-Tangled Web-
A role-play/joint-fic by Digitaldreamer and Constable Remington
Chapter five: Love is a fruit?

Once again, I seem to be getting complaints about Nami. ;; I'm working on her, folks, this was actually written before anyone got on my case for Nami's horrible PMS, so I'm trying to fix it.

But actually last chapter she was just mad at Ussop because he wouldn't fold the laundry and it was his job, so she was making sure he did it right. As for one she yelled at Luffy, she wasn't mad. O.o;; She was just startled, wouldn't you be startled if someone was in the girls bathroom and you opened the door and found a nearly unconscious, beaten up guy in there? Yeah, thought so.

So I hope Nami's better this chapter.

Hearing the noise from the next room, Zoro stopped from where he was drying himself off and blinked. Nami was screaming again. He paid no real attention to it until he heard Nami screaming Luffy's name, and then he quickly finished pulling on his clothes and ducked out of the still-steamy bathroom to quickly slide next door, looking bewilderedly down at Luffy and Nami. He felt something inside him drop sharply at the sight of Luffy on his knees and gasping like that. Cursing to himself, he more of less shoved Nami out of the way and quickly scooped the trembling boy up in his arms yet again. He hadn't even thought about Luffy needing to go to the bathroom -- how could he have been so stupid!

"Leave him alone, can't you see he's hurt!" he asked harshly, his arms tightening around the boy. "It's not like he could have made it down the stairs!"

Luffy blinked in surprise as Zoro scooped him up for the third time that day, his body pressed against the older man's chest. Not that he minded being in this position, if he could he'd gladly have stayed there, to him Zoro's arms felt better than anything else would have at that moment. But now Zoro was stuck taking care of Luffy again, and he'd probably be all irritated like was before, and now Zoro would probably go from not liking Luffy to hating him or something. Or at least, that's how the equation worked out in Luffy's clouded mind. The boy bit his lip, face buried into Zoro's shirt.

Nami winced as she took in the sight of the boy, folding her arms as Zoro picked the shaking boy off of the floor. "I can see that…." She sighed, running a hand through her hair and walking across the pink throw rug to the two of them, placing a hand on Luffy's forehead for a moment, to ensure he didn't have a fever and wasn't going to die on them out of the blue. And Vivi said he was starting to look better too…

She sighed, turning away. "Sorry for yelling, that just startled me is all. No, I doubt he could have made it down the stairs, and it's not like he knew it was the girl's bathroom anyway." She gave a soft smile before frowning again and turning to glare at Zoro.

"Well why didn't you take him downstairs then, Zoro? Obviously either you didn't take into account that the guy's going to have to pee at some point, or maybe you assumed he could walk himself?" The orange-haired girl shook her head as she glared at Zoro. She pointed towards the door. "Go on, get out of here and go take care of him, I need to take my shower and I think you've got things under control." She said, expression softening a bit. Even when she tried to cover up her concern and sound cross, she couldn't seem to pull it off with the sight of an exhausted Luffy cradled in Zoro's arms.

Zoro didn't feel like explaining himself in the least to the woman. He only glared in response to her before his arms again tightened to hold Luffy closer. Turning swiftly on his heel, he traipsed down the hall and back to his door, kicking it open and scooting inside, using his foot to shut it loudly behind him in anger. He paused, looking down at the boy. For some reason, he liked the weight in his arms and didn't really want to set him down just yet.

"Hey... are you okay?" The swordsman felt slightly responsible for this whole situation, and he sighed. "I'm sorry. I should have thought about you needing to go."

Luffy blinked in surprise, looking up at Zoro. "You're sorry?" He repeated, sounding surprised. He had expected Zoro to be mad, certainly not apologetic.

The man nodded, crossing the room and gently setting Luffy once more against the soft comforter of the bed. "Yeah... I can't believe I didn't even think about you." He sighed. How could he have been so careless to Luffy's needs? He felt like a complete idiot. "Are you hurt?"

Luffy stared up at Zoro for a moment before shaking his head, still looking quite surprised. "D-don't worry about it…" He said with a shaky smile. He feels bad…maybe he does like me? But what if he really doesn't? What if he actually really hates me? Maybe he's just hoping I'm not hurt so I can leave sooner.. The boy gave a shuddering sigh, small tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.

Noticing Luffy's tears, Zoro raised an eyebrow, certain that the boy was lying to him and that he actually was hurt, and badly, and that was the reason he was tearing up. "Hey... whoa, what's wrong?" He quickly kneeled beside the bed, overcome with worry for the boy. He ran his palm carefully over Luffy's forehead, checking for a temperature just in case he was sick, too. "Where does it hurt?"

"N-nowhere." Luffy replied, sniffling as he tried to keep his composure. "I'm not hurt."

Zoro was beginning to get slightly frustrated, certain that Luffy was lying to him in order to keep his pride or something. "Then why are you crying?"

"'Cause you don't like me." The boy replied, biting his lip and looking away from the older man.

Pausing for a moment, Zoro stared, completely confused. "Wait, what? What makes you think I don't like you?" He was completely lost. Since when had this even been an issue?

Luffy sniffled again. "Because Sanji said that you really liked me and to 'go for it', and I still have no idea what 'go for it' means, and then you said that I shouldn't listen to anything Sanji says. Sanji said you really like me, but you said I'm not supposed to listen to him, so that must mean instead of really liking me you must not like me." He said as he once again found himself playing with the loose string.

Zoro was completely baffled. "Sanji said I like you?" he asked finally, and his fists clenched. He wanted to punch the cook in the face. Still, Luffy seemed to really be stressing over this, and Zoro wanted to ease his fears. He hadn't put much thought into liking Luffy, but he certainly didn't not like him, if that made any sense...

"Well, I guess Sanji was right for once," he murmured. "I do like you, kid, so... don't worry." He frowned a little. "What he meant was, that I like you, err... as more than a friend." Which, to be blunt, wasn't really true. Zoro didn't know the kid well enough, hadn't even thought about it, and the thought was making his cheeks burn with heat. "And, 'go for it'... I guess that means you're supposed to... try to get me... to love you." Or get him to sleep with the kid. You could never be sure with Sanji.

This was probably the most awkward conversation he had ever had in his life.

"Oh…" Luffy blinked, the tears at the corners of his eyes vanishing. "So you like me then? As a friend?" He grinned widely. "That's great!" He said, throwing his arms around Zoro's mid-section. "Zoro doesn't not like me, yaaay!" He cried happily, any trace of sadness from before gone. Then Luffy blinked again, pulling away.

"Try to get you to love me? How come? Isn't you being my friend the same as 'love'?" Then the boy frowned, looking confused. "What's love anyway? Is it some kind of fruit?"

Shocked when he found a pair of arms thrown around him, Zoro very awkwardly returned the gesture, lightly hugging the boy back and wishing he had locked the door behind him. Still, he was even more shocked when Luffy didn't seem to know what love was. "Fruit?" he repeated blankly, before quickly shaking his head. "No, no... love is..."

He had no idea how to explain something like this... "Love isn't something you can just explain. You have to feel it. When you love someone, you know." Not that he was speaking from experience... but it must be true, for even he wasn't really sure what love was. "It's... when you see someone and know that you could be with them for the rest of your life. It's when you feel happy just by thinking about them..." He pulled his arms away from Luffy, sighing and feeling increasingly stranger inside as the conversation progressed. Since when had he been so damn wordy?

Luffy scratched his chin and nodded. "…So it's less like fruit, and more like flowers then?" Then he laughed. "I'm just kidding. So why would Sanji want me to try and make you feel that way about me?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I have no idea," Zoro muttered, standing and instead seating himself in his chair. "Probably just to embarrass me."

Luffy blinked. "Why would that embarrass you? Is it bad to love somebody?"

The questions just seemed to keep coming, and Zoro was running short of answers. "I..." But to tell the truth, he wasn't sure himself. "It's not bad to love someone," he responded simply. "But I... never have. Sanji's always going off with girls, so he's just trying to make fun of me." There was a small pause here. "And anyway, two boys aren't really supposed to love each other. I don't know why."

"Really? So you've never loved anyone before and if you love me it's a bad thing?" Luffy cast a thoughtful frown to the ceiling. "How weird."

Unsure how to respond to this, he only shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "It's a bad thing to some people," he gently corrected. Wait, what was he saying? Feeling flushed inside, Zoro quickly fought to think of something he could change the subject with, but nothing was coming to mind.

"But not to everyone?" Luffy asked, looking at Zoro again.

Snapped out of his thoughts by Luffy's questions, Zoro met his eyes for a moment before looking away again. "...yeah. Not to everyone. Just... most people. But it doesn't always matter... what most people think."

Luffy cocked his head to the side once more. "Heh…yeah, I guess it doesn't." He said, putting his arms behind his head. He then yawned loudly, still feeling rather tired from his third venture from the bed.

Noticing this, Zoro was beginning to feel rather tired himself. "Sleepy?" He asked, reaching to turn off the lamp. The room was bathed only in the moonlight streaming in from the window.

Luffy laughed, though it came out more subdued than usual since he was tired. "Yeah… guess so." He said, pushing himself up onto his elbows so he could pull his legs up to his chest and get them under the covers.

Zoro eased under the sheets, pulling them up over the both of them. He didn't say much, but something seemed to be a little strange. "Hey... something wrong?" He finally asked the boy.

Luffy yawned again as he curled up under the covers, rolled onto his side so he could face Zoro. He shook his head, a smile lighting up his face even in the dark. "Nope. I think that now everything's all right." He closed his eyes, snuggling against the pillow. "Night, Zoro."

Someone who makes me happy just by thinking about them, huh? That someone just for me…

Leaning slightly into Luffy due to the cold, Zoro gently hummed in response. "Alright. Goodnight, Luffy." And with that, he drifted off, another long day of school looming in his thoughts.

"Luffy? Luffy are you alright, did he hurt you?"

Luffy groaned and cracked open his eyes to see a blurry figure above him. He couldn't quite make out who it was; it just looked like a blur of tan and a splotch of black and orange to him. But instead of asking exactly who this person was, his mouth spoke on its own accord.

"Y-yeah…I'm fine." He stuttered, trying to sit up, but the tiny motion sent a stabbing pain from his lower back all the way along his spine.

"Liar. That bastard…he really hurt you this time." The figure above him growled, and Luffy could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. Luffy yelped, forcing himself to get up and grab the other person's arm.

"N-no! Don't! Just a little bit longer, remember? The social worker comes next week, so if we just hold out until then-"

"Kuro will move; you know that Luffy. We tried waiting before, he ran and you remember what happened afterward. If we want to get out of here, we'll have to fight back and run."

"…You're right. Alright, once I'm better we'll do it."

"Right on!"

"…Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll get out okay right? Both of us?"

"Yeah, of course. Just you and me, nothing can stop us. I'll protect you from Kuro and anything else that tries to hurt you, just like I always have."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

The blurred images faded away to become nothing but black, along with whoever Luffy had been talking to. He now stood in an endless space, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

"..Shit. I must not have done as good a job as I thought if you can remember Ace..." A voice echoed through the dark, sounding frustrated.

"..Wha?" He muttered, looking around. "..Ace? Who's Ace?"

"Just don't think about it. Go back to sleep.."

Luffy's brows furrowed as he gazed around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Who are you?"

"Ah, it figures you'd forget that but not what I needed you to forget."

"Whaaaaaa?" Luffy cocked his head to the side, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"...Just don't worry about it. Who I am isn't important, it's not time for you know. The longer that you forget I'm here, the easier things will work."

"'The easier things will work'?" Luffy repeated. "What does that mean?"

Cold, quiet laughter echoed through the dark, devoid of any mirth. "I suppose I could explain, but that would be telling, wouldn't it? I for one prefer to keep my secrets. I doubt you'd enjoy what you would hear, at any rate. Just forget about me for now…don't you feel tired?"

Luffy's eyes began to feel heavy, any questions he had once had slipping from his mind. "Yeah, kind of…"

"Then go to sleep, Luffy. You'll see how things are soon enough, and I doubt you'll like it. Just enjoy your peace and rest."

"….kay..." Luffy mumbled, eyes falling shut.

The blaring of the alarm sounded yet again, and, as if automatically, a strong, scarred, tan arm swung up from the fluffy covers and smashed a fist over the clock. It stopped with a final beep of protest, and a dark eye forced open with it.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm up, I'm up."

The voice hardly sounded happy about it.

Still, Zoro remembered that he had forgotten to set the alarm forward because of his shower, so he still had plenty of time before he needed to get up. He sighed, rolling slightly over to lie on his back, his arm falling away from Luffy's...

...waist.

Huh. That... must have happened in the middle of the night.

He tried to ignore it. His sleep-addled mind was hardly working at this hour, and he was certain any conclusions he tried to make would only be the product of a sleep-depraved mind.

Luffy groaned, lifting his head off of the pillow for a moment to stare groggily at the clock. He then groaned again and buried his face into the pillow. "Gaaah…it's too early…" He mumbled into the pillowcase.

"Mmmn... yeah," Zoro grunted in agreement, trying to inconspicuously completely pull his arm away. "Goddamn school..." He entertained thoughts briefly of staying home and taking care of the kid all day.

Luffy was apparently oblivious to the fact that Zoro's arm had been around his waist just moments before. "Awwwww, you gotta go to school again?" He whined, face falling into a frown.

"Yeah... it's Friday, so I'm supposed to..." Still, the thought of staying was looking pretty appealing. "I'd stay here if I thought Nami wouldn't scream at me to get up."

Luffy made a face. "She's the one that yells at you to get up? The girl with the orange hair? She's scary when she yells."

Laughing some, Zoro nodded. "Yeah... no kidding. Terrifying." He shuddered. Zoro honestly did not understand Sanji's attraction to her. "She's in a few of my classes at school, too..." He shook his head. "Still, Sanji won't be here today, and I don't want to leave you alone..."

Luffy perked up a bit. "So maybe you'll have to stay home today?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe." Though he didn't want to get the kid's hopes up. Nami was a force to be reckoned with. Of course, he could always pretend to leave, and then sneak back in when she was gone...

Luffy let out a "Yaaaaaaaay!" and flung his arms around Zoro. "Zoro's gonna stay home today!"

Crying out in surprise, Zoro twitched, squirming uncomfortably with Luffy's arms suddenly around him. Now that he'd said something, he would have to stay.

Way to go, moron.

"Yeah, yeah... I'll stay for you." He ruffled Luffy's hair a little.

Luffy beamed as he looked up at Zoro. "You do wanna stay, right?"

"'Course I do," Zoro answered, unable to help but smile softly back. "Someone's gotta take care of you."

Luffy just continued to grin as he buried his face into Zoro's chest. "Hee hee."

And of course, as fate would have it, Nami chose that moment to throw open Zoro's door and stick her head in. "ZORO! NO SLEEPING IN! GET UP ALR-" Then her eyes widened, her jaw dropping as she took in the sight before her.

Then she grinned widely. "HA! I KNEW YOU WEREN'T STRAIGHT!" She cried, pointing a finger at Zoro.

To be continued…

Once again, the chapter has been ended with Nami yelling something. ;; At least it's more amusing this time. Right, reviews!

KairiQueen: Yes, there shall be more interaction between Luffy and the boarders. Actually in a few chapters they're going to start bugging Zoro for keeping Luffy all to himself, heh. Constable's my clone? O.o But she's two years older than me. So basically you're saying either I write like I'm seventeen, or she writes like she's fifteen…hmmm..ah well, thank you for your review.

poxmaker: X3 Eeeewwww, but that would be gross. I get what you're thinking and just…eewww…

Katiiey: XD No, don't flush the toilet in the guy's bathroom, that'd be so mean to Zoro! Glad you're happy that we update fast.

Mai Hayami: Glad you find this interesting

Xeora: Yes, poor Luffy indeed.

TreeStar: Well, actually, Nami isn't all that mean. We've just only caught her when she's being mean so far, but she wasn't really mean in this chapter. She was only trying to get Ussop to do the laundry since it was his job, and he didn't so she yelled at him. As for the socks thing…well, Nami likes her socks. And as explained at the beginning of the chapter, Nami wasn't really screaming at Luffy out of anger, more from surprise. She was just startled; wouldn't you be startled if someone was in the girls' bathroom and you opened the door and found a nearly unconscious, beaten up guy in there? Yeah, thought so.

And I've encountered many spellings of Ussop, and seeing as the most common one I've seen is Ussop, I'm sticking with that one. Yes, I know what his name implies.

night-chan: Man, I love your reviews. They always make me smile. I'm happy that you love this fic, thank you so much for reviewing, you really make my day.

GrayStripe: o.o I….see that you like your cats. Good for you…um, glad you like this fic and find it amusing?

AlibisDragon: Behold, I updated! Um…yay!

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