Man-to-Man Talk

A One Piece Fan-Fiction

By XxKawaiiNekoNamixX

…

"Hooray for the Straw Hat Pirates!"

The villagers cheered up loudly as mugs of beer clashed against each other. Fireworks started to fire up on the sky to symbolize the start of the party. People started to dance as the music started. Some were laughing breathlessly as the Straw Hat captain along with the ship doctor and sniper did their infamous chopsticks dance while some started to have a drinking contest with the two strongest alcoholic drinkers of the straw hat pirates.

In the merry party, in that much of happiness spreading around the huge mansion, everyone had failed to notice a certain alone blue haired cyborg who was standing outside the mansion sipping on his own drink.

The man was someone who was supposed to be there in the mansion with his nakamas and who should be there to be happy for the victory of his crew.

Franky was standing against the balcony, being the only person who was being surrounded by an aura of loneliness. His eyes stared at a certain archaeologist who is enjoying her talk with a few villagers before he gave out a deep sigh and turned his attention towards the scenery above him.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching him. The smell of heavy alcohol and footsteps let him easily recognise who the person is.

"Oi, Franky." Zoro called out as he stood beside the shipwright. "Why didn't you come inside?"

Franky greeted the younger man with a smile before he questioned: "What about you, Zoro-bro? Aren't you having a drinking contest with the villagers along with Nami-sis?"

"Tch, don't even remind me of that." The first-mate growled, taking a huge gulp of his drink. "All the villagers had passed out and that witch had accepted the ero-cook's invitation for a dance."

He glanced at the orange haired woman in the mansion. She seemed to have a great time dancing with the idiotic womanizer and it really is pissing him off!

"That shitty woman, we didn't even finish up our contest two years ago! I thought we could finally finish that contest tonight yet she just accepted that cook's request so easily! I guess she probably is drunk already!" the swordsman continues to blabber out as Franky stared at him in silent.

"Zoro-bro…" the older man's voice was suddenly very low as he called the other's name. Zoro looked up from his drink and raised a questioning brow at the cyborg.

"Are you jealous?"

"…" the swordsman was in silence as he took another sip of his sake. "I'm not sure."

"ADMIT IT!" the sudden roar from Franky caused Zoro to jolt slightly. A hand roughly grabbed the first-mate by his collar and yanked him forward, forcing the swordsman to look deep into the older man's heated glare.

"If you loved her, why don't you just show it out?!" the cyborg asked in furious before he continued.

"She would never understand how you feel if you never express it out and act like an asshole to her! Express your feelings to her with cheesy sappy words! Tell her how you think that she is the most gorgeous woman ever! Tell her how you feel butterflies in your stomach whenever her long, silky black hair flutters along with the wind!"

At the moment when he was done with his speech, Franky was almost out of breath. While he was inhaling and exhaling to steady his breath, he noticed the swordsman's weird stare at him.

"… What?"

"… That witch doesn't have 'silky black hair'." Zoro pointed out as if it's the most obvious thing and at the moment when Franky realized his mistake, he had a faint blush painting his cheeks.

"Y-Yea! That's actually what I meant!" the cyborg stuttered before both of the men fall into an awkward silence.

"… Perhaps you are right, Franky." After a good five minutes of silence, Zoro decided to speak up. He glanced up and stared at a certain navigator from the corner of his eye. "… You are right." He repeated his sentence again, this time louder and more confident.

The words make the shipwright chuckle, before he patted Zoro's back. "Tell her how you feel, Zoro-bro. There is always a chance for everyone."

The first-mate nodded his head faintly before he turned around, ready to go back into the mansion when Franky suddenly called his name. He turned around, giving a questioning look at the cyborg.

"Remember to look at her closely and tell her what you love about her the most." Franky said, giving out a soft snicker. "Women love sappy compliments the most after all."

Zoro just gave a chuckle back in return before he turned back and started to walk away again.

…

When Zoro arrived back at the party, he could still see Nami dancing with Sanji. The words Franky had said to him reflected in his mind and he fisted his hands. With a deep inhale, the swordsman walked towards the dancing duo with a new determination flashing in his good eye.

'If you loved her, why don't you just show it out?!'

"May I have this dance?" He said out bravely as he bowed slightly with an extended hand. Sanji looked surprised by his rival's boldness. When he saw the flame firing the other man's eye, the cook slowly stepped back and handed the hand of their navigator to Zoro (But definitely not before giving a stern glare that promised painful death if the marimo head dared to ruin the happy night of his beloved Nami-san.)

'She would never understand how you feel if you never express it out and act like an asshole to her!'

Nami's eyes were wide in surprise at Zoro's sudden act. When Sanji was ready to give her hand out to the swordsman, her hand had unconsciously squeezed the cook's hand tightly in anxiety. The blond turned around and noticed her uneasy. Being the gentleman he is, Sanji gave her an encouraging smile before he slowly let go her hand, allowing Zoro to continue the dance.

'Tell her how you feel, Zoro-bro. There is always a chance for everyone.'

At first, the navigator was unsure how to react. She had completely messed up her steps when Sanji suddenly let Zoro to take over. The mikan head inhaled sharply when she unintentionally stepped on the other's shoe. But the swordsman didn't seem to care.

Zoro placed his hand firmly on her back to support her. He took slow careful steps so he won't mess up his chance. His eye never leaves its gaze from the uneasy woman's face.

'Remember to look at her closely and tell her what you love about her the most.'

He examined Nami closely. The simple black slit dress she had just bought this afternoon with Robin is eye-catching and it wrapped around her body perfectly, showing off the curves of her slim body. There was no make-up on her face, no falseness of her true beauty.

"I like it better… when you don't have any make-up on your face."

Her eyes were wide with shock when he whispered those words into her ear.

"Zoro… what is wrong with you?" she pulled away slightly, looking up at him in worried as she cupped both of his cheeks with her palms. "You're not acting like yourself."

He continued to stare silently at her before he leaned forward and brushed his lips gently on her forehead, giving a soft kiss. Nami jolted slightly at the sudden warmth, but she did not pull away. Instead, her hands unconsciously took a grip on his coat as she laid her head against his chest, listening to his faint heartbeats.

"Are you feeling sick today, idiot? You didn't act like yourself. This is making me worry." She said softly, noticing how his heartbeat had fastened when she leaned her head against him.

"Don't silly worry, stupid woman." He insulted back, holding her tightly in his grasp as his cheeks were painted with crimson red. "I'm just doing what I should have done years ago."

"… Ah." She answered simply, a faint smile slowly curled up on her lips as she slowly wrapped her arms around Zoro's waist.

Afterwards, the duo didn't speak a single word. They just stood there, embracing each other as they let their body language to express the silent confession they could never tell each other.

…

"Franky?" the dark haired woman called out as she slowly approached the huge man who is drinking his bottle of cola. "What are you doing here alone?"

The cyborg turned his head around slightly ad he gave a grin when he saw the archaeologist approaching him. "Yo, Nico Robin!" he called out, giving her a wave of greet. "I just feel like having a drink here and enjoy the cold breeze. Do you want to join me?"

Robin gave out a light chuckle as she stood beside him. She placed her chin on her palm as she let the windy breeze blew past her.

She wasn't the type who enjoys being in a crowded noisy place the most and she preferred to stay at the side of a certain shipwright better since it's much quiet and enjoyable.

"I saw that you have a talk with Zoro just now." Robin said and Franky only gave a chuckle back. There is really nothing he could hide away from this woman's devil fruit ability!

"I'm just teaching that kid to make the right choice before he loses that one person he really loves." He explained, taking another sip of his sweet beverage. "Didn't he make his move to Nami-sis already? I don't see what the wrong of doing so is."

"Of course there is no wrong for you to convince him to confess his feeling to Nami." Robin said, her typical mystery smile curled up on her lips. "But what about you, Franky? When are you going to make your move before you regret for the rest of your life?"

"…"

The man stayed silent. He heaved out a sigh before a smile formed on his face.

"You're right, Robin. But that woman is a smartass. I beat she already knew how I feels for her long ago." He looked at her, his grey metal eyes locked with her deep blue eyes. "And you know what? I don't know how to express my feelings with sappy cheesy words. I preferred to show how I feels from my actions."

Saying so, he opened his huge palm. His normal-sized robotic hand came out from his huge palm holding a rose. Robin chuckled softly when she saw the flower before she took it from him and twirled the flower between her thumb and index finger.

She knew what the flower symbolise as. With no words, she leaned forward and tiptoed slightly so she could press her lips on his. His huge hands wrapped around her waist and held her in a surprisingly gentle way.

Perhaps… these two men should have this talk two years ago.

But it is better to be late than to be regret for the rest of their life.

Fin.

Ending Note:

You probably feel the pen-name is familiar, didn't you? Yes, indeed. I'm KawaiiNekoNami. Recently, for some reasons, I can't open my account. So I decided to open a new account. I hoped that you guys didn't forget although I know that I've been inactive recently. I've been really busy with my life recently, but well, I'm not giving up on writing yet. I still love writing fan-fictions since there are so many nice readers here.

Hopefully my writing didn't go rusty. Leave a review if you love this story.