Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

Zoro was in the Crow's Nest, sitting on the long couches. He had finished his afternoon training, so he was taking a short break. Anytime soon, the cook would call out for snacks and every guy on the ship—except him—would run to the kitchen to eat before going out to resume playing again. Nami and Robin received their snacks in person, so they ignored the call. Zoro also ignored the call because he told Sanji that he didn't want any. Although Sanji came up with crazy theories that one absolutely needed to eat for traveling the seas, the cook accepted the swordsman's request.

The windows were opened to get rid of the sweaty odor, so the air was filtered with the scent of the ocean and today's snack. Upon smelling the fresh new air, Zoro moaned sadly because the aroma was so good. He picked up the buttery scent of the pie crust, the sweet blend of several types of jam, and a strong, bitter kick of melted dark chocolate. Today's snack was puff pastry, which happened to be Zoro's favorite. Oftentimes, he regretted telling Sanji to not make him sweets because the man knew how to cook good food. The reason why he didn't march down the Crow's Nest and ask Sanji to reconsider the personal ban on snacks because there was someone who always secretly brought his favorites.

A few minutes later of having to sit there while the sweet, delicious scent of dessert tortured Zoro's stomach, he heard someone climbing up the rope ladder. He was on the edge of his seat when the door opened and Luffy appeared with a plate of snacks.

"It's Puff Pastry today! Your favorite!" Luffy raised the plate as if it was a champion belt.

Zoro grinned brightly at the sight of his captain, "I can already smell it from up here. Bring it over!" Luffy's grin stretched across the young face and rushed over to Zoro's side. He slid the plate of pastries onto Zoro's folded lap, and the eating began. The pastry pieces were smaller than the size of their palms, so they were able to collect as many pieces into their hands. Luffy was always faster than Zoro because his cheeks could stretch like an inflated balloon. The swordsman loved the sweets, but he still couldn't as eat as many as Luffy.

Within minutes, the stack of snacks vanished. Zoro only ate a quarter of it, and the rest the captain had gobbled it all up. It was a quick battle, but Zoro managed to scavenge out the difference between the jams. He picked out little seeds that might have been from the blackberry. He got some jam on his hands, so he slipped them into his mouth to lick off the sweet goodness. He glanced over to see that Luffy was also licking jam off his hands. From the corner of his eye, he quietly observed the younger man drawing his tongue across the sticky jam, and a thin thread of saliva connected from Luffy's soft looking lips. A gentle wave of excitement splashed through his veins.

Suddenly, Luffy's eyes were on him, and Zoro hastily tried to look somewhere else. He also removed his cleaned fingers out of his mouth and pretended to be preoccupied in it.

He felt those round eyes burning into the back of his head, and his cheeks grew hot. Was he staring at Luffy a little too long? Was he making a weird face? He swallowed and slowly looked over his shoulder to see Luffy still staring at him like a barn owl. The captain's mouth was open in a form of surprise (or he just forgot to close his jaw). His hand, smothered in saliva and some bits of soggy pastries, was poised close to his mouth.

This strangely uncomfortable silence went on for another long minute because neither would make the first move. Finally, Luffy let out an "ah," and then broke the long stare. He dropped his eyes to the empty plate with puff pastry flakes still scattered about. Then, the captain started some quick breathing exercises. Zoro leaned forward in effort to see what the matter was. This was not Luffy's usual behavior.

"L-Luffy? A-Are you okay?"

"Wait, let me do this."

"Uh…okay."

Zoro leaned back against the couch and patiently waited for Luffy to finish. He raised his eye toward the ceiling and listened to the short intakes of breaths. While he listened to it, he too began to do his version of breathing exercise. He closed his eye and slowly took in a slow, deep breath to still his mind and fidgety heart.

He had thoughts of Luffy after a few weeks of travelling with him, but it felt like the captain had no interest in him. Luffy thought of three things: being the King of Pirates, meat, and adventure, so romance didn't look like it will fall into these categories. But, Zoro was fine with this because falling in love with a man who preferred meat was his fault.

Being close to Luffy was enough to make him happy, so he didn't ask for anything more.

"…oro…Zoro!"

"Huh!?" Luffy's shout broke through Zoro's deep meditation process. "Y-yeah Luffy?"

"I'm ready."

"Uhh, o-okay," Zoro straightened up and coughed into his fist, "so, is…is there something you want to say?"

Luffy's lips shaped into a pout, but his eyes were still bright with emotion. Zoro couldn't identify what sort of emotion it was, but it didn't look sad. Whatever the reason, the captain was mildly brooding about something.

"Zoro, you know. Yeah."

"…yeah?"

Luffy nodded, "…Yeah, I guess."

"Uh,"

"Well…Zoro, err, yeah…"

"Luffy, can you say something other than 'yeah'?"

"Zoro,"

"And that too—"

"I love you a lot."

"Whoa." Zoro leaned back and away from Luffy because his confession was so sudden. The swordsman couldn't raise his hopes yet. Luffy tend to say these types of confessions to everyone.

"D-Do you really…?"

Luffy nodded quickly. "I think you're really hot."

"Err, thanks…" Zoro stammered, feeling his face and the area around his eyes heating up. Luffy's confession was really blatant, but his heart was tightly squeezed from glee. Zoro brushed his hair, and—oh god, Luffy was staring right at him with admiration, love-and also with "Damn, he's so hot when he brushes his hair like that!" glimmering in his eyes.

"I, I also want to confess…I-I had thoughts of you too, Luffy."

"Really?" Luffy's eyes widened fully, and a blush appeared on his cheeks. The euphoria moment passed away immediately, however. All of a sudden, Luffy dropped his eyes to the floor and let out a sad sigh. The reaction was not what Zoro expected, and the swordsman almost chuckled on the polar difference.

"W-What happened?"

The pouty frown returned on the captain's face, and the swordsman's heart wavered. He wanted to get rid of that sad frown, but he couldn't think of something to say. Zoro tentatively placed his hand over Luffy's, but the following reaction surprised Zoro once more.

"H-Hey," Luffy frowned and pushed Zoro's hand off, "don't. That's…"

"Luffy…?"

Luffy let out a short gasp and snapped his head up to see Zoro's face. His face, flashed momentarily with shock, soon clouded with guilt. He made a low, pained growl and pulled his knees together. He kept growling like an annoyed cat while Zoro was trying to figure things out. Zoro couldn't recognize Luffy's odd behavior. He always knew what Luffy was thinking, so he could plan ahead and get ready for surprises. As he sat beside his captain, who was still curled in a ball and growling, he couldn't understand why Luffy was acting this way.

First things first…did Luffy love him or hate him?

"Sorry Zoro," Luffy grumbled between his knees, "I must've confused you a lot."

"A little." Zoro admitted, because he was very puzzled.

Luffy shifted his face to the side, and Zoro finally saw Luffy's face, red from pressing his face against his knees for too long, "I think I'm weird."

"There's no such thing as normal." Zoro replied, and that brought a small smile upon the captain's face.

"But really Zoro, I don't think I act like other people." Luffy pouted again, "I really love you Zoro. I really do. But that's it."

"That's…it?" Zoro shook his head, "I don't get it."

Luffy sat up and scratched his head, "I don't know how to explain it either, but I don't want anything more than that. I don't want you to kiss me or hold hands. I really really don't want to have sex." Zoro's eyebrow rose, "It's not that I don't like you because I love you a lot, but I don't…" Luffy made a face as if he ate something sour, "I can't imagine it."

Zoro lowered his voice, "…you can't imagine me having sex with you?"

There was short pause before the captain returned a slow nod. "Yeah…" Luffy picked up the plate that he left on the floor, and placed it on his lap, "All I want to do is like what we do right now...I come up here with a plate of snacks and we eat it together. And sometimes, I just want to sit next to you…like this." Luffy sadly lowered his head, "but that's boring right? That's not a real relationship…and it's childish…"

Zoro sat still for a moment letting Luffy's words sink into his skull. So, Luffy didn't hate him. All Luffy wanted was what the swordsman wanted also.

The swordsman gave a warm smile, "I'm fine with that, Luffy."

"You sure?" Luffy raised an eyebrow in doubt.

"I'm sure," Zoro grinned, "and it's not childish. There are other people like that, who want a relationship and not the sex."

"B-But are you really okay with that?" Luffy was looking straight into Zoro's eye to make sure the swordsman wasn't lying or being too humble, "Won't you be bored?"

At this remark, Zoro let out a chuckle, "Luffy, I wouldn't be on this ship if you were boring. Trust me," Zoro pressed, because if he didn't say this boldly, Luffy might do even more reckless things. He (and Nami, who preferred to be on the safe side of things) wouldn't want that to happen, "You're a very fun person."

A large smile finally appeared on his face like the sun breaking through after weeks of thick clouds and rain. The captain set the plate back onto the floor, and-with confidence-set his hand over Zoro's. The swordsman raised a curious eye as Luffy intertwined his fingers with his.

"Hey," Zoro frowned, recalling the strange behavior earlier, "I thought you didn't want to hold hands."

Luffy timidly laughed, "Shishishi, I feel comfortable." When Zoro still had a puzzled look on his face, the captain added, "I feel safe now."

Zoro stared down at the hands and then back to the captain. There was a smile on the young face, and he also in a very tranquil manner. Luffy suddenly looked much older because of the extreme stillness surrounding the captain's body; the jittery uneasiness had gone. Luffy fully trusted him. Zoro leaned his back against the couch again, with a light flutter in his chest, and let out a shaky sigh of relief. He leaned against Luffy and tentatively pressed the side of his face against Luffy's head.

"I love you Zoro." Luffy said in a sing-song tone.

Zoro chuckled and squeezed his hand, "I love you too."

The End