underlying scars

chapter 2

Luffy finally dropped beside one of the larger trees, the bark scraping against the soaked bandages. Losing himself to those thoughts, over and over again. Any word that even resembled the loss of his brother, broke him each time.

Then Jinbei found him, Luffy's face bright red, his eyes as well. His entire appearance was a wreck. Luffy kept beating himself up, never letting go of the fact that Ace had died. He didn't even notice the fishman till he made a noise. He says something that Luffy can't quite catch, yet he knows he wouldn't want to hear it anyways. But the words he does hear enrage him. He tries to fight but being so injured and fighting against someone already stronger than himself was useless. They kept fighting until he finally talked some sense into Luffy.

Letting himself come to terms with what's left rather than what he lost finally let Luffy come back to reality. And that spark finally came back to life, just centimeters away from burning out forever. He had his crew! They were alive, and training to meet him again. That small reminder let him get back up once more.

Jinbei leaves and Luffy is left alone again to his thoughts, as it wanders memories of his past come back. From Foosha Village to the Gray Terminal. And those shadows in the trees. Every day when he was with his brothers, there were always things staring at him. He never took to noticing it because, well, no one else did. Even when he asked, there had been no one.

At the beginning it felt menacing, like a predator aiming to get it's hunt. Yet, when the three of them became brothers from the cups of sake, it vanished. Almost completely. Each time luffy reassured his two brothers that their heritage was stupid and to follow what they wanted, something wrapped him up, in a blanket of love and safety.

Eventually when Ace left, the feeling faded as well. It returned at times but could vanish just as easily. The few moments of allowing himself to relax in the middle of the forest, for a ephemeral moment he could feel that safety again.

—- scene change

Law gritted his teeth, every scream of pain he heard from Luffy made something within him ache. It reminded Law of himself when he was younger, the time after Cora-san had died, as he had cried and screamed in the snow.

But the screams had subsided a couple minutes ago, he catches the noise of Jinbei's shoes clacking against the grime of the ground.

He looks down and thumbs over the torn straw in his hand, the stench of gunpowder wafts around it. "Well, well, what are you doing with that hat?" Rayleigh asks, making Law jolt hard. "Fucking kami..." he turns towards him, "Why the hell.. would you do that?!"

"Thought it would be easier than hitting you with a branch to get you out of your dreary thoughts." Leaning onto a tree and setting the haki-encoated branch to the side. "Y'know... I might just have to thank you for healing up that brat. He's damn wild at times."

"You talk about him like he's an old friend, and.. it's no big deal, just a spur of the moment.." Finally looking up from the hat to come eye to eye with Rayleigh. "No, no, he just.... reminds me of.. someone."

Jinbei chimes in from the side, "You should check on his wounds, I think he may have ripped open some of his stitches.."

He wasn't paying any mind to the words of Rayleigh but Jinbei's definitely got his attention. 'Shit, I have to make sure he doesn't bleed out." Trudging quickly into the forest, the old man's next words stopped him in his tracks. "Oh, and just to let you know.. don't try to use that kid for your gain. He's got some damn strong people watching over him so he doesn't get hurt." Glancing back to Rayleigh's face, a small sinister smile graces Law. A shiver runs through him but it doesn't deter him from doing want he wants. He's a pirate after all.

It takes a considerable amount to find the damn brat, but eventually he does.

He can't help but pause looking at the boy in front of him. He's asleep but Luffy's looks make his heart skip a beat. Even with the bandages covering him almost head to toe. He snaps out of it and quickly swipes up the boy. cleaning his wounds, replacing the stitches, and the bandages with skilled expertise.

sorry for taking so long to update this !!! ive been very busy with other things and was really unhappy with the old writing style from chapter one so i completely updated it!