Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Chapter 1: Commotion at the Orphanage

"Law-san, come outside, it's a lot warmer than yesterday and they found the key to the toy shed," a young girl with a singsong voice called from the library door.

"…" the black-haired teen didn't bother to look up from the half-written letter he was hunched over.

"You shouldn't shut yourself up in the library or your room all the time," the girl said kindly, coming closer. "Don't you get lonely?"

The pen stopped scratching. He looked down at her with cold grey eyes that would frighten even the bravest of adults. "Taking comfort in others is only for those who are weak."

"But what's so important that it can't wait until later—?" She hid from his icy gaze by bending down to read the paper, but never got the chance. Law snatched the letter off the table and stood at his full height causing the little girl to stumble backwards.

"Mind your own business!" He wanted to scare her, but loud ringing from the front door got both their attentions.

"Welco—Good Lord! MOTHER ADA!" One of the caretakers shrieked from the foyer. "Mother Ada, come quick!"

The both children went to the door, curious to see what the commotion was. They weren't the only ones. Almost every door on every floor in the foyer opened as children of all ages gathered to see what the yelling was about. Several caretakers came to help as three cloaked men let themselves in to the foyer. They were huddled together making it impossible to see what going on.

The foyer was situated with the front door on one side with the dining hall across the way next to the staircase. The library and the headmistress' office were on the left and the sitting room was on the right. The door to the headmistress' office opened and out stepped a stern-looking woman in a nun's dress.

One of the cloaked men stepped away from his companions and spoke in hushed tones with the woman. She glanced into small group and nodded grimly. She then turned to the library entrance and the two bystanders watching quietly.

"Aiya, I want you to run and get Dr. Sartorius. Tell him it's urgent," She said quickly.

"Yes Ma'am!" the girl ran out the door, leaving Law in the library alone.

"Law, you're to come with me," The nun beckoned to him. Law stayed where he was.

"I'm busy—"

"Whatever you're doing can wait…This cannot. Now come," she turned toward her office before walking up the stairs. "I am not through with you, Mr. Bellamy; you had better still be in that office when I come back."

Law was about to follow when someone kicked his feet out from under him.

"Better watch your step, Runt!" Bellamy cackled as Law picked himself off the ground. Law glared at him but didn't say anything as Mother Ada called again.

He trailed far behind the adults as they headed deeper into the orphanage with his hands in his pockets. Kids whispered on both sides as he passed. His interest peaked when he heard someone say that they caught a glimpse of a person in the center of the procession ahead of him. When put together with the fact that this was an orphanage and that Mother Ada sent for Dr. Sartorius, it meant that the person was a kid and he or she was injured. He closed the distance to get a better look and, as he did, he recognized the way they were going.

"Why my room?!" Mother Ada looked at him with a stern expression.

"Your room is far enough away from the rest of the orphanage, that, if and when this young one wakes up, he will be able to get the much needed rest he deserves. Also," she added in an encouraging tone, "should something go wrong in his recovery, he'd be in good hands."

Not entirely pleased with the woman's explanation, Law quietly went back to brooding. It was true that his room was somewhat separate from the main orphanage, or rather, isolated. It had nothing to do with distance; the other orphans were just too terrified to come here. This part of the orphanage was where they kept their "problem" children. As far as he knew there were only four orphans living in this hall; himself, the demented Bellamy and his partner in crime, Sarquiss, and the ever quiet Shizukana Rena. So why in the world would the adults put an injured person here and not in the hospital wing?

When they arrived at his room, Law tried to enter with the adults only to be shooed out and told to wait for Dr. Sartorius. So he resorted to listening through the door to catch a murmur of his unwelcome roommate's condition. He really didn't care what they were talking about until he heard the word "Revolutionaries". He smiled in triumph as he thought of the letter sitting in his pocket. He'd be able to give that man some information and maybe finally get off this godforsaken island. However, the smile gradually disappeared, the longer he listened and his chances of leaving went from slim to nonexistent. As always the grown-ups were careful with what they said, even in an orphanage full of "ignorant" children. The only thing he learned was that the kid in question had an unfortunate run in with the Tenryuubito.

"You know what they say about eavesdroppers," Law started when a male voice spoke up behind him. He looked around and saw Aiya and an elderly man in his sixties smiling gently at him. "Listen long enough and you'll hear something bad about yourself."

"Doctor Sartorius!" The old man grinned again before knocking on the door with a wizened hand.

The door opened to reveal the cloaked man who spoke to Mother Ada earlier. He stepped aside to let the doctor pass but grabbed Law by the scruff of his shirt and attempted to deposit him back outside. Law sent him a seething glare which he felt rather than saw the traveler return in kind.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to need the help of my apprentice," Sartorius stated and Law was allowed to stay. "Aiya-chan, I'm going to need a basin of cold water." Small padded feet sounded down the hall. "These look serious. How did this happen exactly?"

Law managed to squeeze through to finally get a good look at the other boy. Nothing prepared him for what he found. The boy was bandaged from head to toe. The little bit that Mother Ada had taken off revealed leathery skin ranging from white to burnt brown; the telltale signs of third degree burns. Blood was seeping through the bandages of his left eye.

One of the other travelers spoke up, "An explosion caused by a hand cannon three days ago. Iva-san wanted to treat him, but, because of his age, didn't think he'd survive it. We did what we could, but it might not have been enough. That's why we came here."

"I see." The old doctor set to work on removing the bandages while directing Law to pull out certain tools and medicines. Aiya came back with the water and nearly dropped it when she saw the injuries.

"It's alright, Aiya-chan," Sartorius said gently, taking the basin and patting her head reassuringly. "These wounds aren't as bad as they look. Whoever this youngster is, he was smart enough to get away from the brunt of the blast. Just a few skin grafts and a bit of burn salve and he'll be good as new," and with a sly wink toward the adults, "with a few interesting battle stories to impress the ladies."

With a sigh of relief and renewed faith in the good doctor, Aiya left the room with Mother Ada. As the door closed, Sartorius grew somber again. "However, there's no repairing the damage to his eye. His sight will be severely limited, if he'll be able to see out of that eye at all."

As the group of travelers was leaving the room, one of them, the one that tried to prevent Law from entering the room, said in firm voice, "You'll be surprised by what a person can overcome when fighting for a dream."

Law was wetting rags and preparing an anesthetic all the while trying to make sense of the conversation. Forget not knowing who this Iva woman was, nothing the stranger said made sense. There was no way of overcoming a handicap like the one this kid received. It'd be a miracle if this kid would even be able to move ever again.

As the doctor gave started his treatment, both were taken by surprise as the patient spoke softly in his sleep, "Ace…Luffy…I'll be waiting…"

Trafalgar Law looked down at him with a curious expression. At that moment, he never realized the impact that boy would have on his life.

To be continued…

A/N: I've updated this chapter according to the results of my poll. Law is 14 and Sabo is 10. For those who are reading this for the first time, I originally had Law younger than Sabo but since I like being canon and voters also liked the idea I changed this to canon age. But at the end of future chapters I'll have deleted scenes where chibi-Law acted differently.

For those of you who have read Yonkou and Shichibukai, I apologize for not updating. I'm sorely lacking in inspiration and the laptop I was working on died.

But I digress, please read and review and I'll see you in chapter three.