A note from ME! Okay, I really shouldn't be posting this when I have about three other stories needing to be rescued, (and I mean rescued…) but it's almost done, so I figured a weekly update for a story that's almost finished couldn't hurt…

This is a kind of AU, since I'm acting like chapters 573 and 574 never happened. They don't exist in my world, so don't remind me! *Hides in corner*

Warnings: Yaoi in the forms of ZoLu, SmoAce and a hint of SanUso, Major OOC from Zoro and Smoker, excessive amounts of brain rotting fluff… Need I say more?

Disclaimer: Do chapters 573 and 574 exist? Sadly, yes they do. In my world, that never happened…

Over protectiveness

Chapter one

"Mission One, Success!"

Zoro put down his sixth flagon of sake, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He couldn't help but feel uneasy in the particular bar they were in. In fact, the whole island put him on edge. It wasn't like normal islands on the Grand Line. It didn't have monsters, or egotistic maniacs, or crazy ex-pirates looking for some ancient, long abandoned treasure. In fact, the thing that kicked Zoro out of his comfort zone was the fact that he couldn't find anything unusual about the island. It was ordinary. It wasn't loud, the local inhabitants didn't chase them out of town or throw a party for them, and the silence was annoying Zoro more and more because a group of men were staring at his captain and no-one but Zoro seemed to notice! He was starting to think that so long sailing with Luffy on the Grand Line had started to make him paranoid. Raising a hand, he ordered another flagon of sake, and glanced out of the corner of his eye, ensuring that his hyper captain wasn't getting into any more trouble then he normally got into. Discreetly pouring the sake the barman had given Luffy away while the teenager was absorbed in his large and rapidly shrinking meal, and ordering some water to replace it, the swordsman glanced around the bar again, his frown deepening. The men were now whispering among themselves, and Zoro's hand automatically slid to grip the hilt of his Katana as one of the men stood up and carefully picked his way through the rest of the bar. Glancing to his right, he was relieved to realise that he wasn't the only one to notice the man. Usopp had slid one of his bombs into his catapults, Nami's hand had drifted to her skirt where her Climatact was, Sanji was carefully lighting a cigarette, with his eyes following the man across the room, Chopper had pulled out a rumble ball, Robin was calmly drinking her water, but, like Sanji, kept her eyes trained on the newcomer, and Franky gripped his wrist, revealing one of his many guns. Zoro turned away from the rest of the crew, instead focusing on the man, who had now sat down on the other side of Luffy. His brown hair was long, tied up in a ponytail with a red ribbon. His eyes were chocolate brown, and he was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt which hugged well-developed muscles tightly. Zoro's eyes narrowed. He had always trusted his instincts, and his instincts were screaming at him to scoop up his childlike Captain and get as far away from this mysterious man as possible. However, he had no visible weapons, and nowhere to hide them, and he was just one man, while Luffy had six alert crewmates ready to leap to his defence. Carefully, he forced himself to let go of his Katana, putting his hand on the counter as he picked his flagon up. The rest of the Straw-hats glanced at him out of the corners of their eyes, before relaxing, hands straying away from various weapons.

"You're Monkey D. Luffy, aren't you?" The man asked. Luffy looked up from his meal, and turned to look at the man. He nodded, not bothered with the fact that a complete stranger was sitting uncomfortably close to him. Zoro frowned again as the men's elbows brushed Luffy's, strangely disturbed by the close proximity between Luffy and this stranger.

"I've heard a lot about you. Everyone's talking about the Rookie who's already worth 300 million Belli." The man's voice was deep, and, as he was talking, he had leant in slightly, so now he was even closer to the black-haired teen. Zoro's hand drifted back towards his Katanas. Luffy grinned.

"Really?" He asked, his mouth full. He turned to his first mate, but swallowed before talking, remembering how annoyed the green-haired man had got the last time he had been sprayed with the contents of Luffy's mouth. Zoro was already pretty tense, and had been since they'd gotten off the Thousand Sunny, Luffy had noticed, and he wisely chose not to push his friend over the brink. "Hey, Zoro! Everyone's talking about us!" He exclaimed happily. Zoro nodded noncommittally, noting as he did so that the man was scowling as Luffy ignored him.

"You know..." The man started, determined to catch the 300 Belli rookie's attentions once more. "In the Grand Line, it's not looks or personality that's attractive in a man..." All the crew apart from Luffy instantly tensed once more, hands trailing back towards weapons, quite unable to believe their ears. Was this guy...? No... He couldn't be... could he? Luffy, however, remained quite ignorant.

"It's the size of a guy's bounty..." The man whispered. His and Luffy's noses were almost touching.

The sound of a chair being pushed across the stone floor echoed throughout the bar, oddly loud. Luffy turned, and the man gritted his teeth.

"Zoro?" The Captain asked innocently. The swordsman towered over the two men, his eyes hidden in shadows. Animalistic instincts forced the man to shrink away from the green-haired man's daunting presence, while Luffy just tilted his head and frowned, confused at his friend's actions. Before he could say anything else, Zoro's hand grabbed the back of Luffy's shirt, and the tall man slung his younger friend over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, before nodding to the shocked barman, and heading towards the door. Luffy just hung there, his mouth open, trying to figure out what was happening. Everyone in the tavern had stopped talking now, staring at the 420 million Belli pair as Zoro pushed the door open. Nami and Sanji looked at each other as the door slowly swung closed, and the man sat at the bar frowned slightly, before standing up and returning to his friends, bright red with either embarrassment or anger at his failure.

"Oi, Zoro! What are you doing?" Luffy yelled, his arms and legs beating against Zoro's back. His first mate ignored him, making his way slowly through the streets of the town, his thoughts a blur. Why had he felt so angry in the tavern? Why did he still feel annoyed? Was it because some stranger was trying to take advantage of his innocent captain? Was it because Luffy himself didn't even know what the fucker was doing? Or was there... another reason? Zoro growled under his breath. Luffy had stopped struggling, and just hung there, probably pouting, and almost definitely with his arms crossed.

"Oi, Zoro, the ship was the other way." He commented moodily. Zoro felt his face burn.

"I'm not going to the ship." He lied. He continued walking for another half an hour, Luffy swinging slightly. Eventually, he found himself on a grassy cliff – the only things accompanying the two men the grass and a single, large tree – facing the ocean. He could see the Thousand Sunny from where he stood. Not entirely sure how he had ended up on the cliff, Zoro let go of Luffy, who yelped, surprised, as he unexpectedly hit the ground. Walking over to the old tree, Zoro slumped onto the ground, leaned his back against the tree, and closed his eyes, trying to ignore his Captains eyes on him. The two stayed like that for a long time, Luffy staring confused at the green-haired man, while said man kept his eyes firmly closed as he tried to shift through and sort out his thoughts, which were swirling round his head, determined to elude his attempts to make sense of his mind. Eventually, a small, slightly timid voice echoed across the cliff, breaking the suffocating silence.

"I'm sorry..." Zoro opened his eyes, surprised. He looked at Luffy, who had sat down by his feet. The black-haired captain had wrapped his arms around his knees in a strangely vulnerable position, and was staring at Zoro with huge, hurt eyes. Zoro gritted his teeth as heat flooded his face, not knowing why. He put it down to anger at the fact that Luffy was apologizing, when he had nothing to apologize for, and probably didn't even know why he was apologizing.

"Don't apologize." He muttered, crossing his arms. "You have nothing to apologize for." Luffy tilted his head, confused. Suddenly his neck stretched, and Zoro's widened as the younger man almost head-butted him.

"The hell... do you... think... you're doing?" He growled out through clenched teeth. Luffy ignored his angry mutterings, and leant his forehead against Zoro's. Zoro's eyes widened, and even more heat flooded his face.

"Wha... what?" He mumbled. Luffy's head snapped back, and he frowned.

"Zoro's got a fever..." He said, concerned. Zoro raised an eyebrow, and stared at the boy. After sitting against the tree for a few seconds, blushing madly, Zoro started to chuckle. Luffy blinked as Zoro started to laugh harder and harder, before, finding the older man's laughter strangely contagious, started laughing as well. The two sat there for what seemed like hours, just laughing, neither actually knowing what was so funny. Eventually, their laughs petered out, and both sat there in a considerably more comfortable silence. Zoro looked at his childish friend, before waving him over. Confused, Luffy stood up and moved to sit down next to Zoro. Zoro closed his eyes again, and wrapped one arm around Luffy, pulling him down. Luffy's face heated as he lay with his head on Zoro's chest, listening to the steady thump of the swordsman's heartbeat. He looked up as Zoro started talking.

"I'm sorry for hauling you out the bar like that. I kinda lost control there. It just... I felt so... angry, watching that guy coming onto you like that..." Zoro trailed off as soft snores reached his ears, and looked down. Luffy had curled up in a ball by his side, his head on Zoro's chest. Zoro chuckled, before closing his eyes, and falling asleep himself.

Nami sat on a barrel on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, annoyed.

"I suppose it was a long shot..." She said, referring to the obvious lack of the Captain and First Mate of their trusty ship. "Those idiots... Why the hell did Zoro get so annoyed? It wasn't like the guy was doing anything to hurt Luffy..." She trailed off, and she, Sanji, Franky and Usopp all stared at each other, a light bulb going off in their minds.

"No..." Nami started.

"You don't think...?" Sanji asked, wide eyed. Usopp frowned, and crossed his arms.

"Well, think about what we know about the two of them." He said. Nami frowned.

"Well, I know that Luffy and Zoro met before the rest of us, and that Luffy saved Zoro's life..." She said. Usopp nodded.

"And they are the best at working together, although I always assumed that that was because Luffy couldn't be hurt by guns, while Zoro practically can't be hit with a sword..." Franky sat down on a barrel across from Nami's.

"And Zoro has always shown this crazy loyalty to Luffy..." He added. Nami smiled.

"Yeah, and neither of them show any interest in girls!" She exclaimed. Usopp nodded again. All four of them were starting to get excited by this recent discovery. Above them in the Crows Nest, Robin smiled as she listened to their conversation, and Brooke, who had been guarding the ship, leant against the side of the ship, laughing softly. Chopper sat cross-legged, staring up at his three friends.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" He asked. Urgently, the three humans and the cyborg knelt down, and quickly explained their growing theory.

"Zoro! Luffy!"

"Oi, Marimo!"

"Straw-hat?"

"LUUUFFY!"

"Luffy-san?"

"Luffy, where are you?" The seven remaining members of the Straw-hat crew wandered the well kept streets, ignoring the looks they were receiving from everyone else.

"Think like Zoro, think like Zoro..." Usopp muttered. He picked up Chopper by his fur and hung him over his shoulder. Grabbing three sticks and shoving them through his belt, he paced up and down the street, trying to 'think like Zoro', with Chopper contributing with some Luffy like comments.

"This way!" Usopp exclaimed proudly, pointing at a seemingly random road. Nami frowned. "Are you sure? That's the opposite way to the ship, surely not even Zoro..." She trailed off as she looked at her crewmates expressions.

"You're right, what am I saying?" she said, and the seven of them headed up the road, Chopper still ordering Sanji to make him meat.

Zoro hugged the warm weight closer to him as he heard voices, and kept his eyes firmly shut, determined not to open them until it was absolutely needed. He mentally smiled as Luffy curled closer to him, and in response tightened his grip for a fraction of a second. He felt strangely comfortable, lying like he was, and while some small part of his brain was trying to insist that he shouldn't feel comfortable, it was shouted down by the rest of his brain, which urged him to stay how he was for a few more minutes.

"OI, MARIMO!" Zoro's eyes flew open at the familiar, loud voice right in his ear, and he yelped as he automatically scrambled away from it and almost ended up on top of Luffy, who was now lying on the floor, frowning slightly at the sudden lack of pillow.

"Ero-cook..." Zoro growled, his hand straying to his Katanas. Luffy sat up, and yawned widely, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Oi, Luffy!" Nami said, ignoring Sanji's and Zoro's fight. "The Log has set, we should leave now." Luffy grinned.

"Yosh, let's go!" He yelled happily. Exasperated, the rest of the crew followed, Zoro and Sanji still fighting.

Luffy opened his eyes and frowned. Something wasn't right. Normally, at the end of the day, he could drop to sleep immediately. However, the future Pirate King had been lying in his hammock for a few hours now, and he still couldn't get to sleep. He sat up, ignoring the way his hammock tilted, and slipped off onto the floor. He almost felt nervous as he made his way towards the large shadow on the floor. Kneeling down, he poked Zoro in the side.

"Zoro... Zoooro..." He whined gently. Grumbling, the green-haired man turned to his side, and his eyes fluttered open. He frowned when he looked at Luffy.

"Luffy, I'm not going to help you get past the giant mouse trap again." He grumbled sleepily, putting a hand to his forehead. Luffy shook his head urgently.

"No, I... I wanted to know if I could... Erm..." Zoro frowned, dropping his hand.

"Well? Spit it out already so I can say no and go back to sleep." He snapped. Luffy's eyes widened, and Zoro instantly regretted his words. Just as the rubber man stood up, he grabbed his hand and pulled Luffy down. Wrapping one large, muscled arm around the slim man, Zoro pulled Luffy closer to him so that the younger boy's back was pressed snugly against his chest, and rested his head in the black hair.

"I'm sorry. What did you want?" Luffy was quiet for a moment. Zoro was about to repeat the question when, with difficulty, Luffy turned around in the thick-armed hug, leaning his forehead against Zoro's chest.

"Never mind..." He whispered, before drifting to sleep. Zoro frowned at the boy, before shrugging, and slipping back to sleep.

Neither noticed Usopp, Franky and Sanji's eyes fluttering open, and they both looked down at the sleeping couple below. Cautiously, Sanji slipped a camera out from under the covers, and, ensuring the flash was off, took a quick picture, before stowing it away. He did a quick thumbs up to the other two men.

"Mission one, success!"

A note from ME! … Clichéd much?

XD

Preview for the next Chapter: "My Marimo... not Sanji's..." Zoro raised an eyebrow. Knowing his captain, Zoro couldn't tell if Luffy meant Zoro or food, and he was even more confused by the 'Sanji' Part.

"Oi, Marimo, you coming to help anytime soon?" Still confused, Zoro stood and made his way back onto the deck, a little bit worried about how jealous he had felt when Luffy had said the cook's name.

Ahem. What can I say? I'm a fluff whore…

Please review! Reviews give me a warm fuzzy feeling, and makes it easier to write…