Can I Steal Your Heart? - A LawLu fanfic

(Luffy) Chapter 8 - Homecoming

Luffy had been dozing off on the grassy part of the deck when Usopp's joyous shout rang out from the crow's nest.

"THEY'RE BACK~! Luffy, everyone! Sanji's back, with Zoro in tow!"

His heart tried to jump into his throat as his sleepy brain processed the words. Sanji had brought Zoro back? Zoro wasn't... gone? He raced to the railing, scanning the water. Sure enough, the Mini-Merry was just barely visible, with a blond head in the front seat and a green-topped shape climbing over the seat.

Zoro was well enough to move, then. What about the flower thing in his chest? Was it gone? Would it come back? Luffy shook his head at the thought. Zoro wouldn't have come back, no matter what Sanji had said to him, if it meant he'd be endangering the crew. "SANJI! ZORO~!" He found himself shouting with the rest of the crew.

But now, he noticed. He noticed Robin crying quietly and grabbing Franky's hand. He noticed Nami grinning through happy tears, waving furiously at the small boat that could probably barely see them. He noticed Usopp jumping as he, too, waved, like he was trying to make sure their missing nakama saw them. He noticed how much his crew had been hurting. And he'd allowed that. Allowed Zoro to leave without a goodbye.

Guilt ran through him, even with the joy at seeing his nakama again. He forced himself to smile widely and wave, and the blond driver of the approaching boat waved back. They were close enough now so he could make out the embarrassed look on Zoro's face. Both of them looked embarrassed, actually, and tired. Sanji looked a little sunburned, and Zoro had regained his tan, but it didn't quite look like his normal healthy look.

Of course not, Luffy reminded himself as Franky opened the docking system. He was dying a couple days ago. Even if he's feeling better, he might need a while to recover from that state.

Chopper practically tackled Zoro the second he stepped up onto the deck, and Luffy fought back a pout. He'd wanted to do that, dang it. But he wasn't sure if Zoro could handle a double-tackle right now, so he forced his feet to stay back.

"Well...," Zoro was answering Chopper's question hesitantly. "The person that I love came after me and decided to ...well, to give me a chance. And I guess that was enough for this stupid flower to give it a chance, too."

It took a second for that to click for Luffy. "EH?!" He found himself screaming as everyone else gave similar exclamations. But then he saw the look on the swordsman's face as he looked at the cook, and it was suddenly less surprising. He'd seen Zoro look at Sanji like that before, when he thought no one was looking. Luffy had just never known what that look had meant, but it made sense now. Zoro had been in love with Sanji. Of course he had. Maybe even since they first met. That was why Zoro hadn't given a name, why he'd worried about Luffy getting mad.

He opened up his haki, letting himself observe his friends as closely as he dared. He could feel the hope and affection Zoro was radiating easily, but it was still almost smothered by the cook's tense embarrassment. Which lined up with Sanji's reddening face. There was also a general sense of worry from several of his crew, including faintly from Zoro and Sanji themselves.

He jumped on Sanji's back, grinning and wrapping his arms around him as he did. "That's great! I'm glad you're both back! But Sanji, can I have food now? No one else cooks like you do! I want meat!"

Sanji seemed to relax a little underneath him as he agreed to get dinner started. Luffy kept his grin up as he let the cook shake him off and practically run to the kitchen, clearly desperate to get away from the questions that the crew was frantically asking. Once he was out of sight, Luffy's eyes met Zoro's. He put just a hint of scolding into his gaze, and Zoro nodded. They would still have a lot to talk about, but for now, Luffy was truly glad to have his first mate back.

He stood back as Chopper had a brief conversation with Zoro. Then Nami came up and punched him in the head, which quickly earned the navigator a scolding from the tiny doctor. Nami gave the swordsman the fastest hug Luffy had ever seen.

And then Zoro addressed the crew, his smile falling suddenly into a seriousness that Luffy associated with pre-battle scenarios. "While he's in the kitchen, I want to ask a favor of you all. Cook's agreed to try, but... well, we're taking it slow, for a lot of reasons. Don't push him or pressure him or give him too much grief, ok?" There was a moment of hesitation from the swordsman. "And.. if it doesn't work, if he and I don't work... you can't blame him or push him away. If this thing grows back and kills me, blame the flower. Not the curly-brow."

Luffy felt himself smiling. Zoro was so afraid that they'd take out their grief on their cook? That was silly. "Why would we blame Sanji? No one can force feelings. Which is good, or else I'd be married to Hancock! And then how would I become the Pirate King?!"

It was true. If anyone could force feelings on someone else, Hancock absolutely would've tried. It had taken him more than a year of her 'secret' visits during his training to realize how much different her feelings were than his own, and then it had made him a little uncomfortable. He had no intention of marrying anyone, much less someone who was so content to stay on or near her island home. He was made to be free.

Everyone else was adding in their own assurances that no one would blame Sanji and that they were so glad that Zoro was back and alive. Robin even had to peel Usopp off the older man, who darted up to the crow's nest like a skittish kitten.

The image combined with his relief, and Luffy burst out laughing. "Zoro and Sanji are baaaaaack!" He screamed, spinning wildly in the grass. Chopper and Usopp joined him, spinning until they were all dizzy. Then, like the return of their nakama had somehow infused them with energy, they began playing tag, chasing each other all around the ship as Brook began to play a cheerful tune.

It wasn't long, really, until Sanji called them to dinner, where Sanji and Zoro seemed to be playing a game of their own: the don't-be caught-looking-at-each-other game. The rest of the crew tried to ignore it and pretend like this was a normal dinner.

Until the end of the meal, that is, when Zoro was the first to rise from the table. The swordsman thanked the cook, by name, and followed it with an actual compliment before exiting, causing shocked looks from everyone else.

They must've been staring for longer than was comfortable, because Sanji turned vividly red. "Please talk," the cook managed to get out, "or eat? Whatever."

"He said your name," Nami said, as if Sanji didn't know the significance of what had just occurred. "Sometimes I haven't even been sure he remembered it! I know what he said earlier, but... I never expected that!"

"... he's said my name before, Nami-swan. Please don't make a thing out of it." It was like that was the final straw for Sanji. He didn't flee the table, but he seemed to wither somehow, like Crocodile was there, sucking the water out of him.

Luffy found his head tilting as he looked at his blond nakama, trying to figure out what was wrong all of a sudden. But Robin gave a tiny polite cough and glared around the table, silently reminding them of what they'd told Zoro.

Usopp responded to the reprimand first. "Did I ever tell you guys about the time I single-handedly took on a GIGANTIC spider?! It's a great story. See there was this spider, big as a house. No, even bigger than a house! And it was attacking our village mercilessly. Many tried, but no one could stop it! No one except the great Captain Usopp, that is...."

Luffy recognized the story as one he had heard before, but feigned interest anyways, oohing and aahing and laughing and cheering at all the correct places. But it was still noticeable when Sanji slid from his seat, put his dishes in the sink, and interrupted quietly to ask that someone tell Zoro about the sake left for him before leaving.

Luffy wondered for a moment if he should follow and make sure Sanji was okay. He didn't want to miss things about his crew anymore. But Chopper caught his eye and gave a shake of his head. 'Leave him alone,' he seemed to be saying. So Luffy did, letting himself join in the conversations held by the rest of the crew.