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“I haven’t seen that in quite some time.” It was casual, the way he said it. As though he was indifferent to it all, as if he couldn’t feel the way his heart thudded against his rib cage or how he was breathing as if he’d just been in a terribly long fight.
Luffy smiled at him, knowing. He’d always been able to read Zoro in a way no one else could. “Shishishi, right?”
Zoro sat next to his bed, observing his captain. His eye dragged along his bandaged form slowly, committing it to memory. He never liked seeing Luffy hurt, though this time was different.
“How do you feel?” Zoro asked lowly.
Luffy closed his eyes, humming slowly. It was a familiar tune, and Zoro felt his skin prickle when he recognized it. Luffy hadn’t sang that in a long time. Zoro couldn’t remember the last time he had heard it.
“Free,” Luffy said, grinning wide. “I’m free now.”
Zoro grinned along with him. He laid his palm out, and just like he had hundreds of years ago, Luffy let his bandaged one fall atop it.
Joy Boy was back, and Zoro couldn’t wait to see what chaos he brought this time.
_-_
If Zoro was asked to recount the first time he met Luffy, he wouldn’t be able to. He’s not sure when he and Luffy really met. It’d been too many years, the memory clouded in a way that Zoro despised.
But what he could remember, he’d never say. It was his memories, just his. Memories was one of the few things that was ever truly his – everything else had been stolen. Wiped away for him to never see again.
Luffy had been vibrant, back when Zoro first met him. A human who ate the first ever Devil Fruit, a powerful man who toppled civilizations and became something like a God to the eyes of many. Nika, the Sun God, they called him. He had been powerful without it, though, and that had been what intrigued Zoro. A man who wielded the power of the Gods, yet only used it when it was absolutely necessary. He didn’t even rely on the advanced technology his country was known for.
“Why don’t you do more with it?” Zoro had asked.
Luffy had smiled widely, too wide for any human at the time. His face was made of rubber now, and every step Zoro took made the ground bounce, another new ability of this human’s.
“Why should I?” Luffy had replied.
Zoro liked him instantly. He followed the human around, learned to laugh and live throughout the years they spent together. Luffy was selfless and grew angry on other’s behalf, but rarely his own. He fought when it benefited others and didn’t move a muscle when it would only benefit himself. He was bright and loving in a way Zoro had never seen before.
Demons were always cold, humans were always selfish and vindictive, and the angels weren’t as pure-hearted as they liked humans to think. Luffy was nothing like anything Zoro had ever seen.
He vowed he’d spend his life by Luffy’s side.
They fought together, ate and drank with joyful laughter. Zoro hadn’t even known he could produce a sound like a laugh, let alone actually want to. Luffy made him want to smile and laugh and eat and drink. Luffy made him want to be something other than the Demon Prince, Enma.
Everything fell apart when humans grew too lustful for power, for control. Luffy had never stood by when people were attacked without need, and he had always valued freedom more than anything.
Zoro kneeled by his bedside the day after he attacked the human kings and freed all the people from their control. The world whispered of a God that was on the poor’s side, and the humans dressed in riches cursed his existence. They spoke of the Sun God from the Great Kingdom finally entering the war the country was in against the Twenty Kings.
Zoro saw a man who fought until his knuckles bled. A man who got back up no matter how many times he was hit. He saw a man who smiled at him as though he was the sun, knew everything that was wrong with him, and yet cared for him anyways.
“Enma,” Luffy had muttered, voice weak, but his conviction strong. “I couldn’t stand by.”
“I know, Nika.” Zoro had replied, running a clawed hand through Luffy’s snow white curls. They stretched under his hand, like everything around Luffy did. “Fool.”
The Great Kingdom, Luffy’s home island, was wiped clean of people just a week later. Luffy died along with it.
Zoro had shredded through the humans, fury making his attacks wild and destructive. He hadn’t even had a body to bury, hadn’t ever told Luffy just how much he meant to him. It would haunt him for the rest of his life, he knew it.
Hundreds of years passed before Zoro felt the flicker of Luffy’s presence again. He was now the Demon King, respected and feared and yet it was never what he had wanted. The new man – Joy Boy, he was called – was a pirate with bright green eyes and dark hair. He was from Wano, a member of the royal family, Zoro would later learn. His grin was wide and his laugh was a familiar tune of shi-shi-shi and he didn’t flinch at Zoro’s arrival like the others around him had.
“Hi, Enma,” He had said.
Zoro had hugged him so tightly, Luffy’s body squished, and his laughs left him as wheezes.
His hair didn’t glow white, nor did his eyes peer red, but his body was still rubber. He stretched around in ways he hadn’t previously, and when Zoro expressed his confusion, Luffy had frowned and flexed his hands and claimed he was trapped.
“I need to get free,” he had said simply, shrugging his shoulders as if it hadn’t been a big deal.
Zoro stayed by his side, again. They traveled further in the world than they had last time, Luffy’s crew just as foolish as him. They made themselves enemies of the government, and Luffy always seemed more and more gleeful each time his bounty rose.
Almost every stop, Luffy would leave behind large blocks with his writing etched into it.
“They took my people away,” Luffy said, laying a hand flat over the writing. It was a dialect from the Great Kingdom, and Zoro felt a surge of rage at the reminder. “I’ll make them suffer with the reminder.”
“Good.” Zoro replied.
Luffy made friends with everyone. He was powerful in a way no one had seen in hundreds of years, and everyone was always eager to have a pirate like him protect them. Luffy only made agreements with the King of the Sea, Poseidon.
He would die before he could make true on it. He always did.
This time, Zoro died with him.
(“I thought you were stronger,” Luffy would say, one day, and Zoro would smile.)
_-_
Zoro woke in this new life when his body was only a few years old. His consciousness had buzzed in the back of his mind since his rebirth, but he had only truly woken up when his name was spoken.
“Enma, the sword that can cut through even the bottom of hell.” Kozaburo said, “Some of my best work.”
Zoro needed that sword. “Where is it?”
The old man waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s hope you never come across someone who can use it, brat. Now fix your stance.”
Zoro gritted his teeth and adjusted his footing. This body wasn’t a trained weapon, not like it had been long ago. Now, he was practically human. His skin was soft, and the sun hurt his eyes if he looked too long, and his fangs could barely even be called that. He wondered if Hell had forsaken him, let him grow in this new life as a human instead of the demon he was.
He trained. He trained until the sun fell and the moon rose, trained until his body ached and further still. Zoro couldn’t be complacent. One day, Luffy would return to this world, to him. And he needed to be ready, needed to be able to protect him this time. He couldn’t suffer with the knowledge that Luffy died again.
Zoro was nineteen when he met a kid with dark eyes and darker hair. He had a scar on his face and a grin that made his cheeks stretch further than a human’s should and he wore a straw hat.
“You should join my crew,” The boy said, laughing a familiar tune, “Enma.”
Zoro grinned and it felt feral on his face. Too dark, too pleased. “Make me, Joy.”
Later, after they are in a small boat and coasting along the sea, he introduced himself.
“Zoro,” Luffy had said, grinning as he threw his legs up in Zoro’s lap, “I like it.”
“I like Luffy,” Zoro replied kindly. Luffy smiled and laughed and agreed with a cheerful voice. It wasn’t Nika, nor was it Joy Boy, but it fit. Zoro wondered how many names they’d end up going through.
“A pirate, huh.” Zoro said a while later, “Couldn’t leave the life behind?”
“I’m going to be the Pirate King.” Luffy informed him. “I’m going to find the One Piece.”
“You wrote the One Piece,” Zoro laughed, but he wasn’t surprised. Luffy’s whims were always the strangest.
“Its not about that,” Luffy insisted, staring at him with those brown eyes of his. “Silly Zoro.”
Sometimes, throughout their lives together, Zoro found himself missing the deep red Luffy used to have when he went by Nika. Missed the eyes he had fallen in love with, but brown fit Luffy, too. Everything fit Luffy, really.
“Then what is it about?” Zoro said.
Luffy grinned and leaned back and told Zoro his dream. It was outlandish and insane and Zoro threw his head back and laughed. It was so Luffy.
-_-
“Zoro,” Luffy said, and Zoro flinched.
Luffy stared at him, but his gaze wasn’t harsh. There was no judgment in his eyes, though there rarely was. But Zoro knew what he saw, a demon who he had previously seen cutting ships in half and bathe in the blood of humans who wronged them, now defeated by a simple man. Zoro had been overzealous when it came to a battle with Hawkeye. It wouldn’t happen again.
“I won’t lose again,” Zoro said harshly. There was blood sticky on his skin, the taste of it still in his mouth. “Is that alright with you, Pirate King?”
Luffy smiled, running his fingers over Zoro’s eyes. He was the calm in the storm around them, people doing their best to stitch Zoro back together. Zoro let his eyes close and smiled when Luffy laughed. One thing that always stayed the same was his laugh.
“Sounds good,” Luffy said, “My swordsman.”
_-_
Zoro didn’t really like being away from Luffy. The first time he had gone to hell to do business after Luffy became a target of the government, he had resurfaced to find that Nika had been killed and his death glorified. Later, he had fought to make it back to Joy Boy’s side, only for the man to be fatally wounded, but still fighting. Still trying to hold on in a way no human ever quite managed to since.
(Zoro had screamed, an inhuman sound that made the battle around them freeze, and Luffy had smiled. His lips moved in a silent apology and Zoro had watched the way he crumbled, how blood had leaked past his lips. With a wail of nononono, Zoro had dived to catch him. It was the last human sound Zoro made in that life.)
So, Zoro wasn’t too pleased to have been separated from Luffy almost immediately after docking at Alabasta. The crew seemed to share his sentiment, though for a different reason.
“We can’t be seen,” Vivi muttered, “There are marines everywhere!”
“Let’s find the shitty captain and get out of here,” Sanji agreed, puffing at a cigarette.
Zoro looked around for the captain, keeping a hand planted on his swords. The fact that the marines were already this serious about going after Luffy made him anxious. They weren’t strong enough to take the government on, not yet.
“Luffy?” He muttered when he saw the idiot running their way…getting chased by Smoker.
“GO AWAY!” Nami yelled, panicked.
“HEY GUYS!” Luffy yelled in kind.
Zoro laughed under his breath, standing and pulling his swords from their sheath as the crew yelled and scrambled to run. But, before Zoro was forced to do anything, a wall of fire burst behind Luffy and a man formed after a few seconds. The Whitebeard tattoo on his back made Zoro’s hair stand on edge.
Fire Fist Ace, an easily recognizable commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Why he would be helping them, Zoro didn’t know. But he didn’t like it.
“Luffy!” Ace said, “I’ll handle it from here!”
Luffy stared at the man for a long moment before he laughed and turned around. “You heard him, let’s go, guys!”
Later, when they made it back to the Going Merry, the crew blew up.
“Who was that guy?” Nami asked, concerned. “Why was he helping us?!”
“That’s Portgas D. Ace.” Vivi said, “He’s a Whitebeard commander.”
“Whitebeard?” Luffy said, looking confused.
“You know,” Sanji waved a hand around, “An Emperor of the Sea?”
Luffy looked indifferent and shrugged. “That’s Ace,” he replied, “He’s my big brother!”
Zoro froze. “Brother?”
Luffy looked over to him, his face morphing into something a little more serious. Zoro remembered how Luffy had died because of his brother. The shock of his death, the rage he felt at the man being taken away from him. It made him sloppy, and it was that day that Joy Boy died and was wiped from history.
“Yep,” Luffy said casually. “He’s real strong, but I bet I could beat him now, shishi!”
“Is that so?” Ace asked, jumping up onto the railing. He had freckles on his face and silver in his eyes. He bowed and thanked them for taking care of his reckless little brother, and Zoro knew instantly that this was a new man. A new brother.
He hoped he didn’t get Luffy killed, this life.
-_-
“The government wants to kill you because you can read Poneglyphs?” Luffy asked.
The newest member of their crew, Nico Robin, nodded her head. She held a book between her hands and elegantly closed the hard covers together, smiling like this was all a pleasant conversation. Luffy looked confused, his lips thinning slightly.
“But,” he said softly, his hands curling into fists. Zoro watched as Luffy’s shoulders shook and couldn’t tell if it was from rage or sadness. He looked over to Zoro, his expression lost.
Zoro cut in, putting a hand on Luffy’s shoulder and manhandling him off the deck. Nami tried to stop him, concern on her face, and Usopp tried to ask what was wrong. Robin’s gaze felt like she was dissecting them.
“Zoro,” Luffy mumbled, “Zoro,”
“I’m here,” Zoro assured and closed the door to the boy’s room quietly behind them. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Luffy said, matter of fact.
Zoro squinted at him. Luffy wasn’t one to get upset for no reason. “What?”
“I don’t know!” Luffy stressed. “Why are the Poneglyphs so important?”
“Because,” Zoro said slowly, “It has the history the Marines want to erase. Your history.”
Luffy looked at Zoro with wide eyes. “They want to make people forget I was from Wano?” The way he said it, made it seem like he knew it was wrong. Like there was something else he was missing.
Cold washed over Zoro. “No.” Zoro said softly. “They want to erase Nika.”
“Nika,” Luffy mumbled, repeating the name a few more times. He looked like he recognized it, but at the same time, he acted as though something was missing. “Who…?”
“You are,” Zoro replied, a touch hysterical. “Nika, the Sun God.”
Luffy shook his head before he covered his eyes. That night, when the crew was all asleep, Zoro and Luffy stayed in the crow nest. Zoro spoke for hours, hushed and just for Luffy’s ears, of what he could remember of their past. Sometimes, Luffy would finish a story for him, eyes lighting up when he remembered something. But he stayed quiet for a majority of the time, mouthing names or looking saddened by the story that was his first life.
Zoro had never seen any drawbacks from this cycle Luffy was in. He always thought how he’d get several lives with the man he loved.
He never thought that Luffy might not remember them all.
_-_
“Merry is going to die.” Zoro said.
Luffy put his hand on the Going Merry’s head, patting it gently. “I know.” He replied softly.
Zoro had always been attuned to death in a way no other being quite managed to be. He was the Demon King and death was his right-hand man. But Luffy had always heard the voice better than Zoro did, the song every living thing put off. He heard it as though everything was singing for him and him only.
Luffy always knew when life would end, just as Zoro did. They hadn’t needed shipwrights to tell them this.
“We’ll need a new ship.” Zoro said simply.
Luffy muttered an agreement. The crew wouldn’t take it well, Zoro knew. Luffy wouldn’t take it well. The Going Merry was a friend and she had been there since the start of their journey.
Zoro wouldn’t take it well. But he had to stay strong for Luffy, for the crew. It was his duty to hold them all together when the captain couldn’t.
“What will you do about Usopp?” He asked after a long moment.
Luffy put a hand on his hat, standing after giving Merry one last pat. He looked over to Zoro, his face blank, but his eyes had always been so expressive.
“Let’s go, Zoro.” He muttered. The crew waited for them down at the shore. Their goodbye to Merry was finished.
“Aye, Captain.”
-_-
“Gear Two?” Zoro asked.
Luffy smiled wistfully, raising a hand up to clench and unclench his fist. Zoro watched the way his muscles moved, how his callouses were hit with the sunlight just so. He smiled and laughed, and Zoro watched. He’d watched Luffy for two lifetimes, and he didn’t think it would ever be enough.
“Cool, right?” he said.
“Yeah,” Zoro agreed, because it really was interesting. “You didn’t have that last time.”
“I know.” Luffy said, sitting up from his lazy sprawl. The Thousand Sunny had been out at sea for a couple of days, and so far, things have been quiet. Franky was loud and Usopp was right by his side, cheering and creating new things, but the sea was peaceful. Zoro knew it wouldn’t last long.
“How does it feel?” Zoro asked.
Luffy made a face, putting a hand over his chest. “My heart tries to beat outta my body.”
Zoro almost mentioned how Luffy tended to make him feel that way. He bit his tongue to stop himself.
“Still trapped?” Zoro muttered.
Luffy stretched the skin at his wrist. It snapped back with a loud noise. “I don’t think I’ll ever be free again, Zoro.”
Zoro would do anything for him. He’d skin a man and return it to Luffy, should he even indicate he wanted it.
“I’ll make sure you’re free.” Zoro vowed.
Luffy smiled at him, and that was all Zoro ever really wanted.
_-_
“Take me instead.” Zoro said.
It was an easy decision. Luffy was already past his limit and if he were to get attacked again, no one would be able to do anything. Zoro couldn’t lose him, not when he just got him back. It was too soon for Luffy to die.
Zoro didn’t want to live another lifetime without him.
“Take me instead.” Zoro said.
The Warlord in front of him tilted his head, a curious action that came off as more analytical than anything else. Zoro wasn’t at his full strength; he wouldn’t be able to do anything should this man decide to kill Luffy.
He’d have to sit and watch.
“You are loyal to your captain.” Kuma stated.
Zoro bared his teeth and snarled, “I’d do anything for him.”
Kuma was silent for a long moment before, “Very well. You will take all his injuries. It will surely kill you.”
Zoro watched the big cloud of red leave Luffy’s body as the Warlord removed all his pain. Seeing Luffy’s injuries in such a way made him nauseous with rage and worry.
He should have protected him. Zoro always managed to fail at that. He was always too weak.
“I won’t die here.” Zoro said.
Kuma didn’t smile. “We’ll see, Roronoa Zoro.”
-_-
Zoro woke up to Luffy sitting by his side. There was a party going on in the background, music and laughter making his head pound. Zoro had trouble peeling his eyelids back, but when he finally managed it, he was greeted to the sight of Luffy sitting peacefully by his side.
It was always so strange, seeing Luffy still. He was a wild man with constant movement, and whenever he was really and truly still, it was always Zoro’s fault.
“Joy,” Zoro mumbled.
Luffy looked down at him. His eyes were almost cold, the look they got when he was serious. When he was angry.
“What happened to you?” Luffy asked.
Zoro flexed his fingers and remembered how it felt to dive his hands through Luffy’s pain, absorbing it like it was his own. He could see Sanji lingering not far away and remembered what it felt like to ram the hilt of his sword into the idiot’s side.
“Nothing.” Zoro said, soft. “Nothing happened.”
Luffy’s lips thinned before he sighed and closed his eyes. He smiled after a moment and offered Zoro a bottle of alcohol. He helped Zoro sit up, and while Chopper fussed around him, Luffy carded his fingers through Zoro’s.
“Don’t do something like that again.” Luffy said.
Zoro smiled as he took a long sip. “Not on your life, Capt.”
_-_
Zoro looked at the newspaper whenever things got rough. The pictures of Luffy, eyes shot wide and face full of anguish and his brother limp in his arms. The pictures of Luffy, full of rage and with teeth bared, acting like a wild animal in the carnage that was war. The pictures of Luffy, head bowed and paying respect while also telling his crew to meet in two years.
Zoro should have been there for him. Should have protected him from danger, should have saved his brother. But instead, he had been too weak and sent away from his captain.
He remembered, long ago, when Luffy had hair of snow and eyes like rubies, how Luffy used to fight. He’d go into battle with a simple spear, instead of any of the tech his people possessed, and would tear down squadrons without breaking a sweat. He’d been the strongest thing Zoro had ever seen, and whenever they sparred, Zoro found himself on his back half the time.
No one had ever been able to best him. But Luffy had always looked so beautiful doing so.
He wondered if Luffy ever felt helpless, knowing how strong he had been before like Zoro did.
“You don’t seem like the man to bow.” Mihawk said, suddenly.
Zoro looked up, indifferent. Mihawk liked to bring this up, sometimes, when he felt Zoro was pushing himself too hard. You don’t get skilled by overworking, he’d always say, and then he’d talk about bowing.
“I’m not.” Zoro said. He had never bowed to anyone, which was only natural for the Demon King.
“He must be something special.” Mihawk said, like he always did.
This was usually where Zoro would blow him off, sneer under his breath about how Mihawk didn’t know a thing, and then go to fight some monkeys.
Instead, Zoro looked back at the pictures. Luffy’s anguished face, his mourning one, the way he looked like a wild animal.
He remembered how Luffy had looked in their last life. How he had been a cornered animal that was grieving and wild and destroyed everything around him. It wasn’t the elegant movements Nika did, nor was it the wild ones Luffy did. Joy Boy had been different, always acting like he’d been caged. Feral, ready to bite.
He’d died in Zoro’s arms, blood on his face and an apology on his lips.
Special was not the word to describe Luffy. He was limitless in his possibilities, his presence. He was everything and everywhere and Zoro was nothing without him.
“He is.” Zoro said, and he had never meant anything more.
-_-
When Zoro sees him again, it’s like he’s taken his first breath for the first time in years. Luffy laughed like he had since the very beginning, and his grin wasn’t as wide, but it was still his. The moment their eyes met, Zoro was entrapped. Lost in Luffy, like he always was.
“Let’s go!” Luffy cheered, running past Zoro and Sanji and away from all the people chasing after him. He destroyed a Pacifista like it was nothing with pure willpower coating his arms. Zoro remembered how effortlessly Joy Boy used to fight using that energy and seeing Luffy master it yet again made him feel like his chest would erupt with butterflies.
The cook complained as they ran, but there was a smile on his face and a distinct lack of heat in his voice. They made it to the ship in no time and were descending under the ocean just as quickly. Zoro watched the crew reunite with their captain and couldn’t stop the joy he felt. It had been far too long since they were together, he had missed all of them.
It’s only after they stopped a civil war at Fishman Island that Zoro finally managed to get Luffy alone. He was taller, though not by much, and his skin is rougher. There is a scar over his chest, a large X that warped his skin and for a moment, Zoro couldn’t pull his eyes away from it. It’s physical proof that Zoro failed to protect him, again.
He hated it. Wanted to hunt down the man who caused it and pull him limb from limb, drink his blood, offer his head to Luffy. He’d do anything, anything, anything, if it made Luffy look lighter.
“How did you get this?” Luffy asked, leaning up to press his fingers against the scar dug over his eye.
Zoro bent slightly, making it easier for him to touch it. Luffy’s hands were rough as they flattened against his cheek and Zoro gave into the urge of pressing his face against his hand. He smiled up Zoro as though it was as easy as breathing when he should be furious. Zoro hadn’t been there. He was never there.
“I’ll tell you about it someday,” Zoro murmured, putting his hand on Luffy’s wrist gently. He wanted Luffy as close for as long as possible.
“Okay,” Luffy replied. He dragged his thumb against the scar almost reverently.
“I miss you,” Zoro admitted. He has spent every minute, every second, missing Luffy with every fiber of his being.
Luffy’s smile saddened slightly. Zoro could see it all, the me too, I missed you so much, where were you, why wasn’t I with you? Not for the first time, Zoro wanted to lean down and kiss him. Wanted to hold him like he would break if he didn’t do it gently enough, wanted to kiss him like he wanted them to mould into one, wanted to break his skin open and nestle between his ribs and still long to get closer, still.
“Do you want to get back to the party?” Zoro asked after a long moment, when his skin started to prickle, and he feared he’d do something stupid like grab onto Luffy and never let go.
“No.” Luffy replied, sounding almost wistful, “I want to stay here.”
Zoro let his fingertip run down Luffy’s arm just slightly before ghosting them back up to his wrist. Luffy shuddered like Zoro had much worse.
“You’re not usually one to turn down a party.” Zoro said, ignoring how breathless he felt. “What’s wrong?”
“Can’t I spend time with my swordsman?” Luffy asked.
Zoro grinned, “That’s not all, Joy.”
Luffy’s nose wrinkled before he giggled and leaned forward. His hat fell off his head, settling against his shoulder blades, and his forehead rested against Zoro’s chest. His hand ran down Zoro’s face before cupping his neck, and Zoro held him back on autopilot.
“I didn’t keep my promise.” Luffy said.
It took Zoro a moment to stop thinking Luffy, Luffy, Luffy, to recall what he was talking about. He closed his eye and hummed in reply. He had never really understood why Luffy had agreed to raise Noah, but he had known it was important to the man. When Luffy had sat down in the small forest on Fishman Island and carved a story into stone, of a man coming to raise it in eight hundred years, Zoro remembered asking why he would write such a thing.
“You’re raising it out of the sea, aren’t you?”
“Something tells me I won’t, Enma.”
Luffy had always been better at knowing things. All Zoro ever saw of the future was death.
“Eight hundred years.” Zoro mused, “Who says you won’t keep your promise after all?”
Luffy hugged him closer and didn’t say a word. His gratitude was clear as day.
_-_
“Gear Four is ridiculous.” Zoro said bluntly.
Luffy laughed so loudly everyone in the building turned to look at him in varying levels of surprise.
“You think so?” Luffy asked, still laughing lightly.
He was covered in bandages and his Haki was still depleted, but he was smiling like he had been declared the Pirate King. Zoro smiled, unable to stop himself.
“Very much so.” Zoro said. “Sabo seems nice.”
Luffy looked surprised for a moment before he grinned. “He is.”
Zoro had many questions, and he could tell Luffy had some too. But for now, Zoro was content with the knowledge that his idiot captain was still kicking, still smiling.
-_-
“Zunesha,” Luffy mumbled as they walked towards where the Minks were staying. Zoro had been on edge since seeing the large elephant once again. He remembered how Luffy used to sit on his head and talk to the thing for hours in their previous life. Zoro had never heard Zunesha, not like Luffy had.
“Luffy,” Zoro said.
Luffy met his eyes and smiled, speeding up to keep up with the group in front of them. He didn’t have to dismiss Zoro’s worry with words, the way his face relaxed was telling enough.
It didn’t take long to reunite with the crew (sans Sanji) and it took even less time for the Mink leaders to bring them within the tree. Raizo was chained to a red Poneglyph, and Zoro watched his reunion with his fellow samurai before he focused on Luffy.
Luffy looked at him before focusing back on the block of text. Zoro stood by his side and placed a hand on his swords. Luffy hadn’t written these. The Poneglyphs made of the red stone hadn’t been any of their doing, but it seemed just as old as the others.
“Maybe it was someone from the royal family.” Luffy said later that night, when they were under the protection of stars. He had turned down the Mink’s offer of a room, claiming that other people needed it more. Zoro stayed right by his side, camped under the stars.
“You taught them?” Zoro asked.
Luffy laughed and said, “Otosan thought it was a good way to keep royal messages private.”
Zoro hummed. Luffy never really spoke of his time growing up in Wano, though he had never really asked.
“Tell me about Wano.” Zoro said.
Luffy talked about a grand island with lovely cities and stuffy royalty standards. Zoro didn’t think there was a sound better than Luffy’s voice and relaxed the longer his captain spoke.
“Sounds beautiful.” Zoro murmured.
Luffy laughed and then his hand tangled with Zoro’s. “I’ll show you around.”
“I’ll hold you to that, Capt.” He replied.
Tomorrow, they would split up. Tomorrow, Zoro would say goodbye and shoulder the duty of getting their crew to Wano and starting their mission there. Tomorrow would be the last time Zoro saw Luffy for a long while.
“I don’t want to leave you.” Zoro said.
Luffy was quiet for a long moment, and it was always strange when someone as loud as him was quiet.
“You’re the only one I trust with this, Zoro.” Luffy said, firm.
Zoro kissed him. Their mouths slotted together messily, uncoordinated. Luffy jolted in surprise but didn’t pull back; instead, he leaned into it. Zoro clung to him like he’d disappear if he didn’t, fingers digging into the fabric of Luffy’s shirt, into the hair at the back of his nape.
It was messy, a rough clash of lips and tongue and teeth. Zoro had never had the urge to lock lips with anyone other than Luffy, and it felt like Luffy had felt the same.
It was everything to Zoro.
“I’ll see you in no time, silly Zoro.” Luffy said, breathless and panting. Zoro kissed him again, just because he could.
_-_
“Zoro?” Luffy asked.
Zoro looked over to him. The sword, Enma, was heavy in his hand; a misbehaving little thing that felt so familiar, Zoro felt like he couldn’t breathe. Luffy stared at him for a long moment before he put his hand on Zoro’s elbow, a furrow between his brows.
“Enma.” He said.
Zoro shuddered. In his hand, the sword pulsed and drew more of his Haki. To the people around them, it appeared like Luffy was interested in the sword. The crew knew Luffy was always a touchy person, especially when one of them were excited about something. They didn’t realize that Luffy was just speaking to Zoro.
Luffy squeezed his elbow, smiled, and stepped back. Zoro closed his eyes and concentrated on the sword in his hand and fought to get it under his control. He felt his Haki drain back into his body, rolled his shoulders, and then slashed. The cliff in front of him groaned before getting cut clean through, and Zoro listened to the surprised noises from the crew with one ear.
“Enma,” Zoro mumbled.
Suddenly, he felt sick to his stomach. It was only when he realized that he was trapped, that he longed for his freedom.
Luffy was back by his side, laughing as he wrapped an arm around Zoro. To the people around, it looked like a joyful captain celebrating his swordsman upgrade. To Zoro, it was clear that Luffy was holding him as though he would topple over any second.
“I’m trapped,” Zoro said, later that night when it was just them. Enma was cradled in his hands, and he couldn’t look away from the blade. How his power had gotten trapped inside, he had no idea. “I never realized…”
“It’s okay.” Luffy replied, patting his knee, “I’ll help you get free.”
That was Zoro’s job, though. He had vowed to help Luffy get free. But how was he supposed to do that when he couldn’t even help himself?
“We’ll figure it out.” Luffy insisted sternly. He put a hand on Zoro’s face and made him meet his eyes. They were burning and fierce and this was the look Zoro had fallen in love with. “I promise.”
“Alright,” Zoro mumbled, “I believe you.”
Luffy laughed lightly, smiling in that soft way he did sometimes. Zoro wanted to kiss him, wanted to hold him, wanted to tell him just how much he adored him. But then Luffy was pulling them up and talking about a little party, and really, how could Zoro try to take Luffy’s mind off a party?
-_-
Zoro felt like he couldn’t breathe. He put his hand against Luffy’s face, feeling the scar under his eye, the rubber feeling of his skin. His hair was black and his eyes were still brown, but not long ago (hours, days, he didn’t know) his hair had been white as snow and his eyes as bright as rubies.
“I haven’t seen that in quite some time.” It was casual, the way he said it. As though he was indifferent to it all, as if he couldn’t feel the way his heart thudded against his rib cage or how he was breathing as if he’d just been in a terribly long fight.
Luffy smiled at him, knowing. He’d always been able to read Zoro in a way no one else could. “Shishishi, right?”
Zoro sat next to his bed, observing his captain. His eye dragged along his bandaged form slowly, committing it to memory. He never liked seeing Luffy hurt, though this time was different.
“How do you feel?” Zoro asked lowly.
Luffy closed his eyes, humming slowly. It was a familiar tune, and Zoro felt his skin prickle when he recognized it. Luffy hadn’t sang that in a long time. Zoro couldn’t remember the last time he had heard it.
“Free,” Luffy said, grinning wide. “I’m free now.”
Zoro grinned along with him. He laid his palm out, and just like he had hundreds of years ago, Luffy let his bandaged one fall atop it.
Joy Boy was back – Nika was back. Zoro couldn’t wait to see what chaos he brought this time.
“You’re beautiful.” Zoro said.
Luffy’s nose wrinkled, grinning. His eyes shined. “Silly Enma.”
Zoro kissed him. His hands shook and he remembered the fear he felt when Luffy’s voice had been silenced and his death had been loud in his ears. He remembered the rush he had felt when he heard Nika’s irregular heartbeat and kissed Luffy desperately, trying to fight down the emotions clogging his throat.
“Nika,” Zoro whispered, voice cracking. Luffy looked wistful at the name, like he hadn’t heard it in so long. Like he had missed it.
Then, the door was bursting open, and more members of their crew rushed in, cheering their names. Zoro felt embarrassment flood him when he saw Nami’s wide eyes and dropped jaw.
“What the hell?” Nami said, mostly to herself.
Zoro ignored her and gladly started to fight with the cook to distract everyone.
_-_
“What was that, back there?” It’s Robin who asks, when they are out at sea for only a couple of hours and crowded together for lunch. Luffy stopped shoving food into his mouth for just long enough for the crew to catch onto it. Robin smiled just slightly, catching it like a shark would blood. “Captain?”
Luffy made a sound that he was paying attention. Zoro brought his bottle of sake up to his mouth and took a long sip.
“Yeah, it was amazing!” Usopp said, “I didn’t know your devil fruit could do that!”
Luffy smiled widely, “Me neither! Thought I lost it for good!”
That made the table pause. “You’ve done that before?” Nami questioned shrilly.
“Yeah,” Luffy said. He paused his eating for a moment, looking at his hands. He flexed his fingers before making a fist, expression tight. “I was trapped for so long…”
“Guess you just needed a little push,” Zoro said airily.
“Shishi,” Luffy looked at him curiously, “You never knew that?”
“I’ve never met a human like you, Luffy.” Zoro replied honestly.
He was bright in a way no other human ever was, selfless and kind but also ruthless in a way that was somehow gentle. He cared with his whole being, and Zoro admired it. He admired so many things about Luffy, sometimes he felt like he was driving himself insane.
It was almost comical when he thought about it sometimes, how someone like him fell for a human that broke all the rules in nature. All the rules in the hierarchy.
Zoro wanted him more than he needed air to breathe, needed his swords by his side. He didn’t know how long he had wanted, but he knew it was tearing him up on the inside. Knew that it got hard to breathe, made his chest ache, made him feel like he was burning up inside. Everything was only ever Luffy, Luffy, Luffy.
“What do you mean by human, Zoro?” Nami asked, suspicious.
“I think there is something the captain and swordsman hasn’t told us,” Robin said, though she was smiling like she knew. Like she understood.
“Well, I’m human.” Luffy replied, “And Zoro isn’t.”
“What?” Sanji said, “He seems pretty human to me.”
“Uh-huh,” Luffy replied, rocking on his heels.
He looked at Zoro from the corner of his eyes, a question and hesitance all in one and Zoro loved him. Loved him more than he could ever express, more than he’d ever thought he’d be able to feel, hundreds of years ago.
Zoro put his hand against the hilts of his swords, standing tall like Enma always had. Because it had been Enma that started this, and Enma needed to face it.
“I’m the King of Hell.” He deadpanned.
“Alright,” Nami said, clearly unamused, “Tell us the truth or tell us nothing.”
“He’s not lying.” Luffy said.
At the seriousness, the crew all paused. Differing levels of confusion and surprise washed over them, and Zoro waited. He waited for the yelling and the horror and the way they’d stare at him in terror, instead of the trust they always had. No one took the news that they were on a team with a demon well, no one ever had but Luffy.
There had never been another human like Luffy in the hundreds of years Zoro had walked this planet.
“What do you mean by the King of Hell?” Robin asked delicately.
She was elegant in a way most humans weren’t. Zoro had only run into people like her in the far past. Her poise was only seen in those who were royalty; the royals who cared, at least. Zoro had always admired that of her.
“It’s self-explanatory.” Zoro said, keeping his voice even. He didn’t want to seem as nervous as he truly was, but Robin’s keen eyes seemed to see through him in a way only Luffy had ever managed to. “I was born a demon, and through my bloodline and ranking, I was crowned King.”
“Demons exist?” Ussop nearly shrieked, shivering. His face paled and eyes shot around as though a beast would jump at him through the shadows.
“They aren’t too bad.” Luffy pipped in, shrugging.
“You’ve only met the nicer ones.” Zoro replied. Most of hell wouldn’t bounce around on the ground Luffy turned to rubber like the few hell spawn Luffy had met had.
“Uh-huh,” Luffy snickered, easy as anything.
“Wait a minute,” Nami said.
“Hold on,” Franky agreed.
“What the hell is going on?” Sanji demanded.
“It’s a long story.” Zoro said. He didn’t quite want to tell them it, either. But Luffy smiled at him, kind and full of light, and Zoro couldn’t fight the way a part of him wanted to say something. To tell someone what happened. Because Luffy had always been there, and Zoro never had to tell him a thing.
So, taking a deep breath, Zoro spoke.
_-_
“Do you think this will keep happening?” Luffy asked, one day. The ocean was calm, for once, and there was no one chasing them. No fights, no worries. Zoro couldn’t remember the last time the crew had the ability to just relax.
But Zoro knew Luffy wasn’t talking about the peace. He knew Luffy never craved peace, no like this. He craved peace in the way of people having food in their bellies and freedom in their lives. He craved peace that came after bruises and battles because, deep down, he was a creature that thrived off violence.
“What?” Zoro asked.
Luffy didn’t say anything for a long while. He stared out at the sea, wind blowing through his hair. His eyes were serious, but they tended to be. Luffy had always been carefree, but he had grown up in a time that was cruel and required bloodshed. Zoro didn’t know how he was such a kind soul, after all these years.
“This,” Luffy said, pressing a hand against his chest. Over the scar dug into his skin, the one he had gotten trying to save his brother. “I always fail. I thought I’d be stronger.”
Zoro knew it would keep happening. He’d known it when he found Joy Boy, had known it when Luffy stood over him and grinned. He’d known this would keep happening for years. Maybe Luffy would lose a brother again, maybe he’d lose a crew again. Zoro didn’t know that, but he did know–
“I’ll always be here.” Zoro replied. He put his hand on Luffy’s, and those dark eyes flashed to meet his. “Always.”
Luffy leaned forward and kissed him. No matter how many times it happened, Zoro didn’t think he would ever get used to it.
“Okay,” Luffy said.
In that moment, it was enough.
Zoro leaned forward and kissed him again. He got lost in the taste and the touch, the way Luffy curled forward until there was no space between them. Until Zoro couldn’t breathe, feel, think about anything but Luffy, Luffy, Luffy.
“Hey, lovebirds!” Nami called, waving at him. “There’s a storm coming, get your asses into gear!”
Luffy snickered against Zoro’s mouth, and Zoro held him there just a moment longer.
The sea never did stay calm, especially when Zoro wished it to.