Lost Souls

The pain was terrible. It stabbed into Law's heart and mind over and over and over until he thought that he was going to pass out. He had lost Corazon. The one and only person he had come to love since his family had been murdered. The one who had given him back his heart. And now he was truly alone in the world. Corazon was dead.

He laid staring up at the sky on the beach of Swallow Island. At some point he had made it to this island. He couldn't remember how though. All he knew at the moment was pain and tears and that he had to get away from Doflamingo. The man never came after him. He had expected the man to come and kill him. That had been hours ago. The blonde man never showed up. The Navy must have had something to do with that since they were in the area.

Now he had to decide where he was going to go. He didn't know. He knew that he had to be careful where he went. Doflamingo obliviously had spies all over the place. Never would he have imagined the man would have an informant in the Navy. Now the Navy really couldn't be trust. Not that he trusted them much to begin with. But with Vergo in the Navy they weren't going to be any help to him.

At the very least he was grateful that Swallow Island gave him a place to stay for the moment. He needed to figure out what he was going to do now, other than get revenge for Corazon's murder. But that wouldn't be for quite a while. He needed to become stronger. He needed to learn how to use his Devil Fruit. How did anyone do that anyway? He didn't think there was an instruction manual for it. So was it just trail and error?

He knew that his Devil Fruit cured or would cure his illness.

Lifting up his hand, he stared at the white spots on them. They weren't getting any smaller. But he didn't feel as bad as he did either. So did that mean he was cured? He wasn't sure. And he had no one to ask. All he had from Corazon was the Devil Fruits weren't magic and didn't work like it.

He needed to figure out how it worked. Sitting up, he looked around the island. It was nighttime. He was surrounded by nothing but forest, beach, and sea. The moon was covered so trying to make his way into a town wasn't going to work well tonight. So he decided to just sit there and work on trying to figure how his Devil Fruit worked.

"Let's see," Law said to himself. He held his palms up. He thought about how Corazon used his. It seemed to just happen automatically. Or did it? Turning his palms over, a swirl of light brown cloud spun around the palm of his right hand. His eye widened. Then seemingly of its own free will, the smoke spread out around him, creating a light blue sphere over him. It reached out only a half a foot from his body. He jumped; shocked that something had actually happened. The sphere disappeared.

He looked at his palm again before turning it back down to try and do it again. Be before he could do anything cries of a baby penetrated his ears. Kneading his eyebrows he wondered who would be out here this late with a baby. He tried to ignore the cries, thinking its parents would soon calm the baby down. But it never came. The baby just kept crying and crying. With an annoyed growl, Law pushed himself to his feet and headed off towards the cries. They lead him into the forest.

Sudden shift from an owl taking fight made him jump. His heart pounded in his chest, only calming down after he took a deep breath. He continued on towards the cries. They came closer and closer the farther he walked into the woods. Then he found it. The baby was laying in a small opening in the forest, wrapped up in a white blanket. Kneading his eyebrows in confusion, he looked around to see if the baby's parents were near. "Hello?!"

No one answered.

"Is anyone there?" Law tried again. Only crickets responded to his calls. But they were no help. It wasn't like they could tell him who this baby belonged to. He stepped closer to the baby. Kneeling down, he tilted his head. The clouds above parted, giving the moon the chance to beam down on the baby. It only made him more confused to see a lightning shape scar on the kid's forehead. The scar seemed rather fresh, too. He touched the scar. It was warm. Luckily there was no blood. The baby stopped crying at his touch. His breath hitched in his lungs upon seeing the baby's striking green eyes. They were light, sparkling with tears, and peered into his soul. It unnerved him. He jumped up and started to walk away. He spun back around when the baby started crying again. Kneeling back beside the baby he said. "Why did I come back?"

The baby wiggled.

"So are you a boy or a girl?" Law asked. "I really can tell. I guess there's only one way of finding out." He reached and opened the blanket. He then popped open the snaps on the bottom of the outfit the baby was wear, noticing it was nice and fuzzy, and then opened the diaper. He closed it all back up. "So you're a girl. And you need changing, too. I guess that's why you were crying." He looked around again, still no sight of anyone else. "And apparently abandon. Or are your parents around? And why am I talking to you like you're going to answer me?"

The baby fussed and wiggling.

"You're probably hungry, too," Law said. "But I don't even have food for myself let alone a baby." He looked around once more then sighed heavily. Despite how bad he felt right now, he knew he couldn't just leave the kid out here to die. He was surprised the kid was even still alive. Then he had no idea how long she had been out here. Her fussing became cries. "Fine. I'll see if I can find someone that will give you something to eat."

Law scooped the baby into his arms, careful to support her head as he remembered newborns were very fragile and couldn't hold up their heads yet. Much to his delight the baby wasn't a new born. Though he couldn't tell exactly hold old she was. He never was around babys much, just mostly his younger sister. The thought of her made his heart clench. He missed her a lot. Brushing the past from his mind, he stood up and headed back out of the forest to where he was on the beach. He figured it would best to walk along the beach so he didn't get lost in the forest.

He walked for a mile, his legs burning from having to walk in the sand, before finally coming upon a small cluster of houses. He walked up to one, the only one, which still had a light on. He knocked on the door until someone answered it.

"Wha's goin' on?! Do ya have any idea ho' late it is?!" a shaggy bearded man opened the door and glared down at Law. "Wha' the heck 'u want, kid?!"

"I need some food for her," Law said.

"You can't be serious," the man said.

The baby cried and shifted closer to Law's chest.

"Please, she's hungry and I have no money to feed her," Law said. "Can't you just-"

"No!" the man snapped. He moved to slam the door shut but a woman appeared and held the door open.

"Honestly, Jeb," she said. "Why must you be such a grump?"

"Maybe cuz it's one o'clock in da morn'?" Jeb muttered.

"You weren't asleep anyway," she said before turning a smile to Law. "Please, do come in." She stepped aside, pushing Jeb along with her, and allowed Law to enter the house.

Law glanced around. It was a simple house. A small table with four chairs sat in the middle of the kitchen. Some toys were scatter on the floor in front of a worn couch and a worn chair. Clearly they had kids. A few doors that led to other rooms, hopefully one a bathroom.

"I'll get the baby some milk," the woman said. "Please have a seat at the table."

Law nodded and moved over to the table. He sat there, bouncing the baby lightly while waiting for the milk. The man grumbled to himself and disappeared into another room. From the closed door he could still hear some kind of banging going on in the room.

"Forgive Jeb. He's just a bit tired from working all night on his woodworks," the woman said. She walked over to him and handed him a small bottle. "I think this will do. She doesn't look all that old."

"You can tell she's a girl?" Law took the bottle and brought the nipple up to the baby's lips. She didn't take it at first, but soon let the nipple settled into her mouth and drank. Her eyes locked onto Law and sparkled.

"I can," the woman said. "I'm a mother after all. We have two kids. Our youngest is probably about six months older than this little one. That's why we still have bottles laying around. And I must say, your sister is quite adorable."

"She's not my sister," Law said.

"Oh? Then why do you have her?" she asked.

"I found her out in the forest," Law said. "I think she was abandon."

"Oh, dear me." The woman placed a hand to her chest. "The poor dear. We'll have to contact the proper authorities in the morning."

Law's heart clenched. He didn't like the idea of getting the Navy involved at all. His eyes dropped down to the baby. Her eyes were still staring at him. It made his heart flutter. And it made him question why he wanted to suddenly keep her. He was still just a kid himself. A kid seeking revenge. He couldn't possibly take care of a baby while trying to reach his goal. No he would have to let this woman hand the baby over to the Navy. She can be put in an orphanage until it's determined whether she was truly abandoned or not. His stomach growled reminding him that it's been hours since he last ate.

"Goodness." The woman chuckled. "I guess she's not the only one who's hungry. I'll fix you up something to eat right away."

"That's not necessary," Law said.

"Of course it is." The woman moved around the kitchen, gathering up supplies. "It's not trouble at all. I can't just feed one child while letting another go hungry. It'll be just a few moments. And call me Anna."

"Sure," Law said. He really didn't want food from her but his empty stomach changed his mind. Soon the spicy smell of rice, peas, and shrimp filled the air. He gladly dug into the pile of food he placed out for her on the table. His tongue didn't taste the food though. He figured he was still upset about Corazon.

"See? You were hungry," Anna said.

"Thanks," Law said. "It was good."

"You're welcome," Anna said. "How about I fix up the couch and you two can sleep here tonight? We have a bassinet she can sleep in until we can get the authorities involved."

Law opened his mouth to object, but quickly shut it to consider his options. He was a bit tired and could use a nice, warm place to sleep for a few hours. But what did he really want to do with the kid? The thought of leaving her to the Navy and in an orphanage didn't set well with him. At the same time he knew he couldn't take her with him. She was a baby. Or could he? Plenty of other people have taken babies on the open sea and they survived fine. He dropped his eyes down to her. Maybe he should just sleep on it. It was never wise making rash decisions when tired. And right now he was too exhausted from the day to even think clearly. Maybe that was it. He just wasn't thinking clearly. Sleep would make him see that keeping a baby with him was a very stupid idea. "Thanks. I'll take you up on that offer. But I'd like her to stay beside me."

"If you really want that," Anna said. She stepped away from the table and disappeared into another room. A few minutes later she appeared with a few items in her hands. She placed the blanket and pillow on the couch before picking up a diaper from the bassinet she had set out. "She'll need changed after she eats. I've put a few more diapers in the bassinet if she needs to be changed later. I might not wake up being in another room but if you need me feel free to wake me up."

"I think I can manage just fine," Law said.

"Very well then," Anna said. "If there's nothing else you need, I should be getting back to sleep."

"I'm fine," Law said.

"The bathroom's just right there," Anna said pointing to the closed door beside the one Jeb disappeared into before disappearing into her room.

Law glanced back down at the baby. She was finishing up the bottle quickly and was becoming tired. That reminded him that he was going to have to burp her. So when she finished he placed her over his shoulder and patted her back until she burped. "That's a good gir…what am I saying?"

Slipping out of the chair, he walked over to the couch to change the girl. While he was doing that, she had fallen asleep. He picked her up and placed her in the bassinet before using the bathroom and laying down on the couch. He closed his eyes to sleep but noticed quickly that he kept looking down at her. His mind spun like a hurricane for several minutes before he finally was able to drift off to sleep.

His dreams were scattered. He dreamed of Corazon still being alive. The man was wandering through some form of garden. He watched as Corazon squatted down and held out his hands. Then a little girl ran into his open arms. Though Law couldn't see her face he knew she was a girl because of the light blue and white trimmed dress she was wearing.

"You're such a cute little girl!" Corazon said. "You're daddy has taken such good care of you!"

"Granpa Corozoon!" the girl chirped.

Law couldn't help but smile at the girl mispronouncing Corazon's name. Then it hit him. She had said, or meant to say, Grandpa. But why? Why was this girl calling him Grandpa?

"You mean for a pirate?"

Law looked up to the third voice. His eyes widened with shock. He was looking at himself. His older self that is.

"Daddy!" the girl chirped.

"Are you bothering Granpa Corozoon?" Law asked.

"I love, Granpa!" she said.

"I know you do," Law said.

"What the heck is going on here?!" Law asked himself. "Hey! Someone tell me what's going on!"

They didn't answer him. More people, unfamiliar people, gathered around them, chatting happily and playing with the girl.

Law gasped and shot up. His breathing was heavy but slowly settled back down to normal. His eyes drifted down to the sleeping baby. He laid down on his side, his eyes still on her, and debated whether or not his dream was telling her to take care of her. He found himself reaching out for the girl. Touching her warm cheek with his fingertip, her hand came up and grasp his finger. His heart flooded with warmth and affection. In that split second, he fell in love with her. He knew that he couldn't abandon her. They had a bond. A bond of being all alone in the world, of being lost souls. He wouldn't leave her behind. It was going to be hard, but he was taking her with him.

Glancing out the window, he noticed that it wasn't yet sunrise. He had to move quickly. He needed to gather up supplies here and leave before the woman had time to get a hold of the Navy. He jumped up. Pulling his shoes back on, he wondered round the house, taking a few things he knew he would need. Some things he knew he would have to get from a store. But for now, he just needed a few items and get out of here. He grabbed some food for himself, two bottles that were drying near the sink, a can of formula, the diapers the woman had left, and the blanket he cut and reshaped into a carrier for her. When he got to a store he would buy or steal a proper carrier. But for now he could only manage with what he had. He figured they had one with having kids of their own but assumed it was in their bedroom. He wouldn't risk going in there and waking them up.

Picking up the girl, he opened the door and stepped out into the salty morning air. Glancing around to make sure no one was around to watch him, he slipped off into the early morning, making his way to the other side of the island, hoping the man and woman wouldn't come looking for them. The baby fussed as if upset by his rushed emotions. "Hush now, Lami. You'll be fine. I promise I am going to take very good care of you. Do you like your name? Lami was my sister. I think she would be honored if you took her name. So that's why I'm giving to you. I hope you like it."

Lami giggled as if telling him she liked it.

Law smiled. No longer did he feel so alone in the world. He had purpose once again in his life. He just hoped it was the correct choice. His eyes looked up at the stars in the sky. One sparkled brightly at him as if telling him he had made the right decision.

People probably won't like this. But I'm going to give it a try. I'm just not good with stories here. So I may or may not finish this.