Trafalgar Family Headcanons
a/n: atrocious that the only results i get for "trafalgar law family" in tumblr's gif seach is only doffy stuff and the donqi (donkey, ha) pirates, not a single one of their bio family
well, this'll have to do, since post-flevance pre-swallow island rosi is the only family law has to speak of...
they/he law, no reader
cw: angst, homophobic/transphobic microaggressions, implied(?) religious trauma but there's nothing in detail, just law really failing to fit in with the other church boys for whatever reason
word count: 1.3k
The passion for medicine started for Law's father when his father was drafted to war, just before Amber Lead was truly profitable but powers on top were already vying heavily for it, and ended up passing on the way home to his family - Law's father never ended up being a front like medic like intended, but his research was still invaluable to his peers in the field and he ended up helping in the expansion and flourishing of the hospital that would eventually become his grave
Law's mother was a classically trained dancer before she went into medicine; feeling the burnout of one career path but throwing herself headlong into another high-powered job before second guesses and frankly, reason, could knock her off-course
Diving into an occupation that seemed to be almost directly antithetical if not completely random to escape the monotony of her previous path in life, falling in love with a man on this new, exciting route and building a life with him - Law retains not-so vivid memories of how their mother stressed the importance of building a safety net for themself in the future, of stability, but they'd always remember the soft tone her voice when she spoke of just going for it, jumping into doing this with their father
Law didn't inherit his mom's merit in whimsy it seems, but they definitely picked up her anxiety about the little things, how she'd fuss over the smallest details in her plans to make sure everything went perfectly; Law feels a twinge deep in their chest whenever they catch themself fiddling with the edges of paper within their notebooks, trying to focus a cacophony of thoughts into something workable just like their mother
Their mother never talked much about her upbringing, or the people in her life before she took this plunge with their father, but what Law's mom did share with her children was her love for music - maybe a little misguided in signing them up for classes instead of just, letting them enjoy it for what it is, but Lami always seemed eager to pull out her violin for relatives and though Law still never socialized much, being able to play the piano did give them a slight "cool" factor that drew other kids to their side if not only to ask Law if they knew how to play this, that, or the other
But on the other hand, the kids got to see just how happy their parents were to dance in the comfort of their kitchen or living room when their songs played on the radio, pulling a reluctant Law and giggling Lami along with them to the beat; eventually everyone would lay in a cuddle pile on the floor or on the couch, breathless from laughter and a day off from school well-spent
Once, while Rosi was basking in the sun on the rare occasion where he and Law didn't have to run from bigoted doctors or duck behind marines' line of sight, where they both had a brief, precious moment to just breathe - Corazon found himself at a loss for what to do when Law started dissolving into tears (very reluctantly and trying to hide it the whole time, mind) when a certain song played on the radio
It took hours of coaxing to finally get the kid to talk, but after Law finally did spill the reason for his upset, Corazon could only hold them in the comfort of his coat while he smoothed over their tiny back with his hand the size of Law's head, an ache long dulled in Rosinante's own heart starting to throb numbly again
Law's grandmother was a devout woman, becoming especially pious after the death of her husband even though her prayers of bringing him home safe were never answered, she doubled down on her beliefs and blamed herself for not praying hard enough, not devoting herself enough to The Lord
She'd round up the family every Sunday for mass and make sure everyone was freshly dressed, on their best behavior for The Lord's house - Law didn't doubt that their grandmother did love them, but they could never shake the feeling that she valued appearances to the community more than what their family actually felt about these rituals
They went because they had to, it was what they always did and breaking tradition would be a "slippery slope" to god knows what as other members of the parish would say - plus, Law's father, for as long as Law had been alive up until that point, had been weak against their grandmother
Apparently it was because he was a particularly rowdy kid, always causing trouble for their grandmother even after his father passed, and the wakeup call Law's dad got was bad enough to swing him in the complete opposite direction - he loved his kids, sure, but he was strict, and when it came to grandma? Whatever she said, goes, out of the guilt Law's father never addressed with his mother, sweeping every bad thing under the rug like they always did to keep moving forward
So to mass every weekend they went
Mom and dad were used to the pleasantries, mingling with other adults over the provided lunch afterwards and Lami got to play with the friends she easily made on day one, family friends; yet Law never quite found the right clique to assimilate into - either they were too macabre with descriptions of last week's anatomy class where they dissected live frogs, or nobody found their rambles about commemorative coins all that interesting
Their mom urged Law to approach other kids about the Sora comics he liked so much, but given the reception to all their other interests, Law kept this special interest very much personal - they occasionally toss and turn at night thinking of how those comics probably would be their in with them, but then again, it's not like any of that would matter in the end - whether those snotty church kids accepted them or not, Flevance was always destined to end up in flames
Wholly ignored by it's supposed savior that swathes of people offered their reverence to every single week, every day in the case of their grandmother, no one had come to save a single person in the White City
In any modern setting I'd imagine them as Colombian with much of the same choices being made here - Law isn't particularly close with their folks, and if you asked them about their dad their first thought would go to Corazon; it's strained over the years for a myriad of things but the ones lined up above paint the clearest picture
They talk to Lami on and off, Law's still pleasant enough with their sister to hang out ever other month - they shut down any talk of possibly meeting up with mom and dad to sort things out, however - on the off chance that Law does have to meet with their parents, it's about as tense as you an imagine it, especially if extended family is involved
Law can handle prodding about their studies and bullshit an answer about where they intend to take his career in life, but they absolutely dread the questions about girlfriends and the however many hours of misgendering they can come to expect before he can go home and have to recharge for about a week - Corazon and their childhood friend group are more or less the only people in an out of their house at that time, but others may be allowed over towards the end of their cocooning session
Lami tries to advocate for them with when they have to field nosy relatives, Law appreciates her for that, but she can only do so much having to deal with her own onslaught of invasive questions about her personal life, she'd tell him; Law recognizes the familiar icy curl in their chest whenever she does - they're all just trying to get by in their own ways, no one has time to coddle them; they get much of the same feeling from their mother, who does try to extend an olive branch every now and again, but mostly silence from his father when the topic comes up
Law - doesn't make it a habit of keeping in touch with their folks
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banish every gaslight; let clarity shine - Part 4
I’ve been waiting to get to this stuff for a while you have no idea. It’s a little longer than the prior chapters, but it’s worth it.
Part 1 [FFN/AO3] - Part 2 [FFN/AO3] - Part 3 [FFN/AO3]
A pair of children, sick and alone, stumble into Spider Miles with hate in their hearts and their lives on a timer. Then, a surprising thing happens: they acquire a sister. [3136 words; AU where there is a Third Corazón, whose existence makes Law’s life hell]
Sixteen years earlier, in an entirely different ocean…
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Lami squeaked quietly as she tried to not cry. Her entire body hurt as she hid in the cart, feeling every bump in the cobblestone road shift the bodies above her. Law pressed two fingers to her lips—they had to be quiet. The little bit of light that filtered through to them was enough to hit his eyes and show how large and terrified they were; he was just as scared as she was, and they both needed to hold on a while longer. As they traveled, they could feel the ground beneath them shift to something softer before the cart finally came to a stop.
“Ah, shit, we’ve got to dig too?” came an irritated voice. It must have been one of the soldiers. “Breathing’s tough enough in these fucking masks.”
“We wanted to wear surgical masks, but no… it had to be rubber gas masks,” another soldier griped.
“Yeah, fuck this,” a third chimed in. “Let’s just ditch the cart and say we thought we didn’t need to dig—all in?” A small chorus of voices agreed and their heavy boots began to walk away into the distance.
Silence.
“A-are they g-gone…?” Lami whispered.
“I think so,” Law replied. He wiggled his way out of Lami’s sight and carefully—quietly—removed himself from the cart. After a quick look to make sure none of the soldiers were there, he found his sister’s ankles amongst the limbs in differing stages of Amber Lead and rigormortis and pulled her out, her shirt getting caught on someone’s hand that had long-ago calcified. She began to panic, but he deftly unhooked the fabric from the stiff fingers. “See? We’re good.”
“Law…? Where are we…?”
“It looks like the campgrounds,” he said, taking a better look around. There was a pile of shovels near one tree, along with a container that looked like fuel accelerant. The clearing across the way had several mounds of dirt that were too neat and orderly and large to be anything but fresh graves. He remembered how it looked in the cemetery when their neighbor passed away before the Amber Lead began to take its toll—that was supposed to be their fate next, burned and buried in a pit with everyone else from the cart. “We need to get out of here, and quickly.”
“…but where will we go?!” Lami asked, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She watched as her brother climbed back onto the cart and began tugging clothes off corpses. “Law?!”
“It’s only going to get colder, and they won’t miss them,” he claimed. He tossed down two thick cloaks, a coat, and a thick sweater before hopping back down to the ground, a pair of boots in-hand. They were not the correct size for Lami’s feet, but they would work, since she hadn’t put on shoes in months. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Where…?”
“Somewhere we can get them back,” he said darkly, taking her hand in his. “We need to first survive, but then… they’ll be sorry.”
The two children ran into the woods and did not look back.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“Bloody fucking hell… look at them,” Diamante smirked. He and Trebol towered over the pair of brats in the trash heap, having stumbled onto them eating moldy bread. The boy was a bit older than the girl and was holding a knife as though it would protect them. “…and what do you plan on doing with that, lad?”
“Don’t touch my sister,” the kid growled. “All we want is to die taking out as many people as possible, so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll let us be.”
“You’re not going to get anywhere like this,” Trebol snorted. He sucked some phlegm back up into his sinuses and chuckled. “You’re Flevench—how much time you got, kid?”
“Thirty-eight months,” the boy said. “My sister has thirty-six.”
“A doctor told you that?”
“Our parents did,” the girl said, trembling. “They were really, really great doctors! They were murdered by soldiers!”
“You two are little kids,” Diamante scoffed. “How do you plan on taking out all these people?”
“We’re going to join the Doflamingo Pirates,” the boy stated. Diamante and Trebol both laughed. “You’ll see! We’ll join them so we can help cause as much destruction as possible!”
“Why do you think that the Young Master should waste his time on you, hm?” Trebol wondered. The boy swallowed hard and adjusted his grip on the knife. “We only take serious applicants.”
“We are serious,” the girl chirped.
“Yeah,” her brother agreed. “We won’t have peace during the three years that we have left, so why should anyone else get that luxury?”
The children waited with bated breath as the adults in front of them grew quiet. Diamante and Trebol both looked at one another and nodded before turning around and walking away.
“If you’re really that serious, then follow us,” Trebol chuckled. “If not, then have fun eating garbage for the rest of your lives.”
Law and Lami looked at one another and nodded—this was it.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Flying through the air, Law grabbed onto Lami and did his best to land on his back, cushioning her fall. He glared at the man staring out the window at them, feeling just slightly vindicated when he caught himself on fire.
“Jackass,” he mumbled. He looked Lami over, seeing that she was shivering. “Hey… you alright…?”
“Yeah,” she whimpered, nodding into his shirt. “Law… I want Mom and Dad…”
“We’ll see them soon enough,” he said as he hugged her.
“Wow! You survived!” Lami and Law looked to see the two kids from the Donquixote Pirates—a large boy and a girl in a maid outfit—scurrying over to them. The girl helped them stand as Buffalo watched over his shoulder for the adults. “We thought you were dead for sure!”
“Law makes sure we don’t die,” Lami told the other girl. “He’s really smart and good at taking care of me.”
“If you’re so smart, then why do you need the Family’s help?” she deadpanned, turning her attention to Law. “They say smart kids are the ones who leave.”
“We need their help because we are not going down quietly,” Law hissed. “What’s it say about you that you’re still around?”
“I’m clever—that’s different,” the girl retorted. She then looked at Lami, her face brightening. “Finally, another girl! If you convince the Young Master to let you stay, then we are going to have the best time. Better than we got now at least.”
“I thought we already had another girl,” the boy mentioned. The girl punched him in the arm.
“Dellinger is a boy, you dummy,” she scolded. “He’s part Fish-man, so his junk hides like theirs, but he’s definitely a boy! You’d know that if you changed his diaper!”
“Then why’s Giolla acting like he’s a girl?”
“…because Giolla is also stupid and thinks she can just make him a girl because she wants to,” the girl sighed. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Law and Lami. “So, how about it? You gonna see if you have what it takes?”
“We know we do,” Law said. Seas, this girl wasn’t getting it. “Can you get us back in?”
“Mmm… I might be able to pull a few strings,” she said with a grin. She then stuck out her hand. “Name’s Baby 5.”
“Law.”
“Lami.”
“I’m Buffalo!”
“Those are weird names,” Lami noted quietly.
“That’s because they’re codenames,” Baby 5 scoffed. “Almost everyone in the group has them.”
“We’ll be dead soon from acute Amber Lead poisoning, so I don’t see the point,” Law shrugged. Baby 5 scowled at his answer, which made Lami giggle. Instead of chastising them, Law held out his hand, which Baby 5 looked at warily, then shook. “To all the chaos we’ll cause in the meantime.”
“To the chaos.”
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
It was somewhat easy to adjust to living on Spider Miles within the construct of the Donquixote Pirates. Law and Lami were able to eat good food every day as they tried to stay healthy enough to contribute. While Law studied and trained with the adult members of the Pirates, Lami was often laid up in bed and unable to do much of anything.
“This sucks,” she pouted. Baby 5 was setting a tray down on the bed next to her as the younger girl was very tempted to throw her book across the room. It was just the two of them that evening, as most of the crew had gone out on an assignment and would not be back for a couple days and baby 5 was assigned to watch over the younger, bedridden girl. “Why does my Amber Lead have to be so debilitating?!”
“Do you even know what that word means?” Baby 5 asked.
“Well, yeah; it means it makes it so I can’t do anything,” Lami replied. She tried to sit up against her pillows and the other girl jumped in to help. “Ow…! I hate this so much!”
“Law-nii’s working on trying to find a cure,” Baby 5 reminded her. She then handed her a hot chocolate, only to get a stare. “What…?”
“Why’d you call him that…?”
“Well, I’m two years older than you, and he’s two years older than me, so I decided we can be siblings,” Baby 5 reasoned.
“What about Buffalo and Dellinger?”
“Weird cousins…? I don’t know.” She sat down next to Lami with her own hot chocolate and the girls cuddled in close for warmth. Baby 5 looked at the book that was sitting on the blankets and tilted her head. “What are you reading?”
“Noland the Liar,” the younger girl replied. “I know it’s a little babyish, but I like it.”
“Yeah…?”
“Yeah… but it’s weird.” Lami opened the book and flipped to a page towards the back. “The book we had when I was a baby showed him crying.”
“Crying…?” Baby 5 scrunched her nose. “Everyone knows Noland laughed at his death, like the Pirate King did.”
“Our book was our opa’s when he was little, and he got it from his opa, and all I know is that it was old and that old is also sometimes different.” She touched the illustration and frowned, seeing the large white patch on the back of her hand. “Bee…?”
“Yeah…?”
“If Law-nii doesn’t find a cure for us, you’ll remember us, right?”
“I’ll always remember you,” she promised. “Why do you ask?”
“I… I guess I’m just scared.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate, avoiding eye contact. “I guess that’s kind of babyish of me too, isn’t it?”
“No… I think it’s brave,” Baby 5 admitted. She put an arm around Lami’s shoulders and hugged her. “I’d be scared too if I were in your situation. Law-nii better find a cure for you both soon… I… I don’t want to be alone again.”
“…but you have Buffalo and Dellinger!”
“Yeah, but they’re not like you two. They’re not…” She sighed. “I dunno… it just seems right being with you and Law-nii… almost like… we can be a family… like I belong with someone… like I’m needed.”
“That’s silly—everyone’s needed by someone,” Lami decided. “That’s silly to think otherwise.”
“…really?”
“Really.” The girls sat there with their hot chocolate, staring at the book illustration, before Lami nodded her head decidedly. “Can I need you to be my big sister if you need me to be your little sister so you’re not alone?”
“Yeah. We can need each other to be sisters.”
…and that was the end of that.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
It was a few days before the rest of the crew came back from their mission, the Numancia Flamingo overflowing with money and treasure. Instead of helping to unload the ship, Law went directly to the balcony where Lami liked to read, hugging his baby sister tightly upon seeing her.
“It’s been so long!” Lami squeaked. She put down her book and pulled her cloak a bit tighter around her shoulders to ward off the autumn chill. “You were gone for ages!”
“It wasn’t even a week, you silly thing,” he scoffed. “You make it sound like I can control how long we’re gone.”
“You could’ve stayed,” she pouted.
“I’ll stay when I’m not feeling good, so I got to make sure I get as much done when I can.” He exhaled heavily as she simply leaned against his chest and shoulder, forcing him to hug her. “Come on… it’s not that bad…”
“I still missed you.”
Figuring it was a good a time as any, Law dug into his pocket and hid something in his hand as they sat down together. “Here, hold still.” He took the clasp off Lami’s cloak and replaced it with a new one, which glittered in the evening sun. “Prefect.”
“What is it?” she wondered, looking at the clasp. It was an ornate brooch, with many intricate swirls and designs. “It looks familiar…”
“It was Oma’s,” he replied. She looked at him, confused, and his heart broke just a little. “I was looking for a souvenir for you after I looked at the coins and…” He brushed his fingers over the metal, the stars and large tree of the city’s old crest mocking him in its silence. “I remember this was one of her favorites—made before Amber Lead became a common addition to everything. Opa had gotten it for cheap because of it—they were just married and struggling. I remember her telling me—that’s how I recognized it. The soldiers must have cleaned out Flevance of all its non-contaminated valuables.”
“…and you know it’s hers for sure…?”
“It still has the inscription on the back from when Opa gave it to her.” He saw as she curled up and put his arm around her protectively. “I’m sure the lady running the shop didn’t know.”
“It’s still wrong.”
“It is, but it’s ours now, and it would have been ours before, so it’s with the right people again.” He tucked her head beneath his chin and sighed heavily. “One day the world will know.”
“We’ll make them pay,” she agreed, sniffling.
Except, what hope did they really have? They were just a pair of siblings, quite possibly the last known descendants of the White City, and the clock was ticking.
“Ah! There you are Law-nii!” The siblings looked and saw that Baby 5 was standing in the doorway looking very put-out. “Gladius said that you had brought something back!”
“Yeah, for my sister, not for you,” he fired back. Baby 5 went close to them and looked directly at the brooch that was now holding Lami’s cloak in place. “It was plundered from our grandparents’ house—it’s safe.”
“Oh, wow…” Baby 5 tilted her head curiously at the item, taking note of the design she knew she’d seen before, but only once or twice if that. “That’s so pretty! Lami, you’re so lucky!”
“I don’t have anything else from Oma, so yeah, I am!” She then pondered for a moment. “Except… her hair…? But hers was gray and mine isn’t…”
“Opa meant when Oma was younger her hair was your color… the brown parts, anyhow.” Law patted Lami’s head as she buried her face in his shoulder. He glared at Baby 5, a chill running down the girl’s spine, before she gathered herself up and scowled right back.
“Well…?” she asked accusingly. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Where’s my present?”
“You’re not my sister,” he replied.
“Uh, yeah I am.” She watched as Lami sat upright and wiped tears from her eyes. “Tell him, Lami.”
“Bee and I decided we’re sisters while you were gone,” Lami said. “So she’s your sister now too.”
“You can’t just be sisters because you said so,” Law frowned, wrinkling his nose. “You never even met our parents.”
“So…? Young Master calls us all his family all the time, and we never met his mom and dad, and he never met ours!” Baby 5 folded her arms and made sure that her brother and sister were concentrating on her and not on being sad. “I’m your sister now whether you like it or not!”
“Why you gotta act so stupid?!”
“I’m clever, and clever people sometimes do smart things, like find family!”
“She’s right, Law-nii! She’s our sister now!”
“I can’t take care of two of you!” the lad protested. At that, Baby 5 lunged forward and threw her arms around him in a hug, which he tried to break out of before Lami joined in, the two girls trapping him against his will.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
“RISE AND SHINE, LAW-NII!”
Groaning, Law turned over in bed and pulled his blanket up over his head. When the fabric was stolen from him in a chorus of giggles, he tried hiding under his pillow instead.
“Leave me alone!” he grumbled.
“…but Law-nii!” Lami whined. “It’s your birthday!”
“I don’t care!”
“Well, you should!” Baby 5 insisted. “We prepared a party and everything for you!”
The tween poked his nose out from the safety the pillow. “You did not.”
“We did too!” Lami said. “I told Bee-nee when your birthday is! You can’t hide in here all day!”
“I can and I will!” Law grabbed the blanket back from Baby 5 and wrapped it tightly around himself in and effort to create a cocoon to shield from his sister and… his sister…? Things were a little vague in that regard. Was Baby 5 his sister just because she and Lami decided so? He was too grumpy and emotionally-spent to even begin considering the idea… that they might have family outside of themselves… family after their parents…
“You’re mean!”
“Baby 5, go away.”
“Cora-san, can you help us?”
Before Law could react, he was being picked up and thrown out the window by a familiar set of hands. Thankful he at least had his pillow to help land on, he glared back up at the bedroom window once he was on the ground, Lami and Baby 5 giggling in the open pane while Corazón was walking away. He trudged back inside only to be assaulted by the two girls and pulled into a room where everyone from the Family was waiting for the party to begin. The decorations looked like Lami and Baby 5 made them, though they reminded him of how his classroom would get decorated when someone in school had a birthday. Tears stung his eyes and he had to swallow hard to prevent himself from breaking down in tears.
Only two more birthdays were coming his way, and shit did he hate it, but this…? This he almost liked. Not that he’d admit it, of course.
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