The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Zou (part 10)
This time around, your teeth might rot. Lawlu are absolutely over the acceptable sugar levels in Zou!
Back to business! If you liked my theory from the last part of the series, you know that Law is probably patting himself on the back mentally here. He figured Luffy out by now: all he needed to do was to involve the food. Luffy would do just about anything then, lol. (Before the feast Luffy was like whatever about the guys in his fleet and refusing the idea. Now he likes them!)
Law also takes charge on their way to Zou:
Because who else would? Look at the chaos, Franky is like "I can steer the ship, but I need navigator's guidance!!" meanwhile ofc Barto Club has no navigator at all. Everyone's in panic. So who do you think took over, if Franky, Luffy, Zoro (we saw what happened when Nami told him once to keep an eye on their direction lol), Kin, Usopp and Robin do not seem to be up to the task? And who has the vivre card and actually probably helped Bepo when Bepo was learning navigation himself? Yes, I think we're all betting on the same man here: Trafalgar Law. No rest for him!
Luffy is already excited, Usopp of course wants to stop him, and who comes to the rescue? Law, but of course. Luffy can be as crazy as he wants around him, doesn't he.
Please mark what Luffy is the most excited about here: "Your friends must be up ahead!" It's not even about the new adventure, nah, Luffy's just happy Law will see his crew. He says it with such a bright smile too.
Same reaction, both standing in front. And again putting a short finishing blow to Usopp's panic mode. Law blends in quite well with the Strawhats and their dynamics.
Again same reaction, despite both of them being determined and brave, they're also both slightly taken aback by the sight.
Here I need to point something out: Law apparently didn't tell the Strawhats that Zou is an island on top of the gigantic elephant, despite knowing about it all the time. Only now he is explaining it (or actually sharing tales and background info about it). You could see it ofc as Law being a little shit trying to prevent them from panicking before they even reach their destination, so it becomes too late to turn back, but...
Just look at Luffy's reaction. He's loving the rollercoaster of emotions he's been experiencing as the result. He's having the best time of his life right now, his mouth open in awe, that's probably the most genuinely excited and surprised he has ever been when visiting a new place. Law keeping all that intel till the very last moment is actually perfect for Luffy: he often says he dislikes predictable adventures, he doesn't like to know too much about the place before visiting it. Law's withholding personality and Luffy's love for the unknown is actually perfect match. No one has to change their ways and their behaviour for the other, they're loving each other exactly for who they are.
It also seems Law might be one of the few people Luffy would listen to a lot, just to hear him tell tales. He's enjoying himself so much here.
Again, Law taking charge, naturally and almost casually so. He's thinking of food because he's not sure if the minks will be friendly or not, so in worst case scenario he doesn't want Luffy, his crew and himself to starve to death. Thinking ahead of everyone else, because he feels responsibility over them: again, they went to Zou because of Law.
This time around Law doesn't even wait for Luffy to ask him a question directly. He can see Luffy is a bit worried so he tries to reassure him with a logical conclusion in this situation. It doesn't matter if he himself is worried or apprehensive (he probably is a bit, look at his clenched fist here), but he will always put on a strong front so others won't worry. It doesn't matter they're not Law's own crew, he would do the same for the Strawhats that he would do for Hearts.
It looks like Law is as interested as the rest of them in Kanjuro's odd creation. He even took a position to get a good look at the head.
They're all ninja-crazy. I can't blame them. Robin's the odd one out tbh. Ninjas are freaking awesome! Law showing his excitement so openly is so rare as well, like, Luffy's influence definitely rubs off on him.
Despite Law protesting later that it's stupid to get overly emotional over a painting, he stays quiet here. And I bet you anything it's not because he is thinking to himself "what a stupid bunch of people". If he truly wanted them to go back, he would have said it now. And yet he didn't. Also notice Zoro's face! He's also like "it was just a stupid painting" later, but here? Ryunosuke's struggle gets him right in the feels, just like the rest of them!
How curious Law's face is hidden from us. He's clenching his fist again though, which signifies his inner struggle, trying to keep himself strong.
Putting it all into context, neither Zoro or Law are actually honest here. They just both act cold, because they don't like things being too dramatic. They definitely felt empathy for Ryunosuke tho lol.
The very moment Law points towards the guard tower, Luffy's already on it to get there, proving once again he always listens to him. Probably trying to impress Law with his speed haha. Even Usopp, who is so used to Luffy's antics, is surprised at that speed.
Luffy's having the best day of his life, and it's all thanks to the adventure Law basically gifted to him :) That scream was so loud that I'm sure everyone below them also heard Luffy.
Funny how Zoro thinks Luffy isn't just out for adventure, covering up for his captain. Law on the other hand is all business. There's no annoyance in him though, despite Luffy basically catapulting himself and leaving everyone behind. If he was mad about it, he would express it somehow, with a face expression or a sour comment. Nah, Law thinks Luffy deserves his adventure and just, lets him enjoy himself and do whatever he wants. Besides Law's heart wouldn't even dare stopping Luffy, not after hearing that extra big excitement from just a moment ago, probably reaching half the island. I told you your teeth will rot reading Zou together with me.
Meanwhile, Law knows that with Luffy gone, it's now his own responsibility to take care of the crew. Like always he's trying to play it cool and confident, because someone is already panicky ;D He's also immediately ready to defend them all, staying on alert.
Oh, this scene makes no sense, unless you know what's on Law's mind here. First, the context: a mink just attacked them, other one stopped them, they both were really worried about some trespasser ahead and trying to catch up to stop them. There's only one more outsider right now on Zou, and that's Luffy who catapulted himself some time ago. Law, the worrying cat that he is, obviously must be thinking about that. Thoughts are probably racing in his head, that's why he's so quiet and isolating himself from the rest. He might be even regretting allowing Luffy to just spring ahead like that.
And exactly because he's so worried inside his head here that he says such a stupid line "Oh, right, I forgot I have this vivre card". No, he didn't forget it in general, because he was using it all the time before they reached Zou and he remembered about it in Dressrosa. It's exactly because he's panicking here that it slipped his mind and only now he reminded himself of that. He's actually so distressed and distracted that he ends up speaking everything that's on his mind outloud without even realizing that.
"I didn't expect to ever see them again" is also a slip up from him, normally he would never voice any sentiment like that outloud. This shows us that despite having a poker face, Law internally worries a lot. And he totally went bonkers inside here, again because of Luffy.
While Law takes care of the Strawhats, Luffy manages to meet up with Heart Pirates! He's so happy to see them (especially Bepo). He realizes Law's crew misses him a lot and it's probably true for Law as well.
And of course I have to mention that Luffy is a little shit who remembers Law's name properly, he just loves to use his nickname for him <3 again what's with the special treatment??
Now let's take a look at this sequence of events. First, Luffy's disappointment when Bepo says he can't leave the whale forest and asking Luffy to tell Law to come to them. Luffy's face expression there is quite outstanding. He clearly thought Law is looking forward to seeing his own crew again, as we remember from the beginning of this post: that was Luffy's first thought when Law showed them the vivre card. Luffy apparently also wanted to meet them so badly, but he also went on ahead on his own thinking he can bring Heart Pirates to Law so they can reunite faster! Sadly, that part didn't work out.
Then Carrot mentions Nekomamushi and that coincidentally becomes the only person in Zou arc whose name Luffy will remember properly, before even meeting him! And why? Because he associates seeing Nekomamushi with meeting up Heart Pirates again!
And finally we have Chopper asking where's Law and Luffy answers he's in "Bear Forest" (Kujira, Kuma, yeah, close enough Luffy, at least you got the "ku" right). Luffy couldn't bother to remember the name of the forest (whale forest) so it became "bear forest" because that's where Law's bear is waiting for him, lol.
Again, Law's so worried here, he even starts to think Zou is in the middle of infighting. Luffy's safety must be constantly on his mind, so no wonder he reacts so quickly and transports them (probably without any warning) to where Usopp spotted Luffy being potentially in danger. Just look how clumsy that teleportation point was, so high up in the air! Someone was clearly in a hurry when shambling here lol.
We only get a look of his hand as he does that, which feels like a small callback to Sabaody: when Law makes his decision there to save Luffy, we only see his body, but not his face. Later Iva-chan said "sometimes body moves on it's own/by instinct" and I think this is exactly another example of that here. Law didn't even think of doing that, he just automatically reacted the moment he heard Luffy is in danger.
Btw it's not that Law only cared for himself and Robin to stand properly on landing. Robin is seen falling upside down, she stabilized herself using her own devil fruit power to land properly. Meanwhile Law always lands in style haha. Mr Steady Two Legs No Matter How Shaky the Ground Is.
Luffy's very happy to see them, his eyes are shining. It's not like he already started to miss them or anything, they seperated not that long ago, and Luffy was completely unaware of Strawhats worrying for him. I think Luffy's reaction here can be explained differently: he's happy to see that Law clearly took care of the Strawhats for Luffy! He's happy to see them all together. He probably wouldn't have expected Law to run off on his own, but it made him super happy that Law stayed despite missing (and worrying about) his crew so much. Luffy knows by now that Law worries a lot, after all. But he's also just happy to see Law again.
And they finally reach the other minks. Law's very confused, because just moments ago he thought minks are infighting, but they're apparently all cheerful instead. We're not really shown when Law seperates from the group or if Luffy relayed the message from Bepo, but if he did, this would be the moment. Just look from one frame to another, Luffy's in front at first, but suddenly in next frame he's close to Wanda again. We know already that Luffy can't sit still for even 5 seconds, so he was probably turning around to tell Law that his crew is waiting for him!
There we go, finally a reunion. Judging from Law's relieved face, Luffy was right and Law was indeed worried about his crew (but he's also just simply happy and touched to see them. He kinda looks like he's saying something akin to "Sorry I left you for so long guys" in his mind).
Luffy knows him pretty well by this point huh. Of course Law also denies taking any credit for their achievement of beating Mingo, instead saying it's all thanks to Luffy. At least in Sabaody he took half the credit, but here he decides himself unworthy of any. Is it because of his gratefulness to Luffy?
Just Luffy looking out of the window, nothing unusual right? Except it's yet another rare whimsical Luffy frame and they're all very suspicious by nature. He's peeking outside curiously, kinda like he's awaiting to see something there. That window we see is facing the entrance to the minks base. Curiously enough, it's most likely the entrance that Law took to go and meet up with his crew (retracing Luffy's earlier steps!). Do you get it?
Yes, Luffy is checking up if Law is already coming back with his crew, clearly impatient to see them. They probably seperated not that long ago, but he already can't wait to reunite. He wants to spot them even a second faster so they can be together again, because every second away from Law feels like eternity.
And then suddenly, Luffy turns his attention back to Wanda. Unusual, Luffy actually listening to anyone else rambling than Law, right? But it's because of what Wanda said here: "Bepo's group". Yep. Luffy realized Law and his crew didn't see each other for at least a month and a half. Luffy knows what this means, he was also seperated from his crew at Sabaody and he missed them so much it hurt him. He can clearly relate. From this point on, he will do his best to be patient and allow Law to take as much time as he wants and needs with his Heart Pirates. He understands.
Luffy taking Kaido seriously? What a big change from the first time Law and Luffy discussed alliance! Back then Law told him "you're not taking the emperors seriously". Well, now Luffy clearly does. It all changed when he saw Mingo defeating Law twice, and Law claimed Mingo will be a difficult opponent as well. Someone learned his lesson here and it's again, thanks to Law and also only because of Law.
Luffy declaring "we'll go quietly to Big Mom". This is also Luffy trying to take the things seriously. He is trying to prove Law he can be serious and trustworthy! (despite Law not being here to hear it haha)
And then Luffy refuses to meet up with Heart Pirates. Sounds cold on the surface level, right? Not so much anymore though when we remember Luffy peeking out of the windows, awaiting Law impatiently. It's only because Luffy already decided to give Law all the time he wants with his own crew. In other words, Luffy is actually holding himself back here and he's doing it for Law's sake. He wants Law to find him by himself once he's satisfied with the reunion. He cares about both Law and his feelings.
And that's all for this part! Zou's the shortest arc (not counting Reverie and Return to Sabaody), and yet it's so full of Lawlu that I couldn't fit it all into one post! Second post on Zou soon! Meanwhile, here's a bonus:
Let's analyze Luffy's vivre card. First piece was taken by Sabo, second by Bellamy, then Cavendish, Bartolomeo and the rest took their own bits. And yet while boarding Barto Club's ship, Luffy's card seems to be missing an extra piece.
I will leave you with that thought <3
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