Chapter Text
Law woke with a gasp, needing a moment to realize that he wasn’t still on Minion Island. On top of that, he was warm, laying on a cot in an infirmary he didn’t recognize. Looking at his hands, seeing them without his signature tattoos and without the scars he got out at sea, he knows that this hasn’t been a dream.
“Law”, Sanji is at his side in an instant, obviously having looked out for Zeff where the older blond is sleeping. Coming to stand next to Law and placing his hand on his shoulder, “You’re safe, we’re on the Red Force and Beck came to tell me we should be back in the East Blue in a matter of days.”
A sigh of relief leaves his lips, before he’s rubbing a hand over his eyes and looking around, “Cora?”
Sanji points at the cot next to Law, “Hongo took the bullets out after you lost conciousness and they needed to sedate you. He was freaking out, but you were fine compared to him. I think you still have some of your disease left, but it’s by no means as much as it was.”
Nodding at that, Law slowly gets up and looks at Zeff, “What happened to him?”
There is a frown on Sanji’s face before he shares what happened to the both of them and what Zeff had done to survive. How he had eaten his own leg in an effort to give Sanji all the food that was left from their tumble in the sea. It’s clear as day that Sanji carries this with him wherever he goes, no doubt even in the original timeline as he knew that the cook had been very reluctant to leave the Baratie. Knowing what he knew now, Law was surprised to know that so many of the Strawhats carried so much baggage with them.
Glancing at the blond, Law grinned, “You know that was his choice, you know? He’s the adult here, Sanji-ya.”
The blond just looked away, sadness obviously in his eyes. He must have been carrying this with him for a long time and since Luffy nor Zoro were here, it would be up to Law to get him out of his funk. He was certain Zeff had known what he was doing when he took off his own leg to eat, not very sanitary but Law had hidden in between corpses to get out of Flevence so he wasn’t going to point that out. But the matter stood, Sanji had been a child, both times, he hadn’t remembered at first either or this wouldn’t have happened most likely. But they were on the Red Force and Hongo was one of the best doctors they knew.
Pursing his lips, Law opens his arms, “I know I’m not Luffy, but I’m more than willing to give you a h-”, he hadn’t even finished speaking before he had Sanji in his arms. Pressing his face into Law’s shoulder. While he wasn’t that big a fan of hugs and physical touch, one had to get used to some of it if you dated Monkey D. Luffy.
Waiting until he could feel Sanji calming down, Law asked where his siblings and the Hearts were. Finding out that Shanks had led them to one of the unused rooms upstairs for some sleep. Sanji had wanted to stay here to keep an eye on Zeff. The now-retired pirate had been aware of who sailed the seas and had been a bit on edge once Shanks picked them up.
Snorting as he looked at Cora, Law nodded, “Cora-san was on edge too. But then again, he had been prepared to take on Doffy, not to deal with an Emperor.”
Sanji laughed at that too, “I still need to tell Zeff the whole story, he knows parts of it but I don’t really know how to go about telling him about it all. About Luffy and Zoro, and the crew. About all of our adventures and the All Blue, the dishes I learned to make especially with a Captain who is a D and a devil fruit user.”
They talk until they’re almost falling asleep, with Sanji taking a cot in between Zeff and Law, falling asleep almost instantly while Law needs a little more time. But he’s safe and that’s something that he needs right now. Given everything there aren’t a lot of people who could handle Shanks right now, and those that do are on their side of this conflict anyway so that helps in not having to look over his shoulder all the damn time. Knowing that he’ll be making his way to Luffy also helps, he hadn’t wanted to admit it at first, but he had truly found his soulmate in the Pirate King and wouldn’t give that up for all the Gold in the world.
—
The following morning, Shanks and Beck bring food on trays down to the infirmary with Sanji’s siblings and Law’s Hearts following behind the redhead.
As soon as breakfast is spread out and both Zeff and Cora are awake as well and seated at the makeshift table, Shanks takes out a den den mushi and dials. Waiting patiently until a deep voice answers, “Shanks.”
The redhead grins, “Dragon, any chance your son is there too.”
Luffy, no doubt sensing he was needed, took the Snail from his father, “Shanks! Did you find Torao, is he ok? What about Mingo’s brother, did you find him? Is everyone ok, when are you expected back?”
He went on like that for a while, until someone finally interrupted him when he needed to breathe. Law laughed at that, which had Luffy beaming as shown on the snail, “Law! Shanks found you!”
Nodding, he leaned in, “He did, together with Cora, so we’re all safe and sound on the Red Force. I don’t know if he told you but he also picked up a stray.” His eyes directed at Sanji, who snorted before greeting his captain, who went ballistic at that.
“Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Robin! Shanks found Sanji too, does that mean that the Old Man is there too? Did he still lose his leg? Are you ok, Sanji”, he asked in such a Luffy tone that the Hearts and the Vinsmokes, as well as Shanks and Beck looked at the snail with a soft look in their eyes. This was the man who would become Pirate King but to all of them he was their Savior in one way or another.
A giggle came from Luffy’s side before a voice he had heard before spoke, “Luffy, you need to let them answer and you need to breathe.”
Sanji’s eyes grew wide, before he looked at Shanks in wonder, “Uta-chan?”
The singer giggled again, “Hello again, Sanji-san, Law-san, I’m here on Dawn with Luffy, Ace and Sabo. Ooh, and Deuce, he’s here too together with Zoro, Usopp, Robin and Nami.”
Everyone chimed in as their name was called, before Luffy took over mentioning that his parents were here too. Resulting in Crocodile and Dragon chiming in as well, followed by Robin who had joined Crocodile and Dragon when she remembered and the couple mentioned making their way to Dawn.
It appeared that the Strawhats were slowly coming together. A good thing too, as the world wouldn’t quite be ready for them. Especially with the people that had their backs. Dragon and Crocodile notwithstanding, there were the Whitebeard Pirates and Law remembered mentions of Katakuri and King.
Law tilted his head, “By the way, Katakuri and King?”
Shanks snorted, while Luffy just giggled before the redhead shared that Marco called very on edge as King and Katakuri called the Moby Dick to talk to him without him being able to explain it to the other Commanders. They were brought up to date by now, as they couldn’t be seen in the East Blue. But it was funny.
A voice pipped up from Luffy’s side, “Of course you would find it funny, Red, Marco just about tore his hair out trying to find a way to explain it without sounding insane.”
Laughing, Law shook his head, “Isn’t that part of the whole marrying into a D line thing? I know I carry the initial, but Luffy and Sabo, and from what I heard Ace as well, were a whole other brand of crazy.”
The way several people agreed to that had most of them laughing, and while they couldn’t see them, those that knew the brothers were aware all three of them were very proud of the comment.
Cora cleared his throat, “I think I need some context to all of this, how are you all related for one.”
What followed was the insanity that was Luffy’s family unit (as one couldn’t quite call it a family) given the way they were all connected in several ways. Going all the way from Whitebeard (who was Luffy’s grandfather, Ace’s future captain and parental figure, as well as an uncle to Shanks and Buggy), all the way to Uta (Shanks’ adoptive daughter, but biological niece, Luffy’s sister in a way although that was never officially confirmed), Ace (who was Gol D. Roger’s son, Whitebeard’s adopted son, Shanks’ and Buggy’s adopted brother through Roger but would eventually become Marco the Phoenix’ partner. As well as Luffy’s brother) and Sabo (Dragon’s adopted son, Luffy and Ace’s sworn brother and a tie into the Fishman Pirates through Koala). The way they all were linked in at least one way and how all of it revolved around Luffy, which was kind of ironic given his reincarnation of the Sun God.
Everyone not knowing seemed to be reeling, before Cora groaned, “So… That’s why you were able to do this, because you’re Nika’s reincarnation.”
Law was a little shocked that Cora knew about that. But then again, he had grown up in Marigeose at one point and the slaves would preach about Nika and Joy Boy at times to keep their courage. Especially once Tiger Fisher managed to get in and get so many people out. Narrowing his eyes at Shanks, he huffed, “Wasn’t that around the time you went to Marigeose? When Fisher got all those people out?”
Shanks grinned, “Maybe… You can’t prove anything.”
On the other side of the line, Dragon snorted, “He did, called ahead to tell me and everything too. I wasn’t nearby but I managed to get Ray and Shakky involved to deal with the brunt of it. Idiot did forget to call Ray, though, so it was funny to hear that story later on.”
There was another kind of connection there, Law knew, between Dragon and Shanks, but he didn’t mention it. Cora seemed on edge enough by Shanks having gone to Marigeose. Zeff just sat there and listened, he didn’t quite know what to do with all of this it seemed but they didn’t need him for this either. He was here for Sanji and because Luffy liked the guy but in the grand scheme of things he wasn’t a noticeable ally.
Before anything else could be said, Shanks addressed Luffy, “To answer one of your questions, Anchor, we should be making our way to Dawn in a couple of days. The weather is favourable, but I guess Dragon might have something to do with that. Additionally to Law and Sanji, we also bring the other Vinsmoke siblings and the core of the Heart Pirate with us. So Dawn will get crowded.”
None of the others spoke, which had all of them on the Red Force on edge. Until a voice boomed through the snail, “Monkey D. Luffy, what in the everloving sea did you do!?”
Followed by, “Ace, Sabo, all three of you here? Dragon, what the… What is going on? Last I knew I was at New Marineford and then I woke up on the Melody with Bogard asking me what the fuck happened for us to be here.”
Monkey D. Garp had arrived at Dawn and he obviously wanted answers.
Laughing all of the sudden, Law got out, “Ne, Garp-san, now it’s up to you or Cora to tell Sengoku that he’s about to actually be related to you. He might just want to retire prematurely now instead of when all of this goes to shit and back.”
Cora gasped, while Garp needed a moment before connecting the dots and greeting him by name. Luffy just giggled, as did his crew both on Dawn and on the Red Force. Shanks just winced, but greeted the Marine as well. Adding yet another link to an already chaotic family. Law also knew that Cora knew Garp, had grown up with the man, so he did have an idea what this could mean for Sengoku. He did smile though, “It’s been a while, Garp-san.”
“Rosinante! Senny’s been climbing up the walls thinking something happened, so you better check in at one point or another, even if I want to be there when he finds out we’re about to be family. Shows him right, trying to get Ace killed”, he goes on that it won’t happen this time as he’ll be the one putting down a mad dog if anything like that happens. They make sure to tell the marine that things have been set in motion that Teach isn’t a problem anymore so Ace shouldn’t be captured and put up for execution.
Of course, Luffy just cheerfully proclaims he can always bust him out again. Several people object to that, including Law as he still had nightmares about the three times Luffy flat-lined on his table after Marineford.