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The island is gloomy with fishermen's houses lining the coast and not much of a town to speak of. They had landed that morning and had agreed to meet back on the ship at noon. But now the sky is dark, rain pouring on the uneven cobblestones. The log pose is already pointing to the next three islands. And yet they're still missing someone.
Luffy had run around, scoured the island with observation haki, shouted his name into the blueish grey. He couldn't find him. He had returned to the ship, hoping he would have shown up by then. Maybe Chopper had sniffed him out, found him lost somewhere in the woods. But when he boards the deck, soaked to his skin, there’s still no trace of Zoro.
In the galley, Sanji brews coffee while the others shed their wet coats and shoes. “Where did that idiot go,” he mutters around his cigarette. “Making us run around like fools,” he scoffs.
“We really need to start assigning people to Zoro-watching duty when we dock anywhere,” Usopp groans, pulling one of his boots off with a squelching sound.
"Luffy!" Jinbei bursts through the galley door, out of breath, yellow raincoat dropping water everywhere. Luffy turns to look at him curiously. “I’m sorry,” he apologises. “I tried to stop him, but–”
"Jinbei, slow down," Nami tries to calm him, getting up from her seat. "What's going on?"
He takes a deep breath. "Zoro said he's leaving," he states, only to be met with silence.
"Leaving? To go where?" Luffy asks, confused.
"He's leaving the crew."
There are only a few sentences that could topple his world upside down. That sentence is one of those.
"That's not funny," Luffy retorts, suddenly serious.
"I'm sorry, but it's true,” Jinbei says. “He told me that this is where our paths diverge. Asked me to thank everyone for everything and not to come looking for him."
The Strawhats all look at each other with alarm. Luffy stares at Jinbei as a cacophony erupts around him.
“Zoro-san would never-”
"There's no way he actually said that!"
“Jinbei, do you even realise what you're saying?" Nami scolds and he looks slightly taken aback by their vehement responses. "Luffy and Zoro are-" she stops to look at their captain who hasn't said a word, eyes wide and haunted still frozen on his helmsman.
Jinbei hasn't been sailing with them for long. He doesn't know how outrageous what he's saying is. But he wouldn't lie to Luffy, even if the truth was painful. He was the one who kept his head on straight after he lost Ace. The clock ticks on the wall. Zoro's still not here.
Luffy starts crumbling. "Why?" He asks shakily. Jinbei doesn't know, shakes his head.
Did Luffy do something? Why would Zoro leave now, of all times, when they're so close to the end of these seas? When Luffy needs him by his side so much?
There's a stunned silence in the galley.
"Was it really Zoro?" Robin asks with a scrutinizing gaze, level-headed as ever.
Jinbei nods. "I'm sure of it."
Chopper looks from one crewmate to another, close to tears.
"I don't care what he said," Nami explodes suddenly, slamming her hands on the table. "What are we waiting for? Where is he?"
"I'm sorry," Jinbei apologises again, hesitating. "There was a ship waiting for him. I thought it would be best to come get all of you first."
If there were enemies, Zoro would have faced them head on. If they had been too strong, Luffy would have found him bleeding out in the forest. This is not that.
Luffy had feared it, at his lowest. But he'd never thought it would actually happen. Zoro was his rock, his anchor, an immovable force, yet warm and soft to those who sought out his comfort. But Luffy had blackmailed him into joining him, in that parched courtyard. Zoro had agreed to follow him as long as their goals aligned, and Luffy had promised to let Zoro go, if he ever wanted to leave. And now he has.
"It's not your fault, Jinbei," Luffy begins, and his voice is distorted, it sounds like someone else speaking. "Let's just– go after him."
They end up haggling for information with the fishermen. Nami slams another stack of bills on the sticky counter of the dark tavern. The gruff-looking man takes the stacks and tells them the direction of the only other ship that had docked at the island recently.
Jinbei promises to catch up to them, eyes on the horizon and webbed hands holding the helm securely.
It's as if the deck was constantly tilted, his steps unsteady. Luffy leans on the railing and looks down. The rain has let up, for now, but the water still swirls below, dark and cold. The roar of the waves crashing against the hull is loud in his ears. His hands grip the railing so tight his knuckles are turning white. If he fell now, Zoro wouldn't jump after him, grab him by the waist and drag him back to the deck, scold him with a worried look on his face. Zoro wouldn't save him. Because Zoro's not here. He backs away from the railing, hands clammy.
Luffy stumbles and bumps into someone. Nami's arms wrap warmly around him. He must be a mess if Nami's come to comfort him and not the other way around.
"We're gonna find him and we're gonna get him back," Nami states with so much confidence Luffy can't help but lean into her, letting her carry some of his weight. He breathes in the familiar smell of her sweet citrus perfume. It reminds him of simpler times, of napping on Merry under her tangerine trees with a gentle summer breeze blowing. "And then I'm gonna triple his debt."
A breath, the smallest of giggles escapes him. Zoro's gonna be indebted for life.
After a while, his thoughts catch up to him again. "Nami?" He calls quietly.
"Mm?" She hums and pauses petting his hair.
There's a swirl of emotions inside him. Hurt, his heart bruised and bleeding. Confusion. Fear.
"I thought I was special to him," he says so quietly Nami has to strain to hear him. "He's always been special to me. I feel kinda dumb now."
Nami takes a deep breath, the kind she would usually take to stop herself from hitting him on the head after he has said something stupid. She's not angry now, though.
"You are," she begins, voice tight. "Special to him. Don't you dare tell yourself otherwise."
"Then why..?" Luffy doesn't understand.
"I don't know," she mutters, running her fingers absent-mindedly through his hair again. "But we're gonna find out."
...
Sanji's antsy, Luffy notices. He's tapping his foot all the time, or his cigarette against his palm. He cooks for the same number of people as usual. And since Luffy's not that hungry, they actually have leftovers after dinner.
From the way Zoro and Sanji act around each other, one could have thought he would be the least affected. Finally some peace, he could have said. But no.
Luffy wishes he knew what was going on.
Most of all, he wishes Zoro would have talked to him. If he really feels like it’s better for him to be off the crew, Luffy would let him go. It would crush him, but he'd do it for him. Because Luffy wants Zoro to become the world's greatest swordsman. Perhaps, now that he thinks about it, just as much as he wants to become the pirate king himself.
But for him to disappear like this without saying a word to him, ripping a chunk from Luffy's heart and taking it with him?
Franky's voice pulls him from his thoughts.
“What are we going to do if he actually wants to leave us?” He asks somberly.
"He doesn't. There's no way." Nami doesn't even entertain the thought.
Usopp waves his hands dismissively. "Whatever the reason is, we can just tie him up and drag him back on board," he suggests. "That's what he said we should have done with Vivi," he adds.
Luffy shakes his head. "I need to hear why, first. If he thinks he can get closer to his goal on another ship..." his voice tapers off.
Sanji scoffs. "Bullshit. As if he would."
"You wanna say something, Sanji?" Luffy snaps. "You seem to know things."
"Guys, don't fight," Usopp pleads, leaning on the table tiredly and some of the tension evaporates.
"I just know he cares too much about you to leave. Even for his ambition," Sanji says softly.
"What would you know?" Luffy pouts, flopping down on the table next to Usopp.
"Just trust me. I-" Sanji sighs. "I'm worried about what could have caused him to do this."
Luffy squeezes his eyes shut.
...
Zoro wakes up sore, his arms cuffed behind his back. He looks around him blearily. He can feel the room sway slightly, hear wood creaking, so he's on a ship.
Someone walks up to him, boots clicking on the floorboards.
"Good evening, Mr Swordsman." Zoro's never heard that voice before.
"Who the hell are you and what do you want from me," he growls at the lanky figure.
"Now, now," the man chastises pleasantly, twirling his cane in his hands. "Don't be so uptight. We're simply taking you to meet our captain."
"And who would that be?" Zoro asks.
"Why, Marshall D. Teach, of course."
Zoro's eye widens. Blackbeard. The bastard that beat Ace and handed him over to the marines. Who killed his own captain. The only man known to have eaten two devil fruits. An emperor of the sea.
"The hell do you people want with me," he growls darkly.
The candles flicker, casting shadows across their faces and Zoro remembers a wanted poster he had seen a while ago. Laffitte, or something.
"We have a proposal," Laffitte says lightly and he starts walking in a circle slowly. "You want to be the best swordsman there is, am I right? Well, we have one of the world’s strongest swordsmen on our crew – Shiryu of the Rain. You could learn a lot from him. Perhaps that could make you," he stops to look at Zoro, gesturing with his cane, "Consider jumping ships."
That's a load of bullshit if Zoro's ever heard any. He grits his teeth.
"Our armada has everything you could possibly want. Gold, land, power. Much more than a puny crew of ten people."
"You think my loyalty's that cheap?" Zoro's shackles clank together, echoing around the dark room as he leans forward to bare his teeth at the man before him. Iron cuts into the tender skin of his wrists. "Luffy's the only man I will ever follow." His conqueror’s haki ripples around him, the static ruffling their hair and lighting up Laffitte's wide eyes. "Now that that's cleared up you can untie me and let me get the fuck out of this place."
Laffitte stares at him for a short while. "I'm afraid I can't do that, no." A smile creeps back up on his face. "You've already quit your crew, anyways."
"What?" Zoro gasps, disbelieving.
The man moves the hand holding his cane and Zoro's body moves of its own accord, his back straightening and bashing against the wall behind him. Zoro stares at him in shock.
"How do you think we got you here in the first place?" Laffitte asks with a twinkle in his eyes.
"What kind of devil fruit?" Zoro seethes through gritted teeth, struggling to move the rest of his body.
Laffitte simply smiles and turns to walk away.
"Wait,” Zoro shouts after him. “What did you make me do?"
"I simply made you mention your departure to the fishman," he says over his shoulder, tipping his top hat at him before disappearing in the shadows.
Jimbei. He must have told Luffy by now. A shiver runs down his spine at the thought of Luffy thinking he wants to leave the crew, of all things.
Luffy doesn't know just how much Zoro has and would sacrifice for him. But surely he still knows he’d never leave him willingly, right?
...
The crew gathers at the front of the Sunny when the flagless ship comes into view in the dim morning light.
"He's below deck," Sanji says and Luffy nods in agreement, eyes shadowed by his hat.
"Alone?" Nami asks, twirling her weapon in her hand.
"Feels like it," Sanji mutters, eyebrows pinched as he stares at the ship.
"I'll go, then," Nami decides. "You guys take care of the people on deck."
"We don't even know who we're up against," Usopp complains.
"I doubt anyone weak could have convinced Zoro to follow them," Robin says ominously.
"That's not helping, Robin," Usopp moans, flopping against the railing.
Luffy ignores them, his senses focused on Zoro’s presence he can feel ahead with observation haki.
“Luffy,” Chopper calls, voice sad and unsure. Luffy snaps his gaze away from the ship to look down at his smallest nakama. He doesn’t have words of comfort to offer, so instead he picks him up and holds him to his chest.
...
Zoro’s not sure how much time has passed when a cannonball hits the water near the ship. A flurry of movement erupts on the deck above. There’s shouting and the sounds of weapons clashing. He hears the latch creak open and heels clicking softly on the floorboards.
"Nami."
She stops in front of him, shoulders tight. Her stance loosens when she sees him tied up, relief washing over her.
"We can talk later. Let's get you out of here first," she says, already picking the lock of his cell.
"How did you..?" He begins. He has a whole bunch of questions. "Is Luffy..?"
"Oh he's gonna be mad. We all are. Doing this after Sanji's last stunt? You better have a good excuse," she replies dryly as his shackles fall to the floor. She turns to the other cell to free his swords.
"Great," Zoro grumbles. Why did this happen to him? He just got lost in some dumb forest and now he's gonna have to face his captain who thinks he wants to leave him.
There's a full-blown fight outside. The daylight hurts his eye. He lifts a hand to shield it from the glare, trying to make sense of the situation on deck. And then something's hurling at him, or someone, actually, and Zoro tumbles backwards.
The back of his head throbs where it slammed against the deck. Fingers dig into his shoulders. He opens an eye to look at Luffy's face.
"Captain," he greets, hoping it'll pacify him a little. Luffy always smiles a little brighter when he calls him that.
"Why," Luffy gets out, his usually soft features twisted painfully.
"Luffy, I'm not-," he starts, but his brain's not keeping up, Luffy's intensity leaving him breathless.
"I thought we-," Luffy starts and there's a drop on Zoro's cheek. The skies above are clear, though. "We would be the greatest together–"
Shit. If the Blackbeard pirates were trying to rattle Luffy by taking him away, they sure have succeeded.
Suddenly, his senses scream at him and he rolls them to the side before a sword impales itself into the deck where they were.
Luffy rolls out of his grasp and comes to a stop further down the deck. They climb back to their feet, eyes on each other.
And It’s neither the time nor the place for such thoughts, but– Luffy looks beautiful, like that. His hat hangs at his neck, hair tousled gently by the wind. He's standing tall, jaw set although his eyes are sad, longing, as he stares at Zoro. And although Zoro knows exactly how they got here, he feels a resonating pang in his chest.
And then, panic, as he feels that loss of control again. First in his fingers, palms and wrists, and then his elbow's bending and unsheathing Wado with a ringing noise that resounds over the deck.
Luffy's eyes widen impossibly as he stares at the blade his first mate is pointing at him.
Zoro hears Nami shouting his name, Usopp’s incoherent rambling, Sanji insulting him– which he would actually deserve, this time, if Zoro wanted to be doing any of the things he was doing.
Zori grits his teeth. "You bastard-" he seethes, and – Luffy steps back half a step, and god, Zoro never wants to be the reason Luffy makes that kind of face again – manages to turn his head enough to glare at Laffitte, who is perched on the railing, dark lips smiling as he stares at them, swinging his cane lazily.
Luffy follows his gaze and something shifts in his stance, and he understands, Zoro hopes, just the way they've always understood each other so easily.
Zoro feels the pull in his muscles and hell no, he’s not attacking his captain, so he grounds his feet, puts all of his strength into his hands and instead flicks Wado around, pointing the tip of the blade at his own throat. He holds Luffy’s stare, showing him, see what I’d do for you?
There’s a beat as Luffy simply stares back at him with bated breath. And then he moves, rushing forward with an angry “hey!”. He grabs Wado from Zoro’s hand and tugs the two other swords from his waist, scabbards and all. He holds them tightly to his chest as he backs away from Zoro cautiously.
“You,” he turns towards Laffitte, turning angrier by the second. “You’re doing this, aren’t you?”
Laffitte tilts his head owlishly. “Perhaps.”
Robin lands next to Luffy gracefully. “Luffy, be careful, these pirates are from Blackbeard’s crew.”
“Blackbeard?” Luffy repeats, the name catching in his throat.
“Knowing his powers, he probably hypnotised Zoro and is currently controlling him,” she states clearly, observing their enemy. Zoro breathes out in relief. Thank god for Robin who bothers to learn about other pirate crews.
Luffy breathes a quiet oh, relief evident in the sagging of his shoulders.
“What do we do?” Luffy asks, eyes darting from Laffitte to Zoro. Robin doesn’t answer, simply crosses her arms over her chest. Hands sprout around Laffitte, who barely evades the attack.
“Okay, let’s kick their asses,” Luffy agrees.
...
Under their feet, the ship's starting to sink.
"Laffitte," a tall man who Robin identified as Van Augur calls from where he's perched on the mast, eyes lingering on Luffy. "We're going."
Jimbei brings the Sunny over right when the ship starts caving in on itself. Luffy drags Zoro over the railing and the rest of the Strawhats follow, landing on soft grass.
"Next time," Luffy says to the two top officers, hand still fisted in the back of Zoro's coat. "Tell your captain to get off his ass and come see me directly."
Van Augur tilts his head in acknowledgement and he and Laffitte disappear in a blink, leaving their henchmen to sink with the ship. The Sunny's paddles take them quickly away from the wreckage.
As soon as they catch their breaths, Chopper latches onto Zoro's leg. "Zoro!" He wails. "I missed you!"
Usopp latches onto his other leg. "Zorooo! It's just not the same without you!"
"It is so great to have you back on board, Zoro-san," Brook exclaims joyfully. "I was so worried I thought my heart would stop! Although I don't have one!" he cackles.
"I'm sorry,” Zoro sighs, trying to get Usopp off of him. He’s heavy. "Those bastards made me do it." From the corner of his eye, he can see Jinbei approaching. "One of them can use mind control or something," he tells him.
"Ah, that explains it. I’m relieved," Jinbei sighs. "That's a dangerous power to have."
"Why did they do that?" Sanji mutters around his cigarette.
"They offered me to join their crew," Zoro says with scoff, arms crossed over his chest. "Although I doubt they were expecting me to accept since they put me in a cell."
"They were most probably trying to weaken us and gain information about us," Robin interjects. "We'll have to be careful, going forward."
Zoro nods. Next to him, Luffy’s restless, fingers playing with the brim of his hat now that his hands are free of Zoro's swords. Now that things are cleared up, Zoro excuses himself and heads for the bath house.
He doesn't bother closing the bathroom door. He barely has time to put his swords against the wall before Luffy jumps at him, wrapping his arms and legs around him and burying his face in the crook of his neck.
"Sorry for worrying you," Zoro says quietly, wrapping his arms around his captain's back.
Luffy rubs his face against his skin, collarbones, breathing him in. After a while, he pulls back to look at Zoro's face.
Zoro had noticed it before. When they would wrestle and he'd catch Luffy staring at his mouth. Or he'd be drinking during a banquet and feel Luffy's eyes on him. It still doesn't prepare him for the kiss Luffy pulls him into.
It's bruising, desperate, Luffy's hand tilting Zoro's jaw to meld them together.
Zoro tries to kiss him back with just as much fervour. When his lungs start to hurt, he pulls back to suck in a breath. "You really thought I would–" he gasps.
"I didn't think," Luffy mutters against his lips, eyes slanted. "You were gone," he says as if it explains everything.
Zoro grips Luffy's thigh. He thought he had made it clear, when he had lifted Wado against the sun in his captain's name. "I would never leave you."
“Good,” Luffy nods slowly, like he’s trying to reassure himself. "Because I can't– not you," he mumbles a little desperately, tugging at Zoro's earrings with his fingers.
Zoro kicks the door closed because some privacy is nice, sometimes.
He pushes Luffy's back against it to sear kisses down his neck.
"I'm yours," he whispers into his skin. His body and soul, dreams and ambitions – all of him. “I’ll always be yours.”
Luffy shivers and brushes a thumb over the red blue bruises blooming on Zoro's wrist.