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Later, when Syrup Village wasn't even a speck on the horizon anymore, Nami found Zoro sitting on the deck cleaning his swords. Luffy was still sitting on the figurehead, seemingly content, and Usopp had disappeared a while ago to make sure everything on the ship was as it should be, so it was just the two of them.
Zoro ignored her as she settled down next to him, figuring that if she had something to say, she would say it.
And, after a few minutes, she did. "Does Luffy seem… okay, to you?"
Looking over at her, Zoro found Nami's gaze fixed on Luffy's back, distant as it was. He frowned, thought, and answered, "He seems his usual enthusiastic self to me. You'd know better, but it doesn't even seem like Kuro did much damage to him."
"He got him a couple times, but yeah. Not much," Nami admitted, but her eyes didn't move away.
"What's the problem, then?"
Zoro didn't know why she seemed so reluctant to say what was really on her mind, but she was clearly dancing around something. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, and asked, "You helped him with the Marines, right? Didn't you think it was weird they took him so easily?"
"I didn't think about it," Zoro admitted, now following Nami's gaze. "But… yeah. That pink haired kid was sitting in the dirt with him."
Nami frowned. "That pirate bastard, Kuro, he was poisoning Kaya for years. Keeping her sick, so it would be easier to kill her, when the time came. The tea, the soup, it was all poisoned."
Zoro watched Nami's hand clench into a fist at her side as she spoke, and knew that he couldn't fault her for the anger. Kaya didn't deserve anything that happened to her- they could all agree on that. But… "What does this have to do with Luffy?"
"Yeah, getting to that," Nami said. "Last night, before everything went to shit, Luffy found the soup, and he ate it. All of it. He was unconscious when I found him, and the… the pirates seemed to think…" She paused, finally pulling her eyes away from Luffy, looking Zoro right in the face. "They thought it would kill him."
Well, now everything made a lot more sense. Why Luffy’s friend had seemed worried on the dark road, why Nami couldn’t keep her eyes off their captain now. “I think,” Zoro said, suddenly remembering something else, “that he threw it up. Saw the fuckin haircut kid out there, too, and his uniform was all covered in something blue.” Unable to help himself, Zoro smirked. “Even unconscious, Luffy has great aim.”
Nami rolled her eyes, but her shoulders had relaxed at the joke, just enough for Zoro to notice. “Maybe it’s fine, then. We both know Luffy can eat anything, so… maybe it’s fine.”
She said that, but her eyes drifted again towards the front of the ship, and Zoro sighed. “We’ll keep an eye on him. If he’s not fine, we’ll figure it out.”
“Yeah,” Nami said, “yeah, of course we will.” She was quiet, just long enough for Zoro to think the conversation was over, and then she said softly, “Thanks, Zoro.” And she pushed herself to her feet and walked away, before he had the chance to even consider responding.
Zoro didn’t exactly forget about it, after that, but Luffy seemed cheerful as ever, and it felt unnecessary to keep so close an eye on him. The four of them gathered in the kitchen for dinner, though none of them really knew how to cook, and Luffy complained again about needing to find a chef for their crew. He ate as much food as always, though Usopp seemed right there with him, and then they all spread out through the ship again.
Nami busied herself with the maps, trying to chart a course to wherever they wanted to end up next, Usopp wandered off again, apparently to make more ammo for his slingshot, and Luffy and Zoro ended up back on the deck together. It was a nice night, and Zoro was planning to just sleep up there instead of arguing with Luffy and Usopp for cot and hammock space.
Luffy, for his part, sat staring at the moon, even though Nami had told them to drop anchor as soon as the sun went down. Zoro almost left him to it, but there was that small voice in the back of his mind that compelled him to call out, “What’re you up to, Luffy?”
Silence was his only answer, and Zoro frowned, the voice in his head getting a little bit louder. “Luffy?” he called out again, a little less casually this time.
Slowly, Luffy’s head lowered, turning his gaze away from the moon and towards Zoro. “Oh,” he said, and it didn’t sound like Luffy, really- too quiet, too unsure. “Zoro?”
The voice was screaming now, as Zoro pushed himself to his feet and started walking closer, ignoring the way his heart pounded in his chest. “Yeah, it’s me,” he said, and he could see Luffy’s face now, the way his eyes seemed a little unfocused, the skin around them pinched tight with what could only be pain. “What’s going on?”
“Um,” Luffy said, and he was sitting, but he still swayed, like a man who hadn’t found his sea legs yet. “I don’t feel so good, Zoro.”
“Okay,” Zoro said, reaching him now, crouching down in front of him. He was woefully unprepared for this situation, and he knew it, but he had told Nami- they’d figure it out. He’d figure it out. So he placed his hands on Luffy’s shoulders, doing his best to steady him, and tried to ready himself for whatever came next.
He didn’t seem to see Zoro, not really, but he clearly felt his hands, and suddenly leaned forward, his head- his hat- pressing into Zoro’s chest. “Too much soup,” he mumbled, the words muffled by fabric.
“Yeah,” Zoro said, startled by the sudden pressure, but, well, maybe he shouldn’t be. Luffy was… unusually tactile. “Nami told me. Poison soup.”
Luffy mumbled something else, but it was even quieter now, and Zoro couldn’t make out the words. “What?” he asked, leaning his own head a little lower.
“I’m gonna barf again,” Luffy said, and Zoro barely had time to move, to pull Luffy’s hat down onto his back and hold the back of his head, maneuvering him away from Zoro’s chest with a startled, “Shit!”
He managed it, though, and when Luffy did throw up a second later, it was onto the deck of the ship instead of onto Zoro’s clothes. Zoro held him up, instinct guiding him to keep a hand on Luffy’s back, grounding and steady. It didn’t last long, and when it ended, Luffy went limp in his grasp, slumped forward and breathing hard. “Gross,” he muttered, his face not far above the blue splattered on the deck.
Zoro guided him back up into a sitting position, away from the stink of vomit. They’d have to clean that, later, and find out where cleaning supplies were on this new ship, but it could wait for now. “Guess you still had some in you,” Zoro said, and Luffy hummed an affirmative. “Feel any better now?”
Luffy was quiet for a moment, still weak and shaky in Zoro’s arms, but then he nodded. “Tired,” he said, “and a little dizzy, still, but better.”
“I’m even more impressed now,” Zoro admitted, “that you were able to beat Kuro while sick.”
“I didn’t really notice. Too busy.”
That made Zoro frown. Maybe Nami was right- Luffy needed some more looking after, if he wasn’t going to do it himself. “You should sleep,” he decided. “Hopefully the last of the poison is gone, and sleep’s the only thing you need.”
“Okay,” Luffy agreed easily, and Zoro slowly helped him to his feet. He turned his eyes to Zoro, then, and he looked tired, but his eyes were focused now, and that smile Zoro was becoming so familiar with danced across his face. “Thanks, Zoro.”
Zoro ducked his head away from it, but couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his own mouth in response. “Yeah, whatever,” he said. “Let’s get you to bed.”