A/N: Yes, Zoro has been cutting a lot of heads off, hasn't he?

---

Zoro panted slightly, looking down at the bodies of the two Shichibukai.

"Is this really…the skill of a Shichibukai?" Sanji said in shock, watching as Zoro wiped the blood from his sword on Donquixote's feather boa. Zoro looked up wearily and nodded blandly.

"No matter how suspicious Donquixote or Crocodile was, I doubt that Donquixote ever thought I'd betray him if your lives were at risk. He put surprising faith in the fact that I would do whatever he told me to if your lives were at risk. I even cut you," Zoro noted, pointing to the cut on Sanji's leg. The blond man grinned.

"Just a scratch. I'd never let you do anything more than that," he boasted, not without reason. His eye drifted to the other slaves and widened in horror. "Are those…geisha? Tell me they aren't, marimo."

Zoro nodded regretfully, rummaging in Donquixote and Crocodile's pockets for the keys. "Found them. Here, Prince, you can help me free them." Sanji snatched the keys that Zoro threw at him in midair and immediately moved to open the cages. The rest of the crew helped, still in slight shock after the sudden deaths of the two Shichibukai. It was absolutely surreal.

When Robin stepped forward and helped one of the women out of her cage, the woman looked up under wavy locks of hair that had escaped the confines of her bun and gasped.

"Robin-san?" she said softly. Robin looked down in astonishment as recognition dawned on her face.

"Marigold! Then, are your sisters…?" Robin's question died on her lips as Sandersonia ran towards them and Boa stepped regally out of her cage, shifting slightly to avoid Sanji's lovestruck touch.

"Robin!" Boa strode over and gripped Robin firmly by the arm. "Who are these people?" She paused, and then started over. "It's been ten years since we last saw each other, hasn't it?"

Robin nodded. "I couldn't bear to return to the teahouse," she said apologetically. "These people are my crew—no, my family."

Boa gazed at her without emotion. "I once considered you my sister, just as much as Marigold and Sandersonia."

Before Robin could reply, Sanji twirled in front of Boa with a rose (procured from where? No one knows) and prostrated himself before her. "Ah, such beauty as yours…" he began, eyes closed in ecstasy.

She kicked him aside as she turned to Robin again. "I will not question your choices. I'm sure that you are much happier now than you were with us."

"What are you plans from here?" Robin asked. The others gathered around to listen. "Will you return home?"

Boa shook her head. "It is no longer safe at home. The teahouse owners were killed when they refused to sell us as slaves, and we were taken by force. The men on the ships…they did strange things to us…" she said, shuddering violently.

"Strange things? Donquixote said that he wouldn't stand to have any of the women touched," Zoro said in surprise.

Boa waved her sisters over, and they trembled like cold jelly. "They fed us this disgusting fruit, and our bodies…" She trailed off. "It's the stuff of legends. I'm not sure you would believe me if you heard it."

Robin smiled gently. "Watch, sister." She crossed her arms, and all the geisha shrieked in shock as she sprouted arms, eyes, and ears around them. "You mean, strange things like this? Look." Luffy stretched his arms out with a grin, and Chopper switched from Walking Point to Brain Point shyly. Brooke waved cheerfully, much to their confusion—so far as they could tell, he was only very gaunt. "This is called the power of the devil—the Akuma no Mi, or Devil Fruit."

"Then…there are other people like us?" Sandersonia whispered hopefully.

Robin nodded. "Every Devil Fruit is unique, but whoever eats one will gain extraordinary powers."

Boa had been gazing at Zoro with an odd expression on her face. Her round eyes were regarded evenly by his own narrow ones.

"What are you motives, swordsman?" she asked at last, breaking the tension. "What drives you? You killed your master, but joined these people as readily as though your loyalties had been shuffled around."

"My ambition," he answered simply. He looked at Luffy and the crew, and his eyes softened slightly. "My crew."

Boa accepted his answer with a slow nod. "You worked for this man, correct?" she continued, gesturing to Donquixote.

"For a brief period, yes."

"Do you think we might obtain a ship, using his connections? I doubt anyone had caught wind of what has occurred here yet, and we must flee," Boa said.

"I'm sure that we can arrange something."

---

"Oi, Bellamy!" Zoro yelled waving Donquixote's man over. Zoro was striding purposefully out of the casino towards where Bellamy was waiting with the carriage.

"What do you want?" Bellamy demanded. Dince Donquixote was nowhere in sight, he didn't even try to be polite.

"Donquixote-san wants a ship prepared. He wants to reschedule his visit down the coast to tomorrow rather than next week. Can you do it?" Zoro asked, the tone in his voice testing the other man.

Bellamy snorted. "Of course I can. I'm Donquixote-san's most able man, after all. I'll be getting the Flamingo ready to sail by tomorrow morning."

"Oh, he wants to take some of the slaves along, too. Turns out that he was quite interested in keeping a few of them," Zoro added.

"The Flamingo is capable of carrying the entire shipment of slaves that we brought, plus some. Perhaps if you were a little more experienced with our affairs you would be aware of that," Bellamy scoffed. "I will return at sunset, then."

When Bellamy had left, Zoro returned to the slave room.

"That Hyena's going down to get the ship ready. The Flamingo is all yours, Boa," Zoro said with a grin.

Hours later, when Bellamy returned, he found himself surrounded by members of the Mugiwara Crew. He was securely tied up and gagged in a seastone cage.

They rode back to Donquixote's mansion for the sake of keeping up the illusion of Donquixote's health. Zoro had insisted upon burying the men himself, and wiped his hands of their blood once their bodies were safe underground. The rest of the group watched it silence as he spat upon their unmarked graves contemptuously before turning away.

---

"This is Donquixote's mansion, huh? He must have been filthy rich," Franky noted, looking out the window of the crammed carriage. Even with a cart being pulled behind the carriage to accommodate the extra people, there was a notable lack of space.

"You guys alright back there?" Zoro called from the front where he was driving. "We're almost there."

"Why did that guy have to have such a long road leading to the main house?" Usopp grumbled.

"Hush. We've arrived, so wait here." Zoro jumped off the carriage and stopped Lily from opening the door. "Lily, Donquixote-san is planning on having guests over—you know, 'special ones.'" Zoro had been briefed the previous day that the Shichibukai would occasionally host small parties for his wealthiest customers. "Please go and prepare enough rooms and meals for…" Zoro counted in his head quickly. "Well, he said it was going to be a full house. He's conferring with one of his guests via Den Den Mushi, so please do not wait on him at the moment. I will bring him into the house."

Lily nodded. "Understood." She quickly ran off to accomplish her tasks.

Zoro waited until she had disappeared before throwing the door of the carriage open, allowing its occupants to spill out ungracefully. "Psst, let's go! We've got to hurry. I'll take you to my room first, and then I'll take care of the servants here." They sprinted up the stairs into the house, finally reaching Zoro's room after much looping and backtracking on part of the swordsman.

"Oi, marimo, I thought you told us to hurry," Sanji complained. "But you must have taken us everywhere except your room."

"Quiet, cook. We're here." Zoro opened the door and ushered everyone inside before shutting the door behind them. He was glad that his room was so large, or they would had been just as crammed as they had been on the ride to the mansion.

"This is your room, Zoro? Pretty nice, I must say," Nami said, obviously impressed. She immediately began to finger the wall hangings and ornaments in the room. "These would sell for a good price," she said happily, immediately beginning to fill a pillowcase with stolen goods.

Zoro shook his head at her actions and peeked out the door. "I need a way to summon all the servants without attracting suspicion. They won't listen to me alone," Zoro hummed as he thought. "I need a Donquixote look-alike. Someone who can pull off his look until we have everyone in the manor here. Damn, most of you are women. Usopp, your nose is too long. Luffy and Franky, your hair color would be hard to disguise. Chopper…er…yeah. Aha! Cook! C'mere!" Sanji was pushed to him by the rest of the group unwillingly. "Perfect! Come with me. We'll be right back."

Brooke shook his head, looking melancholy. "He didn't even consider me," he said sadly.

Zoro pulled Sanji up the stairs until they reached a large set of double doors. Zoro flung the door open and pushed Sanji inside, looking around hastily for any maids who might be tidying up. He then opened the drawers and began to pull out clothes from all the drawers. "Look for something that'll fit you, cook. You're going to Donquixote for tonight. I think this is what that guy was wearing today." Zoro tossed an armful of clothing at Sanji and rummaged in the closets and drawers until he found another pair of tinted glasses and a pink feather boa. When he realized that Sanji wasn't moving, Zoro looked up. "What are you doing? Hurry up, baka!"

Zoro was kicked from the bedroom into the adjacent study and scowled as the door was shut and locked behind him.

"Geez, if you're shy about changing in front of me, just say so…pansy…" Zoro growled.

---

"Why the hell do I have to walk like this, shitty swordsman?"

"That's how he walks, dumbass. You saw him."

"But I feel like I'm trying to squat and take a shit."

"…"

"Nevermind. This better work, or I'm going to kill you. This pink feather boa so does not go with this pinstriped shirt. Are you sure this is what he was wearing?"

"Positive. Lily!" Zoro called the maid over to him. "I need you to summon all the servants to this room. Donquixote-san has an extremely important announcement concerning today's guests. He had a spot of trouble with Crocodile, which is why his throat isn't working very well." He gestured to the pseudo-Donquixote's throat, which was wrapped thickly in the boa that covered a good portion of his face as well. The chef was looking in the other direction, hiding the fact that his hair was still covering one eye. "Every single servant, worker, chef, stableboy, and so on. Everyone. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Lily said sarcastically, not liking his tone. Nevertheless, she flounced off to complete her task.

"See? She didn't even notice that you weren't Donquixote."

"Quiet, marimo. That doesn't console me."

It wasn't long until the room was filled with workers standing at attention. Lily closed the door and waited expectantly.

Zoro strode swiftly to lock the doors—the only entrance and exit to the room.

"Er, what did you need?" Sarquiss asked nervously. He had lost his arrogant tone at the serious look on the swordsman's face.

Sanji and Zoro nodded to each other from across the room. Several of the workers wore horrified expressions as they realized their mistake.

The servants didn't stand a chance.

---

Once Donquixote's underlings had been dispatched, everyone sat down to the large meal that had been prepared by the (now unconscious) chefs. The meal was boisterous as usual, with Sanji rushing to the kitchens whenever the food supply was dangerously low and the diners showed no signs of slowing down.

"Zahaha, this food is pretty good!" one of the geisha cackled. Once the women had been freed, they had shed their meek dispositions and become far more animated than anyone could expect.

"Like this, Luffy-chan?" one of the other women asked, maneuvering her chopsticks.

"Yes! Like that! Now say 'ku!'" Luffy cried as he danced along the tables with Usopp and Chopper. All of them were sporting chopsticks stuck up their noses.

"How obscene…" another geisha sighed.

As the meal was finally finished and everyone sat back with satisfied groans, Sanji swept in with a serving tray of tea and desserts.

"For a garden of such dainty flowers, might I offer my humble gratitude for allowing me to bask in your glory?" Sanji sang, serving the tea.

"Ignore him," Nami said with a sigh. "What are your plans from here?"

Boa sipped daintily from her cup. "We cannot return East. My people will travel West instead. We have heard tales of cultures where the women are as strong as the men, and hope to shed our former lives as mere entertainers to true warriors. We shall not bend to the whim of mere men any longer." The other geisha nodded in agreement. "We will be leaving tonight. The loss of two prominent men and over a dozen slaves is no small matter, and we cannot afford to linger longer than necessary. The cover of the night will be sufficient. Robin, do you not wish to join us again?"

Robin shook her head. "I must decline. My place is here now, with my family."

Boa nodded in understanding. "So be it. We must depart, now. I thank you for the meal. Let's go," she said imperiously. The women left, waving goodbye before leaving. All wore armor and weapons that they had picked up while Zoro and Sanji had been busy taking care of the servants.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Chopper asked in trepidation.

"Even if they're not familiar with the city, they looked very determined," Robin mused, looking thoughtful. "I'm sure they'll be fine. The docks aren't very hard to locate, after all."

"What is our next move, then?" Zoro asked. "Luffy, Crocodile is dead. Donquixote is dead. The only thing left…?"

Luffy looked to Vivi for guidance. "This is your country, Vivi. What do you plan to do next?"

She placed her cup on the table with a slight chink. "All that is left is to speak to the rebel leaders and to my father. Now that the leaders are out of the picture, we can return things to peace without any bloodshed."

After talking for several hours longer, the pirates retired to bed.

---

Zoro was stalking through the room full of tied-up servants, checking their bonds and ensuring that none would escape at this inopportune time.

"Need help, cabbage head?"

Zoro didn't look up. He'd recognize the speaker anywhere.

"Go back to bed, cook. You've done enough for today."

"It doesn't seem quite right. You know, letting the person who saved our asses stay up and do a job like this." Pale hands joined tan ones to help tighten the bonds of a glaring, gagged butler. "You know, about those things I said before…about you being whipped and all…"

"Shut it, cook. I don't need to hear any apologies." Zoro looked at the other man suspiciously. "You're being too nice. What do you want from me?"

Sanji looked at him evenly and extended a hand.

"Thanks, Zoro. For not leaving us behind."

Zoro grumbled to cover up his embarrassment—it wasn't often that others thanked him for things like that. "'s alright, cook. I know that being nice like this must be gratin' on your nerves." He turned around and slapped a stable boy upside the head as the boy tried to saw through his bonds with a pocketknife.

Sanji chuckled. "You're right. I could have taken those guys down, anyway."

"You wish, cook."

The two fighting foundations of the crew resumed their normal bickering routine, glad that the awkwardness was over.