hey guys! so, just because i wanted to write the Arlong arc, the story line is gonna be just a tiny bit different. but just bear with me, it'll get back on track soon enough... anyways thanks for reading as always! i love you guys ^^ <3 peachy

I tugged Zoro along, guiding him through busy streets while he rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Okay Y/n, that's enough." Zoro simply refused to move anymore, reeling me back to him. He forced me to walk with him to the entrance of a small alleyway. "I'm going back to sleep. Shop on your own and come back for me. I'll help you carry the stuff back to the ship."

"But Zo-chan!!! We're supposed to do it together!" I crossed my arms, pouting childishly because he didn't want to come with me. He didn't even bat an eyelash at my complaint, waving his hand lazily at me. "At least let me sleep for another hour. Then I'll go with you."

"Okay, okay fine." I reached over to ruffle his green hair. "Sleep well."

"What the crap did I just do?! Ruffle his hair? That's so weird, dammit."

My thoughts haunted me, my burning cheeks only making it worse. The bustling streets of the town, though, soon distracted me from the embarrassment. Nami's list required me to go to a lot of different shops, searching for ink, paper, pens, and even wood polish. The only bad thing is that she never gave me any money to buy all the stuff with.

My arms ached as I walked back to where Zoro was, my wallet the only thing lighter from this shopping trip. I also had picked up a couple of things for myself, like some medical supplies (I like to have extra just in case) and a large bottle of sake. I found Zoro dozing in the same spot that I had left him.

"Oi Zoro, I'm back." I gently bent down to shake his shoulder, shaking his back and forth. "Uhhh..." Zoro groaned, his eyelids fluttering open.  "Time to go back?"

"Time to go back." I offered my hand to help him up. He grasped my small palm with his large calloused one. I felt my face heat up at our sudden contact, his strong grip an obvious token to his swordsmanship abilities. We began walking back to port, our hands still interlaced. This innocent contact made my face burn, my mind wandering dangerously.

"Stop that self! You're being ridiculous!"

I almost slapped myself in the face, trying to rid myself of promiscuous thoughts. "Oi Y/n." Zoro's voice snapped me out of my daydream. "Yeah?"

"Where's the Going Merry?"

"What are you talking about? It's right the-" I stopped mid sentence to see the empty spot at port. The rest of the boys were also standing near the empty space, talking to one another in confusion.

"Hey guys!" I waved to them, letting go of Zoro's hand (regretfully) to run up to them. "Y/n-chan!" Sanji ran up to me, reaching for the bags in my hands. "Let me carry these, my dear."

"Thanks Sanji, but I'll keep this one." I handed him the bag filled with Nami's stuff, holding onto the one filled with medical supplies and liquor. "But a more pressing matter, where's the Going Merry?!"

Zoro stepped in between Sanji and me, sticking out his arm protectively. Luffy scratched his head, frowning as he stared out at the ocean. "I hope Nami didn't get lost..."

"She would never. Nami is a beautiful goddess of endless knowledge. She would never make such a simple mistake." Sanji quickly defended her. "Guys..." Usopp pointed out to sea, focusing on a tiny speck that was fading into the horizon. "Isn't that the Going Merry?"

We all stared out at the floating dot as the realization of truth sank in. "AHH IT IS!!!" we shouted in unison, our jaws slack. "What the hell?! Where does Nami think she's going with our ship?!" Zoro angrily snarled, glaring at our vessel. I chewed on my lip, mulling over the possibilities. "No way... She couldn't be that Nami could she?!"

"Oi Luffy... Do you know what Nami did before she joined your crew?" My throat was dry as I carefully asked the question. "Hmm... I think that she said something about being a thief?" Luffy nonchalantly released the crucial information.

"IDIOT!!!" I grabbed Luffy by his red vest. "NAMI IS A FAMOUS THIEF WHO STEALS FROM PIRATES!!!"

"Oh." Luffy scratched his head, a deep frown etched on his face. "So she probably took the ship to go steal from some, right?" He smiled at me bringing his fist down into an open palm, like he had figured it out. I let go of him with a sigh, my arms crying out in pain from holding up my captain.

"No Luffy. She took our ship with our treasure. We're the pirates that she stole from." Usopp explained my thoughts for me. "WHAT?!" Luffy jumped back, his jaw agape.

"DUH!" I facepalmed at my captain's ignorance. Wistfully, I glanced back at our ship floating away with a traitor at the helm. All of my few belongings, not to mention my home, we're drifting away. I felt a strong hand suddenly place itself on my shoulder; Zoro gave me a small smile, his calloused fingers squeezing me tightly. "Don't worry... We'll get our boat back."

"How though?"

"We go after it." Zoro's response was as obvious as it was impossible. "But Zoro... We have no means of transportation or even a way to track her. The longer we wait the less likely it'll be for us to find her ever again."

"So let's go now." Sanji butted into our conversation, looking suave as ever with a freshly lit cigarette balanced between his lips. He jabbed his thumb at a small fishing boat that bobbed in the port waters. "Lucky for us, I happened to come across an old fisherman this morning during my errands. He told me that he wasn't going to be using his boat anymore and welcomed me to it. I wasn't going to take it, but I will if it'll help us follow Nami."

"Sanji are you serious?!" I leaned close to him, my hands clasped together, our noses almost touching. "Yes my darling, I am indeed serious!" He fell down onto one knee, holding my hand in his. Sanji brought the back of my hand close to his lips, ready to kiss it, when Zoro jerked him back.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing Mosshead?!" Sanji flailed around in the air, obviously angry that he was interrupted. "Shut up and lead us to the boat." Zoro grumbled, Sanji still writhing. I winced when Sanji landed a kick on Zoro's chest; a look of horror coming over Usopp's face.

"Why does Usopp look so scared? Zoro can take it..."

Sanji immediately jumped back, his cigarette now on the floor. Zoro was doubled over, clutching his chest in agony. "Zoro, I didn't mean to!" Sanji reached out to help his comrade, but the ornery swordsman swatted his hand away. "I'm fine..."

He tried to straighten up, but collapsed under his own weight. "Zoro!" I ran up to him, realizing how serious this was. He breathed heavily, his hand clawing against his chest. I got down on my knees and pulled his hand away.

His shirt was beginning to turn crimson, a flow of blood coming from deeper within. Bashfully, I tugged at the ends of his shirt, trying to pull it off. By the time I had succeeded in taking off the excess bandages, my face was bright pink and I had a clear view of his muscular chest.

I was shocked to see a huge slash across his tan skin; blood oozing from the deep cut. My face went pale as I listened to Zoro's labored breaths. "Look, I'm fine. I just need some sleep is all..." Zoro tried to push my hand away, but I stayed firm.

"Don't be ridiculous Zoro! This needs medical attention right now! I can't believe you kept this from me... Do you know how serious this is?! A normal person would be dead! Do you understand that?!" My voice cracked, choking from a tight throat. Tears burned in my eyes as I took my own shirt off.

Before the boys could say anything, I tore the fabric in large strips, using it, along with the remains of Zoro's, to create new bandages. "Y/n-"

"Shut up!" I screamed at Zoro, biting my lip to prevent myself from sobbing. "Just shut up..." My voice was shaky, threatening to break at any given moment. I wrapped the strips of cloth tightly around his entire chest, simply aiming for a quick fix until I could get all the medical supplies ready. My hands rummaged through the bag, pulling out everything that I had gotten, including that grade-A sake.

"Sanji, can I use your lighter?" All the boys jumped a little when they heard my voice, it had been complete and total silence until then. "Yeah! Of course." He handed me the small tool and I flicked it on to sterilize the needle. "Guys look!" Usopp pointed out to sea; the Going Merry was barely visible. "If we don't hurry, we're going to loose her..."

"Shit..." I mumbled under my breath, a curse only Zoro could hear. He averted my gaze, seemingly ashamed that he had put this burden upon our crew. "Zoro..." I reached out, gently squeezing his forearm. "Don't be dumb. We can always get another ship."

"But Kaya gave us that ship!" Usopp growled, stamping his foot. "THEN GO AFTER HER DUMB ASS!" I finally snapped, the needle in my hands bending from the heat and my grip. "SEE IF I CARE! BUT I'M GOING TO STAY HERE AND TAKE CARE OF ZORO!" The boys averted their gazes, staring down at their feet while tears poured down my face.

I reached into my bag for another needle, furiously wiping my face. After I had sterilized it, I threaded it. "If you guys are gonna leave, do so now. In fact, it'd be better for you guys to follow Nami. I don't know if you'd want to see what's about to happen." My voice was thin and squeaky, yet I somehow made it sound commanding.

"Y/n-" Sanji reached out for me, but I threw his his lighter instead. "Don't worry, Sanji! Zoro and I will catch up with you guys!" I gave him the biggest smile possible, mimicking the iconic look of my captain. Looking up at the sky, I noticed a small songbird passing by. Gracefully, I jumped up, gently catching it in my hands.

"Send me this when you arrive so I know where to go." I gave Usopp the small bird, before pushing all of them toward the boat. "Now hurry! We'll catch up soon, I promise!"

"Sounds good Y/n!" Luffy laughed and waved before running down the harbor, Sanji and Usopp a little more hesitant. "Bye guys!"

After they had left, leaving Zoro and I at the very end of an empty port, I let out a small sigh. "Why did you do that?" Zoro looked at me, trying to prop himself up on his elbows. I gently helped him up, wrapping my arm around his bare waist. "They needed to save our ship... To save Nami."

"What?! But Nami betrayed us! She-" I put a finger to his lips, trying to keep him from getting too worked up. "Shh. I know that it seems bad, but... But there was something different about her today. There must be reason for her actions, but we'll never know if we don't find her. Also, that's our ship." Grabbing the sake bottle, I popped the top off.

"I hope that your planning on giving me some of that." Zoro weakly joked, nodding his head toward the bottle. I giggled in spite of myself, passing over the liquor. "You're going to need it."

"What do you mean?" He let out a content sigh after taking a long drink. "I'm going to have to sew up your wound. It's not exactly going to feel great." Zoro shrugged, giving me a brave smirk. "Trust me. Whatever the pain is, I can take it. I wouldn't be able to be the world's greatest swordsman if I was in pain because of some stitches. How bad can it be?"

"You poor boy... So naive..."

"If you say so..." I snatched the bottle from him and took a small drink myself. "Okay, let's get started..." I pushed Zoro back down to the ground, swinging my leg over him so that I was now straddling him. I watched as his face turned bright pink; with neither of us were wearing shirts, and with me on him like this, any pedestrian could get the wrong idea.

"Okay Zoro, close your eyes."

"Why?" As he asked, I gently put one of my hands over his eyes. "Because this is gonna get a little gross."

With one hand, I untied the bandages that were made out of our shirts. The bleeding had barely slowed at all, a long angry slash in his skin still horribly visible. I shifted my weight back, still keeping my hand over Zoro's eyes. With my other hand I grabbed the bottle of sake, tilting my head back and letting the fiery alcohol sit in my mouth.

Leaning forward again, I put my lips dangerously close to Zoro's chest. "Y/n? What are you doing?!" His voice was filled with panic, a nervousness almost, as he felt my soft breaths against his bare skin. Unable to speak, I softly brushed my fingers over his eyelids and up to his forehead, toying with the ends of his short green hair, trying to get him to relax. It worked like a charm, his tensed muscles relaxing subconsciously. Then I quickly spit the sake into Zoro's wound with as much grace as I could muster.

"AHHH!!!" Zoro cried out, shouting from the surprise of a sudden pain. He tried to sit up, but I forced him back down. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Angry eyes flared at me from below as I squeezed him forearms. "Zoro, I'm sorry, but I had to clean your wound somehow..."

"You could have at least given me a warning!" Zoro growled, growing calm as I played with his hair again, this time running my fingers through it. I smiled at him as he calmed down from my touch; he looked so adorable, almost leaning into my strokes as I rubbed his head. His hair was surprisingly soft and warm, so I was enjoying myself.

But I had a job to do, and fast at that. Reaching out for my needle and thread, I kept one hand against Zoro's cheek, ready to calm him down at any time. "Zoro, are you ready?" I lifted the needle, locking eyes with his dark ones. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Okay, deep breath." As soon as I felt his chest raise, I brought the needle down, piercing through his skin. He winced as I completed a couple stitches, letting out a labored sigh. We repeated the process over and over again until all his stitches were done, his wound completely closed.

"Good job." I brushed my fingers over his forehead, his face slightly damp from a mixture of tears and sweat. I was about to get off of him, when his hand clamped down on my calf. "Just stay here for a sec..." He grabbed my hands and brought them to his face, resting my palms against his cheeks. His face was burning hot; a stark contrast to my cold fingers. "Ahh..."

Zoro then pulled my right hand away from his face, pressing my delicate fingers right against his lips. "Z-Zoro?!" I squirmed as an uncomfortable blush spread across my face. Instead of a response, he just smiled a bit and released the kiss. My body was tingling, my fingers practically numb after such an experience.

However, before I could ask Zoro for an explanation, I noticed that he had fallen asleep. Eyes closed, his head rested on his hands that were causally behind his head. I could already hear his soft snores which almost sounded fake. Still, I decided to leave him be; after all the pain that he had just went through, he deserved it.

"Well now I have to find us a boat..." Getting up, I looked down the harbor. Bobbing boats of all colors had their sails flapping in the light breeze. I noticed that Sanji had left the bag full of paper and pens that I had bought for Nami. Reaching into the bag, I pulled out a piece and a pen. The crisp white canvas soon was covered in my swirly script.

Zoro,
When you wake up, I may or may not be back from my errand. I went to find us a boat and dinner. If I'm not back by sunset, come find me. - XOXO Y/n

I folded up the letter and tucked it under his arm. I made sure that his bandages were okay before I set off toward town.