Disclaimer : One Piece and its characters belong to Eichiiro Oda-sensei. And, yes, it is a very wonderful series.
Hello, everybody! Uh, I come with a new multichaptered fic. I'll try to stick with nakamaship, but since I am a fan of ZoLu, I still can't avoid the interaction between them. But just as much as nakamaship, I hope :). I feel a bit down, now that I've discovered that my previous fics have so many gramatical errors in it --and several problems in real life, and I didn't have much confidence to write an English story again. But, then, here I am, still struggling to convert my imagination into writing shamelessly without care in the world. so please enjoy! :)
DECISION
The day was clear as the sun was shining brightly over Sunny as usual. The Strawhat Pirates were doing their own activities after lunch when a loud bang was heard from one side of the enormous ship.
"Oi, Usopp, what the hell are you doing now?" Sanji yelled when the explosion knocked him off balance and he nearly spilled the drinks for his precious Nami-swan and Robin-chwan.
Luffy shot out his head and grinned, "Sanji, you must see this! Usopp shot an isle and it vanished! See, see!" he pointed at the empty ocean where an isle once was.
"Hahaha, you shouldn't expect less from Usopp-sama, The Brave Warrior of the Sea! And have I told you how I defeat a sea butterfly bare-handed when I was five?"
"Ehh, really? Usopp, you are so cool! Tell us!"
"Well, it began with me sailing the Grand Line in search of my long lost brother when suddenly I saw a huge --bigger than Sunny, butterfly dive in the depth of the sea--" The liar continued his rambling, knowing that he had caught the youngest two member of Strawhats who gave him "ohh.." or "woahh.." every now and then.
Nami sweatdropped and rubbed her face softly, muttering "That doesn't even make sense." without bothering to look up from the map she had been doing since breaksfast. Robin merely stared at her amusedly, throwing a quick glance to chopper who squealing when Usopp had reached the part where he fought the doubtedly-exists-creature with his bare hands.
A certain green haired swordsman slowly opened his eyes, slightly annoyed with the all the commotion onboard, and an angry vein suddenly popped on his head,
"WOULD YOU ALL MIND SHUTTING THE HELL UP?!"
Sunny instantly fell deadly silent as eight pairs of eyes stared confusedly at the green-haired swordsman.
Zoro rubbed his forehead in annoyance as his head was throbbing painfully and the noises just made it worse. Without looking back to his nakama, he stormed into the men's cabin and slammed the door roughly. They faintly could hear him curse from inside, soon followed a heavy stomps on the floor.
"What's wrong with him?" Nami stared absently as she sipped the drink Sanji served and smiled at the pleasant taste on her tongue. "This is delicious, thank you, Sanji-kun."
"That's my duty to serve a beautiful lady like you, Nami-swaan! And don't worry about that moss head, maybe he's just getting his PMS." Sanji swooned as he did his noodle dance and his eyes turned into red hearts.
Chopper frowned slightly, furry eyebrows knitted together in deep thought. "But, Sanji, men don't get PMS."
The blond cook rolled his eyes amusedly at the innocent reindeer Doctor, "I know, Chopper. That was supposed to be sarcasm."
"Oh, I see." The little reindeer nodded thoughtfully when suddenly Luffy came in and cocked his head in confusion, "What's a PMS?"
Zoro opened his eyes with a low groan, looking around; he saw his crewmates have been sleeping already. That meant it was dark by now and he missed his dinner, again. Not that he was hungry, anyway.
Climbing down his hammock, he noticed the empty hammock that belonged to the cook. He grunted and made his way out of cabin. A glass of fresh water might help clearing his head up and if he was lucky, the blond boy might allow him a drink. The green-haired boy shivered as soon as the chill wind hit his bare skin and he swayed slightly, cursing colorful words when his head started throbbing again.
Sanji was cleaning the kitchen, as much as Zoro expected, and he raised his head as the swordsman made his entrance for his precious kitchen. "Hungry now, Marimo? There's some leftover in the fridge." he said without stopping to sweep the floor.
"Not really." Zoro replied gruffly and poured himself a glass of fresh water. He pulled a chair and sat on it as he watched Sanji continue sweeping, then finished off his drink in one gulp and gave a grateful sigh.
"What is it, Marimo?" Zoro raised his eyes when he saw Sanji take a seat before him and gave a bored look, "You surely did act strange today."
Zoro didn't answer and merely looked away, "Will…will it be okay if I leave thi crews?"
Sanji blinked, and then replied in confused tone, "What--?"
Zoro growled, "All of you.". There was a silence before the swordsman repeated, "Will ALL of you be ok if I leave?"
"Hell no." Sanji replied briefly, "What's gotten into you, to say such thing? No one's going to leave this ship, or, do you want to leave this crew so badly? Are we not good enough for you? For your dream? Do we get in the way?"
Zoro sighed, his mind started doubting if telling the cook was a good idea, "It's not like that. One day, we'll surely leave this crews eventually—"
"What are you trying to tell me? Spit it out!" Sanji stood and nearly shouted, hands shaking with anger and confusion, "What's wrong, Zoro?"
"Shut up and listen!" Zoro snapped back, not bothering to realize that his eternal rival had used his real name instead of his trademark silly names, "I—"
As if accompanying what the green-haired swordsman said, a violent wave rocked Sunny with a loud splash and the big ship swayed gently.
Sanji raised head in shock, his mind slowly registering what the young swordsman had just said, "What…? Come again?"
Zoro heaved a deep sigh and repeated hesitantly. "I'm ill, ero-cook." And he added, "Might die."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Sanji yelled, not giving any damn if his voice would wake the others. He couldn't accept this, this was just ridiculous! If Zoro thought this was supposed to be a joke, then it was a really poor joke, and he wasn't laughing at all. "How could you say things like that—" he trailed off looking at the stoic face of the swordsman.
Just one look on the eyes was enough to answer everything, Zoro wasn't kidding.
At all.
After a long and heavy silence passed, Sanji inhaled deeply and tried to regain his composure, "Since when?"
"I don't know." Zoro leaned his back on the chair, "The symptom first appeared when we docked at the last island --that was about two months ago. I went to see a doctor there and…" he didn't finish his sentence but Sanji somewhat knew what happened next.
"So, even Chopper still doesn't know?" the cook lit a new cigarette, silently signaling that his frustration was growing even bigger.
Zoro absently nodded, "Yeah. He did notice my unusual habit, though, a bit fever and endless fatigue; but I refused when he wanted to examine me."
"So, you will die just because a doctor, a fucking lot less better doctor than Chopper said you would die? Heh, I thought you're not the one to do something just because someone tells you so?" Sanji laughed sarcastically and eyed the green-haired swordsman straight into those deep emerald orbs before him, "Why, Zoro? You are not planning to keep this forever, are you?"
The firstmate merely looked away and crossed his arms on his broad chest. "I don't know, Sanji. I don't fucking know."
"How about Luffy? Has he known yet?" Zoro's body abruptly tensed at the mention of his captain, the one he didn't really want to talk about now. Sanji saw his mate shake his head weakly, and heaved a deep sigh. "Tell him, Zoro."
"How?" Zoro gave a sarcastic smile, "How do you suppose me to tell him? You are not telling me to suddenly come to him and say 'Hi, Luffy. Sorry, I'm going to die. Bye.', are you?"
"Tell. Him."
"I asked you 'HOW'!!" Zoro pushed himself from the table and the chair fell onto the floor with a dull clatter, "How am I supposed to tell him? YOU tell me!!"
Sanji merely looked at the raging swordsman with an unreadable yet understanding look and blew the smoke from his lips slowly, thin ghostly substance travelled higher untill it finally disappeared. Zoro drew a breath and tried to regain his composure, pulling his chair again and buried his head in hands,
"How could I tell Luffy? How could I…say good bye to him?"
The blond cook got on his feet and approached the green-haired swordsman, putting one hand on his shoulder in a reassuring manner, "Luffy will understand." He looked out the circular window on a faraway side of the galley,
"He HAS to understand."
The next day came without much changes, hanging above was still the same warm sun; and the salty scent breeze was filling the surrounding air. Nothing drastic happened, save for Franky's happy cry when he saw an island in miles away from the crow nest and Nami said that they would reach it within two days.
Zoro still hadn't done any moves. He had a slight fever in the morning but still stubbornly refused to have Chopper checking on him, saying it was nothing. And even though Sanji hadn't said anything about the talk they had last night, he somehow always felt a wave of guilt washed over him every time their eyes accidentally met, and all he could do was look away.
"I'll tell him, cook. I promise." He growled lowly when the cook passed by him when serving drinks for the ladies. Sanji didn't give any replies.
Night fell quickly and after dinner, the crews climbed to their own beds/hammocks, feeling extremely tired from the previous activities along that day; save for Luffy who had his first shift of night watch.
Zoro was lying on his hammock, staring absently at the wooden ceiling. Rolling to his side, he tried to close his eyes but came with no avail.
He had to tell Luffy.
He really had to tell Luffy. Before it was too late. Before he died.
"Argh!" the green haired swordsman cursed to himself and jumped down from his hammock, landing flat on both feet with a slight sway.
Climbing up the crow nest, he saw dim sparkles in distance, reminding him that they weren't far way from land. He sighed, continuing climbing, and he found his captain falling asleep during his watch, as always.
Luffy's head was bent into an improper position and if it wasn't for his rubber fruit, the older boy was sure he would get a neck sore the next morning. Zoro approached him, and first intended to wake the smaller boy up, but then he sat next to him instead. He looked at Luffy for a second, frowning, and then shifted the rubber head into a more comfortable angle, earning a sleepy grunt from the boy.
Luffy, not very well-aware at the presence nearby, snuggled deeper into the older boy's warmth while the other merely smiled and held him tightly into his chest.
How was he supposed to tell him?
He looked down to the sleeping form, and snorted softly. Luffy was very important to him; the one he put his faith, loyalties, and promises; the one he had vowed to himself to protect with the risk of his own life, even Luffy wouldn't need it much, tough.
Zoro's mind snapped back into reality when he heard a soft whimper from the raven-haired boy. Luffy's body was trembling and shaking, and he was panting slightly as beads of sweat started forming right above his eyebrow.
A nightmare.
The older boy raised his hand to stroke the black bangs, much to soothe his captain down until his breath became soft and even again, signaling he had been drifted off to deep sleep once more. He raised an eyebrow and pulled the blanket up to the boy's chin so Luffy wouldn't catch a cold, not that he had seen him getting sick before.
Zoro caressed the pale cheek gently, as salty liquid started to blur his dark-green eyes until it was freely running down his cheeks. He didn't want to leave Luffy. For him, Luffy was everything, the only reason he'd been doing this all along. And if Zoro left him, then he would have nothing left.
The green haired swordsman gulped slightly and tried to force back his tears, his mind had been settled.
Tomorrow, he would leave.
Created : May 21, 2008
Edited : August 2, 2008
See the date above? This one is an old story I came up with, a fairly long time ago and had been settling in my PC ever since, but I was too lazy to upload it. The English, and the grammar...Whatever --I've tried my best for that! So, hope you like it! please review and give me a constructive criticism or just to let me know if people actually reading this.