Absence Apology Chapter! It's a little different but I hope you like it anyway!
Zoro was not sure how he went from playing children's pencil and paper games with Lithium in their room to being forced into a black dress shirt and dress pants. Usopp was debating the right shade of purple for his tie, while Luffy sat by the door of the men's quarters as the cheery door guard. Had they posted anyone but the captain, he would have been out the door. He was sure, as Usopp finally settled on the darker of the five shades of purple they had to chose from, that whoever was the mastermind behind this was fully aware of this fact. He suspected Robin, considering how much forethought was put into apprehending and coercing him into going along with whatever this was.
Whenever he asked, the answer was simply "It's a surprise!"
He was beginning to hate that phrase. He spent part of the time he had been subjected to this process, mostly the bathing part of it, guessing at what his nakama had up their collective sleeve.
Usopp glared down his nose at him. "Quit fidgeting, this tie is going to be a mess if you don't stay still."
Zoro sighed and held still. "Maybe if you told me what this was about I'd go along with it and don't you dare say it's a surprise! And why purple?"
Usopp raised an eyebrow at him. "I would have thought you would have figured that out at least. Don't tell me you're as dumb as Sanji thinks you are."
"Well I know it's Lith's favorite color-oh...that makes sense now..."
Usopp finished the surprisingly intricate tie knot and moved on to rolling up Zoro's sleeves to just under his elbows. Again the swordsman frowned.
Luffy jumped in this time with his usual face-splitting grin. "Apparently women tell each other all kinds of weird things. Zoro-wife said she liked this outfit and stuff."
Zoro was instantly more cooperative, despite still wondering what was going on. Lith likes this look? Well...if it makes her happy, I can put up with this...and it's hell of better reason to wear something like this than Dressrosa was...
Usopp stepped back to check his handy work. "Well, the outfit will work. Let's see if I can do anything with your hair. Not that it will last because of the blindfold..."
"BLINDFOLD!"
Usopp held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Hey man, I'm under orders from a higher authority!"
Luffy's grin broadened. "We were threatened with unimaginable pain and debt if we ruined the surprise."
Oh great, Robin AND Nami...
Zoro huffed softly, but sat down so Usopp could make some sort of order out of the chaos that was his hair. It only took a few minutes though, before the sniper gone hairstylist was satisfied.
"Went for something messy so it doesn't matter what the blindfold does to it."
He pushed him toward the small mirror in the men's quarters to get a look for himself. Zoro was honestly impressed because he had no clue his hair could do what the other man made it do. It was messy, but directional so it had the appearance of being far more controlled.
He did not have anymore time to look over what had been done to him though, as Usopp blindfolded him the minute there was a knock at the door.
"He's ready!"
He felt Luffy leading him to the door even without the extra sense his haki gave him. No one else could wrap their arm up another person like the captain could. Once they were out the door, the scent of food wafted toward him on the coastal breezes from the island they had arrived at after the storm. He could hear soft whispers of voices and fabric as Luffy stopped him near the food smells and let go of his arm.
Robin spoke up from somewhere across from him. "We have a timer set. When it goes off, you may remove your blindfold."
He heard the footfalls of the rest of most of the crew heading away from him and down the dock. When their voices had faded into the distance, the time mercifully rang only once so there was no scramble to turn it off. Zoro would not have cared anyway.
Lithium stood before him, a deep purple dress hugging her form as if made for her. A panel if black lace pulled his eyes down her body, ending just before a skirt of made of curled net fabric, her shapely legs peeking out among the purple and black tendrils.
He brought his gaze back up to her face, framed by long silvery curls. Her eyes were enormous, and only when their gazes met did he realize they were both holding their breath.
In barely a whisper, both exhaled a soft "whoa...". Zoro took a tentative step forward, irrationally concerned she would disappear if he moved too fast. When she did not disappear like a dream when he woke, he closed the distance between them.
Zoro prided himself in being a confident man, sure of himself in most circumstances. This was not one of those circumstances.
He looked away, using the intricately set table as an excuse to compose himself and held his hand out to her. His heart nearly leaped from his chest when he felt her small hand's feather-light touch on his fingers.
No words were exchanged as he led her to the table. For once in his life, he was trying to remember what the cook would do in this situation. Begrudgingly he had to admit that the idiot was the best example he had.
Okay...he would pull out her chair...and push her back to the table...
The soft smile paired with the soft pink of her blush in the flickering candlelight when he followed Sanji's example more than made up for his dislike of the source.
He sat across from her, not taking his eyes from her. She was looking down at a piece of paper tented in front of her plate.
"What is that, Lith?" His voice seemed foreign to him, but he did not dwell on that long because she jumped at his words.
"Ah, a letter from Robin. Want me to read it?"
He nodded, his desire to know what was going on, besides the obvious resurfacing at this. "Sure."
Lithium opened the letter and cleared her throat before beginning. Her voice was small still as she read Robin's careful script.
"Dear Zoro and Lithium,
In light of the difficulties you have been through as of late, Nami and I concluded that the two of you needed some true alone time that did not just consist of shutting the door to the rest of the crew.
With that in mind, we put this dinner together for you. The rest of us shall be camping on the island until dinner tomorrow.
Please take this time to relax, and clear the air between you if need be.
-Robin-" ...There is also a post script about the dessert in the fridge that's only for me to know."
Zoro smiled, nodding a little. Just the right amount of vague so no one else would have guessed the truth about our lack of actual marriage. Robin's craftiness is terrifying at times...
"Well we should probably eat twin, or Sanji will somehow know we didn't eat it while it was warm."
Her voice was still impossibly small, but he could hear it better this time.
"Yeah...he's weird like that."
The food was excellent, as expected, but what it was escaped Zoro as he worked up the courage to finally bring up the awkwardness between them. They both made it through their food before he could bring himself to begin.
He cleared his throat but was immediately interrupted by Brook's disembodied voice from a previously unnoticed tone dial on the table, declaring that he wrote a song for them and he hoped they would dance to it like they would have had he had been able to attend their wedding.
Zoro stood from the table as the first notes flowed from the dial. This was something he was confident in. "Let's not disappoint the old man."
Lithium stared up at him. "But...I can't dance...you can?"
He pulled her to her feet with a slightly wry grin. "Perona wanted to learn, so Mihawk made me her partner. I learned even though I had no intention of adding that to me skill set."
She giggled as he swept her up into a simple waltz, adding the spin when he felt she had the basic steps down.
"Nothing like learning a fancy skill under duress."
He smiled down at her, genuinely this time. "You know it...so...can I say some thing?"
She tilted her head a little. "Of course. It's not like I'm going anywhere."
Zoro took a deep breath, slight concern that apologizing for touching her when they're dancing would be odd welling up, but he pushed it away.
"I'm sorry...about the kiss...thing...I didn't mean to scare you...and then it got outta' hand..."
Lithium blushed a deeper pink but held his gaze. "...I'm sorry I ran..."
"You don't have to...it's my-"
The hand she had on his bicep, as she could not reach his shoulder, moved over to hush him. "No Zoro, I shoudn't have ran...I was scared...but we should have talked about it right then..."
She looked away, worrying her lip with her teeth. Her cheeks turned crimson. "Besides...I liked it...before I panicked..."
Zoro stopped suddenly, catching her as she tripped at the sudden change. He gulped, staring at the little woman in his arms, blinking in disbelief.
"You did?"
She nodded, the deep blush only deepening before his eyes. "I did...it was one hell of a first kiss..."
Zoro's breath was ragged when he remembered to let it out. His hands found the sides of her face and leaned in toward her. "Am I allowed to do it right this time?"
"You did it right the first time."
He smirked. "Oh is that so?"
Her gaze shifted to the side. "Ah well...I tried to kiss you back..."
His thumbs stroked her ears, bringing her attention back to him. "You succeeded."
He saw her bashful smile for a fleeting moment before he brought his lips to hers, sliding one arm down her back to pull her close. He smiled against her lips when he felt her arms wrap around his chest as far as they would go, her small hand gripping the slack of his shirt.
He broke the kiss reluctantly, feeling drunk on her. Lithium pressed her forehead to his chest, sounding as breathless as he felt.
"Where do we go from here, Lith?"
Her ears turned upward but she kept her face where it was. He felt her soft sigh warm the fabric of his shirt before she answered.
"I don't know...but how about we talk about over dessert?"
Zoro chuckled, squeezing her shoulders. "It's cheesecake, isn't it?"
She peeked up at him with one eye. "It's the only dessert that would move me from where I am now."
"Should I be jealous of it?"
Her giggles were beyond adorable to him as he let go of her. He watched her flounce to the kitchen until his view was blocked by someone as she slipped through the door.
He narrowly missed the foot flying at his face.
The cook grabbed the front of his shirt, practically snarling past his cigarrette. His tone was low and to any other person, threatening.
"What hell Marimo bastard? You were never married to Lithium and you had the nerve to act like you were!"
"No one would listen to me! Or her! We tried to say something!"
Sanji shoved him against the mast. "So why the hell did you keep sharing a room with her? Why do you keep acting like it's fine? Are you that damn selfish?"
Zoro shoved him back away from him. "If wanting to share space with the woman I love is selfish, then yeah, I'm that damn selfish!"
Sanji stared at him, mouth gaping open. "How the hell would you know what love is?"
"I just do! I'm not a complete monster!"
"Then why didn't you tell her immediately? Are you a coward?"
Zoro balled his fists, wanting nothing more in that moment than to shut him up. "It's not that simple! I don't know how it could ever work between us!"
Both men turned at the sound of a plate clattering to the ground.
Lithium stood in the doorway of the kitchen, face stricken as if she had been slapped. Even in the low light, Zoro could see tears spilling from her eyes.
"Lith?"
The moment he broke the heavy silence, she was gone, only the sound of her feet pounding the dock any indication of where she ran.
Zoro's breath caught in his chest, so shocked he let Sanji's kick connect. He barely felt it even as he went sprawling across the lawn.
"You fucking idiot! You say you love her and then you say that shit! You-"
"- I MEANT STILL HAVE NO CLUE HOW I COULD EVER DESERVE HER!"
Sanji stopped mid-kick at the sight of tears running down his face. Zoro would have welcomed the kick though.
"She sweet, beautiful, sarcastic as hell, she can probably kick my ass now...she is damn near perfect...what the hell do I have to offer her?"
The cook hauled him to his feet. "Shit, you do love her and that's enough...follow her, idiot marimo, before it's too late!"
Zoro nodded his silent thanks and took off into the darkening night.
Lithium's feet flew over the pavement, directionless but determined to put as much distance between herself and Zoro.
Why? How could he say that?...how can he kiss me then reject me?
Her tears flowed freely, stinging her eyes. Not that she needed them. She did not care where she was headed. She just had to run until her injured leg would let her go no further.
How could I be so stupid? In the end...I'm always just for someone else's gain...
She sagged against a nearby building, her leg screaming for her to stop. For a fleeting moment, she thought of how frustrated Chopper would be that she ran on it, but she doubted she would see him again so what did it matter?
When she dropped to her knees as the gravity increased around her, she did not struggle. The sounds of the marine guard rifles and the smell of the blood palms did not make her flinch.
Her shattering heart and the sound of her screams were all she knew. There was nothing else.
Shots rang out, but they were distant, as the scent of 25 wrapped around her numb body.
She thought she heard her name as she slipped into drugged slumber. She smelled blood, but the alarm it caused was drowned by her now-internal cries.
It's not worth the fight anymore...