#when Nami finds out Sanji is the guy Zoro’s been telling her about she’s pissed

[braimin]

Modern au where sanji is having to get married to some girl he’s never met cause of Judge. He decides he’s gonna go out and find some man to have a one night stand with because he wants to have at least tried it before he spends the rest of his life with a woman he will probably never love.

He meets Zoro in a bar and goes home with him. He’s annoying and rude and he’s rough with Sanji every step of the way and yet Sanji is still so into him. Zoro gives him his number the next morning and Sanji can’t stop himself from calling him for another night. Then he calls again. And again.

And now it’s been months and his wedding is getting closer and closer and he hasn’t even told Zoro he’s engaged. In his defense it’s not like they do much talking. And when they do Zoro’s asking about his cooking and the shit he likes or telling him about his friends. Anytime he asks something that makes Sanji uncomfortable he immediately changes the subject and says he doesn’t expect Sanji to talk about things he doesn’t want to.

So he doesn’t ever say anything until he’s visiting the wedding venue for the first time with his wedding planner and she introduces him to one of her workers. Zoro is seemingly unfazed and he ignores the hand Sanji puts out for him to shake.

“The groom, huh ? Congrats.” Nami apologies for him being so impolite when he just walks away and Sanji tells her it’s totally fine but he’s screaming inside because shit. Zoro has no context for why Sanji is engaged and he definitely thinks he’s just some cheating bastard now.

[yukipri]

One Piece Mermaid AU!

Featuring Luffy as a rubber mermaid who can’t swim, and Ace who carries her on his back as they pirate together.

＊Genderbend warning, fem!Luffy

Sliding in last minute for MerMay, bc idk about you, but I need something to mark that May has passed this year...

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PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, EDIT, TRANSLATE, OR OTHERWISE USE MY ART. To share, please reblog! Reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!!!

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Base headcanons for this AU beneath the cut! ↓ ↓ ↓

Luffy's a mermaid who was raised in Fuusha village, just like in canon. And, just like in canon, despite being a mermaid, she SUCKS at swimming, a fact that Shanks finds absolutely hilarious. She still wants to become a pirate, she still eats her devil fruit and becomes a rubber mer(?), she still gets kidnapped by Higuma (who sees her as an excellent way to rake in cash, given how valuable mermaids are on the slave market), and Shanks still gives her his hat.

As a devil fruit user, Luffy's already atrocious swimming skills are now at zero. She can still breathe under water, but will sink like a stone, her strength sapped by the sea, and if she loses consciousness she'll stop breathing too. Needless to say, she stays out of the water, and the villagers come to accept that sometimes, mermaids just live on land.

Garp still comes back, and is still furious at her wanting to become a pirate (and inwardly, extremely concerned that a bandit tried to catch and sell her), and still takes her to live at Dadan's where she meets Ace.

Ace has no idea what to think of the weird fish-brat who he's now told is gonna be his sibling, and resolutely ignores Luffy. He's inwardly slightly impressed as Luffy continues to follow him through the mountain every day, not even particularly hindered by lack of legs and using a mixture of crawling, squirming, hand-walking, and ricocheting forward with rubber arms to move.

Luffy still meets Sabo the same way as canon, and is still caught by Porchemy, who at first is thrilled because a mer brat! That'll bring in WAY more money than the spare change Ace stole! But in the end, he loses his temper at Luffy's stubbornness and still beats her to a pulp.

Ace and Sabo still rescue Luffy, and they still exchange sake cups and become brothers.

Yes, brothers.

Because at this point, neither Ace nor Sabo nor any of the bandits, nor anyone really on Dawn island save Makino and Garp actually know that Luffy's a girl. Not even Luffy.

The three brothers promise to each other that they'll all leave the island when they turn seventeen, setting out to sea to become pirates (Ace and Sabo are honestly a little concerned, given how often people try to sell Luffy, and how despite aquatic appearances Luffy's vulnerable af in water, but decide to wait and see. They have seven years together, Luffy ten until seventeen, who knows how much stronger their baby brother will get in that time).

Sabo "dies."

Ace and Luffy continue to train, and things don't change until Ace is seventeen, shortly before he sets out to sea.

He's let Luffy crawl into his blanket to sleep with him (partially cold-blooded, Lu gets cold easily when inactive), and Ace realizes that his lil brother's chest feels a bit lumpy.

Concerned, he makes Luffy have it checked out by the bandits, who are shocked to find developing...breasts?

That can't be right...right?

Dadan makes a call to Garp, who snorts and says of COURSE Luffy's a girl, didn't he say granddaughter?

No, he had not, he had only mentioned "grand child."

Everyone is shocked, but none more so than Ace, who really doesn't know what to do with this new information.

(Luffy's not quite sure what a "girl" is, and when she asks Ace, Ace honestly doesn't know how to define "girl" either, so she doesn't get what the big deal is)

Ace realizes he's troubled because he can't remember the number of times he's rescued Luffy from potential traffickers, and the number of times he's heard the lament, "Pity it's not female, it'd be worth quadruple," from the kidnappers before he beats them to a pulp.

He already had doubts about letting Luffy go out to sea alone, three years after he's left. But now knowing that Luffy's a girl, and one of the most sought-after species that traffickers target...he knows the world out there is much bigger than a teeny peaceful East Blue island, and Luffy may not get lucky every time, and may not be strong enough in just three years.

But at the same time, it's not like he can order her to stay here. There's no way Luffy'd listen; the sea calls to her, freedom calls to her, and Ace understands that more than anyone.

Sabo, Ace thinks, what would you do?

The night before he leaves, Ace tells Luffy that there's been a change of plans.

He's still leaving for sea. He's going to get stronger, and work his way towards becoming Pirate King.

BUT, three years later, Luffy will NOT leave Dawn Island alone.

Ace promises that he'll come back, a stronger pirate capable of looking out for his baby brother (because girl or not, they exchanged vows of brotherhood, and that's something that can't be changed).

He refuses to let Luffy be his captain, he's still got his pride, but maybe, maybe if Luffy becomes strong enough, he'll let her be co-Captain.

Luffy is thrilled, because she wanted to be pirates WITH Ace, and grudgingly accepts the compromise, and promises to train and wait for Ace's return.

Ace leaves Dawn island, and makes a name for himself on the Grand Line (he's PISSED when he finds out he's eaten a devil fruit, because now how's he supposed to rescue Lu from drowning when he can't swim himself???).

He even eventually makes it to Whitebeard, and eventually comes to admire the man. Whitebeard invites him to his crew, and Ace honestly replies that a large part of him wants to accept...but he can't. He promised his baby brother that they'll be pirates and co-captains together, and he can't join another pirate crew without Luffy agreeing too. Even so, and he knows it's selfish of him, he wants to call Whitebeard his father.

Whitebeard tells him that Ace is already his son, regardless of where his allegiances lie, and gives him his blessing to return to East Blue to fetch Luffy. Whitebeard laughs that he can't wait to meet the lil brat that Ace speaks so highly of, and for Ace to hurry up and come back to the New World so they can meet.

Ace plans on traveling light, his former crew all choosing to join the Whitebeard pirates except for his first mate, Deuce. Ace loves his crew, but they're also his crew, and knows that he wants to make their crew with Luffy. So he thinks he and Deuce will be a good starting point (You're just bringing me along bc you want someone who can swim on the crew, Deuce accuses).

As they're planning on leaving, Marco lets slip to fellow commander Thatch that he heard that Ace's "little brother" is actually a super cute girl.

The next morning, Thatch shows up too, insisting that he come along, because hey! He's been with the Whitebeards for ages and hasn't been to Paradise in a while, he wants some change! And won't it be nice to have someone as reliable as him along, just until they get back to the New World and reunite with the Whitebeards? Really he has no ulterior motives like wanting to check out Ace's supposedly hyper hot baby brother-sister!

Ace is suspicious, but Thatch is already on board and the other Whitebeards are already waving so he lets it go.

(Shortly after they leave, Thatch discovers a devil fruit. Deuce tells him to sell the damn thing, it'll taste like shit, but Thatch thinks boy wouldn't it be great to be able to woo Ace's hot brother with a really cool devil fruit power. So he eats it, and yeah it tastes like shit, but now he can control Darkness which is sorta badass?)

(Somewhere on the Whitebeard ships, Blackbeard is still waiting for someone to find the darkness devil fruit, and well, it doesn't happen)

Before Ace returns to Dawn Island, part of him still hopes that Luffy looks passably like a guy. Having been to Fishman island, having befriended Jinbe, he knows that while mermen can still be targeted, mermaids are exponentially more vulnerable. He's learned the kinds of clothing that can help conceal tails, and is hoping that there's a slim chance they might be able to be pirates without the world knowing that Lu's a mermaid.

His hopes are shot when Luffy rockets into his arms at the dock, and his face is immediately buried in enormous tits that definitely weren't there three years ago.

Despite Ace's growing concerns (and red face; why does he feel so hot??? It's not his devil fruit...), Ace lets Luffy give Deuce a beating (why me?!) to claim her position as Ace's Co-Captain of the newly established ASL pirates (because if we're pirates together, Sabo has to be with us too!).

Luffy's gotten a lot stronger, but is still utterly ignorant of the outside world and the dangers it holds (such as the drooling Thatch who immediately wins Luffy over with his cooking despite Ace's burning glares). She's reckless and falls into the ocean every damn day, and while Deuce dives in after her and they've discovered her useful ability to talk to fish to ask for help, it still gives Ace heart attacks.

They still pick up more crew members while in East Blue, including Roronoa Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji, a pervy cook who competes daily with Thatch for Luffy's affections through food (Luffy appreciates the food).

At Arlong Park, Luffy encounters fishmen for the first time in her life. Arlong mocks Luffy's choice of friends and family, and invites her to join his crew made of her own kind. Fishmen and mer are the superior race, and Luffy will make a fine wife, Arlong says.

Luffy breaks his nose off, and Nami joins their crew.

Luffy's chosen mode of transportation is on the back of one of her sturdier crew mates, usually Ace, but often Zoro too. She unfortunately hates all the long skirts/robes Ace suggested for her to hide her tail, and so Ace has decided that being as intimidating as possible while carrying his brother glued to his back is the only way to go.

Needless to say, news of the former Spade Pirates Captain + Whitebeard Commander Thatch (are they an extension of the Whitebeards??) establishing the new ASL pirates spreads fast. That, and rumors that there's a beautiful young mermaid on board who can't swim. And despite the strength of the crew and their attempts at vigilance, Luffy's still dumb and gullible, and is kidnapped (and rescued) a dozen times before they're even on the Grand Line.

(after a few times, Luffy's uncharacteristically quiet, and privately asks Ace if they can break up the crew. She's holding Ace back; she not only made him come back to her, but half their adventures just seem to be her crew rescuing her. She's strong enough to defeat enemies, but not save herself. Ace tells her to shut up, and never bring this up again; they're BROTHERS, and he's not going to leave her behind or make her abandon her dreams when she can't accomplish them alone, and that's his choice. Luffy doesn't bring it up again, but works harder than ever to become stronger and earn recognition as co-Captain when the world seems intent on thinking of her as Ace's pet.)

During one of these kidnappings, Luffy's successfully brought all the way to an auction house before her crew can rescue her. An auction house that unbeknownst to them, was under investigation by the Revolutionary Army.

Liberating slaves is an unfortunately common mission for them, and Sabo's doing final sweeps as Koala frees the last of them when he notices a tank stowed away in a corner. He's familiar with these tanks, used to showcase mermaids in the rare occasions one can be caught, and it looks empty but he's still drawn to it for some reason.

It's only when he gets closer that he notices a mermaid crumpled at the bottom of the enclosure. She's completely slumped over, and he's afraid she's already gone, even as something about her screams with familiarity.

He's cracked the tank and has reached in to pull her out, when the wall behind him explodes in flames, revealing a furious Ace who snarls at the strange man with his hands on his baby brother...

...and then Sabo's memories come back.

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Something like that???? For an initial HCs dump????

This AU has continued! A LOT! Check out the comics, illustrations, and text stories for this AU under the Mermaid AU section of my One Piece Masterpost!

As always, REBLOGS, tags, asks, and comments greatly appreciated!

Advance posts for this AU and more are on my Patreon! (Patreon(.)com/YukiPri)

[all-piece]

How well can the Strawhats take a joke/prank pulled on them?

Happy New Year guys I thought I’d make a post on how well the Strawhats can take a joke when they make fun of each other. A roast, a scrap, a tease if you will. Don’t ask me why, I’ve just been thinking about it haha - Let’s do this!

Luffy can always take it BUT only because he doesn’t know he’s being made fun of, even if physical violence is involved. Boy just thinks it’s a game and he’s in on it too. Doesn’t really count as being able to take it but once Usopp or someone tells him he’s being made fun of he just laughs and accidentally says something meaner back without meaning too lol.

Zoro can 99% take it. He doesn’t rise to the younger strawhats pulling shit on him, he’s got a soft spot for them and just kind of lets a roast slide off him most the time, or if it really bothers him he doesn’t usually let on. Only escapes 100% take-it status because when Sanji’s involved he gets VEXED and bites back. 

Nami can take it 50/50. Depending on her mood she can take a verbal jab in good stride and usually hit you with a good comeback but if her patience is thin she will go feral at anyone who decides to mess with her that day. Debts are risen, Zoro messes with her the most and everyone thinks he is either really brave (Luffy and Usopp) or really stupid (everyone else).

Usopp can 100% take it. He gets roasted pretty frequently and is just used to it at this point. He is also great at pulling pranks and is usually the ringleader of a prank if it’s a team effort so if he gets one thrown back at him he’s like “yeah, I deserved that tbh”.

Sanji can 0% take it. Man’s a little pissbaby about any kind of prank or joke made on him, physical or verbal. He just loses his shit each time, which makes him the most fun to do it to out of the crew. A vicious cycle. Threatens to withhold food if there is a single bug involved prank pulled on him, but never would. If Nami or Robin are involved it’s all sad simp eyes like “Nami swan, Robin chwan, why?! My FEELINGS!”

Chopper can like 40% take it. He finds the whole camaraderie of pranks fun but if someone roasts him a little too harshly, he’s a crier. He doesn’t really NEED to be able to take it though since no one comes for him because he’s wholesome and adorable.

Robin can like -1000000% take it. Can not and WILL not take anyone’s shit. You will lose a body part if you make fun of her. Either that, or she will hit you with the most accurate but scathing and savage comeback that isn’t even a witty retort, it is just a public execution. You have been warned.

Franky can 100% take it. He’s got that dad vibe about him that makes him easy to make fun of and he’s just up for a laugh. He enjoys pranks too and when he first joined the crew everyone ripped into him for the first few weeks almost as a silent revenge for the shit he pulled on Usopp. He was just like “faaaiirrrrr” and welcomed it. A fun guy who is both a good prank partner and target.

Brook has a 3,000,000% ability to take it. The OG Prankster. Loves doing them and loves the thrill of being taken the piss out of. He also kind of loves watching the other crewmates pull shit on each other. Since he’s been alone for so long, any direct interaction or banter thrown his way will be caught and relished by him. He just loves being included in things again. This makes him the least fun to make fun of coz he just laughs WITH the person about himself?? He cannot be embarrassed.

Jinbei can 10% take it. Like Luffy, He doesn’t really get that he’s being made fun of but instead of going along with it he’ll always ask questions and get the person trying to roast him to elaborate so that he understands. Jumpscare pranks are a bad move with Jinbei, he’s got mad reflexes and will instinctively knock you tf out by accident if he’s caught off guard. Usopp learned this the hard way.

Bonus:

Law can -5% take it. He is also a lil pissbaby about it and gets embarrassed SOOO easily. He’s like a mixture of Zoro, Sanji and Robin. Pretends it doesn’t get to him and acts all stoic, is actually REALLY salty about it and then starts planning the most brutal, life-ending revenge scheme.

[psychedelic-ink]

This is my commission for @smol-fatale ! Sorry for the delay, I had to work on this a bit longer then I anticipated since the ones I wrote before never felt right :’) Thank you so much for commissioning me and letting me post it! I hope you enjoy this!

Pairings: Chiara (OC) x Sanji , Zoro x Sanji (established relationship) , Sanji x Chiara x Zoro (implied) 

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance

Word count: 2.5k

Summary: After Chiara sacrifices herself and gets injured, Sanji is angry that she would put herself in harms way without thinking about the consequences. 

Commissions | Ko-Fi

Chiara gritted her teeth as her eyes darted between the marines who surrounded both her and Usopp. Honestly, they were just supposed to get a couple of supplies and return to the ship, it wasn’t supposed to be a life or death situation. Sure, maybe she was over exaggerating, this wasn’t the first time they were surrounded by marines but the amount of the soldiers just seemed to be unend this time. How long were they supposed to fight these fools? 

Quickly her gaze went from the soldiers and to Usopp, she could tell that he was thinking the same thing as her. The sniper sighed and pulled down his goggles. He shot a quick glance at her. 

“Let’s try to make an opening,” he said as he pulled out his trusty slingshot. “And run for it when we do.” 

“Aye aye.” 

━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━

Chiara groaned as she felt herself being laid on a bed. By the smells alone she could tell that she was in the sick bay. Feeling two hooves holsting her shirt up, Chiara tried to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered was fighting a shit ton of marines with Usopp, then...a bullet shot, but it wasn’t aimed at ther it was aimed at the sniper. 

“What happened, Usopp?” Chopper’s worried voice reached her ears. 

“W-We…” he stuttered, sounding equally distraught. “We were fighting marines, I don’t know how they found us but there were so many of them...one of them fired and she pushed me out of the way.” 

“Did she get cut anywhere, do you know?” 

“It should be just the bullet wound.” 

Oh, so that’s what happened. 

“Alright, you can leave Usopp, I’ll let you guys know when I’m done.” 

Chiara felt Chopper put something plastic over her nose and mouth, her eyes fluttered as she was lulled into a deep slumber. 

━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━

When Chiara came to her senses, her whole body ached. Tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth, her eyes darted to the bedside table in hopes to find a glass of water. But in addition to finding a pitcher full of crystal clear water, she also found Sanji sitting next to her. He hadn’t noticed that she was awake, his eyes were glued to the side and he was shaking his leg furiously. He bit his bottom lip and Chiata recognized the signs of withdrawal. Has he been here long enough to crave a smoke so bad? 

“Oh you’re awake.” 

Sanji noticed her gaze on the pitcher and quickly filled her a glass of water, he helped her straighten up and placed the glass on her chapped lips. Normally, she would’ve just snatched the glass away from him and done it herself, but her arms felt too weak to actually do such a thing. 

The water was soothing as it went down her throat, with big gulps Chiara finished the glass in seconds. Sanji placed the glass back on the table and held the pitcher. 

“Do you want another glass?” 

“No,thanks.” 

Sanji removed his hand from the pitcher and started to tweak at the ends of his shirt. Chiara could sense something was off, but to be honest something always was off when the two of them were alone. She could tell there was something bothering him, something that he itched to just say. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked instead. 

“Better.” she replied simply. 

“Good.” 

“Just spit it out Sanji.” 

This seemed to take him by surprise. His only visible brow was raised as his eyes widened. The cook sighed and leaned back into the chair, scratching the back of his head, he stared at the ceiling. 

“Why did you jump in front of a bullet?” 

Chiara, her eyebrow raised with visible confusion, shot him a puzzled look. Sanji was unaware of this as he continued to stare at the ceiling, his leg still bobbing up and down. 

“I didn’t jump in front of it just for the fun of it you know,” she replied, slightly agitated. “If I hadn’t done that Usopp would’ve gotten shot.” 

“How is it better if you get shot?” 

Sanji had lowered his gaze back to her. Her eyes were cold and pierced through her. She started to sweat and her pulse quickened. Chiara was surprised that her body reacted so strongly towards a look, especially a look that Sanji gave her. She swallowed. Her mind scanned along all the things she could reply with and none of them felt like something the cook would be happy to hear and none of them held any consolation. But lucky her, Sanji continued to talk. 

“You shouldn't just sacrifice yourself like that,” his voice now raised a bit. “Usopp’s body can handle it, you’re a wo—” 

“You gotta be kidding me,” Chiara cut him off before he could finish. “I am so sorry Sanji,” she snapped rolling her tongue. “I’m not going to let one of my crewmates get shot instead of me because I’m a “woman”.” 

“You could’ve died!” he snapped back, his brow visibly twitching with anger. 

“Usopp could’ve died too!”  

“He should’ve been protecting you, not the other way around!” 

“What do you care, just leave me alone.” 

Chiara’s voice had grown eerily low, almost like a whisper. She sounded cold and her words were like weapons. Sanji had visibly stepped back with that, his leg finally stilling as he got up. He didn’t look at her, turning around, his heart felt heavy in his chest. 

“Fine, get well soon.” 

Chiara let her head fall back against the wall, staring at the sealing, tears stung the corner of her eyes. Why did he have to make everything so complicated for her? She was confused, confused as to why she felt so hurt, so angry. Whenever they were alone she ended up feeling so undeniably naked and bare in front of him. She had no right to feel this way and she certainly had no right to make Sanji feel like that as well. 

The door closed and she let out a long sigh. 

When was everything going to stop being so complicated? 

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After the incident everything was pretty much normal except for Chiara’s and Sanji’s relationship. Their friendship was already on thin ice but after their discourse it seemed like even that fell under water. They never talked, only if they had to, no one really seemed to notice but Chiara’s mental state was suffering. Despite being angry at the cook’s misogynistic words that she should be protected just because she was a “woman”, she did miss talking to him. 

Sanji had seemed to crawl into a shell as well, he seemed more dependent on Zoro. Sure, he would still flatter the females of the ship with countless desserts and sweet words but something was off in the way he did it. Chiara saw the two men fade into the back of the ship and converse for what seemed to take hours. Chiara was curious but then again she couldn’t really say anything. But the fact that she could so clearly feel Sanji’s distraught made her feel even worse. 

The days continued to go on like this, Sanji avoiding any kind of contact with her and her doing the same, only looking at him when his back was turned or during combat. He didn’t seem to notice any of it. It seemed like he was only focused on not bothering her in any way. 

And now Chiara sat among Nami’s tangerine trees, listening to the leaves rustled and taking in deep breaths of the citrus smell. She was trying to clear her mind, if such a thing was possible, and maybe try to figure out a way to fix everything. 

“Hey,” 

Chiara jolted and turned her head towards the voice. Zoro appeared between the leaves, he had a gentle smile on his face as he stared down at her. Chiara pulled her knees close to her chest and averted her eyes with a pout. She heard Zoro sigh and sit down next to her, cross legged. 

“You can avoid the cook forever you know?” he said and she could feel his gaze staring into her soul. 

“I know that,” Chiara mumbled. “I just don’t know how to talk to him, he makes me so angry.” 

“I get that, he pisses me off too.” 

Chiara shifted her gaze to Zoro, she was curious as to why Zoro was actually here, talking to her. To be honest Chiara always admired the swordsman and always felt some sort of closeness, she couldn’t quite name it and opted to call it an admiration of strength and level headedness. 

“He was really worried about you,” he continued, locking his dark eyes with hers. “I don’t agree with what he said, but believe me that he wasn’t trying to upset you.” 

“Well yeah I know that much,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But does his intentions really excuse his weird ass behaviors?” 

Zoro chuckled, “Well...no but you two could at least talk about it. You two might seem opposite from each other but you’re more similar to him than you think.” 

“Is that so?” 

Chiara’s mind faded into her own thoughts. It didn’t seem like Zoro was going to elaborate on what similarities they had. Maybe he wanted her to figure it out on her own? Or maybe he just wanted her to talk it out with Sanji. Chiara didn’t quite know how that conversation would go but then again she trusted Zoro and his views. If Sanji was bothered about the situation enough that Zoro felt like he had to intervene, the situation really must be dire. 

But then again she really wouldn’t know what to say so she decided to be straightforward. 

“What should I say to him?” 

Zoro thought for a bit as he looked off into the distance, then shrugged. 

“Just be honest.” 

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A week had passed since her conversation with Zoro. Chiara really wanted to talk with him but her overthinking and the fact that Sanji was avoiding her, as kindly as he could, made it difficult for her to catch him alone. 

Finally as a last resort she decided to ambush him while it was his turn to be on the lookout. She climbed up the crows nest as silently as she could, and gently creaked the door open. Chiara couldn’t help but smile when she saw Sanji looking out with a soft blanket around his broad shoulders. 

He flinched at the sound and turned around, Chiara couldn’t tell if he was relaxed or nervous to see her. 

“Hey,” she began, closing the door after her. “Whatcha doing?” 

Sanji gifted his gaze back to the window and continued to watch the horizon. 

“Lookout.” he said nonchalantly. “You?” 

“I…” Chiara quickly made her way and sat down next to him. Sanji stiffened but didn’t oppose to the fact that their shoulders were touching. “I wanted to talk.” 

“About what?” 

“Us.” 

That seemed to snap Sanji out of his trance. He looked at her, wide eyed and his eyes quickly scanned her features as he tried to understand if she was serious or not. His over the top reaction made Chiara sight and contemplate whether Sanji was ready or not to have such a conversation. Her eyes fixated on the floor she attempted to get up. 

“You know what, never mi—!” 

Before she could fully stand up, however, a strong grip took a hold of her wrist and pulled her back down. Chiara let out a groan as she fell back to the ground right next to Sanji, he was looking at her with a piercing gaze, seeming much more calm than before. 

“What did you want to talk about?” 

Sanji let go of her wrist and Chiara took in a sharp breath, startled. She pulled her knees up to her chest and directed her gaze towards the sea. 

“I think we’ve been misunderstanding each other and... I want to stop.” Sanji stood in silence, prompting her to go on. “It’s just… I hate it when you act as if I can’t be strong because I’m a woman but in reality I am strong and it pisses me off that you can’t see that-” 

Sanji cut her off, “I know you’re strong, it’s just… I was worried and hate it when you do stuff without giving a second thought of what might happen to you.” 

Chiara wasn’t ready to hear how Sanji’s voice trembled. Her eyes wide, they shifted back to him. The cook was staring directly at her with a pained expression. A knot forming in her throat, she swallowed. She wasn’t the type to think about herself when someone she cared for was in danger and she never thought that self sacrifice could so easily hurt another. 

“I…” 

Chiara was lost of words, gazing into each other's eyes, they inched closer without even knowing. The blanket that Sanji had laid across his shoulders pooled to the floor, the ship gently swayed them, she felt as if she was put into a trance. 

Then Chiara felt Sanji’s lips. 

It was soft, tender and full of love. Then Zoro’s words echoed in her jumbled up thoughts “just be honest” , the swordsman wasn’t talking about being honest with Sanji but to herself. She felt so afraid to be vulnerable in front of people, in front of them for the longest time. But truth be told, maybe she had fallen for two men instead of one. 

Sanji’s the one to break the kiss, his gaze immediately shifting to the floor. Chiara could read the traces of regret all over his face. 

“I’m sorry.” he quickly muttered, his fingers ghosting over his lips. “I wasn’t supposed to do that.” 

“It’s...okay,” she took in a shaky breath. “It was nice.” 

“Do...do you have a crush on me?” 

The question caught her a bit by surprise but she couldn’t help but smile at his shy tone. A hint of pink decorated his cheeks. 

“I do but...I’m a bit confused since it seems I might like Zoro as well.” 

“We actually talked about that.” 

Chiara shot Sanji a confused look, the cook was quick to explain what they had been discussing with the swordsman and apparently they had been discussing it for a while. Zoro liked her too but wanted both Sanji and her to work it out before they proposed anything. Chiara was both happy and worried. She didn’t want to disturb their already established relationship and...to be frank she felt like she was a mess. Way too much to deal with. 

“I don’t want to come in between you two,” she voiced out her thoughts. “I don’t want to disturb anything.” 

“You won’t.” Sanji replied, quickly. “We both care for you Chiara. Both of us and you care about both me and Zoro right?” 

“Y-Yeah.” 

Sanji pulled her into an embrace, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. 

“You don’t have to answer right now, we can talk to Zoro before you decide anything.” 

Chiara nodded, happy that she could talk to both of them. After weeks of silence from Sanji, they were finally talking again. Realized that there was something more to share then friendship. 

Chiara was excited of what the future held. 

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1009 - Initial Thoughts

And we are back, happy Good Friday

though every day’s a Good Friday when One Piece is out 1009 is in, and it happens to be my 200th post (admittedly kinda kept that way since I skipped doing a Godzilla vs Kong review)

So let’s get to it

Spoilers for Chapter 1009, Please Also Support the Official Release

Starting with a Color Spread. It was cute, sweet baby Tama in Ringo with the crew, I was curious abut the coat of arms on Franky’s jacket, plus there’s another ‘Zoro consumes something with a blue dragon on it’ - his scabbard isn’t Enma though, it’s Black - and I later realised that Tama is wearing an outfit that isn’t patched up which made me feel warm

But the statues discern me, Five praying statues, four with the Akazaya hats. If this Oda hinting at the deaths? Four Akazaya dying? Tama’s bringing a straw hat to the other so are we death flagging a potential Straw Hat too? Or is it just a non-Akazaya? The first could be Ashura considering that Nami is tying a scarf on it, their fate ‘sealed’, or maybe I’m just looking way too into it

The chapter title isn’t foreboding as well

Of course we were all in the group of ‘Why is Orochi burning Onigashima, is he dumb?’ group, and motive wise he still is, but I did come to a realisation on why this is a problem. Onigashima is in the air, there can’t be much water around to douse the fire

Orochi and the Akazaya finally cross paths for the first time since Oden’s death

Interesting note by MegaForehead, maybe that’s strategic?

I don’t see a missing head from his transformation, though he only used six heads and Orochi has at least 8

Kin’emon is in No Mood

*Insert GTA Wasted scene here*

Kiku far side with one arm just with the most disappointed look ever

And Raizo is next to stay behind to fight with his old rival

I don’t think Orochi is done though; either he still has one more head or they grow back. The Yamata no Orochi couldn’t regenerate heads so it’s the most likely, but we can’t rule out hydra rules

Back to the dome roof though and we learn something new from Law, a strong enough Haki can fight his Shambles, it’s a decent limitation from the OP OP Fruit

A combo attack from two Yonko though is something you need to be scouting for very early guys

Ocean Sovereignty is  definitely no joke...though it didn’t slice off the other horn

Roronoa ‘Let me block a Yonko combo attack’ FUCKING ZORO

Okay I take back the horn comment it’s a different direction

What is this dome’s structural integrity anyway?

Law of course pulls Zoro out of the line of fire because he can’t hold it off forever, Kid with the backhanded compliment though

You hurt one of Luffy’s nakama though, so that always leads to Luffy charging in

Luffy’s got a point, why dodge if it’s not affecting you? That’s how Luffy knows he’s doing something

Kaido did not like that insinuation though, he can still shoot dragon fire in Hybrid form and that’s a big ouch for Ragnarok

So now Zoro is pissed off because you hurt his captain, but he’s gotta stick to the plan

Zeus always getting yoinked, this time put in a box

Then Zoro out here cutting up Prometheus while Killer picks on Napoleon

Could be a telling thing that BM doesn’t even consider saving her homies, just that she finds it a poor strategy

Big ouch for Kid though, right in the smush

But part of the plan, putting all the metal on her to magnet her away, then Law with the boulder

BM’s about to be dumped into the water, now she’s scared

But I would worry about Zoro coughing blood...

I don’t think BM is done right now, I think there’s 5 options that’ll save her right now: Prometheus - reforming because Zoro’s body gave in a little, Kaido - since nobody’s paying attention to him after flattening Luffy, her crew down by the water that have been following the island, she Homifies some of Kaido’s fire clouds or she falls but not in the ocean - instead she crashes on land and it causes her amnesia again.

There were only really 2 parts of this chapter: Orochi vs Akazaya and the Yonko vs Supernova. Neither of which I feel are going as well as it looks. Orochi will probably survive once more which can cause trouble for the lagging behind Raizo. The Supernovas are still struggling with the attrition problem, to cause minor problems for the Yonko they have to wear themselves down hard, to the point where it’s almost pyrrhic. Oda has however done a good job in making sure any doubts about Kaido’s hybrid form have been kept at bay, he is still as vicious and agile as before.

I don’t think Luffy nor Zoro are quite done yet, Luffy is resilient and he’s got his Haki back, he just is mulling over the situation: his attacks hurt Kaido which is why he dodges, so how will he use that to his advantage? As for Zoro, he’s taken a heavy hit yes, if BM is delayed Law might be able to doctor him a little but I don’t fear too much for Zoro because injury seems to bring out the best in him. And blocking Ocean Sovereignty even for a short while is a hugely impressive feat.

No break next week means we might get a quick resolve, or we might just see more Akazaya having to fall behind, King and Queen still don’t have fights and we don’t know where Sanji is right now, Perospero and CP0 have been quiet and if Onigashima does indeed have ocean below it then they’ve not made landfall in Wano’s main island yet (contrary to the mountain we saw in an earlier chapter)

it’s still worth reminding though, we are probably due a tragedy at the end of this act...until Act 4 it’s best not to expect a climax

[mugiwara-rosewolf]

Hiiii💚hope ur have a good day/night if it not to much to ask can i have Zoro with a female reader who to shy to confess her feeling for him. You could end it anyway u want 💚

Hello Anon! I loved the concept you sent me, but it turned out a *little* different than I anticipated. If this isn’t what you were hoping for, feel free to Bop me in the DM’s and I’ll try again. Hope you enjoy!

Timid Confession

Zoro x Shy!Reader

6 Romantic Do’s and Don’ts--Swordsman Edition

(Warning: mild cursing. Stupid pirates.)

There comes a time, when every soul on Earth must be open and unbearably honest with another. A time when you must expose yourself. A time where you must open the ribcage of your chest to reveal the butterflies in your stomach, the fluttering of your heartbeat, and the way your breath hitches when a certain silhouette walks by. There comes a time when you have no choice but to lay your life--mind, body and soul--on the line and take a risk. In theory, this is something you know quite well. As a warrior of the Straw hat crew, this willingness to put everything at risk for your dreams is an everyday reality. But what about when that risk is a person? Surely the basic gist is still the same...right?

Wrong. Johnny and Yosaku used to laugh about this a lot--to your face--about how you are an absolute disaster outside of battle. The stoic, competent warrior shown on your bounty poster would vaporize as soon as you sheath your sword. Otherwise, you were a bashful, stumbling mess. And once a certain moss-haired hunter joined the crew...you were finished. With the flash of his sword, he caught your attention. With his wicked-sharp slit of a smile, he punctured the deepest parts of you. Your fate was sealed. Roronoa Zoro would be the death of you. 

Everyone seemed to know what this strange phenomenon was, but to you, it was a goddamned mystery. It was a miracle that you were ever able to speak more than a dozen words to him on any given day. When your paths diverged for the first time, it was almost a relief. But from then on, there was always a gap in your plans. An empty bunk on your ship that used to be filled with snores at the most random hours. Your chest always ached at the memory. 

It was in that space of absence that you realized--you loved him. The thought alone was enough to turn your whole world turned topsy-turvy. Then the Baratie happened. Then Mihawk, then Arlong and then--this peculiar straw-hat pirate, this boy that Zoro had sworn his fealty to--invites you along on his grand adventure. After all the things you’d seen and done, seeing the anticipation glistening in Roronoa’s eyes...how could you say no?

Life since then has been the wildest ride you could ever dream of. Marines, mercenaries, Giant whales and dinosaurs--it’s like something out of a fairy tale. And during all that time, one thing hasn’t changed. Zoro. Your heart pounds in your chest when you hear his footfalls approaching. Butterflies swim up to your throat every time you hear his voice. butterflies in your stomach. Your breath hitches, just from the way he looks at you. There were so many nights, hunkered down with Johnny and Yosaku in some tavern somewhere, where you wondered what you would say to him. To Zoro, if your paths ever crossed again. 

Now here you are, reunited, chasing your dreams together. And yet you still can’t speak, let alone freaking breath in his presence. It was a nightmare. Stuttering every line, palms sweating, knees trembling, face catching fire--every possible symptom under the sun now seemed to increase ten-fold. How the heck were you supposed to genuinely bond with the man you loved when you could barely talk?

Nami was the first to catch on. Of course, she was. Her suggestion was to trick him into confessing his feelings for you. The moment she said the words you just stared at her. You swore right then and there this lady was crazy. Like, ‘dingo ate my baby’ crazy. There was no way in any of the Blues that Zoro had feelings for you. How could he? Every interaction was stilted and awkward. The only reason you two fought well together was that you’d done it before. God, how you’d missed it, in the time he’d been away. You quickly shook yourself free of the thought.

 “Z-Zoro doesn’t work like that,” you’d told her. “Anything underhanded is either--is either gonna fly over his head or piss him off. I-I can’t, I can’t do that…” 

The second time was Chopper’s idea. He hadn’t meant to overhear, but his curious little ears were very sensitive and… “well, I want to help you and Zoro”. 

Which--okay. Zoro and Chopper adore each other. The swordsman is always co concerned and gentle with the young doctor. But he never belittles your resident reindeer for his age or size. That was something you already admired about the elder swordsman. He maintained gratifying respect for everyone in the crew--even Sanji. Nevertheless. You found it very endearing that Copper wanted to help you confess your feelings. As you soon discovered, however...that sweet, innocent winter reindeer had no clue about human romance whatsoever. 

“Well, that was a waste-a--” 

“Wonderful lesson in reindeer culture!” You interjected. Cutting off the cat burglar before she could finish her sentence. “But, uh, m-maybe there are other ways I can go about...er, ya know.”

And so, Nami called in reinforcements. Usopp the Liar. The long-nosed sniper was dragged into the room by his ear. Nami recounted the situation as I hid my face in my hands. His eyes practically sparkled with excitement.

 “Ooh! Okay! I have a great idea! How about I go up to Zoro and start bragging about you, ya know, all the awesome adventures you went on before you saw each other again. Then he’d know just how awesome you are and he’d have to ask you out. I mean, he’s already in lo--” 

“L-loudly snoring in the galley, I’m sure,” you excused quickly, shaking your head. “But if you interrupt his nap, all he’s gonna do is skin you alive.” Ussop visibly paled at the matter-of-fact statement. “I don’t--I don’t want anyone else getting hurt on my behalf so let’s just--I’ll figure something else out.”

Leaving the little pow-wow below decks, you bump into none other than your beloved’s worst enemy--Sanji, the ‘Ero-Cook’. “Ah, Y/N!” He cried in jubilation.

“Sanji!” You squeaked out. Your sudden alarm gave him pause.

“You look distressed, mademoiselle,” The observation alone was enough to turn his expression into a stormcloud incarnate. “If that damned Marimo broke your heart, I swear--”

“N-n-n-n-no!” You hurried to reassure him, waving your hand before Sanji could start kicking anything. “That’s not it at all! I mean, we were talking about--but he didn’t--I mean, he wasn’t even--” after so many fumbles you eventually just gave up, heaving a heavy sigh. “It’s nothing. I’m just bad at being brave.”

“I don’t believe it,” The cook’s immediate reply has you looking up at him in surprise. You saw him pull a cigarette from the pocket of his suit. “Not in a million years. You are one of the bravest angels sailing the seas, Y/N--whatever it is that scares you, they should be ten times more afraid.”

“You still talking about Zoro?”

“Damn right I am,” Sanji growled, his vitriol for Zoro overpowering his typical decorum. His lighter flickered to life as his eyes met yours. “It’s a gentleman’s job to court a lady, make her feel precious and desired. That brute can’t tell romance from a brick wall.”

“Whatchu talkin’ bout bricks for?” Another voice queried. Both you and Sanji turn. There, at the other end of the hall, is your captain. “Bricks got nothin’ to do with Zoro.”

“L-Luffy,” You stammered. “I thought you were at the figurehead, with Zoro?”

“I was, but then he decided to nap somewhere else. So I came here.” Luffy stated clearly, hands perched proudly on his hips. He looked between you and Sanji again, still curious. “So, why you guys talking about Zoro and bricks?”

“Because that’s how dense he is,” Sanji retorted. “Moss-head can’t tell that our darling Y/N is head-over-heels for his dumbass.” a trail of smoke slithered from between his gritted teeth. 

At the mention of your name, Luffy turned and cocked his head. “But your head is below your heels. Isn’t that how people work?”

“M-most of the time, yes,” Sanji let out a sigh and a low curse. You bit your lip a moment before electing to explain. “But that’s not--what he means is, er, that I....uh, oh how do I explain this? Um. I want to tell Zoro something. But I’m not sure how.”

Your captain stared blankly at you. As if you’d smacked yourself in the face with a plank of wood and he couldn’t sure why. “Why are you so scared?” He asked, point-blank. “Whatever’s the most you thing to do, do it that way. Don’t worry about anything else, Y/N.” 

Both you and Sanji shared a glance. The cook’s narrowed eyes told you he was a little bit sceptical. But he shrugged. He knew better than to question your captain’s logic. You, on the other hand, felt as if the sky had suddenly opened up. The next time you looked back at Luffy, your smile was as bright as the midday sun. “I think...I think you got the right idea, Luffy. I’ll give it a shot!”

Walking past both young men, you found your way to one of Zoro’s favourite napping places. Nami’s orchard. When you find him there, time seems to pause for a moment. The wash of the waves against the ship, the scent of the sun and the salt of the sea. That tang of citrus and those bright spots of colour in the trees--all those things seem hushed now. All you see is that head of mossy green hair and the entrancing rise-and-fall of his breath. You found a rake near Usopp’s garden boxes. It was like you had told the sniper earlier. If you prod a sleeping swordsman, you’ll get skinned alive. That is if you stand within swords-length. 

Blades of grass softly crunch under your shoes as you tip-toe your way to the tree where Zoro is resting. When you’re close enough to reach, you turn the rake over in your hand; electing to poke him with the wooden tip instead of the metal points. If he felt the metal he might mistake it for a weapon and a genuine threat. Goodness knows you and your old bounty-hunting crew had plenty of threats to your sleep over the years. 

One poke. No response. Two pokes. A groan and a slight shift. Then the snoring returns. You poke him three times; poke-poke-poke. He groans and shifts, his brow furrowing at the disturbance. But he still doesn’t open his eyes. You huffed to yourself. You really thought the three-pokes would work. Three was Zoro’s favourite number, after all. Patience fizzling along with your nerve, you finally jab him in the side. 

“Zoro!”

The swordsman jolts awake. He looks up, seeing the broomstick near his shoulder, and traces it to you. “Why are you poking me with a rake?” 

The moment his eyes land on you, all your fizzling patience and brazen nerve seem to vanish into the air. Butterflies surge from your stomach in a tidal wave, suddenly clogging up your throat. Your heartbeat jolts in speed at the sudden onslaught. The rake clatters from your hands as you flounder in embarrassment. “T-to, to avoid being fileted by a grumpy swordsman.”

Zoro huffed. “Put that thing away,” You hurry to do so. It is a vain hope that you might beagle to drain the warm flush from your face by the time you return. All the while, your fellow swordsman scrubs the sleep from his face with one hand. “Why’d you wake me up?” 

“I-I, I wanna talk to you.” You abruptly drop yourself into the grass beside him. Standing above him in this orange grove somehow made you feel weird. If you were gonna have this conversation, you felt you needed to be on the same level.

“Okay, then talk.” 

“Er, okay. So…Zoro, I-I mean I’ve been meaning to tell you that I--” you hesitate. But this time you swallow the lump in your throat, summon your courage--and expose your beating heart. “--I love you.”

Zoro is silent for a long moment. His eyes never waver from where you now sit beside him. Swords propped on his other side, he has his arms wrapped around his knees. Ever since he woke up, his expression hasn’t changed. He just looks at you, plain and straightforward as can be when he says; “Okay.” 

You splutter. The single word response is nearly enough to throw you into conniptions. “Wha-what do you mean just, ‘okay’? I’ve been agonizing over how to tell you how I feel for-for ages! And all you have to say is ‘okay’?!” 

The swordsman snorted. “Like words are the only thing that matters. Your actions speak for you, Y/N. I thought my actions made it clear that I--” 

“...You what?” You blink, watching the spark of a blush rush vividly across the swordsman's’ cheeks. 

“I-I love you, dammit! There. You happy now?” 

The instant those words reached your ears, your smile bloomed like a sunflower. After all the ideas and voices and fears you’d heard today, you could hardly believe it--they were right! After all the years preparing for this moment, you could finally look someone in the eye and speak your truth. “I couldn’t be happier.”

[flamingo-writes]

Earrings — Zoro x Reader

Summary: After a fight with Sanji, the crew is flabbergasted to see Zoro actually meant to hurt Sanji. Confused by this, Robin talks to Zoro, who opens up about the history behind his earrings, and why he punched Sanji after making fun of them.

Word count: 2 K

A/N: I’m supposed to be doing homework xD but this idea hit me and I really really had to write it. Spoiler free, set somewhere between Water 7 and Thriller Bark. Long fragments in italics are flashbacks. 

Warnings: angst, mentions of death. 

For someone who was constantly arguing with Sanji, it never really came down to physical violence. If it ever came down to it, Zoro would use attacks Sanji could easily read, so the blond could block them. The intention, never to hurt Sanji, as much of an asshole he sometimes was to Zoro. Since the swordsman knew all too well he was an asshole to him too. Things were usually even. Things were usually fair. Senseless yelling and easy to predict moves. 

However, right after Zoro punched Sanji on the face, the cook fell on his bum, covering his bleeding nose. His eyes open in shock, as he realized he’d crossed the line. He’d never seen Zoro throw a punch, and for the first time, the mosshead actually meant to hurt Sanji. Which could be translated to: don’t you dare say something like that again. 

After the crew gathered around, yelling, telling both of them to stop fighting and competing for everything. However, when everyone met Zoro’s ice cold stare, words instantly lowered down. 

“Say something about her earrings again, you’re dead, you understand?” The seriousness in his voice made Ussop, Nami and Chopper shiver, suddenly afraid of their nakama. Franky frowned and looked at Robin who was staring at Zoro questioningly. 

Zoro turned around without saying anything else. The entire crew looked at the swordsman as he climbed the mast towards the crow’s nest. The tension dead cold between the crew, as no one dared to break the silence. At least until Luffy spoke. 

“What was that about? I’d never seen Zoro this pissed before” Luffy said frowning confused.

“Yes! What did you say?! You could’ve died! We could’ve died!” Ussop cried kneeling next to Sanji, holding his arm. 

“I-I made fun of his stupid earrings,” Sanji began looking worried and wondering what had happened “I didn’t think he’d get this pissed…” Sanji said cleaning his blood with the back of his nose. 

“He said ‘her earrings’?” Nami added looking at everyone for confirmation. 

“He did…” Robin whispered. 

“Who was he talking about?” Chopper asked as he helped Sanji clean himself up and making sure his nose wasn’t broken. 

“Someone very special to him if he reacted this way” Franky answered looking up at the crow’ nest. “I should talk to him…” 

“Franky, wait” Robin said. “I’ll go. But first, I want him to cool down a little bit, otherwise he’ll only get angrier.” 

The entire crew exchanged stares. All of them still surprised by Zoro’s reaction, and feeling worried for him as well. All of them curious as to what he meant and his motivation to punch Sanji. 

After almost two hours, two very sow hours, Robin finally decided to climb to the crow’s nest. The rest of the crew looked at her as she made her way up, hoping that thing wouldn’t blow up of proportion. Everyone was worried, except for Luffy who knew perfectly well that Zoro wouldn’t be able to seriously hurt anyone from the crew. 

“Zoro, how are you holding up” Robin said walking inside the crow’s nest, looking at Zoro who was lifting some heavy weights. 

“Training” He growled, the veins on his forehead popping out, and sweat dripping down his entire self. 

“I can see that” She whispered sarcastically, noticing how Zoro refused to stop working out, and to even look at her. 

“Great” He sighed, knowing why Robin was there. 

Right then, Zoro preferred to be alone, but he knew he’d eventually have to address what had happened. He’d never hurt someone from the crew before, and he slightly regretted it. And at the same time, he didn’t want to really explain what happened. He wasn’t precisely  the kind of guy who opened up easily, and in order to explain what happened, he’d have to give away bits of information about his past. 

“Can we talk?” Robin finally said.

“You want t know what the hell happened down there?” Zoro looked at her, his dark eyes looking into hers, as she could see Zoro’s mixed feelings about this whole thing. 

“Yes” 

“That stupid cook is an asshole” Zoro quickly answered, shutting his eyes closed as he kept lifting weights. 

“I’m gonna need more details than that” The archaeologist hissed rather annoyed at Zoro’ attitude. 

“Why do you care, anyways?” Zoro hissed. 

“I’d like to see if I can be of any help” 

“There’s nothing that can be done” Something in his voice changed, and Robin could tell. She looked at him raising an eyebrow questioningly. 

“Why not?” 

“She’s dead” Zoro’s words lingered on Robin as the questions kept multiplying. D the fact that Zoro had his eyes closed made him even harder to read. However, she could tell he was doing this on purpose. She cursed at his stubborn nature, even when she was there to help him.  

“Who is?” Robin asked.

“Doesn’t matter…” Zoro whispered in a low voice.

“Oh, but it does, Zoro...please…” 

He took longer than expected to answer. Robin’s patience was draining when he finally put the weights on the floor and finally opened his eyes. However, he kept avoiding Robin’s stare by looking through the window into the vast blue sea. 

“She was my—” He stopped, thinking of which word to use without giving away too much “friend…” He said coldly, knowing perfectly well you were much more than that, but he wasn’t willing to give Robin more information than necessary “[Name]” he mouthed.

“What happened to her?” 

The memories hit Zoro, as they usually did at night, scratching the scab on his heart painfully. He could still remember crystal clear, how you died in his arms, telling him to watch over your earrings, and give them back once you two met on the other side. 

“We better not meet on the other side any time soon, Zoro. If I find out you didn’t have a long fulfilling life, I’ll kick your ass, okay?” You said, as Zoro’s heart squeezed painfully.

“Hopefully, we won’t see each other for several decades” Zoro chuckled bitterly as his eyes teared up looking at your wounded body. “They’re going to be really long decades without you there, [Name]” 

“Don’t get sentimental on me, Zoro…” Ht tears fell down your eyes as you looked into his pained eyes. 

“The love of my life is about to bleed out in my arms, how do you expect me to react?” Zoro growled in a low voice fighting the lump on his throat. 

“I want you to think of all the good times we had, instead of remembering me as a bleeding mess…” Your hands reached one of your ears as you would occasionally do instinctively. “Have I ever told you the story about my earrings?” Smiling, you tried to relieve the painful tension between the both of you.

Zoro chuckled as he brushed your hair. Your head resting on his lap, as he looked down at you. His eyes growing progressively more and more wet. At the same time his throat felt more and more dry. 

“Your dad and your grandmother accidentally got you the exact same pair of earrings for your birthday, wasn’t it?” He said knowing the story perfectly well, since you loved that story so much and were constantly telling him about that day when you received two identical pairs of earrings. 

“Yeah. It was a great day” You chuckled, closing your eyes, feeling how your head got lighter and lighter, and your heart beat faster and stronger.

“You’re a dork for wearing all four earrings at once” Zoro joked, laughing so bitterly, failing at masking his pain. 

“How else were my grandma and dad know I wore both pairs?” The way your voice came out so cheerful made Zoro’s heart skip a beat. Surprised by even how in your deathbed you were able to say nice things. 

“You’re so dumb” Laughing, a few tears slipped down his eyes, as those same tears fell on your forehead. 

“Too bad I lost one while fighting that asshole…” 

“You should’ve let me handle him” Zoro whispered.

“Oh, so it was you the one bleeding out? I’m sorry, but no. You have greater dreams to achieve than I ever did” You answered right away, as Zoro looked at you.

“I failed to save her, that’s what happened…” Zoro finally answered Robin. “Before dying, she gave me her earrings” His voice faded out as he spoke. 

“I thought you wore them for fashion…” 

“She had four. Three on her left ear, and one on the right one...” Zoro said ignoring her comment. 

“I’d look dumb if I wore two on each ear. Like this” You said pointing at your ears “I look way cooler” You said crossing your arms and puffing your chest proud and confident of your new style. 

“You’re still dumb, what difference does it make?” Zoro laughed poking your forehead. 

“I don’t want to look dumber! Of course it makes a difference”Zoro laughed even louder when you agreed with him, and you smiled, feeling how his laugh tickled your belly. 

“Sometimes I can’t believe you’re real. I love you so fucking much” Zoro said running his hand through your hair and pulling you towards him, hugging you and kissing the top of your head. 

“Believe it! I’m the last one of my species!” You said in a muffled voice, since your face was pressed against his chest. 

“I’m sure you are” Zoo laughed. 

“I’m sorry, Zoro” 

“Don’t tell that dumb cook this but, I feel a bit bad for punching him. But he touched a very sensitive topic” Robin’s eyes widened in surprise at his confession “[Name] was my best friend, she meant the world to me. In the beginning was hard to keep going with my life right after she died” 

“Must have been rough” Robin muttered s Zoro looked back at her. 

“It was. I promised her I’d remember her as the smiling girl she was. I haven’t been able to keep that promise entirely, the memory of her death haunts me from time to time…” He kept saying, looking away from Robin, back into the ocean “Ironically, remembering her dumb smile helps me feel better, I’m glad I met her. I’m glad she kept up with my bullshit for so long. And I’m glad she left me something to remember her by” He said stroking his earrings gently with his finger tips. 

“Is there something I can do to help you, Zoro?” 

He turned around, looking at Robin once more. He was smiling. A gentle warm smile, the sort of smile you’d draw on his face whenever he remembered your radiant grin.

“It’s okay. I’m fine” He said confidently, as he remembered your voice echoed in his head. 

“I want you to think of all the good times we had” The echo of your voice came from his heart, soothing his pain. 

“Well then, if you need me, you can always find me on the deck” Robin smiled gently and turning round, returning to the ladder. 

“Thanks” Zoro purred looking back into the ocean as he could clearly see your face smiling at him, warming his heart. 

After Robin left, Zoro kept working out, letting out his pain through exercising. Whenever he closed his eyes to either lift a weight or do a squat, your face would show up. That gentle smile that he loved so much. How many times he fell asleep while looking at your soft smile. How many times he thought how lucky he was for having someone looking at him, smiling at him in that unique way? 

His favourite memory of you kept replaying in his mind. He didn’t know how long had it been since he’d woken up. The slumber was still fresh in his eyes. Zoro hadn’t realized he’d been staring at you in the short time he’d been awake. When you noticed his stare on you, you looked at him. Your bright eyes connected with his, and the most genuine smile he’d ever seen spread across your face. It hit him like a stone on the face, he suddenly felt overwhelmed by the way you’d smiled at him. Zoro couldn’t handle the eye contact with that smile underneath your eyes. He looked away, smiling softly, blushing, noticing for the first time his feelings towards you. 

[lunnamars]

Spiral

First of all: As I simply fell in love with this couple again recently, I decided that I could contribute a little despite my zero writing experience. So I hope you guys forgive me for any mistakes, especially because english is not my first language! ;)

Second of all: this whole story happens after Punk Hazard, but it is not related to any canon arc.

Disclaimer: obviously, I don't own anything on One Piece because if it was, Luffy and Nami would be together, just like Zoro and Tashigi. So, there it is.

You can also read on AO3 or FFNET

“I admire you, Roronoa.”

Zoro would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised. Tashigi, the extremely prideful Marine, saying such words to the pirate she supposedly hated so much. Ah, but he was very much surprised indeed. But Zoro was better than that. He would show none of his surprise neither would acknowledge the very strange feeling that bloomed in his chest.

Oh, no. He would do no such thing. Because not thinking about anything remotely related to her it's what he's been trying to do since she joined momentarily the Strawhats. Nope, another lie. Since Punk Hazard probably.

Or since Loguetown.

And he would be lying once again if he said he had succeeded. 

But no matter, nobody has to know. Especially the copycat.

Then he just merely glanced at her. The swordswoman simply stared straight ahead, speaking as if alone, whispering words in the wind. The weather was very pleasant and the horizon even more beautiful than usual due to the approaching sunset, creating an amazing scenario. They both sat at the deck after a hard workout day (because he said they could push a bit more since the weather was nice), in a welcoming silence, watching the view and the crew playing with Luffy.

“Gotta admit that I never expected to hear those kind of words from you, Glasses.”

“I know. But it's the truth for a while.”

She continued to watch Nami shaking Luffy for jumping over her while the girl read. Zoro couldn't quite put his finger on how that relationship worked. But, once again, what the hell does he know about that kind of thing. Love is not exactly what he was looking for - at least, not until he achieves his life goal.

“You saved me in Punk Hazard and accepted to train me, but I never got the chance to properly thank you. So I thought it'd be nice by telling you some truth.”

“It's not like I asked that, stupid.”

“I just thought I should tell you, you jerk.”

“Haaa?? Who are you calling jerk??”

Tashigi just laughed and the sound made the strange feeling show its face again, almost as if the laugh he provoked made him proud. Their relationship has been following along those lines - always bickering (and Zoro would never voice how much fun it was to annoy her), her continuous insistence on competing with him any free time she had, both staying in comfortable silence or Tashigi laughing at him for some reason. Especially because of the boy's lack of sense of direction.

Sometimes, he'd be influenced by her laugh and would, eventually, laugh at himself too.

But now, Glasses had a sad look that the swordsman refused to accept in her face. A crestfallen expression definitely didn't match her and he decided that he didn't like to have been the possible cause of it.

And with that, Zoro felt a pang in his heart. He knew he had been rude, but it seems he couldn't act properly around her most of the time. Initially, he thought the reason for that was because of her similarity with Kuina and that it never ceased to bring back sad memories, so he simply could not face Tashigi. But nowadays? He had absolutely no idea of what it could be. So he’d take turns between having these stupid outbursts or staying silent. Something tells him that he was better with his mouth shut sometimes.

However, the moment she asked him to train her, he decided to keep his mouth shut for a few minutes out of astonishment, when, in fact, he should have said something or at least thought twice before answering. Zoro remembers how she bowed politely while making her request like he was someone super important and was on a whole nother level.

I mean, they were on different levels, but that doesn't mean she couldn't get better. Honestly, Zoro actually believed she could get better indeed because she had so much focus and was so persistent - characteristics that reminded him of a version of himself as a kid, always wanting to beat Kuina.

Right off the bat, he denied her request claiming that the had no patience or interest whatsoever. He stood up and prepared to leave, but turned around to glance quickly at her before fleeing inside the ship. And he swears his heart simply stopped at the sight of Tashigi's bleak expression. Instantly, Zoro knew what she was thinking.

Surely, Tashigi took his answer as a sign that she was too weak - and not because she was a woman, which is something he was able to get the hell out of her head with so much struggle - and that even he wouldn't be able to help her become stronger. Zoro waited for the moment when she would try to bite his head off, saying how stupid and unpleasant he was, but no sound reached the swordsman's ears.

The girl just nodded and left without a word. And he didn't feel quite well.

Zoro didn't see her until the time she left for her night shift. She still didn't seem at peace which made him start to get really worried. Had he really crossed the line? The green-haired man thought he was surely getting crazy by the day with her stay on the Sunny, because he hated the fact she was his first thought in the morning and the last before bed. And suddenly, he realized what bothered him at the moment she made her request.

He was Kuina in this situation and she was the small Zoro from years ago.

He was the one she wanted to reach, just as he wanted to reach his dear friend as a child.

Zoro sighed heavily and walked in her direction, sitting at her side and not receiving even a glance in his direction. He knew she was not angry per se - which, particularly, was something new and troublesome the fact he was able to read her little by little and that definitely didn't make him happy - because judging by her frown, he knew she was racking her brain to find a way to convince him to train her. 

The swordsman gave a crooked smile and tried to hide the good feeling of being really admired by someone, especially by Glasses.

He acted like an idiot, he knows that. It wasn't needed that much of time in her company to know how much of pride she had to swallow to make a request like that. And deciphering that made him gaze almost affectionate at her, even if against his own will.

But only when she wasn't looking.

Finally, he decided to break the silence and warn her he'd be waiting for her at the deck at 5 a.m. And she didn't dare to be late because he does not take it easy on trainings.

And cross his heart, but he has never seen such a beautiful smile in his whole life. His heart stopped on its tracks again and that was starting to piss him off. If this continues to happen every time she does something different around him (because, like, this smile could not be directed at him, it's simply not possible), he would definitely treat it with Chopper.

And at 5 a.m., there was a Tashigi waiting for him with a sword in hand and the most determined expression he has seen on anyone's face recently.

She has kept waiting for him religiously for the past three months.

At first, their relationship was a bit complicated - Zoro was very rough around the edges and Tashigi was too proud. The trainings always ended in a heated discussion between them, followed by a whole afternoon without talking to each other until a wild Luffy (being typical Luffy) somehow would making them talk civilly again at night.

But the day the green-haired man simply snapped at her without thinking and screamed at her he was trying to teach her the same way he would teach any person, whether being a man or woman, but she couldn't put her stupid pride aside because he was not underestimating her and that he truly believed she would continue being an idiot, but a stronger idiot - was the moment where their relationship change slightly, but deeply.

He knew the whole crew was staring at both of them, but Zoro couldn't focus on anything else but the annoying woman in front of him. Why the hell couldn't she understand he was capable of being friendly and thoughtful? 

Okay, fine, calling her idiot wouldn't help that much.

Tashigi merely stared at him for a couple of seconds without blinking and momentarily Zoro thought she would just brush aside everything he said and just focus on the word idiot. So, imagine his surprise when she simply bowed and apologized. When she straightened, she just unsheathed and held the sword firmly in both hands, telling him in a serious tone that she would no longer contest him, and that, please, do not give up on her.

And since that day, they never argued again during training. Out of training hours, however, they did because, you see, Tashigi was really stubborn and he was a person who got angry easily. But nothing major. Zoro started to feel that their relationship reminded him the one he has with Sanji, but somehow, he knew it was pretty different.

Zoro firmly believed it had nothing to with the fact that he thought she looks incredibly cute when pouting every time he was right about something. But at the same time, he started to consider this option, since he just wanted to beat the shit out of the ero-cook when he acted like that.

The same way he wanted to punch Sanji when he drooled over Tashigi for too long, especially when Nami or Robin didn’t give him the time of the day. The marine was too nice to shoo the pervert away and he knew it was mainly due to the fact she thought she owed the crew so much for saving her from certain execution. 

Ah, there’s that, but it’s a story for another time. The swordsman couldn’t even remember the events without his stomach churning. The memory of her in chains and with a rope around her neck still haunted his dreams. And unfortunately, every time he ended up remembering, an uncontrollable rage would take over - exactly the same fury he felt at when he saw her so defenseless. Well, at least it helped him defeat the enemy faster than ever.

Ever since, fueled by her strong sense of justice, Tashigi believed she owed them her life and would do everything in her reach to repay them.

Only she had already paid, the sword nerd. But she didn’t realize that just the fact of being sent to execution for protecting them of an unfair capture made by the Marine corrupt pigs was already payment enough.

And gradually, the pair got used to each other’s presence and Zoro judged that a sort of friendship has been formed. Or a truce. But he doesn’t know and also didn’t want to know. If possible, he wanted to stay far away from her and forget that somehow she really seemed to belong to the Strawhats. 

With him.

Probably it was because of that approximation that Tashigi was able to say she admired him. He also knew that she must have struggled a lot to swallow her pride once again, but she was too sincere to keep that information to herself. And kind! Zoro couldn’t understand where that much kindness came from honestly. After she slowly overcame her inherent revulsion that came with the word “pirate”, the swordsman saw a very different side of the marine.

Kind. Kind with the crew, kind to the people they met on their adventures, stupidly kind with Chopper, because let’s be honest, it’s too freaking hard to not like the reindeer.

Kind to him.

After so much time getting frustrating expressions and angry scowls from her, the kindness made him not knowing what to do. Angry Tashigi? Sure, Zoro knew how to deal with that. Tashigi being stubborn because they disagreed? No problem, piece of cake. Tashigi babbling about different swords they find when visiting some new island? Completely cool, he even liked to hear what she had to say.

But Tashigi being nice to him? What now, how to go from there? Does he try to be kind too? Does he stop with the obvious attitude of dancing around each other, always far away but so close? Or does he just realize that her eyes are so pretty in the sunset, even with the glasses and her lips seemed so soft on her pale skin- 

“Nee, Roronoa.”

Perfect timing to drag him out of the spiral of thoughts he was getting into. A very dangerous spiral that, if acknowledged, there would be no turning back.

“Hm?”

“You want to become the greatest swordsman in the world because of that friend of yours that looks like me, right?”

Her voice turned so soft and that took him out of the dangerous spiral he was almost setting one foot in and led him to Kuina.

And then back to Tashigi. They were not the same, he knew. The physical resemblance eventually faded over the years, even though Zoro was still astonished of how could it be possible for a stranger to look like so much like his late friend. What kind of cruel joke the fate was playing?

But then again, they were not the same. Not emotionally. Kuina really struggled with her swordsman identity because she was a woman. Tashigi was proud of being a swordsman and a woman, despite her thinking that everyone would always look down on her.

Zoro made a mental note to ask her about this trauma. Where it came from, why she can’t get over it, who did this to her. And if it was someone, he’d like very much to know if he was alive so he could beat this person to a pulp.

But with that, he has just set a foot in the spiral. And oh boy, how scared he was. If not for the years of mastering his composure, he’d have jumped out of spite when he realized she had turned around to stare at him, probably waiting for an answer.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to intrude on your personal affairs.”

Tashigi gave an apologetic nod and turned the attention to the gentle waves in the sea. Zoro continued to stare at her and noticed how extremely welcoming that scene was. For unknown reasons, the swordsman felt at peace, the same way he felt when meditating.

“Yeah, that’s right. I promised her before she died. That’s because of her that I carry Wado Ichimonji too.”

The marine turned toward him so quickly as if she had sensed some danger and her eyes widened. She probably didn’t expect him to answer. Zoro is aware that he’s a closed person and the biggest example of that is the fact that no one on the crew knows his true story.

“This is… very noble of you, Roronoa. I’m completely sure you will make it. And I think your friend believed in you too.”

And there it was again - the most beautiful smile he has ever seen was, once again, directed at him. That made him feel somewhat… special. And he realized he wanted to be someone special to her. He wanted that smile to be his and no one else’s. Did she smile like that to another man? Was this just an ordinary smile she offered to any kind person like her?

Did she think about him when they are not together?

So, without looking back, Zoro put both feet inside the spiral and went down. He was not good with words, but a little better with actions and she was so close so close and she reached her hand to rest on top of his, squeezing lightly to assure the words that just fell out of her mouth and now the smile faded slightly and she was looking at him with so so bright eyes and Brook was playing a soft and slow song somewhere on top of the Sunny-

That was a lot going on for him, so he decided that screw it and hugged her. But it wasn’t a light hug, it was strong like he really needed that. It was a hug that screamed thank you thank you thank you. He didn’t even know what the hell he was thanking for because all of the Strawhats already believed in him and his dream. He didn’t need the faith of no else. Is it the fact of the resemblance again and that made him think it was Kuina’s ghost uttering those words? 

No. It wasn’t. While holding her, he was sure that Tashigi’s belief mattered because she was just and true. And that meant it was a faith completely free of second thoughts or hidden meanings. It was real. It was sincere. Despite their differences - the whole issue of pirates and marines - she believed he was worthy of the title he would eventually achieve.

He realized that deep down she didn’t admire him for what he would be in the future. She admired him because he is also an example of perseverance. And something tells him that even if he did not become the greatest swordsman in the world, she would still want to reach him. And surpass him someday.

Zoro noted that he wouldn’t mind if it was her.

She was deserving of the title too.

Then he continued to hold her with his arms firmly on her back, being careful not to hurt her and completely enveloped her, pressing her against his chest so she could stay closer closer closer. 

Has anyone already hugged her like this? Has any man gotten so close to her to the point of being able to feel the heat emanating from her? Zoro thinks so. Because it was not possible for a woman this honest to not have found a man as just as her. But reluctantly, he was surprised when he thought he didn't want her to find anyone.

Meeting someone means she would have to leave and he didn’t want her to go away, especially in another man’s arms. He got used to her presence during practice and even during the meditation. This was nice. It didn’t have to change.

So engrossed in his own reflection that he almost missed the moment when Tashigi returned the hug with the same firmness. She made space to better accommodate her head on his shoulder and his heart just flipped and oh my God, he's sure she heard that because it was going to come out of his chest anytime.

And all his sanity went out the window the moment she turned her face to rest in the crook of his neck and he felt her breath. Suddenly a shock ran through Zoro's spine and breathing became very difficult. The shock gave way to a warm feeling and the swordsman needed to do something. Either shove her away or bring her closer.

Both options were equally dangerous. 

“Roronoa.”

“Zoro.” 

“Ahn?”

“You can call me Zoro.”

She took a deep breath again and his brain was beginning to form incoherent ideas. He needed to do something.

“Zoro.”

That was enough for him to give up on any insecurity. Zoro. She spoke his name in such a soft way and that awakened something inside him that he never dared to analyze. He needed to do something.

Zoro knew what he wanted to do.

“Tashigi.”

Reluctantly, he pushed her way enough to look into her eyes because he needed to know if what he was about to do was welcomed, if it was right, if she'd hate him for the rest of his life. He didn't know if they were already this close or if he had leaned in unconsciously, but they were so close to the point that their noses were almost touching.

She didn't stop staring at him at any moment, but he couldn't decide if he kept looking at her eyes or her lips. Zoro didn't know if he should blame the weather or the slow and peaceful song that came out of Brook's violin or the soft sound of the waves crashing in the ocean or if it was simply her breath so close, but he decided to throw caution to the wind.

Zoro gave Tashigi enough time to move away if she wished so.

She didn't.

Then Zoro closed the distance and kissed her. The world stopped spinning. The noise of the waves faded away, Brook's music was just a distant noise, the crew's noise seemed to be muffled, the birds flying close to the ship made no sound, the wind itself seemed to have gone silent, leaving only their breath and the noise of his own heart beating so loud that now he was sure she could hear it.

But he wanted more. Way more. Just brushing his lips over hers was not enough. Zoro needed her closer closer closer until there was nothing separating their bodies and their breath was one. Hesitantly, he licked her lip as if he was asking permission and in the blink of an eye, Tashigi gave her consent.

Right at that moment, there was nothing or anyone in the world that would stop him from kissing her like there was no tomorrow. At first, he tried to be as calm as possible, but after Tashigi bit his bottom lip, his world came crashing down. Zoro didn't have enough self-control and what he wanted most was to just kiss her senseless. Even though he was a guy with zero experience in this area, his instincts normally worked perfectly.

And it seemed right.

Even if this kiss wasn't the most correct one, he didn't care anymore. It seemed right and Tashigi made him believe it was right judging by her almost inaudible moan and the slight tug on the thin hair at the nape of his neck.

Zoro no longer had any coherent thoughts at all, and his body was completely on fire because the moan made him draw her closer (he didn't know how it was still possible), made one hand get lost in her hair and the other in her waist.

But especially made him want to move, made him conjure images in his mind of Tashigi hugging him with nothing more than a sheet covering the two of them. Tashigi underneath him, panting, moving along with him. Tashigi speaking his name over and over again-

However, all creatures need to breathe and he wouldn’t be an exception. He didn’t know how long the kiss lasted, but it seemed a pleasant eternity. And when he opened his eyes, the sight of a Tashigi with a messy hair, with swollen lips, blushing fiercely and panting like him provoked a somewhat uncontrollable pleasure for being the responsible for the state the Marine was in.

Of course, he wouldn’t voice that with the intent of making fun of her because he knew he was in the same state. It would be the pot calling the kettle black.

They kept staring at each other for several seconds, immersed in that little feeling of bliss where nothing mattered - not even Usopp, Chopper and Brook spying on them through the opening in the railing. Zoro knew he would have to endure Sanji’s jokes, Nami’s mocking smile, Franky’s “manly” tears… Luffy would be probably the only one that wouldn’t bug him about it.

I mean, that’s what he hoped anyway because since the boy decided that Nami was the person he wanted to be with, the rubber man definitely didn't think twice about making up for the lost time. Zoro has lost count of how many times he has caught them making out in several places in the Thousand Sunny. At first, Zoro wanted to punch the couple for being publicly indecent, but after this kiss, he could definitely understand.

Tashigi was the first to break the eye contact and once again, that downcast expression was present. What the hell was that now? What the hell did he do wrong? Didn’t she like it? Maybe she already had someone else she liked and couldn’t imagine kissing him?

“I really thought you couldn’t stand me. I mean, at best you put up with me because of the resemblance to your friend.”

“Is that why you are sad?”

Tashigi quickly turned her attention to him and Zoro decided, once and for all, that he liked when her focus was on completely on him. The same way when they train, where she would absorb all of his teachings without blinking. Even when they argued, the marine would always listen attentively before getting angry about something she didn’t agree with. 

“Did you like your friend? I mean, like a girl?”

“Haa? Why are you asking me that?”

“Is that why you kissed me, Zoro?”

Then his eyes widened and he finally got it. He finally understood why she would glance away every time he would seem a little bit indifferent or when she would talk about something and he’d simply nod, not saying a word. Or why she would get so annoyed at the thought of him thinking of her as weak, even after joining the crew. Or even when he ran at full speed to save her from imminent death when she was captured.

Tashigi thought that she would always be a copy of Kuina to him.

And that at the same time, she wasn’t Kuina enough for him to consider her a friend at least. Let alone fall in love with her.

The thing was that Tashigi honestly didn’t know that Zoro wasn’t being indifferent or didn’t want to talk to her, he just didn’t know how to have a conversation with her without being a complete buffoon. She didn’t know he didn’t think of her as a weakling, but as an formidable opponent.

She didn't know he ran like a maniac to save her not because he "couldn't lose her again" - which particularly stung a little the moment the words left her mouth because he got the hidden message that he couldn't see someone that looks so much like Kuina die again and in front of him - but because he had never been so terrified at the thought of Tashigi no longer being in the world to torment him.

She didn’t know he no longer found her a copycat and that slowly they became companions despite their differences.

She didn’t know that only now he realized he was in love with her indeed.

“It’s okay. I get it. It was a mistake, right? It’s fine.”

Tashigi gave a small strained smile that if she had crossed him with a spear it wouldn't hurt so much. She stood up and got ready to leave, but the swordsman was quicker and gripped her arm.

Because he realized she didn’t know any of that because he never told her.

“It wasn’t a mistake. I don’t see you as Kuina anymore because, in the end, you both are very different. And I… I don’t want you to leave.”

“L-leave? I-I never said I was leaving.”

“I know. But that day is likely to come and I don’t want you to go away with some stupid and noble marine.”

“S-s-some stupid and noble m-marine??”

“Yeah. I want you to… stay here. With us… with me.”

Zoro knew this moment was crucial. He gambled everything he had with no guarantees. And he definitely isn’t a careless man or the kind of person to not think before doing something, but he doesn’t know what is wrong with this woman that makes him take risky decisions. The one who planted the idea of a not so lonely future, the idea of having someone to come back to, someone to be by his side when he finally achieve his dream.

Someone to share. Above all else, someone that understands him. 

And understanding was what she did. Tashigi got the meaning behind Zoro’s few words. Of the promise he was making for the future and his sincere desire for her. I mean, she could only have understood because the smile that was on her face again screamed happiness to him.

“Unfortunately, no marine can compete with you, Zoro. Especially if we are talking about a bad sense of direction.”

“Tch!”

Tashigi laughed at his scowl but stopped when Zoro pulled her straight to his lap. He had never seen her so red in his whole life. The girl was redder than Luffy’s cardigan! That made the swordsman smirk and whisper hoarsely in her ear:

“I don’t think you’ll keep laughing when I really show you why no man will ever compete with me, captain Glasses.

[hotcaramelmachiatto]

Luffy x Reader

Imagine: Being Luffy's friend when you were children with Sabo and Ace and running into (quite literally) him at Loguetown. He asks you to join his crew!

Pairing: Luffy x fem! close friend! witch! Reader

Warning: fluffy

H/c=hair color | s/c=skin color | y/n/n= your nickname

You sighed, pulling your cloak over shoulders and tucking your wand into your belt. Being the extremely clever witch you were, you had just swindled your way into halfing the price of your ingredients for your next potion. You desperately needed them and if swindling meant using a sleeping spell on the shop owner, then so be it. Your dream was to become the worlds greatest and most powerful witch. As a child, your parents died and you were raised by a small coven of witches who taught you everything you knew.

You smiled softly at the memory of your adopted family until you heard the shop keeper shout at you from the small distance you had put between yourself and the shop of oddities.

"Thief!! Stop her!!!" The shop keeper started yelling and causing a commotion, so you did the most logical thing you could think of.

You ran. Down the alleyway and down the street.

"Shit," you cursed to yourself as you dodged the streetfolk.

Only recently did you get a high bounty, being worth 100,000,000 belly, dead or alive. You attacked a Marine base and managed to flatten the entire building because some oppressive Marines were abusing your little coven. Your witches weren't the strongest but they were kind women with warm hearts. When one of them, Grandmother Poppyseed, refused to comply to their demands any longer, they killed her in front of your eyes. You were so filled with rage that you attacked the Marines for revenge. Not your proudest moment but you don't regret a single thing. You free your coven and gave back the stolen goods the Marines had taken from your fellow witches. But, because of your bounty, you had to leave them. You couldn't make yourself put them in harm's way. So you left to pursue your dream, landing you here. Running from a shop keeper.

You made a sharp turn, hoping to shake anyone who was on your tail, and ran right into someone. Their skin was so . . . . rubbery? Wait. . .

You know this skin. You've felt the rubber before.

"Uuugggghhh. . . what the?" It was. It was Luffy!! You had him sandwiched (hehehehe sand witched) between your bust and the cobblestone ground. "What's goin on?"

"Luffy!! Is it really you?!" You squealed, throwing your arms around him in a tight hug. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at you with a perplexed look on his face before his eyes brightened and shone like the sunlight bouncing off the ocean waters. He wrapped his rubber arms around you three or four times and squeezed, his legs wrapping around your waist, causing the pair of you to roll over giggling like morons.

"Y/n!! Its been so long!! I'm so happy to see you!!" He buried his face in your neck like he always used to and you squeezed him tighter. Its been years since you've seen him. Of course you kept up with the News Coo and read all about him as well as supported him in spirit, but you never thought you'd run into him. Literally.

"Luffy! I can't believe it!" You pulled away just enough to look at him, cupping his cheeks in your hands tenderly. You smirked and squeezed and pulled on them, making him make all kinds of faces.

"Oooowww! Y/n/n at uuurrrtttssss!!!" (That hurts!) He whined and pouted, unhooking his arms around around your curved waist to nurse his cheeks. You two were so lost in each other's world that you completely missed the several stunned faces staring at you. Luffy's Nakama, the Straw Hats, were watching this little reunion in utter confusion.

"Can someone explain to me what the hell is happening? Is- does Luffy have a-?"

"Y/n/n has been my best friend since we were kids! Isn't that right, y/n/n?" Luffy interrupted a beautiful young girl with short orange hair. You nodded in response and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, his hugging your waist.

"Sorry, Lu. I didn't mean to just run into you." You stood up and offered him your hand, to which he took and stood up. You opened your mouth to intoduce yourself until a man with big pink heart eyes and yellow hair threw himself at your feet.

"Oh Y/n-swan!! You're absolutely gorgeous!! Your smooth s/c skin, your h/c hair, your beautiful perfect eyes!! You're perfect!! Please, find it in your heart, marry me!!" He squealed as he took your form in. Your curves, your bust, your long legs. He was practically drooling until the green haired swordsman smacked him with the hilt of one of his . . . three swords?

"Damn ero-cook." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Teme!! You dare swear in front of such a lovely woman?!??" The yellow haired man growled, practically on fire. You chuckled and slung an arm over Luffy's shoulders.

"Its all good. I'm Y/n. I knew Luffy when he was a snot nosed brat." You bumped him with his hip and he pouted.

"Its nice to meetcha. Im Nami." The orange haired woman spoke up with a smile. "Ero-cook is named Sanji and the green Morimo is Zoro. That guy is Usopp." She pointed to each guy.

"Hi! I'm Usopp!!" He puffed his chest out to look more manly and you snorted at him. "I'm the strongest sniper you'll ever meet!"

"I'm sure. Its nice to meet you all too." You smiled, resting your hand on your hip.

"What're you doing here, Y/n/n?" Luffy spoke up, tilting his head and making you smile softly at your childhood friend's cuteness.

"I was just doing some shopping for my next potion. I'm hoping to make the first potion that let's devil fruit users able to swim again." You smiled proudly and Luffy's eyes practically popped out of his head.

"NANI?!?!?!" The whole crew exclaimed in unison.

"Its not possible, though! Devil fruit users make the ocean hate them. You couldn't possibly undo something like that." Usopp's jaw looked like it needed to be lifted off the ground with a forklift and you laughed lightly at the sight.

"Do you know how much money you could make if you made one of those?!?" Nami screeched and buried her fingers in her hair.

You shrugged, "Probably a lot. But I'm not interested in the money."

". . . . can I have it then?" Nami pursed her lips in a puppy faced pout that Sanji gushed over and Zoro rolled his eyes at.

"I guess. I'm still in the process of figuring things out but its hard because I dont have anyone to test it on. I'm not a devil fruit user." You peaked into your bag and grabbed your prototype. It was a green and orange thin liquid that sloshed around in the purple vial you had it stored in. "This isn't the final product but with this I got fairly close according to my limited research." You were about to put it away when Luffy took it from your hands.

"Ill test it for you!" He chimed happily, opening the vial. A foul smell came from the green and orange steam that floated out of the vial.

"Luffy, it could be dangerous! Its not-"

Before you could continue further, he doesn't the whole thing and made you facepalm.

"Ew!! Y/n/n, that's gross!!" He stuck his tongue out and made a face. "Now I feel sick." He whined and clutched his stomach.

"She tried to tell you. Baka." Usopp spoke and shook his head and so did the rest of the crew.

"I have some golden ginger root that's really good for stomach aches when you make tea out of it. If you like, I can make some." You offered, shrugging your shoulders.

"Yay!! Y/n/n is coming back to our ship!!" Luffy squealed happily.

"Yay!! Y/n-swan!!!" Sanji squealed along side Luffy. This was perfect. You got to be with Luffy again and you got away from being in trouble.

"You guys go ahead. I need to do some shopping." Nami slung her satchel full of belly over her shoulder.

"Me too," Zoro agreed and started walking off.

"I better go with him to make sure he doesn't get lost." Usopp ran after Zoro and Nami split off as well with a smile and a wave.

"I actually need to get groceries. Luffy, do you remember where we left the ship?" Sanji asked like the responsible adult he really wasn't. But he was the most responsible one left.

". . . . yes." He pouted and held his stomach.

"You don't. Just go that way. Its the Going Merry." Sanji explained to you gently and pointed in the general direction.

"Sounds good. Luffy will recognize her when he sees her." You nod and take Luffy's hand in his, just like when you were kids. "Be safe on your grocery run. Marines are crawling all over this place. We'll be back after a couple of hours." You smile and lead Luffy towards where Sanji pointed. You were a little surprised at how quickly the crew seemed to have trusted you but you assumed it was mostly because you were so close with their captain.

It was a fairly short walk to the Going Merry. You boarded the ship, helping a complaining Luffy to his seat.

"You should know not to drink my potions without asking me first. Remember my fire resistant potion? Your arms had to get all wrapped up." You giggled when you remember Luffy purposely pissing off Ace to make him punch Luffy in the arm and practically light him on fire. You gently smile and bend down so you were shorter than him. "Are you alright? Does it still hurt?"

"You make me feel better, so my tummy is better." He wrapped his arms around your waist and bury his face in your breasts. "Soft~"

"You're such a baby." You giggle and take his hat, putting it on your head. He always let you take his hat without a fuss, but if anyone other than you ever touched his hat he would freak. Softly, your fingers ran through his black locks and massaged his scalp. He let out a small sigh of appreciation and let his muscles and body relax at your touch.

"I missed you, Y/n/n." He spoke up.

"I miss you too, Lu. I'm glad to see you're ok. I got worried when I stopped hearing from you." You pulled on his cheek a little bit, watching it stretch.

"I know. I got my crew and my ship and how all I gotta do is find One Piece and become King of the Pirates." He mumbled into your flesh and squeezed you tightly. "Y/n."

"Hm?" You kissed his forehead sweetly, like you always do when you cuddled when you were children.

"Become my nakama." The way he spoke didn't leave any room for argument.

"Lu, I'm a witch with a big ass bounty on my head. I'm not so sure-"

"My bounty is bigger than yours!! I'm worth 500,000,000!! Zoro is worth 320,000,00!! It doesnt matter. BECOME MY NAKAMA!!!!! AND WHEN THATS OVER BE MY PIRATE QUEEN!!!!!!" He jumped up, his stomach ache forgotten completely. To say you were shocked would be an understatement, but you had no problems with it.

"Ok."

"Yay!!! That was easy. Now, can I have some tea? My tummy hurts." He rubbed his stomach and pouted.

"Luffy, you're such a dumbass." You giggled and got to work boiling the water. ". . . . . Queen of the Pirates, huh?"

Luv: welp. That's a thing I did. It was long. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, anything! ❤ 😊

[tangerinesmoke]

bento

based on this art by iga_guri which was inspired by Nami’s Nissin Cup Noodles commercial

——–

“How do you do, everyone? My name is Nami. Please take care of me for the rest of our senior year!” The orange-haired transfer student cheerfully exclaims as she bows her head in front of the class. Everyone applauds calmly, but there’s one boy who does it differently from the rest.

“Psst, Zoro.” Usopp lightly kicks the chair in front of him.

The mosshead yawns loudly without looking back. “What?”

“Something’s wrong with Sanji.”

“Everything’s wrong about him, what do you mean?”

“Not that! He’s not exuding hearts at the new girl!”

“Who cares? At least he’s not being annoying for a change.” Zoro replies nonchalantly.

Usopp eyes Sanji, whose mouth is slightly opened, but surprisingly behaving well on his seat. “It’s heckin’ weird, man.”

Zoro flicks an eraser at his blonde seatmate’s head. “Oi, are you dead or dead? Choose one.”

Sanji touches his head at the friction but his eyes never leave the transfer student.

Zoro raises an eyebrow at him. “Hmm? It’s not really unusual behavior. Probably just delayed reaction.” Zoro picks up the eraser that bounced not so far from him and proceeds to sleep on his chair.

Sanji, still not minding the hard eraser that his marimo friend threw at him, says “I think I’m in love,” with his mouth gaped open and cheeks blushing.

———

Not long enough, Usopp realizes Zoro was right about the delayed reaction when Sanji finally finds an opportunity to talk to the transfer student right before break time, and has radiated  hearts like there’s no other girl he would do it for an hour later.

“Nami-san, oh Nami-san, your name is so beautiful! As beautiful as your laugh!”

Nami gives him a blank stare, which surprises Sanji. The orange-haired beauty, realizing the awkwardness of the situation, quickly changes the expression on her face and smiles at him with ease.

“Haha, thanks for the compliment! Your name is?”

Sanji fixes his composure. “My name is Sanji. Nice to meet you! Since it’s break time, shall we eat lunch together, Nami-san?”

Nami looks down on her notebook. “Oh, I’m not so hungry.”

“Eh? Come on now, Nami-san. You won’t be saying that once you see my bento.”

“What?”

“I always bring a lot of food that I cooked myself! ” Sanji hurriedly runs to his bag to get his bento and show Nami. “Here, have a look!”

Sanji proudly opens his bento and it was the most beautiful packed lunch that Nami has seen. It includes a little bit of everything: onigiri, tonkatsu, shrimp, veggies, and fruits like strawberries and sliced apples. He even has a small container for seaweed soup. Her stomach suddenly growls loudly.

“See, I told you, Nami-san! So let’s eat?” Sanji’s eyes turn into hearts by now, which makes the transfer student back off a little.

“Um, well. Sure!” Nami opens her bag and on the side of her books is a small plastic containing one piece of melon pan with a bite on it. She quickly hides it from view. Sanji sees it, however, but pretends that he didn’t.

“Um, it seems I forgot my lunch box…” Nami says nervously.

“Ah, then I’ll share my food with you!” Sanji exclaims.

“Really? You’re my savior!” Nami hugs Sanji around his neck, which turns the blonde almost into a puddle of goo on the floor.

Nami eats too heartily with the extra chopsticks he provides her, as though she didn’t eat anything for two days. Sanji smiles, but can’t forget the face while she’s eating and the face she made when she first looked at him.

———

“Perona, let’s go? We’re going to be late for cram classes.” Tashigi pushes her eyeglasses while looking at her friend who’s panicking slightly. 

“Something wrong?”

The richest student of Class 3-B keeps rummaging her huge bag and books. “I can’t see my Givenchy crossbody bag?”

“What? You just bought it two days ago, didn’t you?” Tashigi asks worriedly.

“I know! It’s not like I can’t buy another but…Dad’s still going to get mad.” Perona pouts.

“We need to find it. Ask around these guys and I��ll go back to the girls’ restroom. I’ll check if you left it there earlier?”

“Okay, although I already looked around…” Perona frowns. “Oh hey, Nami!”

Nami freezes in place when she sees Perona approaching her. “Sorry to bother, but did you see any silver crossbody bag around here?” The pink-haired elite student asks.

“I didn’t, sorry. Excuse me, Perona, but I’m running late for my part-time job. Bye! I hope you find your bag…” Nami runs toward the classroom door.

Sanji wonders why Nami took the expensive bag.

———

The next day, Perona’s missing Givenchy crossbag becomes the talk of town, until she sports a Fendi handbag when she comes to class, saying “I just dusted it off from the closet!” She doesn’t seem to mind the loss, but Sanji, as a ladies’ man, likes to think otherwise.

Sanji insists sharing his food with Nami again at lunch time even though she says she’s on a diet. She had the same gusto in eating the food he made, but he wonders if her not having lunch is just an excuse now.

After class dismissal, Nami leaves again in a rush. Sanji tries to go after her but Luffy and Usopp start playing around like kindergartners.

“Can you guys-” Sanji, in an attempt to see where Nami is going, shoves the two boys having a friendly brawl in front of him.

“Ouch, that hurt, Sanji!” Usopp exclaims.

“Can you guys flirt somewhere else? You’re blocking my way!”

“Eugh.” Usopp fakes throwing up, and Luffy snatches his waffles while he’s distracted.

“Hahaha! You lost, Usopp!” Luffy runs outside the classroom and in the hallways.

“Dammit, Luffy! At least share with me the waffles I bought from my own allowance!” Usopp chases Luffy while Sanji shakes his head in disbelief.

“Huh, wait? I lost Nami-san.” Sanji runs in full speed to the hallways and thankfully, he easily spots vivid orange hair as the girl turns around the corner. Sanji keeps a considerable distance and silently follows her to the school grounds.

———

Sanji finds out that Nami is working in “Arlong Park Cafe,” one of the biggest restaurant & cafe chains in their district. He hides himself behind the huge menu board and tall potted plants beside the store’s door. He sees Nami through the window getting scolded by one of the managers for being late. She apologizes profusely and goes to the back door, then comes back immediately in view, all dressed up for work.

Before she clears one of the tables, Sanji is shocked to see her sneaking to eat the leftovers on the plate. 

Sanji has decided that he would wait for Nami after work.  He pulls a lollipop from his pocket and starts eating it.

She doesn’t come out of the cafe until four hours later.

“Sanji-kun.”

The blonde is taken aback to see Nami standing by his side while he is seated on the ground of a nearby alley.

“I know you’ve followed me all the way here. I saw you on the subway and through the window at work.” Nami says with that same blank stare she gave him a day before.

“Well…Let me expla-”

“You saw me eating the leftovers, didn’t you?” 

“I did, but…”

Nami tightens the hold on her bag. “I know you’re disgusted by it.”

“No, Nami-san!” Sanji flails. “You’re not one bit disgusting.”

“It’s okay to be, just don’t tell everyone about it in school. Why did you follow me?”

“I promise you, I won’t. Cross my heart.” He gestures a heart with his hands and smiles nervously. “I am actually here to ask you about something.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Perona’s bag.”

The orange-haired beauty’s demeanor suddenly changes. “You knew?”

“I saw you taking it when you thought no one else was looking.” Sanji says, putting his hands in his pocket.

“Just so you know,I’m not going to give it back to her. But don’t tell anyone about it in school. I will share you half of my earnings when I sell it, if that will shut you up.” Nami’s eyebrows crease.

“It’s not really about that.” Sanji asks.

“Yes and keep it that way.”

“I care about you, Nami-san.”

“I need money to pay for my rent, not your care.” Nami starts walking away from Sanji. But the boy is quick to pull himself up and catch Nami by the arm.

“Anyone who eats my food with a smile on their face automatically gets that, you’re no exception.” At this, Nami stops walking.

“I don’t know what problems you’re dealing with, but I’m ready to help.”

Nami touches the hem of her skirt. “No one can help me but myself.”

“Just remember you’re not alone. See you tomorrow, Nami-san.” Sanji walks by her and waves coolly from behind, with the lollipop between his fingers.

———

Nami walks to school the next morning, and as she approaches the entrance. he sees a familiar figure leaning on the wall from afar.

“Sanji-kun.”

“Been waiting for you, Nami-san! Here’s your bento.” Sanji extends his arms to hand Nami the lunch box he prepared.

“What? For me?”

“Yep!” Sanji says excitedly. “Open it!”

Nami opens the bento hesitatingly, but when she sees omurice, sausage, sliced potatoes, and tangerines, she is almost drooling.

“Why, Sanji-kun?”

“It’s nice to see you eat the food I made.” Sanji’s heart eyes start appearing.

At this, Nami wholeheartedly laughs. “That’s…nice, I guess. Thank you, Sanji-kun!”

“And I also brought some money.”

“Money? For what?”

“I’ll buy Perona’s bag.” He replies indifferently.

Nami’s eyes bulge.“What?!”

“I can’t let a beauty like Perona stress over a Givenchy!”  Sanji’s tears flow uncontrollably.

“Don’t go making me feel guilty now… You can’t possibly pay for it, can you?” The orange-haired girl eyes him suspiciously.

“I can’t, but I’m not alone on that.”

Before Nami could ask, a bunch of boisterous voices echo all over the school grounds.

“Oiiiii Sanji!” Luffy comes running to shake Sanji. “And uh what’s her name again?”

“Her name is Nami!” Usopp says as he fixes his backpack.

“Oh, Mami! Hey!” Luffy flashes his teeth at Nami with all smiles.

“I said it’s Nami, idiot!”

“Hey, loser. How’s your head? Why are you still alive?” Zoro says, in his coolest and most collected manner, to piss Sanji off.

“Shut up, mosshead. You think I don’t know what you did the other day?”

“So what, you think you’re smart now?”

“Can’t we just go to class normally and stop this bickering?” Already exasperated, Usopp goes ahead of them toward the building.

“Luffy, what the heck! Stop shaking me!” Sanji’s face is almost blue.

“Hahaha!” Luffy chases Usopp toward the building entrance, followed by Zoro.

Nami just watches the scene unfold in front of her and can’t help but feel delighted with her cheerful classmates.

“Those guys are gonna help you out as well. As I’ve said, you’re not alone, Nami-san.”

“Why are you doing this, Sanji-kun?”

“Because I looooveeee Nami-san! Do you love me too now, Nami-san?” Sanji starts the noodle dance around Nami.

“Sure, sure.” She answers halfheartedly, but maybe with a little truth in it.

—-

end

[anubislover]

Of Friendship, Captains, and Wedding Dresses (Part 2)

“Should we show this to Law?” Penguin whispered. He, Shachi, and Jean Bart were huddled in the corner of their shared quarters, closely studying the newspaper. It had arrived only minutes ago, but the second he had seen the front page he’d pulled his two companions away from the galley, needing someone to assure him he hadn’t gone crazy. Everyone else was at breakfast, so they weren’t expecting company, but it still felt like they spoke too loudly, the horrible image before them would be real.

Shachi skimmed the article with concern. It was short on details beyond time, place, and a few quotes from witnesses, but the headline and photo were damning enough. “Probably, but who knows how he’ll react?”

“This has to be a mistake,” Jean Bart grumbled, crossing his huge arms. “Straw Hat’s not the kind of guy to move in on another man’s woman, and Miss Nami would never cheat on the Captain. Maybe it’s a set up by the World Government?”

“What reason would they have to make up something like this?” Penguin asked incredulously. “No one outside the alliance knows about Law and Nami, so it can’t be to sabotage our partnership.”

“And it doesn’t look like the photo’s doctored,” Shachi added, studying it closely. “It’s definitely them, too, so they couldn’t have staged it with lookalikes.”

The former slave frowned in disappointment. “So, you’re saying that you think Straw Hat really…”

“I’m saying I’m not seeing any evidence that he didn’t.”

“It doesn’t make sense, though!” Penguin said, glaring at the paper. “I didn’t think he was even into girls! And if he were, he’s got the Pirate Empress herself itching for a piece of him. Why would he go for Nami?”

“Because she’s awesome and gorgeous and smart and they’ve known each other for ages?”

“Well, yeah, but she’s also taken! Even a guy as dense as Luffy can see Law’s serious about her. Hell, this is the longest I’ve ever even seen him be with a woman, and we’ve known him since we were teenagers.”

Frown deepening, Jean Bart’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, the Captain seems…happy whenever he’s with her. At first, I thought it was just because that Doflamingo guy was gone and he was getting laid, but I think he’s got legitimate feelings for her.”

“Which is what makes this,” Shachi growled, slapping the newspaper distastefully, “even worse! I don’t want to believe Nami or Luffy would betray him like this, but if it’s true, I’ll kick their asses myself!”

“As if you could,” Penguin replied with a roll of his eyes, even if he felt the same way. He, the ginger, Bepo, and their captain had been friends for years, and Nami was the first woman they’d ever known that managed to make the grumpy, sadistic man smile so softly. Law was falling head-over-heels, and while his gut was telling him to trust her and her captain, the facts were pointing in a very uncomfortable direction. “But back to the original question; should we show this to Law?”

“Captain deserves to know,” Jean Bart said, scratching his chin. “He’ll be pissed, but a man should hear this sort of thing from his friends, not the paper.”

“Yeah, but if it is just a misunderstanding, he might do something rash and ruin the alliance.” Shuddering, images of the Straw Hats cut to pieces filled his mind. Depending on how angry Law was, he might not even use his Ope-Ope Fruit powers when doing it.

“Rash? Guy lives by the saying ‘revenge is a dish best served cold.’ It took him how many years to go after Doflamingo?”

“That was different. Love can make even the calmest man irrational. And he was able to take his time with Doflamingo because he didn’t have to see him for thirteen years. I’m not sure he’s got enough willpower not to murder Luffy on sight if we ran into him.”

Shachi nodded in agreement, adjusting his hat. “We should wait for a bit; see if new info comes out. Could be it clears up on its own and Law never finds out.”

“We can’t hide it from him forever,” the big man replied. “Straw Hat’s the Fifth Emperor! Every little thing he does makes the news. You think this is the only article there’ll be about his upcoming wedding?”

“Luffy’s getting married?” came a voice from the door.

The trio froze, realizing they were no longer alone in their quarters. Turning in unison, they found Bepo looking at them curiously, and behind him, their captain.

“So that’s where the paper went,” Law chuckled, leaning against the doorway, his morning cup of coffee in hand. “I was worried the News Coo missed us. Have to keep up with Mugiwara-ya’s antics somehow, don’t we?”

“Eh, sure, Captain!” Shachi said with a salute. “But there’s nothing interesting in today’s news, so—”

“But you just said Luffy’s getting married,” Bepo pointed out. “How is that not interesting?”

Law’s grin widened, amusement dancing in his gold eyes. “Yeah, did Hancock finally get her claws in him? I’d say that’s worth a read.”

“Not at all, Law! It’s a super boring article!” Penguin insisted, instinctively hiding the paper behind his back.

“Yeah, the photo’s terrible, too,” Jean Bart supplied. Much as he felt Law deserved to hear it from them, he absolutely agreed it shouldn’t be at that very moment. They needed at least another hour to figure out how to break it to him gently so hopefully he wouldn’t do as Penguin predicted.

Suspicious, Law raised a dark eyebrow at his companions. He would have thought the guys would be all over mocking their ally’s weird relationship with the Amazonian queen. None of them would meet his eyes, and they’d been conspicuously absent from breakfast.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out they were hiding something.

“Room. Shambles.”

Shachi shrieked as the paper was replaced with the mug of coffee, which proceeded to spill all over the back of his boiler suit.

“Don’t read it, Captain!” Penguin cried but was too late.

Silence fell over the room as the dark doctor’s eyes roamed the front page, tattooed knuckles turning white as his fingers tightly clenched the wrinkled paper.

“Bepo,” he finally said, voice colder than the waters of the North Blue as he pulled a vivre card out of his pants pocket, “set a course for the Thousand Sunny.”

A shiver ran up Jean Bart’s spine as the navigator hesitantly took the white scrap of paper. “Captain, I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding!”

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” he replied, tone eerily calm. “Someone seems to have misunderstood that Nami-ya is mine. So, we’re going to go remedy that.”

XXX

A few days later, Luffy was relaxing atop his favorite spot on the lion head. A thick fog had settled, making it impossible to see possible dangers or obstacles, so Nami had insisted they drop anchor until it dispelled. Despite the bad weather, she’d seemed quite chipper at breakfast, grinning mischievously when he’d caught her looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Afterwards, she’d told him to come to her cabin in a couple hours, as she had a new game they could play.

“You can’t tell the rest of the crew, though,” she’d giggled with a wink. “After I teach you the rules, we’ll surprise them with it together.”

A smile stretched his face. It was good to see his navigator was happy. He’d felt a bit bad for ruining her shopping trip and was especially worried when, the next day, she pretty much locked herself in her room, refusing to tell even Robin what was wrong. He’d thought she was mad at him, but maybe she’d just been working on this new game? He couldn’t wait to play!

His thoughts were derailed when a familiar yellow submarine surfaced next to the ship, the bright color particularly garish against the thick, gray fog.

“Tora-o!” he called, excited as the dark doctor emerged on deck. “How’re ya doing, buddy?”

Ordinarily Luffy was immune to Law’s glares, but even he felt a small shiver go up his spine at the look the Surgeon of Death gave him. The bags under his eyes seemed particularly pronounced, as if he’d been sleeping even less than usual, and his intense gold pupils bore into him like Admiral Kizaru’s light beams. The rest of the Heart Pirates filed out behind him, heavily armed and equally as grim. In a blink, Law activated his Room, teleporting himself up onto the figurehead and grabbing Luffy’s red vest in a white-knuckled grip.

“Mugiwara-ya,” he ground out through clenched teeth, holding a newspaper up to the younger captain’s face, “what the fuck is this?”

It took Luffy a few moments to comprehend what he was seeing. It was the issue from almost a week ago; the front page was dominated by an image of him on one knee in front of Nami, the wedding dress boutique perfectly framed behind them. The copper-haired woman’s face was shocked, hands clasped over her mouth, but from an outsider’s point of view it wasn’t the expression of disbelieving horror it had been. The headline was just as damning:

Fifth Emperor Straw Hat Luffy Proposes to His Navigator

Heavy silence fell between the two captains, Law seething with rage as Luffy skimmed the accompanying article.

“Well?” the doctor hissed, ignoring the way the rest of the Straw Hats had moved towards them, on guard due to the doctor’s threatening aura and his crew’s cold expressions. “You said you weren’t in love with her! That she’d make a scary wife, remember? What the hell—”

His furious questions were cut off as Luffy burst out laughing.

At his captain’s outburst, Zoro’s grip on his swords relaxed. The murderous aura the dark doctor radiated had immediately put him on guard, ready to defend his captain if Law had chosen to violently end the alliance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sanji had crept closer to the railing, ready to dive into the ocean to rescue the Devil Fruit user, though he was sure he was more eager for an excuse to kick the ass of Nami’s boyfriend. Luckily, Luffy appeared to be in no real danger, as Law’s grip on his vest loosened in shock.

“Oh, man, wait until Nami sees this!” the rubber man guffawed.

“Is this a joke to you, Mugiwara-ya?” Law snarled, fists clenched. It was extremely tempting to punch his rival at that moment, but he’d noticed the green-haired swordsman and the cook were on high alert. Meanwhile, his own crew awaited his signal on the Polar Tang’s deck, ready to storm the ship and take back their captain’s woman by force. Not that he wanted to end their alliance like that, but if Luffy didn’t explain himself in the next five seconds, things were going to get violent fast.

“Sure, because it’s hilarious! You think Nami and I are getting married?”

The rest of the crew gasped, and an arm bloomed out of Luffy’s chest, grabbing the newspaper and tossing it down to Robin, who proceeded to show it to her companions, an amused smile slowly turning up the corners of her lips. Within seconds of reading the headline, Sanji burst into flame, Zoro, Brook, and Franky cracked up, and Chopper and Usopp stared at the article in inarticulate shock.

Letting out a deep breath, Law replied, perhaps a little hopefully, “You’re not?” He hated to admit it, but when he’d seen that headline, his heart had stopped. He’d long worried that the younger captain harbored feelings for the fiery navigator, considering their unshakable bond and history, but Nami’s assurances and Luffy’s general cluelessness about the fairer sex had mostly put those concerns to rest. But when he’d seen that photo, he’d been overwhelmed with the crushing fear that he’d lost her, mixed with fury at his ally’s betrayal.

As sneakily as the Cat Thief herself, Law’s feelings for Nami had grown past physical desire. The sex was still amazing, but as of late he’d found himself just as content simply being in her presence. When she tutored Bepo on cartography, he was happy to read a book in the corner, calmed by the sound of her voice. He’d volunteer to help in the mikan grove, filled with pride that she trusted him with her precious trees. Law found he even slept easier with her beside him, her warm, supple body providing comfort he’d never felt from another woman.

Was that love? He suspected so but hadn’t dared say it aloud. Both he and Nami had rather painful memories associated with the word, so he’d been holding off, not wanting to spook her or ruin the first truly good thing (besides his crew) he had in his life for a long time. He’d take his time, ease them both into it, and maybe, someday, he’d be able to use that word without his heart twisting.

Had his hesitation cost him? They’d declared themselves exclusive, but what if she’d changed her mind because he wasn’t yet ready to put his feelings into words? What if she didn’t see a future with him and decided to settle for Luffy? Moreover, had the Straw Hat captain’s talk of friendship been so hollow? Did he really think it was ok to move in on another man’s woman like that, to betray his hard-won trust? Had he decided that the doctor wasn’t worthy of the navigator and sought to end their relationship? Had Nami even said yes? Whatever the case, it was time for them to have a long-overdue talk. With luck, he wouldn’t have to kill her captain first; he doubted that would encourage her to stay with him.

Goofy grin fixed on his face, Luffy linked his hands behind his head carelessly. “Nope! Definitely not getting married.”

“Then you didn’t propose,” he confirmed, relief washing over him. Behind him, he could practically sense his own crew’s tension ease, the younger captain’s response a balm to their frayed nerves. Sailing for five days with a furious and heartbroken captain to potentially kill their allies had been beyond stressful.

“Oh, well, I did do that!” Luffy said cheerfully.

“What?!”

“Hey, she turned me down! I didn’t even get her a ring.”

“Why did you even want to marry her?”

“So you wouldn’t steal her heart and make her join your crew. But Nami promised she’d never leave us, even if she did marry you, so it’s all good!” he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Law had so many questions, most of them he was pretty sure he’d never get a straight answer for if he asked the rubber captain, so he simply settled on, “Where’s Nami-ya?”

XXX

Inside her room, Nami chuckled to herself. She normally wasn’t the type for silly pranks, but after seeing the headline brought by the News Coo a few days ago, she couldn’t help herself. At least, she couldn’t once she’d calmed down from the secret freak-out she’d had when the paper had been delivered. It was pure luck that none of her nakama hadn’t seen it yet; Sanji would probably be going for their captain’s throat and Usopp, Brook, and Zoro would tease her mercilessly. Well, she was going to turn the tables and beat them to the punch.

Much as she hated her experience on Thriller Bark, she’d kept the wedding dress in case she ever needed it for a disguise. Admittedly, she’d had to make a few alterations, as her body had changed in the two years since she’d worn it last, but with a few late-night sewing sessions, it fit well enough for her purposes. Really, the hardest part of the past few days had been removing any mention of hers and Luffy’s “engagement” from the papers before Robin or Sanji could get them.

She’d also been nervous that Law would call the ship demanding an explanation, but the transponder snail had been mercifully quiet. It wasn’t uncommon for the Heart Pirates to miss a few newspapers due to being deep under the sea, but Nami knew it wouldn’t last forever; once she’d had her fun, she planned on ringing him and filling him in on the situation. He’d probably be much happier hearing it from her than the News Coo, or at least less likely to murder Luffy.

Faintly, Nami could hear her captain’s voice outside the door, and she grinned deviously. His reaction would be hilarious, she was sure, and then she’d clue him in and they could mess with the rest of the crew for a while. With luck, it would permanently put to rest his silly worries that she’d leave the Straw Hats for a lover.

There was a knock on the door, and Nami giggled. Luffy was a little early, but she had expected he’d get impatient, so she’d gotten ready ahead of time. Hopefully he’d be too speechless to alert anyone on deck.

With a final inspection in the mirror, she gave herself a thumbs-up before flinging open the door.

“I do!”

As she’d hoped, her captain was silent, but Nami barely noticed as her eyes were fixed on Law, who gaped at her, jaw dropped.

Internally, the Cat Thief was screaming in horror. She’d heard commotion out on the deck, but she’d assumed it was just Zoro and Sanji’s usual post-breakfast argument. Instead, she was faced with the crippling realization that she’d just greeted her lover in a wedding gown. Even if he hadn’t seen that article, there was no way this could end well.

“Um, hi, Law-kun,” she squeaked.

Before anyone could react, Nami was thrown over the dark doctor’s shoulder. In a blink, they were on the yellow submarine’s deck, Law carrying the woman towards the door like a sack of potatoes. “Prepare to dive,” he ordered Penguin, who could only nod mutely before running inside.

“Hey, put me down!”

Ignoring his crew’s shocked expressions and Nami’s fists pounding against his back, Law growled, “Not a chance. You’re going to tell me what the hell’s going on, and then I’m ripping this damn dress off you. Then we’re going to find that reporter and make sure they know exactly who you belong to, because like hell you’re marrying anyone but me!”

Bright red spread across her cheeks while her heart fluttered. Did he really just say that? Did he really mean that?

However, her flustered response was cut off by a pair of rubber arms wrapping around her waist and yanking her back onto the Thousand Sunny. “No fair, Tora-o! Nami said you can’t marry her without my permission.”

Grabbing his nodachi from Bepo, Law yelled back, “Mugiwara-ya, you give me my woman or I’ll cut you into so many pieces not even Nico-ya and Tony-ya combined will be able to put you back together!”

“Well if you don’t quit tearing apart my navigator’s clothes, I’m going to bash your face in! Do you have any idea how many shopping bags I had to carry?” Luffy replied as he swung up onto the mast, bursts of haki keeping his rival’s Devil Fruit abilities from stealing Nami back, forcing Law to climb up after them. “It was awful, Tora-o! I couldn’t talk about meat and she spent twenty minutes deciding between two pairs of shoes that were exactly the same!”

“Hey, she likes it when I rip off her clothes! And if you can’t handle a woman’s shopping habits, you shouldn’t be asking to marry her!”

“Shishishi, well, you’re still not marrying her because I say so!” As he swung them up even higher, narrowly avoiding the doctor’s attempts to grab them, Luffy turned to grin at the redhead clinging to him for dear life. “This is way more fun than shopping, huh?”

“Luffy, I’m going to kill you!” she screeched, the bottom of her wedding gown whipping about in the wind.

“But this way you know he loves you! He wouldn’t get this mad otherwise, right?”

“Still going to kill you!”

The rubber man just laughed, more than happy with this new game. It probably wasn’t what she’d intended, but he sure wasn’t complaining. Honestly, he’d decided after his talk with Nami that if Law asked, he’d let them get married so long as she stayed the Straw Hats’ navigator. He had to ask, though, not kidnap her.

The younger captain had also decided that if Law didn’t propose by the time Luffy became King of the Pirates, he was going to beat the crap out of him and make him marry Nami. She wasn’t getting left behind like Makino-chan.

Down below, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates were recovering from their shock at seeing Law carrying off Nami in a white wedding dress, only to be stolen away by their captain, leading to a rather intense but amusing chase above them. This was a far more eventful morning than any of them had expected, but the pure ridiculousness of the situation was certainly entertaining.

“Shitty captains! I’ll kill you both!” Sanji screamed as he tried to leap after them, only to be held back by Franky.

“I hope we’re invited to the SUPER wedding!”

“That poor, miserable bastard doesn’t know what he’s getting into,” Zoro chuckled, shaking his head as Brook began playing a wedding march on his violin.

“I think it’s cute,” Robin replied with a faint chuckle. “Though I get the feeling Luffy’s proposal will be haunting us for a long time.”

“What do you mean?” asked Chopper.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t think Trafalgar-san is the only one who saw this article, do you?”

As if summoned by her prediction, the battle between the two captains was immediately halted by an ominous bellow.

“WHO’S THIS PIRATE TRAMP MARRYING MY GRANDSON?!”

The silhouette of a familiar Marine battleship broke through the fog, the imposing dog head glaring down at the smaller pirate vessels. Atop the figurehead was Monkey D. Garp himself, a maniacal expression on his face and a cannonball in his hand, signature white coat billowing behind him.

Eyes wide with terror, Luffy leapt off the crow’s nest to shove Nami into Law’s arms. “Take her and go! Take her and go!”

“But what about—”

He grabbed the shocked couple and practically threw them down onto the deck. “You can marry her! You have my permission, just get her out of here before Grandpa kills her!”

“LUFFY! HOW DARE YOU GET MARRIED WITHOUT MY APPROVAL! THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS MARRY A NICE MARINE GIRL! YOU’RE BOTH GETTING A FIST OF LOVE FOR THIS!”

As he spoke, Garp wound up his arm before launching the cannonball through the air, the projectile whistling almost merrily until it crashed into the mast, missing Luffy by mere inches.

Wide-eyed but not about to argue as a barrage of cannonballs began to rain down on the two ships, the Surgeon of Death held Nami tight as he teleported back to his submarine, rushing inside after his crewmates who were frantically preparing to dive.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! COME BACK WITH MY GRANDSON’S BRIDE!”

“Grandpa I can explain!”

No one on the Polar Tang heard their ally’s explanation to the former Vice-Admiral as Shachi slammed the door closed behind them, twisting the hatch as tight as possible as the sub was rocked with the impact of several cannonballs. Within seconds, thankfully, they could see water through the portholes, and after a few long, terrifying minutes, they all let out a collective breath, relieved that they were deep enough to be safe from Garp and his ridiculously strong throwing arm.

Brushing his ginger hair out of his eyes, Shachi gave Nami a sheepish grin. “Nice dress.”

Still in the Heart captain’s arms, she returned the smile awkwardly. “Thanks. Think this is what they mean when they say it’s bad luck to see the bride before her wedding?”

“Maybe. If I get married, I’ll blind myself to be safe.”

“But if you did that, you’d never get to see your wife,” Bepo noted.

“Shut up, Bepo. It was a joke.”

“Sorry.”

Jean Bart shook his head and ushered the rest of the crew down the hallway. “Alright, back to work, men. We need to make sure none of the engines got damaged and no one’s injured.”

Happy for an excuse to give Law and Nami some much-needed privacy and escape the uncomfortable and frankly bizarre situation they’d found themselves in, the crew eagerly rushed down the hall. Only Bepo hesitated, glancing between his two friends.

“What’s our course now, Captain?” the Mink navigator asked.

“Away,” Law said tersely. “As far and deep as we can get. I don’t want us stopping until the Marines are off our trail.”

“Aye-aye, sir.”

At last out of danger and alone, silence reigned between the two lovers, Nami nervously fiddling with the skirt of her dress while Law slumped against the wall, lightly banging the back of his head against the thick steel. That was not how he’d expected their confrontation to go, but really, he should have. It was the Straw Hats, after all.

After a while he finally looked down at the woman still tightly encased in his arms, eyebrow raising as he looked her over. “So, Nami-ya, I guess you’ll be borrowing my clothes for a while. Unless you want to stay in the wedding dress?”

Unable to help herself, she gave a teasing grin. “What, you weren’t planning on just keeping me naked in your quarters?”

“I mean, I was, but I thought I’d at least pretend to be a gentleman.”

As nice as it was to hear him trying to make light of the situation, Nami couldn’t help but glance up at the ceiling, her brow furrowed in concern. “Do you think they’ll be ok?”

“Worried about your groom-to-be?” he asked sourly.

She smacked his chest in irritation. “Be nice. Stupid as Luffy was to do it, you’re lucky he proposed instead of kicking your ass. He…overheard us in the cargo hold and kind of panicked when I called you ‘Captain Law.’ He’s not a fan of you calling me a whore, either.”

Law groaned, burying his face in her hair. Well, that explained a few things. He vividly recalled that particular rendezvous; Nami had looked so damn good pinned to the wall, bikini top barely covering her heaving breasts, that he hadn’t been able to help himself. He hadn’t even used observation haki to scan for any potential voyeurs like he normally would, confident that her crew would be too busy with the party Luffy had insisted on throwing. In all honesty, he was lucky his fellow Supernova hadn’t murdered him over the filthy things he’d said in the heat of the moment. “Damn. So, dirty talk is limited to my ship, huh?”

“To say the least. Also, you’re admitting you two are friends. No more of this ‘alliance’ crap. If our relationship’s going to last, you need to accept you’re stuck with all of us Straw Hats, not just me.”

“Fine,” he grumbled, pulling away from her sweetly scented locks, “but I think you owe me an apology. I told you Mugiwara-ya was staking his claim.”

Nami nearly groaned. She knew he’d bring that up. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

The smug smirk he gave was answer enough and she rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You’re both such dramatic idiots.”

“Says the woman who greeted me in a wedding dress.”

She had the humility to blush. “I thought you were Luffy.”

“Not making it better.”

“It was supposed to be a joke! I thought we could mess with the crew a bit!”

“So, you wanted to give Black Leg-ya and Nose-ya heart attacks? I think my sense of humor’s rubbing off on you.”

“Hey, if it made Luffy feel better, it’d be worth it.” She nibbled on her lip, glancing up at him sheepishly through long eyelashes. “You really picked the worst time to show up.”

Gold eyes narrowed in irritation. “Considering how I just rescued you from Mugiwara-ya’s insane grandfather, I’d say otherwise.”

The corner of her mouth twitched up in a smile. “Fair. I’m guessing you saw the paper?”

With a sigh he lowered her so she could stand, though he continued to hold her curvy figure tightly against him. He had no intention of letting her go anytime soon, in any sense of the term. “I did. You can thank my crew for convincing me to ask your captain about the article first instead of simply slicing him to bits and dropping him into the sea.”

“Did you seriously think I would hurt you like that?” she asked, glaring. “Or that Luffy would betray your friendship?” She knew he was paranoid, particularly when it came to her, but her heart clenched in disappointment at the thought that he didn’t trust her. She knew she could be capricious and selfish, but she thought she’d made it clear that she was unwaveringly loyal to those she cared about.

Realizing what he’d implied, he hugged her tighter, softly kissing her temple as an apology. “I didn’t want to, but that photo was pretty damning. It’s why I wanted to ask in person; I knew neither of you would lie to my face, at least.” That, and he’d refused to be dumped over the phone. If she’d decided she’d tired of him, Nami would at least have to do it in person. Cupping her chin, he gave a meaningful glance. “And he did propose, even if you didn’t say yes, so was I wrong to be upset?”

Nami hated that he was technically right, even if it hadn’t been Luffy’s intention. Resting her cheek against his hard, warm chest right over where she could hear his heart pounding, she sighed, “He did it because he was scared I would leave the Straw Hats, not because he wanted to hurt you. He’s more insecure than you’d think, and I guess he was starting to believe I considered you the stronger, smarter, better captain, so he did that dumb guy thing where he assumed getting married would be the best way to keep me around.”

Ever-so-slightly Law relaxed, trailing his fingers thoughtfully up and down her spine, smirking when she arched into him. If nothing else, he could always take comfort in the knowledge that Nami would never react to Luffy’s touch like that. “I won’t argue that I’m smarter, but Mugiwara-ya hardly seems like the sort to doubt himself. How many times has he boasted about becoming the Pirate King?”

Squeezing him tighter, she replied softly, “He hides a lot of pain behind that carefree grin, and even the strongest men can’t always protect the ones they love. Marineford taught him that.”

Much as he wanted to remain bitter at his inadvertent betrayal, Law felt a surge of sympathy for the younger captain. He’d seen firsthand what Ace’s death had done to him. It really was easy to forget sometimes that Luffy wasn’t invincible, and that he wasn’t immune to loss. Maybe he and the captain should have a little talk to get some things out in the open. At the very least, they should discuss how to ensure the beautiful navigator would not have to choose between them during their eventual battle for the One Piece. “Such is the life of those who carry the Will of D.” Gently kissing the top of her head, he bent down to nuzzle her cheek. “He still should have known better.”

“He should have, but he let his insecurities mess with his head and acted like an idiot. I’m beginning to think that’s part of the Will of D., too,” she replied with a raised eyebrow, turning her head to stare up at him challengingly.

“Harsh analysis, but I suppose it’s not without merit.” Capturing her lips with his, he allowed himself to indulge in a long, slow kiss. How could he not when she was right there, and he’d spent the past several days agonizing over whether or not he’d lost her? The way she enthusiastically returned it further lightened his heart, knowing that she didn’t hold his jealous overreaction against him.

When he pulled away for air, he took the time to truly take her in. Now that she was in his arms and not her captain’s, Law could appreciate how stunning she was in a wedding dress. Of course she looked elegant, but the tight bodice accentuated her full bust and the bare shoulders were tempting him to lean down and taste her skin. Admittedly, he had a thing for a hot lady in white, and it seemed it wasn’t solely limited to nurse uniforms. He’d already planned on ravishing his woman to remind her why she’d chosen him; now he was especially turned on at the thought of defiling her while she wore something so virginally pure, even if he knew she was anything but.

It could wait until they’d finished their conversation, though. He was in no rush, and he had a burning question he needed to resolve before he could fully devote himself to worshipping her goddess-like body. “Out of curiosity, are you against marriage in general, or is it something that, in the very distant future, you might consider?”

Nami’s delicate fingers trailed across his chest, tracing over the heart motifs she’d long memorized. “Hmmm, I suppose after I’ve drawn my map of the world, made Luffy Pirate King, and amassed an enormous store of treasure, I’d consider it. I won’t marry just anyone, though. My man would have to be incredibly smart, confident, tall, handsome, a doctor, and able to make even a fuzzy white hat look good. I have a very specific type.”

He couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face at her playful affirmation. “Clearly. At least I don’t have much competition to hunt down and eliminate.”

“You’re already ahead of the curve, since you’ve got my captain’s blessing.” Hot lips peppered kisses across his throat as she added, “But Luffy’s permission or no, I’m not saying ‘yes’ to any ring with a diamond under 200 karats.”

“Noted.”

For a moment, a declaration of love was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back down. Considering everything that had happened in the past week, he doubted she’d take it seriously. Even if she did, she deserved a more romantic setting than the damp hallway of his submarine. Instead, he’d bide his time, wait for the perfect moment when she’d know his feelings were true and not some cheap ploy to keep her around. Maybe he could set up a moonlit dinner for two with candles and her favorite tangerine dishes, then present her with a treasure chest full of gold and jewels, his still-beating heart at the top of the pile.

For now, it didn’t need to be said; Nami saw a future for the two of them, and as far as he was concerned, that was a far better confession.

Pulling away, she gave him a serious frown, full lips pursed in concern. “Hey, you don’t have an insane Marine Admiral grandfather who’ll want to kill me, right?”

Furrowing his brow, he thought it over. “Well, apparently Sengoku was like a father to Cora-san, so maybe? Though, I’d think he’d want you dead just because you’re a pirate.”

“Well, I suppose it’s still better than a Fist of Love from Garp.”

“Most things are,” he agreed, leaning down to steal a quick peck from her lips. “Now, since it looks like you’re going to be here for a while,” he murmured, lightly biting along the exposed column of her throat, “how about I get you out of that dress?”

Manicured fingers dug into his shoulders as fire shot into her belly. As insane as the morning had been, Nami was happy enough with how it had turned out. She was in her lover’s arms, reassured that the feelings that had taken root in her heart were returned. Sure, her crew probably wasn’t having the best time right now, but she was certain they’d be safe once Garp ran out of ammunition and Luffy managed to explain himself. For now, she’d enjoy the downtime she’d initially been denied by her foolish captain’s proposal. “Mmmm, I like the sound of that. Then you can take me shopping.”

“Nami-ya, I thought we established that I’m keeping you naked in my quarters?”

“But Law-kun, you’ve been talking so much about marriage, yet you haven’t even found out if you can handle my shopping habits,” she teased, sneaking her hands under his shirt drag smooth, polished nails along his abs.

He could never decide if he loved or hated how his clever little minx could twist an offhand comment to her advantage. Currently, he was leaning towards “love,” since her playful fingers were sending electric shocks through his nervous system. “Fine. I suppose it’s only fair, since it’ll be a while before we meet back up with your crew.”

“You have Luffy’s vivre card—”

“—since it’ll be a while before we meet back up with your crew,” he emphasized, chuckling at her pout. “I guess I can spare a few hours on the next island. But you’re wearing my hoodie while we’re out. I want everyone to recognize you’re my woman. Especially nosy reporters.” As much as the vindictive side of him wanted to make Luffy suffer longer for his mistake, he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing that damn picture plastered in every newspaper for much longer, or continued speculation on their upcoming nuptials. Law would clear up this mess, stake his claim, and accept whatever chaos came of it.

No matter how annoyed she might get at his possessiveness, Nami would always get a thrill at the hungry gleam that shone in his gold eyes when he talked like that. And, admittedly, she was happy he was so eager to make their relationship obvious. It really helped shake off those nasty, lingering doubts that clung to her heart like cobwebs. “If we really want to convince people, we should be seen making out in a romantic restaurant.” Warm brown eyes met gold as she palmed his growing bulge through his jeans, relishing the way his pupils dilated. “And if that’s not enough, I think a trip to the lingerie store might be in order. I’ll even be a good girlfriend and let you pick out a set.”

Their mischievous, shameless grins were perfect mirrors of each other. “Make it two.”

“Why would I let you pick two when you’re just going to rip them off me anyway?”

Large, tattooed hands gripped her pert rear as he rolled his hips against her. “Considering how I know you’re going to make me pay for them, I think I deserve that much,” he growled. “Besides, I probably won’t rip off anything that marks you as mine.”

Much as she wanted to argue, his touch was setting her skin on fire, and at this point she just wanted to get to his quarters and finally take off that wedding dress so she could feel him between her legs. “I guess I can live with that since your taste isn’t entirely questionable.”

Nipping her ear in retaliation, he had to chuckle. “You know, this might lead to people thinking you’re some insatiable gold-digger playing both the Fifth Emperor and the Surgeon of Death.”

Her grin could have put a trickster god’s to shame. “Or that we’re all tangled together in a scandalous threesome.”

“Nami-ya, as hilarious as that would be, I don’t share.”

“Well, a girl’s got to have a little fun, right?” she giggled, teasingly planting a kiss over his heart. “Why settle for one captain when I could have two? I am a greedy pirate whore, after all.”

“Maybe, but you’re my greedy pirate whore,” he said affectionately, picking her up and carrying her down the hall bridal style. “Now, let’s get you out of this dress and into the Captain’s bed. I’m sure as hell not waiting for the honeymoon.”

“Good, because neither am I.”

The End

[zonamievents]

ZoNa Summer Festival Day #3

Theme: Paradise Rating: PG / K Word Count: 2,769 words

Zoro was only one sip deep into his drink at the bar when an inquisitive murmur caught his attention. “Say, you look really familiar.”

Brow arched, his mug to his lips, He stared down the bartender and her studious leering. He immediately recoiled and lowered his drink in order to answer them as fast as he could, “Uh, yeah?”

The crow’s feet around her eyes pulled tightly as her frown lines tugged down. Zoro thought she had given up when she ripped her beady eyes away from him, until she placed her attention on his crew mate, “You do too. Have we met somewhere before?” 

“It’s our first time on this island.” He tried to distract her with the truth.

The sharp gasp she emitted proved he had failed. The mess of silver curls on her head bounced around her face when it finally dawned on her. “You’re Roronoa Zoro, aren’t you? And you - you’re Nami. I’m a big fan of your wanted posters.” 

“Thank...you.” feigning graciousness, he could hear the way the navigator responded with apprehension. 

The woman behind the counter didn’t seem to notice. She was still too excited to have them in her bar. “The name’s Venus. Welcome to the Wedge.”

“Nice to meet you Venus. I’m glad we found such a friendly place for my birthday.” Nami sighed happily. Zoro side-eyed her as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned forward with the biggest grin encompassing her face. He knew what her goal was.

But apparently, Venus was easily taken by her nonchalant behaviour. “Is it really? Well then, the next round’s on me.”

“How kind of you!” squealed the birthday girl.

When the bartender turned away, Zoro made sure to whisper to her, “What a sneaky trick.”

“Hey,” she shot back immediately behind her hand. “Do you want an extra mug to drink, or not?”

Zoro saw her point right away and returned to an upright position in his seat. 

The place was rather lively in his opinion, most likely a popular scene for the locals of the island. A well kept dive, the Wedge was exactly the type of place he liked to drink at: cozy, lively enough to have some kind of energy charged up inside but quiet enough that he could drink in peace. If Venus wanted to intrude on their conversation for a little while and offer them a free drink in the process, he didn’t have any right to complain.

“So where’s the rest of the Straw Hat crew? They ain’t celebrating with you?” wondered Venus as she pulled out two icy-looking mugs. The sight alone made Zoro crave his next drink, compelling him to down whatever beer he had left in front of him.

Nami took over the conversation while he chugged. “Nah, we’re the heavy drinkers of the crew. If I want to drink my body weight and then some, I’m going out with this guy.” 

The affirming slap on his shoulder was not something Zoro enjoyed.

Venus, however, chuckled with great amusement. “I knew you were my favourites for a reason! I’ve had every version of your posters posted on that back wall ever since you were given bounties. You’ve really come a long way in the last few years.”

Such a nostalgic comment made Zoro turn to face Nami and he wasn’t at all surprised that she always looked in his direction. It was like they were silently observing one another while imagining the first version of each other that they had met. She had always been cunning, her cleverness her greatest asset at any point in time. Nevertheless, the girl he met in Orange Town - an ironic name if he ever heard one - could not compare to the woman who sat next to him on her birthday.

Thinking about her in such a way made a certain word he never really used pop into his head: flourish.

“We’re mostly alive due to stubbornness.” Zoro admitted with a cheeky smirk. When Nami didn’t immediately scold him for his summarization of their adventures, he knew she agreed.

In fact, she made sure to tack on, “Our captain set a precedent that we can do whatever we want, so long as we make it out alive.” “And it’s been working out pretty well so far.” Zoro pointed out, nudging his empty mug towards Venus’s side of the counter.

The older woman got the hint and reached for the two mugs she had resting in front of her. Filling them up as she carried on talking, she scoffed. “I’ll say. You’ve all got some pretty lofty ambitions if you’re willing to take on the enemies that you do.”

Disclosing their dreams easily enough, Nami admitted, “It’s easy to dream big when your captain is determined to find One Piece and become the King of the Pirates.”

Venus didn’t let her stun stop her from delivering their new drinks. The shock in her violet-colored eyes was obvious, though. “I suppose that’s true. So you’re all doing your damnedest to cause a ruckus no matter where you go or who you meet, huh?”

Zoro quickly guaranteed her, “Not here, though. This beer’s really good.”

“Happy to hear that,” Venus laughed softly at his promise. “With what I’ve seen from your crew, I think you’ve got what it takes to do just about anything.”

“That’s what we keep telling ourselves.” Nami concurred after she released a satisfied ‘ah’. He knew she was a huge fan of cold beer, so she didn’t need to show her enjoyment for Zoro to know that she was having a great time. 

But then, the mood took a bit of a nose dive when Venus inquired, “Any idea what you’ll be looking forward to afterwards?”

Sloppily, in unison, both of the Straw Hats at the bar responded, “Huh?”

Taking a moment to rest, the barkeep leaned on her forearms until she was nestled against her countertop comfortably. Then, she explained, “I don’t think there’s anyone out there on the open seas that’s got what it takes to do what your crew can do. So, have any of you thought about what you’ll do after you make it to the end of the road? What happens when your captain becomes the King of the Pirates?”

It was too broad a concept for Zoro to take, if the truth be told. For a man like him who trained everyday with Mihawk’s face in mind, who accepted the challenge of every enemy at a moment’s notice, imagining what life would be like after Luffy achieved his dream was not something he thought of often. He was much more interested in finding the thrill of the battle he was in or working hard to be ready for the next one. To wonder what kind of satisfaction he’d find if his dream was already obtained was something he didn’t let himself dwell on for fear of becoming blinded by his passion. 

Sure, the odds of that all of their dreams would be achieved at the same time were possible, but it was very slim. 

What was he going to do if Luffy became King of the Pirates but he hadn’t beaten Mihawk yet and claimed his title?

Unable to find an answer, he faced Nami. She was much more articulate than him, so he hoped that she had an answer ready. There was hesitation in her big brown eyes, yet she didn’t allow the lull in the conversation to carry on for very long. Poised, she replied, “Well, my dream is to make a map of the entire world, so I’ll need to keep going until I make my dream come true.”

When Venus didn’t start praising Nami the moment she finished speaking, Zoro realized she was awaiting his answer too. Having been put on the spot, he answered, “I’m going to become the world’s greatest swordsman. If I can’t beat Dracule Mihawk beforehand, I guess I’m going to have to go look for him.”

Venus appeared to feel complex emotions over their answers. With her brows knitted and her smile having fallen, she asked them both, “So you’re just along for the ride with your captain?”

“Yeah,” Zoro assumed that it was fair for her to word it that way. By this point, however, he was growing rather tired of the conversation. The urge to be protective of Nami was the only thing keeping him present in the moment. After all, having some strange woman chastise them for not thinking about their futures at twenty-one was really condescending to him. 

If it wasn’t for the free drink, he might have told her to piss off.

“Well, ain’t that sweet? You tell your crew that they’re all welcomed her any time.” Venus ensured them as she pushed off of the countertop and quickly strolled away. 

Zoro watched her go like a guard dog and only planned to take a sip of his drink when he knew she was distracted by another customer. “We’ve already skipped a few islands,” Nami said softly, clearly lost in thought. “So I’d have to go back and visit places we missed.”

Zoro huffed, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“I wonder if everyone would want to go with me?” The question could have been open-ended, but her tone implied that she wanted an answer. 

“Why wouldn’t they?” he grumbled in response. This wasn’t a topic of discussion he was fond of, he knew now, as it meant thinking about what was beyond the dream he had been fighting to achieve for his entire life. 

Knowing Nami wanted to dive into such unknown waters made him feel uncomfortable, to put it lightly.

He took her explanation as a sign that he could down his beer while she spoke, meaning he could hopefully leave the rest of the conversation to a more inebriated version of himself. “I don’t think Brook, Robin or Franky are going to want to do anything more than settle down once we’re done. I mean, Brook just wants to see Laboon. And Robin…”

“Hm?” He asked her to carry on while guzzling his drink.

Nami whipped her head in her direction just so she could frown at him. “Unless she’s got another Poneglyph to find or Franky has another boat to make, they’re gonna want to find a place to put down roots. Get it?”

He knew his silence would be enough to tell her that he didn’t.

“Ugh, men.” Nami groaned.

He groaned in response to her disappointment. Throwing his mug down, he shot back. “Well the rest of your crew mates are men so I guess you want any of them to go back with you.”

“Sanji’s goal is to see the All Blue, but after that, he could just end up going back to Pudding or the Baratie.” Nami pointed out.

Zoro whispered to himself, “Good riddance.”

She didn’t hear his insult, so she kept going. “Once Usopp believes his the bravest warrior on the sea, he can just do whatever he wants. We both know he should go back and see Kaya though, that poor girl.”

That, Zoro agreed with. “He’ll have actual stories to tell her now, not just some made up lies.”

“Maybe he’ll take Chopper to see her, make sure she’s doing well.” Nami mused. 

When her tone of voice dropped into a lifeless state, Zoro couldn’t help but notice how her mood suddenly became pensive and withdrawn. Her face looked like it was incapable of smiling while her mind was so heavily occupied. They went out for drinks whenever they could and sometimes, their conversations did become serious. However, it wasn’t usually to the point of her retreating inside of herself where he couldn’t reach. 

Trying to turn her mood around, he offered her an idea. “I’ll bet you my entire debt that Luffy will go anywhere in the world with you. If you’re out on the open seas, he’ll be there.” 

The mention of their captain tugged Nami free from the shackles of whatever dark thoughts she was thinking. To his surprise though, the suggestion made her sigh. “You may be right. I have no idea what that idiot is going to do once he’s got his treasure. I bet he’s as clueless as you are.”

Her accurate observation of him made him bashful. Zoro didn’t know what to do while she finished off her own beer, so he took the time until she finished her last gulp to come up with a response. “So? I have my goal, and then I’ll have to fight to keep it.” 

Nami opened her mouth to speak until she actually mauled over his words. Then, she said, “I guess that makes sense. Mihawk has to fight you off if he wants to keep the title now. Once you get it, you’ll be challenged all the time probably.”

“Only I won’t hide on some secret island forever.” Subtly, only because his idol couldn’t hear him, he made a dig at Mihawk’s character.

“A secret island?” Only when she asked the question did he realize that he never told her where he was for the two years they were all apart. It actually astonished Zoro that he never shared any details about his training with her before. In all fairness, he knew nothing of her time away from the crew either. Still, he genuinely thought that it was obvious where he had been, given the question Kuma had posed.

“Mihawk lives on this island called Kuraigana. It’s dark and full of monsters.” explained the swordsman, recalling his days training there in a flash.

“Sounds like it suits you perfectly.” He thought he heard her say.

“Huh!?” Zoro challenged.

Avoiding his fury entirely, Nami pressed on. “So you’re going to travel the world and fight every swordsman you see? That’s going to be no different from now.” 

That one remark gave him an idea, and Zoro could see the solution to whatever dreary thoughts she had been thinking. In an instant, he felt charged by the words he planned to say next because he truly believed that he had discovered the answer to any worries she may have had. “Yeah. I’ll essentially be a swordsman for hire, if you can afford me.”

Nami couldn’t hide the surprise on her face when she heard his declaration. Only, instead of applauding his sly suggestion, she concocted yet another fiendish way to take advantage of him. Smirking from ear to ear, she decreed, “Once you have that title, you’ll be able to work your debt off to me! Your rate would help you pay it off in at least, what, maybe ten or twenty years”

“What the hell!?” Her calculations sounded absolutely absurd! Zoro couldn’t begin to imagine a situation in which Mihawk was being exploited the way that he was by Nami the Cat Burglar, the Straw Hat’s navigator, the most difficult person he’d ever met!

Ignorant of his plight, she carried on with her ecstatic predictions. “It’ll be great! I’ll be making my map and you’ll be there to protect me, while also showing yourself off to any opponent you meet. We’ll make quite the team. Plus, we both know you can’t go anywhere without me.”

“I was away from you for two years and I was fine!” Zoro shouted his point so loudly, he noticed that Venus was eyeing them from across the bar. 

Nami must have noticed his darting eyes, as she looked over her shoulder towards the bartender who started the mess of the conversation they were having, then happily cheered, “Venus! Another round here, please! We’ve got something else to celebrate!”

“You got it.” complied the older woman, her wrinkles on display as she smiled at the two of them.

Zoro scowled at both of them. “Sure we do.” He said sarcastically. Flippant and irritated, he made it clear that he wasn’t on board with her plans with not only his voice, but his reclining body posture too. 

But as usual, Nami had her mind set on her ideal plan and she refused to see beyond it. Her sigh this time was indeed a happy one, preceding her proclamation, “Imagine - I’ll be even farther along with making a map of the world, and you’ll be the world’s greatest swordsman. It’ll be perfect.”

“Oh yeah,” he mocked her as their drinks placed down in front of them. Lifting his mug high as a fake toast, Zoro’s frown sunk into his jawline when she still clicked her glass against his, making him tack on an insincere, “It’ll be paradise.”

[yukipri]

Marco’s Bauble Part 8 - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Another update for Tumblr!

This work goes by On the Courtship of Monkey D. Luffy on AO3, and I’ll be updating over there tonight as well!

A quick question....do people like reading the updates here on Tumblr? Or now that it’s on AO3, would people prefer to read there? And if so, would you be okay waiting for new updates until AO3 catches up? I’m a little torn because I’m not sure if people are enjoying reading on here, and it’s quite a hassle to format for Tumblr, and it’s getting a bit difficult for me to juggle updating these stories on 3 separate platforms...

ANYWAY, in this update, Thatch has some Thoughts, and there is mention of Ace x Luffy.

Continues off of, and should be read after:

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 1

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 2

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 3

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 4

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 5

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 6

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 7

~~

What are her 3 sizes?

(For the wedding dress, of course.)

"The fuck! Like I'd tell you!" Thatch roars, startling the blue gull into momentarily leaping off the rail, before it circles back, landing again to peck at his  sleeve to express its displeasure. Thatch ignores it, because he's fuming.

So apparently all of his and Koala's secret debates over whether Marco intentionally proposed or not were for naught, because here's the fucking evidence. And it comes from Izo of all people, because Thatch would recognize that lopsided handwriting anywhere (the man insists that his handwriting is beautiful in his native language of Wano, but he never quite got used to writing any other way).

And well, if Izo, an unrelated third party but professional snooper knows, then Marco himself must know.

And apparently, they're already planning a wedding.

Thatch feels like an idiot. He'd been defending Marco against Koala, and the lil Revolutionary was a tough opponent, one he'd had to chase out of the kitchen with a ladle more than once when he was tired of her word games. Thatch had insisted, like a fool, that no Marco's not that kind of guy, he really isn't the type to play with people's emotions, he would never propose for a joke, nor would he do it seriously without good reason. It must all be an accident, a little misunderstanding, Marco was just ignorant like Thatch himself was!

Except, apparently he did know and it wasn't an accident, and now Thatch feels completely lost because he doesn't know what Marco's thinking at all. Marco, who's not just his his first friend on the Moby, but arguably his best friend; Marco, his brother over several decades; Marco, who Thatch thought he knew better than anyone, except perhaps Pops himself...

Thatch's also pissed, because if Marco wants to start drama after they all reunite and he's introduced to Luffy, that's one thing (not that that would be great either). But right now, they're still near the beginning of Paradise with almost half the circumference of the world to go until even the halfway point, and Marco is WAY on the other side of the Red Line. If this ship explodes in flames or whatever that batshit Revolutionary brother might do, Mister First Division Commander is completely unaffected, but there are plenty of innocents here (like hello! Thatch!) who would find that pretty devastating.

Also, Thatch was the one who passed on that gift to Luffy! Even if he didn't know what it meant at the time...doesn't that make Thatch complicit? And even if not, Marco's strongest connection here is clearly Thatch. If Marco's actions cause chaos, then the blame and responsibility to clean up the mess naturally falls upon Thatch. Which, he definitely did not sign up for.

Pops, Thatch thinks miserably, I thought I was supposed to show them they can depend on us Whitebeards, NOT that us Whitebeards will fuck shit up for them...

But more than anything, there's a shocking large part of Thatch that absolutely balks at just the idea of Luffy getting married. And it's shocking because Thatch shouldn't feel this upset.

Marco, for all the complaints Thatch wants to hurl at him at the moment, is still a really great guy. A guy who, in literally any other situation, Thatch would be the first in line to enthusiastically encourage, and also to congratulate.

And sure, Thatch knows he has a crush, and his little Seastar's carving out a larger home for herself in his heart by the day, but--Thatch admittedly has crushes a lot. Sure, this one feels different, but...Marco, to his knowledge, has never had a romantic crush. He only sometimes but very rarely even has a night out, and Thatch doesn't think he's ever held a relationship longer than three encounters. He's always so serious, so diligent, so sincerely and whole-heartedly dedicated to Pops and his family. He almost never does anything selfish for himself, and Thatch would know.

If, for whatever reason, Marco is genuinely serious about Luffy...then Thatch should, and would, step to the side, regardless of personal feelings. If this is the path Marco wants, then he deserves it, and Thatch will always be the first to say it, no matter how craptastic the circumstances. And Thatch knows that Marco would give his bride the world.

Without them even having met, Thatch doesn't doubt for a second that Marco would make Luffy happy, till the end of her days.

The fact that Thatch knows all this, yet still feels near unbearable reluctance...says more than he's willing to admit.

And so he decides to avoid thinking about the most obvious reason (his own feelings), and instead contemplates his second very compelling reason: Ace.

His littlest brother isn't so great at being honest with himself, and never has. But this, Thatch feels, isn't just a matter of denial.

The boy literally has no clue.

Oh sure, Ace knows he loves his little brother. He makes sure everyone else knows it too, both here on the Merry and back on the Moby once he opened up enough to talk to people. He's so damn proud of her, yet also concerned for her, while also trusting her with his life and more. It's clear to anyone who sees them together that he absolutely adores her.

But it's more than that, isn't it, Thatch thinks. It's in the little gestures, the way Ace raises his arm up without looking at her and she slides under it, also without needing to look at him. It's the casual way they lace their fingers together, like it's nothing, when they're snoozing out on the deck. It's the way sometimes they have unspoken conversations, just staring into each others eyes, before moving forward in synch to meet in the middle to bump their foreheads together in some secret mutual understanding.

It's the reason why Sanji, for all his extravagant flirting, knows when to shut up and return to being a normal human (and, Thatch grudgingly admits, this applies to himself too). It's why Zoro never lets his gaze linger more than two seconds longer than it needs to (but he'll always take those two seconds), why Nami always looks like she wants to sit closer but doesn't, why Koala hasn't said anything when she's probably usually a much more proactive flirter.

Everyone on their crew can see it, except the two in question.

Ace, Thatch thinks, heaving a huge sigh as he looks down at the crumpled note from Izo in his palm. Little brother, you are so fucking in love.

It might not necessarily be romantically. It's certainly not particularly sexually, if Ace's lack of reaction to Lu's aggressive physical smothering is any indication. It could very possibly be platonically.

But either way, there's no room for Sanji, nor Zoro, nor the girls, nor even Thatch himself...at least, until those two figure that out.

Until then, everyone aboard the Merry is here because they love and respect their captains. No one would dare encroach on something so special, yet so potentially immature, not yet ready to be dragged out to be recognized.

Thatch knows Ace has known Luffy for years, he practically raised her. But he was also away at sea for three years. Luffy was a child when he left; she's an adult now.

Thatch once asked him if she had changed at all since he last saw her (Ace most certainly had, according to Deuce). And Ace looked blank, then horribly confused, before saying No...but also, yeah, I guess. Thatch understands; Ace isn't used to not knowing something about Luffy. And something...something had changed.

That something might very well be the thing that needs to be figured out. And for that, Ace hasn't had much time yet, since reuniting with Luffy. Only as much time as the rest of them, in fact. And they deserve time to figure that out, and as the two captains' loving crew, the ASL pirates have an unsaid agreement to watch over them...at least until they have.

(After that, Thatch thinks grimly, it might be open game.)

But of course, there's also the question of Luffy herself, and as much as she's the heart of the ASL Pirates, she's also an enigma. Thatch, for all that he adores her and honestly wants more with her, genuinely has a hard time imagining her as anything but clueless as someone's romantic partner (he's carefully not thinking about anything sexual). It very well may be that the whole "figuring out" that she and Ace have to do...ends up being nothing. And that's fine as well.

Either way, as much as Thatch loves him, there's no way that any of them here on board the Merry will stand to let Marco shatter this delicate...whatever it is that's going on between their captains, that the rest of them are so patiently respecting. Even if it ends up continuing indefinitely.

As strained as it can feel at times, they're comfortable like this. There's the little spark of joy when Seastar gives him a little extra attention, a little burn when Sanji kisses her hand, but comfort in the stability that no one will go any further. If anything it's a nice little spice to their daily lives, just the right amount, and not enough ruin the dish so to speak. This is fine.

Except, that there's just one teeny little problem...

"What did the blue gull bring you today, Commander?"

Thatch doesn't jump, because he's not an amateur and did realize that the Revolutionary was approaching, but perhaps later than he should have. Damn the kid's good at hiding his presence, and Thatch wonders if he'd have noticed at all if Sabo was being serious.

"Just a stupid request from a stupid brother," Thatch says cheerfully as he turns around to face Sabo. The boy isn't even trying to hide his curiosity, his gaze pinned to Thatch's hand.

Thatch contemplates chucking the letter into the sea, but then he realizes he isn't sure Sabo wouldn't just dive after it, and as a devil fruit user, Thatch wouldn't be able to stop him from reading it underwater.

So he casually uncurls his fingers, watches Sabo visibly perk up--before Thatch opens a black hole in his palm, letting the crumpled paper get sucked into the void.

(Perhaps he should be using his power as more than a secure second dimension pocket expansion, but hey, so far it hasn't been so helpful in the kitchen.)

Sabo sags and sulks, rather cutely, Thatch thinks. "You coulda let me see it," he pouts, looking up at Thatch with an expression uncannily like Luffy's. Fuck.

"Collecting intel, Chief?" Thatch winks, expertly hiding his horror that for a moment, he'd actually been tempted. Little sneak.

"Perhaps." Something slightly manic enters his gaze, and alright, that's nothing like Seastar, not so cute after all...

"Nice try, but it's a personal family thing, can't really share," Thatch says, and it's not really a lie.

Sabo grunts, letting it go, before his gaze flicks to the gull, who still has a beakful of Thatch's sleeve. "It waiting for something?"

Thatch sighs. "Yeah, yeah, my response, which I should probably give..." Because, right, Thatch needs to send a message back to the Moby, even if no, he isn't going to answer Izo's idiotic question.

Which, is actually a fine excuse to extract himself from this situation.

"So, sorry, the response also is personal, hope you don't mind," Thatch nods, and Sabo easily opens the way for him--which, Thatch belatedly realizes, he'd actually been blocking. Scary, little Chief, scary...

"Sorry, didn't mean to pry." Sabo sounds genuinely apologetic, and tips his hat at Thatch as he passes by, and Thatch inwardly heaves a massive sigh of relief. "I'm working on it, but I know I can get a little...pushy, when it comes to things that involve my baby brother."

Thatch continues to walk away.

But inside...

Oh. Yikes, he thinks.

~~

Thatch is in the privacy of the currently empty men's sleeping room beneath the deck, and has just finished writing and giving instructions and bribes to the gull when the hatch creaks open.

"Thatch, we're in trouble," Koala announces as she stomps down the stairs, making her sneaky opening of the door rather pointless.

"I noticed," Thatch says dryly.

Koala pales. "He didn't break any of your toes, did he?!"

"What."

"Well, you're a cook, you make food Luffy likes with your hands," Koala shrugs. "Just wanted to make sure."

"What the fuck."

"I don't think he will! You're Luffy and Ace's crew, and you're a Whitebeard pirate, but..."

Thatch groans. "I already thought your Chief might be trouble, but holy shit I didn't know he was that batshit."

"He might not be!" Koala sounds defensive, but it's not particularly comforting. "He's usually reasonable, kind of, but since his memories came back..."

Thatch throws up his arms. "So, how'd he get it out of you?"

Koala flushes. "I didn't say anything!"

"Sure."

"It's not my fault that Sabo's a damn--!"

There's a loud knock, before the hatch flings open, and Ace pops his head in. "Hey Thatch! What's for snack--"

"NOT AGAIN!" Koala cries.

At the same time, Thatch shouts, "IN A SECOND!"

Either way, the hatch slams shut with a, "SORRY!"

Thatch and Koala stare at each other with their hearts beating uncomfortably rapidly.

They slowly heave a slow sigh of relief as the tension drains.

"I really need to apologize to Ace," Thatch mutters.

"I really need to work on my Observation Haki," Koala groans.

"HEY THATCH, I WANT A SNACK," Luffy shouts, and Thatch and Koala's heads whip around in horror, only to sag with relief at seeing that Luffy's not in the room, but only for a second--

--because after that second, a mermaid's crashing through the hatch, ripping it from its hinges as she slams, hatch and all, into Thatch's chest.

The room fills with dust and debris, and there are shouts outside.

Koala gingerly peers into the wreckage where Thatch is now buried in the wall, a terrified blue gull  perched on her shoulders peering alongside her, its claws digging through the fabric of her shirt.

"We're fine," Thatch coughs, peering down to make sure he'd successfully caught and shielded Luffy from damage, even as he peels himself from the wood. Luffy seems unharmed, though her eyes are wide; she clearly hadn't expected to do quite this much.

"...Armament?" Koala asks, noticing how the back of Thatch's hair is black from where it's fanned around him.

"Armament," Thatch agrees, keeping the entire back of his body coated until he's safely pulled himself and Luffy, still in his arms, away from any sharp wood.

"Sorry, Thatch," Luffy says, not particularly apologetic, if anything sort of curious. She peels herself back from his chest, scritching her cheek while looking down at what was once the hatch to the mens room that had shattered between them. She then reaches back to tug at Thatch's black locks, and oohs when they fade back to auburn.

"No worries, just make sure to make it up to Deuce and Usopp when they have to fix this," Thatch sighs, before grinning, letting his arms fall away from Luffy once he knows she has a secure grip on his shoulders. He then begins carding his fingers through her hair to make sure no splinters got in, and likewise dusting off the front of her vest, taking care not to let his touch linger. Luffy nods frantic agreement, more like rubs her head into his palm, and Thatch feels his heart skip a beat.

Koala sighs.

"Hey Thatch, what's this?"

Thatch blinks, then inwardly curses.

Luffy's holding Izo's crumpled piece of paper. His control of his power's still shoddy, and it must have accidentally spat it back out in the commotion.

Please, don't be able to read that, he prays. He luckily doesn't have much confidence in Luffy's reading abilities.

"It says 'what are her three sizes.' What are those?"

In the background, Koala slowly raises her fist.

~~

A few days later, Marco's scouting when a blue gull rapidly approaches him.

Delivery! it squawks. Delivery for you, Boss, and don't show Izo! Don't show Izo! Don't show Izo or the bread man will be mad!

Thank you, noted, friend, Marco responds, and catches the note from Thatch in mid air.

The gull trills acknowledgement, then wheels away to rejoin its brethren, while Marco changes course for the nearest island, a safe forest haven in Pops's territory, still a ways away from the Moby. It's uninhabited, save for the wildlife, and it would be good to land once before returning home anyway.

Marco lands lightly on the tallest and oldest tree on the island, from where he can survey the island of pure greenery, and the endless blue stretching beyond. The branch he's chosen looks deceptively thin, but he already knows it can support his human weight, which is why he shifts, passing the note from his claw to his hand before completing his transformation.

Marco frowns. The other Commanders (and to be honest, the entire crew) have been acting a bit strange recently, but for Thatch, who isn't even on board with them, to also be in on it...

True, this may or may not be related to that at all. But still.

Marco feels like he's missing something.

Marco, Thatch's message starts, and Marco already knows it's going to be serious because it didn't start with a jibe at his appearance.

Marco, I think I'm actually serious about her. Thoughts, brother?

Her, meaning the Ace's little brother, the mermaid girl.

If Marco remembers correctly, in Thatch's first note back to him, he'd written, She's stolen my heart, I think I want to marry her.

Marco had assumed Thatch was joking at the time, or just light-heartedly flirting, as he always did. Marco's used to hearing Thatch spew these kinds of words, and he'd taken it to mean that the girl's exceptionally Thatch's type, but hadn't thought further.

The words had made him remember a little trinket he'd had stored in a chest at the back of his closet, one he'd received from an elderly couple on Fishman Island around two decades ago...

But that's not important now, Marco thinks, focussing on Thatch's message.

In all his years of flings and casual relationships and jokingly asking ladies (and some gents) Won't you marry me...Thatch has not once asked for Marco's opinion. He's certainly had plenty of opinions himself about whether someone would be a potential good match for Marco, which Marco always ignored. But Thatch has never asked Marco about matches for himself.

Thatch really is serious.

Marco finds himself slowly smiling. "Finally, you sap," he murmurs, though no one hears him but the other birds in the trees around him.

He knows he ought to think more about what to say, but the answer is so obvious that Marco takes Thatch's note, and carefully tears the paper so that his brother's words aren't damaged. Gently tucking Thatch's note into his pocket, Marco pulls out a pen for the remaining small blank strip of paper.

Shortly afterwards, two birds depart from the island, in opposite directions: one, a phoenix, wings burning cyan against the clear skies, and the other, a blue gull headed to Paradise.

~~

~~

~~

Part 9, things start Moving as Sabo confronts Ace.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! And again, please do let me know if you actually like reading the story here on tumblr or not >.<;

As always, any comments are immensely appreciated and help motivate me to create more for this AU! ;A;

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[plume8now]

Lost

Fandom: One Piece

Ship: ZoSan for @marimocookweek Day 8: Free Day/Soulmate AU but in universe actually.

Summary: Luffy pouted. “If Sanji goes who's gonna cook? Chopper can find Zoro by his smell!” “That does make sense,” Nami said. “Chopper...?” “I can't smell him right now, but I can try to go back and start from there.” “I think...” Sanji looked on the left. “He went this way.” Everyone stared at him. “You saw him leave?” The cook scratched his head. “No. I just have a feeling.”

Warning: Soulmate AU, more or less, thriller bark spoilers, sabaody spoilers, zosan week, Humor, Angst, Canon Facts, don't expect anything from them they're both dorks, i'm so done with their shit honestly, also there's Pain, sabaody return, 2 years gap

A/N:  XxX is for Sanji's pov, xXx is for Zoro's, but if you don't remember it's okay you should still figure out who's talking. This OS was written for the ZoSan week, and I would like to thank my beta @blueflamebird for correcting me very quickly and @timeclockdraws who motivated me to write it. Also, he drew something for it in collaboration and he's very talented so you should totally check his art out! Enjoy, and please please please, leave a comment to tell me what you liked or didn't like! Authors never cease to improve.

[Find it on AO3]

“Aah,” The Straw Hat Captain sang, “I can't wait to be back to the Sunny to eat!”

“That's gonna take some time though, Luffy,” Sanji replied. “That fish is delicate seafood.”

“But I'm hungry-” he said as he touched his stomach. “And I'm gonna be boreeed...”

“I'm sure you can figure something out to busy yourself, Luffy-kun,” Robin smiled.

The boy was about to answer but suddenly stopped, as if he'd realized something.

“Wait, where's Zoro?”

Oh, so he did realize something.

Robin and Nami exchanged a look, and Sanji sighed. He should have noticed the shitty marimo wasn't around to bother him.

“Don't tell me-”

“I'm sorry!” Chopper's voice rose. “I didn't notice when he left...”

“You don't have to apologize,” Nami grunted. “That dumbass shouldn't need a baby-sitter to watch him in the first place.”

“Still, I should have...”

“Sanji-kun, could you go find him please?” Robin asked softly. “You always find him quickly.”

“Why don't we just leave him where he lost himself already,” Sanji whispered under his breath.

Luffy pouted. “If Sanji goes who's gonna cook? Chopper can find Zoro by his smell!”

“That does make sense,” Nami said. “Chopper...?”

“I can't smell him right now, but I can try to go back and start from there.”

“I think...” Sanji looked on the left. “He went this way.”

Everyone stared at him.

“You saw him leave?”

The cook scratched his head.

“No. I just have a feeling.”

“We should just ask Usopp or Franky to give him a GPS or put a tracker thing on him already,” Nami sighed.

“Alright I'm going,” Chopper declared. “I'll be back as soon as possible.”

The doctor adopted his reindeer form and left right away. Sanji looked at him as he was running to find Zoro, frowning. He had the sense that it would take more time, somehow.

XXX

“I heard something about soulmates existing in this world,” Usopp said on a boring day on the ocean, trying to get a discussion. “Like something about true love always finding the other soulmate?”

“I wish I could always find a way to meat,” Luffy replied, lying on the deck next to Chopper, looking like a starving kid under the heat. “It's too hot today dammit.”

“Have you been listening to what I said Luffy?” Usopp asked. “It's not about food, it's about soulmates!”

“Meh, if that's not edible...”

The sniper sighed. “You're hopeless.”

“I read a few things about it,” Robin said. “There are a few symptoms describing the feeling that you met your soulmate, but it differs according to people. It can be pretty strong, or weak. Some soulmates never notice they are actually soulmates.”

“Really? What are the common symptoms then?” Nami asked.

“As I said, it depends on the people. Most commonly, this is about being able to find the other without rational explanation. There's a connection between the minds which enables them to find each other without any problem. There isn't a logical answer for this. The reactions can be also physical at some point, but that's for the strongest relationships.”

“Can't that be a bother?”

“Soulmates are legendary, dear sniper. There aren't a lot of work left on this because people stopped believing in those ideas – and my knowledge extends to what I have read so far.”

“You seem to have done some research on this,” Usopp said half-amazed half-surprised.

“Not really,” Robin smiled. “I just happened to see a few things about it.”

“Have you met soulmates before?” Usopp inquired curiously.

“I might. Who knows?” she chuckled.

Usopp slightly frowned, not sure what he was missing – and if he did miss something.

XxX

Zoro was nowhere to be seen, again. That wasn't surprising. What was surprising though, was that the swordsman didn't get lost in the last two islands they visited.

“Who's going?” Usopp asked.

“Chopper's not here, so I'm going!” Luffy happily said.

“Oi,” Sanji snapped. “That's not a game. You're just gonna get lost, too. And that's the last thing we need. I'm going.”

“But-”

“No buts. I'm gonna kick his ass back to this ship, get ready for our return,” Sanji said, more tired than anything else.

“Fine,” Luffy pouted. “But hurry, ok?”

“That's up to the marimo.”

Sanji left them, but instead of going back to their steps, took a different path on the right.

“Sanji...” Usopp stopped him, “This is not where we come from... Don't tell me your orientation is as bad as Zoro's...”

“Urg,” the cook snorted, “Don't compare me to that idiot. I'm just taking a shortcut, don't worry.”

Once Sanji gone, Usopp stared at his Captain.

“We've never been this way...” and he whispered “I think we'll never see them again.”

xXx

The Straw Hat's first mate sat down and checked his swords. He sighed as he cleaned the blood from the blades. He'd ran into some marines who didn't realize today wasn't their lucky day, and realized too late who he was. He couldn't blame them for trying, though. He'd have done the same. Never turn your back from a fight if you want to get stronger.

He put his swords back where they belonged, and stood up, about to look for his way back to the ship again when his body froze. Something electrified his whole body for a second but the shock was so moving his eyes widened. He didn't notice he held his breath until he heard a voice he knew a bit too well.

“Oi, shitty moss-head. You were supposed to be on the boat by now.”

He took a few seconds before turning to the cook, smirking, and ignoring what just happened. That wasn't the first time those symptoms actually appeared. It could just randomly come when he was alone and- wait a minute.

That always happened when Sanji was looking for him.

His annoyance for him must have grown a lot if he could feel his presence like this.

“Shut up,” he glanced at him. “Not my fault if you guys keep losing yourselves.”

Sanji made a face to his words.

“Are you actually fucking kidding me? No nevermind, I don't wanna hear it. Just- let's go back to Sunny alright? And follow me, don't go running around like a stupid baby after a butterfly.”

“The fuck did you just say?”

“You heard me, shitty marimo.”

“I will cut you in half ero-cook,” Zoro grunted as he unsheathed his swords.

Sanji smiled.

“Bring it on.”

XxX

That time, they were looking for Sanji. The cook didn't actually get geographically lost, but did lose track of time as he was choosing new ingredients for the recipe he's been working on. And Zoro found him. In his entire life, Sanji had felt insulted a lot of times, but that one was almost like a joke.

“Bring your ass back to the ship, shitty cook,” Zoro grumbled.

Sanji looked at the swordsman as if he was seeing him for the first time.

“What are you doing here?”

“Been looking for you, the witch is getting mad and I hate to be around her when she's acting like that. So just come back already or she's gonna be unbearable.”

“Wait- what? You- they let you leave to look for me? You?” he articulated.

Zoro frowned.

“No, I left right away to bring your lost ass back, she was pissing me off. Why, what's the matter with that?”

Sanji took a deep breath.

“First of all, you don't freaking call our cute, amazing navigator a witch. Second, I was going to come back, it just took a little bit more time. And I certainly wasn't lost. If there's someone who gets lost here, that's not me.”

His nakama laughed.

“Are you saying I'm getting lost? Man, you guys are always losing your way, and somehow, I always end up finding you.”

“What the fuck? I have always been the one finding you! Not the other way around, don't think too high of yourself marimo, you're gonna be crushed when reality strikes.”

“Reality?”

“You have no idea how to find your way back to the ship. The only reason you do is because you find someone else coming back on your way.”

“Yeah sure, if you want to make up stories to feel better.”

How come the swordsman always managed to piss him off so bad he wanted to smash his face with his feet?

XxX

Sanji started to ask himself questions when it happened for the hundredth time.

That feeling.

He started noticing something was off in Water Seven, and ever since, it got stronger. Little episodes proved him right so far, and he hated that. Somehow, his nakama ended up always asking him to look for Zoro when he was lost now. That became a routine. The shitty marimo wasn't back? Let's send Sanji, what a great idea. Let's send the guy he's always fighting with, because that makes sense. Let's send the guy who's supposed to cook so they will have to wait more for their meal.

But things started to click when even Luffy said something about Sanji always finding a way to bring Zoro back quickly. It was like there was a piece of the puzzle he was missing out. But he was pretty sure this was important.

And, lately? He'd been feeling weird. He'd been feeling weird, but he had no idea how to describe it, and if it was related to what's been happening.

That surely wasn't. He was just mixing everything up. He might have been overthinking again, like he used to.

But still, he couldn't get over this idea.

Something was off. The electrifying shocks running down his spine was happening a bit too much lately. Maybe he'd talk about it to Chopper, if it didn't stop.

xXx

Zoro would probably never forget this moment.

The moment Sanji decided to give up his life for Luffy. The moment Sanji decided Zoro's life was worth more than his own. The moment the shitty cook walked with determination to Kuma, his whole body shivering, barely able to stand up.

The situation was so intense his body reacted in pain. It shivered a bit, too. He could hear the cook's breath – it was bad. And he was panting, too.

He heard him say things he would never have thought hearing from the cook's mouth.

“Kill me and get out of here.”

That wasn't about dying. That was about surviving.

Zoro wanted to sacrifice himself so his nakama could survive, while Sanji was clearly ready to die. It wasn't the same kind of sacrifice at all. And god be his witness even if he wasn't a believer, he wouldn't let the shitty cook do that. Over his dead body, ironically.

“I'm just as ready to sacrifice myself as he is,” he stated.

No you're not. This is a lie. This is a call for death.

“I've fed people my whole life, and now I'll feed the worms.”

What the fuck was he talking about? He lowered his voice, and told Zoro to tell everyone goodbye for him. The swordsman felt angry more than anything else. That was just cruel. That was not how things worked.

“You'll have to find a new cook.”

As if.

The hardest thing to do wasn't to hit him. It didn't even feel like hitting him. It felt like the right thing to do. He kept his nakama from doing something stupid. He saved his life.

No, the hardest thing was to feel his grip on his shoulder after he got hit, and his hand slowly falling on his arm, like a painful caress.

As soon as Sanji lost consciousness, he lost a certain weight of pressure, and smiled. That was for the best.

XxX

He was suffocating. There was an overwhelming feeling – a pressure he couldn't get rid of – and he couldn't breathe. He couldn't seem to breathe. His whole body seemed dumb, and he wondered how come he could still stand up and walk. When he woke up, his first thought went for the marimo.

He'd hit him from behind. He'd betrayed him.

If he wasn't being devoured by worry and that freaking pressure, he would come to him and scream at him.

Because he had no right to do that. He had no fucking right to hit him, to make him pass out like he could decide and do anything he wanted. Roronoa freaking Zoro.

Sanji stumbled on the ruins of rocks that fell and broke during the fights. Those had been huge battles. Luffy had given everything he could against Oz. And then- the Shikibukai. He stood up for what he believed was right and- god fucking dammit.

He couldn't breathe. He fell on his knees and tried to focus on his breathing. Getting those flashbacks wasn't a great idea. His mind was going crazy.

He'd never panicked so much before.

He realized Luffy was awake a bit late, as if his brain was starting to open to the outside world. His laugh and the other's talks sounded unreal.

The cook stood up again, and he had no idea how long it took for him to get back on his feet. Maybe too long. His sight was a bit blurry. He'd been through a lot, too. After all, a giant zombie did smash him several times in a row.

He did a few steps – not a lot, but the effort made was so great, it seemed to take forever – before seeing Zoro's swords. Zoro's swords- something Zoro would never leave behind. And then- he ran. His muscles didn't care about pain – and if he was in pain, he didn't feel anything at the moment. His body just moved on its own. His heart was racing as if it was trying to get out of his chest.

He didn't really care where he was going – he knew where Zoro was. He had no idea how, but he knew where to find him. His breathing was still heavy, but if he focused – he could ignore it, and actually get better.

The electricity came back, again. He froze, and looked on his left.

Here he was. Standing there, among the ruins, crossed arms, proud. And him-? All he felt at this very moment was relief. The pressure seemed to leave a bit, and he joined the swordsman. He started talking- because that felt like denying everything that happened. That felt like nothing changed. Sanji didn't want anything to change- and he wanted to chase away that feeling he'd kept inside – fear.

But then, he saw it. Zoro's state. He saw the blood on his body. He saw the blood on the ground. He opened his mouth but nothing came, at first.

He panicked again. He screamed his name. His voice broke in the first syllable, and he had to do it again to hear himself say it right. Because that mattered.

“What the fuck is all this blood?!” he heard himself yell at his nakama. Was he still alive? He was still standing, so he was alive, right? He couldn't be dead, not Zoro. He couldn't just die like that. He had no fucking right to die after doing that to him, he had no right, he couldn't.

He was getting hysterical. The pressure was getting a lot stronger now. His brain was boiling. His breathing was harsh. Zoro's eyes were red with blood. His voice was broken when he replied to his last question: What happened?

“Absolutely nothing.”

Bullshit.

Bullshit bullshit bullshit.

He'd been standing up next to him, for him, for Luffy, for his nakama. He refused to let Zoro sacrifice himself – he had dreams, those dreams that made him so strong, those dreams that made Sanji join the crew. Zoro's conviction meant something to Sanji. He wasn't going to let him throw it away. And yet – and yet he did as usual, he just did whatever he wanted to do.

He'd stood up in front of the Shikibukai, or – no he'd stood up between the shikibukai and Zoro, Zoro who was sitting on the floor, when he was standing up for his resolutions. He remembers his body was shivering, but his mind was set up. His life wasn't worth that much, anyway.

What on earth had this idiot been doing?

...

He hated this man so much.

XxX

The pressure never left since Thriller Bark. It was somewhere in his head, and Sanji couldn't get rid of it. So he just adapted. He got used to it.

It became something normal. Sometimes, it would get weaker, and rarely stronger. He noticed after a while that it actually grew weaker and weaker time after time. He guessed that was something good.

He didn't really talk to Chopper about it. He didn't really know why either. That didn't feel like something important, and he could handle it anyway.

xXx

The pain came back so quickly. Only one push. He felt so weak. Just avoiding Kuma's laser beams were painful. That was not supposed to go this way.

This Kuma looked so different.

He was the first mate, for fuck's sake. He had to protect his nakama.

The swordsman moved forward, and heard Luffy and Sanji screaming his name. But no one gave him enough time to attack – first Chopper, then Franky, Brook and Usopp. After Luffy beat Kuma – or rather PX-4 – they barely had time to rest before Sentoumaru and another Kuma appeared. PX-1 seemed to be like PX-4, exploding things around.

“He doesn't have pads,” Sanji noticed. “I didn't want to think about it, but that makes him the third! What's going on?!”

“Rather than wondering about that, it'd be safer to run away right now,” Zoro replied.

Because he knew they – he – couldn't fight the way they were right now. It wouldn't end well. He underlined it to the shitty cook.

“If we get into another fight now, someone will definitely die! Let's run before we meet another admiral...!”

Luffy's approval froze both Sanji and Zoro's hearts. Running away from a fight didn't sound like him. Zoro knew they had to, but hearing his captain approval – that was striking. The situation was bad – oh, so bad. They had to split up.

“The three of us should split!”

“Sure,” the shitty cook approved. “Are you gonna be alright?” he asked Zoro.

“Shut up,” he replied angrily. He wasn't hurt enough to allow the damn cook worry about him.

Sanji left to protect Nami with Franky, which didn't surprise Zoro one bit. Usopp jumped on him as PX-1 attacked them, and he had to admit he was wounded for the sniper to let go of him.

“Do not worry,” Brook said, “I shall cover for you. Your injuries still haven't healed, right? To tell the truth, I saw your act of self-sacrifice back on Thriller Bark!”

Nothing went right.

Everything seemed unreal. Like a huge nightmare.

It happened so fast – of course, it made sense later, Kizaru was a light man because of the Pika Pika devil fruit's powers. A beam went through his body, and he heard himself scream in inhuman pain.

The admiral was talking, but he could barely focus on his own breathing. He heard Usopp's screams. He couldn't move – he couldn't move at all. He had to, but it was so hard, so freaking hard – how did standing up become so hard to do? He used to do it all the time. He saw more light, and he knew.

He knew he wouldn't make it, this time. Somewhere, Luffy yelled.

Everything was so noisy and distant. He wasn't sure he heard Chopper crying.

Hands made him move, and the pain rose. He could feel his mind slipping to unconsciousness. Kizaru's foot hit him and his face ate the ground. The hands kept trying to make him escape, hopelessly.

Somehow, he heard perfectly well those words.

“It's useless. You'll die now.”

He guessed his nakama were screaming, and he almost passed out when he clearly heard Sanji's scream, which was way more distinct than the others, as if he was screaming inside his head.

XxX

Never in his entire life had Sanji felt like this. Not even during his childhood.

That terror.

He'd seen PX-1 running after Usopp – Usopp carrying Zoro, half-dead. He knew he was alive, he knew it, but his whole body couldn't stop shivering – he was in a state of over-reaction. He hit him – but his leg reacted oddly and he fell. He immediately recognized the symptoms – just like in Thriller Bark. He could barely breathe. It wasn't as bad, but he'd forgotten how striking it was.

The Fake Kuma walked towards Usopp and Zoro. Usopp was alright – but he'd dropped the first mate, who wasn't even moving. His instinct kept telling him he was alive, and he held onto this conviction. He grabbed PX-1's foot out of despair, his body moving on its own.

“Wait, you damn bastard-”

PX-1 dragged him in his steps as if he'd been nothing but a bug he didn't even care about enough to take out. And then, it did. It – it wasn't human – did care. Sanji felt his body leaving the ground, and his heart raced. He wondered how his body could handle so much stress and tension. The pressure, so much stronger when Kizaru appeared, was now weakening and for some reason, he was scared it would disappear.

The beam hit him without even an inch of distance. It hit him in the very same hand that was holding him.

A few minutes later which seemed to be an eternity, when he forced himself to look up again, another Kuma was here. That Kuma had pads.

He couldn't feel the swordsman's presence anymore.

Zoro had vanished.

Along with the pressure.

XxX

That would sound masochist, but Sanji was so happy when the pressure came back. It was a bit weak, but it came back. It didn't hurt him. After a while, it did, like a headache. But he knew that was a good thing.

In a gap of two years, it was finally time to find everyone back again. When he reached the island, he somehow felt like fishing, and took the directions an old lady had given him – a shop on the beach at Grove 42. Once he got there, he met the owner – a man who really seemed shocked, staring at the sea.

“What's the matter?”

“He's gone!” the man said. “The green-haired man!”

The old man narrated his story, and Sanji sighed. He hadn't changed one bit, had he?

“Green hair, three swords and a belly warmer?”

“Yeah, and he has a deep scar on his eye. Do you know him?”

That last statement surprised Sanji, so he showed him a poster of Zoro he had on him.

“Oh yeah! This is the guy! Is he your friend?”

“Well, I only know him a little,” the cook lied, smiling.

And then he carried on his story.

That damn marimo.

He managed to confuse two boats, one being a tiny simple fisher boat, and the other being a huge ass pirate ship. The worst part in this was that it was normal.

And so he'd left for the Fishmen Island.

He was already tired of the damn swordsman's shit.

“That idiot! I thought it was unlike him to show up first, I knew he'd do something like this.”

He was already preparing his speech to Luffy, telling everyone to try and find Zoro underwater, in the freaking Fishmen Island- when the sea started bubbling, and something came up- it looked like pieces of a boat.

“You bastard! How dare you ruin our dream to go to the New World!?” screamed someone – surely the captain of the ship.

A shadow, sat on the mast, holding a sword, replied in a deep voice.

“It's a quirk of fate. You should blame your own fate that brought a plague onto your ship.”

Sanji wanted to facepalm. How could he say such things when he was to blame for inviting himself on their ship?

“Oh, he's back,” he simply said instead. “I couldn't care less about him,” he added, lying again.

XxX

“Oi, moss-head, you gotta stay with me! I don't want you getting lost,” Sanji smirked.

“Huh? Who do you think you're talking to, moustache eyebrow?”

That was low.

“What did you just say?! Oh- that smells good,” he said as he approached something which was being cooked, completely losing sight of the swordsman.

Whatever. He'd find him again later. They always ended up finding each other, even if they didn't want to.

And he did find him later. Only to fight more with him.

“I wanna go to sea. I wanna fish.”

What was he, five?

“No, you can't, shithead!”

“Why can't I? Why should I listen to you?!”

“Do you think I'm walking with you because I want to?!”

It was half a lie. He missed that. Those little useless fights. Two years felt like a very long time.

“Dammit,” Zoro sighed. “How could No. 7 talk bossily to No. 1?”

Urgh, no he just didn't-

“Why are you ranking us in the order of our arrival?! You got here first by chance, don't get carried away!”

“Okay, I'm sorry... No. 7.”

He regretted everything. Just take that idiot away from him now. That jerk hadn't changed one bit and he was already sick of his behavior. As rude as before. As stupid as before.

“I will fight you...!” Sanji yelled.

And Zoro smiled before he took out his swords.

Reblogs, tags, likes and comments are always appreciated :D

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Greg Werner

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Greg Werner, the official One Piece columnist for Shueshia and Toei. For my chat with him, he chose the Arlong Park, in which Luffy and his crew take on Arlong and Nami officially joins Team Straw Hat.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Arlong Park arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: Sell me on Arlong Park, in one sentence. Let's say that I'd gotten to the end of the Baratie Arc, and I decided "You know what? I don't think this is for me." What would you say to convince me to keep going?

  Greg Werner: I don’t know if I could sell a bottle to a milkman, but I’ll give it a shot ... Can it be in the form of a question?

  Yes.

  Do you want to know Nami’s backstory? And that seems so facile, but you’re coming off Baratie with the knowledge that Nami has betrayed the crew, she has left the crew, and she has stolen the ship. But it seems like she’s not acting freely, and she mentions the name “Bellemere.” So if you’ve gone through One Piece and you’ve come to that point, that’s simple enough. 

    So, you have Luffy who wants to go get her, an injured Zoro, Usopp, who's gotta be in a weird state, and Sanji who finds her extremely attractive and cool. It's a fun dynamic.

  Zoro and Usopp are an interesting combination, they always are. Usopp always feels like Zoro’s little brother and Zoro kind of has to take a back seat due to injuries here. But I always find their interactions to be very sweet, and you get to see a kind side of Zoro, which is the antithesis of how he interacts with Sanji. And you’re getting hints of the rivalry between Zoro and Sanji here, one that ramps up to the hunting contest in Little Garden, at which point they cease to call each other by their names and just insult one another. And between Luffy and Sanji, you get these kindred spirits due to their dreams. Usopp and Zoro are a little more straight-faced about their dreams, but both Sanji and Luffy utter their dreams with these big smiles. So even though Oda has his pieces all over the map, it’s nice to see the freshness of all of them working together, which is something you won’t find in anything but the best shonen action series.

  When you meet Arlong, he's kind of a jerk. He doesn't seem very nice. But he's one of the first One Piece villains who seems like a complete character. He's mighty but underhanded and deceitful. What does his introduction do for One Piece?

  So I bought the first ten volumes for a co-worker because he’d seemed interested in it, and I said “There, you’ve got the first ten volumes. Now you have no excuse not to get into it.” And we’ve been talking about it recently, especially the little details, and we found something very interesting about Arlong. There’s one aspect of Arlong that is completely different from every villain up to this point and it’s how he treats his crew. Buggy starts off beating up one of his crew members. Part of Kuro’s plan is to kill his crew. Krieg only sees his crew as numbers and will gas them. Arlong, though, to members of his crew, he’s extraordinarily loyal. When he finds out that Zoro has beaten up his crew, Arlong is pissed. In some ways, he’s very similar to Luffy, but he’s despicable and terrifying and he’s one of my favorite villains. 

    That's a great point; Arlong is the first bad guy to have pride in his crew. Speaking of Arlong's crew, this is the first time we get the classic 1v1 where a Straw Hat member matches up against an antagonist crew member. When you first read this, because it's electric every time I watch it, how did you feel to watch it go full-on battle manga?

  Zoro’s a beast. Sanji’s a beast. But Usopp? Facing down this insurmountable force? How is he gonna do this? And I think that’s the moment that got me. The others are awesome, and I love them, and they’re great, funny battles. But with Usopp fighting Chew, it showed Oda’s ability to shine in a certain way. Like Toriyama and Dragon Ball, Oda’s been very influenced by Jackie Chan, because Jackie Chan fights are awesome, visually stunning fights, but they’re funny. And that’s what Oda strives for sometimes. When you combine the action with the gags, you get something very special. You’re not just excited, but you’re laughing, too. And I think Usopp’s battles represent the pinnacle of that. It clicked for me there and it became a page-turner. It feels like what a shonen action series should be. And I enjoy Oda’s different takes on it, but he does it so well here.

    I’m glad you bring up Toriyama and Dragon Ball because if you read any interview with any Shonen Jump author, they praise Toriyama. And it’s deserved. The man’s battle scenes and pacing have never been beaten and probably never will be. He’s the master. But one of the things I like about Oda is that he doesn’t try to copy them. Rather, he takes bits and pieces and spins it off into his own thing. Do you remember the Oda interview with Toriyama where he was like “I really liked Tao Pai Pai …”

  From Color Walk 1.

  And Toriyama was like “I ... drew that?” It’s the funniest thing in the world to me. 

  I think his exact words were “Now you’re getting into the minor characters.” And Oda’s like “MINOR CHARACTERS?”

  He nearly killed Goku! But I dig that kind of reverence and inspiration. So Nami’s backstory — it’s heart-wrenching. Bellemere’s awesome. Makes you wish she was still around in the series.

  Isn’t that perfect? That’s exactly what he goes for. 

  In the end, she refuses to say that she doesn’t have children, even after a bad spat with Nami. This flashback is one of my favorite ones. What did you get out of it and how did it take the story to another level? Because to match it, every flashback to come had to do some heavy lifting.

  Every detail in this flashback builds on itself. There’s no excess. And maybe outside of the Chopper backstory, I can’t think of another backstory that is so full of necessary information that weaves into a single narrative. Every event evokes an emotion in the reader and pushes the story forward. Bellemere has the fight with Nami, makes dinner to reconcile with her, a Fishman crew member sees the cooking smoke from her house, the Fishmen find her, she refuses to discount Nami as her family, and she’s killed. It all comes together so neatly in three chapters, I think. Oda sets a reeeeeally high bar for himself, but to be able to match that through nearly a hundred volumes of story takes a special kind of manga genius. It’s also the very first time I cried while reading manga. 

  Next, we run through basically a Greatist Hits collection of One Piece moments: Nami asks for help, Luffy gives Nami the hat, the march to Arlong Park, Luffy slugs Arlong, the fights happen, Luffy brings down the Gum Gum Battle Axe, Arlong’s spine gets turned into clam chowder, etc. So much of what we think about One Piece is distilled into the final chapters of Arlong Park. So do you have a favorite moment from this climax? I honestly can’t pick.

    I didn’t realize this when I first read it, and it took me several years to understand the importance of the giving of the hat. It’s one of only two times in the series that Oda uses five exclamation points in a row. The other one is when Luffy comes swooping in to save Vivi from Crocodile. Even the famous “dreams of mankind will never end” doesn’t get five. Luffy’s pissed and the best part about this is that he doesn’t have a single reason to be. He knows nothing about Nami’s history and actively refuses to listen to it. He takes a nap instead. He’s just ready to be a tool for her, so when she asks him to help her? YOU GOT IT. And then, the next thing he tells her, after the fight with Arlong, he tells her that she’s his crewmate. Nami has held this by herself for so long, she’s so strong, and she finally opens up to accept help from someone else. And it tells us that Luffy knows what kind of person you are, even if he doesn’t know that much about you. He might be dumb and reckless and strong, but there’s a spark there. He can read you. 

  One thing I like in the anime is that Nami is the first Straw Hat introduced in the story. She’s at the boat party that gets attacked by Alvida, and her showing up there and then being the main focus of Arlong Park bookends East Blue and kind of turns it into her saga. But as they leave this arc and head to Loguetown, what is new about One Piece? What's there that wasn't around before?

  That’s a good question.

  Because I hear many people say “Arlong Park is what made me a One Piece fan.”

  You get to see their daily routines onboard their full ship. You have the established East Blue crew in one location and we get a slice of life. In just a few scenes or panels, you finally get to watch the crew relax. You get a window on their lives and there’s a sense of completeness. It’s a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

    ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite character?

  Luffy, Franky, and Zoro.

  Favorite villain?

  Arlong.

  Favorite fight scene?

  Luffy vs Bellamy. It’s so satisfying.

  One Piece island that you’d want to live on?

  Skypiea.

  What Devil Fruit would you eat?

  Flower-Flower fruit that Nico Robin uses. I’d get so much work done.

  One Piece moment that made you cry the most?

  Bellemere’s death.

  One Piece moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  The defeat of Lucci. That was remarkable.

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Aggretsuko and The Black Mage writer Daniel Barnes about his favorite One Piece arc: Marineford!!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery

[thisisarealtagwhy]

Day 1: Character

Hi all! So, instead of posting in order here is number one, proceeding number 2... 

Anyways, the prompt was characters so i aim to please! There are obv spoilers for p much everything so please dont spoil for yourself. 

Monkey D. Luffy was a mystery inside an enigma. He was unusually idiotic but smart at the same time, in his own way.

He had little regard for the system of so called ‘justice’ or the world, for that matter.

He could lift his middle fingers up and say fuck you but he wouldn’t. No, he would become the king instead.

King of the Pirates and give the world the biggest fuck you he could.

Wherever he went he made friends; it was as natural as breathing, he was just…

There’s just something about Luffy.

Was it his charisma?

Was it the way he would kick anyone’s asses if they screwed with his nakama?

Or was it something written into their DNA, tying them with the free boy.

Makino watched over Luffy first for Garp but then she took a more parental role, allowing him into the bar as much as he wanted, the patrons simply adored him. But Makino saw the sadness in his eyes as he was clearly more lonely than the boy would let on.

Shanks was a pretty chilled guy so when the squirt had demanded he tell them stories of being a pirate he had indulged him. Who’d have thought that he would end up like this? He thinks, watching the blood, the carnage and more importantly, the fire-cracker that was Roger’s son.

Garp loved his grandson despite the fact that his good for nothing son had just given the babe to him without a backward glance. So he watches as he grows and finds himself more attached, he loves Luffy, he loves him more like a son than a grandchild.

Ace loved Luffy more than he loved himself despite the hatred he had for the rest of the world. It is why he couldn’t bear the thought of a world without his light so he moves and watches as his light flickers and floats away, the only regret heavy on his soul is that he will not see his baby brother become Pirate King.

Sabo loved him because he lit up the world and made Ace believe in himself. Years later and their pledge of brotherhood has not diminished. Sabo cries and sobs because ACEACEACEACE. But then he remembers someone else who believe he is alone, beingalonehurtsmorethandeath, and he pulls himself together.

Coby loves Luffy like a brother, it was only because of him that he had the courage to stand up to Alvida and say no. He becomes a marine for Luffy-san and when he sees him at Marineford… despite knowing that Ace is his brother, this is the path they have both chose. Later he tries to stop Akainu and meets the Yonkou himself, it is a befitting finish, he thinks.

Zoro joined him because of a promise and because he saw Luffy. And because of a promised dream, he will become the world’s greatest swordsman. He will make Luffy the King of the Pirates. He now follows the boy, no, man, because of all of the shit they’ve been through together.

Nami joined because of a mutual agreement but now she follows for she was encased within the charisma of the boy. She loves Luffy like a brother and cherishes his love whenever she sees him. He came for her even after everything.

Buggy wants to say he hates the bastard, well, he does. Partially. In Orange Town it was only fair that the bastard beat him, besides, it led to much greater things. Impel Down is hell and he unwittingly drags himself into a whole new mess following the rubber-bastard. And then Marine-ford… he hates it, the momentary grief he feels for the late Portgas D. Ace, son of Portgas D. Rouge and Gol D. Roger. So he helps the bastard out a bit whilst fighting World, it’s for a selfish reason but nonetheless he feels satisfaction as flames lick up the rubber man’s arm.

Gaiman watches the self-proclaimed mugiwara no Luffy hide the truth from him and he sobs, sobs that he wasted so much time here for those chests and now it was wasted. But he still loves the animals he is surrounded by. So, in two years time he will read the paper and jump in relief at the sight of the ‘Straw hats are back!’ emblazoned on the front page.

Usopp joined for adventure, he knows now that he never, ever wants to lead their band of merry misfits and he will cry and thank the man who saved him several times over.

Mihawk is impressed by the straw hat wearing boy, the one-armed, red-haired fool didn’t give away his treasure so freely. And then he recalls the rage in the boy’s face as he slashed the young swordsman. Then, at Marineford, fate smiles down on upon the boy and he escapes with his life.

Sanji joined for the ladies, well, that’s a lie and he knows it. He joined for his dream, but didn’t the rest of the fools in their tiny crew join for that as well? He remembers the hopelessness of being stuck on that island as his captain grieved and promises that he will never feel that way again.

Gin creates a new fleet, but, he knows that if Monkey D. Luffy, senchou of the mugiwara no ichimi, ever calls, he will join him.

Hachin watches in barely disguised confusion as he, and all of the other fishmen are defeated. Arlong had always taught him that humans were evil and weak. But then he will remember another before Arlong and cry for the man who is the hero of their country. He will try and defend the Sunny for a crew that is waiting for her.

Smoker ponders over the mystery of Monkey D. Luffy, son of the revolutionary Dragon, more than he probably should. He remembers the town of the beginning and end. But, more vividly the War of the Best replays in his mind and (he will never, ever admit this to anyone ever) felt his heart cry for the boy. But he is a Vice-Admiral and cannot ever endorse pirates so he will defeat Mugiwara no Luffy.

Dragon is proud of his son. He’s only met him once but Dragon watches from outside sources and the papers of what his son is doing to change the world. He might be doing it unintentionally but it is amusing to think about Sengoku’s reaction to his son. He will change the world.

Crocus knows that the crazy son of a bitch can do it, he has Roger’s smile, and the same air of confidence around him. Crocus cries and cries when he sees the news about Soul King, he shows an eager Laboon and the two cry in joy at the thought of one of their friends still being alive (was he really alive though?).

Vivi thinks that the Straw Hats are stupid, at first. She thinks they’re so dumb to be led into a trap like this, but she eats her own words as she watches a boy defeat Crocodile and save her Kingdom. She does not progress with him but watches through newspapers and den den mushi’s. (Her heart breaks at the battle of Marineford but she laughs when she finally figures out the meaning of the tattoo).

Tony Tony Chopper joins because, he isn’t a monster. He’s loves Luffy, his captain. He might be a naïve blue-nosed reindeer but he is Luffy’s doctor first and foremost. And if he has to be a monster to protect his nakama, then he will be a monster.

Crocodile is a shichibukai, he didn’t become one by slacking around. So he hates mugiwara no Luffy in the beginning, for such an awful good luck with Logia akuma no mi and watches as his plans fall to dust. He lost when he was a rookie, why should the overconfident bastard be any different? Although, he saves Portgas D. Ace, why? He doesn’t even know that answer… to piss of the Marines? Probable. Why did he save Monkey D. Luffy? He thinks it’s because the bastard will hurt more if he’s still alive after witnessing that.

Bentham never had many friends, ever. Not even when he was a part of Baroque Works, it was just how it was. No-one liked being friends with a queer. But after the fall of Baroque Works he protects the straw hat wearing boy because he is his friend. He feels like such a coward within Impel Down but… he knows he will have died to save Luffy’s brother.

Mr 3. Is unsure of the prowess of this boy, the powerhouse that took down his boss. He’s surprised when he runs into him again in Impel Down and even more surpised

Nico Robin is used to a life on the run. She joins the boy because he is stronger than a shichibukai, she will be able to use him to her advantage. But after so much, she can’t just let them die. And then… they come and she cries because her life has meaning. So, within their training she cries because her captain is alone.

Bellamy is a proud member of the Donquixote Pirates, he likes that, just mess shit up and you’re guaranteed a spot in Doflamingo’s crew. But the straw hat fool kicks his ass, just like that. And suddenly he is killing his friends, a cause of the flamingo and he cries, because he is given a second chance but is it really worth it? And then he wishes for the rubber fool to kill him, kill me. And he is proven wrong.

Blackbeard likes the kid, he’s got good fire within him, chasing his dream like that. But when he learns that the crazy kiddo is Ace’s lil bro he thinks well damn, one way to kill two birds with one stone. Later, after Marineford, he knows that he’ll have to kill the bastard, finish him off. It’ll be fun to watch him write in agony. He wanted to make him burn with his own brother’s akuma no mi but that idea is shot out as the bastard from the Revolutionaries beats him to the punch.

Montblanc Cricket is a crazy fool chasing a stupid dream. But that boy… he is just as dumb. But even so, when he hears the golden bell ring, he cries because thank you Mugiwara no Luffy.

Wiper thinks that the Straw Hat boy is a fool, and a weak one at that. But he is proven wrong as Enel falls and for the first time in a century, they are all at peace. He waves the straw hats away and knows that they will take the world by storm.

Aokiji is a fool, he knows this, but he does not care. He allows Nico Robin to live, he did, after all, let her escape all those years ago, it’s only fair if he lets the grandson of Garp live if he is willing to put his life on the line.

Franky joined because of his dream, they’re a crew of dreamers. And as his body becomes more metal than human he still loves their crew, he will become stronger so that his captain does not have to carry the burden of grief like that ever again.

Brook joined because he could. Well, that’s why he did in the first place, later on, it’s because the boy has bought his respect, as has the rest of them, so he sets sail and watches in horror as his crew is sent away because it is just like before. And when the tattoo comes through he starts a new career (temporarily of course).

Camie likes the pirates, generally, she doesn’t like pirates because pirates mean more abductions but one has to give someone the benefit of the doubt. And then she herself is kidnapped and then she’s on display and men and Tenryuubito and then Luffy. After the War of the Best she is sad for him but then when she sees him two years later she knows that he is okay.

Shakki has met many people over the years, both as a pirate and as a bar-tender on the Sabaody Archipelago. Monkey D. Luffy exceeds her expectations but at the same time fulfils him, she’s glad to see the straw hats come back together after two years of training.

Rayleigh is reminded of his own captain as he looks in the eyes of the straw hat bearing boy. A charisma of daring and challenge within him. It’s only proven as the brat single-handedly punches a Tenryuubito without any remorse. Afterwards, he’s glad when Kuma knocks him away because it means that they will not face utter annihilation. And then, he offers to train the boy because he has the potential but it is untapped. So he tries to help the boy heal and train.

Trafalgar D. Water Law isn’t sure what to think about Monkey D. Luffy when he sees the boy for the first time, he knows that the boy is a D, obviously. But he fights alongside Kidd and mugiwara-ya, decidedly impressed by the skill of the boy. Then the serious rage as he punches the Tenryuubito. And then he sees him broken and wonders if he will gain the courage to go on. When Law meets up with him later on, in Punk Hazard, he is amazed by the stupidness of the boy, but at the same time he is not surprised and he’s glad that he found a partner to take down Doflamingo down with.

Eustass Kidd dislikes the straw hat shit, because he knows that he’s going to be a pain in the ass to defeat when it comes to One Piece. And when the straw hats resurface two years later he laughs because, finally, someone worth defeating.

Jewelry Bonney thinks that the kid is certainly interesting, and then Marineford happens and she wonders whywhywhy, and that Blackbeard will pay. Her thoughts stray to the fool who didn’t surface until a couple of weeks after the war and rings the bell, signalling a new age. She likes it.

Kuma is first and foremost a revolutionary, he was secondly a shichibukai. This does not affect his day-to-day life and he fights against the injustices in the world alongside a man with a tribal tattoo. He watches as his leader looks to the East Blue every single time. He likes the Luffy boy, he knows that they’re not strong enough to face the New World yet so he flings them away and makes a promise for a boy in a straw hat.

Marguerite has never seen a man before in her life, but Luffy is the exception to this rule. And after he is brought back from the War she hasn’t seen a man so… broken.

Boa Hancock hates men, hates them as much, maybe more than Tenryuubito. But then Monkey D. Luffy comes crashing down into her life. He is a man, but… maybe. He can change her… And then… Then her Luffy is in such agony because his brother, his light, is dead. She knows how it would be to lose her sisters… For that to happen to her Luffy… But thankfully he seems to get over the pain of loss during the two years he trains.

Ivankov is an okama, he is also a revolutionary. But he simply adores straw hat boy, not just because of the strength of his spirit but also because he is Dragon-boy’s son. It is a depressing thought to know that the boy’s brother is dead but he knows that the boy will be fine, he has Rayleigh and Jinbe to stress over him.

Jinbe joined the man because he was asked, simple as that, Luffy is a man worthy of being followed by him and it is long past due that he flexed his wings as a pirate he is proud to be. So he reminds Luffy of what he has to live for and relishes in their meetings two years later, first at Fishman Island and then at Whole Cake Island.

Whitebeard is impressed by the cheeky brat, having the gall to challenge him and defend him from the Crocodile brat. So, he knows that there is a strong possibility that Monkey is the D Roger has been waiting for. And when a sacrifice is made of blood and fire he will enact his revenge and hope that his crew will protect the straw hat brat.

Marco decides that seeing as it was Ace’s final wish to protect his baby brother so he swoops down, deciding that Monkey D. Luffy will survive this, even if it means death. And then when his aid is requested long after the revenge war that they lost. He gives it, because Monkey D. Luffy asked, and he is the only link he can think of for Ace…

The Marines think that Monkey D. Luffy is suicidal for his actions at Marineford, any sane person would run away, tail between legs at the thought of fighting the Navy’s best. Although, he survives, so what does that say about their thoughts?

Fukaboshi thanks mugiwara no Luffy a lot, he is happy that the boy broke the law about the exchange of blood and defeated Hody of the New Fishman Pirates. He mended fishman island even if he didn’t think it. And the fact that the boy was going to contest for their territory with a yonkou… he owed a lot to the mugiwara no ichimi…

Shirahoshi has never left the tower she lives in for almost as long as she could remember. It is a condition of her living, but Luffy-san… he comes in and breaks her fragile world into little pieces and she is grateful for it, so very grateful. It is her dream to see Luffy become King of the Pirates now…

Doflamingo is a heavenly demon, he fell from the heavens to this ungodly realm. But he will rule this domain eventually. He hates the straw hat fool, ruining all of his plans and getting the stupid boy his revenge. His plan is in shambles but he laughs because he knows he will be released, he knows far too much.

Rebecca thinks that Lucy has a very good chance of winning, he is obviously very strong and agile. She is worried about winning the mera mera no mi, then she discovers just who Lucy is and resigns herself to her fate. And then her kingdom is free and she lives as free as anyone else, all because of the Straw Hat Pirates.

The Tontatta tribe is very secluded, has always been this way since the very beginning (after their release at least). But even so, they willingly commit to the Straw Hat Fleet, even if their commander did not agree, if the Straw Hats are ever in trouble they will come in all their forces.

Bartolomeo finally meets his idol and can’t help the tears swimming in his eyes, even so, he promises that he will win the mera mera no mi for Luffy-senpai! And then when he is officially a part of the Fleet he smiles for he may be needed by Luffy one day.

The Straw Hat Fleet is comprised of over 5000 members in total, none of them are officially bound to their leader for he did not want to oversee such an amount of people. Instead, they pledge themselves to him and promise to come if they are ever in trouble.

Admiral Fujitora, for the first time in many years, wishes that he had not slashed his own eyes, he wants to see Monkey D. Luffy’s face. See his smile, what kind of man must he be for an entire kingdom to protect him?

Carrot thinks that Luffy is funny, he smiles a lot and laughs a lot. He’s also super strong, strong enough to avoid the two elders on Zou! She was very excited to go on an adventure with the Straw Hat Pirates to save Sanji-san!

Reiju’s first thought is thank god Sanji ended up with such a crew. They’re so nice and she can’t help and hope that he had a semi-normal childhood after he left. She wishes it for Sanji, he was so nice and she couldn’t do much about Ichiji, Niji and Yonji otherwise they would hurt her.