One Piece 1. Ch 1: Nakama

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D

**This is actually my first fic so if anybody.. anybody at all EVEN reads this I would very much appreciate a review to let me know what I can improve upon.. I mean if it isn't too much to ask for. I hope that I did my best to keep everybody in character as much as possible, that my writing doesn't completely suck, and that you'll enjoy it. :)**

**There is a slight hint of ZoLu but it's nothing to be weary about because it's just sweet. Also there is violence and language so be warned.**

**I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic but after reading over it so many times it tends to blend together. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.**

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-:: CHAPTER 1: NAKAMA ::-

"ZORO!" Luffy's voice rang out loud and clear in the warm mid day air. A look of horror now plastered upon his usual content smiling face as his **nakama**, Zoro, fell to his knees. His eyes silently focusing upon the form of his fallen comrade as he was made aware of a spot on Zoro's white shirt that was slowly starting to turn red. Blood. Luffy's hands gripping tightly at the bars which held him captive in his cage. He could only watch in silence as the man, Captain Buggy, responsible for bringing forth his blood stood tall and with a slight smirk upon those clown lips. "Coward! Attacking from behind..!" Luffy's voice once more breaking out into the now somewhat stiflingly air as the whole situation just seemed to intensify. His knuckles slowly starting to turn white from clenching onto his prison's bars with all his might as the rage inside him began to grow. 'I'll kill the bastard!' That was the only thought running rampant through his mind as he tried to free himself and protect his beloved nakama.

It was then that he saw Buggy turn back to look at him with an even bigger smile before laughing at his previous comment and his despair. "So.. I'm a pirate after all, aren't I?" His voice now filled with mockery as he quickly added, "Besides if I take down Roronoa Zoro then that will make me even more famous!" Buggy's laugh once more filling the air though this time it was followed by his crews' as they watched in awe at their Captain's brilliance. However it was short lived as Luffy sought to ruin whatever he could by yelling out 'RED NOSE!' and sure enough it worked. Buggy's jaw dropped and his crew turned deathly silent. Even if Luffy couldn't do anything for his nakama right now he'd try to buy them some time by redirecting Buggy's focus onto him. Yet as simple enough as the whole thing was it back fired on him. Buggy then went and jumped on Zoro's back as hard as he could before suddenly pulling the orange hair girl, Nami, out of the crowd to much of Luffy's dismay.

Luffy's expression only turning darker as Buggy was now in possession of his newest nakama. His hands tightening even more upon the bars and started to yank back and forth upon them with all his might as if it by magic it would actually work this time. However it didn't and it only made him all the more desperate to protect what he knew he couldn't. "Let Nami go! Don't touch my nakama! I'll kick your ass!" Luffy cried as he now realized that his only way to fight back was with his voice.

At his words Luffy saw Buggy's smirk grow even bigger as he looked at the struggling girl within his grasp and then over at the fallen form of the swordsman. "Bwuahahaha! You couldn't even protect your own nakama... So what the hell makes you think that you can kick my ass..? **Baaaaaa~ka**!"

Luffy then quickly let his eyes run over to Zoro only to find him still lying there but now in a slowly increasing puddle of blood. It didn't make sense. Why? Why was a knife wounded from behind enough to send the man that people feared as a demon down to his knees? Wasn't he supposed to be stronger than most.. but if that was the case then why? As much as Luffy wanted to call out to him and hope that it was all a lie. There was another part of him didn't want to in case there was no answer to be given by the other. However Luffy was quickly drawn away from his worries of this nakama to the other one as he could hear raised voices and sounds of fighting.

"..-if I kill him I won't be any better than you damn pirates!" He could see Nami shaking her head as she cast a small glance in his area. Her fingers holding firmly onto the weapon in her hands as she continued on, "I.. I'm not like you..!"

Of course she just would have kept on and on but her words were rather abruptly cut off as one of Buggy's hand separated from his arm and latched itself around Nami's slender neck. The following words leaving his lips with pure rage behind them. "Then just die!" Her weapon now useless against the lone hand so she dropped it and tried to pry it away from her neck, but that only invited Buggy's other hand to clasp around her neck as well. The hands gripping even tighter upon her neck as she began to thrash about before Buggy yanked her off the ground and proceeded to strangle her. Luffy could see that devilish smirk of his appearing upon the clown's lips as the sounds of the struggle grew more intense and her feet searched desperately for the ground below her.

His eyes growing even bigger as he watched the scene in horror as yet once again he was rendered powerless to help his nakama. Plus it only continued to pain him further as Nami managed to turn her eyes over to him and mouthed his name along with a small plea of help. Then he saw a trembling hand leaving her captor's hands as she tried to reached out for him hoping that just maybe an extended hand might do the trick, but this time as well there was no rescue. No saving grace other than the one of death that awaited her. The sounds of the struggle slowly fading as the victim struggled to take her last breath before her entire body went limp and her outstretched hand fell to her side.

"NAMI!" Luffy's voice was slowly starting to become unstable as the agony hit him at full force when Buggy just causally tossed her body aside like she was nothing more than trash. Luffy could feel his heart sinking as Buggy slowly began to move back towards his other fallen comrade. "ZORO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!" However the clown captain didn't pay much attention to the words that he was thrown and instead picked back up his knife. A bit of light bouncing of the blade of the knife as it was not so gently shoved back into the wound. He could see a look of malcontent come onto Buggy's face as there was no sound at all emitted from the swordsman as he wondered if he was really dead or just faking, but he didn't give up and instead gave him a few good kicks to his wound in hopes of getting a reaction. It was at that moment he heard a muffled groan leave the swordsman's mouth.

"Oi, still alive are we..? After all it wouldn't be too amusing if you were taken down so easy, right **Mugiwara**?" Luffy watched on as Buggy said it with a laugh as he crouched down next to Zoro and slowly pulled the kinfe back out. Luffy could feel his heart sink even deeper as he watched Buggy turn to him and grin. "And so ends the great Roronoa Zoro.." Buggy then brought his knife high above his head and then just as quickly his started to bring it down onto Zoro's body. The two met with a sickening noise followed by a scream of mock agony from Buggy as he mercilessly wiggled the knife back and forth, slashing and cutting at whatever flesh his blade could reach.

Luffy could no longer watch the site of his nakama being hacked away at before his very eyes as drops of his blood splattered here and there. So, he did the only thing that he could do which was to grab even tighter onto the bars and call out to him. "ZORO!"

Luffy awakened with a jolt as he quickly sat up from being sprawled out on the deck of their small boat. His eyes quickly scanning around him for reassurance that his nakama were indeed safe and sound. The first thing he spotted was the small vessel next to theirs which belonged to Nami and he breathed a small sigh of relief as he saw her sleeping soundly with her treasure in the faint glow of the moonlight. Next he turned around and found his other companion sleeping soundly. Instant relief ebbing through his body as he wiped away some of the sweat from his forehead and muttered slowly, " J-just a dream.." His hand going to scratch at the back of his head before he tried to lie back down but the dream wouldn't let him rest in peace. His eyes staring up at the stars in the sky as he thought back upon the dream. A sigh on his lips as he was thankful that it was only a dream even though certain parts of it had been very real but at least he and his crew were alright now, right? Yeah that was all that mattered to him now.

Luffy then quietly picked himself up from his spot in order to move over to where Zoro was sleeping rather soundly. Just seeing his familiar face put a smile on his own face. Even though they hadn't been together long he couldn't help but to feel attached to Zoro as he was his very first nakama. He knew that as they went on his crew would expand but even so nobody could take the place that he had for Zoro. It was at this thought that he silently plopped down next to Zoro. His eyes closing as he leaned his head against the swordsman's shoulder and began to take in his scent. It was most likely due to the others warmth and the fact that Luffy knew his crew was safe that made it all the easier for him to relax. While the constant sounds of the waves gently knocking about at the hull of their little boat only seemed to further his relaxation. His eyes opening to cast one more reassuring glance at Nami and back up at Zoro before whispering, "I'm glad.." Then with that Luffy once more drifted off into sleep.

**In the morning**

Zoro yawned quietly as his eyes slowly opened and he grunted slightly from a shooting pain in his body. As it now seemed to him that maybe his sleeping position hadn't been so ideal after all. It was then when he was just about to get up that he stopped as he felt that something was leaning up against him. He tensed up slightly before he looked over to his right not knowing what to expect, but ready to strike if the need arose. However he hadn't expected to see his Captain soundly sleeping against him. So he couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow as he wondered why he was there. His shoulder moving slowly as an attempt to wake the boy along with his voice. "Oi! Oi Luffy.. Get up.."

It took a few seconds before Luffy began to stir and let alone even try to open his eyes. He watched on as the smalerl boy gave a small yawn and slowly began to stretch. Then through his sleepy haze he felt their eyes meet as Luffy gave him his usual morning greeting before rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. However as much as he tried to wake up it all seemed rather pointless as Luffy didn't even try to move away from him. This caused a rather surprised look to appear upon his face as this was the first time he had seen his captain like this. His voice was low and still a little groggy itself but over all it sounded a little worried, "Oi Luffy are you alright?"

At his words Zoro watched as Luffy nodded his head and then replied back, "Y-yeah.. I'm just really sleepy.."

Zoro paused as he consider his words and tilted his head to the side a bit as he continued on with his questioning, knowing that if his captain didn't answer that would be the cue to drop the subject. "Why did you not sleep at all last night.. or something?"

Luffy just sort of nodded his head again as he added, "No.. I went to sleep no problem but.. I had a... bad dream so I couldn't go back to sleep as easy.."

'A bad dream..?' Zoro thought to himself as he couldn't help but to somewhat smile. He couldn't believe that the man who said he'd become Pirate King would be afraid of something like a dream. Even so Zoro didn't laugh as he guessed it to be reasonable after all it seemed as that the kid was younger than himself, but he kept his expression calm as he pushed on further. "What happened in your dream..?"

He saw Luffy pause at his question but nonetheless he answered it. "We were fighting Buggy and... instead of us getting away.. I saw.. Nami and you.. die.. and I couldn't do anything to protect you guys.. I couldn't protect my nakama.. I felt so weak.."

'Oh.. so that explains it all..' Zoro thought to himself as he had now pieced together the puzzle of why Luffy was so sleepy and still next to him. To Luffy Zoro could see that his nakama meant the world and just the thought that he couldn't protect them devastated him. So, most likely in order to silence that feeling he had probably decided to put it at ease by confirming that his nakama were indeed still by his side. The easiest way to do that Zoro guessed would have been to sleep next to him after all if he had tried it with Nami she probably would have called him a pervert and gave him a punch or two. Zoro then sighed while taking his hand to gently ruffle his captain's hair as he spoke, "Don't worry it was just a dream..."

"A dream.." Zoro heard Luffy reply back trying to stay awake just long enough to hear his reply.

"Yeah.." Zoro just nodded his head slowly as he wasn't sure of what else to say other than 'Like I'll die that easy'. So instead him just gave Luffy one more reassuring pat on the head before he continued on, "but this isn't.. so have faith in us and try to get a bit more sleep." At that he saw Luffy just kind of nod his head as he had finally reached his limit and eased back into a world of sleep. Though as to whether or not it was filled with dreams or not he could only hope that it would do his captain some good and that he would wake up as good as new. Another slight smile playing upon those lips of his as he glanced down at the sleeping boy for he knew that Luffy would probably end up forgetting all about what had happened. Yet Zoro didn't really care about that. He only wanted his captain to return back to his old self. Sure enough after a few more hours of sleep Luffy had awaken in good spirits again and Zoro was just about to give up on whether Luffy remembered or not, but his curiosity was quickly answered with a smile and three simple words from his captain.

"Thank you, Zoro."

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**Uhmm.. well yeah that's pretty much the end. I mean originally it was supposed to be a one shot type deal and I actually like the ending, but I feel like I really want to continue on with it so I just might... Or maybe it's just the feeling of wanting to write more stories in general? IDK Anyways I hope that Luffy's reaction to his dream, how he confided in Zoro, and how Zoro treated him were all believable. I mean after all when we have a bad dream most of us would want to talk about it to somebody and sometimes it doesn't matter who does just as long as they listen.. **

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully you might just go ahead and review it for me :3**

**Nakama = Friend/Comrade, ****Baka = Idiot, Mugiwara = Straw Hat**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	2. Ch 2: Recovery

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D

**Yup. So, I've decided to go along with the story because I really like how it was and I wanted to write more for it. I hope that those who read this will end up reviewing because it will give me more feedback upon what I need to work on and what not. I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter.**

**There is a slight hint of ZoLu but it's nothing to be weary about it's just sweet. Also there is some slight language.**

**I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. I put it up as soon as I had finished it so there are bound to be careless errors. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases used in the story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end. However I will not redo repeats unless I get complaints.**

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-:: CHAPTER 2: RECOVERY ::-

"**Kanpai**!" Luffy cried out along with the rest of his crew as they raised their glasses for another toast. He just continued to smile as everybody downed their drinks and was just in general having fun. Out of everybody Luffy knew that he was probably the happiest of them all and it was only to be expected. After all they had just kicked some pirate ass, former Captain Kuro and his first mate Jango's crew, Usopp had become part of his nakama, and they had even acquired a new ship known as the _Going Merry_ from Kaya to show her thanks for what they had done. So, what reason was there for him to not be happy? Sure he and his crew had received their fair share of wounds from the whole ordeal but it wasn't something that they couldn't handle. Also thanks to that morning talk with Zoro he was indeed trying to have a little more faith in them while during battle, but it didn't mean that he couldn't worry about them afterward. A grin appearing upon his face at the thought as he began to look around the ship for everybody, seeing as while he was thinking apparently everybody had either run off to explore or do their own thing.

**After a few minutes of searching**

Luffy had now found himself opening a hatch inside of the storage room and cannon deck area before slowly climbing down the flight of stairs. It was upon his descent that his eyes began to look around the room and he realized that he was in what seemed like a woman's room which was proabaly originally made for Kaya. Then he saw Nami sitting on the couch with her new treasures spread out on the small table before her. He couldn't help but to grin a bit as he could see the beli sign in her eyes. "Oi Nami.. Why'd you leave?" He asked on the sly not wanting her to know that he was trying to check on her in case it would only annoy her.

After a few seconds Luffy saw Nami's eyes pull away from the treasure laid before her with as she greeted her captain. "To inspect my new treasures of course." The beli sign still vivid in her eyes as she quickly added, "Oh I hope you don't mind but since I decided to claim this room I've already kind of moved my stuff in here.. **Gomen**."

Luffy just smiled at her as he nodded his head. "Ah I see.. and it's fine besides I'm pretty sure Zoro and Usopp won't complain about you being in here." He said it rather confidently as the aura of the room just seemed to scream 'women' and he couldn't picture the two fighting with Nami over it.

He watched as Nami smiled back and then nodded in agreement before saying, "Thanks."

Luffy just nodded his head once more. "No problem." His focus recentering upon his task at hand as he glanced back up the stairs ready to continue on his search because it seemed like Nami was alright. "Well then I'm off to do some more exploring. Bye!"

Nami just nodded her head and waved bye before she returned to ogling her treasure.

Luffy's feet rather quickly carried him up the stairs as he closed the hatch behind him and exited the storage room. A questioning look upon his face as he tried to decide where to go now. However his question was answered the moment his eyes spotted a hatch close by to the mast. Luffy let out a excited laugh as he quickly crossed the deck and opened the hatch before just jumping in. "Oi, Zoro! Usopp? You guys in here..?" It was dark so he it was expected that he couldn't really see all that well. So, when he didn't get an answer right away he pouted and decided to leave. Though if he had just taken a second longer he would have heard the sounds of breathing filling the room and seen the slight outline of Usopp sleeping soundly in one of the five hammocks.

As Luffy emerged from what was now the men's quarters he paused and looked up at the night sky rather dejectedly. He couldn't help but to wonder if this time as well would he once more dream about the deaths of his nakama and remain powerless to save them. The thought only seemed rather morbid to him and so he just simply tried to shake it off as he continued on his search but this time calling out their names as he went. "Zoro! Usopp!"

**On top of the Lounge**

After everybody had finished their drinks Zoro had left his captain and the rest of the bunch with a word so he could go and find himself a nice spot to relax. It had only taken he a little while until he had found the stairs which led up to the lounge and then the two smaller sets of stairs which gave access to the stern and then to the roof of the lounge. Immediately he had made his way up those stairs and plopped down on the roof. He then had placed his three swords off to his right as he let his back met with the wooden surface. It took all of about three seconds for him to get comfortable as he slowly moved his arms and eased his hands behind his head. All the while his open eyes as he silently gazed up at the sky with a small smile on his lips for he found himself rather content.

There was no telling how long he had remained like that until his ears picked up the faint sounds of somebody below him moving around on deck. At first he just ignored it but after a few moments of silence he could heard his name being called by none other than Luffy. A confused smile appearing on his face but a smile nonetheless as he slowly sat up and called out to his captain. Then seeing the smaller boy turn at his voice and instantly rush over caused him to shake his head.

Once the boy was by his side Zoro allowed himself to look at him as he wondered what he wanted and couldn't help but to remember the whole bad dream event. A slight chuckle leaving him as he asked, "What's up.. had another bad dream..?" His eyes intently watching the straw hat boy for his reaction.

Luffy shook his head but remained quiet as he turned to look at Zoro. "..I just wanted to see where everybody was at.."

Zoro nodded his head and apologized for his earlier comment as it seemed to him as if Luffy was still a little upset about it. So he decided to just let it go for now and go along with the other boy's story. "Well did you find everybody?"

He could see a smile on the other boy's face as he nodded and then shook his head. "Well almost.. I mean I couldn't find Usopp.."

"Well did you search everywhere..?" Zoro asked as he was rather interested in this for he had wanted to know how is captain had missed him when Zoro knew exactly where he was.

He watched Luffy nod his head rather enthusiastically as he said, "I looked everywhere including that weird place underneath the hatch by the mast.."

This caused Zoro to laugh as Luffy had just called that place weird but it was most likely due to the fact that it was so dark he couldn't see anything that made it weird. However Zoro had seen Usopp climb down into the hatch but he wasn't sure as to why he would avoid Luffy until he realized that he might had been sleeping. He had been just about to tell Luffy that but the younger boy had thrown him for a loop by asking about his wound. He was a little bit surprised by the sudden question but Zoro guessed that this was probably the real reason behind him trying to find everybody. A few moments passed in silence as he just lied back down and felt Luffy's eyes on him as he waited for an answer. "It's fine.. What about your's, Captain?"

Zoro watched as his captain just smiled before simply saying, "I'm just fine.." He could hear a slight pause in Luffy's voice as he continued on, "Hey Zoro.. even though I know I need to have faith in you guys.. its still alright for me to worry, right..?"

Before he knew it Zoro found himself smiling back at his captain as it seemed like he was just full of surprises. "Yeah, it's alright.." He stated simply enough as he slowly reached out and pulled on the younger boy's arm until he was lying down next to him. "But sometimes it's best to just not think about anything and just relax.."

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Luffy squirmed about trying to get comfortable which caused a slight chuckle to push past his lips. That made Luffy tilt his head as he looked over at him as this time he raised an eyebrow himself sending Zoro his 'what was that about' look.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing." Zoro said calmly as he didn't want to irritate the boy by saying that he cause of his chuckle was him. His eyes once more gazing skyward before slowly closing them. "So, just relax.."

Zoro could hear Luffy take in a deep breath as he tried to follow his example and relax. However despite how many calming and silent moments passed it seemed as if the boy hadn't managed to relax anymore. When his voice suddenly broke the silence and it caused Luffy to jump slightly in surprise. "Oi Luffy... is there something else bothering you..?" He asked as he started to sit back up and peer down at the boy next to him.

He watched in silence as Luffy shifted a bit before looking over at him and saying in a rather defeated manner, "I just don't want to dream about.. you guys dying again.." The way he said was more than enough to convince Zoro that he was being honest.

A soft sigh left his lips as he reached out to the small boy and gently ruffled his hair like he had done before. Zoro didn't know why but there was something about all of this that just felt so natural for him as he just let his hand rest on Luffy's head. "You can't help what you dream about.. but I will tell you that no matter what kind of dream you have if you need reassurance or whatever it may be I'll help you anyway I can so...!" His words abruptly cut off as a smiling Luffy jumped onto him and by reflex him automatically gave Luffy a good whack on the head.

"**Itai**~!" Zoro watched Luffy exclaim with a pout as he held his head and asked, "What the hell was that for.. You surprised me.."

Zoro just raised another eyebrow as he looked back at Luffy. "I could ask you the same thing! What do you mean 'You surprised me'.. You surprised me first.." A slight grin coming onto his face at his captain's behavior.

"..I was just happy that's all.." Luffy said with his goofy grin set in place as Zoro could tell that he was back to his usual self.

"Baka.." Zoro stated with a simple smile but seeing as he captain was about to say something back he cut him off with a silent apology. His hand slowly reaching up to gently touch the spot he had whacked just before causing Luffy to smile and laugh but Zoro didn't mind it so much as the words that he had been expecting followed soon after.

"Thank you, Zoro.." The smaller boy stated slowly as he got off of Zoro and plopped right back down beside him.

'I must be turning into a sap.. big time.' Zoro thought to himself as he nodded at his captain before saying, "Now you better get some sleep.."

He watched Luffy pout as he probably wasn't ready to sleep yet but even so Luffy still closed his eyes and moved closer to Zoro before whispering, "**Oyasumi**.."

'Oyasumi huh?' His eyes looking down at boy next to him with a smile as he let his hand rest quietly upon his head before running his fingers through Luffy's soft black hair. 'Well I guess if it's like this then I won't mind being a sap for a little while longer..' Zoro thought as he pulled his eyes away from the boy and stared back up at the sky before lying back down himself.

**In the morning**

Luffy yawned rather contently as he slowly stirred from his sleep. His hand moving to cover his mouth from a yawn as he sat up and began to stretch. A smile on his face as he had slept through the entire night without a problem. However certain parts of his body were in disagreement as they had found the arrangement uncomfortable but of course he simply ignored it all like it didn't matter. After all he knew that whatever it was his body would get over it. His eyes turning to the still sleeping Zoro as he remembered how he had helped him once again. Luffy then quietly crouched down next to Zoro and gently poked at his cheek until he opened up his eyes. "**Ohayo**!"

He couldn't help but to laugh at Zoro's expression as he quickly pulled away from him and jumped down onto the deck below. That smile still plastered onto his face as he ran about the whole ship yelling and laughing. The ruckus doubling as Usopp crawled out of the hatch on deck to join in on the fun. Until Nami quickly remedied the problem by emerging from her lair and threatening to toss them both overboard if they didn't shut up.

Once they were sure that Nami had retreated they both had continued on but of course just on a lower volume as they knew she had meant what she said. A smile on his face as he could hear a slight chuckle coming from Zoro as he just watched on with amusement. However it didn't take much longer for Luffy to abandon the charade, leaving Usopp to deal with an even angrier Nami this time she threatened to do more to him than just throwing him overboard.

A smile on his face as he quickly climbed back up to where Zoro was in order to talk so more. So of course when he sat back down by him the words that came from his mouth didn't surprise him a bit. As he had hope that the swordsman would ask just that of him. "Did you have any bad dreams..?"

"Not a single one." Luffy's reply came honestly enough as he just sat there and grinned.

Apparently his words and actions had both convinced and pleased Zoro as he could see a smile appear on his face. Then as the feeling of Zoro's hand ruffling his hair was followed by two simple words that made Luffy even happier.

"I'm glad."

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**RAWR! Well that's the end of this chapter. I really had fun writing it because I was really excited about continuing on with this fic and it was rather cute.. well at least to me. XD Anyways I just want to say thanks to all the people who had read this and extend an even bigger thank you to Neko11 and Mayo2198 for reviewing the first chapter.**

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully you might just go ahead and review it for me :3**

**Kanpai=Cheers, Gomen=Sorry, Itai=Painful, Oyasumi=Good night, Ohayo=Good morning**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	3. Ch 3: Bonds

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D Nor do I own Zoro's childhood.

**Urgh it's taken about three days for me to do the third part even though I didn't even really start writing it till last night.. it feels like it's been so much longer. I guess that's because I really wanted to write it but couldn't.. Anyways I'll explain at the end in the my notes. **

**There is a slight hint of ZoLu but it's nothing to be weary about it's just sweet. Also there is some slight language and just a bit of violence.**

**I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Most Japanese words/phrases used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end. **

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-:: CHAPTER 3: BONDS ::-

Zoro sat quietly in between two buildings on what at first had appeared to be either a porch or a built in bench. However the matter of what it was was no longer relevant to him as it was working just fine for him as a place to sit and drink. His one remaining katana placed closely to his right side while in his left he was currently holding a mug. He had already brought the mug up to his lips several times to drain the liquid from it's container, but this time as he brought the mug to his lips he found the mug to be empty. A small sigh upon his lips as he set the empty mug down to his left. The mug making a soft clunk as the two different surfaces met.

His back resting lightly upon the exterior of the building behind him but seeing as he no longer held a drink he completely leaned back upon the exterior of the building. The eyes that he had originally kept staring straight ahead now strayed over to his left to look upon the crowd of villagers still partying. Zoro himself couldn't help but think it weird to party for about three days straight, and it didn't seem like they had any intention to stop now.

Another sigh left his lips but this time it was more of a yawn as he was beginning to find himself a little tired. He then pulled his eyes away from the crowd of happy people only to close his own as he slowly lifted his arms and eased his hands behind his head. The sounds of laughter and music all about him but even so he had managed to block it out as a slight snore signaled his drift off into the world of sleep.

"Anyone here! I'm a **doujouyaburi**! Come and fight me!" A small child with green hair called out as he stood at the entrance to the dojo. A confident smile on his face as he watched a man with black hair pulled back into a ponytail and glasses step forward to accept his challenge and his terms, if he won he'd take their signboard and if he lost he would join the dojo. However when he found out that he would not be fighting the man but instead his daughter, Kuina, he was a little upset but still accepted when the man said that she was stronger than the adults of the dojo.

The man's words proved true as the green hair child lost and kept his word about joining the dojo. "I'll continue to train until I beat you.."

Meanwhile the girl known as Kuina just started down at the boy with cold eyes as she calmly stated, "That will never happen.."

Even so the green hair child did not give up and continued to train. After a year had passed he had become the best male student and could even beat the adults. Though as he grew stronger so did Kuina and to prove that stood his 2000 loses against her and not even a single win. He cursed himself for not being able to beat her for his goal of becoming the strongest swordsman in the world. So this time he was set on using real swords as he requested their 2001st battle to be their last. However the boy lost that one as well and in his defeat he cursed and cursed that he couldn't accept this.

It was then that Kuina said, "You can't accept it.. I can't accept it! As girls grow up we become weaker than men.. I'll probably surpassed by you soon. It must be nice to be a man, Zoro.. my father told me.. it's impossible for me to become the world's strongest because I'm a woman.. if only I was a boy.."

The boy's tears of defeat instantly vanished as he hated that the one who had beaten him was now saying such things. "Is that what you'll say when I beat you..? Because you're a woman.. it only makes me an idiot for training so hard!" He paused for a moment as he took a few steps forward. "Now promise me that one of us will become the best." It was then that Kuina nodded her head as she stepped forward and clasped his hand as they made their promise.

After that Zoro had continued his training so that instead of just using two swords he would be able to use three. However his training was instantly put on hold at the news of Kuina death but after her funeral he continued on even harder with his training. Then one day as he was training Kuina dad's took him inside the dojo to talk to him. It was after their talk that the small boy asked for Kuina's katana in order to take her share of the training, to become stronger, and to fulfill his promise...

Zoro's eyes began to open slowly as he could feel something gently poking at his cheek and a voice calling out his name. A yawn on his lips as his eyes opened as he saw Luffy standing before him. His face showing a look of slightly confusion as he was surprised that he had dreamed about his past. It took a few moments for him to fully wake up but when he did he looked at his captain who was now plopped down on the ground in front of him. Though this time as he looked down at boy he had no idea what to expect.

**A little while earlier**

Luffy had just sat back down at a large table surround by stacks of plates most of which he had already cleaned free of their food except for the ones now currently in front him. His goofy grin plastered on his face as he eat all the meat that he could and whatever else he could grab. "**Oishii**!"

However due to a light breeze that was blowing and Luffy's frenzied eating the breeze was more than enough to lift the hat off his head and into the air. "**Boushi**!" His expression instantly changing as he ran off after his hat. A few people laughing at him as he probably looked really funny or maybe they were just too drunk. Either way the laughter didn't matter to Luffy just as long as he could get his hat back.

It was after a what seemed like an eternity that Luffy had managed to catch his hat. Whenever he tried to stretch out his arm to grab it the wind would suddenly pick up or die down causing it to fly higher or fall. Even so he had gotten lucky when it got caught on a small tree limb and he had moved just quick enough to grab it. A smile appearing on his lips as he stuck out his tongue at nobody in particular and laughed. His eyes finally taking in his surroundings as he realized that during his hat chase he had managed to get a good distance away from everybody else. Of course Luffy didn't let it bother him as he slowly began walking back to where everybody was at, Cocoyashi Village. His smile growing bigger as he began to remember the events of how they had gotten here.

First it had all started when him and Usopp were firing the canon for practice and accidentally shot at two men named Johnny and Yosaku in the process. After Johnny forcefully boarded the ship it became known that the two had a history with his swordsman, Zoro, while he was a bounty hunter. Once he had heard they were looking for a cook the two then led them to a floating sea restaurant named Baratie. There they met Sanji and at the same time a man known as Don Krieg appeared and tried to take over the floating restaurant. It was then that Hawk-eyes showed up and destroyed Don's ship while Nami had run off with the _Going Merry_. Zoro then fought with Hawk-eyes and lost but managed to keep his life as Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku took the wounded man along with them as they chased Nami. It was after Luffy's fight with Krieg that Yosaku had come back with news of where Nami was headed. Then right before leaving Sanji had taken him up on his offer to become the cook for his ship.

The second part of their adventure had started when him, Sanji, and Yosaku had left to go after everybody. It was only when they had landed that they had ran into Zoro and found out about her relation with Arlong and the claim that she killed Usopp. Then much to everybody's surprise Nami appeared right before them and told them to leave but Luffy didn't listen to her so she ran. After a few minutes of just waiting Usopp showed up and told them about how Nami had actually saved him. Soon after Nami's sister, Nojiko, arrived to tell them about her past however Luffy passed on the chance. It was by chance that his walk ended up taking him to Nami where she asked him for help. So of course he took off with everybody else to go and kick some merman ass. It was only after everyone's hard work that he was able to face Arlong, kick his ass, get Nami back, and as a result destroyed Arlong Park freeing the entire island from the merman's reign.

However thinking about all of this made Luffy realize that he had a better understanding about Sanji's, Usopp's, and Nami's past then he had about Zoro's. He knew it shouldn't bother him too much but he felt cheated as he only knew that Zoro had been a bounty hunter. Plus he thought it was strange that he wanted to know about Zoro's past but declined in knowing more about Nami. He just couldn't help but wonder if him being curious about Zoro was a part of what was going on between them or how he really felt. Either way it was bothering him. Plus for some reason he just couldn't stop relying upon Zoro and Zoro himself didn't seem to mind comforting him. So he didn't want Zoro to feel like he didn't trust him anymore or anything if he had just stopped coming to him. He then sighed softly as he felt that he was just going around in circles and paused knowing that he would at least have to talk to the swordsman about some of this.

There was a moment of silence as he was pulled back away from his thoughts by the sound of snoring. His eyes widening in surprise at the site before him as either half of the people had simply passed out from being drunk or had just been too tired and fell asleep right there. At first he pouted that the party had ended in such a way but he couldn't help but to grin as knew that at last they were all happy.

He couldn't help but to laugh as he had already spotted two members of his crew among the sleeping crowd. Usopp was sleeping on top of the massive platform where he had been singing earlier, and Sanji was surrounded by the beautiful girls he adored just minus Nami. However it bugged him that he couldn't find his swordsman or navigator quite as quickly, but soon enough he had spotted the swordsman sleeping in between two buildings.

A smile on his face as he easily walked past all the people as he went straight for Zoro, waking him up the only way he knew by poking his cheek. However this time it worked quicker and it seemed as if he was in a better mood upon his waking for he hadn't tried to harm him yet. So he decided to just plop down as Zoro woke up and just dive into it before he backed out. "Hey Zoro, can I talk.. well more like ask you a few things?"

His eyes now moving up to look at his swordsman as he replied back, "Yeah.." With that he watched Zoro shift about in his seat before bringing his arms back down and giving him a nod to start.

**Minutes later**

Zoro sat in silence as he listened to his captain. He could tell that Luffy had thought about what he was saying but clearly not the order as he'd jump from one thing to another, but even so Zoro was able to follow what he was saying. There were a few moments when he had been rather surprised like when Luffy had asked him if it was alright for him to continue to rely on him and most of all when he had asked to know a little bit more about his past. Normally at the mention of his past Zoro would have brushed it off but the fact that Luffy wanted to know about him just seemed to put a smile on his face. Plus he couldn't help but to find the timing a little more than perfect as he had just been dreaming about his past.

"Yeah it's fine to keep relying on me.. besides if you had bothered me I would have just brushed you aside." Zoro said rather honestly seeing as if he had been a bother he clearly would have said something.

However he just watched Luffy slowly start to nodded his head in understanding as if it all made perfect sense to him. "Ohh I see."

With a small shake of his head Zoro just continued on, "Well as for my past.. listen up because I won't say it again." He could see a smile on the other boy's lips at his words as Zoro began to tell him about the dream he had of his childhood and of his reason to become the best swordsman in the world. After he had finished he smile as it was clear that Luffy was wanting a bit more but Zoro quickly told him, "And that's all you get."

A smile upon his own lips as he watched Luffy pouted and reply back, "No fair! It was getting good.."

He couldn't help but to chuckle at Luffy's remark but even so Zoro didn't give in and decided to try and get some information out of the straw hat boy. "Well.. why don't we do a swap tell me about yourself and I'll tell you more?" After all nobody really knew anything about their captain other than what he had told them himself.

"Yosh! My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm 17.. This straw hat is my treasure. I'm going to be the Pirate King! Oh, I love mea-"

Zoro closed his eyes and shook his head slowly as he reached out with his right hand to grabbed his katana and brought it down onto the boy's head. Only to get a string of protest from the boy as he began to rub furiously at the spot where he had been hit. Even so Zoro tilted his head to side while trying to hold in his irritation as he brought his hand to his temple. "You moron not that! I meant about your past!"

He watched Luffy pause for a moment as if giving it some thought but he just quickly shook his head and stuck out his tongue at him. "**Yada**!" His goofy grin now present on his face as Zoro had learned that it had meant the return of his captain.

Zoro couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow as he wasn't sure how to react about all of it as he felt like he had just been thrown for a loop and he was a little more than pissed about it. So he just shrugged his shoulders as he said, "Whatever.." Before he returned his arms back to their original position as his hands once more went behind his head but this time he left his eyes open. Nothing else was said after that as they both probably thought that more words weren't necessary. After all they could both tell that the bond between them had strengthed and made them closer. So what was the point in apologizing? A small sigh leaving him as they just continued to sit there in that same that familiar silence with their eyes locked on each other until they both drifted off into a world of sleep.

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**Yup that's the end of chapter 3. Sorry for taking so long to write this part but as I said before I'll explain why. I'm currently re-watching the anime in order to refresh my memory so I won't screw up any of the original content of One Piece with any of my false memories. Also it helps me to not rush Zoro and Luffy's relationship too much and keep it all farily believable. As you can see a lot happened since the last chapter and so it meant a ton of episodes for me to go through. **

**Anyways moving on I want to thank everybody in general for just reading this. ****Also as a special thanks I really appreciate everybody that has reviewed/commented and even added this story to their favorites and story alerts. ^^ **

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully you might just go and review this for me :3**

**Doujouyaburi=Someone who challenges a dojo, Oishii=Delicious, Boushi=Hat, Yada=No way!**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	4. Ch 4: Games

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D Nor do I own the beginning of their game of tag.

**Well it's time for chapter 4 now. I hope you guys have enjoyed everything so far and that you'll continue to. I just really loved the part about them playing tag so I decided to have a bit of fun with it and allow Zoro and Luffy to have a bit more fun after all they could use a bit more of it. XD**

**There is a slight hint of ZoLu but it's nothing to be weary about it's just sweet. Also there is some slight language and a tad of violence.**

**I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.**

* * *

-:: CHAPTER 4: GAMES ::-

Zoro sat crouched over by the exterior wooden wall of the canon deck and anchor room, which was located by the bow of the ship. It was still rather early as he could just now see the sun beginning to rise. A yawn upon his lips as of course he would have preferred to stay asleep but being part of the crew it was only natural for him to help get the ship ready to sail. However now that it was over he was ready to go back and get a bit more sleep before breakfast. Though his rather hyper Captain Luffy was bugging him to play a game of tag with him which made it a little more diffucult to do. Zoro could only try to ignore him and turn away from him as he was a) still sleepy or b) still a little pissed off about feeling like he had been thrown for a loop back at Cocoyashi. Of course the answer was c) all of the above.

He wasn't even sure why Luffy wanted to play tag with him so badly because he had never really bothered him for things like this. Even so Zoro couldn't help but to wonder if Luffy had taken the sign of their bond strengthening as an okay to now play games with him. A soft sigh leaving his lips as Usopp now came over running exclaiming with the utmost enthusiasm, "Oh I wanna play too! Come on, let's do it!"

Zoro could slowly feel his patience wearing thin at the appearance of baka #2 and he could only snap back with, "Are you two retarded? Just how old are you two?" A brief silence brooding over him as hoped that the two wouldn't answer that question but sure enough they did.

"17!" The two boys answered in unison as they just stared at him.

Zoro just stared back at the two before smacking his forehead with his head as he got up and excused himself to go nap. However things weren't going to be that simple for him as he had just taken a few steps when he heard Usopp say, "I guess he just afraid of losing to the great Captain Usopp!"

At that Zoro had completely lost all of his remaining patience as he turned back to Usopp. "Bastard... What did you say?" It was then that Usopp only added more fuel to the fire as he repeated what he had said before and added a little bit more. Zoro's feet moving on his own as he lunged after the two, well more just like Usopp. "Come back here you son of a-"

Of course before he could finish he was cut off by Usopp's remark, "Oh Zoro name-calling isn't nice.." His words filled with laughter as he ran around the mast to avoid Zoro while Luffy ran in the opposite direction.

"Why you!" Zoro responded in turn as the tried to reach out and grab him by his shirt but he reached out too late and Usopp had managed to get away. However his attention was quickly diverted to Luffy as he called out.

"Oi, Zoro! No fair, play with me too!" A slight pout upon the straw hat boy's face as he clearly felt left out.

At that Zoro could feel a vein throbbing as he stopped and glared at the boy. "I am NOT playing!" Even so his reaction only caused the two boys to continue laughing as they ran about the deck calling out to him.

"Over here Zoro-san!"

However the two boys quickly quieted down as they could hear Sanji's voice call out that is was time to eat. Of course if this had happened before he had started chasing them he would have let it go but he was still mad and so when the two boys both stopped to abandon their game to go eat Zoro yelled out, "Get your asses back here! I'm not finished!" This time he had better luck as he was able to grab Usopp by his long nose.

A voice of protest coming from the boy but Zoro just ignored it as he could hear Luffy laughing, "Too bad, Usopp you got caught. I win." Then he quickly turned and ran off to go eat.

"I told you I am not playing!" Zoro yelled out after the smaller boy but of course he got no reply as the boy was already gone. Then letting his attention shift to his captive Zoro then dragged Usopp behind him on his way to the lounge as his punishment.

After eating breakfast Zoro had decided to head below deck and into the men's sleeping quarters for his nap. For he felt that if he slept out in the open there would be more chances for Luffy and Usopp to annoy him. So he quickly climbed up into his hammock and closed his eyes in order to go back to sleep.

**Back on deck**

"Zoro! Oi, Zoro...!" Luffy called out as he searched the ship for his swordsman. A slight pout on his lips as he had thought that they were going to finish their game after breakfast but Zoro had finished first and left without saying a word. In his search Luffy had covered about two thirds of the ship and he only had to look in their sleeping quarters, the canon deck and anchor room, and the bow. He decided to check the bow first so that way if Zoro was hiding there he couldn't escape while he checked some where else. A smile on his face as he climbed the stairs to the bow but his eyes saw nobody and pouted as the anchor room was empty as well. He was a little sadden that he hadn't found Zoro yet but now only their room remained and he smiled as there was no escape for his swordsman now.

Luffy tried to be as quite as he could while he opened the hatch and slowly climbed down the mast into their room, shutting the hatch behind him. "Yosh!" He exclaimed quietly as his eyes quickly spotted the swordsman laying fast asleep in his hammock. Then moving on to the next phase he slowly moved across the room over to the sleeping man. There was a grin on his face as he gently grabbed onto the hammock as he leaned his face forward. "Oi Zoro! Come on let's play tag again! Come on!" His hands now starting to shake the hammock as he continued on yelling even though Zoro was now yelling at him to stop. Of course he didn't listen and just kept on jerking the hammock and it didn't help when Zoro himself began to move about, trying to pull his hands away from the hammock.

"Damn it, Luffy! Let go al-" Even if Luffy didn't want to he could tell that Zoro wasn't happy about it all so he just let go but apparently it had been too quick for Zoro to notice as he had kept on struggling. Now that the weight was no longer equally distributed throughout the hammock Zoro had ended up meeting face first with the wooden floor. "That hurt you bastard.." The words slipping from the man's mouth as he started to get up.

Luffy couldn't help but to feel slightly nervous as it seemed like Zoro was even madder now than he had been before. "Ah.. Sorry about that Zoro.. My bad.." The words a little slow on the way out as he scratched the back of his head, hoping that his swordsman wouldn't actually try to kill him like he had said he would eventually one day do. Even though Luffy had always managed to think of it as joke because of them being nakama and with what was now going on between them. Yet, whenever the words were said there was always a part of him that would cringe inwardly for it made him uncomfortable. He wasn't even sure why it did that to him but he hated it.

His feet now acting on their own as they took a step backwards and quickly turned him around in the direction of the mast. In hopes of getting away before the swordsman could react any further. However it wasn't enough as the swordsman had already gotten up and managed to grab onto his hand, pulling him back to him. "You're not getting away that easy, Luffy.." There was horrible feeling in his stomach at those words as he could only fear for the worse. However to say the least when death didn't come for him he was happy but still weary about what would.

**Moments later**

Zoro sat on the wooden floor with a rather pleased look on his face as he glanced over at the smaller boy who was tenderly rubbing at his cheeks, complaining about how it hurt. A slight chuckle coming from Zoro as he told the boy, "You should just be grateful that I didn't do more than I did.. or your pay backed could have hurt a whole lot more.." Which was true as there was a lot he could have gotten him back for but just then it was mainly for the whole thrown for a loop thing. That being said he wasn't all that angry about being rudely awaken because it was bound to happen soon or later and the only reason he wasn't angry about hitting the floor face first was because he was still half asleep so he didn't feel it, but he knew he would later. So, the only reason he had really acted the way he had was because it was just easier to because he was still angry. Plus he thought it be interesting to see his captain's reaction.

At that the complaints stopped but he could hear the boy mumbling something along the lines of, 'just because I'm a rubber man doesn't mean that everything stretches so easy..' A pout would have been upon the boy's face he was sure of it but it seemed that when Zoro had rather abruptly and roughly grabbed his cheeks, stretching them as far as they would go it had hurt more than he thought it would. So did it mean that when it was a surprise or involuntary stretching that it actually hurt?

Either way he tossed the thought aside as he asked, "Care to explain why you woke me so delicately..?" Emphasis clearly being put on delicately while his eyes turned to watch the boy.

Luffy paused and sheepishly looked down at the floor. " To play tag.." His eyes closing as it seemed the boy had expected to be whacked by his katana.

A slight chuckle filled the air at Luffy's reaction and Zoro just shook his head in disbelief as he calmly stated, "I told you I wasn't playing.."

"But I really just wanted to play with you.. and considering all that's happened I feel closer to you and I thought that playing with you.. would be nice.." He boy simply stated as his eyes met with Zoro's.

He honestly had no clue what was going through his captain's head as for some reason the boy had seemed completely panicked before but now he just seemed kind of nervous. Then with a slight smile appeared on his lips at the other boy's words. "Well if that's what you want then fine I'll play a game with you.. but it's my pick."

At that the other boy had completely perked back up as he grinned from ear to ear and nodded his head. "**Yatta**!"

**About a minute later**

"Zoro, no fair! I don't want to play this game any more!" Luffy pouted as so far he had lost every single game of thumb war that they had played. His failure to win only making him more excited and determined to win, despite his words. If it had been anybody Luffy would have just simply stretched his thumb in order to win but since Zoro had said if he did it he would cut off his thumb he had decided to play it safe. Plus there was just something about being this close to the swordsman and being able to hold onto his hand, even if they were only playing a game, that made him think this was better than tag.

"-y.. Oi Luffy! Pay attention won't you.." Zoro's words bringing him back down to earth as he just looked at his swordsman in utter confusion. He heard Zoro sigh and then speak once more. "I was trying to ask you if you had anymore bad dreams Luffy."

At that Luffy shook his head as he began to pay more attention to the conversation which caused his thumb to stop moving. "No, not since we left Cocoyashi.." This bad dream had been different from the first for instead of dreaming about losing everybody it had just been about losing Zoro. In the dream Zoro's fight with Hawk-eyes had been so much more violent and at the end the swordsman's body had ended up sinking into the depths of the ocean. Of course Luffy hadn't dared to tell his swordsman that but after many questions and raised eyebrows he had given in and told him everything. So when Zoro didn't push him away but instead pulled him even closer to him for comfort Luffy was a little surprised by it at first but it made him happy.

He watched as Zoro just nodded his head. "That's good." A bittersweet grin on Luffy's face as it was clear that the game of thumb war was over because both of their thumbs had stopped moving.

It was then that he couldn't help but to wonder why Zoro had wanted to play this game and so he asked him. "Hey, Zoro why did you want to play thumb war..?" Luffy asked as he tilted his head to the side a bit while waiting for an answer.

"Well it's a lot easier than tag, it doesn't involve mindless running about, and-"

"Are you sure it's not because you get to hold my hand..?" A huge grin currently plastered on his face as he let his eyes stare down at their hands which were still together.

A surprised look coming onto his face as Zoro didn't pull away but just continued to sit there still holding onto his hand as if they were just taking a small break. "Keep that up and I won't play anymore games with you, Luffy.."

Luffy couldn't help but to laugh at his words which only made Zoro a little aggravated. So before he could say anything else Luffy nodded his head with a smile as he spoke, "I understand so let's keep playing.."

He watched Zoro just smile back and nod his head. "Alright but this is the last round.."

"**Iiyo**!" Luffy said as he turned his attention back to their game with the intent to make this last game his first win. Then a rather surprised look began creeping onto his face as he grinned. "I won!" At first he wasn't sure if he had actually won on his own or if Zoro had let him win but right now he didn't care. The grin growing even bigger as he felt Zoro's hand gently ruffling his hair.

"**Omedetou** Luffy.." The smaller boy just watched his swordsman as he pulled away and headed back over to his hammock. Then before climbing back up into it he threw a back glance at him. "Promise to not wake me up like before again and I'll play more games with you, deal?"

At that Luffy kept on grinning as he nodded. "Deal!"

* * *

**So that's that's for this chapter. Hopefully everybody knows what thumb war is and sorry if you found the game choice to be sucky but it worked for what I had in mind, besides I personally love thumb war. Also I swear I either need to beat myself up or my brain for when I was writing this chapter there were a few times when my brain actually went blank on me and I couldn't come up with anything.. Ahh I blame the heat.. I can't wait for it to get cooler **

**Ah anyways moving on to things that you guys actually care about. XD I've been meaning to mention this but I kept forgetting.. for those of you out there that care about when the next chapter will come out or want to know how it's coming along just go look at my profile. I always update my profile after I update my story and I even mention the current progress on the next chapter. **

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully enough you might just go and review this for me :3**

******Yatta=Yay, Iiyo=Okay, Omedetou=Congratulations**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	5. Ch 5: Execution

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D Nor Loguetown or Luffy's flashy execution.. oh that crazy Buggy.

**Ta-da! So here goes chapter 5. Lol. **

**Originally I had planned to just take my time writing this chapter seeing as all the recent use of my brain for writing began to strain my laid back brain but I still ended up writing because our air conditioner messed up.. So yeah it was a whole lot easier to just sit in front of a fan and write. Then when it got fixed I thought I'd take a break but my mind was still in writing mode so I decided to go ahead and finish it up. Also now that the story has progressed and I'm rather excited about writing more for this story. So it's a double win. ^^**

**There is a slight hint of ZoLu but it's nothing to be weary about it's just sweet. Also there is violence, lots of blood(but it's only in the first little bit), and some slight language.**

**Also, I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.**

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-:: CHAPTER 5: EXECUTION ::-

"Damn it, outta of the way!" Zoro said to the combined lot of Buggy's and Alvida's men as he continued to hack away and slice through his opponents, but even so there just seemed to be no end to the worthless bunch of pirates. No matter how many he cut down. His swords now stained red with their blood as he cast a worried glance over towards the execution platform.

His whole body freezing up momentarily at Buggy's voice. "Try all you want, but you can't stop me now! This is the end of your captain!"

Even so Zoro still knew that he had time but it was still just a simple matter of just how much he had left. 'If only I could just cut the platform supports...!' The thought running over and over in his mind as he sliced through another person, but yet another took his place before he could move a step. It was then that he heard Buggy's laugh once more followed by his captain's voice.

"ZORO! Sorry, I'm... dead."

Buggy's sword now speeding through the air as Zoro could only watch from a distance as the cold sharp metal continued to close the distance between it and the back of Luffy's neck. 'No..'

It had almost seemed as if time itself had crawled to a screeching halt as everything around him began to slow. Then there was a blinding flash of white followed by a blue glow and jets of red before everything faded to black. His eyes carefully combing the darkness as he stood tensed as the only sounded that could be heard was the drip drop of blood falling from his katanas. Then there was another sound and this time it was the pitter patter of feet walking his way. Of course he had spun around to face the direction in which there were coming from but then suddenly the direction would alter every so often. However it was the sounds had stopped and Zoro was just about to think he was imagining things until he heard a voice.

"Zoro.."

The swordsman quickly turned around to seeing his Captain Luffy standing before him with a smile on his face. His eyebrows furrowed and a look of slight confusion played upon his face about what was going on. "..L-Luffy.."

The straw hat boy didn't answer for his smile slowly disappeared and his features were filled with a slight look of sorrow and pain. "Why didn't you save me..? I trusted you to be there for me.. Zoro."

There was only silence after his words as Zoro was just speechless and then that was when his ears had picked up on a different sound. This one sounding slightly familiar to the dripping he had first heard but it was much faster. His eyes didn't have to move very far as he watched the smaller boy somewhat shudder and slowly start to pale.

'No..' The thought once more running though his mind as he could see a continually growing puddle of red beneath Luffy's feet. There was a faint bugling in his neck as a red line suddenly began to stretch from the back of his neck to the front. Blood just seeming to gush from this red line and pour directly down along his body, dying his clothes and covering his skin in red.

A bit of blood slowly dripping from his mouth as the boy went to speak his face no longer holding any emotion. "Zoro, If only you had made it in time.. then I'd still be-" The words slowly dying of their own accord as the boy began to reach out to Zoro, but it was a little too late as the two ends of the line had just connected at the front of his neck. Then there was a burst of blue as flames engulfed his entire body as his head that had been a part of him just seconds ago was now just gingerly balancing on his neck. Before splashing into the puddle of blood beneath him with a thud and then a few moments later his body fell forward as well.

An unreadable expression upon Zoro's face as there were so many different feelings and thoughts running through his head all at once that he wasn't sure how to react. The metallic clanging of his swords as they dropped more than enough to break the silence as he couldn't even utter a single word.

The swordsman's eyes opened rather quickly as he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. His eyes instantly looking over to his side to find relief in the sight of the boy there, Luffy. A small sigh of relief leaving his lips at the sight of the boy next to him. His eyes gazing up at the sky from the crow's nest only to find that it was still night and the rain had finally stopped, but even so it was still a little chilly. Zoro then let one hand pull the tarp away from them and instead pull the blanket closer around them as he let one arm slip around the smaller boy.

Zoro couldn't help but want to laugh as this time the roles had switched for he was now seeking comfort in the others presence and warmth. He had remembered when Luffy had first said that he was alright and just wanted to be the lookout for tonight but even so Zoro still decided to offer to keep him company. At first Zoro had thought that the smaller boy was going to reject his offer because he might have wanted to be alone but he was happy when the boy accepted.

Once they had made it into the crow's nest there was no need to keep their distance as up there it was like they were in their own little world and now free to do what they pleased. Even though they were soaked by the rain it didn't matter as Zoro quickly pulled out the blanket and tarp. He then wrapped the blanket snugly around them and finally covered themselves up with the tarp as they sat down. At first being that close would have bothered him but after everything this degree of closeness only felt natural to him.

However Zoro snapped out of his daze as he glanced over at the sleeping boy and gently ruffled his hair. Though it didn't work for much longer as he mind had already began to wonder once more but instead to the events before all of this had started, in other words when they had first arrived in Loguetown.

Of course upon their arrival everybody had been excited for there were things that each person had either wanted to get or see. While Luffy in particular had made it clear that he had wanted to see the place where the Pirate King, Gold D. Roger, had died. As for him Zoro was wanting to get two more katanas and Nami had already started to bothering him as she pointed out the fact that he had no money, but then with a smile told him that he would loan him some money just as long as he paid her back three times over with interest.

It was only after a lot of thinking, seeing a look-a-like of Kuina, being bitched at, being forced to be a janitor for the Marines, and being called a fiend for cleaning those floors that Zoro had managed to get away and find another weapon shop. He told the man there that he had 100,000 beli and wanted to buy two katanas. However as he was talking to the man there the look-a-like of Kuina appeared causing a look of malcontent to come onto his face as she continued just continued to bitch at him. His brain not really paying her anymore attention than he had too. It was not until a little while later that Zoro had his two new swords one by the name of **Sandai Kitetsu **and the other **Yabashiri**.

A smile upon his face as he left the shop feeling even better now that he had three swords once more and had sat down on some nearby stairs in order to take a closer look upon Sandai Kitetsu. He couldn't help but to jump as Luffy had just appeared out of nowhere. "Cool looking katana!"

Zoro couldn't help but to glare at the straw hat boy as he snapped, "What the hell Luffy! Don't startle me like that-" He would have continued on but Luffy had cut him off as he asked him.

"Hey, do you know where the gallows are..?"

The words that left the smaller boy's mouth only caused a look of disbelief to appear as he asked, "You got lost..?"

At that he watched as Luffy just scratched at the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so."

He couldn't help but to laugh at his captain as he shook his head and said simply, "Well I guess I could give you a hand." His lips curling up into a smile as he got up from the the step of the stair and walked along with Luffy in search of the gallows.

Of course they hadn't been walking around for too long when both of their stomachs had started growling and Luffy had began complaining about not seeing anywhere to eat. Though the problem had been solved simply enough by walking around for a few more minutes. It was then upon the first place that they laid eyes upon that they went in and began to eat.

After they had finished eating Zoro watched Luffy lean back in his chair and exclaim, "Man I'm stuffed. I was pretty hungry too.. haven't had anything since we got here."

A smile on his face as Zoro looked at the empty stacks of dishes surrounding the boy as he nodded. "Same here. I would have gotten something to eat already but I didn't have any money left on me. So it was a good thing we met when we did." He said as he poured himself a bit more to drink but as he began to drink it the other boy startled him by saying,

"I don't have any money."

Zoro almost choked on his drink as the pulled the glass away from his lips, coughing as some of the liquid had ended up going down the wrong pipe. "What!"

From there on they had kept on talking about their money problem and how they might get around it but they had nothing. Until suddenly a small sack of money landed gracefully onto the brim of Luffy's straw hat. A smile on both of the boys' faces as a single coin fell out which Luffy caught. "Woohoo! Lucky!" As he watched the boy turn to the table behind him as the thanked the cloaked man for treating them and returned the small sack of money. With that Zoro also offered his thanks and after paying their bill they quickly left to continue looking for the gallows.

They had only been walking the streets for a few minutes when a gust of wind had blown and in the process knocked Luffy's hat off of his head, causing the smaller boy to panic as he called out, "**Matte**, boushi!" The boy waas running off at full speed to chase down his hat as Zoro just walked after him but as he rounded the corner the boy had disappeared.

It had only been till later that he had found out that the boy had stumbled upon the execution platform only to be caught by Captain Buggy. Him and Sanji had ran towards and plaza and tried to save him but they couldn't. However right as he was about to be executed lighting struck the platform and left Luffy completely unharmed and with a smile on his face as they quickly left the plaza and ran to their ship, which Luffy had been so kind as to 'Gomu gomu no rocket' shoot them to.

His remembrance into the past events of the day ending as the smaller boy began to wake up and even though he had a chance to pull his arm away he didn't. A smile on his face as the sleeping boy stared up at him and said sleepy, "..Zoro.."

"Yeah Luffy..?" Zoro asked as he lessened the distance between them and held tighter on the smaller boy.

"Thanks..."

"For what?" Zoro asked a little surprised seeing as he hadn't really done anything worth saying thanks.

"You know about earlier.."

Zoro just smiled at the boy as he understood what he had meant as he moved his hand from around him to ruffle the boy's hair. Luffy had been happy that even when he was about to be executed that Zoro had at least attempted to resuce him, as well as Sanji. "What kind of nakama would I be if I didn't even try to save you.."

At his words he saw the straw hat boy just smile and start to close his eyes once more, but Zoro gently nudged the boy in order to keep him awake. "Oh no you don't! We were supposed to be on lookout duty but we both fell asleep so at least try to stay awake for now."

"Yada!" The boy said as he quickly closed his eyes and returned back to a world of sleep.

Zoro could feel a slight amount of irritation building up in him as he looked at the now sleeping boy in disbelief, resiting the urge to just smack him on his head. However the urge soon faded as he looked back out into the open sea. All the while he still held onto the sleeping boy as the night turned into day.

**Morning**

Luffy awoke and slowly pulled out of his swordsman one armed embraced and crawled out of the covers. A smile on his face as he yawned and stretched as his eyes glanced down at the deck of the ship and then out to sea. However he quickly turned back his gaze as he heard one of his nakama call out.

"Hey, breakfast is ready you guys!"

The smile on his face turning into a grin as he turned back to face his sleeping nakama. His hands gently gripping his shoulders as he shook him. "Oi! Zoro, breakfast is ready.. Come on then we can play tag after! Unless you want to play thumb war again..?"

Luffy's words were only met with a grumble of '**Urusai**!' and followed by a good whack on the head when he didn't give up on waking the swordsman. A small laugh coming from the boy as he wasn't taking the life that he had managed to keep a hold on for granted. Not that he had never done that but he had been putting off a few things and now he wasn't afraid to just do them. One of things that he found himself wanting to do was to just have more fun with Zoro, regardless of whether it was fun for his swordsman or not but he had hoped it would be.

* * *

**LALALALALALALA **

**Once more it's the end of another chapter hopefully it didn't suck but as I got towards the end it was getting harder for me to write.. I don't know if it was that my writing mood had ending or my family was starting to tick me off but whatever it was threw me off either way. Anyways hopefully that weird dream thingy didn't freak too many people out.. there was something else I wanted to say but I forgot what it was.. Oh! I know that usually I go back and forth back Luffy and Zoro but this is mainly Zoro so it was little weird for me at first when I started writing.. :D**

**But since I don't know what to write chapter 6 about I plan to take a small break(a small break being a couple of days) from writing in order to gather my thoughts about the next chapter and stuff. However the keyword being 'plan' doesn't mean a thing as seeing as none of my plans ever work out.. but we will just have to wait and see now won't we. XD After all I'll probably end up bored out of my mind and start writing.**

**I would have this chapter up sooner but I kind of fell asleep as I was rereading it.. Hehehe**

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully enough you might just go and review this for me :3**

**Sandai Kitetsu=The 3rd Demon Splitter, ****Yabashiri=Snow Step, Matte=Wait, Urusai=Shut up**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	6. Ch 6: Closer

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D Nor anything else One Piece related.

**In the end I couldn't stand taking a break in order to plan out my thoughts(like I knew I would) and just ended up watching a hell of a lot of episodes. I even took some notes so I shouldn't actually have to watch another episode for a while now. Plus this way if I have to go some where where I can't bring my computer or no internet connection it won't stop me from working on a chapter if I want to because I'll have notes! Well at least until I get past the point I've written to.. and let me tell you I HATE taking notes so this is a big step up on my part. Anyways here it is chapter 6.**

**A special thanks to everybody for reading and to those who have fav'ed, alerted, and reviewed I love all of you guys! 3**

**There is a slight hint of ZoLu but it's nothing to be weary about it's just sweet. Also there is language and some violence.**

**Also, I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.**

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-:: CHAPTER 6: CLOSER ::-

Zoro shifted slightly as he leaned back against the railing on the bow while his captain sat upon the figurehead of the ship. It had only been after helping Apis get Ryuuji to the Dragon's Nest, kicking Erik's and the Admiral Nelson Royale's ass that Luffy had claimed it as his special seat. He had even said that if he caught anybody in his spot he'd kick their ass. It was just then that a gentle breeze blew past them making the mid-morning just perfect. Zoro even closed his eyes as he relished this rather calming moment for there had never really been any calm moments upon the ship that Zoro could enjoy while awake. His eyes glancing over his shoulder at the smaller boy's back as he spoke, "Oi Luffy the red line isn't just going to appear if you keep staring.."

The smaller boy just mumbling in annoyance, "I know.."

Zoro raised an eyebrow at his words. "Then why sit out here then?"

To which the boy quickly replied with, "I want to be the first one to see it.. that's all."

He had been just about to say something else when he heard Sanji yelling out that it was time to eat. Zoro's eyes never moving from Luffy as he wondered if the boy would abandon his seat or the food. Though when the smaller boy didn't move a muscle but instead just focused more intenly upon what was it front of him instead it made Zoro smile. "I'll go grab you some food."

At that the boy turned and looked him a big grin as he spoke. "Thank you Zoro."

So with that Zoro left and headed for the lounge to get some food for both of them. Though luckily enough the room was empty and Zoro could fix their plates in peace. After stacking Luffy's plate to the point where he thought Luffy would be content he grabbed his own plate and went back to the bow where his captain was waiting.

The boy was still sitting on top of the figurehead and staring out into the sea before them. Though when Zoro called out to him he watched the boy smile and quickly jump off of the figurehead and onto the bow of the ship as he took his plate before plopping down. His hands quickly shoveling the food into his mouth as he wanted to return to his seat on the figurehead quickly.

Zoro just shook his head as he sat down next to the boy and began to eat at his own pace. Of course Luffy had managed to finish his larger pile of food before Zoro had cleared away his own meal. However there was something wrong as the smaller boy was now slightly hunched over and holding onto his stomach. Though Zoro didn't pay much attention to it until the boy began to speak,

"Hey Zoro.. my stomach feels kind of funny.."

The swordsman's mouth dropped at the words as he had thought that they would never come from the boy. However he somehow managed to shake off his surprise just long enough to try and think about what would have caused it. He knew it wasn't that the boy had eaten too much because what he had just eaten was a little less then what he would normally eat. The only thoughts that he could even dare to think was that maybe he was allergic to something or that maybe he had just eaten too fast. A slight chuckle on his lips at the thought.

Then as he looked at Luffy he patted the deck beside him, motioning for Luffy to move closer to him. So when he did Zoro told him, "It's probably from eating too fast so it'd be best for you to lie down and take it easy for a bit.."

Zoro watched Luffy's expression change as he glanced over at the figurehead before nodding his head and doing as he suggested. The only difference was that the boy had curled up right next to Zoro and laid his head against his leg, with his head positioned so that he could still stare out at sea for the red line. At that Zoro was about to protest but he stopped when he saw how Luffy was holding onto his stomach and had pulled his knees up to his chest. A small sigh escaping his lips as he decided to let it slide this time and just comfort him. After all he didn't have a problem comforting him after bad dreams so comforting a physical pain shouldn't be that much of a problem, right?

Even so Zoro found it weird that he didn't have any problem whatsoever with the boy laying his head against his leg and with everything else. After all he had felt very weird when Sanji's face had come within a close vicinity of his crotch and when he had kept saying his name over and over when he was helping with dishes. So he could only wonder as to why did everything just feel so natural with Luffy.

His eyes turning to the boy in question as he started to reach out to ruffle his hair but stopped himself and pulled back his hand. Zoro's eyes looking away as he just stared up at the sky above him. It wasn't the reason of why it felt natural that made him pull away his hand. No, it was the feeling that with every touch all the boundaries between them were just slowly disappearing that made him stop. It was in that instant he had felt worried about what the result would be if that indeed happened. His eyes slowly finding themselves back upon the boy as he tried to clear those thoughts from his mind.

They continued sitting on in silence like that for a while. Until Zoro felt the boy nuzzle against his leg causing a surprised look to settle upon his features. However he quickly erased the look from his face as he looked away but the feeling sent a slight tingle throughout his body, causing him to shiver. The palm of his hand meeting rather quickly with his face as he let out a sigh. 'Not again..' Whenever Zoro had doubts or felt unsure about whether or not he should be comforting his captain the boy had always managed to do something that pulled Zoro back to him. His hand just giving in and going to ruffle Luffy's hair as it seemed to him that those boundaries where going to end up disappearing regardless of whether he wanted them to or not.

His attention turning away from his thoughts and back to Luffy as the boy looked up at him with a smile as he spoke, "Ah! I feel better now."

Zoro raised an eyebrow as he looked at the boy and shook his head. He wasn't sure if the boy just randomly got better or if he had been waiting for his hand to hair his hair but either way he find the odds of him being better very unlikely. "I doubt it. It looked like you were in quite a bit of pain there.."

That caused the boy to pout as he replied back as he abandoned his curled up position for a stretched out one, "No.. It just surprised me."

"..What do you mean surprised you..?" A bit of disbelief in his voice as he waited for an answer that he knew he proabably didn't want.

"Ah.. well all of a sudden my stomach started to feel really weird.. I've never felt something like that before.."

"Wait a moment. You've never had a stomach ache..?"

"Oh, I see that's what it's called! Though was it supposed to really hurt.." He couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow at the question the boy had asked.

"Yeah most of the time I think.. Isn't that why you were holding onto your stomach..?"

It was at that the smaller boy just laughed as he shook his head. "Nope! I thought I might there might have been monster inside me. So I was holding onto my stomach to keep it from bursting out."

Zoro could feel his irritation growing dangerously high as he glared at the boy who seemed like the thought was only natural. A vein throbbing as he tried to smile and calm himself but to say the least it didn't work. So soon enough Zoro found himself reaching down to grab onto the boy's cheeks and pull on them as hard as he could. "**AHO**! Who the hell would think that other than you!"

The other boy tried apologizing as best as he could under the circumstances but it all just sounded like a bunch of gibberish to Zoro. So after a few more seconds he let the other boy go but only to be fussed at as Luffy complained that it had hurt. Though after giving the boy another glare he shut up and they sat their in silence until the smaller boy got up with a smile and took the empty plates back into the lounge.

Once the other boy had left Zoro just let out a sigh as he massaged his temples. His eyes looking at the spot where the smaller boy had been resting his head the lingering feeling still there which only made Zoro rub at the spot on his leg. He knew that he shouldn't have gotten so mad about it all but he couldn't help feeling like Luffy had taken advantage of the moment. Even then the thought itself seemed rather stupid as he even doubted as to whether or not the boy was actually capable of doing that. This boy was seriously going to end up giving him a headache sooner or later from all of this confusion and thinking, but even so he didn't want to abandon the smaller boy. After all as much as being comforted by Zoro was routine for Luffy it was just as routine for Zoro to comfort him.

However when Luffy came back and sat down next to him the words that he said made him want to smack himself in the face as he watched the smaller boy look at his stomach.

"So it wasn't a monster..?"

**Later that same day**

Luffy could only grin as he just knew they were getting closer to the red line. His eyes going to look up at the crow's nest and as he saw Zoro up there he decided to stretch out his arm and jump into the crow's nest. However he hadn't seen Sanji and had landed closer to him and didn't want it to seem like he only came up there to see Zoro, even though he had. So he just started hitting on Sanji's back. "Hey Sanji~! We're getting' there! We're getting' there man!" Though it didn't take long for the blonde to become aggravated and kick the smaller boy in the face to which Luffy respond by just moving over to Zoro and doing the same thing. His smile growing bigger as he watched the swordsman fight the growing irritation he felt until he snapped.

"WHAT!"

Then knowing that he had his swordsman's attention Luffy smiled as spoke. "Zoro~! Play with me!"

He watched as the swordsman just eyed him before shaking his head. "No I'm not playing tag."

Luffy just smiled. "But it's not tag.. I thought we could play Bounty Hunter and Pirates?"

At that he watched Zoro raise an eyebrow and a look of disbelief entered his face as he made the statement, "Why the hell would you want to play that game aren't you already a pirate! Besides isn't that just like tag..?"

Luffy paused and quickly shook his head as he tried to explain to his swordsman why he had suggested this game other than wanting to be chased by the swordsman and how it was different from tag in that it had a storyline and you could use your imagination.

"No I'm not playing." Zoro's words instantly cutting him off as he watched the swordsman turn away and walk away to a different part of the crow's nest a little further away from Sanji.

Luffy of course followed him as he kept on repeatedly saying his name and asking him why he wouldn't play with him.

"Would you just stop it!"

Luffy pouted at his swordsman's reaction but he did as the swordsman asked and jumped out of the crow's nest and landed on the deck below. He didn't know why but after the whole stomach ache thing it had seemed like Zoro had been in a bad mood and it was bothering Luffy because he couldn't have fun with him. Though as much as he wanted to be around him and have fun Luffy didn't really want to make his swordsman too unhappy.

**In the crow's nest**

Zoro let out a small sigh of relief as the boy had surprisingly done as he had asked. It wasn't like he suddenly hated the boy for what happened before but he was caught up in his own thoughts. Ones that weren't really getting him anywhere and it was making him mad. So when the boy himself appeared in front of him it only added to his fustration. His eyes following the boy as he watched him sulk about by the bow of the ship. A small appearing on his lips as he realized that no matter the boy had happened he still wanted to see the red line so bad that he was still there waiting for it to appear. Zoro liked this side of his captain that wouldn't give up once he had decided on something but then again it could be rather annoying at times if it involved you. His head suddenly shaking as he scolded himself for letting his thoughts straying away from what he thought he needed to figure out. Even way he knew that he either needed to hurry up and figure it all out or just brush the thoughts away and let everything run it's course.

**On deck**

The boy now found himself being pulled away from his special seat and inside the lounge as Nami gathered everybody else to explain about how they would get into the Grand Line but he wasn't paying her much attention as he was focused on Zoro, who now seemed to be in a better mood. However a smile was plastered on his face when the red line came into sight and thus the base of reverse mountain. Everything was going just fine till the current became too strong and began to turn their boat to the left. "Right! Go Right!" Luffy cried out as they were about to collide with the mountain and water gates the effort to turn the boat causing the helm to break. Though Luffy quickly solved the problem by jumping in front of the boat's path and with the help of 'gomu gomu no **fuusen**' managed to stop the boat hitting the water gate and got the boat going straight again. However the boat had already started to speed away from him when he heard a voice.

"Luffy! Grab hold!"

A smile upon his lips at the one who had called out to him and offered up their hand, Zoro. Luffy quickly stretched out his arm in order to grab onto Zoro's hand. He couldn't have been happier at the fact that it is was Zoro who had offered him his hand. However his happy thinking was cut short for his landing was not very pleasant as his face met directly with the deck of the ship. Everybody laughing and smiling as they all cried out together, "WE MADE IT!"

Even so everything went south when out of nowhere appeared Erik. Luffy pausing as the strange man with purple hair claimed that he would take his head as revenge for what happened with the **Ryuukotsu**. Luffy taking a small trip down memory lane as he recalled a select few times when they had ran into him. The first memory was of when Zoro had stayed behind to fight the man in order to buy them some time to get Ryuuji to safety, but the man had cheated and threw sand into Zoro's eyes. Then when Apis had told him Zoro was in trouble he yelled out his name and then stretched out his arm to where he was. Once Luffy had his hand on the back of Zoro's shirt he had pulled him back to the ship. The second memory of when he had taken Ryuuji and Apis as a hostage. The third and finally memory of when he had attacked Apis and Usopp but Luffy had taken the blow and sure enough kicked his ass. His eyes glaring at the man as he wanted so much to just kick his ass once more.

However nobody moved a muscle because with his Devil's ability from the **Kama Kama no Mi **there would be no telling what he would hit. Even so he watched in amazement as Nami quickly dealt with the man.

"Ah! Look Ryuukotsu!" The man instantly turning to look around and as he did so Nami kicked him off of the ship with a smile. Then Luffy and everybody else just nodded their heads as they exclaimed,

"Oh! Should of thought of that!"

Their faces all filled with smiles as everything was alright again and Luffy watched his crew's merriment continue on as he laughed along with them. Then as they began to near the peak of the mountain everybody's attitude changed from their happy go lucky one to a somewhat more serious one. Their boat flying up in the air and then falling down onto the other side of reverse mountain as this time the water flowed down into the Grand Line. A smile on Luffy's face as he could hear his nakama's reasons for sailing pop into his mind and he just smiled all the bigger because now they were all one step closer; to draw a complete world map was Nami's, to find All-Blue being Sanji's, to be a brave warrior of the sea was of course Usopp's, to become the strongest swordsman in the world belonged to his swordsman Zoro, and then finally the reason of his own to find One Piece and become the Pirate King.

A smile on his lips as he cast a glance over at Zoro. Even though the swordsman had been mad before it seemed like he had managed to get over what was bothering him as he smiled back at Luffy. Luffy couldn't help but to look behind and all around him in case he wasn't actually smiling at him but something or someone around him. He could hear a small chuckle coming from Zoro at his behavior as it was now 100% confirmed that the smile was indeed meant for him.

His other nakama too interested in their downward descent to notice the interaction between the two as the two stood side by side smiling. The swordsman now ruffling his hair a bit roughly but Luffy didn't care about that he was just happy to have his swordsman back. The bond between them only growing stronger through all their ups and downs.

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**And thus ends another chapter. Ahhh I swear even though I took notes this chapter was so much harder to write.. I guess looking at about four pages of freakishly small hand writing worth of notes over all the episodes I watched would do that.. Plus I went straight to typing which probably wasn't a good idea. Normally I write a good bit out on paper, plan the rest in my head, and then I just mix it all together when I type it up.. I hope that this chapter turned out alright but if not then don't be afraid to tell me and I'll tweak it up a bit.. So yeah I'm going back to the old way of writing. **

**Also Ryuuji is not a person but a Sennenryuu=Millennium Dragon**

**Lol. Who doesn't love a game of tag with a story line. Thank goodness for cops and robbers as well as this special pirate edition fully compatible with two different game play modes Marines and Pirates or the more popular Bounty Hunter and Pirate ^^ Thanks Kuraihikaru for your cops and robbers comment now I feel like playing a game myself..**

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully enough you might just go and review this for me :3**

**Aho=Idiot, Fuusen=Balloon, Ryuukotsu=Dragon Bones, Kama Kama no Mi=Sickle Sickle Fruit**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	7. Ch 7: Awkward

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D Nor anything else One Piece related.

**Turned out all those notes I took were for nothing as I really didn't even look at them once while writing this chapter DX I just wanted to cry whenever I looked at them.. three pages front and back of freakishly small handwriting.. that is until I was just like 'Screw it!' then I started to write bigger.. Anyways enough of my stupid complaining and onto the chapter that you came here to read. :D**

**I would have had it up soon but I got sidetracked by reading some comics and manga plus rereading it for errors was a real bitch.**

**There is ZoLu but it's nothing to be too weary about just yet.. ^^ Also there is some language.**

**Also, I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end. Though like I said no repeats.**

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-:: CHAPTER 7: AWKWARD ::-

Luffy had just been eating some snacks that Sanji had made in the lounge with Usopp and Carue when he had noticed that his swordsman was nowhere to be found and so he left to go look for him. Sure enough after searching the ship Luffy found him at the stern of the boat but he didn't dare to call out to the swordsman as he was working out. The Luffy's eyes staring at the man's nude back as he watched the muscles rippling underneath his tan sweaty skin as he would lift the iron bar with five huge weights on them over his head and then bring them back down. The boy being careful not to make any noise that would give him away as he continued to watch, but he knew it might be weird to try and explain if Zoro caught him staring so he quietly hid himself in the cover of Nami's orange trees. He wasn't exactly sure why but he just couldn't seem to take his eyes off the sight of his swordsman. It was then that he had realized that he man had been counting out his reps.

"2603 2604 2605 2606..." Luffy watched in amazement but when the bar stopped in mid swing he couldn't help but to wonder if the swordsman had realized he was there. The beating of his heart was becoming faster and the sound pounding in his ears but it began to fade when the swordsman didn't look his way. "I'm weak. If only I had been able to cut that wax.. I must get stronger!" His work out continuing on after taking a quick breath.

Luffy's eyes moving down Zoro's body catching a glimpse at the scar on his chest before stopping where bandages had been wrapped tightly just a bit above his ankles. He cringed inwardly in remembrance of when Zoro had almost cut off his own feet in order to free himself from Mr. 3's wax. He couldn't help but to silently disagree with his swordsman as he knew that he himself needed to become stronger. Especially if he wanted to be able to protect his nakama from Baroque Works. The name itself taking him down memory lane as he began to recall how exactly it all began.

First of all when their descent from reverse mountain was about to end they had come across a whale blocking their path. In order to save their ship from crashing into the whale seeing as the helm was broken so they couldn't change course Luffy had shot the canon. It had worked but it didn't spare the figurehead from breaking off the ship in his rage over his special seat breaking he had punched the whale in the eye as they were trying to get away. The whale had then eaten their ship but Luffy managed to avoid being eaten however upon finding another way inside the whale Luffy went after his nakama. In the process he found them and came across Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday who's objective was to kill the whale, Laboon.

It was after Luffy had made friends with Laboon that the two asked for them to take them back to their town Whiskey Peak. Of course Luffy agreed and once they arrived a big party was thrown to welcome them. However the party was just an act which caused a few misunderstanding between their crew for example when Zoro had sliced everybody up and Luffy thought it was because they didn't have his favorite dish or something and so the two had began to seriously fight each other. Though Nami ended the fight between them with a good bonk to their heads and the whole misunderstanding had been cleared up. The townspeople were actually bounty hunters and that Miss Wednesday was actually the Princess of Arabasta who had infiltrated Baroque Works in order to undercover Mr. 0's identity and save her country. When Luffy asked who it was Vivi refused to say but accidentally spilled the beans anyways landing Nami, Zoro, and himself on Baroque Work's Death List. So when asked by Igaram formerly known as Mr. 8 to protect Vivi from Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine and take her to Arabasta Luffy agreed.

It was after grabbing Sanji and Usopp that they quickly departed but even so Miss All Sunday suddenly appeared upon their ship. It was then that she tossed them an enteral pose to a country nearby Arabasta so they could bypass Little Garden but Luffy broke it and told her that she didn't decided the course of their ship. Then upon their arrival at Little Garden Luffy, Vivi, and Carue went off to explore and in the process met a giant named Dorry. Who had been on the island for 100 years fighting with another giant by the name of Brogy. It had been after one of their fight that Dorry went to take a drink from the ale Brogy had given him it exploded inside his stomach. The giant assuming that it was Luffy and Vivi was who behind it but at the time they had no idea that Mr. 3, Miss Goldenweek, Mr. 5, and Miss Valentine were behind it. In the end they had once more defeated Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine along with Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek. The group soon departing from the island and to Arabasta with the enteral pose that Sanji had managed to swipe from the unluckies.

The memories fading as Luffy quickly brushed them aside as there was nothing else to remember. His eyes still glued onto the swordsman's feet for just a little while. Luffy couldn't help but want to reach out and help his swordsman as he had done for him. Even so he just stayed hidden within the cover of the oranges trees for just a bit longer before leaving the grove and heading back into the lounge.

**Back at the stern**

Zoro paused in his work out as he could hear the straw hat boy leaving. His eyes turning back to look at the grove where the boy had been hiding. At first he hadn't realized that the boy was there but soon enough he had came to realize that he was there. Though it had surprised Zoro that the boy hadn't jumped out from his hiding place or even tried to make conversation with him. Which in a way bothered him as the smaller boy had always talked to Zoro but he knew it was probably because of what the boy had overheard that made him hesitant to appear in case everything became awkward.

A small sigh upon Zoro's lips as he put the iron bar down and plopped down right beside it. Even as much as he wanted the smaller boy to come forward he had just as much of a chance to call out to him but in the end neither had taken the chance. His hand moving to wipe away a bit of sweat on his face and there was a very slight a tint of red which flushed his face at the thought that maybe Luffy had just simply been checking him out. However he quickly scoffed at the idea and shook his head as if to rid himself of the idea as he went back to working out.

Though it was momentarily cut short when Vivi cried out that Nami had a fever so while they were all checking on Nami Zoro decided he would keep them the ship on course while continuing to work out. Even so it turned out that by judging their course based on clouds and not the compass wasn't a very good idea. After getting back on course their ship had been attacked by a weird pirate named Wapol and the night passed without further indecent as everybody, minus Sanji who was on watch, slept all together in the same room.

In all honesty Zoro had been thinking about talking to the smaller boy at the time but when he gotten there the boy was already asleep while everybody else was up. Then as he had been waiting for everybody to fall asleep he had almost dozed off a few times himself but managed to stay awake. When everybody was fast asleep Zoro made his way over to the boy and tried to wake him but proved unsuccessful and then he tried to wait for the boy to wake up on his own, but in the end Zoro was overcome by sleep as he leaned against Carue.

By the time he had woken everybody was already up and about so he left to go get some food and help out with the ship for a bit before he had decided to go check on his captain, who he had seen enter into Nami's room. However as he came down the steps he could see that Luffy was trying to get her to smile but it wasn't working and thus he was pouting. Then when he asked what was wrong he was very surprised to see the boy's face was doodled on in a way that he found scary to say the least as he began to pull on his mouth. "Cut that out!"

He watched the rubber boy just shake his head as he laughed. "Yada!"

Zoro couldn't help but to sigh at his captain's behavior but then when the boy leaned in closer to him he grabbed the boy and proceeded to not so gently rub the doodles off his face. A pout on the other boy's face as his face was a bright red and rather warm from the rubbing but he didn't say anything as he just went and sat back down in his chair. Which made Zoro raise an eyebrow as the boy would have normally began complaining but he hadn't causing Zoro to think that there was most certainly something wrong with the boy. "Oi Luffy is something up?"

The other boy just looked away and shook his head. "No not really."

Zoro was just about to ask another question when Sanji's voice could be hear. "Island ho!"

It was at that and Luffy happy outcries that Zoro let it go and told the boy. "Go check it out. She'll be fine here." In response to that the boy just smiled and quickly left leaving Zoro leaning against the bookcase.

**After landing in Drum Island**

Luffy, Vivi, Sanji who was carrying Nami, and Usopp all followed Dalton up to his village Bighorn. However after finding out that the there was only one doctor and a 'witch' that only came down from the tallest mountain to treat patients whenever she feels like it. Luffy decided to take Nami up to the castle where the witch lives so after getting Nami's okay him and Sanji began their journey. Everything was going just fine until they came across the Lapahn who after a lot of fighting and chasing finally caused an avalanche. During which Sanji was swept away but after searching through all the snow Luffy had soon found him and in the process helped rescue a Lapahn buried under the snow.

After Luffy had started back walking he was rudely interrupted by Wapol and his two lackeys Chess and Kuromarimo but then the Lapahn came to his aid. Then as the reached the base of the central mountain he began to climb it with Nami still resting on his back while he carried Sanji by his mouth. By the time Luffy had reached the top his entire body was frostbitten and both his hands and feet were bleeding.

However after the doctor found them and treated them appropriately all of them were pretty much good to go. Then after waking Luffy even asked the Doctorine, Dr. Kureha, to become their nakama but she declined. It was then that Luffy shifted his attention onto the reindeer, Chopper, as he tried to make him his nakama. Yet the attempt was short lived as Wapol finally reached the top of the mountain causing Luffy to say rather aggravated. "Damned **Jamaguchi**!"

Then of course after Chopper kicked Chessmarimo's ass Luffy was able to kick Wapol's ass and sent him flying. Then as Luffy stood at the top of the castle but when he saw two people come forward he remembered the clothing and thought that they were Wapol's men so he launched himself at them. However when he got close enough he realized that it was just Zoro and Usopp. Luffy smiling and laughing as Zoro yelled at him for what he had done. Though when Usopp saw the tonakai he couldn't help but to yell out,

"Monster!" Which earned him a good whack on the head from Luffy as he chased after the fleeing Chopper.

It was only after a lot of chasing and calling out to the reindeer that Chopper came forward to politely reject his offer and say thanks. However Luffy responded to the little guy's reasons with two simple words, "Shut up!' Then to which Chopper then agreed to become their nakama and after telling Doctorine they quickly left. However as they were leaving they heard the multiple booms of canons and after stopping to look they witnessed the beautiful sight of sakura blooming, which was red dirt sticking to the white snow turning it bright pink.

**Back on the ship**

Everybody was laughing and having fun as they were busy celebrating the addition of a doctor, Chopper, to the crew. "Kanpai!" They all cheered as they all toasted once more and began to drain their drinks the partying continuing on until early morning. It wasn't long after that everybody retired to their quarters. While Zoro stayed behind on the deck of the ship because his captain was sprawled out on the deck. His hand automatically going to ruffle his boy's hair as after everything it had simply become a habit of his while his eyes looked at the boy's face. There was a small smile on his lips as he just looked at the boy's sleeping face. His hand slowly slipping free of the black locks as it trailed along the side of his face and rounded his chin before letting his fingers run along the boy's lips. Zoro wasn't even sure why he was doing this, but it that span of time where he had just been looking at Luffy's face he could feel something stirring within his body that compelled him to reach out and further that simple touch.

So it hadn't surprised him when he soon found himself leaning in even closer to the smaller boy. He could feel the distance between them closing slowly as they were almost face to face. The answer to the question that he had sought finally popping into his mind but even so he had a hunch along that it might have been that but he just didn't want to think it was true. After all they were both men and it wasn't exactly right for members of the same sex to be together, right? Though as he moved his face even closer he knew that he didn't care about any of that stuff but just about the boy below him. Their lips just about to touch when the smaller boy suddenly opened his eyes.

"Zoro..?"

"..**H-hai**.. Luffy?" The man answered back a bit hesitantly as he was a little too surprised to pull away just yet. However when the smaller boy asked him what he was doing that sent him moving as he just nervously chuckled a bit and tried to explain. "Ahh you see there was really really big bug on your face and I was just trying to get it off.."

"**Kakkoii**~!" He watched the boy smile and then suddenly frown as he tilted his head to the side. "A bug.. but there aren't any bugs here.." The smaller boy now staring directly at him causing Zoro to look away with his cheeks a little flushed as Luffy just grinned. "Or.. were you trying to kiss me..?"

"Moron! Why would I do that!" '**Yabai**.. I've been caught..' His eyes not daring to look at the boy as an idea popped into his head and he quickly turned the situation around. "What about you Luffy spying on people when their working out..?"

It was at that the other boy stopped laughing and looked away sheepishly a nervous look coming onto his face. "I don't know what you're talking about.."

"Luffy you're a horrible liar you know that right? Just as bad as you were at hiding in the orange trees. Why didn't you say anything..?" Zoro's previous embarrassment gone as it now fell onto the other boy.

He watched the other boy as he opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed it. His eyes now looking away as he spoke, "I don't want you to have to do something like that again.." The other boy's eyes looking a spot just above his ankles and it all clicked in his head and he was just about to say something when the other boy continued on in a slightly lower voice, "Plus it was kind of interesting watching you.."

A surprised look appearing on Zoro's face as it turned out that Luffy had been indeed checking him out in a way. Then in turn for the smaller boy's honesty Zoro decided to be honest as well.

The smaller boy just nodded his head after he had finished. "Ah I see.. so then you shouldn't mind if I do this.."

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the boy's words as the next thing he knew the boy suddenly moved closer to him. His face coming in fast and quick as Luffy's lips met with his own. There was a moment of silence as the two just stayed like that for a while. Then before Zoro could react any further than his initial surprise the smaller boy slowly pulled his lips away.

"I'll get stronger for you.. for everybody so that we can always be together like this. We'll get stronger together, right?"

This caused Zoro to smile as he let his arms wrap around the boy and pulled him into a hug. "Aye Captain." The two remaining like that for just a little bit longer until the others began to stir. Their secret embrace breaking as they continued on toward Arabasta.

* * *

**This chapter was a lot of fun to write but of course the beginning and the end were the funnest while the middle part just made me want to stab myself.. Anyways as you can now see things are going to get a lot more interesting. XD Uhm well I don't think that I have much else to say.. other than shortest author notes ever!**

**Also for those who watched the English series and not the Japanese subbed Arabasta is the same thing as Alabasta, and in case anybody has forgotten Carue is Vivi's spotted bill duck and the Lapahn are vicious giant bunnies!**

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully enough you might just go and review this for me :3**

**Jamaguchi=Big Problem Mouth, Hai=Yes, Kakkoii=Cool, Yabai=This is bad**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	8. Ch 8: Communication

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D Nor anything else One Piece related.

**I'm going to keep this short so here it is the long awaited chapter 8!**

**There is ZoLu and it's well starting to blossom so be weary.. ^^ Also there is some language and some violence.**

**Also, I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases (other than repeats) used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.**

* * *

-:: CHAPTER 8: COMMUNICATION ::-

"Crocodile!" Luffy yelled out as he entered into the hidden stairwell within the Tomb Area and began his descent down the stairs as fast as he could. It was while he ran that he could see that the underground chamber beginning to collapse which was more than evident as he reached the bottom of the stairs. There he was forced to jump over fallen pieces of debris and the still falling pieces of bedrock from the ceiling. The noise of Luffy's feet hitting the ground barely audible over the sound of debris crashing to the chamber's floor. However soon enough those sounds were followed by the sound of a wall breaking as Luffy stood on the other side of the now crumbling wall. His effort rewarded as his eyes took in sight of the man he had been searching for, Crocodile. Luffy's breathing a bit heavy from all the running he had done and he was bleeding a from both his hands and feet. Crocodile's eyes staring at him in slight disbelief as he spoke.

"How many times do I have to kill you till your satisfied!"

The boy of course ignoring the other man's words as he simply stated that he wanted him to give back Vivi's country. His ears shutting down as the words that the man had said were not to his liking but he heard enough to make him even madder. He remembered the times when Vivi had managed not to cry despite how much she had wanted to and the time when she had finally just broke down and started crying. Luffy letting his eyes lock onto the man with a glare as he rushed forward with the the intent to fully kick his ass.

A smile now upon the other man's face as he just laughed, "And what do you expect to do without any water-" The words abruptly cut off as Luffy's bloody foot connected with the man's face. The look that appeared on his face was full of surprise and shock at the fact the boy had been able to hit him. "Wait!" The words just barely out of the man's mouth but Luffy didn't listen after all why should he. His arm rearing back this time as he let his fist connect with the man's face and sent him flying back into the one of the chamber walls.

"Blood also hardens sand.." The words leaving his mouth slowly as he just stared at Crocodile as a bit of blood began to drip from his fist and onto the ground. The amount of hatred he felt for the man growing inside him as Crocodile once more got back up.

"Rainbase.. The Royal Palace.. And now here. You have seen Hell twice and still you challenge me.. so I'm going to repay your efforts as a pirate!" The words barely out of the other man's mouth as Luffy threw a kick his way but the man had dodged and pulled off his golden hook, revealing a poison hook in it's place. The silver contrasting against gold as the hook itself held several holes and from which began to emit a purple colored vapor. "We'll decide the victor once and for all!"

Luffy didn't say a word to the man as he took back his fighting stance and continued his attack. His right arm and leg both gaining scratches from the poison hook in the process of Crocodile's retaliation. Their attacks on each other only gaining more momentum and become more vicious as the underground chamber continued to crumble around them. However as their battle continued on Luffy could feel his body starting to go numb as the poison began to spread throughout his body making it hard for him to move. Even so he just pushed his body further and willed himself to stand back up at Crocodile's self proclaimed victory. "You.. can't.. defeat me! I am.. the man who will become the Pirate King!"

His words earned a chuckle from the man as he rushed forward but Luffy managed to break the poison hook by slamming it down onto the ground with his foot. A look of disbelief once more covered Crocodile's face as he yelled out that he would never surpass him. However the moment was short lived as Luffy rammed his fist against the man's stomach, spun about giving him a kick to the head, and then another punch to the face. The other man growing increasingly angry as a blade appeared from the jagged remains of the broken hook. It was then that Luffy's final attack 'gomu gomu no storm' sent Crocodile flying through the ceiling of the underground chamber and high up into the air up above the surface. Luffy's body hitting the chamber floor pretty hard as he fell back down and his eyes closed but a smile on his face at Crocodile's defeat.

Then a man with black hair rushed over towards him as he just laid there. Luffy recognized him as the man from the Royal Palace that Miss All Sunday had run off with. That same man just smiling down at him as he thanked him. It was then that the unexpected happened and Nico Robin formerly known as Miss All Sunday tossed them a vial with the antidote to Crocodile's poison. However Luffy was simply too tired to move but the man took care of it as he lifted up his head and slowly drained the vial into his mouth. It was only after swallowing it and waiting a few moments that he found himself pushing his body to the extreme once more. His hands grabbing both the man and Robin but despite her protests carried them both up to the surface. Though once he had reached the surface Luffy could feel his strength draining from him as he wobbled for a moment before his vision faded to black.

**At the Royal Palace**

It was already the morning of the third day after the defeat of Crocodile and Baroque Works but even so his captain still hadn't woken up yet. Zoro pulling his eyes away from the window as he glanced at the sleeping boy next to him. His hand, without a moments hesitation, going to gently run through the sleeping boy's hair as he stared at the boy with a mixed expression of relief and regret. He let his fingers tug gently on a strand of black hair as if in hopes that the gentle tug might just awaken the boy. Some part of himself just couldn't silence his desire for the boy to wake up as there were a few things that he wanted to discuss with the him and the boy's prolonged sleeping was making him impatient and somewhat aggravated about it all. Even so it was what he guessed only natural for the boy to sleep so much after he had been impaled, buried alive, dried out, and even poisoned. Besides it probably would have been too weird if the boy had been just fine afterward.

He pulled his hand away from the boy's hair and let it his fingertips lightly brush along the side of his face and trace along his lips. This same movement reminding him of the first he had done this and as he had leaned in for a kiss the boy had awaken. Zoro knew it was stupid to try but to him it was better than nothing. His eyes and ears on full alert as he didn't want anybody to witness this scene. The room around them now eerily quietly as it was devoid of any live other than the two themselves and no other sounds could be heard nearby. That was the all clear sign for him as he leaned over the boy and their lips drew nearer until they were locked in a gentle kiss but the boy never stirred. A small sigh leaving him as he pulled away and cursed at himself for getting his hopes up after all his captain would eventually wake up on his own regardless of what he did. Zoro managed a slight smile as he touched his own lips and then the smaller boy's lips. "I wish you'd hurry up and wake up.. Luffy."

With that Zoro moved away from the sleeping boy and had decided that he would go train in order to become stronger. Of course it was against the wishes of Chopper but that didn't really matter to him. So Zoro trained for as along as he could before he stopped sometime during the evening and made his way back up to their room expecting to find Luffy still asleep and ready to get nagged at by Chopper. However when he opened the doors he found Luffy wide awake and before he could say a word the boy spoke.

"Oi, Zoro! Long time no see!"

The words causing a slight chuckle to push past his lips as he thought to himself, 'A long time indeed-' Though surely enough his thoughts were interrupted by Chopper's nagging but even so he didn't pay him much attention as he just smiled over at his captain happy to see him awake.

It was only a little after that that they had had more than their fair share of partying and eating at dinner so they were now headed to the baths. He couldn't help but to silently laugh at the sight of his captain racing with Usopp as to see who would get into the bath first. In all honesty Zoro had been a little nervous about the whole bath thing at first seeing as the two had only kissed so far so being naked like this was a pretty big step up not that he didn't want it but simply because if anything thing happened everybody else would know.

However he was shaken from his thoughts as Chopper appeared before him and asked if he would wash his back. Zoro just nodded his head slowly as he was a little grateful for a distraction to keep his prying eyes away from his captain's exposed body. Though it hadn't even been a few minutes before he could feel a pair of eyes staring at him. He didn't even have to look to know just exactly who those eyes belonged to for he had felt them on him many times. The first time on their trek to Yuba when he had been pulling Chopper along behind him on a makeshift sled. The second time was when they had stopped for the night and Zoro was huddled up with Usopp and Chopper and he had made the comment that Chopper was pretty warm which had caused Luffy to jump over and test the warmth for himself. Then finally for a third time when Usopp had asked him to carry him through the desert. A smile on his face as turned to see Luffy sulking about in the bath and he knew just how to remedied the problem. His eyes meeting with Luffy's as he jerked his head to the side and the other boy just grinned as he got Zoro's silent message, 'Come on already.'

Zoro watched from the corner of his eye as Luffy quickly decreased the distance between them. Though just before Luffy had reached him Chopper suddenly jumped up and thanked him as he went to go jump in the bath. The smaller boy instantly taking the spot where the little reindeer had just been. No words were spoken as Zoro began to wash the smaller boy's back. The feeling of the boy's bare skin against his fingertips made him a bit jittery but he smiled as he saw that Luffy was rather enjoying the little bit of skin against skin contact. He then went about using all of his hands as his touch become a bit gentler and the pace slower just a bit slower as the washing proceeded a bit further down the boy's back. At first it was going fine but as Zoro went lower he could feel the boy's body starting to shy away from his touch but the boy didn't say anything until he reached the small of his back.

"Zoro.." The smaller boy inhaled sharply and shivered slightly as he knew that he was touching areas of the boy's body that weren't used to touch his own touch let alone another person's touch.

"Yeah Luffy..?" He could feel his face starting to grow a bit hotter as he unconsciously began to move his hands higher up his back.

"I-"

"Usopp noise!" The boy's voice cut off as the air was suddenly filled with a terrible screeching noise along with what was undeniably Usopp's laughter.

"What the hell!" Zoro said as he quickly covered up the smaller boy's ears and so Luffy reached back and did the same for him. His eyes looked about the bath for the long nose man and sure enough his eyes soon landed the long nose man who was dragging his fingernails down a small black chalkboard. However it only lasted a few more seconds before it stopped and Usopp's voice could be heard loud and clear.

"And that is how I, the great Captain Usopp-sama, defeated the millions of Billions agents after me!" His signature laugh following him as Zoro just shook his head in disbelief.

Then as Zoro returned his gaze back to the boy in front of him the boy had already turned to him and mumbled a quick thank you. The boy's face seeming a little bit redder than before as he got up and went to walk away. The sight of the boy's back shrinking as he started to run off reminding him so clearly of the time when Luffy had stayed behind on the outskirts of Rainbase in order to fight Crocodile. He couldn't help but to get up and grab the boy by his wrist as the feelings of worry and slight fear flooded back through him, causing his grip on the boy to unintentionally tighten. Though just as Luffy started to speak Zoro cut him off with, "Sorry.. I slipped.." His hand slowly releasing the smaller boy.

"Ahh.. it's alright." The smaller boy said slowly as Zoro watched him rub at his wrist before glancing over at the water. "I'm going to go soak for a bit.. be right back."

**Other side of the bath**

Luffy couldn't help but to let his eyes follow the swordsman as he moved across the bath. There was a sigh upon his lips as he allowed himself to sink a bit below the water but not enough for him to drown or require help. His eyes just staring at nothing in particular as his thoughts were full of his swordsman. He keep replaying the moment as Zoro washed his back and every time he thought of when his hands began to wash a bit lower he could feel his skin tingle, almost as if his hands were still there. He could feel his face flushing a bit more as he recalled how he had inhaled and shivered. He couldn't even believe that he had done that. His own hands going to touch the spots that had brought about those reactions but when he touched them nothing happened. He couldn't help but to pout as he wondered why it didn't work when he did it. Then there had also been the way that he had grabbed onto his wrist as he was walking away and he knew that there was more behind it than slipping.

His eyes wondering back over to the swordsman as he thought long and hard about it all and came to the smiple conclusion of it's a mystery touch, after all his body had only felt like that around Zoro. Even though the two had realized they both harbored feelings for the other but Luffy had most certainly not expected the changes and feelings that were now occurring to his body. He found himself once more sulking as his eyes watched Zoro. However it wasn't long before he couldn't take it another minute of pondering these thoughts by himself and decided to keep his word and head back to the sowrdsman.

**Previous side of the bath**

Zoro was a bit surprised as the smaller boy had indeed came back like he said he would but even more surprised as Luffy started to honestly speak with him about why he had gotten up so suddenly, how he had tried to invoke those strange sensations on his own, and how he had felt something was up with the way that Zoro had grabbed his wrist. It was certain that the two had a few issues they needed to work on and the main one being communication. The two were never really completely open with each other all the time but it was at times like this where those walls crumbled for with honesty came the other's honesty. However Zoro knew that that wouldn't always work out that way and as a result the two needed to starting communacting better. A slight grin on his face as he had added on to the rest of his words, "So you'll agree then that a bit of punishment is in order for the lack of communication.."

Zoro watched as the boy could only ponder about the fate of his punishment if he said yes but even so the boy slowly nodded his. "I guess so.."

"Now as for your punishment I just want you to be honest, alright?"

Zoro could see a bit of shock and relief flood the boy's face as he asked, "That's all..?"

It was at that that Zoro nodded his head as he moved behind the smaller boy and started to rub his hands along his lower back. The boy's body somewhat jerking away from his hands as the sudden touch had surprised him and was more than foreign to his body. However Zoro had already planned on that as one hand went to firmly hold onto the boy's side. The smile on his face growing as Luffy began to squirm against his body while he continued letting his hand run across the boy's bare flesh. He could hear a sharp inhale of breath from the boy as his hand came around and crept up his stomach stopping just short of his chest. "How are you feeling Luffy?"

There was a short pause as the boy responded. "G-good but.. your hands.. my body feels weird.."

At the boy's response Zoro smiled and whispered into his ear, "Don't worry it'll start feeling really good soon enough.." His hands momentarily stopping the assault on the smaller boy's body as the boy turned his head to face him as the boy asked him,

"**Hontou**..?"

"Yeah.." The assault continuing on as Zoro lightly ran his fingertips down the boy's stomach before curving the path back up and down along his side. The motion gaining another sharp intake of air from the boy and his hands stopped as his eyes looked down at the boy. "Have you had enough punishment?"

"Spare me.." The answer came a bit jokingly from the smaller boy as he returned his stare and their lips met in a tender embrace. However as neither one made move to end it Zoro let his tongue lick along the smaller boy's lips before being allowed access inside. The other boy's tongue greeting his own as he explored the warm and moist mouth, but just as he could feel Luffy's small arms starting to ease around him the two were forced to separate as a voice broke the silence.

"Oi Zoro! Luffy! Are you guys still in there?" Zoro quickly recognized the voice as Usopp's and quickly replied back.

"Yeah we'll be right out. Luffy's just being a handful.. again." At that he heard Usopp grunt in agreement and turned to see Luffy pouting but thankfully he remained silent.

Once they had gotten back into the room discussion of when they should depart came up. However they decided to leave that night after hearing from Mr. 2, Bon Clay, that the marines had surround Arabasta. It was only after the help of Bon Clay and Vivi's saddened rejection that their ship left Arabasta. Then it was known that Nico Robin had been aboard their ship the entire time and wished to become part of their nakama for she had nowhere else to go.

Despite everything Zoro had managed to sleep just fine on the floor that night but when he awoke it was a different story. His eyes almost doubling in size at the unpleasant sight of Sanji puckering his lips for a kiss as the blonde began to inch his face forward. Zoro had just been about to move away until Sanji opened his eyes and the same look of horror covered his face.

"You bastard! Don't go putting your ugly mug in my face!"

"That's my line!" Zoro couldn't help but to yell loudly as Sanji stormed out of the mens' quarters. 'Damn **ero** cook..' Zoro thought as he took a deep breath and looked over at his captain sleeping soundly in his hammock. Once more comparing the awkwardness of that moment with the naturalness of the moments with his captain and was glad to only find this naturalness with Luffy. 'Only with him.. Luffy..' A slight smile appearing on his face at the thought of being able to call the boy his. The thought making him rather happy as his eyes never left the sleeping boy as he dared to say them aloud, "My Luffy."

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**Ahh I really hope that it wasn't too long or anything and that the action at the beginning didn't suck too much as well as everything else... by the way when Luffy says "I-" he was going to say "It" not "I"**

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully enough you might just go and review this for me :3**

**Hontou=Really, Ero=Perverted**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	9. Omake 1: Care To Bet

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D Nor anything else One Piece related.

**Hey guys I'm sorry for taking so long to actually work on Possiblities but since I started college I've had less free time than I thought I would but for those who enjoy this story don't worry because I'll somehow manage to find time to work on it. So in apology I wrote this super short little omake for you guys and also because Atsuko Uehara pointed out to me that I haven't hit on if any of the crew had picked up on anything between the two love birds.. the reason for that being I was focused on Zoro and Luffy so the rest of the crew got put on the back burner. At first I had planned to cover some of that in the next chapter but since I'm not sure how long that would take this is a 2 for 1 special! :D Lol**

**Uhmm nothing to be too concerned about except for a little bath time flashback ^^ Also there is some language.**

**Also, I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. and there are bound to be some careless ones because I just finished it. So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases (other than repeats) used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.**

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-:: OMAKE 1: CARE TO BET ::-

After exiting the bath Usopp couldn't help but to look more than a bit confused from what he had just seen. However he was more than aware of the chance that he just might have misinterpreted the entire scene as well. So he decided to give it one more try and playback the scene in his mind to determine what to believe or not. The scene opened up with Zoro washing Chopper's back and then after that Luffy ran over to take the reindeer's place. Though this back washing was completely different than the previous one as Zoro's hands had been touching the smaller boy's body that was in no way at all innocent. Then again that didn't worry him half as much as Luffy's reaction did. The boy's face had appeared somewhat flushed and his body tensed up as Zoro's hands moved lower. So Usopp had taken it upon himself to stop it in the most non-confrontational way he could think of, which was Usopp noise!' It was after that that the two had separated but even so the two held sullen expressions. He had taken the sullen expressions to represent Zoro's disappointment in not being able to continue and Luffy's to represent his regret of the moment. Besides it wasn't that weird to think that Zoro might be threatening their captain into obedience. The thought alone being enough to send him the mental picture of Luffy tightly bound and at the mercy of the swordsman. So it was natural for him to run back to the room where everybody else was, minus Luffy and Zoro of course. "Luffy's in trouble!"

"What!" Chopper instantly cried out in response to his words as he looked up from the medicine he was working on and proceeded to freak out. "What should we do-"

The little reindeer's words abruptly cut off as Nami gave Chopper a good whack on the head. "When isn't he in trouble! He's been nothing but trouble ever since we got here. Luffy can handle himself!"

It was at those words only freaked out a little more as he continued on. "No! I really mean it. Luffy needs help-"

"Is it the marines..?" Sanji asked a bit calmly as he lit up another smoke and put out his other smoke.

"No.. but-"

His words once more cut off as Sanji interrupted. "Then he'll be fine just like Nami-"

"But this time Zoro is the problem!" Usopp just finally blurted it out but his words only gained a smirk from Sanji, laughter from Nami, and one confused expression from Chopper. However he continued on very serious as he told them of what he saw. Naturally Chopper freaked out afterward because Usopp guessed that Chopper had just assumed Zoro washing backs now equaled dangerous. So Usopp instantly went to calm the reindeer by telling him that it wasn't the washing in general but just how Zoro was washing Luffy's. The explanation earning a small sigh of '**Yokatta**!' from the reindeer but all the while the initial reactions of both Sanji and Nami remained the same. "Don't you guys care!"

"Usopp if Luffy really was in trouble he'd ask for help." Sanji replied with a bit of a smirk.

"You don't know that!" Usopp retorted back but just as he was about to open his mouth once more he was cut off by the red hair.

"Care to wager over the matter?"

Usopp just stared at her in a bit of disbelief but it'd be a lie to say that he was completely shocked by her actions. He just firmly shook his head as he brushed aside her comment. "Do whatever you want I'll go save Luffy!" His words sending the reindeer into a state of awe as Usopp started to gain some confidence and then excited the room. However as he left he could Chopper exclaiming '**Sugoi**!' which made him just grin and boosted his ego. Yet when he reached the bath again his legs began to shiver and he became overcome with fear. After all if Zoro was forcing Luffy into this kind of thing then what would he do to him when he tried to put it all to a stop. A few thoughts running throughout his mind and each one managed to make him cringe as he started to think to himself, 'Luffy's strong he can take care of himself..'

**Back in the room**

"Will Luffy really be alright?" A very worried little reindeer asked.

"Yes Chopper Luffy is going to be just fine.. After all the great Usopp is going to save him." The last bit a rather sarcastic as Nami rolled her eyes.

It was at that the reindeer's eyes just lit up and he nodded his head. "Usopp truly is great isn't he?"

However at that Nami just twitched a bit before giving him another good whack to the head. "No, he isn't!" Chopper's eyes began to tear up a bit and Nami just sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "But you know who truly is great..? Our wonderful Doctor Chopper." A smile on her lips as she was trying to cheer him up.

"Asshole~! That doesn't make me happy in the least." A smile now plastered on the little reindeer's face at her words as he danced about for a moment before returning to work on his medicine.

"Oi Nami what do you think about what Usopp said..?"

She couldn't help but to look at Sanji for a moment as she jusst shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure but if Zoro was forcing him or something Luffy would have surely done something about it already. So it's fine." It was at that she saw Sanji nod his head in agreement and she smiled as she added. "Though I can't say the same for Usopp."

**Outside the bath**

Usopp had finally regained enough composure to at least steady his voice as he called out, "Oi Zoro! Luffy! Are you guys still in there?" There was a small silence and he couldn't help but to wish that they had already left and that there would be not response. However his hopes were crushed as he heard Zoro's voice.

"Yeah we'll be right out. Luffy's just being a handful.. again."

It was then that Usopp tried to say something back but he couldn't muster up a single word and so he just grunted in agreement. After a few more minutes the two in question finally emerged from the bath. Not a single word uttered among the trio as they headed back to the room and the entire time Usopp could just feel a set of eyes burning holes in the back of his head. It was then that he couldn't help but to think to himself, 'Don't interfere with Zoro's plans EVER again..'

**On the Going Merry**

Their ship had just set sail from Arabasta and managed to get away from the marines with the help of the former Mr. 2, Bon Clay. It was also right after that Nico Robin had made her presence aboard their ship known. After the whole ship had calmed down Usopp sat down and began to interview her but about halfway through he said it was too dangerous and was about to give up. However when he saw her Devil's Fruit ability it was clearer than day that an idea popped into his head and Nami had witnessed it all so she had managed to piece together his thoughts.

"Hey Robin can you also do the same with your eyes or ears?"

It was at that that Robin just smiled and nodded her head a bit as she replied back. "Of course."

"Then that means you'll be able to help us with our little bet then if you don't mind." She said with a smile as she looked at Robin.

"Why certainly." Robin replied back with her same smile and a slight tilt of her head.

"W-wait a moment.. What bet?" His voice a bit cautious as she watched his gaze turn from Robin to her and then back once more.

"Don't tell me you forgot about our bet about Luffy and Zoro? After all you were the one who brought it-" Her words being cut off by an angry Usopp.

"I don't remembering agreeing to that bet!"

"Ohh really now? You were the one who said 'Do whatever you want' didn't you? So I just did.." Her fingers grasping firmly around his nose as he began to apologize but she didn't let up as she continued on. "Also since you claimed that Luffy is being threatened/forced by Zoro that's what you bet and I bet the opposite.. However now that Robin is here our bet will go a lot smoother. Don't you agree?" Her words ending in a smile as she glanced back at Robin who just kept on smiling as Usopp finally agreed to acknowledging the bet and it's conditions.

* * *

**Ahh well that's the end for the omake. Also a suggestion for anybody who wants to waste their non-Possiblities time between updates should go check out my new story Let's Play. That is unless you've already stumbled upon it.. Ahh I feel shameful for talking about my other story on here.. I even said the same thing on the new story xD Anyways I thought I should just mention it for those who like my work so you guys can have something else from me to read.. Uhmm well that's it for now so hopefully you guys will continue to stick around.**

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully enough you might just go and review this for me :3**

**Yokatta=Thank Goodness, Sugoi=Cool**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	10. Omake 2: Caught

**DISCLAIMER: **Once more I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D

**AHHHH! LOOK I'M ALIVE! I apologize to all my lovely readers for making you wait almost two years for an update. Things have been rough and things are finally looking up. I had been wondering for a few days now if I should turn this into a chapter or keep it as an Omake.. but since it's not my usual length for a chapter and I didn't want to make you wait any longer I'm updating it as an Omake.**

**Uhmm be concerned.. things get a little heated and to reassure everyone have no worries this will remain ZoLu so stick around. **

**Also, I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic. and there are bound to be some careless ones So, if you spot some please let me know.**

**Any Japanese words/phrases (other than repeats) used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.**

* * *

-:: OMAKE 2: CAUGHT ::-

"Not now.." Zoro spoke in a soft growl as his smaller ebony haired captain pushed him up against the lounge wall. His captain's hands quickly grabbing his wrists as they were wrenched upward and promptly pinned.

"And why not..?" The words that fell from his captain's lips were soft and rather playful. Though no sooner had he tried to speak Luffy had silenced him. One hand had quickly left Zoro's wrists and gently cupped his chin as his head was tilted back as his captain's eyes bore into his. His face quickly closing the distance between them as he continued on in the same soft tone as from before. "I mean nobody will find out.." Though this time the words were more as a matter of fact but it ended as their lips met.

As much as Zoro wanted to return his captain's kiss he broke it and was about to protest once more. Though when he tried to he was completely silenced by his captain as Luffy had taken full advantage of his open mouth with his tongue. Their tongues twirling and swirling around each other in a seemingly endless cycle. However, the cycle ended abruptly when his captain pulled away, leaving Zoro to catch his breath. A a breathy gasp catching in his throat as a knee was suddenly wedged between his legs and pressing hard against him. "Damn it Luffy.." The words came in a light growl now as Luffy's lips kissed and nipped along his neck and the hand that had remained under his chin slid down his chest to his crotch.

His captain only smirked at his reaction as he gave one final nip at the nape of his neck before claiming his lower lip. "Still want me to stop.. even though this part of you is reacting so honestly..?" Luffy's fingers teasing and rubbing at the slowly but steadily hardening bulge within his pants.

A slight annoyed flush graced Zoro's face as he debated his captain's words. He couldn't deny that he did want this but he just could never quite bring himself to say it. "Luffy.." It had seemed no sooner had he started to speak that the lips that hovered over his own captured his in a hot kiss. As it seemed his captain had understood and the feeling of fingers slipping into his pants confirmed that. His captain's fingers grasping onto his member as his captain once more pulled his lips away.

"I know.." The words came softly from his captain as he grabbed Zoro and quickly turned him so that now his back was facing him. Zoro's cheek pressed up against the wall as his captain quickly returned his hand to his member. The fingers that wrapped around him as he began to pump them up and down him pulled a soft moan from the swordsman. "What you want.." His other hand pulling down the swordsman's pants and then his own.

Zoro panted softly as a small shudder ran through his body as his captain's grip on his member tightened and his speed increased. His half opened eyes staring down at the sight of his captain's fingers quickly working his shaft as pleasure ran throughout his body. He could feel the hot and ragged breathing of the younger boy against the nape of his neck. It was then that the feeling of Luffy's erection pressing hard into the cleft of his ass finally came to his attention.

"I can't wait anymore.. Zoro.." Came the low words of his captain as he slipped the head of his shaft between his cheeks and gave the his tight hole a rough prod. "Maybe now you won't make me wait as much.." The head of his cock quickly pushing past the tight ring of muscles as he quickly shoved the entirety of his length inside.

"AH! Ahhh.. ahh... ahh?" The green haired man awoke with a start as his face was flushed a deep red and there was a mixed expression of pain and then confusion on his face. His breathing uneven as he quickly sat up and looked around him. It was dark but even so he was still able to figure out where he was when he found himself falling from his hammock and onto the floor. He could only bring a hand to his face to wipe away the perspiration that covered his forehead as he realized it was only a dream. A soft sigh pushing past his lips as he was thankful it was only. After all, if not then he'd be in a lot of pain right now not that he wasn't already since he had hit the floor pretty hard but it wasn't even comparable. He quickly then went to pick himself up from the floor but as he shifted he became aware of his current predicament. An exasperated look forming on his features as he realized that this little dream on his had left him with a gift. A raging hard on. He quickly surveyed the room and to his delight found it empty. He quickly resigned to his fate as it would be much quicker to go ahead and take care of it instead of wasting time to will it away. Besides he was fully aware of his deepening affections for the younger boy and now this dream and its result had only given him the confirmation that he had needed. Though he was a little sheepish to even contemplate being the bottom but he wasn't such a prude to say that it wouldn't happen because if Luffy wanted it then he'd given in. His fingers quickly moved into his pants and dispatched his erection to unrestricted thoughts of the younger boy.

**-Later-**

"**Kenshi-san**." A voice called out to him as he came up onto the deck and looked around to see Robin sitting nearby with a book in her lap.

Zoro gave her a small grunt as he raised an eyebrow as he quickly realized that the deck was devoid of life except for them. "Where i-"

"In the lounge eating..I trust you enjoyed your _sleep_." Robin said with emphasize on sleep as she didn't even glance up from her book despite the faint smile that formed upon her lips. "Better hurry up before **senchou-san** eats the rest of your share." It was then almost as if on cue that Luffy appeared from the lounge door.

"Oi Zoro!" A slightly sheepish smile appearing on his face as he laughed and absentmindedly rubbed the back of his head. "Food's almost gone." It was with that that the captain retreated back into the lounge leaving a rather surprised Zoro behind both from Robin's unexpected comment and Luffy's action.

"Don't worry nobody heard you." Robin said rather vaguely but it was still pretty obvious she knew what the hell she was talking about. It was now that she looked up from her book and gave a brief smile. "Time's nearly up Kenshi-san better hurry."

It was at this that Zoro was somewhat at a loss but as he could hear Luffy yelling for him to hurry up he couldn't help but to give a light chuckle. Right now Luffy was more important and Robin seemed to have nothing else to say and she didn't seem to want to hold it over his head either. Which was just fine with him. He then quickly made his way up to the lounge to find Luffy struggling not to eat what was left of the food. Though the rest of the crew were nowhere in sight which was a little weird but then he smiled as Robin thought he was asking only about Luffy. "Anything left for me?"

**-Back on deck-**

"Robin.. What's going on?" Nami said softly as both she and Usopp climbed their way down from the mast.

"Oh nothing Kenshi-san just joined Senchou." Her eyes remained focused on her book as she withheld the events from just moments before. "I'll let you know if anything happens."

"Ah thanks Robin!" Nami said with a smile as she was eager to bring this bet to a close.

It was at that that Robin once more looked up and gave a faint smile. "My pleasure."

* * *

**Ahh well that's the end for the omake. I know it's not nearly worth the wait it took but I plan to get back into updating Possibilities. Thank you to the ones that have stuck around and to the new readers I welcome you. **

**Well if you've made it this far then hopefully enough you might just go and review this for me :3**

**Kenshi-san=Mr Swordsman, Senchou-san=Captain**

**I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::- **


	11. Update

Hello to all my readers! ^^ I just want to say thanks for sticking around this long and to anybody new to this story thank you for reading.

This obviously isn't a chapter and I'm sorry if I got any of your hopes up but I have a question that I would like to ask you guys. I'm going to start back writing my stories again however since it's been quite a while since I've written for my stories I'm leaning towards redoing the stories because I feel like just picking up with my stories wouldn't be good for them and the result might be poor chapters. Now with that being said my question to you guys, my readers, is would you like me to keep up the old chapters and post the new ones separately? Get rid of the old chapters? Or does it not really matter? I have a poll on my profile if you guys would be so kind as to go there and give me your opinion.

Truthfully I'm leaning towards keeping the old chapters so I still have all your lovely reviews. Granted if I don't have any feedback I might just do that.


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