Drabble // A Survivor, Again.
Preface: This drabble is how I am processing what has happened to the Hearts in the recent One Piece Chapter (1081). It is a heart-breaking loss, especially for someone like Law who has a pattern of losing the people he cares about. There is devastation at his home being gone again, of him being a survivor when so many others have been taken from him. But, as you’ll see in the drabble, I don’t think this is the end of the Hearts. Bepo tells Law to believe in his crew and I stand with Bepo. There is hope here and a chance for them to grow. I feel like this loss is for the Hearts what Sabaody was for the Straw Hats. The Straw Hats were demolished then too but came back stronger. The Hearts will do the same, and so will Eustass Kid and his Kid Pirates. This is Oda shaping them into rivals that are worthy of the Pirate King.
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A gasping breath, ragged and aching. Eyes snap open, turning a crushing darkness into light filtering through a mesh of leaves. His gaze darts about, mind sluggish for a moment. Then it all comes back. The pain, the shriek of shattering metal, the shouts from his crew, the looming, grinning face of that overweight bastard.
Law sits up, throwing aside his cloak and staggering to his feet. His body protests, screaming for him to lay still once more but he can’t. Mind is racing, his heart pounding in his chest. He feels the grief beginning to constrict around his throat, feels that familiar tearing pain in the core of his being and it demands he move. That he does something, anything to make the loss no longer real. A shattered heart clinging so desperately to whatever pieces it has left. He pushes out of the makeshift shelter, a lean-to put together with whatever refuse the builder could find. Distantly his mind asks who made it but other questions drown that out. Law staggers, desperate gaze searching the sandy beach he comes to.
“Captain!” comes a shout to his right. It’s followed by the clattering of wood being dropped.
He turns to see a grinning Polar Bear Mink bearing down on him. Bepo goes for the hug, clearly delighted to see his best friend awake and moving around, but stops himself short as he remembers just how injured he is. Instead, a heavy paw settles on Law’s shoulder, the Mink trying to guide him back towards the shelter and rest. Bepo’s smile does fade when he sees Law’s face, sees the panic in his eyes and tension in his jaw.
“Bepo,” he croaks, a shaky hand rising to grab onto the fur of Bepo’s forearm. “Where,” he starts, pausing to wet his cracked lips and force the questions free. “Where is everyone? Where is my ship?”
“Erm,” Bepo starts, his stomach dropping. He knew this would be hard. “The … The Tang is gone and the others aren’t … aren’t here. You really should lay down and rest, Captain.”
Law goes rigid. His breath catching in his throat. Bepo tries to push him along gently but he is immovable. Bepo grimaces. He doesn’t want to force Law to move for fear of opening his wounds so he stops, waiting for the explosion he knows will come.
“We … left them,” Law starts, voice low and shaking. “We can’t have.” Then those golden eyes focus on Bepo and the Mink flinches, pulling his paw away. Except Law moves faster. His hands come up and grab onto the fur near Bepo’s neck. He pulls him down and Bepo whines in pain. “We left them to die! I told you to go back! I gave you an order!”
“Captain, I had to protect you,” Bepo mutters, trying to calm Law’s rage, Law’s grief.
“No! No, that’s not how this fucking goes!” Law shouts, shoving Bepo back. He takes an aggressive step forward, his breathing becoming rapid. “I’m supposed to protect you, protect them! How the fuck can I do that when I’m so far away! God, fucking damn it! I should be the one dead on that cursed fucking island! Not them! Not them. Anything but them.
“My Hearts. Shachi. Penguin,” he continues, his hoarse voice losing the anger and dissolving solely into pain. He turns his gaze to the lapping waves, the open ocean beyond. His body sags, the pirate captain dropping to the sand. Now the tears are coming freely. “Ikkaku, Uni, Clione, Bart, Hakugan, all of them. My family. Again. … I can’t do this. I can’t survive them again.”
Law lets out a heaving sob, shoulders shaking. He hears himself cry and he does the same thing he’s always done since the loss of Corazon, his saviour. His hands come up to his mouth, muffling the sob as he begins to crumple in on himself. It hurts so much and it never gets easier, this pain. This loss. He wants to create a Room so he can reach inside his chest and crush his own heart to make it stop. Would fate intervene then? Would the world continue to force him on, alone, once more? As it has done for so long.
A big, furry body blocks out his view of the ocean. Bepo crouches before him, his adorable face serious and caring. Those big paws with their rough but warm pads take Law’s head, the pads pushing into his cheeks. Law’s hands lower, eyes focusing on the beady but deep black eyes of his best friend. So, he’s not alone in his grief this time.
“It’ll be okay, Captain … Law,” Bepo says, rumbling voice soft. He grins, showing those teeth that can crush a man’s forearm. “They’re not gone. The Hearts aren’t dead. I’m sure of it. We’ll see them again.”
“How?” Law croaks, his arms going limp. “How can you say that? You can’t know if they’re alive or not.”
“Maybe not but I believe in every one of your Hearts,” Bepo continues, leaning in to rub a fluffy cheek against Law’s forehead. “Because you picked them. You led us. You trained us. You gave us a path and something to fight for. I have faith in you, so I have faith in all of them and faith that they’ll survive. We’re all survivors. Just like you are.”
“But,” Law starts before his words are cut off by a grunt. It’s hard to argue with an affectionate Mink all in your face. Law’s hands rise then, pushing Bepo’s face away from him a little. “I failed you, I failed all of you.”
“No, you didn’t,” Bepo says, actually giving a low chuckle. He grins, paws now dropping to Law’s shoulders. “You were practically dying and the last thing you wanted to do was help us. That’s exactly what I expect from you, Law. … So, do you think you can have faith in your Hearts?”
Law blinks at Bepo, at this precious bear that has seen everything bad in him and everything good. This last tether to keep him away from true despair. He looks into that face that has experienced the same devastation he has and yet still looks on with hope and faith. And Law realises he’s not crying anymore. That it doesn’t quite hurt like it did. He takes a deep breath and just leans forwards, pressing his face into the warm fur of Bepo’s chest. There is a muffled scream and Bepo chuckles, hugging his captain. They linger for a moment before Law taps Bepo’s arm, telling him to release him. The Mink does and Law gets back to his feet. Again, concern is on Bepo’s face and he moves to help but Law manages on his own. His gaze turns back to the ocean.
“Faith,” he mutters. “I had that once. I suppose I can have that again.” Another moment of silence, then a deep breath and those sagging shoulders square. Law pulls himself back together, pulling himself up to his full height and looking like the leader Bepo knows him to be. The Mink’s paws come together, an excitement coming off of him as he watches Trafalgar D Water Law go from broken, shattered man, to determined, unstoppable mastermind. The gears are indeed turning in that wonderful and terrible brain.
“You’ve had time to read the stars?” Law asks, eyes still on the horizon. “You know where we are?”
“Aye, captain,” Bepo says, saluting.
“Did you see where the Tang sank?” he asks, his heart constricting for a moment. That loss still hurts.
“I did. We’ll be able to salvage as much as we can from her,” said with a touch of ache in the Mink’s voice.
“Good. I’m gonna need you to plan out a route for us,” Law says, sounding sure of himself.
“Where to captain? I can guide us back to Zou, we’ll be safe there and everyone knows how to reach the elephant now,” Bepo offers, thinking regroup and recover is the best strategy.
“No,” Law says, turning his gaze back to Bepo. The Mink sees a light in those golden eyes that tells him his captain is thinking big picture. It only stokes the fire of devotion in his chest all the more. “We’re going to Wano. They have something I want.”
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