Hello!

Wow, it has been literally a year since I updated this. Ah ha ha...oops? Um. Anyway, this is from like right after Law's backstory was revealed and I was fill with a desperate need to bring some happiness back into his life. Soooo this happened.

Characters: Law, Luffy, Sabo, Robin, ?

Warnings: references to genocide

Onward!

~Familiar~

The Angel never forgets, not truly. Sometimes it just takes a while to remember.

It takes Luffy a long time to figure it out.

He felt the spark that day at the Auction House, but it was quickly muffled and then forgotten in the wake of the chaos that followed. It's not until after Punk Hazard that he recognizes the pull.

Law is of the Blood.

Luffy keeps quiet about it. After all, Law does not carry their name openly. He's lost. The Angel's fellow Captain is a quiet person, but Luffy can hear his heart screaming. It aches with loss and cries in loneliness. It's familiar in way that keeps Luffy silent in contemplation as he stares out at the ocean.

Law is familiar because of the Blood but he is also familiar because of something else – something in the back of his mind recognizes the screaming in Law's heart and the blankness in his eyes. It's strange because Luffy knows that he's never met Law before. At least, not as himself.

Perhaps, Ko or Belladona…?

It was possible.

The Divine were always attracted to those of the Blood or those who were as good as Blood. Robin is like that, Blood-but-not-Blood. She knows how to Listen and See. Maybe not as good as if she was of the Blood, but she understands it much better than most people.

Which is part of what confuses Luffy.

Because Law is of the Blood but he is Deaf and Blind.

Something that Luffy doesn't know how to react to. Law doesn't acknowledge the World, can't Hear it Speak or See it Change. And that is worrisome.

Luffy doesn't know what to do and he has never been good at sitting still.

But the Angel is patient where Luffy is not. The two halves of his being balance out to make a whole and so he watches and he waits and he slowly pulls Law into his own brand of madness that comes with being nakama.

A white city ringed in fire and painted crimson.

Screams echoing in the night as the sky burns.

PainpainterrorpainhelpI'mscaredwhywhywhywhywhywhyjustchildrendidn'tdoanythingwrongit'ssafewhywhypainfearhelppleasesaveme –

A small child covered in ash and white, white skin struggling to breathe.

Hush, hush child, don't cry. I will teach you how to fly.

Luffy's eyes fly open, silver and bright, a grin on his face.

He remembers.

"I need to find someone," Luffy says without preamble as he drops onto the couch in the aquarium where Sabo and Robin are sitting, eyes glowing silver.

To their credit, neither one of them bats an eye. Robin just smiles calmly and Sabo sighs, already resigned.

"Who?" they ask in unison.

"Someone Belladona saved in the last few years of her life," Luffy replies.

"Belladona?" Robin asks, eyebrow raised.

"The Angel's last life," Sabo clarifies absently before asking, "Last known location?"

"Samilion Isell, North Blue," Luffy answers, short and to the point in a way he usually never is, "Little girl, auburn hair, about four or five at the time of my death. She's Blood."

Sabo's eyebrows fly up to his hairline and Robin blinks.

"She's a D?" the archeologist asks.

Luffy hums. "Yup," he says, popping the p.

The pair across from him exchange a look.

"Alright," they say.

Robin has always prided herself on being at least five steps ahead of everyone else. She's learned, however, that it is impossible to be even a fraction of a step ahead of Luffy. Her captain is far too unpredictable for that. The best she can do is take most people's reactions and expect the opposite. Where most people would run, Luffy charges forward. Where most people would abandon others to live another day, Luffy burns down the world to keep them.

No, Luffy is really the only person that has ever managed to consistently keep Robin on her toes. The only real predictable thing about Luffy is that he's unpredictable. When faced with that and an unbending, determined will, it's best just to roll with the punches.

So when Luffy wanders into the aquarium with the task to find a single individual in world full of billions, she agrees.

Information gathering is what she does, what she's always done (Knowledge is power, Robin-chan.). Sabo is no slouch at it either and with the Revolutionary Army's resources at their disposal, it's a simple as giving a place and time.

Sabo's knowledge is a surprise, but a pleasant one. She learns more than she would have on her own at least.

"The end of Belladona's cycle, hmmm?" he hums thoughtfully during one of the lulls in their search while they wait to hear back from Koala, "In specific North Blue events that'd be around the time the White City fell…"

Robin tilts her head in consideration. "Flevance?"

Sabo looks over at her. "You know it?"

She gives a shallow shrug. "Only vaguely through reputation," she answers, "The World Government had the island destroyed to prevent the spread of an incurable plague that had broken out. Though given the World Government's history, I suspect there is more to the story."

Sabo snorts. "Flevance's prime export was a substance called Amber Lead. Extremely useful and valuable, but also highly toxic. The royal family and the World Government discovered the harmful properties of the substance," he explains, handing Robin a report that she reads over, the details making her brow furrow, "But they kept the knowledge quiet so they could keep mining it. The civilians ended up suffering from Amber Lead Syndrome, a deadly but not contagious condition. The World Government released false information that led people to fear the "white plague" so they received no help. They ended up destroying the island and slaughtering the citizens to cover up the whole fiasco."

Robin hums, pushing the report away, lips thinned in displeasure. "What does it say that none of that surprises me?"

"That the world we live in is incredibly fucked up," Sabo says bluntly.

Robin sighs, suddenly tired. Sabo eyes her sympathetically. This story hits too close to home for her. An entire island wiped out because of the World Government's greed. "So we can assume that the girl is originally from Flevance?"

"It's entirely possible," Sabo replies, not commenting on her melancholy for which she's grateful, "Belladona's life was, for the most part, quiet. If I'm remembering correctly, Flevance was only a year or two before her death, so it fits in our time frame."

Robin raises an eyebrow. "Luffy's told you about his past incarnations?"

Sabo blinks at her. "Uh, no?" he shakes his head, brow furrowed, "I just sort of have a sense of these things, I guess. Luffy just has to say the name and I know exactly who he's talking about. Works the same for Ace too."

"Fascinating," Robin says, lean forward slightly, "You are their Star correct? Do you remember past incarnations as well?"

Sabo's face screws up in thought. "I don't think it works that way for us," he explains slowly, "Stars are meant to help tie the Divine to their humanity – like a back-up plan if they lose control of themselves. There's usually a type of bond between a Star and their Divine; I've most often heard it described as platonic soulmates, which is pretty accurate in my experience, but it's not always entirely correct," he says with a shrug.

"So this bond is what allows for the passage of knowledge?" Robin asks, head tilted to the side in contemplation.

"As far as I can tell," Sabo agrees, "I know that certain things have happened because Ace or Luffy remembered them, but I haven't experienced them myself."

"Interesting," Robin murmurs, "I would love to learn more."

Sabo gives her a wry smile. "I don't really think this is the kind of thing you can break down into a science."

Robin chuckles. "Well, no," she agrees, "But that hasn't stopped us before."

Sabo grins back at her, but before he can say anything in response, the den den mushi goes off.

"Koala?" Sabo asks, picking up.

"Sabo," the woman on the other end greets, "I think I found what you're looking for."

Robin picks up her pen and notebook and nods at Sabo.

"Go ahead," he says.

"Samilion Isell is a pretty small island in general and they don't receive a lot of outside traffic," Koala says, "So when new people show up, everyone notices. There is an orphanage on the island and since the population is so small, the numbers are pretty stable until about twenty-one years ago."

"Twenty-one years," Sabo mutters, "Lu's only nineteen. It fits. Any details Koala?"

"Not much," she replies, "It looks like the people actually went to lengths to hide information on her. One girl, about four years old, black eyes, auburn hair. Says here she was a very sickly child upon arrival, but she gradually recovered over the span of several months."

"Was she alone?" Robin asks.

"Mmmm, no," Koala replies over the sound of rustling papers, "She arrived in the middle of the night with an elderly woman – "

Sabo jerks forward. "Do we have anything on the woman?" he asks quickly.

"Hold on, hold on! Sheesh," Koala gripes, "Be a little patient, will ya? There aren't many specifics – like I said, it looks like someone went to some lengths to make sure this was kept quiet. But what I have does say that the woman died a few months after arrival, right around the time the girl started recovering. She was left in the custody of the orphanage after that."

Sabo looks contemplative. "Any chance we could get in contact with the orphanage?"

"Yeah. I found an address and a den den mushi number."

Sabo grins. "That should work. Thanks, Koala!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"She's in New World."

Luffy blinks up at his grinning brother and satisfied archeologist. "Huh?"

"The girl," Robin clarifies, "We managed to track down the orphanage she stayed at after Belladona's death."

"Apparently, she wanted to travel," Sabo continues, "She said she was looking for someone, but didn't say who. She sends letters back to Kasa-san, the woman who looked after her, from time to time. The last few have come from Ruma."

"Which is on our way to Zo," Robin finishes.

Luffy grins.

"Oi, Nami!"

"It doesn't look like she's home," Robin says.

It's been ten minutes since Sabo knocked and still no one has answered the door.

"That's fine," Luffy says, dropping to sit on the porch.

The crew had taken Luffy's sudden decision as well as they always did. That is to say, they just sighed and went along with it, having long resigned themselves to Luffy's whims. Law, on the other hand, hadn't taken it so well. He isn't used to Luffy and the way he works, not entirely. He understands to an extent after Dressrosa, but one adventure with the Strawhats apparently isn't enough. He gave in easily enough – though he wasn't and still isn't happy about it. Luffy doesn't fault him for it. After all, his nakama are alone on Zo. Luffy would want to get back to them as soon as possible were he in Law's position.

But this is important and he knows that Law will see that soon enough.

They just have to find her first.

Sabo and Robin settle on either side of Luffy to wait. The Angel can feel her, knows that she's here on the island. The part of him that's still Belladona wonders how much she's grown, how much she's changed since the last time they were together. He remembers her pain and her grief and her tears; he remembers her first smile after all of the tragedy.

Belladona loved that smile kept it close in her memories and safe in her heart. She cherished the little girl that she had saved from the fire and the death and the pain of the white city. Had she had more time, Belladona would have taken her in, showed her what it meant to be Blood. But her little girl had been dying and there hadn't been anytime for that sort of thing. The Angel can heal, but Death is harder. She had lived a long life and a full one and this girl had barely begun. The choice was easy.

A Life for a Life.

Luffy remembers it as one of his easiest passings. But that doesn't make him any less curious. So when the gate opens, and she steps through, he looks up with a beaming grin pulling at his lips.

She's older now – no longer Belladona's little girl, but a young woman – and stands a little bit taller than he does. She's all long limbs and slender hips and narrow shoulders. She has her father's sharp jawline and her mother's nose. Dark eyes framed by darker lashes set in the face of an adult rather than a child, baby fat having melted away as the years passed. Her skin tone is even and much darker than the palepalewhitetoopale that Luffy remembers. Her auburn hair is pulled back loosely into a single tail, curls cascading down her back. Her expression is wary, her brow furrowed, as she takes in the three figures sitting on her porch, hands full of groceries.

"Hello? Is there something I can help you with…?" she asks slowly as Luffy stands.

As her walks towards her, he pulls up Belladona's memories, her life, her love for this girl grown. He feels it singing in his veins as his wings surface and his eyes change.

Her eyes go impossibly wide and her bags fall from suddenly limp fingers, her voice breathless as she whispers, "…Bell-san?"

Luffy's lips pull up into Belladona's smile, soft and gentle. "Hello, Lami."

Lami grins wide and happy before throwing herself at him with a shriek. "Bell-san!"

Luffy laughs and catches her around the waist, spinning her as she clutches at his shoulders, laughing and crying.

"I missed you so much, Bell-san," she says.

Luffy sets her down, but pulls her closer with arms and wings, tilting his head so that his cheek rests against hers. "She missed you too."

They stay like that for a long moment and Luffy feels Belladona settle in his chest. Her little girl is fine and not so little anymore. She can rest easy now. When Lami pulls back and smiles at him, he's all Luffy again, but he loves her all the same.

"So who are you in this life?" she asks as she wipes at her eyes, shyly accepting the handkerchief that Sabo offers her with a small smile.

Luffy's soft smile turns in a grin that's all him. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna be Pirate King! This is my brother, Sabo, and my nakama, Robin. They helped me find you."

Lami grins at him wide and happy. "Trafalgar D. Water Lami at your service," she says with a slight bow, giving her full name.

Luffy takes one look at the shock on his friends' faces and bursts into gales of laughter. Lami just smiles at them, a teasing glint in her eyes. Robin and Sabo exchange a look, finally connecting the dots.

"Lami-san," Sabo starts, a smile growing on his lips.

Robin finishes with a mischievous edge to her voice, "Would you like to visit our ship?"

Law looks out at the sea with a frown pulling at his lips. He's not upset, not really. In fact, he's more content with life than he has been in a very long time. A weight lifted from his chest after Dressrosa and he never realized he had forgotten how easy breathing was supposed to be. Cora-san is avenged and the Joker's specter is no longer hanging over his shoulder. The battle was hard won, but Law considers every sacrifice worth it. Even joining with this strange, insane crew in an alliance. Monkey D. Luffy is both everything and nothing he expected – he's simple at the best of times and stubborn at the worst, but somehow it works for him. Once he's made up his mind, Luffy doesn't stray. He charges forward with a single-minded determination that Law isn't sure he loathes or respects.

He remembers, distantly, the stories his father would tell about those who carried D in their names. He was fond and exasperated and sad and solemn all at once. He had said that theirs was an old family, old and special. They were connected to each other and everything around them. They were life and death, chaos and order, two sides of the same coin. They kept balance and broke it. They were Blood. He hadn't understood much of what he meant at the time. Cora-san had spoken of them as well. But where his father was all familiar and loving, Cora-san was reverent and wary. He spoke of great change, but never if that change would be good or bad.

After seeing Luffy in action, he can see why. The self-proclaimed future Pirate King does what he wants and damn the consequences. There is no consideration for laws or crimes, for good or bad. He forges his own path and forces the rest of the world to accommodate him. And if they don't, well. Ennis Lobby and Marineford were good examples of what happened then, weren't they?

Luffy is a pirate, so good and bad didn't mean much of anything. But most used it as an excuse to get away with the bad. Luffy was neither. Law largely considers himself to be neutral as well. There is not right or wrong in his world – not morally speaking. He readily admits that he is an inherently selfish person. All of his actions up to this point have been selfish, a means to an end. Revenge for Cora-san, revenge for his family. Perhaps selfishness is their defining trait? Luffy is the only other D he's met personally and from the numerous stories floating around about Roger, it isn't much a stretch to conclude that he was the same.

Though in his opinion, Luffy takes everything to a whole other level. His selfishness knows no bounds and his crew seems long resigned to the fact that their captain will change course on a whim. Though he knows at this point that there isn't much he can do to sway Luffy, the fact that they've altered their course frustrates him. His crew is alone. Has been for a while now. And while he is the one that separated them in the first place, the biggest reason for that separation has been dealt with. He had expected this to be something that his fellow captain would understand, but apparently he had been wrong.

When confronted about it, Luffy had just smiled at him and said, "Don't worry. We'll find your nakama. But this is important."

And that was that.

Law sighs as he leans back against the railing. The other captain is utterly ridiculous with his whims but even he can admit that this one is a little different. When they had reached the port, there was no screaming for adventure, no excited hollering. Luffy had just taken Nico Robin and his brother and with a quick word to his first mate, departed. It's nothing like the rubber man's usual style and something about it irks Law. There's some secret there, something that Luffy isn't telling him. He knows though, that he won't be finding anything out unless Luffy wants him too. The rubber man is simple, yes, but he is by no means stupid.

So there is little that is left for Law to do except wait. The cook, the navigator, and the doctor all went to town to gather supplies. The swordsman is sleeping on the upper deck, the skeleton in the library. The last two are probably tinkering with something down below, but none of that really interests him. The only real thing he can do is wait and even that is because he is too anxious to do anything else. If he's honest with himself – and he likes to think he is – he was not planning to live through the confrontation with Doflamingo. He had made plans of course, but he was fully prepared to die. He almost did. So the fact that he has the opportunity, the guarantee, that he will get to see his nakama again is making him impatient. So much so that he is incapable of distracting himself.

"Torao!"

Law sighs and braces himself before he can even think about it – just in time for a lean body to collide with his.

"Mugiwara-ya," he grumbles, shoving Luffy off him.

The other captain just laughs.

"Are you done here?" Law asks.

Luffy hums. "Well I am. You're probably not."

Law frowns at him. "I don't have any business here."

"I met someone on the island," Luffy says, ignoring him, "I think you'll like her."

Law sighs. He does not want to make new friends. That's not what he's here for. He needs to get back to his nakama. His thoughts crash to a complete halt when a woman steps out from behind Luffy. For a single, heartbreaking moment, he thinks it's his mother. It's been years since he'd seen her and he's had no way to remember her other that his own memories. Pictures and anything else had burned along with his home.

The woman gives him a trembling, hopeful smile, dark eyes wet. "Hello, Law."

And then his brain kicks in, trying to make since of what he's seeing. She's too young to be his mother and he'd seen her body. No, it's not her, but she looks too much like her to not be related. His throat closes up when an impossible thought crosses his mind.

"…Lami?" he whispers, not even daring to hope.

She beams, a laugh that sounds more like a sob spilling out of her lips, tears streaming down her cheeks, and suddenly she's thrown her arms around him. He's clutching her in return, fingers gripping her shirt so tight, he's surprised it doesn't rip.

"How?" he asks.

Over her shoulder, Law sees Luffy's eyes go silver as the younger captain smiles at him. His sister – his sister – giggles and the story comes spilling out. A story about the night everything burned and white wings cutting through the darkness, a sacrifice that kept her alive and a dream of finding him after seeing his wanted poster.

"I missed you," she whispers at the end.

Dimly, Law's aware that they are now alone on the deck. He cradles Lami close (he's never letting her go again) and presses a kiss into her hair.

"I missed you, too."

...so good idea? Bad idea? I thought it was a good idea.

Until next time,

~Elri