Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters except for the OC King.

Plot: A king is determined to have Zoro stay in his kingdom after the green haired swordsman saves his life from an assassin. His first obstacle, removing his nakama from the picture.

Warning: Short and probably disjointed. Possible OOCness.

Note: One shot.

Savior

By: Lost-Remembrance (Red Tail)

After the logpost had been noted and the Sunny took off for the high seas once again, the crew started on their typical chores and day to day tasks. Robin was on the deck with Nami near her grove of orange trees while Sanji popped from the kitchen with a tray of snacks for the lovely ladies. Chopper was on the lower deck with Usopp as the two crowded over one of the sniper's newest inventions. Zoro was off snoozing near the rails while Luffy sat on the head of Sunny as the ocean air blew threw his dark locks.

Two days later with much of the same activity from the crew, Luffy was bouncing off the walls of the ship-literally. "Nami, where are we going next?" He asked his trusted navigator.

The orange haired thief sat relaxed in one of her chairs and soaked up the sun. "We should be there before the sun sets today. We'll be landing at Kingsdom, a big port with a lot of resources and wealth."

Robin added in her two cents to the conversation, informing the rest of the crew, "They're a free country operated by a royal family, similar to Vivi." At the young girl's name, Luffy and Usopp perked up at remembrance of the blue haired youth, "The Navy is known to stop by there every so often. They have a very rich history." A smile graced the dark haired woman's face as she looked up from the book she was reading. "We had best not attract too much attention to ourselves."

Nami zeroed in on Luffy as she voiced her agreement, "Robin is right. We need to restock and get supplies." Especially the food supplies, which were looking rather low, "The logpost won't be able to reset until three days after we dock, so we have to be careful."

"She's talking to you, Luffy!" Usopp snickered, poking his pouting captain.

...

They had docked in Kingsdom later that evening and somehow, their luck seemed to follow in the typical manner as it always seemed to; Luffy managed to stir up some trouble, Sanji hit on some girls who took offense, and Zoro getting lost somewhere in the city.

By the time it was the evening of their day to leave, they still had trouble finding their friend. He wasn't in any of the bars or taverns and wasn't along any of the docks trying to find Sunny.

Zoro getting lost in the city seemed to be more trouble than they anticipated. The King of Kingsdom, King Trisen, had been wandering the city when an assassin had struck.

Zoro happened to be in that part of town and, almost too quickly for normal eyes to follow, halted the assassin with a quick strike of his sword.

The King had been stunned and his personal guard had instantly flocked into a protective circle around their ruler.

After the assassin had been hogtied and apprehended, some city guards had hauled the would-be murderer off to the castle jail for him to be interrogated.

Then, the King turned to look a Zoro and stars seemed to appear in his eyes at the sight of the swordsman who saved his life. "You saved my life!"

Zoro looked around and then met the eyes of the King. "Hm?" He had assumed that the assassin, after feeling the sudden spike of fighting spirit in the area, had charged at him, not the man behind him. "You're... welcome?"

"You must come with me! I must thank you!" The King said and snapped his fingers, sparking guards to swarm around Zoro as well and lead the stunned and outnumbered (but not out powered) swordsman after the King as he made his way through the plaza and back up to his palace...

After Nami had lost her patience waiting for their wayward first mate, the crew had banded together as they made their way through the city and the two women asked the city dwellers if they happened to see the green haired man anywhere.

Nami stared at the massive building with wide eyes before her eyebrow started twitching into a frown. "Arg! What did I say about attracting attention? If it's not Luffy then it's Zoro!" Robin gave a small smile at their navigator's frustration.

...

"Zoro, what did you do?" Nami whispered between her teeth as she grit them into a lovely smile as King Trisen glanced her way after staring at Zoro.

"Just saved his life." Zoro shoved some more food into his mouth and slapped the rubber hand away from his plate. After his crew had been granted into the palace and met Zoro in the banquet hall where he was drinking and eating his fill. They soon joined in the festivities shared only by the King and Zoro.

"Zoro! So cool!" Luffy cried out between stuffing his face with meat.

Zoro smirked at his captain and downed another glass of sake. Chopper had stars in his eyes as Usopp began rambling off a tale about how he saved a king one time against five hundred bandits and was crowned heir to the throne!

Nami glanced at her logpost. "Um... King Trisen, we thank you for your hospitality, but we really must be going..." She had already tried to wrangle a reward for saving the king's life, but his expression had been cool and less than amused. His eyes watched her every move and that strange feeling of something wrong bubbled in her once again. She had learned long ago to trust her instincts. It was time to go.

Luffy groaned in protest at her words while Chopper and Usopp chimed in. Robin raised an eyebrow at the statement, as if catching on to Nami's uncomfortableness but her small clam smile remained on her face. Sanji broke away from flirting with the servants long enough to agree with his Nami-swan while Zoro just shrugged.

After Nami stood from her chair, Zoro was next to follow and then the King made his move...

"Zoro, you have saved my life, and for that I am eternally grateful. Please stay here by my side. You will never want for anything! I can give you everything your... friends cannot!"

Zoro frowned at Trisen's words and looked at the blonde-haired young King. "Why in the world would I want to do that?" After all, to do that would be to stop his dream. He made a promise, and he kept his promises.

"To be happy!" The King yelled, slamming his fist down on his throne and glowering at Zoro's nakama.

Luffy stopped eating and stood up, a determined gleam in his eyes and his face set in icy anger. He wiped the stray bits of meat from his cheeks and turned his eyes to Trisen. "You won't be taking Zoro from us without a fight!" He raised his clenched fists to punctuate his point.

Trisen narrowed his eyes. "Guards! Arrest these threats to the throne and bring Zoro to me! Now!" Guards surged forward from almost every nook and cranny. "You! Call the Navy! Bring reinforcements."

Luffy let out a battle cry as he sprang into the crowd of armed soldiers. The rest of the crew grinned and ran off with their captain, refusing to be left out.

"Zoro will be—" A rubber fist rammed into the royal's face.

...

"Everywhere we go, we run into trouble. You and Luffy! That's it!" Nami yelled as she gripped the railing of the Sunny as cannon fire hitting the water created waves that rocked the ship back and forth almost worse than a hurricane. "I'm adding a hundred thousand berries to your debt!"

Zoro scowled at the thief, "What did I do?" He slashed through a cannonball that came a little too close to the Sunny. Luffy's laugh could be heard over the fading cannon fire and was contagious among the crew as they set sail for their next destination.

"Next time you're on guard duty! No leaving the boat." Zoro smirked, knowing that by the time they reached their next destination, it would either be an empty threat or one that he would ignore.

FIN