Disclaimer: I do in no way, shape or form own the series One Piece; Eiichiro Oda does. Neither am I making any type of monetary gain off of this fanfiction; I am merely looking to improve my writing. I do not own the picture used as a cover for this story, either. That is taken from google, and unless I am entirely mistaken, is made by someone calling themselves zerocustom1989. All credits for the picture go to that person.

Location 1:

Kuraigana Island, Castle

He did not really know what to do about this strange turn of events. You would think that, considering what crew he had been stuck with since that day he met the strawhat-wearing boy in the East Blue, he would have been used to strangeness by now (more than just used, really; immune is probably a better word). Not to mention stupidity and madness (the Strawhat Pirates are not exactly the most normal or sane pirate crew around, but they were his nakama and he would protect them until death; yes, even the curly-brows, not that he'd ever admit it). And, since he should have been immune to it, it should not have been able to confuse him like this. But it does. It does confuse him and he does not know what to do. This situation goes far beyond the usual strangeness that seems to follow his captain around (the strangeness that he by now considered normal). This was not just what other (normal, civilian) people would consider "strange", no; this was Strange. It was not really... Luffy-like to do something like this. Gah, now he was getting a headache.

He really just wanted to forget about this and go and train. It always helped. It was relaxing to just move (and move, and keep moving, because if he stood still, he would never be able surpass that man). And now, now that he was so very, very close to his goal (yet still so very, very far away... but not impossibly far, never impossibly far; he would succeed, because he had promised), moving seemed even more compelling. The more he moved, the closer he would come. He had been given this chance – this wonderful chance - when he landed on this island, and he Would. Not. Waste. It. At the moment, though, training was a bad idea. He does know his limits (even if his nakama would have said differently); he knows when his body cannot take any more and needs to rest. This was one of those times. So training was a bad idea.

A nap would also be nice; very nice. He was tired, and it was oh-so-tempting... not to mention that usually when he napped, the situation that was around when he fell asleep would not be there when he woke up. It would be very nice to do so at the moment; then, he would not have to deal with this (whatever this actually is). But he had (to his own mind, at least) become an expert at realizing what was Strange during his time with the Strawhat Pirates, and this was most definitely Strange, as he had realized earlier. And one should never, ever leave Strange things alone. They usually come back to bite you in the ass. Hard. And would then run away with half of it, laughing (no, he was not exaggerating, not really). So the nap would have to wait.

His thoughts then turned to sake. It would be nice, he thought, to have some. Things always seemed simpler - less complicated, less Strange - after some sake. And if the situation became less Strange (or even, hopefully, stopped being Strange entirely), then that would mean that he could go ahead and take that nap he wanted. Thinking closer on it, though, he seriously doubted that this island would have any real, honest sake, considering that the only human who appeared to have lived on it for a very, very long time was that man. And that man only ever seemed to drink wine... which would do in a pinch, maybe, but he really, really wanted some sake... not that he would be able to get it (if it even existed on the island) at the moment, as his body did not want to listen to him.

So since he was not able to train, nap or drink, that meant that the only thing that he could really do about this was to think (he gave an inward grimace at that; thinking was more of a Robin-thing... or a Witch-thing... or an Usopp-thing... or a... well, let's just say that he usually let his Nakama do the thinking - it made life on the Grand Line much less stressful). So he thought. It took... a while (not that he'd ever admit it; that stupid ero-cook would lord it over him for Rodger knows how long), but he found it. The message. And when he did, he realized that there was really only one thing left to do.

So he begged.

As I said in the summary, this story is dedicated to my awesome friend Vendelareader as a present to her! :D

Please review? This is the first time I write Zoro, so I would like to know if I kept him in character :)