NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I promise I am wrapping this story up. Seriously though, I am! Even if I am introducing new characters right at the end...
Ch. 51 – A Shared Dream
On board the Merry that evening, Zoro was starting to wish he'd stayed back at the palace with Helena, Nami, and Robin, even if they were discussing dresses and other such nonsense. For one, he only had a few weeks to spend with Helena and he needed to make them count. For another, Sanji had become just about unbearable.
"I really shouldn't have said yes to Helena's idea," Zoro muttered out loud to himself as he watched Luffy, who was bouncing about the ship in absolute delight. "Luffy is the only one I can think of who would work as best man. What am I supposed to do now?"
"Aw, how could you say no to your lovely bride-to-be?" Sanji asked, putting an arm around him chummily. "Anyway, as I've been saying, you know you want me to be best man, Marimo. I promise to throw the most epic bachelor party!"
"Bachelor party?!" King Cygnus turned from where he, Usopp, and the party planner Nysa were discussing details about the ship. "We may have adopted some wedding traditions from other islands, but the royal family at least has never participated in anything so barbaric as a Bachelor Party."
Not really interested in the conversation, Zoro caught Usopp's eye: "Hey, Long-nose. You wanna be best man?"
"Really, Zoro?" Usopp asked, utterly delighted. "You'd want me to be your best man? I mean, of course you would, me being me and all, but I would have thought…"
He trailed off as Sanji and Cygnus' conversation continued.
"No Bachelor Party? What fun is that?" Sanji asked, making a face at Cygnus. For all Sanji's faults, Zoro actually kind of liked that he so readily attacked his father-in-law, verbally or otherwise. The swordsman still had a score to settle with Helena's father, and it had nothing to do with the shade of his hair.
"Oh, we have a better tradition for the night before the wedding," Cygnus said, raising a brow. "One that should fit pirates like you quite well I think. Have you ever heard of Kidnapping the Bride? Back in the old days, the groom would simply kidnap the bride in lieu of a wedding. Sometimes families would even dump the bride and her belongings out on the front porch, waiting for the groom to come carry her off, kicking and screaming to the marriage bed."
"Ah, yes, that sounds MUCH less barbaric than a Bachelor Party," Sanji said. He whispered to Zoro: "Seriously, Marimo. You know I'm the perfect candidate. And there will be a Bachelor Party, no question."
"It was a barbaric tradition," Cygnus went on, having not heard Sanji's whispered aside, "One as old as the Kingdom. But it has undergone a few changes over time. Now that we've adopted the tradition of Best Man, it is the Best Man's job to kidnap her."
"Oo, I like the sound of that," Sanji said, giggling.
Zoro didn't waste any time slugging the lecherous look off of his face.
"I'm not sure what you were thinking, sir, but the best man takes the bride out for drinks, sometimes with the entire wedding party. The groom must find them and pay down the tab if he wants to get her back," the King went on. "It can get…pricey if the groom doesn't move quickly. Of course, kidnapping Helena might prove a challenge. The bride is supposed to put up a struggle, and as she is the Queen she will most likely have Hector and Andromache as her personal guard."
"Hmmm, so I'd have to be able to get through all of them, huh?" Sanji said, rubbing the lump forming on his head from Zoro's well-earned punch. "When I do Marimo would never find us anyway, even if we chose the most obvious pub in town…"
Zoro slugged him again.
"Whatever. Hey, Usopp – you wanna be best man or what?" Zoro called.
Usopp went rigid. "On second thought, never mind. I really should focus on getting Merry ready for the wedding. You should let Sanji do it."
"See?" Sanji prodded, again slinging an arm around Zoro's shoulders. "I promise I won't let her fall in love with me instead, Zoro. And I'll make sure she doesn't get drunk!"
"Hey, Chopper," Zoro called, for the little reindeer had just come out on deck. He'd missed the whole kidnapping-Helena conversation, so maybe he'd be more willing. "How about you? Do you want to be Best Man?"
"Me?" Chopper started doing his delighted wiggle dance. "It doesn't make me happy at all that you'd want me to have such an honor you jerk!" he said, "But Helena's already asked me to be the ring-bearer. I can't do both, can I? I'm not really familiar with weddings…"
"Nah, you can't do both," Sanji insisted. "I guess that leaves me, Marimo!"
"Aren't you doing the catering or something?" Zoro asked in a last ditch effort to dissuade him. "I'm not eating Chef Feta's food at my wedding…"
"Feta resigned," Nysa said in her brisk manner, flipping through her clipboard. "Done. Gone. Up and Left."
"Resigned?" Zoro asked.
"Yes, he claims he has found his new calling in life," Cygnus mused. "From what I heard, he rode off with a herd of giant mice to live underground. Strange man, that one, though I always liked his cooking."
"You liked his cooking?" Usopp asked, lip twitching.
Cygnus sighed. "I suppose I'll have to hire a new Head Chef soon."
"You should probably let Helena do the hiring," Zoro pointed out, his lip twitching in sync with Usopp's.
"Don't worry, Marimo," Sanji insisted, punching him playfully. "I can multi-task. You'll have great food at your wedding and I'll be your bestest best man."
Zoro sighed in resignation. "Alright, fine Curly-Brows. You can be best man."
Sanji punched the air with both fists victoriously. "I knew you loved me deep down, you moss-headed jerkwad! Ha! Time to plan a menu!"
He disappeared into the main cabin. Nysa quickly ran after him, flipping to another page of her clipboard and insisting he not make any plans without consulting her.
"Humph, what a disaster this is going to be," Cygnus said, rubbing his temples. "Trust my daughter to get herself mixed up with pirates."
Zoro contemplated responding, but held his peace. He would only be here a little while. Best not start a war with his father-in-law for Helena's sake.
"Well, I think Nysa's done with me," Cygnus went on, stretching. "I'll be heading back to the palace to make sure your pirate wenches aren't turning Helena into one of them."
What was that supposed to even mean? Was Cygnus trying to pick a fight? Zoro found his hands resting on his katana, but again chose to hold his peace. Helena loved her father and would really rather he didn't get chopped in two, right?
As Cygnus passed him, he glanced askance at Zoro, "Let's just hope this marriage works out better than your whole Altar of Dido plan, hmm?"
Zoro pulled one of his katana from his haramaki, sheath and all, and slammed it down in front of Cygnus, blocking his path.
"Say what you like about us, Pops, but at least we didn't abandon her or her kingdom when she most needed our help," Zoro informed him darkly.
"Are you implying that I did?" Cygnus asked calmly.
"You said it, not me," Zoro rebutted, glaring him down.
"Is that really what you think?" Cygnus said with a wry smile. "That I would abandon my only daughter? I tried to give her an avenue of escape. I commanded Hector to take her away. –To have her set sail for help from the World Government. I never intended for her to come back and fight this demon."
"Yeah, and where were you all this time?" Zoro asked, facing off with Cygnus directly now. It unnerved him that Cygnus was so calm about it all. It was almost like he had purposely goaded Zoro into starting this conversation. All the same, Zoro didn't mind demanding answers. "It looks to me like you used her 'escape' as a means to fake your own death and run."
"I did. And it worked," Cygnus shrugged. "With Nemo…no…Troy distracted by her escape, I was able to retrieve the gold plated pomegranate I kept in my wheelchair for such an instance. My guards left behind their weapons and armor, I left the pomegranate and my crown, and we escaped through one of the palace's many secret passages," Cygnus informed him coolly.
"Like I said, you used her to help you run away," Zoro reiterated. "Typical. You're a man who hides behind your own wit and the strength of others."
"I wouldn't expect a man who relies on nothing but brute strength to understand," Cygnus retorted.
Zoro felt his temper rising at the jab, "Without the mask of a god, you're nothing."
"So you heard about that, huh?" Cygnus asked. "I'll agree with you on that point. Without the mask of a god I am nothing. I was unable to save my wife, and only managed to protect my kingdom with Zeus' help and through the sacrifice of 1000 of my most loyal men. -The Gods were my only option here as well. I didn't leave just to run, I left to consult the Sybil. I wasn't about to hesitate like I did before. I wasn't going to lose Helena like I lost Leda."
"Sure took your time."
"Pirate, you try making your way from the palace to Olympus on foot over sylvan terrain when you and the men you're with have all been starved and tortured nigh to death for weeks," Cygnus growled, a crack showing in his cool mask. "On top of that, I was crippled, and had to leave wheelchair, cane, and horse behind to avoid suspicion. It was slow going to say the least."
"If you went to consult the Sybil, why was Helena the one who ended up wearing a mask and getting shot with an arrow?" Zoro demanded, refusing to sympathize with the King's excuses.
"I'm afraid it was very slow going," Cygnus reiterated. "To be frank, I was convinced we'd all perish from our wounds before we got there. It was Helena who saved us. Yes, she got to the Sybil before we did, even with a broken back, but gods man, have some pity! We were trying to do the best we could with what we had!"
"It wasn't good enough," Zoro snarled. "Helena died because of you."
"I know!" Cygnus cried, all emotion now. "I know what she suffered because of me! There were so many things that happened outside of my calculations. I didn't expect her to fight Nemo! I didn't think she'd do so thinking she was immortal! Least of all did I think she'd end up getting engaged to a pirate in the midst of all this."
"Again, you bring that up as though it's the worst thing that could have happened to her."
"Perhaps it is, Roronoa," Cygnus told him icily. "You say I abandoned her in her hour of need, but at least I left to help her. What are you leaving her for? Adventure on the high seas? A dream that you value more than her? She loves you, pirate. That much is obvious. She made her little provisos to keep you happy, to help you save face when you abandon her, but what about her needs?"
This effectively stopped Zoro mid argument.
"She told me you have some promises to keep; that she respects you for being a man of your word," Cygnus looked him sharply in the eye. "She says you never wished to accept her proposal in the first place, knowing it would interfere with your dream. She says it was that honor that drove you to accept her in her hour of need, not any love you have for her, and it is that same honor that drives you to marry her now. "
"What do you want me to say?" Zoro asked quietly at last. "That I would have accepted her proposal if Troy hadn't forced my hand? I know as well as you do that Helena deserves better than what I can give her."
"I didn't say that," Cygnus replied, his tone softening, but only just. "Your dream and hers aren't entirely incompatible, not if the gods are to be trusted."
What did he mean by that?
"I need to know, not just as her father but as Ilium's King, that you value her dream as much as she values yours."
"Her dream to see Ilium prosper?" Zoro asked, genuinely confused. "But she won't let me have news of what's going on here! What am I supposed to…?"
"Allow me to rephrase the question," Cygnus put in sternly. "Can you work toward your dream now for Helena's sake, not just for your own?"
Become the world's strongest to protect Helena and her dream? "Yes," Zoro replied, meeting the king's calculating gaze with a determined one of his own.
"You're sure she's not going to become a sacrifice on your altar, Roronoa? Because I won't allow it."
"That's kind of ironic, coming from the man who wore Zeus' mask."
Cygnus sighed and pushed Zoro's katana aside with his foot.
"I went to the Sybil, even after Helena healed me," he said quietly as he walked past him. "The gods wanted me to sacrifice my daughter to save the nation. I couldn't do it. Think ill of me for that if you must, but for all of your accusations, you can't deny that I love her. Can you please convince her that you do?"
Zoro gaped at him. Why would she need convincing? Hadn't he convinced her enough already?
"That still doesn't account for all the time you were gone," Usopp pointed out suddenly. "Or did it take three whole days for you to walk back after being healed?"
Zoro had almost forgotten that part of the crew was still there and had heard the whole exchange. He wanted to tell Usopp to stop talking, that this conversation was effectively over, but it was too late. Usopp had already spoken.
Cygnus froze at his words.
A smirk crossed Zoro's face despite himself. What had Usopp stumbled across? After being verbally flayed by Cygnus, it was nice to see him back on the ropes.
"Well?" Sanji prodded. The argument had drawn him to poke his head out of the kitchen.
"I, er…" Cygnus glanced back, revealing an expression of utmost embarrassment. "I got…lst…"
"Uh, what?" Usopp asked.
"I am afraid I got lost," Cygnus told him more clearly. "A bad habit of mine…"
The crew burst into laughter at this, though Zoro and Cygnus couldn't for the life of them see what was so funny. They exchanged bemused glances, which helped soften the argument that had just passed between them.
"Like Father-in-Law, like Son-in-Law," Usopp crowed. "Your poor kids, Zoro. They've got double the chance of inheriting your bad sense of direction."
"It's a good thing Helena at least knows north from up," Sanji put in. "There's at least some hope for their progeny. Maybe they'll end up towheads instead of mossheads too."
"One can only hope," Cygnus uttered with a woebegone look on his face. "One can only hope."
Zoro hung back on the Merry while the others returned to the palace. Tempting though the palace beds were, he planned to sleep on the ship. Cygnus had given him something to think about, and he wanted some time away from the rest of the crew.
Sitting on the alcove near Nami's tangerine trees with his legs dangling over the ledge, he put some of his weights to use. Pumping iron as he stared out at the sea, he hoped to clear his thoughts. Instead he found his frustration mounting as the answers he sought eluded him.
He wasn't as alone as he'd hoped. The door to the kitchen and sleeping quarters opened, and Sanji stepped into the night. Noticing Zoro, the cook gently closed the kitchen door, leaned back against it and lit a cigarette.
"Some family you're marrying into," he commented after puffing smoke into the night. "Ol' King Crab-Toes is a real piece of work."
Zoro didn't say anything. If he didn't give a response, hopefully the idiot cook would leave.
"I guess you won't have to deal with him for very long. In the meantime, mind your butt. Those toes are deadly."
As Sanji wasn't looking at him directly, Zoro allowed himself a wry smirk at the remark, though it quickly faded as his brow furrowed again.
"Well, which bit of it's bugging you, moss-for-brains? Was it that cryptic remark he made about showing her you love her?"
"Curly-brows, I'm really not in the mood for more of your pathetic attempts at love advice," Zoro growled.
"Ah, but isn't that why you're mooning about here instead of returning to the palace with everyone else?"
Zoro didn't respond. He closed his eyes as he curled the weight, trying to tune Sanji out.
"I mean, he even said Helena thinks you're marrying her for honor not love. I guess that's true, isn't it?"
Zoro had had it. Tossing the weight in frustration, he hardly cared that it left a dent on the deck, or that it had started to roll toward Sanji.
"You'd think that following her to death and back would be enough!" he exploded. "Not to mention that idiotic proposal you somehow talked me into."
"Don't take it out on poor Merry," Sanji insisted, stopping the weight with a foot. "You're having a wedding here pretty soon after all."
"Why does everyone doubt that I love her? Why does she doubt it?" Zoro demanded.
"Zoro, Zoro, Zoro," Sanji sighed dramatically, shaking his head. "All you've done for her are big things, but in a long term, committed relationship it's the little things that count."
"Look, if you're going to be as cryptic as Cygnus, you can take your advice and shove it."
"Come on, Zoro: little things! You know, bringing her flowers, taking her on dates, telling her she's pretty even when she's done nothing to spruce up. Holding her hand in public for pity's sake! You don't show affection well at all, idiot. Naturally she has doubts."
"That all sounds dumb," Zoro intoned flatly. "Anyway, what do you know about long term, committed relationships, Ero Cook?"
"Well, try it and see if it makes a difference!" Sanji said with a shrug. "What have you got to lose?"
"You're just trying to make me look stupid again," Zoro accused.
"You're hopeless," Sanji sighed in earnest this time, straightening up. "Even now you're wasting time moping here instead of wooing your Queen. The night is young! Go throw some rocks at her window. Get her to come on a moonlit stroll with you."
"She can hardly walk right now," Zoro pointed out.
"Even better," Sanji snickered. "Give her a chance to lean on you! I'm sure she's tired of wearing the pants in the relationship."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zoro growled.
The cook just smiled enigmatically and left it at that. While Zoro glared at the back of his head, Sanji strolled off into the night with his hands in his pockets, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke in his wake.
Zoro gazed down at the pebble in his hand and then up at Helena's balcony window, feeling about as stupid as he'd thought he would. It seemed like the more straightforward thing to do would be to go knock on her bedroom door or something. Did girls really like this kind of thing?
Well, here goes nothing, he thought, tossing the pebble. It made a sharp panging sound against the glass and skittered to rest among a small pile of pebbles on her balcony from his earlier failed attempts.
He waited a moment. No response. The light in her room was off except for a small nightlight he knew she kept on near her bed. – fear of the dark and all. She was probably asleep.
He found another pebble and tossed it a little harder. This time it panged louder, ricocheted off of her window pane, skittered across her balcony and fell back into the garden below, smacking him squarely in the forehead.
Still no answer.
Scowling, he rubbed the little red spot on his forehead, then grabbed the offending pebble and threw it with all his might at her window. His scowl immediately dissipated into a wince as the sound of shattered glass echoed down into the garden. A light turned on in her room, and he ducked into some bushes to hide as the Queen stumbled out onto the balcony, Peleus in hand.
"Who's there?" Helena called. Though she leaned on the railing to keep upright, her sword gleamed dangerously in a steady hand. "Show yourself!"
Helena glanced around for a moment, expression lethal. Then her eyes alighted on the small pile of pebbles on her balcony. The angry furrow in her brow softened, a smirk teased her lips and she chuckled, almost giggled really. Sheathing Peleus, she retrieved one of the pebbles, tossed it in the air and caught it in a fist.
"Sure you don't want to come out?" she called with a girlish grin, leaning over the balcony railing and looking down into the garden.
Not a chance, Zoro thought, grimacing as he watched her through the leaves of his bush.
A few tense moments passed in which she looked right past him but thankfully didn't see him. Zoro didn't move until, chuckling quietly to herself, Helena returned to her room and turned out the light.
Cursing Sanji inwardly and picking sharp twigs out of his clothes and hair with every step, Zoro eventually found his way back to the front of the palace. When he did, he caught sight of a bald, stout figure mounting the front steps.
The man swaggered about in a suit and top hat with all the complacency of the very rich or the very powerful, or both. He had a bubble pipe clasped beneath his voluminous white mustache, and swung an umbrella about his hand though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Zoro recognized him, even before he noticed the gold medal in the shape of the marine-seagull gracing the man's chest. This was the World Government Representative that had attended Helena's coronation. What was he doing here now?
"Top of the evening, sir!" the man called, tipping his hat. "Could you please inform the king that I've arrived?"
"Tell him yourself," Zoro growled.
The man looked him over through a pair of beady black eyes. "Oh, I apologize. I thought you were one of the palace staff come to greet me," he said with a dismissive wave. "But then I suppose they can't spare anyone. They're shorthanded these days after all."
Zoro narrowed his eyes, unsure if that was some kind of jab at the kingdom's current plight. Ignorant of Zoro's scrutiny, the portly man went on:
"Well, I guess I'll just have to find the king myself, like it's my job. Cheerio!"
Zoro watched the porker waddle the rest of the way up the steps. Despite the man's girth and pompous behavior, something about him left Zoro with one hand resting on his swords.
