WARNING:
This chapter is probably closer to M territory in terms of sexual content. It's definitely not smut, there's no description of the actual act or anything, but I don't want anyone getting surprised. I will not be upping the fic rating (yet) because I still feel most of the fic is pretty firmly t-rated.
Zoro's first thought is, holy crap, she looks like shit.
Her face is splotchy from crying, cheeks still wet with tears and there's dirt smudged under her eyes from the grass stains on her palms. The rest of her looks undamaged, but there's a fragility in her frame that makes Zoro want to pick her up and run and hide her between his ribs until that shattering quality is gone.
His second thought is, holy crap, she's going to kill me.
Crying or not, vulnerable or not, there's a fire in Lucy's eyes that she normally reserves for assholes she plans to beat up and spit out like a toothpick. She looks like she'd like to deck him. Observation Haki or no, in the back of his head he feels Lucy's Conqueror's boiling the air around them and he can feel the effort it takes her to avoid blowing half of Zou into the ocean.
Guilt pricks at him for both of these things, her hurt and her anger.
Zoro sheaths Kitetsu and drinks her in, and doesn't let himself feel the shame at the note of betrayal in the twist of her mouth.
When she doesn't move after a minute, he takes a step toward her. Her eyes flash with renewed anger, and Zoro takes another.
Lucy doesn't move. Instead she looks him straight in the eye, face hard as the sky is blue, and says "I should kick you off my crew."
Zoro nods, because he wouldn't put it beyond Lucy to do something like that if she thought he was putting her ahead of his own dreams. And besides, he thinks as he takes another, "You'd be within your rights to."
Lucy eyes him warily as he draws closer. He takes another step, and now she's only a stride or two away.
"Did you do it because I'm your captain? Or…" She swallows thickly, like she's afraid of the answer.
It occurs to Zoro that he has an incredible power to hurt Lucy, if he ever wanted to hate himself for the rest of his life.
"Both?" Another step, and now she's within arm's reach. She's staring at his haramaki, where the scars from Thriller Bark rest beneath it. "I did it because I couldn't do anything else."
Lucy's gaze snaps up to his, and she has to look up properly now because he's standing right before her. Zoro's never seen her look so unbelievably livid at any member of her crew before, let alone him.
Zoro reaches out and clasps her shoulders in his palms. She's tiny, his captain, and as athletic and strong as she is, she's still dwarfed by him. She stiffens at the contact, and shakes her head like there's a refusal on her lips but Zoro has always been a creature of instinct most of all, and so even though she makes a half-hearted attempt to back away he pulls her forward and into him so that she's cradled against his chest.
She stiffens, thrashes half-heartedly, and Zoro just takes a half step closer, invading her space a little to bring her into his own.
"I'm so mad at you right now," Lucy whimpers, and her voice breaks a little. She throws a weak punch to his ribs, and Zoro knows he's getting through to her because she didn't just lay him out flat.
"I know." He would be just as mad in her shoes.
"You had no right." She throws another weak punch.
It's not fair that something that happened so long ago, something he has no regrets about, still has the ability to torment her years later. "I did what I had to."
Lucy shudders in his grip, and her fists find his shirt. She pulls at the fabric so hard he thinks it will tear under her hands. She's still stiff, still resisting, and Zoro begins to rock her gently, with one hand patting her back.
"Why," and here her voice is thready, and soft enough to break his heart. "Why does it seem like I'm always taking from you?"
Zoro glances down at her in surprise. Her messily shorn locks are wild and tangled, and anything remotely resembling order is willfully disregarded as her knotted hair flies in every which direction.
But this next part is hard, and it's hard to keep his voice light like he normally would. "Because you're greedy," he tells her easily, "It's one of the best things about you."
His greedy captain, always taking people's hearts against their will. His greedy girlfriend, who took everything he was and gave it back to him tenfold.
There's a wet spot on his shirt now, and Zoro knows her tears have started fresh. Her shoulders barely hitch, and she stays silent.
He hates it that she cries like this, small and wounded and covering her vulnerable bits. That this part of Lucy doesn't scream her feelings and thoughts for all the world to see, because that means they hurt. That means she's afraid of someone hurting her with them.
One day Zoro's going to find the person who taught her not to cry out loud and he's going to kill them, he swears it.
Lucy's fists tap his back in her weakest punch yet, right over his kidneys even as she's refused to let go of his shirt, and Zoro wishes he knew of another way to soothe her.
"I'm so mad at you," she whispers again, "why can't I stop being mad at you?"
Because she's scared. Because she doesn't know how to keep what happened to Ace from happening to him. Because Lucy hates when people leave, and she has no greater fear than losing everyone she cares about. No greater fear than being alone. Dying for her is the worst way Zoro could hurt her.
On some level he's known this almost since the beginning. It's why he kept Kuma and Thriller Bark a secret in the first place.
"Because it feels like I didn't believe in you," he says instead. "I did though. That's why I did it."
Lucy shakes her head in denial, and she's frantic enough with it that she looks up at him tears and all to order, "I don't want you to. Ever again."
Zoro frowns and brushes her bangs back. The point of Lucy's chin digs into his ribs, and she wants him to promise right now, he can feel it.
And Zoro wishes he could give her that, wishes he could put her at ease, but it would be a lie, and the only lie he's ever told her has come unraveled tonight. He's not going to heal it by offering her another one.
"I don't regret it."
Lucy's expression fractures to a snarl, and she pulls away from him hard. But Zoro knows Lucy, knows that she needs the comfort of physical touch like she needs air to breathe, and so he changes his loose grip on her to a strong one, both arms wrapped around her waist to bring her back to him. He pulls her off her feet, her back pressed to his chest even as she bicycle kicks the air, and she thrashes enough that he finds himself flat on his ass with his protesting girlfriend twisting and snarling between his legs.
Zoro just holds on, his forehead on her shoulder and grip tight, arms locked around her body, and waits for her to calm down.
It takes a while. She pleads with him more than once to let her go with a broken key in her voice that makes self-loathing curdle in his gut. But he holds on anyway, because he knows his girlfriend, and he knows how angry she is, and he knows they'll only be drawing this out if he does as she asks.
(They both know she could free herself with ease. He left her hands free and all she does with them is grip his wrists so hard they're sure to bruise tomorrow, like she's afraid to let go.)
When she finally calms, she's limp against him, her head leaning back against his shoulder and her hands fisted in her lap. Zoro lets out a sigh, relieved.
"What would you have done in my place?" He asks her, not expecting an answer. He just needs her to remember the why, because it's not like she doesn't know it already.
Lucy lets out a shuddery exhale, and Zoro can feel the trembling of her lungs against his own. He tries to lead by example, calm her breathing with deep breaths of his own.
"That's why I can't regret it. Because you'd have done the same for me without a second's thought."
Lucy's whole body is trembling now, and Zoro just holds her tighter, trying to keep a human storm from flying apart with just his fortitude. But she doesn't calm, doesn't stop, and the shaking only seems to get worse, and when Zoro notices her shoulders caving in around the scar on her chest he starts to speak.
He tells Lucy of the things she's given him, and how absurd it is to think he's never received anything from her. He lists out everything she's done to earn his loyalty and love—a home, a family, the means to pursue his dream, her own heart. And he tells her of the ways he's gotten stronger since Thriller Bark, how he took down that soprano bastard on Dressrosa without breaking a sweat and hey, the New World's not been so challenging after all, not yet.
Most importantly of all he tells her, I did it because I can't be World's Greatest without you, Lucy.
It takes a long time, and Zoro's not used to talking like this. Normally it's Lucy who speaks enough for both of them, and normally the silence between them is comfortable enough that words are unnecessary. But Lucy can't hear him right now, can't feel his Voice, and so he has to try and give voice to the magnitude and the breadth of his feelings for her, because it feels like she's forgetting and needs to know.
Finally though, she calms. The sky has visibly lightened by the time she does. She's limp and spent against him and there are tears drying on her face from her latest bout of crying this evening, so Zoro finishes with it's like I told you, I didn't lose, and falls quiet.
Lucy gives him a quiet sigh, and Zoro puts his chin on her shoulder, trying to see the expression on her face. Pinched, like she could start crying again. Lined with exhaustion.
Zoro leans back against the elephant hide and drags her with him. This time, Lucy follows easily enough, her energy spent, and she curls tightly against his chest in a protective ball. Zoro rubs her back, encouraging her to relax.
She's quiet for a moment, and Zoro thinks she's just going to pass out with her fists clenched, but then she speaks again, and her voice is hoarse and rough with her tears.
"I can't be Pirate King without you, Zoro."
And Zoro closes his eyes and sighs. He aims a half-smile at the lightening sky because this? This he can give her.
"Alright."
Lucy breathes out slowly, pacified at least for now. She uncoils from her stressed, defensive ball and instead sprawls against him in her usual fashion, limbs akimbo and one hand resting over his heart.
She drops from consciousness quickly, energy spent. Zoro brushes the hair back from her face and rubs away the furrow between her eyebrows with his thumb. He draws circles over her back to ease the frown she sports, and finally, when he's satisfied she won't wake up screaming, he drifts off himself, right there in the middle of the jungles of Zou.
The light changes, and Lucy opens her eyes. The fretful doze she's been trying to fall into flutters away, and she sits up unthinkingly, grasping at her bearings.
Zoro doesn't wake, thankfully. His right hand is tangled in the knots of her skirt, curled around her hip. It's protective and sweet and it makes Lucy melt a little even as part of her wants to burn shit.
Lucy looks away from Zoro, frowning into the trees. The shadows are forming with the coming morning, and it suits Lucy's mood.
She feels better after sleeping and bawling her eyes out. Calmer, more stable. Her scar doesn't ache so bad, and the terror that gripped her heart in a vice is gone, wiped away.
Lucy wants that to be enough. It's not.
Lucy is still angry, is the thing. Mostly at herself. She feels it like a hot iron rod in her gut, heavy and immovable. She's moved past the weakness that led her crew to the choices Zoro and Sanji were faced with a long time ago. There's nothing she can do about it now but make sure it never happens again.
Her self-directed anger is accompanied by the dregs of her fury at Zoro and Sanji. That's…more of a problem.
It's futile anger. She wouldn't love them the way she does if they were the types to stand by when someone they love is hurt. And deep in her bones, even with the memories of Thriller Bark and Marineford and all the other times Lucy has seen herself or her loved ones hurt, Lucy still can't picture a loss so complete that Zoro or Sanji or anyone she loves would be made to lay down their lives like that. And even if she did, she knows how strong they all are. She trusts that even the weakest of her friends would find a way to survive. She does.
Lucy lets out a slow breath, and looks to the east, where the sun makes to escape the sea. The sky is a riot of color, the black-blue ocean turns burnished gold beneath the escaping rays, but the golden orb of sun has not yet broken free of the sunken horizon, and the sky above Lucy's head remains black and violet.
Lucy looks down at her swordsman, spread out on the elephant skin like a starfish, snoring lightly. He looks handsome in the early light, his skin deepening with warm tones and his earrings glinting gold. The expression on his face is relaxed and calm, but there's a telltale furrow in his eyebrows that makes Lucy think his sleep is less restful than it seems.
Lucy tangles her fingers in the hand that still rests on her hip and feels her heart break, just a bit. Just enough to grow bigger.
If love is a risk, she's glad her heart chose Zoro. Lucy can trust him with it. She's never doubted otherwise. So she can forgive him for being stupid, for loving her more than she wants him to, for being loyal in a way that scares her sometimes.
The hand on her hip squeezes lightly, unconscious and without intent. Lucy smiles down at Zoro, her eyes drawn to the shadows cast by his lips, and lets the warmth of the newly-risen sun leech the poison from her heart, self-directed anger easing as she makes an old vow again.
Lucy promised to never give up. She's not going to break that vow here, when all she has to conquer is her fear, and there's an infinity of possibility and future to gain.
When Zoro wakes, the first rays of morning sunlight have turned the backs of the leaves black. Zoro knows instantly from the fogginess in his head and the stiffness of his limbs that he's only been napping for an hour or two. This is the first thing he notices.
The second thing he notices is small hands shoving their way under his haramaki, and his t-shirt riding up. When he blinks his eye into focus, he is unsurprised to find his girlfriend crouched beside him, tongue poking between her teeth as she tries to peel back his haramaki.
One look at her and he can tell she's calmer now than she was before. The fragility in her expression is gone, and the steadiness of her frame has returned. She looks like herself again, if not for the missing hat and a slight puffiness to her eyes.
It warms him enough that his lips twitch up in a smile and he cracks, "Shouldn't you at least buy me a drink first?"
Lucy starts in an abortive movement, then goes a little red, retracting her hands from his belly. "I wasn't—uh. Zoro! Look at the sunrise!"
And sue him, Lucy being flustered is a rare sight and the expression on her face is cute. Zoro pushes himself up to his elbows to look at the sunrise.
And then he blinks once—twice—three times, because wow. Wow.
Fifty paces down the path they stopped on, the forest opens up and slopes down Zou's ribs. From where he and Lucy had their impromptu nap, it's like looking down the slope of a mountain whose roots are buried beneath the ocean, because beyond the forest the sea stretches out into infinity, painted a glittering gold and white as the sun climbs above the horizon, the sky itself a riot of tangerine and carmine and violet. The rays turn the trees to jade and lengthen and blacken shadows, and it's breathtaking.
Zoro has seen a lot of beautiful sunrises out on the sea. They never stop being beautiful, but he's grown used to them to some degree. This is different. This is a sunrise that seems to breathe, and pulse with its own heartbeat.
Lucy smiles at whatever expression he's making, and pushes something against his back. Zoro sits up and leans against the log she's retrieved, and Lucy curls under his arm, her cheek on his shoulder and her right hand over his chest. Lucy's scent cuts through the mossy aroma of faint decay that clings to the elephant's hide. She's all sea and sunlight and star anise, and the familiarity is nice as they watch the strange sunrise together in silence.
Lucy, though, has never been one for quiet or stillness, and soon enough her hand starts trailing over his ribs and further down, down, down—
Her questing fingers stop beneath his Haramaki, even as she pulls aside his t-shirt, and then he gets it.
She's looking for the shit that got mauled by Kuma's pain cushion on Thriller Bark. Lucy's fingers go over the same spot, over and over. The worst of the gnarled scarring, where the skin is raised in a jagged cross.
Lucy's seen it enough that she would know what the scars look like. He wonders what it is she's looking for now.
Zoro wishes for the millionth time since coming to Zou, that he could use Haki to check on her. But that's not possible—Zou trembles in the back of his head, louder even than it was yesterday, like the sunrise has rejuvenated the ancient elephant too—so Zoro keeps his silence and settles for running his fingers through the knots in Lucy's hair, detangling gently as he goes.
At this Lucy just turns her nose into his shoulder and lets out a slow breath. Zoro watches carefully, but she doesn't shake or stiffen, and there's no wetness on her face. Everything about her speaks of calm and stability, and Zoro lets himself relax in the face of it.
At least, he does until she says, with a voice like the dead calm of a sea before a hurricane, "I knew you were lying when you woke up."
Zoro blinks at that, and recalls faintly that he didn't think he sold his lie particularly well back then. "You didn't say anything."
"You didn't lose. You were awake. And I trusted you." She shrugs one shoulder, like it's not a big deal that he lied, that she knew all this time that he lied and still trusted him with it anyway, and shifts against him to look up at his face properly. "Robin and Sanji knew I think, and since no one was saying anything I figured it wasn't bad."
Zoro feels the corner of his mouth twitch, and he lets out a slow breath. "You're too good at reading people," he complains, his voice too rich with affection for the accusation to land.
She frowns though, eyebrows pinched. "I didn't know it was about me though."
She sounds a little hurt.
Zoro doesn't know what to tell her. He didn't say anything her to protect her. The others did the same. He didn't do it for glory or to make a statement or whatever. Knowing about it would only hurt her, make her feel guilty when it was Zoro's weakness that led him to getting his shit kicked out of him. And he can't say sorry because he's not. He can't even apologize for not telling her because he'd do the same thing all over again given the option.
Lucy seems to realize he won't be apologizing for this and shakes her head once. "Just don't lie to me again. Not about something important."
Lucy's fingers still trace the scars on his belly, and her unspoken point is clear.
This. You. These are important.
Zoro makes an agreeing noise in the back of his throat. Lucy's fingers start edging lower, tracing muscle rather than scar tissue, and something in Zoro's hindbrain perks up. Lucy is looking at him with eyes deep and black, and his heartrate spikes in anticipation.
"You didn't lose," She hums lowly, too saturated to be a whisper. There's pride in her voice. Admiration. It makes something like satisfaction curl up Zoro's spine, makes something deep and masculine in his gut preen even over a fight years old and over.
"Damn straight," he echoes, and just like that, a smile steals over her lips, tugging on her cheeks. It makes his stomach clench.
"Lucy," he warns, just in case she doesn't want what he does right this moment, "Lucy—"
Lucy's fingers quest lower still, and Zoro shuts up as his brain short-circuits.
She kisses him, or maybe he kisses her. He's not sure. All he can recall later is the sickly sweet scent of Zou's forest disappearing behind the familiar aroma of saltwater and sunlight and star anise, and the way she sighs his name.
For the first time, Lucy thinks she understands why Zoro wanted them to wait before sleeping together.
Up until now, their couplings have been marked by affection, by passion, by pleasure, by giddy, bubbling joy, by mischief and warm familiarity. Every time she remembers being with Zoro, she will think of the things she first associated with it—love, union, and a ferocious appetite for more of him, more, as much of himself as he would give her.
Zoro's never refused her anything she really wants.
This time is different. The affection, the passion, the pleasure—it's still there. But it's joined by something like an apology or a reconciliation. Zoro's calloused hands are gentle and affectionate where he might have gripped her hard another night, and Lucy finds herself pressing her ardor and appreciation into his skin with her lips instead of marking it with her teeth.
There's more hesitance, more repeated assurances as they move together, into each other. It's partially the absence of Haki, which is a little like trying to navigate with a blindfold on. But Lucy thinks they'd be cautious anyways, given the aches they're easing at the moment. This time there's an uncertainty over their heads they've never had before, a heaviness too. Everything has more meaning and weight than simply chasing pleasure or expressing love, and everything, everything, is honest and raw. They don't try anything they haven't done before, and by unspoken agreement they take it slow and reassuring.
It's exactly what they need today, after a night where both of them felt shaken and disturbed. It's overwhelming in the moment, makes a thousand emotions rise up in Lucy's chest only to be overruled by affection and love so powerful she can feel it in every particle of her body.
It makes Lucy feel tethered and satisfied, confident that they've recovered their equilibrium. It also makes her grateful that Zoro made them wait until they were both calm and happy and not trying to escape their fears before sleeping together for the first time. Her relationship with Zoro is a lot of things, and most all of them are good and easy and freeing. She's glad that this part, too, is something she automatically associates with nothing but pleasure, not a means of outrunning fear.
When both of them are satiated, Lucy feels loose limbed and warm down to her fingertips. She's found a comfortable position pressed against Zoro's torso, and he tucks her jacket and his shirt over her back to keep her warm.
It makes her smile dopily at him, her toes curling against his hips.
Zoro either doesn't notice her expression or has gotten way better at hiding that he's flustered. Once he's satisfied with her impromptu blanket, he takes her right palm in his left and kisses the center of it, right across the scar his sword left.
Lucy blinks at the gesture, and then smiles into his sternum as he places their joined hands on his chest, right over his heart.
She's never been sure if he knows the story of that scar or not. Lucy can't remember telling him, but Zoro says his katana sing to him, in a way. Like speaking with a jumble of notes, he said once, but then he got frustrated with trying to explain, growling I'm not a fucking poet, or whatever you call Usopp.
She's not sure if Kitetsu is capable of telling that story, or even if it would, being Zoro's Problem Child. But sometimes she's sure Zoro knows the story there, because he treats her hands and especially that scar with something close to reverence.
Zoro squeezes her hand, his thumb brushing the scar. Affection bursts in her chest, completely overwhelming.
"Kitetsu gave me that," she blurts, tapping the sword in question with her foot. He freezes in surprise. "Back on Thriller Bark."
Zoro manages to croak a strangled, "What?" and when Lucy glances at his face she's surprised to see he looks somewhere between floored and murderous.
Lucy pouts at him and closes her hand around his thumb.
"You were sleeping, and I wanted to clean them for you," she explains. "I accidentally told Kitetsu I love you when I was working on it. That's how I figured it out. Then my hand slipped."
"Your hand slipped," Zoro repeats, his voice flat. Lucy eyes him, because she can't figure out where the anger is coming from. "I should throw the damn katana in the ocean."
Lucy digs her chin into his sternum, just to get his attention. "I like this scar," she tells him petulantly. "It reminds me of you."
Zoro looks down at her at that, and then lets out a slow breath as his face flushes.
"Well it would explain a few things," he grumbles finally. He sends a death glare to Kitetsu, the hand curled around Lucy's squeezing once before relaxing.
"Like what?"
Zoro looks at her, frowning, and then haltingly explains how he tracked her down the night before.
Lucy feels her eyes go wide and her jaw drops. "Really?"
"Kitetsu's a cursed blade. When it cut you, it imbued some of its curse in your hand." He shakes his head, his brow furrowed. "It's connected to the blade still. Does your right hand ever feel weird? What about when you punch someone?"
Lucy frowns and shakes her head to the negative, not really understanding what the big deal is. So what if Kitetsu is cursed? Isn't it a good thing he could find her whenever?
"The curse on this katana is supposed to make the wielder die in battle." Lucy frowns. "I tested myself against the curse before I bought it, but you've never…"
Lucy thinks about that for a second, and then sits up, pulling Zoro's t-shirt on to keep out the cold. "Okay."
Zoro pushes himself to his elbows, scowling mightily. "Okay?"
Lucy stands up, and plucks Kitetsu off the ground. "Okay, let's test it."
"WHAT?" Zoro scrambles to his feet, stark naked, and Lucy eyes him appreciatively. "Lucy, no, you can't—"
"I can't?"
Zoro swallows whatever it was he was going to say, looking like he'd very much like to figure out a way to reassert control over the situation. Adorable.
Lucy pulls the scabbard off the katana, careful to do it the way Zoro does, with the sharp edge pointed to the bluing sky. The wicked hamon glints at her menacingly, warningly.
Lucy's never been good at heeding warnings.
She takes the hilt in her left hand, and looks into Zoro's eye. He looks skeptical, stressed even. His fists are clenched at his sides, and his jaw jumps.
There are a lot of muscles and tendons in a palm. Things that let fingers stretch and fists close. Instinctively, she knows if Kitetsu severs them that not even Chopper or Torao could put her hand back together properly.
She smiles at Zoro, wide and confident, and runs her palm down the length of Kitetsu's raw edge.
She pulls her hand away, clean of blood, and shows Zoro the scar from all that time ago.
His eyes widen, and he takes her hand in both of his to inspect it. When he finds no further injury he looks at the katana skeptically, like he's sure there must be some trick he can't see here.
"Maybe a curse isn't a curse for everyone," Lucy tells him, smiling. "Maybe it just takes a good person to tame it."
She sees Zoro's Adam's apple move, but doesn't look away from her palm. He simply says, low and gravelly, "put the katana down, Lucy."
His voice is raw in a way she's not sure how to interpret, and she wonders if she crossed a line somehow. She does as he asks, setting Kitetsu in its scabbard against Wadou and Shusui.
The moment she straightens, Zoro is on her, his hands cradling her face and his lips rough against hers as he backs her step by demanding step into a nearby tree, his hips pinning hers.
Lucy kisses back, trying to return the fervor even if she doesn't know what's caused the desperation. He smells like blood, steel, and sake, and even without Haki, as she grasps thick green hair between her fingers, all she feels from him is a frantic, wild sort of need she can't help but respond to in earnest.
When they're both panting and out of breath, Zoro pulls back, pressing his forehead to hers. Zoro's earrings swing forward down his cheek, and Lucy's knees feel weak.
"You'll always be able to find me now," she realizes aloud, selfishly giddy and her heart bursting with the thought that no, she'd really truly never be alone again because— "Whether I'm on Ruskaina, or Fishman Island, or the moon, even, you'll—"
Zoro silences her with another searing kiss and Lucy slots her thighs over his hips, his shirt riding up on her waist and the sun warming Zoro's back under her hands. Lucy sucks a bruise into the juncture between his neck and shoulder, golden earrings tinkling in her ears with every gasp and breath and needy movement between them.
As opposed to yesterday, this morning has been, in Zoro's not-particularly-humble opinion, a pretty good day so far. This is true because:
1: His girlfriend doesn't hate him and spent the early hours of the morning proving it. Repeatedly.
2: His katana may or may not be cursed but either way will now (probably?) function as a very bizarre tracking system for his oft-wayward girlfriend.
3: Minks serve booze with breakfast. Sweet.
When they walk into camp hand in hand, they are greeted first by Robin, who eyes Lucy's fingers clasped in his with obvious relief, and then by Nami, who scolds them both for looking like they slept in a forest and orders them to go wash up in the infirmary showers.
Nami does look extremely relieved to see them both though, so. That's something. And she does look a little guilty as well. It's possible she's over whatever it was that crawled up her ass and died, which would be a plus.
Zoro doesn't let go of Lucy's hand until they get to the showers, where he squeezes her fingers once before releasing her, and Lucy stretches up to land a kiss just below his right ear. When she pulls back she's grinning, eyes twinkling with mischief.
It makes Zoro warm in his gut, aching with satisfaction.
Zoro wanders into the shower room and scrubs the smelly bits over the sink with the bit of lye on the shelf. When he's finished, he takes a look in the mirror and straightens his shirt and attempts to make it look like Lucy didn't tug it off recently.
Ahem.
He combs his hair back with his fingers, gives himself a once over, sniffs his pits, and calls it good. When he walks out of the infirmary, Lucy is already at the breakfast buffet. Her hair is messily finger-combed but the laces of her bust strap are tied correctly and her skirt as neat as it gets. Her face has been scrubbed of any sign of tears, skin glowing pink, freshly scrubbed.
She looks pretty, and Zoro has to look away for fear that the overwhelming affection in his chest will show on his face.
Lucy doesn't notice him, entirely consumed by the smorgasbord the Minks have laid out. Zoro rolls his eye but gives her up to her first love, breakfast sausage. Lucy does notice him when he passes her though, and sends him a glowing grin, sunshine literally beaming off her teeth before she gets distracted by another rack of ribs. Zoro goes to find an empty seat next to Robin with booze in hand.
Franky gives him a pat on the shoulder as he passes by and says "good job," but the stink eye he gives Zoro mostly says don't do it again.
Zoro raises his good eyebrow, wildly confused, but moves along to take his seat regardless.
His katana rattle against the bench as he sits. The Mink booze isn't his thing—too sweet—but Zoro drinks it anyway, because most of his headache is from the elephant trying its best to shake Zoro's teeth loose, and the rest of it is from the lingering hangover. Plus, Zoro ain't picky when it comes to booze.
"The Captain was very distressed last night," Robin offers delicately. She's filling one of the thin, spongey flatbreads with a variety of grilled vegetables and meat. "She looks much better now."
Zoro looks for a straw hat on instinct, and accidentally finds Nami. She's talking with Usopp and Lucy though, so he finds her looking relaxed and happy as she downs a kebab in one gulp. Adorable.
"You…saw Lucy last night."
Robin gives him an evaluating glance out of the corner of her eye. Zoro meets her gaze steadily.
"Franky, Brook, and I may have…dissuaded her from swimming to Whole Cake Island last night."
Zoro thinks of how shaky and distressed Lucy was the night before, and finds he's not…shocked.
"She's…better, now," he confirms awkwardly. Then he thinks of how much worse all of this would have been if she hared off to drag Sanji back by his balls last night, and adds a more heartfelt, "Thanks."
"I'm glad to hear that," Robin returns, genuine warmth in her voice.
Zoro remembers that he is adamantly not the only person on this crew who loves Lucy, and raises his glass to Robin's in agreement.
She returns the gesture with a small smile on her face, and rolls up her…meat vegetable bread thing. It's a messy cuisine, but Robin makes eating it look elegant. "I think this might be a good time to tell you," she says lightly. "I knew about Kuma's deal as well."
Zoro stops mid-drink, and looks at her evenly.
"You knew," he states, nonplussed. Lucy's earlier assertions about Robin and Sanji come back to him and he lets himself be impressed once again by his girlfriend's intuition. Beside him, Robin takes another bite of her not-a-burrito and sips her drink. Finally, Zoro sighs. "You keep too many secrets, woman."
There's no heat to his words though, and Robin huffs a quiet laugh. "I suppose. I should have said something sooner, maybe."
Zoro shrugs, not really caring either way. He didn't do it for glory and shit, and Robin was a person who could be trusted with secrets regardless.
"Bet you were good at spying with the Revolutionaries," he comments after a moment, waiting for her to explain why she brought this up.
"Hm. Quite."
Zoro rolls his eye and gives her a sideways glance.
It takes Robin a long moment to speak again. When she does, her eyes are narrowed with tension, and her expression serious. Zoro sits up straighter unconsciously, his hand finding Shusui's hilt.
"I think you're right, you know," Robin says finally, and Zoro raises a questioning eyebrow. "About Kaido. And going to Wano."
Zoro releases a slow breath. That. Zoro had enjoyed the privilege of forgetting about that for three seconds. He feels his good mood from the morning dissipate into the ether, replaced by a lukewarm dread. "Yeah."
"But," she interjects, "Nami's right as well," She stops eating and looks him dead in the eye. "Someone must go retrieve Sanji-kun."
Zoro scowls at her, annoyed, and rips up the spongey flatbread on his plate to dip it in some berry sauce. "The cook—"
"We all know how capable Sanji is," Robin interrupts. "But Zoro, he's going against an emperor and the Vinsmokes." The use of his first name kills the protests on his tongue. Robin doesn't use it often. "I know he'll have some kind of plan, that he fully intends to return, but he's improvising at best, Germa has an unsettling amount of resources, and Big Mom already has a grudge against Lucy. He needs help."
Zoro doesn't answer, his gaze finding Lucy's form instinctively. She's got her back to him, her skirt pressing against her legs in the wind. "They're that much of a threat?" He asks softly. "His family, not Big Mom."
Robin's face drops all traces of levity and humor, and her answer comes quickly, with certainty. "Yes."
Zoro eyes her levelly. "You're speaking from experience." It's not a question.
Robin hesitates before nodding. "They wanted to hire me. The job seemed risky, so I declined." Robin shakes her head and takes another sip of her drink. "They burned me. My contacts dried up. They tried to kill me several times." Robin glances his way, as if to confirm he's listening. "They're the single most powerful underground organization in the world, and their influence is far-reaching. Crocodile found me after a couple of years. It was…convenient that our interests were aligned, but I would have needed to join him anyway. No one but a warlord was powerful enough to protect me from both the government and Germa."
Zoro eyes her, his grip on Shusui tightening. "You didn't mention this earlier."
Robin nods slowly. "I didn't want to influence Lucy's decision on my behalf. And like I said, I agreed with you."
Zoro opens his mouth to say something once, twice, a third time. He can't think of anything to contest what she's saying, and his gut churns with the prospect of what that means.
"I know you don't want to let her go," Robin presses gently. "No one does. But if we all go on to Wano, we're signing his death warrant."
Zoro looks at his crewmate, gauging a woman who was one of the best assassins in the world, and who is both a genius and utterly trustworthy when it comes to Lucy and the crew.
Robin is a sober analyst. If she says these guys are really a threat the Cook can't handle alone, he believes her.
And that means they can't leave Curly-brow alone.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuckfuck—
Deep breath. Wado hums in the base of his skull, its tone uneasy but clear.
Zoro swallows another sip of the monkey-wine, his gut churning with some unnamable, protesting emotion as he accepts the fact that the cook might be in over his head. "Lucy can't go alone." He won't allow it.
"No," Robin agrees, her voice firm as steel. "But we'll need you in Wano."
Zoro looks over at his girlfriend who is effortlessly charming everyone around her, and ignores the katanas screeching in his ear. "…I know."
If Lucy is going after Sanji, he'll need to lead the party that leaves for Wano. It's the only way to properly use their resources, with the other two strongest members of the crew away in Big Mom's territory. Nami will want to go after Sanji, and he can't see Brook or Chopper staying behind either. Zoro is going to have to lead everyone else to Wano.
And. He's going to have to let Lucy go into the jaws of an Emperor and a shady criminal organization with only half her usual backup.
He's going to have to let Lucy go.
His stomach gives a nauseous roll at the thought. But. But.
He's Lucy's first mate before anything else. That's loyalty. That's his oath.
One of them, he corrects himself. That's one of your oaths to her.
Lucy looks like she's in the middle of an eating contest with another Mink while Chopper and Usopp act as referees. She still isn't wearing her hat.
"She'll be alright, you know. They all will." Zoro looks at the archaeologist, unsurprised to find Robin staring back. "Germa, Big Mom—they're strong. But against Lucy…"
Against Lucy, nothing stands.
Zoro snorts, a weak, small thing, but it makes Robin quirk a half-smile. "Spoken like a Straw Hat," Zoro teases.
"Hm," Robin replies. "Well, with Lucy it's hard not to believe, isn't it?" her eyes flick to his haramaki, where the scars he collected for Lucy rest. He'd say it was accidental, but that wouldn't be giving Robin enough credit.
Zoro ignores her, feeling too awkward to answer. Robin is merciful for once and doesn't push.
Across the party, he catches a peal of Lucy's laughter, and Zoro doesn't know if it's that or the alcohol that washes away the dread with warmth.
Lucy is a fan of the Minks. Seriously.
So many types of meat. So. Many. They've got alligator and warney and fish and that's…pretty much it actually, but they prepare it in a million different ways so it seems like a bunch of meat. And they really know how to throw a party for…days, apparently. And they don't mind impromptu eating contests!
Honestly, that's a huge plus in Zou's book. Awesome island, ten out of ten.
Then again, there has been a lot of…drama, since her crew arrived. That's not so great. Lucy tries another bite of the warney kebab and considers.
Yeah, nine out of ten. Minus a billion for emotional damages, plus a million for excellent grilled meat. That equals nine, right?
Lucy scrunches her nose. Ugh. Math. Minus another billion. Nevermind, this island sucks.
"Nami make math go away," Lucy complains as her navigator approaches her table. She looks a bit bemused by the question, and some of the weird hesitancy in her face goes away in her distraction.
"I'm not capable of altering the fundamental laws of the universe," She retorts dryly. "Why are you doing math?"
Lucy frowns and grabs one of the yummy purple fruits. "Zou's a weird island."
Nami blinks at her, then shakes her head fondly. "Let me know if you have any numbers you want me to work with."
Lucy nods determinedly and reaches for a warney leg roasted on the bone. The tiger Mink she just beat in an eating contest rubs against her shoulder hard enough to knock Lucy off balance, but it's full of good will and humor all the same.
Lucy really likes the Minks. They seem like nice, decent people, and they're honest in their feelings. And cuddly!
Nami watches her interact with her new Mink friend and offers Lucy a plate of smoked ribs. Lucy accepts eagerly—the Minks are really good at making not-pork taste like pork—and Nami sits down next to Lucy on the bench, legs tucked neatly under her. That's when Lucy realizes she's still wearing Wanda's purple dress.
Something about Wanda and Nami reminds Lucy of herself and Zoro.
Actually, Nami looks kind of uncomfortable right now, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. There are dark purple marks under Nami's eyes, like hasn't slept for days and her skin is pale. "Hey. Lucy," she starts, and Lucy has just enough self-awareness to pull the leg of not-ham out of her mouth as her navigator speaks. "I wanted to say sorry. About yesterday."
Lucy frowns. "Sorry about what?"
Nami winces. "If I hadn't pushed Zoro like that…"
She doesn't finish. She looks equal parts guilty and fidgety. Lucy takes a bite of warney meat and turns to Nami with a frown on her lips.
"Zoro keeping a secret isn't your fault," She says bluntly. "For anything else, you'll have to talk to Zoro."
Nami blinks at her in surprise and then smiles, tension leaking from her shoulders. Lucy takes a sip of the monkey wine, and reminds herself that Zoro is fine, even if she can't sense him with Haki right now. Her palm tingles.
"I suppose the lug head really didn't mean to be an ass, yesterday," Nami says aloud, resting her chin on her palm. "It's just Sanji-kun. And Zoro's dumb."
The Mink rubs Lucy's arm again. Lucy lets it happen and grins at Nami with pride. She knew Nami would figure it out.
"And anyway, it's not like he doesn't have a point," she mutters dryly, eyes narrowed. "We really do have to deal with both at once."
Lucy thinks of the upcoming splitting of her crew, and her stomach turns, the wine suddenly sour in her mouth.
On her right, the tiger Mink rubs against Lucy again, and she giggles. There's something free-spirited and pirate-y about the Minks. They make her feel at ease.
The actual elephant though? Negative a billion out of ten. The skull-splitting headache is a pain in the butt.
Did that bring Zou down to like…eight out of ten?
Yeah, close enough.
Lucy looks to Nami, ready to tell her all about how Zou is an eight out of ten island and exactly how she came to this conclusion—Robin and Usopp said Nami and Torao in particular were very interested in her "cognitive process"—but then a familiar weight settles over her head, and a familiar scent of sunshine and straw and oath-dust wafts into her nose.
Lucy blinks up at Nami under the brim of her hat in surprise. Her navigator is flushed in embarrassment.
"Thanks for letting me borrow it, Lucy," Nami says warmly. And then with a glint of mischief in her eye, adds, "And don't think you're going off to Big Mom's Territory alone. I'm coming too."
Lucy gasps, and grips Nami's forearm in excitement. "Really?"
Nami smiles, the edges of it brimming with her characteristic confidence. "Someone's gotta box Sanji-kun's ears for him."
Lucy nods seriously, still grinning wide enough to make her cheeks ache. "Yeah, I have to kick his butt too." Lucy turns back to her meal, and wrestles a kebab out of her Mink friend's paws with impish glee, "So it'll be you, me, and Brook."
Nami gives a noncommittal hum and shrugs, her eyes on another part of the party.
Lucy is about to ask her if she thinks eight and seven eighths is a good enough score for Zou (headache multiplied by really yummy meat?), when a bell rings out over the whole city.
"SAMURAI-SARU. SAMURAI AT THE GATES—SARU. SAMURAI—SARU."
Lucy looks to Nami, and her navigator returns her glance, pale faced and expression pinched.
They forgot about the Samurai. They forgot about the Samurai.
Shit.
Or…not?
No, Lucy thinks, no this is decidedly not shit. This looks more like…a bond. An oath, even.
The Minks are the type to bet life and limb for the sake of a friend. Lucy knew she liked them. One look at the rest of her crew's floored expressions tells her they noticed it too.
The Samurai were already their friends, and the Minks were kindred spirits. Lucy beams at them all and teases Momonosuke and then the Samurai drop the bomb that Kin'emon is not Momo's dad but his retainer. Because Momo is a lord or something equally fancy. And his actual father is dead or something.
Momo keeps crying whenever it's brought up. It makes Lucy's hackles rise, for reasons she doesn't understand. Maybe she's annoyed with the tears?
Ace always made fun of her for crying, but mostly because he had no idea how to make her feel better otherwise. No one ever let him cry in peace either.
Momo cries when he sees Dog Storm and Cat Viper fighting, cries when he mentions his father, cries when Kin'emon asks about Raizo. And something about it is wrong.
She finally gets it when it's Kin'emon who asks for her help in taking down Kaido and getting revenge for Momo's father in the process. Kin'emon and Raizo and Kanjuro who make the decision and ask her, and meanwhile Momonosuke stands in front of them and cries like he doesn't know how to stop.
It's not the tears that are bothering her, she realizes. Most seven-year-olds in Momo's shoes would cry. Most adults too. It's that Momo hasn't once told her what it is he wants.
She barks a "no," and ignores Kin'emon's tearful begging.
Lucy just keeps her eyes on Momo, even as half her crew voices disagreement and protest. The kid isn't even looking at her, just trying desperately to stop crying. After a moment or two he manages to focus on her, blinking from under his lashes.
"Are you just going to let them speak for you?" Lucy growls, looking him dead in the eye. "A leader of great men has to say what they want."
Momo's expression fractures and the tears come impossibly thicker, and Lucy realizes right there that no one has ever spoken to this kid as an equal once in his entire life.
It would suck, Lucy thinks, to have a whole army of retainers and not one friend. Lucy doesn't know, it's not how she does things.
It takes him nearly a full minute and a lot of haranguing from her crew later, but finally he speaks through his tears, his voice so raw at the end it may as well be a scream.
Poor kid. Kaido killed his mother too.
(Momo doesn't say anything about the country Kaido's been given free rein to rule. That's okay. Children are allowed to be selfish.)
He tries to finish his speech by bowing. It leaves a bad taste in her mouth so she stops him.
"Okay," She promises firmly. "But I'll be taking Kaido's head."
Damn, if she thought he'd been crying before.
Her crew swamps Momo immediately, doing their level best to reassure him. Law bitches about her not consulting him, which is silly. Law likes allies and he's also soft for kids. It's a no brainer.
Zoro squeezes her shoulder and Kin'emon does the bowing-crying thing before Lucy can stop him. By the time the Ninja alliance is sealed and the rest of her crew are done messing with him, Momo is laughing hard, no trace of tears to be seen.
It's good. It distracts her from the way it feels like something is splitting the front of her skull open, ever since climbing up into the whale.
Zoro and Usopp don't seem like they're any worse off than when they arrived at Zou. She's probably just imagining it.
Zoro knew something was different about this place. Something lying in wait.
Zou holds a piece of the map to Raftel, and there are stars in Lucy's eyes.
Dog Storm and Cat Viper left the pirates and the Samurai to their own devices while some of their people confer with them about rebuilding efforts and resources. Chopper and Usopp seem bent on teasing Law about ninjas (ninjas!), while the rest of the crew mingles with the samurai. Lucy, however, stands on the edge of the whale, facing the west, seemingly lost in thought.
Zoro walks up to her right side. She doesn't look at him, her fists clenched at her hips, but she spares him a brief half smile when she finally notices him. Zoro takes this as permission to stay, content to watch her look to her own horizon.
Her eyes are alight, nearly burning with anticipation and conviction. There's an ache in her face that Zoro understands, deep down in his marrow. It was the very first thing about her that he understood, all the way back on the dinghy and maybe even before, when he was tied to a crucifix.
Zoro knows what it's like to catch sight of one's dream. He gets it.
After a minute, Lucy's right hand relaxes, and she reaches blindly for Zoro's wrist. Something fond bursts in his chest, like a bubble popping.
"Not long, now," he offers, happy to stand in silence if she wants.
Lucy's grin is wide and splits her face, and for all the earnest brightness of Lucy's smile, the one she graces Zoro with now burns with the brilliance of the sun.
"Raftel, Zoro," she breathes, her heart and drive shining in her eyes, and hat blowing on its string in the wind. "It's Raftel."
Zoro can't help the way his lips twitch up in the face of her breathlessness. He squeezes her hand and runs his thumb along her knuckles to satisfy the urge to kiss her senseless. He doesn't want to distract her from this moment, wants to let her live it, be impressed by it.
Lucy turns back to the sea, her hand in his this time, and Zoro studies his girlfriend in profile. Small nose, thin lips, sun-tanned freckles across her cheekbones, wind pushing her hair away from wide dark eyes and a face that seems to glow with impossible aliveness.
It's moments like these that remind him his lover is not a woman made for land or people. She's a creature of air that belongs to the sea and at times like this she seems filled with an ephemeral strangeness, an otherness that's impossible to put his finger on no matter how well he knows her heart. She's like a miniature sun born as a living, breathing girl, and sometimes Zoro is struck by the singularity of Monkey D. Lucy, pulled in by the gravity of her presence.
Some small part of his heart questions, again, why such a person would give her heart to Zoro, who will be Great, the Greatest, but who will only ever be human. He brushes these doubts aside. It's easier now than it's been in the past, and getting easier. Whatever happens at the end of Lucy's horizon, Zoro will be with her, and he will follow her long after that, as long as she lets him.
Lucy squeezes his hand, never looking away from the sea. Zoro smiles and squeezes back.
They're halfway down the whale tree when Chopper discovers Brook and Nami will be accompanying Lucy and the lion dude to Whole Cake Island. The doctor immediately puts up a fuss.
"Pekoms is still injured! I'm coming with you!"
Lucy frowns at him, and Zoro imagines she's probably debating on whether or not she can afford to bring one more crewman or not without looking like she's declaring war. Chopper seems to understand this too, and presses where the whole crew knows Lucy's buttons are softest.
"I let Sanji get taken!" He objects. His eyes are a bit wet. It's devastating.
Lucy's face softens, and then she looks at Kin'emon, eyebrows raised.
Kin'emon looks at the half of the crew that will be going with him to Wano, his eyes lingering first on Robin, then on Zoro. He shrugs. "It is not for me to decide what you do with your crew." His voice implies a certain resignation for Lucy doing whatever the hell she wants regardless of his opinion.
Good.
Lucy tips her head in acknowledgement and smiles at Chopper. He cheers.
In the back of the group, Zoro's gut twists with anxiety. He walks with his hands laced behind his head, looking up at the billowing white cathedrals of clouds. He's trying not to think about the upcoming separation too much. He has to keep reminding himself it's not like last time, that this is strategic, not desperate, and that Lucy will not be alone.
"We'll take care of her."
Zoro looks to his left to find Nami walking next to him, chin held up proudly and her shoulders thrown back. She looks at him expectantly, with a protective fierceness in her eyes that Zoro recognizes.
Zoro nods. Believing anything else of their crew would be stupid. Believing anything less of Nami, well. Zoro knows how much she loves their captain.
It doesn't make the anxiety go away, but it's a bit comforting to know Nami will be the one looking after her regardless.
"Zoro," Nami starts. There's a tone in her voice he barely recognizes, something serious and tinged in regret, and it surprises him so much that he stops and turns to her while the others move further and further ahead.
Nami stops with him, and looks down at her feet, her shoulders hunched. "I'm sorry for hitting you. And sorry for saying those things about Sanji and Lucy. You were a dick but you deserved better than having me doubt you like that. " She shakes her head. "I know you believe in Sanji as much as anyone, I shouldn't have implied otherwise."
Then Nami smiles and punches him in the arm—lightly, for her, a gesture towards normality—and smiles. "Forgive me?"
Zoro's still not sure what to do with apologies, but this much at least he can probably handle.
"You punch like a girl." He adds a smirk for good measure.
"I am a girl, pea brain," Nami retorts immediately, fire blazing in her eyes. Zoro can't quite keep the amusement off his face and Nami responds in kind, her temper breaking easily.
"Want a hug?" She asks, batting her eyelashes like that's gonna convince him she's not a demonic leech, out to bleed him for all he's worth.
"No," he replies shortly, turning to stomp away. He's not one for touchy feely things on a good day, but it's muggy as hell on this elephant anyway.
"Please?" Nami pouts, and then sports an evil grin. "Just think of how jealous Sanji-kun will be when he finds out I hugged you."
Zoro thinks about that for a second.
Nami gets her goddamn hug.
"That'll be ten million beri."
Zoro shoves her off with a "Fuck you, sea witch!" and Nami laughs so hard she cries. Zoro just scowls at her, but something that's felt out of place ever since they learned of Sanji's disappearance slots back into rhythm, like a joint finding its socket.
There's no one he'd rather have looking out for Lucy in his stead than Nami. No one. Nami loves Lucy like she's her sister, like she's been looking out for her all her life. She may not be as strong as Sanji or Robin or Franky but she is strong in ways Lucy isn't, and would never let her come to harm while there is breath in her body.
It feels…good…to be on the same page again. Even if she is a bloody sea witch.
Nami calms down and wipes the laughing tears from her eyes, still giggling a bit. Zoro scowls darkly at her because it wasn't that funny. She opens her mouth to say something—probably about how easy it was to trick him, blah, blah, blah—when the elephant—
tips—
—and it's all anyone can do to keep their feet.
And a hundred yards ahead of him, Zoro hears Lucy scream.
Notes:
Come yell about One Piece and other stuff with me at the Someplace Sunny Discord Server!
I am going to retain the spelling of Raftel for the remainder of the fic, or at least until I have time to go through and edit the shit out of this monster. Oda clearly intended for it to be Laugh tale but this is what he gets for taking twenty-plus years to explain that. So there, Oda-sensei.
Please do not self harm to prove a point to your significant other. Why must One Piece be so melodramatic?
The bread Robin and Zoro are eating is called Injera and it's a sour flatbread from Ethiopia. I picked it because I was eating Ethiopian food at the time of this writing. It is good.
Yes I made Nami a lesbian furry. Look this is on Oda, not me.
The next chapter is the last Zou chapter but I think it will require quite a heavy edit. And I've decided to do a Sanji one shot for WCI that will be optional to read but will run concurrent to Lucy's in that arc. So I'm guessing at least a month before the next chapter goes up. Sorry y'all.
Let me know what you think!