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cozage · 1 year

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New Multi-Chapter Fic: The Moss that Grew in Gloom

A/N: A multi-chapter fic I promised weeks ago is finally starting!! With Made for Two being complete, I finally can redirect some of my efforts to other things, and this is at the top of my list! I hope you enjoy!!

Characters: female reader x Zoro, (Mihawk and Perona are also present)

Summary: As the daughter of Dracule Mihawk, you've spent your life in almost complete solitude. But that changed one day when a green-haired swordsman makes a smashing appearance.

Word count: 5k

Chapter One: The Fall of a Swordsman

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Your life began when a moss headed man crashed into the pavement outside, you just hadn't known it yet.

It was the second time someone had fallen to Gloom Island since you had been alone. Your father had been called away to help with an execution, and he had forbid you to tag along. The Warlord had left you alone several times before, but this was the first time a person had come crashing into your castle. And now that number had doubled to two.

You and Perona peered out the window, looking at the place of impact.

“I think he’s dead,” you said, looking down at him from your second story bedroom.

“He looks familiar…” Perona mumbled. “We should go see.”

You frowned at the body outside. “Dad said not to leave the castle while he was gone.”

“Yeah but aren’t you a little curious?” Perona’s wide eyes were stuck on the unmoving man.

“Not really.” You turned away from the window, back to your room. “The baboons will deal with him if he’s not dead yet.”

“You’re so cold!” Perona pouted at you, and she ran to your door. “I’m going to save him!”

“Suit yourself,” you responded, opening a book. “But I won’t be helping.”

You didn’t see Perona for a few days after that. You knew she had managed to save the green-haired man and drag him back into the castle, and you knew she was tending to his wounds. The sounds of banging and the occasional shout from both of them proved that.

“I do know him!” She said, entering the kitchen. It was one of the few moments you left your room with a stranger in the house. You had managed to avoid Perona and the stranger whenever you ventured down for food, but you had known it was only a matter of time before your paths crossed.

“He’s a Strawhat!” she continued. “They were the ones fighting Moria and sent me to this dreadful place in the first place!”

That caught your attention. “He has that power? He’s that strong?”

“Well, no..” Perona said, thinking back to her time on Thriller Bark. “I think it was a crew mate of his that did that.”

You frowned, but said nothing at that. You did remember the Strawhat Pirates from the news, and your father took an interest in one of the crew members, but you couldn’t remember which one. But you didn’t remember any ability like that being on their wanted poster.

“I guess he’s alive, then.” You tried not to sound too interested. “Will he make a full recovery?”

Perona groaned. “He’s SO needy! And he’s complaining about EVERYTHING! The food, the bed, the way I wrapped his wounds! Nothing is good enough for him, I swear!”

You laughed at the irony of that. Perona hadn’t stopped complaining about this place since she had arrived either. Nothing was ever good enough for her, even in a giant mansion on a secluded island.

Not that you were upset about her presence. You didn’t mind Perona most of the time. Sometimes you even liked her. But on those days when you just wanted to be alone, she was always there. She was like a little sister who was always demanding your attention, always wanting to do something with you. It had been strange to get used to after such solitude with only you and your father your entire life.

Perona finished making a sandwich, and looked your way. “You should come see him!”

“I told you, I’m not helping.” You left the words hanging in the air as you walked out, hearing her frustrated breath huff out behind you.

You finally met the mysterious intruder a few days later, when he barged into your room unannounced. Your eyes flicked up from your book as your door slammed open. He had mossy green hair and tanned skin, and you could tell he was in good shape under his bandages. He was covered in them, and you could see why he was complaining about Perona’s handiwork. She had wrapped them so tight in some places, you were surprised he could move.

“Wha--Who the hell are you?!” The man demanded, gawking around your room. Your sword laid next to your chair, and you saw his eyes slide over to it.

“It’s rude to demand someone’s name when you haven’t introduced yourself,” you said, returning your gaze back down to your book.

You could hear him grit his teeth in frustration, and you resisted the urge to smirk at his reaction.

“Look, woman, do you know where my swords are or not?”

“Swords?” Now that caught your attention. You looked back at him and found his gaze was still on the sword next to your chair. You closed your book, mentally marking where you were in the story, and then placed it down on the coffee table next to you.

“That stupid ghost girl stole my swords!”

You stood and picked up your weapon, turning it over in your hand. “Swords as in multiple?”

“Three.”

“Three?”

His eye twitched in frustration. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“How long have you been looking for these swords?” You walked over to the door where he was standing. “And don’t ever barge into my room again without knocking first.”

He gritted his teeth, and you could tell he wanted to say something back, but he refrained. He moved out of the way for you to pass through the door. “I’ve been looking for a few days.”

“A few days?” You laughed at that, thinking it was an over exaggeration, but his silence made you realize he was being serious. “You must be bad with directions.”

“It’s not my fault it’s a maze in here!” He shouted back at you. You rolled your eyes and bound down the steps, hoping he was capable enough to follow you.

“Perona,” You call out at the bottom of the stops. “Where’d you hide this guy’s swords?”

“It’s not my fault!” the pink-haired girl cried, floating into the room. “I told him exactly where they were! Up the stairs and down the hallway!”

“Thanks!” You bound back up the left staircase, and when you got to the top, you realize you didn't see the swordsman anywhere. You had just run down the stairs and then back up them, how had you lost him already?

You didn’t have time to figure out where he went. Honestly, you cared more about his swords than you did about him. You just wanted to see how his blades looked.

His swords were exactly where Perona described. It was as he said: three swords sitting together in the room.

You could feel the energy rolling off of one of them when you opened the door. It was respectable for a swordsman to carry a blade with such a strong personality, but you weren’t interested in a sword with an attitude.

The next one that caught your eye was a sword you never thought you’d see in your lifetime. Shusui, the legendary katana from Wano. The last you heard it had been buried with its previous owner. You unsheathed it and held it out, slashing the air a few times. The balance was perfect, and it almost made you envious of the user. If you didn’t have the sword you possessed now, you would certainly be taking this for yourself.

You sheathed Shusui and turned your attention to the last sword, a white-hilted one. As you bent down to grab it, a strong hand grabbed your shoulder. You quickly turned, unsheathing your own blade and holding its tip out against the perpetrator’s throat.

It was that damn pirate. You had been so caught up in looking at his swords, you hadn’t noticed him come in. He was smirking at you with a brow raised, eyeing the sword in your hand. You rolled your eyes and lowered your sword, scoffing at his cockiness.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he said, nodding at the blade in your hand. You squinted your eyes at him suspiciously, but handed your blade over to him and then bent down to pick up the white hilted one.

As you examined it, you couldn't help but find it familiar-looking. It was a great sword, and it was made with the finest materials by an extraordinarily skilled blade smith. You were jealous of the man who got to call it his own. Wado Ichimonji, you believed it was called. It wasn’t exactly your style, but you could still admire it nonetheless.

You could hear him gasp behind you, and you turn to look. His fingers reached down to run along the light blue blade as he inspected it.

“Wait-”

He cried out, more in surprise than in pain, and he yanked his hand away from the blade. You could see that his fingers had beads of blood forming on them, cut by the razortooth edges that ran along the flat of your blade.

“Sorry, I forgot to warn you.” You sheathed his blade and walked over to him. You reached out for his hand to examine it for any serious damage, but he yanked it away from you.

You scowled at him, but he continued to inspect your blade, turning it over in his hands. He slashed at the air a few times, and you could feel the waves of air roll over you. If he knew how to actually use the blade to its full capacity, he’d be quite powerful with it. You suspected that the other swords in his possession weren’t by luck.

“Roronoa.” You had been piecing the information together for a while now, and you were fairly certain in your guess of his identity.

“You know me?” He said, eyeing you cautiously.

“I’ve heard of you,” you corrected. Your father occasionally commented on him when he was in the paper, and you knew the story of how he had challenged the Warlord in the East Blue. At the start of the Grand Line, he hadn’t been anything impressive, but over the few months he’d been there, he seemed to have made a name for himself.

“You have a nice blade,” he said, handing it back to you and walking over to pick up his own.

“Nikko,” you say, giving it a quick glance before putting it at your side again. “You have nice ones as well. Except that cursed one. I’m surprised you can handle it.”

He chuckled. “Don’t you worry, I’ve got it under control.”

You nodded back to him, not quite sure you believed him. “Are you planning to stay with us for a while?”

He scoffed at your question. “I’m returning to my captain as soon as I can.”

It’s your turn to laugh now. “Good luck. In your condition, you won’t make it to the coast.”

“Yeah well, you don’t know what I’m capable of.”

You snorted at his response, but offered none of your own. With the conversation over, you turned away from him and back to the door to take your leave.

The sound of rock collapsing comes from the swordsman’s direction, and your head whipped back around to see what he’s done now. You just catch a glimpse of moss-colored hair jumping out of a cut opening in the stone.

“You brute!” You screamed down at him as you watched him fall. “What the hell is wrong with you?!?”

But he didn’t respond, he just hit the ground and started running.

“Where’d he go?!” Perona’s shrill voice came from beside you. “He’s my ticket off this dump of an island!”

“This dump of an island is my home,” you said, irritated with the bubblegum girl. Maybe it would be better for her to take her leave.

“Enjoy it! I’m leaving with him!” She floated through the opening that Roronoa had made, and began chasing after him.

“Watch out for the-” you shouted as loud as you could, but she was already out of earshot.

You looked up, as if you were mumbling a prayer. “Father, where are you?”

You found them at the wooden cross, surrounded by baboons. You watched from the woods at Roronoa struggling to fight, and as the baboon went in for the kill, you jumped in front of him and sliced the baboon across its chest with Nikko.

“I don’t need you saving me!” You heard the man call from behind you, anger thick in his voice.

“Oh? You don’t?” You turned back to him and sheathed your sword. “Fine then. Do it yourself.”

Most of the baboons had learned to fear you, but this green-haired stranger was no threat to them. Once your sword was put away and walked out of range, they began their attack against him again.

You watched the match in disappointment. You expected better from the man who was supposed to best your father in a sword fight. But this was just pathetic.

“Aren’t you going to help him?” Perona screamed at you from above.

“He doesn’t want my help,” you hissed, loud enough for him to hear. “Why don’t you try, Perona?”

“You think I can take those things?!” She squeaked, and you turned your attention back to the fight, just in time to see Roronoa get thrown backwards into the wooden cross.

He hit it with such force that he left an indent on the wooden marker, and then fell face first into the ground. He laid there for a minute, and you grabbed the hilt of your blade, ready to draw if the baboons made an attack.

It wasn’t necessary though, because you finally noticed his presence. You relaxed, clicking Nikko back into its sheath. Only a second later did the baboons notice, and they all began to flee from the area.

Even Perona and Roronoa seemed shocked, and you could see the green-haired swordsman tense at the realization of who was appearing through the fog. He grabbed his cursed blade, using it to pull himself up to his knees.

“You better not do that, Roronoa Zoro,” your father said, eyeing the man before him. “You’ve been injured beyond your limit. Do you think you can beat me when you can’t even beat the baboons?”

You snorted at that, pleased that your father was equally unimpressed with the swordsman. Roronoa Zoro, he called him.

Mihawk’s gold eyes flicked to you, and he frowned. “I thought I told you not to leave the castle while I was away. I expect a full explanation of the events that occurred while I was absent.”

You bit your lip, frustrated with the reprimand, but said nothing. You knew he wouldn’t listen now. He had bigger things to deal with, like the two new houseguests who had appeared while he was gone.

“Why the hell are you here?!” Roronoa demanded, looking at your father.

Your father’s attention moved back to the man on the ground. “I’ve been living in that castle for quite some time. Why are you here?”

“I got blown away by Kuma, a member of the seven warlords like yourself.”

“I see…” Your father looked at you briefly. “Is he telling the truth?”

You nod. “He is.”

“Very well. That explains why Strawhat came to Marineford with other people.”

Roronoa’s eyes got wide at the mention of his captain’s name. “You saw Luffy?! How was he?!? Was he alright?!”

Your father seemed unfazed by the green-haired man’s desperation. “He’s still alive probably. But I assume that he’s been very badly traumatized.”

“What happened?”

“He lost his brother.”

Roronoa blinked. You could see every muscle in his body tighten in anguish. “What did you say?”

“Fire-Fist Ace died before Strawhat’s eyes.”

Everyone stood there for a moment, frozen. You could tell the news had rocked the pirate. His facial expressions were extremely easy to read. He looked confused, angry, helpless, and upset all in the same moment.

After a moment, he struggled to his feet. “I have to go. I have to go find Luffy.”

After the swordsman and Perona took off, your father looked at you with a frown. You knew he was disappointed, but you weren’t entirely sure what you had done to make him feel that way.

“Please explain to me why there are two new people on this island.”

You began walking back towards the castle. “I believe Roronoa is right. Kuma sent them here, separately. There was a pawprint impact zone around Perona when she arrived on the grounds. I did not leave to inspect Roronoa’s site when he arrived a few days later because it was outside of the castle grounds.” You paused for a moment, letting him absorb all of the information. “I didn’t leave the grounds, father.”

“And yet you are off them now,” he shot back.

“They were in danger! I couldn’t-”

“I do not care about the lives of those two. And I do not appreciate you risking your own life to save them.” You heard it as he paused to keep his voice from rising any further. The worry laced in his voice that was initially masked as anger. He took a breath, and his voice returned to his normal cadence when he speaks again.

“Do not do it again.”

You grinned at him, deciding to press your luck. “You were worried about me, weren’t you?”

“You can handle yourself. I am aware of that.”

You laughed lightly, and decide to abandon the topic. You had missed your father desperately while he was gone.

“How was Marineford?” you asked.

“Like I said, the execution was successful.”

“But how was it?” you pressed. Sometimes your father forgot to turn off the whole mystery persona with you.

He hummed, thinking how to describe it. “There were some complications. Mainly Roronoa’s captain. He’s quite a problem for the Navy.”

You chuckled at that. “Runs in the crew, I guess.”

“What do you mean? Has he been a problem?”

You looked at him, irritation on your face. “There's a hole in one of the second story guest bedrooms now. He got irritated with how complicated it was to navigate the castle and just cut his way out.”

Your father frowned. “I see. They’ll be quite troublesome houseguests, won’t they?”

You were so shocked by his response that you stopped in your tracks. “They’re staying?”

“Do you think they’re going to get off this island in their current state?”

You laughed at that question. You had been thinking the same thing. At least someone was of the same mindset as you.

----

Later that night, you heard Perona enter the castle. Based on her grunts of frustration, she was carrying the swordsman. He lasted longer than you thought he would. You chose to lock your bedroom door that night. The last thing you needed was to wake up to a lost, poorly bandaged swordsman barging into your room.

Every morning, you would hear Roronoa scream as he woke up, which prompted Perona to scream in return. The two of them would hobble out of the castle, trying to fight their way to the coast. And every night, long after sunset, Perona would drag the swordsman back into the castle and rebandage his wounds. Just for the cycle to repeat the next day.

You wanted to scream at the mossy-haired man. He would never get anywhere if he didn’t let his injuries heal. If he just rested for one or two days, he might have enough energy to make it. But he refused to rest. The only thing he could think of was his captain.

“How long do you think he’ll keep doing this?” You asked your father, spreading some butter on your toast. You had fallen into a strange pattern over the past two weeks with your houseguests, but you were getting tired of it.

“It is…unclear.” You could hear the disapproval in his voice, and you laughed at it.

“You told the baboons not to kill him, didn’t you?”

You looked over at him inquisitively, but he didn't respond.

“He’s such an arrogant swordsman. Why are you sparing him?”

You were met with silence again, causing you to huff in frustration and pick up the News Coo.

“Oh, you were correct,” you said, looking at the front page. “There’s news of Roronoa’s Captain today on the front page. He’s alive.”

“Let me see!” A girlish squeal came from behind you, startling you. She grabbed the paper out of your hands, staring at it. “I’ll need to show Zoro!”

“Hey! I was reading that!” You screamed after her, but she whisked away without looking back at you.

“There’s still time to go talk to the baboons,” you grumbled as you stood from the table and began to retreat to your room. You could hear your father chuckle behind you, but you didn’t bother looking back.

You spent the day in your room, and were surprised to hear the pink and green-haired combo come back earlier than usual. The sun was still up, and based off of the sounds they were making, the swordsman was still conscious.

You tiptoed down the hall and stood near the base of the stairs, hidden from sight.

“I want to beat you!” You heard Roronoa scream. You decided to peek around the corner to get a better view of what was occurring, and you could see that the swordsman was bowing before your father. It was not a sight you expected to see, especially in conjunction with the words he had just spoken.

Your father laughed at his words. A full, hearty laugh. “You’re asking me to train a swordsman who wants to kill me? You’re insane. And what you’re asking is nonsense. Even so, what you’re doing is still embarrassing.” But the swordsman stays kneeling, waiting for an answer, and your father watches him with interest. “Seems like you found something more important than your ambition. Hey, ghost girl. Treat him.”

Perona pouted from her place near your father. “Don’t tell me what to do!”

You took the opportunity to step out into view of the room. “I’ll do it,” you offer. “I’ll treat him.”

Your father watched you with his sharp gold eyes, hesitating for a moment. But he nodded in agreement after a brief pause, coming to a decision.

“Very well. The training will begin when you’re recovered.”

“Thank you,” Roronoa said, struggling to stand on his feet. You offered no assistance. If he could not walk to the medical bay on his own, then he did that to himself.

You walked alongside him in silence. He didn't ask for help, and you didn’t offer it. It was a slow and painful walk to the medical room, but the swordsman completed it on his own.

You pulled his bandages off gently, unraveling the long mess of Perona’s handiwork up his arms and down his torso. He had plenty of fresh wounds both internally and externally, but the wound that caught your eye was an old one that ran diagonally across his chest. You were certain the cut was made by Yoru, and your fingers began to run across it to examine it further, but Roronoa smacked your hand away.

“Do you mind?” He hissed, pulling away from you.

You rolled your eyes, but abandon the inspection and walk to the back of the room. As he limped over to the bed, you grab a new roll of bandages and gauze.

“You should shower before we rebandage everything to give it a chance to breathe,” you said, looking through the cabinets. “There’s a bathroom through the second door you can shower in.”

“I showered two days ago,” he said simply, sitting on the bed unmoving.

You paused what you were doing and turned to look at him. “Exactly. Go shower.”

“I don’t need to.”

You frowned. “Yes, you do.”

You heard him suck in a breath of air. “I’m not showering, woman. Rebandage my wounds or leave me alone.”

It was his tone that really irritated you, and Nikko was in your hand before you knew it. You slashed the air, sending a blunt force air cannon to smack him in the back of the head.

“Go shower!” You screamed at him, just as the strike made contact with his head.

You heard him grunt in pain, and quickly resheathe your blade and continue to search for more bandages.

“What the hell?!” he said, looking back at you. But you acted like nothing happened, and you heard him get off the bed and shuffle towards the bathroom to fulfill your request. He was mumbling curses under his breath, but you’d take the win.

It takes him a long time to reemerge from the bathroom, and you picked up the News Coo from this morning to finish reading. You read about Monkey D. Luffy’s 16-bell toll at Marineford, and his honoring the fallen in the battle. There’s a full analysis of whether the pirate was marking the dawn of a new era or if he was declaring war, which you found particularly boring.

You finally heard the click of the door, and the swordsman reappeared from a steam-filled bathroom. You smiled proudly at your small accomplishment, seeing his freshly washed hair fall over his face like strands of algae. He hobbled over to the bed and gently sat down on it. You were still reading the article about his captain and decided to ask him something that had been weighing on your mind.

“What’s with his tattoo?” You asked, looking back to the picture. “3D is crossed out, and 2Y is written.”

“It’s not a tattoo.” He winced slightly as he adjusts himself on the mattress. “It’s a message. We made a promise to meet at a certain place three days later.”

“And that meeting time was moved to two years from now?”

He nodded. “Exactly. Everything else was for publicity. This is a message exclusively for us. Luffy made a decision. Meet at Sabaody in two years.”

“It sounds like your captain is quite smart.”

He snorted at that remark. “He’s not.”

You laughed at his bluntness and put the paper down. At least the swordsman was honest.

You picked up his arm with your hands, and you can feel his strong muscles tense in your grip. “Relax,” you demand. He was always so damn rigid.

You rubbed his forearm, lightly massaging it along upwards to his biceps, and then his shoulder. You worked in silence, besides Roronoa’s occasional groan or your scolding hiss to get him to stop tensing.

By the time you got to his mid-back, he had finally started to loosen up, and you could feel his muscles responding to your touch. You went down to his lower back before curving across and starting on his opposing shoulder to work your way down his other arm.

You could feel his eyes on you, watching you silently as you stayed absorbed in your work. Your father had done this to you hundreds of times over your life. You could only hope it felt as relieving for Roronoa as it did all of the times your father had done it for you.

You stopped when you got to his fingers, and looked up at him. “Do you mind if I bandage your wounds now, Roronoa?”

He stared at you for a moment with a bewildered look in his eyes. You stare back, refusing to look away. Your father always taught you that it showed weakness to look away first. It was better to start out intimidating and then loosen up around others once you knew they were trustworthy. But pirates were rarely trustworthy.

“Zoro,” he choked out, his eyes finally skirting away from yours. “You can call me Zoro. And yes, uh, you can. Do the bandage thing, I mean.”

You nodded and picked up the bandages to begin wrapping his arm. You could hear him huff a frustrated sigh, and you curiously looked over at him.

“Well?” he said, looking at you expectantly.

You felt your eye twitch at his sudden moodiness. “What?” you shot back, matching his energy.

“Are you going to introduce yourself?”

Right. You knew a lot about Roronoa Zoro, but he didn’t know anything about you. You introduced yourself with your name, but didn’t offer any other information.

He accepted that introduction, at least for the moment, and you finish wrapping both of his arms in silence. When you were finished, he flexed under his bandages, and he smiled a bit.

“You’re better at this than that other girl.”

You laughed at that, starting on his torso area. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“What did you do before you got here?”

You paused, looking at him. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged, messing up a piece of your wrap and forcing you to start over. “Didn’t Kuma send you here too? Like me and Perona?”

“Oh. No,” you clarified. “I’ve been living on Gloom Island for about seven years now.”

“Seven years?”

You nodded and kept wrapping, but Roronoa didn’t let the conversation go. “What have you been doing for seven years?”

“Training, I guess. Reading. Exploring the island.”

He tensed. “But the baboons…”

You shot him a look. “Stop tensing or it’ll be too tight on you. The baboons aren’t anything to worry about. There’s only one or two on the island I have some trouble with.”

“Tch. Whatever you say.” You could tell he thinks you’re lying, but you don’t care. You finished wrapping his torso and gave him one last check-over to make sure the bandages all held.

“Why Dracule Mihawk?” you finally ask, curiosity getting the better of you.

He raised an eyebrow at you. “What do you mean?”

“Why train under him? Why work to defeat him?”

His eyes narrowed at you, as if he was trying to comprehend what you were asking. “He’s the best, isn’t he?”

You nod, and the swordsman gets a wicked grin across his face.

“I’m going to beat him and the best. My name is going to be so famous, it’ll reach the heavens.”

“I see,” you said slowly, watching him. You could see in his expression that he means it, and he’ll stop at nothing to reach his goal. You went to take your leave, stopping at the door and turning to look at him one last time.

“Then I wish you luck in that journey, Zoro.”

#one piece #one piece imagine #one piece scenario #one piece fanfiction #one piece x reader #one piece self insert #zoro #roronoa zoro #zoro x reader #zoro x y/n #zoro x you #cozage #TMTGIG #✧˚zoro✧˚

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eureka-its-zico · 7 months

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Hiiiiiii, it's me, Gouda 🧀 anon, but I am not on anon! lol I sorted out my Trumblr from all the cringy shit from years ago finally so I don't have to be embarrassed what I have on here haha (I saw you said you've been on Tumblr since 2015, well I've been on here since probably 2009 and yeah... Had to go down the memory lane and it was a bit cringe 😂)

I saw your message that Chapter 4 will be posted tonight and the giddy feelings that I felt, boy oh boy... Could barely contain myself in my chair!

This has been such a lovely update! It was amazing to see more interactions between Doc and Zoro. And his POV is just *chef's kiss*. It really helps to see that there's more to each of them than the other sees. And honestly, Zoro is being stupid because he can fulfil his promise and still get Doc so... *side eye* lol

I am honestly so curious to see what you have planned going forward: with Doc and Straw Hats AND Doc and Zoro. And if you grace us with even more Zoro POV to see his inner battle - I will devour it 😂

Also, I have to say - him bringing the beer and him bringing back the flower as an apology were one of my favourite parts in this chapter. Especially this one:

What he wouldn’t tell you, is because they only grew at certain times and usually in the snow, it made them one of the most resilient flowers because they could grow under any conditions.

ALSO, oh my God, this interaction in particular too:

“What do I gotta do to hear one of these world-famous Doc jokes?” He waited until his face was neutral to look back at you. Both hands rested on his swords as he watched you fill the bottle to the brim and place it securely inside your satchel. “For that kind of service? You have to be dying.”

We know what happens later and now I will wait with baited breath for doesn't matter how many chapters to see whether Doc actually says that joke 😂

I also love the ending, the fact that Nami is considerate enough to offer for Doc something to wear. It's a small interaction though I would think that it gives them a small part to bond to some extent ❤

As always, an amazing update and I am so happy to see these two continue to bond, even if they are both acting silly now. Really curious and excited for the next part to see how Doc reacts to Sanji and maybe even how Zoro reacts if Sanji flirts with Doc?! 😂

I have so many feelings to this story, I have to admit, I read Chapter 3 five times. Then I went to read Chapter 2. And then I read all chapters from the first one before this update because I have an insane amount of brain rot for OPLA Zoro and it's been consuming me this week 😂🙃 Also, because it's been bringing me joy and making me smile at a time in my life where I'm feeling a bit lost.

Sending you so much love and thank you for the update. I had a shit week so this has been such a mood booster that it is hard to put it into words how much I appreciate you and how happy I am that I discovered you and Chaos in Their Bones.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend, Jenn ❤

Osiyo my Gouda 🧀 Nonnie turned to my cheesy!! I am so happy to hear from you! The fact you did an intense cleansing of your tumblr makes me feel like I should probably do the same BUT 2009, you say?!? My bestie started a tumblr around that time too, I believe. What was it like? Was it wild? Lol

It makes me so happy to know you enjoyed the updated chapter! I was honestly very nervous about it cause I wrote it starting yesterday around 5 pm and finished by roughly 9:30 am. I just knew that once Sanji was introduced the story was going to be a bit more hefty, per say. There is the drinking scene, and I wanted Doc and Nami to have some time together, because she deserves a good wholesome friendship, okay?!

I’m so glad you love Zoro’s POV! It always makes me nervous because he is such a moody baby, but also extremely devoted to keeping his word/promises. I thought it was important to show his side and struggle, because he is so devoted to fulfilling his promise that I can envision him being completely blinded by that determination. I mean, look how he responds to poor Nami 😩😩

Oh man, we know Sanji flirts with EVERY woman lol so flirting is definitely implied and I may or may not have already pre-written the dialogue for most of that scene 🤣

I cannot believe you’ve reread Chaos in Their Bones so many times! But also, I completely understand why you would after reading the rest of your message. It is an absolute honor and a privilege to be a part of something that is bringing you joy in a time when you feel like it is most needed. I always look forward to your reviews and to see how you liked chapters. It means a lot to me to see your 🧀 in my ask box. I am incredibly sorry this week wasn’t any good, but just know I am sending you lots of love and good vibes that hopefully next week is better than this one. Sending you virtual hugs and Much Love 🖤

#thecheesyreader #answered #Chaos in Their Bones review #I hope all is well hun #and thank you for letting my little story be a place of comfort for you #you humble my story more than it deserves #but I am so truly honored to be there for you when you need it #wishing you so much joy #now I’m gonna go be emotional now ok?#opla zoro

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youamongthemelissas · 3 years

Note

hi mwah <3

may i have a scenario with zoro being a brat who doesn't want to go down on his girl, but she just puts in his place by sitting on his face? 👀

ara ara, it seems that the fifteen hours I've been sleeping have made me reap the rewards uwu

well, I really hope you like the result and that those 3,3k words make up for the delay in my writer's block. i've only reviewed it a few times because i'm really really sleepy right now, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes! :(

warning: oral sex (giving and receiving), fingering, face sitting, etc. only for +18. smut everywhere

Zoro and I had known each other for almost two years, but he changed his position from hookup to boyfriend two months ago. Our chaotic relationship started at a horrible party. Everything that night was horrible, except when the handsome guy approached me offering his help when some ramshackle human being spilled water on my shirt. To complete my disaster, the outfit I wore was white and cotton, so it marked the contours of my breasts just right. Damn day I decided to leave my house without wearing a bra. Too embarrassed, I just crawled into the bathroom – which didn't even have a lock – and waited for the crowd to dwindle or for my shirt to dry so I could get out of that unhealthy place. But fate didn't have the best plans for me, as I saw the bathroom door open and a man enter that cubicle.

"This is the ladies' wc, you know?" I informed the guy angrily.

“I know,” he replied simply. "I saw the whole scene, so I decided to come make sure you're okay."

I arched my brow and stared at him with half-closed eyes. Was he feeling okay? I looked for signs of drunkenness in him, but his voice was steady and he looked too sober.

“Very nice of you, but you can't just lock yourself together with a strange woman in a cubicle. You know, I can interpret this as sexual harassment!” I snapped.

“Oh, fine. I was going to lend you my shirt so you could wear it and wouldn’t have to wait for yours to dry, but I see you don't need my help. Bye and sorry for the inconvenience,” and so he left, not giving me a chance to respond.

I cursed the Universe, but then I stopped myself because a tarot reader had informed me that a situation like this could happen throughout the week and I didn't listen. In the end, it was my fault for being a stubborn and skeptical one.

I really couldn't tell how long I was locked in that fetid cubicle, but when my t-shirt dried enough not to leave me practically naked from the waist up, I walked out and saw the same guy as before, he was talking to a red haired girl, actually it looked more like an argument was going on between them by his annoyed expression and her restless gestures. Would she be his girlfriend? Was the discussion focused on me and the bathroom incident? Well, I wouldn't stay there to find out and risk getting hit by the girl for something that wasn't my fault. He was the one who entered the ladies' room with an unknown woman!

And my disastrous night ended when I lay in my bed and turned off the light to finally sleep and erase all memories of the party from my head. But that boy's face has not left my mind.

The days followed normally, and when I was already forgetting the cool guy, I saw him for the second time in a bakery. He wore the same shirt that day of the party and sweatpants. His sleepy face gave away that he had just woken up and had just left the house to go buy bread for breakfast. He saw me but pretended not to. I got the feeling I should have apologized for the misunderstanding, but he was already making the request. Luckily, we were assisted together as soon a second attendant appeared who assisted me as well.

As soon as we paid the bill, we silently left the place and I got a chance to talk to him as we were heading in the same direction.

“Hey,” I called him, being ignored. "Boy, wait a minute"

“What is it, girl?”, he snapped at me sharply.

“I wanted to apologize for the misunderstanding… Seriously, I was just freaked out by a guy walking me into the bathroom…”, I was sincere.

"It's all right. Go on with your life in peace.”

“And you had a girlfriend, right? Like, you were still wrong in the end…” I couldn't hold my mouth before needling him.

This time he stopped abruptly and turned to me, making me smack my face into his chest.

"Girlfriend? First you accuse me of sexual harassment and now besides being a harasser you think I'm a traitor?”

“I didn't accuse you of anything! Except the girlfriend part. You and that red haired girl seemed to be fighting really bad, like boyfriends do,” I clarified.

“Redhead girl?” he seemed to search his memory for what I was referring to. “Nami? God forbid me dating that devil woman! She's not my girlfriend, and we were fighting because…”, he stopped mid-explanation. “This is none of your business, girl. But she's not my girlfriend,” he ended the pseudo-argument.

I nodded and went on my way.

“How long will you follow me? Now I can interpret that you're a deranged stalker”, he told me right after we turned down the same street, after walking close for a few meters.

“I'm not following you, my house is on this way”, I replied.

And that's how I found out that we lived in the same condominium.

Although I clearly remember the first two times we met, I can't say when exactly we started to change our cat-and-mouse relationship and elevate it to a more intimate one. Maybe it was when he fucked me for the first time in the laundry room in the building. I was taking my clothes out of the machine while he put his clothes in another one, and then we looked at each other and as if we had the same idea, he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up to put me sitting on top of the machine he had just finished stuffing with his own clothes, putting it to work and taking me in a kiss while taking off my panties. When he entered me, I moaned loudly, but the sound was drowned out by the shrill noise of that old machine. Zoro confessed to me later that he chose precisely that one so my moans could not be heard. I think it was the most insane thing I did, because at any moment someone could come and catch us, but luckily for us that only happened after Zoro had cum on my thighs and taken me off that old thing. It was weird walking with my legs sticking together because of his cum, but I didn't have time to clean up, just lift my panties and straighten my skirt before passing the newcomer, who didn't seem to have noticed our presence.

After our first sex, we didn't get apart anymore. We couldn't be alone as we caught fire and had sex wherever we were.

As time went by, we calmed down and our meetings became more spaced, but our chemistry didn't extinguish even a little bit during these almost two years, on the contrary, it only earned us the beginning of dating. And we became more than just hookups, we became friends too, those who know about each other's lives and I got to know Nami, the red-haired friend he was fighting that night at the party. I came to discover that they could never be boyfriends, because she loved money and women.

Everything with Zoro was almost perfect. He was a good boyfriend, and even though we're two hotheads, we never fought. There are always dialogues in our relationship and this helps a lot to avoid unnecessary fights. Besides, sex is wonderful, everything just right, except for one small thing that bothers me. We combine a lot in bed, I always try to please him and give him pleasure at all times. I've lost count of how many blowjobs I gave him and how many times I let him cum in my mouth, but the problem is that he never even gave me oral sex. And that makes me a little frustrated and scared. Was the problem with me? I took good care of myself, but he always shifted position when I tried to get him down on me.

One day, while I watched him playing his favorite game, I stroked his hair.

“Babe?”, I called him.

“Hm?” he mutters, not moving an inch.

“Do I disgust you?” I asked bluntly.

"What? Where did you get this ideia?”, he turns abruptly to face me, doing something wrong in the game because soon there are some curses directed at him in the chat.

“It's just a question.” I shrugged.

“It can't be just a question. For you to ask me that, there's definitely a reason behind it,” he replied, no longer looking at the TV screen, and not realizing that he was being offended by the other players. Damn virgins.

“Nevermind…”, I hesitated, unable to let myself be affected by the comments, which weren't even for me. "Your game friends are very angry with you."

"Fuck them, the issue here is you.", he held my face with both hands, making me look at him. “Tell me what made you think about it,” he looks deep into my eyes, almost reading my soul and I immediately regret opening my mouth. But it was too late, lying was out of the question, because he knows very well when I lie, so I had no choice but to tell the truth.

“You never gave me an oral. So I deduced that the problem is with me”, I said at last and he let me go.

It was his turn to shift the focus to another corner.

“It's nothing to you, it's me who is the problem. I've never done that to any women, and in the movies I see them “squirt”, what if that happens?” He looked a little frustrated and embarrassed.

I got up from my seat and stopped standing in front of him, making him glare at me.

“You have to stop thinking real life is a big porn movie, Roronoa,” I said, putting my index finger on his forehead. “I really admire you knowing how to fuck without looking like a caveman”, I said that last sentence more to myself.

“Hey!” he heard and seemed offended. "It hurts, okay?"

“Sorry, but that is nothing but the truth”, I rolled my eyes.

Even though he didn't suck me when we had sex later, the seed of doubt was already planted in his head.

I know this, because days later he was more committed to making me cum. Before he seemed to care only about his pleasure, but after our conversation, he even put his fingers to work on my clit – which were presented by me –, as he moved in and out of me, until I came on his fingers. It felt good, but I wanted to feel his tongue down there, and wanted to see his head between my legs. I wanted so badly to squirm in pleasure beneath him as he sucked everything I had to offer him.

When the dream day finally arrived, all my thoughts turned opaque as I felt him hug me from behind and lean his body against mine as his lips found the skin of my neck.

“Do you know how hot you look wearing my shirt?” he asked huskily, pressing me closer to his body, making my ass fit into his crotch. And I already felt it was hard. "Even more so I know you're not wearing anything under it."

I couldn't hold back the moan as I felt his fingers travel up my waist until they reached my breasts under the fabric. He squeezed it first and then circled the nipple with his finger, making it hard. He knew how sensitive I was in that area. And to my delight, he lowered his other hand to between my legs, and slid it to find my sex, which was already starting to get wet.

When I was in his apartment, I liked to have just one piece of clothing. Walking around his house half-naked was one of the most satisfying things for me, because I knew that anytime we were going to get laid and being too undressed would get in the way of the process. So I opted to wear just a pair of panties or a T-shirt with nothing underneath, as was the case now.

He removed his hand from my body and pulled me away, but only to pick me up and take me to his bed, where he laid me down and leaned over me and started kissing me.

His kiss tasted like the whiskey he drank a few minutes ago. I ran my hands over his body and scratched him lightly on his back, inside his shirt. He ended the kiss and rolled off of me, but only to undress. I watched the scene intently, looking at each piece of skin that was revealed to me little by little. When he took off his underwear and his cock popped out, I felt my mouth water. He was there in front of me, completely naked.

I got rid of his t-shirt I was wearing and crawled until I was close to his body, took his hard member in my hands and started masturbating before putting it in my mouth. Unconsciously, I reared my hips up, and ran my tongue over the glans, tasting the pre-cum. Without waiting, I felt him lean over to smack my ass, and it made his cock almost hit my throat, making me gasp. I pulled it out of my mouth, gasping for air, but went back to sucking on it. When I relaxed, I put him in one piece and this time I got used to that intruder so deep, and I heard him grunt. He loved when I swallowed him like that, but before I could make him cum, he gently withdrew from my mouth and lay down on the bed, turning me to stand beside him.

He kissed me again and wrapped his hands around my waist and slid them to my ass, where he slapped my ass, making me moan into his mouth.

We made out until he was on top of me, making me feel his hard cock on my thigh as he kissed my neck and played with my nipples.

I was already throbbing with lust, and it got worse when he slid his fingers to my clit and touched his fingertip to that sensitive spot, making me arch into him. But he did nothing but tease me, and I wanted him to use his tongue this time to bring me to orgasm. For that reason, I forced his head down and he got the message, surprisingly trailing kisses down my body, but before he got there he stopped and returned the kisses to where they were before, leaving me frustrated.

I sighed in annoyance, and shifted our positions, getting on top of him. I positioned myself right on top of his cock, and I fit my pussy there, not to slide him inside, but to rub myself there. He liked my boldness a lot, but I abruptly left the place until I was positioned right in his mouth. I felt him startle under me, but it was too late because I was already sitting pretty well in his face, with my cunt snug in the place where I always wished it was. He showed no resistance, just ran the tip of his tongue over my clit and I closed my eyes, sighing.

At first, he was stuck and a little lost, but little by little he got used to it and now his whole tongue passed through my intimacy, sometimes sucking painfully. It was good for me and it was good for him too, because I felt him grip my thighs tightly, holding me in place as he penetrated me with his tongue. I saw stars. When he smeared the entire place and when my body showed signs of the first orgasm, nimbly and using a little force he took me off him and put me back on the bed, with my back to the mattress. I thought he had given up, but he again slid down my body and positioned himself between my legs, giving me that wonderful sight. Again he pressed his tongue against my clit.

Seeing him there, with his head buried in the place I'd always dreamed of, made a fire burn in my stomach, and my brain worked tirelessly on the new sensations his mouth was gaving me me.

And he looked very committed and thirsty. He was like someone who had gone days without even a drop of liquid and who had just found an inexhaustible source of pure water. And I was that source. And just the thought of having him thirsty for me was enough to give my boner more ammo and make my hips start working nimbly, looking for more contact. Zoro shaved every day, but there were already two that he didn't shave, so the growing hairs scraped the inside of my thighs when I moved my hips, leaving goose bumps.

His tongue explored every corner of my intimacy and his arms closed tightly around my legs as he brought one hand to one of my breasts and rested it there, squeezing every now and then as my body showed signs of orgasm.

He didn't let go of me when I came for the first time or when I screamed for the second. Instead, he circled my waist with his arms and held me immobile in place as he sipped every drop that dared escape from me. He showed no signs of satiating even when I scratched his shoulders or slapped him in the arms to get him to let go. In fact, it felt like it was just an extra boost for him when I was on the verge of madness, writhing in his mouth and thrashing around aimlessly for support and control of the spasms in my body.

He was both a sadist and a masochist at the same time, which is why I was so attracted to him.

When he released me, I was almost voiceless and completely shaky. I wouldn't be able to form an intelligible word, and his playful smile, which I saw blurred due to the tears pooling in the corners of my eyes, gave away his satisfaction at seeing me in that state.

When I finally composed myself and my heart stopped beating in my chest, pulse, and throat, I took a deep breath and stared at him. He was lying beside me, looking at me and running his hand down my face, lovingly.

“You look beautiful when you're coming”, was the first thing he said.

“You look handsome between my legs”, I returned the answer in the same tone.

He smiled and massaged his jaw, as if in pain.

“Too bad it takes so long to cum, my chin hurts”, he complained and I rolled my eyes.

“You didn't leave me after my first orgasm,” I accused. “For those who were afraid of giving me oral sex, you seemed to enjoy it a lot”, I continued, with a pout.

“I had no idea you were that tasty,” he said, smiling slightly. “Now you better get ready, because your taste has gone straight to the top of my favorite flavors”, he assured me, as he pulled me by the waist to glue my body to his.

I kissed his lips softly, and touched our foreheads, and he kissed me again, obscenely. It didn't take me long to be on my knees for him, determined to reward him for the multiple organs he gave me.

Seeing him from above, with his eyes closed and his expression filled with pure delight, made me want to feel his cock in the back of my throat to the point of gasping for air. But he refused to cum inside my mouth. He lifted me up and positioned me on all fours on the bed and placed the condom on his cock.

When he sank into me, I moaned loudly, too happy that my sex life with my boyfriend was perfect.

#zoro x reader #one piece boys #one piece imagine #one piece x reader #zoro x you #zoro x y/n #zoro imagine

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taizi · 3 years

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Hi! I love your works! 71 + 72 for Luffy and Jinbei?

PROMPTS LIST

71. “I’m going to protect you.”

smile again

As a watchdog journalist, Jinbei's work takes him everywhere. He isn't always in the best position to receive phone calls. Sometimes, depending on what story his group decides to chase after and what far-flung corner of the world it leads them to, Jinbei goes weeks without internet access.

By the time he gets news of the accident, Luffy has been out of the hospital for a month and Ace has been dead just as long.

Jinbei has to go home.

His colleagues-- a group of solid, hard-working people he's known for going on twenty years, has worked with on the field and off, in smoke and fire and claustrophobic office spaces-- are entirely understanding.

Tiger drives him to a small airport, the truck bouncing along a bumpy gravel road. There's a single, hastily-packed duffel in the bed of the pickup. Jinbei isn't even sure what he shoved in there, having only made one mindless pass through his room. He would have left without his passport if Hatchan hadn't shoved it into his hands on his way out the door.

"It may be time for me to retire," Jinbei says aloud. His mind is ebbing and rising like a tide, a vast ocean of grief. Thoughts go bobbing away like loose buoys before he can get a grasp on them.

All he can think of is the last video-call he made home, over a month ago now. Ace and Luffy, pressed cheek-to-cheek so they'd both fit in-frame, competitive in all things and unwilling to take turns, even as Jinbei laughingly promised he had plenty of time to talk.

They made him promise to call again soon. He meant to.

"Don't worry about us over here," Tiger says. His eyes are on the road, hands tight around the steering wheel. He carries Jinbei's grief like it's his own. "Just worry about your boy."

His boy, Jinbei thinks. Not by blood or by law, certainly, but by something less quantifiable than that. Those scrappy kids that spilled into his yard one muggy summer evening, hiding in the hedges from their well-antagonized CPS caseworker and somehow claiming a piece of Jinbei's heart from the moment he first laid eyes on them.

Ace was so angry back then, and Luffy was so easily frightened, and they clung to each other in a practiced way, as if they were so used to the world trying to claw them apart that they didn't expect anything else, even from a perfect stranger. They didn't seem to know what to do with kindness. Ace watched Jinbei like a hawk for weeks, long after Luffy warmed up to him. His trust, when he finally gave it, felt like a prize.

Jinbei was working long, unpredictable hours, and knew it wouldn't be fair to drag two children into his household if he couldn't afford them the time and care they deserved-- but after school? Weekends? Holidays? Those he gave up freely.

His days gained some semblance of routine again, for the fist time since he finished college. His kitchenware came down from the cupboard, the pockmarked kitchen table was often set for three. He made dinner at home, more than he ate in the office with his colleagues.

Hell, his colleagues ate dinner with him at home more often, too. Within an hour of meeting the boys, each of Jinbei's friends, to a man, would have taken a bullet for either of them, no questions asked.

The sense of structure did wonders for the brothers. With a safe place to return to when they needed it, and someone to fall back on, Ace stopped looking at every potential foster home as if it was a threat. Luffy came out of his shell, bolder with each new day. He made a friend in the village, a boy with vivid green eyes, and they hardly spent a moment apart.

They were finally placed with a couple who lived nearby. Shanks was wry and good-natured, and Benn had the patience of a saint. After a few weeks, when Jinbei asked how they were settling in, his worries were soothed: Luffy clearly adored them, and even Ace grudgingly admitted they weren't so bad.

And when the time came, and Ace applied for emancipation as well as custody of his brother, he had a small army in his corner. A patchwork family collected in little bits and pieces, ready to support him through anything.

"I will always be here for you both," Jinbei had promised him, countless times. "You'll never be alone as long as I'm alive."

"Thank you," Ace said, a little bashful. But he was so pleased, and so full of hope for the future, and he said, "I'll feel better, knowing someone's around to look after Luffy if I can't."

He immediately got shouted down by his entire strange extended pseudo-family for daring to suggest they'd ever let anything happen to him, and it made him laugh so brightly, and now the memory sticks like needles in Jinbei's throat.

Tiger hugs him hard before Jinbei boards the plane. In the back of his mind, where there is a tiny corner free from drowning, Jinbei can't help but wonder when he'll see his friend again.

He keeps thinking of that last video call. He can't remember everything they talked about. He doesn't think he said enough. He almost certainly didn't tell Ace everything he deserved to hear. Foolishly, he assumed there would be another time.

He's learned from this. He won't take it for granted any more.

"Call me when you land," Tiger says. "Give the monkey our love."

"I will," Jinbei replies. His heart is so heavy he doesn't know how he manages the steps onto the plane. He doesn't know how the pilot manages to lift them up from the tarmac. It's a wonder they aren't sinking, straight through the earth.

Nami and Usopp are waiting for him at the airport, wide-awake even though it's well past two o'clock in the morning. They're familiar to Jinbei from the stories Luffy has told him, from the numerous video calls they've bullied their way into over the years, and the handful of birthdays and holidays Jinbei was able to make it home for.

"Luffy wanted to come with us to pick you up, but he fell asleep," Usopp says, apropos of nothing, as they're waiting for their Uber. "Sanji said it was a small miracle, and Zoro looked like he was going to hunt us for sport if we even thought about waking him up, so--"

"He hasn't been sleeping, then?" Jinbei asks quietly.

"After he came home, he was on some pretty heavy meds, and he slept a lot," Nami says. Her arms are folded tight against her chest in the nighttime chill, her eyes trained somewhere far away. "But he had bad dreams and he would wake up disoriented. Now he fights sleep tooth and nail."

"We've all sort of become the insomnia squad," Usopp pipes up. "Thank god I'm not taking any classes this summer."

"Sanji's gotten really good at making lattes," Nami adds with a small smile. "Wait till you see his shiny new espresso machine."

"I'm like eight-five percent sure he stole it from the Baratie."

Jinbei listens to their chatter, feeling at once anchored by them and adrift at sea. It makes sense that they would be ahead of him. They've been here all this time, practically from the moment of the accident, facing it with all the bravery and endurance of sailors in a typhoon. Jinbei, meanwhile, had been living in an unchanged world.

For the last month, Ace has been dead. How many times had Jinbei thought about him? Mentioned him to a friend? How many times had Jinbei wrongly said his name in the present-tense?

The house is warmly-lit when they arrive, but quiet. An old blue Irish wolfhound greets them at the door, wagging his tail. Robin looks up from the papers she has spread out on the coffee table and smiles. Chopper is fast asleep beside her, his head on her shoulder. Behind them, Jinbei can see Sanji at work in the kitchen, shaping dough. Something is baking that smells of cinnamon and apples.

They weren't kidding about their sleep schedules being a mess.

"Hello, Jinbei. It's good to see you," Robin says. Her voice is soft, in deference to the sleeping teenager. "Luffy is asleep, but you can see him if you like."

"Please," Jinbei replies hoarsely.

"I'll take him," Nami says. "Usopp, would you bring his bag to the guest bedroom?"

"'Course," Usopp replies, but he makes a detour into the kitchen first.

Nami takes Jinbei's hand and leads him toward the stairs. "I feel really stupid about this, but I was so angry at you," she admits as they make their way up. "It's hardly the first time we haven't been able to contact you, and I know why that is. But-- I don't know, I think I was going crazy. I wanted Luffy to have everything he wanted. I wanted everyone who loved him to be here every time he woke up. So I-- so there might be some angry emails waiting for you, but please don't hate me for it."

"I won't even read them," Jinbei promises gravely, his heart cleaved clean in two. "I can't imagine how-- how hard it must have been. I-- if I had gotten the messages sooner-- "

"I know," Nami assures him, pausing outside a closed bedroom door. "Franky spoke to you like six hours ago, and you're already here. You dropped everything to be here. We know the kind of person you are."

She stands up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, and Jinbei bends to accommodate her, the same way he does for Koala. Then Nami reaches out and pushes open the door.

Zoro is awake, sitting against the headboard with his phone in hand and earphones in, and his eyes are as bright and sharp now as they were when he was a child. He looks up when the door opens, and seems to relax when he sees Jinbei stepping in behind Nami.

"Go to sleep," Nami whispers, pointing at the second bed across the spacious room.

"Don't tell me what to do," Zoro replies, just as quiet, but he pulls his earphones out and extracts himself from the bed with all the exacting precision of a bomb disposal technician. Nami takes him by the arm, helping him get up so carefully that the mattress hardly moves. It's such a well-practiced maneuver that Jinbei thinks he honestly might cry.

"If one of you would stay for a bit, I'll grab a shower," Zoro says.

"Sure, stinky," Nami says, nudging him toward the door. "Jinbei?"

He nods, unsure of what he's agreeing to. Now that he's finally next to Luffy, nothing else seems to exist. He sinks into the chair beside the bed, only half-aware of Nami and Zoro leaving. Their murmured conversation is cut off by the closing door. The room is silent, save for the gentle, unobtrusive sound of Luffy's steady breathing.

He's lost weight since Jinbei saw him last. There are shadows on his face that don't belong there. He looks both older and younger than he has any right to, even now, when his face is untroubled and slack with sleep.

"Hello, little monkey," Jinbei says. His voice is quiet, but it still breaks. He's crying, he realizes, thick tears rolling down his face with abandon. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

He thinks of two little boys, spilling into his life on accident, taking up room in his home and his heart as if they always belonged there. They weren't his, not really, but he loved them anyway. Loves them still.

"I'm here now," he whispers. His hands are shaking. "I'm going to protect you, like I promised. I'm here, Ace. Please believe me, wherever you are. I won't fail you again."

#one piece #op #opfic #knight of the sea jimbei #cat burglar nami #god usopp #my writing #smile again #i woke up and chose violence #but i mean a couple people were wondering where jimbei was so u brought this upon urselves

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

Text

The Voyage So Far: Wano (Part One)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

shirahoshi seeing the sun for the first time is really a relatively minor and understated thing, among all the chaos and revelations of reverie, but it strikes me as one of the most meaningful little moments in the arc.

i LOVE the luffy fanclub. i love that a meeting of the world leaders winds up being a who’s-who with assorted friends of one of the world’s most notorious criminals, and it brings me SO much joy to see them meeting each other and being able to connect. i feel the same way about coby and rebecca meeting.

in general, and i think i said this at marineford too, i love that the one piece world is developed and interconnected and alive enough to allow for these sorts of interactions.

fucked up that this was almost a hundred chapters ago and we still have no clue what the fuck was up with this, isn’t it?

i do find the introduction of im fascinating. up until this point we’ve had two presumed final villains- blackbeard and akainu- who were first established pretty far back at jaya and enies lobby (in robin’s flashback) respectively. meanwhile, im isn’t even seen until chapter nine hundred and something. it feels very late-game, but at the same time, their existence doesn’t contradict anything previously established, and in fact jives pretty well with a lot of information more recently revealed in dressrosa.

in any case, when in doubt i do trust oda knows what he’s doing when handling his story, and i’m very excited to see what he does with this.

wano is SO PRETTY. i mentioned this before in fishman island, but i think wano is definitely the prettiest setting in the series to date. i think it’s obvious oda was both very excited to draw it and put a lot of work and research into his depiction of it, and wow does it pay off. wano is so bursting with life and detail, and frequently looks like an ukiyo-e painting come to life, and just- wow wow wow.

i love zoro and luffy’s reunion so much... i love how happy they are to see each other. it’s only been, what, a couple weeks in-universe? but luffy is pulling the full tackle-hug like he did for sabo at dressrosa. i love them.

i really like the outfits in wano, too!! zoro’s ronin look in particular i think suits him very well, and i also love luffy’s patchy yukata and robin’s geisha getup and they’re just very cool. this also applies to the non-strawhat wano characters, for the record, and kind of ties back to what i was just saying about wano being so full of detail. it has a very specific look, and everything from the outfits to the way things like the fire and the waves are drawn folds very neatly into that aesthetic.

as i’m writing this i just finished on the paramount war posts, so with that fresh on my mind, i have to say i really like the way ace (or rather, his memory) is incorporated into wano. he’s not really a major presence- that is, the fact that he was there before luffy has no real bearing on the plot. but there are people who knew and cared about him and remember him fondly, tama and yamato, and it just really helps add to this feeling that ace was a person and his life and death had real and lasting affects.

and it adds, too, to the fact that even if it took ace way too long to realize it, he was so thoroughly loved everywhere he went.

i have a lot of thoughts on the intersection of food and heroism in one piece (i keep trying to compile a coherent meta post on the subject and mostly failing). but i’ll settle for saying that in wano luffy is a hero by his own definition, as someone who shares food with others, and i doubt he realizes that, but i think it’s really interesting.

i know luffy’s fight with kaidou is kind of controversial in fandom but i love it, personally. it feels like a logical outcome for luffy to get his ass kicked the first time he tries to go up against a yonkou singlehandedly! he got wrecked when he tried to throw down with a shichibukai the first time, too, and this is just the next logical step from that.

luffy’s always been an underdog starting from nowhere and working his way up and up and up, and i love that for him. of course he’s going to get messed up the first time he tries punching an entire order of magnitude above his weight class. and then he’s going to get up and try again, and again, and again until he wins.

the act structure of wano is really neat, i think. it helps such a long and complicated arc feel a lot more structured and less interminable than it might otherwise, and it also gives specific breaks where we can cut away to the story happening on the outside world.

honestly i really like the whole udon prison segment. it’s fun! i like it for similar reasons i like the colosseum mini-arc in dressrosa, honestly, which is that there’s no real stress because we know luffy is the scariest person there by a country mile so we can just watch him go ham, and that’s fun. it consistently cracks me up that absolutely nobody is worried luffy’s in jail. they’re all just like “yeah, he’ll be fine.” and they’re right! he’s having the time of his life!

wano’s cast is fascinating, because almost nobody is who they first appear to be. almost everyone is wearing masks, whether literal or not- fitting, for an arc structured after a kabuki play. everyone is playing roles, from hiyori to denjirou to kanjurou to yasuie, and everyone lies.

this entire sequence at orochi’s party is one of my favorites in the whole arc- in fact, it was my favorite, until we reached a certain part i’ll get to in the next post. everything from komurasaki standing up for toko and slapping orochi to denjirou “killing” her to robin getting caught by the oniwabanshu and dissolving into petals to nami calling down a massive lightning bolt to cover their escape- it’s really good.

i’ve written extensively before about the smile fruits and the themes of smile and laughter in one piece and how important the freedom to feel and express emotion is. suffice it to say that for all the atrocities orochi commits against the people of wano, it’s feeding the smile fruits to the people of ebisu town that is his greatest crime, and the revelation of just what happened to those poor people ratchets up the tragedy of wano tenfold.

i do think it’s interesting to think about how if denjirou had been just a little less committed to his role, zoro would’ve killed orochi right here. it really drives home that orochi is nothing- he’s weak, he’s cowardly, he’s just lucky and clever and cruel enough to be able to get much more powerful people to do his work for him.

it’s infuriating that someone like him has been able to hold such power over the lives of the people of wano and ruin them so thoroughly, and that’s exactly the point.

wano is the arc where oda says you Will care about the supernovas and i’m like yeah

hey, another of my all-time favorite luffy panels!! i honestly just think this one sums him up as a character in a line more than almost any other- “i’m always free.”

just look at the detail on kidd’s metal hand holy shit holy shit. on occasion certain panels jump out at me that remind me that oda really is just, a genius at drawing on a technical level, even setting aside his writing and storytelling chops, and this is one of them.

oda is really, really good at creating the sense of a darkest hour- a time when all hope seems lost. the other best example in the series is in water seven, when the crew seems to be falling to pieces, merry is marked for death, robin’s gone, and the aqua laguna is coming. here, too- nobody comes to meet the akazaya nine, and the one chance they’ve waited twenty years and staked their lives on seems in danger of slipping through their fingers-

but the point of making it so all seems lost is so that when hope does appear, it shines all the brighter, and feels all the more triumphant. it’s always darkest before the dawn, and we all know how wano has been waiting for the dawn.

#the voyage so far #arc: reverie #arc: wano kuni #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #long post

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mrskisaki · 4 years

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hiii! hope you're having a great day 💞 can i pls request H, I, J, K, O, for Sanji, Killer, and the letters you haven't done, for Law? take your time and stay safe!💞

Aw man, I only have 4 requests left 🎃

It's okay, I know you meant sfw lmao, I've only had one person to ever request from the nsfw alphabet and that was weeks ago lmao 💜

Sfw Alphabets (H, I, J, K, O) for Sanji, Killer and Law

Sanji

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

A hug? From you? Sanji loves your hugs and he loves to hug you. He practically throws himself on to you whenever you ask for one.

His hugs are soft and warm.

He has the type of hugs you need after a long day, comfortable, and makes you feel safe.

You hug him more than he hugs you. Just the thought of him going to hug you gives him a slight nose bleed so he tends to let you initiate the hugging.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Sanji will say ”I love you” with the quickness.

He's in love with you and won't hesitate to let you and everyone else in proximity know.

He will say he loves you as he asks you to be his.

Not counting that, he would say ”I love you” while he's gushing at something you did, which is all the time.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Sanji does get jealous when you give your attention to another man, especially Zoro.

If it's a random person trying to flirt with you, he would join in with them and start talking to them about how beautiful you are.

If you entertain the strangers flirting then he gets jealous and ends the flirting session quickly.

If you even smile at Zoro, Sanji is on him. He will start a shouting match and it only ends when you intervene and tell Sanji to knock it off.

Sanji knows you're beautiful and have admirers so he wouldn’t get jealous but when they get touchy and you give them attention is when he does.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Sanjis kisses are full of love and passion. Just in one kiss, he can and will make you feel all the love and affection he has for you.

He loves to kiss the back of your hands, he’s a gentleman and chivalry is still alive, at least for him it is.

He loves to be kissed by you anywhere you will, but his favorite is his lips. He just loves you so much and the fact that you love him as well makes him extremely happy.

He believes that your and his lips connects, your souls are truly connected; if he could, he would never break a kiss, preferring to kiss forever.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Sanji will tell you anything you want when you want because you're his queen and he will do anything you say.

But if it comes to his past, he's a bit hesitant because it is a very sensitive subject to him. He prefers to keep that part of him hidden away but he will tell you about it if you ask.

It might be every detail but he will answer your questions, just don't ask too much because he already doesn't want to talk about it, and asking so many questions will aggravate him so he'll leave and distance himself from you for the rest of the day.

Killer

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Killer loves hugs but he's a bit shy when it comes to intimacy so he doesn't provoke them much unless you two are alone.

His hugs a long and warm.

Once he hugs you, you both just stand there soaking it in. Hugs are kind of a stress reliever for him so he likes to take his time with them.

If he's having a really bad day, he would stop everything and find you just to get a hug to calm himself before going back to finish his chores for the day.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Killer doesn't rush and say I love you.

He takes his time and makes sure that he's actually in love and sees a future with you.

When he says I love you, he means it and you shouldn't take it lightly because if you do he won't say it again.

He already is shy so it took him quite a bit of confidence to come out and say it. Please say it back to him.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Killer doesn't really get jealous.

He knows that you love him and wouldn't do him wrong, if he had any doubts about you then he wouldn't be with you.

If he does get jealous it's because somebody made you laugh and he's jealous because he's not the reason for it.

He wouldn't say anything or cause a scene. He would just sit there and watch to make sure the other person doesn't go too far or get any ideas.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Well since all of your kisses will be in private so he can take his mask off, he doesn't get to kiss you often.

He loves to be kissed on his forehead. It makes him feel calm especially when he's had a rough day.

Killer likes to kiss you on your lips, he likes how soft and warm they are and hates the fact that he doesn't get to kiss them as much.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Killer will tell you whatever you want to know whenever you ask.

But when it comes to more sensitive topics like his past or his mask, he kinda closes off and tries to change the subject.

He will open up on his own in time but if you pressure him it will cause him to get mad and he'll avoid you for a while.

Law

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Law does indeed like hugs, he would never admit it though.

He doesn't initiate the hugs very often but won't turn you down when you do.

The main time he initiates a hug of his own is when you both are in the privacy of your room and he's had a very stressful day.

He's hugs are loose and warm

His hands may be cold but his hugs are warm, especially when he's been wearing his hoodie all day.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

In order for Law to say ”I love you” for the first time, something big had to have happened.

Something big as in a life or death situation where you almost died.

He’s had his fair share of people of importance to him dying and he doesn’t want it to happen again.

As your laying on the bed with your injuries wrapped, he would grasp your hand and tell you he loves you.

He thought you were sleeping until you opened your eyes and said it back. He then gives you an hour and 35 minute lecture on how reckless you were while he has a slight blush on his face from being caught.

J for Law

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Laws kisses are slow and soft.

He hasn’t had a lot of good times in his life and the few good times ended quickly so he wants to savor the small moments like kissing you.

He loves to kiss your forehead.

Considering he is 6’3 he is most likely taller than you, but if not he still likes the intimacy from it.

Kissing you on the forehead makes him feel like he's your protector and that nothing is going to happen to you.

He loves to be kissed on the neck.

He is usually busy and sitting at his desk doing work so when you come up to him and kiss him on his neck he feels all the stress from the day slowly fade away.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Law reveals things slowly.

He already doesn't like to let people in, preferring to be alone. Which means that you're lucky to even be in a relationship with him.

He's most likely to reveal things about him and his past at night after he's had a nightmare about it or when he's drunk.

Even then he’s still hesitant. How much he tells you depends on how close you two are and how much he trusts you.

#one piece imagine #one piece reader insert #one piece scenario #one piece x reader #one piece headcanons #killer x reader #killer headcanons #law headcanons #one piece law #law x reader #sanji headcanons #sanji x reader #one piece killer #one piece scenarios #one piece imagines

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deathlikesdeep-dish · 3 years

Note

Hi! Congrats on having 100 followers! I really like your works😗 can I request for prompt number 2 (SFW)with Law. Thank youuuuu so much!

Hi Anon!

So sorry this took so long, but I hope it was worth the wait!!

Prompt 2: “In case we don’t make it back...” (Law x Reader) SFW

Word Count: 3k

Synopsis: in the weeks leading up to the events at dressrosa, you find yourself falling for the brooding heart pirates captain. the odds aren’t good. so, in case you don’t make it back...

warnings: language, a little angst, some fluff

Dressrosa is a hellscape. But only you seem to know it. Everyone around you seems to be content with the facade that has been created--no one ever asks questions, everyone is always smiling. But you know better. You know just how dark the underbelly of this place really is. Everyone seemed to love the Donquixote family--adored them, in fact. From the saccharine persona of Sugar, to the repulsive Trebol, all the way up to the pink bastard himself, Doflamingo--everyone cherished them. The protection that a warlord could provide a country couldn’t be discounted to them, though many of the citizens of Dressrosa had given their sentient lives for it. But you hoped that one day, the people of Dressrosa would see that though their god wore bright clothing, his soul was nothing but darkness.

Two Weeks Prior

You’d known of the Strawhat pirates for a while now, keeping track of their movements. Their captain is reckless, but determined to take down Doflamingo, which worked in your favor, certainly. The news of their alliance with warlord colleague, Trafalgar Law was, you admit, a surprise. But you’d been intrigued by the inked captain, so you decided to take advantage of the opportunity and introduce yourself.

He and the Strawhat captain, Monkey D. Luffy, seemed to be in an argument when you first saw him at the docks. Well, a more apt description might be that Law was arguing with Luffy, who seemed very unconcerned with his ally’s thoughts.

You walk closer, not wanting to alert them to your presence quite yet. As you approach, you hear what they’re arguing about.

“Will you just listen to me, idiot?” Law gritted through his teeth. “This plan is insane, it is not going to work.”

“Lighten up, Tra-guy,” Luffy replied easily, grinning as he slapped a hand on Law’s shoulder.

He shoved Luffy’s hand off with a huff. “Lighten up?” You took a step closer. “Lighten up?” He asked again, his voice increasing in volume. “Do you little shits have any idea who this guy is? He’s a warlord.” He paused, a sad, distant look on his face,

“He’s right,” You said, finally within earshot of the two pirates. Their heads snapped to you, alarmed at the interruption.

“Who the hell are you?” Law said, narrowing his eyes. His body followed the direction of his head, and he now faced you squarely. Now fully upright, you could see just how tall he was, standing nearly two heads above his pirate ally. Your eyes were drawn to his striking features--dark eyes, dark hair, dark whorls of ink on his exposed skin. You were particularly drawn to his hands. Long fingers stained with black tattoos, the fingers you knew were capable of bringing a person to their knees with just a simple gesture. Room.

You knew he was handsome from his wanted poster, but damn, it did not fully capture the brooding magnetism that you saw in front of you right now.

“I’m y/n,” You finally replied, closing the gap between you and the pair. “I live here, in Dressrosa.”

Luffy began to talk, but Law clapped his hand over Luffy’s mouth, silencing him. “Shut up,” Law said with a clenched jaw. Luffy grumbled, trying to rip Law’s hand away.

You dropped your weapon in a show of good faith.. “Just hear me out. Please.” You needed to convince Law (Luffy didn’t seem like he needed much convincing) that you were on their side. Any side that was equally interested in annihilating the Don Quixote family.

Law looked at you suspiciously, and signaled for you to continue talking. You explained everything to them. You explained how you’d come here to Dressrosa after escaping capture. You’d made a life for yourself, selling your wares at the market in town. Seeing walking toys was jarring, to say the least, but what was even more jarring was the fact that no one seemed to be asking any questions about it. In fact, the citizens of Dressrosa seemed to be downright chirpy. It made your skin crawl. And Doflamingo was too revered, despite his seedy grin and disreputable demeanor.

So you did some digging, you told them. And you’d inadvertently discovered the awful secret of the country. It all made sense, and it made you despise the oligarchy even more. There were a few that were a part of the underground rebellion, to whom you swore your allegiance. When you found out that Trafalgar Law had potential plans to overthrow the man who once enslaved him, you were practically writhing with vigor and excitement at the prospect.

The captains listened closely, not interrupting once. Even the rambunctious Strawhat was rapt with attention. When you finally finished your tale, you leaned against the rocky cliff face at the mouth of the dock, waiting for a reaction.

After a few moments of silence, you spoke again, hoping that with these next words, your trust would be earned. “I’m sorry about Corazon. I didn’t know him personally, but I’ve heard him discussed. It seems like he was a great man.”

Law’s face went pale at the sound of his friend’s name, and Luffy looked over to him with a puzzled look. But even Luffy could tell that this was not something to ask about right now. He’d never seen Law look like this before.

He was silent for a long few minutes, and you began to regret your decision. Maybe mentioning Corazon wasn’t the right move. Damn it, damn it, damn it. You needed their trust. Their help. The very lives of the people in this country depended on garnering this rapport.

“Look, I’m sorry. I should have mention--” You were cut off.

“The rebellion,” Law interrupted. “You have strong fighters?”

Your heart leapt. Maybe this was actually going to work. “Yes, but we need more. Diamante has been on our ass for a few months, so we have a hard time maintaining our numbers.”

You could see that he was considering, and after another second he said, “Take us to your base.”

That was two weeks ago.

The plan was made, the date set. Tomorrow, you would join Law, Usopp and Robin in their journey to Green Bit. Aboard the Sunny, one would not think a deadly battle was looming over the pirates’ heads. You’d learned so much about the crew over the past few weeks, and it filled you with such a hope that you’d long denied yourself.

The Strawhats are fearless, confident. So much so, that despite Law’s ever gloomy pessimism, you cannot find it within you to worry. For the first time since arriving in that dreadful place, you feel at home. You take a deep, cleansing breath in, and exhale fully. Luffy, Chopper and Usopp are restless waiting for the food that Sanji is preparing in the kitchen, jamming their chopsticks childishly into their own noses or ears. Nami smacks Luffy across the back of the head with an annoyed look, and Robin reads quietly to herself. Zoro leans against the side of the ship, a disgruntled look on his face and a bottle of sake in his hand. To Zoro’s right, there’s Caesar scowling petulantly, still confined by his sea prism stone handcuffs. Franky is waiting for dinner below deck, refueling the ship with cola from the last Coup de Burst, while Brook blankets the whole evening with tinkling violin music.

The only one missing, you notice looking around, is Law. Standing up from your spot, you approach Zoro and snatch the sake out of his hand abruptly and take a swig. Rather than giving it back, you keep it with you, walking away too quickly for Zoro to object (though you can hear him grumbling irritatedly from behind you, before he calls for another bottle).

You climb the steps to the helm, and notice him alone at the stern of the ship, leaning over the banister. He doesn’t notice you at first, allowing you an extra few silent moments to stare at him from behind. It’s an usually warm evening, so he isn’t wearing his heavy cloak, opting for black long-sleeved t-shirt, which he has cuffed up to his elbows. With his forearms exposed, you can see how his tattoos wind around the sinews there, seeming to underline toned bands of muscle under the skin. Your eyes rove his back, which is visible through the fitted black shirt. His broad shoulders narrow to a thin waist, and he stretches his arms above his head, exposing a sliver of skin from his lower back.

You’d been so occupied by the sight of his body, you almost didn’t notice another striking difference in his appearance. Normally covered by his ridiculous mushroom hat, his shaggy hair is exposed and rustling in the salty breeze. He reaches a hand up to run through his hair, pausing to grip the hair at the back of his neck roughly, as if he was frustrated. You find yourself wondering if his hair is as soft as it looks under the light of the moon and the stars. You feel a coil tighten ever-so-slightly within your core, but you approach anyway.

“Don’t you want dinner?” You call, making sure you gave him plenty of time and space before you closed the gap between you completely. He stiffens momentarily, but relaxes as he hears your voice again. “Sanji should be almost done.”

He cranes his head over this shoulder toward you, but makes no effort to turn his body with it before turning his head back face forward, looking out onto the vast ocean. You stand next to him, leaning your elbows on the banisters as he was doing beside you. You offer the bottle of sake to him wordlessly. He takes it, drinking from it for a moment before handing it back to you.

Though he does not indicate it, he appreciates your silence in moments like these. He never feels pressured to talk around you, to present fake niceties or meaningless chatter. He also, much to his horror, has found that he appreciates your company in and of itself. Your presence simultaneously calms and arouses his nervous system. He doesn’t understand it, but being the man of science that he is, he plans to observe and collect data. For research purposes, he tells himself. Only research purposes.

“Not really hungry,” He replies, giving you a sidelong glance as you hang on the railing beside him.

“C’mon, Law, what’s it been? Like three days since you last ate with us?” You jab him in the side in a way that you hope comes off as playful, though you really are becoming increasingly concerned with his disengagement.

He shrugs, neither in confirmation or denial. Over the time you’d spend together, you found yourself growing more and more attached to him daily. You found that you always wanted to have eyes on him, and were viscerally uncomfortable when he wasn’t around. Law, too, had become accustomed to some uneasiness with your absence, or his from you. He had no frame of reference for this feeling, and it scared him. But he wanted to understand it, needed to understand it.

“You’re starting to worry me a bit,” You say, breaking him from his thoughts. You do your best to keep it lighthearted, but as he flinches a bit at the words, you realize that you have not been very lighthearted at all.

Law hates that he cares about you, what you think of him. Even worse, he hates that you care about him. He knows from the way you look at him, recognizing your look of longing in his own eyes whenever he dared to look at himself in a mirror. But caring about him has only meant death for the people he’d cared about before. An image of Corazon’s bloodied body flashes through your mind and he cringes again. He casts his eyes downward and presses his mouth into a thin, tight line.

“Hey,” You say softly. It breaks your heart to see him like this. You want him to feel better. You want to be the one that makes him feel better. You’re warm and brave from the alcohol you’ve consumed and you place a hand gently on his forearm. Recoiling from your touch, he inhales sharply. But you don’t remove your hand.

“Hey,” You say again even more quietly, afraid that even a decibel too loud will scare the fragile husk away from you. “It’s going to be okay. Tomorrow, that is. We have a solid plan.”

Law finally dares to look at you. Like that first day that you met, his eyes are filled with dejection. He wants very badly to believe your words. Coming out of your mouth, they sound so sweet. Coming out of your mouth, he almost allows himself to yearn. To yearn for a way to change the past, but also to yearn for a new, and brighter future.

“I’ve lost everyone I’ve cared about.” Law replies. “They’re all either dead, or so far from here that they may as well be, considering the fact that I will likely never see them again.”

His voice drops to a whisper. “You know as well as I do, y/n. This mission has a very low chance for success.”

You don’t reply. You do know this. It is Doflamingo, afterall. But for some reason, his reply irks you more than it normally would.

“What the hell, Law?” Your irritation is clear in your voice. “Is it so difficult for you to be even a little positive? Is that really so unbearable?”

His eyes narrow. “When you’ve seen the shit that I’ve seen, yeah, it is really so unbearable.” He mocks your tone, making you fume.

“The shit that you’ve seen?” You raise your eyebrows. “The shit that you’ve seen? We’ve all seen shit we’d like to forget, Law! The only difference between you and all of us, is that we don’t carry that shit on our back like a fucking martyr all the damn time.” Your voice climbs to a yell, and it echoes across the dark water in the stillness of the night.

He hates that you’re right. Hates that he’s such a coward, and that he has a martyr complex to top it all off.

“How arrogant you are,” You continue, your fury propelling you forward. “To believe that everything is always your fault. Sometimes life is just shit, Law. That’s all there is to it.”

Angry tears well up in your eyes, but you don’t back down. You refuse to look away.

He is silent, but holds your gaze as intensely as you are holding his. You feel the air shift, anger slowly shifting into something altogether new. You notice, with sudden clarity, that you are close to Law. Very close. You are trembling, but he is too. A long, shuddering breath passes through his open lips. His breath smells faintly of the sake, the sweetness of the fruit mingling with the acrid scent of the alcohol itself.

He places one hand on the railing behind you, brushing against your side as he does. “You’re right, y/n,” He says, never taking his eyes off of you. “Sometimes life is just shit.”

He leans down and continues. “A lot of times life is just shit. And you can’t deny that this situation is shit too. We’re relying on a lot of variables to fall into place in just the right way, at just the right time, and in my life, that has pretty much never fucking happened.” His tone is hard.

He is being drawn to you in a way that confounds him. As if he was possessed, he closes the final few inches between you. His chest and yours are pressed against one another, and the tattooed hand on the railing slowly drifts to the back of your head. He leans his forehead on yours and tangles his surprisingly delicate fingers in the strands of your hair.

“So,” He murmurs. Your heart is pounding so hard that you wonder if he has ripped it from your chest already. “In case life is as shit as it’s always been...in case we don’t make it back…”

His lips meet yours. At first, you can’t breathe. You freeze, but you feel him stiffen and try to pull away. He thinks he has made a huge mistake, ruining yet another good thing in his life with his egocentrism. But your hands grasp the fabric of his t-shirt, and pull him back into you, so his lips never leave yours.

He sighs in relief, moving his mouth deliberately on yours. If this is the last night he has, he wants to make it worth something. He wants one night to be worth something. Your fingers unfurl from his shirt, and you slide your hands up his chest, finally wrapping your arms around his neck. One hand is at the nape of your neck, the other at the small of your back.

There is not an inch of space between you, not a millimeter. Your lips and his fit together like he and misery always had. He allows himself to believe, just for this moment, that you could replace the misery in his life. He allows himself to believe that this won’t be your last kiss. He gives himself permission to believe that you and he would be here again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day after that.

For once, he grants himself the license to hope.

#one piece #onepiece #trafalgar law #law #law x reader #dressrosa #reader insert #100 followers event #in case we don't make it back #fluff #angst #anime #i love me some sad boys #one piece scenario #writing promblems

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doctorgerth · 4 years

Text

One Piece of Summer (Heat ZoroxReader)

(I apologize if I did this wrong! First time submitting to things lol)

Hiiii!

I’m new on the One Piece fanfic scene but I had a ton of fun writing this first little story for the One Piece of Summer Writing Challenge! (also please forgive me if there’s multiple submissions i’m returning to tumblr after like an 8 year hiatus lol) (also also i’m sorry i’m verbose i hope this isn’t too long)

Warnings: some language

Word Count: 3628

Word Prompt: Heat

You can hardly believe that it’d been two whole years since the crew had been together. Two years. Holy shit. You feel a lump in your throat as you approach Shakky’s place. You have no idea who, if anyone, had already arrived. Your heart races excitedly at the thought and a small smile creeps over your features. You make yourself sit on a nearby bench and breathe before you hike the last flight of stairs to the bar. It’s a hot day, impossibly hot and you sit and take a sip of water from your hip flask. The cool liquid pours down your throat and you sigh happily as you wonder what the very near future would hold.

Would it be Franky? You imagine the blue-haired madman, and laugh. Maybe he’d found another way to fuel his cyborg frame other than cola. You laugh again.

Who am I kidding? You think to yourself. The reason he runs on cola is because he wants to run on cola.

Or maybe it would be Usopp or Chopper? The last time you saw Chopper, it had been so frightening. He was vast and out of control from using those rumble balls. A shudder runs up your spine at the thought, but you push the thought away shaking your head. Your h/c hair ruffles at the motion, and you push a strand out of your face as you stare at the ground beneath your boots. Usopp, you are sure, will be one of the early ones, not wanting to be one-upped. You roll your eyes, your mind’s ear imagining him shouting, “Well, of course I’m here first! I’m the great captain Usopp!”

You already know what Brook–you mean “Soul King” had been up to. You laugh. You had to admit that his stuff was pretty catchy, and you wonder if he’d even want to come back to the pirate life after all that fame and fortune. It had been nice over the last two years to follow him in the papers whenever you could; a small link to your old life had been comforting and familiar.

Nami and Robin were almost certainly already here–Nami, probably off conning some shop owner into giving their store away half-price, and Robin wandering around looking at architecture, reading a book, or saying weirdly cryptic lines to passersby. You sigh fondly, reminiscing about the times the three ladies of the Strawhats spent together. Not having had many female friends to speak of before the Strawhats, it had been nice to have some badass women to bond with over the months before your separation. In your two years alone, you’d missed the companionship.

Maybe Sanji is at Shakky’s already, cooking up some delicious concoction for you to devour. Your stomach grumbles on cue, and your mouth waters thinking about it. If Luffy was already here, then any food would be gone twice over. Of all the changes that are sure to have occurred, your captain’s appetite is the least likely to change. You can only imagine what power he has achieved in the last two years. Your stomach sinks a bit thinking about when you learned of Ace’s death in the Paramount War. The pain Luffy must have endured. Alone. But, he was not one to dwell, and wouldn’t want you to either.

So you don’t. You’re strong–much stronger than you were the last time the crew saw you. You’re not the same girl that you were two years ago. No, not even close. You’re taller, with broader shoulders and hips. While you were once slender due to malnutrition, you are now toned and muscled after two years of hard training. You felt vitality that you once never thought you’d feel coursing through your muscles. Your top, frayed at the hem, falls to just above your naval and drapes over one shoulder, leaving the other uncovered. Your s/c flesh is exposed to the waistband of your khaki shorts. The leather of your boots is soft and worn, the same pair you’d been wearing when you were launched away from your crew by Kuma. The holster dangling from your waist carried some of your throwing knives, which you twiddle absently at your side in nervousness. You had become adept at hand to hand combat since the crew saw you last. You are nimble, fast and lethal. You smirk and let the confidence roll over your body. You can’t wait to see how skilled everyone else had become.

You flex and stretch, standing up from the bench and begin your ascent up the stairs. They groan under your weight and you shift the bag on your shoulder, securing it more tightly against your body. You feel your heart beginning to race again at the thought of the final crew member. You can only imagine how strong he’d become.

Zoro.

You think of his green hair, and his white shirt, the top buttons always haphazardly undone. His slim black pants and boots, the sound of his earrings jangling in the sea breeze. You see his tight, intense gaze and that smirk that always weakened your knees. The knot in your stomach tangles more at the thought as you crest the top of the stairs. You recall the days that you sat in the Crow’s Nest together as he worked out. He never paid you much attention, but simply tolerating your presence in his sacred space made you feel important.

You feel the heat rise to your face and you can’t tell if it’s because of the sweltering sun of the Archipelago or the indecent thoughts that have begun to flood your mind. You take a deep breath as you nearly reach the doorway of Shakky’s place, when you stop in your tracks at the silhouette in the doorway. The sun is bright, so you can’t make out who it is right away, but as the figure takes a step, there’s no mistaking that green head of hair.

“Well,” You hear Shakky’s voice from inside the bar.

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d be the first,” You hear Rayleigh’s voice chime in.

The greenette stays silent for a moment and then replies, “Oh yeah? Nobody else has shown up.” He pauses. “Well damn, guess they got lost.”

You can hear the smirk in his voice. It’s unmistakable.

Before you can stop yourself, you call out to him. “Zoro!” You immediately flush, but you know this time it’s not from the heat.

You see Zoro stiffen at your voice, but he quickly turns around and meets your gaze with his own.

Christ…

You immediately notice that your eyes only meet one of his, a scar running from forehead to cheekbone on the left side of his face, his eye tightly shut. It makes him look even more ruggedly attractive, if at all possible, and you allow yourself to stare for a moment. His jaw, still angular and chiseled, is formed into a lazy half-smirk. Your e/c eyes trail down from his jaw to his throat and his collarbone, a body part you became intimately familiar with when you’d spent long moments staring at it over the top of his unbuttoned shirt, wondering what it would be like to nuzzle your face into its contours.

A part you are not used to seeing so casually, was the rest of his broad chest, which is exposed under the deep green coat he was wearing, the trademark Mihawk scar that ran from shoulder to hip still proudly displayed. You are glad to see that his haramaki remained unchanged over the last two years along with the three swords he carries at his side. He shifts his weight to his left side and leans his forearm on the hilt of his swords.

“Y/n!” He replies with a broad grin of recognition. He jogs toward you, and you find yourself moving towards him too.

Zoro is stunned to see you. In all honesty, he is stunned to know that he’s the first to arrive in the first place. Although, he did leave several weeks prior. Just in case.

You are…so different. His eyes move across your body, and he coughs, a slight flush spreading across his cheeks. He grits his teeth frustratedly.

Shit…get it together. He thinks to himself.

“I can’t believe we’re the first ones here!” You say, before pausing. “Actually…how the hell are you the first one here??”

You laugh and he manages to chuckle too. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He jokes.

“Shakky and Raleigh inside?” You ask, jabbing your thumb towards the open door to the bar.

Zoro nods, rubbing a calloused hand at the nape of his neck. “Yep, they’re in there. Waiting like the old gossips they are.” He laughs quietly, shaking his head.

You can’t help but watch his arm move behind his head. His worn bandana is tied around his bicep over the top of his coat, and you can’t help but imagine how his tanned skin stretches over the muscle there. You realize, too late, that you had been silent for a beat too long.

“Y/n? You good?” He asks, raising a brow.

Your attention snaps back like a rubber band and you laugh nervously. “Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry. Just can’t believe how long it’s been.” You say lamely.

You walk into the bar, Zoro trailing behind you and you greet Shakky and Rayleigh with a wide grin. Shakky compliments your new look, making you spin around as if to show off your outfit. You can’t help but feel confident and a surge of pride wells within you. She pours you a drink, having already poured one for Zoro, and invites you to sit down at a far booth. You sit next to Rayleigh, playfully bumping him and he wraps an arm around your shoulder. He gives you an affectionate squeeze as he tells you how pleased he is to see you guys again. Zoro takes a seat at the far corner of a booth. He props his feet up and takes a long drag of sake straight from the bottle. He’d already finished the drink that was poured, naturally, and stopped Shakky before she could pour him another. He asked for the bottle, shrugging and said that we should just “cut out the middleman.”

You regale the three others in your tales of the last two years. You speak about your Master, your training, the island you’d resided on, everything. Shakky gives updates too, about some of the rumors that had been floating around in the Strawhats’ absence, particularly about Luffy and Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. Shakky, never one to be subtle, asks Zoro pointblank about what he’d been up to.

“Eh, not too much excitement,” He says vaguely. “The usual. Swords, drinking, naps.” Shakky rolls her eyes, unsatisfied, but you just laugh, knowing that he was not one to talk too much about himself.

After a long while, the four of you notice that the sun has begun to set. You are beginning to feel the drinks you’d consumed, your laughter a bit louder, your tongue a bit looser, your hair a bit wilder. The bar is illuminated in deep orange and red hues and you glance over at Zoro. Half of his face is cast in shadow, while the other half colored the same tint as the room. It looks almost as if he is on fire and you are mesmerized by him. He’s staring at you intently. You see beads of sweat along his hairline, and you notice that he has removed his outer coat.

“Damn Shakky,” He breathes, not breaking eye contact with you. “I don’t remember it being this hot two years ago.”

Shakky laughs. “Well, we’re going through a bit of a heatwave right now. It’s unusual for this time of year, but occasionally the weather currents bring a front in. It’s supposed to be like this for the next few days.”

His knees are propped up and he rests his forearms on top of them as he breaks your gaze and looks out the window. HIs profile is immaculate, and your eyes trace each feature–his straight nose, his angled jaw, and his full lips. Your lips subconsciously part, and it isn’t until you feel your tongue on them that you notice how you’re staring. Shakky, however, has noticed how the two of you have been trading stares at each other the entire evening. She smirks and stands with a yawn.

“Well Rayleigh,” She starts. “It seems likes it’s about time to close up shop for the evening. You good?”

Rayleigh looks confused at first, however, when Shakky gestures quickly to you and Roronoa, Rayleigh nods knowingly. He looks down at his nearly full drink and smiles. He tips his head back and swigs down the rest, placing the empty glass resolutely on the hard wood. “You know what, Shakky? You’re absolutely right. These old bones can’t drink like they used to. I’m headed down to my place at the docks. It’s cooler there anyway.” He stands up and bids the room farewell. The doorbell jingles behind him as he exits the bar.

You get the feeling that they’d been watching you and Zoro, and you feel embarrassed. But you don’t want to complain. You just hope that Zoro wouldn’t be ready to turn in yet either.

Shakky approaches Zoro and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Night, Roronoa. If you get lonely, my room is always open.” She winks at him, entertained by how he squirms at the unexpected contact.

“Uh, yeah, sure…” He mutters, flustered. Shakky laughs.

“Shit Roronoa, just relax. I’m only kidding.” She walks over to a door behind the bar, presumably that led to her sleeping quarters, and opens it. “Or am I?” She grins slyly.

This time, Zoro knows better. The greenette shakes his head with a chuckle. “Goodnight, Shakky.”

She, too, disappears. The door closes behind her with a soft click, and the two of you are left alone. The sun has finally set beneath the mangroves and the sound of crickets fills the room. Despite the sun having set, the room is humid and very warm.

You reach a slender hand up and wipe beads of condensation off the back of your neck with a nervous sigh. “You’re right, Zoro,” You say after a moment. “It is absolutely stifling in here.”

He hums in agreement and holds up the bottle of sake questioningly. You nod and he tosses the closed bottle to you. However, his toss is a little short and to the left. But you’re fast and you catch it without a problem, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Aim much?” You joke as you pour yourself another drink before tossing it back to him.

He catches it easily and smirks. “Well, just checking to see if all that training you were going on about actually paid off.” He takes a swig. “Seems like it did.”

You were unbelievable. Zoro marvels at your agility. He had been enthralled as you told your story of the last two years. He watched the way your eyes lit up in excitement at certain parts or when your tone shifted to something more sinister. This was the y/n he’d always known–vibrant, curious and powerful. Zoro has always admired your tenacity. It was something of himself that he saw in you. He admired your intelligence as well, and your quick wit. It had always been a little intimidating, but now you were a force. It overwhelmed the swordsman. And thrilled him in the same way a new enemy excited him, got his adrenaline pumping and his heart racing.

He watches as you take a sip of your drink. His gaze follows the long line of your neck down to your collarbone, which he finds himself lingering on for longer than what was appropriate between nakama. You had always been objectively attractive, but Zoro never really paid attention to things like that. But now, you made that impossible to ignore. He is very attracted to you, entranced by your confident aura that pours off of you like cool sake.

The alcohol warms your blood and before you know what you’re doing, you prop your elbow on the table and say, “Seems like your training paid off too. I mean, look at you. All extra-muscley and shit.”

Zoro’s eyes widen slightly before he laughs out loud. “Thank you? I think.”

The liquid courage you’ve consumed does little for your filter (or your shame) so you continue. “I remember when I used to hang out in the Crow’s nest while you worked out. You were strong then, obviously. But it’s different now. You seem…invincible.” You breathe.

Zoro takes a moment to consider. “Invincible, huh?” He chuckles. “Hardly.”

You scoff and roll your eyes, but don’t reply.

Zoro stands up, his coat remaining in his seat. Your eyes follow the contour of his chest and he notices you watching him. He loves knowing that you look at him the same way that he looks at you.

“Come on,” He says after a moment, holding out his free hand, the other still holding the bottle of sake.

You take it without thinking. “Where are we going?” His hand is rough and cool to the touch, despite the heat in the room. He’s never held your hand before now. His good eye lands on you with a smirk that turns the knot low in your stomach.

“Up,” He replies in a whisper.

You nod wordlessly and stand up, trailing behind him as he walks towards the back door of the bar. When you exit, you sigh happily when a cool breeze flows along your damp skin. He echoes the sentiment with a contented hum, and continues towards the side of the building where he finds a ladder.

“Ladies first,” He grins, gesturing for you to climb the ladder up to the roof of the bar.

You raise an eyebrow, but comply nonetheless. As you climb, you make sure to move your hips more exaggeratedly, knowing the view you were providing him.

He knows exactly what he’s doing, of course, and admires your ass as you climb the ladder. You really are something. He wants to do more than just hold your hand. He wants to trail his hands along your curves, feel your strong body against the planes of his chest. He wants to know what your lips taste like, what your h/c hair feels like entangled in his fingers. But he knows that he needs to take it slow for both of your sake. It’s been two years. A lot has changed, and you are still his nakama first and foremost. There’s nothing that he would sacrifice to keep that.

The ladder is taller than you think it is by looking at it and when you arrive at the top of the bar, you are surprised to find an expansive platform.

“Wow,” You look open-mouthed. “How’d you know this was up here?” You look to Zoro who hops up onto the platform.

He shrugs. “I didn’t. I just saw the ladder earlier and figured it would be worth exploring.”

He walks up behind you in all of his shirtless beauty and sits, his legs apart as he leans back on his forearms. You’re still standing, looking up at the vast mangroves all around you, the stars peeking through the tree-tops. He lets you admire the scenery because it gives him a few moments to admire you. He clears his throat to get your attention and pulls you down to him.

With a light gasp, you find yourself sitting between his legs, your back against his chest and his arms wrapped around you. You are blushing furiously now. He hums contentedly, moving to nuzzle your hair and inhale your clean scent.

“What are you doing?” You manage to croak out.

“Enjoying the company,” He murmurs into the side of your neck.

You feel his heart beating swiftly against your back as you lean into him with a deep sigh. Your brain wants to overcomplicate this.

What does this mean? What does he want? Does he feel the same way about me that I feel about him? Does he…you gulp. Does he…want me, the way that I want him?

He feels you stiffen. “Y/n, hey,” He says. “It’s okay. This doesn’t have to mean anything that we don’t want it to mean.”

It seems like mind-reading is on the roster of new super powers he’s acquired. You grumble internally.

He laughs, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear before he moves away. You whimper softly at the loss of contact, and turn to face him with a confused look. Though he did shift backwards, he didn’t move all that far away from you, so you’re surprised that you’re nearly face to face when you turn around.

He gently touches his thumb to your parted lips. “We’ve got time, y/n. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you. So let’s just take the time and figure it out.” He smiles.

You feel your heart swell in your chest as you meet his intense stare. “Y-yeah, o-okay.” You stutter, still not quite believing that Roronoa Zoro has anything he wants to figure out with you. Your reverie is interrupted by Zoro’s gentle kiss. It’s a kiss that foreshadows what else could come of it, one that’s slow and burning and brimming with possibilities. He pulls away with a shudder.

“We’ve got time.” He says again, seeming to convince himself with the second iteration. “Besides,” He pulls back fully this time, taking in your lovely face before he smirks. “It’s too damn hot to be this close right now anyway.”

@laws-yellow-submarine

WOW WOW WOW this is absolutely amazing, my darling!!!! I was totally enthralled the entire time and was really hoping it wouldn’t end any time soon! And you painted the scenes so beautifully, it felt like I was actually in the story!! All the characters are so well written and gah I didn’t think it was possible to fall more in love with Zoro but damnnn this story had me swooning for the swordsman 🥰

I really really enjoyed this and I’m honestly so glad you took part in this little challenge! Could I add this wonderful story to the masterlist? 💕

#one piece of summer #summer writing challenge #heat #roronoa zoro #zoro #zoro x reader #female reader #submission #deathlikesdeep-dish

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eirist · 4 years

Text

A Taste of Summer II

SUNKISSED

One-shot #: 5

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T (Teasing… Flirting… lots and lots of teasing and flirting. Plus a hint that they probably will have an unwritten sexy time.)

Note: Last prompt for the ZoNami Week 2020 at zonamievents in Tumblr. Day 5: Tan Lines. And it only took me months to finish this collection. But it’s done so I can now start my Autumn/Fall prompts.

Summary: His grey eye met hers. And the heat behind it was unmistakable. It was hotter than the sun she loves basking under.

It vaguely registered to him how brilliantly her orange hair shone against the sun.

How it glowed so radiantly…

Vibrantly…

As fiery as her personality.

Any more thoughts running inside his head came to a standstill when her lips slanted against his to deepen their kiss, prompting him to give her more access to his mouth.

She hummed—a rather, satisfied sound—as her fingernails scratched lightly against his scalp.

Her other hand started rubbing the well-defined muscles of his chest; his own was grasping her by the nape, pushing her closer to him while his free arm all but caged her body against his as their kiss turned aggressive.

She shifted on his lap slightly, pressing herself to him as they continued their lip lock.

They were on the top of the island’s lighthouse. Nami had seen it when they docked a few days ago and figured it would be nice to get a view of the whole area from that vantage point. But she only got the time to put her plan to action today—after arm twisting him to accompany her by reminding him of his accumulated debts these past few weeks from all the stress and waiting he subjected her to.

He wasn't all too happy to acquiesce and she already expected that. So she threw in a promise of an undisturbed nap and some booze from the Sunny's secret stash as well.

That changed his mind and sealed the deal.

So they headed towards the old white structure after breakfast despite the irritating, non-stop whining of that stupid love cook about how his Nami-swan shouldn't be left alone with him—the idiot moss head.

Once at the top, Zoro settled down the wide gallery deck as Nami set up her surveying tripod and telescope.

The moment she finished… she made herself at home on his lap.

What was supposedly a 'thank you' kiss had turned into a full blown make out session. And now they are kissing each other like there's no tomorrow.

This is most likely the result of all the tiptoeing they've been doing around each other these past weeks. Ok, more like the tiptoeing HE had been doing these past weeks… because Nami already knows what she wanted and was just waiting for him to come around.

“Mmmm…” she murmured against his lips, finally managing to pull away after a little while. “At this rate, I’m not gonna finish surveying this island.” Her voice was husky, eyes a bit unfocused as she gazed at him.

“Not my fault,” Zoro drawled, stealing one last kiss on her lips before giving her a rather arrogant smirk. “I’m not the one who got comfortable in my lap.”

“It IS comfortable here,” she agreed cheekily, her hand still rubbing at his pectorals.

"I can see that."

“You complaining?”

The corners of his lips quirked up some more and he shrugged.

Her laugh was melodious as she untangled herself from him.

He must say... he was rather disappointed. How can he easily miss the way she was wrapped around him when it was just merely seconds ago?

"You should stop distracting me Zoro," she teased as she stood up.

"Can't help it if you can't stay focused on what you're supposed to be doing."

Nami just chortled at his response. There was that certain twinkle behind her brown eyes as she regarded him... a naughty gleam he had just recently got accustomed to seeing.

She gave him a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin before swiveling around to finally pay attention to her surveying tools.

Zoro leaned back against the metal wall, hands behind his head, ready to pass out anytime as Nami gradually gets into her zone. It’s not like he will be able to disturb her without risking an increase in his currently renewed debt. Plus, she did promise him booze and an undisturbed nap.

And damn he’s going to get 'em both.

He yawned widely as he felt himself relax at the soporific sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below. His grey eye flitted towards Nami to check on her first before he succumbed to sleep.

The swordsman silently observed her… admiring the serene look she had on her face as she scribbled and doodled on that small notebook she had remarkably pulled out somewhere from her tight, pale yellow sundress.

Her orange hair whipped wildly across her face, prompting her to tilt her head towards the wind so they will be blown back and away from her pretty face…

…and sun-kissed shoulders.

“Quit staring at me Zoro,” she suddenly said, looking back at him with a smirk. “You’re making me blush.”

He scoffed.

She snickered at his reaction and went back to charting the island.

He, on the other hand, went back to watching her.

Her brows were furrowed in what could only mean deep concentration. She chewed on her lower lip as she focused on whatever was jotted down her notebook.

He always marveled at the discipline and effort she puts out for her beloved maps. It was almost the same as what he devotes to his training and swordsmanship.

When she’s like this… Zoro realized that he can stare at her forever.

“You’re still looking, Zoro,” her playful voice broke into his thoughts.

He blinked up at her.

Nami was eyeing him again. Though despite the mischievous grin on her lips, he can see that her cheeks were slightly flushed and he knows that it has nothing to do with the sun.

He inwardly smirked.

“I take it you like what you’re seeing?”

He returned her grin with his signature shark-like one. “And if I do? Are you going to charge me for looking?”

“Yes. That’s 200,000 belis added to your debt.”

“200,000 belis are for groping.” Zoro pointed out, cocking an eyebrow at her.

She looked genuinely surprised that he knows that.

“How come I owe you 200,000?” He asked, frowning. “Wait, don’t tell me you put a price on earlier?! I didn't grope, you greedy onna!”

“Idiot,” Nami reached down to pinch his cheek. “That doesn’t have a price. The charge is for catching you ogling at me twice!”

“The hell? You sure are evil,” he grumbled, wrapping a hand around her wrist. A wicked smile suddenly appeared on his face and he tugged her down to him.

She easily let him pull her right back into his lap… arms automatically wrapping around his neck.

“And that’s why you like me,” Nami joshed, beaming at him.

“Who says I do?”

She pouted. “Didn't you kiss me because you like me? Oh you wound me!”

The corner of Zoro’s lips twitched amusedly. “You’re mistaken.”

“Am I really?”

“Really.”

"That wasn’t what you said last night.”

She was right. He did say that when they finally talked about what happened in the orchard after they sneaked out of the villa for a late night stroll along the beach and almost got caught by Robin and Franky.

And Brook.

And Usopp.

And Sanji for crying out loud!

Why are their crew mates such night owls?

Luckily they were able to wrap things up about their relationship and managed a kiss or two before nearly encountering their still awake and about friends.

“Hello?” Nami tapped his forehead with her knuckles. “Are you still there Zoro?”

“What?” He must’ve zoned out, thinking about yesterday’s events.

“Getting lost in your own thoughts huh?”

"Shut up."

He playfully sank his teeth on one bare shoulder.

“Hey!!!"

Zoro grinned roguishly at her and immediately planted a kiss on the spot to appease her. “Can't resist. You're being more cheeky than usual."

Nami scowled at him. "Biting will cost you another hundred thousand belis!”

"Just put it on my tab. You have my permission to cash my bounty once my debt reaches it.”

Her eyes widened. Then she sniggered. “You must like me so much that you’re actually willing to be surrendered to the marines.”

“Yeah.”

She blushed when he easily admitted it but instantly recovered her composure as she tossed her head back and laughed loudly.

Damn! Who knows Zoro can be endearing sometimes?

Nami kissed his cheek adoringly. “I’ll hold on to that. Nothing can make a woman fall so hard than a man willing to be handed over to the marines.”

“To cash out his millions worth bounty.” Zoro added.

“To cash out his millions worth bounty.” Nami agreed with a wide smile. “I really like that part a lot.”

“Tch. Of course you do. You're a money fiend after all.”

She laughed again and childishly stuck out her tongue at him. “Priorities Zoro.”

“Glad to know I’m one of the least.”

“Uh-huh,” she nipped him on the jaw. “Now I'm going to focus on my other priority," she gestured to her equipment. "The earlier I finish, the sooner we can head back. Robin and I planned to sunbathe while we babysit you boys. Pretty sure you all want to run amok and play before we leave this island.”

“Is that why you’re wearing a swimsuit underneath this?” Zoro inquired as his fingers played with the thin strap of her dress.

“That and you know how spontaneous our crew is. First it's a barbecue party then the next thing you know one or three of our idiot hammers’ in the sea, drowning."

“You rarely go after our hammers.”

Nami rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “That’s because we have you and Sanji-kun for that.”

“Hnnn…” he traced the strap on her shoulder before his finger strayed off path, to run along the bikini string that was diagonally traversing her collarbone.

She shivered slightly under his touch. Something inside her immediately sparked.

“I don’t see why you still need to sunbathe,” he was saying as he hooked a finger on her strap, nudging it to the side. “You’ve already had too much sun while we’re staying here.” He touched the tan line she was sporting underneath. “Still not roasted enough?”

Nami looked indignant. “What the hell do you mean by that?!”

He chuckled, dipping his head down and kissing the still pale skin.

And she melted just like that... her annoyance instantaneously dissipating. A familiar heat crept up her entire body and she groaned. “Damn it!”

He was looking smug. Absolutely liking the way he affects her.

This is better than he expected when he kissed at the orchard.

"Thought we're here to map and nap Nami?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. She was slowly learning that Zoro can be a tease when he wants to.

But she wasn't the kind to just let him one up her. Together or not she wouldn't let him take the upper hand.

She batted her eyelashes at him.

"Oh," her voice took on a flirtatious tone. "Here I thought you want to see and touch more."

Apparently Zoro was thinking just the same thing.

“Of course I do,” he played along, whispering in her ear. “How about you lose the dress? Lemme see those tan lines you worked so hard to get?”

It took all her willpower not to let her jaw drop in pure amazement.

Was he really the same person who was hesitant to make the first move? Who managed to turn his back on her while she was top naked in front of him after skinny dipping on the lake?

Who consistently refused to kiss her despite every damn opportunity they have until he cannot stop himself anymore?

She heard the low rumble of his laughter as she just stared blankly at him.

“Is this…” she managed to say after a few seconds of short circuiting. “Your not-so-subtle way of saying you want me naked?”

“I think I’ve waited long enough Nami.” He stated in that deep, lazy yet light-hearted voice that she was secretly fond of.

A delicious shiver of anticipation ran all over her body and made her skin crawl.

“And you actually want me to believe that Roronoa Zoro’s actually interested in things like tan lines and a naked girl?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“You!” She exploded when she saw the corner of his lips twitching. Her moron swordsman was trying not to laugh. “Quit teasing me, you idiot!” She bopped him on the head lightly as he finally laugh out loud.

She glared at him as he continued laughing at her expense.

This is going to be one hell of an interesting relationship.

With a vexed-sounding huff, she scooted away from his lap to stand up, giving his leg a nice, good kick.

Zoro caught her by the ankle. Still grinning up at her, he said, “Just go back to your mapping Nami, I still want my nap.”

“Damn right you still do! By all means kindly please pass out now!”

“And booze.”

“I will drown you later in favorite sake!”

He threw her a cocky smirk as his thumb rubbed circles on the inside of her ankle. “The sooner you finished the better. We can continue where we left off back at the villa.”

Nami raised an eyebrow at him. “Where we… left off?”

His grey eye met hers. And the heat behind it was unmistakable. It was hotter than the sun she loves basking under to get tanned.

“You actually thought I was just teasing you?”

#zoro x nami #ZoNa #zonami #zonalove #zona one-shots #zoro nami fanfiction #zonamiweek2020 #zonamieventstumblr #zonamievents

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laws-yellow-submarine · 3 years

Text

Together With Fruit Ch. 9 (Snippet)

Omgomgomg I actually finished something omg

Obviously this is not the full chapter, but it’s a pretty major chunk of it, and because I’m just so proud of myself and happy that I actually got something I set out to write forever ago FINISHED, I am posting this snippet here as a one-shot (it’s...more than a snippet really, it’s like 4000+ words, and it’s mostly unedited so...ye’ve been warned lol)

Word Count: 4199 (yikes)

Enjoy! Hopefully I’ll have the rest of the chapter finished within the next week or so!

“We’re finally nearing the Grand Line…” Nami muttered, pointing at a spot on the map. “It looks like the only way into it is through Reverse Mountain here.”

“Reverse Mountain?” Hazel murmured, peering over the girl’s shoulder at the point where the seas intersect.

“What a pain. Can’t we just sail straight through it?” Zoro groaned, glaring from where he sat leaning against the rail. Sanji shook his head.

“Nope, from what the geezer told me, that’s the only way boats can enter.”

“How come?” Usopp asked.

“Cause it’s supposedly dangerous.”

“But how come?!”

“I don’t know any more than that!” Sanji yelled, glaring at the sniper.

“Boys, please…” Hazel scolded, trying to stop any fights before they could occur.

“The reason for that is-”

“Alright! I got it!” Luffy interrupted Nami, pointing at the map. “Then let’s head straight into it!”

“Are you even paying attention?!”

“But it sounds fun!” Luffy insisted, grin never wavering. “Plus it’d feel way better going straight into it!”

“Fun or not, I’d like to actually make it to the Grand Line before we die,” Hazel told him, side-eyeing her brother’s enthusiasm. Nami shared the sentiment.

“Talking to you makes me feel like I’m gonna go crazy…” the navigator whined, palm to her forehead in exasperation. Luffy soldiered on, ignoring the women’s concerns.

“Anyways, let’s stop at an island first and get meat! Meat! Meat!” Nami reached a finger out to point at a spot on the map, and Luffy and Hazel both peered closer at the paper.

“There’s a famous city on this island...Loguetown.”

“Loguetown?” Luffy asked, puzzled look on his face as he tried to think. “What? Is it famous for its meat?”

“Also known as the city of the beginning and the end…” Zoro chimed in, thoughtful look on his face. “I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that before.”

“It’s where Gold Roger, the former Pirate King, was born,” Hazel supplied, appearing somber, “and where he was executed.”

“The town where the King of the Pirates died...” Even Luffy’s voice was tame, contemplation clear in his eyes. Nami swung her gaze to meet his, sly smile finding its way across her cheeks.

“Wanna go?”

“Yeah! I wanna see it!” As he spoke, his voice grew more excited, though it never lost its reverence. “I wanna see the town where the man who got the One Piece - everything this world has to offer - was born and then died!” Luffy stood up, grin fixed firmly back in place. “Nami! Set sail for Loguetown!”

As the crew scrambled to set their course, Hazel smiled at her brother’s excitement, though she didn’t share the enthusiasm. She didn’t really harbor any opinions on the former Pirate King, good or bad; there just wasn’t enough information available on who the man truly was. She had asked her grandfather once, considering what she knew about his connection to Ace, but after hours of pestering the only thing he’d told her was “don’t believe everything you hear”. Other than that cryptic statement, she knew about as much as anyone else: he was born in Loguetown, he circumnavigated the entire world, then turned himself in (to her grandfather, no less), and was executed in his hometown. For someone who was so famous, you’d think there’d be more to know about him.

Hazel looked down at the notebook in her hand, blank since Shells Town except for the notes she’d taken. She wasn’t going to let Luffy fall into that same level of anonymity. Sure, the boy couldn’t care less about the fame; his views on being the Pirate King weren’t shared by most other pirates, though she found his ideals to be more admirable. What she really didn’t want to happen, though, was for her baby brother’s name to be smeared by the media, with nothing to counteract it.

Which meant she had a lot of work to do.

“Well, before we get to Loguetown, I have to get to work. Which means I’m shutting myself in my room until I’ve finished writing about our adventure so far!” Hazel stated for all to hear. She ignored the odd looks sent her way. “So no one bug me, ok?” When she’d received satisfactory nods, Hazel made her way to the girls’ room, shut the door, and plopped herself down at the writing desk. She ripped out her pages of notes so she could refer to them easily as she wrote, then opened to a blank page, her pencil hovering above the paper.

An hour later and the page was still blank.

Hazel’s pencil had moved, at least. It’d been set on the desk, balanced on her nose (a failure on her part, but no one could see it so she wasn’t too pressed), twirled between her fingers, tucked behind her ear as she stretched in her chair (and changed position at least three times; currently she had her feet on the back of the chair with her head leaning on the desk). She’d doodled little pictures on her note pages; tiny flowers and crude renditions of her crewmates (note to self: hide these so Nami doesn’t see). There’s a reason she hadn’t decided to illustrate this book.

Another hour later and her legs hurt from how much she’d been bouncing them. The page remained blank, her mind void of ideas, and her eyes were fixed on the picture frame hanging on the far wall. Maybe some food would help? She didn’t think she ate much at breakfast…

As Hazel made her way on deck, she couldn’t help but smile at the sight that greeted her. Nami was lounging in the sun on the top deck, being served some fancy drink from their newest member. Zoro was, surprise, napping beneath the mast, his swords propped in his lap. Luffy sat on the other side of the ship, watching Usopp practice with his slingshot. Oh, that could be fun!

“Whatcha guys doin’?” Hazel asked, sneaking up behind the sniper, causing Luffy to laugh at the boy’s frightful shriek. “Oops! Sorry, Usopp!” He just glared at her in return.

“Usopp’s practicing his slingshot! See? We set up some targets against the other side of the deck, he’s really good!”

“Well, you see Luffy, I’ve been using a slingshot for at least 25 years,” Usopp boasted, ignoring the fact that he was only 17. “Which of course makes me an expert sniper!”

“25 years, huh?” Hazel snarked. “Well, mister “expert”, whaddaya say to a little contest? The closer to a bullseye gets you more points. Whoever gets the most points wins.”

“Uhh, ok, Hazel. But where are you gonna get a slingshot?” Hazel just pointed to Luffy. Specifically his arms. “Hey, now, wait a minute! You can’t use him!”

“Why not?” Hazel and Luffy asked, both with blank looks on their faces. The sniper spluttered.

“Because-! He’s not-! And you-!”

“Ok, look - we’re not going for power here, just accuracy, so it’ll still be a fair contest. And we’ll use the same ammo, ok?” She left no room for him to argue back, immediately grabbing one of the pellets from his hand and positioning her brother. Usopp rolled his eyes behind her, but sidled up next to the two, aiming his own slingshot at the first target.

“Ready...aim...fire!” Usopp let the pellet fly, smacking the target right in the center.

“Hey, nice job Usopp! But I’m gonna tie it up right here!” Hazel ribbed, tying Luffy’s fingers together to form a sling. She pulled them back, tongue poking out between her teeth as she aimed carefully. When she felt confident in her position she nodded, waiting for Usopp to give the signal, and then let go.

The target shattered to pieces.

“Oh fuck-!”

“WHAT ARE YOU THREE DOING?!” Nami’s shrill voice called, causing all three to wince.

“Luffy did it!” Hazel immediately yelled while Usopp checked the ship for damage.

“No I didn’t!”

“Now, Luffy, you know you shouldn’t lie.”

“I’m not-!”

“ENOUGH!” Nami yelled again, interrupting the siblings. “I don’t care who did it, you’re just lucky the ship didn’t get damaged! You and you-” she pointed to Usopp and Luffy “-clean this up! And you!” Nami pointed at Hazel, making the older woman feel suddenly small. “You’re supposed to be writing right now! Not breaking things!”

“Well...you see...the thing is…” Hazel trailed off as Nami continued to glare at her. Huh. She didn’t like being on the receiving end of this. “I was hungry…?”

“Then ask Sanji-kun for a snack and get back to work. You told us not to bother you and we’re listening, take advantage of that!” At Hazel’s huff Nami smiled. “If you’d like, you can sit in the tangerine grove. I find it very relaxing when I need to focus.”

“Hmm...a change of scenery may be helpful. Thanks, Nami,” Hazel smiled, rolling her neck. “I better go bug Sanji.” But Nami held up a hand to stop her.

“Nope! You go sit, I’ll get it. I don’t want you to get distracted again.” The orange-haired girl walked away without another word, and Hazel was forced at that point to just listen to her. She made her way to the upper deck, finding a nice spot under the trees to nestle in. She reopened her notebook to the still blank page, and tapped her pencil against her chin as she tried to focus. The breeze up here was nice, as well as the sounds of her crewmates (Luffy and Usopp had made a game out of cleaning up her mess). The smell of tangerines wafted over her, muddying her senses. One of her curls was tickling her forehead.

She’d made zero headway by the time Sanji appeared with a snack.

“Hazel-chwan!~ I’ve brought you a plate of delicious sandwiches, and a fresh glass of cabernet sauvignon,” the man said, brandishing a platter on one hand and a glass of deep red liquid in the other. She looked to the glass curiously. Despite having practically lived in a bar half her life, she’d never actually tried wine. Her alcohol tended to be of a rougher variety.

“Oh, yeah, alcohol. That’ll help,” Hazel muttered, hoping Sanji didn’t think her rude. For all she knew, it would get the creative juices flowing, so to speak. “Thank you, Sanji.” She smiled at the cook, his feet practically floating off the ground in happiness. He turned to leave her, and Hazel tentatively took a sip of the wine...only to immediately cringe when the bitter liquid hit her tongue. She glanced around in panic, hoping the blond didn’t see, and snuck the glass behind her back, hidden under the trees. “Ooh! Sanji, wait up!” she called, wine forgotten as she grabbed her plate and ran after him.

“Yes, my love?” Sanji asked, twirling around to gaze at her through heart-shaped eyes.

“I just realized that I never asked about what happened at the Baratie! After we left?” The cook’s expression had switched to confusion at her question. “In fact,” she continued, following him into the galley, “I don’t actually know that much about you. Tell me, what’s your dream? Your motivation? Your tragic backstory? Spare me no detail!”

For the first time since they’d met, Sanji wasn’t looking at her with adoration. In fact, he almost looked a little scared. His eyes darted around for half a second while she pulled out her best pout, gray eyes shining like a puppy begging for table scraps. Later, she’d chide herself for being so mean. After all, she used to practically torture Ace with that expression. But for now, she needed answers.

“Well…” Sanji started, pulling himself together before all the blood rushed out of his nose. “I am merely a humble sea cook, mademoiselle. I fought valiantly for my former home, and for the chance to gaze upon your lovely visage once again.” He flourished into a low bow.

“Uh huh,” Hazel chuckled, an amused smile on her face as she raised a brow. “Definitely humble.” Sanji rose back to standing, an easy grin in place at their shared humor. “Come on, lover boy. Sit with me awhile and tell me a story.”

The two sat and talked for a time, Hazel’s pencil scratching across the pages of her notebook as Sanji divulged all the details he felt comfortable sharing: how Luffy had bartered with Zeff for his freedom, the way he’d swatted projectiles with a single kick. She had a feeling he may’ve been embellishing his actions a bit, but having seen the way he’d toppled part of a building at Arlong Park, she knew it wasn’t all bluster.

He told her of Pearl, the man who’d covered himself in armor, only to lose his mind (and catch fire, apparently) at the first drop of blood. How Gin, the man he’d helped, had taken the old man hostage, and how he’d been willing to die to save his mentor’s dream. Hazel filed away that note for later, planning to ask about the clear devotion Sanji had for the old man, even if the blond tried to hide it behind snark.

She tried not to laugh when Sanji told her Luffy destroyed part of the ship. From what he was telling her, it was actually a brilliant stroke on Luffy’s part, and definitely contributed to Sanji’s outlook on the situation; but the way the blond’s curly brow furrowed over his eyes at the memory was, in her opinion, hilarious.

“So, wait,” Hazel started, pausing Sanji’s tale of his fight with Gin. “How did you come to the Baratie in the first place? Zeff isn’t your father, is he? Why so devoted to preserving his dream?”

Discomfort crossed the cook’s face, as it had earlier, but whether it was his dedication to please the woman in front of him, or because he’d already come this far, he gifted her with the reason. “He saved my life,” was the simple answer. The follow-up nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Hazel reached across the table, covering his hand with her own, and she sent him a soft smile. A light blush dusted his cheeks, and she allowed him to turn away to light a cigarette; she even grabbed the ashtray off the back shelf for him.

Just as they were about to continue, the door to the galley swung open, a rubbery body bouncing its way inside. “Sanji!! Food!” Luffy yelled, head turning frantically before his eyes finally settled on the cook.

“You just ate, you damn animal!” The cook scolded, and the somber mood was broken as Hazel burst into laughter.

“But I’m hungry! Food!”

“I’m busy!” Hazel took that moment to step in.

“It’s alright, Sanji. I can get the rest from you later. If you don’t start dinner soon, we may not have a ship to sail on anymore,” she laughed, drawing Luffy’s attention. The boy leaped onto the bench in front of her, taking Sanji’s place, and glancing at the notebook for a second without reading.

“Whatcha talkin’ about? Whaddaya need Sanji for?”

“He was telling me about your fight with Don Krieg, since I missed it.”

“Oh! I can tell you! There was a boom! And a woosh! And then I went ‘Gum-Gum Bazooka’! And then there was poison gas, but we’re fine, and then everything went boom boom boom boom! And then I got poked a lot! And then-” Hazel tuned out as her brother continued telling her all about the fight with as little detail as possible. Sanji shot her a confounded look over their captain’s shoulder, and the girl replied with a nonchalant shrug. When Luffy finally finished, he looked to his sister expectantly, proud grin wide across his face.

“Thanks Luffy, I’ll make sure to write that down.” The boy nodded, then looked back at her notes from Sanji’s story.

“Looks like you’ve gotten a lot done!” Hazel flinched, grimacing into her palm.

“Yes and no…” Luffy just looked at her, confusion in his eyes, and Hazel gave a heavy sigh. “To be honest, Luff...I don’t really know where to start.”

“At the beginning. Duh.”

“Wow, I never thought about that,” Hazel deadpanned. “And get your finger out of your nose!” As Luffy stuck his tongue out at her, something struck her. Hazel’s eyes widened, an invisible energy urging her hand to move across the paper. “Actually, Luffy, you’re a genius! Thank you!”

She vaguely heard him say something in agreement, but her mind was too focused on the idea it had. Start at the beginning...she was surprised the thought hadn’t occurred to her earlier; after all, she’d only just told the story a week ago.

--------------

Foosha Village had always been a peaceful town. Even when pirates had settled their sails at its docks the year previous, the villagers had yet to deal with much past the occasional bandit or two. Our lives had been much the same, short as they were; filled with fun and laughter and play. Then one day, the stuff of legends became real, and peace would be known no more.

The sun had shown brightly that morning, though my brother and I had already been up for hours. We always had trouble sleeping the closer to Shanks’ departure. In only a short time, the red-headed man had wormed his way into our lives, and our hearts, and my brother especially was determined to join him this time.

So it was that we stood on the deck of the Red-Hair Pirate’s ship, the hustle and bustle of supplies and crates being loaded around us. A few of the men were singing songs - definitely inappropriate considering the children in their company - but we’d already spent the last seven years in a bar. There was nothing in those songs we hadn’t heard before.

I had been listening to Benn Beckman’s tale of their last voyage when Shanks’ voice had called our attention to the figurehead. Standing atop the dragon’s maw, my brother Luffy stood glaring down at our pirate friends. Unfortunately, none of us had taken his declaration of strength seriously. Not until he drove the knife beneath his eye.

--------------

The paragraphs flew quickly out of her hand, the day in question clear in her mind. Hazel took a moment to shake out her wrist, feeling stiff as she read over her work so far. She liked it, she really did. Now to keep up this momentum.

The door opened once again, and Usopp and Nami wandered in, talking about something she couldn’t hear. Hazel was still glaring at the page, chewing her cheek as she thought about how to word her next sentence. She heard Sanji mention dinner would be ready soon, Luffy’s excitement sounding through the room, then Usopp’s hiss for him to be quiet.

“Don’t distract her! She’s scary when she’s mad!” the boy whimpered out, much to Luffy’s amusement.

“No she’s not!” he laughed, drawing the sniper’s ire.

“You didn’t think that when she made you take a bath!” Hazel stifled a snort.

“Speaking of which,” Nami chimed in, holding a hand to her nose. “How long ago was that?”

“Actually, Luffy, you are due for one. Zoro too,” Hazel said, looking up at her surprised crewmates. What, did they think she couldn’t hear them at all? “Why don’t you go wash up before dinner. Please?” Luffy groaned, glaring at the navigator, but dutifully made his way to the bathroom. Despite what he said, he didn’t want to push his sister. Again.

Hazel took that moment to stand up, stretching her back with a loud pop, grabbed her notebook, and made her way outside to tell their grungy swordsman his bath was after dinner. She couldn’t see him at first when she stepped outside, but after glancing around for a moment, she finally spotted him. She blinked when she saw his bare back, mesmerized for a moment at the way the muscles rippled as he did push-up after push-up. A second later, she blinked the distraction away, and walked down the steps to the grass-haired man.

“Hey, your turn for a bath after dinner,” she told him, practically hearing him grit his teeth at the notion. “Dinner’s actually almost done, by the way, so you may wanna wrap it up here.”

“Not done,” he grunted, prompting her to raise a brow in his direction.

“Well find a way to be done. We’re hungry, and you’re sweaty.”

“If I’m gonna get stronger, I can’t cut training short. I need more weight.” His gray eyes swung up to hers, and Hazel got the distinct sense he was sizing her up.

“What do you want me to do about that?” She regretted asking the instant she said it. Zoro gestured to his back. His extremely sweaty back.

“Climb on.”

“Excuse me? What are you insinuating here?” She crossed her arms, trying to decide if she needed to hit him for calling her fat or not. She caught him rolling his eyes.

“You’re all muscle, it’s heavier. Climb on.” Hazel chewed her lip, weighing the pros and cons. Then, deciding she had nothing to lose except her hygiene (and really, she could do with a bath herself), she stepped closer to him, cautiously sitting down when he paused for her. He reached his arm around, causing a startled squeak as he adjusted her position, then he resumed his training, a new strain in his breath.

While he worked, Hazel puzzled once again over her notebook. Disappointment flowed through her as she stared at the four lone paragraphs, the struggle for where to take the story next staying her hand. She’d gotten nothing done today, and it was difficult not to take it to heart.

“What are you sighing about up there?” her cushion grunted below her. Hazel rolled her eyes, but decided to humor him by answering anyway.

“I’ve been working on this all day, and somehow I have nothing to show for it.” Zoro was silent except for his heavy breathing, but for some reason she pushed on. “What kind of record-keeper am I? What kind of storyteller can’t tell a damn story? I don’t even have to make it all up, it’s all stuff that happened…” A puff of air escaped her as her eyes began to sting. “Maybe I’m not cut out for this…”

She hadn’t meant to say it, at least not out loud, and was startled when her chair suddenly stood up. She cried out as she fell, but before she could hit the floor, Zoro’s arms came out to steady her. She looked up at him in shock, affronted at the small glare he sent her way. “Read it out loud,” he said, pointing to the little book in her hands.

“Eh?!” Hazel shrieked, appalled at the very notion of any living being actually hearing her work out loud.

“Read it out loud,” Zoro said again, shrugging his shirt back on. “Then I can tell you if it’s shitty.”

“No way! It’s not ready for human consumption yet!” she yelled, glaring as he sat below the mast. “Besides, who are you to tell me if it’s shit? You wouldn’t know good literature if it waved a sword at you and said ‘boy, speak your name’!” Zoro rolled his eyes at the reference, but leveled her with a steady gaze as it dawned on her the trick he was trying to pull. “Stop it, it’s mine. Why should I share it with you?”

“Because I like the way you tell stories.” He said it so simply, like it didn’t carry nearly the weight for him that it did for her. Hazel felt the blood rush to her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. Something held her gaze on his, something she couldn’t possibly name.

“So how does me reading it aloud help me write it?” Her voice was so quiet, she was surprised he could even hear it.

“Just write it how you’d say it,” he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And when he said it like that, it did seem obvious, and Hazel could kick herself for not thinking of it sooner. Before she knew it, she felt herself nodding, sitting beside him beneath the sail.

“Foosha Village had always been a peaceful town….” she began, reading from the beginning, and surprising herself when her voice continued past the last paragraph. He’d heard the story before, but still Zoro sat, listening with rapt attention. Her voice slowed as she wrote, not allowing herself to forget what she’d said, what phrases she used that flowed from her mouth like water.

At one point Hazel glanced beside her, surprised to see the swordsman’s eyes shut. She let out a sigh, finishing her sentence, but not continuing on. She found herself rolling her eyes at the sleeping swordsman, irked that he apparently found her so boring.

“You stuck again?”

Hazel turned to him again, meeting his gaze through half-lidded eyes. She let out a half chuckle, shaking her head in amusement, before diving into the next paragraph.

It was only Luffy’s call of “Dinner!!” that finally drew the two inside.

#together with fruit #twf #monkey d. hazel #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #zoro x oc #one piece #one piece fan fiction #one piece fanfics #one piece oc #one piece original character #I don't even care if this is 'good' I'm just. so glad to have something tangible written #I wanna keep going but it's late and my hands hurt #but the hard part is over; all that's left is canon events

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cienie-isengardu · 3 years

Text

The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro - Part 5: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (Traveling together)

<<Part I: Before Meeting>> <<Part II: Sabaody Archipelago, The First Meeting>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (A)>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (B)>> <<Part IV: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (The Plan Failed)__ (Saving Law)__(Protecting Law)__ (Birdcage, Pica and Doflamingo)__ (Aftermath)>> <<Part V: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (Traveling Together)__(Searching for Nakama)__ (Reunion)__ (Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance)__(The Last Moments before War)>>

Dressrosa was the breaking point in the relationship between Zoro and Law. The previously visible distance (and maybe, distrust too) now is gone, and those two - despite Law’s unhappy face - drank together during the victory party. Through the voyage to Zou and later, during the arc, both men were more often seen around each other, usually in quite close range. Starting with chapter 802, when dangerous hail was failing on Bartolomeo’s ship. As it turned out, Bartolomeo and his crew did not have a navigator (to give proper orders to steersman, to sail avoiding danger) and all their “wisdom” came from talking over Den Den Mushi with grandma… who in during such crisis was telling them how to remove sticked to floor gum. As crazy Straw Hats are when it comes to challenging the world, they aren’t that insane to sail unprepared on the deadly sea of the New World. Even Luffy panicked, crying for Nami to save them. Zoro and Law on the other hand, seemed more irritated by Bartolomeo’s crew incompetence. Zoro guessed they will have to handle the situation themselves (did he say that to Law in specific, or general, to people around him?) while Law wondered if these guys were for real.

Law and Zoro already had their weapons ready for action, while were standing side by side. Their reaction to the crisis was visually similar, contrasting with panicked Luffy & Usopp and the laughing Robin.

Zoro showed his pragmatic side, by telling Bartolomeo to use his devil fruit power to put an indestructible barrier to protect the ship and everyone on it. Only to hear that he couldn’t do that because of grandma's superstition. With that, Roronoa’s patience for idiocy ran out and he too wondered how that crew survived for so long.

Zoro and Law were on the same page: Bartolomeo and his men were absurd.

The journey was full of dangers.

Judging by the splash of blood on the monster's head that resembles the effect of flying slash, Zoro (or maybe Law) in fact needed to take care of the situation by themselves. According to the narrator box, the journey took a week. Which means Zoro and Law were forced to deal with other people’s idiocy for a long time. Maybe that was another factor to bond over, because both don’t like to put up with the morons (at least, unless it wasn’t their own crews).

On the journey, Law showed his… playful is not the right word, more like deadpan trolling (a trait he will show from on more often). Like calling Usopp the “god”, using the title given to him by Doffy during the Battle of Dressrosa and later used by Marines on his bounty poster. Only to shut down Usopp’s happiness by reminding him in an emotionless way that now all Admirals will look out for him. What of course terrified the sniper.

Trafalgar did not pay to that any mind, explaining Luffy they must be already close to Zou. None Straw Hats (beside Usopp?) seemed to be bothered by Law’s dark sense of humor, so either they were already used to this or simply didn’t care. Though I suspect if Law picked at Chopper, Robin and Zoro reaction could be much different.

Both Zoro and Law had their own way to deal with Bartolomeo and his men. Zoro usually got irritated and told them to shut up, once they were fanboying over something too much. Like seeing Thousand Sunny (chapter 803):

Law, who wasn’t part of Straw Hats thus was treated less nicely, simply changed his request from “give something to us” to “give it to Straw Hats” which worked just fine (chapter 802).

Pirate alliance reached Zou and learned no one was on Thousand Sunny moored next to it. Usopp wanted to stay on the ship while others would search for missing crew members, but Zoro wouldn’t let him. Law was standing close to Usopp and Roronoa, instead of isolating himself like he used to do previously.

↪ Clearly, all Straw Hats, the two samurais and Law had their backpacks fully packed, ready for the next journey. Law provided as much information as he could, but he has never been on Zou himself. Since the group was heading into the unknown, it makes sense they took everything that could be useful during the trip, including spare (warm?) clothes, I guess. But since Law was a guest on Thousand Sunny and we didn’t see him taking much with himself from Punk Hazard (unless it was stored on the ship before the party, but then would Zoro be so surprised by Law joining them?) nor during escaping Dressrosa, I assume Straw Hats equipped him appropriately for the journey. On one hand, there was Kinemon who could easily provide Law clothes thanks to his devil fruit. On another, no one could know what awaited them on Zou and the group could be easily separated and once clothes made by Kinemon were taken down, they disappeared for good, so couldn’t be re-used. Which is why I wonder, if Straw Hats borrowed Law some of their own clothes. Since Zoro and Sanji were the closest to Law’s build, Law could get something from their wardrobe, just in case.

↪ Thinking more about it, what about the one week trip to Zou? The alliance ran away from Dressrosa in hurry taking no baggage with them.Of course, former colosseum fighters turned into Straw Hat Grand Fleet had time to organize everything needed on journey for their heroes and once again, Kinemon’s useful powers were at hand. But Bartolomeo made it clear, he didn’t care at all about Law, so did anyone think to bring spare clothes for him? And if yes, was that something acceptable for Law to wear?

↪ Visually interesting detail, how Zoro and Law have alternating colors. As in, Zoro’s black pants and backpack to Law’s white and white shirt to his black. This will be soon even more noticeable once they get on Zou.

To climb on a gigantic elephant's leg, with his devil fruit powers Kanjuro animated the (poorly drawn) dragon. Manga panel did not show in a clear way who and where was standing (chapter 803) yet judging by what looks like the silhouette of swords, Law and Zoro were standing far away from others but not that far from each other.

Later, Zoro’s position changed, which most likely means some time passed before Kanjuro finished his drawing. Law’s position wasn’t shown, it is hard to tell where he actually went.

The anime (episode 752) put Law much closer to Zoro (and later both around Franky) for the whole waiting to samurai finish his art:

Once the dragon was alive, the alliance rode on it to the Zou’s top, sitting in the following order: Luffy - Zoro - Usopp - Robin - Law - Franky - Kinemon - Kanjuro:

Of course, Luffy had to be the first - Zoro most likely sat after his captain to make sure the idiot will not do something stupid, like… failing asleep. Law sat in the middle between Robin and Franky. In all fairness, he and Zoro had similar posture - the crossed arms.

↪ There is in fact an actual divergence between frames, because at one Law was actually shown between Usopp (who most likely sat close to Zoro in hopes the swordsman will protect him and keep from failing) and Robin. And who knows, maybe Law intended to sit closer to the other Supernovas but Usopp & Robin claimed the seat before him?

During the climb, the samurais explained a bit their situation, mentioning their missing friend who actually happened to be ninja. All Straw Hat boys and Law immediately showed their delight (in case of Law, nerdy side that will show up from time to time from on):

Even though the word “ninja” sparked their interest, the faces of Zoro and Law showed similar expression - a frown. Visually, the Straw Hat & Heart pirates looked funny, with so contrasting mimicries. Open jaw (Luffy) - Frown (Zoro) - Open jaw (Usopp) - Frown (Law).

Out of nowhere, some animal (Mink) fell down and accidentally threw the samurais off the dragon (chapter 804). Thankfully, somehow the men did not die. All Straw Hats were happy to hear that. Law’s face was hard to read anything, but he too looked down after fallen comrades. Because samurais were friends in need of saving, Zoro ordered the dragon to start climbing down, clearly with rescue in the mind. Law didn’t protest.

Despite pain (tiresomess?), the dragon wanted to finish his mission. Seeing how the creature suffered already and with the reassurance from the samurai that they were fine, Straw Hats decided to head ahead.

After a long journey, the alliance finally got to the top. Luffy and Usopp were delighted, Franky cried, Robin and Zoro smiled. Sadly, Law’s face was not presented, but most likely his reaction, the same as Roronoa and Nico was of a “quiet” kind.

Then, the Straw Hats joy died, once the painted dragon - after so much suffering - changed back into picture. The moment was very heartbreaking for everyone… except for Zoro and Law.

That scene once again showed how similar they were to each other. As in: emotionally unaffected and harsh in their judgment. The dragon was in their opinion “just a crappy drawing” and “joke”. Even Usopp’s angry screaming how heartless they were didn’t change their opinion.

Also, nice thing to note: the minimal (or even a lack of) personal space between those two, despite not walking together a moment ago.

While everyone was crying after the brave dragon, Zoro and Law went ahead. To Usopp’s angry rebuke, the Pirate Hunter said:

“We’re in a strange, unfamiliar land. Don’t turn back. Always concentrate on what’s ahead of you.”

With what Law apparently agreed, because none of them stopped for a moment from examining the new place. They shared their observations about gate and watchtower - how dangerously unguarded the place was. What is a nice contrast to Dressrosa, where Law did not add any of his input to the Roronoa’s conclusions about Pica.

Usopp(?) even called them out “all business, no heart”, which highlights how clinically they approached the situation. No emotions, just coolness.

In contrast, Luffy climbed at the watchtower and was totally excited about the whole place. To the point of simply jumping ahead, without worrying about his friends. Usopp (who accompanied Luffy) notified Zoro about the captain's disappearance.

Zoro didn’t show worry nor surprise about their captain’s antics - instead asked if Usopp could see Sanji. Robin wondered shouldn’t they wait for the missing samurai, to which Zoro decided they would go ahead.

Now, without Luffy around, Zoro became the leader of Straw Hats. No one questioned his judgment of the situation. Nor nakama, nor Law.

Next part: Searching for Nakama

#one piece #The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro #roronoa zoro #trafalgar law #zou arc #my analyze #an introverted Law hanging out with fellow introvert Zoro with so many noisy extroverted people around #a summary #nico robin #usopp #monkey d. luffy #franky #law & straw hats #straw hats pirates #law & zoro #zoro & law

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itsthemoofacewriting · 4 years

Text

Black Cat, Part Two

Can this be classed as an epilogue when it’s as big as the main story? This just ran away from me. I wanted to tie up some plot points I couldn’t get in the first part… but honestly, I just wanted to write the lemon that I couldn’t justify in the first part.

Maybe we’ll call this a two-shot instead?

Part one. This can also be found on AO3 and FFN

Rating: M for language, grief and le sexy times. Words: 21K, get comfortable.

A huge thank you to everyone on FFN, AO3 and Tumblr who supported this story, it’s meant so much to me. To those who wrote such wonderful reviews/comments, I cannot thank you enough.

This is for all you lovely people.

Enjoy.

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“Stealth, throw me.” Black Cat shouted, sprinting towards Stealth Black.

He pushed the man in front of him back and whipped his head around to look at her in complete bewilderment.

Did she just ask him to throw her?

Black Cat rolled her eyes, her pace not slowing. “Launch me,” she explained, “on your leg.”

His head turned and found stray criminals attempting to flee the scene, but she could still see him thinking about his next move. They didn’t have time for this, especially as the guy in front of Stealth Black was starting to get up.

“Stop hesitating and do it now.”

Whether it was what she said or that she was still charging at him, he finally got into position. He extended his leg just as she was jumping and when she landed, he launched her with all his might. She understood his hesitation, but at the same time, it’s something that could get them both seriously injured or killed in battle.

She soared through the air, quickly catching up to the fleeing men ahead of her but Stealth Black had overshot it, and she overtook them. As she started to descend, she sent out a strong gust of wind to soften the landing. The men looked stunned at her sudden appearance but before they could fight or flee, she was running at them. Extending her clima-tact she dug it into ground to swing herself around on it and hit one of the guys, sending him into the man next to him. One of them wasn’t expecting it and cracked his head against the pavement.

One down.

The other one was quicker on his feet and was up pulling out a small blade. Aggressively he was attempting to stab Black Cat, growing more and more desperate when she blocked him with her clima-tact. He swept his foot out to trip her, but she dodged it, flipping backwards and pointing her clima-tact skyward to start forming black clouds. The man didn’t stand a chance when she took aim, swinging down and electrocuting him where he stood. He crumpled to the floor in a black sooty mess.

Looking around, Black Cat could see Stealth black finishing up with the last standing criminal. She took the opportunity to tie up the two passed out men in front of her, ready for the police to pick up.

Since Arlong and his gang had been taken down just over a month ago, it had quietened but there were still new organisations attempting to recreate the drugs. They’d been spending their time taking down small drug rings and feeding back to the police.

What had helped is with Arlong behind bars, people they caught were more talkative and just last week one of them had let slip about the type of vehicles being used. What was alarming, is how many of these vans they’d seen since then. They’d started patrolling to look out for them. Some of the vans they had stopped were just civilians and had been very grateful for the work they were doing, but most of them had dangerous men with guns and ingredients for drugs in.

With the last criminal tied, she started to drag them towards the others also bound to leave them with the van for a smooth handover with the police.

“Let me.” Stealth Black said, coming up beside her and trying to take the men from her.

He wasn’t looking at her, but she still rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but remember your ribs? They should have healed by now but took longer because you refused to take it easy.”

After their clash with Arlong, she’d left the clinic before Chopper could give her a run down of Stealth Black’s injuries, but it hadn’t taken long to realise the bad state of his ribs. He had tried to keep himself composed but he couldn’t stop from cringing when he breathed too deeply or moved at a weird angle.

“It’s been two weeks since the pain resided and I’m fine.” He muttered. To be fair, he was right. She’d watched him like a hawk because he’d downplay anything wrong with him and he hadn’t flinched at all in that time.

“Still, let’s have Chopper decide that when you see him later. Get the drugs from the van and we’ll leave it with them.” He hesitated for a moment but knew it was an argument he’d lose based on her tone.

She wished he’d look after himself better, she thought as he moved towards the van.

It was only as she was gathering the tied-up criminals together that she heard something. Was someone calling her name? Her civilian name?!

When she turned, Luffy was charging for her, arms waving frantically above his head and broad grin on his face to greet her. It was him?! How many times had they had this conversation?

Mask on, Black Cat. Mask off, Nami.

“OOOOOIIIIIII!” Luffy shouted, completely ignoring her panicked look and arms flailing to get him to stop. “Naaa-”

Luffy was abruptly shut up as he face-planted the floor. In his single-minded focus to get to Black Cat, he’d missed Stealth Black sticking his foot out to trip him and stop him revealing her identity. Black Cat sight in relief, from what she could see the criminals were still out cold and police and news reporters hadn’t arrived yet.

As she made her way over, Luffy was picking himself up and pouting. “What’d you do that for?” He asked grumpily, glaring at Stealth Black.

“How else am I supposed to stop you running your big mouth? Next time why don’t you bring megaphone.” Stealth Black crossed his arms.

Just as Luffy was about to retort, Black Cat put her hand up to stop anything else being said. “Luffy, why are you out on your own? Where’s Z-”

“Oi, I told you to wait until I stop the car before getting out.” Another agitated voice called out. The three turned to see Zoro walking towards them, a frown marring his face.

Since Arlong had been put away, Luffy had been in awe of the work that Zoro did and had promptly resigned from being firefighter to become a police officer like the green haired man. What Black Cat couldn’t understand is who on earth thought it would be a good idea to put Luffy and Zoro together as partners. Maybe it was punishment for Zoro, make him babysit Luffy but if anything, it just spurred both of them on. She’d heard countless stories of the reckless things they both did.

Yet they were still the best officers she knew. That’s probably why.

Luffy was back to pouting. “But we’d been in the car so long already,” he whined.

Black Cat sighed; she’d been around them long enough to know what was going to follow.

“Ohoooo, got lost did we Marimo?” Came Black Stealth’s teasing remark. She gave him a side eye and she was right; a shit eating smirk was on his face. How that was possible behind his mask was beyond her.

And here came his angry response. “I did not get lost, you pervert! There were diversions…”

Rolling her eyes, she knew one was about to threaten the other and they so did not have time for that right now. “Enough. Stealth put the drugs with them,” she then pointed at Zoro, “they were transporting drugs, feedback for police to start stopping vehicles like this,” and finally Luffy, “use our superhero names, Luffy. It’s the last time I ask nicely.”

The boys did as she asked, although Zoro made a point of grumbling about bossy witches under his breath.

An arm wrapped around her waist as sirens were heard in the distance, “I think that’s our cue to leave,” Stealth murmured into her ear.

She knew well enough by now what this gesture meant; he was about to take off. She nodded and braced herself for what was to come until Luffy interrupted.

“See you guys tonight right?”

They both agreed, confirming the time and location.

Black Cat knew they were against the clock, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Perhaps this time Zoro, you’ll be able to keep up with me when we drink.”

He gave her the reaction she wanted. Complete outrage. “I had work the next day, you know that!” He fumed. When Stealth Black next to her started to snigger, Zoro turned on him too. “And what are you laughing at? One drink and you’re under the table, pervert.”

Whether it was the sirens getting louder by the second or the way she squeezed him as her arms wrapped around him, Black Stealth took off without a word.

Nami and Sanji were walking hand in hand towards the bar where they were meeting their friends. Sanji had used the opportunity to cook her dinner beforehand but she also wondered if it was to calm himself. He was trying not to show it, but he was nervous, his free hand kept clenching and unclenching. He hadn’t met Usopp yet and whilst Nami hadn’t meant to, she’d made it clear how close the two were. It was incredibly sweet to her that Sanji was so intent on winning over her best friend.

He’d passed with flying colours with Chopper and Robin.

In all fairness, Chopper wasn’t that difficult, all it had taken was for Sanji to compliment what a good doctor he was and for someone so young.

He’d met Robin when he’d come over to the apartment Nami and Robin shared. The older woman had been out and came back earlier than expected, so Sanji didn’t have a chance to work himself up. Robin normally appeared quite cold until you knew her well enough to know she didn’t mean it like that. However, Sanji hadn’t been phased. He’d instantly offered her some of the dinner they had left over, heating it for her so she could sit with them and that had been it. Conversation had flowed from there and although Nami was technically supposed to be the host, Sanji had made sure to keep their wine topped up the whole time. Robin had been won over.

Nami was brought out of her thoughts when Sanji squeezed her hand to get her attention. “You should prepare yourself; you’re going to meet the perverts of the group.” He warned, in a mock serious tone.

She didn’t even hesitate. “I thought I already had, that title belongs to you, no?” Nami smiled cheekily up at him and if that had been from someone else, he’d probably swear at them. Instead, he chuckled, amused by her wit.

“I have nothing on them.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll swoop in to save me.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Sanji couldn’t resist that look. He stopped walking and turned her towards him, his hands resting loosely on her waist. When her hands came to rest on his chest and she leaned in, he took the invitation to press his lips to hers. His hands tightened and brought her in closer as her head tilted, deepening the kiss. Just as his tongue swiped against her lips, Nami pulled away.

“Come on, we don’t need to be arrested to public indecency.” Regardless of her warning, Sanji still tried to score another kiss until Nami put her hand over his mouth. “We’re going to be late.”

When they started to walk, almost at the pub, she added as an afterthought, “Also, I know you’re worried about meeting Usopp, but you really don’t need to be. Seriously.”

She smiled secretively, refusing to tell Sanji what she meant by that and dragged him forward by their adjoined hands.

“It’s you! It’s really you! In the flesh!”

Nami tried to keep an innocent smile on her face, instead of outright laughing but she couldn’t hold it. Between Sanji looking uncomfortable at the overwhelming attention he was receiving and Usopp starry-eyed at meeting the infamous superhero, it was too much. They’d barely taken a step in when Usopp had pounced.

“The way you fly through the air is so cool and the power in your kicks!” Usopp continued to gush. “It’s so unfair that Luffy and Zoro get to see you in action all the time!”

Sanji’s cheeks had gone red by this point, which only added to Nami’s amusement. It was probably mean not to tell him that Usopp was a fanboy when he’d been nervous about meeting him, but how could she miss this reaction from Sanji? The only time his cheeks went red with her was when things got a bit too heated.

“Thanks but the clima-tact you made is far more impressive. How did you do it?” Sanji asked, desperate to get the attention off himself.

Usopp’s chest puffed up in pride at that comment and Nami knew what was coming. Whilst he was her boyfriend, she would happily abandon ship and leave him to suffer this alone. She squeezed Sanji’s hand before pulling away and at his questioning look, she pointed to the bar where Robin was. As she walked away, she could hear the start of a long drawn out tale and she sniggered, the poor fool didn’t know what he was in for.

Approaching the bar, Robin turned, Nami’s favourite wine already in hand and offered out to her. Honestly, that woman had a sixth sense.

“How’s it going Nami?” Robin inquired.

Scanning her eyes from her new position, she could see that Franky (who Sanji had pointed out, before Usopp had jumped them) had now joined Usopp and Sanji, the three laughing at a joke Usopp had told. From the other side of the bar Zoro was drinking with Luffy and Chopper shoving straws up their noses next to him. It was unsettling how quickly Nami and Sanji’s group of friends had meshed together after only meeting a few times. It’s like it was meant to be.

It made her happy, her previously fractured life felt like it was starting to come together.

“Better than I expected.” Sanji caught her eye and gently smiled at her, before his attention was stolen back by Usopp.

“And you and Sanji…?”

Nami’s mood instantly soured at Robin’s comment, it was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. She turned towards the bar and took a long drink from her wine.

“I just don’t get it Robin. At first his ribs were cracked, so obviously that put a damper on things and don’t get me wrong, I can wait. But he’s normally the one that initiates but just as clothes are about to come off, he pulls away.” Nami lamented. “It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t give such mixed signals.”

Nami and Sanji hadn’t had sex yet.

Ever since that night in Sanji’s apartment when she came as Black Cat to give him information, that was the furthest they’d ever gone. His reasoning then had been to get to know each other and when she’d thought about it with a level head, he was absolutely correct. He’d more than lived up to his words from that night. He’d wined and dined her and more. She couldn’t imagine being with anyone else other than him.

Yet, when things became too heated, he would pull away. He would be the one coming to her to cuddle when they were hanging out at his or her place, he would be the one to press just that little closer or give the first grope. When she reciprocated or he felt he’d gone too far, crossed the invisible line that he’d drawn, he would freeze and pull away, making an excuse. We both have work, it’s getting late, Robin will be back soon. He always found a way. But she saw how he was when he pulled away. Breathing haggard, his pupils blown wide and looking on edge. He’d also need time to, ah, calm himself… after he pulled away. He could try to hide his tented trousers all he liked but it was still there.

“Well he seems very interested, so you don’t have to worry there. He looks over at you every couple of minutes.” Robin observed. Nami didn’t doubt it; Robin did have a keen eye and Sanji had no shame in showing his interest in her, even if they were together. Which made it even more confusing.

Nami sighed. “He makes it obvious that he is, that’s not my worry.”

“If I may offer some adv- Are you ready for your interview tomorrow?”

Nami looked at the other woman quizzically, baffled as to why she changed topics so abruptly and just as she was about to voice her confusion, an arm slipped around her waist.

“Sorry to interrupt ladies, but I wanted to introduce my gorgeous girlfriend to Franky.”

Ah, so that’s why.

Nami turned in Sanji’s arm and now in full view, her eyebrows shot up. The bar was fairly crowded earlier and although he was tall, she’d only seen his shoulders and head but now… well. He was wearing the tightest shorts she’d ever seen, and his top was completely unbuttoned, who had let him in dressed like this?

Sanji laughed at his girlfriend’s obvious reaction. He had warned her. “Nami, this is one of the perverts I was telling you about, Franky.” He lowered his voice with his next words so only their friends could hear, “He’s the man who keeps my suit up to date and adds anything… but of course, you already knew that.”

Franky didn’t seem offended by the way Sanji introduced him, if anything Franky seemed flattered. “This guy, he’s such a charmer!” Franky’s hand rubbed behind his head. “But you, finding out who I was, that’s sneaky! How did you do it?”

Sanji interrupted before she could reply. “She was following me; she did have the hots for me after all.” He said teasingly, waggling his eyebrows.

She elbowed him in the stomach for that and rolled her eyes. “Hardly like I can deny it, look at where we are now.”

“Now if you lovebirds will excuse me, I need to buy this lady a drink.” Franky said, looking at Robin and putting his hand at the small of her back to guide her further down the bar. Robin was already at the bar seated, but it was obvious Franky just wanted some alone time with her.

Robin looked back over her shoulder to throw Nami a wink, amused by her stupefied look.

Nami then looked to Sanji for further explanation and was even more surprised that he didn’t look shocked. “Did you know?!”

He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll be honest, I thought you knew. Don’t you two live together? Franky told me about his interest in her, figured she’d do the same.”

Nami was still trying to process the information. Robin and Franky? Since when was that her type but as she looked over at them, she could kind of see it. Robin was quite aloof, and the other man was a bit ridiculous. They almost balanced each other out. Still, Nami couldn’t help but be resentful that she’d missed out on gossip. But then she could almost hear Robin’s voice in her head, you didn’t ask. It was annoyingly flawless logic from the secretive woman.

“Wait, did Usopp know?!” Her gossipy best friend better not have held out on her. They had a pact.

“From what you’ve told me about him, most likely not, unless Franky and Robin want it broadcast.” Okay, he had a point.

“Well, if Franky has Robin’s interest then he must be a decent guy. So, two perverts down, where’s the third?”

“You’ve been spending too much time with the directionless-wonder.” Sanji said. It was meant to sound like a bad thing, but Sanji was actually pleased that she had connected with them so quickly. And she got under Zoro’s skin occasionally, which was just another win if you ask him. “But he’ll be here-” Sanji was cut off as the lights went down and a tall, slender man took to the stage. “-now. That’s him.”

The fairly crowded pub felt like it had multiplied as people started to pack in, moving towards the small makeshift stage.

Nami was standing on tiptoes to try and get a better look when Sanji moved her in front of him, moving his arms to drape across her shoulders. He could still see over her and there was a gap for her to see through. She sent him an appreciative look. “You didn’t tell me he was a musician, is he any good?”

“Luffy befriended him, saying he’d always wanted a musician friend. He’s an odd one but he’s incredibly loyal and occasionally funny, but don’t tell him I said that.” If Brook knew, he’d never hear the end of it or his puns.

“Yohohoho, my my, look at this place. You’ve all come to see me!” The crowd cheered back, arms waving. “This song goes out to my good friends that are here tonight. Get ready for binks sake.”

Nami’s hands came up to clasp Sanji’s arms around her shoulders and they swayed to the song. Sanji was right, the man was good. The previously rowdy pub had quietened so that you could almost hear a pin drop as the sweet notes came from his violin and his voice lulled you to sleep.

They both basked in the rare moment of peace, where they could enjoy each other’s presence, without having to think about their jobs or superhero counterparts. She should be enjoying it but when Sanji’s arms tightened around her and he dropped a kiss onto her cheek, she couldn’t stop her thoughts from leading down that path, the one she tried not to dwell on. Their non-existent sex life.

Although, as she thought about it, it was always him making the first move before pulling away. Maybe he thought she wasn’t ready… but then why not ask? Maybe it was a gentlemen’s code or something he had. Hm, perhaps she’d make the first move, it was her after all that had kissed him first. But then, she didn’t want to pressure him.

Clapping brought her out of her thoughts as the song ended and the previously quiet audience launched back into their rowdy nature. They began to chant, “Soul Par-ade, Soul Par-ade.”

Questioningly, Nami looked to Sanji for an explanation. “It’s one of his most popular songs, you’ll see why.”

And she did. He swapped his violin for an electric guitar and the crowd in the bar somehow became even louder. The peaceful atmosphere changed as everyone started to jump, the energy in the room tripling as Brook took off, fingers moving quickly along the fret of the guitar. Soon the crowd started to jump along to the beat and the heat picked up.

Luffy waved them over, their group of friends coming together to finish listening to Brook’s set. Nami sat down at the bar next to Zoro as he slid her a beer and Chopper caught Sanji’s attention asking about his cracked ribs.

It was 20 minutes later when Brook was giving a bow and exiting the stage. He stopped to chat to people and sign some autographs before he joined them. Luffy was instantly on him, saying how much he’d missed him whilst he was away.

Another 10 minutes and Sanji was deep in conversation with Brook, leading the older man towards the bar to meet Nami.

“Oh my, you are as beautiful as Sanji said.”

Nami could feel heat crawling up her neck, she was used to the compliments she sometimes received but to have it said to her in front a group of people was fairly embarrassing, especially as other people round the bar turned to look at her. “Your set was great by the way. How long have you been on tour?” She asked, changing the topic to give her cheeks a chance to calm down.

That was how the rest of the evening progressed, their friends chatting and catching up. Brook at one point asking Nami about the colour of her panties and Sanji shouted at him to knock it off. God knows how he even managed to slip that casually in, she almost spat out her drink, but she shouldn’t have been surprised, she was warned.

Slowly, their group of friends started to dwindle after that, the evening turning into the night as the sky grew darker. Sanji offered to walk Nami home when she tiredly rested her head against his shoulder, fighting back a yawn. Walking back hand in hand, they chatted idly until they were in front of Nami’s apartment.

It was then that Nami decided to put her thoughts into motion.

Leaning up on tiptoes she brushed her lips against his, her hands coming to rest against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat starting to pick up and she smiled to herself, she didn’t think she’d ever get sick of his reaction to her. Growing annoyed at the soft touches, he pressed their lips together with more force and her hands slid their way around his neck as his came to rest low on the small of her back.

Breathing heavily, she pulled away to look at him. His cheeks were flushed and his bright blue eyes hazy as he looked back at her. “Do you want to come up for coffee?” She asked, suggestively pressing herself against him and biting her lower lip teasingly.

It worked when his gaze lowered to her lips and he groaned, hastily pressing their lips back together. His hands grasped her hips, causing her to gasp and start to walk them closer to the door of her apartment.

When her keys came out, it seemed to wake Sanji up and he pulled back from the kiss. “You have an interview tomorrow, you should sleep.” His hands moved from her hips to rest at her waist, seemingly trying to control himself. She didn’t miss the way his eyes flicked from her eyes to her lips. “Call me when you’re done, I want to know how it goes. I have my fingers crossed for you.”

Nami was baffled. One moment they’re basically making out on the street and the next he was talking conversationally about her interview, as if she hadn’t just invited him up and he shot her down. It was hard to keep up.

Her mind was still reeling but she realised she’d nodded at him, agreeing to call him. He parted with a lingering kiss and a longing gaze that left her wanting more.

Well that solved nothing and now she was hot and bothered.

She needed to talk to him, she was done tip toeing.

The talk never happened.

It was pushed to the back of her mind with everything that had happened the next day; her job interview, being offered the job, the newspapers slandering Black Cat and Sanji ranting on the phone to her.

The interview had gone as well as she’d been hoping for. It turned out they’d both gone to the same university and were catching up about the professors still lecturing there. They’d been laughing and chatting together before even getting to the interview questions but when the lady saw the recommendation from one of the professors that they’d both been taught by; it’d sealed the deal.

She’d been asked to wait outside for the next stage, but when she was called back in it was to inform her that they wanted to take her on and confirm a start day, should she accept. She did so without hesitation. She’d be crazy not to. To have a job offer on a first interview was something she’d never imagined, she was planning on using this as a test run.

When she left, she was on cloud nine. She’d be starting in a week and would be spending her time predicting weather patterns and climate change to either the government or to research projects. It was something she’d dreamt about when she was younger, and she was being paid for it! No more pouring coffee for her.

She paused mid-step, peering into a news agent when the daily newspaper headline and picture caught her eye. It was her. Black Cat.

Drug gang takedown by Black Cat and Stealth Black. Is Black Cat a new superhero trying to atone for her past or attempting to escape the laws she broke?

After everything and they were still harping on about this? She was starting to feel like her past would never be forgotten. She went in to buy the newspaper, to see what else they wrote and perhaps she shouldn’t have.

Sitting down on a bench near the park, she read what they’d written. They spoke about investigating her, taking her to court and slamming the police for not doing more.

But then, the police were still under investigation themselves. Zoro had told her a higher up had already been fired, although they said he took early retirement. Paid off by a dangerous gang with no intention to do anything about them and then completely let off. And she was supposed to be the criminal?

Her relationship with the police force had been contentious. She attempted to avoid them for the time being. They never had much of a chance to pursue her, she was normally leaving when they arrived, and they had their hands full with whatever her and Stealth Black had rounded up for them. The one time they had seen her, they’d shouted her name in outrage and she’d had to hold back Stealth Black, he’d been furious.

Sighing, she put the newspaper down to try and forget about it for the time being. This should be a happy day for her. She sent a text to Sanji to tell her she was out of the interview and a second later his name was lighting up on her screen.

“Hey, how did it go?” His voice was tight, although he was trying to keep it light. He must have seen today’s paper.

Sanji was very vocal to her about how appalled he was about the newspaper doubting her. He’d offered countless times to make a statement through Stealth Black, but she refused. She didn’t want them dragging his reputation through the mud too.

She paused for a moment, attempting to lighten the mood by being dramatic. “I got the job! They offered it to me on the spot.”

“Nami! That’s fantastic! Let’s celebrate. What do you want to do tonight?” His voice had lightened considerably with her good news.

“It sounds boring, but I’d actually just like to stay in with you.” In all fairness, she did want to but there may have been an ulterior motive there as well.

“If that’s what you want. Come over whenever you’re ready and I’ll cook dinner.” He sang happily.

“Okay, I’ll get changed and head over.” She looked at the time, it was almost 4. “So, based on your previous tone I take it you read today’s newspaper?”

That was all it took, and he was growling in frustration. She couldn’t see him, but she knew he’d be pacing and running his free hand through his hair. “I’d just forgotten about that. How can they still be writing this absolute trash? You’re doing a better job than the police and they still continue to doubt you.”

“They’re dragging the police through the mud as well.” She added.

“They deserve it. This was supposed to be their job, and we’re still cleaning up after their mistake.”

She knew that no matter what she said he wouldn’t change his opinion and honestly, she didn’t want him to. She’d never had someone believe in her so wholeheartedly, he never doubted her.

“At least you’re not going down with me.” She shrugged, relieved they’d left him alone and trying to see the bright side in this.

“I’d take the fall for you in a heartbeat.” He said with no hesitation and complete conviction. Sometimes his devotion worried her, but she tried not to dwell on it, there was no changing him.

She was almost at her apartment, so they wrapped up the conversation and she said she’d be seeing him soon.

40 minutes later and she was walking down the street towards Sanji’s apartment. She had something that she needed to bring up with him and was thinking about the best way to do so.

He must have been keeping an eye out for her because when the doors of the elevator opened for her on the fourth floor, he was waiting for her at his door. He’d clearly snapped himself out of his mood because he was opening his arms and encouraging her to run towards him.

Normally she’d wave him off, conscious of other people around but she threw caution to the wind and was running towards him, giggling like a child the whole time.

To his credit, he didn’t budge a bit when she leapt into the hug. His arms came around her and he swung her around in circles, her giggles filling the quiet hallway of the apartment complex. When he came to a standstill, he didn’t release her, and she didn’t pull away.

He gave some of the best hugs she’d ever received, they were warm and comforting. He also smelled fantastic, which was a lovely bonus. Whether it was his constant cooking or perfume, he never smelled like smoke, even though he did so regularly. She melted into his embrace, feeling all the tensions from the day slip away.

“Congratulations on the job, my love.” He said, kissing the side of her head.

She pulled back a few moments later and he stepped aside to let her into his apartment. Putting her bag down she could smell orange wafting through the air.

“Desserts done but I wasn’t sure how long you were going to be, so I held off on dinner. It’s still early so it shouldn’t take too long.” Sanji explained.

“That’s okay. Come on, I’ll help, it’ll be quicker this way.”

Sanji never argued against her helping him and she had the suspicion that he enjoyed it. She was no professional chef, but she could cook fairly well, Robin always enjoyed what she made. In all fairness, this was also something she enjoyed too. Sanji had poured wine for them both to sip on as they worked, the radio was on low and they peeled in comfortable silence. It was relaxing.

Cheekily, she hip-checked him when she was finished with the carrots, moving away before he could retaliate to put the peeled vegetables into the pan. Sanji seared the beef and put it in the pot with the carrots, adding the last few ingredients before putting it in the oven to cook.

Once he’d finished, Sanji turned towards Nami to say something but she interrupted him. “So, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.” His face grew serious, it was rare that she started a discussion this way. “I’ve been thinking about going home.” She paused; his face was odd, like he couldn’t pick an emotion. Was he upset? But why would he be? She went over her sentence again, oh. “Wait, no, I mean- visit. I haven’t been home for a while and now this is all done, I wanted to visit.”

Exhaling loudly, he felt his shoulders relax. He would of course never argue against her if she wanted to move back home but in that brief moment it crossed his mind that she might be breaking up with him. They’d been, officially, together over a month, but it still crossed his mind. She was, well, there wasn’t enough adjectives and he- she was out of his league. “You definitely should then, I’m sure your family would be happy to see you. I can patrol as Stealth Black alone.”

Bless him. “Well, I actually wondered if you wanted to come with me. You’ll have to meet them at some point, so why not now?” She took a sip of her wine.

“Really?” He spluttered, trying to stay composed. “You want me to meet your family?” That was certainly a big step but there was hope in his chest.

“Yeah, I was thinking maybe a week? I’ve got a week until I start my new job, do you think you’ll be able to get the time off?”

He shrugged, he couldn’t see why not, off the top of his head no one else was on holiday.

Nami put down her wine glass and rolled her shoulders. She mentally prepped herself. One down and one to go. Time for the biggen. “There’s something else too.” She paused, thinking about how to phrase it. But there was no other way to phrase it, other than, “I took some of Arlong’s money.” She rushed out.

“Okay.”

Wait.

What?

Where was the anger? He was looking at her like she was discussing the weather. “As in, money that I didn’t hand over to the police. That I kept for myself.”

“Yeah I get that.” He shrugged and had the audacity to smile at her reassuringly.

“Why aren’t you angry, or at least shocked? I’m pretty sure what I’ve done isn’t legal. You’re supposed to be a good guy!” She was expecting him to be even a little disappointed or angry and yet here she was angry with him for not being angry with her. If she wasn’t so surprised, she might have even laughed at the situation.

He walked over to her, placing his hand on her neck. She lifted her head to look at him, waiting for an explanation.

“Because it’s you. You’ll have done it for a reason and I’m sure it’s a damned good reason too.”

She breathed out, laughing lightly at his reasoning. She’ll add overwhelming faith to the list. She’d even thought about this today too. Moving his hand up from her neck to her cheek, she turned her head to the side to kiss his palm.

“You ridiculous man.” She said fondly, beaming at him. “But you’re right. It is for a good reason. I want to give the money to my village when I go back home. It’s for everything Arlong took from them. I can’t go back just to see them struggle when know I could help… and I’m not relying on the police to sort this out.” She finished, winding herself up. He hadn’t asked for an explanation, he trusted her, but she wanted him to be in the loop.

“I think that’s great and if you’re really sure, I’d love to come with you.” Sanji’s other hand came up to cup her other cheek and bring her into a soft kiss. It would be nice, Sanji thought. To see another part of Nami’s life that he didn’t get the chance to be a part of.

“Now, tell me more about this interview.”

Genzo did not like Sanji.

Nami’s father figure made it crystal clear in his critical gaze and steely expression. There was definitely more beneath his dislike, mainly that Sanji was Nami’s boyfriend and the day she decides to return home after years she brings along someone else.

To his credit, Sanji tried to ignore it. Nami could see his nervous behaviours, the clenching and unclenching of his hands, but that was just to her trained eye. He addressed Genzo as sir when they met, extending his hand and giving a friendly smile, not even dropping it when Genzo didn’t reciprocate the smile. Nami kept throwing Genzo looks but the man ignored her.

All was going well before their meeting. Clearly word had spread of Nami’s visit as villagers were approaching without surprise, asking plenty of questions and even teasing her about the man accompanying her. She waved her hand at them, cheeks red as she introduced Sanji to them.

It felt like she’d never left, seeing the faces from her childhood chatting as if they’d seen each other earlier in the day. Sanji fit right in, friendly and genuine as always. She rolled her eyes as he eagerly engaged in a conversation between two elderly women about home recipes they had. That’d be him out of action for a while.

Perhaps it was a good thing because she heard her name being yelled. Turning to look in the direction of the voice, she could see her sister running towards her. Nami chuckled to herself, clearly Nojiko had the same idea as herself, her previously short blue hair now running past her shoulders.

Not a second later and Nami was running towards her, meeting in the middle for a tight hug. Nojiko squeezed her, trying to catch up on years of missed hugs.

Pulling away, she slapped Nami’s shoulder. “You didn’t reply to me with your arrival time, it took someone coming to the house for me to know!”

Nami laughed. “It’s been hard enough getting through the village as it is, I didn’t need a herd.”

“Can you really blame them? It’s been long enough.” Nojiko said.

Sanji had broken away from his conversation with the two women with all the commotion to watch them reunite. Nami didn’t miss the way he picked up on Nojiko’s comment, the length of her absence had been mentioned many times since their arrival. She wasn’t sure she was ready to have that conversation.

Realising they weren’t alone, Nojiko turned towards Sanji. “Hi, I’m Nojiko, Nami’s sister.” Extending her hand.

“I’m Sanji, Nami’s told me plenty about you.” He replied, shaking her hand.

“Don’t believe all the bad things she says, I’m the good one out of the two of us!”

He laughs lightly at the unintentional joke Nojiko just told. “Oh I can believe that.” He sends her a smart smile at the end, no doubt referring to their superhero alter egos and all the grief she gave him.

Nami rolled her eyes at the pair of them. “Where’s Genzo?”

“Well, if you’d told us a time, he’d be here to meet you. He’s back at mine, let’s go.” Nojiko started to walk towards her home with Nami and Sanji in tow, along the way pointing out new additions to their village or filling in Sanji with memories.

And that’s what had led them to this moment.

Nami and Nojiko sending each other looks whilst they tried to disperse any tension, mainly from Genzo. Nojiko engaged Sanji in conversation, asking him how long he’d been a chef, whilst Nami asked Genzo for a word in private.

Once outside the room, Nami settled him with a flat look which Genzo refused to look at.

She rolled her eyes, not in the mood to talk to him about this right now. Something was a bit more pressing and Genzo would come around, he was just being stubborn.

“Don’t make a big deal out of this, but I have some money for you.”

His eyebrows shot up, mainly in surprise. “Why are you giving me money?”

“It’s not for you, I’m giving it to you for the village. After everything,” she waved her hand, vaguely referencing previous events, “I’ve been collecting money, so no one has to struggle anymore. I know you’ll put it to good use.”

He looked concerned. “Is this what you’ve been doing all this time? You don’t owe this village your life, keep the money.” His voice was firm, not budging.

She expected this. “You know I’ve been doing other things; I got my A-levels and degree in that time, didn’t I?”

“And after that? That was years ago, what have you been doing since?” He’d expressed his concerns whenever she called about what she was doing now university was over, he was never impressed by her vague answers. She’d never told them about her alter-ego, the last thing she needed was him to worry or lecture her, which she was somewhat getting now.

“I’ll explain that in a second. Are you going to take this money or not? I will give it to the village, with or without you involved.” She needed to be firm as well if she wanted him on board, he normally knew when to give in and when to push.

He gave in. “I’ll take it but if you ever want any of it, for anything, this is your home too. You deserve some of it.”

“Who says I haven’t already taken my cut?” She winked at him, grinning cheekily.

He laughed, shaking his head. So like her mother, he thought. He’d missed having her around.

“Come on, now that’s over with, I’ll fill you and Nojiko in. Just,” she paused, mulling over her words, “keep an open mind, would you?”

He frowned, now concerned with what he was about to hear.

When they entered the room, Nojiko and Sanji were laughing. Nami’s eyes zeroed in on the photo album, trust her sister to do this in her absence. “Nojiko!” Nami said, outraged.

Nojiko didn’t grace her with a response, just heartily laughed and quickly flicked to an embarrassing baby photo before Nami snatched the album away.

“Nami, you were such a cute baby!” Sanji sang teasingly.

Nami puffed her cheeks, pouting and refusing to look at the pair. Sanji wrapped his arms around her shoulders, attempting to calm her down and only doing the opposite.

Genzo looked on at the scene fondly. He hadn’t heard a great deal of laughter in this house for a while. Nojiko was happy, of course, but not like this and as for Nami. Well. She’d been gone for years and after their Mothers death, she’d barely ever smiled, let alone laughed. Yet here she was, head now thrown back, seemingly laughing at something Sanji had said.

He sighed to himself. This man made her happy, huh?

Their laughter subsided and Nojiko was soon asking a question. “I asked Sanji, but he gave such a boring answer.” Nojiko whined. “You live in the city where the superhero’s Black Cat and Stealth Black also live, you must have some sort of gossip?”

Nami stiffened, not expecting it to be brought up this way. Now she understood. Poor Sanji, having the navigate that alone. She’d told him before coming here that her family didn’t know but she was toying with telling them, if he was okay with that. He’d said to do whatever felt right. She looked at Sanji and he was looking at her apprehensively, but he shrugged. Okay, so that meant it was her call.

That didn’t stop her from toying with them. “Well, I suppose I might have something good for you.” She took a pause, making Nojiko crane in with bated breath. Even Genzo was, poorly, trying to disguise his interest.

“I’m Black Cat.” She announced, grinning broadly.

Nojiko and Genzo gaped at her, trying to process what she’d just said. Their reactions differed after that. Nojiko threw her head back, laughing and Genzo looked horrified.

“Trust you to do something like that!” Nojiko exclaimed.

“You’re what?!” Genzo challenged, not believing his ears and proceeding to having a meltdown.

Gleefully, Nojiko turned to Sanji. “And that means you’re Stealth Black. So this is true then.” She produced a gossip magazine from the pile of papers on the table, laying it in front of them so they could see the headline.

Black Cat and Stealth Black spotted gazing into each other’s eyes, is this the confirmation that they’re dating?

Nami snorted, she hadn’t seen this one yet. How desperate were they? The photo the trashy gossip magazine had used was the both of them facing each other and talking after they’d rounded up the last criminal. Nothing romantic there at all.

Well, it probably looked romantic to the untrained eye, Sanji did give his full attention to her whenever she spoke and it could be intense, but they didn’t know how much deeper it actually went. Not that she was complaining, for the most part, Nami had never had a boyfriend that paid her so much attention.

Nami and Sanji had discussed whether Black Cat and Stealth Black should reveal themselves as a couple but had decided to postpone it for the time being. They were just starting a relationship themselves and whilst their civilian identities weren’t famous, the timing would be so close, they didn’t want to run the risk of anyone connecting the dots. Rumours flew around like lightening in that city.

It didn’t stop Nami from teasing them, of course. Letting her hand linger on Stealth Black a fraction too long or standing a bit too close and he definitely didn’t complain. Kept her admirers at bay for the time being too.

“How’s that for some inside gossip-”

“You’re parading about in- in that?!” Genzo exclaimed, interrupting Nami and pointing at the magazine accusingly. His daughter, in that suit, in front of all those men in the city.

A thought suddenly occurred to Nojiko, whilst Nami was shrugging at Genzo and attempting to wave him off. “Wait, didn’t you guys just take down the Arlong gang?”

The room went silent after Nojiko’s question.

Any joviality from Nami’s previous announcement died down to be replaced by a heavy atmosphere, as the weight of what Nami had done settled in.

Nami gritted her teeth, refusing to look at anyone. She knew what their expressions would be; sympathy, grief and hurt for her. For what she’d had to go through to achieve this goal.

Looking her Mother’s killer in the eye and pretending everything was okay; her tormenter and the man that ruined their lives. All alone. She closed her eyes, pushing out those thoughts.

Genzo looked troubled and his heart broke. When she’d left, he’d wanted her to live again. Yet she’d done the exact opposite. “That’s what you’ve been doing,” he croaked, piecing everything together. “The money… that’s where it’s from, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

That single answer was deafening, in the eerily silent room.

Nojiko approached Nami, not saying a word as she wrapped her up in a hug. Tears were streaming from Nojiko’s eyes and Genzo joined them, wrapping his arms around both of his daughters. Even his eyes were misty.

Sanji was content to hang back and let the small family have this moment together, it wasn’t his place to get involved. He was proved wrong though when Genzo pulled back, extending his arm in invitation for Sanji to join them. Still surprised, Sanji walked over to stand on the opposite side and cocoon the two sisters in the centre.

Genzo’s hand came to rest on Sanji’s arm.

Sanji stirred, his hand searching for the warm body that should be next to him and found himself alone. Funny, this hadn’t happened since she’d stayed the night as Black Cat, she’d never had a reason since then to leave without him. He laid there, thinking about how much had changed and could only smile. She was the best thing that’d ever happened to him.

Finding himself now fully awake, he rolled on his to see what the time was. 5.03am bleared at him from the alarm clock. Whilst he wasn’t concerned at first, he was now. He’d just suspected she might be with her sister, but even Nojiko wouldn’t be awake at this time.

Quietly, he got dressed and left the house. The last thing he wanted was Genzo asking questions, technically Nami shouldn’t have been with him and the older man would query that.

When sleeping arrangements had been mentioned, Genzo had made a fuss about Sanji taking the spare room at his house. It was one of those moments where Genzo wouldn’t give, stubbornly looking back at Nami. She’d relented with a huff, muttering about what a prude he was.

That didn’t stop her from sneaking through the window into Sanji’s room later that night when Genzo had gone to bed. Sanji had sniggered, even Genzo should know better by now.

Although odd, he suspected that she’d be at Nojiko’s and if she was, he’d more than happily give her the time with her sister, he just wanted to make sure she was okay. Nami liked to get up early, but this was extreme for her.

Hands in pockets, he strolled through the quiet village, a stark contrast to the daytime. It was relatively small, but the people were boisterous and busy. He could see why she was so fond of them all, they’d been more than welcoming towards him and were absolutely thrilled to see her.

It was a short walk, he was in front of Nojiko’s house and he could see the orange trees swaying in the gentle breeze when a noise piqued his interest. He was stuck between continuing on but also checking what that could be. Life in the city as a superhero had ruined him as he changed directions, now walking down a little dirt path shrouded by trees. He became alarmed when he could hear someone… were they crying?

The dirt path opened up, the trees now behind him and a vibrant field in front of him. The field cut off at the end to make a cliff edge overlooking the sea and whilst it should be picturesque, what he saw made his stomach drop and heart break. The dirt path continued onwards, cutting through the fields and at the end was a wooden cross with Nami sitting in front of it.

Her back was to him, but he’d be able to recognise her orange hair anywhere. Her shoulders were shaking, and he could hear her sobbing.

That was what he’d heard before.

Sanji had always known this would happen, whether it was here or back in the city. When she’d said she was going to visit her village, he’d kept an eye on her. Since Arlong had been taken down, she hadn’t shed a single tear. Not in grief or relief. He’d wondered if maybe she’d done it when she was alone or perhaps this had been processed when she was younger. But then, to come face to face with your mother’s killer was surely going to bring something up. He’d been as supportive as he could without pushing for anything, letting her go through the motions at her own pace and this was it.

Well, she wasn’t going to do it alone.

Strolling towards her, he sat down next to her. He didn’t say a word, but she did jump and tried to hastily wipe her face.

“O-oh, Sanji. How did you find me?” Her voice cracked halfway through, desperately trying to compose herself.

“Tell me about Bell-mère.” It wasn’t a question and he wasn’t expecting a response, but he didn’t want her to think she had to stop mourning just because he was here.

Nami had tried to keep it together when he appeared, tears still streaming down her face, but no sound came out. When Sanji said her mother’s name, she couldn’t stop the sob escaping her mouth. She was done trying to be strong.

“She-she was so-,” Nami choked out, her chin trembling and hands dragging down her face, “She was so young.” She wailed. That was all she could manage as her body shook and another onslaught of tears started.

Sanji could feel his eyes starting to well up as the woman next to him became distraught. He felt no shame as they started to track down his face and he joined Nami in mourning, what he imagined, was an amazing woman.

Seeing him crying as well, just seemed to encourage the hot tears to multiply and streak down her cheeks. Her head came to rest on Sanji’s shoulder and that’s all he needed for his arms to wrap around her, pulling her to him. She didn’t hesitate as she sat up, shuffling towards him as his arms guided her into his lap. She curled herself up in his arms, tucking her head under his chin as his cheek came to rest against top of her head.

Fully cocooned in Sanji’s arms, they both wept in front of the cross. For Bell-mère’s shortened life, for Nami’s lost youth and for a family torn apart by tragedy.

Laughter filled the air as Nami finished telling him about a story from her childhood, where Bell-mère would make Genzo flustered to distract him from scolding her. It helped Sanji understand why Genzo was so prudish, he always had been and by the sounds of it, living with these three women didn’t help.

Once Nami and Sanji’s tears had slowed, they’d stayed sat in front of Bell-mère’s cross, enjoying the silence until she’d broken it by reminiscing. The pain was still there, and she knew it always would be. But she hadn’t allowed herself to think about her memories with Bell-mère before today, instead she’d used her image to drive herself forward; too focused on Arlong.

It was nice to think about her again. Her heart ached in sorrow but also in joy for the time she did have with her.

Sanji had sat quietly, listening and laughing with her. Asking questions and soaking in every bit of information she gave him. Her eyes were puffy and red, face drawn but there was beauty in this vulnerability that she hadn’t ever shown him before today. She was beautiful. He wanted to burn this moment in his mind forever.

Unbeknownst to Sanji, Nami was having similar thoughts. She was horrified when he’d arrived at first, for him to see her so weak but now she felt stronger. More connected to him. He knew when to be silent, when to squeeze her just that bit tighter and when to speak. She was thankful to have him.

He was looking out at the sea when she turned her attention to him, a quiet, comfortable lull settling between them and it was in that moment that she realised she was in love with him. She’d felt this before, but it hit her so abruptly in that moment that it couldn’t be overlooked. The quiet letting it sneak up on her. Now wasn’t the time to tell him, but it made her feel content.

Feeling eyes on his face, he turned towards her. “Hi.” He said, bashfully when he saw the look on her face. He’d never seen her look at him like that before.

“Hi.” She replied softly. “Thank you, I really needed that.”

His hands rubbed along her bare arms. “You don’t have to thank me, I wanted to be there for you and I really enjoyed hearing about your childhood.”

Maybe it was the sound of the ocean making her feel at peace, being in front of her mother or her newly realised love for him, but she continued to share unprompted. Perhaps it was all three. “I haven’t dealt with my grief for Bell-mère very well. I remember crying when she died but I never did again after that, until today.” She paused, thinking about the last couple of years.

Sanji nodded, running his hand up and down her arm soothingly.

“I know you caught what everyone has been saying to me. Because I wasn’t coping, I did the only thing I could think of, I left- to avoid having to deal with… all of this.”

“How long have you been gone?” He asked, quietly, not wanting to ruin this moment.

“I got a part time job when I was 16 and completed my A-levels and university degree in different cities… but- it wasn’t enough.” Her eyes clenched. “To think he was out there, doing this to other people and parading around, scot-free, after what he’d done to her.” Memories started to flick through her mind, unwanted memories of the worst day of her life. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“And you haven’t been back since?”

“I couldn’t. I needed to do this.”

“You’ve been gone so long.” He felt sad. Sad for her youth and what little she actually had of it, not only the grief she’d carried with her but shouldering this. He’d never imagined it was so long.

She shrugged. “It was my choice. I called and sent letters.”

He squeezed her and she continued. “I moved around a lot after university, but it was difficult because he’d gone underground. I had my big break when I moved to the city. Usopp and Robin helped a lot and honestly, I don’t think I could have done it without them.”

There was a lot to take in, but his instant reaction was sorrow. His heart ached for her and he wondered if it would ever not after this. There was nothing he could say though, nothing would make it better for her. He still tried though. “I’m just so sorry-”

“Don’t be. Whatever you’re about to be, don’t.” She interrupted softly. “Out of all this has come Luffy, Zoro and everyone, but most importantly you. My life’s good now and that’s what I live for.” And it was true. She’d thought this a lot lately but everything bad that had happened seemed to finally fruit some good news.

“That’s a lovely way to think about it. I’m thankful to have you in my life too.”

They lulled back into silence, enjoying the sound of the waves and the soft breeze.

Nami looked back up at Sanji, the morning sun rising, making his blonde hair bright like the sun and eyes blue as the ocean. He fussed over her a lot but sometimes she wondered if he realised just how handsome he was. From his thick hair to chiselled jaw, it’s a wonder he wasn’t snagged up before she came along. Perhaps fate was on her side after all.

He boyishly smiled at her and in that moment, her brain ignored all filters it possessed, and she blurted out, “Why haven’t we had sex yet?”

The smile melted off of his face and she felt Sanji go rigid underneath her. For a brief second, she wondered if his eyes would pop out of his sockets and hair stand up from the shock.

“ah- uuuh, what?” He asked, desperately trying to compose himself. He’d heard her alright, but he just needed a second.

“Well, you always seem to want to when it leads that way but then you pull away, I’m just a bit confused. I mean, if you want to wait that’s fine! No pressure. I’d just like us to be on the same page.” She could feel heat on her cheeks, but she imagined it was nothing compared to Sanji’s face. His was rivalling a tomato at this point.

He couldn’t be surprised with her asking. When they’d gotten heated the last couple of times, he’d seen the look on her face and knew she was beginning to wonder. “You’ve been through a lot recently and I wanted to give you time-”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve given enough indication that I’ve wanted to.” She pressed

He wasn’t sure how to phrase this, but he sighed, knowing she’d see through anything else. “I didn’t want you to regret it at first, because we’d just dealt with Arlong and I knew you probably wouldn’t be in the right place. I kept telling myself that and then I just freaked myself out the longer I waited. I mean, I built it up more and more, so yeah.” He finished with a shrug, feeling self-conscious.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, squeezing him and she laughed lightly, relieved. Pulling away, she cupped his face in between her hands, “You ridiculous man,” and pulled him in to kiss him. “It’s us, we’re a team, we’ll be fine whatever’s thrown our way.”

“A team on and off the field, huh?”

“Exactly.” She said before pulling him back into a kiss.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be having this conversation in front of Bell-mère’s grave?” He was suddenly aware of where they were having this conversation.

Nami laughed, completely forgetting where they were when she’d blurted out her question. “She’d be lecturing us both for taking so long, especially you, denying her darling daughter.” She winked, teasing him.

He turned to the grave, bowing his head. “I’m sorry Bell-mère, your beautiful daughter will be denied this,” his free hand waving down his body, “for another week.”

Snorting, she shoved his shoulder and he laughed. “Too right, Genzo’s getting old, we don’t want to finish him off.”

Packing the last bit of clothing, Nami couldn’t help but feel sad. Their time visiting her village had gone incredibly quickly but it’d been great. She’d tended to Bell-mère’s grove with Nojiko, spent some time with the young children in the village with Genzo and cooked with Sanji for her family.

But she wouldn’t miss it too much, the city was calling out to her.

Sanji was putting the last of their luggage in his car, as Nojiko wrapped her up in a tight hug. “Don’t be a stranger.”

“Maybe you can visit us, stop being such a hick and join us city dwellers.”

Nojiko laughed, “Temporarily perhaps, but I like small living.”

Meanwhile Genzo had walked over to Sanji to speak to him. They were out of earshot so Nami couldn’t overhear but based on their faces, it was a serious conversation. Since their initial meeting, Genzo had warmed up to Sanji, considerably thank god. Nami didn’t need that for their week here.

“I approve, just so you know.” Nojiko smirked.

Nami rolled her eyes, about to make a smart comment but Genzo and Sanji had finished saying their goodbyes with a handshake before making their way over to the sisters.

Soon they were both walking towards Sanji’s car, turning around to throw in a wave whilst they still could.

Nojiko’s voice boomed, cutting through the peaceful afternoon air, “Next time I see you, I want a ring on your finger or at least a little Nami or Sanji in the oven.”

Both Nami and Sanji spluttered, whipping around to face a smug Nojiko. Genzo was equally flustered next to Nojiko.

“I’m too young for that!” Nami choked out, shaking her fist in the air and trying to stamp down the blush. Sanji was losing his battle, stuck between flustered and delighted, no doubt at the thought of an adorable little Nami.

“Ignore her, she likes to tease, and she’s got a lot to make up for.” Nami said to Sanji.

His hand reached out to hold hers. “It’s a nice thought. Not for now, but the future perhaps.” He kissed her hand and opened the car door for her. She was too stunned to reply and thanked him as she entered the car, the door closing behind her.

They’d driven back in a comfortable silence and Nami watched as vast green fields soon started to turn into houses, train tracks and skyscrapers the closer they got to the city.

Making their way through the city towards Sanji’s apartment, they noticed a lot of police sirens going past them every few minutes. They both looked at each other concerned but were interrupted when Sanji’s phone went off.

“Could you get that please Nami?” Sanji asked, eyes still on the road.

Leaning into the backseat for his jacket, she fished around and just as she grabbed the phone, it started to ring. Looking down Zoro’s name was lighting up, she frowned, that couldn’t be good.

“Zoro? What’s up?” Sanji looked at her questioningly, Zoro hardly ever called him.

“Hey, are you back yet?” He asked calmly, ignoring what she’d said. She could hear Luffy in the background shouting obnoxiously and trying to take the phone from Zoro to speak to her. Zoro sounded like he had his hands full.

“Yeah, we’re just driving through the city. Why are there so many police sirens about?”

“There’s a hostage situation downtown. We’ll probably need your help.” He still sounded so calm; how did he do that? Perhaps all the time spent on the force.

“How did this happen!?” Sanji threw her an alarmed look as she raised her voice.

“No time to explain, I have to go.” And just like that, he hung up.

Turning to Sanji, she quickly relayed what little information she’d received, and he was warning her to brace herself as he put his foot on the accelerator to speed towards his apartment.

Bursting through the doors, their luggage abandoned in his car for the time being and trying to find their suits.

“Sanji, please tell me I left a suit here!?” She didn’t want to think about having to make a trip to her apartment right now, considering the situation.

“I picked it up from Usopp last week with the repairs he’d made to it, it’s in the safe, 0307.” He rushed out, going into his room to change into his suit. “You’re clima-tact’s in there too.”

If they weren’t against the clock, she’d probably tease him for using her birthday as the combination but secretly she was touched.

A few minutes later, she left his office, clipping on her belt and was surprised to see Stealth Black already at the door. “And here I thought I was quick; how do you do that?” It was sweet he hadn’t rushed her.

He followed her to the window, checking for anyone around. “Trade secret. When we have some time, maybe I’ll show you.”

She pouted but held on when his arm came to wrap around her waist. Not moments later and they were soaring through the city.

They landed with a bang on a police car outside the bank. Black Cat sniggered when a few officers almost jumped out of their skin, but they all turned their head around to look at the new additions. She could see Zoro and Luffy off to the side, she tried not to look directly at them but almost laughed when she saw Zoro smack Luffy’s hand down when he tried to wave to her.

“What’s the situation?” Stealth Black asked an officer in front of them, diving straight into the matter.

“What’s she doing here?” The officer sneered back, jabbing an accusing finger at her.

Stealth Black started to rile, and she knew that would lead nowhere helpful. She put a hand to his chest and looked towards a different officer. “Well? We’re against the clock here.”

He looked hesitant but answered her. “A lot has happened in your absence. One of the guys you handed in last week was chatty and told us there’s a new leader in Arlong’s place. His name’s Hody Jones. We stopped a van that we’d been warned about and he was in there too. A shoot out started, and they ran into the bank. They’re been in there for 30 minutes; we’re waiting for the negotiation team.”

Black Cat could kick herself. They’d been off relaxing for a week and there was a huge lead that had now led to a dangerous hostage situation. “Do you know how dangerous Hody is?” She’d only heard of him, when Arlong was about he was a small fry, not even worth mentioning. This development was surprising, but if he’s taken any drugs, it might be a different matter.

“As far as we know, not very. Not smart though, to be moving around in the open.” The officer replied back.

“Anyone dead?” Stealth Black asked.

The officer shook his head. “Not yet, or that we know of. We suspect some are probably injured.”

Black Cat was thinking whilst they spoke, trying to strategize how to resolve this with minimum damage. “At least they’re not organized, probably trying to think about what they’re going to do now. We could probably use this to our advantage.” She looked at Stealth Black.

He nodded back at her, now thinking about how to move forward. “Have you got floor plans of the bank yet or know the layout well?”

The snotty officer from the start spoke up. “And have a thief go into an unguarded bank?”

He was ignored.

Another officer stepped forward, nodding and giving them the layout of the bank, drawing rough illustrations in her notebook.

“Stealth, we can use the door on the roof to get in. They’re not prepared, they may not even know it’s there. They’re probably not even expecting us.”

He nodded. “Do we know how many there are?” Asking the officers in front of him.

“There’s probably 6 or 7. Definitely under 10.”

“Okay, leave it to us then. We’ll get hostages out alive.” Black Cat said, her arm wrapping around Stealth Black as he got ready to launch them to the roof of the bank.

Another voice interrupted them before they could. “Why are we relying on a criminal?” The snotty officer again.

Okay, he was getting on her nerves now.

Before either of them could say anything, Zoro was storming over to grab him by the front of his shirt. “Quit your whining. They’re about to go in there and take direct fire, do you want to do that? Are you bullet proof?” He pushed to officer away and turned towards the pair. “We’ll back you up where we can. Take this and keep in communication.” He said, handing them a walkie talkie.

Black Cat clipped it into her belt and smiled at him. A few officers wishing them good luck as they took off. Seemed a few of them were coming around, at least.

Landing on the roof, Black Cat was prepared to move away when Stealth Black tightened his grip on her, his hand moving from her waist down to rub along her rear.

“Did you really just cop a feel?” She asked in incredulously, as he let her go.

“Perks of the job.” He leered down at her, acting like it should be common knowledge.

It was amusing how even in such a tense situation; he was ready to try and lighten the mood. With that reasoning in mind, she let him get away with it.

Bending over the roof, she tentatively looked through the glass skylight to the second floor.

Behind her, Stealth cocked his head looking over the form in front of him, and murmured to himself, “Definitely a perk.”

“I heard that. You’ve had your look, pay attention now.”

He joined her looking through the skylight, they were silent for a second as they observed. “I know you’re blaming yourself. I could see it on your face. We have to live as well.”

“It’s just that-”

“I know, believe me. But we’re only human, we have to rely on the police sometimes.”

She knew he was right. Even she knew it deep down. They were only two people.

Shaking any other thoughts, they both discussed their next move; pointing out rooms on the second floor they’d need to clear and the staircase they could see leading to the first floor. They both agreed invisibility would be key for this, whilst they were still undetected. As soon as hostages were involved, they’d go visible to take the attention.

“We need to speak to Usopp and Franky about bullet proofing you’re suit.” Stealth Black said, his eyes skimming her suit in concern.

“I’m pretty quick on my feet,” she joked but he didn’t look convinced when she looked at him. “But really, don’t worry. We’ve done worse.”

Stealth Black took the lead, after Black Cat had picked the lock on the roof door leading to the second floor. They were slowly sweeping through the second floor, using the heat tracking in their glasses to see if there was anyone in the rooms. Just as they thought, unorganized, everyone was on the first floor.

They were reminded to not be overconfident when they heard footsteps coming closer behind them. They just managed to dodge out of the way, pressing tightly against the corridor walls as one of the hostage-takers walked past them.

Clearly, they were starting to get their bearings if they’d sent someone to sweep the building. However, this was a great chance for them to pick off one of them.

Black Cat extended her clima-tact, electrocuting the man upon contact and Stealth Black was there to catch him before he hit the ground and alerted the others. They tied and gagged him, leaving him in one of the rooms.

Moving down the staircase at the side, they were met with an empty front room. There was clearly panic when the hostage-takers had moved in, chairs thrown, plants tipped over and, by the looks of it, guns fired. Hopefully they were just warning shots. Like they’d suspected, hostages were taken behind the cashier desks, into the large space behind. The officer outside had been correct, with the guy upstairs, there was only seven in total. Black Cat recognised one of them to be Hody Jones and pointed this out to Stealth Black.

“We need a distraction.” Black Cat whispered to Stealth Black. “Draw them apart.”

“Good call, it’d be safer like that.” He pondered. “For once I actually want one of Luffy and Usopp’s toys.”

“Stealth! You genius.” She was turning him around, rummaging through the compartments of his belt. “Luffy is always playing with your belt when he’s around, he must have crammed something in here… and here it is.” Triumphantly, she held up a small wind-up toy Usopp had made of, funnily enough, Stealth Black himself.

“For once, I’m thankful for his snooping about. I’ll go set it off, deal with them and come back.”

“I should come with you for backup.”

“One of us needs to stay here, in case they catch on. We can’t have them shooting hostages.”

“Okay, that makes sense. I’ll move closer in case.” She only wished she could see their faces when the hostage-takers found that small toy and then found the real version.

Moments later and everyone was freezing as a sound erupted from the second floor. The hostage-takers all looking at each other.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“Shit, is someone else in here? Another questioned. “Where is Tom, by the way?”

“Maybe it’s him? He is doing a parameter?”

“And he’s been at least 10 minutes, the building isn’t that big… you don’t think- y’know…”

“Nah, can’t be. They haven’t been active all week.”

“They have to come back some time.”

“Right, I’ll go check, you two come with me. Everyone be on guard until we’re sure what it is.”

Hm, so they were clever and somewhat organised. Wouldn’t matter though, Black Cat thought to herself, moving along the length of the cashier desks to manoeuvre behind the hostage-takers and hopefully get the attention of a hostage. When half of them ran up the stairs to the second floor, she became visible and peered around the corner, successfully making eye contact with a hostage. She signalled to move to the other side of the room, but they made the mistake of nodding.

“What the fuck are you nodding at?” One of the hostage-takers asked hotly, already paranoid and looked in that direction but found nothing. He started to walk over; gun raised.

He was just at the counter when there were thumps coming from upstairs, thumps that sounded like bodies being thrown around. She pinched the bridge of her nose but flicked her clima-tact and watched as fog started to erupt from it.

“Oh shit. Oh shit. They’re fucking here.” One of them screamed, panicked. “Grab one of the hostages.”

“Move to the back of the room, now.” Black Cat yelled and she vaulted over the cashier desk, clima-tact spinning between her fingers to deflect bullets as they started to fire at her.

The hostages scrambled to the far end of the room.

And chaos erupted.

Black Cat couldn’t get an opening to properly take any of them down. There was only three of them, but they were either trying to hit her or grab a hostage, so they could bargain their escape. She was having to play offence and defence.

A game she couldn’t keep up with when one of them finally clocked her across the cheek and whilst she was stunned, they managed to trip her. The next moment she found a gun in her face.

“You’ll make a nice hostage. Now, where’s Stealth Black?”

“I’m offended, I’m not enough?” Black Cat said, in faux hurt, pouting at the man in front of her. “That’s quite rude.” She kicked her leg up, knocking the gun out of his hand and as the man in front of her dived to try reclaiming the gun, he was stopped by an invisible wall.

Slowly the invisibility faded, and Stealth Black was revealed.

Fuming, Stealth Black shoved the man back and kicked him sharply, sending him into the wall across the room. Turning around, Stealth Black looked to where Black Cat was, but she was gone, already dealing with the two men left before they did anything to the hostages.

“Black Cat, get the hostages out; I’ll deal with them.” He called to her and she nodded, falling back to the hostages.

Running over to them, their faces turned from fear to sheer relief as the situation was becoming less dangerous. “Can everyone walk okay?” Black Cat’s eyes scanning across them, looking for any injuries. They all nodded. “Good, everyone up and let’s go.”

Although the coast was clear, it didn’t hurt to be cautious considering she didn’t know whether Stealth had time to bound everyone upstairs. A normal person wouldn’t get up from a kick of his, but she liked to be sure. At the door, she was ushering out people, reminding them to be quick when they kept stopping, trying to thank her.

She went still as a voice behind her spoke. “You’ve fucked everything up. First with Arlong, then tipping off the police about our vans and now this.” He spat. “Your dead body will be payment enough.”

A gun clicked behind her and the remaining people left inside the building was scrambling away, screaming.

Across the room, Stealth Black stilled at the voice. Finishing off the guy in front of him he turned and felt dread fill his stomach. Black Cat was now on her knees, arms up, with a gun behind her head. And the guy behind her was someone he had finished off upstairs, one of the tougher ones he had a problem with.

Hody Jones.

He knew he should have bound them, but he wanted to get back to her. He could kick himself.

He was about to take off across the room when someone caught his eye behind Hody. Looking back at him was a familiar set of amber eyes, mischief dancing across them. He let out a sigh of relief and instead started to run towards the hostages left.

When the gunshot went off, Black Cat’s image faded away and Stealth Black had huddled the remaining hostages in front of him, using his cape to deflect any other gunshots.

Hody was confused as the woman in front of him faded away but didn’t have a moment to respond as Black Cat jumped behind him, her arms hooking around his shoulders and throwing her legs around to use the momentum to knock him to the floor. She kicked the gun away. Hody was quick to recover, his hand grabbing her ankle to take her to the floor to join him. He was over her in the next instant and she managed to block his fist aiming for her face just in time. Although she blocked it, he hit hard, her arms dully throbbing, and she was starting to wonder if he’d taken the drugs.

Hody didn’t get the chance to attempt to hit her again as a foot hooked into his side, kicking him off Black Cat.

“Are you okay?” Stealth Black asked, his hand extended to her to take but his eyes remained on Hody Jones. He wouldn’t take any risks right now.

She accepted the hand, standing next to him. “I think he’s taken the drug.”

He nodded. “I think so too. He’s the only one from upstairs to get back up.”

Hody started to hack as he got up and blindly ran at them. It appeared he wasn’t as skilled as Arlong and the drug wasn’t nearly as effective. He swung for Stealth Black, but he flipped back, leaving an opening for Black Cat to hit Hody with her clima-tact.

Their time working together had paid off, they fought off Hody in sync. One of them would create an opening for the other to land a hit and vice versa. Hody managed to throw them off a few times but it was quickly over when Stealth Black delivered a powerful kick into Hody’s chest, sending him flying over to the lightning strike Black Cat had set up.

“You should walk out with him, it’ll help.” Stealth Black said, both of them stand over Hody Jone’s battered and blackened body.

“You’re overthinking this.”

Clapping and cheering filled the air as they exited through doors of the bank onto the street, Hody in handcuffs in between Black Cat and Stealth Black. Police moved past them into the bank, to round up the others left inside and take them into custody.

She wasn’t sure how to react. Considering the bad press and hostility she was usually met with; this was a breath of fresh air. A group of children with black cat ears came running up to her, screaming her name and asking her to sign pictures or have photos with her. She must have looked shocked because Stealth put his hand on her back to gently push her towards them and nodded, trying to reassure her.

Bending down, she cooed and awed at their costumes whilst photos were being taken by the press all around her, trying to ask her questions. It was a bit uncomfortable but as the children chattered at her, it was easy enough to ignore. She looked around and Stealth Black was with the police, handing over Hody Jones and most likely debriefing them.

A loud ruckus caused her to divert her attention and she had to supress a shudder at the sight. She’d met this… fan, before. He was… passionate… to say the least, and that was being kind. Whilst she appreciated the backing, in all honesty, he gave her the creeps. With all these camera’s around, she’d have to be polite.

“Black Cat, Black Cat! Do you remember me?” He called, pushing past people to get to her.

“Ah… uh, yes. Zap, right?”

“Yes!” He screeched. “Well actually, it’s Zappa, but you’re so close! You really remember me!”

“How could I forget.” She deadpanned.

“Would you sign this? It’s new, I look at it day and night.” She would never understand how he managed to get such good photos of just her, she was normally with Stealth Black. Maybe he was good at photoshop. She dreaded to think what he actually did with these photos. “You’re a vision of beauty today, is that a new suit too?” He asked, leaning closer and closer, she actually had to tilt backwards to give herself some space.

A familiar hand wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her away and into a warm body. She let out a sigh of relief, knowing she was being bailed out. She didn’t miss the way Zappa’s face became agitated with the new presence, but then she imagined Stealth Black didn’t look much different. A glance up confirmed that. The two men glaring at each other and silently arguing.

“Oh, Zip, right?” Stealth Black said smugly, like he did when he taunts Zoro.

“It’s Zappa, actually! Or Zap, but that nickname is just for Black Cat to use isn’t it cute? She just gave it to me.”

Steam was virtually coming out of Stealth Black’s ears at this point, he always did get awfully jealous. She had no idea why, but he usually handled it fairly well. The tension between the two men was only getting thicker and thicker by the minute. She figured she might as well help out Stealth a bit, and maybe get Zappa off her back. With Stealth’s hand around her, she curled further into him, one arm coming up behind his back to rest on his shoulder and the other resting on his chest to get his attention.

Innocently, she asked, “What is it that you wanted by the way?” If Zappa looked agitated before, he looked downright foul now. Stealth, on the other hand, now looked like he was about to turn into a pile of goo.

He cleared his throat, trying to compose himself. “The press wanted to ask some questions, so I came to get you.”

Stealth Black led her away towards where the press was waiting, holding her hand. “You’re going to out us you know.”

He ignored that comment. “I hate that guy.”

“No, really? You hide it so well.”

He barked out a laugh. “I can’t help it, he’s just so overly familiar with you.”

“He definitely eggs you on too.” She leaned in closer to whisper to him, “But remember who gets to take me home.”

They came to a standstill as he stopped walking and gaped at her. She tugged him forward by their joined hands. “Come on, we don’t have time for that now. Can’t have the press saying I’m tardy too.”

They’d answered a few questions before handing over to the police to finish up. Both of them starting to fatigue, after dealing with criminals, zealous fans and then them. They’d nodded at Zoro and Luffy as they went past, giving a final wave to whoever was still around to see them before Stealth Black launched them skyward bound.

She’d never quite get used to that, she thought when they made it into the apartment, her hair no doubt a bird’s nest on her head. It must have been because Sanji came up to her and tried to smooth it down. She didn’t know whether he was doing a good job or not, but it was so relaxing having someone play with her hair. Her hands came up to rest on his chest but frowned when she felt something damp.

Looking at her hands, they were a brownish colour. “Sanji… are you bleeding?”

She felt him cringe and his hands left her hair. “I might be a little, but really, it’s just a graze.”

“We stayed that whole time afterwards and you’re bleeding?! Bathroom, now.”

She didn’t give him a chance to respond, his shoulders slumped as he followed behind her.

“Sit and take your shirt off.”

“You should take yours off,” he said, voice muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head and sat on the toilet lid.

“Maybe you can do that for me later.” Any previous anger dissolving as she took a look at wound. It really was just a graze.

Nami went to the cupboard over the sink and to grab the disinfectant and bandages. Normal people probably have skincare and other toiletries in their cupboards, but he had medical supplies in bulk, she should probably tell him Chopper would give him a good discount.

Walking back to him, he opened his legs for her to stand between and his hands came to settle heavily on her hips, pulling her in to stand as close as possible. There was a hazy look in his eyes. Knowing him he was now imagining her topless after her comment back to him. She rolled her eyes; he’s bleeding and that’s what he’s doing. He’d need that blood if that’s what he’s got in mind.

She set about disinfecting it and wrapping it. His breath was heavy against her collarbones and his gaze penetrating, it was taking everything she had to focus.

“How did this happen?” She asked as she worked, trying to distract herself.

“It was upstairs, I wasn’t quite quick enough when one of them starting shooting.”

“And you were worried about my suit being bulletproof.” She smirked down at him, she could joke about it now that she knew it wasn’t anything serious.

“The irony isn’t lost on me, m’love.” He squeezed her hips in retaliation but still looked just as amused as her.

She finished wrapping, bending down to kiss just above the bandages. “All done.”

“I’ve never had a personal nurse before.” Sanji stood back up to full height, leaning over Nami, his gaze intense.

“I’m not surprised, we are expensive.” She winked at him. “I’ll add this to your bill.”

“Worth every penny.” And his lips were diving in to capturing hers in a searing kiss; he couldn’t resist her anymore.

She didn’t waste any time in roaming her hands across his bare chest, the last time she’d had him topless was all those months ago when she’d stayed the night as Black Cat. His hands were pawing at her hips and he was slowly walking her backwards, only pulling away to breath before diving back in. She gasped when her back made contact with the tiles of his bathroom wall and he used the opportunity to sweep his tongue into her mouth. Her hands moved from his chest to around his back to press him closer, if that were even possible at this moment.

Sanji’s hands moved from her hips, one of them running from her behind, down her thigh to bring it against his hip. He repeated this and she jumped to make it easier, locking her legs around his waist. If she thought they were close before, they were even closer now as Nami could feel Sanji rubbing up against her through his trousers. They both moaned when she rolled her hips.

He panted into her neck and started placing kisses there, whilst her hands threaded through his hair. She was going to kill him if she kept wiggling her hips like that.

Her hands were pulling his face away from her neck. “Are we really doing this?” She panted out.

He took a second to organise his thoughts, willing his scrambled brain to piece together what she was asking. Nodding once he finally had, “Well, if you want to of course, I don’t-”

She interrupted him by pulling him into another long kiss that left his legs a bit weak. “We’re going to need a bed then.”

That’s all it took, and he was kissing her fiercely, whilst he moved them both through the apartment towards his bedroom. She was giggling along the way when he stumbled in his haste.

When he laid her down on the bed and hovered over her, he became nervous.

Sensing this, Nami’s hands ran along his arms, careful of the bandage, to rest on either side of his face and bring his ear near her lips. “You said something about taking my top off?”

All moisture had left his mouth and he almost wheezed. Off of the top of his head, that was probably the most erotic thing she’d ever said. Good god, this woman.

She kissed him again to distract him and his hands ran slowly along her sides, squeezing the side of her breast before finding their way to the zip. He slowly dragged it down and as more of her creamy skin became visible, he was painfully becoming aware of something else. “Are you not wearing a bra?”

Shaking her head, she attempted to look up at him innocently, even batting her lashes at him. “I never do.”

“Never?” He wheezed out. This was it. He was going to die. Happily.

She laughed and shook her head. He was such a lovable idiot and as hilarious as his reaction was, this was moving too slowly for her. She bucked her hips up and that seemed to bring him out of his daze.

Sanji’s hands resumed their previous job. He kissed down her neck, to her collarbone and, when he was done with the zip, he kissed the top of her breasts. He pulled the leather away from one of her breasts and teasingly avoided her nipple, kissing and licking around until Nami whined above him. Only then he took her nipple in his mouth and flicked it with his tongue, he was rewarded with the loveliest of moans from her. His other hand rubbing and squeezing the other neglected breast.

The way she was saying his name was heaven and ever since he’d started playing with her breasts, she’d started rubbing against his thigh. Just from that he could feel how warm she was, he could only imagine how wet she was.

“Sanji- mmm- more.”

As if he could ever deny her that. “I think it’s time to get rid of this.” His hands pulled at her leather suit. First, he unclipped her belt, throwing it to the floor.

The hard part was the suit. How on earth did she get this on so quickly? Whatever mood they’d created was quickly diminishing as he struggled. He’d just managed to get it off her upper body and that was hard enough, it didn’t help that he’d stopped to ogle her now free breasts. She’d nudged him to continue when she’d realised.

Boots were unzipped and joined her belt on the floor. It was the rest of her catsuit. Now he was trying to pull it from her legs, and he couldn’t blame the suit for wanting to stay, she had lovely legs, but he wanted to see them unclothed.

Nami didn’t help either, she was now laying down giggling at the sight. “Sorry- it’s- just, your face! And, well, this is so funny.” She managed to get out before fully laughing. This hadn’t crossed her mind when he’d suggested taking off her suit, but it was lovely that they could laugh whilst in the heat of the moment.

Sanji joined her, laughing at this ridiculous situation. She was propped on her elbows, cheeks red from laughing and half dressed, the leather of her suit stuck around her thighs. He imagined he didn’t look much better with one glove still on, no top and ruffled trousers. He couldn’t be any happier in this moment.

“How do you get into this thing?”

Once she’d stopped laughing, she responded. “Lots of practice. You’re more than welcome to help in the future.”

“I’ll help you get out of it.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal. Right, I’ll do this, you get out of your trousers.”

He was supposed to be taking off his trousers, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her. More skin being revealed by the second. His eyes bulged when she took off her thong and shot it at him to get him moving. Trousers and briefs were off in record time after that.

Nami crooked her finger at him and slowly opened her legs for him, inviting him in. As desperate as he was to join her again, he had to take a moment to take all of her in. His eyes scanned up her body, lingering along the way to finish at her face where she was giving him a smouldering look and biting her lip. Okay. This had to be the most erotic thing she’d ever done.

He had to remind himself not to pass out.

Resisting the urge to dive back in, he took his time working his way up her body. Kissing up her thighs and teasingly lingering before moving on to leaving open mouthed kisses on her hip bones and listening to her breath in sharply. He ghosted his lips along her stomach, and she whined at the lack of pressure, arching her back but he didn’t give in, continuing to follow the path between her breasts up to her ear.

“You make the sexiest noises,” he whispered into her ear, placing a kiss just underneath and she shuddered in pleasure. “I’m going to make sure I get every moan from you.”

She kissed him firmly, eager for him to follow through and her hands began roaming down his back, greedily taking in his muscles.

Sanji’s hands slowly moved back down her body, retracing his previous path, caressing and making her gasp until his hand arrived at the intended destination. His fingers played with her lips before running along her slit. He groaned when he felt how wet she was.

Being a professional chef was really paying off for Nami, she knew he had talented hands from watching him cook but he was demonstrating that right now as he stroked her. They’d stopped kissing, their faces still close as their breaths mingled with each other. Sanji was focusing on bringing her all the pleasure he could and Nami didn’t know what to do with herself, moans tumbling out of her mouth.

Continuing to stroke her, Sanji moved down, kissing a path past her breasts, down her stomach until he was reunited with his fingers. He looked up and Nami was looking down at him biting her lips with hazy amber eyes. He smirked up at her before his tongue made contact with her.

She threw her head back when his tongue played with her nub and she moved her hips in rhythm with him, when his fingers entered her. She could feel heat starting to build in her stomach as his pace picked up and as good as this was and he was, she wanted something else right now.

Pushing back on his shoulder he looked up at her worriedly, “Is something wrong?”

“No, no but, can we- you know-” how old was she? Why couldn’t she just spit out the words. She took a breath in to compose herself. “I want you in me.”

Sanji stilled and even his imagination was nothing compared to her actually saying it to him in real life. He climbed back up her body and gave her a brief kiss before leaning over to his dresser to pull out a condom.

With shaky hands he tore it open and Nami’s hands joined him, smoothing over his hands to stop the shaking. She was smiling up at him, so sweetly that he couldn’t stop the smile crossing his face. He reminded himself in that moment that he knew her, they’d been through so much and this would be another thing they shared together.

He breathed out, relaxed at that thought. With the condom now on, he rested on his elbows over her. “You’re sure?”

She nodded back at him. “Are you?”

He mirrored her previous response. “If you want to stop at any time, just say.”

“You too.” Her hands cupped his cheeks and brought him into their softest kiss so far.

He lined himself up and slowly entered her, eyes scanning her face to make sure she was okay. It was a difficult task though, she tasted great but felt even better and he was trying to control himself from just pushing all the way in. He scattered kisses along her face and was graced with her giggling.

Fully settled in, he waited for her to make the next move. She gripped his shoulders and wiggled her hips, drawing a gasp from the both of them. He gave a tentative thrust and was rewarded with a moan, her legs wrapping around his waist to keep him locked in place.

The temperature in the room spiked and Sanji felt like he was going to melt. He was panting into her neck, she felt incredible. So wet and hot. Each thrust rewarded him with a wanton moan from Nami. Her cheeks were flushed, and hair splayed out on the pillows, her hands had moved from his shoulders to run up and down his back.

He pulled away from her neck to look at her face and he wanted to commit it to memory, the pleasure on her face was almost enough to push him over the edge. His pace started to pick up and he could feel himself almost at his end, but he was intent to get her there first. One of his hands moved to stroke down her leg, catching it behind the knee to lift it onto his shoulder and the reaction was instant.

She started to chant his name and her fingers digging into his back trying to anchor herself to something. The small shift had caused him to hit the right spot inside her and she couldn’t get enough of it. She could feel her stomach starting to coil and heat building, what tipped her over was when Sanji started to whisper into her ear about coming and how she felt. She should feel embarrassed but, in that moment, it was exactly what she needed.

Feeling her clench and pulse around him, her cries as she came, was all too much for him and he found himself quickly following after her. His hips bucking to prolong her ecstasy and for him to come.

It was a few moments later when he finally came too, realising he was probably crushing her and leaned back onto shaky forearms so he could look down at her. Her eyes were cracked open, still coming down from her high and he mentally congratulated himself at the blissed look on her face.

“Are you okay?” His forearms and back were begging him to lay down, but he wanted to check on her first.

She didn’t respond, just nodded and gave him a satisfied smile. That was all he needed to see as he laid down next to her, gathering her up to pull against his bare chest. It didn’t take long for her fingers to start dancing across his chest.

He could kick himself for waiting so long to take this step with her. There were very good reasons not to at first. He really did want to know her, and he did have cracked ribs but after that, he’d built it up so much he wasn’t quite sure how to get down from his unreachable expectations. But she was right, they were a team, and this had been better than he’d imagined.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt her shift in his arms, she rolled onto her front propping her chin on her hands over his chest. “Sanji, that was…” Lost for words on how to describe it.

“Amazing, fantastic, annoying that I’d held back for so long when we could have been doing this so much sooner?” His hands now played with the hair falling down her back.

“You forgot to add mind-blowing but that all sounds agreeable too.” And it was true. For all his hesitating, he’d more than made up for it and the longer she laid there, the more she wanted a second round.

“I’ll add it to the list.” Leaning down to press a kiss against her forehead and her eyelids fluttered closed. “You have your first day tomorrow, it’s still early, I can make dinner and I want to put some ice on your cheek.”

It’s wasn’t too sore, but she knew he was right, it wouldn’t be a great first impression to show up with a swollen cheek. She had other things in mind right now though. “Dinner sounds great, but,” she propped herself up and ran one hand teasingly down his chest, watching as goose bumps erupted on his skin, “you gave me such thorough attention earlier and right now, I want to repay the favour.” His eyes widened when her hands reached their intended destination and cupped him.

He recovered quickly. She felt him twitch in her hand and he pounced.

It was a while until they actually made it out of his bedroom but the lure of food and quickly diminishing time hurried them along.

After eating, they were both washing up, even though Sanji had tried to keep her away with the lure of wine and relaxing but she honestly didn’t mind helping. He washed anyway, she just dried.

He was draining the water from the bowel as she was drying the last plate, walking over to put it in the cupboard overhead. It wasn’t a moment later that he was pressing up against her from behind, his hands resting just below her breasts.

Something about her in a domestic setting just did it for him, especially the kitchen. He’d definitely need to take her in here at some point. He turned her around and pressed her up against the counter, lips hurriedly finding hers. It wasn’t long until she was hoping up on the counter and he quickly filled the space between her legs. Sanji’s lips moved from her lips to leave a scorching path down to her neck.

Nami was aware of where this was heading, and that time was getting on. “I’m going to need to sleep at my place tonight, my work stuff is all there for the morning.”

He nodded but didn’t let up from peppering kisses down her neck or caressing her breasts.

“You know- mmm-” letting out a moan when he paid attention to the sensitive area behind her ear. She lost herself for a second, her hands eagerly running through his hair to press him closer. She regained her thoughts when she felt him pressing against her, “- Robin’s not home toni, ah, tonight, maybe you can stay at mine?”

That got his attention. “Do you mind if I bring some clothes so I can go straight to work from yours?”

“Not at all, grab a bag and we can go. Then we can break in my bed.”

He left her with a kiss and took off across his apartment in haste.

Considering their previous evening, it still wasn’t enough for Sanji and in the morning Nami found herself having to bat his hands away when she tried to get up to get ready in the morning. He was definitely making up for lost time or he had a big sexual appetite. The second explanation wouldn’t be a bad thing. But one of them had to be responsible, otherwise they’d never make it out of the apartment.

Getting ready together was easier than she’d expected. She’d allowed him to shower with her, but only if he agreed to behave himself and he did, mostly. Soon enough they were both at the front door, gathering the last few pieces they both needed and Sanji was packing the lunch into her bag he’d made her.

Locking the front door, they walked out to the street and stopped to say their goodbyes, both heading in the opposite direction.

Sanji reached out to hold her hand. “Have a good day and maybe if you’re free I can see you after work?” He wanted to know all about her first day and, if she could come, he wanted to discuss something fairly big with her.

“I should be done by five, when do you finish?”

“I finished at five today too, we’ll see who makes it back to my place first.” He challenged, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“You know I can run in heels.” She reminded him, all too happy to give into the childish competition.

Shortly after they were saying their goodbyes, wishing each other a good day and parting with a kiss far too brief for Sanji’s liking.

Whatever nerves she’d had that morning had vanished when she’d met everybody in the team. They’d been so friendly and welcoming. They were just wrapping up a project, so she shadowed one of her colleagues in the morning and in the afternoon, they briefed her on their next project they’d be starting soon. To track the weather was a dream come true. And to think she got paid for this.

Now she was on her way to Sanji’s apartment and replying to a few texts from her friends she’d received throughout the day. They knew it was her first day and had been asking questions and wishing her luck. She was getting out the lift and walking towards Sanji’s door when she sent her last text to Robin. Considering she lived with the woman, she’d barely seen her, both of them involved with other people had taken up their time. Nami would have to arrange a girl’s night for them.

The door opened before she could knock. He’d beaten her home but not by much from the looks of it, suit jacket and tie still in place.

Eagerly he pulled her through the door and wrapped her up in a hug, welcoming her back. “Well?”

“It was great! Everybody was so nice, and the next project looks so interesting.”

They’d pulled apart and Sanji was leading her towards his living room to sit on the sofa. “I’m so pleased for you. Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

Ever the gentleman. But she nodded, asking for a tea and orange that her sister had given to her before leaving. Actually, she didn’t have many of them left. Nami wondered how much it would cost for her sister to ship them to her. Nothing beat the oranges from her grove.

Sanji came back with her tea in hand and orange, a newspaper tucked under his arm. He put them down onto the coffee table, moving around to sit next to her and slowly unfold the paper. “This might just add to your good mood, it certainly did mine.”

She looked on inquisitively as she was handed the newspaper.

Commissioner of Police officially drops investigation into Black Cat after successful hostage situation downtown.

Nami gaped down at the newspaper, barely believing the words staring back at her. She’d never expected this day to come. Her eyes continued scanning below the title.

This news follows after Arlong’s protégé, Hody Jones, was arrested by the superhero duo just yesterday. Black Cat has previously worked with Stealth Black to take down the illusive Arlong Gang, who were running criminal activity and producing body altering drugs.

She could feel tears starting to swim in her eyes but what finished her was the next sentence.

Multiple sources confirm that it was actually Black Cat who pursued Arlong, working undercover, and Stealth Black merely aided.

Sanji’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and he pressed a kiss into her temple, overjoyed for her. She was stuck between wanting to cry and sheer happiness. To not be affiliated with Arlong was a weight off of her shoulders, to not be linked with that vile man.

For people to know the truth.

“This really does add to my day.” They both leaned back on the sofa, basking in the news and Nami used the opportunity to start peeling her orange.

“You’re getting low on those.” He said softly, not wanted to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere that had settled over them.

It was sweet he’d noticed. “I was just thinking that myself. Between here and my apartment, I think I maybe have three left?” She’d made a point of spreading out her oranges when she’d gotten the chance, she spent so much time in between the two places.

Sanji stood, walking over to the door that lead to his outdoor balcony. “I had a thought earlier, and you definitely know more on this topic than me, but I was thinking you should use one of them to grow an orange tree.” He gestured to outside. “There’s more than enough space for it to grow out here and in the winter, we can just move it inside, just outside the balcony. I’ve been doing some research…”

She watched him as he continued to talk about growing an orange tree and explaining what he’d learned. Whilst it was a wonderful idea and she’d happily talk about this all day; the feeling was back. Just like it had been when he came to Bell-mère’s grave.

It came over her so quickly. For him to take the time and research this just to make her happy. All it took was a tree to push her over the edge.

“I love you.”

Whatever he’d been saying was cut short at her interruption. Did he just hear that right? That look on her face was back again. She’d directed that look at him a few times, but he could never figure it out.

It was so open and warm. And now it made sense, the final piece revealing itself.

It was love.

He didn’t bother to finish what he was saying. He strode over to her, leaning over her to cup her face and kiss her full on the lips, trying to pour all of his feelings into it. “I love you too. I think I’ve loved you ever since I first set eyes on you.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s just the leather suit talking.”

“Have you seen yourself in that suit? But I’m pretty sure I knew for certain the moment you swooped in and saved that boy.”

“I was having a good hair day, so I don’t blame you.” She teased, purposefully ignoring what he actually meant.

His hands came down to lightly tickle her sides in retaliation as he settled over whilst she squirmed underneath him. She screeched when he hit a particularly sensitive spot and as Sanji looked down at her, her eyes watering and crinkling from his ministrations, he couldn’t be any more in love with her.

It was true that he’d known for a while, but he never wanted to say it first. He’d wanted her to come to terms with it and have the freedom to say it whenever she wanted. Before Nami, he’d always been unlucky with love. Whatever relationship he had never lasted with his alter ego, he’d learnt the hard way that balance would always be an issue. But she made it so easy, almost like breathing. To have someone to share all of this with.

He could say with confidence that she was the love of his life.

He let up when her hands started to smack at his and she was breathing heavily. He laid down, moving her so she was resting on his chest and catching her breath, whilst one of his hands played with the exposed skin on her side.

The late afternoon light filtered through the room and Sanji had never been more content. He wanted this all the time.

Maybe now was the time to broach this.

“This is nice.”

Nami hummed back at him in agreement, her eyes closed. She almost looked like a cat stretched out, basking in the warmth, and the irony wasn’t lost on Sanji.

“I’ve also been thinking about something else, for a while now, and maybe I’m moving too fast- and this is completely your decision, I won’t be offended if you want to wait or-”

“Just say it.” Her chin now resting on his chest to look at him, aware that he wanted to discuss something. He was so considerate of her feelings, but he had a tendency to work himself up because of it.

“Move in with me.” He blurted out.

Her eyes widened, not expected that at all and when she went to speak, Sanji smoothly cut in.

“It doesn’t have to be right away, there’d be a lot to sort out. Like Robin, we can give her the time to find a new place or roommate- but I have a bigger place and it’s the same distance to work-”

She cut him off with a firm kiss. He was starting to ramble and as adorable as it was, she wanted to enjoy this moment with him. He followed after her when she pulled away, trying to prolong the kiss.

“I’d love to.”

Love is in the air! Hearts are broken around the city as the newly formed superhero duo Black Cat and Stealth Black are confirmed to be a couple.

Black Cat snorted as she read the magazine headline. Stealth had finally snapped when her fans had almost doubled after her investigation was dropped and she was announced as a superhero. They’d been waiting for her after their most recent gang takedown with all new photo’s, eager for her to sign with Zappa was right at the front. All rumours were put to rest when he’d kissed her square on the mouth, the camera’s flashing to get their front-page shot.

The rest of the crowd had gone crazy.

What still tripped her though was the superhero part. It’d jarred her a couple of times when newspapers used it and people, whether police or fans, used it in conjunction with her name.

She was pulled from her thoughts, when Stealth Black came up to her, wrapping his arm around her and asking if she was ready to go. The radio had just warned them about a highspeed car chase moving through the city.

As they soared through the city, the air rushing past them (no doubt tangling her hair) and wrapped around the man she was sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, she couldn’t help but think…

Yes, she was technically a superhero now and her life had finally found peace; but if a few jewels went missing along the way… well, old habits die hard.

--------------------------------------

And that’s a wrap folks.

I spent ages picking the perfect font to differentiate between the newspaper and magazine headlines... AO3 wouldn't let me use the magazine font, FFN and Tumblr this just chose a different font... *sigh* For anyone that's interested, I picked Lucida Calligraphy, apparently for only my enjoyment.

The idea of a prequel or sequel is definitely something I’m chewing on but not for now. I want to unwind; write some smaller things and work on other projects I have ongoing. I post updates on my profile on FFN if you ever want to check in, or just shoot me a message/ask (FFN, AO3, Tumblr, take your pick)- I’m always happy to chat!

Can you even imagine a cop comedy with Luffy and Zoro? The absolute chaos. I also enjoyed sprinkling in Luffy’s inability to keep a secret. The concept of a secret identity is lost on him.

Do you guys remember me saying I was inspired by the Sam Smith song, ‘To die for’? Do you even know how many times I almost killed Sanji/Stealth Black? My angsty fingers were begging. But I’d made Nami suffer enough and I don’t like writing anything that can’t end happily.

Thank you for waiting patiently for me to write this. Please forgive any errors; I write and eyeball this by myself, I do the best I can.

I hope everyone is well and keeping safe.

Until next time.

#sannami #sanami #sanjixnami #nami #sanji #opfanfic #onepiece #fanfic

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