Realization ---Gift exchange fic [one shot]
Title: Realization
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,274
Pairing and Characters: Zoro/Luffy, Chopper, Robin, Nami
Warning: SPOILERS from chapter 485 when Zoro accepts Kuma’s deal. Also, some boykissing.
Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine.
Author's Note: It was a gift fic for themegaloo at the jump_exchange comm.
------
Just when Zoro thought that the fight with Moria was finally over and their shadows had been reclaimed, another Shichibukai showed up. It was a bad situation because as far as Zoro could tell, everyone had been knocked out except for him, and most of his attacks had just been completely deflected effortlessly. Zoro couldn’t do anything against the devil fruit power Bartholomew Kuma had, and he was still injured from his previous fight, so things had not looked good at all. When the time came - when Bartholomew Kuma was going to take Luffy’s life - Zoro willingly, without the slightest hesitation, stepped in between them.
What Zoro did not expect however, was anyone to witness his exchange with Kuma and when Sanji tried to intervene, he knocked the cook out so he wouldn’t do anything self-sacrificial.
Like what he was doing.
Zoro knew his dream and promise to Kuina would have ended right there, yet he still offered his life in return for Luffy’s life. A crew without its captain was no longer a complete crew and the Straw Hat Pirates were no different; without Luffy as the captain, they could no longer be the group known as the Straw Hat Pirates. Zoro knew that the crew would be lost without Luffy’s solid presence and the carefree way he got along with everyone. And because Luffy was the captain, he took on his crew’s dreams along with his own, and Zoro could understand that devotion. He swore to himself that if he was around to prevent harm befalling Luffy, Zoro would do whatever was necessary to keep Luffy protected whether Luffy liked it or not.
Even if it meant that he had to be strong enough so he could do the dirty work of destroying anyone or anything that would pose a danger to Luffy if the need ever arose.
Even if it meant turning his back on the whole world and betraying everyone he knew.
Even if it meant dying.
What it all boiled down to was that when he had to choose between his dreams and his captain, Luffy would always come first.
Zoro wasn’t the only one that looked to Luffy, the rest of the crew did as well. Luffy had brought them all together and as their captain, any one of them would have done it for Luffy if that was what it took. Luffy did not demand their loyalty, they gave it to him freely because they wanted to.
Because they all respected and loved him.
Because they all had no doubt that this boy -no,- man, Luffy D. Monkey, would become the Pirate King.
If laying down his life for Luffy was what it took, Zoro would do it over again.
Because he would do anything for Luffy.
--------
Zoro reasoned that accepting Luffy’s pain let him shoulder some of Luffy’s unspoken burden. Zoro now knew the great lengths Luffy went through to ensure that he would win whenever they got into a fight. Not for himself, but for his crew and for what he thought was right.
Every time Luffy came back from a tough fight, even though he would be severely injured, he would also grow stronger from the experience of it. Because Luffy’s personality was child-like and utterly carefree, Zoro had never thought to wonder how much pain Luffy had gone through during his fights. He had been a lot more concerned about Luffy reopening any still healing wounds because of vigorous stretching; then there would be times when Luffy would fall off the side of the ship because he saw something shiny in the sea and then Zoro having to dive in and save him. It created a lot less work for Chopper when Luffy didn’t rip his stitches or get his bandages wet -Chopper had warned Zoro about his own stitches, but Luffy was more important. Zoro conveniently forgot Chopper’s warning about training and sleeping out on the deck in the wind, he had always been a quick healer and rarely got sick. Besides, sleeping out on the deck let him keep an eye on Luffy in case anything ever happened to Luffy.
Zoro refused to die from the pain, because he didn’t know how Luffy would react if he had died; he would never be able to smack some sense into Luffy about being reckless during fights; and he still had his lifelong dream to fulfill. Zoro also realized that if Luffy knew that he had made a deal about taking his life instead of Luffy’s with Kuma, Luffy wouldn’t like that news at all.
Zoro knew that Sanji probably wouldn’t say anything because of the same resolve to do the same thing that Zoro had done. He just hoped no one else saw or would say anything because he didn’t want to be thanked. It was for his captain and to save Luffy, he would take on the whole Marine headquarters himself if he had to. Nothing would make him turn against his captain.
Nothing.
If Luffy ever found out about Zoro’s deed, Luffy would probably run off at the first chance to fight with Kuma to protect his crew from ever getting hurt again. Despite how strong Luffy was, Zoro doubted that he would be able to win against a devil fruit power like Kuma’s without a plan or help.
Zoro really didn’t want Luffy to find out what he had done.
Through his hazed sleep during the celebrations, he was only aware of Chopper fussing over him right at the beginning, and then at the moment when Luffy’s presence was close by. He seemed to be carrying something heavy and when music started playing, Zoro lost all consciousness. Their crew was safe if Chopper could afford to fuss over him and he could let his guard drop now that he knew Luffy was there. Kuma had a surprisingly strange sense of honor; he had kept his end of the deal by leaving Luffy alone. With a wince as he flexed his shoulder and the faintest smile, Zoro slept through everything peacefully.
--------
What Zoro didn’t expect when he regained consciousness was to feel Luffy’s presence right next to him. Relishing the warmth radiating from Luffy, he opened his eyes to see Luffy’s wide grin hovering over his face.
“Zoro! You’re awake! Come on, let’s go up to the deck! You’re missing a lot of things sleeping down here!”
Zoro tried nodding, but then clenched his jaw tightly as waves of pain crashed over him. His whole body protested against the sudden movement as he slowly tried to sit up. He stiffened when the pain became unbearable and hoped that Luffy wouldn’t notice anything when his breathing quickened from the stabbing sensation of pain all over his body.
Luffy leapt up excitedly from where he was sitting and bounded towards the stairs, looking back and forth expectedly at Zoro to follow him. When Luffy heard a pained breath from Zoro, he turned back at him and was slightly puzzled as to why Zoro wasn’t moving as he usually did after battles. Normally Zoro would be back on his feet by the end of the day and he’d already be training despite his injuries and what Chopper said. Luffy was curious to how Zoro had gotten so injured that he couldn’t even sit up properly. Luffy felt a simmering anger at whoever had done it to one of his crew and frowned at Zoro. He was just about to ask who Zoro had been fighting when Chopper burst in through the door and nearly fell down the stairs in his haste.
“Zoro! What are you doing!! You shouldn’t even be moving!!”
Chopper rushed towards Zoro and nudged Luffy aside to pull out a few pillows from under the bed and then placed them against the wall, before shifting to his human form. Placing a firm arm around Zoro’s shoulders, he watched closely as Zoro carefully shuffled backwards and leaned into the pillows. He loosened and gently peeled back the bandages on Zoro’s head before frowning worriedly.
“Zoro, you better stay here okay! You’re still recovering from that huge amount of injuries you won’t tell me how you got and you lost at least a ton of blood.”
Shifting back into his reindeer form, he rushed around pulling open drawers agitatedly, he pulled out a few rolls of clean gauze, unlabeled bottles and a pair of scissors that looked ridiculously large in Chopper’s small hoof. While he masterfully wielded them and began cutting one roll of gauze into strips, he turned to Luffy and said,
“Luffy, Robin’s waiting for you in her cabin, I think she wants to tell you something.”
As Luffy continued frowning at Zoro and made no sign of movement to leave from the room, Chopper sighed exasperatedly and gestured at the gauze.
“I need to change Zoro’s bandages and make sure his wounds are healing cleanly. Robin said that it was very important that you go talk to her.”
Luffy turned to gaze at Chopper before nodding curtly and with the command, “Zoro needs to be healed soon, okay Chopper?”, Luffy left the room, still frowning at something that bothered him about Zoro. Chopper briefly wondered what Robin wanted to tell Luffy before turning his attention back to Zoro. Zoro had remained silent for too long and Chopper did not consider that a good sign when it came to Zoro as a patient. Shifting back into his human form, and performing a closer inspection of Zoro led Chopper to believe that he was right about how close Zoro was about to pass out from pain overloading his senses. He went to his desk to look for a bottle of painkillers that he knew Zoro would need before saying,
“Zoro, I need you to stay still while I cut your bandages and check your stitches. After I’m done, take these pills as well and then go back to sleep okay?”
Chopper placed the bottle of small blue pills on the table and Zoro gave a short nod. Chopper then efficiently cut through his bandages and removed them before reaching for an unlabeled bottle. He opened and then sniffed it before nodding in satisfaction and proceeded to dampen the strips of gauze.
“The disinfectant I made just for you is going to sting a little, but it’ll keep your stitches clean and then I’ll rewrap your wounds.”
Zoro hissed softly as Chopper gently cleaned his cuts and Chopper frowned at the amount of injuries Zoro had sustained. Cuts were the lightest out of the injuries, the more dangerous ones were the unseen bruises, muscle tearing and internal bleeding. Zoro just wished those injuries would heal as quickly as possible, because those were the wounds that interfered with his training the most. The slightest movement sent heavy signals of pain and kept him from moving much.
“Do you know how close you were to dying Zoro?”
Chopper dabbed worriedly at a relatively shallow injury, ignoring Zoro’s sharp intake of breath.
“Please take better care of yourself when you get into fights. If I hadn’t been able to treat you in time, you would have died from blood loss! Why won’t you tell me how you got your injuries while we were knocked out from Kuma’s attack?”
Zoro frowned at Chopper’s question and bit back another hiss as Chopper made him sit forward so that Chopper could wrap the bandages around him properly.
“It’s nothing I want to talk about, Chopper.”
At that, Chopper tightened Zoro’s bandages until Zoro winced, and then reached back for the pills and handed Zoro a small glass of water.
“It’s not nothing when you nearly died Zoro! As the ship’s doctor and as a.. friend, I’m worried about how you got those injuries!”
Zoro swallowed the painkillers with the water quickly and as he slowly shuffled down to lean back into the bed, he replied,
“I’m sorry for making you worry, but it’s not important how I got them Chopper.”
With that, Zoro closed his eyes and decidedly ignored any questions Chopper continued to badger him with. It wasn’t long before Zoro could feel the pills’ effects and just before he fell back asleep, he quietly said,
“Thank you Chopper.”
He heard Chopper starting calling him a bastard and then he knew no more.
--------
The next time Zoro regained consciousness, it was Luffy’s overwhelmingly angry presence in the room that had pulled him from his sleep. Zoro wondered how long he had been asleep because the pills were still doing their job wonderfully and he was feeling a lot more aware of his surroundings. Zoro had barely tilted his head in acknowledgement towards Luffy before Luffy angrily demanded that he stand up. He slowly looked over at Luffy before asking,
“Why?”
Luffy just made an impatient gesture and demanded that he stand up again. Zoro tried moving, and was pleasantly surprised when the pain was much duller than when he had first woken up. Anyone could tell that Luffy was angry, but Zoro didn’t know why, so he rasped out from his sleeping position,
“Luffy, why are you mad?”
Luffy scowling at him before crossing over to his bed, sat down on the edge and grab him by the arm. Zoro hissed as Luffy grabbed a wound that was still healing and tried to shrug Luffy off, but Zoro was still weak from his injuries.
“Luffy, let go.”
Luffy’s grip tightened painfully and Zoro felt a sharp spike in anger before Luffy was saying,
“Just how hurt are you because of me Zoro?!”
Zoro froze at Luffy’s words and slowly sat up to look Luffy in the eye. Zoro wondered if Luffy had somehow found out about the deal he had made with Kuma. But it couldn’t be, could it? Sanji wouldn’t tell, so who else saw and told Luffy? Zoro watched as Luffy glared holes into the floor and still not letting go of Zoro’s arm.
“Why did you-” Luffy paused and made an effort to control the anger in his voice, “Why did you do that?”
Zoro’s heart skipped a beat and he felt his mouth going dry.
“What are you talking about Luffy?”
Luffy looked up angrily at Zoro. Please don’t say-
“WHY DID YOU MAKE A DEAL WITH KUMA?! WHY DID YOU- ”
That. How the heck did he find out? Zoro stared stoically back at Luffy and then shrugged in response.
“What deal are you talking about Luffy?”
Luffy grabbed his shoulders and Zoro could see that Luffy wanted to shake him badly, but only refrained because he was still heavily injured.
“You shouldn’t have suffered all that! You’re not rubber like me..” Luffy’s hold on Zoro tightened even further, “You could have DIED.”
And abruptly Luffy’s anger dissipated to be replaced with frustration and Luffy loosened his grip and leapt off the bed, pacing back and forth in front of Zoro. Zoro just stared at Luffy with shielded eyes and said lowly,
“…It was my choice.”
Zoro saw Luffy recoil as if physically hit by someone and then looked down on the floor, his bangs covering his eyes. He slowly walked in front of Zoro and said,
“…It was your choice to die?”
Zoro felt his heart clench at the agony Luffy sounded like he was going through and could only nod.
“Didn’t you promise to be the world’s greatest swordsman? Dying would have broken the promise, Zoro. Why did you-”
Zoro couldn’t ignore Luffy’s pain any longer, so he ignored his own pain as he impulsively reached out and pulled Luffy down on the bed by his vest. As Luffy flailed at the suddenly loss of balance, Zoro quietly rasped, “I did it for you,” before caressing Luffy’s cheek and sealing his lips over Luffy’s.
Luffy stiffened at the unexpected contact and before he could react to it, Zoro drew back slightly and groaned quietly. Pulling Luffy down had not been a good idea, he was sitting on some of his wounds, and it hurt. Luffy blinked silently at Zoro before shuffling over so he was sitting on the bed instead. Still temporarily speechless, Luffy could only stare questioningly at Zoro.
“My head hurt.”
Luffy could only gape at Zoro.
“You… I thought…”
Thinking Luffy’s response as a rejection, Zoro frowned at himself before withdrawing from Luffy. He looked away and then down at his hands, wondering what it was that made him act so impulsively.
“I’m sorry captain. What I did just now.. it won’t happen again.”
Zoro could feel Luffy shuffling -was it his imagination, but was he coming closer?- and then Zoro felt Luffy’s hands gently turn his face so they were facing each other.
“Zoro- Don’t ever make the choice to die. Promise me that you won’t ever do that again.”
Zoro looked into the softness in Luffy’s eyes, hardly believing that Luffy felt the same way he did, before pulling Luffy close again. He gently traced a thumb over Luffy’s lips -giving time for Luffy to back away,- before replying, “I promise” and sealed it with another kiss that Luffy eagerly returned now that he wasn’t caught by surprise.
Zoro felt a fierce protectiveness for Luffy when he said those words and then silently offered an apology that he might not be able to keep this promise if a similar situation ever arose. However he would become strong enough so that no such situation would ever happen again and then he wouldn’t need to break his promise with his captain.
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Robin had not appreciated the thick-headedness of Zoro and Sanji’s resolve, but she knew she would have done the same thing if she was the one instead. The crew would do anything for Luffy, he had offered them friendship and in return, they gave him their trust, respect and unwavering loyalty.
Because Robin knew how stubborn the boys could get when it came to feelings and emotions, she decided that a little meddling would help things go a long way so she waited for the perfect moment.
Seeing how frantic Chopper was over Zoro’s injuries, she eavesdropped on Sanji’s conversation to see what the situation was like. Robin knew then, that a little meddling on her part would probably bring things a long way if she did it right.
Robin offered to keep a watch on Zoro using her devil fruit power and let Chopper rest in her room. When Zoro woke up, she notified Chopper and also asked him to send Luffy up to her room.
Robin saw the emotions flash through Luffy when she told him how Zoro had gotten his wounds-the anger at himself for having this happen in the first place, the pain he felt at Zoro’s choice and the flash of regret that Zoro might not have ever known. Then there was only determination and anger as Luffy stormed out of her room.
When the shouting started, Robin already had an eye and ear in the room, watching to make sure that the both of them wouldn’t do anything silly and ruin what she had worked hard to meddle in.
She had notified Nami about what was going on, and Robin grinned at her when Zoro finally made a move. Robin and Nami were glad that the both of them had finally, finally realized it for themselves.
Nami grinned liked a Cheshire cat. Not only was she happy for them, she won that little bet that she and Sanji had made the other day, and Sanji was going to be her indentured servant for life.
--------
End.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
crossposted at jump_exchange and onepieceyaoi
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,274
Pairing and Characters: Zoro/Luffy, Chopper, Robin, Nami
Warning: SPOILERS from chapter 485 when Zoro accepts Kuma’s deal. Also, some boykissing.
Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine.
Author's Note: It was a gift fic for themegaloo at the jump_exchange comm.
------
Just when Zoro thought that the fight with Moria was finally over and their shadows had been reclaimed, another Shichibukai showed up. It was a bad situation because as far as Zoro could tell, everyone had been knocked out except for him, and most of his attacks had just been completely deflected effortlessly. Zoro couldn’t do anything against the devil fruit power Bartholomew Kuma had, and he was still injured from his previous fight, so things had not looked good at all. When the time came - when Bartholomew Kuma was going to take Luffy’s life - Zoro willingly, without the slightest hesitation, stepped in between them.
What Zoro did not expect however, was anyone to witness his exchange with Kuma and when Sanji tried to intervene, he knocked the cook out so he wouldn’t do anything self-sacrificial.
Like what he was doing.
Zoro knew his dream and promise to Kuina would have ended right there, yet he still offered his life in return for Luffy’s life. A crew without its captain was no longer a complete crew and the Straw Hat Pirates were no different; without Luffy as the captain, they could no longer be the group known as the Straw Hat Pirates. Zoro knew that the crew would be lost without Luffy’s solid presence and the carefree way he got along with everyone. And because Luffy was the captain, he took on his crew’s dreams along with his own, and Zoro could understand that devotion. He swore to himself that if he was around to prevent harm befalling Luffy, Zoro would do whatever was necessary to keep Luffy protected whether Luffy liked it or not.
Even if it meant that he had to be strong enough so he could do the dirty work of destroying anyone or anything that would pose a danger to Luffy if the need ever arose.
Even if it meant turning his back on the whole world and betraying everyone he knew.
Even if it meant dying.
What it all boiled down to was that when he had to choose between his dreams and his captain, Luffy would always come first.
Zoro wasn’t the only one that looked to Luffy, the rest of the crew did as well. Luffy had brought them all together and as their captain, any one of them would have done it for Luffy if that was what it took. Luffy did not demand their loyalty, they gave it to him freely because they wanted to.
Because they all respected and loved him.
Because they all had no doubt that this boy -no,- man, Luffy D. Monkey, would become the Pirate King.
If laying down his life for Luffy was what it took, Zoro would do it over again.
Because he would do anything for Luffy.
--------
Zoro reasoned that accepting Luffy’s pain let him shoulder some of Luffy’s unspoken burden. Zoro now knew the great lengths Luffy went through to ensure that he would win whenever they got into a fight. Not for himself, but for his crew and for what he thought was right.
Every time Luffy came back from a tough fight, even though he would be severely injured, he would also grow stronger from the experience of it. Because Luffy’s personality was child-like and utterly carefree, Zoro had never thought to wonder how much pain Luffy had gone through during his fights. He had been a lot more concerned about Luffy reopening any still healing wounds because of vigorous stretching; then there would be times when Luffy would fall off the side of the ship because he saw something shiny in the sea and then Zoro having to dive in and save him. It created a lot less work for Chopper when Luffy didn’t rip his stitches or get his bandages wet -Chopper had warned Zoro about his own stitches, but Luffy was more important. Zoro conveniently forgot Chopper’s warning about training and sleeping out on the deck in the wind, he had always been a quick healer and rarely got sick. Besides, sleeping out on the deck let him keep an eye on Luffy in case anything ever happened to Luffy.
Zoro refused to die from the pain, because he didn’t know how Luffy would react if he had died; he would never be able to smack some sense into Luffy about being reckless during fights; and he still had his lifelong dream to fulfill. Zoro also realized that if Luffy knew that he had made a deal about taking his life instead of Luffy’s with Kuma, Luffy wouldn’t like that news at all.
Zoro knew that Sanji probably wouldn’t say anything because of the same resolve to do the same thing that Zoro had done. He just hoped no one else saw or would say anything because he didn’t want to be thanked. It was for his captain and to save Luffy, he would take on the whole Marine headquarters himself if he had to. Nothing would make him turn against his captain.
Nothing.
If Luffy ever found out about Zoro’s deed, Luffy would probably run off at the first chance to fight with Kuma to protect his crew from ever getting hurt again. Despite how strong Luffy was, Zoro doubted that he would be able to win against a devil fruit power like Kuma’s without a plan or help.
Zoro really didn’t want Luffy to find out what he had done.
Through his hazed sleep during the celebrations, he was only aware of Chopper fussing over him right at the beginning, and then at the moment when Luffy’s presence was close by. He seemed to be carrying something heavy and when music started playing, Zoro lost all consciousness. Their crew was safe if Chopper could afford to fuss over him and he could let his guard drop now that he knew Luffy was there. Kuma had a surprisingly strange sense of honor; he had kept his end of the deal by leaving Luffy alone. With a wince as he flexed his shoulder and the faintest smile, Zoro slept through everything peacefully.
--------
What Zoro didn’t expect when he regained consciousness was to feel Luffy’s presence right next to him. Relishing the warmth radiating from Luffy, he opened his eyes to see Luffy’s wide grin hovering over his face.
“Zoro! You’re awake! Come on, let’s go up to the deck! You’re missing a lot of things sleeping down here!”
Zoro tried nodding, but then clenched his jaw tightly as waves of pain crashed over him. His whole body protested against the sudden movement as he slowly tried to sit up. He stiffened when the pain became unbearable and hoped that Luffy wouldn’t notice anything when his breathing quickened from the stabbing sensation of pain all over his body.
Luffy leapt up excitedly from where he was sitting and bounded towards the stairs, looking back and forth expectedly at Zoro to follow him. When Luffy heard a pained breath from Zoro, he turned back at him and was slightly puzzled as to why Zoro wasn’t moving as he usually did after battles. Normally Zoro would be back on his feet by the end of the day and he’d already be training despite his injuries and what Chopper said. Luffy was curious to how Zoro had gotten so injured that he couldn’t even sit up properly. Luffy felt a simmering anger at whoever had done it to one of his crew and frowned at Zoro. He was just about to ask who Zoro had been fighting when Chopper burst in through the door and nearly fell down the stairs in his haste.
“Zoro! What are you doing!! You shouldn’t even be moving!!”
Chopper rushed towards Zoro and nudged Luffy aside to pull out a few pillows from under the bed and then placed them against the wall, before shifting to his human form. Placing a firm arm around Zoro’s shoulders, he watched closely as Zoro carefully shuffled backwards and leaned into the pillows. He loosened and gently peeled back the bandages on Zoro’s head before frowning worriedly.
“Zoro, you better stay here okay! You’re still recovering from that huge amount of injuries you won’t tell me how you got and you lost at least a ton of blood.”
Shifting back into his reindeer form, he rushed around pulling open drawers agitatedly, he pulled out a few rolls of clean gauze, unlabeled bottles and a pair of scissors that looked ridiculously large in Chopper’s small hoof. While he masterfully wielded them and began cutting one roll of gauze into strips, he turned to Luffy and said,
“Luffy, Robin’s waiting for you in her cabin, I think she wants to tell you something.”
As Luffy continued frowning at Zoro and made no sign of movement to leave from the room, Chopper sighed exasperatedly and gestured at the gauze.
“I need to change Zoro’s bandages and make sure his wounds are healing cleanly. Robin said that it was very important that you go talk to her.”
Luffy turned to gaze at Chopper before nodding curtly and with the command, “Zoro needs to be healed soon, okay Chopper?”, Luffy left the room, still frowning at something that bothered him about Zoro. Chopper briefly wondered what Robin wanted to tell Luffy before turning his attention back to Zoro. Zoro had remained silent for too long and Chopper did not consider that a good sign when it came to Zoro as a patient. Shifting back into his human form, and performing a closer inspection of Zoro led Chopper to believe that he was right about how close Zoro was about to pass out from pain overloading his senses. He went to his desk to look for a bottle of painkillers that he knew Zoro would need before saying,
“Zoro, I need you to stay still while I cut your bandages and check your stitches. After I’m done, take these pills as well and then go back to sleep okay?”
Chopper placed the bottle of small blue pills on the table and Zoro gave a short nod. Chopper then efficiently cut through his bandages and removed them before reaching for an unlabeled bottle. He opened and then sniffed it before nodding in satisfaction and proceeded to dampen the strips of gauze.
“The disinfectant I made just for you is going to sting a little, but it’ll keep your stitches clean and then I’ll rewrap your wounds.”
Zoro hissed softly as Chopper gently cleaned his cuts and Chopper frowned at the amount of injuries Zoro had sustained. Cuts were the lightest out of the injuries, the more dangerous ones were the unseen bruises, muscle tearing and internal bleeding. Zoro just wished those injuries would heal as quickly as possible, because those were the wounds that interfered with his training the most. The slightest movement sent heavy signals of pain and kept him from moving much.
“Do you know how close you were to dying Zoro?”
Chopper dabbed worriedly at a relatively shallow injury, ignoring Zoro’s sharp intake of breath.
“Please take better care of yourself when you get into fights. If I hadn’t been able to treat you in time, you would have died from blood loss! Why won’t you tell me how you got your injuries while we were knocked out from Kuma’s attack?”
Zoro frowned at Chopper’s question and bit back another hiss as Chopper made him sit forward so that Chopper could wrap the bandages around him properly.
“It’s nothing I want to talk about, Chopper.”
At that, Chopper tightened Zoro’s bandages until Zoro winced, and then reached back for the pills and handed Zoro a small glass of water.
“It’s not nothing when you nearly died Zoro! As the ship’s doctor and as a.. friend, I’m worried about how you got those injuries!”
Zoro swallowed the painkillers with the water quickly and as he slowly shuffled down to lean back into the bed, he replied,
“I’m sorry for making you worry, but it’s not important how I got them Chopper.”
With that, Zoro closed his eyes and decidedly ignored any questions Chopper continued to badger him with. It wasn’t long before Zoro could feel the pills’ effects and just before he fell back asleep, he quietly said,
“Thank you Chopper.”
He heard Chopper starting calling him a bastard and then he knew no more.
--------
The next time Zoro regained consciousness, it was Luffy’s overwhelmingly angry presence in the room that had pulled him from his sleep. Zoro wondered how long he had been asleep because the pills were still doing their job wonderfully and he was feeling a lot more aware of his surroundings. Zoro had barely tilted his head in acknowledgement towards Luffy before Luffy angrily demanded that he stand up. He slowly looked over at Luffy before asking,
“Why?”
Luffy just made an impatient gesture and demanded that he stand up again. Zoro tried moving, and was pleasantly surprised when the pain was much duller than when he had first woken up. Anyone could tell that Luffy was angry, but Zoro didn’t know why, so he rasped out from his sleeping position,
“Luffy, why are you mad?”
Luffy scowling at him before crossing over to his bed, sat down on the edge and grab him by the arm. Zoro hissed as Luffy grabbed a wound that was still healing and tried to shrug Luffy off, but Zoro was still weak from his injuries.
“Luffy, let go.”
Luffy’s grip tightened painfully and Zoro felt a sharp spike in anger before Luffy was saying,
“Just how hurt are you because of me Zoro?!”
Zoro froze at Luffy’s words and slowly sat up to look Luffy in the eye. Zoro wondered if Luffy had somehow found out about the deal he had made with Kuma. But it couldn’t be, could it? Sanji wouldn’t tell, so who else saw and told Luffy? Zoro watched as Luffy glared holes into the floor and still not letting go of Zoro’s arm.
“Why did you-” Luffy paused and made an effort to control the anger in his voice, “Why did you do that?”
Zoro’s heart skipped a beat and he felt his mouth going dry.
“What are you talking about Luffy?”
Luffy looked up angrily at Zoro. Please don’t say-
“WHY DID YOU MAKE A DEAL WITH KUMA?! WHY DID YOU- ”
That. How the heck did he find out? Zoro stared stoically back at Luffy and then shrugged in response.
“What deal are you talking about Luffy?”
Luffy grabbed his shoulders and Zoro could see that Luffy wanted to shake him badly, but only refrained because he was still heavily injured.
“You shouldn’t have suffered all that! You’re not rubber like me..” Luffy’s hold on Zoro tightened even further, “You could have DIED.”
And abruptly Luffy’s anger dissipated to be replaced with frustration and Luffy loosened his grip and leapt off the bed, pacing back and forth in front of Zoro. Zoro just stared at Luffy with shielded eyes and said lowly,
“…It was my choice.”
Zoro saw Luffy recoil as if physically hit by someone and then looked down on the floor, his bangs covering his eyes. He slowly walked in front of Zoro and said,
“…It was your choice to die?”
Zoro felt his heart clench at the agony Luffy sounded like he was going through and could only nod.
“Didn’t you promise to be the world’s greatest swordsman? Dying would have broken the promise, Zoro. Why did you-”
Zoro couldn’t ignore Luffy’s pain any longer, so he ignored his own pain as he impulsively reached out and pulled Luffy down on the bed by his vest. As Luffy flailed at the suddenly loss of balance, Zoro quietly rasped, “I did it for you,” before caressing Luffy’s cheek and sealing his lips over Luffy’s.
Luffy stiffened at the unexpected contact and before he could react to it, Zoro drew back slightly and groaned quietly. Pulling Luffy down had not been a good idea, he was sitting on some of his wounds, and it hurt. Luffy blinked silently at Zoro before shuffling over so he was sitting on the bed instead. Still temporarily speechless, Luffy could only stare questioningly at Zoro.
“My head hurt.”
Luffy could only gape at Zoro.
“You… I thought…”
Thinking Luffy’s response as a rejection, Zoro frowned at himself before withdrawing from Luffy. He looked away and then down at his hands, wondering what it was that made him act so impulsively.
“I’m sorry captain. What I did just now.. it won’t happen again.”
Zoro could feel Luffy shuffling -was it his imagination, but was he coming closer?- and then Zoro felt Luffy’s hands gently turn his face so they were facing each other.
“Zoro- Don’t ever make the choice to die. Promise me that you won’t ever do that again.”
Zoro looked into the softness in Luffy’s eyes, hardly believing that Luffy felt the same way he did, before pulling Luffy close again. He gently traced a thumb over Luffy’s lips -giving time for Luffy to back away,- before replying, “I promise” and sealed it with another kiss that Luffy eagerly returned now that he wasn’t caught by surprise.
Zoro felt a fierce protectiveness for Luffy when he said those words and then silently offered an apology that he might not be able to keep this promise if a similar situation ever arose. However he would become strong enough so that no such situation would ever happen again and then he wouldn’t need to break his promise with his captain.
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Robin had not appreciated the thick-headedness of Zoro and Sanji’s resolve, but she knew she would have done the same thing if she was the one instead. The crew would do anything for Luffy, he had offered them friendship and in return, they gave him their trust, respect and unwavering loyalty.
Because Robin knew how stubborn the boys could get when it came to feelings and emotions, she decided that a little meddling would help things go a long way so she waited for the perfect moment.
Seeing how frantic Chopper was over Zoro’s injuries, she eavesdropped on Sanji’s conversation to see what the situation was like. Robin knew then, that a little meddling on her part would probably bring things a long way if she did it right.
Robin offered to keep a watch on Zoro using her devil fruit power and let Chopper rest in her room. When Zoro woke up, she notified Chopper and also asked him to send Luffy up to her room.
Robin saw the emotions flash through Luffy when she told him how Zoro had gotten his wounds-the anger at himself for having this happen in the first place, the pain he felt at Zoro’s choice and the flash of regret that Zoro might not have ever known. Then there was only determination and anger as Luffy stormed out of her room.
When the shouting started, Robin already had an eye and ear in the room, watching to make sure that the both of them wouldn’t do anything silly and ruin what she had worked hard to meddle in.
She had notified Nami about what was going on, and Robin grinned at her when Zoro finally made a move. Robin and Nami were glad that the both of them had finally, finally realized it for themselves.
Nami grinned liked a Cheshire cat. Not only was she happy for them, she won that little bet that she and Sanji had made the other day, and Sanji was going to be her indentured servant for life.
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End.
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crossposted at jump_exchange and onepieceyaoi