"Oi, what the hell do you think you're doing?" a gruff voice questioned in the morning light.
Iris opened her eyes, intimidated by the sight of Zoro towering over her but something else felt odd. What was she resting on? And it didn't feel like she was covered with a blanket anymore, but she was warm none the less. She turned her head and realized there was someone next to her, no, underneath her on the couch. She sat up quickly, now wide awake, only to discover that instead of a blanket around her, there were a pair of arms, and instead of a pillow, her own head rested on Sanji's chest. Gradually, she remembered waking him up in the middle of the night accidentally and his offering of a back massage. Crimson colored her cheeks as she realized she must have fallen asleep while he rubbed her shoulders. Her sudden movement stirred him awake as well, and he was squinting at the tall figure standing over the couch that had accusation written all over his face.
"Oi, love cook, I asked you a question," Zoro's low voice growled once again in Sanji's direction.
"Oh, Zoro, you're awake. Iris couldn't sleep, so I offered to help her relax. You must have been really tired," he said, looking in her direction with an innocent but adoring smile.
Zoro's eyes grew wide with some sort of anger, but it didn't seem to be his usual irritation with Sanji. He turned and stormed out of the galley, slamming the door behind him. "Geez, what's his problem?" the chef muttered, getting up off the couch. "I'm going to go clean up and get breakfast started. You can wait here or stroll around deck. Make yourself at home," he said brightly as he, too, got up and left.
Iris sat bewildered on the couch after both men had left. She knew what Zoro's anger looked like, but she couldn't believe that someone would ever feel like that about her, least of all Zoro the Pirate Hunter. Was he really jealous? she pondered. No, that's just wishful thinking. Just enjoy the time you have left here. She hugged her knees into herself once again; the absence of Sanji's warmth next to her leaving her feeling cold and alone.
Breakfast was as eventful as ever on the Thousand Sunny; Iris found her anxiety vanishing once again as the Straw Hats engaged in their usual shenanigans and pranks. Zoro and Sanji both couldn't help the satisfaction they felt seeing Iris laugh at the goofiness of their crew; she was truly enjoying the time she had here. Much too quickly, breakfast was over, however, and it was time for Iris to return to the workshop.
She bid the Straw Hats farewell, and Zoro and Sanji insisted on walking her back to the industrial district. The three walked in silence the entire way there, all of them feeling uncomfortable with their time together ending. At the end of her block she stopped and turned to them. "Thank you both, once again. I can't tell you how much this night meant to me," she said, looking at both of them and attempting to hide the tears in her eyes, but it was useless at this point; her emotion was visible on her face, in her voice, and her presence.
Both looked long and hard back at her. "Nope," Zoro said finally, crossing his arms. "I'm not okay with this. I'm not leaving you here with Paul."
"Oh, thank God, I thought you'd never say anything," Sanji quickly followed. "You wouldn't take me seriously if I said something, would you?" Zoro only scowled in his direction.
Iris looked back at them blankly. "Wait, what? What are you thinking of doing? Paul will never sell me, not with what he makes from my blacksmithing skill, and, well, my other work," she mumbled, a light blush blossoming onto her cheeks in shame.
A smirk crossed Zoro's face. "We're pirates, we just take something if we want it. Sail out with us, you don't belong here chained up," he invited, eyes warm and excited, genuinely hoping she'd accept.
Iris's tears spilled over; she was so touched by his invitation to come with the Straw Hats, and she wanted so very much to say yes. "I… can't," she said brokenly.
"Why not?" Sanji asked, his visible eyebrow raised skeptically. "You have something worth staying here for?"
She choked back her sobs, feeling nauseated that she had to explain it to them. "This island may be known for its tourism, but its main industry is the slave trade. There's a main business center that exclusively manages the slaves. These cuffs have a tracking device in them. If I leave this island, or if Paul thinks I'm trying to run away, he can activate a fifteen minute timer. If I don't make it back to him in those fifteen minutes so he can deactivate it with his key, the cuffs will deliver a lethal electrical shock. So, I literally can't leave this island," she finished, wrapping her arms around herself, and now struggling even more so to hide the fact that she was shaking from disappointment and tears.
"So we just need to get the armbands off, then, right?" Sanji took her wrist and began to inspect it, only to discover that it had long ago been fused into her skin.
"Not as easy as you'd think, right?" she joked cynically. "Besides, if they're tampered with, they'll deliver the shock instantly. The only people who have ever even gotten close to escaping have cut their own arms off. But you can imagine they don't live very long after that," she added grimly, and then noticed their furrowed brows and disheartened faces. She brushed her tears from her face and took several deep, calming breaths. "I don't want you to worry about it, and I don't want you try to help me anymore. You'll only get yourselves in trouble. The only power on this island is money; and the business center has hundreds of millions of it, all of it in their vault. There's no sense in you all getting yourselves mixed up in all that. You've already given me more than I could have ever asked for. So thank you, and enjoy your adventures. I look forward to reading about them in the papers," she smiled at them warmly and genuinely, eyes finally dry, if still a bit red from her frequent tears.
Zoro studied her eyes intently; how could she stand there and be so happy to wish them well when she was returning to such a nightmare? Sanji's voice broke his into his thoughts. "Here's what we'll do. Zoro, take her back to the workshop so that idiot Paul doesn't think she's run away. I'm going to go get Usopp or Franky and have them take a look at these cuffs, and see if they can figure anything out with them. Don't let her out of your sight, alright?"
Zoro nodded; they were going to figure this out, and help her be free of this island. Iris looked back and forth between them with growing worry; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was impossible to be free of the armbands; what did they really think they were going to be able to do? Even worse, didn't they understand what they'd be getting themselves into if they tried to do anything more? Zoro looked back at her as Sanji took off briskly back towards the harbor. "Come on, I'll look out for you while we wait for them to get back," he said protectively. She could only follow him, dazed in disbelief and panicked that they weren't listening to her, back to the workshop where Paul was waiting impatiently.
"Iris! So glad you could make it back," he said sarcastically. "You bastards. I ought to charge you for another night for keeping her so long." Zoro gritted his teeth, using every ounce of self-control he had not to slug the greasy pig right in the nose.
"She's back and in good shape. So shut the hell up," Zoro snarled at him, then crossed his arms and leaned against the workshop. Paul just stared at him with irritated curiosity.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Zoro smirked smugly. "We're not done here. Sanji'll be coming back. And when he does, we're taking Iris with us." Her eyes grew wide at the arrogance and determination reflecting in his eyes, hysteria paralyzing her once again and threatening to strangle her.
Paul scoffed. "She's told you about how these cuffs work, right? How do you plan on getting her off this island alive?"
"We're pirates. We'll figure it out."
Paul and Zoro stared at each other, attempting to intimidate each other and neither giving up an inch, until Paul smirked as a disgusting idea came to his mind after several minutes; he turned suddenly and hit Iris square in the jaw. Zoro's hand flew to his swords and had the Wado at Paul's throat, stopping only at Iris's panicked cry. "DON'T!"
Zoro gritted his teeth and looked with primal, infuriated eyes from the trembling excuse for a man to Iris lying on the ground, bruising and swelling already appearing on her jawline, and blood dripping from the corner of her mouth where her cheek had been split open on the inside. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't remove his head from his shoulders right now," he growled.
"You think the violence will stop with him? If he dies, I just go back on the market. Reclaimed by the slave trade. It never ends, Zoro," she said sorrowfully. "So just stop now. It'll only make things worse. For you and for me."
Zoro hesitated, considering the options, then withdrew the Wado and sheathed it. Paul gave him a smug grin, then turned and kicked Iris hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She buckled over, coughing and fighting to catch her breath, eyes wide in shock and face in the dirty street. Zoro started forward again until he heard Iris's voice croak, "Don't… Zoro… let me be." Paul roared with laughter at her pain and Zoro's humiliation that Iris wouldn't let him help her.
Paul continued his abuse of Iris, and there was not a single point that she would allow Zoro to intervene. Even more repulsive, not a single other person in the industrial district attempted to help, or even really noticed that Paul was beating her mercilessly in the middle of the street; apparently, such violence towards one's slave was commonplace and acceptable here. It seemed the slob would never get enough of watching her blood spill, or hearing her cries of pain. At long last, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her over to the curb, dropping her face first on it. She turned and looked at Zoro, cheek resting against the curb and eyes locked on his, warning him one last time before Paul's heavy boot crashed down onto her head, "Don't…"
Zoro could only watch in horror, every muscle taut from the effort of obeying her pleas, as he heard the crack of her skull splitting, then saw blood begin to pour out of her cheek that was now ground into the curb. Paul continued to roar with laughter, finally satisfied with the pain he had inflicted on the woman. "You're really the cause of this, since you won't just leave her well enough alone. So you take care of her medical expenses. Just remember, though, you can't take her off the island. And I want her back before nightfall. Bring another 250,000 for the trouble." He disappeared into the workshop, still laughing in victory.
Zoro rushed over to her and gently lifted her off the ground, cradling her next to his chest. She was still breathing; dear God, she was even still conscious. "Why?" he said. "Why wouldn't you let me help you? Why would you take that? He could've killed you," he whispered, his voice shaking, whether from anger or fear, Iris couldn't tell.
"You think I couldn't fight him if I wanted to?" she choked out, eyes closed and having to concentrate far too much on taking in short, shallow breaths. "I won't die. I swear I won't burden anyone by dying; leaving them to regret and wish they had done something more. So don't worry about me, Zoro," she breathed out with great difficulty, then losing consciousness finally from pain and blood loss. Zoro held her close; why, even with all these injuries and abuse, was she still worrying about the scars others might carry?
"Zoro! Goddammit, what the hell happened? Why didn't you protect her?" Sanji rushed up with Franky.
He turned dark eyes towards Sanji. "She wouldn't let me. She doesn't want to burden us with her pain," Zoro answered quietly, his eyes growing even darker with fury and determination. "Sanji, we've got to destroy these bastards and find a way to get her out of here," he said, voice tense and shaking with rage; Sanji and Franky nodded in agreement.
"She needs to see Chopper first, though," Franky said quietly and cautiously. Zoro forced himself to gain a minimal amount of composure as he stood up, gathering her even closer to him in his arms. The three then headed back towards the harbor; Iris visiting the Straw Hats a second time in less than twenty-four hours.
