Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece - belongs to Oda and whoever took those rights to make an anime, Toei and Funimation and whatnot. But it's all Oda's anyway so why am I even worried about those companies.

Spoilers: Takes place after current arc (chapter 588~)

Pairings: Nothing intentional.

~!~

Things Never Were Normal

~!~

"Of course Zoro would be the last to show up. He probably got so lost he ended up back where he started three times over."

"I was not lost!" Zoro shouted, glaring up at the crew he hadn't seen in—how long had it been? Days? Weeks? Months even? He felt his annoyance dissipate when the crew showed themselves, waving excitedly. However long it had been, had been too long. But they were all back. And Luffy was stretching his arm…and…

"Gah! Shit!" He cursed as Luffy's arm wrapped around him and flung him to the ship.

"Yosh!" Luffy exclaimed, having released his grip as soon as the swordsman had crossed over the ship rail, successfully leaving Zoro to fly forward and crash painfully to the deck. "Everyone's onboard now. Let's go! To the New World!"

The group laughed and cheered and Zoro grimaced – still sore from past injuries, which meant it hadn't been too long apart after all. At least he had gotten away from that crazy ghost girl, though he supposed he should have thanked her for finding a way for him to get off the island and pointing the direction – even if he had wandered around for too damn long…

At least everything could go back to normal now…

"I got them!" A loud voice and the clink-clink-clink sound of his swords moving, had Zoro awake in an instant.

As soon as his eyes were open, he saw Luffy staring at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Then he heard Usopp's cry. "C-c-catch me if you can, Zoro!"

He blinked. Luffy blinked back. Then Luffy grinned, pointed to Zoro's side, and Zoro glanced over to see – nothing! The swords were missing, having been stolen by…

"O-Oi!" He shouted, snapping to his feet as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. "You little bastard, get back here!" This began the chase or game of 'tag' that happened every so often on mornings aboard their ship, whether it was Going Merry or Thousand Sunny, it always tended to happen.

Just as he was about to catch the long nosed liar, Usopp spun around and threw the swords. "Hey Luffy, catch!"

Zoro cursed as all three swords went flying. He skidded to a halt, intending to race back the other way before… Nope. Luffy had already stretched his arms to catch the swords before they could come down far enough for Zoro to grab. What made things laughable was the fact that Luffy had stretched out his neck to catch the third in his teeth, posing like the swordsman as Zoro growled and Usopp laughed.

"I'm Roronoa Zoro and I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy exclaimed with his best Zoro-face and Zoro-voice, losing the sword in his mouth in the process only to pick it up, grin, then shake his head and force his eyebrows down and his mouth into a frown.

Laughter carried through the entire ship. Apparently, the entire crew was up and about, even that ero-cook hanging out the door that led to the kitchen. And they were all laughing at Luffy's "Zoro impersonation."

At first he bristled in annoyance and frustration – the swords were still out of his own hand after all. "That's not me at all!"

Robin's subtle laughter came from behind him, barely able to make out beside Usopp's hysterical laugh. "I think he captures your presence quite well, Kenshi-san."

Eyebrow twitching, Zoro watched Luffy jump around the ship growling at everyone around, mocking his grumpy side, jabbing at the air with the three swords. "Oi, Luffy, be careful!"

Yes, things were back to normal. As much as he hated playing such a stupid game with these twerps, he had to admit it was normal. Though he couldn't recall Luffy ever taking his swords before. It was actually starting to bother him; he didn't like seeing someone else use Kuina's sword, even if it was his captain.

"Hey, Luffy," Sanji's voice carried from the wall he was leaning against, taking the cigarette out of his mouth when he had the captain's attention. "If you want to impersonate the marimo you should fall asleep and refuse to help out."

"But that's boring," Luffy said, the sword in his mouth falling to the deck.

Zoro winced but kept his eye on Kuina's sword, which Luffy had placed in his right hand, thereby messing up the playful impersonation to begin with. Before Luffy could replace the sword, Nami stepped forward and put her foot on it, keeping Luffy from picking it up – and making Zoro growl.

"Hey witch, get your foot off my sword!"

The orange-haired girl turned back to him, hands on her hips. "Oh shush, I'm trying to fix this for you."

Zoro blinked. Fix this for me? Wha-?

With a smirk, Nami took Wado Ichimonji out of Luffy's hand and shoved it between his teeth. "The white one goes in the mouth, right, Zoro?"

How did she…? She must have better perception than I thought.

Zoro gave a nod and Nami grinned.

Luffy took the sword out of his mouth to talk without letting it fall this time. "Hey, Zoro, does it really matter?"

Behind him, Zoro could hear Usopp trying to puzzle it out. "The white one must be weaker so it's easier to hold between the teeth. Yes, yes, I understand now."

Feeling his face heat up, Zoro spun toward their sharpshooter. "That's not the reason! Idiot! That doesn't even make sense!"

"Oi, Zoro, what is the reason then?" Luffy asked, dooming everyone else to the same curiosity if it hadn't been there before.

Arms crossed, itching to hold the blade in question so he could be done with this idiotic questioning, Zoro shouted back. "There is no reason. Now stop asking!"

Sanji's voice came from behind Luffy where he was leaning against the wall, one hand in his pocket, the other hand holding his signature cigarette. "I bet it means something special to you, like it belonged to someone."

Zoro tried to fight the blush that was threatening to burn his face off. He tried a different approach with his voice level. Quiet indifference. "What?"

Sanji smirked, as if that was enough of an answer. "You're too easy to read, marimo." He puffed once on the cigarette, blowing the smoke out into the anticipating silence of the crew. "So whose was it? Your girlfriend back home?"

Usopp and Chopper – when had Chopper gotten behind him? – both shrieked and moved back as soon as the idea crashed onto the ship. "Zoro has a girlfriend?"

Usopp recovered quickly, crossing his arms and nodding his head. "Yes, yes, I knew it all along. Zoro actually has a girlfriend back home and he stole her katana and is now trying to become the best swordsman in the world in order to impress her. That way when he finds his way back, she won't be mad at him. Because they had a fight and he left and got lost so he made up this dream to cover the fact that he is lost. Yes, yes, makes sense."

Poking at the nodding, smiling sharpshooter, Chopper muttered, "Hey, hey, he's looking over here."

Still, silent, but eyes filled with a fierce demonic gaze, Zoro slowly turned his head around to throw his glare at the cowardly liar of the crew. The moment his eyes connected with Usopp's, the younger man melted backwards, stepping back with shaking legs until he was against the railway of the ship. Chopper was attempting to hide behind Usopp, but doing it backwards as usual, only hiding one eye.

"I'm. Not. Lost."

With a growl, Zoro smoothly walked the distance to Luffy, ignoring the glare Nami was sending him, ignoring the slightly curious slightly pissed stare of the ero-cook. "Enough of this, Luffy. Can I have my swords back and let everything just go back to normal?"

For a moment, everything was still and quiet, no one really knowing what Luffy's answer would be. Would he say no and insist that Zoro tell them the reason, or would he cave in and give up the playtime? When had the atmosphere gone from playful to somber and serious? Their ship never had these moments. Was everything really just back to normal or were things starting to crack at the seams?

"We're nakama," Luffy stated, handing the sword in his left hand back to Zoro. The cursed sword. Sandai Kitetsu. Why did he have to say 'we're nakama' and hand him the cursed sword? He could almost feel the sword laugh as it switched into his hand.

"Nami, you're still standing on Zoro's other sword," Luffy stated, pointing down to the black sword. Taken by surprise by Luffy's suddenly serious tone, Nami quickly moved off the sword, even muttering an apology to Zoro as she stepped back. Before Zoro could bend down to pick up Shuusui, the sword he had gotten from Ryuma back at Thriller Bark, Luffy stretched his arm without looking down and brought it up, face now shrouded by the straw hat. "We're nakama – and pirates. Zoro, I'm your captain, right?"

He blinked, his frustration and anger leaving him, the red hot anger on his face draining to pale. "H-Hai," he whispered.

Why was Luffy doing this? Had he noticed the cracks among the crew – the feelings everyone had of wanting everything back to normal and yet the undeniable truth that things would never be the same again? Luffy was always one to surprise, but this… Had something changed him when they were separated?

Zoro didn't take the sword back until Luffy nodded, and it was a slow, small nod, as if he had wanted more of an answer.

"Luffy?" Nami whispered, concern now painted into her voice.

"Zoro," Luffy spoke, ignoring the hesitant touch of the navigator. The captain's face was still shrouded by the hat, making his expressions unreadable. He moved the white sword between them, but not releasing his hold even when Zoro stretched his hand out to grab it, having moved the other two swords to one hand. "What is your position in my crew?"

He froze. Nami gasped. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the cigarette fall from Sanji's mouth. That wasn't a question Luffy would ask. Luffy didn't care about positions. Although Franky and Brooke were both absent from this accidental gathering, in the silence Zoro could make out the two voices floating from the far side of the ship. That and the soft sound of Brooke's violin drifting along the wind.

"I – err – Luffy, what's gotten into you?"

"I'm the captain. Nami is the navigator. Usopp is the sharpshooter. Sanji's the cook. Chopper's the doctor. Robin knows the history. Franky keeps the ship together. Brooke is the long-awaited musician. What are you, Zoro? My swordsman?"

"L-Luffy?"

"I know what you did!" Luffy shouted suddenly, shoving the white sword into Zoro's numbing fingers. He could barely grip onto Kuina's sword when it was finally back in his hand. "Brooke told me," Luffy whispered.

Zoro blinked. Told you wha-? Oh. Shit. Never trust a dead guy to keep a secret.

"Zoro, you don't need a position. You just – you –" Abruptly, Luffy lifted his head, showing the tears coursing out of his eyes. "YOU'RE MY NAKAMA!"

Feeling relief flood through him – he had actually been worried for a moment that Luffy was going to do something drastic – Zoro clenched Wado Ichimonji in his hand. I am going to kill that idiot musician.

And then Luffy punched him in the chest, hitting old wounds that were still sore. Zoro grimaced. And then Luffy punched again and he fell back, losing his grip on the swords. "Gah, dammit Luffy!"

That serious look was back – that straw hat shading over his captain's eyes. Maybe it was just the angle but it caused a shiver to run up his spine. Then Luffy crouched down and punched him again, earning another curse before meeting his eyes. "Don't do that again. You made a promise. I'm going to be the Pirate King and you're going to be the greatest swordsman in the world. You promised!"

Closing his eyes, Zoro winced. "Yeah, I know. I promised her, too," he whispered, popping his eyes open to see if anyone else had heard. It was impossible to tell, but he did see Luffy smiling behind the crying eyes.

Things weren't normal after all.

But then again, they never had been.