A Smile So Contagious | Zolu

5, My Own Comfort Zone!

Show Me How - Men I Trust

Luffy was sitting down all alone on the Thousand Sunny, he was sitting on top of the hand rail as he watched the waves go past by the boat. Usually, Luffy would be snoozing in midnight, but now, he couldn't seem to fall asleep at all. A while ago, he was thinking about Ace, and that made him sad again. There was still a hole in his heart because of what happened to Ace, but slowly, the hole is getting filled by love from his crew. Sometimes, he would even tear up when he thought about him, well, he kind of was right now, too.

"Luffy?" Zoro called him, he turned his head back to look at Zoro, "Oh, Zoro!" he said, wiping away the tears that were about to trickle down his cheek. "You're still awake?" Zoro asked, leaning on the hand rail as he stood close to Luffy. "Yeah. Why're you still awake?" Luffy asked, "Well, I'm usually awake at this time to guard the ship." Zoro replied. "You're usually sleeping this time." Zoro said as he watched Luffy look at the moon and the night sky filled with stars. Luffy replied to him with a mere nod and nothing else.

That's the moment Zoro knew something was wrong, he would at least answer with his voice, but now, Luffy was dead silent. Zoro reached for Luffy's hand and gently pulled him, making Luffy jump off of the hand rails to follow Zoro. Zoro and Luffy jumped on the Sunny's head and sat there, it was a better view of the stars and the moon. For a few minutes, it was silent for Zoro and Luffy, but they didn't mind anyway. They didn't mind if the silence swallowed them, because they enjoy each other's presence anyway.

"Luffy, do you want to talk about what you're thinking about? I...I'm not good with words. But i can lend you an ear." Zoro suggests, scratching the back of his head in nervousness. Luffy's eyes slightly widen since Zoro literally wasn't good with words and barely comforted people. But he realized how hard he was trying to comfort him, that alone made him feel better. "Thanks, Zoro."  Luffy said, putting his head on top of Zoro's shoulder and resting. "It's just...about Ace." Luffy finally admitted.

Zoro looked at Luffy with such fondness in his eyes, Luffy shivered from how much care and love Zoro's gaze could hold. Zoro was thinking about what to say since he couldn't just leave Luffy hanging. "I thought—I thought I'd be okay since it's been years. But, I guess I haven't moved on yet, huh? I mean, will I ever move on?" Luffy said, his heart breaking with each word he said. Zoro could hear how hurt Luffy was in his voice, it hurt him as well. "It...takes time for a wound to heal. You just need to take your, uh, time. Sometimes, even if you take a lot of time trying to fix that wound, it'll still be there. But it'll be okay. Because even though the wound is still there, you know you'll be okay."

Zoro reached for Luffy's hand and their fingers intertwined with each other, the gaps in their fingers were made for each other's. Luffy started to tear up from what Zoro said, he knew he wasn't good at words, yet he gave such good advice to him. "Yeah, Zoro. Thank you." then Luffy just let the few tears trickle down his cheeks. Then suddenly, Zoro thought he said something wrong since Luffy started to tear up and cry. "Woah. I'm sorry, Luffy. I—I'm not good at words. I tried to cheer you up and yet—"

"No! It's not like that. It did cheer me up. These are—These are tears of happiness? I guess." Luffy wiped them away and hugged Zoro. "Thanks for saying that. I needed it." Luffy said, then Zoro felt better. In the end, Luffy is always the one that cheers up people. "You sleepy yet?" Zoro asked, "It's not good to lack in sleep." Luffy chuckled. "I know. I just wanna stay up for a little while." Luffy replied.

"Okay." Zoro said as he nodded at Luffy. "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Luffy said, Zoro just silently nodded as they both gazed upon the moon. Zoro didn't know that he meant it the lovey-dovey way, or maybe Luffy didn't mean it that way in the first place. While Luffy was still looking at the moon, Zoro was now looking and gazing at Luffy. Zoro was looking at his facial features, his eyes, his mouth, everything.

He wanted to pay attention to every single inch of it. "You're beautiful." Zoro muttered, thinking Luffy didn't hear. "Huh?" Luffy said, acting clueless on what he said. "Nothing." Zoro replied, thankful he didn't hear. Zoro would be real embarrassed if Luffy heard because Luffy definitely what Zoro was thinking anyway.

But in reality, Luffy did hear what he said, most of the time, he just acts clueless so Zoro doesn't get embarrassed. Luffy looked at the moon again as if he didn't hear what he said, but if Zoro looked even closer to Luffy's face, Luffy was really red. Hearing compliments from Zoro stirred him up inside in a nice way, it's like there was butterflies in his stomach. Well, not like he ate them, even though he probably would. "Zoro, I...really enjoy your company." Luffy yawned and then fell asleep on Zoro's shoulder.

Zoro smiled and kissed Luffy's cheek as he was sleeping, "Geez, you don't get to say that all of a sudden." Zoro said, grinning ear to ear. Obviously, that made him happy as hell. "I love you, But I don't think you'll hear those words from me right now. But you'll hear them soon."