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As far as Nami was concerned, Zoro was not sleeping when her, Luffy, and Sanji returned from the town.
Luffy’s general loudness had woken him up from his nap before they’d reached the ship, anyway, and he was standing at the prow of the ship when they climbed down the mast.
“Zoro!” Luffy immediately rushed over to him, all but vibrating. Crumbs of food still cling to his face, and Zoro resisted the urge to… do something about it (?). “Zoro! You’re not gonna believe what’s happening tonight!”
The cook rushed over to Robin and started saying… something, but Zoro didn’t care to listen. Besides, his captain was speaking to him, and he cared a lot more about Luffy than he did about that stupid cook.
“Fireworks!” Luffy mimed something exploding and wiggled his fingers around. “There’s a fireworks festival tonight, Zoro!”
“Okay.” Zoro shrugged.
“Zo-ro!” Luffy complained, drawing out the o’s. “You gotta come with us!”
Zoro shrugged again. “Sure.”
Luffy smiled, and Zoro felt like he was staring directly into the sun. “Great! C’mon, let’s go!”
“Luffy, the festival isn’t until tonight.” Nami called from the other side of the deck. “We can do some work around the ship first.”
“Work?” Luffy pouted.
“It’ll make the time pass quicker.” Zoro lay back down and closed his eyes.
“You’re not working.” Luffy pointed out. “You’re sleeping.”
“I watched the boat while you were gone.” Zoro responded. “I’m taking a nap.”
“Zoro probably slept the whole time we were gone.” Zoro could hear Luffy’s pout deepen. “You need to help too!”
Zoro shifted slightly until he found his preferred napping position. He had almost settled into sleep when something metal hit him over the head. Scowling, he sat up, clutching his head where he’d been hit. He cracked open his eyes to see Nami standing there, Clima-Tact in hand.
“You have to work too, Zoro.” Nami put her free hand on her hip. “We have more than enough to do around here!”
“Luffy can handle it.” Zoro tried to resume his napping position, but another hit on the head had his eyes watering as he finally stood up. “Fine.”
Luffy laughed as Nami nodded approvingly, and Zoro wandered off to find this ‘work’ that Nami insisted existed somewhere on the ship.
“We need to go!” Luffy called up to the kitchen, where Zoro had been hiding taking a break. “Come on Zoro! The fireworks are gonna start without us!”
Zoro blinked the sleep from his eyes and stretched before making his way out onto the deck. Luffy was all but vibrating where he stood next to the mast, and the rest of the deck was empty. Zoro heard footsteps above him, and looked up to see the others already leaving.
Luffy had remained onboard, for unknown reasons. Usually, he was the first to run off and do whatever he wanted to do. Here he was, though, second-to-last to leave.
As Zoro made his way down the stairs, Luffy grinned and laughed as he placed a hand on the mast. “Hurry up!”
Zoro increased his pace slightly, and as soon as he got close, Luffy scampered up the mast. He followed behind him, easily climbing the mast and walking onto land.
Luffy was waiting for him when he got off the mast, too. With a grin and a laugh, he grabbed Zoro’s hand and pulled him along, running headlong into the trees and, presumably, toward the area where the festival was taking place.
The festival was nice enough.
There was booze, which he had enough money to buy. He drank one drink at a time but had still managed to spend most of his money by the time the fireworks show actually started.
Luffy had dragged him up front with him, and the others stood behind them. Usopp was missing, but Zoro trusted that he would eventually appear. After all, how much trouble could he get into on such a peaceful island?
Instead of letting go of Zoro’s hand once they’d reached the front, Luffy continued holding it. His hand was slightly sticky from whatever he’d eaten earlier, and something about the contact made Zoro feel… odd.
“Look! It’s starting!” Luffy pointed at the sky with his free hand, where a firework had bloomed into the night sky. It was soon followed by another, then another, until the sky was filled with streaks of light.
Zoro watched them passively. He wasn’t immune to the wonder of it all, but he felt hyperaware of Luffy next to him. He had the strange urge to look at him and watch his reaction to the light show above them.
After a couple of minutes, he gave into the temptation to look at his captain.
Luffy was smiling from ear to ear with his mouth open, eyes wide. The fireworks painted the skin of his face in different colors, and he laughed as he traced the lines of light.
The fireworks were beautiful themselves, but Zoro found himself entranced by the way they reflected across Luffy’s eyes. Brown momentarily turned to blue, green, red, every color under the sun as the explosions seemed to erupt from the center of Luffy’s eyes.
Suddenly, Zoro’s chest tightened, and he looked away to get his breathing under control. The fireworks were a much safer sight, and he looked up again as his hand twitched in Luffy’s hand.
The night was warm, but he felt warmer still. He was sure his hand was starting to get clammy, and he tried to take a swig of his drink to get rid of the feeling. Unfortunately, his cup was empty, and he looked down at it with a frown.
“Zoro, look!” Luffy tugged at his hand and Zoro obediently followed his pointing finger. “That one’s the same color as your hair!”
The firework in question was a light green color, and Zoro stared at it. After deciding that his hair was a similar color but not exactly the same, he shrugged slightly and continued watching.
Eventually, his eyes wandered back to Luffy. He was cheering now, moving their joined hands up and down in glee. The fireworks still reflected in his eyes, and Zoro watched them roam around, following the lights.
He was so focused on the colors that he didn’t notice Luffy looking at him until he said, “Whacha looking at me for, Zoro? There’s fireworks!”
Zoro blinked and his eyes watered, and he realized that he hadn’t blinked at all while he’d been watching Luffy’s eyes. He sputtered slightly and pulled his hand out of Luffy’s. “Uh, it’s noth- no reason. Yeah, fireworks.”
Luffy reached out and grabbed Zoro’s hand back before pointing up again. “Look at that one!”
Once again, Zoro looked back up, determined not to let his eyes stray from the sky again.
Finally, a large firework erupted, and everyone began leaving. Luffy laughed and looked back at the rest of the group, gushing about how cool that was! and did you see the one that was the color of Zoro’s hair?
Even as he gestured with his hands, he still held onto Zoro’s hand, gestures slightly hindered by the connection. He didn’t seem to notice, though, and no one commented on it.
Then again, what was there to comment on? Him and Luffy were holding hands. Zoro had expected him to drop his hand by now, but who knew what was going through Luffy’s head? The crew wasn’t in the habit of asking questions about Luffy’s behavior.
Luffy’s hand stayed in his as the group wandered back to the Merry. Everyone continued to chat about the festival, except for Zoro. Despite the fact that the fireworks festival had just happened, he couldn’t remember anything besides the lights in Luffy’s eyes and his warm hand.
Finally, Luffy disconnected their hands to get back on the boat, and Zoro immediately missed the feeling. He shook his head to dismiss the thought and followed after him, making his way towards his hammock.
He had settled in to sleep when Luffy spoke. “Hey Zoro, did you like the fireworks?”
Zoro thought about sticky hands and lit-up eyes and the warmth that still lingered in his chest.
“Yeah, I did.”