#because i've been going a bit feral about zoro's loyalty lately

[ladycrimsonandblack]

loyalty

Before Luffy, Zoro has never considered himself a loyal person.

He has honor, but that is not the same — he stands by his word when he gives it, allows his prey to lift their swords in their own defense before he takes their bounties, returns favors and kindness given to him. His ideals, in the end, have nothing to do with loyalty to one person, but are entirely dependent on his own private code of honor, and Zoro has never deluded himself otherwise.

He has only ever been loyal to one person, and the only things left of her are a sword and an unbreakable promise. Even those are more dependent on honor than loyalty — the dead do not care, but Zoro keeps himself rigidly on the straight path, determined to see this promise through.

And then, Luffy.

It is not so much a decision as a dawning realization, as he lays bleeding in a little boat, Mihawk victorious over him. But Zoro sees only Luffy — Luffy, who stood by and watched Mihawk skewer him because that's what Zoro wanted and what Luffy promised him; Luffy, who stopped everyone else from interfering; Luffy, who jumped in as soon as Zoro's dream was no longer a deterrent, who raged at Mihawk for hurting his nakama, even though Zoro disgraced himself by losing.

Luffy, who is his captain.

Luffy, who Zoro will follow to the end of the world, to see him become Pirate King.

He makes a promise then, to Luffy, the second promise he ever made on Wado Ichimonji and one just as important as the first.

He does not break this one either.

.

Zoro may not have been loyal before Luffy, but he has always been proud. That, at least, has not changed. 

He’s not the kind of man to resort to violence at the smallest of slights. He lets his crew manhandle him without (much) complaint. He ignores insults to his intelligence without even a change in expression. He shrugs and bears it when people he doesn’t know spout useless crap about his reputation.

But there are things he takes personally. His swords. His dream. His crew. Luffy. 

So when the hyena bastard in the ramshackle bar in Jaya insults three out of four of those things, he damn well wants to slice him into ribbons. 

But Luffy doesn’t want him to. Luffy says to stop, so Zoro stops. Luffy says not to hit them back, no matter what, so Zoro doesn’t, and allows himself to be beaten black and blue. Because that is what Luffy wants, and his pride is a small price to pay, when his captain wants to win. 

They get beaten up and thrown out with mocking jeers. Zoro doesn’t feel ashamed even for a moment.

Luffy, as always, knows exactly what to do.

. 

Zoro has never been afraid of death.

Not as a little kid, waving more swords than he could carry and getting beaten in a dojo every day. Not as a teenager, wandering alone and collecting bounties from some of the most dangerous criminals in the East Blue. Not even now, as a pirate sailing on the Grand Line, facing death every day, and refusing to look away. 

There are things Zoro is afraid of, but death has never been one of them. 

So there is no hesitation in him when he places his swords on the ground and kneels in front of Kuma, begging him to take his head. 

There are reasons that Zoro does not want to die. He still hasn’t fulfilled his dream. It would bring dishonor to both himself and Kuina’s spirit to fail at achieving their goal. But even more, it would be dishonorable to achieve it, and be unworthy of the position. 

He wants to become the world’s greatest swordsman. But what is the worth of a swordsman who could not even protect his own captain? Should Luffy die, reaching his dream would be an empty, unfulfilling thing. 

Zoro will not allow for his dream to be degraded in that way.

So he kneels, and begs Kuma to kill him instead. That would, indeed, be a worthy way to die. 

. 

The second time he kneels is also for Luffy, but this one… This one, he will tell no one. 

There are a lot of things Zoro has found out he is willing to do for Luffy. Fight for him. Win for him. Die for him. But he has never thought he would be ready to bear such disgrace for anyone.

After seeing Luffy’s message in the newspapers, he is proven wrong once again. 

He doesn’t even hesitate. He kneels on the cold stone floor, and bends his neck in supplication even as Mihawk looks on in disappointment and disgust. He begs his greatest enemy to teach him, and he does it for Luffy. Because Luffy almost died. Because the crew could not protect him. Because Zoro has to be so much stronger, strong enough that no one can threaten his crew and captain again. 

So he tosses his pride aside and begs, because that is what Luffy needs of him right now.

He will never share this with anyone. He will keep it from Luffy, because Luffy will know exactly what this means, the dishonor this single decision brings.

Zoro will become the world's greatest swordsman. But, before that, he will have always been Dracule Mihawk’s student. 

The disgrace of it will follow him for the rest of his life. 

.

Zoro never believed in god. 

Not when he was a kid, and Kuina died, and some people in the village claimed it was fate or the will of god; nothing could be done. Not on Skypiea, when one man was so powerful that he could subjugate a whole island and make them acknowledge his godhood. Certainly not on Sabaody, where he met the so-called gods on earth, and watched them defeated under Luffy’s hands. 

Zoro has no need for faith in a bodiless, all-powerful being he has never seen with his own eyes. He has no need for belief in a cosmic entity that could make his life better if only he would pray to them. Zoro believes only in things he sees and knows; himself, his crew, his swords. They have not failed him yet. Zoro knows they never will. 

In Wano, some people call Luffy a god. Zoro’s not really surprised. What he did in the last battle, what he did to Kaidou… Well, Zoro’s seen how people treated Enel all the way back in Skypiea. He knows what awe does to people. 

But Luffy’s not a god. Luffy’s human, painfully, beautifully so. He laughs and cries and hurts, and is so stupid and so clever at the same time, and Zoro doesn’t understand how anyone could think otherwise. Robin talks about Joyboy and ancient deities, and Jimbei mentions Nika and freedom and laughter. It fits Luffy, as much as anything can fit a person like him, but Zoro believes only in what he sees with his own eyes. Luffy’s not a god. 

And the thing is, he doesn’t have to be. 

Zoro never believed in god. But he believes in Luffy. Will believe in Luffy until their dreams are fulfilled, or until he’s six feet under. No other options exist, not for himself or for the rest of the crew.

Either Luffy will be king, or they’ll all be dead. Zoro needs no faith other than that.