To my darling Galleta whose reviews are always there making my day brighter. Here is a fic from a nakama's POV as suggested. Just a little treat since the last week of the month is upon us once again.

pairing: ZoRo with mentions of LuNa
rating: T

Midnight visits and pieces of the puzzle

Everyone assumed that it was either Robin or Nami that knew the most about the going-ons of the Straw hat crew and while it was true that Nami tried to know as much as she could after all knowledge was power and knowledge of secrets was profitable. Also no one could deny that Robin had a knack for knowing things sometimes before that person even did but while she observed the rest of the crew from what would appear to be a detached stance she wasn't the only one who observed and noticed things. He saw things that no one else did, he saw their tales unfold.

Usopp didn't always realize what he was seeing though, it had taken him a month to realize what Luffy had been up to. He had noticed Luffy slipping out of his hammock after nightfall and quietly out of the room returning in the early morning before Sanji rose to make breakfast. Usopp had at first assumed that he was trying to get food but come morning their food supply wouldn't be touched. It wasn't until one morning when Luffy had snuck back into the room looking particularly satisfied that Usopp had picked up on the faintest smell of tangerines and noticed the small bruise at the crook of his neck. After this realization he started noticing all the extra looks between the captain and his navigator and the way Nami worried just a little bit more when Luffy did something stupid like fall overboard.

Usopp soon saw the signs of their blossoming love in every action however the other lovers were not as easy to determine. They were much more secretive and hidden with their affections. He had first seen a potential sign several months ago one night when Zoro had been on watch. Usopp hadn't been able to sleep and he had finally decided to get some water from the kitchen.

Several months earlier, night time

Usopp quietly left the men's quarters so as not to disturb anyone, just because he was having trouble sleeping he shouldn't rob the others of theirs even if it would be fun. He was halfway to the galley when he saw a shadow move across the what he had thought to be empty deck. Fear gripped his body and he pressed up against a wall concealing himself in the shadows. Thinking that it was perhaps only Zoro he peered up at the crow's nest however he noticed the tip of Zoro's green hair leaned back against the mast. His heart raced as he realized Zoro was probably sleeping and had let an intruder sneak on to Merry. This intruder was probably going to kill them all in their sleep and take everything. He needed to do something to stop them, he was the only one who could save the crew now. He made a move to step out of the shadows but he was frozen in shock, well almost frozen his knees were shaking like crazy and there was a slight tremor going through his body yet he was still unable to move or even call out to the sleeping swordsman.

There was a creak and Usopp realized the intruder was headed for the crow's nest, he watched in fear as a dark figure appeared at the bottom of the mast then slowly started to climb up. Usopp nearly screamed when he saw that the intruder had three arms and was carrying some object in their third hand. The figure moved up the ladder slowly and as they climbed they entered into the bathing glow of the moonlight. Usopp slumped to the floor in relief as the moonlight illuminated Robin who was using one of her Hana Hana hands to carry a thermos of what he assumed to be coffee. Robin disappeared over the edge and Usopp saw the tips of green move acknowledging her presence. He watched for a few more minutes but Robin didn't reappear and he couldn't make out any voices. Water forgotten he returned to the sleeping quarters and fell into a fitful sleep.

Present time

Usopp hadn't thought much about it the next morning, the event partially forgotten and partially pushed aside as it was probably just Robin being polite since she couldn't sleep. He looked over to where they sat now; Robin reading on the deck, Zoro asleep with his head in her lap. It was evident to everyone that they were completely at ease with each other, Zoro was sleeping peacefully without the usual energy vibrating off him like a deflector shield and Robin's hand played idly in his hair. It had taken the couple time for this ease to develop, in the beginning there had been awkwardness and tension, another clue in the puzzle that Usopp had slowly pieced together.

A few months ago, another clue

Usopp slowly put away the tools he had out, he had been working on some new stars for battle use out on the deck. Zoro was finishing up his katas his focus on the swift movements he was making and he didn't see what Usopp did. From her chair Robin was looking over the top of her book at Zoro no doubt admiring his demon-strength. She shook her head lightly and looked back at her book only to shut it a few seconds later. She was visibly frazzled and it surprised Usopp, the older woman was always calm hiding her emotions behind the stoic exterior. He watched intrigued as she put her book down and stood up her eyes still on the training swordsman. Robin took a step in his direction before stopping, she stood there for a minute supposedly an inner debate going on in her mind before twirling on her heel and heading in the opposite direction. She took about ten steps, Usopp counted, before pausing the debate raging again. Whatever was going through her mind she seemed to come to a decision and she walked briskly to the galley without another backward glance.

Usopp was sitting there still trying to puzzle out what he had just seen when Zoro finished his exercises and immediately glanced at the now empty lounge chair. Something akin to disappointment flashed through his eyes and he stared at the empty chair for awhile. Then all of a sudden he snatched up his weights and started another set of exercises this time more forcefully and without the usual grace he possessed. Usopp looked from the swordsman to the door of the galley through which Robin had disappeared. Something was definitely going on between those two. He vowed to pay closer attention to them and find out what.

Awhile later Sanji called for dinner, the usual sing-song for the girls and a barked command to the rest of the crew afterwards. Usopp rushed in anxious to get some food before Luffy ate it all. Robin was already seated inside and every now and then she would glance at the door and finally Zoro walked through covered in sweat. Robin's eyes rested on him for a brief moment before turning to ask Chopper a question about some medicine he had been working on earlier a polite smile in place.

"Shitty swordsman you're stinking up the place" Sanji growled

"You going to do something about it?" Zoro hissed already reaching for his katana.

The two looked ready to go at it then and there even more than usual and they probably would have torn the kitchen apart if it hadn't been for Nami. She rose from her seat and sent them death glares that had Sanji swooning and even silenced Zoro. The rest of the dinner passed by seemingly normally and to the majority of the crew it probably was. There were three members however who knew something was going on and Usopp was surreptitiously watching the other two. There were several sidelong glances and glares exchanged and Usopp couldn't tell if they were becoming closer or worse. At one point Zoro seemed to spasm slightly and his entire body stiffened, the glare he sent Robin after that made Usopp's knees shake under the table. It was dark, intense with just a hint of something that made Usopp think of desperation making the look all that much more scarier. Robin meanwhile simply continued to chat with her crewmates her mask in place no sign of a crack.

As soon as dinner was finished Zoro hightailed it out of the kitchen shouting something about needing a shower because of his workout on the way out. At his departure Robin seemed to allow herself a small smirk before once again masking it. Usopp was curious as to what her part in Zoro's sudden departure was, their relationship was definitely changing he just wasn't sure how yet.

After that night Usopp paid closer attention to the two guarded nakama, from what he could tell the majority of their interactions happened at night under the veil of darkness or a canopy of stars. When Zoro had night watch Robin would join him and for his part Zoro would volunteer to take more shifts. Slowly time passed, battles were fought and bounties rose. Zoro and Robin seemed to be less awkward around each other and there stopped being so many glares. If you asked him Usopp would say that he knew then and there it was love but truth be told he wasn't sure if something was growing between them or if they were simply back to normal.

They weren't as careless as Luffy and Nami had been. No marks were made at least not any visible ones that Usopp could see. Though there was a couple days where Zoro trained with his wife beater on instead of topless. At the time Usopp had chocked it up to the cooler weather but once a few other things fell into place he realized Robin must have slipped up on the no visible marks thing they had going on. Minor changes started to become evident to Usopp. Zoro would laugh more often, glare at Sanji when he flirted with Robin and would sleep even more during the day. Robin seemed to be more relaxed and every once in awhile Usopp would catch her staring off into the horizon with a real smile on her lips. Each day Usopp seemed to be collecting more pieces of the puzzle and he wondered what the final picture would be.

They seemed to be getting along fine in whatever situation they had going and Usopp began to think they might come out to the crew. That was before Water 7 though. Something changed between them before they arrived in that town, there had obviously been a fight. A day or two before docking found Zoro in a foul mood come morning. He had been on night watch the previous night and at breakfast he was particularly surly. He picked a fight with Sanji over anything and everything and Nami's glares and threats didn't even slow him down. The rest of the time he was deathly silent, an ominous aura surrounding him. He was so dark that even Luffy avoided him. Robin sunk into a silence as well, escaping in her books finishing one after another in record time. Her usual polite smile seemed more forced than anything and quite often she would get a blank look in her eyes as if her being was no longer on the ship.

The events that followed after arriving in Water 7 drove Zoro and Robin's issues out of Usopp's mind and it wasn't until he was on the train with her under the guise of Sogeking that it re-entered. He saw the look in her eyes, the determination to sacrifice herself for her nakama and it dawned on him that she loved Zoro. When he met up with Zoro again he knew that her feelings were reciprocated. They all fought harder than they ever had before and when Robin was safely back with them the relief was palatable. Usopp did not know what went on before Water 7 or even what happened when they returned from Enies Lobby however when they sailed away together again on the Thousand Sunny things were back to normal.

They had eventually come out to the rest of the crew and when they did Usopp noticed the hint of uncertainty and fear in Zoro's eyes. It however instantly vanished the second Luffy shouted his approval and declared the news worthy of a party. It had taken some convincing and a captain's order to get Sanji to cook for it though. Life didn't seem to change much after their announcement, there were still battles to fight and goals to achieve. Usopp never let on that he had always known and he merely continued to observe his nakama making notes of their unfolding tales.