And here I go again on my journey of learning to write with yet another zotash story. :)

An important note is that I quote about the den den mushi that Tashigi gave to Zoro in the DLC The Void Mirror Prototype of the game One Piece: World Seeker. By the way, if you haven't seen the interactions of these two in this DLC, please go. It is basically fanfic! There is a video on youtube that brings together all their scenes.

A reminder that english is not my primary language, so please, forgive me for any mistakes. I'm currently searching for a beta-reader though, so have some patience with me, hahaha.

Once again: everything happens after Punk Hazard, but unrelated to any canonical arc.

And our daily disclaimer: obviously, I don't own anything in One Piece because if it were, Luffy and Nami would already be together, as well as Zoro and Tashigi. So, that's it.

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プルルルpurururu

"What do you want, four-eyes?"

Roronoa Zoro answered with a not so friendly voice. He didn't seem to be asleep, so she must not have hindered him. Perhaps he didn't want to talk to her? Well, the odds were high. The swordsman always seemed to despise her, but, in a similar way, she never made an effort to show her best side.

I don't know. I guess I just wanted to talk to someone, she thought.

"Why did you decide to become a pirate?"

Tashigi was able to notice a little hesitation in his sudden silence. First of all, she was sure he wasn't expecting a call in the middle of the night; second of all, he didn't expect it to be a call from her and lastly, wasn't expecting this question at all. But after the nasty day she had, she just didn't care.

And it's not like he cares either.

Since she gave Zoro the den den mushi when they were investigating KAGERO, the girl has been desperately trying to get it back and maybe, find where the crew was hiding. So these somewhat unexpected calls became a routine between them for the past few months.

Smoker had no idea she had given this communication snail and Tashigi hoped it stayed that way. It had been two months since this happened and so far all of her attempts have been unsuccessful - the Strawhats refused to return it and always managed to flee from her sight.

But the only thing she didn't expect was that the snail would be in possession of the swordsman Roronoa Zoro.

Tashigi believes that this could only have been Nami's idea. Zoro didn't look like a person who would like to have a den den mushi near him, much less look like someone who would like to talk to her. Nami always likes to upset Roronoa and there would have no better way, she thought. The last time they met, for some reason, Nami and Nico Robin arranged for the pirate to stay close to her all night during a celebration that reminded her very much of what happened at Punk Hazard.

The situation was almost the same again.

Pirates saving the day. The Navy always a step behind. The Strawhat pirates victorious once again. And Tashigi didn't know what else to do with them. Deep down, she knew that even Smoker had no idea what to do.

Monkey D. Luffy messed up with the whole concept that the world (and she too) had about pirates and their villainy. And consequently, Roronoa Zoro messed up with the whole concept she had about justice and freedom.

So, today I just wanted to chat as Tashigi and Roronoa.

Tashigi spent the whole evening avoiding that thought at all costs and tried to convince herself that he was the only person who might be available because... it just had been a very bad day and quite frankly, Tashigi didn't have many people to call a friend.

So what harm would it do to be selfish just for today?

"For Luffy." He answered after a while in silence. The answer was short and firm, leaving no room for any kind of inquiry. But inquiring is what she did.

"Mugiwara?"

"Yes. Look, Captain Four-Eyes, I don't have that crazy sense of justice and all that prejudice like you have. Things are not always black and white for me, woman. Luffy saved my life and gave me a chance to achieve my goal. In return, I would join him. Simple as that."

Crazy sense of justice and all that prejudice, you say...

"But you used to hunt pirates…"

"Yes. But Luffy is not just any pirate. I know you know that. Even Smokey knows it. The Navy likes to hunt us and I understand why, but you need to get it out of your head that everyone is the same. I'm sure we did a lot more for people in one year than the Navy did in five."

Tashigi wanted to yell at him. She wanted to rage and spit in his face how wrong he was, how unfair and prejudiced he was being, but no sound came out.

Because he is right.

Because she lived all her life seeing black and white. And Vergo's betrayal simply stained the paper that was her conscience.

Except… what the hell is she doing? How weak is she still to the point of having to depend on a group of misfits to effectively solve problems that the Navy has been trying to solve for years? How much more would this bunch still rub in her face that she was not being able to do her job properly?

She really wanted to yell at him. She wanted to yell at everyone. She wanted to shout at admirals, vice admirals, marines and the like. She wanted to yell at herself and ask why are you so weak why are you so weak why are you so weak.

"The weak don't get to choose how they die."

Trafalgar Law's words still hurt her to this day. They hurt a lot. It hurt the truth that she was no match for him. It hurt the truth that she was no match for Zoro. It hurt the truth that if it were necessary to battle against either to save some innocent life, she would be defeated and that life could be lost. It hurt the truth that she was weak.

But that pain never stopped Tashigi from moving forward and always pushing herself to exhaustion. Nobody knew how much she trained, how much she studied, how much time she devoted to her own improvement. Just as no one knew how much she cried every time she was unable to win.

How much she cried every time she crossed blades with Roronoa Zoro and lost.

Always losing.

"I know. You guys are… different. I… have always known. Since Alabasta."

"Anyway. Did you just call to ask that, woman? If not, I'm already warning you we're not returning the snail. The witch said it was good to keep it since we don't have one".

"That's not why I called. I just… needed to talk to someone."

"Haa? And that person had to be me? You didn't have anyone else?"

Of course… how silly of me. No one wants to hear you, Tashigi.

"I see. I'm sorry, Roronoa. I didn't want to bother." The girl gave an empty laugh and continued. "I'll call another time to convince you all to return it to me! See you!

"O-oe…"

"Good night." She didn't wait for his answer and just hung up. Zoro didn't return the call either which confirmed her suspicions - she had really bothered him.

I just wanted to talk a bit...

Another day on a field mission and yet another failure for the captain's collection. Another confrontation with pirates that resulted in tragedy and another shitty day for her. The feeling of helplessness is one of the worst, especially if it tends to be your fault.

Tashigi knows that she will always get on her feet every time she falls, but there are times when she finds it incredibly difficult. And at those times, she wished she could have someone to turn to, but ... that's not the case. Or maybe she went to the wrong person.

Why resort to Roronoa Zoro of all people?

She didn't call again for two months.

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I'm not an expert, but I'm trying! I want it to be a multichapter but not too long. Thank you for reading!