After Luffy and you patched things up he sent you back to bed and then left with sanji, a part of you wanted him to stay but you decided to keep it to yourself because both of you needed the rest and you needed time to think.

But once the door clicked to signal it's closure and you were left to think, your mind plunged itself into a string of dark thoughts.

Mom.

Your eyes move to the door, before shutting immediately.

You turn your back to the door before the thought spreads to your legs, wincing lightly at the sharp pain that movement sent to your wrapped up ribcage before bringing your knees up so your in a fetal position.

The longing you felt right now was anything but normal and everything in between aching and pleading.

You felt sick with the need to be close to him, it was terrifying but the fact that he wasn't far managed to ease you.

You weren't even sure anymore if it was love, or an unhealthy obsession.

And that dream...

You shake your head and turn on your back, now staring at the ceiling with a blank expression.

"A mother's love knows no bounds y/n"

Her voice sent an uncomfortable shiver down your spine when her shrill voice echos like a broken record in your mind.

"Were her words some kind of warning.. ?"

Your eyes widen at the sentence that exited your own mouth without realizing.

You shake your head and grit your teeth as you pull the blanket over your head to somehow hide yourself from your thoughts.

"No."

She's long gone and so is everyone else.

Your eyes close, sighing at your own thoughts, your relieved expression instantly twitching into one of guilt when you realize how heartless you were being.

She was still your mother.

"Fuck this."

You unwrap yourself from the warmth of the blanket before you swung your legs to the edge of the bed, shivering at the feeling of the cold wooden floors of the sunny and stepping forward lightly.

You found yourself on the deck. Taking in the familiar breeze that carried both the salty sea and nami's sweet tangerines. It tangled itself in your hair and lifted it.

Your troubled heart suddenly felt a bit lighter.

"I'm just glad I'm home.. "

Your lips curled up into a small smile.

"Shut up will you."

You flinch back with a ghastly gasp as you stumble on your feet, catching yourself on the Sunnys railings before you fell.

You snap your head to the voice and see an annoyed swordsman.

"Jesus fucking–ZORO."

Your hand was clutched over your heart to stop it from jumping out with huge eyes.

He scoffs, his one eye judging your reaction so heavily that you straighten up and adjust your throat.

"Dork."

Your nose scrunches at the name calling, but you feel the embarassed blush creeping into your cheeks.

You look him up and down to match his judgement, he smirks at your attempt which embarrasses you further.

"shut up grandpa."

You walk towards him, kicking his foot lightly with a scowl before you lay on the patch of grass next to him, his back was against the tree.

You look up at the sky, ignoring the sound of his annoyed grumbling.

"Why are you here.", I ask softly as I took in the small splatter of stars I could make out through the dark clouds.

"I should be asking you that.", he grumbles which makes you roll your eyes.

"Luffy keeps saying your damn name in his sleep"

"Really!?", your eyes widen as you snap your head to him.

"No", he blinks down at you seriously, you weren't sure if his no was sarcastic or not.

"I hate you.", you grumble and cross your arms over your chest, "good, so shut up and let me sleep", he closes his eyes and shifts on the tree a bit to find a comfortable position with furrowed eyebrows, Earning a huff from you.

After a few seconds of silence you spread your arms back out on the grass, sighing softly as you stared up at the sky again.

"hey.. Zoro.."

No answer.

"Do you ever miss your family"

"No.", your eyes widen at both his answer and the fact that he did answer, you wouldn't have asked that if you knew he was still awake to hear it.

"why?", you hear his defeated sigh before he answered shortly, "you can't miss something you've never had."

"fair enough", was your reply.

You hear a small laugh echo from tthe swordsman, "you know, normal people would apologize for bringing it up", he said with an amused undertone but you shrugged your shoulders, "I'm not sorry for it though and I doubt you care for the pity."

"You're right.", you nod and smile, proud that you managed to analyzed him correctly.

"Zoro..?", he grumbles once again, "what.", he finally replies when you take too long to carry on.

"nothin. I just wanted to annoy you.", you grin.

You could feel his fiery glare burn holes in your head, "Your such a pain in the ass", you hum in agreement as you felt the grass you layed in brush your skin soothingly.

It made your eyes heavy and you'd be lying if you said swordsmans presence wasn't calming.

You blinked slowly, your eyes blurring out the beautiful view of the cloudy sky and replacing it with a a black canvas as you finally drifted off.

<>

"Y/n, what did I say about leaving your bed!", the voice was faint and whiny, it made your eyes flutter open and then shut when the sun creeped into your pupils, causing you to groan and turn on your side.

"She's a vampire, she doesn't like the sun Nami.", your eyes widen when you hear his voice, grumbling when the sun blind you again.

You hear a little laugh from Nami, you could tell she was shaking her head slightly.

You squint your eyes as you turn your head to the tree, the swordsman was gone without a trace.

Like the night was nothing but a fever dream.

"Luffy, help me take her to her room"

Your head snaps to Nami, your heart skipping 5 beats as you shake your head rapidly.

You felt Luffy's hands wrap around you without hesitation.

"I can walk you know, I'm not some weakling.", you stammer out, panicking as you feel your cheeks heat up

"y/n you're gonna-", you squirm in his grasp causing one leg to slip out of his arms, you gasp as you near the ground. Your heart rate amplifying in your ears and your breath hitching in your throat when you felt his reflex reaction.

"That was close!", he chuckles, his hand had grabbed onto your inner thigh to save you from the fall, his other hand still holding on tightly to your waist.

You stiffen when you feel him pull you towards him, accepting your fate and just hiding your face in his shoulder so both him and nami wouldn't notice the fact that your entire face became a bright red.

You feel Luffys shoulders stiffen, "Alright I'm leaving, luffy take care of her", you heard the sound of her heels click away on the floorboards.

"Y-yea.", his voice was a bit strained, you raise a brow with your head still in his shoulder before he starts to walk his way down to your room.

"Y/n."

"Yeah!", you reply quickly, caught off guard by the sound of your name in the tensed silence.

"Do.. Do you mind us being this close?", your eyes widen, your bottom lip twitches to show your hesitation to answer.

You squeeze your eyes shut and shake your head in his shoulder, terrified that your thumping heart could be heard by him.

"That's a relief", he chuckles and sighs like his been nervous for a while.

Your head turns, your cheek now against his shoulder as you look up to him, curious about the expression he had when saying something like that.

"Why?", you ask softly, genuine curiosity peeping into your eyes as you look at him.

He tilts his head towards you, your face inches apart and your nose threatening to touch as he gives you a soft and genuine smile, his messy hair sending jolts of electricity straight to your heart.

"Because I like being close to you."

His voice sounded just as sweet as his words were, your lips parting in disbelief as your eyes study his, your head fogging up with echoes of his words, making your heart flutter along with your eyes as the shining stars in his, blinded you.

"I.."

You stutter, but his eyes soften as he let's out a soft chuckle, "you don't have to say anything, I was just being honest.", he looks ahead and you're stuck staring at him dumbfounded.

How much more could you handle of this?

You look to his neck, blinking as you gulp down your hesitation.

"You make it seem like I don't feel the same", you bite your lip to suppress the smile forming quickly on your lips.

"I do.", you admit, it was soft and breathy like you just saying out loud took all your strength.

You feel the Strawhat gulp and straighten, it makes you tense up as well, as you breathe against his neck.

"H.. Hey.. that tickles.", his voice shudders, strained with a flustered undertone as he tries to mask it with a chuckle.

Your eyes peek up and widen, the red stuck to the tip of his ears was undeniable and it sent a rush of blood to your own face.

"sorry...", you murmur as you nuzzle your face back into his shoulder, your heart recoiling at what you just witnessed.

"mhm", he hums and pulls you closer, your head swirling with a whirlpool of thoughts and sensations.

You were unraveling. And fast.

°°°