#the only one who is as attune to this as zoro is (even years later his instincts wake up with a roar of PROTECT)

[op-dumpstertruck]

When they finally met again, baby four was not as apparent as it is later, but Zoro still immediately knew. Either he smelled it out instantly (even if it's very faint) or he just felt the barely there bump.

[vannahfanfics]

Yo, I'd love to see what you can think of regarding Zoro and Perona from One Piece. Give them pastel goth ferals a chance, they grow on you like pink and green fungus. Haha

Look, it doesn't take much for most pairings to grow on me like a fungus. XD I did enjoy writing this one, though, so I guess I've got some pink and green amidst all the other fungi growing on me LOL

Paradise

Word Count: 2,850

Fluff, Romance, 3Y2D

Summary: Kuraigana Island would be Perona's paradise… if it weren't for the fact that it's so boring! She's left all alone every day… but little does she know, someone has taken notice of her frustration.

“Kuraigana Island is such a dark, dreary, gloomy place,” Perona sighed to one of her ghostly companions as she lay splayed across the antique rug lining the floor of one of the many drawing rooms in the ominous Kuraigana Castle. She languidly rolled onto her belly, then crooned dreamily, “It’s a verifiable paradise! I couldn’t ask for a more perfect place to live.” Her expression just as quickly turned sour, and she slammed her fists down onto the hand-woven rug as she cried out in indignation, “Yet I am utterly miserable because it is so dreadfully boring!” 

Yes, Perona had initially been beside herself with joy when she had landed in the world of her lovely nightmares. Scraggly dead trees and dried grass, crumbling ruins atop rolling hills of scorched earth, a splendorous castle looming dark and foreboding on the fog-choked horizon… If Perona wasn’t highly attuned to the spiritual, she would have thought she’d died and gone to Heaven! Learning that she would be sharing the residence with Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hat Pirates (who had oh-so-spitefully dethroned her hero, Gecko Moria) and, later on, the stoic Warlord Dracule Mihawk had done little to put a damper on her spirits. 

What did, however, was the realization that the spooky island had neither zombie servants nor cute animals to its name, only very rude and disobedient mandrills. How was a girl expected to haunt the premises under such conditions? What a letdown. 

To add insult to injury, the only two reasonable residents of the island—in comparison to the violent monkeys, at least—wouldn’t give her the time of day! All those brutes wanted to do, from sun-up to sun-down, was swing their stupid swords at one another. Perona could hardly go about her melancholy business, for she was too busy patching Zoro’s wounds day in and day out—and the moron would just turn around and earn himself more the very next day! Seriously, those Straw Hats were the most brainless lot she’d ever encountered—and Perona had spent the last several years surrounded by zombies!

She had been able to get by for the first week or so by creating ghostly companions for company, but she could only be entertained by them for so long. Even a woebegone bemoaner such as herself required the pleasure of human company at least once in a while! But no, Dracule had left at first light to go attend to some of his Warlord business or whatever, while Zoro had left not soon after to go fight the bloodthirsty mandrills yet again—leaving poor, pitiful Perona all alone in the castle’s dark, dismal halls. They were quite wonderful at first, but one could only admire the architecture so much before they began to get stir-crazy. 

“I miss Kumashi,” Perona simpered pathetically, rolling morosely around on the rug since she had nothing better to do. Her ghosts floated listlessly around in the air above her, too mindless to comprehend her lamentation. “If only that stupid long-nosed freak of nature hadn’t purified him back on Thriller Bark.” 

Her ghosts offered no form of sympathy or consolation, and that just aggravated her more. She banished them to the nether whence they came, then rolled over onto her back again. She stared at the cobweb-strung, dust-coated vaulted ceiling for several seconds, then abruptly pulled at her pink pigtails and released a frenzied scream. 

“Aaaaaaaaagh! I’ll lose my mind with boredom, at this rate! Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have a tea party with somebody—anybody!” 

“Yeesh! What’s with the screamin’?” 

Perona shot up with a gasp and found Zoro standing in the entryway. He was covering his ears while he scowled in annoyance at her, but she was so happy to see another living creature that it didn’t even faze her; blissful relief burst inside of her, and a giddy smile tugged at her lips. Perona had a reputation to maintain, however, so she quickly squashed it and forwent springing to her feet like she wanted to in favor of languorously rising to her feet and stretching her arms above her head. 

“Oh, you’re back? Is it really sunset already?” 

“Oh, don’t try to play it off. You were clearly counting down the minutes,” Zoro scoffed, prompting Perona to drop her arms so she could put her hands on her hips while she pouted moodily at him. He scratched his head and looked around, his scowl morphing into a contemplative frown. “Though, I guess I can’t blame you. You do sit in here all by yourself all day. I’m sure it is maddening.” 

“You’re damn right!” Perona snapped and stamped her foot. She had a reputation to maintain, yes, but she was so desperate for human interaction that she would abandon her aloof façade if that meant Zoro would entertain her for even thirty minutes. She quickly shifted gears from disguising her loneliness to weaponizing it, summoning forth crocodile tears and hugging herself with a pitiful sob. “Your mean ol’ crew mercilessly slayed my one true friend, and then that terrible Bartholomew Kuma banished me to this wonderfully creepy but deserted place, and now I’m being ignored by the only two living souls here… Boo-hoo-hoo…”

“Oi, you don’t have to start the waterworks,” Zoro grimaced at her. He rolled his eyes when she immediately ceased her fake crying to flutter her lashes at him with a hopeful, pleading expression. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he pondered something for several seconds, heaved a sigh, then averted his gaze to the ceiling while he grumbled, “I have a stinkin’ tea party with you if it’s really that big of a deal…” 

“Really?!” Perona squealed and zoomed right up to him, her eyes sparkling and her hands clasped in delight. She didn’t wait for Zoro to confirm before she jumped up into the air with a cheer, and she levitated herself so she could do a slow backflip, kicking her legs in glee all the while. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve indulged in a tea party! I’ll make this one extra-grand!” she trilled when she was right-side-up again, and when she looked back at Zoro, she was surprised to find him not scowling, but smiling with a considerable amount of warmth.

“Can’t wait,” he smirked, his voice soft and rumbling like a cat’s purr. Something about it made Perona’s heart thump in her chest and heat rise to her cheeks. Flustered by Zoro’s uncharacteristic—or maybe just yet-to-be-noticed—compassion, Perona just floated there in warm, fuzzy inertia instead of rushing to prepare the tea party. She only stirred when Zoro prodded her leg with the hilt of one of his katanas and regarded her with a raised eyebrow.

“Oi. How are we supposed to have a tea party without a table and chairs and, yanno, tea stuff? I’m not exactly an expert, but those are pretty basic requirements, yeah?” 

“R-right!” Perona squeaked when she snapped back to reality. She hastily turned her back to him to conceal the fact that her pale white face was flushing with pink, then took a second to regain her wits. She was just shocked at his sudden show of kindness! She totally wasn’t mooning over him—Roronoa Zoro, of all people! Nope, she was just a little stunned! That’s all!

Her fluttering heart endeavored to convince her otherwise. Perona ignored its insistent pitter-pattering by summoning a small legion of ghosts and then spurring them forth to scour the depths of the castle for all the things they would need for a tea party. Directing a dozen spirits at once provided just the right level of distraction from the feelings trying to surface within her… or so she thought. 

Perona was keenly aware of Zoro’s presence in the room; she felt him move from the entryway, felt the space shift around him as he walked across the room to plop in one of the nearby armchairs while he waited for Perona’s ghosts to assemble the tea party. Surely it was just her frazzled mind talking, but the way he brushed against her when he walked by felt… deliberate.

She had been so bored that it must have melted her brain, Perona concluded then. There was no other explanation for the thoughts that she was having. Harboring fondness for Roronoa Zoro? A ludicrous notion!

Ludicrous a notion as she wanted to believe, Perona’s heart skipped a beat and her mouth pulled into a bashful smile when she cracked her eyes open to see Zoro watching her with an unmistakable gleam of delight in his eyes. 

Perona’s specters swiftly gathered a small tea table, a myriad of cushions, a porcelain tea set, and several stuffed animals—one of which was a bedraggled patchwork teddy bear that Perona had stitched herself a few days before, having nothing better to do. Perona directed her ghouls to set the table in the middle of the rug, then arrange the cushions and stuffed animals around it, and finally carefully display the tea set so that every guest had a tea saucer and cup. Once they were finished, Perona dismissed them and drifted down to kneel on the lacy pink cushion that she had chosen for herself. Smiling shyly, she gestured to the tea set and looked at Zoro with eager anticipation. 

“Everything is ready. Shall we begin?” 

“Don’t mind if I do.” 

With all the languid grace of a big cat, Zoro rose from the armchair and strutted over to the tea table. That is where his sophistication started and ended, however; he slumped down onto his cushion, crossed his legs, propped his elbow on his knee, and plopped his chin in his hand with all the roguishness of a brutish pirate. Perona was sorely tempted to heckle him for his poor manners, but he’d appeased her in her desire to host a tea party, so she supposed that she could overlook his boorish tendencies once or twice. 

“Thank you for coming, everyone,” Perona said with prim elegance once Zoro had seated himself. With an elegant gesture at the set table, she smiled prettily and announced, “I now declare this tea party in session.” 

Without further ado, she picked up the teapot and began “distributing” the tea. Unfortunately, it would have taken too long to brew actual tea; additionally, Perona doubted that Dracule had any sweet morsels like cookies or cakes stowed away somewhere. A fantasy tea party like those of her childhood would have to do… but she was no less happy for it. A serene smile illuminated her face as she went around the table pretending to fill up her guests’ cups. When she reached Zoro’s, she couldn’t help but peer through her bangs at him. 

Her heart flip-flopped in her chest again, for he was smiling warmly down at her.

“W-what’s that look for?” she asked huffily and glanced back down at the cup. It ended up betraying her embarrassment; why would she need to pay attention to what she was doing when she was only faking that she was pouring tea into the teacup? Why was she embarrassed in the first place? These confusing reactions to Zoro irked her more than she wanted to admit, and her frustration with herself translated into her being rather aggressive with her miming, which made Zoro quietly chuckle. That, in turn, made her glance up at him again; if she were pouring actual liquid into the teacup, it would have overflowed, for the suddenly bashful expression on his face made her just sit there holding it aloft. 

“You think I sit in on pretend tea parties for the hell of it?” he chuffed, averting his gaze to the empty teacup as he spoke. “Well, the answer is no. I only agreed to this because…” 

“Because…?” Perona pressed after he trailed off. 

Zoro growled, seemingly in irritation at being unable to formulate words, then frustratedly scratched at the side of his head. 

“Because I’ve noticed that you’ve been really down in the dumps lately, and I wanted to make you feel better! Okay?” He snapped it like Perona’s gentle insistence was unjustified, but she was so stunned by his revelation that she ignored its brusque delivery. 

He wanted to make me feel better? she thought with a slow, surprised blink at him. I didn’t think him the type to notice… or care, for that matter. They shared the same space; that didn’t mean that they had to form any semblance of a meaningful relationship with one another. Yet, amidst all his intense training, Zoro had perceived Perona’s growing discontent… and, what was more, wished to alleviate it. Now that Perona thought back, she realized that Zoro had cast her lingering gazes and seemed to hover her over the past few days. Had he been trying to find a good reason to approach her and invite her to spend time together? 

The thought warmed Perona through and through and brought a soft, grateful smile to her face. But one question remained… 

“Why, Zoro?” 

“Whadaya mean, why?” he huffed as if it were obvious. When it became apparent to him that it was not—at least not to her—he rolled his eyes and continued, “It only makes sense for me to want to cheer up someone whom I know is sad, right? Besides…” he trailed off again, but this time only for a few seconds. A rosy hue grew in his cheeks and the volume of his voice dropped to a shy mumble as he went on, “You’re always patchin’ me up… Least I can do is have a tea party with you every now and then.” 

Perona didn’t think it possible, but Zoro’s words warmed her even more. A floaty, fizzy feeling like soda pop filled her to the brim, from the tips of her toes and the crown of her head, as she lifted her head to look at him with overwhelmed gratitude. The only person who had shown her such selflessness was her dear master, Gecko Moria. It made tears spring to her eyes—both the memory of her former commander and Zoro’s kindness. 

These Straw Hat Pirates… If all of them are like this, then maybe they really aren’t so bad. At least, not bad enough for living with one to be completely intolerable. 

Perona wasn’t ready to give a name to the feelings making themselves known inside of her just yet… but she no longer had any qualms about them being there. She could address them later. Now, she needed to focus on conducting her tea party… and thanking Zoro for his kindness. It was very much kindness, Perona could see, and not simple feelings of indebtedness—awkward as Zoro’s delivery might have been. Kindness wasn’t something that Perona was much used to, but, as she basked in the warm glow of Zoro’s bashfully tender gaze, she thought that she could get used to it. 

“Zoro… Thank you,” Perona murmured, then leaned across the small tea table to plant a small, light kiss on his cheek. It was just a peck, only a second at the most—but before Perona’s lips left his cheek, they felt the warmth of the blood that rushed to his skin. She plopped back down on her cushion with a giggle and watched as the sheepish swordsman pawed at the back of his neck and looked down at his teacup with a coy grin. 

“Oh? You’re having a tea party, and you didn’t think to invite me? I’m wounded.” 

Zoro snapped his head up in the split second before Perona whipped around—both of them directing their shocked gazes to the entrance to the room. Dracule strolled in with a dismayed sigh, though the twinkle in his golden eyes and the smirk tugging at his lips betrayed that he was far more amused than disgruntled. When his keen eyes flickered to her, Perona could tell immediately that he, too, had noticed her despondence as of late—and was likewise willing to partake in a make-believe tea party in order to lift her spirits. She could tell, but that didn’t make it any less astonishing, so she watched Dracule with a slack-jawed gape as he strode purposefully across the room so he could kneel in the open space between two teddy bears. 

“Well? I’m waiting,” Dracule demanded with a wave at the empty cup before him. 

“O-oh! Of course! My apologies!” Perona squeaked and hastily scrambled for the teapot. 

As she “poured” Dracule’s tea, she bit down on her bottom lip in a vain attempt to stifle her growing smile. It didn’t really work, and Perona didn’t really mind that it didn’t despite how goofy she must have looked with a cheesy grin plastered on her normally morose face. Kuraigana Island was finally shaping up to be the paradise she’d dreamed it to be. She had her doleful reputation to maintain, but she supposed she could allow the full breadth of her delight to show for such an achievement—especially in front of the man who’d helped make it so. 

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