pieces-by-me

[pieces-by-me]

going out of your way to search up [insert character] ANGST and all you get is smut

[pieces-by-me]

All Y/N ever wanted to do was sing her songs and be free. Yet somehow, after offering to pay for the meal of a certain boy in a straw hat she finds herself causing havoc through the East Blue.

Masterlist - Next.

Trigger warning: violence, death, abuse, trauma. Word count: 10K

A/N: The only thing I will be describing about Y/N is her hair colour. Everything else you can imagine her as you wish.

Disclaimer: The songs I will be using in this fic aren't mine bc I have 0 creativity. I'm sorry.

"Easy. Easy!"

Nami, Luffy, Usopp, and Y/N struggled to carry Zoro’s unconscious, bloodied body onto the Going Merry. The swordsman was dead weight—his usual strength now replaced by alarming stillness, and every step felt like a race against time.

"Easy!" Nami huffs.

Y/N pushed the galley door open with her shoulder and all but shoved everything off the kitchen island in one sweep, “Put him here! Try not to drop him, Usopp!”

"I didn’t,” Usopp grunted, his arms trembling under the weight as they carefully maneuvered Zoro onto the cleared surface. “He’s really heavy. I mean, he’s got a really big head. It’s, like, freakishly big.”

Y/N barely acknowledged the comment, but it is already working fast. She grabbed a paring knife and cut away Zoro’s blood-soaked shirt, revealing a gash that made her stomach turn. Her hands hovered above his chest for a moment—uncertain where to even begin—before she snapped herself into motion again.

Nami dashed off to grab a towel, muttering something under her breath."What does that have to do with anything?"

Y/N barely registered Luffy’s voice as he leaned in closer to Zoro, his usual bright tone now hushed and trembling. “Zoro? Hey, can you hear me?”

Nami, quick on her feet, folded a towel and slipped it under Zoro’s head to cushion it against the hard surface of the table. The gesture was careful, almost tender.

Cabinets slammed open and shut behind her as Usopp darted from one corner of the kitchen to the other. “Where’s the first aid kit?”

“De we even have a first aid kit?” Nami grumbled ya as she went to stand next to Y/N. Both girls shared a Look. This is bad.

“These are all I could find!” Usopp returned a moment later, arms full of half-clean towels, a bottle of who-knew-what, and a cracked tin of bandages. He dumped it all onto the table in front of them. “Where’s he bleeding from?”

“Everywhere,” Y/N grabbed a towel and rushed to the basin. The faucet sputtered before water finally flowed, and she soaked the cloth as fast as she could, squeezing it once before darting back.

Usopp moved to her side and helped with the water, his eyes wide, his hands twitchy. “We need more towels.”

“No,” Nami said, shaking her head. “We need a doctor.”

“Well, last I checked, we don’t have one!” Usopp snapped, his voice a little too loud in the tight space.

“There’s got to be someone at the Baratie who can help,” Y/N said quickly, voice taut as a bowstring as she cleaned the blood away. Her hands were slightly shaking now. Zoro didn’t even flinch—he was just still. Too still.

“Luffy?” Nami called out, glancing over her shoulder toward the boy captain. Her voice was sharper now, cutting through the tension like a blade. “Luffy! Someone needs to go back to Baratie!”

He blinked, clearly struggling to pull himself from the sight of Zoro—so still, so bloodied. “Um… I’m really not hungry right now, Nami.”

Y/N’s jaw tensed as she pressed a towel harder against a wound, eyes flicking toward him. She got it—truly. Shock did strange things to people. The first time she saw someone bleed like this, she’d panicked too, but there came a point when fear had to give way to action, and they were well past that point.

She didn’t say anything, just pursed her lips and forced herself to stay calm, even as her hands trembled from the pressure she was applying.

Nami, however, had no patience left. She nearly growled in frustration. “Not for food! Maybe one of the customers is a ship’s doctor!”

“Right,” Luffy said, blinking again as if he was trying to reboot his brain. “A doctor.”

It wasn’t much, but something clicked behind his eyes—some return to clarity. And though he still moved like he was walking through water, he turned and began to head for the galley door. “We need a doctor.”

Y/N pressed a fresh towel to it, her hands slick with blood, jaw tight with focus. She could feel the pulsing heat of it, the way the bleeding refused to stop. Her fingers trembled as she reached for the cup of water Usopp had just filled, dipping another cloth in it, trying to clean around the wound without making things worse.

"Keep that one there," she said to Nami, nodding to the towel near Zoro’s collarbone. "Firm, steady pressure. Don't lift it."

Nami nodded wordlessly, her own hands red to the wrists, her forehead glistening with sweat. She had seen plenty of danger in her time, but this—watching someone she knew bleed out in front of her—this was different.

“I—I don’t know what to do,” Usopp stammered, backing away from the table like the blood might leap at him. “Is he gonna die? He’s gonna die, isn’t he?”

“He’s not going to die,” she said firmly, though her stomach twisted at the lie. “Not if we keep him breathing."

She leaned in, eyes scanning the torn flesh. It was deep—deeper than anything she’d ever tried to fix. And so clean, too, like it had been carved with surgical precision.

“He needs stitches,” Y/N murmured, more to herself than anyone else. The words hung there, cold and impossible. She wasn’t a doctor. She’d done a few messy patches in back alleys before, helped close up a wound or two with trembling hands and borrowed thread—but nothing like this.

Nami glanced over, her hands still pressed down on a towel rapidly turning scarlet. “Can you do it?”

“I... I don't know, I don’t think we have a needle that’s strong enough,” she said, eyes darting across the kitchen. “Or thread thick enough to hold skin.”

“There’s gotta be something,” Nami said, her voice clipped and panicked. “You seem like you’ve done this before—can’t you just—just improvise?”

“I am improvising,” Y/N snapped, voice sharper than she meant, her hands shaking ever so slightly as she gripped the make-do supplies. “Gods, where is Luf—”

The galley door slammed open.

Speak of the devil.

Luffy burst in—and behind him, to Y/N’s utter confusion, came the blond, sharply dressed waiter who’d flirted with anything that moved, and the rough, one-legged chef who had dragged Luffy to the kitchens the night before.

“What the—?” Y/N blinked, thrown completely.

“Are you kidding?” Nami snapped at Luffy, “He needs a doctor!”

“Do you wanna save your swordsman friend or not?” the wooden-legged chef snapped, already brushing past them without waiting for permission.

Y/N and Nami instinctively moved aside, letting the man work, though their hands hovered like they were ready to jump back in at any second. The chef—Zeff, if Y/N remembered right—tossed off the bloody towels and assessed the wound with a cool, calculating look, like he’d seen worse and fixed worse.

Sanji—yes, that was the waiter’s name—set down an armful of supplies beside him. Y/N caught the glint of steel—actual knives, proper scissors, a big curved needle, spools of dark thread.

And... a yellowtail fish.

Y/N blinked. She looked at the fish. Then at them. Then back at the fish.

Was that part of the plan?

Before she could ask, there was the distinct pop of a bottle opening.

“Is that to sterilize the wounds?” Usopp asked, hope flickering in his voice.

“Hell, no,” said Zeff, already lifting it to his mouth. “That’d be a waste of really good liquor.”

He took a long swig, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and gave Zoro a look like he was sizing up a slab of meat he was about to butcher—or save.

Y/N, hands still stained red and jaw clenched, stared at the scene unfolding in front of her. It wasn’t what she expected. Not even close.

“Beautiful,” Zeff murmured—not to Zoro, but to the fish—as he began slicing it with the kind of practiced ease only a lifetime in a kitchen could give. His knife moved like it was part of his hand, clean and precise. In moments, he was separating the skin from the flesh and setting it gently on a clean plate like it was a delicacy.

Y/N’s eyes widened—then narrowed with realization. Her doubts vanished in an instant. She knew exactly what he was about to do.

“Needle,” Zeff said, holding out his hand without looking.

Sanji passed it over without a word, the sharp arc of it gleaming under the light.

Y/N, Luffy, and Nami stood frozen, watching in stunned silence as the old chef leaned in and began stitching Zoro’s gash. His movements were swift but careful, efficient without cruelty. Each pass of the needle tugged skin back together, layer by layer, until the worst of the wound was closed.

Then, with the same steady hands, Zeff lifted the prepared fish skin and began laying it over the wound like a graft.

“Why are you putting that on him?” Usopp asked, his voice cracking slightly from the back of the room.

Before Zeff could answer, Y/N spoke. She didn’t mean to. It slipped out, too fast, too natural, like it was instinct.

“It helps the skin regenerate faster,” she said, eyes still fixed on the wound. “It’s one of the only things that can bond quickly to broken skin, it's quicker than cloth. Holds moisture. It—heals better.”

Usopp blinked. “...How do you know that?”

Y/N didn’t look at him. She forced a shrug, trying to keep her voice level. “Read it in a book.”

Zeff, for his part, didn’t question it. He just kept working, wrapping another piece of the fish skin gently across Zoro’s side.

“You’ve got good instincts, girl,” he muttered without looking at her.

Y/N didn’t respond. She just stared at Zoro, willing his chest to rise a little more steadily, for the color to return to his lips. Willing something in him to fight back. To stay.

“He’s gonna be okay,” she whispered, more a plea than a promise.

Zeff wiped his hands on a towel, the tension in the room thick as the blood drying on the floor.

“Look, I’m not gonna lie to you,” he said, glancing at the table and then back at them. “He’s lost a lot of blood. It might be too late for him.”

Y/N’s breath caught. Her stomach felt like it dropped through the wooden boards beneath her feet. She stared harder at Zoro, as if glaring at the Reaper himself, refusing to let go.

“But it might not be,” Luffy chimed in quietly from behind her, voice soft but the hope unwavering.

And damn it, Y/N was grateful for that hope. For Luffy’s impossible, stubborn faith—because right now, hers was cracking.

Zeff gave a short nod, his gruff voice cutting through the air again. “He’s got one foot in each world right now, caught between life and death. You have to find a way to keep him tethered to our world.”

Y/N furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“Talk to him,” Zeff said simply. “Tell him stories. Remind him who he is. Sing him sea shanties for all I care. Anything to keep his mind from drifting too far. He may not reply, but at least he’ll know his crew are still with him."

Y/N looked back down at Zoro, her fingers brushing lightly against his wrist—barely a pulse. His face was pale, features drawn like stone. He looked like he was already gone.

But he wasn’t, not yet.

She bit her lip, hard, then slid a stool over, sitting beside the island. Her hand settled on his, gentle but firm.

“Tether him,” she whispered under her breath.

They could do that. So they did.

Once Zeff finished stitching w,rapping Zoro’s wounds and confirmed Zoro was stable for now, the crew moved him with painstaking care to Nami’s room—she insisted, saying it was the closest to the kitchen and had the softest bedding. No one argued. No one had the energy.

Hours passed. Then a full day, then another. Time bent strangely around the ship, caught in a hush of half-whispers, shallow breathing, and the occasional creak of wood and waves. The Going Merry floated as if in mourning, the air thick with waiting.

They hardly left his side.

Luffy, least of all. He sat beside Zoro’s bed with his hat in his lap and a look in his eyes Y/N hadn’t seen before—not even during fights or storms.

Nami kept vigil at night, curling up in the corner with a blanket and glaring at anyone who tried to make her leave. Usopp tried to stay brave, but often hovered outside the door like he couldn’t bring himself to go in for too long.

And Y/N?

She moved around them all like clockwork. Quiet, constant, present. She made sure Zoro’s bandages stayed clean, that everyone ate something—even if it was just bread or tea. When Luffy refused to budge for nearly a day, she dragged him to the shower herself.

“Five minutes,” she told him sternly. “Or I’m coming in after you.”

He obeyed—reluctantly.

The ship felt like it was caught in a kind of time spell. No one trained. No one joked. The sun rose and set outside, but within the Merry, everything held its breath.

So Y/N did the one thing that felt right at the moment and truly because no one else had the energy for cooking—she went to the Baratie to buy some food.

She tied her hair up and rolled her sleeves, smoothing her shawl over her shoulders as she stepped off the Merry and onto the Baratie. The floating restaurant gleamed in the late afternoon light, all polished wood and stained glass, like a ship that belonged more in dreams than on the sea.

She walked through the entrance with quiet purpose, heels tapping against fine tile as chandeliers sparkled above her. Tables lined the open floor, each one covered in crisp white cloth, polished silverware, and plates too delicate for the kind of storm churning in her chest.

Y/N was halfway through scanning the menu at a corner table (which she had to bribe the host for) when a familiar voice floated in with the same buttery smoothness he probably used for every woman who walked in.

“Now that’s a view I wouldn’t mind plating up.”

Sanji emerged from the kitchen a second later, sharp in black and white, sleeves rolled up, towel draped across his shoulder, and that ever-present flirt in his eyes.

“Back already, Mon chérie?” he asked, sliding up beside her table like he belonged there. “Let me guess—you missed me.”

Y/N didn’t look up right away. She calmly flipped the menu closed and rested her chin in her hand, casting him a sideways glance.

“Missed you?” she echoed, voice lilting, “What a bold assumption. I only came back because I heard the fish were fresher today.”

Sanji clutched at his chest dramatically. “You wound me.”

“That’s funny,” she said, smiling sweetly. “Most men don’t realize they’ve been wounded until it’s far too late, loverboy.”

His grin flickered, just for a second—like he couldn’t decide if he was being flirted with or threatened but he liked it either way.

“Well, if you’re here for food, allow me to make a personal recommendation—anything cooked by these hands is practically a love letter.”

“I prefer my love letters spelled correctly and not dripping in butter,” she replied, crossing one leg over the other, eyes gleaming. “Though the butter’s tempting.”

Sanji gave a low laugh, clearly enjoying the banter more than he probably should’ve. “Mon chérie, you're either trying to seduce me or destroy me.”

“Can’t it be both?” she asked, resting her chin in her hand again. “Anyway, I'm not here to banter—much as you seem to crave it. I’m here for the others. Thought I’d try and cheer everyone up before the brooding officially becomes contagious.”

Sanji hums, brushing his flour-dusted hands against his apron. “Your friend still hasn’t opened his eyes?”

Y/N’s smile faltered just a touch. “Not yet.”

There was a beat of silence before she added, "Luffy’s hardly eaten a bite, which I’m pretty sure breaks at least three laws of nature. Everyone else is just... stuck. You ever see a ship caught in still water?”

He nodded, the smile slipping just a little.

“I figured I’d bring something back,” she continued. “Something warm. Something familiar. Food’s the best medicine we’ve got right now.”

Sanji gave a low, appreciative whistle. “Charming and wise. A girl after my own heart."

She rolled her eyes with a soft chuckle. “Flatter me all you want, but I’m only buying what I can carry. Just a few things. Enough for comfort food. Warm rice, some fish and sauce, maybe fruit? I know Nami likes them—figured it might cheer her up a bit.”

Sanji didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he studied her for a beat—long enough that Y/N felt a flicker of discomfort under the weight of his gaze. It wasn’t the usual kind of look men gave her. There was no teasing grin, no swooning tilt of the head. Just... observation. Like he was trying to read something between her words, between her smile.

“You really care for them, don’t you?” he asked quietly.

Y/N blinked, caught off guard.

“I… well, I do,” she said, tone lighter than her pulse. “Been traveling with them for some time now. Would be weird if I didn’t.”

It was the truth, mostly. Or at least, the part she was allowed to say.

She’d grown used to Luffy’s chaos, to Nami’s sharp eyes and thong, to Usopp’s, tho only knowing him for a few days, tall tales and Zoro’s quiet strength. Somewhere along the way, it had stopped being just survival and started to feel like… something more. Something closer.

But admitting that? Saying it out loud? That was a different kind of exposure, it had been a long while since she had last felt this way... actually it was since she had roamed with Tallen and the other sirens.

Sanji’s expression softened, the flirtation dimming into something quieter. Then he nodded, like he’d come to some personal conclusion.

“Let me cook for you.”

Y/N blinked. “What?”

He gestured toward the kitchen with a dramatic little flourish, towel flicking like a stage curtain. “I'm sure in an hour or so we will have some ingredients we won't use, I can whip something up—real food, comfort food. For you. For your crew.”

She tilted her head slightly, narrowing her eyes—not suspicious, just trying to keep up. “That’s generous of you, but no, I couldn't you and Zeff have done enough already.”

“Please,” he scoffed, but the smirk was softer now. “You think I can just stand by knowing there’s a crew full of hungry, miserable people floating outside my restaurant? That your captain hasn’t eaten? I couldn't live with myself."

Y/N hesitated, arms crossed loosely. She wasn’t used to people offering to help without a price. Without a reason. Without her having to ask. But then she thought of Luffy, hunched over the bed like a statue. Nami’s clenched jaw. Usopp’s worried pacing. The way Zoro looked was far too still.

“Also,” Sanji added, tapping his chin thoughtfully, “I was hoping if I fed you all well enough, maybe you’d smile at me like that again.”

She scoffed—but she was already smiling. “You’re bloody relentless.”

“Determine,” he corrected with a wink. “And a damn good cook. Let me do what I’m best at.”

“Careful,” she said, lips curling into a wry smile. “You keep saying stuff like that, and I might actually start trusting you.”

Sanji gave a low, satisfied laugh. “Then I’ll make sure dinner lives up to it.”

She let out a breath, considering. Her instincts—usually guarded, protective—didn’t flare with danger. Not with him. He was a flirt, sure, but something about him told her he meant it. Not the compliments. Not the show. This. The cooking. The feeding. The giving.

“…Fine,” she said at last, exhaling as she stood. “If you insist—but nothing fancy.”

Sanji pressed a hand to his chest, mock-offended. “You wound me. My least fancy dish still brings tears to grown men’s eyes.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the small smile tugging at her lips and said playfully. “If I see one pansy on the plate, I’m tossing you into the sea.”

“If it’s you doing the tossing, I might just let it happen.” said the blonde.

She rolled her eyes and walked toward the door. “Bring the food, cook. Then you can flirt.”

“Deal,” he called after her. “Just don’t fall for me before dessert!”

Y/N smirked to herself as she walks

Not likely, she thought but she had to admit—it was kind of nice having someone else carry the pot for once.

Hours later, the kitchen on the Going Merry was filled with steam, warmth, and for the first time in days, smell like some real food.

Y/N worked beside Sanji, shoulders brushing from time to time in the cramped space as they shaped rice balls together. The rice stuck to her fingers, no matter how many times she dipped her hands in water, but the act of pressing it together was strangely comforting. She didn’t even mind when Sanji gently corrected her technique—for the third time—with a little smirk and a too-charming, “Not bad, but watch your thumb.”

They’d kept it simple: warm rice, salted fish, a bit of seaweed.

Y/N placed the finished rice balls in a plate and dusted her hands off with a sigh. “I’ll take these to Nami. She’s been sitting with him all morning.”

Sanji didn’t look up from where he was slicing vegetables for the next dish. “Tell her there’s more coming. Some garlic fish.”

She smiled slightly. “Thanks, loverboy.”

He gave her a mock bow. “Always a pleasure to serve you, ma chérie.”

She slipped out of the kitchen and padded down the hall, knocking lightly on Usopp’s door.

“It’s food time,” she called gently. “Real food. Not crackers and bread.”

A muffled reply came through, something like, “Coming!”, followed by the sound of something clattering to the floor. She smiled to herself and kept moving.

As she turned the corner, she nearly bumped into Luffy.

He stood in the hallway, Zoro’s swords carefully tucked under one arm, a rag in his other hand. There was a smudge on his cheek and a familiar glint in his eyes—not quite as bright as usual, but still very much Luffy.

“Stud, here you are,” she said gently.

He looked up, blinking at the sight of her—and more importantly, the rice balls.

“You made food?” he asked, eyes lighting up but not like before.

“Sanji did most of it,” she said with a little shrug. “He’s got something going in there. Rice balls, fish. Smells like heaven. "she then nudge at the swrods. "Zoro's sword?"

He held up one of Zoro’s swords like it was made of glass. “I was gonna clean ‘em before he wakes up. So they’re shiny. You think he’ll like that?”

Y/N paused, then smiled. “Yeah. I think he’ll like that a lot, but go eat before Ussop ravished it all."

Luffy grinned and nodded once before heading off, humming softly under his breath as he went.

Y/N watched him for a moment, then turned and made her way toward Nami’s room, the plate of rice balls still warm in her hands and the scent of comfort trailing behind her like a quiet promise.

Y/N watched Luffy disappear down the corridor, humming with Zoro’s swords tucked protectively under his arm, before she turned and continued toward Nami’s room. The plate of rice balls was still warm in her hands, the scent of seaweed and vinegar rice rising gently with every step.

She paused at the door and knocked softly.

“Hey, pumpkin,” she called with a teasing lilt, “brought you some food.”

She pushed the door open gently and stepped inside.

Nami looked up from her seat by the bed, a worn book resting open in her lap. She was reading aloud—softly, steadily—to Zoro, whose chest rose and fell in shallow, sleeping breaths. His face looked a little less pale now. Less ghost-like.

Nami offered a tired smile, her eyes rimmed with exhaustion but softer than they’d been earlier. “You made rice balls?”

“Sanji did,” Y/N said, stepping in. “I supervised. Threatened him a little. Standard stuff.”

She set the plate down gently on the bedside table, close enough for Nami to reach but far enough not to disturb the quiet.

Nami gave a breathy laugh. “Sounds like you.”

Y/N shifted a little closer to the bed, and she reached out and brushed a few strands of hair off his forehead. His skin was still warm, slightly clammy, but the color was better than the day before.

“Any difference?” Y/N asked softly, her voice just above a whisper as her fingers brushed gently away a stray lock of green hair from Zoro’s forehead.

“Still out,” Nami murmured, her lips pursed, eyes locked on him like she could will him back with enough focus alone. She didn't say much—but she didn’t have to. Y/N knew that look, that stillness. She’d worn it herself too many times before. “But… I think his color’s better. I’ve been reading to him. Thought maybe hearing our voices might help.”

Y/N nodded slowly, glancing at the book resting open on Nami’s lap. The pages were worn, sea-softened at the corners.

“What is it?” she asked gently.

Nami gave a little shrug. “Just a storybook I found.”

Y/N let out a quiet breath and lowered herself into the empty chair beside her, taking a rice ball. “Well, go on then, pumpkin. Don’t stop on my account.”

Nami hesitated for a moment, then looked down at the page and picked up where she left off.

“In a certain country, in the northern seas, there was an explorer named Mont Blanc Noland.”

Her voice softened with rhythm, almost like a lullaby.

“His stories were always grand adventures that sounded like lies.”

“Noland told his king he found a city of gold, but when the king went to claim the treasure, the city was gone, and most of the king’s soldiers perished on the journey.”

Y/N leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her hand, watching both Nami and Zoro in turn. The story washed over the room, strange and sad and oddly fitting.

“Noland was sentenced to death,” Nami continued, more quietly now, “but he continued to lie to his king, insisting the city of gold sank into the sea.”

A pause.

“And… even though nobody believed him, he never stopped lying until he was dead.”

The room settled into a heavy silence. Nami stared down at the page, and Y/N opened her mouth—maybe to shift the mood, maybe to say something thoughtful—but someone beat her to it.

“Poor guy," came Luffy’s voice from the doorway. "Can you imagine that? Losing a whole city of gold? ”

Y/N tensed slightly. She hadn’t even realized he was there, leaning against the doorframe. His voice was light, casual.

Nami didn’t even look up. “I don’t think that was the point of the story.”

“Stories can have different points,” Luffy said as he stepped into the room. “I mean… why did the king have to kill him?”

“Sometimes,” Nami said, her tone tight, like she was holding something back and failing, "when you’re in charge, you have to make the tough decisions.”

There it was—that cold edge. Passive-aggressive, laced with hurt, and barely disguised under the thinnest veil of civility.

Y/N closed her eyes for a moment, then rubbed her temples.

Here it comes.

Luffy let out a quiet laugh, though Y/N heard no humor in it. Just that same, strange heaviness that had crept into him over the past few days. “Why does everybody keep saying that?”

“Because you could’ve saved Zoro.” Nami stood, finally turning to face him. Her voice wasn’t raised, but it struck like a whip.

Y/N sat up straighter, already feeling a headache blooming behind her eyes.

“Can we please not—” she started, trying to cut in, to soothe the sparks before they turned into something worse.

But Nami wasn’t finished.

“Zoro didn’t have to fight Mihawk. But he let it happen.” She looked at Luffy, eyes sharp and angry. “You let it happen. Why didn’t you stop him?”

Luffy looked at her and for once, he didn’t smile. "I didn’t think he was going to lose."

Nami stared at him, disbelief washing over her features like a rising tide. “You could’ve tried to change his mind.”

“I would never do that,” Luffy said simply.

“So you’d rather see him like this?” Her voice cracked, thick with anger and something sharper beneath it—fear. “He might die, Luffy.”

That word settled in the air like smoke.

Die.

Y/N shifted where she sat, her hands curling slightly on her lap. The thought alone made her stomach twist into a knot. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes flicked back to Zoro, still and pale beneath the blankets, and she swallowed hard.

“And I’d do anything to save him,” Luffy continued, softer now, but with no less conviction. “Anything. Except stands in the way of his dream.”

Nami let out a bitter, shaky breath. “We all have dreams, but we outgrow them.”

Luffy’s head tilted, and for a moment, he just looked at her. Like he was trying to understand something impossible.

“Is that really what you think?” he asked. “Don’t you have a dream?”

There was a pause, and this time—Nami was the one who seemed to be dismisive.

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Right now, it’s for Zoro to not die in my bed.”

“But isn’t there something that you want?” Luffy asked with that wide-eyed honesty only he seemed to carry. “Something more. More than anything else in this world?”

Y/N’s eyes drifted toward Nami. She didn’t move. Didn’t speak right away. But Y/N saw it—the flicker. The way her jaw tensed, how her fingers curled just slightly at her sides. She was thinking of something, maybe about someone. That question had struck something deeper than either of them probably realized.

Nami kept her gaze on Luffy, but Y/N saw the moment her guard wavered.

The silence stretched between them and then—softly, bitterly—Nami said, “Not everyone gets to follow their dreams.”

And then, without another word, she turned and walked out the door. Y/N didn’t try to stop her.

Y/N stayed where she was, eyes flicking between the door and Luffy, who stood now in the middle of the room staring at where the orange-haired girl was. He looked like he’d been struck, not quite hurt, but confused. As if he couldn’t even imagine a world where dreams didn’t get to come true.

Y/N rose slowly, folding her arms loosely over her chest.

“She didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” she said gently.

Luffy didn’t reply at first.

His fingers twitched at his sides.

“She’s scared,” Y/N continued. “That’s all. And when people are scared, they start burying their dreams. Pretend they never had them.”

“She shouldn’t have to pretend,” Luffy said, staring down at the floor. “Nobody should.”

Y/N tilted her head slightly, watching him.

“You’re not wrong,” she said. “But… it’s easier to forget about your dreams when you’re afraid they’ll never come true.”

He looked at her then, and for the first time since this started, he looked tired. Not defeated. Not broken. Just... human.

Y/N offered a small smile, soft around the edges. “You didn’t let him down, stud.”

“Feels like I did,” Luffy said, his voice barely above a murmur.

“Well,” she replied gently, “when he wakes up, I’m sure he’ll be glad you let him choose—just like he was before.” She glanced toward the bed, her voice softening. “Besides, I hardly think we could’ve stopped him even if we tried.”

A small chuckle escaped Luffy—not his usual boisterous laugh, but a tired, real one. He stepped forward and sat at the foot of the bed without saying anything more.

Y/N moved slowly, settling into the chair beside Zoro again. She smoothed the edge of the blanket, brushing her fingers lightly against his hand. The tension in the room had dulled now, quieter. More fragile.

She let out a long, slow breath, then leaned forward just a little.

“You remember that lullaby I said I’d write for you, hotshot?” she murmured. “Well… I never got around to finishing it, so you’re gonna have to deal with a half-sung, half-hummed version.”

She exhaled softly, then let the melody rise, slow and low—more hum than words at first. The kind of tune that came from the sea.

She sat up a little straighter, voice still soft, but this time there was rhythm in it—a steady beat like the echo of boots on a ship’s deck, like the clash of steel. A heartbeat in song.

Three swords, one goal, and a promise made—

Eyes like fire, never once afraid. Steel sings loud where silence falls,

And even blood can’t drown your calls.

Luffy blinked beside her, listening now with a grin slowly returning to his face.

He trains at dawn, he sleeps on deck,

He drinks like six and still don’t wreck,

He never runs, he never begs,

He’d fight a god with broken legs.

She tossed Luffy a grin, and he grinned right back, "That one was good."

Y/N turned back to Zoro, the smile softening, though the tone stayed light.

You’re too damn tough for death to take,

Too stubborn for your soul to break,

So wake up now, or don’t complain,

When I write this song and steal your fame.

Luffy gave a dramatic little clap, clearly delighted.

Y/N gave Zoro’s arm a gentle pat. “There. I immortalized your stubborn ass in song. That means you have to wake up now. Can’t have people thinking I wrote it for someone else.”

They both turned back to Zoro. Still breathing and still fighting—somehow.

Usopp slipped into the room.

“How’s he doing?” he asked, voice low but laced with hope.

Luffy, who’d been quietly staring at Zoro—eyes wide open, not sad, not smiling, just waiting—answered without turning. “He hasn’t said a word. Not even when Y/N sang to him.”

Y/N arched a brow from her seat, a grin already tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Rather rude of him, right?”

Usopp chuckled, then nudged Luffy lightly. “Maybe you should talk to him, too.”

Luffy frowned. “What would I even say?”

Usopp shrugged. “Whatever pops in your head. Just… speak from the gut.”

“My gut hasn’t been so great lately,” Luffy replied, light in tone but heavy in truth.

Y/N smiled softly but didn’t speak. She was still sitting nearby, legs curled up beneath her, watching with that quiet kind of knowing she always carried when emotions ran too high for everyone else.

“At least he’ll know it’s you,” Usopp said, a little gentler now. “What do you got to lose?”

Luffy paused, staring at Zoro like he was trying to have a conversation without saying anything at all.

Then he slapped the wood of the bed, suddenly animated. “Hey, Zoro. What’s up?”

Y/N blinked, her grin returning instantly. Luffy’s sincerity was always… Luffy-shaped. Clumsy, honest, and somehow perfect.

“I just wanted to tell you that…” he paused, scratched the back of his head. “Okay, wait—let me start over. I’m just gonna… Hi, Zoro. Hi. You know, it’s—”

“Luffy!”

Nami’s voice rang sharp from the kitchen, slicing through the stillness of the ship like a whipcrack. It echoed off the wooden walls, sharp enough to snap them all to attention.

All three of them turned toward the door at once—Y/N, Luffy, and Usopp—frozen for half a heartbeat.

Then it came again, louder. More urgent.

“Luffy!”

There was no mistaking it now; something was wrong.

All at once, they moved—Luffy leading the charge, feet pounding against the floorboards. Usopp scrambled after him, dropping what was left of his rice ball. Y/N was right behind them, her pulse suddenly thudding in her ears, one hand lifting her skirt just enough to sprint.

They reached the galley just as Nami turned from the counter, her eyes wide, "The Arlong Pirates are at Baratie. We have to leave now."

Y/N froze in the doorway. The name hit her ears like a stone dropping into deep water.

The Arlong Pirates… They did sound familiar—but from where?

“What? Why?” Luffy frowned, stepping further into the room. “Why should we leave?”

“Because they’re looking for you,” Nami snapped, eyes locking onto him.

Luffy points at himself, “Me?”

“And the map,” she added, her voice tight. “Those fishmen will tear this place apart if Zeff doesn’t turn you over.”

Fishmen.

The word dropped into Y/N’s stomach like a weight.

Her breath hitched ever so slightly. Her fingers curled into the fabric of her skirt before she could stop them.

Oh… fishmen.

“Where are you going?”

Usopp’s voice cut through the tension, snapping Y/N out of her thoughts. She turned just in time to see Sanji striding toward the door, jaw tight.

“If Baratie’s in danger,” Sanji said stopping, “I need to be there.”

“I’m coming with you,” Luffy added without hesitation, already stepping forward.

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Nami snapped, barely keeping her frustration from boiling over. “They are hunting you. We need to run.”

“I’m with Nami on this one,” Usopp said quickly, raising a hand like a white flag. “I’m really not trying to ruffle any feathers… or scales…”

Y/N shift on her feet, "Luffy, let's just think for a second--"

“I’m not running,” Luffy said firmly, his voice low and unwavering. “We’re going to protect this place.”

Sanji frowns “This isn’t your fight. Why would you do that?”

Luffy glanced at him, his expression so simple, so Luffy, that Y/N almost laughed.

“You fed us,” he said, like that explained everything.

Nami stepped forward, her voice a little too quick, too sharp—not just worried.

Frightened.

“Look, I know this crew,” she said, eyes locked on Luffy, more desperate now than angry. “Their captain—Arlong—he’s got the highest bounty in all of the East Blue. You do not want to mess with him.”

Luffy tilted his head, calm as ever. “Sounds like he messed with us first.”

“Luffy, please,” Nami said, and this time it cracked. She stepped closer, the plea trembling just beneath the surface. “Please.”

Y/N watched her—really watched her. This wasn’t about strategy. This wasn’t just about a fight, it was something deeper.

But Luffy didn’t hesitate. “I can’t let innocent people get hurt because of me.”

He turned then, facing them—Usopp, Sanji, and... Y/N. That look in his eyes… that quiet fire. That same unshakable conviction that had carried them through every storm.

“If those fishmen guys want a fight,” he said, voice low but fierce, “we’re gonna give them one.”

Y/N’s stomach twisted—equal parts pride and nerves—but she didn’t move. Didn’t question it. That tone in his voice made you feel like you could move mountains or at least stand in the way of something terrible.

Luffy walked over to Nami and rested a hand on her shoulder—gentle, reassuring, not a command, just trust.

“You stay with the ship,” he said softly. “Protect the map, hmm? It’s gonna be safe with you.”

He gave her shoulder a small clap, something brotherly, something solid. He didn’t wait for her reply. He didn’t have to and then he turned and started walking out.

Y/N stood still, her fingers curling again at her sides.

There was a part of her screaming to stay behind. To hide. To take the map, the wounded, and vanish beneath the sea like a shadow. That ancient, primal part of her that knew how dangerous the world could be—especially when it came with names like Arlong.

But louder than that—growing with every moment, every reckless heartbeat—was something else. A part of her that didn’t want to see the Baratie torn apart. That didn’t want innocent people dragged into whatever mess fate had dumped at their feet. That didn’t want to let Luffy—idiotic, idealistic, impossible Luffy—go headfirst into danger alone.

And gods, more than anything, there was a part of her that didn’t want to run. For the first time in so so long, she wanted to be brave.

Godsdammit, she thought bitterly. His stupidity is rubbing off on me.

She glanced toward the door where Luffy had disappeared, then turned her eyes to Nami.

The girl still stood frozen in place, unmoving, her expression unreadable—but her fists were clenched at her sides.

“Nami,” Y/N said, voice low. Steady. Just enough pressure to cut through the weight in the room. “Tell me why you’re desperate to go.”

She stepped closer, not with force, but with familiarity—like someone who’s shared too many sleepless nights and stormy decks to be lied to.

“Just tell me, Nami.”

For a moment, silence hung between them.

Nami didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Her jaw worked, like she was grinding something behind her teeth she didn’t want to say.

Y/N softened her voice even more. “I know what it feels like… when running isn’t fear—it’s survival. When it’s the only thing you can do.”

Still, Nami didn’t speak.

She stood there, arms crossed tightly over her chest, eyes fixed on the floor like if she just stared hard enough, the weight of the world might finally lift. But it didn’t. It never did.

Y/N let out a slow, tired sigh and dragged a hand over her face. She felt the fatigue deep in her bones, the dread curled at the base of her spine—but her eyes still flicked toward the door.

She didn’t want to go.

She didn’t want to freaking go. Every bone in her body begged her to stay put. To shut the door. To stay safe.

'You’re not a fighter,' something whispered inside her. 'You’re a survivor.'

Her feet moved before her mind could catch up. One step. Then another. Toward the door. Toward the storm.

But just before crossing the threshold, she paused and turned her head, eyes catching Nami’s profile in the flickering light—still frozen, still silent.

“You’re not alone anymore, pumpkin,” Y/N said softly, her voice steady despite the fear still gnawing at her ribs. “You’re not.”

And then she was gone, the door swinging shut behind her with a soft click, leaving Nami in the quiet with nothing but the smell of rice, salt, and truth.

By the time Y/N made her way into the restaurant, the fight had already started.

The place was chaos.

Tables overturned, glass shattered across the floor, lanterns swinging wildly from the ceiling. The salty tang of blood and seawater filled the air.

Sanji lay slumped on the stairs, his shirt torn, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. Usopp was crouched beside him, one hand braced on the banister, the other gripping his slingshot like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

She barely registered them before her gaze snapped to the open space near the center of the floor.

Luffy was alone.

He stood across from a creature so massive, so unnaturally built, that the air seemed to shift around him. His skin was deep blue, stretched tight across muscle, his grin filled with rows of jagged teeth. His presence was suffocating. Even without an introduction, she knew.

Arlong.

She watched in horror as the Fish-man moved faster than she expected for someone of his size. With a roar, he drove a brutal punch straight into Luffy’s ribs, sending him flying across the room and into a support beam with a sickening crash. Dust shook loose from the ceiling, and Luffy’s body slumped at the base of the beam.

A sharp cry escaped Y/N’s throat before she could stop it. “Luffy!”

The word wasn’t loud, but it was enough. Every Fish-man in the room turned toward her like hounds catching a scent.

She felt the blood drain from her face.

Y/N’s feet froze in place. The bravado—the fierce, reckless fire she’d carried into this room—flickered like a candle in a hurricane and went out.

Just like that.

Her legs locked beneath her, breath caught in her throat. It was like the world had shifted focus—and now it was fixed on her.

Arlong’s eyes narrowed, and he didn’t speak at first. He took a slow step forward, his gaze never leaving hers. Then, as if something dawned on him, his expression changed, sharpening, twisting into something cruel.

There was no confusion in his stare. No curiosity, just certainty.

“Well, now,” he said, voice low and rasping like a blade dragged through gravel. “Would you look at that?”

Y/N couldn’t speak. She didn’t need to. It was already too late.

Instinct took over before reason had the chance to catch up.

The moment Arlong’s eyes lit with recognition, Y/N turned on her heel and ran. Her boots hit the cracked tile hard, the sting of panic flaring up her spine. She didn’t care about pride, not now—she needed to disappear, to get out, to breathe.

But she hadn’t seen the other Fish-man—tall and slim, with scaled arms and gills that flared like wings.

He moved fast—unnaturally so—and in the space between heartbeats, he was on her.

A clawed hand gripped her wrist like a vice, wrenching her backward. The second hand clamped over her mouth before she could make a sound, muffling her startled cry. She thrashed against him, heels skidding across the floor, but it was no use. His strength dwarfed hers like a tidal wave swallowing a ripple.

The room seemed to pause.

Arlong watched with a kind of venomous delight as she was dragged forward. He stepped into the light, grinning with slow, deliberate malice.

“Thought you could run?” he said mockingly, tilting his head as he stepped closer. “Little fish thinks she’s clever.”

Sanji, bloodied and barely on his feet, tried to push himself off the stairs. “Get your hands off her—!”

Before he could take a single step, another Fish-man backhanded him hard enough to send him crashing back into the railing, groaning.

Usopp, who’d been halfway to reaching for a slingshot, was struck down with a single sweep, knocked to the floor with a strangled cry.

Y/N’s heart pounded as she watched them fall—Sanji, Usopp—and then Luffy, still hunched near the broken support beam, dragged himself upright, hands trembling, blood smeared across his chin. His hat hung askew, casting a shadow over his eyes—but not enough to hide the fire behind them.

“Let her go.”

His voice wasn’t loud, it didn’t need to be.

Arlong turned toward him slowly, savoring the moment, still standing far too close to Y/N, who remained frozen in the grip of the Fish-man behind her.

“You don’t give orders here, boy,” Arlong said, flashing rows of serrated teeth. “You don’t understand what you’re protecting.”

“She’s my crewmate and my friend,” Luffy said, louder this time, straighter despite the ache in his ribs. “I don’t care what she is.”

Arlong barked a cold laugh, the sound grating and humorless. “You should. She’s a siren. She’s lied to you from the beginning. They always do. It’s in their blood. Deceit, betrayal—it’s what they’re made for.”

Y/N tried to shake her head, to scream through the hand still clamped over her mouth, but the Fish-man holding her only tightened his grip.

Luffy’s eyes never left hers.

He took a shaky step forward. “She’s not lying now.”

“You think she’s your friend?” Arlong snarled, finally losing some of that smug calm. “Her kind never pick a side unless it benefits them, they’re monsters. Traitors. Think they’re better than the rest of us because they can slither onto land and smile like nothing ever happened.”

He stepped back and spat in her face.

Y/N’s throat burned beneath the Fish-man’s calloused hand, her lungs screaming for breath. Her body heaved in his grip as she fought for control, for air, for anything—but the harder she struggled, the tighter his hold became, like he wanted to crush the resistance out of her.

Arlong leaned in close, his breath hot and foul against her skin, his twisted grin carved deep into his shark-like face.

“You thought you could pretend, little siren?” he whispered, slow and cruel, dragging each word like a blade. “Thought you’d be safe among the humans? That you could run from what you are?”

His voice dipped lower, thick with disgust. “Your kind deserved to be slaughtered.”

Then, with a casual turn of his head, he addressed the room—Luffy, really. His voice rose, booming with theatrical cruelty. “And she’ll be sold to the highest bidder. Mark my words, there’s always someone willing to pay a kingdom for a siren."

That was it.

Something inside Y/N snapped.

A muffled sob tore from her throat, raw and broken. She began to thrash violently, all grace gone, nothing left but the naked desperation of a girl who knew exactly what was waiting for her if they took her.

Her eyes were wide, wild, brimming with tears as she kicked and struggled against the Fish-man’s hold. Her fists pounded uselessly against his chest, fingernails clawing at the arm pressed over her mouth, legs flailing as she bucked like something drowning.

Gods, no. No, no, no. Please, no. Not again. Not again.

The panic drowned everything else. The walls, the people, the voices—it all blurred.

She wasn’t in the Baratie anymore, she was there again.

With him.

The past surged up around her like a rising tide, inescapable and merciless. The pain. The blood. The cold cage that kept her like an animal. The sound of her own voice echoed in the dark, unanswered. Her wrists raw from the shackles. The silence between screams. And his face, the one that still haunted her even in the warmth of the sun.

She couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

The present melted away, and all she saw was the then. Her body locked up, trembling, helpless. She tried to will herself back—to claw her way out of it—but she was already drowning. Already gone.

Not again.

Please, her mind whispered. Not again.

And still, no one could reach her. The hand over her mouth, the grip around her arms, the jeering voices of the Fish-men—it all swam together, rising into a deafening roar.

A sharp crack of impact.

A jolt of pain. Stars burst behind her eyes as her head snapped sideways from the blow.

And everything went black but just before the world fell away, just before her knees buckled and her body sagged in the arms that held her, she heard it—fierce, furious, and burning with everything she couldn’t hold onto:

“Let. Her. GO!”

And then there was nothing.

Y/N:

Heyyyy. Thank you all so much for reading. I already have the next part done, and it was supposed to be an entire chapter from ep6 to 8 but the length was too much for Tumblr apparently. So, I will be posting it soon.

Also once again thank you all for reading, like seriously, thank you fro the support. <3<3<3<3<3<3

Also, tell me if you want to get tagged.

Divider by @cafekitsune

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[pieces-by-me]

[pieces-by-me]

☆ how to get out of a reading slump ☆

reading slumps are the worst. you just can't pick up a book and even the thought of reading makes you want to cry. i was in a reading slump for like 3 months before last week, when i finally grabbed a book again. here's my tips how you can get out of that reading slump!

⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆

⋆ don't force it - if you need a break from reading, take it. reading should be something you enjoy doing, not a chore.

⋆ go back to your favorites - grab your favorite book, the one you've read in one sitting. you already know it's good, so it'll bring back your love for reading.

⋆ try something different - you should try a completely new genre to you, that way it's exciting and fresh.

⋆ read fast paced or short books - find some books you just can't put down. here's a list of popular fast paced books.

⋆ ignore your goal - you don't have to read 50 books every year to say you like books. take your time. goals can be overwhelming.

⋆ try an audiobook - when i was in a reading slump, audiobooks got me back on the road. the best thing about them is that you can do anything else while listening to them! i recommend libby for free audiobooks.

⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆

remember, reading slumps are normal ! you'll find your love for books again. have a great day ♡

[pieces-by-me]

The Meet-Cute - Zoro's Story - 10

Source for pic

Trouble 10

Word Count: 4546

Tags For The Whole Story: Fem!Reader; Protective!Zoro; Soft!Zoro; Sexual Tension; Teasing; Flirting; Mature Audiences (I'll always tag the NSFW chapters); Modern Day AU; Reader is being stalked; Fear; Paranoia; Angst; Rom-Com Vibes; Mild Gore-like Descriptions; Blood; Reader in a terror-like state; Dead Animals Mentioned; Fluff; Romance; Banter; Manipulation; Miscommunication; Frustration; Reader is very clumsy;

Special Warning: English is not my first language, I apologise for any possible spelling or grammar mistakes.

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You and Zoro are slowly returning to your easy friendship filled with banter and flirting and you actually begin to glimpse a future with the green-haired cop. But then you start to receive weird gifts. They quickly escalate to manipulative texts. And now you're stuck in a spiral of terror and there's no way to get help because the Stalker, whoever he is, is threatening something other than just your life.

Notes: I feel like this story just keeps going from bad to worse! But bear with me, please! I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. Chapter 11 will be NSFW and will end with a cliffhanger, just a heads up!

Masterlist

Just in case people missed this, I can't stop raving about @laidenbreecatchall art for Zoro! Just look at him! *sigh* Okay, back to the story:

This can't be happening. It can't. It's all a bad dream, and you're bound to wake up soon, drenched in sweat and tears. It has to be a nightmare. 

Because the alternative is too terrifying. 

“Tremble for me, Kitten.” He purrs against your ear, his breath sickeningly hot, as the fingers he has wrapped around your neck squeeze with a gentleness you wouldn't associate with a psychopath. “I get so turned on by seeing you scared.”

Gross. Sick. Disturbing. 

Why does nobody come to your aid? The club is packed, doesn't anybody sense your distress? You try to move your head around in the vain hope of making eye contact with someone - anyone - but he just squeezes tighter. His chuckle is low, and somehow, you still hear it perfectly, even with the loud music thumping away in an infernal rhythm. 

“Nobody is coming to help you, Princess. To everybody else, we look like a couple.” The hand that's gripping your wrist, holding it tight against your waist, pushes further, and you feel him pressed against your back. “To everybody else, you look like you're mine.” 

He moves his lips, placing wet kisses along your neck as you sob softly. There's barely enough strength in you for more than that. You're terrified. Fight or flight instinct? How about frozen in fear? And what does he plan to do to you? Kidnap you? Abuse you? Kill you? 

You try to turn your head to the side to get a glimpse of who he is because you can't shake the feeling that you've heard this voice before. You know this man. But the movement only makes him squeeze your neck tighter, and the only thing you glimpse is a black beanie. 

“Not yet, Princess. You're not ready to see me yet.” He tuts softly and inhales your hair with a lewd groan. “Now… you know why I'm here, right? You misbehaved. You let the cop stay the night; you let the cop touch you; you let the cop kiss you.” He growls as he delivers the sentences, and his hand grips your wrist tighter. You're starting to lose feeling in the tips of your fingers as he seems to be cutting off your circulation. “I don't want to do this, Kitten, but I need to punish you. You need to learn.”

He sounds upset. Almost as if he's actually sorry he has to do this to you. 

“But first…” He removes his hand from your neck, but it's as though a phantom limb is still pressed against your throat. The power and terror he exerts over you are unthinkable and terrifying. Then, you feel a weight in your pocket, and he sighs against your ear. “Here's your phone back, Princess. I got it from our kitchen drawer.” Our? “You can't shut me out. You won't change your phone again. Got it?”

You stay still, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. Your heart is thumping in such an insane rhythm that you wonder how you're not having a heart attack right now. 

“Do you understand?” His free hand climbs your nape and grips your hair. When he pulls, you gasp and nod stiffly. “Good girl.” Another purr makes your ear vibrate, and you tremble from the heat of his breath against your skin. 

His feverish touch travels from your nape to your neck, then to your clavicle, his nimble fingers gathering the fabric of your clothes as he exposes the flesh of your shoulder. Another involuntary shudder makes you tremble as you plead silently for one of your friends to come find you. 

“You will do as I say and stop indulging the cop. Sever the connection, Kitten, or I will. And you won't like it.” His lips hover over your shoulder, and the hand on your wrist keeps squeezing. The bite of the bracelet is harsh and unforgiving, making your blood run cold. 

“It would be the simplest thing. He gets called to an emergency and simply gets shot…” The stalker's chuckle sounds unhinged. “Boo-hoo. Another cop killed in the line of duty. No one would blink an eye.” Your lower lip trembles, and your heart constricts. He’s capable of hurting Zoro. And if Zoro dies, it's your fault. “But you'd know why he died. Do you want that, Kitten?”

“D–don't hurt him.” You whisper, and it's unlikely he heard you over all the loud noise of the club. Even so, for you, it seems as if the music is coming from a faraway place. 

“That is entirely up to you.” He sighs, and you close your eyes. “Your punishment, Princess.” Then, his massive gloved hand covers your mouth as he sinks his teeth deep into your shoulder. You feel a sharp sting of pain traveling down your arm and back. Tears sting your eyes and your sobs drown in a muffled whine against his hand. The pain is blinding and hot, and you're pretty sure he's drawing blood. 

A stark realisation hits you just as he removes his teeth from your flesh, his tongue collecting droplets of blood as he eases the sting. 

He's marking you. 

“Mine.” He growls, and a tear rolls down your cheek. 

You feel helpless, violated, and terrified. 

“You won't disobey me anymore, Kitten. You won't misbehave anymore, and more importantly, you'll get rid of the cop.” His hand leaves your mouth as he fixes your clothes to cover up the bite mark. “Or I will. Don't forget it.”

His other hand releases your wrist, and you let out a ragged breath as your fingers twitch from lack of circulation. 

He's still pressing against you. 

“You're almost ready. We'll be so happy together, Kitten.” Your head slumps forward when he presses his lips against the back of it in a mockery of affection. “Don't disappoint me anymore.”

Then, just as swiftly as he approached you, he leaves. You turn quickly on the spot, trying to get a glimpse of your tormentor, but you only seem to catch a sliver of white. 

Was it hair? Clothes? The reflection of the lights? 

Or just your tears playing tricks on your mind? 

With trembling fingers and uneven breaths, you dislodge the bracelet that seemed to mould into your skin. The redness is daunting - it will bruise. Another whimper makes your lower lip tremble as you try to keep your wits about you. 

You need to calm down. You need to act like nothing happened. 

Zoro will be here any second now, and the stalker's threats were very clear. He'll hurt Zoro. He'll get rid of him if you don't push him away - whatever that might mean, so your plan to tell Zoro everything just went out the window. 

You need to keep him safe. At all costs. 

“Miss, your drinks are ready.”

A gasp leaves your lips, and you nod at the bartender. You’re still massaging your wrist, trying to alleviate some of the redness, but it's not disappearing. It's just getting worse. 

The way your heart is beating out of sync is a testament to how scared you still are. You need to compose yourself. New plan: take the drinks to the table and immediately excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. Then maybe you can leave, claiming to be sick. You can't disguise the bruising on your wrist, though. Thank heavens the bite on your shoulder is hidden. 

With a steadying nod, you pick up the tray of beverages and make your way to the booth. 

Leave the drinks. Bathroom. Excuse. Home.

It's simple. You can do it. And then you can work out a plan. Maybe you can make an anonymous tip to the police about your stalker. Would that work? Or beg Ichiji again for protection? Even if you have to grovel? Maybe ask your father where he stores his rifle and take matters into your own hands?

You try to ignore the fact that just the stalker’s presence left you frozen in fear. It's highly unlikely you can fight for yourself. Who are you trying to kid? 

Leave the drinks. Bathroom. Excuse. Home.

You repeat the words like a mantra, but as soon as you set the tray on the table, you feel a touch on your waist, making you immediately flinch and hide your arm behind your back. 

“Hey, Troublemaker.”

“Zoro!” The moment your eyes fall on his, all your resolve crumbles. He can help you, you know he can. 

“Get rid of the cop… Or I will.”

“He gets called to an emergency and simply gets shot.”

No. You can't tell him anything. 

Not yet, at least. Not before you have a foolproof plan to protect him. Can his captain help? Surely he can. You just need time to think this through. You need to shake away the fear and think with a cool head. 

“Are you alright?” Zoro's eye scans your face. It's most likely still red. Your eyes still feel watery, and you're sure he's picking up on those signs. Zoro's hand still lingers on your waist, so you shuffle away from him and force a smile, your arm tucked behind your back. 

“Yes, Zoro. I'm fine. Did everything work out with the bomb threat?” You step away from him and distribute the drinks with just one hand, your jaw clenching with the fakest smile you've ever produced. 

“Not really, it was a freaking mess.” He sighs, scratching the back of his neck. “Most of the time, these things are fake. Someone wants attention and pulls one of these, thinking it's funny. This time, it was a real threat.”

A small gasp leaves your lips as you lock eyes with Zoro again. A real bomb? But… Does that mean it wasn't the stalker who planted it? Or does it mean it was him, and he's just showing you again how seriously he can play? 

How easily can he hurt Zoro?

“Another cop killed in the line of duty.”

“Shit.” You exclaim, and Zoro nods while reaching for a beer from the tray. After a sip, his expression softens, and he reaches for your waist again. 

“Come here. We can talk later - we need to talk later - but for now… just come here.” 

Your heart thumps louder than the music, and you feel your phone vibrating in your pocket. He's still watching. 

“It would be the simplest thing…”

You take a step back to avoid Zoro's touch, your smile faltering as you try your hardest to keep a neutral expression. 

“Trouble?” Zoro reaches again, and it's like your chest is exploding as you avoid his touch once more. “You're running again.”

The faintest flicker of pain darkens Zoro's gaze, and you bite your lower lip just to keep it from trembling. 

“I'm not… I… I have to go to the bathroom.” And before he says something else, you rush towards the dimly lit corridor that leads to the bathrooms, but before you can take refuge inside, you hear Zoro call your name. 

He’s following you. 

You pretend that you don't hear him and press on, hastening your step. 

“Wait!” He calls you again, and you raise your hand to push the door open, unshed tears are already pricking the back of your eyes. Would it be simpler to just tell him everything and hope for the best? 

“You'd know why he died.”

You can't tell him. 

“Trouble, stop!” Zoro nearly growls, his hand wrapping around your injured wrist in an effort to stop you. Instant pain shoots up your arm as you let out a hiss and a grunt. Stopping and turning towards him with a pained expression on your face, you almost let out a sob. 

Zoro releases you instantly, his hands shooting up in a defeated position while his brows scrunch, searching your face for any clue as to why you reacted like this. 

“I barely touched you.” Then it happens fast, and you don't have time to react. 

Zoro's eye lowers as his gaze settles on your bruised wrist. You see it widen, his pupil dilating as realisation washes over him. 

“What the fuck?” The music seems farther away in the bathroom corridor, yet it still vibrates low, making your chest thump in the same rhythm as the electronic tempo, but the buzzing in your ears doesn't come from the loud noise. 

You've been caught. 

“Who the fuck did this to you?” Zoro takes a menacing step forward, and you can physically feel the way the air shifts. You have no time to react when he grabs your arm again - avoiding the bruised area - and inspects it, revulsion and fury contorting his expression. “Tell me, Trouble. Now.” Zoro's tone brooks no arguments. He sounds deadly serious. No. He just sounds deadly. 

“I–” You take a deep exhale and try to release your arm from Zoro's grasp, but it doesn't budge. His eye jumps from your face to your arm like he can't stand the sight of the bruise, but can't stand to look away either. “It's nothing, Zo!” You force a laugh, and it sounds fake and high-pitched. “I bumped into someone earlier and almost fell. The guy grabbed my wrist to keep me from falling, and the bracelet dug into my skin.” Another fake laugh. “You know how clumsy I am.”

That was believable. You think. 

Zoro's jaw clenches and unclenches, and he snaps his neck, rotating his head as he also takes a deep exhale, a gesture meant to calm himself down. 

“Lie to me one more time, Trouble…” 

“I'm not–”

“You are! That's not an accidental bruise! Stop trying to fucking gaslight me. What the fuck is going on? Who the fuck do I have to kill?”

Shit. Fuck. Shit. 

Bzzzz. Bzzzz. 

“You're being dramatic, Zoro, it really is nothing, I–” 

“You stop showing up, you look like a ghost, you don't eat, you're scared, jumpy, you run from me and avoid my touch. Yet yesterday, you clung to me as if I was your lifeline.” Zoro takes another step forward, and now he's almost flush with you. 

Safety. He's safety. 

Bzzzz. Bzzzz. 

“And now this? Let me in. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”

You can't. 

“Zo…”

“There you guys are! Come on! We're going to sing happy birthday to Nami before Luffy raids the fridge and eats the cake by himself.” Usopp says, without really realising he’s intruded on a private conversation, but you couldn't be more thankful to him. 

You take the opportunity while Zoro's distracted to actually run away from him, confirming his earlier affirmation that you're running and not caring one bit. 

He can hate you all he wants. He can even be hurt with you. 

You just can't bear it if he actually ends up hurt. 

Or worse. 

Dead. 

-*-

The thumping music stopped just for Nami. The DJ got the birthday melody playing, and the whole club is celebrating your friend's birthday, even the ones that don't know her. 

You can't stop a small smile from spreading on your lips: everybody loves Nami. 

You somehow managed to lose Zoro amongst the hordes of people - he's big and bulky, so that gives him more trouble to manoeuvre around the crowd - and as soon as Nami blows out the candles, just after she and Vivi share a sweet kiss, you hug her and make up a quick excuse to leave the party early. 

Then you flee the club without another thought. Not even caring if you don't have a ride home or if you didn't say goodbye to your friends. 

You just need to get away from Zoro and his questioning. 

The slight night chill and the difference in temperature make you shiver, though another buzz from your phone assures you the tremble comes from something other than the cold. 

Yet, before you take two steps, his voice makes you stop. 

“Stop running from us.” It’s Zoro. “Stop running from me.” He sounds exasperated and conflicted. 

Your shoulders slump forward as you inhale deeply. He's relentless, and he will get to the bottom of this if he keeps pushing. And you can't allow that. 

Even if it will destroy you. 

“Tell me what's wrong, Trouble.” You turn to face him, and your knees wobble. Zoro's eye is full of anguish. He runs a hand through his hair and paces forward - everything in his posture is desperate. “I don't know what else to do to help you. I've tried being tough, I've tried giving you space, I'm trying to be understanding… Trouble… meet me in the middle. Please.”

You can't do this. You can't. He looks so broken, so helpless. And this could be easily remedied if you just told him what's going on. 

But you can't. Because you know the Stalker will kill Zoro. And you can't bear that. You'd rather be scared and trapped for the rest of your life than risk Zoro's. 

Zoro sees you struggling and takes full advantage of it, trying to sway you by cupping your face as he forces you to look at him. 

“Let me in.” He pleads with a whisper. 

Closing your eyes, you open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your voice was stolen. The lump in your throat grows, and so does the pain in your chest. 

There's no other way. 

“You got it all wrong, Zoro.” Your voice sounds foreign and affected. Still, you now focus your gaze on Zoro's scar. Not his eye, you can't bear that. “I'm not interested. I never was.”

Zoro's hands twitch slightly as his brow furrows, but you barely give him time to process your words before you deliver more pain. 

“You just can't take a hint, can you? I'm trying to get away from you, but you keep pushing. I don't care for you like that, Zoro.”

You have to close your eyes to keep away the moisture and to prevent acknowledging Zoro's pain.

“Gosh, stop being clingy and needy. Leave me alone. That's all. I'm fine, I just need you to give me space.”

Zoro's hands part with your face torturously slow. You don't look him in the eye anymore, clenching your fists to prevent them from shivering violently. 

But you stand your ground. 

You need to push Zoro away. He needs to be safe. Even if your heart is shattering. 

“Bullshit.”

“What?”

He stopped touching you, but he didn't back away. And as your eyes raise to meet his, you can see steely determination where before was only despair. 

“You heard me: Bull. Shit.”

Bzzzz. Bzzzz. 

Fuck. 

“I'm dead serious, Zoro. This was fun and all, but I'm done. Leave me alone.”

You turn on your heel, trapping a sob behind clenched teeth and fighting back tears. 

“Is this how you want to play? I can see what you're trying to do, Trouble, and it's bullshit.”

Bzzzz. 

You shouldn't read it. 

Yet you do. 

Unknown: Try harder, Kitten, or I'll make him go away permanently. 

“I’m not playing at anything. You don't matter.” The words leave your lips in the form of a whisper, but they linger in the air as if they were poisonous gas. Your insides twist and turn, and you feel nauseous. 

“Say that again, Trouble.” You barely hear him, not only because of all the ringing in your ears, but also because his hurt is drowning the words. 

Bzzzz.

No, no, no. You can't. 

Bzzzz. 

You have to. 

“I said–”

“Turn around and say it to my face.”

A sob claws its way up your throat, and you swallow it back down. You need to keep it together for now. 

With a slow turn, you face Zoro's disbelief, willing your heart to slow down, trying to keep your own emotions at bay before you collapse in tears. 

“You don't matter.” You repeat the words, and the way Zoro's face turns from disbelief to pain is immediate and heartbreaking. “I was just having fun, but I didn't expect you to become so obsessed with me.”

You aimed to hurt, and it worked. 

Zoro takes a step back as his eye faces the ground. The way his chest rises up and down with heavy gasps almost brings out the tears you're trying so hard to suppress. 

“Goodbye.”

You turn and hasten your step, wanting to get away from him as fast as you can. 

“Fine.” Your steps waver for a second when you hear Zoro’s voice, before you return to your uneven stride. “Fine! I'll back off. But I know you're lying to me.”

He doesn't say anything else, and you don't want to acknowledge the pain you heard in his voice. The pain you caused. Because your own pain is unbearable and immense. 

And now you've pushed away the one person who would help and protect you unconditionally. 

Bzzzz. 

Unknown: That's my good girl. The punishment worked. You're almost ready. 

-*-

Fuck, fuck, fuck! 

Zoro grits his teeth as his eye follows your shrinking form, watching it disappear into the dark horizon. Every freaking instinct tells him to follow you, but you've just pushed him away with everything you've got. 

‘You don't matter.’

“Fuck!”

“Hey! What's going on?” Usopp places his hand on Zoro's shoulder, and he sighs, running a desperate hand through his hair. 

“Nothing.” Then Zoro spots Kaya buttoning her jacket. “You leaving?”

“Yeah, I'm taking Kaya home, we have an early day tomorrow.” Usopp looks around and spots your disappearing form. “Where's she going?”

“What did you do?” Kaya interjects, hands already placed on her hips with a menacing scowl to back up her tiny, aggressive stance. Usopp’s brow raises at his girlfriend, and then he mimics her stance, his gaze also demanding answers Zoro doesn't really want to give. Zoro grits his teeth again, trapping a growl against them. He's so pissed, he can't even think straight. 

“I didn't do anything!” He answers, exasperated. “Fuck! Usopp, can you give her a ride home? She just fucking left.”

Usopp nods, and Kaya jogs a little, trying to catch up with you before you gain more distance from them. So Zoro starts walking towards the club again before you come back, wanting to avoid another confrontation. 

“Thanks.” He pats Usopp’s back and goes inside to say goodbye to his friends and grab his stuff. 

This shit’s not over. You may think you've pushed him away with your performance, but all you did was reel him in more. Zoro had his suspicions, but now he's sure. 

Someone is messing with you. And though his brain is telling him that someone is connected to Lucci and the store clerk, his heart is trying to push that possibility away. Because that fucker is dangerous, and Zoro's hoping against all hope that he didn't set his eyes on you. 

Or Zoro’s going to have to murder someone. 

Zoro's jaw keeps clenching as he drives towards the station. Even though he has the night off, he can't stay still. He's going to present his suspicions to Captain Mihawk and then forge a plan to protect you. Even if he has to drag your ass to the station and lock you in a cell. 

He'll fucking do it. 

Anything to keep you safe. 

You're not going to spend another fucking day terrified of something you won't even tell him about. 

‘You don't matter.”

Like shit, he doesn't. You can lie to him all you want. 

He'll never give up on you. 

-*-

It's barely after midnight when Usopp and Kaya drop you off at home. They have to get up early in the morning, so they couldn't party  late, and you told them you weren’t feeling very well. 

Neither of them pressed because they could clearly see the tears you were trying so hard to fight back. And you're sure they both know that you're crying because of Zoro, seeing as it was him who told them to give you a ride. 

They just don't know that you were the asshole who brought the pain to both of you. 

As Usopp’s car disappears down the driveway, you bolt the lock on the front door and place a chair against the doorknob, knowing deep down that it won't keep the stalker away, but still aiming for a sense of safety you know you won't achieve. 

You do the same to your room, discard your club clothes, and finally look in the mirror to see the mark he left there. Your eyes widen as your trembling fingers run over the bruise: you can clearly identify the teeth marks, there's still caked blood around the wound and it's already turning a dark bruise colour.

You choke back sobs as you disinfect the wound and dress in your pyjamas. Outside, the weather seems to match your mood as you start to hear the gentle pitter-patter of the soft rain against the window. 

You feel drained and exhausted. You were, once again, pushed into a corner. Never have you felt so trapped, helpless, and lonely. All the earlier fight, the will to try and find ways to get out of this predicament, left your body along with the hurtful words you delivered to Zoro.

‘You don’t matter.’

Gosh… he’s everything! But if it takes breaking you both apart just to save him, then you’ll do it over and over again.

Tomorrow is another day, and maybe after some serious consideration, you’ll know what to do.

As you curl up in your bed, trying to stay awake, but already knowing you'll succumb to exhaustion after having cried your heart out, you glance at your buzzing phone before closing your eyes. 

Unknown: Such a good Kitten. My beautiful Princess. My love. Sleep. I'll watch over you. 

-*-

You wake up with a jolt, feeling that something is amiss. You look around, your eyes darting to every shadow and every corner because your room feels wrong. Yet, you find everything in the same place. The shadows are still, and the room is quiet. 

Your heart thrums against your chest, and you take a deep breath to try and calm down. It must've been a nightmare. 

Patting your nightstand, you grab your phone. 01:15. It's still so early. Why did you wake up so suddenly?

And then you notice it. At first, it's just a red blur standing in your nightstand, but then, as you focus your wet eyes, they widen in fear, and you clasp your hand over your mouth. 

There's a single red rose in the nightstand. He's been in your room. 

He was near you. 

A sob disturbs the quietness of the night, and almost immediately, it gets drowned out by a loud thunderclap. And then, you see something else. 

Trembling fingers reach out, and you grab the small paper: it's a photo. And when your eyes adjust to the image and your brain processes it, you stay frozen in place, your breath held in suspension as more tears flood your eyes. 

It’s a polaroid of you sleeping. Your brows are furrowed, and your cheek is wet, but what steals your breath is the huge, veiny, tanned hand that's gripping your hair in possession. The word ‘mine’ is scribbled in red across the picture in a distinct claim. 

He was in your house. 

He was in your room. 

He touched you. 

And you didn't even notice.

Taglist: @rosidaze @beachaddict48 @armiliadawn @jintaka-hane @sprinkklz @baby5555 @hopelesslover06 @mars-mizuko @sleepykittycx @nerium-lil @eustasscapitankid @ren-ni @jqperi @lycoriskalmia @daydreamer-in-training @iloveyoushanks @thegalaxysedge22 @kyllium @keiva1000 @chibinasuu @my-name-is-heartache @laidenbreecatchall

Liked this story? Like my writing? Consider buying me a Ko-Fi, please!

[pieces-by-me]

Just read all the Zoro parts and I’m so hooked, bet your butts I’m gonna read all the other once as well!

Sources for images: |Ace| |Kid| |Zoro| |Law| |Sanji|

This is a series focused on five different love interests. Here's how it works: there's five introductory chapters where we get to know the female reader's background and, in each chapter, she meets one of the love interests. Just a first meet-cute.

Then, I will write a different love story for each, as if they're different timelines, continuing from the last chapter of the introductory chapters!

Summary: You had your life in Grand Line City all figured out. A wonderful job, a fiancé and a shared apartment. Until you found out he was cheating. Your father, Shanks, had a horse riding accident and you decided that this was just the right time to return home. You were expecting a peaceful, uneventful life back in the Calm Belt, but, fate had other plans. Think of all the rom/coms that make you feel good because you know the couple will end together. This is it. Enjoy!

|Chapter 1 - Ace| |Chapter 2 - Kid| |Chapter 3 - Zoro| |Chapter 4 - Law| |Chapter 5 - Sanji|

Firestarter - Ace's Story (Complete! 53+k words)

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You intended to have some alone time, to reflect and heal, but your childhood friend's older brother, Ace, seems to be there just to upset that fragile peace you're striving for. He's a flirt and a womaniser. But why does he also have to be so handsome and perfect? And how long can you resist his charms?

|Chapter 1| |Chapter 2| |Chapter 3| |Chapter 4| |Chapter 5| |Chapter 6| |Chapter 7| |Chapter 7.5🔞| |Chapter 8🔞| |Chapter 9| |Chapter 10| |Epilogue|

The Great Pretender - Law's Story (Complete 83+k words)

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You and Law (your father's doctor) start to build a flirty friendship because of your father’s procedure. So much so that when he’s invited to Baby 5’s wedding (his cousin), he asks you to be his date. His uncle Doflamingo - who is filthy rich - is very adamant on finding a suitable wife for him. Seeing as he wants to avoid that, he asks you to pretend to be his girlfriend for the weekend.

|Chapter 1| |Chapter 2| |Chapter 3| |Chapter 4| |Chapter 5 🔞| |Chapter 6🔞| |Chapter 7| |Chapter 8| |Chapter 9| |Chapter 10🔞| |Chapter 11| |Chapter 12🔞| |Chapter 13🔞| |Chapter 14🔞| |Chapter 15| |Chapter 16| |Chapter 17| |Epilogue|

Trouble - Zoro's Story

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You and Zoro are slowly returning to your easy friendship filled with banter and flirting and you actually begin to glimpse a future with the green-haired cop. But then you start to receive weird gifts. They quickly escalate to manipulative texts. And now you're stuck in a spiral of terror and there's no way to get help because the Stalker, whoever he is, is threatening something other than just your life.

|Chapter 1| |Chapter 2| |Chapter 3| |Chapter 4| |Chapter 5| |Chapter 6| |Chapter 7| |Chapter 8| |Chapter 9|

Source for pic

Bonus - Lament - A Meet-Cute Spoiler

|Drabble|

[pieces-by-me]

the fact that walls get dusty is ridiculous. you're vertical. act like it.

[pieces-by-me]

“Fyp” we don’t do that here. I mean, Tumblr the app and website tries, but we don't do that here.

“But then how will anyone see it?” peer review.

“How do you get engagement?” by talking and engaging with other people. Or making a devastating typo. Either way.

“But—” Listen, you’re not doing solo stand up anymore. This is a group improv class being held in a SAW dungeon. Good luck.

[pieces-by-me]

"You want to know what my record is? Four times."

[pieces-by-me]

tiger lily

[pieces-by-me]

I feel like folks talking like Tumblr is the last bastion of reason on the Internet are forgetting that the owner of Tumblr is demonstrably cut from the same cloth as Zuckerberg and Musk. Tumblr's moderation polices aren't less bigoted, they're just less competently implemented.

[pieces-by-me]

CONGRATULATIONS to 1200 people!!!! 🎊🎉🍾🥳

Don’t know why I only see this now but better Kate then never 😅.

You deserve all the love in the world and I’m glad you have so many people that see that as well!! I haven’t been on here in quite some time (life is weird) but maybe I’ll see if I can write something for you in the next months or so.

Enjoy your day and I hope you are doing well ✨☀️🥳

Cherry Pie's Hot Fic Summer Challenge

I’m throwing a party in honor of the 1.2k beach babes following me! 😜

❛ ━━━━━━·☾ ✼ ☽ ·━━━━━━ ❜

Rules

To join pick a fandom and a prompt from the hella long list of summery prompts below. If there’s one not listed that you’d prefer (unlikely 😆 there’s like a 100), let me know.

You can go for a story, a moodboard, a gifset, a photo set, an edit, or any kind of art (digital, hand-drawn, etc.)

Drabbles encouraged (300-1k words) but honestly, just write whatever.

You can participate as many times as you want but each prompt can only be used once (they’re pretty broad so you can still get away with your idea if you pick an adjacent prompt 😉 #challengehacks)

You can combine more than one prompt for sure. But no more than two prompts per entry.

Any genre, kink, and pairing/ship in Canon, Modern, or AU timeline (RPF included) is okay, as long as you tag the appropriate warnings and use the read more button.

I’m aware many of the prompts are better suited for Modern AUs but I still think many of them could be adapted to period pieces. Think creatively!

Fandom crossovers are allowed. Love me those.

Stories should be in English but I don’t mind if you include other languages.

You don’t need to follow me to participate. (Seriously, don’t be shy.)

RSVP with an ask, comment, or DM telling me your choice.

Tag the work using #cherry pie’s hot fic summer and please DM it to me as well, in case Dumblr doesn’t notify me.

This post will double as a Masterlist so I’ll update it with your submissions 😎

The fake deadline is September 1st.

Thanks to @mrsalwayswrite and @adrille88 for helping me brainstorm this idea. 🫶🏼

❛ ━━━━━━·☾ ✼ ☽ ·━━━━━━ ❜

Fandoms

Vikings, The Last Kingdom, The Witcher, MCU, X-Men, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Supernatural, Peaky Blinders, American Gods, The Mortal Instruments, Outlander, Doctor Who, DC, Star Wars, Dark, Lord of the Rings, and anything Garrett Hedlund or Tom Hardy have been in.

❛ ━━━━━━·☾ ✼ ☽ ·━━━━━━ ❜

Prompts

Abandoned island

AC system

Acapulco

Adventure Park

Amusement Park || Modern Ivar fic @/youbloodymadgenius || Tech Boy Moodboard @/sausagesquirrel

Andalucía

Aquariums

Arcades || @/riverkloss

Archery

Atlantis

Bachata

Backpacking

Bake sale || Finan AU fic @persephones-journey

Ball pit

Banana split

Barbecue || Ragnarssons Fic & Edit @/bragisrunes

Basketball

Bathing a dog/pet

Bathing suits || Modern Ivar fic @/istorkyou

Bay

Beach || Modern Hvitserk Moodboard @/adrille88

Beach body

Beach house

Beer

Bermuda Triangle

Bike riding || Modern Hvitserk fic @/adrille88

Blackout

Block party

Boats

Bonfire || @/mrsalwayswrite

Bongo drums

Bora Bora

Botanical garden

Bouncing castle

Bowling

Broken fan

Bubbles

Building forts || @/mrsalwayswrite

Cajun food

Calypso

Camping/Glamping || Camping @/zablife

Cancún

Canyons

Car washing

Carnivals || Æthelstan x Osbert fic @/morosemagick

Cartwheels

Caves

Cays/keys

Central Park

Cheerleading

Collecting seashells

Cocktails

Conga line

Convertible car

Coquí frog

Coral reef

Couchsurfing

Cruise Ship/Ocean liner

Deep South

Desert trip

Dirt Bike/Four Tracks

Disneyland

Dolphins

Drive-in movies

Dubai

Egypt

El Dorado

Feeding ducks

Festival

Fire hydrant

Fish

Fishing

Flamboyant Tree

Flamenco

Flamingos

Floating island

Flower crown || @/solinarimoon

Flower necklace/garland

Flowers || Wanda Maximoff fic @/inmyfxith

Flower shop

Fountain of Youth

Fourth of July

Frat House party

Fruits || Star Wars fic @/mylifeisactuallyamess

Fundraising

Garage sale

Gardening

Golf/Golf club

Greenhouse

Gym

Hawaii

Hibiscus flower

Hiking

Hotel stay

Hot springs

Hot tub/jacuzzi

Hula Hoop

Hurricane/Storm

Ibiza

Ice cream || Modern Ivar fic @/youbloodymadgenius || Modern Hvitserk fic @/adrille88

Island tours

Jamaica

Jetski

Jungle

Kayaking

Kites

Koi fish

Lake vacation || Vikings fic @/mylifeisactuallyamess

Laser Tag

Lemonade stand

Lifeguard

Lighthouse

Lumberjacks

Mango

Mangrove forest

Mardi Gras || @/mrsalwayswrite

Mariana’s Trench

Marshes

Mediterranean Sea

Merengue

Mermaids/merfolk

México

Midsommar Festival

Music festival

Monsoon season

Morocco

Mountains/hills

Mountain climbing

National Parks

Obstacle course

Outdoor concert

Paddleboard

Paintball

Parks

Perú

Picking flowers || @/runnning-outof-time

Picnic

Pier

Pirates || @/mrsalwayswrite

Playground

Pool Boys

Pool Cleaners

Pool floats

Pool table

Pool party

Popsicles

Puerto Rico (bonus points for this one 🥰) || AHA fic @/punkrocknpearls

Punta Cana

Pyramids

Raiding

Rain

Rainforest

Reggae Roots

Reggaetón

River

Rio de Janeiro Carnival || Ragnarssons moodboard @/nanahachikyuu

Roadtrip

Rock climbing

Roller skating

Rooftop party

Rowing

Safari

Salsa

Samba

S’mores || Æthelstan x Osbert fic @/morosemagick

Sailors

Sandcastles || Modern Ivar fic @/procrastinatingsoicanreadfanfics

School trip

Scuba diving

Sea raid

Selkies || Eskel fic @/writingmysanity || MadWife moodboard @/sausagesquirrel

Sharks

Shipwreck

Skateboarding

Skydiving

Sleepovers

Smoothies

Snorkeling

Soccer/football

Softball/Baseball

Spring Break

Stargazing

Street dancing

Summer birthday party

Summer camp

Summer job

Summer love

Sunbathing/tanning

Sunflowers || Vikings edit @malenamoonlight

Sunglasses

Sunscreen

Sunrise

Sunset

Surfing

Surviving in the wilderness

Swamps/bogs

Swimming

Swings

Tailgating

Tahiti

Tennis

Tiki bar

The Amazon

The Bahamas

The Caribbean

Trampoline

Trans-Atlantic voyage

Trans-Pacific voyage

Travel agency

Treehouses

Trekking

Ukulele

Viking raid

Visiting relatives

Volcanos

Volleyball

Wall climbing

Water balloons

Waterfalls

Water guns

Watermelons

Water park

Water sprinklers

West Indies

Whales

Yacht club

Yachts

Yoga

Zoo

❛ ━━━━━━·☾ ✼ ☽ ·━━━━━━ ❜

Hostages

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Main Masterlist

[pieces-by-me]

Happy birthday, lovely @adrille88! 💕Sending you all the love, warmth, and best wishes for the new year ahead. 😘

[pieces-by-me]

[pieces-by-me]

Was having a discussion about fic with a friend and needed to make this. Please enjoy.

[pieces-by-me]

I’m glad you liked it ☺️✨ haven’t written Ivar in a while and I feared that I wouldn’t get him right 😁 but the snark is there.

Bright Days and Starry Nights 2

well… as always took me this way longer then I actually wanted it to. But at least i finally wrote another part for your challenge @saldelys. I‘m sorry that its just a bit shorter this time. I hope you still joy it. Also, me and my friend are doing like writing circles more often now so I hope she will help me and kick me in my butt more so that i write more.

Words: 962

Summary: You never know when or if you find your soulmate. Sometimes you find them in the future, other times they come from the past. Literally.

Warnings: Not edited, written on my iPad so it was a bit rocky, also there are probably some errors here and there. But other then my writing nothing. English is not my first language.

Kellar really should have been more careful with what she wished for. At first she wished that she could maybe see the eyes of the weird stranger again, at least one more time. But this is getting ridiculous. His eyes are everywhere.

In the morning when the sun changes the blue from dark to light, she thinks about him. When she picks up the book she’s currently reading, she sees his eyes in the cover. Even that stupid IKEA bag that has been stained with bleach from moving houses one too many times, she remembers him instantly.

What’s up with that? Kellar didn’t understand how this stranger, who she didn’t even really meet, like they only saw each other across the street for a second, was still up front and centre in her mind. Thinking about him, what he might be doing right now, if he really was on his way to a convention, and if not why the hell did he dress like that?

She decided that enough was enough. Packing her little blue journal, of course it had to be the same blue colour that’s haunting her by this point, an umbrella and a granola bar in her bad she made her way to her favourite spot in the city.

She found it after visiting her grandma in the centre a couple of days after Marlie was placed in it. It’s a little ways out of the city, up the hill that is a nice place to go hiking or for tourists to look out over the city. Because when you go to the lookout point and then just keep going up and behind it you find this small secluded little place. Maybe a bit too near to the edge of the hill but if you’re careful nothing will happen.

Strangely no one really goes there. Every time Kellar goes there there’s no one there. Which is perfect for her, so no one bothers her. The only other person sh told about it was Sam. She thought it might be a nice place for him as well when he gets a bad day and wants to be out but alone.

Sitting so high up and looking over the city just gives you an otherworldly feeling. Like nothing can get you there. And if its night time and all the starts are out you even feel like you're part of the universe. Yes this was definitely Kellar's favourite place.

So now here she was. Sitting on a little blanket at her favourite place. It was getting darker by the second and if she stayed here for another hour or so she could watch the sunset. But something still felt off. She still couldn't get this stupid guy out of her head. Even after writing it all out so that it would leave her head. He was still there. Practically looking back at her whenever she closed her eyes.

What the hell?! Why won't he leave me alone?

Heaving a deep sigh Kellar closed her eyes. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. And count to ten. That was always what her Marlie told her whenever she felt a tantrum bubbling up in her granddaughter.

Ten. And her eyes were open again.

“Great, now I actually see the dude in front of me.”

To her utter disappointment after she opened her eyes the man was not gone. No, now she could see him right in front of her. Weird cloths and all. He just stood there, looking around as if he didn't know how he got there. Kellar thought that she might need to go to the doctor now, because seeing weird people usually is not a good sign.

“Hey you! What are you staring at?!”

What....

Now he actually had a voice she could here? Something is definitely not right. This man stood in front of her staring at her just as confused as she was. Why was he confused? He was standing on a mountain, clothed in full warrior attire seemingly coming out of nowhere and he was confused to see her sitting in her spot? Kellar was sure that she would have heard him climbing up the hill. With his crutches he would have made a lot of noice, looking at them she thought she wouldn’t be able to even lift them so heaven did they seem. Also it would have taken him a lot of time. Even Kellar, who is quite fit, needs at least 30 minutes to climb up the hill. So how did he?

“Are you deaf? Why do you think you have a right to stare at me?”

Ok now he was not only looking ridiculous but also plain rude. Never did Kellar see this weird man at her favourite place and now he thinks he has the right to insult her? Asshat.

“Dude what the hell?!” indignant whit this whole situation she reserved to the only defence she had. Opening up the big mouth of hers. “This is my place and I have never seen you here. So why the hell do you think you are allowed to be ignorant and mean to me and string at me as if I was an exotic bird, buddy?”

If Kellar thought the man looked ridiculous before, he seemed completely ludicrous now. Mouth open, eyes wide and finger almost pointing up and at her. As if accusing her of a bad deed. Like he couldn’t grasp the fact that someone talked back to him.

“Do you not know who you speak to women?”

Apparently to a crazy person. “Should I know who you are jerk?”

“I am Ivar the Boneless you ignorant thing. I am the most famous Viking that ever was.”

What the fuck….

/////////////////////////

As always I would be happy with some feedback if you liked this little thing and I hope you have a lovely day or night ✨

[pieces-by-me]

Bright Days and Starry Nights 2

well… as always took me this way longer then I actually wanted it to. But at least i finally wrote another part for your challenge @saldelys. I‘m sorry that its just a bit shorter this time. I hope you still joy it. Also, me and my friend are doing like writing circles more often now so I hope she will help me and kick me in my butt more so that i write more.

Words: 962

Summary: You never know when or if you find your soulmate. Sometimes you find them in the future, other times they come from the past. Literally.

Warnings: Not edited, written on my iPad so it was a bit rocky, also there are probably some errors here and there. But other then my writing nothing. English is not my first language.

Kellar really should have been more careful with what she wished for. At first she wished that she could maybe see the eyes of the weird stranger again, at least one more time. But this is getting ridiculous. His eyes are everywhere.

In the morning when the sun changes the blue from dark to light, she thinks about him. When she picks up the book she’s currently reading, she sees his eyes in the cover. Even that stupid IKEA bag that has been stained with bleach from moving houses one too many times, she remembers him instantly.

What’s up with that? Kellar didn’t understand how this stranger, who she didn’t even really meet, like they only saw each other across the street for a second, was still up front and centre in her mind. Thinking about him, what he might be doing right now, if he really was on his way to a convention, and if not why the hell did he dress like that?

She decided that enough was enough. Packing her little blue journal, of course it had to be the same blue colour that’s haunting her by this point, an umbrella and a granola bar in her bad she made her way to her favourite spot in the city.

She found it after visiting her grandma in the centre a couple of days after Marlie was placed in it. It’s a little ways out of the city, up the hill that is a nice place to go hiking or for tourists to look out over the city. Because when you go to the lookout point and then just keep going up and behind it you find this small secluded little place. Maybe a bit too near to the edge of the hill but if you’re careful nothing will happen.

Strangely no one really goes there. Every time Kellar goes there there’s no one there. Which is perfect for her, so no one bothers her. The only other person sh told about it was Sam. She thought it might be a nice place for him as well when he gets a bad day and wants to be out but alone.

Sitting so high up and looking over the city just gives you an otherworldly feeling. Like nothing can get you there. And if its night time and all the starts are out you even feel like you're part of the universe. Yes this was definitely Kellar's favourite place.

So now here she was. Sitting on a little blanket at her favourite place. It was getting darker by the second and if she stayed here for another hour or so she could watch the sunset. But something still felt off. She still couldn't get this stupid guy out of her head. Even after writing it all out so that it would leave her head. He was still there. Practically looking back at her whenever she closed her eyes.

What the hell?! Why won't he leave me alone?

Heaving a deep sigh Kellar closed her eyes. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. And count to ten. That was always what her Marlie told her whenever she felt a tantrum bubbling up in her granddaughter.

Ten. And her eyes were open again.

“Great, now I actually see the dude in front of me.”

To her utter disappointment after she opened her eyes the man was not gone. No, now she could see him right in front of her. Weird cloths and all. He just stood there, looking around as if he didn't know how he got there. Kellar thought that she might need to go to the doctor now, because seeing weird people usually is not a good sign.

“Hey you! What are you staring at?!”

What....

Now he actually had a voice she could here? Something is definitely not right. This man stood in front of her staring at her just as confused as she was. Why was he confused? He was standing on a mountain, clothed in full warrior attire seemingly coming out of nowhere and he was confused to see her sitting in her spot? Kellar was sure that she would have heard him climbing up the hill. With his crutches he would have made a lot of noice, looking at them she thought she wouldn’t be able to even lift them so heaven did they seem. Also it would have taken him a lot of time. Even Kellar, who is quite fit, needs at least 30 minutes to climb up the hill. So how did he?

“Are you deaf? Why do you think you have a right to stare at me?”

Ok now he was not only looking ridiculous but also plain rude. Never did Kellar see this weird man at her favourite place and now he thinks he has the right to insult her? Asshat.

“Dude what the hell?!” indignant whit this whole situation she reserved to the only defence she had. Opening up the big mouth of hers. “This is my place and I have never seen you here. So why the hell do you think you are allowed to be ignorant and mean to me and string at me as if I was an exotic bird, buddy?”

If Kellar thought the man looked ridiculous before, he seemed completely ludicrous now. Mouth open, eyes wide and finger almost pointing up and at her. As if accusing her of a bad deed. Like he couldn’t grasp the fact that someone talked back to him.

“Do you not know who you speak to women?”

Apparently to a crazy person. “Should I know who you are jerk?”

“I am Ivar the Boneless you ignorant thing. I am the most famous Viking that ever was.”

What the fuck….

/////////////////////////

As always I would be happy with some feedback if you liked this little thing and I hope you have a lovely day or night ✨