Warning: Fem!Luffy X Zoro (Zolu), semi-AUish, whim plot, excruciatingly and ridiculously SLOW but fluffy(?) update.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
Never crossed Zoro's mind, the rubbergirl who had proclaimed to be the next Pirate King would be his savior.
Never crossed Zoro's mind, the reckless girl who had bullets raining down on her to save his life would be his captain.
And never crossed Zoro's mind, this crazy, idiotic captain named Monkey D. Luffy would be encroaching greatly upon his life.
No, encroaching is too much. Affecting suits better.
In the middle of widespread devastation, there stood Bartholomew Kuma, grabbing his unconscious captain.
Panic shot up his body. Before Zoro could restructure his brain, his body had already launched forward and his hand clutched the Wado Ichimonji greatly. Without warning Zoro swiftly performed Shishi Sonson, slicing up Kuma's left shoulder. It startled the big guy for a moment, however little did Zoro know, Kuma is a frigging cyborg.
"Bastard…?! This body!" Zoro panted. "So you're a cyborg… Just like Franky?! No, this hardness is way higher than steel's!"
A beam literally exploding out of Kuma's mouth answered his question.
Fortunate for Zoro, he managed to jump out of its range though his luck didn't last long enough; he landed on an enormous rock instead. Then, he saw a steel slowly melt down. Fuck! "Even steel… gets melted."
"I am indeed a cyborg, but I am far beyond Franky's type," Kuma finally spoke up. "I am what they call 'Pacifista'. An incomplete human weapon created by the World Government."
It caught Zoro's attention. "Pacifista?"
"The project founder is Dr. Vegapunk, the genius scientist from the World Government. He is the man who possesses the greatest brain in the world. His knowledge of science is what others could only discover 500 years from now."
"…with this kind of body and such devil fruit ability… it seems that out hope has already vanished," heavy pants lowered his volume. Damn this body. "Even my body… is no longer in my control," Zoro hated it but he had to admit the truth anyway. After all, his wounds had spoken for him.
In a shaking voice, he asked the big guy; "…why… must you take Luffy's head?!" Zoro couldn't fathom himself. Why did the question slip out of his mouth? Why he questioned Kuma's action? The answer was obvious; she's a goddamned wanted pirate!
But, he couldn't help it.
"This is my best offer," Kuma replied calmly.
After a few moment of silence. "I see. Go on and take the head…" doubt began to cloud his mind. No, he can't let this happen! Not in the seven hells he's going to let Kuma take her head away! "…However, let mine substitute hers! Let my life exchange for hers! I beg of you!" for the first time in Zoro's life, he was begging for someone's life. And he sounded so pathetic.
"I know my head is not worth much at the moment, but eventually I will become the world's number one swordsman," heavy pants hadn't left his speech. "I'd say exchanging my life for hers is an equally good deal!"
An equally good deal my ass.
Any deals involving your life are never good deals. And Zoro knew this very well. Nonetheless, he couldn't bear to see his captain's death. No, he'd promised her he'd help her achieve her dream! He'd promised himself to stay loyal by her side and witness the glory day when it comes.
"… If you have such a great ambition, then by dying for her, how will you ever be satisfied?" Kuma asked.
"There is already no other way to save the crew! If I can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition I have is nothing but just talk!" he was still pondering what had leaded him to this extreme decision. Her ridiculous dream? No. Her craziness? No. Her warm smile? He paused. Yes, that warm smile that blooming on her childish face every time they have successfully accomplished a mission—no, he'd say destroyed an island. Her determination to save innocent people. Her sacrifice for her nakama. Everything that she's done for them.
Everything that she's done for him.
Yes, her life is worth to be saved. "Luffy must be the one who becomes the Pirate King!"
"Hold on a minute, you jerk," a familiar annoying voice cut in. "What are you going to do if you die?! What happened to your dream… idiot?!" Sanji approached them. "Oi, you big blob," he pointed at Kuma. "Just ignore this marimo swordsman. If you must kill somebody, then just take my life!"
Zoro tried to butt in, but Sanji didn't let him. "I know the Marines don't give a damn about me, but soon enough the man who will be most feared by the Marines will be me!" he spoke in confidence albeit the pants escaping him. "Black Leg Sanji!"
"Come at once! Kill me!" Sanji shouted. "Let the 'Flower of Death' bloom in me!" then, his volume dropped, earning Zoro's attention. "Oi, tell everyone… to take care and that you'll have to find yourselves another chef—"
He didn't finish his words. No, Sanji couldn't. A sudden sharp jab in his left ribs ceased him. Pain immediately coursed through his body. Sanji grabbed Zoro's shoulder and looked into his black eyes. He couldn't read them. Why are you doing this? The question rushed into Sanji's mind before darkness claimed him.
Because she hasn't learned how to read properly, he inwardly replied.
With a small thud, Sanji landed on the ground, unconscious. Then, Zoro threw his sword away. "I hope you will keep your promise after I die."
Kuma didn't say anything. He looked at the fallen man before switching his sight to the swordsman. A sigh escaped him. "In that case, if I still lay my hand on Strawhat, my honor would be at stake."
"I would be eternally grateful," Zoro returned the gaze as equally.
"Rest assured of what I will do now," he picked Luffy up with one hand. "As I will leave her unharmed," then, Kuma's expression turned colder. "However, what you are about to experience now is, HELL."
With a gentle touch, Kuma pushed out a giant white bubble out of Luffy's body. "What I am repelling from her body now is pain and fatigue," he put her down back. "All the damage inflicted on her in her battle against Moria is accumulated here. If you wish to die in her place, then you must receive her suffering. Since you already don't have much life left in you, taking this pain will only lead to your death," a cold warning slipped into his calm voice.
"Here, have a try," a small tad of the bubble floated towards him. Zoro was surprised at first how soft it felt when it entered his body.
However, after a mere second, he felt it. Eyes widening in shock, a very sharp pain suddenly flooded into his system. His muscles went tense. His joints were creaking loudly. Blood gushed out from his mouth, his wounds. Too much! Too much! Warnings rang inside his head. It felt like thousands of needles—no, swords, or even bullets, anything!—stabbing into his body repeatedly.
A loud scream of pain echoed throughout Thriller Bark, but no one heard it.
Zoro collapsed in agony on the ground. His pants became heavier and louder.
"Well?" Kuma looked at him.
Shit. Too painful! Zoro had never imagined it'd be a hell! He stole a glance at his unconscious captain. She was still sleeping calmly. He almost couldn't believe it, behind that calm sleeping face, she hid such a great pain. Wait, did she always experience this every time they got themselves into fights? Most probably, yes. Stupid captain.
Bracing himself, Zoro muttered under his breath. "Just let me… decide on the location," letting his captain see him in suffer is the last thing in Zoro's list. That'd hurt his pride.
After finding a secure place, far from his nakama, Zoro stood rigidly before the bubble of hell. Why are you doing this? The question that had flashed across Sanji's eye came into his mind.
Almost chuckling to himself, Zoro thought the real answer; I can't imagine living without her anymore.
Taking a deep breath, Zoro dove his hands in.
x-x-x
Hours flew past by. Finally, they woke up, groaning in pain—minus, their excited captain, who was dancing around, her D-cup breasts heaving up and down.
"Check it out! My body feels really relaxed! What's going on?!" she turned to see their doctor, Chopper.
"EEEEEEHHH?!" a perplexed scream all she could get from the tiny deer.
"Oi, you're kidding me, are you?!" Franky questioned her. "How are you feeling?!"
"It hurts…" Nami could care less what was her captain experiencing, but her body was aching.
"LIAR!" ironically, Usopp, who was a liar, called Luffy a liar. "How can this be possible?!"
"Is she so badly hurt that she's not making sense of things anymore?" Robin let out a cough, while Brooke was crying endlessly for no reason.
"How can she be alright?" then, Sanji turned his head around, looking for a certain marimo swordsman. "Where did that guy go?! Could it be…?!" a dreaded conclusion came into his mind, but Sanji quickly pushed it away. He scrambled to his feet and searched for Zoro.
Luffy's excitement died away when she couldn't find any sign of her first swordsman. Anxiety slowly building in. She whipped her head around. Where's Zoro?!
Quite far from their place, Sanji spotted a figure standing rigidly. "Over there!" Sanji's yell caught Luffy's attention. She immediately joined Sanji. "You freak me out! Oi, where did that Shichibukai go?!" Sanji threw a question.
No answer from Zoro, so they came closer.
The sight startled Luffy greatly. Zoro was rooted to the ground. His eyes showed no sign of life. Blood coated Zoro's muscular being. His wounds became far than severe. His chest heaved up and down, but it was too slow. Too slow for a normal man.
Then, he collapsed.
Fortunately, Luffy had managed to catch him before he landed on the cold hard ground. She embraced him tightly, shooting out some encouraging words; "Don't worry, you'll be safe! I won't let you die! Stay alive, Zoro! Chopper, I need Chopper here!"
He didn't know which one made him happy; knowing Kuma isn't a fucking bastard and kept his promise or seeing his captain breathe and shout like a crazy girl as she is. Nonetheless, he'd prefer the latter.
"Hey…" he brought his wounded hand to touch her cheek. "Great to see you screaming again."
She bit her bottom lip. "Stupid Zoro. I can scream as loud as you want to, but first you've gotta stay alive!"
His eyes went huge as faint blush crept onto his face. It took him a moment to mull over her real meaning. Yes, Luffy is stupid and sometimes her words make no sense. But, he couldn't help favoring her words to the pervert side.
"Shit… don't say such things anymore, will you?" he threw his arm over his face. Zoro could feel his ears reddening.
"Say what?" Luffy blinked. "Scream?"
"Just shut up!"
"Why can't I say scream?"
In the end, Sanji, who had been witnessing their moment, decided to interrupt; "Seriously, Luffy. He's really going to die if you don't stop it," he said in a flat monotone voice while Chopper went hysterical seeing the state of Zoro.
"But, why?" she still asked the same question.
Author's O...TL note: Welcome to my first fanfic for One Piece fandom. It's been my dream to write this pair (I ship this pair to the grave!) and whoop, here we are! And I've thinking of making this fanfic a multichapters fanfic. Saa, who knows.
Enough with my rants, any suggestion or complaints, do tell me. I don't bite.
Till then~