Chapter Text
The docking site had grown calm with the absence of the Kid pirates, who had taken their leave shortly after establishing an agreed-upon route. Their departure left the dock to the devices of the Strawhat Pirates and the Heart Pirates, who were busy restocking their respective ships and preparing for their parting voyages.
With the celebrations having concluded, it was time for Wano’s foreign heroes to bid their farewells to the land and its people.
“You’re amazing, doctor Chopper!” Bepo sung his praises upon being handed an unsuspecting leather pouch. It contained a special solidified concoction that he and the Strawhat crew’s doctor had previously discussed. For all intents and purposes, they’d just call it a ‘medicine’ for now.
The compliments had Chopper waving his hand dismissively in a bashful manner, because anyone who knew the raindeer medic also knew he wasn’t one to easily accept compliments.
“It’s only amazing if it works! And we won’t know until you test it.” Chopper corrected, which almost immediately had his shoulders dropping in outward disappointment. Seeing Brook and Penguin halt their conversation to continue carrying their barrels of water onto separate ships reminded him of their imminent parting too. He wouldn’t be there for the Heart pirates’ next big fight, and he wouldn’t get to see the fruit of his research if it happened to work.
“You’ll have to tell me about it the next time our crews meet, though…”
Bepo smiled despite Chopper’s sudden gloominess, and took the leather pouch to the pocket of his orange jumpsuit. “Don’t worry! Even after our captains announce the end of our alliance, I’m sure we’ll still have a mutual friendship.” If Strawhat Luffy’s attached behaviour served as an indicator of their crews’ relationship, then they had nothing to worry about. The guy had always been incredibly chummy with the Heart pirates, and in such a genuine way, too. Bepo couldn’t imagine anything less from him.
On top of that, he knew his own captain well enough to recognise his hidden soft spot for the reckless leader of the Strawhats. Their next encounter in the New World would surely be a warm one.
Bepo’s positivity was simply contagious in the way Chopper split into a smile too, but both seemed to pause for a moment on the topic of their crews. With the same question hanging over their heads as they looked around the tranquil scene of their friends arranging for their departures.
Where were their captains?
----
“You go’a gry ghis!”
At a food stall in Kuri, apparently.
Luffy had exchanged his final goodbyes with Otama over a bowl of Oshiruko, had even waved her goodbye as she and ‘the old, masked guy’ (as Luffy had dubbed him) walked off.
It had felt bittersweet, with a grand promise between them of a future adventure together.
But then the aroma of candied apples caught Luffy’s nasal cavity, and it all went out the window. He beelined straight to the nearby table serving the treats and wasted no time in shoving one straight into his mouth in a single chomp.
Oh yeah, Trafalgar Law and his crewmate Nico Robin were there too. They’d been speaking with Otama’s father guy during their sit-down. Not that Luffy cared for the details, though.
He shoved a second candied apple into his mouth, causing the lady handling the confectionery stall to stumble back in shock.
“My, you really like those, Luffy.” Robin observed with a smile as she and Law approached him; she had to appreciate her captain’s goofy antics. He always seemed to be in his own little world of enjoyment when eating good food, of smiles and pure glee.
It was quite the harsh contrast from the ferociously determined figure who had fought Kaido for hours.
Law on the other hand, simply sneered lightheartedly. A man of few words. Particularly in social settings like these, when the discussion didn’t involve a plan, information or danger. The aftermath of the fight wasn’t his strong suit at all.
“Stop screwing around, our crews are waiting.” Law chastised him, back to his grouchy-self already.
Robin could recall how much his interest had been piqued by the poneglyphs and the history of the land of Wano, but she supposed he wasn’t one to ride out any enjoyment. Quite the opposite of Luffy.
“And we need to discuss the dissolution of our alliance.” He continued, to Luffy’s expressive disappointment.
The smaller man frowned, chewing down on the treats in his mouth with a loud crunch. Robin’s smile remained unaffected by the mouthy noises, even as Luffy pulled out two splintered wooden sticks that had been clearly bitten off at the middle.
Law blinked, expressing something between disgust and confusion. Did he just consume…?
“I know. We beat Kaido and that was the whole point.” Luffy’s frown was far from budging though, and he used the half-bitten sticks to point at Law accusingly.
“But we’re friends. So who cares about ending an alliance?”
Law wasn’t sure what to address first, not that it mattered. Luffy continued before he could answer, but not before stretching his arm out towards the candy stall again. Its abnormally outstretched length of three or so meters had the woman behind the stand shrieking this time. Understandably so.
“And it’s not like I don’t want to keep fighting alongside Torao, so…” He trailed off, only to pacify himself with a mouthful of hard candy.
Law’s calculating stare dissolved in a matter of seconds. Whatever explanation he’d had in mind died on his tongue as the beat of confusion passed between them.
Luffy wasn’t exactly the communicating type, but it was very on-brand for him to wait until the last second to go back on established plans. To follow his wants, his heart and feelings. Robin couldn’t help but observe the exchange with pressing curiosity; as though she were analysing a different species and their interaction amongst one another.
In the least insulting way possible, that is. To her, a person like Luffy was definitely noteworthy in many ways. For example, he made Robin want to explore the study of psychology.
“What a nice sentiment, Luffy. I’m sure our adventures together have drawn both crews quite close. What say you, Trafalgar?” Robin wondered with an innocent head tilt toward the man.
Nico Robin the enabler and/ or instigator, Law cursed her in his mind.
With a sigh of contempt, Law closed his eyes and adjusted his trademark white hat. “Luffy-ya, my crew departs within the hour. I can’t say it’s been a pleasure, but our alliance is hereby o—“
“—Excuse me!”
The hoarse voice of an older woman interrupted their little scene. Strange, how neither Law nor Luffy noticed a person had approached them.
Law straightened his posture and acknowledged the short woman with a sullen look.
She had to be somewhere in the ballpark of eighty-years-old. Grey hair tied into a neat bun, forehead wrinkles, smile lines…
The woman probably would’ve had visible eye wrinkles too, had she not been covering them with a pair of sunglasses.
Luffy swallowed whatever remnants of food he’d been chewing— although his previously held apple sticks were suspiciously missing— and he hummed at the woman curiously.
“What’s up, old lady? We’re in the middle of something.” Luffy told her earnestly, which would’ve typically earned him quite the punch from his navigator. Who was luckily back on the ship and not here to lecture Luffy on his manners.
The mysterious woman reached a wrinkled hand up to meet Law’s free one, since the other one was leisurely carrying his sword over his shoulder as per usual.
“You’re quite the looker, young man.” The lady said, unbothered by the dismissal of the other captain. She even giggled to herself as her concealed eyes met Law’s steely greys.
Both of Luffy’s brows raised as he considered her words. It was an odd reaction for someone like Luffy, Robin noted.
“Alright.” Law snapped his hand away from the touch, he’d had enough Strawhat-adjacent comedy for a lifetime.
He seemed more puzzled than annoyed, but the evening was turning out to be a lot more confusing and downright weird than he’d wanted to handle. “I’ll be taking my leave now. Goodbye, Strawhats.”
“No! Torao, wait!”
The old lady grabbed onto Luffy’s hand next, in his moment of unguarded distraction, and gave his knuckles a light squeeze.
Robin noticed it first. She could tell something was off about the mysterious woman since she first spoke, but couldn’t fault her right off the bat. Now there was no mistaking it; she was engaging in some sort of ability against the two captains.
“Luffy, no-“ Robin’s sudden intervention surprised them all, as she jolted forward to effectively move her captain away from the old woman. But it was unfortunately too late.
Law met Robin’s gaze and immediately clocked her concern, but broke their mutual look when the woman spoke again.
“I knew you’d grow into a wonderful boy, Monkey D. Luffy. It’s a shame I couldn’t stay longer.” She lamented, while changing position to hold out her arms in an odd stance- feet drawn together and head tilted back.
It was hard to tell given Law and Luffy’s choice of headwear, but Robin’s hair frizzing at the head with tiny strands pointing upwards all of a sudden was a dead giveaway. Law’s eyes widened, and the sparks of blue zapping the air surrounding the old lady only confirmed his theory. This must be what Robin noticed first. These were tell-tale signs of incoming lightning.
Law nearly dropped his sword in his speedy movement of swooping both Strawhats into his arms to teleport them away to safety with his ability. “Shambles!”
Just in the knick of time, their figures were replaced by rocks, and the large blue spheres of Law’s power dissipated at the same time the ground was hit.
The dirt shook and crumbled under the strike of lightning, with a blast of great light flashing the surrounding area and anybody in the nearby vicinity.
Luffy let out a loud noise of surprise, while Law remained speechless at the sudden unfolding of events. Was this an associate of Kaido’s? Was another battle about to ensue?
“She’s… yours to care for. In heart, soul and blood.” The voice of the woman eerily reached them from beyond the smoke. “Give Dragon… my regards.” Were the last, croaked words to come from the mystery woman. Her body, charred and meek, returned to the air like crumbling dust.
Within their momentary state of shocked bewilderment, none of the three pirates realised how much commotion the sudden strike of lightning or the crater it left behind had caused amongst the nearby people of Kuri.
One could suppose that a weather phenomenon of the likes would alert any regular person without battle knowledge or experience.
“Are you alright?!” A man of Wano rushed up, with two women standing behind him alertedly.
Luffy’s hands fisted at his sides, and Robin broke away from the two with a contemplative look, rather than a battle stance.
“Get to safety.” Was all Law provided the onlookers in his louder yet firm tone. The remains of the woman were seemingly disappearing from sight, although— they weren’t behaving like regular ash and dust being carried by wind. They were disintegrating into pieces spiralling into the sky.
The crater in the ground wasn’t too big, but enough to conceal among the smoke what was left behind.
“That woman mentioned Dragon, Luffy…” Robin said, a hint of gravity in her tone this time. As one of the few people who had met the leader of the revolutionary army, Robin knew how many enemies and persecutors the man truly had. Running into an enemy of the revolutionary army couldn’t be good news. “Do you know her?”
Law stepped forward, toward the crater the lightning strike left behind. There didn’t seem to be remnant electricity on the ground, which was a good sign, but the scene seemed to come to a complete standstill when among the gust and commotion, a muffled cry came from the crater in the ground.
It pierced right through whatever thoughts they were individually having— if any at all, in Luffy’s case— and through the tension too.
Robin, who’d already started her investigation toward the crater, sped up on her feet at what had to be the familiar sound of a baby crying. There was no question about it.
“Luffy-“ Robin’s eyes widened as she stood on an edge of dirt to witness the irregular sight. A small human baby, shouting a cry into its tiny hands while keeping its eyes shut.
The two captains followed in suit, with Luffy being the first to voice his thoughts. “The… old hag turned into a baby?!” He gaped in awe, which made Law have to close his eyes and reassess the situation with a sigh of annoyance.
A frequent reaction the Heart Pirates’ captain seemed to have when it came to Luffy.
“No, you idiot. We watched the woman turn into dust— And how the hell did she know who you were in the first place?!” Law raised his voice as he turned to the smaller captain, finally having a moment to actually consider what the hell had just occurred. More importantly, the nonsensical words the stranger utterered before apparently dying.
“Hah? How should I know?” Luffy scrunched his nose, at both the sound of the baby crying and the amount of questions the lady left behind. The noise grew louder, and both men quickly realised Robin had picked up the child and wrapped it up in her cream-coloured shirt. She must’ve taken it off at some point, leaving her in one of the floral tank tops she wore underneath her clothing. A more observant Luffy would’ve recognised it from their arrival at Punk Hazard.
Robin inspected the baby in her arms, despite the wary looks from a distrusting Trafalgar Law. “Do you also remember what her words were?” She asked, more toward Law than her own captain, given their shared aptitude in recollection. “I believe her purpose was to leave this child with Luffy.”
“Me?!” Luffy’s mouth fell agape again, and he leaned his head closer with a slight stretch toward Robin’s arms, where the baby itself had stopped crying but began to wriggle uncomfortably. “I don’t know this guy either. Maybe it’s for Torao or something.”
“Let me analyse it. You should be more careful with the things you pick up in a battlefield, Strawhats.” Law chastised them both in a mumble. He was still on high alert, but he could at least trust that both Robin and Luffy were too. Regardless of their trusting nature and nonchalantness, the Strawhats surely had enough battle experience to remain vigilant.
Luffy watched with interest as the baby was handed over to Law to hold. His cradle of the infant was considerably less warm than the way Robin had held the bundle close to her chest, but it seemed more… professional. Hand upholding its head safely and his arm ensuring a steady balance.
The baby didn’t make a sound, but it was yet to open its eyes still.
“Perhaps it’s you who should be less distrusting, Law.” Robin offered in return with a blooming smile. The threat was gone, prying eyes had dispersed and spread the message of getting to safety. What a grand exit from Kuri for the already-infamous pirates.
Despite having moved the baby to Law’s arms, Luffy still hovered with unflinching engrossment. He wanted to know more about the unknown child, and of course, what connection it had to himself and possibly his father. “So…? What do you know?”
Law ‘tsked’ with his tongue and disregarded both Strawhats. He mumbled again to word his ability, Room, but his brows twitched as soon as the spherical room expanded around them.
His eyes zeroed on the wrapped baby, and he nudged its body slightly as he tried to examine its attributes at a more medical level— beyond simple eye sight.
Normally, Law could see and read the very blood and components that made a human tick. Could understand the language of a person’s health and conditions in a way that was otherwise incomprehensible to a regular doctor. His devil fruit enabled an entirely new level of insight… which wasn’t working.
At a surface level, sure. Law could see organs, body parts and their functions. But the access was blocked from its typical succession. He couldn’t even understand the baby’s blood type.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?” Luffy and Robin asked in unison, with the latter adding her more formal expression by completing the question with ‘-is it?’
“My devil fruit ability is being… diluted. Somehow.” Law’s eyebrow twitched again, more visibly so. The baby in his hold made a gurgling noise in response, but Law ignored it in favour of averting his ability toward Luffy and Robin. To test and ensure his power was, in fact, working.
As expected, he could immediately read their medical data through and through. Like a full-body x-ray, or a diagram of the very core of the person.
Luffy blinked as a beat of silence passed between them— specifically when Law’s eyes landed on his figure.
“What? Torao?”
Law rolled his eyes. “There’s a splinter in your oesophagus, Luffy-ya.”
Luffy looked down at himself, earning a quiet giggle from Robin who stood beside him.
“That’s in your chest.” Robin supplied helpfully, amusement in her tone as she pointed to the point on Luffy’s upper body where it’d be located. “You should be careful with what you eat!” She smiled, which was all-too contagious to Luffy, who did too.
“Ohhh! Yeah, I feel something itchy-“ Luffy cut himself off to pound his own chest with a fisted hand. Out came a prompted, loud burp that apparently was strong enough to pull the splinter of wood right out. It dropped to the ground, beside the shoe of a very unimpressed Trafalgar Law.
As is expected of that complementary Strawhat comedy he’d had enough of.
Thankfully, (or unthankfully) the baby’s gurgling phased into a noise of discomfort, which brought Robin and Luffy’s attention back to the matter at hand.
“All I know is that the baby is human. A female, and healthy… I suppose.” Law sounded unimpressed with himself. He wasn’t used to being short of any sort of medical knowledge when it came to an examined patient in his infamous Room ability. This was definitely a first.
Before the baby could cry or become more restless, he changed his hold of her to avoid any further mishaps. This was already bothersome as it is.
“A baby girl. How sweet.” Robin sounded relieved, especially since she’d trusted her own gut in helping the baby in the first place. It’s what Nami would’ve done, and in her absence, it felt like the right choice to make. “I knew she wasn’t a lethal weapon capable of destroying the village.”
The morbid afterthought had Law side-eyeing the archeologist, but Luffy hardly flinched.
“What should we do with her, captain?” Robin continued, with a more serious gaze landing on Luffy expectantly. “The old lady had something to say about blood and soul… as well as mentioning your father. We can’t rule out the possibility of this baby having a connection to you.”
Luffy hummed pensively, and brought a hand up to his chin animatedly.
“She could be dangerous, given the unprecedented block of my devil fruit ability.” Law added, with a pointed look down at the baby in his grasp. “However… I’m willing to run some tests in the Polar Tang. I can scan for a familial connection between them as well.”
He was definitely interested in whatever blockage was occurring between his ability and the infant. The Heart Pirates’ submarine equipment could definitely offer extra clues toward that mystery.
“Good!” Luffy’s fist landed in his open palm with conviction, having already made up his mind with all the information.
“The baby can come with us! If she’s my family, I need to take care of her.” He decided, matter-of-factly and with a toothy grin. Regardless of connection, there’d definitely be a safe place for the baby to go to. Luffy would make sure of it.
Law’s new sigh was an expected one, and he offered the infant back to Robin to hold instead. Medical expertise aside, there were very few times Law had ever needed to deal with children, let alone babies. He’d purposely stayed as far away from Caesar Clown’s experiments as possible back on Punk Hazard.
Trafalgar Law was a man with his own agendas, and preferred to stick to them as much as he could.
As Robin took back the baby, the two captains began their walk in the direction of their docked ships. She made quick-work of pulling the wrapped shirt around the baby a little tighter for the sake of her comfort, and rested her against her chest as well.
Someone like Robin couldn’t be expected to harbour much of a maternal instinct, given her past and character. But in her many lives on the run, she’d particularly found herself in positions of care for infants and the elderly. Work that wouldn’t require verbally confirmed experience or hard manual labour.
“I do have a theory.” Robin spoke up as they entered a forest-y terrain. Certainly away from prying ears or eyes, by this point. Luffy turned his head toward her curiously, while Law simply kept walking. Still, she knew she had the attention of both men.
“That elderly woman did not acknowledge me in the slightest. She kept her attention on only the two of you.” Robin voiced her recollection, and carefully swept a finger through the dark hair on top of the baby’s head. “It was strange for the woman to touch the both of you. I could sense she was getting to something bigger.”
The baby’s closed eyelids trembled ever so slightly. Her skin was a light shade of tan— completely different to the mystery woman’s pale wrinkles.
“Go on. What’s your theory?” Law prodded. He certainly valued Robin’s judgement above others of the Strawhat crew. And rightfully so, given her ample knowledge and wisdom. “The old hag summoned a live infant using a transportation ability?”
“Not quite.” The baby girl in her arms had grown comfortably quiet. Robin’s finger traced her tiny facial features in appreciation, particularly the dark colouring under her closed eyes- almost resembling a familiar pair of eyebags. “My theory is that the old woman possesses an ancient devil fruit of sorts. And this baby is the genetic progeny of both you and Luffy.” Robin stated her theory bluntly, without a hint of humour in her tone.
This time, Law stopped in his tracks.
“No. Impossible.” He placed a hand on the brim of his hat, concealing the fact he was considering her theory. “I’ve never heard of a devil fruit capable of creating human life. Not like this.”
“Hey, wait. What’s progeny?” Luffy asked, scratching the top of his head as he felt a few steps behind in the conversation.
“Robin believes the baby is ours.” Law cut to the chase, it sounded even more ridiculous said out loud in his voice. That should’ve been enough to turn Luffy off from the theory, or come up with a way to dismiss it with his antics.
But instead, it piqued Luffy’s interest even more.
“Seriously? That baby is mine and Traffy’s?” He asked, eyes full of awe as he dropped back to stick beside Robin and the baby. The walk continued, with a frustrated Law taking lead.
“No!” He grouched from the front, but Robin shrugged.
“That’s just my theory, Luffy.” Robin smiled, and held out the baby a tad so her captain could see her small face better.
“I suppose we’ll find out soon enough. From test results and fact.” Law interjected, hoping to prevent any further ideas along that line of thought.
Still, the rest of the walk back to their crews was one big headache for Law. Despite his attempts to be the voice of reason, they fell short in the face of Strawhat enthusiasm and wonder.
At some point, Luffy asked to hold the baby and Robin gladly complied with his request. Placing her in his arms and explaining in short how to hold her suitably.
Which painted a pretty shocking picture for both crews who awaited their captains at the docking area. Luffy, holding a baby in his arms with Robin in tow. Both lead by a disgruntled Law.
“Woah.” Franky noticed it first, since he was already checking something on the outside walling of the Sunny when the captains and Robin arrived. With a baby. “Whacha’ got there, Luffy?” He asked in a raised voice for the man to hear. Which, of course, drew nearby attention to their arrival and the ‘object’ in question.
It didn’t help that everybody was mostly relaxing now that their duties had been fulfilled. All stocked up and ready to depart at the order of their captains.
“Caaaaaptaaaaain!” Bepo shouted gleefully in recognition. He hurried over to the group, excited to pull Law into a bear hug as per his tunnel-vision. His big fluffy arms hardly made it around Law’s shoulders before his eyes landed on a baby of all things, being carried by Luffy. Franky’s question made sense.
“Uh?!”
“It’s a long story. We need to run immediate tests on her.” Law stated decisively, hoping to avoid any unnecessary fanfare or… theorising… from a particular group of people. Who rhyme with Claw Rats.
“Franky’s right! Luffy’s got a baby with him!” Usopp yelled out in confirmation as he approached the scene, too, with Chopper on his shoulders.
From the deck of the Thousand Sunny, Nami leaned over the railing with squinted eyes to confirm what she’d assumed to have misheard. “Ehh?!” Luffy?!” She called in dismay, which could only urge Sanji out of the ship’s kitchen with immediate concern for his beloved crew mate.
“What is it Nami— Oh! Robin’s back!”
Luffy laughed proudly at the voices of his crew members. His favourite sounds ever. “Naaaami!” He shouted back, drawled out as he held up the bundle of joy in his hands.
“I had a baby! With Torao!” He explained rather horribly, just as proud in his words as he shifted the baby in his hold.
Silence.
“Shishishi!”
Horrified expressions of confusion ensued, along with varying degrees of outrage.
“WHAAAAT?!”
Usopp and Chopper’s jaws seemingly unhinged and hit the ground below.
“Will you shut up?! That is not what is happening here!” Law bristled as he tried to take the reins over the conversation again, but it was difficult when anybody would be logically taken aback by such a proclamation from Luffy.
“We were attacked with an unknown ability, and the user left behind this child after mentioning Luffy’s father. That’s all we know!”
A splash of water broke the background tension following Law’s little outburst. Sanji had fallen overboard in his own dramatic reaction to the news.
“Oh no! I’ll save you, Sanji!” Chopper cried out as he jumped off Usopp’s shoulders. Also dramatically.
Whatever.
Law fixed Luffy a frustrated look, completely ignoring the splashing and chorus of yelling that ensued in the background. Curtesy of the Strawhats and their over-the-top reactions to misinformation.
Even after Law’s clarification, they were taking Luffy’s words to heart. It definitely had something to do with Robin’s silent agreement with her captain’s statement— nodding and smiling alike.
Bepo looked like he really wanted to say something. A certain word that was in order for new parents, but the no-nonsense glower that wasn’t budging from Law’s expression was enough to refrain.
“Bepo. Get the surgery room ready, let’s go.”
“Aye-aye! Captain!” Immediately, the bear Mink took off with a stuttered apology and a smile despite his captain’s grouchiness. It must’ve been a long walk back to the ships for him, he empathised.
“The baby, Luffy-ya.” Law held out his hands expectantly as he stood in front of the smaller captain. He looked visibly frustrated and tired, but the glint in Luffy’s eyes read beyond that.
Once again, Robin was intrigued by the odd behaviours displayed by her captain. Specifically around Trafalgar Law ever since their feats in Dressrosa.
It was an uncharacteristic look of consideration on Luffy’s face, like he was thinking deeply about something that he normally wouldn’t. His big eyes gazed up at Law’s, but he gave into the older man’s demands with a careful grasp of the baby girl. “Okay.”
Law took hold of her again, making sure to keep Robin’s shirt carefully tucked around her to avoid bringing the baby any discomfort. She was surprisingly quiet, after having behaved rather fussy when they’d first picked her up.
He was glad Luffy was being agreeable, at least.
“But we can’t both be her dad. So one of us is gonna have to be the mom!” Luffy gestured up at Law with his pointer finger and a serious grin.
Law had definitely spoken too soon about the idiot being agreeable.
“Strawhat-ya. Listen to me.” His tone dropped, with a pair of solemn eyes to match the change of pace in their conversation. “We don’t know how human this baby is. Given the circumstances of her… birth. It could be a timed ability. Or it could be a child belonging to a person of interest. Do not get attached to it.”
Robin, who had been happy to stand by and observe innocently, finally decided to step in when she recognised the way Luffy pursed his lips. He didn’t like the idea of losing the little friend he’d just made.
“Don’t worry, Luffy. No matter what happens, we’ll make sure she’s safe while she’s in our hands.” Robin reassured him, and placed a comforting hand on her captain’s short shoulder. Law was right to be cautious, but it wouldn’t hurt to have hope.
Oh, Luffy and his fast attachments. What could they do?
“I already have the necessary DNA samples from the both of you in my lab. Those are the results that will take the longest, so we should set out to sea once I can confirm there’s nothing dangerous or wrong about the baby.” Law said, with no further explanation regarding his sample collection of the Strawhat crew. Just a friendly assortment of biological specimen Law happened to have of them.
“Okaaaay. But after she’s done on your ship, she can come on mine.” Luffy mumbled poutingly, already forgoing the gravity of the baby’s existence and wanting to have a fun time with her instead. Very predictable of him, both Robin and Law recognised.
Without another word, Law turned around to head toward the Polar Tang with the tiny infant in his arms.
Luffy deflated, rubber arms drooping below his knees in a show of disappointment. “And Sanji can make her all kinds of yummy foods! She’ll have the most fun on the Sunny!”
There was no response from Law as he walked away, which in turn, made Luffy deflate further with an agonising groan.
Robin wanted to immediately suggest returning to the ship so they could talk things through as a crew. Their next adventure would have to be postponed to determine an appropriate remedy for the baby. Where did she come from? Where should she go? What was the safest option for her? There were a lot of important factors to consider, and a baby was no easy task.
“Luffy, why don’t we—“
“LUUUFFYYYYYY!” A great shout interrupted Robin’s train of thought. Just when she thought the evening’s clamour would come to an end, the enormous figure of a pink dragon emerged from nearby trees.
It appears their ‘quiet sneak-away’ was no longer so quiet. Or maybe that had already been crossed off when the recent baby incident took place.
Momonosuke’s dragon form landed on the expanse of grass before them. As expected, both Kin’emon and Yamato jumped down from his pink, scaly head to confront Luffy tearfully.
Like everything Strawhat-related, it had to be a loud and theatrical spectacle. Fortunately for Law, he was already dutifully tucked away in his submarine’s surgical room and able to successfully skip out on the dramatics.
Unfortunately for him, however. It’d be his final successful evasion of Strawhat absurdity.