Hello again! So, as promised, here's the next chapter. This one I'd like to dedicate to SilenceOfRain7 because they inspired this chapter and the content within, even though it may not be exactly what they had in mind. I want to thank everyone who has followed or favorited this story so far; you guys mean so much to me!

Law may be a bit OOC in this chapter but that's just because he can be kind of difficult to write. If there's anyone you wanna see in upcoming chapters, let me know! I do take requests!

And, if there are any fics you want me to write for any other fandom, or a different one for One Piece, send me a quick message and we can work something out. My goal is to make all of my readers and followers happy but I don't know what you all like, so I need a bit of help.

Trafalgar Law didn't know what to make of Monkey D. Luffy. He was kind of an idiot and extremely reckless from what he had seen and heard. He was also annoyingly loyal and determined, two things he had been witness to before. He was brave and wild and strong, had no sense of self-preservation or danger, and was naive and carefree. All in all, Law was having mixed feelings about the captain of the Strawhat Pirates, something that was kind of glaringly obvious.

So imagine his surprise when he found that-after he had watched in shock as the straw hatted boy had gone screaming and panicking into the forest, body still freshly wrapped in bandages and mind obviously unstable, Jinbei following at a steady pace behind him and he had decided to follow and watch the scene play out-he was pitying the boy more than anything else.

He could've slapped himself for pitying the boy because he knew it was the wrong thing to be feeling and that the boy would hate it more than anything else, but he was unable to grasp the feeling and bury it.

He hated that he could only stand there and watch on with pity as Luffy screamed and tore at himself, as Jinbei threw him up against a rock and forced him to realize he still had people worth fighting for, as Luffy fell into a sobbing mess upon realizing that he had forgotten about his nakama in the wake of his brother's death.

It was all kind of heart-breaking to watch, even though he would never admit it, but there was no denying that he was impressed and kind of awed at the boy's ability to pull himself together worry about his friends-family-again.

He and Jinbei watched as Luffy's determination and love slowly rekindled into that bright flame they knew was there and always would be there.

"I swear I won't forget them ever again! I'll get stronger for them! I won't ever let any of them get hurt ever again!" Luffy screamed to the heavens and Law felt a grudging admiration for the boy settle in the darkest and most secret areas of his heart. The feel and realization of what that admiration meant kind of scared Law and stole his breath for a couple of seconds because he knew that getting friendly of the boy would be detrimental to everyone's health, especially Luffy's.

It terrified him when he figured out that he couldn't remove the feeling or dim it into something he could handle.

So it was the knowledge that he wanted to be something close to friends with Luffy and the growing fear that he would lead to Luffy's death or the death of someone that Luffy loved that destroyed Law that day, as he watched the boy make vows to his nakama and dead brother.