A/N: As always, I don't own the media this fanfiction is based on. Thanks for all the faves and follows, my friends.
Zoro awoke in a warm bed he recognized from his first days in Shells Town. If it weren't for the crippling muscle weakness and harsh feeling of emptiness coursing through his entire person, he would have thought the majority of this last month had been a dream. As it was however, such denial was not an option at all.
"Oh, Zoro!" came a now-familiar voice. It ('she', he had to correct himself) sounded pleased. He looked at the form bouncing over him. Gone now was the terribly sweater of before: Luffy had instead taken to wearing the too-large red vest from their first meeting, the holes stitched with bright yellow threads and the skills of a child. "You're awake!"
"I guess so." He responded, his mind and voice both groggy. "Hope you haven't been waiting too long, Captain."
Ah. That elicited positive attention. She approached him and tousled his hair affectionately. If it had been anyone other person he'd known so briefly touching his head, he probably would have been very extremely uncomfortable. In contrast, this somehow felt right.
"Not long. Just a couple days."
Zoro felt for the IVs someone had placed in him and ripped them out instinctively before sitting up. He could handle taking whatever those tubes had for him orally, thank you.
He swore he felt a wave of disapproval flooding towards him, but when he looked back up at his apparent nurse-maid, she was humming and helping herself to some large wads of bread from her cargo shorts.
He eyed them hungrily, but she pitilessly devoured the first one in a single bite, distending her mouth and engulfing the grains as if she were a reptile, and the chunk of bread were a paralyzed mouse.
"It's a shame," she said after swallowing noisily. "-that you weren't awake earlier. You missed out on the victory feast."
He wasn't listening very closely. He merely continued to stare at the morsels, only for her to laugh and toss them at his face, testing his tragically-unused reflexes. He caught them and glared at Luffy briefly.
"The doctor said not to let you eat anything but gruel for the next few days, but he didn't say anything about pelting you with bread."
He mulled that over for all of three seconds before wolfing down the food provided for him. He could understand where the doctor was coming from, but as someone who had more in common with a camel than a human due to his lifestyle, he planned to disregard the physician's advice with prejudice.
A familiar gourd found its way into his hand, which was just as well as he had eaten to fast and needed to chase the bread down.
He looked around for any other consumables in the room, but found none aside from Luffy (who was only the closest thing to being consumable rather than actual food). Not one for cannibalism, he brushed crumbs off of his stubbled chin and emerged from the coverlets, letting his feet hit solid ground.
Odd. He didn't remember it being so cold.
Luffy smiled again, then patted folded clothes on a chair. His swords leaned against the back of it, newly-polished.
"We're going to leave today, I think. Best get dressed, Zoro."
Only then did Zoro realize what he was missing. Surprisingly, he didn't feel any more shame than she did at his lack of modesty. He didn't know if that was because he hardly considered her a true "woman"(whatever that meant), or if it was because her nonchalance had rubbed off on him.
Luffy waited patiently, reporting the change in Zoro's state to anyone who would listen. She began to purchase and haul supplies into the green dingy she'd shared with Coby. Said boy helped her move crates of nonperishable food items and fishing equipment with a thoughtful expression. It probably was intriguing to watch them complete these errands, as Luffy carried well over four times what Coby did. Sometimes she disappeared in her cargo.
"Do you have to go already?" Coby asked after the third trip, sitting down with his legs dangling off the dock.
"Pirate Kings don't make themselves, Coby."
He sighed and bit his lower lip. "I.. I don't think they're going to let me be a marine here, Luffy. Everyone knows I'm with you. Maybe I could just… I don't know, settle down? Get an apprenticeship and learn to fish?"
Luffy picked up on the hopelessness in his words right away and stood up rigidly. She looked at her little friend and narrowed her eyes. She knew to back up her pupils with proverbial steel.
She didn't revel in it, but Coby flinched and looked down.
She walked past him, doing her best to ignore that he was even there. What Coby proposed was a fate worse than death. Not that she didn't see this turn of events coming, mind you.
"H-hey, wait up!" Luffy heard Coby call as she hastened her walk up the street. She picked up her pace when she saw what she had been waiting for. A large group of marines were making their way into the inn. She was so close to dragging her little friend over that last horrifying line separating him from living a life without regrets that she could taste victory.
Victory tasted like sausage with a not-unpleasant secondary fruity flavor.
Ms. Leah was providing a third helping of breakfast to Zoro when Luffy burst in, Coby in tow.
The innkeeper looked up to the young woman with concern at the group of men who had taken to forming a semi-circle in the common room, with the commanding officer standing at attention in the middle conspicuously.
Zoro seemed content to ignore them, but the upcoming address concerned him, too.
"We at Marine base 9 must thank you for all you have done here, but we cannot continue to allow pirates free reign on this island. We must ask you three to leave immediately."
Luffy wondered if the squeaking sound behind her was the sound of Coby's jaw dropping or the breaking of his poor little heart (more likely, it was the audible sound of his disappointment). She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.
"I'm only barely a pirate. You know that, right? And Zoro hasn't done anything remotely piratey yet."
The officer looked at his underlings, perplexed. "But you've told other people in town that you were pirates, and you took down a marine captain. Those are buccaneering actions."
"More like revolutionary, but I get what you're saying." Luffy said, rubbing her nose on her arm in feigned disinterest. "Look here," she breathed, "-Zoro and I will be leaving shortly, but Coby here is a refugee."
Coby gulped, all eyes suddenly upon him.
"As of two weeks ago, he wanted to be a marine. Doubt that changed in the past few days, though you lot and Captain Morgan really gave murdering his dream a go."
She gave them a sarcastic thumbs-up. "He got to watch you threaten children and shoot civilians! GOOD ON YA!"
She could see the perspiration trickling down their faces. "You know what would go great with all the tyranny you guys enforced? ME TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT IT!"
She let her mouth remain open in a wide smile.
She heard Coby stepping up behind her. "I mean, peacekeeping'd be difficult, but it's not like you didn't earn it. I mean, you guys shot me for what was, at best, worth a week in low-security prison."
Zoro looked up at she started laughing like a maniac, her voice climbing in pitch. Maybe they were new friends, but there was no excuse for him not to catch on. There was a method to this madness. For that reason, she ignored the sounds of sabers being pulled out of belts. "It's a wonder these islands have lasted as long as they have! You guys SUCK at your jobs!"
Coby growled and tackled her from the side with all of his tiny, prepubescent fury. "YOU LAY OFF OF THEM, LUFFY! THEY TAKE THIS SHIT ALL THE TIME!"
She started and laughed more in the face of his sudden fury. "We. Cannot. Trust. Pirates. To. Police. Themselves." He punched with every syllable, causing an impressive blanch to come over the room. Zoro acted as the exception, understanding dawning on his features.
"Without the law, we are ALL going to die, Luffy! MARINES DO THE BEST THEY CAN!"
She let her face pop back into place and chuckled. "Guess you still want to be one!" she shouted, kicking him into the ceiling with minimal force. There was no splintering, but some dust fell out of the rafters along with poor, poor Coby. It really was for his own good, though.
The marines brandished their sabers in full sight at this point, having had enough of the ridicule and violence.
"We won't let you hurt another single hair on his head, Harpy!" One of the younger soldiers bellowed. His superior gave him a sharp look, then turned to Luffy.
"Get out of here, now. Clearly that boy isn't with you, but Roronoa and yourself need to leave immediately, or we will okay use of force to take you down."
Well, that was to be the story of her life. At least she had given Coby a fighting chance at his ambition.
As she was fully prepared for departure, Luffy tossed a couple of coins to Ms. Leah and beckoned to Zoro. When she left the inn's double doors, she didn't even look back.
The would-be captain and the former pirate hunter had a leisurely walk to the dingy, shrouded in a companionable sort of silence. The villagers didn't dare come out to see them off. Obviously some habits died hard, and fearing retribution of an overly powerful militant force was one of them.
"Hey, Zoro?" Luffy asked, looking at the sky as her feet moved forward.
"Hm?"
"Do you have any more bounties to take care of?"
Zoro gave his new captain a sidelong glance. "I guess. Why would that even be an issue?"
The waif laughed again, proving joviality to be her default temperament.
"I'm almost out of money and our boat sucks!"
Zoro flinched momentarily, but he quickly regained his equilibrium.
"I guess that's normal when you're starting out." he reasoned. Luffy nodded.
"Yeah. I mean, you're my first mate-," She shot him a winning look. "-in every sense of the term."
The two stopped in unison right before the turn that would lead them to the docks. Zoro just stared at her (dumbfounded, she assumed).
"You mean-," He pointed at her and then himself, blinking.
She nodded. "Yep. Just us."
He put two fingers to his head and let himself lapse into Luffy's most adaptive coping mechanisms (those being laughter and acceptance). Luffy immediately joined him, seemingly an infinite font of air and vibrations of mirthful sound.
"Fuck, that's funny."
"I know, right?! But we'll get by."
He just shook his head.
Once they were situated in Luffy's appropriated green monstrosity of a boat, the two set out for sea, only to hear Coby's barking behind them. Zoro and Luffy regarded in detached fascination as he bellowed a loud and heartfelt thanks in front of what appeared to be a score of marines. He saluted them, and the others followed suit.
Hmph. Maybe they did know how to say thank you after all. She gave them a brief wave, but didn't keep too much eye contact with the boy in the distance. The less of a bond she publicly presented with Coby, the better off he'd be (even if the cat was obviously out of the bag about their friendship now).
Zoro looked on with a cocky-half grin and then made knowing eye contact with Luffy.
They had a moment where they held an entire conversation in which they agreed that Coby was both a sweet kid and would probably be just fine. At least, that's what Luffy thought Zoro got out of that brief stare-down. She had no reason to doubt the wordless telepathy.
It felt good to be with Zoro(again?). It was like putting on a shoe that finally fit at the end of a brutal growth spurt. It was hard to miss someone she'd never met, but it had clearly been a constant until the moment they set out together once more.
If someone had told the Zoro of six months ago that he would be floating aimlessly on the beautiful ocean of East Blue with a scantily-clad woman sleeping in his chest staring at the night sky, he would have snorted derisively in their general direction. He had been off on a killing spree with Saga; those days seemed like they would never end. His skills had improved drastically on those small trips, but there hadn't been the same feeling of belonging that lingered now.
As a general rule, the man did not trust easily, but the little ball of spunk he cradled now just seemed to force purpose on him. He didn't just have to get stronger for his own sake anymore. He had this creature to look after. It helped that he didn't have to worry about her being some frail thing (he would not have even thought of acquiescing to her request of comradeship if that had been the case), but she was only a human, in the end. He knew too well the folly of assuming someone else was invincible.
Her sleeping face was peaceful. He hadn't really looked at her too closely before, but it wasn't an unattractive face. It still held some of childhood's handiwork, but there was a dreadful scar that made him want to wince just below the left eye.
Perhaps it was the dark hair that fell haphazardly over the side of her face that made him think of his childhood idol, Kuina. If she had lived, he estimated she would have been just a little older than his new friend.
Would she have looked like this? Would she have been here in Luffy's stead?
He sighed and gently swept a lock of hair away from his captain's face. There really was no use in wondering such things. It wasn't as if he could experience an alternate timeline where that was a reality. He wasn't one for such abstract ideas as a normal rule. Zoro was, in essence, a practical man, and he had to deal with the reality of now.
He had a new crew, however small it was, that felt fulfilling. Unlike those families of choice he'd gathered up to this point, he wouldn't allow this one to slip through his fingers.
Luffy repositioned herself on his chest. He could feel her heartbeat, a steady undulation of mesmerizing motion under smooth skin.
Zoro smiled. It might have been a poor decision, but he let himself drift off, rocked steadily by the rhythms of the sea and Luffy's liquid life pumping through her veins.
A/N: Retrieval of Zoro Ark is over! I don't know if I'll go into great detail about the end of Romance Dawn (I.E. Shanks). It will probably show up organically as things carry on, but it may not yet be time.