Chapter 25: Meeting

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A month passed and Luffy was out on his own in the city. He had left his ear piece in his room so that he wouldn't hear his nakama trying to convince him to come back to the base. He had been running solo after they couldn't find Zoro that one day. He had so much hope in finding his best friend and partner, only to be crushed to the point that he wasn't himself. And thus started the solo run from building to building.

He let the others take his jobs as he wasn't feeling much up to doing such things without the other. He would enter buildings and cause some surprise, but no one decided to go after him or try to shoot him down. He was just running and causing a bit of a scene in the office areas.

It was getting close to sunset, but he stopped at one building to watch it. He thought back on the time when he and Zoro watched the sunset and the city with the lights on. That moment seemed so perfect then, and it was a painful reminder of what he would miss now that his partner is missing and possibly forgotten about him. Just the thought of seeing the other look at him like a stranger hurts him.

-XxX-

Soon it was midnight and the night sky fortuned him with the bright full moon to light his way on the buildings. The cold air kept him awake as he jumped from building to building until he felt one of his sandals giving out.

"Damn…" He said as he stopped at one building to do some repair work when the roof door opened and he looked back to see a black clad figure wearing a black bandana. But what got his attention was the three katanas on the man's left side.

The man turned and green eyes met brown.

"Zoro?" He said as he stood up and waited for the other to say anything at this point.

The man blinked as he got one hand on one of his katanas. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

Luffy felt the hurt he expected to feel when he heard the other asked that. But he was glad the other hasn't attacked him. "You really don't remember me…"

"Why should I?" He asked calmly.

Luffy didn't know what to do when he noticed the other was wearing the necklace he gave him for Christmas. "You're still wearing the necklace I gave you."

Zoro blinked as he knew he was wearing the necklace. He'd been wearing it without thinking it most of the time, finding some odd comfort from it. "You gave me this necklace?"

"Yeah… Last Christmas…"

Zoro stared at the teen and felt… relieved and confused. He felt a sense of nostalgia but he didn't take another step or put his guard down. "That was months ago, right?"

Luffy nodded. "Yeah…" He said as he fingered the pirate earring that the other got him. "And you gave me this, remember?" He said as he let the other see it a bit better.

'What's with this guy?' Zoro thought as he did get a look of the earring and did feel another form of nostalgia before looking at the teen. 'He can clearly see that I can kill him easily with three swords, but he's standing there and talking to me as if we're old friends. Why can't I move my body to at least give him a warning? And why do I feel that I've seen him somewhere?'

"So, Zoro, what are you doing out here?"

Zoro blinked as he shook his head. "None of your concern." He said as he looked around before looking at the teen. "I don't care who you are, but if I see you again when I'm in a hurry, you're dead."

Luffy just smiled. "If you can catch me first. I'm a Runner you know."

"And I'm an assassin."

"Then why didn't you kill me? Aren't assassin's supposed to be like ninjas or something? Kill anyone who's seen them and what not?"

Zoro lifted a brow. "Are you challenging me if I have the will to kill?"

"I know you could, without a second thought."

"Really?" He said as he straightened, but still had his hand on his katana. "And how do you even know about me?"

Luffy smiled. "Remember my name and I'll tell you."

"I don't know who the hell you are!"

"Course you do, but that bastard made you forget."

Zoro blinked, looking a bit lost at the teen before him.

"You do know me, Zoro, that's why you haven't taken your katana out and kill me when we saw each other. If you had truly forgotten me, then you would've left my corpse a long time ago."

Zoro knew the other spoke the truth with that logic, but he still didn't get what makes this teen have him act this way.

Luffy smiled as he pointed at the other. "You know I'm right, but at the same time don't know it yet." He said. "And that's okay, I can wait until you can remember. Just don't tell that bastard that you've met me. He'll just make sure you never come out again." He went up to the other until he was only a step away from his confused partner. "We'll meet again, Zoro, that I know for sure. And even though you say you'll kill me when we meet again, I'll still come up to you like this."

"You a nut?"

Luffy smiled. "Do you think that?"

Zoro was taken aback on how the childish teen was acting so mature around him. He felt no ill will from the other and took his hand off of his katana. And he did think the other was a bit crazy for coming this close to an assassin, but somehow he didn't think the other was insane either. "No…"

Luffy wanted to hug the other so badly, but he only took a step back and smiled sadly when he knows that he can't force the other to come back with him back to the base or try to get the other to remember. "I have to get back to my nakama. I'll keep our meeting a secret if you do the same. We've looked for you once, only for that bastard to take you somewhere else." He adjusted his hat. "I won't force you to remember me, but try to think about it a bit when you have time."

"Why?" Zoro asked, not getting the change in the teen's mood.

Luffy looked up at the other, unshed tears threatening to come down. "Because you're a very special person to me, Zoro. I don't want to hurt you, ever."

Zoro was surprised to hear this. "What are you saying?"

Luffy shook his head. "I told you, I won't force you to remember, so I can't tell you what I'm saying." He looked up and smiled. "I know Zoro will figure it out, you're a very smart guy when you want to be."

Zoro was going to say something when the other ran to the side of the building and jumped. "Oi!" He called out as he went to the side and saw the other was already at the next building and quickly jumped and grabbed the pipe to the next building. He saw the other stop at the roof of that building and waved at him before leaving once again. "Who are you…?" He said to himself as he could feel the words trying to escape, but something was blocking it.

He had the feeling of going after the teen to get answers from him. But he knew Crocodile would be waiting for him with news of his new kill. He didn't feel himself when he killed people Crocodile told him to. But he didn't know what else to do. And now he's met up with someone who knows about him and the other wouldn't say a thing other than that he should try to remember.

He fingered the necklace and thought about what the other said. 'A few months ago… And I've been working with Crocodile for a month…' He thought with a frown. 'That bastard is hiding something from me. But that guy said to not mention this meeting. Did that bastard do something? And that guy was somehow involved?' He sighed as he rubbed his temple. 'So many questions… If only I could remember…' His thoughts were interrupted by the vibrations of his cell phone and answered it. "Yeah?"

"Did you manage to get the job done?" Crocodile said, not sounding patient.

"Yeah, I did. Just enjoying the night view here."

"Aren't you poetic… Get your ass back here. Can't let anyone know you were there."

"Right…" He said as he turned off the phone and jumped to another building. 'Something's definitely off…'

I'm so sorry everyone that I haven't updated in months. I've been hitting a lot of writer's blocks and I've also kept having an idea for my newest fic for Hetalia. And then there's OMGKITTY's boyfriend's belated/Robin's birthday gift fic to work on, and I'm getting the feeling of being spent. But I got at least these new chapters up to let you guys know that I'm not dead, and... yeah. Hope you guys are doing well and... later.