My entry for tumblr's ZoLu Week. Today's prompt is PROMISE. I had quite a bit of help in the planning stage from tumblr user thefujoshitorulethemall! couldn't have done it without em!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything!

Luffy was a man who always kept his promises. In return, he expected others to do the same. This was especially true when it came to those he trusted.

When Sabo was killed, Ace made two promises; one to Luffy, and one to Sabo. He promised Luffy not to die, and Sabo that he would protect Luffy. Ten years later, one promise was broken to keep the other.

Luffy held tightly to promises made to him after that. He didn't want any of the remaining promises he had to be broken. He'd promised many things to many people, and many people had promised things to him.

His first mate, Zoro, had promised him two things. Zoro promised Luffy that if he ever got in the way of his dream, he'd kill him. Zoro then promised he would not lose again.

The Straw Hats had been docked at a quiet island. The sun was making its way down to the horizon, and the crew was gathered in the galley for dinner. It was there it got out that the first promise Zoro had made had been broken.

Someone had brought up the topic of Thriller Bark, and as much as Zoro tried to avoid the topic, it came out to Luffy what had transpired while he was unconscious.

Luffy had known for a while that the first promise had seemingly become invalid, but the fact it was broken sent a horrible feeling to his stomach. He stood up and left the room, the vision of Zoro, covered in more wounds than he'd ever seen him, in the forefront of him mind. Now he knew half of the wounds where his own, and it did not help him any.

He'd been unconscious for days, out longer than any time before. Luffy knew Sanji, who had found Zoro that day and, as Luffy had learned today, seen the whole thing, had not slept well since the event.

"Nothing happened" Zoro had said, but something did happen. Zoro had broke his promise, and then he'd lied.

If Zoro broke his first promise, would he keep his second?

Luffy had found himself in the bathroom, leaning against the door. He didn't remember walking into the room but it appeared that was where he had ended up. There was a knock on the door and soon it opened. Luffy barely caught himself from falling with it, catching a flash of green as he sat up again. It was Zoro, who closed the door behind himself and stood in front of Luffy. There was silence for a few seconds.

"I don't regret it." Zoro said, finally, and Luffy blew up.

"You broke our promise! And then you lied to me, let me think it was still good! You… sacrificing should be the captain's job! Not yours!"

"Well, someone has to look out for the captain! And who better to do it than the first mate! The crew needs you!" Zoro yelled.

"I don't want anyone to have to look out for me!" Luffy yelled. His voice quieted then as he said "Ace used to look out for me, and look where that landed him. He died protecting me."

"Ace loved you. I'm sure he doesn't regret it. It's why I don't regret it. And I'd do it again if it meant you'd live to reach your dream." Zoro replied.

"Even if it means you won't live to reach yours?"

"Even if it means I won't live to reach mine. I don't want to be the Worlds Greatest Swordsman unless I'm following the King of the Pirates on all his crazy adventures! It wouldn't be right if I lived and you died just because you didn't want me fighting for your life when you couldn't do it for yourself! What kind of pirate would I be if I let my captain die when I could do something about it!" Luffy paused for a minute, before finally saying

"The kind who follows orders"

"What?"

"Zoro, I order you not to sacrifice yourself for me"

Zoro couldn't promise that. maybe two years ago he had followed Luffy's order over his life, but now he wasn't so sure

"I don't know if I can do that for you, Captain"

"If you can't follow my orders, you can't be in this crew" Luffy said. He didn't want Zoro to leave, but he can't have Zoro or anyone else dying for him.

Zoro felt like he'd been physically struck and actually took a step back.

"You can't mean that."

"And what if I do? You said it yourself, Zoro! I'm your captain, and the next time someone disrespected me then you would leave yourself! And you said if I got in the way of your dream, you would kill me! Now you're not even listening to my orders!"

Luffy knows he should stop. He's going to say something he'll regret. He should stop.

"Why are you even still here if you want to be gone so bad?!"

But it was too late, he'd already done it.

"Just… leave already!"

Luffy could see with the way Zoro's face fell a bit that he'd gone too far. He wanted to take it back. He wanted so badly to take it back. Zoro stepped back again.

"Fine" Zoro replies, voice cold, and he left the room.

Luffy sat in shock for a moment. He'd basically just kicked Zoro from his crew. He got up and ran from the bathroom just in time to see Zoro hop over the side.

Luffy didn't want Zoro to leave, but if he went after him then Zoro might end up sacrificing himself for him again and Luffy couldn't let that happen.

So Luffy watched him go, the brim of his hat shadowing his eyes, unable to stop the round of tears that have already started falling down his face.

Little did he realize, Zoro wasn't able to stop his tears either.

A few members of the crew tried to talk to Luffy. Sanji went after Zoro: Luffy said that this was his decision. If Zoro wanted to stay he had to follow orders. Sanji came back without Zoro. He said he hadn't found him. It was unclear whether or not that was the truth.

Two days later, the Straw Hat Pirates set sail. None of them wanted to leave without their swordsman, but Luffy, much colder since Zoro left than before, insisted they go on.

He didn't sit on the Sunny's head that day. He sat in the back of the ship and watched the island as they left.

They couldn't go back to get Zoro, but no one wished they could more than the captain himself.

Though Zoro left, he still followed the Straw Hats. He continued trailing behind the ship, ending up places only about an hour or two behind the Thousand Sunny. He fought enemies that plagued the crew from behind, protecting the captain he no longer officially followed under, but followed all the same. He swore he'd protect Luffy, and so he continued to do so even after leaving.

He knew Luffy probably didn't actually mean for him to leave. He didn't actually want to throw Zoro out. And Zoro sure as hell didn't want to quit. But these things had happened, and they did not stop Zoro from protecting his friends.

Zoro also knew they saw him. They had definitely picked up on his shadowing of the Sunny, but they did not show it. Maybe they thought if they pointed it out then he would stop. He wouldn't.

He knew Luffy noticed. Luffy had almost smiled at him, at first. Almost. He did not, though. He rarely smiled. And it hurt.

The lack of the swordsman properly being in the crew showed, though. They weren't as prepared in storms, and the whole crew felt the hole which had seemingly appeared where the swordsman once slept, trained, eaten, slept, and lived. Zoro was as constant to the crew as Luffy was, being there since the beginning. Everything was different without him. But the biggest place it showed was in battle.

A month had passed since Zoro left when the Straw Hats ended up locked into a battle with another crew. Luffy battled the captain, and without someone to fight the swordsman, found the fight interrupted in the form of a sword in his back.

Zoro, who had been trying to restrain himself from interfering, realized this was what he had wanted to stop when he had stormed off the Thousand Sunny a month prior. A wound on his own back would be his greatest shame, but a wound on his captain's back was his greatest failure, a mark of shame much worse than any on his own body.

He charged into the battle field, taking the opposing swordsman's next blow before it could land.

Luffy stared in horror at the sword protruding from Zoro's stomach. It was exactly what he wanted to avoid by throwing Zoro from the crew. Luffy didn't want Zoro to die for him! He wanted Zoro to live!

But instead of following in Ace's footsteps, Zoro pulled Wado Ichimonji from it's sheath and fought back. Of course he did, it dawned on Luffy. He promised not to lose, after all.

Ace had made two promises: not to die, and to protect Luffy. He broke one to keep the other. Zoro had also made two promises, and he had broken one and kept another.

Zoro had taken the hit for Luffy but he would recover. He would keep going. He would not lose.

People may not keep all their promises, but they keep the ones that mattered.

Luffy jumped right back into the fray to help his friend. Together, of course, they won. Zoro had promised, after all.

The other Straw Hat Pirates found Luffy and Zoro victorious but unconscious, already sleeping in an effort to recover. They also found the two side-by-side. And for the first time in a while, things began to feel right again.

Of course, when Zoro woke up in the infirmary, he was a little uncomfortable. He still needed to talk to Luffy about coming back, for he at technically was not a Straw Hat Pirate. Chopper quickly made his escape, leaving the two alone as soon as Luffy began to come to. When Luffy realized where he was and with who, the air of the infirmary began to feel incredibly awkward. The two men looked at each other, and then averted their gaze to anything else they could find. Then, at the same time,

"Lu-"

"Zor-"

And they then stopped and lapsed back into silence.

"So…" Luffy started again "You were following us? The whole time?"

"I was, uh, in the neighborhood. We were going the same direction, and…" Zoro sighed "…yeah."

"I didn't mean it." Luffy said quietly, after a long pause. "I just didn't want you to get hurt"

"You can't expect me not to get hurt. We're pirates. it's part of the job."

"Well, it doesn't have to be. Not if I do my job right. I'm supposed to be protecting my crew."

"And I'm… I was supposed to be protecting you. That's… it was my job." Luffy frowned. He wanted Zoro back in his crew. More than anything he wanted Zoro back in his crew. But first, he needed to be sure of one thing:

"Zoro, can you promise me something?"

"Depends." Zoro replied.

"Promise me you won't lose."

"…Okay, I promise."

Luffy knew he couldn't make Zoro promise not to sacrifice himself for him. It's what had caused Zoro to leave in the first place. So he could at least be sure that if Zoro did, he wouldn't lose the man. And with that assured, he had a new issue to address.

"You know, the… position of first mate is open." Luffy said, a genuine smile breaking out on his face for the first time since Zoro left. "and I need someone strong who I can trust. Can you do it, Zoro?"

"Oh, I don't know…"

"What?!"

"I'm kidding. I'll take it… Captain."

Luffy threw himself at Zoro, wrapping his arms around his first mate who he'd missed so much.

"I missed this. I missed you" Luffy said, after a pause, and sat in the man's lap. Zoro's quick to wrap his arms around his captain.

"I did too." he replied.

"Can you promise me something else?" Luffy asked.

"Probably."

"Don't leave me"

"I promise"

That was when the two heard the voce of Sanji:

"FUCKING FINALLY!" he yelled.

"HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING TO WHOLE TIME?!" Zoro yelled back angrily.

"No!" came a chorus of voices, and the sound of seven pairs of feet quickly retreating could be heard from outside the door.

"YOU ASSHOLES!" Zoro yelled, getting up and leaving the room. Luffy could hear the sounds of a sword meeting a foot as Zoro and Sanji had a small duel on deck.

He then heard the sound of two bodies hitting the deck as Nami put a stop to their duel, and Chopper's shriek of "Zoro is still injured!"

The door opened and Zoro was back in the infirmary. Luffy smiled, and then laughed as the man sat down next to him and seemed to pout. Everything was slowly going back to normal.

...Or at least, as normal as things could be for the Straw Hat Pirates.