I warn you, this chapter is slightly overly fluffy. I'm writing this while listening to Piano Man-such a great song. This is set at a random island at the point when Usopp and Nami have just joined the crew, giving Luffy an understandable excuse why he could forget his newer crew mates.

"Luffy! Where were you! We were worried-what the hell happened to you Luffy? And don't you dare slink away Zoro!" Nami added sharply at the retreating figure. "He was your responsibilty while we docked at this island. Why'd you let him get drunk?"

"I didn't let him." Zoro growled as grabbed a fist full of red vest and held the younger teen up in the air-an improvement to Luffy's previous position crawling on the floor. Said teen, dangling from the swordsman's steel grip, simply grinned. "This idiot drank all the alcohol on his own."

Nami rubbed her brow as she she shook her head. She could imagine it easily; Zoro gulping down the strongest beer in the bar while Luffy ate with his usual breath taking ferocity. At those times, Luffy usually threw whatever beverages that were in arm's length(which meant alot to the rubber teen) and it seemed that tonight Zoro's beer had been closest.

"Okay, fine. But why didn't you come straight back to the ship? It's almost sunrise. We thought something happened to you guys."

"I couldn't."

"I knew it! You were the one that swore you wouldn't get lost this time. Usopp and I were against it but we let the two of you go because you were so adamant, so confident, so sure, that let me quote your words 'I know the way back-"

"I knew the way back," Zoro insisted stubbornly. "But I couldn't go back. I was overruled."

Nami stared. Zoro stared back.

"Overruled?" She finally repeated. "By what?"

At this, Zoro rolled his eyes and shook the teen before the navigator's eyes-before dropping the teen on the ship's polished floor.

"By our captain. One and only."

"You were overruled...by Luffy. By that Luffy," Nami glanced at grinning Luffy, the teen who was normally like a human extension of Going Merry, the teen who according to Zoro refused to return to said ship. "By our captain Luffy? By the captain of this ship, Luffy? By-"

"Nami!"

"Sorry."

Zoro sighed loudly as he sank to the wooden floor. Crouching low, with an elbow on his knee, the swordsman stared at his captain who had started to blink sleepily. The older teen reached he over and cuffed the younger's neck-what Nami thought as an expression of annoyance but would later come to understand as a rare moment of gentle affection.

I can't see Going Merry on this shore Luffy. We must be on the wrong side of the island or something.

"I kept telling him we had to go back," Zoro stated quietly.

Zoro dropped down in his usual place, beside Luffy. The swordsman stared at the diamond stars in the sky before closing his eyes, relaxing his toned body against the warm sand. Without opening his eyes, he repeated his previous point but this time, his captain provided him with an answer-slurred and slow but strong and sure.

"But according to him,"

Zoro, you and I are by the waves.

"We were already home."