There was a lot of cheering on the ship as they sailed safely away from the marines.

Law, personally, felt like a part of himself had been cut off.

A tumor-like appendage that sucked away his life and was killing him slowly, yes, but a part of him all the same.

A weight had been lifted but Law had lived with it for so long that the weightlessness felt foreign and strange. The ease in which he was able to breath felt like he was choking and the decreased pressure made him more aware of just how much he had centered his life around defeating his enemies.

As a boy, it had been him against the world. As a teenager, it had changed to him against the Donquixote Family.

But they were no more.

What even was he now?

An avenger with no target, a man with no purpose.

He had expected to die.

He had never really considered the possibility that he would survive, that he would have to continue moving onwards with his life.

What was he supposed to do now?

Almost unconsciously, his eyes found Luffy.

The man was the center of attention, the crowd around him overwhelming to even look at for Law, yet the younger man seemed to thrive in it. Laughter rang out, rising over the sounds of excited, merry chatter and cups clinking against each other.

His gaze feel to a specific smile.

Usopp sat next to his captain, absolutely beaming up at the man.

Law had to swallow down the feelings that surged through him as he remembered the look on his face when their eyes had met days before. Or was it hours? Maybe weeks.

Law wasn't sure anymore.

It felt like it had just happened yet it also felt like it was a memory from years ago.

The utter fear and desperation and hatred and worry reflected in the black man's face at that time had stilled his breath more than his missing arm had.

The raw emotion, the incomprehensible self-sacrifice.

Law was a word beyond confused.

He was confused and sick and tired and he wanted answers as to why.

Usopp should have just let Law die.

Just sat quietly as Doflamingo shot him to death and let the monster of a man forget about him, let him slink away to destroy another life that wasn't Usopp's own.

Law knew Doflamingo's cruelty all to well, had felt the brunt of it before. Seen it enacted against so many others.

He even knew the cruelty of being easily tossed away. Of wanting to be abused again just so he would look at you again, wondering and fearing that you had done something wrong for him to touch and look at you like you were the world one second then barely give you a passing glance the next.

The cup in Law's hand shattered, the shards digging into his palms, but Law couldn't find it in himself to care when those thoughts, those memories were racing around in his head.

"Law?! Are you okay?" Luffy was there suddenly, small hands taking his and Law couldn't for the life of him understand how the man in front of him was so strong yet so innocent.

"I'm fine." Law could detect the affection in his voice. An affection that fouled and spoiled in his veins as the embodiment of the sun looked up at him with worry. "It's still not working completely."

Luffy looked at Law's reattached arm, sharp gaze meeting his and Law feared he would push, but the other captain just smiled and waved him off to the clinic to patch up, turning back to the party with a final look over his shoulder.

Law couldn't help sighing in relief.

The ship's clinic felt comforting and familiar, even with the myriad of framed photos of both Luffy and Chopper hanging around the room.

He took his time taking the shards out his hand and disinfecting the wound, letting his training lull him.

He didn't even hear the door open, but he did hear it close.

Looking up, his eyes caught the Straw Hat sniper and he couldn't help flinching away.

The other man leaned against the door, his eyes focusing on a corner as he scratched his goatee.

"I, ugh, was wondering if you had time to talk."

"I would prefer not to."

Law felt bad as soon as he said it when Usopp's face paled, his eyes shifting uncomfortably towards the corners of the room.

"I'm sorry." The words slipped out of his lips and he forced his mouth into a smile, knowing it looked grim, but supposing it was better than nothing.

He thought better of it when Usopp's skin took a green tinge, remembering Doflamingo's ever present grin, his own face losing color at the thought.

He cleared his throat, nodding at the other man.

"Go ahead."

Usopp shifted uncomfortably, his arms wrapping around himself as he licked his lips.

"So, do you mind...not telling Luffy about what happened?"

Law was floored for a moment, blinking blankly at the other man before his eyebrows rose.

"I think he knows."

No matter how innocent the captain was, no matter how much sunshine he was made out of, he could not have not connected the dots.

He had seen the state Usopp had been in. He had stared at the other man, face darkening further, teeth baring and anger boiling as he barreled towards Doflamingo.

Law had barely stopped him after the other captain had been tossed over towards his body, the Straw Hat beyond fury at seeing his nakama in such a state.

For the second time that conversation, Law regretted his words. Usopp's face was creased with pain, his eyes closed as if he could hide from the truth if he delved inside himself.

"I-" Usopp cut himself off, his voice thick and rough. He coughed, clearing his throat forcefully before trying again. "I, uh, told him that my clothes had flown off in my awesome battle with...with that man."

Usopp rubbed his arms, his teeth biting at his inner cheeks.

Law stared at him. His gaze unrelenting before he flickered his eyes away, nodding at the other man.

"Okay. If he asks me, I'll tell him about your...wild battle."

Usopp threw a grim smile at him, shuffling in place.

"Was there something else?"

The question seemed to startle him as the black man jumped, starting to stammer a reply before pausing to take a deep breath.

"Um, so, Chopper healed most of my wounds but…" the sniper trailed off, leaving the white-splotched man to stare uncomprehendingly at him with furrowed brows. "I tried to patch myself up, but I...I don't think I did a good job. It still...hurts, you know?"

Law blinked. Comprehension filling his eyes as he looked over the other man.

"You didn't get him to heal you down there?"

Usopp shook his head, refusing to look at the other man.

"I don't want anyone to know."

Even you.

The sentiment hung in the air, unsaid but understood.

Law nodded in reply, pulling the bandage on his hand tighter.

"I'll look at it for you."

"Thanks."

The sniper's voice was small then, but Law had a difficult time forgetting the sound of his screams as it echoed in his head.

Law didn't think he could forget. No matter how much Usopp wanted him to.

Law didn't necessarily avoid Usopp for the rest of the boat ride to Zou.

He certainly didn't hide from him, nor escape when they appeared in the same space, but he didn't see him often at all.

The few times he caught a glimpse at the darker man, he was next to the Straw Hat swordsman, chatting with him in what appeared to Law as a one-sided conversation or with the cyborg shipwright, the two amicably and excitedly discussing new ideas.

Most often, though, he was next to his captain. The loud man able to fill any space with cheerfulness, and Law guessed it was familiar and safe to Usopp, as he appeared to take every opportunity to stick by his captain's side without raising suspicion.

Or perhaps Law was being paranoid, pushing his own reason for avoiding the tiny captain onto why Usopp would crave his presence.

Who knew.

He did see him alone three more times in the dead of night to help with the more personal wounds Doflamingo had inflicted on the younger man. The two quiet and the air strained with the shared secret.

On the last visit before Zou, Usopp had turned to look Law in the eyes. An emotion there that Law couldn't describe but which gripped his heart like an iron band.

"Will you tell me what he did to you?"

Law wasn't surprised at the question, though perhaps he should have been.

It felt almost relieving to be able to not only share his childhood with someone but to also give a part of himself to Usopp when he was already forced to carry the other's hidden face against both of their wills.

The words flowed easily. They started with Law's basic past - the caring parents and cute sister, the children he considered friends, the church and the Sister, the dream of becoming like his mother and father, the city's prosperity, the lead, the soldiers, the fire, the fear.

The hatred.

He spoke of his entrance into the Donquixote Family. He spoke of Rocinante and Baby 5 and Buffalo and, worst of all, Doflamingo.

He spoke of the man's soft words at night, his hands that he had promised were a secret between them, the feel of his lips against Law's skin.

And Usopp listened carefully and intently.

His face didn't change from that first look, the one that grabbed Law by the throat, and Law couldn't help but feel his chest lightening as he was neither pitied nor turned away from.

After the words had stopped, run dry as there was no more to tell, Usopp had nodded and left. He hadn't come back to the clinic, hadn't sought Law out, didn't catch his eye over dinner.

But he didn't avoid him.

Law could feel that iron band shift, sliding into a chain that bound the two together, yet felt weightless in the air around them.

He should have felt troubled that he felt the connection between them deepen despite how little they interacted.

But he didn't.

He couldn't.

It was on the ship to Wano that something more happened.

Usopp had stuck to the two crewmates he usually crowded towards, but with no shining sun, Usopp had drifted to wandering around the ship as if searching for something that could replace Luffy's brightness.

Law knew he would find nothing to compare.

But then again, he guessed that Usopp would know that better than he would.

The sniper ended up investigating the rooms Law occupied often, always finding something new to introspect over. Law at first had been confused as to how, but he was quick to learn that the darker man was absolutely overflowing with creativity. Law had stumbled on Usopp talking to Zoro's half-sleeping form, his stories about his ship investigations so outrageous and stunning that Law feared that the man was delusional.

He later learned it was a coping mechanism. Tall-tales and lies allowing the sniper to hide from the truth of the matter.

Law supposed that was similar to being delusional though.

It took awhile before Usopp's stories were directed at Law's ears.

The event sparking a new tide to their relationship.

For so long their presences toward each other was based on the cold, hard reality of shared pain. The air between them frigid like the winter ice creeping up the side of a ship to hold it in place, disallowing movement forward.

Slowly, Usopp's silver tongue chipped away at the ice.

"I actually was able to defeat Blackbeard's entire army in one day. The reason they still are around is because they are clones created by the World Government to instill fear into the hearts of pirates and citizens alike."

Law pretended to read a book as Usopp's words flowed through him. They were oddly calming and unquestionably entertaining, the spotted man lulled by the other's exaggerations and outright lies that bordered on conspiracy theories.

"Interesting." Law hummed in reply.

There was a silence in the air, one made of quiet contemplations. Law looked up from the book, watching Usopp as the man gazed off into the distance, face more relaxed than Law could ever remember seeing it.

"I like this." The words were spoken so softly that Law hardly realized Usopp had spoken them, the tone so very different from his excited tales from earlier. Usopp looked away from whatever place his mind had settled in, looking at Law like he was the only person in the world.

Law couldn't help swallowing nervously.

"Me too."

Law wasn't sure when it happened, but at some point, when ever he looked at Usopp, he no could longer see Doflamingo's mark.

He knew it was there, he knew the other still woke in the middle of the night in terror, afraid that man had returned, he knew Usopp still took comfort from clinging to his nakama, but Law no longer saw the flashes of panic on his face that the Heart Pirate associated with that incident.

Law also wasn't sure when he started to favor the other's company.

Reasonably, Zoro or Robin were more Law's style. Quiet and calm, easy for the eternally tired man to handle, but Usopp...Usopp gripped him on a level that made his head spin.

Perhaps it was the fact that they knew each other's trauma, or perhaps because the darker man was just so amusing, Law just couldn't pinpoint it.

But when Usopp had taken his hand one day, his mouth moving in a steady stream about something or another and his other hand flapping and twisting in line with his words, Law had squeezed his hand back.

Law didn't know when he no longer felt like a part of himself was missing. Didn't know when he stopped seeing himself as a used up presence.

He did know when he finally felt whole, though.