A/N: I own nothing but the words~. Enjoy.
The day had been warmer than usual, and even Perona knew that meant storms were bound to arise at some point. While she was used to the rainy skies of her old home, the thunder and lightning were always something that terrified her. It was loud, it was bright, and kept her awake at all hours of the night. And even though the storm was a good couple miles off, she cringed with every strike; every distant boom, until finally she was out of the bed with the promise of a nice cup of tea set in her mind.
She hadn't made it three steps before the loud noise of the thunder boomed through the castle, causing the pinkette to wince at it's sound. Two more steps and there was another sound added into the mix; steel clashing against something. It confused her, as both Mihawk and Zoro had retired to their beds hours ago. Was she imaging things? It seemed to be coming from outside, and as she drew closer and closer to the opened window, it grew louder and louder.
She had to be hearing things. No one was awake in order to be practicing, and if she knew Zoro, he would value his much needed sleep in order to be ready to train in the morning. Yet as she reached the window, a shock look filled her face. The small droplets of rain had started to pour, and out there in them was the green headed swordsman himself. He was panting, and seemed almost out of breath. Perona knew he had sustained several severe wounds during the day, and to see him out there hitting his swords against the steel of a forgotten post upset her quite a bit.
All that hard work tending to his wounds, and here he was going to ruin it all by getting dirty and opening them up again. Her eyebrows knitted together as she floated out of the window and towards him. Two feet away, and she had begun her assault, "Stupid swordsman! What do you think you-" She stopped mid sentence, her heart dropping at the look on his face.
He was in pain, and lots of it. There was a deep gash on his left eye; deeper than Perona had ever seen, and it caused a look of pure worry on her face.
It was then too, that she noticed he wasn't fighting a post, but rather a fairly weird looking creature. It looked more like a shadow than real, but what got her the most it's shape. For if he weren't standing right next to her, she could have sworn it was Zoro himself.
So was he…fighting himself? Was this one of Moriah's doings? No, it couldn't be. She would know his work.
"Stay back." His words commanded, as the grip on his swords tightened.
This infuriated Perona, and she pouted, "Idiot! You're hurt, you're going to die if you don't stop this! Just let me tak-"
"I said stay back!" It was much more forceful than before, and she could have sworn a shiver rolled down her spine. He was being stupid. If she didn't treat that wound soon he may very well lose his eye, and then that cute face of his would be completely ruined! As frantic as she was, she heeded his words, watching the two battle it out until finally, the shadow dissipated, and Zoro had sunk to his knees.
Her eyes widened, the sopping wet mess of her hair flying in every direction as she rushed to him. As her knees hit the mud as well, she tore at the precious dress a desperate attempt to pressurize the wound and stop the bleeding. He slapped her hand away at first, but that only made her come at him again. As her hand placed itself over his left eye, she took in a shaggy breath.
"Don't do things like this! You could have died, stupid!" She scolded, watching as he drew out a deep sigh, closing his eyes.
He bit his tongue, refraining from yelling back just yet. Besides, the blood lost was really starting to take a toll on him, "What'd you want me to do then, huh? Let it kill you?"
"….No, but I-I just…"
A smirk traced his lips then, as if he had just realized something. "You were worried."
"I was not!"
"Were too."
"I-I wasn't!" Yes, this was childish, but she felt the need to hid that indeed, she was worried about him. Less he figure out she actually cared for him.
Another smirk, followed by the grazing of one of his fingers against her cold, wet cheek. "It's alright. I was worried too."
The feel of his skin against her cheek brought a bright color to her face, and she tried her best to concentrate on keeping pressure on the wound. "Y-You!…" She stuttered as his hand moved from her cheek to one of the damp strands of her hair, twisting it between his fingers. What the hell was this? What was he playing at? Why was he all the sudden brushing her cheek and playing with her wet hair? None of this was making sense, but these things were nothing compared to what he was about to do.
In a swift movement, he tugged at her waist, pulling her tattered clothing and bringing her body with it until her chest met his chest. He then proceeded to wrap his arms around her forearms and pull her into a hug.
She had dropped the clothing completely, shocked at the man's actions. He was hugging her, in the rain, with one of his eyes ready to pop out. This, had to be one of the most bizarre things to ever happen to her. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about hugging him before, she just never thought it would be like this. And was that his lips against the top of her head? She wasn't quite sure.
"At least worried about myself."
And then he ruined it completely. A loud chuckle emitted from his lips, and her hands clutched the shirt on his chest in anger. She pushed him away, a deep scowl on her face.
"Stupid! I'm not going to heal that wound of yours!" She began to stop off, leaving the man in the puddle of mud, laughing to himself. As she walked back into the castle, she looked down at her drenched clothing and hair. To think she had torn her dress and gotten all wet just for his stupid ass, only to have him make some comment like that.
How rude, and she was planning on telling him so the moment he came back in….along with cleaning that gash of his.