Chapter Text
The crew needed food. Zoro needed alcohol. In this part of the Grand Line, that meant they had exactly one option – The Jewel of the Sea Floating Market.
There was one small problem.
"Only married couples allowed inside." The guard glared down at Luffy, flanked by two more. Six swords between them, all of them well used. He could handle them, along with the other 12, but it would make it hard to shop afterward. "This is a respectable establishment."
A stupid rule, but easily solvable. Nami was already stepping forward to claim one of them as her husband, putting her in charge of any necessary cover story. Odds were she'd pick him – Luffy was a bad liar, the waiter would flirt, and Usopp was... Usopp. The rest of the crew would give them a list, and they'd be in and out. No trouble.
Then Luffy grabbed his arm, pulling him forward, and everything got complicated.
"That's great!" Luffy's voice was bright, grin somewhere between "sunshine in human form" and "I'm gonna cause property damage." "Meet my husband and first mate, Roronoa Zoro. He's on his way to being the greatest swordsman in the world."
Zoro's brain blanked out. He heard Usopp mutter "oh shit" from somewhere behind him, but he didn't even have that much. There was just this breathless... something. Something that scared him more than any enemy he'd ever faced.
(Some things, you couldn't fight.)
The guard scoffed like he'd never heard anything so ridiculous. "Sure. And I'm dating Kars over there."
The guard didn't matter. All Zoro cared about was Luffy, who looked up at him with that "You with me?" spark in his eyes. He knew it was a plan, knew they were just doing it to convince the guards, but none of that mattered. There was only one answer Zoro could possibly give.
Closing his eyes, he bent down and kissed his Captain.
It shouldn't have been a big deal. Kissing had never interested Zoro before this, and even the way Luffy pulled at him shouldn't have been enough to make a difference. But the kiss tasted like joy, even though that was impossible, the feel of Luffy's lips against his a shimmer of light underneath his skin. He breathed him in, deepening the kiss, and Luffy's hands tightened on Zoro's hips and pulled him just a little closer. Zoro's own grip tightened without any conscious decision on his part, as if this was something he'd be allowed to keep...
But it wasn't. It was cover.
Breaking the kiss took more effort than it should have, and when he tried to step away there was a moment where it seemed like Luffy tried to hold him in place. He let go a heartbeat later, looking at Zoro like he knew something was wrong and wanted to fix it. Knowing he couldn't – it wasn't Luffy's fault – Zoro turned to the guard. "That enough to convince you?"
The guard blinked at that, awkwardly clearing his throat. "Yeah." He stepped aside, nudging the other two who were still staring. "Go ahead."
That broke the rest of the crew's silence. "And this is my husband," Nami announced firmly, grabbing Sanji's hand. His suddenly pained expression suggested just how tight her grip was.
The guard still looked vaguely embarrassed. "You can go ahead, too." He turned to Usopp. "You have a husband or wife somewhere?"
Usopp started shaking his head before he'd finished the sentence. "Nope. Not me." He held his hands up. "Happy to wait out here."
Luffy didn't seem to notice any of this. He was still looking at Zoro, frowning like there was something he could fix. Zoro wanted to fix it, just so Luffy would stop worrying, but all he knew how to do with feelings was box them away. He gestured forward. With one final, complicated look, Luffy went.
Zoro, as always, followed.
#
Kissing Zoro felt like the ocean.
Not the real ocean. That was salty, full of fish, and unfortunately kind of wanted to kill him. No, kissing Zoro felt like... the dream of the ocean. The feeling of standing on the deck of your own ship, the wide blue sea shining with promise in front of you. Freedom, adventure, the knowledge that you're finally exactly where you belong.
He had all that, woke up to it every single day, but somehow kissing Zoro felt like getting it all over again. Like the first time he’d discovered it was out there in the first place, glowing like the stars in the sky.
He'd never imagined kissing could be like that. He hadn't spent much time with other kids when he was younger, but when he'd seen adults do it he hadn't really seen the point. Why would you spend your time mashing your face against someone else's when there was so much other stuff you could be doing?
But Zoro... he was important. Special. Maybe that's why kissing him had been so special.
It hadn’t been special to Zoro, though.
The thought circled through Luffy's mind again as they walked through the floating market, Nami and Sanji having gone on ahead to do the actual shopping. They were surrounded by piles of food, fruits and vegetables and fish he'd never seen before, and if it had been any other day Luffy was sure he would be super hungry right now. If he wasn't, it would only be because he'd already started eating.
But right now, it was Zoro who had all his attention. The kiss had upset him, somehow, and since it had been his idea to be husbands in the first place it was Luffy's fault. Zoro might have been the one to kiss him, but that was just to help with cover. He was just being a good first mate.
The awful prickling feeling the idea left in his heart was just something he'd have to get over.
There were other pirates shopping the aisles, cuddling close like they'd told the guards the same stories the Straw Hats had. It was clear some of them were just pretending – though nobody could hold hands quite as aggressively as Nami – but there were others who looked like it was more than that. He wondered if any of them really were husbands, or wives, or if maybe they'd said they were for the same reason Luffy had.
Luffy's reasons didn't matter, though. He'd made Zoro sad, which meant he had to make it better.
He caught Zoro's wrist, stopping them both in their tracks. Zoro hesitated before turning to look at him, and even though it was just a second it was surprising how much it hurt. Still, it was just more proof that he needed to do this.
He gently squeezed Zoro's wrist, looking up into his sad, beautiful eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, chest aching. "Tell me what I can do to fix it."
Zoro looked even sadder for a second, then let out a breath. "It's not you," he said finally. "I'm the one who needs to fix it."
That didn't make any sense to Luffy, but he wasn't good at thinking clearly when Zoro was hurting. "I'm still sorry."
Somehow, that made Zoro's expression ease a little. "I know." Then he turned his wrist, shifting Luffy's grip just enough they were holding hands instead. There was a flash of something in his eyes Luffy couldn't read, quickly replaced by a familiar gentleness. "For the cover."
Luffy was torn. Doing things for the cover had been what made Zoro sad in the first place, but right now he seemed a little less sad. And he really liked holding Zoro's hand, the warmth of it seeping into Luffy's chest better than a blanket or fire ever managed. With how upset Zoro got, this might be his only chance.
He squeezed Zoro's hand, trying not to think about the prickling feeling in his chest. "For the cover."