Can I Steal Your Heart? - A LawLu fanfic

(Luffy) Chapter 16 - Loyalty

A/N: Hello, readers old and new! To celebrate 500 views  on this story(!!), I've got a little surprise for you all: you get to contribute to an upcoming chapter, at least a little! See the details in the author's note at the end of this chapter!

Torao was acting weird lately, and Luffy couldn't quite pinpoint what the difference was. He seemed quieter, maybe, like he was deep in thought, but something about it told Luffy that it wasn't a planning-and-plotting kind of thought. There was almost something sad about it, in fact.

But Luffy would be the first to admit that he wasn't very good at the emotional side of the observation haki. The danger, intent, sense, and motion portions, he was great at — Rayleigh had made damn sure of that. But he could really only do 'glimpses' of emotions besides anger. It was a little better with his crew, but the less familiar he was with someone, the harder it was to figure out their emotions.

So maybe he and Torao weren't as good friends as he thought, if he was having so much trouble reading him.

Still, there was an easy way to get closer as friends and answers to Torao's strange mood. Talk to him. So Luffy perched on the railing of the Sunny, near where Law was carefully hand-sharpening his Kikoku. "Y'know, you never did get around to answering my question."

"What question was that?"

"What I asked the day of Zoro's surgery. About why you're so against the 'F' word."

Luffy could see Law smirk just a little under his fluffy hat. "I have no problems with the word 'fuck'. I'd be glad to demonstrate that if you need..." Another long stroke of the whetstone against the sword's edge.

Luffy couldn't help but laugh a little. "You know what I mean, Torao~. Friend! Why do you have so much issue with the word 'friend'?!"

Law sighed, the smirk dropping from his face as he set the stone aside and leaned his head back against the railing Luffy sat on. "Maybe I should ask why you're so attached to it."

"You're dodging the question. You know I'm just gonna keep asking," Luffy teased him. When Law was still silent, he answered anyway. "I like having friends. It's fun. And it's nice having friends from all over, making new friends wherever I go. It's like... always having someone to care about. Someone to pay attention to, to root for and to know that they're rooting for me, no matter how far apart we are."

Law sighed again, deeper this time, and turned his face back down to his sword. "... Maybe that's the same reason I don't like it, in a sense. Friendship... no, even just letting people close, is dangerous. It's nice, for a while — so long as they don't turn their back on you. Betray you." He picked up the whetstone again and resumed those long, even strokes. "Human hearts are fragile, wishy-washy things, Luffy-ya."

Luffy gave a sad half-smile at the gentle tone Law used for his name. That tone seemed to say what they both knew: 'It's a lot worse to lose something than to never have it.' It felt like a hand was clenching around Luffy's heart. "Did someone betray you?"

Law didn't answer, except to freeze his motion and lower his head. His shoulders curled in just a little, almost subconsciously, as if he were a turtle curling into its shell. Protecting himself, Luffy realized.

"Sorry," Luffy said after his companion was silent for another minute. "I didn't mean to pry." He got up to leave, deciding to talk about Law's strange behavior another time.

"... Yes." Law said quietly, the word stopping Luffy in his tracks. "Yes, I was betrayed. A few times, by different people whom I trusted or cared about. Even someone on my own crew betrayed me once, and it cost her her life." There was the shhiing of the sword being resheathed smoothly. "The more 'friends' I have, the more I have to protect. And the more I have to lose. A change of heart from someone close to me could destroy everything I've built."