Clarobell: Well, you pretty much went above and beyond our expectations, so as promised, here is your early chapter! This is where the road ends here for the first part of DD. So, particularly to our anonymous/unsubscribed readers, this story will no longer be updated. Part two will start in a new story called Dramatic Differences 2, so look out for it, ok?

Plushie: It will be posted under my name so people who've watched me for the first DD, will see it, and anonymous/unsubscribed reviewers can find it on my profile page without any dramas when it gets put up, ne? Hope you enjoy it.

Clarobell: Also, a note to one particular reviewer, whom I wanted to reply, but was unable as email addresses don't show up in reviews. Jenn, thank you for your review, and though I understand you don't like the whole 'this many reviews or no update' thing, that wasn't what this was. It was merely a chance to make both parties happy. The chapter would have been updated regardless of reviews on Saturday, but we simply offered it earlier in exchange of a show of enthusiasm via reviews. Your points were very valid, and the plot is repetitive. I can't understand why, but or some reason, I love it too, and both myself and Plushie often get sidetracked from working on DD because we get too engrossed in reading it. Stupid, huh?? Thank you for taking the time to review anyway. Your opinions were appreciated.they want to review. We can't make them.

Plushie: That's very true, we do. And I understand what you're saying about the whole 'review' thing, Jenn. But honestly, if people don't want to review, they're not going to, y'know? It's how it goes. If the plot is repetitive, then they can say that. I'm not being rude, and I do get completely where you're coming from, but reviewers will review if

Enjoy the chapter, people. extremely sorry for the long author's note. -nervous laugh-

--DramaticDifferences--

--Part 1:Discoveries--

--Written by Plushie and Clarobell--

Chapter 35: Lost

Luffy had been the one to lead them home, thich had surprised Nami and Sanji to say the least. The boy had always chosen to follow behind them, never seemingly paying attention, and they never really ended up walking to many places anyway. Living on the edge of town, to get to the big supermarkets, they either had to drive, or catch the only bus that went into town which was a 10 minute walk in itself. Had Zoro been giving Luffy indications of where to go, they would have understood. Zoro did tend to wander when they used to head to the bar for an afternoon out, and though he got lost, a lot, he always ended up finding his way back. Luffy however, could only have learnt the route from his travels in the car. It made them wonder how much other knowledge Luffy was hiding from them.

They reached the house in the late evening, as the sky was just starting to get dark. By that time, Zoro was so tired that he could barely see, let alone walk. Luffy assisted his older friend, letting him lean on him and leading him to the lounge room in the house. The younger teen had wanted to get Zoro straight up to bed, so that they could cuddle up and he could make Zoro feel better. Zoro never admitted it, but Luffy knew his hugs made him better. Upon getting him inside though, Nami had insisted they get the scratches over Zoro's neck and arms cleaned and patched up first. Luffy reluctantly agreed, rubbing his slim fingers up and down the skin of Zoro's arm as Nami hurriedly fixed the damage. By the time she was done, Zoro was already falling asleep sitting up, swaying almost dangerously and groaning softly as the constant touches kept him awake. Finally, Luffy guided him up to bed, letting the older teen drop down onto the bed heavily, before covering him with his favourite duvet and smiling down at him.

"Get some rest okay, Zoro?" he instructed softly as he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his green haired friend's forehead. The older teen wrinkled his brow for a moment, confused as to why Luffy had done that, before letting out a soft sigh.

"Night, Luffy-san…" he mumbled and fell asleep instantly. Luffy smiled down at Zoro. Watching him settle, the younger teen felt a bubbling in his chest. He couldn't describe how he felt, the closest word would be one Nami used with him quite a lot - proud. He'd fulfilled his promise today in protecting Zoro from the bad lady. He'd said some bad stuff, and even hit her, but she hurt Zoro first, so that made it okay, right? Because he did it for Zoro. Nami and Sanji had seemed upset though, but why would they be? They'd always said bad things about the Alvida lady, and they even made her lose her job! They'd been really quiet on the way home, too. Were they mad? Well, for the first time in his life, Luffy didn't care if somebody was mad at him. He was a little scared, yeah, but it was so worth it, just to keep Zoro safe. Smiling softly, he moved to lie down and cuddle up with him when Nami poked her head in the door.

"Luffy," she whispered. "Can we talk please?"

Luffy looked around at Nami and blinked at her for a moment before smiling and creeping back out of the room, following her down to the kitchen. The familiar flood of fear bubbled in his stomach, knowing they were probably going to tell him he did something wrong, but, he did it for Zoro. Everything was for Zoro, because he was the most important thing to Luffy. If he had to be punished because he saved Zoro, then he'd be punished. Not to say he wasn't nervous, though. Sanji could be pretty scary sometimes – Nami too!

The red head led Luffy to the kitchen, motioning for him to take a seat so that the three of them were sat at three different sides of the table.

"Hi, Nami." he said, once they were all settled Sanji looked up from where he was sitting at the table and peered at Luffy carefully.

"About today," he said. Nami crossed her arms, watching her boyfriend expectantly, frowning as he fumbled over his thoughts.

"What…" she began, before rethinking her question, "How did you know those words?" Luffy was confused.

"What words?" he inquired, tilting his head. Nami raised an eyebrow. Luffy had already forgotten? Great. That made her job easier... NOT!

"The, uh, bad words." Sanji suggested a little nervously. He had a dirty mouth at times, but, what Luffy had said was just… vulgar! Understanding dawned on Luffy's face and he put a finger to his chin.

"Oh, those words." he responded, as he tilted his head in askance.

"Yeah, those." Nami urged. Luffy smiled almost shyly, kind of embarrassed. He'd heard the words enough time, but he still wondered If he said them right. He remembered his time with Gramps and how every day he had learnt a new word like that. He'd just picked Gramps' favourite ones.

"Gramps used to shout those things at me." he replied, nodding matter-of-factly. Nami's eyes widened a little as a frown crossed her face. Sanji scoffed slightly, frowning as well. As much as he hated Alvida, he couldn't properly hate her, because she was a lady. But, Luffy's grandfather was an old man. A bastard of an old man, and if Sanji had had the opportunity, he would have kicked first and... no… he wouldn't have even bothered to ask questions. Nami was frowning down at Luffy, her arms still crossed.

"Then why did you use them?" she asked, annoyed that Luffy had fallen back on his grandfather again. She'd thought he was beginning to get over that. Especially this morning, when Luffy had said that Zoro wasn't Gramps.

"Are you mad?" Luffy muttered, bowing his head slightly. Sanji shook his head, waving a hand in the air absently. Nami glanced at him in a 'speak for yourself' gesture, but she knew Luffy would react badly if she said she was mad. He would go into that obedient mode, and he'd avoided that for the past week. She wanted to keep him out of it as much as possible. Sanji turned to Luffy with a small smile.

"Of course not… but… we've never seen you act like that." he replied.

Relaxing at this statement, the boy shrugged as he remembered what had happened. How he had felt this burning in his chest when Alvida had caused Zoro pain. He HATED seeing Zoro in pain, and that had caused fire to flood through his veins and made him want to beat her until she cried.

"I got… I dunno, I wanted to help Zoro… I think I got angry." he nodded, seemingly deep in thought. Nami looked at Sanji, who shrugged in return. Both of them were a little confused by this.

"You've never been angry before?" Nami asked, shaking her head a little at the same time. How could someone have never been angry? It seemed a bit… doubtful to say the least. Tilting his head, Luffy scratched his chin as he thought. He remembered those nights when Gramps would come home from the pub early, expecting to be fed, but instead finding Luffy asleep in the kitchen. How he'd yelled, and smashed things and threw glasses at Luffy. Even when drunk, Gramps' aim had been good. He could never remember feeling like he had today though. That was something totally new.

"I don't remember ever being angry, but that's how Gramps acted when he was angry," he shrugged, "I just copied him I guess."

"How did you remember all those words?" Sanji asked, slightly amazed. Luffy shrugged again.

"Gramps used to shout them a lot, and when all the kitties ate the food before I got any, I used to copy him - it was like a game." Slowly Luffy's smile faded and his eyes widened as he leaned back, "Did I do wrong?" He was apprehensive now; worried about what was going to happen to him. Would Nami and Sanji try to hurt him? Wasn't he supposed to say things like that? Ohhh, he'd just been trying to protect Zoro like he'd promised! Didn't they understand that?

"No Luffy, but, try not to use those words ever again. Okay?" Nami replied, offering a small smile, to let Luffy know everything was okay. "You were a good boy for helping Zoro. It was pretty funny seeing the look on Alvida's face." and she looked at Sanji as she began to chuckle. The blonde teen snorted and then began to chuckle himself.

"Gotta agree with that." he replied as he stood and moved over to Luffy, smiling and ruffling the boy's hair, "Go on up to bed now kid."

"Kay!" Luffy replied brightly as he grinned and turned around, jogging from the room, up the stairs and then sneaking past Zoro's room to his. He didn't want to risk waking Zoro up, no matter how much he wanted to snuggle with the older teen. He felt so happy that he had been able to fulfil his promise to Zoro! And he felt so good, because he knew that Zoro would never let anything happen to him either. Still smiling, Luffy settled himself into bed and opened his eyes to look at the straw hat sitting on the bedside table, for a moment. Maybe tomorrow, he would be able to play with Zoro some more and then he could tell how much he loved him. Either way, he was looking forward to the next morning...

--

Quiet. The lights were out. Thank hell for that. He'd been waiting here all damn night ever since seeing that brat at the circus, clinging to the other green haired brat and looking all… gay. What good luck he'd had today. He'd been heading to the shop when he'd seen them, laughing and joking, and on this day no less! What an insolent brat he'd raised. Well, he'd learn soon enough why he should regret being born.

He'd followed them home, sniggered cruelly in the shadows of the alley opposite when that idiot green head got strangled by some bitch he didn't even know, and then glowered again when Luffy had stood up for him. God he hated that kid so much, but he was sick to death of doing his own damn chores, and having to clean his own damn house. The kid was supposed to do that, not him. Fuck it. Well, soon the brat would be back and he would have his obedient little mutt back. From the looks of things though, the dog would need another round of training to make sure he didn't run off.

The lights had been out for at least an hour, and it was now one in the morning. Surely all those morons in there were fast asleep by now? If not… then they were idiots. Moving over to the door, Garp tested it before smirking as he found it unlocked. He had another reason to thank that strangling bitch from earlier. They were all so preoccupied with the little moss head pick they forgot to lock up. He stepped in silently, dark, harsh eyes darting in the darkness. He left the door open, grabbing a pair of slippers from beside the door in front of it so it wouldn't slam and announce his presence. That was the last thing he needed.

Unlike that stupid bitch from before, he was no fool. He'd watched that group of pricks with his idiot grandson, and how protective they were of him. If he wanted to get him back for good and under his thumb, he had to get him away from here and these people.

Quickly realising that nobody was in the bottom of the house, he moved up the stairs and paused beside the first open door. Looking in, he saw that idiot green head tossing and turning. Nope, not in there. Squinting through the darkness, Garp followed the line of the hall and peered into the room at the end of it. A cruel smirk slid across his face as he spotted his quarry.

Luffy was asleep on the bed, limbs splayed out and pyjamas twisted around him. His mouth was open in a quiet snore, and his hat was lying on the bedside table. Moving in, Garp took hold of one of Luffy's arms and pulled him out of the bed, slinging the boy over his shoulder and then almost groaning at the weight the damn kid had gained.

"You're comin' with me, brat." he muttered vehemently before turning back with a sneer, glaring at the straw hat. He hated that thing, but it kept the brat quiet, so he let him keep it. It was about time he finally got rid of the damn hat, and if the little shit put up a fuss, he'd just beat him until he stayed quiet. Walking out of the room, he smirked in satisfaction at his plan, leaving the straw hat sitting on the bedside table, looking lonely and lost without its owner. He made it out of the house with no problem at all, and quietly shut the door before sneering and moving out onto the street. He would take Luffy home tonight, and then tomorrow, they were moving to a totally different area of the town. That would fix his problems for good. And he would make sure this brat NEVER defied him again.

--

Zoro blinked slowly awake in his room. He looked around a little, searching it for anything dangerous as he usually did upon waking, and then his eyes narrowed as he noticed his arms were empty, and there was no Luffy to fill them. Odd. He was sure Luffy had been about to snuggle down with him when he'd fallen asleep. Mind you, he had been pretty damn out of it when he'd been put here. Strangely though... he felt very calm, considering what had happened. Sure, he was still pretty shaken, but what Luffy had done... well, he wasn't quite sure what he'd done, actually. All he knew was, one minute he'd been ready to pass out and then the next, he was quite calm.

He'd never seen Luffy act like that before. So angry and violent… so strong. Luffy had promised to protect him from Alvida, but, he hadn't really expected him to. Luffy had shouted at him too, but it was different… so strange. He'd never done well with people shouting at him, but when Luffy did, he felt scared and safe at the same time. Had Luffy been mad at him? Or… was he just shouting because he thought he couldn't hear him? Either way, Zoro was glad the boy had done it. He wanted to thank him, to… cuddle him. Let him know how grateful he was that he was born and how thankful he was for today. Peering at the glow in the dark dial of his clock with a soft hum, Zoro's eyes narrowed further when he noticed it was four in the morning.

Now, that was odd.

Luffy should have been in here for sure. Getting up quietly, Zoro shivered a little in the cold and hugged himself while he padded from his room, past Nami and Sanji's half closed door (rolling his eyes at Sanji's loud snoring as he did so) and peering into Luffy's room. Now, if Luffy not being in Zoro's bed was odd… then this was freaking UFO worthy. The bed was empty, the sheets rumpled and definitely used, but there was no Luffy to be found.

"Luffy?" he called softly as he walked into the room. He searched under the bed, which was cleaner than his, around the room, (which, again, was cleaner than his) and in the cupboards and closets. No such luck. Zoro was starting to get a little worried now. It was too early for Luffy to be up doing his chores... surely! Luffy didn't get up until about seven. Zoro knew this as a rule as he was always awake and waiting for Luffy to wake up when that time came around. It was cute watching Luffy wake up.

"Luffy?" he asked one last time before moving out of the room and peeking into the bathroom; nope, nobody in there. Sanji gave another loud snore and Nami wrinkled her brow in frustration, prodding him hard in the side before rolling over, still fast asleep. Jerking at the prod and blinking awake, Sanji sat up and scratched his head blearily before yawning.

"Meh?" he noised as he looked around, before spotting Zoro walking past at a rather hurried pace. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Sanji got up and began searching the room in the darkness for his pants. For all the things that Zoro had done, strange or good or otherwise, he didn't get up at... 4 in the morning!? Was that really the time? Geeze... Something was definitely up then.

Meanwhile, Zoro was beginning to get really panicked. Where could the kid have gone? Why wasn't he responding? A thousand questions were churning through his head, tripping over each other as they often did when he started worrying about things. Panting a little nervously, he had a bad feeling about this. Something was definitely wrong here...

He had searched the kitchen, lounge room and bathroom four times over already and damn it, he was going to do it again until Luffy turned up! He wasn't going to give in! Luffy hadn't given up on him before, but if the kid had run away then he would have given up, so... he should give up? No, no, that wasn't right. Luffy hadn't run away because he'd given up... right? Frowning as his poor brain screamed in frustration at not being able to figure such a strange mystery out, he tried to think of somewhere where he hadn't searched yet.

The orange groves! That's where he would be! Running past the bottom of the stairs, Zoro hurried into the bathroom/laundry and opened the back door, letting it bounce off the wall behind him with a loud bang. Moving out into the orange groves where it was still dark and it was freezing cold, Zoro shivered as he looked around. He couldn't see anything out here, the light from the slowly rising sun barely enough to allow him to scan the orange groves. Well fine! He'd go and search every damn tree then! Shivering as he moved out among the trees, Zoro looked around, his breath fogging in the air as he panted.

"Luffy!" he called, not caring about the noise. This was getting beyond a joke, "Damn it, Luffy! This isn't funny!" Zoro was practically pleading by this stage, ruffling the leaves of the orange trees to try and find his missing little friend.

Sanji, who had just managed to find his pants and was attempting to pull them on backwards, blinked at Zoro's voice. Drowsily, he wondered what the hell was up with the green haired idiot, and why he was yelling at this hour of the morning. Then his eyes widened as he noticed whose name the teen was calling. ... And Zoro's voice didn't sound happy either. It sounded desperate, bordering on panicky.

Finally pulling on his trousers (the right way this time), he managed to hurry out of his room and down the stairs, shivering at the cold air that hit him like a slap to the face as he moved into the bathroom and peered out at Zoro. He could barely make the green haired teen out in the dim, but steadily growing light. From the looks of it, he wasn't wrong about the man sounding panicky. He was moving from tree to tree, running his hands through his hair almost desperately and looking completely and utterly lost.

Nami had also awoken to the noise upstairs. She'd had to listen for a second before it had finally occurred to her what was going on and after pulling on a warm jacket, began searching the upstairs rooms again, flicking on all the lights and looking in every corner.

Zoro twisted and spotted Sanji, his eyes widening slightly. Sanji would help! Any help right now would be welcome. He hurried back over, shivering from head to toe almost violently with both mild panic and cold.

"What's going on?" Sanji asked, apprehension in his tone as he glanced back at the orange groves and then focused his eyes on the shivering teen in front of him.

"Can't find him." he said, reaching up a hand and running it through his own hair, looking completely lost. Nami hurried down the stairs and over to the door that Sanji had just left through. Both men were searching the groves now, leaving no stone unturned.

"He's definitely not upstairs!" She called out to them. Zoro stopped then, as a devastating thought fairly cracked him over the head. What if... Oh god, what if! He'd been so stupid last night! With Alvida... and... damn it all! He suddenly stopped completely still, all cold and panic leaving him almost like a visible flood as his body went completely numb. That had to be it...

Sanji hurried out from behind a tree, looking from side to side and then grunting when he walked straight into the other teen.

"Oi, why'd you stop looking?" the blonde asked, frowning a little and stepping around the green haired man. Zoro shook his head slowly, eyes wide and his previous trembling starting up again.

"He ran away…" he said, his voice faint. That had to be it. He'd… he'd made Luffy angry by acting that way, and Luffy didn't want anything more to do with him. That had to be it! Or… maybe Luffy had had a nightmare and then tried to cuddle with Zoro but, somehow he'd hit him and Luffy had run away? Ack, now his brain was going all fuzzy and confused again. Sanji turned upon hearing the statement and shook his head.

"No! He'd never!" Sanji responded, refusing to believe that Luffy would just up and go. He knew for a blatant fact that Luffy wouldn't leave his friend. Not while Zoro still needed him, and he needed Zoro. Not to mention the whole little 'crush' thing that had come into play. He'd been getting so confident! No... Luffy wouldn't run away. Uh uh...

Nami frowned a little as Zoro continued to stare at nothing, and Sanji continued to scour the orange groves, before she moved back in and found the phone. The two had turned up at Usopp's last time, so it was worth a shot. But there was no such luck. Hanging up, Nami hurried back to the door while Zoro moved slowly towards the room and Sanji looked about ready to rip the trees apart to simply see if Luffy had gotten inside the trunk somehow.

"Usopp said he's not there, but he's going to search the town with Chopper." Nami said. Zoro simply brushed past her, his shoulders hunched over in defeat. Shaking his head, he sighed as he moved up the stairs and to his room, kicking the half closed door open and not caring that it made a massive slam against the wall. Frowning in both confusion as to where Luffy had gone, and annoyance at Zoro's bleak outlook on the situation, Sanji moved back into the house again, closing the door behind him as he did so. Zoro dropped onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow. This was his fault. If he hadn't been so damn… weak! Then Luffy would've stayed…

"…but he did, Sanji." Zoro mumbled to himself. Sanji looked up at the ceiling and frowned angrily. He hated it when Zoro acted like this.

"Stop being stupid, Zoro! You know Luffy better than that!" he yelled, incensed. Zoro gripped the sides of the pillow. He was angry, confused, and damn it all, if Sanji didn't stop calling him stupid he was going to punch the bastard into next year.

Getting up from his bed, Zoro stormed out of his room and back down the stairs, turning into the lounge room and glaring at Sanji. His eyes were narrowed, and he was bowing his head in such a fashion that shadows were covering his eyes while his hands were clenched into fists and were shaking ever so slightly in anger.

"Stop. Calling. Me. STUPID!" Zoro yelled, so damn angry he could barely see straight. Sanji blinked at him before frowning and taking a short step to the left and in front of Nami so if Zoro decided to get violent, then he would be protecting her.

"Where is he then!? He's not here!" Zoro continued, waving a hand around the room and then he frowned further and pressed both palms into his eyes as tears started to form, "He's not here…"

"He might have sleepwalked!" Sanji tried to reason. Why was Zoro being so… so… damn negative! Zoro let out an infuriated growl and spun around, kicking the wall and leaving a gigantic hole there. Nami gasped shortly as she put a hand over her mouth.

"He hasn't sleepwalked before!" the green haired teen replied as he turned away from the wall again, not even apologising. He'd never done that before. Broken windows in a wild panic, yes, smashed Sanji's room while he was panicking, yes. But he'd never broken anything of his own free will. It just wasn't done with Zoro...

"Calm down, Zoro." Nami said in a soft, but firm tone. Usually that would have quieted the raging teen, but right now, it only made the situation worse. Zoro shook his head forcefully, pendants in his ear swinging wildly before he glared at them.

"I don't WANT to calm down!" and he glanced at the doorway before stalking out of it. He'd had enough of this! Luffy was out there somewhere, and it was his fault! It had to be! He'd done wrong to act like a wimp in front of Al- her and Luffy didn't want to hang around with a wimp!

"Where are you going?" Nami called, hurrying to the door, Sanji following behind her.

"I'm going to find him!" Zoro replied, slipping his shoes on and reaching for the door handle.

"Zoro! It's freezing out there!" Sanji frowned, "At least get dressed. I'm coming with you." Zoro's hand stopped a few centimetres from the door handle, and his shoulders shook angrily for a moment before he spun around and stormed up the stairs, going back to his room. Sanji sighed and rubbed his forehead for a moment before leaning down and giving Nami a quick kiss.

"Get some more sleep." he instructed softly as he moved into the hall and towards the stairs so he could get dressed as well.

"I'll sit in the lounge. If Usopp rings, then I can hear it." and she moved over and sat down, resting her elbow on the armrest and placing her head on her hand. Sanji nodded, and walked out, heading up the stairs. She felt her lip quivering and bit it, forcing the prickling in her eyes back. They would find him… they had to.

Zoro had a horrible feeling churning in his gut as the chill air slowly cooled his raging temper. Now he could think a little better, it was abundantly clear Sanji was right... but it didn't make him feel any better. He had a dark and ominous feeling about this, eyes narrowed on the road ahead and completely ignoring the man walking beside him. Yes... a very ominous feeling, and he was sure he knew who it stemmed from…

Don't worry Luffy, he thought, clenching his fists and feeling stronger than he ever had about anything in his life. We'll find you.

Clarobell: Well, that's that then! The end of Dramatic Differences Part 1. Are you all screaming?? X3 Part 2 will start posting when we catch up and get a few chapters ahead, I think, and we also have 2 side stories that will start posting in the mean time to keep you occupied until DD2 starts posting. A special thanks to everyone who's stuck with us through this long fic, and I hope you enjoy DD2 as much as the first instalment. It's my favourite of the three parts!

Plushie: thanks everyone.