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It happened before Zoro could blink.
Zoro vaguely remembered everything that happened before he was knocked out. He remembered some scrawny little shrimp of a person ambushing him with a pathetic scrap of a metal that was technically a sword. His crew didn’t automatically jump in because why would they? Some little pale, scrawny person that was shorter than Nami was just an ant to him. Can be crushed with his foot, no sweat.
But then one person turned to two, two turned four. Four to sixteen. The Straw Hats saw the urgency of this situation as they jumped in to help where they could. However, when one head was cut, two more grew in their place, and they grew back stronger. The little ant disappeared before his eyes and a group of large, burly dudes were fighting in their place. Zoro was holding each one of them off, even if he was sweating more. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw flashes of concern come and go from Sanji as he fought off the other enemy pirates. Zoro didn’t understand where it came from. There was nothing he needed to worry about, right?
Next thing he knew though, his chest was warm and wet. He looked down at his chest to find a sword sticking out of his chest. There was a lot of it, he noted before he fell to the ground. And all around his whole body, he felt cold. He thought that this was it, that this would be how he died. The last thing he remembered was a distant shout from Luffy and a terrified, teary eye expression filled his face. That might’ve been the worst part of all of this, for Zoro–knowing that he failed Luffy.
Near death experiences had a way of changing a man. It provided one with a new perspective on their life, even forcing them to do things that they would do because of lack of courage. And right now, Zoro was grateful for this second chance. The first thing Zoro woke up to was a sleeping Luffy that was right beside him, a sight that almost had him convinced that he died and went to heaven.
As his vision cleared, Zoro noted that around Luffy’s eyes were puffy. That there seemed to be tear marks that couldn’t have been older than half an hour. He tensed up as he felt how hard Luffy was gripping him like he was afraid to let go of Zoro in every sense of the word. His action seemed to startle Luffy awake and with a weary shake of his head, Luffy’s vision began to clear. It took a few minutes to realize what exactly just happened and a wide smile broke across Luffy’s face. But that smile didn’t last as his lips wobbled and his eyes became teary. He broke out into a sob and he hugged Zoro as tightly as he could without hurting him.
Zoro’s eye darted towards the hospital bedside table and he noted the amount of things that were cluttered on the table. Empty plates that were probably from food that Sanji cooked, little trinkets from Usopp and Franky, flowers from Robin. He realized very quickly that he was out for about a few days now and that Luffy has barely left his side. Zoro looked down to see that his blue pants had splotches of red on him.
“I…we thought you were gone,” Luffy choked out and Zoro wrapped his good arm around him so that he could rub his back. His body was shaking from the intensity of his sobs and Zoro brought him closer with a hug. It was very rare to see his captain look so terrified. Zoro’s hand trailed to the back of Luffy’s head to thread his fingers through his hair. “I thought I lost you.”
“I’m still here,” Zoro said to him, his breath caught in his throat as Luffy’s head tilted up to look up at him. His brown eyes were bloodshot and his bottom lip still shook as his body calmed down from crying. Luffy’s hand reached up to hold Zoro’s unbandaged cheek and he smiled softly as Zoro leaned into the touch.
Some may say that the two of them had a strange relationship. That they had a relationship that wasn’t of two friends, of a captain and his first mate. Labels and rules of relationships weren’t something that tied the two of them down as men of instinct. But right now, Zoro recognized what this light feeling in his chest was. What his heart was beating rapidly at the soft, dreamy stare that Luffy was staring at him with.
Love. It was love. The kind of love that Robin and Franky would carry with each other. The kind of love that the cook would always talk about and what Zoro would always scoff at. He understood it.
Both of Luffy’s hands moved to cup Zoro’s face, like he was a precious jewel that would slip through his fingers. The two of them stared into each other’s eyes in silence, Luffy’s eyes searching for an answer in Zoro’s. Zoro smiled softly and that was all that the two needed. Luffy leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Zoro’s. The kiss deepened but the two of them never sped up, enjoying the moment between the two of them. A taste of salt dripped into his mouth and underneath his hand, Zoro felt another cry bubbling out of Luffy. But neither one of them pulled apart.
The kiss may have not been perfect, with both of their lack of experience apparent in said kiss. But Zoro wouldn’t ask for it any other way.
After a few minutes, the two of them pulled apart with Luffy crying lighter than he was before. His gasps for breath outweighed his cries and Zoro pressed a chaste kiss to the spot in between Luffy’s eyebrows.
“Hey Zoro,” Luffy lightly gasped out, tears still pouring down his cheeks but not actually sobbing.
“Yeah, Luffy?”
“Is this what boyfriends do?”
“I think so.”
Luffy hummed thoughtfully, Zoro realizing that he’s coming to terms with the reality of everything. That Luffy didn’t lose his swordsman, his right hand man, his first mate. And that they probably didn’t have a normal, platonic relationship like Nami always pointed out to him.
“Whatever Zoro is to me, I never want to lose him ever again,” Luffy mumbled, leaning over to kiss Zoro’s temple. Zoro’s heart fluttered at the gentle touch and he leaned his head closer to Luffy’s. The two of them laid together in silence for another few minutes, enjoying each other’s touch.
Outside of the room, the crew let the pair of lovers have a moment together. After all, it was about time that the two of them figured out that they were boyfriends. For the rest of the evening, the two of them spent sleeping in each other’s arms. Neither one of them planned to let the other go ever again.