Just a little nothing. A short little moment during the Strawhats' adventures. Zoro is a big softy and you all know it.

Also, sorry this one took so long to update. These past two weeks were a little crazy with some personal stuff. :P For someone who doesn't have a life, it sure has a lot of drama.

Disclaimer: You know, maybe I just didn't really read the terms and conditions well, but I don't remember them actually telling us to put a disclaimer on every chapter. Or even on stories at all. Am I wrong?

Stray-ed

(The title is not a typo)

He was not lost. He's never lost. Things just keep moving around. Like the port. It was supposed to be on the East side of the island. They were just getting supplies and the like then meeting back up on the ship. Apparently it would only take about half a day for the log pose to collect enough logs. Just in and out.

Zoro had decided to see if they had any good katana care-kits as his own supply was getting a little low. He eventually found one and as luck would have it, the guy was nice enough to give him a kit for free. Probably because he took care of those weird looking guys in the metal armor. Took half a second to slice through the armor. Cheap stuff.

Not he was trying to find the port. But apparently this was a strange island with a moving port because he was positive he went East but instead of the ocean, he ended up in front of a huge wall that separated the town from the castle that was big enough to be its own village.

He glared at the wall as if it had personally offended him. Annoyed, and with clouds gathering that even he could tell meant rain, he turned to try going East again. And stopped.

He heard a sound just to his left. There was a small box, probably an old shoe box or something, sitting right up next to the stone wall. An old hand towel was wadded up inside of it. As he watched, the towel shifted and the sound came again. A small kitten, with what appeared to be black strips on a blueish fur, peeked its head out of the towel.

It caught Zoro's eye and meowed. Zoro froze. Crap. Annoyed with how much effort it took, he forced his head to the side in an attempt to walk away.

He could literally feel the pitiful eyes boring into his skull, accusatory for leaving an already abandoned kitten in a box when it was going to rain.

"Ugh." He groaned, straightening his posture and resolutely stepping forward.

And somehow standing in front of the kitten-bearing box.

He groaned again. He could have sworn the eyes on that thing literally grew 5 centimeters while he stood there. They stared up at him, watery and innocent.

Curse it all to Davy Jones' Effin' Locker and back.

If any pirate ship other than the Strawhats', they might have been able to land (secretly of course), buy supplies (or pillage depending on their temperament), and been back sailing in half a day, as soon as the log pose set.

But this was the Strawhats, and therefore they somehow got involved in another civil war, of a sort. At least, they were sort of recruited by a very nice yet oppressed and abused family to get rid of the corrupt king and his closest followers. The family didn't technically want a war per se, but when the corrupt, selfish, lazy, and lecherous king took their 16-year-old daughter to be his 'wife' number 57, they had cried and begged Luffy to bring her back.

And Luffy being Luffy agreed. After all, the girl had given them meat.

Thus ensued a full on storming of the castle, Luffy style. Which meant that he gomu gomu no gattling gun-ed the crap out of the entrance, accidently disabled the drawbridge which conveniently allowed the rest of the Strawhats to enter, and created mayhem and chaos throughout the castle, leaving his crew members to take care of the officers (which they did with little trouble), and eventually make it to the King, who had an elephant type devil fruit (which sadly did not explain why he had four chins), and completely beat the crap out of him without breaking a sweat.

The entire island celebrated their freedom from the tyrant king, all of his 'wives' were freed, and the girl was reunited with her family. A good days' work, all in all.

The celebration lasted till morning, and the Strawhat's took off, having made another entire island their unintentional allies.

"Why can't we just ever have a normal experience?" Nami complained as she leaned against the railing, watching the island get smaller on the horizon. "Why do all of our trips on land end up some huge thing where we have to fight?"

Robin, who was standing nearby, giggled. "I have a feeling that it's our captain and his luck."

"Or curse." Usopp walked past, muttering as he went to his garden to restock on all the pop greens he had had to use during his own battle.

"Nami-swa~n! Robin-chwa~n! Would you like a snack? I made it full of love especially for the two beautiful ladies you are!" He pirouetted his way to the two female pirates with a tray full of delectable, and no doubt healthy, snacks, beautifully decorated. They practically glittered.

"Ooh! I want some!" Luffy shouted from his special seat, frantically waving his arm. He rocketed his way over only to be stopped by Sanji's foot.

"These are for the ladies!" He growled angrily. "You sops can eat the leftovers!"

"Yohohoho! Perhaps I can smell how delicious they are from here! Although I have no nose. Yohohoho!" Brook joked from the upper deck where he had been watching Usopp wrestle with his plants. Literally.

"Zoro! Just let me check!" Chopper hurried after the green-haired man, dodging past Franky who was putting away the larger crates and barrels of their supplies and gifts they had collected. Zoro was balancing a crate that was as large as Franky's torso on his shoulder, a 100 bound bag of something under his other arm.

"I told you, it was just a graze from some shrapnel. It didn't even bleed." Zoro rolled his eye. The only one that was open and functioning.

"But it might get infected or something!" Chopper insisted. "Wounds on your stomach are dangerous!" Zoro snorted, tossing the giant crate to Franky like one would toss a baseball. Franky caught it just as handedly and set it on top of the stack.

"Relax. It's not infected and even if it were, I won't die from something like that. Go bother Luffy or something. He actually got injuries."

Chopper pouted at the brush off. "I'm just worried about you. You have a habit of getting the most injuries. You sometimes even beat Luffy!"

"Not this time." He waved off the human-reindeer as he tossed the bag to Franky as well. "I'm fine. Really. I'm going to go train now." He turned and headed for the gym/crow's nest.

He was stopped however by a sound. A sound that caused those closest to him, namely Franky and Chopper to turn their heads. "Eh?" They both asked in unison.

Zoro quickened his pace, refusing to look at either of them. Neither could see the reddening cheeks or their resident swordsman.

"What was that?" Franky asked, thinking perhaps there was something wrong his ears. Maybe a wire was shaken loose.

"It sounded like someone called Zoro's name." Chopper said, his brows furrowed as he watched said man quickly scale the ladder that led to the gym. "Like a young child did."

"Eh?" Franky asked concerned now. "I SUPER didn't hear that. I thought it sounded more like a cat or something. Like a 'meow'."

Chopper looked up at the closed hatch of the gym that Zoro had just disappeared into thoughtfully. "Maybe." He said slowly.

When lunch time rolled around, Usopp got stuck with the Zoro duty, meaning it was up to him to get Zoro to actually stop training long enough to get food. Sanji had a strict rule that they all eat at the same time, mainly because if anyone came late, Luffy would eat their food.

He tried to push open the hatch but surprisingly found it wouldn't open. I didn't even think it could lock. He mused. He opted to knock instead.

"Oi! Zoro! It's lunchtime!" He waited, trying to hear inside. He could hear the clunk of metal, probably Zoro putting down those monstrous weights that Usopp's arms quaked at just the sight of. Thinking that his message had gotten across, Usopp was about to head back down when a noise stopped him. It kind of sounded like a cat or something. Confused, he put his ear to the hatch.

It sounded like Zoro's movements became quicker, perhaps flustered. He could hear grumbling and the sound of something heavy falling to the floor.

"Zoro?" He called questioningly. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah, I'm-" Zoro's voice cut off as the sound of something heavy being slid away from the hatch. Apparently it didn't lock. The hatch was lifted open and Luffy was met with a half-dressed Zoro who was sweating. Nothing new there.

"Why was the hatch blocked?" Usopp asked. "I thought I heard-"

"I accidently left some weights on the hatch door." Zoro interrupted. "Move it. Luffy's going to eat all our food."

Usopp agreed and quickly descended, followed by Zoro who took a moment to firmly shut the hatch door before dropping down. Usopp might have thought his intensity for such a simply task odd if his meal wasn't in danger.

Nami looked up from her desk for what felt like the billionth time but was really only the 3rd or 4th. She had been sketching out a map of one of the islands that they previously landed on but was interrupted by a strange sound every so often. It sounded like a cat.

Huffing in annoyance, she rose from her desk. It was probably the idiot trip making dumb animals noises just to annoy her. She met Robin in the hallway.

"Hey Robin."

"Good Evening, Nami. Are you also going to investigate the strange noise?" Robin asked conversationally.

"You heard it too?" Nami responded. "At first I thought I was going crazy but it's probably just the boys playing some stupid game or something."

"Possibly." Robin said ambiguously, a small smile on her lips. They headed for the deck but bumped into Zoro who looked extra annoyed. Probably just off a fight with Sanji or something.

"Hey Zoro?" Nami stopped him before he could pass them. "Are the idiots out there playing some stupid game or something? We keep hearing meowing." To her surprise, Zoro's eyes widened and he looked …shifty.

"I don't know." He muttered, no quite looking them in the eye. "Probably. Why don't you go check or something?" He quickly brushed past them but not before Robin saw the way his eyes scanned the hallway like he was looking for something.

"What was that about?" Nami asked confused as they watched Zoro suddenly turn into an empty storage room.

"Who knows?" Robin said smiling. "Why don't we go check on them like he suggested?" Since Nami was in the lead, she missed the knowing smile as Robin glanced back towards the doorway Zoro had disappeared into.

It took one week. Considering all the trouble Zoro went through as well as who his crew was, he was surprised it took that long. According to their navigator, they were probably only a few days away from the next island.

Zoro had lost the stupid thing again. It never stayed where he put it. Whenever he had to purposefully interact with another member, he tried to hide it in places no one would stumble on. Like when he had to go to the Galley and weasel some milk out of Sanji. Or when he had to go to Chopper and get him talking enough to weasel in some questions about proper care without the doctor getting suspicious. Whenever he returned, the stupid thing had abandoned its hiding place and Zoro would have to track it down without letting the rest of the crew in on the fact that he was looking for it. It was frustrating to say the least.

So when it finally made its own way onto the deck and sat in the middle of the grassy lawn meowing, he decided that it wasn't worth the effort to try and hide it any longer. Not to mention it was already growing and he didn't doubt that before long, he wouldn't be able to hide it in his stomach band any more.

"What's that?" Brook asked first, pausing in his song to look over to the source of the noise.

"There it is again!" Sanji shouted, running out of the Galley. That annoying noise had been haunting his kitchen all week!

Eventually all the crew members sans Zoro made their way over to the source and stared at it.

"It's a cat." Luffy said helpfully.

"We can see that!" Nami shouted, smacking his head. "What we want to know is how did it get here?"

"It can't have swam, right?" Usopp asked. "We're too far from any island."

"I think it SUPER came on board at the last island. I remember hearing it last week." Franky answered.

"So have I." Sanji added. "Stupid thing has been annoying me all week. I could never find it. Now that I have, I can make a delicious stew." He smiled somewhat evilly. That thing had taken a special pleasure out of annoying him, he was sure.

"It seems a shame to harm such an innocent little thing." Robin said smiling warmly down at the small kitten. "It's so young."

"It's probably only a little over a week old." Chopper said, getting on his hooves and knees to inspect it closer. "It's really small for its breed so it can't be very old. Not to mention it doesn't seem to have much of a vocabulary." The kitten had been steadily meowing the entire time they had been discussing it.

"What's it saying?" Luffy asked.

"It's just saying one thing over and over again." Chopper leaned back and looked up at Luffy. "It's calling for Zoro."

As if on cue, said man suddenly stepped out from the lower deck looking around. All the Strawhats turned to look at him. He froze when he saw the kitten in the middle of the circle.

"Hey Zoro, this cat keeps calling for you!" Luffy said with a grin.

"Is it yours?" Nami asked with narrowed eyes. Zoro cleared his throat nervously. Finally, he sighed and relaxed in defeat. Really, there was nothing to say.

"Yeah. I picked her up at our last stop." The kitten in question suddenly spotted Zoro and bounded over to him, her small tail waving happily. She jumped straight up into his arms, despite her small size. She purred and rubbed her head against his scarred chest. Zoro looked sheepish.

"What's her name?" Luffy asked stepping closer. The miniature cat was still purring in Zoro's hands but was looking at Luffy with narrowed eyes, as if daring him to get closer to what she obviously was claiming as hers.

"Erm." He scratched his cheek embarrassedly. "I was thinking of calling her 'Aoi'. 'Cause of her fur." The kitten did indeed have blueish fur, the black stripes that ran down her head and neck turning into spots that specked her body.

"You would have a weird colored pet. Just like you." Sanji smirked.

"Better a different color that a swirly-browed pervert like you." Zoro shot back.

"Why did you get it?" Nami asked, interrupting the fight before it could begin. At this, Zoro blushed slightly and avoided eye contact. Luffy was now trying to pet the cat but she kept batting his hand away. Zoro mumbled something.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you. Not that I have ears. Yohohoho!" Brook laughed.

"I said," He gritted his teeth and tried to force the blush away. "Someone had abandoned her in a box. I just happened to see her."

"And you rescued her?" Franky asked. "That's SUPER of you, bro! I'm totally not crying!" he wiped away the tears that started to fall from behind his glasses.

Nami groaned while the rest of the crew smiled. "But why?" She asked again. "Why'd you have to keep it? Why couldn't you just give it to someone back on the island?" Zoro frowned, absent-mindedly scratching Aoi's ear so that she would allow Luffy to reach over and pet her.

"It was the only way I could ensure she would be taken care of. I was only going to keep her until she was strong enough to care for herself."

"Yeah, Aoi is safe with us!" Usopp said, placing a reassuring hand on Nami's shoulder. "Besides, who could turn down such a cute face like that?" Nami glared at him. He quickly backed away.

"Oh! So that's why you asked me all those questions about taking care of cats!" Chopper said suddenly, also getting closer to the blue kitten.

"And why you suddenly wanted milk and not sake." Sanji said, lighting a cigarette.

"And why you've been so secretive of late." Robin grinned. Not that she hadn't figured it out days ago.

"Well make sure that you get rid of it on the next island." Nami said, folding her arms. "We can't afford a cat on our ship." Thinking that was the end of the conversation, the navigator was surprised when the entire crew suddenly turned on her.

"Oh come on!" Usopp complained. "We can't just dump her in another box!"

"Yeah! We'd be no better than her previous owners!" Franky protested.

"I must say, she's so cute as to warm my heart. Even though I don't have one." Brook crossed his hands over the left side of his chest.

"And she's much too young to fully take care of herself!" Chopper nodded, standing in between her and the kitten.

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted angrily. Although his anger might just have been his tendency to follow the crowd. "I want Aoi to stay!"

"If we simply left Aoi-chan on the next island, she might get eaten by a dog, or stepped on by someone." Robin advised. Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy all gasped in fright and instantly huddled around the kitten who was shaking and leaning into Zoro, trying to get away from all the people that suddenly were surrounding her.

Nami observed everyone's faces, from the calm face of Robin, to the crying face of Franky, to the horrified faces of the idiot trio. Zoro was frowning slightly at her, as if disappointed. She groaned.

"Fine!" She snapped. "You can keep the stupid thing! But its food and care is not coming out of the budget." Her stipulation was almost unheard over the cheers of the majority of the crew. The immediately turned their attention to their new pet, trying to coax it out of Zoro's stomach band which she had burrowed herself into to escape.

As Nami walked away rolling her eyes, Sanji smirked at her. "Nami is most beautiful when she tries to hide her affection for the cat." She blushed and hurried past. Sanji grinned before turning back to observe the irritated Zoro pushing the crew away as they were trying to stick their own hands into his stomach band to get to the kitten.

Knowing the owner, Sanji thought to himself. She'll probably annoy me for the rest of my life.

And he was right.

I wanted Zoro to have a cat. I will probably add Aoi as my own OC in later chapters. I love the idea of Zoro not being able to resist cute animals. Even though I'm a dog person myself and can't stand cats, cats just fit Zoro's personality better. BTW, I wanted him to have a big cat so I made Aoi a Savannah F-1. You can google it. Yes, they can be blue but probably not the same shade as I made Aoi. But in a world where green hair is considered natural, I figured what the hey.