Chapter Text
As first mate, Zoro largely viewed his job in three broad categories.
First and most important, was that, as first mate, no one aside from Luffy could tell him what to do. No one could tell him what to clean, what to carry, where to sleep (or when not to). He was Luffy’s man.
Secondly, as ‘first mate’ was a broad, ill-defined title, it was therefore Zoro’s job to fill in the description. It consisted of a few things, but mainly relied on ‘sleeping when and wherever possible’, ‘drinking whenever his services were not directly and expressly needed’, and ‘making sure Luffy’s ship didn’t fall apart’. Sure, there was overlap sometimes. He occasionally did other things. But mostly. Mostly…
Well mostly he cared about the third thing. This one definitely coincided with his duties of ‘doing what Luffy says’ and ‘making sure the ship doesn’t fall apart’, but in a slightly more abstract way.
More than anything, more even than job description number one, it was on Zoro to ensure that no one on the crew got hurt. Ever.
They didn’t make his job easy though; those naps and drinking sessions were hard earned. Between poisoned girlfriends and secret deals with fishman pirates, it was all he could do to keep the crew on the ship and afloat.
Which took him to today, treading water for two, hoping beyond hope that the remaining three crew members could find them before Zoro-
He would not think of failure.
He jostled Luffy carefully in his arms, trying to get him to wake up, at least trying to confirm that he was breathing. If Luffy wasn’t breathing… Luffy spluttered, spitting salt all over Zoro’s face.
Well that fixed one problem.
“Zoro? Zoro, why are we in the ocean?”
“You decided to go for a swim.” Breathing was getting harder, Luffy’s weight slight, but still taking one of Zoro’s arms. No matter how fit he was, treading water like this was going to wear him out fast.
“Where is the crew?”
“Getting the guys who threw you into the sea.”
“Where is that?”
“Not too far.” They couldn’t be too far. “They’re coming back for us as soon as the other pirates are gone. Don’t worry.”
“Who, me? Worry? Pfft!” But Luffy’s hand skated across Zoro’s chest, wrapping itself around his shoulder.
They stayed like that, in silence broken by nothing but Zoro’s ragged breathing and the swish-pull of the waves, two boys twisted together at sea, for an hour at least, by Zoro’s count.
Luffy tried to count too, but got bored, instead launching into one spiel after the next, with breaks in between just long enough for his concern to spiral into almost panic before finding something else to talk about.
Eventually, Zoro assumed, it all got too much.
“How do they know where we are?”
“We haven’t exactly gone anywhere.”
“No, but we might have drifted, right? And we’re in the middle of the sea, what if Nami lost our position and they never find us, what if we just have to stay like this? Zoro, you can keep us both afloat for now, but I can’t keep either of us up. What do we do if they can’t find us and you get too tired?”
“They’ll find us.”
“But how?”
“They’ll find us.”
They lapsed again into silence.
"Zoro?"
"What."
"Did you pick up one of those firework things that Usopp was working on?"
"Flares."
"Yeah, yeah, one of those. Did you pick one up?"
Zoro raised an eyebrow that he hoped would convey 'who do you think I am?' even to a half-drowned captain, tugging Luffy's arms around his neck, freeing up his own. He held up one of Usopp's latest creations, along with a miniature slingshot.
Luffy let out a loud whoop, punching the air with both hands.
Hands that were no longer holding onto Zoro.
It took a few moments too long for Zoro to get a hold on his captain again, a few moments too long for Luffy to stop coughing up water.
They were a few panic-filled moments after Luffy's head had come back up before he even started sputtering at all. When Zoro thought that he might have-
He would not think of failure.
Luffy's hands clutched more solidly around Zoro after that.
He pulled up the small slingshot, nestled one of Usopp's rounds into its cradle, and aimed it at the sky. If he remembered correctly, it would light itself as he let it go.
He closed his eyes. Fired.
Grinned; the glow of the flare was bright even through his eyelids, burning a trail above them like a bolt of lightning stained into the sky, picking them out against the darkness.
All that was left was to wait.
"" "" "" "" "" ""
It took time for the ship to reach them, for the crew to pull first Luffy, then his first mate dripping wet on board. Zoro's arms were leaden, his legs shaking under the strain if his own weight. It took time, but the time was manageable, from that first sighting of sails on the horizon.
It took even longer for them to warm up again, holding each other by one of Sanji's ovens.
Zoro…
Zoro didn't want to think about failure. Didnt want to consider it; to consider it felt like accepting it as an option. Failing his crew was not an option.
Failing his captain was not an option.
But…
But looking around him, Luffy curled against his side, Sanji leaning over a boiling pot of fokd, Nami watching over them while working on her maps, Usopp tinkering with another set of flares, Zoro thought that maybe he didn't have to.
He wouldn't think about failure, because with a crew like this around him, he didn't have to.