𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲 ✗ 𝐑𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐚 𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐨

twenty

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲
𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤

✗

AMELIA LET LUFFY USE THE BATHROOM FIRST, LETTING HIM GET A LONG HOT SHOWER AFTER HIS FALL INTO THE WATER. The girl sits next to Zoro, he still lays there unconscious and Amelia doesn't know how much more she can take before she breaks.

"Please, Zoro. You have to wake up, please," she begs, gripping his hand tightly in her own. "We can't lose you," she tells him, "I can't lose you."

It stays quiet, not a single sound is heard except for Amelia's erratic breathing as she tries not to break down. The feeling of panic starts becoming overwhelming, and so Amelia stands up in a hurry.

She glances at Zoro one last time before pressing a kiss to his knuckles and scurrying out of the room as it feels like the walls are closing in on her.

She passes Usopp, who calls out after her-- but Amelia doesn't hear him over the ringing in her ears. She bumps into Luffy on the way to her room, making her snap out of her trance. "Are you okay?" Luffy asks, his voice sounding unsure.

"I'm fine, Luffy."

"Are you sure?"

"You know what. No, I'm not okay. I'm at my breaking point, Luff," Amelia admits defeated. "We'll get the map back," Luffy tries to comfort her, "It's not about the fucking map, Luffy!" Amelia snaps, Luffy doesn't seem bothered by it but Amelia immediately feels bad. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," she apologizes.

"What's it about then?" he questions as if he doesn't remember what just went down. "You almost died! Do you understand what would've happened if Sanji wasn't there? I wouldn't have been able to pull you out and you would have died."

"But I didn't," Luffy tells her, "No, you didn't. But it was still one of the scariest moments of my life, we almost lost you," Amelia tells him with a sigh as the events of that day replayed itself in her mind.

Tears gather in her eyes, but she once again doesn't let them fall.

"You know, Luffy, you remind me so much of my little brother," Amelia lets out a broken laugh, her tears almost overflowing. "Your brother?" Luffy asks gently, "Yeah... my brother," she whispers.

"Why?" Luffy questions curiously. A nostalgic smile crosses Amelia's face as she blinks her tears away. "He wanted to be a pirate too, just like you. Of course, he was a lot younger than you are right now, but you have the same spirit," she tells Luffy.

"I guess that's why I'm kinda protective over you," she adds with a shrug, Luffy looks at her with a small frown. "What happened to him?" he asks, Amelia swallows thickly, "Arlong killed him, just like the rest of my family. I couldn't save them."

"Oh... I'm sorry," Luffy says, but Amelia quickly shakes her head. "I should go change out of these wet clothes," she says, excusing herself as Luffy nods his head at her.

Amelia locks herself in the bathroom after dropping by her room to grab a dry set of clothes. She turns the shower on and waits for the water to turn warm as she shivers in her cold wet clothes.

After taking a hot shower the girl goes back to her room and lays down in her bed. Her thoughts take over, how could Nami betray them like that? And how could she lie to Amelia's face about being family, when she knows Amelia already lost her actual family?

Her thoughts spiral like that for a good ten minutes and unbeknown to her, during those ten minutes Luffy had gone to talk to Zoro.

"Hey, Zoro. You sure missed a big fight. Those fishmen guys were tough. You would've loved it," Luffy starts, he sits on the bed where Zoro lies unconscious. "And we had a pretty great dinner. All of us sitting around together, listening to Usopp's stories. Only I kinda messed it up. And now I lost Nami, I lost the Grand Line map. And maybe I will lose you too."

"I didn't know what to say before, but I know what to say now, and it's so simple. I need you, Zoro. I need you to wake up," Luffy says, "Are you gonna keep talking or let me get some sleep?" a raspy voice asks.

Luffy climbs on top of Zoro, "Zoro?" he asks. "Zoro!" he repeats, yelling happily this time. "Zoro, you're not dead!"

Luffy aggressively hugs the green-haired man who has only just woken up. Making Zoro groan in pain, "Right now, I'm wishing I was," Zoro breathes out.

Luffy gets off the bed as Zoro starts talking, "I had the strangest dream that Nami left," he says. "She did," Luffy confirms, "It's my fault," he adds.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," Zoro says, "You acted like a captain," he continues. "But our crew is falling apart," Luffy tells him, but Zoro shakes his head in disagreement, "No, it's not."

"I, Roronoa Zoro, vow to stand by your side from now until the end. Until we find the One Piece or die trying. So bring the Marines or pirates or sea beasts," Zoro says as he gently punches his fist against Luffy's shoulder. "You're my captain, Luffy, and I'm your second mate."

Luffy places his hand over Zoro's fist. "Zoro! Zoro!" Usopp yells excitedly as he runs into the room. "I wasn't worried for a second," he lies. Luffy throws both his and Zoro's hands up in the air, "He's alive!"

Upon noticing he's hurting Zoro, he gently places his arm back down. "And I told 'em. I said, 'You'd better not mess with the Straw Hats!'" Usopp says before mimicking his 'epic fight' against Arlong's crew.

"Sent 'em swimming for their lives," he tells Zoro, "You scared 'em off, huh?" Zoro chuckles and Usopp hums in confirmation. "The Great Captain Usopp."

"Ussop, we have to tell Amelia, he's awake!" Luffy exclaims before turning back to Zoro. "She's been acting weird since your fight, and then Nami betrayed us for the people who— that's not my story to tell."

"I'll go get her," Usopp offers and Luffy nods his head. Amelia is lying with her back facing the door, her body tangled into her sheets as her mind flies all over the place when Usopp knocks on her door.

"Go away, please," she grunts, but the knocking only gets louder. Amelia groans, "What?" she asks a little annoyed.

The door creaks open and Amelia looks over her shoulder, looking at a silent Usopp who just stares at her. "What?" she repeats, her tone a bit softer now. "You've gotta come out here," Usopp tells her.

"Why? I'm pretty comfy here," Amelia responds, "Just get your ass out of that bed," Usopp says as he walks closer to her. "Zoro is awake," he announces, this causes Amelia to jump out of her bed. "This better not be a joke, Usopp, or I swear to God-"

"It's not a joke," he quickly tells her and she goes bolting out of her room towards the room where Zoro stays.

And just like Usopp said, he's awake. Amelia lets out a strangled laugh as she makes her way over to him. He holds up one arm, indicating he wants her to hug him and she falls into his embrace without question-- being careful not to press down onto his wounds.

"I'm so glad you're awake," she tells him as she pulls back. "What did I tell you when we were down in that well and you thought I was dead?" Zoro asks Amelia looks up at him, "I'm not that easy to kill?" she says. "Damn right, sweetheart."