"Brook! Play Bink's Sake!" the ship's captain requested with a huge smile. Chopper and Usopp who were both playing tag with him skidded to a halt in front of the skeleton who instantly switched to the requested song without even finishing the previous. The three boys cheered as began to sing along. Franky chuckled at their antics as he continued to work on his newest project, an addition to their float-able pool. Nami sighed as she stretched; wondering just how simple minded they could be but not really minding it as much as she pretended. Robin closed her book as she stood up, heading up the staircase to return the completed volume to the library and get the next one. She had just reached the top of the stairs when the galley door opened and Sanji came out.
"Oi, lunch time! Luffy, wake up the moss will you." Sanji said, looking at Zoro's sleeping form sprawled out in the grass. Luffy gave a cheer of 'meat', Brook's song now forgotten. He ran to Zoro's side and knelt down so their faces were level. Robin stopped to watch them in amusement.
"Zoro, lunch time!" Luffy said with a huge grin. Zoro didn't move. Luffy's smile disappeared for a moment before it returned twice the size it had been before, he had an idea. Usopp and Chopper gave each other nervous looks, not knowing what Luffy was up to but knowing there was a good chance they would have a furious swordsman on their hands for a while afterwards. "ZORO!" Luffy whined as he began poking the other man. Zoro groaned and tried to move away from the annoyance, but Luffy started to slap his shoulder, hard. "Come on Zoro get up, it's time to eat!" he said, hitting the man's shoulder even harder.
"Enough!" Zoro hissed, cracking his one eye open and slapping Luffy's arm away from him. Zoro let out a huge yawn and climbed to his feet. "Morning already?" he groaned and scratched the back of his head. Luffy chuckled, realizing that now his task was accomplished he could go eat. He stretched his arm toward the railing in front of the galley door. Sanji glared at him.
"Don't even…" he started but Luffy lifted his feet and his arm began to retract, launching him at the galley door. Sanji moved to the side quickly to avoid the mass of rubber, standing directly beside Robin on the top stairs. Luffy missed the door by a few inches and bounced off. The angle sent him directly at Sanji and Robin, knocking them back. Robin took a step back to brace herself but all that met her foot was air. At the same time Sanji reached for the railing to realize it was too far away. Robin quickly crossed her arms, ready to bloom a series of hands to catch her and the cook from taking the tumble.
Before anyone could react Zoro was on the staircase, an arm wrapped around each Robin and Sanji's waists. Usopp and Chopper ran to the bottom of the stairs. "Nice catch Zoro!" Usopp praised. Luffy chuckled as he sat at the top of the stairs.
"Shishishi, sorry sorry." He said, holding up a hand to show he had meant no harm, something the entire crew knew. Sanji sighed as he reached for his cigarette, only to realize he had dropped it during the scare. He adjusted his legs so they were properly supporting them again as he pulled out a fresh cigarette and lit it.
"Stupid rubber bastard." He growled. Robin followed suit, looking up at Luffy with a friendly smile that made both Luffy and Sanji feel a pang of nervousness.
"Luffy, please be more careful in the future." she said firmly. Luffy nodded, sweating. Robin then looked up at Zoro. Despite the fact that her and Sanji were safe now, Zoro had not released them.
"Uhm…Zoro-bro, you can let them go now…" Franky said as he realized the same thing. Instead of doing as Franky said, Zoro's grip actually tightened on the two nakama in his arms. Sanji and Robin gave each other confused looks. Zoro suddenly looked up at Luffy, glaring so furiously that even Luffy had to pull back a few inches.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Zoro yelled at him. The crew members looked at each other, a little confused. Sure Luffy had done something reckless again, but he always did reckless things. It wasn't unusual for the rubber captain to accidentally throw someone or knock them down in his effort to see a new island or get food. Usually it was Zoro who was the unfortunate victim to his antics. Yet even then Zoro had never reacted so badly to it before.
"Uhm Zoro…it's fine, it was an accident…" Nami started, trying to appease the swordsman as she joined Usopp and Chopper at the foot of the staircase.
"What if they had gotten hurt?!" Zoro added in a frustrated voice. Sanji felt a wave of anger. How dare the green haired man insinuate he was so fragile that he could get injured falling down a flight of stairs!
"Oi, Marimo, I'm not so weak that I'll die falling down the stairs." he hissed. They could all tell that was the wrong thing to say since Zoro's whole body went ridged. Then he released the two as if they had burned him. He turned and stormed down the stairs and towards the foremast.
"Zoro..." Nami started, reaching for his arm as he walked past but stopping just inches away. Zoro would not appreciate the gesture and probably throw her arm off him, sending Sanji into a rage. That was the last thing they needed right now so she pulled her arm back to her chest.
"Where the hell are you going?! I made lunch and no one skips out on a meal while I'm the cook!" Sanji yelled, confused by Zoro's actions. Zoro didn't even look back at them as he moved passed Brook and Franky to climb up to the crow's nest.
"Not hungry." was the only response he gave as he climbed through the hatch and closed it with a lot more force then necessary behind him. It was an easy to interpret message, leave him be. The crew all looked at each other, trying to puzzle out what just occurred.
"What was that about?!" Usopp finally asked. The crew didn't have the slightest clue. Sanji took a long drag on his cigarette.
"Whatever, leave him to his own devices right now, I'll set aside some food for him, let's eat before it gets cold." Sanji said. The others nodded, finding that to be the best solution at the moment. The crew filed into the galley and sat at the table. Sanji served lunch but no one really touched it. They were all looking at Zoro's empty seat.
"I wonder what could have happened back there. I mean it's not like it's the first time someone got knocked over or sent flying by Luffy." Usopp said. The others thought for a moment.
"Maybe he just had a bad night or something." Nami decided to say. The others nodded, accepting that as a logical conclusion. The mystery now solved the crew suddenly felt hungry and began to eat the food Sanji had made.
The crew went about their usual antics after lunch, but Zoro didn't reappear from the crows nest. Anxiety began to eat at the various members. Maybe something else was going on. When dinner rolled around Zoro still hadn't reemerged. Sanji glared up at the crows nest, daring the swordsman to miss another meal. "I don't think he's coming down." Nami said. Sanji nodded.
"I guess someone's going to have to take him up his lunch." Sanji said crushing out his cigarette.
"Oh! I'll do it!" Luffy offered, Sanji kicked him in the head as Nami punched him.
"You'll eat it all if we leave it to you!" Nami yelled. Robin chuckled.
"I can take it up to him." she offered. Sanji shook his head.
"That's alright Robin-chwan. I wouldn't want to trouble you ladies because that moss head is being moody." Sanji said. Truthfully Sanji was concerned. Something had to really rattle the swordsman and he was sure it had to do with them nearly falling down the stairs. He wanted to check on him himself, but he had to finish making the desert so it would be warm by the time the others were ready for it.
"I'll take it up to him." Franky said. The others nodded, deciding it would be a good idea.
"At least let me help." Robin insisted. Franky nodded with a sigh and climbed up the mast. As soon as he reached the hatch Robin passed up the food using her many arms. Franky opened the hatch and pushed the food up into the crows nest before pulling his large body up after it. He looked around, trying to locate the green haired man. Franky noticed him on the far side, sleeping.
Franky could see instantly that something was not right. They had seen Zoro sleep many times on the deck. He normally lays still, breathing heavily and snoring from time to time. He never thrashed about. Franky froze, not knowing what to do. Truthfully he never once imagined Zoro would have nightmares. "Kuina..." the young man groaned. The shipwright could see the younger male was getting more and more distressed as time went on, snapping him back to reality.
Franky looked at Zoro, wondering what exactly he should do. He couldn't leave Zoro like that, but he knew Zoro would not be happy to be seen in such a state. Thinking quickly Franky turned and jumped back down the hatch. The crew was surprised to see him land back on the deck so fast. "Robin." he said, looking up at the crows nest. He didn't have the heart to say what was wrong, but Robin seemed to get the message.
The archaeologist realized he wanted her to do something in the crows nest. She closed her eyes and bloomed a pair of eyes in the center of the room. She saw what the problem was and created a pair of arms behind Zoro. She hit him hard and Zoro woke with a start, not seeing the petals fall as her limbs and eyes vanished. Robin opened her eyes and nodded to Franky.
"Oi! Zoro-bro! It's time for dinner!" Franky yelled up, hoping Zoro would assume what woke him up was his crew mates yelling for him. He could see Nami, Usopp, and Sanji giving him suspicious looks. They were usually more observant the the others. Brook was also looking at him but Franky still couldn't read what he was trying to convey.
"ZORO!" Luffy called, thinking Franky just wanted him to join them. A few moments later Zoro poked his head out the hatch. The others could see he was pale and covered in sweat. For a moment Sanji and Nami thought he had just been training, but Franky and Robin wouldn't have had the secret exchange they did if that was all it was.
"I'm not hungry." he said. Sanji glared.
"Bull shit Marimo, you missed lunch now get your ass down here before I come up there and drag it down!" he yelled up at him.
"Come on Zoro! Please come eat with us!" Chopper called. The older crew members almost smiled. Chopper was one that could pull on anyone's heart strings.
"Yeah Zoro! Captain's orders!" Luffy yelled. Where Chopper's big eyes could have failed, the captain's official orders would prevail. A moment later Zoro landed on the deck in front of them. The others could see he was rather shaken up, but much more composed then he had been moments before. He followed the others into the galley, not saying a word.
Sanji served them all food but didn't' move from Zoro's side after he placed his plate down. Zoro looked up at the cook, wondering just what he was doing. Then he realized Sanji wasn't the only one staring at him. The entire crew was. "What?!" he snapped. Nami sighed.
"Zoro what happened? You've been acting weird all day." she said. Zoro scowled.
"Drop it." he ordered.
"You over reacted when we nearly fell down the steps and then you went up and sulked all day in the crows nest. Just what the hell is going on?" Sanji asked. Zoro gripped the table so hard his knuckles turned white.
"You think I don't realize that cook?!" he snarled. Robin met his glare with a calm motherly look of her own.
"Then why did you?" she asked. Zoro started draining of color.
"I don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry for over reacting." he said. That really surprised the crew. Zoro rarely said sorry, and usually when it did it was him not being strong enough or being able to protect them.
"Zoro...what happened?" Luffy asked. Zoro sighed, he wasn't getting out of this without giving them something.
"Look it just reminded me of something I don't want to think about alright." Zoro said.
"You mean that Kuina person?" Franky asked before he could stop himself. The look Zoro gave him was absolute fury.
"Yeah, that." he said in a low tone.
"Who's Kuina?" Sanji asked. As the question came out of his mouth he realized they knew nothing about Zoro. As far as the crew knew the man just appeared out of thin air one day. Even Luffy had a concrete origin! Zoro sighed.
"Kuina was a friend of mine." he said. They didn't miss the word 'was'. All of the crew members had lost someone, they supposed Zoro was no different in that regard. Sanji didn't miss his movement to grab the white sword at his side.
"She died didn't she? She fell down the stairs." Robin pieced together. The others looked at Robin in surprise. Zoro regarded her for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, she wasn't weak either shit cook. She...she beat me in every match we ever had." Zoro admitted.
"WHAT?!" Sanji, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Nami, and Franky yelled as Robin even looked surprised. Sanji was offended Zoro would even trade blows with a woman, although he knew Zoro had in the past. The others were stunned to hear that Zoro not only lost to someone, but it sounded like he lost to that someone more than once! Sanji lit a cigarette, realizing how Zoro must have taken his words earlier.
"I see." he said.
"You really lost to someone?" Usopp asked. He had thought the only person who could beat Zoro was Mihawk. They all expected Zoro to brush it off or change the subject, but he actually looked down at his white sword with a fond smile.
"Kuina was a swordsman who I trained with. She was strong. She wanted to be the world's greatest swordsman, and if she was alive today she probably would have beaten Mihawk by now. Hell she would have given him a better fight then I had." he said. The crew had never heard Zoro talk about another person with such adoration before. "This sword was actually hers." he said, grabbing Wado's hilt. The crew was dumbstruck.
"It sounds like you and Sanji." Usopp said with a chuckle. Zoro didn't respond but the others didn't need him to. Like this Kuina girl, Sanji was Zoro's rival. He was a person who Zoro could always compete against, to challenge himself to always improve.
So yeah I have absolutely no idea when this story would take place. Just an idea I had. I actually got it when I was driving yesterday. I was driving when I panicked because I saw of pair of headlights coming towards me. It doesn't happen often but every once in a while I see something that reminds me of one of the accidents I've been in and I have a small panic moment. I was thinking what if Zoro would get rattled by someone almost falling down the stairs, especially if it was a stronger person because as he learned with Kuina death doesn't discriminate. It was just an idea and of course I own nothing. Just let me know what you think.