Can I Steal Your Heart? - A LawLu fanfic

(Law) Chapter 72 - Healing

"Hey Law, looks like one more RSVP came in," Shachi announced, holding out a letter.

Law smirked as he took the letter from Shachi, the writing on the envelope already familiar to him. He hadn't expected a response this late, but he was glad for it. Even if it was the 'no' he was expecting, it was proof that the old man was still alive. His smirk only grew into a grin, albeit an almost devious one, as he opened the letter and read the response.

"Well?" Shachi asked, having obviously recognized Wolf's writing, too.

"Seems this poor bird must've gotten lost somehow. It's dated nearly two weeks ago," Law stated, keeping his voice nonchalant. Shachi just about stomped his foot in his frustration, glaring at Law until he finally caved to the real request. "He's coming. Guess you have someone else you have to tell about your marriage now."

Shachi paled. "Aw, fuck...."

That just made Law's grin turn into a slight laugh. "It could be worse. He wouldn't have expected to be invited. Notified, perhaps, but not invited."

"Is he gonna think it's weird? I mean, Penguin and I spent a lot of our growing up years together, everyone treated us like brothers...."

"Probably as long as you don't think of Penguin as your brother, Wolf will be fine with it." Law thought for a second. "You two aren't actually related, right?" He'd never seen them separate for long, and he knew they'd both lived together as kids before they were all brought into Wolf's place. He'd never thought to ask.

Shachi blanched. "No! I mean, maybe very loosely by other people's marriages. My aunt by marriage was something like his great-aunt by blood or something, but he and I are not blood related!"

Law nodded. It was about what he'd suspected, honestly. Neither of them seemed the type to knowingly date or marry a blood relative.

"Hey, what's this?" Shachi picked up the thick envelope with the date on the front, the one Law had brought back from the future.

Law paled. "Give that back!" He knew he should've put that away immediately, dammit!

"That's my handwriting. Why do you have something with my handwriting on it that I don't remember writing?" He danced out of the way of Law's reaching arm and carefully ripped it open.

"Shachi, don't!" But before Law could Room it out of his friend's hands, the letter was open. And within seconds, Shachi had paled and frozen, his eyes meeting Law's in utter shock. "... I told you not to," Law said sadly, Rooming a chair behind his friend before his power plucked the letter from shaking hands.

"But... Luffy? ... Did you know?" Shachi dropped into the proffered chair.

Law folded up the letter again and shoved it back into the envelope, resisting the urge to look at it as he did. "I only know the vaguest possible outline. That letter was given to me by the Sanji and Zoro of the future, and I was told not to open it until the date on the front, to try to preserve some of the better things of that timeline. Which means you can't tell anyone, even me, even Penguin, about whatever you just read."

"... are you okay?"

Law slumped back in his own chair, bracing himself for honesty. "Not as much as I'd like to be. I keep trying to tell myself that he's still here, now, and that that's a problem I don't have to worry about yet. But... well, you know me. My mind also keeps spinning wilder and wilder plans for how to protect him from a problem I don't even know anything about yet." That had been the reason it had sat so openly on his desk. He'd talked himself out of opening it early about fifty times already, desperate for answers.