Chapter 4: Apples

Night time came quickly to the group in the car. Nami was beginning to wonder what had happened to make the swordsman run from the police like he did. And Luffy too. What could a boy who seemed as innocent as Luffy do, to become a fugitive?

Zoro's eyes were half closed, and he looked as though he was in serious need of sleep. Luffy was curled up in the passengers' seat, his hand curled under his chin and his legs drawn up into his chest. It was really quite cute. Nami peered at the dark haired driver.

"Why don't we pull over and you get some rest?" she suggested. Zoro's brows furrowed and his mouth turned down in an obvious no. "Come on, you're gonna kill us all if you don't. What do you think I'm going to do? Chuck you out and drive off and leave you here to die? I wouldn't do that to Luffy."

"Ah, but you'd do it to me." Zoro responded. Nami smiled.

"Of course." she teased and then a serious look overtook her face. "What happened?" she asked quietly. Zoro looked up in the mirror again.

"What?"

"What happened? How did you become a… fugitive?"

"None of your business." the swordsman snapped. Nami frowned.

"Fine, then how did Luffy become a fugitive?" she asked. Zoro's eyes travelled to Luffy and came to rest on the boy's face for a few minutes, a slightly annoyed but sad look in his eyes.

"It was my fault." he muttered as he turned back to the road. "The police surrounded me and Luffy walked into the area. The police threatened to shoot him, saying that if he continued then he would be thought to be working with me. Luffy was wearing headphones and didn't even hear them and continued. I grabbed him and pulled him down an alleyway." he explained. Nami tilted her head and brushed a strand of orange hair behind her ear.

"So, how do you figure it was your fault?"

"Because now they think he's a part of my 'gang' and if they find him… they'll kill him." and he sighed as he pulled the car over to the side of the road, making sure it was a fair way from the highway as he did so. Stopping the car behind a particularly large bush, he turned in his seat and leaned towards her, green eyes luminous in the darkness.

"I am going to sleep, and if you so much as try and take over the car, I'll know." he hissed, keeping his voice low so he didn't wake Luffy. Nami glared straight back. "…and I'll kill you." he added. Well, that struck the woman as something to actually fear, though she didn't show it.

"Fine. Whatever. Get your face out of mine, you're creeping me out." she replied hotly. Zoro snorted and faced the front again. It wasn't long before she heard the soft snores of the swordsman.

Nami watched him for a bit, and it didn't seem to her as though he would actually kill someone. He just didn't seem the type, no matter how much he tried to pretend to be mean, and nasty, when he was approached in the right way, he was quite nice.

Unfortunately, any way Nami approached him happened to be the wrong way. She leaned back in the seat and let her head rest on the soft cushiony material. Luffy mumbled something and then she was drifting to sleep.

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Zoro carefully opened an eye, his pupils dilating to adjust to the light now streaming through the front of the car. He brought a hand up to rub at his face sleepily and then sat forward, reaching arms out to either side and stretch. Yawning, he reached out blindly to make sure his swords were still at his side, but instead, he felt the scratchy material of a straw hat.

"Luffy?" he mumbled before opening his eyes fully and noticing the boy wasn't there. He sat up and nearly hit his head on the roof of the car. Nami was still asleep on the back seat so she couldn't have done anything.

Getting out of the car quickly, hands clenching around his swords instinctively. Searching the area frantically, he tried to spot anything that would lead him to find his friend.

He walked forward cautiously. Something didn't feel right. A crunch caught his attention and he snapped his head around to spot a small sign that Luffy had been through here.

Another crunch made him turn and begin making his way towards the bush. He paused beneath a large tree and looked around, his thumb flicking the sword out of it's sheath and then pressing it back again in agitation.

"Hi Zoro!" a voice called from above, making the nervous swordsman yelp and spin around. Luffy was sitting in the tree above him, happily munching on some red apples. Zoro pressed a hand to his out of control heart and then chuckled.

"What are you doing up there?" he finally asked. Luffy grinned and tossed an apple at the older man's head.

"Eating. I was hungry." the boy replied before biting deeply into the one in his hand and then chuckling in contentment. Zoro shook his head and looked down at the apple he was rolling between the palms of his hands. They would probably need some more for the rest of the trip if they could. Looking back up again he asked,

"How many more are up there?" Luffy looked around, taking a quick inventory.

"Well, I can see heaps of shiny objects so, that must mean there's heaps up here, right?" he asked and then looked down at the swordsman with a broad grin. Zoro thought a moment and then shook his head.

"Move over, I'm coming up there." he replied before taking his swords from his waist and gently laying them against the tree. Luffy made a happy squeak and moved along the branch. It was a rather thin branch but that didn't seem to bother the swordsman climbing up or the happily munching teen at all. Zoro twisted and sat on the branch, looking around. Indeed, the apples were shining in the sun so Luffy was in fact right.

Wow, who would guess? Zoro raised an eyebrow at Luffy who paused and looked back at him.

"What?" he asked. Zoro shrugged.

"Why didn't you bring your hat up here with you?"

"Because I was worried I would lose it, and that hat means a lot to me." Luffy replied before biting into his apple again. Zoro nodded in agreement. "I was right though wasn't I?" Zoro chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Nope."

"What? But, look, heaps of shiny thingy's!" Luffy cried as he pointed towards the apples. Zoro shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Can't see." he responded. Luffy giggled.

"Open your eyes silly." the boy said. Zoro shook his head again. The next thing he felt was fingers roving over his closed eyelids, trying to pry them apart.

"Hey!" he yelped and jumped, causing the branch to make a barely audible crunch but the two didn't notice.

"Well you wouldn't open them!" Luffy responded still giggling. Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"So now I have to get revenge." the swordsman muttered. Luffy giggled harder as Zoro reached over and began to tickle the smaller boy. Luffy cried out, giggling so hard he could barely breathe. The branch crunched again but still the two didn't notice as Zoro got his revenge on Luffy.

It was when the branch finally gave way that the two went tumbling. Luckily, it wasn't really that far from the ground and the branch did a rather graceful fall as it finally broke under the strain. Zoro and Luffy tumbled onto each other and rolled over on the ground, momentarily stunned. Luffy was the first to notice where he was and he looked around before snorting.

Zoro opened his eyes, arms pinned to his sides by Luffy's knees. He heard the snort and looked up to see Luffy's face inches from his own. Zoro found that his face was beginning to warm and then Luffy jumped up.

"Zoro! You're too heavy! You broke the branch!" he cried and then laughed. Zoro was still in shock from waking up to discover Luffy sitting on top of him. "Oi! Are you asleep?"

"N-no. I'm awake." and he sat up, pulling twigs from his hair as he did so and brushing his arms, anything to avoid Luffy's eyes. The boy shrugged and then proceeded to climb the tree as easily as a monkey, finding another branch higher up and sitting on that to grab any apples that were within reach.

"Catch!" he called. Zoro looked up and indeed caught an apple… right in the face. Luffy laughed.

"You did that on purpose." Zoro muttered as he glared up at the smaller boy. Luffy poked his tongue out and then said.

"Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't but at least it's not raining carrots." the boy responded. It was then Zoro realised, Luffy wasn't as dumb as he acted. And as he caught the apples Luffy threw down and gently placed them on the ground, he thought about what had happened.

It must have been that bump to his head that did it, the ground must have been harder than he thought, and he dismissed it, thinking it would never happen again and that it was nothing more than a moment of disorientation.

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Nami tapped her fingers impatiently against the top of the car, drumming them in a musical tune she knew. Where the hell had those two gone and what could be taking so long? She let a small smile spread across her face.

Cheeky thoughts of what they could be doing swept across her mind, but they were quickly quelled when the two walked out of the bushes, arms laden with apples. Luffy was grinning from ear to ear but Zoro seemed agitated about something. Luffy deposited the apples on the passenger seat and then pouted.

"Where am I going to sit?" he asked. Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Nami, do you have any plastic bags or something?" Zoro inquired. Nami thought for a moment and then her face brightened.

"In the boot." she cried and rushed around to the back of the car to grab out the plastic bag holder she kept there, just in case. Pulling out a few bags, she hurried back around to the front of the car again. Holding one open for the swordsman, Zoro tipped the apples carefully into the bag while Luffy stuffed the apples in a bag on the other side of the car.

"So, what happened?" she asked quietly. Zoro frowned.

"Not that again." he muttered. Nami paused and then shook her head.

"No, I meant what happened in the bush?" Zoro's head shot up and a slight pink tinge came to his cheeks.

"Nothing. Luffy found some apples, that's all." he replied dropping about five apples on the ground.

"Hey Nami! Listen to this!" Luffy cried, apparently bored with putting the apples in the bag and bounding over to her. Nami put on a smile. "Zoro and me were playing in the tree and the branch broke! We fell down and I ended up on top of Zoro! Isn't that funny?" he asked and began laughing.

Nami paused and then her eyes narrowed and she turned to look at the swordsman, whose face had gone a darker pink than before. So, something had happened.

"Yeah Luffy, that's pretty funny. Why don't you put the last of the apples in the bags and then we can get moving." she replied with a smile. Luffy pouted and then nodded before running back to the other side of the car again, humming a tuneless song.

"Nothing huh?" Nami teased. Zoro's frown deepened and he glared at her, harsh green eyes narrowing for a moment before going back to concentrating on getting the apples in the bag. Nami's brain went into over load and she was ready to have a little fun with this.