So reviews show that the last chapter wasn't exactly everyone's favorite. That's okay. It's not my favorite either. Actually, the last three chapters in this arc (18-20) are not my favorite either, but they need to be plowed through in order to get to the fun stuff… like giving people reasons to like my male OCs. I'm gonna try people! Not exactly in this chapter, but somewhat soon! -nervous laughter- Reviewer thanks are directed to zenfry-kun, weixuan18-san, White Butterfly-san and sanji-luver-chan for being so awesome and reviewing on my erratically updated chapter. I do not own One Piece, if you haven't figured it out by now.
Illicit Memories
Assassin's Arc: Forgiveness
The only things Zoro could see were contained in short, bright flashes that surged all around him. His body felt like it was immersed in a whirlpool, swirling around uncontrollably every which way it could, dumped into a continuation of the alternate life with Kuina that he had been shown before. Since his meeting with the fantasy on the beach, a slide show of sorts had been playing in his mind. The images generally stayed the same as they were in the first haunting dream, but different slight variations popped up here and there. Then, very unexpectedly, everything instantly became darker as he bolted upwards, now simply sitting in bed with sweat pouring from his skin and his breathing irregular. The room was dark, nighttime still prevailing before the impending dawn.
Is this my soul leaving my body? he thought. It must be. He looked over towards his pillow to discover there was no one there. His soul was still firmly placed in his body and it seemed as if the two were not going to part for a while.
Alive? I'm alive...? ...but Yume poisoned me. I should be dead. Just then, he felt something trickle down his face and onto his chin. Putting his hand to his face, he found the thickened reddish antidote Yume had fed him. What in the hell? Blood? What is going on here? Zoro put his hands in his face and sighed heavily.
"What the...?" he hoarsely muttered as he felt something warm snuggle up against his leg. Zoro had to blink a few times before his eyes adjusted fully to the lack of light. He jumped when he saw that it was Yume, partly laying curled up against him while she sat awkwardly in a chair. The green-haired man sneered as he pushed her off the bed, allowing her to fall to the floor and wake with a start.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. Yume moaned slightly as she stood up, keeping her gaze off Zoro. "I must have fallen off."
"I pushed you off, bitch," Zoro growled, wincing with the realization of how much it still hurt to move. Yume turned around and gasped at the sight of Zoro glaring back at her sharply.
"You're alive!"
"No thanks to you. What were you doing there? Seeing that I died for sure?"
"Oh! I was so worried!" Yume cried, ignoring Zoro's last comment. She went and hugged Zoro, crying into his bare chest. "I thought I lost you. I thought the antidote was too late..."
"Antidote...?" Zoro was now more confused than ever, as if Yume being concerned about him was not bad enough. "What antidote?"
"The one that's all over your face," Yume said, forcing herself to look up and giggle. She wiped the congealed liquid from Zoro's face. "I must have given it to you just in time."
"You actually saved me...? Why?" Zoro's voice quavered with suspicion.
"I can't kill you. I have no idea why, but I just can't bring myself to end your life."
"What do you mean that you have no idea why?"
"Exactly how it sounds. I don't know if it was the mere thought of losing simply was too awful or the morale of the crew or what I saw in my dream or... I'm sorry I ever tried to kill you..."
"How do I know this is not just a trick?" he snapped, forcing Yume away and holding her upper arms to keep the woman at bay. "You tricked me before. It was a rather creepy trick, but you still tricked me!"
"Would I revive a poisoned man just to kill him by a blade?" she flatly half-whispered. "It is true that I am cruel, but that is just wrong." Yume adverted her eyes away from Zoro. "I thought that I had to live by the assassin's code and kill or die in the process... but I just couldn't honestly kill you..."
"You seemed pretty sure about it when you honestly poisoned me earlier."
"That's because... I never thought about what it would be like without you here," Yume said morosely. She began to sniffle slightly and stared at Zoro's three swords resting upright in the corner across the room. "Everyone changed so much. The ship was no fun. It was awful. I couldn't stop thinking about him and what he would say..."
I'm so confused, Zoro thought. Why in the hell is she doing this personality switch? Is she bipolar or something?
"Please..." Yume whispered just loud enough for Zoro to hear. "Please... forgive me."
"Tch," he murmured. "At least look at me when you apologize."
"I'm sorry!" Yume said, snapping her head so that she looked right in Zoro's eyes. The green-haired swordsman gasped. The face he saw was not Yume's, but Kuina's. The Kuina from his dream. The adult Kuina he grew up with and loved dearly.
"Shit," he cursed, shaking his head in disbelief. He released his grip on her forearms as his palms became clammy.
No, no, no, no, he yelled internally. She's dead. She never lived past that day. This... thing is nothing like her! Zoro glanced up at Yume again, eyes ablaze with anger. Her face was no longer the haunting vision. He could look her in the eyes once again.
"I don't get you," he growled. "This is a trick. I know it is."
"I wish it were," Yume replied plainly. "My nakama are going to never stop egging me on for this one."
"How powerful are those mates of yours really?" Zoro questioned. Yume flushed and pouted so that she was not facing him. The swordsman grunted demandingly while Yume's face softened slightly.
"Ano..."
"Answer me."
"We're not mediocre if that's that you mean," she said quickly, casting her eyes down in spite. "The three of us are an assassination group from the South Blue side of the Red Line and have eliminated all we have been paid to kill. I met Gormal-kun and Maon-kun one day a few years ago and after we teamed up in a bar fight, we've been inseparable ever since. All this time, we've chased bounties, sold our killing service to powerful people and have even at one point been messengers for the Five Elder Stars in the government headquarters."
"So then..." Zoro said grimly, crossing his arms. "The truth is out. You three aren't so two-bit after all." Yume shook her head quickly before she spoke again.
"We were going to leave soon after you died. Move onto another bounty and another job. Ready to kill the others to get away."
"You underestimate us."
"Maybe, or it is you that are underestimating the fight."
"You still haven't said why did you let me live..."
"I don't know! Like I said, I have no idea as to why I did what I did! It was probably out of impulse!" Yume huffed. She glared at Zoro out of frustration. "What, do you think I like you or something?!"
"Now that's the last thing on my…!"
"Hey, is anyone in there? I could have sworn I heard voices..." asked a voice as the room lit up from candlelight. Zoro and Yume froze, gazes fixated on the door as Gormal walked into the room. The man stopped solid when he saw his captain sitting on Zoro's lap, dressed in her pajamas, while the man was very much alive. Sure there was a blanket between them, but he was alive...
"What's going on here?!" he demanded angrily, red coloring his face. His hand found a pistol tucked away in his sash, though the deck hand seemed hesitant to draw it.
"Look, Gormal-kun, I can explain," Yume said, getting off the bed.
"You better be able to," he sneered. "Did you pressure Maon into making an antidote for this man?!"
"N-No..." Yume replied, her voice weak from all the stress. "I made it myself. You can't make a second batch of poison without making the antidote as well."
"So that's what you've been doing..." He walked over to the bed and looked disapprovingly at Zoro. The swordsman only icily glanced back, knowing that it would be futile to pick a fight with this man when he was not back at full strength yet, while Gormal clearly was.
"Gormal," Yume said firmly, a slight hint of fear in her voice. "Leave him alone. Captain's orders."
"Why go back on your honor?" Gormal snapped, turning briskly so that he faced her. "You always took pride on never failing. Were Maon and I right? Did you finally learn how to regret? Nami must have nailed you dead on during breakfast."
Yume stood silent, bravely standing before the perturbed man that was just about twice her size. She stared down her nakama with a shaky stance.
"I said it was captain's orders," she huskily murmured. Her clenched fist quavered as she awaited a reply. To her surprise, Gormal put the lantern from his hand down on the table and began to walk towards the door.
"Should I get Chopper?"
"No, that won't be necessary," Zoro interjected. He shifted his legs so that his feet touched the cold floor and stood up unsteadily. Yume rushed over to him as he got up and swayed, pushing him back down.
"Don't get up yet. Let the antidote work fully first. It might not have gone completely throughout your system yet."
"Don't give me that crap. I'll get up whenever I want to," Zoro replied, lightly pushing Yume away. He stood up again and stumbled until he fell into a chair with a slight wince. "See? No problem."
"So you say," Gormal sneered. He walked out of the room and angrily made his way back to the crow's nest to finish watch.
"So much for staying on his good side," Zoro muttered. Yume sighed and glanced at the swordsman in annoyance.
"I never expected you to be on his good side when he thought I was going to kill you," she snapped.
"You certainly do change moods quick."
"I need to be able to," Yume explained, flipping back some of her black hair with a deft shake of her head. "Acting skills are a necessity for all the times when I go undercover for assignments."
"Makes sense," Zoro shrugged, slouching casually in his seat. "So, what now?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know what I mean."
"No, I don't."
"Yes you do." Zoro looked up at the woman before him and gave a half-hearted smile. "You spill every little embarrassing detail about everything and anything to me in a highly humiliating fashion. That's what happens in those stupid novels of Nami's."
"You read Nami's romance novels?"
"No, but Chopper did once," Zoro laughed, remembering what it was like watching the reindeer for the few weeks after he had done so. "He told me all about it. I've never cared much for reading myself."
"I can tell why," Yume snipped. Zoro shot her a glare, but then blinked in thought.
"What was that about you and Nami at breakfast?"
"Why do you need to know?"
"A week is a long time to be out of the loop," Zoro said mockingly. Yume sneered as she got her own chair and placed it about two meters away from Zoro and sat down to face him. "Especially around that woman."
"She was just accusing me of things at breakfast, that's all," she scoffed. "Nothing big."
"She'll blackmail you for all you've got, you know that, right?" Zoro said with a slight laugh. Yume just raised her eyebrow and sighed. She stayed silent as she heard a light clopping noise in the hallway. The door creaked open to reveal another intruder on the private conversation.
"What the...!?" Chopper exclaimed as he entered the room and found Zoro to be sitting up in a chair. The reindeer almost fainted in surprise.
"Hey there Tony-kun, I was just about to go get you," Yume lied. Chopper bounced over to Zoro and began a doctor's examination in amazement.
"Chopper! What do you think you're doing?!" Zoro roared as the reindeer began ruffling his green hair. The swordsman shoved him off as Yume began to giggle in her seat.
"I think I should leave you two alone," she laughed as she stood up and began walking over towards the door. I think maybe I can catch Sanji for an early breakfast if I hurry."
"No, wait!" Zoro called out as Chopper began testing the reflexes in his knee. The swordsman could only watch as Yume smiled and walked out of the sick ward and into the hallway, disappearing from sight.
"This is amazing!" Chopper exclaimed as he kept on conducting random examinations of different places on the swordsman. "Just last night it seemed as if there was nothing that we could do for you, but now you are nearly fit enough to begin training again!"
"Yeah, imagine that," Zoro scoffed.
"Well, this is quite remarkable. Maybe it was that 'Zukerpille' stuff Yume's friend gave us after all..."
"Her friend?"
"Yeah, on Hana Ilse. The guy looked really scary, but was kinda nice." Zoro raised his eyebrow as Chopper continued. "He spoke this weird language to Yume and she understood it completely. It was creepy, but he smiled at me."
"Lovely," Zoro sighed, trying his best not to punch Chopper. "Hey, could you please lay off for a bit, will you?"
"No, I need to find out what it was that made you suddenly get better like this!" Chopper exclaimed. He scuttled over to his medical table and began looking for certain medical instruments. This gave Zoro the chance to stand up and walk over to the door himself.
"Where are you going!?" the reindeer asked. "You can't go now! I'm not done with the examination!"
"...and I don't intend for you to finish," Zoro said, walking out unsteadily. Using the wall for support, he walked down the hallway of the hold all the way down to the far end. New morning light poured in from the portholes as he grabbed the handle to the galley and shakily opened it.
The scene he found was exactly how he imagined it would be. Luffy and Maon were grappling over food at one end of the table, every now and then Usopp taking an open opportunity to safely join in. Nami was ordering around Sanji like a dog while Robin, Yume and Gormal sat back and watched. With a smile on his face, Zoro cleared his throat, stopping the morning routine cold. Everyone other than Yume and Gormal glanced up at him with surprised eyes.
"How dare you guys start breakfast without me," Zoro scolded. He laughed a little before something tackled him out of the blue and would not let go.
"ZORO! You're alive!" Luffy cried happily, embracing the swordsman like a child would an elder brother. "We thought you were going to die!"
"Do I look dead?"
"Luffy, get off him," Sanji scowled, picking up Luffy by the back of his shirt and casually tossing him back towards his seat. Zoro looked up to see the cook staring down at him with a rather disgusted, but relieved look on his face. "Stop worrying us like that Marimo. Shit-swordsmen like you should know better than that."
"I never knew crap-cooks could be so thoughtful," Zoro teased as he stood up and walked over to his seat.
"Just this once, I'll forget you ever said that," Sanji said as he went to prepare Zoro's breakfast. The swordsman smiled amongst all the shocked stares and welcome backs he was getting. He glanced over towards Yume for a quick second and could have sworn he saw a relieved expression on her face. He shook it off and returned to the fawning attention of his nakama, forgetting it all until he was alone in the bright sunlight of midday.
She smiled at me, he thought angrily, picking up his weights. She smiled. Why should she care!? Why should I care!? What in the hell is going on!?
It was then that Zoro appreciated how distracting those weights-on-a-stick could be.
Author's Notes
Yay! Zoro Woke Up!: After five chapters of being semi-comatose! Finally! -relieved- I hate writing arguments between Zoro and Yume. It is hard to keep character fluid and on track, particularly with OC dealings. Besides, I think I was depressed when I wrote this and the previous chapter.
Gormal's Prick-ness: Umm… he's sort of, protective, of his captain and easily turns into a jerk about it…? Please don't completely hate him! I'm working on it! I just can't help but to defend him because I know my plot devices.
Yeah... please review and in a week, have a splendid Armistice Day! I'm celebrating with some college American-rules football, roleplaying and the beginning of writing more of this fiction! Later!
Edits: a couple of words and a line of dialogue