The uploading function of this site is acting up :(. Anyways, I realized a lot of my chapters are about Zoro showing nakamaship, and I wanted to give it a change. But wow, Luffy is hard to write because while he's emotional, he's not in the mushy way. Tell me if I got it right and even if I didn't... Don't be too harsh ;] This is set after Thriller Bark, so when Zoro mentions pain, he's referring to the pain Kuma passed to him from Luffy. This is slightly AU. Read the following sentence and you'll know why.
When Sanji hissed to him that Luffy had somehow found out what happened on Thriller Bark, he was momentarily terrified. When he saw the younger teen barge into their rooms, he was slightly apologetic.
Now, after half an hour of endless and seemingly pointless argument, Zoro was just pissed.
"It's over Luffy," Zoro's patience was almost over as well but the teen swallowed his irritation as he tried to reason with his captain. "It's been done, I'm alive and I don't regret it. That's all that matters."
Zoro's words could have made sense to anybody else on their ship, but at the current moment, Luffy was beyond sense and reasoning. He had just found out that the deep, bloody wounds, and the long hours of suffering his first mate couldn't even sleep through the past few nights were because of none other than himself. He was overtaken by sorrow, guilt but most of all fury.
"I neverasked you," Luffy struggled with his words for in his anger, he found it hard to control his own tongue. His voice shook as he spat out. "I never ever asked you-"
"But you'd do the same," Zoro shot back, his patience finally worn. He ignored his limbs that were groaning for standing so long because Zoro knew if he collapsed now, Luffy would never forgive himself. "Be a man and get over it. If you could handle that much pain-"
"EXACTLY!"
Zoro staggered backwards despite himself when Luffy released the collar of his shirt, pushing him away in frustration. He glared Usopp's offered hand away and instead steadied himself by placing a hand on the wall. The swordsman focused on the familiar straw hat that had fallen on the floor in the mist of things till the nausea died down and it felt safe to start breathing again. Then Zoro carefully lifted his gaze-only to find Luffy's stricken eyes watching him.
Luffy had to swallow hard before he could find his voice strong enough to continue.
"My pain I can handle," The raven head teen pleaded for his stubborn friend to understand. "It's yours I can't."