Challenge : Take a quote from BrainyQuote's Topic page and create a short story
Topic: Age
Characters: Luffy and Zoro (Post-Timeskip)

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been"
Mark Twain

"Luffy...what are you doing?"

"Nothing, Zoro..."

The swordsman grunts, pushing his Captain's rubbery face away from his own, "Then stop staring at me, I can't sleep otherwise. Why don't you go bother Usopp or something?"

It was around early afternoon that Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter, decided try to take a short nap after a long and vigorous training session. The weather was fair, clear blue with not a cloud in the sky and a soft breeze to ruffle his hair. The stupid Love-Cook was busy in the kitchen, making something for the Witch which meant he wouldn't be bothering him for a good portion of the day. They were sailing gently across the waters of the Grand Line and everything felt so quiet for the moment that Zoro decided it was time for a nap. Laying in his customary position on the deck, the Marimo leaned his swords on the railing to his right and folded his arms across his scarred chest, allowing the gentle rocking of the Sunny and the sounds of the seagulls to lull him to a certain state of sleep where he could still listen to what went on on the deck.

Or he would be if Luffy would stop staring at him.

His young Captain wasn't even standing right next to him, he was just a few feet away but staring so intensely at his face that Zoro could feel those large brown eyes burning his skin. It wasn't so much the fact Luffy was staring at him that was bothering him as he could simply sleep through it with out a care (he's had people stare at him before for various reasons), but it was the intensity that was creeping him out because he wasn't saying anything...just staring. After a moment though, Luffy seemed to have decided to take a closer look at his face which Zoro couldn't simply ignore anymore.

Now very much awake and very much annoyed, Zoro glares sleepily at Luffy as the boy sat cross-legged in front of him, face set in such a straight and concentrated manner that Zoro knew it meant that Luffy was thinking about something serious, or at least serious to himself, "He's busy with his plants and he won't let me near them."

Zoro rolled his eye, "If you would stop trying to eat them-"

"But they look so tasty!"

"Don't eat strange plants, damn it! We had a talk about this before!", Luffy puffed out his cheeks, grumbling under his breath about how mean he was being but Zoro could tell that he was staring at something on his face. Was it maybe his eye? No one has asked about since they've reunited after spending 2 years apart though he was quite glad that they didn't as he really didn't want to talk about it. Zoro groaned, dragging a large hand down his face before rubbing his temples, "What?"

"You have wrinkles."

The swordsman faltered slightly at the sudden and bizarre statement, he didn't know whether to be ticked off that his Captain is bothering him about his "wrinkles" or if Luffy was implying he was old, "I have wrinkles?" Zoro asked again, making sure he heard him right and when Luffy gave a single solid nod of confirmation, the swordsman wonders if maybe the heat was getting to the younger man, "I do not have any wrinkles, you dolt..."

"Yes you do, they're just smaller now."

"Smaller?"

There was a moments pause as he thought about it, head tilting slightly to the left as if getting a better angle at his face. Zoro was beginning to feel uncomfortable, "Yeah, you had bigger wrinkles before, like WAY before."

"You mean around the time when we first met?" Another solid nod, "How could I have wrinkles before when I was 2 years younger?"

A lot had changed for him over the last 2 years, not only physically but mentally for him as well. His training with Mihawk opened his eyes...umm, his eye...to the fact that he needed to get stronger for not only himself but for his crew as well. He had to be strong to protect Luffy so that he may find the One Piece and become Pirate King, he had to be there so that Nami could finish her map, he had to give courage to Usopp to become a brave warrior of the sea, he had to protect the Sunny so that it could sail across the world for Franky, he had to help Robin find the Rio Poneglyph (course she would probably just get lost, even with his help), he had to be there when Brook reunited with Laboon, he had to help Chopper discover cures to every disease (which might entail him to be the test subject, most likely). Hell, he had to be sure Sanji found his All Blue!

Zoro had to be strong to not only help but to protect his crews' dreams, he'd die trying to. Of course, he had to be serious about it too. He matured over the years because everything they were doing and everywhere they were going, he couldn't afford to be a fool anymore. He had been so close to losing all of them before...

Heavy times lay ahead for you...

"Ew, no. Not those wrinkles..." Luffy's voice broke Zoro out of his thoughts and the swordsman blinks in confusion at the boy's slightly disgusted expression before scowling.

"What are you talking about this time?"

"When your face scrunches up like that, you get these little bad wrinkles." Luffy pointed to his own face, "They're all over your forehead, it looks like the ripples of a blanket when someone first lays them on a bed. You're always scowling, Zoro."

"Maybe because there is always something I've scowled at..." He grunts, easing back into his sleeping position with his arms crossed but regarding his captain with a neutral expression, "Like you, as an example, right now..."

"No, you use to laugh before and get the good big winkles..." Zoro merely rolled his eye before closing it, thinking that maybe Luffy would leave him alone now so that he could enjoy his nap but after a moment of silence, the sudden and very loud exclamation of "OH!" nearly sent the (unofficial) First-Mate into the water. He doesn't think Luffy is gonna let him enjoy his favourite pastime anytime soon.

"WHAT IS IT THIS TIME?!"

"Zoro, laugh!"

"...No..."

"Zoooroooo!"

"I said no!"

"Captain's order~!"

Another tired groan and a soft palming of his face, "If I laugh, will you leave me to nap?!"

A huge, bright grin beamed at him with excitement and joy as the happy tight laughter of his shook Luffy's shoulders, "Shishishi, sure!"

But Zoro only frowned, finding a slight problem in following the order, "I have nothing to laugh at...though the Love-Cook's face is always something funny to look at."

"SANJI!"

"Idiot, I was just kidding!" Not really but he's not in the mood to get at it with the chef.

Sanji did pop his head out from the doorway to the kitchen to see what Luffy might have wanted but after he asked if he could have some meat, the door was slammed close with a, "I told you to wait until dinner, shitty rubber bastard!"

"Look, I've never been the laughing, smiling person."

"That's not true, you use to laugh a lot! Like remember that one time that huge fish jumped out of the water and swallowed half of Usopp?"

That's right, only the sniper's legs had been visible and he ended up running all over the Merry before bumping into the mast and falling over, rapidly kicking his feet in the air. It had been highly amusing which left everyone rolling on the floor while holding their stomachs as they all laughed.

"Or that time Nami accidentally ate one of Usopp's spicy ammo and stuck her head in the dish water?"

Zoro snorted, remembering not only that but how the woman chased Usopp up to the crow's nest all while wielding one of her pens, promising to gore out his eyes, "I remember that, I also remember the time you got your head stuck in the window after trying to break into the fridge." He could feel something in his chest stir, a spasm that worked its way to his throat to cause his voice to shake a little.

Luffy laughed at that, "Sanji was so mad!"

And Zoro belted out a hardy laughter as well.

It felt good to laugh, he couldn't remember the last time he had such a good laugh though he guessed it had been years since he had. Zoro suddenly felt a weight lift off his trembling shoulders, like all the troubles and dread he felt just moments ago had simply floated away in the gentle breeze. The more he and Luffy remembered all the funny things that had happened to them, both past and present, the more easy it was for Zoro to smile and laugh.

"You're wrinkles are big again!" Luffy exclaimed happily as his laughter died down, "Those ones!" He pointed at Zoro's face, to his eyes and mouth. He lifted a hand to touch his face and under his fingertips, Zoro felt the creases of his skin as he continued to try and calm his giggles, "I like those wrinkles, you should wear them more often."

"I'll try, Captain." Zoro once he calmed himself and smiles a little as Luffy grinned back before scrambling up and calling out for Chopper to play with him.

It was around the early afternoon that Roronoa Zoro decided it was time to sleep after a long day of training. The weather was fair, bright blue with not a cloud in the sky and a soft breeze to ruffle his hair. Sanji was busy in the kitchen, making something for Nami which meant he would be busy for a good portion of the day. They were sailing gently across the waters of the Grand Line and everything was so peaceful that Zoro actually had started to feel rather sleepy. Laying in his customary position on the deck, the Frist-Mate of the Straw-Hat Pirates folded his arms across his chest, allowing the gentle rocking of the Sunny and the sounds of the seagulls to lull him to sleep, with the memories of all the good times playing in his mind.

...But don't forget to smile along the way!

So this is one of the few stories I have/had up that are being revised. It's also a test to see if people are still interested in them because if not then there's no point in continuing it, is there? For all my old stories, I'm saving the chapters that are finished and deleting the whole story because I want to have a fresh start. Call me weird but I like to look at the stats fresh.

The challenge is simple, I take a quote from the topic page in BrainyQuote and use that to make a fanfiction. I generally like to use quotes in my stories as I like linking things together. The topics are all the ones listed in "Quote Topics" and I will be going in order.

So if you enjoy this story (and there are 2 more chapters already finished), please leave a fav/follow or a review!

KB