Telling the Truth and More

The light of the sun made Law groan in aggravation and pain. He felt horrible. Sitting up, he grabbed his head and coughed. F-Fuck. I don't like this one bit. It's just like back then. Opening his eyes, Law glanced around the room. It was the room he had been given on the Sunny.

Movement to his left made him look down. Sanji was sleeping right next to him. It was just like when he was little with his sister. The thought made him smile. The feeling to pee came to him as he sat there.

Law moved to the edge of the bed and stood up. He didn't sway as bad as before. Taking a few steps, Law was glad that he could walk pretty normally. Knowing this, he made his way to the bathroom. It was quiet inside the ship.

He found the bathroom and used it. After that, he heard talking in the gathering room they had. Slowly, he got closer but stayed out of sight. The others were talking about him. "Chopper, have you found out what is wrong with Torao-kun?" Robin asked. She sounded worried.

"No. I have taken samples of his blood, swabbed his mouth, and all of things a normal doctor would do. All of the tests are coming up negative to any sicknesses." Law was shocked. "It's like he isn't even sick."

"How is that possible? He's clearly sick with something," Zoro said. He sounded skeptical.

"He did mention a sickness he used to have." Law decided to intervene with his knowledge.

"It's called the Amber Lead Syndrome." All of the occupants turned to look at him. He wasn't bothered by their looks of surprised.

"Torao, what are you doing out of bed?" Luffy asked.

"I had to use the restroom. But I believe that I told Tony-ya about the Amber Lead Syndrome." He came to sit a little ways away from them. Standing was getting to be too tiresome. "It was a disease that plagued my town for generations."

"Can you tell us more about it?" Nami asked. Law nodded. He knew that they were going to ask about it at some point.

"The disease was hereditary, meaning that no one could get it." He took a deep breath. "It would slowly start to turn the whole body white. Small patches of white would appear on the body. The pain was excruciating, and people were always in horrible agony. The neighboring countries thought it was contagious, so they quarantined us." He didn't know why he was telling them this.

"What happened after that?" Franky looked interested in the story.

"They killed us off." There was a long, tense silence after that. He knew that it was not an ending to the story that they were hoping for.

"Why? If it wasn't contagious, why did they kill them?"

"Because we all had the same symptoms. In medical practice back then, if more people show the same symptoms, then it must be contagious. It never was. We were just suffering from the effects of long-term exposure to it."

"That's really sad."

"Don't worry about it. It's in the past. For me, I'm cured. I did that many years ago."

"But you told me that you looked for a cure for a while." Law gave an empty smile to the reindeer.

"And everyone called me a monster because I had while splotches on my skin. I showed that I was from that town. They just wanted to quarantine me." He leaned on the wall. "I did, eventually, find my own cure. A friend of mine helped me in that regard."

"Do you know why you're so sick now?" Usopp asked.

"No. But it does feel just like back then. As Tony-ya said, it could be a repercussion of it. Not really sure." He scratched the back of his head. "We might just have to wait. It could go away on its own."

"We have been waiting for almost two weeks now. You aren't getting any better." Law shrugged.

"I don't remember what I did to cure myself. I made a medicine and don't remember what I used. It's in a journal on my ship, though." Getting up, Law stretched. "I'm going back to bed. See you all later."

Walking out of the room, Law stopped dead in his tracks. Sanji was standing just a few feet away from the doorway. His eyes were wide as he stared straight at Law. He knew why he was looking at him like that. Sanji had heard some of his past, along with the others.

"Law..." He could hear the emotion behind his name. Walking past Sanji, Law made his way back to his room. The man had followed after him. He knew because the tap of his shoes gave him away. Sanji grabbed his arm. "Law, I want to ask you something."

"What?" He wasn't upset and knew that the man had tons of questions for him. "If you want to know about my past, I'm willing to tell you some of it."

"You said a friend helped you out. Was that who 'Cora-san' is?" Law's eyes widened at the mention of that name. How...How does he know that name? Did I say something to him about it?

"Y-Yes. He was the man that helped me cure myself. He gave me the devil fruit that I have now." Law got a little dizzy, so he sat down on the bed.

"Okay. I have another question for you. He was the man that Doflamingo killed, wasn't he?" That made Law freeze in his spot. He couldn't believe what Sanji was asking. I...I told him that much? What the hell? "That was why you wanted to take Doflamingo down so bad, wasn't it?"

Tears gathered in his eyes. He had revealed more than he thought. It wasn't like him to do that. "Y-Yes. He was like a father to me." Law raised his head. "Want to know more about him?"

"If you're willing to tell me, I'll listen." Sanji brought the chair from the right side of the bed to in front of Law. He sat down to hear what he had to say.

"Cora-san helped me get better." The memory of the man was of him giving him that stupid smile filtered into his mind. It made him smile. "He was the only one that cared about me. Cora-san was Doflamingo's biological younger brother. The man was very different from that bastard."

"He was Doflamingo's brother?" Sanji sounded surprised. Law nodded.

"Yeah. Our first meeting...wasn't all that great. He threw me out a window into a pile of scrap."

"What the fuck? Why?" Sanji asked. "I thought you got along well with him."

"It was to keep up appearances. He was undercover to take his own brother down. His persona was one that hated kids and was a mute." That had shocked him at that time. "I got him back and stabbed him in the side." Sanji gave him a questioning look. "I was pissed at him for throwing me and found him by himself."

"I guess that's one way to get back at someone." Law nodded. Sanji lit a cigarette.

"He kidnapped me, tied me up, and left Doflamingo to help me find a cure to my disease."

"Why did he tie you up? Wasn't that a little overboard?" Law chuckled.

"Not for him. It was to keep me in one spot and so that I didn't run away from him." Sanji nodded. He was smiling. "After that, he took me to hundreds of hospitals." Law's smile disappeared. "All of them called me a monster and told me to leave. It was either leave or they wanted to quarantine me."

"Because of you disease. They saw you as contagious." Law nodded. "Did you tell them that it wasn't?"

"Of course, I did. They never listened." Law chuckled again. "Cora-san got upset every time and set the hospital on fire and beat the shit out of some of the doctors before leaving to the next one. It went on for six months." Law's smile faded again when he remembered what Corazon had told him that night.

"What happened after that?" Sanji asked. Law knew that he was intrigued in his life story with Corazon. He didn't put it past him.

"He got information from Doflamingo about the Op-Op fruit. He wanted me to eat it so that I could cure myself." He stopped talking. His smile didn't come back. "Cora-san got the fruit and force-fed it to me. I wasn't ready to be a fruit eater at the time. Then..." Law remembered how that day went.

"Then what?" Law looked to Sanji. He knew that he was on the verge of crying again.

"Vergo beat the shit out of us and left us for dead." Law didn't want to finish. He took a deep breath before continuing. "He promised me that we would get to the next town. Together. He put me in a chest of treasure before...before..." He looked to the ceiling, trying to hold back the tears.

"You don't have to say if you don't want to," Sanji offered. He sounded worried for him.

"Cora-san faced off against Doflamingo. He...He told him I was free. Free to make my own choices and free from him. Then..." He couldn't hold back anymore. Tears slipped out and slid down his face. "Then, Doflamingo killed him." That was the hardest thing to say.

"Sorry." Law smiled to him with the tears still coming.

"It's not a big deal." The smile from the man was still in his mind. "It happened years ago." Sanji looked at him. Law could see something cross his face. He couldn't tell what it was.

"If it's not a big deal, then why are you crying?" Law looked away from him. He wiped at his face. It was no use. The tears kept coming. "Do I look similar to him?" That question surprised Law. He looked back to the cook.

"Not really. You do smoke like he did and have blond hair like him." He wiped his face dry of the tears. "Did I confuse you for him?"

"Yeah. You kept calling me him." Law laughed. "What?"

"There's one thing that he did that you don't." The smell of burning feathers came to mind.

"What would that be?"

"He would set himself on fire most of the time. I had to put him out over a hundred times because of it." Sanji laughed along with him.

"He sounds like a klutz," Sanji commented. Law calmed his laughter down and agreed with him.

"Yeah. But he was able to take good care of me when he was still around." Law shrugged. He missed the man. "He's the reason I'm who I am now." It was true. He learned how to show compassion and love from the man.

"He sounds like a great guy." Law nodded. He was. Really good man. I could even call him my second father. He deserves it.

Law told Sanji more about Corazon. He told the man about how Corazon saved his life and what they did for six months. It was nice and felt like he was getting something heavy off his chest. He loved Sanji and felt like he was sharing something personal with him.

After a bit, Law was low on energy. He decided to lay back down to go back to sleep so he could regain some energy. Sanji agreed with him and helped him lay back down. It was nice to have someone care about him again.

"I'm going to make you something to eat for when you get back up," Sanji informed him. He ruffled Law's hair as he laid there. Law swatted his hand away with a glare.

"I'm not a child," Law grumbled. Sanji laughed at that.

"Of course. You're a grown man that's pouting like a five-year-old right now." Law glared harder at him. He went to retort. Before he could get a single word out, Sanji leaned down and kissed him on the lips. It made him freeze up. Pulling back, the cook smiled down at him. "Get some rest, Law. You need it."

Getting out of his shock, Law felt his face heat up. He turned over and gave Sanji his back. The man laughed again as he walked out of the room. The kiss had embarrassed him because he hadn't expected it. Asshole. It's like he knows what's going to embarrass me. Law sighed as he closed his eyes. God, I love him. Slowly, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But, here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it. Let me know if you do. Have a fantastic day and I love you all. Tatty-bye!