Assignment: Fanfic Challenge #2

Category: One Piece

Pairings: None! gasp The first story I've ever written that doesn't involve a coupling!

Words: plane ticket; drama; rose; hair clip

Challenge from Agent Dot to Agent Cherrichik

Author's Notes: Overall happy with this, though it must be said that this is the shortest thing I have ever written. Written in third person but is mostly told by Zoro's point of view, if that makes any sense.

Now, on with the challenge!!

Pirates on a Plane!

This has got to be, Zoro decided, one of the stupidest things he has ever let that witch talk him into.

Honestly, all of them? Together!? ON A PLANE!?!?

Now, don't get him wrong; it's not as if he really minds. After all, the eight of them had been together for a while, and in that time he had developed some (healthy?) relationships with each and every one of them, so it wasn't that he was sick of them.

It was the fact that on a plane, you needed to sit still.

Couple that idea with Nami (may she drop dead, he hissed inwardly) announcing that the one and only Monkey D. Luffy was sitting next to him, he knew the end result would not be the best way to start their vacation.

Yeah. He was screwed.

Zoro took his disapproving eyes off the boy-Captain (who was squirming in his seat with what looked like either pain at the arduous task of sitting still or indigestion. Then he realised that this was Luffy he was thinking about and mentally crossed out the indigestion) to glare holes into the seat in front of him, currently occupied by a very happy orange-haired woman, having a chat to the Arabastan Princess about how to prevent Luffy from swallowing Kairoseki, thus rendering him useless for the rest of his days.

"Zoro?" piped a voice from next to him.

Rolling his eyes (for the twelfth time) and turning to meet his Captain's childish demands (for the twelfth time) he managed an irritated weary glare at the hopeful boy next to him.

"What."

"Is it time to order food yet? The Pirate King shouldn't have to wait for his food. And why aren't we on Sunny? I wanna travel on Sunny! At least Sunny is fuuuuuuuun!!" His whining obviously struck a nerve.

"Luffy, shut up," Nami turned in her seat, "We're travelling on a plane because it's stylish and something new. After this vacation I'll gladly go back to Sunny."

Luffy crossed his arms and looked sulky.

Vivi turned too, then.

"Luffy-san, if you want you can order now if yo-" but she didn't need to say more as she looked on to see his face light up before twisting and frantically pressing the button on his seat that read, 'Service'.

Glad that Luffy would finally be kept immobile for a while, Zoro turned to look out the window. In the reflection he could see Usopp, Chopper and Franky making a (useful?) invention out of their sick bags, while Sanji was motioning for a flight attendant to bring Robin a black coffee.

Yes, things were peaceful. Now all he had to do was shut his eyes and dream of all the training he could do undisturbed for a whole two weeks.

After all, when he awoke, they'd be almost there.

oOo

Luffy had decided he didn't want to go on a plane as soon as he heard that it would mean not travelling on Sunny. He even went as far as hiding his plane ticket (he would've swallowed it, but then Nami wouldn't have screamed him, she would've killed him) but it was all to no avail.

When the Captain's ticket was discovered - in the lockable fridge, no less - he was promptly strapped to a chair to be lectured about the importance of money (Nami) and questioned as to how he got into the fridge (Sanji).

He relaxed after the Captain explained he hid it in the leftovers before it went in.

And was pummeled when Sanji realised that the food was gone, courtesy of Usopp's lock-picking skills and the fact that with Luffy, there was no such thing as leftovers.

It really was a drama that day – the packing and unpacking, the checking in, the odd hours to catch the plane, the planes themselves.

Yes, it really had been Hell these past few days but in the end, it had all been worth it.

oOo

As Zoro completed his 200th one-fingered push up and began his 200 sit ups under a coconut palm watching Luffy and Chopper in floaties with Usopp in the pool, he realised he was happy.

And as his face softened slightly at the way Vivi laughed or Robin sipped her drink or Nami chatted with her orange curls pulled back in a hair clip, he realised he was content.

And as he watched Franky light the barbeque while Chopper sliced vegetables with a doctor's precision under Sanji's watchful eye, he realised that he could never swap the pirate crew for the world.

So he allowed himself to smile and rose to change into his board shorts.

Hope you like it!!

-cherrichik