe he was supposed to make sure he ended up with the right one, but he quickly dismissed it. He had never much cared for the ridiculous romance plot. Sure, he had a favourite, but it was more because he liked her character than any particular desire to see her end up with Luffy. 

He could shepard the plot in general, at least. That seemed the most logical conclusion. Maybe he would be returned to his world when the story finished. Or pass on to the afterlife, if he had died in that bus.

Unless this was the afterlife?

Law pushed the thought away. It certainly didn't seem like heaven or hell, just a different world. A world in which there were talking animals.

He watched Bepo rummage around the garden and wondered just how this was his life. A talking polar bear was watering plants in front of him. He even wore a hat to block the sun. It was absurd. Cute, but absurd.

Romance Dawn didn’t have a lot of magical elements, but it had some. There were strange potions that could cause plot shenanigans, usually of the romantic variety. There were talking animals, though there were only two named ones. A few of the plotlines had curses that followed families through generations. There weren’t wizards running around shooting fireballs, but there were hints that there had been, generations ago. There was a whole side plot with Nico Robin investigating that.

For his part, it seemed Law was stuck with a primitive clinic and a herbal garden. Law frowned. If he was going to stay here and keep treating Luffy’s inevitable injuries, he should get himself a better setup. With his own knowledge and the little magic available, maybe he could improvise some more modern medical equipment. 

And he should probably read the books on traditional medicine that were lying around the house. Law had never been big on traditional medicine. He liked science and cold, hard, provable facts, but this world had different rules. He couldn’t just dismiss the traditional techniques, since they apparently worked for the old doctor.

…he still wasn’t going to do anything that his years in medical school told him could be directly harmful, though. Regardless of what the narrative said.

Sanji turned up a few hours later, using Zoro as a packhorse for food. Law stayed out of their way as Sanji took over the kitchen, only checking in on Luffy a couple of times. Luffy had mostly followed his advice and stayed in bed, apart from one incident where Nami had dragged him back to it. Law supposed, in terms of romantic plot, that probably worked to replace the scene he had inadvertently stolen from them that morning.

The food was much as the novel had described. Law stayed away from the bread, but everything else was delicious, and in line with the recommendations he had given for Luffy’s diet.

After eating dinner, Law sat down in his, or rather the old doctor’s, study to make a plan. He found a mostly empty journal, a pen and a half-filled bottle of ink. He read through the first few pages, finding a list of names, dates and different sums of money. For a horrible moment he thought he might be in debt, then he realised these were people owing him money. Rather large amounts, too, if he remembered the currency correctly. Probably medical debt. He flipped past the pages, figuring he could ask Bepo about it later.

He opened a blank page, and dipped the pen into the ink. He had never used running ink before, and practically destroyed the page with ink blots and messy scribbles he could hardly call writing, but it still served its purpose.

He was trying to remember where the plot went from here.

Luffy was in his care because he got injured saving a young woman from bandits. After taking Luffy to his friends, the woman mysteriously disappeared. After some minor plots, she would be revealed as a young noblewoman investigating a conspiracy against her family. Luffy teamed up with his brother Ace to resolve that. Afterwards, it would turn out the conspiracy had ties to the king himself, and Ace got arrested. Luffy failed to save him and sustained serious injuries in the battle. When he had healed, he would train for a while, aided by another noblewomen with only female servants, and the plot got further complicated, eventually leading to outright rebellion against the king, spearheaded by Luffy.

Sprinkle in a copious amount of romantic scenes with the female characters in between.

Looking at the messy timeline he’d created, his services as doctor shouldn’t be needed for a while after Luffy recovered  this time. It should give him plenty of time to settle into the world, learn how things worked, and improve his clinic.

Then again, it wasn’t like the novels had shown every single event. Who knew what would happen between the lines, or within a “a few weeks later”. Besides, Luffy wasn’t his only patient.

The doctor lived a little outside the village proper, far enough for solitude, but not so far he couldn’t be easily visited by patients. The village wasn’t big enough for him to be particularly busy, but Law got his first normal patient only a few hours later.

It was an old man on behalf of his sick wife. Listening to him describe the symptoms, Law grabbed a few things that would likely help, but he was damned if he prescribed even mild medicine to a patient without examining them himself first, so he offered to make a home visit.

“Bepo, you’re in charge here,” Law told the bear as he headed out the door. “If Straw Hat tries to leave the bed, you have my permission to tie him down.”

“Oh. Of course, Doctor,” Bepo said. He looked very proud to be left in charge. Law gave him a small smile, and followed the old man home.

One home visit turned to two, turned to five, turned to seven, once the villagers realised he was in town and willing to see patients. He got a few weird looks with his examination techniques and treatment plans, but at least he was able to provide some help to the majority of them, if not as much as he would have liked to. It was frustrating, knowing exactly what medicine would help, but not having access to it.

By the time he was heading home, it was already pretty dark. He had borrowed a lantern from one of the villagers, but he was lucky there was a pretty well travelled path up to his house, or he would probably have gotten lost on the way.

The house was quiet when he arrived, with various Straw Hats asleep in random places on the floor. They had their own house in the village but had apparently opted to stay near Luffy anyway.

Speaking of Luffy, he seemed to be the only one awake. And eating leftovers in the kitchen rather than resting in his bed like Law had ordered. He didn’t even notice Law at first, too caught up in the food.

Law cleared his throat, and Luffy jumped a bit.

“Torao! You’re back!” he said, actually sounding happy to see him for a moment before his expression turned sheepish. “I can explain.”

“Let me guess; you got hungry so you decided to disregard my direct orders as your doctor,” Law scowled.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Luffy nodded. 

“Get back to bed,” Law growled. “Now!”

“Can I bring this?” Luffy pointed at the chicken leg he had been eating.

“No,” Law said, pushing him in the direction of the bed. He wasn’t actually that forceful, still mindful of Luffy’s injuries, but Luffy let himself be led back without protest. Once he was sitting on the bed, Law took the opportunity to give him a quick examination, clean the wounds and change the bandages. There were no signs of infection, but one of the wounds had started bleeding again. It wasn’t serious, but Law still gave Luffy a glare.

“See? This is why you should do as I tell you,” he said. “Now it will take longer for you to heal.”

Luffy just pouted at him.

Bepo came in as Law was putting on fresh bandages.

“Doctor! You’re back!” he said, then seemed to deflate, looking at Law and Luffy and the half eaten chicken leg still in Luffy’s hand. “Was he… was he wandering around?”

“He was,” Law confirmed.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I thought he was asleep, I swear. I just needed to go out for a bit to-”

“Bepo,” Law interrupted him. “I’m not mad at you. This guy is an idiot, that isn’t your fault.”

Bepo was quiet, and when Law turned towards him he looked like he was going to cry. Law’s heart was breaking a bit for him.

“Go to sleep, Bepo,” Law told him gently. “I’ll go soon as well.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Bepo said quietly, then walked away. Law frowned, suddenly realising he wasn’t sure where Bepo actually slept. Something to investigate in the morning, he supposed.

When he looked back towards his patient, Luffy was grinning at him.

“What?” Law asked.

“You’re a good guy, good-mood Torao,” he said. “The bear looks happier.”

“The bear has a name,” Law scolded him. He finished bandaging him up and gently pushed him down on the bed. “Now, fucking stay there for the rest of the night. I’m going to go to sleep, and if you injure yourself during the night and someone tries to wake me up, I will cut your legs off.”

Luffy laughed. “Alright, I’ll sleep. Sweet dreams, Torao.”

Law snorted, but didn’t answer. What a strange thing to say to someone stuck in a dream they couldn’t wake up from.

After Luffy recovered, Law spent a lot of time, and the old doctor's entire savings, commissioning the village's blacksmiths, goldsmiths, glassblowers, leather workers and pottery makers with anything he could think of for a better setup. He even ventured into the city on several day-trips to find skilled artisans and check in on the clinics that were established there. He wasn’t too impressed with what he saw, but he decided not to make a fuss. Not yet anyway. No one would listen to him if he couldn’t prove his methods worked. 

But first he needed to establish a way to make those methods work in this environment, which was easier said than done. He spent a ridiculous amount of money on an “alchemy” sets, but it was the closest he could get to an actual lab.

Then he figured it was time to “discover” penicillin.

He was glad he had spent so much time reading about the history of medicine. While many of the old methods frankly did more harm than good, at least he had a decent grasp of what he could use to replace the sterile plastics and stainless steels he was used to. 

His biggest problem right now was blood transfusions. Historically, he knew they had been done, with varying success, for centuries, but they didn’t seem common in this world. He would have to come up with his own design and commission the parts he needed.

He was trying to figure out a way to do it when Luffy reappeared.

“Hey, Torao! What are you up to?” Luffy asked. Law looked him over. He didn’t remember him getting injured again so soon, and he looked fine as far as Law could see. 

He frowned. “Did you stub your toe or something? Why are you here?”

Luffy laughed. “Nah, just came to check in on you. Everyone in the village says you’ve lost your mind.”

“My mind is fine,” Law scowled, although he was living in a fictional world, so maybe that wasn’t actually true. “I’m just working on something.”

“You’ve been buying a lot of weird stuff,” Luffy said. “People are getting worried.”

Law sighed deeply. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how close are they to gathering their pitchforks and burning me as a witch?”

“Maybe a 4?” Luffy said. “You haven’t done anything to anyone, so it’s fine. So what are you doing?”

“Trying to improve my clinic,” Law said. “I want to be prepared the next time you or someone else come in here with your guts hanging out.”

“Hah!” Luffy said triumphantly, and Law raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s what I said ! But Usopp thought you were probably going to murder someone.”

“I would not go through this much trouble just to kill someone,” Law scowled. Well, maybe someone , but that someone was a world away and out of his reach. Though Law was also out of his reach. He hadn’t really reflected on it, but it was true, wasn’t it? Law was trapped in this world. But for the first time, he was truly free . 

Cora would have been so happy for him.

“Torao?” Luffy asked, and Law realised he must have spaced out.

“Anyway,” he said, shaking his head to clear it. “I’m not killing anyone, so you can tell your villagers that.”

“Good,” Luffy said. “We’re having a party tonight. Do you want to come?”

Law blinked. He tried to remember what part of the story this was, but he was drawing a blank.

“I’m sorry? Since when are we hanging out socially?”

“Since now,” Luffy grinned. “Sanji is making food. You should come.”

Law hesitated. He shouldn’t get involved more than he already was, but at least that would give him an idea of where the plot was at. 

“Can I bring Bepo?” he asked, and Luffy’s smile got even wider. 

“The more the merrier!” he laughed. “It’ll be great! You’ll see!”

He gave Law the details, then ran off again. He seemed fully recovered at least. Law looked after him for a moment, then went to find Bepo. 

The bear was surprised when Law told him about the plans for that night. Law had been working on getting the bear to be more confident, but it was a work in progress. At least he wasn’t sleeping in the wood shed anymore.

“You sure you want me to come, doctor?” Bepo said. “I mean, I bring a lot of attention. People will stare.”

“I don’t care,” Law told him. “Apparently they think I’m crazy now, so people will stare anyway. But I’m not forcing you along if you don’t want to.” He paused, studying Bepo’s face. “Do you want to come?”

“If it’s okay,” Bepo said. Law patted his head. 

It was a bit of a walk to get all the way down to the beach where the party was. Law was no stranger to walking, but he was starting to think he’d been walking more these last few weeks than he had done in all his previous life.

There was a large bonfire on the beach, and the party seemed to centre around it. A tall, thin musician was playing something like a fiddle, and a group of people were dancing around. Sanji was in the middle of preparing food, and a delicious smell spread around the beach. Zoro, Nami and some others were having a drinking competition among barrels and boxes on the other side of the fire.  

“Torao! You made it!”

Law turned around to see Luffy approach, with his arm around another young man. Dark hair, freckles and no shirt to be seen anywhere. 

“Oh, so you’re Torao,” the young man said, then bowed in Law’s direction, making Luffy stumble in the process.

“Thank you for taking care of my little brother,” he said. “I’m Ace.”

“Law,” Law said, baffled. “This is Bepo.”

“The bear! I’ve heard about you!” Ace said excitedly. He and Bepo were soon lost in their own conversation, and Law watched a little uneasily. 

Ace was popular, both among the fans and the characters. Too popular, maybe. There were theories that the reason he had been killed off was that he took attention away from the protagonist, and would have easily become a love-rival if he had been allowed to live. Law hadn’t paid much attention to the theories, but watching Ace now, alive and real , it was hard not to think about it.

“Are you okay, Torao?” Luffy asked. He seemed confused, and Law realised he must have been staring. 

“Yeah, sorry,” he said, looking away from Ace and Bepo. At least that storyline should be weeks if not months away, still. For tonight, he could relax and enjoy the party.

Well, as much as he could enjoy parties in general.

“Ace isn’t going to steal your bear, you know?” Luffy said, and Law snorted.

“Bepo isn’t my bear,” he said. “And don’t worry, it’s not that. I just remembered something.”

“Oh, okay,” Luffy accepted it easily. “Come dance with me.”

“I will not,” Law said. Especially not since the people dancing actually seemed to be doing the same, rehearsed steps, and Law didn’t particularly feel like humiliating himself. Besides, this was definitely a prime opportunity for one of those gratuitous romantic scenes, and Law wasn’t trying to get in the way.

Luffy pouted. “Why not? I want to dance.”

“Why don’t you ask one of the ladies?” Law suggested. “The one in the corner there keeps looking at you.”

Luffy looked in the direction he was nodding, and a smile spread on his face. “Hey, that’s the girl I saved when I got injured! I should go say hi!”

He bounced away, and Law breathed out. He didn’t remember how Luffy and Vivi got reintroduced last time, but he supposed this would have to do. He may have sped things up a bit by pointing her out, but it should be a minor change, all things considered.

He briefly joined Nami and Zoro by the kegs to get some beer for himself. It wasn’t great quality, and he would probably regret drinking it tomorrow, but it was a party. And as he usually did at parties, he found a quiet corner to sit down with his beverage and observed the people around him.

He wasn’t social by nature, and interacting with strangers didn’t come naturally to him. Sure, he could do it, especially if he wanted something, but trying to small-talk during parties always made him feel off, like his brain was working through a filter or his tongue was too big for his mouth.

So he sat on the sidelines, and observed. In his world, he usually had friends who would keep him company, at least some of the time, but here, he was content to simply people-watch. Bepo seemed to get along great with the others, first Ace, then Luffy’s friends, then apparently an assortment of village women who seemed to find him cute. Law smiled to himself. Good thing he was a bear, and didn’t count as a love-rival.

After a while, the sand shifted beside him as Luffy sat down, and Law raised an eyebrow at him.

“Didn’t she want to dance either?” Law asked wryly.

“Nah, she needed to go,” Luffy said. “But I’m gonna see her tomorrow, apparently she needs help with something.”

Law nodded. That was good. That meant the plot was still firmly on the rails.

“Do you know her?” Luffy asked, and Law had forgotten how fucking perceptive he could be.

“No,” Law said. “But she seemed like she needed to talk to you.”

Luffy frowned at him, but didn’t question him further. “You still don’t want to dance?”

“What is it with you and dancing?” Law asked.

“There’s a bonfire,” Luffy said.

“So?”

“So you’re supposed to dance around it,” Luffy said, like it was a rule of the universe as certain as gravity. 

“So go dance,” Law said. “I’m not stopping you.”

Luffy pouted. “I invited you. I want you to have fun.”

“I am,” Law assured him, briefly lifting his beer in Luffy’s direction. “In my own way.”

Luffy gave him a look of disbelief. “Don’t you want to do something?”

“Plenty,” Law said. “But not right now. Right now I want to drink my disgusting beer and look at the fire and the ocean.”

“Oh.” Luffy looked like he was considering it. “So what do you want to do? Later, I mean?”

Law sighed. “You’re going to think it’s boring,” he warned him. “I still have plenty of improvements to make to my clinic. I've had some promising results developing new medicine and new techniques , so I want to work on that.”

“It’s not boring, it’s you,” Luffy said. “What else?”

Law looked down at hands. 

“I want to get some tattoos done,” he said after a moment's hesitation. His body still felt wrong without them. He had gotten used to the white patches, but he still didn’t recognise his own hands without the ink.

Luffy’s eyes went wide. “Really? Ace knows a guy in the capital, I think.”

“Same one who did his tattoo?” Law asked, glancing at the misspelt name on Ace’s arm as he gestured widely while talking to two girls further away on the beach.

“Yeah, and the one on his back,” Luffy said. “It’s not very common, you know. Mostly gangs have tattoos. Are you in a gang?”

“No. It’s a… It’s a memorial, of sorts,” Law said, and it was true, even more now than it had been at home. The smiling face and hearts for Cora, the circles on his arms for Shachi and Penguin, DEATH on his hands for his family and himself. Was it selfish, he wondered, to want a memorial for yourself?

Luffy didn’t ask questions, and Law didn’t feel compelled to share. As the evening went on, eventually he convinced Luffy to go dance without him, but he didn’t have to sit alone for long. After Luffy left, Zoro joined him with more beer, apparently enjoying just drinking in silence as well. 

All in all, it was a good evening.

The tattoos were expensive, and far more painful than they had been the first time. Law would have killed for a modern tattoo gun. Instead, he was subject to traditional techniques, but at least the guy had a sense of hygiene beyond what Law had come to expect from this world, and accepted Law’s further precautions when he promised to pay extra, so the risk of disease or infection was pretty low. Or so he hoped.

He started with his hands and arms, but left the shoulders, chest and back for a later appointment. His skin itched beyond what he was used to, and distracted himself with whatever he could find when he got home.

Bepo on the other hand was fascinated by the ink.

“Do you think I could get one?” he asked.

“You probably could, but you’d have to shave,” Law said. “And it wouldn’t change your fur colour.”

Bepo wrinkled his snout in distaste, and Law chuckled. 

“If you’re really interested, there are dyeing options we could look into,” he said. “It wouldn’t be permanent, but it could look cool.”

“Oh no, it’s okay,” Bepo said, but he seemed excited by the idea, so Law took a break from improvement work to spend time looking into it. At the end they spent a few weeks with matching hearts on their shoulders, Law’s in black, Bepo’s in red, and it was worth it just for how happy Bepo was.

Time passed in a blur. 

Luffy still visited often, but Law lost track of where the plot was at. He was out on patient visits when he ran into Usopp.

“How’s your leg?” Law asked, looking down at the leg Usopp had broken a week prior. He didn’t remember if the injury had been in the books or not.

“It’s fine,” Usopp said. “Healing well. I’m just worried about Luffy.”

“What has he done now?” Law asked with a sigh.

“I’m not supposed to tell people, but since it’s you…” Usopp said. “He went to rescue his brother from prison.”

Law’s heart stopped. He knew how that would end. 

“Where?” he asked, voice shaking. “Where is it?”

Usopp looked surprised, but pointed it out, and Law was already running. He ran as fast as he could.

The prison was about half an hour’s walk away from the village, and Law ran the entire way. He had no plan, no idea how to help, but he couldn’t just do nothing. He needed to- Fuck, he just needed to be there.

He hadn’t reached the prison yet when he heard shouts and sounds of battle from the forest beside the road. He hurried into the direction of the sounds, stumbling over roots and small bushes to get there. Behind the trees, he could see the Straw Hats and Ace, fighting for their lives against what he assumed were prison guards. 

Law was too late. When he reached the clearing, he saw Ace block a sword aimed at his brother with his own body, and fall to the ground. 

“Ace! ACE! ”

Law looked at Luffy, desperately shouting his brother’s name, heedless of the battle still going on around him. The other Straw Hats were winning, but the damage was done.

Law remembered this plotline. It was incredibly important to Luffy’s character-development, resulting in him becoming stronger and more serious, so he wouldn't lose anyone ever again. It was a plotline Law had enjoyed immensely, despite the copious amount of comfort from various female characters, most prominently Boa Hancock. 

It was different now. Law still didn’t know if he was stuck in a weird coma dream or had actually transmigrated into a book, but it didn’t matter anymore. The people around him felt as real as he did, and Luffy was losing his brother in front of Law.

Lammy’s smiling face briefly appeared in his mind.

Fuck the story. Fuck character-development.

“Luffy, move!” Law hurriedly ran towards Luffy. Luffy’s friends looked surprised to see him. Zoro kept fighting the last of the guards, but Sanji grabbed Law’s arm as he ran. 

“Doctor, give him a moment-”

“It may not be too late. Let me try! ” Law demanded, shaking his arm off. When he reached the brothers, he knelt down beside them and pushed Luffy aside. Luffy stared at him, but Law ignored him.

The wound was bad, very bad. Back at the hospital he would have given Ace a 50-50 shot at surviving, assuming they could get his heart restarted. Here, he would give it about 5%.

But it wasn’t impossible.

He started CPR while barking orders behind him, telling them to get a wagon or a cart. He didn’t stop to check what was going on around them, trusting that Luffy and the others could handle it. He needed the heart restarted, and he needed it now. 

Seconds felt like hours, but his efforts were rewarded when Ace took a rattling breath. 

“Ace!” he heard Luffy shout, but ignored him.

“We need to get him to the clinic, or he’ll still die,” Law said. “We need that cart!”

He didn’t look away to see if his orders were being followed. He was lucky that he had been interrupted while seeing patients, so he had a few emergency supplies on him. It wouldn’t be enough to save him, but hopefully it would be enough to keep him alive long enough to get him on Law’s primitive operating table.

Finally the cart arrived, presumably stolen from the nearby prison, and Zoro and Sanji very carefully carried Ace to the road and lifted him up into it. Law climbed up after him. Luffy, ever good with animals, drove them back in record time while the others made sure they weren’t followed. Law suspected the rest of the king’s men were busy trying to capture all the other prisoners Luffy had freed. That’s how it had gone in the book, at least.

He glanced down at Ace, barely alive beside him. This wasn’t how the book had gone. Law had made changes before, but nothing this significant. Was this even possible? Could he save Ace?

Only one way to find out. 

Ace was fading again when they finally reached the clinic and got him on Law’s operating table. He left Bepo in charge of his newly developed, slightly improvised respiratory pump. 

“He needs blood,” Law said, already hooking him up to the tube he had made for this exact purpose. “Get Sanji.”

“I can-” Luffy tried, but Law shook his head.

“You can’t. Get Sanji,” he demanded.

He remembered a list of the main characters and their blood types at the end of one of the books. Completely useless information, or so he had thought at the time, but he did remember Sanji being O-. He wasn’t sure about Ace, but he wasn’t going to risk it. 

Sanji was confused but willing, so Law hooked him up to the tube, telling him how to remove it when Law said so. He needed more assistants, but he would take what he could get.

Gods, he missed Shachi and Penguin so much.

Taking a deep breath, he began the operation.

It was the hardest surgery he had done in his life. Not necessarily because of the damage, but because of how limited his equipment  was. If he hadn't spent all that time experimenting and improving the clinic, he would have had no chance at all.

He wasn’t sure how many hours later it was that he finally left the room, ready to collapse. Luffy immediately got on his feet when he saw Law.

“Is he-? Is Ace-?”

“He’s in critical condition, but he’s alive for now. There are no guarantees,” Law said. “I’m sorry, I need to-”

His head swam. He stumbled on the little step between the patient bedroom and the living room, and Luffy caught him before he could fall on his face.

“We’ll watch over him,” he heard Bepo say. “You go sleep, doctor.”

“Wake me if anything changes,” Law told them, then promptly passed out.

He still felt like he’d been run over by a truck when he woke up. Which, he supposed, wasn’t entirely inaccurate considering how he had ended up in this world in the first place. He stumbled out of bed, realising he was still in the same, bloodstained clothes. He probably looked a mess.

He didn’t care.

It was dark outside, and the living room was empty, but there was a light burning in Ace’s room. Luffy was sitting still as a statue, watching his brother breathe. Law sighed in relief. He had survived the night, at least.

“Any change?” he asked Luffy, who jumped a bit, and looked back towards him.

“No,” Luffy said. “He hasn’t woken up.”

“I wouldn’t expect him to yet. It’s better if he doesn’t, so he doesn’t cause further harm to himself by moving,” Law said. 

“Will he wake up?” Luffy asked him.

“I don’t know,” Law told him honestly. “And even if he does, he’ll likely have permanent injuries, though I don’t know to what extent.” He paused. “Maybe it would have been kinder to-”

“No!” Luffy said. “Don’t say that!”

“He might,” Law pointed out. “If he wakes up.”

“Then we’ll deal with that then, ” Luffy said. “I can’t- You gave him back to me. So don’t say that!”

“Luffy,” Law started, putting a hand on his shoulder, but Luffy shook his head.

“I know. I know I might still lose him,” he said. “But you gave him a chance. That matters.”

“I’m a doctor. It’s what I do,” Law said, pretending Luffy wasn’t giving him an intense look. “Now move, I need to check up on my patient.”

Luffy moved, but Law could feel him watching while he was looking over Ace, checking his heart and breathing and making sure there were no signs of infection. He seemed to be doing as good as could be expected, maybe even better. Law wondered how much of that was thanks to him as a doctor and how much was just this world’s strange tendency to handwave injuries. Well, as a part of the world now, Law wasn’t going to complain about that, especially since it was probably the main reason Ace was still alive at all.

Ace woke up three days later. 

Earlier than Law would have expected, but considering IV hadn’t been invented yet (despite Law’s best efforts), it was probably for the best. He was in a bad state, but he was alive at least.

Luffy was watching him when he woke up, but Law heard the sobbing from far away. At first he thought Ace must have passed after all, but he was relieved when he saw the opposite is true.

“Torao! He’s awake!” Luffy cried as Law approached.

“I can see that,” Law said, carefully moving Luffy aside.

“Doctor,” Ace said, very quietly.

“Go get him a glass of water,” Law ordered Luffy, who seemed a bit reluctant to leave Ace’s side, but did as he said nonetheless. Law looked back at Ace. “Now, let’s see where we are.”

Law was surprised and relieved to see Ace still had feeling and movement in all his limbs, although it took more effort than it should have, and would likely give him problems later in life if not immediately. Otherwise he was healing almost annoyingly well. Law blamed (or thanked) the author, and their characters' uncanny healing abilities.

“I didn’t expect to wake up,” Ace said quietly.

“No surprise there, keeping you alive was… complicated,” Law nodded. “You’re welcome. Or I’m sorry. Whichever you prefer.”

Ace made a sound that was probably supposed to be a laugh. "Thank you. I was worried, leaving Luffy behind like that.”

“He was devastated,” Law nodded. “You should probably try and make it up to him.”

Ace frowned, but didn’t say anything more as Luffy reappeared with a glass of water. He had shit nursing skills, and his attempt to make Ace drink had water all over the blanket.

Law sighed. “Luffy, please don’t drown my patient now that he’s finally woken up.”

“Sorry,” Luffy said. “I’m just so happy!”

Law left the brothers to catch up, and sat down on the porch outside. He felt relieved, and worried at the same time. Ace was alive, so Law had circumvented Luffy’s growth arc, which could lead to problems later on in the story. Not to mention it removed the bonding moments between Luffy and Boa Hancock.

Good thing she didn’t know. She would have killed him.

Maybe he should have just let things play out the way they were supposed to. These were just characters in a story, after all. Even if Law was one of the characters now, that didn’t change that it was still just a story. Right?

Law sighed. Who was he kidding? It felt real. It looked real. Everyone, Bepo and Luffy and Ace and all the others were real , as real as anyone Law ever met in his own world. 

He couldn’t just put Luffy through the heartbreak of losing a sibling, not when he could have prevented it. He couldn’t just let Ace die.

He still hadn’t entirely expected it to work. He hadn’t entirely expected to be able to save him. To be allowed to change the story to that extent.

Maybe the story didn’t matter. Maybe he had been wrong about everything.

But what else was he supposed to do here, if not see the story to its conclusion? Why had he suddenly woken up in the doctor’s body? Was the doctor in Law’s body now, assuming there still was a body to inhabit after the traffic accident?

It made no sense. Nothing about the situation made sense.

Law buried his head in his hands.

“Doctor?” came a timid voice, and Law looked up to see Bepo looking at him. “Are you alright? Can I get you anything?”

Law smiled. There was someone whose life and story was better with him around, at least, without complicating the plot.

“I’m alright, Bepo. Come sit with me,” he said, and Bepo did as he asked. A mountain of fur and fluff sat down beside him.

“Remind me, Bepo. How did we meet?” Law said.

“You rescued me from a fighting ring. I was injured and you took care of me,” Bepo said. “And you said I could stay with you.”

“I treated you like shit,” Law pointed out. “I’m surprised you stayed.”

“I have nowhere else to go,” Bepo said. He didn’t deny being treated badly, at least. That was progress.

“If there is somewhere, even if it’s far, Luffy can help you get there,” Law said. “He owes me a big favour, anyway.”

“There’s nowhere. Not anymore,” Bepo said sadly. “I want to stay with you.” He paused. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Law said. “Where would I find a better assistant?”

Bepo looked like he might cry again, so Law just let himself lean against him for comfort. He was so soft and fluffy. The old doctor really had no idea what he had.

Ace recovered quickly after that. Barely a week later, he was already on his feet, letting Luffy drag him into shenanigans that were definitely not good for his injuries. Law had to put a stop to their antics several times already, and he was getting tired of it.

“I’m not your fucking babysitter!” Law swore at them one evening. “If you reopen your wounds by being stupid, I’m not stitching you back up! Go die for all I care!”

He stalked away angrily. Or he was planning to, except the assholes followed him. 

“Don’t be mad, Torao,” Luffy said. “We’re just having fun.”

“Yeah, Torao, take it easy,” Ace added. “I’m fine. See?”

“If I hadn’t spent so much effort keeping both of you idiots alive, I’d murder you,” Law told them sincerely. 

Luffy just grinned. “Think you can take us?”

“I said murder, not fight,” Law pointed out. “With the way you eat things with barely tasting them, you would be easy to poison. As for Ace, well, I could just stop treating him.”

“Toraooo,” Luffy complained. “That’s not fair!”

“I’m not fighting you fairly, Straw Hat. Are you kidding me?” Law smirked. “I know your track record.”

Ace laughed. “You’re not wrong. My little brother would crush you,” he said.

“I’m a doctor , not a fighter,” Law pointed out. “Also, Bepo would probably be on my side.”

“You can’t use a bear as your meat shield, that’s not fair!” Luffy exclaimed, while Ace just laughed.

“Bepo!” Law shouted, and the bear’s white head popped around the corner a few seconds later.

“What is it, doctor?”

“Would you defend me if Luffy attacked me?” Law asked. Bepo straightened his back and showed his teeth.

“Of course. Hypothetical or are we fighting?”

“Hypothetical,” Law said, but he grinned at Luffy, who just made a face at him.

“Unfair,” Luffy said. “Fight me one on one.”

“No,” Law said. “Think about it. Who is going to patch me up if I get injured?”

“He has a point,” Ace laughed.

Luffy still pouted. It was kind of cute, if Law was honest. It really wasn’t surprising that so many girls fell for him.

“Alright, enough running around,” Law said, shaking off the thought. “I have actual work to do.”

“Work like whatever weird alchemy you’re doing in that cellar of yours?” Ace asked, and Law frowned.

“Please tell me neither of you touched anything in there,” he said. The cellar was hardly the sterile lab conditions he would have preferred, but it was the closest he could get, and he didn’t need further contamination.

“Nah, things looked fragile,” Luffy said. “We were just looking for food but the things you have in there are all mouldy. You shouldn’t eat that.”

“I’m not eating it, Straw Hat. I’m trying to make medicine.”

Luffy made a face. “From mould?”

“Oh! Oh, I’ve heard of this!” Ace said. “There was an old witch Pops knew who used mouldy bread to treat infections.”

Law was happy to hear the concept wasn’t completely outlandish here, at least, even if the clinics in the city had scoffed at it. “Yes. I’m trying to refine the process to make it more effective. I’ve had some success, but testing is difficult.”

“You can test things on me if you want, I don’t mind,” Luffy said, and Law huffed a laugh.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Despite Ace surviving, Luffy still spent a lot of time training to get stronger, to “protect everyone” as he put it. Law was a bit relieved. He had been worried about how the major change he’d caused would influence the plot, but so far it seemed to be following roughly the same pattern. Even if Luffy was spending his free time hanging out at Law’s house instead of Boa Hancock’s estate.  

At first Law figured it was because of Ace, but he kept coming around even after Ace recovered enough to return to his own friends. Law would spend the day in his “lab”, or visiting patients, and when he walked into the house, Luffy would just suddenly be there, talking with Bepo like he was a part of the household. 

“Did you get kicked out from your own place or something?” Law asked after one such occasion. 

“Nope,” Luffy said. “I just came to hang out.”

“I see,” Law said, giving a long-suffering sign as he sat down by the table to join them. “Bepo, is there any chance there’s tea left?”

“I’ll make more,” Bepo said, getting on his feet to head into the kitchen before Law could protest. The bear was still so eager to be of service. Law had tried to encourage his own interests and hobbies, with some success, but Bepo still seemed to want to take care of Law above all else.

He couldn’t exactly complain. Even in his old world, with all the comforts and conveniences of modern life, he had never been great at taking care of himself. 

Luffy shook him awake that night, and Law punched him in the face. 

He had been stuck in a nightmare, the usual mix of his family’s and Cora’s deaths. It took him a moment to get his bearings after being suddenly woken up, and Luffy’s cheek was an accidental casualty.

“Ow,” Luffy said. “You’re stronger than I thought.”

Law blinked. “Shit,” he swore. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Luffy laughed, getting back on his feet. He grabbed a hold of Law’s hands. “Come on, there’s something you’ll want to see.”

He dragged Law out of the house, and Law stumbled after him. “Luffy, what-”

“Look!” Luffy said excitedly, pointing towards the sky. It only took a moment to see what he was talking about.

Meteors were falling from the sky, in a spectacular fashion that Law had never seen in real life. He looked up in awe. It was beautiful.

And concerning.

In the book, this had been a scene between Hancock and Luffy. They had had a romantic moment in the outside baths on her estate. Instead, Luffy was here with him. 

Law glanced at Luffy, who gave him a big grin. “See? I knew you’d like it!”

“It’s incredible,” Law smiled, then something hit him. “I should wake Bepo.”

There was a strange expression on Luffy’s face for a moment before he nodded. 

“I’ll go,” he said, hurrying back in. Law sat down on the porch, looking up at the sky. A minute later, Luffy and Bepo sat down on either side of him. 

“It’s so pretty!” Bepo said. “Is it dangerous?”

“Not particularly. Not over here, at any rate,” Law said.

“We should make a wish,” Luffy said. 

Law chuckled. “It’s just rocks falling from space.”

Luffy pouted at him. “What do you mean, just rocks from space?” he said. “That’s amazing!”

Law snorted. “You’re right. It is kinda amazing.”

Luffy grinned up at him, eyes gleaming in the light from the meteor shower. For a moment, Law forgot about the sky entirely, just staring into Luffy’s eyes. Then he tore himself away, turning his gaze upwards. Luffy was the protagonist, Law reminded himself. There was no point in looking at him like that. Not for Law.

The meteor shower lasted a few more minutes. When it was over, Bepo yawned loudly and headed back to bed. Law remained on the porch, looking up at the sky. 

“You’re not going back to sleep?” Luffy asked, but he hadn’t moved either.

Law shook his head. “Don’t feel like it. It’s a nice night. And sleep wasn’t that nice,” he said, turning towards Luffy. It was too dark to see properly, but it looked like his skin might be bruising. “Sorry for hitting you. Does it hurt?”

“A little, but it’s fine. I get hit all the time,” Luffy grinned. 

“That’s not something to be proud of,” Law pointed out. “You should protect your head, or there might be permanent damage one day.”

“Are you worried about me?” Luffy asked.

“I’m your doctor. It’s my job,” Law said. 

“You’re my friend,” Luffy pointed out.

Law sighed. “Fine,” he said, looking back at the sky. “Sorry you had to be here with us for that. I’m sure you would rather have enjoyed it with someone else.”

“Like who?” Luffy said.

“A woman, I mean,” Law said with a laugh. “But I appreciate you waking me up. I would have missed it otherwise.”

He felt Luffy lean against him, warm against the night air. “You’re weird, Torao,” he said.

Law chuckled. “So I’ve heard all my life,” he agreed.

“It’s a good weird,” Luffy said.

Law shook his head, but he couldn’t help but smile.

The plot carried on, mostly away from Law. As they were starting to plan an actual rebellion, more and more of Luffy’s friends and allies started to gather in the village.

Law finally met Nico Robin, and she was as beautiful as he had expected, and even more intelligent.

Law was so excited to sit down with her and ask her about her work, researching the history of the world. The novels tended to gloss over it, or only reveal snippets when they became relevant, so actually talking to her was a blessing.

She seemed surprised about his interest, but happy to answer his questions where she could. 

“Much of the past is a mystery even to me,” she told him. “But with Luffy’s help, I’m hoping to be able to piece it together.”

“He doesn’t really care about archeology, though, does he?” Law asked.

“He doesn’t, but he cares that it’s important to me, ” Robin smiled, and Law nodded. He already knew that. It was the main reason he had been rooting for her to be the endgame romance since she was first introduced. He idly played with the idea that maybe he could make that happen for her, this time.

She and Law had a similar temperament, and Law found himself seeking out her company when he could. He still spent time with the others, but there was something relaxing in drinking tea together with Robin, either in silence or discussing archeology or medicine or one of the books she let Law borrow. She had some truly fucked-up horror novels she let Law borrow, and Law was incredibly excited about it. He hadn’t had a lot of time to read fiction since waking up in this world.

One evening, Luffy took him aside.

“Torao,” he began, looking uncharacteristically serious. “Do you like Robin?”

“Sure, she’s great,” Law said dismissively, before realising what Luffy was probably asking.

Oh. Oh no. Had he somehow made himself look like a love-rival? He sure hoped not, because that was a good way to die really fast. He may have managed to save Ace, but who would save him ? 

“I see,” Luffy said. He frowned, starting to turn away, but Law stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“She’s a friend, ” he clarified. “I don’t like her in a romantic way, if that’s what you were asking.”

“Oh,” Luffy said, then smiled. “Good.”

Law let himself breathe out. Hopefully the clarification was enough.

“Is there someone you’re interested in, then?” Luffy asked, and apparently Law wasn’t out of danger yet.

“No,” he said. “I don’t really care about romance.”

Luffy frowned again. “Could you?”

Law made a frustrated sigh. “What do you want me to say, Straw Hat? That I’ll absolutely never ever get interested in anyone? I don’t know, okay?”

“Why are you angry?” Luffy asked.

Law sighed. “It’s not your fault,” he said. It wasn’t, really. Luffy hadn’t asked to be an adventure-romance protagonist.

As the plans for rebellion got more serious, a need arose for intelligence gathering and safehouses in the city. Law had largely watched the plot from the sidelines so far, except for treating injuries, but he realised this was actually something he could help with.

Over the next few months, Law re-established his clinic in the city as a cover to gather information. It was a decent plan, people could visit him without drawing suspicions from the neighbours, and he could potentially find new sources of information through regular clients.

He was a bit wary of taking on the job, but the fact was that he was uniquely qualified for it, thanks to his past in Doflamingo’s organisation, and had a cover the others lacked. In the novel, the position had been filled off-screen, by a barely named character who ultimately betrayed Luffy and his friends. Law was changing the story again.

Then again, with Ace alive and well and joining the rebellion with his friends, things were irrevocably changed anyway. At this point, Law was quickly running out of foreknowledge, and what little he had left he made sure to confirm with their spies before handing it over to the Straw Hats.

His clinic was one of two safehouses in the city, the other was a brothel in the red light district. No one would be surprised by strange visitors to the brothel, either. Law and the Madam were in frequent contact, comparing information and pointing out potential targets. She would either send her girls to him, or he would visit them in the guise of a patron. 

Meanwhile, he helped the girls in his professional capacity. The Madam offered to return the favour, and some of the girls made private offers to him as well, but he always declined. Even if he wasn’t painfully aware of the diseases running rampant in that place, he would have done the same.

That was probably why the girls seemed to like him so much.

On one occasion, Law was examining one of the girls in a private room. He was treating her and several of the other girls for syphilis, with limited success. Law’s experimental penicillin wasn’t effective enough, and it didn’t help that the girls kept seeing infected clients. This particular girl had not had any clients lately, however, and was improving quickly.

When he was done, he gathered his things and exited the room, planning to head back to his clinic.

“Thanks, darling,” the girl said, patting his arm as she walked past him. “See you soon.”

He simply nodded, then turned to start heading out.

“Torao?”

Law looked around, seeing Luffy watching him with a complicated expression on his face. The Madam was beside him, so he was probably there for information.

“Hey. It’s been a while,” Law said, a little awkwardly. 

“Yeah. I didn’t realise you were a customer here,” Luffy said, and Law couldn’t help it. He laughed out loud.

“Doctor,” the Madam scolded him.

“Sorry, sorry,” Law said, still snickering. “No offence to your establishment, Madam.”

“I should hope not,” she humphed. “But considering how many times I have offered you our services, I suppose I can see the humour in it.”

“So you’re not here as a customer?” Luffy clarified.

“No, Straw Hat. I’m here as a doctor,” Law said. 

“Alright. I’ll walk you home if you’re done,” Luffy said. Law blinked in surprise, and the Madam gave him an amused look.

“Do make sure the good doctor makes it home safely,” she said. “We would hate to lose him.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Law scowled, but followed Luffy outside anyway.

It was pretty late already, and the streets were dark. Law supposed he should be glad Luffy chose to accompany him. It did feel safer walking through the less savoury parts of the city with someone at his side.

Not that he’d admit it out loud.

“So,” Law said. “Were you there as a customer?”

Luffy grinned. “No, I was just there to deliver some news,” he said. “Some of the girls are friends of mine, but it’s not like that.”

Law nodded. “Good. Spares me from having to do a checkup on you.”

Luffy frowned. “I healed a long time ago.”

“Not what I meant, Straw Hat,” Law sighed. “Just be careful who you stick your dick into.”

Then again, as a romance novel protagonist, maybe Luffy was immune to STDs. Not something worth testing, but it wouldn’t surprise him.

“I am careful,” Luffy said, giving Law a weird look.

“It’s not really any of my business,” Law conceded. 

“It could be,” Luffy said.

“I guess. I am your doctor, after all,” Law shrugged. “Where are you staying in town?”

“I was going to stay at the brothel for the night,” Luffy said.

“Then why leave with me? I would have been fine,” Law said. “Ugh, alright. You can stay at the clinic. I don’t have patients staying there right now.”

Luffy grinned. “You’re great, Torao.”

Law wasn’t sure what prompted that response but it was late, he was tired and who even knew how Luffy’s mind worked, so he took the compliment in silence.

Bepo had been taking care of Law’s old clinic in the village while Law was in the city. The bear didn’t have opposable thumbs, so he couldn’t do much that required finesse, but having worked beside both Law and the original doctor for a long time, he was more than capable of handling the day-to-day affairs.

Still, Law missed him. 

On a whim, he decided to take two days off to visit Bepo and the clinic. Sure he was busy, but any informants could go to the brothel if it was urgent and he wasn’t available. While delegating missions was usually Law’s job, the Madam could handle it just fine.

Walking over to the village took most of the day. The sky was turning red when he arrived, smiling to himself while imagining Bepo’s surprise.

Instead, the scene that met him surprised him.

The clinic was littered with corpses, torn apart like a wild animal had rampaged through. They weren’t uniformed, but Law had been in the game long enough to recognise the king’s men when he saw them. Their blood was still wet, and one of the corpses was still warm. He ran through the house, but Bepo wasn’t there anymore. He did, however, find clear tracks leading away.

He supposed it wasn’t easy to capture an unwilling bear.

Law hurriedly followed the tracks, with no clear plan in mind. It took him barely half an hour to catch up to them, and he watched in fury as eight men dragged Bepo along with whips and jeers, like an abused packmule. Their attention was largely on Bepo, so they didn’t notice as Law snuck up on them.

He knew he couldn’t take them all alone, but he couldn’t stand to see Bepo treated like that, so he made a gamble. 

He grabbed the first guy he could reach, pressing a dagger at his throat.

“Let him go!” Law demanded, holding the knife up to the man’s throat. 

“No,” their leader said impassively, barely glancing up from the cards in his hand. “Kill him if you must.”

Damn it! Why did it have to be that guy?

Still, Law had expected as much. And perhaps it could work in his favour.

“Let him go,” Law told the evil fortune teller again. “Take me instead.”

Hawkins, or so Law assumed, finally looked up from his cards, smiling slightly. “According to the cards, you are a much more valuable hostage,” he said. “Alright. Release the bear.”

The men reluctantly freed Bepo from his bonds. It hurt Law’s heart to see him limping, but he would be alright, given time to rest.

“Doctor,” Bepo cried as he struggled to walk up to Law. “I’m not worth this.”

“Hush. Of course you are,” Law said, wishing he could reach out to pet him, but he was still holding a dagger at the guy’s throat. “Get into the forest and head somewhere safe. Don’t tell him about this. I have a plan.”

Bepo nodded, trusting him to be okay as he limped away. Law sighed. He didn’t have a plan. But if Luffy got sidetracked in the middle of this part of the story, he wouldn’t team up with Eustass Kid, a rival who was indispensable for the king’s defeat. Law suspected he would be quickly disposed of after, as rivals tended to be, but they needed him for the rebellion, so Law couldn’t distract Luffy with his own problems.

Even if it meant being imprisoned by this clown. Law sighed. At least Bepo was free.

In hindsight, Law could admit that giving himself up for Bepo was, in the most objective sense, the wrong move. Law had information that could doom the entire operation if he shared it, and get dozens of people arrested and executed. Bepo didn’t know nearly as much.

But that also meant less incentive to keep him alive. Bepo likely wouldn’t have been considered important enough to be worth keeping alive beyond the initial interrogation, considering how easily Hawkins let him go. Law, on the other hand, was not going to be allowed to die before he had spilled all the information he knew. 

Unfortunately.

Law spit blood on the ground, trying to ignore the pain. It’s not real, he tried to tell himself. This is just a story. He didn’t quite believe it, but the thought helped at least a little bit. 

“Tell us about the operation,” Hawkins said again. Law had held out so far. If anything, they had given him more information than they had gotten from him. He knew they knew Luffy was spearheading the rebellion, but didn't know where he was. 

“Fuck you,” Law told him. “You realise you’re fighting for the losing side, right? Don't your cards tell you as much?”

Hawkins hit him again, and Law’s vision went white for a second. He spat more blood, and yeah, that was never good.

Hawkins grabbed his face, lifting him so their eyes met. “Why are you making it harder for yourself? Just tell me what we need to know!”

“Alright,” Law said. “Here’s what you need to know: Luffy is going to win. If you’re not on his side, you will probably die. That’s it.”

Hawkins hit him again, and Law laughed.

After a few days, or maybe a week, he was losing track of time, Law realised something: Hawkins wasn’t doing anything to cause permanent injuries. Scars, sure, Law was pretty sure he'd have several if he survived this, but no limbs cut off, no kneecaps crushed, barely any bones broken apart from a few ribs. It didn’t exactly sound like the kind of torture he would have expected from this world, or the time period it was based on.

He wondered why, and came up with a few different reasons: either Hawkins had been ordered to not harm Law, which meant they needed Law healthy for something, presumably his skills as a doctor, or Hawkins was doing it on his own accord. Knowing what he knew about the King and his inner circle, the former was unlikely, so why?

He found a possible reason, and confronted Hawkins the next time they were alone.

“You know you’re going to lose.”

Hawkins looked at him in surprise. “What?”

“You’re trying to survive, following orders, but you know your side will lose. You’ve seen it in your cards,” Law said. 

“The future is… not certain,” Hawkins said.

“It never is,” Law agreed. “But you’d be a fool to bet against Luffy.”

“He is only one man,” Hawkins said. “He is outgunned, outnumbered…”

“And he is going to win,” Law said.

“You truly believe that,” Hawkins said. “Why?”

Law snorted. “Because I know more than you. And no, I will not elaborate,” he said. “If you join us, Luffy will protect you.”

Hawkins frowned. “You’re in no position to worry about anyone else, Doctor.”

“I’m not. You can rot for all I care,” Law spat. “But I imagine your pathetic little life still matters to you. This is how you save it. That’s all.”

Hawkins hit him in the face. Law wasn’t exactly surprised.

“Torao!”

Law woke up at the sound of Luffy’s voice, wondering if he was still dreaming. The cell door made a horrible noise as Luffy hurriedly opened it and rushed inside. He had a ring of keys in his hands.

“How did you find me?” Law asked as Luffy kneeled before him, trying to find the right keys for his chains.

“Hawkins told the harbour master where you were, then got on a ship and left,” Luffy said. "We thought it might be a trap, but it wasn't."

“Smart of him,” Law sighed. The chains finally came off, and Law massaged his bruised wrists. 

“Torao,” Luffy said, and Law found himself engulfed in a hug. It hurt a bit, putting pressure on his wounds, but Luffy was warm and had come to rescue him. Law couldn’t help but lean into the touch.

“How long was I gone?” he asked. “I lost track.”

“Two weeks,” Luffy said. “We were so worried. I was afraid-”

“I’m fine,” Law told him. “Or, I will be. Can we get out of here?”

Luffy withdrew and nodded, then proceeded to gather Law up in his arms and carry him out of the cell. Like Law was a maiden he had rescued. Law stared at him. 

Oh gods, this was a damsel-in-distress plot! Why was Law in a damsel-in-distress plot? And why was Luffy going along with it, for that matter?

“Luffy! Stop!” Law protested, both to the treatment and the plot itself. “Put me down! I can walk.”

“No,” Luffy told him. “You’re hurt!”

“I’m fine, ” Law insisted, but Luffy wasn’t listening. Law was carried out of the dungeon, where he found Zoro and Sanji waiting for them. He felt humiliated, and waited for either of them to make fun of him, but they just looked relieved. 

“You found him,” Sanji said. “Let’s get out of here.”

They passed the corpses of some of the guards as they hurried outside, and Law didn’t feel bad. There was a wagon waiting outside the prison, and Luffy joined him on the wagon bed  while Sanji and Zoro sat up front. Even safely in the wagon, Luffy didn’t let go of him. 

Law found he didn’t mind. Luffy was comforting and safe, and Law let himself relax against him.

They took him to the brothel they used as a safehouse, and Law was finally able to bathe and change clothes. Some of the girls offered to help him, but Law declined. He probably could have used the help, but all he wanted was a moment alone to just breathe. 

By “breathe”, he meant spending an embarrassingly long time sobbing in the bathtub as he finally allowed himself to feel the stress and fear of the last two weeks, and everything crashed down on him. For two weeks, every moment was spent just waiting to get hurt again. Just waiting for the moment when his captors would snap and tear him to pieces. Just trying to not give in, even if it would have been so easy to just tell them everything he knew. Every moment, just waiting for and fearing the moment he would break.

He hadn’t broken in the dungeons, but he was breaking now , soaked in bathwater mixed with blood, grime and tears.

Eventually, he collected himself enough to finish his bath, shave, and get dressed. When he left the room, he felt a little more like himself.

He leaned on the wall for support as he walked into the common room where the others were gathered, discussing strategy for the coming battle. Some of Luffy's friends were there, as well as some allies Law recognised and some he didn’t. One of them was a tall, muscular man with wild red hair and scar on his face. Eustass Kid, he presumed. He and Luffy had both been on the cover of the last book.

Eustass gave him a look as he entered, then grinned. “Well, you look like you’ll collapse if I blow on you.”

Yep, definitely Eustass Kid. Even in the book he had pissed Law off, and it seemed he was no different in person.

“Shut it,” Law growled. “I did not spend two weeks getting tortured just to have to smell your breath.”

“You wish you could smell my breath,” Eustass said, grin only getting wider.

Law glared at him. The brute was flirting with him, wasn’t he? For fuck’s sake, what happened to the plot? Why was he suddenly the focus?

“I’m not going to fuck you, so you might as well stop,” Law told him in an effort to end the madness. The room went quiet, looking at him. Law sighed. “Can we get back to the topic at hand, please? What’s the situation?”

“You should be resting, Torao,” Nami told him.

“I’m fine. Where is Bepo?” Law asked.

“He, Chopper, Usopp and Robin are looking after the injured in a village to the north. Don’t worry, he’s laying low,” Sanji said. He seemed to be serving food to people. “Are you hungry? You should eat.”

“Sure,” Law agreed, and Luffy appeared by his side to usher him to the couch. He was thankful to be sitting down, but a little irritated to be treated like he was delicate.

They filled him in on the plan. Following his capture, they had sped up the previous plans. They didn’t say as much, but it was probably because they expected him to break and give up what he knew. Law couldn’t really blame them.

He was surprised, however, to hear they planned to start the fight tomorrow.

“So soon?” he asked. “Are we ready for that?”

“As ready as we can be,” Luffy nodded. He was sitting almost invasively close, but Law took a weird comfort in it.

“We have a way into the palace,” Nami said. “That servant whose sister you treated at your clinic came through for us.”

“Good,” Law said, glad he had been able to be somewhat useful despite everything. “How can I help?”

“Torao, you’re hurt,” Luffy said. “You’re in no condition to fight.”

He had to admit Luffy was right. “I can still do my job,” Law said stubbornly. “People are going to get injured.”

“Then stay here,” Nami said. “We’ll bring the injured to you, and you can join us at the palace when the battle is over.”

Law hated it. “Alright,” he said. “Don’t die.”

They moved on to planning the details of the operation. Law tried to pay attention, and managed to offer some advice on things, but two weeks of barely any sleep was catching up to him. When the meeting ended, he realised he had spaced out for half of it.

“Come,” Luffy said, taking his hand. “Let’s get you to bed.”

The brothel had given him a private room. He was touched, honestly. With how many people were staying at the brothel tonight, he would not have expected privacy.

Luffy led him into the bedroom, still holding his hand in a firm grip. Law looked down at their joined hands. 

“Why did you save me?” he asked.

“What do you mean, Torao?” Luffy asked. “Of course we came to save you. Why wouldn’t we?”

“Because it put you, and the operation, at risk. You said yourself that you expected a trap,” Law pointed out. “You could have waited until tomorrow, and freed me when it was over.” He narrowed his eyes. “Or did you want to make sure I hadn’t told them anything first?”

“Torao,” Luffy said. “I wasn’t going to leave you at their mercy a moment longer after I knew where you were. I knew you wouldn’t say anything.”

Law huffed. Typical Luffy, he supposed. “Alright then. I appreciate it either way,” he said, sitting down on the bed. The sheets felt clean at least, though Law would have been too tired to care either way.

Luffy still watched him, apparently having no intention of leaving.

“I’m fine, Straw Hat,” Law told him. “I just need to rest.”

“Torao, you’re not fine,” Luffy said. “Let me stay with you.”

“I don’t need babysitting,” Law said. “Besides, it’s the eve before the battle. Shouldn't you be-”

Looking for someone to spend the night with. Having a heartbreaking scene with someone, afraid they won't see each other after tomorrow. 

Law stared at him.

“I don’t care where I should be. I want to be here,” Luffy said. “I almost lost you.”

“Me?” Law asked, throat dry. There was no way that… Really? Had he screwed up the plot that badly?

Luffy frowned. “You were being tortured! And you told Bepo not to tell anyone!”

“I told him not to tell you, ” Law clarified. “There were more important things for you to do.”

“There were not! ” Luffy said angrily. “You are important, Torao! I love you!”

Law froze, staring at Luffy. He tried to remember if that was something Luffy had told any of the women in the novels, but he was pretty sure he hadn’t. 

“I-” Law tried, coming up blank. “You can't.”

“Why? Because you’re a man?” Luffy asked. “You keep bringing it up, but I don’t care about that.”

Law took a deep breath. “Because I have been lying to you from the start,” he said.

Lufy’s eyes went wide. “Torao?”

“I’m not. I never was,” Law said. “Almost a year ago, I woke up in this body, and I’ve been lying to you since.” Law took a deep breath. “My name is Trafalgar Law. I’m from a different world, and in my world this, all of this, is just a story in a novel.”

Luffy frowned. “You don’t think this is real? You don’t think I’m real?”

“You feel real,” Law said. “At first I thought I was just dreaming, but now I’m not sure. Everything looks real, feels real. I spent two weeks being tortured, and that was real.”

“Then what does it matter?” Luffy argued. He reached out to take Law's hands in his own. “We knew, Torao. We knew all along you weren’t the same doctor, but we all preferred you. Bepo loves you. You’re grumpy and weird but you’re so kind. I mean, did you save Ace just because it happened in this story you read?”

“No. Ace died in the story,” Law said and Luffy went still, staring at him. “But I’m a doctor in my own world as well. I couldn’t just let him die.” He paused, looking at Luffy. “I know what it feels like to lose a sibling. I couldn’t do that to you.”

Luffy looked at him in silence for a moment, then smiled and squeezed his hands. “See? You’re a good guy, Torao,” he said. “Why shouldn’t I love you?”

“You barely know me.” 

“I don’t think that’s true,” Luffy said. “I don’t know who you were before coming here. But I know who you are now.” He moved closer. “And you’re incredible.”

Law leaned backwards, away from him, though Luffy still held his hands. “This is not what’s supposed to happen.”

“In your story?” Luffy asked. “Didn’t you already say you changed it? Why does this matter?”

He had a point. “Luffy, I-” Law sighed, then withdrew his hands. “I can’t do this. Not right now.”

Luffy nodded and sat down beside him. “Alright,” he said. “But I still want to stay here with you. You don’t have to do anything.”

Law took a deep breath, and let himself lean on Luffy. “Give me some time to think about it,” Law said. “I know we might die tomorrow and everything, but… I need time.”

“I’m not going to die. And I’m not going to let you die, either,” Luffy told him, and put an arm around him. “So it’s fine. Take all the time you need.”

“How do you go from the most stupid, stubborn and pig headed man I’ve ever met to a romantic hero in two seconds flat?” Law pondered, and Luffy laughed.

“I’m no hero,” he said. “I just know what I want, and I go after it.”

“And when you don’t want it anymore?” 

Luffy actually laughed, like the idea was absurd. “It’s never going to happen with you.”

“You can’t promise that,” Law said. “And don’t try. Things change.”

“Maybe," Luffy said, pulling just a bit closer. "But I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”

What was he even supposed to say to that? 

“Let me sleep,” Law finally said. “We can talk tomorrow after the battle.”

“All right. I’ll watch over you.”

Law frowned. “The hell you are!” he exclaimed. “You’re going to sleep too. You’re not going into battle tomorrow on no sleep.”

“But-”

“No, ” Law said. “If you don’t sleep I’m kicking you out.”

Luffy gave him a strange look, then laughed. “That sounds like you, Torao,” he said. “Alright. I’ll sleep.”

They slept back to back that night, and Law was grateful. With the torture still fresh in his mind, and on his body, feeling Luffy’s warm back against his was reassuring. It felt safe.

They survived. 

Of course they survived. Or, well, after two weeks of torture Law still had a hard time believing he had made through, but Luffy being alive wasn’t exactly a surprise. If anything, it had been surprising to hear that it had been a close call.

Law had spent the first half of day at the brothel, taking care of the injured as they arrived. And they arrived in dozens. Luffy may have spearheaded the rebellion, but as the hours went on it seemed the larger part of the city got dragged into it. The citizens had long been dissatisfied with the king’s rule, and it showed. Law ran around like a madman between patients, ignoring his worry and pain and fatigue. 

When the bell tolled, declaring the king dead and the battle over, Law had rushed over to the palace to make sure everyone was alright. He found that they weren’t alright, but they were alive, and really, what else could he ask for?

Even though he was already on the brink of collapse himself, Law spent the following hours patching up Luffy and his friends. Some of the wounds were serious, but Luffy was conscious when Law reached him, and grinned up at him.

“Just like when we met, right, Torao?” he laughed, and Law grumbled and told him to keep still.

Both of them had survived, so Law supposed he wasn’t getting fridged as Luffy’s tragic bisexual episode. He shook his head. He needed to stop thinking about it as a story. It had made the torture easier to endure, but since that hadn’t woken him up, he could only assume he was here to stay. 

He already had friends. He already had a life here. The only things he missed about his own world were Shachi and Penguin, but they would be okay. They had each other. And Law suspected he was already dead back there anyways.

A few days after the battle, there was a victory banquet at the palace. Despite most of the guests still recovering from injuries, it was a wild, rowdy affair.

Law withdrew to the balcony in the middle of the banquet, looking for a moment of solitude after the craziness of the last few days. He was still sore and hurt in places, and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep, but it was still early. And, if he was honest, he didn’t want to go to sleep alone. It was the first night since the battle that he wouldn’t just collapse out of sheer exhaustion, and he wasn’t looking forward to facing his inevitable nightmares on his own.

“Doctor?”

Law looked around to see Bepo approaching and felt a deep relief, like a weight lifted off his chest. He hadn’t seen him since before he was captured, and despite others reassuring him he was okay and working elsewhere, it was good to see it was true. He seemed to have recovered from his wounds, and was no longer limping.

“Hey,”  Law smiled. “Did you just arrive? How are you feeling?”

“Yeah, we just got here. I’m okay,” Bepo said. His head hung a little, like he was ashamed. “Are you okay? I haven’t seen you since…” He trailed off, staring at the ground.

“I’m fine, Bepo. It was nothing,” Law frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“It was not nothing! You traded yourself for me!” Bepo exclaimed. “You told me you had a plan.”

“I did,” Law said. 

“Did the plan involve you getting out of there?” Bepo asked, looking like he was about to cry. 

“No,” Law admitted, and Bepo started sobbing. “Hey, don’t cry. I’m fine.”

He walked forward to put his arms around the bear, though they barely reached halfway around him. Bepo returned the hug, too tightly. Law’s remaining bruises hurt a bit, but he wasn’t going to tell Bepo that.

“Don’t do that again!” Bepo told him. “You’re my best friend! I couldn’t- Never do that again!”

“Bepo-”

“Never! You hear me?”

Law chuckled. “Alright. I promise,” he said. He pulled back a little to reach up and tussle Bepo’s furry face. “But don’t get yourself captured again either. What would I do without my best friend?”

Bepo just sobbed more. Law just leaned into him, clapping his arm and letting him cry.

A while later, he heard a voice: “Torao?”

“I’m here,” Law said. He still had his arms around Bepo, but at least the bear had stopped crying. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I was just looking for you,” Luffy said, looking a little uncertain. “Did I interrupt something?”

Law snorted. “Just Bepo getting snot all over me,” he said, patting Bepo’s head. “I need to talk to Luffy. You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” Bepo nodded. “I’m going to get something to eat.”

“Best go now while Luffy is here and can’t hog all of it,” Law smiled, and Bepo laughed as he walked off.

Luffy was still giving him an uncertain look, and Law scowled. “You are not getting jealous over Bepo,” Law said. “Don’t you dare! ”

“I’m not!” Luffy protested. “It’s just that you’re very open with him.”

Law shrugged. “He’s my best friend in this world.”

“And what am I?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Law said, leaning over the balcony fence, looking out over the dark country. “Did almost dying make you come to your senses?”

“No,” Luffy grinned, then moved to stand behind him, crossing his arms over Law’s chest, resting his face against Law’s back. “Did you figure out what you want?”

“You’ve always been good at reading people,” Law said. “Don’t you know?”

“Torao,” Luffy complained. “I can’t read your mind.”

Law closed his eyes. He was quiet for a while, just feeling Luffy’s warmth against his back.

“I- I’ve never really had a relationship. Nothing that’s lasted longer than a few months, anyway,” Law said. “Sure, I’ve fucked people, but it’s never been serious. I don’t know if I can give you what you’re asking me for.” He paused. “I’m not sure I’m capable of it.”

“That’s not an answer, Torao,” Luffy said, and Law could feel his jaw move. “Do you want me?”

Always so straightforward, while Law was and remained a jumbled mess. 

“You’re impossible, you know that?” Law sighed. “ Yes, alright? I do.”

Luffy chuckled, and Law felt his grip around his waist tighten until he was lifted off the ground as Luffy leaned back.

“What the hell? Put me down!” Law demanded, but Luffy just twirled both of them around in a circle while laughing. “I will punch you! I mean it! I don’t care that you’re still injured!”

“Alright, alright,” Luffy said, still chuckling as he set Law down. Law glared at him, but his happy smile was infectious. Damn him.

Luffy ducked under Law’s arm to to move in front of him without letting go of his waist. He grinned up at Law. “So, can I kiss you?”

“I don’t know, can you?” Law smirked, deliberately straightening his back to reach his full height. Luffy pouted up at him, then got a mischievous grin.

Law had half a second to regret the challenge before Luffy swept his feet from under him, making him fall backwards. Luffy caught him in his fall, immediately taking his mouth as a prize.

Law was in his arms like a swooning princess and getting kissed like his life depended on it. It would have been extremely embarrassing if it hadn’t felt so damn good.

So maybe Law did swoon a little. Sue him. He was kissing a romance novel protagonist, what else was to be expected?

“I can,” Luffy grinned as they parted, and it took Law a moment to remember what he was talking about. He huffed.

“So it would seem,” Law said, gently but firmly pushing Luffy away so he could get back on his feet, though he kept Luffy's hand in his. Law smirked at him. “When we’re both healed, perhaps we can find out what else you can do.”

“I’m healed enough,” Luffy grinned, and Law rolled his eyes and pinched his cheek.

“Did you forget that I’m your doctor? You’re not healed enough until I say so,” he said, but it was hard to keep a straight face while Luffy pouted at him. ”Don’t look at me like that. If you promise to behave, I won’t kick you out of bed.”

Luffy laughed. “Does that mean we can sleep together?”

“Just sleep. For now,” Law clarified.

“That’s alright,” Luffy grinned, and let Law lead him away, towards the bedrooms. 

He would never have thought things would end like this, but as Luffy lay down beside him on the bed, Law thought he wouldn’t have it any other way. Who cares how the story was supposed to go, or who Luffy was supposed to end up with? Right now, all that mattered was Luffy’s arms around him and the tickle of his breath against Law’s chest. 

It wasn’t just a story anymore, but if it had been, this really was the best ending he could have imagined.