I'm here! I'm here!
Title: Recovering Luffy
Theme: Set #3 - Fire
Claim: Zoro
Words: 4074
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for the Marineford arc and recent manga chapters. Last in a series imagining one way the Strawhat crew might reunite.
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
A/N: This was pretty hard to write. I don't think I did the H/C very well, and the last part was kinda unnecessary but I wanted to wrap everything up nicely. Which is another way of saying this fic sucks. However! Let me point out something that does not suck, this picture by sybile, which is what I've been working towards in this series.
Ten steps away from the hunched, kneeling body of his captain, it belatedly occurred to Zoro that his seastone-infused presence might very well prove toxic to his Devil's Fruit user of a captain. He tensed, ready to push Luffy away with the flat of a katana, waiting for the moment when Luffy would undoubtedly fling himself happily on Zoro.
It didn't happen.
Luffy had definitely sensed his presence, he knew, from the slight tilt of his head when he approached. But he hadn't gotten up. Hadn't looked around. Hadn't even said a word of welcome.
This was going to be a lot tougher than he'd thought. Zoro began racking his brains trying to remember the lines Usopp had been practising, for overcoming the awkwardness of this very moment. "Opening Line #723! Hiya, Luffy! The great Captain Usopp-sama is back! Let me tell you about my adventures with the mighty Heracles..."
No, that wouldn't work. Best to stick to his own way of doing things.
So Zoro knelt down a measured distance away from Luffy, and waited quietly until his captain was ready to talk.
Occasionally he would cast a cautious glance Luffy's way, take in the bandages - far more bandages than Chopper had put on him after Thriller Bark, and Law didn't seem the kind of doctor who would put on extra bandages just in case - and force himself to suppress his fury and frustration.
Where was Bartholomew Kuma when you actually wanted him, anyway?
It took a while, but finally Luffy spoke.
"Is it really you this time, Zoro?" His voice was hoarse, his face hidden in the shadows.
"Yeah. It's me," Zoro replied, wondering what Luffy meant by "this time". "The others are here too. Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook. They're all here. They're all okay."
There was a silence. Then Luffy choked out, "Ace isn't okay."
"No," Zoro said heavily, "Ace isn't okay."
Luffy raised his head slightly and looked at the box sitting in front of Zoro. "What's that?"
"Shanks sent it." Luffy looked startled at the name. "When we returned to Sabaody Archipelago, he sent a messenger to give it to us. He asked that we deliver it to you." Zoro slid the box towards Luffy. Luffy stared at it for a moment, then stretched out an arm for it and opened it with trembling hands.
Zoro knew what it was the moment Luffy took it out of the box, even though he had never seen one before in his life, only felt their effects. The swirly spirals, not unlike Sanji's eyebrows, were distinctive, and in this fruit in particular, were a fiery red. A Devil's Fruit...Ace's, Zoro realised. Luffy might as well be staring at Ace's dead body.
Oh shit.
"Ace. Ace. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"
What the hell is Shanks thinking, sending him a thing like that?
Zoro clenched his fists as his captain screamed his grief to the heavens, remembering a time when it had been him staring at the body of a girl who was his best friend and rival.
"He promised! He promised he wouldn't die! He promised he'd always be there! So his weak little brother wouldn't ever be alone!" Luffy sobbed.
Just as it had once been him raging at Kuina for abandoning their vow just after they'd sworn it together.
Now that the words were coming, Luffy didn't seem able to stop the flood. "But he died! And it's all my fault! Because I was weak! What kind of...what kind of captain...what kind of pirate king...lets his nakama disappear...lets his brother die..."
But there was one crucial difference between Kuina and Ace. Kuina's death was accidental. Pointless. Regretful. If she had had the chance to live that moment again, things would have turned out differently. But Ace, he knew, would have done the exact same thing, and stood in Akainu's way again, even knowing the consequences.
"LUFFY!" Zoro said sternly.
Luffy stopped short, blinking through red-rimmed eyes at Zoro.
"You freed Ace. You let him die the way he would've wanted, a free man, guarding the person he cherished the most. You did what you could. No one could have done more."
"But he shouldn't have died protecting me, like I was still his little brother who was too weak to protect himself!" Luffy raged at himself.
"Luffy, you are not weak."
"Liar."
Coming from a kid who took in all of Usopp's stories as if they came straight out of a history book, that seemed a bit ironic.
"Luffy, d'you think I'm weak?"
The question came so abruptly Luffy just blinked up at him for a moment. Then he shook his head no.
"I've thought I was weak every day since I was ten. I fought her two thousand times and I lost every single time. I trained and trained but it was never enough. It was frustrating. Humiliating. Then Sensei said something I never forgot."
"What?" Luffy asked, in a hoarse whisper.
"He said that no one is ever weak. They're just not strong enough yet. It's not a reason to give up. It's only a reason to train harder." He'd also gone on to warn Zoro about the risks of training himself too hard, but Zoro decided to omit that part. "And when I fought Mihawk...I thought I was ready. I'd trained nine years for that moment. But when we started fighting, it was like fighting her all over again. I didn't even stand a chance. But it was good to get that kick in the pants. It reminded me to stop being such a slacker and start getting stronger."
Luffy made an odd face at him, as if to say, "Slacker? You?", but then he looked down again, studying his hands intently, as if he could still see Ace's blood on them.
"Mihawk told me that the path to Pirate King would be difficult. I never thought it would hurt this much." To Zoro, Luffy's quiet, strained voice was almost frightening. It was as if his captain had aged ten years overnight. "I'm not sure I can do it, Zoro."
Zoro was rather glad, now, that Jimbei had stopped all of them from going and talking to Luffy at once, that he would be the only one to see his captain this broken. He had to give his captain his confidence back, and the only way he knew how was to give him his.
"Luffy, if I thought you were weak, I wouldn't be following you."
Luffy gave a choked sort of sound.
"If Shanks didn't think you could handle it, he wouldn't have sent this to you."
Luffy's fists clenched.
"The only thing Ace will never forgive you for is if you give up on your dream now."
It was strange to hear himself talking as if he'd known Ace his whole life, when he'd only spent minutes in the other man's presence. But somehow, Zoro knew that was just what the freckled, black-haired man would have said.
Because Luffy was as much Zoro's little brother now as he was Ace's.
"But he promised!"
"He knew you're no longer his weak little brother. He knew there would always be someone to take care of you. We'll take care of you, Luffy. All of us."
The tears were streaming down Luffy's face now, but somehow Zoro knew he'd turned a corner.
"Remember that song you asked Brook to compose for the crew to sing? 'We are Family'?"
Luffy nodded, and almost smiled through his tears as he said, "You said it was stupid. You'd only sing it because I ordered you to."
"Yeah, well...it's kinda true, right? We're your family. You have a whole bunch of older brothers...and a younger brother...and sisters and stuff. You're not alone. Ace knew that."
There was a sobbing silence. Then Luffy suddenly took Ace's Devil's Fruit and stretched his arm out to hand it to Zoro. "Huh? Luffy?"
"If you're gonna be my older brother, I want you to have it."
"Ace's Devil's Fruit?" The Fire Logia, huh? He couldn't deny it wasn't a useful ability, one that could practically guarantee victory over most opponents.
But it was too easy. Zoro didn't do easy. He didn't want anyone to ever be able to say that he only managed to become World's Greatest Swordsman by luck, or because of a Devil's Fruit.
"Thanks, Luffy, but I've got seastone all over me right now. If I ate a Devil's Fruit right now that'd be...bad."
"That's okay! You can eat it later." Luffy's voice was still hoarse, but a hint of his usual chirpiness was returning.
Luffy could be a little too insistent at times. Zoro racked his brains for an excuse, and came up with the perfect one. "If I ate that, we'd have five Devil's Fruit users and only four non-Devil's Fruit users on board."
"So?"
"So, if all five of us fell into the water, there wouldn't be enough people to save them, idiot." More to the point, if Luffy fell into the water, Zoro wouldn't be able to save him, and he would miss that, no matter how much he scolded Luffy every time it happened.
"Then what do we do with it?" Luffy asked. "Will one of the others eat it?"
Zoro felt pretty confident the answer would be no. No one would want to take away Luffy's only memento of Ace, now that the Vivrecard was undoubtedly gone.
"We'll plant it," he said decisively. A Devil's Fruit was still a fruit, right? "Next to Nami's mikan trees." After all, those were Nami's tribute to her mother, too...
Luffy smiled for the first time. "Zoro has the best ideas!" He set the Devil's Fruit back in its box carefully. "Ahhhh!" his eyes widened.
"What happened?" Zoro panicked.
Luffy clapped his hands to his bare head. "Hat! Where's Hat?" He looked around desperately. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"
"Where did you leave it now?" Zoro looked around with him, panicking even more. Hadn't Shanks given it back to Luffy? If Luffy lost that hat, what would it mean for his dream?
"Over here, Luffy!" Luffy and Zoro turned to see Chopper galloping towards them in Walk Point, a familiar straw hat in his mouth, followed by the rest of the Strawhats.
"HAT! Where did you find it, Chopper?" Luffy took it eagerly.
"Doctor Law said he forgot to give it to us just now. Are you okay, Luffy? You got really hurt!"
Luffy didn't answer. He was staring contemplatively at his hat, the symbol of so much promise. "Shanks. Ace. Watch me. I'm gonna get stronger, and I won't lose to anyone ever again! Until I become Pirate King, I won't lose again!" He looked at Zoro. "Got a problem with that, World's Greatest Swordsman?"
Zoro grinned back. "Nope!" He saw the others looking at him, silently asking if everything was all right now. He nodded, giving them the go-ahead.
"Luffy, you idiot! How could you go get yourself so beat up when our backs were turned? If you ever try pulling a stunt like that again, I promise you, your debt's gonna be as high as Zoro's!"
"Sowwy Nawi," Luffy replied, voice muffled by the force of her hug.
Next it was Usopp's turn to embrace his captain. "I've all sorts of stories to tell you once you get better, Luffy! Awesome stories! About an island of man-eating plants, and a hero named Heracles!"
"Awesome, Usopp!" Luffy looked at the blond-haired cook, and before he could say anything, demanded,
"Sanji, I want MEAT! I'm starving!"
Sanji shook his head in mock despair. "Same ol' captain." But he smiled when Luffy wrapped his arms around him tightly, and returned the gesture.
Meanwhile, Chopper had returned to his usual form and was hugging Luffy tightly on the leg. "I'm so glad you're okay, Luffy! Law told me some really horrible things!"
"Don't worry about me, Chopper! I'm made of rubber, after all!"
"That's not an excuse for not taking care of your body!" Chopper said indignantly, but Luffy just smiled.
Robin shot Zoro a glance of gratitude, then bent down gracefully to give Luffy a fond embrace. "I'm glad to see you back to normal, Luffy."
"I'm happy to see you too, Robin!" Luffy squeezed her tightly.
"Wahhhhhhhhh!" Franky wailed as he snatched Luffy up in a bear-hug. "It's super to see you in one piece, Luffy-bro!"
"You too, Franky!"
Zoro flinched a little bit as Brook took his turn, squeezing his captain in such a bone-crushing grip Zoro could see Luffy's body bulge out in strange places. Just as well that Luffy's bones were rubber. But he forgave Brook, remembering what the musician had gone through with his first captain.
"I am...astonished, Zoro-kun." Zoro looked around to see the Fishman Jimbei watching the scene with equal parts relief and puzzlement. "I have tried for days to talk some sense into him. What did you say to effect this transformation?"
Zoro watched as the other Strawhats began yet another cuddle session, apparently deciding one round of hugs wasn't enough after so long apart. His lips quirked up in a smile, and he shrugged. "I just told him the truth."
"Zoroooooo!"
"Yeah, Luffy," Zoro responded immediately to the summons.
"I want a hug from you too!" Luffy demanded.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "I just told you, Luffy, I have seastone all over me."
"I don't care!"
Zoro looked at Chopper questioningly, not wanting to be responsible for weakening Luffy even further. But Chopper nodded reassuringly. Apparently the seastone wouldn't have any long-term effects on Luffy. Zoro sighed, and said with pretended reluctance, "Is that a captain's order?"
"Yup!" Luffy confirmed cheerily. "Captain's orders!"
"Oh, all right then," Zoro "grumbled". He allowed Luffy to wrap his arms around him. Immediately he felt Luffy's muscles relax, and he quickly did the same to prevent Luffy from sliding off. He felt a smile stretch across Luffy's face.
"I feel sleepy," Luffy mumbled.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised."
"Carry me?"
Zoro gave a put-out sigh. "You're a real pain, you know that?"
"Ace used to tell me that all the time," Luffy smiled sleepily at him, then closed his eyes and began to snore.
A smile tugged at Zoro's cheeks. He knew Luffy wasn't completely fixed yet. The pain of losing Ace would continue to sting for a long while afterwards. But Luffy was safe, he hadn't given up on his future, hadn't given up on them, and that was all he could hope for. He shifted Luffy into a more comfortable position and hoisted him up. "C'mon, captain. Let's go home."
As it was, they were escorted back to the palace, where they were received by a grateful empress, who practically flung herself onto Zoro when she learned he was the reason for Luffy's recovery. Being a Devil's Fruit user, she practically fainted in his arms.
"Gah! What the hell?" Zoro thrust her back into her sisters' arms as soon as he could. What was with all these Devil's Fruit users? Couldn't they tell he was bad for them right now?
Hancock pulled herself together just enough to thank him verbally, blushing all the while, eyes shining brightly. Then she excused herself to go and rest. Zoro's eyes followed her out, a little confused. What the hell just happened...?
Because she wasn't ready to sail yet, and in recognition of their part in helping Luffy get better, the Heart Pirates were finally permitted to step out of their camp and take up temporary residence in Kuja Castle. It was rather amusing for the other Strawhats to see Chopper and Law arguing passionately over the best way to continue Luffy's treatment.
Within a day, Luffy was eating in his sleep, Sanji taking over the Palace kitchens to prepare him all the dishes he knew his captain loved the most. A day after that, Luffy was back on his feet, and the women of Amazon Lily threw a party to celebrate his recovery. It was, perhaps, a little more muted than it would have been under happier circumstances, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, apart from all the poking and prodding the male members of the crew had to put up with, with, perhaps, one exception.
Zoro was pulled aside at one point in the festivities and asked to attend on the Pirate Empress. "Huh? Why me?"
"Hebihime-sama asked for you personally," the attendant, whom Zoro now knew was named Enishida, whispered.
Zoro followed her up to the shichibukai's quarters, still rather perplexed. He grew even more uneasy when he was ushered into the innermost sanctum, where Hancock probably slept. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be here! He told himself not to panick, as the ero-cook would undoubtedly do. Then again, when he thought about it, it was odd that Sanji wasn't passing out from a nosebleed every other minute, given the number of pretty women here, not to mention the skimpy attire they wore...
"Oneesama, Roronoa Zoro is here," Marigold whispered to the woman lying in bed.
Hancock turned towards him, and Zoro was shocked to see that she was, if anything, even sicker than when he'd first met her. "Oi...oi! Shouldn't you see a doctor?"
"This isn't an illness that can be cured with medicine," an old woman standing by the side of the bed said gravely.
"Try telling Chopper that," Zoro snorted. "What's it called?"
"This is the love virus! It killed the previous empress, and the empress before that!" the woman intoned dramatically.
"HUH? Love virus??? Wait, are you saying Luffy can't leave the island because she's in love with him?" Zoro's eyes narrowed.
Hancock stirred. "Did you just say 'I love you'?"
"NO, I DID NOT! What the hell is with this woman?" Zoro demanded.
"How rude and insolent! Don't forget who you are addressing!" Sandersonia huffed.
"It's all right, Sonia," Hancock assured her. "Familiar forms of address are the mark of true love, after all!"
"LOVE?! Who's in love? I thought it was Luffy she was obsessed with?"
"Up until the moment when you held me in your arms," Hancock whispered feebly. "I was overcome at that moment with pure joy! So that I almost fainted in your arms! Even now, I can feel the effect being close to you has on my body!"
"No, wait, that's the sea- " Zoro paused, desperately wondering whether telling them about the seastone was a good idea, given that it was all that had stood between him and petrification two days ago. "Gah! I can't deal with this! CHOPPER!"
"I told you, there's no medical cure - hey! Come back!"
"What is it, Zoro?" Chopper asked, when Zoro made it back to the party yelling for him. Zoro gathered the rest of the Strawhats into a corner and quickly explained the situation.
"So Hancock's in love with you, Zoro?" Nami asked.
Sanji muttered something about love truly being blind.
Nami burst into peals of laughter, and Zoro shot her a scandalised look. "It's not funny! They say that if I don't remain behind, she'll die!"
"And you say that before, she was in love with Luffy?" Robin clarified.
Zoro nodded. "That's why she agreed to go to Impel Down with him."
"Oh, she was in love with me?" Luffy said, digging his nose energetically. "That explains why Hancock would go around naked in front of me and everything."
"LUFFY!" They shot him a dirty look. Zoro could have throttled Luffy.
"Naked? No p-p-panties?" Brook slobbered. Zoro could have throttled him, if there was any way to do that to a skeleton.
"You're both such lucky guys," Bepo said mournfully.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Zoro glared at the white bear, then turned urgently to the crew doctor. "Anyway, Chopper, can you do anything?"
"Me? But, Zoro, if it really is a love virus, then it's beyond the control of medical science!"
Zoro groaned, his last hope disappearing. "I don't think our captain can do anything either," Bepo volunteered. "He said before he only takes care of physical problems, not emotional ones. He can remove her heart, if you like, but she'd probably die after a while anyway."
"Well, thank you for being so constructive," Zoro said acidly.
Sanji took a contemplative puff on his cigarette. "So you really want to get Hancock-chan to stop loving you?"
"Yeah!"
"I wouldn't do it if I were you," Bepo fretted.
"It's none of your damned business!"
"Hundred percent sure?" Sanji asked.
"YES, I'M SURE."
"You said it." Sanji strolled away in the direction of Hancock's quarters.
The others exchanged confused looks. "What the hell does curly-brow think he can do?" Zoro asked.
Sanji came sauntering back five minutes later. "Problem solved," he said airily, waving his cigarette. "You're safe, marimo. But you owe me one."
"Huh? Just like that?"
"Just like that," Sanji confirmed.
"Too bad," Bepo said dejectedly. "You were such a lucky guy..." He wandered off, and Zoro looked at Sanji, still mystified.
"But...how?"
"You don't think I only learned kempo on that island, do you?" Sanji smirked.
Zoro decided that he was never going to tease Sanji about Kamabakka ever again.
"Oh, so Sanji has mystery okama powers now? Awesome!" Luffy butted his head in. Of course, Luffy being Luffy, his question was loud enough the entire hall of women and two pirate crews turned to stare at Sanji.
Sanji shot Zoro a glare dripping with pure venom.
"It wasn't me! I swear!" Zoro hastily denied.
"Well, if it wasn't you who told him, who else could it be?"
Realisation struck them simultaneously, and they turned to the only other person present who had been there at Sanji's retrieval. "ROBIN???!!!"
They set sail the next morning in the company of the Heart Pirates and Hancock's pirate ship, bidding goodbye to the friends they had made on Amazon Lily at the docks.
"Goodbye, Strawhats!" Margaret called. "It was nice meeting you all!"
"Same here!" Nami called back, waving.
Luffy hailed Jimbei, who seemed to be about to board the Heart Pirates' submarine. "Oi, Jimbei, d'you want a lift? We're gonna go to Fishman Island next! You're from there, right?"
"What're you doing going back that way?" Law asked. "Now that you have your seastone-coated hull, you can cross into South Blue and take one of the easier passes through the Red Line. Hell, you can just go straight to the end of West Blue and cross back just before Reverse Mountain and get to One Piece before anyone else does."
Usopp sighed loudly. "He just doesn't get it, does he, Chopper?"
"Nope! I thought you were cleverer than that, Doctor Law!" Chopper giggled.
Law frowned. On the one hand, he was glad that the Strawhats weren't going to have such a huge advantage ove the rest of the pirates going for One Piece. On the other hand, he had thought he was being clever. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, Usopp, whaddaya mean?" Luffy asked.
"C'mon everyone, let's tell him!" Usopp raised his arms like a conductor.
"We don't wanna go on a boring adventure!" the Strawhats chorused.
For the first time in weeks, Luffy laughed.
.....
Phew! Now I've got that out of my system, I can look forward to Oda's version, which will doubtless be a gazillion times more epic!
EDIT: On quarantineabra's feedback and inspired by a comment by sybile, I changed the second-last bit's ending.
Theme: Set #3 - Fire
Claim: Zoro
Words: 4074
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for the Marineford arc and recent manga chapters. Last in a series imagining one way the Strawhat crew might reunite.
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
A/N: This was pretty hard to write. I don't think I did the H/C very well, and the last part was kinda unnecessary but I wanted to wrap everything up nicely. Which is another way of saying this fic sucks. However! Let me point out something that does not suck, this picture by sybile, which is what I've been working towards in this series.
Ten steps away from the hunched, kneeling body of his captain, it belatedly occurred to Zoro that his seastone-infused presence might very well prove toxic to his Devil's Fruit user of a captain. He tensed, ready to push Luffy away with the flat of a katana, waiting for the moment when Luffy would undoubtedly fling himself happily on Zoro.
It didn't happen.
Luffy had definitely sensed his presence, he knew, from the slight tilt of his head when he approached. But he hadn't gotten up. Hadn't looked around. Hadn't even said a word of welcome.
This was going to be a lot tougher than he'd thought. Zoro began racking his brains trying to remember the lines Usopp had been practising, for overcoming the awkwardness of this very moment. "Opening Line #723! Hiya, Luffy! The great Captain Usopp-sama is back! Let me tell you about my adventures with the mighty Heracles..."
No, that wouldn't work. Best to stick to his own way of doing things.
So Zoro knelt down a measured distance away from Luffy, and waited quietly until his captain was ready to talk.
Occasionally he would cast a cautious glance Luffy's way, take in the bandages - far more bandages than Chopper had put on him after Thriller Bark, and Law didn't seem the kind of doctor who would put on extra bandages just in case - and force himself to suppress his fury and frustration.
Where was Bartholomew Kuma when you actually wanted him, anyway?
It took a while, but finally Luffy spoke.
"Is it really you this time, Zoro?" His voice was hoarse, his face hidden in the shadows.
"Yeah. It's me," Zoro replied, wondering what Luffy meant by "this time". "The others are here too. Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook. They're all here. They're all okay."
There was a silence. Then Luffy choked out, "Ace isn't okay."
"No," Zoro said heavily, "Ace isn't okay."
Luffy raised his head slightly and looked at the box sitting in front of Zoro. "What's that?"
"Shanks sent it." Luffy looked startled at the name. "When we returned to Sabaody Archipelago, he sent a messenger to give it to us. He asked that we deliver it to you." Zoro slid the box towards Luffy. Luffy stared at it for a moment, then stretched out an arm for it and opened it with trembling hands.
Zoro knew what it was the moment Luffy took it out of the box, even though he had never seen one before in his life, only felt their effects. The swirly spirals, not unlike Sanji's eyebrows, were distinctive, and in this fruit in particular, were a fiery red. A Devil's Fruit...Ace's, Zoro realised. Luffy might as well be staring at Ace's dead body.
Oh shit.
"Ace. Ace. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"
What the hell is Shanks thinking, sending him a thing like that?
Zoro clenched his fists as his captain screamed his grief to the heavens, remembering a time when it had been him staring at the body of a girl who was his best friend and rival.
"He promised! He promised he wouldn't die! He promised he'd always be there! So his weak little brother wouldn't ever be alone!" Luffy sobbed.
Just as it had once been him raging at Kuina for abandoning their vow just after they'd sworn it together.
Now that the words were coming, Luffy didn't seem able to stop the flood. "But he died! And it's all my fault! Because I was weak! What kind of...what kind of captain...what kind of pirate king...lets his nakama disappear...lets his brother die..."
But there was one crucial difference between Kuina and Ace. Kuina's death was accidental. Pointless. Regretful. If she had had the chance to live that moment again, things would have turned out differently. But Ace, he knew, would have done the exact same thing, and stood in Akainu's way again, even knowing the consequences.
"LUFFY!" Zoro said sternly.
Luffy stopped short, blinking through red-rimmed eyes at Zoro.
"You freed Ace. You let him die the way he would've wanted, a free man, guarding the person he cherished the most. You did what you could. No one could have done more."
"But he shouldn't have died protecting me, like I was still his little brother who was too weak to protect himself!" Luffy raged at himself.
"Luffy, you are not weak."
"Liar."
Coming from a kid who took in all of Usopp's stories as if they came straight out of a history book, that seemed a bit ironic.
"Luffy, d'you think I'm weak?"
The question came so abruptly Luffy just blinked up at him for a moment. Then he shook his head no.
"I've thought I was weak every day since I was ten. I fought her two thousand times and I lost every single time. I trained and trained but it was never enough. It was frustrating. Humiliating. Then Sensei said something I never forgot."
"What?" Luffy asked, in a hoarse whisper.
"He said that no one is ever weak. They're just not strong enough yet. It's not a reason to give up. It's only a reason to train harder." He'd also gone on to warn Zoro about the risks of training himself too hard, but Zoro decided to omit that part. "And when I fought Mihawk...I thought I was ready. I'd trained nine years for that moment. But when we started fighting, it was like fighting her all over again. I didn't even stand a chance. But it was good to get that kick in the pants. It reminded me to stop being such a slacker and start getting stronger."
Luffy made an odd face at him, as if to say, "Slacker? You?", but then he looked down again, studying his hands intently, as if he could still see Ace's blood on them.
"Mihawk told me that the path to Pirate King would be difficult. I never thought it would hurt this much." To Zoro, Luffy's quiet, strained voice was almost frightening. It was as if his captain had aged ten years overnight. "I'm not sure I can do it, Zoro."
Zoro was rather glad, now, that Jimbei had stopped all of them from going and talking to Luffy at once, that he would be the only one to see his captain this broken. He had to give his captain his confidence back, and the only way he knew how was to give him his.
"Luffy, if I thought you were weak, I wouldn't be following you."
Luffy gave a choked sort of sound.
"If Shanks didn't think you could handle it, he wouldn't have sent this to you."
Luffy's fists clenched.
"The only thing Ace will never forgive you for is if you give up on your dream now."
It was strange to hear himself talking as if he'd known Ace his whole life, when he'd only spent minutes in the other man's presence. But somehow, Zoro knew that was just what the freckled, black-haired man would have said.
Because Luffy was as much Zoro's little brother now as he was Ace's.
"But he promised!"
"He knew you're no longer his weak little brother. He knew there would always be someone to take care of you. We'll take care of you, Luffy. All of us."
The tears were streaming down Luffy's face now, but somehow Zoro knew he'd turned a corner.
"Remember that song you asked Brook to compose for the crew to sing? 'We are Family'?"
Luffy nodded, and almost smiled through his tears as he said, "You said it was stupid. You'd only sing it because I ordered you to."
"Yeah, well...it's kinda true, right? We're your family. You have a whole bunch of older brothers...and a younger brother...and sisters and stuff. You're not alone. Ace knew that."
There was a sobbing silence. Then Luffy suddenly took Ace's Devil's Fruit and stretched his arm out to hand it to Zoro. "Huh? Luffy?"
"If you're gonna be my older brother, I want you to have it."
"Ace's Devil's Fruit?" The Fire Logia, huh? He couldn't deny it wasn't a useful ability, one that could practically guarantee victory over most opponents.
But it was too easy. Zoro didn't do easy. He didn't want anyone to ever be able to say that he only managed to become World's Greatest Swordsman by luck, or because of a Devil's Fruit.
"Thanks, Luffy, but I've got seastone all over me right now. If I ate a Devil's Fruit right now that'd be...bad."
"That's okay! You can eat it later." Luffy's voice was still hoarse, but a hint of his usual chirpiness was returning.
Luffy could be a little too insistent at times. Zoro racked his brains for an excuse, and came up with the perfect one. "If I ate that, we'd have five Devil's Fruit users and only four non-Devil's Fruit users on board."
"So?"
"So, if all five of us fell into the water, there wouldn't be enough people to save them, idiot." More to the point, if Luffy fell into the water, Zoro wouldn't be able to save him, and he would miss that, no matter how much he scolded Luffy every time it happened.
"Then what do we do with it?" Luffy asked. "Will one of the others eat it?"
Zoro felt pretty confident the answer would be no. No one would want to take away Luffy's only memento of Ace, now that the Vivrecard was undoubtedly gone.
"We'll plant it," he said decisively. A Devil's Fruit was still a fruit, right? "Next to Nami's mikan trees." After all, those were Nami's tribute to her mother, too...
Luffy smiled for the first time. "Zoro has the best ideas!" He set the Devil's Fruit back in its box carefully. "Ahhhh!" his eyes widened.
"What happened?" Zoro panicked.
Luffy clapped his hands to his bare head. "Hat! Where's Hat?" He looked around desperately. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"
"Where did you leave it now?" Zoro looked around with him, panicking even more. Hadn't Shanks given it back to Luffy? If Luffy lost that hat, what would it mean for his dream?
"Over here, Luffy!" Luffy and Zoro turned to see Chopper galloping towards them in Walk Point, a familiar straw hat in his mouth, followed by the rest of the Strawhats.
"HAT! Where did you find it, Chopper?" Luffy took it eagerly.
"Doctor Law said he forgot to give it to us just now. Are you okay, Luffy? You got really hurt!"
Luffy didn't answer. He was staring contemplatively at his hat, the symbol of so much promise. "Shanks. Ace. Watch me. I'm gonna get stronger, and I won't lose to anyone ever again! Until I become Pirate King, I won't lose again!" He looked at Zoro. "Got a problem with that, World's Greatest Swordsman?"
Zoro grinned back. "Nope!" He saw the others looking at him, silently asking if everything was all right now. He nodded, giving them the go-ahead.
"Luffy, you idiot! How could you go get yourself so beat up when our backs were turned? If you ever try pulling a stunt like that again, I promise you, your debt's gonna be as high as Zoro's!"
"Sowwy Nawi," Luffy replied, voice muffled by the force of her hug.
Next it was Usopp's turn to embrace his captain. "I've all sorts of stories to tell you once you get better, Luffy! Awesome stories! About an island of man-eating plants, and a hero named Heracles!"
"Awesome, Usopp!" Luffy looked at the blond-haired cook, and before he could say anything, demanded,
"Sanji, I want MEAT! I'm starving!"
Sanji shook his head in mock despair. "Same ol' captain." But he smiled when Luffy wrapped his arms around him tightly, and returned the gesture.
Meanwhile, Chopper had returned to his usual form and was hugging Luffy tightly on the leg. "I'm so glad you're okay, Luffy! Law told me some really horrible things!"
"Don't worry about me, Chopper! I'm made of rubber, after all!"
"That's not an excuse for not taking care of your body!" Chopper said indignantly, but Luffy just smiled.
Robin shot Zoro a glance of gratitude, then bent down gracefully to give Luffy a fond embrace. "I'm glad to see you back to normal, Luffy."
"I'm happy to see you too, Robin!" Luffy squeezed her tightly.
"Wahhhhhhhhh!" Franky wailed as he snatched Luffy up in a bear-hug. "It's super to see you in one piece, Luffy-bro!"
"You too, Franky!"
Zoro flinched a little bit as Brook took his turn, squeezing his captain in such a bone-crushing grip Zoro could see Luffy's body bulge out in strange places. Just as well that Luffy's bones were rubber. But he forgave Brook, remembering what the musician had gone through with his first captain.
"I am...astonished, Zoro-kun." Zoro looked around to see the Fishman Jimbei watching the scene with equal parts relief and puzzlement. "I have tried for days to talk some sense into him. What did you say to effect this transformation?"
Zoro watched as the other Strawhats began yet another cuddle session, apparently deciding one round of hugs wasn't enough after so long apart. His lips quirked up in a smile, and he shrugged. "I just told him the truth."
"Zoroooooo!"
"Yeah, Luffy," Zoro responded immediately to the summons.
"I want a hug from you too!" Luffy demanded.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "I just told you, Luffy, I have seastone all over me."
"I don't care!"
Zoro looked at Chopper questioningly, not wanting to be responsible for weakening Luffy even further. But Chopper nodded reassuringly. Apparently the seastone wouldn't have any long-term effects on Luffy. Zoro sighed, and said with pretended reluctance, "Is that a captain's order?"
"Yup!" Luffy confirmed cheerily. "Captain's orders!"
"Oh, all right then," Zoro "grumbled". He allowed Luffy to wrap his arms around him. Immediately he felt Luffy's muscles relax, and he quickly did the same to prevent Luffy from sliding off. He felt a smile stretch across Luffy's face.
"I feel sleepy," Luffy mumbled.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised."
"Carry me?"
Zoro gave a put-out sigh. "You're a real pain, you know that?"
"Ace used to tell me that all the time," Luffy smiled sleepily at him, then closed his eyes and began to snore.
A smile tugged at Zoro's cheeks. He knew Luffy wasn't completely fixed yet. The pain of losing Ace would continue to sting for a long while afterwards. But Luffy was safe, he hadn't given up on his future, hadn't given up on them, and that was all he could hope for. He shifted Luffy into a more comfortable position and hoisted him up. "C'mon, captain. Let's go home."
As it was, they were escorted back to the palace, where they were received by a grateful empress, who practically flung herself onto Zoro when she learned he was the reason for Luffy's recovery. Being a Devil's Fruit user, she practically fainted in his arms.
"Gah! What the hell?" Zoro thrust her back into her sisters' arms as soon as he could. What was with all these Devil's Fruit users? Couldn't they tell he was bad for them right now?
Hancock pulled herself together just enough to thank him verbally, blushing all the while, eyes shining brightly. Then she excused herself to go and rest. Zoro's eyes followed her out, a little confused. What the hell just happened...?
Because she wasn't ready to sail yet, and in recognition of their part in helping Luffy get better, the Heart Pirates were finally permitted to step out of their camp and take up temporary residence in Kuja Castle. It was rather amusing for the other Strawhats to see Chopper and Law arguing passionately over the best way to continue Luffy's treatment.
Within a day, Luffy was eating in his sleep, Sanji taking over the Palace kitchens to prepare him all the dishes he knew his captain loved the most. A day after that, Luffy was back on his feet, and the women of Amazon Lily threw a party to celebrate his recovery. It was, perhaps, a little more muted than it would have been under happier circumstances, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, apart from all the poking and prodding the male members of the crew had to put up with, with, perhaps, one exception.
Zoro was pulled aside at one point in the festivities and asked to attend on the Pirate Empress. "Huh? Why me?"
"Hebihime-sama asked for you personally," the attendant, whom Zoro now knew was named Enishida, whispered.
Zoro followed her up to the shichibukai's quarters, still rather perplexed. He grew even more uneasy when he was ushered into the innermost sanctum, where Hancock probably slept. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be here! He told himself not to panick, as the ero-cook would undoubtedly do. Then again, when he thought about it, it was odd that Sanji wasn't passing out from a nosebleed every other minute, given the number of pretty women here, not to mention the skimpy attire they wore...
"Oneesama, Roronoa Zoro is here," Marigold whispered to the woman lying in bed.
Hancock turned towards him, and Zoro was shocked to see that she was, if anything, even sicker than when he'd first met her. "Oi...oi! Shouldn't you see a doctor?"
"This isn't an illness that can be cured with medicine," an old woman standing by the side of the bed said gravely.
"Try telling Chopper that," Zoro snorted. "What's it called?"
"This is the love virus! It killed the previous empress, and the empress before that!" the woman intoned dramatically.
"HUH? Love virus??? Wait, are you saying Luffy can't leave the island because she's in love with him?" Zoro's eyes narrowed.
Hancock stirred. "Did you just say 'I love you'?"
"NO, I DID NOT! What the hell is with this woman?" Zoro demanded.
"How rude and insolent! Don't forget who you are addressing!" Sandersonia huffed.
"It's all right, Sonia," Hancock assured her. "Familiar forms of address are the mark of true love, after all!"
"LOVE?! Who's in love? I thought it was Luffy she was obsessed with?"
"Up until the moment when you held me in your arms," Hancock whispered feebly. "I was overcome at that moment with pure joy! So that I almost fainted in your arms! Even now, I can feel the effect being close to you has on my body!"
"No, wait, that's the sea- " Zoro paused, desperately wondering whether telling them about the seastone was a good idea, given that it was all that had stood between him and petrification two days ago. "Gah! I can't deal with this! CHOPPER!"
"I told you, there's no medical cure - hey! Come back!"
"What is it, Zoro?" Chopper asked, when Zoro made it back to the party yelling for him. Zoro gathered the rest of the Strawhats into a corner and quickly explained the situation.
"So Hancock's in love with you, Zoro?" Nami asked.
Sanji muttered something about love truly being blind.
Nami burst into peals of laughter, and Zoro shot her a scandalised look. "It's not funny! They say that if I don't remain behind, she'll die!"
"And you say that before, she was in love with Luffy?" Robin clarified.
Zoro nodded. "That's why she agreed to go to Impel Down with him."
"Oh, she was in love with me?" Luffy said, digging his nose energetically. "That explains why Hancock would go around naked in front of me and everything."
"LUFFY!" They shot him a dirty look. Zoro could have throttled Luffy.
"Naked? No p-p-panties?" Brook slobbered. Zoro could have throttled him, if there was any way to do that to a skeleton.
"You're both such lucky guys," Bepo said mournfully.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Zoro glared at the white bear, then turned urgently to the crew doctor. "Anyway, Chopper, can you do anything?"
"Me? But, Zoro, if it really is a love virus, then it's beyond the control of medical science!"
Zoro groaned, his last hope disappearing. "I don't think our captain can do anything either," Bepo volunteered. "He said before he only takes care of physical problems, not emotional ones. He can remove her heart, if you like, but she'd probably die after a while anyway."
"Well, thank you for being so constructive," Zoro said acidly.
Sanji took a contemplative puff on his cigarette. "So you really want to get Hancock-chan to stop loving you?"
"Yeah!"
"I wouldn't do it if I were you," Bepo fretted.
"It's none of your damned business!"
"Hundred percent sure?" Sanji asked.
"YES, I'M SURE."
"You said it." Sanji strolled away in the direction of Hancock's quarters.
The others exchanged confused looks. "What the hell does curly-brow think he can do?" Zoro asked.
Sanji came sauntering back five minutes later. "Problem solved," he said airily, waving his cigarette. "You're safe, marimo. But you owe me one."
"Huh? Just like that?"
"Just like that," Sanji confirmed.
"Too bad," Bepo said dejectedly. "You were such a lucky guy..." He wandered off, and Zoro looked at Sanji, still mystified.
"But...how?"
"You don't think I only learned kempo on that island, do you?" Sanji smirked.
Zoro decided that he was never going to tease Sanji about Kamabakka ever again.
"Oh, so Sanji has mystery okama powers now? Awesome!" Luffy butted his head in. Of course, Luffy being Luffy, his question was loud enough the entire hall of women and two pirate crews turned to stare at Sanji.
Sanji shot Zoro a glare dripping with pure venom.
"It wasn't me! I swear!" Zoro hastily denied.
"Well, if it wasn't you who told him, who else could it be?"
Realisation struck them simultaneously, and they turned to the only other person present who had been there at Sanji's retrieval. "ROBIN???!!!"
They set sail the next morning in the company of the Heart Pirates and Hancock's pirate ship, bidding goodbye to the friends they had made on Amazon Lily at the docks.
"Goodbye, Strawhats!" Margaret called. "It was nice meeting you all!"
"Same here!" Nami called back, waving.
Luffy hailed Jimbei, who seemed to be about to board the Heart Pirates' submarine. "Oi, Jimbei, d'you want a lift? We're gonna go to Fishman Island next! You're from there, right?"
"What're you doing going back that way?" Law asked. "Now that you have your seastone-coated hull, you can cross into South Blue and take one of the easier passes through the Red Line. Hell, you can just go straight to the end of West Blue and cross back just before Reverse Mountain and get to One Piece before anyone else does."
Usopp sighed loudly. "He just doesn't get it, does he, Chopper?"
"Nope! I thought you were cleverer than that, Doctor Law!" Chopper giggled.
Law frowned. On the one hand, he was glad that the Strawhats weren't going to have such a huge advantage ove the rest of the pirates going for One Piece. On the other hand, he had thought he was being clever. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked suspiciously.
"Yeah, Usopp, whaddaya mean?" Luffy asked.
"C'mon everyone, let's tell him!" Usopp raised his arms like a conductor.
"We don't wanna go on a boring adventure!" the Strawhats chorused.
For the first time in weeks, Luffy laughed.
.....
Phew! Now I've got that out of my system, I can look forward to Oda's version, which will doubtless be a gazillion times more epic!
EDIT: On quarantineabra's feedback and inspired by a comment by sybile, I changed the second-last bit's ending.