Chapter 8: Day of Forgiveness?

*_+_*

It was finally Luffy's day off from work and he was about to head to the other's apartment complex when his phone went off.

"Hello? Monkey residence."

"Luffy! It's Nami!"

"Hey Nami!" He said. "What's going on?"

"Well, Vivi and I were planning to see a movie. Would you and your friend like to come? The theater has a deal that if we bring more than two people we have a discount on the tickets."

"Okay, I'll ask him. Which theater are you guys going?"

"The one near the mall at the south end of town."

"Oh! Okay!"

"Call me to give me the heads up!"

"Okay, talk to you later!" He said as he hung up, grabbed his cell and ran out of his apartment to meet up with the man.

_/\/\/\_

At the front of the theater, both Nami and Vivi were waiting for the two men.

"Geeze…" Nami said as she looked at her watch for the tenth time. "Those guys are late."

"I'm pretty surprised that Luffy's friend was able to come. Since he has that condition."

"Don't worry Vivi, I'm sure he'll fall asleep. We are watching a chick flick after all." She said as she heard a familiar call of her name. "Here he is." She looked to see that the two were walking towards them.

"Glad you can make it!" Vivi said.

"Though a snail would've been faster than you two."

"Sorry Nami, I got us lost on the way here." Luffy said with a bit of a laugh.

"We going?" Zoro asked, looking like he's ready to take a nap.

"Just have to get the tickets." Nami said as they went up to the ticket stand, only to see two people at the next window purchasing the same tickets.

"Sanji? Usopp?" Luffy said, a bit surprised to see them as well.

"Luffy?" The two said as they saw the angry looks of both women and a blank stare from the man.

"Uh… How's it going?" Sanji said first.

"Fine, how are you?" Luffy said casually.

"W-Well…"

"That's good!" Luffy said with a smile as he looked at Usopp. "What about you Usopp?"

"U-Uh… O-Okay…"

"Great!" Luffy said, still smiling. "Looks like we're going to see the same movie."

"We don't have to go to this theater though." Nami said with some venom, which the two men picked up. "We can go to another one."

"It's okay Nami." Luffy said with a reassuring calm. "The theatres are usually dark when the movie starts anyway." He went up to the ticket counter and asked for four tickets.

Nami, Vivi, Sanji, and Usopp were dumbfounded at the other's mature way of handling things.

Nami looked at the green haired man with a wary eye.

Zoro on the other hand was a little proud that the other was able to handle it well, but he also sensed a little bit of discomfort that still lingered. When the other gave them their tickets and went into the building, he held the other's hand for a moment, gave it an assured squeeze before releasing it and had his hand back to his side.

Luffy was a bit confused when the other did that, but he was glad that the other was letting him know that he was there if he needed comfort.

He didn't expect to run into his ex boyfriend and ex best friend, but he didn't want to run away for something that seemed silly. He also had Zoro with him, so he was able to handle it with the other looking at him.

_/\/\/\_

Once they got into the room where the movie was supposed to be playing they picked out their seats and waited for the movie to start. There was an uncomfortable atmosphere before the movie started, but once the lights were dimmed to barely on, that sensation was gone and only the movie was important.

Zoro, since he didn't care much for the movie in itself, grabbed the other's hand and just gave it a bit of a squeeze as he drifted off to sleep.

Luffy looked at the man he had come to know for months and felt a sense of calm as he returned the grip and continued to watch the movie.

_/\/\/\_

When the movie ended, he had to carefully wake the other up, which didn't take too much effort as the other did wake up and they went out of the theatre to meet up with the two girls, but he also saw the other two men start to walk out.

"You ready?" Zoro asked knowingly.

Luffy didn't have to look at the other to know that the other was asking if he was ready for forgive or needed time. And he knows that he wasn't being rushed. "Wait here a minute, okay?"

Zoro nodded as he let go of the other's hand and walked up to the two women.

"What's going on?" Vivi asked.

"Just Luffy finally ready to forgive and receive forgiveness."

Nami glared. "Those two should never even be forgiven for any reason."

"That's your way of handling things." He said as he watched the other talk to the men that have surprised yet hopeful looks on their faces. "Luffy has held on to the bitter feeling long enough for him to heal and find that core reason to have the power to forgive."

"But they're the ones that hurt him."

"That's true, but sometimes there are exceptions to the rule when it comes to healing fully." He said. "Would you rather live a bitter life based on the past? Or would you forgive the ones that done you wrong and be able to move on."

The two men seemed to break down while Luffy continued to smile and talk as if it was a light and casual conversation between friends before he waved and left them to join the other three.

"I'm hungry! Are we going out?" He asked.

Nami saw that her friend did seem a lot better than the months before and that he seemed to be lighter than air as he looked eagerly at her. She smiled as she placed her hands on her hips. "Well! I do happen to know a pizza place near here. And you did pay for the tickets."

"Yay!" Luffy said happily as they walked out of the building.