Chapter #9: The Revelation

Zoro woke up to the sound of his own stomach growling.

Apparently he had slept for long enough for the pain throbbing at his side to subside and the feeling of hunger to overshadow. As he tried to lift his hand to feel about, he realized it was still being held by someone.

His features softened the moment he recognized the orange head nuzzling up against his pillow case—technically, it was her pillow case. It was in this fade soft color that was either orange or apricot he really couldn't tell, and it smelled of her hair—the scent of tangerine. She was kneeling at his (her) bedside, just like the last time he'd seen her. One of her hands held his in a soft grip and the other placed limply on the sheets.

She was asleep. And he could tell she had fallen asleep in a rather uncomfortable position by the frown deeply knitted between her brows. He couldn't help but notice how lovely she looked now that her face was being this close to his. He wondered when was the last time he had drank anything cause suddenly he felt thirsty. He felt his lips go dry and his tongue darted out to moist them instinctively. Before he realized what was happening, his hand lifted from the sheets and the next thing he knew, it was touching Nami's cheek.

A small chuckle stopped him dead in his tracks. He looked up in horror to see Robin leaning on the comforter of her own bed, smiling at him with a knowing glint in her beautiful blue eyes, an open book placed on her knees.

Zoro could feel all his blood rush into his head and make his cheeks burn.

"It's not what you think." He sputtered.

"I wasn't insinuating anything." Robin's slightly teasing smile quickly turned into a polite one.

She was. He knew she was. But he also knew that he didn't have a plausible explanation as to why he had been touching a girl's face while she was asleep. It was too intimate an act between nakamas, and nakamas were what he and Nami were—or what they had been before that damn kiss happened.

Letting out a small cough he tried to change the subject:"uh…how long did I sleep?"

"You missed breakfast." Robin informed him. "I hope you are not hungry because Captain-san has emptied our refrigerator and Cook-san has yet to return from a supply run. Oh, and Tony-kun said you are not supposed to move yet. "She added when Zoro tried to sit up and found out his stab wound had been wrapped and tended properly.

"Chopper worries too much." the injured swordsman said to Robin before sitting up on the bed nonetheless. "I'll live." He then nudged Nami's shoulder. "Oi, wake up, woman."

The orange-haired girl slowly lifted her head from the bedside with a stifled yawn. She blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes and then smiled up at the man who was currently occupying her bed: "Hey…you woke up."

"...before you did." he mumbled in return.

"Urgh, you are so ungrateful. I looked after you all~ night~!How about a 'thank-you', Zoro? "Nami scowled at him before throwing off his hand. She then stood and smoothed the ruffles on her skirt with both hands. "Robin, would you mind keeping an eye on Zoro for me for a second? I really need to go to the bathroom."

"Oi! You can't just leave me here with—"with dark woman cause that would be downright awkward. The rest of the sentence died on Zoro's lips as he collapsed in frustration back into Nami's bed. The girl was already out of the door.

"What?" he glared when Robin chose this moment to let out her trademark soft giggling.

"Nothing. I just think you two are cute." The older woman explained with a smile.

"Well, for your information, she is the reason I'm lying here." Zoro tched and rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling.

"I've heard so." Robin winked at him, "after all, I've heard people pay more for a kiss than this. Something is just to kill for, isn't it, Swordsman-san?"

Zoro's posture stiffened. What the…Robin knew?! He snapped his head towards her so quickly that his neck hurt. "Wh—when did you…?"

"I have eyes." The older woman's usually serene smile now seemed a little mischievous. "Everywhere."

The young swordsman shuddered. He admitted that Robin was a nice lady for most of the time, but man, did she just say the creepiest things.

"You know, Nami actually cares about you very much, Swordsman-san." Robin intoned as Zoro closed his eyes pretending to fall asleep again. "That wasn't even the first time she tended your injury— she did the same thing to you back in Thriller Bark when you were unconscious. She just…made herself scarce the moment you woke up, like she did today. "

It was a good thing that he was supposed to be drowsing off and not able to hear a word of What Robin was saying right now. Because otherwise Zoro wouldn't know how to react to a speech like this.

The revelation squeezed his heart in a way that he was not familiar with. Zoro had never pegged Nami for someone who would stay by his bedside over the night and take care of him in his injured state. She was more like the kind that would yell at you and order you to stay alive for her or she would triple your debt to make you poor and broke even in your afterlife. Zoro always knew that Nami had a soft and feminine side to her; but he never thought he would be the one to get her to show that side until…just then.

Maybe she did care. She just didn't want him to know she did. If that was how stubborn she was then he thought he could live with that. After all, he tended to do the same thing.

For some reason the conclusion made Zoro's cheeks feel warm as the blood was rushing back into his head all over again. As much as he wished to hear Robin mother him some more (or not), he decided that he could use a short nap before Nami came back. That girl still owed him a load of explanations as to why she had kissed and then stabbed him and claimed that she had done neither. And he wanted to be there when she explained to the rest of the crew why she had been acting crazy these past few days.

Just like that he allowed himself to doze off again until his growling stomach reminded him that he was hungry enough to eat a cow. He opened his eyes and found out he was now the only occupant in the girls' bedroom. A couple of hours must have passed.

Getting dressed he headed for the galley where the rest of Straw-hats gathered. Judging by Luffy's sizable rubber belly and the stack of empty dishes piling up on the dinning table, he'd say lunch was about to come to an end without him. But that wasn't what upset him the most—

"What the hell is that?"

He requested in a low voice as his intense stare fell upon the orange-haired girl who was sitting in her usual spot at the table— more specifically, on her crossed wrists that were placed on the edge of wooden surface.

Nami always loved jewelry but he didn't think that thing could count as one of those—Zoro squinted his eyes at the slivery spark on the navigator's wrists: while he was sleeping next door, they had her cuffed.

Author's Note: So...it's been like...forever ? (Don't hit me...)*running off to hide*

I almost forgot that I have an unfinished project here(more like two, but let's just focus on one at a time :P). Lots of things are happening in my life right now. Well, some of them are good actually, like...very good. :)

Anyway, I'm terribly sorry for the long overdued update. But don't worry people, I still love ZoNa and I'm not ready to abandon this ship unless Oda tells me himself that I should.

Now that I'm back, I'll try to see if I can update this thing more frequently (let's just say "monthly", to be safe ;P). Again, sorry if I kept you guys waiting. You can yell at me all you want in your reviews. :3

Love & regards,

Minami