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RUMBLE!	By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 7990 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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RUMBLE!

11

Lost

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Zoro carried the dishes grudgingly into the kitchen and set them down before starting to fill the sink with hot water. His mind was revolving completely around the attitude of his captain a few moments before.

The swordsman had only been out of the bedroom for a second, and even though Luffy�s feelings (whatever they were) in this situation were perfectly justified, Zoro had decided that his captain wasn�t being fair.

Okay, Zoro shouldn�t have left Luffy alone when he was sick. He knew that. He regretted doing it. But Luffy wasn�t even giving him a chance to make it up to him! He had just shut Zoro out! Just like that! He wouldn�t even look at him! That was honestly punishment enough on this ship. Luffy kept everyone cliquing. He was the reason the environment on the Merry was as family-like as it was. So when he shut someone out for even a short while, it was harsh. To have Monkey D. Luffy showing disappointment in his own first mate, when he had never shown disappointment in any of his nakama before� that really struck home. Zoro wondered if the captain even realized how much so.

The thought of Luffy spending his time in helplessness with someone else� bothered Zoro. It really bothered him. A lot. The first mate had set himself up to take care of his captain, know all of his secrets, talk him through his attacks, and support him when it became too much. Taking care of Luffy was HIS responsibility, no one else�s, and in a rare show of territoriality, this first mate wasn�t about to let his captain go without a fight. �but if Luffy didn�t want to be taken back�

Zoro�s common sense told him that Luffy would get over it and come back to him as best friends just fine on his own if he would just leave the situation alone. Luffy could be petty and childish at times, but he was the most loving and forgiving person that any of them had ever met in their entire lives. He had a stronger heart than Zoro could fathom� but that was why the swordsman couldn�t bring himself to just drop this and let Luffy have his sulk. He had hurt his captain and he wasn�t even sure how badly, so he had to make this right again. He owed his captain an apology and more.

He had to make it right with Luffy somehow. No one else would know what to do, know what he needed and when and how. He could get hurt badly, or sick, at any moment, and then what would they do? Zoro was sure that if Luffy did suddenly get sick while he was up here doing dishes, Luffy would cry out for him, and if he wasn�t there when his captain was scared and calling for him for a second time in a row� But what if Luffy didn�t call for him again?

Sanji�s hand reached in front of him suddenly to turn off the faucet. By now the sink had filled and overflowed into the second sink that wasn�t stopped. Zoro had no idea how long it had been running.

Of course, Sanji could always be depended upon. �Do you have any idea how long you�ve been spacing out, thinking about what to do with yourself because you think Luffy gave you the boot? Almost ten minutes.� Zoro, in a rare moment, couldn�t bring himself to respond. Sanji�s gaze remained level, �That�s pathetic. What if he has an attack? I adore Nami-san, but do you think she�s going to have any idea what to do for him if that happens? Do you think he�s really sure of himself in this condition without you there?�

Zoro turned to look at Sanji. He knew what the cook was doing, and it always made Zoro feel stupid when he did this. He glared sullenly and sat down on a table bench. �That�s not my call. He didn�t ask me to stay.�

�Oh, my mistake; I must have gotten mixed up in assuming that �taking care of Luffy� meant that you would be making responsible decisions regarding his welfare, even if it made him temporarily upset. Do you need a damn invitation to take care of a sick kid? For God�s sake, Zoro, you�re his first mate. He needs you with him, even if you think he�s mad. You can�t run away every time he starts pouting.�

�You�re the one who took me away!� Zoro said defensively.

�And I can�t believe you actually came! What the hell is the matter with you? Do you even see that you just ditched Luffy without a word for a second time this morning because he ate breakfast on the other side of the table? Luffy gets childish sometimes, it�s part of who he is. You can�t afford to be childish, too. Someone has to be the grown up in this relationship. I�d rather not be mediating every petty squabble that comes up between you two for the next ten years.�

Zoro was about to launch an argument about how the cook was exaggerating, but decided after a moment to let it drop. He had bigger fish to fry now. Something about the way Sanji was wording his sentences made Zoro think that the cook was trying to tell him something more than what was on the surface, for Sanji didn�t really lecture �casually� if you knew how to read him.

Sanji persisted right through Zoro�s hesitation, �You are so fucking stupid��

Zoro clenched his jaw at this, �Fine, I screwed up, okay? I get tha-�

�No you don�t! And that�s what I mean. You still don�t have any of this figured out.�

Now Zoro resigned himself. If Sanji knew something that Zoro didn�t, then the swordsman wasn�t willing to sacrifice ideas for his dignity. �And I suppose you do?�

Sanji smiled a little, glad to see that the idiot across from him was willing to listen when something as serious as the relationship he didn�t know he had yet was at stake. �You�re not going to be able to make up with him in your current frame of mind. You were so upset that he was separating himself from you without a word that you couldn�t see that the reverse was happening. Luffy almost never gives orders of any kind. I feel confident in saying that he will never GIVE an order that takes free will away from us. He�s not going to order you to stay, and he won�t keep asking over and over, because he feels he�s taking advantage of you as it is. He knows you like to nap in the sun, and train outside. He knows that by keeping you with him, he�s taking you away from those somethings that you really like to do. He didn�t just ignore you at the table because he was mad. I doubt he�s mad at all. He�s hurt, I�m sure, but I believe that he was trying to give you an out.�

Zoro raised an eyebrow and repeated the words as though he thought Sanji was reaching, �An out.�

Sanji wasn�t phased. �That�s right. He woke up and you were gone. Obviously there was something that you would rather have been doing than watching over him, and he doesn�t want to hold you back. But he needs you to be with him, Zoro. You and he and everyone else knows that, for whatever reason, he chose you. He won�t be able to talk to anyone else about what�s happening to him like I�m sure he talks to you. He won�t settle. He feels closer to you than to the rest of us. If he thinks his own first mate doesn�t want to help him through this anymore, then he�ll push everyone away. I can�t even imagine how lonely that will feel for him. We both know he can�t make it on his own. And so does he.�

Zoro listened without saying a word. He looked at the tabletop, seeing a mini Luffy smiling at him from that spot as he had been last night. Luffy was trying to give him an out? The idea was so ludicrous, so Luffy, that it was a perfect explanation. Zoro had been so focused on being ignored that he hadn�t seen what Luffy was going through. He�d actually had to think about how Luffy might be feeling about all of this, when he should have just known. How the hell had something so simple as Luffy�s being away from him cloud his judgment so much?

He had to make it right. He wasn�t quite sure how he was going to do that yet, but the time he spent up here was time being taken from Luffy, and the longer this sat, the worse it could get.

Apparently Sanji was on the same level of thinking, because as Zoro rose from the table without a word and started for the door, the cook called after him. �Some advice-�

�Don�t need it.� Zoro interrupted.

�Then don�t take it, but at least hear it.� Sanji reached for his pocket again, to find it empty. God, he needed a smoke� It was barely morning and already he was set to hit the roof if even something tiny went wrong for him.

Zoro paused in the doorway without a word, and Sanji lowered his hand and spoke simply and to the point, �Luffy needs to know that you would rather be playing with and watching after him more than anything else you could be doing on this whole ship. That�s what you�re going to have to make him see when you get down there. And if you hurt him like this again, I WILL kill you. Now get the hell out of my kitchen.�

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Zoro wordlessly closed the Galley door behind him and paused as he grudgingly let Sanji�s words settle. The suggestion about how to make things right was pretty much spot on. He was going to be indebted to the cook if this worked, and suddenly felt bad about cutting up his suit� He just hoped explaining his cause would help�

Nami was just climbing out of the hold as Zoro walked down the steps. She looked up when she heard him, and he lent her his hand to help her up. A swordsman was always a gentleman, if not a prissy one like that blond moron in the kitchen.

�Arigatou.� Nami said as she stepped up on the deck.

Zoro nodded. �Where�s Luffy?�

She smiled, �You going to try talking to him, finally? He�s downstairs in his boshi.�

Now Zoro raised an eyebrow, �Then where are you going?�

Nami frowned a little at his tone of voice, and answered, �To finish the next layer of my map, do you mind?�

�You were just going to leave him?�

Nami shrugged, �You�re here.�

Zoro rolled his eyes. And just in time, it seems. He started down the ladder himself without another word to the navigator.

He hopped the last rung and landed with a light *thump*, then walked over to the table on which Luffy�s hat had been replaced.

It was empty. Zoro looked around to behold the empty room� and walked, confused, back over to the ladder, climbed it, and poked his head out of the hatch. �Nami.� he called after the redhead, �Are you sure you don�t have Luffy with you?�

Nami looked back, confused. �No, I left him in there. He told me that heard you outside, and that I should get started on my day�s work and to go ahead. Said he�d be okay for the few seconds until you got back.�

Zoro continued to be confused for a moment� and then he groaned.

Nami smiled, �Did you lose him?�

�No, I didn�t LOSE him!�

Nami nodded with a smirk, �Well, you can�t say that what he�s doing isn�t fair. Have fun looking. And don�t take too long to find him, Chopper says he�s more likely to become unstable if he�s alone like that.� With that, Nami sashayed up the stairs.

Zoro scowled in thought of the job ahead as he closed the hatch and climbed back down the ladder. He scoured the silent room upon reaching the floor. Why was Luffy doing this? Even if Sanji was right, Zoro hadn�t been willing to dismiss the possibility that Luffy might still be mad, but this was just stupid.

Remember, you have to be the mature one here, the sword fighter reminded himself as he resigned himself to this game. There wasn�t much furniture in this room, so that would at least save time. Zoro began searching around the room for his stubborn, missing captain. He had to hunt slowly. Even though he was impatient right now to make up with the boy, he had to keep Luffy�s best interest at heart. He couldn�t be loud or even the least bit careless in his searching, or he might inadvertently hurt his captain.

As he slowly searched the room for his practically unfindable captain, he began to get frustrated. If Luffy would just hear him out� He supposed that he could have just started explaining as best he could in the middle of the room, knowing that Luffy would hear it� No. They had to be face-to-face for this.

If I were a Barrower, where would I hide? As he tried to put himself in Luffy�s situation, Zoro traced what had happened that morning through Luffy�s eyes. It was okay to leave him as long you knew where he was, he raged at himself. Didn�t even stop to THINK about how the knowledge wasn�t mutual, about how Luffy had NO idea where you were. The swordsman now realized how hypocritical it had been of him to feel put-out about Luffy�s behavior before. Especially if it had been all for him.

If Luffy was still trying to give him an out, he was trying too hard. If he was just trying to make a point about how it felt to have someone say �I�ll be right here� and then get ditched, then to say that Zoro really got it wouldn�t be an overstatement. Frankly, it could be either one. Unless there was another explanation for Luffy�s behavior that neither Zoro or Sanji had seen.

But Luffy was sick. What if he suddenly had an attack and passed out or worse while Zoro couldn�t find him? What if it had already happened while Zoro was hunting so carefully? These thoughts compiled quickly and within moments Zoro had gone from methodically narrowing down the places Luffy could be, to trying to restrain himself from needing to tear the room to pieces to find Luffy as fast as possible. It was Zoro�s fault that Luffy felt the need to do this, and if he got hurt because of it, the older of the two would never forgive himself.

He�d only searched a very tiny part of the room and already the lack of Luffy was very disturbing. It didn�t make sense: Two days ago Luffy had become overwhelmed by being only three feet from Zoro. How was it he able to hold out so long against the elements now?

�That was when he realized it: Luffy wouldn�t be able to handle this, unless he were someplace that he had become re-familiarized with since becoming small.

It would have to be someplace small where the broad scale of everything in the room could be muffled. It would have to be near the couch, because he knew Luffy didn�t have much time between Nami�s departure and his own arrival. And it would have to be someplace warm, or he wouldn�t stand a chance.

Logically then, there were only three places in the room Luffy could be. One was in his boshi, and Zoro already knew he wasn�t there. As he passed his hammock, he registered with a glance the absence of his captain, and proceeded to the couch that he had slept on since Luffy went into Rumble. Of course the little protester was no place in plain sight, but Zoro knew where he had to be.

He stooped down beside the couch and gently moved his hands toward the rumpled blanket to roll it back little by little, revealing the couch cushion, and eventually, his captain.

Luffy was curled up into a tight ball on the couch when Zoro lifted the blanket from over him. To Zoro�s surprise, he didn�t move or make a noise at being found. He just pretended like nothing had changed.

He�s still ignoring me. Zoro was a little hurt by this extended treatment. In front of the others, it wasn�t as big a deal �Luffy?�

Now Luffy curled up tighter, �no��

Zoro reached for him, his hand stopping only inches from him. Luffy flinched away. �Luffy, come on. Just hear me out.�

�I don�t want to hear it�� Luffy mumbled back.

Zoro kept himself from reaching over and flipping Luffy on his back to force him to look at him. �Well you need to hear it, whether you want to or not. Why are you being like thi-�

�Just go��

Zoro paused here. Luffy�s tone of voice wasn�t commanding or angry or anything like that. Instead, it was� very sad and lonely. And a little scared. Clear as a bell, his words were asking Zoro to go, but his tone was asking him to stay. �Luffy? Come here. To me.�

Luffy shook his head, �I don�t want to.�

Zoro was quiet for about half a minute after that, watching his captain lie there in his ball and pretend he didn�t need anyone. Zoro knew that there was no way Luffy could know how much his posture was reaching out for companionship. If the little one was really as lonely as he sounded, why wouldn�t he come to Zoro? It didn�t make sense. He was sure to have felt betrayed when he woke up and Zoro was gone, but Luffy�s unwillingness to listen to what he had to say was very out of character for the young captain.

There was, however, one thing that the first mate was sure of right then, so he said very quietly, �Yes, you do.�

Zoro watched carefully as his captain stiffened. After a few seconds, Luffy�s breathing became shaky� a moment later his tiny shoulders began to tremble� but still the captain wouldn�t budge. That was when Zoro became sure of Luffy�s motive. Luffy knew he wasn�t fooling anyone now, so there was only one reason that Zoro could think of continue to push Zoro away if it was only hurting himself: because he thought he was helping his nakama.

When it came to his nakama, Luffy had never hesitated to put himself through terrible pain for their benefit. �But Zoro knew that a sword through the chest was nothing compared to total abandonment. For Luffy, being left without his nakama was the worst kind of pain. Zoro knew he couldn�t endure it for long. Any second now he would come running for him and be willing to talk and listen to anything. The sniffle sounds were next, and Zoro was sure that any second now Luffy would end all of this, but when the first audible sobs reached his ears, Zoro had had enough and finally picked him up.

He cradled Luffy as he had so many times before and took him over to his hammock, which had become sort of the �comfortable spot� that made it okay to talk about anything. If Luffy did think of Zoro�s hammock as an �okay to open up in� place, then it might help the older�s cause now. If Luffy wouldn�t let him talk, then somehow Zoro had to find some way to get Luffy to talk to him, to vocalize what was going on in his Rumbled mind. He needed Luffy to smile again. He would do whatever it took to see that smile aimed at him as it had been when they�d watched the stars the night before.

As he had been lifted, Luffy had automatically reached for Zoro�s thumb, but retracted his arms again before they touched and curled them around himself. Zoro wasn�t quite sure how he was going to do this. Even when he tried to reach out and make it easier, Luffy refused reach back. He�s really serious about this�

Zoro laid back in the hammock and tilted his palm for Luffy to get off. Luffy let himself slide out of Zoro�s palm to land on his belly, and was immediately on the move. Zoro was somehow relieved to see that even if the boy was acting so insistent about refusing him, he still pulled himself up to lie over his first mate�s heart in tears. At least he isn�t shutting down completely.

Zoro had planned on giving Luffy a little while to get his bearings, hoping that the smaller one would start to calm down once the two were together in a familiar position. But it became clear pretty quickly as the sobs became more violent that Luffy wasn�t even trying to calm down. He was overwhelmed and completely not in the right gear to have a reasonable conversation.

�Luff-�

�NO! I d-don�t wanna hear it!� Luffy hiccupped over him so Zoro couldn�t get a word out. �Please! -hic- Please don�t do this to me� -sob- please, Zoro� Just go-�

He had to stop here to take a few deep breaths before he could continue, and Zoro took his advantage. �Luffy, if you won�t listen to what I have to say, then can you try to talk to me? Because I don�t know what you want.�

Luffy could only shake his head, but he was constantly releasing and reclenching his hands in Zoro�s shirt, trying to get a better grip to pull himself closer. It was as if he feared that if he stopped trying to get closer, Zoro would vanish into thin air and leave him alone again. Luffy was a conundrum. His mouth and body were asking for opposite things.

�Zoro�� the tiny voice sobbed against him, �Why? Did I do something stupid or dangerous? Because I didn�t mean to, Zoro, I didn�t.� His words were beginning to slur in testament to his crying way too hard. �Please don�t do this��

�You�re telling me to go? So you can go back to what you were doing before?� Zoro asked, a little angry at Luffy�s disregard for his own condition. �You�re scared of letting anyone see you have an attack, and you�re scared of being alone, so you�ve decided that this is the only defense against your condition? Sending your family away and curling up in a ball by yourself to hope the next attack isn�t too bad?�

�I�m not trying to send them away!� Luffy returned. �I don�t want you to go away.�

�That�s not what you just said a minute ago.� Zoro was a little confused. �What ARE you trying to do then?�

�I don�t want to send you away,� Luffy repeated again, �But I don�t want you to have to stay with me if you don�t want to. So if you want to go, it�s okay� -sniffle- I won�t mind, really.�

Zoro could hear that Luffy�s words actually hurt coming out. Those Rumbleballs must really be sending his emotions through the Twilight Zone. But at least now everything was clear as crystal to the first mate.

Luffy was trying to get his tears to stop falling; he didn�t want them to be a hindrance to Zoro�s decision. This hurt more than anything he�d experienced as a pirate so far. His various impalements had nothing on this. They were barely worth mentioning. He knew now that adjusting to being in Rumble was just something that he wouldn�t be able to do, and while he hated that fact because it made his condition so hard to get through, Luffy had never seen the attacks impossible to deal with before, because Zoro had been there supporting him the whole way. But he felt that support leaving him now. He had only barely gotten through this so far as it was and that was because whenever anything became too overwhelming� there was Zoro.

He had tried at breakfast to go it alone, but the truth was that all he had wanted to do the entire time was go to his first mate and curl up in his lap and apologize for everything he�d ever done wrong in his whole life and promise to be good so that Zoro wouldn�t ever want to leave him again.

He hoped that he was wrong, and that Zoro didn�t really want to leave him. But if he did, then Luffy had hoped it would be fast. But the longer Zoro had held him like this, the harder it had become every time to tell Zoro that it was okay to leave. He had kept asking Zoro not to do this to him, but it hadn�t done any good. He knew that he had no right to Zoro away from his duties as a swordsman, but he knew he couldn�t take being separated from him right now.

He struggled to make one last effort at letting Zoro go as he contradictorily clung to the white shirt like a life-line. �It�s okay, Zoro� I�ll be oka-� And then he felt Zoro�s hand cover him in warmth. The captain knew this touch. He�d felt it from Zoro before, and not just when he was tiny. It was a simple touch, but those were the ones that meant the world to Luffy. It meant acceptance, understanding, and most of all, loyalty. Whether he wanted to or not, Luffy began to calm at Zoro�s touch. It was just right. Zoro always knows what to do.

Zoro�s mind, however, were totally on the other side of the field. You�ve really screwed up this time, Zoro� the swordsman thought as he watched his undefeatable captain�s sobs begin to taper off. Zoro gently pressed his hand over the small pirate on his chest. He held Luffy as closely as he could to show him that he wasn�t about to �just go�. No way in hell. But he couldn�t even try to talk to Luffy until the smaller had calmed down some.

So the two laid in the hammock together quietly for a couple minutes. Zoro could tell by how his captain came down that his will to fight him anymore was gone. He slumped against Zoro, and his best friend knew that his tears were spent.

Luffy -the captain who naturally vibrated with energy all the time- was completely drained. And Zoro knew trying to stand up to abandonment with a brave face had been the hardest challenge Luffy had forced himself to try and overcome so far. It had finally left him empty� as Zoro had known it would. With Luffy, the end result could be nothing else. Losing his nakama was the only challenge that he would never be able to defeat, no matter how much energy he put into his attempts to break himself off.

As Luffy finally relaxed, Zoro said as confidently as he could in his soft voice, �Luffy, I want to stay by you. I�m not going anywhere. I wouldn�t go if you ordered me to, captain.�

Luffy, finally wiped out, didn�t react at first. It took a moment for the reality of Zoro�s words to reach through his numb state. When it did, relief spread through his mind and body. Any remaining tension evaporated away, leaving him in a state of tranquility. He could be embarrassed about crying so hard for nothing later. Right now he had Zoro. A peaceful smile spread over his face.

Zoro smiled a little when he felt the change. �And do you know what? I�m very proud of you. I know how hard that was for you, doing what you just did. You put yourself on the line in the hardest way you could have in order to do what you thought was best for one of your crewmembers. You stuck to it, no matter how much it hurt. You�re a great captain, Luffy.�

As Luffy listened to the words, he couldn�t believe what he was hearing. Zoro was making him feel� really good about what he had done. For each of those tears he had cried, Zoro had picked out the reason, and had honored him for them. Zoro had always understood his motives and reasoning, but Zoro also firmly believed that a man should never cry. So this pride, coming from Zoro, was the honestly the most uplifting, strengthening reward for his pain that Luffy could have received. It made Luffy feel more understood and connected to another than he had in a long time. �He had the best first mate in the world.

�--and I�m a terrible first mate.� Zoro mumbled distantly, lifting his hand away from his captain.

Luffy pulled himself into a sitting position. �No, Zoro. You�re the best.�

Zoro looked sadly at his captain and didn�t answer.

This made Luffy feel sad. Why couldn�t Zoro see himself as Luffy saw him? Zoro was a hero. He was a good pirate and a good man. He was honest and strong and had a big heart, even if he liked to act all buff and manly most of the time.

In fact, just last night Zoro had been there when Luffy had felt his attack coming on. The pint-sized pirate remembered it all! His first mate had even tried to verbalize his feelings to offer support.

And remembering that gave Luffy an idea.

�It helps,� he said suddenly.

When Zoro looked at him curiously, the little one elaborated, �Last night, you tried to let me know that you were here if it helped. It does. When it gets hard to be in Rumble- no, not just then. When it gets hard to be a captain, it helps me to know you�re here.�

Zoro appreciated his captain�s words. He did. But they hardly made up for how he�d screwed up this time. �But it isn�t enough. If I were doing my job right, then you would never have to worry about giving me space. You would never feel like you had to hide from me.�

�But, Zoro!� Luffy began looking at the air around him frantically as though the reply he was searching for was floating around him somewhere. �I didn�t mean to! I just thought you wanted to do other things that were away from where I was because I woke up and you were gone!�

�Exactly.� Zoro returned. Luffy didn�t understand why he said that, but it seemed that somehow his words had achieved a different purpose than he had wanted them to. Zoro kept going. �I was gone when you woke up. I had thought that it was safe to go to the kitchen to get you some food while you slept, so I left for two minutes.�

Luffy�s surprise at hearing these words was visible, but Zoro pushed forward before he could say anything. �But then I got into a fight with Sanji. I lost my focus. That should never happen to me, as a first mate and a swordsman. You should be my top priority right now, but I got distracted. By the time I got back to you, everyone else had gotten here first and you had been calling for me when they got here.�

Now Luffy jumped in- �That�s okay, Zoro! I�ll just sleep later next time!� -and completely missed the point.

Zoro put his hand to his head. �You�re not getting it, Luffy. You didn�t do anything wrong. I knew I wasn�t supposed to leave your side at all, but I left you on your own down here anyway. What if something had happened to you?�

Luffy became frustrated at that particular question. �But it didn�t. Zoro, it�s okay to mess up! I mess up all the time! You act like we don�t know that the only reason I haven�t done something so stupid is because I�m always with you! You make all the difference.� He paused here for a moment to see if his words were registering at all. �I love that you�re my first mate. You�re the best first mate in the world.�

Zoro was quiet for a moment, and then sighed. His captain may not have been a master with words, but he had a way of making the simple ones mean so much. Tiny or big, he was still Luffy. Zoro couldn�t believe that, at breakfast, he�d doubted Luffy�s forgiveness.

He smiled down at the munchkin on his chest, �Then I need to plan my choices around what�s best for you, captain. With you sick, there shouldn�t be anything more important. That�s what I need to do.�

�It doesn�t have to be the only thing you do!�

�Yes, Luffy. It really does.� He watched as Luffy looked down a little sadly, and knew that he was worried about becoming a burden. So Zoro smiled and continued, �That�s what makes me happy.�

Luffy looked up at him, and then gave Zoro the brightest smile he�d seen in a while. Zoro finished making his point by fluffing Luffy�s hair up with his finger as the little pirate laughed. �So don�t try to hide from me again, okay? No matter what.� He started lifting his finger away.

�No matter what!� Luffy shouted his agreement, jumping up to grab Zoro�s finger and dangle from it. Zoro kept the captured finger pointing down at his chest, and lifted his hand up and down a few times, giving Luffy a ride as he laughed. Then he lowered his hand again. Luffy was standing above his belly button, but didn�t release his hostage.

For a moment, it looked to Zoro like Luffy wanted to say something serious� but after a moment he must have changed his mind, or at least his way of going about because he smiled and said instead, �Can we go visit Chopper?�

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RUMBLE!