A/N: I'm just going to post the last chapters at the same time, I think I've made you wait way too long anyway *sweats*. Thanks for reading this far, please review!

It had been three days since the fall of Doflamingo's reign, and Dressrosa was still down a king and a castle. Cora had taken over as the temporary ruler with the merfolk's help, but Doflamingo didn't have an heir, and no one knew exactly who to give the crown to.

But the truth was out, or at least one version of it. Cora had spoken to the public shortly after he'd woken up and, as the late king's advisor, he'd managed to convince the people of Law and Luffy's innocence. Without the surveillance snail, however, the only evidence of Doflamingo's guilt was lost to the ocean. There was no way of proving that the king had been behind the attack on Cora's life anymore, and the blame had been shouldered to a nameless attacker.

Trafalgar Law sat under a tree by the shoreline, just listening to the billowing tides. He was still bandaged here and there, but the ache of old hurts was hardly noticeable with the soft wind soothing his skin. He'd left the castle before dawn after another sleepless night. Even though Law was practically dead on his feet, sleep seemed to evade him at every turn. There just weren't enough hours in a day to process the whirlwind of events that summed up his past two months.

He hadn't seen much of Cora or Luffy over the past days. He hadn't seen much of anyone, really; resigning to spend his days alone instead, away from the commotion.

Besides, Cora was busy, and the small moments of free time he got to himself went to either sleeping or eating. Law had seen him a couple of times when he'd gone to check up on Cora's healing wound, and neither had sought out the other past those brief encounters. They were both still getting used to each other's company, and Law was yet to shake the fear of walking into Cora's offices just to find him lying on the floor again, bleeding.

Luffy, on the other hand, had reluctantly agreed to help Cora restore the castle. Some of the merfolk had stuck around to keep him company; understandably unwilling to leave the teen alone after they'd only so recently found him. In fact, Luffy had been so busy with rebuilding and reconnecting with his friends that Law had barely gotten a chance to talk to him since that night on the beach.

Law sighed, setting down the notebook he'd brought with him. He'd been trying to write down a letter that he would never send, but the words didn't flow as easily as Law had hoped. Explaining everything that had happened since that accursed birthday ball two months ago was difficult when Law too was yet to wrap his head around it. But Lami would understand. She always did.

He was almost drifting off by the time heard the water splashing out in the sea. He cracked an eye open, recognising the now familiar snickers. "Long time no see, Luffy-ya."

"Oi, Torao!" Luffy yelled back, spotting the human. "I was just looking for you! Hey, watch this!"

Law quirked an eyebrow, expecting for the merman to pull some stunt that would leave them both beyond waterlogged. But Luffy only dipped below surface, shooting out of the water like a bullet soon after. He flipped himself around in the air, the red and silver scales of his tail glimmering in the sunlight and sending droplets of water flying in an arch.

Law had known Luffy for two months now, and he'd lived surrounded by luxury for half his life. He'd seen a lot of things most would consider lavish, gorgeous even, and still Law had never seen anything quite as breath-taking as a merman's elegance in the water.

Luffy swam to the waterline, grinning proudly. "Cool, right! Ace said I'm finally healed enough to do that kind of stuff!"

"That was indeed," Law paused, lacking the right word to describe what he'd just seen. "That was cool, yeah."

Luffy beamed with joy. "I'm almost as fast as Ace, I'll beat him soon! I bet I could take him on."

Law snorted. "Maybe give it a few more days."

"Aww," Luffy whined. "That's no fun. I'd have done it already, but Ace is busy, wedding stuff and all. Boring."

Law nodded, a small smirk curving his lips. "Were you at the wreckage just now?"

Luffy perked up and laughed sheepishly. "I kinda slipped away while Izo was talking with Thatch. Those guys are hard to get past unless they're distracting each other, you know?"

"I should have known," Law chuckled. "You're incurable."

"Sorry, sorry," Luffy said, rubbing the back of his head. "I have to go back soon, anyway. Izo's going to notice I'm gone, and he's not going to be happy."

"Get going then," Law suggested. "Before they come get you."

Luffy nodded at first, flicking the water with his tail thoughtfully. He frowned. "There was something I needed to show you though… Oh, right!"

He rummaged the small satchel that was hanging from his waist -for treasures and meat- and pulled out something too small for Law's eyes to see. Something gleamed in the sunlight, but when Law reached a hand to grab the something from Luffy, he grasped at nothing.

Luffy pried Law's fingers open with one hand and placed the item into Law's open palm. The material was silky against his skin, strong but nigh invisible. It reminded Law of-

"String?"

Luffy nodded sombrely. "I found it when I was clearing the rocks, near the room where Ace was held in. Do you think…?"

"I don't know," Law muttered numbly. "Come to think of it, Luffy-ya, did you ever find a body?"

"If we did, no one's told me about it," Luffy replied.

Blood drained from Law's face. He clutched the string in his hand with a white knuckled grip. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. It can't be..."

"He's gone now," Luffy said. "We kicked Mingo out of Dressroba."

Law didn't hear him over the memories and emotions that had overtaken his focus. He needed to see Cora and make sure that he was okay, right now.

Law got up to leave, but Luffy caught his pant leg before the human got out of reach, stopping him. "Torao, wait."

The merman's voice was commanding and reassuring all the same, piercing through the haze clouding Law's logic. Luffy pulled him back down, and Law slumped against the tree bonelessly. "I-I can't do this again."

"You don't have to. It's all going to be okay, don't worry. We beat that feather guy up nicely, he's not going to be back anytime soon," Luffy comforted. "And if he does, I'll be here, Torao. Breathe."

Law tried to, god he did; in and out, rinse and repeat, but air didn't seem to find his lungs. The merman's brow knitted together with worry, and Law was left no time to react before wet arms wrapped him in a tight hug.

"It's going to be okay," Luffy promised and somehow, Law believed him.

He relaxed into the embrace and, slowly, breathing got easier. His fears seemed to dwindle and dissipate more by the minute, and Law chided himself inwardly for letting his imagination get the better of him. He shook his head, determined to shake the last, lingering bits of dread and terror from his mind.

"You can let go now, Luffy-ya," he said, a bit awkwardly, but Luffy showed no signs of letting go, and just snickered into Law's ear.

"Nope, I like this. You're warm, Torao."

"Yeah, fine," Law sighed. "But my clothes are soaked now."

"Shishishi, it's a sunny day, just take them off!" Luffy stated, like it was the simplest thing.

"I'll do no such thing," Law snapped, albeit half-heartedly. He felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment and ire. 'Damn brat.'

He pushed Luffy away, trying to hide his smile. "Just because you don't seem to care for clothes doesn't mean we all need to go naked."

Luffy shrugged. "It's not like I can wear pants, Torao."

"Fair enough," Law agreed, trying and failing to dry his clothes. Luffy waited for him to finish, doodling something in the sand that looked like two stick figures. Then again, considering who the artist was, it was hard to tell.

Luffy grinned up at the human, noticing Law's obvious interest to all things distracting him from his thoughts. "Look. That's you, and that's me, swimming in the ocean."

"Is it now?" Law asked, "Looks an awful lot like nothing to me."

"Hey, don't be rude!" Luffy snapped, but the words held no bite.

Law shook his head, smiling. Once he'd gotten most of the water out of his drenched clothes, Law leaned back against the tree. He closed his eyes, feeling the long nights of thinking instead of sleeping catch up on him. He felt drained.

Luffy dragged himself up to lean against the trunk next to Law, snuggling against the human's side. He was dripping wet, and Law realised with a groan that his efforts to wring his clothes dry had been a fool's errand. But Luffy was warm, keeping cold at bay, so Law wasn't exactly complaining.

"Time for a nap?" Law asked teasingly.

Luffy grinned. "Yup."

The merman yawned and closed his eyes, all intentions of heading back long forgotten. His tail tangled with Law's legs, radiating heat and locking them both in place. Realising that he wasn't being given a choice in the matter, Law just hummed his approval and leaned closer to Luffy, soaking in the merman's warmth.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

A/N: I just want to make a quick shout out again to my betas, Emygrl99 and Beyond Kailani, as well as my artist for the OPBB, qpeura. They're all great, go check out their works! If you've stuck with me until the end, thank you, and I'll see you next time ^^