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dethoratsFor ladykarasu
Title: Unpause
Rating: G
Pairing: LuZoLu and vague general nakama-ness
Word Count: 4620
Spoilers: End of Fishman Island
Luffy was so still, silent and barely moving. Minutes ago he’d been impossibly active, body moving at speeds too fast to follow as determination and rubber recoil drove him to save the island and shatter a ship so vast it had threatened to destroy them all. Now as his flesh grew ever more pallid from shock and the loss of all the vital red fluid still leaking from his wounds, the hordes of the people he had saved – because he had wanted to and not because he was a hero or anything – muttered to each other. Until one voice spoke, said the words that meant so many different things, “I’m a pirate.”
Zoro watched, feeling oddly distant, detached, from the scene. It was hard to comprehend that Luffy was truly in a life or death situation. Just reunited and Luffy as obviously grown in strength as the rest of them, the strongest still, and yet he lay on the ground drenched in his own blood. It was an awful sight and one far too familiar for Zoro. Mihawk had mostly kept the newspapers from him but Perona had found them, had craved them for herself as she hunted for word of her former master. Remains of her scavenging had been Zoro’s lifeline, what he clung to at first as he swallowed his pride and urged his tired, battered body to heal. The first six weeks had been filled with reports of fatalities and dreadful wounds, of the anguished cry and the bodies of an Emperor and his heir. The image of Luffy’s bowed head, hat held over a bandaged heart, had made something ache in Zoro’s chest, an ache that only grew as the message on his captain’s arm finally became clear. He yearned to be there for Luffy but that was impossible so Zoro threw himself into his training, every fiber of his being attuned to bettering himself so Luffy would never have to go through such anguish again. During the day, he was fine, devoted to learning what he needed and pushing his body to new limits and beyond. At night, though, his sleep was troubled.
Sleep had always been a comfort, a refuge where his body could regain its strength and his mind could relax and center, find the calm he needed for the intense focus of his swordsmanship. He had never dreamed much, at least not that he ever remembered upon waking. But in Mihawk’s castle his sleeping mind roved through dark and terrible places, presented him with scenarios whose shadows lingered even in the morning sunlight. It wasn’t that he doubted Luffy but the world had struck his captain a terrible blow. Even more, Luffy was carrying the burden of his loss alone. And that was even harder to bear than the thought of Luffy’s grief. Luffy had never made any secret of his need for his nakama, of his inability to accomplish his incredible dream without their help. That open honesty and the pure support Luffy gave to each of them, the way he wasn’t afraid to lean on them and let them depend on him in return, had won Zoro over from the very beginning. It was why he could swallow his pride and prostrate himself before the man who was his goal and rival and ask for his help. Luffy would have done the same for him.
Yet in Zoro’s dreams, Luffy had no help, had no nakama to come to his aid, no friendly face to win to his side. The marines came and the blades flashed on the tower in Logue Town and the lightning missed or struck too late. Blackbeard laughed, an echo of his voice in Mock Town ringing through Zoro’s subconscious mind, and his smile was painted red and black as he held up a lifeless body with fingers that stretched unnaturally around a battered straw hat. Kuma and Kizaru and those weird clone robots surrounded his lone captain, beams of burning light searing through his skin. And the worst and least likely of all, the wounds that festered without Chopper there, the body that wasted away without the crap chef to cook and the cyborg and the witch to house and guide it, the spirit that withered from the lack of knowledge and lies and songs, the Luffy that just faded without his nakama. For two years Zoro found his sleep tormented by such dreams. It was almost surreal to be seeing a nightmare made real, only just reunited and so much stronger than before. And yet Luffy could still die.
It was only as the fishman and former shichibukai settled with quiet conviction next to his captain that Zoro felt the knot in his chest relax. This was a simple matter now, and while a transfusion shouldn't have meant quite so much, the symbolism fit. It was right and so very Luffy; the future pirate king broke the law and the taboo there on Fishman Island in the Ryuuguu Kingdom. Blood flowed, a strong pulse of life, from Jinbe's arm through the tubes Chopper had quickly set up. Luffy’s face was slack, chest rising and falling so slowly, as the fishman's blood - his temerity and his trust and his promises - entered a human vein and slowly mixed through a rubber body. No one stirred, not one of the Straw Hats, as they watched Chopper bustle about his patient with Robin’s help, stitching and bandaging and working on the elastic flesh that was already beginning to bounce back and heal before their eyes. Neptune was a silent witness as well, with his ministers and his children, the rest of his people all around them. And then a slow smile began to make its way across the captain’s face and, his eyes still closed, he spoke.
“Jinbe,” Luffy said, heedless of the tears running down the mermaid princess’s face and the ridiculous grins stretching the cheeks of his crew. The almost inevitable words were said, then, a strong shout that nearly refuted the fact that Luffy was still flat on his back. “Be my nakama!”
Zoro couldn’t hold back a smile of his own at the pleased grin on Luffy’s face, the slightly dazed expression curving up the corners of Jinbe’s mouth. Around the Straw Hats, Fishman Island let out the final breath it had been holding and the sounds of celebration soon spread. Neptune turned away, attention distracted by the remains of his troubles. Soon no one was paying attention to the Straw Hats at all. After a few more minutes, while Nami and Usopp and Sanji took turns scolding a captain who couldn’t stop laughing, Chopper finally pinched off the tubes, gently easing the needle out of Jinbe's arm and closing the small wound with a cheerful yellow bandaid. "Thank you," the reindeer said, his tone snuffly with withheld tears.
"Thank you," Zoro added, his gruff voice mingling with the rest of his nakama even as he resisted an abrupt urge to drop to his knees and bow his gratitude.
He covered his wholly unexpected inclination by leaning down instead; arm out so that a firm grip could coil around his forearm, his own fingers sure as they closed over Luffy’s elbow. Next to them, the idiot eyebrow cook had offered a hand to the former shichibukai, heaving up the whale shark fishman with an ease that belied Jinbe's bulk. The action prompted Chopper to wobble over to them, stern words about taking it slow and making sure to eat soon and to sit down if Jinbe got dizzy making the much larger fishman smile down at the small doctor and nod. Luffy was a solid, warm weight along Zoro's side as he watched the proceedings, laughing delightedly at his nakama. Despite his laughter and his wounds, Luffy was already steady on his feet. Zoro let go of the captain’s arm before Luffy could move out of the hold on his own and stepped back, giving him space. There were a few more minutes of celebration, Brook even strumming the beginnings of a new song, before Luffy stopped to really look around. They were still in the middle of Gyoncorde Plaza and surrounded by the many inhabitants of Fishman Island who hadn’t fled. Zoro had been waiting for the look that found him and nodded, head tilting correctly for once in the direction of the Thousand Sunny. Franky was already on board, making preparations, and the rest of the Straw Hats followed along without any further urging, the pirate crew making their escape.
They hadn’t counted on the mermaid princess and her pet shark following along, although Megalo at least made himself useful by towing the Sunny. Shirahoshi made Zoro grit his teeth and sigh, his patience running out as he tried to explain just why they had to leave. Behind him, Luffy argued with Jinbe, and for once it was clear that Luffy was going to lose. Jinbe seemed like a decent guy, reminded Zoro of his sensei a little, with his talk of obligations and honor. Hopefully he could discharge his duties swiftly and return to them. In the meantime, though, they wouldn’t have to part just yet for Neptune’s men had caught up to them and the irresistible lure of a banquet had been offered to Luffy and his crew.
Food and singing and dancing and drink; the celebration had gone on long enough that Zoro finally decided to take a nap, waking up at his captain’s call to go off with Luffy and the swirly cook on a series of mini adventures that ended with an aching skull courtesy of the witch and the prospect of even more enemies in the New World. The day had been long and crazy and he’d been a prisoner twice and held a king hostage, fought in a civil war, and seen his captain save a kingdom and nearly bleed to death in a mere span of hours. After the months of quiet on Kuraigana, it was quite the change. It was enough to drive the swordsman back to the buffet line that had been set up for Neptune’s soldiers, many of the servants who earlier hosted the Straw Hats having already gone off to bed. He helped himself to a sandwich and, more importantly, to most of the booze that was left. Behind him, he vaguely listened to the sound of Robin laughing softly while Usopp and Chopper and Nami bemoaned their new fate to the accompaniment of the stupid chef dancing attendance on the ladies without making matters any better. The quiet slap-slap of Luffy’s sandals approached, was buried by the vacuum effect of the captain attempting to shovel the rest of the buffet into his face. Zoro thumbed the stopper off another large bottle of saké, took a long swig before he turned around in time to watch Luffy, cheeks bulging, swallow enough food to make the bandages still wrapped around his chest strain. Wordlessly he held out his bottle, couldn’t help but grin when Luffy took a drink and then spluttered, eyes watering with the sting of alcohol down his throat.
“Rayleigh-ossan tried to teach me to drink that stuff but Zoro’s better off with it than me,” Luffy rasped out, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth.
“Suit yourself,” Zoro replied, taking another long swallow and smiling around the delicious burn at the face Luffy was still pulling. “Leaves more for me. But I’ll leave the rest of the meat for you, captain.” That got him a chuckle as Luffy proceeded to pick the rest of the buffet clean, sweeping up one last armful of food before plopping down on the floor. Zoro took his bottles and joined him, propping his swords alongside the coral column he had settled his back against. They didn't need to talk, not now at the end of a long and exciting day. Just being there, with plenty of food and drink and the company of their nakama was enough. Zoro was content to stay by the captain, steadily working his way through the remaining bottles while Luffy did his usual magic and made the rest of the food disappear, his pace slowing in proportion to the drooping of his eyelids. The floor beneath him was cool and hard but the saké was warm as it settled in Zoro's belly. Luffy was even warmer as he slowly drifted to the right until he was slumped up against the swordsman’s side, a piece of meat half hanging out of his mouth and moving ever so slightly while teeth worked at it even as Luffy drifted off to sleep.
The call of sleep was reaching out to Zoro too, the nap he’d taken earlier having been not nearly long enough. But his thoughts kept churning even as his eyelid lowered, blocking out the fantastical images of the mermaid palace under the sea. He pushed aside the images from earlier, of Luffy bloody and unconscious. He could deal with that later. The flashbacks to Alabasta were more pleasant and made sense and he let those memories drift over him. Heat and sand and the sword that could cut nothing contrasted with cool and water and blades that could cut through anything, two princesses’ tears and bravery so alike and yet so different and two fathers equally battered yet equally proud. Nations saved and Luffy grinning even with a hole in his chest. And that was the biggest difference, Luffy being the only one to hurt and bleed – the flashback stubbornly returning - and that didn’t sit well with Zoro at all. His opponent had been a joke, hadn’t made him stretch or grow in the slightest unlike Mr. 1, had left him without a scratch so that his biggest and only pain came from the lump the weather witch had left on his head for losing her treasure.
He had had a lot of time to think during those two years on Kuraigana Island, especially at the beginning when the ghost girl had spent her days patching him up and filching newspapers and Mihawk had refused to start his training until his body had finished healing. It had taken longer than normal, far longer, and he could only attribute it to the choice Kuma had offered him, the bubble with its heavy burden lifted from his captain’s body. Devil’s fruits offered marvelous powers but such things could only go so far. Luffy’s true power didn’t come from the gum-gum fruit at all. To bear that weight, to take so much even with his rubber constitution, how could he have done any less for the man who had his allegiance? It had been on his mind throughout his training, the toll Luffy put on himself as he rocketed headlong into the kinds of insane situations that just seemed to appear before the Straw Hat pirates. All too often it was Luffy who had to spend the days after a battle asleep, swathed in bandages and recovering. There was something wrong with that, something that had been bothering Zoro all through the sky adventure and during the quest to get back Robin. Only on Thriller Bark had he even had a shot to do something about it and then only because Luffy had already pushed himself beyond his limits. He had resolved, as he healed and fought and argued with Perona, to make it so that burden wasn’t on Luffy alone.
And yet, in the very first chance he’d had since they’d all reunited, he had failed. His nightmares had nearly come true. Luffy’s chest had gaped open again, his blood spilled in a place where it had been taboo to help him. Of course, being Luffy, he’d broken that taboo, sent it rocketing away, but the point was the same. Only Luffy had needed Chopper’s skill and Zoro had spent his time while the captain fought and bled toying with a drunken idiot of a swordsman. So much for his resolve, for his decision, for the training that was to be the best, yes, but also to be the best for Luffy.
Against his side, Luffy murmured some small sound, finally swallowed the piece of meat that had been hanging from his mouth. He burrowed closer, newly open mouth pressed to Zoro’s chest and moist breath warming the swordsman’s skin through his robe. Next time, Zoro decided, next time if nothing else Luffy wouldn’t be the only one to bleed. Next time, if he was good enough, maybe Luffy wouldn’t be hurt at all. And if he was, that was okay, so long as Zoro had done his part, hadn’t just fooled around with nothing to show for it. He had two years worth of skill to use, to test out on the New World, to show his captain that their separation hadn’t been wasted. The last of the saké went down smooth and Zoro set the drained bottle aside with the rest of the empties. The booze all gone and with his robe not just warmed but also damp from Luffy's drool, it was an even better time for a nap and finally, finally perhaps his thoughts would shut up and let sleep come.
He'd been out for a while judging from the ache at the base of his spine and the wet spot pressed into his skin by Luffy's sagging, snoring weight. Vestiges of blood and fire painted his mind’s eye and one hand was clenched around Kitetsu. It wasn’t the dream that had woken him, though. Voices, some more politely hushed than others, drifted over his head in half-hearted debate. He didn't pay much mind, especially after the shitty chef had a good idea for a change and suggested that he and Luffy just be left to nap, any stiffness or pains being their own fault for sleeping on the floor. But Chopper was against the notion, several others in soft agreement and Zoro finally grudgingly cracked open his eye when the sensation of a large hand wielded by a meek, sweet voice slowly came down towards the body still dozing against his side.
"Oi," he grunted, doing his best not to glare too harshly at the recoiling princess, who'd snatched her hand back as if his very presence had burned. "What're you doing?"
"L-Luffy-sama, he…he…" Tears the size of watermelons welled in her eyes, her lower lip trembling.
"Luffy needs a bed," Chopper whispered, deftly sliding between the pair on the floor and the leg Sanji had lifted as soon as the mermaid princess had begun to wibble. "He's not healed entirely yet, even with all the meat he ate. The floor's not good for him."
Zoro sighed. If it were him, he wouldn't have wanted to be moved. But it was Luffy and he'd probably like waking up in a bed in the palace. "Fine, I've got him." Shirahoshi let out a small, high sound of protest and Zoro, feeling oddly magnanimous, gently patted his captain's hat-covered head, the action not disturbing Luffy's snores in the least. "He's used to being carried by me," Zoro said, not bothering to admit that this had last been proven true over two years ago. "I won't wake him." The glances that flashed between his nakama he ignored, they could think whatever they wanted. The important thing was that Shirahoshi was nodding now and no one else was bothering to protest.
Luffy was warm and heavy and completely limp, his rubber limbs ever so slightly more unwieldy in his sleep with more give than was merely humanly possible as Zoro hoisted the captain onto his back. The rough weave of Luffy's hat caught on the swordsman's hair and a new damp patch began to blossom on his shoulder but Luffy didn't controvert Zoro's words. The swordsman stood up, his still-loose swords now braced beneath the captain's thighs and Luffy slumbered on as the motley group followed after the mermaid princess in search of beds.
The room they ultimately reached was sized more for Neptune and his daughter than a group of more-or-less human pirates. A vast bed dominated the room, yards and yards of soft white sheets and a mountain of pillows at the head. The surface was higher than his head but a set of more human-sized stairs were mounted against one edge. It was awkward but Zoro managed to shuffle forward on his knees away from the immediate side of the bed, having climbed the stairs without disturbing his burden. He eased Luffy off his back, settled the straw hat safely at arm's length. Luffy looked so small there, amid the immensity of the mattress, but his nakama were watching and so was the princess so Zoro turned around. He was just stepping off the bottom step to follow his nakama towards the door when a sleepy laugh came from above his head.
"Shishishi! It's big enough for all of us!"
That broad grin was irresistible as it bounced up and down, Luffy testing the springiness of his new sleeping space and finding it completely to his liking. There was a whoop from the door as Usopp tugged off his shoes, Brook set aside his guitar and the pair of them raced after Chopper, the trio nearly plowing Zoro over as they hurried to join in the fun. The rest of the crew followed at a more sedate pace, wide smiles nonetheless stretching across each and every face. Footwear and jackets made a trail towards the door and Zoro eyed his swords as he set aside his boots. He brought them up, thinking to sleep along the edge with them, just in case, but they were abandoned soon enough as a pillow and the laughter of the nakama he hadn't quite known he'd missed so much caught him in the face.
As it turned out, it was a little hard to win a pillow fight against someone the size of Shirahoshi. Once she got into the idea and fought back a few surprised tears prompted by the first pillow to her nose, she could rain handfuls of feather-filled bombs down on the bed. The men gave as good as they got, but with Shirahoshi's size, Robin's many arms and willingness to fight dirty and Sanji's complete inability to resist his Nami-swan, the women soon won the war.
Nami claimed Chopper as her prize, the reindeer happy to cuddle with her as they nestled down to sleep. One by one the other Straw Hats settled in, even Shirahoshi curling up on the floor and resting her upper body against one end of the mattress. Zoro found himself pulled down by a firm grip on his sash and before he could even think to protest, the owner's other hand was presenting him with his swords. He snagged a pillow, blades at his side, and he only shifted his arm, curling it gently against the warmth that snuggled against him when Luffy decided that his swordsman was a better pillow that the 'weapons' scattered about the bed.
It was only moments before Zoro was nearly lost to the sweet oblivion of sleep, his body reacting instinctively to being horizontal and comfortable and having the equally nostalgic and new sounds of his nakama breathing all around. Robin made herself useful and extinguished the last of the lights without actually having to leave the bed. Bodies shifted in the darkness, sheets rustling and a few quiet giggles, but nothing that would have kept Zoro awake. And then something pressed against the corner of his mouth. Something warm and slightly moist and definitely rubbery. Something that put any immediate thoughts of sleep far from the swordsman's mind. It pressed there again, softly, and Zoro let his tired head loll to the side to meet it and pressed back. A slow puff of air sighed across his cheek when he drew away and Luffy wiggled even closer. Lips pressed against his chin, his neck, his jaw, blind in the dark but not searching.
This was…not new…not entirely. There'd been something similar or so he'd thought, his memories of those first few days so hazy, after Thriller Bark. Faintly recalled touches, the low murmur of his name pressed into his skin by a mouth that should have always been smiling but wasn't, the brush of fingers in his hair, little things that dragged him up back towards full consciousness. The half-believed ghosts of those sensations had haunted what few dreams Zoro had that weren't nightmares. Left him waking up to face Perona's smirking face and unsubtle taunts and the discomforting reality that Luffy was so far away and that he just couldn't be sure. He had thought about Luffy a great deal during his training, about little else if he was honest, but he had saved the contemplation of what he hoped were memories but feared were just fever dreams for just those last few moments before sleep, when his self-control was lax enough to entertain them. Luffy had just solved the biggest dilemma from those late night wonderings, taking matters into his own hands and just moving forward. It shouldn't have been a surprise, wasn't really, when Zoro considered just how easy it was to lean into those kisses, to pull Luffy tight against him and place a sleepy kiss of his own on Luffy's cheek.
It was easy to move, to just be and feel, even their nakama being there, Usopp's whistling snores and Franky's faint mechanical whirring and Brook's soft humming. It was dark and safe and warm, the crew reunited and an island saved, and if anyone or everyone happened to find out, that was fine. And if they didn't know in the morning, that was okay too. The morning would be a new day; another chance for Luffy to manage to get them into still deeper trouble before they had even arrived in the New World. Zoro found himself thinking back to that moment earlier, that moment of stillness before Jinbe spoke and Luffy lay bleeding on the ground. There was nothing frozen in him anymore, couldn't be with his captain determined to cover every inch of his face with increasingly sloppy kisses and their nakama around them and one promised for the future just down the hall. Luffy would still get hurt, they probably all would, but they would come through it as nakama and Zoro was ready to move on with them, out of the two year pause that had made his skills grow but kept so much else on hold. The New World was waiting and he was looking forward to it, new challenges and enemies and the continuing adventure towards the One Piece and being the greatest in the world. And if his captain wanted to add this new thing, these drowsy wet kisses and the fingers that had just begun wiggling with a clumsiness that belied the long day beneath his robe to pet at bare skin, Zoro was more than willing to oblige. He had to grin, couldn’t help himself, and felt the answering smile stretch across Luffy’s face. One last kiss, unerring this time as Luffy stretched higher and Zoro leaned down to meet him, a mingling of breath and unspoken promises. There were no dreams that night, only deep and restful sleep.
ladykarasuTitle: Unpause
Rating: G
Pairing: LuZoLu and vague general nakama-ness
Word Count: 4620
Spoilers: End of Fishman Island
Luffy was so still, silent and barely moving. Minutes ago he’d been impossibly active, body moving at speeds too fast to follow as determination and rubber recoil drove him to save the island and shatter a ship so vast it had threatened to destroy them all. Now as his flesh grew ever more pallid from shock and the loss of all the vital red fluid still leaking from his wounds, the hordes of the people he had saved – because he had wanted to and not because he was a hero or anything – muttered to each other. Until one voice spoke, said the words that meant so many different things, “I’m a pirate.”
Zoro watched, feeling oddly distant, detached, from the scene. It was hard to comprehend that Luffy was truly in a life or death situation. Just reunited and Luffy as obviously grown in strength as the rest of them, the strongest still, and yet he lay on the ground drenched in his own blood. It was an awful sight and one far too familiar for Zoro. Mihawk had mostly kept the newspapers from him but Perona had found them, had craved them for herself as she hunted for word of her former master. Remains of her scavenging had been Zoro’s lifeline, what he clung to at first as he swallowed his pride and urged his tired, battered body to heal. The first six weeks had been filled with reports of fatalities and dreadful wounds, of the anguished cry and the bodies of an Emperor and his heir. The image of Luffy’s bowed head, hat held over a bandaged heart, had made something ache in Zoro’s chest, an ache that only grew as the message on his captain’s arm finally became clear. He yearned to be there for Luffy but that was impossible so Zoro threw himself into his training, every fiber of his being attuned to bettering himself so Luffy would never have to go through such anguish again. During the day, he was fine, devoted to learning what he needed and pushing his body to new limits and beyond. At night, though, his sleep was troubled.
Sleep had always been a comfort, a refuge where his body could regain its strength and his mind could relax and center, find the calm he needed for the intense focus of his swordsmanship. He had never dreamed much, at least not that he ever remembered upon waking. But in Mihawk’s castle his sleeping mind roved through dark and terrible places, presented him with scenarios whose shadows lingered even in the morning sunlight. It wasn’t that he doubted Luffy but the world had struck his captain a terrible blow. Even more, Luffy was carrying the burden of his loss alone. And that was even harder to bear than the thought of Luffy’s grief. Luffy had never made any secret of his need for his nakama, of his inability to accomplish his incredible dream without their help. That open honesty and the pure support Luffy gave to each of them, the way he wasn’t afraid to lean on them and let them depend on him in return, had won Zoro over from the very beginning. It was why he could swallow his pride and prostrate himself before the man who was his goal and rival and ask for his help. Luffy would have done the same for him.
Yet in Zoro’s dreams, Luffy had no help, had no nakama to come to his aid, no friendly face to win to his side. The marines came and the blades flashed on the tower in Logue Town and the lightning missed or struck too late. Blackbeard laughed, an echo of his voice in Mock Town ringing through Zoro’s subconscious mind, and his smile was painted red and black as he held up a lifeless body with fingers that stretched unnaturally around a battered straw hat. Kuma and Kizaru and those weird clone robots surrounded his lone captain, beams of burning light searing through his skin. And the worst and least likely of all, the wounds that festered without Chopper there, the body that wasted away without the crap chef to cook and the cyborg and the witch to house and guide it, the spirit that withered from the lack of knowledge and lies and songs, the Luffy that just faded without his nakama. For two years Zoro found his sleep tormented by such dreams. It was almost surreal to be seeing a nightmare made real, only just reunited and so much stronger than before. And yet Luffy could still die.
It was only as the fishman and former shichibukai settled with quiet conviction next to his captain that Zoro felt the knot in his chest relax. This was a simple matter now, and while a transfusion shouldn't have meant quite so much, the symbolism fit. It was right and so very Luffy; the future pirate king broke the law and the taboo there on Fishman Island in the Ryuuguu Kingdom. Blood flowed, a strong pulse of life, from Jinbe's arm through the tubes Chopper had quickly set up. Luffy’s face was slack, chest rising and falling so slowly, as the fishman's blood - his temerity and his trust and his promises - entered a human vein and slowly mixed through a rubber body. No one stirred, not one of the Straw Hats, as they watched Chopper bustle about his patient with Robin’s help, stitching and bandaging and working on the elastic flesh that was already beginning to bounce back and heal before their eyes. Neptune was a silent witness as well, with his ministers and his children, the rest of his people all around them. And then a slow smile began to make its way across the captain’s face and, his eyes still closed, he spoke.
“Jinbe,” Luffy said, heedless of the tears running down the mermaid princess’s face and the ridiculous grins stretching the cheeks of his crew. The almost inevitable words were said, then, a strong shout that nearly refuted the fact that Luffy was still flat on his back. “Be my nakama!”
Zoro couldn’t hold back a smile of his own at the pleased grin on Luffy’s face, the slightly dazed expression curving up the corners of Jinbe’s mouth. Around the Straw Hats, Fishman Island let out the final breath it had been holding and the sounds of celebration soon spread. Neptune turned away, attention distracted by the remains of his troubles. Soon no one was paying attention to the Straw Hats at all. After a few more minutes, while Nami and Usopp and Sanji took turns scolding a captain who couldn’t stop laughing, Chopper finally pinched off the tubes, gently easing the needle out of Jinbe's arm and closing the small wound with a cheerful yellow bandaid. "Thank you," the reindeer said, his tone snuffly with withheld tears.
"Thank you," Zoro added, his gruff voice mingling with the rest of his nakama even as he resisted an abrupt urge to drop to his knees and bow his gratitude.
He covered his wholly unexpected inclination by leaning down instead; arm out so that a firm grip could coil around his forearm, his own fingers sure as they closed over Luffy’s elbow. Next to them, the idiot eyebrow cook had offered a hand to the former shichibukai, heaving up the whale shark fishman with an ease that belied Jinbe's bulk. The action prompted Chopper to wobble over to them, stern words about taking it slow and making sure to eat soon and to sit down if Jinbe got dizzy making the much larger fishman smile down at the small doctor and nod. Luffy was a solid, warm weight along Zoro's side as he watched the proceedings, laughing delightedly at his nakama. Despite his laughter and his wounds, Luffy was already steady on his feet. Zoro let go of the captain’s arm before Luffy could move out of the hold on his own and stepped back, giving him space. There were a few more minutes of celebration, Brook even strumming the beginnings of a new song, before Luffy stopped to really look around. They were still in the middle of Gyoncorde Plaza and surrounded by the many inhabitants of Fishman Island who hadn’t fled. Zoro had been waiting for the look that found him and nodded, head tilting correctly for once in the direction of the Thousand Sunny. Franky was already on board, making preparations, and the rest of the Straw Hats followed along without any further urging, the pirate crew making their escape.
They hadn’t counted on the mermaid princess and her pet shark following along, although Megalo at least made himself useful by towing the Sunny. Shirahoshi made Zoro grit his teeth and sigh, his patience running out as he tried to explain just why they had to leave. Behind him, Luffy argued with Jinbe, and for once it was clear that Luffy was going to lose. Jinbe seemed like a decent guy, reminded Zoro of his sensei a little, with his talk of obligations and honor. Hopefully he could discharge his duties swiftly and return to them. In the meantime, though, they wouldn’t have to part just yet for Neptune’s men had caught up to them and the irresistible lure of a banquet had been offered to Luffy and his crew.
Food and singing and dancing and drink; the celebration had gone on long enough that Zoro finally decided to take a nap, waking up at his captain’s call to go off with Luffy and the swirly cook on a series of mini adventures that ended with an aching skull courtesy of the witch and the prospect of even more enemies in the New World. The day had been long and crazy and he’d been a prisoner twice and held a king hostage, fought in a civil war, and seen his captain save a kingdom and nearly bleed to death in a mere span of hours. After the months of quiet on Kuraigana, it was quite the change. It was enough to drive the swordsman back to the buffet line that had been set up for Neptune’s soldiers, many of the servants who earlier hosted the Straw Hats having already gone off to bed. He helped himself to a sandwich and, more importantly, to most of the booze that was left. Behind him, he vaguely listened to the sound of Robin laughing softly while Usopp and Chopper and Nami bemoaned their new fate to the accompaniment of the stupid chef dancing attendance on the ladies without making matters any better. The quiet slap-slap of Luffy’s sandals approached, was buried by the vacuum effect of the captain attempting to shovel the rest of the buffet into his face. Zoro thumbed the stopper off another large bottle of saké, took a long swig before he turned around in time to watch Luffy, cheeks bulging, swallow enough food to make the bandages still wrapped around his chest strain. Wordlessly he held out his bottle, couldn’t help but grin when Luffy took a drink and then spluttered, eyes watering with the sting of alcohol down his throat.
“Rayleigh-ossan tried to teach me to drink that stuff but Zoro’s better off with it than me,” Luffy rasped out, swiping the back of his hand across his mouth.
“Suit yourself,” Zoro replied, taking another long swallow and smiling around the delicious burn at the face Luffy was still pulling. “Leaves more for me. But I’ll leave the rest of the meat for you, captain.” That got him a chuckle as Luffy proceeded to pick the rest of the buffet clean, sweeping up one last armful of food before plopping down on the floor. Zoro took his bottles and joined him, propping his swords alongside the coral column he had settled his back against. They didn't need to talk, not now at the end of a long and exciting day. Just being there, with plenty of food and drink and the company of their nakama was enough. Zoro was content to stay by the captain, steadily working his way through the remaining bottles while Luffy did his usual magic and made the rest of the food disappear, his pace slowing in proportion to the drooping of his eyelids. The floor beneath him was cool and hard but the saké was warm as it settled in Zoro's belly. Luffy was even warmer as he slowly drifted to the right until he was slumped up against the swordsman’s side, a piece of meat half hanging out of his mouth and moving ever so slightly while teeth worked at it even as Luffy drifted off to sleep.
The call of sleep was reaching out to Zoro too, the nap he’d taken earlier having been not nearly long enough. But his thoughts kept churning even as his eyelid lowered, blocking out the fantastical images of the mermaid palace under the sea. He pushed aside the images from earlier, of Luffy bloody and unconscious. He could deal with that later. The flashbacks to Alabasta were more pleasant and made sense and he let those memories drift over him. Heat and sand and the sword that could cut nothing contrasted with cool and water and blades that could cut through anything, two princesses’ tears and bravery so alike and yet so different and two fathers equally battered yet equally proud. Nations saved and Luffy grinning even with a hole in his chest. And that was the biggest difference, Luffy being the only one to hurt and bleed – the flashback stubbornly returning - and that didn’t sit well with Zoro at all. His opponent had been a joke, hadn’t made him stretch or grow in the slightest unlike Mr. 1, had left him without a scratch so that his biggest and only pain came from the lump the weather witch had left on his head for losing her treasure.
He had had a lot of time to think during those two years on Kuraigana Island, especially at the beginning when the ghost girl had spent her days patching him up and filching newspapers and Mihawk had refused to start his training until his body had finished healing. It had taken longer than normal, far longer, and he could only attribute it to the choice Kuma had offered him, the bubble with its heavy burden lifted from his captain’s body. Devil’s fruits offered marvelous powers but such things could only go so far. Luffy’s true power didn’t come from the gum-gum fruit at all. To bear that weight, to take so much even with his rubber constitution, how could he have done any less for the man who had his allegiance? It had been on his mind throughout his training, the toll Luffy put on himself as he rocketed headlong into the kinds of insane situations that just seemed to appear before the Straw Hat pirates. All too often it was Luffy who had to spend the days after a battle asleep, swathed in bandages and recovering. There was something wrong with that, something that had been bothering Zoro all through the sky adventure and during the quest to get back Robin. Only on Thriller Bark had he even had a shot to do something about it and then only because Luffy had already pushed himself beyond his limits. He had resolved, as he healed and fought and argued with Perona, to make it so that burden wasn’t on Luffy alone.
And yet, in the very first chance he’d had since they’d all reunited, he had failed. His nightmares had nearly come true. Luffy’s chest had gaped open again, his blood spilled in a place where it had been taboo to help him. Of course, being Luffy, he’d broken that taboo, sent it rocketing away, but the point was the same. Only Luffy had needed Chopper’s skill and Zoro had spent his time while the captain fought and bled toying with a drunken idiot of a swordsman. So much for his resolve, for his decision, for the training that was to be the best, yes, but also to be the best for Luffy.
Against his side, Luffy murmured some small sound, finally swallowed the piece of meat that had been hanging from his mouth. He burrowed closer, newly open mouth pressed to Zoro’s chest and moist breath warming the swordsman’s skin through his robe. Next time, Zoro decided, next time if nothing else Luffy wouldn’t be the only one to bleed. Next time, if he was good enough, maybe Luffy wouldn’t be hurt at all. And if he was, that was okay, so long as Zoro had done his part, hadn’t just fooled around with nothing to show for it. He had two years worth of skill to use, to test out on the New World, to show his captain that their separation hadn’t been wasted. The last of the saké went down smooth and Zoro set the drained bottle aside with the rest of the empties. The booze all gone and with his robe not just warmed but also damp from Luffy's drool, it was an even better time for a nap and finally, finally perhaps his thoughts would shut up and let sleep come.
He'd been out for a while judging from the ache at the base of his spine and the wet spot pressed into his skin by Luffy's sagging, snoring weight. Vestiges of blood and fire painted his mind’s eye and one hand was clenched around Kitetsu. It wasn’t the dream that had woken him, though. Voices, some more politely hushed than others, drifted over his head in half-hearted debate. He didn't pay much mind, especially after the shitty chef had a good idea for a change and suggested that he and Luffy just be left to nap, any stiffness or pains being their own fault for sleeping on the floor. But Chopper was against the notion, several others in soft agreement and Zoro finally grudgingly cracked open his eye when the sensation of a large hand wielded by a meek, sweet voice slowly came down towards the body still dozing against his side.
"Oi," he grunted, doing his best not to glare too harshly at the recoiling princess, who'd snatched her hand back as if his very presence had burned. "What're you doing?"
"L-Luffy-sama, he…he…" Tears the size of watermelons welled in her eyes, her lower lip trembling.
"Luffy needs a bed," Chopper whispered, deftly sliding between the pair on the floor and the leg Sanji had lifted as soon as the mermaid princess had begun to wibble. "He's not healed entirely yet, even with all the meat he ate. The floor's not good for him."
Zoro sighed. If it were him, he wouldn't have wanted to be moved. But it was Luffy and he'd probably like waking up in a bed in the palace. "Fine, I've got him." Shirahoshi let out a small, high sound of protest and Zoro, feeling oddly magnanimous, gently patted his captain's hat-covered head, the action not disturbing Luffy's snores in the least. "He's used to being carried by me," Zoro said, not bothering to admit that this had last been proven true over two years ago. "I won't wake him." The glances that flashed between his nakama he ignored, they could think whatever they wanted. The important thing was that Shirahoshi was nodding now and no one else was bothering to protest.
Luffy was warm and heavy and completely limp, his rubber limbs ever so slightly more unwieldy in his sleep with more give than was merely humanly possible as Zoro hoisted the captain onto his back. The rough weave of Luffy's hat caught on the swordsman's hair and a new damp patch began to blossom on his shoulder but Luffy didn't controvert Zoro's words. The swordsman stood up, his still-loose swords now braced beneath the captain's thighs and Luffy slumbered on as the motley group followed after the mermaid princess in search of beds.
The room they ultimately reached was sized more for Neptune and his daughter than a group of more-or-less human pirates. A vast bed dominated the room, yards and yards of soft white sheets and a mountain of pillows at the head. The surface was higher than his head but a set of more human-sized stairs were mounted against one edge. It was awkward but Zoro managed to shuffle forward on his knees away from the immediate side of the bed, having climbed the stairs without disturbing his burden. He eased Luffy off his back, settled the straw hat safely at arm's length. Luffy looked so small there, amid the immensity of the mattress, but his nakama were watching and so was the princess so Zoro turned around. He was just stepping off the bottom step to follow his nakama towards the door when a sleepy laugh came from above his head.
"Shishishi! It's big enough for all of us!"
That broad grin was irresistible as it bounced up and down, Luffy testing the springiness of his new sleeping space and finding it completely to his liking. There was a whoop from the door as Usopp tugged off his shoes, Brook set aside his guitar and the pair of them raced after Chopper, the trio nearly plowing Zoro over as they hurried to join in the fun. The rest of the crew followed at a more sedate pace, wide smiles nonetheless stretching across each and every face. Footwear and jackets made a trail towards the door and Zoro eyed his swords as he set aside his boots. He brought them up, thinking to sleep along the edge with them, just in case, but they were abandoned soon enough as a pillow and the laughter of the nakama he hadn't quite known he'd missed so much caught him in the face.
As it turned out, it was a little hard to win a pillow fight against someone the size of Shirahoshi. Once she got into the idea and fought back a few surprised tears prompted by the first pillow to her nose, she could rain handfuls of feather-filled bombs down on the bed. The men gave as good as they got, but with Shirahoshi's size, Robin's many arms and willingness to fight dirty and Sanji's complete inability to resist his Nami-swan, the women soon won the war.
Nami claimed Chopper as her prize, the reindeer happy to cuddle with her as they nestled down to sleep. One by one the other Straw Hats settled in, even Shirahoshi curling up on the floor and resting her upper body against one end of the mattress. Zoro found himself pulled down by a firm grip on his sash and before he could even think to protest, the owner's other hand was presenting him with his swords. He snagged a pillow, blades at his side, and he only shifted his arm, curling it gently against the warmth that snuggled against him when Luffy decided that his swordsman was a better pillow that the 'weapons' scattered about the bed.
It was only moments before Zoro was nearly lost to the sweet oblivion of sleep, his body reacting instinctively to being horizontal and comfortable and having the equally nostalgic and new sounds of his nakama breathing all around. Robin made herself useful and extinguished the last of the lights without actually having to leave the bed. Bodies shifted in the darkness, sheets rustling and a few quiet giggles, but nothing that would have kept Zoro awake. And then something pressed against the corner of his mouth. Something warm and slightly moist and definitely rubbery. Something that put any immediate thoughts of sleep far from the swordsman's mind. It pressed there again, softly, and Zoro let his tired head loll to the side to meet it and pressed back. A slow puff of air sighed across his cheek when he drew away and Luffy wiggled even closer. Lips pressed against his chin, his neck, his jaw, blind in the dark but not searching.
This was…not new…not entirely. There'd been something similar or so he'd thought, his memories of those first few days so hazy, after Thriller Bark. Faintly recalled touches, the low murmur of his name pressed into his skin by a mouth that should have always been smiling but wasn't, the brush of fingers in his hair, little things that dragged him up back towards full consciousness. The half-believed ghosts of those sensations had haunted what few dreams Zoro had that weren't nightmares. Left him waking up to face Perona's smirking face and unsubtle taunts and the discomforting reality that Luffy was so far away and that he just couldn't be sure. He had thought about Luffy a great deal during his training, about little else if he was honest, but he had saved the contemplation of what he hoped were memories but feared were just fever dreams for just those last few moments before sleep, when his self-control was lax enough to entertain them. Luffy had just solved the biggest dilemma from those late night wonderings, taking matters into his own hands and just moving forward. It shouldn't have been a surprise, wasn't really, when Zoro considered just how easy it was to lean into those kisses, to pull Luffy tight against him and place a sleepy kiss of his own on Luffy's cheek.
It was easy to move, to just be and feel, even their nakama being there, Usopp's whistling snores and Franky's faint mechanical whirring and Brook's soft humming. It was dark and safe and warm, the crew reunited and an island saved, and if anyone or everyone happened to find out, that was fine. And if they didn't know in the morning, that was okay too. The morning would be a new day; another chance for Luffy to manage to get them into still deeper trouble before they had even arrived in the New World. Zoro found himself thinking back to that moment earlier, that moment of stillness before Jinbe spoke and Luffy lay bleeding on the ground. There was nothing frozen in him anymore, couldn't be with his captain determined to cover every inch of his face with increasingly sloppy kisses and their nakama around them and one promised for the future just down the hall. Luffy would still get hurt, they probably all would, but they would come through it as nakama and Zoro was ready to move on with them, out of the two year pause that had made his skills grow but kept so much else on hold. The New World was waiting and he was looking forward to it, new challenges and enemies and the continuing adventure towards the One Piece and being the greatest in the world. And if his captain wanted to add this new thing, these drowsy wet kisses and the fingers that had just begun wiggling with a clumsiness that belied the long day beneath his robe to pet at bare skin, Zoro was more than willing to oblige. He had to grin, couldn’t help himself, and felt the answering smile stretch across Luffy’s face. One last kiss, unerring this time as Luffy stretched higher and Zoro leaned down to meet him, a mingling of breath and unspoken promises. There were no dreams that night, only deep and restful sleep.
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Date: 2012-02-27 05:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-28 12:10 am (UTC)