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As it turned out, Luffy had no maps and didn't know a lick of navigating. At best he knew east and west from the position of the sun, but at worst even this was unreliable as he confused himself when the sun was in the exact middle of the sky, during which every direction turned into both east and west. Especially at sea, with no landmarks in sight. This was not good; it was all too easy to pick a direction and sail right past landfall without even knowing it, thus common sea knowledge strongly recommended having at least a navigator on board for any kind of voyage.

Not that Zoro was any kind of navigator himself; in the past he'd just relied on others to do the job (ie a certain pair of bounty hunters he'd teamed up with for a bit.) Anyway, he could never seem to find a sea chart that was actually accurate, given that whenever he tried a hand at learning the maps were always wildly incorrect. He'd try setting course for one island only to end up on another that was supposed to be in the opposite direction, or landing in a port that wasn't supposed to be there, and vice versa. East Blue mapmakers were all terrible at their jobs. It was no wonder he'd given up if they couldn't mark their islands in the right place. So, he'd dryly recommended to his new captain that a navigator was a higher priority than a musician or even a cook (how would they cook food if they couldn't even find it first to stock up on) and left it at that.

As for the rest of the sailing situation… The small boat was just wide enough to stretch one's legs out on, but not much else to do, other than making sure the sail was holding up and doing its job. As the boredom set in and supplies dwindled, the distinct lack of options led to natural conclusions; that is, to do as boys do and compare swords.

"Wow," Luffy said, eyes wide as Zoro gingerly held Kuina's blade horizontally outwards, catching the light on its peerless edge, "That's really, really good folding. Nice hamon. Your sensei really just gave it to you?"

"More or less," said Zoro. On Luffy's request he'd given a short, edited version of the story behind his most treasured blade; he didn't feel like spilling the full emotional story out to a guy that was still basically a stranger, fellow swordsman or not. Luckily, Luffy didn't comment on some of larger holes in the tale— or simply didn't notice— and only hummed, tilting his head and squinting at the sword in question.

"Hmm… you know, apparently there's a bunch of swords out there that are super special and have fancy names and everything," he mused, "you think that's one of them? I never remembered any but it looks like it could be."

"Maybe? It has one, but I don't really care about that stuff." He slid the katana back into its sheath. Name, no name, it didn't really matter. It was the sword of a dear friend, and the symbol of a promise. That was all.

"Those other two are kind of crap, though," Luffy said with a pointed look at his other swords. Zoro's eye twitched. He refrained from commenting, because while they did their job and had served him faithfully, they'd also come from the bargain bin at the local blacksmith back home, picked out when he'd started transitioning from shinai to real blades and couldn't afford new, personalized ones.

"So… what about you? Not many long sword users in these parts," he said, changing the subject to nod at the blade at Luffy's side. Due to its length, too long to lay on Luffy's back while they sat, it now rested against the side of the boat. Luffy himself needed no prompting; his eyes lit up, and his posture straightened.

"Yeah, but my dad uses one so that's what I learned with! He's the one who taught me how to fight. I had to really bug him, though. Then my grandpa got really mad and tried showing me how to use a saber but he wasn't very good at it."

As he spoke, he gripped the hilt and swung the sword around in a flourish. Now, there hadn't been any who used them back at his more traditional dojo, and he personally hadn't touched one himself, but Zoro could appreciate a good sword when he saw one. As a bounty hunter he'd run into a few criminals who'd boasted a long sword, but none of them had used them with any sort of real skill, depending more on their intimidation factor than the knowledge of actual swordplay. In stark contrast, Luffy couldn't be more at ease, even as he held a blade longer than his torso at a vertical angle— one handed, to boot, without visible strain. That thing obviously wasn't very light.

"It got a name?" Zoro asked, mildly interested now that the named-sword thing had been brought up.

"Yeah! But, uh… it's… uh…" Luffy trailed off. His eyes narrowed in thought as he frowned, then shook his head. "Something fancy and long, and I forgot it. That's okay, though. I just call it Hiru."

Not a bad name. Whatever process used to forge it had left the sword with a bright, sterling surface, a step below mirrored. It almost seemed to glow under the afternoon sun, gathering and reflecting light with ease until it seemed almost pure white. The guard was especially ornate, with an inlay of gold and small gems, and the hilt wrapped in dyed blue leather. Zoro wasn't big on decoration, as such ornamentation usually meant a loss of durability in the sword itself, but he didn't get that same feeling for this one. Case in point, it had taken on an entire marine squad and a direct blow from Axe-Hand Morgan, without even a scratch.

"It's pretty impressive. Can't be easy swinging it around."

"Yeah. A bunch of the training I did first was weight and control stuff. I didn't actually get to touch a sword for ages, and even then I had to start with a stick." Luffy huffed, scowling at some past memory, then brightened again. "This is nothing compared to my dad's sword, though! It's longer than I am!"

"Yeah?"

"Yep! It's really, really cool. I really wanted to try swinging it but he never let me." Another scowl as Hiru returned to the deck next to him. "Oh well. I'll get to someday."

"So, your dad… he must be pretty strong then," said Zoro. Considering the skill he'd seen Luffy display in only one encounter, he could only imagine the skill of the one who'd taught him. Oddly, the other stifled a laugh.

"Oh, he's definitely the strongest," he said, then covered his mouth as his shoulders shook with repressed giggles. Zoro eyed him, but decided it wasn't worth it and just rolled his eyes. Eventually, Luffy managed to quiet down. There was a brief pause, filled with the quiet snap of the sails, and the waves against the sides of the boat.

"He said I could have it," he said, out of the blue, "His sword, I mean. I used to ask him all the time, so maybe he was just making fun of me, but… He said if I could beat him in a match, I could have his sword."

"You don't say." Zoro yawned as he stretched, settled back for a nap. He was losing interest now that the conversation topic was changing, though he kept an ear out regardless.

"I don't think I can, though." Luffy rested his head on one hand, staring thoughtfully into the distance. "If I really wanted to beat him I think I'd have to give up on my dream, and I don't want to. When I told him so he was kind of disappointed… He stopped training me after that." The tone of his words was subdued, though only a moment before he shrugged, and the slightly odd mood dissipated. "But then he gave me Hiru, so I guess its fine! And then I told him I'd just find a really strong guy who could beat him, and then he'd have to give me his sword."

He stared intently at Zoro for the last part, who felt the intensity of it and cracked open a reproachful eye.

"…Oi," he deadpanned, "Don't sign me up for fights without my permission."

"Aw…"

"If we run into the guy and he puts up a good challenge, then sure, maybe I'll give it a go, but it's not my goal in life to beat up people's dads."

"If you say so." Luffy shrugged again, but with a maddening self-assured smirk as he did so. He didn't like it, but decided to ignore this strange confidence as well. Speaking of, however, he was curious about a passed-over subject that hadn't come up until now.

"What's your dream anyway?" Zoro asked… right as Luffy abruptly stood, leaned out towards the water with a curious expression.

"Huh?" said the pirate absently, shading his face with a hand as he peered over the waves.

"Your dream. You mentioned it a moment ago. I told you my dream, it's only fair you tell me yours. What are you hoping to get out of this pirate thing?"

"Oh, me? I'm going to be King of the Pirates. Didn't I mention it?"

A beat.

"What?" Zoro choked, then was unceremoniously thrown off balance as Luffy threw a foot up on the sides of the boat and shook the whole thing. "Hey, quit it! You'll capsize us!"

"Hey Zoro, how fast can you row?"

"How fast can I— wait, don't change the subject!"

"It's just that there's three guys in the water way over there, and I think they're drowning?"

"I— huh? How— Why're you waiting for me to do it then?"

"Because I'm the captain, duh, and it's weird when two people row at once."

Thus the matter was promptly dropped in favor of impromptu rescue— even though the shipwreck survivors turned out to be gypped pirates, which lead to another sort of adventure, and Zoro never did quite get Luffy to elaborate on his casual remark.

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The last chapter was shorter so I figured it would be nice to get this up quicker. Luffy… Please stop baiting Zoro... he doesn't even know yet….

I saw the chance, I took it; Hiru - 昼

Thank You for the kind reviews!