Clarobell: Thanks so much for all of your reviews last chapter guys!! One of you mentioned that Sanji still calls Nami, Nami-san, and just so that you know, in the DD universe, 'Nami-san' for Sanji, is more of a pet name for Nami than a formality, okay? Really, neither can imagine him calling her anything else. Luffy may seem quite OOC in this chapter, but please keep in mind that his emotions are very unbalanced right now.

Plushie: Err, what she said. I'm dying from a sleep deficiency right now, so let's just cut to the chapter eh? -falls over dead-


--DramaticDifferences--

--Part 1:Discoveries--

--Written by Plushie and Clarobell--

Chapter 9: WHOA... that was unexpected...

Zoro, the very subject of Luffy's and Nami's conversation, decided he was going to enter the room at that point with a silent yawn. He blinked as Luffy and Nami stared at him before turning to the younger boy.

"There you are, Luffy. I was worried." he smirked a little, otherwise saying that he was being a little sarcastic. Luffy turned to him and blinked before tilting his head a little.

"Nami wants to make a book thingy… Should I Zoro?" he asked, watching his friend. The older teen blinked back at him before he looked at Nami and then looked back at Luffy again.

"Sure. Then you can have one like me, ne?" he replied, having heard nothing about what they were talking about. He moved in and sat down on the floor beside the coffee table, just feeling like he didn't really want to sit on the couch right now.

"See? So, do you want to tell us some stuff about yourself?" Nami urged, smiling widely at Zoro's back up of her plan. Luffy looked doubtful.

"Oh… but Gramps said…" he began but Zoro frowned.

"Gramps isn't here, Luffy. You can do whatever you want. He's not coming back for you, he's not nice to you. Say whatever you want, okay?" he explained, almost growling. Luffy blinked at him, sensing the angry undertone to Zoro's voice and he fidgeted a little.

"…kay…" he mumbled, nodding a little. Nami looked between them and sighed a little. Luffy thought he was in trouble again.

"Just tell us what you want to, ok? Start small. What's your favourite colour?" She asked and Luffy blinked.

"Um … I think … red!" he replied and Zoro, seeing that Luffy was starting to talk, relaxed a little and then wondered where that anger had come from. He didn't like hearing about 'Gramps' and he didn't like Luffy listening to Gramps. It wasn't right.

"Good!" Nami praised brightly as she smiled and Luffy blinked back at her before smiling a little himself,

"Now, how old are you?" Luffy raised his head a little more.

"16." he said and Nami grinned.

"Very good! Hmm… favourite piece of clothing?" and she smiled a little as Luffy paused and then he grabbed for the straw hat on his head and smiled a little.

"Boshi." he answered and Zoro snorted softly, smiling at the same time, "Naa? I love Boshi!" and he pouted a little. Nami laughed a little.

"Good. You love your hat. That's fine. Umm, what did you do when you were younger?" she asked in a slightly more serious tone. This question was phrased in a way that shouldn't have Luffy connect Gramps to it in his mind. Hopefully.

"Mm… Gramps used to let me sometimes watch TV. It's how I got to learn how to speak the way I do!" he replied brightly and Nami blinked for a second and looked at Zoro, who shrugged in response.

"That's... cool..." Zoro noised, watching Luffy with interested eyes. Nami nodded and smiled. She knew Luffy was smarter than he appeared...

"But Gramps didn't like it when I wanted to watch movies and things, but I didn't care." Luffy nodded, still smiling, but Zoro's smile fell a little. There Luffy went with Gramps again… Nami's eyes narrowed a little.

"What did you watch?" she asked a little apprehensively. She wasn't sure she wanted to know really…

"Well, Gramps liked watching a few channels. Mainly the ones where naked people were rolling around on a bed and moaning and acting all funny. That's the sex thing, right? He liked watching them almost as much as he liked doing it…" and he smiled and shrugged, not realising what he'd said had Nami slightly horrified and disgusted. Zoro shifted his eyes to the floor, staying silent and keeping still while Nami sighed and reigned in her anger.

"How often?" she asked through almost gritted teeth and Luffy blinked.

"Um… all the time?" he replied a little timidly as he sensed her anger, " I didn't like them though. They were boring. If I wanted to watch that, I could just watch Gramps! I liked the funny bright coloured people. Gramps never told me what they were…"

"Cartoons." Zoro said, looking up a little, "They're cartoons…"

"Oooh! Cool! I like them then!" Luffy said brightly, "And I liked the cooking shows too. Gramps said I had to watch them so I could cook meals for him, otherwise, what use would I be?" and he smiled. Nami sighed a little, shaking her head before smiling.

"That was good Luffy. Good boy." and she patted his arm a little, blinking when he dived in for a hug before returning it. Zoro watched them for a second, before smiling a little himself. It was nice to see Luffy not really affected by whatever he was talking about. Probably, when Luffy started growing up a little and getting a bit more mature, he might feel different, but by then… he would be well and truly out of Gramps' clutches.

"Well, I think that will do for now, eh?" Nami asked, smiling a little as she closed the red book again, grabbing a black marker and scribbling 'Luffy' on the front before leaving them both on the tabletop. She would take it slow with Luffy. Unlike Zoro, he didn't seem to mind answering questions too much, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable at all. There was a soft growl, and Nami turned to raise an eyebrow at Luffy, who just blinked back.

"Wha?" he noised and then Zoro's stomach grumbled and Nami raised the other eyebrow at him, causing the green haired teen to blink back at her a little ashamedly.

"Sounds like everyone's hungry." she said and watched as Zoro twitched a little, and Luffy's eyes darted to the floor. Great… Zoro was still a little timid about eating normal food, and she had NO idea how Luffy would react. He seemed to be along similar lines though. Letting out a soft sigh, she stood up from the couch and Zoro stood up in front of her, grabbing Luffy and hauling the boy to his feet like he was a little kid. Giggling a bit at this, Luffy craned his neck and grinned at Zoro, who smirked back before he realised just how close he was to the younger boy and pulled away, shaking ever so slightly. He seemed to be much better at being close with Luffy, but the fear was still lingering.

"Come on, food. You haven't eaten in God knows how long." Zoro commented, ignoring the wide smirk Nami was giving him as he hurried Luffy into the kitchen. She sniggered a little at the 'nickname' Zoro had given Luffy before following after them. It was cute.

Sanji looked up, his soft singing cutting off abruptly as Luffy was ushered into the kitchen by Zoro and Nami followed behind. The ginger haired woman jerked her head at Zoro and Luffy, and mouthed 'hungry' at the blonde, and Sanji smirked a little. Good thing he'd just finished making their late breakfast, otherwise they would have had to wait a little longer. Either that or eat an apple. Their choice.

"Gramps let me eat the leftover cat food a while ago." Luffy said, wondering if that counted. Sanji coughed slightly. Cat... Had Luffy just said Cat Food!? He frowned a little, turning back to where he was dishing out the food.

"Yuck…" Zoro commented, sticking his tongue out in disgust and shuddering as he imagined the taste of cat food... yuck... at the orphanage they gave them that sloppy porridge – it wasn't nice, but at least it was human food. Nami wrinkled her own nose in disgust and shuddered as well.

"Umm, I think Sanji's food is a little better than that." and she chuckled. Sanji didn't even bother to say or do anything. He knew Nami was baiting him. She always did that.

"The tuna one isn't so bad, but the rabbit is icky! And it smells bad too!" Luffy continued and he stuck his tongue out as well. Zoro turned a faint shade of green at Luffy's comment, as he put the boy into a seat and then sat down beside him.

"You're not sitting on the floor, and you're not eating cat food." he said, waiting patiently for Sanji to put the plates out. Nami was totally… amazed to say the least. She almost felt like pinching herself to see if this was real. Luffy was happy as a clam, Zoro was acting normal, and there wasn't a thing going wrong.

"Okay then." Luffy said a little miserably. If he wasn't getting cat food, then, he wasn't eating. That's the way he'd always seen it. He fidgeted a little in the seat, twisting around and trying to get comfortable. It was obvious he wasn't used to sitting on one. Zoro watched him for a second before leaning over to him.

"Just relax, slump down a little if you have to. And if that doesn't work, imagine you're sitting against a wall on the floor, ne?" he muttered, glancing at Nami as she sat down.

Nodding a little, Luffy still looked uncomfortable and Zoro smiled a little. It was going to take some time before Luffy got used to sitting in a chair, same as it had taken him a long time. But he was glad now that he didn't have to sit on the floor anymore. Even though he still did sometimes, it was because he chose to, and not because he was told to. That made him even more comfortable.

But Luffy... he wasn't like Zoro. Zoro at least knew he had been mistreated, and had had enough sense to realize that what he'd been made to do was wrong. And therefore, he saw the truth to Nami and Sanji's words sooner, but at the same time, he still had that problem with letting go of his fear that something bad was going to happen if he did what he wasn't supposed to do. Luffy had no clue that what had happened to him was wrong. And that was what made it even sadder... He had been raised like this and from what he'd heard so far, hadn't seen much of the outside world, so had no idea he had been done wrong and accepted his life for what it was. It made that angry feeling bubble up inside of Zoro just thinking about it, but he forced it back down.

Sanji swept over with the four plates balanced perfectly on his arms, and he laid them out (going to Nami first) and then to Zoro, then Luffy and then back to his own place, performing a neat little twirl that had Zoro raising an eyebrow, Luffy grinning and Nami giving him a sarcastic round of applause. Sitting down, Sanji paused. Luffy's stomach was growling loudly, but he ignored it, not so much as even looking at the food in front of him as he continued to try and get comfortable. Giving Luffy a light shove with his elbow, Zoro nodded his head towards the food, eyes glancing around a little.

"Eat it," he commented as he glanced at Sanji, "He'll get mad."

Sanji threw Zoro a sarcastic glance before looking back to Luffy again. He'd changed a lot since first taking in Zoro, and though he still had a temper, most of the time he managed to keep it in check.

"Not hungry Luffy?" he asked, shooting another quick amused glare at Zoro, who smirked back at him.

"But… I…" and he looked down at the lovely smelling food, "I can't… Gramps said…" He wanted to eat that food so badly, but, he wasn't allowed! He hadn't been given permission...

"Forget what Gramps said, Luffy." Nami said forcefully, frowning as she shook her head. She was annoyed that Luffy kept bringing up his Gramps. Why did the kid care about the old bastard so much?

"You mean…" and tears stung in Luffy's eyes, "I can… eat this?" And his lower lip trembled as he stared at the group incredulously, clenching his teeth down on it to try and hide the fact he was so close to crying.

"Of course." Zoro said, not sure what the hell was going on here. Luffy started to sniffle, fat tears dripping from his eyes as he bit his lips and trembled slightly. He was allowed to eat… real food! Sanji's eyes widened.

"Is something wrong? Does something hurt? Don't you like it?" he asked in quick succession, trying to find the answer before all hell broke loose.

Zoro was blinking down at Luffy, glancing at Nami and Sanji every now and again, but, most of the time he kept his eyes on Luffy. He understood sort of what Luffy was crying about. He had had a similar trouble believing he was allowed to eat this kind of food, but he didn't understand why Luffy was going totally overboard about it. Maybe... this was a quirk of Luffy's nature. The way he had been abused. Zoro grimaced slightly as he watched. He didn't like to see Luffy cry.

"Umm… I think he's happy." Nami said, smiling a little, "You're going to get the food wet. Eat it before it gets cold." Luffy just sobbed harder, coughing at the same time, too happy to even form words. These people were so nice to him! He was going to be allowed to eat! Zoro reached out a tentative hand and patted him on the back gently. Sanji smiled.

"Hey kid, you can eat anything you want now. I'll cook whatever you want." he said, and Luffy burst into full blown hysterics. He hiccupped, wailed, and let large tears slide down his face, trembling and then attempting to wipe the tears away before giving up as they were too numerous to even try to get rid of. This was the first time that the group had seen a proper reaction from Luffy, other than ignorance or dismissal and it was over something so small.

But then, the first time Sanji had put a belt on in full view of Zoro, the green haired teen had gone into hysterics and had hidden himself in the kitchen for at least four hours until he finally unlocked the door and Nami got in. Still… it was weird that Luffy would react over food. The kid seemed to like food a lot, but then, he woke up to the word for heaven's sake. And… he never had eaten anything properly since he'd come to them, which had to have been a good few days now. Zoro jerked away from Luffy when he burst into this state, frightened by the loud noise for a moment before calming again and wondering what the hell he was supposed to do. He had to think quick.

"Umm… eat it or it'll run away!" he cried randomly. Well… that was lame, but it had stopped the wailing and the crying anyway. Luffy blinked at everyone around the table in shock and horror while Sanji sent a light glare at Zoro. Despite his attempt at helping the situation, Sanji was annoyed at the way Zoro had chosen to do it. Luffy could have reacted much worse, and he was glad he hadn't. He really didn't feel like dealing with someone's panic attack right now.

"I-It'll run away?" Luffy asked in a frightened voice. His eyes were red and puffy, and he kept sniffling every few seconds. Zoro then blinked towards Nami, who smiled.

"No Luffy… take as long as you want, but, it won't be warm if you don't hurry. It tastes better warm." she said. Luffy blinked at her, and then wiped his tears away, smiling a watery grin.

"'Kay." he nodded, apparently over his little moment and then he tilted his head as he saw the cutlery on the table before pointing at it, totally unashamed, "I can't use that…" Zoro turned to Nami again, who looked interested, but a little worried.

"Oh, well, what do you use?" she asked, hoping it wasn't what she thought. Luffy raised his hands and wiggled the fingers with a grin. Zoro raised an eyebrow. At least at the orphanage, they made them eat with spoons. Sanji let out a quiet groan at the thought of having to teach Luffy how to use a knife and a fork. Zoro went to eat his food, but was distracted as Luffy picked up some of the food in his hand, testing it before diving on it and eating like a madman.

"And manners…" Sanji mumbled under his breath. Zoro jerked away as he was hit in the face by some of the flying food, and wiped it off in disgust.

"Ow…" he muttered before shifting away from Luffy a little, dodging the bits that kept flying at him. Nami's expression was similar to Zoro's as she watched Luffy eat like some kind of demented animal. It really was quite scary.

"Umm… ew…" she muttered.

Sanji looked mildly horrified. It took a mere few minutes for Luffy to gobble down his food before he finished and began licking his fingers, and then he licked the plate, and his hands and then went back to licking at his fingers again. Zoro blinked down at his own food, before pushing it away, feeling slightly sick. Eyeing Luffy and trying to stop herself from wrinkling her nose in disgust, Nami pointed at the now sparkling plate. Not a spec of food was on it.

"Umm…put the plate in the sink when you're done? Please?" she asked, smiling a little timidly. Her own food hadn't been touched, and like Zoro, she felt mildly sick. Luffy paused and looked up at her, his tongue still poking from his mouth, mid-lick. He gave a quick decisive nod, before grabbing the plate and hurrying over to the sink, placing it in and grinning as he walked back towards the door. Now, if he could find a quiet little spot, he could finish his job in peace.

"Where're you going?" All three voices asked and Luffy paused before grinning.

"Just going to have a look around... if that's ok?" and he paused again until Nami nodded and Zoro stood up, intending to follow him.

"Sit down, and eat." Sanji said and Zoro blinked before sitting back down again, grabbing his fork up and stabbing a tad moodily at his food. Smirking at the green head, Sanji was tempted to give him a whack around the head for being a dolt and trying to get out of eating, but he restrained himself. Nami smiled at Luffy.

"Of course. Go and explore. But don't get lost in the orange groves." and she smiled a little wider as Zoro flushed red.

"I only did that once..." he responded.

"Oh? I thought it was a weekly thing?" and she raised an eyebrow as Zoro sent a sharp glare at her. Chuckling at his 'silly' friends, Luffy made his way from the kitchen and began looking around interestedly, idly licking his fingers some more as he did so. This place was cool! It wasn't all smelly like Gramps' was, because of all his kitties. And it was bright and exciting, where Gramps' was dull, and kinda boring.

He wandered around the living room for a while, inspecting everything but never touching it, and then he went into the bathroom where Zoro had patched him up a few nights ago... He paused there for a moment before smiling a little and opening the door outside. His eyes lit up when he saw the rows of trees out there, and the large orange fruits that were only just starting to ripen. He knew they were oranges, but he didn't dare touch any. Nami mightn't like that... She was nice, for now... but he still wasn't sure of them. Other people had been kind for a while before, but they soon changed. Even Graps was kinda nice sometimes. They were cool, nice, fun, but he still liked Zoro best. Zoro made him feel safer and happier than usual, and he was beginning to really enjoy that feeling.

Still looking at the trees in awe, Luffy padded his way down the rows, giggling some at the soft, tickling feeling of the grass between his toes and under his feet. It was so nice out here, so comfortable. Warm, and the sun was high. He rarely got to spend time in the sun unless it was shining through a window. Wow... he'd never realized how beautiful being outside could be! He'd never really been allowed! Finding this place most pleasant indeed, Luffy dropped down by a shady bush and yawned widely. Beautiful... he'd never really used that word. Heard it, but never used it. He'd never had cause to.

There was a soft rustle from up ahead, and Luffy looked up in time to see a dazed, and rather lost looking Zoro appear from one of the bushes. Wow... Nami had been right, Zoro could get lost in this place. Meh, whatever. Spotting his friend, Zoro moved over to him and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"What're you doing?" he asked, blinking down at the boy before him and raising an eyebrow slightly. Luffy looked back up at him with wide and happily innocent eyes.

"Sleepin'!" he replied brightly and Zoro's eyebrow rose further as he looked down at the boy beneath the bush.

"Really?" he said before dropping down cross-legged beside him and yawning slightly himself, "We're going shopping. Nami said we have to." and he rolled his eyes. Luffy blinked, not getting why they had to go shopping. He knew what it was... it was to buy food for Gramps to eat... right? Blinking a little, he looked at Zoro who was on a quick train to sleepy-town.

"Hey Zoro, why're we going shopping for food for Gramps to eat?" Luffy inquired innocently and Zoro blinked himself awake again, raising an eyebrow at the boy beside him.

"We're... not... Hmm, the type of shopping Nami's talking about, is buying clothes and things. It's not totally for food, and if it is, it's certainly not food for 'Gramps' to eat." and he trailed into a few choice curses that were muttered in the general direction of Luffy's grandfather.

"Oooh..." Luffy noised, ignoring Zoro's light swearing, "But..." and he yawned again, cutting off the flow of questions he was about to ask as to why the food wasn't for Gramps like it normally was "I'm tired..." Zoro blinked at him, his lips twitching for a moment before he too yawned. He hadn't even known he wanted to! But when he'd seen Luffy yawn, he couldn't help it!

"Yeah... same..." the older teen sighed before he (without warning) slumped backwards onto the grass, now fast asleep. Luffy blinked at him, starting to get used to Zoro's little fall-asleep-and-wake-up-half-an-hour-later naps. So, while Zoro was basically out cold, Luffy laid his head on the older teen's stomach a little, watching him cautiously before deciding that no, he couldn't do that. If Zoro woke up, then he might be mad and he didn't want to make Zoro mad... So he pulled away and lay down as close as he could to Zoro without actually touching him.

Both of them were fast asleep when Nami and Sanji came to find them... and both of them stayed asleep while Nami took pictures, and Sanji filed different comments away in the back of his mind to use against Zoro later. After all, an opportunity like this was hardly one to be missed now, was it? Once the two had had their fun, they woke both boys up and led them back to the house again. They decided to let both sleep for another hour or so whilst Nami got ready to go out, seeing as the two were practically zombies standing. Zoro had retreated to his room and Luffy to his. The older had flopped onto his bed asleep before he even hit the mattress whilst Luffy had curled up on the floor beside his bed, sighing as he drifted off. Nami gazed at them fondly as she walked past their respective doors. Shopping was going to be very... interesting, to say the least.



Clarobell: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review!!

Plushie: Ya, no no reviewy, no no reply. So review! And hear our idiotic responses! -whacked by clarobell- ow! ... -pouts-