I do not own anything besides these words and the cover art.

"Ow!" Zoro sucked in air as Nami pulled the needle out. She smacked him in the head as she mumbled with gauze between her teeth.

"Stop moving, idiot! The stitches won't be straight if you keep wiggling."

Zoro turned to look up at her, which earned him another smack on the back of his head, but he shouted at her, "Well, don't go sticking needles in people's heads."

Nami took out the gauze and bandaged his temple. "Oh, shut up. That one cut nearly missed your eye."

Zoro shrugged, "Lucky I have two."

Nami threw him a dirty glare and gave him another slap before getting to work on her own cuts. Zoro held the small kit in his freshly bandaged arms and sat across from her. Her legs collected in his lap and as she leaned down to inspect her wounds; Zoro could faintly smell the vanilla shampoo she used. Even in the sweat, blood, and filth of the day, Nami had a way of coming out clean. It was her best quality…her selfish nature.

Nami glanced up and caught him gawking, which made her quickly duck her head back down and hid the blush that crept up on her. "Boy, you weren't kidding when you said you saw something you liked, huh?"

Zoro smirked, quite aware that his buzz was wearing off so whatever slurred poetry he managed before, he did not nearly have the sense to string his words together like that again. However, he would not let her retreat just yet. "Where'd you learn to do this?"

Nami had to peek up to grab something from the kit and Zoro held his gaze, so she let out a breath and managed a small smile. "Belle-mère. My mother." Zoro nodded for her to continue and so she did, "Well, I told you, she was a Marine. So…she taught us to be tough. Nojiko was so much better at taking care of people than me. She's older than me by a few years so naturally, she wanted to look after me…but I was…trouble. Just all the time. Got into fights and junk…just trying to get us out of the hellhole we lived in…I mean, don't get me wrong. I loved it…because I had them. But then Belle-mère got sick and Ar-"

Nami's hands began to shake, and suddenly Zoro's hands found hers as he steadied them onto her legs. He did not move them and Nami exhaled again, "Arlong took advantage of us. Then…people just died around me. One after another. It was as if someone knocked down all the people I cared about like dominos. And I've spent the rest of my life running after the falling pieces…trying to stop them…before they crush me."

"So…" Zoro began as he cleared his throat, "So tell me what you need. And I'll accommodate…cause if too long goes by…you just might be too late."

Nami took her hands away from underneath his and chuckled, "But I can tell you don't know how to play this game. To find the strength…or…just to find another way…you think I haven't tried?"

She said it with a bit of anger but when she looked up she saw him give a wide mouth grin back at her, "You didn't have me before, witch."

Nami felt it in her chest, like all the air constricted in one central location and Nami was afraid of what she was feeling. She admitted to him that she cared for him, but did she really fall in love with him? No, Nami could not believe it. She loved Belle-mère, Nojiko, and Usopp. Her list was short, small, and half-gone. Zoro was too alive, too real…too much.

Zoro realized he might have taken his words too far. He knew he felt something for the woman before him, and that something was becoming increasingly annoying. No, it was not annoying but more so consuming. He wanted to be swallowed up by her, to be so close that he did not know where he stopped and she started. It was dumb, and his face grew red at the thought…to be so intimate that went beyond bodies and whispered cries, no, what Zoro realized was love.

He scratched his head, "Uh, anyway. Where did you learn to fight, huh? Marine super mom?"

Nami shook her head and broke free from the reckless thought process that dawned on her. "Uh, no. Video games."

Zoro stopped and chuckled in disbelief, "Wait. What? You?"

Nami furrowed her brows and crossed her arms, "The hell is that supposed to mean? You think girls don't play video games?"

Zoro stood up from the carpet and went to the television set. He opened up a cabinet and Nami's eyes shone brightly as she took in the brand new gaming systems and rows and rows of games. "No, that idiot love cook was into a Latin chick that liked gaming for a hot second and literally bought everything to get her here." He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, "And then she ended up being like an assassin and almost killed him. Think she moved back home and they write letters or something…that dude picks up the weirdest women."

Nami looked at him baffled but suddenly asked, "Oh, speaking of Sanji! Where is he?" She glanced around the shared space and heard no other voices. It was eerily quiet without the blonde romantic spinning about.

Zoro grunted and pulled out a game console, "Probably shacked up somewhere. I'm surprised that man isn't a moving STD."

Nami crawled along the carpet over to him and glanced at the treasure chest of games, "And you aren't worried?"

"No. Why would I be? He knows how to take care of himself…and anything that catches his attention."

"Hmmm...that included you?" Nami poked Zoro in the cheek and he turned to look at her with a glare.

Zoro scoffed, "As if. I take care of that idiot more than he takes care of me."

Nami leaned back and laughed, "Oh, aren't you two cute."

"Shut up!"

Nami liked his sudden need to defend nothing and teased on. "Come on, admit it, you two would make such a cute couple."

"Nami, that's not funny. Besides, he smokes and I hate smokers."

Nami snatched a game controller from Zoro's hands and grinned, "Well, then, when I smoke you in a game, you gonna hate me, too?"

Zoro actually never played any of the games, but he was not one to back away from a challenge. Sanji tried to teach him, but then they just ended up bickering so it did not go anywhere. However, as he watched Nami eagerly put in a game and set it up for them to play, he smiled. Zoro did not have to ask her to stay because he was not going to let her go. Whether he completely understood it or not, Daz Bones and his manager were a part of something bigger. When he finally took in Nami's injured body, his first thought was that Arlong somehow came to the fight and got to her, but as Nami paraded around her winnings and told him of her fight, he grew warm at seeing her so proud of her accomplishment. Zoro felt like Nami had to fight her entire life, and bruises and cuts were a large part of who she was. However, if Zoro could help it, he was not going to make her fight another battle she did not need to. He's was her fighter, after all, and that was his job.

"Oi, Zoro!" Nami snapped her fingers at his face, "Do you even know how to hold this?"

She leaned in with a game controller in her hand, her big brown eyes glanced in each of his gray-black pupils and he blushed. "Shut up, witch! Just start the game, and I'll show you!"

Nami grinned as Zoro took the controller from her hand, "You may be better in the ring, but this is my type of fight…" she winked, "Get ready for a knockout!"

Music Inspiration/Theme: "Come Back Home" (Myd Remix)