? '------ {. ' 'TRAPPED '.} '------ '?

Law was small. He shouldn 't be.

Law had less stamina. He should have more.

Law had patches on his skin. He should have ink.

Law felt trapped in his own un-inked skin, and he hated it.

His skin had tattoos, dark lines with deep meanings. He was six foot three. He was a Yonko ' a

fallen

Yonko.

His skin didn 't have white patches still fading or scaring over, he wasn 't barely five feet, he wasn 't a kid that wasn 't even a pirate yet.

It was wrong.

Law was okay with dying. He was okay with it, truly. He had been fine with dying ' he had planned on dying earlier than he had. He never anticipated becoming a Yonko, never anticipated to live after taking Doflamingo out. A part of him never expected to live through that encounter if he 's honest.

So, he lived longer than he had expected. He had been ready to die, especially since he had weeks to prepare himself for it.

Law is 'happy to be alive. Cora-san is alive, he has part of his crew with him, brothers and Luffy, and it 's more than he ever hoped for in the past months.

But he was trapped in a body ' in

skin

that wasn 't his, and he hated it.

'Torao? ' Luffy had been following after Law for a while, though he tried to be subtle about it. Law 's Observation Haki wasn 't the best of the best, but it was still better than average, so he had sensed Luffy making his way to him.

Luffy was small too. His voice was too high in pitch, too child-like. He didn 't have his regular stamina, couldn 't use his main attacks like Gear Second. But Luffy didn 't seem to mind being in a body that hasn 't been his for a decade and some change. Law wasn 't like that, wasn 't simple-minded and look at the best in the situation. He was analytical, liked facts over hope, and maybe that was why Luffy was so appealing.

Where Law planned and planned, Luffy didn 't think.

Where Luffy didn 't think, Law tried to keep him alive.

Where Law was dying, Luffy would go out with him.

'Torao, what 's wrong? ' Luffy asked him, sitting in front of him.

Luffy wasn 't an idiot like people thought he was ' simple-minded with a one-track focus, yes, but he wasn 't stupid. He was observant in a way that scared Law because not once had Luffy

not

left him feeling bare and exposed. Luffy could learn and understand a lot, but he chose not to because he saw it as useless for him to learn when his nakama wanted to.

But Luffy could see through Law, see through anyone, like they were a glass window that had been cleaned recently. And Law loved it as much as he hated it.

'm 'fine. ' Law grunted.

'Law, ' Luffy said, raising an eyebrow.

It looked silly on that too-young face.

Luffy should be older.

Law should be older.

Law sighed deeply, 'I 'm not used to being a kid again, ' he muttered out.

Luffy smiled at him, grabbing Law 's hand. 'I like your spots, Law. '

Law watched Luffy tangle their fingers together, 'I don 't. '

Luffy smiled, one of his rare soft ones that didn 't make him look

loud

but sincere, loving dare Law say, 'It shows that despite everything, Torao is still alive. '

Law hated those spots.

He should have ink on his skin.

Luffy looked at him from under his lashes, his finger gliding over the patches moving up Law 's arm like it was treasure. Like Law deserved it.

Law was starting to think he did, so long as Luffy looked at him like that.

Law hated those spots; they should be covered in ink.

Luffy loved them anyways.

? '------ {. ' 'VOICES ' '.} '------ '?

Law found Luffy after searching for half an hour. He hadn 't been in the tree house when they woke up, nor had the bandits seen him. Luffy didn 't just disappear, so the brothers and their friends ate breakfast and went searching for him. It was good training for the other 's Observation Haki, at least, and Law played it off as it being practice.

Law found him at the cliff overlooking the sea. Luffy had his hands clasped over his ears, eyes scrunched up tightly, and his presence was barely a whisp. None on the brothers would be able to find him like they were ' except maybe Sabo who took that type of Haki like a fish to water. Maybe he just got tired of Luffy knocking his skull with a stick whenever he failed to dodge.

'Luffy-ya, ' Law called.

Luffy flinched, hands pressing to his ears with more force.

Law approached slowly, kneeling in front of the King. Taking in the boy, Law understood what was happening, and he moved to rest Kikoku next to them. His fingers wrapped around Luffy 's wrists, and he pulled the other closer. He pulled Luffy 's hand away from his ear and let the other rest against his chest.

'It 's so loud, ' Luffy choked out.

'Just listen to me, ' Law said simply, turning to watch the waves.

Something like this has only happened a handful of times, and Law learned the best way to calm the other down was by making him focus on one thing ' usually someone 's heartbeat or breathing. The Voice got too loud for him sometimes, mostly when he was upset or stressed about something, or if he got too careless with what he allowed himself to hear.

Everything spoke almost constantly, Luffy told him months ago, when they were still in their adult bodies and exhausted, only a handful of their crewmates left alive. Normally, Luffy only heard what wanted to speak directly to him. When he got like this, though, he usually unknowingly forced himself to listen to everything around him.

It took a while for Luffy to calm down, his fingers peeling away from his ears and his body relaxing.

They didn 't talk about it. They didn 't need to.

? '------ {. ' 'INK ' '.} '------ '?

The tattoo parlor was

the most

shadiest thing Law has ever seen. It was in a dark alleyway that took fifteen minutes to navigate to, but Ace had led him there without a care in the world, pipe in hand and chatting about something Sabo and him found during their daily runs ' aka stealing from people.

The tattoo artist was probably a murder, but Law flashed some belli, and he got a grunted response of what he wanted. Ace stood back, glaring suspiciously, but didn 't focus on Law 's request. Cora-san would flip out if Law returned home with all of his former tattoos, especially with death on his knuckles, so Law was putting those off for later.

Law 's shirt was removed the moment the artist got the design he wanted, and the needle rose. His original tattoos would be on his skin soon enough, but he wanted to add a bit to it. The needle glided on his skin, and Law felt himself smile.

As he and Ace walked back to the forest, the younger boy looked at him with a frown, 'What did you get, anyways? '

Law smiled, 'It 's a secret. '

'Pf, lame, ' Ace huffed, obviously disappointed.

? '------ {. ' '? ' '.} '------ '?

Two days later, Rosinante was sobbing dramatically the moment he saw the ink on his son 's skin.

Corazon

in Rosinante 's neat cursive sat on Law 's collarbone, and on his right shoulder, LASL stood out in bulky letters.

Ace was not crying like his other brothers, thank you very much.

(He was.)