His tanned skin was capturing as much sunlight as possible, in this hot afternoon Usopp had allowed himself to wear his new black swim suit whose length reached his knee caps. His feet slowly making their way deeper into the cooler sand hiding beneath the burning surface. He could feel every single tiny sand corn keeping his legs where they were, like a tight embrace. His back laid gently onto a aquamarine towel with some tiny sand corns scattered on top of it from before when Luffy and Chopper ran towards the water where it would barely touch Luffy's kneecaps. But just in case they both had a lifebelt around their waste to keep them over the surface. Franky and Nami had decided to join them in the cool water which honestly was really tempting since Usopp felt like he had been thrown into a frying pan, but he had just washed his hair and today he just wanted to relax a bit. Robin was reading a book, barely dipping her toes in the cool water while being served by the love cook who had found yet another recipe for a delicious and refreshing drink perfect for this weather, using some of Nami's tangerines (after asking permission of course).
His lips twitched a bit forming a smirk as a cool breeze touched his skin and just as fast as it had grazed him it disappeared into nothingness, a truly perfect day he thought to himself as he slowly opened his brown eyes to observe the birds chirping high above him in the seemingly endless horizon. Not a single cloud anywhere in sight and he sighed once more before finally giving in and closing his eyes to prepare for a little nap. It couldn't be that bad of an idea if Zoro did it on a daily basis he thought…by the way, where the heck was Zoro?
Usopp's eyes slowly opened and he sat up in a straight position, sustaining his weight with his arms while observing the ship, trying to see if he could see the moss head's characteristic hair. But nothing and since he felt a bit intrigued even though he was probably just sleeping on the deck or something he decided to go look. He stretched a bit before rising to his feet and burning them nearly instantly on the boiling sand, in a matter of seconds he was jumping around switching from one foot to the other when he heard a snicker behind him.
"You trying to get deep fried? Lay back down."
"Zoro? When did you come down here? I thought you were still up there."
"I prefer to stay somewhere, where I can keep my eyes on you guys."
What Zoro said perfectly made sense to Usopp but still something seemed off, and how did he not notice that Zoro had joined him, he was basically some feet away from him and Usopp didn't really like it for some reason. He felt like the swordsman still couldn't trust him after the event that had taken place in water 7, which of course was totally fine, and it was all Usopp's fault. He certainly wasn't going to blame the swordsman, but he just felt uncomfortable near him...so he decided it would be best to just lay down and try and sleep. But before he got the chance to do so he felt a light grip on his wrist giving him the opportunity to defend himself or go away, but he stayed firm in place knowing this would happen eventually at some point.
"Usopp, we need to talk…would you mind if we'd go in the forest for this? I think the shitty cook can protect the others at least for an hour."
Usopp just nodded hesitantly, keeping his gaze lowered on the white beach sand shining in the sun high above them. Zoro had released his wrist by now and waited for the other to put on his shoes so they could get going towards the depths of the forest. Usopp felt somewhat frightened of the other which certainly wasn't a strange thing If he was a stranger, but they were friends. He felt sad and somewhat ashamed that he had to fear his friend, to the point where he had to quickly cover his eyes with his elbow before any tears would be allowed to exit.
They were walking towards the forest using a slim path surrounded by a seemingly endless field of flowers on both sides. The path went straight through the colourful field of thousands of flowers. Lavenders, Calendulas…creating a passionate yet gentle aroma neither of them had had the pleasure to experience before. It calmed the sniper down at least a bit and Zoro hadn't really said anything since they had started walking towards the forest, he was just in front of Usopp which wasn't all that unusual. When the crew was going somewhere Zoro would never be the one in the back because as ridiculous as it may sound he could even get lost if they were leading the way or there was a clear path to follow.
"Brings back memories..."
Usopp grabbed a flower he had often seen near his hometown, there were plenty of those flowers and he hadn't seen them ever since he left home. This was something special, like a fragment of memories returning to him and finally putting a honest smile on his lips after so much time. The soft scent of vanilla filling him with joy as he was carefully holding the yellow flower amongst thousands of its kind. The wind blowing threw the field, carrying spores to a far place. The swordsman was just observing the sniper as he was bent down to look at this flower, his back turned towards Zoro for this was something like a private moment to the sniper. He gently hid the flower in his hair, making it stick out on the side and sending the soft scent of vanilla towards him whenever the wind would blow.
With Usopp's smile seemingly not wanting to leave his lips they went on without really interreacting all that much, until Usopp noticed that the swordsman had slowed his tempo, so they could walk side by side now instead. Usopp felt a drop of sweat come down his cheek as he noticed but not because he feared what Zoro could do, but much more what he could want to talk about...
Of course, they were crewmates and everything, but since the Water 7 event it seemed that they had both decided to avoid each other at least for a couple of days, but these days soon turned into weeks and they went as far as to change their seating order since they would usually sit next to each other. Even though some would probably think they couldn't be any more different it seemed they had quite a lot in common, other than that Usopp was kinda Zoro's partner for conversations for a simple reason. The sniper could change from serious to silly in a moment, so you could talk about anything with him, and he had many talents the swordsman admired like his drawing skills. Of course, he would never admit it, but he sometimes wishes the sniper would draw a portrait of him. It may sound silly, but only until you saw his drawing skills, it seemed as though he would glide over the paper. Other than that, he was a genius, or at least Zoro thought creating a object that can manipulate weather and just looks like a regular stick was pretty darn impressive.
He put a hand on the snipers shoulder who was keeping his gaze down and shacking slightly, his hand didn't put a lot of pressure on his shoulder, yet Usopp had decided not to move and face whatever would be coming at him. Yet what came he did not expect in the slightest and at first, he just thought he had misheard the older man.
"I miss you..."
"What do you mean...? I'm right here."
"We both know this isn't you Usopp, now tell me what changed."
It sounded like an order so Usopp didn't think he could refuse, no matter how much he had wanted to keep his mouth shut and just continue walking. He knew this would eventually happen sooner or later. He lowered his gaze a bit and tried to avoid eye contact with the swordsman, not knowing what could happen if their gazes would cross.
"Look, I don't want to hurt you Usopp. I just want to know what happened to my nakama."
"Zoro, I'm really sorry..,I just, don't know how to approach you anymore… after the Water 7 event I realized how much I had distanced myself from everyone…and I simply can't forgive myself for being so foolish.."
"Foolish? For doing what exactly? I don't recall ever calling you that."
His statement didn't leave any space for argument and Usopp was honestly surprised, not having expected the swordsman to think unlike he himself did.
"You didn't need to, I had realized it myself when it was too late."
"I'm gonna repeat my question, foolish for doing what exactly?"
"Refusing to accept the truth and leave a friend behind! Is that what you wanted to hear?! Fine! There you go!"
Usopp wanted to turn around and walk away, but this time Zoro didn't give him permission to do so. Instead his grip tightened upon the shoulder of the young sniper as he grabbed Usopp's left arm leaving him no chance to flee from this situation. Finally when the sniper looked up to the swordsman and stopped struggling knowing he didn't really stand a chance. Zoro's eyes were unexpectedly calm, as if he was trying to calm down a wild dog.
"I never thought of you as a fool back then, I understand what you wanted to do and understood it back then. You showed bravery, knowing you'd go against the entire crew, but you still kept going not scared of what would face you. Even when you decided to challenge our captain you could have refused to come in the end. But yet you still came, refusing to give up and giving him quite a though combat...I truly respect you Usopp, and I want you to know that even if It might have left a scar mistakes can happen and will keep on happening, but you need to stay strong."
"Ok…thank you Zoro, I'm really so- "
"No, don't finish that sentence. Instead promise me something..."
Zoro lifted Usopp's chin slightly so the sniper would look in the swordsman's eyes after several weeks. His lips twitching to form a smile and forcing the sniper to smile himself.
"What is it? You can ask for anything."
Zoro pushed the sniper gently against a tree behind him just bumping his shoulder lightly against it as he bended closer until he was just some inches away from the others ear and Usopp could hear the others light breaths and the air he was exhaling tingling his earlobe.
"Keep that cute smile of yours.."
OOOOKKKK! i kinda decided to start with One piece fanfictions again and of course i had to use my main ship (which is also basically my only one piece ship). Sooo yeah this was a One shot, i hope you liked it even if it might have been a bit short and yeah! have a nice day!