Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was around 3 am on the deck of the sunny. Calm waves slowly rocking the ship as Zoro sat on the floor, watching over it just in case there were any intruders. Zoro could hear a pin drop in the quiet atmosphere, the warm air showing no threat that night as they had smooth sailing.

Leacefully, a small pinch of jealousy hitting the swordsman as he imagined his inexistent nap he could be taking. But instead he was outside doing nothing, too tired to train or even get up from the wooden floor for that matter. Zoro usually enjoyed his alone time on the ship when he wasn’t watching over the sunny, sleeping peacefully against the railing of the sunny as Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper tried to find anything edible to catch of their fishing hooks. Another thing Zoro would rather do right now was to look at his captain. It was a small habit he had, always staring at Luffy for a moment too long to pass it off as zoning out.

Zoro couldn’t explain what he felt for Luffy, feeling a mix of admiration and something else he couldn’t pinpoint exactly. If Zoro could, he’d spend the rest of his days watching the young captain.

He couldn’t help himself, the way Luffy’s smile seemed to shine as much as the sun and how he pronounced longer words quick enough they sound like rambling, Luffy was very easy to look at for the mint-colored hair man. Zoro could feel his eyelid get heavier as he day dreams about how his captain before he heard the door closest to him quietly opening. Zoro lazily looks up at who was up this late just to see Luffy, eating some food he stole from the fridge with a bottle of beer and the broken lock that was previously on the fridge.

“Zoro! You on watch duty?” Luffy asked with a nod from Zoro as he handed him the bottle of beer before falling down next to him, giggling slightly at his own words with a smile on his face as he chewed on the large piece of cold meat.

Luffy didn’t really have a sleeping schedule, he just woke up and went to sleep whenever he felt like it, unlike a specific blonde cook that HAD to get his full 8 hours every night. Zoro immediately started to grumble something about Sanji being weak and a lonely geek as he drank some of the alcohol Luffy brought him, his annoyance and tiredness slowly fading away as he felt the slight burn of the drink in his throat.

“Thanks for the drink, What are you doing up anyway? You don’t usually leave the kitchen when you break the lock.” Zoro questioned with a slight hint of suspicion in his tired but calm voice as he watched Luffy happily munch away on the food, studying the raven haired boy’s features like he always did. Luffy seemed to change a bit in physical appearance ever since Wano. His hair devolved a small wave, his brown eyes seemed to be a bit lighter than usual as if there was a slight pink tint in them, and he seemed even more bouncy than he already was.

“I don’t know, I kinda wanted to train, but that might wake everyone up, so I decided to hang with you!” Luffy grinned as he placed his straw hat to rest onto his back, sleepiness kicking back in Luffy as his eating began to slow down in pace.

It was hard to believe that his captain changed so much after being in Wano, he did have a small idea from what it might be from though. Even though Zoro never seen it with his one good eye, Luffy would ramble on about this new ‘fifth gear” like he rambled about Beatles. If it caught Luffy’s attention that much, Zoro was definitely curious to say the least.

Zoro seemed to realize that he zoned out once again, shaking his head slightly to wake himself up as he processed Luffy’s words. Training? Zoro was curious if he meant training his mysterious new form, so he quickly tried to think of ways to prod Luffy into training with him.

“It’s early enough, I think you should train, especially with that new ability you been talking about-“ Zoro muttered before getting cut off by a small hum of curiosity from Luffy, his fist hitting his own palm as he just cracked the code to an safe before nodding his head.
-“I should! But to be honest with ya Zoro, I don’t really know how I did it.. the only thing I really noticed that my heart beat was like- super loud.” Luffy mutters as the gears in his head turned.

It was shocking that only now did Luffy question his new abilities even after defeating katio, especially when Luffy turned into the size of the island while Zoro was passed out. Or so he heard.

Zoro hasn’t yet seen this form yet, but back in Wano with Yamato, he explained it to the swordsman so Zoro had a rough picture on what Luffy looked like when he went into gear five. White curly hair, clouds, pink eyes, a gear five looking guy, the image in his head wasn’t close to what Luffy actually looked like, but he also based all this on Luffy’s gear 4: snake man, which wasn’t a bad idea.

“You don’t know..? You never fail to surprise me, captain.” Zoro huffs in slight disappointment at the fact he couldn’t see his new form, drinking the rest of the beer in one swing before licking the corners of his mouth to savor the taste. Luffy did in fact notice the disappointment in his swordsman voice, which made him frown slightly as he scooted closer to him.

“Zoorrrooo… I don’t know! But I guess I can try..” Luffy whined with a small pout on his lips (Zoro making a mental note to annoy Luffy more often to see his cute face) before closing his eyes to focus all his attention on his heartbeat. Zoro watched Luffy in silence, trying not to disturb the boy just yet. Zoro couldn’t help but watch Luffy quietly, enjoying his cute but manly face.

Meanwhile with Luffy, he could hear his heartbeat a bit better now that he was outside and without the sound of Franky muttering the word “super” in his sleep, so he tried to remember what he even did to awaken his new power in Wano. He remembered passing out, then waking back up as the sun god, so that had to be it!

“Zoro I know what to do!” Luffy came to a resolution, the plan the young captain had was bound to work. Well, that’s at least what Luffy thought.

“Oh yeah? How are you going to do it-“ Zoro started to speak before Luffy interrupted him with the most determined and trusting look on his face

“Punch me!”

…

“What..?”

Just what was Luffy thinking?! Punching him was one thing when he deserved it, but for no reason behind hitting his captain felt like abuse! Zoro had a small shiver go down his back as he imagined Sabo hearing that Luffy’s crew hurt him for no reason, quickly shaking the thought out his head and looking back at Luffy in slight shock.

“Why..? That’s not going to help you transform, dumbass.” Zoro growled slightly as he flicked Luffy’s forehead, him reacting with a small whine and rubbing his head like he actually had a brain to hit.

“Zoro’s so mean… but I’ll tell you my plan! Since I passed out (totally died) before I became all free and stuff, so when I pass out, I’ll change!” Luffy replied with a big smile on his face, having no doubt that his plan would fail.

Zoro was.. amused at his plan to say the least.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say no to his captain.

“No way, I’m too tired for your weird plans..”

“Please?”

“No way in hell..”

“Pleaseeeee~?”

…

…

Damnit. Luffy was using those puppy eyes on Zoro that never failed to work. With a few empty curses under his breath, the swordsman spoke again.

“Fine, just don’t tell your brother I did this, alright?” Zoro huffed before sitting up a bit more, Luffy practically bouncing on the floor excitedly as he nodded eagerly.

When Luffy was ready, Zoro gripped his fist and pulled his arm back, placing a thin yet warm layer of haiki on his fist so it would actually knock Luffy out. Zoro’s fist landed straight on Luffy’s face, grimacing at the fact that Luffy would probably get a bruise on his face from his own hand. Zoro slowly pulled his fist away from Luffy’s now red face, realizing his punch barely made Luffy shuffle out of his spot.

Did Zoro accidentally punch Luffy with less power than expected? Or did Luffy just get stronger after wano? It was probably a mix of both, with Luffy staring at Zoro with that slight confused face that he always did, confused on why Zoro didn’t punch harder.

“Come on Zoro! You gotta actually punch me!” Luffy grumbles which only annoyed Zoro enough to hit him in the back of the neck with the handle of Enma, knocking him out cold. knowing the sword had a tendency of acting out, yet it never did on Luffy like it done before with the stupid cook. Zoro wonders if it was the young raven haired boy’s haki or if Luffy was truly a sword whisperer.

Zoro seemed to snap out of his thoughts as Luffy started to fall in his direction, Zoro catching him gently in his arms. Zoro never been this close to Luffy, especially when he was looking even more handsome with the moonlight shining over his soft sun-kissed skin.

The feeling of Luffy’s soft breathing on his chest was almost enough for the swordsman to get up and run away, too scared to make any sudden movements (or movements at all) while he held Luffy up from falling down on the ground. Zoro had to admit, he was super shy, especially when his captain was closer than usual to him.

Zoro sat there motionless for 3 minutes for some kind of change, yet no white hair nor a conscious Luffy were before his eyes. Zoro sighed out of relief as he gently placed the straw hat’s head on his lap, just staring at Luffy as he slept soundly.

Zoro always loved the way Luffy looked, no matter the expression.

-Maybe seeing Luffy’s fifth gear could wait, Zoro thought to himself, -Luffy’s Face was more than enough..

Zoro gave Luffy one last thought before gently kissing his forehead and laying the back of his head against the wall. Zoro didn’t know how to feel about the kiss, he didn’t even know why he did it! Especially to someone he was supposed to be respecting. It was impulsive and wrong, but the warm feeling on his lips against Luffy’s skin went shivers down his spine. Why was he like this?

That night, the two fell sleep near each other’s presence, and they would found themselves dreaming about quiet moments like these.

——————————————————————-

Soon after Luffy and Zoro fell alseep, the sun slowly started to peak its way outside the horizon. Nami being the first one outside to check if Zoro actually watched the ship or just fell asleep, she was met with the two tuffet Pirates she knew cuddling close to one each other, depending on their body heat.

“I knew Zoro was gay..” Nami grumbled to herself with a small sigh, walking back to the quarters to give the two a longer time together.