roronoa zoro; 21,051 words (not including epilogue), fluff and angst, ENEMIES!!! to lovers, the slowest of slow burns, canon-normal violence, on-page description of injury, excessive use of flashbacks, some banter, healing from trauma, baroque works!reader to strawhat!reader, no "y/n", emotionally constipated!zoro, hurt and comfort, angst with a happy ending; (epilogue tags will be posted separately)
summary: in which neither you nor zoro are the children you remember each other to be.
update: new chapters will be posted on @shouyuus!!!
a/n: IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! i honestly cannot believe i actually finished writing this lmfao. but anyway, this post will act as a table of contents/masterlist of sorts, and i will update links to the separate chapters as they go up. chapters will be posted every few days (but they are all done! except for the epilogue LOL). i've tagged everyone who has req-ed to be tagged in this series so far on this prologue post, but if you wish to be tagged for the upcoming chapters and you're not already on this fics specific taglist, please comment below to be added! and without further ado -- here we go!
TABLE OF CONTENTS ━
prologue: someone, somewhere
chapter one: a shadow of the past
chapter two: tell no tales
chapter three: sleep of the living, dreams of the dead
chapter four: another life
chapter five: true love's kiss
epilogue: la petite mort (nsfw)
prologue: someone, somewhere
He remembers you most as a child, in halcyon images and gold-limned flashes of his own childhood memories, the edges blurring watercolor soft, but the center (always you) carved in knife-sharp relief.
You were one of the few children that lived in Shimotsuki Village who hadn’t come from the doujou — one of the few children he knew that (at least to the best of his knowledge) had a thing called family. A mother to braid your hair, a father to chase the darkness away, a warm bed and a kitchen that always smelled of freshly made rice. And perhaps it was jealousy, or some other more complicated emotion that had been then too big to name with one single word, but he’d never gone out of his way to befriend you like the other kids from the doujou did — fascinated as they were by your soft hands and round cheeks and the bright, glittering array of homemade sweets you’d bring with you once every couple of weeks.
He’d learn later on that it was because Shimotsuki-sensei had saved your father’s life at some point in time; the story now lost to the annals of legend and withering memory, but back then, he’d only assumed it was the natural way of things. Of waking up for kata practice and then settling in for lunch, and then maybe, if it was to be a good day, you, with your basket of sweets and your blue-bell laughter.
And perhaps this is why, years later, when he meets you again in a dark, nameless village tavern, he doesn’t recognize you — not at first. Because you’d looked so different. Gone was the roundness in your cheeks, or the natural star-bright light in your eyes. Gone, too, were the bright braids that your hair had always been set in — he remembers so clearly, watching the other boys from the doujou jab their fingers into the rings of your pinned up braids, pulling down just to hear you squeak. He hadn’t said anything then, stupidly thinking him above it all, watching as you tried to jerk away, but laughing when the boys finally relented with half-hearted apologies.
You always threatened to take their sweets away; you never did, in the end.
But there, then, in that tiny tavern, you’d been thin, your hair dark as an oil spill, loose and inky as it cascades over your shoulders, your eyes lightless as the windows to an abandoned house — the hollowness made all the more visceral by the light he knew once inhabited them. The way loneliness is always more potent when coming back to it, the second time around.
He wanders up to the bar, slates you a glance before rapping his knuckles on the worn wood to catch the bartender’s attention.
“I’ll have beer and a refill of whatever the lady’s having.”
You shift slightly, shoulders hunching towards your ears.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” you say, shifting to shield your face from his gaze.
Zoro cocks his head, tossing a few Berry towards the bartender as they set down a stein of beer and a champagne flute to replace the one in front of you.
“Can’t a guy buy a girl a drink?” Zoro asks, rolling his shoulders as he reaches out for his beer. You eye him warily.
“Not for a guy that’s been tracking me for three weeks straight.”
Zoro hums, thumb poised on the hilt of his swords.
“We just happened to be going in the same direction.”
You reach out to run a forefinger along the rim of the thin champagne flute before swirling it once by the base. You watch the bubbles fizzle before leaning in to take a dainty sip.
“And they say chivalry is dead…” you murmur, almost too softly for him to hear. Zoro scoffs, allowing himself a twinge of a smirk before his mouth falls flat.
“You let me track you for three whole weeks.”
There’s no question in his words, only a harsh, accusatory certainty.
You lick your lips, leaning back in your stool, tugging your glass of champagne with you.
“Maybe I wanted the company.”
“Or maybe… you wanted me to follow you here.”
Every muscle in his body is tense, drawn taut as a tightrope, coiled tight as a spring.
You sigh, twisting a single lock of your hair around a finger, examining the ends as if looking for split hairs.
Then, quick as a flash, you’re at each other’s throats — him with a sword poised at your jugular, you with a knife pressed against his stomach.
“One move —” you warn, digging the knife slightly further into his skin. Distinctly, Zoro feels the pressure slice through his thick linen shirt, the cool kiss of the blade against his abdomen. And he’s killed enough by now to know that you’ve picked a major artery — one that would hurt, and take minutes for him bleed out. Just long enough for him to suffer, but not enough to get help.
The edge of his mouth ticks upward — not bad.
It’s then, in the infinitesimal flicker of your eyes meeting his, that he realizes who you are.
He nearly topples back, jerking away slightly with the revelation. Your eyes go wide, jolted by his sudden movement. But he’s quick enough to evade the sharp jab of your knife and a second later, you’re on either ends of the tavern, drawn blades and bared teeth.
“Y-you!” the word rips from Zoro like an unripe scab, thick and hard and still bloody underneath.
You lick your lips, eyes narrowing to slits beneath your long, lanky hair.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The hell you don’t.”
“Oi! No fighting in the bar!” the barkeep’s voice is gruff and loud, and for a second, Zoro wonders if you’ll listen. The next, the sharp clang of metal on metal stuns him backwards a few steps as you wrest your knives from between two of his katanas, snarling.
“If you’re so much of a gentleman — let’s take this outside.”
“Ladies first,” Zoro spits out as he whips both swords through the air before sheathing them. He makes a show of holding the tavern door for you as you stalk out in front of him, your hackles raised, your knives jutting out from your belt like so many pairs of sharpened claws.
“What do you want?” you ask, as soon as you’re both out of the bar and standing in the moonlit street outside, the wharf to your left, the strip of small, rundown taverns to your right.
The air twangs with the metallic smell of fish and the thick, oppressive sweetness of rotting wood.
“An explanation,” Zoro says, crossing his arms and planting his feet.
“I don’t owe you anything.”
Zoro nods, “Sure. But that doesn’t mean I don’t wanna know.”
You lick your lips, glaring at him for a second longer before turning and marching down the rickety boardwalk. A moment later, Zoro levels himself with you as you round a corner onto a small stretch of beach, pillowed against a backdrop of sharp, unrelenting rocks, the tips bleached white by the round, silver moon.
“There was a beach just like this,” you say, stepping onto the tide-soaked sand, leaning down to pick up a fragment of a broken seashell, washed ashore by an errant wave.
It takes Zoro a second to realize you’re talking about Shimotsuki village, and the tiny little beach on the other side of the dense, cedar wood.
“Yeah. A bunch of us used to play there — see who can throw rocks out the furthest.”
“You were always the best at that,” you say, your voice softer than he’d heard all night.
“Yeah, well…” Zoro shrugs, leaning down to pick up a piece of rock, weighing it in his palm a few times before whipping his arm back to snap it into the gentle, shushing waves. You both watch as the rock skids out over the water before plunking into the sea, “Guess I’ve always been kind of a show-off.”
The sound of your laughter sends summertime sparklers racing up his spine.
The quiet pools between you like spilt blood, rank and dripping.
“So. You go by Ms. Double Nines now, I heard,” Zoro says, in a flagging attempt to be casual as he turns to glance at you, both his hands resting on the hilt of his swords.
You stand next to him, your eyes focused on a point far out on the horizon, still as statue.
“What’s it to you?”
Zoro sighs, looking down. In the pale, cool moonlight, his earrings glint like baring teeth.
“What happened?”
You suck in a breath.
"Life happened,” you say, turning back towards him with a steely glint in your eyes. Zoro stiffens, his grip tightening on his swords as he sizes you up. He does the mental calculations — you’re just far enough for him to defend against an attack, but close enough where if things were to go south entirely, he’d have a hard time getting back to safety.
You grin, seemingly noticing his rough internal calculations.
“Do yourself a favor, Roronoa — and don’t ask questions you don’t wanna know the answers to,” you say, flicking out one of your blades and tossing it up into the air, only to catch it around your finger, swinging it round and round, the sharp edge of the blade nicking the air just shy of your cheekbone.
“Who said I didn’t want to know?” Zoro presses, bracing himself for a fight.
You chuckle, the sound harsh and mirthless.
“If you’d wanted to fight me properly, you wouldn’t have waited till I got you onto this stretch of deserted beach.”
“Maybe I just wanted a quiet place to kill you.”
“Or maybe…” your voice is so low Zoro almost doesn’t catch the stomach-wrenching longing in your words, “I just wanted a quiet place to die.”
The sharp shink of blades being drawn is heart-rendingly familiar, but the bone-rattling clash of metal on metal still shakes him to the roots of his teeth. Zoro grunts as he parries a blow from either side, before crossing his swords to catch your assault down the center.
You’re fast, he’ll give you that, your body smaller and quicker. You slip through the shadows with the comfort of a person who knows nothing but and he can’t help wondering at the life you’ve led that had pushed you to this point.
To having a mark on your back, a bounty on your head.
You’re a good fighter — this much, he acknowledges. But good isn’t usually good enough to best him. This much, he also knows. Yet somehow, you’re keeping up, somehow, you’re pushing him back, forcing him to retreat one step and then another. It’s not until you duck beneath one of his pin-wheeling blades and force yourself into a knife’s-breath of his space that he realizes — it isn’t that you’re good, it’s that you’re reckless.
Reckless with your own body in a way that makes him stumble back at the realization. Reckless, in the way you charge forward and thrust your body into spaces where he’d easily be able to slip a blade between your ribs — and later, when he’s wiping his swords clean of your oxidizing blood, he’d wonder why he didn’t.
Still, there’s something terrifying in the way you barely flinch when he knicks your arm, drawing a dark line of blood through your clothes, or how you jerk yourself forward when the tip of his sword catches your stomach, almost as if daring him to impale you in one fell swoop.
“You — you used to be… someone else,” he says, panting as he steadies himself against a sharp jut of moonlit rocks. Behind you, the ocean churns, dark and foaming as it throws itself onto the jagged reefs.
You lick your lips, wiping a smear of blood from your cheek. Your chest heaves with the exertion, but there’s a pale, flickering ache behind your eyes that sets Zoro’s whole body on edge.
He shivers as you grin, savage and unrecognizable as the tiny girl with mochi-round cheeks who had once upon a time offered him sweets in a hand-woven basket.
Can we get a oneshot the strawhat crew members with a fem reader like the wrestler mizuki? She’s dresses super cutesy but can beat the crap out of her opponent’s without breaking a sweat!!
Sugarbomb Slam!
strawhat crew x fem!reader (platonic)
a/n: omg I honestly didn't know mizuki, so I did some research and watched many photos and video AND OMG SHE'S SO COOL, I love it!! I hope I made the fanfic right tho
words count: 1.3k
tags: platonic, comedy, action, fluff, deceptively cute but deadly
masterlist || ko-fi
The Sunny drifts lazily across a glittering sea, the air warm, the skies clear, too peaceful for pirates this chaotic.
“Oi, Luffy,” Usopp calls from the crow’s nest, peering through binoculars “There’s someone out there… on a floating bunny?”
“Bunny?!” Luffy rockets to the bow of the ship “Let’s go get ‘em!”
“Wait—what?!” Nami shouts, already steering toward the mystery raft.
Sanji’s a blur, heart practically launching from his chest “A ladyyy?! No time to waste!”
Zoro doesn’t move “Sounds like a headache already.”
Within minutes, the crew is gathered around as Franky hauls up the soft, oversized bunny-shaped float.
Perched neatly on top of it is you, sipping a juice box, your boots laced with pink ribbons and your outfit a burst of ruffles and pastel colors. You look more like a candy shop mascot than someone lost at sea.
“Hi!” you chirp, like this is the most normal situation in the world “Thanks for the lift. That whirlpool nearly trashed my hair.”
Luffy tilts his head “Who are you?”
“Y/N the disaster magnet, that’s how people call me” You grin, eyes sparkling “But I make up for it with a cool dropkick.”
Usopp snorts “Wait, you what?”
“Uh-huh.”
Brook tilts his skull “With all due respect, miss… you look more like you wrestle with fashion choices.”
You smile.
And then you casually grab Brook by the collar and flip him overhead. His skull clacks against the deck as he lands flat on his back.
“Respect is earned” you say sweetly, patting your skirt back into place.
The crew freezes.
“Whoa,” Chopper gasps “She didn’t even try…”
“That was… hot!” Sanji whispers, nosebleed creeping in.
Robin chuckles “She’s got flair.”
Franky grins “And moves.”
Luffy’s eyes sparkle “Join my crew!”
“Huh?” You blink “You just met me.”
“You’re strong, you’re cool, and you beat up the skeleton,” he shrugs “That’s good enough for me!”
“I don’t even know where you’re going.”
“Neither do we half the time” Usopp mutters.
You look around. Pirates, but not the burn-and-loot kind. They seem… fun. Maybe even your kind of crazy.
You stretch, cracking your neck “Alright. But only if I get to beat up the next idiot who tries anything funny.”
“Deal!” Luffy laughs.
Zoro closes his eyes “Why do I feel like this one’s gonna be worse than the cook?”
Later on, the Sunny docks at a sleepy little island, just a quick stop for supplies, snacks, and the kind of chaos that always seems to follow the Straw Hats.
You bounce lightly on your heels, hands behind your back. Your puffy boots squeak a little “Alright! Who wants to throw down? Just a little warm-up match!”
Zoro glances up from where he’s leaning against a tree “…Why?”
“Because I need to move or I’ll go insane!” you say brightly “Also, I wanna see what you guys can do. And maybe you’d like to see what I’m capable of doing as well.”
Luffy’s eyes light up “Ooooh! Fight! Yeah, let’s see what you got!”
Sanji steps forward, already loosening his tie “My lady, if it’s a match you want—”
Robin, lounging under an umbrella with a book, raises an eyebrow “You going to break your code for her, Sanji?”
He freezes “…Tch. Damn it.”
You grin “You can’t hit girls, huh?”
“I won’t hit girls,” he says, adjusting his collar “There’s a difference.”
“Well, I respect that.” You crack your knuckles “But I still need a volunteer.”
Usopp immediately points at Zoro “Why not him?”
Zoro scowls “Why me?”
“Because you’re the only one who won’t cry if she throws you through a wall” Nami says, sipping her drink.
You smile “Aw, come on, greenie. Scared I’ll mess up your hair?”
Zoro stands up slowly “Fine. Five minutes. But don’t expect me to go easy just because you’re wearing ribbons.”
“You’re sweet,” you say, taking your stance “But I wouldn’t want you to.”
Five minutes later the crew forms a loose circle around you and Zoro.
He cracks his neck “Last chance to back out.”
You tap your boots together and blow a bubblegum bubble “Nah. You’ll be fine.”
He rushes first… quick, but not reckless. He goes for a clean sweep at your legs.
You jump way higher than anyone expects, twist in mid-air, and come down hard on his shoulders, flipping him flat on his back with a move that should not be humanly possible.
WHAM.
Zoro blinks up at the sky “…The hell was that?”
“A headscissor takedown,” you say, offering a hand “With extra sparkle.”
Luffy howls “YOU’RE SO COOL!”
Chopper’s fur is bristling with excitement “Can she teach us everything?!”
Sanji, conflicted but heart-eyed, mutters, “I’m fine with being kicked if it’s her.”
Robin flips a page in her book “This trip just got more entertaining.”
Zoro accepts your hand, dusting himself off.
“Not bad, but you’re lucky I didn’t fight you with my swords.” he says.
You grin, brushing your skirt back into place “You’re not so bad yourself, greenie.”
Later on you all decide to stroll into the small, quiet island town.
Luffy’s chasing the smell of meat, Nami and Robin are window-shopping, and you’re just enjoying the breeze.
Everything’s peaceful, until a scream cuts through the air.
The crew halts. Your eyes snap toward a side alley.
“What was that?” Chopper asks, ears twitching.
You don’t wait for permission, you’re already sprinting.
You turn the corner just in time to see a woman shoved roughly to the ground by a man with a long coat and bounty tags clinking from his belt. Three others stand nearby, laughing.
“C’mon, sweetheart,” the leader sneers, grabbing the woman by the arm “We were just askin’ a question—”
CRACK.
He steps back, hand now twisted in your grip. You didn’t yell. You didn’t threaten. You just showed up.
Your voice is light “Leave her alone.”
The man snarls “Who the hell are you?”
You smile “Someone who really hates cowards like you and your friends.”
He pulls a knife “You wanna get cute, princess?”
You sigh, glance down at your frilly dress, then back up at him “Too late. I already am.”
Behind you, the rest of the crew rounds the corner.
“What’s going on?” Usopp pants.
The bounty hunters were circle you, laughing like they’ve already won.
You crack your neck and bounce once on your heels.
“Alright,” you say, smiling “Who wants to be first?”
Ten seconds later you launch forward and take the knife guy by the wrist, twist, and throw him overhead. He slams into the ground and doesn’t get up.
The others charge. Bad idea.
You spin into a high kick that flattens the second one against the wall.
The third swings a bat.
You duck, sweep his legs, grab him mid-fall and powerbomb him into the cobblestones.
The alley echoes with the sound of bones hitting stone.
Then silence.
You’re still smiling as you dust off your skirt “Anyone else wanna bully someone smaller than them?”
The first guy groans from the ground “What are you…”
You lean down, voice sweet “I’m Y/N.”
The Straw Hats stare, completely frozen.
Luffy’s mouth hangs open “That. Was. AWESOME.”
Chopper’s eyes sparkle “She was like—bam! And then—WHAM! And then the suplex—!”
Nami blinks “I knew she was strong, but—damn.”
Robin chuckles “She’s holding back more than I thought.”
Usopp points “She... she was faster than Sanji to react at that scream. And did you guys see that? She broke the ground!”
Sanji clutches his chest “She’s… so perfect…I am totally in love!”
Zoro grins for real this time “Alright. She’s one of us.”
You turn back to the woman, gently helping her up.
“Are you okay?” you ask softly, brushing dust from her dress.
She nods, eyes wide “T-Thank you…”
You smile again bright, gentle, sweet as sugar.
“Of course. Guys like that piss me off.”
You twirl back to your crewmates like nothing happened “So... lunch?”
Summary: You never thought you'd be able to escape Buggy, and yet, a boy with a straw hat, a man with three swords and a girl with orange hair somehow manage to free you. The journey that follows afterwards is your chance at freedom and maybe something more.
A One Piece Live Action Rewrite
Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four
Pairing: Live Action!Zoro Roronoa x F!Reader
TW for this chapter: canon typical violence, bits of jealous!zoro, that's really all!
Word Count: 9,323
A/N: Well, we made it! We caught up to seaon one of OPLA! Unfortunately, that means this series will be taking a hiatus until the new season comes out since it is a rewrite. But! I might do little bonus chapters and bonding moments!!
I have started watching the anime, so I know the general direction the live action will probably follow. If you guys would like bonus chapters, let me know!
Before you can even register the fact that Buggy is talking to you, a body steps in front of you, fully blocking you from view. The expanse of Zoro’s broad shoulders is the only thing you can see as he glares down at Buggy; “don’t talk to her.”
Buggy just laughs, loud and mocking. “Yeah?” He taunts, “and what are you going to do about it? Bleed on me?”
You can see the tension build in Zoro, muscles tensing and his shoulders raising with every word Buggy throws at him.
You don’t blame him. You still remember when Luffy had all but dropped the fact that during their fight with Arlong and Nami’s betrayal, they’d reunited with Buggy, or rather the head of Buggy. It was made ten times worse when Luffy also elected to inform you that Buggy was coming with you all and helping you to Arlong’s island, as part of a deal he’d made with the pirate. He told you the two of them had made it in return for his navigation to the island, he’d get his body back.
And even though Luffy had assured you he wouldn’t let Buggy try and pull anything on you, you still felt uneasy about him being onboard.
You had no doubt that Buggy’s intentions were not as pure as he was making them out to be. He had something up his sleeve, or at the very least, he would betray you all. At one point or another.
Still, it didn’t matter because you were stuck for him for now. It wasn’t up to just you and you did need him, at least to find where Arlong and Nami had gone. And after spending the first day refusing to go up onto deck in fear of having to face Buggy, your once captain and long-time tormentor, you were sick of hiding away. You’d decided to go up on deck, especially after Zoro had shown concern with you hiding away. Buggy only had his head, after all, so despite saying whatever he wanted, he couldn’t do much.
You try to remind yourself of that.
Your attempt at not being seen, however, had failed the second you’d made your way up to the deck as Buggy had clocked your arrival instantly.
Ignoring the racing of your heart, you reach forward, setting your hand on Zoro’s arm. He pauses at the touch, looking as if he was ready to just kill Buggy and be done with it. He turns his head around to glance down at you, and you send him a reassuring smile.
You remind yourself that you were with a crew of people who cared about you deeply and no one was going to let Buggy hurt you in any way. Not to mention, you’d grown yourself. You weren’t the same girl Buggy had spent years tormenting; you could stand up for yourself now, especially if you had your friends by your side.
He looks like he wants to argue, but still, Zoro doesn’t fight you when you step out from behind him, turning your eye on Buggy.
“I’m not your friend, Buggy. And I never was,” you say, voice firm in your defiance. “And don’t think that I don’t know all your tricks. If you even try to betray us, I’ll—”
“You’ll do nothing!” Buggy laughs, loud and piercing. “Just like you never did back on my crew! You always were too helpless for your own good. All it took was that cage and—”
It doesn’t take you much to figure out what he was implying with his words and it leaves an unpleasant taste in your mouth, thinking back to that horrible cage. However, he doesn’t get the chance to finish.
Zoro is crossing the distance over to Buggy in seconds. Usopp, who’d been standing at the helm, steering with Buggy’s degrading instructions, looks all too pleased as Zoro grabs Buggy by the top of his head, lifting him off the barrel he’d been set on. You, however, look concerned, wanting nothing more than Zoro to actually just get rid of Buggy but you knew you needed him to get to Nami.
“Woah! Woah! Woah! Wait!” Buggy pleads almost instantly, words coming out in a rushed panic. “I was just joking!” He tries to excuse himself, and your eyes widen as Zoro moves him so he’s hanging over the edge of the ship. Buggy’s voice rises in terror. “I was joking! Y/N knows I was joking! Don’t you, Y/N—”
“Let’s get one thing straight,” Zoro cuts in, voice sharp. “You don’t talk to Y/N.”
Biting your lip, you stare at Zoro’s back. You knew, obviously after the conversation the two of you had had, that Zoro cared about you but seeing him so openly defend you made your heart flutter in ways you didn’t know it could.
“You don’t look at her. Or bother her in any way. Is that clear?”
“Yes, yes,” Buggy rushes, voice a blur of desperation. “I won’t bother Y/N!”
“And if this is just another one of your tricks… or you leading us into a trap. Then…”
“Zoro, buddy!” Buggy laughs, “honour amongst pirates. Right? Come on. How about I sing a nice sea shanty to pass the time.”
Sighing, you press your hand to your forehead.
“Oh, there once was a girl with tangerine hair…”
Buggy continues, but a shared look back at you and Usopp makes Zoro’s decision for him easy. Turning around, he makes his way back up to the helm, where Usopp waits with the lid of a barrel topped off.
Zoro doesn’t hesitate to drop Buggy right inside.
“Ow! God, right on my nose!”
Whatever else he’d been about to say is muffled as Usopp quickly places the top of the barrel back on.
Usopp turns back to you. “I hate clowns.”
Huffing a laugh, you nod your head, instantly eased at his silence. “Me too.”
Making his way back over to you, Zoro dusts off his hands, as if disgusted that Buggy had even been anywhere near him. You glance past him, making sure Usopp wasn’t paying attention anymore, before you reach for Zoro, smiling up at him.
“Thank you for defending me,” you mumble, wrapping your arms around his waist.
Zoro smirks, confident by your praise, but you see the soft flush to his cheeks. “It was a long time coming,” he shrugs, “I hate that clown.” He pauses, briefly, as if unsure of his own words. “Especially for how he treated you.”
The words, despite what they mean, pull a smile to your lips. Your grip on him tightens, and you lean into his embrace. Slowly, Zoro’s arm comes to rest around your shoulders, and you’re reminded of how new all of this still is. The two of you had only confessed your feelings a little bit ago and the two of you were still trying to maneuver those changes; especially since everything else was also still new.
It was hard to believe it had only been a few short weeks since Luffy, Zoro and Nami saved you from Buggy and you joined them on their adventure. Finding Usopp, fighting Kuro and the Black Cat crew, then arriving at the Baratie, Nami’s betrayal and Sanji joining you… so much had happened in such a short amount of time. A part of you wondered if Zoro and you had moved too quickly into something beyond just a friendship, but then you feel the bandages across his chest on the skin of your cheek and you remember how close he’d been to dying.
Even if most would consider it quick, you didn’t want to waste a moment when you could lose him or he could lose you at any time.
Besides, he and the rest of the crew were stuck with you now. There would be plenty of time to work out the kinks.
“It’s okay,” you reassure Zoro. “I won’t lie and say what Buggy had done to me still doesn’t… haunt me. But, I’m not as scared as I thought I’d be when Luffy said he made a deal with him. Especially because now I have you guys. Because I have you.”
Zoro shifts and you pull back, giving him the room to lean back so he can meet your eye properly. A man of action as always, he raises his left hand, brushing back your hair to cup your cheek and presses a gentle kiss against your lips. It’s quick, the touch of his lips hovering for what feels like far too short, before he’s pulling back, smiling at you.
“I should talk to Luffy.” He says a moment later, “figure out our plan for when we find Nami and Arlong.”
You nod, finally letting your hands fall to your sides as you watch him walk away, sending one last warm look back at you. Your heart is still fluttering, even as he gets further and further away, feeling hot and weak at the same time.
“Someone’s down bad.”
Blinking, you turn around, finding Usopp staring down at you with the widest shit-eating grin on his lips.
Cheeks warming, you shake yourself out of your stupor, making your way up the stairs over to him. “Ha-ha,” you huff, but the smile on your lips is fond.
Usopp just giggles. “Seriously,” he teases, “the two of you barely notice the people around you when you’re together.”
Coming to a stop next to him, you lightly nudge him with your shoulder. “Haven’t you teased me enough?” You whine, pouting, as your eyes glimmer with mischief at him. “The second Luffy told you what he saw, you haven’t let me off the hook.”
“It’s too fun,” Usopp shrugs, turning his gaze ahead to continue steering the ship. “You always get so embarrassed.”
Crossing your arms over your chest, you raise a brow. “I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you, Usopp.”
“Oh?” He challenges, “and why’s that?”
“Because you forget I saw you and Kaya,” you smirk, watching as the smile on his lips falls and is replaced by a bright red across his cheeks. “If you want to talk about two people smitten…—”
“Okay, okay! I won’t tease you anymore!”
You turn to Usopp, his face turning bright red as he wildly shakes his hands in front of him. It pulls a laugh from your lips, loud and warm, enough to pull Usopp from his own reverie as he blinks back at you.
Turning your gaze back ahead, you soften your smile; “I’m happy for you, Usopp. And I know you’ll see her one day again.”
Shoulders easing, Usopp grabs hold of the helm again and grins to himself. “Thanks,” he says earnestly, “and I’m happy for you too. You and Zoro.”
You squeeze his arm in return, smile infectious, and the two of you fall into a comfortable silence with one another for a few minutes.
Then, you catch sight of something ahead.
“Usopp,” you call, shaking his own arm before pointing ahead of yourself. “Look!”
He leans forward, eyes squinting. “I don’t see anything,” he mumbles, confused.
You frown; “you don’t see the island up ahead?”
“How do you…” Usopp frowns, but his voice trails, squinting even more before he pulls back in realization. “Wait. I see it!”
Instantly, he cups his hands around his mouth, breathing in sharply so yell out to the three at the front of the ship; “land ho!”
-
Walking behind Zoro, you frown at the sight of the village in front of you. In a lot of ways, it uncomfortably reminds you of the village Buggy had destroyed; the one Luffy had saved.
It’s desolate. Any sign of happiness that probably flooded these homes is gone, without a trace of it ever exiting. It makes your chest tight and your heart sinks.
You slow to a stop when you notice the rest of your crew doing the same, turning to the left and your lips part when you see what’s caught their attention.
“This is terrible,” you breathe, pressing a hand to your lips as you stare back at the flipped upside down house.
Zoro eyes you, before turning to the house; “never seen that before.”
“What could have done this?” Sanji asks, brows furrowed in bafflement.
Usopp hovers next to you, shuffling on his feet. “Maybe I should head back… make sure the Merry’s secure.”
Without hesitation, you reach for Usopp, squeezing his arm. He turns to you, the fear in his gaze apparent.
But before you can say anything to reassure him, Luffy speaks up;
“Arlong did this.”
His voice is unusually low, tinged with rage. You stare back at him with surprise.
“Hey, shit-hat!” Buggy calls, voice muffled through the bag Sanji is currently carrying him in. “I think we can all agree that Arlong’s a bad fish. But why don’t we quit lollygagging and get my body back?”
You scoff, “as if we should hurry for your sake.” Letting your gaze drag across the village once more, you frown. “This is no different than anything you’ve done before. Same innocent people being hurt, just different pirates.”
Sanji’s eyes fall on you, and you figure it’s because he’s the only one on the crew that doesn’t know how Luffy had found you. Sure, Usopp hadn’t been there, but he’d heard bits and pieces of it and probably was able to piece it all together. Sanji, who’d just joined, wouldn’t know. All he knew was you’d once been on Buggy’s crew.
You avoid his gaze.
“Come on, Y/N! I certainly wasn’t as bad as—”
“Pipe down in there!” Sanji cuts him off, for your sake more than anyone else's.
“Or what?” Buggy huffs. “You gonna whip me up a souffle?”
Dropping the bag, Sanji sighs, gesturing to Usopp. “How about you take him for a while?”
“Ooh,” Usopp breathes, shaking his head. “New guy carries the clown head.”
Feeling bad for the guy, you step forward, reaching for the bag. “Here, Sanji, I can—”
“Absolutely not—”
“It’s okay, Y/N, I’ve got it—”
Both Zoro and Sanji speak at the same time, and almost instantly, the two turn to each other with glares.
“Y/N is not carrying that clown head,” Zoro growls, shifting beside you.
“I agree,” Sanji bites out, shouldering the bag again before turning to you with a smile. “Don’t worry, Y/N. I got it under control.”
You hesitate, frowning, but seeing the smile on his lips and the way Zoro continues to glare at the cook, you decide to let it go. “Okay,” you shrug, “if you’re sure.”
The five of you continue to make your way, picking up the pace in your step when you see a group of people up ahead.
“Everyone! Please!”
The man speaking stands at the front of the crowd, holding a box. His expression is grim.
“We don’t have much time,” he continues. “And we’re short again this month.”
You frown when you watch a man step up, dumping a handful of Berry into the box.
That sinking feeling floods your stomach again.
“Is it enough?”
With a frown, the man at the front shakes his head slowly.
“Do we have time to get some more?”
“No.”
Your back straightens, recognizing that voice.
Sure enough, the crowd splits instantly, and you see Nami step through.
“You don’t,” she says, slowly making her way through the crowd.
Luffy steps forward, as if to go to her. Zoro stops him.
A woman with blue hairs steps right up to Nami, face twisted with rage. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face here.” Nami doesn’t say anything in return, even when the woman spits right at her feet.
She walks off a second later, your eyes follow her.
A moment of silence passes, then, Nami turns her attention back to the man with the donation box. “Got something for me?”
Slowly, he hands over the box.
It takes Nami one look; “you’re short.”
“Nami, please,” the man begs. “This is all we have. Arlong has bled us dry.”
“Then find more blood.”
Swallowing thickly, the sight breaks your heart. There was no way Nami could actually be this… heartless, right?
The man walks off as does the rest of the crowd. Nami, with the donation box still in hand, lets her gaze wander, freezing the second she catches sight of the five of you.
She makes her way over in seconds flat.
“Luffy?” She calls, voice sharp. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same thing.”
“This is where I belong.”
Luffy shakes his head, “I don’t believe that. This is not you.”
“No,” she argues. “This isn’t the me you want me to be.”
“Nami…” Luffy calls, voice soft. He steps towards her. “If you need our help—”
“No, I don’t need any of you.”
You flinch at that, watching as her eyes dance across the five of you. When her eyes meet yours, she’s quick to look away.
“Arlong wanted the map,” she explains, “and I conned you into getting it for me. And you bought it. I was never part of your stupid crew.”
“You don’t mean that.”
For the splittest of seconds, Nami’s face wavers. You see it, watch it happen, but it’s gone before you can do anything about it. It feels like you’re the only one who does see it.
“Take the rest of these clowns and sail away from here,” she spits. “I never want to see you again.”
She spins around, moving to walk off. You instinctively move to walk after her, knowing what you saw and not ready to give up, but Zoro grabs your hand, tightening his grip. Turning to him, his expression is sympathetic for you but firm; she won’t listen.
Usopp huffs behind you; “okay, that went about as bad as it could. So back to the boat before the fishmen find us? Sail the hell out of here? Okay.”
Sanji shakes his head; “there’s something else going on here.”
“I think she was very clear she wants us to leave,” Zoro argues.
“You don’t know women,” Sanji instantly rebuts, “they never say what they mean.”
You blink, “well, I—”
“Tell me again why the cook gets a say.” Zoro huffs, turning to face Sanji.
“Don’t you guys get it,” Usopp cuts in, and you watch as the three of them circle around each other, bickering. All while Luffy remains standing where Nami left him. “She’s one of them. She’s a bad guy. The villagers are terrified of her.”
Raising your voice, you step forward and interrupt them before any of them can speak. “The look on her face was off,” you explain, remembering exactly what you’d seen. Turning to Zoro, you look back at him determined. “I know what she said, Zoro, but she looked like she was this close to breaking down. Sanji is right, there is something more going on here. I’m sure of it.”
Zoro, who looks put out that you’re siding with Sanji, steps towards you. “Y/N, I know that you don’t want it to be true but Nami…” He hesitates, seeing the look on your face. “Usopp is right. The villagers were scared. Of her.”
Face falling, you can’t deny that.
“Not all of them,” Luffy says, speaking up for the first time. You turn around to face him, but he steps forward before you can ask what he meant. “Hey! Scar guy.”
Only chancing one more glance back at Zoro, you quickly follow after Luffy.
“Who was that girl?” Luffy asks the man who’d been collecting the donations. “You know, the one with the cool hair?”
The man eyes you five. “Who wants to know?”
“I’m Monkey D. Luffy,” Luffy introduces, voice serious. “I’m a pirate—”
“—Hunter,” Zoro cuts in quickly. Hands shoved into his pockets, he steps up beside Luffy. “Pirate hunter. We’re here to collect Arlong’s bounty.”
Sensing the apprehension on the man’s face, you think that was definitely a smart save on Zoro’s part.
The man just raises a brow. “You? I’ve seen men twice your size and with twice your number go into Arlong Park. None of them ever came back.”
Luffy smiles. “We just want to talk to her.”
“Trust me,” the man argues, “you don’t. But if it’ll get you out of my town, try the house down that road, on the edge of the tangerine grove.”
-
“I don’t know how you do it.”
Jumping at the voice, you turn around, easing when you see it’s just Nojiko.
Turns out that girl with the cool hair, as Luffy had dubbed her, was Nami’s sister. After managing to convince her into talking to you with the promise of a home-cooked meal, Sanji had whipped her and the rest of you up a meal. It was only then Nojiko had agreed to tell you the story of how her and Nami’s mother had died because of Arlong, who’d taken control of this island eight years ago. And how Nami was now working for him.
The story had left the five of you all upset in your own ways. When Usopp had solidified the fact that Nami really was working for her mother’s killer, the air in the house had thickened with tension.
You’d stay for a while, but after Buggy had insisted on being let out of the bag to the point Sanji had been forced to do so, you’d taken your leave. Luffy, and then Zoro who had gone after him, had left the second Nojiko finished telling you everything and you hadn’t heard from them since. You figured it was best to give them space, so you’d chosen to wander through the tangerine grove right by Nojiko’s house.
When Nojiko had found you.
Meeting Nojiko’s eyes, you glance at her inquisitively.
“Deal with being stuck with four men,” she laughs lightly. “Especially on a ship. I’d go crazy.”
You smile back at her, snorting. “You get used to it.” Then, smile wavering just faintly, you can’t help but add; “it was easier, too. With… you know, Nami.” Hugging yourself, you glance at your feet. “It was nice having her onboard with us. Nice being her friend, if she ever thought of me as one.”
Nojiko doesn’t respond, probably not sure how to. Still, she offers a gentle and sympathetic smile in return. It’s clear she understands in her own way.
“Are you okay?” You ask, gesturing back to the house. “Sanji didn’t say anything, right? He’s a flirt and never means anything by it, but I’ll kick him for you if he makes you uncomfortable.”
Letting out a sharp laugh, Nojiko shakes her head. “He didn’t say anything,” she reassures with a wave of her hand. “I just needed some air. I was… I was actually planning on visiting her grave.”
Your lips part; “your mother’s?”
She nods.
You hesitate, glancing back at the far stretch of the tangerine grove and then back at Nojiko. You decide to just ask what’s on your mind. “Could I come with you?”
She seems shocked by our question, eyes widening and brows furrowing.
“Only if you don’t mind,” you assure, shaking your hands at her. “I just… Just thought maybe you’d like a friend. And, well… I know what it’s like to lose a mother.”
Face easing, Nojiko frowns; “I’m sorry.”
You shake your head. “It was a long time ago.”
Nodding slowly, Nojiko shrugs; “you can come then. And we can send a prayer to both of our mothers.”
Your smile brightens at that, worrying easing from your body as you nod at her. She returns the smile with ease and the two of you begin walking, Nojiko leading the way. The grave isn't that far away, so it doesn’t take you long before Nojiko is informing you you’re close.
“Just around this…—”
But her voice trails as you both hear… grunting? She glances back at you, worried, and you mimic her expression, rushing forward. You worry it’s someone from Arlong’s crew, heart sinking at what they could possibly be doing.
Only, it’s Nami you find.
You hesitate, feet freezing, but blind with anger at the realization of what Nami was doing, Nojiko rushes forward. “How dare you,” she hisses out, barely able to contain the anger in her voice. “It’s not enough that you’re working for our mother’s killer, but now you’re desecrating her grave too?”
You notice at the same time Nami does, her calling out for Nojiko, as the latter grabs the shovel next to the digged hole, swinging it back behind her to hit Nami.
Racing forward, you grab the handle of the shovel before Nojiko can swing it down just as Nami flinches back with a scream.
Nami’s eyes zone in on you; “Y/N? What the hell are you doing here?”
Meeting her gaze, your lips part; “I…—”
“Never mind that,” Nojiko spits, and she lowers her hands when you step back, but doesn’t let go of the shovel, looking ready to try and hit Nami again. “I can’t believe you would do this!”
Nami only glances at you once more, hesitating, before turning back to Nojiko; “it’s not what you think.”
Nojiko goes to swing the shovel again, and you move to grab her, but don’t reach in time.
“You have no idea what I think!”
Nami’s name leaves your lips in a shrill cry and she just narrowly misses the edge of the shovel smacking her across the face, falling back. Instead of Nami, Nojiko hits the chest right next to the hole.
Bills and coins of Berry come pouring out of it.
Panting, Nojiko shakes her head; “what’s this?” She slowly turns to Nami. “Is this the money that you stole? And you’re hiding it next to our mother’s body?”
Confused and bewildered and definitely feeling like you’re encroaching on a moment between sisters you shouldn’t be, you remain silent, taking a step back.
“Nami,” Nojiko whispers, “what kind of monster are you?”
“You don’t understand,” Nami cries.
“Then make me understand.”
Her eyes flicker between you and Nojiko, unsure, before she focuses all of her attention on Nojiko.
“I’ve been stealing this money because of a deal with Arlong I made,” she starts, moving to crawl out of the hole and grab her bag. “I told Arlong I’d work for him on one condition. That he let me buy back Coco Village. And he said he would for a hundred million Berry.”
“A hundred million?” You echo, unable to stop yourself. “That would take a lifetime.”
Nami shakes her head, reaching for Nojiko. “I have the money,” she explains. “All of it. And now I can buy the freedom of the village and everyone in it.”
Seeing the look on Nojiko’s face, you inhale sharply, turning. It occurs to you should give them a moment alone. This news was shocking enough to you, you couldn’t imagine how Nojiko, who’s obviously hated Nami for the past eight years, would feel. Sending the two of them a gentle smile, you walk off, moving to the edge of the woods.
Crossing your arms over your chest, you think about what Nami had said.
That look you’d seen her eyes, the one only you had seemed to be able to notice, made so much more sense now. None of this had been of Nami’s own volition or choice. And for the past eight years she’d been forced to work for and do the bidding of a man who’d killed her mother and threatened her family and friends.
The thought made you sick. You couldn’t imagine what Nami’s been forced to endure.
Minutes pass of you stuck in your thoughts, until you catch something through the foliage of the forest. It gives you pause, head turning in the direction as you squint, trying to figure out what you’d seen.
When you catch sight of a familiar white and blue uniform, your heart drops.
“Nami, Nojiko!” You call, rushing over to them as you reach for Nami’s chest of Berry. Nami stands at the sight, the conversation between her and Nojiko cut short as she assumes the worst of what you’re doing.
“What are you—”
“We don’t have time,” you cut her off, staring at her with panic in your eye. “The Marines, they’re—”
“Already here.”
Lips left parted, you, Nami and Nojiko’s heads snap round, back in the direction you’d come from, bodies freezing at the sight of a line up of Marines stopping in front of you.
“A shame to interrupt such a touching moment,” the lieutenant Marine offers, voice not at all sympathetic. “I’ve heard that pirates are stashing their plunder in this area. You three wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”
Feet frozen in place, you eye the back of Nami and Nojiko, before shifting your attention back to the lieutenant. This was bad. Very bad. There was no way to hide Nami’s stash, especially not when it was clear it was exactly what the Marines were already looking for.
“That’s obviously been stolen,” the Marine lieutenant comments, eyeing Nami’s money. “By the authority of the Marines and the World Government, I'm going to have to confiscate it.”
“No,” Nami gasps. “No, you can’t do that. It’s mine!”
“A hundred million Berry?” The lieutenant raises a brow, “and where would you get that much money?”
“Nami got that money fair and square,” you hiss, stepping forward as you glare at the man. “You have no right to take it from her.”
“No right?” The lieutenant laughs, loud and mocking. “I have the right as a Marine lieutenant, silly girl.”
“Wait,” Nami cuts in, breathless, before you can speak, as if having realized something. “How did you know it was a hundred…” But her voice trails, and a glance back at her tells you she’s figured it out.
“Arlong put you up to this, didn’t he?”
Your lips part, gasping.
“I… I don’t know what you mean,” the lieutenant shrugs. Then, he shifts, nodding at the men behind him. They listen instantly.
Nami and you both start. She reaches for her bag, trying to grab her weapon, but the Marines are too quick. Two of them flank her, grabbing her by the arm. You growl at the sight, stepping forward to help, but then the men that had been standing to the left of the lieutenant step towards you.
“Watch yourself. Or we will take you into custody as well.”
Past their shoulders you can see the Marine officers holding Nami shove her to the ground. Rage floods you, and you move towards her, but you’re blocked by more officers. Instantly, they go to grab you, but you dodge their grasps, trying to slither past them. You make it past one, reaching for Nami and then a sharp sting radiates across your cheek.
You trip over your feet at the impact, stunned, falling to your knees as your hand hovers across your cheek in shock, staring up at the officer who’d punched you. He stares down at you, unbothered. His hand rests on his baton, as if baiting you to try again.
Nami, who’d watched the whole display, continues to thrash and fight the hands that hold her down.
“No!” She screams when she sees them grabbing her Berry. “You can’t do this. You can’t do this!”
Cheek stinging and eyes watering in despair, you watch the Marines grab her money all while Nami screams, helpless to do anything. They take it all, not leaving a single Berry behind, and not offering even a glance at Nami who cries out for them to stop.
When the officers let her go and walk off, Nami instantly moves to get back up. Nojiko, who’d seemed frozen in the spot until then, grabs her. “Wait, Nami,” she pleads. “Stop! Wait. Wait!”
“Let me go!” Nami cries, fighting her sister's grip. “Let me go! They can’t do this!”
“Nami,” you breathe, staring at her in shock.
“There’s nothing you can do!” Nojiko tries.
But Nami doesn’t listen to her.
“Arlong will kill the entire village!” She bellows, voice pitching in distress, finally breaking free from Nojiko’s grip and running off in the opposite direction of the Marine’s and instead towards the village.
“Nami, wait!” Nojiko begs, screaming after her.
Pushing yourself to your feet, you wipe your tears, grabbing Nojiko’s hand and pulling her eyes on you.
There’s only one thing that can help her now. Or rather, people.
“Nojiko. Nojiko, listen to me,” you pant, tugging on her hand. Her eyes fall on you, wild and terrified. “We need to get Luffy and the rest. They can help! I promise!”
Chest rising and falling and breathless, Nojiko inhales sharply, trying to calm herself.
“Okay.”
Never letting go of her hand, you pull her along, the two of you take off in the direction you’d first come from. Nojiko’s house is closer than the rest of the village, separated off, so it doesn’t take either of you very long to get back to their house and your friends. The two of you break through the tangerine grove, breathless and panicked, and Zoro and Luffy who had been up on the roof see you instantly.
“Y/N?” Zoro calls, concerned. Him and Luffy glance at each other briefly before quickly climbing down the roof. “Y/N, what’s wrong?”
Zoro’s voice must’ve caught the attention of Usopp and Sanji because they come running out of the house too,
“What’s going on?” Usopp asks.
“Y/N?” Sanji’s gaze instantly zones in on you, taking in your distressed state. “And Nojiko? Are you—”
Luffy and Zoro come to a stop in front of the both of you.
Nojiko, unable to catch her voice, shakes her head. “Nami, she’s…” But a cough wracks through her body, exhausted after everything from the Marine’s, trying to stop Nami and then running.
Zoro zones in on you then, catching sight of your face. “Y/N, your cheek,” he breathes, voice low as he reaches for you, cupping your jaw to pull your gaze up on him. His eyes flood with anger when he gets a better look at your red and stinging cheek. “Who did—”
Resting your hand over his, you shake your head. “It doesn’t matter,” you dismiss, and cut him off quickly before he can argue. “We have to help Nami. Arlong… Arlong is going to destroy the village!”
“What?” Usopp squeaks, “he’s coming here?”
“Is it because the village was short on money?” Sanji frowns.
Meeting Nojiko’s eyes, you both frown. “Nami had a deal with Arlong,” you explain, shifting from Zoro to Luffy. His face is serious, and he listens to you carefully. “He betrayed her. The Marine’s stole her money and now Arlong is going to destroy the village. We have to help them. We have to help Nami!”
“Please,” Nojiko pleads beside you. “Please.”
Zoro steps towards you, and you turn to him, barely noticing the way your eyes are watering. He frowns down at you, before turning to Luffy.
“Nojiko, stay here. Y/N.” You turn back to him, breathing in. “Lead the way,” Luffy says, voice sharp.
Meeting his eyes, you nod.
-
Walking past Luffy, you fall to your knees next to Nami.
She starts at the sight of you, teary-eyed and gasping, but you just smile gently at her. Shifting your bag, you pull out the bandages in there. You’d originally grabbed them for Zoro, but staring at her bleeding arm, you figure it was best her wounds were cleaned and wrapped.
“Here,” you say softly, slowly grabbing her arm. You hesitate, not wanting to startle her, but she doesn’t flinch away when you reach for her. Comforted at the action, you grab the cloth you’d also pulled out, wiping at the blood.
“I can clean it better later,” you explain, “but for now.”
She doesn’t respond, and you let her remain silent, incapable of understanding what she could possibly be going through in that moment.
The two of you sit in silence, away from the boys as they figure out how they’re going to go up against Arlong. Nami watches as you bandage her, and you do so without saying anything. Truthfully, you don’t know what you could say. Your heart broke for her and the villagers and every sting of betrayal you’d felt before is gone.
Now, you only feel guilt for having ever doubted her.
“There,” you whisper, doing the last loop of the bandage.
Nami glances down at her arm and she ponders it for a while, before;
“Thank you.”
Lips parting, your head snaps up, blinking.
“Back there, with the Marines,” she points at your cheek. “You tried to stop them.”
“Oh,” you frown, “you don’t have to thank me. I’m… I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them then.”
Blinking back her tears, Nami’s face falls.
“Luffy will be able to stop Arlong, Nami,” you smile at her, taking a leap and squeezing her arm. She straightens at the touch, but her gaze is warm as she looks back at you. “We’ll help you. You don’t have to do it alone anymore.”
Her eyes fall shut, a single tear escaping her defences as she leans towards you.
“Thank you.”
-
“I can fight.”
“We’ve hardly done any training—”
“Zoro,” you huff, balling your hands into fists at your side. “I want to help.”
He eyes you, frowning. “I know you do, but Arlong’s men are strong.”
Mildly insulted, despite knowing he was right, and frustrated, you glare up at him. “I’m helping. You can’t stop me.”
Clearly frustrated himself, Zoro presses a hand to his face. “You don’t even have a weapon.”
“Nojiko gave me a gun,” you counter, grabbing the rifle from the wall you’d set it against, and holding it up to him to see. “She taught me the basics of how to use it. I probably won’t be as good of a shot as Usopp, but I can still try.”
Breathing in sharply, Zoro glances back at the crew, noticing the way they’re getting ready to go. Turning back to you, he steps towards you, cupping your cheeks. “I don’t want you to get hurt again.”
Wrapping your hands around him in return, you smile, “I know. Because I don’t want you to get hurt too.” Squeezing his hands, you look up at him reassuringly. “I’ll stay back and not put myself in danger. But I want to help Nami. Don’t ask me to stay behind when she’s my friend too. That’s not what we promised each other.”
Sighing, Zoro knows you’re right. “You stay away from the thick of it,” he orders, voice serious. “And if you need my help, call for me. I’ll come to you right away.”
Biting your lip, you smile. “I promise,” you assure, nodding. “The second I’m in danger, I’ll call for you. Only you.”
Cheeks flushing, Zoro rolls his eyes. “As long as you promise.”
-
Despite losing sight of Usopp in the mess, you think you’re doing a fairly good job.
Obviously, Sanji and Zoro were taking down most of the men, but you can proudly say you’ve at least gotten a few really good shots. There was even the time you’d shot down a guy that had been gunning straight for Zoro, to which he’d smirked back at you in response.
The pride you’d felt was imminent.
Just like how you’d been able to see the island before anyone else back on the boat, or how you’d seen the Marines coming through the thick forest foliage, your left eye was able to catch sight of Arlong’s man easily. And even though you were still rocky with the gun itself, your eye helped you see things you’d never been able to before.
You’ve never seen things so clearly.
Taking one last shot at one of Arlong’s men and watching him crash to the ground, you straighten up from behind the rock you’d perched yourself behind. You couldn’t see Zoro and Sanji from where you were and a quick glance across the park told you you’d all (mainly them) managed to take out most of Arlong’s men.
Standing to your feet, you climb down the rocks and head in the direction you thought you’d last seen Sanji and Zoro go in. Despite being further back, you’d watched them argue the entire time they’d been fighting, so you figured checking on them was probably the best idea.
Sure enough, eventually you can hear their muffled voices arguing. You follow the sound, coming around a broken down stand, only to come crashing into someone.
You stumble back, blinking, until your eye lands on the familiar sight of Buggy. With his body.
Your grip instantly tightens on your gun, while his lips stretch into a wide grin.
“Sorry, my Angel Eye,” he laughs and you hiss at the sound of that nickname, stepping towards him. He holds his hands up as he wiggles his fingers at you in a mocking goodbye. “I’d love to catch up but I gotta go!”
He runs past you in the next second before you even have a second to blink, and your hand twitches, wanting to stop him. But honestly, the thought occurs to you it might just be best to let him go; if he was gone, then at least you didn’t have to see him and listen to his grating voice any longer.
You also don’t know at that moment if you were strong enough to kill him. Not in the physical sense, but… mental.
Shaking your head, you let the thought leave you, focusing back on finding Zoro and Sanji.
Figures he’d betray you guys anyways.
Scoffing, you continue making your way forward, face easing when you see Zoro and Sanji.
“I see Buggy betrayed us,” you comment, gesturing behind you.
Sanji and Zoro turn to you.
“He didn’t do anything did—”
“What did that fucking clown say—”
Blinking at the both of them, you watch as they turn to each other, before promptly turning the other way.
You bite your lip, laughing. “You guys are—”
Whatever you’d been about to say gets cut off the second you let out a scream. A sharp, aching pain radiates from your left eye, making you fall to your knees as you clutch at your face, curling in on yourself.
Your name leaves Zoro’s lips as he and Sanji run towards you, Zoro kneeling in front of you.
“Y/N,” he calls, voice pitched in panic. “Y/N, what happened? What’s going on?”
“I—” Hissing, you cry out as the sting continues to radiate across your face.
Hands fall on you, careful and slow, pulling your own away from your face.
Leaning forward, Zoro pauses at the sight and Sanji behind him gasps;
“Y/N, your eye…”
You stare up at them, hand hovering by your face, trying to bear through the pain.
“What… What’s happening?”
“Your eye is glowing, Y/N,” Zoro mumbles, shaking his head. “It’s like… shining.”
Frowning at him, you ease when the pain lessens somewhat. Still, your heart is racing with terror of what’s happening.
“Does it still—”
Footsteps cut Zoro off, all three of your guys’ attention snapping to the right where you see one of Arlong’s main lackeys coming over. He grins wide at the sight of you three, and instantly, Sanji is shifting into a fighting stance as Zoro stands, stepping in front of you.
“Stay back, Y/N,” Zoro calls, stretching his arm in front of you.
You nod up at him, pushing yourself back as you try and bite back another cry of pain.
It doesn’t take them long to fight him. Even though Sanji gets kicked around a bit, the second the bad guy says something about Nami, Sanji is zoned in on him. With a series of powerful kicks, you watch as Sanji takes down the guy in seconds.
Zoro turns to you, sure that it was safe to, crouching. His touch is gentle as he tries to get a closer look at your eye.
As their fight had progressed, the pain had lessened. And now, it’s nearly gone, just a faint, residual itchy feeling.
“Does it still hurt?” Zoro frowns.
You shake your head, “it’s just… uncomfortable. Is it still glowing?”
“Not anymore,” he shakes his head, shifting his hands to your hips as he helps you back to your feet.
“Has that ever happened before, love?” Sanji asks, staring back at you in concern.
You ignore Zoro’s huff at the nickname, shaking your head at Sanji. “No,” you frown. “I have no idea what that was.”
Turning back to Zoro, it’s hard to hide your fear.
Brushing his fingers across your cheek, Zoro shakes his head. “It’s okay, just tell me if it happens again, alright? We’ll figure it out.”
Eased at his reassurance, you lean into his touch.
“Also,” Zoro smiles down at you, “you did great.”
His words bring an instant beam to your lips, appreciating his ability to shift your mind away from your worries and praise you at the same time. You grin, clapping your hands in front of you in joy. “Really?” Then, turning to Sanji, your eyes sparkle. “You think so too, Sanji?”
Any discomfort he’d shown at Zoro’s words to you eases as he grins at you. “Of course, love, you did amazing.”
Your face is practically sparkling.
“Would you stop calling her that?” Zoro huffs, “and what was with those stupid names with your kicks?”
“All great heroes have names for their attacks,” Sanji shrugs, unbothered.
Zoro hesitates before sighing. “Yeah, you’ll fit in great.”
You grin, happy they were (sorta) getting along.
Just then, a familiar screaming catches your attention. Turning your gaze to the entrance of Arlong park, you watch as Usopp comes running in, slingshot at the ready.
“Never fear, the Great Captain Usopp is…” But his words trail when he realizes everyone is already down. “Is… oh. You guys did pretty good in here.” Sighing, he grins at you all, sending you a thumbs up. You send him one back. “Good job guys!”
He nods to himself, and the four of you shift, falling silent.
Putting a hand to your right eye, so you see nothing, you frown to yourself, unable to ignore the unsettled feeling still in your stomach.
“Nami!”
Blinking at Sanji’s call, you look up, face brightening when you see Nami running over to the four of you.
Sanji’s arms stretch wide for a hug, but she runs past him, gunning straight for you, Usopp and Zoro. You stumble as you’re brought into an embrace, squished between Zoro and Usopp as Nami’s face falls into the crook of your neck.
“You’re all okay!”
Smiling at her, you nod as she pulls back, taking one last long look at the three of you before turning back to Arlong’s base.
“Where’s Luffy?” Zoro asks.
Glancing at Sanji, who’d been rejected seconds before, you offer a small wink when he meets your gaze.
“Still inside,” Nami answers, “fighting Arlong.”
Turning back to Arlong Park, you frown, however, at the sight of the building crumbling apart.
-
“That was crazy, huh?”
Smiling down at Zoro, you take a seat next to him, letting your arm brush against his before turning to meet his gaze.
Zoro snorts next to you, returning your smile with a softer one of his own. He leans back as you sit next to him, and you don’t fail to notice the way he leans back, his right hand falling to a spot behind you, silently giving you the room to lean into him.
Biting back your smile, you don’t hesitate to do just that.
“Thought we were going to be fighting off the entirety of that Marine force,” Zoro comments dryly, letting his gaze drift in front of the both of you. You think back to what had just happened moments prior and the realization that the Vice Admiral, Luffy’s grandfather, had been chasing after all of you as some sort of test for his grandson.
Letting out a laugh, you glance up at Zoro, an adoring look in your eye. “I bet you would’ve too,” you comment. With a teasing grin, you poke at his side, careful of his wound. “After all, you like being Luffy’s first mate more than you’ll admit.”
Rolling his eyes, he smirks down at you; “maybe.”
You giggle, letting your head fall onto his shoulder and drift your gaze across the crowd of bustling and happy villagers. It’s a stark contrast from when you’d all first arrived on Cocoyashi Village, but it was one that made your heart swell with pride and warmth. Arlong and his goons were gone and now Nami’s village could live in peace like they always should’ve been able to.
Speaking of, you pause in your thoughts when you notice Nami and Nojiko walking past you. Both of their eyes are on you and Zoro and while Nojiko offers a simple wave and a warm smile, the look in Nami’s eyes is telling as she wiggles her brows at you, gesturing loosely to Zoro. You flush, but the grin on your lips is undeniable.
You watch them walk off, happy the two sisters could have these final moments together.
“How’s your eye?”
Looking up at the sound of Zoro’s question, you find him staring down at you, chin dipped towards you and eyes dancing with concern.
“Better,” you say honestly, letting your hand fall over your left eye, covering your vision completely for a brief second before turning back to Zoro. “I don’t know what that was but I… have been noticing things recently.”
Zoro’s brows furrow; “what things?”
“I just… see things,” you shrug, unsure how to explain it. “See things before others can. Like when I saw the island… Usopp didn’t see it for a minute and we all know that the one thing he does have is good vision. Or when the Marine’s stole Nami’s money, I could see them far before I should’ve been able to.”
Zoro takes in your words, slowly nodding. “You think it could have to do with Mihawk?”
“Maybe,” you nod, the thought having already crossed your mind. “I’ve never understood why my eye looks like this or why my right one is blind… My mother had normal eyes. Maybe something went wrong when I was born?”
Still leant against him, Zoro shifts, moving to slip your hand in his own as he squeezes. “Well, whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, yeah? There’s gotta be an answer somewhere out there.’
His voice is sincere, serious with the promise of helping you. Warmth floods you, heart fluttering, and you think back to the first time you ever met Zoro. When he’d stumbled in that tent that day, you never would’ve thought this is where you’d be now.
Nodding up at him, you say; “it’s a promise.”
He smiles, and with that, you let your head fall against his shoulder again, hand still in his.
The two of you spend the rest of the celebration like that.
-
“So…”
Glancing over at Nami, you huff; “so?”
“You and Zoro?” She grins, wide and from ear to ear. “Can’t believe I missed that.”
Letting out a chuckle, you shake your head. “Don’t tease me,” you whine faintly, pressing a hand to your forehead as the two of you make your way to the kitchen. “I already got enough of it from Usopp.”
Nami barks out a laugh just as the two of you slip inside.
“Get enough of what from me?” Usopp asks, looking up for one of his new ammo experiments he’d been working on.
Meeting Nami’s eyes, the both of you giggle.
“Nothing!”
“Ah,” Sanji comments from the counter, “it’s so nice to be rewarded with such lovely laughter from two lovely ladies.”
You let out a chuckle, moving to sit next to Zoro as Nami grins over at Sanji.
“Oi,” Zoro calls, looking up for his swords. “What have I said about flirting with Y/N, you damned cook?”
Sanji just shrugs, not at all bothered; “I can’t help it. Y/N’s elegance merely demands it.”
Nami and Usopp cackle but you notice the way Zoro moves to get up, quickly grabbing ahold of his arm to stop him.
“You—!”
“Guys!”
Thankful for the distraction, your face lights up as Luffy comes bounding into the kitchen, a slip of paper in his hands. Moving towards the table, he slams it down.
“Look.”
“Oh, shit,” you breathe, staring down at the wanted poster.
“Hey, look,” Usopp cheers, “I’m famous!”
Sanji shakes his head; “what are you on about? That’s Luffy’s wanted poster.”
“Not just Luffy,” Usopp smirks, reaching forward and pointing at the paper. You follow his gesture, huffing a laugh when you realize, sure enough, there Usopp is in the left corner of the poster.
Or, at least, the back of him.
“Sorry, guy,” Usopp chuckles, glancing at you all. “Maybe if you work a little harder, you’ll get a bounty too.”
“That doesn’t count.” Sanji rolls his eyes.
“It’s okay to be jealous. Feel what you need to feel.”
“I… mm…” Cutting himself off, Sanji submits; “this is stupid.”
“This is gonna make things much harder,” Zoro comments from next to you. “With that price on your head, every bounty hunter in the East Blue will be gunning for you.”
“Not just Luffy,” Nami adds. “They’re gonna be gunning for all of us.”
Everyone falters, faced with reality, but you just smile over at Luffy.
“Still,” you speak up, pulling Luffy’s attention on you. “Good for you, Luffy! That’s the first step to being the King of the Pirates!”
He sends you a thumbs up, as the rest groan.
“What have we talked about,” Nami frowns at you. “You don’t need to encourage him anymore than he already encourages himself.”
You just shrug, grinning.
“Besides,” Luffy shrugs, “it doesn't matter. Because we are not staying in the East Blue.”
Staring up at all of you, he grins;
“We’re going to the Grand Line.”
-
“Straw Hats! All hands on deck for a cast-off ceremony.”
Listening to Luffy’s order, you step out onto deck behind Zoro, raising a brow when you see Luffy, Nami and Sanji already gathered around a barrel.
Usopp’s the last to arrive, and the second he comes to a stop, Sanji raises his leg, placing it on the edge of the barrel.
“I’m gonna find the All Blue,” he promises, and your heart starts with realization of what’s happening.
Luffy follows his lead with ease, slamming his leg on the barrel with a bit more force. “I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”
Zoro shifts next to you, smiling wide, and then, he does the same. “I’m gonna be the world’s greatest swordsman.”
“I’m gonna draw a map of the world,” Nami promises, raising her leg as she smiles at you all.
“I…” Usopp hesitates, shifting, before raising his leg. “Am gonna be a brave warrior of the sea!”
Laughter echoes, and then, everyone’s eyes shift to you. Hesitating similarly to Usopp, you glance at the barrel and then each of your friends.
Feeling your heart flutter with excitement, you raise your leg, taking up the last bit of space left on the barrel.
“I’m gonna discover the truth about my eye!” You promise, biting your lip.
You glance at everyone, grinning, until your eyes fall on Zoro who smiles back at you with pride.
“This is it, crew,” Luffy calls, “The Grand Line.”
He pauses, meeting each and every one of your eyes, before, his raises his hand to the sky and screams;
“Nothing’s gonna stand in our way! Yeah!”
Without hesitation, you lean back, inhaling sharply before letting out a bellow of; “Woohoo!”
All Y/N ever wanted to do was sing her songs and be free. Yet somehow, after offering to pay for the meal of a certain boy in a straw hat she finds herself causing havoc through the East Blue.
Masterlist
Trigger warnings: violence, death, one mention of SA, torture, trauma.
Word count: 11K
Disclaimer: The songs I will be using in this fic aren't mine bc I have 0 creativity. I'm sorry.
It began with the sea.
Y/N had always loved it—its wildness, its freedom, the way she belonged to it until it didn't anymore.
Her father.
One moment, they had been laughing beneath the mangroves, her tail brushing his in the soft sway of the tide. He had this deep laugh, the kind that made you feel like the sea itself was smiling, the one that made you feel safe. The next, she was being pulled through the water by her mother's hand, frantic, terrified, forced to hide behind a jagged coral outcropping.
The Marines had come.
She remembered the way the water stilled with their arrival, how everything seemed to hold its breath. Her father stood between them and the rest of their small pod, eyes steady, chest bare, refusing to bow. He hadn’t tried to run. He was proud of what he was.
They called him a monster.
She remembered the rope—coarse and foreign—wrapped around his tail. She remembered the way he screamed as they dragged him to the surface, like an animal in front of the humans above, his tail twisting, his gills flaring in panic.
They made an example of him, they laughed at him. He didn’t scream at first. Just glared, teeth clenched, blood dripping from his brow.
But the rope pulled tighter.
She had watched it all from the surf, a small shape half-submerged, too afraid to move, too frozen to scream.
His voice broke first, his tail followed.
She woke up for months afterward, screaming in the middle of the night, the sound of his body hitting the dock echoing in her skull like thunder. Even now, floating somewhere in unconsciousness, she could still see the way his eyes locked with hers just before the end—like he was sorry he couldn’t protect her.
Then, it had been her mother.
The scent of oil and blood in the water, the metallic tang of harpoons, the click of nets unfurling beneath the waves.
Her mother had been swimming ahead with her and her younger sister, whispering directions, pushing them harder and faster through the reef caves. They had escaped raids before, so they could with this one... but the nets came from all sides, folding in like monstrous wings.
She remembered her mother shoving them forward through a narrow crevice in the rock—one barely wide enough to squeeze through. Her sister slipped through first, small and fast. Y/N started to follow, but before her mother could go with them, the net hit and swallowed her in an instant.
Tangling her limbs, cutting into her skin, Y/N turned in time to see her mother clawing at the ropes, blood blooming into the water like smoke.
Their eyes met.
“You run!” her mother cried, voice sharp with desperation. “Take her and go. Don’t look back!”
But she had looked back and the image never left her, the way the net tightened on her, the way her mother still fought, still hiss, never showing weakness until they pulled her into the pirate ship.
Y/N had heard her scream, and she had never stopped hearing them.
And finally, it was her. Y/N a little older, a little wiser, and twice as afraid.
They’d been running for days, hiding under boats, clinging to driftwood, swimming only at night. Her sister was weak from hunger. Y/N had tried to keep her spirits up, promising they'd make it to the safe island they had heard about—just a little farther, just one more tide, just one more ocean.
But the marines came again, with boats, with lights, with nets, with weapons. They could never outrun them.
But thankfully, Y/N saw them before her sister did.
She looked at the little girl she’d promised to protect, her gills fluttering weakly and she made a decision, she swam away from her sister, toward the open water, fast and visible, making sure they saw her first.
And they did.
The net hit hard, winding around her limbs, crushing her tail. She screamed as it pulled her to the surface, torches blinding her eyes.
She looked back once before disappearing into the boat.
Miri was gone.
Gone somewhere safe at least, do once they killed her, at least she knows her sister made it, but the thing is, she was never meant to die, no, that would've been better.
They hauled her aboard like a trophy.
She never even knew the name of the marine who caught her— all she remembered now was his face, sideburns, and rectangular glasses, but it didn’t matter because he did not keep her long. Just long enough to show her off, to laugh about the “sea witch” he’d dragged in. Then he sold her. No papers, no records, just Berri and silence.
The next man—the real monster—was worse.
The Captain didn’t want money, he didn’t want to brag, he wanted to break her.
He called her his “treasure.” Kept her in a cage. Fed her scraps. Ordered her to entertain him when he was in a good mood. Beat her when she refused. Called her beautiful, precious, unnatural. Sometimes all in the same breath.
He touched her like he owned her, talked about her like she was a pet, and Y/N learned quickly that silence was safer than defiance, that closing her eyes was the only way to hold onto what little dignity she had left.
She stopped counting the months, stopped singing, stopped dreaming.
She stopped believing she was worth saving.
At first, it felt like she was floating.
Weightless.
Suspended in the dark with nothing but the steady pressure of water pressing against her ribs and the dull ache in her limbs.
Y/N stirred, groggy, her mind sluggish and fragmented. Something stung at her wrists. Her arms were above her head, pulled taut. Her tail—a dull throb of muscle and bone—hung limply behind her, the weight of it heavier than it should’ve been. She tried to move, to shift, to swim, but her limbs didn’t obey.
Her eyes fluttered open.
At first, it was just a blur of blue-green, shifting light. Then shapes began to form, steel, glass, movement outside the curve of her vision. Her heart kicked once, hard, and she tried to move.
Chains clinked softly as her body barely shifted.
Her wrists were bound—metal cuffs bolted to the interior wall of a water tube, suspending her arms just above her. Her tail was also restrained near the base, the thick fin looped and fastened to a bar at the bottom of the tank, keeping her suspended and stretched in a loose, languid posture that wasn’t painful. Her breathing picked up, but something tight kept it from going too far.
That’s when she realized there was something clamped over her mouth.
It wasn’t cloth, it was metal, cold and fitted, wrapping across her lower face with sharp ridges etched into it like carved warning signs. The pressure on her jaw made her teeth throb. She tried to scream, to hum—anything—but only bubbles slipped free from her nose.
Her eyes darted now, frantically taking in the curved walls around her. She was inside a massive tube—maybe ten feet tall, five feet across, filled with seawater and glowing faintly with some eerie light. The glass was thick, probably reinforced, and smeared slightly from fingerprints and sea grime.
She struggled, a small, instinctive jerk, but it sent a flash of pain up her arms. The shackles didn’t budge. She kicked once, weakly, her tail brushing the bottom curve of the tank, but it didn’t help.
She was on display and wasn’t alone. through the glass, she saw movement, shadows passing by.
Fish-men.
Their voices echoed outside the glass: laughter, movement, footsteps.
There were fish-men outside. Most paused to glance her way and smirked. Others laughed, muffled by the tank, the sound distorted and cruel. She didn’t hear words, but she didn’t have to, nor did she want to. One even knocked on the glass, amused by the way she flinched.
The light shifted again, heavier this time, deliberate.
Y/N blinked slowly, vision stinging. The murky outline of passing Fish-men gave way to a larger figure, a silhouette too broad to be anyone else. The water around her seemed to chill as he came into view.
Arlong.
He stepped right up to the tank with that lazy, leering swagger, his grin wide and sharp, rows of teeth gleaming beneath dim torchlight. For a moment, he didn’t speak—just stood there, watching her like a man admiring a painting he’d nailed to a wall.
Y/N tried not to react, but her muscles tensed instinctively. The chains groaned softly where her arms strained against them.
Then he placed a hand on the glass.
“You look better this way,” he said at last, his voice distorted through the water but clear enough. “No lies. No illusions. Just what you really are—a pretty little traitor in a tank.”
She glared at him, teeth grinding behind the gag, her gills flaring in instinctual anger.
“You can thank me later,” he continued, casually circling the tank. “Not every day someone gets to see one of your kind up close. Rarer than gold, you know... And just as sellable.”
He stopped behind her, tapping a knuckle against the glass once, twice. The sound echoed inside her skull.
“I already sent word,” he added with cruel cheer. “A couple of collectors in the North Blue have been dying for a specimen like you. Pure blood, real tail, and still got that wild spirit. They’ll pay nicely.”
Y/N thrashed suddenly, tail lashing in the water, rage bubbling up fast and fierce—but the motion only made the chains bite deeper into her wrists. Her cry was swallowed by the gag, nothing but a muffled gurgle of fury.
Arlong laughed, mockingly. She tried to ignore it all, just focus on escaping... but something shifted in the corner of her vision.
She turned her head slightly, as far as the gag’s straps would allow. Just enough to see a figure further back in the chamber. Half-shrouded in shadow, lingering near one of the stone archways, her orange hair catching the light like fire.
No.
Y/N stared through the warped glass, her heartbeat loud in her ears, gills flaring slightly with every panicked breath. The cold bite of metal against her mouth had long since become part of her. She didn’t bother struggling anymore, not with her standing there.
Nami.
At first, she thought it was a trick of the light. Her mind is playing games. But no—she knew those shoulders, that walk, that way her arms wrapped tightly around her ribs like she could hold herself together if she just squeezed hard enough.
It was Nami.
Standing just behind the guards. Out of reach, but not out of place and worst of all—she didn’t look afraid, she looked… resigned.
Arlong’s voice continued to drone, something about buyers and collars and how pretty sirens were when they begged. Y/N barely heard him now. All she could do was watch the girl she had trusted— laughed with her, fought beside her, comforted her—stand silently with them.
But Y/N didn’t rage, she was stunned, maybe a bit betrayed, but not as much as could be, should be, because she understood, she had lived in cages before. She knew what survival tasted like. Knew what it cost.
If Arlong held something over Nami—her home, her life, someone she loved—then what choice did she really have? There were a thousand different cages in this world, and not all of them had bars.
Y/N didn’t blame her, but gods, it still hurt.
It hurt more than the chains, more than the tank, more than Arlong’s laughter. Because even if she understood, she had hoped— truly hoped Nami would be her friend, and now, she hoped, that she wouldn't be the one who wouldn’t look away.
But she did, and that was the worst part.
Time blurred, maybe two days passed, maybe three.
Y/N wasn’t entirely sure anymore. The hours bled into each other like ink in saltwater, soft and indistinct. Her limbs were heavy, her thoughts slower than they used to be.
She could survive underwater. Of course, she could; her body was built for it, but survival wasn’t the same as breathing. This tank had no real current, no fresh flow of water. Just stale, stinking salt and a whisper of air that barely filtered in through the cracks around the top.
She drifted in and out of consciousness, her body occasionally jerking awake in panic as her instincts screamed breathe, breathe, breathe—even as her lungs burned and the tight mask over her mouth allowed only the smallest sips of water-filtered air to pass through.
Sometimes she could hear voices—mocking, muffled through the glass. Other times, it was just footsteps, the occasional tap on the tank’s side from a passing Fish-man, like she was nothing more than a curiosity. A rare, exotic pet.
Once, someone tapped in a rhythm, like they were playing with her, a melody she couldn’t follow.
Her body had stopped resisting; her tail floated limp beneath her, fins trailing in the water like seaweed. The chains held her upright, wrists raw and bruised. Her head lolled slightly against the restraint around her face.
She could only breathe ‘properly’ when they lifted the lid to toss in food—though calling it food was generous. It was mostly scraps. Bits of raw fish or soggy kelp that drifted down toward her like refuse. But with the muzzle strapped around her face, tightly buckled at the back of her head, she couldn’t eat even if she tried.
But it did not matter, all that mattered was the air that entered the tank when they opened the lid. She’d jerk toward the surface in desperation when she saw the shadow of the lid being unbolted, only for the guard to laugh and slam it shut again before she got there.
A game.
They liked to watch her panic.
It was a slow kind of torture—not enough to kill her outright, but enough to diminish her. She could feel herself weakening by the hour. Her muscles ached from being suspended too long, her tail dragging heavier every time it brushed the bottom of the tank.
Sometimes, she would catch her reflection in the glass and barely recognize herself.
Pale skin. Bruised wrists. Red-rimmed eyes. Hair tangled like seaweed.
And sometimes she dreamed of her mother’s arms—warm, strong, always wrapped tight around her after storms. Of soft coral beds where she and her sister used to hide from the world, giggling like the sea couldn’t touch them. She dreamed of lullabies sung in whispers, voices layered in harmony beneath moonlight. Of her father’s laugh echoing across the waves, louder than any tide, full of life, full of light.
She dreamed of her people, their songs under moonlight—of voices rising together in harmony, echoed back by the sea like magic.
And she dreamed of her sister— her sweet little sister, the one she had decided to embark on this trip for, she was older now, safe and smiling out there somewhere, happy, so happy it made this all worthwhile.
In her dreams, she was safe. Whole. Free.
But when she woke, she woke to silence, to water that pressed down like lead. To a muzzle biting into her jaw. To the slow sting of shackles digging into her wrists and tail. The dreams were soft, but the waking was cruel every time.
And now, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold on.
Her body ached in ways she hadn’t known were possible. Her chest was tight, her vision often fuzzy. Her tail floated limp behind her like dead weight, the scales dulled and sore. The moments of consciousness were shorter now, harder. There was no rhythm to the days—only an endless stretch of water and pain.
She hoped for death.
Not because she wanted to die, not truly. But because it would be hers. It wouldn’t belong to Arlong. He wouldn’t get the pleasure of seeing her chained and paraded before some slobbering noble. Wouldn’t get the coin for her scales, or the bragging rights for selling off the last living siren he could catch.
If she died here—gagged and silent, but still somewhat herself—then maybe she’d steal something from him after all.
Maybe that was the only freedom she had left.
She tilted her head upward, toward the faint ripple of light above the tank. She couldn’t see the sky, but she liked to pretend it was there.
Her vision had gone soft and unfocused, her limbs numb, her mind drifting somewhere between memory and nothing at all but then, she thought, maybe, she heard something, voices, shouts, the clang of metal on metal.
Fighting?
No, it had to be her mind. Her last desperate flickers of thought clawing for comfort. Maybe this was what dying felt like. Echoes. Phantoms. The old dream of battle, of freedom, just before the dark swallowed her whole.
CRACK.
A sound she felt more than heard. A sharp jolt rocked the tank, and for the first time in what felt like forever, her eyes snapped fully open.
Another hit, then another. Something—someone—was slamming into the glass.
The vibrations rattled her teeth, and a hairline fracture bloomed in the curved panel just to her left, spiderwebbing outward.
“—again!” Someone shouted as another thumb echo.
She flinched instinctively, her body jerking in the water.
And then, without warning, the tank shattered. The wall of glass burst outward with a roaring surge, sending a wave of seawater and shattered fragments cascading into the chamber beyond.
A massive force ripped through the tank as the glass exploded outward, shards spraying like sea foam. Water rushed, bursting from the prison that had held her captive for days.
Y/N’s body was dragged with it, flung forward by the pressure, but she didn’t move far since the shackles yanked her short.
She screamed, or tried to, the sound smothered by the metal still muzzling her mouth. Pain tore through her shoulders as the full weight of the water slammed forward, her body caught like a ragdoll on a line. Her wrists screamed, metal digging deeper into already torn skin.
She was still trapped, but the world around her wasn’t quiet anymore.
There were voices now, shouting, boots slamming against tile, weapons clashing.
She couldn’t breathe.
Not from lack of oxygen now but from the shock. The cold. The pain. The— hands, warm hands.
Someone reaching for her.
Through her haze she saw movement. A blur of blue and black. Steel flashing. Sanji or Zoro, both, maybe, there was blood on the ground, shouting in the halls. A blur of bodies in motion, sweeping through the chaos like a storm.
But none of that compared to the face that suddenly appeared in front of her, breathless, wide-eyed, trembling.
Nami and a key.
Y/N blinked slowly, still disoriented, unsure if this was another hallucination. But when Nami reached down, then up and touched the shackles—gently, like she didn’t want to hurt her—it felt real.
Nami’s lips were moving, but the words she couldn’t hear through the ringing.
“I’m sorry,” she was saying. “I’m so, so sorry.”
The first shackle clanked free. Y/N’s arm dropped, limp, useless. The second followed, and she collapsed forward, caught in Nami’s arms before she could hit the ground.
Y/N dropped forward—half-collapsing, her body too weak to catch itself. Nami caught her as best she could, dragging her forward as the water drained fully away.
Sanji was there a moment later, slipping an arm around her waist to support her, his grip firm but careful, the heat of him a shock against her cold, aching skin. Zoro took point, blade still drawn, eyes sharp and watching for anyone foolish enough to get in their way.
The mask.
Nami’s hands were still trembling as she unclasped the muzzle, the sharp-edged straps slick with water and blood. It clattered to the ground with a dull clang that echoed through the wrecked room.
Y/N’s mouth fell open, and air sharply rushed in.
Y/N’s lungs seized, her body spasming violently as she coughed, breath catching and breaking in her throat. The sound was awful—wet and raw, like her chest had been scraped clean. She doubled over in Sanji’s arms, coughing so hard her vision blurred, water and bile spilling from her lips as her body tried to figure out how to breathe again.
Tears blurred her vision, unbidden and hot, stinging against her cheeks.
“Breathe,” Sanji tightened his grip, trying to hold her upright. “Mon Cherie. Just breathe—you’re alright now.”
She wasn’t, not yet, still—she was free.
They set her down gently. Sanji and Nami eased her onto a dry patch of floor, just beyond the edge of the shattered tank.
She slumped sideways, her body folding in on itself, every muscle trembling from exhaustion. Her tail—still long and heavy and aching— dragged behind her, the delicate shimmer of her scales dulled by blood and grit.
She coughed again, weakly this time, and tried to curl her arms around her middle, to feel something, to hold herself together.
Nami knelt beside her, hovering. She looked pale, her hands stained with rust and seawater and shame. Her lips moved like she wanted to say something—anything—but nothing came out. She looked like she might cry, but didn’t.
Zoro stood nearby, blade still in hand, eyes scanning every shadow, as if a single Fish-man so much as twitched, he’d cut them in half without hesitation. Had Y/N been in better condition, she would’ve been overly glad to see him standing and fighting.
Sanji was crouched at her other side, one hand hovering just over her shoulder, not quite touching but there. Present. Holding space for her.
“She’ll be okay,” Usopp said, though his voice shook as he came skidding into view, nearly slipping on the wet floor. “Right? She’s gonna be okay?”
Sanji looked up, jaw tense. “She needs rest. Air. Time.”
“Which we don’t have right now,” Nami shot back, her voice sharp with urgency. “Luffy’s still in there, fighting Arlong—and that whole building seems to be about to come down.”
It was only then that Y/N noticed the shaking earth beneath her. A low rumble vibrated through the ground like something alive. The sky above was thick with smoke and kicked-up dust, and the sound of shattering stone and splintering beams echoed from the half-destroyed remains of Arlong Park just a few yards away.
They were close enough to feel the fallout.
Chunks of debris rained down from above, crashing into the stone yard like thunderclaps. One of the front pillars cracked straight through, collapsing with a roar and sending a wave of stone dust rolling toward them.
“We need to move,” Zoro said, already stepping forward.
Before anyone could object, he dropped to one knee beside Y/N, then slid his arms beneath her. One strong sweep, and he hoisted her up against his chest like she weighed nothing at all.
“Careful!” Nami snapped, rushing forward with her hand out. “She’s barely breathing—“
“She’s not glass,” he said evenly. “But she’s not walking out of here either.”
Y/N let out a soft sound—barely a breath—as her hands curled weakly in his shirt. Her tail, still heavy with seawater, trailed behind them, glistening in the light.
Behind them, Arlong Park gave a bone-deep groan.
The top floor erupted in a violent plume of dust and splintered stone, a final, furious roar echoing through the air like a dying beast. The entire structure trembled, swayed, and then collapsed in on itself with a thunderous crash. Walls buckled. Towers crumbled. A wave of dust rolled outward, swallowing the ground and sky in a choking fog of ash and smoke.
Y/N’s heart lurched, she felt the dread before she even heard Nami scream.
“Luffy!” Nami’s voice broke open, raw and panicked, cutting through the chaos as she took a step forward, staring into the cloud of ruin.
The silence that followed was deafening.
No movement.
No sound.
No Luffy.
The only thing Y/N could hear was her own breathing—shaky, wet, and rasping in her throat as she struggled to lift her head in Zoro’s arms.
Her voice came out like a cracked whisper, fragile and raw. “Luffy”
The dust settled slowly, revealing the twisted remains of what had once been Arlong Park. Nothing was standing anymore. Just broken wood, collapsed stone, and smoke curling toward the sky.
For a moment, no one moved then something shifted.
A piece of rubble slid. Then another when suddenly—just when it seemed the silence would swallow them all, something moved and from the heart of the broken rubble, through the settling dust and fractured stone, he jumped.
“Nami!” Luffy’s voice rang out like a cannon blast, loud and sure and unmistakably him. “You are our friend, and we are your crew!”
The words echoed, crashing through the silence louder than the explosion had moments before.
For a beat, no one moved.
Then Sanji barked a laugh—short and sharp, like it had been trapped in his chest for too long. Zoro let out a breath and shook his head with a crooked grin, while Usopp cackled.
Nami, stood frozen, staring at him like she’d never seen him before. Like she couldn’t believe anyone could say something like that after what she’d done, after where she’d been. Her lips parted, eyes wide, breath stolen by disbelief and something dangerously close to awe.
And Y/N, she felt it in her chest, that first real, full breath. It filled her lungs like it belonged there. No water, muzzle or fear just air.
Clean, cool, and free.
Luffy’s gaze shifted, past Nami, past the smoke, past the others, to her. Still half-curled in Zoros arms, still weak and trembling.
He walked toward her, slow now, the grin softening into something smaller, quieter.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said.
Simple but heavy words.
His eyes flicked to her wrists, the dried blood, the bruises, the raw skin. Then to the dull shimmer of her scales and back to her face.
“I’m sorry,” he said, voice quieter. “I should’ve stopped him. I should’ve—done something.”
“Y-You came b-back,” she rasped, just barely audible. “That’s what m-mattered, h-hotshot.”
He let out a breath, not quite a laugh and not quite a sigh.
“I’m not gonna let anyone take you again,” he added, softer now. “Ever.”
There was no dramatic vow but a quiet, unshakable promise of a boy who meant every word with everything he had.
Y/N’s throat tightened, her lips trembled as she forced one more word from her torn throat. It was barely louder than the breeze—but it carried.
“…Okay.”
She didn’t know how long it took—maybe an hour, maybe longer—but eventually, her body remembered how to change.
Her tail, still slick with sea salt and bruises, shimmered and shifted, the magic unravelling slowly until skin replaced scale, legs curling into themselves like a forgotten memory. It hurt, not in the sharp way, but deep, like a cramp that lived in her bones.
Usopp brought her clothes—soft, clean, and worn in the good way and she put them on, quiet and careful, hands trembling as she buttoned the fabric over her raw, bandaged wrists.
The town’s medic—a kind older woman who didn’t ask too many questions—saw to her next. She didn’t flinch when she saw the bruises, didn’t gasp at the cracked skin or the faint imprint of the muzzle still pressed into her jaw.
She just wrapped her ankles, her wrists. Checked her throat. Gave her water first—real water, cold and clean and air-filled. It tasted like a miracle.
“Drink. Eat. Rest,” the woman said gently, smoothing the blanket over Y/N’s legs. “You’ll feel like yourself again in time.”
Eat and drink, that she could do.
She picked at the food slowly, the broth warm, the bread soft. Her hands shook with every bite, but she managed.
Rest, though… That was harder.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired. She was. Every inch of her hurt. Her muscles twitched with fatigue, her eyes felt lined with lead.
But rest meant letting go. It meant closing her eyes and she was scared of what she’d see if she did.
The cage, the muzzle, the net, her father’s face, her mother’s screams.
Still, eventually, her body gave her no choice. Curled beneath too many blankets, her breath warm in the quiet, exhaustion crept in like a tide.
Her eyes slid shut and sleep took her, hours later, she woke with a gasp.
Her body jolted upright, heart slamming against her ribs, sweat clinging to her skin though she felt nothing but cold. So cold.
The room was dark now, the lantern by her bedside burned low. Her throat ached again—dry and raw. Her hands shook as she pressed them into the mattress beneath her, grounding herself in the softness of the fabric, the warmth of the blanket twisted around her legs.
She was not in the tank, nor was she in a cage, nor on a ship.
She was in a small room above a shop, on the second floor of a sun-baked building in Nami’s childhood village—Cocoyasi, if she remembered correctly.
The air was warm, heavy with the scent of sea salt and citrus trees. Crickets chirped softly outside the open window, and somewhere in the distance…
Music, some laughter and cheering. Voices full of joy and disbelief and freedom.
Y/N blinked slowly, piecing it together through the fog still wrapped around her. The Fish-men were gone. Arlong was dead—or close enough. The villagers were free.
They were celebrating.
She sat in bed a moment longer, the echo of her dream still clinging to her skin like a second layer. The warmth of the room did nothing to chase the cold inside her. She rubbed her arms, fingers ghosting over bandages, then pulled the thin covers tighter around herself, despite the summer air.
Her legs still ached, her throat was dry but her feet moved anyway.
She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders like a shawl and stood slowly, legs stiff but solid. A moment passed before she crossed the room, barefoot on warm floorboards, and opened the door to the night.
The music was louder now—fiddles, drums, drunken shouting. The sound of people living. Lanterns lit the square below, casting the streets in golden light. Children darted past with paper ribbons trailing behind them. Villagers laughed, danced, drank.
The whole town was alive, and she just stood there, wrapped in gauze and cotton and silence.
The celebration unfolded in front of her like a dream she hadn’t earned. People danced, laughed, shouted to one another across tables piled with food and drink. There was music in the air, light in their eyes. The kind of freedom that tasted like sugar and salt and sweat and the first deep breath after drowning.
Y/N didn’t move, she simply watched from the edge of it all, the blanket tight around her shoulders like armour.
Then her gaze caught on Nami.
Off to the side, sitting by herself, watching the celebration with a soft, satisfied smile. Not one born from joy—but from relief. From the quiet knowledge that—for once—the fight was over.
Y/N moved, slow and careful, every step a little ache, a little reminder, the soles of her feet were still tender against the earth.
She crossed the square without drawing attention, slipping between the laughter, the dancing, the light, and finally came to sit beside her.
Nami glanced over, and something in her eyes flickered—surprise, then something gentler.
“Hey, pumpkin,” Y/N said, voice low, rough but warmer than before.
Nami huffed a laugh through her nose, eyes shining just a little more than the firelight explained. “You should be resting,”
“Sleep’s been… complicated.” Y/N shrugged beneath the blanket, she sighed as she looked about, “It’s beautiful, though. All this.”
Nami looked out over her village, the people she had fought so long to protect. “Yeah, It is.”
For a while, they said nothing.
The sounds of laughter and music wrapped around them, close but distant—like a different world. One neither of them had ever really belonged to, but maybe, just maybe, could learn to live in.
Nami shifted beside her, arms loosely wrapped around her knees. Her smile faded a little, and her fingers fidgeted in the fabric of her skirt.
“I should’ve—” she started, voice soft.
Y/N didn’t let her finish, she waved a hand gently, still wrapped in gauze. “Don’t.”
“But I—”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been through worse.” A dry laugh caught in her throat, not quite bitter. “And here I am.”
Nami looked at her then. Really looked. Saw the bandages, the shadows under her eyes, the stiffness in her posture, and still, Y/N was upright. Awake, breathing and living.
“You shouldn’t have had to go through worse,” Nami whispered.
Y/N glanced at her, then at the gauze on her upper arm, her lips twitching faintly. “Neither should you.”
The fire crackled somewhere behind them, someone in the crowd let out a cheer, it felt a world away.
They sat in silence again, not heavy this time but still.
The music played on in the distance, laughter echoing like wind through trees. The night air was warm and kind, the stars blinked above them like they had nothing better to do.
“You’re my best friend,” Nami said eventually, her voice barely above a whisper.
Y/N leaned her head back, eyes tracing the constellations above them—patterns she didn’t know the names of, but still felt familiar.
“I know,” she said softly, lips curling just a little. “You’re my best friend, too.”
And they sat like that a while longer, the quiet comfortable now, stitched between stars and sea breeze.
Then something drifted through the air and Y/N’s nose twitched.
A warm, rich smell wrapped around her like a hook—crispy, golden, a little buttery, definitely seasoned. Something fried and definitely Sanji.
Her stomach growled, loud and shameless. She blinked, looked down at herself, then gave a small, guilty smile. “Well, that’s my cue to make the queue.”
Nami snorted, already reaching for her arm. “You need help—”
“I’m fine,” Y/N cut in, lifting a hand with a little wave of fake dignity. “Mostly, and if that’s Sanji’s cooking I smell, I’m not letting a near-death experience keep me from getting a plate.”
Nami gave her a look and Y/N gave her a look back.
With wobbly legs and a blanket still half-wrapped around her shoulders, Y/N made her way toward the long makeshift table, trailing the scent of Sanji’s cooking like a lifeline. The closer she got, the louder her stomach growled—loud enough to earn a few curious glances, not that she cared.
She slipped into the line, right next to the green-haired swordman and grinned, a slow, tired little thing, perhaps a bit hesitant and tilted her head just enough for her voice to carry. “Nice to know you’re not with one foot on the other side.”
Zoro turned slightly, one brow raised, the hint of a smirk tugging at his mouth. “You’re one to talk.”
She chuckled softly. “Yeah, well, at least I was dramatic about it.”
“Can’t argue that,” he said, and there was something in his tone—something quiet and almost warm, like he was glad to see her on her feet, even if he’d never say it outright.
Y/N shifted her weight and swayed a little. Immediately, Zoro’s hand shot out, steadying her elbow without a word, she blinked at him and he didn’t let go.
“Easy,” he muttered, almost annoyed but not really. “You still look like a strong breeze could knock you over.”
“You offering to catch me?” she teased, breathless but grinning.
Zoro shrugged. “If I have to.”
Y/N smiled—not her old one, not yet—but something close.
"But how are you, really?" Y/N asked, voice low as she glanced toward the side of his chest, where the fabric of his shirt hung just a little loose, hinting at the bandages hidden underneath.
Zoro met her eyes again, unreadable for a beat. “I’m alive.”
She smiled faintly. “That’s not an answer.”
He smirked, but it faded quickly when he saw the way she was still watching him.
“It hurts,” he admitted after a beat, quiet and plain. “Breathing’s annoying. Moving’s worse but it’s healing.”
She nodded, satisfied, but only slightly.
“Don’t push it more than you already have,” she said, trying to sound casual, though her voice trembled just enough to betray her. “You almost didn’t come back.”
"I could tell you the same,"
“You’re prettier, though,” Y/N smirked faintly, reaching up to gently bop his cheek with two fingers. “Would’ve been a real shame to lose that face.”
He scoffed, but didn’t pull away. If anything, his jaw eased a little under her touch, reluctantly flattered but then his voice dropped, quiet enough that it cut through the buzz of celebration like a blade.
“You’re still hurting.”
The words weren’t an accusation but a statement. A truth he’d read in the way her hands curled under the blanket, in the stiffness of her shoulders, in the way she hadn’t once looked at herself in a reflection since they arrived.
She didn’t meet his eyes and just looked ahead at the line of people gathered near the food table, their faces lit by the soft golden glow of lanterns.
“Nothing I can’t handle, hotshot,” she said, the smirk still there, but thinner. Worn.
He watched her in silence, and for once, didn’t push.
But his hand shifted slightly at his side, like he was fighting the urge to reach out and do something, anything, and not sure what wouldn’t make it worse. “Doesn’t mean it isn't bad.”
There it was again, that unexpected softness from him. That steadiness she was used to seeing in battle, but rarely in his voice. Y/N took a step back, distancing herself from his gaze, sharper than most people give him credit for.
Before Y/N could say anything else, the scent of garlic, herbs, and butter cut through the air like an invitation, and then came his voice.
“Ooh. Back for seconds?” Sanji drawled from behind a steaming wok, one hand expertly flipping a ladle of creamy risotto into a dish without missing a beat. His eyes sparkled with teasing heat as he glanced up. “Must’ve liked it.”
Zoro didn’t flinch, he just stepped forward and handed over his empty plate with a shrug. “Yeah. It was okay.”
"That plate says different." Sanji grins teasingly and takes the plate.
"Gotta keep my strength up, even with your cooking," Zoro said as Sanji dished risotto onto his plate. “It’s the least you can do, considering I saved your ass from those fishmen.”
Sanji’s scoff was immediate. “What? I saved your arse.”
Zoro shrugged like it was barely worth debating. “You didn’t even get your hands dirty.”
“At least I don’t need three swords to prove I’m a man,” Sanji said, handing the plate back with flair.
Right then, Y/N stepped up beside them, blanket draped over her shoulders like a cape, cheeks still a bit pale, but her eyes glinting with tired mischief. Her smirk was crooked—almost full strength.
“You two flirting,” she rasped, her voice low and hoarse, “or should I come back later?”
Sanji turned to her instantly, his face changing.
“Y/N, Mon Cherie, Mon étoile, my darling,” he gushed, suddenly starry-eyed, already fetching a fresh plate like it was the most urgent task in the world. “You shouldn’t be on your feet—what can I get you? Risotto? Bread? Something sweet? I made a citrus glaze for the pudding just for balance.”
Y/N rested a hand on the edge of the serving table, steadying herself. Her smirk stayed, but it softened around the edges. “Surprise me, chef.”
“Gladly,” he said, presenting the dish like it was a crown jewel, eyes softening just a bit beneath the usual flair. “You deserve nothing but the finest this humble cook can offer.”
Y/N took the plate with both hands, letting the heat from the porcelain seep into her fingers like a quiet promise of comfort and for a moment, she just stood there, breathing it in.
“Smells heavenly,” she murmured, voice still a little hoarse but gentler now. “No doubt it’ll taste the same.”
Sanji practically beamed, hands clasped over his chest like she’d just recited poetry in his honour. “You wound me, Mon Cherie. You should doubt it—it’ll taste better.”
Y/N gave him a faint, amused look. “Careful, chef. Flattery’s a dangerous spice.”
“Only when it’s not deserved,” he said, wink and all.
Behind them, Zoro made a dramatic show of clearing his throat, still chewing his second helping. “Are you two done? Some of us are trying to eat without choking on sugar.”
Sanji shot him a glare. “You know what doesn’t go with risotto? Your attitude.”
Y/N rolled her eyes fondly and nudged Zoro with her elbow, the gesture soft but insistent.
“All right, come on,” she said, nodding toward the fire.
They made their way over together, slow but steady, coming to a stop beside Luffy, who was already grinning widely. Usopp stood tall—well, tall for Usopp—with a crowd of villagers gathered around him, utterly enraptured.
"There I was," Usopp declared, chest puffed out, "completely alone, surrounded by fishmen—dozens of them! The Great Captain Usopp, staring death in the face!"
A few villagers gasped on cue. Usopp soaked it up.
"But I knew I couldn’t give up the fight—not with the fate of Cocoyasi Village hanging in the balance!" He took a dramatic step forward. "So I pulled my trusty slingshot—" He mimicked the motion with flair, holding an invisible weapon aloft. "—and I fired on ’em till my fingers bled!"
He made a loud pew! noise, followed by a full-body BOOM! explosion sound and flailed backwards like he’d been hit by the memory.
Sanji sauntered up behind them with his own plate in hand, and Nami, ever the picture of cool amusement, followed a moment later, folding her arms as she took her place at Y/N’s other side.
"I didn’t stop until I had single-handedly defeated Arlong and his deadly crew!"
He paused, letting the gasps and wide eyes wash over him, then his gaze landed on the small group of his crewmates near the fire.
“…With a little help, of course,” he added quickly. “I mean, I guess I wasn’t completely alone.”
Y/N chuckled, taking a bite of risotto and shaking her head. “Modest as ever.”
Sanji snorted beside her, and Luffy suddenly jumped to his feet, arms stretched high.
“Three cheers for Captain Usopp!” he whooped. “We couldn’t have done it without him!”
The villagers cheered, Usopp beamed like he’d been crowned king, and Y/N laughed again, softer this time, but fuller.
Her shoulders began to relax, she felt at peace for once, with food in her hands, fire that danced between and her crew. It was nice... util--
“Marines! Form lines!”
The voice cut sharp across the square, the music faltered, the laughter stuttered to a halt.
Y/N froze, her eyes narrowing as the cheers gave way to the clatter of boots and the metallic rasp of rifles being shouldered.
She turned her head slowly, rising just enough to see the unmistakable wave of white uniforms approaching from the far edge of the village—shiny coats, stiff hats, smug faces. Like they’d waited specifically for the moment things felt safe again.
Y/N sighed and closed her eyes, lifting her face to the night sky as if asking the stars for patience.
“Can’t we get a fucking break?”
She opened her eyes, and froze, because there, at the center of the formation, tall and solid as a warship carved from stone, stood an older man.
His coat was long, his presence impossible to ignore, and even from a distance, there was no mistaking the weight he carried, it was sn admiral.
But not any admiral, Luffy’s grandfather.
“So these are the Straw Hat Pirates,” the man said, arms folded, eyes scanning over them like they were an interesting stain. He gave a small huff of amusement. “Huh.”
Then, with a flick of his wrist: “Marines, arrest them.”
Before anyone could so much as reach for a weapon, a voice broke the air.
“Sir!”
Koby.
The soft-spoken boy Y/N had met weeks ago back in Shells Town stepped forward from the ranks, practically swallowed by the line of taller soldiers.
“The Straw Hats didn’t destroy Cocoyasi Village,” he said, squaring his shoulders. “It was Arlong.”
Luffy’s grandfather didn’t even look at him at first.
“You have your orders, cadet,” he said flatly.
Koby hesitated, visibly trembling, but then, to Y/N’s shock, he stepped forward again. “No, sir.”
Heads turned and the tension cracked.
The admiral’s head tilted slowly. “What did you say?”
“I said no, sir,” Koby repeated, awkwardly tall, like his courage barely fit inside his body.
“You do realize,” the admiral said, voice edged with warning, “there are severe punishments for disobeying direct orders.”
Koby looked unsure but still said, “I disagree with those orders, sir.”
Y/N blinked, honestly stunned. Well, he grew a backbone, it seems.
“Me too.”
A second voice, he stepped forward, stiff and awkward as ever—but unmistakable, Helmeppo.
Y/N almost laughed but not out of mockery, out of pure disbelief. Of all people, he had come a long way.
The admiral turned slowly, surveying the pair of them—two young cadets standing against a sea of uniforms and a man who could destroy them both without blinking.
He scoffed, the sound halfway between irritation and amusement, then, to the rest of the Marines.
“Anyone else like to follow their lead?” He glares at Koby. “Or do you all want to follow orders instead?”
A group of Marines stepped forward.
Boots pounded the stone as they formed a sharp line between the crowd and the Straw Hats. Rifles raised in unison, black barrels gleaming beneath the firelight. Fingers hovered over triggers, the villagers fell silent, backing away.
And above it all, Garp’s voice rang out like a cannon blast. “Any of them moves—make sure it’s their last.”
Y/N’s stomach twisted.
Her hand curled around the edge of her plate, knuckles whitening. The warmth from the food had long since faded, and suddenly the air didn’t feel so kind anymore.
Garp moved slowly, but deliberately, every step echoing louder than the last as he approached Luffy. His gaze locked on him—sharp, stern, unflinching.
“Come here, boy,” he said, voice quieter now, but heavy. “I gave you every opportunity to follow my path. To become a respected Marine. To serve justice. But instead, you chose to become a pirate.”
Luffy didn’t flinch, didn’t step back. He just grinned—that same wild, unshakable grin that had carried him through sea creatures and warlords and the weight of an entire world.
“No, Grandpa,” he said simply. “I’ve always been a pirate.”
The words landed like a spark on dry grass. Garp’s jaw tightened.
“No more running,” he said. “Last chance. Give it up. Walk away from this.”
Luffy’s smile didn’t fade. If anything, it widened. “That’s not really my thing.”
Y/N’s heart kicked in her chest, the air shifted as Garp reached up and unclasped the heavy cloak from his shoulders, letting it fall behind him like a curtain dropping before a fight.
“Then show me what you’ve got.”
Luffy lunged first, fists clenched, body twisting with raw momentum, but Garp barely moved.
With the ease of someone who'd done this a thousand times, the old Marine side-stepped, then drove his fist hard into Luffy’s gut.
CRACK.
The impact echoed like a cannon blast, and Luffy flew backward, slamming into the dirt, the air driven clean from his lungs.
"This is what you wanted, right?" Garp asked as he stepped forward, each footfall a rumble. “To be a pirate. Well, I’ll show you what Marines do to pirates.”
Luffy groaned, pushing up on his elbows, eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to fight you, Grandpa.”
“You’ve been fighting me your entire life.”
Garp struck down again, but Luffy rolled to the side just in time, dirt spraying beneath him. He scrambled up, shaking it off, and launched another punch, then another—fast, furious.
But Garp dodged each one like he was swatting away the wind. “When are you gonna learn you can’t win?”
BAM.
A single blow to the chest.
Luffy flew backward, straight through the wall of a small house, wood splintering and stone cracking on impact.
“Luffy!” Y/N choked, the sound tearing out of her as she stepped forward before she could stop herself.
Usopp watches with concern. Sanji moved slightly, tense beside her. Zoro’s hand hovered over his swords. Nami didn’t blink.
From the dust and debris, Luffy rose slowly and placed the straw hat gently back on his head. His chest rose and fell in ragged gasps, but his eyes burned with something fierce and clear.
Garp shook his head, a mocking scoff in his voice. “I thought I trained you better than this.”
“You did,” he rasped.
Without hesitation, Luffy stretches and grabbed two pieces of wood for impulse. “Gum-Gum..."
"Rocket!” His arms stretched far, snapped back tight, and he launched himself through the air toward Garp.
But Garp was waiting; his fist met Luffy mid-flight, sending him spiraling backward with bone-rattling force.
Y/N flinched hard, a sharp breath catching in her throat but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
“You don’t know how dangerous the world is,” Garp said as he moved toward Luffy, the dust from the last blow still settling in the air. Luffy struggled, limbs shaking beneath him as he tried to rise again.
“The Grand Line isn’t some child’s game.”
With a sharp, practised movement, Garp reached down and hauled him up by the front of his vest—like he weighed nothing, like he wasn’t bloodied and bruised, barely able to stand.
Luffy coughed, face twisted in pain, but his voice came out steady--thin, but steady.
“You can hit me all day long…” he said through grit teeth, “…but I’m never giving up on my dream.”
Garp’s grip didn’t loosen. “Is that so?”
Luffy looked him dead in the eye, no fear, just fire. “I’m going to the Grand Line. I’ll find the One Piece. And I will be…” he paused only long enough to take a shaking breath, “King of the Pirates.”
Luffy, then, began to laugh. A short, ragged sound that caught in his throat at first, then spilt into the open air.
Garp then let go of Luffy.
The boy dropped to the dirt with a grunt, and Garp stepped back, arms loose at his sides, still shaking his head and to everyone’s shock… he laughed too.
A deep, rolling laugh that cracked through the tension like lightning.
Y/N blinked, frowning, eyes darting from Luffy to the man towering over him. Her heart still pounded in her chest, unsure if this was a reprieve or the start of something worse.
“Have it your way,” Garp finally said, the fight gone from his voice.
To Y/N’s immense relief, he added, loud and clear, “Lower your weapons!”
The Marines—startled but obedient—reluctantly lowered their rifles.
Garp turned on his heel, addressing the small armada now waiting behind him. “What are you all standing around for? Arlong’s pirates are still on the loose. Hunt them down. Arrest them. Now.”
Without hesitation, the Marines snapped to action. Orders barked. Feet pounded. They scattered like a tide breaking on rocks, surging toward the jungle and the sea.
But of course, not all of them were so quick to move on.
“What about these Straw Hats?” came a sharp voice.
A tall Marine—whiskered and sharp-eared, with far too much smugness for someone that resembled a house cat—stepped forward, blocking Garp’s path.
"What about them?"
“Arrest them too!” he snapped. “They’re the real crimin—"
THWACK!
Nami’s staff came down hard and fast on the back of his head. The Marine hit the ground like a sack of flour, unconscious before he landed.
Y/N let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Gods. Maybe they really were going to survive this.
Garp didn’t even flinch. He turned back to Luffy, gaze steady, unreadable.
“I knew I’d never be able to change your mind,” he said, voice quieter now. “You’re stubborn. Just like me. But I had to make sure you knew who you are, boy.”
Luffy blinked, bruised and battered.
“You were testing me?” he asked, half-whining. “Couldn’t you have gone a little easier?”
Garp scoffed. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Then, with surprising gentleness, he stepped forward and placed both hands on Luffy’s shoulders. “You’re on your own now.”
The words settled heavily in the air but as Garp turned to leave, Luffy’s voice rose again, loud and clear, “No. I’m not.”
Garp paused mid-step, turning to face him. Luffy grinned wider, standing tall despite the bruises and dirt, his eyes sweeping over the crew—Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji and Y/N. “I have my friends.”
Y/N’s lips curved softly, and for the first time that day, her smile reached her eyes.
Garp didn’t speak as he turned to leave, but she caught it—the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Barely there but still there.
She tilted her head, watching him go, then called out casually, loud enough for the whole square to hear. “Well. That was the most violent grandfather-grandson bonding session I’ve ever witnessed.”
About a few days later, after final preparations for their next voyage had been made, which had a couple of surprises for Nami and Luffy, Y/N leaned casually against the kitchen island, her guitar resting comfortably in her hands. The afternoon light poured in golden across the floor, catching the gleam of clean wood and salt-polished boots.
Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji were gathered nearby—sharing the moment, waiting for Luffy, enjoying one of the last stretches of stillness before the sea called again.
“So… you’re a siren?” Usopp asked, cautious but unable to help himself. “Didn’t think there were any left—y'know, after that World Government started that whole hunt-them-into-extinction campaign.”
Everyone except Y/N immediately turned to glare at him. The collective look said Really, Usopp?—a nonverbal slap upside the head. But true to form, he just blinked and held up his hands.
“Hey, I’m just saying what’s already out there!” Usopp defended himself. “Everyone’s heard the stories. The bounties. The purges. I figured sirens were long gone.”
Y/N laughed softly, plucking a lazy chord as she adjusted a tuning peg.
“It’s alright,” she said, voice calm, musical in its own right. “For all anyone knows, we are extinct, just a few of us left, and most don’t come out to the light of day. So let’s keep that under wraps, yeah?”
Usopp nodded quickly. “Yeah—yeah, of course. Totally top secret. Like, buried treasure level.”
" Good," Y/N grinned and plucked a few easy strings, then let her voice carry through the room with a rhythm that matched the roll of the waves outside.
I carry a dream, soft and small,
It helps me rise when I might fall.
If I believe in stories bright,
I’ll chase the dawn beyond the night.
I trust in hope, in stars that gleam,
And when it’s time—
I’ll chase that dream—
"Guys," Luffy came bounding into the galley, holding something clutched tight in one hand, grinning like he’d just found treasure.
“Check it out!” he said, practically bouncing as he slammed a rolled-up paper down onto the table in front of Y/N.
She blinked, then leaned over as he unrolled it with a flourish.
It was a wanted poster, a freshly printed one.
Luffy’s face beamed from the center of it, captured mid-wave with that silly, toothy grin and wide, unbothered eyes.
“Thirty million berri!?” Y/N gaped in horror, her mouth falling open as she stared at the number printed beneath the smiling face of Monkey D. Luffy. “Is that real?”
"Of course it is," Luffy grins proudly.
Before anyone could answer, Usopp let out a triumphant sound. “Hey, look! I’m famous!”
Sanji frowned, leaning over his shoulder. “What are you on about? That’s Luffy’s wanted poster.”
“Not just Luffy,” Usopp said, jabbing a finger at the bottom corner of the paper where—sure enough—the back of his head was just barely visible.
He mock-laughed and puffed his chest out proudly. “Sorry, guys. Maybe if you work a little harder, you’ll get a bounty too.”
“That doesn’t count,” Sanji muttered flatly.
Usopp shrugged, full of smug satisfaction. “It’s okay to be jealous. Feel what you need to feel.”
Y/N would’ve laughed—honestly, she wanted to—but her eyes were still locked on the number. Thirty million. Not just a bounty—a statement. The government had noticed them now, and they didn’t send posters unless they wanted people to start hunting.
“I… mmm…” Sanji sighed, waving a hand and shaking his head. “This is stupid.”
Zoro, ever the realist, crossed his arms. “This is gonna make things harder. With that price on your head, every bounty hunter in the East Blue will be gunning for you."
“Not just Luffy,” Nami added grimly. “They’re gonna be gunning for all of us.”
“Ah, shit.” Y/N groaned, dragging a hand down her face.
She turned toward the window, staring out at the sea. It shimmered, calm and bright, but now, it didn’t look peaceful to her. Her fingers twitched as if searching for her guitar, something steady.
Because this? This changed everything.
“Then it’s a good thing we’re not staying in the East Blue,” came Luffy’s voice behind her, all sunshine and certainty.
Before she could turn, his arm wrapped casually over her shoulders, tugging her back toward the table like it was the easiest thing in the world. Like she wasn’t unraveling, just a little.
He grinned—that grin, wide and weightless. “We’re going to the Grand Line.”
Like it was the easiest thing in the world, like there was nothing to be afraid of.
Right. Right. The Grand Line.
That’s why she came with him in the first place. Not just for music or mischief but for Miri.
Later, once they were sailing steady across open sea, the island behind them and the horizon stretching wide and wild ahead, Y/N made her way to the helm.
Nami stood there, arms loosely crossed, wind in her hair, eyes fixed on the compass and the charts, always calculating, always guiding.
Y/N came up beside her and gave her a light nudge with her elbow.
“Hey,” she said, that familiar spark in her voice. “Come on. We’ve got a surprise for you, Pumpkin.”
Nami raised an eyebrow, suspicious but curious. “A surprise?”
Y/N nodded, stepping closer. She reached out, her hand warm on Nami’s shoulder as she gently started steering her toward the far edge of the ship. “Yup. Come on, it’s worth it.”
Nami let herself be guided, casting a sideways look. “If this is a prank, I’m throwing you overboard.”
“Pfft,” Y/N grinned. “Please, if it was a prank I’d have made Usopp do the setup.”
She paused, smirk softening into something thoughtful. “Also... I really think I should change that nickname.”
“Well,” Y/N said, steering her gently toward the other side of the deck, “seeing as you come from a citrus island, I think Pumpkin is the wrong fruit to call you.”
Nami snorted. “Wow. The thought you put into this is astounding.”
“I take my nicknames very seriously,” Y/N replied with a straight face. “Which is why I’m proposing… Tangerine Queen.”
Nami gave her a side-eye. “Pass.”
“Okay, okay. What about… Zesty Babe? Or—wait—Orange Lightning!”
“Absolutely not.”
Y/N grinned wider. “You’re no fun.”
“I’m just sane,” Nami muttered.
“Fine, fine,” Y/N said, pretending to ponder as she tapped her chin. “Citrus babe? Sunkiss Sass? Marmalade Monarch? I can go all day.”
“You better not,” Nami warned, though a reluctant smile tugged at her lips.
“Alright, alright,” Y/N relented, holding up her hands. “Pumpkin stays for now, but for the record, you’ll always be my favourite fruit."
Nami rolled her eyes. “Just get to the surprise before I--"
She stopped for below them, nestled in carefully rigged wooden planters near the stern, were tangerine trees.
Small, sturdy, sun-kissed—hers.
The very same trees she’d grown back on Cocoyasi, now swaying gently with the rhythm of the ship, their leaves bright against the deep blue sea.
Sanji leaning agasint the wall.
Zoro stood leaning against the railing, arms crossed, pretending like he wasn’t watching her reaction.
Luffy stood proudly between them all, hands on his hips, grinning like he’d grown the trees himself.
“So what do you think?” he asked, beaming. “It’s a little piece of home to take with you on our journey.”
“And I can whip up tangerine tarts anytime you want,” Sanji added smoothly.
Nami didn’t answer right away.
She stepped forward slowly, her boots soft against the deck. The breeze played with her hair as she crouched beside one of the crates. Her fingers reached out, gentle, brushing over a cluster of leaves like she couldn’t quite believe they were real.
“It’s perfect,” she said at last, voice low but steady.
No tears, but that soft, stunned kind of joy that comes when someone remembers the part of you you didn’t ask them to.
Luffy gave a little bounce in place, like he wanted to say more but was holding it in, for now. Y/N leaned against the railing beside her, arms crossed but eyes soft.
“Well,” she said, “I did consider tying a bow around them, but you know... subtlety.”
Nami snorted and shook her head, the smile lingering as she turned away from the trees.
Then her eyes flicked to Luffy, and after a quiet look shared with Sanji, Zoro and Y/N, her smile grew just a bit wider.
“Actually…” she said, stepping toward him, “we’ve got something for you, too.”
Luffy blinked. “Huh?”
“Come on, stud” Y/N grinned, already moving up toward the main deck. “Trust us.”
He followed without question, of course, because Luffy never needed much reason when it came to following his crew.
As they reached the centre of the ship, Y/N cupped her hands around her mouth. “Champ, set the main!”
“Setting the main!” Usopp called back, dashing over to the rigging.
With a few practiced tugs and a whistle of rope through pulleys, the sail unfurled. The canvas above began to unfurl with a soft fluttering thump, snapping to life as the breeze caught it and there it was.
The new Jolly Roger.
Painted bold and proud across the sail—Luffy’s straw hat perched atop the crossbones, grinning wide like it could face down the whole world and win.
Luffy's jaw dropped comically wide, a huge, unmistakable grin stretched across his face as he stared at the fresh white canvas—clean, bold, and newly painted.
He stood there, stunned, like he couldn’t quite process it. Then, true to form, he bolted across the deck and then he let out a yell of pure joy, arms flailing in the air.
Y/N looked up at the flag as it flapped in the breeze, sunlight catching the edges of the paint, and let herself smile too.
The day had stretched long and easy after that—sun-drenched and salt-sweet, the kind of day that felt like a breath after the storm.
The crew had scattered across the ship, each falling into their own rhythm. The tangerine trees swayed softly in the breeze. Nami charted their course with half a smile. Usopp was back to tinkering with something he swore wasn’t going to explode this time. Sanji was probably humming while cooking. Zoro napping, swords within reach, of course.
Y/N was perched on the back stairs, guitar balanced on her knee, thumb drifting lazily along the strings in a steady, easy rhythm, the kind of sound the ocean liked to listen to.
“Straw Hats!” came Luffy’s voice, high and bright and full of that something that always pulled them in. “All hands on deck for a cast-off ceremony!”
Y/N blinked and paused mid-strum, eyebrows lifting. She let the chords hum out beneath her fingers, one last soft echo as she stood.
A cast-off ceremony?
Y/N blinked, curiosity piqued. She gently set her guitar down beside the stairs, giving it one last affectionate tap before pushing herself to her feet.
By the time she made it to the main deck, the others had already gathered. They stood in a loose semicircle around something in the center—a barrel.
Y/N furrowed her brow, confused for a second, until Sanji stepped forward, one hand in his pocket.
“I’m gonna find the All Blue,” he said simply, and with that, he placed his foot on the barrel.
Y/N’s eyes flicked to the others.
Ah… I see.
Luffy was next—of course he was. Practically bouncing in place, he slammed his foot onto the wood with all the excitement in the world.
“I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”
Zoro followed, calm and certain. “I’m gonna be the world’s greatest swordsman.”
Nami, with a grin that could split storms, put her foot up “I’m gonna draw a map of the world.”
They all turned toward Y/N, expectant and warm. She stared for a beat too long. Her mouth opened, then closed again.
Because of her dream, the real one? It wasn’t one she was ready to say aloud. Not yet, not when it meant saying her sister’s name, not when it meant remembering what she’d left behind.
So instead, she smiled, soft, bright, with just a hint of mischief.
“I’m gonna sing in every corner of the Great Blue,” she said, planting her foot firmly on the barrel with a satisfying thud.
That left only Usopp. He hesitated, eyes flicking between them all, nerves tugging at his mouth like he wasn’t sure if he belonged. "I..."
But then—after a breath—he stepped forward and placed his foot on the barrel too.
“I’m gonna become a brave warrior of the sea!” he declared, voice wobbling at first but steady by the end.
A beat of silence followed—then they all broke into laughter, grins spreading like wildfire. It wasn’t mocking. It was something else, somethinf warm and solid.
A moment filled with pride, maybe or the kind of giddy courage that only comes when you’re standing right at the edge of everything.
Then, like a match to kindling, someone snorted and just like that, they all started laughing, chuckling, grinning, elbowing each other like kids daring fate to try them.
“This is it, crew," Luffy said, his voice steady with that unwavering spark only he seemed to have. He looked at each of them—Nami, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and Y/N “The Grand Line.”
He grinned wide and lifted his arm high, fist clenched toward the sky. “Nothing’s gonna stand in our way! Yeahhhh!”
Usopp, Y/N, and Sanji whooped into the air alongside Luffy, their voices loud and unfiltered, carried off by the wind. Zoro just smirked, while Nami gave a small, crooked grin, cooler than the rest, but no less proud.
They were really doing it. The Grand Line. The start of something big, wild, and probably insane.
Y/N glanced around at the circle, her fingers brushing the edge of her guitar, the warmth of laughter still clinging to the air. This—this loud, ridiculous, mismatched crew— was starting to feel like home, like something worth holding on to.
And deep down, beneath the excitement and bravado, she found herself hoping—really hoping—that whatever came next, she wouldn’t lose this.
Y/N:
OMGGG WE ARE DONE WITH SEASON 1!!!! Thank you all SO SO SO SO much for reading. I'm sorry it took me so damn long to post this, I just started working and I have little time for literally anything, but at least I enjoy what I do, so I'm happy with it.
I'm debating to write a filler chapter?? Maybe some romance between Y/N and a crew member? Maybe a few headcannons of Y/N idk what do y'all think?
Once again, thank you all so so much for reading, like seriously, thank you for the support. <3<3<3<3<3<3
Heyyy, What if reader is in the hummingbird crew and is in a secret relationship with joker
Can u make some Sfw and nsfw headcanon
sorry, i decided to do only sfw part because i didn’t really came up with the idea how to add nsfw part here ://
hope you’ll enjoy!!
warnings ; only my not proofed english erorrs.
joker saw you on league of streets before, for sure. he knew that you were from hummingbird crew and the fact that sangho choi had a request to sabbath to deal somehow with your crew.
he never liked that idea tho, in the first place because hummingbird had you and shelly, and joker could never compete with girls, it seemed unfair and unnatural for him.
but when he saw you leaving the changing room right after incident with missing drug from that guy in red glasses, and you clearly heard their conversation, wooin immediately bellowed to catch you and joker grabbed you by wrist and pulled your hand on the level of his eyes. that red glasses pice of shit immediately screamed that it was your team that stole "something" from him. your hart, in turn, has already sunk into your heels, and soul has left your body, a bunch of suspicious-looking guys were ready to tear you apart because of someones lost thing, while you and your team just tried to win cycling competition. joker didn’t immediately realize with what force he was squeezing your wrist, and when he looked from wooin to you, he felt as if his heart was pinched. he, being a huge guy, squeezed your hand so hard that there would definitely be a bruise... "a girl's hand.. so small" - he thought to himself and relaxed his grip on you. joker didn’t like to mess with girls. especially with someone nice like you. he clearly catched himself on the idea that he doesn’t like your scared face turned to him. one your still free hand started to pounding on his elbow and forearm demanding to let you go.
when wooin learned that that guy had no proofs that it was you or your team he was furious, and joker just knew that this guy is no longer safe. he actually didn’t care. the only fact that he cared, when he made sure everyone had left the room and discovered that he was right, there was indeed a bruise on your wrist. he was ashamed, really ashamed, to offend a girl who, in addition, had done nothing wrong.
you were sitting on the floor, leaning on the boxes, when you saw that white haired guy squatted down in front of you and held out his hand. "what does this thug need??" - your thoughts were spinning in your head, and you felt bad that you refused dom’s company to pick up your stuff from changing rooms.
"give me your phone" - you heard his harsh voice. what in the earth he wanted from you?. "hey your friends already learned that i didnt stole anything, now join them and leave." - tears were alredy welling up in your eyes and it was so insulting and unpleasant for you. "im sorry..." he paused and added "i wanted to ask your number. i know one good ointment, it helps with bruises. if you dont mind. just let me know were i could meet you."
on the evening of that day, you met in the park, and he shyly handed you a transparent bag with ointment and bandages.
he muttered an apology under his breath once more and was about to leave when you grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and stopped him.
“give me your phone” - now was your turn to ask.
he freaked out a little but handed you the phone and you typed in your number and made a call, so you had his number too.
you named him as a “nice big guy from snake team”
the next time you receive a call from joker was one week later, and he asked you to help him to patch him up.
you had no idea what happened to him, but you just felt that you need to return a favor and help him.
he said he was waiting for you in the park where you met, sitting on a bench. when you came blood was dripping from his nose, and there were abrasions on his hands and face.
worried, you rushed to the nearest store and bought water to wash the wounds and to apply that ointment that he brought you.
he didn't make a sound when you moistened a piece of screw, washed his wounds and applied ointment, sealed it with plasters, and as soon as you finished, joker thanked you.
you spent about 30 minutes more in each other company and he walked you to your house.
that night you received a “good night” text from him.
after that, your correspondence became more regular, as well as meetings.
and you both agreed not to share that information with your teams. you simply knew that dom will want to fight with joker because of the fact that he hurt you in first place and joker said that it is better not to let wooin know about him hanging out with “rival crew” member.
Summary: you hated it when Owen got into fights you always nagged and scold him about it but what happened this time is new to you..
I was sitting my ass in this hard chair for an hour now doing my school works, suddenly my attention got taken away from my works when my phone makes a 'ding' noise, someone texted me
I looked at my phone for a minute before taking it, I pressed the button turning it on revealing my lock screen a picture of me and Owen together, a small smile plastered over my lips as I saw the picture of the two of us
I unlocked my phone looking at the notification Noah sent a message I take a look at my messages it was noah, my friend and also Owens, what could she be sending me this time? I thought as I opened her message
' y/n! Owen got into a fight again, I don't know where he went He just left immediately ' noah texted,
my heart raced, I immediately put my phone on my desk and stood up from my seat not minding if I haven't finished my school works yet. Owen comes first I took my jacket and wore it putting my phone inside it's pocket before leaving my apartment with my own bike with me
I rode off letting my feet pedal where it's taking me, Me and Owen had been friends since elementary, he was a very good friend of mine, he makes me smile, laugh and everything, but one thing I hate about him is when he gets into fights, any kind of fight that involves him, I hate it, Owen is not a short tempered guy but once his red button has been clicked
may God be with you
It was already night, at 9pm sharp the sky was already dark and the street lights illuminated the street, it was quiet, suddenly I stopped my bike when I saw a familiar blonde haired figure sitting in a bench his head was fall down in his hands holding it, I walked towards that person I already knew who it was, without hesitation I smacked his head making him jolt in shock and also in pain
Owen looks at me pain wais visible on his looks, bruise was all over his face making me feel bad for smacking him earlier if I could go back in time I would definitely repeat that...
"Did you get into another fight again?" I asked even though it was completely obvious, but he just looks at me for a second
" Wasn't it obvious? " He sarcastically said I was about to open my mouth and start scolding him when he spoke
"Can you please stop scolding me?" He said as if he already knew what I was going to say, He raises an eyebrow, but remains calm and direct with you, despite his rage over what happened after he lost the race earlier against Jay, his words makes me close my mouth
" what happened this time Owen? " I asked looking at him worried " nothing.." he answered looking away from me then looking down at his bruised fists" How many times do I have to tell you that stop getting into fight- "
" Enough, I told you to stop scolding me " he cut my sentence once again, I scoffed at his attitude and words
" how can I not scold you? You always got into fights" I spoke putting both hands on my waist looking at him " how many times do I have to tell you to stop getting into fights owen!"He rolls his eyes as you continue to scold him
you sometimes feel guilty for nagging him, but he's just so hard headed, even though he seems to ignore it
"What am I supposed to do?" He sighs "Just stand back and allow Jay to do whatever he wants? I can't just let him." He continues
" why do you have to fight? You can talk with him about it Owen, you don't need to fight with someone every time, don't you understand what I am saying? " I frustratedly said to him, looking down at him as he was sitting on the bench
I pulled his chin making him look up at me " look! You're all bruised up again " I nagged
"Oh please, don't be so dramatic. It doesn't hurt that bad, plus it's not the first time." He raises his eyebrows and looks at you sarcastically. He thinks you're joking right now "I'm used to fighting, you should know that by now." He continues
I looked hardly at him before letting go of his chin huffing at the air, gosh his head is hard as rock I put my hands back on my waist turning around not knowing what else to say, He won't listen to me
" can't you listen to me for once? I've been scolding and telling you 'bout this since we were kids " I muttered to him glancing at his side view
Owen scoffs at my words before he shakes his head. "You're still scolding me till this day. Haven't you done enough?" He sighs and looks at you with a serious face.
"Look, I appreciate you for worrying about me, but you're being overprotective. Let me handle my business." He hissed before looking away His words sent me to the edge of my temper
" I'm your god damn friend Owen and I care that's why I worry about you! " I yelled at him, gritting my teeth as I feel frustrated and annoyed about what was happening right now
Owen rolls his eyes at me "You're still treating me like I'm a kid. It's different now. I can handle it myself! I don't need you to tell me what to do! Mind your own business damn it!!" He raises his voice emphasizing each words
His words shots a million bullet in my heart
' I don't need you to tell me what to do '
' I can handle it myself '
I got hurt at what he said I feel like he's saying that he doesn't need me anymore, I put both of my hands inside my pocket, I looked up trying not to let my tears fall down, luckily it's night time and he can't see it, how can he say those words easily? How do he expect me to react at his words? Should I laugh?
" y-yeah you're right..." I looked down at my feet as I let out a fake laugh " you're not a kid anymore...you can handle yourself already haha..." I bit my lip trying not to let out a sob " okay fine..." I said " I'll just go home, I don't know why I am here anyways " I said as I pointed at my back, looked at him first before turning my back at him taking my bike with me
Owen immediately notices how you changed in a second. He knew that look when you were struggling to keep it together so he quickly stood up and went to you. He knows that he's wrong and he immediately felt guilty,He gently grabs your shoulders and turns you around so you can look at him in the eyes.
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that. Don't take it personally." Owen sighs, it wasn't like him to be rude and insensitive to you, he just got carried away by his emotions and he hated it every time his emotions take over him, he doesn't like hurting you, how can he hurt someone he love? He loves more than friends
I just scoffed at him not looking at him, a tear left my eyes making me wipe my cheeks with my sleeve
Owen sighs, he hates it when he makes you sad. Seeing you hurt hurts him also
"Hey..." He gently caress your cheek and pulls you closer in front of him, so you can make an eye contact with him. "Look at me." He said, I do as what he told me to, I looked at his baby blue eyes those orbs that left me speechless and mesmerized " you speak as if you don't need me anymore, like I was just a mere distraction to you " I spoke as a tear left my eyes
Owen's heart sinks as soon as he heard you say those words. He immediately wraps his arms around you and pulls you in tightly on his chest."Stop that, you're always going to be important to me. I'm sorry if what I said had hurt you." He said as he wiped your tears with his fingers.
"I'll never act like that again, I promise. You're so important to me how can you be a distraction? You're the one person I always seek comfort from you're too important for me to lose." He said as he gently strokes your hair,he felt guilty for acting like that he doesn't like what he did to you, I rested my head on his shoulder as I let out a quiet sob
" I hate you so much Owen " I sob as I grip his shirt " I hate you for making me worry about you all the time " I cried
Owen chuckles slightly because of how you're expressing your feelings while crying on his shoulder. He smiles, he finds it so adorable and charming to see you so emotional towards him. He hugs you a bit tighter and strokes your hair again.
"I'm sorry, you might hate me right now, but that will never change the fact that you're always going to be an important person to me. I'll make it up to you. Just forgive me." He whispered to my ears his hot breath hitting my ears his gesture makes my heart beat so fast and the closeness we had he might notice my heart so fast
" do you know how worried I am?earlier when noah texted me that you got into a fight with jay again?! " I yelled " I don't want you getting hurt Owen " I punched his chest slightly " why are you so stubborn? " I mumbled
Owen couldn't help but feel guilt and regret for making you worry about him so many times. The way you're crying into his chest and begging him not to get hurt anymore makes him feel like he's the worst person you ever had.
He sighs and shakes his head, wishing that he hadn't said what he said earlier.
"I'm sorry, I'll promise you I won't fight anyone anymore." He said as he looks at you with his blue eyes that look so irresistible under the night sky I looked back at him, looking at his wounds " damn you Owen! You always know how to make me soft towards you " I said as I bit my lip looking at him
Once again, he couldn't help but chuckle when you were being so cute and sweet towards him. You were very vulnerable and emotional right now and that's what he really loves about you.
"I'm a bit stubborn, but I really mean it." He smiled and leans closer to your lips. He gently grabs your chin and turns you toward him.
My heart started to run like crazy, out face are so close to each other, I looked deeply in his baby blue eyes noticing the affection it was in, this time I'm already sure that owen does feel the same as I am
I felt my cheeks heated up as I looked at him with my red eyes and red cheeks, I feel embarrassed fuck
Owen couldn't care less how red your eyes are, in fact he loved it because it makes you look irresistible to him. A grin appears on his face as he gets closer and caress your cheeks slowly with his hands. He brushes your jawline and chin with his fingers. You can feel his touch as it sends shivers up and down your spine.
His breathing is heavy and he leans closer and he's almost inches away from your lips.
" God damn it Owen " I hissed
then pulled his face to me as our lips crashed into each other, it was obvious that he was shocked at what I did but didn't mind it was also his plan in the first place, he wrapped his left arms on your waist pulling you close to while his right find it's way to you cheeks, his lips started to move and you did the same, you both kissed under the moonlight, he kissed you passionately with full of love
After a second he pulled away catching an air, he layed Hindi forehead on yours as your eyes were still close, I hope this isn't a dream
" Y/n....I like you "
Owen finally said, making you look at him, a smile went on your lips
" I like you too Owen.."
I confessed back, same as mine, Owen smiled as he cupped both of my cheeks before placing a light peck on my lips
" That's good to hear then.. I've been wanting to tell it to you..." He said closing his eyes before saying..
★ pakisabi nalang sa kanya — multifandom x gn!reader
how did they show their love for you pre-confession + how did they confess?
a/n: always wanted to do one of these posts teehee:3 | fandoms: genshin impact, stardew valley, l&co + haikyuu!! | warnings: none!
— through letters “sometimes, love creates a poet.”
words weren’t enough to explain their love for you, but putting some action into it might help. day and night, they put their admiration for you into sweet, beautiful words they wished would help them explain what you had done to their hearts. though they knew those words could never explain even a third(1/3) of what their heart ached to say. once, twice, even thrice a week you’d arrive to school/work with a little note under your desk, locker, or even in your lunchbox. letters filled with toe-wiggling poems, songs, and beautiful paragraphs which overflowed with love in every single line started piling up in your room. they wondered what you even did to their letters, were they rotting away in the trashcan? were they turned to dust by the fire you lit in your backyard? or were they kept safely in a small box under your bed, a heart encircled on its cover?
little by little, they added clues to their identity, whether it be a flower which was related to them, or a little trinket from your past encounters. one day, they handed you a letter by hand, after of course getting you on a whole treasure hunt to find out where to go. that little adventure led you to a garden. with you sweaty, stressed out, and confused, they confessed right there.
gi. KAZUHA, diluc, fischl, XINGQIU, kokomi, alhaitham(HEAR ME OUT), charlotte sdv. ELLIOT l&co. kipps(again, HEAR ME OUT) + your faves!! ♡
— quietly “in silence, we often find the deepest connection.”
it took them a while to understand what was happening, the way their hearts beat faster at your mere presence, the way the curve on your lips seemed to infect their own, the way they always couldn’t wait for the next day purely because of you. after hours of staring at the ceiling, they came to a conclusion—it was love. that was all. you weren’t some sorcerer who snatched their heart, nor were you a weirdo who spiked their drink, you were you, and apparently, they liked that. ever since their “awakening” they started doing little things for you. whether it was returning one of your pens they saw on the floor, or refilling your water bottle whenever you were too focused on works/studies. all these little things came unnoticed by you, but they knew they were making a difference
day by day, the spark between you grew. smiles were exchanged as you made eye contact, now, they weren’t afraid to do things for you in the dark, now they could step out of the shadows, and help you as they were. their confession was abrupt, and unexpected at that. as they stood in front of your desk, they held out a singular rose.
— proudly “you can’t blame gravity for falling in love.”
oh this little shit. they couldn’t get enough of you, nor could practically everyone else around them, they had no choice! always blabbing about how angelic you were, how your happiness seemed to be so..contagious. “okay so today—“ they started, before their poor friend quickly placed a hand on their somehow always open mouth. “don’t even start.” you’d think people would like to keep their crushes secret, especially to the one they admire but nope! even you knew! get ready for flirting galore. i don’t think they would even need a confession, the whole nation practically knew at this point. there were times you thought their love for you was fake, that they were just joking. i mean, they never actually confessed.
well, until now, of course. they got news to spread around town that they got a lover and that they’ve been spotted at the local cafe which may or may not have caught your attention. now, they stood there, bouquet in hand(coffee in the other) and friends all around.
— through teasing “pride often gets in the way of love.”
oh god did you hate their ass. woke up at 5am just to be early to work/school?oops! they beat you there, now they won’t stop talking about it! they love teasing you, they just can’t stop. sometimes they wonder if the real reason theyre teasing you is to cover up what’s really under their skin, to cover up the hook you pierced through their heart. it ate them up from the inside, but no way were they gonna admit that! if someone’s gonna confess, it better be you first..
they would have confessed rather stupidly. having gone to a bar in the evening with their friends, they called your number(which they got after getting down on their knees and begging) and confessed right there, their voice slurred, it was obvious how many glasses they chugged down. the next day, they remembered absolutely nothing, it took you a few days before finally confronting them about it.
“wait what?! i confessed to you? d-do you like me back?”
Iwaizumi was on classroom duty this week and he used to hate that. It meant that he got to volleyball practice late and didn’t even have time for a healthy snack. In addition, he had to make some kind of small talk with whoever he was paired with. It goes by the pairs in which the desks are placed and he was never the best at socialising outside of the athletic world.
However, classroom duty wasn’t so bad this time around, because ever since last break, he was paired up with you. Iwa didn’t notice you that much before, he just knew you were bright and kind. And of course, he couldn’t deny to the universe that you were nice to look at, but he would still keep trying to deny it to his friends.
He knew he was fond of you. You with the cartoonish drawings of the teacher on the sides of your notes so you could make him smile in class. You with the lipgloss that looked like it might not taste good, despite how it made your lips look so biteable. You with the evil little laugh every time your paper ball would hit the trash and his didn’t. Yeah, Hajime Iwaizumi was very fond of you.
“Iwa?”
“Sorry,” he shook his head and chuckled awkwardly, glancing around at the pristine classroom. “What did you say?”
You snorted a laugh and turned around pointing to the garbage bags collected by the door and ready to be thrown away. “I said, let’s go?” Hajime spurred into action, happily finishing up here and putting those muscles to good use.
Usually, there was this thing where the people on classroom duty did rock paper scissors for who took the trash, letting the other off. No one knows who started it, but it stuck. Oikawa seemed to believe you and Hajime were the only ones who didn’t follow tradition.
“Why does she even go with you when all she does is hold up the lid on the trash can while you do all the heavy lifting?” Oikawa complained now that his best friend was finally back in his volleyball uniform. Some might say he was jealous.
Iwaizumi shrugged, about to answer when someone else did from behind him, making him turn around and causing Oikawa to lift a brow at the interruption.
“Sounds like she likes you.”
“Mad dog?” Oikawa exclaimed dramatically with a gasp. Kyotani glared at the setter.
“No, we just do it that way, you know?“ Iwaizumi said, sounding a bit like he was fishing to hear it again. Hear that you might like him.
“Okay, whatever,” Kyotani grumbled. Charming as ever. His two per cent of extra respect for Iwaizumi went into that effort and now it was spent.
They went back to practice, and Oikawa forgot about the interrupted gossip as soon as the practice game started, leaving Iwaizumi to mull this over himself. When this week was over, would you stop talking to him so much?
The next morning, you’re both there early to prepare the classroom, and Iwaizumi greeted you with a shy nod. “Last day!” you cheered. Iwaizumi’s eyes followed you for a few seconds as you skipped over to the teacher’s desk, where you picked up the note left by the teacher and then walked over to the chalkboard to prepare it. He liked how you were always so bright, even as you had to be there earlier than everyone else. And then he was happy to see you weren’t invincible, when you looked a little more tired in the evening while walking out with the trash, stubborn smile still directed at him like you refused to give up.
But for now, it’s still morning. “You sound excited, any plans this weekend?” he asked, leaving the mop in the corner after mopping the floors. Then he strolled up beside you, picking up the sponge to go wet it. You turned to glance at him exactly when he turned away. Maybe he’ll ask me out if I say no?
“Not much. Just happy it’s the last day we have to do these chores,” you said, seemingly carefree in adding little hearts and stars around what the teacher wanted. It made Iwa smile as he placed the wet sponge on the little edge beneath the chalkboard.
Wait, she’s happy we’re done? Maybe Kyotani is totally clueless. “Oh,” he said, not meaning to. “Me too.”
“That doesn’t sound very convincing,” you teased, putting the chalk down and turning to him. “You like taking the trash out?”
“Maybe…” he said defensively, clenching his fists and then unclenching them again. “I like hanging out with you.” There, at least he said something.
“Iwaizumi…” He looked at you hopefully but glanced away quickly when he realised his face was burning. “You know we still sit beside each other when the week is finished, right? It’s not like I’ll stop talking to you.”
Iwaizumi’s eyes widened, embarrassment sinking into every nerve of his body because he hadn’t much thought about that. “Of course,” he said first like it was instinctual. I just like hanging out with you alone. That’s what he should have said. Instead, he stuttered out meaningless sounds for a second before the bell rang and students started rushing to their seats, meaning you had to move too.
Oikawa sighed from the entrance to the classroom, in absolute disbelief at how his best friend, the ace of all aces, in his opinion, could fumble so badly for a girl.
“Iwa-chan!” Iwaizumi closed his eyes at the agitating, grating voice that interrupted his peaceful lunch on a bench outside in the sun.
“Shittykawa.”
“Hey! I’m here to help you.” He sat down beside his best friend, opening his bento and stuffing some food in his mouth. Iwaizumi was chewing slowly and waiting to hear more with a disinterested look on his face.
“With?”
“Your love life.”
Oikawa went on a rant about grand gestures, making some very grand gestures himself while explaining, and Iwa could just not figure out why the girls swooned for him when he looked so stupidly invested in his stupid plan for his stupid love life.
“Are you even listening?” Oikawa asked, angrily stuffing another spoonful of food into his mouth.
“Absolutely not. I will not be renting a horse and armour.” And even though that was evidence he had in fact listened, Oikawa was not pleased that his best friend didn’t seem to understand what an expert in love he was. “She’s probably not even interested.”
“Iwa!” Another voice said, making him turn around and almost knock over the water bottle beside his bento.
“That you listen to.” Oikawa mocked from his side, but anything he said went in one ear and out the other once again, when his eyes fell on you.
“Hey,” Hajime greeted you, somewhat awkwardly as you hadn’t chatted much outside the classroom or on the way to the trash containers. “What’s up?”
“Are you doing anything this weekend?” you asked, your words sharing space with a sigh as you had jogged over.
“He’s not,” Oikawa answered, and while that would normally make him annoyed, he just repeated it while still looking at you.
“I’m not.”
“Maybe we can go out for some ice cream? Or a coffee?” you asked further, and it was obvious that you were nervous despite trying to seem confident, not smiling like you usually did. He didn’t answer right away, so you involuntarily went into a word vomit. “I was waiting for you to ask, but then you didn’t and if you’re not interested then we can just forget this, but…” You stopped and looked at him hopefully, one hand on either hip.
“Take him, please.”
Iwaizumi didn’t even need to look to plant his hand over Oikawa’s face before giving you an endearing smile. “I’m interested. Coffee sounds perfect.”
masterlist
/a special thanks to @cottonlemonade for helping me with my writer's block for this one
There were many things you could’ve done at that cursed party. You could’ve drank your pain and memories away. You could’ve danced till dawn, or easiest of all, you could’ve found some hot guy from the fire nation to call yours for the weekend. Instead, you ached to do the one thing you promised yourself you wouldn’t; spy on Zuko.
Even though you turned up fashionably late to the part, when you stepped through the door, all eyes were on you. In the center of the room, Azula was chatting with Ty Lee, and a handful of guys shifted their attention from you to them.
On a couch in the very corner, Mai and Zuko sat at a big distance from each other. However, his arm was loosely thrown around her shoulders as she leaned at his, a frown appearing on her face. Zuko was looking anywhere but at Mai or you.
“Want to dance, beautiful?” Before you stood a tall, brunette guy with a cocky grin
You were about to decline, but then thought, why not? You were going to have fun, that’s what you came for.
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” you answered and before he could react, you dragged him to the dance floor.
A bit too fast for your liking, his arms wrapped tightly around your waist and yours found his shoulders almost immediately. You were dying to find out if Zuko was looking or not, but you had to play your cards right. Turning right now would show him that you cared, that you were doing this all to make him jealous. That would defeat the whole purpose of this dance.
So, instead, you looked deep into the guy’s eyes and for just a second, pretended they were Zuko’s. A big smile crept into your face. Just pretend, you thought, you’re good at it, Y/n.
As it appears, you’re a bit too good at pretending. You were so good at pretending that guy was Zuko, he thought you were down bad for him, and suddenly you felt wet lips capturing yours in a rather aggressive kiss. From the corner of your eyes, you finally glanced at Zuko. Your eyes met his. You couldn’t help the smirk that formed on your lips.
Keeping eye contact with Zuko, you deepened the kiss. Your hands traveled from his neck to his torso, going under the loose shirt that didn’t do justice to the built abs underneath
You didn’t even know his name. Not that it mattered. He was just another guy and you were just another girl. The person who truly mattered to you was glaring from across the room. You couldn’t wait to tell Katara and Toph all about your little adventure.
Zuko was fuming. That should’ve been him. It should’ve been him kissing you. That should’ve been him holding you tight as if someone would appear and steal you from his arm. That should’ve been his shirt that you were pulling up and playing with while the kiss ended. That should’ve been him making you giggle.
Not being able to handle the sight of another guy’s arms wrapped around your body and the thought of those very same arms touching you in places only he should and worshipping your hips like a temple whose goddess’ he was obsessed with, Zuko angrily rose to his feet and marched to the bathroom.
Forgetting you shouldn’t have been this hard. Getting over you shouldn’t have been harder than leaving you. The muscles on his arms tensed as he stared at the mirror and overwhelming thoughts fogged his mind.
He still remembered the day you cupped his cheeks with your hands and kissed all over his scar, telling him that he was still the most beautiful person you’d ever seen. Love made people beautiful and hate made them ugly. There was a fine line between those two. A line that never should be crossed. A line you like to twist between your fingers. A line you like to wrap around Zuko’s throat and take his breath away.
To kiss him, or suffocate him?
“Trouble in paradise?” You asked leaning across the doorframe, knowing damn well all his anger wasn’t because of Mai, but because of you. Oh, how you loved having such an effect on him. It was almost as addicting as kissing.
“Mai and I are doing perfectly fine,” Zuko spoke, glancing at your reflection in the mirror, either too angry to turn around or too scared to accept his own emotions, “not that it’s any of your business.
“I’d beg to differ,” you clicked your tongue at the roof of your mouth, “but I don’t beg.”
“What the hell was that that you were doing with that guy?”
Bingo.
“It’s called kissing, babes,” you chuckled, licking your lips. “Want a demonstration?”
Zuko turned around and started walking towards you. You refused to be the one to step back, resulting in your faces being only breaths away. His hands were twitching to wrap around your throat, hips, wrists, or any bare skin his eyes could see. Better yet would be covered skin only his mind could imagine.
“I want you to stop kissing that guy.”
You fluttered your eyelashes innocently. “Fine then,” you shrugged, “I’ll find another guy to kiss.”
As you were about to walk away, his hands were suddenly wrapped around your wrists, pulling you dangerously close to him. You flinched but made no try to move away.
“You love tormenting me, don’t you?” His gaze softened for a moment.
You let out a laugh, “You’re a fine one to talk! First, you betray me, then show up in my life with some girl and act like she’s your soulmate! You aren’t only lying to me, but to Mai too! You don’t love her.”
“I do. I love Mai.”
You rolled your eyes. “If you did, you wouldn’t be here.”
The grip on your wrists loosened. You took that time to free your hands and wrap them around his neck, pinning Zuko to the wall.
“Don’t think I’m letting anyone else have you. I don’t like sharing, Zuko and I surely won’t share you. Don’t think that anyone will ever love you as good as I do.”
You let him go and started walking towards the door.
“But for the time being, I’ll let you play pretend with your ‘girlfriend’. It won’t take long before you come crawling to me, my love. Meanwhile, I’ll kiss and fuck how many guys and girls I want and you can’t do shit about it-”
Before you could finish your rather possessive speech, Zuko ran to you, grabbed you by your shoulders, and smashed his lips on yours. Kissing him was nicer than you remember. Zuko tasted of alcohol, burnt caramel, and broken promises.
Your back hit the wall while he hungrily devoured your lips. You wrapped your legs around his waist and Zuko’s hands trailed down to your lower bottom. Your hands tugged his hair as he let out a low moan.
Part two: The volleyball game, Part one-> the remeeting
A bit later, Azula and the others joined you on the beach. By then, almost the whole village was either sunbathing or swimming. Among the laughter of the children, another voice was heard.
“Forget it!”
It sounded like Zuko. You couldn’t help but glance at where the voice came from. There he was sitting with Mai, with an angry look. You almost wanted to laugh. It was funny, but you couldn’t bring yourself to change the sour expression painted on your face upon seeing them so close together.
“Trouble in paradise?” You muttered to yourself, shifting your gaze to the sun. It was brighter here than it ever was on the Earth kingdom. Your attention, however never left the group. You’d like to say it was because you needed to be wary of their next move, but deep inside you knew it was because of Zuko.
They all were playing volleyball, I mean trying to- apparently, from what you could hear, they needed at least five members in their team. Everybody seemed too intimidated to even go near them.
In that moment Azula caught your gaze, the corners of her lips turning up in the slighted smirk, “You,” she said pointing at you, “come here.”
“For god's sake,” you muttered under your breath, rolling your eyes and making your way to her, finding the whole situation somewhat entertaining. Not long ago Azula was trying to kill you. And now? She was asking you to play volleyball with her and your ex situationship (that’s what you called it at least).
“Just don’t slow us down,” Azula spoke.
Zuko, on the other hand, seemed quite nervous to be around you again, and yet again, Azula caught onto it rather fast, “Or better yet just don’t let Zuko slow us down.”
Both yours and his face flushed, your eyes met and almost immediately you dropped your eyes to the ground and bit your lip until you felt a metallic taste on your tongue. Who was the nervous one now?
It seemed like Azula was going for blood today. It couldn’t really be any different, could it? And you yourself weren’t far behind here. Both of you tried to catch any ball that was thrown your way, while the others seemed a bit annoyed.
“Is any of you going to do anything?!” Azula shouted to her brother and friends.
You laughed, “I’d say be careful with Zuko. You can never know when he’s going to betray us for the other team. He has a bad habit of switching sides whenever he feels like it.”
Ty Lee let out a low whistle. Azula laughed with you. Zuko glared at you but soon turned to Mai who was looking at him with narrowed eyes.
This time, when the other team threw the ball, Mai passed it to Azula, who jumped on Zuko's back and threw it above. The ball, dropped to the sand, causing a big explosion and the net to burn to the ground.
“Yes!” Azula spoke, “We defeated you for all time! You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation-”
“Woah, princess,” You chimed in, placing a hand on Azula’s shoulder, “I think they get it.”
Azula shrugged in response, “Well that was fun.”
Before you could leave, two guys approached Ty Lee, “I’m having a party tonight, you should come by.”
“Sure!” Ty Lee giggled, “I love parties.”
“Bring your friend too,” he said glancing at Mai.
Well, it seemed Zuko would have competition for the night.
This time, you made to leave but the other guy called after you, “You should come too, babe.”
“Sure.” You spoke without even turning around.
The two guys fist-bumped. If you’d have turned around, you would’ve noticed that. You would’ve also noticed Zuko’s irritated expression upon hearing you accept the guy’s invite. And maybe, just maybe, things would’ve gone in the slightest bit differently.
You dug your knife into a grape in your plate. Greenish juice splattered all over your face, causing you to grunt again. Nothing seemed to be working your way, but yet again, you could only blame yourself. If you hadn’t helped that half-baked prince, if you hadn’t trusted him, you wouldn’t be here. You’d be flying free with Toph and your new friends. If only.
“Stop playing with your food,” one of your father’s servants, a nonbending lady around her forties asked.
“Maybe you want to be next?” You glared at her, “I’d much prefer stabbing a human instead of a fruit.”
“Enough!” your father shouted, “If I hadn’t let you live so long with your mother, none of this would’ve happened. Look what you’ve turned into,” he cried out, “But no worries, daughter, you won’t ever see her again. I’ll make sure of it.”
Tears started to form in your eyes upon hearing about the only person who had ever cared about you from the very start. You knew all too well what he meant by that. But you also knew that you’d be dead before losing your mother.
“I hate you!” You shouted, waving your arm, causing the entire table to set on fire, and then running up to the room you were staying. Every step hurt, every breath hurt. Yet you had to run fast and breathe in deep if you wanted to live.
You were going to see your mother again. Whether your father liked it or not. He had yet to see what you were capable of. He had yet to see what was to happen.
—
It was the next morning when your father knocked on your door. You let him in before he could do so himself. He walked around, observing everything carefully. You knew he was expecting you to have some shitty plan of escaping ready and then crush your dreams once and for all. Then he turned to you and smiled.
“I’ve decided to forget about your little outburst yesterday. It wasn’t your fault.” You narrowed your eyes. This wasn’t like him at all, “I’ve thought about it a lot, and decided that you need a vacation. Pack clothes and swimsuits, you'll be heading to Ember Island!”
You were about to object, and then you thought about it. Some relaxing days away from your father. There you’d be free and could even plan your great escape. Plus, it’s not really like he asked, so you didn’t have much of a choice. But, then again, something must be happening, since he switched from controlling you every second of every hour to wanting you away. If something was happening, you’d probably find out either way, though.
“When am I leaving?”
“In a hour. You’ll be leaving together with the Fire Nation princess and prince.”
Okay, that was not what you had planned. You hadn’t seen Zuko since he helped Azula kill the avatar. And then he told your father your location, who went out to get you. You still remember fire was catching, leaving your mouth as you screamed. Every vein of your body was burning, screaming alongside you. They grabbed you by your every limb and dragged you to their ship, tossing you to a dark, cold corner.
And now you were here.
—
You decided to sit at the back of the ship, and luckily, no one bothered to start a conversation with you, except some girl, whose hair was in a braid. She asked you if you needed anything and then immediately left after you said no.
The trip was short.
“Welcome to Ember Island, kids,” You heard a voice calling.
Quickly getting up, you started walking to the group. Your eyes immediately caught Zuko’s. You could see him getting nervous, and a bit scared. Damn right, he should’ve been scared. Azula caught on to what was going on, as soon as Zuko’s gaze shifted away.
“I see you finally joined us,” She spoke, a hint of amusement visible in her voice.
“It was about time, princess.”
The two old ladies led you to some small houses that were above water. You’d never seen anything like those before. The only beaches you had gone to with your mother were covered in stone walls. Both of them were beautiful.
“Miss,” One of the old ladies tapped you on the shoulder, “Your father ordered me to give you a separate house, from where the rest of your group will be staying.”
“How nice of him,” you said, “Could you have someone deliver my bag to my room? I want to head to the beach right now.”
“Sure thing,” she spoke, grabbing your bag and handing you a key, “You’ll need it for when you come back.”
You thanked her and started heading down to the sea, breathing in the salt air and listening to the chirp of birds singing a summertime tune. One you knew all too well.
Zuko’s gaze didn’t leave your figure until it disappeared into the fine line of where the sky kissed the sea, almost wishing he could go with you, almost. But then he remembered the girl in his arms, who slowly dragged him away. It all felt wrong. It felt so wrong. It was wrong for Mai, it was wrong for you, but most of all, it was wrong for him. And yet again, he only had himself to blame.
Hihi! I have a tiny request for Zuko x powerful!waterbending! reader im a sucker for opposites attract so I was wondering if you could do some headcanons or mini one shots of then during important zuko scenes in season 2-3 since thats where i imagine reader coming into his life-
More about reader: after the failed siege of the North Pole where reader quietly watched him fight Zhao without interfering she and her twin brother followed him (still not sure why- i think its cuz they were bored. most likely) and they kept bumping into each other like when Azula attacked them after leading them on that Ozai wants his son back (big L)
Thats when they noticed the unique twin duo- reader a powerful icebender and bloodbender when need be- with white hair (genetics) and the other a not so powerful medic who knows A LOT about herb and medicine including poison- with black hair (again, genetics-) they ran away from home after their mother tried to poison reader which resulted in her having scars around the mouth which she usually hides. also hides these pains and more (like the lost of a sapphic lover that used to watch the stars with but died due to disease teehee) with the cold personality and almost no emotion blank face while the readers twin is the complete opposite- a con artist and very talkative
After a few more run ins they decide to travel together and keep close to Zuko even after he tells Iroh he needs to find his own path only to turn back to him where the twins are delighted to hear- thats when reader tells em she had to learn waterbending by herself (mommy issues) and used inspiration from every other element
Reader also likes to watch and nap a lot. She watches others fight in order to perfect herself and her defense (again, mommy issues) so she can come off as a bit creepy or…. interested :> and helps Zuko perfect his own bending in a way- and when reader and him nap sometimes they end up a lil too close together without realizing heheheheh
with the gaang is where they start to spend a lor more time together without arguing or insulting each other (love that slight enemies to lovers touch) but toph notices how their heartbeats start to go faster when theyre together and tells everyone but them 2 which gets funny results
Especially since in the beginning Zuko thought reader was a lot like Azula- power hungry and mean- but in reality quite the opposite and it shows in the way she treats people who reader doesnt consider “bullies” with either kindness or dismissal and it especially shows when reader acts around animals and animals to them. i feel like Momo would go in readers head first thing when they join the Gaang and reader being like “Oh hello.” and just leaves him be/ maybe gives momo a lycheenut :D
I KNOW ITS A LOT J JUST HAVE A LOT ON MY MIND AND NEED TO SHARE- SPREAD THE WORD OF THESE TWO EDGE LORDS!!! gaaah!!! oh great writer spirit hear my plea!
Matching wounds
Zuko x waterbender!reader
Okay, so when you first saw him you just knew that that boy was going to change your life. Your first thought was kidnapping him and selling him to some angry water benders but decided against it.
Your conversation with your brother upon telling him that you were going to leave your whole life behind to follow a stranger went like this
“Remind me again sis,” your brother yawned, following you, “why are we following the prince? Did you experience love at first sight or something?”
Your cheeks hit up and you glared at your brother, “What?! No! And we’re not following him!”
“Really?” Your brother raised his eyebrow, “Then why are we watching closely where he’s going and repeating every step?”
“Okay,” you breathed out, “We might be following him, but it’s because they might be our only ticket
out of her. Don’t tell me you want to return to mommy.”
Glancing at your scars he decided to not question it for the time being and promised himself to further study healing so one day he’d make your scars disappear. You, meanwhile, promised yourself to become one of the most powerful waterbenders in the world so no one would hurt you or your brother anymore.
When you saw Zuko again, you had gotten very strong. Your brother had gone in Azula’s ship, in which she was returning Zuko and Uncle Iroh to the Fire Nation prison cells, to steal some food. Thinking that Azula was too focused on her prisoners, upon them finding out why she needed them, your brother acted carelessly.
Azula was ready to burn him into crumbs, when luckily you walked in, freezing her hand.
As absurd as it may sound, Zuko didn’t first notice your amazing fighting skills, but the scars around your mouth. He stared mesmerized, lost in the thought of someone else sharing his pain.
When one of Azula’s flames nearly burned the other side of the face, Zuko snapped out of whatever he was in and fought alongside you. After beating Azula, you didn’t share any words, both only nodded at each other, your face as emotionless as ever,r and left.
You didn’t tell anyone, but that night you cried. You cried at the thought of almost losing your brother and made a decision; you were going to move to the earth kingdom and start a new life.
On your first day, you started working at a tea shop and made some friends, while your brother, opposite to his nature, remained isolated.
You never knew what was going on until one night, when he sneaked out of your small apartment, and you followed him.
You could only watch in disappointment as your brother put on a mask and together with another masked man started to steal money from other people.
Words about two masked blue spirits got around fast and just like that more people were plotting to reveal who those ‘cowards’ were. One day, while working at the tea shop, two assassins walked in. They talked about how they were paid by two rich men to kill the blue spirits, which had robbed a huge sum of money from them.
That night, you followed your brother again. Just when the assassins were able to take off their masks you revealed your self.
“Seriously?!” You asked your brother, “You’ve been stealing with the Fire Nation prince, out of all people?”
Zuko was offered. He, however, had no time to show it as the assassins attacked. The ground beneath Zuko shifted, ready to swallow him whole, when you jumped into him. You wrapped your arms tightly into his waist as the both of you flew away from the crack.
Unfortunately, during the process, you sprained your ankle. Pain rushed through your body. Your brother kneeling next to you, tears welling up in his eyes as he healed your ankle. Only then did you realize how much he had improved and how he wasn’t a little kid anymore? He wasn’t the little kid who needed your protection.
After the pain stopped, you jumped into your brother and hugged him. Both of you were crying like babies while Zuko fought those assassins. But hey, he was happy that you two were happy. I mean he thought you were, even though the crying surely made him doubt it.
After all that happened that night, you decided that a quiet life was not what both you and your brother were made for. After Zuko one night came to your apartment and asked you and your brother to join him while he traveled through the earth kingdom, your brother immediately jumped at the opportunity while you were hesitant at first.
The journey wasn’t easy for you; having no food made it hard. But during the night, Zuko would provide a fire warm enough for all three of you and you’d come around it and take turns telling stories.
Your brother mainly talked about his days as a thief and a con artist. You talked about how you had to learn water bending by yourself.
When Zuko met Lee, was the first fight the two of you had since the beginning of your travels. You told him that trusting a “naive earth boy” was a dumb decision and he got mad at you, telling you that you had no such importance in his life as to advise him.
Hurt by his words, you and your brother left him. Along your way, you met Uncle Iroh and decided to join him until Zuko returned.
When the avatar gang, Uncle Iroh, and you and your brother were fighting Azula, was when you met Zuko again. Your brother made some joke about Azula always reuniting you with him.
Before Azula disappeared, she hit Iroh with a lightning bolt which hurt him badly. Your brother luckily could heal it and the four of you traveled to a city called Ba Sing Se.
You found jobs at a tea shop nearby.
Once, a girl named Jin approached Zuko and asked him out. He didn’t want to go so he told her he had plans. Jin asked him who he had plans with. Luckily for him and unluckily for you, you were passing by. Zuko wrapped an arm around your shoulders and answered to her:
“With my girlfriend.”
One day, your brother came to you and introduced him to his new friend. You recognized him as Sokka, the boy traveling with the avatar, and warned him that if Zuko was to spot them, the chasing game would start again.
He told you that he had it handled and not to worry about it. News flash: he did not.
Fast forward to the Crystal Catacombs. You fought against Sokka and team Avatar against Azula. You were expecting Zuko to do the same but could only watch disappointed as he teamed up with Azula.
They left shortly after killing the avatar (who luckily came back to life).
Sokka invited you to join Team Avatar and having nothing better to do, you agreed.
Katara was a bit skeptical of you at first, being once betrayed by Zuko, but after a heart-to-heart with her, where you told her about everything you had gone through, Katara saw how similar the two of you were and became friends. You got along with everyone pretty well.
You had AT LEAST ONCE had this conversation with Sokka where he told you his past lover died and you responded with:
You think that makes you unique?”
When the gaang took Zuko in you were FUMING
“He gets to join us because he killed some assassin HE sent?!”
You did not trust him at all.
Then Zuko gave a crazy proposition. He would help you kill your mother. You wanted revenge so you accepted. On the first night of your journey, you showed Zuko your vulnerable side and talked about what your mother used to do to you.
When you finally saw her, she was locked in a mental institution at the North Water tribe. For the first time, you saw her sleeping peacefully and decided to let her leave.
That went like this:
“Let’s leave Zuko,” you tugged at his shirt, pulling him away from your mother’s room, “we have no place here.”
“What about your revenge?” He asked. That’s what he had promised you, after all.
“If I kill her,” you breathed out in a shaky voice, “I become just like her, a monster,” you paused before turning to him, “Sorry for wasting your time. We came here for nothing.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said, “You needed closure.”
You felt butterflies back then, but you and Zuko didn’t get together until the final show. It all happened in a blur. When the war ended, you ran to him, tears ricocheting out of your eyes.
“You’re okay,” your voice broke seeing him.
“He’s a bit hurt,” Katara said, “Azula was crazy.”
“But I’ll live,” Zuko chimed in.
You wrapped your arms around his neck and buried your head on his shoulder.
“It’s over.”
The day of Zuko’s crowning had come. People all over the fire nation had come to see it with hopes of a better future, a new beginning.
He was getting ready when you knocked on his door.
“Scared?” You asked him, coming in.
“A bit,” he answered truthfully, “This is my place. Where I’m meant to be. You and your brother are leaving tomorrow for the northern water tribe, I surmise?”
You nodded. Your snow white hair was kept up in a bun. A traditional water tribe outfit, that Katara let you borrow, hugged your body.
“Unlike you, we have no place here.”
“But you do,” Zuko chimed in with no hesitation. It was now or never, “Your place is next to me.”
You raised an eyebrow, “A rather bold statement, fire lord Zuko. You’re insane. Do you even know what you’re saying?”
“No,” he shook his head, “Not in the slightest bit. But I know what I want.”
“Which is—“
“You by my side. Until the end of time. I love you.”
dededos
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