~

Law woke up hours after Sabo had come to get Luffy for breakfast. He was still tired but he could literally hear the acid in Luffy's stomach getting more and more concentrated by the passing second so he decided to spare his boyfriend and left the bed, telling Luffy he would meet him downstairs. Law went by his morning routine that consisted of looking in the mirror for longer than necessary in existential dread then snapping out of it and washing his face and brushing his teeth and on a good day, brush his hair. The doctor changed out of his yesterday's clothes and headed to meet Luffy.

"Good morning Law." Sabo greeted and Law nodded back trying to straighten his back as he sat down beside Luffy by the table that was in the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Law looked over at Luffy to see what he was having and decided to go with eggs too. "Same." The doctor said pointing towards Luffy. "Not the same amount."

Sabo laughed. "That's his third plate already."

"What the fuck..." Law looked at Luffy with a frown. "Are you even chewing that?"

"Bi bunt beeb du-"

"Talk after swallowing you ape."

Luffy swallowed the eggs in his mouth. "I don't need to chew it."

"Again, Luffy, if you choke, I would laugh at you until it becomes actually life threatening." Law said shaking his head.

"Here's your eggs." Sabo put the plate in front of Law. "And tea. Would you like some pancakes, gluten-free of course?"

"Uh... no thank you." Law politely refused and narrowed his eyes at the way Sabo was smiling at him. The older looked at his eggs then took another look at the blond brother. Sabo being nice came off as suspicious to Law. "Luffy." Law called and held a spork full of eggs for Luffy to eat.

"'S soooo goooodddddddd." Luffy hummed. Law looked at the clock on the nearest wall and waited three minutes.

"It's not poisoned." Law declared and took a bite. "Check my tea, too, please."

"Bitter!" Luffy stuck his tongue out after taking a sip of the tea.

"You had Luffy be your poison tester?" Ace asked arriving in the kitchen and sitting across from Luffy.

"I figured you guys would have stopped me from feeding him if the food was really poisoned."

"Sabo he's smart."

"He is." Sabo agreed. "But poison of a normal level doesn't work on Luffy somehow."

"I wonder why." Law said looking at Luffy who was sweating and avoiding being roped into the conversation. Law remembered Luffy hadn't told anyone about what had happened at Drum and decided to help. "I checked his blood some time back, some people are just born with the resistance. Plus seeing how much he eats, his liver and kidneys might not even think of poison as an assault."

Ace laughed at the information then Law saw the telltale signs of lightheadedness and reacted within two seconds until Ace's eyes closed, Law put his hands forward to catch Ace's head before it hit the table.

"How the hell did you know this was going to happen?" Sabo asked helping Law put Ace's head on the table carefully.

"I told you, I am a doctor, why is that so hard to believe?" Law asked sitting back in his own chair and sipped his tea and started with his eggs.

"Nice reflexes."

"Are his medicines even working?" Law had to ask, he was medically intrigued by the older brother's condition.

"The doctor changes them to something called a combination therapy, but no." Sabo shook his head.

"When was the last time he went to his doctor?"

"A week ago." Luffy answered. "Torao, it sucks, Ace can't go anywhere alone."

"Fuck, it happened again." Ace groaned, waking up and rubbing his head. "Huh, it doesn't hurt. Who caught me?"

"Torao!" Luffy announced proudly.

"Thanks man." Ace said.

"Can you show me the medicines you are taking?" Law asked and Sabo got up to get the container, handing it to Law. "I..." Law started. "These went out twenty years ago. My parents used to prescribe them when the science on narcolepsy wasn't that advanced."

"Twenty years?" Sabo's jaw dropped but amidst his shock, he didn't miss the way Law schooled his expressions from immediate vulnerability to guardedness at the self-mention of his parents.

"You might want to change your quack, I mean, practitioner." Law advised. "Is the quack- I mean, doctor, researching on the effects or is he just prescribing medicines?"

"You're calling him a quack on purpose." Ace noted, Luffy laughed.

"If he's using generation old medicines, he brought this on himself."

"I think he is researching." Sabo said. "I have seen some other patients."

"Well then," Law looked at Sabo and smirked, "I think the Revolutionary Army has enough skills and tech required to get the data from his research? I can check it and we can get his license revoked if he's preying on people's money in the name of research. You think you can find something incriminating like that?"

"What the... Are you for real?"

"I like causing trouble sometimes."

"You two are such a match." Ace laughed looking from Luffy to Law, the former joined in the laughter but the latter flushed red.

"Why do you want to do something good? Aren't you like, on the wrong side of the law?" Sabo had to know, he was confused about Law's motives.

"Don't pry into my reasoning for being who I am." Law said. "But no matter what I do, my parents raised a doctor and this quack is deceiving everybody, I don't like people playing at being a doctor. One wrong prescription and he could kill people or people could still die because his meds don't work and he's giving everyone false hope. Didn't Ace-ya crack his skull right after his appointment?"

"Torao is kind, Sabo. He doesn't like people hurting." Luffy interjected. "And I wanna beat that idiot's butt for playing Ace too."

"That's all ok, but how much experience do you have with this sort of illness?" Sabo inquired next.

"I am experienced enough to operate on the spinal cord of a human, alone, to prevent paralysis, I have more than a few successful solo heart transplants and-"

"And Torao delivered four babies in the airplane!" Luffy said, excited to boast. "Nobody died!"

"Are you a vampire?" Ace tilted his head. "You seem to have a lot of experience for someone so young."

"Circumstances make a person," was all Law said to that and it hung heavy on the three brothers, wondering what those circumstances were. "Anyway, the point is that I can learn and I am never negligent about my work so if it suits you, you can trust me."

"Alright, I'll tell Dragon-san before acting on any plans." Sabo nodded.

"That will be all you're going to tell Dragon-san, right?" Law narrowed his eyes and Ace and Luffy wondered what their brother and Law were silently conversing through the eyes.

"If we find out something else, nobody but me will know." Sabo said, confusing Ace and Luffy even more. Sabo thought there must be reasons why Law didn't want his origins going public.

"Just know, all will be revealed to the relevant party in due time." Law said, eyes subtly moving to Luffy, telling Sabo that he didn't want Luffy to know prematurely.

"Ok what the fuck are you both talking about!" Ace finally said.

"Nothing, I was just pulling his leg." Sabo shrugged. Ace and Luffy didn't seem convinced but Law wasn't retaliating so the two calmed down as well.

"So Law, how long are you staying for? Lu was pretty sad during the separation-"

"ACE!!!" Luffy jumped to cover his brother's mouth, embarrassed and red.

"I'm thinking, I'd stay the week then go to Cocoyashi on Friday, spend the weekend." Law thought out loud.

"Why wait till Friday?" Ace asked as Sabo put the plates and mugs away.

"Because Luffy's coming along."

"His grades and attendance are fine, if you want, he can skip a few days of school." Sabo offered.

"Not on my account he won't." Law fixed Luffy with narrowed glare to stop him from even thinking about skipping.

"Goomorniiii~" Uta sung rubbing her eyes, still sleeping, stumbling into the kitchen, taking a seat beside Law. Sabo automatically got up to prepare food for her.

Luffy continued the conversation, pouting. "Torao doesn't want me skipping school, ever. He was shot and dying, even then he told me to go to school or he won't see me."

"Will you stop telling everyone I was shot?" Law rolled his eyes.

"How did that happen by the way?" Sabo asked sliding a plate of buttered toast and a glass of honeyed milk towards Uta. Law cringed at the bread.

"His patient shot him, hehe." Luffy giggled at the end. "Torao took care of it then it got infected and then Chopper's mom was there so she helped fix Torao- he got three bullets!"

"Fucking hell Mugiwara-ya! Stop!" Law had to literally pull Luffy in a headlock and cover his mouth so the younger would stop talking.

"Huuhhhhh," Ace mused, "you got shot three times..."

"Two! But there were three bullets somehow! That's so cool!" Luffy grinned getting out of the headlock, Law wasn't using much force anyway.

"That's it, I'm going to Cocoyashi alone with Nami. You're not coming." Law threatened.

"Nooooooo! Toraooooo, don't do thatttttt!" Luffy whined hanging from Law's arm.

"Who's left that doesn't know about my bullet encounters?"

"Vivi, she hasn't been here for a while so I haven't told her." Luffy answered truthfully.

"You're going to tell Bellemere-san then she's going to worry so you're staying here with your loud mouth."

"Nooooo Toraooooo pleassseeeeeee I'm sorrrrrryyyyyyy!"

"No, you're staying."

"I promise I won't tell anyone elseeeeee, pleaasseeeee!" While Law was busy prying Luffy off him, the siblings were telling Luffy to bring out his puppy eyes and the youngest did just that. What nobody expected was the addition of the next two words out of the youngest's mouth. "Mon cheri."

Uta spit the milk she was drinking, Ace and Sabo looked like they would faint, and Law, he was red as a fire hydrant, unable to respond and unmoving. "Who taught you that?!" Law burst, embarrassed that Luffy had called him something like that in public, granted it was just his siblings but it was still public.

"It's in that one Fall Out Boy song, no? And Sanji heard me singing one time and taught me the meaning and stuff." Luffy said casually, letting Law go. "So, can I come along now?"

"Fine." Law waved his hand, trying his best to wave the situation off too. "Right now, I'm going to the clinic again to check on the patients from yesterday."

"I'll come too, gotta help with the heavy lifting."

"I don't mean to rain on your efforts but your progress in Grey Terminal is very slow." Law said and left the table, walking to Luffy's room to get his things.

"Yeah we are very short on people." Luffy said and began stripping with the door open to change his clothes.

"What if I can get my guys to come and help out for a week or two?" Law suggested and turned around to avoid looking at his boyfriend, not wanting to risk anything.

"That'd be great! We can get so much done!" Luffy chirped and they both left the room, walking to the living room where Ace and Sabo were.

"And you need to start writing up passable laws for the land to stay the same. Also let me read those laws before you put them forward, just to make sure there are no loop holes."

"You're an expert on the law too?" Sabo teased.

"That's literally my name." Law joked back. "I have to draft legal documents sometimes so my patients can't take me to court, I'm careful." The doctor turned back to Luffy. "And what are you guys doing about the economy? There is no income in that area, who is going to open shops and stay for nothing?"

Ace whistled, impressed at the rapid firing of ideas and problems from Law. Sabo himself was impressed that Law was taking as keen an interest in the revival of Grey Terminal as Luffy was.

"Vivi's writing some laws, she said she would come over when those are done. She's bringing some war prisoners too, to help as workforce, the good people that got caught up in the civil war."

"That's nice."

"And Vivi said she can acquire the land for Alabasta so their government can fund everything. She said they wanna make the land an agricultural investment since Alabasta is mostly desert."

"All planned out then huh..." Law wondered and took off with Luffy to the Grey Terminal.

~

"Road trip! Road trip!" Luffy bounced excitedly in his seat as Nami drove. The week was out and it was Friday night and Luffy, Law and Nami were driving to Cocoyashi, in the middle of the night.

"You didn't even sleep after school, how do you have so much energy?" Law groaned and reclined his seat to rest. Nami and Law were taking turns driving since the road was too long, they were two hours in, there were still ten more to go.

"Road trip with Torao is fun!"

"We're literally just sitting in the car, what's so fun about that?"

"Everything with Torao is fun! Nishishi!" Luffy laughed and opened a packet of chips.

"I want to sleep."

"Then kick off your shoes and do that." Nami said.

"You must have forgotten over this long a time that I cannot sleep at will."

"Wanna cuddle in the back?" Luffy suggested peeking through the gap between the front seats.

"No thanks!"

Nami laughed at Law's embarrassment, then something clicked. "Can you really sleep with Luffy around? He mentioned that a few months ago."

"Yapp! Torao sleeps like a baby!" Luffy said before Law could counter his sister with something less entrapping.

"Law why don't you just buy a house in Goa then? Luffy would be close and you would be able to sleep better and-"

"No. And don't open this conversation again." Law snapped and turned towards the window to really end the topic. Nami shared a look with Luffy through the rearview mirror. They were both aware there was something more to that 'no' than Law was going to let them know.

"Oh yeah, Torao, my birthday's close, are you staying or will you come back?" Luffy steered the conversation elsewhere.

"It's a little before your graduation right?" Law asked turning back towards Luffy, kicking his shoes off and bringing his feet up on the seat.

"Two weeks before that."

Law caught Nami subtly shaking her head at him, as if telling the doctor to not respond in affirmations. Law sighed. "I will try to come for both but I'm not making any promises."

"Boooo!"

Two more hours later, Nami relinquished the wheel to Law who stubbornly drove the rest of the way, stopping only for Luffy's bathroom breaks. Nami guided Law through the roads of the small village-city till they arrived at the familiar hill with a lone house. Law felt a pit in his stomach when they exited the car, he wanted to go inside the house but also run away too, his emotions were all over the place and suddenly he felt like that sick kid again that Cora-san brought here for recuperation.

"At your own pace." Nami patted the doctor's shoulder but Luffy, the storm that he was, took Law's hand and ran through the door, and perhaps that was what Law needed, a push, because once Luffy pulled him, Law was walking on his own.

Law was greeted by Nojiko first, Nami had taken Bellemere aside to talk about something. Nami was right about the tattoos, they were similar.

"It's good to see you again!" Nojiko hugged the tall doctor. The blue haired woman was going to bombard Law with questions but the lady of the house came to the rescue and the daughter let Law go.

Law took off his hat so Bellemere could look at him, he didn't want to hide behind anything, especially with this woman. She had taken care of him as her own, never asking for anything in return, Law didn't want to insult her by hiding.

Bellemere put her arms around Law in a hug, all smile and grins. "You've gotten so big!" The woman rejoiced patting Law on his back. Just when Law thought the hug was over, Bellemere picked Law up in the embrace. "But I'm still stronger!" She laughed.

"Put me down!" Law was mortified. Nami and Nojiko were laughing at his expense.

"You haven't changed much though!" The woman slapped Law's arm after breaking from the hug, her laughter ringing through the house.

"I had imagined you would cry." Law pointed when he was let go.

"Oh dear, that's Rosi's job." Bellemere grinned again putting one of her hands on Law's cheek and pulling his face down to give him a sweet kiss on the other cheek. Law put his hat on then and pulled it over his eyes. "I'm glad you're healthy Law." Then Bellemere's eyes went to Law's shoulder. "How's your bullet recovery?"

Law's head immediately snapped to his boyfriend, glaring daggers.

"I didn't say anything! I swear!" Luffy brought his hands up in defense.

Bellemere laughed. "It was Hina, she gave me the news." The woman said. "Smoker was afraid I would hunt him down since he kept me in the dark about your whereabouts all this time, so Hina talked to me."

"Nosy people." Law groaned. "The recovery is going fine."

"If you say so, you are the doctor."

"Me next! Me next!!" Luffy jumped and hugged Bellemere when she let Law go with a pat on his back and opened her arms for the giddy boy.

After the greetings were exchanged, Bellemere shooed everyone out of the house so she could make dinner. Nami and Nojiko went elsewhere, leaving the boyfriends to explore the town. Law went over to the hill, through the orchards, through the same old buildings in the town run by the same old families. He met Gen-san, he met Nako, he, unfortunate for the other party, also ran into his old bullies.

All through dinner, everyone talked, and laughed and Law got scolded for a lot of things, mostly about not keeping in touch and not taking care of himself. Law also got embarrassed by Bellemere over Luffy because the younger couldn't just take a hint of no PDA.

Luffy was glad that his Torao was happy but he could sense that he was sad too, over things from his past no doubt but Luffy decided it was something to deal with another time. Right now, Luffy only needed to be beside Law, see and learn what made Torao, Torao.

~