As much as he wanted to make time for you, he simply couldn’t.

Knowing you, you were always the laid-back one of your dynamic, just wanting everyone to have a good time. Because of this, people gravitated towards your positive attitude as if it just came naturally.

You didn’t even know why Law invited you to join his crew, but you felt like that attitude and spirit was an attribute to that decision.

Law, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

It was like he could never find time for himself. Always dealing with burnout and stress from having to control his crew was no easy task.

Being the ray of sunshine you were, you tried making his see the brighter side of things — reminding him why he chose this path.

He had too many responsibilities to care for your ridiculousness.

Being a captain, swordsman, and doctor all at the same time was tiring. He felt like he could never catch a break. Having to manage his own crew, having to take care of your clinginess was already task enough, and having to take care of his own personal needs was taking a toll on him.

You always tried to get him to loosen up, telling him that the pirate life was supposed to be fun, not a job.

"As much as I'd love to believe that, how about you try managing a whole pirate crew on your own? You’d lose your mind." He said one day as you nagged him, finally answering the question you pried at for weeks.

Still, you swore to yourself that you’d get him to just get out of dodge for a day or two and reset. You refused to rest on your goal until you saw him physically relax.

And oh, you tried everything.

Getting him to chill by the beach whenever you docked at an island, making him try some desserts by the local food stalls, even dragging him with you from store to store, forcing him to try on horrendous outfits just to try and get a laugh out of him.

The skies were clear and the sun was shining over The Heart Pirate's ship, with Bepo organizing medical supplies, and Penguin and Ikkaku arguing over the dumbest things.

In all of the regular routine going on around the ship, Law finally found the time to relax.

So there he lay on a hammock somewhere in the distance, hands behind his head as he basked in the sun, happy that he finally had some time to relax without worry of disturbance.

But you just had to — oh you just had to see it.

You swerved the corner to the other end of the ship, where Law was, away from the rest of the crew.

"Don’t." He said without looking up.

"If you’re here to disturb my peace, you’re better off hightailing and getting out of here."

For once, you saw what seemed to be a satisfied smirk on his face as he was finally able to have time to himself.

And he was not going to let you get in the way of that.

After pleading with and begging him to let you join him on the hammock, with a loud, heavy groan, he finally agreed, albeit reluctantly.

The hammock was pretty small, only having the space for one person. But with you cramming into it along with him, the two of you were practically squeezed up against one another, your head pressed up firmly against his chest.

"You’re quite.. persistent, aren’t you..?"

He groaned slightly against the pressure, an uneasy smile appearing on his face.

It was clear that he wasn’t used to having people in his personal space. In fact, if you were anybody else, he wouldn’t hesitate to shoo them away without preamble.

However, he was willing to make an exception for you.

You were, in a way, the light of his life — at least, you were the only person who was willing to physically drag him out of bed whenever he wanted to bed rot.

The only reason he was able to function was because if he could take care of himself, he’d be able to see your face light up.

It was his reason his body didn’t give up.

Slowly, as the two of you relaxed in the hammock, taking in the sun's relaxing rays, he allowed his arm to find its way around your waist, pulling you closer.

"I could get used to this." He finally said contentedly with a sigh, letting a genuine smile creep its way up onto his face.