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Zoro had pictured his death many times before.
Surprisingly, considering the type of escapades he and those he followed got into, the situation he found himself in now never seemed to cross his mind before.
One didn't grow up an orphan, one whose father he never met, and with a mother whose face he couldn't remember, without having death always on his mind. Zoro thought of a dozen instances these past few years where his life could have ended if he wasn't as strong as he was or if he was just a little less lucky.
Given his life as an adult, bounty hunter by trade and Pirate by profession, he knew he was not destined for a peaceful end in bed surrounded by grandchildren. But no matter how much thought Roronoa Zoro put into how he would die, he knew it would come on his own terms. But if he could help it, he would ensure that his crew would be far away from him when it happened.
"I'm the vice-captain!" Zoro shouted, the blood from his eyebrow dripping into his mouth as he called to the rest of his crew. The faces before him were horrified and exhausted as they watched the scene before them play out. "And I'm in charge until Luffy wakes up!"
Their journey was at an end. At least, it was for Zoro as he watched the horizon before him fill with the sight of countless ships.
Marine destroyers and world government carriers cut through the waves from the west like hungry sharks smelling blood, flanked by mind-controlled sea kings pulling and thrashing in the seawater. From the south, the remnants of Black beards armada, the grotesque emperors remaining titanic captains gobbling up all they could of whatever was left of the man's criminal empire before the man's corpse had grown cold, intending to do what their former leader couldn't.
Hundreds of the most brutal and vilest pirate crews to ever sail the grand line, with thousands of murderers and criminals screaming for blood and violence and ready to do anything to get what they wanted. All the riches of the former Pirate King, Gol D Roger.
Zoro could sense the beating of thousands of hearts, the adrenaline, and Haki in the air enough to make Zoro feel like he was drunk. A mishmash army of killers and soldiers, marines and criminals, world government officials, and Yonko crews, ready to destroy the one thing in the way of the fabled One Piece.
The straw hats.
A part of Zoro always knew that sacrifices had to be made to ensure his crew's dreams. Zoro knew when he declared to Luffy that he would never lose a battle again until he became the world's greatest swordsman. He knew he would do what needed to be done on Skypeia or thriller bark, and when he jumped in front of Big Mom and Kido during the battle of Wano.
But it wasn't until this moment that Zoro realized what needed to be done. But, unfortunately, this journey was not a journey all of them would end up surviving. That was the only thing Zoro could think about when he eyed his Captain's sad smile as the crew concluded what would happen.
They had been pushed to their limits, fighting off Blackbeard's ten titanic captains, the remaining beast and Big Mom pirates, and all the world government's power to throw at them for what felt like days on end. But, separated from their allies and the rest of the straw hat armada, they only made the Sunny into nothing more than a moving target. Their home was battered and broken by constant battles.
They were tired and injured, but the ship that had been their home had been flayed and burned to the point where one more direct attack would be enough to send the boat to the bottom of the ocean.
Barely holding together, he heard Franky say under his breath, the cyborg incapable of hiding the tears and sadness from his voice when he spoke.
Most of the straw hat crew knew their chances of surviving the day were slim, and their chances of being the first to reach their destination first and claim the treasure became that much smaller. Which meant they had two options.
Either one crew member stays behind for the rest to safely make it to Laughtale, effectively sacrificing themselves for the rest to get to safety, Or the crew bands together and makes this their last stand. The only prize they could hope to claim was the number of their enemies they could take with them in death and the fact that they would meet their deaths smiling alongside their crewmates.
It was an easy choice for the crew to make.
But it was an even easier decision for Zoro to come to terms with what he had to do long before the rest of the crew had all excepted their deaths.
Chopper was the one who noticed it first. Zoro was proud of the little guy for having the battle awareness to know when someone was preparing an attack. But he doubted the reindeer could have imagined what he was thinking.
So, when Zoro struck his Captain in the back of the head, knocking the rubber man out cold and effectively usurping the throne of the youngest of the four emperors of the sea, the crew, of course, were struck into silence.
Zoro wondered if they thought he would be willing to sacrifice Luffy for freedom, but he chose not to dwell on it too much. He didn't need to spend his last moments will his crew on such things.
Their fears transformed into horror as Zoro spoke,
"Take Luffy and leave," Zoro said, usurping the Captain's power and ordering the crew to the ship as he handed the prone and unconscious body of Luffy into the arms of Sanji, the dumb cook looking even dumber as the cigarette bud in his mouth hit the floor. He turned away from them as he spoke, readying his swords as he did so. The disgust and betrayal on their faces morphed into fear and horror as they realized what Zoro was planning on doing." There'll be here any moment! You can still make it if you guys leave now!"
Tears and shouts, shrieks of pain, and wails of confusion filled Zoro's ears as he put every ounce of his strength into ignoring his friends.
Franky tried to grab him, but the man had been running on fumes through rationing of his last remaining cola. Zoro felt bad about shoving the shipwright into the ground, but it must be done.
Ussop and Brook tried in vain to drag him away. Instead, each man grabbed onto an arm and pulled, the feet of the sniper and musician skidding against the ground in desperation, the sniper tearing open the stitches that covered the left side of his body before the blood loss forced him back to the ground.
Chopper had latched onto his leg, tears streaming down his small face as he cried his little heart out. But, if Zoro was honest, Chopper was the hardest one to ignore, the tiny doctor, and he had been close, so close that the questions of one day being a father he had thought he had put to rest long ago had recently resurfaced.
Jimbe stared silently at Zoro, not saying a word, but his grief etched on his face like the side of a mountain. There was always an understanding between the two, which clearly didn't need words to convey their thoughts. Zoro appreciated that.
Robin and Nami both screamed at him, Nami trying desperately to keep herself angry for her not to cry. Zoro thought for a moment the redhead was only mad because Zoro wasn't allowed to die until he paid back what he owed Nami, but it was a poor joke. It took only a glance at the navigator to see she looked like she was having her heart ripped in two.
"You can't do this!" Robin's voice cracked as she screamed and wailed, the only thing keeping her frozen to her spot being the emotionally destroyed Chopper in her arms. Zoro was sure if the woman could, she would have summoned an entire legion of arms to hold him back.
The chef said nothing as he readjusted the unconscious form of their Captain in his arms as he pulled out his last cigarette from his pocket, a look of acceptance cracking through the shock and fear on his face a moment ago.
"You sure about this, Morino?" The blonde said, his horse voice stunning the rest of the crew into silence, each word sounding like a body hitting the floor.
He and the shitty chef never got along. Like cats and dogs, the two were constantly at each other's throats, always screaming and hollering at the drop of a hat. Zoro could say many insulting things about the man, and Zoro knew the chef could say some equally nasty things about him, but they knew each other as well as they knew themselves. It was probably why they hated each other so much. It was an underlining respect that didn't need words for the other to know was there.
"Never been surer about anything, chef."
The former prince of the west blue said nothing, his face breaking into a look of fear and regret and overwhelming sadness that matched the eyes of the rest of their crew.
Zoro turned away from his crew, their muffled voices nothing more than white noise now as the sound of the armada became louder and louder.
"You need to get going now," Zoro said, his voice filling with the authority and strength that most other captains who sailed through the grand line couldn't hope to muster as Zoro made his first and last official declaration as Vice-Captain.
They took longer than they should have to leave. If the shitty chef wasn't such a dumbass, he could have corralled the rest of the crew the second Zoro made the order, but he shouldn't be surprised. Zoro smiled at the thought. Even when he was about to die, that dumb fuck of a blonde found new ways to screw him over.
"You're the new first mate cook," Zoro said, throwing his words over his shoulder without a second thought. "Make sure you don't screw up and get everyone killed."
The sun dipped below the horizon, marine destroyers and warships the size of islands replaced most of the skyline, the booms of cannons and shouts of hundreds of thousands of pirates, soldiers, and marines that wanted him dead.
Zoro smiled as he charged, wanting to meet his opponents before they even landed on the only patch of sand and rock the straw hats were preparing for their last stand. He would need to keep count mentally of each enemy he defeated. He knew Kuina would want to know how much it had to take for him not to keep his promise to her.
He hoped she would understand.
The sea was blue, and the wind was strong, an absolutely perfect day for sailing according to the ship's navigator, and Zoro had long since learned the lesson against arguing with the redhead by this point in their journey.
He had already suffered through one of her tirades this week and was not looking forward to a repeat performance.
The sunny go sliced through the seawater like a fine blade would an unarmored enemy, the waves offering little resistance to their new ship right and resident cyborgs massive overhaul. "The finest ship in all of paradise!"Frankie had announced over breakfast, or at least that's what Zoro thought the cyborg had said over the sound of their Captain ripping and tearing their teeth into a hunk of pork like a starving man would his first meal after a shipwreck.
But despite the smooth sailing, Roronona Zoro was in a strange mood. One of the few times he allowed himself to fully embrace what his life had become these past few months on the open sea, sailing through the grand line like so many before him to fulfill his dream of being the world's greatest swordsman.
But while that had been his motivation at the start, life has taught him that things change quickly. The world doesn't care for people's motivations, and when fate demands something from you, it takes it from you when you least expect it.
Like it did to Kuina
So one fine morning, instead of napping in the crow's nest after his post-breakfast training session, the famed three swords swordsman, the former pirate hunter and demon of the east blue, and future right-hand man of the king of the pirates, sat silently on the deck of the ship trying to figure out just why he was here at the moment and what drove his destiny to become intertwined with the people he had made a life with as renegades on the open sea.
But most of all, Roronoa Zoro was curious why almost every single one of them was a woman.
"Berri, for your thoughts, Mr. Swordsman?" The silk-like voice of their resident historian, Nico Robin, broke the swordsman out of his thoughts. The older woman put the thick textbook in her hands down as she turned to look at him.
Robin, as always, was the first to notice something was wrong. Zoro wasn't an expert in motherly love; his relationship with his own had been nonexistent even before he had run away. But Zoro liked to think any mother's smile wouldn't be worth its weight in salt if it didn't look like one that graced The scholar's face.
Despite once fighting on the opposite sides of the Alabastron civil war, Robin had more than proved her worth. not just as a fighter or a crew mate, but as the type of person you'd be lucky to have on your side.
"You seem troubled, Zoro, " The smile on her face immediately turned into slight worry as she eyed the crew's second in command."If you need someone to talk to..."
"What's wrong with Zoro!" Ussapa's face entered Zoro's vision; the markswoman and resident sniper leaned over the railing to better look at her crew mate, worry etched on her features." Someone get Chopper! Zoro is sick!"
The future great warrior of the sea was leaning so far over the railing she would have fallen flat on her face if Zoro hadn't caught her as she fell. The former resident of syrup island had a habit of working herself up into a panic over the small things.
Zoro was just happy he was here to calm the woman down before she started hooting and hollering and caught the whole crew's attention.
"I am not sick!" Zoro said defensively, already regretting his decision to not nap when he had the chance. Figures that one day he decides to be a little more social than usual, and his crew will act like this.
"Zoro's sick!" Chopper said, scurrying her tiny feet to get closer to Zoro; while the sniper looked to be on her way to a panic attack, then at least the reindeer girl took the stress of an injured crewmate better. An action that Zoro took great pleasure in seeing." Someone help him into the medical bay stat!"
"He's not sick."Robin said with a soft smile on her face, her cadence doing wonders to calm the hearts of the younger members of the crew like a mother would to frightened children." He decided to spend the afternoon away from training to spend more time with us. Isn't that lovely?"
Zoro watched as both Ussopa and Chopper celebrated, either because of his lack of apparent injury or the knowledge of Robin's Words, Zoro didn't know. He stared at the raven-haired woman sternly, but it did little to wipe the same soft smile off the woman's features. She was enjoying this, that much Zoro knew; he couldn't figure out why.
"Oh, how marvelous!" the voice of their newest crewmate, a living and breathing skeleton spoke from her spot at the expensively decorated sitting table, her custom tea set sparkling in the sunlight as she refilled Robins's now empty cup. "Would you perhaps be able to do something shirtless?"
Brooke was odd, and Zoro meant that in the best way possible. The walking sentient reanimated skeleton was the person on the ship Zoro knew the least about. Which he supposed made sense, considering he had only met her a few weeks ago on thriller bark.
Thankfully they managed to avoid the worst bits they faced the last time.
"Please stop sexually harassing Zoro." Robin chided, raising the teacup delicately to her lips before taking a sip." But, of course, you wouldn't want him to leave, would you?"
"but he just got here!" Chopper said, pouting her lips and trying to make her look as cute and defenseless as possible. Considering Zoro had seen the tiny reindeer rip through a stone wall like it was made of rice paper, it was quite a feat to achieve. "You wouldn't leave, would you, Zoro?"
Before Zoro could answer the youngest member of the crew's question, he was interrupted by another member barreling up onto the deck from her workshop. The blue-haired cyborg, with a bottle of pop in each hand and black char and soot covering her face from yet another long morning of hard work of engineering sat down with a sigh to enjoy the mid-day sun, popping open each bottle of soda with a flick of her finger.
"Where's Zoro-bro going?" she asked, confused. She had walked into the conversation and noted, for the first time, felt confusion and concern grow with the antics of her friends and comrades. Why was Zoro going somewhere? Did someone upset him? Was it her?! Did she do something wrong? Or was it..."Is Sani being thirsty again?"
"Zoro isn't going anywhere," Ussoppa spoke, her arms folded on her chest as she took command of the situation, extremely grateful that Robin and Zoro allowed her to at the very least pretend that she was in charge of the conversation she literally fell into a moment ago. Wheren't they great?" Brooke just asked Zoro if he could take his shirt off..."
"Ooh. Is Zoro taking requests?" the voice of nami interrupted the sharpshooter, the navigator instantly taking the focus of her crewmates the moment she arrived. She sat with a smile, pleasant and friendly but seemingly hiding an emotion that made Zoro feel uncomfortable when she directed at him."Nothing quite like spending an afternoon watching Zoro work up a sweat, right?"
"I'm not taking my shirt off, and I'm not training." the swordsman spat out, the annoyance he had been keeping down now fully taking hold as the desire to make his way back up to the crow's nest to be alone increased by the second. So why the hell did he decide to come here anyway?" Why are you even here? Don't you have a lot of work to do? Isn't that why you had me do your chores last night because you" didn't have time" to do it yourself?"
Not that he cared all too much, but it was the principle of the thing. Nami needed help, and he helped her; despite the cat-like smirk on her face, they both knew she would have done the same for him if he had ever asked her. Not that he would, but the thought was what counted most.
He and the navigator used to rarely get along, bickering less like two logical people in the primes of their lives would and more like cats and dogs. But like so many others in their journeys, Zoro felt something suddenly change in their dynamics as their journey progressed.
She smiled at him more, not the self-important smile she wore when Nami showed someone the error of their ways or even the one she wore exclusively whenever large sums of money were invested.
"Well, you do it so much better than me?" Nami said with a smile, taking the offered cup of tea from Brooke as each member of the crew, even Zoro, took an offered seat at Brookes's table." And I have a lot of work to do. But I decided that it was such a lovely day. So I would do it outside in the sunshine."
Zoro grumbled as he ignored the tea cup Brooke had placed before him until he noticed Frankie tip a glass bottle of what looked like rum into the porcelain cup. He cursed his luck; the one day he had decided to just sit in the sun and rearrange his thoughts, he was forced into having a tea party. What next?
"Any last words, pirate?" the angered growl of the fleet admiral broke Zoro out of his thoughts. His body was broken and bowed, but his spirit was intact, like dented iron spitting in the face of the hammer that had failed to bend it to its whim." Any last words before you die?"
Zoro stared at the bruised and bloodied face of the wielder of the lava devil fruit, The leader of the marine's once pristine white suit stained by gallons of blood that had been spilled by Zorors blades. The swordman's eyes lingered at the stump that was once the fleet admiral's right arm, the fresh blood leaking through the bandages as a new limb of glowing lava began to grow. Zoro lost count of the small fries he had taken out, but he took solace in knowing that he had taken two admirals to his grave and crippled the man who had killed his Captain's brother.
Zoro stood up, the herculean effort only made possible by the lone sword in his hand. The fire of the destroyed world government flagship burned around him as he took another step forward; Kuinna's sword, little more than a cane, was used to keep his body upright as he dragged his broken body along the bloodied and fire soaked ship deck.
He had given his crew everything he could; at the very least, he could give them a few more minutes.
Zoro blinked, the lingering memories of last night's dream coming back to him like the constant dripping of a broken faucet, little by little but consistently. His dreams had felt different since he joined his crew, sometimes becoming far more vivid and realistic than they ever did before, to the point where Zoro had forged supplementing his sleep schedule with naps, only daring to close his eyes for as long as he had to do to avoid losing his mind.
Which, thanks to the women around him, was becoming more complicated and more challenging by the day.
"Zoro!" Chopper cried, sitting on the swordsman's lap to escape the sniper." Ussapa is bullying me!"
The green-haired fighter turned towards the curly-haired woman with a deadpan stare on his face, the sniper looking generally concerned for a moment before Zoro softened his eyes. Something told Zoro that getting angry would not solve whatever issue he was facing and that even if he wasn't sleeping as well as he would like to, getting upset with his crew wouldn't help matters.
"I was not!" the sharpshooter said with a grumble, leaning down her thin but muscular arms to send her furry doctor a look of betrayal as Chopper snuggled deeper into the swordsman's broad shoulder." don't throw me under the bus!"
"I don't even know what a bus is!" the young reindeer said from her new seat on Zoros' lap. "Let alone throw you under one!"
"What is a bus?"
"It's a large metal land vehicle," Robin answered as she sipped her tea, her eyes seemingly never leaving Zoro as she smiled that same knowing smile. "It's trendy in large cities."
"You mean like a boat with wheels?"
Ohohoho that sounds like Franky!"
"What are you two arguing about anyway?" Zoro said as he leaned back into his chair; a voice in his head telling him something about this whole situation felt slightly off. A voice that only seemed to grow louder and more frequent the more they traveled on the grand line." It's too early in the morning to make so much noise."
"It's almost lunchtime!"
"My point exactly!" the swordsman said, his voice deadpan as he eyed the women before him." No wonder I've been having trouble sleeping with all this noise."
If Zoro knew his words would have had the effect they did on his crew mates, he wouldn't have said it. But with that particular can of worms opened, Zoro found himself on the receiving end of increasingly severe looks on his companion's faces, the voice in the back of his head berating him as they did so.
"That certainly explains your insistence on volunteering to keep watch at night," Robin said, her eyes now directly staring at him like he was another one of her research materials. The book she had been reading was closed for the first time since Zoro had sat down. Her eyes bore into his own, but for what reason Zoro couldn't imagine."If I had known..."
"You can't keep secrets like this from us, Zoro-bro!" franki said, pulling what looked to be a hospital stretcher out of the now open compartment of her mechanized chest plate. She had nearly spat out her cola onto a frightened-looking Brooke.
"Have you been having trouble sleeping, Zoro!?" Ussapa said worriedly, her tone covering just slightly above her "freak out" tone used for emergencies or when the Captain did something stupid." Have I been keeping you up at night? I'm so sorry! I promise I won't do it again..."
"How many fingers am I holding up!" the crew experienced doctor shot to action but lost much of her calm-headedness from the comfort of the relaxing tea party. Or at least Zoro thought as much, considering the reindeer doctor had no fingers to speak of on her small hooved hand."Are you running a fever! Someone calm Zoro down so he doesn't freak out! DO YOU HEAR ME! NO ONE FREAK OUT!"
Nami just stared at him and smiled, as if the chaos that had been unfortunately unleashed on him at that moment was the most entertaining thing in the world.
"Everyone, calm down," Zoro said, standing up and stepping away from the assembled women before they started to go crazy. "I skip a few naps, and everyone decides to lose their damn minds."
"Zoro-Kun isn't taking his nap!"
Oh god, no...
The voice came from the gally; the smell of freshly baked sesame bread and savory glazed pork filled the air, and for a moment, Zoro thought he could hear his gods mocking laughter. As if whatever deity was looking down on him took pleasure in seeing Zoro twist and squirm as the hell demon known to the rest of their crew as "the Chef" got way too close to Zoro for comfort.
The sultry smile never left her face as she took in every inch of his body, clearly enjoying what she saw as Sani hoisted the massive pot of what she called the goddess of the sea stew, a modified recipe of the same stew the cook once said had saved her life on more than one occasion. Whatever that meant.
"Oi marimo!" The blond said with a smirk and a wink as she looked at the swordsman like their Captain would a hunk of beef." If you're gonna get in my way, the least you can do is get closer to me when you do!"
Sultry and sexy. Two adjectives that described the woman in front of him perfectly but made the voice in the back of Zoros' head want to find a short pier to take a long walk on.
But as Zoro sidestepped the beautiful blonde, the grateful woman giving him another wink that promised bodily pleasure the moment e asked, Zoro couldn't help but be reminded of his original question.
Why were there so many women in his life?
They weren't this many in his previous life.
Maybe I really am in hell." Zoro muttered to himself as he ignored the specific reason why all the vegetables in his seafood stew were heart-shaped. It was the only explanation for why he had to spend the rest of his days being the subject of gender-bended Sanji's sexual and romantic desires. "Nothing else can explain this shit."
The moment he had taken his last breath, his bloody smile staring down into the dying eyes of the fleet admiral, he had felt like he had been transported to the other side of the world. It felt less like he had woken from a dream and more like some giant creature had lifted him into his hands and thrown Zoro as hard as he could into the side of a mountain.
It had hurt like a bitch.
But when he realized he was back in the same little marine base in the same little Piece of east blue Zoro had first met Luffy, he was confused. But more than that, he felt the uncontrollable urge to find his crew members.
By the time he had found the two nameless blades he had wielded alongside Wado Ichimonji at the start of his career as a pirate, Zoro had come to terms with the new and, by far, weirdest shenanigan he could remember getting himself involved in.
An island floating in the sky, ruled by some scum fuck who thought he was God? Sure, why not!?
Some mad scientist making an army of zombies for a giant talking clown? Weirder sure, but who was he to judge?
But time travel?! That's where he drew the line!
"Eat it while it's hot and before the captain decides she wants it all." the cook said as she finally sat herself down, directed in front of Zoro's seat, licking her lips as she watched the swordsman sit back down." Again."
"ooooh, is this glazed pork belly!" Ussappa said with a smile as she took her first bite of meat, almost melting into her seat as she did so." This is heavenly. You really are a godsend, Sani!"
"Yeah, it's delicious, Sani-bro," Franki said with a thumbs up. Of course, she was a cyborg and didn't need to eat food to survive, relying solely on her trademark cola. But even so, Franki knew a good meal when she saw it, eating more in the past few months she had been on the ship than she had in the last ten years of her cybernetic existence." This stew has got to be the best in all of paradise!"
"What's the special occasion, Sani?" Nami said as she poured herself a glass of freshly squeezed tangerine juice; the bright citrus flavor was the perfect add-on for the richness of the shrimp and scallops of the stew." It's not every day you break out this stew."
"You're not trying to impress anyone in particular," Robin spoke with a knowing smile that hid something from view. Zoro didn't know what it was or what Robin was implying, but he knew there was something there. Sani knew it too if the sly smirk on her face was anything to go by." You certainly spoil us regardless."
"Nothing of the sort," The blonde said as she poured herself a glass from the rose wine bottle she had stashed in her back pocket as she corralled the considerable assortment of food to the table." We'll be at Sabaody Archipelago in a day. A perfect chance to refill any supplies we might need, so we can splurge a little more than usual.
"Speaking of restocking the kitchen, where is the captain?" Robin said, her tone light as her eyes traveled across the assembled faces and found one missing." But, of course, it isn't like her to skip lunch..."
"Did someone say lunch!?"
The voice was loud and abrasive; in some ways, it reminded Zoro of how things used to be and how he secretly hoped when he woke up in the past. So it would have been again. But like the rest of the crew, Luffy was different than how he was before.
Because Luffy was now Luffie, and he was now a she.
The Captain fell onto Zoro with the practiced grace of a baby hippo, her rubber backside crashing against the swordsman's lap with enough force to break the pelvis of lesser men. Zoro couldn't see his Captain's face, but he could see the looks of the other assembled women around him, and if the eyes were anything thing to go by...
...Well, to be honest, Zoro didn't know what those looks meant, but he knew it wasn't good.
Not that the Captain of the straw hats paid much attention stuffing a piece of roasted pork belly the size of Chopper into her mouth. The happy wiggle her lower body did against Zoros's lap showcased her approval of the offered meal, smiling graciously at the woman who prepared it for her.
"This is delicious, SANI!" the child-like innocence of the young woman's words seemed to melt whatever weird looks she was getting at her arrival. It was impossible to stay mad at Luffi's smiling face, even when she did something idiotic. "Have you tried the pork Zoro! Come on, try it! Try it!"
The rubber woman twisted her upper body to look into the eyes of the crew's defacto second in command and only male. Shoving a piece of moist pork into the swordsman's mouth before he could complain about being his Captain's seat.
"Luffie, for the love of god, can you get your pork out of Zoro's face..." The blonde chef said as she narrowed her eyes at the two, not enjoying what she saw. "You're getting your juices all over him."
Luffie placed an embarrassed smile on the back of her head as she leaped off Zoros's lap and into what she called her "Captains chair" at the head of the table. It wasn't anything special, just an ordinary chair identical to every other chair on board the ship. She had just called "dibs" on that particular chair the day they left Water 7, declaring it the "most captaincy" chair on the ship and using it exclusively.
Or at least Zoro thought it was the same chair; no matter where the famed straw hat Luffie sat, it was always next to her first mate.
"Sorry about that!" she enthusiastically said, chomping into another hunk of pork."I'm just so excited to get to the next island! I hear they have an amusement park and everything!"
"It's also near the marine headquarters." Nami said as she placed her arms under her chest, her words a stark reminder to the rest of the crew to be on their best behavior while docked." That means keeping a low profile, you got that?"
"yeah, yeah, yeah." Luffie said as she leaned back into her seat with her trademark grin, her mood not dampened despite her navigators' words." I'm just so excited! Sea Baby is the last island before we hit the new world! It's going to be so fricking cool!"
"It's the Sabaody Archipelago. Not Seababy..."
"Whatever it's called, it's the official halfway point on our travels!" the Captain said as she raised her glass of juice above her head, like a half-remembered toast she had once seen done years before." that means we are one step closer to our goals!"
"I'll drink to that!" Ussoppa joined her Captain, raising her glass with Viger, followed by the rest of the crew. Chopper needed both hands to hold her glass and thanked Zoro as he lifted the tiny reindeer up towards the group, "To our amazing journey and to everyone who helped us where we are today!"
"Cheers!" the crew shouted, the sounds of wooden mugs clashing against wine glasses filling Zoror's ears enough to make him momentarily forget the absurd situation he had found himself in. Despite the weird changes, these were still his family, his crew. He would kill anyone or anything that got in the way of their happiness. "A special toast to the best first mate a crew could ask for!"
"To the future world's best swordsman!"
"To the strongest man in the world."
"To the first man I ever met."
"What's this all about," Zoro said as he quirked an eyebrow at the declaration. Sure, his crew were never above some good old-fashioned celebrating, especially when one or more did something worth celebrating. He remembered sharing Ussops first drink both times around when he and she respectively won their first fights. But Zoro could remember him doing anything lately that deserved them all cheering his name like this.
"You literally beat a warlord of the sea." Nami said, looking at Zoro like he was a puppy who didn't know he had done something to deserve a treat or a new toy." You just saved all our lives back at thriller bark."
"Luffie beat a warlord of the sea too." Zoro said, granted, mori was as much of a lightweight in this world as she was when he had left, but a warlord was still a warlord." I didn't do anything extraordinary."
Zoro grumbled as his crew looked at him like he had grown another head. First, there was his normal nonchalant about what he did or could do, and then there was this. Apparently, being Kumo, especially in how he did, deserved more than a shrug of his shoulders as he went about his day.
"Yeah, and Sani literally baked a cake the size of an elephant to celebrate that," Nami said, her eyebrow quirked slightly at Zoro's refusal to be in the limelight. The man was notoriously humble to a fault for a guy trying to be the world's greatest swordsman. "And now we're here to give a taste to you."
The way you beat the Kuma lady?" Franki said, moving her hands as if the memory of the swordsman attack had been more of a work of art instead of the brutal show of power it had been." it's beautiful, bro!"
Zoro said nothing, knowing better than the rest of his crew the reasons why Zoro did not want to celebrate his victory. Bartholomew Kuma, or as this world knew her, Beatrice Kuma, the former queen of the sorbet kingdom and founding member of the Revolutionary army. He never claimed to be an expert on the greater meaning of the world. Still, the moment he heard Jewelry Bonney tearfully explain the history of her Father, Zoro was man enough to admit he felt regret for every bad thing he ever thought of the cyborg.
He couldn't think badly of anyone willing to sacrifice his freedom and his inevitable life to save their loved ones. So when the towering figure known to this timeline as The Tyrant Queen Beatrice Kuma, who looked way more like jewelry than Zoro ever thought his male counterpart did, arrived, Zorors first thought wasn't to think of the figure as a threat.
A mistake he had learned to regret once he saw the still willing and able to fight Luffie stand up to her second warlord opponent of the day; Zoro knew that even with her increased strength, Luffie could get hurt if he didn't do something.
But he knew he had to make it quick, less out of a desire to flex his muscles to show off and more out of the desire to minimize the chances of bringing the black-clad woman more harm than was needed.
Which meant he had to get serious, if only for a moment.
"Indeed! You were!" Brooke said, literally singing his praises as she refilled her teacup; Zoro noticed a more spiced and savory aroma indicating one of Brooke's "dinner" tea blends. "Simply marvelous! As a fellow swordsman, I must say I have never seen such grace and skill in such a remarkable-looking body! Mayhaps if you could eat lunch shirtless..."
"A certain pink-haired young woman in thriller bark certainly thought so," Robin said with a small smile. Zoro couldn't be sure if the scholar noticed specific crew members shift in their seats at the mention of Perona, but he knew the damage had been done. "You certainly inspired that woman quite well enough."
Nami said nothing, but the way she sipped at her juice and looked at Zoro out of the corner of her eyes showed Zoro that she knew what Robin was talking about. Then, Ussappa stopped eating, staring at Zoro patiently for an explanation. All the while, Frankie and Brooke sipped at their respective beverages, clearly enjoying the show in front of them.
"...Yeah her..." Sani said with a strained smile, looking almost like her male counterpart when he discovered Zoro and Perona had spent two years alone in their previous timeline." why don't we...not talk about her..."
"But I only beat that giant leak lady because you've been training me!" Luffy said with a smile, pride in her accomplishment, not dimming her appreciation for the hard training her first mate had convinced her into getting involved in." That fight would have been way more brutal without that Haki stuff!"
Zoro remembered back a few short weeks ago at thriller bark, the image of a laughing Luffie running circles around the towering body of this timelines Moria Geko. Whatever issues Zoro could remember his Captain having when dealing with the warlord were gone. The Shadow-Shadow devil fruit user was nearly in tears by the end of her rather embarrassing defeat at the hands of the rookie straw hat.
Zoro knew introducing the concept of Haki to the crew so early would pay off in the end, with Luffie securing victory after victory against everyone and everything that stood in her way this time. Crocodile, Luchi, Enel, and now Moria had found themselves on the unfortunate end of flurries of Haki-infused fists, far more leisurely this time around.
Zoro was confident that no one below the rank of a vice admiral could hope to beat Luffie at this point, and if Zoro had his way, he would help her get even stronger once the Marineford war was avoided.
"Look at these guns!" Ussappa said, showing off her newly developed biceps that only started to become noticeable because Zoro had forced her to work out with him in the mornings." I'd still be a beanpole if it weren't for you!"
"You're still kind of a beanpole Ussapa-bro..." Frankie said, ignoring the pained look of betrayal across the sniper's face. "But yeah, zoro-bro, you're like a freaking monster. I don't think we would have made it this far if it wasn't for you."
"You would have." Zoro wanted to say, knowing the potential power of each person before him. He hated that they attributed their progress to him more than themselves. But if he wanted them to have a little head start on their journey, it was a price he needed to pay, despite how uncomfortable it made him feel. "I'm just a swordsman, nothing more and nothing less."
"Just a swordsman wouldn't be able to fight an admiral to a standstill." Robin said as she stared deeper into his eyes, looking less like the all-knowing den mother of the crew she does typically and more like a panther on the prowl." You may be far humbler than is needed.
"As much as a turn on a humble man is for me, Morino, I agree with everyone else here." The cook said as she maintained eye contact with Zoro while sipping her wine. "Be a good boy and learn to take a compliment."
"Fine." Zoro grumbled as he lifted a bottle of sake that had appeared next to his plate, Robins's still smiling face telling him a hidden set of hands had been the culprit." Nevertheless, I will take your praise with the dignity and respect of my position."
He sounded like a moron, but the crew clearly found it endearing and far from Zoro to not act just a little sillier than usual if it meant his crew was happy.
"Speech, speech, speech!" Brooke said as she clasped her bony hands together like a megaphone. The rest of the crew slowly joined in until everyone at the table practically stomped their feet, waiting for Zoro to talk.
... like a bunch of jackasses.
"I'll give you a speech. I'll let you guys sing my praises whenever you want, but only if you agree that you guys are the ones who deserve most of the credit." Zoro started opening the bottle of sake with his teeth as he raised it high above his head in a toast." Everyone here deserves just as much credit as me for how they've improved. You put the work in it; I just helped a little."
The crew was quiet as Zoro spoke; even Luffie had sat back down as she stared at her first mate with rapt attention as he said it. The rubber woman ignored the delicious smells of the food in front of her for the first time since the meal had started, something Zoro wasn't even sure any Luffy in any timeline had that type of willpower, but here she was.
"Everyone on this crew has each other's back; that includes me. I'll protect you guys with everything I have left, and when your burdens are too much for you to carry on your own, I'll be there to help you when you need me." Zoro watched as each crew member stared at him long and hard as he spoke, each giving him looks he never quite remembered seeing on their face before today. But then again, he could count the times he was forced to give a speech like this to one or more of them in this life or the previous. "But for every accolade you give me, I want you to give yourselves tenfold for all you've done!"
The table erupted with another round of applause, and lunch could continue. Zoro never forgot why he couldn't sleep, but it stopped being that important after a while.
Zoro felt he wouldn't get back to his regular sleep schedule until after the marine ford war was avoided; Unfortunately, the desire for a good old-fashioned midday nap wasn't the only thing he had to worry about until he could contact Mihawk again.
He just had to hold on…
Zoro mentally sighed, his outwardly stoic face not betraying the uncomfortable feeling creeping into his gut.
So far, he'd been able to stay strong, resisted temptation, and by God, he wouldn't let his baser instincts take hold of him. But by God, why was it so much harder this time around?
But he couldn't deter them from their desires. Desires they happily advertised, even as they broke out into gossiping and giggling. Zoro saw Robins's bedroom eyes, the blonde chef arching her back to announce what was his for the taking, felt the sharpshooter's nervous foot shyly trace its way up his leg as Namis hand on his thigh tracing higher and higher…
The new way the Captain wore her clothes was better left unsaid, as her shorts seemed to shrink shorter by the day, and her top seemingly lost a button every time Zoro saw her now.
But they didn't go as far as they could. Zoro stayed firm- stayed strong and didn't give in to temptation. He just… just had to get through the Marineford war. He had to ensure he could protect his crew and ensure they were ready for the battles ahead of them.
All he needed to do was buy time.
"So, is it okay for all of us to sit on Zoro's lap, or is that just a "Captain" thing?
Because Zoro slowly began to realize he had something far more pressing he had to worry about now.