Chapter Text
Growing up, Yasu was subconsciously aware that something was wrong. She couldn't tell at first. She struggles with many things, as any child would. But sometimes Yasu gets these strange flashes; they don't happen often enough to bother her, but they are still strange. They trigger randomly when she's doing ordinary things. Like when she was eating sushi and she had a flash about eating the same dish in a completely different and unfamiliar environment. Or when her mom took her hunting for the first time, she saw a bear with a cub for the first time, then she got a flash of a cartoonish-looking bear and cub behaving like brothers. One time Yasu had a strange dream, then she was immediately bombarded with a flash of a boy exclaiming that in his dream food ate people.
Were they visions or just her imagination going wild? She has no idea. She calls them flashes because that's what they felt like. They flash before her eyes and leave as quickly as they entered. Oftentimes they last for a few seconds, but on some rare occasions they can last longer, the longest a flash lasted was a whole minute. They would leave her in a daze afterwards, but she always quickly recovered.
The flashes never repeat themselves, but they seem to be connected to each other. The point of view was always from the same person. Who? She has no idea. The person doesn't even speak the same language as her, despite sounding so familiar to her. If Yasu concentrated hard enough, she could perhaps translate a few words, but she never put too much effort into one flash. The mysterious person is a woman, an adult like her mom and dad, she has pale skin, always wears ridiculous accessories, and wears painted nails that are never the same color and design as the last. Yasu has never seen her face, even when she's looking at a mirror; all that comes out is a blur.
It will take a few more years until Yasu discovers the truth, but the first real hint was when her younger brother was born. It wasn't when she was holding this red wrinkling baby, it was when her parents announced his name. Roronoa Zoro.
Huh…
She looks at the baby, barely a day old. No hair has grown in yet, and she hasn't seen his eyes open. And he's very small. But for some reason, when she heard his name, a flash came before her. Of a grown man, muscular and strong, with a serious face, light green hair that reminds her of moss, and the exact same eyes as her dad but he had a scar over his left eye. His name is also Zoro… somehow, she manages to connect that they're the same person.
This is supposed to be Roronoa Zoro?
But he looks so… "ugly."
Unfortunately, she spoke loud enough for her mom to hear.
"What did you say about your baby brother?!"
Mom hit her hard enough to leave a bump on her head. "OW!" She nearly let go of Zoro to tender her head, but restrained herself in time, and Zoro started to cry in her arms.
"Dear! Don't hit her when she's holding the baby!!" Dad panicked; he appeared by her side in an instant, gently grabbing the fussing baby.
"She should mind her manners then!"
Yasu glared at her, "I do mind my manners!! You're just a big brute!!" She pointed at her.
"What did you say?" Mom growled out with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"EEP!! N-nothing!"
Mom is seriously scary, and it shows that she was raised by a bunch of mountain thieves. Yasu was also born in those mountains. She doesn't remember much, but she thinks all of her nightmares originated from there. Thank goodness they live in the village now. Thinking about the rumors and whispers about those mountains always sends shivers down her spine.
"There we go," Dad rocked Zoro until he calmed down. He looked at her, "Yasu, would you like to hold him again?"
Yasu looks at her mom, who didn't say anything but gave her a pointed stare. Yasu nodded, "yes please." He happily handed over Zoro, guiding her to properly hold a baby. Yasu stared intensely at her new brother, trying to see if it would trigger another flash like before, but it didn't.
Why did it seem like she knew him before? His name felt so familiar, yet her parents just revealed his name today.
"Roronoa Zoro…"
Saying his name out loud did very little; she felt a small spark of a connection, but it's not nearly enough. Does she need to repeat his name several more times? Maybe saying it three times before a mirror helps.
She kept staring at her brother, hoping something would trigger the damn flash, and to her surprise, it did. Except it wasn't about Roronoa Zoro, the flash was about a baby. A different baby.
She was cradling this baby with trembling arms, singing a song she didn't understand but felt so emotional. Her voice, usually calm or happy, sounded so raw. The song soon devolves into a heartbroken sob. The baby wasn't moving.
"Yasu, are you okay?"
She snapped out of daze, and looked up to her worried dad, even her mom looked concerned. But why…?
She felt a tear fall down her cheek.
Oh.
She's crying.
Yasu shook her head, "I'm okay, these are happy tears," she said with a smile. What she said is true; she is happy now that she's a big sister, but deep down in her gut lies something unsettling.
Yasu didn't understand why, but it felt like she lost something extremely precious.
The baby stirred in her arms; he wasn't fussing, just stretching and moving his small arms. Slowly, Zoro opened his eyes for the first time.
She looks at dad, "he has your eyes."
He grinned brightly, "he does, doesn't he?"
He leans in closer to get a closer look until mom tugs his ear, "oi! Don't block the view of my children!"
"Gah! Sorry dear!"
Yasu always thought how strange her parents were. Her dad is the strongest man she has ever known; he's the only one in their village who has traveled through the Grand Line and survived, and yet he cowers before her mom. Mom is a talented hunter, but she wasn't a strong swordsman like dad. For some reason, she has this presence that can terrify anyone.
"Are you going to teach him how to fight with the sword like me?"
Dad brightly smiles, "yes. Just look at him, he'll be a great swordsman one day."
As soon as he said those words, another flash appeared.
She saw Zoro again, grown yet not as strong as the first flash. He's on the floor, injured and bleeding, he's crying as he points his sword to the sky. He makes a promise, an oath. She knew exactly what it was. His dream. To become the world's greatest swordsman.
Yasu blinked back to reality.
"-as long he doesn't become a mindless brute."
"I'm sure he can attend school with Yasu. You'll help your brother study, right?" She answered her dad with a nod. "See? He'll be fine, dear, with Yasu watching over him."
Her mom sighed, "that isn't as assuring as you think it is."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Is she trying to say that Yasu is a bad influence? How would she know? Zoro was just born!
"Nothing. I just don't want you to get distracted with your studies by helping Zoro," she slyly answered.
"I can do both!"
Mom rubs her head, messing up her hair, "I know, that's what I'm worried about."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it."
Yasu wanted to ask more, but Zoro began fussing in her arms. "Looks like someone is hungry," dad commented, mom grabbed him without a word. "And it looks like it's time for somebody's bedtime." He lifted Yasu and carried her out of the room.
"But I'm not tired."
"Too bad, you need your sleep. You don't want to be grumpy in the morning like your mom, do you?" She shook her head; luckily for them, mom was too distracted with Zoro.
The family all slept in the same room, but her parents decided to let Yasu sleep in the spare storage closet after Zoro was born. They didn't want her sleep to be disturbed by the new baby. The closet was small, but the perfect size for her. After dad tucked her into the futon, he told her a bedtime story about his time at sea before leaving. The nights have been getting cold, so she has multiple layers of blankets for warmth.
Three flashes in one day, that's a new record, and all of them were triggered by Zoro. One of them was about the woman, like always, but the other two were about baby Zoro as a grown man. Does this mean she can see the future? Maybe it was just a random man, but then why was she so certain he was Zoro? How many Roronoa Zoros' are there in the world?
Honestly, this is just one big confusing mess, and she should stop thinking about it and go to sleep.
Yasu wouldn't realize it now, she wouldn't understand until years later, but Zoro was the key to understanding these flashes.