Red String of Fate

Written By: Kawaii Neko Nami

Beta-read (25th of October: this series will be beta-read by UnknownAlicex3 from now on.)

A/N: Uhm, this is just an idea that popped into my head all of a sudden when I was reading 'Brand New Ending' by Kasumi Karen. Don't worry, I didn't copy her work, I just love single father Zoro a lot and while reading her story, it kinda gave me an idea! ^^ Between, yeah, it took me a long time to write another One Piece story again a-and I hope my skill isn't as bad as before… =="

Disclaimer: I'm not a Japanese and I do not live in Japan, neither am I a boy or a manga artist… so no, I do not own One Piece or else, Zoro and Nami will have been together already… The front page picture isn't mine as well; don't ask me where I get it because I had forgotten just how many years I had kept on collecting Zoro x Nami's photos. O_e

Warning before you read: Remember, this is an AU story. Everything could change. The age of the characters, the family relationships, the characteristic and I added a few OCs as the future children in this story. :T So yeah, characters might be a bit OOC-ness in this story.

Prologue:

Worst First Encounter

"Daddy! Daddy!" a little girl exclaimed excitedly as she stomped into her father's room. She wasted no time to climb up on the king-sized bed where a figure was sleeping peacefully. The girl frowned as she noticed her father still sleeping comfortably and decided to sit on her father's chest before smacking his chest repeatedly. "Wake up, daddy! Wake up! Rise and shine!"

The loud snore turned into a groan as one of his emerald orbs open lazily. "Kuina…? How did you get on my bed?" The man asked as he yawned loudly. His daughter starts to giggled as she got down from his chest. "I climbed, daddy!"

Zoro smiled softly as he ran his fingers on her short green hair . "I see…but don't do that again, okay? You might fell down the next time."

"Mouuuu, daddy~ I'm not a baby anymore! I won't fell down; I'm not like aunt Tashigi!" Kuina pouted as her father merely chuckled. She is so adorable, confident and lovely. Well, she is his daughter after all.

"Alright, alright. Kuina's a big girl now." Zoro grinned and ruffled his daughter's wavy hair, ignoring the pout from the little girl as she knew that his father was just teasing her.

"Still, don't do that again alright? I don't want you to get hurt." Zoro said sincerely.

"But I'm not a little girl anymore..." Kuina insisted as she looked up at her father.

"Fine, fine, my little princess. Shall we go down then?" he didn't wait for his daughter to respond as he picked her up and carried her out of his room, ignoring his daughter's protest.

"Stop calling me a princess, daddy! I'm not a princess, I'm a swordswoman! Also..." Kuina trailed off as she broke free from her father's hold. Zoro blinked as she ran a few steps away from him before turning around and putting her tongue out rebelliously.

"Daddy, you are smelly! You didn't brush your teeth either! You're dirty!" Kuina exclaimed before running away from her father.

Zoro could only sigh at his daughter's behaviour.

In the dining room, Zoro saw two plates of golden brown pancakes, a long thin vase of red flowers, a small pitcher of chocolate syrup and a bowl of whipped cream ready to be spread on the fluffy pancakes that lay perfectly on the dining table. He stared in awe as he placed his daughter on the chair nearby.

"Kuina… is this all...for me?" he asked his daughter, his fingers touching the petals of one of the red flowers. Kuina grinned and nodded her head. "Yep! Daddy is always busy with works so… I think that you deserve a nice breakfast once in a while. "

Zoro took his seat and poured a generous amount of melting chocolate syrup on his pancake. He looked his breakfast for a while before turning his attention to his daughter. "Thanks, Kuina… for doing so much for me." He watched her for a moment with a small smile on his face.

"Nuu-uh. Daddy should thanks aunt Tashigi instead. She was the one who taught me how to cook pancakes two weeks ago." Kuina giggled as she remembered how her aunty had made a mess in the kitchen just to taught her how to make pancakes. It took both of them an hour to clean up the mess before her father was back.

"Ah, really? Well, I'll thank her later then." He gazed absently at her features. From her short, wavy green hair, strong and confident sapphire blue orbs to those lips that smiled brightly at him. She truly is his daughter and the reason for him to live till now. Kuina will always be his pride and joy in life.

He remembered the day when his wife died. Zoro felt like everything in his life was over and he truthfully, wanted to kill himself. However, the reason why he didn't do anything reckless was Kuina, who was 2 years old at that time. Those blue orbs looked at him lovingly as her tiny hands rubbed the tears that ran down from his eyes gently. She even smiled to him and comforted him although he knew that deep inside her small heart, she was also crying for her mother's death. His daughter had pulled him out from the sad past he was suffering and brought new happiness to his life.

"Daddy, why aren't you eating? Is something wrong?" Kuina's voice brought him back to reality as he was finally back from his own world. He looked at his daughter who had some whipped cream and chocolate syrup spread on her cheeks. Zoro chuckled at her childish look.

"Nothing, it's nothing, Kuina. I'm just thinking about the meeting I am going to have tonight." Zoro murmured as he gently touched the red flower petals once again. However, this time, he noticed just how familiar the flowers looked at closer inspection.

"Kuina… you didn't just plucked these flowers from our neighbour's garden...did you?"

"NAMI!" the high-pitched voice of a 40 years old woman echoed throughout the whole cafe. The so-called orange haired woman flinched when she heard her name being called and she could only begged every god she knew that she won't be fired...again.

'Oh dear god, what have I done wrong this time?' the young orangenette thought to herself as she walked over to her boss, who was holding a thick stack of papers in her hand.

"Nami, what do you think these are?" she handed the stack of papers to the younger girl. The orange head frowned slightly when she took a glance on those papers and noticed that they were the lists of complaints she had gotten from the customers. She looked up at her boss and smiled ever so innocently, hoping it will get her out from her troubles.

"It's… papers, right?" she asked her as she showed off the most innocent and adorable look she could muster to her short-tempered boss.

"PAPERS?!" Her boss repeated as she slammed the stacks of papers down on her wooden table, making the orangenette flinched in return.

"They are not any ordinary 'papers'! These are the complaint lists you get from the customers you served this month! It's about either you spilled their drinks or food on them, you being too late at bringing them their food or you just simply punched them like they're some freaking punching bags!"

'But it's very normal for a teen girl like me to punch those perverts who dared to harass me, right?' she want to yell out as she remembered those perverted customers who groped her ass and stared at her body lustfully. However, knowing that she might lose her job if she yelled at her boss, she decided to keep her anger deep inside her heart.

"You're bringing my business down here, Nami! You...You're fired!"

'Okay, screw that. What was the use of staying calm when your boss is short-tempered and has no pity over a jobless girl? Sigh, life is just so perfect, isn't it?'

Nami sighed furiously as she threw her apron on the floor and stomped out of the café, sitting on the curb by herself and wallowing in self-pity as she muttered curses in all the languages she knew to her evil, heartless witch-like boss.

'Perfect, this is just freaking perfect. Isn't my life just amazing?' she scoffed sarcastically , a dark aura emitted from her as she wrecked her brain to find a way on how to survive for the next few days before she could find a new job.

Well, it's not as if a skillful and gorgeous architect like her couldn't work in an office like what most of the architects normally do. It's just that somehow...let's just say that she had been very unlucky these days. First, she had to quit her job as an architect in one of the most infamous companies called Arlong Park because she couldn't stand that evil boss of hers. Second, she became jobless since no one believed that a twenty-five year old woman could ever be a skillful and professional architect which...she is, actually. Third, well...she had finally got a job as a waitress at a little café called Whiskey Peak and was just fired from; which also makes her jobless once again.

Nami flinched when she felt her phone vibrated in her back pocket. With tears still streaming down on her pale cheeks, she flipped her phone open without even looked at the caller ID. "H-Hello?" she asked in the receiver as she tried to stop those tears that was still running down from her melted chocolate brown orbs.

"N-Nami, are you crying?" the caller asked worriedly and it took the orangenette a few minutes to realize who was calling her.

"N-Nojiko!" she could feel those tears stopped when she heard the comforting tone of her elder sister. She tried to smile and hurriedly wiped the tears forming at the edges of her eyes.

"O-Onee-san? I-I thought that you're still working by now..." Nojiko is Nami's the half-blood sister since they shared the same mother but had different fathers. Her sister was the only one who was nice to her and had always been there for her when she needed her the most. She cared for her a lot but right now, she felt like she can't even face her sister anymore. Nami was too ashamed for disappointing her late mother and her always loving sister.

"Stop trying to change the subject, Nami. You know that you're a bad liar." The purplenette from the other side of the phone stated protectively as Nami bit her lips. She understands that she could never hide anything from her sister who seemed to be able to see through all her lies.

"I-It's just that I...I got fired from my job… I-I guess bad luck strikes at me again… hehe…" she gave a half-hearted laugh to her sister as the purplenette from the other line frowned.

Hating the depressed and sad atmosphere, Nojiko tried to cheer her sister up as she looked at her watch. It was 2.30 pm and she doesn't have much work left. She knew that she only needed another ten minutes to finish them off. If she walked a bit faster, she might be able to reach the cake shop nearby in another twenty minutes. Everything will be perfect then if she manage to rush back to their apartment earlier than Nami.

"Nami, be home before 4 o'clock okay?" the older sister told her gently, hoping that the surprise she brought along with her when she arrived home will at least cheer her up.

Nami mumbled a soft 'okay' before ending the call with a 'goodbye' to her sister. Once again, she was alone. She stared at the ground, as if hoping that it could swallow her. It was then when suddenly, she saw a small hand holding a piece of handkerchief in front of her. As she titled her head, she saw a little girl around five to six years old stared at her as she gently wiped those salty tears at the edge of her eyes away.

"Onee-san, why are you crying alone? Do you need company?" the little girl asked as she sat next to her, titling her head to the left a little as she smiled brightly to her.

Nami was dumbfounded as she looked at the girl in surprise. Do kids these days grew even more matured than before? How could a five years old girl see through the smile she wore on her face?

"Onee-san is just feeling a bit low today because I had just lost my job. What about you, Kui…na-chan…?" she looked over the name tag as she tried to call the girl's name out. "Where are your mummy and daddy?"

The green haired girl gently shook her head. "Kuina does't have a mummy…" she murmured as she looked at the ground this time, trying to avoid making eye-contact with the big sister in front of her as she didn't want her to see the sad look on her face.

Nami felt a pang of sadness for the little girl. "I see… you don't have to bring back those memories if they were that bad…"

"But Kuina have a loving daddy." Kuina cut Nami's sentence as she remembered about that protective father of hers who had raised her 'till now. She slightly giggled as she knew that her father must be yelling at the top of his lungs over her disappearance right now.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T GO TO THE SCHOOL TO PICK HER UP?!" the voice of Roronoa Zoro, the chairman of the Wado Corporation Company roared throughout the whole building. Some of the workers flinched at the loud voice that echoed through their ears while some could only sighed in defeat since they knew it was never a good thing when their boss is angry.

The dark blue haired girl from the other side of the phone had to pull her phone a few inches away from her at the loud voice. She didn't want to be deaf because of her ex-brother in law, thank you very much.

"How the hell will I know that Kuina didn't tell you?!" she yelled back into the phone. Although her voice wasn't as loud as the green head from the other side of the phone, her angry and worried tone managed to shut the older man down; reminding him that he was not the only one worried over his daughter's sudden disappearance.

It took a few minutes for Zoro to calm himself down as he rubbed his temple. His headache was coming back once again because of his sudden outburst. He can't help but worry over his little girl. Darn it, she is just freaking 5 years old and she is the most precious thing for him in the world! What will he do if both of his most beloved people in this world are gone?

He looked at the clock on his office room and growled as he noticed how the time was slowly passing by. He had a very important meeting in another 10 minutes and he seriously wanted to dash out from his office right now to search for his baby girl. However, he don't think he couldn't do so as his raven haired secretary stood by his door, smiling ever so mysteriously like she will always do as the words 'If you pass this door, you're dead' was clearly written on her innocent face.

"Zoro-san, we had sent some men to help you search for your daughter so please, stay calm."

Her words sort of calmed him down but it didn't stop the throbbing headache. For a person who didn't believe in god, he could only wish on luck that his daughter will be safe.

Nami smiled as she watched the young child walking next to her while eating her vanilla flavored ice cream in delight. She noticed that whenever she glanced to look at the green haired little girl, she will always remind her about her younger self… when her mother is still alive…

She mentally scolded herself in her head. This isn't a good time to think about that sad, childhood past of hers. She should tried to cheer herself up right now and at the same time, find Kuina-chan's father as fast as possible. Any parent will seriously start to worry over their kids when they didn't come home, right?

"I… don't want to go home…" Nami glanced down at the young green head in surprise. How did she manage to read her mind?!

"Daddy only comes back home at night… or sometime, midnight… I feel very alone in the house although my Aunt Tashigi often comes and visit me..." the child murmured as she stopped on her tracks, glancing over the park where a little boy around her age was holding his parents' hands. She stared at the scene and felt the urge to cry out since she was reminded of just how much she had missed her late mother all these years…

"Kuina-chan…" the orange head looked down at her, this time, she felt a sad feeling wrapping around her. Somehow, he heart seemed to tore as she watched those crystal blue orbs start to fill up with tears as the once happy-go-lucky girl sniffed; trying to get rid of those tears and the sad feeling all together.

Nami looked calm but inside, she was panicking. She was never good with kids, especially those who cried very easily. She rummaged through her pockets; hoping to find something that could make a child felt better and she did. She found an orange flavoured lollipop in one of her pockets and glanced at the green haired girl. Kuina had stopped her sobbing and was now staring at the lollipop in her hand as if it was some sort of treasure.

"You… want it?" she asked the girl as she nodded her head. Nami sighed as she pulled the wrapper away and popped it into the 5 years old girl's mouth.

"Oi! That woman with idiotic orange hair right there!" she flinched as she heard a loud voice. She turned her head around, glaring at the person that dared to speak so rudely over her hair colour. Her eyes were met with a pair of onyx orbs that glared at her furiously as the man tried to catch his breath.

Zoro knew that he couldn't believe in those bodyguards to find his daughter. He just knew it and the fact that those stupid old men just won't finish the meeting quickly wasn't helping either. How long does it take to have a simple meeting? Well...three freaking hours, that's how long it took.

He looked around his surroundings as he tried to find his girl… it wasn't very hard to find her since there were barely any other human beings with an uncommon green hair like them but hey… why did he arrived at the park instead of his daughter's kindergarten? Someone must have changed the road's direction… right… it must be like that.

Suddenly, his eyes stopped on a mop of familiar light green hair. He was about to let out a sigh of relief before he suddenly notice the other woman who stood next to his daughter.

His daughter was so dense. When the hell will that little girl of his understands that there were like thousands of peoples out there trying to kidnap her?

Taking a deep breath, he yelled out. "Oi! That woman with idiotic orange hair right there!" He watched as the woman turned around, and before he could said another word, he was suddenly being kicked hard on the face.

"Is that the way you treat a lady like me? You damn marimo head!"

To be continued…

Ending Note: It's… not that bad, right…? ==" And wow, I can write more than 3000+ words! :D I guess I must have sort of improved my skills… yeah, just a bit… maybe…? Between, review if you liked it, okay? :)