Sorry for not uploading in a while, been a bit busy.
Anyway, I wrote this story about Zoro and Tashigi today. So enjoy! :)
"There's a weird ship up ahead, Smoker-yan!" one of the marines exclaimed from the main mast. "Yes, a weird ship indeed." Smoker answered to his beard with a smile as he pulled out his jitte in anticipation. He recognized that weird looking ship from miles away. There was no doubt that it was that damn brat who smiled at his own execution.
"We're going after them, full sails!" Smoker yelled from the deck. Distracting the sleeping swordsman who fell asleep in her chair while solving crosswords. 'What's going on here? Why's Smoker-san yelling?' Tashigi thought to herself before stretching from her little sleeping session.
"Oi! Marines behind us, do we fight them?" Zoro yelled from the Crow's nest to his crew that was currently busy with more important things, such as playing on the grass and imitating each other. "Oi!" Zoro yelled a bit louder, but after getting no response the second time he just went back to his gym.
"Sir, that's their ship, isn't it?" Tashigi asked the vice admiral with a worried look. Nothing but a nod came as a reply, "Call backup, we'll need the the battleships to take these ones down." Smoker commanded one of his subordinates as he gripped his jitte in anger, if only he could beat that kid alone, he was surprised how much the Mugiwara improved over the 2 years of absence.
Back on the Thousand Sunny the dinner was just starting, the whole crew gathered in the dining room eager to try the new dish their cook has made, even though a certain swordsman didn't want to admit it. Just as the meal was about to be served a loud thundering noise could be heard from somewhere nearby.
The crew exchanged a few looks and as if they held a long conversation with their eyes they simultaneously exit to the deck. "Should I sink them?" Zoro asked as he gripped two of his swords. "No, you idiot, you wouldn't be fast enough and we'd have to take their cannons until you finally managed to sink them." Nami scolded the hot headed Marimo.
Zoro could do nothing but pout like a child at the scolding he just received. Franky and Usopp ran to the Coup de burst room, the Cola shaker was preparing itself for the lift off. The monster trio defended their ship from the cannon shots. The on going rain of cannonballs wasn't about to stop anytime soon, those were the battleships after all, they won't run out of cannonballs in the middle of the battle.
"Stop aiming at the ship, you idiots, aim next to it to make the ocean around them unsteady." Smoker yelled from the head of his ship. And just as the vice admiral ordered, the shots started landing next to the ship, half of the crew barely managing to stay on their feet.
The shots certainly weren't helping the Straw Hats, but the Coup de Burst was about to go off in a few seconds, and just as they were about to take off one of the waves rocked their ship to the side and Chopper slipped towards the water. The only person next to him was Zoro who was supposed to keep the right side of the ship safe while Sanji took care of the left and Luffy defended the back.
Chopper was falling towards the ocean just as the Coup de burst countdown started, 10, Chopper's body was just about to hit the surface of the sea, but Zoro managed to catch him in air when he jumped towards him. 7, Zoro held the reindeer on his shoulders and was about to throw him back on the deck while the reindeer cried as he understood the situation.
"Sorry, Zoro." the teary eyed reindeer with a cute blue nose whispered to his friend and crew mate. 4, Zoro smiled in response before answering, "No worries, I'll be fine." Not a second after the swordsman tossed the reindeer aboard the Thousand Sunny with precision, and the teary eyed reindeer in ball point landed onto the deck and ran to the door of his lab.
"Coup de bursto!" Franky's yelled echoed through the air as the ship left the swordsman alone in the ocean. Soon after the battleships came closer to the swordsman who was really not hard to miss with his bright green hair sticking out from the ocean's surface. "Do you mind giving me a ride?" Zoro jokingly asked the vice admiral that was now looking at him from his ship's deck.
"Sure, does Impel Down sound like a nice enough place to drop you off?" Smoker replied before ordering with his left hand for his crew mates to pull the swordsman out of the ocean. "Disarm him." Tashigi ordered them while looking angrily at the green haired swordsman in front of her.
Zoro smiled in response before answering, "Only if you can defeat me in a duel, Captain." the befuddled looks of the G-4 crew soon followed. "Does he really think that he can defeat Captain-chan?" the whispers started spreading through the crew like wildfire. She had to accept it, it would be dishonorable if she didn't and Zoro knew that very well, he also knew that if he lost his weapons that he'd surely go to Impel Down.
"Okay." the marine captain answered calmly as she drew her Shigure from it's sheath. Zoro smirked at the captain and her confidence before drawing his cursed sword. "I'll beat you with the one you recommended." Zoro replied in cocky manner making Tashigi glare angrily at the green haired pirate.
She charged with her sword towards Zoro, "Don't mock me, you damn pirate. Fight with all three of your swords!" Tashigi ordered the swordsman who easily blocked her attack with his sword. "Come to think of it, I've never gotten to know your name, Captain." Zoro asked while blocking the barrage of attacks. "My name doesn't concern you, pirate scum." Tashigi yelled out at the top of her lungs as she launched herself towards Zoro.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Zoro as he quickly slashed the air in front of Tashigi's throat before going back into his fighting stance. "Stop playing around!" she yelled at the swordsman again. Another attack dodged, his right foot stepped in her path and pulled her right foot a bit to the side. "Spread your feet a bit more, makes your strikes faster if you have a better stance" he said before parrying her strike once more.
"And straighten your shoulders before striking." Zoro whispered as he dodged to her side and passed her shoulder. "Shut up!" Tashigi ordered before going for another strike, this time almost piercing through his side. Luckily he hit the sword out of it's path with his own. "Make sure to always hit these kinds of attacks because if you miss, it's all over." Zoro whispered once again as he planted the sword's blunt side against her neck.
"I don't need your help! Finish it!" Tashigi glared angrily at her opponent whose sword was now against her neck. Her crew surprised at the skills the Pirate Hunter possesses just stared as their Captain's life hanged on the line. "Smoker-yan, help Captain-chan." one of the marines asked his commander, but was quickly silenced by a stern look from the vice admiral.
"Her honor, her decision, her life." Smoker answered through his teeth while being unable to interfere, he knew how she'd react if he did something like that, and he knew that Tashigi was already spared by the Pirate Hinter a few times. 'Do it again.' he prayed in his thoughts. And as if Zoro heard him, he lifted the sword of his opponent's neck.
"You're the one of the strongest marines I have fought in my life, but with that level of swordsmanship you're never going to get my swords, let alone Mihawk's." Zoro said to the defeated captain who still glared at him like she wanted to kill him, and she sure did, but as he stated she wasn't able to.
"Train me then!" Tashigi's yell echoed through the air as the other marines looked at their Captain-chan with confused looks. "No." Zoro replied calmly before continuing, "I won't train someone if I know nothing about them. At least show some respect and introduce yourself properly."
"M-my name is Tashigi." She uttered the words in a defeated tone before bowing to her opponent and her new teacher. "You happy now?" She looked up and saw Zoro bowing back at her. 'Like he has honor, stupid pirate.' Zoro looked back up and smirked at the swordsman in front of him, "When do we start training?"
Hours have passed and a big part of the marine crew still stood in a trance while watching their captain train under a pirate, the rest pf the men were being in charge of getting the ship to the closest town. The pair of swordsman trained until the midnight came, then they both bowed to each other and returned their swords to their sheathes.
"Why?" She asked the pirate she was now escorting towards the cells in the lower part of the ship. "Why not?" Zoro replied, trying to avoid the conversation. But the persistent captain insisted that he tells her the reason why he has spared her so many times. Finally under pressure the green haired pirate decided to tell her.
"You remind me of someone I knew, you two look very similar, well you used to look like her back in Loguetown and Alabasta." Zoro answered the persistent captain but she knew there was more so her constant questions didn't stop until he opened up more. 'To think that she was so interested in some pirate and his stupid reasoning' she scolded herself for her curiosity.
"We made a promise that one of us would become the greatest swordsman in the world, but she died the day after, only thing I got left from her is this sword." Tashigi now regret the fact that she asked about such a sad thing, but nevertheless she wanted to know more, how did a bad person like him get such a sword.
"How did you get that sword? There's no way that someone who hung around with scum had such a sword in his possession." Tashigi already angrily stared at the swordsman who just laughed in response before answering, "Hah, this sword was a gift from her father, I was his second best student at the dojo, he gave it to me so I could fulfill the promise I made to her."
"Dojo?" Tashigi looked at the pirate with a confused look 'To think that someone from a dojo would become a dishonorable pirate.' She thought to herself, but Zoro interrupted her thoughts. "She said the same thing to me, the same thing you said that day in Loguetown, she hated the fact that men are stronger and she didn't want me to surpass her."
"She was the best student at the dojo?" Tashigi now felt guilty over what she kept calling him, to think that he was just trying to fulfill his best friend's promise. But nevertheless, he could've chosen a better profession, not a pirate. As if he was reading her mind he answered, "Yes, I could've fulfilled my promise some other way, but Luffy saved my life when I was about to get executed by Axe Hand Morgan's son Helmeppo. I owe Luffy my life."
"Axe Hand Morgan? Helmeppo? How do you?" Tashigi looked at the swordsman even more confused than she was earlier, "How do you know those two?" Tashigi asked the swordsman. "You might not know this, but before Helmeppo started training under Vice admiral Garp, he was a spoiled brat who used his father's status to act as a tyrant back in the town his father was stationed in."
"I saved a little girl called Rika in Shells town from Helmeppo's dog that was terrorizing the town with it's owner. But he said that he would kill Rika's whole family if I didn't get punished instead, so the marines tied me up in the courtyard where I awaited execution of which I didn't know anything. Luffy and Coby helped me get out of my restrictions and I defeated Morgan soon after." Zoro finished.
"I heard different reports, there was no words about any pirates in Morgan's defeat." Tashigi answered the pirate hunter with disbelief. "Luffy only got a bounty after defeating Arlong in Nami's village. Of course they didn't mention any pirates when we didn't even have a bounty on our heads." Zoro replied to Tashigi's accusations.
'So he actually isn't as bad as I thought, so what, he's still a pirate.' Tashigi glared at the swordsman and opened the cell for him. 'Maybe he'll be uncomfortable in there without a pillow. No, he's an evil man, he deserves...' Tashigi's thoughts turtured her, why was she doing this. She walked over to one of the cupboards in the hallway and pulled out a pillow and a blanket for the pirate hunter.
"Here, you could get a cold if you don't sleep in a proper manner." Tashigi handed Zoro the pillow and the blanket, but just as she was going to hand him the blanket he gently pulled her closer to the bars. "You should stay with me, tonight." Zoro whispered. "Where did th-that come from, Pirate Hunter?" Tashigi replied with a stern look even though she allowed him to pull her closer.
He could've killed her hundred of times today, but he didn't because she looked like his, ex? That thought finally gave her the courage to escape his 'deadly grasp'. "I'm not your ex, don't try to sweet talk me!" She scolded Zoro for acting kind to her and threw the blanket at him before storming out of the prisoner's quarters.
"Ugh, you idiot, how could you fall for something that stupid?" Tashigi scolded herself as soon as she stepped out on the deck. "Sly bastard." She whispered before going over to her private cabin. "You're a bit too friendly with that pirate, Captain." a deep voice interrupted her thoughts from the dark corner next to her door. "Vice admiral?" She asked the figure that stood in the dark corner, her sight was certainly improved with glasses, but it didn't really help much in the darkness.
"Is that you, Vice admiral?" She asked again, before gripping her sword by it's hilt. "It's not Smoker-yan, Captain." Another deep voice answered from behind her before she felt an arm slither around her neck, the person held her in a headlock. She felt powerless, just when she wanted to scream the other person shoved a cloth into her mouth, silencing her.
Leave me alone, is what she wanted to scream out, but nothing could go through the cloth that now limited her voice. And just as she was starting to lose hope when she felt a rope around her wrists she felt a familiar aura. An aura she must have felt before because it was as if she belonged with it, something was calling for her.
A flashing image in her mind, a demon, the nine armed God Asura. "What's going on?" one of the marines asked with a terrified tone, "I felt that too, what the hell?" the other one answered quickly. A familiar sound of the sword she knew all too well, Wado Ichimonji was unsheathed. 'Wasn't Wado in a cell with Zoro?' she asked herself.
She closed her eyes as she guessed what would happen next, and she was right. The two lifeless bodies lay there beneath her feet, and her hands free of their restraints. She turned around to see the demon that did this. "What did you think? Why did I ask you to stay down there with me?" Zoro asked rhetorically before returning his sword into it's sheathe.
'He sensed them?' was Tashigi's first thought, but soon other more important things followed, 'He just signed his death penalty for me? Oh no, we're not going to Impel Down if these are discovered.' the thoughts plagued her mind. She felt like she was going to cry when his hand touched her hair, "Sorry about your crew mates if that's the reason you're crying." Zoro said while petting her hair.
Tears starting forming in her eyes, "You idiot, if they find out, they're going to execute you as soon as our ship anchors. Why did you abandon your life for a marine? Why did you-" her small rant was quickly interrupted by a hug, her rival and enemy hugged her. Her sobs and cries muffled themselves against his masculine shoulder. "I hate you." she whispered when her cries calmed down a bit.
"I don't mind." Zoro answered with a smirk, she could already see that stupid smirk of his even though her face was buried in his shirt. "Stupid pirate." she whispered into his shoulder. Her face redden in shame and embarrassment, 'How dare you hug a pirate, Tashigi?' she scolded herself mentally.
Her hands gripped his shirt, her poor attempts at pushing him away failed, "You want me to stop hugging you?" Zoro asked when he noticed her clenched fists that were gripping his shirt and attempting to push him away. Only response he got was an almost not noticeable nod. He returned his masculine arms to his sides and stood in front of the slightly shorter marine that was still gripping onto his shirt.
"Hey, you can't just say that you don't want me to hug you, but then try to pull me back." Zoro teased the Captain. "No..." she whispered as she tried pulling him closer again. "...I don't want you to hug me." she lifted herself up on her toes as she was finishing her sentence. Their lips almost touching each other, her hands still on his shirt.
"Tashigi." he whispered under his breath, her lips right in front of him, within reach and yet they seemed so far. The echo of his whispered like an earthquake, it sent shivers down her spine, 'Is this really happening?' she thought to herself as she came closer to his lips, brushing them slightly.
"Yes?" she meekly whispered out before letting out a soft moan as she felt his lips push against hers. "I hate you, Zoro." she said in between their kisses, but actions speak louder than words, and she knew that all too well.
The ending kind of seems unfinished in my opinion, so if you got some suggestions or if you want to see a Chapter 2, leave it in a review or PM me.
Hope you liked it! :)