{zoro x oc} stick 'em with the pointy end

2. when girl met boy

The Going Merry was approaching Yuba. Within only months of joining the Straw Hats she had left the East Blue, crossed into the Grand Line. Fought members of a crime syndicate. Saw dinosaurs and giants.

Zoro was keeping his distance from her. She had asked him to. And he followed her request. She didn't want him to be distant any longer, she just didn't know how to approach him. She watched him from the upper deck. He was training incessantly.

Zoro.

She thought back to when she first met him.

☽ ◯ ☾

Zoro had been lost for, well he didn't know how long. This island was intricate and something about it made him want to keep exploring. Until he couldn't.

He stopped beneath a palm. With no water, and no way to get back to the shore that the Going Merry had arrived on, he was pretty sure he was fucked.

When his eyes closed and he fell unconscious, is when an ultra-cautious Neso approached him.

She looked around before she ventured over to the man. Three swords were attached at his hip. The last time she had helped a man, she had paid a heavy price. But, looking down at the man with green hair, her heart softened. She couldn't bring herself to just leave him here like this.

She recognized the signs of dehydration as she had suffered from them too when she first landed on this island.

She rolled him onto a bed of leaves and started to cool him down. The island's heat was dangerous this time of year. She laid out water, coconuts, berries, a mango, and a cooked stew of various legumes. A cool cloth lay across his forehead and she had gotten a decent amount of water into his body successfully.

She removed his shirt, gasping at the deep scar that ran across his chest. She brushed her fingertips over its raised ridge. Other scars littered his torso and arms, but nothing like this one. She grabbed the shirt and cleaned it for him, soaking it in cool water and draping it over his body.

She hid herself among the leaves and watched as he came to.

The scent of the soup caught his nose first, "Sanji?" He was met with no response, only the vast sounds of the jungle he laid in.

He sat up and saw the spread of refreshments. He looked around, assuming his crew must have been nearby. He ate, taking his time.

Every few minutes, he got the feeling he was being watched. From what he had seen, this island was uninhabited, aside from the open grave of pirates they had come upon. Zoro looked around, unsure if he was prey to a jungle monster. He shook his head, his crew wouldn't lay him out vulnerable like that.

Time passed, he didn't know how long but he heard his name being called. Sanji's deep tone, Luffy's playful voice. Nami sounded more than displeased, "I'm going back to the ship, let me know when you find him."

"Nami, you'll need a protector!" Usopp followed in her footsteps.

"Zorooooo!!!!"

"It's been three days. Do you think he was eaten?"

"No, not Zoro."

Zoro stood quickly to his feet, "Hey, guys! I'm over here!"

Luffy and Sanji quickly appeared through thick jungle vines, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?! Isn't this where you put me?"

"No! You idiot, you've been gone for three whole days!"

"You cooked me soup! And, I hate to admit but, it was the best dish you've ever made!"

"No! I didn't!"