…You Hold My Hand
(Continuation of previous chapter)
It's a rarity, but when it happens it makes you smile… you can do nothing but smile, it's a perfect portrayal of a relationship between two brothers... or more specifically, Luffy seeking some comfort.
We'd walked down to Windmill Village to pick up some stuff for Dadan, and to keep Luffy entertained I'd been, well… "forced" to carry him on my back. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, or even want it, it's just I was basically his walking bed, since he fell asleep after about ten minutes… I kinda thought he wanted to feel special; turns out he only wanted to sleep.
But now that we're in Windmill Village, I know he'll want to be up and on the move. As much as I just wanted to drop him to wake him, it would only upset him and make him cry and then we'd end up arguing and he would eventually run away from me and it would just make matters worse.
His head was still resting on my shoulder, so I gently nudged my shoulder and he momentarily woke up. "Finally" I said. "You slept through the entire journey"
He mumbled and dribbled a little onto my shoulder.. "ewww! What are you doing? Get up!" I was seriously contemplating dropping him… but when I looked at him, he looked so innocent and adorable; he was like the perfect prey for kidnappers.
"But I like being on Ace's back – can't I stay on just for a little longer?" He whined; I seriously hope he wouldn't start crying, with all these people walking around they'd blame me for making him cry – I don't want to have to deal with that sort of troubling situation.
"I have to carry a lot of the stuff we're picking up on my back"
He pouted "Boohoo…" And jumped off my back "Fine, but you owe me!"
"Whatever, come on let's just hurry up, I want to get back early so we can go out hunting" He ran on ahead of me and I was once again left alone to ponder to myself. He's such a crazy little brother, who gets worked up or excited over such little things, I can sort of understand why he wanted to sleep so close to me last night and now I can see what's so great about being carried on someone else's back… so he can sleep. But I don't understand what he wants, he's never really happy is he?
I mean I carried him all the way down here on my back, I didn't even disturb him whilst he was sleeping and last night, although it was a little strange I still let him sleep right next to me, I didn't even get worked up over him sleeping on top of me this morning… he still wants more from me.
Perhaps I'm not really acting like a brother should? He did say that Sabo was always nicer to him and treated him a lot better than I did, but I can't suddenly start being so openly caring… people would think I've gone crazy, I'm only mean to him because I worry so much, he's such a weakling and a big cry-baby.
Since we toasted to brotherhood, he's often mumbled that he doesn't really feel like my brother… he's said that we're still just friends and that everyone will always see us that way. I kind of understand how he feels, nobody has since called us brothers since we toasted, and we've told everyone in town, even all of the bandits know about it.
In a sense, it could be that he wants others to confirm our brotherhood, even if they just say something simple like "you two are so close, well that's brotherhood for you" or something daft like that, I already know we're brothers… once again, he's just being awkward.
"Ace! Ace! – I just thought of something we can do!"
I lightly shook my head and awoke from my thoughts. "What now?" I asked, Luffy was tugging on my arm and as I looked around we had reached Makino's bar. "We're here already?"
"Let's hold hands!" He cried.
"Hold hands?" I questioned. "I have to carry stuff with these hands" I added. Just what exactly was he up to?
"Yeah! I'll hold stuff with my spare hand and you can hold the other stuff with your spare hand – so can we?"
I rolled me eyes and thought about the idea for a second, it didn't seem like it would be such a problem and the thought of it happening was making Luffy happy, as for me… it was kinda embarrassing. "Fine" I said, with that he knotted his fingers between mine and held onto my hand, almost for dear life.
We walked inside the bar, which was unusually empty for this time of the day. We stopped halfway towards the bar and looked around for Makino, who wasn't in view for either of them.
"Where could she be?" I said "Makino!" I called out just after. A few moments later she cried "Yes?" and walked out from the kitchen and up to the bar.
"Oh! Hello boys!" She smiled at us warmly and prompted us to sit down. Even after sitting down, Luffy still had a hold of my hand; it made me wonder if things were going to be either awkward or difficult from now on.
I decided to try out some of my new-found manners that Makino herself had taught me. "Good Afternoon Makino-san – we've come to collect some items for Dadan. She said you would know what she wants…" I asked politely.
"My my, it looks like you've really taken to the manners I taught you!" She smiled "And yes, I'll go prepare them for you now. Will you be able to carry the stuff?"
"Of course we can! – We've gotten loads stronger and we can defeat anything that stands in our way!" Luffy replied, I was unsure as to whether he was offended by Makino's comment about us not being able to take all of the stuff back.. or if he was just being.. well, Luffy.
"We'll be fine Makino-san, do you mind serving us up some drinks though? If it's not too much trouble, we'll need some energy to help get us back up" I smiled.
"Sure! Just give us a mo and I'll serve you up something refreshing" She disappeared back into the kitchen and re-appeared a few minutes later carrying two glasses of fresh and cold orange juice. She placed them in front of us and watched us both consume the juice within moments.
"Thank you for the drink!" I said after finishing first, I had to prompt Luffy to say thanks after he had finished. Makino smiled at us, but she had an inquisitive expression on her face beforehand which made me question her.
"What was wrong before? – When we were drinking... you looked puzzled?" I asked.
"Well usually when you and Luffy are here together, and you both order a drink, you usually use the same hands don't you?"She questioned.
"Not usually, he just likes to copy me…"
"Well today he used his right hand didn't he? Has he finally outgrown copying you I wonder?"
"Huh?" I wondered myself but then as I looked down and saw that we were still holding hands and I figured that was probably why... but he actually broke copying me just so he could keep holding my hand? I will admit... that is pretty sweet.
I held up the hand in which I was holding Luffy's with and she seemed somewhat surprised. "Oh? What's this?"
"He wanted to hold my hand..." I replied.
Her mouth widened to a cheesy grin and she stared at us both lovingly "How adorable! As expected of close brothers… or lovers perhaps?" She chuckled.
Lovers? My cheeks blossomed a rosy red "Oh no we're just-"
"Lovers, lovers, lovers!" Luffy cheered, swinging his hand around along with mine… my cheeks literally shined so bright it lit up Makino's face in front of me.
"Do you even know what you're saying Luffy?" I screamed at him. "We're just brothers.. really, really close brothers."I said to Makino, she continuously seemed surprised, but her giggling lessened and she was finally able to give me a reply.
"I know, I know... I was just teasing. But still, you can see holding hands with someone in any number of ways. I only assumed that you might have been lovers because the way you've locked your fingers together is typical feat of a couple… it's quite a special way to hold hands"
This was just getting ridiculous now, how many ways can you hold hands with a person? It's true that the way we were holding hands was a little different than ways we had done in the past, but still… I can't believe Makino even said such a thing... I am never going to hear the end of this.
I leaned over the counter and asked Makino to come closer; I had something I wanted to whisper into her ear. "Please don't put ideas in his head!"
She pulled away and laughed "Oh alright" She paused to pick up the glasses "Anyway, I'll get the stuff ready for you, I'm sure you have other things you want to do today" She disappeared back into the kitchen and was gone for quite some time. Myself and Luffy sat in a somewhat uncomfortable silence, uncomfortable for me anyway… How could she suggest such a thing as lovers, if he remembers anything about this conversation I'm in for it.
How on earth could I explain what lovers are to him when I actually know so little myself. Besides, being lovers is for grown ups.. I have no interest in anything as such whilst I'm only ten years old… I want to spend my time training and preparing for my departure in seven years… jeez, just her bringing up such a thing has gotten my head in a spin.
I turned my head slightly and was pretty shocked to see Luffy's slightly disheartened face. "What's wrong now?" I asked.
"Wu-what's wrong with being lovers?" He asked me, I honestly didn't expect him to ask this early… I mean I thought he'd bring it up later on when we were definitely alone… what if Makino could still hear us? Could this situation be anymore embarrassing? I can clearly see that his other hand is clenched tight and he's looking down at his lap, if he's embarrassed about it then he at least knows the basis of what lovers are.
It was helpful that he wasn't looking at me, but I still couldn't hold back my blushing… I wasn't even sure what to say to him, obviously we weren't lovers and it was probably never going to happen… unless he became persistent later on in life.
"Why would you want to be lovers? Being brothers is way better and better suited to us" I replied.
He unexpectedly looked up at me; I looked back towards the kitchen quickly to avoid my obvious red-face being seen. "Yeah… but I heard about this thing called marriage and it apparently bonds the two people for life, that's part of being lovers isn't it? Why can't we do that? I want to be bonded with Ace forever and ever." He added.
I nearly chocked on air when he mentioned marriage… "Marriage? That's for grown ups, I'm only ten years old and your seven! People usually get married after they reach twenty years old…"
"But!-" Luffy was about to reply, but I cut him off. "Look, maybe someday we can try this 'lovers' thing, but for now we're brothers and that's that. Don't casually bring up marriage either when you know so little about it!" I randomly decided to hit him on the head, like I usually did… just to reinforce my seriousness.
He turned away and as per usual, he looked like he was about to cry, with his one free hand he held onto his straw hat and pulled it over his face. Which made me remember the fact that we were still holding hands and even after all this trouble I still didn't mind him holding my hand, no matter what people thought, I personally felt it personified our brotherhood and in a way it also proved my selfish desire of not wanting to let go of him, or to let anyone else take him away from me. No matter how stubborn I am, I'm still human and I still desire certain contact with others… that whole thing about being lovers in the future might be a possibility if things like holding hands and sleeping together are a regular occurrence. Of course I wasn't really sure why I said such a thing… even though I feel it might happen one day, at the moment I only said it just to shut him up... all I can do now is hope and pray he won't bring it up again.
Never the less, it wouldn't mean anything to him if I didn't voice my thoughts… Luffy is pretty dense as well so he'd never realize how I truly feel just from expressions and actions alone.
"I like it… when you hold my hand"
"Ru-really?" He looked up at me and smiled "I'll keep holding onto your hand then!" He cheered.
All I could do was smile… is it safe to say I love it when you hold my hand?