Where He Stands
Summary: Luffy's curiosity makes Zoro see the difference. ZoLu. One-shot.
Disclaimer: One Piece does not belong to me.
A/N: Another ZoLu fic for me…kinda out of the blue story so it's a little weird and oh I got the title from Newsweek (the one with Ratzinger on the cover). Please don't sue…
"Naaaaaaa Sanji! I'm hungry!"
"Breakfast will be done in ten minutes, can't you wait?"
"No."
"Then don't eat!" Sanji roared from the kitchen.
Luffy was sitting at the table; arms sprawled on the top making it hard for Usopp and Chopper to set the plates and all. Nami was outside calculating their ship's ordinates while Robin as usual was reading another book on the deck.
"Naaaaaaa Sanjiiiiiiiii! Fooooooooooood!"
"Shut up Luffy!"
"Hey Luffy!"
"Hm? What is it, Usopp?" Luffy asked slowly emphasizing his growing need for breakfast.
"Why don't you go and get Zoro? He's still sleeping." Usopp said more to shoo Luffy than to really call the swordsman for breakfast. He and Chopper were already having a hard time placing the plates and the cups with Luffy's outstretched arms blocking the table.
"Zoro? But he's still asleep." Luffy whined, not wanting to go away. The smell of Sanji's soon-to-be-cooked food was all that matters for the aspiring Pirate King.
"I know that!" Usopp hollered. "That's why you have to wake him up and get him to have breakfast with us!"
"Hmm? But Zoro doesn't usually eat breakfast with us! He eats after our breakfast." Luffy grumbled his one-way mind not receiving the deeper meaning of Usopp's words.
Usopp nearly lunged at Luffy's stupidity when Chopper thankfully held him back. Then, Nami entered the room making Sanji leap with joy, automatically offering his 'beloved' a cup of hot coffee.
"Thank you, Sanji-kun." Nami said; Sanji's eyes turning to pink throbbing hearts.
"Hai! Miss Nami!" Sanji said blissfully. "Breakfast is ready!"
"Yippppeeeeeeeeeee!" Luffy leaped with joy, nearly tousling what Usopp and Chopper had arranged. "Breakfast! Breakfast!"
"Oi Luffy, why don't you call Zoro for breakfast?" Nami inquired.
"But Zoro doesn—," Luffy muttered, his mouth already full of fried rice.
"Didn't you hear what the beautiful Miss Nami said? Get the idiot swordsman already!" Sanji vociferated as he pulled Luffy's plate away from the captain's grasp.
"Aaaaaah! My food!" Luffy whined, his arms starting to stretch out when Nami slapped it.
"Get Zoro now or you won't have your breakfast back." Nami ordered and Luffy was fast on his track going down the cabin. If getting Zoro to eat with them would mean getting his food back, then he better do it quick, he thought with a wide grin.
"ZOROOOOOOOOOO! WAKE UUUUUUUUUPP!" Luffy announced as he entered the room the crewmembers sans Nami ansd Robin shared. There, he saw Zoro lying with his back against Luffy on the farthest bed. Luffy ran towards him and greeted hi swordsman with a big thump as he landed on Zoro's bed.
Luffy looked at Zoro and upon finding out that the green-haired man didn't even stir from his sleep, the captain started nudging Zoro with all his might, accompanying it with his shout.
"ZORO! ZORO! WAKE UP! ZORO!" Luffy hollered finally waking Zoro in his deep slumber. Zoro eyed Luffy warily then closed his eyes again with an annoyed grunt.
"Naaaaaaa! Zoro! Wake up! They won't give my breakfast back if you don't come with me! Zorooooooooooo…"
The desperation evident in Luffy's last word made Zoro thoroughly awake. With another irritated grunt, Zoro sat up and faced Luffy. "Go now. I'll be up after ten minutes."
"But you will sleep again!" Luffy stated while grabbing Zoro's arm and wagging it quite violently that Zoro thought it might pull off his shoulder any second.
"Alright! Alright!" Zoro rubbed the back of his head irritatingly while Luffy managed with a grin of success.
Zoro turned to his left picked his swords and laid it on the bed. Luffy who still didn't stand up cocked his head. "What are you doing?"
"Cleaning my swords." Zoro stated as he checked each sword before wiping it with a cloth. Luffy observed this process be repeated twice before questioning again.
"Naaa Zoro…"
"…"
"Do you love your swords? I mean they're important and precious to you but do you love them?
Zoro's movements stopped, pondering Luffy's question. Returning to his work, Zoro replied nonchalantly. "I do."
"Hmmm…" Luffy was left musing, his breakfast completely forgotten. "Is Sanji important to you?
The question caught Zoro off guard. What the hell was going on with his captain? One moment he's trying to wake him as if he was on comatose, now they're in the middle of a conversation regarding his swords and the shitty cook. Is Luffy finally making sense? No…no that would never happen in a thousand years.
"Depends on what you call important." Zoro finally answered thinking that the 'love cook' is important to them because he cooks decent food.
"Aaaahhh, how about Usopp?"
"Well, he's okay." Zoro answered thinking that Usopp—as a good liar—is a good provider of entertainment in the ship
"Chopper?"
"He is important, Luffy. He's a doctor."
"How about Nami?"
"She's our navigator."
"Hmmm…how about Robin?"
"I don't trust her."
Luffy paused for a moment in deep thought again. His mouth forming a frown. He looked at Zoro and Zoro looked back, his swords—already cleaned and checked—cradled by an arm.
"Naaaa! Zoro!"
"Hm…"
"You didn't answer my questions!"
Zoro wanted to slap Luffy on the head but he was too lazy to do that as of the moment, he closed his eyes trying to get more sleep as possible. "I answered your questions, idiot."
"No."
"I did."
"Yeah well, you answered but it's not related to my question!"
Zoro's eyes flew open upon hearing what Luffy said. "What?"
"I asked you if Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Nami and Robin were important to you. You should answer it with only a yes or a no."
Zoro couldn't believe what he was hearing. Luffy? The Going Merry's ever so childish and idiotic captain suddenly lecturing him about his answers? What in the world was happening? Is he having a nightmare?
"Naaa Zoro…you didn't answer my ques—"
"Yes, my answer is yes, Luffy." Zoro said as he conceded. No one ever won against Luffy's stubbornness. He knew well from experience. He basically exercised his arbitrary rightness or he would be insane by now if he didn't.
Luffy looked at Zoro with uncertainty, as if not satisfied with the swordsman's answer. Zoro sighed heavily. If this would round to another set of questions, they better go up to the deck and have their breakfast. He was about to say that they should eat already when Luffy's question made him stop.
"Am I important to you, Zoro?"
Zoro paused before looking at Luffy who was still sitting across him in bed. Yup. He knew it. Another round of Luffy's curiosity which leads to Zoro's constant headache made him really tired when it was only morning.
"Yeah you are Luffy, you're our captain. Now can we go and get break—"
"So that means you love me!"
"What!"
"You said that you're swords are important and you love them. So that means if I'm important to you, then you also love me!" Luffy said with a happy smile at his discovered logic.
That quite made sense, Zoro wryly thought. "Uh well… yeah."
"Hmmm…"
"What? Not yet finished?" Zoro asked with a smile. What a tiring kid…
"Do you love your swords more or do you love me more?" Luffy asked with the curiosity nearly competing with a child.
Zoro didn't know how to answer Luffy's query. His swords are important to him because the three were his comrades since he was a child. And Luffy was his captain so he respected him. By this time, Zoro's stomach was already growling with hunger. He never thought talking to Luffy first thing in the morning would make him hungrier than the usual.
"Well…you, I think." Succumbing to Luffy's inquisitiveness.
Luffy gave him a smile of approval saying, 'I knew it was me!'
Zoro smiled affectionately as his captain who jumped happily off his bed and sauntered towards the deck screaming for his food once more. The swordsman chuckled lightly as he stared at his swords before standing up and following Luffy.
"Sorry guys, Luffy's more important."
END
A/N: Wow! That wasn't supposed to be the end! I'm such a fickle person…Luffy and Zoro were supposed to have a passionate kiss and all in the end but I didn't think that would suit the fic if I inserted it. There, I already said the 'supposed' ending. The title is for Luffy specifying where he stands in Zoro's heart. Hope you'd review! Thanks for reading and have a nice day!