Well, you asked for it. After a lot a consideration…forgetting this fic existed, and then getting a review to remind us…we decided to write a sort of alternate ending. Mind you, it's a happy ending, so if you liked the sad ending better, you can ignore this one. Well here it is!

I'll be Home for Christmas

-DM Twins-

"Three months ago, Luffy got two letters. The first one told him that his boyfriend, Zoro—"

"The one that was drafted…" Kaya cut in. Usopp nodded.

"Yeah. The letter said that the base that Zoro was stationed at was attacked. Luffy didn't take it well…to say the least, and since this is the first Christmas after that, so try to be careful about what you say, okay?" Kaya nodded solemnly. She knew how hard it was to lose someone. Deciding that his work was done, Usopp moved to get out of the car, but Kaya grabbed his arm.

"What about the second letter?"

"That was from Zoro. He never had the chance to mail it, so they mailed it for him… It said that, for one reason or another, he wasn't going to make it back for Christmas. He didn't know how right he was." The solumn look on his face almost made Kaya regret asking at all--Luffy was obviously not the only of effected by the letters. Without another word, Usopp got out of the car, and, with snow crunching beneath his feet, he started up the un-shoveled walk. Kaya soon joined him. To lighten the mood, Usopp pointed out that Sanji had already arrived. When they reached the door, Kaya rang the bell.

Almost instantly, the door flew open, and Usopp quickly clapped a hand over Sanji's puckered mouth.

"Not Nami. Sorry." After a moments hesitation he added "Don't even think about it." And he led Kaya inside, being sure to steer wide of Sanji and the mistletoe he'd nailed over the door. The house smelled like Christmas. A mixture of aromas from turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and the many other foods that Sanji had cooked was wafting in through the kitchen.

"Hey Usopp!" shouted someone from the other room. A moment later, an enthusiastic face appeared at the door.

"Hey Luffy." He gestured to Kaya, "This is my girlfriend, Kaya." The moment the words left his mouth, he regreted it. Luffy put on a huge smile, but his eyes betrayed him. He was always a terrible liar. Kaya didn't seem to notice as he accepted her outstretched hand. Again Luffy turned to Usopp, who was busy kicking himself for mentioning their relationship.

"We haven't started decorating yet, come help!" He started to lead the two into the living room, "Two things you need during Christmas are decorations and food." Luffy pulled the lid from a box in the corner and dragged it over to the fireplace to hang stockings and decorate the mantle. Usopp walked to a separate box and began pulling out and sorting the branches of an artificial tree. For a moment Kaya looked lost, until Sanji kindly handed her a box of bows to fix to the stairs before he returned to the doorway, where he was nailing enough mistletoe to feed an army—assuming they ate mistletoe. Nobody was going to get past on his watch. He was humming to himself as he worked, and was obviously excited. Needless to say, when he heard a familiar voice form the kitchen announce it's presence, he nearly bit through his cigarette.

"Nami-swan! But…how?!" He cried. She frowned and glanced at the ceiling, regarding the mistletoe-covered doorframe with an unamused look and a sigh.

"I came in through the back. One would think that after doing the same thing for so many years, you would get a better strategy." She sighed again as if to say he was hopeless and grabbed the remote, turning the TV on and flipping it to the news. She then disappeared into the kitchen, with Sanji on her heels.

Usopp was now assembling the tree, which was apparently a two person job because Kaya had abandoned the bows and was attempting to help. From his place by the mantle, Luffy withdrew the last of the stockings. He sat staring at it, lost in thought for what felt like hours before Luffy hung it up. Usopp noticed, as did Kaya, but neither said anything. If Luffy wanted to hang Zoro's stocking then who were they to tell him not to?

"Hey Luffy. Where're the Christmas lights?" Luffy didn't respond at first, but after a few moments of silence he glanced from the mantle, confused, before the question fully registered in his mind, and he rose to get them with a mumbled reply that wasn't entirely coherent. He left the room, and from the other side of the house the door to the garageopened and closed.

Usopp and Kaya's eyes met, and he sighed.

"What's up?" asked Nami, who had just emerged from the kitchen. The two pointed to the stocking and she frowned at it, shrugging her shoulders with a "forget about it" motion before crossing the room and pulling a throw pillow off the couch and onto the floor. She sat dow and started watching the news, content to not help in the least. She flipped the channel and the television erupted into a chorus of "I'll be Home for Christmas." She immediately flipped the TV back to the news.

"S'nothing good on…" she mumbled, glancing across the room to see if Luffy had heard. He had walked into the room, but seemed more-or-less content, and handed Usopp the Christmas lights. They strung them up in silence for a moment, before, much to everyone's surprise, Luffy began humming the same tune. Before anyone could say anything about it, Luffy let out a sigh and locked eyes with Usopp, who happened to be the closest to him.

"Don't worry about it." He commanded, before returning to his charge as though nothing had been said at all. Nami seemed like she was going to say something else, but hesitated. She drummed her fingers on the floor a few times before sliding to put a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"Luffy..." she bit her lip, wondering what could possibly be said at a time like this. He saved her the trouble of saying anything at all, and instead put a hand over the one on his shoulder to brush it gently off. He clenched his teeth tightly together. He wasn't angry, not really. Just lonely, and a little frustrated. Frustrated that it was even possible to be surrounded by your friends on Christmas Eve and feel so unbelievably lonely. He realized that everyone was starting at him, and, for lack of something better, shrugged his shoulders and continued stringing the tree. Sanji called Nami and Kaya from the kitchen, no doubt to shower them in seasonal gifts.

Kaya got up first and walked toward the kitchen, only to be yanked away by the arm. Usopp walked into the kitchen and tore down the mistletoe that had been nailed there--much to Sanji's disdain--before the ladies followed him into the kitchen. They'd all come the mutual agreement that they would just give Luffy some space until dinner.

Luffy finished stringing the lights around the tree and plugged it in. The lights didn't come on, and at first he was confused as to why, but then he realized that he hadn't put the star on the top yet, and the lights wouldn't work without it. He didn't even bother grabbing it from the box, because he wouldn't be able to put the star on anyway, he was just a little too short to put the star on himself--that was Zoro's job. So Luffy set the star aside--he would ask Sanji to put it up for him, or maybe grab a chair to stand on--but not right now. All he really wanted to do was sit, gather his wits about him, and eat christmas dinner with his friends like he did every other year.

Only it wasn't like ever other year...

Before he could finish the thought, the doorbell rang, snapping him out of his thoughts, first once, then five more times in rapid succession, as if the person were impatient after waiting for two whole seconds. Luffy frowned and walked to the door; he looked out the peep hole but saw no one. He pulled it open and was surprised to see a neatly wrapped present sitting on the porch. Stepping outside and leaving the door open despite the cold, Luffy grabbed up the present and brushed the snow off the bottom of the package. The present was bright red, with a mistletoe pattern on the sides. On the tag was a simple: for Luffy, with no notification as to who it was from.

He carefully peeled back the paper and removed a brown box; a smile of anticipation, as well as puzzlement, was evident on his features. From that, he withdrew a photograph of Zoro and himself in a cracked frame. The smile vanished from his face as his mind went completely blank. The stunned silence quickly turned to anger as he realised that someone had decided to play a prank on him. He was ready to scream; to literally kill whoever had decided it would be cute to mess with him like that, especially on a day like this, when he heard Nami in the doorway. He turned to see what it was she wanted but stopped dead.

Zoro grinned and grabbed the picture frame before Luffy could drop it. For a moment Luffy just started, not comprehending anything. A moment later an intense feeling, all the sorrow, the emptiness that he'd carried with him for these past months left him in an instant, replaced with an unbleivable, unexplainable feeling of wholeness. As though all was well in the world. And without a word Luffy captured Zoro's lips in his own, grabbing his shoulders in a subconcious attempt to keep him from leaving again. Warm breath mixed together to be released in white plumes into the cold evening air. He tasted salt, and Luffy couldn't help but wonder if he was crying, or if it was Zoro. Perhaps both.

Luffy wrapped his arms around the older man, resting his forehead against his broad shoulder and allowed himself to be pulled into the embrace. Despite the cold, he felt warmer now than he had in far too long.

Yes, we realize that's very open-ended. But we were also considering writing a separate fic focusing on Zoro and his experiences as a prisoner of war. Until then, I hope you liked this happy ending. Please R&R.