Luffy x Neko!Reader Warm

Chapter 58: Another Absent Father, Guess It Runs In The Family

Law's hand ran through your hair, rubbing around the base of your ears, and you let your tail wrap halfway around his thigh. You both watched as your kits greeted each other, your two small sons circling Law's much bigger one. Ed was a quiet kit, and he had followed your pushes with neither resistance nor enthusiasm, wandering off to sit on a beached log while Ace and Daniel tried to get some form of reaction out of him. It wasn't working.

Law sighed and you leaned back against him. "Were he and Ace close?"

"Yes." Law's voice was flat, carefully wiped clean of any emotion. "Ace adored him. They were good for each other."

Fathers leaving their sons behind. What a pattern, woven into your life. The web of your family was growing even as you suffered loss, and it seemed like so few knew their fathers. You took a deep breath. Your kits would know Luffy. They would. Looking up at Law, you muttered, "And what about you?"

His lips pressed into a thin line. "Ace was his favorite. He was always-" There was a waver in his voice. He steeled himself. "He was good with Ed. He was good with everyone, but with Ed, it was like... He made him laugh. They loved each other." Law's expression clouded, lost in his thoughts. "I don't know if Ed's ever going to forgive me for not being him."

"Let him grieve." Law's hand resumed in petting you about the ears. You gave a short-lived purr. "Let yourself grieve, too Law. We all need time to let him go." You thought briefly of the night you'd lost your daughter, of the vision of Ace, happy in the life after life, surrounded by stars. With a sigh, you pulled away from the warmth of Law's body against your own. "I need to-"

"I know." Law was handing something out to you, a wanted poster, worn but legible, with Luffy's face. You took it with shaking hands, unable to stop the tears that blurred your vision at the sight of him. Stars, you missed him. You'd been focusing on the kits and on keeping you all fed, trying to stay occupied, but the ache of his absence was a wound that did not heal. His voice was softer than you were used to. "They should know his face."

You couldn't answer. You just nodded instead, turning to wave your tail at Ace and Daniel. Daniel bumped Ace to get his attention and both put on their fur- visibly startling Ed- before rushing over to you, sitting back on their haunches in front of you. "Come on, kits," you said, brushing your tail affectionately over Ace's ears. "We need to talk, okay? You're old enough now. It's time you learned about your father." Ace's eyes flicked briefly to Law then his ears laid back against his head. He nodded, laying his tail over Daniel's shoulders, and they walked with their fur brushing as you led them into the trees, out of sight of the shore.

"Come on, then, sit down." You waved your tail at a patch of moss and sunk to the ground yourself, too tired inside to bother with standing any longer. Both kits tucked close against you, Daniel reaching out to put a paw against your face. "I'm fine, sweetheart." You managed a grin and got two little purrs in return. "I just wanted to-"

You broke off, tears coming again. How did you start? Where? What part of your life did you tell your two small children? Looking at the crumpled poster in your hands, blinking the tears away enough to see his face, you finally pushed the paper to them. Ace planted a paw on the corner to keep it from being taken by the wind, ears pricking up. Daniel leaned heavily against Ace to see, one ear twitching. "That," you managed, "is your father." Ace gave you a shocked look, then looked to Daniel, so clearly his father's son. You managed a purr. "Yes, Daniel looks just like him."

To your utter shock and bewilderment, Daniel's dark muzzle curled in an expression of absolute disgust. He hissed at the poster and before you could react, he raked his claws over the image of Luffy's face. Ace tackled him, and in the brief scuffle you couldn't tell where one ended and the other began, dark fur blending into a ball of lashing tails and flailing paws, until Daniel was once again pinned beneath his brother. They changed at the same time, but for once Ace didn't release his brother when he squirmed. "Why did you do that!" Ace barked. "Do you wanna make mama cry more?"