Hi again to you all! This is me with a new update with a little MixZo put in (as requested by LuvLuvKakashi- here's a little treat for u and other MixZo fangirls out there :D) and this is currently the longest chapter I've written! Yay!

Special thanks for everyone reading n reviewing last chapter; you're all awesome and I'm so happy people are still interested in it!

Last but not least, please enjoy and don't be shy to PM or review me and tell me what u think about it! ;)

Love,

Ho-Ho-Noa (currently suffering a stiff back as a result of spending too much hours sitting in front of her laptop)


Chapter 8

It was near midday when Sanji was awoken to the sound of knocking at his door. It was vague and gentle at first that he thought he was dreaming it but then it got louder and more urgent he almost leapt up from the bed to rush towards the door. The person on the other side pushed in immediately after they heard the door was unlocked, rudely bumped and almost literally squeezed the blonde between the door and the wall. If it were a male, his legs would have a good after-sleep exercise for kicking the mannerless intruder through the walls. And he might lose his cozy room and his scholarship soon after that, which was not good.

"Oh my God! Sanji, are you okay?" Nami exclaimed apologetically upon seeing her friend's state.

"Ah, I would withstand anything for my sweet Nami-swan worrying about me!" He cooed happily, quickly recovering his minor injuries. "To what do I owe this honour, milady?"

A nervous curly head suddenly popped in and briefly scanned the room for a certain flash of green but having found none, he sighed a relieved breath and went inside muttering about not having enough sleep all the while.

"Hi Sanji," Luffy greeted the blonde with a wide yawn as he shuffled in, following after Usopp who jumped onto Sanji's crumpled bed with a satisfied sigh and a huge smile on his face.

"Usopp refused to come home until he's totally confinced it's safe and besides I want to see how you're going," The orange haired girl said but then quickly corrected herself to make her point clear, knowing Sanji's love-mode reaction (which was quite irritating to her, especially when the circumstances weren't very appropriate) "I meant you and Zoro," she pointed out.

Something in her voice suggested as if they were together, or maybe he was only imagining it but the odd thought made the blonde felt a sudden faint blush creeping up his cheeks. He got a sudden need to drop his gaze downwards to stare at his toes.

"Uh, there's nothing serious happened this past few days," He said tentatively "...unless they've told you already." She raised her eyebrow questioningly to show him neither Luffy nor Usopp did (quite surprising indeed). The blonde couldn't think why they didn't for he thought the two had been forced to stay (and hide) overnight at Nami's place and she would have demanded an explanation. But then, on second thought, Nami's place would be too obvious a hiding place so maybe they hid somewhere safer most of the night. Sanji took a low deep breath and continued reluctantly. Something told him that he wouldn't be able to describe the exact state Zoro was in or the sympathy Sanji then felt from watching last night's event without embarassing any of them, but he chose to remain calm and continued anyway.

"He had bad dreams," He said slowly "I think it's connected to the sc-err wound he got last time." He cleared his throat nervously for the near slip, remembering his lies to Nami for Robin had forbid him to tell no one about the accident with Mihawk (despite his principles towards women). He had merely made her believed that Zoro was injured after fighting a strayed demon he encountered in the slum area, on the outer edge of the city while running an errand for Sanji.

"I didn't know they could have those. Is it normal?" The blonde asked rather too inquisitively, desperate to change the topic into something more general.

The orange head frowned a little at that but otherwise shown no sign of protest.

"I've never heard of it," She tilted her head slightly and put her index finger to her chin, trying to think through the idea Sanji brought up. She frowned again and shook her head slightly. "No, I don't think they have nightmares like we do." She said finally.

"Dream works like a door to them. It gives them access to their own dimension; the world where their life force and energy come from and while dreaming they are restored into full strength. It could also take them to memories in their past."

"Nami-swan is so smart!" Sanji beamed despite the fact that those was commonly known facts among their peers of the same year or older. It was a must to master the basic handbook of demons (which contained general knowledge about demons) before having one, as their summoning class teacher, Mr. Igaram , had said so many times. In fact, the possibility that it was indeed Zoro's past was what concerned Sanji since last night.

"How did Zoro react when he got those?" Nami asked, referring to Zoro's bad dreams.

"Well, he looked... pretty upset," Said Sanji, not wanting to descibe last night's scene too bluntly. Somehow he feared the possibility of Nami laughing at it, although he knew she was a good and supporting friend but it was no lie that she could be very frank sometimes. He couldn't blame her either for he didn't take the incident seriously until he witness it himself last time. Nami waited a moment to let the blonde continued but when he didn't, she huffed and her mouth formed a little pout that usually worked it's magic on Sanji. It was obvious he's not telling everything and she felt hurt. Wasn't she good enough a friend he could trust?

Sanji started to pour his expressions of apology all over the orange head without showing any intention to tell but she would have none of those, not until he told the truth. Zoro was a friend too eventhough they argued a lot and her concern for him was genuine.

"When will Zoro be home, Sanji?" Luffy suddenly asked, gazing around the room with alert eyes hoping for the presence of said demon. Apparently he had thought their conversation was more interesting than sleeping and had been half listening all along but then he started to get bored. The blonde swept his gaze around the room as if he didn't realise Zoro's absent already while thinking for a reply. Zoro got a tendency to disappear early in the morning and return at much later hour when Sanji didn't have lots of jobs for him and only appeared when called. He was also rarely seen hanging around like other demons (Sanji didn't notice it before since it was his first experience with a demon-well, second after Usopp) so he didn't know Zoro as much as he'd liked-not that he wanted it, it's just that he thought it's important for a warlock to know their demon better-or so he thought.

"He won't be back until much later," Said the blonde, hoping that the certain thick head of a demon would remember his own condition and stayed out of trouble wherever he was. He was rather panicked when he first realised Zoro had gone out without his consent, but then he calmed himself thinking although stubborn as he was, the greenhead wouldn't be that reckless to wander out of the school's area on his own. Each building of the school was not only equiped with clever mechanism from burglars but also heavily warded by magical runes to prevent random demons sneaking into it. Only demons listed by insiders could come in and go out; so as long as the greenhead was within one of those buildings, he was safe. Luffy whined miserably for he was getting real bored and it didn't seem like something interesting was about to happen nor they were going to go anywhere soon.

"I'm boooored! Can we go now, Nami?" Luffy begged childishly.

"Not until Sanji tell me what's really going on." Nami said stubbornly and refused to move an inch from her spot. "Or do you know this all along, Luffy?" She gave the monkey boy a hard glare.

"Err...'this'?" He looked confused, couldn't understand what Nami was making a big fuss over. "You mean about Zoro crying?"

"What's that got anything to do with-wait, what?" Nami demanded, throwing questioning gaze at the blonde and then back at Luffy.

"He got angry because we told Sanji. That's why we're hiding from him last night." Luffy finished his story and Nami's wide demanding eyes turned to Sanji; asking for further explanation from him. The blonde sighed in defeat and settled to let the girl knew, after all it was hard to keep a secret from her if sooner or later he was going to need more of her help. He could count on Nami when things got worse.

"It was the dreams. It happened again after Luffy and Usopp were gone. I don't know why he suddenly got all these problems after-" He stopped himself briefly, hesitating on telling her the whole part but he continued on and told her everything except about Robin being Zoro's guardian. The orange head watched intently and only nodded once in a while, and Luffy and Usopp (who was woken up none too gently by Luffy) sat up and listened quietly as Sanji talked. It was more serious than they had thought it was (except Usopp, for he knew most of the important parts already) and silence filled the room for quite a long while until a knock and a voice at the door was heard.

"Yo, are you home?" It was Franky.

"Yeah, wait a sec" Said Sanji as he rushed to open the door. It's about time Robin got more news for him.

"The lady's got something to discuss with you, she's at the usual place until tonight-well, heeey! Seems like everyone's got a secret gathering here without telling me!"

"Hi, Franky!"Luffy and Usopp waved and greeted him.

"Oh, miss Nami's here too. Nice to see you all." Smiled Franky as Nami waved at him "Too bad I got other errand to run otherwise I'd like to hang for a bit. See you all later."

"Bye, Franky!" the others said in unison.

He made a 'poof' noise as he turned into a floating bluish steam and disappeared. Soon, the other remaining quests prepared to leave as the sun had began tipping halfway to the west. That was when Sanji realised he hadn't eaten anything yet. His stomach was rumbling rather loudly and Nami invited him to go eat at Brook's noodle hut accross the police station; the humble yet dubbed best noodle restaurant in the city by students for it was tasty and suitable for student's limited budget especially near the end of the month. Sanji refreshed himself with a quick shower before catching up Nami, Luffy, and Usopp who had gone there first and waited for him there. He slipped in a blue hooded sweater and comfortable pants before making haste to their meeting place.

It was rather chilly this time of the year eventhough the sun was shinning above the roofs. There wasn't many people on the street as cold weather seemed to keep them inside where it's warmer and less windy. After another few turns , he could see the narrow one story building that looked like it's leaning onto the wall of the taller and newer townhall on its right side. It might be old and definitely less glamourous, but it felt familiar and welcoming to students like him, moreover most of them knew the cheerful owner, Mr. Brook, well. He enjoyed his job as the cook and often the waiter, he also loved chatting and singing with the costumers that always seemed to crowd the small restaurant.

The blonde could see a flash of orange head and two blacks near the window and picked up his pace. He walked pass several dark robed men when he crossed the courtyard with a smal stone fountain in the middle and glanced back absentmindedly. They were foreign warlocks by the look of it. There seemed to be more and more of them coming in and out of the city the last few months. Sanji didn't pay much heed for them and his mind was soon clouded with thoughts of a big bowl of steaming hot noodle as he walked in to Brook's restaurant.

...

"Please come in," Robin's voice called from behind the dark mahogany door Sanji had knocked on. There was odd engravings at the top of it; three dragons whose tails touching a single orb and the young warlock wondered whether it had any meaning. He pulled the handle and pushed open the door just enough for him to slip in and closed it again behind him. The room was dim just like the last time he was there and the only source of light was the iron fireplace and a lantern on the table near the wall but somehow the air felt different; it felt like they were not in the spare room on the furthest corner of library building at all, but rather they were in a room located on the highest tower somewhere. It was almost completely silent and seemed far away from anything but he could hear the wind blew the outer walls all around them and created a faint whistling sound through a tiny crack somewhere on the window or the ceiling.

He liked to think Robin as a mysterious and intriquing lady, but there were times when he detected something different about her; something-he dared say-odd and inhuman. There, sitting on one of the leather armchairs facing the fire, sat Robin whose skin seemed to reflect the light of the fire in odd color of purplish gleam. She glanced at the blonde and elegantly gestured him to sit on the chair next to her.

She started with a smile "How are you, Sanji? You haven't contacted me since last time so I take it everything's fine so far?" Her drop of civility by calling only by his name created certain closeness that made him relaxed a bit took his time to shift and get a more comfortable position in his chair.

"...Yes," He said hesitantly and Robin lifted one finely shaped eyebrow at that. "He had dreams, yesterday and last night, and it seemed to bother him greatly."

Sanji shifted his gaze towards the bright yellow fire before them, for a moment listening to the sound of faint crackling as it slowly eating up the chopped woods, while he organised thoughts in his mind. There were so many things he wanted to know from her and this topic brought up the question he had been meaning to ask for a long time. The raven haired woman didn't break the silence and waited for him to continue for she knew what he was going to ask next.

The blonde cleared his throat and continued "I was wondering whether you would know some of his stories, in the past. It might be helpful if I-" He paused.

"Get to know him more?" She finished for him and smiled warmly "Of course, I will provide you with anything within my knowledge. We have plenty of time, but there are some urgent matters that I need to tell you first."

...

Zoro yawned and stretched like a cat as he woke up from his long slumber. He dreamed only of twirling vague shapes and bright shades, recovering his ached muscles and joints almost fully. He rose up from his makeshift bed of rags he found and stretched some more before deciding to come back. Pale crescent moon could be seen hanging high on the gloomy dark sky from the broken window and he brieftly wondered how long he had slept soundly in there. His mood was pretty much lifted up and he felt quite ready to come back to his current wretched life and the poor excuse of a space his master called home. He was in the eastern wing building of the warlock academy where there was a high tower that used to be classrooms. Several of its lower level was still in use but the middle part was mainly for storage rooms of unused items from classes. The highest room was left empty save for several broken furnitures and its wide windows were planked or rotten from weather. It had open high ceiling, which more or less was still in passable condition against weather, and the room was quite huge as it covered the whole level unlike the other rooms. Despite the fact that it was used for teaching students summoning their very first demons a few decades back (Zoro liked to think it as the birthplace room for slavers), it was the green head's favourite place. It was safely away from any school activities-or most importantly; people-and it's totally quiet after the sun set behind the high roofs and trees. The humid stale air felt welcoming but the best thing of all was the view to most of the buildings of the city.

He peered down from a window to examine his way down to the lower levels through several series of roof conjunction and some stepable hollow or jutted out stones on the outer wall (which he found not so long ago). The outer stairs to and from 'slavers' room' was heavily broken so he could only access outer stairs from the fourth floor. He would use magic to transport himself easily from there to Sanji's on daily basis so he wasn't really used to this alternate way. He found the first stepping stone near the bottom of the window and tested its stability with one of his leg. His leg stepped firmly, so he crept slowly out of the window with both hands still holding the window pane and reached for the second step with his free leg. He descended a few two or three stories before he reached the first roof connected to the outer wall of the tower. He stopped for a few moments to catch breaths and was about to continue his journey down when he caught a glimpse of shadow moved on the corner between nearby roofs.

"Who are you?" He demanded. He had got a vague feeling of being watched since he climbed down from the window but didn't pay much thought to it.

The figure remained in the shadows but he let out a low rumbling chuckle and responded menacingly "Are you scared, little demon?"

"Y-You!" The greenhead froze immediately and his eyes went wide in disbelief. There's no way in hell he was given such badluck lately! The voice could only belonged to one demon and he was caught unprepared with practically nothing to defend himself with. The afrit had concealed his aura so that he could sneak close undetected.

"Show yourself, coward!" He knew he was tempting fate but he was shaking in rage from head to toe. This demon was the cause of all his troubles and all he wanted was revenge!

The tall shape moved forwards into the light and revealed Mihawk in his full human form. He wore a dark red long robe-like shirt and a wide-brimmed hat. His sharp golden eyes gleamed against the pale light of the moon, like a pair of eagle's eyes watching intently for a perfect time to strike its prey. A huge sword was strapped on his back and it peaked Zoro's curiosity; he's a sword wielding demon-just like him.

"Come to finish me off didn't you?" Zoro withdrew his swords and risked another taunt. He might as well die while sending the first blow than killed while fleeing his enemy. "Why bother stopping now?"

"I would've easily done that hours before, but what's the fun of it?" He said "I could feel your weakened power, or did you forget it?" Zoro could only gritted his teeth and glared back at him, mentally kicking himself for being reckless.

...hours? It was disturbing to know that the afrit had been there for that long a time without him noticing even the slightest.

"What are you going to do now, little demon?" The hawk-eyed man's lips curved slightly into a smile; enjoying the displayed reaction on the other demon's face upon his words. Mihawk took a step closer and Zoro drew back cautiously, focusing only to read an incoming attack and be in defense position. If luck was with him, he might succeed on sending a few counterattacks before he was killed. Mihawk kept approaching and Zoro tried to maintain a safe distant until he realised the afrit was trying to corner him. If he withdrew any farther, the space would be too limited to dodge, moreover to attack.

The tight situation left him with only one option: he had to attack first. Mihawk seemed to know this and his dark smile widened. Coming closer, he drew out a tiny knife that was his cross shaped necklace instead of the sword hanged on his back and he held it high enough for Zoro to see. It was an obvious attempt of baiting but he knew the genie was taking it when he saw deadly gleam in his eyes eventhough his mouth breathed out a short chuckle. A second later loud clangs of metals rang clear in the air as their swords clashed. The greenhead aggressively sent a sequence of slashing attacks that nearly cut the edge of Mihawk's shirt but he managed to dodge those without much effort. He hadn't even used his knife to attack and Zoro had already felt the beginning of exertion. Their difference in strength was too great!

By a few more failed attack attempts, Zoro was exhausted and hardly able to swing his swords properly. The scar on his chest began to make itself known and the dull throbbing pain prevented him from breathing normally.

He yelled out his frustration while sending a poorly calculated attack that was easily dodged by his opponent. "Come on! Attack me, goddamnit!" The afrit obliged, advancing with a single swiping move of his knife that sent Zoro's swords flying while his other hand trust forward; grabbed the front of his shirt then banged him mercilessly onto the rough stone wall.

The green head was unpleasantly reminded of his first experience encountering Mihawk with his current position pinned awkwardly onto the wall. He remembered feeling sick and nauseaus; thinking his death was imminent, and currently the situation was no different, except for the fact that he was going to die for sure. It was ironic that thoughts of the blonde's approaching form was the one thing that kept playing and playing again in his head.

TBC


And soooo I had to cut it right there since it has gotten too painfully long... ^_^''

Many apologies girls, but I'll give you all a hint for the upcoming update as a bonus: a little steamy hotness of MixZo! XD