Betaread by the most amazing DemonicWhispers!

Fox Troubles

He was running.

The entire city around him burned in a sea of red, yellow, and orange and the cries of the people echoed into the night, followed by gunshots. Unfettered flames devoured everything hungrily, licking and lapping and ripping their way through the buildings, twisting and swaying in a dance without rhythm. Tendrils of smoke reached desperately into the sky as if trying to escape the blazing inferno below.

His lungs burned, and he gulped in air, trying to catch his breath, only to find it rancid and scorching, permeated with acrid, horrible smell of the burning human flesh. All he could see was blackened bodies and charred bones – unsettled souls, snatched before their time.

He heard his name and laughter, loud and sinister cackling right next to his ear as a hot breath tickled his neck. He spun around, but found no one.

There was a patch of white snow, surrounded by everlasting fire. Cora-san was lying in the middle with a peaceful face and his eyes closed as if just resting, sleeping. Black feathers were scattered around his body and blood slowly flowed out of many wounds, dyeing the snow crimson.

Suddenly, someone gripped his arm. He felt fingers clawing into his skin and tearing it from the bone in slick and meaty lumps. It hurt. It hurt so much!

"Captain!"

A strong shake jolted Law awake. Heat, putrid smells, and pain radiated from his dreams, and he swatted whoever was touching him, his hand flying to grab Kikoku's hilt, his heart hammering in his ribcage and sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Whoa, Captain, it's just me! Just me!"

He blinked at Bepo, still on high alert. The bear's black-rimmed mouth twitched up into a smile, putting his arms up in a placating gesture. Law pushed all the air out of his lungs with a deep exhale and slumped back against the tree where he had been resting. He propped the nodachi back on his shoulder, and with his free hand covered his eyes. "What is it?" he asked quietly after a moment.

"I brought you food."

Law dropped his hand with a sigh and looked up at his navigator again. He recognized that tone, that particular smile, and that look in his eyes. His gaze flickered behind Bepo, catching the rest of the crew quickly ducking their heads, not wanting to be discovered staring. They were worried, damn bastards.

Law glanced at Bepo again, then down at the full plate balanced on his paw. He was not hungry after that kind of nightmare. He could barely look at the roasted meat without feeling bile rising from his stomach. But noticing the mink's expression slowly faltering, he didn't have the heart to tell him to bug off.

As Law reached to take the plate, Bepo grinned in triumph. That's when some kind of commotion erupted in the camp around the bonfire.

"Ah! My food is gone!" someone cried out.

"Mine too!"

"Hey, I still had some meat on my plate, who stole it?!"

An orange blur passed another pirate, and his food vanished without a trace.

"W-What's going on?"

"Who's there?!"

"Is that… a fox?"

Everyone looked at the last speaker who pointed at the edge of their camp. They followed his finger and stared stunned at their unexpected meat thief.

It was definitely a fox. It had a triangular face with whiskers on its muzzle, pointed alert ears, and a bushy tail. Its coat was bright reddish-rusty with yellowish tints with black paws, while the chin, throat, front of the chest and belly were white. The tail was the same color as the main body but had a bit of black hair mixed in and a pure white tip.

All in all, it was a common red fox, maybe just slightly bigger than usual. At the moment, it was chewing on its last spoil with eyes closed in bliss.

"Oh, it really is a fox!"

"It stole all our food!"

An amused smirk curled on Law's lips. "A simple animal just made you all look like fools," he commented.

"Aww, Captain, don't say it like that! You're lucky that you still have yours!" Shachi whined while everyone else laughed.

The fox's eyes snapped open, and the most brilliant, expressive blue eyes the pirates had ever seen on a living creature instantly zeroed on Law's still full plate.

In a burst of movement, the fox arrived next to the surgeon. Law pulled the plate out of its reach on the last possible second, and its jaws closed in on empty air with an audible click.

"Whoa! So fast!" Clione shouted in awe.

"No wonder it managed to steal meat out from under our noses," Penguin praised, nodding in approval.

Shachi smiled. "Heh, I think it could outrun the marines who use that strange movement technique!" The others laughed at the image of marines losing to the simple fox.

Said fox glared at Law, and he was taken aback by how intelligent and human-like its eyes appeared. Without realizing what he was doing, Law reached to pet it.

The fox's ears flattened against its head and lips pulled back into a warning snarl. It didn't move away, however, its gaze flickering between watching the human and drooling over his food.

"How interesting," Law muttered before he smirked again. "If you want to get my meal, you'll have to let me touch you."

The fox pricked its ears forward, staring at the pirate's face. Then it extended its neck and cautiously sniffed his still outstretched hand. Blue eyes lit up with joy, and Law suddenly found his lap full of the red fluffball.

"Ah, be careful, Captain!" Bepo exclaimed in alarm.

Law motioned that it was okay, put the same hand on the fox's head and brushed across its neck and back. The fur was soft and fluffy and had a pleasant silky feeling as the surgeon buried his fingers deep into it. It was soothing, and Law unconsciously relaxed, his smirk smoothing out into a gentle smile.

Heart pirates shared a baffled glance. That was the first time they saw their captain letting his guard down around anything unfamiliar, even if it was just a wild animal, especially during a time when he was plagued by those nasty nightmares.

The fox dug into Law's plate with great gusto and soon it was licked clean. Law withdrew his hand, thinking that now it would want to return to the forest, but the little thief had other plans. It rubbed its head to the pirate's chest as if asking to be stroked for longer.

Law complied. He loved fluffy things. Not that he would ever admit it out loud and would deny it till his dying breath.

"Eh, Captain, you really like fluffy things, don't you?" Shachi suddenly pointed out with a stupid smile on his face.

The rest of the crew facepalmed. "Idiot," they hissed before retreating away from him.

"Huh?" the redhead looked around, confused. He noticed the captain rising from the ground, the hat shadowing his eyes, and felt his hair standing on end. "C-Captain?"

A few minutes later, Law was strolling towards the submarine, his nodachi safely propped against his shoulder. "I'll be sleeping inside."

"Aye!" the crew chorused obediently, eyeing the dozens of body parts scattered around the beach.

"Shachi's puzzle today again, huh?" Ikkaku muttered.

Penguin sighed, "He really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut."

"Sorry…" Bepo apologized out of the blue.

"Why the hell are you apologizing?!" the rest of them yelled at him.

"Guuuuuuuys!" Shachi's voice drifted from somewhere. "Shut up and start putting me back!"

The crew was too busy to notice the fox following their captain inside, and Law was too exhausted to protest when it snuggled comfortably to his side in his bed and fell asleep.

Law roused up slowly, gradually slipping from deep slumber into half-alert awareness. He felt well rested and marveled at that feeling for a while. It was so strange; he couldn't remember the last time he had slept so nicely.

There was a warm weight resting on his chest, and Law reached to touch it and inspect what it was. His hand landed on silky hair with a soft animal ear. The memory of the meat-loving fox came rushing back and the surgeon could now recall the same fox following him into his cabin and falling asleep next to him.

Law fingers started to gently massage around the fox's ear – Bepo always liked it – and that earned him a pleased moan. A small smirk danced around his lips.

Wait… A pleased moan?

Amber eyes flew open. He looked down at his chest and froze, his mind going blank.

There was a black-haired girl lying on top of him. A completely naked girl in her mid-teens, as far as he could tell, with two fox ears poking from her hair at the sides of her head and a fox tail sprouting from the lower part of her back.

Law snatched his hand back from the girl's hair as if it was burned.

His sudden movement stirred the stranger and her eyes fluttered open. They were rimmed with thick, long, dark lashes that brushed her cheeks every time she blinked. Her eyes were blue like the sea and crystal clear like the sky with slit pupils that were surrounded by golden rings. The most stunning eyes Law had ever had the pleasure to stare into.

"…Mornin'," the girl purred, a lazy smile tugging at the edges of her mouth. Her tail swished behind her. Finally looking at herself, she hummed softly.

The surgeon didn't know what exactly he expected her reaction to be at finding herself stark naked, but it definitely wasn't a wicked smirk that replaced her previous smile and a sharp gleam entering her azure irises, like that of a predator's stalking her prey.

The girl shifted and Law stiffened. Her small, but perfectly round breasts pressed at his bare chest and one of her slim legs moved between his, brushing across his crotch. He was no virgin and slept with enough women during his life. He was also a doctor; usually, he wouldn't even bat an eye at a female's naked body, but for some reason now he felt the blood rushing to his face.

"Room! Shambles!"

The girl yelped when he suddenly vanished from under her. A moment later, a hooded black-sleeved yellow hoodie with his Jolly Roger out on the front fell on top of her.

"Just… wear it," Law growled, pointedly not looking at her as he quickly pulled a t-shirt over his head. Thank goodness, he had been too exhausted yesterday to remove his jeans for the night.

"Tch, Nami said that I can seduce any guy if I ever wanted," she grumbled under her breath, rustling the clothing. "What a liar. It doesn't work on the only guy who smells so good."

Law twitched at her words.

"Okay, I'm done!"

The surgeon turned around with a scowl.

His hoodie hung like an oversized bag on the girl's petite frame, slipping from one of her shoulders, and going to the middle of her thighs, barely enough to cover everything that needed to be covered. Her red furred tail stuck from under it with the white tip brushing the floor. Her disheveled black hair ended just above her shoulders, framing her round face with longer bangs on either side. Law noticed a small scar arching just below her left eye, but the most captivating about her were those bright, azure orbs and a beaming grin, revealing prolonged canines.

"Good," Law said curtly, summoning his nodachi and the hat back to his possession with his powers, just to avoid going anywhere near this crazy vixen. "Now get out," he ordered, exiting his cabin.

"Eeeeeeh?!" The girl's jaw dropped. "But I haven't even eaten yet!" she complained, following after him.

The pirate glared at her over his shoulder. "You ate enough yesterday."

"Yesterday was yesterday," she stated, returning the glare with a vengeance. "Haven't you heard the saying: if you're hungry, eat!"

"Nonsense."

They stepped out onto Polar Tang's deck. Law started when he realized that it was already late morning. He couldn't believe that he was able to sleep blissfully dream free for that long, after those horrible nightmares hunting him for the past week.

"Hey, guys!" the girl called out cheerfully, waving her hand at the Heart Pirates who gawked at her with wide eyes. "Good morning!"

"W-Who are you?" Bepo stuttered.

"I'm Luffy! Nice to meetcha!" She leaped from the ship, landing gracefully on the ground. With her hands on her hip, she surveyed the pirates, and then demanded, "Feed me!"

"Yeah, ma'am!" they all saluted, except Bepo who lowered his head with a mumbled, "Sorry."

"Idiots…"Law sighed, massaging his temples. Without a rush, he made his way to the camp, where the little vixen – Luffy – was already seated with a full plate in her lap.

"Hey, Luffy-chan?" Shachi chirped with the stupid grin and red cheeks, sidling to her. "Why are you wearing Captain's hoodie?"

Luffy furrowed her brow. "Cause he didn't like the sight of my naked body," she explained nonchalantly. The pirates gasped in shock and every each of them turned to look at Law, causing him to grit his teeth in frustration. "Maybe he's into guys," Luffy added with a shrug.

"It's not like that!" the surgeon yelled all of a sudden, then instantly regretted losing his cool, and tugged his hat down, turning around.

Penguin was staring at Luffy with a frown. "Where did I hear that name?" he muttered. His gaze wandered to the side and fell on this morning's newspaper. His eyes widened. "Captain!" he shouted, grabbing the newspaper and rushing towards Law. "This, look." Penguin plucked one of the few new bounty posters and shoved it at his captain.

The same grin beamed at Law from the paper. Luffy had her eyes closed in bliss and an old looking straw hat sat on her head. Straw Hat Vixen, Monkey D. Luffy, wanted dead or alive for one hundred million beli.

"D, huh?" Law murmured, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "She even has a higher bounty than me."

"Luffy-chan, you're a pirate?"

"Ah?" Luffy glanced from her food to Penguin. "Yeah!" She beamed. "I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

"Oh, you're a pirate? Want to join us?" Shachi asked.

Luffy tensed, feeling his leering eyes on herself. She glanced at him and her whole demeanor shifted. Fox's ears flattened against her head, blue eyes narrowed, turning cold, and her lips pulled back into a snarl. "You touch me and I'll rip your head off." Her voice and posture carried so much force and power that all pirates felt as if they were just weak bunnies in the eyes of a supreme predator.

"Enough, you idiot," Law scolded, bonking his crewmate's head with the tip of Kikoku's sheath. "And you," he turned to the girl, and almost faltered at the sight of those baby blue eyes, "enough eating. Pretty sure your crew is waiting for you."

"But this is so yummy!" she exclaimed, fully back to her previous exuberant self.

"Crew?" Shachi mumbled, rubbing the sore spot where he was hit by the captain. Penguin showed him the bounty poster, and his eyes immediately climbed his forehead.

"Of course it is!" the cook boasted. "It was made by me!"

"Sanji's cooking is so much better though, shishishishi."

"You rude brat!"

"Oi," Law barked when she made no move to leave. He was already nearing the limit of how much frustration and absurdity he could handle in one day. The surgeon put his hand on Luffy's head and squeezed it a bit with a vein popping on his forehead. "Go home."

His action caused a panic attack to his crew, the vixen's aggressive demand not to be touched still fresh in their minds.

But the girl merely blinked up at him. "Fine, fine," she finally conceded, standing up and giving a slight bow to the bewildered crew. "Thank you for the food!" She paused. "By the way, who are you guys?"

Law smiled darkly. "You should be more concerned about your safety, little vixen," he suggested. "Who knows what we could do to you."

Luffy stared at him, her gaze uncharacteristically serious and judging for a brief moment, before the same wide, hundred-watt grin stretched across her face. "But I know that you're a good guy," she stated as a mere fact. "Besides, we're friends now!"

Law's eyebrow twitched. "We are not!" he denied passionately.

"We ate together and we even slept together, we're definitely friends!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Friends!"

"I said no!"

Luffy folded her arms. "But I've already decided that we're friends," she declared with finality and ostentatiously turned her head to the side, ending the conversation.

Law just gaped, rendered speechless.

"Oh," Luffy said, looking a bit sheepish as she faced him again. "What's your name?"

What the hell was wrong with this girl?!

…They ended up accompanying Luffy to her ship. Law wasn't even sure how it happened. A word here, a suggestion there, and suddenly he was dragged by his crewmates for a stroll across the island.

From Luffy's endless chatter, the surgeon was informed that the Straw Hats just left some kind of desert island and her crew landed here yesterday late evening. Because the Heart Pirates landed much earlier, the two crews missed each other on their hunts for food.

When Luffy started talking about her nakama, her face lit up and her eyes sparkled, her words oozing only praises and affection towards them. Law could easily see just how goddamn proud she was of her little crew, even though she hadn't said it out loud. And the little crew it was – traversing Grand Line with only a handful of people was either extremely brave or totally insane. He figured that it was probably both for this crew.

Surprisingly, Law found himself enjoying energetic vixen's rambles and the stroll didn't drag on as he at first believed it would. Soon their little party left the forest and walked out onto the beach on the opposite side of the island.

Six people were scattered around the beach, doing their own thing. Law could easily attach a name to each of their faces after Luffy's non-stop chatter for the past hour.

Nami the navigator who had a straw hat on her head and Robin the archeologist were sitting on the beach chairs under the umbrella, one reading a newspaper and another reading a book. Sanji, the blond cook, served drinks to them with hearts filled eyes. Usopp the liar and the reindeer doctor Chopper were huddled together and clearly plotting something, glancing conspiratorially at the sleeping swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, the only other person in the crew with a bounty.

A small caravel with a sheep figurehead sat anchored near the shoreline, her sails rolled up. Law's eyes flicked up at the black flag fluttering in the wind. A Jolly Roger had a straw hat on and a fox's tail curled around one of the crossed bones.

"Oi, guys!" Luffy yelled with a huge grin as they approached the other pirates.

Everyone looked up, but before they could react, the cook suddenly sped up across the beach, kicking up sand into all directions with a roar, "Luffy-chwaaaaaaan! I missed you sooooo muuuuuuch!"

As soon as he neared the little vixen, he got sucker punched in the face and was sent flying for his troubles. He landed right on top of the sleeping swordsman, his elbow accidentally sinking in the latter's stomach, and an all-out fight soon broke out between them. It was abruptly stopped by the navigator who laid them both flat on the ground with a double punch. That triggered the reindeer's and the liar's panic as they ran in circles screeching for help. All the while, the archeologist chuckled in amusement on the sidelines.

Luffy just huffed in a half-annoyed, half-fond manner as she watched her crew cause such a ruckus.

Heart Pirates could only stare in disbelief.

Zoro's head flew up from where it had been buried in the sand. "What the fu–! Oh, Luffy." As soon as he noticed his captain, his tone instantaneously switched from the furious back into the normal one.

"Morning, Zoro!"

"Luffy!" Chopper screamed in delight. "How was your night running?"

"Great!"

"Back home, I would run around my island a million times every night!"

"Ooooh, amazing, Usopp!" Luffy and Chopper shouted in awe.

"Ah, I'm such a lucky man to be sailing under the most beautiful captain in the world!"

"Shishishishi!"

"Your hat, Luffy," Nami said softly, putting the straw hat on the vixen's head.

"Thanks, Nami!"

"Welcome back, Captain-san."

"I'm back!"

It was such an amazing sight to behold as the Straw Hats swarmed their captain, changing the previous madness into something warm, something intimate, something familial.

A true genuine smile touched the corners of Law's mouth. He started to turn around, content on leaving now, but Zoro had his eyes on them from the very start.

"Who exactly are they, Luffy?"

Luffy glanced at Zoro, then at Law, and the surgeon once again got an opportunity to soak in the warmth of that sunny grin as if he was someone equally important and dear to her as her nakama were. He honestly didn't want to acknowledge that his heart skipped a beat at that very moment.

"Oh! This is Tralgaf– Tragf– Tralfagr–"

The surgeon frowned. "Just Law is fine."

"Law!" Luffy cried out happily. "And his crew."

"I guess that Luffy stole your food or something," Nami said with a slight frown. "Just so you know, we're not gonna compensate for anything she ate!"

"She did," Bepo confirmed.

Usopp's eyes widened. "Ah! That's a bear!"

"And he talks!" Chopper added.

"Sorry…"

"Whoa, so weak!"

"You also are capable of speech, Doctor-san."

Chopper gasped as Robin addressed him and suddenly ducked behind Zoro's legs to hide. Or tried to, because only half of his head was hidden, the rest of his body was out in the open. The archeologist smiled kindly at his actions.

Sanji lit up a new cigarette, his eyes glued to his captain, inspecting her attire. "Luffy-chan, whose clothes are you wearing?"

"His," Luffy answered easily as she pointed at Law with her thumb.

The blond's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Cause I woke up naked on top of him."

"WHAAAAAAT?! Naked?! On top of him?!" Sanji shrieked, and Law's grip on his sword tightened, ready to draw it on a moment's notice. "Ah, but naked Luffy-chan…" the blond muttered with a lewd face before snapping out of it. "He… He… He didn't touch you or anything?" he asked darkly, his single visible eye shadowed by his hair.

"Nah," Luffy pouted. "He didn't like it at all."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! HE DIDN'T LIKE IT?!" Sanji all but exploded. "He didn't like our goddess' body?! That exquisite curves, and perfectly smooth skin, and heavenly silky hair?! The true art of perfection?! How dare he?!" He rounded on Law. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

"So you want him to like Luffy's body?" Zoro asked.

"Of course not!"

"Oh, so you don't want him to like it?"

"It's a sin not to like it!"

"Can you choose if you want him to like Luffy's body or not, stupid cook?" Zoro grumbled.

"What did you say, shitty marimo?!"

And that's when the fight between them erupted once again. Law felt a headache forming just from listening to this rowdy crew.

"Jeez, guys, can you please stop talking about Luffy's body in front of her?" Usopp complained.

Luffy herself didn't seem to mind any of it. "Ah, that's right. Nami! You lied to me!"

The navigator blinked at her. "About what?"

"You said that I can seduce any guy if I wanted! It didn't work on him," she stated, pointing her thumb at Law again.

"Oi," he grunted, but got totally ignored.

"Why did you try to seduce him, Captain-san?" Robin inquired curiously.

Luffy beamed at her. "He smells so good!"

"Didn't work?" Nami asked, observing the surgeon like he was an unknown specimen from another planet. "Maybe he's into guys?"

"That's not it!" Law snapped, however, none of the three females paid him any attention.

"Yea, that's what I–"

Law had enough. He grabbed the vixen's shoulder, spinning her around, leaned forward and covered her mouth with his in a fiery kiss. Needless to say, her words died at the back of her throat.

Law expected to be pushed away and maybe even getting slapped. But none of that happened.

Luffy kissed him back with the same hunger, their lips moving in perfect sync and the kiss becoming more passionate and deeper by the second. Her arms slid up his chest and encircled his neck. His hand with his nodachi went around her waist, easily lifting her petite form up. She wrapped her legs around his thighs and her tail around one of his legs. Law's other hand moved to the back of her head, his tattooed fingers tangling in her wild black hair, lightly pulling her closer until there was no space left between them and they could feel the beating of the other's heart against their chests.

The surroundings began to disappear, until the world fell away entirely, leaving only two of them. This felt true. This felt good. This felt right. It was as if they were the half that made the other one whole again.

And their crews? Well, they had a shock of their lives. All of them stood frozen in spot, gawking at the two captains with jaws on the ground and eyes as wide as humanly possible. Except for Robin who chuckled out an amused, "Oh my."

"Ah, Captain!" Bepo gasped.

"Lucky Captain…" Shachi muttered dreamily with his cheeks flushed. "I wish I was in his place…"

"She'd rip your head off, you idiot," Penguin warned him in the same dreamy tone and matching expression.

Sanji fell to his knees with tears streaming down from his eyes and pure despair etched upon his features. "Noooooooo…" he wailed, pounding the sand with his fist. "Luffy-chan! Y-Your innocence! This world is so cruel! So unfair!"

Zoro snorted at his dramatics.

"Uwaaaah! I never imagined seeing Luffy kissing a guy," Usopp said in wonder.

"Luffy is a healthy human female. Why shouldn't she?" Chopper asked, looking up at him.

"Well, you haven't noticed yet, Chopper, but Luffy really can't stand being touched by a man, not to mention kissing one."

"But she's fine with you, Zoro, and even Sanji."

The long-nosed teen shrugged. "I guess it's because we're her nakama, she trusts us."

Nami let out a long-suffering sigh as she picked Luffy's straw hat from the ground where it had been thrown sometime in two captains' impromptu make out and brushed sand from it. On the other side, Bepo did the same with Law's fur hat.

When Law and Luffy broke apart for air, she rested her forehead against his, her tongue quickly tracing her own lips. "You taste as good as you smell," she whispered.

Law smirked, but his amber eyes softened with an unusual tenderness that told Luffy everything she needed to know, and she smiled back, sinking deeper into his hold.

Then suddenly her left ear twisted to the side and soon her head followed the same direction. Law also turned his head to see what caught his vixen's attention. The moment he saw the Polar Tang approaching along the edges of the island, a cannonball whizzed through the air and exploded right next to it.

"Waaaaaaah! Marines! Captain, it's the marines! We need to go!" the pirates that had been left to guard the submarine shouted from the deck.

"Oh, shit! Marines?!" Usopp cried out while the rest of the Straw Hats were already moving in action.

Law tsked. A hand touched his cheek and he looked back at Luffy who smiled warmly at him. "Next time we meet, I'll be able to pronounce your full name," she promised quietly.

He couldn't help but laugh at that. "I'll hold you to that."

They detached themselves from each other, albeit reluctantly, then turned to their respective crews and ordered in unison: "Set sail!"

A/N

I'll definitely write more in this verse, making it into a series of one-shots, but for now this is done. Please, don't ask me when there will be an update, I will ignore any questions about it because I don't know. Hope you enjoyed it, I had a blast writing it! :) Please, leave a review!