A/N: Dang I'm so bad at updating this thing. But here's a new chapter. Finally.
It's starting to get late.
Should she be worried? She shouldn't call him; if he's driving that will only make him either more lost, or crash again. Nami really hopes he can find her new place. She's moved since he's been here last. It's been almost a year since he left, and she can't wait to see him.
He's made it clear he will not be here long; just a quick weekend trip for a tournament. She's really glad he's found something to do with himself that seems constructive and that he seemingly really enjoys. The few times he's actually called her, he mostly ends up talking about the tournaments he's been in. She doesn't mind, it lets her know that he's ok and for the most part, happy. And from the sound of it, he's really fucking good. She's only hear of one that he's lost. The last time he called, he asked if he could stay with her for a few days since one of the tournaments he wants to go to happens to be here. Obviously she said yes.
And now she is impatiently waiting for him to show up at her door. Though he is three hours later than expected, and that was with a generous time frame.
She gets up off the couch to busy herself with a glass of water and to see that any alcohol that may be in sight is stored away. She's not sure what Zoro's current state of sobriety is, and if he is sober, there is no reason to tempt him. Even if he isn't, she doesn't really want him to drink away the weekend. Not when she has limited time to see him.
"Nami, what are you doing?" She glances behind her to see Usopp staring confusedly at her as she puts a bottle of vodka on a high shelf behind some forgotten cereal boxes while balancing herself on the kitchen counter. Zoro had asked her not to tell anyone that he's coming. Since Usopp lives with her now, surely Zoro wouldn't mind if he knew? But the surprise on Usopp's face will be totally worth it when he sees the green haired idiot come through the front door. So instead of actually explaining what she's doing she quickly thinks up a plausible explanation.
"Just rearranging some things."
"And the cereal and alcohol are now items that go together?" He raises his eyebrow as he continues to watch her. She slowly places the bottle down and closes the cabinet door.
"I wanted to clear the counter space. We never eat that cereal anyways, so I figured that was as good a place as any."
He squints his eyes at her. "Right. Because putting the vodka on the shelf both of us can barely reach is logical. You love vodka."
"But look at all the room we have out here now!" She glances around at the meager counter space that was barely freed up. She is saved from more awkward explanation when she hears a knock on the door. She pushes down her excitement as she hops off the counter.
Usopp glances at the time on the microwave. It's nearly midnight. "Who the hell is here?" Nami dashes over to the door as casually as she can. "Nami, be careful, you don't know who's out there! What if it's a burglar or something?"
"Usopp, why would a burglar knock?" She rolls her eyes at him as she nears the door.
"To see if we're home!"
"I can promise you it's not a burglar." She grins as she opens the door. The hulking figure on the other side throws her for a moment, but she recognizes the light green hair and confused look as the man glances at his phone then the numbers next to the door.
"Uh…" Nami launches forward and grabs the man into a tight hug. She knows he's not big on hugging or physical contact for that matter with few exceptions, but this definitely counts as an exception. She can feel a muscular arm wrap around her back and hear him chuckle. "Seems like I found the right door."
"Please don't tell me you've been knocking on doors for the past hour."
"Course not." The quiet and quick response leads her to believe that he definitely had been. God she missed this idiot.
When his hold on her slacks she realizes he's had enough and lets go of him so he can come inside. He drops his bag and bike helmet next to the door and toes off his shoes. Nami is about to ask if he got his bike fixed after that terrible accident almost a year ago, but Usopp speaks first.
"Is that… Nami, did you slip something into my food? Because there is no way that Zoro is actually in our living room right now, right? That's absurd. He left. He shouldn't be here. Why-"
"Usopp, I promise you that I am actually here. Though I can't promise Nami didn't slip anything into your food." She glances back at Zoro who has a shit eating grin on his face. She smacks him in the arm, though she suspects it has little effect. The man keeps growing in size, she doesn't know how he does that.
Usopp finally gets over the initial shock and in a near sprint heads over to Zoro to engulf him in a crushing hug. Zoro returns the hug briefly.
"Alright, alright." Zoro seems to be trying to pry Usopp off of him gently while Usopp is practically in tears over Zoro's arrival. Usopp finally pulls himself together and pulls himself off of Zoro. "It's good to see you, too, Usopp." Zoro quickly glares at Nami. She knows what he's thinking.
"I didn't say anything. He lives here, kind of hard to avoid him seeing you."
"You live with Usopp now?"
"Yeah. You've been gone a year Zoro, a lot has happened." She smiles over to Usopp who is still staring practically dumbfounded at Zoro. She knew surprising him would be worth it. Though he seems to be focused on his now even more massive arms.
"So, wait. Are you guys, like, roommates, or-"
"We're not roommates, Zoro. Usopp and I got together not long after you left."
Zoro looks between the two of them, shoving at Usopp for staring at him the way he is, then back to Nami. "Huh. Good for you guys."
She knows that's probably the most enthusiasm about that she will get from him on the matter.
"Wait a minute. Did you not want anyone to know you were here?" Usopp finally joins in the conversation.
Zoro looks a bit guilty. "I'm only here for a few days. And… I didn't really want to get anyone's hopes up or anything. Or…" he mumbles the last bit of his sentence.
Nami eyes at him critically. She has an idea of what that last comment was about. "You don't want Sanji to know you're here." She thought it had been odd that he didn't want anyone to know, since he hasn't seen anyone for over a year. He didn't really even say goodbye to anyone. And while that could be a good enough reason to avoid them all seeing as he left on kind of a dick note, this explanation is far more believable. And she definitely hit the nail on the head as he looks to the floor then quickly changes the subject.
"So, where can I put my stuff?"
She shows him over to the spare room and he places his things on the bed. She glances again at his helmet. "Did you drive here?"
"Hm? Yeah. That's what took me so long, got a little turned around. It's been a while since I've been here."
She rolls her eyes. That's not quite why he was turned around but she'll let it slide. "Did you have to get a new bike or did you manage to fix your old one?"
He looks at her with a confused expression. "How did you-"
"Zoro you were all over the news. I know Sanji talked to you afterwards, he must have told you. We were all together when we saw it. You scared the shit out of us."
He goes quiet for a few moments, probably remembering the events, before shaking his head. "Right. Sorry about that, scaring you I mean."
She can see something is going through his head, but she figures its probably best to leave it; he's starting to get that look in his eye that Sanji had told her means bad things are to come. Was his fight with Sanji really that bad? Maybe she's missing something. Regardless of what's going through his head, she figures it would be beneficial to break him out of his thoughts.
"So, new bike or same one? You never answered."
He startles slightly when he's pulled back to reality. "Uh, new one. Old one was totaled. Had to find a job and everything to pay for it."
She smiles. Nami is happy that he is able to hold a job still. She knows he had one before he left, but it was extremely part time and he only worked a few hours a week. And after seeing how out of it he had gotten, well she didn't exactly have high expectations for the man.
Nami shows him where the bathroom is and the kitchen, even though they're easily found. She knows how long it could take him to find them if he hadn't been told the general area of where they are. The apartment is small, but you never know with Zoro.
When they reach the kitchen, she notices him glancing around like he's looking for something. She has a feeling she knows what.
"You want anything to drink?"
His attention immediately turns back to her. "What do you have?"
"Water, we might have some soda or something in the fridge." She can see him immediately deflate as he lets out a sigh.
"I'll just have some water, then." He runs a hand through his hair and looks a bit fidgety.
She watches him momentarily as he worries his lip. "When's the tournament?"
"Uh, Sunday afternoon."
She nods. So two days from now. "Zoro," she waits for him to look at her. "Are you sober? I don't mean right now, I mean for good."
He glances away. "No."
"How long has it been since you had a drink?"
He sighs. "Last night."
Nami can see him trying to have self control, but she also knows how hard it will be to go much longer without any alcohol in his system, not to mention possibly dangerous. She's looked into the effects of withdrawal before out of concern for her friend, and while she knows the worst withdrawal symptoms don't happen to everyone, it's better to be safe. Especially with the way he drinks. He's gone over 24 hours without it. Despite her initial instinct to keep him away from it, she rethinks the situation.
Reluctantly she points to the cabinet that she hid the alcohol in. "Open that."
"What, you need help getting something in there?"
"No, idiot. Just open it." He reaches for the handle and pulls the cabinet door open, revealing boxes of cereal and a few bottles of alcohol. He raises his eyebrows and looks back to her. "Take one."
"I have a feeling these were placed here deliberately."
Nami shrugs. "Yeah, well. If you had been sober, I didn't want to exactly entice you with them."
Zoro throws a smirk at her. "You weren't going to give any of that to me." He caught her, and she's not exactly sure what to say. She's monitored his intake before, so it's not completely unexpected of her. He gives her a playful shove on the arm before reaching for one of the bottles. She can see the slight tremor in his hand as he does so and she feels better about her choice to allow him to have some. He scoffs at her selection; she knows he prefers dark liquor but he doesn't really have a choice and pulls something down anyways. "Thanks, Nami. I appreciate it."
A sly smile crosses her lips. "You'll owe me for every bottle you finish, though."
His smirk falls and he looks from her back to the bottle in his hand. Then up to the others that are still on the shelf. Then back to the single one he is holding. He groans. She tries to hold in a laugh as she can see him most likely trying to decide if he should try to make the one bottle last. She knows he won't be able to; he drinks far too much in one sitting. It's probably cruel to make him pay for the bottles, but perhaps it will keep his intake down a little. And she will just add it to the growing debt that he still owes her from years ago.
They part their ways; Zoro back to the spare room to guzzle down the vodka before falling asleep, and Nami to her and Usopp's room. As she gets ready for bed, Usopp looks to her with suspicious eyes.
"You were hiding all of the alcohol from him, weren't you? That's what you were doing earlier. That's why you made up that terrible excuse."
"Well, do you want him to drink all of it?"
She can feel him stare as she sits down on the bed. "You just told him where it all was! How is that hiding it. Now he will drink it all, and you're going to have to buy more and this time it'll be that crappy stuff you get to save money because you gave him what's left of the good stuff."
She turns on him with a frown. "Why is it so bad to save money? Besides. I told him he has to pay me back for every bottle he finishes."
Usopp's jaw drops. "Nami. That is mean. But I completely stand behind you. And I mean I will be standing behind you when you go to collect the money from him."
She shakes her head and lies down beside Usopp.
-:-
Zoro fights back the shiver that threatens to shake down his spine as he takes a swig from the bottle of vodka. It's not his favorite drink, but it'll do. He's drank nearly nothing but whiskey for so long that he forgot how terrible vodka tastes. Regardless of how it tastes, it'll do the trick so he tries to ignore the flavor.
It's weird being back in town.
So familiar but at the same time foreign. Things have changed. He has changed. His friends have changed.
Nami and Usopp are together now. That he didn't see coming. Though he would never have put anyone in their group together aside from him and Sanji. He sighs at the thought of the cook. He would really rather avoid seeing him while he's here. Zoro is not here to stay. One of the tournaments he really wanted to go to was here, so he came. It just happened to be where everyone he knows lives, and where Sanji lives.
He did not come here in the off chance that he would see him.
Really, though.
He shakes his head and downs some more liquor. He only sounds like he trying to convince himself of that. Maybe he is. He's nearly certain Sanji would not want to see him. Not after last time they saw each other. He made it clear that the only contact he really wants from Zoro is information regarding if he ever recovers from his mental disturbances. A happening that Zoro is slowly making strides towards, but is still in the distance. It's been nearly a year since he saw Sanji last, and he still remembers the disgusted and hurt look in his eyes when he confronted him about the events that happened prior to their fight. They haven't spoken since.
He reaffirms that he does not want to see him while he's here.
Zoro is not where he needs to be yet to see the cook again. He needs to be mentally sound, and while he has improved, Perona tells him he seems like a new human already as he's a lot less easy to anger and provoke, he still has a ways to go until he feels like a new human.
Outwardly he's improved, but internally he still needs some work. And that's the most important part for him. Mental stability and complete control. That is the goal. And until then, he cannot see the cook.
He has a bad feeling that seeing him might push him backwards. Seeing him might bring back all the old memories and feelings of loss of control from when they were together, from when his life was completely falling apart. And he cannot go back to that. Which is why he has to wait until he is in full control of himself when he sees him again.
Zoro just really hopes Nami and Usopp can keep his visit to themselves until after the tournament is over.
But all of this does not mean that he does not crave the cook. He wants to see him, but he knows he should not, cannot.
Which is why he is realizing his current internal monologue is rationalizing why he can't see him. He didn't realize how much he did want to see the cook until he got here.
But this tournament is really important. That is why he's here. Focus.
He sits back on the bed and drinks a bit more from the bottle in hand. He is starting to feel a bit better than he did earlier at the expense of poorly flavored alcohol. At least Nami seems to have been well stocked. He feels extremely guilty about taking her stash though. He knows how she feels about him over drinking and he will do his best to keep it dialed back while he's here. He has already gotten himself to mostly drink at night due to training, it shouldn't be hard to keep that up here. Especially with that tournament coming up; he needs to be clear headed. Ever since he lost his first competition, he has stopped over indulging the night before. And while he knows it was mainly his own fault for not keeping himself in line, he does owe the loss partly to not mentally preparing himself the night before and getting completely trashed.
He looks down at the bottle in his hand. He's almost made it through the bottle. His tremors have stopped and he feels decidedly less anxious about being back in town.
He hates that he's so dependent, but it looks like he's going to have to keep it up for the weekend if he wants to survive it.
He may be in slight better control of his actions, but he's not so sure how he would be if he was in withdrawal for a prolonged period of time. And he really doesn't want to evaluate his self control in a high stress situation this weekend.
He mentally apologizes to Nami for being a drunk the one weekend he comes to visit as he pushes himself off the bed to go grab another bottle.
-:-
Zoro rolls over and opens his eye. With a start he realizes he is not in his bed in Perona's apartment, and then remembers he is in Nami's. He hasn't spent the night somewhere other than his own bed for so long he nearly thought he went on a binge without his own knowledge.
He stretches and pulls himself out of bed. He probably shouldn't spend the entire day in bed since he's visiting friends. And he should at least go for a run. He rummages through his bag to find some shorts and a t shirt for the exercise and heads out of the room once he has them on. He quickly notices the apartment sounds like it has a lot more than two other people in it.
There are two extra voices that he hears. At least one of those voices he knows will probably not be able to keep his presence a secret. He rethinks his morning run. Maybe he can pretend that he slept in and avoid this situation.
No. This isn't something he should avoid. He needs to stop avoiding. He takes a deep breath and continues to the living room.
"— best dinner ever! You should have been there. What were you doing last night anyways? Friday night is always the best night at Sanji's restaurant."
Hearing the cook's name is always a blow, but he pretends he doesn't hear it and walks up behind Luffy. Ace's eyes grow ten sizes and he seems to forget how to breath.
"Ace, what's wrong? Why are you making that face?"
The older brother quickly pushes his younger sibling aside to get to Zoro. He doesn't manage to do much but stare.
Zoro cracks a smile. "Hey. It's been a while.
Luffy flips around at the sound of his voice and joins his brother in speechlessness. It doesn't take long for them to recover and pull him into one of the tightest hugs he's ever received. He can't even try to return the hug as his arms are pinned beneath two over excited men.
He can't even understand what they're saying to him as their faces are pressed into his shirt, but he assumes it was a slurring of I missed you's and what are you doing here's and oh my god you're here's.
He's quickly becoming uncomfortable with all the attention and tries to push them off. He finally succeeds and Luffy stares at him with a look that nears betrayal.
"Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"
He feels guilt settle into the pit of his stomach. He can't possibly tell Luffy that he wasn't going to see him while he was here. "I wanted to surprise everyone." He plasters on a smile as he lies through his teeth. Luffy's expression instantly changes to delight.
He can see Nami and Usopp give him approving smiles and nods out of the corner of his eye.
Ace throws an arm around Zoro's shoulders. "Well then, we'll have to properly welcome you back tonight and surprise everyone else!"
Nami's face goes from light approval to worry. Zoro can feel his insides tensing up as he thinks of the consequences this could have. But he can't exactly say everyone is allowed to see him except for the cook. That would not go over well.
"You guys will be here for a while?" He tactfully avoids approving the idea.
"Yeah! Usopp promised us that we would have an exclusive first try at his new game that he finally finished!"
Zoro can see Nami mouth the words 'I forgot' with a culpable look on her face. He turns his gaze to Usopp. "You made a game?"
"I did, and it is most definitely the best game ever created if I do say so myself."
"Well, if you guys are staying here, then I'm going to go for a run." He could really use it now that he knows he's probably going to be seeing the cook tonight.
As he exits the front door he hears a chorus of "Don't get lost!" and then he is being handed his phone and prompted to call in case he can't figure out how to get back. He rolls his eye; he's seriously not that hopeless at finding his way. At least he likes to think so.
