A/N: Based off of Babblebuzz's ZoLu Aladdin AU sketches. They're hella cute, and the link is on my profile if you wanna check it out.
Zoro sighed tiredly, the sound drawing through his body, and he rested his chin in his hands, trying to resist the urge to grumpily chuck something over the balcony.
Preferably his stupid tiger.
Sanji, said stupid tiger, gave him a look and daintily licked one of his large paws, as though he were silently reminding Zoro that attempting to throw him over the balcony would end up with Zoro collecting even more cat-claw related injuries. Zoro wisely stuck his tongue out at the feline.
The cool night air carried a chill only known to the residents of Alaburna, and as it teased the edges of his clothing and made his gold earrings chime, Zoro tried to forget the events of the afternoon.
"I won't marry anyone who can't beat me in a swordfight!" He proclaimed angrily as he stormed across the throne room and glared at Cobra.
"What?" The Sultan glanced up at his adopted son, a furrow creasing his forehead, and the dark-haired man let his pen rest on the papers he was signing. "Zoro, that's unreasonable. How is a princess supposed to beat you in a swordfight?"
"Kuina could do it!"
"Well not many princesses are like Kuina. Besides, Zoro, marriage is one of the easiest ways to strength ties within and without kingdoms. Because you aren't going to rule-"
"Why can't I just rule, then?" The teenage prince demanded, knowing exactly why (impatience, irritation, everything but the perfection Vivi managed to wield with her words instead of her rage-) and only raising the point to be contrite.
"You know Vivi is the eldest," His adopted father said sternly, and before he could stop himself, the words slipped from Zoro's clenched teeth.
"Yeah, and that's she's your actual daughter, too!"
"Zoro-, " The look on the Sultan's face was pained, and a hollow feeling scraped a place for itself in Zoro's chest.
Idiot, he thought to himself privately, recalling how he'd stomped from the room without listening to another word, only pausing to throw back his earlier challenge. Stupid, stupid idiot.
Distracted as he was by his pessimistic thoughts, Zoro didn't notice the prickling in his spine, or that Sanji had gotten up and began to growl; not until his tiger head butted his knee and almost made him trip off the balcony did Zoro notice that there was a girl on the other ledge, staring at him intently.
Zoro jumped, a noise of surprise escaping him, and he quickly drew his sword, glaring at the intruder threateningly. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded, eyes narrowed.
The girl grinned widely at him, standing from her crouch and resting her hands on her hips. "I'm the pirate ki-queeeeen," For a second she looked as though her brain had tripped and forced her to summersault off a cliff, but recovered quickly, leaving Zoro no time to wonder what she'd originally wanted to say. "Pirate Queen Luffy!"
"Right, well I have a sword and you don't. Also, a tiger." Speaking of his tiger, why wasn't the stupid feline doing something? Usually the cat would be purring like a steam train and trying to cuddle up to the lady without a care in the world, successfully traumatising them enough so that they wouldn't come back and crushing Sanji's feline hopes.
Zoro did not care for the cat. The cat did not care for him. It was a mutually understood relationship.
"Sweet," The pirate queen breathed, making kissy faces at his cat and trying to coax the creature over.
Zoro squinted at the girl suspiciously, feeling a niggle at the back of his mind forcibly try and remind him that he'd seen that face somewhere before. Somewhere...recently. He almost growled in frustration, before something clicked in his mind and his eyes widened. "Hey, you're the boy from the marketplace!"
"Wha- Noo I'm not look I've got-" The scrawny princess (Well, probably not a princess, considering everything) jumped, and began frantically indicating in (her? His? Zoro was getting pretty confused right about now,) general chest area.
Crossing his arms, and being careful not to accidently stab himself with the blade of his sword, Zoro kept his glare fastened on the intruder. "Who else runs around with a scar under their left eye and a straw hat?"
"Lots of people! Straw hats are cool!" The kid said with a pout, before sighing heavily and grabbing the huge wad of fabric he'd stuffed down his shirt to give the impression of being a girl.
"Yeah right, for dorks," Zoro sneered, before snapping his fingers as a thought occurred to him, "That's why Sanji didn't plaster himself all over you!"
The tiger gave an irritated yowl, baring his fangs at Zoro, and the prince sneered back. "Oh shut up you shitty cat, you're useless at guarding."
What followed next was what usually occurred when Sanji got angry at Zoro. Claws and swords were unsheathed, and they leapt at each other, grappling to cause the most annoying set of injuries.
"My name's Luffy, by the way!" The dark-haired teen prattled on as he peered at their battle, and Zoro caught glimpses of the boy's curious face as he craned his neck to watch the fight. "King Luffy, yeah. Because. I'm the King of the Pirates." There was a pause, and Zoro managed to pin Sanji on his belly, before the stupid tiger stood up and started shaking to get him off. "What's yours? That looks like fun!" Considering Zoro had just been flung half-way across his room, he was kind of concerned for this guy's definition of 'fun', but managed to land a good punch on Sanji's stomach despite the distractions. "Did you manage to get some good lunch?" The Pirate king paused, looking extremely thoughtful, before making a happy sound. Zoro felt irritation building at the boy's attitude and non-stop questions. "Mmm, lunch..."
"Oh go away!" Zoro finally shouted, wiping the sweat from his brow and sharing his glare between his tiger and the so-called Luffy.
The teen stopped for a thankfully silent second, a flicker of surprise and hurt crossing his features, before he stood on the balcony again and gave a sweeping bow. "Fine then. It was nice meeting you! Good night, your highness."
Then he stepped over the edge.
"hOLY SHIT-!" Zoro swore, eyes opening wide in horror as he rushed to the balcony, hands gripping the cold marble tightly as he looked down, expecting to see the kid's body on the ground below. His expression contorted from one of distress to surprise when he saw Luffy standing on a carpet, of all things. A flying carpet.
His shock, coupled with Luffy's cheery laughter, made his stomach turn in a perplexing mix of relief and confusion, and he let a soft sigh escape his lips.
"Were you worried?" The teen asked cheekily, grin wide.
Zoro gave him a grumpy look, irritated at having been tricked, "No way!"
Luffy pouted again, batting his eyelashes, and then gave a small smile, giving a little indication to the carpet. "Do you wanna go? I mean like, for a ride somewhere? We can go see my ship! Or I can take you to check out the desert! Merry can go anywhere, she's amazing. Merry's the carpet," He added, upon seeing Zoro's expression and mistaking it for puzzlement.
"Why the heck would I go somewhere with a pirate?" Zoro said starkly, raising one eyebrow at the teen's perception of his intelligence (or rather, the lack of), but Luffy merely looked at him like a puppy, head cocked in bewilderment.
Sanji not-so-discreetly huffed, and then proceeded to shove him over the edge of the balcony, making Zoro let out an undignified yelp as he fell. Thankfully for the budding swordsmaster, Luffy managed to catch him, hands gathering up the prince in a degrading bridal style.
"Put me down," he hissed, half ready to stab both the tiger and the pirate on principal.
Said tiger purred innocently.
Shitty, shitty cat. Zoro made a slitting motion across his throat, eyes fastened directly on the tiger, but if anything his pet looked even more amused by the action. I hate you, Zoro tried to say with his eyes, before realising that for some reason the cat was getting further away...
And, for that matter, so was the ground.
Another yelp escaped his lips, and Zoro fell on his ass, scrambling away from the edge of the carpet, mouth dropping open. "Wh- Wh-" He stuttered, barely able to even force those sounds into coherence.
"Hey, you never said you didn't want to go anywhere, and the desert's beautiful at night. Not so much when you're stuck out there with no water, but really cool on a magic carpet!"
His light desert wear was letting in more air than was strictly comfortable in the cold weather, but Zoro didn't mind too much, too preoccupied with the sight of the stars stretching before him, the endless expanse of darkness hiding the desert in a blanket of navy and dark gold. The moon glimmered above them, casting silver shadows into the highlights of the dunes, and the prince couldn't decide whether to watch the desert slide beneath the carpet like a layer of water, or stare in amazement at the stars, so crisp and clean away from the faint city lights.
The carpet dipped as Luffy shifted, and Zoro didn't move, until he realised that the teen was trying to do. He moved slightly, raising an eyebrow to stare distrustfully at the pirate. "Did you just try-"
"What me-"
"You so just-"
"Nahhh you're imagining-"
"Oh shut up."
Silence reigned, then, the only sound the wind in his ears and their breathing.
"Why'd you even come to the balcony, anyway?" Zoro asked, after a minute, unused to hearing such silence in the time he'd been with the pirate, and curiosity piqued by the unusual way of going about winning his attention again.
"You looked sad. I wanted to cheer you up," Luffy shrugged, before grinning over his shoulder at the prince. "To see you smile!"
Zoro scoffed, scowling even harder at the teen's cheesy words, and he rolled his eyes.
"Well, stories and carpet flights always cheer me up," Luffy answered petulantly to Zoro's unspoken disbelief.
"Well I've only had half of the royal treatment, then."
"Me 'n Usopp found the largest goldfish in the world while we were sailing," Luffy answered in response to that, "It was so large that most of it was underwater and the parts that weren't had trees growing on it!"
"Prove it!" Zoro challenged, erasing any trace of incredulity or amazement from his features.
"We've still got one of the fish's scales on board. We're gonna sell it and get lots of meat! Maybe it'll end up at the palace, and you can see it then."
Even if Zoro's first introduction to the teen had been him stealing a loaf of bread, the simple truth to Luffy's words and actions made it hard to disbelieve him.
The night fell away, ramblings and sarcastic comments tossed between the two of them like coins in a wishing well, and Zoro found his smile slipping onto his features more time than his scowl as midnight drew closer. Still, the cold air made his flesh prickle and before he knew it, his skin was almost as cold as the air around them, making him shiver in discomfort more and more often. Luffy, noticing how Zoro shivered, and how his own thick layers prevented him from feeling the cold as much, turned the carpet around and they headed for the palace.
Alighting gently on the balcony again, Zoro shifted from foot to foot, tapping his fingers on the side of his sword while he tried to gather his thoughts. "Thanks, I guess." He mumbled in embarrassment, "I had fun."
"I'm glad," Luffy laughed, grinning his fool's grin, and then added, "I'll bring you the fish scale to see tomorrow!"
And that was that.
"If you feel so trapped, why don't you just fight for it!" The marketplace boy said, nodding confidently, and a grin stretched across his cheeks as he raised his fists, looking as though he were fully prepared to punch someone. "Do whatever you want to do, instead of letting someone else pick what way your life has to go."
When Zoro looked back, the kid was being dragged away by the guards, hands empty of the bread he'd stolen. The prince spotted it a few people away, clenched tightly in the hands of a child who looked made from bone.
As soon as he heard the word adventure Luffy was completely and utterly sold on the idea. It probably wasn't to wise of him to be so easily taken in, but taken in he was.
Plus he got out of that stinking jail cell, which was always a good thing. Luffy found he didn't really like jail cells.
He didn't like creepy caves either, but here he was. Maybe he needed to rethink his priorities on adventure...
Luffy paused and almost laughed hysterically. Only the hawk-eyed man's warning that the cave would seal shut if he spent too long in it kept him moving towards the altar at the back of the expanse.
Resting on an intricately sheep-patterned carpet, the sword picked up the glint from the various pieces of gold in the room, and shone as though lit from the inside.
Grabbing it, and the pretty rug for good measure (he was sure Usopp would like it, Usopp liked sheep; and if not, Chopper would appreciate the blanket to add to rapidly growing nest), Luffy headed for the cave's opening again. Suddenly, a deep rumbling filled the air, and Luffy froze, sword hanging limp in his hand.
"Hurry up! I need the sword, now!" Hawk-guy shouted, and Luffy stared at the small square of sunlight from where hawk-guy's face hung.
"How do I get out?!" Luffy shouted back, tying to figure out how he could possibly climb ut there holding carpet, sword, and Chopper.
"Nevermind, I'll help you out, there's rope. I just need that sword!"
Luffy's fingers tightened around the sword's sheath, a sense of unease growing in his stomach, "Help me out first!"
And then all was darkness.
The cave's entrance had sealed, leaving him trapped inside.
"He-Hey! Turn the lights back on!" He ordered, holding his hat on his head and looking around wildly, trying to find any sort of light whatsoever. However, the inside of the cave was pitch black, so dark inside that even when Luffy raised his hand to his face he couldn't see his fingers moving.
Chopper's attachment to his leg made him jump, almost making him shout. "Luffy-" Chopper said, voice quavering, "I'm scared."
Patting his reindeer companion firmly, Luffy knelt down and tried to figure out how to comfort his friend without his usual physical options. "Don't worry Chopper, we'll get out. Why don't we play a game while we're in here? I wanna use the sword, and you can use the carpet for a shield."
"That doesn't seem like a good idea," Chopper said in confusion, but Luffy had already draped the cloth over his antlers and drawn the sword. Cackling like a madman, Luffy pretended to be a famous sword fighter, swinging the blade around widely and narrowly missing accidently chopping off one of Chopper's horns.
The reindeer yelped and quickly burrito-wrapped himself in the rug, rolling closer to one of the piles of jewels to avoid getting slashed. To their surprise, as Luffy played with the weapon, the sword began to glow, a vibrant blue that lit up the treasure and made the cave glitter in silvers and aqua shades.
Stopping his mad swinging, Luffy stared at the blade in his hands. "Mystery sword," he breathed happily, and Chopper almost felt like bashing his head against one of the conveniently placed piles of wealth.
The light, dancing jig that emitted from the air around the weapon made the reindeer tense, and as the sword dissolved into the vague shape of a figure, Chopper curled himself even tighter around with the rug-
That then proceeded to haul him up and dump him next to Luffy.
Evil rug.
Chopper barely managed to hold back a scream of terror when the thing in front of them materialised into an afro-wearing skeleton, and his captain only grinned even wider, teeth glinting in the light that curled around the creature like a living thing.
"Yo ho ho," The skeleton chuckled, carefully resting his violin by his side and flashing pearly white enamel at them, "I am Brook the genie! I have three wishes to offer-"
"I wish we were somewhere with a lot of food!" Luffy immediately ordered, before Brook had even finished speaking, and the supernatural being stopped his speech, surprised.
"Alright then, to food!"
There was a brief flash of light, and then they were surrounded on all sides by animals of every description...And angry merchants shouting at them to get away from the live stock.
"I don't think this is what he meant," Chopper mumbled, even as Luffy salivated at the sight of a cooking lamb.
The crowd's palatable excitement was infectious, a thrum that drew through the air like a note from Brook's violin, and Luffy could barely restrain from jumping up and down on Merry, only the tension sitting coiled in the audience holding him back.
He observed Zoro's fight from through one of the large windows overlooking the palace's dojo, uncertain about whether he'd be allowed inside the castle and not wanting to leave Brook trapped in his sword-form for too long.
Zoro's swords crossed with the two belonging to the people across from him, both of them pushing as hard as they could, and Luffy spotted the little smirk that danced across Zoro's lips before he strained upwards, a ripple moving through him as he pushed the two other swordfighters away from him and gave them diagonal slashes, one from each blade he held.
"How do I win a sword fight when I don't even know how to wield a sword?"
"I could always help you win, Luffy," Brook shrugged, bony elbows clicking against his ribs.
"But that's cheating!" Luffy sighed heavily at his dilemma, screwing his face up into a frown, and the skeleton genie gently patted his head. "Man, not fair. He's to cool! Did you see his swords, Brook?" For a second, wonderment took over Luffy's face, before his previous disposition came back to him and scowled his face again. "How the heck do I win a swordfight against him?"
"I'm afraid I have no idea, Luffy. My heart tells me that it would be bad to use a wish on this, though. Even though I don't have a heart, yo ho ho!"
"You do too, Brook. Everyone has a heart. Even genies."
Brook paused, his mouth open but response dead behind his teeth, before he breathed again. A smile flitted across his features, and he gave a slight incline of his head, nodding to the captain. "Thank you, Luffy."
"Wanna just come run away with me and not have to marry anyone at all?" Luffy asked him, inclining his head and holding out his hand in an invitation to get on the Merry.
Zoro paused, feeling his lips twitch like they were unsure of what to do, before his mouth split into a wide grin. "Yeah. That sounds pretty good...Captain."
OMAKE!
"I still get kissing privileges even if we don't get married, right?!"
"Yeah yeah," Zoro said flippantly, before snapping his attention back to Luffy, "Hey wait, what?"