Chapter Text
Zoro wasn’t the kind of guy who did feelings. Swords? Fighting? Sleep? Those are the things he did, but feelings? No. No, no, no. In fact Zoro actively tried to stay away from things like that, kept himself distant and mysterious because the last thing he needed was for himself to look weak. He couldn’t afford to be soft when the life he led was dangerous, not when he was on track to becoming the right hand man of the future Pirate King. There were certain standards he had to meet, a reputation to uphold, and feelings were things that didn’t belong among those. No, Zoro had absolutely no interest, and he knew that he never would.
Until he did.
Suddenly, unfortunately, you were there. You, who Zoro was determined not to get tangled up with, had shoved your hand right into his chest and wrapped your fingers around his heart. They weren’t cold, they weren’t squeezing, they were soft, delicate, and enticing, and every so often the swordsman found himself falling into your clutches. He was always quick to pull back, always quick to deny himself of the bubbly feeling that crept up from the depths of his stomach. It made him sick, made him annoyed, but most of all it made him want you in the most selfish of ways. Zoro liked to indulge in things, and when it came to you it was no different, he just decided that he was going to use every ounce of his being to run away from it. That was a joke, wasn’t it? Zoro running away? He didn’t want to admit that, that was what it was, but in the end he couldn’t say it was anything else.
That grip you had on him was terrifying, and it made him cautious. The recklessness Zoro exuded hid when it came to you, didn’t dare rear its head because it knew the way things would fall from there would be too unfamiliar. Zoro, at some point among the journey you joined the Straw Hat Pirates on, decided to do everything in his power to keep it pushed deep, deep down. So if he did that, a strong, stubborn man that could keep his word, what was the problem? Well, to put it simply, he just couldn’t stay away from you. The other problem? As much as he hated it, he didn’t actually want to.
“What’s that?”
When you jumped Zoro had to admit that he felt a little bad, but it disappeared when you lifted your gaze from your lap and smiled at him, soft and sweet. The tug on his heart that came with his slight guilt disappeared as fast as it came, instead he had to deal with the swoop in his stomach when you turned that cute expression on him. You didn’t say anything, only let your smile widen before your hands came up and showed him what it was you were working on.
“Flower crowns!” you announced brightly, lifting up a yellow ring in your hands, holding it carefully. “We’re going to have to replant soon so I thought I’d use the flowers for something before they died.”
“They died when you picked them.”
“Oh.” Your hands fell to your lap again and you looked to your side with a frown, staring down at the pile of crowns next to you and reaching out to touch them. “I guess you’re right.”
Zoro sighed, and his arms unfolded. You didn’t deserve his pessimistic nature, and the way your face dropped when he shot it at you made him feel even guiltier than before. “They’re nice,” he offered, a little gruff but honest. That was something you knew, too, because your grin was spreading over your face again and you lit up like the sun above.
“Do you want to make one with me? I can show you.”
“No.”
You huffed, your cheeks puffing up for a moment. “Fine then.”
Just like last time he withered, fell for the look on your face, and he fizzled out as he unhooked his swords and set them down on the grass before flopping down himself. You were leaning up against the mast and he was in front of you, cross-legged as you were and definitely not as close to you as possible with the way his knees were brushing yours. He held a hand out, silent, but you got the idea and smiled softly at him as you reached over and placed the crown you were working on into it.
“It’s kind of like braiding,” you said as if he knew how to do that already, your fingers twisting a few stems around until they locked together. You showed him slowly, did it a couple of times so that he got the idea, and then your hands pulled back. “Like that!”
Zoro stared down at the flowers, particularly at where you had just done some work, and he had no idea what the hell he was doing. He was stubborn though, and so he drew the crown closer to him and copied what it was you had done. Well he tried to, but with only a few twists did some of the flowers fall, your work undone by his clumsy fingers. He glared, burnt holes into the petals, but even then he pulled it closer and tried again with serious intention. It was stupid, the fact that he was making such an attempt at a damn flower crown, but he was stubborn as hell and eager to do things right.
You? You were amused. You weren’t amused at Zoro’s failure, not even when some petals fell due to his rough handling, but rather you were amused by the fact that he was trying. You were merely teasing him when you had pouted, figuring he was going to catch on and go about his day, but here he was staring at the crown in his hands and genuinely working hard. So you watched, just for a few minutes until Zoro cursed and scowled, and then you were laughing and the green-haired pirate’s eye was shooting up to you.
“What?” he growled, nearly glaring, but he just watched you shake your head and then you reached out again. This time you didn’t go straight for the crown, instead taking a hold of his index fingers and moving them for him.
“Like this,” you told Zoro, careful in maneuvering his hands as you braided the stems together once more. “It’s a little tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it isn’t so bad.” You were sure you could’ve let Zoro continue on himself, but you zoned in and kept helping him, twisting his fingers around and around until progress was made.
On the other hand, Zoro was watching you. He had studied the way the crown came together for just a second, but when you kept going he lifted his gaze to your face. You were focused, determined, your brow dipped and lip chewed on as you connected the flowers together, and Zoro was captivated. When it came to you he always was, him sometimes in awe of the things you did, and despite how simple the flower crowns were you were treating them as though it was the most special task in the world. You were like that, you treated everything as though it were important no matter how mundane it was, and Zoro couldn’t help but find that just the tiniest bit endearing. It was even more so when he looked at the pile of crowns next to you and counted, one for each crew member if he considered the one in his hands, and the corner of his mouth lifted. Then he glanced at you again, his hands going a little limp in your hold, and he watched as you stayed focused on your task of giving him a tutorial.
“Right … like … this! See?” you chimed as you made Zoro’s fingers tie the final flower, letting go now that the crown had been done up. “Not so bad, right?” you giggled, taking the crown from him and looking up, but you paused when you caught him staring and blushed pink when he didn’t look away. “What?”
Zoro snapped out of his daze in that moment and sat straight from where he had unconsciously started slumping. “Nothing,” he huffed, even though it was very much something. For a second things went blurry, the world around him tuned out except for the little spot on the grassy patch of The Sunny with you, and it was so warm. Whatever it was that surrounded him in that split second was the most stunning feeling in the world, and it all came from you. That? That shook him to his core. “That done now?” he asked, looking down and nodding at the crown.
“Huh?” you asked, admittedly flustered but managing to look down, too. “Oh! Oh, yes,” you replied, holding it up with that grin lighting up your face again. “This one’s actually yours.”
Zoro sputtered, his eye widening just a bit, and he seemed to lean even further away. “I’m not wearing that!”
“Awwww, please?” you pleaded, though it was with a playfulness as your smile turned wicked. You shifted onto your knees, scooting closer to Zoro. “Come on, for me?”
“No way!”
You snickered, advancing even more and practically hovering over Zoro with how far back he had leaned, his hand behind him for support by now. “It’ll be so cute ~” you sang as though that was helping, and with nowhere else to go you lunged forward with your arms shooting out. With scarily accurate aim did the crown land atop Zoro’s head, and for just a moment you thought about how you were right when you said it was going to be cute, but it was gone when you lost your balance and toppled over.
The embarrassment was gone when you squawked, an instinct kicking in instead when you fell forward, and before you could crash down completely Zoro was catching you. His arms were strong around your waist when you slammed into him, air forced out of his lungs with the blow and then the rest escaping him with a grunt when he landed on his back. You let out another noise, too, one of surprise before you were collapsing on top of Zoro, but he made sure you weren’t going anywhere with a tight squeeze. Eventually they did loosen when he realized the two of you were safe and unharmed, and when they did you were still for just a second before you were moving. Zoro’s arms dropped to his sides then and he watched as you pushed yourself up so he followed, and for a moment you looked a little dazed but you were quick to snap out of it. You were smiling once more by the time you looked down at him again, but then your eyes were drifting upwards and that smile widened into a pearly grin.
“See?! Cute!” you announced, reaching up to touch the crown that had survived the fall, though a few petals had broken loose and so you were quick to sweep a couple of them from Zoro’s hair gently. When your touch pulled away you looked at the swordsman’s face again, studying his crimson cheeks and slight scowl that looked more pouty than anything. He was avoiding you, his eye staring off to the side, and you couldn’t help but laugh brightly as you reached up and adjusted the crown even more.
“Looking pretty, mosshead!”
Both you and Zoro looked behind you, up at the second level of the ship where an extraordinarily amused Sanji was standing, leaning against the railing. He hauled in a deep drag of his cigarette before pulling it from between his lips, smirking as he breathed out the smoke.
“Suits you.”
“Shut it, cook!”
Before anything could get too out of hand you were shuffling off of Zoro and crawling to where your other crowns were. You carefully picked through them until you pulled out a light blue one, holding it up high. “I made one for you, too, Sanji!”
“Coming, my love!”
A delighted look crossed your face when The Straw Hats’ chef practically tore his way towards the stairs, scrambling up to your feet and eager to meet him as you made your way over with his gift. For a second Zoro was annoyed, actually scowling by now as you greeted Sanji and reached to place his crown atop his head, and he was lifting his hand to pull off his own.
So he got one, too, huh?
It was a moment of self-pity despite Zoro telling himself it wasn’t, frowning down at the circle of flowers in his palm. He liked the idea of you being kind, of wanting to inclusive, but part of him felt jealous when he caught a glimpse of everyone else’s presents. You had put time and effort into them, were gentle as you built and carefully constructed them, and Zoro knew that each one was special simply because of the thought he knew you would’ve put behind them. Was it wrong of him to want to be the only one on your mind when you made them? It was stupid, he knew it, too, but he couldn’t help it.
Although …
Zoro’s eye squinted when he studied his crown further, turned it around as he took in the yellow petals of the flowers that made it up. It was much smaller than its more mature plant, not fully grown, but it was still very clear to him what it was he was looking at.
“How do you know all this stuff?”
It was slowly coming together, the garden that Franky had built for you at your request. Not too long ago had you left a city that was overflowing with luscious greenery, a city of flowers that captivated you the second you stepped foot into it, and when it was time to leave suddenly The Sunny had a number of new plant friends. You needed somewhere to put them, right? Right! So near the tangerine trees you were, kneeling next to the extended plot of soil when Zoro found you hollowing out a shallow hole, and you were sparing him a glance before looking down again and carefully lowering a bundle of flowers into it, pushing the dirt over its roots.
“I don’t know much about gardening, but I know a lot about types of flowers!” you explained, making sure the soil was firm before you sat back on your heels and tugged your gloves off, wiping your forehead with the back of one of your hands. “My mom likes them a lot, and this reminds me of her. Whenever she gave a gift it was flowers because they’re so personal if you look into the meaning of them.”
“What flowers mean?” Zoro scoffed. “They’re just flowers.”
You shrugged, dropping your hand and looking up at him. “They could be just flowers if you wanted to think that, or they could be a secret message someone is trying to get to you.”
Zoro snorted, his arms coming to cross over his chest. “Yeah, right.”
It was okay if he didn’t believe you, you didn’t mind. In fact, if anything, you figured Zoro would find it all a load of crap, so you just hummed and went back to work. You had learned Zoro was a practical person, that things like the meanings of flowers flew way under his radar, so it’s not like you were offended by it or anything. No, you knew he wasn’t going to be interested, so that was why you were wondering why he was still standing there.
“What’s that one mean?”
The foot that was in your line of sight kicked out, knocking gently against a pot near you. Once again did you sit back, and you studied them for a moment before thinking. “Those are daffodils, and they’re all about rebirth. They’re a late spring flower so they represent the coming of the season. A new beginning!”
“And those?”
“Those are lilies! They represent fertility and purity. Lilies are considered sweet and innocent because of their delicacy.”
“Right.” Zoro’s eye wandered over to the other side of you, at another pot that had several stalks sticking out. “What about that?”
“Sunflowers,” you said softly, turning on your knees to look at them better. “There’s a myth that a sun god was loved by a water nymph, and he loved her back for some time but eventually began to love another. When the nymph told her father about it out of jealousy he punished her by burying her alive, and in his anger the god transformed her into a flower that would grow looking towards the sun so that she could spend her days watching him move it.” You reached out, your fingers gingerly touching the sunny petals, and said, “Adoration.”
Zoro’s finger traced over one of the stiff, slightly prickly cores of the small sunflowers that made up his crown, gentle. It was a moment he had figured he would’ve forgotten, yet staring down at your gift it was the only thing that was playing through his mind. Over and over again did he analyze your response, let it linger that you knew exactly what you were doing when you placed the flowers on his head, and as much as he should’ve been flustered in the moment he was more touched than anything, his jealousy having faded away.
It had gone unsaid for a long time, the fact that you and Zoro had something in between the two of you. He was refusing that and you allowed it, stayed patient but firm in the fact that you weren’t going anywhere unless he told you to, but regardless of his denial of it all he could never turn you away. No, it wasn’t that … he didn’t want to turn you away. Unfortunately he also didn’t know how to tell you that without getting all weird about it, but you? You were able to say it in all sorts of ways, and he was reminded of that as he held the flower crown you had made just for him.
Maybe he could try a little harder, too.