WARNINGS: YOAI (boyXboy) Shanks X Luffy, Zoro X Luffy, and wide age differences between people in a relationship.
Don't like, don't read. You've been warned.
'…' what they are thinking
"…" what they are saying
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Author's Note: Sorry for the late update. My goal was to get a new chapter up ever week, but that just didn't happen with this one. -.-;
Being a Girl
Chapter 9: A New Love
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-----2 hours after Lucky left the ship with Tanya---On the Red-Haired Pirate Ship------
"Do you know where Lucky is?" Yasopp asked a crew member.
"No… but I saw him leaving with that one brown-haired girl." replied the man.
"When?"
"A few hours ago. Do you think he's ok?"
"Of course." Just as Yasopp said that a creaking sound was heard from the ship's ladder. Lucky climbed over, followed by a girl with black cloth draped over her shoulders.
"Hey Lucky!" Yasopp said waving him over. "Where have you been?"
"Well…" He said slowly, "Hm… We need Ben also… There's this island not too far from here…"
-----30 minutes later-----
"I see," said Ben. Him, Yasopp, Lucky, and a certain girl were crowded inside a dark cabin. The light from the candle on the small table they were circled around played shadows across their faces as they talked.
"I never would have guessed that you would have that type of status." Yasopp looked at the girl, wondering if she was lying.
"And I never thought I would be in this type of situation. Why must we be in a storage closet?" She answered back, annoyed.
"It adds to the mood." Ben's smile, shadowed in certain places, looked ominous. The darkness around him and deep hollows under his eyes gave him a sinister expression. "Now let's go talk to captain."
------15 minutes later------
Shanks stood on deck, map in hand, "You want to go to this island?"
"Yes," His three crew members said in unison.
"Why is it called Love Reborn?" He frowned.
"Just a superstition the locals have." The mysterious girl standing next to Yasopp said, hands clasped behind her back.
"And why is a young lady such as yourself coming?" He asked her with a smile.
Silence followed before Ben hurriedly said, "She, um, needs a ride."
Shanks raised an eyebrow. "…Something's up."
The three tensed. "Hehe..."
Shanks sighed, "Alright, lets go." He called to some of his crew to prepare for sailing before turning back to the group, "It's the middle of the night, so lets get some rest. If this map is accurate we'll get to the island sometime tomorrow evening. I'll leave it to you, Ben, to find quarters for the lady to sleep in." He gave them a half smile before walking into his cabin and closing the door.
"Is he usually like that?" The girl asked.
"No, he's just moping, now follow me," Ben started to walk off, "Lack of sleep dulls the senses." He waved goodnight to Yasopp and Lucky.
-----Later that night------
Shanks sat up in his bed and looked around tiredly. He had the whole cabin to himself, captain's privilege, though it wasn't very big. He wasn't one to show off his wealth and treasures. The room only consisted of a small bed, desk, chest, and a set of drawers. Shanks got up and moved to his desk, pulling the chair out and sitting down. He decided to work on a map, to get his mind off what he couldn't seem to stop thinking about. After a few minutes he sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about Luffy. It was always nagging in the back on his mind that Luffy was waiting for him, and he should hurry to the boy. He constantly had to tell himself that Luffy was not in the park looking for him. Shanks sighed again, thinking he shouldn't have left the island in such a hurry. It almost felt like he was running away. The man ran a hand through his hair. He had to get over this, a relationship with a kid was not possible. But he still felt bad for dumping Luffy like he did, and now he wasn't sure if he should have. For once Shanks was unsure of himself and his decision.
-----Later---On the Straw Hat Pirate Ship ----
"SO COOOOLLL!" Luffy exclaimed as they neared the island.
"There are so many big buildings!" Chopper squealed in his cute voice.
"The Great Captain Usopp build these buildings!" Usopp puffed out his chest.
"Wow!" Luffy and Chopper said in unison, eye's twinkling in admiration.
"Yes! I was only ten years old…" Usopp went on with his tale.
Other than Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, and Zoro the rest of the crew left the deck to get ready. Zoro stood away from the group, arms crossed as he looked with narrowed eyes at the island they were approaching. After a while his gaze shifted to his captain, who was listening to the marksman's tall tale. He was still not as cheerful as usual.
"Swordsman-san." Robin had come out of her cabin and was standing beside Zoro, looking over the railing. "I've read about this island in a book."
Zoro frowned, "I know about it too. What does it matter?"
"You won't be able to hide your feelings from captain-san."
Zoro eyed her, scowling.
"It's best if you stick with him and not get lost."
Zoro's frown deepened. "You don't need to give me advice." He left the railing to go sleep against the mast.
-----20 minutes later----
It was a few minutes before they would reach the island, and Nami had called them all out to deck. "Listen everyone, this island is part of a chain of three islands. We came from one of them, but this one is a little different." She tossed them each a yellow cape with a large hood. "You have to wear this, and you can't show your face."
"Or what will happened?" Chopper squeaked.
"…Something very bad." Nami answered after thinking about whether she should tell the small reindeer.
"I-Is it always d-dark under the island?" Usopp said, voice shaking as he pointed to where they were sailing. The sun shone bright around it, but over the island a dark cloud hung. "It's almost pitch black!"
"Calm down Usopp, it's just a rainy island. It's actually very popular, many villages off the Grand Line tell stories about this place."
"Probably s-scary stories. I think I have I-can't-go-on-that-island virus!" Usopp said, knees shaking.
"I'm telling you, that's not it!" She hit him over the head.
"Then why wont you say more about it?" Chopper looked at her with big eyes, holding his yellow cape tightly.
"That's because…." Her cheeks turned a slight red. "Never mind!" She hit the poor animal over the head, "It doesn't matter!"
Chopper stopped asking questions after that.
"Why are these yellow?" Zoro glared, holding the cape disdainfully in one hand.
"Because yellow looks good on me, and they were on sale." She smiled.
Zoro's eyebrow twitched.
"Don't glare at Nami-swan!" Sanji kicked the swordsman in the head. "My sweet Nami-swan, I will wear anything for you!"
"Don't kick me Dartboard-Eyebrow!" Zoro unsheathed his swords and a fight broke out between the two
Robin chuckled slightly as she put the on the black cape and hood she bought earlier.
----10 minutes later----
When they reached their destination the crew quickly split up to explore, map the island, or buy things from the nearby town.
"Are you going to go explore, Luffy?" Zoro came up to his captain who was still on the ship, staring back out to sea.
"Yeah…" Luffy tried to smile, but he felt that if he took one step on the island, he'd have run away from Shanks. He felt that if he'd loose sight of the sea, he'd leave Shanks forever. Even though he promised he'd come back, it worried him.
Zoro looked at Luffy's sad expression. It was so unlike him, as if he'd gotten his heart broken. It probably wasn't the best time for Zoro to do what he had in mind, but if Luffy accepted it, then maybe he would be alright. Either way, because of this island he couldn't avoid it. He didn't want to avoid it. He'd kept it a tight secret for a long time. Only Robin with her watchful eyes noticed.
The swordsman took his captain's hand to get his attention.
"Zoro?" Luffy looked up at him.
"Luffy… I…" Zoro scowled, trying to find the words. "In my dojo, from when I was a kid, there were stories about this island."
"Cool!" Luffy snapped out of his sad thoughts and started to bounce up and down, "Then lets go check it out!"
Zoro sweatdropped as he put a hand on his captain's shoulder to keep him still. "The story was that this island, called Love Reborn, gives out a vibe which makes it so that… so that a person can't hide feelings of love from another person."
"Huh?"
Zoro glanced around, making sure Robin and Nami weren't there to blackmail him. "I…" He leaded down and whispered into his captain's ear, "I've loved you for a long time, Luffy."
The boy froze, wide-eyed.
Zoro moved his hand from Luffy's shoulder to his chin, lifting his head up a bit as he softly placed his lips on Luffy's in a tender kiss.
-----
Author's Note: Oooooo, I wonder how Luffy will react to Zoro's kiss? Looks like we'll have to wait tell the next chapter to find out! This chapter was more for explanation and getting them to the next island. All the good stuff will be in the next one! And sorry again for the lateness of this update.
Can anyone guess who the "mysterious girl" and what her "status" is?
In the next chapter: Zoro, Luffy, Shanks, a stranger, and whirlwinds of emotion. What will happen? Find out in the twist of Chapter 10!