A/N: It's me again! Enjoy this little snippet!
(Updated October 2024)
Chapter 13: To Drown One's Troubles
Luffy could be smart in his own way sometimes, especially during fights like the one with Crocodile where he used water to keep the bastard from turning into sand, but it was a fact and Zoro's opinion that he could do some pretty stupid things too. Like drowning, for example. Luffy was the captain of a pirate ship sailing across the seas, and he couldn't swim. It didn't make much sense, but Luffy made the best of it, especially when he had other people to save his sorry ass when he fell into the ocean.
This happened to be one of those times.
Zenny the Moneylender had just gotten his ship (and his goats) out to sea and that damn Marine sergeant was making trouble for everyone, including the Going Merry and her crew. So Luffy decided to do something about it and his solution was to ram Zenny's ship into the Marine ship, which sent them both flying across the island's bay. Only, he'd neglected to consider the old timer's weak heart and the stress that such a move could have on him, which caused everyone to call him a moron. And Luffy, being Luffy, went to help the old guy by stretching his arms across the cove and grabbing onto some ropes hanging off the Marine ship to slingshot himself across. He did this without another word to Zoro, who was still standing on the beach with him and it was also at that time that the Marine sergeant cut the ropes that Luffy was holding onto, sending the rubber man crashing into the hull of the ship face first and sinking into the sea. And that's when Zoro realized that his new boyfriend was drowning.
"No! Gah, Luffy!" the swordsman growled, irritated that that idiot had gotten himself into trouble again without thinking. Zoro ran down the beach and sloshed through a few feet of water before jumping in headfirst and swimming out to save his captain from certain death. After a few minutes of swimming, Zoro stopped to look around and see how close he was – the ships should've been right in front of him, but they weren't. When Zoro stopped swimming and turned around, he found that he'd somehow been swimming to the right of the ships and that he'd almost swam out to sea. Both ships had been behind him and now they were even further away than they had been to start with.
"Damn it! Where is that idiot!?" he shouted, trying to figure out how the ships got lost in that tiny cove.
"You're made for each other! Now find Luffy, you moron!" Nami yelled from the deck of the Merry as it began traveling towards Zenny's ship, rolling her eyes at both idiots.
Zoro began swimming back toward the old man's ship again as he tried to save his captain and panic started to set in. After several more minutes of frantic swimming, getting run over by the Going Merry as they crossed paths near Zenny's ship and searching around at the bottom of the sea, Zoro managed to snag Luffy's drowning ass and hoisted him up above the water.
"You idiot. See if I ever save your sorry ass again," Zoro rolled his eyes, holding Luffy up by the collar as the boy spit out all the seawater he'd swallowed whilst drowning.
"I almost died…" Luffy gagged, vomiting up seawater. "Don't let me go…" The rubber man clung to the swordsman's shirt, holding him in a death grip. Zoro began swimming back towards the Merry, resolutely keeping her in sight so that he didn't wander off somewhere else this time.
"Why would I let you go? I just dragged your ass out of the ocean!" Zoro huffed, winding one arm around the boy's waist as they got close to the ship and held him out of the water as much as he could, holding him close despite his ticked-off expression.
Luffy smiled even though his face was as pale as death. "Thanks, Zoro!"
"And now we have to drag both your asses out of the ocean," Sanji sighed, throwing down the Merry's rope ladder. Zoro hauled Luffy over his shoulder and climbed up, immediately following the rest of the crew over to Zenny's ship. Once there, he grabbed the rubber man by the wrists and ankles and twisted him until he was wrung out, then shook him out like a rug before dropping him on deck.
"Was that really necessary?" Luffy huffed, still out of breath from his scrape with death.
"Totally," the entire crew replied (and some goats too).
"Sometimes, you're a lot of trouble," Zoro sighed, sitting down and peeling off his shirt to wring it out.
"All you have to do to drown your troubles is to toss him back in the ocean," Nami stated, hooking her thumb back over her shoulder towards the sea.
"But you wouldn't do that, Zoro!" Luffy said, suddenly worried. "You like me don't you!?"
"Yes, I like you," the swordsman smiled, happy that Luffy was at least a little worried about his own welfare and relationships.
"And all Luffy would have to do to get rid of you is to point in the wrong direction!" Usopp teased, giggling.
"Hey!" Zoro snapped, but the whole crew had dissolved into giggles, except Chopper who was the only one being responsible and checking on Zenny's heart condition. Despite both of them being teased by their friends, Luffy and Zoro felt the same worry unite them with the rest of the crew When the doctor called out his condition. Luffy jumped onto Zoro's back as they all went over to check on the old man, hugging him tightly as they gathered around to do what they could, the idea of drowning their idiot captain quickly forgotten.
To be Continued...
A/N: See you all later!