Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started right after they left Shells Town. With Zoro settling down for a nap, and Luffy chattering excitedly about all the adventures they were going to have as the dinghy slowly floated further and further away from shore.

“—and you were so cool! You took down almost as many marines as me!”

Zoro snapped his eyes open. “What do you mean ‘almost’? I took down more than you!”

“Nope!” Luffy replied simply, beaming at Zoro, bright as the sun.

“What, you counted them?” challenged Zoro.

“No, but I know I had more.”

“You can’t know that!” Zoro protested, but Luffy just laughed. With a huff, Zoro closed his eyes again. “Next time, we’ll keep count.”

“Sure, Zoro.”

“I won again,” Luffy giggled, bouncing from side to side, somehow without falling off the narrow guardrail he sat on.

Zoro scoffed, which sent a sting through his side where he had been stabbed. “You did not.”

“I counted this time,” Luffy insisted. “Six for you, seven for me.”

“I saved your ass,” Zoro retorted, knowing full well that Luffy more than pulled his weight in their clash with the Buggy Pirates—after he had gotten out of that cage, at least. “If not for me, you would’ve had zero; I win.”

“That’s not how it works,” said Luffy, pouting. “But fine, you can have one extra for saving me.”

“Fine, tie.”

“What the hell are you two even talking about?” asked the new girl—Nami.

“Who kicked more butts, of course!”

“Or saved yours,” added Zoro.

Nami stared at Luffy for several long seconds, then at Zoro. “You’re both crazy.” She put her hands on her hips. “And I saved your ass too!”

Luffy laughed. “That’s one point for you!”

It was ridiculous, but neither of them was willing to concede.

Usopp joined them in Syrup Village, and immediately began to fib about his own butt-kicking count. Zoro wondered why he bothered when it was obvious that nobody believed him. Not even Luffy—who was usually happy to humour Usopp with remarkably convincing awe—did anything to hide it. Usopp didn’t seem to mind, as long as he could shirk any actual fight, which conveniently meant he didn’t get into Zoro’s way.

The cook Luffy picked up at Baratie was much less unobtrusive. Unlike Usopp, he was all too eager to interfere in every fight he could, even when his “help” was not needed in the slightest. Annoying bastard trying to snag Zoro’s opponents to add to his own count, when really Zoro had done all the work. But Luffy liked him, his cooking was admittedly not bad, and he could hold his own in a skirmish alongside the two of them. Which put him at a deserved third place by the time they left Loguetown and set course for the Grand Line.

“Shut your trap, mosshead,” the cook snapped.

“Hey, you already overtook Usopp,” replied Zoro with a shrug.

“That’s not—”

“Oi, Sanji!” Luffy bounded over to them. “Is it time for dinner yet?”

“We just had lunch!”

“But Sanji,” he whined, “I’m hungry!”

“There’s something seriously wrong with you,” the cook muttered under his breath.

“Oi!” Zoro kicked at him. “That’s our captain.”

“And there’s something seriously wrong with him!”

Luffy giggled, his wide grin revealing flashing white teeth, and Zoro couldn’t help but smile as well. If something was wrong with Luffy, it was the good kind of wrong.

It was also the stupid kind of wrong, which was why one unexpected wave later, Zoro was diving head-first into the sea after his captain. Again.

“Idiot,” he panted, heaving a limp, sea-weakened Luffy back onto the Merry’s deck before pulling himself up and collapsing beside him. Was he still breathing? Zoro smacked a hand on Luffy’s chest. “That’s twenty-four for me. I win.”

To his relief, Luffy coughed and sputtered, and made a vaguely outraged sound. Yeah, he was fine.

“Stop falling into the water if you want to stay ahead,” Zoro replied with a teasing grin.

Luffy shot him a fake glare. “You just wait, I’ll catch up in no time!”

Luffy caught up by fighting a giant whale, which—after much discussion—counted as two because he had both fought and somewhat saved it.

Zoro took down a hundred bounty hunters on his own at Whiskey Peak, which absolutely counted, no matter if Luffy had been asleep and entirely uninvolved in the fight to begin with.

Luffy saved Zoro, Nami and Vivi from the wax guy at Little Garden.

Zoro fished Luffy out of the sea.

The cook buried a horde of giant snow rabbits underneath an avalanche, and Luffy clobbered Wapol and his crew—save for the one guy Chopper took down.

On and on it went, teasing and bickering after every fight. Never during—or at least never when things were serious. Which, granted, took some of them a little while to grasp.

Vivi in particular was aghast at their banter until she eventually realised that their competition was reserved for fights they knew they could win without any trouble. Not that they had all that many of those since meeting her.

Baroque Works was not to be underestimated, and neither was Crocodile. There was something unsettling about him, an edge of ruthlessness that went beyond what they usually encountered when they clashed with rival pirates.

Luckily for them, he was also a cocky bastard. Either that or he truly didn’t care whether they escaped from the seastone cage he had left them in, guarded by nothing other than a couple dozen banana gators.

Wado sang as Zoro freed it from its scabbard, slicing cleanly through the first gator before it was yet fully drawn. He let the blade travel through a sweeping arc, utilising its momentum as it came down to slash into a second gator’s side.

Within seconds, three—five—eight gators fell to Zoro’s sword. It was laughably easy. This was supposed to hold them?

Beside him, Luffy crashed into a trio of gators with an excited whoop, sending one of them flying in Zoro’s direction.

“Oi, watch it!”

Luffy shot him a grin, shouting an entirely insincere, “Sorry!” as he knocked out another gator without even looking. He landed on top of the beast, feet barely taking his full weight before he was already shifting his stance, angling himself towards a pair of gators near Zoro.

Their eyes met for a split-second to share a silent agreement, then they both moved in tandem.

Luffy catapulted himself into the air, shooting right over Zoro’s ducked head as he dashed in the opposite direction. Though the gators on Luffy’s side had been ready to strike, they were wholly unprepared for Zoro’s lightning-speed assault. Six quick slashes later, the last of them went down in a heap.

In one smooth motion, Zoro sheathed Wado.

“C’mon! Aren’t there any more?!” yelled Luffy. “That was only—” He counted on his fingers for a moment. “Only fourteen!”

“I feel almost insulted,” Zoro drawled. “That didn’t even take a full minute.”

“Uh, guys?”

They turned in unison. Nami pointed at the wall of the passageway, where water was leaking in through a huge crack in the stone.

“It broke!” Usopp cried. “You morons overdid it!”

“Oi, we didn’t do any—”

“Save it!” Vivi interrupted him. “The passageway is busted, let’s get out of here before it collapses!”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the crack burst open and the wall came crumbling down. The flood of water crashed into them before any of them could react, throwing them against the opposite—still intact—wall of the hallway.

Zoro’s first instinct was to reach for Luffy. If he was swept up by a current on his own, he’d sink like a rock.

“Zoro, save Smokey!”

“What?!” He tightened his grip on Luffy’s arm as he struggled against the water pushing them back. They had to get out of this passage and into the open water. “He’s the enemy, leave him!”

“If we leave him, he’ll die! He’ll sink like an anchor!” Luffy insisted, his tone taking on an unmistakable edge. Captain’s orders.

Zoro wanted to refuse, wanted to drag Luffy to the surface with him, orders be damned. He sought Luffy’s gaze for a split-second argument, then let out a frustrated growl—and obeyed.

The water tore Luffy away.

Zoro turned, searching— “Sanji!” he shouted, pointing where Luffy had disappeared until the cook’s eyes widened in understanding. Then he dove for Smoker.

By the time he made it to the surface, the cook was cursing up a storm about “damn Devil Fruit users and their weaknesses”, while Luffy coughed up water beside him, safely back on solid ground. Served him right. Stubborn idiot captain, forcing Zoro to save a damn marine when he could’ve gotten them both out of there without Luffy nearly drowning. Again.

“That’s one extra for me,” said Zoro, after he had pulled himself—and Smoker—out of the water as well.

Luffy’s lips ticked up into a grin. “One extra for saving Smokey, sure. Thanks, Zoro.”

Zoro blinked, taken aback by the easy agreement, and an odd, tingling sensation rose in his chest. He caught himself a moment later, giving Luffy a satisfied nod.

Points. Right.

Despite Vivi’s decision to stay behind, they left Alabasta victorious; with much higher KO-counts than before, and a new crew member on board. Which was perhaps a little odd at first, given that—unlike the rest of them—Robin hadn’t fought at their side before deciding to join the crew. But apparently she had saved Luffy’s life, and he had saved hers. The matter was clear:

One point each—she was one of them.

And she actually fit in with them, too. In some cases, it came as no surprise; the cook practically tripped over himself to wait at her every whim, while Nami was just happy to have another woman on the crew again. Others were less expected, such as Chopper and Usopp soaking up Robin’s historical knowledge like sponges, fascinated by all the myths and legends.

Most astounding of all, though, was her uncanny ability to explain things to Luffy. Or maybe to make Luffy understand things, because half the time she was really just thinking out loud rather than explaining for someone else’s benefit. She tended to do that, Zoro had noticed, regardless of the situation she was in.

“Look at its size,” Robin commented, completely unfazed as she took in the giant snake in front of them. “This must also be due to the Skypiean environment.”

“It’s just like a catfish,” Zoro said as he reached for Wado, readying himself to attack. “I’ll just chop it up!”

The snake struck before he could draw. All four jumped out of the way; Zoro and Robin into the trees, Luffy and Chopper to either side, and the beast shot past them.

The forest shook as it crashed into the tree just behind where they had been standing, nightmarish fangs sinking into the trunk—which promptly melted away beneath them.

“Poison?!” Chopper cried.

“Scary!” Luffy shouted, though he sounded more excited than scared. Idiot.

“I think it’s time for a strategic retreat,” Zoro decided.

Robin nodded. “Agreed.”

They scattered just as the snake swung around to bare its poison-coated fangs at them. Despite its size, the beast was quick as lightning as it struck again, twisting and turning to move unhindered through the trees. It went for Robin first, then Chopper, before Luffy finally managed to draw its attention for a moment, only to have it lock its gaze onto Zoro a moment later.

In short: it was chaos.

Once Zoro was finally certain to have shaken it off, Luffy and the others were nowhere to be found. Great. Couldn’t let anyone out of his sight for even a second it seemed.

“Well, they can manage,” he muttered to himself. Given that the Upper Yard was all solid ground, Luffy wouldn’t drown in a moment of carelessness. They would simply meet up at the Golden City. Which, according to the map he remembered, lay in the south. He stayed alert as he wound his way through supersized trees, just in case there were other such beasts prowling this forest.

It wasn’t beasts who found him though, but a group of sky people. Four more KOs for him, that put him back in the lead. Unless Luffy already added more to his count as well.

Where was Luffy anyway? Did he get away from that snake, or did he foolishly decide to fight it? It was Luffy, after all; if anyone would fight that thing, it'd be him. Idiot captain.

Zoro huffed, and focused back on his own surroundings. Luffy could handle himself.

Luffy did handle himself—and Enel. Not that Zoro had ever doubted he would, Luffy was their captain for a reason.

And then everything at Enies Lobby happened.

Zoro would never admit it to anyone but himself, but there was a moment in which he wasn’t sure if they would make it out alive this time; a fleet of navy ships firing from all cannons, and Luffy—though victorious—down and unable to move, unable to save himself. Out of Zoro’s reach.

The raw fear that went through Zoro at that was so intense it hit him like a gut-punch, driving all air from his lungs in a rush. Luffy was in danger. In actual danger, and Zoro couldn’t simply jump in after him, couldn’t just pull him out of this like he had pulled him out of the sea countless times. All his instincts were screaming for him to do something, and he couldn’t.

For the first time since he had met Luffy all the way back in Shells Town, Zoro felt helpless. Paralysed.

It was Robin who saved Luffy. Robin and the Merry, who somehow appeared from the depths of the ocean to carry them out of hell. Zoro wasn’t going to question that miracle.

Luffy recovered quickly enough once they got back to Water 7, yet the knot in Zoro’s chest lingered—despite his best efforts to ignore it. It was infuriating. Worse, it made him question himself. Had he so little faith in his captain that he couldn’t let go of this fear?

No, he had every faith in Luffy, he knew that down to his very bones.

It wasn’t until they were departing Water 7 that he finally figured out what it was.

“You guys are such idiots,” Nami complained, crying and laughing at the same time as Luffy pulled a sobbing Usopp onto the deck of their brand new ship.

“Seriously,” the cook agreed with a broad grin that belied his dry tone.

Usopp sniffed pathetically, wiping at his face. It had little effect, given that there was still a steady stream of tears spilling from his eyes.

“Careful, I have a bounty too now,” he tried to protest anyway.

Luffy, being the absolute menace that he was, blinked at him in awe. “What? Since when? Show me, show me, show me!”

Usopp faltered. “I mean, uh—” Zoro bit back a laugh at Usopp’s panicked expression as he glanced around the rest of the crew. When no-one came to his rescue, he blurted, “I meant my counter! Yeah! I took out a whole squad of marines, eight men! A-and I saved Robin, that’s one extra!”

“Not this again,” Nami groaned.

“You did?” exclaimed Luffy. “Woah, I thought that was Sniper King! That’s so cool, Usopp!”

This time, Zoro couldn’t quite suppress a snort. It was doubly amusing that Nami and the cook both seemed to buy Luffy’s act completely, burying their faces in their hands in exasperation. Zoro knew better. He had seen Luffy’s face when “Sniper King” first made his appearance, seen the flash of recognition in his eyes before it had been covered by guileless excitement a split-second later.

“No, that was definitely me,” said Usopp, more confident now. The tears had stopped, and he stood up a little straighter.

As much of an idiot as he was, when it came down to it Luffy was an extraordinary captain. Not because of any naval skills or strategic finesse, but because he truly knew his crew. Sometimes better than they knew themselves, as the whole thing with Robin had shown. When it mattered, Luffy always knew exactly what they needed—when to push, when to coax, when to back down. He took care of them, whether by indulging a charade to bolster Usopp’s fragile confidence or fighting battles brutal enough to level a fortress.

It filled Zoro with pride to be at his side. To be his right hand man, to be the one he turned to first for advice, for backup, for anything at all. Because while Luffy was capable of achieving anything he set his mind to, it was Zoro’s job to pave the way for him; he had to make sure his captain could focus on the big battles, without having to worry about anything happening besides. Or after.

That moment at Enies Lobby sprang unbidden to his mind. The knot in his chest pulled tight, sharp as every crystal clear detail of the memory. That same helplessness began to rise within him, and he quickly tamped it down. A faint echo of it remained, not strong enough to paralyse, but still impossible to ignore.

And goddammit, he was not helpless. None of them were, not even Nami and Usopp and Chopper, and least of all Zoro. And yet, he doubted. Not Luffy, never Luffy; Zoro’s faith in him was absolute. No, this was about himself.

Zoro was on his way to become the greatest swordsman in the world just as surely as Luffy was on his way to become the King of the Pirates. But he wasn’t there yet. Neither of them were, but Luffy was already… more. He had always been more, somehow, right from the very beginning; warm and bright as the sun, wild and uncontainable like a storm raging on the open sea. He was the best man Zoro knew, the only man he would ever follow. His best friend. His captain.

What was Zoro next to all that?

Franky guffawed loudly, snapping Zoro’s attention back to the crew. He had missed their entire conversation, but judging by Nami’s annoyed expression and Usopp’s huge grin as Franky counted on his fingers, it was still about the KO-counts.

His eyes found Luffy. Their captain had hopped up onto the railing and was watching the others with a soft, satisfied smile.

That same odd, tingling sensation that kept returning ever since Alabasta rippled through Zoro, stronger than usual. His heart clenched. He had sworn his undying loyalty, his life to Luffy, out loud after his defeat by Mihawk, and countless times since privately to himself. He had sworn to become the greatest, not just because it was his dream, but because Luffy needed the greatest by his side.

It was time he lived up to that.

Zoro squared his shoulders, doubt giving way to fresh determination. He had failed at Enies Lobby, hadn’t been able to ensure Luffy’s safety. He would not let that happen again. Luffy was going to be the King of the Pirates—and Zoro would be anything he needed.

When Zoro woke after the incident on Thriller Bark, his entire body felt like one big bruise. He carefully tested his limbs, which sent a fresh wave of pain through him, causing him to let out groan.

“Zoro! You’re awake!” Chopper was at his side in an instant. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” he ground out, trying to sit up only to be pushed back down by Chopper.

“Oi, Zoro!” Luffy bounced into view, followed a moment later by a much calmer Robin. The last to step into his field of vision was the cook, scrutinising Zoro with unmasked disapproval as Luffy went on to ask, “So, you defeated the warlord?”

“You defeated Moria, captain,” Zoro deflected.

“Heh, I sure did,” Luffy giggled, “but the others said there was another one!”

“There was,” he acknowledged. “I didn’t defeat him.”

“But you convinced him to leave?” Luffy pressed, unusually insistent.

Zoro hesitated. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the cook glare at him, curly brow raised expectantly. Waiting for Zoro to come clean.

He shook his head. “I don’t know why he left.”

A familiar gleam flickered through Luffy’s eyes, but it was gone before Zoro could process, replaced by an easy grin. “We must’ve gotten lucky then! Too bad, no points for you. Oh, and look here; I saved you booze from the party!”

“Luffy, he shouldn’t be drinking alcohol while he’s recovering!” Chopper griped, and just like that the topic of Kuma was dropped.

Guilt squirmed in Zoro’s stomach. He had lied to Luffy, to his captain. It was a first in all their time together, and it went against all of Zoro’s ideas of loyalty.

He pushed the feeling aside. This was for the best. He survived, there was no need to burden Luffy with the knowledge of how close of a call it had been. Because this was Zoro’s job, his duty as first mate.

You didn’t do it out of duty, whispered a treacherous voice in his head.

Zoro pushed that aside too.

Things went sideways a few days later, and really, Zoro should’ve seen it coming.

It started out normal enough; with Luffy falling overboard and Zoro diving in after him without a second thought. It was routine to wind an arm around him underwater, then kick them both back to the surface where Brook had already lowered the rope-ladder for Zoro to climb back on deck with Luffy slung over his shoulder.

“Idiot,” Zoro cursed as he heaved them both over the railing. His heart was racing, the knot in his chest pulled tight. “Can you at least try not to drown every five minutes?”

Luffy flopped onto his back, giggling even while he was still catching his breath. “I didn’t drown!”

“No thanks to you. That’s o—” Zoro cut himself off. He couldn’t add this to his damn count, not after—

“That’s what?” asked Luffy, sitting up and turning towards him.

“Nothing.”

Luffy’s expression hardened in an instant. It was such a sudden change to his lighthearted demeanour that it took Zoro a second to realise his mistake. He had been baited.

It’s Luffy, what did you expect?

“You saved me,” said Luffy, dark eyes boring into Zoro like iron spikes. “That’s a point for you—or are you not counting it?”

“I—” Zoro floundered, tongue-tied as he got to his feet, looking anywhere but at Luffy.

“Is it because you didn’t count the last one, either?” Luffy pressed, and Zoro winced at the accusation in his tone. “The one you lied about?”

Of course he knows.

“Captain—”

“You lied to me. You saved us, and then you lied about it. Why? What did you do to make that warlord leave?” Zoro opened his mouth to insist that it didn’t matter, but Luffy cut in again before he could make a sound. “The truth, Zoro.”

He grit his teeth. There was no way around it. “He was after your head. Only yours, in exchange for letting the rest of us live. I asked him to take me in your place. He agreed.”

Luffy’s face went blank with shock. “B-but you’re— You’re here.”

Zoro shifted, uncomfortable. “He said to take your place, I’d have to take your pain, too. He did… something to you, drew out all the damage from your fight with Moria somehow. He was sure I’d die. I—” He stopped himself from admitting that, in that moment, he had thought the same.

Luffy stared at him for a long, tense moment. Then his eyes lit up with fury. “What the hell were you thinking?! Why would you do that?!”

“I had no choice!” Zoro defended, despite knowing how futile that line of reasoning was. “He would’ve killed you!”

“So you just let him kill you instead?! What the fuck, Zoro?!”

“You’re the future King of the Pirates—”

“And you’ll be the greatest swordsman in the world—or did you give up on your dream?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why would you throw away your life like that?!”

“It’s my duty to—”

“Bullshit! It is not your duty to die for me, and you know that. That’s why you lied, isn’t it? Because you know that I’d never agree—”

“I couldn’t bear to lose you!”

Luffy stilled.

Zoro’s breath was coming in ragged pants like he had just run a race. He felt raw, flayed open and exposed by his own admission. Some panicked part of him wanted to undo the words, retreat into the safety of suppressing that thought entirely. But there was no going back.

When Luffy spoke again, it was barely more than a whisper. “You think I could bear losing you?”

Zoro’s stomach did a strange swoop at that. He stared at Luffy, not knowing what to say.

After a moment, Luffy straightened, resolve settling on his face as he took a step closer. “I need you by my side, Zoro. Always. So you’re not allowed to just leave me like that. Not ever, got it? Captain’s orders.”

Zoro swallowed, his tongue heavy in his mouth, while his chest swelled with that now-familiar tingle again. “Aye, captain.”

A distant part of him knew he would break that promise in a heartbeat if it meant saving Luffy’s life, but he gave it anyway because he wanted nothing more than to keep it. To never leave Luffy’s side.

Luffy studied him for another moment, then gave a satisfied nod, his expression brightening just as quickly as it had darkened earlier. “Good! Oh, I think I smell lunch, come on!”

With that, he grabbed Zoro’s hand, dragging him along towards the galley, and Zoro could do nothing but follow. He felt off-balance, the tingle in his chest compounded by his thundering heartbeat.

“Sanji! Food!” Luffy yelled once they reached the kitchen, letting go of Zoro’s hand as he bounced through the door.

The loss of contact struck Zoro like cold water, clearing his mind from a haze he hadn’t even realised was there. He stared down at his hand. His palm was burning, buzzing with the echo of Luffy’s touch. He missed it immediately.

Oh.

His eyes found Luffy, and his heart swelled again with that tingling feeling.

Oh, shit.

He was in love with Luffy.

Chapter Text

Kuraigana island was hell.

From the moment Zoro woke up in that rotten, gloomy castle, his only goal was to get off this damn speck of land. Back to Sabaody, to his crew. Back to Luffy. To mend his promise, broken mere days after it had been given.

He had barely been fit enough to move at first, every stubborn step straining his whole body as he searched room after room for his swords, the ghost girl’s shrill voice haunting him through hallway after hallway. In hindsight, she had probably done him a favour by keeping him there for nearly a fortnight.

By the time he finally got his blades back and was able to leave the castle, the worst of his wounds had at least begun to heal. The horde of baboons tore them right open again, carved a few new ones into his flesh, too.

None of that was as painful as what Mihawk told him about Marineford.

Because Zoro hadn’t been there. Luffy had faced a war, had watched his brother die right in front of him and nearly died himself, and Zoro hadn’t been there.

He hadn’t just broken his promise, he had utterly failed it.

The guilt gnawing at Zoro with every new breath he took, stuck on this damned island, festered into bitter shame; bone-deep regret stoked with simmering anger, and sorrow for Luffy pierced by sharp, selfish relief because Luffy was alive. Burning through him like acid. It fuelled him beyond the point of exhaustion, beyond the point of reason when even Mihawk told him to return to the castle and rest.

Zoro didn’t stop fighting until, at long last, he finally won—and promptly collapsed on the spot, too sore and exhausted to move now that there was nothing in his way anymore.

Perona found him there, hours later. For some reason, she seemed to care about what happened to him; Zoro wasn’t going to question that. She showed him the newspaper.

Two years. Two whole goddamn years.

He knew that Luffy was right, that they weren’t ready, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow. So much could happen in two years; it was almost twice as long as they had been sailing together. Which was ridiculous, really, because it felt like a lifetime. They had fought so many battles, survived so much shit since that day in Shells Town; how had it not been decades already?

Two-hundred and thirty-two, his mind supplied helpfully. Two-hundred thirty-two saves and wins on Zoro’s count—not including the baboons. Because he hadn’t added those, despite keeping track of each one he’d finally defeated. There had been fifty-seven of them, so—

Two-hundred eighty-nine, Zoro thought. It was oddly soothing to update that stupid count in his head. This wasn’t over. Two years were long, but this wasn’t over.

Determined, Zoro pushed himself to his feet, every bone in his body aching as he did. He didn’t care. He would see Luffy again, and when the time came, he had to be ready. Even if he had to beg.

Against all odds, Mihawk agreed to train him. The very castle he had been so desperate to escape became Zoro’s home, ghost girl roommate and all.

It was an absurd contrast to the Sunny; instead of cosy, wood-panelled cabins, cold stone walls and high ceilings formed huge rooms that were only sparsely filled with old-fashioned furniture. Endless hallways filled with eerie silence—save for Perona’s occasional shrieking—instead of the tireless chatter and constant clamours Zoro was used to.

He never thought he’d miss the noise this much. The never-ending chaos. But he did. He missed the bickering, the bitching when they got in each other’s way, and the easy reconciliation once their tempers had cooled. He missed Chopper’s overly concerned nagging that he shouldn’t work out so much, the absurd stories Usopp still came up with on a daily basis, and even Sanji’s pathetic simpering whenever Nami or Robin breathed in his direction.

He missed the stupid games Luffy came up with when he was bored for half a minute, most of which were reckless enough to drive Nami up the wall. He missed Luffy’s annoying habit of launching himself across the deck to crash into Zoro with full force and a delighted giggle. The way he never just let go afterwards, hanging off Zoro’s shoulders like a human cape unless Zoro caught him properly. The sweet tickle of his laughter against the back of Zoro’s neck while he carried him for no good reason.

The memory sent a shiver down his back, followed by a pang of longing.

He swallowed a bitter laugh. Good grief, how had it taken him so long to notice that? Maybe Nami was right when she called him clueless.

“Are you even listening to me?” snapped Perona, pulling Zoro abruptly out of his thoughts.

“I stopped listening to you a week ago,” he deadpanned.

Perona gasped, outraged. “That is rude, you know? Have you no manners?”

“I have manners,” Zoro protested. “I’m using the right fork and all!” He waved the utensil in question at her, causing a tiny droplet of meat juice to fly off it.

“Ew!” she shrieked. “What is wrong with you? This is the only outfit I have!”

Zoro rolled his eyes. “It didn’t even hit you.”

“It could have!”

“But it didn’t.”

“But it could have!”

“But it—”

“Enough,” Mihawk cut in, visibly annoyed.

They both immediately fell silent, though Perona kept glaring. Zoro very maturely refrained from glaring back and returned to his meal. He wasn’t here to fight with a stupid ghost girl; he was here to train under the legendary Hawk-Eyes.

Not that he had been training at all so far. He was wasting time, while Luffy was out there somewhere, probably getting stronger by the day.

He looked up at Mihawk, jaw set determinedly. “I want to start tomorrow. I’ve rested long enough.”

It wasn’t Mihawk who answered though, but Perona, crying, “No, you haven’t! Your injuries have barely started to heal! If you overdo it now, all my expert care will have been for nothing!”

Zoro ignored her. What did she care, anyway?

Mihawk studied him for a long moment, then shrugged and reached for his wine. “If you’re sure, Roronoa.”

“I’m sure. Tomorrow.”

I won’t disappoint you, captain.

Two years weren’t all that long; Zoro wouldn’t waste them.

Two years were an eternity.

Three months into training, Mihawk cut off his booze with the declaration that he could drink again once he mastered armament imbuement. It didn’t make things better. Sober Zoro had even less patience for…everything. Including training.

He missed his crew most fiercely then, every thought of them sharp and painful without the latent drunk haze to blanket them. The mist-streaked ruins around Mihawk’s castle should’ve been the perfect practice space, quiet and undisturbed, but to Zoro they just felt empty. Every kata completed without interruption was just another reminder of everyone who wasn’t here.

It took a solid three months of sobriety before his irritability returned to somewhat manageable levels. Not that he missed his friends—missed Luffy—any less, but the pain became less overwhelming with time. An ache more than a sting, not quite sweet, but not as bitter as it had been.

Zoro threw himself into his training.

He practised more sword forms than he cared to count, learnt techniques from the repertoire of the world’s greatest swordsman himself. Feeble distractions, but at least they brought progress.

Within the first year, he defeated the Mihawk-imitating baboon—twice. He also fought and defeated every other damn baboon on this damn island at least four more times.

He kept count. One year on Kuraigana: five-hundred and nineteen.

Fifteen months: five-hundred seventy-six.

Was Luffy still keeping count too?

“I don’t even know where he is,” Zoro lamented.

“You’re pathetic,” said Perona.

“What if something happened to him? He’s the most reckless idiot the world has ever seen!”

Perona groaned, throwing her arms in the air dramatically as she flopped over backwards onto the floor. “Pathetic,” she repeated, shifting her position so she could swing her feet up and onto Zoro’s leg stretched out on the couch.

The contact was grounding. Zoro didn’t even mind the buckles of her boots digging uncomfortably into his shin, as long as it stopped the world from spinning quite so much. Why was it spinning so much? Zoro didn’t remember it ever spinning so much back on the Merry. The Sunny.

But then, Luffy had been there. An anchor to Zoro’s very being, like the magnetic signature locked into an Eternal Pose. Hell, he missed him.

“Yes, yes, I know you miss him,” Perona griped.

Wait, had he said that out loud?

His confusion must have shown on his face, because Perona rolled her eyes. “How are you this drunk after not even two bottles of wine? If you don’t pull yourself together, Hawky is gonna cut you right back off.”

“Can’t; I mastered armament,” Zoro grumbled, reaching over the armrest to pick up the open bottle. It was still a quarter full, dark red wine rendered black by the green glass.

“Like he’d care,” she scoffed.

Zoro glared at her and defiantly took a big swallow. It was good wine, rich and velvety, with just a hint of fruit notes. Certainly far too good to be drunk like cheap booze from a port tavern. He took another sip, just because, then held out the bottle to Perona, who took it with another roll of her eyes.

She drank a couple of sips, then set the bottle down and looked at Zoro. “Are you going to do something about it?”

“About what?”

“Oh my god,” she groaned. “About your captain, you idiot! You know, the one you’ve been whining about for the past one and a half years!”

“Nineteen months.” Six-hundred fifty-two.

“Really not the point right now. The point is that you’re pining—devil knows why based on what you told me about him, but you are. So, when you see him again, are you actually going to—” She made a vague gesture towards the ceiling, giving Zoro a look even he understood.

Memories of moments that never happened burst to life in flashes of Luffy’s smile as he leaned in for a kiss, in phantom sensations of Luffy’s skin under his hands and Luffy’s lips against his, in echoes of Luffy saying he loved him too. Vivid in a way only imaginations could be.

When Zoro didn’t reply, Perona let out an irritated huff and pointed a warning finger at him. “You better do something; I didn’t listen to all your moaning about how much you miss him only for you to chicken out without making a move.”

Zoro wordlessly held out his hand for the wine, and Perona handed it back with a scoff. He drank deeply, shaking off the lingering fantasies.

What was he going to do? He had been chewing on that question ever since the realisation had come crashing over him like a tidal wave that day.

It had been…a lot.

Zoro wasn’t very proud of his initial reaction, which had been to hide in the crow’s nest for the entire rest of the day. Like a coward. In his defence, he had still been feeling kind of rough from his run-in with Kuma, and then Luffy had ambushed him with that argument out of nowhere. Never mind that the argument was probably the only reason why Zoro had finally caught on to his feelings at all— It had just been a lot.

So, needing a damn minute to process, he had fled.

After some frantic brooding—which was a new and very odd combination of thinking states—Zoro had hesitantly concluded that being in love with his captain at least didn’t seem to have any capital-I Implications. Well, except the obvious.

Which was where the chewing began; what the hell was he supposed to do?

His first idea—to ignore it entirely, forever—had failed within mere minutes, as more and more things kept popping into his head that suddenly made far too much sense. Some he had never even noticed until his brain very helpfully provided them from the depths of his mind; a million ordinary moments turned extraordinary, now that he understood what they meant.

Moments going all the way back to Luffy beaming at him, bright as the sun, as he insisted he took down more marines than Zoro in Shells Town.

Even Zoro could recognise that ignoring it wouldn’t work as a long-term solution.

His second idea, shockingly, had been to tell Luffy. Not in a “this will lead anywhere” way, but more in a “this was information he should share with his captain” way. It was no big deal, just an insignificant bit of intel to be reported so they could move on from it. Easy.

Except there was no way of knowing whether Luffy would follow that script. Him letting it go the way Zoro wanted was no more likely than him doing the exact opposite; anything Luffy considered a big deal would inevitably be one. Not an option either.

Having discarded the two simplest approaches, Zoro’s options were down to…every possible approach in between.

So, yeah, he had been chewing. And pining.

He brought the bottle to his mouth again and downed the rest of it in one go. His head spun a bit as he looked down at Perona.

“I don’t even know if he’s interested in—” He gestured vaguely.

“Men?” Perona guessed.

“Any of it!”

She hummed. “I’m honestly surprised you’re interested in any of it.”

“Trust me, so was I,” Zoro muttered.

“O-ho,” Perona exclaimed. “So this is a first! No wonder you’re so clueless.”

His glare was met with a gleeful grin, and he suddenly wished he hadn’t finished the wine already. But when he shifted with the vague thought of getting a new bottle, Perona’s shoes suddenly pressed more firmly into his shin, keeping him in place.

"Fine, fine," she relented, though Zoro wasn't sure what exactly she was relenting to. “Don’t get all worked up. So you don’t know—and? Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters if he’s not interested in any of it.” It’d be easier, in a way, if Zoro never stood a chance to begin with.

“Except you weren’t interested in any of it either, but now you are,” replied Perona. “How do you know it wouldn’t be a first for him too?”

Zoro stared at her. His hopeless heart thrilled at the idea.

“If you don’t try, you’ll never know.”

He left early for Sabaody, with nearly a month to spare until the end of those two years. Perona, who oh so graciously decided to accompany him, considered this both an admission that Zoro knew he’d get lost on the way and would need extra time, as well as irrefutable proof that he had decided to “make his move” and was thus incapable of waiting a second longer to get back to his captain. Zoro remained stoically silent regardless of what she was teasing him with, unwilling to admit even to himself that she was right on both accounts.

Well, except the making a move thing. He had gotten as far as concluding that he did want to. Do something, that was. Somehow. Contrary to Perona’s rather optimistic theories, though, he still had no idea as to what, or how, or when—

Suffice to say that her needling did not help. Two years sharing a castle and surrounding island were nothing compared to a week sharing a tiny boat with nowhere to escape one another. The lack of space and privacy was only made worse by how it reminded Zoro of those early days, when it had only been him and Luffy in that ridiculous dinghy, floating aimlessly across the East Blue.

The dinghy had never felt this cramped.

When Sabaody finally came into sight on the horizon, Zoro was three mocking remarks from jumping overboard and swimming the rest of the way, Sea Kings be damned. The fact that they reached the archipelago without any real bloodshed was nothing short of a miracle.

“Well, here you are then,” Perona said in that terrible, snippy tone of hers. “You’re welcome.”

“Right, thanks,” replied Zoro. A beat of silence went by, then, feeling rather awkward, he added, “Bye, I guess.”

Perona let out an outraged cry. “Yes, bye! Get lost for what I care, you hollow-skulled idiot! This is what I get after helping you—”

“I said thank you!” Zoro protested. “What the hell do you want from me?”

“Have fun snogging your rubber boy’s face off, loser,” she scoffed, then whirled around and floated away without looking back.

With that Perona was gone—and Zoro was twelve days early. Twelve more days to kill. The worst twelve days of the entire two years, with nothing to do but wait for everyone else. For Luffy.

He didn’t go to the ship. As much as he missed the Sunny, it didn’t feel right to go back without Luffy there. Rather he wandered around the archipelago—through grove after identical-looking grove, distinguishable only by the numbers on the giant trees—restless with nervousness and impatience at once.

When he sensed the rest of the crew arriving with his haki, he didn’t seek them out either. Not because he didn’t want to see them, but because he wanted— He just wanted a moment. Just one quick undisturbed moment, without everyone clamouring for Luffy’s attention.

It didn’t work out that way.

Just when his haki picked up on Luffy’s blazing presence, the cook somehow found him and promptly set to dragging Zoro across the archipelago because apparently they were suddenly in a hurry to set sail. They made it just over half-way before a commotion drew their attention.

It was Luffy, of course. Who else would it be?

Despite knowing how much stronger Luffy must’ve gotten, the sight of him facing two Pacifistas sent a flicker of fear through Zoro. Then Luffy demolished the first of them with a single punch, and the fear turned into crackling heat down Zoro’s spine.

He took off at a run. “Hey, Luffy!”

Luffy turned, and his grin hit Zoro like a physical blow.

“Zoro! Sanji! Long time—” The rest of Luffy’s words were lost in a loud droning, as the second Pacifista stepped into Zoro’s path.

In a split-second, he shifted into an offensive stance, Shusui and Kitetsu bursting from their scabbards like living things as he leapt into an attack. Two powerful slashes tore through the metal monstrosity at the same time as a black blur slammed into the side of its head.

“I cut him!” Zoro snapped, sheathing his blades. Seven-hundred twenty-nine.

“I snapped his neck, that’s definitely mine!” the cook retorted.

Before Zoro could argue back, Luffy was suddenly with them, laughing as he declared, “One each!”

For all that he had imagined this moment, Zoro wasn’t prepared for the tide of emotion that rushed over him. He barely registered the cook saying something to Luffy, unable to do anything but stare at his captain.

He looked different. Firmer, somehow, settled in a way that he hadn’t been before. A man rather than a youth, his face having lost the last remnants of boyish roundness to reveal a sharp jaw and wide cheekbones. He was…attractive?

The thought was unexpected enough to shake Zoro out of his stupor, just in time to snap his gaping mouth shut before Luffy turned to look at him with a blinding smile.

Zoro moved without thinking. He reached for Luffy, closing the gap between them in a single stride, and drew him into a crushing hug.

It was like coming home. It was also terrifying, because what the hell was he doing?! His heart was pounding, every terrified beat as loud as thunder in his ears, urging him to let go, pull away, before—

Luffy wrapped his arms around Zoro and squeezed, pressing them impossibly closer together.

Something settled deep inside Zoro. Luffy was here, was alive, real and solid in Zoro’s arms, back in Zoro’s reach after two endless years. Tension that had clung to him since his first day on Kuraigana finally bled away as he buried his face in Luffy’s hair and let himself soak up the feeling of Luffy’s body against his.

“Oi! Hurry it up, everybody’s waiting at the ship!”

They broke apart, turning in tandem towards the cook, who was already at the edge of the grove.

“Coming!” Luffy shouted, waving for the cook to go ahead. He looked back at Zoro and smiled. “I really missed you too,” he said, taking Zoro’s hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world and tugging at it. “Now come on, let’s go!”

With that, he took off after the cook—and Zoro followed.

Chapter Text

In true Straw Hat fashion, their departure from Sabaody was absolute chaos. For some unfathomable reason, Perona was suddenly back, warning them of navy battleships—only for those battleships to be waylaid by the Kuja pirates because Luffy was apparently friends with the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock. Before the Navy could get anywhere near them, the Sunny was submerging, sinking between the enormous roots of Sabaody’s mangrove forest.

With the exception of the cook, who nose-bled himself unconscious at the sight of Nami—hell, how had he gotten even worse?—they all settled on the deck, then, tucking into the mountain of food Luffy had brought.

It felt a bit unreal to be back together like this after such a long time. Unreal, and just a bit awkward, every exchange so damn familiar yet still just slightly off. Two years was a long time to be apart, and none of them were quite who they had been. They had all changed, grown into versions of themselves that didn’t quite know each other.

Strangers, in some ways.

If the others felt the same, none of them acknowledged it. Their old patterns still fit well enough—safe to fall back on while they learnt each other properly again.

As it turned out, Zoro was not the only one who had kept counting. In fact, only Brook hadn’t thought of it at all; which was understandable given that he had joined the crew barely more than a week before they were separated. Everyone else, though—

“Sanji said he’s at three-hundred fifty-six, that’s only a hundred and fifty-eight more than he already had,” Usopp pointed out, practically bursting with pride. “I got two-hundred twenty-one in the same time, which means I got the most points after Luffy and Zoro! Ha!”

In Zoro’s defence, they all laughed. Not because they didn’t believe him, but exactly because they did—one look at Usopp was enough to back up the claim—and somehow that was even funnier than an empty boast. With an approving grin, Zoro raised his bottle to him in acknowledgement.

He wasn’t the only one to express approval, and Usopp proudly puffed up his chest like a wrestler on stage as Franky clapped him on the shoulder. Yeah, he would never ever let that go. Not after the whole crew accepted his claim to the top three without a single dispute. And it was fair enough, Usopp’s two-year count did put him in third place.

The cook was going to love that.

Zoro snorted, quietly delighted at the thought. Usopp was nothing if not persistent; any attempts to argue against this new ranking would be useless, no matter who actually had more points in total.

Beside him, Luffy laughed and toasted Usopp as well. “To the Sniper King, yeah!”

Everyone froze, and all colour drained from Usopp’s face. Well, everyone except Luffy, who was still laughing around the rim of his cup of sake like he hadn’t just burst a carefully maintained bubble of imagined secrecy two fucking years after the fact. Why now?

It took a beat of silence for Luffy to register the shift, his expression guileless as he blinked at them. “What?”

Zoro almost laughed out loud. Grown up or not, Luffy was still Luffy; still a giant idiot. God, Zoro loved him.

“W-what do you m-mean,” Usopp stammered, bravado evaporating like smoke.

Luffy blinked at him again, then realisation—finally—lit up in his eyes. “Oh! Right, that was a secret. I forgot,” he said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle. He shot Usopp an apologetic grin. “Sorry, Usopp, my bad!”

Zoro lost it. Bottled up laughter burst out of him at the same time as the crew erupted into a chorus of outrage and disbelief.

“You knew?!” cried Usopp, visibly torn between relief and dismay. “How the hell did you know?! Since when?!”

Luffy threw his head back and laughed, loud and obnoxious and free, cutting through the noise like a blade. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. When he looked back at Usopp, his amused expression had gone soft with affection. “Since always. I’m the captain, you think I can’t recognise my own crew?” He giggled. “Besides, ‘Sniper King’ was a bit obvious anyway.”

“Obvious?” Usopp asked faintly.

“You’re the best sniper in the world,” Luffy replied matter-of-factly. “Who else would be the Sniper King?”

Usopp stared at Luffy, slack-jawed and speechless, and Zoro almost felt a little guilty for having laughed. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep another snicker from escaping into the sudden quiet on deck.

All eyes were on Usopp, waiting for a reaction.

Then Chopper yelled, “Usopp is Sniper King?!” and the suspense snapped, sending not only Zoro, but the entire rest of the crew into a roar of laughter. Even Usopp.

“Oh, Chopper,” said Robin, somehow managing to sound apologetic through her mirth as she swept the little doctor into her arms. Within moments, the others clustered around, raising a cacophony of voices as chaos inevitably unfolded.

Zoro didn’t join them. Instead, his eyes found Luffy, who was watching the spectacle with a proud smirk.

Bathed in dancing rays of tinted sunlight, he looked ethereal. Refracted sunbeams painted green-blue patterns on his skin that shifted with the water above, amber eyes washed golden by sea-filtered light—bright like the glittering reflection of a rust-streaked sky at dusk, alight with something unnameable.

The world slowed to a near-standstill, and for a few timeless heartbeats, everything else faded as Zoro drank him in. He was breathtaking. Radiant. It was like looking directly into the sun, warm and bright and entirely overwhelming. Zoro couldn’t have looked away if he tried.

As if he could feel Zoro’s gaze, Luffy turned. Time resumed; noise rushed back in as Zoro blinked out of his trance with a slight wince. Caught staring.

Despite the heat rising to his face, he didn’t break the eye-contact—too late anyway. His stubbornness was rewarded with a smile that made his heart skip a beat; not one of Luffy’s usual blinding grins, but a rare, quiet smile meant for Zoro alone.

Luffy nodded towards the side of the deck, a quick tilt of his head signalling for Zoro to come along, to follow him as he quietly slipped away. A request that might as well have been an order for all that Zoro could refuse.

Neither of them spoke, which gave Zoro a chance to wash his racing heart from his throat back into his chest with a few quick gulps of sake as he followed Luffy off the main deck towards the back of the ship. If any of the others noticed them leaving, nobody bothered calling them out on it.

“So, where did you end up?” Luffy asked eventually, leaning against the guardrail with a sideways glance at Zoro.

For some reason, he felt a flicker of disappointment. It was a reasonable question, they were all itching to fill the chasmal gap in each other’s histories. And yet, with just the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder at the stern, far enough away from everyone else to have actual privacy—

“Kuraigana island,” Zoro replied, swallowing endless other words—questions and apologies and thoughts he never spoke aloud before—that burned on the tip of his tongue. “Real gloomy place, nothing but ruins except the old castle—and guess who owns that island? Mihawk.”

“The sword guy? The one you’re going to beat for his title?”

A smile tugged at Zoro’s lips as he nodded. “That’s the one. I asked him to train me. He agreed.”

“Wow, that must’ve been weird,” Luffy mused, scrunching up his nose in consideration.

“It was worth it,” Zoro said firmly—and it had been. Worth it, that was. “He taught me a lot more than sword fighting in those two years.” He didn’t look at Luffy, eyes locked firmly on a school of iridescent fish darting past the ship. “Discipline. First aid. How to pick the wrong wine for dinner.”

I missed you though.

“That’s good. That it was worth it,” Luffy replied, strangely withdrawn all of a sudden, gaze drifting out into the vast expanse of open water before them.

Did you miss me?

“Luf—”

“I worried about that,” Luffy cut him off, his voice carrying a hint of urgency. “About those two years, and whether investing that time would be worth it for everyone in the end, or if I was just being selfish making you wait like that.”

Did you not miss me?

“We weren’t ready,” Zoro told him. “It was the right call, Captain.”

“I know it was,” Luffy sighed, turning his head to look at Zoro with dark, earnest eyes. “I’m still sorry though.”

It was rare to see Luffy so serious outside of a battle. The last time—the last time had been after Thriller Bark. Memories of that day—that day—rose unbidden in Zoro’s mind; Luffy demanding the truth, the argument that followed when Zoro gave it, and the way Luffy looked at him afterwards. Luffy’s expression as he ordered Zoro to never leave his side.

The promise Zoro had broken.

“Don’t be.” Without thinking, he grabbed Luffy’s shoulders, pulling him around so they faced each other. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Luffy, I failed you—”

“You could never fail me—”

“But I did,” Zoro insisted, his grip tightening on Luffy’s shoulders. “I promised—” Words he had waited to say for two years suddenly lay heavy on his tongue, acrid with old guilt. “I promised to be by your side no matter what. I gave you my word, and I failed to keep it.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” replied Luffy firmly.

“Everything you went through at Marineford, alone—I should’ve been there.”

Luffy reached for Zoro’s wrists, his hands gentle as they curled around them in a loose hold. “It wouldn’t have mattered, nothing could’ve changed the outcome of that war.”

“I should’ve been there for you,” said Zoro.

“I’m glad you weren’t,” replied Luffy, and a pang of hurt shot through Zoro’s heart. His face must’ve given him away, because Luffy gave his wrists a gentle squeeze and went on, “Losing Ace—it was the worst feeling in the world, worse than any pain I ever felt.”

Zoro opened his mouth to say something, but Luffy shook his head. “No, listen to me; the only reason I’m here is because I knew you were still out there. If something happened to you—” He dropped his gaze and looked away. “I don’t know if I could’ve handled that.”

Zoro’s heart twisted even as it skipped a beat. “Luffy—”

“So yeah,” Luffy said, looking back up at Zoro with eyes like embers. “I’m glad you weren’t there, because I need you here.”

‘I need you by my side, Zoro. Always.’

“Aye, captain,” Zoro managed, a promise renewed. Relief flooded his veins as the guilt that had simmered inside him for two years was finally doused. Because he was back where he belonged.

Luffy smiled, bright and breathtaking.

Zoro became abruptly aware of how close they were. Of his hands still on Luffy’s shoulders, Luffy’s hands around his wrists. The memory of how Luffy had hugged him back flashed through his mind, and he found himself swaying forward without meaning to, his body instinctively seeking that closeness while his brain scrambled to catch himself before—

A quick pull on his wrists had him fall the rest of the way into Luffy, and he suddenly didn’t quite dare to breathe as Luffy’s arms wrapped around his back.

It was unexpected.

For all that Luffy had always been tactile, they never really hugged—not like this.

It took Zoro a moment to unfreeze his arms from hovering behind Luffy, just long enough that he felt Luffy tense incrementally, then relax again as he returned the embrace. His heart began to race, beating so hard that Luffy had to feel it, pressed together as they were. Was Luffy—was he nervous?

The thought was preposterous, Luffy had never shown a single sign that he got nervous in that way at all, not even in the face of Boa Hancock, and yet—

How do you know it wouldn’t be a first for him too? Perona’s voice echoed in his mind.

He swallowed, scratching together his courage. “Luffy, I—”

“Hey, everyone!” Usopp’s voice rang out across the ship. The shout startled them both, making them jerk apart, and Zoro had to bite back a frustrated groan. “I think I see a ship behind us! It’s headed straight for us!”

The ship was the easiest thing they dealt with on their descent. Past an undersea waterfall, an enormous kraken, various other sea beasts, and a mouthy group of pirates, they made it to Fish-Man Island—only for all hell to break loose there as well. It was just their luck to sail right into a power struggle for Ryugu’s throne, but they hadn’t spent two years getting stronger to let a few fish-men stop them from getting into the New World now.

The victory feast was spectacular. King Neptune pulled out all the stops; besides a lavish banquet, the palace stage was set with a famous singer backed by a jazz swing orchestra and a group of mermaid dancers that nearly sent the cook into heart-failure.

There was also ample amounts of sake, as Zoro was delighted to learn. He snagged a large jug for himself from a server as she walked past the cushion seats Neptune had shown them to.

Franky toasted him with his own pitcher, before turning back to the group as he asked, “But do those even count?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” replied Brook.

“Because he didn’t really fight them! He didn’t even touch them!” exclaimed Usopp. He glared at Luffy. “You didn’t even touch them!”

Beside Zoro, Luffy was still shovelling every bit of food within reach down his gullet, entirely disinterested in the discussion up until that moment. He paused at Usopp’s accusation, then grinned around a mouthful of meat.

“Didn’t need to!”

“You don’t touch your opponents to defeat them either, Mr. Sniper King,” said Robin, pouring herself a cup as well.

“That’s different!”

“I agree, it shouldn’t count,” Nami cut in before Usopp’s outrage could derail the conversation. “How did you even do that?”

Luffy’s reply was unintelligible, so Zoro translated, “Haki.” Then, catching Luffy’s approving look, went on explaining, “Specifically, he used Conqueror’s Haki, the colour of the Supreme King. It’s basically willpower made manifest; he overpowered their wills, that’s what knocked them out.”

“Woah!” Chopper marvelled at Luffy with wide, amazed eyes. “That’s so cool!”

“Chopper, no!” Usopp admonished. “Do you want him to have fifty-thousand points?”

“I agree,” said the cook, “Luffy is the only one with Conqueror’s Haki, so it shouldn’t count; it’s an unfair advantage.”

“You’re just mad you’ll never catch up now,” Zoro mocked. The same was true for himself, but that was irrelevant to his point.

“I took out hundreds of enemies on that plaza, mosshead!”

“And Luffy took out fifty-thousand,” Zoro retorted with a shrug, poorly hiding the widening grin on his lips behind his sake.

“Oh, you got an exact count, did you?”

“We don’t ne—”

“I gotta admit,” Franky interjected, cutting Zoro off. “I didn’t really keep track all that closely either. Was kinda hard to tell which ones went down because I hit ’em with my laser beams and which ones were knocked out by something else.”

Brook let out a laugh and nodded. “It was a bit chaotic around me as well. But these counts were always approximate, no?”

“No!” Sanji and Usopp shouted in unison, while Chopper exclaimed, “Were they?!”

Robin laughed. “No, they weren’t. But after this, I think none of us can still pinpoint an exact number of individual KOs.”

“But—! Ugh,” Usopp groaned, slumping back in his seat. “Just when I made it to the top three, you people mess up the whole game.”

“You were not in the top three!” the cook complained angrily, which made everyone laugh again as the bickering over who really held third place resumed between him and Usopp.

A contented sigh drew Zoro’s attention over to Luffy, who had stopped eating—if only because there was nothing left—and was patting his belly with a satisfied smile, eyes closed in sated bliss. Even like this, with his face and belly round from more food than any human should be able to consume at once, Zoro could’ve stared at him forever.

Luffy didn’t give him a chance for more than a moment; his eyes locked onto Zoro’s as precise as a log pose needle when he opened them again. His smile shifted into something softer, more private.

“You’re looking at me again,” he said quietly, words only for Zoro to hear.

Zoro’s face heated, and he quickly looked away. “Um, I—”

“I like it.”

His eyes snapped back to Luffy’s. The expression he found there made his breath catch in his throat, and a flash of lightning skittered down his back to pool hot at the base of his spine. It took him a second to form words in his suddenly dry mouth, and his voice came out more hoarse than he would’ve liked, barely above a whisper.

“You do?”

Luffy’s smile widened as he gave a small but firm nod.

A thrill of hope sliced through him. Even coming from quite possibly the least conventional person in the world, even from Luffy, there were only so many possible ways to interpret that. Zoro opened his mouth, only to close it again when he realised he had no idea what to say. Words had never been his strong suit. Instead of trying to find any, he shifted, angling himself away from their bickering crew mates towards Luffy, hesitant despite everything as he leaned in closer—

A series of shouts erupted from the crew, and Zoro shot upright with a wince. He twisted his head around to find Camie already dragging Usopp towards the dance floor while several other mermaids urged the rest of them to get up as well.

Luffy laughed loudly, letting himself be pulled to his feet without resistance, and Zoro had to swallow a twinge of disappointment. Before it could sour his stomach, though, Luffy turned with a grin, reaching back to grab Zoro’s arm. In the blink of an eye, he had yanked Zoro out of his seat with enough force to send him crashing right into Luffy’s side.

“I don’t dance,” Zoro protested, the complaint half-hearted even to his own ears as he let a cackling Luffy drag him along.

He did dance. With the whole crew jumping and twirling around him, Luffy’s hands warm on his skin as they tugged him this way and that to the beat of the music, it was impossible not to. And if his chest swelled with sweet happiness at the joy lighting up everyone’s faces, nobody had to know.

Still, he was relieved when Brook broke up their circle to join the musicians on stage, leaving the rest of them to follow their own distractions as well.

Luffy’s fingers slipped between Zoro’s, bringing their palms together with a soft squeeze that sent a tingle up his arm and right into his chest. He looked at Luffy, helpless in the face of a call—any call, even a wordless one—from his captain, who tilted his head towards the edge of the hall.

The same signal for Zoro to follow as back on the Sunny barely more than a day ago.

Had it really only been a day since they reunited? It seemed absurd, and Zoro’s attention drifted as he replayed everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours in his head.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice that they had left the party behind until they were stepping through an enormous set of glass doors and out onto a balcony. Luffy led them all the way to the edge, lifting their joined hands onto the railing as he leaned against it. Zoro’s heart leapt a little when he didn’t let go.

They must’ve spent more time at the feast than Zoro realised, because day had given way, cloaking the palace in blackness that felt deeper than any night above the surface. Not because it was necessarily darker—moonless nights at sea were as dark as dark could get—but because there was a vastness to it, almost tangible as it loomed beyond the translucent membrane of the air bubble they were in.

Despite the lack of daylight, the view beneath the balcony was magnificent, bioluminescent sea-life creating a whirl of colours that shifted from moment to moment as if the ocean was breathing. The faint hum of the party rose up from below.

“It’s a whole different world down here,” said Luffy, as though he had read Zoro’s mind.

“Yeah,” Zoro agreed, feeling tongue-tied. “They have good booze.”

“Good people too,” Luffy hummed, “but they keep interrupting.”

The urge to reach out was building inside Zoro like steam in a kettle, only barely kept in check by the sudden sense that he was standing on a precipice; one more step and he would fall.

“Interrupting?” he asked with his heart in his throat. For a brief moment, he stared at their interlocked hands resting on the balustrade before he finally dared to tighten his grip.

Luffy shot him a look that was oddly reminiscent of Nami’s expression when she thought he was being particularly stupid, and Zoro’s heart kicked into overdrive.

“Right.” Zoro took a deep breath, turning sideways to face Luffy.

Luffy's eyes burned like embers of a forge as he shifted to match him. A reflection of the molten heat that crawled through Zoro’s veins, scorching him from the inside out. The kind of heat—crackling like lightning with every heartbeat, itching for touch—he had never seen Luffy hold for anyone. Except—

Except he had. He had seen that heat countless times in Luffy’s eyes, blazing behind quick glances shared in a fight, under bright grins at Zoro catching up in their game, and in a million ordinary looks that were never so ordinary at all.

Luffy tilted his head, one corner of lips twitching upwards. “Are you gonna keep staring or—”

Zoro kissed him. With nothing but instincts and fantasies to guide him, he grabbed the back of Luffy’s head and closed the gap between them, slotting their lips together firmly enough to feel that stupid, teasing smirk give way under his mouth.

Despite all the signs, it was a leap into the unknown—as terrifying as it was exhilarating. For an endless moment, he hung over the abyss, one step beyond a ledge he could no longer return to.

And then Luffy was kissing back, and Zoro fell. Down, down, down, tumbling head first beyond hope as his heart swelled with an emotion too vast for words.

The kiss itself was unspectacular, no more than a lingering press of lips lasting a few drawn out seconds before the contact broke again. It put everything Zoro’s imagination had ever conjured up to shame.

With a shaky breath that did nothing to settle his heart rate, Zoro blinked open his eyes—and found Luffy absolutely beaming at him. The brilliance of him made Zoro’s stomach swoop, and it must’ve shown on his face because Luffy’s grin widened even further.

“You look so surprised,” he teased, though it held no edge underneath his radiant joy.

“I am,” Zoro admitted.

“That’s silly,” Luffy giggled. “You’re the one who kissed me.”

“You goaded me into it,” Zoro said, not to argue but because he was still trying to wrap his head around it.

“You were taking ages.” Luffy snickered.

“Ages? It’s been one day, I barely had time to try.”

“Ages!”

“I wasn’t sure you wanted to!”

“Why would I not want to?” asked Luffy, tilting his head, bemused.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Zoro protested, slightly dazed. “Why would I assume you do?”

Luffy gave him that look again, the one that called him seven kinds of stupid without a single word. “You’re Zoro; I want everything with you.”

He said it so easily, like those words didn’t make Zoro’s heart burst with euphoria. Like it was a simple, known fact rather than a revelation that rocked Zoro to his core.

“You never said anything,” Zoro whispered when he finally found his voice, not bothering to hide his awe.

“There wasn’t anything to say.” Luffy shrugged. “We were on the same page.”

“Oh yeah?” Zoro let out a breathless laugh. This was so typical. “And what page was that?”

“That we’ll stay together,” Luffy said as casually as commenting on the weather. “You and me, no matter what.”

Zoro resisted the urge to lash out and smack him. “I mean, yes, but that’s not what I—you never said anything about this.”

“What?”

“This! The—” Zoro swallowed. “You never showed any interest in…romance.” He cringed at the word.

If Luffy noticed, he didn’t show it as he cheerfully replied, “I never really thought about it before!”

“Never thought about it,” Zoro repeated faintly. That did sound like Luffy, alright. “Then why—”

“You look at me like Nami used to look at Vivi,” said Luffy. “And I want everything from you—everything and more.”

“Just like that? You never—and now you do? Because of the way I look at you?”

“I told you, I never thought about it before. Now I did. Now I do.”

A breathless laugh escaped Zoro’s throat, forced out of his lungs by the tickling tenderness filling his chest. He swayed into Luffy’s space as if pulled by invisible strings. Every nerve in his body still burned with the urge to touch—to feel—to drink his fill of smooth rubber skin, and without giving himself time to second-guess it, he dove in to capture Luffy’s mouth once more.

Compared to their first, this second kiss was far less tame. Zoro wrapped his arm around Luffy’s waist and pulled him in until their chests were pressed together tightly, and Luffy’s hands were eager and greedy as they tugged at Zoro in return, leaving blazing impressions in their wake.

Luffy was the one to deepen the kiss, turning it open-mouthed and hungry even as they were still finding how they fit together. Zoro could do nothing but follow him into messy fervour. They were as inexperienced as each other, yet every touch, every clumsy slide of his mouth against Luffy’s sent searing thrills into Zoro’s blood.

It was over too soon, and Zoro leaned his forehead against Luffy's, chest heaving, unwilling to pull away while his mind caught up to the feel of Luffy's warm weight in his arms.

It felt oddly natural to hold him like this, as if they had been doing this from the start. They had, Zoro realised; Luffy had never been shy with his touches, and in hindsight none of the others had ever received quite the same treatment as Zoro.

Luffy’s eyes were still closed, a satisfied expression on his face as he gave a low hum.

Zoro breathed a laugh. “Good thought, then?”

“You always give me the best thoughts,” replied Luffy, opening his eyes and grinning at him.

Before Zoro could muster a reply, a familiar voice came drifting up from the party.

“—ow, that’s so badass! Really over five-hundred?” Camie gasped.

“Damn right,” crowed Usopp, boasts rising over the din from the open window below. “You bet I would’ve caught up in no time!” Both Zoro and Luffy had to stifle a laugh at that. “But now nobody’s really counting properly—” His voice faded back into the buzz of the crowd.

There was a beat of silence, then for lack of anything better to say, Zoro offered, “Looks like you won that game. No point in trying to catch up to you now.”

“You’re giving up? That’s a first,” said Luffy, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Absolutely not, I’ve still saved your ass way more than you did mine,” Zoro countered without missing a beat.

“Only because I can’t swim!”

“Saves are saves.”

“That’s not fair! We need a second thing again!” Luffy protested, pouting. Then his eyes lit up with mischief. “Something better than the KOs—something we won’t outgrow, even after we find the One Piece.”

“That’s a tall order,” said Zoro, narrowing his eyes. “What do you—”

Luffy kissed him. Hard and fast and over too quick. He laughed at Zoro’s momentary stupor, and promptly kissed him again—and again.

“That’s three!”

Zoro blinked. Smiled. Told him, “You’re an idiot,” and leaned in to get even.

It started right after they left Shells Town. With Luffy smiling brighter than the sun, and Zoro not even realising how he was smiling back.

“Nope!” — “What, you counted them?”

It took root at Baratie. Sprouted in Alabasta. Grew on Skypiea. Bloomed at Enies Lobby. With oaths made in public, orders followed with reluctance, worries contained by faith, vows made to oneself in private.

“Idiot, I win.” — “I’ll catch up in no time!”

“That’s one extra for me.” — “Sure, one extra, thanks Zoro.”

“Well, he can manage.”

I’ll be anything he needs.

It changed after Thriller Bark. With secrets revealed, a promise given, and the realisations that followed.

“I couldn’t bear to lose you!” — “You think I could bear losing you?”

It simmered after—before—between Sabaody. On separate islands leagues apart, always keeping count.

“I miss him.” — “I miss him.”

It escalated at the bottom of the sea. With Zoro looking, and Luffy looking back. With Luffy goading, and Zoro rising to the bait. With Zoro realising that Luffy was way ahead of him the whole time.

“We were on the same page.” — “Oh yeah? And what page was that?”

“That we’ll stay together. You and me, no matter what.”

It falls into place just before they arrive in the New World. With Luffy catching Zoro staring again, and Zoro reaching for him instead of looking away, reeling him in for a kiss.

“That’s one for me,” he says, voice low and teasing. “Makes seventeen.”

I love you.

He doesn’t say it. He doesn’t need to.

Luffy’s beaming smile never falters as he huffs in mock annoyance, and stretches up to kiss him back.

I love you too, Zoro hears.

He huffs a laugh, happy. “That’s one for you.”