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“Nnn... nno...”
Startled, Rocinante picked his head up. “Law?”
The small bundle tucked against his side shuddered. Hesitant, Roci reached down, nudging aside the feathers and fabric of his coat to get a better look. Law’s hat had shifted in his sleep, getting squashed to one side, leaving a fairly clear view of his face. The kid didn’t look upset, at least not in the way his usual nightmares caused-
Abruptly, the boy thrashed, a guttural noise tearing out of his throat before both eyes snapped open. Rocinante didn’t have a chance to try and soothe him before Law lunged upright, hat falling away completely as he whipped his head back and forth. Thoroughly alarmed, Roci set a hand on his shoulder - and the kid flinched, jerking back, only to freeze the moment he looked up and actually recognized Roci’s face.
Not a usual nightmare. Not even close. Not with the way Law’s expression shuddered, folding back to expose more grief than Rocinante had ever seen from the boy. “C- Cora-san?”
“Yeah, kiddo,” he said, voice pitched low. “You okay?”
“Cora-san,” Law repeated. Roci’s heart lurched as honest to goodness tears welled up in the boy’s eyes, and started spilling free at the same moment a small sob came out of his mouth. “Cora-san.”
“Shit, Law- come here-” They’d come a long way in the past five and some months, since Roci outright needed to kidnap the fearsome little boy to get him out of Doffy’s grasp, but this easily counted as the least resistance Law had ever offered when Rocinante scooped him up. Shaking little fingers clutched at the edge of his coat, the collar of his shirt, and Law buried his face against the crook of Roci’s neck as he straight up bawled.
Not even in the realm of a usual nightmare.
Rocinante left his leg wedged against the rudder of their boat; between that and the strong wind filling their single sail, they’d keep heading in the right direction as afternoon dipped towards evening. Otherwise, he dedicated his full attention to the undersized thirteen year old in his arms, crooning and humming and shushing, rubbing Law’s back and letting the kid cling as long as he needed. Eventually, the tears ran out, and the sobbing died away to the odd hiccup, but still Law held on - like he thought Roci would vanish the moment he stopped.
Maybe an hour later, the boy finally spoke. “...this. Isn’t a dream.”
Rocinante blinked. The words came out muffled, thanks to Law’s face still wedged between his neck and shoulder, but not unintelligible. “Uh. No- no, you’ve definitely woken up.”
Law took in one deep breath that made his entire chest move, and let it out slowly. Then, carefully, he pushed himself up from his slump, and looked Roci right in the face. “You’re real.”
“Last time I checked, yeah.” The answer came out flippant; his tone didn’t.
“You’re alive,” Law revised, insistent, swaying a bit closer as his gaze sharpened into a glare - demanding instead of begging.
At least it gave Roci a better idea of what the nightmare was about. “Yes, Law. I’m alive.”
Another deep breath. “Good. You’re going to stay that way.”
After that, Law didn’t get fussier so much as he took charge, stating goals with the clear intention of them being pursued whether Rocinante understood why or not.
Goal the First: abandon their current heading and sail to Minion Island.
Goal the Second: steal a Devil Fruit from the pirate crew that might not be there yet but would be soon.
Goal the Third: get to the neighboring Swallow Island as fast as possible to check on something, or possibly someone. Maybe even several someones, depending on what they found there.
Goal the Nebulous Fourth: go find a person Law exclusively referred to as ‘Strawhat’ and strangle him. The last one Law didn’t so much state as grumble about, which Roci would feel more alarmed over if not for the other goals that apparently needed to be accomplished first.
He didn’t bother to ask how the kid came up with these goals. Too much conviction in Law’s eyes for them to be a flight of fancy, if he were ever prone to such things in the first place. And that didn’t even touch upon the other information Law possessed when he really, really shouldn’t have.
“You’re a marine,” he first said, flat and expressionless, but the accusation still made Roci flinch hard enough he almost toppled over the side of their boat. “You’ve been undercover, and reporting to Admiral Sengoku.”
“Kid,” Roci tried to cut in, but Law just steamrolled over his weak protest.
“You and Doflamingo were born Celestial Dragons, and he’s planning to take over the kingdom of Dressrosa in the Grandline.”
Seriously, what the fuck.
“How-?”
Law suddenly moved, from where he’d been sitting on the bench seat, to climb straight up Rocinante’s frame to perch upon his chest, lean in close, and snarl, “You can’t stop him if you’re dead. So don’t let him kill you.”
And just like that, the kid slid back off, and went to rummage in their meager supplies.
Roci stayed put for a while.
“...what kind of Fruit was it?” Law hummed, questioning, but didn’t emerge from the blanket he’d wrapped himself up in as night approached. “I can’t think of anything else that would send your memories back in time.”
The kid didn’t make a sound.
“Only thing that makes sense,” Roci murmured, head tipped back so he can look up at the dark sky and silvery clouds. “Unless you ate a telepathic Fruit when I wasn’t looking.”
Law huffed. “I get enough headaches as it is.”
“Ha.”
After silence lingered for a while, the kid spoke up again. “Not a Fruit. Or- not just that. Strawhat’s powers keep getting weirder. Letting him sail our fleet into an already weird storm was just asking for trouble.”
Rocinante took a moment to consider that statement. “Not talking about only a few weeks of advance knowledge, are we?”
Tellingly, Law burrowed deeper into his blanket. “Thirteen years. More or less.”
Damn.
That- that would make Law Roci’s age. In spirit, at least. Slowly, Rocinante felt a grin spread across his face, still looking up at the stars, even as they turned blurry from the moisture in his eyes.
Law clearly didn’t appreciate the lack of a response, if the pointy elbow suddenly digging into Rocinante’s ribcage was anything to go by. “What.”
A watery chuckle leaked out before Roci could bring himself to say- “You lived, kid.”
The pointy elbow retreated. But then Law squirmed around, and two scrawny arms slipped around Roci’s waist. “Yeah. I did. And so are you, this time.”
Well. Rocinante wouldn’t argue with him. But he didn’t outright agree, either; if it took his death to let Law live, to let him double his lifespan, then Roci would make that trade in a heartbeat.
Silence.
Darkness.
Moving quick, but steady, Observation Haki guiding his steps, his hands.
Opening a box.
Seizing a fruit - the Fruit.
Getting away, but not unscathed. Completing his goal, but not without cost.
Law
Vergo
Law
Doffy
LAW-
“He’s free, Doffy. Just let him go.”
Bang
The shots hit home, and Roci jerked awake.
He felt a lot more willing to go along with Law’s goals after that.
A week later, shouting and the odd gunshot rang out on the clifftops behind Roci, but he managed to come away with less damage than the first time he stole the Ope-Ope Fruit. It definitely helped that one of the pirates tackled him right out the window used for his entry and exit, seconds before a bullet could hit his shoulder. Said pirate did a lousy job of holding onto Rocinante, and he managed to speed away with minimal tripping.
(Later, much later, he’d realize those hands were shoving rather than trying to hold on.)
Law, reluctantly, waited with the boat. Probably the only reason he agreed to do so was their earlier arrival than the first time around; Tsuru and Doffy were both still days away from reaching Minion, which meant Roci didn’t need to race the clock quite so badly. He still hurried, focused on the small heart-shaped fruit in one hand that would save Law’s life, but he could afford to put a little more effort into avoiding the Barrels Pirates and erasing his trail as he went.
...well. Most of the pirates. One quick check of Observation Haki right before Rocinante made the turn down a narrow trail to the shore turned up a half-familiar Voice: the same individual who’d hastened his exit through the window.
A Voice that rang with determination, desperation, and hope.
Startled in spite of himself, Roci paused, just long enough for the pirate to appear back the way he’d come, stumbling out of a snowdrift. Breathing heavily, the young man’s head lifted; pale eyes latched onto Rocinante, and relief spread across his face.
Roci blinked.
“Sir-!” More shouting, closer than before. The young pirate flinched, casting an alarmed look over his shoulder. He kept running towards Roci’s position, grimacing, and swept his arm in a frantic ‘keep going’ gesture.
Roci didn’t need to be told twice.
He leapt down the path’s sharp incline, falling more than running, and only just barely keeping himself upright as he went. Fortunately, Law evidently anticipated a less than graceful landing at the bottom, seeing as he’d adjusted how their boat floated in the water so that Rocinante’s final jump sent him tripping headfirst into it. “Well?!”
“Got it,” Roci croaked, still carefully cradling the Fruit. “There’s-”
“Trafalgar,” that same voice called again, and Law’s head whipped up, his jaw dropping from sheer surprise. To Roci’s surprise, however, the kid didn’t protest the scrawny pirate skidding down the path and making his own leap into their boat.
Instead, Law just hissed once he recovered, and seized the unexpected arrival’s hoodie to shove him towards their thin mast. “Fucking hell, Drake, you couldn’t have waited until the marines showed up to run away?”
The young pirate just wheezed out a laugh. “Not, when you- showed up early- what can I do?”
“Get the sail unfurled,” Law ordered, dropping to his knees beside Rocinante and holding out an expectant hand.
It went against orders. It defied the Marines and World Government alike. It would get him court-martialed and dishonorably discharged at best, thrown into Impel Down or executed at worst.
It would save his kid.
Roci passed Law the Fruit.
“Wait- wait wait wait wait, you and your friends fought Kaido the Beast and Charlotte Linlin at the same time?!”
“My allies,” Law insisted, while Drake coughed into his fist to try and hide a smirk. “And it wasn’t intentional, but stupid Strawhat needed to go get his cook back from Big Mom and she wound up following them to Wano.”
“His cook being the estranged Vinsmoke prince from Germa,” Drake added helpfully, because at this point Roci would swear the two boys were just competing to see who could put the most alarmed expression on his face.
“Call Blackleg a Vinsmoke to his face and he’ll kick you into the next Blue,” Law huffed, shooting the older teen a glare from under the brim of his hat. “And that’s if Roronoa or one of the others don’t get to you first.”
‘Roronoa’ was not a name that had already come up, and Rocinante honestly couldn’t bring himself to ask, brain still spinning from all the other information he’d received since they got clear of Minion Island. Law becoming a notorious pirate captain with the title ‘Surgeon of Death’. Sengoku taking Drake under his wing after Roci’s death. Law teaming up with this Strawhat crew to tear down Doffy’s takeover of Dressrosa, Drake following in Roci’s footsteps as an undercover marine, Law growing powerful enough to take on not one but TWO Emperors of the Sea-
He needed a drink.
He needed a very strong drink.
With any luck, Swallow Island would be able to provide such once they arrived. Or at least- once Roci and Law deposited Drake near the main settlement, with Rocinante’s den-den mushi, and then circled around to the backside of the island where a not-friend of Law’s had a home near a small cove.
Law made the decision to tell their passenger ‘sure, we can stop by Swallow long enough to drop you’, and Roci carefully didn’t say anything to damage the impression they weren’t staying on the island. His kid snarked and bantered with the young pirate-turned-marine, clearly liked him to some degree, but if Law didn’t trust the guy with knowledge of their destination, Roci wouldn’t argue. Much as he also found himself coming to like the guy.
Much as he might like to spend more time with the other kid his dad adopted.
But, speaking of his dad...
When they came within sight of Swallow’s shores, Law and Drake did him the courtesy of both moving towards the bow, muttering quietly at one another. Rocinante took a deep breath, and pulled his den-den out.
It only took a few moments of purru-purru-purru before the call connected, and on the other end: “Sengoku speaking.”
Realizing he’d been holding in that deep breath, Roci let it out in a rush. “Cookies.”
Muffled rustling. Probably a file folder being closed as the Admiral gave the den-den his full attention. “Roci. Status?”
“Complicated,” he answered. It wasn’t, really, not with Law, and everything he’s shared about Flevance, with the way the world is going to go but- “I don’t have time to get into it all right now. And I won’t be able to call again, not for a while. I’ve found someone you need to talk to in person, he’ll be waiting on the island we’re about to dock at. Just- look after him, okay? Drake’s a good kid. Could turn out to be a good marine, with a bit of help.”
“Roci,” Sengoku repeated, the usual concern in his voice deepening to true alarm. “Are you alright?”
No bullets in his chest. Rocinante let a slight grin flicker onto his face. “Better than I would’ve been. Goodbye, Dad. Take care of yourself.”
“...you as well.”
Roci hung up before he could second-guess himself, and say more than he should.
Spending a night asleep with Law tucked against his side proved enough for whatever force sent the boy’s mind back in time to affect Rocinante too - he had no idea if a similar thing could happen from sending Drake to Sengoku, but if it did... well. At least the man would have a chance to understand the difference between Roci disappearing, and Roci dying.
With any luck, he’ll understand.
“Ready?”
“Yes,” Law grinned, angling their rudder as Roci hauled on the sail’s main rope. The wind caught, and smoothly pulled them away from the small line of docks, Drake left behind with the den-den and some of the emergency berri from the hidden pockets in Rocinante’s coat. They’d sail out in a straight path, until the shore all but disappeared, then curve around to the far side of the island, where Law insisted they’d find the first three members of his crew. He’d become much more invested in seeking them out, since Drake’s advance memories proved the time travel effect had likely affected everyone who sailed into that storm thirteen years in the future.
Roci figured he would reserve judgement on deciding if that was a good thing or not.
They found the right cove, thankfully just ahead of a storm blowing in. Law practically hopped from foot to foot as Rocinante secured their boat, then seized him by the hand to head for a trail leading up into the island’s forest. On the voyage over, he’d gotten started carving some of the Amber Lead out of his body, putting the Ope-Ope’s power and a stolen scalpel to efficient use even while continuing to talk like nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
“There’s a lot more to do,” he’d admitted after stopping, face more grey than white. “But it’ll take me a few weeks while my strength builds up.”
Considering the kid already accomplished the task once already, Roci believed his assessment, and tried not to fret too much.
Only a few minutes into their trek, Law’s breathing began to get noticeably heavier, so Roci went ahead and scooped him up. The boy didn’t protest, slumping against his shoulder, fingers hooking automatically into his coat. Tired directions guided Rocinante along a particular route, and soon enough they emerged at the edge of a decent sized clearing, a tidy little house at the far end, with two Voices inside it.
...apparently, Voices who Observed him and Law in turn, seeing as they promptly brightened with shock, a few seconds before the door practically flew off its hinges. Two teenagers tumbled out into the snow: older than Law but younger than Drake. Roci got half a moment to feel concerned, and then: “CAPTAIN!!”
“Idiots,” Law grumbled, but he grinned as he said it.
“Wolf’s getting some supplies in town, for the Tang Two,” Shachi announced, rushing through washing a pair of bowls to serve Law and Roci stew from the big pot bubbling on the stovetop. “It was so weird, the first couple days, when he went from barely knowing us to suddenly remembering everything, and laughing about all the time he’s gonna save on his experiments.”
“Bepo isn’t here yet,” Penguin added, as he bustled back into the kitchen with some towels and blankets. Just because Rocinante managed to get them to shore and the house ahead of the worst of the storm didn’t mean he and Law weren’t wet, and cold, and sorely in need of exactly the kind of care the teenagers were throwing at them automatically. “Or at least it’s a couple of weeks until the day we all met each other - I dunno, he might turn up early like you, but I’m pretty sure he isn’t on the island yet or he’d have come found me and Shachi.”
“Bepo will get here when he gets here,” Law said with a huff, listing sideways in his chair to lean against Roci. “We’ll get the Tang back, and then we’ll go find everyone else too.”
Shachi whooped, as Penguin’s smile took on a cheeky slant. “And strangle Strawhat?”
“And especially strangle Strawhat.”
Honestly, at this point, Rocinante figured this Strawhat was more due an awfully big ‘thank you’ than a strangulation attempt, but he’s perfectly capable of keeping quiet to humor his kid for the meantime. And maybe even a lot longer than that.
He has time now. Law has time, and Roci is going to enjoy every minute of it.
Bepo took an extra few days to show up, days which Law spent worried out of his mind, and the other boys too, even if they did better at distracting themselves. The little navigator more than made up for his tardiness, however, by not arriving alone.
A girl with thick bushy hair who looked like she’s only just hit puberty came marching inside without so much as a ‘by your leave’, demanded to know how their ship was coming along, and then proceeded to give Law and Penguin and Shachi hugs in that order. Behind her came the smallest mink Roci had ever seen, who promptly latched onto Law and began bawling both tears and apologies.
“Ikkaku,” the girl introduced herself, when she reached Roci. Fortunately already sitting down, he was able to shake her hand without comically bending over and likely stumbling in the process. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you must be Cora-san.” Roci only got the chance to nod before she looked away, towards Shachi and Penguin. “My judgement’s off, is he shorter than Jean Bart?”
“Yes,” both boys answered, Shachi adding, “Barely, but yes.”
“Good, we won’t need to fool with adjusting the Tang’s schematics.”
The older teens wound up leading Ikkaku off to meet Wolf and see his workshop, where large sheets of metal and various mechanical components had been stacking up for two weeks. Rocinante stayed put, waiting for little Bepo to finish letting his emotions out and allow Law to come up for air - not that the boy seemed to be struggling much against the all-encompassing hug that smothered him in white fur.
As if he could sense the delighted grin on Roci’s face, Law let go of his grip on Bepo just long enough to flip up his middle finger.
Construction started to move faster with Ikkaku around; after Wolf, the original creator, she turned out to be the person with the best up close and personal history with the submarine that housed Law’s crew. The two of them hit it off almost right away, making an amusing visual: the elderly man dressed as if for vacationing on a Summer Island, and the slight wild-haired girl in threadbare overalls, each covered with liberal grease stains as they began fitting separate components of the ship together.
Rocinante found himself more and more grateful to the old inventor as the days flew by, both for his present generosity, and the kindness he’d extended to Law and the other boys in their first life. “Hah,” the man said, the only time Roci tried to express this gratitude. “Did me a fair amount of good, having those miscreants around, even for just a few years. The policy of Give and Take, my lad! Never fails.”
That said, Wolf did put his foot down when it came to housing after Ikkaku showed up. Work on the submarine paused just long enough for the old inventor to boss the lot of them into building an extension for his house, with independent heating and water systems that could be shut off when their group left again. Rather than all cramming together into Wolf’s one upstairs guest suite, this meant the five kids could spread out between their own rooms - though more nights than not, a certain thirteen year old still crept through the main part of the house to crawl into bed with Roci.
(Even while still asleep, his arms automatically made space for Law every time.)
The extension proved exceptionally intuitive on Wolf’s part. Not even a full week after Bepo and Ikkaku turned up, a trio of travelers arrived on Swallow Island, and got directions to the man’s house from some people in town.
Rocinante answered the knock at the door, and found himself blinking down at three unknown teens right on the cusp of adulthood. They blinked back. The two boys hesitated; the girl spoke up. “Hello! We’re looking for Trafalgar Law and his friends.”
Somewhere in the whirlwind of shrieking and hugging and good-natured wrestling that followed, Roci managed to pick up that the oldest of the new trio, Clione, was the crew’s cook; that the tallest, Hakugan, was their primary helmsman; and that the youngest, Hakugan’s sister Nanagi, was never actually part of the crew at all in their first life.
“I spent years regretting some stupid choices I made,” the girl sniffed, lifting her chin when Law bluntly demanded to know why she’d come along with her brother. “Getting a second chance like this because of Haku-nii and his crew seemed like a good reason to make a new one.”
That seemed fair, but Rocinante could see the telltale signs of Law feeling nervous as the afternoon went on. After the larger than usual chaos of dinner, as the newcomers sorted out which rooms they wanted to bunk in, Roci tracked down his kid for a private word. “You okay?”
Law’s face scrunched, considering how to answer even as he used his Room power to put away the last of the freshly washed dishes. “...fine.” After a long moment of Roci staring at him with raised eyebrows, the boy huffed and went on, “It’s just- you heard the others, during dinner.” Telling the tale of fighting a bigger pirate crew and rescuing their kidnapped victims, one of whom turned around and saved Law when he fell overboard, yes. Which led to the four boys staying at Hakugan’s home afterward, where his sister took one look at unknown pirates in her house and went for a set of knives. “She... reminded me of Lami, when we first met.”
Ah.
Rocinante knelt, and looped an arm around Law’s shoulders to pull him into a hug. “Do you wish this thing had sent you back further? So you could have saved her?”
“...I don’t think I could have saved her,” Law whispered. “Not unless the Ope-Ope’s powers came with me.”
The two of them stayed put in the kitchen for a while.
More Heart Pirates turned up over the following month.
Iruka, a trained nurse who brought along some medical equipment that may or may not have been stolen from his prior occupation. Uni and Ebi and Asari, cousins who only stayed home long enough to make certain the rest of their village stood prepared for a bad snowstorm that would’ve wiped out most of their crops and food storage in a few more years. Rakko and Tako, Ikkaku’s engineering assistants who showed up with only the clothes on their backs and in need of a few good meals to put some weight back on their bones. Azarashi, a cheeky little twerp who turned up in a stolen boat carrying what should have been a shipment of canvas and cotton and other kinds of cloth bound for a Marine base - within two days of his arrival, pretty much all the kids started wearing matching boilersuits, embroidered with patches of their crew’s Jolly Roger, which Law refused to admit he’d outright stolen from the Doflamingo Pirates.
Others came with more tagalongs.
Maguro turned up with a young person he eagerly introduced around as his best friend Nishin, who walked with a limp but insisted they could still prove useful. Law dismissed the need for ‘use’. “You came, that makes you one of us now.” Even so, Nishin turned out to be an even better tattoo artist than Maguro, who’d previously done a fair amount of art for the crew - between the two of them, Roci saw a dramatic rise in bandages amongst the kids, followed by a flurry of colorful images on arms and shoulders and backs, eagerly shown off after Law proclaimed each one sufficiently healed.
Hitode brought his girlfriend, a brightly energetic girl named Amadai, who stuck to him tighter than glue at all hours of the day. She’d apparently caught the eye of a marine officer in their first life, who didn’t take kindly to being told no - they didn’t share more about the fallout, but then, that hardly mattered when the Hearts made themselves as welcoming as possible.
Musu, described to Roci as one of the crew’s more laidback members, arrived beaming from ear to ear with a pair of shorter doppelgangers in tow. Manati and Minou, who spent a night curled up with their big brother and woke up from shared nightmares of their deaths via avalanche, decided they’d just as soon give the pirate life a try. Well aware of that particular kind of horror, Rocinante didn’t make any protest, even when he realized the kids, despite their large size, were only fourteen and eleven years old.
“We aren’t like your brother’s crew,” Law said flatly, when he found Roci after that round of happy introductions.
“I know.”
“It doesn’t matter how old any of them are,” the boy added, staring with extra intensity from under the brim of his hat. “They don’t have to fight, they don’t have to be useful-”
“I know,” Rocinante repeated, uncurling from his slump against the wall to catch Law’s clenched fist. “You’ve made a real family here. I’m not about to try and interfere with how large it gets.”
“Good.” Law breathed out sharply. And then cracked a grin. “I don’t think Wolf would appreciate you pitching them through his windows, anyway.”
“Ha.”
The next arrival came with a complication. One that sent Bepo into a panic and racing off through the twice-extended house in search of Law. Rocinante took one look at the anxious young man and the very pregnant woman leaning on his arm, and brought a chair to them rather than the other way around.
“Thanks,” the young fellow said, helping his partner sit, before doing a double-take. “Uh- you wouldn’t happen to be-”
“Law’s Cora-san,” Roci confirmed dryly. Pretty much every Heart asked something along those lines when they first got a good look at him. “And you are?”
“Gar. And this is my wife, Tomarigi.” His throat bobbed with a gulp. “I’m, really hoping Captain can help this time around.”
Tomarigi curled a hand around his wrist, smiling despite her clear exhaustion. “Even if he can’t, love, I’m glad we got a little longer together.” Gar made a pained noise, leaning down to press their foreheads together. Rocinante would have cooed with delight at their cuteness, but... well. He did possess some tact. A few moments later, Bepo and Law came dashing into the room, boy colliding with mink and mink colliding with chair when they didn’t quite skid to a stop soon enough.
“Shit,” Law breathed out, his wide-eyed stare latching onto Tomarigi automatically. “Shit. Gar, this is not my specialty.”
“Yeah, well, I think I’d take you over a drunk midwife any day.” The man’s tone trembled, for all that he tried to crack a joke. “Captain. Please.”
“I didn’t say I won’t try,” Law huffed, a little of his usual steel sliding back into place. “Room.” Blue light filled the air. “Scan.”
Tomarigi’s body shimmered, bones and muscles and organs flickering in and out of view through her skin. Roci caught a glimpse of the smaller form curled up within her own; Law must have gotten a better look, before dismissing his power, and launching into a round of instructions. “Bepo, start running prep, we’ll use my examination room. Cora-san, I need you to go find Iruka and Robusuta-”
“Robu’s not here yet,” Bepo called over his shoulder, already speeding off towards the kitchen.
“-Hitode then, tell them to get scrubbed up, and after that I need warm towels ready for use-”
Poor Tomarigi watched with a stressed pinch to her face, but Gar expressed nothing but pure relief as he helped the young woman - the girl, really, neither of them could be twenty years old yet - back onto her feet, to trail after Law as he headed for the small room set aside for crew check-ups and sorting out restored medical files. “I told you, things will turn out fine, Captain’s the best in the world.”
Only as they disappeared down the hall did Roci twitch, coming back to himself, and hurry off to seek out the assistants Law requested.
A couple of hours later, Rocinante found himself idling with near everyone else, gathered in the big hall built behind Wolf’s house as a secondary kitchen and dining space. All conversation came to a sharp halt when the door opened, and Iruka shuffled inside. He paused, staring at the crowd for a moment, before his tired expression morphed into a delighted grin. “It’s a girl.”
The entire hall promptly ROARED with delight, all tension instantly dispelled as the Hearts grinned at each other and slapped shoulders and immediately began discussing what to do for a proper celebration. Roci slumped a bit lower in his chair, equally relieved.
“That’s not the best part,” Iruka called out once the volume lowered enough for him to be heard. “They already picked a name-” Instant cheers and whoops, demands to know what the new parents chose, “-trying to say, just settle down! Honestly, it’s like dealing with a bunch of children-”
Considering that the vast majority of Hearts were physically teenagers, Roci let out a bark of laughter.
“In any case,” the man went on, as soon as the round of protests died away, “They’re calling her Maia - you all should have seen the look on Captain’s face when Gar asked if they could use his mother’s name.”
During the next round of excited hollering, Rocinante slipped out the door.
A quick check with Observation turned up Law’s quiet Voice tucked away in the original guest room where Roci still spent his nights. He headed there quickly, but slowed down after reaching the door. Law sat on the floor, hunched and folded up, hat pulled down low over his face. Roci sank down next to him, long legs stretched out, one arm in his lap and the other draped across the mattress. “So. Maia.”
His kid made an indecipherable noise.
“Was the surgery hard?”
“No,” Law muttered. “Not with Room. Her umbilical cord was- was longer than it should’ve been. Got tangled around the baby; would have made real labor harder, especially with the shit midwife on their home island. I just Shambled her out and dealt with the placenta and stuff.”
“Thought you said delivering babies wasn’t your speciality,” Roci couldn’t help but tease.
Law just sniffed, tipping over to lean against his side. “I’ve still read how the process works.”
Humming, Rocinante brought his arm down to curl around the kid, giving him a couple of pats. “You did good, Law.”
“‘Course I did. I haven’t lost a patient yet, I’m not about to start now.”
Admittedly, Roci did wonder whether Gar would stay with the crew, or take his wife and healthy child home for a normal life. The unasked question received its answer by the next day, the young man donning a Heart Pirate boilersuit, as his wife wrapped up their daughter in a baby blanket embroidered with the crew’s Jolly Roger.
“It’s not like we have any other family waiting for us,” she cheerfully told Rocinante, when he sat down with the couple at the same table for breakfast. “This is- different, certainly, but- Gar told me he’d have stayed lost until he died if it weren’t for this crew. I wouldn’t make him give them up for all the treasure in the world.”
“That, I can understand,” Roci said softly.
He scooted down a bit to make space for Law when the boy shuffled over, a mug of coffee clutched in both hands. Eyeing it, Roci waited until his kid set the drink down to clamber up onto the rough wood bench, then quickly swapped the mug for his bowl of porridge. Law, clearly still in the process of waking up, took a moment to notice and make a noise of annoyance. “I don’t care how old you remember being, little shit, drinking too much coffee at this age will stunt your growth.”
“My growth’s going to be stunted until I’m nineteen regardless,” Law huffed. Rocinante knew full well the boy could have twisted his fingers to revert the bowl and mug to their prior positions - instead, Law tucked into the porridge with only a bit more grumbling. Across the table, Tomarigi watched them with a smile.
Halfway through his meal, Roci’s kid finally noticed the conspicuous absence at her side. “Where’s the baby?”
A nod sent Law’s gaze to the other side of the room, where Wolf of all people held court at the head of the second table, little Maia tucked securely in the crook of his arm as he discussed some submarine upgrade or other with Ikkaku and her assistants. Further down, Gar sat between Maguro and Nishin; judging by the sketchpad being passed back and forth between the three, they were likely planning a new tattoo for the man. Sitting across from them, Musu’s large fingers worked at rapid speed, knitting a pair of baby-sized socks, his younger siblings paying close attention as they slowly worked with their own needles and yarn.
When Roci glanced back down, he got the unparalleled joy of seeing a small grin on Law’s face.
You did good, kiddo.
Two of the last three missing Hearts turned up later that week, Robusuta throwing open the door of the dining hall with a hollered “RICE DELIVERY!” as Beluga hauled a sled up with Uni and Clione’s help. Rocinante pitched in with the following flurry of activity to get the food secured inside, and bore witness to a rapid amount of information tossed back and forth.
“Pretty sure the Strawhats are already raising hell in the East Blue-”
“-did some shuffling with the schematics so we get a second big washroom in the Tang Two-”
“-BIG doings at Marineford, we snagged a newspaper that said Garp got into a fight with some younger Admirals and then disappeared-”
“-totally forgot you weren’t here, and wanted your help to delivery the baby-”
“Wait, what? What baby?” Startled, Robusuta almost took a tossed bag of rice to the face before recovering with a mournful expression. “Captain needed me?”
“We managed,” Hitode called, setting down his own bag before pointing. “And we got a new crew mascot out of it!”
One look at little Maia in her father’s arms drew a sound like a dying whale out of Beluga, while Robusuta’s jaw practically hit the floor. “Holy shit- that’s Gar’s baby? Law saved Gar’s baby?!”
“And then Gar and his wife named her after Law’s mother,” Rocinante couldn’t help but say.
“Awww,” Robusuta cooed. Then he blinked, and craned his head back, and blinked again. “Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa wait, are you-”
“Law’s Cora-san, yes.”
“Holy shit,” the teenager repeated, eyes wide. “Okay, I take back every complaint I made on the way here, time travel is awesome.”
Roci couldn't help but laugh.
“Jean Bart’s the last,” Law said that evening, he and Roci settled to one side of the dining hall as laughter and delighted voices filled the space. “It’s too early for him to have been arrested and enslaved, but- I don’t know if he has his original crew at this point. He might not come looking for us like everyone else.”
Rocinante hummed, watching children and teenagers and young adults all mixed together, every single one of them wearing at least one piece of clothing with the crew’s Jolly Roger. Even the baby, wrapped up in her embroidered blanket, kept warm at either end by bright yellow socks and a white and black knitted cap. “If he’s anything like this lot, I doubt he’ll stay away for long.”
Law huffed. “He definitely is. He joined in with the others when they did their stupid team pose nonsense. But he isn’t from the North Blue-”
“Then he’ll find us in the Grandline,” Roci insisted, and did his best to hide a smile at how Law went stiff on the word ‘us’. “I mean it, kiddo. You pulled together one hell of a family. If Gar and Tomarigi aren’t taking off with their newborn, then Jean Bart isn’t going to turn his back either. And before you say I haven’t even met the man, I don't need to when I’ve met you.”
Sinking low on his bench, Law grumbled something incomprehensible. But he snuggled further into Roci’s side, and they went back to watching his crew in the midst of their celebration of second chances.