"No."
Zoro wasn't sure what the word was. A command? An order?
Arms and legs were wrapped tightly around him, a soft body perched on top of him, weighing him down to the bed. A head of black hair was buried in his chest, so that his voice came muffled but still demanding, and even if it had been bright enough to see Luffy's face, Zoro wouldn't have been able to.
"You're not."
Stomach dropping a bit, Zoro raised an arm to lightly stroke Luffy's unclothed back. The boy tightened arms around him.
"Luffy," Zoro said softly. "Please don't let this be my--" He stopped himself. He had almost said, 'my last memory of you', but he knew better. "--leaving memory of you."
Luffy just shook his head, face still tight in Zoro's chest.
"Luffy, look at me. Please. Don't do this."
It took a moment, a moment of silent, pure, unpenetrated darkness. And then suddenly, it was as if the scene had took a complete 180.
Luffy's arms had loosened considerably, he had pulled away a bit and had splayed one hand on Zoro's chest, tracing little heart patterns on it. He was smiling.
Somehow, this hurt Zoro more.
"When will you come back, Zoro?" he asked idly, and the older man couldn't answer.
Luffy continued as if it didn't matter.
"Hm, I bet you'll be home for Christmas, huh? So just a few months. That means I'll have all that time to think of a present for you!" He grinned a bit, leaning up to kiss the man. He pushed against him harder than usual. "It will be the best present ever, Zoro, I promise."
"Luffy..." Zoro finally began, and Luffy reached up to kiss him again in response. "...I'll be back home when the war is over."
"But everyone says it'll be over soon. So you'll be home real soon, huh?"
No answer.
The room was quiet. Luffy's voice had faded away. Despite bright words, they were both thinking the same thing.
The only reason the country could be drafting was because they were losing -- because they needed new men, because they were all dying.
Luffy knew Zoro couldn't die.
Right?
Luffy's arms were wrapped back tight around Zoro's body.
"Zoro, promise me you'll come back."
He felt something tighten in his chest.
"Luffy, I can't promise you that."
The smaller boy didn't answer him for a long time.
"I'll write you letters," he finally said, his voice warbled and nearly unrecognizeable. Zoro's arms tightened around him again.
"Zoro," Luffy continued quietly. "When you leave in the morning... promise you'll wake me up." He bit back his lip. "I don't wanna wake alone."
Zoro said nothing. Luffy leaned up to kiss him again.
The sun rose too soon, the morning came too quickly. Luffy looked like an angel, and Zoro left without waking him. As the bus pulled away from the station, Zoro got what he was sure was his last good look at the tiny corn-field town. He'd be abandoning it now for the muddy trenches of some far-off country, he was abandoning the warmth of his bed and Luffy's beautiful eyes for a cold barrack and an empty sky.
Four Christmases came and went. For Zoro, the holiday had been nothing but cold snow and muddy filth and disease-ridden, drunken companions.
He hadn't received a single letter.
Had Luffy forgotten about him? Had he moved on to someone that could be there for him and hold him tight and make sure he wasn't alone?
Zoro hated the thought, but part of him hoped so. Luffy was not meant to be alone.
And then one day someone had shaken him awake and a voice over an old broken radio was announcing, with the glee of victory in their harmonious shouts, that yes, the war was over, and yes, they had won, and hell yes, they were all going home.
Zoro was in a daze.
No one was waiting for him at the bus station. For a moment, he didn't know whether he would be welcomed back into Luffy's home. Women and families and former fellow soldiers were in tears as they stepped off the bus, shouting and hugging and spinning. Zoro walked right past them. It was strange. It was surreal. It was unsettling.
He kept walking.
Down the road he knew so well, but it didn't feel as if he belonged. Each house seemed deathly quiet. His stomach turned as he got closer.
And then he stopped.
There was a small, simple banner hanging in Luffy's window. A simple purple heart, the symbol of a dead or wounded loved one in the war. For a moment, it was as if the world was passing by him.
His first thought went to Ace.
The next moment didn't really happen. Zoro had crossed the empty, sun-filled street and was up on the porch within seconds, knocking sharply at the door.