A/N: ZareEraz here! Chapter two is locked and loaded! Enjoy!

(Updated October 2024)

Chapter 2: Three's a Crowd

Zoro was resting on their little ship, dozing on the floor while leaning against the railing with his arms behind his head like he always did. He was exhausted after fighting with the Buggy Pirates and the hole in his gut didn't help matters at all. It hurt every time he moved, which caused him some worry, but apparently, he wasn't the most worried one.

"Hey, Zoro? You okay?" Luffy asked, leaning into the swordsman's space and looking at the bandages wrapped around his bare torso.

"I'm fine, Luffy," Zoro sighed, cracking one eye open.

"You sure?" The teen asked, tipping his head to the side in curiosity. "That seems like a pretty bad wound."

"It'll heal," he huffed back. But he did find it nice that Luffy was worried – usually, he just chattered on and stuffed his face with whatever was edible, and a few things that weren't. Zoro put up a manly front in the face of all the attention he was getting and was about to brush off his injuries when he was interrupted.

"Hey, Luffy, here's your hat," called the new navigator. Zoro gave her a withering look, not entirely pleased with their new addition. Nami huffily tossed Luffy's newly-fixed, signature straw hat back to him from the deck of her stolen ship. It was a small craft she'd stolen from a few of Buggy's cronies and had been doing pretty well for herself financially until she'd met Luffy. She'd stolen quite a bit of treasure from the island and the three of them had just barely escaped the townspeople, however, Luffy had left all her treasure behind for the townspeople without her knowing and she was salty about it right now.

"Thanks, Nami!" Luffy shouted, stretching his arm to snag his hat out of the air and recoiled to place it on his head. He then plopped down on the deck facing Zoro, but still in view of Nami who was leaning on the side of her ship. "Isn't she the best? She fixed my hat for me! I was so pissed when Buggy ruined it!"

Nami was a nice-looking girl with big boobs, big brains, and a fiery temper, all good qualities to have when one was traversing the sea, except maybe the temper in certain situations. But even with this savvy, street-smart woman in their little group, Zoro was being uncharacteristically temperamental about her since they set sail. Not on the outside though, he was as calm on the outside as ever. He found himself being temperamental because now Luffy's attention was divided between the two of them instead of being focused on only him. It was like when two best friends found another best friend and one of them got jealous; it was just hard to have to share and the swordsman didn't like how attached he'd become to Luffy and how this new addition threatened him.

"Yeah, yeah. That's great," Zoro replied, not enthusiastic about "Nami's greatness." It was in his nature to be wary of newcomers; he used to be a bounty hunter after all and you didn't stay alive in that profession for trusting everyone you met. He was about to say so to Luffy (quietly of course because Nami was right there) but he got interrupted again.

"Do you guys know where you're going?" Nami asked, looking towards their heading.

"Nope! Shishishi!" Luffy laughed. "We don't know how to navigate!" Zoro pulled a face at the blockhead for revealing that they were kind of a disappointment when it came to actual pirating things.

"Ug, you guys are hopeless, crazy idiots!" Nami grumbled, wondering how she ever got mixed up with these two. "How do you not know how to navigate if you're sea-faring pirates?!"

"Dunno!" Luffy laughed again. "I just go where the wind takes me!"

"Never really thought about it." Zoro shrugged, wishing that she would go away so that he could sleep in peace.

"You two amaze me. I'm surprised you haven't died yet. You're so stupid." Nami gave them a hard stare and then looked at the horizon again.

Luffy piped up again, "We almost starved before we met you!" Zoro groaned at having another of their mishaps slip out. Apparently, there were no secrets with Luffy.

"Why am I not surprised?" Nami shook her head. "I'll do the navigating and you do the work, m'kay? That way no one's slacking off."

"Aw, come on!" Luffy whined at the prospect of work.

"I'm sleeping." Zoro turned away from the woman and tried to go to sleep again.

"GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE WITH YOURSELVES! I'm still pissed at you for leaving my treasure behind so get moving and make up for it!" Nami howled as she threw an apple off her ship at Luffy. The rubber man laughed again and caught the snack in his mouth before shooting himself up on top of the tiny mast of their ship to "keep a lookout." Mostly, he was just looking for birds. Zoro, on the other hand, went back to sleep, knowing that if Nami could scare Luffy into line, even for a little bit then she couldn't be all that bad. He'd just have to learn to like her, especially when Luffy's mind was set on her being their navigator. Three was a crowd, but it wasn't that unmanageable.

To be Continued...

A/N: And there you go! See you all next time! :3