Thistled Heart

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro/Trafalgar Law

Rating: T

Summary: Having followed the doctor's orders for several weeks, Zoro's getting restless, and Law doesn't have the heart to say 'no'. Later, Law comes to a potentially life-changing realization.

Author's Notes: I want to give a quick 'thank you' to Eorendel, for being an absolute star and giving me some very helpful feedback and reassurance before posting, and to my wondrous bro lunarshores, for discussing a few key grammatical issues with me. You both are the best!

Having Zoro as a patient could have gone one of several ways, and truth be known, Law hadn't been nearly as optimistic as Zoro was about the outcome of Zoro's condition. After all, the way in which Law had finally come to agree to giving Zoro medical attention hadn't come without its share of fighting and hurtful comments; based on those experiences, Law could only deduce that being Zoro's physician would only bring more of the same, and he was less than thrilled to deal with any of it.

However, to Law's surprise, Zoro had been nothing less than exemplary. Each and every bit of advice Law had, and every single regimen change he made to Zoro's daily routine in order to relieve the stress on his shoulder was all taken to heart, just as Zoro promised. Law was so certain that getting Zoro to follow his orders would be something akin to pulling out his own teeth, but for once, Law couldn't have been happier about being wrong.

Despite Zoro's stellar progress, a nearly crippling sense of self-doubt seemed to plague Law at every turn. The fact that Zoro was no normal patient could not be forgotten, and it constantly graded on his mind. Law had always kept himself composed whenever he discussed Zoro's treatment plan with him, and he knew that he never once gave away any air of uncertainty, or let Zoro know that this entire situation made him terribly uncomfortable, and in return, Zoro never questioned Law's logic, or even complained about any restrictions to his daily routine Law may have made. He only smiled and listened to each and every word Law had to say. He'd never admit it, but those sweet smiles that perfectly conveyed just how much faith Zoro had in him meant the world to Law. There was simply no way Law could express how reassuring every look of happiness Zoro gave him was for him.

He suspected that it wouldn't be long until he would finally be able to give Zoro the 'stamp of approval' and allow Zoro to dive head-first back into the physically-demanding activities he enjoyed so much.

Within reason, of course, Law thought to himself. If he and Zoro could agree on anything concerning this, it was that both of them were less than enthused about the idea of a repeat occurrence.

Given Zoro's flawless record, the absolute last thing Law expected to see upon setting foot in the apartment were the several stacks of cardboard boxes that nearly reached the ceiling throughout the living room. The apartment they had moved in together the moment Zoro finished college was already small enough, and it seemed to gradually grow smaller on its own; the place certainly didn't need Zoro's help with producing any more unnecessary clutter.

"What's going on here?"

Judging by the look on Zoro's face when he turned around to face Law, he hadn't noticed Law's arrival until that very moment. The initial look of surprise Law was certain he was sporting quickly disappeared, only to be replaced with that purely innocent sort of happiness that Law was almost always greeted with when came home. While Law gladly noted that he had clearly been missed, there was a distinct lack of the 'Oh shit, he caught me' look on Zoro's face, which really should have been there.

"Nothin'," Zoro replied, shrugging nonchalantly as he taped up the box he had been sifting through just moments ago, and set it on top of a nearby stack that looked like it could topple over from a slight gust of wind.

Unable to ignore the nagging hypothetical that foresaw the precarious mountain falling on top of Zoro, essentially destroying every bit of progress he'd made and then some, Law practically flew across the room to de-stack the boxes, at least until each pile was only at waist-level, and not the 'so far above the head that one would have to get on their tippy-toes to reach' level.

Law didn't say anything, but throwing Zoro an additional look of disapproval seemed to help him get the hint.

"Oh, you mean the boxes?"

Law had to literally suppress the urge to roll his eyes just then.

"No, Zoro-ya. I'm talking about the giant squid I just found in the bathtub and not the stacks of boxes in our tiny living room." With the amount of sarcasm that laced his voice, there was no way that Zoro could have missed it.

"Well, I had the day off, and I was getting bored."

Zoro really didn't need to explain any further; Law already knew exactly how this had played out, and he was certain that whatever else Zoro had to say would not be for his own benefit.

Law didn't respond, but Zoro didn't seem to take the silence as any sort of indication as to what Law was thinking, and continued. "I've been feeling a lot better lately, so I thought it'd be okay if I got in a light workout and I decided to dig out my old dumbbells for it. You remember the ones my dad bought me during college?"

"The fifty-pounders you used to walk to class with every day with?" It took way too much effort to keep the slightest hint of disapproval from his voice.

"Yeah, those are the ones," Zoro replied with a smile on his face as he effortlessly tore open another box and started to sort through its contents.

"I see." The response was automatic, but Law still wasn't sure on how he wanted to handle this. After several months, he was exhausted; while Zoro had done nothing except follow Law's instructions to the letter (until this very moment, of course) he absolutely abhorred feeling like he was in complete control of Zoro's life. Not a day went by where he didn't remind Zoro to take a pain reliever before going to work, or send him a text during his lunch hour, just to check and make sure Zoro was still doing all right. At this point, Law felt more like Zoro's ridiculously paranoid, overprotective mother, rather than his boyfriend.

"And you did this yourself?" Again, he managed to ask without letting his tone betray his growing frustration.

"Yeah," Zoro replied. "I didn't want to bother anyone else with this, and it's so freakin' hot out, that I brought all of the boxes they could possibly be in in here, rather than sorting through things at the storage unit. I hope you don't mind?"

Law had to wonder if Zoro even realized that he was digging his own grave. Obviously not, Law thought to himself.

"What's wrong with the exercise equipment you already have here?" He couldn't stop a hint of irritation from escaping his voice this time around.

To Zoro's credit, that small bit of annoyance did not go unnoticed.

"You're not actually mad at me, are you?" Law finally got that 'Oh shit,' look he had wanted from Zoro earlier, but now it wasn't nearly as satisfying as it should have been.

"No," Law sighed, as he maneuvered his way around several stacks before getting to Zoro. He reached forward, taking Zoro's hands into his own in a small sign of affection. "I mean, you're getting restless, and I truly understand that."

"Thank you," Zoro said as he just barely tightened his own hold on Law's hands. A sly, somewhat cheeky grin slid across his face. "You know this is my first offence, surely we can let it slide, just this once?" He leaned towards, Law, as if he were expecting something from him.

Naturally, Law knew exactly what Zoro was hoping for, and lucky for Zoro, he just couldn't refuse him.

"I know," Law responded before closing the gap between Zoro and himself. The kiss he initiated was soft, and almost a bit too gentle for either of their liking, but despite the current vexation, Law still wanted to properly express how much he really cared for him.

Zoro however, seemed almost too eager to push things further. Within seconds, he had completely taken over the kiss; his motions, while not rough in any sense of the word, were more enthusiastic, and demanded for much more than the simple kissing Law had been content with. Zoro's teeth carefully nibbled at Law's bottom lip, and purely out of habit, Law opened his mouth for Zoro, slowly allowing Zoro to deepen the kiss.

Before Zoro had the chance to make any further decisions on his own, Law abruptly broke their kiss and gave him one last brief kiss on the lips before reluctantly pushing himself away from Zoro. He almost felt bad for unexpectedly ending this encounter, but damn it, Zoro knew better.

"You know that lifting all of these boxes on your own isn't good for your shoulder, especially any boxes that potentially weigh over one-hundred pounds."

He didn't comment on it, but he knew very well that probably over half of the boxes Zoro dragged into the apartment fit that exact description. As foolish as it was, back when they were moving, neither of them had given much thought to packing their belongings in a logical, ergonomically practical manner. Instead, their prime concern had been to pack everything up in as few boxes as possible, regardless of how much any of them weighed in the end.

A look of pure astonishment washed over Zoro's face, as if he truly could not fathom the idea that Law would rather lecture him about his health than get it on with him. Frankly, Law had a hard time believing that this was really happening either.

"It's been feeling a lot better," Zoro said again, in a meager attempt to persuade Law otherwise. "This was nothing."

That goofy grin Zoro always wore when he felt like Law required his reassurance almost got him. Almost.

"Thankfully," Law said, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms across his chest. "It could have been so much worse."

"But it wasn't," Zoro tried once more. While the look in his eyes told Law positively nothing about what Zoro was thinking, his voice said it all. If Zoro were to have this conversation with anyone else, the barely audible note of total dejection that his tone held would have gone unheard, but to Law, the sound was as clear as day.

"Just," Law sighed again, repressing the urge to flat out tell Zoro about how idiotic this entire ordeal was, "ask for help next time, okay? If you're insistent about not asking a friend, then please wait until I get home. I'd do anything for you." That was said much more tactfully than Law thought he was capable of, but he still felt as if he hadn't conveyed his stance properly. "You know that, right?" he added, still unsure about how Zoro was taking anything he said.

"I do," Zoro replied immediately, as if he knew Law needed to actually here it. He gave Law a modest smile, but said nothing more.

Deciding that that small smile was as much reconciliation as he deserved for now, Law decided to try and make his way through the maze of boxes, and at least make an effort towards the kitchen.

"I also found something you might like too," Zoro called out, before Law had had the chance to make too much headway in his 'venture'. The tone Zoro used was light-hearted, and even a bit cheerful, causing Law to immediately look back in Zoro's direction with a hopeful expression painted on his face.

"Oh yeah?" he asked as he turned back towards Zoro.

A huge, knowing grin was plastered upon Zoro's lips as he reached for a certain object that was leaning against the wall, and as his eyes fell upon it, he was almost ashamed he hadn't spotted it before now.

"Remember this?"

Law didn't respond at first, he only made his way over to Zoro, nearly leaping over one or two of the smaller stacks of boxes before unceremoniously taking the long sword he hadn't seen in years from Zoro's hands. A comfortable silence hung in the air as Law awed over the blade he hadn't seen since he and Zoro had moved in together. At the time, it had made sense to put his nodachi into storage; he had just landed his residency, and his career in medicine was all but set. There wouldn't be any time for dueling, and the apartment was much too small to keep anything that wasn't absolutely essential. But now, Law could hardly remember any of that; all he could think of was how much he had missed his sword, and perhaps more importantly, the fun he had had sparring with Zoro in the past.

"How could I forget?" Law finally managed to say, as he looked up at Zoro with pure happiness in his eyes. "This brings back so many fond memories."

Zoro only nodded in response, but by now, Law knew exactly what all of Zoro's silent gestures meant.

"So I haven't found those dumbbells yet." A playful grin slowly spread across Zoro's lips. "Instead of using those for a workout, maybe we could…"

The small gesture towards his nodachi was all Law needed to see in order to know what Zoro was suggesting.

"Absolutely not." Law's response was firm, and left no room for questioning. Of course, that didn't mean Zoro wasn't about to try and persuade him anyway.

"But-"

Law was just a little too quick for him this time, however. "You've come so far. Do you really want to risk all of your progress like this."

If Law didn't know any better, he would have sworn that he saw Zoro bite his tongue at that. He could only imagine the sentimental, yet simultaneously illogical thoughts that Zoro was keeping to himself.

Just then, a genuinely whimsical smile crept upon his lips.

"All right," Law said. As dedicated as he was to keeping Zoro's condition a top priority, each and every time he had told Zoro 'no' over the past several months had added up, and Law just didn't have it in him to refuse Zoro this time around. After all, as long as they didn't get too wild, some exercise could only be good for Zoro, and if he was being perfectly honest with himself, he'd admit that he had missed sparring with Zoro a little too much.

The first syllable had just barely left Law's lips before Zoro was dashing to their bedroom for his own swords. Law wasn't the least bit surprised when Zoro came back with all three of his swords, obviously ready to fight like he usually did. Unfortunately for him, the fact that Law had given him one small concession did not mean Zoro was allowed to go all out.

"Only one sword, and your left arm goes behind your back."

Instead of looking like Law had insulted him in some way, a rather cocky smirk formed on Zoro's face, and Law couldn't help but take amusement in it.

"Heh, afraid I'll beat you without a handicap?" Zoro asked, his voice clearly teasing.

"In your dreams, sweetheart," Law shot back, putting a special emphasis on the pet name as he unsheathed his nodachi, once again admiring the blade's flawless sheen.

"Promise you won't go easy on me?" Zoro asked seriously, in spite of the playful atmosphere that had settled between them, before following suit with Law and unsheathing his own katana.

"Why do you think I'll only let you fight with your good shoulder?" Law responded casually as he moved towards Zoro with ease, almost flying around the 'minefield' in their living room before making a move to strike Zoro, which just as he predicted, was effortlessly blocked.

"God I love you," Zoro declared as he pushed back against Law's blade with his own. After effectively dislodging his sword from Law's, Zoro wasted no time in going on the offensive, and striking at Law with everything he had.

"Save it for the bedroom," Law replied in a smug manner as he easily blocked each and every one of Zoro's advances.

Zoro's eyes seemed to light up at the prospect of bedroom activities being back on the table, but unsurprisingly, the thought didn't stop him from giving his current duel with Law every last ounce of his undivided attention.

Law wasn't sure how long how any of it lasted; it felt as if they were in their own little world for hours, when reality everything probably took place in the span of ten minutes or less. For those brief few moments, it felt like they had somehow gone back in time, back to a simpler time before Law ever started his residency and essentially sold his soul to his job, and obviously long before they ever thought of living together. For just a little while, they fought and parried with each other just like they had all those years ago; nostalgia filled Law's entire being, and he nearly forgot why he had decided to give up sword fighting and banish his nodachi into storage in the first place. That is, until Zoro caught him off guard with a particularly fast movement, causing him to trip over one of the several precariously placed boxes, which in turn caused a domino effect that ended their little match much too soon for either of their liking.

To his utter chagrin, Law was unable to stop himself from falling against one of the larger stacks of questionable stability he had not had the foresight to disassemble earlier. While clashing against a bunch of cardboard boxes wasn't actually painful for Law in anyway, (his sword had fallen a safe distance away from him) he couldn't say the same for the boxes. As he landed to the floor with a soft 'umph', he watched as the makeshift tower fell with a grand bravado. The higher up boxes crashed into a bookcase along the wall and caused the fairly unstable shelving units and several books to topple to the floor along with them.

Unfortunately, the books that didn't automatically fall straight to the floor fell in a more angled direction, instantly colliding with their entertainment center, taking the television and two plants with them in their wild misadventure to the floor. The sound of broken glass echoed throughout Law's ears; idly, he recalled just how little he and Zoro actually watched TV. If he were to be completely honest, a broken television wasn't really that much of a loss, but it was inconvenient, nonetheless. And if only to make matters that much worse, as if it had somehow managed to defy the laws of gravity until that very moment in time, the box that obviously contained Zoro's dumbbells hit the floor with a painfully loud thud, causing the entire apartment to shake for a few seconds.

The entire ordeal seemed to happen in slow motion as Law watched from where he had originally fallen on the carpeted floor, thinking that sooner or later, they'd probably be getting a knock on their door from the apartment supervisor, who happened to live in the apartment just below them.

"Well shit."

Barely a second passed before Zoro was at his side, immediately helping him up into a standing position without a single word being exchanged between them. Law could practically feel the look of supreme worry that flickered in Zoro's eyes, but he was far too preoccupied with the catastrophic state of his living room to really pay much attention to anything else.

"Are you okay?"

At that point, he wasn't thinking, so much as he was dazed from watching a good portion of the room fall apart in a matter of seconds. However, he snapped out of it at the sound of Zoro's voice.

"Yes, your box tower broke my fall rather nicely," he answered in a voice that was completely sarcastic, yet not in any way spiteful.

As he picked up his sword and sheathed it, Law noticed that the expression on Zoro's face was a clear look of guilt, which of course Law hadn't meant to cause at all. "I was only teasing you," he said, lifting his hand up to give Zoro's cheek a quick, yet gentle caress before leaning in for a nose kiss. "Thank you, for all of this."

Zoro's entire being seemed to light up at Law's words. He hummed softly as he gladly met Law halfway and tenderly brushed his nose against Law's.

"At least we found my dumbbells," he said, smiling that goofy smile that Law couldn't help but simply adore.

That foolish, yet simultaneously brilliant smile was the only thing that gave Law the ability to resist the supreme, almost compulsatory urge to roll his eyes at that particular comment. They'd managed to destroy their flat screen television and demolish a bookcase, knocking all of Law's medical literature to the floor in the process(in their defense, that had been cheaply made and haphazardly put together by Zoro when they had first moved in, so it was a miracle the poor thing hadn't fallen apart on its own before then). They'd also managed to shatter two ceramic pots that both had growing plants in them (vacuuming all of those tiny specks of dirt from the carpet promised to be no easy chore), and break only god knew what in the boxes they had toppled over in their little sparring match.

But hey, at least we have those dumbbells, Law's minded provided, cruelly mimicking Zoro's previous statement.

Suddenly, Law was reminded of something much more important than Zoro's stupid dumbbells, or the fact that they were definitely going to get a rather nasty talking-to from the apartment supervisor. He had finally let go of the strict 'no physical stress' regimen he'd enforced with Zoro for so long, and in the end, Zoro remained unscathed. Law finally realized that from the moment he had agreed to care for Zoro as a patient, he had created a wholly absurd illusion of a fragile Zoro that might shatter to pieces like glass if he so much as stretched the wrong way. At last, any twisted of delusion of how he had perceived Zoro vanished instantly, only to be replaced with the real Zoro-the Zoro who could roll with the punches, the Zoro who could accomplish any test of strength, no matter how impossible the task at hand seemed, the Zoro who once cut through a girder of solid steel just because a friend bet him that it couldn't be done, the true Zoro, the one who didn't need anyone's constant supervision and doting care, especially not his boyfriend's.

Rather than actually saying the unamused biting remark that Law initially had for a response, he only smiled fondly at Zoro, and voiced an idea that they had both mulled over from time to time, but if occurrences like this were ever going to happen again, thoughts and words would eventually have to become actions.

"We should probably get serious about finding a bigger place to live."

Zoro didn't say anything, but from the look in his eyes, Law could tell that not only was Zoro on board with the idea, but he was already thinking about how big of a space they would need for a proper duel. Returning the affectionate smile Law had given him, Zoro made his way towards Law, and gave him a gentle peck on the lips before whispering into Law's ear:

"The clean-up can wait a little while, can't it?"

"That seems rather irresponsible, but I suppose that's all right for once," Law nodded in agreement as he took a hold of Zoro's hand and led him away from the mess.

Thank you for reading!