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As cliché as it sounds, it started at the very beginning, right after they defeated Captain Morgan.
They were at the bar owned by Rika’s mother, the little girl explaining what happened to her very confused but relieved mother. Coby would usually try to help and explain things in a more concise way, but the emotions of the battle had left him tired and hungry, and he quietly ate his meal alongside Zoro and Luffy.
Luffy suddenly stopped eating, swallowing his meat before slamming his hands on the table. Coby and Zoro jumped, taken aback by this sudden action, but the other boy paid it no mind. His eyes were fixed on Coby, and his face had become uncomfortably blank.
Coby couldn't help but shift on his feet, taken aback by the intensity of Luffy's gaze. He had briefly seen it before, the way the pirate's eyes would fall on someone or something, eyes serious and intense, but this was the first time this gaze was aimed at him.
“... Luffy-san?” he slowly asked, hesitant, but meeting his friend's eyes fearlessly.
Luffy didn't stop staring, even though it was long past what was considered appropriate – but then, appropriateness wasn't something Luffy cared about – before a huge grin suddenly spread across his face.
“I've decided!” the pirate exclaimed loudly, and Coby almost flinched, the volume hurting his ears. Almost afraid of the answer, he still asked his new friend with what he deemed was appropriate wariness.
“Decided what, exactly?”
Luffy shoved a piece of meat in his mouth and closed his eyes, as if all his questions and troubles had suddenly disappeared.
“I'm in love with you.” he announced, completely serious and sincere. Next to him, Zoro choked on air.
Coby blinked. “Oh.”
And then his brain registered what was said, and he let out a shriek.
“WH-WH- WHAT!!!???? Luffy-san, you can’t just say that!”
The pirate blinked, shoving another piece of meat in his mouth. The intensity in his gaze had disappeared, and his eyes were wide and honest, which only made Coby more flustered. Even though his cheeks were swollen with food, Luffy still managed to choke out something that vaguely sounded like: “Why not?”
“But – you barely know me!”
“I know enough,” Luffy shrugged, as if it was obvious, “I don’t need to know anything else about you. I love you.”
The sound that came out of Coby’s throat could barely qualify as human. Even as he tried to find one, no retort came to mind, and his mouth opened and closed as Luffy kept shoving meat in his mouth, apparently done with the conversation.
Zoro patted his shoulder, and when Coby glanced up to look at him in a daze, his eyes were almost pitying though a smug grin decorated his face.
“I don’t think you’ve got a choice in this,” he gestured at himself to prove his point, and Coby felt faint when he remembered how exactly Luffy had convinced Zoro to join him.
“But it’s not the same!” he protested, feeling his cheeks heat up, and even without mirror it was easy to know how red his face was.
The swordsman raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it?”
Coby slammed his head on the table, groaning, and he desperately tried to ignore the feeling of having Luffy’s eyes on him.
“In love, huh?”
Zoro stared at his newfound captain, who didn’t even bother sitting up, only turning his head towards him from where he was lying.
“Yep!”
“You know he’s a marine right? Sooner or later, we’ll meet on opposite sides.”
Luffy didn’t respond, and Zoro frowned. He didn’t think Luffy was naive – at least not as much as he first thought, and not on something like this. After all, he has been the one who punched Coby so that the marines didn’t think they were friends and recruited him.
Still though. Coby’s red face and smile haunted him, and he narrowed his eyes.
“This isn’t some joke, is it?” He didn’t think Luffy was the kind of guy to just do that, but again, they had only known each other for a day. And the idea of playing with an enemy this way made him sick.
“I love him,” was all Luffy said, but there was a dangerous gleam in his eyes that told Zoro all he needed to know.
So he closed his eyes, sighing, and got ready for a nap.
This captain was going to be trouble, he could already tell.
(He couldn't wait to see it.)
Ace had never thought about Luffy’s love life.
Why would he? This was Luffy, after all, his dumb little brother who could barely see the difference between a man or a woman, and for whom feelings other than friendship were a mystery. The idea of romance with Luffy seemed so unbelievable that it had never crossed his mind.
And yet.
“You like someone?!”
Luffy hummed happily from where he was walking in front of Ace, both brothers careful to stay in the shadows of this Alabasta’s town, away from the marines searching for them.
“Yep!”
He didn’t say anything else, and Ace had to stop himself from hitting him on the head. Now wasn’t the time. Not yet.
“Well? Who is it?”
“Coby! I met him at the beginning when my boat sank. He wants to be an Admiral.”
There was a lot to unpack here but Ace decided to focus on the last bit of information.
“He’s a marine?”
“Yeah! He’s going to be an Admiral one day.”
Luffy said it as if it was obvious, the same way he said that he was going to be Pirate King one day. There was no doubt in his voice, no if or maybe, it was just a simple fact.
For a moment, Ace wondered if he should ask more, but he stopped himself. This was just the beginning of Luffy’s adventures, the start of the numerous meetings that would shape his life, and as long as this crush – because as far as he could tell, this was what it was – wasn’t anything serious, then he had no reason to step in and demand details. Besides, he was fairly sure that Luffy had no idea what marriage was so no worry from this side.
“Is that so? He must be strong then.”
“Not really. But he will be!”
It was somewhat strange to see Luffy so sure of something that concerned someone other than him, but Ace didn’t say anything, merely smiled and nodded.
“Well, I’ll have to trust you on that.”
Privately, he memorized the name of the marine – Coby, no family name – so that he could look into it as soon as that traitor Teach was dealt with. As he listened his little brother talk about his crew and friends, he laughed alongside him and tried to imagine what the boy who caught Luffy’s heart looked like. He couldn’t picture it, but that only made him more determined.
Ace hoped he would meet him soon.
The first time Nami heard about Coby, she didn't even hear his name.
To be fair, Luffy never really spoke about what happened before they met each other or his past in general (the shocking news of Ace's existence was proof of that), so only Zoro knew a little about him and he was about as forthcoming as Luffy with those kind of things.
So the first time she heard about Coby, it was during one of their lunches. Everything had seemed normal, with Sanji busy singing about love and his ladies while everyone was ignoring him – especially said ladies – when Luffy had casually dropped a bomb on them.
“Oh, I'm in love with someone too!”
For a moment, there was complete silence. All pirates stared at their captain with wide, disbelieving eyes, with some gaping at him. Then Sanji snorted, and the spell was broken as he looked at the rubber man with an incredulous smile.
“Yeah, right. You can’t even see a lady’s beauty, even less love one!”
Luffy frowned. “He’s a boy,” he corrected, and Sanji blinked.
A second of stillness passed over the crew but the cook kept talking, either not noticing it or ignoring it as it disappeared immediately with his next words.
“Even so, you can’t be in love.” there was an emphasis on the you that Luffy heard loud and clear, because he pouted and glared at him.
“Why not?!”
The question seemed to take Sanji aback. He sputtered, briefly sharing a glance with the others before gesturing widely towards the captain.
“Well, you’re… you.” he struggled with words, eyes wide and cheeks a faint red, and Nami couldn’t blame him. The idea that Luffy, of all people, could love someone romantically was something that had never crossed her mind, and trying to put it into words was pretty much impossible.
Before Luffy could retort, Robin spoke up, an amused smile on her lips though Nami could see the curiosity in her eyes.
“What Cook-san is trying to say – a bit clumsily, perhaps – is that he doesn’t remember meeting someone who could interest you in such manner.”
That’s an understatement, Nami thought slightly hysterically. The mere idea of meeting a person that could make her captain of all people fall in love was so far-fetched that it hurt her head to think about it.
Luffy stopped pouting, suddenly beaming.
“Oh! That’s because you haven’t met him,” he explained, suddenly far more relaxed now that it seemed no one doubted him, “It was before I met you guys. But Zoro knows him!”
Immediately, all eyes converged towards the swordsman who had been ignoring them while drinking his sake. Nami expected him to continue to do so, or refute Luffy’s impossible claims, so she was surprised to see a slight smirk grow on his face.
Without letting go of his drink, he turned towards his crewmates, grabbing an onigiri on one of the plates and shoving it into his mouth, before speaking.
“He’s telling the truth,” he confirmed, and Nami knew she wasn’t imagining the mirth dancing in his eyes. Clearly, their reactions amused him.
“But who?!” Usopp yelled, throwing his hands in the air. The idea that his captain could not only love someone romantically and be aware of it seemed to shock even more than the strange things they had seen on Grand Line. Weirdly enough, Nami could sympathize.
“Is it another pirate?” Chopper asked, eyes sparkling.
“Oh no, he’s a marine!”
This new silence lasted a full minute before it was broken.
“You’re joking,” Nami said, voice flat, and it was obviously the last straw for Zoro who let out a snort, a shit-eating grin on his face.
“He’s really not,” the swordsman refuted, smile widening at the looks of pure horror on his crewmates’ faces.
“A marine,” repeated Robin, ignoring the horror of the others and examining the captain with a curious gleam in her eyes, “Is that wise, Captain? Marines are our enemies, after all.”
For the first time since the start of the conversation, Luffy’s expression turned blank. It wasn’t the first time Nami had seen it, but it was the first time it happened when there was no enemy in sight, and it made her shiver.
The expression was gone in a second, but she knew upon hearing the sudden silence that everyone had seen it. Luffy smiled, wide and happy, before going back to his meat.
“He’s not the same.” was his only answer, and no one dared to say anything else.
Meeting Luffy after so long apart was like a dream come true.
It wasn’t like Coby had given up on seeing him again – if anything, his meeting with Garp only reinforced his desire to one day find Luffy and show him how strong he had become.
(He had also pushed Luffy’s declaration of love far away into the depths of his mind, still half-convinced this was just an hallucination produced by the tiredness caused by the fight with Captain Morgan.)
He just hadn’t expected for it to happen so soon.
Still. Even though Helmeppo and he had gotten thoroughly beaten by Luffy and Zoro, his joy at seeing them left no place for bitterness at his loss. And now, sitting at a table with them – and how strange, how wonderful for marines and pirates to sit together and share a meal – he listened to the chatter of people with a little smile on his face. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t see the way Luffy looked at him until the pirate moved.
“Here,” Coby barely had time to react before Luffy shoved a piece of meat in his hands, not even looking up from his meal. The marine sighed but couldn't contain the fond smile growing on his face.
“Thank you, Luffy-san.” he said, and didn't even notice the way everyone had stopped eating, gaping at the scene.
Luffy's friends seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack while Zoro smirked. The red-haired woman -Coby couldn’t remember her name, though he remembered she was supposedly a thief – turned towards him with a glare and furiously whispered something under her breath. Zoro nodded, still smirking, and drank from his bottle without glancing at anyone.
Helmeppo glanced at Coby, then at Luffy, and so on before paling and whispering a weirdly soft “Oh no.”
Garp looked away from his meal, attention drawn by the strange silence, and he stared for a few seconds before laughing obnoxiously.
“Yeah, that tracks.” was all he said, biting into his meat with a strange smile and no explanation. The Strawhats exploded in whispers while Coby was left staring at them helplessly, Luffy grinning next to him.
Hours later and he was lying on the sands of Water Seven, eyes closed and listening to the familiar and comforting sound of the waves. It felt nice, to just stop and listen to the things you knew sometimes, and for all Coby got along well with his fellow marines some time alone was a great treat.
He was dragged away from his thought when something was lightly deposed on his head, and Coby almost flinched, surprised by the sudden if light weight.
Looking up, he saw Luffy grinning at him, and he realised a bit belatedly that the weight on his head was his friend’s straw hat. Slowly, he sat up and touched it with his fingers, curious, but kept it locked on his head.
“That’s your symbol now, right?” he asked rhetorically, “The famous Strawhats Pirates.”
It was almost a tease, but Luffy only smiled, his eyes never leaving Coby’s face.
“Mmh. Among other things.”
Coby sent him a questioning look but he was ignored. The pirate stared at the waves, which the moonlight made shine. He seemed oddly quiet, and while it felt wrong to see him like this, Coby couldn't help but find him beautiful, sitting on the sands and staring at the waves he hoped to one day conquer.
The thought made him feel warm, so Coby took a deep breath before speaking.
“Luffy-san,” he asked, shy but determined, “I wanted to ask, about what you said back then, after we beat Morgan…”
He struggled to find the words, feeling his cheeks warm up, when Luffy’s voice cut off his thoughts.
“Coby.”
His voice was flat, but when he turned towards the marine, his eyes were severe and burning with a feeling Coby couldn't identify.
“I meant everything I said.”
And Coby gaped, face red and heart hammering in his chest but Luffy laughed, unbothered by his silence.
“It’s okay! Don’t answer now. I’ll ask again later, when we’re both ready.”
“Ready?! What do you mean, ‘ready’?!”
Luffy didn’t answer and kept laughing, even as Coby pulled on the straw hat to hide his burning face and his shy smile.
When the pirate left days afterwards, Coby waved from at their boat while Garp sent cannonball after cannonball towards them, and tried his best to hide his smile.
He hoped the next time they met would be as great as this.
“You know, a marine protected you.”
The sentence came out of nowhere, and Luffy stared at Rayleigh with confusion, mouth full of the meat that was burning near the campfire.
“What?”
“When Akainu attacked you after you passed out,” Rayleigh explained, and Luffy tensed, feeling the now phantom pain of his injury flare in his chest. “A marine stood in his path to stop him before Shanks-kun intervened.”
“A marine?”
“Yes. A youngster, with pink hair.”
It was obvious that Rayleigh had chosen his words carefully, examining his student’s face to see if there was any hint of recognition, and he wasn’t disappointed.
Luffy’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened slightly before abruptly closing, jaw shaking as he did so. His face paled, then reddened. Rayleigh hummed.
“I take it you’re familiar with him?”
For a moment, Luffy was silent, before speaking with a calm and strangely soft voice.
“Yeah,” he stared at nothing, eyes strangely soft, “I am.”
He didn’t speak for the rest of the night.