𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖚𝖗𝖊 (One Piece x Reader)

Chapter 3: Setting Sail!

Recap: Y/n learned from Shanks how to continue fighting should her one of her legs or arms give out from her illness. It was revealed that due to her being an only child and her time alive being limited, she had half a decade to choose a man who will help her in giving birth to the next heir to the throne.

p.s sorry for the late updates !!

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"You'd think she'd be done by now," I muttered quietly to Usopp not wanting to face the shopaholic's wrath if she heard me. The two of us stood at the entrance of a shop as Nami negotiated with the salesman behind the counter, two big piles of clothes waiting to be bought. My gaze shifts from the girl to her multiple bags on the bubbled vehicle we borrowed from the island, "I don't even think she wears half of the clothes she buys."

Usopp laughed dejectedly at the truth in my words as he watched the ginger angrily talk to the poor man just doing his job, "Yeah. I came to get fuel for Sunny and somehow I got roped into her shopping spree." He turned to watch me at the sound of a light chuckle escaping my lips. 

My lips curl into a nostalgic smile before I turn to meet his gaze, "What's new?" I watched his smile soften at my words before I turned back at our navigator who was grabbing another pile of clothes and dropping it on the counter to ask for a bigger discount. 

"You know," Usopp's voice trailed off and when I turned to look at him he had his eyes glued to the ground with a small smile. His cheeks were tinted pink as he rubbed his neck in a shy manner, "I really missed you, Y/n." He mustered up the courage to look at me, his smile widening the moment his eyes reached mine, "Being able to see you again is really refreshing." 

Usopp, to me, has always been a sweet guy. If you really paid attention to him, you would see all the amazing qualities that he hides under the questionable ones. Despite being known as a liar, he's only ever told the truth. If you put aside all those silly stories and false claims of confidence you would realize that Usopp has never been one to hold avoid saying how he truly feels.

It's one of the things I could admire about him. He was the type of man who felt strongly about things he loved or cared for. Usopp had never once held back from voicing his feelings or his opinions even if he said it with a bittersweet smile or an averting gaze. 

He liked to call himself a coward, but I thought he was the farthest thing from it. When it came down to it, he did things he didn't want to do or he was scared of doing. He ignores his fears, pushing past what he believes to be his limits and follows through. 

Over the past two years I was unable to see anyone from my crew, but it gave me a long time to think about them and truly appreciate them. My mind remembering each and every one of them and keeping the warm feeling in my chest as a fuel for my motivation. 

I watch the man in front of me smile happily at me as if I were the trinket he's been wanting ever since he saw it through the store of a window he passed by. The blush on his cheeks were gone, but the relived, comfortable look that his eyes held stayed. He had definitely changed since the last time I saw him, but a part of me was glad that deep down there was still the boy I had met almost three years ago. 

 The smile on my lips returned as I slipped my hand into his. He looked down our hands with startled expression and I gave his hand a gentle squeeze making him meet my gaze, "I missed you more, Usopp."

He seemed to freeze at my words, looking at me in what I could only assume was awe. I couldn't tell what the man was thinking, but, oh, how I wish I could. I wanted to understand the feeling behind his widened eyes. I wanted to know the unspoken words that hid behind his parted lips or maybe even the reasoning as to why his grip on my hand tightened ever so gently.