Training, no restrictions, no limitation; and always win, that was all it was for Roronora Zoro, a man who was set out to become the world's strongest Swordsman, but little did he know for himself, he would be facing something that may set his dream astray, and send his whole dream to ruins if he cannot deal with it.

For little did he know, when he joined the Straw Hat's as First Mate, he agreed to another dream.

~0~0~0~

It had been a little under a week since Zoro and Luffy had escaped the clutches of that stupid marine Captain and his son, both were quite hungry, having finished off the food and waiting for something to bite, using one of Zoro's sword as a spear attached to rope to pull any hull back. They were pretty much ready for anything, except for the annoying noise that Luffy's stomach made.
Graaaaaawlll Zoro grunted a bit, furrowing his eyebrows as he concentrated on what he was trying to do. Groaaaaaaallllllnnn He breathed out, patience was a virtue, he was your Captain, you couldn't bash out at him.
"Would you please….. Please calm your stomach, I know you are hungry, I am too." he said hissing lightly thrusting his sword into the water quickly, eyes widening when it actually hit something, he grinned a bit and Luffy looked down from where he was keeping watch for anything large swimming about near the top of the sail.
"Did you get something? I didn't see anything so could it be a deep sea creature, or maybe something invisible!" he said excitedly pulling up along with his First Mate.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's going to go in my belly." The green haired man replied as he yanked hard, sending the great fish up into the air, it looked at them with its red beady eyes and then hissed out, three rows of laser sharp teeth on upper and lower jaws began to shudder with the throaty sound the beast was now making as it began to fly back because of gravity towards their boat.
"Gah! Zoro! Get it!" The rubber boy yelled out pointing to the fish as it flew at them gaining speed with every second, the man stared wide eyed before he grabbed his swords and stopped the fish. A loud clang of sword and teeth, echoing about the sea, slowly becoming dulled by gentle waves.

"Ah, that hit the stomach, thanks Zoro." The now sleepy Captain said yawning lightly as Zoro sighed rolling his eyes, tossing the fish's carcass into the sea for other scavengers to finish up.
"Whatever, go to sleep you rubber idiot." The swordsman growled as he pushed the boy's hat over his face, all that doing was caused a spout of giggles, he sighed rolling his eyes before he went back to his work.

~0~0~0~

"Zoro!" Luffy screamed as his First Mate was cut down by none other than HawkEye Mihawk, the boy stretched out his limbs to where the two had been fighting, flinging himself over. Getting his head lodged into the side of the cut up boat, as he struggled to pull free, Mihawk noticed that the green-haired man who was being pulled up by his two friends Yasako and Johnny, they looked worried about the boy who was now stuck. He shifted his gaze from the first man to the other, lightly clicking his tongue in bewilderment.
"Well, seems like that man has his eyes for you, keep working together, and you will make a great team." The wise pirate said gently as the other pulled out glaring at him in almost a childish matter, if not for his face so serious. He just gave a polite smile and looked the boy up and down. Before asking, "What is your name boy?" he asked softly, waiting patiently for an answer.
The straw hat boy looked up eyes wide before scoffing. "I am Monkey D. Luffy, future King of the Pirates." He said proudly, grinning quite a bit, as he sat up, seeming that the resentment for the man had been momentarily forgotten.

"That is even a bigger than becoming the world's strongest swordsmen." The man laughed, the boy gave a childish pout, tilting his head.
"So what? I am going to become the next King of the Pirates; that is my dream." Suddenly a weak shout came from the boat of which Zoro had been put upon to bandage up and rest.
"Luffy! Haa…. Luffy! Can you hear me?" Zoro asked, hacking between coughs of blood.

Yasako and Johnny tensed up.
"Zoro, bro! You need to stop talking and wasting energy!" Johnny spoke up frowning as he worked to bandage him.
"No, he needs to hear this," he huffed out coughing again and pausing to pant before lifting up his arm, holding his favorite sword the Wadõ given to him when he was only just learning the three sword style.
"I will never, ever lose again!" he yelled out, grinning lightly as tears streamed down his face, Luffy blinked a few times before grinning.
"That's what I like to hear in my crew." He murmured gently putting his hat back on, which had fallen off before the boy had gotten his head smashed into the wall of the broken up ship.
That was the start of the promises.

~0~0~0~

Zoro frowned as he watched the King of Arabasta bring in Luffy, he rushed forward, ignoring his now minor injuries to see to his Captain, he took the boy off of the man, gently putting his straw hat onto his head for safe keeping at the moment as he began to carry Luffy to a bed to be rested and treated by Chopper. The poor deer was frantic as he began to grind up remedies for cuts and neutralize any leftover poison.
"Luffy, god damn it, I told you not to go overboard." He hissed once he was alone, asking if he could treat the boy for the first night. He held onto the others hand and closed his tired eyes, his shoulders beginning to sag.
"Tell me you are going to be alright." He whispered, leaning his head gently on the others chest where he was not injured, he closed his eyes, listening to the calm heartbeat of the otherwise hyperactive Captain. Then he blinked suddenly feeling water on his cheeks and he touched them, he was crying.
"I thought… you were going to die." He whispered, once realizing why he was crying, he let out a loose chuckle, a nervous one, a scared one. Then came another first, the first kiss.

It was supposed to be harmless, just a small… peck on the head, he knew the boy was out, and it…. Was harmless right? He gently pecked the others forehead, not wanting to act weird if the other happened to be awake, so a forehead kiss was not a real kiss? Was to him; heart pounding and racing, mind spinning, the small stars in his vision when he felt soft sparks from the kiss, even if it was a forehead kiss he was getting a bit confused by these emotions.

~0~0~0~

Emotions, they were not supposed to be here, to be a part of this. It made him confused, and angry, and happy all at the same time. It had been a few weeks since the kiss and he was getting nervous around his Captain, ignoring him at certain times, and often not paying attention to where he was. He normally got lost easily, but now he was even getting lost in the ship, which was simple by his standards and he only got lost if he was sleepy or very drunk, which was almost impossible for the swordsman. He was wondering around, giving a light sigh as he did so, once again lost. He grumbled to himself as he looked about. Then spotted Luffy, on the figure head, frowning and looking at him; seeming to be in deep thought.
Zoro gulped getting a bit nervous. "Well uh… what's the matter?" he asked his Captain not liking that look that much. He didn't respond, which made him even more nervous, he looked away, lightly coughing wanting to explain himself before his captain interrupted him.
"You were lost again huh? Zoro, we're going to Sky Island, you can't keep doing this! What if you get lost while exploring around there I'm worried!" suddenly a mass of rubber was around him in a hug Luffy pulling him close.
Zoro let out a soft grunt, staring at him before sighing out a bit, rubbing his temples, "Luffy, it's just…."
"Something is on your mind isn't it!" he replied, wanting to know what was going on to his first mate.
"Yeah. It's just something, don't worry Luffy, I'm still at your side at all times." He replied, looking away, he wasn't good to speeches like this unless he was emotional, even then it was difficult because he wasn't used to the awkward gestures like hugging and stuff, he was more of a snuggler anyway.

Later on they had learned about the upward stream from who Luffy called 'Chestnut man.' Which was quite endearing, at least to Zoro, the small ravenhead always made up funny names for people. "Hey! Zoro!" he snapped his head from where he was working on the ship, lifting a heavy lumber piece easily. "Yes?" he asked seeing it was Luffy who had called out his name and was grinning widely,
"Can I ride on that?" he asked, Zoro blinked a bit, before nodding more to himself, and immedetally the boy was on the end of the log, making a light weight change which Zoro adjusted to easily, and he yelled out happily as Zoro carried him up onto the ship to the back, all day he was giving rides. The crew began to wonder.

~0~0~0~

Later that night the rest of the crew was up and talking; Robin, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Usopp all around a table whispering lightly to each other.
"So, have you notice the way Zoro's been acting around Luffy?" Nami asked, they all nodded say for Chopper, who was a bit sleepy after staying up late.
"I have." Sanji said leaning back and lighting a cigarette, before breathing out a sigh and letting a drag out. "Just yesterday, he gave half of his portion to Luffy, save the booze, and then let him cuddle for an evening nap. He never has done that before.
"Luffy also got rides today, and when we asked for them too Zoro looked like he was going to refuse before Luffy looked at him like I don't know, it was a weird look, but it made his resolve crumble like that." Usopp demonstrated how fast it was with a snap by fingers.
"Guys," Nami said looking at them. "Robin and I think we should find out what is going on with our swordsman." she said crossing her arms everyone nodded in agreement.

The next midmorning they were waiting for the knock up stream, suddenly a rattle of bullets hit the side of the ship, making Usopp yell in anger before the top of his bandana was shot and he ducked back down.
"It's that guy from the bar!" Luffy said eyes wide as he growled pulling back a fist and going up to the main deck. Then the ship rocked, Luffy went stumbling back a bit, and fell from the main mast, if he hit the floor when the Knock Up Stream pushed them up, he surely would fall right through, creating a hole in the boat and making him lost at sea, which would mean fatal. Zoro streaked forward, grabbing him and slamming down onto the deck as the stream started, pushing them up with force.
"Zoro!" Luffy said startled, eyes wide, he stared at him surprised, then smiled. "Thanks!" he said then jumped up whooping as he went to the figurehead. Zoro sat up rubbing his sore head because that ha been the first to slam into the wood, wincing a bit before sighing.
"No problem Luffy…" He muttered thinking it went unnoticed, but it didn't five pairs of eyes were on him a few grinning lightly.

~0~0~0~

During their time in Skypia, the others couldn't help notice that Zoro was beginning to fetch Luffy out of the water more than Sanji, which was unusual because the Swordsman said that he hated to be wet.
When Luffy crashed upon the waver Sanji had began to take off his shoes, Zoro just tossed his swords upon the beach and jumped in, returning with the clinging man a bit later, he was wrapped all about him coughing and spitting out the foamy looking cloud water.
Everyone was beginning to realize why as well, later on during the bonfire, Zoro had began to rest when the wolves appeared, as soon as one jumped for Luffy, even before Nami swatted the boss, Zoro was suddenly there, the wolf in his hands as he glared at it, whispering silently, that no one but Robin, who happened to be close heard. "Don't even think about it." The wolf whimpered and ran behind his leader who seemed to like the pirates now, and they partied, Zoro stayed out of it, drinking some mead as he watched in the silence of night.
Robin smiled and walked over, maybe she could get something out of him when they were alone, plus the music was so loud that no one would be able to hear them very good anyway.
"Hello there swordsman-san." She said politely, Zoro had always been cautious of her, but soon they bonded into friends, the type who stayed by each other enjoying the others silence, not often talking.
"Hey." He replied sipping from his cup and looking over at her, "What is it?"
"I was just wondering, what is your relationship with Luffy?" she asked, her tone meaning something other then what the usual term was. The marimo began to cough out his drink, looking at her and blinking surprised.
"What…. Do you mean, relationship?"
"I mean, are you together?"
A long pause, the two stared, dark blue meeting a yellowish green, before the swordsman turned and muttered, she smiled, having caught it. She knew she had been right, she stood patting his back, seeing that the old man Ganfall had awoken after a bit, and walked over to join the conversation, while Zoro stayed back, staring into his cup. Was he that obvious? Damn. He better stay away.

~0~0~0~
"We have to get Usopp and Robin back!" Luffy protested, it had been a while, and they were in a town, trying to get the Going Marry repaired, unfortunately, she was too battered up to even be near fixable, which caused Usopp to grow upset once they said that they would get a new ship. And he left.
"He left on his own accord Luffy!" Zoro replied, frowning as the other protested, moving and trying to get to the door, Zoro held him back.
"It's hard for all of us Luffy, you just have to accept it! And move on." He said, poking the other in the chest, frowning at him.
"No! Zoro! He is nakama!" he replied, pushing away and stalked outside, Zoro tisked and slammed the door to his room, though they were more mad at each other than anything else.
Nami broke the silence after a while. "They seem like an old couple… we need to get them to stop fighting and work on getting a new ship, agreed?" she asked the remaining members, who all nodded their heads and set off to work on seeing what they could do.

"I can't move Zoro. Everyone." Luffy said panting as he looked over at them, Zoro tensing up and staring at shock, they were going to open fire any minute against the captain, who was lying helpless on the ground, exhausted from the fight with the cat CP9.
"Luffy no! Just stretch over!" he protested, before Usopp gave them the command to jump off, and to trust them, he frowned, because of the long nose it was half the problem that they were in this mess, and then he looked, seeing Robin was rolling him off the area where they were firing, before looking seeing Sanji ha Robin secure and Usopp had Chopper, that meant he would get Luffy, he nodded and jumped down, catching Luffy as he fell, he was so tired that his eyes were closed, face scrunched. He frowned and then blinked as he landed in the mast of the Going Marry, she had come for them one last time, he smiled softly, tapping the ship, before leaning back and relaxing. Luffy in his arms.
That was how the crew found them after they all situated themselves.

~0~0~0~

Luffy gasped in horror as his crewmates were fighting their all in a place called Thriller Bark, he ran forward, biting his thumb and pumping up his blood, the reindeer doctor looked up surprised, knowing that it must hurt, he pounded himself to his limit already by absorbing 100 shadows, now this? Chopper winced as they finally defeated the man, before collapsing.
What the crew, besides Sanji and Zoro because they noticed saw was that a man came, and walked forward to the boy, he frowned and walked forward Sanji following shortly afterward.
"One of you will have to take the stress off of him." The man said, making a red bubble.
"It's my job." Zoro said immedetly,
"No way, you are still pretty banged up! I'm better than you.
"Yeah, but you have to plunge your hands in, which means they might get messed up, I'm doing it Sanji." He glared at the other, frowning at him as he walked forward. "I'm sorry." He said, before tapping the other on the neck causing him to pass out.
By the time Sanji awoke, he saw a bloodied Zoro, panting, everything was in shreds around him.
"Zoro… you did this…. Just for Luffy?" he asked surprised as he watched him, it appeared that he was just standing by sheer will alone, and was actually passed out.

~0~0~0~
"No! Everyone!" Luffy yelled as he reached for Nami, boom, she was gone, then Sanji, everyone was disappearing, he yelled out angrily, running towards the man responsible, before he himself was touched and vanished sent hurtling miles and miles away from his crew.

In the newspapers everywhere, a man with a strawhat bowing over his brothers grave showed the head picture, a mark upon his shoulder, 3D 2y, it was a clear sign to anyone who knew Luffy, they were to train, and meet up in two years.