Homecoming Hill

21

On The Other Side

When Zoro and Sanji went upstairs they found that Kuina's earlier warmth had escalated into an small but undeniable fever. Zoro had to wake her up to give her some Tylenol and juice before tucking her in for the night, and she hadn't been hungry for the food Sanji's dragged himself back to the car to get. Then they'd gone into Sanji's room and started poring through heavy volumes on cultures from around the world.

Sanji searched faster than Zoro did, desperate to find the answer that would get them off the Hill and back east.

Usopp was encouraging him to look harder by sitting on the bed and telling jokes that had been old in the twentieth century. Sanji couldn't see him, but his head popped up and turned sharply in all directions like a startled bird every time Usopp's voice lanced the quiet ambience of legs shifting and pages being turned.

It had been easier with Mihawk, Sanji had to admit to himself. He hadn't been able to see him, either, but with the storm lowering his visibility of everyone else as well, it hadn't mattered so much. And the telepathic way of conversing meant that he didn't need to face who he was talking to anyway. He felt very uncomfortable, however, talking to and hearing a bodiless voice floating around the room.

The degree to which Sanji was aware of the presence of an Everlasting or Dweller was according to a case-by-case system no one could make sense of, but that Zoro found wickedly entertaining and easy to torment all the same. The coffee angel he'd been babbling about had turned out to be Robin, and then he'd been unable to resist flirting with Conis in the corridor while Zoro had been in Kuina's bedchamber. He'd been forlornly disheartened to hear first that Kaya was taken by Usopp, and later that Nami was spoken for in an unspoken sort of way that Zoro could not properly explain (nor prove for that matter. It was only based on the tension he picked up around she and Ace, so Zoro had been relieved when Sanji hadn't demanded evidence). When they had gone to Ace's quiet room (the eviction had been reinstated by Ace so he could think or plan or something) they had met the moderator himself, along with Franky who was still healing, and Chopper who was helping the process along with his phenomenal healing talents. It turned out that Chopper's powers made him so valuable to the weaker Everlastings that Ace kept him close so he wouldn't be stolen and bartered for ransom.

Some Residents Sanji could only hear. Some only see. Some of the some he could see appeared as only glimmer of light or a shadow where they were, and some of the some he could hear he only heard when that Resident had really focused on speaking to him and forced the words to be heard. Sanji had been introduced as best was possible to eight Everlastings and two Dwellers so far, and of them all the only two he'd been able to fully experience were Ace and Shanks. Zoro was sure that, when they met, Luffy would go on the list to make up the only three that Sanji would be able to fully experience, but Ace had hinted that the awareness grew quickly for Outsiders once it had sprouted.

In the meantime, a good time was being had by Usopp, who found picking on Sanji as fun as Zoro did.

By the time night had fully fallen outside Zoro was nearing the completion of the last book, feeling discouraged.

"Maybe we should send her home," Sanji suggested. "Bad things are coming one right after another now, and you remember what it felt like out there. Even the air was alive."

"She won't want to go alone," Zoro said slowly, focused on the book he was skimming. "Besides, she's safe in this wing. We'll keep an eye out for her and no one will attack her. The Everlastings are helping us watch out for her, too."

"From what they can protect her from, you mean. It's not like they're invincible," Sanji quipped as he began to change for bed.

"They're stronger than you think."

"But they were sucked in by this place, now weren't they? And the way you tell it is they have only the power they've been imbued with by the thing that trapped them in the first place. You know, in Greek mythology that same difference in power is what distinguishes the gods on Olympus from the people they created and ruled over for entertainment; their playthings. You're comparing Rah to the Egyptians during a famine; Hades to the people in Tartarus; Voldemort to the rest of the wizarding world in book seven!"

Zoro zoned Sanji's voice into white noise at the Harry Potter reference and could tell by Usopp's vacant expression that the Everlasting had done it as well. He stayed tuned out until the talking stopped, and then he settled into the tranquil silence. But as soon as he was comfortable there, Sanji's voice cut through it and distracted him again.

"Don't you think it's strange how often these kinds of things happen? I mean, if it were just one time or one place it would be treated like the strangest stand-alone occurrence in history, like a black day. But this isn't the first time a whole town's worth of people has vanished without a trace just like this."

"Hm."

"It's happened several times throughout history, but always far apart. Almost like someone is doing it intentionally, trying to be inconspicuous about it by waiting until one missing town is eventually forgotten before taking the next one away. It's convenient, isn't it? Like the people who vanished are all part of some agenda."

"Hm."

"I wonder if what happened here is also what happened there. Then all those people would be trapped there just like all the people that are trapped here."

Sanji came back to sit on the corner of his bed.

Zoro glanced up at him and jerked back.

"What the hell are you wearing?"

Sanji looked down at himself in his freckled pajamas.

"What?"

"You look like the spotted remains of a fish flake accident."

"Shut up. I've had them for weeks and you've never cared before."

"Oh, I'd have cared. If I had seen them before, I'd have cared then, too. They make me think that either I'm lost in a Babies R Us or you're auditioning for a new Mike Meyers comedy."

"You're obnoxious. Find anything?"

"I've got nothing," Zoro said, giving up and tipping the cover of his book shut in frustration. "Your books are stupid, Sanji."

"You're stupid, dumbass."

"Now I'll have to look somewhere else," he grumbled, looking at the pile on the floor. He stared at nothing for a three count and then sighed. "We shouldn't be up late anyway. It makes things harder for them."

Zoro lugged his body off the floor and headed for the door.

"Zoro."

Zoro turned.

Sanji squeezed his fingers individually and randomly. "Did they all look like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know. The way they looked..."

Zoro waited in silence, so Sanji continued. "Outside. You saw more of them than I did. But their faces... and their eyes. Did they all look like that?"

Oh. Like that.

Zoro took a breath and deliberated. "Some less than others, but yes. To some degree."

"If I wanted to see people who had eyes like that, I'd have volunteered for the Red Cross after the Katrina disaster in New Orleans." He squeezed his fingers harder. "They just look..."

"Hopeless. Lost."

"Yes." Sanji shrugged helplessly.

Zoro looked at his cousin. He thought of all the people outside in the storm. The children. Shanks. The crowd that had gathered to laugh and watch his frisbee game with Kuina days before. All trapped out in the storm.

"I hear what you're saying. We'll figure something out."

"We have to."

Zoro turned to go again. "G'night, Usopp. And Sanji? Sleep with one eye open."

"Sure." Sanji was looking warningly at a gaping space two feet to the right of where Usopp was trying not to laugh at him. "I'm never going to sleep well here again."

Zoro rolled his eyes and pointed to Usopp, then to his own eyes, then to Sanji.

Usopp nodded, and Zoro departed into the dark corridor.

"Zoro?"

Zoro jumped and spun on his heel, heart racing. Beside Sanji's door Nami twisted around to make sure there wasn't anything behind her.

Zoro clutched his chest.

"We need to come up with a system of some kind. You guys need to stop doing that to me."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Oops," she said, still looking around into the shadows.

"Why aren't you with Kuina?"

"What?"

"Kuina. Why aren't you with her?"

"Oh, oh. Um…I wanted to talk to you. But you're right, we should be in the room. Let's go now."

She passed him and bee lined to her door and he followed.

When they got inside, Zoro pretended that checking Kuina's fever was some special event that took a lot longer than it really did so he could act like he didn't notice Nami going around the room twice to make sure it was secure.

But he did make a little small talk.

"Nami?"

"Hm?" she said, still moving around the room like an nervous bird.

"Do people get sick here often?"

"Who, Everlastings? Never. We can't."

"Outsiders."

"Oh." She twisted around to look at Kuina. "Well, it's not rare, but it's not really common either. Your sister's just sick because she was out in the rain last night and then she went through a lot in the West Wing today, probably. Now she's seeing ghosts… it's a lot hit a child all at once, I'd think. Stress can cause illness as easily as a virus can."

"So no one's ever died because the Hill made them sick," Zoro specified.

Nami looked out her window to the tree line that, unbeknownst to her, Zoro and Sanji had been right under only an hour before.

"You're a good big brother. Like Ace. You're also just as paranoid about your sibling. People have gotten sick here and died. That's why Conis's father is here. It seems to prolong recoveries, but wounded Outsiders have healed up fine given enough time…well, unless they die right away. So I don't see why the infirmed would be different. It's not like people make a practice of getting sick and dying often that I know of, but I have to admit, I've only been here for about twenty-five years. Still, the Hill doesn't choose dying people. At least I've never heard of one before. If you look, everyone here is either healthy or dead with their injuries still showing, right? It's one extreme or the other."

"If they had been dying of disease and not been able to finish passing on, would you be able to tell?"

Nami shrugged. "Well…we'd probably just know because a lot of us have seen each other come here. Ace and Luffy have seen all but maybe eight Everlastings arrive here, and they've never said anything about anybody being almost dead when they changed. But if there were, they'd probably stand out somehow, I'm sure. Someone would notice something off about them."

Zoro sighed. Luffy certainly stood out, just not physically (unless one counted his abnormal translucency, which Nami didn't seem to). A unique power that made everyone fear him made him 'stand out' enough for Zoro. But people who had been around Luffy for decades would only perceive him as an Everlasting who'd been well-endowed, and they'd never thought to consider why.

"But then," Nami continued, "I guess if it decided to target someone who suddenly got really sick before they were claimed, the Hill probably wouldn't change it's mind. It's been doing it's thing for nearly a century now, so I'm confident that it's a dedicated…whatever it is, because it's never taken back anything so far."

"Would any of the other eight they didn't see arrive know?"

"They're all completely insane. Haven't spoken in years. It's been too long for them and they had no family. I think the reason that Ace and Luffy are okay is because they've always been together."

She finally seemed satisfied with the security of the room let out a deep breath, so Zoro pretended to complete his check-up, pulled Kuina's blankets to her chin and walked to the end of the bed.

"So what's up?"

"Huh? Oh, you know. Same old stuff."

"Nothing's going on?"

"Not really," she smiled.

"Okay… What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh! Right. Um, since we're sort of talking about him anyway, how are Luffy and you doing? Is he acting strange at all tonight?"

"Don't know yet. Haven't seen him."

"Oh. That's…um… Well, when you do…" She reached out and took his hand. "…Look, I know talking to him can feel…impossible, and that I have no business saying anything to you about him, but he's worth all the effort and he really, really likes you."

"Uh-huh. You've said all this to me before," Zoro helpfully pointed out.

"I know, but I wanted to say it again because," she paused, searching for the words, "because he'll probably be going through something really traumatic soon, and I don't want you to…um…"

"Get scared away?"

Nami looked sheepish. "Maybe?"

"I won't leave you guys behind me and take off, Nami. I promise."

Nami's eyes became glassy, and Zoro hoped he hadn't said anything stupid.

"Are- are you okay?"

She laughed and wiped her eyes, walking around him to her fireplace.

"I'm sorry. I'm just… such a girl sometimes."

She took a deep breath and turned back around. "He's really lucky to have you near him so much," she said, nodding toward the wall that doubled as Luffy's.

Zoro sat on the mattress and pulled a knee to his chest. "I'm trying. I don't think I'm helping him, though."

"Oh, you are." Nami stressed.

"There's still so much about him I don't know."

"Well, obviously. I think everyone feels that way about Luffy sometimes. Except for maybe Ace, but that's because no one's closer to him."

"I know almost nothing about him. …I met his father outside. He's a Dweller."

"Okay," said Nami.

Zoro was confused. "Doesn't that surprise you?"

"No. Should it have? A lot of us have family outside. Ace told me his dad was out there a long time ago. The windows aren't exactly made of brick, Zoro."

"Oh…" Zoro mentally kicked himself. Luffy had hinted himself that he knew his father was out there. Who else could been the Dweller whom Luffy suspected was as strong as Ace? Maybe Everlasting's power levels ran in families to an extent and that's why Luffy had guessed it.

"He's not their real father, though," Nami said.

Zoro's last thought fizzled like a dead candle.

"What?"

"Shanks. He's not their real father. Ace and Luffy were adopted by him."

"…What? But wait, are Luffy and Ace really brothers, then? I mean, they look like brothers, but they both look like Shanks, too. Especially Luffy…"

Nami was nodding while Zoro spoke. "Ace and Luffy are brothers, yes. One hundred percent. Shanks took them in together. Luffy was closest to him, though. I can see it every time Luffy mentions him. You know about Luffy's hat right? That straw hat he wears all the time?"

"Yeah."

"It's Shanks' hat. Shanks gave it to him the day they became residents."

"Why a straw hat?"

Nami shrugged. "I haven't the faintest idea. They sound like they were an unconventional family. You know how Luffy has a scar on his cheek? Well, apparently Shanks has one near the same side of his face and they had just happened to get them both the day they met. That alone isn't really strange, but whenever Luffy mentions it he gets all happy. Seems insane to me."

She sighed and picked up a picture frame from her side-table drawer. wrung out her hands and glanced around again before saying, "He's doing so much better already. It's amazing. Luffy's a giver, and when people open up to him, he feels compelled to return that, and that's how he forms emotional closeness to people. But when bad things happen around him, people push him away. Never us, but he doesn't care. It only takes a few people trying to hurt him to make him close off from everybody. He just wanted to figure things out, I think. But he wasn't able to, and his control slipped. He's suffering thanks to this stupid house and that stupid thing it made him do! His soul is tearing itself up. This damn HILL is destroying all of us!" she screamed, clenching her hands at her sides as tears of anger and pain brimmed in her eyes.

She dropped the frame on the bed where it didn't wake Zoro's sister, and he was able to make out a photo of two young girls, one with blue hair and vaguely familiar butterfly tattoos, though he couldn't place them. The other girl's face was blurred out, but he'd noticed on the first day that Nami's face was blurred from all her photographs.

"Nami…" Zoro said.

Nami shook her head and sniffed. "I'm sorry. It's just… I get carried away sometimes."

"It's alright," Zoro nodded.

She pushed her hands through her hair and passed Zoro again to plunk back in her rocking chair. "I wish tonight was tomorrow. Then I could go see the others and we could all mill about in Ace's room, instead of having to be in stations. The others can always cheer me up."

"You really depend on each other, don't you?"

Nami nodded. "We wouldn't be able to get through this without each other. …I wish Luffy could understand that. But he keeps saying he's fine." She looked at Zoro and gave him a watery smile. "And I don't think that's the kind of attention he needs. The group… I think they're too overbearing. He needs someone that will share a heart-to-heart with him. All the problems are inside. I think that the one to heal him has to come from Outside… don't you?" she tilted her head in askance.

And Zoro had to agree. "Yes. This place is a poison."

He looked Kuina over once more before heading for the door.

"Hey, Nami?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know… If you found out that a friend of yours was dying, and you knew how to help him or her stay alive for longer, but that doing that would make your friend really sad, what would you do?"

"Do you mean like if the cure was worse than the disease?"

"Yeah. Just like that."

"And it would be painful to live so my friend would never really be able to enjoy life as much as he could without being sick?"

"…Yeah, I guess."

"Has this friend come to terms with the fact that he'll die?"

"I don't know…"

"I mean, has he asked for help to prolong the suffering and live longer?"

"No… Sort of the opposite. Kind of."

"…Then I think you just answered the question for me. I'd spend the rest of his time making him happy, making memories that I would be careful never to forget. But I wouldn't make the rest of his life a hell. I wouldn't want him to actually wish for death."

Zoro looked at the floor. "But what if you don't want him to go?"

"Oh, Zoro." Nami pushed herself out of her rocking chair and walked up to give him a hug. "Usopp and the others like him are ready. It's been a long time for them, and they aren't even supposed to be here anymore, really. They're in pain all the time because those wounds they have that killed them will never heal. He hides it well-he's had lots of time to practice-but that blood on Usopp's coveralls is there for a reason. I care about them all, too. But if you really want to help them, you need to be willing to let them go."

Zoro hugged her back subconsciously, mind stuck in a pothole of the road of his thoughts. Usopp? First she'd confused his concern for being about Kuina, and now she thought he was upset about Usopp and the others? Usopp hadn't even crossed his mind. He suddenly felt sick about that, but the fact remained. Usopp was dead. So was Kaku. And Brooke. They were dead already, and as soon Zoro saved them, they would be gone forever. Why hadn't he realized that?

She stepped back and offered an encouraging smile. "Okay?"

Zoro took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

He could see it in her eyes; Nami didn't know about Luffy.

If she didn't know about him, how much did she really know about sickness on the Hill?

Perhaps Luffy hadn't been sick…? But if he hadn't been dying, why hadn't Shanks said something? He couldn't have been dying of injury, he had no wounds Zoro could see, and the nightclothes he wore were white. Unless Luffy had bandages on under his clothes? Maybe he had a wound that was kept clean, but had become infected, and that's why he'd been dying!

Zoro frowned to himself and let Nami go. There were too many possibilities. He'd have to ask Luffy, and Luffy would hate that and probably push him away again. The boy was so defensive!

"Thanks, Nami. And thanks for the heads up about tonight."

"I never said anything about tonight!" She exclaimed, then twisted her hands and looked like she was trying to recall if she actually had.

Zoro smiled and gave her another quick hug.

"Still, thank you."

"Good luck," she wished.

Zoro walked back to his room, unaware that in a few days he would think back and wonder upon which of the many upcoming events it was that her wish of luck had been intended for.

Darkness in a room that usually had a fire of supernatural beauty going at night gave even the pale light coming from outside the privilege of featuring itself. Luffy was still standing against the sliding door that led out to his balcony, looking over the vines distantly as if ticking down the seconds, waiting for something to happen, which Zoro worried was exactly what he was doing. Luffy's glow was faint. More faint than it had been even a few days before, and Zoro knew he wasn't imagining it anymore.

"It will be tonight, won't it?"

Luffy tensed and turned around, taking in the sight of Zoro before relaxing his shoulders again. His eyes, however, merely shifted from showing one kind of fear to showing another before Luffy pulled his hat down to shadow them.

"If it… if they… Ace is-" he stopped and fingered the brim of his hat like a worry stone. "I hope not."

"Do want to talk about it?"

"I don't know. Perhaps," he admitted. "But I don't think I should."

"Why not?" Zoro was careful to keep his voice nonchalant.

"I might slip."

"You can go slow. I'll go slow too. That way we can think about what we want to say…" he trailed off.

Luffy was shaking his head. "I shouldn't."

Zoro sat on his bed and ran his hand absently over the comforter. The bed was vibrating.

"Will you have to fight?"

Luffy turned back to the window, and Zoro was sure he'd trade anything to be on the other side of the glass where the grass looked greener. His fingers abandoned his hat brim to worry the sleeves of it sleeper instead.

"I don't think I should."

"That's your answer to everything tonight," Zoro said, pulling off his socks.

"Ace says I might have to, but that would be insane. I'm the last resort, but I don't want to fight. I shouldn't."

Zoro tossed his at the wardrobe and crossed the room to the glass door.

"When do you think the rain will leave?" Luffy asked quietly when Zoro reached his side.

Zoro thought back to the weather report he'd seen in Atlay's.

"I'm sure things will clear up soon," he lied. "It doesn't look like it now, but the rain can't fall forever."

"I wonder sometimes," Luffy said dreamily, as if he was talking in his sleep. "You know, raindrops have to fall a really long way from the clouds to the ground. It's probably really scary and cold, and the whole time they don't know how it's going to end, but they hope for some better future to come for them. And maybe they fall for so long that they forget that there is another way to be; they forget they used to be clouds, and that they were warm, and that they enjoyed sunshine and drifted freely, and the something better that they hoped for is forgotten, and they pray for the cold and the falling to just stop. Just end. And it does end. And their hope was for nothing because it ends the same way for all the raindrops."

Zoro reached up to touch Luffy, then retracted his hand. "How does it end?"

Luffy's vision, seeing nothing, continued to gaze fixedly on the blackness of outside.

"They all get destroyed," he answered.

Zoro looked at the glass, his reflection blocking the view of the rain outside of it. Luffy had no reflection to make him feel real. When he looked at the window, all he saw reflecting at him was darkness behind him…as if he wasn't there. Wasn't real.

I will get you out of here, Zoro thought at him. No matter what the price.

Luffy made no sign that he'd gripped his elbows loosely in his hands.

"All this fighting is the Hill's fault. Everyone is fighting over power. We justify it however we need to, but really that's all it's about. People who have a little crave more. Crocodile wants our wing, but more than that he wants our power; Ace's and mine. Then he could rule over everyone in the manor. But he can't have it. The powers the Hill grants us cannot be transferred, and this angers him. That's what this whole thing about. And everyone from both wings has been swept up in his jealousy, and they have to suffer. He can create dreams, but he uses it to cause terror, and now he's called the Sandman. Others with only slightly lesser power became gang leaders. Like Ener, who leads the Gods gang. And Lucci, who leads the Cipher Pol 9 gang."

"But Ace and I are feared, too. We can really hurt others if we want to. To die is mercy we are not allowed no matter how injured we are, and it takes a long time for some Everlastings to heal because healing requires a lot of power-more power than what most of us can generate in a few days. Even I can only heal a few times before depleting my energy. Usopp has so little power that when he gets hurt someone else has to use their power to help him along or it would take weeks. Chopper's good at healing others, so we're lucky to have him here, but it's really all he can do. Everyone fights over power.

"But sometimes the fates will play a joke on somebody by 'gifting' them with a talent that can't be given or taken away, and other people hate them because of it. It doesn't matter that it's a heavy responsibility and a burden, or even if it's dangerous or evil, others want it. I have it. Others don't. This bothers them."

Luffy turned and looked at his bedroom door. Zoro looked with him. "They were afraid to come before now, but now they think things will have changed, that Ace and I will be weaker because of the quakes. But they don't know…"

This time when Zoro moved to touch Luffy, he didn't stop. Luffy felt the hand on his shoulder, and didn't push it away.

"Does he force you into nightmares, Luffy? Is that how he holds power over you? Does he show you terrible things so real that you feel them happening? Is that how he hurts you?"

Luffy turned his face away to look at his bedroom door. "They were afraid to come before now, but now they think things will have changed, that Ace and I will be weaker. But they don't know…"

Electricity in the air sparked slightly, making Zoro's hair stand up. Luffy didn't notice.

" sometimes the fates will play a joke on somebody by 'gifting' them with a talent that can't be given or taken away, and other people hate them because of it. It doesn't matter that it's a heavy responsibility and a burden, or even if it's dangerous or evil, others want it. This is why we fight. I have it. Others don't. This bothers them."

Zoro swallowed and spoke, "How would you feel if you didn't have all this power anymore?"

For the first time Luffy look at Zoro beside him, and smiled. "Free."

They stood in silence for perhaps another minute. Then Zoro said, "Aren't you going to prepare for bed?"

Zoro jerked. "…I'm thinking I don't really want to get into bedclothes tonight. They're hindering."

Luffy looked him up and down and Zoro had the feeling he wasn't impressed by what he saw. "Aye. Fine."

Zoro nodded in relief, then forced himself to keep nodding in discomfort when Luffy's following smirk was a little too all-knowing to be innocent.

"If you want to stay dressed in 'non-hindering' clothes when you're sleeping, that's your prerogative."

"Yep, sure is."

Luffy looked back outside and shrugged casually. "I mean, you'll just be sleeping anyway, so you should do it comfortably. It's not as if you're foolish enough to have formulated a plan to stay up and see if I leave and then follow me when no one's watching you so that you can try to play spectator to something too dangerous to be so much as observed safely. Especially since you know you're one of the things they're after in the first place and if you were sneaking around you'd be bringing the spoils right to them when I wouldn't be able to protect you."

Zoro's stare stayed firmly fixed outside and he pretended not to feel Luffy's eyes on him again.

"Because it would be ridiculous of me to suspect you of having so little common sense," Luffy finished. "Wouldn't it?"

Zoro's spine felt rigid, yet he decided to never say die and forced himself to nod. "Sure would."

"Why don't you go get changed for bed now," Luffy suggested again.

Zoro deflated and dragged his feet to the wardrobe.

Zoro wasn't sure what woke him up at first.

Had Luffy knocked him out? It obviously hadn't taken very well.

Earlier he'd laid down and tried to fall asleep naturally because whenever Luffy knocked him out he left no exceptions to heavy sleeping, but he hadn't been able to. Luffy had been trying too hard not to appear edgy and impatient, and after only a few minutes he'd put Zoro to sleep, but he hadn't just instantly pumped him full of power. He'd taken a few seconds to take Zoro under easily.

Zoro had speculated as he'd drifted off that perhaps Luffy was trying to conserve his power like so many others were.

He heard a noise. A soft sound, like something sliding on leather, and after another second, he decided to settle on the guess that Luffy was shifting around in his chair. Was he coming to curl up on the bed at his feet again?

If he was, it would probably be like the night before, and that was all right. Zoro knew that Luffy wasn't trying to sleep - didn't need to sleep - but he had stayed there all night searching for comfort in Zoro's presence.

Then the other sound that had woken him up so many nights before drifted over to him, and Zoro laid in bed and listened to Luffy sniffle by the sliding door behind him again, and became angry at himself for being a right side-sleeper.

Minutes passed, but Zoro didn't move. He waited for the sound of Luffy getting out of the squashy armchair and feared for a moment he'd missed it. But the sound eventually came and Zoro shifted carefully from his side to his back, bringing Luffy into clear view.

Then he realized he was an idiot for not figuring it out a week ago, because this is what he saw.

He saw Luffy get right up close to the glass. He saw the boy raise his hands up and press them against the window. And then, on the other side, he saw a larger pair of hands press against Luffy's, matching them finger to finger with the cold, transparent barrier in between them.

And then Zoro knew why Luffy stood by the window every night diligently waiting like a puppy pining for it's owner.

He could see that on the other side Shanks was speaking comforting words of encouragement to his son, but his voice didn't penetrate the barrier the Hill had created to keep them apart, and they didn't ebb Luffy's tears even as he nodded and pressed closer to the glass, craving nearness to his father. Zoro took in the heartbreaking scene with the pained discomfort of an IRS officer who'd inadvertently shown up at a client's wake to collect the year's dues.

Luffy sobbed a few unintelligible word-like noises back at him, and Shanks nodded, understanding what Zoro doubted was real language.

After a few minutes Shanks looked past Luffy into the darkness. Curious, Zoro followed his gaze and saw Ace standing, barely glowing in the bedroom doorway, the corridor a cavern of darkness behind him.

Ace approached the pair without a sound, and touched his brother's shoulder. Luffy immediately tried to compose himself, wiping his eyes on his sleeves and holding his head high while his hands shook. Outside Shanks looked sadly at his sons, and nodded to Ace, repeating his earlier words of love to his eldest. Ace accepted them with the grace of a leader, reached his free hand to the glass to meet his father's hand on the window, and returned the gesture.

Shanks mouthed something more and then dispersed, leaving his sons to each other.

Ace said nothing while Luffy strived to look resiliently unaffected.

"They're moving?" Luffy said, crossing his arms as if he'd never cried a day in his life.

"They're camping in the foyer. You'll guard them here?"

Zoro could only assume 'them' meant himself and his family. So neither of the brothers knew he was awake. Then he wondered how, in case they realized it, he could trick them both into thinking he was not blatantly eavesdropping.

"Aye. I will," Luffy murmured, pulling his hands into his sleeves.

"Right, then." Ace squeezed Luffy's shoulders. "Hold the line."

Luffy was the only person in his line, and Ace's meaning was acknowledged.

Ace loosed his grip and departed from the room taking long strides like a suburban man leaving for a doctor's appointment, and not very much like a soldier heading for the trenches. The room was left in silence and Luffy curled back up in his chair.

Zoro tried to lay still and look asleep without actually nodding off.

They remained like this for a half an hour before Kaya burst their closed door, out of breath and limping. Her dress was soaking up silver blood around her right side and cuts ran deep up and down her arm like whip lashes. Her hair was skewed, her eyes wide and wet, her lungs forcing themselves painfully.

She stumbled and fell to the floor by the door.

"Luffy!" she gasped, reaching out for him. "Please! Help them. All of them are fighting. All of them. We've barely started fighting, and already we're not going to be able to hold them back. They'll outlast us."

Luffy helped Kaya to her feet and looked at her arms. His face revealed no emotion as she sobbed and tucked her hair back with shaking hands. He closed his eyes.

"Who did this to you?"

"M-MacDonald," she hiccupped.

Luffy took a deep breath and let it out.

"Wait here," he said, finally.

"No," Kaya said, shaking her head fiercely. "I won't sit up here and wait. I know I haven't been here as long as you have, but I'm part of this. I came to bring you back, not to hide away."

Luffy pulled his hat low over his eyes.

"Then let's go."

And they Dispersed and left the room together.

Zoro counted to sixty before he slipped out of bed to follow them. He got as far as the door which had been sealed shut by the frozen doorknob.

"Shit!" he whispered.

Luffy had noticed him after all. But of course he had. He never missed a thing.

Zoro paced in front of the door fighting with the knob every couple of seconds before impatience overwhelmed him and he punched the wall. But beating up the wall didn't do any good for him, because the problem wasn't with the wall, but the door. If the door wasn't going to work for him then as far as he was concerned it was broken, and he knew of only one way to fix a broken door.

He kicked it down, and then he left the bits of broken frame to tumble across the floor on the other side while he raced down the corridor.