30 ZoLu One Shots
Hey, you guys. Here is chapter 7, so I hope you enjoy. And also, this is somewhat a sneek peek of my soon-to-be-posted 'With You all the Way, Captain'. Will give further details at the end of this chapter.
Chapter 7
Title: What You Still Have
Paring: LuffyxZoro
Theme: Nakama
Arc: Post-War, Pre-Time Skip
Warning: A bit of OOCness, mostly from Zoro, and a bit of spoilers for anyone who isn't past the War Arc
Disclaimer(s): I do not own One Piece
After returning to Amazon Lily from Marineford after the Paramont War, Luffy woke up, after two weeks from his coma-like state, desperately looking for his brother, Ace, who was killed in the war. Zoro, waking up from his nap, hearing his captain's rampage, walked towards Law and Jimbei.
"If he keeps this up, his wounds will reopen and he will die," he heard the fellow Supernova tell Jimbei. "Well, I'm going to go and try to prevent him from doing so," the former Shichibukai said. "No, let me go," Zoro insisted. "But you are in no condition to confront him," Law said, "what would happen if he fights you? Having only one eye doen't make it any easier."
Zoro lost his left eye, which was bandaged up at the moment, trying to protect Luffy from Mihawk, and still fought along side his captain. He also gained more scars and a few burns, thanks to Akainu, but they weren't as bad as Luffy's, which would mark his skin and stay there for the rest of his life.
"I know that," the young first mate said, "but he's my captain and I'm his first mate and I'm the only one that's closest to him that he has right now. So I'm sure that he needs someone that close at a time like this." Both the doctor and the Whale Shark Fishman stared into Zoro's good eye, only to see some determination and a hint of sadness in them. They then nodded, giving him the okay to do so. Zoro then ran into the forest, following the destroyed path that Luffy made.
After awhile, he found his captain, seeing him throw a giant bolder at a cliff, making the top crumble. "Luffy," Zoro said worriedly. "I pinched my cheek to a point where it bled," Luffy started, "if this is no dream, then tell me. Ace is...ACE IS DEAD, ISN'T HE?" The young swordsman felt a prickle in his eyes, even in his damaged eye, and then he, reluctantly, nodded.
Luffy, after seeing this, started to cry. He also started to mumble about his past, talking about when he first met Ace, meeting a boy named Sabo, the two trying to kill Luffy, only to save him later, how they became brothers and their vow of becoming pirates, the whole Sabo Incident, Sabo's letter, and the ten-year training he did.
"Me? Becoming Pirate King?" Luffy cried, "I'M SO WEAK!" Zoro then got up from the spot he was sitting at and cautiously approached his captain. "Lu, please don't say that," he tried to convince him, "what happened to all that confidence that you had?"
"But you know that it's true, Zoro!" Luffy cried, "I couldn't even save my brother. How can I become Pirate King if I can't save anyone?" His swordsman pulled out Luffy's straw hat. 'You might need this, Roronoa, just in case,' he remembered what Law said as he gave him the hat.
"But you still have that promise that you made to Shanks to fulfill." "There's no point of keeping that promise anymore." Zoro walked closer to Luffy and placed both hands on the other's shoulders. "This isn't the Luffy that we know and love," Zoro started as tears started to fill his eyes, "our Luffy has a lot of determination and is completely set on his goals and dreams."
He then embraced the young captain. "He would always get back up when he is knocked down. Please, Lu, just do this. For us. For me. We have gotten you this far so don't back down and quit. Just remember who you really are and what you still have."
As Luffy did what Zoro asked him to do, he started to cry in realization. "I still have our nakama," he said as he cried out more tears, hugging his first mate back. After a minute of comforting Luffy, Zoro then pulled out of the embrace, seeing that Luffy still have a few stray tears left. "Shall we start getting ready to head back to Sabaody?" he asked as he wiped his captain's tears away with his thumb and Luffy nodded.
So they started to head back to the shore. Then Luffy tugged on Zoro's arm as he paused, making his swordsman look back at him. "What is it, Luffy?" he asked. "I would like to thank Zoro, for everything," Luffy said, "for being there, trying to help save Ace and help me get through everything when I needed it."
Zoro then ruffled Luffy's hair and placed the straw hat on top of the younger's head. "No problem, Captain," he said and, without warning, he pulled Luffy into a kiss. His captain was at a momentary shock, but then started to kiss back. "I thought you would never do that again," Luffy said as they pulled out of the kiss, making Zoro chuckle.
"Now then," Zoro started, "we should head home. I'm sure the others are still waiting for us back on Sunny." "Yeah," Luffy said. After Zoro offered Luffy to carry him, the young captain nodded and rode on his first mate's back, making there way to the shore and then home at the Thousand Sunny.
A/N: I practically cried while writing this chapter. Truthfully, I'm still not over Ace's death and I bet most, if not all, of you aren't, either.
Anyways, about the new story coming up soon. Basically, if you haven't guessed it yet, this is one of those scenarios of what would happen if Zoro was sent flying with Luffy to Amazon Lily. About Luffy saying about Zoro kissing him again: this isn't their first kiss in the arc. I'm still deciding on when they should have their first kiss, but that's all I could say for now.
I know that Zoro was being a bit OOC in this chapter, but still. Both he and Luffy has that close bond as captain and first mate and Zoro knows the pain that Luffy's been going through, losing someone he cares about. And that bond is actually what got me into the whole ZoLu thing.
Anyways, please R&R. Suggestions for either the one shots and/or for 'WYATWC' is nice, too.