AN: Hello and welcome to my first One Piece Fanfiction! I have wanted to do this for a while now, but couldn't really gather all the thoughts together. So here is what I came up with for a story, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or anything that is made by others.

Chapter 1 - Setting Out

The party at Fishman Island was filled with fishmen and mermaids all around the palace. The guests were going all out, eating the varieties of foods, dancing amongst the crowds, and singing with the music that accompanied the beautiful night passing by.

The Straw Hat Pirates were all doing their most favorable activities. The captain of the crew, Luffy, like at any other party was ready to try all the food, but mostly the meat with Jinbe. Their navigator, Nami, was betting with anybody around to see who could drink the most sake for cash. The instrumentalist, Brook, kept trying to reach the band to find out how they used their interesting looking instruments, but all attempts ended with him being dragged back to the main bubble where the crew resided by beautiful mermaids, unconsciously. The combatant chef, Sanji, enjoyed himself in bliss as he talked to the mermaids, and on occasion, threw himself into the water for them. Ussop the sniper and Chooper the doctor ate their fill of the rich and plentiful candy that was laid out for them, and in-between the servings, rehabilitated Sanji from the repetitive close calls of drowning. The swordsman, Zoro, drank the night away with Franky the cyborg, Robin the architect, and Hachi the six style swordsman.

They had managed to defeat the malice of Fishman Island and were seen as heroes to all, as they partied away. Nami slammed her jug of sake down as she licked her lips staring at her opponent, a fishman, who was on the verge of passing out.
"I give up, take it all" said the fishman as he dropped to the ground.
"Another fur the night" said Nami smiling as she collected the cash from the center that they had bet on.
She had been going head to head with anyone who had the guts and cash to challenge her. Zoro had been watching her as she swept past competitors here and there.

'People are weak drinkers around here' thought Zoro as he took a swig of his drink. He turned his attention back to the story that Hachi was currently telling.
"...And so that's why we Fishmen think its dumb how you humans discriminate on how you look to each other" said Hachi as he sat in a circle with Zoro. Across from him was Hachi, to Zoro's right was Franky, and to the left was Robin.
"That was interesting" said Robin as she sipped some sake.
"You got any stories about swords?" asked Zoro
Hachi drank a cup down and grabbed for a near by bottle "Yeah, I got one that you might like" said Hachi
He filled up his cup and then took a drink, then set it down.
"There was once a fishman who was obsessed with wanting to cut through water, his name was Haro and the idea was kind of ridiculous at the time" said Hachi
Zoro thought for a bit then spoke "It's not hard to do that you know"
Hachi grinned "I don't mean like slice through it and make waves. This guy wanted to slice through it so fast, air would be able to form underwater" he drank more and then continued "You slice through the air so fast, you can send shockwaves at stuff" said Hachi
'So not distructive power, but speed I guess' thought Zoro
"So he gathered the best blades he could across the sea. One day he found a blade that was made of some weird mineral, stuff that was clear. With it, his attacks became far more powerful, but it still wasn't enough to move the water fast enough to make air, and so he kept trying until he died.
Some say that he wasn't far from succeeding" said Hachi as he threw his cup aside and drank out of the bottle of sake.
'The strongest type of blade is supposed to be the one Hawkeye has, but its color is clear not black like his' thought Zoro as he drank from a huge jug.
"This sword, did it have a name?" asked Zoro
"I don't know, but if you want, you can find it for yourself" said Hachi
"What do you mean?" asked Zoro
"Haro lived around here, but not on Fishman Island. He would train out in the sea near here. I'm sure you could find it" said Hachi
"But wouldn't somebody already have it if it was that easy to look for it?" asked Franky
"You have a point, but it wasn't THAT long ago when he died" said Hachi as he finished up his bottle and got another one.
"How long ago was it?" asked Robin
"I was trained under him when I was much younger. Its how I learned to fight using six styles" said Hachi
"Then he must've not trained you good enough if I could beat you" said Zoro
"I was trained under him when he was on the end of his days, so I didn't get much training. But about the sword, I was the only one who went to his home, since everyone thought him as a fool. I can tell you where you can look for it" said Hachi as he drank more.
"Why don't you just take me there?" asked Zoro
"I forgot where exactly it was, but I know where it kind of is" he said
Zoro drank more as thoughts popped up in his mind 'It couldn't hurt to check it out, it might be able to give me a better edge on how to handle power like that...' he thought as he set down his jug.
"Alright, where do I look?" asked Zoro as he stood up and cracked his head to the sides.
"You going to start now? It's pretty late" said Hachi
"I don't care, you gonna tell me or not?" he asked
"Hey! Zoro! Where you going?" asked Luffy as he walked up to Zoro.
"Just to look for a sword out in the sea" replied Zoro as he eyed his captain with meat in his hands.
"Oh, then somebody needs to go with you. Or else we will never see you again!" said Luffy, happy as ever.
"The hell do you mean by that! I won't get lost!" yelled Zoro at Luffy.
"Hey Zoro, I'll go with you" said a drunk Nami with a smile.
"I don't need anybody to go with m-"
"Alright Nami, you take care of him" said Luffy, he was already walking off back to the food before Zoro could say anything else.
"Luffy wait! You-" said Zoro
"Don't worry; even if she is half-way gone, she IS the navigator. She can probably track down the place easy" said Franky grinning
"I can do it myself!" said Zoro frustrated
"Don't be like that! Let's go!" she said as she pointed forward.
'Dammit, I need to shake her off, or else the cook will be more annoying if he finds out about this' thought Zoro 'Wait a second...' he thought as he remembered something.
"Alright fine, we can go..." said Zoro as he passed by the group to grab two huge bottles of sake. He then handed one to Nami and opened the one in his hand.
"...If you beat me in a drinking game" he said grinning
She sat down and opened the bottle up "I'm in!" said Nami

(Later in the night)

Their competition began to attract other people's attention as it progressed. At first, only the other drinkers around them were interested, but they eventually had the entire kingdom focusing on them. Cheers were yelled around them as both Zoro and Nami slammed down their bottles at the same time.

"That makes 22 rounds!" yelled Luffy with glee, excited to find out which of his friends would come out victorious.
"You can win Nami-swaaan!" yelled Sanji
"Zoro! You can't lose now!" screamed Chopper
'Shit, even though she has been doing this longer than I have, she's pulling through' thought Zoro as they both were handed their next rounds.
"This is some of the best stuff we have, so prepare yourselves" said Jinbe with a grin
"I will win soon ya know" said Nami smiling as she opened the next bottle.
"I don't care what you say; sake and swords are my life! No way your gonna beat me!" said Zoro as he opened his and raised it up.
"Readyyy!" yelled Luffy
"Go!" yelled the crowd as they both placed their lips on the curved tops, and drank away. When they set their bottles down, they both knew in their own minds they were finished, but wouldn't admit it as they stared each other down. 'That Jinbe wasn't kidding, it's the strongest shit I've ever had I think' Zoro thought as he struggled to keep his eyes open. They both wanted to taunt the other to lose, but didn't want to risk any moves. 'That... Dick' thought Nami as she fell to the side.
"You win Zoro!" was the last thing he heard before passing out

(...)

The Straw hats were all now in palace rooms, sleeping the night there. After the contest, they had decided to stay to rest since they couldn't navigate without Nami. They had all chosen two rooms to stay in, one for the guys and one for the gals. While the others slept, Robin was awake, thinking about how things have gone since they had finally been reunited, outside on their balcony.

'Things could have gone much better, considering we were separated in a horrible way for two years...' she shuddered as she felt the sensation, when even their fearless captain, Luffy, had decided to flea instead of fight. He NEVER ran or hid, even when everything was completely insane, he hadn't run from opponents until that fateful day. 'But it did help us all gain experience that we might not have, had we stuck together' she thought, looking into the sky. Each member of the crew had gotten stronger because of their individual training for 2 years. 'I'm glad that we are all better now, together again...' she heard a door open from outside and turned to the entrance of their room. The door closed silently from outside, and then she heard steps going down the hallway. 'One of us are up...' she thought as she slowly made her way to the door, and then opened it. She was able to get a moment to see that Zoro had awoken and was walking down stairs. 'How is he up? That much sake should keep him down for at least until tomorrow' she thought at first, but then giggled to herself 'He's still a good drinker, I guess he trained his mind in that way aswell' thought Robin 'But what is he doing at a time like this? I need to at least make sure he doesn't get lost' she exited the room and shut the door slowly and made her way to where she last saw Zoro

(...)

The swordsman had woken up to find Luffy sprawled out on top of him with the other guys around him, asleep. He had shoved Luffy off him and left his room, in search of the hideout. 'I remember beating the witch in the game, so now I can go without her for the sword. If Luffy or the others wake up, they'll stick me with somebody to make sure I don't get lost' he thought as he made his way around the palace. He eventually made it to a wall of water in his way "O yeah, we're still under the sea, how am I gonna get out..." he said, pondering to himself
"Hello Zoro, how's your night going?"
He turned to see Robin standing there, in a black nightgown with a smile on her face.
"I'm fine, you?" he asked wearing his usual green coat.
"I'm good. What are you doing out this late?" asked Robin
"I want to look for the sword, but I can't since I don't have a bubble thing" said Zoro bluntly
"You mean this?" she asked as she pulled out a coral piece from her side.
Zoro reached for the coral, but Robin stepped back, smirking "Not even going to ask for it?" she asked, holding it behind her.
Zoro sighed 'Not going to be easy with me, huh' "What do you want?" he asked
"To go with you" Robin said
Zoro frowned "And why's that?" Zoro asked, crossing his arms. 'There shouldn't be a reason why she would want to... Wait...' he thought
"I wouldn't want to lose a crewmate in the vast sea" she said, leaning to the side. 'Yeah, I thought so' Zoro thought
"I can take care of myself" said Zoro
"Then you can find your own coral piece" said Robin as she turned and began to walk away, a smirk on her face as she waited for him to say something. She had already anticipated that he wouldn't allow her to help him, so she decided that she would try to offer him help, and then act like it was only an offer and nothing more. In reality, she had felt a new bond with the whole straw hat crew, ever since the whole water 7 incident, and knew she wouldn't get any sleep worrying about him. 'He should do it right about...' thought Robin as she made it to the end of hallway.
"Wait!" said Zoro
She turned to see him looking to the side, slightly embarrassed "Fine, let's go" he said from afar.