Chapter Text
It started off innocently enough. When you joined the crew you got along well with everyone, but you noticed the green-haired swordsman kept to himself a bit more than everyone else. So you started making it a point to go sit by him as he laid on the deck during lazy days at sea. The first time, he warily cracked his eye open and looked over at you, asking what you wanted in a biting tone. When you answered that you just wanted to enjoy the sun and this seemed like a good spot, he eyed you suspiciously but then ultimately closed his eye and returned to his nap.
You knew better than to say it looked like he could use the company. Saying things like that to a man like Zoro was never a good idea; he would just immediately push you away. No, to befriend a man like Zoro you had to increase your presence in his life cautiously, with much consideration to make it seem like you were doing so only for your benefit. You see, men like him were too proud to seek out friendship, and you knew he thought it was just a distraction from his ultimate goal of becoming the world’s greatest swordsman. But you also knew that underneath he had a very good heart. It showed in his honor during battle, his loyalty to his captain and his crew, his willingness to die for a just cause.
You admired him for all of this and thought he deserved a friend who would pay attention to what lay beneath his aloof exterior. So, you continued to join him on the deck as he relaxed, day after day. At first, he wouldn’t pay you much mind and would just continue to nap, but over time his naps got shorter and your conversations became longer. You could tell he had grown to expect your intrusions and, you hoped, maybe even enjoy them. Your conversations usually stayed light, and had even begun to include friendly banter. You teased him for his non-existent sense of direction, and he often teased back about your clumsiness and recklessness.
But you touched on all kinds of topics from your favorite kinds of sake, to your advancements in your individual pursuits. Being a biologist, you had mainly joined the straw hats to study all the creatures you could find on the Grand Line. But you had also joined because you had a strong need for excitement and adventure, and that was something Zoro could definitely relate to. His single pursuit in life was to become the world’s strongest swordsman, but he too had a strong thirst for adventure. One day, while you were listening to him describe different sword-fighting techniques you got an idea.
Your adventures with the Straw Hat Crew often got you into a lot of dangerous situations, and it often bothered you that you were pretty much defenseless against stronger opponents. So you asked him to train you in swordsmanship. And he laughed. That asshole laughed. So you did the only thing you could and smacked him in the head before storming away from him as he rubbed his head and continued laughing. That idiot swordsman could be a real asshole sometimes.
You were absolutely fuming for a couple days, but ultimately you got over it and started spending time next to him on the deck again. You fell into an easy routine while at sea. You would spend your morning researching samples you had collected, eat lunch with the crew, interrupt Zoro’s nap for a couple hours, have dinner and then party with everyone or go to bed depending on the night. The days began to blur together before Nami informed everyone that you had finally neared another island. Upon hearing this information, Luffy was overjoyed and decided to dock there to resupply the stores of meat and get off the ship for a bit.
Sanji went out to stock up on the local cuisine, Nami wanted to do a bit of shopping, and you decided to try and catalog some species on this new island. Most of the crew was tired from staying up late the night before and Zoro, as usual, was taking a nap and didn’t even know the ship had docked. Everyone got off the ship together, then started to go their separate ways. And after much reassuring to Sanji that you would be just fine without his protection, you set off into a thick forest in search of new species waiting to be discovered.
A couple hours later, you were completely engrossed in collecting some very interesting species of snails you had found crawling on the vegetation that littered the forest floor. You were observing a particularly colorful one, with a purple and teal shell and green skin. “Just like that stupid mosshead’s hair,” you chuckled to yourself fondly. You were so focused on this particular snail that you failed to hear the rustling behind you. And that was a mistake that had proved to be almost fatal.
You barely had time to turn around before a large orange boar drove its tusk into your stomach. You keeled over in pain, but thankfully your adrenaline kicked in, and you managed to find a sharp branch nearby which you drove into the boar’s eye when it charged at you again. Luckily, that seemed to scare it off, and you collapsed holding your side. You held your hands over the wound to stop the blood-flow as much as you could and gave yourself a pep-talk as you slowly staggered to your feet. ‘Just gotta get back to the ship’ was the mantra you kept repeating to yourself.
Somehow you made it to the entrance of the forest before your vision became blurry and you started to sway on your feet. You felt an overwhelming sense of relief when you saw the ship in the distance. You gathered all your remaining strength and made it near the path heading towards the docks, and just when you felt like you couldn’t take another step you heard a deep voice call out your name. You turned towards the voice and saw your green-haired friend with a look much different from his usual stoic poker-face. His skin was several shades paler than usual and he looked almost… concerned? Alarmed?
“What the hell happened to you?” He questioned.
“Wild boar…‘s not too bad,” you slurred as you swayed on your feet. You tried to manage a weak smile before you felt yourself collapse into a pair of strong arms as the world went dark.
You awoke several hours later on the ship in pain but seemingly okay. Looks like they had gotten you to Chopper in time. Then you looked over and noticed the swordsman sitting off to your side. You met his eye and laughed weakly. “Looks like I need to be a little more careful after all.”
He shot to his feet as soon as he heard you speak. “This could’ve been prevented,” he interjected.
“Zoro..” you began to speak, but he interrupted you again.
“Do you know…I…dammit,” he stuttered awkwardly before growling in frustration and tapping the wall with the side of his fist. “Forget it,” he muttered as he began walking towards the door.
“Zoro wait, “ you called out to him softly.
He paused in the doorway with his back to you. “A week should be long enough for that wound to heal a bit. Be ready to train with me, and you better be serious about this. I don’t waste my time with half-assed effort when it comes to swordsmanship.”
“I’ll be ready,” you stated confidently before adding softly, “And Zoro, thank you. I don’t know if I would’ve made it if you hadn’t found me.”
As he turned back to you, his features were back to his usual unreadable expression, but you could swear you saw the faintest hint of pink dusting his cheeks. “Yeah, well don’t make a habit out of it,” he quickly mumbled before going out the door.
You smiled to yourself as he left, and then the realization hit you like a ton of bricks: you were falling for Roronoa Zoro.