Some LawLu fluff for our favorite surgeon's birthday.

I don't own One Piece. Betaed by LeafyxThiefy

Piece of Cake

Law didn't like to celebrate his birthday.

Why would he? It was only a reminder of another year passed without reaching his goal, and it wasn't like he had much to celebrate either. There was too much to be done, so he couldn't go around wasting his time fiddling with nonsense like cake and candles.

When Law turned thirteen, Cora had surprised him with a small, mushy cake he had borrowed from the town nearby. They were huddled around a small campfire when the plateful of ambiguous mix of frosting and flour was served to him with one of those radiant smiles only Cora could produce as a side-dish.

Law had tried to play it off, to act cold and unappreciative, he had, but in the end there simply was no refusing the blonde's puppy eyes. Law had smiled a bit in return, and Cora had looked even happier, if that was humanly possible.

Then there was a crate, a wall of silence and a gunshot. And yet again, another person that had shown him kindness paid the ultimate price for it.

In any case it was a foolish thing to revel, aging. Death would come to all its children, no matter how many candles were blown out, and its claws were cruel and indiscriminating. So, why should Law rejoice and make merry when, without fail, all the people he truly wanted to spend the day with were six feet under?

It seemed like a redundant and inconsiderate thing to do, and so, for well over a decade, every year passed by without a single birthday cake for the Surgeon of Death.

When Law turned twenty-six, the day went by unnoticed and unmentioned. Had his crew been aware of the date's supposed significance, they would have most likely insisted on commemorating his new year of failure and loss. Thus, Law kept it a secret.

But when his twenty-seventh birthday came, Law found himself surrounded by fools. He was travelling on a ship that wasn't his and with people he didn't know. They had nothing in common and therefore nothing to talk about in Law's opinion, other than their common goal.

He hadn't kept his birthday a secret from his allies intentionally. It had simply been something he deemed unworthy of mentioning, a trivial fact too personal to divulge to people he didn't fully trust. And why would they care, anyway? As soon as their common goal was achieved, he would be back with his own crew and their alliance would be over and done with, the Straw Hats would simply turn on him. He knew this as a fact, after all it wouldn't be the first or the last time.

That was what Law had thought, at least in the beginning of their journey. But soon enough those notions had been washed away by the Straw Hat captain's smile, one that rivaled even that of Cora's. And when the ridiculous ship with a rubber moron for a figurehead -both figuratively and literally- gradually closed the distance between himself and his crew, he felt at home.

Law was content.

He had finally reached his goal and banished the demons of his past. He felt a small smile tug the corners of his mouth as the mental image of a defeated and falling flamingo replayed in his mind's eye in a constant loop.

It was something he hadn't felt for a long time; a strange sense of elation and accomplishment that he'd thought impossible for himself. But then again, there were times he had thought that his goal was impossible and unattainable, too.

Law leaned against the astern railing, watching the calming waves and doing his best to block out the sounds of merrymaking coming from the feast around him. The party had been ongoing for nearly six hours, and there was no end of it in sight.

Maybe when the Straw Hat swordsman finally finished consuming anything bearing the furthest resemblance to alcohol?

A part of Law yearned to find a lonely and peaceful corner in the ship and curl into himself. He wanted time to properly process the whirlwind events of the past week. Sadly, and much to his annoyance, time was on short supply. Soon he would be reunited with his crew on Zou and there would be much more to strive and fight for. Raftel, for instance.

He sensed the other captain's approach long before he heard Luffy's tone deaf excuse of a singing voice. He huffed and turned his head a bit to face the hyperactive supernova, but had no time to do so before something was jammed to his face.

A piece of… birthday cake?

"Here Torao!" Luffy beamed.

Honestly Law was a bit impressed that the glutton had managed to deliver the dessert to him untouched. That is to say, if the bald spots on the cake where the frosting had clearly been scooped off with a rubber finger were excluded.

"Thank you Straw Hat-ya." Law replied a bit stiffly. It was a difficult feat to catch Law off guard, but somehow the absolute moron of a Straw Hat captain always, always, found a way. Which was a pain.

"But what did I do to deserve this honor?" He asked, and placed the mushed up cake on the railing before turning to fully face the teen and his shit eating grin.

"Ne, it's your birthday right?" Luffy asked and tilted his head to the side in confusion. And then, he smiled.

For a moment Law was lost in that smile; stripped bare right down to his soul and rid of all his secrecy. And all that remained was that same thirteen year old little boy, lost and insecure, staring at the unexpected present like it was a mystical creature that might shatter at the faintest touch. And just like back then, Luffy's smile only widened to ungodly proportions when he saw Law's reaction.

And even with all his haki and agility, Law was unable to dodge the flailing rubber limbs that entrapped him in a hug.

"Shishishi… I'm not stupid, Torao, and I pay attention to my nakama." Luffy grinned and bonked Law softly on his forehead to highlight the Heart pirate's obvious lack of deduction skills.

Law fought the urge to cut the teen to pieces for daring to invade his personal space so abruptly, but decided against it. Brutally dismembering his allied captain at this point might be considered a hostile act, after all.

"I'm sure you do, Straw Hat-ya." He agreed in hopes that Luffy would show mercy and release him from his rubber prison. No such luck.

"I heard you mutter in your sleep about cake and a.. Umm.. Dora? Flora? Coby? No, that's someone else…" Luffy rambled and released Law in order to leap onto the railing and assume a pose that could have been considered meditative. His face flushed from the mental exercise until Law did something he hadn't expected to do for a long time, if ever.

He laughed.

It was no snicker or a sardonic chuckle, but a full-blown, actual, guffawing fit of laughter that effectively derailed Luffy's train of thought. The rubber teen stared at the unusual display of glee for a moment, as if to determine if he was seeing things or not, and then Law's laugh was joined by an equally loud shishishi.

"You're funny Torao!" Luffy snickered, holding his sides and leaning precariously close to the ocean. Law propped himself roughly against the railing and looked away, slightly ashamed and irked by his outburst. But he knew there had been no stopping it and, if possible, that only made matters worse.

Somehow he always seemed to lose control when the other supernova was added to the equation, and Law didn't like losing control. In fact, he hated it.

So, in a vain attempt to regain said control and some of his composure, Law stood up straight and forced the ever-present scowl back on his face. Luffy was completely undeterred by his cold front, and only laughed harder at the display, tipping over the railing and almost falling off the ship. Law reached out for the moron and pulled him back up, grumbling under his breath as he did so.

"I swear Straw Hat-ya, you're too reckless for your own good."

"Yeah, that's what Nami says too, funny huh!" Luffy laughed and rubbed the back of his head childishly. Apparently the close call had escaped his notice.

And when he saw that smile once more, Law though that perhaps losing control wasn't such a bad thing after all. He picked up the cake and took a bite. Thankfully, it was sweet and didn't remind him too much of bread, that cursed gift from satan himself.

The Straw Hat captain waited with bated breath as Law swallowed the first bite and the surgeon was relatively sure the boy might burst from joy after the first forkfuls were eaten without a single complaint. And once more, Luffy laughed and smiled in a way that reminded Law of happier times, filled with security and love.

Law idly wondered if that was a quality reserved solely for foolhardy, over energetic idiots; to be able to smile like that with ease, even when things look hopeless and there might not be a tomorrow.

Perhaps it was something needed, he mused, something pure and joyous to balance out all the corruption and cruelty in the world. A smile so radiant and bright that is spreads like wildfire, illuminating the looming darkness in its way.

Law hid his own smile under the brim of his hat and a forkful of frosting, but he knew the other had seen it.

"Thank you."

And both captains knew Law wasn't talking about the cake.

Law is the grumpy cat of One Piece I swear. Please review if you've got a moment.