Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Ever since Zoro was very young, he had always had a red string tied around his little finger on his right hand. It had been there, probably since Zoro was two, and he didn't know how it had got there. It had simply appeared one day. He wasn't sure how it had gotten there, or why no one else could see it. No one could touch it, either, and it just went right through things. Eventually, Zoro began to ignore the red string. It wasn't doing any harm and it wasn't getting in the way of his goal, so it didn't really matter to him.

One day, when Zoro was around 7, an old woman stopped by the dojo. She was traveling, looking for her son apparently, and was only staying there to rest a bit. One night, she offered to tell a story to many of the younger children. Zoro, who was training nearby, overheard her.

"Has anyone here ever heard of the Red String of Fate?" she asked. The children all shook their heads, so she continued "It's an old myth, that says everyone has a red string around their pinky finger" she held up her finger to show the kids "and it connects us to our true love. It means you and them are destined to meet, and though it might stretch and tangle, it will never break, no matter what." the kids all seemed excited by this prospect, wondering if they had one and who theirs was connected to.

Zoro looked to his hand. Sure enough, there was that little red string, right on his pinky finger, just sitting there. He knew the thing never broke, he'd tried to cut it and untie it and even burn it once, but it was still there. But he hadn't really given thought to what could be on the other end. But thinking there was another person there...? Zoro wondered if they could see the string, too. He wanted to ask the woman if she knew anything about the strings, but she had gotten up and was walking into the dojo once more. So Zoro sighed and continued training. He wouldn't get stronger if he just sat there thinking about some undersized rope.

A few years later, Zoro decided to head out to sea in search of Mihawk. He contemplated following the string to see who was on the other end, but decided if they were "destined to meet" the way that old woman had said so many years ago, that he'd end up running into the person eventually. So he'd go acheive his dream, and if he hadn't run into the person on the end of the string by then, he'd go find him when he was the best. Though he had decided that, no matter what happened, he always found himself heading in the direction of where the red string went off into the distance. It kept throwing him off his course. As much as Zoro would want to know who was on the other end, his dream was more important. So he continued on his journey, and continued to try to ignore that stupid thread.

One day, he found himself tied to a cross in some stupid Marine Base. After being there for days, his little thread began to act up. It tugged so it was on top of the wall, instead of going through it the way it was earlier. He was surprised when a boy in a red vest and a straw hat who couldn't have been older than 17 ran up to him. But that wasn't what surprised him. What shocked him the most was that, connected to the kid's little finger on his right hand, was a red string. More specifically, the same string that was attached to Zoro.

By the end of the day, Zoro and the kid (Monkey D. Luffy, apparently. Odd name) were pirates, sailing the seas. Not exactly what Zoro had planned, but it didn't hinder his dream any. Besides, he finally found out who was on the other end of that thread.

"Why were you so insistent on having me join you?" Zoro asked one day, out of the blue.

"Hmm?" Luffy asked "What do you mean?"

"Join your pirate crew. When we first met, you were really persistant about it" Zoro clarified.

"Well... this is going to sound a bit weird, so don't laugh" Luffy said.

"I'm a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. 'Weird' doesn't really phase me anymore" Zoro countered. Though in the back of his mind, he wondered what could be so odd Luffy wouldn't want to say it.

"Uh, since as long as I can remember, there's been this little thing" he said, holding up his right hand "it's a little red string, and I never knew what it meant or where it lead. But when I met you, I finally found where it ended"

There was gonna be more, but that looked like an amazing place to end and the rest of what I had was kinda bad so I stopped there.

I've always loved the story of the Red String of Fate, and I've always thought it was an interesting concept. But there is no ZoLu fanart with it in it (that I've seen), so I was a little bummed. I wanted to do something about it, but I can't draw for my life. So I did what I can do, which is write, and this happened.

So yeah, my first ZoLu (which I'm excited about) story here! I hope you liked it! Reviews are radical, and follows and favorites are fabulous!

- Lew-chan :D