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I don't need to show it to anyone
For something beautiful to be beautiful
I already know it is
– PINK BLOOD, Utada Hikaru
Humans think gods know everything in the world.
And because of this, humans started believing gods can do everything that surpasses even their own imaginations. Because of this, even gods started believing they are capable of doing the impossible.
Of course the gods would know everything, humans would say. They have lived longer than the rest of us. And the gods would answer, without fail: of course we know everything. We have lived longer than the rest of you.
Then what if a god, who’s supposed to know everything, meets a human who never believed in any gods at all?
When the green-haired human started appearing, the god had merely watched from afar. For some reason, this human is always alone. He would walk through this forest, scratching his head with one hand while the other rests on strange sticks on his hip, and walks away. Most days he would come back to the same spot for how many times until night falls, and the god would assume he finally found his way.
It’s curious, though, how often this happens. So much so that the god got used to this human and would continue to watch him for entertainment.
Slowly but surely, the human with the strange sticks on his hips has become part of this god’s days. Most times the god would assist the human on his way using the winds and the trees. Other times he would ask the little animals to make way for the human using their own way of looking for food. The animals always tell him the human would only seldom follow them.
“He went right when you guided him left?” he says, falling over with laughter when the birds confirm it angrily.
Every time the god helps the human and the human actually finds his way, the human would be huffing to himself as if he was laughing. He would say things like, “watch that, Nami!” or “I’m not lost” under his breath while grinning at the canopy above him. One time, he yelled so loudly while raising both hands in the air as if in triumph, surprising the god resting on a tree branch and the little critters around him.
These things made the god more and more curious of the strange human who never admits he lost his way. The animals, meanwhile, are already tired of him.
“Nooo, let me watch him more,” the god whines as the deers and racoons drag him away to focus on his godly duties.
One day, the human came through the forest with company. Another human was with him, one with curly hair, a long nose, and a bigger stick on his back that is round on the end with a ball hanging between it. This long-nosed human is clinging onto the human with the hip-sticks, looking around as if scared.
What a strange stick, the god thinks, staring at it. He watches the humans in silent amusement as they trudge through the woods.
“Z-Zoro, are you sure you’re going the right way with this ‘shortcut’? Where the hell are we?”
The human with the sticks — who the god now learns has the name Zoro — only grunts. “Of course I’m sure. Are you saying we’re lost?”
The other human bristles and points an accusing finger at him. “We are lost, you head-for-bull! Oh gods, I hope we don’t run into anything. W-what if… what if we run into the god of this forest?!”
The human named Zoro frowns. “God?”
The funny-nose human nods vigorously. “Yes! The god that resides in this forest! What if we’re trespassing in his territory and make him mad and he banishes us from Earth?!” The trees rustle above them and the human flinches with a shriek. “Zoro! Get us out of here!”
The human named Zoro scoffs. “There are no gods here, Usopp. I’ve walked through these trees a thousand times and have never encountered one.”
“Of course not! Gods don’t show themselves.”
“Why not?”
“Because they don’t have to!”
Another scoff. “Then they are cowards.”
“}+<${!}€{\•?!?!?!?!?! ZORO!!”
“What?” the human named Zoro retorts, dragging the bawling long-nosed human with him. “I don’t believe in gods.”
The sobbing human named Usopp sniffs loudly and snaps, “Well, I the fuck do! Be considerate of your friend, you blasphemous toad!”
The human named Zoro huffs with a smirk. “As I’ve said, I don’t believe in gods. So you’re safe with me.”
“What kind of logic is that?!?!?! ”
The god decides he likes this other crying human named Usopp, so he teases him a little. He blows winds against his legs and lifts his hair in ways that are not natural that it makes the human named Usopp scream. He drops spiders on both the humans’ shoulders and has the birds fly around their faces as the human named Usopp tears up again. At one point, the god lets out a laugh that blends with the blowing wind and the human named Usopp all but faints in his companion's arms after insisting he hears a voice.
Yet, despite all this, the human named Zoro does not acknowledge any of it. He heaves his friend on his back and walks off without looking back. The god watches after them in longing and sighs, asking the little critters to guide the humans’ way again.
The human named Usopp doesn’t appear anymore but the green-haired human named Zoro still does. He keeps appearing through this part of the forest even after that day and despite the almost-convincing persuasions of the human named Usopp.
What a shame – the god actually liked the long-nosed human named Usopp.
The god remembers how the human named Zoro kept saying he ‘doesn’t believe in gods ,’ which could explain why he never acknowledges the things he does. Didn’t The Creator tell him humans won’t see him unless they believe in him?
He watches the same human who came just a little earlier again, napping against the trunk of the tree.
“Then what do you believe in?” the little god mumbles, staring down at him. “What a strange little human.”
The god’s figure is smaller than the human, but his being is bigger than the entire forest. Even the trees around them rustle in excitement as their precious god settles himself on top of the human’s lap – in a crisscrossed seating position he learned from past humans.
He looks down at the green-haired human named Zoro with a curious furrow of his brows. He crosses his arms, hums to himself, then leans forward because he knows he weighs nothing at all if the human doesn’t believe in him.
Or so he thought.
“Mmm? What the hell is on me—“ The little god startles in surprise as the human stirs from his nap. He was about to jump off when the human grabs his hips on both sides as if on instinct, making him immobile. His eyes remain wide as the human yawns and sits up, shaking his head slightly before blinking his eyes at the god before him.
They stare at each other for a second, and then two, and then—
“Who are you?” the human blurts out, releasing his grip on the god in surprise. But the god was too frozen to answer nor to move, so he could only stare back at the human with wide eyes.
“Where… where'd you come from?” the human mumbles, seemingly unnerved by the silent staring of the figure on his lap. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at said lap. “Why are you… why are you on my lap?”
The god finally reacts with a shade of red slowly filling his cheeks. He doesn’t really know why he can feel his cheeks heating up. “You… you can see me?”
The human’s brows furrowed at the question. “Of course I can see you. Who are you?”
The god shakes his head. “You’re not supposed to see me.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
The god crosses his arms again and scrutinizes the human in front of him, as if daring him to do something. The human, who is now more confused than alarmed, only stares back in waiting.
The god huffs. “You’re not supposed to see me.”
“You just repeated what you said.”
The human sighs heavily, realizing for the both of them that their conversation is going nowhere. He sits up against the trunk of the tree, frowning at the god on his lap. This human may be assuming the figure on his lap is a human and not a god. The god huffs again but more to himself, because what a weird little human – not even past humans he befriended were like this.
Now, as for why his cheeks are still heating up…
“What’s your name?” the human finally asks after a while, making the god look at him.
Name? Does the god have a name that humans can easily understand? He thinks back to his long life, meeting different humans and creatures and gaining their trust, and he vaguely remembers receiving a human name in the earlier stages of his life. From some humans who had left a heavy impression on him…
Name… name….
“From now on, your name is Luffy,” the humans had said with a grin that filled up their entire faces. “And you are our little brother forever.”
“Luffy,” the god simply replies. He remembers what his brothers had taught him and continues, “How about you?”
“Zoro,” the green-haired human answers as he calmly lays an arm behind his head. He doesn’t seem to mind that the god is on his lap anymore. “I’m a swordsman.”
The god brightens up, reminiscing of another human who also called himself a swordsman as he sang songs of the seas. “That’s so cool! Do you use your sticks to fight and cook as well?”
“Yeah, I fight and coo— fight and cook ?” the swordsman sputters, looking at the other incredulously. “Cook? We don’t cook with swords.”
The god pouts. Another human he met before used similarly sharp tools to cut through their food for that day. He can never forget that delicious human meal he had for the rest of his life. “But they cut things, right?”
“Yeah, but—“
“Then you fight and cook!”
“Look here, what you’re thinking of are not swords. Those are—“ The swordsman stops, staring at the other. The god continues to beam at Zoro in excitement, his grin so wide it’s almost blinding. Zoro eventually just sighs and shrugs.
“Sure. I fight and cook.”
“Amazing! You’re amazing, Zoro!”
The swordsman chuckles and shakes his head in response. “That’s an exaggeration.”
The god only laughs and jumps off Zoro, stretching his arms out towards a branch on the tree across from the tree where Zoro lay. The human stares after him with wide eyes, as if he could not believe that someone managed to jump so high and stretch so far without much effort. The god settles himself upside down on the branch, imitating the bats that reside in the caves.
“Luffy,” Zoro calls out. It took a minute for the god to remember he is ‘Luffy’ before he looks over. He needs more time getting used to being called by that name. “What are you?”
The god named Luffy chuckles. “Me? I’m a god.”
He notices the way Zoro frowns. “A god?”
“A god!”
“You… How are you a god?”
He tilts his head in a way his upside down body can tilt his head. “I’m a god because I’m a god.”
Zoro still looks confused. “Who said so?”
“My Creator said so.”
“Creator…?”
“The Creator who built this world. The land you walk on. The sky we look up to. The animals you’ve seen. Me. You.” He finally lifts himself up and sits upright, once again criss crossing his legs in a way one of his brothers used to. “This forest you and I are in, I’m its god! The Creator gave it to me as a gift, a place I could do whatever as long as I protect it.”
Zoro seemed to accept the explanation even though he didn't seem convinced yet. “I find it hard to believe you’re a god.”
The god named Luffy makes a face. “Why’s that?”
“You… Well, you don’t look much younger than I am, right? Aren’t gods supposed to look like… old, bearded men with a stick?”
The god named Luffy hums, racking his brain for the familiar description. “That sounds like Old Man Gan Fall. Do you know Old Man Gan Fall?”
Zoro scowls. “To hell if I know this Gan Fall guy. Is he your dad?”
The god named Luffy starts laughing loudly, ignoring the grumbles from the human below. He even almost falls off the branch at one point.
“That Old Man Gan Fall? My dad ?! You’re so funny, Zoro.”
Red fills Zoro’s face again as he looks away. The god named Luffy is curious at the constant changing colors of his face and wonders if the heat on his cheeks are the same. “Shut up. If you’re a god, then Usopp was– Do you live here, then?”
The god named Luffy nods, playfully swinging on the branch. “I’m always here when you pass by! Do you really never notice that I’m here?”
Zoro hums. “Now that you mention it, I’ve always felt as if someone is nearby...”
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.” Zoro stares up at him curiously, a brow rising up in interest when the god easily falls back to the ground in front of him. “What else do you do as a god?”
“Many things! But telling you is not enough. As you humans say, ‘seeing is believing,’ so I assume this is the same in your case.”
He jumped back on Zoro’s lap excitedly, pushing his face forward again. Zoro noticed how the god didn’t weigh anything at all. It was like nothing was on his lap, but the god is right there— glowing, beaming, and has no concept of personal space.
“What do you think, Zoro?” The god named Luffy persists, resting his forehead on Zoro’s. “Would you like to walk with me? I’ll show you everything you want to know.”
The swordsman had completely given up trying to resist the close proximity of this strange little being, so he merely stared up at the god with a frown on his lips. The god named Luffy waits for his answer, patient as he’ll ever be, since he has all the time in the world. Then, as if the human made up his mind on something, he finally responds with a smirk.
“Sure. Why not?” The god named Luffy rejoices at this and drags the human with him with a loud laugh.
They spent the whole day traversing through many parts of the forest. At some point they were accompanied with the little critters that have a grudge on Zoro (they are sick of him), but for most of the day it was just the two of them.
The god named Luffy enjoyed watching Zoro’s face light up with every view that he claimed were breathtaking to see. He seemed to enjoy seeing the wonderful things of the forest that were not just endless tree trunks or bushes. By the end of the day, though he tried hiding it, the god named Luffy knew Zoro had an exhilarating day with him.
“I’ll see you again,” Zoro says as they bade farewell, way before the god could ask him if he’s coming back. The god named Luffy can feel the confusing heat on his cheeks again as Zoro offers him a grin.
“I’ll be here.”
Like a promise.
“I see you have made a new human friend.”
The god simply looks up at The Creator, who approached him as soon as Zoro left.
“All of them believed in gods,” the god starts. “How does this one see me if he doesn’t believe in gods?”
The Creator hums, already brimming with knowledge. “His lack of faith for higher beings does not affect his respect to the winds, the spiritual essence of the things around him, and the graces of nature. Perhaps, as you are one with the winds and the earth around him, he has come to be aware of your being even without his knowledge. Although he does not believe in god, he believes in you– the one thing that guided him his entire life.”
The god pauses at this, feels his cheeks heating up again, then asks, “Are you going to stop me?”
The Creator raises a brow. “From what?”
“From befriending this human.”
“You’re a god with your own consciousness and I’m merely your creator. Why should I stop you?”
“I don’t know. Are humans and gods even allowed to collide? I’ve heard humans from the past claim so.” The god refers to the past humans he had befriended, who warns him that not all humans would be the same as they are. He doesn’t know what that particularly means, but he could feel their sincerity at that time.
The Creator only gives him a light laugh. “There are definitely different kinds of humans as much as every tree in your forest has their own differences. But who am I to deprive you of experiencing them? I am not your parent.”
The god gives the Creator a helpless smile. “Sometimes I wish you were.”
“Believe me, dear one. Feel fortunate that I am not.”
“Oh, and–” The god chuckles to himself, before cheerfully telling the Creator, “Call me Luffy.”
The Creator’s eyes visibly twinkled. “Very well, Luffy.”
Zoro would come by more often after that and the god would greet him every day without fail. At first he would tease him with the winds and the leaves until Zoro would demand him to show himself, which he would do without hesitation as he laughed.
As the days go by, the god has started recognizing himself more as Luffy thanks to Zoro always referring to him as so. He perks up instantly now when Zoro calls him from the other side of the woods.
Slowly but surely, they become closer. When Zoro comes by, the god Luffy would drop by beside him or float above him, asking him questions about outside the forest and what Zoro does for a living. He says he is a swordsman, that he lives in the town beside this forest with his friend Usopp, and that he wanders the trees because he has nothing else to do after his sword training. The god Luffy listens to him, amused.
He would later accept that Zoro does not, in fact, cook, as they both stare in horror at whatever abomination Zoro managed to make over the fire. He does know how to hunt, though, and Luffy at least remembers an advice from a past human as they grill the meat Zoro caught over the fire.
At one point, Luffy begins to sit on Zoro’s shoulders, who never minded even when he first sat there. Luffy could fly high and above if he wants to, but somehow being situated like this excites him more. Sometimes he would lean over until he was eye to eye with Zoro just to talk to him, but not once did the swordsman complain of his weird positions or how close he is as he used to.
(Only one time did Zoro warn him, because they quite literally ran into a tree.)
Luffy continues to persist with him about gods and supernatural beings. “Do you believe in gods yet?” he would ask.
“No,” Zoro would always answer with a roll of his eyes.
Luffy huffs and pouts. “Then what am I to you?”
Zoro frowns. “You’re Luffy. What else?”
And Luffy wouldn’t press any further, because there was something thrilling with the way this weird human apparently views him. Not as a god. Not as any other being. Just Luffy. A name given to him with such care a long time ago has somehow become a part of him once more.
—There was one particular habit of Luffy that seemed to be a problem for Zoro.
Luffy always pushes his face close to Zoro’s for the sole reason that he feels the most comfortable in such a position. Luffy had always assumed Zoro never minded – as much as he never minded Luffy lounging on his shoulders like the branches he sits on – since he never really commented on it and he never shies away.
So when he ends up almost meeting lips with the swordsman because of wrong timing on Zoro's part, Zoro later finds himself being angrily told off by the god situated on top of him.
“What was that?! Do you hate me?!”
Zoro covers his face with a hand and groans. “I don’t. Just forget it, Luffy.”
Luffy makes a sound of protest. “I really don’t get it! You reacted as if you saw a ghost and now you’re telling me to forget it? And what are you hiding your face for?!”
Zoro mumbles something under his breath, prompting Luffy to stop babbling. He peers at the other curiously, leaning forward until his own nose is touching the back of Zoro’s hand. The hand beneath his nose twitches at the contact.
Zoro opens his fingers at the feeling of Luffy's nose and peeks between them, eyeing the other. “What are you doing?”
Luffy pouts in response this time. “Really? Why are you covering your face?”
“Do you have to be so close?”
“Why are you covering your face, Zoro?”
“Luffy—“ He pulls at Zoro’s hand and keeps them in place at his side. He frowns when Zoro tries to pull them back and shakes his head when he voices a retort. Zoro eventually stops trying to get his hand back, but he continues glaring up at Luffy with his face so red.
“Don’t cover your face,” Luffy says with a laugh and leans forward again. “I like looking at Zoro’s face.”
“You—! Have you no shame?!”
The god laughs loudly. “Shame? Shame for what? For looking at your face?”
They wrestle for a while, though Luffy is clearly on the upper hand since he has Zoro’s entire arms in his own hold. The swordsman eventually stops struggling and settles on breathing heavily underneath the god, his emotions quite literally all over the place.
“You’re always straightforward, aren’t you?” Zoro lets out through gritted teeth, looking away from the intense stare of the figure above him. “You always say things without thought.”
Luffy stops and tilts his head, a little frown edging towards his lips. “Is that what you mean by shame?”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“But it’s the truth. It’s not without thought,” Luffy counters, resting his forehead on Zoro’s. “I finally understand why my cheeks keep heating up every time I look at you: I genuinely like looking at you! You’re really handsome, you’re addicting to look at, and looking at you makes me feel safe. I’ve never felt that with humans before. I’ve never known the need to feel safe.”
Zoro somehow falls silent at that and he doesn’t really move as they lay there, head against each other. Luffy closes his eyes and moves to lay his head on Zoro’s shoulder, making himself more comfortable. Eventually, he feels arms slinking around his waist as Zoro holds him in his arms. He feels the arms tighten around him as he moves again and laughs lightly.
“Zoro’s really strong,” he sighs as he closes his eyes.
“So are you,” the swordsman returns softly after a while, moving his head so his chin rests on top of Luffy’s head. Luffy opens his eyes in surprise, not expecting this from the other. “You’ve been strong all this time. You’re probably the strongest being I know.”
Luffy huffs, looking up. He doesn’t acknowledge their close proximity since Zoro seemed used to it already. “How do you know I’m strong without fighting with me?”
“Do I have to fight you to recognize power?”
“‘Power’ is too much. Are you just saying that because I’m a god?” he scoffs.
Zoro grunts. “I don’t believe in gods.” He leans further back against the tree and exhales. He watches the rustling leaves above them and closes his eyes.
Luffy smiles at this, knowing what’s coming next. “Ridiculous. Then what am I to you?”
Zoro offers him a small grin as well without moving an inch. “You’re Luffy. What else?”
As time passes, they’ve become close enough that everything has become normal for them. The hugs, the lying-on-top-of-Zoro moments that Luffy loves dearly, the playing-with-fingers as they walk, the close proximity, Luffy’s little humming as they sleep together, watching the stars together. Zoro still shies away when Luffy stares at his face, though.
— One night, as Luffy once again stares at Zoro as they have their dinner, he finally lets out the one question that has been itching at him ever since they got closer.
“Do you love me, Zoro?”
Zoro spits out what he was just drinking, choking the life out of himself as Luffy stares. When he calms down, he turns to Luffy with the widest eyes Luffy has ever seen on him.
“What? ”
“Do you love me?” Luffy asks again with a furrow of his brows. That wasn’t a reaction he was really expecting, but then again Zoro has always been shy. “Because I love you.”
Zoro coughs again and waves a hand at him as if to stop him. “Hold on— wait— wait— Luffy, you— you love me ?”
Luffy shrugs. “From the day I first saw you, but I didn’t want to scare you off.”
“What the hell do you mean by the day you first saw m—“
“So, do you?” Luffy demands, getting slightly impatient. Zoro stares back at him, wide-eyed, his bottled drink completely forgotten.
Seeing as Zoro seems to be stuck in place, Luffy decided to take the initiative. “Alright, I’ll close my eyes,” he begins, resting his chin on his knees. “If you kiss me while they’re closed, then I’ll take that as a yes. If you just walk away… then I’ll take that as a no.”
He hears Zoro finally sigh as he closes his eyes. “Is this necessary, Luffy?”
“Yes,” Luffy deadpans. Zoro sighs again. Without hearing any more retort from the swordsman, Luffy settles in himself and closes his eyes.
Luffy has always wondered what Zoro’s lips would feel like against his own. He’s had a fair share of kisses in his earlier life and learned what they mean to humans, how there is a level of intimacy that is involved with it. But somehow they are never whatever he’s looking for.
“That’s not it, ” one human exclaimed after they had kissed, her beautiful blue hair falling down her shoulders as she laughed. “It’s not it at all! Did you feel anything, friend? ”
And when he answered that he didn’t, she merely smiled in understanding. She gazed at him with bright eyes and said, almost knowingly, “It’s almost like you’re waiting for someone. ”
“Waiting for someone? ” the god repeated, puzzled.
“Like you’re reserved for someone else ,” she thoughtfully said, casually pinching his cheeks. “Like you can’t understand it until you experience it yourself! But not with me– someone you are destined to meet! ”
Having that memory in mind, Luffy was almost absolutely sure that Zoro would be that ‘someone.’ If he would be daring enough to exaggerate, he knew as soon as he got closer with Zoro that he’s the one he’s been ‘waiting for.’ So he wanted to test it out — test his fate out — and see if the kiss corresponds with this intimate feeling he has for Zoro.
If Luffy can finally acknowledge this feeling he has for Zoro as “love,” as the humans call it, and if Zoro would express it the same way.
But after a few moments, there was still no response. With impatience, Luffy opens his eyes– only to see Zoro walking away from him. He watches after the swordsman in disbelief.
There was an instant tightening inside his chest that he held by his hand, and he looked down at his chest, both shocked and confused. He turns to the ground, staring at the dirt and the small grasses that grow along with it, and his chest tightens more.
So… all of this… isn’t love… for Zoro?
What is it, then?
Luffy decides to confront him about it, looking up in alarm. “Zoro–”
He was cut off by a hand meeting his jaw and an arm slinking around him, pulling his body closer and closer until he’s met with a warm chest. Before he knew it, his chin was tilted upwards and his lips met another, as if desperate. The hand moves to the back of his head to pull his face further while the other hand balances him by the waist. Only when Luffy rested his hands on Zoro’s hips to steady himself did he notice the lack of swords, realizing Zoro had put them away.
“You said you’d keep your eyes closed,” Zoro quietly teases when he pulls away for a second, gazing at him with visible fondness.
Luffy laughs, his cheeks burning with heat. “My bad,” he quips and lets Zoro engulf his entire being in an embrace again.
Zoro kissed him like his life depended on it. He kissed Luffy as if he had been waiting all this time with a certain urgency that welcomes Luffy with open arms. With every disconnect of their lips, Zoro would connect them again – as if he was hungry, as if it meant everything to him, as if he’s running out of time, as if he can’t bring himself to stop anymore now that they’re kissing.
“Does that answer your question?” Zoro breathes out when they finally pause, only because Luffy pulled away first.
Luffy giddily wraps his arms around Zoro’s neck. “Very much so.”
Luffy presses their lips together again, excited beyond measure, and he admits to how good, good, good Zoro tastes. He pulls away just to pull him in again, addicted to his taste, the feeling of his hard-thumping heart in his own chest that he didn’t know he had, and the tremble of both their hands from excitement.
It’s you, he thinks to himself, gleefully opening his mouth as Zoro’s teeth clash against his. I knew it’s you.
“I want to hear it,” Luffy breathes out against his ear when Zoro moves from his lips to his neck.
Zoro presses his lips on the side of Luffy’s neck, who shudders at the sensation. “I’m in love with you,” he whispers, pulling Luffy closer, opening him up, his hands all over him, and— “Of course I am. I love you, Luffy. I didn’t know what the hell was it all about, but dammit, now I know it too well. I love you and I finally know that you do, too.”
“It’s you,” Luffy lets out in a hushed voice, speaking his thoughts in existence. He tilts his neck when he feels a hungry bite against his neck. “It’s really you.”
That night marks the day they have become one. With Zoro right above him, Luffy feels all the pleasures that can possibly make a human equal to a god.
And by the next day and the years after, Luffy would wear one piece of golden earring from Zoro’s collection of three — a promise, that they shall love each other forever.
—Years, years, years. Many years inevitably go by.
Though they try so hard to ignore it, time has become their biggest enemy. It was hard to ignore something that affects their daily lifestyle as a whole. Luffy can no longer sit on Zoro’s shoulders, so he lays his head on his lap instead. Zoro can no longer hike a mountain for half a day, so they spend a whole day doing it instead. Zoro can no longer see from very far, so Luffy sees for him instead.
Despite these changes, Zoro can still love Luffy the same way as they first became one. Zoro can still indulge Luffy and his nonsense conversations and shenanigans. Zoro can still leave Luffy breathless, can still shy away from Luffy’s shamelessness, can still redden brightly when Luffy wins him over with a kiss.
Zoro is still Luffy’s Zoro, no matter what.
“Do you still not believe in gods, Zoro?”
The other chuckles, lifting a hand to his earring. “Nah.”
Luffy snorts. “Then what even am I to you?”
At this, Zoro lifts his chin up. Despite the human wrinkles that signifies an older age than when they first met, his eyes are the same bright ones that Luffy knows too well. He smiles up at Zoro, his heart fluttering even after all these years, waiting for an answer from the other.
“You… are my Luffy,” Zoro whispers, his thumbs softly tracing Luffy’s lips and the god mark on his cheeks. He leaves a soft kiss to Luffy’s slightly parted lips and grins his signature grin at Luffy’s wide eyed features.
“My only Luffy.”
Zoro dies the next night, right next to him in his sleep. The smile on his face was enough to tell Luffy he died happily and without regret.
But Luffy, oh Luffy. This human pain of his very first heartbreak would never end for him as long as he lives.
The forest plants wilted and rained at the neverending sounds of his cries. The animals prayed for his peace, that one day it may come to him. And the humans nearby, who had always known Old Man Zoro to have an attachment to the forest, mourned with the god they knew protected one of their own as the rain continued to fall.
— Deep within the forest, its god cries against the earth.
Luffy punches the ground, trembling as he sobs. “This… this hurts. Why is it so painful? Why?” He grips onto the grass as he looks up at the Creator, who only watches calmly. “I am a god. I’m supposed to know everything. Why don’t I know this?”
The Creator hums. “It is inevitable. These are human feelings, after all.”
“Well, I know it now. I don’t want it ,” Luffy growls, throwing away the grass he dug and pulled out of frustration. He continued to dig his fingers in, he continued to pull out the soil, and he continued to throw them away until his fingers bled and were tainted with dirt and pain – something he never knew a god like him could feel. “I know it now. I don’t want it. I don’t want it. I don’t want it anymore, I don’t want it, I don’t want it, I don’t— “
The Creator only watches him calmly, and Luffy knows nothing else would be offered to him. This is his own doing— for falling for a human, for learning how to love a human, for learning how to love like a human.
“You should have warned me of this. You should have,” Luffy snarls at The Creator, knowing he just wanted someone to blame. Someone to throw a fit at. The Creator knows this too, of course, and lets him. “You should have stopped me!”
But deep within his heart, despite voicing how much he hated and wanted to get rid of all these feelings, he knows it is not true. He knows deep down, much to his utter damnation, that he wanted to feel this despite whatever outcome it may be.
He would remember every single detail about Zoro, every moment that they spent together, every laugh he heard from Zoro, every kiss they shared, every touch on his skin– he would remember everything and only because Luffy had loved him too much. Because he had loved him and loved that he felt this for Zoro.
This pain is a sacrifice for a feeling as gratifying as love.
The Creator knows that as well, of course. The Creator, above the gods, truly knows everything after all.
— And so it begins, the isolation of a god once bright.
* * *
Luffy, having spent the later years inside his own abode, never learned anything anymore about where Zoro used to be from. Ultimately, after having spent centuries mourning over his lost lover, Luffy just didn’t want to associate with humans anymore.
He traverses through the trees on the back of the forest’s holy beast. He made a new friend— one he accidentally created with the soil he squished and his tears that fell along with it. From under that very soil, a fluffy little thing popped out of it and blinked at Luffy as he gathered it in his arms.
Luffy named the beast Chopper, and only because it sounded decent enough. Definitely not because Zoro was a swordsman who “chopped” things for him before.
“Chopper, have you seen the crows yesterday? They didn’t come for their daily feed,” Luffy casually asks, his arms hanging off the beast. Over the years, the beast had learned to grow ten times its size for the little god’s convenience.
The beast grunts. “They had a party yesterday.”
Luffy gasps loudly, standing up then dropping his entire body against Chopper’s face. “Without me?”
“You eat all their food at parties,” the beast retorts, then adds as if in reassurance, “They didn’t invite me either.”
But Luffy was already ranting continuously to himself. “The audacity of those birds! After I gave them a space to live in! Well, I remember 50 years ago when—“
Chopper only sighs and walks along the forest, the trees seemingly paving the way he walks.
Hundreds of years have passed since that day, which ironically marks Chopper’s birth as well. Though the beast doesn’t know the full details of how he was born, he has heard enough from the other beasts of the forest and the whispering trees to have some idea of it.
This god had fallen in love with a human a long time ago. The human was named Zoro. The human was the only one who called the god Luffy until it really became his name. The human had green hair. The human had long, sharp sticks that could slice a rock in half. The human had a terrible sense of direction. The human doesn’t smile much, but he effortlessly does behind Luffy.
The human had loved Luffy until his very last breath.
Chopper wanted to meet this human to know why Luffy had fallen for him and to share how much Chopper himself loves Luffy as well. The love given to Luffy by all the things that exist within this forest are as big as he is – so full, so abundant, so much that it could flood them all if it were the river water. Would it not be wonderful to share that love with a human who loved Luffy the same way?
As Luffy went on about prejudice from birds while Chopper walks on, the beast’s thoughts are interrupted by a sound in the distance– something so alarming that it actually mutes Luffy’s venting voice completely. His ears strain to the direction of the sound, then panics settles in as he realizes how close the source actually was from where they are.
“Luffy, we got company,” Chopper hisses, turning to a normal reindeer size and catching Luffy again on his back. The god blinks in surprise as his arms sway on each side of Chopper’s torso, looking helpless
“Company? No one knows how to navigate this forest anymore after you were born,” Luffy protests as Chopper turns away from the sound.
“Anything is possible,” Chopper returns with a huff, quietly sauntering away with Luffy still hanging on his back.
Luffy makes a noise of retort. “Wait! I need to see who this daring company is.” And before Chopper could react, Luffy reaches out for the branches and starts swinging towards where the sound came from. Chopper couldn’t even believe the god already figured out where the sound was.
“Luffy!”
Luffy reaches the source in no time and was surprised to see that it was indeed another living being – a human , of all things. With distaste, he watches as the figure wrapped entirely in some weird metal clothing struggles through the trees and bushes while they mumble to themselves.
Looking at the metal clothing, Luffy remembers his brothers’ stories and thinks this may be a knight . He also remembers these knights being under some rulers called kings and queens , so he truly wonders of the knight’s purpose here.
“That princess, making me look for fruits I never heard of before,” Luffy hears the human knight grumble as if to answer him, still struggling as they trudge through the leaves. “Mikans? What the hell? How are those different from oranges?”
As far as Luffy knows, the fruits are on the other side of this forest. He rolls his eyes and scoffs at the human.
“You’re going the wrong way,” Luffy drawls out with a heavy sigh. The first human in a long while and it’s someone who can easily get lost.
Heh, Luffy thinks. Kind of like—
“Really? Thank you,” the knight replies, turning to the other direction. Luffy stops picking at the bark of the branches , slowly turning his head towards the knight just as the metal-clad figure stops in his tracks at a sudden realization.
What–
“Who’s there?!” The knight booms as Luffy stares down him from above the trees in shock.
He should not have heard him, for he has erased his godly existence among the humans by isolating himself into the woods. Could his history have been preserved by the humans from a long time ago? It couldn’t have been Zoro, since the swordsman never believed in his divinity. Luffy racks his brains until his memory falls onto one human. A certain human named Usopp…
He suddenly feels a prickly feeling and he looks down to see the knight’s covered face is looking up at him. How the hell–
“Who are you?” The knight demands from below, pulling out a sword from his sides and pointing it at him. Luffy stares hard at the tool, his heart aching at the familiarity of it.
Luffy’s mouth felt dry. “I…”
Then again, didn’t the Creator tell him Zoro was able to see him because of his sole faith in him? Because he embodied the natural world that Zoro believed and worshipped? What would it mean, then, if this is the same case for this lost knight?
Luffy’s eyes tremble as he asks, “You…you can see me?”
“What kind of question is that?” the knight asks back in disbelief. “How are you even up there? How did you climb without me sensing you?”
“You’re not supposed to see me.”
“Why?”
Luffy swallows. “Because I’m a god that disappeared from your world.”
The knight scoffs from beneath the metal mask. “Gods aren’t real.”
Luffy feels his heart thump hard at this as he jumps down from the branch, ignoring the threat of the sword pointed at his chest. It also felt like ignoring the tortured promises he made those hundreds of years ago when he claimed never to fall in love again. He falls right in front of the knight, his heart beating wildly against his chest.
“You…” the knight starts, his sword slightly lowering as Luffy merely stares at him. “Why are you crying?”
Luffy didn’t even realize the tears streaming down his face, and when he raised his hand to touch his cheeks he could feel that they were definitely wet. His hands shook as he cupped his own face, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t stop himself from crying.
Seeing this may have shaken up the knight since he sheathed his sword and raised a hand up in surrender. “I’m sorry… Are you a villager? I didn’t mean to scare you. Here, let me help you.”
As the knight talks, he removes the metal mask from his head. And there Luffy sees it– green hair against tanned complexion, the dimple that deepens every time he smiles, two golden earrings on one ear, his sharp eyes that penetrate his soul as it does now every time they meet eyes. It’s all as Luffy remembers him from the first time they met, even from those years ago.
“It’s you.”
The knight blinks at him in confusion. “It’s me? What is?”
Luffy wants to touch him, to cup his face to see if he’s real, to breathe him in closer and occupy his space as he did before. But he knew he couldn’t do that.
“No… it’s not you.”
This Zoro is not the Zoro he knows.
“I-I’m a god,” Luffy stammers with a shrug because he doesn’t know what else to say to someone who doesn’t remember him. “I’m a god of these woods. You may not believe me, but I am the deity of all the things in here and it is my duty to protect them. You are currently here without permission – I have shut out all human connection a long time ago.”
He smiles helplessly, feeling his breath shake as he exhales. “So please leave.”
The knight runs his fingers through his hair— oh, what Luffy would give to do the same. He swallows as the knight sighs and crosses his arms.
“The attendant did warn me of something in these woods,” Zo— the knight says thoughtfully, his sharp eyes still piercing him. “He didn’t say anything about a god, though.”
Luffy huffs, feigning his annoyance. “I told you, I have disappeared from your world. I have erased myself from existence outside these woods.”
“Why?”
Luffy feels stumped as he gazes up at Zo— the knight. “…Why?”
“Why did you disappear from our world?” the knight questions him with a raise of brow. “Aren’t gods supposed to exist among humans?”
“I thought you don’t believe in gods.”
“I don’t,” Zo— the knight affirms with a nod. “But that’s what the people around me tell me. They say they’re so great and they always praise their blessings, which is why it’s hard to not be aware of them. So it’s strange that you say you are one yet I’ve never heard of you.”
Luffy sighs, seeing this is getting nowhere. “Enough about me. What are you looking for?”
The knight continues to stare at him skeptically, but Luffy had been used to this kind of stare years ago. Though it’s a different person, the personality seems to be the same.
“Mikans,” Zor— the knight finally says, dropping his hands to his sides. “My employer asked me to look for mikans.”
Luffy leads him along the trees, hushing all the creatures that questioned him bringing a human in again. He always looks back to make sure the knight is still following him, wondering if this human is as terrible with direction as Zoro was. It really wouldn’t hurt to be careful.
They never spoke a word to each other since Luffy had no intention to make friends with this human. They finally reach a clearing where sprouting up plants are full of the orange-not-Orange fruits that the princess had demanded the knight to find.
“From now on, if you ever need more, the birds will guide you. They will pave your path to these mikans, so make sure you follow them or you may get lost forever,” Luffy softly says as he gestures around the plants. “Please stay away from the forest. You may disturb the natural order if you enter again.”
The knight looks at the fruits, deep in thought, then he turns back to Luffy.
“That earring…”
Luffy stares back, waiting. He doesn’t want to hope too much, but he felt yearning as he waited.
“Where did you get it?”
Luffy feels his heart fall at the question and he shakes his head in reply. It’s not him. It’s not him . The knight looked like he wanted to say more, but Luffy doesn’t allow him as he turns away and shuts those piercing eyes out forever.
He had suffered enough. He shouldn’t dare any longer.
“I hope I never see you again.”
Luffy reaches to where Chopper was standing, who had merely been watching the both of them the whole time. He climbs onto his beast’s back and sighs, leaning his head between Chopper’s antlers. Chopper takes this as a sign to leave the place; with one last look at the human who had watched Luffy the entire time he had walked away from him, the beast turns around and goes back in the woods.
Chopper continues to observe Luffy even weeks after that interaction. Though the god pretends nothing had happened, it was still clear to him that Luffy was still shaken by it.
“Luffy?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you sure that's how you wanted it?”
“That’s how it should be,” Luffy replies in a dismissive tone.
“The birds say he asks the trees, you know,” Chopper begins almost hesitantly. He has been pondering on whether he should reveal this to Luffy for days after he heard the birds squawking about it, but he decided Luffy had the right to know. “He wonders if your name is Luffy. He wonders if you’ve met before.”
Luffy freezes. “He— he said he wasn’t aware of me, though.”
“That’s what he also wondered to the trees, the birds say,” Chopper continues. “He said as soon as he saw you, you were very familiar to him. And he is very confused about it.”
Luffy was only silent at that, seemingly lost in thought. But Chopper was quick to his feet when he saw how the god’s eyes welled up with tears, and he was already wrapping his tiny arms around him in reassurance. The little god trembles as Chopper holds him.
“I can’t go back to him, Chopper. I can’t,” Luffy sobs, crying into the little animal’s fur. “He’s still human after all— they will die eventually. I can’t go back to that time. I can’t go through all that again. I can’t do this. I can’t see him anymore.”
Chopper couldn’t offer anything else and only returns the embrace that the god seeks from him. What else could he offer to a heartbroken soul?
— As instructed, the knight never stepped foot in the forest ever again.
* * *
Fifty years later, a green-haired monk appears.
— Luffy would meet him, question his faith, but would leave him afterwards.
* * *
A hundred years later, a green-haired warrior appears.
— Luffy would meet him, spar with him, but would leave him afterwards.
* * *
— Luffy would meet all the green-haired humans that come into the woods, but never stayed friends with any of them.
* * *
“So what is he trying to do?” The Creator hums, watching Luffy walk away from another green-haired human.
Chopper makes a noise. “He said it’s only to keep humans out of the forest.”
“But it has been the same human all this time.”
“That’s the thing! Doesn’t he notice it?” Chopper huffs towards the human, who rubs his head as if he’s slowly getting a headache. “Doesn’t Luffy wonder if there might be a meaning to it? It’s fate! Wasn’t this the human Luffy loved a long time ago?”
“Indeed,” The Creator hums, gazing calmly at the human. “Our Luffy is truly a difficult child. That human has a long way to go.”
Chopper gazes up at the Creator in curiosity. “Do you know something?”
The Creator laughs adoringly at the beast. “My child, what don’t I know?”
* * *
Many hundred years later, the birds come squawking again about a green-haired human in the middle of the forest. Luffy sighs heavily, but makes his way to the location anyway.
As soon as Luffy arrived at the tree, his heart immediately ached at the scene that met him. The green-haired human sits against a tree trunk, snoozing under the shadows of the leaves. This was exactly how he personally met Zoro the first time – coming up to him while he was sleeping under the trees.
Luffy reaches forward as if to touch him, but he knows he couldn’t allow himself. So he merely let his hand hover right in front of the human’s face, using the tiny bit of wind between them as a way of connection instead.
“Do you remember me yet?” Luffy whispers, keeping distance with his fingers and the human’s skin. He uses the wind to slightly brush the human’s hair, which is the closest he could touch the human. “When will you remember me?”
This human, who looks like Zoro, who bears all the expression he had even when he sleeps, who holds himself just as much as Zoro did. This human, who was the same human all these years, who is actually Zoro but can never be Luffy’s Zoro, who doesn’t hold the brightest memories Luffy had with him.
This human, who he had waited for so long. But each time proves him wrong, time and time again.
The human stirs in his sleep, which Luffy took as a sign to leave his yearning behind again. He stands and looks down on the human, who yawns and slowly opens his eyes to him. Luffy was prepared to send the human away from the forest again, hoping to never see another green-haired human being again in the next thousand years when he hears it, deep yet soft—
“Luffy?”
Luffy stops, gaping at the human with wide eyes on hearing his own name. Time seemed to have stopped for the god as the human stood up, patting his pants to brush off the dead leaves that stuck to him. Then the human looks up at him with relief in his features.
“My Luffy.”
The god takes a step back, refusing to believe his ears. “You… my name…”
“Luffy,” the human repeats carefully, as if he is tasting the name in his mouth. “Luffy. Luffy. Your name is Luffy. And I’m… you know me. You’re the only one who did.”
“After… after all these years–”
“I finally remember.” Zoro looks up at him with a bright grin and half-lidded eyes, as if he is still waking up from his sleep. He reaches out to cup Luffy’s face, bringing him closer to his own. He brushes his thumb across his cheeks as if to make sure Luffy is real, then towards the corner of his eyes to wipe the tears that started to fall.
“You never took this earring off, huh?” Zoro chuckles, bumping his nose against Luffy’s. A hand lightly fiddles with the golden piece on Luffy’s ear as Zoro leans in closer. “After all these years, I finally remember you, Luffy.”
“That human finally did it,” the Creator sighs contentedly, looking down at the beast smugly just as Zoro gathered Luffy in his arms. “He finally fulfilled his promise to me.”
Chopper makes a curious sound. “What promise?”
The Creator laughs as an answer, then smiles lovingly as they hear Luffy laugh out loud in joy. “I hope you’ll finally be happy forever, our dear little Luffy.”
Luffy pulls Zoro in and smiles into their kiss. “It’s you,” he exclaims happily, breathing the other in.
“It’s really you.”
[roll the dice and take that many steps forward]
The cane and footsteps make a rhythmic sound as the figure slowly climbs up the stairs full of dead leaves. Once he reaches the top, he sighs out heavily and leans closer to his cane. He isn't as full of strength as when he was young, but it was still a miracle he reached this far.
“How curious for you to be here. Did you not claim that you don’t believe in gods?”
The man looks up, a small smirk rising to his lips as he calmly beams at the figure situated on the shrine’s rooftop. The Creator regards the human in interest and returns a smile.
“You’re not a god,” Old Man Zoro claims, his chuckle running deep in his bones. He eyes the figure before him and bows slightly. “I at least recognize a being who created this world and Luffy.”
And Luffy. A whole world they stand upon, yet Luffy is another case. That is simply what is true to Roronoa Zoro.
The Creator hums in interest. “It brings me great joy that this much love is given to someone I have created.”
Old Man Zoro chuckles, slightly shaking his head. “Humans were created to love what you make, no?”
“That is true. But I don’t see the future, I only create. Humans do surprise me everyday for everything they are capable of.” The Creator smiles down at him warmly with twinkling eyes. “Your entire relationship with my little Luffy has been amazing to hear about.”
Zoro squints at the Creator. “Does he tell you everything?”
“Not everything, so rest assured,” the Creator laughs, then considers the human carefully. “Do you have any regrets?”
“Not at all.”
The Creator claps. “The deities of love have blessed you two.”
“Indeed,” Zoro sighs fondly as he lowers his head. “Which is why I am here to ask if you may remove his memories of me once I am gone.”
Silence suddenly filled the air. The whimsical atmosphere from earlier has vanished abruptly as soon as the words left his lips, leaving only coldness that could slice one’s skin open. Zoro feels it – the heavy tension on his shoulders as the looming figure above him suddenly becomes unwelcoming. Even the trees seemed to have stopped rustling.
“Why would you ask that?” The Creator hums with a tone that is neither pleasant nor unpleasant. It sounds muted, like Zoro’s ears are suddenly stuffed with soil.
“With love comes pain,” Zoro slowly begins. “I don’t want him to experience this human emotion.”
“You taught him that love despite knowing what comes after your death.”
“Because he deserves to know love, at least,” Zoro returns firmly.
The Creator raises a brow. “Explain it to me.”
“He deserves to know what love is. He deserves to know that the love he gives to the creatures of this forest makes them comfortable to live within his protection. He deserves to know that the love he gives to everything in this forest is what makes it blossom to what it is. And he deserves to know that the love he gives me results in how I am now, as he knows it.”
“This is unfair to him.”
“He deserves to know that his love creates jubilation,” Zoro retorts with a shake of his head. “He doesn’t need to know the pain that comes with it.”
“This is unfair to him,” the Creator repeats with a shake of head. “You are simply depriving him of that pain, not erasing it.”
“It’s for the best.”
“Then your love is incomplete.” The Creator levels eyes with the elderly swordsman, eyes flashing with what seems to be anger hidden within. “What a disappointment. And here I thought your love for Luffy could have surpassed the love between the sky and the earth. Look around you, you imbecile – do you believe they love without pain?”
On hearing this, Zoro finally stops. Realization dawns on him and what he is trying to do as he stood there, beneath the Creator's watchful eyes, frozen in place.
The earth who has to stay below, and the sky who is so far out of reach. Their love created this world, but with it came a devastating order that would separate them forever.
And yet, they continue to gaze at each other with love from above and below, embracing the memories they created together as the world thrived on their love.
His hands tremble against his cane, bothering the soil just beneath it. The usual scowl on his face falls, replaced by an expression that only conveys grief and despair. He falls to his knees – the wet soil be damned – and feels the earth with his hands, how it builds in his palms and breaks between his fingers like the emotions he had kept inside the whole trip here.
“Your demand – that is not what you want,” The Creator deadpans, staring down at the sobbing figure with judgement. “Tell me the truth.”
For the first time in his life, Zoro clasps his hands together in a form of a prayer and gazes up towards the holy figure. Heavy tears fall from his eyes that he otherwise could not control, his emotions uncontrollably pouring out just at the thought of leaving Luffy alone.
“I don’t want to leave Luffy,” he desperately cries out, tasting the tears that reach his mouth. “I don’t want to die and leave him.”
At this, the Creator finally softens and nods. The air gently calms down, the trees gradually begin to rustle again, and the muted sound slowly dissipates.
“There you go.”
“I’m not immortal, and there is no other way for me from here on but death. All humans need to die. Then, please, I beg you…” Zoro pleads, still gripping his hands together. He bows his head and trembles. “Even after this life, please bring me back to him. Please.”
The Creator hums, calm as ever. “There is a way, but it is not easy.”
“Please, I will do anything,” Zoro chokes out.
“You must remember him on your own,” the Creator says with gentle waves of hand. “I cannot help you with your memories. Those are sacred things that you humans cannot have other entities handle. And until you remember him, he will not reveal himself to you. That is how he always has been. Stubborn, but with reason. Do you understand what I am telling you?”
Zoro shivers from the cold soil in his hand. “I may spend many lives trying to remember him, maybe even hundreds. Each time, he will see me with memories that only he holds.”
“Precisely.”
The old swordsman grabs his cane, leaning on it as he stands. “How should I remember him?”
The Creator smiles. “You eventually will. If your love is as great as I see it, then it is inevitable.”
Finally back on his feet, Zoro levels the Creator with a hard gaze. “And when I finally remember him?” he dares to ask.
The Creator laughs in delight. “Then you shall be graced with a divine title that could extend your lifespan similar to Luffy!” the holy entity exclaims with an enthusiastic clap of hands. “For what human being would go to such a life extent for a god he doesn’t even believe is a god?!”
Zoro shakes his head and smiles. “He is only Luffy to me.”
— And so it begins, a tedious life mission of a human who had fallen for a god Luffy.