Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“zoro,”

zoro and luffy were on watch together in the crows nest, looking out on the ocean reflecting the black sky. stars sparkled in positions that were familiar not too long ago, constellations making themselves known. not that the two pirates paid much attention to the complex patterns and behaviors above them, but rather sat comfortably in the presence of each other, eyes forward at the black sea that they have grown all too familiar with.

said man hummed in response, letting the other know he was listening, while keeping his gaze forward.

luffy looked up, locking his eyes on the piece of rock in the sky, how and why it glowed in the dark sky was beyond him. he only ever knew its name. “do you ever wonder what’s up there?” he says, his mind trying to wrap his head around the idea of what a moon is.

zoro forces his gaze away from the ocean and towards the sky above, immediately drawn to the glowing orb. “the moon?” he says. “i don’t think about it... so, no.”

“i see...” luffy doesn’t look away, not satisfied with the answer given. “well, what about now? now that you’re thinking about it.”

zoro clicks his tongue and smiles lightly. he got him. “if you want me to be honest, captain, my hands are full with the ocean and the entirety of the grand line.” he looked away from the moon and back at the ocean, though it reflected the damn thing in the sky anyway. “but, if i had to, i think it’d be nice to know what is up there. why it’s up there.” he sets a hand unconsciously on his sword, “what it’s purpose is. it might feel fulfilling.”

luffy continues to stare. the new answer given was more than enough, and he couldn’t help but smile a little. “i think about it sometimes. nami says it’s for navigation. usopp says it’s a light. sanji says it’s cheese. chopper thinks it’s made of medicine. robin thinks it’s pretty. zoro doesn’t know.” he tears his sight from the moon, then looks at the man beside him. “i don’t know either.”

zoro makes eye contact with his captain. “are you that curious about it?”

luffy nods. “i want to know about it. it’s always at night, but we can see it during the day too, with the sun. it has light, but during the day it doesn’t. sometimes there is no moon, sometimes there’s only half.” he pauses. “i’ve tried before, but i can never stretch far enough to reach it. it always looks so close.” luffy looks at his hands that are resting on the rails. “maybe it is just for navigation, or a light. maybe it is medicine, or food, or it’s just there to look pretty. but...” he grows quiet.

“...but?” zoro says, curious as to what he could say.

“i like to think... that it’s an island. full of adventure. something has to be on it and i want to see.” he looks back at the moon with a smile on his face. “someone has to have been to it, and i want to as well.”

zoro looks at his captain’s face, noticing how he could see the moon in his eyes, how the two stared at each other. he chuckled, instinctively reaching out and resting a hand on his. luffy looks at the hand on top of his, slightly surprised, but comforted nonetheless. “then, luffy,” zoro says.

“after you become the pirate king, and after i become the greatest swordsman beside you, i’ll... i’ll fly you to the moon.”

luffy is silent, but smiles. he adjusts his hand to where he can intertwine his fingers with the other’s, and looks back up to stare at the moon, a light hue on his cheeks that were barely visible in the soft light. “yeah.”

Chapter Text

“he’s running a terrible fever.”

chopper has a hoof on their captain’s forehead, who was panting lightly, sweat running down his face. the covers of the bed were drawn up to his chin, covering his worn body with bandages scattered about.

the doctor hopped off his stool, walking over to a desk and grabbing small balls of medicine, making his way back to the sick boy.

after the long fight in alabasta, luffy defeated one of the seven warlords of the sea, crocodile. in the process, however, he has been impaled, buried alive, drained of all hydration, and poisoned. he was beyond exhausted, and as a result of pushing himself so far, ended up with a severe fever.

the rest of the crew- sanji, usopp, nami, vivi, and zoro were all at his side, all worried for their captain, even if they knew he would easily recover from this.

“he’s lucky,” chopper started, climbing back on his stool opposite side of the rest of the crew, medicine in hand, “that the wound on his stomach didn’t get infected, and that he didn’t lose too much blood. if that happened, he would have died.” chopper, when faced with situations as such, didn’t sugarcoat anything he said about a patients condition or possible outcomes, even if it was someone he cared for.

“he got that one from crocodile, right?” nami spoke up, “from that hook.”

chopper nodded, remember when he inspected the horrible bandage job done by someone unknown, and how there weren’t even any stitches in place. he’s glad the fight was over when it was, so that he could tend to something like this. “i can’t believe he survived.”

“he’s a monster, alright.” nami replied, running a hand through her hair before crossing her arms. “do we know when this fever will go?”

chopper shook his head this time. “the best i can do now is give him this medicine,” they watch as he puts the small balls into luffy’s mouth, moving his jaw to chew it. “and keep an eye on him, in case he happens to get worse.”

“if there’s anything i can do, please let me know.” vivi steps forward, her hands clasped and a sorrowful look on her face. she’s the most worried out of them all, because of the short time she’s been with them, she doesn’t know how well he heals. “i’m truly sorry, to all of you. luffy-san wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for me.”

nami scoffs, then sets a hand on her shoulder with a soft smile. “don’t worry, vivi.” she says, and the other girl steps back.

“a little fever isn’t enough to kill luffy.” usopp jokes, hiding the fact his knees were shaking lightly. “he decided to fight crocodile himself, technically it’s his fault.”

“usopp’s right, vivi-chan.” sanji’s the one to speak up this time, smiling at her. “no need to worry.”

vivi bows to them, feeling more reassured as their attention turns back to the captain in the bed and the medic beside him. chopper was in the middle of flipping the cloth that rest on his forehead over, then looks at them.

“i think it’s best that you all leave for now, i want to let him rest.” he gestures toward the door. “i’ll follow as soon as i change his bandages.”

they all nod as they begin to exit the room- well, all besides the swordsman that still stands at the side of the bed, his eyes locked on luffy’s face.

“zoro?” chopper notices the almost unreadable expression on zoro’s face. his lips were pursed and eyebrows furrowed.

“i’ll help you.” zoro says after a moment of silence. his voice is gentle, almost as if he was afraid that being too loud would cause the fever to become worse.

chopper hesitates before allowing him to stay. he pulls the blanket off of luffy, exposing his shirtless body, the bandages mentioned before wrapped around his torso, light stains of red on them. his body was bruised as expected, small cuts littered throughout. “there is a fresh roll of bandages on my table. there is also a bottle and some cloth. get those for me, please.” chopper commands, reaching over and tugging at the dirty bandages.

zoro nods, grabbing the things asked for. the bottle has a clear liquid, encased in plastic with the cap open. the smell is strong, makes zoro’s eyes water a little.

“if it’s too bad,” chopper begins to speak as zoro comes back, gently setting the materials on the nightstand beside him, “we’ll have to redo the stitches as well. are you sure you want to help?” he asks, looking up.

zoro nods, the expression from before becoming more and more readable. he watches as chopper begins to tear off the bandages, bundling them up and setting them to the side. eventually his torso was exposed, showing off the stitches that sit in the middle, dried blood coating it. the skin around was dirty and red, the whole sight was almost sickening.

“we’ll have to do his back too.” chopper says. “give me the cloth and bottle, please.” he holds out his hoof, and zoro quickly gives him the materials.

chopper takes a cloth and pours the liquid into it, letting it soak up some before he started to dab at the stitches and blood, picking up everything and cleaning the area. it took a few of the cloths to accomplish a cleaner finish. he then inspected the stitches, now that he could see.

“they’re fine.” he says with a sigh of relief. “turn him around, please. and be gentle!”

zoro nods, swallowing as he lifted luffy up as gently as he could, setting him on his stomach, turning his head to the side so he could lay comfortably, and took the now dry cloth from his forehead off.

he walked away from the scene to get it damp again, washing the cloth, ringing it out, making sure it was an okay temperature -from his best judgement- before walking back to see chopper had finished cleaning up the stitches on his back. he set the wet cloth on the nightstand and grabbed the new bundle of bandages.

“give me those. all you need to do is turn him back around and hold him up for me. again, be gentle.” chopper pushes the old bandages and dirty rags to the side.

“i got it, i got it...” zoro says, becoming annoyed at being commanded what to do, even though he wanted to do this. he hands the roll to him and picks luffy up again, sitting him down and holding his arms up, making sure chopper could work.

he watched as chopper began to wrap the bandages around his torso, pulling and adjusting them every now and then. his gaze then moved to luffy’s face- sweat still streaming steadily down his face, his eyes closed and panting. he didn’t want to admit it, but zoro was hurt from this sight. the sight of luffy looking so distressed, the mess on his stomach. he lowers his head, trying to hide the expression on his face.

“you can lay him down now, zoro.” chopper says with a sigh of relief, picking up all of the discarded materials and walks to a small tin can, throwing them in. he turns around and watches zoro lay him back down gently, pull the covers back up over him, and sets the cloth on his forehead.

“is something the matter?” chopper asks as he sits back in his stool.

zoro runs a hand through his hair. “i don’t know why,” he says, “but i’m worried.”

“it’s normal to be worried. he’s our nakama, and our captain.” chopper replies.

“i know that, but,” zoro pulls up a chair that was sitting in the corner and sits down beside the bed. he sighs, putting his elbow on his leg and resting his cheek in his hand, still staring at luffy. “it’s overwhelming.”

chopper cocks his head in confusion. “overwhelming?” he recalls how zoro behaved after luffy left them, sanji calling it nerves. something similar was happening, he guessed.

“i know he’ll be okay, but whenever the idiot looks like this...” zoro sighs heavily. “it’s... kind of scary...”

“do you think he will die?” chopper asks, trying to understand what zoro was meaning.

“no.” zoro replies. “i don’t think so.” he forces a smile at chopper. “i believe in our captain. as does everyone else.”

“so why do you feel overwhelmed?”

zoro drops his head again. “i don’t know.” he bites his lip. “i just want him to be okay. i really want him to be okay.” zoro’s hand rests on the bed. he wanted to hold luffy’s hand, but didn’t want to disturb him.

chopper feels bad. he wants to help, but knows he has done all he can. “don’t worry zoro,” he says, “i won’t let him be anything but okay.”

zoro looks up at the doctor. “thanks, chopper.” he says, a small smile on his face. he looks exhausted. “i know i can count on you. you’re a great guy.”

chooper smiles, blushing from embarrassment. “no, i’m not, you bastard!” he says, rocking in his seat.

it cheers zoro up.

Chapter Text

to say the least, zoro was quite surprised to hear luffy had an older brother.

why hadn’t he mentioned it before?  he had thought. ah, it’s because i never asked . siblings isn’t exactly something you would think to ask about someone.

not only that, he noticed how his brother was giving him looks throughout the day. they were unreadable; at first he thought it was some sort of glare, a threat, but knew that couldn’t be the case. then maybe he thought he was checking him out. again, not the case. that’d be weird. finally, he thought maybe zoro just looked interesting- even in this world, it can be quite interesting to see someone with green hair, always wearing a similarly colored haramaki with three swords to his side, all covered by a coat with a strange design. even with that conclusion, he still felt unsure.

night fell quickly, and a campfire was set, everyone gathering around and having dinner, laughing and chatting. before long, everyone had fallen asleep- vivi and nami were sharing the only blanket, lashes and karoo close by. not far from them was sanji, wanting to stay close, who had chopper laying against his knee. usopp was sprawled out next to him, a hand on his face. zoro still sat by the campfire, awake with a drink still in hand, barely filled, with a sleeping luffy, his head in his lap.

across from him was ace, also awake with a drink in hand.

“you’ve been staring at me all day.” zoro says, breaking the silence between the two. he was starting to become uncomfortable at how ace stared so intently at him. “is there something you want?”

ace cracked a smile, took a drink, then set it down beside him. “i just noticed how my brother has taken a liking to you.” he gestures at the boy in his lap. “he was affectionate with everyone, but you’re different.”

zoro gulps. was it that easy to tell they were together? or some sort of sibling instinct? either way, they both didn’t want the others knowing yet. “is there something wrong with that?” he asks.

ace shakes his head. “‘course not.” he says, a smile still on his freckled face. “just surprised me, that’s all.” his expression softens immensely. “he looks really happy.”

zoro smiles. “yeah.” he looks down at luffy, his smile growing a little bit as he studied him- eyes delicately closed, breathing steadily with the occasional snore. it was one of zoro’s favorite sights, though he would never admit it. he lightly sets a hand on his head, ruffling his hair. luffy stirs, shifting a little bit before relaxing again. “you really care for your brother, don’t you, nii-san?” zoro looks back up.

ace nods. “‘course. it looks like you do too.” he then stands up, bringing his arms above his head and stretches. “i’ve only just met you,” he says, looking up at the dark sky, “but i think you’re a nice guy.” ace then looks back at zoro. “take care of my brother, okay? idiot needs it.”

zoro was surprised. he exhales, rubbing the nape of his neck, then smiles. “i’ll do my best.”

ace nods, and begins to walk to a more isolated area to sleep. before stepping behind a rock, he turns and points at the swordsman. “don’t pull anything stupid, or i’ll come for you.” the smile on his face makes it hard to take his words seriously, but zoro feels intimidated nonetheless.

zoro nods, then watches as ace disappears behind the rock. he sighs, feeling a little more relaxed.

his gaze moves back to luffy. the smile returns, and he sits there for a little before moving his head off his lap, setting it gently on the ground.

he puts out the fire with the rest of his drink before laying back down beside luffy. the sleeping boy senses his presence, and shifts in his sleep once more, throwing his arm around zoro’s waist, snuggling into him.

it’s not just luffy who’s happy, zoro thinks, recalling to what ace had said before. he looks up to the sky, wrapping an arm around luffy in return, becoming more comfortable and more relaxed by the second, and finally closes his eyelids.

it’s me, too.

Chapter Text

“if you falter, who can we put our trust into?”

while zoro wholeheartedly meant those words, he also sympathized with his captain. watching him hide his face to cry shattered his heart. he had to force himself to look away before he began to shed a tear himself.

everything was piling up on luffy’s shoulders once more; this time hitting harder than before. with the news of the merry go no  longer being able to sail and 200 million berries being stolen and spent , he also had to fight his own nakama, only to lose him, and on top of that, had another nakama missing. the tension within the remaining group was so high it could crush luffy- not in the same way a boulder could.

after leaving his long time friend behind at his long time ship, everyone- luffy, zoro, sanji, nami, and chopper- rented a room at a nearby inn to stay the night. though luffy would end up not entering the room at all.

zoro found him sitting on top of a tall building, visible from the roof of the inn. it was hard to spot him in the night. a new moon was present and the stars seemed to hide themselves behind dark clouds. it was almost like the environment reacted to tension.

he watched for a few moments, studying the way luffy held his knees to his chest, his straw hat held by a string against his back. the boy then shivered from a breeze, and then sneezed. zoro sighed.

“luffy, what are you doing up there?” zoro called. “you’ll catch a cold. come inside.”

luffy turned slightly to look a him. no response.

“you can’t stay out here forever.”

luffy then turned completely around, and let go of his legs. he stood up and jumped across from the building to the roof, landing easily on the top of the roof. he stood in front of zoro, looking down.

“come on, let’s-“ zoro was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around his torso, a face burying itself in his chest. he looks down, unable to see luffy’s face. reluctantly, zoro puts a hand on his head, and an arm around his shoulder.

“hey,” zoro says, his voice low and quiet. “are you going to cry again?”

luffy leans into him, nearly making him lose his balance. “maybe.” he can feel his voice against his chest, how it wavers.

“why?”

just then, a sob escaped luffy’s throat. once again, zoro’s heart shattered. he pulls the boy into him, taking his hand from his head and copying his other arm around his shoulder. “zoro...” luffy manages, his sobbing becoming more frequent. “are-“

“i’ll never leave you.” zoro interrupts his captain, his voice stern. “i’ve already said it before. i’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. something like this won’t change my mind. nothing will  change my mind.”

luffy’s sobbing hysterically now, something zoro wished he never had to hear. all he does is hold him close as the arms around his waist tighten. it almost hurts.

“so,” zoro starts again, doing his best to make his voice reach his ears over the loud cries. “you can’t falter, captain. not now.” zoro runs a hand through his dark hair. “we need you.”

i need you.

Chapter Text

luffy sits on the figure head of the thousand sunny, staring out into the dark night. the sea stretches as far as he can see, reflecting some stars that decided to show that night.

without thinking, he rubs the top of it the figurehead, expecting to feel rough wood and peeling paint, but instead finds a smooth surface, one that doesn’t give him splinters or leave specks of paint on his palm. he nearly forgot this wasn’t the merry , but rather an entirely new ship.

he pulls his legs to his chest and rests his chin on his knees, sticking his lip out. he misses that damn ship. it was harder than he expected to accept the loss, to accept this new one, though it was specially made for him and his crew. he even worries that this ship’s spirit won’t like them as much as the going merry did .

bullshit, he thinks. the thousand sunny carries  the going merry ’s will. of course it will like us!

still...

“evening, captain.”

luffy turns around, his eyes falling on the source of the voice. a smile spreads across his lips. “hi, zoro!”

zoro’s standing near the figurehead, a hand on his wado  the other a light colored coat. he’s wearing one himself, one that almost looks pink. “here.” he says, tossing the coat in his hand.

luffy catches it and smiles in return. “i was just thinking about how cold it was.” he lies. the night was indeed cold, nothing compared to the cold of drum island, though. still, luffy slips on the coat and sighs.

“you’re still out here even after night?” zoro asks.

luffy hums. “‘s pretty. the view is nicer.”

“is it?”

“yeah,” luffy holds his arms up, looking out. “i can see a lot more of the ocean, and the sky, too. there aren’t a lot of stars tonight, but they’re bright.”

“i want to see, then.” zoro walks closer and starts to climb up, pushing himself onto the special seat.

luffy turns around and grabs zoro’s hand, helping him up. eventually zoro gets situated beside him, and luffy follows his gaze ahead.

“you’re right,” the swordsman says. “it is nicer.”

“but zoro’s never been up here before. or on the merry’s , either.”

zoro chuckles, something that luffy doesn’t hear much. he can’t help smiling. he can then see his swordsman’s face soften, his vibe changing suddenly. “i might have been on the merry's once . i feel like i remember seeing its view.”

the mention of the merry now brings a weird mood upon the crew, and it’s clearly no different with zoro, even though he showed no emotion when watching the ship burn, or hearing her talk and apologize.

“at least you can see this one. even if it is just for tonight.” luffy says, wrapping his arms back around his legs and resting his chin on his knees.

zoro nods, and the two are left in silence, enjoying each other’s presence and feeling the soft rocking of the ship under them, listening to waves hit against her. it managed to get so quiet, luffy thought he can hear both of their heartbeats. they were out of sync.

“luffy,” zoro’s the one to break the silence again. “i love you.”

luffy turns to look at the man beside him, his lips curling into a smile as his cheeks warm. zoro’s own cheeks are of a similar hue to his coat, avoiding his eyes. “what did zoro say?”

“i love you.” again without facing his captain.

“say it again.”

“i love you.”

“again.”

“i love you.”

“a-“

“i’m not going to to say it again!” zoro’s hand flies up and slaps luffy’s shoulder, but instead of luffy complaining, he only gets laughter. laughter that makes zoro himself let out a little snort.

luffy crawls over to zoro, leaning close enough to peck his cheek. he then sits next to him, close enough that he can feel his warmth, and sets his head on his shoulder.

“your hat’s in the way.” zoro says.

“then you wear it.” luffy takes the straw hat off his head, reaching up and placing it gently on green hair, keeping his head on the other’s shoulder.

“...damn you.” zoro mumbles.

“hey, zoro,” luffy says, and said man responds by wrapping an arm around him. “i love you, too.”

“say it again.”

“ i love you too .”

Chapter Text

zoro lay in his hammock, arms supporting his head under the pillow they had and a thin blanket across his torso, pathetically supplying warmth. that night he decided to keep his swords directly within reach- so he placed all three on top of him before eventually falling asleep.

as the night went on, the weather outside seemed to drop drastically- from nice warmth that reminded him of spring at the dojo, to artic cold that reminded- no, haunted him from the time he left the ship without a shirt off in drum island, causing him to stir more than he would like.

he tried draping an arm over the swords, thinking maybe those would be a little warmer, however the material had caught the change in weather and was cold to the touch. he sighed heavily, putting his hand back behind his head- at least he can keep his hands warm, for the time being.

he drifted off once more until the sound of feet against wood caused him to stir again, followed by a sound of something being dragged on the ground and soft cursing.

he cracked an eye open, a hand moving back to his sword, suspicious of the sudden activity. it has to be what, 2 in the morning? who’s up at this hour doing things?

the steps and dragging noises were getting louder, or they were getting closer. zoro’s heart skips a beat. it’s ominous, he thinks. he swallows down any anxiety that was bubbling and pushes up one of the blades with his thumb, making it easier to unsheathe- if needed.

after a moment more of the noise rising in volume, it abruptly stops, and he can sense someone close by. slowly, he wraps his hand around the tsuka of his sword, adjusting his grip.

“psst, zoro.”

just as he was about to slice open whoever was near him, a voice sounded in the dark. it was a familiar voice. he smiled, but hid it. “luffy?” he whispered, though it sounded a bit louder than that.

“let me sleep with zoro tonight! it’s cold.” luffy whines, and the hammock has a slight weight and rocks. he must’ve put his hands on the side. “i brought a bigger blanket! c’mon zorooo...”

“sleep with me?” the request isn’t too far out. back when they were on the smallest boat ever, they often snuggled to keep warm during the night. it’s not necessarily uncommon now- every so often luffy would come to zoro, either in need of some warmth or just really wanted to be with someone for the night. sometime’s he’d choose usopp or chopper, though. rarely sanji. “well, it’s not that you can’t, but-“

“yay!” luffy cheered a little bit too loud. he threw the blanket mentioned before on top of zoro. it is definitely not thin and could no doubt supply warmth in this weather, but where did he get it from? have they had blankets like this all along?

he feels a weight on his swords, and it disappears as soon as it comes. “huh?” luffy says, and that weight returns. “there’s something already here.”

“it’s my swords.” zoro says.

“the swords are on my spot!” luffy whines, shaking the hammock. “i want to lay with zoro!”

zoro sighs. “get in the hammock! i’m not moving them.” he closes his eyes again, exhaustion falling on him once more.

he could tell luffy must have puffed out his cheek with the silence. then, as zoro grasped the edge of the hammock, it began to rock and tremble as luffy started to climb in. zoro swears he mumbled something along the lines of no space in the hammock, and swords took up all the space, but he was too tired to care at this point. it was way too late for this kind of bullshit.

luffy situated himself at zoro’s side, swinging a leg over his. he would have preferred to have an arm wrapped out his swordsman’s torso, but that would be difficult with the swords.

zoro pulls the heavier blanket on top of them and allows luffy to use his arm as nothing less of a pillow, gently resting his hand on his shoulder.

it was quiet, and zoro’s heart rate decreased, his eyelids shutting reluctantly as he felt sleep tug at his consciousness. it was oddly comfortable, with the weight of the swords on top of him and the presence of his captain at his side, so much so that sleep became much easier to obtain.

“psst, zoorooo...”

zoro’s mouth twitches. “go to sleep, luffy...” he mumbles, so tired he could barely form words.

“zoro sounds sleepy.” there’s a giggle. he can feel it against his side.

“i’m exhausted.” he replies slowly. “so go to bed.”

there’s a small groan of annoyance from luffy. he feels an arm make it’s away across his waist, and the swords lift up. “heavy.” luffy whispers.

“no shit...” with the added arm around his waist, zoro could say that he has achieved peak comfort. “now goodnight. let...” he pauses to yawn rather loudly. “let me sleep...”

luffy snuggles into zoro with a huff, pulling himself close enough to where zoro can wrap his pillowed arm around the other’s shoulder. “next time i’m gonna push your swords off.” luffy says.

zoro can’t help but crack a smile at the threat. “you wouldn’t dare...”

“i will to!” luffy says loudly.

there’s a groan from a separate hammock, along with someone -who sounds an awful lot like usopp- grumbling something along the lines of shut up, you’re too noisy.

luffy giggles once more.

it silent once more, and zoro officially falls completely asleep, indicated by the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and light snore. luffy smiles. he can begin to feel himself grow tired. in all reality, he hadn’t slept at all that night. while he was incredibly cold, he couldn’t find it in him to get tired. as as sleep began to pull at his eyelids, he began to realize that on nights like these, he may just need a certain swordsman by his side to aid him.

“goodnight, zoro...” he whispers, closing his eyes and tightening his hold around his waist.

Chapter Text

as sanji’s eyes shoot open, he’s instantly reminded of what happened. with the sight of his captain jumping around full of energy, and everyone in the crew besides one particular swordsman is present, he forces himself up off the ground and searches the area.

there’s no way he could be dead, right? give my head for his. his life for his. did that damn shichibukai really kill him? or did he cheat his way out of death like always?

sanji’s mind races as his legs carry him as quickly as they can. even if he managed to get some rest in after the long night of thriller bark, fatigue and pain still tore at him, and he will admit he tripped a couple of times in his search.

his eyes catch themselves on something that stands out from the rubble, a standing figure- he can just barely make out the familiar green mop atop its head, and a feeling of relief that doesn’t feel right overcomes him. “there he is.” he says, and he slides down some massive piece of wall to make his way over the him.

“where did that shichibukai go?” sanji began to speak, but his words were caught in his throat as his eyes scanned the area: the rubble and ground around the swordsman was coated red, and he could only guess it was blood. it was everywhere. it was no different from the swordsman himself: there was blood coming from almost every crevice of his body. his clothes were torn, more than what he had received during the fight. he was standing tall, however, and his arms were crossed across his chest.

“where did all this blood come from?” sanji yells, the small wave of relief he had earlier now gone. in its place was a heavy feeling- dread, perhaps. the lack of response only makes it worse. “hey, are you even still alive?” sanji’s hesitant to even try and touch him.

“no...” he could barely hear the swordsman’s voice. it was trembling along with the rest of his body and raw, like he had torn his throat from screaming. “nothing happened.”

“like hell nothing happened! dammit, zoro, what the hell?” sanji’s beginning to panic now, unsure of how to address the situation.

he reluctantly turns around, looking out, his eyes falling on his crew. “chopper...” sanji says. “chopper!” his voice raises to yell, almost a scream.

he watches as chopper perks up at the sound of his name from a distance, looking around until he spots sanji. he’s waving his arms in the air, his mouth moving, though sanji didn’t bother to try and make out his words. the waving stops, though, as chopper’s eyes move to the figure next to him.

“get over here! quick!” sanji turns back around just as zoro’s legs gives out, and he doesn’t have enough time to catch him as he falls to the ground with a heavy thud . “shit!” he says, and kneels next to him, propping his head up with a hand.

his eyes are scanning his face- zoro’s eyes are closed and his mouth is moving ever so slightly with his heavy breathing.

“why the hell... why do you look like this?” sanji whispers, hearing chopper’s and the other’s calls grow louder. “what the hell did you do?”

“nothing, shit cook.” zoro coughs out. his voice is painful to even listen to.

“don’t say anything!” sanji yells. “you can barely even speak!” he begins to recall the moments before he blacked out. “you could barely stand then. what did that fucking bear do?” sanji’s practically talking to himself.

zoro’s eyes open slowly- they’re almost tinted red from the amount of strain he has on himself. he’s staring up at sanji, who’s fumbling over words, unable to collect his thoughts.

“if you die,” sanji says, his voice cracking lightly, “what the hell would luffy do?

“how could you throw away your life like this even if it meant saving him? how do you think that would make luffy feel?!”

“it... wouldn’t have been any different if it were you.”

“it would!” sanji is yelling louder now, a whirlwind emotions overwhelming him, mainly anger, and what feels like fear. “luffy sees you differently! he is completely lost without you!” he’s shaking his head, doing his best to suppress the emotions. “he would be sad if he lost any one of his nakama, but you’re zoro! you’re the first mate! you’re the most impor...” he has to stop himself from going any further as the footsteps grow louder. “luffy would be devastated. beyond that, even.

“for once in your life, use your fucking head.”

“sanji!” chooper yells, and he’s then next to the blond, transforming from his walk point form to his brain point, and he’s ordering him to set zoro on the ground gently.

“what happened?” chopper says as he starts to analyze zoro’s condition.

sanji stands up, pulling a cigarette from the box in his pocket and placing it in his mouth, his hands visibly shaking. “i... don’t know.”

the rest of the crew makes their way over, almost collectively their breath is caught in their throat the way sanji’s did at the sight.

“what... what the...?” nami whispers,  her hand covering her mouth on reflex.

“someone get me my supplies!” chopper yells, throwing a hoof out towards them. “i have to perform an operation now !”

usopp and franky jump at the order and scramble away towards the thousand sunny.

“chopper?” nami squeaks.

chopper’s breathing heavily and is tearing away what’s left of zoro’s shirt. “he’s got numerous ruptured organs and a collapsed lung. some of his ribs and a couple other bones are broken. he has a bad head injury and his blood is barely pumping, meaning his heart is dangerously slow.” he looks up at nami, who’s standing next to sanji and a now quiet luffy. robin is a bit farther away, watching. “he might die.”

“die?!” nami repeats. “what do you mean? zoro can’t die!”

“that’s why i have to operate now.” chopper holds his hoof between zoro’s collarbones. “you might want to look away.”

he presses his hoof down and pierces into zoro easily, a technique he had developed in case he didn’t have a scalpel to use. nami looks away with a gasp, but the rest watch. luffy’s still notedly quiet. chopper pulls his hoof down his chest, and stops just above his stomach.

usopp and franky return just in time, handing chopper his small bag full of medical supplies, unfazed by the sight.

“i need to work alone now.” chopper says, pulling out a variety of tools used for only doctors know what.

“zoro’s going to die?” luffy finally speaks up, stepping forward as the rest turn away.

chopper says nothing, only glances up at his captain.

“luffy, come on.” usopp sets a hand on luffy’s shoulder, prompting him to leave.

instead of turning away, he swats the hand away and steps closer to the injured swordsman on the ground, and chopper, a scalpel in his chest.

“is he going to die, chopper?” his voice doesn’t waver, and his expression is stern. despite his rather expressionless face, however, his fists are balled tight, and beads of sweat from nerves are forming on his forehead.

chopper swallows. “i... can’t make any promises. please leave the area. i’ll do what i can.”

“chopper-“

usopp tries once more to persuade luffy to leave. “he needs to work, luffy-“

“i need to know if he’s going to die!” luffy yells, turning around, ready to argue, but his breath hitches as he locks eyes with usopp, tears in his eyes, clearly trying his best to hold it together.

the captain looks back at chopper, who’s literally digging in zoro’s chest, and he swallows hard, and finally turns away. usopp wraps an arm around his shoulder and guides him to a different area away from chopper, but close enough that one could just barely see the pink of his hat above some debris.

it’s quiet. deathly quiet.

...

“luffy...”

chopper’s voice makes everyone whip around to look at him. the reindeer’s hooves are bloody and his eyes are puffy, a hint of sweat on his face.

luffy doesn’t say anything as he forces himself from where he was sitting on the ground up onto his feet, and he begins to follow chopper.

“hey!” nami yells out. “is he okay?!”

“did you fix him?” usopp says.

“is he even alive?” franky boldly asks, earning a glare from usopp.

robin stays quiet, and sanji relights another cigarette, still shaking like before.

chopper ignores them and leads luffy closer to zoro. just when they’re out of earshot of the others and not too far from zoro, he stops in his tracks. luffy stops as well, looking at his doctor.

chopper finally starts to cry, making luffy’s stomach drop. he kneels down and allows him to jump into his chest, and luffy wraps his arms around the reindeer as he cries into his shoulder.

“luffy!” he says, “he’s not going to make it!”

luffy’s heart stops, his mouth goes dry.

“i’ve done all that i can, b-but the injuries are too much..!”

“is he conscious?” luffy asks, barely managing to get the words out.

“he’s... still alive...” chopper sniffles, pulling away from luffy. “and i can’t tell if he’s fully aware of what’s happening...”

luffy smiles lightly, and it surprises the doctor. “thank you, chopper.” his voice is soft. “please go back to the others.”

chopper forces back a sob in his throat and turns away. “he’s just over there...” chopper says before he trots away to regroup with the rest, deciding on whether or not to tell his nakama the news.

luffy watches for a moment before standing up, turning away and walking towards the same spot they had found the swordsman before.

with every step, he feels his body become heavier. his heart is beating hard in his throat and there’s an urge to throw up. his mind is still struggling to decide between racing or going completely blank. the only thing that remains is the image of zoro when he had first found him at the marine base, crucified in the middle of the yard, starving, beaten, and exhausted.

how long has that been?

luffy can now see zoro’s body; he’s laying on the rough ground, his arms to his side. there are bandages all over him, acting more like clothes than anything meant to suppress movement and heal wounds.

the captain struggles to continue forward. his body is frozen, and he can’t tear his stare away from zoro. it’s a lie, he thinks. it’s a lie. all a lie.

he can see zoro’s head turn to the side, and now the two are locked in eye contact. despite his condition, his eyes still pierce through luffy, and it continues to bring him more memories of shell island, how his eyes felt when he called him captain for the first time.

with the eye contact, luffy forces himself forward. it takes everything in him to simply step forward. his body almost refused to respond.

“zoro-“ he whispers, his movements rigid. he drops to his knees beside zoro, and pulls his head into his lap, biting his lip as zoro winces.

the two sit there for a minute, zoro’s head in luffy’s lap, a hand on his shoulder rubbing gently on top of the bandages. luffy’s looking down into his eyes, his mind officially stopping, and his entire conscious focuses intensely on this moment.

“captain,” zoro breathes out. there’s a heavy wheeze following.

“you won’t die.” luffy says. “zoro won’t die.”

“luffy.” zoro repeats, and in response gets a head shaking.

“promise me you won’t die. you still have so much to do.” luffy whispers, only barely loud enough for the swordsman to hear. he doesn’t have the strength to speak any louder. “you still have to see me become pirate king. you have to see nami’s world map, or sanji in the all blue. you...” luffy’s voice cracks. “you still have to become the world’s greatest swordsman. kuina...” luffy remembers the story that zoro had told him, about his female rival as a kid and what had happened to her, and his promise to not only her and the dojo, but to himself. “you can’t see her yet...”

“luffy, i...”

“and,” he cuts him off, “you have things to settle, right? yosaku and johnny.. that marine girl... nami’s loans.” the joke fails to make himself smile, only making him sink more into despair. he can feel his eyes water, and his heart seems to only speed up.

“there’s so much zoro needs to do, and i don’t know what happened to you, a-and i don’t want to know, but i’m going to get chopper and make him fix you up even more and sanji to make you something really good and-“

luffy is cut off by a bandaged hand resting on his cheek, and the tears that he had been holding back finally start to flow as he sets a hand on it, leaning into zoro’s hand, feeling his hot tears run over them.

despite the bandages, he can feel how cold his body is. there isn’t that usual warmth that luffy loves to snuggle up with on cold nights or bad days, and with that comes the memory of the nights on the dingy together. realization starts to settle in, the stages of grief washing over him in a way he swears he has felt before.

“i have no regrets.” zoro says, suppressing a cough that has risen in his chest. “i know that i am the world’s greatest in your eyes, and that’s...” he pauses to breathe, “...enough for me.”

“how?” luffy feels angry, the tears coming down harder as he squeezes the hand on his cheek. “how can my view be enough for you? enough for kuina?”

“no one would be more proud than her.” there’s a smile that spreads on his lips that only makes his captain let out a hard sob. “she’ll be happy i followed such a person... as you...”

“zoro...” luffy’s doing his best to stop crying, worried that his tears falling on zoro’s face were getting on his nerves, maybe even hurting.

“luffy... keep living.” zoro says, his voice now barely a whisper. “no matter what. no matter if i die or not... it’s your duty as a captain.”

“to hell with being a captain if you’re not here!” luffy yells, shaking his head, tears flying from his face from the movement. “to hell with becoming the pirate king! to hell with-“

“luffy,” zoro cuts him off. it shuts the captain up. “you’re the man who will become the king of pirates.”

this story becomes all too familiar for luffy- something about a captain with a phoenix-like scar on his forehead comes to mind, how the exact same thing happened to his first mate. it only makes him cry more. never in his entire life would he have expected it to happen to him.

“you’re going to lose much more than just me.” zoro wheezes, letting his hand fall as his chest heaves. “luffy,” he says, “have i told you before? i love you,” he smiles again, “and i love everyone else, too. tell them my regards.”

“i won’t!” luffy says, barely listening as he watches zoro’s eyes close, “open your eyes! you’re not going to die!” he slides from under his head and gently places it on the ground, then swings a leg over his torso so that he’s now straddling him. he sets both hands on his shoulders. “i’m not going to let you die! wake up, zoro!”

there’s no response. it makes luffy grip at the bandages and pull him up to him, and he winces as he knows he’s done it too roughly. “wake up!” he screams, the tears still falling from his eyes.

zoro doesn’t do anything, he’s leaving his crying captain shaking him by his bandages and screaming for him to wake up, wake up, screaming for him to not leave me here, that he’s got more to do, so he shouldn’t die in a place like this, please get up.

out of sheer desperation, luffy shoves his lips into his first mate’s, hoping that could spark some sort of reaction, but the lips are cold and chapped, and does nothing more than what screaming and shaking had done.

it’s horrible, he thinks, that that had to be his first kiss with zoro. he hadn’t imagined it would be like that, but rather a slow night on either the merry or the sunny , at the front of the ship together under the stars.

and luffy then thinks, i never told him.

“zoro, zoro, wait,” the shaking stops, and luffy’s voice has died to a raspy whisper, burying his head into the crook of the swordsman’s neck, tears soaking into the now loose bandages, “i love you,” he says, “not in the same way as the others.”

what zoro said moments before enters his mind, “did you mean it in the same way?” have i told you before? i love you, “wake up, zoro...”

“wake up, wake up, wake up ...”

...

“luffy, wake up!”

luffy shoots up, the hamock he lay in reacting by shaking gently. he can feel sweat pouring, and he’s breathing hard, his eyes wet and wide.

he looks around him. it looks like he’s back in the thousand sunny , inside the boy’s headquarters. there’s a small lamp turned on, and he realizes the presence of two crew mates to his side.

usopp’s got his hands on the edge of the hammock, and chopper’s on his shoulder, tears in his eyes. both of them smile and sigh when luffy sees them.

“thank god...” usopp says, a hand resting over his heart.

chopper lets a tear fall from his face. “you’re awake.”

“wha...” luffy breathes out, and the use of his voice makes his throat sting, and he finally notices that his mouth his dry.

“you were having a nightmare again.” usopp says. “third time tonight. chopper and i took it upon ourselves to stay up and look after you.”

“nightmare...?” luffy’s eyes scan the room again- it’s only three of them in there. he looks down, and is surprised to see a scar burned into his chest, and when he looks back at his nakama again, he notices how different they are compared to his dream. usopp’s hair is longer and he has facial hair, and chopper’s signature pink hat is gone and replaced with something different.

then he’s reminded; it’s been nearly 3 years since thriller bark. after that, he’s reminded of sabaody, their separation, then the war, and then- then his brother.

he has to hold back an urge to throw up on the spot by slapping a hand over his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut as his mind flies through the horrific memory for what seems like the thousandth time.

he remembers chopper’s diagnosis after a couple of nights back together, when everyone immediately picked up on his botched sleeping schedule and reoccurring nightmares.

tonight, he guesses, rather than his dreams being haunted with the image of his dying brother, it was instead replaced with a dying first mate.

“where’s zoro?” he says, looking around and throwing the blanket off of him, trying to push himself out of bed.

“wait, luffy, you should stay in bed-“ chopper tries to say, but is unable to do anything to stop the captain from walking right out of the headquarters and onto deck.

now met with the cold night air and the strong smell of the sea, luffy’s scanning his ship frantically, his breathing picking up at how empty it looks.

his eyes catch on the main mast and he looks up at the crows nest. without hesitating, he stretches his arms up and slings himself just about under the entrance, and forces himself in.

“zoro!” he yells, climbing into the crow’s nest, stumbling and falling onto the floor. his head shoots up and he looks around the area.

he locks eyes with someone else- rather, one eye, as the other has a scar right down the middle. the man has green hair, his robe, a couple shades darker than his hair, unbuttoned to reveal his chest and a scar running across it, a haramaki around his waist and a maroon band just under that. he’s staring at luffy with a wide eye.

“luffy?” the man says.

“z...” luffy tries to push himself up off of the ground, but his arms strangely give out and his face hits the hard wood. he takes a deep breath, his eyes stinging, then tries again.

when he looks up, zoro is kneeled down in front of him, and the two share a long moment of eye contact. zoro holds a hand out, “floor hasn’t been cleaned yet. you might want to get up.”

luffy sets a shaking hand in the other’s palm, noting how warm it was, and he’s pulled off of the ground with little to no effort. he still hasn’t taken his eyes off of the swordsman in front of him, trying to process who this really was. only minutes ago was this man dying right under him.

“why are you up this late?” zoro asks, though it’s very obvious why.

luffy reaches up and puts a hand on zoro’s cheek, again feeling warmth like his hand. “are you alive?” he whispers.

zoro sets a hand over the one on his cheek, leaning into it slightly. “of course.”

“are you really alive?” luffy’s beginning to tear up now.

“i am really alive, captain.”

luffy takes his hand away and moves forward, wrapping his arms around zoro’s torso. his ear is against his chest, and as the swordsman puts his own arms around his shoulders, he listens closely. after a moment there’s a soft beating, the sound of his heart.

luffy’s sigh of relief is shaky, and some tears fall from his eyes, “i’m glad,” he sobs, “i’m so glad.”

zoro looks down. instead of saying something, he plants a kiss on the top of his head, then ruffles his dark hair. “don’t cry, luffy. did you have another nightmare?”

luffy nods. “thriller bark,” he cries, “you didn’t survive.”

“that long ago?” another nod. “so i died?”

“why do you say it so casually?” the captain snorts, cracking a smile.

“well, because i didn’t.” zoro rests his chin on top of luffy’s head. “i’m alive, and i don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”

luffy’s smile remains before he pulls away from zoro, looking up at him. “zoro,” he says, the tears finally stopping, “i love you.”

a smile forms on zoro’s face as he bends down and pecks the captain on the lips. it takes him aback, but he’s reminded again- luffy has told him, long ago, even before the events of thriller bark. “i love you too, luffy.” zoro says, gently placing a hand on his cheek. “do you want to go back to sleep?”

“i’ll sleep up here.” he says, and zoro nods. “since you’re on watch.”

“sounds good.” he lets him go and walks back over to the place he was sitting at, plopping back down into the cushioned seat and pats the space next to him. luffy chuckles and makes his way over, joining him on the seat and laying beside him, putting his head in the swordsman’s lap. “if it’s too cold, i’ll get a blanket.”

luffy smiles as he closes his eyes. “you’re warm enough.” recalling the coldness of zoro’s body in his dream, how real it felt, the air of the night couldn’t compare.

a soothing kind of quiet replaced the deathly feel that haunted luffy’s dreams as he drifted back to sleep, a small smile on his face as the presence of an alive zoro puts him at ease.

Chapter Text

boa hancock’s heart is in a frenzy. while she isn’t sure how to behave with these new, almost sudden feelings, she knows one thing for sure:

she really likes- no, loves monkey d. luffy!

and the first thing that comes to her mind when she reaches that conclusion is: does he love me back?

she remembers his initial request before the change of plans to leave for impel down; lend him a boat to get him back to his nakama at the sabaody archipalego, right? her mind stands still for a moment.

his nakama ! she thinks so loudly in her head she almost thought she might have accidentally said something out loud.

swallowing a lump in her throat, she tries to get comfortable at the little table she and luffy were sat at. he had his head in his hands, looking at the door to the deck in silence. her face heats up, her mind dramatizing his relatively simple face.

collecting her thoughts and having to swallow yet another lump in her throat, she speaks up. “luffy... tell me about your nakama.”

she watches the way his eyes light up and how he sits up at the mention of them. he looks at her and smiles, a smile that she swears could effect her more than his powerful haki. “sure! let’s see...” he looks up. “there’s zoro, nami, usopp, sanji... chopper, robin, franky, and brook.” he counts on his fingers all eight of them.

hancock listens with a small smile, but she immediately picks out two names- the most feminine sounding. “nami... robin?!” she whispers to herself.

immediately her mind is thrown into a scenario where luffy has his arms around two women, both laughing as he walks away from her. her heart pounds as she thinks of the possibility that maybe these two women have already stolen her precious luffy.

“nami and robin? nami’s my navigator. she’s really scary. and robin is my archaeologist. she knows all sorts of cool things.” he’s smiling at her again. hearing him talk about those women makes the empress feel angry, but before she can say anything more, he continues to talk.

“usopp’s my sniper. he’s a big ol’ liar. chopper is my doctor who’s eaten a devil fruit, so he has seven different transformations!” he balls his fist, his eyes sparkling. “then there’s sanji, my cook- everything he makes is so good it makes me cry sometimes.” this time there’s a giggle. “franky is my shipwright. he built my ship, the thousand sunny , and is a pervert. our musician is brook, who’s a skeleton with an afro!” he makes a circular motion around his head, still giggling.

hancock can’t help but listen. she’s interested in his life, his nakama, mainly, but also just adores the sound of his voice and the way his giggles sounds angelic. she wants him to say her name, or maybe even something like “ i love you !”.

she slaps her hands to her cheeks as they once more heat up, shaking her head at the thought. if she heard those words from his mouth, her heart may very well explode on the spot..!

“then there’s zoro.” luffy’s giggles have died down, and all that remains is a soft smile. his eyes are staring down at the table in front of them. his sudden change in attitude catches hancock’s attention.

“zoro’s my first nakama, and my swordsman. he uses santoryū , i wish you could see it, it’s so cool.”

he’s awfully still,   she thinks. not like before. who is this zoro?

“he saved me not too long ago.” he says. “he thinks i don’t know, but i do.” luffy exhales. “at sabaody... he was gone before i got a chance to even see him. all i heard were the other’s yelling his name and when i look, he’s gone.”

hancock is quiet now, all the stress of love leaving her mind. her hands are folded on her lap as she listens to the captain in front of her speak. he doesn’t seem like the type to open up like this, but she guessed she was wrong. whoever this swordsman was had more of a hold on him than she thought she ever will.

luffy sighs. “he was already so injured.” his voice is quiet, his eyes almost burning into the table. “i know he’s strong, but even something like that...”

“luffy...” hancock whispers, wanting to reach out and grab his hand, the only way she knows how to comfort someone, but decides against it.

luffy looks up at her, forcing a smile. “i shouldn’t worry too much about him. i have other things to think about. like ace.” he looks back at the door. “are we almost to impel down?”

hancock doesn’t like the sudden change in topic. “no, luffy, we still have a couple of days.”

“i see.” he looks back at the table.

“tell me, luffy,” hancock speaks without thinking, “who’s zoro to you..?”

his eyes widen slightly, and she watches him swallow. “...zoro?”

“you talk about him differently from the rest.” she’s beginning to feel the same anger from when he mentioned the women. she suppresses the emotion as to not ruin the mood.

“zoro’s...” luffy begins, and the empress’s eyes widen at the way his expression drastically changes.

oh no ! hancock is suddenly screaming in her head from the sight. it can’t be !

luffy’s scratching lightly at his cheek, the small smile from before on his face and a light shade of pink across his cheeks. “it’s not important.” he mumbles.

i’m reading his relationship with those women wrong ! hancock’s hands are on her blushing cheeks -which was more like a signature pose at this point-, her mouth is agape.

it’s the swordsman who will steal luffy from me!!

Chapter Text

perona, out of the kindness that someway found its way out of her heart, took in her injured former enemy and tried her best to treat his wounds after finding him.

she’s been spending her days floating by his bedside, and other times she’s in her normal body trying to fix the loose bandages on his body. sometime’s she outside, looking for food, thinking about how she could get the unconscious man to eat.

though, most of the time, she’s just floating, sighing heavily and complaining about her circumstances.

there are times where he stirs. she gets excited to have someone- even if it’s someone who’s far from cute and an enemy- to actually talk to, instead of walls or small animals in the wood or even just herself. however, the stirring goes no further than a mumble and maybe some movement in his arms.

sighing once more, she watches the swordsman’s face grimace again, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. she floats closer.

is it pain ? she wonders. she sticks a finger out and pokes at his chest, remembering that was where most of the damage was.

he does’t cry out or jolt from the touch. he continues to twitch, however, but she suspects it wasn’t from the poke.

a dream ?

she draws her hand away and continues to float by his side, watching the way sweat begins to make its way down his face, contouring his grimace as he starts to mumble something. she doesn’t want to get any closer than she is as to hear it.

rather than going closer, she does her best to listen in, ignoring any outside noises besides his mumbling and the sound of the sheets under him twisting at his movement.

“...wait.” he mumbles, and it’s the first word perona is able to make out.

wait ? she thinks, and her mind flies through a dozen sentenced that include that word. this doesn’t seem like some sort of pleasant dream.

zoro’s now shaking his head, breathing hard as his mumbles become more clearer. the ghost princess hasn’t seen him move this much yet. one hell of a dream, maybe?

“luffy, wait...” he mumbles again.

luffy ? as in, straw hat luffy ?

if she recalls correctly, that was this swordsman’s captain. is that what he was dreaming about? his damn captain that ruined her dreams and her own captain’s, and pretty much everyone else’s on thriller bark?

if it weren’t for straw hat luffy , she wouldn’t even be on this abandoned island with no servants!

perona puffs her cheeks out and crosses her arms, huffing. “and here i though he was having a genuine scary nightmare.” she almost considers going away and leaving him to suffer through it, but something keeps her from doing so, and she finds herself still floating by his side, watching him shake and gasp.

she decided, for the time being, to watch until the end. if it got too bad, maybe she’ll try waking him up out of his half coma state.

“please... wait...” zoro’s voice is starting to pick up in volume, and can no longer be considered a mumble. “i’ll... save...”

what is he dreaming about ? she thinks, as this is starting to get pretty interesting. she notices the way his arms twitch, almost like sleep is trying it’s best to keep him paralyzed. is it that intense ?

she floats a bit closer to him, so that she’s now hovering over him, staring at his face. she studies how his eyebrows furrow and forehead crease, along with how he’s sweating this easily. his eyes are squeezed shut, and it almost looks comedic; it’s just a thin line.

but his eyes shoot open, and she’s met with his piercing dark irises. instead of him staying still he shoots up in less than a second and goes right through her body.

“ luffy !” he screams, throwing his arms out in front of him.

perona gasps and quickly flies away, thankful that she wasn’t in her physical form; if she were hovering over him like that in her real body, their heads would have collided, and it would have made for one hell of a headache for the both of them.

perona watches as the swordsman draws his arms back, wiping his face and eyes- was he... crying ?- and looks around before locking eyes with her.

he doesn’t say anything, but instead swings his legs over the side of the bed with a wince. he pushes himself up off the bed, then his legs give out from underneath him and he slams onto the floor.

“hey!” perona yells, flinching at the sound. “i worked so hard to fix you up, don’t start moving, dammit!”

“i don’t care...” zoro manages out, clearly out of breath as he tries to get up off of the floor. his arms are shaking as they struggle to support his weight. “i need... to get back...”

“no, you need to get back in bed!” perona flies over to him and tries to touch him, only for her hand to go through her shoulder. was she really going to try and help him up? what’s with this kindness?

unfazed from the hand through his shoulder, zoro’s arms too give out and his face is back on the dirty floor of the room. “dammit...” he groans, and he lifts his arms to try again.

“hey! listen to me when i’m talking to you. i’m your savior, yo-“

“i need to get back to him!” zoro interrupts her with a yell and an intimidating look. she gulps and floats backwards in response, leaving him to pathetically try and get off of the floor with what little strength he has.

getting over the intimidation, she sighs. “to straw hat luffy?”

zoro freezes and slowly turns to look at her. his arms continue to shake, but he keeps himself up.

perona feels a smirk creep onto her face.

she twirls in the air, giggling in her usual horo horo fashion, then flies closer to him. “you were talking in your sleep. ‘ wait ’, you cried, ‘ luffy, wait’ !”

she holds back a laugh from the way his face twists in anger, a low growl escaping his throat as his fists ball up underneath him.

“what, did i strike a nerve, talking about your beloved captain? ah, no, perhaps not your captain, but your lo-“

“shut up!” zoro screams, and she’s once more intimidated by his intense glare. “it’s none of your business.” with a sudden burst of adrenaline, zoro makes his way off of the ground, doing his best to balance his weight at his feet. his head is cloudy and he feels awfully lightheaded, and the way he sways looks dangerous. despite his condition, he continues to glare at the ghost princess, and extends a finger out to her.

“listen, here’s what you’re going to do,” he begins, and she squeaks in response, “you’re going to give me my swords back, and then a boat. you will get me off of this island without mentioning my captain. is that clear?”

perona swallows, and tries to give an equally as intense glare. her finger moves lightly in an upward motion, and she watches a little ghost appear behind zoro.

he’s distracted, and she knows he isn’t staring at her anymore, despite his eyes locked on her. his eyes are instead glassy and he’s breathing heavily, his knees still shaking.

with a swift motion and a whisper of negative hollow , the ghost flies right through his abdomen.

with that, his knees completely give out, and once more is on the floor. she remembers the last time this happened to him; both times, really. his responses to the loss of will were mainly him apologizing for living, apologizing for walking on the same earth as the others. she knew his consciousness was fading fast, especially with how he hit his head on the ground like that.

before his eyes close, there’s a faint whisper.

“ he’s dead ...”

and then zoro is out completely.

perona sighs heavily, her body relaxing. she’s not used to such a tense atmosphere, not even gecko moria could intimidate her the way that bastard swordsman could.

she considers leaving his unconscious body on the ground just to teach him a lesson, but she can’t help but return to her physical form and put him back in bed. he wouldn’t remember the whole encounter in the first place.

still, that was the first time her negative hollow broke someone’s hope for another person, rather than themself.

just what was this relationship between them?