#i had this vision in my head of Brook's sword in sanjis hand and zoros blades about to kill him when they all suddenly stop

[to-the-all-blue]

A curse turns the crew against Sanji a short time after Wano. It's subtle at first. Subtle enough that he chalks their weird behavior up to WCI. In his mind, he's sure the crew probably just feels uncomfortable around him after he betrayed them. So it doesn't matter that Usopp said something unusually cruel or that Nami threw a glass at him because, well, he understands that he fucked up. And they're his crew, right? He can bear it if that's what they need. Not to mention they're in the middle of the ocean, so it's not like he can leave and give them space.

Then it escalates. Then he's getting hurt. And he starts to realize this is something more. He tries to research it, but the crew won't let him. They gang up on him, making him work nonstop: taking every watch and cooking and repairing the ship and not being allowed to sleep and, and...It doesn't end. If he falters, they punish him. After only a couple weeks of this, he's left exhausted and in pain.

One day it comes to a head. Harsh words turn into a fight which turns into the crew ganging up on him as if he's an enemy combatant and he just can't. He sees them crowd him and he remembers his brothers and he stumbles. He's too exhausted to dodge, too scared of hurting them to fight back. So they get him pinned and are about to finish him off when...

Clarity.

They all wake up, suddenly. The curse is broken and Sanji is nearly dead on the ground between them and they remember.

[bunnyboowrites]

My Last Wishes (Zoro x Black!Reader)

Summary ~ you’ve known forever of your early grave, and it’s come time for you to inform your crew-mates of the truth about your fate. None of them are happy, especially the one-eyed swordsman.

Warnings - Zoro x Fem!reader, implied POC!reader but not outright, Angst, Smut, M and F smut, oral (F receiving), p in v smut, Loss of virginity, +18 only pls, Zoro is a bit ooc, Bad Writing as Usual!

(Y/n) had been acting strange around her crew lately, her normal bubbly moods seemed to be dampened and no matter what anyone did she wasn’t the same. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper goofing off to make her laugh? She’d just give a weak smile and walk away. Franky doing cool tricks? A small thumbs up. Brooks songs, Robin's talks about history, Nami’s fashion show, and Sanji’s cooking. Nothing seemed to make her feel better, the extreme fell upon them when Zoro stepped in.

He walked over to her lawn chair on the deck, he glanced around awkwardly and put his hands on his swords “You can touch my earrings now, you know since you asked before..” he felt his skin heat up, he also felt the whole crew watching on as they pretended to be occupied by other things. For the first time in what had felt like months she gave the biggest smile while the green haired man sat down on the chair, pushing her legs out of his way. The crew sighed a breath of relief as they saw the girl reach for Zoro’s golden jewelry.

He coughed and muttered “so what’s got you so bothered? everyone’s noticed and they’re all worried about you.” She looked at him puzzled by the question before a guilty look crossed her face for a quick second. “You’re not worried though?” She asked trying to brush it off as a joke, but he wasn’t buying it. “You usually love that pervy cook’s dessert when you have tea with Robin but you gave it to Luffy.” He huffed and looked at the ground “so I was sort of worried” she sighed and racked her brain on what would be the best way to go about it, explaining to these people she considered her new family that she’d been cursed since before she was ever born. “I’ll let everyone know at dinner, thank you for worrying about me Zoro”

Sanji called everyone to the kitchen when dinner was ready, everyone rushed to be seated finally ready to understand what was hurting their dear friend. She was seated between Nami and Zoro, and she held a stack of envelopes “mailing something?” Brook questioned. She simply shook her head and handed each of them their own personalized envelope. “I’m sorry I made you guys upset” she started, head hanging low her curls covering her usually joyful eyes that were now full of tears. “But I have no clue how to tell you guys”

“No worries (Y/n) you can tell us anything” Luffy exclaimed while grabbing some bread off of her plate. She started to shake with a sob, and now everyone was giving their full attention to her. “I-I have only a couple months left to live” she whispered, she was surprised by the unusual silence of the situation “way before I was even born my family had been cursed, the women in our family were said to contract a deadly disease that had no side affects just death” she wipes away tears that are clouding her vision.

Everyone was frozen, unable to speak or even breathe. Sanji was the first to act “Don’t worry my beloved (Y/n)-San I’ll do anything to help you” his comment was followed by echos of agreement “What are you saying, you can’t leave us like this” Luffy yelled “We need you, without you how are we ever supposed to find our dreams?” She’d never think that Luffy would act this way. But then again how could he not, he’d already lost his brother and he didn’t need any more of his family ripped away.

Chopper hopped into the girls lap “if it’s a disease I promise I’ll cure you, I’ll do everything in my power to help you! What’s good is being the cure for all diseases if I couldn’t save my friend?” he cried, she stroked his back as he hugged her. Glancing around the table she looked drained, fatigued beyond recognition and Robin just hummed “How long have you known this?” she said and Nami nodded her head “ever since I was a little girl I knew misfortune was real and that it was coming for me” she paused and turned her head up towards the ceiling and chuckled “but when we docked on the last island I went to see a doctor and they told me my diagnosis”

Zoro sat with his arms crossed and closed his eye, seeing his crew with so much emotion it made him feel like he was powerless. Everyone was shedding tears hearing this news. He had a question that he wanted answered “Were you just gonna hide it from us until we woke up to find you dead?” Nami turned to him with a concerned look “Zoro?!? Are you crazy, this must have been eating her alive and you’re being too harsh” He huffed “(Y/n) should’ve told us, that’s something that could’ve happened any day since the day she was born but kept it a secret from people she was supposed love and care for, I’m upset so sorry if I’m being harsh” he picked up the rest of his booze and stormed out almost knocking the door off it’s hinges on the way out.

She finished saying her apologies to her family, the hardest thing she ever felt she had to do. “Those envelopes are my last wishes for each of you, I want them to be opened after I’m gone… for when you miss me most” She picks Zoro’s envelope up and sighs “I have to go give this to the hothead” she laughed in a breathy sigh. She walked out of the kitchen to start her search for the swordsman. She checked the men's quarters first and found the room empty and he was nowhere to be found on the deck so her best guess was the crow's nest.

She finally made it to the top and saw him, her heart started to beat a little faster at seeing him. He was shirtless and he was lifting a dumbbell sweat beaded at his forehead and some trickled down his face and neck and down between his defined pecs "Zoro I came to check if you were okay" She moved closer to the man before he gave a grunt "I'm fine sweetheart, but you just did something knowing you had a way out while we get stuck picking up the pieces" She felt the agitation build in her body "You think I like this Zoro? this is my home you guys were the escape from my stupid curse and now it's coming to an end" she pushed his chest he just silently stared as tears began to roll down her face "I never wanted to hurt anyone, but I couldn't have come out and said it when I met you guys id be standing in the way of everyone's dreams because everyone would be trying to find a cure to something I've had forever." she felt her whole body shake as she sobbed. Zoro thought her cries were painful to look at, he couldn't stand not being able to help her.

"I won't be able to have a boyfriend, experience sex or kissing sure but that's for the better because I'd rather have my friends and our adventures" She buried her face into his chest and he sighed and slowly wrapped his arms around her "you havent been with anyone?" He asked as she realized she told her crush that she was a virgin. She felt the embarrassment warming her "i- don't worry about that, you're an insensitive jerk Roanoa Zoro. do you know that?" He couldn't help himself but think about doing those things with her, giving her everything she deserved and more. she wouldn't want a brute like him anyway, he was sure she liked men more like that swirly cook.

Zoro would never admit it but he tried to take care of himself better to please her, weekly baths became every two days he even bought himself cologne on an island they docked at. All of this to impress the girl clinging to him and sniffling in his arms her soft curls and plush body attracting him to her, always making sure she was never alone even if he was napping. He would never admit but he wanted her to fight to stay alive to stay with them, to stay with him. he would sacrifice any and everything for the girl in his arms.

She finally looked him in the eye, her lip trembling and her eyes still full of tears "I brought your envelope, I need you to wait until I'm dead to read it though" her voice was barely a whisper. He scoffed "I don't want that stupid letter I want you to stay with me" he caught his mistake. She felt her heart skip a beat at his words. He wanted her to stay with him? had he felt the same all this time? feeling bold she firmly said "I love you" She sighed "Not like I love everyone else, I dream of you-" She cups his face "I pray in the night, the heavens know whose name I whisper when I sin" Her eyes flutter down to his lips and she pauses.

"(Y/n) I will sacrifice everything for you, we can find a way to fix whatever is wrong with you I promise it," he said feeling his body react in ways he thought would only happen when he thought about her perfect body underneath him. she smiled as she leaned in pressing her plush lips against his, her lips were soft but she was kissing him so softly he needed more after longing for her after so long. after she pulled away for her breath he impatiently pulled her back in for a more this time slipping his tongue into her mouth.

after their kiss she was trying to catch her breath, their mouths connected by the thin line of spit from both of their lips. "That was so much better than what if imagined" she whispered, her core warming in the oh-so-familiar way. he grabbed her hair and tilted her to look at his face "Let me grant those wishes for you, I wanna be everything for you, just like you are for me" his voice was so smooth and he was running his other hand down her neck and over her cleavage. she shivered at his touch and he smirked at her. "do you want this sweetheart? for me to be with you in a way no one else will be able to be?" she nodded with bated breath.

He licked her neck and took a long breath, inhaling her scent it was sweet with something else he couldn't make out. "you're made for me, I need you now" he groaned. She whimpered as he grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head exposing her to the chilly air of the room. He laid the dress down on the floor using his shirt as a cushion for her head. He caught her lips in another intense kiss their tongues dancing, he ran his hands all over her body cupping her pretty ass and giving it a slap. "Lay on the dress for me baby," he said, his husky tone doing wonders for her wet little pussy.

She laid on the dress and was feeling slightly embarrassed, she was so scared he was just a figment of her imagination. She covered her body unsure of how she would look to him knowing that during his pirate hunter days, he saw many women. He was having none of it though grabbing her hand and placing it on his massive print through his pants. "you do too many things to me for you to be embarrassed sweetie" she whimpered feeling his large dick, there was no way she could take that. she would try her best to please him though. "Zoro please, let me taste you" she moaned. he wore a grin on his face he was delighted that she wanted him so desperately but he had other plans. He hooked his fingers in her underwear, waiting for her permission to continue.

"I've got something even better for you doll" She let out a small whimper as her breathing picked up. His face was so close to her core, she could practically feel him breathing on her wet slit. The first lick of his tongue felt intense, something she couldn't put into words "Zoro-" the moan left her with a jolt, his cock twitched hearing her moan his name. it was filthy on her sweet lips. "oh so fucking good for me, I gotta get you ready for my cock baby" he dove back into her pussy groaning at her taste. She was his salvation, her body sculpted perfectly. everything he loved on his tongue as he flicked her clit with his tongue while slowly sliding a finger into her entrance.

His name was falling from her mouth like a sick prayer, she was getting so close to the peak and he needed her to fall over the edge just for him. "Ungh, I think I'm gonna cum Zoro, just like that oh-" he smirked as he used his fingers to hit the spongey spot in her sweet little cunt. She couldn't hold out any longer and she felt her body snap with the arrival of her orgasm. the buzzing feeling still fresh on her mind, devouring her senses as Zoro pulled his pants and boxers off.

She watched as he stripped, squeezing her thighs for some relief "Are you sure I can't return the favor?" she asked with a certain breathlessness to her voice. "no I need that fucking pussy around me or I might lose my mind" he groaned desperately, his head rubbing through her folds wetting him thoroughly. His head caught her entrance and he slowly bullied his way into her tight little cunt, "I'm gonna be gentle for you, but fuck you are not making this easy on me (Y/n)" he moaned into her neck.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he began slowly bucking his hips, the burning sensation turning into intense pleasure. it was like static was running through her. through her whole body even her toes. her moans were getting more loud and intense with every passing thing he said into her ear "Oh fuck baby, you're fucking mine forever." "This pussy is only mine by the time I'm done with this virgin pussy it'll only remember me" "I fucking love you, every day I find a new reason to love you" he sped his thrust up when he could tell how fucked out you were. "oh god I lov- Zoro I love you too" he felt a shiver at her confession his balls tightened . "say you'll never leave, tell me you'll fight to stay" "ill stay with you 'ro" she was pretty sure she was screeching now her impending orgasm sneaking up on her. He let out a loud groan and reached down to play with her clit, everything mixing together being the catalyst to her falling apart. squirting all over him moaning for him begging him to fill her up with his cum. "you're so good and fucking perfect" he moaned as his balls emptied, his cock being milked by her perfect cunt.

they were left coming down from their highs while the heaviness of their situation returned. She panted as the dull aching pain came back "Did you really want me to fight for you?" she questioned. She heard him grunt in agreement and she felt herself reach a determined state of mind "I'll do anything to see everyone's dreams come true. My new dream is to stay alive to go on so many adventures with my friends and my love" he nodded and kissed her neck "I love you Zoro" she whispered as he sighed content and tired "yeah yeah let's just get some rest." he muttered, breathing in the night air with a newfound sense of purpose for the both of them.

;0 I actually wrote smut, it was pretty hard so I’ll keep practicing. Bye bye for now

[evergone]

In The Bird's Nest

Roronoa Zoro x Female Reader

Warnings: 18+ content (unprotected sex of varying kinds, naked cleansing), strong swearing

The crew sat around warming themselves under blankets in the continually sparking light of the fire. Nami and Robin were talking about the recent weather and its implication on your voyage; Luffy, Franky and Usopp were trying to keep each other awake until twelve, but it was clear that they were all seconds off passing out; Brook hummed a lullaby to Sanji, Jimbei and Chopper.

Zoro, your dearest, Zoro, had fallen asleep hours ago, his cock balls deep in the walls of your clenching pussy. Thanks to the blanket covering your mid section the other members of the crew were none the wiser to the tension in your lower half that was making your thighs twitch like a dying light. You were practically passing away under there, begging that the others would hurry up and fall asleep so you could ride his dick like a toy and finally bring a satisfaction to your aching lady-parts.

“You okay, Y/n-swan?” Sanji asked.

You couldn’t open your mouth, not when you could almost hear the moan that was caught in your throat, so you just nodded. Sanji’s curled brow lowered in concern, but he didn’t bother you again, just the odd glance every few minutes. Your head rested on Zoro’s vast and bare chest, the scar across it was awfully familiar against your cheek. It was often that he would stuff your face there as you orgasmed, the comfort of his bulging pecks somehow making you cum that much faster. Your pussy squeezed as you rubbed your cheek across the scar and eventually your waist followed along, dragging Zoro’s dick through your body. You must have gotten too into it because soon enough one of Zoro’s hands was groping your waist and the other was moving your head into his neck.

“I don’t think we agreed to you using me to get off,” he whispered into your ear, his voice still gravelly from his nap.

You stiffened but held your ground, “I was bored,” you whined.

His dick pulsed inside you, “Bored? On my dick?” he chuckled softly, “I don’t think so.”

You hated it when he acted all entitled. But, fuck, you really loved it. In the corner of your vision you could see Sanji fighting back the urge to intrude on the two of you. Zoro must have seen it too because he licked the length of your neck like it was his sword, his eye attached to the cook’s like you were some kind of object to win. The flesh of your walls twitched around his cock and with it you took back his attention.

“Should we go back to...” he sat up in the chair as you spoke and he carried your body on top of his with ease, “The ship?”

He just shrugged as you near-spasmed on him, gripped his huge biceps and glared at him. Zoro’s hand rested on your bare lower back, restricting your movement for his own evil pleasure. If he wasn’t the best dick you’d ever had you would have killed him right then and there. The first time you two fucked he was nice to you, gentle even, but once you told him he was a little too soft he started to act like this, like his dick was too good for you.

“Y/n-swan, are you sure you’re okay?” Sanji repeated himself, his concern seeming a little too jealous to be genuine.

“She’s fine, erocook,” Zoro answered for you, “Go away.”

Zoro’s leg bounced with impatience as he waited for Sanji to leave — a habit of his. Such a wonderful habit. Your eyes rolled back as you stuffed your nose into his chest, letting him slightly bounce you atop his throbbing cock. The movement was less than fulfilling but you were so desperate for him to fuck you that you were willing to settle for anything he was willing to give.

His dick was painfully proportionate to his body, so thick and long that it almost felt like you were giving birth every time he let you bump and it slipped out and back into your wet pussy. Sanji scoffed in envious disgust and left you two to your own devices.

“Like that, do you?” Zoro said and you nodded into his chest, his scar rough on your plump lips, “Tell me how much you like it.”

You looked up into his eye with a frown. You almost expected him to stop bouncing just to elongate your desperation, but he was being nice for once. He smirked down at you and repeated his last sentence silently.

You sighed, giving in for the sake of horniness, “I like it so, so, so much,” you moaned quietly.

He started to rock his hips back and forth along with the bouncing and pushed your head back into his chest. The drag of your pussy against his cock that was dripping precum inside you was making both of you have to breathe past the groans in your throats.

“Yeah, fuck this,” Zoro hissed and lifted you off his dick, placing you to the side of him in his camp chair, careful not to let the blanket fall off you, “Meet me in the bird’s nest.”

He pulled his pants up and walked off towards the ship. You refused to let yourself get off the high so you followed him there, but not before turning to the others and making obscenely sexual gestures. Franky gave you a thumbs up, which you returned while ignoring Sanji and Nami’s utter disgust.

When you got back onto the ship, you didn’t have to search for Zoro. Ever since he dragged a futon up there he’s had no need to leave the bird’s nest. All his favourite things were there; his swords, his weights, even a fishing pole. And his favourite of all seemed to be there most of the time, too, just for him. You.

By the time you got into his home inside of home, Zoro had rid himself of all his clothing, save for his bandana that he had tied around his bare arm and his underwear.

“Now I feel overdressed,” you laughed as you walked to him and slowly took off your denim jacket.

Zoro licked his bottom lip and caught himself before he managed to palm himself through his boxers, “I can fix that.”

He stood up and came so close to you that your breasts were squished on his ribs and the only thing stopping you from falling was his hand that had rested almost subconsciously on the curve of your back. You raised your arms for him and he pulled off your shirt with his free hand, speeding up when it kept your eyes from his. His hands travelled up your sides, just keeping your balance with their faint touch, and he unbuckled your bra like a professional. Your boobs fell from the underwire and his body shuddered at the feeling of your bare nipples on his tanned skin.

“Stop it with the unnecessary foreplay, Zoro,” you said firmly, pushing your shorts down but not daring to send your undergarments with them.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he replied.

He didn’t bother to take your panties off before he threw you against the wall and brought himself even closer to you then he was before. His dick, still in his own underwear, slotted up against your covered opening and he grinded you into the wall. You moved along with him in waves of growing excitement as you both started to breathe heavier. Eventually, he’d picked you up and forced your legs around him, having grinded to his limit.

“Zoro—”

“What?” He asked hurriedly.

You took your shining e/c eyes away from his for what felt like the first time but considering how you had seen stars in the back of your eyelids just moments before you knew that wasn’t right. He followed your gaze to your pink panties and the darker spot right at the front. A small smirk reached the edges of his mouth as he grabbed your leaking cunt through the panties. You melted into his hand as a harsh moan escaped your lips and your head, once again, buried itself in his large chest.

“No,” He said, “No, look at me.”

You groaned but returned yourself to the position you were in before. He forced you to watch as he removed his hand from your panties, much to your dismay, and raised it to his nose. He took a good, long sniff of your wetness on his hands and you found yourself removing your panties on your own.

“Oh?” He questioned.

You dropped from his waist and in seconds the two of you had moved from your position on the wall to the futon. You sat on his stomach, your bare pussy was like a low-running vibrator with its endless unwanted clenching and it was starting to dawn on Zoro just how desperate you were for his dick to be rammed inside you. Two hands made their way into his boxers and for a second they just laid there on his balls, embracing them like old friends, then they pulled his underwear all the way off. You smiled sweetly at him, your eyes were wide saucers of lust, your lower region inched ever closer to his own.

Zoro puffed out whiny breaths as he tried not to moan. Your face dropped down towards his and you kissed the corner of his mouth.

“Oh,” you said, “I missed.”

You kissed him again on the centre of his lips and explored his salty mouth with your tongue. One of your wanting hands circled the tip of his cock, and you pulled away from his lips, a string of saliva attaching you to each other, and watched his eye close in impatient arousal.

“Fuck me,” he told you.

You scoffed, “So when you want to be fucked I have to fuck you, but when I want to be fucked it’s all ‘tell me how much you like it’” you imitated his gruff voice causing his body to shake with quiet laughter.

“Please?”

Well, when he was being so polite how could you refuse him? You raised your body and lined your entrance up with his hard dick that had grown at least a few inches in size. Your heart fluttered as it worried you wouldn’t fit all of him in, but your hole knew it had done it before and would more than gladly do it again. Pain ached through your lower region and up your spine as you pushed your hips past the girth of his length and managed to rest on it as you had been earlier that night.

“You good?” He asked, his ego almost as large as something else of his.

You frowned and bounced on him, watching as he pursed his lips together as to not scream in undeniable pleasure, “Absolutely perfect, you?”

Zoro hesitated, grunting back his moans, the stubborn bastard, “Great.”

“Don’t hide your voice from me, little boy,” you said.

“Little boy?” He shouted, halting your movement by grabbing your waist mid-bounce. He was so sexy strong. “Fuck you.”

“Please do,” you teased.

A groan escaped his mouth as he adjusted his body and before you knew what was going on he was slamming his dick into you so hard you were almost scared you might rip open. You threw your head back in explicit passion, deathly screams tearing their way through your throat and tears pickling the edges of your eyes. Under you, Zoro was grunting and puffing as he slotted his huge dick in and out of your soaking cunt.

At some point he was so much louder than you that you couldn’t even hear yourself screaming so you looked down to see his right hand slapping the floor and his good eye squeezed shut. He was blushing like a boy right after his first time and all you could do was run your hands through his short green hair as his grip on your waist started to feel like a trip to the doctor’s office for bandages. The movement below you slowed and dragged rather than slammed and you bit your lip.

“Hey... hey, Zoro,” You said between pants, “Look at me, Roronoa Zoro.”

Oh, how he hated it when you called him his full name. He opened his good eye anyway, too horny for games.

“I love you,” you whispered and he came immediately.

Your eyes rolled back into your head as he filled you with his sweet, manly milk. It smelt so bad yet so good. Like Zoro’s normal scent to the extreme. You laughed as he hid his face in his hand and breathed through it.

“You’re not gonna leave me hanging, are you?” You asked with a small, innocent pout.

Zoro’s gaze turned to you and he removed himself from you. You visibly changed moods as he flipped you over and sat up like he was gonna leave you.

“Hey, not cool, Roro—”

His cock rammed hard into you, jolting you up and into his chest. He was such an asshole. An asshole who was very good at taking care of you. He fucked his cum and let it mix with the slick of your vagina, making a concoction of the hottest sex you’d ever had. He had you gasping for air and drawing lines of blood on his back with your nails as you kissed the scar on his chest followed by a lick of his eye scar. Your pussy ate up his dick and in minutes you were kicking and making noises you didn’t know you could make.

“Fuck, fuck,” you whimpered, “Oh, Zoro, fuck!”

Zoro kept going and going and going. And you dug your nails further and further and further into his poor back. One last slam of his body into yours felt like it hit your womb and the bubble inside you burst, covering his dick in your love. He pulled out, letting you breathe.

“I’m going back to sleep,” he said and fell onto his back beside you.

A sigh escaped your lips as you stood to your shaking feet and threw Zoro’s green coat over your body. It dwarfed you but covered you all the same. You left the birds nest and filled a small bucket with warm water and another with soapy water, there were towels in the nest so you weren’t particularly worried about grabbing those. You passed Brook on your way back from the bathroom and he stopped you with a laugh.

“I would frown at you,” he started, “But since I’m a skeleton I have no eyebrows to frown with! YOHOHOHO!”

You giggled and returned to the nest where Zoro was sleeping alert but peacefully. You pulled a scrub from the soapy water and gently wiped his skin clean of the mess you had made with him. His eye opened ever so slightly but you encouraged him to sleep as you continued to wipe him down and washed the soap off with the normal water and dried him with one of the towels laying around. It was probably sweaty, but he would live.

“Tie your hair up with this,” he said quietly when you took his coat off to clean yourself.

“What is— oh,” he passed you his bandana, “Thank you.”

He sat up and took the scrub from your hands.

“C’mere,” he grunted.

You got closer to Zoro and he washed you down as you had him. He quietly apologised for the bruises on your waist, but after a reminder of the scratches in his back his worries were eased. The swordsman dried you, too, then grabbed you like a plush toy and fell asleep on your breast.

“You’re as bad as Sanji.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

[strawberrypiratenin]

Halcyon

Part I: Wisdom of a Moss

Disclaimer:  One Piece and it’s wonderful characters is owned by Eiichiro Oda.  The following work of fiction is just my way of filling in some spaces in his work with my shameless imagination.

This and my other work is also available in ff.net. 

Rating: K+

Word Count: 4k+

Genre: Friendship, Comfort, Humor, sprinkle of Fluff 

Pairing: Zoro/Nami

Summary:  Set after Ch. 955 in the manga. Nami reflects on their current journey and her worries are let known to a certain swordsman.

A/N: Being the ones to be beside Luffy since the very beginning, I figured if there is someone to reflect on how their journey has been it has to be these two. Seeing also how they have the dynamic of Nami being worrisome and Zoro comforting just telling her how things are (e.g. Davy back fight, Usopp leaving the crew), I thought if someone in the crew is going to feel this way, it would be Nami, with Zoro being there to talk it out. 

This was supposed to be a one- shot but I ended up having a vision of a scene to wrap this up which I’m trying to get to. So looks like there would be more.  Hopefully I somehow mostly stayed in character. Hope you enjoy.

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

"What's a dango?" the Strawhat's doctor asked, eyes glinting, as Sanji helped unload the fragrant boxes of dango sent by one of the allies. They were gathered around a table in their small camp. The preparations for the raid in Onigashima nearing its completion.

" Hmm…dango? Ah yes, you see Chopper, it's a type of weapon, disguised as colorful treats that when eaten, causes one to be hypnotized and start walking backwards! An assassin once tried this weapon on me…" Usopp started explaining as the glint in the poor reindeer's eyes started to die out.

"…but you see the great and mighty Uso—"

"Wrong!" The blonde cook shouted, sandaled foot connecting on the sniper's head. "Stop disrespecting food like that!"

Nami cringed at the thought of a hypnotizing, backward walking individual they had once encountered.

"It's a sweet rice dumpling, Chopper. And no, it won't hypnotize you when you eat it." Nami said sweetly, to the relief of the horrified reindeer.

Nami's eyes narrowed to the now laying on the ground Usopp and huffed.

"I should go call the others."

"No Onami- swan! How about you stay here and let's have someone else call the others." Sanji said, glaring at Usopp, who's now nursing a bump on his head.

"It's okay Sanji- kun," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "I needed the walk anyway."

"If you say so mellorine~, shall I accompany you?" said the cook, with hearts on his eyes.

"Just stay here and guard the food Sanji- kun." Giving one last weak smile, the navigator turned to leave, feeling the need to be by herself with her thoughts.

"Alright you shits! Nobody eats until Nami swan gets back here!"

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

It was easy to find the others as the Strawhat navigator was almost trampled on her way by their captain as he shouted "food! Where's the food?" and took off running excitedly to where she pointed without another word.

She found Robin with Franky, who just got back from the port, and Brook who excitedly claimed how great that would be with tea, the thought just warms his insides, although ah! He does not have any insides.

Only one more left to find. She's just hoping he did not get lost somewhere far.

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

Bamboo leaves rustled as a breeze passed through the forest, orange tresses swayed along, its owner slowly getting lost in her thoughts as the very person she was looking for started to creep on her mind.

"...Zorojuro, I will be blunt with you, if it were me, I would not accept this blade", suggested Kinemon.

One clean strike. Rumble.

Nami wasn't able to stifle her gasp as she watched a huge chunk of the edge of the cliff splash into the waters below.

"Gyaah! Zorojuro's arm!"

Her eyes widened as she watched Zoro's sword wielding arm appear to emaciate after the swing of this new sword. Her mouth open, about to call out at him…

"You! Give it back to me!"

…and she watched as his arm returned to normal, the swordsman seemingly having tamed the sword.

She stood in shocked silence. 'what a scary weapon' she thought, hand on her mouth dropping to her chest as the heartbeat that has quickened its pace started to calm down.

"If you were just some normal swordsman, you would have had all you energy sucked out and collapsed immediately", Hitetsu commented.

The swordsman's face spread into a devilish grin. "So it means once I get used to this sword I'll be stronger? I'll take it, Enma."

A small frown started to form on the navigator's lips. She can't deny the fear that gripped her insides when she saw what happened to Zoro's arm. Such scary power, and he was very much willing to wield it to get stronger.

She let out a huff as she recalled everything they have been through since they reunited and sailed the New world. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. Compared to how it was when they first set sail on the Grandline as a crew, everything that has been going on now seems to be so… intense. And with it, it seems, out of all of them in the crew, it was the green haired swordsman who has been taking everything with so much intensity. Too intense if that demonstration on the cliff has anything to say.

She always knew the guy was intense, even from the very first time she met him, running around, carrying a cage with a profusely bleeding stab wound to his abdomen. She knows the guy would do everything in his power to get stronger. She also knows that much like everyone else in their crew, he would do everything to use that power to protect them and keep them moving towards their dreams.

The problem however, and what really worries her about all this, is that aside from this intensity, he also is an idiot. A big idiot who ends up disregarding himself and his safety for the sake of the crew and getting stronger. She slapped a hand to her forehead as she recalled that time he tried to fight Arlong despite being severely injured, or that time in Little garden when his initial instinct was to cut off his legs, his own damn legs to get free. Or his weird injuries in Thriller bark. She suspected he had something to do with why they all ended up unharmed and Kuma nowhere in sight when they all came to and he was the only one to end up like that. But he just brushed it off and said "who knows? maybe he got scared so he just left". Or how he got back from their two- year separation without his left eye?!

Now he's willing to risk getting his energy sucked by that sword? She knows he's strong, very much so but she really can't help but worry for him. She's already worried for all of them as it is but she can't seem to especially shrug of her worry for her green haired crewmate this time.

Another rustle of leaves, but this time followed by the creaking of falling bamboos snapped the redhead from her thoughts.

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

The swordsman stood in solitude in the middle of the bamboo forest, three swords all unsheathed, trying to get the feel of them with his newly acquired one. There is still some strain on the arm wielding Enma but not as much. He is getting used to this sword quite well. Hitetsu mentioned earlier that he is confident by his hands, this sword will become a black blade. He grinned at that. Tightening his grip on Enma, he closed his eye, and breathed out.

Ever since they set sail on the New world, no, ever since he asked Mihawk to train him back in Kuraigana, he had renewed his resolve that by his swords he will fulfill his promise to Kuina, fulfill his dream, and see to it that his crewmates dreams be fulfilled as well. Defeat such as that at Thriller Bark and Saboady shall never happen again. No longer will he be powerless to protect his crew and their dreams.

He opened his eye and stared at the new sword on his hand. 'Suck its wielder's energy huh?' He grinned, 'try me', his arm moving to make a clean slash at the trees around him.

Too focused on his new sword, it was only after the slash that he sensed another presence nearby.

His one eye widened as he saw the woman at the direction the trees were falling to.

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

Nami yelped as the top ends of a few falling bamboo trees narrowly missed her, causing her to fall on her behind at the ground.

"Baka! What are you doing there?!" Came the strained shout of the very man she was looking for. In an instant, he had closed the distance between them.

"Are you hurt?" Concern and a tinge of panic laced the voice of the swordsman.

She was shocked at first, just staring at the fallen bamboos in front of her then at the crewmate who was responsible for her distracted thoughts just a moment ago and is now crouching beside her.

She blinked, once, twice.

"…"

"Baka?" The word slipped from her mouth with a confused tone as she recovered from her shock.

"Who are you calling baka?!" She erupted, followed by a fist to the side of the swordsman's head.

"Oh great, you're okay. Dammit woman!" the now irritated swordsman said, nursing his head. Despite his reaction, his eyes still scanned her body, looking for any signs of injury.

"Okay?! You almost crushed me with those bamboos!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know you would be there?"

"I don't know, maybe scan the area first before going off slashing these poor unsuspecting trees?"

"I was training! What the hell are you doing, strolling around here anyway?" Zoro grumpily retorted as he held out his hand to help the navigator get up.

Nami stared at the outstretched hand towards her, remembering it's the very same limb that almost got sucked dry by Enma at the cliff. Her irritation dissipated and she let out a breath as she grasped the hand and stood up. Her hand stayed held in his for a brief moment as her eyes flitted to his face, unable to hide the worry in her features. She let go of his hand as she tried to brush off the dust on her yukata.

Zoro stared at her.

"What is it, witch?"

"What was what?"

"That look on your face."

"What? What's wrong with my face?" She tried to brush off.

"…"

"Hey, so you're training with Enma? How's it going? Your arm okay?" She asked, coolly.

He continued to stare at her, narrowing his single eye.

"Hmp." Came the only response from the swordsman.

Not a good answer.

"Ow! What the hell, Nami?!" Zoro growled, trying to fend off the redhead's fingers as she has resulted to poking him sharply on his side.

"I asked you a question!"

Yep, of course that kind of answer is no good to this woman. Zoro sighed and stood up straight, right hand flitting to his swords. "Of course it's okay, this is nothing."

Nami couldn't help but smile lightly at that. Of course that's going to be his answer, she didn't even know why she bothered to ask in the first place. When did she ever hear this man say something is too hard for him or he can't do it?

"Also, I asked a question first. What are you doing here?"

Nami's smile turned to a grimace. Poor Sanji is probably now having a hard time trying to stave off a hungry Luffy from getting his hands off the food.

"Right. Snack time. Sanji- kun sent me here to get you."

'Dartboard brow? Ordering his precious Nami- swan around? And the witch actually doing the task? That's weird.' Zoro thought with a frown, but decided against voicing this out.

"Yeah, I'm not hungry."

Nami's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, you don't quite have a choice at that. See I already walked all the way here. I'm not going back without you."

He glared back at her.

"Also, as a certain idiot decided it is a good day to crush me with bamboo trees... I also happen to be injured, so you'll have to carry me back." She added.

"Injured?!" Sputtered the swordsman. "Woman where? You're perfectly fine!"

"Ehhh, but my ass hurts Zoro- kun." Retorted the navigator as she placed an index finger on her lips, the other hand caressing the round of her butt, and putting on a pout.

'z-zZoro- kun?' The swordsman's eye twitched. 'Oh no. The scheming witch is at it again.

…and did she say her ASS??'

"Yeah I think it's bruised." For a second, pouty lips almost turned into a smirk, but the well-trained navigator held her innocent pout despite the unmistakable mischievous glint in her eyes. "Do you want to check, Zoro?"

Zoro's glare could bore holes.

Just a few minutes ago Enma was the one threatening to suck his energy. Now it's the woman in front of him. What's worse, holding himself against Enma is proving to be easier than doing it against Nami.

'Do I want to cheCK? Damn this woman,' he thought with a stifled gulp, as he tried to push down graphic thoughts he refuses to acknowledge.

Left palm hitting his forehead, sliding it down his face, a heavy sigh left the swordsman. "Fine, get on." And with that, turned to crouch and offer his back to the navigator, whose manipulative face dropped behind him at how that ended without more of a fight from said man.

Nami hesitated for a second. She really thought he would argue, even for little, even if she knew there's no way he's going to win, like how they always did. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed.

"Hey, I don't have all day."

Without a word, the navigator climbed the swordsman's back.

Zoro stood up and started walking. He tried to ignore how he noticed the subtle difference on how the woman felt pressed to his back, compared to that time in Alabasta when he carried her like this. Or how her yukata had to open-up a bit and shift higher for her to be able to adjust her legs around him. Yeah, there's a different air to his current situation now. But he refuses to pay more attention to these.

A few steps in and he found it weird how the normally noisy woman is now so silent. Trying to test the waters, he hopped over a fallen tree, one that he could have easily sidestepped, making sure to land roughly. This caused the navigator's nose to awkwardly collide on his head and his grip on her to ride higher.

"Hey! Watch it you brute!"

There it is.

"Ow! Nami!" That's the second bump the swordsman received today on his head.

"You're carrying precious cargo you know?! You should be more careful."

"Tsk." Yep. Shouldn't have bothered testing that.

Another stretch of silence.

"Ne Zoro, we're really off to face a Yonko huh?"

The navigator's voice broke the quiet. Which usually did not come as a surprise to Zoro, if not for the thoughtful tone to it and how it came as an almost whisper.

"Yeah, you guys faced one already didn't you?" replied Zoro, deciding to humour the navigator's suddenly serious mood lest he incur another bump on his head.

"Mmm, but this one's different, last time facing one was not the main mission, we tried our best to avoid her. Even so we barely got away with our lives." Nami gulped as she remembered Pedro. "This time we're actually facing one head on."

Zoro's head shifted to the side, his ear picking up the somber tone of the navigator.

"You're not thinking of backing out, are you?"

"Of course not! I mean, if we had a choice, why not? But we don't, don't we?" Nami came with a burst of spirit only to end with defeated frustration.

"Hm. Even if we do, you don't really believe we'd be choosing the alternative right?"

If there's one thing she has learned from all the time she had been in this crew, it's that they will always choose the dangerous option. Even if through some miracle they don't, it still ends up with them being dragged to the dangerous path either way. That's just how it is, even when it was just the three of them in Orange town and she's not official in the crew yet, at least to her belief. She'd hoped gaining more members would mean there'd be more rational voices in the crew. But no.

"No." She chuckled weakly.

"I just. Isn't all this happening too fast? I just thought we'd have some sort of a breather. Like how we were back then. After each island there's nothing to worry about other than to keep us floating until we get to the next where we don't know what awaits us. Now after Punk Hazard I can't really enjoy each island knowing what's waiting in the next would be some crazy strong enemy we'd have to defeat. Everything's just gotten so serious you know?" Nami ranted, feeling like a bratty child complaining but this has really been how things are.

Zoro took a moment to digest what the redhead behind him just released on him. Of course he knows. He knew this the moment he faced Kuma in Thriller bark. He definitely knew this is how the rest of their journey is going to have to be after what happened in Saboady. This is what he understood what Luffy realized too when he decided they shall meet in 2 years instead of right away after they got separated. They have come to a point in their journey where they have to pick a path and stick with it if they intend to get to the one piece. It's just unfortunate… or well, fortunate, depends on who in the crew you ask, that the best path is filled with 'crazy strong' enemies.

"Nami."

The navigator raised her head at that, confused at the sudden stern tone from the swordsman.

"Did you really expect anything less from us?"

"Huh?"

"You should've known this earlier."

Now she feels like a bratty child being scolded. She didn't like that.

"Our captain, he's all for fun mindless adventure, but what did he make sure everyone he meets know about him?"

Nami mulled at that. 'That he's stubborn? That he likes meat? No. Oh.'

"He's going to be the pirate king." She sighed. Of course. What did she expect from being a Strawhat anyway? Their captain is bound to be king of the pirates, of course there's no easy way to that. She knew this, it's just how crazy the way to get to it is something she's still reluctantly coming to terms with.

Zoro felt his message came across. "Our defeat in Saboady was our wake-up call. If we want to continue our journey towards our dreams then we have to be serious about it, because there are serious stuff out there bound to prevent us from doing so. So we'd have to fight for our way, no matter what or who the obstacle is. And we have to do it now, because these obstacles are not going to wait because we still want to have fun."

Nami can't help but stare at Zoro now. When did Zoro become so… wise?

"Besides, isn't this what we prepared for in those 2 years?"

"Well… yes, I prepared but mostly on navigating, maybe I added some tricks to my climatact but you can't really expect me to face the strength of a Yonko."

"Don't worry, I got you. I'll protect you."

Nami can't help but be taken aback by that. She knows this has been his role not just to her but to the entire crew. Despite this, she can't fight the warmth that started to creep on her cheeks. The intensity in the way he said it together with his grip tightening on her just caught her off guard.

Zoro noticed his passenger had suddenly become stiff on his back. Thinking back to what he just said, he realized how that must have sounded. Sappy.

Suddenly flustered, he blurted, "I meant I'll protect us!... The entire crew, I meant the entire crew! Not just you! Specifically!"

"Ow! Damn it Nami!"

The navigator decided the best way to diffuse the impending awkwardness was to do what they do best. Violence from her and the resulting banter that follows. She had just pulled the swordsman's ear.

"Of course I know that you baka." She chuckled, a smile blooming on her lips.

"Tsk." He pretended to be annoyed, but was thankful she didn't tease him for it. He remembered something then, causing a smirk on his lips.

"Hey, what are you worried about anyway? Luffy told me you landed a pretty solid attack on Big Mom. Seems like you got the whole facing the strength of a Yonko thing done."

Nami was once again taken aback, unable to help but smile at the thought of their captain proudly sharing what she did and be flattered at the hint of pride emanating from the swordsman.

"Well… yeah, but that was actually because of Zeus, and that didn't really do any damage to her."

She felt a squeeze from the hands supporting her thighs.

"Still, you did something and that counts. Keep doing what you do and you're fine, leave the rest to us."

Nami can't keep her stare off Zoro now, that warmth continuing to engulf her and she smiled. "Ah."

Zoro really didn't know where his words are coming from but he couldn't help what comes out of his mouth just to appease the woman.

Another stretch of silence. It was comfortable for a moment but after a while, the wringing of the hands that are crossed loosely in front of the swordsman's chest has given away the unresolved worries of the woman on his back.

He sighed. "What is it, Nami?"

"Huh?"

"There's still something on your mind."

The hand wringing stilled and he felt a puff of air on his nape.

"Ne, Zoro."

That was soft. Way too soft for Nami. And he can't describe it but that tone alone made his chest feel a bit tight. He held his breath as he turned his head slightly towards the navigator's voice, an indication that he heard her.

"You have to be careful as well you know."

He slowed down his steps, really not liking this somber tone on her.

"Heh. Is the witch worried about me now? Afraid you'll lose someone to hold debts to?" He tried to josh. He can handle an annoyed Nami, but this suddenly serious, melancholic Nami, he's not quite sure how to approach.

"Baka, of course I am!"

The sudden outburst together with the tightening of the arms around his shoulders stopped him in his tracks.

"I mean, sure I am worried about all of us, but I am most worried about you, you know?! You're so reckless, you're even worse than Luffy! That time in Thriller Bark? I don't know what you did but you sustaining those mysterious injuries and not waking up really scared me. Then we get separated and you come back after two years without your left eye? And now your new sword…" The navigator paused. "Look, I have no doubt you can handle that sword, you're Zoro after all but all I'm saying is just… just don't be too reckless."

The swordsman was silent for minute, taken aback by the tirade that just came from their navigator. There's no way he could try to tease her out of her mood right now, not with how heavy she's breathing now behind his back, like what she just said physically exerted her. He took some time to ruminate her words, he knows the woman worries. He didn't know she worries for him that much and he certainly didn't expect for her to voice them out. Although it's hard to see her this way, he'd be lying if he said knowing her concern for him didn't give a weird feeling on his stomach. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to comfort his crewmate because what she's worried about is just the thing he does.

He released a deep breath. "What happens to me, the injuries I sustained in the past, I regret none of them."

"Of course you don't regret them, because you're still here! What if the next time what you lose is a limb so you can no longer wield a sword? Or worse…"

"Then that's what I deserved. If I'm not strong enough to protect myself, then that would mean that what I get as a result of my lack of strength is what I deserve."

"But-"

"Look, Nami. You are the navigator of our ship, you bring us to where we need to be, and not once have you failed us. Usopp is the sniper, Ero- kappa cooks, Chopper is our doctor, Robin is the one who reads the weird stones, Franky takes care of the ship, Brook brings the entertainment. Me, all I can offer is my strength to protect the crew. If I am unable to survive the injuries that I have sustained and will sustain in our journey, then I have no right taking the role of protecting you and I have no right to stand beside Luffy."

He stared off in the distance, he really has no intention of baring these thoughts to the woman on his back, not when they're sober and in the middle of nowhere, but it just flowed out of him. He has no choice after all, the woman is stubborn, brushing her worries off will not help. Even if her concern warms his insides in a way he can't describe making him want to comfort her in return, he can't really give her any assurance.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the long breath over his right neck and a warm palm tenderly placed over the scar on his left eye.

"Baka of course I know that. I've known you long enough to know that is how you think."

Goosebumps have started to arise on his arms and neck by her proximity and touch.

"Reckless brute who muscles his way out of everything."

Only to be halted by the insult that followed. He was about to retort when she continued.

"All I'm saying is, do you think we would be happy reaching our dreams if we get there at your expense? And no, I'm not saying you're not strong enough that we'd come to that point" He noticed her right hand tighten at this. "What I'm saying is, just maybe think of that too the next time you start thinking about doing something too reckless." He was about to retort again but Nami sensed this and the hand on his left eye left to pinch his cheek.

"Hey!-"

"I was there when you tried to saw off your legs in Little Garden, Zoro. That's what I mean when I say too reckless. Aaargh honestly! I know you're gonna be reckless anyway, but just don't be reckless and dumb at the same time! Also, worry about yourself too! Even us weak ones trained those past two years so we can somehow fend for ourselves and yes, I definitely need protecting still but you guys need to worry about yourselves too sometimes, and I know you guys will keep picking fights on-"

Before Nami can continue rambling, she was interrupted by Zoro taking the hand that just pinched his cheek. He enclosed it on his own, before resting both their hands on his chest, just above heart. The warmth of Zoro's hand on hers brought all her thoughts to a full stop as a she stiffened and a blush dusted her cheeks. Oh how grateful she is that he can't see her face now.

"I get it. I can't promise anything but I get it."

The navigator let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her body relaxing and her head unconsciously leaning unto his. Who knew this conversation would be tiring? But really, she's satisfied with that. This is Zoro after all and that coming from him is enough for her.

Sensing that his red headed companion has been satisfied with his answer, Zoro resumed to walk as they once again fell into comfortable silence. This time without Nami wringing her hands since one is preoccupied inside the swordsman's.

…

"Ano, Zoro…"

"What now, woman?"

"I was serious when I said you should be careful okay? We wouldn't want you losing another eye. You get lost even with both eyes intact, you're terrible now with just one. What would we do if you lose both?" She tried burying her concern with a joke, even if the thought of the possibility of that does frighten her.

"Woman I don't get lost! It's you guys who get lost!"

"Uh huh, sure, that's how it was all those times. Maybe that's also why we passed this fallen tree for the third time? It must be lost."

Zoro flinched. "Damn it!" He let go of Nami's hand to adjust his hold on her and stomped the other way. Nami tried to ignore how she missed the warmth of his hand on hers.

"Really though, you're beyond salvation 'mister I don't get lost', at this rate Luffy would've devoured all the dango by the time we got there." Which is not really a long amount of time, considering it's their captain. It just depends on how well Sanji holds the fort.

"Well it's your fault! You keep distracting me with your questions!"

Nami chuckled at that. "Sure, sure. Just head this way." She ordered, pointing towards a path. "Straight line Zoro, do you even know what that is?"

"Tsk. Damn it woman I'll drop you I swear!"

The navigator laughed harder at that.

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

Part I End.

[sanjisock]

more than words

50 words; 50 sentences

ao3

#01 - Motion

A spinning kick, a swing of blade — the two meet and hit but don’t hurt, and Nami sighs exasperatedly at such a pathetic display of a mating dance.

#02 - Cool

Zoro stands his ground as his enemy — finally, finally — falls unceremoniously on his back, unconscious, and Sanji thinks for a moment that the sight of Zoro — wild and victorious and ready to take on the world — looks kind of, maybe, slightly cool.

  #03 - Young

Brook sees the two — dying to die for each other, the weight of their friends’ lives pulling down their shoulders — and he thinks too many people forget how young they still are.

  #04 - Last

The Cook is the last person Zoro would consider lending a hand in a fight — “who would want to work together with that dumbass anyway,” he lies whenever anyone asks, and doesn’t admit that it’s because he trusts Sanji’s ability to stand his ground, wholly and fully.

  #05 - Wrong

Sanji knows Zoro, like him, understands better than most — that this nakama thing isn’t just something you’d die for, but something you’d kill for, too.

  #06 - Gentle

Sanji manages to catch Kitetsu before it rolls off from the deck during a storm, and in that moment, Zoro knows, from the reverent way he regards the swords in his hands, that this isn’t the first time the Cook has wielded one.

  #07 - One

“Calm down, Marimo,” Sanji says with a dismissive wave of his hand when Zoro asks about the sword a few days later, “I’m not about to take your place as the ship’s swordsman; a cook doesn’t use his hands to fight, and I had a terrible teacher anyways.”

  #08 - Thousand

“I’m worth two thousand men,” Zoro grumpily says, almost sulking, and Nami can’t resist patting his head like she would to a little boy pulling the pigtail of a girl he has a crush on.

  #09 - King

You’re like the prince of Dumbass Kingdom, Zoro says, and it takes Sanji everything in him not to blurt out, Dumbass Kingdom sounds about right; wait ‘till you see the fucking king.

  #10 - Learn

Watching Sanji converse fluently with a couple of tourists in a Northern language, Zoro wonders when he will ever stop learning something new about Sanji — or if he ever will, at all.

  #11 - Blur

When Zoro finally comes to, the wounds from Bartholomeow Kuma is muted by Chopper’s medicine, a dull throb at the back of his consciousness; but the sharp pain against his heart feels raw still, visceral and razor-sharp, tucked alongside the ache of Sanji’s sacrifice.

#12 - Wait

“Wait,” he manages to croak out before Sanji flees the room, the word spilling out unbidden; he isn’t quite sure why, but he knows that he wants the Cook to stay.

  #13 - Change

“Have some fucking decency ,” Sanji yells, throwing a shirt at Zoro’s direction; the brute has been walking around the ship bare-chested like an eyesore ever since they entered the summer island, and Sanji is just trying to do everyone a favor — and definitely not because there’s a different kind of heat pooling at the pit of his stomach.

#14 - Command

Robin watches the two in amusement — Zoro could have easily refused to be Sanji’s pack mule, and she can hear him grumbling about it still; and yet, here they are, once again, together at the island’s marketplace.

#15 - Hold

Sanji is rough around the edges, bristling at the slightest touch; Zoro knows he needs to be gentle, but he doesn’t quite remember the last time he held something that isn’t a hilt of a sword, without meaning to hurt . It’s a learning curve. 

  #16 - Need

Sanji knows Zoro is a dumbass, but it takes a special kind of stupid to think he would never be good enough for Sanji, when he’s all that Sanji has ever needed.

#17 - Vision

Zoro never regrets losing his eye, but he wishes, sometimes, he could still take in the sight of Sanji with an unimpaired vision, just to see more of him.

  #18 - Attention

“You’re starting a fight, Marimo?” Sanji growls, voice low and dangerous, and Zoro thinks, yes, yes, anything to get you to look at me.

  #19 - Soul

He loves the kid like a brother, but sometimes Zoro hates how Luffy can easily see past his gruff words and feigned ignorance; the way Luffy only needs to take one look at him to guess, “you’re worried about Sanji, aren’t you?”

  #20 - Picture

He carries around everyone’s bounty posters, Sanji tells himself, and tries not to think too hard about how the only one he kept in his breast pocket is Zoro’s, folded neatly against his heart.

  #21 - Fool

“This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done so far,” Sanji says when they part, lips still tingling from their earlier kiss, because Zoro’s love is fierce and consuming and Sanji knows, ever since he was just a kid with the iron mask, that he doesn’t deserve any of this.

  #22 - Mad

“Don’t you ever say that kind of shit again,” Zoro snarls, slamming the wall beside Sanji’s head, his voice trembling with a kind of anger Sanji has never seen him with before — frustrated, desperate. “You’re important to me, Cook.” 

  #23 - Child

Grow up and cast your dreams away, Sanji tells himself every day, the voice ringing in his ears; you stopped being a child deserving of a dream the moment you chained Zeff down to the ground.

  #24 - Now

Grow up and cast your dreams away, Sanji wants to tell himself, but the voice stutters, drowned out by the sight of the kid bleeding on the deck of Baratie — he’s a swordsman, too, acknowledged by none other than Dracule Mihawk himself — but a kid still, throwing himself headfirst towards the case of his dreams, steps unweighted by regrets.

  #25 - Shadow

Zoro doesn’t know which is worse — Sanji, forever running away from the shadow his brothers cast; or Zoro, chasing after someone who is no longer around to leave behind a shadow anymore.

  #26 - Goodbye

After Whole Cake Island, there’s a period of time where Zoro would follow Sanji around the ship like a lost puppy, unwilling to let the Cook out of his sight; Usopp definitely didn’t expect Zoro to have such a cute side, and crouches over his new invention to hide his smile.

  #27 - Hide

“We’re not doing that here,” Sanji hisses, and forces himself not to laugh at the pout on Zoro’s face; the galley might be secluded enough, but they’re still on the enemy ship’s galley.

  #28 - Fortune

It is annoying, the way Sanji keeps reminding Zoro that he could have collected Mihawk’s bounty and lived the rest of his life in wealth; especially when Zoro would trade any riches in the world just to stay by the Cook’s side.

  #29 - Safe

It catches Zoro off guard when Sanji starts talking about his mother; it’s a short anecdote, a single happy memory, but Zoro can tell by the way Sanji tells it — guarded and hesitant, like he wants to keep the words close and safe — that he has never shared it with anyone else before.

  #30 - Ghost

Usopp starts shaking like a leaf as soon as they enter the abandoned, dilapidated house, and Sanji gently tells him, sometimes the worst ghost is the one you create yourself; Zoro feels the weight of Wado on his hip, and agrees.

  #31 - Book

“I don’t need this,” Zoro grumbles with a blush, pushing the book back into Nami’s hands, trying hard to ignore Nami’s laughter and the words ROMANCE FOR DUMMIES emblazoned on the book’s jacket.

  #32 - Eye

Shusui sinks into the man’s stomach, all the way to the hilt, and Zoro thinks of the way Sanji curled into himself as the man landed a lucky hit on the cook’s hand. An eye for an eye.

  #33 - Never

“This is my first time,” Zoro whispers, head ducking away as he feels his face flush at the admission; but Sanji’s hand rests on his cheek, encouraging, and he can feel the curve of Sanji’s smile as their lips meet and Sanji replies, “it’s mine, too.”

  #34 - Sing

Luffy cheers when Zoro and Sanji comes into view, and he lets them take on the next batch of enemies; a good fight is always fun, but watching Zoro and Sanji fight is even more so — like watching a dance that only those two know the melody to.

  #35 - Sudden

“What, are we supposed to be surprised?” Nami says, barely looking up from the map she’s working on; Sanji sputters, face redder than the tomatoes he served during breakfast, and Nami feels almost bad for him.

  #36 - Stop

“But we — Zoro and I — how did you know?” Sanji asks, and promptly stops asking questions when he realizes the rest of the crew aren’t surprised either; who could blame them, when his and Zoro’s sexual tension can be seen from a mile away.

  #37 - Time

Sanji knows they have to break apart soon, just to breathe, but right now all he cares about is to taste as much of Zoro as possible — he has waited two years for this, and it has been two years too long.

  #38 - Wash

They have their fair share of fighting — and how, considering the amount of repairs Usopp has to do for Merry just from their petty fights alone — but what the crew doesn’t know is that they also have this thing, this quiet thing, just him and the Cook and a stack of dirty plates between them.

  #39 - Torn

“In retrospect,” Robin observes, “dressing up our dear cook in a maid uniform would not only lower the enemy’s firepower, but also ours, considering how distracted our swordsman has clearly become.”

  #40 - History

“Why do you keep him around, mister?” The kid asks, pointing at the old swordsman with three swords and an eye scar by the peer; Sanji laughs, pats the kid on the head, and says, almost wistfully — “you can say we have some history.”

  #41 - Power

Sanji tugs at Zoro’s sleeve, and Zoro follows suit despite his complaints — Sanji thinks, distantly, how much of an honor it is, to have so much control over such a powerful man.

  #42 - Bother

“I didn’t have enough time to make this three-tier ice cream cake for our lovely Nami-san and Robin-chan because you distracted me!” Sanji says with a hard jab of a finger against Zoro’s chest, and Zoro thinks, good .

  #43 - God

Zoro does not believe in gods, but there’s a hymn of a noise when Zoro presses his lips against the crook of Sanji’s neck, the hallelujah of the world breaking apart as their bodies move together, and he thinks, close enough .

  #44 - Wall

 Zoro slams his fist into the wall of Polar Tang, and is taken aback by the depth of his own frustration; he knows Luffy and the others will get Sanji back from Big Mom’s place, but it unsettles him still, the way Sanji hides himself under layers of pretenses when Zoro has bared so much of himself to the Cook in return.

  #45 - Naked

“What the fuck was that for , Mosshead?!” Sanji shrieks, justifiably furious, leg raised and on fire after Zoro sliced his tray into two without preamble; Zoro can’t exactly tell the Cook he did it because he was too surprised at the sight of Sanji in a swimming trunk and nothing else.

  #46 - Drive

Why Zoro , people sometimes ask, but the answer is easy to Sanji — nobody drives him crazy the way Zoro does, and is that not what true love feels like?

  #47 - Harm

Zoro knows Sanji will be furious ; but as he faces Kuma, knowing at least the Cook is out of harm’s way, he knows he would do this a hundred times over, a thousand times over, a million times over.

  #48 - Precious

Sanji is sitting by the corner of the infirmary, face pale with red-rimmed eyes, and Zoro thinks he’s never had that, before — people who would weep for him, knowing that he is more than dried scars and calloused skin.

  #49 - Hunger

This thing we have is dangerous, Sanji tells him, but Zoro doesn’t care — he already has a craving, the same way he needs a booze when it’s been too long, except he thinks that this vice will surely kill him.

  #50 - Believe

This isn’t faith; this is the truth, Zoro’s truth, the same way he knows he will become the Greatest — Sanji will find that elusive sea of his, and Zoro will stay with him until it is the last thing he can do.

[kazimakuwabara]

A God Guides

Summary: Usopp’s best, and final shot.

***

He is a God, and his hands will guide them.

“Usopp!” Nami’s voice is wretched as she screams. Someone is keeping her from running, and an unfamiliar hand is covering her eyes. She screams for Usopp anyway.

“Don’t! Straw Hats! Don’t look at the light!” A desperate villager is sobbing, “You’ll go blind!”

“Let me go! Let me go!” Luffy’s voice is weak, and his strength is all but gone. He digs his hands in the dirt, and tries to push himself up. The people he has saved, the island of villagers he has liberated, is keeping him pinned down. They keep his face pressed into the ground.

"My Nakama," Luffy spits, his pain evident in those two words, "Let me up!"

“We can’t! We can’t!” They say bitterly.

“We won’t let you get hurt any more than this!” They sob.

None of them understand.

“USOPP!” Chopper’s shriek could shatter glass.

“We won’t ask you to go out there-but, please! Let us go!” Robin pleads, a sea stone is pressed into her arm, and she can barely stand up. “Usopp! Our Usopp!”

“It is too late! He’s already out there! That light... that machine...” the village chief's voice is brittle from years of loss. From years of knowing there is nothing, he can do. These pirates who have liberated his people... he will protect the ones he can.

And take their hatred for the ones he failed.

Usopp walks alone, dragging behind his injured leg. He is trying to walk as fast as he can, his skin burning under the harsh light caused by a machine meant to imprison the people of this island. It blocked out the real sun and made the villagers sick, and if out too long in it, their skin would burn. It trapped them and held them here. And worse than the burns, was what happened to those that looked at the light for too long. Their white, blinded eyes a sad reminder that even looking at the light too long... had consequences.

It was an effective trap... and needed to come down.

On the ground, trapped beneath the harsh light, lying still and injured were the bodies of their foes. They were stopped, and would be cooking under their own cruel trick. A fitting end... but among the enemy, was also the exhausted, and injured other half of Luffy's crew. Too weak to get up, only Usopp had the strength to stand. And Usopp could not carry them all.

Sanji, Zoro, Jinbei, Brook, and Franky were collapsed like scattered beach litter, face down in the dirt, and too injured or exhausted to escape the harsh light.

If Usopp was stronger... he would carry them all to safety.

But he had only the strength to carry two, maybe three... but then again maybe that was too generous. But Usopp knew his strength wasn't like that of the monster trio's. Nor was it like the swift minds of Nami or Robin who might have been able to plan their way out. Usopp's strength was his marksmanship.

And he had one last shot he could make.

God Usopp... was getting his friends out of this.

“I’m not... leaving them out here... to fry up in this... cursed light!” Usopp wheezed, a trickle of blood oozing past his lips. He kept his head, trained down to the ground with each heavy footfall. He wasn’t going to look up at that light... not until he was ready. Not until he was close enough.

“Usopp... get the heck out of here...” Sanji’s voice somewhere to his left catches Usopp’s ear. He can hear the chef dragging himself on his belly. 

Hear his hand clawing at the dirt as he tries to reach Usopp.

Usopp's skin feels like fire.

How must Sanji's feel under this false ruinous light?

Usopp curls his hand around his Kuro Kabuto.

In the oppressive silence of his decision, he could hear his downed friends call for him, echoed by the ones trapped, but safe with the villagers behind him. Their soft whispers and the cries pushing at his back propelled Usopp to go forward.

To be brave.

“Usopp... don’t!” Franky is sobbing somewhere, “Get outta here!”

“Usopp!” That’s Brook.

“Usopp...” That’s Jinbe.

“Stop!” Zoro’s voice lunges at him along with a hand.

Usopp turns towards Zoro’s bloodied form, providing the severely injured swordsman some shade from the harsh sun as he hovers over him. Zoro's hand is a shackle on Usopp’s ankle, while his other is pressed into Zoro’s bloodied gut. His swords are not in his grasp for once, and that is somehow wrong.

Zoro squints up at Usopp, unable to see any of the sniper’s features due to the growing intense light.

Usopp is a black tower whose outline is only recognizable to Zoro thanks to Usopp's long nose.

“Don’t,” Zoro tries to command.

Usopp’s blacked-out face is staring back at him, and says nothing.

“Don’t! Go back!” Zoro roars, blood and spit flying from his mouth. 

The dark shadow that is Usopp says nothing. The intense light is a halo around his head. It feels like he has already lost him.

“Usopp...!” Zoro’s voice breaks.

Usopp kneels, and up close, the darkness fades away. Usopp’s face is distraught, bloodied, bruised, and of course, scared. He smiles at Zoro, and removes the shirt from his own back. He presses it to Zoro’s face, hard and smothering.

Zoro lets Usopp go.

“Don’t... Don’t look up Zoro. Keep that eye closed! I... I can do this. You’re all going to be fine!” Usopp’s voice is forcibly upbeat, and his hands are gone faster than Zoro expected.

Zoro reaches out again, but Usopp is gone. 

He has run ahead, ignoring his pain.

Today, he is going to be the bravest warrior of the sea.

Usopp stands alone, his skin burning under the intense light. He takes in a breath and lets it out in a slow gush. 

He raises his head and takes aim with Kuro Kabuto, ready to pierce the light.

He is an Icarus, and he and his wings are melting. But where Icarus failed and fell, Usopp will succeed.

The light is intense and painful. He hears a sound, something like hissing. Is it coming from Usopp? A white fog is creeping over his eyes. Veins wiggle like snakes in his vision. Through the pain and the fog, he aims for the bright lights mounted on a singular long pole.

He is a God...

Usopp aims his shot, pulling Kuro Kaboto’s band taught.

The light is all he sees. The light. The fog. The dark veins of his own eyeballs. He pushes past, and a new sight is given to him. He can see the tiny mechanism powering the lights; keeping the whole thing together. Where his eyes failed him, his Haki didn't.

The wiggling snakes behind his eyes burst.

It's red....

Then Black...

White.

Usopp releases his shot, howling in agony and victory.

He hears the tinkle of metal and glass.

The intense light is gone. He can feel his skin cooling, like when you stepped into the shade. There is a great sigh. Like the island itself is letting out a relieved breath. He did it.

He did it.

"USOPP!"

Usopp falls back on his back, his chest heaving from the panic attack shaking him apart. He’s laughing though. As his skin burns. As tears trace down his cheeks. As his world is black and gone. He's laughing... because wow! What a shot.

“Th... that... was the greatest shot... made by Captain Usopp... the greatest!” Usopp snickers as he chokes on his tears.

“Usopp!” a choked voice sobs, and hands fall on his face. The hands are slim, and the fingertips are cold. Something wet is falling on his faces. Tears, most likely. “Usopp, no... no, no, no, no, no! What have you done?”

Usopp reaches up, his hands bumping into Sanji’s face much sooner than he expected. Sanji is closer than he would have guessed. Usopp clumsily pets Sanji’s face, aware suddenly of the rest of his crew’s voices calling out for him. 

The only regret he has now is he can’t see them.

Still smiling, he whispers, “Hey Sanji... did you see that shot?”

...And his hands will guide them.

[doctorgerth]

A New Light at the End of the Tunnel

Chosen Characters: Straw Hat Pirates

Chosen Word: Nightmare

Fic Type: Mostly fluff with a hint of angst

Appropriate Warnings: Blood, gore, implied character death

Nightmares were a rarity for Luffy.

It made sense, considering the life he was leading. He was a pirate captain. He was on his journey to becoming king of the pirates with all of his friends and the best part was he’s gotten his share of the best meat ever. With a life like this, Luffy’s never had many nightmares. Most of them just consisted of him not being able to reach the delectable meat before he woke up (which, granted, was a true horror). 

That was until two years ago. That was when the true nightmares began.

For the most part, they always end up the same, with a few variety in between. He was there, in Marine HQ, the scaffold where Ace stood unnaturally high against the dark clouds. Sometimes he’d be by himself, and other times, there would be the screaming pirates and marines all around him. 

But without fail, he’d always be looking for the most important person. The one he ran straight through hell to get to. The one that he needed to find. The panic would start to creep up his spine, his heart beating harder and harder. Sometimes his vision would twirl around, faster and faster, like his head was a spin top, with no end in sight.

And then, like a beacon of light, Ace would be standing there, fire surrounding him, chasing away the darkness. 

Luffy laughed, glee warming him up as the doubt retreated. “Ace!” he cried, throwing his arms up and out. “There you are!”

Ace turned back to him, with a grin as bright as the light around him. “You never could stop yourself from getting into trouble, could you, Luffy?”

Luffy giggled. “That’s no fun, Ace!” 

There was always something wrong, though. Something whispering in Luffy’s ear, words that he couldn’t quite grasp in tones that slicked down the side of his neck like tar. His stomach would roll, in ways different than when he was hungry. He’d push it aside, forcing the grin to stay on his face. Everything’s fine. Ace is here and he’s going to be fine. That thought would be his barrier, but nothing seemed to stop the icy fingers from crawling up his back. 

He ignored it. “Let’s go, Ace!” Luffy cheered, his fists in the air as an unspoken defiance against the people who tried to take his big brother away from him. “I’ve come to save you!”

That’s when the silence would hit him at full force. Regardless of whether he had been by himself before or only now was didn’t matter. He’d only realize it until that moment. His shoulders would tense, like waiting for an enemy to appear just before him. Would it be Aokiji? Or maybe Smokey was waiting for another chance? 

His eyes snapped to his sides and then behind him. His senses went on full alert. Until the bright red would catch his attention. Head whirling back around, no matter how many times he’d beg for it to be different, the results would always be the same. 

The whole in Ace’s chest was large, blood steadily pouring out and splattering onto the ground. A trickle of the red would drip down from Ace’s mouth to his chin. Luffy’s heart stopped, every muscle in his body frozen, despite how he desperately wished to run towards Ace. “You… were always… so reckless…” Ace was struggling to breathe. 

Run. Go. RUN. 

His legs wouldn’t listen. Had Aokiji frozen him like last time? He couldn’t tell. His eyes wouldn’t tear away from the sight before him. “A-Ace…” Luffy gasped. “No. Ace.” He strained his muscles, but something was holding him back, unseen hands grasping at his ankles to keep him in one spot. 

Ace’s eyes lifted up to his. “Sorry, Luffy…” Tears were already streaming down his face, mixing with the blood, turning the bright color dull. “This is it for me.”

A gust of wind and Ace would disappear. His fire was gone and Luffy was back in darkness again. Luffy screamed, but nothing could pierce through it. He didn’t care and continued to yell. He kept at it until his lungs burned. The darkness was suffocating him, and he couldn’t find his way out. He lashed out but there wasn’t any air. He couldn’t make sense of it anymore. 

He was all alone. 

He was all alone. 

Luffy wailed. 

Luffy’s eyes snapped open and he practically threw himself off his bunk. He crashed onto the floor. He gasped for breath, trying to make sense of where he was. I’m on my ship, some part of him insisted. I’m on the ship. 

The silence in the quarters encouraged him to scream, but he fought it as he scrambled up and towards the exit. Throwing open the door, he paused just before leaving and scrubbed his tears away. Then, he stepped out and onto the deck. The light blinded him for a second, and he couldn’t breathe. 

His eyes adjusted quickly.

The sun was starting to set. The darkness was closing in from above his head and his heart was thrumming so painfully in his chest. “Oi, shit captain!” Luffy caught Sanji standing over the railing, chewing on his cigarette. “Geez, I called you like a million times. It’s not like you to miss dinner.” 

Dinner. 

Luffy was already running across the deck, but the smile on his face was frayed at the edges as the darkness crept along his back. His muscles were tense and he wished more than anything that he could fight this off like any of the other men that he’s faced before. 

But you fought hard at Marineford and that did nothing to help Ace.

His shoulders tightened, trying to ignore the whispers. “Yosh!” He forced the word out, but it was stale at the back of his tongue. Luffy was always genuine with his emotions and this was as wrong to him as anything else. He didn’t like lying, but he also didn’t like these emotions. He wanted them gone, and he desperately hoped that this would quiet them. 

He threw himself into the dinning room, ignoring Sanji’s angry yelling about not breaking anything. The light in the room made his sight go bright for a second and his head ached and pounded for a minute. 

His vision cleared. 

His crew was sitting at the table. They all turned towards him when he entered. “Ah, Captain,” Robin greeted softly. She smiled over at him. “I was worried that you had died in your sleep when you didn’t come for food.”

“ROBIN!” Usopp smacked his hands on the table, leaning forwards towards her. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop saying such creepy things!”

Luffy walked over to the empty spot and sat himself down. His shoulders started to relax.

“Don’t you worry, Luffy!” He turned to see Chopper staring up at him earnestly. “I’ll always make sure you’re healthy.” 

Franky stepped in. “Luffy’s never going to worry about that, bro!” Franky yelled boisterously. “Not when we got such a SUPER doctor on our crew!” Franky stood up just to throw his arms together in his famous pose. 

Chopper gasped, and without missing a beat, started wiggling around in his chair. “Don’t think for one second that I’m flattered, you stupid human!” Chopper said with a giggle. “Compliments don’t work on me like that!”

“Pretty sure they’re working just fine…” Usopp muttered.

His heartbeat slowed.

“Here Luffy,” Zoro forced a mug of ale into his hands. “Maybe you finally just’ve grown enough in the two years that you’ve got a taste for alcohol finally!” The grin on Zoro’s face was vicious.

“Yeah right!” Nami came in and smacked Zoro hard in the head. His face hit the table with the force. “Like that’ll ever happen with Luffy!” She snatched the mug right out of Luffy’s hands. “How many times do I have to tell you, idiot?” Nami growled, waving the cup around wildly. “If Luffy is this much of an idiot, then we do not need to find out how what he is like if he ever got drunk!”

His breathing smoothed.

“Why you…” Zoro’s head snapped up, and even with a sizable egg now blooming on his head, he was still terrifying as he grasped onto his swords. Not that Nami even flinched. She gave his glare back to him tenfold. 

“Oi!” Zoro’s natural fighting instincts protected him from Sanji’s kick. “If you even think of using one of those ugly swords on my beautiful Nami, I’ll kick your ass so hard you’ll need a new wanted poster.”

“At least mine came out good the first time!” Zoro threw back, hitting Sanji right where it hurt.

Sanji gave an inhuman roar and Zoro responded instantly. They were already kicking and slicing before anyone could stop them. 

“Ugh…” Nami dropped herself back down onto her chair and rolled her eyes. Everyone knew it was useless to try and break them up. “What morons…” 

The whispers were getting farther away.

Robin giggled. “Seems like some things never do change.”

“Or ever will…” Usopp was happy to lend Nami some company in the pity party. 

“Yohohohoho!” Brook slid in with a joyous laugh. “Now, now, everyone! Why don’t I play us a song that will help those ears be just as full as our stomachs!” 

“That sounds like a SUPER idea!” Franky cheered.

Chopper clapped. “Oh yes, please Brook!” 

Nami put her head in her hand. “Well, at least the nice music will drown them out a bit…” she muttered.

“But first...” Brook appeared next to Nami. She raised an eyebrow. “May I see your panties, Nami?”

Nami didn’t even hesitate. “NO WAY IN HELL!” She swung a leg out and sent Brook flying across the room. He slammed into the other side. Nami flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Seems like this crew is full of idiots…” Nami grumbled.

You’re home.

Robin laughed. Usopp shook his head. “You’d think he’d get it after a while.” 

Nami rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s clearly never going to happen.”

You’re with your family.

“Sanji!” Nami called to him from where he was still battling it out with Zoro. “Ignore him and serve dinner already! Before the glutton decides to eat it all off the stove.” There was no question who she was referring to.

“Of course, Nami-swan~!” Sanji immediately abandoned Zoro to twirl his way back over to dinner with hearts bursting from his very pores.

Zoro scoffed and sheathed his swords. “Erocook…” he muttered, even as he walked back over to the table.

What’s gone maybe gone, but you still have something left in this world to treasure, don’t you?

Luffy’s world brightened again. The grin that stretched from his lips this time around was as pure and as genuine as it ever was before. Everybody noticed. “What’s with that look, Luffy?” Usopp asked, leaning forward to catch his eye. “What’s got you so happy?”

“What else?” Nami scoffed. “Sanji’s about to serve dinner.”

“The captain does love his food,” Robin cooed. “Let’s hope he doesn’t eat so much he explodes.”

“Robin!” Usopped snapped.

His throat was no longer closed and his words came out easy this time. “I love my crew!” he yelled out from the bottom of his heart. He threw his hands up and out, the joy behind his words warming him to his very bones. “I’ve got the best crew in the entire world!”

There was a pause. Everyone shocked at such an outburst, but then, they all turned bright red. “Don’t think this will work against me~!” Chopper laughed and started wiggling again. 

Nami pressed a hand to her burning cheeks, trying to play it off. “Well of course you do, I mean, I’m the best you’re ever going to get!”

Brook laughed. “Oh dear me, I’m blushing as red as a cherry.” He paused for effect. “I mean, I would be if I had any skin! Yohohohoho~!”

“Aw shucks, Luffy, you’re making us blush.” Franky grinned and smacked Luffy on the back. “But you’re right about that! We’ve got a SUPER crew!”

Robin and Zoro just smiled, as they settled themselves in for the meal. 

“Alright,” Sanji called as he walked over with arms full of delicious food. “Bon appetit!” Luffy was more than happy to dig in. 

Yes, he would sometimes have nightmares. Sometimes the darkness would get a little too much for Luffy to handle. But, no matter where it happened or when, he knew one thing for certain. His crew would always be there to remind him of one thing. 

That, no matter what, there would always be a light at the end of his darkness.

[whirlybirdwhat]

East Sea of Monsters - Chapter 5

Franky starts. to notice some weird shit about his crew.

Read the entire series on Ao3 for better quality and authors notes! Gen, creepy, featuring all of the Straw Hats, multi-chapter story.

“The East Blue has a different nickname to those in the Grand Line, and those who hail it as home have a few… unique traits.”

-----------

Creepy - Franky

Now, Franky had seen some weird stuff. The Franky Family’s weird, Water 7’s weird, hell, he’s weird.

But he has to say, the Straw Hat’s take the cake on how weird, how crazyyou can get.

And he’s not just talking about the way the Captain’s made of rubber, their doctor’s a reindeer, their swordsman wields three katanas (one of them is supposedly cursed), and the latest member of their crew is a talking skeleton.

Nah.

That stuffs pretty SUPER if you ask him, the kind he can roll with.

It’s the other things that get to him.

The creepy things.

-

He first notices these creepythings when he goes into the kitchen to restock his cola and grab a midnight stack after working all night, and finds two pairs of glowing eyes staring at him from a top the counter, accented by a sharp-toothed mouth and far too much glistening red wet stuff for him to handle.

Like a man, he assumes he’s gone far too long without sleep and back tracks out of the room as quickly as he dares before his mind can fool him further.

The eyes follow him every step of the way, and even the thing starts shifting unnaturally to follow him out of the room before Franky gives up on acting SUPER and just sprints away.

The next day he thinks it’s just a nightmare, before realizing he was most definitely awake, his eyes are alwaysperfectly functional, and Luffy just thanked him at breakfast for not ratting his midnight snack out to Sanji.

Hell.

What the fu-

-

Thriller Bark was creepy for a number of reasons, most of them relating to the island itself and its inhabitants – zombies, shadows, ghosts and SUPER talking skeleton dudes – but Franky can handle that.

It’s the othercreepiness that really stands out to Franky, makes him feel like that time before on the ship – the kind that he thinks isn’t real but knows later it most definitely was.

He first notices it as Brook boards the ship. He seems positively delighted to be there, to be among human souls again, but all the same he appears to… lean awayfrom certain members of the crew. Franky would dismiss it if he didn’t know that A) Brook leans towardother members of the crew and B) Luffy, the most welcoming to the skeleton, is the one that makes the skeleton the most nervous.

(Franky is sure that if he asked the man, he would say something along the lines of They make my hair stand on ends – not that I have any hair – Oh wait! I do! Yohohoho!

He doesn’t ask though. He isn’t sure he wants to know what he thinks Brook knows.

But he’s a builder, a shipwright, however. It’s in his nature to poke around for a potential problem.

Not that his crew is a problem, of course.)

The next creepy things he notices are more Zoro related. It’s subtle, wouldn’t really be an eye catcher if Franky hadn’t been looking for it already.

You see – ever since he met the swordsman, he feels as if he isn’t actually seeing all of him at once. There’s always been a haze, sitting about him, as subtle as they come, like a cloud on a misty day.

Seemingly normal, but with a closer look, it’s like it doesn’t match the rest of the world.

So, he keeps recalibrating and recalibrating his eyes, keeps looking for the odd moments when Zoro seems to just – fadefrom existence, like he slips out of sight and just doesn’t come back until one the crew drags him to where he’s supposed to be.

(Franky entertains the thought that maybe this is why he’s always lost but dismisses it almost immediately.)

And here – on Thriller Bark, when life itself is being torn asunder by humans playing devils and gods – that chain tethering him to thisrealm seems to solidify, and the cloud resting about his shoulders fades away…

Leaving Franky to catch glimpses of limbs coated in shiny green scales, and eyes that flicker red from the back of a green head. They wink at him when Franky stares too long, and fade away the next moment, as if there was only ever cropped mossy hair on the man’s head.

The cyborg would think it was Robin’s handiwork if the eye wasn’t distinctly beast like, and Robin concentrating on using a hundred other summoned limbs to defeat an enemy.

The fading veil like thingover Zoro is even pointed out by the monster that has Luffy shadow of all things and that’s when Franky knowsthis stuff isn’t justin his head.

Because if that idiot can say Hey you guys are little demons (meaning it literally, Franky thinks) and why are you so foggy green sword guyand make Robin smile that scary knowing smile of hers, Franky is definitelysane.

He hopes.

However, the creepiest thing by faris Zoro’s smile, toothy, bloody, and with more thirst and death than Franky has ever seen before.

But maybe that’s just Zoro. He can never tell with the guy.

(So yes, Zoro is creepy. And Franky doesn’t like the way when he shouts Three Thousand Worlds!The world seems to split for just a second, as if a man just stepped and sliced through three thousand places at once and still managed to dissect an enemy with three clear strokes of sharp (cursed, haunted) blades.

No - Franky doesn’t like it at all – because, on stormy nights at Water 7, Tom would give in to Franky’s pleas for the scariest stories Tom knew of, as it fit the mood and would be SUPER during the storm, c’mon Tom! and those stories would oft feature tales of a man – a monster – with a dark hole for a heart, and a pitch of tar for a soul.

The man had a penchant for flashing across seas with a single step, havoc in his wake, as if the barrier between realms had no hold on him, as if space bent to his will and not the other way around.

It reminds him of Zoro, sometimes, when he casts a look at the swordsman in battle.)

-

The third incident is, funnily enough, with the third member of the ‘monster trio’, Sanji.

Franky thinks he finally knows why they’re called the monster trio, beyond them being simply ridiculously powerful.

The incident occurs when they are in the New World, after two years of training and a heartbreak so deep it cuts all of them to their soul.

(Franky does not like the rumors of Marineford. They say it was the War of the Best, that only the most powerful walked its bloody path, but Franky has heard that there was more than men fighting there –

And that there was a suspicious plume of fire at Ace’s grave, three days after Luffy rang the bell, a horrific mimicry of the fire that was said to have warred over the dead man’s father’s grave three days after his execution.)

Franky’s finally back in his workshop, with the sound of his crew, his family, surrounding him with a cacophonous yet beautiful noise and a new idea under his hands, and he couldn’t be happier.

But the next bit requires a bit of balancing if he wants to make it work – he has to lift the glass panel into the eye of the ring, but he can only reach it if he uses one hand, leans on his tiptoes, and stretches the other arm out for balance.

In hindsight, he should have added this bit first.

Oh well.

Almost there…. Almost got it – easy, easy alri-

“Franky?”

“AH!”

CRASH!

With a thunderous sound, Franky whacks his had around, turning his head as he does, letting the glass shatter to the floor and nearly hitting the tray of Cola out of Sanji’s hands.

And that wouldn’t normally be odd, Franky can be clumsy especially when he’s focused and someone startles him (he supposes he needs to retrain himself in that regard, before their little… break … Luffy had taken to jumping up on Franky’s shoulders while he was working to see the new creation, and Franky had learned not to startle – Luffy will probably continue to do that again (at least some things stay the same…)) however it’s what happens in that second of chaos that freaks Franky out.

Franky’s hand, big and metal as it is, should have grazed Sanji’s side. But it didn’t – and not because Sanji dodged away either.

Instead, it is as if there was a giant hole in his side, gaping and wide yet perfectly ordinary, so that Franky only touched a black silk suit instead of the skin underneath.

That’s not all – in the flashing second, with as focused as Franky’s eyes were, he could see a wisp of smoke and something sparking flickering from the cook’s pointy mouth, as swirly eyebrows stood out against literal ash-gray skin.

He doesn’t know how to react, doesn’t even know if what he saw was real, only gives a small, high pitched laugh and ‘yeah, what about you? You startled me!’ when Sanji asks if he’s okay.

He sits in a kind of stupor, cold cola held in a metal (shaking) hand as Sanji takes his leave.

What did I just see?

Franky casts a glance at the shattered piece of glass on the ground, and the empty space in the machine it was supposed to go in.

Guess I’ll know soon enough.

-

Thankfully, beyond shadows in the corner of his eyes, weird hazy visions, spooky feelings and flashing eyes in the middle of the night, Franky only has one more major …. freakyevent before he gets the (terrifying) answer he’s looking for.

Nami’s yelling at him for bringing the Watcher (named by Chopper for its big eyepiece after he came down to see if any glass had gotten in his foot after the accident with Sanji) up on deck, as its apparently ‘Too big! I can’t get a proper tan with that in the way!’ and ‘What does it even do’but he doesn’t particularly care.

After all – she’s one of the five reasons he brought the thing up here.

(Brook had been uneasy around her and Usopp too – despite the fact that Usopp was more scared of him, and Nami was a woman (damn bony pervert.)  Both were relatively weak and lacking any freaky power like the Monster Trio had, so it had buggedFranky for ages why Brook was tense around them andthe Monster Trio, but not the cyborg or the talking reindeer.)

He turns the machine on just as a dark cloud passes over the sun.

Suddenly – the world is cold, and dark, and dreary, and Franky knows his eyes look far away as he peers through the lens at his comrades.

Wait, what… what?

They aren’t there – only Robin, sitting on her lawn chair, is.

Instead of the others, Franky views a shapeless form of wind and cloud and bursting yellow eyes, and something crouching in the corner of the deck, feathery, shadowed and whimsical.

It has far too many joints to be human.

Franky pulls away as a smashing, sparking noise emits from his left, and a crashing from his right.

The suns shining on them again, and the chilling song Franky swears he must have heard is already nothing but a distant memory.

Nami’s hand rests on the right side of the machine (is Franky imagining the little claw-like scrapes just before her nails?), denting it gently, while faint smoking (a bullet?– no, it smells far too much like Usopp’s Stars to be that) wisps from the cracks of the mention to his left.

“Franky,” Nami smiles, all knowing and terrifying, as her eyes seem to glow a particular shade of molten gold (weren’t her eyes brown?) “I suggest you stop.”

Usopp looks over and cocks his head like a bird, as if his place hadn’t been filled with feathers a second ago. He doesn’t say anything, and that is somehow scarier than Nami’s words.

“Okay?” She prods.

“Okay,” Franky agrees, and promptly begins to dismantle the machine.

“Good.”

The spare parts find a home in the bowels of the ship where only Luffy treads normally, as Franky can’t stand the sight of them, even if it was good metal (can’t bear to throw them out either, something tells him they’ll cause more trouble in the ocean depths than on the ship).

He feels all cold and empty when he looks at them.

He shouldn’t feel that way on his ship of dreams, surrounding by loving crew members.

-

Robin is the one to finally give him the answer to all the freakiness his crew has going on. He thinks she was amused by it before the Watcher mishap.

(She too avoids the metal when she can. It isn’t like her at all, and it’s the final tipping point in her observation of his interactions with their less… human campanions.)

It’s the day after said mishap and Franky’s still all jittery, feeling like he’s seen something taboo, when Robin glides up to him in the aquarium, where Franky’s relaxing with some Cola Floats (Who knew cola could taste so good with ice cream?).

“Did you know that five of our crew hail from the East Blue? The Going Merry did as well.” She says simply, and hands him an old but cared for book, with pieces of paper – newspaper clippings? And some notes? – sticking out of it. “Read that. Make sure it comes back to me in good condition” She finishes with some grabbing motions, taking Franky back to the time he first joined the crew which results in him nodding vigorously, and the woman disappearing into the hall with a satisfied smile.

The title is East Sea: Devil Waters, and Franky gulps.

Inside, the freakiness is explained, and something in him relaxes with it. At least he knows whythey’re all freaky now, and that all the rumors he’s heard are true.

(His questions are answered and somethings he didn’t even know were strange had an explanation.

He had heard of Klabautermann before, he knew Merry had one, and he knows Sunny does as well. But – this explains the extra presence he felt in Sunny’s hull some days.

He’s glad he created the Mini Merry – who knew ships could have restless ghosts? He’s happy the lamb has a final resting – haunting –place, safe in the cradle of her comrades and out of the ocean’s depths.)

[pingo1387]

A Little Bit Different

Zoro doesn’t see the world quite like most others do, but that’s okay. Autistic Zoro fic for @caffeinelemur. Happy bday!! 

FFN / AO3 

Usopp scratched his head, tapped his pen on the ground, and sighed, staring in frustration at the paper in front of him. He wrote something down and then crossed it out.

“Something wrong?” Zoro asked. He didn’t even open his eyes, still keeping the appearance of sleeping against the railing.

“Well, yeah, but nothing you can help with,” Usopp muttered.

“Why not?”

“It’s math.”

“Try me.” Zoro opened his eyes and sat up, watching Usopp expectantly.

Usopp squinted. “Okay. So, I’m trying to figure out how many projectiles I can possibly fire in an hour. Because I’m assuming any given battle won’t last more than an hour, so if I figure that out, I can save space in my bag by packing less ammunition. Though, I might pack more anyway, just to be safe.”

“Right.”

“I know I can fire about forty of them in thirty seconds, give or take,” Usopp continued. “And I forget where to go from here. I’m trying to add but I keep making mistakes.”

Zoro was silent for a moment, staring into space. Usopp rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I figured you couldn’t help. I’ll just keep trying and—”

“Four thousand and eight hundred.”

Usopp paused. “Huh?”

“Right?” Zoro said, frowning. “Did I get it wrong?”

“I dunno, that seems like a lot,” Usopp said, skeptical about Zoro’s apparently random answer. “Hey, Robin!”

Robin came up the stairs. “You called?”

Usopp explained the problem. Robin stared pensively at the paper, studying the numbers and tracing them.

“That’s four thousand and eight hundred,” she said at last. “Though, I don’t think you’ll need that many. You won’t be firing them non-stop for a full hour, will you?”

“Good point,” Usopp said sheepishly. “But, Zoro, you got that so fast!”

Zoro furrowed his brow. “That was the answer. I just saw it. Was that fast?”

“It was really cool,” Usopp said to Robin in excitement. “I asked him and he said what you said, like, right away!”

“Impressive,” Robin agreed, smiling at Zoro. “I didn’t know you were so savvy.”

“What, you guys didn’t know the answer?” Zoro said, surprised.

“Don’t be rude!” Usopp exclaimed.

“I’m not!”

“Luffy—!”

Zoro slowed to a stop, glowering after Luffy, who had stolen his bandana while he was sleeping in order to play capture the flag with Usopp, Chopper, and Franky. He returned to his spot on the deck, but was unable to return to sleep, fidgeting and feeling the spot where his bandana should be.

“Something wrong?” Robin asked, having come up to the deck to water her plants. “Is your bandana missing?”

Zoro didn’t look at her, taking a moment to respond. “Luffy took it.”

Robin set down her watering can and left. She found Usopp desperately trying to explain the rules of the game to Luffy while Chopper and Franky waited.

“Guys,” she said. They looked over. “Zoro wants his bandana back.”

“But we need a flag,” Luffy protested.

“It’s just for a little bit,” Chopper added.

“He feels uncomfortable without it,” Robin explained. “Luffy, what if someone else took your hat for something like this? Or yours, Chopper?”

They frowned. “I wouldn’t like that,” Luffy agreed. Chopper nodded.

Robin held out her hand, and Luffy handed over the bandana.

“I’ll get you a new flag in a minute,” she promised. “In the meantime, learn the rules.”

“Right, Luffy, as I was saying,” Usopp continued.

Zoro stared at the bandana deposited into his lap. He looked up at Robin and then back down, muttering, “Thanks,” before brushing it off and retying it around his arm. He fell back asleep in no time.

“Breakfast?” Zoro asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

“Pain perdu,” Sanji replied, just getting his apron on. Zoro nodded and left, walking past Luffy, who was wide awake and ready to eat.

When the crew trickled in for food, Zoro stared at the pancakes and scrambled eggs on his plate as if waiting for them to turn into pain perdu. When they didn’t, he looked up at Sanji and glowered.

“What?” Sanji said. “Oh, right. Sorry, everyone, we were going to have pain perdu, but someone ate the last of the bread last night.”

He turned a pointed glare to Luffy, who shrugged. “Well, I was hungry, and what’m I supposed to do if the fridge is locked?”

“Ask me, dipshit!”

“You were sleeping! That would’ve been rude.”

“Since when do you care about manners?!”

The others had started on their food already. Zoro didn’t start until Luffy and Sanji had finished arguing, and even then he ate very slowly.

When Zoro finally came out to the deck for his after-breakfast nap, he found his usual spot taken by Usopp, who had sat down to tinker. He stood stock-still, staring at the spot, and was just about to move when Usopp saw him.

“Oh, shoot, this is your spot, isn’t it?” he exclaimed, standing. “Sorry, go on—”

Zoro looked away and left without a word.

“Well, geez, I was trying to be nice,” Usopp muttered, confused.

Zoro took his nap on the other side of the ship eventually, though it was a restless one. He woke up, ready to start training, and was on his way to the observatory when Franky interrupted him.

“Hey, bro,” he said with a grin. “You seen Usopp?”

Zoro pointed to Usopp.

“Oh, thanks!” Franky playfully drummed his fingers across Zoro’s shoulders and left, waving. “See you!”

Zoro was rooted to the spot, shuddering, before he managed to start moving again to get to the ropes.

He breathed slowly at the top, removed his shirt, and began training. But he hadn’t even finished his first rep when panicked shouts below alerted him of an approaching pirate ship—it was time to fight.

He set his weight down and pulled his shirt back on, too frazzled to fix it so it faced forward, and tied his bandana around his head, stumbling out of the room and down to the deck. The others were already fighting, and he joined them, his movements purely muscle memory.

“Zoro, help!”

He turned towards the sound and found Usopp cowering under a joint attack. With a slash, that was taken care of.

“Moss-hair, go help Nami-san!”

Zoro looked around, vision blurring, and spotted an orange head of hair. He ran over, but stumbled to a halt when Nami’s attackers were wiped out by her thunderbolt.

“I don’t need help, Sanji-kun!” she yelled, too close to Zoro’s face. Sanji cried an apology to her while Zoro swung his head around, searching for what to do next.

He had only just sliced down another enemy trying to board the ship when the enemy captain called for their ship to retreat. The conscious crew gathered their less-fortunate friends and headed off.

The Strawhats cheered all around Zoro as he stared into the distance, vision blurred, sheathing his swords and tying his bandana around his arm again. His hands shook; everything was too bright, and everyone’s voices were indistinct and far too loud, surrounding him on all sides, leaving no escape. His backwards shirt rested over his haramaki and brushed his skin in all the wrong ways. His eyelids fluttered as he blinked slowly. He needed to . . . needed to . . .

The voices became quieter, and blurry hands waved in front of his face, making him shut his eyes in pain. His legs wobbled, but someone took his hand in their large one, holding on firmly and slowly turning it to face him another way. He blindly followed, slowing when the hand moved downwards, indicating stairs.

He heard rhythmic splashing, and could barely see in the dim light of the room they were in.

“. . . Zoro? Squeeze my hand if you hear me.”

It took him a moment to respond, but he clenched his hand inside his companion’s. He recognized the voice as Chopper.

“Do you want to stay here? Squeeze if yes.”

He paused and squeezed.

“Alone? Squeeze if yes.”

Another pause, another clench.

“Want help sitting down? Squeeze if yes.”

Silence.

“Okay.” Chopper released his hand slowly. “If you’re not back up already, someone’s gonna come down here and tell you when dinner’s ready. Okay?”

Zoro managed a tiny nod.

“Anything else?”

A small shake.

“Okay. Bye.”

Chopper left. Zoro lowered himself against the wall and wrestled with his arms, fixing his shirt. As soon as he’d finished, he collapsed, falling into a light sleep while the waves splashed.

Zoro didn’t speak for the rest of the day, but he exited the Mini-Merry Docking Room for dinner, and went to sleep in the men’s quarters with everyone, who made sure to keep their voices down for his sake.

Zoro tapped the uchiko ball along the blade of his sword and wiped the powder away with a cloth. Satisfied, he slid it back into his sheath and put away his cleaning supplies, standing to stow the case in his locker.

“I’m sure I’ve said this before, Zoro-san, but those are marvelous blades you have,” Brook remarked, falling into step with him.

“I know,” Zoro said, smiling. “I rely on them as much as I do you guys.”

“May I ask about them?”

“Yeah,” Zoro said, stopping outside the door to the men’s quarters. “This one was my first real sword. The person who gave it to me inspired me to learn the three-sword style, since before I received this I used the two-sword style, and I wanted to use this one as well. It’s my oldest and dearest sword. The ones I used before these two I received at the dojo I grew up in, but they broke when I fought Hawk-Eye.”

Brook leaned against the cabin wall, listening without ears.

“This one is called Kitetsu, technically Kitetsu III,” Zoro continued, smiling, “and I got this one in a test of luck. It’s a cursed sword, but it didn’t cut my arm off when I challenged it, so it’s mine now. The shopkeeper who gave me this also gave me Yubashiri, but that one broke at Enies Lobby thanks to a rusting ability one of the Marines had. After that I got Shusui from that zombie, Ryuma.” He paused for breath. “The three-sword style I developed by—”

The door opened, bumping into him and startling him out of his rambling. Sanji gave him an eye-roll before going to the kitchen.

“So . . . that’s it,” he finished, train of thought broken, and went inside.

The Marine pushed Sanji face-first up against the alley wall. “Blackleg Sanji, is it? Your eyebrow gives you away, you know.”

“Watch the face, please, ma’am,” Sanji said, unable to fight back.

“You’re under arrest for aiding and abetting,” she said as Zoro walked by the alley and stopped, looking at them, “as well as participating in various—”

She looked at Zoro and paled, releasing Sanji. “Uh, changed my mind,” she said, backing up. “You’re free to go.”

She ran away.

“Guess your face scared her off,” Sanji remarked, dusting himself off.

“Hey!” Zoro called after her. “Weren’t you gonna arrest him?”

Sanji kicked his calf. “Don’t fucking taunt her!”

“What? I was just asking.”

“This never happened,” Sanji said as they started heading away.

“Huh?” Sanji glared at him. “Oh. Right.”

“Learn to read a situation,” Sanji snapped. “Honestly, you—”

He stopped and looked back. Zoro had fallen behind, examining a market stall of trinkets.

“And quit wandering off!”

“Hey!”

Zoro opened his eyes and stared at the person in the jail cell with him. They were a short redhead with glasses, and they stared at him expectantly.

“What?” he said when they didn’t continue.

“What’d you get arrested for?”

“Being a pirate.”

“Oh. I got arrested for homicide.” The person stared at Zoro’s swords, which the soldiers had foolishly left with him. “Hey, you’re that pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re really good with those swords, then?” the person said, voice growing high with excitement. “Can you break us out?”

“Sure.”

The person waited. “So . . . are you going to?”

“Yeah. I was just resting.”

Zoro stood and faced the wall, preparing two swords.

“Hey!” the person exclaimed. “I have a bad sense of direction, too, but even I know the bars are over here!”

“Breaking the wall gets us out faster,” Zoro pointed out, cutting the wall open without another word.

“I guess, but . . .” The person approached the hole and stared down. “It’s a long way down . . .”

Zoro grabbed them around the waist and ignored the scream as he leapt from the building. He set them on the ground and wandered away.

“One hundred . . . one hundred one . . . one hundred two . . .”

“Hey, Zoro,” Luffy said, poking his head through the trapdoor. “Lunch! Sanji told me to come get you.”

“One hundred three . . . one hundred four . . .” Zoro didn’t look away from his weighted lunges.

Luffy frowned and disappeared. A minute later Franky showed up.

“One hundred eleven . . . one hundred twelve . . .” Zoro muttered.

“Hey!” Franky yelled. “Lunchtime!”

“One hundred thirteen . . . one hundred fourteen . . .”

Franky shook his head and left. It was Nami who showed up next.

“Zoro, get your butt down here or I’m charging you for every minute you’re late,” she snapped.

“One hundred twenty . . . one hundred twenty one . . .”

She climbed up into the crow’s nest and smacked the back of his head. He froze and turned to her, shocked.

“What?” he snapped.

“Lunch. Is ready,” she hissed. “It’s been ready.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

He toweled himself off and left, leaving Nami to stare after him, mouth agape.

Franky, knowing Zoro wasn’t asleep, sat next to him on the deck. “Hey, bro. Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.” Zoro didn’t open his eyes, keeping his arms folded firmly against his chest.

“I messed up. I ruined one of her maps.”

“Nami’s?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t finished, she’d hung it out to dry, and I was holding cola and I went to look at it and . . . tripped.”

“You spilled cola on her map?”

“Yeah. She grabbed it and stormed away. What do you think I should do?”

Zoro was silent for so long Franky worried he’d really fallen asleep, but then he spoke.

“If you messed up one of my swords somehow, and went to ask someone what to do while I tried to deal with the situation,” he said slowly, “I’d probably be pretty pissed if you didn’t even apologize.”

“What?” Franky said. “We’re not talking about you.”

“I know. I’m trying to make sense of the situation.” Zoro lifted his face to the sky but didn’t open his eyes. “Go say sorry to her.”

“Okay. What next?”

“Oh. Uh . . . I guess offer to help her or get new materials at some point. Let the cat out of the bag.”

“Excuse me?”

“What?”

“Let the cat out of the bag? What do you mean?”

“It means use every tactic you have on hand. In this case, do whatever you can to apologize and make it up to her.”

“But that’s not what that . . . never mind. Got it. Thanks!” Franky grinned and stood. “You’ve got a weird way of going about things, but it works.”

Zoro opened his eyes as Franky walked away.

“Weird?”

“What’s wrong?” Sanji asked.

Zoro’s face had only scrunched in disgust for a moment at the taste of his snack, so he was surprised that Sanji had caught it. “Uh . . . it’s sweet,” he said.

“Really? I thought it was plain enough. You want something else?”

“Dunno. You have anything else?”

“Bit of leftover ham,” Sanji said, taking the plate away. “I need most of it for the stew tonight, but if you want some of that . . . ?”

“Sounds good.”

Zoro rubbed his temples, wandering towards Chopper’s office. He opened the door and stared at Chopper until Chopper looked up. Zoro spread his arms out. Chopper trotted outside, bit down on a Rumble Ball, and transformed into Guard Point. Zoro fell against him, closing his eyes and rubbing his fur. Luffy found them and joined them for a minute before getting bored and heading away.

When Chopper turned back, Zoro hugged him before heading away to nap.

Zoro, worn-out from a stressful day, leaned against the railing but couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Chopper came upon him and Zoro looked up at him hopefully. Chopper turned big and grabbed Zoro, squeezing him in his lap. Zoro fell asleep in minutes.

“Zoro helped me with some calculations today,” Robin said at dinner, smiling at him. “You were very helpful. Thank you.”

“Well, since you helped Robin-chan,” Sanji said, setting an extra glass of booze in front of Zoro, who nodded and took it without a word. “Need anything else?”

He shook his head and started drinking his glass down. Luffy tugged at his bandana, but a look made him stop. Zoro fixed it and went back to drinking.

“Thanks for sharing your napping spot with me, Zoro,” Chopper said, waving his arms.

“I never knew you knew so much about your swords,” Usopp said, shaking his head. “You talked my ear off!”

Zoro stared in alarm at his ears.

“It’s a figure of speech,” Usopp added. Zoro relaxed.

“Surprised we could get you away from your training for dinner,” Franky said with a laugh. Zoro shrugged.

“Seconds, Sanji-san?” Brook said, holding out his plate in front of Zoro’s face. Zoro closed his eyes and moved back. “Ah, forgive me, Zoro-san.” Brook moved his arm out of the way. Zoro opened his eyes and slowly moved forward again.

“Zoro, we’re gonna have a party tonight,” Luffy announced, bouncing in his seat. “You gonna come or you gonna sleep?”

Zoro shrugged and gave him a thumbs-up. Luffy grinned. “Awesome!”

“Try not to hog all the alcohol,” Nami shot at him. Zoro made a point of rolling his eyes at her before returning to his dinner, carefully prepared without a hint of sweetness.

[forcedapotheosis-blog]

Gloomy Days Chapter V

Alright fellas, apparently it’s the day of double updates. I felt a lot better with writing this chapter, hope that you might like it, too. Have a fantastic day!

Disclaimer 1: I don’t own One Piece or any of its characters

DIsclaimer 2: This seems to be Chapter 7, chapter 5 and chapter 3.4 because somewhere along the line, I messed up. It’s the seventh post of Gloomy Days and .. oh, I don’t know. Try not to pay too much attention to it D:

Chapter VII / V / III.4 - Second Chances

Where the Hell am I?

The question was not really as surprising as it should be, considering the person that was asking. After a good time of wandering around, it became blatantly obvious that he got lost within the mansion while he was looking for the bar. The exact bar that was in clear line of sight just a few minutes ago. The exact bar that the obvious blonde hair of Sanji could have been seen at. Still, he got lost. Besides that, he felt awfully naked without his trusty companions made of tempered steel at his hips. For the record, he had gotten lost in places that were much more simple than this opulent and imperial mansion, and his evergrowing thirst for booze didn't help. As did the fact that meeting Sanji after years of separation did indeed have a lasting effect on him, as much as he wanted to deny it.

They had been brothers in all but blood for many years until the rot began to tear the crew apart. Even the strongest metal could be destroyed by corrosion, a mountain could be ground down by waves. With the bonds of friendship, it was just the same. When people stopped to be true towards one another, to keep a thing going only for the sake of it being what they used to be, even the strongest ties tended to lacerate. The swordsman had used the long time apart to reflect on it, something that none of his former crewmates would have believed.

Damn cook, I bet he's at the bar now, flirting with some broad and having booze, while I'm .. somewhere, I guess. Think I didn't leave the house, did I? Why does everything here look so unfamiliar?!, he was of a mind to just punch his way through the walls until he found some people and just a few years ago, he would've done it in an instance. Today should have been a special day for his former navigator, though, and if he accidentally broke the skull of her groom, she'd probably not be too happy about it.

That, and I still owe her a load of money. This fact was more a problem now than it used to be. When they were still travelling together, there was booty to be had, money to be stolen from other pirates. Now that he pursued his dream of becoming the greatest swordsman in the world on his own, things went .. a little slower. Falling back into his old ways as a pirate hunter, he found out the hard way that the World Government didn't actually like to pay bounties to ex-pirates. Scratching that off of his list, he worked as a bouncer for a few months, as his former captain did. Sadly enough, the paycheck wasn't even close to cover his drinking habits. That, and his employers didn't like that he slept on the job. To keep himself floating, he resorted to teaching swordsmanship, although that also didn't work out as well as he was expecting. If people got monstrously strong in a relatively short amount of time, they sometimes lost perspective. This loss of perspective did dawn on him when he broke both the arm and the wooden sword of a pupil during a practice session, after seeing that, the large influx of new people that were drawn to his name suddenly subsided.

I wonder when the ceremony is going to start, I might just be able to hear them .. until then, why not take a small nap? Can't do anything wrong with not moving any further away, right? Right?

It was all the more unfortunate that simply taking a nap wasn't as good since he left the crew as it used to be. On the outside, the green-haired swordsman was a killing machine, a force of nature when it came to battling their foes, but still waters used to run deeper than one might have thought. The events of their separation did make a lasting impact on him, traces of that even haunted him up until this very day.

"YOU GODDAMN MORON!", he shouted out in an unusual fit of rage when the first punch was thrown. The cook didn't even try to react to it and faced the consequences. His balled up fist came crashing down on Sanji's face and sent him flying straight into the ship's rail. A lesser man would've lost consciousness from the force of impact alone, but even though Zoro would never admit it, the cook was as tough as nails. Thus, he was able to simply shrug it off and stand up as if nothing happened, rubbing the place of impact in an apathetic manner.

"We're done yet?", the indifference in his voice enraged the swordsman even more, didn't the moron see that he was trying to help him?!

This scene was just the climactic finale of the developments that had occured within the crew since Brook's final death. The situation got from bad the worse and here they were, under the cover of the moon. The swordsman's blood was boiling because of the scene he had witnessed just minutes before. Not only did that dumb cook hurt himself in the process, but he hurt the one woman who might actually be able to unconditionally feel for him. Not in any physical way, of course, but that somehow made it even worse.

"YOU GET BACK IN THERE AND APOLOGISE!", he shouted again, at least showing enough foresight to not draw his swords. Things would have gotten really messy if both of them unleashed all they had.

"What does it matter? And why do you care, of all people? This crew's finished, marimo. Robin knew it, even Franky and Chopper left. This is it, deadlock for our dreams. Just stay out of my way, I'm going to hop off at the next harbor and you'll never have to see me again. It's just a matter of days.", he pulled out a cigarette and put it between his lips, though he didn't have a chance to ignite it as the swordsman took his next swing. A mean hook that impacted on the right side of his head and smashed him to the ground again, throwing the cigarette from his lips.

Zoro was quite surprised about the whole situation himself. Usually, he pretended not to care at all, especially when regarding the cook. This time though, it was different. When Usopp left the crew after his fight with Luffy, there were more pressing concerns to be taken care of and things worked out in the end, anyway. He was so sure about it that he didn't feel the need to intervene. The same thing happened again when the cook was doing his spiel with his wedding, though he pretended not to give too much of a concern about the situation, he was certain that Sanji's abilities would be more than sufficient to resolve it in their favour. Yes, it did need the invertention of Nami, Luffy, Chopper and Brook, but things worked out.

This time, he couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. He had to do something about it or the whole thing would go to Hell. It probably already was.

"You didn't answer my question. Why in the world do you care?!", Sanji's indifferent facade was finally crumbling, his hands were balled into fists and after the first two, free hits, he was finally ready to defend himself.

"Shut up, go in there and apologise if you don't want me to kill you.", the anger wasn't exactly subsiding, but at least the swordsman had found a way to use it in his usual manner. Focussed on the enemy, he raised his hands in the style a boxer would.

The fights between these two always had something comically serious, as if two storms were wrestling with each other, two unstoppable forces of nature. Surprisingly enough, none of them had ever been hurt within their encounters, but both of them knew that this time, the outcome could be different. One of them might die.

For an outsider, it would have looked as if two mortal enemies were engaging each other, they wouldn't have known what was lying underneath. After all that happened, this fight was still a show of mutual respect. None of them was giving quarter or a second of relieve to the other and besides the fact that Zoro wasn't using his swords, he went all out. Even blocking or evading attacks became secondary as they traded crushing blows that would have killed a lesser man. In this situation, they broke bones and tore flesh apart, but none of it was lethal. These men were evenly matched and it seemed that the only condition of losing was to go in the defensive.

After a few minutes of all-out combat, the swordsman and the cook were breathing heavily, bleeding from a dozen or more minor wounds and ignoring a plethora of broken ribs and other bones. Still, they went at each other in a final clash in which they traded hits again. Sanji's shinbone came crushing into Zoro's ripcage, again, and unfolded enough kinetic energy to throw him into the ship's rail, but the trade-off was that he wasn't able to defend himself against the swordsman's devastating right. The impact let him collapse backwards and blurred his vision. After all, none of them was in the condition to continue this fight much longer and they did make one hell of a noise out there.

Getting back up, Zoro knew that another one of those kicks would damage his internal organs enough that it might kill him. If the broken ribs hadn't already began with puncturing his lungs. Too bad that showing weakness or admitting defeat was not his strong point. At least the cook wasn't looking much better, if any better at all. He had taken so many htis to his head that he was sure to have a concussion and blood was running down his nostrils and his mouth. The situation would have proven dire if all the noise they made didn't alert one of their remaining nakama. She bursted out of her cabin, her eyes still teary from the conversation they had, before the fight between these two 'brothers' escalated.

"STOP IT, PLEASE!", she started crying the moment she realised what was happening. And against any better judgement, even after all the things he said .. or more, didn't say and didn't do when the whole world came crushing down on them, she still ran up to the now sitting Sanji and fresh tears filled her big brown eyes. "Please, Sanji-kun, please stop ..", this provided Zoro with yet another proof that he was doing the right thing here.

Sure, it wasn't easy for Nami and Sanji when things started out, but somewhere along the way, his relentless pursuit of fulfilling all of her wishes made her open up. So much, in fact, that it seemed for a while now that she had made the conscious decision of being with him, openly caring for him. And he was about to throw it all away. Zoro knew that the cook understood his trail of thoughts when their eyes met. The navigator was sitting right next to him and visibly wanted to comfort, to embrace the cook. Maybe a simple touch could have changed how things went, maybe it could have been more than a hope spot. The moment passed, though, and Sanji worked himself up, aching every step of the way, carefully averting his gaze from the red-haired woman next to him. This scene reminded Zoro too much about what had happened minutes ago, when she was on her knees and begged him not to go.

Still, he wasn't even looking at her, the one remaining person he desired more than the All Blue itself. Zoro's lips silently formed the words 'Stay. For her.', but to no avail.

The Sunny was in the middle of the ocean right now and Sanji had suffered some devastating blows, yet he still refused to give in. To do what's best. The last chance for a second sunrise vanished into thin air when the cook jumped into the air, his face full of regrets and his visible eye the source of neverending tears. He skywalked out of sight within the next moments, leaving behind shattered bonds and two broken hearts. Hers and his own.

"Excuse me, sir, are you alright?", he was opening his healthy eye, actually being happy to have been awoken from this haunting dream. The swordsman took his sweet time to reply, first and foremost beginning to inspect who was talking to him. Hrm .. too handsome for his own good.

"It's alright, just took a little nap before all the .. fuss.", he didn't know how to assess the cautious laughter that followed his remark, but an idea already began to form.

"Haha, oh, my good friend, you're absolutely right. I, too, find it a little distracting from the more important things. The wedding probably is blown out of proportion. Many of the guests aren't here to meet Nami, anyway, they're here to attend my parents.", he was holding out his right hand towards Zoro to help him get to his feet, but the swordsman declined by shaking his head, getting up on his own instead.

"Thanks, I'm .. good. My throat's terribly dry, though, where's the bar?", he was leaning his head to both sides, making his neck crack in a manner that visibly sent shivers down the other man's spine. Yet, he continued to smile.

"Sure, my friend. Right down this hallway, you can't miss it. Before you go, though, may I ask you something? Since I don't know you, I assume that you belong to my dear Nami's guests, is that right?", Zoro nodded, moving his right hand in a small circle instead of just telling him to go on.

"That's great, I'm really excited to finally meet most of her family and friends! Judging from the hair and the rough exterior, I assume that you're Roronoa Zoro, is that right, too?", again, the swordsman just nodded. How much did she actually tell that guy about her past? The scion of an old and influential family, getting married to a former pirate? Even if the guy himself wanted it, his parents might not be as excited about this prospect.

"You might not want to write it on your shirt, though. People can get a little weird when they're in the company of pirates. Or .. former pirates.", in contrast to Luffy, who's bounty had been erased by his grandfather, Zoro's was still active. That also was the main reason that he wasn't able to collect bounties from the people he hunted down.

"Oh, don't worry about it, my friend. Nami trusted me with these informations about her past, none will hear them from my lips. It would cast quite the shadow on our marriage and I really don't want to put her through this stress. I mean, even if it was to come out, I'd still stay by her side, but the act of calming the waves would be a distressing start for a life in wedlock, don't you think?", still, the swordsman wasn't really sure what to think about him. He was as tall, dark and handsome as they could get, definitely not a bad catch. And he had money and even though he knew about her past, he seemed understanding enough. A nice companion for her future.

"Yeah, better that way. What's it you want to know? Just going to remind you that I'm really getting thirsty right now.", well, he mostly was thirsty, but he also wasn't terribly delighted to be a part of this conversation right now. As far as he could see and feel it, there was nothing really wrong about this guy. Quite on the contrary, even. I've got the impression that he actually is genuine.

"Well, my friend, it might be the wrong time to fill you in on this, but since you're one of her closest friends, maybe you'd know a way to lift her spirits. During the time she was writing your invitations, especially during the last one she wrote, she actually broke down and started to cry. See, she wrote all of them during the nightly hours, away from our bedroom and in isolation. When I heard her crying, I rushed to her bureau, but she just wouldn't let me in. So .. I mean, you don't have to answer me, but I'd love to know what that could have been about. The next day, everything went back to normal and I didn't ask what was going on, thinking that she'd open up to me when she felt like it, but that did not occur yet.", for the first time now, the groom had Zoro's full attention. After meeting so many wealthy and powerful people, it felt refreshing to meet someone who at least seemed to be a reflective, true-to-himself person. Yet, Zoro didn't want to get pulled into this. He had tried to intervene once and it failed, he wouldn't try a second time. That, and if he said anything, just about anything wrong here, it might be his fault that this nice bubble that Nami had built for herself would burst. How would he react when confronted with the swordsman's theory that her heart, in fact, might still be beating for another man? Probably not what you want to hear on the day of your wedding.

"Sorry, can't help you with that, but I'm sure it's going to work itself out. This way to the bar, right?", it was obvious by now that he wanted this conversation to end. If in any way possible, without leaving a broken groom behind. Not going to carry that cross. Every other, but not this one. I'm not even going to try to fix this mess for you, freaking perverted cook.

The groom nodded in a sad fashion before he forced himself to smile again.

"This way, my friend. Well, I already said that it'd be alright if you wouldn't want to answer that question. Just .. see, I want Nami to be happy, in the best of all cases, I would want her to be happy with me. I just fear that if there's an unspoken thing between us, the marriage might suffer from it. That's not what I want, neither for her, for me nor for my parents. So, one last time, my friend: Is there something I should know about her past? Did she have bad experiences with another man?"

Whatever this is going to be, I'm not playing a part in it.

"Give it a rest, man. It's probably nothing and you'll have a nice, clean marriage waiting for you. This way to the bar, now?", again, he was pointing at the wrong direction. For the third time or so.

"My friend, this way. And I'm sure that you'll understand that it's rather difficult to put this situation to rest. You've known her longer than I did, that I'm sure of, so, shouldn't it be a shared interest of us to see her happy? I .. see, my friend, I know that I told you that you don't have to answer me, but I simply can't stop thinking about her crying in the night. I'm sure that it wasn't the only time that it happened, either. Sometimes, when she wakes up, her eyes appear to be swollen. She's always quick to cover it up, even telling me that it's because of an allergy, but you wouldn't believe that either. Especially not during the Winter."

Hell, can't he just leave me alone? I don't want to be a part of this!

It was then that another thought occured to the swordsman. For all his life, he never believed in fate, in some kind of god or a divine plan. Even if godlike things existed, they wouldn't care about humans, wouldn't they? So far out of touch with their own creation, nothing they would think or do would matter to him.

But what if .. No, no, no. We're not going down that road. I've tried it once and I failed. We're not going to do that again. Whatever happens between all of them, it doesn't concern me anymore. I really need some sake right now.

The gnawing doubt was still there, though. What if there was some kind of a divine force that lead people through their lives? Not even all the time, only appearing when they were straying from their paths? Would these powers be able and willing to grant second chances?

ARGH! They better will, because that frenzied woman will have my head if this doesn't work out!

Finally having made a decision, Zoro stopped in his tracks, turning around to the still waiting groom.

"You know .. Cassian, was it? I don't like it, because you seem to be a nice guy, but you forced my hand in this. Yes, there once was another man. Do with that information what you will. I'm just telling you right here and right now: You're not big enough to fill the hole that he left."

With these words, he started moving towards the bar, now in dire need of a drink because Nami would almost certainly kill him and dying blackout drunk didn't seem like such a bad thing.

"Hey .. my friend, that's not the way to the bar."

[pingo1387]

for the fanfic word game: "stop"

yeah let’s do this!! 

From A Dream Whose Name I Dare Not Mention 

Zoro stopped short. A figure stood ahead of him, wearing a pink shirt, blue shorts, and carrying a white-sheathed sword.

~ 

Zoro looked down. “I know. But I’m not going to stop here.”

~ 

“You promised to keep going, you idiot,” he hissed. “Don’t stop here just because you don’t understand.”

~ 

As he approached, he quickened his pace and stopped in front of the obstacle.

~ 

Zoro stumbled to a stop and looked around. “The wrong way?”

~ 

He and Sanji rushed, as if on instinct, towards him, stopping him with blows of sword and kicks.

~ 

The ship was docked, and the crew bade solemn farewells to the ill Yorki and their dying crewmates. Brook was about to leave with the others, but the doctor stopped him.

~ 

His vision blurred. For a moment, he thought he felt something deep in his chest, and he finally stopped playing to feel the spot—

~ 

He did his work in the flashes of memory shown to him, and occasionally found a shiny object on his way, always making sure to stop and pick it up—who knew what could happen if he failed to collect even one?

~ 

Humming caught his ears (not that there was anything to catch) and he turned to see a zombie approaching. The corpse had the appearance of a samurai, a single sword resting on its hip, and the zombie’s eyes were hollow as it hummed a song, stopping several feet from Brook.

~ 

“Stop,” Brook exclaimed, surprising himself with his own vehement tone. “Don’t touch my hair, Ryuma-san.”

~ 

From Sealed with a Kiss 

The spotted seal let himself be washed ashore and waddled farther on the cool sand and rocks until the ocean’s waves could not touch him. He soon stopped by a stone half his length in height and raised himself so he rested upon it.

~ 

Luffy had stopped calling for him, and the silence was blissful. Where he had gone Law didn’t know and didn’t care, pleased as he was to have the beach back to himself.

~ 

“Huh, he’s really retiring?” he said. “I never thought grampa would stop working …”

~ 

He stopped, kneeling in the sand to rest, and soon he looked up when a pair of legs blocked his vision.

~ 

“Pig meat.” Luffy stopped in front of his house, lifted a leg, and used his foot to open the unlocked door.

~ 

“I need to—” Law stopped himself and clenched his hands on his legs, hesitating. “I need to go to the sea.”

~ 

Luffy tilted his head, slowing his pace to walk with him but putting a far too energetic bounce in each step. “We’re gonna stop somewhere before looking for your treasure,” he announced.

~ 

Law was a quick learner, and their departure only took as long as it did because he had stopped to ask Franky about his own legs—those enchanted limbs he had crafted himself.

~ 

They were almost out of this area (to Law’s relief, for they had been given alternating less-than-friendly and too-friendly looks along the way) when Luffy stopped and stooped, straightening back up a second later and examining something in his fingers.

~ 

Law came to an abrupt halt in front of the house and turned himself around to follow Luffy through the front door. He stopped at the threshold, realizing his wheelchair wouldn’t fit through the frame; Luffy turned back and, noticing the problem, offered his hand. Law ignored it and stood on his own, taking the crutches and leaning on them as he managed to move inside. Luffy got the wheelchair and figured out how to fold it to fit it through the door before carrying it inside, banging it on the frame regardless and setting it against the wall.

~ 

“Why did you stop?” Law said.

~ 

When Law yawned, showing sharp teeth, Usopp stopped talking at last and looked out the window.

~ 

He narrowed his eyes and stood, using the wall to leave and head a few steps outside the hall, stopping just outside the kitchen, where he heard Usopp say in exasperation, “What do you mean, ‘Him?’ Your friend Law.”

~ 

Law did so, wary, as Luffy released his wrist. Usopp poured the cool water on it. Law closed his eyes, pleased with the sensation, and opened them again when it stopped, looking to Luffy.

~ 

He glanced at Luffy, who hastily stopped his ongoing impression of Usopp’s soapbox speech.

~ 

Luffy went to the cabinet, whistling. Law looked back at him, noticing his lips, and he pursed his lips the same way, blowing softly. To his surprise, the same sound came out for a second, and Luffy glanced at him with a grin. Law stopped and turned back to the pot.

~ 

“The eggs are probably cool.” Law snapped out of his thoughts when Usopp stood and said this, and realized Luffy had stopped talking and instead was staring at him. He looked away, focusing on Usopp, who was lifting the eggs from the water and bringing them over, placing one on each plate. Law stared at his, picked it up, and placed it in his mouth.

~ 

Law stared at them as they clopped along. After a moment he turned his gaze forward again, taking his time gazing at the street and people around them. Folks of all shapes and sizes milled about, some clutching their hats in a hurry, others stopping in their tracks to examine something, others entering the buildings surrounding them.

~ 

A woman and her friend were talking as Luffy and Law passed them, and the woman rolled up her sleeve to show something on her arm. Law stopped and wheeled up to them, staring at it, and the two stopped talking to stare at him in surprise. He looked up at them and glared, backing away again.

~ 

Law screeched to a halt and turned himself around to head back to Luffy, who had stopped in front of a shop, staring up at the sign. Luffy pushed open the door and held it open for Law.

~ 

“Yes—the fur coat—” Brook looked behind him. “Messrs. Luffy and Law, I’m so sorry, I tried to stop them—some well-dressed scoundrels just made off with it, I caught them in the act and they ran off—”

~ 

“Give it back!” Law snarled. The men looked over, and the third one shooed the other two inside the train, including the one with the coat. He reached into his jacket and pulled something small and metal out. He aimed the long part of it at Law, who wheeled towards him without stopping.

~ 

From Two Households, Both Alike 

Kilo raised his arms, and the rocks flew into the air once more. This time they hurtled towards Aubergine—but they stopped short, hovering in a threatening circle around him.

~ 

“Stop following me,” Sanji snapped.

~ 

“I don’t want to know!” Usopp shrieked, hands flying up over his ears. “Stop right there!”

~ 

“Rain stopped,” Zoro said.

~ 

“Stop right there!”

~ 

“Outta the way, kid!” he yelled. He ran out of the city and to Route 116, past a few trainers, through thick grass, and stopped at the entrance to the Rusturf tunnel.

~ 

Not too far in, he stopped at a sheer wall of rock—the tunnel had yet to be completed.

~ 

“If anything, we should stay to try to stop Team Aqua, yeah?” Zoro said. “Drowning the world isn’t going to help anything, either.”

~ 

“I’m asking you! You stopped complaining about him a while ago, I was curious.”

~ 

“No.” They were on patrol together near Lilycove, Sanji having come along since none of Nami’s Pokémon knew Surf and she refused to swim from the hideout to the shore. Zigzagoon dashed across their path, making them stop every few paces.

~ 

“And—” She glanced around conspiratorially. “I think staying on this team is the best chance we have of stopping Magma, isn’t it?”

~ 

“Oh,” Sanji said, catching his breath. “Right—um, we stopped fighting. Seemed a waste of time to draw over and over.”

~ 

“Wow, that was fast!” Luffy exclaimed. A galloping sound came closer and Chopper, now sporting dull brown fur, skidded to a stop, nudging him. “Hi, Chopper! I’m fine! That was faster than I expected is all. I wonder what the other one is like? That guy was super nice. Oh, cool, the bike’s not even broken! That’s great!”

~ 

They stopped. A woman wearing a Magma uniform was holding a large rock, and at the bottom of the steps in front of her were a bristling Luffy, Chopper, and a brunette man with glasses.

~ 

The cable car stopped at the top, letting everyone out.

~ 

Zoro bit his lip to stop himself from bursting into laughter, but Usopp didn’t hold back at all. “Powerful Team Aqua, huh?” he jeered. “Look at you, scared of a sweet girl like Lauren!”

~ 

“Better for us if he stops your leader,” Franky said, turning back to the battle. “Sanji, dude, your fingernails hurt.”

~ 

“Good, so you can take care of things here. I’m gonna go stop that kid.”

~ 

“Hold up,” came a voice from behind them. Archie approached just as Luffy came back around the corner, his sweaty hands clutching the Meteorite, his battle prize. “Luffy, was it? Thanks for stopping Maxie. In gratitude, we’ll let you keep that Meteorite. But be warned, this is not the last you’ve seen of Team Aqua!”

~ 

“So you couldn’t stop him, after all?” Usopp asked, hugging her. “Team Aqua’s scary …”

~ 

“No, I didn’t stop him,” Robin said, patting Usopp’s back. “Let’s go catch up with Maxie and the others.”

~ 

“I just said I didn’t stop him,” Robin said with a shrug.