A Smile So Contagious | Zolu

18, Your Reassuring Presence!

Selfless - The Strokes

Hours continued to pass as Zoro and Luffy slept together, their limbs tangled and bodies pressed closely together. Zoro's strong arms remained wrapped securely around Luffy's smaller frame, protectively holding him close.

The night passed by peacefully, with the sound of the occasional soft breathing the only noise in the room. Zoro's arms were wrapped around Luffy's waist protectively as they both slept peacefully. When Luffy unconsciously snuggled closer to him several times throughout the night, Zoro hugged Luffy tighter subconsciously.

After a few hours of Zoro and Luffy's peaceful sleep, Luffy's mind started to get purged with nightmares of Ace. Luffy started to slightly stir in his sleep as his brain continued to feed his mind with the memory of Ace's death replaying continuously. Luffy continued to stir in his sleep as he was haunted by the nightmares. 

Zoro's eye started to flutter  open as he noticed Luffy's constant stirs. Eventually, Zoro woke up fully. He immediately knew Luffy was currently experiencing a nightmare since he has stayed beside Luffy while he had nightmares every time. Zoro gently shook Luffy's shoulder, trying to get him to wake up. 

"Luffy," Zoro murmured at Luffy, his tone surprisingly gentle. "Wake up."

Luffy's eyes remained shut which worried Zoro even more. Zoro sat up from the bed. He shook Luffy's shoulder a little bit aggressively this time as his heart's pace started to quicken gradually each second Luffy stayed unconscious.

"Luffy," he repeated, his feeling of worry for Luffy creeping up into his tone of voice. "Luffy, wake up."

Luffy's unconscious body started to realize Zoro's calls and hear his voice, his eyes started to open as he started to grasp onto his consciousness. Luffy's eyes immediately landed on Zoro's. "Zoro... I..." Luffy muttered under his breath. Zoro let out a sigh of relief.

"Luffy, you're awake." Zoro said as his heartbeat started to slow down into a normal pace. 

The younger male immediately sat up with Zoro and hugged him. Zoro was slightly taken aback by the action but he didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Luffy. "Zoro..."

"I'm here, Luffy." Zoro reassured as he slowly started to pat Luffy's head gently. Luffy nodded silently as he bit his lip and gripped on Zoro's shirt tightly to hold in the urge and need to cry. Zoro looked down at the man in his arms and noticed him biting his lip as his eyes were squeezed closed.

"Luffy, look at me," he said as he brought his hands to cup Luffy's face with both his hands. Luffy looked up at Zoro. "It's okay to cry."

Luffy's lips quivered as he heard Zoro's words. Slowly, tears started to flow and fill Luffy's eyes. He started to constantly wipe away his tears but they kept on flowing. Zoro let out a sigh as he hugged Luffy tighter, his hand resting on the back of Luffy's head and his other patting Luffy's back.

Words weren't needed for times like this. Lots could be said in this moment, but they chose not to say anything. They always decided to drown in comfortable silence as they offered each other reassurance just by their own presence. Most of the time, words weren't needed in their relationship.

They both understood each other well enough to understand what the other feels without even speaking. That's how deep their love is. That's how much they both love each other. Luffy continued to sob and cry while Zoro held him through it all. 

He slid his hand up to Luffy's hair, his fingers tangling in the soft locks as his arm tightened around Luffy's waist in an almost protective gesture as they both stayed silent. Zoro's protective gesture slightly reassured Luffy even more as his cries started to come to an end.

Luffy's cries stopped and the only sounds in the bedroom were Luffy's sniffles. Zoro then looked down at Zoro and broke the silence.

"Luffy, are you okay?" Zoro asked. Luffy looked up at Zoro and smiled as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." Luffy replied.

Zoro slightly raised an eyebrow at Luffy's response. He knew Luffy was lying through his teeth but he didn't want to press on the issue. If Luffy didn't want to talk about it, he promised himself he wouldn't force it out of Luffy.

"You should sleep, idiot," Zoro scolded, but it had no true anger. "It's late."

Luffy nodded as he laid back down on the bed. Zoro looked at Luffy before he laid down as well. After just a few minutes, Luffy immediately fell asleep. Zoro had to bite his tongue to hold back a snort.

Zoro couldn't help but bring Luffy closer, his arms wrapping around his waist as his chin rested on Luffy's head. Luffy subconsciously snuggled closer to Zoro slightly.

That action made Zoro tighten his embrace on Luffy. Zoro let out a content sigh as he started to slowly succumb to his fatigue, his eyes slowly closing. Zoro glanced at Luffy's sleeping face one last time before he finally fell asleep.

It was times like this that made Zoro fall in love with Luffy even more. Even if they didn't have heart to heart conversations that much, they knew deeply that they deeply and truly cared about each other. And the feeling will never falter.