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Zoro is good at observing discreetly. He's had to learn to do so after starting down his path as a swordsman. So it's not surprising when he's the first one to notice something off about Luffy. Luffy was certainly a confusing case. There was a lot to work with so Zoro couldn't blame anyone for overlooking something about him. He was made of rubber and made use of that fact very often, ranging from surprisingly useful to downright terrifying. The idiot looked more like a devil straight from an evil lab when he twisted his limbs and head in uncanny ways but Zoro has long gotten used to it. Or maybe he'd hit his head one too many times being launched by a stray Gum-Gum Rocket. On top of being a rubber human, Luffy was just strange in general. Sometimes he seemed to see too deeply or overlook nearly everything outside of his goal, a habit Zoro hoped would lessen as their journey continued.
The most normal thing about Luffy was his daggers. They were important to him, that much was plain to see. Zoro could relate. While he appreciated all blades that landed in his possession, Wado was by far his most precious sword. But there was something different about Luffy's connection to his daggers. He used them quite often despite mainly fighting with his fists. Zoro had been shocked at the skill Luffy had shown when he'd unsheathed the twin blades in front of Zoro for the first time.
Sometimes he caught Luffy whispering to himself, one or both knives held gently in his hands. Almost like he was speaking to them. He never could catch what his captain mumbled about as his sentences seemed to fade halfway through and start similarly, almost like he was speaking internally and forgot to hold his thoughts inside. Zoro frankly did not have the mental capacity to address the strange occurrences and decided to let it be for now.
Another strange pattern was when Luffy managed to sneak off from the rest of the crew when they stopped for supplies.
Zoro would often hear his captain's laughter through the streets as he roamed around, trying in vain to figure out which was the way he came. Awful navigation skills aside, Zoro would try to follow it. If he managed to get close enough he would catch sight of the back of Luffy's head and each time he seemed to be accompanied by two people. Zoro hadn't been surprised the first time, knowing the other teen had a knack for making both friends and enemies everywhere he went. It was after the fourth time he noticed it was the same two people. Both are taller than Luffy, one blonde and the other with the same shade of black hair as Luffy's. Zoro was concerned, worried about the implications that these people managed to be at every island they stopped at meant they were being followed. If they were Luffy's friends why hadn't they come around the ship? It wasn't abnormal for Luffy to forget to bring up a subject if they're neglected by those around him. So he wasn't surprised that Luffy hadn't said anything. All he has to do was ask, only each time he thought to do so something came up.
First, it was when they were stuck on that tiny rowboat and Luffy had gotten snatched by that big bird. Next was right after their fight with Buggy, only to be constantly interrupted by their newly acquired navigator. Then when they'd settled into their new ship that had plenty more room for some semblance of privacy, they'd run into his friends after nearly shooting them on accident. On and on the pattern went and eventually they had bigger problems to worry about, like Crocodile and the whole Alabasta deal.
Everything had moved so fast that Zoro barely registered Luffy's golden dagger falling in his haste to pull Vivi away from the Warlord's hook only to take her place and be dragged farther into the desert. Through the shouting and scrambling only the swordsman noticed the sudden appearance of another individual.
"Luffy!" The man screamed, hand outstretched in an attempt to grab him.
"Ace!" Luffy called back, eyes narrowed in determination. "Take care of them until I get back!" He demanded loudly. The stranger cursed, slamming his fist on the makeshift saddle they all sat on.
"Who the hell-"
"Not the time," Zoro interrupted the brewing explosion of questions. He was just as confused as the other but he would trust Luffy's judgment on this. "We need to focus on the task at hand,"
"But what about Luffy?" Chopper asked frantically, pulling at the brim of his hat in distress. Zoro understood his stress and almost felt bad for him.
"As much of an idiot, he can be, we should have faith he'll come back," The stranger turned away from the horizon, surveying the group with steely silver eyes and smiling crookedly. "He doesn't stay down easily,"
"What would you know about Luffy?" Usopp inquired defensively, causing the black-haired man to throw his head back with a loud bark of laughter. He looked back at them and smiled widely, eyes alight with a near manic glean.
"He's my kid brother after all,"
It's a long while before they even make it to the capital. Long enough for the crew to get over the sudden appearance of Ace but not long enough to sate their curiosity. Ace seemed content answering any questions about his and Luffy's shared childhood, happy to delve into more embarrassing moments with a wicked smile. To the others, he didn't seem too worried about his baby brother facing off against a warlord on his own. Zoro could tell otherwise.
Ace continuously kept bringing a hand to his chest, pressing the side of his thumb into his sternum absentmindedly. More than once Zoro caught him looking behind them with a deep frown and furrowed brows. He supposed it was normal for brothers to stress over each other, but he didn't exactly have the experience to call back on being an only child as well as an orphan on top of that.
There was something different to Ace's worry. The visible discomfort in his body language eludes to possible pain even though he didn't seem to be injured.
"Something wrong?" Zoro finally decided to ask after Ace had looked over his shoulder for the tenth time in the last three minutes. Ace whipped his head around to stare at him like some kind of wild animal. Another thing to add to his growing list of odd things concerning Luffy, he and his brother had a certain tinge of feral energy in them. Enough to be slightly concerning at times. Zoro mentally shivered as Luffy's expression when he dug a dagger into Arlong's arm came to mind. "If you know something we don't, wouldn't it be wise to share?" He added, quietly enough to be drowned out by Usopp's loud complaining. Ace seemed to study him for a moment before sighing heavily and running a hand through his sweat-slicked hair.
"You're quite observant. Good quality to have in a first mate," He said with a small smile, hand going to his chest again. "I can't help worrying over a little troublemaker like Luffy," He laughed, eyes taking on a wistful glean as he stared ahead of them.
"Me and Luffy are closer than your average siblings," Zoro frowned at the cryptic response. That much was obvious but once again there was that sense of something otherly coating Ace's words.
"Does it have something to do with those daggers of his?" Zoro found himself asking as he remembered Ace quite literally spawning from the place Luffy's knife had fallen. Ace perked up at the mention of the knives and a smile crept along his face.
"You know of the legend surrounding certain weapons?" He asked.
"Probably not the one you're thinking of," He answered honestly.
"Are you talking about the Blessed Weapons?" Vivi's voice inquired from over Zoro's shoulder. Both men's gazes flitted to the princess who turned beet red as she realized she'd given herself away to have been eavesdropping.
"You've heard of it?" Ace asked, gathering the attention of the others as well.
"I've read about them somewhere a long time ago, but I thought that was just a children's bedtime story," She answered with a perplexed expression.
"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Nami interrupted.
"It's an old legend that two brothers fought together and in an attempt to save one another from death, they begged the gods for power to protect each other and became two swords to serve as the other's weapon. But since they were both swords there was no one to wield them and they were left to rust away as time passed," Vivi informed her. Usopp's face paled and he looked aghast at her words.
"What kind of bedtime story is that!?"
His cry went unheard much to his dismay. Chopper looked between the others and Ace with furrowed brows before a look of understanding dawned on him.
"I know that story! The Doctor told it to me once when he was teaching me how to read!" He explained, excitedly clapping his hooves together. "You mean it's a real thing that can happen!?" He whirled around to face Ace with stars in his eyes.
Ace felt a smile creeping up his face, Chopper's excitement was just as infectious as Luffy's. Just as he was about to form a reply a searing pain entered his chest viciously. He was unable to stop himself from curling into himself with his hands clawing at his bare chest. It felt as if something was lodged in between his lungs, crushing his sternum and taking his breath along with it. He couldn't breathe. His brothers couldn't breathe either. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Something happened and he's so far away from them that it physically hurts. Ace felt a hand rest on his shoulder, the calloused palm leading him to guess it was Zoro.
Hold him for me. Luffy whispered even though his first mate couldn't possibly enter their tightly-knit bond to hear his order. Ace clutched a hand around the swordsman's wrist, trying his best to form a coherent sentence. He could feel his form slipping, flames flickering at the edges of his body.
"Keep going," He gritted out through the pain. "Hold onto me," Zoro's frowning face held confusion but he nodded anyways. And with fleeting feelings of Sabo's thinly restrained panic and Luffy's stubborn pain, Ace succumbed to the darkness that crept along his vision.
Zoro stared at the golden dagger in his hand with narrowed eyes, not liking the implications of what just occurred. The blade sat awkwardly in his palm, the hilt made for hands smaller than his, and the metal too warm on his skin. He took a deep breath and moved his gaze to the others surrounding him.
"We keep moving," He repeated Ace's words. Somehow he knew they were Captain's orders.
When things finally settled down, Crocodile defeated and Alabasta saved from immediate destruction, the daggers flickered from where they sat on the table next to Luffy's bed.
Zoro, as always, is the first to notice it. He watched silently as Sanji and Usopp continued talking from their beds. The air around the silver knife shuddered before being replaced by a man in a single second. It wasn't Ace this time, blonde hair replacing the dark hair the other brothers shared. A blue vest over a white dress shirt was layered underneath a darker blue tailcoat, paired with light gray pants tucked into black boots. On his head was a top hat that had goggles around the rim. A noble? Certainly someone from a family with money by the looks of it but Zoro couldn't be sure if he was also related to Luffy.
"You goddamn idiot," The stranger hissed, knocking the unconscious Luffy upside the head. The other occupants in the room stood to attention at what appeared to be an intruder. Luffy snored away, unaware of the mounting tension surrounding his sleeping form.
"Who are you?" Sanji demanded, eyes narrowed and posture tense. The attempt at intimidation was ruined by the clear exhaustion still hanging around him. The battle had been hard on all of them after all. The blonde perked up at the call, turning around and surveying the room he was in. He smiled widely, and Zoro noted that he shared Luffy's smile in a way.
"Ah, pardon my bad manners," The blonde man chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "We haven't properly met. My name is Sabo, Luffy's older brother," He introduced himself with a polite bow. Sanji shot Zoro a questioning glance, relaxing at Zoro's genuine nonchalance in the situation.
"Luffy has two older brothers!?" Usopp cried out, moving around from where he had tucked himself behind Sanji. Chopper bounced forward, sensing the safety his crewmates signaled in their scents. He looked up at Sabo with wide eyes.
"Are you a blessed weapon like Ace?" He asked in hushed excitement, being mindful of Luffy next to them even if they both knew nothing would wake him any time soon. Sabo's heart warmed at the care his little brother's crew showed. He sat down on the bed Luffy lay in, eyes softening when he looked back to his sleeping brother.
"I am. I don't suppose Ace was able to fill you in on some things?" He asked, lifting his gaze to meet Zoro's.
"He transformed back before he could explain anything important," Zoro replied, closing his eyes and leaning back onto the pillows behind him.
"Yeah, he mostly talked about embarrassing stuff Luffy did as a kid," Usopp added. Sabo laughed quietly, shaking his head.
"I hope he saved some for me to tell," He said before his smile dipped into a tight frown. He stared at Luffy with worried eyes. "When Luffy's in danger or injured enough this sense of ours goes off. It forces us into our weaponized state in a bid to protect him. We're still aware most of the time but if too much stress is put on us we tend to go dormant for a while,"
"So when Ace reverted it was because Luffy got hurt?" Chopper asked, voice small and thick with worry. Sabo nodded, eyes never straying from the sleeping teen beside him.
"It must've been pretty bad," Usopp mumbled, following Sabo's eyes. "You've been dormant for a few days, and Luffy hasn't so much as made a peep either,"
"He's healing rather nicely though," Chopper is quick to reassure Sabo when his body became stiff with more worry. Sabo nods and sends the little reindeer a grateful smile.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Sabo agrees. He moves to hold Luffy's hand and gently squeezes it.