Luffy and Ace arrived at the peak and Luffy created a small mirror. She shined the sun's reflection at Zoro's face, who was lifting weights. She wondered what he did besides sleep and lift weights.
"What are you doing?" Ace questioned as he ran after Luffy.
"Zoro likes to fight, and you're strong, so he might have fun fighting you, and you might have fun fighting him!" Luffy explained optimistically. Ace smiled as well. Sounded like a good idea. He was impressed when he saw how ridiculously large the human's dumbbells were. They could both tell he was excited when he saw Luffy shining the mirror at him.
Like he had the other night, Zoro ran off of the ship and down the dock to meet Luffy and her brother, who he hadn't seen. He met the two at the end of the harbor's lot and stopped in front of the two. He wondered why Ace was there, and if he knew. Knew what happened last night…
"What is it?" he asked. Luffy made signs to explain, winging it since she'd never tried this before. She made a punching motion, pointed to Ace, and put her thumbs up. "Fighting Ace would be fun?" Zoro guessed. Luffy grinned and nodded.
Ace was impressed that he didn't even need to think about what Luffy was communicating. But that was pretty easy to know what she was "saying".
"Sure, why not?" he asked, running after Ace, who ran after Luffy and into the forest. It was so much easier for the two short nymphs to run through the foliage quietly than big, loud Zoro. The three ended up in the clearing Zoro and Luffy had fought their second night.
Zoro put his bandana on (something Luffy thought was really a good look for him) and Wado Ichimonji in his mouth. Ace looked momentarily surprised that he could fight with something that heavy in his mouth.
Ace didn't just turn some of his body to metal like Luffy had. No, he went further, and Zoro had no idea how he could beat him. Ace's body, even the dark metal parts, were lit on fire. But it was clear he wasn't in pain by the fire. Zoro's eyes widened.
Luffy giggled at his face. There was no way he was going to win this fight.
Ace wasn't as merciless as Luffy, but his hits were stronger, and Zoro was getting light burns. He knew Ace was holding back, and he was grateful for that. Zoro would be unable to fight if he had third degree burns. Ace was mostly using the fire so Zoro couldn't land a good hit. It was possibly the most frustrating battle Zoro had ever fought.
By the end of the battle, Zoro's swords had become somewhat hot. They were uncomfortable, especially the sword in his mouth! Zoro finally lost when Ace disarmed him, like Luffy had. He wondered if that was a nymph thing, disarming weapons. He could see why Luffy did it; she liked to steal weapons for herself. Ace just smirked at him as Zoro stood with no swords, completely vulnerable.
"You win," Zoro painted. Then he asked, "Jeez, is there any nymph I could beat, or are all of you ridiculously strong?"
Luffy walked up to them to heal Zoro's cuts and light burns. Then she repaired his shirt. She shook her head to Zoro's question. Not all of them were super strong like her and Ace.
"How can you use fire?" Zoro asked Ace. Luffy created a wooden board and pen for Ace, who smacked her arm for showing Zoro her powers.
"How much did you show him, Luffy?" he asked, sounding a bit angry. She flushed.
"The transformations and creating objects. Also erasing things. I didn't show him any of the other stuff! Promise!" Luffy hoped Ace wasn't mad. He frowned at her.
"You didn't show him banishing or dissolving?" Ace asked seriously. Luffy shook her head, and he sighed. He nodded, forgiving her for exposing some of their abilities.
Zoro watched the exchange, guessing that Luffy was being reprimanded for using her abilities in front of a human. He was still waiting for their answer.
Ace ate something that made him catch on fire and turn into fire if he wants, Luffy wrote on the board, then erased the sentence. Zoro looked surprised. It sounded like Ace had eaten a Devil Fruit.
"Was this a strange looking fruit?" Ace and Luffy both nodded. "Sounds like a Devil Fruit. That's what Chopper ate." Ace looked at Luffy.
"Do you think he's right?" Ace asked. Luffy nodded.
"Why would he lie?" Ace shrugged. "Can I spend some time alone with him? I'll scream for you if anything happens, but by then he'd be bleeding out on the ground. Okay?" Luffy asked, hoping he'd say yes and Luffy could spend time with Zoro alone before dinner. "Besides, I'll see you in a couple hours anyway." Ace pursed his lips, but nodded, knowing Luffy was right. She hugged Ace and he turned to walk away into the forest.
Instead of going up to Zoro and continuing where they left off last night, she walked over to sit in Zoro's lap, fitting perfectly. Luffy wanted to hear about his adventures as a pirate, so she asked over her board.
Zoro then explained all of the crew's adventures. About their trip into the sky, a desert kingdom, how each crew member was picked. What every day was like on the ship, and what the ocean was like. There were massive monsters called sea kings, and the crew had even met a dragon. Luffy's face was in awe as she watched Zoro speak. He blushed a bit at this, but continued to speak.
Once his stories were over, it was getting later. They held hands as they walked back through the trees.
"Does Ace know, Luffy?" Zoro asked. Luffy nodded. "Was he mad?" Look shook her head no. Zoro smiled at this. Even if he was going to leave soon, he didn't want Luffy's family to dislike him. He wondered what her family was like, but he kept his questions only focused on Luffy and not on the rest of the nymphs.
Are you sure I won't be poisoned or anything? I know they're scared of me, Luffy wrote on her board after gently taking her hand from his.
"The crew? No, they won't poison you. Besides, you saved Nami. They might think you're scary a bit, but not a bad guy. I'm sure one of them will be a bit nervous around you, but honestly he's scared of everything," Zoro explained. Luffy relaxed a bit and disintegrated the board and pen. Apparently that's how they got rid of their creations. She was so amazing. All of the nymphs were.
He could only imagine what humans would do with these powers. Probably not much good. They walked to the ship separately, Luffy walking with Ace a few minutes after Zoro got on the ship. Ace had been waiting for her at the harbor, staying behind a wall so the crew couldn't see them if they looked.
"Don't let any of them know we snooped on their ship," Luffy told Ace as they walked towards the boat. Luffy was nervous, and Ace could tell by her sweaty hand she kept wiping them on her dress. They had both cleaned the mess of dirt off of their clothes and shoes, but Luffy was nervous anyways about her appearance. It was stupid.
"It's okay. We'll be fine. And don't do anything they can't do. Chopper can be our translator if we have to respond." Luffy nodded, slightly less nervous than before.
When they arrived at the ship, they didn't know how to get on easily. So they both looked at each other and walked to one of the other boats tied with a sturdy and taut rope and gracefully walked along it with perfect balance. Then they climbed up the mast quietly, making sure no one was on deck, and jumped as far as they could, both landing on the railing or sheep's head.
Suddenly, Luffy didn't want to be here. What if she messed up something and Zoro got mad at her? She'd never felt insecure before, and it wasn't a fun emotion.
"C'mon, you can do it. I'll be there with you." Ace couldn't believe he was the one convincing her to have dinner with humans! But he didn't want Luffy to feel insecure anymore, and going in there would most likely end the night with no insecurities.
They walked across the ship and down and up some stairs to get to the galley, with light shining out of the door. Luffy knocked on the door, being polite. The door was opened by Nami and the two small siblings entered the room.
The moment Luffy walked through the door, Zoro's heart began to beat faster. She looked nervous, and he felt slightly bad for her. Hopefully she wouldn't be scared by the end of the meal.
Luffy was invited by Nami to sit next to Zoro, which she was grateful for. Luffy sat next to Zoro, and Ace sat next to Luffy. Chopper sat next to Ace. Robin, Usopp, Nami and then Sanji all sat across from them.
When Sanji came closer to Luffy to put her plate down in front of her, she looked at him suspiciously. Sanji looked awkward at the obvious suspicion radiating off of Luffy. When she looked back to her food, she looked to Zoro's as well, not hesitating to switch the dishes. Zoro said nothing to this. The others thought it was a bit strange, and Ace sighed at it, but they all ate. Luffy and Ace's servings were huge for them. They didn't know where to start.
They both started on what looked familiar; bread. It was freshly baked, and it tasted great. Luffy had to remember the one who baked the cake she ate and made a face of was the creepy blonde guy. But so far he seemed nice and was acting normal.
"Thanks again for helping me. I hope they don't get mad or anything at you guys," Nami said.
"'They won't be able to do anything'," Chopper translated after getting a small smile from Luffy. "'We are too strong'."
"Strong enough to beat Zoro twice," Usopp pointed out. Luffy smirked at her food. Zoro frowned at Usopp, still a tad irritated about how badly beaten he'd been that first night.
The table conversed normally, the nymphs not taking part in it much. They mostly watched the others as they talked. Luffy looked slightly frightened when Nami punched Usopp in the head for talking about how Nami had dropped her magic stick thing at the worst moment. Ace pat Luffy's arm when she looked at Nami suspiciously.
Nami noticed something a bit later, that made her blush. Luffy was staring at her boobs. She knew her top showed cleavage, but it wasn't that bad. Well, compared to the nymphs' plain, sleeved dress with no shape of even little breasts, they were huge. If she didn't have the face of a teenager, she'd have looked like a child. But still, Luffy staring at her boobs made her uncomfortable.
A little while later, she was staring at Robin's breasts, who had been observing the two with a light smile. Luffy frowned.
"Hey, Ace? Do you think Nami and Robin are pregnant?"
Chopper choked on his drink. The others looked at him strangely, but he waved it off. He didn't want to expose what Luffy thought was a private comment with Ace.
"Why do you ask?" Ace questioned, drinking his water.
"Their breasts are swollen. But they don't really look pregnant…" Luffy said. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. "I can't tell."
"They aren't, Luffy," Chopper said quietly.
"Are you sure?" she asked, pursing her lips.
"I'm positive," Chopper replied. The others were looking at him, wanting in on the conversation they were having.
"Then why are they so swollen?" Luffy questioned, sounding so innocent and not inappropriate at all.
"They're uh… not swollen," Chopper replied awkwardly. "They're always like that."
"Huh. That's weird," she stated, sipping her own water, her gaze going back to the two human womens' breasts. Nami was steadily growing more red in the face, while Robin suppressed a laugh. There was no doubt that Luffy was talking about the size of hers and Nami's busts, since all of the nymphs she'd seen were completely flat-chested.
"Care to share what you are talking about?" Robin asked pleasantly.
"Uh… Well, Luffy asked if you and Nami were… um… pregnant," Chopper said awkwardly.
"Why would you think that, Luffy?" Robin asked pleasantly, while Zoro snickered next to Luffy and Usopp and Sanji were confused and red in the face. Nami was hiding her red face in her hands.
"'Just cause they're so big and swollen'," Chopper said for her, sounding thoroughly uncomfortable. Zoro snickered again. Luffy looked up at him, wondering why it was so funny.
"And nymphs' breasts aren't?" Luffy looked back to Robin and shook her head. "Are they ever?"
"'Only when pregnant and feeding a baby'," Chopper translated.
"Hmm. That's interesting. We are very different, after all," Robin said kindly, amused with Luffy's thought process. "You don't have to stare anymore. They aren't going to go anywhere." Luffy nodded and swallowed the last bit of her first serving.
Nami's face stayed red, but she was thankful Luffy finally stopped staring at her boobs. Then Zoro spoke for the first time in a while. "Hey Robin," he said. Everyone looked at him. "Ace ate a Devil Fruit. I think you probably know which one." He then replied that Ace could turn into fire when Robin asked what his power was.
"Mera-mera no mi. Flame-flame fruit. Ace, that is one of the most powerful Devil Fruits out there. It's called a logia," Robin said. Then a long conversation about different Devil Fruits began. No one noticed Luffy tapping Zoro's foot with hers. He touched her foot back. Then the most casual game of footsies started and only stopped when Sanji stood up.
"Anybody want dessert?" he asked, picking up everyone's plate. Luffy nodded her head enthusiastically. The last dessert he'd made was delicious. Sanji smiled at her, making Luffy feel a bit uncomfortable, but not nearly as badly as it had been at the beginning of the meal. "I had a delicious cake, but for some reason it turned moldy only after one night of being refrigerated…" Sanji said, still confused as to why the food would rot so quickly.
Luffy pursed her lips, trying not to laugh. She hoped Zoro had gotten a good show when Sanji saw his food had become horribly moldy. Ace smacked her on the arm gently, knowing it was her fault. Really… avoiding the responsibility of stealing by making copies of what she'd eaten. Luffy had never had a strong code of honor, and sometimes she'd replace the weapons she'd stolen by making lower quality props. By the time the previous owners had noticed their weapons were not balanced well, they were long gone from the island.
Sanji served ice cream to them, in cups with chocolate chips and caramel drizzle. Ace and Luffy liked it and gave a smile on their otherwise mostly-blank expressions.
"So you like weapons, Luffy?" Usopp asked. "You took Zoro's sword."
Luffy nodded, happy someone was interested in her fixation with stolen weapons.
"'Yeah, I steal a lot. I made my closet into a display case'," Chopper translated. Ace put his hand to his eyes. Why did Luffy say that so proudly? Well, when she said it it sounded proud, but when Chopper translated it, he just sounded awkward. "'One time I took one I think is solid gold. Then the crew got in a fight because they thought someone else on the ship had already stolen someone's bow, but that was me, too'."
Luffy then began a conversation where she optimistically recalled her most valuable stolen weapons. Nami grinned at the girl, liking her more just by hearing how much she loved shiny treasure and stealing. She really was cute.
"Do you ever use them to fight?" Usopp asked. Ace gave her a stern look before she replied. They weren't going to discuss anything having to do with abilities. If Luffy said she didn't use her stolen weapons, then they'd ask what she used. She'd either then have to lie or just outright say she didn't want to talk about it.
Usopp got the hint, and didn't ask any more questions on that topic.
'"So why is your ship in such a bad shape?'" Usopp frowned at this. He didn't like having people point out how wrecked the Merry was.
"It's from constant fighting and adventures," Zoro said, smiling at the wonder in Luffy's eyes.
"Hey, Ace. We should go on adventures and then find cool people to fight! It'd be fun, we should do it," Luffy said to Ace, completely forgetting Chopper could hear them, once again. "Wouldn't it be fun?"
"It does sound fun," Ace responded, giving Luffy a fond smile. Even if she was 17, she still had the air of a little girl sometimes.
"It is fun!" Chopper said. Luffy smiled, but then her face fell. She'd probably be stuck on this island the rest of her life. She and Ace couldn't go out to the human world by themselves. And she didn't believe anyone would want her on their ship, especially this crew. She'd already brutally beaten one of their members just for a sword. She knew Zoro didn't care anymore, but the rest must think she's evil or something. Ace patted her hand comfortingly. He could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her.
Zoro frowned down at her, seeing her dejected look. He sighed and took a drink of his sake.
It was really late by the time everyone's dessert was finished. "It's getting late. Should you two be back by now?" Robin asked curiously. Ace answered that there was no official curfew, but that it was getting very late.
As everyone left their seats, Zoro touched Luffy's wrist discreetly and gestured to under her napkin. She slid the paper aside and saw the remnants of her message from yesterday. She smirked and casually ran her hand over it, making the text disappear completely.
Luffy and Zoro were last to leave the room, so they could say goodnight in their own way. There was no intense kissing, just Luffy hugging him and Zoro kissing her head. It was a gentle exchange, and neither really wanted it to be intense. Plus, after the last time they kissed at night, both of them had had trouble falling asleep.
"See you tomorrow?" Zoro asked. Luffy gave a soft smile and nodded, hurrying out the door to go to Ace.
He was waiting somewhat impatiently. He was tired and wanted to get to bed. But when he saw the look she and Zoro shared before the siblings said goodbye and left the ship had him feeling sad. The human really did look like he liked Luffy. And Luffy beamed at him right before he was out of sight.
"I wish they were staying longer so I could spend more time with Zoro…" Luffy said as they walked away from the ship.
"You really like him, don't you?" Ace asked, somewhat sadly.
"...Yeah," Luffy replied, also sadly. They both walked down the dock and harbor to the trees they went to to get home quickly.
Chopper stood at the railing of the ship, looking where Luffy and Ace had gone before the distance and darkness had made him lose sight of them. He was blushing, looking sad. He'd heard what Luffy had said about wishing the crew would stay longer because she liked Zoro.
Then he thought of how Zoro talked about Luffy during dinner a couple days ago. That he liked her… Poor Zoro. Poor Luffy. But Zoro could always ask her to come with them if he liked her so much. And Chopper liked her, too. She was nice and liked hearing about adventures, like he did. She saved Nami, too, and Robin had liked her and Ace from the start. Sanji, however, got suspicious glares from her throughout dinner. Chopper could only assume she'd seen how Sanji acted with human women and had not liked it. He didn't know how Usopp felt, but it was clear he didn't hate or fear her anymore.
But would Luffy want to come? Chopper would be the only one who could hear her... but somehow she and Zoro had been communicating. He was debating whether he'd talk to Zoro about it. Would he get mad at Chopper? He wanted Zoro to be happy. He knew Zoro had left no one behind when he joined the crew. Would he have to leave Luffy behind? At least for the other members, most of them had friends and family to return to. Zoro would probably never return to Luffy if they left her behind. But what about Ace? Would he let Luffy leave? Would he want to come, too? The siblings never went anywhere if they weren't together.
Zoro was on watch again. He took first watch every night since his and Luffy's first fight, just in case she came to fight or hang out. He wasn't expecting her to come tonight, but he'd be there in case she surprised him and did come.
Before he went to bed, Chopper decided he'd go talk to Zoro, who was lifting weights at the aft deck, looking at the direction of the island, the ocean behind him.
"Zoro?" Chopper asked. The man must have been lost in thoughts because he was startled at Chopper.
"Yeah?" he asked, wondering what Chopper had come to talk about with such a serious expression. Was there something wrong?
Chopper looked at his feet. "Are you going to ask Luffy to join the crew?" he finally questioned. Zoro's face hardened. What did Chopper know? He didn't think Robin would have told him, so how did he know? Did he know anything important?
"Why do you ask?" Zoro asked with a steely voice, lifting his giant dumbbell again.
"Um… well I heard Luffy tell Ace she wished we would stay longer so she could spend more time with you. She only said you." Chopper told him. "And then Ace asked that she really liked you and she said yes," the reindeer doctor finished. Zoro's face had fallen as the zoan spoke. He let out a sigh and put the massive weight down gently.
"I do want her to come with us. But I don't know if I'm gonna ask Robin if I could and then ask her. I like her, too…" Zoro confessed without looking at Chopper, who was surprised Zoro had told him something personal like that.
"Well, why don't you let Luffy decide if she wants to come? Just you asking her isn't gonna force her to come unless she wants to," Chopper replied. He couldn't believe he was giving Zoro advice like this, and that Zoro was listening.
"But what if she says no…" Zoro mumbled, looking at the peak Luffy would get attention from. He felt so lame. Getting upset about possibly being turned down by a girl he just met. But he really did like Luffy. He did want her to come with them. To have an adventure with her there, too. He wanted to see her smile all the time. To banish the blank look the nymphs all wore.
He wanted to kiss her again, too. Like they had that night in the kitchen. He wanted to play pranks on the crew with her by using her powers. He wanted to hold her tiny body in his arms, to fight with her all the time, and laugh while doing so. He wanted her. All of her. And he wanted to keep her.
"Well, you have a day to ask her. I'm sure she'd want a day to say goodbye to her friends and family." When Chopper was sure Zoro was done talking, he said goodnight and went to the men's room, leaving him to think about what to do.
Zoro watched the peak for hours, hoping Luffy would come. But she didn't. Zoro looked at his hands, remembering how perfectly Luffy and his hands fit together. How good she fit in his arms while kissing her that night. He wanted to ask her, but he'd have to talk to the crew first.