Started this almost 5 years ago. Five years. That is a long-ass time. And people left me some lovely reviews and I wrote myself into some corners which probably just increased the amount of misery in the world and I do apologize for that. But now! Updated chapters! New chapters! This thing is AU but I'm trying to reconcile it a little better with canon. Just bear with me.

Please enjoy!

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Sanji's shout of "Shitty marines!" was enough to wake Zoro from his nap against the mast. He leapt to his feet and had Wadou out of its sheath before Nami could start to say, "Is that a… white flag?"

The Straw Hat pirates were in the heart of the New World, having successfully reunited after Bartholomew Kuma had sent them to all corners of the world. Zoro looked at Nami as she spoke. She had changed so much in the weeks they were separated – she still wore low-cut shirts and short skirts, but the strappy heels had been replaced by silky-looking black boots, and she bore three spidery white scars that traveled from the tips of her fingers up to her elbows, two on her left arm and one on her right. Those, she had told everyone, were a result of playing with too much lightning. And, in Zoro's opinion, if it were possible the woman had become even more cunning and clever.

He looked over at Sanji, who upon hearing Nami's query had turned his gaze back to the Marine vessel. He hadn't changed much, though if Zoro was perfectly honest with himself, the love-cook was less of a pervert than he had been before the separation. He still doted on Nami and Robin, of course—no change there—but he no longer went out of his way to flirt with other women. Zoro always wondered what had happened to him to make him stop, but Sanji was as tight-lipped about what happened to him as Zoro himself.

As Sanji opened his mouth to agree with Nami, Zoro glanced past him to Robin, whose haunted look had worsened since their separation. Zoro didn't understand the specifics, but he knew she was a slave wherever she'd been, and the experience had made her almost impossible to reach. Luffy was the only one who had gotten her to open up, to begin her healing process, and now… without him, she was sliding deeper into her despair, her doubt.

Zoro faced the Marine ship, and saw it was flying the flag of truce. "Be on your guard, everyone," he warned, sheathing Wadou but keeping his hand on the hilt.

The ship pulled up a moment later, and Usopp approached the side, Kabuto drawn and ready to fire. "What do you want?!" he shouted, hiding his quivering knees behind the wooden side.

"Roronoa!" barked a battle-hardened female voice. "Where are you? I know you're there! Show yourself!"

Zoro unconsciously gritted his teeth and snarled, "I don't take orders from Marines!" The other ship was close enough now that he could see those on the deck. At the fore of the stiff crowd of Marines was her. Tashigi. Her hair was longer but she still wore her glasses and carried that Meitou. He hated her all over again.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked menacingly, thumbing Wadou an inch out of its sheath. He moved to stand beside Usopp, glaring at the Marine subcommander. "Go be with Robin," he muttered to the sniper out of the corner of his mouth.

"Wha-?"

"Just do it."

Usopp looked behind them at the woman in question, and seemed to understand. "... Hai, Zoro." Tashigi was yelling something.

He waited until she had finished before saying, "Didn't catch that. Could you say it again?" His mood improved slightly when he saw her face get red with her anger, but his curiosity grew when she suddenly breathed deeply and calmed down. One of her subordinates said something to her and she nodded. Interesting, Zoro thought.

"Roronoa," she started. "Where is your captain?"

"What do you care? You wanted to talk to me."

"Just tell me, pirate."

Zoro shrugged like it was no big deal. "He's in his quarters, sleeping."

Her brows drew down together in frustration. "Really."

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"Wouldn't he have come up to the deck when you spotted us?"

"… He's tired."

"Dammit, Roronoa! Tell us the truth! Where is he? Is he on your ship, or… or was he…"

Zoro's eyebrows quirked, and something started to nag him about this situation, like something was missing – other than Luffy, of course. What was it?

"Oi, marimo," Sanji called quietly from behind him. "Smoker isn't there either."

Ah, that was it. The picture suddenly made a lot of sense.

"Where's your captain, gaki?"

Tashigi stared at him with a stare that burned. She didn't answer him, but instead turned around to confer with two of her men while the Straw Hat crew waited. After a moment she turned to face Zoro again.

"We need to talk, Roronoa."

"I agree, for once."

She let the remark pass. "We need each other's help if we're going to get our captains back. How about you and two of your crew come over here and –"

"Hell, no. Either you come over here or there's no deal. It's not like we need your help, anyway –"

"Zoro!" cried Nami. "But – what if they know where Luffy is? We have no idea where to even begin to look…"

He closed his eyes in exasperation. "If they haven't really lost Smoker, and he's just hiding in the ship, and we send over three more crewmembers to be caught, do you think we'd ever find him?" he asked her.

He turned his head to look at her for an answer. Her jaw was set and her eyes were hard. "You're right," she said quietly.

"You can come over here," he told Tashigi. "Bring as many Marines as you want."

"Zoro!" shouted Usopp. "Th-that-that's dangerous! Are you trying to get us killed?"

Nami answered for him this time. "They can only bring ten over at a time with their boats. If they tried to bring more over they'd look foolish, because we could take out the first ten before the others got over here." She sent Zoro another one of those looks she'd been giving him since he stepped into the captain's shoes and started making real-time decisions—the one that said he'd surprised her again. "It's safe, baka."

Tashigi took a moment to discuss the terms with her officers and then nodded to him. "We'll be there in a moment."

Zoro nodded back, and turned away from the side. He ignored the rest of the crew as he walked back to the mast, sat down and closed his eyes.

"Wake me up when they get here," he told no one in particular, and fell asleep.

Reviews are still love, but if you don't I will keep posting anyway because five years is a long-ass time and I'm no longer a brat. Cheers~