A/N: Enjoy :)

Surprisingly Zoro was the first one who arrived back at Sabaody Archipelago and at Shakky's bar after the two years the crew had been apart. He was about to go fishing when Silvers Rayleigh showed up and invited him to drink sake with him. Not one to refuse free sake Zoro sat down at the bar with Rayleigh and took a big gulp of the mug that Shakky offered him.

"This is good." Zoro said approvingly.

"Of course it is. Shakky always has the best sake." Rayleigh smirked. "That's the reason I married her."

The woman in question just rolled her eyes at her husband. Taking the newspaper with her, she went over to the couches in the corner of the bar to read it there. Rayleigh looked after her with a smile before facing the swordsman again with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You know, your captain is special."

"He surely is." Zoro nodded. Luffy was not the usual captain one might imagine when thinking about a pirate captain. Smirking slightly the swordsman remembered how he had met Luffy all those years ago. "He just decided that I would become part of his crew when I met him in East Blue. I thought he was crazy, especially after he told me that he wanted to be the new pirate king. However somehow I ended up agreeing to come with him."

"That doesn't surprise me at all." Rayleigh smirked and took another gulp of his sake. "Back in the day Roger was just the same. I lived on a boat when one day he came along and told me that he wanted to conquer the sea and turn the world upside down. First I thought he was drunk, but then I realized that he was serious about setting sail and just like you I found myself going on this crazy journey. It seems like both of them had a way of convincing people to join their crew."

"And you never regretted it." It wasn't a question but a statement.

"I didn't. Not only could I help Roger become pirate king, but along the way I became stronger as well. My strength is slowly decreasing now that I'm older, but I like to think that I was a good swordsman back in the day."

"As far as I can see you are still very skilled." Zoro respected the swordsman in front of him. What he had seen of the fight between Rayleigh and Kizaru had showed him that much. He was searching for the strongest to fight them and despite his age Rayleigh was still an incredible swordsman. Thinking about this Zoro got an idea. "I would like to fight against you."

"I'm sure we can arrange that." Rayleigh laughed. It seemed that the new generation was just as strong-willed and ready to fight as the old one had been. "But I still have to finish your ship so you can set sail as soon as Luffy is here. We'll postpone it because I would like to take my time with fighting you."

"Alright, but my swordsmanship got better since the last time and when we meet again I intend to be even stronger." Zoro smirked.

"So I assume that you spent the last two years training."

"Yes, I trained hard."

"So that's where you got that scar from." Rayleigh gestured to his eye.

"That's just a small scratch, a reminder of a mistake I won't make again when fighting someone strong." Zoro answered. "What about your eye?"

"The same." Rayleigh smirked at Zoro's explanation. The young man took an injury like a real swordsman and Rayleigh couldn't help but think that Luffy wasn't the only one who could achieve his goal. "I'm sure all of you got stronger. Luffy surely did." When Zoro looked surprised at him, he continued. "I sailed over to Amazon Lily to visit him. Actually I swam most of the way because my ship collided with a rock even though I followed a map."

Before Rayleigh could say more they heard a laugh from the corner of the bar and both turned to Shakky, who for a moment put her newspaper down.

"Every ship you navigate sinks. You can't read a map properly and your sense of direction isn't the best."

"You always say that." Rayleigh complained.

"Because it's true. Why do you think Roger never let you navigate the ship?" His wife argued.

"Because we had a navigator."

"And he only got one because you sailed your boat against a rock, just like you did when you visited Luffy." Shakky mentioned.

While Rayleigh complained that he should never have told her about that particular experience Zoro watched the exchange with a small smile on his face. This bickering kind of reminded him of the way Nami and him always argued. Thinking about her made him want to see his friends even more. To be two years apart from each other had been a long time and he couldn't wait to meet them all again and continue their journey. As amusing as it was to watch these two Zoro still wanted to go fishing before he would meet the other, so emptying his mug Zoro stood up.

"Thanks for the sake." He was about to leave the bar when Rayleigh's words stopped him.

"Zoro." When the swordsman turned around he saw that Rayleigh had a serious expression on his face. "Between us first mates, make sure that Luffy makes it out alive."

These words hold more meaning in it and Rayleigh was sure that Zoro knew that. Because Roger and Luffy were similar in a way, the older man was sure that Luffy would get into situations that would be hard to handle just like the former pirate king did. Back then Rayleigh had done everything he could to protect his captain and now seeing Zoro, he was sure that the young man would do the same for his captain.

"That is what my job as first mate is after all, isn't it."Zoro smirked. "And don't forget that you owe me a fight when we meet the next time."

With that the swordsman left the bar, unaware that Rayleigh smiled slightly at his retreating back. Sure, a lot had changed since him and Roger had sailed the sea, but Rayleigh was glad that some things were still the same. While it was obvious to him that Luffy and Roger were similar in a way, he couldn't deny that him and Zoro shared a few similarities as well. If anyone could become the new pirate king it would be Luffy and Rayleigh was sure that Zoro would be right by his side as his first mate the whole way there.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think :)