Chapter 14: Holiday Party!

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The next morning, Luffy woke up, as if instinct told him to, and smiled when he knew what day it was. He looked to see Zoro and pounced on him.

"Zoro! Wake up!"

Zoro made a startled sound before realizing who it was and groaned. "Luffy… What?"

"Wake up! It's morning!"

"So?"

"Present opening time!" Luffy called out, making the other turn over to face away from him.

"Go ahead without me then… Let me sleep a bit more."

Luffy pouted as he looked out to the door then back at his partner. "No! It wouldn't be the same!"

Zoro groaned as he placed a pillow over his head. "Then go wake everyone else up and leave me for last, will ya?"

"Oh, haven't thought about that."

"Then go…" He groaned out.

"Kay!" Luffy said as he jumped out of the bed and out the door. "Wake up! Wake up!" He called out.

Zoro sighed as he closed his eyes and tried to get a few minutes of sleep left before being rudely awaken again.

-XxX-

After Luffy survived a kick, a punch, and a shoe thrown at him, he went back to wake up Zoro, only to stop and stare at the other's sleeping position.

Zoro was sprawled out on his back, arms on either side, head craned to the left and softly snoring making his bare chest slightly go up and down with each intake and outtake of breath.

He found his mouth dry and his heart racing slightly, but he shook his head and went up to the other. "Zoro."

He placed a hand on the other's shoulder and started to shake. "Zoro! Time to get up now! Everyone is waiting for us!" He kept doing that until the other groaned and opened his eyes lazily. "Morning!"

Zoro blinked for a moment before getting himself up and yawned. "Okay… I'm up."

Luffy smiled as he grabbed the other's wrist. "Great!" He said as he dragged the other out of their bed.

"Luffy! Slow down!" Zoro said as he managed to get his feet on the ground.

-XxX-

Once they reached the meeting room, everyone was waiting with their gifts, some eager to open.

"Okay everyone!" Luffy said as he and Zoro plopped down onto the floor.

"Okay, everyone, on three!" Shanks said. "One… two… three…!"

Everyone started to tear open the paper and looked to see what they got.

Nami shrilled in delight when she held up a black dress. "It's perfect!"

"You said you wanted a black dress." Vivi said as she held up a similar dress in white.

Nami grinned as she whispered something in her partner's ear, making her blush.

Usopp held up a painter's set.

"Sorry, didn't know what to get you." Sanji said.

"No, it's okay." He said.

Sanji held up an apron.

"I didn't know what to get you either."

"It's cool."

Chopper was really happy with his chemistry set and Brook with some more sheet music to work on.

Franky was in a new shade of red while Robin giggled with a small blush of her own.

Zoro opened his and saw necklace of a dragon with three swords, each with a kanji with the sayings: truth, strength, and honor.

"I thought of you when I saw that." Luffy said when he saw his gift. "No way!"

"She told me you liked that, and it did remind me of you when I saw it."

Luffy tackled him to a hug. "Thank you, Zoro!"

Zoro didn't expect a hug and was knocked to his back. "You're welcome, and thank you for the necklace." He said with a laugh.

"Okay!" Shanks said as he clapped his hands. "I think this calls for something to eat!"

"Okay, okay! I'll get right on it." Sanji said as he went into the kitchen. "It'll be ready in an hour!" He called out.

"Okay!" Shanks called out. "Let's play a game to pass the time!"

"Oh boy…" Franky said. "It isn't what I think it is."

"You bet your blueprints it is!"

"What is it?" Zoro asked.

"It's the mistletoe game." Luffy said.

"Mistletoe?"

"Yeah, never did get it."

"So… Who's going to be the mistletoe fairy?" Robin asked.

"Well… Let's see…" Shanks said as he looked at everyone before grinning evilly. "How about…" He did a dramatic pointing motion. "You! Nico Robin!"

She just giggled. "If you insist." She said as she got up. "Where is the mistletoe?"

"Wait, how does this work?" Zoro asked.

"Robin hides the mistletoe somewhere around the base and whoever is caught under one has to kiss."

"Huh?"

"Okay!" Robin said. "I got the mistletoe!" She held up the innocent green object and white berries in her hand. "So don't look." With that she disappeared out of the meeting room.

"I just hope I don't get caught under with someone other than my partner." Nami said as Vivi blushed.

Zoro couldn't even imagine kissing his partner. He did know him for awhile, but not to do that. But as he looked at the other, then at his lips, he would curse to himself to thinking about kissing his partner that he owed his life for.

Luffy on the other hand remembered the first time he kissed his partner. It wasn't intentional but he got the other to wake up and now they were practically inseperatable. But now with the mistletoe game going, he wondered if his partner's lips were the same as the first time.

-XxX-

Once Robin was back in the meeting room, breakfast was being served and after that everyone had a sense of looking up and around for that troublesome plant.

The day went on with a great sense of enjoyment and the party seemed to never end. Loosening the stress that has built up and laughing with all their hearts.

The party lasted for hours before Shanks laughed himself to a drunken slumber, by then everyone was about worn out and on the verge of collapsing.

"I think it's time we hit the sack." Usopp said.

Sanji looked at the pile of dishes he would have to clean and yawned. "I'll do that tomorrow."

Nami helped Vivi to her feet and headed down to their room, which everyone followed suit.

Zoro looked for Luffy, and found him under the table. "Jeeze…" He said as he dragged his partner out of the table and carried him bridal style. "Safe to say you're heading to bed." He looked to see the other was a mess. "First a bath…" He shook his head as he headed to their shared room and set the other on the bed while he run the water to an acceptable temperature before filling the tub with the water and soap.

Once the tub was filled with water and bubbles, he went over to get his partner, still asleep and saw something that he didn't expect to see in their room.

"Damn mistletoe…" He whispered as he looked around to see if anyone was watching before getting Luffy and headed to the bathroom. 'Why the hell did Robin place that thing in this room!? Is she out of her cool headed mind!?' He thought as he took the other's clothes off, leaving the boxers on, wrapped the towel around the slim waist, and took the last article of clothing off before placing the teen into the tub.

"Just how did you get gravy in your hair?" He said as he washed the other from the top. "You're not going to bed smelling like a dump heap, that's for sure." He washed the other's head, rinsed, took a quick whiff and repeat the process.

-XxX-

Once he was done washing the other down, he emptied the tub of the contents and brought the other out to dry him. About a few minutes of drying his partner down, Luffy started to wake up a bit.

"Hey Luffy." Zoro said as a dazed looking teen looked at him. "You awake yet?"

Luffy looked around before looking at the other before falling asleep again.

"I'll take that as a no." He said with a grin as he finished drying the other down and putting on the other's p.j.s before carrying him back out to the room, still seeing the evil plant innocently hanging there above their bed.

"A mistletoe?"

He looked to see the other was awake now and looking at the plant. "Yeah…"

"Robin broke the rules. The mistletoe can't be hung in anyone's room." Luffy said. "And Robin is really good with the rules…"

"Maybe she got into some eggnog before being chosen."

"She hates eggnog…"

Zoro didn't know what else to say.

"Well… we better kiss then."

"Oi! You just said that this wasn't part of the game."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we should break tradition."

Zoro groaned.

"You don't want to kiss me?"

Zoro looked at the other and didn't know what to say.

Luffy pouted. "You don't like me that much?"

"It's not that… It's just…" He didn't know what he was saying, his mind decided to shut down and leave him to babble anything that can make the other understand. He sighed as he asked. "Do you want to kiss me?"

"I did before."

"Huh? When?"

Luffy smiled. "When we first met, that's how you were able to wake up the first time."

"You… kissed me?"

"It was an accident, but it worked!" He said with a smile. "And I'm glad Zoro's here!" He held him close as he chuckled. "Everything is better with Zoro around!"

Zoro couldn't explain it, but he could feel his heart beating a bit quicker and the distanstance between them wasn't that far off as his mind came back with a reasonable thought. 'Well, he did say he kissed me, so I guess I can return the favor.'

"Zoro? Oi. You still in there?" Luffy asked as he poked the other's forehead.

Zoro looked at the evil plant and sighed. "Might as well uphold it's reptruble tradition." He said as he looked at the other, who looked like a child just then.

"So you're going to kiss me?"

"Unless you're going to do it."

Luffy smiled as he did just that without hesitation.

Zoro was a bit taken back by the lack of hesitation from the other, but he could feel how soft the other's lips were against his and how warm the body was against his now that the contact was much closer.

When Luffy leaned back from the kiss, he looked at the other and smiled. "Zoro's red!"

Zoro got his mind back in order and dropped the teen onto the bed. "Okay! We kissed, what the hell do we do with the damn mistletoe?" He said as he tried to get his blush down and his heart racing to calm down.

Luffy looked up at the mistletoe and shrugged. "I don't know, I've never been caught under it before."

Zoro just stared at the other as if he lost his mind. "You're kidding…"

Luffy shook his head. "Nope."

Zoro palm-faced as he groaned. "Forget it! We'll figure out in the morning!" He said as he was about to put it down, only to find that it was hard to take it down. "Damn it! Did she super glue this thing on or something!?" He managed to get his feet on the ceiling and tried to pull the damn plant out, but it wasn't going to budge. "What the hell!?"

Luffy was just laughing as the other was upside down pulling on a plant. "Zoro's too funny!" He called out as he pointed at his partner.

"Quit laughing and help me out here!" Zoro said when he could feel the blood going to his head. He upright himself and was back on the ground and glared at the plant that over the bed. "What the hell is wrong with that damn thing?"

"We'll ask Robin tomorrow." Luffy said with a yawn. "Let's go to bed." He pulled the covers and patted the spot next to him for the other to join.

He sighed as he did just that, glaring at the damn plant for all that it was worth.

"Nighty night, Zoro." Luffy said as he closed his eyes.

"Night, Luffy." Zoro said as he looked at the other and then at the lips. He had to quickly look away and saw the mistletoe. 'Damn it…' He thought as he turned away from the other so he didn't have to look at either his partner or the damn plant hanging on the ceiling.

Even though he wasn't looking at either of the two things, he couldn't keep the memory of what happened earlier out of his head. He bit his bottom lip to keep himself from thinking about it, but sighed and looked at his partner once more. 'He kissed me without a second thought.' He thought as he was over his partner. 'It's just a kiss, right? A quick contact of lips and nothing more.' He brought himself down and kissed the other.

He felt warmer than before and he thought he could feel something going on inside him, but he kept himself upright and backed away from the other, feeling really good and out of breath. 'What the hell?' He thought as he got back on his side of the bed and tried to get to sleep, but soon found that difficult as he still felt warm and wanted to kiss the other again. 'Let it cool down…' He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, thinking about anything other than the kiss when he felt the other snuggle up against him. It wasn't making things easier for him, but he thought up something and kissed the other's forehead.

The scent of strawberries from the other's shampoo was pleasant to him as he turned his body and held the other close to him. 'This… doesn't feel bad…' He thought as he started to fall asleep, holding the other close to him.

Unknown to the two, Robin was hiding in the room for some time and smiled. She took out a wet cloth and rubbed it around the mistletoe, which then easily went out of the ceiling and exited out the room.

"Interesting." She said with a soft giggle.