Chapter Text
You felt his gaze on your skin before you could even see his face.
The music was blasting through the harbor and people were shouting, dancing, and singing along in the streets. On your left, a crowd of drunk pirates was making a fuss over sea tales and old victories, competing with themselves about who was the greatest of all. On your right, a fight was escalating inside the bar. You could hear Nami screaming something at Luffy, and Luffy's laughter echoing in the room. You were outside, dancing in Sanji's arms, feeling his hands travel along your back and rest on your hips. He was chatting with you, but you weren’t paying attention. Somewhere a glass bottle crashed on the ground, and a chair was thrown, and the air was filled with the scent of salt, smoke, and burnt meat.
Everything was a mess and yet, among all this chaos, you could feel his stare on your back, following your moves. You froze. You felt butterflies on your stomach, the anticipation eating you alive. You hardened your grip on Sanji's arm, wanting to get out of there.
"Sanji, I—"
"It's my turn now", you heard Zoro's voice coming from behind you. You jumped a little, astonished. So fast— was he there all along?
"No way! Y/N and I are having a good time, get lost." Sanji pulled you closer to his chest, waving a hand in Zoro's face.
"You've been dancing the whole night already. Let her go."
"You were watching us? And they call me a pervert." Your back was still turned to him, but you could sense Zoro's anger emerging anyway.
"As if you weren’t putting your dirty hands on her body just a moment ago!" The mention of the act made your face heat up. Sanji was indeed taking advantage of the dance to touch you. You knew that, but you didn't care. It was a nice feeling to be desired after the latest events…
One month ago there was a battle with some pirates on the last island. The Navy got involved and things escalated fast. The whole crew was injured, but no one more than you. You had received a fatal blow on your stomach that left an ugly scar on the lower-left corner of your belly, just above your groin. Chopper had to treat you right there on the ground, and you had a fever for a week. The pain was so excruciating the first few days that at some point you asked God to please, please let you die. But Chopper wasn't going to give up on you so easily, taking care of your wounds day and night until your fever cooled down, knowing that the infection was gone.
After that week you felt better enough to sit, and the whole crew pampered you with all the love and affection someone could ever ask for. Sanji made sure you had the most delicious, creative, and nutritious soups to eat since you couldn't handle solid foods at the time, and baked your favorite desserts too; Luffy and Usopp brightened your days with jokes and stupid stories that made you laugh so hard it opened your wounds, forcing Chopper to yell at them to leave; Nami and Robin brought "girl's time" to you, taking care of your hair, skin, and nails, updating you on the latest events on board, future plans, and overall spending long nights talking about life. And Zoro, well… Zoro, he—
"We're dancing, you shitty swordsman, we're supposed to touch each other!" Sanji growled back, visibly flustered to have his actions be known.
"It's not that type of dance, you perverted cook."
"Guys, enough! Stop, please!" you yelled. They both looked at you at the same time; at some point in their fight, they forgot you were there. Now their attention was on you, and you couldn't help but feel flustered as well. "Sanji… it's okay, we really did dance a lot tonight. Let him have this one and I'll get back to you later, is that alright?"
"Hmm, sure Y/N, but—"
"You heard her." Zoro pulled you out of Sanji's arms, your back smashing on his chest and his toned arm circling your belly possessively. You could feel his warmth enveloping you, the butterflies on your stomach flying all over again. "Get lost."
Sanji looked at him as if looks could kill. "'Aight, see you later, Y/N" he said, plucking a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it with a match, already heading over the bar to meet Nami, Luffy, and wherever the others were.
Now you two were left alone, or as alone as it could be at a crowded street party, but neither of you dared to speak first.
You were staring at the ground; Zoro's arm still gripped your belly tightly. Slowly, you felt his fingers caressing your skin gently and his chest squeezing your back. His aroma caught your nose, a mixture of aquatic fragrance, soap, and alcohol, leaving you in a bewitched state you already knew you'd be a hostage of. You could sense his face getting closer to your neck, his warm breath touching your skin as if he was trying to kiss it, giving you goosebumps all over. Your heart was racing like crazy as you felt his lips brush slowly on your ear. You closed your eyes, trying to filter all this information... and suddenly, as if time had stopped for a moment, you weren't able to hear the music anymore, or the crowd, the drunk pirates, the crashing glass bottles, and flying chairs. There was no fight at the bar, no shouts, no laughter.
There were only the two of you in the world, and the sound of your hearts beating like a drum.
You opened up your eyes. That's enough, you thought.
Letting go of his grip, you stepped forward and faced him for the first time that night. He looked astonished at you, forced out of the trance you were both in just a second ago. His cheeks were slightly pink now, either from his actions or the booze, or both. Well, you'd never know for sure.
Finally, his eyes locked on yours. "What do you want, Zoro?"
"I told you already, I wanna dance with—"
"You can't dance!"
"Of course I can! I just don't"
"Since when? I don't remember you dancing at all those years we've been together on the ship."
You tried to recall a memory, a celebration, a special date, anything the crew did that usually made them party but nothing came to mind. Even when docking on a new harbor, like today, Zoro usually stayed at the bar drinking with friends and eating while the party went on for hours outside. It was his way of celebrating and there was nothing wrong with that, but… could he really dance? Zoro? He was always so serious all the time. The thought of him shaking his body frenetically on the dancefloor could make you laugh right then if your heart wasn't beating so fast at his strong gaze in your eyes.
"Well, maybe I should show you then," he smirked, stepping closer to you. You looked up; he was towering over you now, his shadow enveloping your whole body. He was so tall… "Can I?" he touched your hips gently, waiting for your answer.
"I..." you started. His gaze was intense, you were losing yourself in his dark pupils once again. You looked away. "Okay. Go ahead".
He proceeded to put one hand on your back and push you closer to him with the other, ending the distance between you two. You wrapped your arms around his neck, looking up at his face - but for what? He was looking down at you again, this time his gaze going from your eyes to your lips to your chest, and up to your eyes again. He couldn't help himself and you knew that. He always felt a bit lost when he interacted with you.
The song changed, now playing a slow ballad about a sailor falling in love with a mermaid. So cliché, but god, what a way to set the mood... Maybe it was because of the time - it was approaching one in the morning - or the fact that most people were so drunk they couldn’t care less about the music. Only a few couples were dancing together on the street. Then he started moving — to the right, to the left, bringing your body with him, his hips guiding yours to the sides, slowly, pushing you even closer to his chest, tightening his hold on your back, always keeping eye contact with you. You gasped. It was so hard to breathe when he was this close.
"You're looking beautiful tonight, Y/N," he said, breaking the silence.
You smiled — you knew that very well.
This was the first time you left the ship after your injuries were healed, so you wanted to look extra nice to make up for the time you were in bed. You asked Nami to help you change and she let you borrow some of her clothes, which is precisely why so many people were turning their heads to see you when you passed by them.
You were wearing comfortable small beige heels, a tight beige mini skirt with a high waist that covered up to your belly button, hiding your recent scar, and a burgundy big v-neck crop top that tied with a knot at the front. Your cleavage displayed a beautiful view of your chest, with a gold body necklace falling between your breasts and circling your belly to your back.
Your earrings were also made of gold, two small delicate hoops, and just one hour ago Robin had put a red hibiscus flower in your hair, right above your right ear. You looked stunning tonight and Zoro couldn't really blame Sanji for trying to slide his hands all over you as he, too, wanted to do the same.
"Thanks. You too, Zoro," you replied.
He always did, although tonight he was a bit more feisty. He wore a red, white, and green flowery buttoned shirt with short sleeves squeezing his biceps, some of the buttons open giving you the best view of his toned abs, the scar on his chest glistening when he moved against the street lights, along with beige khaki pants and sandals. His green hair was messy from the long night and he wore his usual golden piercings. We're kinda matching, you thought.
You smiled at him, he smiled back.
"How are you feeling? After everything, I mean..." He kept guiding your body to the sides, slowly, his calloused hand on your back making you shiver, so big and warm on your skin.
"Better. It hurts a little sometimes, especially on cold days, and Chopper still won't let me drink, but at least I can do things by myself now. Like, I can shower, change my clothes, walk… Look, I'm even dancing!" you exclaimed, laughing along. "By the way, it's true, you can dance! Who would've thought."
"What, you didn't think I could?" he raised his brows, a small smirk on his lips.
"Well, you're always so serious. I didn't think you liked to."
"I don't."
"Oh. Why did you ask me then?"
The smirk on Zoro's face disappeared for a moment and his eyes lingered on your lips. You could feel your face heating up again. You knew why.
"It's been a while since we talked. I wanted to check up on you." One of his hands removed a strand of hair from your face, the touch giving you goosebumps. You tried to laugh it off.
"As you can see, I'm fine! Besides, it's not like we don't live on the same ship anyway, you can talk to me anytime, man."
He kept looking at you and you kept smiling, hoping this would relieve the tension between you two. He smiled back eventually and you relaxed your muscles.
"I know," he replied. You could see a sparkle in his eyes, shining down at you. He was so beautiful you were losing your pace, tripping on his feet. "Hey, careful there. If you fall and hurt again, Chopper will come for my ass.” You both laughed at the thought — Chopper would be pissed for sure, after everything he did to patch your wounds.
The music changed to a happy upbeat tune, someone shouted in joy and people started gathering on the street again as if the melody had woken up the crowd. You looked around to spot your friends: Nami and Robin were chatting at the bar with two men, probably buying them drinks in hopes of a hook-up; oh, the poor things... you felt sorry for them. Luffy was arm-wrestling with strangers on the other side of the bar, Chopper and Usopp joined the drunk pirates on their tales of victories, and Sanji was nowhere to be seen. Knowing him, he was probably chatting, dancing, or perhaps "getting lucky" with another girl tonight.
Seemed like everyone was having a good time, so maybe you should let yourself enjoy the moment too.
You turned to Zoro, excited. "Okay samurai, you proved that you can dance a slow song but can you keep up with me now?" You let go of his arms and took a few steps back, jamming with the song.
"What did you just call me?" he laughed, watching your moves.
"Oh, sheesh!" Your hips moved from side to side with the music while your hands were pushing your hair up lazily, the body necklace on your belly bouncing with the sudden movements, shining when the streetlights reflected on it. "C'mon Zoro! Are you chickening out?" you looked deep into his eyes, challenging him.
Zoro was speechless. He couldn't take his eyes off of you, the movements so captivating he felt like the damn sailor of the last song, being seduced by a mermaid. He could sense his face heating up, hoping to not appear as nervous as he was feeling inside. "Never! And how many times do I need to tell you that I can dance?"
You approached him slowly, your hands touching his chest, your face close to his. "Just one more, samurai."
Your eyes met each other. He bit his lips. You smiled.
"Alright, come!" You pulled his shirt, bringing you both to a less crowded space.
Letting go of him, you started dancing again — hips rolling side to side, hair flowing, feet moving fast, your body necklace doing the thing that drove him crazy. Zoro couldn't take his eyes off you and even though this made you fluster, it also boosted your self-esteem.
It's been a long time since you danced like this, and after that last battle left you injured in bed for a month, you were feeling so down lately, especially looking at your new scar. It was ugly: the gunpowder burned deep into your skin, leaving a 10 cm (4 in) long big dark spot and abnormal texture with a thread of mini little scars, the image resembling a centipede — a result of Chopper's first aid patching.
You knew you should be grateful just to be alive, and of course you were, yet you couldn't help but feel sad looking at yourself in the mirror. It's not like you were the most confident woman ever before the scar, but you had your pride. Chopper said the dark stains would fade eventually with some treatment, but the texture would most likely stay the same. It wasn't the perfect scenario but you were happy anyway, and that's why having Zoro, Sanji and so many other people gazing at you in awe and desire was making you feel so powerful tonight.
You started circling his body without touching but keeping eye contact the entire time. Your hands were on your hips, making them break up and down, and up and down again. Your hair trembling with the movements, the knot on your crop top bouncing along with your breasts, a big smirk on your face. You were playing with him and he knew that.
It wasn't until you finished your little show that Zoro's right arm pulled you back to him. The sudden manhandle made you lose your breath for a moment, your mouth hanging open and your eyes staring at his in shock. Zoro chuckled at your expression but remained silent still, his hand resting on your lower back while his right leg slid between yours, locking your bodies together.
You gasped, extremely flustered, trembling at the feeling of his leg so close to your lovely spot. Oh my god!, you thought. If Zoro knew what he just did to your heart right now, he never let it show.
And just like that, he started guiding your hips to the beat of the song and you had to hold on to his body for balance. Step by step, he moved your bodies in such a perfect flow that left you speechless, his eyes still locked on yours, your faces so close together, you were sure he could feel your cheeks burning up. The leg between yours sometimes sliding in and out causing friction and driving you mad in his arms.
He gotta be doing this on purpose, there's no way— and as if he was reading your mind, Zoro's left eye winked at you, a big smile on his lips. Motherfucker. He was playing with you and you knew that now.
"Something wrong, Y/N?" he smirked.
Zoro seemed to be having a blast at your physical state. His grip was strong and he had the lead, so he knew if you wanted to outpace him you'd need to try harder.
But you were not a stranger to this game either. If he wanted to toy with you, then you should be the one pulling the strings. You smirked back. So that's how it’s gonna be, huh?
"I'm fine, doll. Just dance." He chuckled at the new nickname. Doll?, he thought. What the…
You pulled back, letting him know you were ready. At this point, the song had changed but the band kept the same upbeat pumping tune so Zoro continued the pace, this time with you adding to the table instead of just being led.
He opened his arms and whirled you around while you rolled your hips seductively, his other hand catching yours and bringing you back to him. His leg slid between yours again but now you mirrored his movements, dry humping each other's thighs at the beat of the song. You took a step back still rolling your hips and he followed, you whirled again as he caught you from behind — his chest pressing your back while his arms squeezed your body in a hug, both still shaking hips in sync, going down, down, down and then up, up, up again.
You let go of his grip and turned around to face him, you two were so close! You smiled, your right hand caressing his cheek slightly for a moment, as you proceeded to take a step back one more time to dance by yourself while he watched.
Zoro was in a trance, watching every step you took.
You did that thing where you break your hips from side to side, one hand on your hair and the other gripping the end of your mini skirt, pulling it up just a little bit but enough to drive him mad. You did a little belly dance and proceeded to roll your ass like a goddess. He wanted to let you do your thing but God, he wanted - no, he needed! - to touch you so badly. So he started approaching you slowly while dancing, his gaze locked on yours with fire in his eyes.
When he finally met you, his hand rested on your lower back again while the other snaked around your neck, gripping it and pulling down a little, just enough for you to get the clue — you let your body fall backward, your hair going down with the red hibiscus. He delighted at the sight of your body bending backward like this, the jewelry on your belly shining, your breasts going up giving him the most beautiful view of your chest, and your neck - oh God, your neck... He pushed you back to him and there you go, his leg sliding between yours for support and your hands holding his shoulders for balance. Your faces met again, nose touching nose. You both laughed.
"Oh my GOD, Zoro! Where did you learn to do that?! You're an amazing dancer, I'm speechless!" you exclaimed, still laughing.
"What? I just pulled you down—"
"Nooo, I meant the whole dance! Where did you learn it? You can't be this good if you don't like to dance! It's doesn't make sense"
Zoro kept smiling at you. You were so cute when you got excited about something.
"I don't know, I just went with the flow I guess," he said, moving the loose strands of hair from your face.
"Oh hell no, I don't believe in you! Tell me your secret, I swear I won't tell, please! Please, please, please, plea—!" you started begging like a child, doing little jumps and ruining all the work he had done to clean your face just now.
"Alright, alright, shut up! Damn you're so annoying," he said, smiling, loving every second of your little stunt.
He squatted to pick the flower that fell from your hair. "Ok, well… I usually like to stay in my lane at parties, drink, talk, eat, etc." He got up again, going back to fixing the loose strands on your face. "I'm not much of a feisty guy like Luffy or Usopp, you know that. People used to tease me a lot about this when I was younger, so I decided to shut them up for once. I... took a few dance classes with a friend and practiced by myself in the mirror..." you chuckled at the thought. "Yeah, I know... And I hated it. But it was important to me back then, so I kept practicing. One day my friends invited me to a party downtown and I danced with 5 girls or something. That's actually how I got my first kiss..." With your hair fixed, he proceeded to put the flower back in your right ear. "And that was it. I proved my point so I was done with the dance thing and got back to my swords." His hand lingered on your cheek a bit longer, caressing. You felt them burning up again.
"Wait, but you've never danced again after that?"
"Only a few times, here and there..."
"But— I’ve known you for almost two years, how come I've never seen you dancing before?!"
He chuckled at your narrowed expression. "You just did."
Your mouth hangs open in disbelief.
"You think you're such a smarty pants huh, you sly fox," you joked.
He couldn’t contain his laugh this time. "The f— What’s up with you and all those shitty nicknames today?"
You smirked. "Alright then. Now that I know you're a ballerina, I wanna do it again. Yes! Don't look at me like that, you owe me for all those years that you hid that secret from me. Besides, you were the one who insisted on dancing in the first place, so don't make me call Sanji now."
He gazed at you fondly, admiring every inch of your face. Losing himself in your smile for a moment.
"Sure, Y/N."
・｡♪.+ﾟ♬✿。☆ ｡ﾟ+｡・
On one hand, dancing was a tiring activity that aroused no interest in Zoro. He didn't enjoy it or find it fun, choosing to rather drink, train, or sleep instead. But tonight was a special night.
The crew docked in this harbor to stock for supplies, to find out it was the city's 100th birthday. It was a huge event for its citizens and the whole place was in a party mood: the streets were decorated with ribbons, flags, balloons, paper strings, streamers, swirls, etc, everything in the town's colors, including the stores, bars, and restaurants. People were singing, kissing and hugging each other, festive music was blasting everywhere, the aroma of spices and freshly baked meals in the air, children were rehearsing a play on the town square, something about the city's founder... Needless to say, the crew wanted to stay and celebrate with them. It was also your first time leaving the ship since you were injured so everyone agreed that this party came at a good time. But Zoro felt out of place.
Your accident drove him crazy, thinking you'd die even though Chopper was doing his best. He wasn't there when you took the blow so he felt guilty for not being able to protect you, even though he knew there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He couldn’t eat or sleep right the first week, your screams of pain making his body tremble with fear. When your fever was gone and Chopper assured everybody that you were gonna be okay, he remembered thinking he never felt that much relief before in his entire life. He was smiling everywhere for any reason, and he rarely smiled. Yet, when you were recovering, everybody did something special to help you get better except him.
He wasn't sure what to do — he wasn't a cook, a doctor, a joker, or, well, a woman. He didn't know how to comfort you. And to make it worse, you two were not talking much after that last fight... Were you still mad at him? Did you think about him sometimes?
"Get a grip, man!" he said to himself once. "You're overthinking this too much. Just go there already." But when he saw you in bed all wrapped up, gloomy, looking out the window, he froze. His heart ached; you looked so sad. How was he supposed to make you feel better? Talk about swords? Training? Sanji's eyebrows, puppies, the weather?! He heard Nami and Robin coming in the corridor for your usual girls’ night and he decided to try tomorrow, but tomorrow came every day and he still didn't know what to do.
So, tonight, he had the perfect gift: dancing! You loved dancing! He was a bit rusty but he thought he might remember some moves when the time came — well, if the crew left you alone for one goddamn second and Sanji took a break from flirting with you. Matter of fact, screw Sanji, here he goes!
But he wasn't counting on how well your body fit perfectly in his arms.
And how lovely you looked with that red flower in your hair…
And how drunk he was in your perfume, and how your laugh made his heart skip a beat, and how your eyes gleamed like stars when you looked at him like that, and how he felt goosebumps when you touched his neck for support, and how that fucking jewelry on your belly was driving him insane, and how your hips should be nominated for 8th World Wonder, and how your lips were silently inviting him for a kiss, even though you didn't know that yet…
Zoro was losing composure since the first time he touched you tonight.
Maybe dancing wasn't such a great idea after all, because having you grip on him like this, letting him touch your body, feeling your pelvis on his thigh, watching you roll your hips so close to his groin, oh dear Lord, Zoro was losing his shit. He wanted you. He did. And that's why he couldn't help but to slide his hands on your hips a little lower, and push you closer to him so your breasts squished against his chest, and snake his hands from your belly to the base of your crop top so he can feel the shape of your boobs, and caress your thighs when you turned your back on him, and smell your neck when you were in his arms.
It's like every movement of his, every action, every touch was saying I miss you.
But you knew that. You were feeling his touches, he wasn't exactly being subtle. You knew what he wanted but you were trying to be reasonable. You two had been through this before, you had a deal. This wasn't supposed to be happening, you wanted - no, you needed! - to stop his advances. But, God, why wouldn't your body obey your mind? How could you stop it from trembling and shivering after his touches, how could you lock the fucking butterflies in a cage to prevent them from flying around? How could you ease your breathing and stop clinging to his leg for friction, and restrain yourself from pulling his shoulders closer to you, and not run your hands through his hair when you had the chance? How could you contain the arousal that was threatening to escape from your panties and run down your thighs right now?
Although you didn't want to admit it, it was like your body was saying I miss you too.
Things were heating up between you, and just like that, the outside world was nothing but a distant buzz, a forgotten reality. Time had stopped for you again. The music mixed with the beating of your hearts and you were both drunk on each other’s bodies. Then it happened — Zoro whirled you around and pulled you back to him, hugging you from behind. It was too fast and the catch was a bit stronger than he predicted, with your ass pressing against the hard lump in his pants. Your body was so sensitive and overwhelmed with emotions that that was all it took for the million butterflies that were once flying like a tornado inside you to escape through the only place they could, and you moaned in his ear.
He felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, and every single part of his being shivered like he was gonna break in half. "Fuck!" he exclaimed, even his voice trembled.
Zoro couldn't take this any longer.
He turned you around so he would face you. You looked like you had just run a marathon. He smirked. Yeah, me too babe.
With one of his hands gripping your lower back and the other on your face, his thumb caressed your lips. This would fuck things up between you two again, he knew that. He was trying to figure out whether or not the jump was worth the fall.
You were out of breath, staring into his eyes. They were so full of lust… I know it's good, but you need to pull yourself together. This happened before Y/N, don't fall for it again. It's gonna hurt. You're not recovered.
His eyes locked on yours.
It is, he concluded.
Stop him!, you exclaimed in your head.
"Zo—" you started, but it was too late. His lips were already on yours, softly at first, and then hungry. You trembled at the touch as if the bolt of lightning that struck his body a minute ago was now rushing through yours. Your heart was racing, you felt your knees giving out and if he wasn't holding you in place, you were sure you'd fall.
Zoro turned his head to the side and his tongue touched your lips, asking to taste you. You were hesitant at first, still trying to rationalize the situation… yet you opened your mouth still, letting him inside. You knew you shouldn't be doing this but it was getting hard to resist him. When his tongue finally met yours, your mind went blank. He tasted like rice and sake, a lovely combination you were so familiar with. He pulled you closer to him, deepening the kiss. He was getting needier, desperate to finally have you.
You didn't know how or when but you started kissing him back, your hands traveling on his chest, feeling his muscles. You felt the hand that was on your back slide to your ass, rounding it and giving a hard squeeze. The sudden action made you moan involuntarily in his mouth, and you gripped his shirt as a failed attempt to hold the aching feeling between your legs.
He pulled back gently to study your face. You were gasping, trying to stabilize your breathing. Your dovey eyes meet his in such an innocent, desperate expression that Zoro felt a sting in his pants, his dick getting harder and harder in anticipation. His hand squeezed your ass once more, but this time his middle finger slid up your skirt, touching your soaked panties.
You shuddered in his arms, mortified. The fucking bastard… he touched it! He felt how wet you are, he knew now the complete mess your body was and you saw a smirk forming on his lips, as if he knew, too, what was going on inside your head.
Zoro leveled his face to yours and his mouth went to your ear, so close his lips were almost touching it. "I forgot how sensitive you were, Y/N..." he whispered, his hot breath making you dizzy. He proceeded to kiss your neck softly, leaving wet trails down the length.
You closed your eyes and allowed yourself to feel it. Feel him. You forgot how good he was. He knew all your weak spots and it wasn't long until you moaned in his ear again. As a response, he squeezed your ass roughly, grabbing more of it. His fingers were pressing on your panties, finding your hole, drenching themselves on your slick. The kisses on your neck were getting hungrier. You were losing your mind — you could feel your heartbeats pulsing between your legs, the slickness would escape and run down your thighs soon.
Suddenly, you heard a glass bottle crashing on your left that made you jump, frightened. You turned your head to see the drunk pirates screaming at each other happily, a loud, out-of-tune chant about who knows what. Zoro seemed to notice too but didn't care.
"Some people just don't know how to drink..." he laughed it off, returning to kiss your neck.
But the magic was over.
You were now noticing where you two were: in the middle of the street, grabbing each other's bodies, letting him finger you in front of so many people. In front of your crew! You looked around, trying to filter the situation, trying to spot familiar faces. Some people were indeed watching you two kiss, a few men eyeing your body up and down with smug looks on their faces; you were mortified, wanting to hide from their disgusting gaze. You couldn't find Luffy, Robin, Usopp, Chopper, and Sanji, but Nami…
Your eyes locked with hers.
She was still at the bar, watching you two with a shocked face. Speechless.
Oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god…!! You felt your heart skip a beat. How long was she standing there? How much did she see? You turned to Zoro immediately, tapping his chest furiously.
"Zoro! Zoro, stop! Stop!" you begged. He looked at you with concern on his face, trying to figure out what the hell did he do wrong this time.
"What is it? Did I hurt you?" he searched for swollen marks or scratches on your neck. He was trying to be gentle, but he was thinking with his dick the whole time so he wasn't entirely sure.
"No! It's not that, but… what are you doing? We're in the middle of the streets, people can see us!"
"Oh..." he grinned. "And? You seemed to like it a lot.” You felt your face burning up at his words.
"No, I didn’t!", you lied. "And Nami saw us! She's over there, Zoro, oh my God…!" you pointed in the direction where Nami was standing with your eyes, but you couldn't make yourself look at her again so you bit your lips and buried your face in Zoro's chest in embarrassment.
Zoro looked at where you pointed, finding Nami sitting at the bar with a drink in her hands and a very pleased smile on her face. She raised the glass at him. Zoro rolled his eyes. "Y/N…" he started, taking you by your shoulders and pulling you gently off of his chest. "I… I don't care about this anymore..."
You faced him. "B-but—! Still! Zoro, we talked about this a million times! We had a deal, we're done! Why did you kiss me?"
His face twisted in a frown. Zoro opened his mouth to say something, probably an excuse, but he couldn’t think of anything that justified his actions. Nothing but the truth.
"How could I not, Y/N?"
"Zoro!"
"I can't stop thinking about you ever since that fight…" he let go of your shoulders, his hands now enveloping your cheeks tenderly.
"No—! Stop, let's not do this again. I am so done with this conversation—!"
"I'm serious. It's been hell not being able to talk to you these last few months, and then you were almost killed! I thought you were gonna die. I thought I had lost you…" he leans his head close to yours, trying to reach your lips.
"Zoro, please..." you whisper.
"...it's been too long already, Y/N. I missed you. And I think you missed me too..." he says, lips brushing with yours.
"You're hurting me..." you whisper back against his lips.
He stops. Your voice was trembling as if you were about to cry. He pulled back a little to watch your expression.
"Can't you see? This is so confusing!" there were tears forming on the corner of your eyes, threatening to fall. "I can't do this anymore… You're hurting me…" you grab his hands softly, looking deep into his dark eyes. "Please let me go."
Zoro kept staring at you. He had no reaction, and for a moment you doubted if he had even heard what you said. But he did, he heard you loud and clear. What he didn't have, however, was a response.
After what felt like forever, you removed his hands from your face and whispered I'm sorry, leaving him where he stood in his petrified state and headed in Nami's direction. She looked confused at you two, not understanding a single bit about what had just happened.
As you were walking away, you thought you heard him calling your name but the music was so loud you weren't sure.
You approached Nami, trying to not appear as flustered as you were inside.
"Where's everyone?" you asked, sniffing.
Nami looked at you with suspicion. "Usopp and Chopper took Luffy back to the ship, he fell asleep after all that food. Robin went to the bathroom and Sanji was talking to some girls over there but he's gone for like one hour or something, I don't know"
"I see." You glanced back. Zoro was coming towards you two. You feel your heart racing again; you wanted to run, escape his grip. "Well, I'm heading back. I'm tired. You coming?"
"I'll wait for Robin."
"Okay then. See you later." You didn't wait for her answer, going straight to ship.
Not long after you had gone, Zoro passed Nami, also heading to the ship after you. But she grabbed his hand, stopping him from taking one step further.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"That's none of your business," he barked back, already losing his patience.
"You're right, it's not. And I don't know what's going on between you two but she's clearly upset. Maybe you should let things cool down first before you do something stupid that you'll regret later."
"Why do you care?!" He let go of her hold, his face twisted in anger.
"Because she's my friend! And you too, you idiot!" Nami yelled, making Zoro freeze in place. She always knew how to shut everyone up when she wanted, most of the time being the only functioning brain cell of the crew. Zoro would never say it out loud, but sometimes she scared the hell out of him...
Nami sighed.
"Look… let me talk to her, okay? She'll open up to me, maybe I can help."
"How can you be so sure about that?" Zoro was calmer now, looking at her with a worried expression. He didn't know what to do, it was true. He didn't have a plan. Yet he couldn't let you go away like this — not until he said some things first.
"Uhh… because I'm a woman? Talking about men's stupidity is our favorite hobby," she joked. Zoro rolled his eyes in disappointment. Nami sighed again; he was so boring. What the hell did you see in him? "She's probably stressed out by this whole situation. And the way she reacted when I caught you two kissing made me think that maybe this was a secret and it's going on for quite some time. Am I right or…?"
He hesitated to answer at first but decided to shake his head.
"Yeah."
"How long?"
"Does it matter?"
"Of course it does! You want my help or not?"
It mattered indeed, but what Nami really wanted was to know the juicy details. She liked some gossip every now and then.
"I guess… maybe 7, 8 months. But it wasn't steady. We… separated a few times."
"Wow."
"What?" he barked.
"Nothing. So… she's probably pent up"
"Who's pent up?" Robin appeared behind them, coming out of the women's bathroom.
"The girl that we saw with Sanji a minute ago. She's gotta be pent up as hell to be leaving the party with him, don't you think?" Nami blinked at Zoro. He was impressed by how easily she made up a lie like that.
"Oh, absolutely. Are you guys leaving to the ship?" said Robin.
"Yeah, in a sec," Nami replied, turning her attention to Zoro. "Anyway man, I’ll see what I can do about your swords. But I can't promise anything," she blinked at him again. "We're heading out now. Let's go, Robin."
Zoro watched them both walk away, with Robin asking Nami what happened to his swords and Nami answering, He needs to see a bladesmith and I'm looking for an island nearby that has one.
Wow. Zoro didn't know if he should feel impressed or intimidated by Nami's lying skills. Well, she was a thief before, so it made sense right? Stealing from pirates wasn't an easy job.
He stayed at the bar for a little longer, drinking, thinking about everything that happened that night. Thinking about what you said. You're hurting me… those words kept echoing inside his head, over and over again. He knew that kissing you was going to fuck things up but he needed to try. He needed to taste you again.
The way you clung to his body when you two were dancing, how you moaned in his ears, how your hands traveled on his chest, the way you kissed him back, how wet you were when he grabbed your ass… none of this was fake, he knew you missed him too — well, at least your body did.
If this meant it was really over between you two, then he wouldn't bother you anymore. But first, he had to say a few things. He needed to let you know how he felt.
As he drank another cup of sake, lost in thoughts, Zoro could only hope that Nami would be able to handle the situation better than him right now; he was hoping she knew what she was doing.
・｡♪.+ﾟ♬✿。☆ ｡ﾟ+｡・
A knock on your door woke you up from your messy thoughts. You looked down at your clothes; it had been 10 minutes since you started fidgeting your necklace. Your heart was still beating fast, but you were glad Zoro didn't follow you. You thought about taking a shower when you arrived but you kept thinking about the things Zoro said to you... the way his arms held you in place, his kisses, his smell, his fingers on your—
Knock, knock, knock.
"Coming!" you yelled, trying to shake the images out of your mind. You really needed that shower.
You opened your door to find Nami waiting. Oh, you knew this would happen... Matter of fact, you were kinda hoping it happened sooner. You were a bit tired of the drama.
"Hey,” she said.
"Hey,” you answer back, making space for her to enter your room.
Nami passed by you, heading to your bed and taking a seat. You closed the door slowly.
"So… what a night, huh?" she started, a smirk on her face. You tried to hold a laugh but it escaped anyway, resulting in a comical snort. Resting your back against the door, you turned your head to face her.
"What a night," you agreed.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
You sigh, thinking about the mess you and Zoro were standing in right now. Of course you missed him too, there's no way you could deny it. But you two had a complicated past and you always ended up fighting and hurting each other, so you both agreed it would be for the best to end things for once. You had a deal. Things weren't great between you two lately but they'd be eventually, wouldn't they? He didn't have the right to revive these feelings again, it wasn't right.
"It's complicated, I don't even know where to begin—"
"How about from the beginning? I have time," Nami crossed her legs with a mischievous look on her face. Oh, I have all the time in the world for this, girl. She giggled. "Shoot."
You chuckled. She was enjoying this way too much. You looked for a chair in your room, finding one close to the window. You placed it close to where Nami was and took a seat.
"Ok, so… it all started in Skypiea—"
"Oh my god!" Nami exclaimed, already covering her mouth with her hands. She dropped then suddenly, to mouth one I'm sorry, go on!
You sighed again, laughing.
It was going to be a looong night.