#so the long nose can come or go i am just so happy for Usopp and so thirsty for Jacob

[giantkillerjack]

he lost it while nose-deep in pussy

The Man who is Loved by his Ship

[rkiveinmarvel]

in all the seas - sanji vinsmoke. des. fluff. post-timeskip!sanji. the one time sanji left baratie: led him back to you. notes. sanji might be ooc. this is a test fic, i just miss my boy so much. fluffy! fluffy! fluffy! sanji meets enemies-to-lovers troupe, poor boy is nosebleeding again, mentions of smoking (don't smoke too much, guys!), mentions of the straw hat pirates shenanigans. i miss sanji, i want to kiss his forehead and give him a hug! ;<

hey! it's my first time writing for op (gosh, i remember when i said i won't write a fic for anime anymore but here i am now enjoying skypiea zoro ;P what a clown) n e way, sanji might be a little ooc here but i miss him so here you go, a fluffy sanji. i wrote this around 1 am so, please enjoy! happy holidays!

w.c: 2k (and i oop--)

Sanji was indeed a man with a lot of tricks up his sleeves: he’s from the family of mercenaries, part of the famous Straw Hats Pirate, and of course one of the greatest chef in all the seas, with his handsome face, strong kicks and talent in the kitchen, one could assume he’s everything a person can wish for, and that he is.

You’ve been working at the Baratie for years ever since the restaurant found its place on the East Blue, as a kid you were raised by Zeff along with a blonde kid who hates putting artificially made flavor on a dish. You cooked something with something artificially made, he hates it. He cooks you something, you hate it. It was a game of cat and mouse but somehow, Zeff saw this a familiar scene and a everlasting promise between two kids that somehow will always find each other.

“Sanji! I’m hungry!” The voice of Luffy woke Sanji’s staring into space, as the cook of the straw hat stood up, the sharpshooter of straw hats watches him intently. “Sanji, is there something wrong?” Then, he met Usopp’s wondering eyes, as in the back of his mind, he is back in the Baratie, back to you. He lightly shook his head, ignoring the sharpshooter’s question: was it the empty space of the kitchen that made him wish he was with you, was it the vast sea that made him wish you see the lovely view too, was it his new family made him wish that you should’ve met them too, instead of speaking out his thoughts and secrets, he gave Usopp a smile, perhaps a reminder to the sharp shooter that their cook is alright. 

The lingering look of longing is still on Sanji’s face until their next voyage on the vast sea, it made the straw hat worry, hell, even the swordsman is now giving Sanji a look of worry, but somehow, when the crew has met a nearby island, they hoped that their cook would have a peace of mind, a recollection of what he longs for, what his face wishes for. As the reached the shore, the crew pushed Sanji out of the ship as they gave him a reassuring look to take all the time he needs to fill the void that’s slipping in his emotion, face, and his cooking.

As he walked to the island’s market, a familiar scent danced in his nose, a cooking that smells like his first home, as his feet lead the way into a fully packed restaurant, a familiar sight of food greeted him. He immediately sat somewhere on an empty table as he scans the menu.

The time pass by faster than he expected, as for once, he ate the food with a smile on his face, perhaps, realizing that he may have a competition in being the best chef in all seas: but this trivial things did not bother him, until, he tasted an articially made flavor on one of the dishes. Instead of throwing his anger like he always do when arguing with the straw hat’s swordsman, he clicked his tongue and requested to talk to the main chef of the restaurant.

Clink. Click. Clink.

Empty Dishes after empty dishes came into the kitchen, with a smile on your face you were happy with the unending order in the restaurant, until your new waiter had come bearing news about the blonde guy at table 19, with a tired sigh, you removed your apron and went outside to talk to the blonde guy at table 19.

Clink. Click. Clink.

“What seems to be the problem–Sanji?” Your eyes widened as your eyes seem to betray the sight infront of you. The blonde man then catches your surprise gaze as he was about to light his cigarette. “Oi–your..” he stopped at his words as he catches and drowned himself into a familiar sight. You’re here. You’re here infront of him. 

Instead of saying anything, the both of you seemed to memorize each others faces. 2 Years is indeed a long time, you noticed his growing beard, he memorized the length of your hair, you noticed his new suit, he noticed the tired yet happy look on your face.

“So, you left Baratie.” The both of you uttered the same time, as a chuckle left your lips: Sanji felt like crying—he missed you so damn much. “Bet Zeff didn’t let you go that easily.” He commented as he gestured you to seat. “He actually did, telling me to look for you and kick your ass as we saw your new bounty.” You laughed as Sanji bottled that laugh in his ear. 

“Did he now…” He countered as he lips curved into a soft smile. “Stop looking at me like that.” You immediately notice his gaze, making him look away. “Looking you like what?”

Clink. Click. Clink.

—----

Clink. Click. Clink.

“Heard the Straw Hat invited you to be in his crew..” You stated as you sat next on the deck with Sanji as he lit his cigarette. He looked away as you asked the question. “He did. I don’t want to.” He openly sighed and filled the space with smoke, as you click your tongue, you grabbed the cigarette on his hand, and inhaled the smoke yourself. “So, I guess you’ll be here in the Baratie in all the end of time.” I laughed. 

“What? Do you plan to leave?” He wondered as you meet his knowing look as you just laid your head on his shoulder. “Depends. Your cooking sucks.” He chuckled as he glared at you. “You use artificial flavors in your cooking!” He sounded so offended. 

You nodded as you gave back his cigarette. “Go.” He knows that look, he’s way too familiar with that look. “Zeff can handle Baratie himself, that old man can be anything he wants. So, go.” 

Clink. Click. Clink.

“I’ll be fine, Sanji.” His voice seems to blend with sea and the seagulls. “It’s not about you.” He looked away as he hid his blush. “Is it?” I chuckled as you stood up and knelt infront of him. “I’ll be alright, Sanji, and besides, didn’t you say you’re going to prove to me that All Blue is real, how can you do that with you staying here.” 

“You’re really making this hard for me, you know..” He grumbles as you gave him a look. “I tend to make you suffer until the end of time, Sanji.” You smiled.

“Stop looking at me like that.” He softly uttered as he leaned in. “Looking you like what?” You replied as you closed the distance feeling his warm lips on yours, as the noise of the sea seem to silenced at this moment, seems like the seagulls have found a place to rest, seems like the warm rays of the sun has bit put on rest. As you pulled away, you met his eyes. “I’m still a better cook than you, you know.” He chuckled.

“Oh, I know. I know. Get out there, Sanji.” You smiled as you stood up, walking away from him, leaving the blonde boy with a distinct nosebleed and a lovesick smile on his face.

—-------

“So, you’re here.” He said with a smile. “Good to see, you still have your both feet on the ground.” You smiled as you saw that his bangs have changed its position. “You changed your look.” You commented as he just stares at you. 

“What?” You wondered as he just looked at the food: “You used artificially made flavors.” He complained as you rolled your eyes and just snickered. “You never really got over it, didn’t you?” you laughed. “Why don’t you walk over our kitchen, Mr. Sanji.” You teased as you stood up and lead him to the kitchen. 

The tour in the kitchen was just short and subtle; it surprised him that the artificial flavor he hates was actually made by you: he find it funny and continue to tell you that he is the best cook in all seas. By the time the tour finish, he caught a familiar wanted poster hanged on the wall. A poster that he hates so much.

“Seriously, that poster?” He rolled his eyes at you. It was his first wanted poster with no picture attached but an illustration. You chuckled at his antics: “What? The artist took your beauty really well.” You chuckled, as you stare at him.

“I miss you too, by the way.” You stood closer to him as he walked towards the wanted poster hanged on the wall. He blushes as he looked at you. “Does your miss kinda works its way on you giving me a ki–”

“ORDER UP!” Before he can continue, orders came in like a wave from the sea, Sanji frowned at the timing. “Oi, loverboy, talk to you later.” You tapped his shoulder as you left him on the corner, with a smile on his face. He hid his blush and walked back to their ship.

—-----

A familiar straw hat greeted your eyes as you walked on the shore. “OI!! SANJI!!” He shouted happily, as you noticed Sanji walking down excitedly as you approached their ship. As he ran towards you, he gave you a tight hug. “You’re acting like we didn’t talk earlier.” You grumbled in his hug, as you return it. “I had to keep my appearances, there were bounty hunters in the restaurant, after all. If they knew I had some connection on you, they might–”

You punched him lightly on his stomach. “I can handle myself, Sanji.” You sighed: “We’re both raised by Zeff, you know how he is.” you ran your hand in your hair as you looked at Sanji’s face dancing the sunset’s rays. With a teary-eye he looked at you: ah, they’re going to leave again. 

You nodded as you just offered your hand to Sanji as you both walk, quietly and appreciating the fondness of the gift of time in the shore. As you two walked, Sanji noticed that you never let go of his hand. “You actually missed me.” He said in such proud tone. He waited for a teasing remarks instead, you just nodded which surprised him.

“Missed you so much, ‘Ji.” You admit as he stopped his tracks and looked at you. Without saying anything, you embraced him as you hid yourself in his chest: god, he missed you too—so damn, much. He just nodded and hugged back your deep embrace. As the sun continue to bathe in the sea, you whispered the stories on how you got to the island and leaving Baratie. He listened intently as he drew circles in your hands, as the moon slowly reveal itself in the sky. He kissed your hand.

“Will you be here, ‘till I find the All Blue?” He asked, but his tone was pleading and full of hope. And just like before, you lay down your head on his shoulder: but this time, you grabbed a cigarette and lit it up as he muttered. “I’ll come back, you know that right?” He smiled as he grabbed the cigarette from your hand as he inhaled the smoke. You just nodded as you held him a little closer: for once, he thanked the past that you let him go—not only because he met an amazing crew but for once, you looked at him: not as a rival in cooking but someone—as your person. 

He thought the kiss from the past was just a mere kiss of heat of the moment, but here you are next to him and you looked so gorgeous—as if he was made to see you in all your shining glory—the lingering looks, the bickering, it all leads him back to you. “Go.” You muttered as he smiled as he kissed your hand. “We’ll be alright, Sanji.” That’s it, he leaned in and gave you a knowing kiss, a kiss that bears a sorry for the two years he wasn’t able to hold you and a kiss that carries promise of the upcoming and untold stories of the both of you—and by all the pirates in the world, he can’t wait to spend the rest of his days next to you in all eons, in all times, and definitely in all the seas.

fluff is like a new ground for me lmao, angsty-fluffy zoro and luffy coming right up!

⚘ masterlist 1 | 2 | 3

[duckymcdoorknob]

𝓣𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓸𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓭𝓪𝔂 15: 𝓣𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓵𝓮 𝓕𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽

Closest gif I could get of the two together 😭😭

Happy tkember and almost tkcember, chat!

I am loving one piece so far and I’m gonna make it everyone’s problem.

I’m listening to Ado rn :)

I had to throw in a little bit of ler Zoro bc have you seen him.

—This do have tickles below the cut ngl—

Tags: @chrimsss @trrickytickle @trans-ace-lee @giggly-squiggily @switch-writer

“I’m boooooooooored!” Luffy whined, hanging upside down on the bow of the ship. “Someone come play a game with me.”

“Busy,” the long-nosed pirate murmured, tinkering with some kind of device.

“But Usoooooooopp!” The captain moaned in agony.

How was he supposed to survive in these conditions? God gives his toughest battles to his silliest soldiers…

A glint of joy sparkled in his eye in a moment’s notice. “Hey! Wanna have a tickle fight?!”

The gunner visibly tensed, clamping his arms down to his sides. “No way! I’m- I’m working on something!”

“But you’re so fun to play games with! And I have to know if you’re ticklish!!”

Growing more flustered and frustrated, Usopp barked out an absentminded response. “Come over and make me then!”

“Hehe, okay,” Luffy replied with a Cheshire grin. He stretched his arm out to grab the pole next to his crewmate, letting his body cling to said position.

A small squeak left the gunner as his eyes widened. “Uh… h-hi.”

“Hi!” The stretchy boy cooed, “betcha’ forgot I could do that, huh?”

Usopp did not like the menacing look that was glinting in his captain’s eyes. He shifted apprehensively as he slowly tried to step back. He looked for an exit, eyes darting drastically around the ship. He locked onto Sanji serving some kind of snack to Zoro and Nami, opting to break into a full sprint toward the three.

“SAVE MEEEE! SAAAAAVE MEEEE!!!!!”

Six concerned eyes snapped to the frantic Usopp, who was running from a sadistically smiling Luffy. The three relaxed, realizing that Usopp wasn’t actually in any real danger.

“Well, what did you do to piss him off?” Zoro asked as the curly-haired male jumped onto him. “H-Hey! What are you-“ Instinctively, his arms closed securely around his shipmate.

“Zoroooo, he’s gonna kill me!” Usopp cried, drastically hugging the burly man holding him.

“NUH UH!” The captain called after them, making his way over, “I told you, I just wanted to have a tickle fight!”

“And I said I was- HYEAH!”

The long-nosed pirate was cut off by sudden, repeated pinches to his hips, jumping a bit in the swordsman’s tight hold. “H-Hey- EEP! S-Stahap Zoro!”

“What? I’m not doin’ nothin’… Jeez…”

“B-Buhut you a-ahare!”

“Hey! No fair! I was supposed to tickle him!!” Luffy whined, pouting with his arms crossed.

“Oh yeah? Well-“ Zoro hooked his arms under the gunner’s biceps, causing the latter to kick his feet in defense. “Go for it, Captain.”

That glint of joy and menace found its way back, with Luffy settling in front of his shipmates and reaching up to wiggle his fingers at their gunner.

“Waitwaitwaitwait! Can’t we talk about this?!?! I’m sure we can make some kind of ar-ahahahangemehehent! Nohohoho!”

The captain giggled along with Usopp as he spidered his fingers along the long-nosed pirate’s sides.

“Luhuhuffyhyhy! Zohohohoro! Stahahap!”

“Stop? Already? But this is supposed to be a tickle fight!” Luffy cooed, squishing the soft torso of their gunner.

“Yohohou’rehehe uhuhunfahahair! Luhuhuhuffyhyhy!”

“Unfair?! You can get me back anytime you want; I’ll even tell you that I’m most ticklish on my ribs! Hey… speaking of which…”

Usopp’s eyes shot open as he felt Luffy’s fingers worm up onto his ribcage. He kicked his feet drastically, accidentally slamming his ankle down on his captain’s shoulder. “LUHUHUFFYHYHY! HYEAHAHAHAHA!”

“Yeowch… No need to get so violent with him, Usopp.” Zoro quipped, clamping his own arms to his sides and trapping the latter’s there. He spidered his fingers under both of the gunner’s arms, cracking an evil smile.

“NGHAHAHAHA! GUHUHUHUYS!” The curly-haired pirate squealed as he threw his head back onto Zoro’s shoulder.

“This tickle fight seems pretty one-sided to me,” Nami quipped, casually chewing on a piece of cheese.

“Just glad it isn’t me,” Sanji retorted quickly, shifting a bit.

The two locked eyes… oh shit.

“MEHEHEHRCYHYHY!! I CAHAHAHANT TAHAHAKE IHIHIHIT! TOO MUHUHUHUCH!!” Usopp cried, head unmoving from Zoro’s shoulder.

Zoro ceased his attack, freeing the long-nosed pirate’s arms.

“LUHUHUHUFFYHYHY PLEHEHEHEASE! M’GOHOHONNA DIHIHIHIE!”

“Hey, enough kid.” Zoro scooped up the winded Usopp, whisking him away to safety.

“Oh man! I didn’t know that you were so ticklish, Usopp! That was fun!”

“F-for YOU! I thought I was gonna die you motherf-“

Sanji whizzed past the three of them, Nami hot on their heels. “NAMI NO- WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS!”

“You’d think with such long legs that you’d be able to outrun me, Sanji!” The orange-haired girl chimed as she tackled the chef, her fingers finding refuge squeezing at the blonde’s thighs.

“Heh, get his ass Nami!” Zoro called, still absentmindedly cradling Usopp in a safe embrace.

—————♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎✞♡︎—————

[brainyxbat]

Chapter 6: The Devilish Candle! Tears of Regret, and Tears of Anger

(episode 74)

"What're you doing, old guy?! Move this rock!"

"Perfect timing! What're you doing here, anyway? What's the deal, Nami?"

"Dinosaur!"

"There's someone on this island! Who is it?!"

"Why, you...!"

"10,000 Kilogram Press!"

"Venus-chan!"

"Mr. 3. Please excuse the codename. I'm a mere formative artist. And this is my realist painter assistant, Ms. Golden Week."

"Mr. 3?! The Wax-Wax Fruit man?!"

"He's a candle man who controls the wax he secretes from his body."

"You guys are gonna pay for this!"

-

Broggy fell from his restraints, and landed next to an unconscious Dorry, before an evilly laughing Mr. 3 kept him down with more wax around his arms, wrists, and waist. "Curse you! What are you doing?!"

"What am I doing?" He pushed his glasses up. "This is why I can't stand unsophisticated dolts. I'm creating a work of art, obviously."

-

Meanwhile, Vivi managed to free herself, only for Ms. Valentine to restrain her arms behind her back. "Just be a good little girl. Did you honestly think you could escape from Baroque Works?" Vivi glared at her mocking, as Venus and the boys laid unmoving. Ms. Valentine laughed tauntingly, forcing her to look on at her battered friends. "Especially when someone with a 30 million bounty winds up like that?"

Mr. 5 smirked. "I'm happy I could thank them for what happened at Whisky Peak. You wannabe pirates should never have stuck your noses into such delicate issues as this. We've already captured your swordsman friend, and the other girl."

"You caught Zoro?" Luffy demanded weakly. "Then you guys're gonna get cut down!"

"Oh? You still talk big, even after one of my Kicky Bombs to the face?"

"You can't hurt me with that!" He smirked. "I'm gonna kick you guys' asses!" He managed to spit on his shoe.

"Unbelievable," Ms. Valentine remarked with a grin.

Vivi gasped in horror when Mr. 5 launched another kick to his head. "Luffy-san!"

The enraged agent kept landing explosive kicks. "Die!" Several kicks later, he finally stopped, as he seethed. However, Luffy's fist cleared the dust cloud. "Fool!"

"Luffy-san!" Vivi struggled in a laughing Ms. Valentine's grip. "Luffy-san! Luffy-san!"

"Let's go, Ms. Valentine."

"Luffy-san!" Vivi was forcefully escorted away. "Usopp-san! Venus-san! Karoo!"

-

As Broggy struggled to break the strong wax, Mr. 3 laughed mockingly. "Damn you..."

"Give it up! Give it up! Once solidified, my Candle Jacket is as hard as iron! You giants may have brutish strength," He made a small wax sculpture of Broggy's head. "But it becomes all but useless, once you've been caught. Using your brain is the key; there's no need to uselessly face you head-on. You lowered your guard as you reveled in victory, Red Ogre Broggy." The giant glared daggers at him. "Don't glare at me like that. You're terrifying me so!" He laughed. "You should be happy! Your long, long battle has come to an end! You fought for a whole century for your so-called pride, right? Shouldn't the taste of victory be especially sweet, then? Even if it is the fruit of others' assistance; am I wrong?"

"Damn you! You don't mean to say...!"

Mr. 3 laughed. "But the final victory belongs to me! Are you aware that the large bounties from long ago come to 200 million berries total? Even today, this holds true!"

"Why, you...!"

"I feel as if I've discovered a long-lost treasure!"

"So that's what you're after, huh?!" He turned around to see Vivi held hostage. "Mr. 3!"

"We brought her," Ms. Valentine informed.

"Our company's little traitor," Mr. 5 added.

"What took so long? I was getting sick of waiting."

"Your methods are too underhanded, Mr. 3!" Vivi glared. "Planting bombs in Dorry-san's alcohol!"

"What?!" Broggy's eyes widened. "Alcohol? The alcohol I gave him?! That's what you meant, Dorry?!"

"Wretched little girl, giving our tricks away," Mr. 3 lamented, before smirking. "Well, no matter. There's nothing you can do now, anyway." The flame on his top knot grew stronger, as he prepared an attack. "Candle... Lock!" He made a strong restraint on Vivi's ankles, sending her falling. "Mr. 5! Bring the swordsman, and the girl! We're about to begin!" The puny flame turned into a full-on fire. "Extra Big Candle Set!"

She watched in shock, as he used his powers to create a giant sculpture resembling a multi-tiered cake, complete with flaming candles lining a bowl with a pumpkin face. "T-this is Mr. 3's ability?!"

Broggy watched its formation from where he was kept down. "What's going on?!"

"Here they are." Mr. 5 brought out Zoro and Nami, whose wrists were restrained like Vivi's ankles, and threw them to the ground. "How naïve." He stood one foot on Zoro's head. "Being ridiculed by people of their caliber is so embarrassing, that I'm pissed at myself."

Mr. 3 scoffed. "You can't help that you're weak," He muttered.

"Huh? What was that?"

"Nothing! Just set up the candles quickly!"

"Set?" Nami looked up, and saw the waxy abomination before her. "What is that?!"

"Nami-san, Mr. Bushido."

"Vivi! What happened?!" Nami asked. "Weren't you with Luffy?!"

"Yes, I was, but..."

"If you're wondering about Straw Hat, I took care of him myself!" Mr. 5 boasted. "It was an easy job too."

"You did?" Zoro sneered angrily.

"I also took care of this little girl with green pigtails."

His eyes widened with fury at that. Venus?! "What?! You bastard!" Mr. 5 pushed down harder on his head.

Out of nowhere, after the three were forced on the "cake", their feet completely encased, the pumpkin top started spinning; and slowly gaining speed. "Welcome friends, to my service set!" Mr. 3 bowed like a performer onstage.

"Is this how it feels to be a candle stuck in a cake?" Zoro remarked.

"What's that spinning thing up there?" Nami wondered aloud, then looked downward. "And I can't move my legs."

"Of course they're not gonna let us move," He rolled his eyes, "They're the enemy." He drew his sword across the surface, but only made a measly scratch. "Damn. It's hard. Plus I can't put any strength into it from this stance."

Vivi looked up when some white snow-like powder started falling. "Something's raining down!"

Mr. 3 laughed mockingly. "May you enjoy my Candle Service! The wax haze falling from above you will eventually change you into wax figures! You'll become perfect human models that not even I could achieve with my skills! Your wax figures will have literally captured your spirit! Now die, in the name of art."

"Screw that!" Nami shouted angrily. "Why do we have to turn into your works of art?!" She turned to the giant, oblivious to his restraints. "Broggy-san! Quit sitting around, and go on a rampage! You're gonna get turned into a wax figure too, y'know!"

"Man, talk about a huge person," Zoro remarked.

Mr. 3 scoffed. "Anything you say to him is pointless! He just now realized he foolishly shed proud, joyful tears of victory after killing his friend Dorry, with whom he fought for 100 years, but without even noticing that he had suffered injuries beforehand! Or did you perhaps cry for your friend instead?" He laughed mockingly. "Whatever the case, there's no undoing what you've done now, fool!"

Broggy stayed silent for several seconds. "I knew... I knew about it." His hands clenched into fists. "From the moment we first exchanged blows, I knew Dorry was hiding something."

"You knew, huh? You lie! If so, why didn't you cease your fighting? I didn't see a shred of pity in the wat you heartily cut him down!"

Broggy seethed in fury at Mr. 3's taunting. "A pipsqueak who doesn't even know the first thing about duels would never understand the meaning of those tears! What would you know?! Are you saying I should shame a warrior, who hides the fact he's been weakened, and tries to fight anyway?!" He glared menacingly. "A warrior who'll go that far to keep fighting doesn't deserve pity!" Mr. 3 gasped in fear. "And now... I know the reason behind it." The agent backed away. "Now that I know, I'm going to finish things with my own two hands!" He managed to total his restraints. "That's the very least I can do for my dear friend, Dorry!" He managed to stand up, but was sent right back down by sudden explosions.

"Broggy-san!" Nami and Vivi gaped in horror.

"What an annoying, talkative monster," Mr. 5 complained.

-

"U-Usopp," Luffy watched his friend with fear, "Usopp... V-Venus...," She still laid limp, "Can you let them get away with this?"

"No... I can't," He responded just as weakly, from his hole in the ground.

Luffy watched, as Karoo began pecking at the ground around him. "Can you... not stand this?" His quack of anger was replied with a determined grin. "Alright! Let's all four of us go beat them senseless!"

"Y-yay," Venus pumped her fist meagerly.

-

"How dumb!" Ms. Valentine laughed mockingly at Broggy.

"I underestimated how brutishly strong these giants can be!" Mr. 3 confessed. "It would seem you need to be seized completely!" His hand turned into wax. "Wax-Wax Arts! Handcuffs!" His wrists were held down by thicker cuffs. "I'm just getting started!" Soon, his hands and feet were completely covered. "And now for the finishing touch! Take this!" He launched four wax mounds in the air, and they turned into stakes; Nami looked away in horror just as they impaled Broggy's hands and feet! "Can't move now, can you?!" Mr. 3 taunted after his scream of pain.

The trio glared down menacingly. "How can he be so horrific?!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Now then! Accelerate, Candle Service!" At his command, the top started spinning even faster. "Turn these people into wax figures!"

Nami started coughing at the dust entering her airways. "M-my chest is starting to hurt. The wax haze is getting into our lungs! At this rate, we're going to turn into wax figures from the inside out!"

Mr. 3 laughed joyfully. "Yes, yes! Make it look like you're in as much pain as you can! Expressions of pain and agony are the very things I seek in art! May you solidify while filled with terror!"

"You call this art, you creepy topknot freak?!" Nami exclaimed. "How dare you do that to Broggy-san!" She coughed. "You guys are going to regret this! You got that?!"

Mr. 3 laughed at her tauntingly. "Scream and holler all you want!"

Broggy regretfully recalled the fateful battle. 'For 100 years... day in, and day out, we fought and fought... and dueled only because of our pride of Elbaf, village of warriors! Yet, why are we being subjected to this, Elbaf, God of War?! If this is how we're to meet our end, Elbaf...' He shed tears. 'Don't you think it's unfair?! Why won't you let us die in battle?!'

Mr. 3 turned to him, and liked what he saw. "What a look! Yes! That sorrow! That grief! That struggle! What a marvelous work of art!"

'Elbaf!' Broggy shouted internally.

"Oh no!" Nami's eyes widened. "My hands won't move! I don't wanna die this way! Can't we do something?!"

"My body's already turning stiff!" Vivi cried. "What do we do?!"

The swordsman was quiet. "Zoro, do something!"

He turned to Broggy. "Hey, old man. You can still move, can't you? So can I." He drew a sword with a smirk. "Whadya say we crush these guys together?"

Nami looked on in shock, along with Vivi. "Hold on, Zoro! What're you doing?! You're not seriously gonna-!"

"Yeah," He interrupted.

"You're gonna cut your own legs?! Quit joking around!"

"It's no joke. It's the only way out of here. What're you two gonna do?"

"What are you talking about?!" Vivi exclaimed. "It's pointless! Even if you do get down from here that way, they'll catch you again!"

"There's no way to know that, unless we try!" Zoro insisted with a smirk. "We're gonna kick the bucket if we stay here anyway. So, let's put up some ugly struggling! There's no reason to die heroically for these pieces of scum! Right?!"

"What the hell? Is he crazy?" Mr. 5 remarked.

"He's bluffing!" Mr. 3 scoffed. "There's no way he could do that! He's merely acting tough!"

Broggy chuckled in amusement. "What a cheeky runt. I'm pathetic; it seems I had even lost the will to fight." Zoro smirked in his direction. "I'll fight alongside you, and your fighting spirit!"

"You can't be serious, right?!" Nami exclaimed after some silence. "How will you be able to fight afterward?!"

"Who knows. But," He stayed confident, "I plan to win."

'Who're these guys?!' Mr. 3 stared on in shock. 'They're off their rocker!'

'What kind of man is he?' Vivi wondered in awe. 'But I've seen this look somewhere before.' "W-wait! I'll fight, too!"

"Vivi!" Nami turned in surprise.

"All right, then."

Broggy began shaking his hands and feet. "Let's do it, runt!"

"Don't be stupid!" Mr. 3 exclaimed. "What can you possibly do?!" Zoro raised his swords up, then thrusted them down.

Just then, Luffy, Usopp, and Karoo barged into the scene, with Usopp carrying an ever-klutzy Venus over his shoulder. "Hey, you guys!" Luffy called out, as they flew away. "I'm gonna kick your asses, just so you know!"

Mr. 3 watched distastefully, as they crashed into the trees. "What?"

They quickly recovered, and were ready to battle. "Let's do it, Usopp!"

"Yeah!"

"Bird!" Karoo quacked on cue.

"Luffy! Usopp!" Nami smiled in relief.

"Venus!" Zoro exclaimed.

"Karoo!"

"Master Broggy!" Usopp marched back to the area. "We've taken on your frustration!"

"Usopp..."

"Beat those guys up so much, they lose their original forms, and send them flying far off somewhere!" Nami urged.

"Yeah! I will!" Luffy cracked his knuckles. "These guys spoiled the old giant guys' duel!"

"So you're the one with the highest bounty in the East Blue?" Mr. 3 asked tauntingly. "My, how Marine Headquarters' standards have fallen!"

"Whoa! What a weird head!"

"Quiet, you!" Mr. 3 raged.

"It's the number 3, and it's on fire!"

"Shut up!"

"Break this pillar first, Luffy!" Nami ordered. "We're about to turn into wax figures!"

Luffy looked on in surprise. "Oh? You're in trouble?"

"No, there was no problem at all," Zoro replied.

"Hey! Your leg!" Nami noticed he was bleeding heavily.

"Yeah. I went about halfway through, I'd say."

"How is that no problem at all?!" Nami exclaimed.

Venus perked up obliviously, sitting on the ground. "Wow, it's a giant pumpkin!"

"There are times to be your usual, Goth freak self, Venus, and this is not one of them!" Nami raged.

"For now, could you bust this pillar for us, Luffy? I leave the rest to you."

Luffy grinned with determination at Zoro's words. "Alright, no problem!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Mr. 3 smirked.

"Dunno what it is, but let's break that thing!"

"Alright!" Usopp agreed, now on Karoo's back. "Got it! I'm a bit of a different person today!"

"Hurry it up!" Nami shouted. "We're gonna solidify!"

[strawbabysimp]

Sous-Chef || Jealous!Zoro x Reader

Genre: Light Angst

Category: Jealous!Zoro x GN!Reader

Warning(s): Misunderstandings, Obsessive Working Out, Relationship Insecurities

Request(s): "Hello!!! I found your blog a few days ago and I felt like I absolutely had to make a HC request! Your writing is amazing!! Do you think you can do a HC on Zoro having a partner who likes to cook and shares the kitchen with sanji? maybe a little jealousy?"

A/N: I started this as headcanons but I got a bit carried away and it became a fic~ I hope you don't mind���

"Those two are getting along pretty well, huh?"

Zoro looked up from his lap, his drift into slumber interrupted by the long-nosed sniper's words. His brow furrowed in confusion before following Usopp's gaze, catching sight of you and Sanji laughing amongst yourselves about something he wasn't privy to by the kitchen door. He wasn't surprised to see you there, often spotting you alongside the chef cooking up some new recipe he didn't understand the specifics of but would end up eating nonetheless. At his Nakama's lack of response, Usopp hurried to calm down the already cool-headed man. "Not that anything's, ya know, happening, or anything like that! I didn't mean that- I mean... You know what I meant." Zoro shrugged off his concerns inturn for returning to his attempt at sleep, this time without interruption from his crewmate.

He fell asleep to the sound of laughter.

~~~

The next day was interesting, having woken up to the shuffling of clothes and hushed voices. His senses were keen and he picked up on the ones responsible for the disturbance immediately. What were you and Sanji doing?

"Hurry up before you wake up the Marimo. I have something to show you!" The cook's voice was raspy in his attempt at quietness and Zoro was tempted to steal a peek at whatever was so interesting you had to get up before sunrise to see. "Shhhh!" You scolded the other man's insistent words.

Right after the initial shock of this wore off, a much more cynical thought made its way into his head.

He wasn't welcome. That's why you hadn't woken him up. That's why he couldn't come along with you, clinging close to your side in the morning air as you laughed off the curly-brow's stare of discontent at the sight of him. Whatever this thing between you and Sanji was, Zoro had no place in it and that notion was supported by the both of you. Zoro wasn't welcome in this part of your life, even as a spectator, and you had made sure of that.

You stepped out the door and his heart ached. He wasn't mad - not at you at least. He was confused. He hated being confused. Anger at least meant he understood the situation, but right now, he was left alone in the bed you and he were meant to share, feeling far too lonely for a man whose partner was just outside.

You came back in after some time, getting back into bed with a content sigh, the heat of his body warming you up from the cold dawn air. He was stiff beside you and you called his name in a low voice. He didn't respond to your questioning tone and you gave a soft smile to his relaxed face.

Zoro could only sense your stare, not your feelings, and turned over with a small, well-placed groan.

~~~

The light shined through under the door and it was Zoro's turn to wake up before you. It had to have been a few hours since your mysterious departure and return to the room and while he was still plagued by the many questions your actions left in his mind, no good could be done laying around.

He quickly got ready for the day, fixing his clothes in the mirror for a split second before heading out to the deck. The smell of food hit him and he knew that whatever the cook was making was going to be good. Not a surprise. Despite the pleasant aroma, his calm mood shifted and he wanted nothing more than to get away from the tell-tale signs of breakfast.

"Zoro!"

Your voice rang across the deck and his chest tightened. He turned around to face you, the soft smile on your face a welcome sight no matter any internal struggles he was facing. He knew trust was a difficult and sometimes fatal thing but he truly did have faith in the fact you wouldn't do anything to hurt him. This was his own issue. He trusted you(and Sanji but he wasn't about to say that).

He put off his training for a later time, the cook calling out that food was ready soon after you had approached him. Everyone quickly gathered and as the food was placed down, forks at ready to fend off their Captain's gluttonous hands, the Strawhats dug in. Your thigh was pressed against Zoro's and in the approaching winter island weather - and truly any instance at all - the contact was most welcome. Zoro poked at your plate playfully, expecting a laugh as he half-heartedly went for your food, but was surprised to see it garnered no reaction. His eyes traveled up your neck and he spotted your upturned lips which had a small smile of his own gracing his face, but as he looked at your eyes he realized you weren't paying attention to him in the slightest. You were looking at Sanji. And he was smiling back.

The pleasant expression on the swordman's face dropped away and he went back to eating, catching Robin's eye whilst doing so. The two shared a blank look and Zoro nodded at her before continuing his meal.

Your cheek pressed against his shoulder as he chewed around his fork, the warmth that filled him at the action burning in a masochistic sort of way. He knew he should talk to you but some part of him was scared of the answer and avoiding feelings was something Zoro did best. Be logical and win. That's all he had to do. But was there even something to win? And if so, hadn't Sanji already won?

The affectionate gesture received no reaction just as his had before and you removed yourself from his warmth.

~~~

Breakfast ended and with a quick press to your forehead Zoro was off, no doubt going to train up until lunch. The smile you received was tender yet rushed and you tried to trust in the fact that Zoro would come to you if something was wrong. Confronting him made him uncomfortable and you tried to avoid that when possible, giving him a place to express himself freely without forcing it out of him.

You made your way back into the kitchen, asking Sanji if he needed help with anything. He turned down your offer politely, content with the process of making the crew drinks on his own, but at the look on your face, he changed his mood. Directing you off into the food storage to get him some supplies, what he had originally planned to be a simple hot chocolate was now turning into an assortment of treats. He could tell you needed something to distract you and what better than cooking alongside the ship's gifted chef to soothe your need for occupation.

The snacks practically made themselves, you and Sanji working in sync as you gave the occasional comment or request. By the time it was done, there laid mugs of hot chocolate topped with fresh whipped cream and an assortment of cookies for everyone to choose from that would hopefully satisfy them until lunch was ready.

Sanji took the liberty of handing out the food to the ladies, stopping by Chopper as well because who could resist the cuteness of the blue-nosed creature. It was hard to believe anyone could consider him anything other than adorable perfection. You were of course stuck with the boys, balancing the dishes as you handed them off with a word of thanks from the recipients - or the occasional attempt at grabbing another serving.

The only person left was Zoro and when you didn't find him in his usual napping spot you crossed the deck with a sigh. That man truly was too predictable.

"Hey Y/N! Looking for Zoro?" Usopp questioned, the chocolatey drink coating his upper lip as he smiled. You nodded. "He said he wanted to be left alone to train. I'll graciously take his food though!" The sniper reached out for the goods, taking them from your frozen hands as you frowned. You always delivered Zoro's food to him when he trained, even if it went cold he ate it just so you would stop by to bring it to him. Maybe something really was wrong with your boyfriend.

~~~

Zoro's muscles ached under the strain of the weights, he had lost count of the reps by now and had no intention of stopping any time soon. His arms begged him to put them down, already far surpassing his goal for the workout session, but he couldn't. He found peace in the rhythmic movements and the pain only seemed to calm his mind. The endorphins in his brain fueled him on and he could easily see himself becoming addicted to the act; if he wasn't already that is.

All the anger and confusion faded into the background as his body screamed at him to stop. The sweat dripped down his face and the plain white shirt he adorned was soaked through with the moisture. He would have taken it off but that would require a break and that wasn't something his mind allowed at the moment. He let the fabric cling to his body as he focused on the movements.

A knock at the entrance had him dropping the heavy equipment without a second thought, looking over to where he had set his swords. He worked to catch his breath, the pain in his chest yet to subside due to the lengths he had pushed himself when the smell of tobacco flooded his senses.

"What are you doing, Marimo?" Sanji said without his usual instigating tone, the cigarette balanced against his lip as he spoke. The declared "Marimo" huffed, not happy to be interrupted by the main cause of his grief.

"Get out."

"I'll leave when you get your grassy head out of your ass and stop doing whatever it is you're doing."

"And what exactly am I doing, Cook?"

Sanji shot him a look, annoyed by his Nakama's false ignorance. His next words weren't a suggestion. "Fix this."

He turned around without another word, leaving Zoro alone once again, his only company being the cigarette smoke lingering in the air as a cruel reminder of the other's words.

~~~

Zoro didn't have the will to leave the space, the workout equipment surrounding his now near-sleeping form. He knew avoiding the issue would only make it worse but the comfort of being alone to dwell in his ill feelings was too tempting to resist. Just as he was about to lay down for a quick nap a knock broke him out of his wallowing state. Could he not get an ounce of peace on this damn ship?

His eyes widened at the person approaching.

"Y/N?"

"The one and only," you said in a somber voice, approaching the man. You weren't used to the lack of alcohol flooding your senses as you got close. He always smelled a bit of the drink and the small difference had you shifting on your feet, only adding to the uncomfortable mess of the situation.

You sighed, tugging Zoro up and along behind you as he simply gazed at you in confusion. He wanted to rip his arm away from your grasp, not a fan of being grabbed so harshly, but the lack of physical contact between you two left him a little more lenient if it meant he could touch you.

The trek to the food storage was silent, the tension between you two lessening slightly despite no words being exchanged. You caught a few looks from the others, some sending concerned frowns or even a stern glare from Sanji directed at your boyfriend. He didn't come in here often unless it was to steal alcohol - he came in here pretty often - and the way his eyes shifted around the room made it obvious he was uncomfortable with the situation yet decided to stay to see whatever this was through.

You let go of his arm to make your way over to the corner, pulling a box into view that had Zoro walking over himself to see. The top came off with a crack and you moved over slightly so he could get a better look from beside you. The container was filled with what looked to be little balls of algae but couldn't possibly be from how they sat on top of one another.

"Sanji found these on the last island. He said they reminded him of you, well, he said they looked like some sort of moss ball which is basically the same thing-"

Your words faded off into the background as Zoro peered down at the box, the contents staring back at him mockingly. He picked one of the fruits up, surprised at the hard exterior, and turned to face you.

"Is this why you snuck off yesterday?"

God, he felt stupid.

"Snuck off?" Your eyes widened in realization.

"It was supposed to a surprise! I thought maybe I could make you something with them. I would never... What did you think was happening?"

Zoro met your gaze with a shrunken expression. His words sounding pitiful to his own ears. "I didn't know what to think Y/N," his hand came up to card through his hair as his eyes shut, "I didn't want to think anything."

You gave a soft smile, knowing the conversation could get far too grim at a time that was supposed to be pleasant. "Sanji wanted to show these to me. I think he wanted to do something nice for us. He can be a bit of a dick," Zoro laughed at your words, "but he's sweet." There was a million different things he could say in that moment to counteract your words but decided against it. The weight that had been crushing his ribs finally dispersed and with a smirk he asked, "So, what can you make with these?"

You grinned, going off on a tangent about all the things you and Sanji had tried, the swordsman watching with bright eyes at the enthusiastic verbal reenactment of your cooking trials.

[cyborg-franky]

Happy Halloween P3

I just wanted to do a little something cute and dumb for people I love and care about. I have many people here who I think fondly of but I know not everyone selships or has OC's and this is for the friends who do that.

So don't feel left out, I still care this is just for my shippy peeps.

@undercoverweeeb @cipher-p0 @angeltani @my-one-piece-experience @mimi-ya

[Cannon] “You did NOT take that from the kitchen, did you?” Mimi narrowed her eyes at Ace as he set down an entire pumpkin pie, two beers hanging out the pockets of his shorts which she pulled out and set down before he accidently broke them.

“Thatch wasn’t there…” Ace rolled his eyes as he sat with the girl on the crates behind one of the smaller parts of the ship. “He’s going to kill you” Mimi smirked but Ace didn’t seem to care, he seemed very pleased with himself.

“Beer?” He asked when he picked one of the bottles.

“Did you bring a bottle opener?”

“Pft” Ace grinned and held up the bottle, one of his fingers became a flame, he heated up the lid and it popped right off, he handed her the bottle and she couldn’t help but giggle.

“Gets one of the strongest devil fruits and what, uses it to open beer bottles?” She felt the top of the bottle making sure it wasn’t hot before sipping. “I am a man of many talents” He winked.

[Cannon] Law heard screaming from the hallway, any other day he would have acted with urgency but it was Halloween and his girlfriend was nowhere in sight, he had a pretty good feeling where that screaming was coming from and what had caused it.

Nether the less against his better judgement he opened the door to his office and saw Shachi running down the hall, yelling about ghosts. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, this had Galley written all over it.

Said girl could be heard laughing loudly down the hall, he stepped out into the hallway himself, inked arms folded over his chest, tapping his foot as the red haired girl covered in pale makeup and fake cuts walked towards him, grinning like mad.

“Happy Halloween”

“Go and get him before he jumps off the side and tries to swim to land”

[Cannon] Luffy stuffed another handful of unwrapped candies into his mouth, making a happy noise as he glanced at Ashe, they were doing much the same across the table, they’d find an island that had been pirate friendly.

And during Halloween which meant the two excitable members of the crew had rushed off to do a spot of trick or treating, Chopper and Usopp in tow. Chopper kept watching the two eat more candy and as much as he wanted to finish off his stash his doctor side came out.

“Don’t eat too many…” The small doctors voice could barely be heard over the loud chattering of the captain and his partner. They both turned around to stare at Chopper, a frown on their faces which caused Chopper to yelp and hide behind Nami.

“If you two get a stomach ache.. I am going to laugh”She shook her head at them both. “I’ll be fine!” Luffy protested and tried to be sneaky, taking a piece from Ashe’s pile just to get his hand slapped. “No!”

[Modern AU] Chloe clapped her hands together, gleefully awaiting her boyfriend to come out of the bathroom in the costume she’d picked out for him. She grinned from ear to ear when Sanji stepped out looking less then impressed with her. But she was very happy, she jumped off the bed when he started to look at himself in the mirror.

“I thought the woman were meant to dress like this for Halloween?” He mumbled and looked at how his long legs looked in the fishnets, how the puffy tail on the leotard wiggled with he moved.

“We can both look like whore, I got us matching costumes, we are going to get lots of candy” She said with a devious grin, wiggling her eyebrows at Sanji before she opened a box and offered white black pumps.

“Aren’t I tall enough already?” The chef folded his arms over his chest, watching his girlfriend rub her hands together, waiting for him to complete the look.

“Can always be taller” Chloe chuckled and Sanji rolled his eyes “When do I get to see you in your costume?”

“On the night baby”

[Modern AU] “Nice costume” Ronnie said with a smile, sitting down on the steps of the club, eyeing up the green haired man who was drinking a beer, he shrugged his shoulders, watching the beautiful woman sat next to him, her own bottle in hand.

“I was made to join in with friends, this was all I could be bothered with, just wanted to come get a drink” Zoro answered honestly.

She liked that, how frank he was, blunt, she wasn’t one for beating around the bush either. She stretched her long legs out, matching how the man sat. They drank in a comfortable silence, sometimes they’d spare a look at the other, admiring what they saw.

“I’m Ronnie, nice to meet you.. Zoro?”

“Good guess”

“Isn’t that what you’ve come dressed as?” She gestured to his legend of Zoro outfit and he chuckled, she was sharp, her words were cutting like a sword, he decided he was enjoying her company.

“My real name too”

“So, Zoro, bored of this dump? I know a place with better music and stronger beer..”

“I think I love you”

She laughed and stood up, offering him a hand, he shrugged, not feeling emasculated in the slightest, just happy to be in the company of this woman.

[linawritesfanficandmore]

The First Breakfast

“Ara, good morning cook-san. I didn't expect to see you in the kitchen." “Oh good morning Robin-chan.” “You really don't need to do anything. I was going to bring you breakfast.” “I know I can count on you Robin-chan. It's not that. After the intense emotions of the night, I wanted to cook some food and clear my head.” “So now you are marked?” “Yeah.” “How does it feel?” “Like I'm in the home but more than that. Like I'm belong something that is so great. Like… Shit. It feels so amazing that I can't even describe it with words.” “I am very happy for you.” “Thank you Robin-chan. Why don't you sit? I'll make your coffee now. Then we'll chat a bit more while I prepare breakfast.” "I would like to so much." “Alright. Sit down there." Robin liked her morning coffee plain. So it was easy to make her morning coffee. Wasting no time, he made her coffee and served it to her. “Your coffee, m'lady.” “Thank you, Sanji.” "It's my pleasure m'lady." Then he turned and began to prepare breakfast. Actually, he didn't like to chat while cooking. He avoided the smallest distractions. That way everything could be perfect and his beloved crew members could eat the best food and be happy, but today was an exception because something was obviously bothering Robin. Stress was in the air, and it was the last scent any newly marked omega wanted to smell. “Everything is alright Robin-chan?” "Do I bother you?" "No no. I was just curious. Otherwise, there is no problem. If you still want to tell, there is an ear to listen.” Robin took a sip of her coffee. “I may have been a little jealous.” "You know Luffy would love to take you-" “But I don't want to be in the pack either, Sanji.” “Oh. Why?” “This is a big deal.” “I know. It's not easy to decide.” “I've never had a pack before. That's why I think even the thought of it is frightening. I was always alone.” “I had a family when I was in Baratie, but I didn't have a pack, and before Baratie I didn't even have a family. Did not have one. I was just on a goddamn ship.” “Then how did you decide? That you want it.” “It will be a classic answer, but… I trusted my instincts. They said it was the right thing to do.” “Hmm…” “Have you talked to Usopp, Robin-chan? Maybe you two can help each other.” “He has very different problems than I do.” Then, taking her coffee, she said: “I'm going to read outside until breakfast is ready. Are you going to eat at nest?" “I plan so. I don't even think the others will get up properly." "Ok. Then I and Long Nose-kun will eat here. Would you set the table for us?" "You don't have to ask, my lady." "Thanks. Also for conversation.” “My duty, m'lady."

*** “Breakfast is ready Robin-chan. Usopp is already sitting at the table waiting for you. If you want, I can accompany you." “Go be with your pack Sanji. You deserve it.” “Thank you Robin-chan.” “Go already.” After Sanji left, Robin went to the kitchen. Usopp was indeed waiting for her. “Good morning Usopp.” “Good morning Robin. Sanji has done wonders again. Man, I thought we'd both have to prepare the breakfast. But he prepared and I'm so happy. His dishes are the best. ” “Of course, we have the best cook in the world.” “We definitely have.” “Shall we eat?” “Oh right right. Come on.” As the others were not with them, they ate their meals in silence, strangely. Then when tidying up the table: “Robin?” "Don't." “Okay. But-" "I'm not ready." "Me neither." Neither of them was ready to speak or take a step. Usopp was a coward. He was a liar. Robin was way worse than him in both categories.

*** “Hey shitheads, of course not you my dearest Nami-swan. Breakfast is ready. Let's eat together." “SANJI!!!” “Let go you asshole. Here is your meal. Take the plates and let's eat at the nest together." “You are the best. I love you." “Unfortunately, I love you too. Let's not keep the others waiting." The two of them lined up the plates so that they were in the middle of the newly awakened pack members. “Good morning moss head.” “Shut up cook. It's so early and you and Luffy are fucking loud. Giving me a headache.” “Shut up and eat already.” “At least don't argue at this breakfast. This is our first breakfast as a pack.” “Of course my beautiful Nami-san. As you wish.” “Whatever witch.” "Don't call Nami-san witch." “Make me.” “What did I just say? Cut it!!!” “Hahahaha it never gets boring after you two are together.” "Right?" “It is, and you know what Chopper?” "What?" “From now on, we will spend every moment like this because we are a pack.” "Really?" "Really." “Luffy is right, Chopper.” “Absolutely because there is nothing that can separate us now.” “Let's eat the food. I want to sleep together a little longer.” “Zoro is such a softie.” “Whatever.”

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

Starting

[classysmashy]

Easy Living, This Ain’t

#1/??? of Nuclear Winter

ZoNa Holiday 2020 Entry Prompt 1 (Snow Angel / All Wrapped Up)

@zonamievents

One Piece in Fallout Universe (kinda~)

AN: I’ve been playing Fallout 4 a lot and couldn’t help but think about what it would be like for One Piece in the universe, so please enjoy this snippet. Also, I haven’t done any creative writing in nearly three years and I ask for forgiveness if its rough. This piece isn’t heavily on about them being together just yet, though I plan to write more for the prompts and expand this better. Worked on this for about five to six hours straight to try and get it done in time, but it’s late. I’m still gonna squeeze my entry in though, hopefully! :)

Rate T for Blood, Violence, Suggestive moments

Word Count: 5,788

*****

I never regret The years that I’m giving They’re easy to give  When you’re in love  I’m happy to do whatever I do for you

There’s something about being within inches of death that suddenly makes blood rush faster and for all the words that hadn’t formed to break through the flood gates. Maybe it had just been the adrenaline talking, a need to achieve certain feelings before dying off and becoming one with the scattered waste of the world. 

But, Nami would have only been lying to herself to try and pass that off as the reason as to why her lips shook out a hasty “I’m in love with you” towards Zoro’s direction before the last swing from the Deathclaw rattled the right side of her skull, sending her in the air through a concrete pillar and hot blood dripping into her eyes preventing her from seeing Zoro’s reaction to the words.

Because there was truth in the statement, though she was unsure of when during the six years of traveling with Luffy that the feelings had started. Had it been so early as to their first meeting? Seeing him face off Arlong along side their friends? Or maybe the time apart had built an unknown longing for two years that was finally becoming clear to her in the past few months?

Thoughts race like blood when you think you’re going to die. Nami had seen that in the time Bellemere died, how she had pushed to voice courage towards little Nojiko and Nami. This time was different than Bellemere, she had died being a protector to the end, and Nami would die because of her own rookie mistake.

As her eyes slipped closed from the world, it seemed Zoro had finally gotten serious and she could just barely make out his voice over her busted eardrums, but she did. 

“Don’t die on me.”

*****

Living for you Is easy living  It’s easy to live  When you’re in love  And I’m so in love  There’s nothing in life but you 

Nearly twenty hours earlier, Nami had very different plans for the day. 

There was plenty of work to go around at the Strawhats main settlement; crops to be harvested, buildings to be constructed, purified water to be gathered, defenses to be fixed... And that was only here! 

She had awoken just before four am had hit, the sun still hidden deep in the clouds, and Nami had decided that the weather would be alright for the day and that the impeding snowstorm would hold off for another day or two. The first thing on her agenda had been to check on the mikan trees and see if they were well.

Franky had created plenty of special greenhouses throughout their compound for Nami to keep her mikan trees safe, along with Robin’s flowers and Usopp’s pop greens to grow safely. She didn’t necessarily mind the thought of the mikan trees being among the other garden beds around the settlement, but she did worry about if people would only go to them for food rather treating the trees with upmost respect that Bellemere would approve of, let alone take care of them properly.

After three pulls on the door handle, Nami’s bedroom door finally gave way for her to exit it —Franky said that was the downside of working with rusty wasteland materials, maybe she could hire someone to look for newer, untouched supplies to get an upgrade. Though, by the head of swaying green before her, it wasn’t even her strength or the willingness of the door to give up, but rather Zoro who had forced the wood into action.

“Yo,” casual as ever, Zoro leaned on the wall opposite of Nami as she slammed the door back into place, not in anger, but the damn thing was too much trouble! 

“I didn’t know you were back yet,” Nami rested her hands in her hair, combing it into a tangled ponytail, she could only manage to place her eyes at his nose, looking too closely into Zoro’s eyes lately brought on a heat she couldn’t control. If she kept her hands busy, they wouldn’t give away the noticeable shake and she could hold back the need to run away. “The way Brook talked, it seemed as if the raid would take longer.”

Zoro gave a curious peer towards her, tilting his head down as if that was the way to suddenly unearth what was different in the moment, “Well, it was supposed to, but Brook really wanted to add those instruments to his collection and threw any caution out the window.” A sly smirk stretched his lips and if Nami knew any better, she would say that was the truth, but a half-truth at that.

“And you also got lost, heading dead-center into their manpower?” Nami gathered her own smirk as his slipped to a scowl, the fire snapping to life in him and gearing up for their usually banter.

“Shut up! I wasn’t lost, the hallways kept changing their direction, I can make my way around fine without anyone else!” Zoro chewed out at her with more venom than necessary for her small comment. 

Nami’s left eyebrow lifted, as she crossed her arms across her chest and cocked her hip out towards him, “Besides being here to tell me your prevarication, you came to see me for something, right? Your room is on the floor below this one. AND, whatever it is, is going to cost you, surely you don’t mind me raising your debt, hm?” She gave a cheshire grin that didn’t match with the sweetness her tone was tinted with, giving way to her true feelings as her brown eyes glinted gold.

The threat of a higher debt seemed to sour Zoro’s mood even more, “Don’t even think about it.” The reverb of his voice in his throat caused a twinge at the base of her spine and the gathering heat pulled Nami’s eyes to look into his finally, a pair of steel that seemed set on unraveling her. “You can take up your charges with Chopper, since he’s the one that wants the two of us to head out and gather something for him.” 

His hand rested beside her head and the small height gap between the two was noticeable now, though she was unsure of the moment he had made his way so close to her own body, trapping Nami against her bedroom door.

That heat that wouldn’t go away was flooding her, she could barely keep her breathe together and she definitely wanted to run as she dug her nails into her palms to gain the last of her control to keep from sprinting. 

The air hung tense for a moment, like Zoro had been sizing her up for some reason, his only good eye tracking the nervous jitter Nami’s body gave off. While his observation’s of her was making things worse, she found that by standing her ground she could regather herself and ducked beneath his arm, leading the way towards the greenhouse garden where her mikan trees resided.

He followed beside her, watching the way she smoothed her hands along her jeans with a hawk’s stare. Yes, she very much wanted to run away right now.

Yet, she couldn’t run. There was few people that Nami would deny if they asked her of something and that few included Chopper. “So, what is it exactly? It must be something quite important if Chopper wanted to hound on you right after getting back and pretty far if he’s wanting me to guide you there.” 

“I’ve been back for two days, maybe you would have noticed if you didn’t avoid any area that we could overlap in,” Zoro had noticed more about her lately than she was hoping he would, and the pinched ire he held back somewhat showed he wasn’t pleased. 

“I’m not avoiding anything!” Nami frowned as she balled up her fists at her side with a huff, “I’m a busy woman around here. It can’t be helped that when I get pulled into ten million directions that I don’t end up in the ones that you were lost in!” 

Distracted by the jab at his sense of directions, Zoro seemed to drop the subject of her actions with the need to yell some more about how the world was just switching itself around as he walked, not that he could possibly be lost.

By the time the two had stopped bickering over it, Nami was punching in a button and the refurbished garage door was squeaking up to reveal her mikan trees in their full beauty. She inhaled a deep whiff of the scent that hit, and her mind seemed to relax completely as she took it in. There was no arguing, or someone needing her, or a world probably crushed beyond repair that was needing fixing. No worries, no overwhelming heat or tingles in her spine, just the moment of a far away home she couldn’t return to, a mother that was beautiful and gone, a sister that was picking at her.

It was nice to get lost for a second. But the sound of a sharp inhale beside her knocked her slightly out of it, turning towards the one who had made the noise to see Zoro... nervous? His hand clutched at his swords and his eyes were caught on her lips, her neck, her blissed out eyes. Nami could tell he was holding back, what that was she had no clue about, but her trance was completely broken, even as the heat reared its head again.

Zoro seemed to be stuck in the moment with her, the world around them having dropped far away. “Don’t avoid me,” his voice broke through the silence, his calloused hand coming to clutch her cheek and stray his thumb across her lips.

So close, too close.

His thumb dipped between her lips and she hummed a noise of commitment to him as her tongue slithered to give a drowsy lick to the digit. Nami’s mind raced yet was empty all at the same time, the intensity of Zoro’s gaze burned into her, and there seemed to be only one way this encounter could possibly end.

And it probably would have, with the way Zoro leaned closer, his other hand popping the button of her jeans.

Alas, there was still a world around them though that kept moving even when they were lost in daze.

The tiny pitter patter along the concrete gave away the incoming target and Zoro had half a mind to veer back the words he wanted to use as the reindeer grew closer. 

“Another time,” Zoro had whispered to Nami, fixing the button and creating a healthy, normal distance between the two as if what happened didn’t occur at all.

Nami had to admit that she was in a bit of stupor as Chopper finally gave way under the closest lights of the hall to them, a jolly smile breaking out across his face as to seem he’d been searching for a bit for the two.

“Oiii!” Chopper shouted in delight, fastening his pace towards the two and inhaling the nice scent of the mikan’s. Chopper was too cute to allow something so indecent to happen in the presence of, “I checked for Zoro in his room and then tried to find you at yours Nami, but both of you were gone. I figured Zoro was lost somewhere, so I came to check here. What good luck I have!”

Though Zoro protested at the prospect of him being lost, the two still gave warm smiles to Chopper, Nami offering a soft scratch to the top of his head, partly to ease her shivering, but also as a small congratulations to the animal doctor.

“So, why were you looking for us, Chopper? Could it be about this thing you wanted us to go out and find for you that Zoro mentioned to me?” She peered down at him and his expression grew serious, it seemed today really wouldn’t be focused on getting work done around the place after all.

“Yeah, I wanted to catch you before you left. As I told Zoro, I’ve been doing a lot of different experiments and part of those experiments is using the blood from feral ghouls and I’m starting to run low on stock. Law told me about this group of scientists that had taken shelter in a factory on the other side of the state who were also doing some experimentation, but got killed by a pack of Deathclaws that have been living in there since. He’s sure that they made up nearly a hundred packs of feral ghoul blood.” Chopper had shrunk back down to his small size while talking and Nami had a frown on her face that deepened more and more as he told her the scoop of what he believed just the two of them could take on. 

“He’s also wanting us to bring back the claws of the Deathclaws there, if possible,” Zoro interjected, his arms crossed over his chest now and leaning against the edge of the open door. 

“Chopper, that’s nearly insane! Sure, Zoro could take on such a feat, but it would be a death sentence for me!” she was frazzled at the thought of getting stuck in a pack of Deathclaws who could easily tear her to shreds in an instance if they so pleased. 

“That’s why Zoro should go with you! I believe that you could sneak in and steal the blood packs before the Deathclaws know you’re there, but if anything were to happen, Zoro could fight them off to protect you,” Chopper’s idea was rock solid and there was the chance she could do it, she had done it before a few years back, but that was sneaking around only one of them, not a bunch that most likely contained their children.

“Well, I guess it could possibly work out-” the gears seemed to finally scratch together in her head and she whipped down at Chopper with her hands on her hips and teeth sharpening with her words, “WAIT! Don’t tell me that you were planning for ME to go ALONE if Zoro or someone else wasn't available to go as well?!”

Chopper cried and jumped to hide behind Zoro’s legs, though he hid the wrong way to have part of him sticking out. “Like I said, I believe in you being able to easily sneak around without alerting them, but Zoro was the one who said that somebody should go with you, so I asked him and then he tried to say he could find it on his own, but there’s no way. He would definitely get lost and end up on the other side of the globe! Don’t you understand my predicament, Nami?” 

He was giving her those big, watery eyes and her heart started to crack for him. Of course Chopper couldn’t leave as one of the main doctors around and on top that everyone was either gone or too busy with dealing with all the settlements they helped out to gather supplies for Chopper’s side project. That really did leave Nami, Zoro, and Brook, and he probably made the plan while the two guys were gone, leaving the task as something Nami would have to carry out.

A hefty sigh left her chest and that heat and tingles caused by Zoro seemed to completely disappear as her mind already began to gather ideas of the best and fastest routes to take across the state.

Nami straightened her back and closed her eyes to contain the last of her angry, “Alright, I guess it can’t be helped then, huh, Chopper?” She gave a small, tight smile to the tiny reindeer and made a mental note to try and trick Sanji to check in with Chopper in the future so he would be sent out on his suicide missions rather than her.

Chopper’s ecstatic shout echoed along the hallway, pulling the bag off his back to shove plenty of Stimpaks in Nami’s palms and then Zoro’s. “I made up a lot just in case you guys get in tight situations. These things can heal in a punch, but don’t forget that the best for the body is proper rest, diet, and caution.” The last part was directed at Zoro, by the way she had seen Chopper give a sharp doctors gaze at the man who was putting away the healing items with a bored look.

“Yeah, yeah, no worries. Don’t worry Chopper, we’ll be back by tomorrow night and without using any of these,” Zoro smirked proudly at the reindeer whose eyes were the ones to be glinting this time, the shining stars nearly bursting out to show his high thoughts of Zoro.

With a whimper, Nami rang her hand across her face. Just what had she gotten herself into?

...

And did he say Zoro was the one to volunteer to go with her?

*****

For you Maybe I’m a fool but it’s fun People say you rule me with one Wave of your hand Darling, it’s grand  They just don’t understand

It was nearly eighteen hours since they left the compound, her mikan trees all nicely taken care of, and an awkward air of silence created between the two. Well, it wasn’t necessarily awkward, but more of an overwhelming tension that was making her feel awkward as it dragged on more with nothing happening between the two of them. 

At this point, Nami’s lips were worn away in all the wrong ways. She had been biting on them out of nervousness and she had also slide down a hill and smashed her face into a rock. If there was one thing to pick out from that accident just than Zoro’s laughing being the only time she had seen him show emotion since leaving, it would be the prospect of bad luck could be looming after the first incident.

The factory that Chopper had told them of seemed to be an old food packing plant, she gazed up the rusted back garage doors and to the very few windows the looming structure seemed to have. Zoro beside her did the same, since getting within half a mile of the place, his hand had been firmly planted and unmoving atop of the hilts of his swords.

The closest window to the ground that Zoro could possibly boost her to was near the left side and she waved her hand for him to follow over to it. He positioned himself to be right under it and readied his arms to toss her up enough that she would get through the window.

“If something goes wrong, yell,” there was a joking smile on his face, as if the thought of the signal being her scream rather than the obvious racked of Deathclaws going crazy would be what it would take for him to know she was in danger.

Nami rolled her eyes and shifted the weight of her bag to even out on her back, giving a few rolling huffs of air to prepare herself, “Yeah, yeah, let’s just get this over with,” she grumbled and pushed her body into his waiting grip. 

Zoro’s right hand taking hold of her thigh and his left hand pushing into the belt of her jeans, sliding his thumb beneath the fabric for just a moment pop her panties on her hip, tossing her upwards as she gasped. The idiot was confusing her with each of his whims today.

Her hands gripped onto the creaking window frame and let herself drop through, positioning her body in the air to fall safely. As Nami’s feet had hit the ground, she kept a still stance and held her breathe, taking in the surroundings around her, finding that she was nicely alone in the space she landed in.

Feeling that the coast was clear at the moment, she kept a crouched stance, taking steps over the destroyed conveyor belts that was missing teeth mark shaped bits that were strewn across the room. If Chopper wanted Deathclaw claws, that could wait until another day after she found out how many were here and they could properly plan a strike, rather than race in and sustain more injuries than necessary.

As she shifted through the plant, trying to figure out where the lower stairs would be —Deathclaws liked being below the ground after all and that would be the most likely place that they would be and where these past scientists hid the blood from any prying hands— her mind drifted to Zoro.

Today had been confusing and all because of Zoro. She wasn’t used to his outward reactions towards her, let alone the thought of a mutual lust between the two. What exactly had changed so quickly during the past week for him to put himself out there and ready to jump Nami?

After working through four different room, picking up some canned food that could be put to use back home, the stairs finally appeared before her. And just beside them was a slim wall holder that contained a worn map, a big score for stumbling around in an abandoned place like this. 

“Bingo,” she whispered to herself, fingering through the pages as quietly as the paper crinkles would allow, finding that there seemed to be two higher levels, the main floor she was on, and three basement floors beneath her.

That meant there was three floors she would have to crawl through in the hopes of finding these feral ghoul blood packs for Chopper and three floors of potential Deathclaws with however many that she didn’t know about. Nami’s skin broke out in bumps, worried sweat sliding down her chin, down her neck, and hitting the bare skin of her breasts. She was starting to regret the bra and tank top, but anything more and the sound would have given her away.

She pushed down the stairs, heading to the first basement floor to check through it. 

Zoro had been so confident to undo her pants and take her right in the hallway where any of their friends could easily walk through and find them. The idea of such an occurrence brought the tingles back to her spine, Nami’s mind swirling around with just what he might do if he had seen that sweat, how his lips would fiercely attack the space of her breasts.

Half of this floor seemed to be clear so far, she dimly noted, nicking some metal scraps that were resting in a shipment of boxes. They were probably waiting to be unloaded and used to fix something in the plant before the nukes dropped.

The next set of stairs wouldn’t be too far and Nami knew that she should probably keep her senses in check, but Zoro just had to reignite that heat once again before she came in here. 

It should have been gross, licking on his thumb like a kitten, but it was hot and the little bit of salty sweat residue tasted nice on her tongue. She wanted more of that, more of Zoro, but it was risky to think of anything past a nice romp in the bed. Though she didn’t take him as the type to hit and that be it, yet the thought of him having those same confusing feelings that laid past friendship or family or lust was odd.

Love.

The hints of feeling in love had been creeping through Nami’s mind for over seven months now and on top of that, Zoro caught on to the fact that she had been trying to distance herself from him to keep out any of those kinds of feelings taking a hold of her and rendering her a victim.

There was nothing wrong with being in love. She was so happy for Usopp and Kaya every time she saw the two of them in that special bubble of theirs. 

But, the thoughts of how much harsher it would be to lose that person after taking that step into a different boundary, the pain of losing the only one who got to see you so intimately, that would be much worse than just losing close friends and family. She didn’t want to go through another death like Bellemere’s ever again.

So caught up in her head, Nami hadn’t even realized she found herself on the second basement floor until the smell hit her nose and she dived behind a desk decked with a busted up computer terminal.

Her breathe got stuck in her throat, a tiny whimper slipping out of her hands she covered over mouth. 

She had been right about the Deathclaw children.

There had to be a dozen adult Deathclaws alone and over half a dozen of the children on this floor. In the past, the Strawhat crew had met a few friendly Deathclaws, but that was a different case than now. The way they growled, slinking around the room and sniffing, there was no doubt in her mind of the hunger that was in these Deathclaws. But, there was another stench of a smell she had recognized as well.

Peaking beneath the sliver of the desk, across the room there was stacks on stacks of labeled feral ghoul blood packs, just as Chopper had heard from Law, but it seemed that a few had gotten busted open and the smell of irradiated blood was mixing with the Deathclaw’s and creating something foul that made her stomach twist in sickening flops.

No matter where she seemed to look, there would be no way that Nami could reach the blood by sneaking around Deathclaw’s there was just no space to hide behind to reach the blood packs and any direction she went and the time spent grabbing them would only lead to her being noticed and most definitely killed.

Maybe if she could get back out and to Zoro, she could lead him into here to clear the place for her to gather the blood packs, or at least distract them long enough. But, there was no telling if there was more in the last basement floor and how many compared to the amount that was around her now.

With each second passing of her being on the floor like this, it was becoming apparent to Nami the predicament she was in. 

Especially so when a throaty growl was too close to her ear and she could feel drool drooping along her leg.

Screwed, so screwed.

She had half a mind to actually turn and look to the predator, it’s mouth hanging open before her and the fangs glistening with saliva from the swinging lights above.

Her lungs burned from the scream she let out, the Deathclaw’s arm swinging down to crush the desk, Nami narrowly escaping the bloody death with a quick roll of her body. Hopefully the idiot Zoro had heard her, though she was uncertain if it would reach so far above compared to where she was in the basement.

All of the Deathclaw’s on the floor now had a nice eyeful of her spread out along the floor, like a snack before dinner for them, and below she could hear the rumble of more feet and claws racing to tear into her and make her bits.

The Clima Baton she had grown so used was being worked on by Usopp and so he had given her an overly upgraded laser pistol, but there was no way a laser pistol could get her out of this mess. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, they were the types to be able to get themselves out of this situation without worries, but Nami wasn’t them.

That was why the moment she raised the pistol, a Deathclaw rushed from behind and sent her flying into a wall. The wall of blood packs she needed to get. No doubt was her left leg broken and the pumping blood was driving the Deathclaws insane with thirst. There was a slight distraction though, as Zoro finally burst forth, bringing out all three of his swords and slicing right through the first one to attack her.

Nami knew that she should probably get somewhere safer, but the reason they were here for Chopper came first. Zoro could take care of the Deathclaws and she could get the blood.

She whipped around her bag, throwing the flap open, and pushing the blood packs in by the arm full. There was a Deathclaw rearing itself up for an attack at her, but she almost had them all in her possession and Zoro would take care of it, right?

But, it’s claws still came racing for her, tearing away the tattered tank top in the first swipe and cutting open her stomach with the second. 

“Nami!” She could make out Zoro calling out to her, but she couldn���t see him beyond the rush of the lower floor Deathclaws surrounding him, the space of the whole floor seemed to be taken up by the creatures. 

Hope was growing dark for her.

And that was how Nami had gotten into this moment.

She sent her secured bag to Zoro through the Deathclaws, and prepared herself for this to be it. It was one of those moments that her brain just wasn’t thinking properly and death seemed inevitable now.

Even though she was scared of loving someone, scared of dying, scared of ruining that person she loved, Nami broke out into one more smile.

“I’m in love with you.” Zoro’s face peaked through the wall of Deathclaws and her words reached him, she hoped, as the arm of the nearest one swung into her, giving her a final look of its stretching skin tinged pink, the bent horns of a devil, and the foot long claws that hurt like a bitch. 

The concrete pillar it launched her into could have been nice, save for the fact of her head not being wrapped around it.

Zoro’s voice echoed out to her as her eyes slid shut.

“Don’t die on me.”

*****

Living for you Is easy living  It’s easy to live When you’re in love And I’m so in love There’s nothing in life but you

It was with a harsh thumping in her head, that Nami had awoken to a delicious warmth enveloping all over her. Such a nice warmth that she couldn’t resist nuzzling herself deeper into it, the feeling of her ear brushing over prickled skin like a scar.

A scar...

“Oi, you finally came to,” Zoro’s voice was low, even, though she didn’t miss the way his chest shook with a relieved sigh he seemed to have been holding in. 

“Mmm, everything hurts,” Nami whined and cracked her eyes open, noticing first that Zoro was missing the top clothes he had on earlier then realizing that she was now wearing his jacket along with fabric wrapped around her head, waist, and leg. “Isn’t this a bit much?” she mumbled, shifting her body to get a better view of his face.

“What’s a bit much is you forgetting that Chopper gave you stimpaks to use and then proceeding to throw your bag at me,” he glared down at her and she sighed, that was right, she did have medical supplies that would have helped her, but she instead made the decision to be an idiot.

“Sorry... I was.. too caught up in my head,” Nami had tilted her gaze away from his as it was piercing her too much and she needed a relief and when she looked around them, the bodies of all the Deathclaws that had been crawling among the basement was dead now and their hands and feet were missing the claws. “At least you got the other part of why we were here, huh? Chopper will be happy.”

“He won’t be happy to see you in this state knowing he was the one to send you out here,” Zoro’s hand cautiously came to rest on the top of her head, stroking her orange locks at a steady pace. “Love, huh?”

She could hear the way his lips curled around the words and a blush crawled over her cheeks at the thought of her hasty confession. Nami raised her fist, slamming into the side of his head with a screeching “shut up” accompanying it.

But, the hit did nothing to rid Zoro of the teasing smile. “I guess trying to take pages out of Brook’s philosophy was all wrong,” he whispered thoughtfully, laying his lips to hers for a brief moment of fireworks, but he pulled away too quickly for her to enjoy it.

“Eh? Brook?” She let her head fall into a tilt as Zoro gathered her up into his arms in a bridal style, lifting her up and throwing both of their bags into her lap. Nami guessed that now she was awake and he knew she was going to live, he was fine with getting out of this place.

“Yeah, he was saying that when you try to go after a woman, you have to be over the top and come on strong,” a smirk strung across his face and a chuckle echoed around, “and then you will definitely get into their panties.” 

Her eyes nearly rolled out her head, “Oh my god, seriously?! That’s why you were suddenly coming onto me? Cause you wanted to get me out of my panties? I didn’t realize that you and Sanji actually were so similar,” she poked at his buttons to tease him. Of course she should have known he was going by what someone else said.

“Oi! Don’t compare me to the shitty cook!” His foot rose to slam through the rest of the garage door that hadn’t been cut up and as the shanty metal clattered on the ground, piles of snow could be seen rising along the hills before them as more fell down from the sky.

Her smile drooped a bit, “I’ve been out for a whole day?” 

Zoro sighed behind her, pulling her in closer to keep the cold away from her body, “Yeah, but it doesn’t seem you’re too bad off.”

“I guess we have plenty to talk about later on...” Nami’s voice drifted off as she wrapped his jacket tighter. There was something nice in this moment, a relief to know that her time hadn’t come, that Zoro was trying to work towards something with her, and being all wrapped in Zoro’s clothes and body.

Yes, it was wonderful, the warmth coming back, and that she wasn’t alone in those tingles that tickled her spine.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece 1000 - 10 Confessions as a One Piece Fan

Although we did the Initial Thoughts a week ago (a long week ago, damn) which you can read here I wanted to do something for the official release of One Piece’s 1000th Chapter At first it started out to be ‘10 things I wanna ask Oda that I don’t think we’ll ever know’ but I couldn’t think of 10, then I was gonna do a General opinion post about it, but didn’t want it to come off too negative. So I am settling on a confessions post, which will have elements of these anyway.

So as we have a happy 1000, let’s talk about some stuff I usually don’t get to talk about in One Piece

Note: There will probably be spoilers so make sure you’re up to date

10. Late Beginnings I think the first confession I have to have is that despite being older than One Piece I am unfortunately not a ‘Day One’ fan. In fact I think I mainly got into One Piece around mid-Whole Cake Island arc, before I had of course known about One Piece, it was a ‘Big Three’ anime after all but the most I knew about it was that they had a guy named Luff-y and another called Zorro, and it was about ‘Pirates who can’t swim’. My curiosity only developed when in a youtube deep-dive of anime clips I kept being recommended One Piece clips, and decided to give a couple a go. Most of them were Paradise arc stuff from the anime, the dub voices were mostly atrocious so I stuck to sub. I was happily surprised about the amount of fun and emotional weight these clips gave me, which led me to check where One Piece was as of current and backtrack from there (Ironically I did the same with Beastars). I did eventually get caught up around the time of the Mafia Meeting and I’ve kept up with each chapter since.

9. I mostly still prefer the Pre-Timeskip looks When I first felt this I thought it to be pretty controversial, nowadays not so much. I understand that Oda wanted to change the look for many characters but some of them did feel like a downgrade. I think the ones who got it worst was Franky, I think it’s the bulbous shoulders, Franky was no stranger to body horror from Enies Lobby to Sabaody but I kinda preferred that he still had a lot of his humanity rather than looking like an action figure. Otherwise I think Robin, Nami and Chopper had it bad, maybe Brook too but his was more fashion than design; the women in general took heavy hits by Oda’s proportion design - I mean I get it boobs are nice but proportions are what make them better - but Robin also underwent a skin color change in the anime, who pre-timeskip shaded her skin darker than in the manga and corrected it to match the manga, I think most of us would’ve preferred Robin to have kept the darker skin tone and possibly even the fringe, Robin’s hairstyle (and her fashion in general) can be hit and miss. I go to and fro about Nami, other than the general waist and bust adjustments I think it fits her character to use her sexuality a bit, she was no stranger to that pre-Timeskip, sometimes though I can’t tell whether I preferred her with short or long hair (Short was definitely better on Nojiko), I do think though that Oda could have her show less skin, she is still very pretty in outfits such as Water 7, Thriller Bark and even her fake pirate disguise in the early chapters/episodes. Finally with Chopper I think it was a bad move to alter the hat, that was a memento from his father figure Hiriluk, it’d be like if Luffy altered his straw hat or Zoro replacing Wado Ichimonji, I do also feel that the design for Chopper’s points while easier to draw don’t look as good, I think a lot of it is the scruff, or lack thereof in favour of smoothness, Walk Point is fine but Heavy Point, Guard Point and Horn Point seem less threatening, Monster Point especially too, in Enies Lobby he looked like a cave painting of menace and destruction, now he’s smoother and his scruff lighter so it’s not as good. The rest of the designs I’m quite fine with though.

8. I wish some markings stuck as well Tattoos and Scars seem to be optional in the One Piece world sometimes, unless it’s branded in molten heat like the Dragon’s hoof, Sun Pirates logo or an attack from Sakazuki. While Nami’s redesigned tattoo has stuck around and Luffy and Zoro’s scars persist, they are mainly character reminders/mysteries for huge moments in the story, and I kinda wish that some of the Straw Hats had littler markings, not just scars either. For instance, the Alabasta X on the arm, I really wish that stayed on each of the Alabasta characters’ arms since it was a symbol of friendship with Vivi, I also wish that Luffy kept the 3D2Y mark on his arm. In terms of scars though it would’ve been nice to see the characters a bit more battle-worn; Zoro’s ankle scars from Mr. 3 have faded and frankly he should be covered in little and long scratches given his fights with Mr. 1 and 2 years of Mihawk Training, Nami’s shoulder scar is hidden completely by her tattoo and she has no scars on her hand (from fake stabbing Usopp) or foot (from blocking Miss Doublefinger), Usopp himself could’ve used some small scratches because lord knows how there’s even still bones in his nose plus he was in murder island for 2 years, Chopper could at least have a small bald patch from when his shoulder was impaled and burned by Shura’s fire lance too, other than that there’s just Jimbei’s potentially missing shoulder scar from Marineford, though Oda has kept it obscured a lot so maybe that is still there. I understand why Oda doesn’t or forgets to, but it would’ve been nice if we lived in a vacuum of no time limits and whatnot.

7. Dead End Adventure is my favourite One Piece film I don’t know what it is, but Dead End Adventure just gives me the most fun out of the One Piece films. It has a good side plot and the side character Shuraiya was a blast of a character. Granted, Gaspard wasn’t too good of a villain side for actually harming the straw hat and his defeat was a bit underwhelming but the race, the settings it was all fun. It is not to say I don’t enjoy any other One Piece movies, I delight in the horror fuel of Baron Omatsuri - and that killer final punch - and Z’s tragic tale of a fallen marine, Strong World has that epic entrance to the party and Stampede also had some great team up moments and fantastic writing for Usopp and Smoker but Dead End Adventure always feels like the movie I could watch in any mood.

6. Skypeia and Fishman Island are some of my favourite arcs While I can understand the criticism of the Long Ring Long Land arc (especially since the anime dragged out the Davy Back Fight) it surprised me that people found Skypeia and Fishman Island arcs to be boring or less entertaining than previous arcs. Everyone has their preferences of course but I felt that Skypeia and Fishman Island were very powerful arcs especially with the theme of racism. Both had glorious setting design different to the common customs of the world we had seen, Oda made both Skypeia and Fishman Island feel very much lived in with its own budding culture and prejudices, with a villain who was dead set on destroying everything just to have their way. With Enel and his priests we were able to push several characters to newer limits, with Robin showing her fighting capabilities, Zoro learning his projectile slashes, Chopper having to endure fighting 3 priests and even Usopp growing all the more braver in the face of seemingly indestructible opponents and later gaining access to the dials. With Fishman Island it was different because it was basically a ‘flex arc’: where the main villain is meant to be a stepping stone rather than a threat but even then the symbolism of the enemy is what’s significant with them, the inherited hatred of humans. But at the same time we do learn new strengths from the crew; Red Hawk, the use of armament Haki, Skywalk, Hell Memories, Franky Shogun, Usopp’s pop greens, Nami’s weather eggs, Brook’s Soul Solid and his new DF power (which is possibly an awakening), as well as the first true steps of Jimbei joining the crew. The biggest strength of both arcs is the flashback as well, like Wano would in present time both arcs demonstrated that Oda can carry a story without his main characters and still keep it as captivating as ever, be it the friendship of Noland and Calgara, the tragedies of Otohime and Fisher Tiger or the life of Kozuki Oden and the man who would be Pirate King. And the impact of Fishman Island and Skypeia’s flashbacks both come back around in Dressrosa with the dwarves and Koala, and Fishman Island really does kick off the whole Yonko saga with Luffy challenging Big Mom, these arcs were definitely significant as they were entertaining with silly faces, strong fights, challenging themes, lorebuilding, good side characters and unique twists. And the overall message of healing from the past is still significant to this day. Through Wyper’s sacrifice and the Bell ringing to Jimbei giving blood and the Ryugu royals wanting to attend the Reverie, it is all very powerful stuff and while the arcs are similar in nature its their similarities that make me love them. Also the cover stories with Enel and Gedatsu on their own mini adventures are fun

5. I really want to know where Ghin is Ghin/Gin was such an interesting character in Baratie. Given that this was right before Arlong Park too so we had not seen a character conflict with different loyalties in One Piece until then, his gratitude to Sanji against his loyalty to Krieg created a fantastically complex character, but then he left and we didn’t hear about him ever since. Did he survive Krieg’s poison gas? Is he still with Krieg? One reactor of the episode said “maybe he’ll become the next Don” which was a concept I kinda really liked. The guy was pretty strong given that he had bested Sanji at that time, and since he didn’t appear in a cover story my mind does wonder. It’s not just Ghin either, a lot of the early East Blue characters kinda fell off the map; where is Morgan? Last we saw he was sleeping as he sailed past Jango, where is Kuro? For someone wanting to resume piracy after some years off he has been very quiet, where is Krieg? Only Arlong and Morgan were arrested and the latter escaped so the rest of these characters are a mystery. Recently in Wano I am still wondering where Law’s crew that he brought to Onigashima went, as well as Caribou - where is that slippery bugger?

4. Basil Hawkins is probably one of my Top 5 Supernova There’s something about that dude I gravitate towards, which makes it quite frustrating when the anime decides to add extra malice and creepy faces to him. Hawkins in Wano is still a victim, if anything he is simply a prisoner with better working conditions, if he thought he could survive escaping Kaido he would but he doesn’t so he won’t, he’s also gonna feel sore about Drake betraying him and letting Law cut him up, so it annoys me that Hawkins is seen like a villain. Not only does he have an extremely interesting Devil Fruit and creativity with it but he’s also audaciously confident in his fortunetelling, even Luffy ran from Kizaru at Sabaody while Hawkins looked at his cards while Kizaru was about to boot him to holy hell and said ‘nah I’m not dying today’, you gotta respect that moxie. At the same time though as a pirate he has that shades of grey element, he’s okay with letting some of his crew be disposable and we don’t even know to what end, he doesn’t look like a guy too concerned about being Pirate King or having riches. I also get a good laugh in that his hobbies are interior design, it makes me really want to see what the inside of his ship looks like. I think as a top 5, I have Luffy, Zoro, Law, Hawkins and then Kid, Bege, Killer and Bonney are not far behind with Apoo dead last because fuck Apoo. Kid and Killer are cool but I do feel like they need a bit more character, Bege earned some points in being funny and his care for his family in WCI and then there’s Bonney - I really hope we dig into Bonney’s significance, she feels really important and that mystery keeps her fresh whenever we see her. Drake too has only really started to become interesting because of SWORD, we could still see more fleshing but for now he is like bottom 3. It’s a shame Urouge has to be so low, he’s not bad but he’s not spectacular either, gotta admire his hobby of lovemaking though, you do you Urouge.

3. I don’t think that either of the ‘Most Beautiful Women in the World’ are the Most Beautiful Women in One Piece The in-world consensus seems to be that the Most Beautiful Women in the World are Boa Hancock, Komurasaki and Shirahoshi, and granted they are very pretty, but the most? Not for me. I mean, y’all know that Nico Robin, Nami and Vinsmoke Reiju exist right? Makino as well is stunning, as are Tashigi, Bonney, Margaret, Ishilly, Nojiko, Vivi, Rebecca, Pudding, Perona, Cosette and I’m sure a few others, realistically I think they could all give them a run for their money. I get how for those three their beauty is a plot point (Boa it’s drilling home Luffy’s obliviousness to it, Komurasaki it’s the swerve of her not being awful and for Shirahoshi it’s due to Vander Decken IX pulling the creep factor on her) but it would’ve worked the same way without the ‘world’ hyperbole I think. As much as Oda is iffy with proportions and rarely writes women with as much attention as the boys he sure knows how to make them attractive.

2. Some of my favourite individual Straw Hat scenes aren’t in Canon If I were to have a top 5 moments of each character, it may surprise you that some of it comes from movies or filler episodes, particularly Sanji’s flexing on Jessica in the G8 Arc (in fact, Jonathon is one of my favourite marines, T-Bone is in there too, but I don’t have room to fit that). Some are of course obvious because of how iconic they are but it does go to show that sometimes filler isn’t all bad. Since you’re probably curious: As a Group Goodbye Merry [Enies Lobby] Entering Shiki’s Palace [Strong World] Walk to Arlong Park [Arlong Park] Entering the Grand Line [Reverse Mountain] vs a Stuck Oars [Thriller Bark] Jimbei Giving Luffy Blood [FMI] Vagabond Drill on Big Mom [WCI] Leaving the Big Mom Pirates [WCI] Returning in Wano [Wano] Trying to argue with Luffy [FMI] Brook vs Chess Soldiers & Big Mom [WCI] Flashback [Thriller Bark] Breaking Mother Carmel’s Picture [WCI] Baron Corpse vs Dog Minks [Zou] Hysterically laughing at seeing Duval [Sabaody] Franky vs Senor Pink [Dressrosa] Playing with the Kids [Punk Hazard] vs Fukurou [Enies Lobby] Freedom Roller [Wano] Trapping Caribou in the Barrel [FMI] Robin  I Want to Live [Enies Lobby] Clutching Spandam [Enies Lobby] Throwing Usopp under the bus [G8] vs Yama [Skypeia] Clutching Tequila Wolf guards [Amazon Lily] Chopper Monster Point [Enies Lobby] Flashback [Drum Island] Chopper Man (& Minoru Kazeno) vs Usobada [Chopper Man Special] Don’t blow the whistle: Immediately blows whistle [Skypeia] Dr Chopper the definitely Human Doctor not wearing fake glasses [G8] Vivi w/ Karoo (she counts okay!) Goodbye speech [Alabasta] Escaping Bon Clay [Alabasta] Karoo Digging Luffy Out [Little Garden] Luffy Fan Club Meeting [Reverie] Slapping Usopp awake [Drum Island] Nami vs Kalifa [Enies Lobby] Standing by the kids [Punk Hazard] Saying goodbye to Bell-mere [Arlong Park] Helping Luffy vs Cracker via Lola’s Vivre Card [WCI] Luffy WILL be Pirate King [Wano] Sanji ‘I needed a light’ [Skypeia] Flexing on Jessica [G8] Saving the Vinsmokes [WCI] O-Soba Mask [Wano] vs Doflamingo [Dressrosa]  Usopp Alabasta speech [Alabasta] Awakening Observation Haki [Dressrosa] Sogeking Theme Song [Enies Lobby] vs Perona [Thriller Bark] Saving Luffy from the fire [Stampede]  Zoro Nothing Happened [Thriller Bark] vs Ryuma [Thriller Bark] vs Mr. 1 [Alabasta] vs Gyukimaru & Kamazo [Wano] “He’s sweeping our floors that fiend!” Test of Luck [Loguetown] Luffy ‘On the Sea, you fight Pirates’ [Wano] Red Roc [Wano] vs Katakuri [WCI] Haki clash with Doflamingo [Dressrosa] Punching Saint Charloss [Sabaody] I will have to say that for some characters I could go to 20 so if one’s missing it may’ve just missed the mark, such as Usopp and Nami vs Enel or Luffy putting back a Zombie or Stealth Luffy, I mean it is 1000 chapters as well as movies and filler episodes/specials...

1. I’ve learned quite a lot due to One Piece Since my fascination started with a deep dive of checks, I did start to learn a hell of a lot more not just about the franchise itself (you know it’s almost catching up BATMAN on total sales, which has been around more than 3 times longer?) but I also learned a lot about stuff Oda has used as a reference key; folklore, actual pirates, actual practices, the amount of detail Oda puts in is astounding. Which does lean into another thing I’ve learned, One Piece has changed the way I approach some of my ideas for writings and whatnot, before I would be afraid of either spoonfeeding or being too vague, Oda’s mastery not only in storytelling but character development, character quality and pacing has both helped and intimidated me a lot of times, I mean consider this: it took hundreds of chapters to get a proper backstory on Luffy, the main character, how unprecedented is that? Often I could fall into the trap of making sure you knew everything about the main character from day one but now I wonder about what’s necessary for the now and what can I work on. Another thing that both inspires and intimidates me is his drawing, I suck at colours and still do, and a lot of Oda’s attention to detail is incredible considering he’s gotta whip that out on the weekly, but at the same time you see some of his rough sketches and they’re pretty similar to a rough sketch of my own, so in a way it’s a ‘there’s still hope for you’ moment seeing those. I can’t say I’ve learned Japanese from listening to One Piece, but I have picked up on some stuff, some hiragana there, some phonetics here, I also appreciated some of the stuff kaizokuou-ni-naru does (I won’t tag them in case that’s a bit rude to do it out of the blue but check out their tumblr) when it came to deciphering the Japanese of chapters and the little puns and hints Oda puts in his native tongue. And of course any One Piece fan has learned one thing above all else: Patience. Oda himself included, it took over 20 years to get to 1000 chapters and we still have plenty of questions to ask, plenty of islands to see and thus plenty of chapters to go. So Straw Hats off to you Oda, and a happy 1000th!

[husbandograveyard]

Hewwo Hazel uwu 🔫😀👾😭😜😳⏰😏🎆💓?

Hewwo Bas! The UwU is strong today  o(>ω<)o Thank you for your questions! 

🔫 - Fave canon arc? 

Thriller Bark. It made me laugh SO HARD. One piece is one of the few anime that genuinely makes me laugh out loud, usually im more of a “hmpft” blowing air out of my nose laught kinda gal, but one piece gave me a lot of joy and laughter, and mostly during thriller bark. Besides that, the fights and the general plot thickening and things coming together, and Zoro’s sacrifice all made this one of my top favorite archs! The pacing was very good as well, compared to, for example, Dressrosa. 

😀 - Most favorite Straw Hat?

aaaaaa don’t make me choose  This is very hard! The initial thought was Zoro because well it’s Zoro and most of his lines never fail to make me laugh. Robin is the one I admire most cause it’s the kind of lady idk if I wanna be her or be with her yknow? And Chopper also popped up because well.. he’s the absolute most adorable bean and I love him and his cuteness. 

I’m gonna conclude a tie between Zoro and Robin, and Chopper can be on their shoulders being adorable?   (´･ᴗ･ ` )

👾 - Fave villain?

Perona as far as she was an actual villain, her negative spooks are the best attack ever and no one can tell me otherwise. 

In terms of bigger antagonists, probably the Charlotte family? I’m counting them as one, just for now, since they are all super interesting and I like seeing them on screen more than ceasar or moria or doffy and 100000x more than friggin Blackbeard (Imagine me using the ‘dinkleberg voice’ whenever I say blackbeard).  Doffy is a good villain. But he makes me too mad so he only gets a flaminglemention and not the top spot ha. 

😭 - Saddest scene?

Just like one piece is the series that made me laugh he most, it’s also the one that made me cry the most. Almost embarrassingly much. I ugly sobbed for a few hours straight around Ace’s death. I was spoiled, I knew it was gonna happen, but I did not know how exactly, so ehm from impel down on, every scene they showed him I teared up at least. (oops).  BUT there was one other scene that made me cry a lot that I have to mention because I did not expect to cry for that moment. I knew about the time skip, I knew about the training, I knew they were gonna take some time off to get stronger. BUT I did not know how and when and the circumstances. The moment Kuma separated them, the agony and the helplessness. My heart. I could not take it. That was too sad. 

Honorable mentions for the Bellemere scene very early on and saying goodbye to merry. Just too many heartbreaking moments but I feel that’s what makes the series so nice, you need to get hurt sometimes in order to get more attached to characters. 

😜 - Funniest character?

Ehm. In terms of delivering hilarious one-liners and making me laugh while not actually being funny on purpose: Zoro. The dumb is too much and is hilarious. He says funny things while not being funny and there’s just too many peak comedy moments in him getting lost or ‘wanting to get made into a wax statue in this pose”. 

Luffy gets a mention in situational humor too because that dumbassery is hilarious as well. 

Other than that. Probably a tie between Usopp and Franky. It’s just so stupid, but the sheer simpleness of most of the humor makes it so easy to digest and look at! 

😳 - Any crushes?

Any? Many! ehm, to not make this answer a couple thousand words long, quickfire! Ace, he has the charisma, the feralness, the politeness and the freckles.  Shanks, he’s just the sweetest, sexiest mystery man who knows what his priorities are.  Sabo, all the feralness, less of the politeness, all of the cuteness. His smile can revive puppies.  Zoro: the Dumbassery, the muscles, the brutal honesty and that soff soff mossy hair.  Kid: again, the dumbassery, the rudeness while still caring for his bunch of misfits. I love me a good tulip.  Robin: The beauty, the grace, the humor, the fashion, the intellect. Again, dk if i want to be her or be with her.  Vivi: The courage, the love, the sweetness amongst the badassery, step on me princess.  Honorable mentions for Killer, A bunch of people showing up in Wano that I’ve only seen spoilers pop up for. And writing some character has had me reconsidering all the crushes all together. In conclusion: WHY IS EVERYONE IN ONE PIECE SO ATTRACTIVE??? safe for you Blackbeard honey, you could fall off a cliff and I’d applaud. 

⏰ - How long have you been into One Piece? 

Not that long at all. When I was 14? ish I started my anime journey. I watched 15-20? episodes of One Piece and hated it. Around that time one piece was somewhere in between 500-600 eps and I could not imagine ever catching up to that, especially since my strict parents limited my computer use to 3h a week. 

Then a friend really got into it I think about 5? years ago and kept talking about it and how it was actually good. I was starting to do an effort to watch all the ‘big’ and ‘must-see’ anime and promised myself I’d watch One Piece, eventually. 

Then this year at the end of October 2019 I actually started watching it. I had grown up a lot, and could now appreciate the anime way more for what it was? I fell in love and binged the entire thing in more or less six months with some small breaks in between for work, school, books, and other anime. Highly considering re-downloading so I can rewatch my favorite parts soon. My biggest problem is that once I love something, I go ALL IN and I will love everything about it and obsess. And thus this Tumblr was created as the hiatus started and I wanted something One Piece to keep me distracted. I eventually want to collect the manga but I now don’t have the space for it in my tiny room. 

😏 - Favorite scene? 

Sabo and Luffy reuniting! The reveal, the tears, the hug, and the ridiculousness of Luffy with the beard and all, just made it perfect. Absolutely loved it.

OH and Luffy punching the celestial dragon. The absolute energy in that scene made me grin like an idiot yet gave me goosebumps. Punch those slave-owning bitches luffy, thank you! 

🎆 - Something you can’t wait for??!! 

ALL of what is to come in Wano. I’ve been catching spoilers here and there and i just cannot wait! There’s gonna be so much reveals and new characters and comebacks and all the things I did not know I need in my life. 

And I would like some more reveals on Shanks and his crew since we literally know next to nothing about them, besides the fact that even the admirals seemed to be at least wary of their powers and I just really need to know. (or not, since mystery adds to the charm). 

I can’t wait for the abolishment of the government and the death/defeat of blackbeard (assuming that will happen at some point, a girl can dream). 

💓 - Which character do you relate to the most?

SO HARD. Hardest question. Ehm... Ace and Usopp I think? I struggle with family a lot, but I have a chosen family that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I am hella insecure, but I try my best most of the time and I am extremely loyal, even though I have no particular talents, I try and help here and there and hopefully can make some people happy that way! 

If you read all the way through here, thank you for coming to my Ted talk! It was so long  („• ֊ •„) but it was also so much fun  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

[friendlyfrat-boy]

The Straw-Hat Among Us

A One Piece/Among Us crossover starring:

Usopp, Shanks, Buggy, Kizaru, Teach, Zoro, Marco, Caesar, Doflamingo and Smoker

Chapter One:

Cyan, Marco the Phoenix

Two, to be precise. Marco didn’t know who they were, but he knew they were among them. And, as Chief of this expedition, it was his duty to inform his comrades that they weren’t alone any longer. Hence, he headed to the meeting room, situated just above the Admin room, flicked off the clear plastic protection and pressed the large red button.

Five minutes later, and all members of the Polus Expedition had gathered. Marco had never seen their faces, didn’t know their names, and that was all according to protocol.

Having their lives threatened by a pair of imposters was not.

Marco pressed a few buttons on the side of his cyan helmet and popped the whole thing off, revealing his yellow hair and tired face. The collected members all swayed, casting anxious glances at each other. After all, their Chief had just broken protocol and revealed his face. “-I am aware that I am committing a grave sin, likewise, I have a grave reason for doing so.” Marco let his eyes bore into the assorted members. “We have two imposters among us. Two inhuman threats masquerading as our very own crewmates.”

The rather short person in the orange suit, known only as “Orange” shivered and swayed at the accusation. Marco chose to ignore it.

“-My name is Marco, and I am the Chief of this Exploration.” He turned to the man beside him, a large fellow in a black suit. “Go on, Black.”

The man shook his head, but quickly relented, popping the circular helmet off. He had a broad, stubbled face, tanned and shabby with curly hair that matted to his forehead. “-’Name’s Teach. Marshall D. Teach. I work with stabalizin’ the seismic activity ‘round here.” Teach crossed his arms, the rubbery fabric squishing together. “Now, mind tellin’ me what the Hell you’re on about?”

Marco did not, in fact, tell Teach what the Hell he was on about. He met the eyes of Yellow, and nodded for him to reveal himself as well. He did so without the slightest fuzz.

“Ohh, uhhhh, hi! Nice to meet youuuuu, I’m Borsalino but all my friends call me Kizaruuu~” he said in the most drawling voice that Marco had ever heard. With a lazy grin on his face and a pair of squinted eyes, Kizaru gave off the impression that he was not quite a man to be trusted, neither was he entirely suspicious. More of the high sort. “Oh, and, uhh, I work in the Securityyyy.”

White had already removed his helmet before Marco even looked at him. “The name’s Smoker. I’m the one making sure we can go without our helmets inside the facility.” In other words, he worked in ventilation. Before Marco called for this meeting, he actually went ahead and told White about this, telling him to make sure the air inside was absolutely breathable. Though, that didn’t quite explain why he was smoking two cigars. Inside his helmet.

Purple squirmed a bit under Marco’s stern gaze before reluctantly revealing his face. “I don’t trust any of this! You haven’t even told us what’s going on!”

Sure, Marco could easily argue that he had, in fact, explained the situation, but it was still far from clear. Not that he truly understood the situation himself. So, Marco surveyed Purple. His hair was long and black, standing in complete contrast to his ghastly skin. If it wasn’t for his oddly-coloured purple lipstick, one might assume he was already in rigor mortis.

“Alright. As odd as it may seem, we do actually have protocol for this situation, as it has happened once before. The survivors reported that the imposters, which could be any one of us, are looking to end us from within, whether it be through deception or murder. Our only option for getting rid of these and surviving is to find the two imposters and kill them before they kill us. Therefore, we require great honesty, courage and rationality. We will not be suspecting each other without basis, and assuming someone is an imposter on account of lackluster evidence will only divide us further.”

“What’s the protocol, exactly?” Smoker asked.

Marco scratched his head. “There isn’t much. Stick together, but continue with your tasks. Make sure to keep an eye on your fellow crewmates, whether it be for their protection or your own. If you find a body, which you very well might, report it and we will all meet here to discuss the leads or see if anybody witnessed anything.” He turned back to Purple. “Now, name and occupation?”

Purple huffed. “Caesar Clown. Scientist.” Marco nodded, happy with the answer. Next one…

Pink removed his helmet, revealing a wide grin and a pair of sunglasses. How he’d been able to see in this darkness with those glasses only the Czar may know. “Imposters, eh? Interesting! Finally something happens!” After giving a cackle, Pink continued. “Donquixote Doflamingo. I’m the doctor aboard, of the medical sort!”

With that said, Doflamingo slapped Caesar’s back endearingly, and Marco could only assume it was a scientist thing. People like that were weird.

Next up… “Hold on, there can’t be TWO clowns!” As it turns out, Blue was also quite… clown-like, if that nose was anything to go by.

Caesar sputtered. “I-, I’m not a REAL clown! Unlike you, you big-nosed freak!”

“WHAT’S THAT YOU SHEEP-HORNED BASTARD!?”

“Hey, cool it! Don’t get in a twist already!” Marco said, stepping between the feuding pair. He looked the red-nosed clown up and down. “...And you are?”

“Buggy!” he said proudly. “Buggy D. Clown! I work in O2!”

Caesar’s eyes went wide. “B-, brother?...”

“No way, jerk!” Buggy said, bearing his fist threateningly. “I’d never be associated with a sheep-horned know-it-all like you!”

While those two went at each other, Red removed his helmet in turn. “I’m Shanks.” He smiled idly. “I’m the one who flew you all out here, and if I can get the Shuttle up and working again, I’ll gladly get you out of here as well.” Somehow, Marco could already trust he was a good fellow. There were only two more, namely Green and Orange.

Green had barely reacted to any of this, simply standing there with his arms crossed, so when he removed his helmet and revealed a tired, uncaring expression, Marco couldn’t honestly say he was any surprised. “Roronoa Zoro. Electrician.” His eyes were already suspicious, even though not a single person had done anything at this point. “And I don’t trust a single one of you.” Ah, there it is.

“N-, not even me?! Zoro, aren’t we buddies?” Orange mewled. Zoro took one look at him, taking in his round, innocent eyes, curly black hair, long nose…

“Oh! Usopp!” Zoro exclaimed, a smile overtaking his features before vanishing as soon as it appeared. “...No, I don’t trust you, either.” He frowned before glancing away. “If I can’t trust one of you, I can’t trust any of you. Sorry, Usopp.”

Orange, or Usopp, as his name apparently was, stuttered for a few moments, betrayed. “I-, um, uh…” Everybody was looking at him. “-Oh! I’m, well, I’m Usopp! I’m the botanist, even though there’s only one tree to tend to…” His anxious eyes glanced over the people collected, finally landing on Marco himself. “Uh-, um, Cyan-, no, Chief, can I have someone to go with? Just-, just for protection!”

Marco nodded. “Of course. Is there anyone else headed to the West Wing?” Two people, Kizaru and Buggy both raised their hands. “Great. You three will keep together. I assume the rest of you will return to your posts. I will wander about, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.” There was a moment of tense silence. “Don’t worry,” Marco smiled slightly, “we’ll get through this, as long as we work together.”

And with that, the meeting ended.

Marco, along with Kizaru, Buggy, Usopp and Zoro went to the West Wing. Apparently, Zoro had some brief business there, what with the wires. Once they got inside, Kizaru quickly went to the security cameras, and Marco followed Buggy and Usopp to O2.

Marco watched them get settled down, Usopp tending to the tree while Buggy worked on other things in O2. “Y’know, this is a real special tree. It’s actually not a tree at all, but an oversized Special Bonsai. What? You haven’t heard of the Special Bonsais? Well, they’re these tiny trees that have been modified to absorb as much carbon dioxide as a regular sized tree. And this one has been specially grown to be big enough to both produce enough oxygen for the whole crew and-”

-And that’s where Marco stopped listening to Usopp rambling about trees. While leaving, in the company of Zoro (who had finished his work in West Wing by now), Marco found Teach squatting in the snow just outside.

“-Everything alright there, Teach?” Marco asked, fearlessly stepping closer to him.

The large man jerked at the sudden addressal, hopping up to stand on his both feet. “Oh! Um, nothing much, Chief. Just, um…”

And then Marco noticed the little snowman Teach had made in the snow. “...Got nothing to do?”

Teach scratched his neck. “Well, not really, but… it isn’t important! Bye!”

With that, Teach ran off into the dark. Marco put to mind that Teach ran towards the Central Building, but that shouldn’t matter much. It was a pretty cute snowman, but if he had work to do, he really should be working on it.

Zoro crossed his arms. “-I don’t trust him.”

Marco perked an eyebrow. “You don’t trust anybody.”

“Yeah, but…” Zoro gave Marco a look. “You really don’t think that wasn’t suspicious?”

Marco shrugged. “Not really, but I think I can see where you’re coming from.”

With that said and done, they headed for the Central Building, making sure to check inside the Storage just in case there was somebody there. It had been Zoro’s idea and Marco didn’t object to it. Before they got to the Central Building, however, Marco remembered a certain somebody who should be in a certain place.

“Let’s head to the Shuttle.”

Zoro nodded, not questioning it in the least. He seemed like a clever enough fellow, although a bit too cautious for his own good.

Inside the Shuttle, they did actually find Shanks! Marco had almost expected him to be gone, but he was happy to see him, knowing he was clever enough. “Oh, hello there, Marco!” Shanks said with a grin, not afraid in the least. If Zoro was too cautious, Shanks might almost seem too lax. However, Marco could tell that he was anything but. Underneath that idle grin, a shark prowled.

“Everything going alright?” Marco asked, to which Shanks nodded.

“Certainly so! Why, Teach went by just the other minute, asked me the very same thing. A most agreeable fellow, wouldn’t you say?”

Before Zoro could say something rash, Marco answered in his place. “Oh, agreed. You should see the little snowman he made, absolutely adorable.”

Shanks nodded, and promised to check it out if he had the time. With that done, Zoro and Marco left once more and entered the East Wing through the Laboratory. The second they stepped inside, they heard something… interesting.

“I’m TELLING YOU, the smoke is bad for the ventilation! How can you possibly be a smoker WHILE WORKING WITH VENTILATION??” Caesar screeched at someone Marco could only assume was Smoker. Not that Caesar wasn’t correct about smoke being bad for the ventilation, but Smoker was in charge of it, not him.

“Hey, the worse the lungs, the better the insurance!” Doflamingo added unhelpfully.

Smoker gruffed. “It’s fine. I don’t got nobody to take out my insurance.”

Caesar huffed, something he seemed prone to doing. “FINE! Sure! Just fix it, okay? I need to boil these samples properly, and your disgusting smoke isn’t helping!”

This was the moment when Marco and Zoro entered the main part of the Laboratory, the one connected to the little Medbay and furthermore to the Disinfection area. “Everything alright?” Marco asked, taking in the scene. The people present were indeed Caesar, Smoker and Doflamingo, all standing around.

Doflamingo smiled. “Sure, sure, everything is perfectly alright! Nothing to see here. That is, unless Smokey here fixes things like he should.”

Smoker shrugged, heaving a toolbox on top of the counter covered in samples and liquids and things. “Let’s take a look here.” Caesar seemed just about ready to shout something at him for putting something dirty on top of the sanitized countertop, but he chose to keep silent. At least, that’s how Marco understood it.

A few minutes later and the ventilation worked properly, allowing Caesar to do whatever it is he was supposed to do. Marco nodded, and prepared to leave for the outside. He kind of wanted to find Teach again, since being out and about like that couldn’t possibly be safe, not for him, not for anything. “I’ll be leaving to find Teach, is everything going to be alright here?”

“I’ve got some wires to fix in the stalls,” Zoro reported, the unsaid message being that he wouldn’t be able to follow him.

Marco smiled softly. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. And the rest of you?”

Doflamingo and Caesar shared a glance. ““We’ll be in here.””

“I’m heading to the Sample room, I noticed the southern Disinfection seemed ineffective,” Smoker said.

Marco nodded, and left, striding into the dark outside with little fear. Snow littered the ground, falling in large tufts like frozen cotton. Although it was sub-zero, Marco’s suit easily protected him, keeping him warm and breathing and alive.

Darkness. Cold, silent darkness. Buildings loomed just out of sight, hidden by the falling snow.

The already fallen snow crunched under his feet, leaving little footprints in his wake. It felt hard to keep an eye open, even though his helmet defended him from the outside. Maybe walking out alone had been a bad idea? No, he’d be fine. The only one out and about other than himself should be Teach, and as long as Teach wasn’t it, he should be okay.

The shadows lurched. Marco crept around buildings, keeping himself out in the colds. After a while, almost too long, he finally found something.

A little snowman.

Along with a pair of almost-covered footprints. It seemed the falling snow had been covering them up, but… here they were.

Marco followed the footsteps, letting them lead him towards wherever their owner was, through and around and beside buildings, growing weaker the closer he came, fainter with every step he took, his pace quickened, growing faster and faster until he broke out into a sprint, desperate to know where Teach was, desperate to know he was alright, seeing an empty shadow of his black suit around every corner until, finally…

He stood by the pool of lava. His chest heaved. It was warm. So, so, very warm. It penetrated his suit. It was made for keeping heat in. Not out. If he fell in…

He swallowed.

It was okay, Teach was surely around here somewhere.

Marco glanced about, but he couldn’t even turn around before an arm clasped around his neck and a knife plunged into his chest.

The darkness took him.

[bigsister11]

Merry Christmas to @emotrafalgar I am your Secret Santa this year for the @opsecretsanta2019 event! :)

I hope you enjoy these little drabbles I wrote (I couldn't decide on whether I want to write Lawlu or Zolu for you, so I did both).

<3<3<3<3

Snow can also be a good thing

It's snowing, Law realized as he opened up the door of the Polar Tang and almost turned back immediately. The sky was too grey and lifeless, the air was too cold, and the snowflakes were already landing on his face, his coat, his everything, uninvitedly.  

He had to get on the Sunny to have a talk with the Strawhats about the plan, the route, the navigation, the logistics, the food, and the— his to-do list was knocked out of his head the moment he stepped on the Sunny, as he got tackled by Luffy before his second feet could even touch the deck.

"Morning Toraooo!" Luffy laughed with an open mouth as he settled on Law's chest, and petted his face with a cheerful expression. "Long time no see, where were you last night? You missed the party!"

"Get off me Strawhat-ya," Law hissed, while he tried to push the younger captain off of him, and simultaneously tried to put his hat back on his head. He failed at both.

"Make a snow angel first, everyone already did one, even your bear!" Luffy chuckled, his eyes were shining, his cheeks were flushed in the cold. "My name is Bepo!" Law faintly heard his crewmate's protest from the far end of the ship. 

"Angels don't exist, now let me get up," he said impatiently. Luffy was too close, his smile was too wide, the tip of his nose was pinkish due to the cold, and he'd made Law's heart beat way too fast. A reaction to Luffy's proximity he'd been trying to ignore for weeks now. 

"Ha ha, no way," Luffy laughed, and leaned a bit closer to grab his arms, and move them up and down next to his body to make the wings. 

"We'll arrive at a new island in a minute, you have to do it no-," Law was suddenly saved by a huge snowball, which hit the middle of Luffy's back with such a momentum that it sent him flying. 

“That is for ruining my great ‘Snow-Warrior of the Sea Usopp-sama’ statue Luffy!” Usopp shouted, preparing his catapult for the next shot.

Law got up and out of the way, and looked around. The Sunny was full of snow forms that the Strawhats and, to his surprise, his crew made. 

There were snow reindeers, snow robots, some weird snow things Law couldn't recognize but supposed they were meant to look like fancy food, snow berries and treasure, snow swords held by a snowman, and some other unrecognizable figures as well. 

Bepo and Penguin were still working on a miniature Polar Tang with such a deep focus they made Law smile.

His attention went back to Luffy pretty quickly though as he couldn't look away for long. Luffy was jumping around to dodge the snowball attacks, his hands grabbing everything in his way for support, his smile was never fading and his laughs were making him get butterflies in his stomach.

Suddenly two long arms grew out of the deck in front of him, one holding his hat, the other brushing the snow off of it.

"Here you go Torao-kun." Robin appeared next to him. She looked at him knowingly, the corner of her mouth turned up a little. Law felt himself blushing and quickly put his hat back to cover his face.

Somehow her expression made him remember why he came on board in the first place. 

"Hey, Strawhat-ya" he tried again but as Luffy turned to him to answer, his eyes caught a glimpse of something behind him. 

"We arrived!" Luffy yelled enthusiastically. Law turned and saw the island responsible for the winter weather. It had a mountain shaped like a Christmas tree in the middle, and all types of colorful lights were illuminating from it. Wonderful. He was so not in the mood for any of this.

Suddenly, Luffy was next to him, put an arm around his shoulder and looked up to him with the biggest eyes Law had ever seen. "Let's go together, and explore!" he said, and Law completely forgot how to say no. 

As they docked, a flock of birds arrived to greet the ship and started to circle above them. They looked like big, green seagulls, with red beaks and golden eyes. 

"Ahh, they look delicious!" Luffy eyed them hungrily, still holding onto Law who felt his side warming up where their bodies touched. "Sanji, I have found our lunch, let's catch them all!"

"Forget it, Luffy!"

"I would advise against that Captain." Sanji and Robin spoke up at the same time, but Sanji fell silent immediately and let her continue. 

"First of all, the Mistletern bird is an inedible species and while I am certain this would not stop you, but they are also the sacred birds of the island of Snowflakia," she told them.

"The mistle- what?" Luffy asked back, but couldn't finish, because suddenly some of the birds struck down as if they were attacking them and after they dodged Zoro's and Brook's blades, Nami's Clima-Tact, and Bepo's claws, they landed on Luffy's hat, and Law's shoulder at the same time.

"What is your problem stupid bird!" Luffy tried to brush off his bird who looked incredibly smug with himself and stubbornly dodged his attempts. 

Law wasn't successful in getting rid of his attacker either. He even used his power to shamble the bird away from him, but it flew back looking at him like he was an idiot, and settled back on his shoulder. 

When he gave up, he saw Robin looking at them as she chuckled quietly. Next to him, Sanji looked as red as a lobster. 

"What?" he asked nervously.

"They are also said to be a companion to people who want to kiss their love," she added with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “They are named after the mistletoe and the tern after all. I’m positive they won’t leave till it happens.”

Law felt like his whole body was setting itself on fire. He couldn’t even dare to look at Luffy when he said: “It must be just a superstition.”

“No, it is true,” Luffy said as he stepped closer to him, took Law’s hand and put his palm to the middle of his chest. “Because I do wanna kiss you Torao. D-do you want to kiss me?” he stuttered.

Law couldn’t do anything but look back at him. Luffy was smiling and looking at him bravely, but his cheeks were dark red, his whole body was shaking. He must be extremely nervous as well, he thought and felt a little bit better. 

“Yes, I do,” he managed to answer and before he could change his mind he kissed Luffy right in front of everyone. His lips were soft and sweet, and Law felt him smiling into the kiss. He put his arms around Luffy and pulled him even closer. 

Whatever cold he felt before, it completely disappeared. When they parted, Luffy looked into his eyes and sighed. “I’m so glad, because I love you, but I was sure you didn’t love me back,” he whispered so that Law would be the only one who heard him. 

“I’m glad too,” Law replied quietly, still holding him in his arms. Luffy closed his eyes and put his head on Law’s chest. 

“Snowflakia is my favorite island,” he sheepishly added. The birds suddenly flew away still wearing the same smug expression as if they were saying we told you so.

“Let’s look around then,” Law answered, now completely in the mood for the snow and ready for a new adventure. Anything was great, now that he had Luffy on his side.

(As they went, they faintly heard Usopp’s panicked voice from the ship: “My lady is very far from here, how am I supposed to kiss her like this? Be reasonable birdy!”). 

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

Luffy’s present 

When they meet up again after exploring the island separately, Zoro has a deep cut across his chest and the widest smile on his face.

“What happened to you Zoro?” Luffy asks angrily. “Who hurt you like this?” He is already ready to go back to hunt down whoever harmed his lover. 

“Calm down Luffy,” he replies and even though he is still bleeding he grabs Luffy and spins him around enthusiastically. “I got you something I know you will love!” He puts him down and gently kisses him on the lips, that is so happy and heartwarming Luffy almost forgets he’s gotten hurt.

However, before he can give it to Luffy, Chopper attacks him and drags him to the infirmary. He goes back outside to meet him right after Chopper lets him go. He can’t wait to show him what he’s got.

Luffy is sitting on the Sunny’s head, looking at the sea and he smiles up to him when he sits down next to him. The sun is already going down, painting them in the warmest colors. Zoro looks into Luffy’s eyes and sees the light reflecting in them. 

Zoro takes his hand, gently kissing the inside of his palm, making him blush. After all this time, he is still so in love with him. Then, he places a small, soft thing in Luffy’s hand: it looks like a blue sea urchin. Luffy looks back at him questioningly. 

“Eat it,” Zoro says, smiling, so he does. It tastes terrible. Zoro laughs at Luffy’s sour expression. 

“Come on,” he stands up, embraces Luffy, and jumps into the sea with him. 

Luffy has no time to panic, as Zoro pulls him up and their heads are out of the water in a second. Luffy takes an enormous breath he doesn’t really need and Zoro laughs at him, holding him so close Luffy can see his wet eyelashes.

“Oi Zoro, what was that for?” Luffy complains, his heart is beating very fast, his body reminding that he could sink any second. “I’m a hammer in the wa- “ he doesn’t finish as he realizes his legs are moving, pushing the water below him, his arms are also working, holding onto Zoro. 

“This is called the Kyanseru no Mi,” Zoro says. “I got it from the local marine base, I heard the rumors from my bounty hunter days that they were keeping it here. It can neutralize the ‘devil fruit curse’ for a whole day. You can swim and play in the water as much as you want for 24 hours. 

Luffy has no idea what to say. He is so happy, he wants to jump out of this skin. He puts his hand on Zoro’s face and kisses him. Zoro’s lips are salty and wet and he kisses him back fiercely as if he never wanted to let him go. 

“I love you,” Luffy says, and hugs him. 

“I love you too,” Zoro whispers in his ears.

“Oi, are you guys okay?” they hear Sanji shouting, next to him Chopper is staring at them, alarmed. “What the hell happened?”

Luffy lets go off Zoro and waves at them, making Chopper nearly faint. “I’m okay!” he shouts back. “Zoro got me a fruit that allows me to swim for a whole day!” 

The rest of the crew comes out for the noise and Usopp instantly jumps into the sea, dragging the swearing Sanji with him.  

Robin smiles down them and senses that this is a beginning of a party Chopper would be very sad to be left out off, so she brings a lifebelt out for him, and gently puts him into the water as well. 

Nami also joins them for a little, partly to look out for Chopper, and partly because the water is warm and nice. She leaves right before they start a huge water battle, which is followed by a jumping and diving competition as well. 

Luffy wins the jumping one and Zoro wins the diving but it might be because it scares Luffy a little to dive down that much. He hunts down a huge fish though and Sanji gets out to cook it for them. 

By the time the moon comes up and paints the water in beautiful silver light, only Zoro and Luffy stays behind. 

“Lean back,” he tells Luffy and holds his head in his palms while he is floating. 

Luffy closes his eyes, and he hears his own heart beating. He has never been this happy. He feels Zoro’s hand, holding him up, and he is doing the only thing in the world that should be impossible: he is in the water and he can enjoy it fully without being afraid, or immobilized. 

He reaches up and pulls Zoro down for a kiss. 

“Today, I have already done the impossible with your help,” he whispers after they part. “Tomorrow, I will become the King of Pirates.

“Of course you will,” Zoro whispers back, his voice trembling a little. “My King.”

[brainyxbat]

TG. Venus Fun Fact: She gets wasted easily

(Scenario: Nami and Venus are at a bar)

Nami just wanted the uptight Venus to loosen up for a change. And yet after a few minutes of her soda spiked (by the navigator) with two measly shots of a strong vodka later, she's straight up wasted. Usopp isn't going to like this; he didn't want his girlfriend to have any alcohol, because of how easily she gets drunk. Apparently her body mass contributes to that; Chopper had confirmed it. How he knows that, she has no clue, but he is the doctor.

She grabs her Transponder Snail, dials the sniper's number, and waits for an answer, as Venus babbles and giggles like well, a drunk, while sitting on a barstool. "Nami?"

"Hey Usopp, uh, can you come and get Venus?"

"Is she okay?" He sounds worried.

"Yeah, she's alright. Just..." Nami hesitates. Here goes. "... wasted. Here, listen." She lets him hear his girlfriend.

"Ooh, these are so bubbly!" She gushes, before letting out a big hiccup. "They're like magic potions! Are you magic? So am I! HIC!"

She hears Usopp sigh on the other side after returning the snail to her own ear. "Didn't I say I didn't want her getting drunk? Didn't she say that??"

"I, I wanted her to loosen up!" Nami tries to defend herself. "Have a little fun!" She can almost sense his eye roll. "Besides, I didn't think only two shots would make her this bad!"

"Two shots? Did she even know what she was having?"

Nami hesitates again. "I... might have... spiked her soda." A smack is heard on the other side; she assumes it was a facepalm, before it's followed by a large, angry sigh. Definitely a facepalm. "It wasn't my fault she downed her soda in five seconds! The glass is almost as tall as her head!"

Usopp grumbles to himself for a moment. "Alright, I'll come get her. Tomorrow, we're having a serious talk."

"Yeah, yeah," The redhead dismisses him, "It's just so I can get wasted too, and not get both of us killed taking her home." She then hangs up without hearing his response, and sighs. He's become such an overprotective party pooper ever since he and Venus got together.

Speaking of which, she approaches the petite witch cautiously. "Hey, Venus? In a few minutes, your boyfriend's gonna come here and take you home. Okay?"

"Mmm, I have a boyfriend?" Venus giggles, her words slurring.

"Sure do, hun. Just wait here, and he'll come."

"Kay-kay. HIC!" Shaking her head, Nami returns to the dance floor.

-

After a few minutes, as Venus' upper body is slumped over on the bar, a familiar long-nosed face enters. Nami winces internally; as expected, he doesn't look happy. "Usopp, I-"

"We'll talk later," He cuts her off, "Where is she?"

"Before you-"

"Dammit Nami, you promised you wouldn't let her have anything alcoholic!" He snapped over the impossibly loud music. "She didn't want any of it, and yet you gave it to her anyway!"

"She didn't know she was having any at all!"

"That's even worse! You tricked her! And now she's going to feel miserable all day tomorrow!"

"I told you, she was being too uptight! And plus, you're too overprotective!"

"Hey, she's not uptight! She's smart! There's a difference! And she has all her independence, but I protect her, because I love her! She set her own boundary, and I respect it! It's not being overprotective; it's called being a good partner!" With that, he storms off to find his girlfriend.

After asking several people if they had seen her, he's finally helped by someone not drunk or high out of their mind. He's directed to the bar, and makes a beeline upon finding the head of long, green hair he can spot anywhere. She's slumped over on the counter, giant grin on her face, and chuckling to no one, with the recurring hiccup. And she doesn't seem to notice him. He carefully walks over, letting his anger go for her. "Venus?" He addresses her, but she doesn't move. "V?" He puts a gentle hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

She turns around so quickly, he almost gets whiplash just watching, and jumps back. Her eye is half open, and she has a large, drunken grin. "Well, hel-lo~! HIC!" She flirts, and giggles. "Are you the boyfriend Nami said- HIC! Is taking me home?"

Usopp shakes his head, as he stifles a grin. She's definitely wasted; still cute as always, but wasted. He's going to kill Nami later. "Yeah, I, I am. I'm taking you home."

"Mm, lucky me~! HIC!" She hiccups. "My soda tasted funny."

"I'll explain later. Or at least, Nami will. Now-"

"Wait, wait!" She holds her hand up. "Before we do- HIC! I need to tell you something."

"I'm listening," He plays along.

Venus shifts her hair behind her back, hiccupping again. "I- HIC! I love you. HIC!" She lays her small arms around his neck, surprising him. "Gimme some sugar!" She starts going in for a kiss, but slumps down instead, her scalp rested against his left shoulder, and immediately falls unconscious, her breath evening out.

Usopp lets his smile grow, as he keeps her from falling. "Maybe later, sweetheart. Let's get you home first." He picks her up, and carries her like a child, one arm under her legs, and the other over her back, heading for the door. His eyes widen at some intimidating men eyeballing them. "Sh-she's had a little too much to drink," He grins sheepishly, as he makes his leave. 'Without knowing it,' He finishes to himself mentally.

He's going to have a serious talk with Nami tomorrow.

When he exits, he sighs in relief at the glorious quiet outside. He was starting to get a headache in there, from the booming music to the obnoxious patrons. He looks down at Venus, and moves his hand up from her back to brush her hair from her face; she's peacefully asleep, still facing the ground. He carefully adjusts her head, so it can rest more comfortably on his shoulder. "Sorry, V, it seems you're in for a rough morning, if not a whole day tomorrow. But I'll be there for you through it all, whatever you need." He kisses the top of her head, nuzzles his cheek in her soft hair, and continues the trek home.

He arrives on the ship, still carrying the small Goth, and passes everyone on his way to the girls' sleeping quarters. "What's up with Venus?" Sanji asks casually.

"Ask your girlfriend," Usopp replies, not hiding his irritation.

"Nami? What'd she do?"

"I'll explain later; I need to get Venus into bed. I'll be staying with her; goodnight."

In the girls' room, Usopp kneels by her bed, and lays her on the mattress, pulling off her shiny, black boots for her comfort. He rests his head in front of hers, watching her sweet, peaceful face breathe tranquilly. "Have a good rest, baby." He strokes her soft bangs back, and kisses her forehead. He then lets the short strands fall back below her brow, and keeps his hand on her cheek, his thumb over her black moon-shaped beauty mark. "I love you, and I'm always here for you. Sorry the night ended this way, and sorry in advance for tomorrow. I'll take care of you."

Gently drawing his hand away, he pillows his head with his triceps on the bed, and drifts off to sleep by his love's side.

[britishassistant]

But I Like One Piece (5)

Naruto is not being helpful.

At all.

“Make him the orange curry.” He says. “I heard he loves curry, believe it.”

“You mean the chicken tikka masala, which you described as ‘fire in food form’?” She asks wryly.

He points a dramatic finger at her. “YOU ADMIT IT!”

“Inside voice please, Naruto-kun!” Okaa-sama calls from the other room.

“Sorry Mayu’s Okaa-san!” He calls back. “But yeah, you should make him eat the fire curry, believe it.”

She sighs. “I’m not gonna make him eat the ‘fire curry’. I’m not sure if I’m gonna make him any food yet.”

She looks up when he scoffs, but continues, “...I don’t know if he needs it or not—whether he’s going have a live-in caretaker, or go into the Orphanage with Lee or what. I’ll wait until he comes back to the Academy and then we’ll see.”

“S’not what it sounded like last week, believe it.” Naruto grumbles.

He’s sitting on the countertop and banging his heels against the cupboards behind her. Loudly.

She tries counting to ten in her head.

She makes it to seven.

She turns and grabs his ankles. “Look, what’s this about?”

“Nothin’! Leggo!” He scowls and tries to tug his legs out of her grip.

She wraps her arms around them to prevent his escape, scowling right back.

“You weren’t like this when I fed Sakura and Lee, or shared food with Kiba and Chouji.” She points out, tightening her grip to stop him from kneeing her in the chin on accident. “What’s so special about Uchiha?”

“Everyone thinks he’s special!” He yells, going red in the face. “They’re all like ‘oh, isn’t it sad he���s all alone’, like I wasn’t alone too!! I’m sorry his family died, but I never knew mine!! I never had mine!! And no–nobody e-ev-ever told me ‘sorry your parents are gone’ or c-c-cared about—about me being all on my own, except Jiji an’ Teuchi an’ Ayame an’ you an’ Okaa-san an’ Otou-san, an’—a-an’—”

She watches, horrified, as fat tears slide faster down his face. “An’—an’ now you’re gonna make food f’r him, and you’re gonna like him better’n me, jus’ like Jiji does, an’ you won’t wanna be my friend any-any—”

She pinches his arm sharply, ignoring his pained yelp.

“Don’t.” She threatens, swallowing around a lump in her throat. “Don’t you dare spout that nonsense around me, Uzumaki Naruto, do you understand?! How could you—how could you even think that?!”

“You were gonna give him food.” He sniffs, glaring reproachfully.

“What—you think—you think I just feed people because I wanna be their friend?!” She asks, incredulous and insulted.

Naruto nods, hesitantly.

She drags her hands over her face, ignoring that they come away wet.

“Right. You listen to me Uzumaki, and you listen good. I. Will. Always. Feed. The. Hungry. Even if I hate their guts.”

Naruto blinks, looking slightly alarmed as she rants. “I didn’t even know Sakura’s name when we made that cake together! I just cooked with her because she was hungry. Shit, if my worst enemy were trying to kill me, and couldn’t finish the job because they were starving, I would feed them. Maybe with foods they hate, but I’d still feed them. Because I am a bloody professional and those who let people go hungry are scum.”

He startles back as she grabs his knees again. “You are not my friend because I fed you. You are my friend because you stuck around and took me to Ichiraku’s and defended me and you’re nice and funny and gave me a drawing of Luffy and Habu-san and I like you, you little shit. You’re my best friend. I am not replacing you. Not now, not ever. You’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not.”

Naruto gulps, eyes shining bright again and lower lip wobbling.

She sniffs fiercely, ignoring the trembling in her hands.

“Ketsugi Mayu.” Okaa-sama’s voice comes from behind her, and her blood runs cold. “What have I told you about using profanity?”

That’s how she ends up on another week-long ban from cooking.

Naruto tries to make it up to her with a stream of too-tight hugs.

It partly works. Partly.

Otou-sama clicks his tongue at her when he gets home and Okaa-sama tells him what happened, and musses up her hair.

Then he picks up Naruto and spins him around like he used to do to her when she was small, and carries him into the entrance hall to sit on the stairs, the one place in the house where there are no nearby windows.

She tries to listen in while she’s setting the table, standing closer to the door than she really needs to.

“...not for that, you’d be wearing a pelican...” is all she hears before Okaa-sama grabs her shoulder and steers her back into the kitchen.

Naruto’s eyes are swollen again when her father carries him back in for dinner.

Hers and Okaa-sama’s ramen still isn’t as good as Teuchi-sama’s at Ichiraku’s. But Naruto eats it just as quickly, eagerly gulping down the shoyu broth and pouting over-dramatically when there aren’t seconds.

Okaa-sama insists he wash his face before he leaves so his eyes aren’t sore tomorrow.

It’s cutting very close to his curfew when he finally leaves, twisting around to look back at them as he walks down the street.

Okaa-sama and Otou-sama hug her before she goes to bed that night and tell her how proud of her they are.

She returns the embrace greedily, whispering she’s proud of them too.

Sasuke Uchiha doesn’t return to school for another two weeks.

During that time, Kiba managed to insult Shino by repeatedly asking if he was sure his bugs weren’t fleas.

She didn’t understand the comment, until literal insects begin pouring out of Shino’s sleeves and chasing Kiba and Akamaru.

Well, that explained the buzzing.

Ino added to the pandemonium by shrieking so loud she thought her eardrums would burst and swatting a load of the insects in one swipe. Which made Shino howl in pain and turn his wrath on her as well.

The teacher had given them all detention, on the grounds that none of them stopped the incident from happening or went and snitched to him.

She sat between Shino and Sakura and doodled Usopp on the worksheet they were supposed to be working on.

Ino was sandwiched somewhat unwillingly by Chouji and Shikamaru, who were whispering furiously to her. Kiba was in a similar position with Hinata and Naruto.

“That person cannot be real, or you are bad at drawing.” Shino said, peeking at her paper. “Why? Because his nose is impractically long.”

“Shino!” Sakura hissed from her other side. “That’s not very nice!”

“He may not be real, but I like him anyway.” She replied, tapping the pencil against the paper. “His name is Usopp. He’s a pirate sharpshooter who can hit anything with a slingshot.”

“Unlikely. Why? Because a slingshot does not have half the accuracy or firing power of a bow, a shuriken, or a firing arm.”

“For him it does.” She says fondly. “He’s also a coward, but he’s brave when it counts and he loves insects. It’s funny, because they’re just about the one thing he doesn’t run away from.”

“Ah.” Shino says. He takes another, longer look at the drawing.

The next day, Ino and Kiba apologize to Shino with a wounded air.

He nods stiffly, but still flinches away from Ino.

At lunchtime, he sits in between Shikamaru and Chouji, and Ino switches places with her to be at the end of the table, away from him.

She offers him half of an egg and watercress sandwich. He accepts it with a nod.

He lifts his sleeve onto the table.

While everyone else draws in a wary breath, insects, shiny-black and dull brown, crawl out onto the table.

They crawl around and settle down and hold still in a certain pattern. Black ones mimicking waves of curls and dark eyes with long eyelashes. Brown ones outlining a bandana, a jawline and an impractically long nose.

It’s Usopp.

Or the not-very-good drawing of Usopp she showed him yesterday. But still. Usopp.

She grins widely, darting a pleased look up at him.

Shino nods again, the insects breaking formation and trundling back up his sleeve. He begins eating the sandwich.

She looks up to find Ino looking...strangely elated?

Sakura wiggles her eyebrows at her, mouthing ‘we are going to talk’.

She rolls her eyes and tucks into her own lunch.

“Mayu-chan, is it true you’re in love with Shino?!”

Naruto bursts out with this question just as Otou-sama takes a sip of his orange juice at breakfast.

Otou-sama chokes on his juice, and Okaa-sama leans over with a concerned “Anata!” as he coughs, going red in the face.

Gai-sensei stares at her, lower lip wobbling.

Lee just tilts his head at Naruto and goes, “Who is Shino?”

“He’sh the bug guy.” Naruto says with his mouth full, the traitor. “He did Mayu-chan a pishture with bugs.”

Rice falls from her chopsticks and splats onto the table.

“HOW YOUTHFUL!!!” Gai-sensei wails. “Mayu-chan is experiencing the blossoming of ROMANCE!!”

“No.” She says desperately. “I’m not. Really, really not.”

Shino is seven years old. She’s mentally twenty (most of the time) and not a pedophile.

“Ah! Congratulations, Mayu-chan!” Lee beams. “I hope your love is as passionate as the Will of Fire!”

Nami give her patience.

“Naruto, who did you hear this from?” She asks.

Her chopsticks creak in her grip.

“Sakura-chan!” He chirps, pointing an accusing finger at her. “She said you showed him a picture of long-nose-guy who likes bugs after Ino squished his, and then he did the picture in bugs, an’ you were really happy! She called it suuuuuuper ro-man-tick, believe it!”

“He’s not ‘long-nose-guy’.” She seethes, plotting Sakura’s demise. Or not demise. Inconvenient disappearance due to her hair turning green, maybe. “His name is Usopp.”

Okaa-sama kneels in front of her. “Mayu-chan...would you like us to send a request for marriage negotiations to this boy’s family?”

It goes so silent one could hear a pin drop.

“Marriage what.” She wheezes.

Okaa-sama squeezes her hands. “I know it may seem sudden.” She says. “But...with the Ketsugi clan being what it is...”

“What your mother’s trying to say Mayu-chan,” Her father cuts in, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Is that clans are required to do things certain ways, or else they risk dissolution. Even branches like us. But we want you to be happy. And if you think that you l-love this boy, and that you would enjoy living your life with him...”

Her mouth works soundlessly. Naruto and Lee just look extremely confused.

Gai-sensei has stopped crying, at least. But he’s frowning, bushy brows furrowed.

“Your father and I...we were very lucky with each other.” Okaa-sama smiles softly. “We want you to have that same luck, or better, if you can.”

“You did not have a choice in your love?” Gai-sensei’s voice is strangely soft.

Her parents immediately fluster, going redder than beetroot.

“That’s, um—” Her father stammers. “We, ah—” Her mother squeaks.

“HOW INCREDIBLY YOUTHFUL OF YOU TWO!!!” He yells, tears springing anew to his eyes as he somehow sweeps both of her parents up in a hug. “TO MANAGE TO FIND LOVE IN EACH OTHER WHERE OTHERS ONLY CARED ABOUT OBLIGATION!! I AM OVERWHELMED WITH ADMIRATION FOR YOUR DEVOTION!!”

She can practically see the steam coming out of Otou-sama and Okaa-sama’s ears. That much blood in someone’s face can’t be healthy.

She shoves the last of her rice into her mouth, shooting Naruto a look that has him eating his double-time and helping to feed Lee the remnants of his breakfast while he’s left starry-eyed by the adults’ display.

She scribbles a brief note explaining that no, Shino’s just a friend, there’s no need for any marriage arrangements until she’s at least twenty.

Then she grabs Naruto, Lee, and their bentos, and runs like her life depends on it.

Sakura makes the mistake of waving when she sees them come in through the gate.

Her expression goes from smiling to wary when she sees Mayu drop the two boys and zero in on the pink-haired girl

“Haruno.” She growls. “Run.”

Haruno Sakura runs.

And escapes up into a tree. Which she’s never been very good at climbing.

She scowls and kicks the trunk, wishing it would break.

“Get down here so I can punch you in the shins.” She tells the tree grumpily.

“What?! Why?! I didn’t do anything!!” Sakura’s voice emerges from between the leaves.

“You told Naruto I was in love with Shino.” She hisses.

The tree is suspiciously quiet. “...No I didn’t.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Yeah, pray to Usopp to make you better at lying. Because that one’s awful.”

The tree’s leaves rustle indignantly. “But I didn’t! I was just talking to Ino about how you two would be cute as a couple, and Naruto was eavesdropping!!”

“You told INO?!” That’s it, her life here is over, time to run away to become a pirate before the engagement can be arranged.

“Sakura, I’ve just barely convinced my parents to stop planning marriage negotiations!!” She seethes. “Ino will tell everyone and set back all my progress!!”

There’s a moment of quiet.

Then a strange, high-pitched noise begins emanating from the tree. Across the schoolyard, Akamaru whimpers and buries his head in his paws. It sounds a bit like a dentist’s drill, so it takes her a moment to place it.

“NO!!” She roars, red-faced and pointing an accusing finger at the tree. “STOP SQUEALING! THIS IS NOT SOMETHING TO SQUEAL ABOUT!!”

Sakura does not listen.

She ends up squealing and kicking her little legs so hard she falls out of the tree.

Luckily Lee dives under her, and she considers the expression Sakura makes at realizing exactly who caught her adequate punishment.

It takes her an entire day to sort this mess out.

Ino and Sakura take sadistic joy in her suffering. Lee is confused but supportive. Hinata and Shikamaru stay out of it as much as they can.

Kiba and Naruto exploit it to tease her and Shino for all they’re worth. So does the rest of the class, once they realize they now have prime taunting material.

Hell, even the teacher gets in on it by telling Shino he doesn’t know what he sees in her, and that a kunoichi who wasn’t afraid of hand signs would be a much more suitable match for a clan heir like him.

She gets detention for flipping him off.

Only Shino and Chouji seem to be as upset as she is.

She never realized what a loyal and true friend Chouji was before this.

She needs to appreciate him more.

She brings extra pork belly for him in her lunch the next day, to thank him for not betraying her.

His eyes light up when she gives him the food and a hug, and he eats eagerly.

Shino spends all of that morning with his head on the table. He only turns it to the side when Shikamaru finally pokes him.

“I am contemplating running away.” He says solemnly. “Why? Because my father spent all of yesterday evening trying to reassure me about the rumors surrounding Ketsugi-san and myself and telling me I will be a catch when I am older.”

She grimaces in commiseration. She finally got through to her parents and Gai-sensei, but they had then insisted on telling her similar platitudes all throughout breakfast.

She thought she knew embarrassment. She was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots a dark-haired head where there isn’t one normally.

She does a double take.

“Wait,” She asks, throughly confused. “When did Uchiha get back?”

The table freezes. Most of them twist around to confirm that, yes, Uchiha Sasuke is sitting at a desk at the far end of the classroom, glaring at them darkly while eating a tomato slice.

“Yesterday.” Shikamaru says dryly.

He then winces at Ino’s ear-piercing shriek, berating him loudly for not saying something earlier.

That people forget (mostly) about her and Shino is about the only good thing to come from Uchiha Sasuke’s return.

She vaguely remembers him pre-massacre. He seemed alright enough, but he hung out with a different group of people to her and Naruto, so they never interacted much.

Those people appear to be gone now though, given how alone he is now.

This suggests he never had any friends outside of his relatives, which she’ll admit is a bit odd, given how large that group was.

Guess there were more Uchiha in the class than she thought? But that doesn’t feel right...

Point is, he was an okay kid with friends.

Now, he’s...not.

Not for lack of trying of course. She finally understands what Naruto meant by “special”.

Even outside the well-wishers who repeatedly try to convey their condolences, half the girls in the class seem to lose their heads over him as the weeks go on.

Ino in particular begins to sing his praises endlessly, going on about how “aloof” and “cool” he is, to the point where Chouji, patient, kind Chouji, begs her to talk about anything else.

This is why she should’ve been reborn into One Piece. She wouldn’t have had to deal with this romance bullshit in a series where the main character’s asexual.

Sakura just sighs and stares at him, ignorant of how Naruto droops every time she does so.

(She tries to console him with extra food and too-tight hugs. It partly works. Partly.)

Even the teacher uses him as the standard against which all their work is judged, praising his stance in the Academy katas, his precision with throwing weapons, his answers on tests.

To hear others say it, Uchiha Sasuke is a prodigy who’s overcome his trauma through sheer determination and talent.

So why does he keep glowering at their lunchtime group like they’re somehow part of his tragedy?

[eirist]

A Taste of Summer

PARADISE LOST

One-shot #: 3

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei. Goldiggers are solely mine though.

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

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating:  T (Just chill sappiness overload)

Note:  Entry for the #ZoNaSummerFestival event in Tumblr. Theme: Paradise.

Summary: Paradise is not the one they’re currently looking at. Paradise is the one that is just right beside him.

Zoro wiped the sweat off his brow for probably the hundredth time since he first entered the forest. Lifting the brim of his dark green hat, he looked up at sun, cursing as he trudged forward.

The heat was unbearable, even while in the midst of thick forest trees.

And even in a tank top he’d donned for this excursion, it still felt stifling.

Who in their right mind would go treasure hunting in a weather like this?

Definitely the crazy, money-loving, cat thief of the Straw Hat crew.

“Zoro! Are you still behind me?” Nami yelled, swiveling to check on him.

“I am witch! You don’t need to keep asking that every five seconds!” He growled at her.

“Damn right I don’t!” Nami huffed, placing both hands on her hips. “Knowing you, you’d get yourself lost in three!”

“I’ll shut you up in two if you don’t stop yapping!” He countered, glaring at her viciously. The temperature was making his temper sizzle.  

“Oh?” Nami mouthed. “My knees are shaking from fright!” She said sarcastically with a roll of her warm, brown eyes.

Zoro leveled his gaze on her. “I’ll give your knees another reason to shake if you don’t stop with the sarcasm.”

The corner of Nami’s mouth turned up at that and she laughed. She approached him sassily. Standing on tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Just so you know my knees are still wobbly from last night… not that I’m complaining…”

Zoro met her teasing with a stoic expression.

And she laughed again. “You are such a grouch.”

“Hmph!” 

“Why so grumpy Zoro?”

“Nothing.”

Frowning, she released her hold on him and took a step back to scrutinize his face. “Is this about last night?” She asked, lifting an eyebrow at him.

When he didn’t answer, Nami sighed. “We already talked about this. I’m not drunk, alright?

"Whatever you say.” Zoro mumbled under his breath.

Nami looked at him disbelievingly. “For the last time, it was not a drunken decision!”

“That’s not it!” He answered. “Last night was…”

“A mistake?” Nami cut him off, folding her arms across her chest. "You’re having second thoughts and realized you don’t want it?"

"Huh?"

"Well we can just forget what happened." She suggested flippantly, turning and walking away from him.

"The hell are you saying witch?!" Zoro thundered behind her. "Of course I wanted it. If I didn't then it wouldn't have happened!"

Nami stopped and whirled back to him. “So what’s with this temperament?

What are you being pouty about?"

“Because you just had to go and make us do this treasure hunt in this awful heat!" Zoro complained.

"Of course! What makes you think I'm gonna let this chance pass?”

"I'm thinking you'd pick spending the day in bed with me over treasure." He nonchalantly stated.

Nami’s eyes widened at that and she tried to fight off the smile pulling at the corners of her lips. She definitely did not think that that was an option.

She moved towards him again. "Don't make this hard Zoro," she whispered amusedly, gripping the front of his top and tugging him towards her. She slammed her lips against his.

He eagerly responded, snaking a hand behind her nape to push her closer. "You are the one making this hard,” Zoro mumbled between kisses.

“You know the rule,” Nami drew back to gaze at his face. “If I am happy then all of you will be happy. And treasures make me happy.”

Zoro scoffed at that.

Well she does have a point. A happy Nami actually makes life in the Sunny easy and pleasant.

“Come on Zoro,” This time she tugged at his hand. “I’m not gonna go back to the inn empty-handed. I absolutely refuse!”

Zoro scratched the back of his head in resignation. He had never been able to deny her her whims, even from the start.

And he wouldn’t be able to especially now.

He let her lead him, yawning loudly as he followed her again. Nami stole a glance at him and watched him yawn again. Something suddenly dawned into her.

“Are you being a grouch and sulking because you want to take your nap?” The navigator inquired in amazement.

Zoro grunted in response. He wouldn’t admit to the sulking. The nap, yes. Definitely.

“We’ve been up all night Nami!” He pointed out. “And now we are hiking through this forest, in this heat…”

“And you want to sleep?”

“Yeah.”

Nami exhaled loudly. To be honest, she was also feeling the same. Now the idea of spending the whole day in bed with the swordsman sounds really tempting.

But the call of treasure was a far stronger temptation.

“I’m also feeling stuffy and tired but hell if I pass this opportunity!” She stared at him with a determined look in her eyes. “Besides, I don’t complain when you or Luffy charge ahead and challenge all the powerful figures here in the New World. So no, you have no right to complain regarding my treasure hunt.”

“You do complain,” Zoro pointed out.

Nami narrowed her eyes at him. “But it the end I go along with it. That’s what matters!”

Zoro sighed. There’s no winning against her when it comes to treasure. “How sure are you that the treasure is still there?” He inquired, following her as they went further into the forest.

Nami flicked a glance to her left then her right. “Because the pirates who owned this map are idiots.” She motioned to Zoro to get the map from the rucksack behind her back.

He readily complied, opening her bag and handing her the parchment as he studied their surroundings, checking for anything out of the ordinary.

“I wonder if the others were able to find anything,” Nami murmured as she spread the map down the ground to peruse it more easily.

“They would’ve called your den den mushi if they have.”

The Straw Hats have decided to separate into small groups to explore the areas in the Goldiggers’ map and search for the treasure. Robin volunteered to go to and investigate the ruins in east, and both Chopper and Franky offered to accompany her. Luffy, Usopp and Brook decided to goof off in the opposite direction, with their captain slingshotting them towards nowhere much to Usopp’s and Brook’s terror.

Sanji, who was offering to accompany Nami to the woods of the northern area, fell victim to their captain’s antic and got included in Luffy’s group when the rubberman accidentally snagged the strap of the cook’s backpack, sending him catapulting along with the others.  

Nami and Zoro exchanged glances as the cook’s cries and curses carried through the air, all aimed at their captain. With a shrug, they both headed off to the forest.

The orange-haired girl pored over the map, brows furrowing in concentration. When she saw him moving from the corner of her eye, she yelled, “Zoro! Don’t stray too far!”

“I won’t woman! Stop screeching!”

She knew better than to trust his words. “Mou, I don’t want to search for you as well!”

Zoro pinned her with a glare which she ignored as she stood up, dusting off the dirt on her knees. She then grabbed his hand and yanked him towards the direction they were supposed to go.

The deeper they went into the forest, the thicker and the bigger the trees and the foliage are that the swordsman had to cut their way through.

Nami grinned at him. “No trails anywhere. It means this place hasn’t been explored.

Zoro nodded, hacking another tree limb blocking their way. “Wonder why those pirates didn’t bother. Thought they were looking for the treasure.”

“Because like I said, they are idiots.” Nami stated, motioning for him to stop. “They’ve been following this map alright but there’s more to it than what it seems.”

“What do you mean?”

She set her bag down on the ground. “I need to check something first,” she set the map carefully down on the ground, using stones to hold it in place.

Zoro watched her as she studied the parchment with a serious expression on her face. When she starts to look like that, it means this treasure hunting is a damn serious business.

“Zoro,” she suddenly called to him.

Cocking an eyebrow at her, he asked, “What?”

“I’m gonna need some time with this,” she smiled. “Why don’t you nap?” She motioned at the small, grassy clearing between the trees behind her.

Now both of his eyebrows shot up at that.

But he relented. Her offer sounds really good and he was not about to deny himself something he wanted to do since they started this expedition.

He set his own backpack beside hers, glancing as she continued scrutinizing the map, tracing it with her finger before pondering about something. He glanced around, making sure there’s no danger lurking anywhere and that he can take a few minutes shut eye.

Situating himself behind her, he surprised the navigator by planting a kiss on the edge of her exposed shoulder. “I like this, Zoro suddenly mumbled. “You are being nice.”

Nami blushed at the ministration. Teasing and squabbling at each other was one thing. It was easily done give their long bantering history.

But showing affection with each other is another thing. It was new and surprising. But she likes it nonetheless.

And from the smile gracing his lips, she could surely say he’s feeling the same.

In response, she kissed him on the nose.

“That means you also have to be nice too Zoro.”

“Aren’t I already? I’m here lugging my ass to treasure hunt with you instead of relaxing back at the inn and drinking.”

“How about we make a deal?” Nami suggested. “When we get back, I’ll let you do whatever you… want?” She murmured, grazing his lips with hers teasingly.

A shark-like grin appeared on his face as he deliberately ignored the innuendo. “You’ll let me sleep in peace?”

“Yes,” Nami deadpanned. “And I’ll make sure nobody disturbs you.”

Zoro brushed his lips against hers. “I definitely like this together thing,” he admitted. “You rarely give me favors.”

They had come to an understanding last night that it was more than just sexual attraction. That they actually like each other and wanted to try and see where this is going.

“I bet you do,” Nami rolled her eyes at him while he laughed. “Let me remind you that you need to get me this treasure first.”

“Then find the easiest way to it, navigator.” Zoro said, lying down on the ground, head pillowed on his backpack as he settled to take his nap. “Then wake me up so we can get going and I can haul it back for you.”

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

“So dead end?”

Zoro shot her the question, along with an inquisitive look.

She frowned. That can’t be right.

“I can’t be wrong with this,” she mumbled.

“Unless there is a magical entrance here that appears once you utter a magic word, then there is no way we can go ahead in this direction.”

Nami groaned. “You! You are listening to Robin’s tall tales as well!”

“Can’t help it if she’s within my earshot!”

She tapped the rolled map onto her forehead. It was impossible. It stated that the mountain rock wall they’re seeing serves as the island boundary. And from what she figured out earlier, it also serves as a partition.

And behind it are supposedly the unexplored other half of the island where the treasure possible is.

It was what Robin had speculated when she called their den den mushi earlier. And she agreed with the possibility of it after reviewing the map.

So all the Straw Hats are making their way towards the rock wall.

But the problem is, there is no direct path towards it. Right before them is a dense cluster of trees that not even a single person can squeeze through.

Not even Chopper can make it without getting stuck between tree trunks or branches.

This is probably the reason why the Goldiggers weren’t able to get their hands on the treasure; they have met with a naturally made obstruction.

Zoro nudge her suddenly with his shoulder. “Are you sure that that wall has something on the other side of it?” He queried, watching her as she bit her inner cheek out of frustration.

“Positive,” Nami nodded. “That wall should give us a sort of access to go to the other side.” She took a small notebook from the back pocket of her shorts. Robin had given her some information regarding the island and its old inhabitants. There is no way in the seven seas that the people from the ancient times were not able to cross over to the other part. There is a way somehow and they have to find it.

She shoved the notebook back to her pocket and pouted. “The only problem is this thick, overgrowth in front of us that seems to be saying do not go further.”

The green-haired lad sighed. He lowered his backpack on the ground and grabbed Nami’s hand.

“Get behind me.” He ordered.

“Zoro?” Nami watched him unsheathed one of his swords and glanced around worriedly, expecting an enemy to suddenly spring out from the bushes.

“Ittoryu. Sanjuroku Pondo Ho!”

He swung his sword and an air slash appeared spiraling towards the trees, destroying them and turning them to smithereens.

Nami gasped. The slash reached far back until it hit the rock wall causing an explosion.

Zoro re-sheathed his sword and waited for the dust and wood debris to dissipate and settle. Leaves were flying everywhere. In the wake of his attack, they now have a path going straight to the wall.

“Zoro!” Nami squealed, glomping him. “Good job!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t think of that.” He frowned, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She laughed. “Lack of sleep. Makes it hard to think.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Just so you know… that makes me hot for you.”

He quirked a smile at her. “I know,” he lifted her just a bit so she ended up balanced on his swords-less side, her legs wrapped around his waist. He reached down to pick up his bag. “Come on; let’s see if yours and Robin’s theory about this place is right.”

She smiled brightly at him. Zoro was really handy to be with.

“Want me to just slice that wall in half?”

Nami was speechless at his offer. If it was any other person she would’ve laugh it off as a joke.

But this is Zoro and… by Kami he can do it!

“Tempting. But that would totally ruin the whole island landscape and we wouldn’t want that.”

“That would make it much easier to go to the other side.”

“If Robin is right, you will earn her ire for destroying an archeological site!” Nami chastised

She saw him cringe, probably from recalling Franky’s Water 7 story. “Fair enough.” Zoro muttered. “Let’s just go.”

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

They found a stone staircase etched at the surface of the wall rock, strategically hidden so that when one gazes at the wall rock, it was not noticeable. It goes all the way up and when they arrived at the top Nami was out of breath, heart thudding on her chest, her legs tired and her knees shaking.

“Fuck,” she exhaled, breath coming out in puffs, fighting the urge to topple over the finally flat terrain.

Zoro was grinning behind her. “Out of shape Nami?”

“Shut up.”

He walked past her as she caught her breath. “Well, I guess you and Robin were right.”

Nami lifted her head to look at him. Zoro smiled and side stepped, letting her see the view.

She slowly straightened up and inhaled sharply. "This place is beautiful!" She gasped staring at the scene before her. The map hinted that another side of the island exists, but it didn’t reveal how magnificent that other side will be.

They stumbled upon a lost paradise! 

Zoro shifted slightly to gaze at the girl beside him and was about to say something.

But he stopped.

Nami had turned towards him and he felt his breath got caught in his throat.

The wind blew her orange tresses all around her; a serene smile was on her face as her brown eyes shone brilliantly at their discovery. She looked enthralled at what was in front of them.

It was exquisitely beautiful.

But her... even more so.

She opened her mouth to speak. “It’s a paradise Zoro!”

He begs to differ.

Paradise is not the one they’re currently looking at. Paradise is the one that is just right beside him.

The one that literally took his breath away.

Nami lifted an eyebrow as if to ask 'what?' when he didn’t answer her.

Zoro shook his head. Hell if he will tell her about it.

The suddenly Nami shuffled restlessly and pointed at something glinting eastward from where they stood.

"Zoro!"

She jumped and squealed in excitement.

And he snorted at her display.

Her grinned was huge as she cheekily commanded. "Let's go get my treasure!"  

[firefistlaw]

I'm very happy to have received those replies from you- I especially cracked up when I saw the Ace picture! The icon made it a hundred times better, tbh. I can hear his voice. Right! The dreams. So in the Marco one, I was a jolly, confident whitebeard pirate. I was best buds with marco, hanging out with him, chatting with a smile on my face. When all of a sudden he accidentally pushed me overboard, and I fell right into the freezing-cold water. I was furious when I finally got back onboard, and

Marco was all "sorry man, I really am. My bad." I demanded the right to toss him back into the water. The whitebeard crew all said it was too dangerous, especially because he was a devil fruit user. So I said the first thing that came to mind since I was entitled to payback, and told him to come shopping with me to the next island we went to and to carry my stuff. He agreed rather casually, and my next unrelated dream was about me and my sis going shopping at a magic black market. As for my 

Usopp/Vivi dream- Vivi was transported into my house through a portal, and had till sunset to get back. I was Usopp but also not... to get back, either of us had to jump from a sufficient height and into a hula-hoop. I insisted on trying for her, and I damaged my lose nose plenty. Vivi was kind of rude in a way that she didn't talk to me much, but we were pressed for time so I understood. Vivi built a ramp made of planks, and I ran across it. I took the final jump, but I failed and Vivi was

stuck in my homeland forever. So yeah... a reverse isekai, basically. 

I cut the asks so it doesn’t get too confusing and I can answer properly, hope that is okay! Anyways, I don’t know why but I cracked up when you said Marco accidentally pushed you overboard LMAO I know it’s just a dream, but... anon... he did it on purpose... We’re talking about this giant ass phoenix he probably only messed with you LOL Maybe he wanted to go shopping with you all along but didn’t know how to ask you? That’s the reason, anon. believe me.

Again, it started rather okay but when you said you had to jump into a hula- hoop??? Anon, what are you eating before you go to sleep to have dreams like that??? YIKES. I guess Vivi is going to stay there forever now... man, I’m jealous of you dreaming about OP. Haven’t dreamt about them for soo long... I miss it T_T