Zoro: You're really pushing yourself on these new chapters.
(counts) I must've done at least thirty new chapters that I've updated between Christmas and now.
Zoro: And all without coffee.
Reviews?
Zoro: Why am I host? (grabs the first one) From GreyMoth
Because. Oh! New reviewer! Thanks! I'm glad you liked the fics!
Zoro: (grabs another) From Iry-san...
Glad you enjoyed it, and no it's not going to be suicide. Like I would make Luffy do that!
Zoro: (grabs another) From Kitty-san...
Here's five more.
Zoro: (grabs another) From Althalos...
I can't remember if you reviewed before or not... Oh well! You'll find out in these chapters.
Zoro: (grabs another) From Dream-san...
You'll find out sooner than you think. In fact it's here.
Zoro: (grabs another) From Dokidokibeat...
New reviewer? Thank you!
Zoro: (grabs another) From Black rose pirate...
Really? That's interesting. And you'll find out in these chapters.
Zoro: (grabs another) From Soge-san...
I tried to put in a bit more SanUso in here and I'm glad you like it. And with Luffy, that's what I like so much about his character, he's just too cute!
Zoro: One of the many things I like about him. (grabs another) From Kira-chan...
I loved doing that part with the kids. Here's the next five chapters.
Zoro: That's it.
Okay! Here's the next few chapters! Enjoy!
Chapter 16: Back on the List
*_+_*
A week went by after the anniversary and Zoro was at the doctor's office once again, but this time he made the appointment to go see her personally.
"Well, well… this is a surprise." She said as she looked at her patient of ten, almost eleven years. "What brings you to my office willingly?"
At first Zoro didn't know what to say as he sighed. "I want to be back on the list."
"Eh? You serious?"
Zoro looked at his doctor and landlord and nodded. "I want to be back on the list for waiting heart transplants."
She gave him a look as she mentioned him to sit down. "What's with the sudden change of mind?"
Zoro sat down and sighed. "I'm falling for Luffy."
"Please tell me that you're kidding." She said as she opened a beer bottle.
Zoro looked at the woman and she instantly knew he wasn't.
"What brought this up?" She said as she set her barely touched beer on her desk. "I thought you said that you two were just friends and that you two wouldn't get involved."
Zoro sighed as he took a pill and swallowed one. "It happened a few days ago."
She was listening as he relayed what happened that made him come to the decision.
Flashback: Few Days Ago
Zoro was just waking up from his nap when Luffy knocked on his door and looked at the time and knew the other was on lunch break. "It's open!" He said as the other went in with his latest cooking. "You cook for the kids now?"
"Well, it's more like the kids making for the evil dragon that's guarding the treasure." He said with a giggle.
He smiled as he got up. "So these are your crewmates' leftovers from that adventure?"
"Yeah they say that it's so good that you can get better in no time!"
Zoro smiled as he chuckled. "That's good. I can't wait to try it." He said as he took the plates out and set them down on the table. "Thanks for the meal." He said as he took a bite and smiled. "Tell your crew that they did a great job. Better than their captain."
"Oi!" Luffy said with a smile while the other chuckled before eating again. "I got kicked out of my apartment for tonight."
"Huh? Why?"
"Some asshole was keeping performing rats in one of the rooms and people are looking to see if the rats got into the rooms."
"Performing rats?"
"He's as a few screws loose, but he means well."
"Sound unsanitary…"
"He's actually quite clean, but he smells like bad cheese."
He shook his head. "I'm glad I don't have neighbors like that. If I did, they are pretty damn good at keeping themselves hidden."
Luffy laughed as he looked at the time. "I better get going. Hey, do you mind if I stayed over?"
"Never stopped you before."
Luffy stuck out his tongue as he left.
_/\/\/\_
Later that day, Luffy walked in as Zoro was having another nap that day. He let the other be, draped his coat over the other, so that he would know that he's here and went to take a shower.
When Zoro woke up, he saw the coat and heard the shower going. He smiled as he got up to make something.
"Let's see…" He said as he looked through the kitchen. "What should I make?"
"Oi! Zoro!"
"Hm?" He looked up and his thought his heart nearly stopped when he saw Luffy in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Oi, do you know if I can borrow some clothes?"
"Uh… sure…" He said as the other thanked him and went to his room. "Uh… I saw him in the nude before…" He shook his head as he focused on getting items to make dinner.
Once he got the items down and started the burner, Luffy came out with the oversized shirt and his black loose boxers.
"Heading to bed already?" He said with a smile.
"No, none of your pants fit on me."
Zoro chuckled. "Not my fault you're thin." He said as he started to mix some things into a bowl when he felt hands on his hips.
"Whatcha making?"
"No idea." He said as he couldn't help but notice how much warmer he was with the other near him.
"Can I help?"
He looked to see the vegetables that can be cut. "You can cut the vegetables and mix them in the bowl."
"Okay!" Luffy said as he went over there and started to cut vegetables.
With the absence of the warmth he felt a moment ago, the man felt oddly disappointed, but he set that aside as he mixed a few items in a bowl and reached for the oil when he heard the knife being dropped. "Luffy?"
"Ow…" He said as he held his hand.
"You cut yourself?"
"Yeah…"
"Let me see…" He said as the other showed him the wounded finger, which was difficult for him to see how deep the cut was with the blood. He licked the blood off and saw that it was just a small cut. "It's not bad." He concluded as he tore a piece of a paper towel turned on the water until it was lukewarm, and placed the finger under the light stream of water, got some soap to wash around the wound, turned the water off, dried the finger and placed the piece of paper towel over the cut. "Just apply some pressure to it and it should stop bleeding in a bit. So just sit on the couch while I finish this up, okay?"
"H-Hai…"
"What's wrong Luffy?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing." He said as he headed to the couch and sat down on it.
Zoro didn't understand what was going on, but he continued to finish up in the kitchen and let the food cook for a while.
"Okay!" He said as he went to see how the other was doing. "Dinner would be ready in a half hour."
"Oh! Okay!" Luffy said as he seemed slightly startled.
"Are you okay Luffy? Is your finger hurting again?"
"No, no, it's good." He said with a blush on his face that the other couldn't help but think was cute.
"Well, we can see what's on television." He said as he reached for the remote.
"Yeah! I wonder if there are any good movies on?"
"We'll find out." He said, glad things are getting back to normal between them as he flipped the channels, only to find nothing.
Then he got the oddest feeling that he was being watched, but he ignored it as he flipped through the channels a few more times before sighing in frustration. "Looks like there's nothing but crap on." He said as he stopped at the decent channel he could find and looked at the other, who had the bandaged finger to his lips. "Oi, you sure it's not hurting?" He asked, gaining the other's attention.
"It's not hurting…" He responded with a blush. "Is dinner ready?"
He looked up at the clock and saw that he had another twenty minutes, but he figured he should check just in case and let the other have his space.
_/\/\/\_
Once dinner was made and ready, he let the other know and set the table.
Luffy quietly walked up to the table and sat down. "Thanks for the meal, Zoro." He said as he took a bite. "Yum!"
Zoro smiled as he took a bite as well. "Not bad for just throwing random stuff in." He chuckled as the other laughed, and soon the awkward air between them dispersed and they were talking about everything and nothing.
_/\/\/\_
When dinner was done Zoro took his turn with the shower and let the other be with the television. Once done he went out, dried, wrapped the towel around him, and was heading towards his room when he saw the other asleep on the couch. He shook his head as he went up, carried the other to the room, set the other on the bed and went to his closet to find his boxers, put them on and went to bed.
"Going to bed with wet hair can make you sick." Luffy said, still a bit sleepy.
"That's the least of my problems." He said as he made himself comfortable. "You okay?"
"This will be the third time I've been in your bed."
"Okay, good night." Zoro said as he yawned and started to drift off to sleep.
"Night, Zoro." The other said as he went to sleep as well.
_/\/\/\_
The next morning, Zoro was coming out from sleep when he felt something warm on his lips and he slowly opened his eyes to see the other's face close to his before backing away and seeing the brown eyes, which widened in shock.
"That's one way to say good morning." He said as he was waking up more.
"G-Gomen…" Luffy said as he tried getting out quickly, only to fall out of bed.
"Luffy?"
"I'm okay…"
"Are you?" He asked as he got out of bed and walked to where the other was sprawled out on the ground.
"You mad?"
"For what? It's not like you raped my mouth or anything." He said as he held out his hand to the other. "But now I would like to know why."
Luffy grabbed the offered hand and got up, but he didn't meet the other's eyes. "You won't hate me…?"
"We've been really good friends for quite some time…" He said. "And I've been in love before as well." He guided the other's head to face him. "Were you curious? Or did you really like me that way?"
Luffy took a moment before responding. "I do like you a bit more than a friend, but I know that I can't push anything if it means hurting you. And I like that we've been hanging out together this long, just being near you was enough. But for that moment I just wanted to know how your lips felt and…" He stopped as he moved his head down. "I'm such a wreck…"
Zoro hugged the other close as the other cried. "You're not a wreck… Far from it."
"You're just being nice…" He said as he hiccupped a bit. "You've been nice to me since we first met."
"Oi, there were times I lost a bit of patience with you."
"Those don't count."
"Oi!"
The other managed to giggle. "But you're mostly nice to me."
He held the other closer. "When you're around, I feel alive." He admitted. "I didn't mind that we were friends or friends with minor benefits."
"Oi! I only kissed you!"
"Remember that time you were upset about Sanji and I made you get hard by just kissing you on your neck?"
"Oh… Yeah, that counted."
Zoro chuckled. "Like I was saying, I didn't mind because for the first time in ten years I've felt alive and normal, if you can call it that. My heart may act up on occasion but I never regret every moment I'm with you." He looked to see the other once more, who stopped crying sometime ago, and moved the bangs from his eyes. "You gave me a reason to live, Luffy. I can't see what my life would've been like without you, and I don't want to vision what might happen if either of us would disappear."
"Zoro… Don't say that…" Luffy said. "You're still here…"
Zoro cupped the other's face and studied the face for a moment. "I can't say the words just yet, and I believe both of us know the reason why."
Luffy nodded.
"But I can say that I can't ignore that I feel attached to you in some way… Much more than when I was younger."
Luffy seemed surprised to hear that, but he didn't part away from the other.
"We have been friends for just a few months, but some things happened and we agree that it can't be ignored any longer."
Luffy nodded.
"But since it has come to this, we have to keep our friendship without trying to step over the border no matter how tempting it is."
"Right…" Luffy said as he rested his head on the other's chest. "I understand."
Zoro held him a bit longer before parting and they got dressed in different rooms.
End of Flashback: Present Day
Zoro looked at his doctor. "It's been a few days after that and with those days I've done nothing but think about everything we've done and what was going to happen if this continues with or without the help of the donor heart."
Dr. K, though never was one of romance and such fluff and hearts, saw the genuine look of a man who will go all out to make sure this works. "If you continue the way you live now, you will eventually die, but with the surgery, the success rate will depend on how well the heart is and how quickly it will arrive. If it is successful you will live out a healthy and long life. Fail and you'll die on the silver table. Do you really want to be back on the list when you denied it for so long?"
Zoro looked at his doctor straight in the eye and nodded. "I do."
She sighed. "The longest sentence known to mankind. Whether it's marriage or a life or death situation." She said as she typed on her computer and it was done. "You're now on the list." She informed. "Did you tell him that you decided this?"
"I'm telling him tonight."
She nodded as she waved him off. "You may go, this appointment as gone long enough."
He got up and left the room, leaving the doctor to sigh and thought about what to do next. "May as well give him a hint…" She said as she gave Luffy a call. 'Thank god for doctor/patient classifications.' She thought as she heard the man's voice. "Hey brat, I was talking to Zoro and I'm just going to let you know he's going to tell you something. I just want you to give you a heads up. And don't tell him I called." She said as she hung up. "What will you do now?"