#and then they're together in dressrosa and then in wano

[franeridan]

luffy with a reindeer, a cyborg and a skeleton in his crew seeing bepo for the first time and going "why is there a bear here" and "is the bear a pirate too?" is still extremely iconic btw

#great power move of him to think of everything he does as normal and deem everything everyone else does as weird #case in point looking and law and kidd fighting for the first time and going 'your powers are weird' #I'm sure you're right rubber man #on an unrelated note i reached law and luffy interacting for the first time and i cried true story #they're so !!!!!!!!!!!! #i read it and then went back and reread it #By The Way #the marines get there convinced luffy law and kidd were allied #then later on in marineford (the next time the marines see luffy) law shows up to save him #then then two years pass and the next news the marines have of luffy are that he took down punk hazard With Law #and then they're together in dressrosa and then in wano #do you think the marines just think luffy and law have been working together since sabaody #did they make law triple swear he had nothing to do with luffy when they appointed him as a shichibukai #are they now convinced he lied to them about not being luffy's ally #how do the marines even see luffy and law's alliance i wonder they're always in each other's pockets

[general-cyno]

somehow managed to reach wano and after missing zoro for 50+ chapters I'm so happy these two are back to their single braincell sharing shenanigans.

like. the way luffy was so happy to see zoro again (mind you, this wasn't nearly as long as the 2 year timeskip) that he momentarily forgot the poor sick tama to launch himself straight into zoro's arms?

the matching wide happy grins? the hug? the fact that zoro's the first of the straw hats luffy sees after separating from zoro's group in zou, kinda like how zoro was the first to arrive at sabaody after 2 years? they're crazy (affectionate)

and of course, it's time for the tomfoolery to unfold as soon as they're reunited again

I think the contrast between opla luffy not only remembering wado's name (albeit uh kinda botched) but also caring for wado ichimonji while zoro was injured vs manga luffy not remembering why nidai kitetsu's name sounded familiar and nearly giving zoro an aneurysm by mishandling the sword on top of that is genuinely, hysterically funny btw. different zolu flavors and all of them tasty

I love their interactions with tama so far too! zoro protecting and shielding them both from hawkins with quite literally his own body was really good

and it will never not get to me how easy it is for luffy to leave his back open for zoro to protect when facing enemies, ever since they met, simply bc he has that much faith in zoro's strength and willingness to keep him (and others, when it occurs) safe. plus, to go back to zou for a bit - it's just sweet that luffy knows zoro more than well enough to look beyond all the layers of grumpiness and ostensibly harsh words at times. zoro didn't seem exactly eager to bring sanji back at first but one look at him after noticing zoro had been listening in to the group's conversation abt what happened to sanji and luffy immediately pointed out that he bet zoro was actually worried abt him.

on different occasions, zoro's straightforward or too-rational approach mixed up with his lack of tact tends to understandably annoy other characters but if there's someone who knows how much zoro genuinely cares for his crew (and others sometimes) regardless of what he says, luffy's definitely right there. it's been that way since they interacted for the first time and is why the riceballs incident was so significant to luffy back then. it's such a compelling aspect of their relationship, as usual

anyway just look at them!!!! they're so cute!!!!!

also, zoro going from -> unwillingly flung around arlong park by luffy -> stoically letting luffy manhandle him around in dressrosa -> actively asking luffy to bring him along and hanging onto him of his own volition? character development

and to finish this post, my condolences to law 🙏🏼 knowing those two are on the loose without any sane supervision around must be a nightmare (zoro himself is already on wano's shit list after cutting down that magistrate) and worse if they're together

#zolu #tp #long post #I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHH I MISSED THEM #(nevermind that it didn't take me that long to finish wci but still) #zolu as soon as they're together: we're gonna cause problems!!! on purpose!!!!! #that 'don't cause a fuss' 'we'll apologize to him later' keeps sending me #I love that zoro goes back and forth between keeping luffy in line and enabling him #he's got a bit more than half of their shared braincell sometimes but he's just as crazy as luffy so #it works somehow #poor law tho his headache turns into a full blown migraine whenever luffy and zoro are in each other's vicinity #zoro smiling at tama while she ate was soso cute too augh #jay reads op

[hhhhunty]

been thinking nonstop about the asl brothers and would love to hear you yap about them

Ouhhh the ASL bros.... apologies in advance for how Luffy-heavy this is.

They are very important to me... Luffy's my favorite character and so of course I am made weak by his brothers. They're so incredibly tragic that it pains me to think about them. Did you ever think about the fact that Sabo and Luffy are the two who know each other the least? Sabo and Ace had at least three years before Sabo disappeared, and Ace and Luffy had seven years together before Ace set out, but Luffy and Sabo only knew each other through Ace for less than a year, twelve years ago. They're probably weird without the context of Ace in between them.

This of course isn't to say their bond isn't strong or they don't love each other as much, but being near each other must cause such an ache for their third brother given they were never around each other without Ace there... kind of like when Sabo "died" and Luffy and Ace kept talking to him anyways before getting embarrassed and upset as soon as they remembered Sabo's not here anymore.

Urghh I also think the beginning of Luffy's relationship with Ace is the blueprint for Luffy trying to befriend anyone, and probably the proof to him (though he already knew it) that he could get anyone in his corner if he was just persistent. This is an attitude he keeps throughout all his adventures and everyone he meets, from his "I refuse your refusal!" to Sanji to his consistent pestering of Law...

Ace is just a whole mess of his own... he changed so drastically and even learned manners for Luffy in order to thank Shanks for saving him (something something changing for the better because of someone you love). This completely changed his interactions with others, I think. I love whenever there are nods in comics or fics to Ace being remembered by Luffy's crew as this polite guy, and when Sabo hears of this he's just hopelessly confused and probably a little sad, too, that he missed such a change in his brother and never had the chance to meet him like that.

Back to Luffy though because I'm insane... Ace is such a good meter for Luffy's growth... I recently saw someone commenting on the way that Luffy speaks of Ace throughout post timeskip, from feeling so guilty meeting Sabo at Dressrosa to smiling when Marco told him Ace would be proud of him in Wano... I think a lot of that came from seeing Sabo, and knowing he had another brother alive. I think to Luffy, Sabo is the authority on Ace to some extent. That Sabo was simply happy Luffy was alive and wasn't upset at him for failing Ace was big for Luffy and he kind of took that to heart - it helped him really believe it... maybe that in a way caused him to be able to talk freely about Ace by the time he reached Wano...

Ughh this is all so disjointed and jumbled and I may think of more later but this has been my yapping for now.

here is a doodle :)

#one piece #portgas d ace #sabo #luffy #asl brothers #hunt yapping

[blacklegsanjiii]

Thought of a au to add more trauma for Sanji, Law and Robin :) basically the RLS!siblings au

So, after Cora dies, Law ends up finding Robin who decides to help this teenager and they stay together, until they also find a freesly free from the dunsheon Sanji. Both help Sanji and with time, all of them start to feel like siblings.

This is, until a storm happens, separating the 3 of them. After this, things go like the story: Robin joins Baroque Works, Law starts the Heart Pirates and Sanji meet Zeff. But in their minds, they always suffer bc of what happened.

Years later, Sanji joins the StrawHats and him and Luffy start dating short before entering the Grand Line. Then Alabasta happens and Sanji remeet his sister (both are crying when they finally have the chance to be alone). Then Water 7 with Sanji having a damn crisis. Then everything goes until Marineford, where Law helps to save Ace since he is the old brother of his little brother boyfriend's. Punk Hazard where both R and S are relivied to see Law. Dressrosa where Robin and Law can talk again.

And then WCI, who Robin joins bc fuck it, her little brother helped her so much during Water 7 and she's NOT letting him stay with the same fucking people who made all the wounds and scars she saw in the past. After all this, all the 3 of them finally are able to be together again after the battle in Wano (with a Luffy wanting affection from his boyfriend after the fight, of course)

Sure, more trauma, it's fine. (They are barely holding it together fam.) This is very long so there is a cut!

Like 13 year old Law finds 17 year old Robin and they're staring at each other with a lot of distrust. Law is still really fresh off losing Corazon, it's been like two weeks, maybe. Then they find out they both have fruits and train with each other. Especially given their professions it's very helpful. So they travel together and train, stay out of eyesight from the government and the Donquixote family.

Then they find a child in a metal helmet. Law shambles it off the kid and they start checking him over because what the fuck? The kid is fucked up and they find out his name is Sanji and he's eight. Law and Robin take him along and start the Heart Pirates with Shachi, Bepo, and Penguin. The captain is the spotted kid in the spotted hat and the polar bear is the first mate as Sanji is the chef and Robin is the archeologist. Law tells them about Cora-san and how he wants his revenge, Sanji tells them about the All Blue in all the childlike wonder he can muster, Robin talks about the poneglyphs and reading them.

It's before anyone else gets bounties so it's just Robin who has one when the storm hits a couple years later sending them all adrift. Law manages to stay with Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin but his brother and sister are gone. They're gone and he can't stop crying. Law thought he was done losing family. Robin who lost her second family and heaves sobs before she wipes her face and looks ahead. She only allows herself a short time to mourn. Sanji is just numb, he's been abandoned before, he thought it would happen again. He cries when he feels something other than the numbness, the deep bone settled hurt that sometimes comes to the surface. Then he starves with some old guy on a rock.

Sanji doesn't get Law's number in this. Sanji thinks they're dead and they think he's dead too. So when he joins the Strawhat Pirates as the cook and starts dating the captain he just goes along with whatever hair brained scheme they have going for them. When he sees Robin for the first time they both do a double take because they're not dead and they're seeing each other. Law's bounty has been out for a while so they know about him but each other? They ran into each other? And they're fighting? Sure. Checks out for both of them honestly.

Also when Crocodile falls for the Mr. Prince thing Robin is giggling to herself, and when he falls to her baby brother and his crew? Amazing. She has joy in her heart for the first time in a long time, to see Sanji alive and trying to love. Once they have a moment alone they catch up and Robin looks at the smoking man who shrugs and looks back. She nods and that's that. They're alive and together.

After the Buster Call in Enies Lobby and Sanji pulling Robin aside and is just begging to not lose her again and she nods and apologizes. Luffy finds them later curled up after they said goodbye to Merry and are waiting on the Sunny. He joins them and feels the arm of his boyfriend and his sister hold him close as they sleep. When they get to Sabaody they see Law for the first time. They don't even get to talk really as everything happens.

Law might have a giant on his crew now but his siblings are dead.

Again.

Then he sees his siblings' captain claim Fire Fist as his brother with an army of Impel Down escapees. He knows the pain of losing siblings, many times over(Lami, Baby 5, Robin and Sanji twice over now) so he saves them. Barely, but he does. They are dropped off respectively to whoever is in charge of them. Law has a few revenge plots to settle and they'll only hinder him.

Robin and Sanji are able to meet up thanks to them both training under Revolutionaries. They don't even talk about the fact Sanji is cross dressing, the only thing they're talking about is seeing the crew again. And how much they've probably traumatized Law by "dying" again.

Of course when the crew reunites Luffy is over the moon to see his boyfriend. Nobody other than Luffy knows Robin and Sanji are siblings. Ace is there and amused by his brother's behavior with the cook. Ace goes to give Sanji a shovel talk but Robin says not to worry and that was covered ages ago. Zoro gives Ace a thumbs up which concerns him. They do their business on Fishman Island and head to Punk Hazard on Luffy's whim.

Of course the crew is split up and Law doesn't even hesitate to switch the bodies of whoever else is on Punk Hazard. Then he finds out it's the Strawhats and he may have just switched his baby brother into the cat burglar's body. Robin is acting like she doesn't know him outside of the news, which is fair, and he acts the same to the crew. Of course after all is said and done and he's unfortunately informed of how Straw Hat does alliances does really believe that Sanji fought Vergo and only suffered a broken leg, a building fell on his body at some point, Robin knows Fishman karate and they are not dead.

Again.

Law is very tired and very stressed.

And they don't even get to talk about it all that much because there's never a moment of just the three of them. It's annoying. Either a crew member, that samurai,or the kid, or the painter guy, or Caesar are within ear shot and he wants to throttle almost everyone. Then they arrive in Dressrosa and it kind of all goes to shit. Well not kind of, it just does. Law is going to fucking kill(almost) all of them if Doffy doesn't first. Listen, Law doesn't get how Sanji got to where he is physically, he'll figure that out later, but for now the cook needs to go and take Caesar to Zou!

Everything ends up fine. Sure he cut off his arm but he's fine, it's fine, they're heading to Zou after Ace and Luffy's other apparent brother is there, and alive. That's something they have in common Law guesses as they rest for the night and make their escape in the morning. Law is a control freak to the maximum extent so he's ready to get to Zou, see his crew and spend time with his family before they go after Kaido. Except Sanji's poster says only alive and the look he and Robin share is not a good one.

Of course Zou is a wreck because nothing is ever easy and Luffy is off doing something and Ace is chasing him. The Strawhats find out first Sanji was kidnapped first. Law is explaining to his crew that they can't like they're seeing long lost family because the Strawhats don't know. The Strawhats are dealing with finding out Sanji is gone. When they inform the Heart Crew of the plan to get Sanji, Robin and Law share another look as they depart. No one catches it. Not even Luffy. Law is engulfed in Bepo's arms as he shakes because he just got them back and they haven't been able to be together. Shachi and Penguin are looking ahead with a slight dissociation because they haven't been able to see them and talk to them as well. It sucks.

Robin goes with the rescue team and finds Sanji with the golden cuffs in the chariot. Held hostage by the same people who put him in that God awful helmet Law had to shambles off when he was eight. Robin is furious but not as furious as Luffy who is taking all the hits from his boyfriend without fighting back. Robin notes everything going on and when Sanji delivers food to Luffy and tries to fully leave the crew, Luffy is Luffy though. So a plan is devised to save them even as Robin gives the blond a look of disagreement. After all is said and done and they're leaving with Jinbei who has come to help. Robin threatens Judge for Law and her both when he's done belittling her brother for all of the good things about him.

When they make it to Wano and see everyone, Luffy immediately goes to fight Kaido much to everyone's exasperation. Law, Robin, and Sanji keep exchanging looks because they can't pin down time to talk to each other. Too much going on and Sanji feels responsible for Pedro's death and everything being behind schedule. Sanji uses his raid suit and Law is fucking losing his mind because what the fuck did he miss as he realizes where Sanji came from. Law knows he and Robin know these comics, they had read them before the storm separated them and Sanji did not like them. So that clicks in for Law like the Doflamingo bit clicked for them years ago.

After the raid, when Sanji is finally able to be pinned down after stressing about cooking the three of them manage to sit and talk. Of course it's not even ten minutes into the conversation that Luffy bursts in, yelling for Sanji. Law sets a room but Robin puts a hand on his and smiles at him sweetly as Luffy sits on Sanji's lap and then looks at them.

"No, no, we are not doing this with him." Law glowers.

"Ah, but we just started talking about my life after the storm." Robin grins at him as Law huffs. They catch up and Luffy, surprisingly, quietly listens as the three catch up. None of them are smiling necessarily, they have these half twitches sort of dragging the corners of their mouths. Even about Enies Lobby and Germa and Dressrosa they share things. Sabaody from Law's perspective is shocking, as is Marineford. Law asks if it's possible to go kill Judge with a thing and Robin laughs and assures the elder captain that the peace pact only applied to the Strawhat crew, so the Heart crew could absolutely go beat Judge to death with 'it' as Sanji sighs as Luffy starts whining about not being allowed to.

When they go find the crews Law tells his to 'have at them' as Bepo pulls Sanji and Robin close and holds them up and coos as Shachi and Penguin wrap their arms around them as others start asking questions. Newer Heart members who have only heard about them in passing and didn't understand why Law had their posters as the Strawhats just ask Luffy what's going on.

"Oh yeah, turns out Sanji and Robin are Law's brother and sister and were his first crew members until they got separated." Luffy shrugs.

"Are they leaving the crew?" Usopp asks in despair.

"Nah, they already tried that remember?" Luffy reminds him.

"I had every intent to get back." Sanji defends himself.

"That makes a lot of sense." Zoro says like he hadn't heard Sanji.

"You're dead, shitty moss." Sanji growls.

"I want a pelt of Bepo's fur to lay on forever." Robin hums as she burrows into the mink.

"I love you too, Robin." Bepo cheers.

"What about us?" Shachi and Penguin whine.

"Human pelts are good for books." Sanji answers. "I could make you both into cookbooks."

"All three of you are so creepy!" Ikkaku yells at them.

"You should have seen us when it was just us three." Law shrugs as the Strawhats start asking questions.

#black leg sanji #monkey d. luffy #trafalgar law #vinsmoke sanji #trafalgar d water law #devil child nico robin #nico robin #heart pirates #strawhat pirates #straw hat luffy #lusan #sanlu #luffy x sanji #sanji x luffy #nt!sanji #nt!robin #nt!law #answers

[sualne]

HI HELLO I HAVE A QUESTION! Where are the strawhats in your vamp au? Do they know Luffy is with Doffy?

they're looking after him! they suspect it's mingo's fault he disappeared but they're not 100% sure if luffy's with him!

also have a quick timeline because i haven't given one, the au is very much a wip so only the published fic for now is canon but that's the idea for now:

→ luffy gets turned on dressrosa -> regroup on Zou (i've written a bit about it but haven't published anything yet) plan for to take down Kaido postponed for now -> Whole Cake Island goes similar to canon but oh the horrors -> submarine trip (what i'm currently working on)

-> ??? zone, more the hearts & strawhats interactions, luffy's & mingo's brains keeps on melting together every now and then, stuff, they do go to Wano now?

-> during the party after freeing Wano luffy disappears without anyone's notice, plot twist, mingo was around to discuss with his business partner and managed to get away alive (law's plan failed through and through).

plot twist #2 the reason luffy isn't bloodthristy for ppl's blood is because mingo fucked up when ordering/compelling him to drink his blood while turning him, now he on feel actual bloodthirst for his blood. this is also why he never feels satisfied, his body is fine with the blood he drinks but his mind his keeps going "we still need more blood" because it isn't the right blood.

this means he finally acts like an actual bloodthirsty newborn vampire when he's around mingo and looses his shit, this also means he's finally perfectly fine and well and sane for real after feeding on him and after months of what he had to go through relief isn't strong enough of a word to describe how he feels, so he goes with him.

mingo can end his command, have luffy be able to drink anyone's else blood and be satisfied, but doesn't.

(there's also mindlink reasons & mingo being a master manipulator ect ect that'll be partly revealed once im done with that damn submarine horror oneshot.)

-> now that they're together it's a lot easier to function, doesn't mean it's easy to coexist tho, mingo decides to go visit Cross Guild and maybe get a new business going on.

again this could all change to smth completely different any time but that's the general idea for now!

#vampasks #op vamp au #ive got more ideas for what happens next but that's as much plot as i can give for now. while i still figure this out #there's a scene in udon prison that's been stuck in my head since october and. man.

[moongothic]

Hi! Just found your blog and I'm having a blast reading through your Croc theories and analysis, they're great! I wanted to ask you what you make of Croc's last manga appearance (I think), where Buggy announces he wants to be Pirate King. Just before that Croc mentions they need power and influence to form their utopia. It bugs me. Operation Utopia was your typical bad guy plot, but now he's still going on about that? What's that about? What idea of utopia could Mihawk and Croc possibly share??

I mean the OG Operation Utopia was simply about creating a military nation powerful enough to oppose the World Government, Crocodile explained it during the Alabasta arc explicitly. And the reason he targetted Alabasta specifically was because he believed Pluton would be there which would make his military nation unstopable.

So it's not entirely shocking Crocodile still wants to create that military force, even if he's given up on the Ancient Weapon part.

What bothers me is:

Why did Crocodile wait two whole years until he made his first move at restarting his Utopia Plans?

Why does he want that military force to begin with?

Like the easy answer for 1) would be that Crocodile had to wait for his turn to become plot-relevant again and was simplying enjoying his vacation in the meantime. Like considdering the shit happening during Dressrosa, Whole Cake and Wano, having Crocodile start his BS early would've been a distraction storywise frankly and Oda had enough balls to juggle at once with those sagas. But also, it is odd Crocodile hasn't done ANYTHING ahead of time to start rebuilding a new military force, like. He had two whole years, what the fuck was he doing then? Why wait that long just to start??

And I can only assume... he was waiting? For something?

Let's think about what has changed in the world of OP between Dressrosa and now, like the big, key events that impact the whole world:

Luffy has not just returned to the pirating scene after two years but has caused a fuck ton of world-shaking chaos in the New World (becoming an Emperor being simply the latest big thing)

Reverie happened

The Revolutionaries attacked Marijoa for the first time

The Shichibukai System was demolished

And there's two things we can kind of take-away from these.

If Crocodad Real, Crocodile watching his son take the spotlight could've inspired the man to move; the WG would want to target his baby boy and thus becoming an intentional distraction could be his goal here. Alternatively, hearing that his ex Finally Did Something could've made Crocodile be like "fuck I'm not losing to Dragon" and inspired him to actually make a move himself.

OR. Perhaps the end of the Shichibukai System is what got Crocodile to actually make a move? Because there's two things; One, he was able to make a very powerful ally very fast when Mihawk became a target for the WG. It's possible Crocodile might've been waiting for an opportunity like that, to recruit someone reasonable, reliable and extremely capable to make his own future endevours easier. Two. Because Crocodile gave all his money to fucking Buggy, it's possible Croc could've been broke these past two years. But knowing Buggy's now lost his Shichibukai Rights, THAT may have been why Crocodile decided to go get his money back when he did. Because if/when Buggy decided to skedaddle and disappear into the wind, there'd be no way for him to get his money back anymore, right.

OR. It could be all of these things together. The planets aligned and Crocodile saw now was the time to make his move. Maybe. IDK.

And then we get to 2, Why Does He Want To Create That Military Nation To Begin With

And I have no idea

I mean there's the whole Romancing SaGa 2 thing, but while that would work as proof of Crocodile's motivations, it doesn't explain particularly why he wants to destroy the WG. Like not that you need a personal motivation considdering what the WG is like, but without the motivation it's hard to tell if it's for World Domination or something else.

Though if Crocodad Real then it'd sound very reasonable if he was very intentionally trying to fuck with the World Government to protect his son by

trying to put a target on his own back and act as a distraction

take down as many Marines as possible to dwindle down the enemy forces (making it harder for the WG to make moves on anyone)

lowkey assisting Dragon if he wanted to mayhaps attack Marijoa again if he's actually up to doing something now

just prepare for a war against the WG

Or any combo of the above.

Like. I dunno man Crocodad really would just explain so much

But it all remains to be seen

#Moon posting #Asks #Sir Crocodile #Crocodad #Cross Guild #OP Spoilers #OP Meta #Long post #I had been wanting an excuse to write about ''why did Croc wait so long to start Cross Guild'' so I took that opportunity now #God knows I'd never remember to do so otherwise lmao

[beanghostprincess]

Sanuso (Usopp is transmasc btw. Important thing here) would have two twin daughters accidentally because they make love right after they see each other in Sabaody and they don't really have the time to think about protection or, you know, have common sense. Then, everything happens without the knowledge of Usopp being pregnant until the Dressrosa group arrives at Zou and Usopp starts feeling sick.

Btw, ignore all the common sense for pregnancy. I will do research but not much because the timeline in OP is so short and everything happens so fast and I want the angst to fit in here. So just assume everything I say is medically accurate.

Law instantly notices something's off and tells both Chopper and Usopp (when they reunite with the others) to join him in a more private place. Honestly, the only reason he's doing this is because he refuses to let one of these idiots get in the way of his mission and alliance, he doesn't want to know anything about romantic dramas or anything. Anyway, he has a talk with a very confused Usopp and asks questions that instantly make Chopper realize what's going on. Law ends up doing a quick check-up and... This is way worse than what he was expecting because he could kind of deal with a pregnant pirate, but a pirate pregnant with twins? No. This is a nightmare. Usopp is still confused and Law wants to get over with this already, so he's like: "Long story short, bad news. For me, mostly. And for you too, depending on how fond you are of kids and how much of a jerk is the person you slept with." And basically, Usopp panics. Sanji is loyal to him and they love each other. They even talked about how much they both wanted kids (they're not at that point yet and they didn't even say anything about having them together. They just said they wanted kids at some point) but he's still extremely worried about what Sanji might say. The thought of not having their kids doesn't even cross his mind until Law says: "I mean... I could just help you get rid of them. Poof! Bye babies. Hi pirating again. Hi Wano. And no words to daddy. Or mommy. Or whatever. How does that sound so we don't have to deal wit-" and Usopp instantly goes defensive about it, realizing that he wants to have them. Or at least talk to Sanji about it first.

Chopper hears everything and is there the whole time and... He doesn't have good news, of course, but he waits until all of them are together to tell them what happened with Sanji. This is the reason why Usopp refuses to go to Whole Cake Island and prefers to join the Wano group instead, knowing that the rescue adventure will be more dangerous and refusing to acknowledge that his boyfriend might get married to somebody else. He just tells Luffy to bring back Sanji for him. Almost begs him. And Luffy, carelessly as ever, accepts in the most optimistic of ways.

Usopp doesn't tell anybody about it and everyone thinks he's just sick. The only one who notices him being weird is Zoro, but when he asks what's wrong, Usopp refuses to tell him the truth and quite obviously lies about what's going on. Zoro just tells him to come to him if he ever needs anyone to talk to, and honestly? Who is he going to talk to? Franky? Robin could be a nice option, actually, but he doesn't really know how to approach the topic and he already knows that her calm, reassuring words won't be enough to calm him down. He needs honesty. Harsh reality. And he knows the answer is Zoro. Plus, they're closer. And Zoro obviously notices something. So Usopp can't keep the secret anymore because he's literally dying of stress as he thinks about Sanji and what's going on in WCI. He ends up telling Zoro and he's like:

Zoro: So what are you going to tell curly? Usopp: I'll just- I don't know. Zoro: Do you want the kids? Usopp: If he- Zoro: But do you? Usopp: I think so. Yes. Even if it looks harder to achieve my dream this way. Lots of pirates have had kids! Zoro: Then that's it. Solved. You're welcome. Usopp: Okay, haha, no. Nope. I'm not having these kids without him. Thank you. Zoro: Your body, your choice, your kids. If he doesn't want them and you do, he'll still have to deal with them. We're on the same crew. Usopp: So that's why I can't have them if he doesn't want them. I can't just-- Burden him with- Zoro: Well, the first mistake here was his. I even know about condoms. Usopp: You're not being very supportive right now, you know? Zoro: Well, you wanted the truth. This is the truth. You can do whatever the fuck you want. And what makes you think he won't want them, again? Usopp: Mm. I dunno. I just have the feeling something bad is going to happen soon. Zoro: He's a pussy and a women-obsessed weirdo but- He loves you. Or at least he looks like he loves you. And he's always annoying the shit out of me saying that once he has kids they're going to be better than mine, so he does want to have them. Even if it's only to piss me off. Usopp: I just- I think I just need to wait until he comes back. He will come back and we will talk about this. Zoro: You don't sound so sure. Usopp: No, I have never been more scared. I am not sure. But- Zoro: But when you're scared, the only thing left for you to do is to trust in Luffy. Usopp: Yeah. Trust in Luffy. If he doesn't come back with my boyfriend I am going to murder him. Zoro: Careful, you're starting to sound like you doubt our captain. Usopp: No. I trust Luffy to do everything he can. But Sanji's stubbornness is just... Too much sometimes.

But Sanji comes back to him. Obviously. And Usopp knows that, despite the bad feeling he's having about all of this, they will be alright. And I don't talk more about this because I have 0 energy right now to continue writing about this now. Maybe another day. I just wanted to post this right now because it's been on my drafts for AGES. So here it is. I will keep talking about this someday I promise.

Also, I made a post about the kids too a while back.

#yes i am writing a fic #no it will not be posted soon #because it's probably gonna be long af and i do not have the time #yes the twin girls are banchina and sora my beautiful ocs #my cute little girls that also have a brother years later #zoro my beloved he's protective and he loves usopp a lot okay #also sanji misses usopp like fucking crazy please #chopper can't keep a secret so sanji knows something's going on with usopp. he just doesn't know why and he NEEDS to get to wano right now #also bold of you to assume they have time to talk hahaha NO! the convo they have is post wano and there's angst with a happy ending #anyway i just love these two being parents leave me alone #one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso #sanuso parents au

[hyperbolicreverie]

Some musings below the cut on the central conceit of how the plot in One Piece Odyssey works and the one blatant (grumpy and dramatic) exception to how that conceit works:

So the central conceit of Odyssey is that at the beginning of the game the Straw Hats have their abilities and strength removed via an NPC's (Lim) mysterious ability, and they have to go back into their memories to regain those abilities, by more or less doing the same things they did before, i.e. defeating the arc big bad. However, the game notes two important things about how this works:

These worlds they are going to are entirely based on their memories. Lim can't just reach in and fix the problem because they aren't hers. And because they're memories, and time has passed, they're not going to remember things perfectly, so events will be slightly changed. (Luffy's bad memory gets blamed for a lot of shenanigans).

The people in the memories are not real, and will see you as you were when the real events occurred. Basically, they're simulacrum.

We go through almost the entire game encountering familiar friends and enemies--and god, if you want a good cry, go look up Luffy's extremely subtle, heartbreaking reaction to seeing Ace in Alabasta--and no one ever questions the irregularities of what's going on. The Straw Hats, as one might expect, are not subtle talking about the fact that they're reliving their own memories with a slightly different coat of paint. But here's the thing: no one really calls them on it.

Vivi is a little confused, especially about where Lim came from, but she doesn't say anything. Kuzan wonders a little about things when they run into him in Water 7. And Kizaru comments on how fast they seem to have gotten back together at Marineford, considering he was pretty sure they were all separated at Sabaody.

But then we get to Dressrosa. And for a bit, it seems like the same sort of thing. Rebecca and Sabo don't really comment on anything, and it seems like business as usual.

And then Law falls from the sky, immediately starts trauma dumping about his reasons for being there, and passes the fuck out, and has to be carted around while Chopper yells at Luffy to leave him alone.

But here's the thing: Law, as far as we know, never elaborates on his reasons beyond "hey, Doflamingo's brother saved my life, and then Doflamingo killed him" in canon. And that's enough for Luffy, so he doesn't have to. But he's way more explicit in the game, about something he never told anyone, which means they shouldn't be able to remember it.

He also is immediately suspicious of Lim. He pulls a "what's with this sassy lost child" on her as soon as he's conscious, and she gets very defensive.

This Law is a memory. He's not real. Which means the Straw Hats collectively remember him (rightly) as a paranoid bastard with all of the Trauma Warning Lights flashing neon. And they remember he's smart enough to put context clues together.

And then he effectively just breaks the rules.

The memory Law has of Rosinante is so damn strong that Lim's memory magic goes haywire and effectively summons him from nowhere to fight Doflamingo. Lim explicitly comments that she's not doing this, he is, and that's insane. This isn't the real Law. This is a memory. And the memory of this memory is so strong it's able to summon a completely new memory that none of the Straw Hats have. They don't know who Rosinante is. They've never seen him before.

What do the Straw Hats think of Law to give his echo this much power? How much of an impression has he made on them in such a relatively short period of time? (This would also be nebulously chronologically pre-Wano, so nothing that happens there applies. Robin hasn't talked to him yet, even).

I dunno, I realize that this moment was probably more or less included as fanservice, but it opens up a lot of questions. Trafalgar "fuck your rules" Law, everybody.

(Also don't think too hard about how memory!Law got to thank Rosinante and that real!Law will never get that same moment of closure. Think instead about the genuinely astonished look on Doflamingo's face when his dead brother showed up. Or Lim calling Law out on the fact that regardless, Law will help Luffy again and watching him get all defensive about it, the grump).

#one piece #one piece odyssey #straw hat pirates #trafalgar law

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1109 - Initial Thoughts

Late on arrival but finally we're back to One Piece

The old stella is likely dead, but he's left a big broadcast behind Is he gonna spill all the tea? Let's not wait any longer

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release

We're getting a Wano cover story now too, starting with Onigashima sent underwater (ok but how like it's massive!) atop Old Wano

I wonder what it'll focus on particularly? Yamato? Momo? Tama? Kaido and Big Mom statuses? Drake and Hawkins statuses?

Vegapunk's message however is a bit of a tease because of course it is

Shaka chimes in to mention how such a message will likely be blocked and intercepted, so they discuss piggybacking off of the Navy's comms

Thus, the Navy are unable to stop the transmission, as it spreads across everyone who has a Den Den Mushi

Vegapunk though also wants to provide time for people to set up the Visual snails for a picture, which'd take time for them to set up

Vegapunk gives people an hour, but Shaka advises against that since there will be those looking to censor them, so it's reduced to 10 minutes

Luffy and the crew are aware of this broadcast as well, they are curious about it though

Sanji just take a pulse and give it up

The Gorosei can still converse with Saturn all the way from Marejois!? Is it some telepathy maybe?

Saturn all but confirms that Vegapunk is dead, telling the others that Kizaru dealt a killing blow

But they are quick to realise that the message is as a result of a dead man's switch

Focus looks to turn onto the Labophase, despite being highly protected...nobody tell them that Kizaru can pass through the barrier

Pythagoras also chips in on the message for what they should do during the wait, since having a coffee may not be a good amount of time

The world is preparing for Vegapunk's message, including places we're familiar with

Dressrosa first; Kyros and Rebecca seemed to have been sparring

Leo is alive and well after his incident with Marejois, but true to the Tontatta he bought into the headlines that Luffy kidnapped Vegapunk

Foosha Village are also hearing about it, but they don't have a video screen, because iconic mayor Woop Slap don't have the money

Here's hoping they don't miss something important there, and that Makino is safe, the bar doesn't look damaged at least

The village already think this is gonna be Luffy slander anyway

At Water Seven it's late at night, so Iceberg is tired but amassing screens anyway, conducted mainly by Alice, the child assistant who is way past her own bedtime

But she does have Tyrannosaurus on her head so we'll give it a pass, she's in capable paws

Morgans also has the video up, with Vivi still worried about the crew

Morgans is quick to deduce that it's a pre-recorded message though, but expects that Egghead has already been wiped out

The other seas also prepare for Vegapunk's message, it must be kinda surreal for some of them since this is the first time they're seeing Vegapunk - plus there's 3 of them

Plus all 3 of the Vegapunks in the message are dead

The Revolutionaries also have the message, wondering what it's gonna be about

Dragon thinks back about Shaka's message though, and then continues to not do anything else

At the least there's a Sabo cameo there

Back to Luffy and he notes how Saturn and Kizaru keep coming back for more

He dodges an Eye Laser and a Poison leg, but he doesn't relinquish his hold

He's gonna keep fighting till his crew are safe

Gomu Gomu No Booming Dawn Cymbal squishes Admiral and Gorosei together

And with both flattened he continues the disrespect, spinning them like pizza dough

And then flinging them away like frisbees

Kizaru crashes into a warship, but Saturn pulls some boomerang action to come back at Luffy

Kizaru has had a headache just all day, serves him right too

Luffy avoids the poisonous buzzsaw return that Saturn poses, but the other Gorosei are intent to not let Vegapunk's message go out

Franky, Bonney, Kuma and Atlas make it to the Giants' ship, but still no word on Lucci vs Zoro, or how the Sunny intends to not crash into the barrier

Saturn agrees with his fellow Gorosei 'I shall perform the summoning'

Four cracks of black lightning strike Egghead

And now, there are Five.

Oh god oh jeez oh god oh jeez oh GOD oh jeez ALL THE GOROSEI ARE HERE.

I don't think Luffy can last a 5 on 1 of the Gorosei, Zoro stop dicking around with Lucci, Sanji you gotta drop the old man, Jinbe navigate Zoro and yourself to Luffy and someone else come for support (Robin is injured plus she would be a focus target so probably not her, Usopp? Nami? Brook? Chopper?), or maybe the Giants can back him up? Or the Sleeping Giant?

Things are heating up but now we have more situations to deal with; we can't leave the island too soon or else the Gorosei will stop the message, but if we linger then the Gorosei could do a lot of damage.

There's a break to deal with first of course, but god(a) we need some answers! And we need some things to wrap up, because we still don't have a solution for how those in the Labophase are gonna get out, also I hope Sentomaru got out, bit of a rough day for him; the man he was hired to protect died at the hands of his 'uncle', he betrayed the marines for the former and it was for naught, gotta feel bad for the guy.

We might be seeing all of the Gorosei's powers next chapter though, but it makes you wonder, if all five are here does that mean they won't be in the endgame?

#one piece #one piece spoilers #op spoilers #egghead island #egghead island arc #dr vegapunk #vegapunk shaka #vegapunk stella #vegapunk pythagoras #monkey d luffy #monkey d dragon #saint jay garcia saturn #nefertari vivi #big news morgans #kizaru #admiral kizaru #borsalino #gorosei #leo one piece #rebecca one piece #woop slap #vinsmoke sanji #iceberg one piece #sabo one piece

[everynicorobin]

Favorite Robin panels, cont.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Dressrosa (cont.)

Chapter 745

We knew she spent the timeskip with the Revolutionaries, but this is the first time we see her interacting with named characters and it's very sweet

Chapter 745

The way she's forcing him to sit up and say hello when he's on death's door is so funny, and Sabo's "You can let him rest" is great. Like, "That man is clearly dying, please leave him alone."

Chapter 752

They're reacting here to being told that they'll be floating to their destination using the stag beetles, and I find this especially funny because it's not even the most outlandish thing Robin's done in recent memory

Chapter 757

I love when the crew supports Luffy unconditionally. Robin hasn't had a moment yet where she declares Luffy will become king of the pirates, but this is pretty close.

Chapter 777

Robin was only defending Rebecca in the flower field, but she did a damn good job of it. Her quick thinking led her to shield the two of them with the surrounding flowers, and when that eventually failed, she used her own body to shield her. It is pure cowardice on Oda's part that she does not carry scars from this battle.

Chapter 783

She's very cute here! That is all.

Chapter 801

After a very long day, she deserves to chill out like this for a bit. Just enjoying the company of her friends.

Zou

Chapter 802

What I love about this one is that a few panels ago, Barto's crew were talking about some gum that's been stuck to their deck for ages, and how they were finally able to get it off using the hail that fell. So she really is offering Usopp gum that was just lying on the floor.

Chapter 804

It's times like these when I wonder how many of her weird and morbid comments are genuine and how many are just to mess with everyone.

Chapter 806

I kind of wonder if this is what Zunesha looked like as a young elephant...

Chapter 815

Robin is typically in the character category "Responsible/mature/smart woman among irresponsible/childish/stupid men" so little moments like these where she slips up and contributes to a problem are very endearing.

Chapter 818

Look at how far she's come!! She knows she doesn't need to handle all her burdens alone!! She can count on her friends!!

Chapter 820

As discussed, Robin and Luffy are very similar, and I love that she knows exactly what to say to remind him of who Marco is.

Chapter 820

Speaking of trusting her friends, she knows this will be a dangerous task, but she also knows she can count on Luffy and the others to get the job done :)

Wano

Chapter 924

I am so glad she gets to make these faces now. Ms Robin I love you

Chapter 927

Robin is adorable when she laughs. Look at her I love her

Chapter 927

This is the font that Oda tends to use when characters (like Usopp) are lying or exaggerating, and I love that it's used here. It's like an inside joke to the readers, like when a character says something in a novel and the dialogue tag or narration immediately contradicts them.

Chapter 951

This is great because there are so many things she could have done to disguise herself and this is what she chose. I am asking for her hand in marriage

Chapter 951

Such a sweet and soft moment... Robin knows what Toko is going through and wants to be there for her because no one was there for Robin

Chapter 976

This is awesome. Why specifically a baby?

Chapter 984

Robin is going all in when disguised as the enemy and it is The Best

Chapter 989

Robin and Jinbe haven't hung out all that much, and this is their first fight together, but they're already displaying some fantastic teamwork. I really love it when the Strawhats team up like this.

Chapter 1005

Look at that! She only just got there and she's already coming in hot! No hesitation!

Chapter 1005

"When someone does horrible things to my friends, the demon part of me starts to emerge!!" She is a true Strawhat!

Chapter 1005

I've said that there aren't a lot of good Robin and Sanji interactions due to Sanji being weird and gross, but luckily he's not in this panel so this is one of the nicer moments. Robin may not have been at Whole Cake, but she recognizes that Sanji isn't used to making himself vulnerable to the crew, and that this is a once-rare moment of him asking for help. Not only that, but just as she trusts him to protect her, he trusts her to protect him when he needs it, too.

Chapter 1020

Look at that power! Literally my only complaint is still that there's NO reason for her giant form to not have clothes but my god she is beautiful

Chapter 1021

What an awesome reveal! Look at her looming over the wreckage she caused! I take back what I originally said about this possibly being Robin's DF awakening, but it's a power-up on par with Luffy's Gears.

Chapter 1021

What a great declaration. Just like Chopper is happy to be a monster for Luffy's sake, she's happy to be a demon for him as well. *parks & rec meme voice* it's about the weaponizing what has hurt you in the past for the sake of the present

Chapter 1021

Do I even need to say anything

Chapter 1024

I am so soft for characters holding each other!! Just like Franky back in Enies Lobby, I love that Robin implicitly trusts Brook to take care of her after the battle until she can stand again ;-;

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

#tree of knowledge #fujikos-gun

[thiotchi]

I wonder if Zoro has ever melted at the sight of Law and Chopper having fun and visa versa with Law when he sees Zoro and Bepo

Chopper would be a lot more hesitant (Torao is scary, Zoro!) but sometimes he can be too curious for his own good and he really wants to know how the surgeon cured those kids back on Punk Hazard and he's a surgeon, Zoro.

Zoro: Surgeon of Death Chopper: Don't remind me!!

So. Chopper hesitantly asks Law if he could maybe help him with a large medical text that Robin recently bought him? And while they're at it, maybe Law would like to read these couple of books as well?

The two bond over sharing medical knowledge (and it certainly doesn't help that Chopper is a tiny, little fluffy thing outside of battle and Law misses his crew, okay?). And Zoro is proud, because while he misses his napping buddy (they still nap, but Chopper is definitely awe-struck with having an older doctor around so they don't get to nap as much), it also means that Chopper is getting more out of his comfort zone and - listen, Zoro is good at listening to the reindeer ramble on but he can't contribute to the discussion.

And if he sees the two together on the deck of the Sunny, he might develop a (not so) teeny tiny crush on Law to boot.

It happens much more easily with Bepo. For one, Law has been part of the group through Dressrosa and Zou, so Zoro and he have had time to, uh, bond. Multiple times (but I digress).

They're on the way to Wano and Chopper is on the Sunny, off to Whole Cake Island to save the shitty cook and Zoro needs a napping companion. Technically he doesn't, but it helps.

One day, restocking supplies probably, he sees Bepo laying out in the sun on the deck of the Polar Tang. All that white, fluffy fur makes him miss Chopper more.

Zoro: Oi, Bepo, right. Bepo: Huh? Zoro: Want a napping buddy? Bepo: Do I?

Then Zoro spends the next half-hour laying against the polar bear mink's side, slowly falling asleep as he listens to Bepo talk about how his captain doesn't nap with him as much as he used to, back when it was just the two of them with Shachi and Penguin. Sometimes he uses Bepo as a pillow but doesn't really relax, you know?

And if Law almost keels over, hand gripping his chest, when he gets back to the Polar Tang to find Bepo and Zoro sleeping together, then you know the entire Heart Pirates and Straw Hats with them will make fun of him for it in the future.

#op #one piece #op hc #one piece headcanons #lawzo #zolaw #op law #op zoro #op chopper #op bepo #just a dad and his son #just a captain and his bear #thio answers #it took me a while to answer sorry lmao

[gremlinboykevin]

Little doodles of Klarion and Kanjuro 💚

They're my newer One Piece OCxCanon that I have ; v; They met while Kanjuro was in Dressrosa, before the arrival of the StrawHats, but only really get together officially after Wano (AU because I'm not ready to accept his fate 😭)

#Kanjuro #Klarion #ocxcanon #one piece #One Piece OC #One Piece OCs #art #picture post #ocs #OP Klarion

[stlangels]

So you know how the post timeskip arcs line up with the pre timeskip arcs?

East Blue and Fishman Island: fighting fishmen who think they're racially superior

Alabasta and Dressrosa: Shichibukai coup

Water 7 and Whole Cake Island: rescue mission for self sacrificing crewmate

(Skypiea has no match and Thriller Bark and Wano don't pair together as well as the other 6 arcs. But. Meh.)

And Egghead parallels Sabaody Archipelago: Kizaru, the appearance of Kuma, fighting Pacifistas, and attacking an untouchable noble. So the next arc or arcs will probably parallel Impel Down and Marineford.

Which A) probably another pirate war, and B) worried about Sabo.

#grahambles #one piece #one piece spoilers

[aster-tiger]

The Raging Witch

Law x OFC, Zoro x OFC, Luffy x OFC, Zoro x Luffy, Law x Zoro, Law x OFC x Zoro

Warnings: swearing, shameless smut, bisexuality, consensual k!nk, 3some, b0ndage, emotional slow burn, developing relationship, hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, bonding, mating (not abo), post Punk Hazard, post Dressrosa, changing pov (no head hopping), mm relationship, mmf relationship, english is not my first language, no beta we die like men

Chapter 20: Close to you

They were sitting in the galley at an ass crack of dawn. 

Not that he could tell it was dawn, everything looked the same all the time. Electric lights were constantly on, the few windows were always dark and a “night” began when the lights went off in the bedroom. 

He knew it was morning because the clock on the wall showed a quarter to six. Breakfast was in two hours and the only reason he was up was Law.

The surgeon shook him awake, insisting they should have coffee with Rage. And the insufferable woman was always up with the sun, even when no sunlight reached the ship in nearly two weeks. 

He didn't know if Rage was just a natural early riser or if she was trained to do so. Either way, it was annoying.

Law placed a coffee in front of him and took a seat beside Rage. 

She smiled widely, raising a giant, steaming cup to her lips and took a sip, completely disregarding that the coffee was piping hot.

"Do you even need to drink it?" he asked, slumping over his own cup. "You have too much energy already."

She shot him a mirthfull look. "Then you should drink more, you'll be less grouchy."

He huffed and took a sip of the black coffee, the bitter taste matched his mood.

He blamed Law. Even the surgeon didn't get up this early, so why the change?

"Why are you always up this early?" he asked Rage.

She just shrugged and took another sip, while Law reached out and took her free hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

She smiled and tangled their fingers together.

"How much longer until Wano?"

"We should arrive in approximately two days if we don't run into any trouble again," Law replied with a slight frown.

Yeah, that trouble was an overgrown fish that swallowed the boat whole. Apparently that wasn't an unusual occurrence. Law's crew followed some kind of protocol without any panic. The only one making a fool out of himself was Usopp, who was crying like a goddamned little kid. Afterwards Rage made fun of him mercilessly for days.

The ship shot the fish open with torpedos and got out through a hole in the carcass. 

Frankly, Zoro was impressed with the firepower. 

"How long will it take your crew to reach Wano?" Law asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

Rage swirled the liquid in her cup watching it intently. She didn't respond right away, just stared into the coffee for a while.

"They might already be there."

Zoro frowned. That wasn't possible. "How? Weren't they setting sail from West Blue a few weeks ago?"

 "There are ways to get directly into the Grandline and New World." She didn't take eyes off the cup while she spoke. "Although they're probably following my vivre card, so they'll arrive later than us."

"What ways?"

She sighed and put down her coffee. There was slight tension in the bond but it was quickly replaced by amusement.

"West Blue and New World are separated by the Calm Belt, so the fastest way to travel is through the Belt."

"Isn't that suicide?"

"How do you think marines relocate their troops so quickly? They don't go through Reverse Mountain. Marine ships are covered with seastone, so sea kings don't sense them when they go through the Calm Belt."

"Are you saying you own a ship like that?"

"Fuck no, getting that much sea stone from the Underworld would cost a fortune and attract too much attention," she waved her hand dismissively then grinned and her eyes shined with mischief. "Hijacking a marine ship is way cheaper."

"Sounds like another suicide mission."

"You'd think that only because your crew is incapable of stealth," she shot him a smirk and he rolled his eyes, her jabs at his crewmates were getting old. "The fastest way to take over would be an aerial drop at night, just two or three people. One takes over the communication room, one takes down the guards, and the third one gets the commander. When the comms are down, the rest come in to take down the crew. Fast and clean. Before the nearest marine base learns there's something off, you're on the other side of Calm Belt and taking over a regular ship. All they find is an empty marine ship while you are already far away heading for your destination."

"And more than a hundred people become fish food?"

She snorted. "Forgive me for my lack of tears for dead marines."

"Nami's mother was a marine, someone like her could've been a part of a unit your crew slaughtered to get a ride."

She raised her brows while her expression remained unimpressed. "I don't give a fuck. If there are any "good" marines in the force they're just stupid. If they want to do good, then they should join the Revolutionary Army. Otherwise they're just supporting the rotten system."

"That's harsh."

"You'll change your mind when marines come to Wano for "peacekeeping" operation if we defeat Kaido."

"That's just one of your theories."

She snorted. Her attitude was starting to piss him off.

"You surely were asleep when Kin'emon said there are seastone mines in Wano."

"So what?"

"So even when Wano's borders were closed, they still supplied the Government with seastone," she picked her cup and took a sip. "Wano is currently Kaido's territory and the Government won't mess with him. But with Kaido out of the picture, it's a perfect opportunity to come in under the guise of military aid, take over the whole country and establish a puppet ruler who'll do as they're told. Seastone mines are rare and controlling the mines is power."

Grudgingly Zoro had to admit she had a point. It was one of the more possible scenarios she'd come up with.

"So what's the solution?"

There was a surge in the bond like she was bracing herself. Zoro tilted his head to the side, sending her a questioning look.

"I suppose there are ways to assure Wano's independence," she was again looking into her coffee cup but after a short while she looked him in the eye. "I don't know yet if I want to be involved in anything beyond defeating Kaido."

A deep frown pulled at his lips as he processed her words. He glanced at Law, but the surgeon was looking at Rage with an impassive expression. His part of the bond was quiet as always.

Zoro turned to Rage, her side of the bond was also calm but it felt different, like grounding before a fight.

"So you don't care what happens to Wano."

"I'm saying that I don't know. What I've heard about Wano from Kin'emon, Raizou and Kanjurou is a point of view of privileged upper class, military men and it paints a grim picture. I want to check for myself what kind of place Wano is, and what its people are like. There are societies which crave change for the better, there are those who will stick to their traditions no matter what, even if they are harmful. From what I've heard Wano is a place where classism thrives, trafficking is legal and women are severely oppressed. If that's something that will be upheld after Wano's free then I won't get involved beyond the fight with the Beast Pirates."

"So what happens after we arrive if Wano doesn't pass your vibe check? Will you take Kin'nemons offer and drop from the plan?"

She stared at him, her eyes got that eerie shine that preceded the change into Naga yellow. 

Her eyes switched colors when she was overly emotional or stressed. She couldn't control that yet, so it became an important tell. 

She did something to the bond to hide her emotions and appear completely calm. Right now, her eyes told a completely different story than the heavy stillness in the bond. 

"No. I'll do my part regardless. What comes after is yet to be decided."

"You're going to do something stupid, aren't you?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes, then took a sip of her coffee. "You're so grumpy in the morning. You don't have to be here you know? Nobody's forcing you."

Deflecting again. She did that a lot over the last few days, whenever they were trying to get her to spill her schemes. 

Law was getting more and more worried over it and it made Zoro angry. The tension in the both bonds was growing by the day and he didn't like that.

A sharp pain shot up his leg, when a foot connected with his shin under the table.

He turned his gaze towards Law who shot him a warning look.

"I wanted to have a quiet morning with you both, so please stop this nonsense," the surgeon chimed in.

"Oww, that's so sweet," she leaned in to smack a kiss on Law's cheek. "I was going to offer him a blow job to blow some steam, but I guess a well aimed kick under the table works too."

Sex was another method she used often to deflect a difficult conversation. However, he wouldn't say no to a blow job, she was too damn good at it.

Law sighed with exasperation, then reached for the pot and poured himself more coffee.

"Let's track back to your crew. You said there are ways to cross the Calm Belt, which means there are more than the one you mentioned."

She nodded then reached for the pot. Her enormous cup was still half full but she poured more coffee into it then put in a disgusting amount of sugar.

"Aerial," she said, while stirring her coffee. "Flying over is the safest way."

"So there's a fruit user in your crew who can transport everyone over the Calm Belt?"

She nodded over the rim of the cup.

He was waiting for her to say something more, but she just sat there and sipped her coffee. He expected she'd brag about her crew, but she didn't.

"Doflamingo could imitate flying and one of his crew members could actually fly, but I doubt they'd be able to transport so many people at once. Your crewmate's devil fruits must be pretty special."

Law's attempt at getting more information was met with another nod from Rage. She was suspiciously tight-lipped.

"Would you tell us about them? Aside from Kisa-ya you never actually told us anything."

She put the cup down and stared into its content. "I won't. There are boundaries I won't cross even for you."

"What nonsense is that? You know our crews, it's only fair if we know about yours," Zoro bristled with a deep frown.

"You'll get to know them when you meet them. I won't tell you anything," she met his gaze with a sharp stare.

"Yet, you told me they pose a threat, so it's only reasonable to know what my crew will be dealing with," Law explained quietly, only a slight tension in the bond showing that her attitude was getting to him too.

She had the audacity to grin when she turned to Law. "That I did, but I never said you shouldn't retaliate. Just as I won't interfere when they try to mess with you, I won't move a finger if you choose to make a jigsaw out of any of them. They should know better then to mess with my mates, if they fuck up it's all on them."

The devilish smile on her lips made him suspect she'd actually want Law to show off in front of her crew as a sign of some kind of stupid power play.

"This is crazy," he uttered with disapproval.

Rage turned that smile towards him and he felt chills rolling down his back.

"Welcome to my life."

_____________

"Law-dono, there is something we need to speak of."

Kin'emon stood in the entrance to the rec room where everyone had gathered for the final evening before arriving at Wano.

"Would you try summoning Rage-dono? I believe she'd want to hear this too."

Law nodded and gestured for the samurai to come further into the room. 

He was wondering when they would decide to reveal whatever they were hiding. There were too many ambiguities in their story and often things didn't add up. It was the reason why Rage stopped coming to planning sessions. She picked up early that things didn't add up and instead of calling out the samurai she just retreated into her own devices.

He pulled on the bond, but she was focused on some kind of activity and shrugged off his request.

"Penguin, go fetch Rage. She blew me off."

The quizzical looks he received from everyone were amusing, but Penguin wasn't happy with the order.

"I'll accompany you," Kin'emon offered with a somber expression.

"There's no need," Law assured with a crooked smile. "She'll listen to him."

At this point Penguin was glowering, but he turned on his heel and stepped out of the room.

"Nobody ask whatever that was about," Usopp stated with a deep frown. "I don't need to know about another messed up shit they got into."

Law sat next to Zoro and draped his arm behind the swordsman's back. "We didn't do anything, it's all between Rage and Penguin's gullibility. It seems he didn't take your warning to heart."

"Still, I don't want to hear about it," the sharpshooter raised his palm in protest.

"Don't worry, it's not anything inappropriate," Shachi assured while handing Law a glass of rum and a bottle to Zoro.

The bickering went back and forth until ten minutes later a song could be heard from the corridor.

"Oh you hear a lot of stories 'bout the sailors and their sport

About how every sailor has a girl in every port

But if you added 2 and 2 you'd figure out right quick

It's just because the girls all have a lad on every ship"

Then Penguin walked in with Rage on his arm. She was looking at him with a wide grin, clearly trying to annoy him, but what surprised Law were her clothes. 

She was wearing one of his crew's jumpsuits, with their Jolly Roger stitched on the front. It was unzipped all the way to her waist and she was wearing the standard black tank top that all of his crew wore under their jumpsuits.

The view stirred all sorts of sensations in his chest, possessiveness the most prominent of them all.

"Not gonna happen," Zoro quipped by his side, clearly displeased by the concept of Rage becoming a part of the Heart Pirates crew.

"We'll see," Law smirked at the swordsman before taking a sip of his drink.

"You said there was a party," Rage glared at Penguin with a pout. "This is not a party."

"There's always a possibility. What do you want to drink?"

She glared with disdain before she answered. "A Hurricane."

Penguin sighed, his lips pressed into a flat line, disgruntled with her being difficult on purpose.

"I've got you," Shachi shot up from his seat and clapped Penguin on the shoulder with a toothy grin.

A few minutes later Rage was handed an orange cocktail with a pinkish tint, topped with a slice of orange and a cherry.

She narrowed her eyes at grinning Shachi, then took a careful sip and scowled.

"It's adequate."

Law took offence at her half assed praise. 

The whole crew was roped into taste testing countless cocktails, when Shachi got into mixing drinks. And he became quite proficient after some time. He could mix anything from a simple daiquiri to a complex Ramos Gin Fizz. Law and Penguin knew that last one all too well, since apparently they were the only ones on the ship 'with enough tastebuds' to give proper feedback. Law couldn't look at gin or eggs for a long while after that debacle.

"Thanks for the drink," Rage saluted Shachi and made her way towards the door.

"Sit down," Penguin told her with a look on his face that spoke volumes of how fed up he was with her attitude.

Law regarded the whole scene with interest, sipping his drink with a small smile, waiting for Rage's reaction. 

She snapped her head towards Penguin, who was standing next to the door with his hands in his pockets and whole body relaxed like he didn't even consider this situation as a challenge.

She threw a sidelong glance at Law, sending him a wave of annoyance, which only fueled his entertainment with the whole situation. After all, she put herself in this position by starting this game of submission with his crewmate. Either she listened to whatever Penguin ordered her to do or she could disobey and waste all the effort she put into building his confidence in standing up to her crew.

Law was determined to take advantage of this situation until it lasted. 

Rage sighed in annoyance, took Penguin under the arm and marched him to a loveseat directly opposite Law and Zoro. She made Penguin sit down, then she dropped to the floor right next to his feet, leaning on his legs and propping her elbow on his knee.

Law arched a brow at her audacity, while his smile grew. Perhaps she wasn't aware he wouldn't stop her if she decided to take this game much further.

Surprisingly, the unamused one with this whole situation was Zoro, whose disapproval was heavy in the bond. The swordsman did not appreciate mind games and preferred a more straightforward approach.

Someone cleared their throat and Law peeled his gaze away from the sight before him.

"Does anyone else want a drink?" Shachi asked with an easy smile.

"I'd like the same drink as Rage," Robin smiled back pleasantly.

It seemed the silent woman was greatly amused by Rage's antics. She indulged her every mischief, encouraging Rage's lack of restraint.

It didn't bode very well for the future, since both of them would be headed to the service sector to assume their covers. Although the historian would take on the role of a geisha, which seemed a lot more respectable in Wano's society than Rage being an oiran. However they would still stay in contact and refer clients to one another. Well at least Robin would refer clients to Rage, since geishas didn't provide sexual services.

"There is something aside from Lord Momonosuke's identity that we've kept from you," Kin'emon serious voice echoed in the room. 

"Yeah, that was quite obvious, spill the beans already, old man," Rage commented with a bored tone, sipping her drink.

"We've delayed this, because the story is just quite hard to believe," Kin'emon muttered with a disgruntled tone, however he collected himself quickly and spread his arms, gesturing at Raizo and Kanjuro, who were sitting on both of his sides. "The three of us, as well as Lord Momonosuke and one more, five of us altogether, we hail from the past. The truth is we were sent here through time, from the Wano country of twenty years ago."

Yeah, that was quite unbelievable, so Law waited patiently until the general outrage subsided and Kin’emon revealed the story of Oden, the man who rounded up Wano’s bandits and created a prospering province only to leave Wano to become a pirate. He sailed with Whitebeard Pirates, when he met his wife Toki, who had the power to travel through time. The couple joined Gold Roger and their children were born aboard Oro Jackson. Oden left his family in Wano before sailing with Roger to Raftel, where they discovered One Piece. When he came back, he resumed his position as ruler of one of the provinces and things quickly went downhill. He was blackmailed by Kurozumi Orochi and led to his downfall. He believed his blackmailer would keep his promise, which in Law’s book was the most naive thing anyone could do. Oden lost his title and was sentenced to death by being boiled in oil and eventually he was killed by Kaido.

The tail reminded Law of Dressrosa and King Riku who was also blackmailed and believed Doflamingo would uphold the terms of their agreement only to be double crossed in the end. The level of gullibility in some people was astounding. It was truly tragic that such a person became a ruler of a whole country and ultimately led his people to such tragedy.

There was silence in the room, when Kin’emon finished explaining how he and Momonosuke ended up on Punk Hazard, the air heavy with all sorts of emotions.

Zoro was drinking silently as Kin’emon was speaking, his resolve solidifying throughout the story. He was ready to fight for Wano.

Meanwhile Rage seemed dejected. Her head was resting on the couch cushion next to Penguin’s thigh. Her legs were bent and she propped her wrists on her knees. She seemed relaxed with her eyes closed as she listened silently. But her side of the bond was filled with disappointment and contempt. 

Law pulled on the bond to get her attention, but she only spared him a glance. 

She crossed her legs and turned to face Kin'emon. “I have one question.”

The samurai straightened and braced himself. “Ask about anything, Rage-dono.”

She mirrored Kin’emon's sitting position. “Orochi claimed to have hundreds of hostages who he threatened to hand to Kaido if Oden wouldn’t make a fool out of himself every week.” She paused, waiting for Kin’emon to nod in confirmation. “He kept that going for five years, while he gradually lost support as a ruler.” Another pause, another nod. “But twenty five years ago Oden had the power to defeat Kaido and overthrow Orochi. He had the samurai, the yakuza and the public support and he decided to throw it all away."

“He chose to sacrifice himself so there would be no bloodshed,” Kin’emon answered, eyeing Rage carefully.

“Yes he did and his decision led to his enemies rising in power, while he danced for five years."

"He believed Kaido and Orochi would keep their word," Kin'emon stated.

"So he chose to publicly humiliate himself to save a couple hundred lives and in consequence thousands of people died and the country fell to ruin. Well done."

"Don't." Kin'emon's face was contorted in anger while his voice became cold.

“As you wish,” Rage nodded her head and stood up, stalking to the middle of the room. “Anyway, I want to show you something.”

She reached into her pocket and produced a small silver orb. One of Raizo’s smoke bombs. She threw it on the floor by her feet and the white smoke enveloped her silhouette. It was quickly cleared by the ventilation system revealing a man standing in Rage’s place. 

He was wearing Heart Pirates jumpsuit, his skin was warm brown shade and he had the same hairstyle as Rage.

"If you see this guy out there, just don't kill me or get in my way."

"Oh my god, you did it!" Usopp's eyes bulged while he eyed Rage incredulously.

"You have so little faith in me," Rage rumbled in a low, raspy voice with a cheeky grin. "How do I look?"

Her smile widened as she put her hand on her hip, slouching a little to the side. Her eyes, hair and skin had the same color, her face had the same sharp angles, but now her jawline was wider and sharper. Her eyes were set deeper and the bridge of her nose was wider, giving her the masculine look. Her shoulders and chest were broader and her hips slimmer, but other than that Law couldn't discern more differences due to the jumpsuit covering most of her body.

"You look like a fuck boy."

Law's jaw dropped involuntarily as his gaze traveled to Ikakku.

"That bad, huh?" Rage rubbed her jaw with an amused huff.

"You look like a guy who gets laid with no effort and gives the girls at least one STD and two STI's," Ikakku pointed her drink at Rage with a deep frown.

"Fucking hell," Rage's lips twisted in displeasure, then she pushed her sleeves up to her elbows and quickly tied her hair in a messy knot. "How about now? Forearms and manbun?"

"Maybe with a beard," Ikkaku waved her hand dissmisively.

"Argh, even with all the testosterone I'm pretty sure I won't be able to grow any facial hair."

"Why's that?*

"Snake people's genes, no body hair. I'm lucky I have eyebrows."

Ikkaku eyed her suspiciously through narrowed eyes. "So, no hairy balls?"

Someone choked on their drink.

"What got into you, woman!" Someone else yelled.

To which Ikkaku reacted by raising her middle finger. 

Was this Rage's influence? Or did she feel comfortable to show this side of her when there were other women around?

"I think you could pull of a bad boy look," Robin chimed in, smiling innocently. "Leather pants, fitted shirt, tattoos and signets."

"Come on," Ikkaku huffed, leaning back into the couch. "With her loud attitude, constant flirting and overconfidence, she'd be a walking red flag no matter how she looks."

"Hey!" Usopp sputtered. "So it's fine if she's a woman, but a man like that is a red flag? That's not fair."

Ikkaku snorted and Robin giggled, while Rage shook her head with disaproval.

"Thank your fellow men for that," Ikkaku replied. "Women who act like her are mostly harmless, but when guys do the same there's a high chance they're rapists. So keep your disapproval to yourself and shut the fuck up."

"Seriously Ikkaku, what got into you?" Shachi asked, lowering his glasses to look directly at the woman, his expression stunned.

She just rolled her eyes and Rage sniggered.

What was going on?

Rage snapped her fingers and a huge grin showed up on her face. "Hey! I know!" She thrust her hips to the side, striking a pose, then she threw her hair over her shoulder dramatically. "It will be alright," she spoke with a heavy mannerism, "if I act as me in a man's body, while I'm a flaming homosexual!"

Ikkaku's and Robin's eyes met, then smiles appeared on both of their feces.

"A flaming homosexual is a girls best friend," Ikkaku replied giving Rage a wide grin.

"Why?" Usopp asked with an expression showing he already regretted the question.

"For the same reason girls flock gay bars," Rage answered with a crooked smile. "Gay men don't find woman attractive, so they treat us as human beings, not objects to fuck and throw aside."

"This sounds so fucking strange coming from a guy," Usopp cringed.

Rage laughed. "Oh, I'm still a woman, even when I'm looking like this."

"You should change back," Zoro's commanding voice reverberated in the rec room.

The swordsman's reaction surprised Law, but when he saw Zoro's hard expression, he understood something was wrong.

He focused on Rage again. There was a slight change in the bond, exhaustion and anxiety trickling through the calm facade Rage maintained for the past several days.

Her skin turned gray over the span of the conversation and her body was tense.

"Ow, you don't like me like this?" she turned towards the swordsman with a rueful smile.

"Turn back, it's draining you too much," Zoro replied unmoved by her antics.

"It's not, the transformation took a lot," Rage clarified, her shoulders slumping a bit. "But it doesn't cost me any stamina to maintain this body. I can stay like this however long I want."

"Either way, you have to change back, we'll be reaching Wano soon," Zoro didn't relent, his piercing gaze focused solely on Rage.

"Come on, let me have some fun," she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Rage."

She stilled, as her gaze traveled to the ceiling. She was quiet for a moment, then brushed her fingers through her hair with a heavy sigh.

"I can't turn back right now," she admitted quietly. "I don't have enough energy."

"You're a bit of an overachiever, aren't you?" Ikkaku remarked dryly.

"I'd say she's a drama queen," Usopp joined in. "She can turn anything into an emergency."

"Hey, did I complain? Zoro's being a snitch and I'm the drama?"

"Face it, sugar. Our fellow samurai just revealed a tear jerker of the year and you somehow took the attention away from them and made it all about yourself."

Rage stilled and shot Ikkaku the flattest of looks. "Now, you're being a bitch."

"At least I own it."

The words did something Law didn't expect. Rage crumbled in the bond. Her face stayed the same, while the bond was flooded with anxiety.

In unison, Law and Zoro stood up.

The swordsman walked up to Rage, grabbed her by the collar to unceremoniously drag her out of the room.

"Ikkaku, come with me," Law ordered and headed towards the library, while his crewmate followed without a word.

He took off his hat and tossed it on the table.

"Sit down," he pointed to one of the chairs, while he leaned on a bookshelf. "What's going on?"

Ikkaku met his gaze with a hard stare he had never seen before on her face.

"Why are we going to Wano?"

He didn't expect a question like that.

"We are part of the alliance," he answered sternly, but he could see it wasn't the answer she wanted. "The samurai and the Strawhats fought Doflamingo, it's fair to help them in their fight."

"So why is she going to Wano? Does she have some kind of debt to repay?"

 "No," he replied with a flat voice. "She came to fight Doflamingo in exchange for my help with her devil fruit. Her reasons to go to Wano are her own."

"So she's going because of you, because you and the green haired guy are bonded to her."

It would be great if that was the sole reason she chose to go, but he was certain Rage had other reasons to do so.

He nodded to confirm Ikkaku's words, without sharing his suspicions.

"I like her. She's fun, loud and shameless, but I don't trust her," Ikkaku stated without breaking eye contact.

Her words took him by surprise. He didn't expect Ikkaku to distrust Rage. Both women got on just fine during the past two weeks.

However, Ikkaku was very perceptive and could pick up various nuances, then put them all together to form a spot on conclusion.

"Please, elaborate."

"She uses humor to avoid difficult situations. She's also pretty confrontational, but she always manages to end an argument in a way that nobody holds a grudge against her."

"Yes, I'm aware. Why are you pointing this out?"

"It's a tell that she grew up in a dangerous surrounding, with dangerous people. She's used to hiding her feelings. By picking up a fight she tries to do something about a situation that bothers her, but at the same time she manipulates people to tone down their reactions to her behavior."

"I don't see why this should be a reason to distrust her."

Zoro had told him about Rage's upbringing, how people she trusted took advantage of her and how often she was put in danger solely because of her mother status.

Ikkaku's brow slightly arched up and her stare didn't falter, she gave out an impression she was completely confident in her judgement.

"Are you aware that she trained herself every day for the past two weeks until she was bleeding and covered in bruises?"

"She heals fast."

"Not that fast. She boosts her healing to hide it."

"So how do you know about it?"

"I walked in on her twice. She was so out of it she didn't notice. When I touched her, she recoiled so hard I thought she was going to run away. But each time she did something to shut it all down, she healed the wounds, smiled and went to find one of you for a quick fuck."

"And?"

"Why does she train herself to the ground like that?"

"She's recovering her strength after serious injuries and being starved for a year. We're heading to a yonko's territory, it's only reasonable to be in top shape."

"So she chooses to train until her hands bleed, which clearly fucks with her head. She does it to go fight for a country she has no love for and not a single reason to do so. Furthermore, she has fresh unprocessed trauma piling on her old issues. But when Kin'emon wanted to release her from the alliance, she declined."

Law held Ikkaku's gaze silently. She had a point. He and Zoro came to the same conclusion but they couldn't figure out why Rage was so stubborn about the alliance, when she clearly had no reason to fight.

"I know, she said she'll need to fight to reclaim her crew, but she already has an upper hand. They don't know about her devil fruit."

Ikkaku leaned back in her chair and put one hand on the table top, drumming her fingers once. She was silent for a while, searching his face with careful eyes.

"The fact she hides her state from you, means she doesn't trust you or she wants to spare you from experiencing her pain. She doesn't trust you could handle it."

The words stung. They were correct and Law knew it took time to gain trust, but still a sharp stab shot through his chest.

"The only reason she's going to Wano are you and Zoro. She clearly doesn't think the plan will work but she's going with it at least to some extent. I assume she'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive, which may not align with the cause to defeat Kaido."

"Are you suggesting Rage would ally with Kaido in exchange for mine and Zoro's lives?"

She had the audacity to snort and Law's jaw tightened in irritation.

"Of course not," she waved her hand, dismissing the notion. "She's too good for that. But she's bad enough to have a plan of her own. You've heard what she came up with in a spur of a moment when she got stoned. And those scenarios were already good enough to carry out. It begs the question, what was she able to come up with during the last two weeks?"

"I already took this into consideration."

"I assume you tried to ask what she was planning and she didn't give you a straight answer." When he didn't answer, she just nodded and continued. "So she needs to take over her crew to carry out her plan, which means she probably doesn't need us, the Staw Hats or the samurai to succeed."

"Are you implying Rage would sacrifice everyone to achieve her goal?"

"I don't think she would get any of us killed, because it would hurt you as her mates. But besides that, anything goes."

He stayed silent, unwilling to comment, because if he did, he'd need to agree with her.

"Look, the way she behaves points to one conclusion, Wano is a stepping stone to get something she needs. That's why she's so stubborn to stay in the alliance. I don't know enough about her to be sure what she wants, but I guess it's something connected to her family. All I'm saying is that we can't consider her our ally and we shouldn't count on her support in crucial matters. I know she's important to you, but please don't turn a blind eye or you'll get hurt."

___________

Rage was knocked out cold the moment he managed to get her to lay down.

The transformation drained her and the spat with Law's crewmate took away all her remaining willpower to put up any fight.

He looked down at her sleeping face, it was still so weird to see her in a man's body. He wouldn't lie, she looked good, all lean muscles and sharp features, but this new body would be something he'd had to get used to.

Law's presence pulled him from his thoughts. The door opened and the surgeon walked into the room.

Zoro met his gaze and instantly he knew something was wrong. Law's usually stoic face was tense, his brows pulled together in a worried manner. 

He took off his hat and set it on the desk, then sat heavily in the chair.

The bond was mostly closed off but when their eyes met, some tension seeped through as if he couldn't contain it anymore.

Zoro rolled away from Rage and sat on the edge of the bed just an arms length away from Law.

"What will happen if she won't bond with Luffy?" Law asked suddenly, taking Zoro by surprise.

"Why wouldn't she?" Where did the question come from? What did Law talk about with his crewmate?

"If she doesn't, what will you do?"

He wanted to know why Law was asking about this, but something in Law's gaze gave him pause.

"Then she won't," he answered. "He'd still be my captain and you both would still be the people I'm bonded with."

"What if Luffy won't take the rejection well and he'll make you choose?"

He wouldn't, was on the tip of his tongue, but he caught himself before he spoke the words. This wasn't about Luffy.

His lips stretched in a humorless smile. "When I agreed to be his first mate, I told him I'd kill him if he ever stood in my way of becoming the greatest swordsman. And he agreed with a smile. If he ever made me choose that would mean he isn't the person I thought he was."

"What if Rage made you choose between her and Luffy?"

"Then I've made a foolish choice to bond with her and I'd deserve the heartbreak."

"So what would happen to us?"

"Things between me and her or me and Luffy don't change how I feel about you. It doesn't matter if Luffy's my captain or not, or if Rage is in the picture, I still love you for you."

"What if the bond between us was broken?"

"Then you'll have less noise in your head and we'll have to figure stuff out like everybody else."

Law let out a breath and his shoulders sagged, but the tension in the bond didn't let up.

"She'll do something unpredictable in Wano, the outcome might not be pretty," Law's gaze traveled behind Zoro.

"It'll be alright."

It was hopeful thinking, but he really didn't want to think she'd do something to hurt them or their crews.

"Will it? Then why wouldn't she tell us about her plans?" Law's sharp stare came back to him, making his hackles rise for a second.

"Maybe because it's not our business."

Law frowned and his brows drew together in displeasure.

"Isn't it?"

"If it's something concerning her crew then it's not. Think about it, do you want to consult us about your crew's business? What happens within your crew does not concern us. Same for me and my crew and for Rage. She wants to get her crew back, let her do it her way."

"I'm concerned about what will happen after."

"I have no doubt there will be mayhem, but she won't get in our way to defeat Kaido. But at this point I think we'll have to talk about one thing. If she won't be able to take over her crew, then most likely they will try to take her back to Sin City. She ran away from that place, so there's no way she's going back. We'll have to stay sharp and prevent her from being manipulated into her mother's schemes again."

After the things she told him, he wasn't going to let her be taken away to serve as her mother's pawn again. It drove her to the point she'd rather get killed than live the life that woman planned for her.

"Agreed," Law nodded once, conviction clear in his voice.

But the tension in the bond didn't let up, it was the first time when Zoro felt so much anxiety from the surgeon.

"What's on your mind?"

Law sighed and lowered his head to rub his forehead.

"What if she was right, when she told us we jumped into this too soon, without really knowing her?" He tilted his head to look Zoro in the eye. There was something strange in his golden eyes, something like fear. "The stories she told us about the killing, she's still the same person with the same moral compass. What if she goes off the rails and massacres a whole island again?"

"Those child traffickers deserved that," Zoro replied with a sneer. "She won't go off on people in Wano, just because she doesn't like the country."

Law was silent for a while, searching Zoro's gaze and reaching out in the bond.

"She might do it, either under the influence of her past, her trauma or if she loses control over the devil fruit."

"So we'll have to be ready to stop her. And then we'll decide what to do next." He reached out and took Law's hand. It was cold. "This stuff didn't bother you earlier, why the change?"

Law sighed again and laced his fingers tightly with Zoro's.

"It's been barely a month since we met, we've been bonded for only two weeks and tomorrow we'll arrive at Wano, everything could happen."

"You won't lose us," Zoro assured, stroking his thumb over Law's skin.

"You don't know that."

"I want to believe I'll have my whole life ahead of me with you both by my side."

Law sighed again. "Belief might not be enough."

"Ok, enough of this. You worry too much." He stood up and pulled the surgeon out of the chair, making them stand chest to chest.

He tilted his head and caught Law's lips in a brief, consoling kiss. "If you want, tomorrow we'll talk with her and you can set your boundaries. We can have the talk she wanted us to have, ok?" Law nodded and Zoro smiled at him. "Let's get some sleep."

___________

Sleep didn't come easily. The feelings stirred by Ikkaku's words only added to the growing pile of doubt and fear weighing on his mind.

When he lived solely to take revenge on Doflamingo, he didn't have anything to lose, in fact he was ready to die in the process.

But now…now he had something worth living for that gave him happiness and the fear of losing it was crippling.

Anxious thoughts and worst case scenarios swarmed his mind, keeping him tense.

He was laying between Rage and Zoro, wrapped in the swordsman's warm arms, listening to his mates' steady breaths.

Finally sleep came, but brought no peace. 

He dreamt of Corazon locking him up in a treasure chest. It was dark and cold and no matter how loud he screamed and pounded on the lid, he couldn't save the one man who cared about him. Then he heard gunshots, something heavy fell on the chest and warm blood seeped through the cracks in the wood.

He woke up with a choked gasp, the remnants of the dream still clinging to his consciousness, blurring the lines between reality and the nightmare. The moment he closed his eyes the dream pulled him again into the wooden chest soaked with blood. 

He didn't want to be there.

A warm hand squeezed his shoulder.

"Law," a male voice, raspy with sleep quietly called his name and his eyes flew open. "Shhh…it's ok, it's a bad dream."

Warm arms pulled him into a firm chest. His head was tucked under a smooth chin and a hand stroked the hair on the back of his head.

He inhaled deeply and Rage's scent filled his nose.

He felt her chest vibrating before he heard her humming. She was still in her male form and her voice was different, deeper and raspier, but the tune she was humming was gentle and melodic. She inhaled deeply and started singing quietly. He could feel her lips moving against the top of his head.

"Why do birds suddenly appear

Every time you are near?

Just like me, they long to be

Close to you

Why do stars fall down from the sky

Every time you walk by?

Just like me, they long to be

Close to you"

His heart squeezed. He didn't expect something so gentle and warm coming from Rage.

"On the day that you were born the angels got together

And decided to create a dream come true

So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue.

That is why all the girls in town

Follow you all around

Just like me, they long to be

Close to you

On the day that you were born the angels got together

And decided to create a dream come true

So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue."

He huffed, while his face flushed hot. "My eyes aren't blue."

"Shhh…," she rubbed her cheek over his head. "Your eyes are pretty, the song is pretty, just relax."

The song resumed in her low, raspy voice and the hand continued to stroke his hair. The song was simple and short, so she repeated it over and over again. Sometimes the words slurred a bit with sleepiness, but she never stopped. 

His body relaxed into her embrace and his chest filled with pleasant warmth. He closed his eyes and let her voice carry him to sleep.

__________

Despite Kin'emon's claims that the way into Wano was a difficult one, they made it quite easily without any obstacles. The upgrades made to Polar Tang made it easy to navigate turbulent currents surrounding Wano.

It was a late evening on the sixteenth day after departing from Zou that they landed on a sandy beach of the Kuri province.

Raizo and several of his crewmates went to scout the area, to confirm there was no one around.

They decided to spend the night on the ship and depart for Oden's castle in the morning. The plan was to establish their base of operations in the ruins of the castle.

Rage slept through it all, waking up periodically to get some food and to turn into her female body. It drained her again and she slept until Zoro shook her awake for an early breakfast before departure.

She leaned on Law's shoulder sleepily, while drinking her third coffee after inhaling four servings of breakfast.

There was a snappy comment ready to fly out of his mouth, when the intercom pinged to life.

"Captain, there are twenty five people on the beach, standing by the tree line, mostly women. And there's a ship behind us, pointing cannons at our position." 

Rage put down her coffee cup, stood up and cracked her neck. "It's show time."

"Penguin, go to the steering room and tell the pilots to resurface," Law ordered while reaching for Kikoku. "Everyone else, go get your weapons. We're disembarking in twenty."

"Wait," Rage stood in the doorway, facing the galley. "Don't engage them until I'm done. Afterwards, please try to disregard any provocation. That's all I'm asking of you."

"Don't worry," Penguin walked to the door and ruffled her hair. "Let's see what your crew's like."

Twenty minutes later, his crew, the Straw Hats and the samurai were standing on the beach, directly opposite twenty five women lined up in a row, wearing all brack tactical gear.

Rage stepped forward. Law and Zoro followed right behind her, disregarding her initial protest.

Law tried to assess the women standing silently by the tree line. 

They were wearing the same clothes, but other than that they were a completely diverse bunch, starting from body shape, skin color, hair color and wielded weapons. 

There was one man leaning casually on a tree trunk. He seemed to be in his late forties, light skinned with a neatly trimmed goatee. His posture was relaxed like he wasn't bothered by the tension on the beach.

Rage stopped halfway between two crews, her eyes trained ahead.

One of the women stepped forward and walked towards them. She was about Rage's height, with beige skin and dark hair. Her face was strikingly beautiful with her sharp features, full lips and flawless, smooth skin. She was lean and thin, to the point she seemed delicate, but her gait and the way she held herself screamed danger.

"Rage," the woman spoke when she stood in front of them, her face wiped of any emotions.

"Kisa."

So this was the woman Rage told them about. Her first mate.

They just stood there, staring at each other. The beach became awfully quiet as if the world shrunk to the two of them.

Then the man with the goatee pushed from the tree and started walking towards them.

Rage raised her arms invitingly and the dark haired woman stepped forward wrapping her arms around Rage in a tight embrace.

"Your mother is keeping Manola and our daughter locked up to assure I'll come back with you in tow. There's a plan to get them out and off the island, but they need a distraction."

The woman rattled quickly, as if she didn't want the approaching man to hear it.

The bond burst with shock and Rage's arms tightened around the woman. 

Tension grew in the bond, as the shock dissolved into rapid fire of sensations.

"Do I get a hug too?" The man asked, coming to a stop just a few steps away from them.

He was wearing a wide, welcoming smile, his whole demeanor friendly and unthreatening. But Law had a gut feeling he shouldn't be trusted.

"Ever the attention whore, Tony. You couldn't give me five minutes with my mate?" Rage chidded, pulling away from the embrace with her mate.

The man grinned widely.

"Is that how you greet your favorite dad, after a year long absence?"

"I see, you're still delusional," Rage replied with a smirk. "James and Steve were always my favorites. I cried when grandma took them away."

The man grabbed his chest in an over dramatic gesture, but the smile was still plastered to his face. "Your words wound my heart."

Rage mirrored his wide smile and closed the distance between them to give the man a hug. "How is your heart, old man?"

Something was wrong.

The bond went cold, there was absolutely nothing coming from Rage. She had a smile on her face but there was no feeling inside.

Law's fingers twitched on his sword and beside him Zoro shifted his weight as if preparing for a fight.

"It's all better, since I've seen your poster," the man hugged her back, his smile softening. "It was hell for all of us, when we couldn't find you and every lead went cold."

"Yeah, I know," she replied, her voice as cold as the bond.

The man's eye widened and he leaned back, searching Rage's face with worry. "What's going on, baby girl?" 

"Why are you here, Tony? Is she finally fed up with you, so she sent you away?"

His hands fell from her shoulders and a crooked smile appeared on his face. "Straight to business, I see. That's my girl. A lot has happened since you went missing. The city is thriving, the business is branching out, so we're looking for new business partners. This seemed like an opportunity worth looking into."

"Looking for a deal with Kaido?"

"Is that what you're here for? I thought there's something else going down, judging by the track record of the company you've been keeping."

The man's gaze landed on Law for the first time, acknowledging his presence, then shifted to Zoro.

"Will you introduce us to your friends?" The man looked at Rage with a beaming smile, but she wasn't looking at him.

Her gaze was connected with the silent woman, their eyes locked in an intense stare.

"Rage?" The man asked, trying to get her attention back.

"Tony," she said his name without looking at him. "I'm not going back."

"Don't be ridiculous," he snorted. "If it's about the bounty, we'll take care of it. Don't worry it won't be an issue for much longer."

She slowly turned to him and cradled his face in her palms, making him look straight into her eyes.

"No, I don't want to go back."

He reached up to hold her wrists. An indulgent smile stretching his lips. "Why wouldn't you want to come back? Your whole family is waiting for you and there's Kisa's new family for you to meet. You're an auntie now."

"You crossed a line there locking up Kisa's partner and child. You've crossed the line so many times I've lost count. It's time to even the score."

"What are you talki-" the rest of the sentence got choked off when the man lost his breath and gasped for air.

He grabbed his chest right over his heart, clawing at his shirt and wheezing. His face went pale and sweaty and his lips turned blue.

Law's instincts kicked in, recognising the symptoms of a cardiac arrest, but before he could react or even say a word, the man stilled and went lax in Rage's grasp. 

When she released him, he fell to the ground limply.

Electricity buzzed at Law's fingertips, ready to shock the man to restore his heartbeat, but before he could make a move, Zoro's hand landed on his shoulder, the grip strong enough to keep him still.

He shot the swordsman a warning look. But Zoro held his gaze with steel in his eye, then slowly shook his head.

"Is this enough of a distraction?" Rage's words pulled them from the silent stare-down.

She was facing the silent woman, who simply nodded, looking entirely unbothered by the dead body by her feet.

"Yes, I believe this would be enough."

"We're even. I don't owe you anything anymore," Rage said with finality in her tone.

The woman's lips twisted in an ironic smile. "Oh, Rage, we both know you have never done anything that didn't benefit you in one way or another. But this is my family's ticket to freedom, it's enough to call us even. I'll stay with you until you're finished here and then we'll never see each other again."

A pang of pain shot through the bond, disturbing the deadly stillness. It confused the hell out of Law. Didn't she want to sever the bond with the woman in the first place?  

But somehow the woman's words hurt Rage, managing to break through her shield of dissociation.

"Get a grip," Zoro's gruff voice broke the loaded silence. "She doesn't matter anymore. We're here and you have shit to do."

Rage jerked, like the words physically shook her out of her stupor. She turned her head, her eyes wide and a tentative smile appeared on her lips, while the bond bloomed with warmth.

Law stifled the urge to sigh, while he looked to the sky with exasperation.

Zoro and Rage's interactions were sometimes absurdly rough and scathing, but the brutal honesty appeared to be their love language. Zoro wasn't one for subtleties. Even if they didn't fly over his head, he just didn't have the patience for them. His caustic remarks chipped at Rage's walls, strengthening their bond bit by bit.

Most of the times, a situation like this ended with rough, frantic sex against the nearest available surface.

But right now, a den den mushi's screams cut through the building tension.

The blackhaired woman kneeled next to the corpse and pulled out a transponder snail from the dead man's belt pouch. With a quick gesture she disconnected the incoming call and pocketed the snail.

Then she stood next to Law, facing the women standing silently by the treeline.

Rage took a step forward, focused and calm once again.

"Makonde Kiburi," she shouted, her voice hard and confident. "I challenge you for the leadership of Team One."

"Twiddles" by Misbehavin' Maidens

"They long to be close to you" by Corrine May

You can find more chapters on AO3

#fanfic #fandom #fanfiction #one piece fanfic #one piece zoro #one piece #monkey d luffy #trafalgar law #lemon #straw hat luffy #trafalgar d water law #law x reader #zoro x law #lawzoro #zoro #roronoa zoro #zoro x luffy #law x y/n #zoro x you #zoro x y/n #heart pirates #straw hat crew #one piece smut #shameless smut

[diableasura]

Actual real time six years separate dressrosa from wano and it's terrifying cause what do you mean it took six years for the straw hats to be all together again?? Didn't oda know that they're a family and it's illegal to separate them?? Zoro and sanji didn't interact for six years how was that allowed

#when I remember that I'm so grateful I started reading after the crew reunited cause I don't think I would have survived the wait #if you were there during those six years... I admire and pity you #one piece

[beanghostprincess]

If you were in charge of a One Piece rewrite, would you make Sanuso official at one certain point/arc of the story or make them slowburn with a climax at the very end?

I honestly don't like slowburns with the couple getting together at the very end because it doesn't leave room and time to explore their romantic relationship. But, you know, it can be considered a slowburn since One Piece is so fucking long.

I have this whole concept and whenever I'm talking about Sanuso without mentioning any point in the story specifically just assume this is that timeline:

Skypiea: They catch feelings for each other. Kind of. They don't know exactly what they feel, but they know there's something.

Water 7/Enies Lobby: Okay, yeah, they're down bad and refuse to talk things out but they become closer and closer. Pining best friends.

Thriller Bark: Still pining. Still best friends. They're so in love it hurts to watch.

Sabaody: The "Fuck, I couldn't confess my feelings and now it's too late. I hate it here" moment

Gyojin Island: They return to Sabaody and they have like, this moment in Fishman Island and they finally start dating.

Punk Hazard: They're dating and I feel the need to mention that all the moments Usopp confuses Nami with Sanji and then is disappointed it isn't him is because they're dating.

Dressrosa: Nothing happens bc they barely are together but Robin and Usopp talk about Sanji while Sanji does the same with Nami (when they aren't busy fighting idk).

Zou: The "Oh, my boyfriend is getting married to somebody else. Please, Luffy, bring him back to me" Usopp moment

Whole Cake: The "I don't want to get married to somebody I don't love bc I'm in love with Usopp" Sanji moment

Wano: They reunite and have the cheesiest most romantic moment ever that could even be considered a marriage proposal.

Egghead: Nothing important I just wanted to mention that Usopp would love Sanji's cute outfit there.

#tldr: make them canon at gyojin island after pining for a few arcs #i could talk more about the concept and the timeline i'm just tired today #BUT I LOVED THIS ASK BTW #one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso