Zoro's bleeding pretty heavily, but Luffy's already decided that he won't die here, not on the wide and leafy decks of the Thousand Sunny. Zoro's got blood coming out of his mouth and his nose from getting slashed through the side and the stomach and he's collapsed in the grass. Luffy steps over him and rears up for an attack.
Some no-name band of pirates had decided to attack them in the middle of the ocean, with the skies misty and the water cold, and it had been simple battle enough, at first, with Robin snapping a man's leg easy as breathing and Nami bringing down a black cloud to fry the opposing crew. But they hadn't counted on a devil fruit user amongst the no-name pirates: a man with some sort of teleportation ability, a man who had managed to get the jump on Zoro and cut him open.
His first attack misses, with the man simply disappearing away, so Luffy closes his eyes for a second and listens- and hears him. He may be invisible for the moment, but he's still breathing, somewhere, and it's simple to just hit him, with eyes closed.
He can feel the exhale of surprised breath and the man appears, blood spraying from his mouth, and collapses in front of everyone. Nami's on him like lightening, grabbing a stray rigging rope to tie his hands behind him.
Luffy laughs, loud, surprised and proud, and sits down on the grass next to Zoro, raising his arms above his head in a victory stretch. Nami's arguing now, he can hear it, she's yelling at the remaining crew members, who are all cowering: beli or off the deck and into the ocean.
"Good thinking, captain." Zoro's voice is weak and clotted with blood and he stretches his neck, looks at Luffy from half-hooded eyes.
Luffy grins at him, pulls his hands behind his head, and reclines out on the deck so that he and Zoro on the same level. This close, he can smell the metallic blood smell of him, can feel his weak breaths ghosting across skin. Zoro has dark eyes and they're dull with pain.
"I thought, 'what would Zoro do?"' Luffy says, and turns his attention to a clover growing out of the leafy surface of the deck, plucks it between his tan fingers. "And I did what Zoro would do!"
He puts the clover in his mouth, chews, swallows, and Zoro makes a face. "Luffy."
"Yeah?"
"I might be dying." His voice is casual, as baritone and smooth as Zoro ever is. He doesn't sound bothered by this idea. Luffy sits up quick, scans him over: there's a gaping wound in his torso, and he can see the wet glimmer of intestine.
"You're not gonna die," Luffy says sternly, leans over Zoro until their faces are close. "I won't let you."
Zoro laughs, dark and low. The action brings blood bubbling to his lips, dripping down his chin. "Sorry, captain," he says.
Luffy kisses him, then. He can taste Zoro's blood, gets a mouthful of it. It tastes strong, too. It's the taste of Zoro, all metal and sharpness and passion. His eyes are open and Zoro's are open, too, and wide with surprise.
Luffy pulls away, spits red into the grass.
"What was that for?" Zoro asks, breathless.
"You're not gonna die," Luffy repeats, and nods firmly.
Zoro's napping the next day right back in his favorite place on the Sunny, much to the agony of Chopper. He's not wearing a shirt and his broad chest and waist are wrapped tight in bandages that are already going pink. He should, by all accounts, be in absolute agony, but if he is, he's not showing it. His face is calm and placid and his eyes are closed and he doesn't flinch as Luffy walks up to him.
It's a sunny day and heat is pouring down and Luffy adjusts his hat a little, shadowing his eyes and casting his own shadow over Zoro as he stands over the swordsman. He's wearing his favorite pair of shorts and a short-sleeve button down shirt Usopp got him, only all of the buttons are open. Luffy crouches down, peers into Zoro's face.
He can tell Zoro's not asleep- his breathing when he is is slow and measured. Ignoring him, then.
Zoro's eyes fly open when Luffy reaches out and splays his fingers against his bandaged wound.
"Captain," he says.
"Is Zoro going to have a new scar?" Luffy asks, presses a little until he can see a muscle in Zoro's face flicker. "I bet it'll look cool."
"Maybe," Zoro says, and bats Luffy's hand away. "Go bother someone else."
Luffy whines at that, long and drawn-out, and pours himself onto Zoro's lap. "Zoro," he says, drawing out the last vowel pleadingly. Zoro glares down at him. He's mad, Luffy realizes, at him. At Luffy. That's new.
"You're a brat," Zoro huffs, and Luffy stretches his arms up, draws his fingers into Zoro's hair, pulls his head down until it's almost parallel.
"Don't be mad at me," he says.
"Why'd you kiss me?" Zoro says, and that's the root of the problem, it has to be. He sounds angry and and confused and tired.
Luffy yawns, thinks about it for a second. "I dunno," he says.
"You can't just go around kissing people, idiot," Zoro says, and reaches over to pinch his cheek, stretching it between his fingers until Luffy yelps. He lets go and it makes a snapping sound as it flies back into place.
"I can kiss you," Luffy says, and sits up, twisting himself around with fluid grace until he's facing the swordsman, who is looking at him with angry eyes and reddened cheeks. He leans forward, until their noses are almost touching. "It felt nice."
"Oi," Zoro murmurs, but doesn't move away.
"Zoro's my swordsman," Luffy says, voice soft, "And he's gonna be the greatest."
Zoro breaks the space between them and kisses him. His lips are surprisingly soft and even without blood they still taste like Zoro, like metal and alcohol. Luffy closes his eyes this time.
When he pulls away, Luffy is grinning. "Why'd you do that?"
"I dunno," Zoro says, and flicks Luffy on the nose with his finger. He thinks for a second, snarls. "Don't tell Nami."
"Nami would laugh," Luffy says, and licks his lips, trying to see if he can still taste Zoro. "I saw her and Robin kissing in the library."
"Really?" Zoro says, and scratches at his scalp, wincing a little at pulling his arm up. "Huh. Never thought of that."
The kitchen door flies open, startling them both. Zoro reaches for his swords instinctively, but it's only Sanji, who looks pissed off.
"Hey, shithead!" He yells at Zoro, leaning almost comically far out of the kitchen. Zoro growls deep in his throat and stands up, toppling Luffy onto the grass. "It's lunch time and everyone's waiting for your ass!"
Luffy darts up at the thought of lunch and is through the door before Zoro can react, leaving Sanji spinning. He's laughing all the way, too.
Night falls on the Thousand Sunny with a hush, leaving the sky dark blue and dotted with millions of stars. Zoro's on watch and Luffy lies in his bunk, staring at the ceiling.
Usually, sleeping's no issue for him, but Franky is snoring louder than usual and there's a strange feeling in his heart. Luffy's not one to overanalyze his emotions, or analyze at all, really, so he just turns over and tries to get more comfortable.
It doesn't work. He climbs out of bed and onto the floor as quick and elegantly as his namesake and walks out of the cabin in his bare feet, not thinking to be particularly quiet.
The night air is slightly chilly and Luffy rubs his arms with his hands, looking around. He spots the steel glimmer of swords in the crow's nest after a moment, and begins his descent up the ladder leading there.
Zoro's asleep, quietly snoring to himself, and Luffy almost gets impaled when he touches Zoro's shoulder. The swordsman lowers his katana after a second, eyes blank with sleep and then seeing as it clears away.
"Fuck," he says, and then laughs. "Oi, captain."
"Oi, oi," Luffy echoes back, an old call-and-response, and climbs over the side into the crow's nest. "Zoro almost stabbed me!"
"Well, Luffy shouldn't wake me up!" Zoro says, and sticks out his tongue, a childish motion that makes Luffy's heart light up. Zoro lowers his guard, around him, Luffy realizes. He doesn't always say a lot around other people, but around the captain, he's warm, almost.
Luffy sinks to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest, and after a second Zoro follows as well. He sits cross-legged and rests his swords next to him. Zoro has almond-shaped eyes and a long nose and Luffy just looks at him, for a moment, taking him in.
There's a glimmer of light in the corner of his eye and Luffy looks up, mouth open, as a star shoots across the sky. He points upward, hand wavering excitedly.
"Look! Look! A shooting star!"
Zoro squints at him and then looks up, grudgingly.
"Make a wish, Zoro!" Luffy says, clambering to his knees, finger following the star's path until it disappears at the horizon. Zoro's still looking up, so Luffy settles back against his shoulder, sighing at the warmth of him.
Zoro shifts, and Luffy thinks he's going to push him away, but he pulls him in closer, instead. "Captain," he says.
"Yeah?"
"You're gonna tell me what you wished for even if I don't ask, right?"
"Can't tell," Luffy says, shaking his head side to side vigorously. "It won't come true."
"Oh, come on," Zoro says, and frowns at him.
Luffy thinks of telling, in that instant, really does, but he leans in and kisses Zoro instead, and the moon is bright and the stars are bright and Zoro kisses him back.
Years later, Luffy will remember the wish he made, when he was still young and innocent, and he'll think that it came true. Zoro would have been mad if he had found out what he wished for.
Years later, Luffy is taller and broader and he has more blood on his hands and Zoro is missing an eye and everything is a little tighter and a little tenser and they're fighting people who really matter, now, people who can change the world.
He wished for Zoro to become the world's greatest swordsman, though Zoro doesn't need the wish, and never has. And he wished, doubly, for Zoro to never leave, to stay by his side, always, the faithful second-in-command, and he's never needed that wish, either.
They kiss on the beach of some important place, a place belonging to a king or an emperor, just before thousands of marines and thousands of backups arrive, and Luffy never, for a single second, worries.
Zoro can cut the moon in half, after all.