pairing: LuNa
rating: T
Love and Anger
Usopp knew that life was full of mysteries. Some great, some small, some insignificant, some destined to never be revealed. Love was the latter.
Love could make you do things you'd never do otherwise. Love could make it impossible to think straight causing you to act crazy. Usopp had seen several different reactions when in love but the oddest of all was anger.
She was often angry and wouldn't hesitate to show her displeasure so Usopp had expected her to soften when in love, for her to mellow out some. In reality it had been more of the opposite.
He watched as she laid into his soaked crewmate who lay gasping for breath. She showed no mercy and it was a scene that had played out hundreds, possibly thousands of times before but this time her anger seemed to spark off of her. She held nothing back, her small hands clenched into dangerous fists which would occasionally rain down on the mess of raven hair. The green haired swordsman who had pulled him out of the treacherous waters simply wrung out his white shirt and walked away, he knew better than to get involved.
The rubber boy simply grinned, unfazed by the lethal anger and pounding blows. Usopp figured he was used to it by now. She got mad quicker of late and her anger was harsher. When the boy would tear off into town without caution, when he'd fall overboard, when he'd get into another fight with an insignificant crook. Her anger would come fast and biting and the rest of the crew would back away.
Yet there were cases where the usual anger was muted. The energetic boy's rambunctiousness was less grating and she would watch him and laugh. When he'd steal food, spill ink on her maps, or simply be making a racket she would breathe deeply and let it pass. Of course the same didn't apply to the others. She's often yell at him or Chopper for being too loud. The lazy swordsman still received the brunt of her day to day anger and the love-sick cook's advances were more often rejected with harsh words and fists.
All of her day to day anger was different from the anger she was tossing at the rubber boy however. This anger was a facade. Usopp had it figured it out, her anger was her security. The anger was something to hide behind when her fear took hold because Usopp understood what fear for a loved one felt like. The anger was easier to deal with. The fear was cold and paralysing and it was a matter of survival to transform it into something different. In the orange haired navigator's case it was anger.
Usopp wasn't the only one who understood this, who could see what she was doing. When she was done her rant the boy would stand up, apologize softly the same grin on his face. Then he picked up the treasured hat and placed it gently on the tangerine hair. Lips brushed together in a soft kiss full of reassurances and the anger dissipated until next time.
Everyone reacted differently when in love. It was just another one of life's mysteries.
