Law and Disorder - Chapter 10

Nakama

It had taken two weeks of sailing from the day they left Dressrosa, but their next objective, Zou, was finally in sight. Nami's prediction of the amount of time for them to complete their journey was astonishingly accurate, and despite the fact that Law really had been having quite a good time getting acquainted with the Strawhat crew, there was no denying that his months of absence as the captain of the Heart Pirates was leading to a strong yearning in his chest to see the members of his very own crew.

Law had woken from his slumber somewhat later than he usually did, undoubtedly due to the fact that unlike most mornings, when he was usually roused from sleep by loud noises and yelling from assorted members of the crew, his final morning on board the Thousand Sunny was surprisingly uneventful, allowing Law to get his desired amount of sleep for the first time in a very long time. The first thing Law had done upon waking was to, upon remembering that Nami had predicted that they'd reach Zou that very day, practically sprint to the railings of the ship and peer North. True to the exceptional navigational skills of the Strawhats' navigator, a small island could be spotted from amidst slight sea-mist a distance away, it's visage sending a wave of relief and excitement through Law's body.

Zou.

Already grinning at the prospect of seeing his beloved crew again, Law barely had the time to plaster on his usual expression of nonchalance when he felt a sudden but gentle tap on his shoulder. Turning his head and quickly putting on his calm and emotionless exterior as quickly as he could, he saw Robin standing right behind him with a bemused smile on her face. Law didn't know if she had spotted his comically wide smile towards the ocean just moments before, but he decided to not bring it up if she didn't.

"Good morning, Law-san."

"You too, Robin-ya."

"I didn't meant to disturb you, but there are certain...festivities happening on the main deck right at this very moment. I was tasked by the crew to fetch you, as your presence to this event is incredibly important."

Feeling a tad suspicious but curious at what the crew was planning, Law allowed himself to follow Robin as they walked back towards the grassy deck that Law had gotten so used to during his time on the ship. A small part of him had expected some kind of ridiculous prank that the three crazies had planned at his expense to mark his final day on their ship, or some sort of inexplicably dangerous contraption put together by Franky and Usopp, or even a second audience-invited poker game hosted by Nami (never again, Law reminded himself whilst inwardly shuddering).

What he hadn't expected, however, was for the tables in the ship's galley to be pulled out onto the lawned deck, a large tankard of what looked suspiciously like sake being sleepily guarded by Zoro, and the largest and most beautiful spread of food that Law had ever seen resting atop the wooden tables. Law's jaw fell a little at the sheer space that the food appeared to take up on the already large tables, and watched, flabbergasted, as Sanji emerged from the galley balancing a massive plate of incredibly tantalising sea king on his head, followed closely behind by Chopper, who was handling a few plates of salad dressing and looking very proud of himself for being useful to the ship's cook.

"Nico-ya...what's this?"

Robin merely gave Law one of her trademark mysterious smiles before walking away quietly to sit next to Brook, who was at that very moment playing what Law had understood to be the Strawhat crew's favourite tune, "Bink's Sake", to a small audience made up of everyone else who was not helping out with the food. The ship's musician was accompanied by Franky on his guitar, who looked to be so into the music that no one had the heart to tell him that he was singing slightly off-key.

Now feeling utterly befuddled, Law cautiously strode up to the group gathered around the musicians and cleared his throat before speaking.

"Would somebody mind telling me...what exactly is going on?"

All heads turned at the sound of Law's voice, the most excited of all being the crew's very own captain, who stood up from what looked like a puddle of hungry drool and shouted to the sky.

"SUGOI! Trafalguy's here! WE CAN EAT NOW!"

The captain, looking ready to dash towards the tables and singlehandedly devour everything that was on them, was then held down by Nami's surprisingly strong arms.

"Dammit, Luffy! We can't start until Sanji's finished preparing all the food!"

Right on cue, the ship's cook then called out to the rest of the crew.

"Lunch is ready, my lovely ladies! The rest of you louts can come eat too, I guess..."

Law then watched as everyone raced to their seats at the tables in a matter of seconds (the two women walked gracefully, but still at a surprising speed), the younger ones on the crew knocking their utensils on the surface of the table and demanding to start before having their heads kicked in by the hot-tempered cook. Settling into the last remaining unoccupied chair, Law silently thanked the heavens that he had been seated next to Brook and Zoro, two of the few sane members of the Strawhats (insanity was very much relative when it came to the Strawhats), before turning to the skeleton and restating his previous question which had gone unanswered thanks to the announcement of the start of lunch.

"What's going on, Bone-ya?"

Brook looked almost surprised at the realisation that Law didn't know what they were celebrating, which was remarkable considering how he didn't actually have a face to properly showcase his emotions.

"It's a party to celebrate the time you've spent here with us, Law-san! We're a few hours away from Zou, and you'll probably be boarding your submarine once we meet up with our friends on your crew, and we've had a great time with you here on the ship, so we decided to throw a little party in your honour!"

As he pondered Brook's words, wondered how the crew had already given him much more than he had ever given back to them, and watched as the rest of the crew tucked in voraciously into their food, Law tried to formulate thoughts but found himself at a complete loss for words. He then watched as a long rubbery arm snaked it's way across the table and snatch at the delicious-looking pork dish on his plate, and felt his mind snap into instant defensive-mode. Slapping Luffy's arm away from his food with an angry growl, Law cut off a slice of meat whilst warily eyeing the cheekily grinning straw hat-wearing rubberman and chomped down, his tastebuds immediately exploding with delight.

From that point on, Law became far too busy with gobbling up Sanji's perfectly prepared feast, wondering how in the world the chef was able to coax such tastiness out of simple ingredients, chatting with the numerous crew members that were sitting around him, and stabbing his fork at whatever rubbery limbs that came flying precariously close to his plate, to worry about words, of all things.

The party grew louder and louder as time passed, and when Zoro loudly hollered to Luffy that it was time to break out the sake, Law was in such a state of uncharacteristic euphoria that he even forgot that he didn't really like alcohol in the first place, accepting the mug that was offered to him gratefully and without complaint. Regardless of his oddly happy state of mind, Law was still surprised when Luffy stood on his chair, the rest of the crew immediately falling silent at the realisation that their captain was about to speak. Luffy then addressed his crew with a level of eloquence that Law didn't even think was possible from the childish captain, his joyous gaze directed, Law realised after a few seconds, right at him.

"We've had a great time with Trafalguy here on the ship, and I can't wait to see what's coming up next for our alliance. We're gonna have lots and lots of other great adventures, and I'm sure that things are going to be even more fun now that Trafalguy and his crew, our new friends, are with us. So, like every time we meet a new friend, let us toast...to Nakama!"

"KANPAI!"

A mere few weeks ago, Luffy had declared to one of his new allies back on Dressrosa that Law was his friend, only for Law, at that time incapacitated by seastone and feeling utterly affronted at being dragged around, to vehemently denounce Luffy's declaration. Now, the status of their relationship, and the relationships that Law had formed with everybody on the Strawhat crew, had drastically changed. Being on the Thousand Sunny for two weeks had helped Law see different sides to not only the Strawhat crew, but to himself as well. Although he was mere hours away from seeing his own crew again, there was a small part of him that felt a little bittersweet at leaving the ship, the only thing maintaining his good mood being the thought that since they were in an official alliance, he would still be seeing more of the Strawhat crew as they went about their journey to conquer the seas.

Law couldn't help but remember a scathing line that he thrown back to Doflamingo on the bridge connecting Green Bit to Dressrosa, about how too many people had underestimated the Strawhat crew and been burned as a result. Law was somewhat ashamed to admit that he himself had been guilty of underestimating the Strawhats. What he didn't expect, however, was to have his old wounds healed and to find friends in the utter unpredictability of the small crew of nine.

Law smirked as he downed his entire mug of sake in a single breath.

This crew really was something else.

Author's Note - Just a few minutes before publishing this chapter, I named it "Strawhats", changing it at the last minute to "Nakama" as I felt that the direction that I decided to go about for the chapter made that particular title more apt. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes my story "Law and Disorder". I thank all of you who have written reviews, favourited and followed the progress of this story, which I had originally conceived as a very small singular idea which turned into something still small, but richer than I had originally intended it to be.

Of course, I would greatly appreciate it if you all left a final review for the entire project. Regardless of how nice you thought the idea was, or how plain my writing is, I would dearly appreciate all reviews.

Thank you all very much.

~SUITELIFEFAN