DISCLAIMER: I don't own One Piece but Oda Eiichiro sure as heck does, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :D
This is actually my first fic so if anybody.. anybody at all EVEN reads this I would very much appreciate a review to let me know what I can improve upon.. I mean if it isn't too much to ask for. I hope that I did my best to keep everybody in character as much as possible, that my writing doesn't completely suck, and that you'll enjoy it. :)
There is a slight hint of ZoLu but it's nothing to be weary about because it's just sweet. Also there is violence and language so be warned.
I'm sorry for any grammar, spellings, or any other errors in general that may have occurred within this fic but after reading over it so many times it tends to blend together. So, if you spot some please let me know.
Any Japanese words/phrases used in this story shall be noted in bold and translated in the end.
-:: CHAPTER 1: NAKAMA ::-
"ZORO!" Luffy's voice rang out loud and clear in the warm mid day air. A look of horror now plastered upon his usual content smiling face as his nakama, Zoro, fell to his knees. His eyes silently focusing upon the form of his fallen comrade as he was made aware of a spot on Zoro's white shirt that was slowly starting to turn red. Blood. Luffy's hands gripping tightly at the bars which held him captive in his cage. He could only watch in silence as the man, Captain Buggy, responsible for bringing forth his blood stood tall and with a slight smirk upon those clown lips. "Coward! Attacking from behind..!" Luffy's voice once more breaking out into the now somewhat stiflingly air as the whole situation just seemed to intensify. His knuckles slowly starting to turn white from clenching onto his prison's bars with all his might as the rage inside him began to grow. 'I'll kill the bastard!' That was the only thought running rampant through his mind as he tried to free himself and protect his beloved nakama.
It was then that he saw Buggy turn back to look at him with an even bigger smile before laughing at his previous comment and his despair. "So.. I'm a pirate after all, aren't I?" His voice now filled with mockery as he quickly added, "Besides if I take down Roronoa Zoro then that will make me even more famous!" Buggy's laugh once more filling the air though this time it was followed by his crews' as they watched in awe at their Captain's brilliance. However it was short lived as Luffy sought to ruin whatever he could by yelling out 'RED NOSE!' and sure enough it worked. Buggy's jaw dropped and his crew turned deathly silent. Even if Luffy couldn't do anything for his nakama right now he'd try to buy them some time by redirecting Buggy's focus onto him. Yet as simple enough as the whole thing was it back fired on him. Buggy then went and jumped on Zoro's back as hard as he could before suddenly pulling the orange hair girl, Nami, out of the crowd to much of Luffy's dismay.
Luffy's expression only turning darker as Buggy was now in possession of his newest nakama. His hands tightening even more upon the bars and started to yank back and forth upon them with all his might as if it by magic it would actually work this time. However it didn't and it only made him all the more desperate to protect what he knew he couldn't. "Let Nami go! Don't touch my nakama! I'll kick your ass!" Luffy cried as he now realized that his only way to fight back was with his voice.
At his words Luffy saw Buggy's smirk grow even bigger as he looked at the struggling girl within his grasp and then over at the fallen form of the swordsman. "Bwuahahaha! You couldn't even protect your own nakama... So what the hell makes you think that you can kick my ass..? Baaaaaa~ka!"
Luffy then quickly let his eyes run over to Zoro only to find him still lying there but now in a slowly increasing puddle of blood. It didn't make sense. Why? Why was a knife wounded from behind enough to send the man that people feared as a demon down to his knees? Wasn't he supposed to be stronger than most.. but if that was the case then why? As much as Luffy wanted to call out to him and hope that it was all a lie. There was another part of him didn't want to in case there was no answer to be given by the other. However Luffy was quickly drawn away from his worries of this nakama to the other one as he could hear raised voices and sounds of fighting.
"..-if I kill him I won't be any better than you damn pirates!" He could see Nami shaking her head as she cast a small glance in his area. Her fingers holding firmly onto the weapon in her hands as she continued on, "I.. I'm not like you..!"
Of course she just would have kept on and on but her words were rather abruptly cut off as one of Buggy's hand separated from his arm and latched itself around Nami's slender neck. The following words leaving his lips with pure rage behind them. "Then just die!" Her weapon now useless against the lone hand so she dropped it and tried to pry it away from her neck, but that only invited Buggy's other hand to clasp around her neck as well. The hands gripping even tighter upon her neck as she began to thrash about before Buggy yanked her off the ground and proceeded to strangle her. Luffy could see that devilish smirk of his appearing upon the clown's lips as the sounds of the struggle grew more intense and her feet searched desperately for the ground below her.
His eyes growing even bigger as he watched the scene in horror as yet once again he was rendered powerless to help his nakama. Plus it only continued to pain him further as Nami managed to turn her eyes over to him and mouthed his name along with a small plea of help. Then he saw a trembling hand leaving her captor's hands as she tried to reached out for him hoping that just maybe an extended hand might do the trick, but this time as well there was no rescue. No saving grace other than the one of death that awaited her. The sounds of the struggle slowly fading as the victim struggled to take her last breath before her entire body went limp and her outstretched hand fell to her side.
"NAMI!" Luffy's voice was slowly starting to become unstable as the agony hit him at full force when Buggy just causally tossed her body aside like she was nothing more than trash. Luffy could feel his heart sinking as Buggy slowly began to move back towards his other fallen comrade. "ZORO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!" However the clown captain didn't pay much attention to the words that he was thrown and instead picked back up his knife. A bit of light bouncing of the blade of the knife as it was not so gently shoved back into the wound. He could see a look of malcontent come onto Buggy's face as there was no sound at all emitted from the swordsman as he wondered if he was really dead or just faking, but he didn't give up and instead gave him a few good kicks to his wound in hopes of getting a reaction. It was at that moment he heard a muffled groan leave the swordsman's mouth.
"Oi, still alive are we..? After all it wouldn't be too amusing if you were taken down so easy, right Mugiwara?" Luffy watched on as Buggy said it with a laugh as he crouched down next to Zoro and slowly pulled the kinfe back out. Luffy could feel his heart sink even deeper as he watched Buggy turn to him and grin. "And so ends the great Roronoa Zoro.." Buggy then brought his knife high above his head and then just as quickly his started to bring it down onto Zoro's body. The two met with a sickening noise followed by a scream of mock agony from Buggy as he mercilessly wiggled the knife back and forth, slashing and cutting at whatever flesh his blade could reach.
Luffy could no longer watch the site of his nakama being hacked away at before his very eyes as drops of his blood splattered here and there. So, he did the only thing that he could do which was to grab even tighter onto the bars and call out to him. "ZORO!"
Luffy awakened with a jolt as he quickly sat up from being sprawled out on the deck of their small boat. His eyes quickly scanning around him for reassurance that his nakama were indeed safe and sound. The first thing he spotted was the small vessel next to theirs which belonged to Nami and he breathed a small sigh of relief as he saw her sleeping soundly with her treasure in the faint glow of the moonlight. Next he turned around and found his other companion sleeping soundly. Instant relief ebbing through his body as he wiped away some of the sweat from his forehead and muttered slowly, " J-just a dream.." His hand going to scratch at the back of his head before he tried to lie back down but the dream wouldn't let him rest in peace. His eyes staring up at the stars in the sky as he thought back upon the dream. A sigh on his lips as he was thankful that it was only a dream even though certain parts of it had been very real but at least he and his crew were alright now, right? Yeah that was all that mattered to him now.
Luffy then quietly picked himself up from his spot in order to move over to where Zoro was sleeping rather soundly. Just seeing his familiar face put a smile on his own face. Even though they hadn't been together long he couldn't help but to feel attached to Zoro as he was his very first nakama. He knew that as they went on his crew would expand but even so nobody could take the place that he had for Zoro. It was at this thought that he silently plopped down next to Zoro. His eyes closing as he leaned his head against the swordsman's shoulder and began to take in his scent. It was most likely due to the others warmth and the fact that Luffy knew his crew was safe that made it all the easier for him to relax. While the constant sounds of the waves gently knocking about at the hull of their little boat only seemed to further his relaxation. His eyes opening to cast one more reassuring glance at Nami and back up at Zoro before whispering, "I'm glad.." Then with that Luffy once more drifted off into sleep.
In the morning
Zoro yawned quietly as his eyes slowly opened and he grunted slightly from a shooting pain in his body. As it now seemed to him that maybe his sleeping position hadn't been so ideal after all. It was then when he was just about to get up that he stopped as he felt that something was leaning up against him. He tensed up slightly before he looked over to his right not knowing what to expect, but ready to strike if the need arose. However he hadn't expected to see his Captain soundly sleeping against him. So he couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow as he wondered why he was there. His shoulder moving slowly as an attempt to wake the boy along with his voice. "Oi! Oi Luffy.. Get up.."
It took a few seconds before Luffy began to stir and let alone even try to open his eyes. He watched on as the smalerl boy gave a small yawn and slowly began to stretch. Then through his sleepy haze he felt their eyes meet as Luffy gave him his usual morning greeting before rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. However as much as he tried to wake up it all seemed rather pointless as Luffy didn't even try to move away from him. This caused a rather surprised look to appear upon his face as this was the first time he had seen his captain like this. His voice was low and still a little groggy itself but over all it sounded a little worried, "Oi Luffy are you alright?"
At his words Zoro watched as Luffy nodded his head and then replied back, "Y-yeah.. I'm just really sleepy.."
Zoro paused as he consider his words and tilted his head to the side a bit as he continued on with his questioning, knowing that if his captain didn't answer that would be the cue to drop the subject. "Why did you not sleep at all last night.. or something?"
Luffy just sort of nodded his head again as he added, "No.. I went to sleep no problem but.. I had a... bad dream so I couldn't go back to sleep as easy.."
'A bad dream..?' Zoro thought to himself as he couldn't help but to somewhat smile. He couldn't believe that the man who said he'd become Pirate King would be afraid of something like a dream. Even so Zoro didn't laugh as he guessed it to be reasonable after all it seemed as that the kid was younger than himself, but he kept his expression calm as he pushed on further. "What happened in your dream..?"
He saw Luffy pause at his question but nonetheless he answered it. "We were fighting Buggy and... instead of us getting away.. I saw.. Nami and you.. die.. and I couldn't do anything to protect you guys.. I couldn't protect my nakama.. I felt so weak.."
'Oh.. so that explains it all..' Zoro thought to himself as he had now pieced together the puzzle of why Luffy was so sleepy and still next to him. To Luffy Zoro could see that his nakama meant the world and just the thought that he couldn't protect them devastated him. So, most likely in order to silence that feeling he had probably decided to put it at ease by confirming that his nakama were indeed still by his side. The easiest way to do that Zoro guessed would have been to sleep next to him after all if he had tried it with Nami she probably would have called him a pervert and gave him a punch or two. Zoro then sighed while taking his hand to gently ruffle his captain's hair as he spoke, "Don't worry it was just a dream..."
"A dream.." Zoro heard Luffy reply back trying to stay awake just long enough to hear his reply.
"Yeah.." Zoro just nodded his head slowly as he wasn't sure of what else to say other than 'Like I'll die that easy'. So instead him just gave Luffy one more reassuring pat on the head before he continued on, "but this isn't.. so have faith in us and try to get a bit more sleep." At that he saw Luffy just kind of nod his head as he had finally reached his limit and eased back into a world of sleep. Though as to whether or not it was filled with dreams or not he could only hope that it would do his captain some good and that he would wake up as good as new. Another slight smile playing upon those lips of his as he glanced down at the sleeping boy for he knew that Luffy would probably end up forgetting all about what had happened. Yet Zoro didn't really care about that. He only wanted his captain to return back to his old self. Sure enough after a few more hours of sleep Luffy had awaken in good spirits again and Zoro was just about to give up on whether Luffy remembered or not, but his curiosity was quickly answered with a smile and three simple words from his captain.
"Thank you, Zoro."
Uhmm.. well yeah that's pretty much the end. I mean originally it was supposed to be a one shot type deal and I actually like the ending, but I feel like I really want to continue on with it so I just might... Or maybe it's just the feeling of wanting to write more stories in general? IDK Anyways I hope that Luffy's reaction to his dream, how he confided in Zoro, and how Zoro treated him were all believable. I mean after all when we have a bad dream most of us would want to talk about it to somebody and sometimes it doesn't matter who does just as long as they listen..
Well if you've made it this far then hopefully you might just go ahead and review it for me :3
Nakama = Friend/Comrade, Baka = Idiot, Mugiwara = Straw Hat
I hope that you enjoyed it.
-:: R34L17Y HUR72 ::-
