Laughter sang through the ruins of Moria's great mansion.
Brook's cheery piano kept the air light while Sanji's wonderful food warmed the once dreary atmosphere with its delicious aroma.
Chopper and Franky danced upon the tables made from rubble with glee, causing a riot of laughter to shine from the men who dwelt in the darkness for so long.
Nami drank and giggled with the owner of the shadow she had befriended and protected.
Riley smiled as she watched the happiness around her. She listened to the music and the laughter and knew it was pleasant. She saw the relief in her friend's faces and knew she should feel the same.
But she couldn't.
Zoro lay, battered and bedridden on the pallet in front of her. He was unconscious and more bandages were visible on his body then skin. How could she enjoy the revelry around her when he was so badly hurt?
She knew it didn't make sense. And she certainly didn't begrudge the others their happiness, but she just couldn't partake.
Riley didn't know what had happened after the Tyrant's explosion went off. She didn't know how Luffy was still alive. Or why any of them had been allowed to survive.
All she knew was the Zoro was responsible for whatever it was.
Riley ran her fingers over the hilts of Zoro's swords.
There was a new one. Shusui, Zoro had called him.
Riley could feel the power radiating from the black metal even through it's scabbard.
She wished she could have seen the owner of the blade. She wished she could have met the samurai nicknamed the Dragon Slayer.
But Zoro had rejected her touch. He'd pulled away from her.
Her mother used to do the same when she was angry. And the closer Riley had tried to get to her, the more vicious she'd become.
Rue angry had left scars on Riley that she feared would never fade, no matter how much time passed.
And even though she knew they were completely different people and that Zoro would never react like her mother had, it had still been instinctual for Riley to pull away.
She'd have to tell Zoro later how much him grabbing her hand had calmed her anxious heart. How much that simple gesture had meant to her.
She promised herself she would tell him. When he woke up.
Riley munched on an apple slice without really tasting it. Sanji had brought her a half dozen plates already and, even though she wasn't hungry, she felt obliged to at least taste some of the food.
She wished Zoro would wake up soon. He'd like this party, she was positive. Luffy was even kind enough to set aside a few of barrels of ale for him. Although he had tried to make an unconscious Zoro drink them, after a bit of explaining he had shrugged and drew a crooked stick on three barrels.
"They're swords!" he announced proudly. "Three barrels for Zoro when he wakes up so he can party too!"
Riley looked at the drawings again. In what world were swords so crooked and thin?
"Why don't you tell a story?" Robin distracted Riley, taking a seat beside her.
Riley grimaced. "I'm not really in the mood to."
Robin nodded.
She reached out and ran her fingers over Kiri who was curled by Zoro's side. "Do you know what a shield does, Riley?"
Riley frowned at Robin. "It shields?"
Robin nodded, her fingers continuing to stroke Kiri. "It does. It protects, or shields, by taking the damage intended for another onto itself."
Riley's brow creased as she tried to figure out what Robin meant.
She looked down at Kiri.
His golden eyes stared up at her. His gaze prompting her to remember something important.
The Shield.
Riley's eyes snapped to Zoro's bruised features. That was what Kiri called Zoro. The Shield.
Her nails dug into her palms.
It takes the damage intended for another...
"How?"
"Does it matter?" Robin asked beside her.
Riley stared down at Zoro. She noted a faint smile tilting his lips.
It seemed even unconscious, he could still enjoy the party.
Riley looked up at Luffy laying on top of the piano, grinning down at Brook.
Brook was sobbing in joy at knowing his friend from so long ago still waited for him and his crew. He was crying because he knew that his friend was alive and because, for the first time in a long time, he had hope of seeing him once more.
Luffy was responsible for that hope.
Riley sighed.
Could she really blame Zoro for risking everything to save Luffy?
And it was Luffy's "damage" Zoro had taken, she was positive. She'd seen Luffy after Ennies Lobby. Zoro was the only explanation for Luffy's unexplainable vitality.
She wasn't sure what had happened but, for their Captain, she knew all of them would've done whatever they could.
Just like Luffy would for any of them.
"No." she murmured, letting her fingers gently comb through Zoro's soft green hair. "It doesn't matter how."
All that mattered was that they had all survived.
She leaned down and kissed Zoro's cheek. "Idiot."
Brook played his violin for the friends he had lost.
He played their song and hoped they would find peace in the familiar melody.
They were proud men, his comrades. They had died singing with a smile on their faces.
It was a beautiful way to die and he felt honored to have known such strong men.
The memorial built for them couldn't have been more perfect.
He would never be able to repay Franky, Usopp, and Chopper's kindness.
The Rumbar pirates could finally rest. A long way from home but in soil of their own.
A footstep made Brook pause.
He turned to see Zoro staring at the gravestone built for his friends.
Zoro walked forward and imbedded one of his scabbards deep into the earth.
He sat down next to him.
"You startled me." Brook told him. "Are you sure you should be up?"
"Yeah." Zoro drawled. "I overslept a bit."
Overslept? If anyone else had done what he had, they would still be bedridden until their bodies healed. At least, the strongest would. Everyone else wouldn't have survived.
"What's that?" Brook asked, turning towards the sword.
"My dead sword, Yubashiri." He replied. "I hope you don't mind if I lay him to rest here."
Zoro closed his eyes and clasped his hands together in prayer.
Brook studied the man beside him in wonder.
He had knocked on death's door for his captain.
He had done it with such unflinching determination that Brook was humbled merely being in his presence.
"Excuse me," Brook interrupted Zoro's prayer.
Zoro looked up. "Hm?"
Dark eyes stared at Brook expectantly.
But did Brook really have the right to ask? The Swordsman hadn't done what he had for recognition or praise. He'd done it for his Captain and friend.
Brook couldn't help but wonder why, though. Why would he risk his dream and his future for his Captain? What made his Captain worth that sacrifice?
He thought of that Captain. He thought of Luffy.
Luffy who had accepted him without pause. Luffy who had saved him. Luffy who lived his life without regret or uncertainty.
"Never mind. It's nothing." Brook shook his head. For Luffy, he might do the same. Not with Zoro or Sanji's calm determination, he'd probably do so shivering and in tears, but with the same absolute resolve.
"I've joined your crew!" Brook grinned at Zoro.
"Is that so?" Zoro chuckled. "Damn, your luck really does suck."
"Eh?" Brook stared at Zoro in uncertainty. What did that mean? He'd thought that the swordsman would find that to be a good thing.
"Our crew is trouble." Zoro smirked.
Brook laughed. "So it would seem! They'll certainly be the death of me!" He paused. "Although, I'm already dead."
Brook laughed and Zoro smiled.
If this crew was the second death of him, he expected to die happy.
Zoro flinched as he drew his shirt over his head.
His wounds from Thriller Bark were nowhere near healed yet and he was growing impatient.
He sat down underneath the hot spring's waterfall.
They'd found this resort right out of the Florian Triangle and had decided to stop by to unwind and relax.
All Zoro was hoping for was some healing.
He breathed in slowly, letting the warm water wash away his pains.
The resort claimed these waters would heal.
They better work fast.
He tensed, hand preparing to reach for one of the swords sitting at his side.
"Just me. Keep relaxing."
Zoro opened one eye, just enough to make sure it was really Riley walking up to the pool beside him.
He felt a smirk threaten his lips when he saw her.
Riley was wearing a green bikini and her long red curls hung loose down her back. She looked ready to relax and have fun... until he'd noticed the black leather belt she held in one hand. The one that was home to the majority of her wickedly sharp knives.
Riley might insist that her heart was that of a storyteller but he knew that her instincts at least were those of a true swordsman.
Perhaps that's why they got along so well.
She moved like a swordsman, too.
Her steps were confident, her stride graceful.
Riley lay her towel and her belt on a nearby rock before slipping into the pool silently. She submerged her body beneath the rippling water before reemerging with a smile on her lips.
She leaned with her back against the edge closest to her knives and closed her eyes, the soft smile still gracing her features.
Despite her untroubled expression, he had a feeling she was there to watch over him.
Ever since he'd awoke on Thriller Bark, Riley was never far from his side.
She wouldn't hover and scold the way Chopper did. Instead, he'd feel her eyes on him while she pretended to read or write.
He'd caught her eye a few times when she'd been staring at him. The look in them had been odd. It was a look she'd given him before but there was something different about it at the same time. Something he found incredibly distracting and never failed to cause his mind to wander.
Zoro shook her out of his mind and closed his eyes.
They had a long journey still waiting ahead of them. Their next stop would be Fishman Island. Brook and the Love Cook were excited to see the mermaids who inhabited the island but Zoro didn't understand why. They'd already seen a mermaid once and the sight had shocked them so severely it had rendered them all unconscious. Who would ever willingly want to face something that disturbing again?
Still...
Zoro opened his eyes a sliver and studied Riley.
It wasn't hard for him to imagine her as a mermaid. As what he believed a mermaid should look like, anyway.
He could see Riley as the savior of men lost at sea. Her pretty smile the sweetest thing those lost men had ever seen and her emerald eyes reminding them of the greenness of earth. He could see her as the protector of her underwater home, her blood red hair trailing behind her. An omen to her enemies as much as the sharpness of the knives she would have strapped around her waist were.
She'd make a beautifully lethal mermaid, he knew. If the mermaids of Fishman Island looked like her, he could understand Sanji's desire to see them.
"Zoro?"
Zoro blinked and opened his eyes fully.
Riley was floating at the edge nearest to him, her head tilted slightly in question.
"What?" he asked.
She braced her arms on the edge and easily lifted herself out of the water, taking a seat on one of the large rocks that surrounded the pool. Her skin was rosy due to the heat and water trailed down her body, outlining her curves in a very distracting manner.
"I asked how you were feeling?" she asked him again, gathering her dripping hair over her shoulder.
"Fine." he replied evenly, his eyes watching her fingers comb through the wet strands. Why didn't she wear it loose more often?
Zoro frowned at his thoughts. He definitely wasn't fine.
Something was very, very wrong.
"Really?" she asked, her raised eyebrow reflecting the doubt in her voice.
He spread his arms as if to show her he was fine.
There was nothing physically wrong with him, at least. It was all in his head. Maybe Kuma's pain bubble had messed with his brain.
That was the only explanation he could come up with to explain the direction his thoughts had seemed insistent on taking the last few days.
He wasn't the Love Cook, he knew Riley was female but that was as far as his observations had ever gone.
Why the hell was he imagining her as a mermaid? Why was he wondering what her hair felt like? Or what her skin tasted of?
She narrowed her eyes and knelt in front of him, fingers whispering over the worst of the cuts and bruises she could see. He tensed when her touch hovered over a bruise low on his side.
Riley looked up at him through her lashes, her hand remaining where it was.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked softly.
"Yes." he lied, voice huskier than usual. His reaction had nothing to do with the bruise but everything to do with her touch.
He didn't understand why it was affecting him this way. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. He wasn't a child. He knew what a woman's touch felt like.
But this wasn't just any woman. This was Riley.
And Riley was a tactile person who never seemed to believe something unless her fingers assured her it was real. Her touch wasn't a form of seduction. It was simply for her own peace of mind.
She'd done this before; assuring herself he was fine by touching him. And this wasn't something singularly his, either. After Ennies Lobby, Riley hadn't managed to be within arm's length of Robin without at least grazing her fingertips over her arm. It hadn't meant anything then.
He knew there wasn't anything different about her touch this time. Nothing special or specific.
But something was definitely wrong with him. For the first time her touch meant more then simple friendship.
"I was worried about you." she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper.
He knew.
When he'd first woken up on Thriller Bark, the first thing he'd noticed was Riley sleeping in the chair next to him, her hand resting above his heart. And something about that told him that she had kept vigil over his bed the entire time he'd been sleeping.
Zoro grabbed her hand and lay her palm over his beating heart, hoping to sooth the worry in her voice. His mind might be unstable but the rest of him was fine. Fine enough, at least. He didn't want Riley worrying over him for no reason. "I'm alright." he promised.
She looked up at him again, her green eyes holding his intently.
Could she feel the uneasiness in him? He wouldn't be surprised if she did. Although he really hoped that wasn't the case.
Riley leaned into Zoro slowly, her eyes drifting down to his lips.
Zoro didn't dare breath as she grew closer. He didn't dare move as she gently pressed her lips against his.
It felt like an eternity. It felt like a heartbeat.
Her sweet lips were pressed against his one moment and the next she was walking away with her white towel wrapped around her waist and her belt in her hand.
Riley paused before leaving.
She turned and gave him a shy smile. "I'm glad you're ok."
Then she was gone.
Zoro stared after her in a daze.
Had that just happened?
He ran his tongue over his top lip.
He could still taste her.
Riley had kissed him.
And it was different then the other times she had kissed his cheek.
He knew it was different. He knew it meant something else entirely.
Zoro closed his eyes with a sigh.
What the hell was he suppose to do now?
Robin studied her companions with interest while she relaxed on one of the lawn chairs.
Something had happened between the Bard and the Swordsman.
She wasn't quite sure what but she knew it was something neither had been prepared for and that left them both at a loss as to what to do.
The Bard's brow creased as she glanced at him over her book.
Robin noted the tension lining the Swordsman's shoulders. She saw him look up from the swords he was cleaning.
The Bard's eyes shot down to her book. The Swordsman frowned and let his eyes study her.
The Bard looked up. The Swordsman looked away.
Round and round, this cycle went.
It would end only when one of them made an excuse and escaped.
They both seemed uncomfortable in the other's presence and yet still seemed to actively seek each other out.
Even though they each jumped at an accidental touch they still sat beside each other during every meal. Even though there seemed to be an awkward pause in each of their conversations, they still spent the majority of their time in the other's presence.
Robin wondered if it was because they were trying to act as if whatever had happened hadn't or if they were trying to make everyone else on the Sunny believe nothing had changed.
Robin had noted the worried look Miss Navigator had given the pair and the puzzled expression on the Cook's face.
They, at least, had also noticed something was amiss.
Zoro rose to his feet and murmured something to Riley before disappearing into the crow's nest.
The Bard bit her lip as she looked after him. Probably wondering if it was worth it to follow him.
She sighed and clutched the book to her chest before wandering towards the railing and staring out to sea. It seemed she had had enough of their game for the moment.
Riley looked sad.
Zoro looked uncertain.
It wasn't very hard to deduce that the pair was suffering from relationship trouble. Robin just had to wonder if the trouble they were facing was finding out that they had a relationship.
Robin sipped her tea.
What would they do now that the cards seemed to have been laid out for them to see?
A familiar melody rang throughout the ship.
Robin smiled as Brook's violin sang its sweet tune.
Riley turned, a smile on her lips.
Robin hoped that the Bard and the Swordsman were smart enough to figure their own paths out.
All she could do was hope for the best.
