So this is my first fic! Man, this took me a while to upload. This site's formatting is a bit odd, but I still love it! I've been meaning to do this for a while. I mean, you ever feel like your OTP is running out of fans? Like when you just run out of fanfiction to read about them or fan art to gawk over? ;w; So sad...so I decided to take a shot at it myself! Please enjoy, and critique is always welcome and encouraged.

I do not own any of One Piece or any of its characters.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

"Luffy, this is a bad idea."

Despite Colby's rambles about everything being "a bad idea", I pressed forward. There was no way I was about to turn back now. I had to start put together my crew! I hadn't recruited a single person, especially since Colby wants to be a marine instead.

"Colby, for the last time, I have to make this Roronoworo guy join my crew!"

"Roronoa Zoro, Luffy. And he's a dangerous bounty hunter, the blood thirstiest pirate killer of them all! He-He'll cut you up in an instant! Slice you, and-and-and dice you, and…"

Anything from that point sort of went in one of my ears and out the other with no processing whatsoever. Colby was aware of my oblivious attitude, repeatedly asking if I was listening and me coming up with distractions and excuses to just get along faster. Eventually, by repeating this routine for at least 10 minutes, we finally reached the Marine Fort. While Colby stood gawking at the large steel gate, I decided to do something productive and find a way in.

"L-Luffy! What do you think you're doing?!"

I looked glanced at Colby over my shoulder, my arms slung over the brick wall surrounding the fort. "I'm getting in, duh! You comin' or what?"

Colby mumbled some more worries as he tried finding a way to get up. Meanwhile, I returned my attention to the vast lot of dirt beyond the wall and the single silhouette smack dab in the center.

"Hey, Colby." He grunted in response. "Is that guy in the middle him? That Zoro guy you were fussing about?" His eyes followed the direction of my pointed finger. His body visibly tensed before he answered in a quaking voice.

"Y-Yeah. That's him…" Colby went on to some other long and cool sounding description of the prisoner, but was interrupted by a deep and calm call.

"Hey, you two…this isn't a show. Leave, or die." I turned my head to eye the speaker in time for him to lift his in return. Our eyes met, and I could feel the danger and hidden daggers casually digging through my eyes to the back of my skull. This guy was strong, I could tell just by looking at him and hearing his voice. I couldn't help but smile widely and even laugh a little. I was gonna like this guy!

After a whole slew of events and one sided bickering, I managed to collect the first member of my crew! We were growing slow, but growing nonetheless! Colby had decided to stay behind at the military base to start working for his dream as I sailed off to start working on mine. Now it was just me and Zoro in an itty bitty boat with nothing to eat but apples. That was going to get old soon…

Zoro said not to touch or talk to him because he wanted to meditate or whatever. I think he just wanted an excuse to sleep, which I discovered later is something he did often. However, this didn't stop me from crawling quietly to his side of the dinghy and staring at him so he would wake up. Even in his relaxed state, he looked strong and alert. He probably knew I was looking at him, and thus would wake up and talk to me. Foolproof. My thoughts wound up distracted from my brilliant plan, and staring eventually turned into studying.

His hair was short and green, looking incredibly soft despite his other rugged features. I wanted to touch it. Zoro's warning echoed in my mind, and I decided to respect his boundaries...for now. His skin was a darker shade than mine, and I imagined he secretly liked sunbathing. I continued making up stories based on his looks (my favorite being his secret addiction to candy, based on his desire to sleep all the time; I always got sleepy after eating a lot of candy) until that activity stopped fueling my entertainment. I wondered what his favorite game was...

I rolled out of my crisscross sitting onto my back, arms and legs strewn about, trying to make as much noise without being obvious.

"Uuugh, so boooored…." I groaned loudly, peeking out the side of my eye to see if I got a reaction. Zoro didn't budge, and a pout found its way on my lips. I guess I needed to try harder.

I quickly sat back up before sneaking to his side, just inches away from him. I groaned loudly again, this time directed right into his ear. He leaned away slightly, but seemingly only due to the rocking of the boat.

You know what? Boundaries are for non-crewmates.

I took my slender index finger and extended it to slowly sink its way into his cheek. No reaction had occurred when I retracted it, so I tried it again. And again. Then I kept my finger there, moving it in small circles against his skin. Then I rapidly poked his cheek. Then circles. Then slow again. By this point I was so invested with poking him, I hadn't noticed Zoro's brow lowering significantly and a vein pulsing from his temple. Eventually his eyes eased open and he slapped my hand away.

"What the hell are you doing?! I told you not to bother me." As angry as he sounded, I felt he was more annoyed, something I'm used to.

"Zoro, I'm boooooored…."

"So what?"

"So play with me."

"...Why would I do that?"

"Cause I'm bored."

"Are you really seventeen?" Zoro quirked an eyebrow, and maybe a hint of a smile. Probably not, but I was going to take it that way.

"Yeah, why?"

"You act seven."

I frowned with a major pout, getting a small laugh from Zoro. As small as it was, it was victory enough.

Man. This was going to be hard…

Aaaand that's part one! ;D Feel free to stick around for the next part coming shortly. Remember, critique if you feel the need to do so! Have a good day, and thanks for reading!