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English
Series:
Part 2 of Fair Winds and Following Seas
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Published:
2018-04-25
Updated:
2023-12-04
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211,895
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28/?
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New Seas Ahead

Summary:

Sequel to Same Song, Different Verse:

 

"Love is a risk. Of course it is.

 

We pirates are made of dreams to risk and hearts to lose."

 

Monkey D. Lucy and Roronoa Zoro are still only halfway to their dreams, but at least they have each other. The New World is hard and dangerous, but like all great things, it's wonderful too. They're the Pirate King and the World's Greatest Swordsman, after all. The rest of the world just hasn't quite caught on yet.

In which things are still very much do or die, and love is exactly the same.

Notes:

Hello and welcome, my friends! If you're a newcomer to this series, you can...probably? Follow along with the plot, but I fear the characters and especially the characters' relationships will make...no sense to you. Like, at all. I do suggest going back to read the first story in the series, but if you can't be arsed to read the whole thing, maybe pick it up around Thriller Bark or Enies Lobby, and go from there. I take more liberties with the characters after that point, so. Yeah. If you don't want to read that much, at least go back and read the post-time skip chapters so you have some idea of what's going on with Lucy and Zoro. Otherwise this is all going to be very confusing for you.

If you're not a newcomer, WELCOME BACK I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WANT TO KEEP READING THIS FIC, FRIENDS. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

Alright! Onward!

Chapter 1: ...And Begin Again

Notes:

HI WAIT PLEASE READ BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DISAPPOINT/MISLEAD ANYONE

 

THIS STORY IS GOING TO REMAIN T-RATED. THE CHARACTERS ARE ADULTS AND ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP SO THEY WILL SPEAK FRANKLY MANNER ABOUT THAT FACT. HOWEVER. THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE SMUT IN THIS FIC. I REPEAT: THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE SMUT IN THIS FIC. NO. SMUT. IN. THIS. FIC. THANK YOU, AND PLEASE ENJOY.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“Oh come on.  Please?”

“Nope.  Only Zoro.”

“I want to knoooowww.”

“Zoro can tell you if he wants.  I’m not spilling.”

“Zooorrroo—”

“Not a chance.”

Lucy giggles, leaping up on the Sunny’s railing gracefully, and Zoro eyes her carefully, ready to pull her back if she loses her footing.  The New World waters are dangerous in a way Paradise wasn’t, and retrieving her from the ocean is more of a pain than it used to be.

“I want to know what Lucy’s tattoo is going to be too!”  Chopper interjects, innocent and unknowing.

Lucy looks like she genuinely regrets having to deny Chopper, unlike her glee over teasing Usopp.  She rocks a little on the rail, and Zoro sighs, removing his katana from his hamarki preemptively.  “Sorry buddy.  Only Zoro gets to know.”

“I don’t have to see it,” Usopp begs.  “I just want to know.”

“DON’T GO ASKING LADIES ABOUT PERSONAL BUSINESS!”

“OW! Don’t kick me, you jerk, I was just—”

“STOP ASKING LUCY-SAN ABOUT HER POSTERIOR.”

There were, occasionally, times when the cook did useful shit.  Not often, and generally not enough to overshadow all the annoying bits, but every once in a blue moon the cook came through.

Just now was one of those times.

Lucy hops down from the rail, running over to chat with Franky as he tinkers with something for the engine.  Zoro leans against the main mast, letting his eye slide shut.  It’s a nice day out, for once.  Weather in the New World, at least on the sea itself, is truly insane.  They’ve dealt with flaming seas and cyclones that do loop-de-loops, and sea kings the size of the Red Line, and lightning rain, among other things.  According to Nami they’ve entered a low-pressure zone created by two nearby islands with opposite seasons.

“It’s only calm for now,” she insisted when asked.  “Tonight there’ll be a hurricane.”

Zoro is pretty sure that Nami would try and sail straight for one of those islands if it wasn’t for that.  One week in the New World, and they’ve barely had time to eat, let alone sleep properly, and whatever island they’re tracking, it doesn’t have many neighbors.  They’re all pretty out of it, with the exception of maybe Lucy, but even she’s less boisterous than usual.

A finger pokes his cheek, right where his scar tapers off.  He cracks his eye open, glaring at the offender.  Lucy is before him, leaning over with a grin on her face, completely unrepentant.

“Are you gonna take a nap?” she asks, head canting to the side and dark hair falls forward, even more disheveled than usual by the play of wind and seawater.  It’s a little sun-bleached, actually.  Her hair has reddish tints in it now, especially the ends unprotected by her hat.

“Yep,” he answers.  He has to work at it to keep memories of tangling his fingers in the dark strands at bay, or to avoid recalling the breathy sounds she makes when he pulls just right.

Napping.  He’s supposed to be napping.

“Hm.  You’re getting sunburned,” Lucy tells him, and fingers sticky with grape juice skip across his cheekbones and nose.  Zoro gives her a look that’s meant to be exasperated and annoyed but judging by the giggle and her fond grin, probably just comes off sappy and affectionate.  Lucy seems to be interpreting it that way, at any rate.

She touches him all the time now.  He hasn’t stopped feeling ridiculously happy about it.

Stupid warm and fuzzy feelings and shit.

(He can’t quite regret them when Lucy looks at him like that, though.)

“Luuuccccyyyy,” Nami whines, waving the triplicate log pose at the captain.  “Can’t we go anywhere else?  Please?”

Lucy turns to face Nami, and she’s got her annoyed/petulant/I-am-actually-a-five-year-old face on.  “No.  The exciting one,” she insists.

“Give it up, Nami,” Usopp says, resigned.  “Lucy’s only gotten more stubborn.”

“And more inclined to throw us headlong into danger,” Nami grumbles, but she’s obviously resigned herself to fate, and sets about adjusting their heading, complaining about their lack of a helmsman.

“We have a helmsman,” Lucy chirps, straightening and twisting to face the rest of the crew.  “It’s Jimbei.”

“I think Nami is simply requesting assistance,” Robin tells Lucy with a small smile, and a flick of her wrist sees a pair of hands blooming at the helm, so Nami can properly navigate.

“Usopp!” Chopper cries, excited over something in the water.  “Usopp, let’s go fishing!”

Their sniper looks up, adjusting his goggles.  “Okay!”

“Me too!” Lucy cheers, and without warning she turns back to Zoro and smashes her lips to his, rough and urgent.  Zoro grunts in surprise, trying to react even as she pulls away.  He blinks at her, shocked for a second too long as she giggles and slams her hat on his head, then dances away before he can reach out and drag her back.

He sighs, and then tips the hat down low so no one can see the stupid grin on his face.  He leans back against the mast, folding his hands behind his head, and even though he kind of wishes he was holding Lucy right now, he can’t help but radiate a little smugness as he settles in for his nap.

He still isn’t sure he believes how good his life is right now, but he can smell Lucy in the dusty, worn straw and thinks maybe he might be starting to.

Brook notices him relaxing, and strikes up a lullaby that won’t get the others too excited.  Zoro hums in appreciation.  They’re all exhausted, and sleep has been hard to come by with the volatile weather and endless, furious challenges from the sea.  Zoro loves a good fight more than most, but he likes sleep, too.

It’s nice out today, though, full of sunshine and calm waters.  Even the wind is the warm sort that feels soft against one’s skin, sweeping through his clothes.  Lucy giggles on his right, and Usopp yells at her for tangling the lines while Chopper hums uneasily, distressed at their squabbling.  The cook is making lunch in his kitchen and Franky is below deck in the storage room, working on the renovation he won’t tell anybody about.  Brook’s playing gets slower, and softer with every measure, and he hums a harmony alongside the melody, soft and quiet and Zoro feels content.

It’s a good feeling.  One he hopes will last, and one that sets his dreams at ease, fills them up with light and laughter.


As the sun begins to descend from its zenith, Lucy finds herself looking for something to do.  Most of her nakama are either busy, or taking a little time to rest and relax.  Nami and Sanji are the only ones actively working, with the redhead plotting a course through an upcoming reef and her cook preparing for dinner.  The New World has been challenging—thrilling—so far, and Lucy knows most of the crew is pretty well exhausted—would have to be, considering the level of sleep deprivation. 

Quickly, nearly instinctively, Lucy checks the whereabouts of her nakama.  Zoro is the only one napping, leaning against the main mast, where he can watch most of the crew.  He’s still got her hat, and she can see the cord trailing around his neck so the wind doesn’t pull it away.  Brook is keeping Chopper company as the very diligent little reindeer fishes, still trying to catch something Sanji can serve even in this barren stretch of sea.  Usopp gave up on that half an hour ago, and is now tinkering in his workshop below deck.  Franky is running extraneous maintenance checks down there, too.  Before her, Robin reclines on the deck with a book in her hand.  There’s a tray with iced tea nearby, and she has sunglasses over her eyes.

Between Robin and the others, it’s a sight and atmosphere so familiar it hurts, but it’s the first time Lucy’s seen it in two years.

Robin gives her as smile as Lucy walks toward her.  Lucy still isn’t quite used to the new haircut, but she likes it.  It makes her look much more open.  Like she’s not hiding anymore.  Not so wary or edgy.  Lucy thinks Robin might have been really girly, had life happened differently for her.

“Whatchya reading?”  Lucy asks.  The title is half-hidden behind Robin’s hand, and in a font that makes it hard to read.

Robin holds up the cover for Lucy’s inspection.  “It’s a collection of stories.  They’re considered by most to be fictional, but some scholars believe them to be first-hand accounts of individuals living in a now-extinct culture.”

Lucy cocks her head to the side.  “What do you think, Robin?”

The woman’s grin turns sly.  “I think that I’ve never read anything quite like these stories before.”  She slips her sunglasses back to rest on the crown of her head.  “I do think, however, I’ve lived something quite similar.”

Lucy looks at the book curiously.  “Really?”

Robin looks close to laughing, like she’s enjoying some private joke.  “Mhmm.  It’s quite thrilling to read.”

Lucy plops herself down on the edge of the chaise and grins.  “Teach me?”

The look on Robin’s face melts to something tender and fond.  “Of course, Sencho.”

It takes some doing, but eventually they settle the book between them.  Lucy frowns down at the page, and she knows she’s going to need lots of help from Robin just looking at the text.  It’s a fine print with lots of big words Lucy’s pretty sure she’s never even heard before.

But that’s fine.  That’s what Robin does, after all.  She explains the things the rest of them could never understand.

“’There was once a child,’” Robin begins.  “’One known to both the sky and sea.’”

“’Her name was Orla, of the family of…’” Lucy squints at the page.  “I can’t read it.  It’s smudged.”

“It’s an old book,” Robin says sedately.  “These things happen, when they don’t have proper care.”

Lucy grins at her archaeologist.  “Good thing you have it now, Robin!”

Robin looks amused.  “Indeed.  And the next sentence?”

“’The child, whose name means ‘first to step’, was strong-willed, and committed to the sea, for she knew her dreams would be re-re-wreck-owned?’”

“Reckoned,” Robin supplies patiently.

“’For she knew her dreams would be reckoned upon the waves.’”  Lucy scrunches her nose.  “What does that mean?”  Most everyone dreams of going out to sea.  Even the shmucks who don’t want to be pirates.  It’s not like it’s unusual, or anything.

“Hmm.”  Robin muses.  “I think it means she had a dream that could only be completed by sailing across the sea.” Robin smiles a little more mischievously. “Perhaps she had her own One Piece.”

Lucy frowns at the book.  “I don’t want to read it if it’s going to tell me that.”

Robin laughs softly.  “I don’t think that will be the case.”

Lucy gives the book one last skeptical look before deciding to trust Robin.  If anyone knew, she did, after all.  “Alright.  ‘So one day, when Orla had come of age, she took to the sea alone, in search of dreams…’”


Zoro watches in horror as Lucy slips off a scaffold merrily, unwilling to save herself.  He reaches for her and shouts, screaming “Lucy, no—”

Zoro wakes, and sees the planked ceiling of the boys’ quarters in the Sunny.  He releases a quiet, slow breath, and mentally catalogues his nakama’s whereabouts.  All the guys are here in their quarters.  Sanji is awake too, probably disturbed by his unconscious spike of Haki, and the cook at least doesn’t embarrass the both of them by acknowledging he woke up, or that he noticed, or that he was obviously keeping track of the crew via Observation Haki just like Zoro.  The girls sleep above them, and Zoro can hear Robin and Nami’s voices humming at a low frequency, meaning they’re still asleep.  Lucy is…

…not in her room.

There’s a brief flash of something close to panic, and then he realizes she’s on Sunny’s figurehead, awake and probably keeping watch, and he relaxes, holding back a sigh.

Well.  It’s not like he’ll be going back to sleep anytime soon.

Zoro hops out of bed, his suspended hammock creaking softly as he does.  Chopper, sleeping beneath him, turns over in his sleep but doesn’t wake, and Zoro leaves quietly, shutting the door behind him and leaving his nakama to rest.

It’s still nice outside, the sea nearly motionless in a way it rarely is this far from land.  The night sky is clear except for the horizon behind them, where the very edges of the hurricane Nami promised earlier rages.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, the ocean should be nowhere near as calm as it is this close to the hurricane.  Whatever, the Grand Line is weird.  He’s seen stranger things.

He climbs up to the helms deck, and then clomps up the stairs to the figurehead, making sure he doesn’t surprise her if she somehow missed his arrival.  She doesn’t say anything, but he does sense the little spike in her attention through Observation Haki.

In one easy motion he grips one of Sunny’s spikes and vaults over it, landing on the other side as softly as he can.

Lucy blinks up at him and grins, and for a moment he just takes her in.

The moonlight makes her tan skin look alabaster pale, and her sun-bleached hair like ink.  Her eyes glitter, reflecting starlight off the water, and her smile is bold and warm.  She’s wearing nightclothes—a t-shirt bearing her midriff and cotton shorts—and she looks beautiful.

She scoots over, patting the space next to her and looking up expectantly.

Zoro complies, and Lucy immediately crawls into his lap, settling between his legs with her back against his chest and the hat half-squished between them.  Zoro wraps his arms around her waist, and she sighs in a contended sort of way that makes him feel pathetically warm inside.

Only Lucy does this kind of thing to him.  Her and literally no one else.  It’d be frustrating if he hadn’t long ago accepted it.

“What’re you doing up?” She asks, voice low and quiet.  There’s something about the stars and the sea and the distant storm that makes it seem like breaking the peace is taboo.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he tells her, equally quiet.  There’s no reason to inform her of his nightmare.  He’s been having similar ones for almost two years now, of Lucy dying at Marineford or in any number of scenarios his paranoid subconscious cooks up.  If he was still at Kuraigana, he’d get up and do some training before breakfast, try and wear the anxiety and frustration out through his muscles.  Here he can touch her, which is infinitely more reassuring.  “I thought Usopp had watch tonight.”

“I couldn’t sleep either,” she admits.  “I told him to go to bed since I was going to be up anyway.”

Zoro supposes Lucy has probably gotten used to nightmares too.

He doesn’t ask about it, trusts she’ll tell him if she wants to, if he can help.  Between the two of them, she’s definitely better at opening up her vulnerabilities on a regular basis, so he’s sure she’d tell him if it would help.  Instead he just leans down to plant a kiss at her temple, and lets a comfortable silence bloom between them as she laces her hands in his over her stomach.

It’s nice, just holding her like this.  They haven’t had a lot of free time since entering the New World, and certainly not a lot of time to themselves.  It gives him an opportunity to study her, watch the expression on her face as she watches the sea.

It’s not quite her thinking face, the one she used to get when staring out at sea.  This version is a touch more solemn.  Not quite melancholy, but it something with similar weight.  There’s less childishness in her aura.

He’s noticed the changes a little more, now that they’ve been together longer and the novelty of their reunion and their relationship has worn off a bit.  Lucy is absolutely still Lucy, laughing her head off every few seconds and being generally too loud and getting into everything and anything to satiate her endless energy and eating way more than should be physically possible.  But there are little changes he’s noticed, little shifts in how she behaves that betray the trauma she’s endured.

She sometimes grips his hand too tight—or tighter than seems necessary, at any rate.  He hasn’t figured out what sets her off, what triggers the need for reassurance, but he does his best to provide it.  Occasionally she’ll look around the ship with a glint of protective determination in her eyes so great it borders on wrath, like she’s just waiting for someone or something to come along and try to hurt one of her nakama, like she almost wants something to happen just so she can prove nothing stands a chance against her.

Zoro might be projecting a little, but he’s pretty sure it’s true.  He and Lucy are pretty similar that way.

There’re other things, too, like the way she avoids being alone if she can help it, the way she sometimes presses a fist to the center of her scar, a faraway look in her eyes, or how she just looks older.  It speaks of trauma, and pain he wasn’t there to bear with her.

(He’s pretty sure he’ll never forgive himself for that.)

Thanks to Mihawk and that stupid paper the Revolutionaries distributed, he has an idea of what she went through in the war, at least broadly.  The rest of their missing time is almost blank.

Even though he wants to, it’s not something he’s going to ask about.  He already knows more than he should, and he doesn’t really have the heart to ask about it right this second.  He’s a little less confident that she’ll share the details about that one though, and it makes him uncertain.

“You’re staring,” she mumbles, and there’s a smirk on her lips.

Zoro doesn’t bother denying it.  “Mhmm.”  He ducks down, grazing her left cheekbone with his lips, right over the scar under her eye.  She gives a small shiver, probably not related to the cool breeze, and tilts her chin back at an awkward angle, searching.

Zoro eagerly obliges her, and he turns more to catch her mouth with his, a warm, tingly feeling radiating from the contact as they meet.  Lucy matches him easily, massaging his lips with hers—though maybe not quite as gentle or precise in her movements.  Zoro smirks into the kiss a little, thinking about the first few times they did this, and how Lucy made up for inexperience with enthusiasm and a complete lack of embarrassment regarding what she wanted and what felt good.

Quick learner though, he thinks, as his captain suddenly switches from slow and gentle to heated and determined as she sucks his lip between hers, grazing sharply with her teeth, and then Zoro is gone as he’s completely lost in the act of kissing his captain.

She feels—perfect, like this.  It feels like she belongs right here, in the circle of his arms, their fingers twined and Lucy straining for a better angle.  The little encouraging noises she makes only spur him on, make him think she feels it too, that she wants to get closer, as close as possible.

She smells like the ocean, like sunlight itself, like her hair and skin soaked up the very essence of life on the sea and if there was room here he’d lay her out beneath him, see if he could get her to make those same breathless noises he did when he worried her pulse point that one time.  His hands move over her stomach a little, and the feel of her soft skin under his fingers drives him a little crazy, makes his head feel fuzzier, makes him kiss her a little harder than he really meant to until she gasps under his mouth.  Their positions give him the advantage as he swipes his tongue against hers.

Lucy leans into him, pressing her shoulder blade into his chest and the new angle gives her better access.  She pushes into his mouth, aggressive and demanding, and that’s about when Zoro’s head explodes into white noise.

Nothing Zoro’s ever done feels like kissing Lucy does.  Not even kissing other people, which he’s done before, and it never felt quite like this.  There’s too much in his head, too much energy buzzing under his skin, and everywhere they share contact feels like fire.  There’s this never-ending greed inside him demanding more, more, more, and he’s not sure what he could ever do to satisfy it, kind of hopes it never will be.  Holding Lucy like this feels like the closing of a circle, the connecting of a circuit.

Eventually, however, his neck begins to protest the odd angle, and he’s not so sure Lucy’s actually breathing, so he slows down, trying to express his reluctance, and pulls back.

He loves watching Lucy’s face right after they’ve kissed.  She always takes a second or two to surface properly, her mouth still pursed slightly and her expression open and vulnerable as she blinks back to reality, right before her lips twist in a pout.

Something very masculine in Zoro is proud of that expression, and the fact that he put it there.  It makes him smirk, and he tightens his hold on her, pulling her flush against him, possessive and jealous, wrapping around her as best he can.  There are times when he thinks he wants to hide Lucy behind his ribcage, a magpie-like desire to keep her all to himself and protect her so well she never has to lift a finger in her own defense again.  Not that he wants to stop her from fighting.  Just.  He likes the idea of Lucy only ever doing it on her own terms because he’s managed to make sure no threat can touch her.

He knows Lucy can protect herself.  He knows she’s stronger than him.  He still wants to protect her though.  Always.  And he made sure he’s strong enough to do it, too.

Lucy, for her part, seems content enough to simply cuddle.  She gives a soft hum, resting her head on his shoulder and running gentle fingers over his forearms.  They have conversations like this, sometimes.  Wordless ones communicated entirely through touch.

He touches her every chance he gets.  He thinks maybe he’s making up for lost time.  It’s not like Lucy’s any better, so maybe she is too.

At the thought he turns to graze his lips along the column of her throat, tempted to leave a mark there.  Half the crew freaked out last time though, when they finally noticed.  They had to explain what a hickey is to Chopper, which was just plain uncomfortable for everyone, especially when he started asking Robin really clinical questions about human sexual practices.

Curly-brow’s reaction was hilarious though.  And every time Zoro looked at Lucy he remembered how she felt in his arms, breathing heavy in his ear and he’d feel smug.  And sometimes when he’d catch her looking she’d dart her eyes to the long scratches she carved with her nails over his left shoulder and he just knew she was thinking of the same moment.

Lucy lets out a soft sigh, sleepy and content, and Zoro decides she maybe needs the rest, considering how sleep deprived they’ve been.  He plants his chin on her shoulder instead, curling around her as his hands stroke her waist, and pulls her back so she’s leaning against his torso, happily acting as a mattress.

Lucy hums, sounding amused, and relaxes over him like her bones have turned to jelly.  He hitches her a little closer, his arms crossing over her waist, and he makes a contended sound low in his chest that’s nearly involuntary.

He’s just—happy.  Just happy.  It’s kind of weird.

“Nami says we’ll get to the island tomorrow evening,” Lucy mumbles.  “What d’you think we’ll find?”

Zoro shrugs his left shoulder, the one Lucy isn’t leaning against.  “I dunno.  That’s half the point of going, isn’t it?”

Lucy gives a soft laugh and she twists a little in his grip to burrow deeper into his chest.  “Heh.  Knew there’s a reason I love you.”

Zoro’s breath catches.  He hasn’t grown used to this, hasn’t been able to take it as natural yet.  He still has a moment of shock and disbelief every time she says it, has to force it aside.

He still hasn’t been able to say it back yet.  He’s not sure he ever will.

Lucy smiles though, unbothered, and settles just a little bit deeper into him.  He releases a breath slowly, kissing her shoulder again.  “Go to sleep,” he tells her.   “I’ll keep watch.”

Lucy makes a noise that sounds a lot like a purr.  “Hm.  You’re the best.”

Zoro rolls his eye.  “Uh huh.”

“Had a nightmare about you,” Lucy whispers, and he tenses.  “You died the same way Ace did.”

Zoro releases his breath slowly.  “I’m fine.  So are you.”

He squeezes her hand once, brings her scarred palm to his lips.

You’re alive.  I am too.  You’re not in Marineford anymore.  You never have to do it alone again.

Lucy’s breath hitches softly, and she turns just enough to kiss the underside of his jaw.

I know.  I’m glad you’re here.  I’m glad I am too.

Her breathing evens out a few seconds later as she drops off to sleep, and Zoro takes a deep breath, relishing the moment until the sky turns pale pink and the sun peeks over the horizon.

Notes:

The name Orla is Irish, specifically Jewish Irish. It really does mean “first to step,” or rather “the first to do anything.” The story draws on all kinds of fan theories about One Piece. Mostly the ones I liked. If you want to rant about that type of thing, please message me or comment, and I will be MORE THAN happy to rant about these things.

Again, I am not giving Lucy a butt tattoo. It's a joke, and Lucy is using it as a reminder to Zoro that she loves him, too.

Comments and kudos appreciated :)