"Luffy, please don't make me answer that question. Please."
"Answer it, Zoro. Captains orders."
"I… I would." Zoro stared down at the ground, tears forming at the edge of his vision, he wiped them away with the back of his hand.
"Thank you." Luffy put a warm hand on his shoulder and smiled softly. He never smiled like he did so long ago anymore. Not since the first death. Zoro wasn't sure his own face knew how to smile.
"You want me to do it, don't you? That was no hypothetical question. That was full on, 'do it' wasn't it?"
"Always the smart one aren't you." Luffy's soft smile widened a bit.
"I can't refuse now can I…?" Tears streaming down his face, he rose, pulling Sandai Kitetsu from its sheath.
"Pass on this hat for me, make sure it's the right person." Luffy asked, holding the straw hat up to his first mate.
"I will carry out your last wish I swear." Zoro readied his katana, salty tears running down the blade.
"Roronoa Zoro, I love you." Luffy whispered as the cursed blade pierced his chest, killing him immediately after those words.
"I love you too, Monkey D. Luffy. King of the Pirates." Zoro then dropped his sword and screamed.
Six-teen years later, he still couldn't get the thought of the tear soaked blade killing the only man he trusted more than himself. The only man he loved. He sat every day in the bar that the now dead Rayleigh had once attended, waiting for the one he must pass the hat to. Every day he drank to the man he had killed, clutching the straw hat to his chest.
Then one day, a young pirate captain and his crew of eight steeped into the bar and the Zoro felt something change. The newcomer sat beside Zoro, who stared into his drink thoughtfully.
"Ah, Mr. Roronoa-san?"
"Oh hello." He looked up, trying his best to look kind and managing a tiny sad smile. "What can I do for you, young man?"
"I was hoping you wouldn't mind telling me your story?" He asked, bowing slightly.
"Straight to the point are we? Good. I like you. Bring me your first mate. I have to test the two of you."
"Kora!"
"Yes sir?"
"Roronoa-san wants to speak to you." The tallest member of the group stood, stepping over to the two men. Zoro turned to him.
"Kora is it?" His reply was a silent nod. He noticed the single sword at Kora's waist and smiled. "Tell me, Kora. What would you do for your captain?"
"Anything." He replied instantly, and the man beside Zoro smiled.
"If he so asked, would you kill him?"
"Yes. It is what he asked of me." Again, no hesitation.
"Very good. You pass. Time to test your crew. Follow me." Zoro rose, motioning for them to follow, and moved outside. "What is your ambition, Kora?"
"To claim your title of the greatest swordsman."
"Wonderful. Then let's see how strong you are." A grin spread across Kora's face, and Zoro suddenly noticed how much the young man reminded him of himself when he had been that age. Kora pounced, single katana swinging in a graceful arc that Zoro easily sidestepped, arms crossed. He dodged each slash with ease, watching the expression on his opponents face carefully. There was only the grin. Good. Suddenly, Zoro drew Wadou and vanished from Kora's view, before grabbing his shoulder from behind and spinning so his sword lay across his throat. "Quite strong."
"KORA!" One of the other members of the crew made to run out and help him, but the captain held him back.
"Stop. Its Kora's fight. He'll be fine. I trust him." The crew member nodded and stepped back to watch. Good.
Kora tipped his head back slightly to avoid the blade, his dark red hair falling onto Zoro's shoulder. He suddenly remembered the sickeningly beautiful drops of blood falling down an already tear drenched sword. He pressed the blade a bit tighter into Kora's throat, leaving a thin line of blood. Not too deep, but it would scar. Good. "You pass. Very good." He lowered his sword, the old thrill of battle seeping back into his veins, a grin cracked his features. "I'll tell you my story." he led them back into the bar and sat down, beginning his tale. It started with Zoro joining the crew, passing through every adventure, every battle, every hardship, and every sacrifice. A sad smile pushed at his lips as he told the story, until the tale of the first death, and from then on, it was a troubled frown. When he finally finished, he pressed the hat in his hands closer to his chest and lowered his head to hide the tears.
A small, warm hand pressed against his shoulder, joined soon after by a larger, stronger hand. The young captain, and Kora. Once again, his thoughts flashed to that tear soaked blade and the soft hand on his shoulder before that same blade sodden with blood as well. He began to shake slightly before turning to look at the young captain. "Young man, what's your name?"
"Corvo."
"Corvo, protect your crew with everything you have and everything you ever will have. Don't end up like me. Fulfilling the final wish of my dead captain…" He paused, squeezed the hat tightly before dropping it lightly onto Corvo's head. "Go with the Pirate King and his crew."
"Thank you, Mr. Roronoa."
"Call me Zoro, please. And I… won't be here much longer."
"What do you mean!?"
"I've finished my captain's last wish. I shall now go to his grave and wait."
"Wait?"
"Wait for death." He stood, shutting the door silently behind him.
Months later, they found an article in the paper about the death of the final straw hat. He was found sitting cross legged before a half circle of eight headstones, smiling softly. He hadn't moved in a long time, dying of starvation, having drank rain when it fell. A single tear had fallen before his death and a single photograph showed the strong man, silent and still, sitting before his captain's grave, strong even in death. Corvo summoned his crew to the deck, and they sat in a respectful silence for the dead straw hats. For the rest of the day, there was no movement from them. They sat as Zoro had, silent, still, strong. But he would stay there forever and they would not.
Some three hundred years later, three swords lay crossed over the spot, a grave to the last member of the Straw hats and beside that half circle, a single sword with in another half circle. That one a grave to the Corvo Pirates. And three other pirate crews who had been passed the hat, and the legacy of the tear stained blade.