-Tangled Web-
A role-play/joint fic by Digitaldreamer and Constable Remington
Chapter Twenty-Six: Gifts

Well, at long last things have finally started to get better. Constable's tried to move on and things have gone back to normal. Meaning yes, we have started role-playing again. That means this fic finally gets updated.

I want to thank everyone who reviewed and wished Constable well! She really appreciated it. We're glad to know we have so many who love what we write, yet were willing to put that below her getting better. So thank you all.

I'd also like to thank anyone who hung through our hiatus. It was a long one, but we gained a few new readers through it, and hopefully old ones are still hanging on for the ride. We're on chapter twenty-six now and we still have chapters and chapters to go, but I hope in spite of how long this sucker's going to be that you'll all stick with us because it's going to be one hell of a ride.

For those of you whom actually care, I will continue to write Dominoes so don't worry. X3 I swear there's actually a plot to it and I'll be getting into it.

Anyway…well, the hiatus is over! Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait! Enjoy!

---

After explaining how she had found out his birth date, Vivi excused herself to get back to reading a book that was "just getting to the good part", and Sanji was at the sink washing dishes from dinner and cake again, a sure sign that the party was dwindling to a finish.

Luffy was currently busying himself with attempting to lick off the bit of frosting that he had managed to get stuck to his elbow, and he was failing miserably. Chopper was on the floor next to him, already fast asleep.

Usopp and Nami chose that moment to waltz back into the room, something hidden behind their backs.

"Ohhhh Zoro! Guess what we got for you?" Nami asked, grinning.

Waking from his thoughtful revelry, Zoro looked up, cocking an eyebrow.

"I have no idea," he remarked flatly, tilting his glass up and allowing the amber liquid inside to burn down his throat.

Nami and Usopp grinned as Usopp pulled a large rectangular package from behind his back, then shoved it into Zoro's hands.

"We all pitched out money together and got you this! But it the Great Captain Usopp-sama's idea!" he said, grinning.

Nami promptly whacked him over the head. "It was my idea, you idiot, and I'm the one that ended up mostly paying for it."

"O-oh yeah... heh. must've slipped my mind."

Zoro took it carefully, staring up at them with a frown before he pulled the wrapping paper off quickly.

It was a trench coat, pure black leather with surprisingly little decoration (It must've killed Nami to not pick out one with a million little designs on it) save for the silver kanji for darkness sewn onto the right sleeve, and on the back there was the kanji for "Santouryuu" sewn in the same silver.

"We figured you were going to have trouble completing your dark, brooding, angsty image without a cool trench coat," Nami said with a teasing grin.

Images of every action movie Zoro had ever seen filled his mind. He smirked as he lifted the heavy coat from its box, allowing the box to fall to the floor as he stood from the chair, swooping it around to try it on.

"It's..." he trailed off. It was wonderful. Was this really what birthdays were like? "...Thank you," he finished, tugging at the sleeve. It fit perfectly. Certainly not what he had expected.

"SO COOL!" Luffy cried, picking up the end of the coat and letting it flap down. He did this several times, clearly entertained.

Nami smiled, folding her arms as she watched him put it on. "Ha! It looks perfect on him, I told you so Usopp!"

Usopp stuck his tongue out at her. "I still say we should have gotten the one with the cool sleeves…"

"Blah, those sleeves were ugly. You have no taste," Nami tsked.

Usopp made a face at her, but that face soon became a mischievous grin. "What about his other present?"

Nami blinked, then grinned. "Ohhhhhhhhh, that present." She cackled, then rushed into the hallway. She returned with a smaller package, shoving it into Zoro's hands. "I think you'll find these useful!"

Zoro looked down at the package, then sighed loudly, not even phased by Luffy's antics. He frowned a bit. He had a pretty good feeling he didn't want to open this particular present. "Thanks," he responded caustically, frowning. "Do I even dare open it?"

"If you won't, I will!" Luffy chirped, snatching the package from Zoro's hands and tearing it open. He blinked down at the object in his hands.

"….Handcuffs?" He blinked in confusion. "What are these for?"

"For hot kinky man sex!" Nami said cheerfully.

Luffy just looked even more confused. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?"

Zoro was certain a blood vessel had popped or something as he panicked, snatching the object from Luffy's hands and stuffing it into the pocket of his coat.

"Don't... don't worry about it. It's nothing," he tried to say, twitching as he did so, turning eyes of cold, pure death on Nami and Usopp. Zoro had learned long ago that physical intimidation was much more effective than verbal, however, and he only stood there, glaring them down for a moment or so longer before he turned on the heel of his boots, coat flapping behind him, and stalked out the kitchen and clomped up the stairs.

Both Nami and Usopp cowered in fear while Zoro glared at them, but the moment he left they burst out laughing.

Luffy stood, blinking as he attempted to work this all out in his brain. Finally something must've clicked, because he opened his mouth to speak. "So the handcuffs are for being…kinky…..is kinky some kind of game?"

Nami cracked up again, leaning against the counter. "Sure…yeah…it's a game. Yeah, we'll go with that…"

Luffy frowned, cocking his head to the side as he thought about this. "…Kinky is a game…like Cops and Robbers?"

Usopp snorted. "Yeah, something like that."

Nami grinned, walking over to Luffy and ushering him towards the stairs. "Yeah, why don't you go play some 'Cops and Robbers' with Zoro? I'm sure he'll love it!" she said with a wink.

Luffy's face spread into a grin. "Okay!" he chirped, rushing up the stairs. He paused at the top of the stairs, glancing around. Where could Zoro be?

Maybe he was in their room….the boy grinned, rushing over to the room and tugging the door open. "Zoro! Are you in here!" he cried loudly as he poked his head into the room.

Looking up from where he rested on the bed, Zoro grunted rather angrily, sitting up and frowning. "Yeah. I'm right here."

"Yosh!" Luffy cheered, flinging himself across the room and landing on top of Zoro, latching his arms around the swordsman's waist as he did so.

Taken by surprise, Zoro raised a hand, brushing affectionately through Luffy's hair even though his madness. He couldn't really stay angry with Luffy around... "Mmn. Yeah. Where's Chopper?"

Luffy's grin became a frown as he considered this for a moment. "ACK! I left Chopper downstairs! I should go get him; he's probably all lonely…" He frowned as he played with the material of Zoro's t-shirt. "Do you think he should sleep up here?"

"Well," Zoro began with a raised eyebrow, "he is your puppy. He should probably stay up here. Tomorrow we'll ask Vivi if we can take her car and get him a bed and some food. A collar and a leash, and the like, too."

Just as Zoro finished talking, however, he his ears pricked, and he heard a faint whimper and howl of protest from downstairs.

"Listen, he misses you," Zoro snerked, laughing a bit. "He probably can't get up the stairs on his own. Go get him."

"Okay!" Luffy grinned, hopping off of Zoro and charging out of the room. He bounded down the stairs to find Chopper sitting at the foot of them, whimpering and wagging his tail.

"Awwwwww, I'm sorry Chopper!" Luffy said as he scooped up the tiny puppy and headed up the stairs once more. He grinned down at Chopper, who blinked sleepily up at him and licked his nose.

"You look sleepy! You're gonna sleep in the same room as Zoro and me, isn't that great?" he said as he tromped up the stairs. Chopper simply yawned in response.

Luffy paused, frowning. "You know, I forgot to ask Zoro about Cops and Robbers…eh, I'll ask later! I swear there's something else I'm forgetting…" He glanced down at Chopper for another moment, then shrugged and continued up to the stairs and back into Zoro's room.

"I got him!" he chirped, flopping onto the bed once more with the puppy. He released Chopper, whom proceeded to hop off of the bed and sniff around Zoro's room.

Watching Chopper for a moment, Zoro sighed, reclining back against his bed, still fully clothed.

"Mmn, good," he responded blankly, staring up at the ceiling.

Luffy glanced at Zoro for a moment, then grinned and flopped onto him once again, burying his face into the swordsman's shirt and nuzzling it as he took in a deep breath.

Surprised, Zoro raised a hand and planted it in Luffy's hair, pulling him close as his other arm went around the boy's waist.

"Sleepy?" he asked with a small smile. Zoro was still slightly irritated about Nami and Usopp, but he knew better than to take that out on Luffy.

Luffy glanced up at Zoro, giving a small yawn as traced lazy patterns across Zoro's chest with his finger. "Kind of…but I can't go to sleep yet…" He frowned, he knew he was forgetting something…what was it?

His eyes suddenly widened and he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah!" He reached into his pocket, fishing around. He knew he had put Zoro's present in there after getting out of his school uniform, but where was it?

Finally his hand closed around the two chains and he pulled the necklaces out with a triumphant cry. "Ha! Ta da! Happy birthday Zoro!" He grinned as he dangled the two necklaces in the air. "See? One's for me, one's for you!"

Blinking, Zoro reached out, taking one of the necklaces in his hand.

"Interesting..." he said softly, tracing the pendant with his finger. He smirked a bit, unclipping the chain and pulling it on. On the back of the pendant, there seemed to be some kind of inscription... but it just looked like mindless scribbles. Zoro frowned a bit. "Thank you, Luffy. I really like it." He ruffled a hand through Luffy's hair. "I'll never take it off."

Luffy's eyes lit up at these words and he beamed. "You really like it? YAY! Zoro likes the present I got him!" he cheered, clapping his hands together in joy. He held up his own pendent, the white half of the yin yang symbol, then clipped it on.

"If you're never gonna take it off, then I won't take mine off either! So even if we're apart we'll always be together in a way, isn't that great?" Apparently to Luffy this was the most brilliant concept alive, and the way his face seemed to be practically glowing as if it were his birthday seemed to prove this.

Slightly amused by Luffy's childish thoughts, Zoro smirked and nodded. "Mmn, yeah." Swinging an arm around Luffy's neck suddenly, Zoro pulled him down, placing a kiss against the young boy's lips. "I'm always with you."

Luffy kissed the older man back, though after a few moments he pulled back to make a quick reply. "Of course you are. You promised, remember? You're stuck with me forever!" he said with a laugh, leaning down to press his lips against Zoro's in another kiss.

Smiling into the kiss, Zoro let his mind cycle through the events that had led up to this, how he had found Luffy lying nearly lifeless in the alley, brought him home, cared for him, and eventually made Luffy his own. The young boy fit so perfectly in Zoro's arms that he didn't care what other people said or thought -- to him, it was magical, it was perfect, and he loved it, just as he loved Luffy. Zoro allowed these thoughts to fuel him to deepen the kiss, pushing a little harder against Luffy's mouth, arms tightening around him.

The younger boy blinked in surprise as the kiss deepened, but smiled and allowed himself to melt into the kiss, pushing back a bit harder as well. He still didn't have much of an idea as to what had happened before he woke up in Zoro's bed, but it didn't really matter right now. What mattered now was Zoro, the one who had been willing to take him in and give him so much, the one who he could honestly say he loved without a doubt. He didn't know what had gotten him to the swordsman, he didn't know what sorts of memories awaited him, he didn't know a lot of things. But really, once again it didn't matter. As long as he had Zoro, he trusted that things would be all right.

Arms loosened suddenly around Luffy and Zoro forced himself to pull away before pure emotion caused him to do something he would regret. He stared up at the boy for a moment, soft eyes bearing up into him with a strong sort of gentleness.

"This has been the best birthday I've ever had," he remarked quietly.

Luffy cocked his head to the side, a wide smile on his face as orbs of dark chocolate met Zoro's gentle gaze with a matching one. "Really? That's great, that's what I wanted you to have." He laid his head against Zoro's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

He lay in silence for a few moments, listening to the steady rhythm before speaking. "Zoro, you have a good sound."

"Hmm." Zoro snerked a bit, rolling his eyes. How strange. Still, he humored Luffy. "That's good," he mumbled. "I wouldn't want to have a bad sound." Loosening a hand in Luffy's hair, he ruffled through it affectionately before the same hand moved down Luffy's face to cup it and pull his chin up, pushing another kiss against Luffy's soft lips. For some reason, Zoro couldn't seem to get enough.

Luffy giggled, kissing Zoro back. Kissing Zoro always was a great thing, almost better than eating meat….nah, scratch that, it was better than eating meat. That meant it was one of the greatest things since sliced bread. Sliced bread was kind of yummy…

After a few moments he pulled away, cocking his head to the side. He knew he shouldn't ask, but he was so curious. "Zoro? What'd you wish for?" he asked with a boyish grin.

"Wish for?" Zoro asked blankly, and it took him a moment to understand what Luffy was talking about before he frowned. "I thought you weren't allowed to tell anyone that."

Luffy frowned. "Oh yeah….well, you can tell me after whatever you wished for happens then!" he chirped as he propped his head on his hands and kicked his feet idly in the air. "I wanna know what you wished for, so once it happens you gotta tell me what it was!" he declared.

"Alright," Zoro agreed softly. He wanted to pull Luffy in again but thought better of it, not wanting to scare the little boy off. "School tomorrow," he remarked suddenly. "Get some rest."

Luffy pouted. "But I'm not tired anymore!" he declared. And of course, just after he said that he ended up yawning loudly. He laughed quietly rolled off of Zoro, landing beside him on the bed. "Okay, I lied," he said as he snuggled closer to the swordsman.

Smirking a little, Zoro was about to pull him closer before deciding that he couldn't sleep in jeans and a trench coat. Shifting from Luffy's hold, Zoro got up from the bed, pulling the trench coat off. The gift from before weighed down his pocket, and he frowned, pulling it out and throwing the coat against his chair for a while, looking down at the handcuffs with contempt. Scowling, he set them against the dresser, quickly changing from his jeans and into a pair of pajama pants.

Luffy watched Zoro change tiredly, he didn't feel like getting up and changing. His khaki's were comfortable enough, they'd be fine. He was distracted by the handcuffs placed on the dresser…oh yeah, he had forgotten about Cops and Robbers…

…Maybe later, he was pretty tired.

Relieved that Luffy hadn't asked any irritating questions about the handcuffs as he was sure Nami had intended him to do, Zoro slumped back into the bed, placing an arm around Luffy and drawing him close.

"Night," he muttered gruffly, right into the boy's ear.

Luffy smiled, finding himself once again close enough to hear the swordsman's heartbeat. "Night," he mumbled, eyes falling closed as the steady thumping of Zoro's heart quickly lulled him to sleep.

---

Nico Robin was generally the type of woman to enjoy peace and quiet, something which rarely happened around the boarding house which she inhabited. Thus, when these rare moments came, the history teacher was happy to take them.

Of course, if they didn't come, she was willing to remove herself from the party to get her peace and quiet.

This is why she currently sat on the roof, an open book in her lap and a glass of red wine in her hand. She gazed up at the sky with deep blue eyes, surveying the millions of stars shining in the sky.

"It's so much harder to see the stars here in the city," she murmured, swirling the wine in her glass absently.

"Aren't you happy to at least be able to still see them?" a deep, dry voice said from behind her.

"Sir Crocodile," Robin said calmly, without turning around.

"It's Mr.0, call me by that name and I will not call you by your true one, Nico Robin. Or should I say, Miss AllSunday?"

Robin finally acknowledged her boss behind her, turning to stare up at his large form, the scar across his face clearly visible even with the shadows cast by the streetlights, the bit of light that was there reflecting off of the golden hook on his left hand.

"Of course, Mr.0," she said calmly, setting her book down and standing. She gazed at him levelly for a moment. "Well? Why the visit? I doubt you've come to admire the stars."

"Aren't I allowed to visit my partner? I wanted to see how you were doing in your new home, after I was gracious enough to give you one close to your precious school." Crocodile took out a cigar and placed it between his lips as he spoke.

"You wanted to see if I had seen your 'weapon' after placing me in a convenient location to search for it," Robin said calmly.

"Of course."

Robin's eyes darkened."I haven't seen anything," she lied.

"Nothing at all?" Crocodile asked, lighting his cigar.

"No Sir, nothing," Robin repeated.

"Are you sure?"

"…Positive, Sir."

Crocodile frowned, gazing at her for a moment. "He's somewhere in this city," he said finally. "Someone triggered the DNA file, so we know he's been found by someone and they checked his records. But before we could zone in on the exact location, someone cut the signal."

"…How strange," Robin murmured, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"It isn't a problem though. We know he's in this city, so it's only a matter of time. The runes that you placed should start activating, so he should be easy to find. Judgment Day is drawing near; the vessel needs to be found," Crocodile said calmly, the cool November wind blowing back his fur coat.

"Of course. I will continue my search," Robin said with a nod.

"Good. Do that, and I will fulfill our deal. You will find your 'True History'," Crocodile said, turning and beginning to walk away.

Robin turned away as well, deep blue eyes gazing into the night. "Liar," she murmured, too quietly for Crocodile to hear. "That's what you said last time. I know better now. I won't fall for your lies again. I am only here to repent for my sins. I won't let you hurt him again."

She received no answer, only the silence of an empty rooftop.

---

To be continued…

I know, I know! Not very long! I'm sorry! It just seemed like a good place to cut off! I really hope you all enjoyed it anyway!

silverfangedgoddess: Constable was actually doing pretty well by the time you wrote this. Don't worry, she's doing better.

Mai Hayami: Hey, it's alright. As long as you enjoy the fic when you read it, that's all that matters!

kikyou-sama: Actually I do have a DeviantArt account, it's under the name Dreamwish. Feel free to check it out! Constable also has one, she goes by thegreatherorosalyn there and her artwork is Godly compared to mine!

Everyone else: You're all God. There were far too many reviews for me to answer every single one, but I thank you all once again. Your continued support and praise has really helped. I hope you all liked this chapter, even if it was rather short. Please review so I know you all haven't vanished on me!

Next Chapter: Usopp has a story to tell, and will Luffy ever find out if he ever got that job? Find out next chapter!