Work Text:
“Do you think I can plant some seeds in the garden?”
“What do you need a garden for?”
“Because!”
It wasn’t an answer, Nami rolling her eyes at Usopp. “This garden is for my tangerine trees!”
“It’s too big for that!” Usopp countered, arms flailing. “Look at all the empty space!”
Nami very much did not do so.
“And hey, I like gardening! Let me plant something…oh, like vegetables! Then Sanji wouldn’t have to buy them all the time. It’s cheaper, you know?” Nami paused there and Usopp dived in, recognising his only chance. “It’s a good idea, right? Oi Luffy, I can have some of the garden, can’t I?”
Nami was all set to argue – purely on principle alone – when,
“No.”
Everyone whipped around in surprise, eyes on Luffy who was hiding under the brim of his hat, bottom lip tugged between his teeth.
“Oi Luffy…”
“Nami said no!” Luffy snapped, shooting Sanji a scowl. “So no.”
“Luffy.” Zoro’s voice was softer and yet somehow harsher than Nami expected, the swordsman looking up from where he had been napping. “He’s said sorry, you accepted the apology and welcomed him back. It’s over now; move on.”
“But…” Luffy protested weakly.
He didn’t continue, though his shoulders stiffened when Usopp came closer. “Hey, are you still that mad? I thought we were okay, that you wanted me to come back.”
Luffy scuffed a foot on the deck. “I do.”
“So then why are we not okay?”
“Usopp, give him some time,” Robin interjected. “Not all wounds heal overnight.”
The sniper mulled that over, nodding before turning back to Luffy. “If I apologise again, will that help? Because I’m sorry Luffy, I am. I…” Usopp swallowed thickly. “I left you all and I broke all your trust. You guys liked Merry just as much as I did and I know you wouldn’t have abandoned her without cause. I guess…I guess my emotions were just a little messed up. I didn’t want to leave her an-”
“So you left me.”
Again, everyone was stunned into silence. After all, Luffy never sounded bitter.
“He left all of us,” Nami reminded but Luffy stubbornly shook his head.
“No, he left me! Merry meant more to him than us and Usopp said all those mean things and he only said them to me, not you!” Luffy’s hands curled into fists. “He hates me.”
“Now that’s too far!” Sanji snapped, Luffy pointedly ignoring him.
“Bro, you’re being super stubborn,” Franky agreed, frowning a little.
“Luffy, calm down!” Chopper pleaded, jumping in front of him with wide eyes. “This isn’t like you.”
“But he hates me. Usopp fought me. No one else fights me like that. Even when Zoro’s mad, he doesn’t.”
“Luffy, it wasn’t like that,” Usopp insisted. “It wasn’t about you. I just-”
“I like you.”
The deafening silence that followed that declaration was only broken by Nami gasping, a hand coming to cover her mouth. Usopp frowned in confusion. “Yeah, I like you t-”
“No, I like you,” Luffy repeated, eyes burning and lips pursed. “I like you and…And you left me!”
With that, Luffy launched himself to the front of the Sunny, his cheeks flaming even as Usopp was staring after him incredulously, mouth dropping open. Had Luffy just…? Did he actually…?
“Well, that explains a lot,” Sanji mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “No wonder he still feels like shit.”
“No, no, no!” Usopp stammered, crossing his arms in a distinctive ‘no’ gesture. “Come on guys, it’s Luffy. He doesn’t-”
“Doesn’t what?” Zoro’s voice was razor sharp, Usopp making a terrified squeak. “Doesn’t have emotions? Can’t have people he cares about? Loves, even?”
“Did you know?” Nami demanded, Zoro just flipping her off, making Sanji aim a kick at his head.
“I don’t have to tell you everything Luffy tells me,” he spat, knocking Sanji’s foot aside with a sheathed sword. “First mate privileges.”
Nami poked her tongue out at him but Usopp was still stuck on the first words Zoro had said, mind blank. “So does…Luffy actually…he’s said…”
“Yeah, he’s said. Then you screwed everything up. You hurt him.”
“That’s…That’s why you wanted an apology,” Sanji realised, visible eye widening. “You…dammit, mosshead! You’re not supposed to be considerate.”
Zoro shook his head. “That wasn’t the reason. I meant what I said. But…” He then sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “Well, some of it, maybe.”
“Hold on guys!” Usopp interrupted, waving his arms madly. “Are you…Are we seriously saying that Luffy…Luffy…” He couldn’t even say it, Nami sighing loudly.
“Yes Usopp, he actually likes you.” Her eyes narrowed. “The real question is, what are you going to do about it?” He felt himself gulping as she came closer. “Because I like you Usopp, I do, but if you stuff this up and hurt Luffy because you don’t think first then so help me I will let Zoro get first dibs on you. Do you really want to come face-to-face with Zoro on the opposite side of a disagreement?”
If Nami’s words hadn’t done enough, the way Zoro was cracking his knuckles more than made the point clear. Usopp was pretty sure his legs were going to give out, sweating profusely and trying to back away. He was stopped by Nami raising an eyebrow, although her expression then softened.
“You don’t have to return his feelings – Luffy can’t make you feel one thing or another-” Debatable. “But you do have to treat him with respect.”
It was finally Usopp’s turn to frown, mildly offended. “What do you take me for? I’m nicer than you!”
Dodging the kick Sanji sent his way while simultaneously shrieking, Usopp scrambled off in the direction Luffy had gone earlier. There was really only one place he would be, his suspicions confirmed when he spied the top of Luffy’s hat over Sunny’s mane. Eyeing up the distance, Usopp paused. The figurehead on Merry may have only sat one person but at least it had been easily accessible. With Sunny’s lion head, one almost needed Luffy’s powers to reach it.
“Oi, uh, Luffy?”
The captain turned around, all smiles that just made Usopp feel worse. “Hey Usopp, what are you doing?”
He made an awkward gesture. “I was trying to come up…?”
“Oh, I can help!”
By ‘help’, Luffy meant slinging an arm backwards and forcibly drag him up none too gently, Usopp muttering as his knees were knocked several times. He eventually did get seated, the pair of them having to do some shuffling before they: one, fit comfortably and two, had no one at risk of tumbling into the sea. Usopp had to admit, he understood why Luffy sat here, why he always had. Plainly put, there was nothing like it.
Unfortunately, Usopp wasn’t there to muse upon the view or the vastness of the ocean around them. No, he had a much more complicated task. “Hey Luffy…”
Luffy shot him a look that was uncharacteristically understanding. “Usopp, you don’t have to say anything.” He studied his hands with a whimsical smile. “I’m not supposed to just shout things like that. You have to talk about them. I know that much.”
“Did you wanna talk about it now?” Usopp offered.
Luffy shook his head. “No. We need to, uh, have space…I think. Cool down…?”
Usopp hummed thoughtfully. “You think? Maybe, but while we do that, can I tell you a story?”
Luffy immediately perked up. “Is it about Captain Usopp beating one hundred pirate ninjas?! Or, or-! Beating up a sea king with only his teeth!”
“No, nothing like that,” he chuckled, drawing his knees to his chest. “No, this one’s about just regular Usopp.”
“Oh…but that could still be interesting! I wanna hear it!”
That was obvious. “Well, you see…Um, how do I…okay!” he decided with a snap of his fingers. “Once upon a time I met someone. When they smiled it was like the sun shining at you and they were as wild as the wind and the sea. They had enough bravery for both of us.” Usopp risked a glance up, only to blush at how entranced Luffy looked. “But they were too good for me. I could never be on that level. I wasn’t strong enough, brave enough, confident enough, to stand beside them.”
“What did you do?” Luffy asked curiously.
His chuckle was more morbid this time. “I decided there was someone better out there for them and that they should wait to find them.”
“That’s dumb!” Luffy huffed, folding his arms petulantly. “How will they know if you didn’t even ask? They didn’t even get a chance to think about it! You should have tried!” He leapt to his feet. “Where are they? Let’s go find them!”
Usopp was yanking him back down even as Luffy was trying to jump away, undoubtedly intending to ask Nami if they could change course. “It’s you you numbskull! How did you not figure that out?!”
“I-…” Luffy’s mouth abruptly slammed shut. “Wait…so is Usopp saying he…you like me?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, come on Luffy, look at you. Who wouldn’t like you?”
“I’m no more special than you,” Luffy protested, so serious it made Usopp want to cry. “Usopp’s awesome too! I like the way you look and you’re funny and you look after us all and you can make Zoro and Sanji stop fighting and even when you say you’re going to run away you always fight and you always win! You never back down! You’re the best friend I could ever ask for.”
Shit, he really was going to cry if Luffy didn’t stop. “So…” Usopp started timidly, “If I tried to kiss you right now…?”
Luffy was already pulling him in, grin wide. “Usopp, stop trying and just do it.”
So he did.
They still had their differences to sort out, things to work through, and their own challenges to deal with but right then, right there, Usopp couldn’t care. And judging from the sound Luffy made when Usopp drew his bottom lip between his teeth, he didn’t care either.
***