Chapter 25

After the long talk about Zoro, Luffy wasn't able to sleep at all and thought about the sharkman, both innocent and not so innocent, which left him going to the bathroom.

Ace wasn't able to sleep either, now that he knew that Luffy wasn't as innocent as he thought, and blamed health class for it most of all for it, he could hear the bathroom door being open and closed throughout the night, and knew that his younger brother was having a harder time, in both sense of the word. But he couldn't blame him or Zoro though, he had thought about the cop that was probably off the island by now and had to settle with handling his problem in his room.

***

In the cove Zoro was debating whether or not to drink the potion that Robin left for him. He remembered that she said that the ocean would hate her and would drown because she became human. If he were to drink it now, would he also be cursed to the same fate? What if Luffy fell in the water and he couldn't save him? Then there was the mysterious marimo that the old octopus left for him. Would it help turning him to a human? What if he tried them together? Would it be the same as overdosing or would both help him be human but still be able to swim? He hasn't talked about being human to the teen, and he was afraid of what would happen if he does.

He had no place to live if he became human, and what if Luffy does find someone else, being human would be all for nothing if that were to happen. He would rather be alone than be with anyone else… He was being selfish, but he just couldn't imagine trying to get along with another person.

He placed the bottle and the marimo to the side and just stared up at the night sky before falling asleep.

***

The next morning, Luffy, without an ounce of sleep, went out the back and ran to the cove, which was not necessary because his brother was completely out of it.

When he arrived, he found Zoro sleeping on the wet sand bank and was going up to the man when he saw the bottle. He quietly went over to the bottle and saw the note on it.

'Zoro-kun,

Here's the potion I told you about. It's your choice if you want to drink it or not.

Robin.'

He blinked as he looked at the man. 'A potion for what?' He thought as he set the bottle aside and went up beside the man and just looked at the sleeping form. He wasn't able to sleep because of the man before him and now he was nervous about the man waking up. 'But Zoro has always been kind to me… this can't change that… can it?' He studied the features and reached out his hand to comb his fingers through the light green hair.

He then seemed to decide on something as he carefully moved so that he hovered over the other on his hands and knees. He took a deep breath as he leaned down to place his lips over the others. He remembered how the other's lips felt when he was saving him from being sold, and he hesitantly opened his mouth a little more to let his tongue lick the man's lips, which tasted like sea salt and pears. He closed his eyes momentarily as he enjoyed the taste until he felt the other shift. He opened his eyes and looked at the other below him, wide awake. "Zoro… I…" He started to say when he felt the other's hand go through his hair.

"Do you mean for that to happen, or was it curiosity?" Zoro asked.

Luffy saw that the other wasn't angry or disgusted, and that allowed him to speak the truth easily. "A bit of both, but more because I wanted to."

"Why's that?" Zoro said as he placed his hand on the other's shoulder.

"Because I love you." He said easily. "Is that okay?"

Zoro smiled as he brought the other down for another kiss, deeper, and the other only took a second to follow along.

When they parted, both had smiles on their faces and stayed like that for some time before Zoro spoke. "Does Ace know you're out here?"

"He was asleep when I left."

"Might want to go back. Otherwise I'm good as dead."

"He won't hurt you. If he does then that's only hurting me."

"Way to go with the leverage on your brother…" Zoro said, but he wasn't that amused.

Luffy only grinned as he kissed the other again. "Sometimes it helps." He said as he looked over at the bottle. "What's that for over there?"

Zoro looked and sighed. "Robin made a potion to make me human permanently."

"Really?"

He nodded. "But there's one thing about it that I'm not sure I can live without."

"What's that?"

"My ability to swim." He said as he looked at Luffy. "If I drink that then I'm no better than a rock to the ocean or anything that's related to water."

"That sucks…" Luffy said as he looked at the bottle. "So you're not gonna drink it?"

"I don't know… I haven't fully decided what to do."

Luffy looked back at the other and kissed the other again. "Take your time on it. Not like we're going anywhere." He giggled as the other playfully bopped him.

"Get back to Ace before he calls out the search party."

Luffy laughed as he got up. "We've been arguing about you last night about that. Seem he still doesn't get it."

"He does, but it's going to take time getting used to."

The teen nodded. "I'll see you later then."

"Later…" He said as he watched the other walk through the vegetation and he went back into the water, since he felt a bit dry, and thought about going around the island again.

***

He went around the island and saw a familiar tangerine tail not too far up ahead. He looked around again to see if there was anyone else so he has a reason to steer clear of her, but saw none and called out. "Oi, Nami!"

She turned and waved. "Hey there Zoro." She waited for him to come up. "Happy to be back?"

"Much…" He said as he stopped in front of her. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"I figured I have a last look around before I go. It will be another ten years before we come back here again you know."

"Yeah…"

She saw something about the man and she knew it was bothering him. "What's wrong?"

"Perspective bitch, aren't you?"

"Flattery won't let you slip by. What's going on?"

He told her of the potion and the old octopus departure.

"A marimo?"

"Yeah… He said it was some kind of medicine or something."

"Mind if I see it?"

"I don't see a reason not to." He said as he led the way, which was easy for him because he memorized the island for the last ten years and that made him not be so lost all the time.

When they got to the cove, he showed her the items and she nodded in confirmation.

"Just as I thought."

"Nani?"

She smiled. "I have to go back to the group soon, so you have to show this to Robin if you get the chance to. You may not have to lose your ability to swim after all."

He blinked as she went out of the cove. "Oi! What the hell does that suppose to mean!?" He called out and tried to find her, but she was already gone by the time he was out of the cove. "That bitch…" He said as he headed over to the marina to see if he could grab Franky's attention and see if he can't get Robin to talk to him.

***

Not too far off, Sanji was just about to enjoy a moment in peace with an unlit cigarette between his lips and was about to lite it when he saw a young woman with a tangerine tail jump up with the dolphins and quickly went back down into the water. He stood there in shock for a moment, the cigarette fell from the open mouth. 'That's the girl I saw some time ago!!' He thought as he was frozen in shock.

Usopp came to the beach to play with Chopper when he saw Sanji standing there like an idiot. "Uh… Sanji…" He said as he poked him at the side of his face, the way Luffy would do sometimes. "Oi… You okay?"

"They do exist."

"Eh?"

"Beautiful gems of the sea… Swimming gracefully with scales shone brilliantly like stars!"

"Dude… Did you switch to a different brand or something? I keep telling you to either quit or go for a lower concentrated brand."

"I did see a gorgeous mermaid! I did!"

"Even if you did see one, you're still an idiot standing there looking like you've lost your damn mind…"

"What was that?" Sanji said, now annoyed for being called an idiot.

Usopp ran, not wanting to take it back but not wanting to get on Sanji's path to his grumpy side. He made it worst by running, but he knew he can outrun the man the more he freaks out.

"Get back here you damn coward!"

"No way!" He said as he ran faster. It was the easiest way to get the other his high while he gets faster. 'Sometimes it's just worth annoying him.' He thought as he laughed.

"What the hell are you laughing about!?"