Future

Chapter 5: Luffy - Island Number 1

The fog lifted in the morning, just as Nami had said it would, and the Tang reported no barriers or non-normal currents. So of course Luffy set out to try to locate his missing husband and friend as early as he could.

His feet couldn't carry him fast enough for his liking, no matter how fast he ran. He even popped into second gear for a while, desperate to find any trace, any clue. He leaped and bounded and bounced all over the island for hours, climbing trees, exploring the one meager cave he found, anything he could think of. He wanted to get distracted by the nice stream or the tasty fruits that existed here in abundance that Sanji would have loved. But he couldn't. Not yet. He'd find Law, first, and then they could come back and explore properly. So he kept himself moving until he was reasonably sure he'd explored most, if not all, of the island.

Finally, he sat as close to the middle of the island as he could find and pushed his observation haki out as far as it could go, forcing himself to be still and listen for the missing voices, for any extra heartbeats — anything to find his Torao.

And sure, he heard a lot. He could hear his crew exploring the island in pairs, Chopper getting distracted by a large patch of something he shoved into a bag to take back to the ship. He heard Zoro traipsing across the island much as he had, swearing and shouting with the anger that he'd been dealing with since Law and Sanji had been taken. He could hear thousands of smaller animals and a couple big ones. He could even stretch his haki just past the edge of the shore and hear the waves crash against the Sunny, where Robin stood watch.

But he could not hear his husband or his cook. Could not hear any of the enemies that took Law away from him.

No matter how hard he tried.

He cut off his haki and let himself slump a little. This was worse than the times they'd been separated before. At least those times had been Law's choice, even if they'd sometimes been longer than Law had planned, like before Zoro and Sanji's wedding when the storm had pushed the Polar Tang off course, or the time Law had gone back to Not-Flevance-Anymore and found that there were people still there, clinging to life.

Law hadn't chosen this time. Law had been taken. They had hurt Law — tried to hurt everyone on his crew — and taken Law and Sanji away when they couldn't fight it.

And Luffy trusted them, of course. He knew even without the crew reminding him that Law was clever and strong. Sanji, too. But he was so done losing people. How strong would he need to be to protect everything and everyone he loved?! How many more limits would he need to break?

"There you are," Shachi said from behind him. "I think it's safe to say they aren't here, Captain."

Luffy nodded, not trusting his voice.

Shachi seemed to sense his mood and sat down beside him. "You okay?"

"... Are you?" Luffy asked back.

"No."

The honesty surprised Luffy. Everybody but him and Zoro seemed to be trying so hard to be 'okay', to be optimistic and trusting. It was kinda nice to hear that someone was struggling with it, even if he knew that the whole crew was and the 'okay' was just a mask to try not to make his and Zoro's misery worse.

"Every hour they're gone makes me more worried, to be honest. We've been out here long enough to see all sorts of different situations. Law's usually clever enough to avoid the worst of them," Shachi continued. "I know he's strong. I know he's smart — sometimes too damn smart for his own good. Doesn't stop me worrying about him."

"... Me neither," Luffy admitted.

"But we are gonna get him back. I promise. Because you and Law have something special. Something that makes him fight harder, something that makes him stronger. He's gonna fight to get back to you, and nothing on this earth will stop him. I'm sure he has some sort of plan already."

"He got hurt," Luffy tried to explain. "Knowing he's out there, maybe still hurting, and I'm not there to help him, I hate it! Even if he's plenty strong... I need him. I need to protect him."

Shachi put a friendly arm around Luffy's shoulders. "I get it. I'd be feral if it was Penguin. Just fight through it a little longer. For Law and for all of us, okay?" The older man sighed noisily. "Law, he probably thinks the Tang can get along without him by now, and for basic stuff, we can, but honestly, we're all kinda shit without direction. Give us direction, we're a well-maintained harpoon that will have no issue taking down our target, but when we have to make the calls ourselves, we get a little lost. So we need you to aim us, Captain. Help us."

"I'm trying..."

The problem was that Luffy wasn't good at 'aiming'. That was why he had Usopp. And strategy was a part of why he needed Law. Once he found the target, he was pretty good at taking it out himself, but Law was good at identifying the target, the outside forces, the collateral damage, and all the other variables so he could make a plan. Luffy wasn't. His brain was built for simplicity. Eat when hungry, fight when mad. Let the future take care of itself. Luffy wasn't a planner, and now his husband and his friend were suffering for it.

"It's gonna be fine, Luffy. He's gonna be fine," Shachi said softly. After a few seconds of quiet, he slapped his knees and stood. "And, more importantly, you haven't eaten since last night. So c'mon. Nami made some food and sent me to come find you. Once everyone eats we're going to the next island."

"Okay. Food sounds... good." It didn't, not really. A hug from his husband sounded good. Food sounded okay at best. But he knew he needed to eat to keep his strength up so he could find his Torao.

And he would find him. He had to.

So he scarfed down as much food as he could and boarded the Sunny again, ready to tackle the next island for that goal.