I do not own One Piece or its characters; Eiichiro Oda does.

A Chat Between Zoro and Usopp

After escaping the marines, the crew's party seemed endless. Whether it was a party to celebrate Usopp's return; the completion and naming of the new ship; the addition of a new crew member, Franky, to the crew; Robin's successful rescue; or simply just being able to escape the marines and that ridiculously sized ball-and-chain that Garp chucked at them before Franky's Coup de Burst successfully blasted them out of there- as pirates, there was no need to have a reason to party (especially for Luffy, who was ready to go into party mode at any moment), but now, there were so many reasons to party that no one would be surprised if it lasted into the next week!

"Loving your sake, Zoro?" asked Nami, watching Zoro, who was sitting against the mast some feet away from her as he nursed on his third bottle.

"Mm."

"Who am I kidding- of course you are. Party or not, you're always drinking. I guess that's considered another form of training," Nami snickered.

Zoro raised an eyebrow and gave her an irritated frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I did drink you under the table back at Whiskey Peak."

"Are you challenging me, witch?"

"Hey, don't refer to Nami-swan as 'witch,' you uncouth marimo!" snapped Sanji, attacking Zoro with a kick to the face. Zoro still sat, blocking Sanji's kick with his Wado unsheathed.

"What does it look like?" This was their fifth fight so far in the party, and Nami was getting a bit tired of them. Ignoring Zoro's irritated glare, she added, "If you win, I'll take off fifty percent of your debt to me."

Zoro was at her side in a flash. "You're on," he said, holding out his tankard with a cocky smile.

"Also," Nami added, taking Zoro's tankard and handing it to Robin to fill it up (the rest of the crew had gathered around and were watching excitedly), "If you lose, your debt will increase by 400 percent. Okay, let's start!"

Several tankards into the contest, Usopp, Luffy and Chopper got bored and all started singing a silly song, dancing with their arms slung over each other's shoulders. Franky got up and started doing one of his own Franky dances, while Robin simply watched the whole thing and laughed. Every other hour Sanji went to the kitchen and brought out some new dishes for the crew, making the party go on as long as Luffy's bottomless stomach.

Nevertheless, after partying for three days straight, everybody's energy and enthusiasm, as well as Luffy's stomach and Zoro's sobriety (Nami managed to drink him under the table again) reached their limit, and their party ended with everyone tired and trudging off to bed.

Usopp, though tired, was much more sober than the rest of the crew, having spent more time telling lies and dancing instead of drinking. In light of that, he offered to take up the first watch, which everyone agreed to happily, if not with some tired enthusiasm.

When he entered the crow's nest, Usopp gave a little "whoa" in awe. The place was designed to be a gym. He grinned when he looked at weights of different sizes. Zoro was going to love this place. Still, Usopp wondered how Franky made it so that it wouldn't snap off the mast due to Zoro's oversized weights. He shrugged, too tired to think about it now, and let the thought that "Franky is a genius shipwright" answer his question for the moment.

Since the gym reminded him of Zoro, he found himself remembering that at some point during the party (somewhere near the start, he was pretty sure), he found himself talking with Chopper about his return to the crew.

"I'm sooooooo glad you're back, Usopp!" Chopper sobbed. "I really thought for a moment that we might leave you behind! Waaaaaaaaaaah!"

Usopp patted his back. "Yeah, I thought so too." He gave a shuddering sigh, feeling like he was about to break down and cry all over again.

"I'm so glad you apologized!" bawled the little reindeer. "If you hadn't, we might really have left you behind!"

"You guys were really that mad at me?" asked Usopp, feeling the same pained feeling he had back when he implored the crew to take him back, before he realized that he had to apologize. That nasty feeling that you had when you realize that you did something that might not be forgiven. By now, as he did back then, he thought that crew had forgiven him after he assisted with Robin's rescue (at that time, since Sanji and Zoro and others already figured out who he was, he figured that Luffy and Chopper would have figured out by now that he was Sniper King).

"Well, Luffy was happy enough to welcome you back into the crew right away," explained Chopper, calming down a bit. "In fact, I think we all were. Except for Zoro, I think."

"Zoro?"

"Yeah. We about to go get you, but Zoro stopped us and convinced Luffy that we shouldn't allow you back on until you apologized. He didn't want leaving the crew to be so easy."

"Oh, I see." Hearing this, Usopp felt something sink inside. Luffy clearly forgave him and was happy to have him back on the crew; that much was clear. And when Luffy had brought Usopp onto the ship, everyone, including Zoro was smiling. But the fact that Zoro had convinced them to bring him back aboard only after he apologized made Usopp realize that Zoro might have been even angrier with Usopp over his mutiny against Luffy than Luffy ever was. Zoro may be as stupid as Luffy sometimes, but, as a counterbalance to Luffy's continuously carefree attitude, he was continuously serious, and values like loyalty and faith in the captain mattered a great deal more to him than to anyone else on the crew. Especially loyalty- that much was clear, as he always followed Luffy's orders, no matter how stupid or nonsensical they may seem. Usopp's actions might seem something like sacrilege to him.

Thinking more about it now, that sinking feeling, which had vanished during the festivities, returned. Did Zoro forgive him? Well, perhaps he did, as he seemed just as happy to have Usopp back on the crew as anyone else. But would Zoro respect him, or even trust him again? The feeling that one of his nakama might not trust him as much as the others was horrible to Usopp.

"Seen anything interesting?" said a gruff voice. Usopp, who had been staring blankly out the window, turned to see Zoro's head sticking out from the floor, where the hole-in-the-floor entrance to the crow's nest was.

He threw his hands and legs up in exaggerated surprise. "Whoa, Zoro! I didn't hear you come up."

Zoro shrugged and climbed into the room. "What were you looking at?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking."

"You must be more tired than you thought. Here, I'll take over. I was coming up here for training anyway."

"Training? Already? But the party just ended! And weren't you drunk out of your gourd a few minutes ago?"

"It's been three hours. That's long enough for me to get over it." In spite of saying this, he gripped his forehead with a grimace. Usopp didn't blame him- after that battle, the hangover he would be getting soon would probably be one hell of a doozy. "Anyway, I don't want to waste any more time. Got to start training again."

Usopp hid a smirk. He was right; Zoro definitely loved the new gym.

"Still," he said, "are you sure you should be training now, with a hangover and all?"

Zoro shrugged again. "Best way to take my mind off it. Damn hangover certainly won't let me go back to sleep."

Usopp almost whistled, before remembering that a high-pitched noise would probably be enough to induce Zoro to kill him at this point. Usually, nothing kept Zoro from getting to sleep.

"In any case, you're probably tired after all that. Go down and get some sleep," said Zoro, removing his swords and inspecting them.

"How can you keep watch if you're training? I'll keep watch."

Zoro looked like he was going to argue, but he gritted his teeth and gripped his head again. "Fine, if that's what you want."

Zoro's arrival had given a wake-up call to Usopp, and he returned to his task much more alert. After another hour of seeing nothing interesting, though, Usopp felt bored enough to try to talk to Zoro.

"So, Zoro. Uh…how many kata was that? Sixty?"

"Five hundred and twenty-nine. And don't interrupt me," he replied shortly.

"Ok." Usopp remembered what he'd been thinking about before- his concern whether Zoro would ever trust him or respect him again. He realized that this time was better than any other to ask Zoro about that. But he had a feeling deep down that he already knew what the answer might be, which was enough to make him reconsider asking. Feeling that your nakama didn't trust or respect you was hard enough, but knowing it for sure when they confirmed it felt much, much worse. However, his braver side, which seemed to start forming when he first met Luffy and the others, started to nag him, encouraging him to ask. You'll never know if you don't ask, it kept saying. Come on, what's the worst he can say?

That he doesn't trust me, said his negative side, a side to Usopp that he had been aware of his whole life. How can I fight alongside a friend when he doesn't trust me?

His brave side and negative side went back and forth for several minutes, before Usopp finally decided that instead of asking whether Zoro respected him or trusted him, he would ask whether he forgave him. He was much less sure of the answer to that question, enough that he wasn't quite as afraid of the answer.

"Hey Zoro," he said when he noticed that Zoro was taking a break.

"Yeah?" Zoro grunted, rubbing a towel over his head.

"Do…do you…" Usopp swallowed. "Do you forgive me?"

Zoro stopped, then glanced at him. "Of course I do." He leaned over to pick up one of his other swords.

"You-you do?!" sputtered Usopp. He didn't realize just how afraid he was of Zoro's answer. "You- you do know I'm talking about what happened with Luffy and… and …Merry…"

"Yeah, I do. You apologized for it, so I forgive you. In any case, you should be more concerned about whether Luffy forgives you or not."

I already know he forgives me, Usopp thought, but he didn't dare say this out loud, concerned that Zoro might think him overconfident or something. Instead, he said, "Chopper told me that you convinced Luffy that I shouldn't be allowed back on the crew until I apologize. From Luffy's reaction to my apology, well…" he trailed off, unsure how to proceed.

"Yeah, I'd say he's forgiven you." Usopp was taken by surprise by Zoro's comment. "I'm just saying, in this case, it's more important whether Luffy forgives you than whether I forgive you. Not only did you go against him that time, but he's the captain."

Usopp nodded. "Well yeah, that makes sense. But…I don't know how I can fight alongside you guys if you didn't forgive me, or trust me."

He surprised himself by mentioning one of his worries so casually and without thinking. He didn't dare say anything about respect- he felt that was asking a bit too much after what happened.

"Well, I forgive you," grunted Zoro as he was swishing his sword up and down in kata. "As for trust, well…"

A lump formed in Usopp's throat as he waited for Zoro's answer. To his disbelief, Zoro stopped his kata, stood upright, then went over to sit next to Usopp on the bench that encircled the crow's nest.

"As for trust," Zoro said again, "That depends." Usopp gave him a confused look, but Zoro went on, "When you first joined us, I was unsure whether you would actually follow Luffy as your captain. After all, you were always calling yourself 'the great Captain Usopp,' and then there was your flag design when we were trying to come up with our flag…"

"Oh, right," mumbled Usopp, remembering that time he painted a skull shaped like his own head with a slingshot behind it.

"…but for the most part you seemed to follow Luffy as your captain, so I let it roll off," Zoro continued. "And then, you were always acting cowardly, refusing to go onto islands where Luffy wanted to go, claiming that you had 'I-can't-go-onto-that-scary-island-itis' or whatever, and then you're always screaming that we should be running for our lives instead of fighting whenever we come up against some enemy or enemies. Things like that were as annoying as hell, even though we all know you're a coward."

Usopp swallowed, staring at his knees.

"Even so, you're at least brave when it counts."

Usopp gaped a little, and turned his eyes in Zoro's direction.

"Whenever it really mattered, like in that fight against Arlong, or when we were in Alabasta, or when we were in Skypeia, or hell, even when you went up against the Franky family at Water 7 or fought with us to save Robin- even that time when we were handcuffed together-" he sounded irritated here, pausing before he continued- "you always stuck it out and fought as hard you could. We never blamed you for what happened with the Franky family because of that. If there's one thing that we trust about you, it's that you fight hard when it matters. In fact, I respect it."

"You-you respect me?" exclaimed Usopp, his third worry addressed.

"As a man," Zoro replied, inspecting his swords again. "Especially that time you challenged Luffy for the Merry."

Usopp stared at him. "What? Seriously? I thought you'd be furious with me!"

"Oh, believe me, I was," said Zoro, giving him a demonic look that made Usopp cower in terror. "I was incredibly furious. But you were throwing yourself into a fight you couldn't win, which I'm sure you knew, but you still gave it your all. If you'd tried to leave us by disappearing on us and then take the Merry instead of directly confronting us, or if you tried to even out the odds in your challenge by getting someone who might have a chance against Luffy to fight for you, then it didn't matter whether you helped us rescue Robin a thousand times or if you apologized a million times; if Luffy still forgave you and let you come back to the crew, I would've left right then and there. I won't stand to have a crewmate like that. But you're not. You acted like a man, and I respect you for it."

After that, there was silence. Usopp was trying to process the idea that the brash, not-afraid-of-death swordsman Zoro actually had any respect for him, and Zoro was simply preoccupied with his swords.

He stood up, feeling that he had taken a long enough break, and added, "One more thing. I respect you as a man and I trust you as my friend, but not as my crewmate." He turned to give Usopp a serious look. "That was gone when you left us. If you want those things back, you'll have to prove it."

Usopp looked at him in the eyes. "Yeah, you're right." He swallowed. "I will."

Author's Note: So, I hope I didn't make Zoro seem to chatty, but like the time he demanded that Usopp should apologize, he says a lot when he needs to. I think this is what he thinks about Usopp, though I don't know whether he would say it as I wrote. Tried to keep it short and to the point though, since he seems like that kind of guy. One of my favorite characters!

As for Usopp, I didn't really see much of Usopp's better qualities until I wrote this. I know that he's a favorite among the English dub voice actors, which puzzled me. I admire his skills, but for the most part his overconfidence or cowardice often drove me crazy. Amazing how writing a story about him made me think more deeply about his character.

It was nice to write a story about Zoro and Usopp, who don't seem to have much interaction in general. In fact, there don't seem to be a lot of stories between the two, so I'm glad to add another to that particular category.

Looked it over and revised it a bit. I'll be curious if anyone actually notices a difference. Please review!