#and then immediately join in with whatever Luffy's first thought plan was

[potatopassenger]

The East Blue braincell is currently missing...

but Zoro thinks he has it (he does not)

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

DUMBASS DUO SHOWDOWN ROUND 3 BATTLE 1

MONKEY D LUFFY & RORONOA ZORO (aka zolu) VS SHAWN SPENCER & GUS

PROPAGANDA

ZOLU

I could rant about them for actual hours but like it's so hard to put thoughts down. But literally an actual quote was someone telling Zoro that "you promised you wouldn't cause trouble" and Zoro replies, EXACT WORDS, "I had no choice because I ran into Luffy." There was also an exchange where Zoro was giving Luffy food and Luffy warns him it might be poison while eating it and Zoro is just like "huh, so that's why my stomach was hurting". They also both swung from vines once and BOTH decided to Tarzan yell. They agreed it was a requirement. Also, Luffy once said he didn't wanna be a hero because heros would share their meat and he wants all of it, and Zoro entirely separately says the SAME THING BUT WITH BOOZE INSTEAD. There are so many examples of them sharing a single braincell. More than I could ever list. But those are the examples I thought of off the top of my head.

On the surface, Zoro seems to have some common sense, and only follows Luffy’s dumb schemes out of respect. Then Nami joins and you realize that Zoro’s seriousness IS his dumbassedness. He and Luffy have one track minds for their own goals and wants, and while they may clash, they have a decent amount of respect for each other.

haven’t finished one piece yet but one example: zoro when stuck figured cutting off his feet would be a genius idea and luffy is luffy. there’s never any thoughts going on in that head

When I first started One Piece I thought Zoro was going to be the badass smart counterpart to the dumbass protagonist just like Vegeta or Sasuke. Turns out I couldn't be more wrong. Him and Luffy are besties and share one brain cell and even thou Zoro uses it most of the time it's still one.

They share one single braincell at the same time: after being seriously injured in a battle, one wakes up to drink sake the other to eat meat. One almost cut a Noble (which means being pursued til death by the most powerful marines), the other actually punches said Noble. One gest stuck between buildings, the other inside a chimney for absolutely unrelated reasons

Their solution to everything is to fight it. They never have a plan and just rush into everything. Somehow they are technically the leaders of the group as captain and first mate. They have both at some point attempt to cut or tear their legs or arms off to get out something. They used the same metaphor to explain why they aren’t a hero without hearing the other say it (a hero would share their meat/booze I want to keep it all to myself).

they said let us cut/punch a hole trough a giant tsunami and they did it <3 also one time they were suppossed to lay low, but well they both immediately started robbing and attacking a town and being recognized and labeled as criminals in a new country. they don't even share a braincell, whatever braincell they had before immediately leave as soon as they both are together, also King of the Pirates and World Greatest Swordsman dreamteam, also for lasagne thing not only would the house be gone, the city be burning and they are fleeing the police while also fighting the police

They're just soooo stupid. Zoro can't walk to steps without getting lost. So Luffy will yank him miles through the air to land on wood. Or stone. Or some other hard substance. Luffy would fight someone on accident for meat. And Zoro for booze. And they have no brain cells between them. Zoro new Luffy for approx. 3 seconds before he decided he would die for him. And Luffy heard about this big scary bounty hunter who was captured by marines and went. I need him on my crew. They're perfect for each other.

I dont where to begin. One of their latest feats though is them going into the enemy base, Meaning to sneak in, Luffy went in after another guy, Zoro after Luffy, luffy then Announced himself, started a fight bc ppl wasted food on purpose, ZORO hearing a commotion, SLICED THROUGH A BUILDING TO GET TO LUFFY AND THEN REPRIMANDED LUFFY FOR FORGETTING THE PLAN AND BEING UNABLE TO BE QUIET. THEN. T H E N LUFFY SAYS HE SPILT FOOD ON PURPOSE AND ZORO IS INSTANT LIKE oh ok. They gotta die. (Theres more to it but thats the gist. And thats not even. Much. They r just so stupid together <33)

they both get lost very easily, they will throw hands with anyone, very stupid but very understanding, were a 2 person pirate crew that sailed around on a rowboat, motivated entirely by fighting, meat, and sake, neither is particularly literate one time luffy got his hand stuck in a bottle and zoro tried to get it out by cutting his hand off, yes this happened in a canon episode

look, I have a tag for them that's literally #pair of idiots.

Gus & Shawn

They’ve been friends canonically since at least 3 years old and at the start of the show they’re I wanna say 30 maybe? And yet these two grown men are THE most chaotic idiots (affectionate) in the whole show (and let’s be real anywhere). The entire show in fact hinges on the idea that they’re dumbasses and WILL get into carat shenanigans. Episode examples include the one where they are investigating an alien abduction, the one where they’re looking for big foot, the vampire one, all of these by the way they hundred percent believe to be true until they themselves unwillingly prove otherwise. And maybe the most dumbass moment of all time, when Gus finds his boss dead and instead of calling the cops he gets his dna ALL OVER THE CRIME SCENE, calls Shane to help clean up and Shawn gets HIS DNA ALL OVER THE CRIME SCENE AS WELL!!!! Truly cannot think of a worse reaction to finding a dead body. They’ve been sucking that single brain cell that exists between them dry for over 3 decades now and they show no signs of stopping.

they are such idiots (affectionate) and they can't live without each other

they are. so stupid. both of them can be smart in their own ways but when you put them together the dumb best friends energy is unmatched. they are platonic soulmates pretending that shawn has psychic powers and solve crimes by dicking around and somehow always coming out alive. they accidentally befriend the criminals they’re supposed to be investigating constantly. they’re always one step away from being fired or arrested bc of their dumbassery

the entire show is literally shawn pretending to be a psychic (← dumbass behavior) and gus aiding and abetting him and actively a dumbass as well

If you have seen even a single episode of this show, you know these two fools are the best duo ever. Constantly bantering theough 80s movie references and animal like noises, most often above a dead body, these two bring unique different dummy energy that both brings each other up and builds up their own skills along the way. I will love these two men until the day I die and they deserve an honest chance to be the best dumbass duo of all time!

[seaoftales]

It was as if watching history repeat itself. Instead of respect for the man that was executed, however, the only thing the World's Greatest Swordsman felt was dread, fear gripping his heart with cold hands. There were so many things that could have gone wrong at any step of the plan, no matter how many times they went over it.

When Beck came to him with the news that Shanks had been captured and set up for execution, Mihawk wasted no time in gathering whatever he would need most before leaving with him. On the way to the rendezvous point he had found out about the plan, and that the Red Haired Pirates had split up to inform anybody who'd be willing to help save Shanks since the Marines had opted to keep his execution under wraps.

'Cowards, the lot of them,' he thought, already having in mind just how he'd make them pay for everything they had done. Thankfully the Warlord system was no more, and he had free reign to do as he pleased, and what better place do demonstrate that the Marines had pissed of the wrong people than an execution. Civilians would be there as well no doubt, though he didn't care all too much about them. If they'd be collateral damage, then so be it.

Once at the rendezvous point close to the town and plaza, the Red Force being the centerpiece of it, it was fair to say that even the former Whitebeard Pirates couldn't measure with the amount of ships and people that have gathered. Shanks whole fleet was there, Dorry and Brogy included, the Straw Hats were there, so many others Mihawk didn't know personally but recognized from one or the other wanted poster he'd spotted. Most of them, he imagined, would play a marginal role, just being there to keep most of the Marines at bay while they'd set out to rescue Shanks.

The swordsman stepped on board the Red Force with Beck, who immediately moved to the table which was surrounded by the key players. "Let's go over the plan one last time. Luffy, you--"

"I grab Zoro and Mihawk and get them on shore behind the first line of Marines, then take care of them while they try and make a corridor for the rest of us."

Mihawk looked absolutely flabbergasted. "Beg pardon? What do you mean, get us to shore?"

Luffy gave him his iconic wide grin. "It's fun! I'm basically a human slingshot!"

"I hate that part of the plan," Zoro muttered. Well, that made two of them already.

"You'll have to deal with it, boy," Beck pointed out. "You and Mihawk just make as much mayhem as possible. Once the rest of the pirates join you, focus on the platform. No doubt they'll have the highest security possible to see this execution through, so expect to fight the Admirals. Any of you get to Shanks, get him off there and to safety no matter the cost. If you get stuck--"

"I'll be there and slingshot myself and Shanks over to the Red Force," Luffy interrupted him once more.

Beck reached over to pull the straw hat over his eyes. "You're far too excited about all of this."

"It's Shanks!," Luffy protested, the grin vanishing and a look of determination present now as he pulled the hat back. "We have to save him. We can't let him die!"

"And we won't. As soon as you have enough distance to get Zoro and Mihawk to shore, do it."

"What about the rest of the plan?"

That had everybody look at back at Benn. The man cleared his throat. "There wasn't enough time to come up with the rest. Our main focus is to get Shanks out of there alive and get ourselves alive too. Any means necessary."

Any means necessary it was.

The moment the Red Force, all of the other ships in tow, got close enough, Luffy extended his left arm, wrapping it tightly around both Zoro and Mihawk, right arm at the same time extending to grab onto the first dock pole, slingshotting all three of them to shore.

Mihawk immediately reached for Yoru, a swing of the blade enough to cause a part of the building to crumble on some of the Marines. Chaos immediately spread among the civilians, a mass of Marines rushing to the front.

And so it began.

The drums drowned out the mutterings of the marines and the towns people gathered around. The sun was high. Good. They had waited until almost noon, as he predicted. His plan hinged on so many favotrs, everyone had told him it was madness, suicide and yet they had gone along with it.

Shanks was led out of the cells, his arm tied to his middle, legs shackled together by the most powerful shackles they could find. Ahead of him was the scaffold, a sword gleaming on top of it. He had to say the World Government had style, executing him with his own sword. But then again he expected exactly that, didn't he?

This was it. There were two outcomes of this, but one thing was certain: This would start a war. The pirate would inevitably unite under one flag today, that was certain as well. The question was just: Under which.

Despite the World Government wanting to keep his execution from getting out, Shanks knew word would have been delivered to the most important people. He made sure of that by making his own crew abandon him, hand delivering the news.

They would now race to this plaza, race to either save him, or fight by his side. That was to be decided in the next moments.

Shanks purposefully didn't use any Haki as he was marched to the scaffold. He couldn't falter if death was what truly awaited him. It would be worth it.

As he climbed the stairs, he saw the people gathered, fixed them with a determined, but slightly nervous gaze. This would send pirates to their graves, he knew that, maybe him among it. But it would also ring in the beginning of the end. And yet he didn't yet turn around to look toward the ocean, to see who was coming, if anyone.

@seaoftales

[vemuabhi]

Hiii Vemuabhi chwaan, may i request for a hurt/comfort headcanon for the Monster Trio + Law where they are wandering around the new island with their fem. S/O when they come across a celestial dragon, and then their s/o starts to get a panic attack, like she can't breathe nor move and tears keeps streaming on their cheels due to their tragic past as a slave? IK its a weird request

credits to the owners of the pictures.

oh no! its not weird at all Yui chwan. its emotional. I tried to make it hc’s but it turned to be mini scenarios. i hope you like them. I just Love the picture above!

sorry for any mistakes. English is not my first language.

Warnings : angst, Mention of trauma, abuse, hurt then comfort.

MONKEY D LUFFY

You both were making jokes and laughing while you were looking around the Island for the last time before you all hit the waves.

Luffy stopped at every single food shop and took food from there, while you paid for the food he got. Well you weren’t complaining. You loved to take care of him because he was your lovely innocent captain and also your lover.

Suddenly everyone stopped whatever they were doing because of a loud Gunshot. Luffy and you looked in the direction of the gunshot. It seemed that a celestial dragon came to this place. There was a big person who was walking on all fours and had huge chains around his neck and hands. He was… a slave. Like once you were.

Seeing this you started sweating and your heart beat increased. You knew how terrible that situation is. You slowly looked up and saw a man with snot nose and black curly hair.

Your eyes widened in surprise as you saw the celestial dragon. He… he was the one who made you tremble with fear. He was the one who made you think Death would’ve been peaceful than to live under his foot.

You remembered how he had kicked you repeatedly and how he had thrown his hot coffee on your bare skin just because he wanted to know how hot the coffee was.

Your eyes started to water and you hid behind Luffy, clutching the back of his shirt. He hugged you back with one of his hand but didn’t look at you.

He noticed how you shivered with fear. He heard you sob but didn’t ask what had happened. He knew about how you were once a slave. Only he knew.

Meanwhile the rest of the straw hats came to the place from where ever they were because they heard the gun shot and were worried if something had happened to you two.

Nami and Chopper asked why you were crying. Then the celestial dragon started to slowly move in the direction of where you all were still on top of his slave. He was not yet close to where you were at but the sole presence of that jerk was enough to break your emotions.

Luffy soothingly rubbed on your back and now turned to face you. You looked at him with tears in your eyes and whispered, “That’s him”, so softly only for your boyfriend to hear. He gently wiped your tears and placed his straw hat on your head. You then saw how Luffy walked ahead with Sanji and Zoro behind him. You stopped crying as you looked at your captain with hope in your eyes.

He went to the Celestial Dragon and beat marines surrounding the celestial dragon and punched the Celestial Dragon’s face and made that jerk to taste the dirt. You are sure he broke his ribs. You stopped trembling and smiled as Luffy turned around and gave you his classic smile. Luffy doesn’t fail to make you smile.

Luffy stretched his arms and flew towards you with Zoro and Sanji dangling in his other hand. You knew what was happening and you jumped as you wrapped your arms around his neck. You held him tight as he proceeded to fly towards Sunny with the rest of the crew still dangling on his arms.

He was already your prince but now he was your whole world, your reason to smile, your Pirate King and… your One Piece.

RORONOA ZORO

Zoro got lost in the middle of your date and you were trying to find him. You suggested to go on a date on the last day and he got lost.

You were still looking for him as you heard an announcement. Your ears perked up as you started to listen to it.

The island announced that a celestial Dragon was going to reach the island soon. Everyone was warned to be on good behaviour and not come in the way of Celestial Dragon in order not to die.

You were shaking like a leaf. Your breathing became faster along with your heart rate. You were sweating. You tried to breathe as air wouldn’t enter your lungs.

You didn’t want to look weak so you hid how you were once a slave but escaped with some others one day on an island. You hugged yourself and tried to breathe. You knew your past was always haunting you. You knew Zoro was waiting for you to tell him but chose not to.

Then you saw from a distance, a big ship had stopped on the port. You weren’t very close to them but could see them.

You slowly looked up. You saw the man with grey hair and big beard, sitting on top of a slave. You saw how the slave crawled down the ship with that jerk on top of his back.

That man… he tortured you. He lit his cigar and with it, he burnt the skin on your shoulder just to make you scream in pain. Once you screamed he’d use that reason to beat you up and not give you food for days. Oh how he smiled when you cried with pain. He enjoyed to make you suffer as you were his new slave. You remember how Zoro frowned after seeing your scars every time he looked at them. Chopper cried when he treated them, but you just lied whenever they asked about your scars. Of course Zoro didn’t believe them because he knew you weren’t ready to tell him. So he chose to wait.

You froze in place. In your head you screamed. You knew you should run away. But you couldn’t. Tears wouldn’t stop flowing from your eyes.

“Zo..ro”, was the only word you managed to say as you shivered. Suddenly you felt two strong arms pull you back to a hard chest. As soon as he hugged you, your knees became weak as you trembled. He caught you and wiped your tears soothingly. He asked you what had happened but you couldn’t speak. Instead you pointed towards the Celestial dragon.

After hearing the announcement, Zoro actually had a plan of getting you then running to ship with everyone and getting away. But after seeing you in such a state, his mind changed. He exactly knew what to do. Meanwhile you see Robin chan and chopper running towards you two in order to leave the island quickly. Their hearts broke as they saw you weeping as you held Zoro tightly.

Robin chan hugged you as Zoro placed his hand on his swords and ran towards the Celestial dragon. He beat all the marines around and charged front. Then you saw Luffy attacking with Sanji by his side. Zoro sliced off the clothes of the celestial dragon and scarred his torso.

“You can’t get away after hurting my lover”, he glared at the celestial dragon. Then the monster trio ran towards our direction.

“LET’S SAIL QUICKLY”, Luffy shouted. Zoro came running towards you and picked you up with ease as he ran towards Sunny. You threw your arms around his neck and you wrapped your legs around his waist.

You hugged Zoro and inhaled his scent. He smelled like wood and leaves. That must be because of him getting lost in the woods. Well you knew you had to thank your crew for doing this for you. For now you just closed your eyes and held onto your boyfriend tightly. He was your love, your man, your marimo and the one person you'd love to call... your precious prince.

BLACK LEG SANJI

You and Sanji walked around the small island before you again continued your journey. You both heard a loud noise which sounded like a horn. You looked at the place from where the sound was coming and saw that it was a ship of Celestial Dragon.

The celestial dragon had brown hair and had a small beard. His snot was visible to everyone. He was sitting on a person who was bleeding from his head. He wasn’t even treated. He looked very injured.

You could recognise that celestial dragon. He was the one who tortured you by beating you with rods to make you scream in pain. He made you to work all day long without mercy. He made you to scream and then hit you for screaming.

Without mercy he sat on top of you while you carried him, then kicked you in the stomach because you fell to ground as you couldn’t carry him.

He loved to harass you and all the other slaves. His evil grin spread wide whenever you collapsed to the floor because you couldn’t even stand anymore. Now he had another reason to beat you up. Once you knocked out while you carried him. He kicked you but you didn’t respond. So he thought you were dead and made his men to throw you in the boat of dead bodies of slaves. But you were still alive. When you woke up you immediately threw up into the ocean. The bodies of the slaves were horrible because of their condition and how beaten up they were.

You cried for them and also… you also cried with happiness that you weren’t with him anymore. You felt sorry for the bodies of slaves. But the feeling of dead bodies round you didn’t disgust you because the celestial dragons were the most disgusting of all. You were happy to even be alive and escape that hell.

You hid behind Sanji as you gasped for air. You were having trouble breathing. Your surroundings became very uncomfortable. Your heartbeat was raising quickly as you looked at the celestial dragon. You were getting a panic attack. He hugged you as you held onto him tightly.

Sanji didn’t ask you anything. He didn’t knew you past nor did he want to pressure you. He respects if a person choses to not talk about their past. He never saw you so scared. He soothingly rubbed your back. Sanji was your home and straw hats were your nakama. You slowly admitted that you were his slave and he tortured and harassed you, so you were scared of him.

He wiped your tears as he told you to just stay back and watch as he lit his cigarette and went towards that jerk who made you cry. He kicked everyone with ease and wiped out everyone. Then came Luffy and Zoro as they joined the fight. Chopper and Nami hugged you as you returned their embrace. Sanji kicked the Celestial dragon in face and broke his neck.

Everyone started to run towards Sunny and with one swift motion Sanji jumped in front of you and picked you up like a princess. Then he did his Sky walk while he still held you in his arms. You always go crazy whenever he does that. To light up your mood he always picks you up like you don’t weigh anything and sky walk on top of that whenever you feel sad.

This time… it was different…. You fell in love again. Tears streamed down your cheek as you hugged him tightly with your head in the crook of his neck. He smelled like shampoo, perfume, spices and nicotine. He was your prince, your dream, your knight and your All Blue.

TRAFALGAR D WATER LAW

Just like usual, before leaving the island, you and your captain were stocking up on medicines and medicinal books. It was like shopping date. You never get bored with this because it’s your special moment together.

You both go and pay for it and exit the shop. Penguin came to you and took your bags as he went to the submarine. That was so sweet.

You and Law both slowly walked towards the port hand in hand as you talked. Law rarely shows PDA and this was one of the days he at least holds your hand in public. Suddenly there was a loud scream and you two ran towards it. There you saw a celestial dragon was beating up her slave.

Law looked at you and saw you were completely pale. Your eyes were wide open. Your limbs trembled and you went behind law and stayed there. You gripped his shirt tightly and covered your mouth with your other hand. You were crying but didn’t want to make any sound but still Law could hear your sobs and his heart dropped.

Law didn’t knew why you were crying. But being the clever man he was understood that you were getting scared because of the… celestial Dragon. Then it came to him. The scars on your back and legs. He always knew they weren’t from a battle like you always said.

Now that he knew... oh boy he was furious. Bepo soon came towards you two. Law made sure you were with Bepo and he slowly went towards the celestial dragon. Not even a second later he freed the slaves in a swift motion and made them to teleport. The chains exploded and created a smoke screen. Then he wiped out all the soldiers and guards in the way and in one instant he got a heart in his hands. Due to the heavy smoke no one could even see where he was and who he was.

With the heart Law ran towards you. He gave you the heart as he picked you up and ran with Bepo on his side towards the submarine. You had that awful woman’s heart with you now. In your hands.

That horrible woman pulled your hair harshly and used to beat you. You were her new toy, which meant you were the new person who they enjoyed to break. As you could scream and cry for help she watched with happiness in her eyes as she burned the skin on your legs and back. Without mercy she used to burn the same the same place even when it wasn’t healed completely.

You had another slave friend with whom you escaped but… in the end, that celestial dragon, shot your friend. As you both escaped. You ran… you ran with tears in your eyes as your friend screamed for freedom. You knew that meant for your freedom especially. You still had horrible nightmares because of the trauma. You still could clearly hear the screams of the slaves who begged for their lives but got killed in a terrible way in her hands. You still have the heart in your hand… you could choose…. Life or death for that horrible person.

You look at law and smiled with happiness as you let your tears fall. You were so happy to be a member of the heart pirates. And mostly… a person beloved to Law. You were lucky to have Law as your captain, your saviour, your boyfriend and your Pirate King.

THE END

Like, comment and Reblog!

what would you do if you had the heart of the celestial dragon?

Tell me in the comments below!

i hope you liked them. I made the celestial dragon a female in Law’s scenario because there are female celestial dragons who are also the same the men. i just wanted to do something different for his scenario. 

also i may not be active on tumblr because of exams so please forgive me everyone and Yui chwan~

[softrozene]

Stars and Dreams

Anonymous requested: Hello!!! (＾ω＾) Can I request one-shot soulmate au and (magic au? Idk if you name that. 😅) Law x fem! S/O? Okay it's more like a legend. If a person meet another person (in form of a star) in their dreams they're are soulmates together. Law sees her, her appearance is form of a star but he can hear her voice clear and well. Same opposite for fem! S/O. The timeline is somewhere in Punk Hazard. And she's by the strawhats crew. When she meets Law she thinks "hey! His voice is sounds familiar." She has often dream it if she sleeps. She has also heard the legend of soulmates. If they touch each other. Then both in their body shines a bright light. Like magic. And if they sleep again. Then she sees not the star form but person Law standing before her. That's it. I hope it's not to difficult. 😅 And take your time all you need.

Alright! The first request of the year! I saved it from last year because I am beaming with confidence (and I am such a sucker for fluff and soulmates alkdafs) FLDSA I don’t think this classifies as a magic au but I sure as heck am putting that down because stars??? They are freaking magical fluff to me. This was so fun to do so thank you for requesting it!

Trafalgar Law x Female Reader

Warnings: Fluff- tooth-rotting fluff, Slight angst that is fixed with more fluff, probably grammar like always- Technical spoilers for Punk Hazard but I try to be as vague as possible and skip to the end of it.

Words: 1746

-

You loved going to sleep. You loved it so much and the whole crew knows why- You are one of the lucky few who has been blessed to have a soulmate. Some would consider it not lucky at all since it is so uncommon and more like a legend- But you love it so much.

You love the idea of solely being someone’s and them solely being yours.

The first time you had this dream was roughly when you were twenty. The shock that this legend of seeing your soulmate in the form of a star was beyond shocking to you. He was too bright of a light as a star, and you wondered if you appeared that way to him- If you were just as bright and mysterious to him.  Even so, you loved to stare into the light of the star. Even if you could not see his physical form you knew immediately that you loved him. The second you heard his voice too- You melted. He was perfect in every way even if you have yet to learn more about him.

The part that saddened you was even though you could talk to him in your dream- You were not really talking to him. It was only a dream so whatever information his voice gave you, was all in your head. You had no true way of knowing who he is, what he liked, his name, where he was from, absolutely nothing. It made you a bit heartbroken because this was the sad part- You were destined to be together but the only thing you had to go off from was the sound of his voice.

So, it was around six years ago long before you joined the Straw Hats that the dreams started. The dreams were vague and very rare to happen at first until you did join the Straw Hats two years ago.

They got more constant and you loved to fall asleep and dream away to hear his voice. You tried to memorize it for when you were awake in the real world on islands. To try and pinpoint his voice but it was in vain.

Slowly- Ever so slowly, you began to accept the fact that you may never meet him. It broke your heart, but you began to accept it while you and the Straw Hats were split up, and eventually, it just hurt to go to sleep and dream of someone meant to be yours, but you may never have. You started to avoid sleeping.

~*~

For Law- Things were different.

When he first got the dream at age twenty, he denied it. He thought that soulmates were just strictly legends- Something not real. Until that dream and because of how much it made him feel- Alive and surprised that he may be able to love someone and receive their love in return, it frankly scared him.

He avoided sleep whenever he could- He avoided the fact that he has a soulmate.

He did not want one- He did not want to risk losing the person meant for him since he just kept losing people when he was younger.

It terrifies him and he hates it.

He will be stubborn for the next six years but eventually as the dreams got more frequent and he had no choice but to hear your sweet voice- He started to fall and hard.

It pissed him off greatly but since he slowly started to give in and felt the overwhelming love drift to him in his sleep from your star, he… Started to love to sleep when he can. He enjoyed it so much. To hear your sweet feminine voice call for him- Even if it may just be his mind doing that for you he loved it nonetheless.

Though- He did realize he could not let his dreams, his soulmate, ruin his plans for Doflamingo. He tried to keep a strict schedule and since he knew the possibility of dying was there- He tried to sleep and hear your voice so it can be one last comfort he has before the possibility of the next day taking his life comes.

He pursued his plan- Got to Punk Hazard, waited for someone he put his bid on to get there- Monkey D. Luffy to create an alliance with him. What he did not anticipate was to hear that familiar voice coming from his crew.

It became unreal to him and he did think he was going a bit crazy- But… According to the legends, all he had to do was touch you then after this terrible mission he can sleep, and hopefully- He will find out if you really are his soulmate or if this was all just a terrible dream leading him on and making him believe he can be loved in this unforgiving world.

~*~

You were exhausted. And really grumpy. Those two things did not match well, and it made your brain foggy- Definitely not a good thing when you got to Punk Hazard. An island that seemed to be swarming with enemies.

It was cold and you were miserable- Then you heard an annoying voice trying to make an alliance with your captain- Wait, you know that voice.

You couldn’t place it, but you were fairly certain it may have been from your dream. That is your initial thought until Robin informs you that they all met him back Sabaody Archipelago- Trafalgar Law. You do not recall- You remember a polar bear but that is it.

While everyone was fighting you had gotten lost with Zoro and the poor fool got split up with you and you were looking all over for him so you can’t really remember much. It is a shame since that mostly means you met him- Maybe you think it was his voice because of how loopy you are. You should really sleep after all this.

It becomes a hassle to keep up with everyone, but you are used to being exhausted now and days. The others do keep an eye on you when you become a bit dazed, they help you a lot.

Eventually- All the chaos your crew, Law, and the marines ensue on the island comes to an end- Law has Caesar successfully tied down for the next part of the plan he wants you guys to help him with- Going to Dressrosa.

But for now- Everyone, including the marines, is enjoying dinner together after that long and hectic journey of bringing Punk Hazard’s facility to an end. You wait patiently for your food- Waiting for everyone else to get their fill- Even arguing with Sanji and Chopper (who has been concerned about your health) that you can wait.

You sit down and feel the exhaustion creep up on you and nearly smother you then and there but then- You feel a hand on your shoulder and a warm bowl of stew being offered to you.

You look up to see it is Law who has his eyes narrowed down at you.

“You should listen to your doctor more. He informed me about your sleeping habits, and it isn’t good to be low on energy so you should eat up,” He states rather coldly.

You do not take it to heart. You smile and thank him.

“I appreciate the worry now that we will be working together. Oh- I suppose we still do not know each other well from Sabaody. I am (Name),” You say softly.

He narrows his eyes down but replies, “Trafalgar Law… Unfortunately, (Name) we did not have the pleasure of meeting at Sabaody. I would have remembered but it is wonderful to finally meet you now.  You should rest up.”

He leaves before you can process what he said. You are shocked- Because if you truly did not meet him but just his crewmember… Then that means you may not be that loopy. That the voice you fell in love with but have been avoiding is really his.

You hate to say it but… You feel the need to fall asleep. You hate the feeling of hope just in case you are wrong.

~*~

Law is excited. He touched your shoulder, thankfully not like a creep, but as a genuinely concerned doctor. Now he just needs to wait to see if the star will turn to you tonight- He hopes it does but the part of him that does not want to risk losing anyone ever again also hopes it doesn’t.

They sleep there that night deciding to rest up before going on the move to Dressrosa- And like always he is excited to go to sleep, to hear her voice.

Sleep came fast and easy for him- He welcomes the bliss of a clear mind and how he lands in a meadow-like area surrounded by stars- The main star being his soulmate’s form. He waits with anticipation and slowly the star does begin to transform. He can’t help the blush on his face or how he feels the sudden happiness that it is true.

The star turns into your physical form.

He finally found his soulmate.

~*~

Upon waking up- You feel heated. You feel a total sense of comfort and you feel better. That was one of the most peaceful nights of sleep you got since you avoided sleeping and- It was worth falling asleep. You could cry tears of joy from seeing the star turn into Law.

But now that you are awake and you know who your soulmate is- How do you go about it? Do you even assume he had the same thing happen to him?

You are suddenly anxious as the smell of food wakes you up further. That means people will be gathering for breakfast and you all are off to Dressrosa afterward. That means you get to see Law- You feel even more anxious.

However, you do not get the time you needed to compose yourself.

Instead, you hear a knock on the girl’s door- Nami and Robin long awake and letting you sleep since you haven’t lately, and you feel your nerves light on fire as you open the door to see Law standing there.

You notice the blush on his face and the gentle look in his eyes. He decides to address the issue first. You can hear the happiness in his voice.

“So- We are soulmates.”

You smile back.

“Yeah- I guess we are.”

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

THE EGG HUNT SHENANIGANS

One-shot #: 25

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot scribble.

Rating: T (Just light flirting stuff)

Note: Light teasing. PWP. And pure insanity I tell you. Just ending my quarantine with another one-shot. Because who knows when I can write and upload one again.

Summary: "Found the bunny."      

With a cheerful and dazzling smile, Luffy—the captain of the infamous Straw Hat Pirates—held out his hands to show off the beautifully decorated basket to his crew members.

Sanji cocked an eyebrow at him. "Seriously?"

"Yes!” Luffy exclaimed. “We're gonna go hunt for eggs!" His already bright smile widened some more at the idea of an adventure.

This time it was Zoro’s turn to raise an eyebrow. "Wearing… that?" His lone eye scrutinized the rabbit costume the rubber man had on.

The younger boy nodded again, head bobbing up and down enthusiastically. “Usopp and Chopper are wearing the same!”

"Yes we are!" Usopp and Chopper yelled proudly, pumping their fists up in the air.

“…”

“What the hell is wrong with this island?" The cook muttered under his breath with a slight shake of his head.

“More like what the hell is wrong with them?” Zoro grunted, folding his arms across his chest as he nudged his head towards the three.

It was one of those rare days when he and the idiot swordsman weren’t snarling insults at each other because there is a more pressing and absurd matter to attend to...

…like Luffy, Usopp and Chopper in bunny suits, holding colorful baskets to join the island’s ‘egg hunt’.

“Fufufu…” Robin laughed softly from her deck chair where she was relaxing. “It’s the island’s tradition. They are celebrating what they call Easter.” She explained as she flipped a page of the book in her hand.  

“By looking for eggs?” Zoro inquired with a frown as the three bunnies started singing a song about egg hunting.

“Yes,” Robin nodded. “We just so happen to arrive here right in time for that celebration.”

“Weird.”

“No it’s not!” Usopp retorted looking aggravated at Zoro’s comment. “I recalled visiting an island once where hunting for eggs is considered a manly man’s sport! The one who finds the most wins the title of the most manliest man alive.”

“Suge Usopp!” Chopper gasped.

“That is right,” the sniper crossed his arms over his chest haughtily. “And guess who won the title five years in a row?”

“You, of course.” Both Zoro and Sanji drawled, with the same expression on their faces that clearly says… they’re not buying Usopp’s obviously untrue and exaggerated story.

Robin stifled her giggles behind her hand as Usopp yelled his retorts at the two. Both Luffy and Chopper were looking at him with their eyes sparkling from amazement.

“Whoa you’re awesome Usopp!” Luffy commented.

“You really are strong!” The reindeer gushed.

“I know right!” Usopp answered with an approving grin and a thumbs up.

“But I will defeat you today!” The captain declared. “I will be the one to win the title of the most manliest man alive.”

“And you’d do that…” Sanji said in an almost bored tone. “By finding… a lot of eggs?”

“Yes!”

Sanji sighed as he pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his pants.

“And you really need to wear… those costumes to hunt for them?” Zoro asked, still doubtful why they need to be in that.

“Yes!”

“It’s tradition Zoro,” Usopp stated matter-of-factly. “You can’t find the eggs if you’re not in a bunny costume! You’re so ignorant.”

“Temee…”

“Hey! Why don’t you join us too Zoro?” Luffy invited and Zoro almost blanched at that.

Almost.

"Yeah!” Chopper chirped in. “Join us! The more the merrier!"

“Nope. I’m good.” Zoro answered almost instantly. Like hell he would don that stupid costume and then hunt for stupid eggs.

Best to just leave them to their crazy shit.

“Have fun.” He waved them off.

Sanji let out a ‘tch’ before taking a drag from his cigarette. Things seemed to get weirder and weirder these past few days. But somehow the idea that he'll be free of the usual food stock raiders for the day feels too good to pass. "Alright then, run along rabbits. Go scour the island for eggs.”

“We will!” The trio chorused.

Sanji nodded at them. “And don't you dare create any messes for us to clean you hear?"

“Eeeh…” a voice from behind them suddenly said. “Don’t worry about it Sanji-kun."

And just like that the cook immediately swiveled around to face the newcomer.

"Nami-swaaan! Don't you look dazzling in that ensemble, my sweet!" He crooned as his eyes automatically turned to hearts, kneeling down on one knee in front of the navigator.

“Thank you!” Nami beamed at him and winked. The chef instantly fell down the lawn deck in a swoon, blabbering about her beauty. She was wearing an outfit just like the one she had on when they went after him in Whole Cake Island. Only this time the corset skirt is frillier and more colorful as the layers sported different shades of pastel spring palette.

The puffed sleeves of her blouse are pulled down her shoulders, revealing them and she had put on a rabbit ears headband on top of her head.

Zoro glared at the prone figure of the blond before shifting his attention to Nami. “You going with them?”

Nami nodded with a scheming grin. “Heard something about money prizes.”

“Of course you wouldn’t let that pass,” the green-haired man smirked. His lone eye trailed up and down her form as he studied her. “And you're supposed to be what? A rabbit as well?"

"Yes."

He jerked a thumb towards the three doofuses in their onesie costumes. "Why not wear the same as them?"

Nami narrowed her eyes at him as Sanji barked threats from where he was still lying down. Something about shutting his trap if he can’t say something nice to his precious Nami-san.

Zoro ignored him. Even as he started shouting insults that he is being the usual, unfashionable stupid marimo that he is.

"Because that is not cute." The map maker huffed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Looks ok on them." The grin that Zoro send her way was nasty.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder snootily. "Say one more word about what I'm wearing Zoro and I'll make sure your next sentence is, “Please don't charge me”."

"Right. Don't charge me… greedy witch," he said monotonously, deliberately omitting the word please and adding an insult as well.

She gave him the evil eye.

“Now go and run along with your rabbit friends."

"You can kiss your next island allowance goodbye Zoro," Nami said in an overly sweet tone as she smiled evilly. "I'll be splurging them for expensive lingerie later."

"OI!"

"Byeeee!" Nami immediately pranced away from him to escape; pushing Usopp, Luffy and Chopper towards the ship’s ladder so that they could embark. Sanji was automatically back on his feet and on her side to assist her while nose bleeding about lingerie and the orange-haired woman.

"Damn it Nami! You come back here!" Zoro was yelling as he stomped to follow her.

“Have fun!” Robin called out to them, eyes never leaving her book and creating duplicates of her hand at the railing to wave at them.

-------------------------

It was around lunch time when Nami entered the crow’s nest. The first thing her eyes landed upon was the figure of a sprawled Zoro, unsurprisingly asleep on the floor.

She approached the thunderously snoring swordsman and nudged his side with her foot.

“Hey,” she prodded him awake. “Hey Zoro, wake up!”

The snoring stopped. And there was a grunt. Then a tiger-like yawn, followed by another grunt.

Nami rolled her eyes at his response. “Zoro!”

“WHAT?!” Zoro answered irritably. He opened his eye and blinked up at her. “Hunt’s done?” He asked groggily before turning to his side so his back was now facing her, not even waiting for her answer.

A frown appeared on her lips. What a rude and lazy ass. She poked him on the back with her feet. He merely grunted again and ignored her.

“They’re still hunting,” she explained, looking down on his prone figure disapprovingly. She doubt if he was listening. Sometimes, you might as well talk to a rock than Roronoa Zoro.

“The game is happening on the whole island,” she continued. “I went back to get reinforcements. So wake up and come with me!”

“Will not. I’d rather sleep.”

Nami settled down on the nest’s floor just behind him. This time she was prodding him with her finger, making sure her nail was digging into his skin.

“Stop that.”

“I will not.”

“Why aren’t you looking as well?” He grumbled petulantly as she continued poking his back.

“That’s what my three rabbits are for! I’m just there to oversee and secure the money prize!”

“You can’t make me join you.”

And Nami leaned forward so her lips were almost touching his ear. “Really?”

“Whatever you’re planning. It won’t work.” He declared smugly, even as he kept his eye closed.

She laughed softly, letting her breath tickle his ear. “You’re no fun.” She shifted closer, bending over so she could drape her body on top of him.

“You know… I’m not planning anything.” She whispered, letting her lips lightly touch his ear. “I’m just here to offer a ten percent deduction to your current… debt amount.” She let her hand slide inside his t-shirt, past his haramaki to caress the well-defined muscles there.

“I already told you that’s not gonna work.” Zoro’s eye was now open and looking at her. A smirk was on his lips. “And I don’t recall borrowing money from you onna.”

“You don’t?” Nami gasped exaggeratedly. “What about that time in Vert Island? You owe me belis for the cottage rent.”

Zoro’s brow furrowed. “Thought that was your treat?”

She mock-pouted. “Oh Zoro. When are you gonna learn that there are no such things as free or treat when it comes to me?”

“You really are a wicked witch.” The green-haired man groused. “And after I made sure you thoroughly enjoyed your stay there.”

Nami snickered. Zoro noticed that the bunny ears on her head actually made her look more mischievous. “Nothing’s free nowadays Zoro,” she pointed out. ��Favor for a favor. I pay; you work your ass off.”

He snorted. “Next time, I’m just lying down and letting you do all the work. Whether you pay or not.”

She threw back her head and laughed again. “Do the hunt and maybe I’ll humor you.” She bent over and placed teasing kisses along his jaw and neck.

“In your dreams.” He sneered and she felt his arm snaked around her, his hand squeezed the back of her thigh before it slid up to do the same on one plump cheek of her behind.

That made her bite her lip even as she complained. “Tch! You’re a hard man to bargain with.”

A shark-like grin appeared on Zoro’s face. “Yeah.” He playfully slapped her ass before giving it another squeeze. “Offer a better deal Nami.” He said teasingly against her ear this time before nipping at the skin below it as his hand continued caressing her backside.

“Mmm… well what do you—”

“WHAT THE HELL?”

They simultaneously turned their heads towards the voice.

Sanji was gaping at them from the nest’s entrance… his eyes wide as saucers. His face was so red. As red as the blood dripping down his nose as he took in the image of Nami's perfectly shaped-derriere and her lacy thong as her ridiculously short skirt and position put them on display….

… along with the shitty swordsman’s hand on it.

Silence reigned for a moment. Then…

“TAKE YOU GODDAMNED HANDS OFF HER AHO KENSHIN!”

“TAKE YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OFF HER ASS ERO COOK!”

“Temee…”

Both men growled the word at the same time as Nami disentangled herself from Zoro. She wasn’t even embarrassed at being caught. They weren’t actually keeping it from the crew after all.

But of course it would be better if Sanji was the last one to know.

Nami sighed heavily as she watched the two throwing death glares at each other.  

It's the beginning of chaos.

The two attacked each other almost immediately. Sanji had leapt inside the crow’s nest, flaming legs and all as Zoro avoided him and made a grab for his swords.

And manage to hit the cook straight in the face with the sheathed end of his red katana.

Her mouth fell open as the Sanji collapsed down the steel floor. But she knew of course this was far from over.

In one swift move a grinning Zoro carted her towards the nest’s entrance. He enjoyed that, she knew. In a matter of seconds they were down the metal ladder while Sanji recovered, fumed and yelled expletives at his rival.

Using one arm to hold on to the ladder’s rung as his other was wrapped around her waist, Zoro swung slightly for leverage.

Nami’s eyes widened when she realized what he’s about to do.

“Zoro! NOOOOO!!!”

She screamed bloody murder when he let go and made the high jump down onto the Sunny’s deck.

Nami’s heart leaped to her throat. That was probably the reason why her scream stopped coming out of her mouth. Halfway down the long drop she could swear she felt her soul left her as her mind went blank.

She's going to kill Zoro! Mark her words!

Somewhere above Sanji was still yelling threats and curses.

The swordsman landed on the deck as if it was just a natural thing to do.

Oh dear heavens. Roronoa Zoro will be paying for this stupid stunt of his for the rest of his life until his next and next and next!

“Zorooo!” Luffy greeted when he spotted the former pirate hunter on the deck. “Heey!” He bounded towards him, showing his now-filled with eggs basket. Chopper and Usopp were nowhere to be seen as the three most likely got separated. “Look, look I found a lot! Shishishi! I can’t wait to show it to Usopp. Whatcha got there?” He peered at the figure tucked under Zoro’s arm.

"Found the bunny." Zoro answered nonchalantly.

"Oh that’s great! Shishishi!" Luffy chortled. He peered down again at the navigator who is still hanging motionlessly on Zoro's arm.

"Ne, Zoro?"

"Huh?”

"Uhm... the bunny looks mad.”

"..."

“THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!”

[afterdeck-ace]

Killing me softly with these ch. 590 panels ahah but YES. Exactly.

I don't think Shanks ever lost sight of the One Piece and the whole Laugh Tale business but he certainly didn't take it as seriously as Buggy did. Not to mention Luffy: their meeting, the eaten Devil Fruit (does Shanks know about Nika? He's cosy with the Five Elders) and then the sacrificed arm. Shanks betting on Luffy to maybe make it and achieve his goal of being a great pirate and becoming the Pirate King even.

I just don't get why he's making his move now. Does he feel Luffy coming closer? Or the threat that is Teach? Is he still curious enough to want to be the first to reach Laugh Tale?

But I digress. There's a very nice meta/comparison out there about Shanks being powerful while his fleet is pretty weak while Buggy is weak but with strong allies.

And that's absolutely why I think Buggy took Roger's death and Shanks' refusal to sail for Laugh Tale the hardest.

When you're strong among strong people you don't idolize them that much, you respect them, you want to be like them but ultimately, you're on equal footing. Shanks had that to a certain degree with Roger's crew.

Buggy didn't. Buggy felt their differences in strength and power and witnessed how the crew cared for Shanks. That panel in 1082 about "I knew I couldn't measure up..." where he sees Roger patting Shanks' head from afar... It hits right in the feels because you can see the (perceived) inadequacy. And you can understand why Buggy chose to let go of his dream to follow Roger and Shanks instead. How pointless it seemed to him to fight for something that was so easily within their reach.

And I think that also says a lot on the type of relationship each of them had with Roger. Shanks the closest but also the most detached of the two because they're nakama, because he has the certainty of his own power and thus his value and place among that crew. Not to mention his jovial nature, mirroring Roger's.

And you're absolutely right about that. Shanks is more pragmatic whereas Buggy is much more emotional and they both react accordingly. Following Roger's death, Shanks wants time, to grow stronger and plan whatever was next for him at the time. Whereas Buggy craved a very concrete action and an immediate reaction from the man he came to view as the next Pirate King. (Thus setting himself up for some major disappointment) (Because he sacrificed his dream without ever telling Shanks he put him on such a high pedestal)

Whether Shanks knew about Ace's lineage before the Marine disclosed it is unclear. In the Ace Novel, he connects the dots once Ace is sailing away after meeting with him to thank him for saving Luffy. It's not in the manga. And we know Roger didn't run away from the Marine but turned himself in because he was sick and wanted to launch a new era of piracy and (up to debate:) protect his unborn child by calling in a favor from Garp. But does Shanks know all that? Or does he simply wish Roger would have just run away after disbanding the crew to enjoy what little time he had left however he pleased? Anyway, his thoughts right this instant and your analysis are equally true and heartbreaking: yes, up til the very end Ace was Roger's son and (unknowingly) behaved as such, refusing to run away and let Akainu's slander slide. But I digress. Again.

Anyway, yes, I've been thinking about it lately, but I'm pretty sure that Usopp is what Buggy would have become had he followed Shanks when he first offered him to join his crew. Lots of parallels can been drawn between these two!

knee jerk reaction (shanks and buggy)?—One Piece 1082 Spoilers

***

So Buggy wants to and wanted to go after the One Piece:

Much to the consternation of Crocodile and Mihawak but with the full support of

Buggy's men. And I had to include Croc and Mihawk's reactions there. You can imagine Mihawk saying, "You dastardly rat, you" (or cockroach or clown).

And why? Because he seemed to have thought that Shanks wasn't going to go for the One Piece at all, despite Shanks saying that he just wasn't ready for it yet.

And Shanks had said that he and Buggy were gonna get to Laugh Tale together.

He uses 'our' in the English. There's no exclusion, and Buggy sees that Shanks shines brightly, but I don't see Shanks

saying that he'll be the one, nor that he needs to exclude Buggy, just that he needs to

wait. Maybe for Buggy to power up or come into a realisation of his own power / worth, which is a wily beast indeed? Anyway, Red is on the move as Buggy says:

Maybe with a different right hand man (I love Beck too). But maybe that's the point, he and Buggy might meet as equals

[caption: Shanks prior to getting the road poneglyph and others from the Kid Pirates]

And they're not gonna claim the One PIece together, cos' that's Luffy's job, but maybe they will try together (competition is fine too, though).

As an aside, this frame about Luffy and Bartolomeo and Bartolomeo replacing the Red Haired Flags with Luffy's own from chapter 1054:

I don't know if I'm reading this right, but Shanks doesn't go after Bartolomeo because he replaced Shanks' flags with Luffy's, and because they were Luffy's flags he's letting it slip, OR that seeing Luffy now without dealing with Bartolomeo first might imply that Shanks agrees with the actions (and maybe he does), OR that they're going to hurt an ally of Luffy's, or that they need to hurt him so that Luffy doesn't think that Shanks is humouring Luffy.... I'm not 100% sure, but anyway I'm leaning towards the idea that the One Piece might be found by both Shanks and Buggy, but its truth worth lies beyond that, and that is what Luffy will gain.

Messy analysis, sorry. BUT, if Buggy had been patient, would things have gone differently? Would he have joined Shanks' crew if he'd gone straight for the One Piece, or did he imagine they'd sail as comrades of an equal standing (maybe not, due to his description of Shanks' potential, but that might've been Buggy-generated). A friend has said Buggy's a candidate for Conqueror's Haki and he's probably right.

This meta meandered. Sorry.

[mugiwara-rosewolf]

Hiiii💚hope ur have a good day/night if it not to much to ask can i have Zoro with a female reader who to shy to confess her feeling for him. You could end it anyway u want 💚

Hello Anon! I loved the concept you sent me, but it turned out a *little* different than I anticipated. If this isn’t what you were hoping for, feel free to Bop me in the DM’s and I’ll try again. Hope you enjoy!

Timid Confession

Zoro x Shy!Reader

6 Romantic Do’s and Don’ts--Swordsman Edition

(Warning: mild cursing. Stupid pirates.)

There comes a time, when every soul on Earth must be open and unbearably honest with another. A time when you must expose yourself. A time where you must open the ribcage of your chest to reveal the butterflies in your stomach, the fluttering of your heartbeat, and the way your breath hitches when a certain silhouette walks by. There comes a time when you have no choice but to lay your life--mind, body and soul--on the line and take a risk. In theory, this is something you know quite well. As a warrior of the Straw hat crew, this willingness to put everything at risk for your dreams is an everyday reality. But what about when that risk is a person? Surely the basic gist is still the same...right?

Wrong. Johnny and Yosaku used to laugh about this a lot--to your face--about how you are an absolute disaster outside of battle. The stoic, competent warrior shown on your bounty poster would vaporize as soon as you sheath your sword. Otherwise, you were a bashful, stumbling mess. And once a certain moss-haired hunter joined the crew...you were finished. With the flash of his sword, he caught your attention. With his wicked-sharp slit of a smile, he punctured the deepest parts of you. Your fate was sealed. Roronoa Zoro would be the death of you. 

Everyone seemed to know what this strange phenomenon was, but to you, it was a goddamned mystery. It was a miracle that you were ever able to speak more than a dozen words to him on any given day. When your paths diverged for the first time, it was almost a relief. But from then on, there was always a gap in your plans. An empty bunk on your ship that used to be filled with snores at the most random hours. Your chest always ached at the memory. 

It was in that space of absence that you realized--you loved him. The thought alone was enough to turn your whole world turned topsy-turvy. Then the Baratie happened. Then Mihawk, then Arlong and then--this peculiar straw-hat pirate, this boy that Zoro had sworn his fealty to--invites you along on his grand adventure. After all the things you’d seen and done, seeing the anticipation glistening in Roronoa’s eyes...how could you say no?

Life since then has been the wildest ride you could ever dream of. Marines, mercenaries, Giant whales and dinosaurs--it’s like something out of a fairy tale. And during all that time, one thing hasn’t changed. Zoro. Your heart pounds in your chest when you hear his footfalls approaching. Butterflies swim up to your throat every time you hear his voice. butterflies in your stomach. Your breath hitches, just from the way he looks at you. There were so many nights, hunkered down with Johnny and Yosaku in some tavern somewhere, where you wondered what you would say to him. To Zoro, if your paths ever crossed again. 

Now here you are, reunited, chasing your dreams together. And yet you still can’t speak, let alone freaking breath in his presence. It was a nightmare. Stuttering every line, palms sweating, knees trembling, face catching fire--every possible symptom under the sun now seemed to increase ten-fold. How the heck were you supposed to genuinely bond with the man you loved when you could barely talk?

Nami was the first to catch on. Of course, she was. Her suggestion was to trick him into confessing his feelings for you. The moment she said the words you just stared at her. You swore right then and there this lady was crazy. Like, ‘dingo ate my baby’ crazy. There was no way in any of the Blues that Zoro had feelings for you. How could he? Every interaction was stilted and awkward. The only reason you two fought well together was that you’d done it before. God, how you’d missed it, in the time he’d been away. You quickly shook yourself free of the thought.

 “Z-Zoro doesn’t work like that,” you’d told her. “Anything underhanded is either--is either gonna fly over his head or piss him off. I-I can’t, I can’t do that…” 

The second time was Chopper’s idea. He hadn’t meant to overhear, but his curious little ears were very sensitive and… “well, I want to help you and Zoro”. 

Which--okay. Zoro and Chopper adore each other. The swordsman is always co concerned and gentle with the young doctor. But he never belittles your resident reindeer for his age or size. That was something you already admired about the elder swordsman. He maintained gratifying respect for everyone in the crew--even Sanji. Nevertheless. You found it very endearing that Copper wanted to help you confess your feelings. As you soon discovered, however...that sweet, innocent winter reindeer had no clue about human romance whatsoever. 

“Well, that was a waste-a--” 

“Wonderful lesson in reindeer culture!” You interjected. Cutting off the cat burglar before she could finish her sentence. “But, uh, m-maybe there are other ways I can go about...er, ya know.”

And so, Nami called in reinforcements. Usopp the Liar. The long-nosed sniper was dragged into the room by his ear. Nami recounted the situation as I hid my face in my hands. His eyes practically sparkled with excitement.

 “Ooh! Okay! I have a great idea! How about I go up to Zoro and start bragging about you, ya know, all the awesome adventures you went on before you saw each other again. Then he’d know just how awesome you are and he’d have to ask you out. I mean, he’s already in lo--” 

“L-loudly snoring in the galley, I’m sure,” you excused quickly, shaking your head. “But if you interrupt his nap, all he’s gonna do is skin you alive.” Ussop visibly paled at the matter-of-fact statement. “I don’t--I don’t want anyone else getting hurt on my behalf so let’s just--I’ll figure something else out.”

Leaving the little pow-wow below decks, you bump into none other than your beloved’s worst enemy--Sanji, the ‘Ero-Cook’. “Ah, Y/N!” He cried in jubilation.

“Sanji!” You squeaked out. Your sudden alarm gave him pause.

“You look distressed, mademoiselle,” The observation alone was enough to turn his expression into a stormcloud incarnate. “If that damned Marimo broke your heart, I swear--”

“N-n-n-n-no!” You hurried to reassure him, waving your hand before Sanji could start kicking anything. “That’s not it at all! I mean, we were talking about--but he didn’t--I mean, he wasn’t even--” after so many fumbles you eventually just gave up, heaving a heavy sigh. “It’s nothing. I’m just bad at being brave.”

“I don’t believe it,” The cook’s immediate reply has you looking up at him in surprise. You saw him pull a cigarette from the pocket of his suit. “Not in a million years. You are one of the bravest angels sailing the seas, Y/N--whatever it is that scares you, they should be ten times more afraid.”

“You still talking about Zoro?”

“Damn right I am,” Sanji growled, his vitriol for Zoro overpowering his typical decorum. His lighter flickered to life as his eyes met yours. “It’s a gentleman’s job to court a lady, make her feel precious and desired. That brute can’t tell romance from a brick wall.”

“Whatchu talkin’ bout bricks for?” Another voice queried. Both you and Sanji turn. There, at the other end of the hall, is your captain. “Bricks got nothin’ to do with Zoro.”

“L-Luffy,” You stammered. “I thought you were at the figurehead, with Zoro?”

“I was, but then he decided to nap somewhere else. So I came here.” Luffy stated clearly, hands perched proudly on his hips. He looked between you and Sanji again, still curious. “So, why you guys talking about Zoro and bricks?”

“Because that’s how dense he is,” Sanji retorted. “Moss-head can’t tell that our darling Y/N is head-over-heels for his dumbass.” a trail of smoke slithered from between his gritted teeth. 

At the mention of your name, Luffy turned and cocked his head. “But your head is below your heels. Isn’t that how people work?”

“M-most of the time, yes,” Sanji let out a sigh and a low curse. You bit your lip a moment before electing to explain. “But that’s not--what he means is, er, that I....uh, oh how do I explain this? Um. I want to tell Zoro something. But I’m not sure how.”

Your captain stared blankly at you. As if you’d smacked yourself in the face with a plank of wood and he couldn’t sure why. “Why are you so scared?” He asked, point-blank. “Whatever’s the most you thing to do, do it that way. Don’t worry about anything else, Y/N.” 

Both you and Sanji shared a glance. The cook’s narrowed eyes told you he was a little bit sceptical. But he shrugged. He knew better than to question your captain’s logic. You, on the other hand, felt as if the sky had suddenly opened up. The next time you looked back at Luffy, your smile was as bright as the midday sun. “I think...I think you got the right idea, Luffy. I’ll give it a shot!”

Walking past both young men, you found your way to one of Zoro’s favourite napping places. Nami’s orchard. When you find him there, time seems to pause for a moment. The wash of the waves against the ship, the scent of the sun and the salt of the sea. That tang of citrus and those bright spots of colour in the trees--all those things seem hushed now. All you see is that head of mossy green hair and the entrancing rise-and-fall of his breath. You found a rake near Usopp’s garden boxes. It was like you had told the sniper earlier. If you prod a sleeping swordsman, you’ll get skinned alive. That is if you stand within swords-length. 

Blades of grass softly crunch under your shoes as you tip-toe your way to the tree where Zoro is resting. When you’re close enough to reach, you turn the rake over in your hand; electing to poke him with the wooden tip instead of the metal points. If he felt the metal he might mistake it for a weapon and a genuine threat. Goodness knows you and your old bounty-hunting crew had plenty of threats to your sleep over the years. 

One poke. No response. Two pokes. A groan and a slight shift. Then the snoring returns. You poke him three times; poke-poke-poke. He groans and shifts, his brow furrowing at the disturbance. But he still doesn’t open his eyes. You huffed to yourself. You really thought the three-pokes would work. Three was Zoro’s favourite number, after all. Patience fizzling along with your nerve, you finally jab him in the side. 

“Zoro!”

The swordsman jolts awake. He looks up, seeing the broomstick near his shoulder, and traces it to you. “Why are you poking me with a rake?” 

The moment his eyes land on you, all your fizzling patience and brazen nerve seem to vanish into the air. Butterflies surge from your stomach in a tidal wave, suddenly clogging up your throat. Your heartbeat jolts in speed at the sudden onslaught. The rake clatters from your hands as you flounder in embarrassment. “T-to, to avoid being fileted by a grumpy swordsman.”

Zoro huffed. “Put that thing away,” You hurry to do so. It is a vain hope that you might beagle to drain the warm flush from your face by the time you return. All the while, your fellow swordsman scrubs the sleep from his face with one hand. “Why’d you wake me up?” 

“I-I, I wanna talk to you.” You abruptly drop yourself into the grass beside him. Standing above him in this orange grove somehow made you feel weird. If you were gonna have this conversation, you felt you needed to be on the same level.

“Okay, then talk.” 

“Er, okay. So…Zoro, I-I mean I’ve been meaning to tell you that I--” you hesitate. But this time you swallow the lump in your throat, summon your courage--and expose your beating heart. “--I love you.”

Zoro is silent for a long moment. His eyes never waver from where you now sit beside him. Swords propped on his other side, he has his arms wrapped around his knees. Ever since he woke up, his expression hasn’t changed. He just looks at you, plain and straightforward as can be when he says; “Okay.” 

You splutter. The single word response is nearly enough to throw you into conniptions. “Wha-what do you mean just, ‘okay’? I’ve been agonizing over how to tell you how I feel for-for ages! And all you have to say is ‘okay’?!” 

The swordsman snorted. “Like words are the only thing that matters. Your actions speak for you, Y/N. I thought my actions made it clear that I--” 

“...You what?” You blink, watching the spark of a blush rush vividly across the swordsman's’ cheeks. 

“I-I love you, dammit! There. You happy now?” 

The instant those words reached your ears, your smile bloomed like a sunflower. After all the ideas and voices and fears you’d heard today, you could hardly believe it--they were right! After all the years preparing for this moment, you could finally look someone in the eye and speak your truth. “I couldn’t be happier.”

[cienie-isengardu]

The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro - Part 3: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (A)

<Part I: Before Meeting>> <<Part II: Sabaody Archipelago, The First Meeting>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard: The Alliance (A)__(B)>>  <<Part IV: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (The Plan Failed)__ (Saving Law)__(Protecting Law)__ (Birdcage, Pica and Doflamingo)__ (Aftermath)>> <<Part V: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (Traveling Together)__(Searching for Nakama)__ (Reunion)__ (Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance)__(The Last Moments before War)>>  Part VI: Wano, Against Emperors (The Untold Journey)__(Luffy & Zoro Means Troubles…)__(...and Law Is Not Happy About That)__(Separated Again)__(Law and Straw Hats: Clash of Authority)

(Because tumblr is bastard, I was forced to cut Part 3 into two smaller bits. Sorry for inconvenience!)

  So far, the previous parts were written mainly from Law’s perspective - especially the meta about Sabaody Archipelago as he was an eyewitness of Straw Hats shocking deeds. The Punk Hazard arc did not create a lot of chances for Law and Zoro to interact, yet it allows them to learn - or at least to assume - things about the other enough to set a solid common ground for their future relationship. Thanks to the richer source material, this time the analysis can be relatively as much about Law’s perspective as about Zoro’s, which helps to show how their characters share significant similarities.

So, a quick recap:

Between the first meeting at Sabaody Archipelago and reunion on Punk Hazard, two years have passed. A lot things changed over that time - Trafalgar Law became Shichibukai, one of seven Warlords, while Straw Hats just started their journey to the New World.

Through the series of events, Straw Hats Pirates found themselves on an isolated island known as Punk Hazard and of course, got in trouble. Originally, he crew divided into two groups; Luffy, Zoro, Robin and Usopp (later joined by Brook as well) went on the island as “rescue group” while Nami, Sanji, Chopper, Franky and Brook were supposed to wait on the ship but get caught by enemy and ended up involved with saving kidnapped children. None of them knew in advance that on the Punk Hazard currently lives Trafalgar Law - Luffy’s saviour from Marineford and rival pirate captain. Law, on the other hand most likely knew about Straw Hats’ big comeback, since Monet was showing Caesar Clown the newest article about Straw Hats, thus the newspaper somehow must have reached Punk Hazard. Of course, the island wasn't an easy place to find so it’s safe to assume that Law’s proposition of alliance was more of taking advantage of the occasion than planned to the last detail scheme.

Like I said earlier, Zoro and Law did not interact much through the story arc, mainly because both were busy with their own task until the final fight united all pirates and marines against a common enemy. They did however hear about the other from various people and run into each other a few times; either they were within earshot or close enough to watch what the other was doing and on the basis of observation (and comparison to rest of characters) draw some conclusions.

The first chance was the meeting between pirate captains that Zoro (with Usopp, Brook and Robin) observed from a close distance. Even before the captains faced each other, Zoro immediately recognized the other Supernova:

Interestingly,

Roronoa remembered Law from the Human Shop on Sabaody Archipelago but did he know about Law’s position as Shichibukai is not clear. Robin for sure knew and it’s hard to tell for sure  if Mihawk would tell Zoro about his fellow member of the Worst Generation getting a title of Warlord. Whatever he knew or not, Zoro did not forget about the rival captain even though he spent the last two years in isolation, training hard under Mihawk’s watchful eye. What means he saw Law as a strong (potentially dangerous?) person worth remembering. Thus it would not be too exaggerated to say that Law made a good impression that day (later on, Nami too will recall Law more from the incident on SA rather than saving Luffy at Marineford)

From the comics page, it’s hard to tell who was surprised about Luffy’s wounds, but the anime episode clearly showed it was Robin. Zoro’s reaction is hard to judge by, since we couldn’t see his face nor hear his thoughts on that matter. Still, he may know more about events at Marineford than her thanks to Mihawk’s intel about battle and what happened to Luffy there. Maybe even mentioned that Law showed up out of nowhere and helped smuggle injured Luffy and Jinbei far away? Or maybe Luffy just told him about his scars off-panel.

Luffy said he owes his life to Law. Which, for someone like Zoro, who was willing to give up his own life, ambitions and pride for Luffy, is a pretty big declaration. Saving Luffy definitely put Law on Zoro’s good side.

Despite Luffy’s declaration about Law as the good guy, the Shichibukai did not think the rival captain was indebted to him and warned that “we are both pirates. Don’t forget it”:

According to Law, saving Luffy was a whim, and the mentioned action is considered just as such. No debt, no demanding a payback, not dragging Luffy in the mess because of something that happened two years ago. That attitude speaks a lot about Law as a person and presents him in a positive light - he is a honest man that does not make excuses about kindness to emotionally influence a rival captain. On the contrary, Trafalgar warns against trusting him, because pirates can’t be trusted, really and they are both just that. A potential enemy at this point.

Law actually sounded here a lot like Zoro in Alabasta, after saving Smoker:

Both saw the good deed just as a whim (in case of Zoro, a captain’s whim) and did not demand anything in return nor saw it as something changing the status quo between them and (potential) enemy. Trafalgar reminded Luffy both are pirates - thus kindness shouldn’t be taken for granted while betrayal and deception should be expected at any moment. Saving once Straw Hat doesn’t make Law - or Luffy, for that matter - obliged to anything.  

Zoro, instead of using the “debt of life” argument to secure the safety of the crew, said only “don’t think about that, Luffy is just being weird”. Like what happened between him and Smoker did not matter at all - when in truth it mattered very much. Marine officer between pirates could not expect rescue yet he survived because Zoro followed a ridiculous captain’s order despite knowing well how big of a threat the man was to the crew. Leaving Smoker to his fate was the best, the most logical and pragmatic choice to make. A choice Zoro was willing to make, a choice that was expected from him by Sanji and Smoker alike. It was the best chance to get rid of a marine officer that none of Straw Hats could beat down at that point. Yet the cold pragmatism was overruled by the captain's whim. When questioned by Sanji why he’d bring the enemy up Zoro admitted he didn’t want to do it (what Smoker most likely heard while recovering after almost drowning), but beside that did not fuse about that, did not complain, did not take credit for anything. And he could easily use the situation for crew’s benefit, could easily lie about kindness or anything like that. But the same as Law, Zoro chose a straight-forward approach and dismissed any idea of debt from the saved person. Since it is such a similar act, something that Zoro would do - and did - himself, I strongly believe in that moment Zoro took to liking Law. Or at least, gave him the benefit of doubt.

A moment later, Law used his powers that catched Zoro’s attention immediately.

Though none of Straw Hats witnessed the full fight between Law and Marines, it was clear that Shichibukai won against Smoker and in one move knocked down Tashigi. And fine, now Smoker is most likely not a big match for Monster Trio and Tashigi never was at Zoro’s level, but they weren’t the weakest marine soldiers either. Even though Luffy assured his friends that Trafalgar is a good guy, Zoro showed interest in Law’s weird abilities. Whatever was that curiosity alone or taking notes in case of future fight, Roronoa had a chance to see up close some of Supernova’s skills.

Soon after that Law and Straw Hats went their ways - but before parting, Trafalgar told the rival pirates where they could find their missing comrades. So far, the Shichibukai behaved well towards Luffy and Straw Hats.

In truth, Trafalgar Law did not have a reason to think much about anyone else than Luffy at that moment, while Zoro got some important insight into Law’s character and powers. Once in the shelter, when the entire crew gathered and discussed the latest events together, Zoro had another chance to gather information about Shichibukai. The intel though was contradictory.

The first source of knowledge was Zoro’s own nakama and the swap of their bodies. It wasn’t outright said but I think all of them easily came to the conclusion that it was Law’s fault. Why he changed Straw Hats, none could know for sure. In one way or another, they were forced to seek out Law to undo unwanted change. Law did say to Luffy before parting their ways they will meet again, which is the most logical of his reasons. The change weakened Straw Hats, but it wasn’t anything truly dangerous or threatening. Confusing as hell, sure, but beside Nami, no one was worrying too much about it. 

The second source of knowledge was samurai Kinemon. Thanks to him, Luffy finally learned that Law become Shichibukai (however Zoro seems to be unfazed by the information, what could means he already knew that after all).He told a story how Law cut him in three pieces - head was taken to laboratorium and there cut into even more pieces, torso left behind and legs thrown(?) away as food for the dragon.

This contradicts Luffy’s opinion of Law, as the good guy and resembles more the Sabaody Archipelago incident, when Law cut in pieces marines and messed with their bodies. Of course, Kinemon was an unknown enemy from Trafalgar’s perspective yet samurai’s story about saving his son and the general situation of the children begging to be saved, does not put Law in good light. For whatever reason, the Shichibukai was involved in shaddy interest and there was no denying that. Also, although Zoro is far less suicidal than Tashigi with the whole “if you are going to cut / defeat me, kill me” attitude, as a swordsman (influenced by Wano philosophy thanks to his old sensei), cutting an enemy in pieces but not letting him die may be actually offending. It’s hard to ignore Law’s cruelty of messing with the human body while said person is alive and can still feel pain but can’t do anything because all the parts are thrown in different places. I mean, it’s pretty good tactics to keep enemy helpless but killing is much easier way to get rid of the problem without unnecesery torture. 

Kinemon’s story brings back the reason why Trafalgar Law is called Surgeon of Death and supports all the rumors of his cruelty. He is not above messing with the human body and cutting it in pieces while keeping the owner alive and helpless. It’s not something that Zoro would do. Injuring seriously, even killing? Yes. But not torturing. It just proves how dangerous - and cruel - Trafalgar can be. 

The third, final source is Brownbeard. The pirate explained what the “Worst Generation” is, told a story about Punk Hazard and Hawkins killing all members of his crew, about beloved master Ceasar Clown who helped injured and abandoned former prisoners and, finally, about another “saving god” in the person of Trafalgar Law.

On one hand, this is another proof of Law’s medical skills and specific powers used to help strangers. Brownbeard was grateful to Trafalgar, although the Shichibukai was a part of Luffy & Zoro’s generation that the older pirate hated with passion. Like he said, Law was different from the rest of Supernovas and many Straw Hats pirates were touched by the story. For Luffy it was a proof he was right, Law was a good guy.

At this point I think Zoro gets the idea that “surgeon” in Law’s epithet is no mistake. The man clearly had medical knowledge and skills and good understanding of his own powers. On another, since Straw Hats had a chance to learn a bit about Law’s powers and its effect on people, one may wonder what happened to the animals? Are they still alive, legless? Or were killed for the “greater good”? Because as much as Brownbeard’s story was touching, the fact that Law cut away from so many living creatures their lower part of body and gave permanently to someone else is creepy. And closer to some mad science than miracle healing. Franky, like always, Zoro did not betray any emotions about the situation, he mainly listened to other people’s stories without passing verbal judgment. 

Out of 4 people talking about Law, Brownbeard and Luffy were adamant Trafalgar was a good guy (and were indebted to him), Kinemon testified to his cruelty and lack of mercy while Law considered  himself just a pirate. Which is half on half. Whatever Zoro considered Law a good or bad man at that point, there is no denying he was capable of both great and horrifying deeds. The safest option then was to consider Law as a complex character. In truth, I feel like Zoro would put more weight on Law’s personal opinion about himself, especially since the man did not consider himself to be a hero. Like Luffy and Zoro, despite all the good deeds done over the course of their journey, they saw themselves as pirates, with big ambitions and selfish goals rather than heroes. Law’s opinion seems to be the most honest and objectively. 

To sum up the first exchange between Law and Straw Hats, his main focus was again at Luffy, while Zoro in a relatively short time managed to learn important bits about Trafalgar.

Soon after that scene, Nami sent Zoro to tag along Sanji (currently in her body) and Brook in search for samurai. Zoro wasn’t pleased and frankly, it was the first time when he could be annoyed by Law’s weird abilities. Then again, he could be just annoyed by the perverted nature of Sanji and Brook that made Nami send him to guard her body from two perverts. Looking at how he and Sanji argued the whole way, I think it was the latter.

In meanwhile, Trafalgar learned that Caesar Clown hired Yeti Cool Brothers to kill Straw Hats. Soon after that he was told that Roronoa Zoro, Nami and Brook were easily killed by the assassins.

Caesar and Monet found that amusing and/or disappointing. Because of the scheme against Donquixote Doflamingo, Law could not betray his personal thoughts on that matter. He did not show much emotion either,  when Monet mentioned his past connection to Straw Hats, at least until Caesar’s accusation of bringing Straw Hats comes to play. Ultimately, Law (for now) secured his position as their ally and even assured his companions to fight for them. What soon will turn to be a lie - as much as Law’s expression did not betray anything, once the talk was done, he headed straight to Luffy, saving along the way captured Nami (in Franky’s body) from the Yeti Cool Brothers.

Did the news about the supposed death of Zoro, “Nami” and Brook prompted him into action, it’s hard to tell for sure. On one hand, he went seeking Luffy to propose an alliance and came at the right moment to eliminate the enemy, so the feeling of danger wasn’t unfounded. On another, would he want to ally himself with a crew which one(s) of the main warriors got killed so easily? 

The alliance was made to the horror of Usopp, Nami and Chopper while Robin was supportive of Luffy’s decision (although warned him about the danger of betrayal), while Franky was barely conscious due to injury. Zoro, Sanji and Brook were not there busy looking for missing samurai. About the Straw Hats individual reactions to alliance I will talk in a more extensive way soon. For now what is important, Law's first real interaction with Luffy’s crew was shocking and confusing on many levels. Once the emotions settled down, Straw Hats got their bodies back (beside Nami and Sanji, who was still far away) and a plan was formed - and like, Law was forced to help save the sick children - the serious talk started for good.

Law warned Straw Hats about Caesar Clown - those who can’t use haki should keep away. Luffy admitted that out of all crewmembers, he, Zoro and Sanji are the ones capable of fighting the criminal scientist. With Law, the alliance had 4 fighters that could capture the man.

So far, Law learned that Zoro is indeed a haki user. To capture gas-gas (Logia) man, he would need to use armament type. A type that the stronger of will, the harder to cut, even with Law’s abilities. 

Trafalgar warned Luffy that once they capture Caesar, things will shift very fast and there will be no coming back anymore. Luffy of course did not change his mind and finally the talk turned to missing Straw Hats.

Out of 9 crewmembers, only 6 were present - Nami (now in Sanji’s body), Luffy, Robin, Chopper, Franky & Usopp, so Law could talk just about Zoro, Sanji (in Nami’s body) and Brook. The trio that was said to be killed by Yeti Cool Brothers. Which leads back to earlier Trafalgar’s (forced) lack of reaction - either

Law with premeditation omitted their supposed death, maybe to not deal with Luffy’s emotional response that he already experienced at Amazon Lily when Luffy was mourning the death of Ace. The “positive” outcome of that choice could get in handy once the truth came out, as better motivation for Luffy to get the man responsible for the death of his friends. Yet the negative outcome outweighs the positive, since Law needs Caesar alive and Luffy in furious despair could kill the scientist. Still, if Trafalgar believed that harm came to missing Straw Hats he could tell Luffy what he heard not so long ago.

Law did not believe Yeti Cool Brothers could take down Zoro alongside Sanji (did he know who was in which body or did he learn that just by switching Straw Hats bodies much later?) and Brook since all were pretty strong. What could explain why Law talked about them as alive and unharmed. 

Or maybe meeting with Luffy confirmed that the missing trio is all right due to lack of negative effects between switched Straw Hats - if Law’s ability let him know who was in whose body and destroying one body affected the true owner, that is.

Interestingly, Law told Luffy to convince the three missing friends of his about the alliance between Straw Hats and Heart Pirates. Did he expect Zoro (and Sanji and Brook) to be wary of working with Trafalgar, like Robin warned? To advise against alliance, like Usopp, Nami and Chopper did? Was that assumption of a worst-case scenario or expecting an understandable or even justified suspicion since all of them were pirates and pirates can’t be trusted?

Now allied pirates proceeded with the plan that of course did not work like it should. Luffy’s group failed to capture Caesar, Law was stopped by Vergo, marines got mixed into all of this while Zoro’s group faced the danger of Slime. In the end Law, Luffy, Robin, Franky, Smoker (in Tashigi’s body) and Tashigi (in Smoker’s body) were captured and put in the same cage. For a brief moment, the captured pirates and marines could  observe on big screen the struggle of people outside the facility that were used as guinea pigs in Caesar’s experiment of mass murder weapon. Including Zoro’s group chased by a toxic monster. Since Luffy spotted his friends, it’s logical that Law, laying side to side with Luffy, saw them too.

Even Caesar admitted that Luffy’s friends are quite tenacious yet in serious danger. Only those inside the building were safe and soon after that allied pirates and marines got busy with their own survival. Freed and ready to kick enemy ass, Law had a chance to see how Zoro and Kinemon made a big entrance by slicing through the iron doors.

Luffy, being helpful like always, noted the ruckus was “Zoro and others” doing, so Law couldn’t mistake Roronoa for anyone else. But as much as it was a pretty awesome entrance, Straw Hats sliced the door that was supposed to keep toxic gas out of the building nearly killing everyone and only a fast reaction of marines saved them all. Impressive act yet reckless and putting everyone in serious danger. Zoro’s reaction to what could happen to them all if G-5 soldiers didn’t repair the door?

OK. Like being so close to dying in a horrible way was no big deal. 

Soon after that, marines were ready to attack Straw Hats and Brownbeard. One near death experience behind Zoro and he is up for another fight. With a sharp smile. The upcoming fight was stopped though for a moment by Law’s speech (who could pay attention to what was going on between marines and pirates or not, hard to tell but the whole screaming of G-5 soldiers must reach his ears, especially since he did hear Nami’s demands to switch her back to her body). Trafalgar explained the current situation and how much time they all have to save themselves.

On that occasion, Zoro at least can be assured that Law is not interested in mass murder weapon to gain for himself and were nice enough to tell pirates and marines alike how to save themselves. Interesting is also that Law said outright he can’t guarantee the safety of anyone who will stay in the facility after 2 hours is over even though no one was his responsibility to begin which. Even if there was no alliance (about Zoro still did not know), Straw Hats would still target Caesar for hurting children and marines were natural enemies. And yet, he gave them all important details and time to run away.

With Law’s final words, the characters split in three groups - Law, Smoker and Luffy went to fight Caesar and Vergo, Straw Hats went to look for children, marines were ordered by Smoker to save kids and find a way to escape - and, because Straw Hats are pirates, the soldiers decided to fight them on the occasion. The three groups of course will soon mix up, but before that happens there is one important moment - Zoro, after learning from Usopp about Luffy’s defeat and coming to conclusion how reckless all of them were, demanded from Luffy to pull himself together and finally get serious since this is the “New World” where the smallest mistake may bring death.

Luffy ran ahead of Law and Smoker, but he was still close enough to where Shichibukai stood to assume he too heard Zoro’s words. Roronoa may not show much worry or care for the danger before, but once he took the situation seriously, he outright demanded from the captain to do the same. No more fooling, no more reliance on luck. He was harsh on himself and treated Luffy to the same, high standard. After hours of staying close with Luffy who did not bother much by being captured or the danger, who joked and talked crazy bullshit, I think that moment put Zoro in good light in the eyes of Law. At least one Straw Hat took seriously the whole situation (without panicking like Nami, Usopp and Chopper) while not tolerating the childish behavior of the captain (like Robin and Franky did in the cage).

Of course, the Gum Gum no Ufo did spoil the moment between Zoro and Luffy, but hey, maybe at least it reassured Law that Luffy does not listen even to his own nakama and they suffer as much as he did while dealing with Monkey D. Luffy. Anyway, Law and Zoro again parted their ways. In the long run, Trafalgar with the help of Smoker finished Vergo, Zoro with Tashigi defeated Monet, Luffy beat down Caesar and sent him flying and Straw Hats saved the children.

The next time when Zoro and Law met, the toxic gas got inside the facility (this time courtesy of Trafalgar who cut the building in half with his powers during a fight with Vergo) and united forces of pirates & marines were running away from it. Trafalgar came up with a plan to save everyone but they needed to run as fast as possible since Luffy failed to capture Caesar - the main figure needed to take down Doflamingo. Despite the urgency, Straw Hats refused to go with him until the missing Chopper, Usopp and Brook would not show up. 

And they did not budge at all, until all of their friends came safe and all.

Loyalty is a Straw Hats thing. That and being stubborn as hell. Not just Luffy and Zoro or Sanji (the strongest fighters) but every member of the crew.

Once all settled into a cart and were riding through the tunnel, they had to deal with a collapsing building - and the possibility of being burned alive.

Despite the grave situation, Law and Zoro did not lose their coolness even for a second. Trafalgar once again had a chance to see Zoro’s fighting skills when he cleared the path of cart of the rubbles thus saving everyone. In general, Luffy and Zoro were the main force protecting the riding cart from failing rocks. Law could do the same, with his powers but he could be too exhausted after fighting with Vergo (and all previous injuries / pain) and relied more on allies than his own powers. Which may suggest he trusted them to do the job for him.

Finally, the cart gets out of the collapsing building (Nami’s ability to create wind cleared the toxic gas for them) only to meet two of Doflamingo’s subordinates that Law declared the enemy.

Interesting detail of this frame is that, as much as Law should be a central part of the picture, he could stand close to any Strawhats beside Luffy. Even more closer to the ones he already knew and interacted with and yet he takes place between Luffy (the main ally) and Zoro (Luffy’s right hand man and fellow Supernova) he barely interacted with for the whole arc. Surprisingly, Smoker too tends to pull toward Zoro out of all Straw Hats - what is even more visible when compared to just previous interaction with Law where he clearly stood in a different place. At that point, Law and Zoro are two pirates that could kill him once yet spared his life. Okay, Luffy is actually the reason behind Zoro’s mercy yet it was Roronoa decision to carry on captain’s whim and he physically was the one to do the saving. Also, Zoro and Law are more mature and less prone to joke at Smoker's expense. Unlike Luffy. 

Because Baby 5 and Buffalo get their hands on beaten Caesar (that was previously sent flying outside thanks to Luffy), Law immediately wanted to stop them with his own powers but was told by Luffy, Zoro and Nami to trust her and Usopp to do the job. Trafalgar wasn’t happy about that solution, too worried about failure of the plan to put faith in his allies.

And yet, Nami and Usopp not only took down enemies but were the one that actually captured Caesar Clown. Not thanks to haki but seacuffs. Zoro was right to tell Law to not look down on their sniper. 

Once the battle was over, Law went to cure the children albeit in a way that made Chopper believe he either killed or hurt them pretty badly. It’s hard to tell if Zoro heard Chopper’s screaming (but then again, Zoro always had a soft spot for the little doctor and kept an eye on his well being), but he did not seek out what happened between two doctors and sick kids. Later, when Sanji handed out food to pirates, marines and children - and Zoro got the alcohol from G-5 - Law warned Luffy they can’t stay on Punk Hazard due to possibility of another enemy attack (that could be - and in fact, was - Doflamingo himself). What of course Straw Hats happily ignored in the favor of the great party.

Law and Smoker kept the safe distance from partying crowd of pirates, marines and children while talking a bit about put in motion Shichibukai’s plan. Despite staying far away from Straw Hats they could observe all the craziness of Luffy and his friends. And maybe see Zoro drinking with marines - the sworn enemy - like it was the normalest thing in the world. The party however did not last long and soon children bid (pretty emotional) farewell to Straw Hats. 

Once the party was over, Law accompanied Straw Hats to their ship - what didn’t go unnoticed by Zoro (who still wasn’t informed about the alliance).

Interestingly, Zoro first consulted that with Usopp and Brook instead of “attacking” Law what the hell he was thinking doing. And well, Roronoa is not shy to talk to strangers and is not afraid of picking fights with strong opponents either. What shows both Zoro’s composure and maturity to check out with friends what he missed out before acting and creating unnecessary conflict. Okay, Zoro did not sound polite at all, with the just “he” instead of using Law’s name, yet I think this still falls into good impression, especially considering the fact that Zoro has the opinion of a murderous person who loves fighting yet acted rational. And really, there are plenty of hotheads between pirates who would happily challenge Law for lesser reasons. Because really, pirates like to establish dominance over others while Zoro, a beast himself, pretty easily accepted the rival captain’s presence on the ship.

(And maybe, just maybe Zoro noticed the small smile on Law’s face, once children bid their emotional farewall)

Once the allied pirates sailed out, it was time to present the strategy to everyone - even more so, since Law already told Doflamingo over Den Den Mushi his demands in return of captured Caesar Clown without consulting his allies first.

Zoro did not show any worry or fear about Doflamingo (and thanks to Mihawk he could be well informed who the man was) and was only interested in the mentioned strategy. He also finally learned about the alliance between Straw Hats (Luffy) and Heart Pirates (Trafalgar Law) and the common goal - to take down four Yonko (Emperors). Law explained in great details the situation in New World - the black market and its connection to Kaido and Doflamingo - and what must be done on Dressrosa. Zoro did not take part in the discussion yet listened closely. For the little we saw of him, he kept distance from other Supernova that allowed him to observe Law while not coming in direct interaction. Law too, kept a safe distance from Roronoa and none of them tried to invade the personal space of the other.

During the night an interesting thing happened - Zoro was seen sleeping in the bunk, with Luffy and Brook doing the same. This is very unusual, because according to SBS (vol. 74 ch. 737), Zoro slept just 3 hours at night, staying awake through almost the whole night (what brings a question, did he was on permanently night watch or did he just keep company to the weaker crewmembers to make sure they and ship will be okay?).

What makes sense - Franky, Usopp, Chopper, Sanji and Kinemon stayed awake, the first three on the deck, the two latter inside the ship, in case of a Doflamingo attack. Law slept (or kept vigilant?) on deck, so if an enemy attacked there was a strong group to defend the ship in the absence of Luffy and Zoro. Similarly, in case of Law betraying Straw Hats, the ship was still protected by Sanji (one of Monster Trio), Franky (middle group of fighters) and Kinemon (great swordsman himself).

Still, the uncommonness of the situation is that Zoro does not trust easily. Him sleeping when the crew could be under attack at any moment speaks how much faith he had in his nakama and maybe in Law too, who so far proved his reliability.

In contrast, Law did not allow himself to relax much on Luffy’s ship. He spent the night on deck (probably making sure Caesar will not try to run away), with sword at hand. Law too, seems to not trust easily, even the allies.Though it may be less about lack of trust in Straw Hats and more stress that accumulates over months (if not years). Especially when all he could do was wait for morning paper to see what Donquixote Doflamingo decided to do - fulfill Law’s demands or not - and how it would affect the plan.

And with that moment, the Punk Hazard arc can be considered completed. 

The part B is going to cover in extended way the possible Law’s impression of Zoro based on comparison to other characters.

[whirlybirdwhat]

Prompt: modern au (?) Gin wants to ask Sanji out, but he has to go through Zeff first

let me preface this with a HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIN I LOVE YOU!!!!  and a thank you for the request! 

Now, onto the story! Also read it here on ao3!

what you do for love

Gin has broken into a great many places. Some were worth it! Some were not. Some had the security of Fort Knox, and others were like an open door. He’s done it across the coast from east to west, but never, never, has he found a place so hard to get into like the Baratie.

And this time he isn’t even doing it for fucking Krieg!

It’s for Sanji.

Whom he likes, very much, and would like to invite on a date, thank you very much.

It’s not happening – different schools, Sanji has work, Gin has a job, Sanji’s taking down governments with his own gang, there’s never a time to get to him.

So Gin decided to ask him out at Sanji’s work.

Only… Gin had forgotten that the Baratie wasn’t only Sanji’s workplace… but his home. Where his dad and pseudo big brothers lived.

The first time he walked in to ask, he was met with Zeff, smaller than Gin but twice as muscular with a mean kick despite only having one leg. Zeff had given him a once over, taking in Gin’s leather jacket, tattoos, bandana and flyer to next month’s fight arena and promptly… did nothing, except give Gin a warm meal.

(It wasn’t the first time, nor the last.)

Until that is, Gin went up to go talk to Sanji.

Then Zeff swept his feet out from under him and sent him flying out the door, laughing.

From his place on the sidewalk, hidden by the high storefront windows, Gin heard Sanji asking “What was that,” and Zeff brushing him off.

Surely a fluke, Gin foolishly thought.

Only to find that the second time he went in, Carne was there, waiting with a strong hand to lift Gin by his collar and drag him out to the back-door entryway and throw him into the ground outside.

“Bye,” Gin could see Carne mouthing, mischief in his eye, followed by a swear.

Fuck off! Gin wanted to scream back but decided to rest in the ground instead, contemplating his failure.

Why, he thought, why.

He tried again, and again, and again. Zeff kicked him out the window with a first aid, kick, did a round of combat with flying kicks, gave him a warm meal then had Patty and Carne throw him onto the shallow beach outside.

Gin didn’t get it, because each time Zeff had this look that he approved of Gin, which, what.

Why was he kicking him out then?

Dads were weird as fucking hell.

After the seventh time this happened, Gin decided to get a little smarter, which leads to the current situation: breaking into the Baratie.

Which, as previously mentioned, is hard as hell.

He doesn’t want to get to the money, so he’s thankfully avoided the more dubious traps, but he’s tapping on what he assumes to be Sanji’s window and it’s not opening.

He questions why he thought this was a good idea, then remembers that Sanji did the same thing last year because he wanted to ask what food Gin wanted for his birthday, so this is just him returning the favor.

The windows finally opening, thank fuck, he was scaling the gutter for this.

“Hey, San-” That’s not Sanji.

That’s Zeff.

“Shit.” Gin says out loud and isn’t fast enough to dodge the kick that smacks him into sliding down the gutter.

Fuck.

Zeff gives him a wave, throws down and ice pack, and leaves.

Should have known Red Leg Zeff wouldn’t let anyone near his home without his permission. Hell, even the gang members follow his lead.

Gin sighs, staring up at the window which apparently isn’t Sanji’s, and decides he’s not being smart enough.

Or maybe, he thinks, staring at the straw-hatted jolly roger emblazoned in graffiti on the side of the building, I’m not being crazy enough.

-

Gin’s phone was destroyed in a fight two weeks back, half of his troubles with talking to Sanji, but that also means he has to track down the Straw Hats in person.

It’s not the most difficult task though – just look for the biggest commotion and you’re sure to find at least one Straw Hat in the fray.

Gin turns the corner, swearing to find a Straw Hat tonight, and runs smack into the Straw Hat, who is sprinting and holding a bag of what looks to be… meat themed jewelry? Gold? Gold nuggets but chicken nuggets? Gin can’t tell and doesn’t want to ask, but takes the opportunity anyway.

(The world always had a way to fall exactly into Luffy’s whims, and Gin supposes that if this must be happening it’s a sign of hope.)

“Straw hat!” Gin shouts, snatching out a hand and dragging Luffy into the alley corner.

“Bandana Guy!” Luffy says happily as Smoker rushes by the alley entrance. “What’s up? Sanji misses you!”

Gin lets a dopey smile bleed onto his face before speaking. “Yeah, I miss him to which is why I need your help right? I need you to bring your crew into the Baratie tomorrow, around sixish, and cause a ruckus so I can ask Sanji out, alright? Zeff and the others keep kicking me out.”

“They do that to you too? Shishishi! Sanji’s dad says I’m not allowed there without superpowers.”

“I think you mean supervision, anyway, will you be there?”

“Party at the Baratie tomorrow night, got it!”

That’s as close as Gin is going to get with Straw Hat, so he lets them go.

Time to get ready for action.

-

Gin should have expected this. He really should have expected this.

This being the Strawhat’s starting the ‘party’ whenever they feel like it, which is not six which was planned but five.

Gin sighs.

Whatever.

He can make this work.

Gin walks into the Baratie and, for once, is not immediately accosted by members of the Baratie’s staff.

Straw-hat can’t follow a plan but at least he can cause a ruckus. Gin looks to the left where the swordsman is balancing bottles of beer on his swords to raucous cheering, and steps to the right.

And then Gin spots him. Sanji, coming out of the kitchen, laughing and smiling the way he’s only prone to do around his crew (and Gin, on occasion.)

He’s not talking to anybody, just enjoying the chaos, which means this is Gin’s chance.

His only chance.

There’s a flash of yellow in his vision, accompanied by two flashes of white, and Gin knows he has to move fast if he wants to beat Zeff and Carne and Patty.

Gin runs, jumping over smashed glass and dodging around rushing waiters, all the while shouting “SANJI!”

Zeff trips him but he manages to turn into a roll, and comes up standing right in front of Sanji.

“Sanji!” He says again, out of breath but with a smile on his face, offering the carefully folded but now crumpled flyer in his hand. “Would you – would you like to go with me to Red Line’s Battle Arena on the twenty-third… as a date? If your family doesn’t kill me first?”

Sanji’s staring at him, and he hopes he hasn’t said the wrong thing. He had thought the date out perfectly, it was something they both enjoyed, food provided, near the sea, he had tickets to the booth seating so it wasn’t as chaotic as usual and –

Sanji cuts off his internal monologue with a smile. “Yes. I’d love to.”

Gin practically faints only managing to keep himself upright through sheer determination. He doesn’t know what to say after this, hadn’t really thought that far but—

“FINALLY!”

“Brat smartened up at last.”

“Now we can tease ‘em both at once! Boss, can we kick them both out?”

“Not until the party’s over. But yes. Eventually.”

“HELL YEAH!”

Gin is lost at the commotion coming from the chef’s around him, who have now stopped attacking him and started cheering for him.

Like… what?

Sanji takes pity on him. “They’ve been teasing me for months about you, trying to get me to ask you out. You stopped showing up so…”

“Oh. That was because your family kicked me out when I was trying to ask you out. Its been going on for a month. Tried banging on your window and everything but they literally kicked me out.”

“Oh.” Sanji starts snickering.

“Yeah.” Gin says to his boyfriends(?) apparent mirth at the situation.

Sanji snorts one last time before turning to his family and screeching. Gin swears there’s fire coming off of him as he yells “WHAT THE HELL YOU SHITTTY BASTARDS!? WHY THE FUCK WERE YOU KICKING HIM OUT? WHY ARE YOU THIS STUPID THIS COULD HAVE BEEN DONE AGES AGO AND-“

“It’s cause we like ya!”

“Yeah! We have to tease you!”

“Making up for that time you kicked me in the face.”

“And me! And the time you met the Straw Hat Brat!”

“Yeah!”

Zeff cuts in through the shouting. “Eggplant, you’re a bit short on the braincells. Had to make sure this brat was good enough to replace the ones you’ve lost. He passes. Welcome to the family brat, we got cake in the back. Straw Hat told us to throw a party, and I’m sure Sanji mentioned that it was your birthday today. Eat up.”

Gin gets a caked shoved in his hand and a hug from Sanji in a matter of seconds, followed by approving nods from the rest of the Baratie Staff as the Straw Hat pirates cause chaos in the background.

He’s bewildered. Confused. Bamboozled. Any other word to describe this feeling. Sanji just laughs at his face.

“They’re always like this,” he explains. “When Luffy first invited me to join his crew they thought pretending that they hated my food was a good way to make me leave and chase some dreams. You can see how well that turned out, but that’s just how they are. Hazing the new guy and me, at every. Single. Opportunity. Ugh.” Sanji’s complaining, but Gin can tell he loves this place.

“I can see that,” He says, and watches how Sanji smiles so brilliantly. “You want to escape this mess?”

Sanji laughs. “Definitely. Happy birthday, Gin.” He places a kiss on Gin’s cheek and strolls out the back door, waiting for him.

Gin smiles in return. “Thanks, Sanji.”

Zeff nods one last time behind his back before turning away.

Gin has finally passed the Baratie Bar of approval.

Thank God. That was exhausting.

[onepiecefeatstuff]

Festival | Sanami week 2020

The log-pose clearly had Nami’s ideal in mind when it decided to guide them to that island. Or at least, it looked like it had. Maybe it wasn’t the island of her dreams, but it checked many of the boxes. It was like the perfect man, found in reality. It doesn’t have all the characteristics one expects, yet it doesn’t really matter. It isn’t about crossing things out of a list, but the feeling of certainty that came along with him.

At least, that’s what Nami thought. Not that she knew much about it, anyway.

However, that island had the perfect climate (sun, but with a light breeze), the perfect altitude (there was a beach, and also a mountain), the perfect shape (mapping it would be an easy job)… It even had a castle, which was not a priority but it was very welcome. In her fantasy island, there would always be a castle –because deep down, she was still fond of fairytales, maybe.

So when she saw a poster than announced a renaissance fair, she gasped. She actually, really gasped. Chopper did, too, which made her feel less lonely; but no less childish. Luffy took the poster from her hands, and decided they had a plan. She took it back with a frown, but she was smiling inside. The tension from the last few weeks (maybe months, maybe years) seemed to lift from her shoulders momentarily. The wind was blowing softly, messing up her hair, and she took a deep breath before starting her path to the village.

 The village was just what she had pictured in her mind: tiny, made up of wooden and stone houses, and sprinkled on all sides by flowers. There was a fresh aroma in the air that seemed to welcome them, as the real habitants did so. Nami was taken aback by their generosity and their invitation to join the festival, especially after Luffy mentioned that they were pirates. The hesitation from the mayor only lasted a few seconds, and Nami felt a sudden burst of excitement inside as they mentioned the competitions.

She arranged everyone in a few seconds: Zoro, Usopp and Franky could take the carpentry contest; Brook, Chopper and Luffy could do their best job as bards and Sanji would master whatever dish they were making in the cooking competition. She trusted Robin enough to let her go as she pleased, and as for herself, gambling was always a safe bet. There was no way they were going back to the Sunny empty-handed.

They all got dressed up for the occasion, with the many costumes they were renting. Nami chose a white and blue dress with bateau neckline that she later accompanied with a fresh-made flower crown that Robin had arranged in a second –Chopper asked for one, too. She felt like a princess, and she would have been repulsed by her own lame thoughts if she hadn’t been so happy about it. She kept twirling the dress and spinning around, with no apparent reason.

Sanji, however, was sure it had to be on purpose; it had to be destiny to be alive in that same moment as to see an unearthly creature move so gracefully in the sunlight. It was both a blessing and a torture. Slow, painful torture; not being able to hold her in his arms. He would have been her knight, he would be his knight anytime. His first instinct had been to offer his services, swearing all kinds of loyalty to his mistress to anyone who could listen, but it only took a second more of admiring her to throw his usual behavior pattern away. There, as she danced and twirled and kept winning money by the second (she was great at multitasking, as well as with everything else), he realized that he never wanted to be the one to interrupt her happiness.

But her mere presence was costing him the competition, and she was going to kill him for that. The dramatic irony was really shining that day, he thought. She was also glowing, like he had never seen her before. He wouldn’t know what it felt like for Robin to discover a new phonegliph, but he figured it had to be something of that kind.

The turkey legs were burning, and he had put out the fire. He hoped no one would notice, especially after all the condiments and side dishes, but he knew Zeff would have made him re-do the dish. His cook pride was a bit shattered by that realization, but one glance from her made it all worth it. He would do it all again if all his life choices led to that moment.

As he served the judges a taste of his dish, he couldn’t help but smile when he imagined her response to a comment like that. She would roll her eyes, or smack him down for saying nonsense. Except he felt like it made perfect sense. He was probably the most sane person in the crew, if anything. There was nothing irrational in giving it all for her, because she was the most extraordinary event that happened to him. He wouldn’t be there, in that festival, if it weren’t for her. He wouldn’t be the man he is, if his path hadn’t crossed hers.

Before they announced the prize, he already considered himself a winner. Although when Nami ran to his side and hugged him tight, that’s when he really won. Part of him knew that part of her was driven by her fierce ambition, but another part of him knew the other part of her. When their eyes met, he felt she was proud of him; and it was enough.

“What a beautiful couple!” the oldest judge said, applauding. “Are you running for queen and king of the festival?”

Sanji was about to tell him no when Nami hushed him with her index finger, and asked the old lady to explain further. At the end of the day, people voted for the king and queen of the fair, and they’d get crowns and share a dance in the main hall of the castle. The idea of wearing a crown (a real, golden one, not the one made from flowers she was wearing) sounded very appealing to her; and the idea of sharing a dance with Nami sounded very appealing to him. They didn’t even have to speak to reach a conclusion, their silent agreement.

Arm in arm (Nami said to keep appearances, and Sanji was not going to complain about it), they signed their names in the voting booth; and went on with the festivities. Once in a while, their paths would meet, coincidentally when there was a crowd nearby, and they would share public affection that only hurt a little to Sanji when he remembered they were doing it for the show. It was a small price to pay.

He couldn’t complain.

At noon, the mayor gathered all the contestants in two lines, separating them both. Nami held his hand until the very moment they had to pull apart, and Sanji felt the ghost of her hand still on his throughout the whole ceremony. He could see the man talking, but he wasn’t really paying attention. The other girls looked beautiful, but Nami glowed like no one else. She was looking at him, and although her smile was confident, he could feel her pulling strength out of him. He straightened his spine, and let out a deep breath that she imitated. She smirked when he did, and Sanji kept the impression game by winking at her. He couldn’t believe it when she winked back over her shoulder. He was so struck that he couldn’t think of anything else, not even his name.

“Sanji.”

The crowd cheered and it wasn’t until that moment that he really processed that it wasn’t his own mind but an outside voice who pronounced his name. Precisely, the man who was walking with a crown. He stood tall as they put the crown in his head, and proceeded to gesture wildly at Nami. She let out an inaudible laugh, that somehow got to his ears right before they announced her name.

For a moment, Nami thought about throwing away the flower crown just like a bouquet and seeing who would catch it. But she couldn’t do that to Robin, who put all her effort in it, and gave it to the gorgeous girl that she had next to her. The golden crown that was placed in her head was made out of plastic, which came out as a disappointment; but the winning was the finishing touch of the day. The crown jewel of the festival.

The music started playing almost immediately, and both parties pushed Nami and Sanji close together. Nami, who until that moment found pleasure in being the protagonist of the tale, began to feel nervous and agitated. Shy, even. The touch with Sanji’s hand made her more comfortable, and she remembered why she wanted him to share the spotlight with her.

“Thank you.” She told him, only loud enough for him to hear.

Sanji kept swaying, knowing that the moment would soon be over, and he would have to return to reality; knowing that all good things come to an end.

“You needed a partner.” He said, stating the obvious. “I’m always at your service, milady.”

“Actually I didn’t need one. Queen and king are two separate categories.” She told him, which confused him even more. “I kind of… wanted you here.”

Sanji froze, and Nami had to guide the dance as well as the conversation.

“I feel safer when you’re around. I guess that whole knight thing has gotten into me in the end.” She laughed, quietly. “Plus, I like fooling people. But I didn’t want to fool you.”

Sanji opened his mouth to talk, but the firework show started and everyone lifted their heads up, including her. He stood there, watching her pointing at the sky with the biggest smile; and a greatest sense of tenderness overflowed his heart. Because she liked fooling people, but not him. Because she wanted him there. Because they could be, even if it was only for one night, the king and queen of the fair.

Author’s note: I’m so sorry this came in so late, but I guess it’s better late than ever. I hadn’t really had much time lately, but I couldn’t miss Sanami week! It’s been a blast, as always. I’m going to miss waking up to a new prompt.

[one-piece-dumpster-fire]

Can I request like,"ace doesn't die" au where,Ace had a female friend (who crushed on him) on the crew and she never liked physical contact,like hugs,and the first thing she does when he is saved is tackle him to the ground with tears in her eyes, and she just keeps holding his hand and hugging him and she end up confessing?

sorry if it’s a bit short I still need to get back to writing more scenarios hnhnhhngggh

Ace doesn’t die scenario

To say that the battle currently unfolding was heated is a hugeunderestimation. This wasn’t like the regular fights (Y/N) and hercrew fought throughout their lives. No, this was war- and not just anywar. It was clear that no matter who would win today, the world would neverbe the same afterwards.

(Y/N), a pirate who sailed the seas asa member of the Second Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, wasfighting off multiple marine soldiers at once, while always glancingtowards the execution platform where her comrade was held. Portgas D.Ace, leader of her Division, best friend, and long-term crush.

~a few days earlier~

When the news of his capture reachedher ears, the young woman immediately prepared to set sail in orderto free her endangered comrade. And if it wasn’t for her friendsholding her back, she would’ve probably went through with it and bedead now. „Damn it (Y/N)! Throwing your life away won’t bring himback to us! Do you think Ace would want to return, only to discoverthat his beloved crewmate died in a futile attempt to save him?!“

So instead of directly sailing towardsImpel Down and most likely getting captured or killed in the process, (Y/N) joined up with therest of the Whitebeard Pirates and went to Marineford a few dayslater. Her body was aching as they were nearing their destination,and her thoughts only circled around one man, Ace.

„Oi, (Y/N)! Come here, let’s drinktogether! This brew is exceptionally good!“

„Ace! (Y/N) hit me! That was thethird time now, go on and finally punish her!“

„Haha, did you try to flirt with heragain? You should know by now that (Y/N) hates it when someonetouches her, so be grateful that she didn’t break your hand!“

„Don’t you ever touch my beloved crewmate or Iwill burn you to a crisp, got it?“

„Hey, someone call a doctor! (Y/N) isinjured! Damn it (Y/N), don’t you dare leave me! …I need you.“

The young woman sighed heavily andturned her face towards her ‘Dad’, Whitebeard. He was originallyagainst her coming here, saying that it would be futile and that hewouldn’t want to lose his beloved daughter. But in theend, she was still a pirate and it was for her to decide where shewanted to go. Just wait a little longer, Ace, she thought determined,I’m coming to save you!

~back to the present~

The fight already went on for quite awhile, and the moment of Ace’s planned execution was gettingcloser and closer. Both sides suffered grave casualties already, butthe battle took another unexpected turn when suddenly a marinewarship filled with escapees from Impel Down fell out of the sky. And out of nowhere, Whitebeard decided to join forces with a boy wearing aStrawhat, who seemed to lead the former prisoners and was revealed to be Ace’s youngerbrother. At first, (Y/N) had a hard time believing that the boy couldkeep up with all the heavy-weights assembled on the island, but afterwitnessing him defeat a bunch of marine soldiers with ease shedecided to put her trust into him as well.

And now, Ace was finally in reach and(Y/N) was keen on doing whatever it would take to save him. But thecloser they got, the stronger the enemies were- and soon, (Y/N)reached a point where she found herself surrounded by soldiers. But instead of running away, she clenched her teeth and stormed into the mass of enemies infront of her, I won’t give up! we will take Ace back!

The Whitebeard Pirates did their bestto cover Strawhat and help him push forward- he was their best shotat getting to Ace after all. (Y/N) was so focused on keeping the enemysoldiers’ off of her back that she didn’t notice how Luffy reachedthe execution platform. Suddenly, a bright golden light spreadthroughout the Plaza, and she had to cover up her eyes in order notto get blinded.

„It’s Sengoku the Buddha!“ one ofthe marines next to her exclaimed confidentally, „now it’s over foryou filthy pirate trash!“ he turned to (Y/N) andmaliciously grinned at her, before aiming his pistol at her chest andfiring a bullet. But (Y/N) saw it coming and immediately dodged theattack, before rushing forward and burying her sword in the soldiersabdomen. No, we won’t fail, not now that we’ve come this far!, shethought and looked over to where the platform was, but a thick cloudof dust and rubber was blocking her view. Worry and fear started torose in her chest as the gigantic figure of the golden Buddha wasall she could recognize. Did the boy’s plan fail after all…?

But just a few seconds later, tears ofjoy started to drip down her face as she saw the giant fire tunnelconnecting the now destroyed execution platform with the plaza.„ACEEE!“ (Y/N) and all of her crewmembers started to rejoice at thesight of the Second Division Commander.

He did it! Strawhat did it! She laughedhappily and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand beforerushing to the spot where the fire tunnel appeared. Multiple marinesstood in her way, but she either quickly cut them down or simply ranpast them. There was no time to engage in petty fights now. Thefire came closer and closer and soon she could see the silhoutte of herbeloved Ace. (Y/N)’s vision turned blurry as more tears formed inher eyes, but she didn’t stop nor did she slow down. Since he had his backturned to her, Ace didn’t notice the woman running towards him untilshe crashed into the suprised man and tackled him to the ground.

„What the—?“ suspecting an enemytrying to take him down, Ace prepared to fire an attack, butimmediately stopped in his tracks as he recognized the person that was nowlying on top of him.

„…(Y/N)…?“ he questioned indisbelief before quickly sitting up, and firing a single fire bulletagainst a marine who had tried to attack them while they were on the ground.After the enemy fell, Ace immediately turned his attention back tothe woman that was now sitting in his lap and still had her armswrapped around him. He wanted to say something, but was at a loss forwords when he felt something wet against his chest. She was… crying?

„You… you damn idiot… how dareyou go and get yourself captured,“ she sobbed before looking up athim with tears streaming down her face, „I… I THOUGHT I WOULDLOSE YOU!“ (Y/N) shouted before burying her head in his chest oncemore.

Ace was in completele shock and blinked a couple of times while still staring down at her.

This… this is the first time that shevoluntarily hugged anyone… He thought back to the countlessattempts of crewmembers to hug her or pat her on the head, but shewould always reject it and tell them to knock it off. Haha, shecertainly is a special one! Thatch would always joke, Better give hertime, she might get comfy around us eventually.

But no matter how much time passed, shealways refused to accept any form of physical touch. So for her outof all people to jump at him and hug him like this, left Acecompletely shocked.

„(Y/N), I… I didn’t realize that Imade you worry that much… you’re…“ Ace didn’t manage to finishthe setence as a pair of soft lips suddenly pressed against hismouth. The whole battlefield seemed so far away all of a sudden, andthe only thing he could clearly recognize was (Y/N). She feels… so warm, he though as his one body unvoluntarily heated up as well. He slowly pulled back to look her in the eyes, still very suprised by all of her sudden actions.

(Y/N), you…. „BAAAAAHHHHH!“Luffy’s loud voice suddenly interrupted the intimate moment and bothturned their heads to come face to face with the young man, who stuckhis tongue out of his mouth and made disgusted sounds. „Ace! That’sICKY!“ he shouted while his face turned a dark green and it seemedas if he was on the verge of throwing up.

„Kiss your girlfriend when I’m notthere, damn it! Ehh… That sight will haunt me in my nightmares…“both Ace and (Y/N) couldn’t help but laugh at his younger brother’sidiocy, and slowly started to get up while locking eyes. A bright redblush spread across (Y/N)’s face, and Ace finally realized the meaning behind the tears she previously shed against his chest.

„I… I’m sorry… But Ace, I…. Ireally, really, really…“ she was interrupted by a single fingerbeing pressed against her lips, and now it was her turn to look atAce in confusion.

„I am so sorry for causing you andeveryone so much trouble… And truth to be told,“ he shyly smiled ather while cupping her face with his hands, „I…. I always wanted to do this, too.“and I’ve been longing for your touch ever since I first saw you, headded mentally and leaned in again to kiss her, but this time thecouple was interrupted by none other than Marco.

„Great and all that you two crazylove-birds finally got together, but don’t forget that this isstill a battlefield-yoi,“ he explained and gave them a scoldinglook, but with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, „now let’s getthe hell outta here.“ Both Ace and (Y/N) nodded in understandmentwith a blush of formidable size forming on their cheeks.

„Alright, let’s do this!“ Aceexclaimed and wanted to throw himself right back into the battleagain, but something- or rather, someone- held him back. And uponlooking down, he realized that (Y/N) was holding his hand. His eyeswandered to her face and she gave him a look filled with love andhappiness.

„(Y/N), I-“, „I won’t let go ofyou ever again,“ she smiled before drawing her sword, „now let’sget you back to Pops.“ Ace smiled at her admiringly, and his heartwas filled with excitement at the thought of finally being with (Y/N)once they were back.

No matter the outcome of this war, Ialready won.

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

Propaganda for Zoro & Luffy

I could rant about them for actual hours but like it's so hard to put thoughts down. But literally an actual quote was someone telling Zoro that "you promised you wouldn't cause trouble" and Zoro replies, EXACT WORDS, "I had no choice because I ran into Luffy." There was also an exchange where Zoro was giving Luffy food and Luffy warns him it might be poison while eating it and Zoro is just like "huh, so that's why my stomach was hurting". They also both swung from vines once and BOTH decided to Tarzan yell. They agreed it was a requirement. Also, Luffy once said he didn't wanna be a hero because heros would share their meat and he wants all of it, and Zoro entirely separately says the SAME THING BUT WITH BOOZE INSTEAD. There are so many examples of them sharing a single braincell. More than I could ever list. But those are the examples I thought of off the top of my head.

On the surface, Zoro seems to have some common sense, and only follows Luffy’s dumb schemes out of respect. Then Nami joins and you realize that Zoro’s seriousness IS his dumbassedness. He and Luffy have one track minds for their own goals and wants, and while they may clash, they have a decent amount of respect for each other.

haven’t finished one piece yet but one example: zoro when stuck figured cutting off his feet would be a genius idea and luffy is luffy. there’s never any thoughts going on in that head

When I first started One Piece I thought Zoro was going to be the badass smart counterpart to the dumbass protagonist just like Vegeta or Sasuke. Turns out I couldn't be more wrong. Him and Luffy are besties and share one brain cell and even thou Zoro uses it most of the time it's still one.

They share one single braincell at the same time: after being seriously injured in a battle, one wakes up to drink sake the other to eat meat. One almost cut a Noble (which means being pursued til death by the most powerful marines), the other actually punches said Noble. One gest stuck between buildings, the other inside a chimney for absolutely unrelated reasons

Their solution to everything is to fight it. They never have a plan and just rush into everything. Somehow they are technically the leaders of the group as captain and first mate. They have both at some point attempt to cut or tear their legs or arms off to get out something. They used the same metaphor to explain why they aren’t a hero without hearing the other say it (a hero would share their meat/booze I want to keep it all to myself).

they said let us cut/punch a hole trough a giant tsunami and they did it <3 also one time they were suppossed to lay low, but well they both immediately started robbing and attacking a town and being recognized and labeled as criminals in a new country. they don't even share a braincell, whatever braincell they had before immediately leave as soon as they both are together, also King of the Pirates and World Greatest Swordsman dreamteam, also for lasagne thing not only would the house be gone, the city be burning and they are fleeing the police while also fighting the police

They're just soooo stupid. Zoro can't walk to steps without getting lost. So Luffy will yank him miles through the air to land on wood. Or stone. Or some other hard substance. Luffy would fight someone on accident for meat. And Zoro for booze. And they have no brain cells between them. Zoro new Luffy for approx. 3 seconds before he decided he would die for him. And Luffy heard about this big scary bounty hunter who was captured by marines and went. I need him on my crew. They're perfect for each other.

I dont where to begin. One of their latest feats though is them going into the enemy base, Meaning to sneak in, Luffy went in after another guy, Zoro after Luffy, luffy then Announced himself, started a fight bc ppl wasted food on purpose, ZORO hearing a commotion, SLICED THROUGH A BUILDING TO GET TO LUFFY AND THEN REPRIMANDED LUFFY FOR FORGETTING THE PLAN AND BEING UNABLE TO BE QUIET. THEN. T H E N LUFFY SAYS HE SPILT FOOD ON PURPOSE AND ZORO IS INSTANT LIKE oh ok. They gotta die. (Theres more to it but thats the gist. And thats not even. Much. They r just so stupid together <33)

they both get lost very easily, they will throw hands with anyone, very stupid but very understanding, were a 2 person pirate crew that sailed around on a rowboat, motivated entirely by fighting, meat, and sake, neither is particularly literate one time luffy got his hand stuck in a bottle and zoro tried to get it out by cutting his hand off, yes this happened in a canon episode

look, I have a tag for them that's literally #pair of idiots.

[genogenocrazycatman]

Stillwater - Chapter 4

Stillwater [Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.Net, Mibba]

Characters: Original Female Character, Monkey D. Luffy, Rorona Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Nefeltari Vivi

***

"We build as only children know to build

We made a way where there's a will

No slowing down or standing still

Innocent and reckless

"How did we get so old and never notice

How did we gain the world and lose the moment

Rise and fall, the tide surrounds us

And drowns us all"

-Hands Like Houses

***

If it seems like it’s too good to be true, it probably is, which is why despite the jovial atmosphere of the tavern we were in, I was still wary.

It seemed that Whisky Peak had a certain fondness for pirates, greeting us with cheers of celebration when we first arrived. We had barely set foot on solid ground, when we were met by the town’s mayor, who immediately offered up booze, food and smiles. I admittedly hadn’t spent much time in Paradise, immediately, starting my way back home after I had been beaten by my father, but none of the islands I had landed on before had ever been this happy to see pirates, not unless the crew in question was their protectors.

Something was up. I mean they were even fawning over Usopp, going along with his blatantly obvious lies. However, none of the possibilities that I had come up with were too much for the crew to handle, so I kept my mouth shut and plastered a smile on my face, opting to just go to the flow. As far as I could tell, nothing that we had been given had been poisonous yet, so I figured we might as well get our fill, while we could.

“You’ve been nursing that mug for a very long time. Go ahead drink up,” one of the guys sitting at the bar urged.

“Not everyone can drink like you Boyd, especially not a little girl.”

I looked further down the bar at the man, who had spoken. His tone was mocking, patronizing.

I glared at the man. I had little patience for men like him. Over grown gorillas, who liked to pick on those that they perceived to be weaker than them.

“I’m not some little girl,” I snipped.

I was so far from it.

“Uh-oh. You’ve pissed her off,” the original guy, Boyd, said chuckling.

“How old are you?” the second guy asked. “Fifteen? Sixteen? Are you even allowed to drink?”

I cursed my appearance. Usually it worked in my favor. I was plain, which allowed me to blend in, and unassuming, which kept people from seeing me as a threat, but it was a double edged sword. It made people think I was weak and naive.

“I’m nine-h-“ I stopped.

‘Fuck.’

Years at home had spoiled me. I was free to be myself in the safety of my friends and family. I didn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances and false pretenses. For short periods of time, it was fine, but extended periods like this were proving to be exhausting.

“-teen,” I grumbled the latter half of the number.

The pair laughed.

“I can handle my liquor better than anybody else in this bar,” I declared.

“Oh really?” Boyd smirked.

“Really.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing that the mayor is about to annoyance toast competition.”

I followed his eyes to the mayor. “We had an excellent grape harvest this year. To celebrate that harvest, our traditional toast competition!”

Everyone cheered.

“Make a toast take a drink. This continues as long as you can hold your liquor. Last one standing is the winner.”

“I’m gonna feel real bad embarrassing you boys like this. After all, you’re about to be drunk under the table by a little girl.”

“Mira, you’re competing too?” Nami asked when I walked over.

“Gotta show these two how it’s done. I thought you weren’t drinking.”

“Weren’t you paying attention? There’s money involved,” Zoro explained.

“Ah.”

“Then let’s begin!” the mayor announced, raising his mug. “To our new friends!”

We went around, people making a toast after toast downing drink after drink. We didn’t start losing people until four.

My two challengers were both in the running still. I could tell that they were feeling it. Guy number two more so than Boyd. I was perfectly fine, but had to keep appearances, so I swayed and stumbled and slurred my words.

Nami and Zoro were both holding their own pretty well too. From the looks of it, they were just getting started.

Nami toasted to money, not surprisingly, and Zoro to becoming the world’s greatest swordsman. That took out guy number two and brought the toasting to Boyd.

“To my victory,” he slurred.

I snorted, finishing off my drink and being handed another, my turn. “To the future king of the pirates,” I said, looking at Luffy, who was downing food faster than the cook could prepare it.

Twelve took out Boyd. He collapsed to the ground.

I looked down and smiled. “I’ve made my point,” I said, setting down my thirteenth, before I had to drink it. “I quit.”

“I can’t believe you’re quitting,” Nami said. “Pansy.”

“Last thing I want, is to have to listen to you bitch, cause I won the prize money.”

“You wouldn’t win,” she called, as I turned.

“That’s what you think,” I shot back.

It was down to her, Zoro and a nun. After the thirteenth mug, it was just Nami and the nun. I didn’t watch, instead, stumbling through the crowd and out the door, but I would hear, Nami’s shouts of victory, once the nun went down.

Luffy was down as well, stomach blown up the largest that I had seen. Sanji I was pretty sure was love drunk surrounded by a crowd of pretty women. If the color on Usopp’s face was anything to go by, he was pretty far gone as well.

I stumbled outside and around the side of the building until I was out of sight of the townspeople. Once I was in the clear, I dropped the drunken act, and climbed up the building until I was on the roof, where I laid and basked in the moonlight.

Eventually the party died out, and the air became still and quiet, the only sounds being that of the ocean lapping on the shore in the distance and the snores coming from the people passed out inside.

A short while after everyone passed out, the quiet was broken by the mayor. I crawled over to the edge of the building to get eyes on him.

Now I could figure up what was with him and this weird town.

Our two strays were there as well, sitting directly underneath me.

“They’ve worn themselves out partying and are fast asleep. Sweet dreams, brave adventurers. My how the cactus rocks gleam under the pale moonlight. Beautiful as ever.”

“If I may say, your poetic skills are beyond compare, Igarappoi- I mean Mr. 8.”

‘Of course,’ I thought dryly. ‘More of the dumb numbers.’

“So where are they?” Wednesday asked.

“They’re falling... Straight to hell.”

I almost wanted to laugh at how dramatic this guy was being. I mean really? Take us to hell? Between that and the gleaming rocks, this guy was starting to sound like my cousin after he had a little too much wine.

The trio was joined by the nun, who removed her habit, revealing a short pink and white checkered dress underneath.

“Damn. My head is killing me. Our guest didn’t have the good taste to pass out gracefully, so I doctored they’re drinks a little, or else they’d be up all night drinking us into oblivion.”

If that was spiked with something, then I hated to think of what they’d been drinking before. Grape juice.

“So tell me was it really necessary to put on this elaborate show for those idiots?” the nun asked. “I get that no one wants to hear me whine, but it’s my duty to point out the amount of food we’ve wasted, when we could’ve just ambushed them at the harbor.”

This was a trap. No surprise there. I was under the assumption that they were after our supplies and treasures. It wasn’t like we were rolling in gold or anything. Nami probably was, but as far as pirate crews go, we were pretty broke.

I wasn’t really sure what the bounty situation was on board. After all the fuss that had been made over Luffy in Logue Town, I figured he had one. Maybe Zoro, but I doubted the others were worth anything. If it was worth the effort that they’d put into this party farce, then Luffy had to have one hell of a bounty.  

“We’re already short on supplies. It’s not like anyone had high hopes for that whale meat or anything.”

Mr.9 puffed up defensively. “Why don’t you go try to kill that damn whale? We tried our best.”

“Both of you calm down. Before you question the validity of my plan, why don’t you take a look at this?”

The mayor, Mr.8, whatever, pulled out a wanted poster. Luffy’s smiling face was printed on the page. I checked the number below it. ‘Thirty-million, before he even made it to the Grand Line.’ That was a pretty respectable number, well worth the effort they’d put in so far.

Too bad it was all going to be for nothing.

The nun and the strays balked at the number. “THIRTY-MILLION BERRIES?!”

“For those morons?’

“Don’t be foolish. Appearances can be deceiving. That goes for-“ the mayor cleared his throat and performed a vocal exercise. “That goes for all of you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s no matter. Our prey has been trapped, and that’s news the boss will enjoy.”

“That’s what you think,” I mumbled.

I hadn’t been with the crew for long, and I had only seen them in action once, but that was enough for me to know that these guys didn’t have a chance.

I wasn’t the only one, who had been playing drunk earlier. I could feel Zoro approach that cursed blade of his giving him away.

I glanced back at Zoro. “What? Can’t sleep now, because you were out all day?”

“Ha ha,” he deadpanned. “This place gave me a bad vibe.”

I nodded. “As it should. They’re going to raid the Merry and cash in on Luffy’s Bounty.”

“So what do we do with them now?” Ms. Monday asked.

I was wondering the same thing about the people below.

“I thought it was something like that. I guess I’ll take care of this, since you guys dealt with all that weather crap earlier.”

“Oh how chivalrous.”

He rolled his eyes at me.

“Kill them?” Mr.9 asked.

This time it was Zoro, who scoffed.

“If they die, the bounty drops thirty percent. The government prefers to hold public executions. Now go. I want them alive.”

“Hey, sorry to interrupt. You mind letting my friends sleep? They had a long day and the journey was exhausting, so I’ve been told.”

“Hey Mr.8, Ms. Monday, one of them escaped from the room, when we weren’t looking.”

‘Well well well, if it isn’t Boyd and that other guy.’

“Ugh. He’s right over there.”

“Sneaky wretch, you should’ve stayed asleep with your friends.”

“A good swordsman never makes the mistake of letting his guard down. Plus, I took a nap earlier. Judging by the scowls and cheap disguises, you’re all bounty hunters, whose specialty is robbing drunk pirates, who fall for your hospitality. It’s original. I’ll give you that at least.

“I count a hundred of you scum bags give or take, and I’ll fight all of you. You hear me, Baroque Works?”

It was helpful having a name for the organization. We had a concrete enemy now, someone specific to fight.

Well Zoro had someone to fight.

Everyone down below freaked out.

“How do you know our name?”

“I was in a similar line of work once upon a time. Your company tried to entice me with a job offer. Naturally, I said no. Do the same rules still apply? Employee identities kept secret, cheesy code names, the boss’s identity and whereabouts also a mystery? Baroque Works, the criminal group that faithfully carries out their orders like herded sheep. That’s some secret.”

“This is a surprise. If you know all of our secrets, then we are left with no other choice than to kill you, and another gravestone will be added to the cactus rocks tonight.” The mayor guy chuckled darkly, before issuing the order to kill Zoro.

Before any of them could move, he’d moved, appearing in the midst of their ranks.

I sat up right, so I could watch the show.

“It’s her!” Boyd yelled.

“You have a lot more to worry about than a little girl,” I informed them, pointing out Zoro.

He grinned. The bounty hunters drew their weapons and fired at him, but he was too fast. Instead of hitting him, the bullets flew into their fellow Baroque Works agents.

The mayor was getting frustrated, but even more evident, he was worried. He was beginning to sweat. The muscles in his neck were tense. His eyes were wide and flicking back and forth wildly.

“Incompetent morons, they just shot each other.”

“Yeah and the pirate got away.”

‘Way to state the obvious.’

The mayor turned around to bark out another order to his minions. “Just kill him! He’s only one man.”

Zoro’s blade slid through the idiot’s hair, glinting in the man’s peripheral.

“Ask yourself. Will one grave stone really be enough?”

“There he is!” The bounty hunters aimed their weapons at Zoro and by extension Mr.8.

All semblance of calm and control was out of the widow at this point. He screamed at the men to hold their fire, to keep him from being shot. He pulled out a saxophone of all things and blew into the instrument, causing it to shoot bullets.

Zoro ducked, avoiding them, before vanishing once more.

A few flew up towards me, but I dodged them with ease.

“Your friend isn’t going to make it through this, and once we get him, we’re coming after you,” the mayor said.

“Cause that’s going real well for you right now. You don’t even know where he is.”

He shot at me once more, but I jumped out of the way to another rooftop, down through a window inside. No one as home, seeing as the whole town was hunting Zoro. They ran into the first floor, while I hopped out of a side window on the second and into the adjacent house.  I exited out of the back door of that one, putting some distance between myself and the bounty hunters, before taking to the roof tops once again.

Zoro said he had this, so I was gonna leave it to him. Now if Boyd and his friend ended up in my path, well then maybe I would join in on the fun.

I caught site of the swordsman from my newest perch. He was having himself a grand old time, slicing through the bounty hunters, knocking them off of ladders, cutting holes into the ground for them to fall into.

Ms. Monday swung a ladder at Zoro, which he barely dodged. She slid her brass knuckles onto to her fingers.

“It was a good effort, swordsman, but there is no man, who can best my strength.”

‘Why should he get to have all the fun?’

“What about a woman?” I asked, jumping from my perch. My foot nailed her elbow, the impact, causing her to release Zoro. I wrapped both legs around her neck, and threw myself back, flipping her over, so that I landed on top of her, my legs pinning down her arms. She tried to fight out from underneath me, to push me off, but despite her advantage in terms of actual size, I had more strength. I raised my fist and drove it into her face, knocking her out.

“You still a little groggy from that nap earlier or something? Letting her get the jump on you.”

Boyd and the other guy charged at me from behind. I ducked the wire that they held between them and grabbed them both by the back of the shirt. I grabbed the wire, pulling it from their grasps, slicing my hand in the process, before slamming Boyd into the other, the impact strong enough to toss them both off of the roof.

“I could’ve handled that,” he said.

“’Thank you, Mira.’ ‘Oh you’re welcome, Zoro.’”

There was something about teasing Zoro that was just so much fun. I mean he made it so easy. He left himself wide open. It was even better because he didn’t have an argument for anything that I had said so far.

“Yeah yeah, I told you I got this.”

“Alright then,” I backed off. “Go ahead. You got this.”

Zoro strode over to the edge of the building, gazing down at the Baroque Works members below.

“Is that all you can offer Baroque Works?” he asked. “Cause you’re gonna need to do a lot better than that.”

I sat on the edge of the building.

Zoro carried a cursed blade. Initially, I had thought that that was the source of the dark aura that seemed to radiate from him, and it was, to an extent, but there was something else. There was something coming from within him. It was dark and violent. It was demonic almost.

It wasn’t noticeable earlier, but now it was. That sword of his, despite having sliced through over ninety people, hadn’t been satiated yet. It was still thirsty, begging for blood, and so it seemed was Zoro.

Mr.9 explained Baroque Works’ ranking to us. I think it was supposed to intimidate us, but neither Zoro nor I were impressed.

“I’ve found that fancy titles mean nothing, when it comes to fighting. The strongest wins and that’s that.”

The mayor fired at us with that stupid saxophone of his once more. I shuffled out of the way to the side, while Zoro, jumped up a level.

Mr.9 pursued him, while Wednesday whistled, calling her duck.

I raised a brow. “That’s your trump card? A duck?”

“Are you kidding me? A duck?”

“You get distracted so easily,” Mr.9 said, standing atop a belfry. “How can you hope to follow my acrobatics?” He began back flipping down towards Zoro. “You better prepare for my bloody bats!”

Zoro easily blocked his attack with one of his swords.

“You better be careful not to chip your precious blades.”

Zoro sheathed one of his swords.

At this point, Zoro was just toying with Mr.9, forcing him to go on the defensive and backing him up to the end of the building, which he wasn’t aware of. He attempted another one of his acrobatic moves, but ended up jumping off of the building.

“Is this really the best they can do?”

“There’s better. I’m still here. Are you ready, Mr.Bushido? Now, enjoy my perfume dance.”

Wednesday lifted her arms over her head and swayed back and forth. The fragrance of her perfumes choked Zoro out and brought him to his knees.

“Good boy,” he cooed. “And now, peacock slasher! Now Carue!” she hopped on the duck, and charged at Zoro.

Her weapon was a unique one, wires with a small jewel at the end of it. I had no doubt that they were effective cutting weapons, especially at the speed she was swinging them around.

Too bad the duck wasn’t as effective. He blew right past Zoro, and straight towards me. I quickly got up and pushed off the roof, jumping onto the building across the street. They fell of the building into a pile of junk on the side of the building.

They mayor’s saxophone sounded off, a barrage of bullets aimed at Zoro. Zoro cut a hole in the roof of the building, disappearing into the building below.

Mr.9 jumped out of the pile of debris he had created upon landing. He produced a chain from his bat, using it to tie up Zoro’s arm.

“Watcha gonna do now, tough guy?”

“Kick your ass,” Zoro replied easily.

I snorted.

“Excellent work,” the mayor commended.

“Come on, Mr.8, kill him now. You won’t get away!”

“That’s right, don’t move,” Miss Wednesday said. She had a machete in hand aimed at a still engorged, still sleeping Luffy. “If you even think about doing anything foolish, Mr. Bushido. Your friend here will be paying the price.”

“You idiot. Can’t he at least wake up, when he’s being held hostage?”

Mr.9 cackled with glee.

It had been fun and games up until this point, mostly, because these guys were kind of like gnats, annoying, but essentially harmless. This was different, because Luffy was asleep, oblivious to the danger he was in.

“Foolish is taking a crew’s captain hostage,” I said, standing up.

“Ah ah ah.” She wagged her finger. “Take one step off of that building and your precious captain meets his maker.”

I stayed still. I just had to bide my time

“Well done Ms. Wednesday. It looks like there will be no escape for the swordsman this time, unless he wants his friend to die.”

Mr.8 pulled at the strings of his neck tie, exposing the gun barrels hidden in his curls. “Firing squad ready!”

“What?!” Zoro yelled, caught off guard.

He yanked the strings further, the barrels firing. “Igarappappa!”

Zoro yanked on the chain, pulling Mr.9 with it, putting him between Zoro and the bullets.

Ms.Wednesday was shocked by this, which gave me my opening. I hopped off of the building and knocked the machete from her hand, before hitting her with a kick to the mid section, that sent her flying backwards.

“Duck!” Zoro yelled. I did as he said, hitting the ground.  He threw Mr.9, using him to take out Carue, sending them both into the same crater that I had hurled, Ms. Wednesday.

Mr.8 fired again, but Zoro managed to evade it. He used Luffy as a trampoline, jumping up and slashing at Mr.8, taking him out of commission.

Luffy lifted his head, opening his eyes. “Where am I?” he asked.

I shook my head and chuckled. “Just go back to sleep.”“

“How’d I get outside?”

I didn’t have time to respond, before he was out again.

I looked up Zoro, who was sitting on the roof of the building.

“I got say I’m impressed. Your skill with your blades is amazing, especially wielding a cursed sword. That’s even more impressive.”

“You can feel it too.”  It wasn’t a question, just an observation.

I nodded anyways. “Have you had it long?” I asked.

“Only since Logue Town.”

“It must’ve been there a long time. Its thirst for blood is strong.”

“Must be why it was being so disobedient.”

I looked at the carnage around us. “It’s only a matter of time, before they send some more. We should probably get out of here.”

“Meh, let ‘em. Everyone needs the rest. If they come, then I’ll just have to cut them down.”

Zoro seemed pleased at the prospect.

I shrugged. Based on what I could tell, he was first mate. No one really used titles on the crew save for when it came to Nami and Sanji.

He took a large swig from his bottle.

“Well then, since you have everything under control here, I’m going to head back to the Merry, make sure they didn’t steal or break anything.”

“You should get some rest. You worked just as hard as the other earlier. If you push yourself too much, you’re gonna burn out.”

I nodded at him. He was right. Plus, I was more than ready to go to bed. I had gotten my fill of crappy booze, entertainment and food. Sleep sounded great.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” I said, heading towards the Merry. “Good night, Zoro.”

“Night.”

***

Notes:

***

Previous | Next

***

Master List | Mobile Version

[mythologygirlfanfic]

Phoenix Down: Chapter Two

Summary: Her parents must have really wanted a son if they named their only child - a girl at that - Marco. (OC Reincarnation/Rebirth story) Or

An obsessive gamer girl is reborn and now has to navigate the world of One Piece as a female version of Marco the Phoenix. Shenanigans ensue as she drags everyone around her into her delusions do to the trauma caused by the loss of her precious games. So what if she gives her so called brothers a few heart attacks when she pretends to be dead until one of them yells, if not a little dramatically, “PHOENIX DOWN” with an accompanying eye roll, before ‘reviving’ along the way. That’s just part of the fun. The poor Whitebeard Pirates are in near constant exasperation with their sister’s sure, but that doesn’t mean they love her any less. Now, if only she could convince Ace that MMOs were a real thing.

Rating: T

Hellion.

That is what the old biddies in her village called her at least. Well, everyone in the village called her that, but they were all pretty much old biddies, so fuck them.

(Well, not really ‘cause that would be gross. Marco shivered at the thought.)

Who knew that trying to engage this dreary town in a riveting game of Splatoon would lead to her immediate and irrefutable exile from the only place she knew in a world she knew was much more vast and dangerous than most people could even comprehend.

She regretted nothing .

Nothing except maybe not being able to beam the mayor in the face with a balloon filled with pink paint and glitter. Marco had been stopped by the villagers before she could chuck that particular balloon, one of the bastard having snuck up behind her and tackling her to the ground before others jumped on her as well in some sort of impromptu dog pile. It had caused the young woman to be the one to get a face full of the mixture instead of her intended target. It had been a bittersweet defeat.

Now, here the pale blonde stood, not even a full day after what the fiasco the villagers irritably had started calling the ‘Day of Reckoning’ under their breaths, loading the little dinghy her parents scrounged up for her. She was so sure that Original Marco had lived a childhood of bloody strife. Her she was though, getting the boot from her home for simply throwing one too many paint balloons.

True, it had technically not been her first offense. Also true, that it hadn’t really been the worst thing she had done either, but for the people of her home island, it had been the last straw. Marco was pretty sure it was just because the sticks they all had shoved up their asses, that they were all just allergic to fun. The kids of the village could at least appreciate her genius, some having even thrown a mini protest over their favorite playmate’s severe and unjust punishment. Well, until they were threatened with dish duty. That had gotten Marco’s followers to disperse rather quickly. The little traitors.

(She carefully did not look into Mom 2.0’s tearful eyes and decidedly ignored the fact that Papa 2.0’s own looked even more droopy than before, like a basset hound whose favorite bone was being taken away. Marco even ignored the small pain in her chest when she thought of leaving them, that she would miss them.)

The farming life hadn’t been for her anyway. Her boobs made her back ache after all and the physical labor of tilling the land just didn’t justify that pain. Honestly, why did nearly all the girls who spent more than five minutes with Luffy have to have huge tits? (And the original Marco had, they had fought a war together. Screw the fact Original Marco had been a male.) Sure, they weren't as large as say Nami or Robin’s, but they were still annoying as fuck.

She was looking for a quest to complete anyway.

Quest objective: find Whitebeard and join his crew.

This quest sucked. It sucked balls. Hard .

She had been randomly sailing around the seas of North Blue for months. Months . And the teenager couldn’t even say it hadn’t truly been random sailing as she was in no way a navigator. She had slapped herself multiple times for not studying maps, but she hadn’t been planning to set out to sea by herself either. Honestly, Marco had thought Whitebeard and his band of jolly sons, more akin to a massive raid party, would be the ones to find her. You know, at home. On the island she had been born on.

Marco once again cursed the mayor and the citizen of Uptightville. She would have preferred they all would have left themselves, like all the potential critter friends she ignored in Animal Crossing , then have had them figure out the best way to get rid of a shitty neighbor was just to exile them from the town. (She briefly found herself lamenting who her virtual town had more than likely gone completely barren by now, before the thought become to unbearable and she had to shake it off. Sort of like the one Taylor Swift song.)

It hadn’t been all bad. If Marco ignored the fact she had almost starved, dehydrated, gotten nearly eaten by various sea monsters, and other things that had caused some minor bodily harm, the young woman could think of a few things to be grateful for. She finally got to update her appearance!

On the first island she had unceremoniously crashed into (Seriously, she didn’t mean to fall asleep! The sailing had been so boring to the point she had started talking to her own reflection on the water’s surface.), she found herself chopping off most her long, blonde hair. She had cropped it into a sort of mohawk, with the sides of her head shaved and a strip of slightly longer locks remaining on top. Of course, she only did this when she was certain Mom 2.0 didn’t have some sort of radar that would let the older woman know what her daughter was doing. Marco liked her limbs where they were and she wouldn’t put it past the lady to somehow find her due to some sort of messed up need for vengeance.

She had also acquired (Maybe, sort of stole) some new clothes. Nothing against what she had been wearing, the overalls were as comfortable as hell, they just weren’t exactly the best clothes to be traveling the wide up sea in. Marco now proudly donned a light blue corset and with blue shorts that rode maybe a little too low. The young woman had decided to forgo shoes, more so because she had been chased from the store before she could grab a pair. And, hey, this outfit was probably even less practicable than overalls, but if she was going to be a pirate, a pirate in the World of One Piece at that, she was going to looks bad fucking ass while doing.  

She was 18 and partly delirious when she found him. Found the man that had been Original Marco’s Oyaji. The man that would be her Oyaji too. Or at least, she hoped he would as she pulled alongside the massive, whale shaped ship. She was a little surprised that the Moby Dick had already been made and set sail, for whatever reason she was sure Edward Newgate would have had another ship, at least up until Gol D. Roger’s execution. She was happy to see it though. The large whale always looked so happy in the series and it looked even more so in person. If a just a tiny weensy bit intimidating. That and it also brought on the age old question of why it was blue? Had the gigantic man never read the novel? Did the novel even exist here? Wait, she had never read the novel, so this was a moot point.

Marco didn’t waste anytime.

“Make me your kid-yoi!” Her load exclamation caught everyone’s attention as they stared down from the large whale shaped boat at her little dinghy. It had certainly caught Captain Whitebeard’s as she could almost feel the older man’s gaze piercing through her. He was younger, his hair not completely white and his mustache just a tad less magnificent. It was like Mario and Dr. Robotnik’s facial hair had a baby. How much time did the man spend styling it?

“Eh? What was that brat? I didn’t hear you.” Edward Newgate was an incredible man, for that the young blonde girl was certain. His voice carried all the way down to her as if the roaring wind and crashing waves against the hulking vessel he rode upon allowed it passage. The captain before her didn’t even have to yell. Marco admitted she may have been a tad jealous at that.

Marco set her shoulders back further standing as straight and tall as she possible could. Her posture was so stiff it was starting to hurt, yet she had to make this man, the one fated to be the strongest on all the seas, this man with such an enormous legacy, take her on. “I said, make me your daughter-yoi!”

“Why should I?”

Okay, now she was sure the older man was messing with her. Still, she responded, “Because you’re like the final boss after a particularly hard dungeon that one has to level grind for like hours to beat-yoi.” At the confused silence that greeted Marco, she decided to take pity on the poor uncultured souls that would never really know the joys and sorrows of dungeon crawling and elaborated. “I think you're badass-yoi.”

Whitebeard threw his head back and laughed.

[monkeydluffy19920]

Chapter 862 re-reviewed

Somehow it just felt that I overreacted to yesterday’s newest chapter and didn’t think clearly enough while scribbling so decided to read the chapter again with patience and re-write the review again after a break. So here we go, take 2: 

There might be some old things but also something new in this re-review but anyways the chapter begins from inside the Capone (sounded so wrong) where Luffy is still fast asleep and the retrieval team is almost running out of time with their plan and the tension is real because Luffy is important part of the plan. Now after re-reading the chapter it’s almost mind blowing to see that when Jinbe tries to wake Luffy up he does not talk and question about leaving the plan but leaving Sanji. Not a minor detail but I have a feeling that this reflects to the fact that Jinbe knows after the Ace incident how much Luffy values his friends and uses this fact as a way to trying to wake him up instead of blaming him to ruin the plan or something (wow this sentence could’ve written simplier but I guess you know what I mean) Elsewhere Sanji is still wearing that ero kappa-face and having some difficulties to not to fall into the beauty trap and Pudding clearly is preparing for the assassination. The wedding cake is finally brought in front of everyone and the pair prepares to change their wedding wows.  Besides digging into the wedding cake with passion Big Mom has also other plans in her mind, to kill Vinsmokes and as we remember, only Reiju is aware of Pudding’s plan and preparing herself to die, I guess she unfortunately still thinks that she and they deserve it. “Somehow” BM made their table located so that they are quite  surrounded by Charlotte siblings of course so it’s harder for them to escape but still, doesn’t Judge really doubt anything? I mean he is a big name in underworld and even though I don’t know much about mafia stuff I bet the betrayals there are something that happens every once in a while so this is why I wonder that why Judge isn’t at least a bit doubtful but well he is so focused on his ambitions so maybe that’s why he is so trustful. Well, if you ask me, Sanji’s brothers are still douches which makes me want to see Luffy getting furiously mad at them because brotherhood for him is everything and seeing how badly Sanji has been treated would be a plausible excuse for that…

By the way what is that cake made of?! it can easily hold on 3 adult people and I’m not saying they are overweghted or anything but that’s still quite a lot to hold onto but well on the other hand since that cake is huge anyways it needs some supportive stuff :D And yup there they stand as cake toppings meanwhile the retrieval team is rushing to fulfill their plan. I am not now dropping this following comment just because I happen to be a huge sanami trash but still I bet that every single of them are in a great worry whether they will make it in time but somehow I could imagine Nami being the most worried one. Why I’m feeling like this is because she knows personally how it feels to see someone dear shot in front of their eyes and that’s why she would prefer ths plan to work before another close person is gone (traumas about Bellemere’s death must’ve haunted her ever since Sanji flashed that “don’t worry”-smile when they separated)

Then the unexpected happens and Katakuri foresees Pudding falling to the ground and the reason is exlpained immediately. Pudding finally reveals the third eye for the whole world and Sanji is flinched immediately BUT instead of getting disgusted he suddenly drops a compliment that eye and Katakuri’s prediction hit the nail on the top. Yup, all I can say is that even though Sanji has his ero kappa-side he also has this sensitive gentleman-side of his and it seems that Sanji really has some heart to give empathy even for those who have betrayed him and if this is the real Pudding we see now, he surely forgave woman’s lies again and like my mate @k-nico-robin said, if anyone was expecting a fight between Sanji and Pudding then it’s clear who won. Sanji beat a(nother) enemy of opposite sex with simple kindness which for me indicates that despite his ero-kappa-side he seriously has the heart of gold. 

To be honest I was all hyped up to see a epic attempt of murder by Pudding with her badass gun but it seemed that Sanji (accidentally?) hit her weak point pretty hard. I think my mate @pernanegra summed up this very well here. Pudding might’ve had psycho tendencies when she was a kid which were triggered because of the bullying  BUT whatever your past is just shedding tears doesn’t make you immediately a good and reliable person.  ( Hope you don’t mind that I quoted  your words) 

Also this plot twist and Pudding’s story is still really conflicting and my mate @cintanna​ brought really good points here. It indeed feels a bit confusing that a character that has waited so eagerly to murder someone and has no trouble on smiling in middle of a shooting incident or chases other kids with a stab as a kid would suddenly break down because of kindness of a man whom she’d barely known for days.  To be honest her memories makes me wonder what in the world is going on between Pudding and her mother. Pudding says her mother despised her because of her outlooks. This is rather odd because isn’t one of Big Mom’s dream is to have utopia without discrimination? Secondly it feels really conflicting to hear that Big Mom would despise her daughter because the yonko has her weird collection of animals and she did kind of ���fell in love” with Brook and “adopted” him as her doll. People are now also discussing about how BM has gotten so many kids and she must’ve had lots of sex but there is also a possibility that she could have also just used some help of medication or other ways to reproduce (remember that Rouge carried Ace in her womb for 20 months). Anyways Pudding inherits from a three eye clan and another thing why Pudding’s speech keeps me on my toes is that we’ve seen how these two characters have interacted before, at least in my eyes Big Mom did not show any disgust towards the third eye or demanded her to cover it and 35th daughter of the Charlotte family was portrayed as Big Mom’s favorite (Big mom might be controllable for example when she chose the wedding dress for Puddin but still I don’t see tension between them but well I might be blind.  Then we shall also not forget Pudding’s DF, the ability to control memories and I tried to think whether this all has something to do with that and could it be that she has manipulated her own memories for the wedding day but this might be just overthinking and really really far fetched?  Also there is still a slight possibility that their mother-daughter- relationship is good but Pudding simply has become bored that Momma gives her the orders and she would like to do more desicions of her own. This is what’s been up in discussions as well the relationship between her and Lola that what if Pudding really wants to be free like her and breaking the plan without further warnings would be her escape route. 

Along with pernanegra’s thought my mate @namibean​ also brought a important thing up. Even if Pudding now appeared to be a fragile girl it still doesn’t mean everything is fixed (or swiped under the rug) between her and Sanji. I haven’t checked any forums because this chapter has for sure caused some shitstorm but I bet that there are some people who assume things are suddenly now more than alright and sugarcoated and they could even now become a dream pair but that’s not how the healthy relationships work in my opinion. People should not forget that Pudding has shot someone Sanji holds dear, his sister and also she lead the retrieval team to a trap which lead to further troubles. To be honest I don’t think those kind of things are easily forgivable with few tears and also the fact that she broke Sanji’s heart as well.  On top of that people tend to forget that Sanji never wanted marriage in first place so would he really just out of sudden turn his direction, just because he sees few tears? 

Yeah I will admit that I overreacted yesterday badly and I still am upset that if this is now the real Pudding then she kind of is slowly turning into a victim. I am definitely not  floccinaucinihilipilificating (yes that’s a official synonyme for underestimating, can you imagine xD?) Pudding’s past if she is speaking the truth because even common sense tells that bullying is never right and simply harms the person and in her case it could be her “weak spot”. Also if her mother didn’t depsise her it can still be possible that the others really did.

I can’t still say whether I am buying those tears or not because there are still too many gaps in that story that are mentioned above but anything can still happen. However, if this is now the truth then her story will remind too much of one other characters’ Sanji met in my opinion. In Dressrosa Sanji faced the similar pattern: meeting a damsel whom he falls in love with who later turns their back at him and then end up being good. Everything can still change but yeserday it really felt that Oda wasted great potential for her to become the greatest female villain written in the complete history of One Piece BUT like said, nothing is sure before she gets her introduction box. 

I still ponder whether this change of plot will affect on the rest of the retrieval team who came here to save only Sanji. This is a what if-scenario but it would be really hard for them if Pudding would beg for forgiveness from the others and what would be their reactions and aftermath? We are talking about a person who first mislead them and boldly told how she is going to shoot the groom an now she would be begging for forgiveness? 

This is why I personally doubt that Pudding would be even welcomed to join the Straw Hats. Things are simply so messed up and she is definitely partly to blame to because even if sh did betra her own family it still doesn’t erase everything she has done before.  BUT there is also one good aspect on this plot twist which @lovemizumikan​ brought up. If Pudding is speaking the truth now then it means that this is a valuable lession about the fact that no one should be discriminated because of their outlooks. I will salute Oda-sensei for this message even though otherwise I don’t agree with this since this character is already too conflicting. Before we move on I just want to add here one important thing. That even though me and many others are really disappointed in this twist of fate I really hope that no one gets attacked in their inbox for this because of this. I am referencing on the shipping wars because there is a serious troll problem among the fandom and in situations like this it wouldn’t be surprising if someone woud use their chance to beat the beaten so I hope that we can keep it civil !

Meawhile Pudding is crying because of Sanji’s pure kindness the rest of the Charlotte family are dumbfounded but making their move and Sanji barely dodges the bullet shot by Katakuri (that shooting reminded me from Mr 5 who shot his boogers like that) and gives a aggressive glare at the enemy. I kind of sense Katakuri vs Sanji battle but there are many others whom to fight with so won’t place my bets anywhere.  What I have to say I like a lot was that deadly glare Sanji gave. This is something I’ve been waiting for a lot, for him to slowly becoming his old self after all the unluck and misery. 

The gunshot brings chaos to everywhere because now Vinsmokes are aware of that it’s dangerous out there but also there are others who don’t know what they should do next and then Luffy makes the epic entrance he has ben hyping for, jumping out of the wedding cake ! ::DD (should kinda have known it was something like that because it’s Luffy ::DDddd)

… and so the war begins !