A.N.: Hello everyone! I wanted my 100th chapter to be something special, so here's a little spotlight onto one of our favorite warlords and crewmembers during the two-year gap. Thank you all for reading. Stay safe and healthy and keep being awesome!


Mihawk's sword grates against Zoro's, his protégé's weapons barely preventing his from slicing him in half. Instead, the point of his blade slices through the Frog's side. He sees Perona wince in sympathy pain. Zoro's haki had improved, but he isn't able to match Mihawk's just yet.

They leap back from each other and blood flicks from the black sword's tip. The man before the master readies his swords and rushes forward, ignoring his wound entirely. Mihawk smirks and obliges him by continuing the training. Hours later they call it for the day. They clean their weapons before sheathing them and Mihawk turns towards the mansion, wanting a shower, a glass of wine, and a hot meal.

Zoro curses behind him, causing him to stop and turn. The Frog has his robe pulled aside, looking into the blood-soaked fabric. Had the wound he'd given him been worse than it seemed? It doesn't look like he's about to fall over or pass out, but instead he had a horror-struck expression. His hand snakes inside the opening and withdraws a long square of blood-soaked fabric. Without a word Zoro runs towards the closest shore, leaving a trail of dust and forest debris in his wake.

"Horo?" Perona's spectral form floats beside Mihawk with uncertainly.

He shakes his head. "You go right, I'll go left." No matter where the Frog planned to go, he'd end up going the wrong direction and become frantic as well as upset. He'd never seen Zoro react quite like that before. He'd never seen him carrying silk before either. It didn't seem like his style. Whatever it was, it seemed like another distraction, something that he couldn't afford if he wanted to improve himself.

With a little haki, he's able to locate him. Sure enough, he'd taken a zig-zagging path, but he's still managed to find water, a feat which must have been attributed to the boy's sheer dumb luck. That or frogs are naturally drawn to moisture.

He sits on his knees with his jaw clenched, shoulders tense, and eyes focused on the fabric he's scrubbing.

"If you keep putting that much pressure into it you'll wear a hole," Mihawk tells him. His fingers slow and lighten, but he doesn't stop scrubbing.

Mihawk steps around him and plucks it from his hands. There is a slight twitch of his muscles in protest, but he doesn't argue. He watches as Mihawk holds the square of silk up to the dimming light.

A handkerchief.

The man's perceptive eyes scan the swatch with precise scrutiny, noting the masterful embroidery lining the edges and the quality of the fabric. The blood had been soaking into it for hours, and while Zoro had done a good job washing most of it out, if something isn't done quickly it would be permanently stained.

"Follow me." He takes Zoro back to the mansion. While they're walking to the kitchen, he notes that Perona isn't back yet. She must still be looking. He'd send a monkey out to fetch her if she doesn't return soon. Once in the desired room, he digs through a cabinet. He pulls down a bottle of white wine vinegar, uncorks it, and tips it over the fabric while holding it over the sink.

Zoro's hand stops his before any of the liquid can pour out. "She hates wine."

Mihawk's eyes narrow. So this handkerchief had been a gift from a woman. Writhing suspicion settles in the Warlord's gut. "Is this a lover's token?"

The boy's distress is momentarily alleviated by a snort and a thin smile. "No. Nothing like that. She'd stab you just for saying something like that. Karmen's had too many near-death experiences for romance." So it had been her. "She'd be able to tell if it came in contact with a wine product. Can't we use something else?"

Mihawk sets the bottle on the counter and puts the cork back in it. Moving to the closest bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet. He pulls down a shallow bowl and a dark brown glass bottle of hydrogen peroxide. He fills the bowl and tosses the bottle to Zoro while he folds the fabric carefully.

"Treat your clothes and wounds in the bathtub," he orders. The boy obliges without a word. As Mihawk sets the handkerchief in the bowl, watching it bubble as it makes contact with the liquid, he finds himself not quite sated. "So if this handkerchief isn't from a lover, why did you have it on you during training in the first place? Is it more important to you than your own side?"

Zoro removes his haramaki and starts washing the blood out of it, treating it with the peroxide. He's quiet for so long Mihawk doesn't think he's going to answer. "It's the only physical object I have from a member of my crew since you took the dial. We all have one."

He'd known the Frog long enough to know this isn't the full answer. The fact that he'd hide something concerning Karmen from him is irritating. "Answer me, boy," Mihawk growls. "Why do you carry it during training?"

"As a reminder that we failed her," Zoro says firmly, voice gravely with frustration. "I failed her." His shoulders droop with something Dracule can't quite identify. Remorse? Regret? "We promised her we'd help her rescue her best friend from her family. We were going to cross the Red Line and save him, but we were defeated and separated instead."

His eyes lower, hooding the emotion there. "There was a story in the paper, a little after Luffy sent his message, about a spirit relieving her father of his arms and blowing up the house on her home island. That had to have been her. She promised herself she wouldn't kill him, but she would only have done what she did if she was angry."

Mihawk suppresses a smile. "So your conclusion is that after you were separated, the crewmate that made you this handkerchief, to whom you swore an oath, went to Valcour on her own. There she found her best friend to be dead and took revenge on her father?"

"You read the article too?" Zoro looks thoroughly surprised.

Mihawk decides not to mention that he cut it out and scrapbooked it. "You learn a lot by reading the paper. You should try it more often. Or are you afraid it might teach you direction and common sense?"

"Mock me all you want," Zoro growls. "The fact of the matter is, we weren't there when she needed us the most."

It was almost amusing how miserable the boy could make himself on assumptions.

"Did the papers say a body was found?"

"What?"

"Did the paper say that they found a body in the rubble after the mansion was destroyed?"

The boy's eyebrows knit in confusion. Mihawk almost feels bad at the amount of effort he's having to put forth just to use his brain. "They didn't mention any of the slaves, actually," he finally answered.

"Luffy is your best friend, correct?" Mihawk asks, deciding to take a different approach. "You're letting me put you through Hell so you can support his dream?"

"Yes." There is no uncertainty in his voice. "I promised a friend I'd become the greatest swordsman in the world and I promised Luffy that I'd become the best to help him become King of the Pirates."

"If Luffy were to die a wrongful death, what would you do to the person who killed him?" he asks.

"I'd kill him and avenge my captain," Zoro says without hesitation, "and continue my path to becoming the greatest swordsman in the world to honor his memory."

"And would your crewmate only be satisfied with arms if she found her best friend had been killed? If you're willing to die to fulfill your promises then why are you so willing to give up on this one, when you have no real proof that you've failed?!" Mihawk holds up the foaming fabric for emphasis. His voice echoes around the tiled room, leaving a shocked expression on Zoro's face. "Bartholomew Kuma sent you to me so that you could become stronger. Do you think he would send her anywhere near Valcour if a rescue mission would be futile?"

The boy's eyes widen. "Are you saying he's alive?"

The emotions of Mihawk's outburst subside as he sighs. "I do not meddle in the affairs of Celestial Dragons. It was one of the clauses I agreed to when I became one of the Seven Warlords." He looks his pupil in the eye and makes a decision. "I cannot tell you if he's alive or not." He rinses the handkerchief in cold water and holds it out to Zoro. "Complete your training, reunite with your crew, and see if you still have a promise to keep."

Zoro takes the dripping swatch from him and smirks. He holds it out to see that all the blood had been washed from it, leaving the handkerchief looking like new. "You're letting me keep it?"

Mihawk turns away as he dries his hands on a towel. "This one doesn't contain alcohol, so I'll allow it."

"Hey, Master." Mihawk looks at Zoro over his shoulder. "Thanks for the pep-talk."

"Hmph." If he wasn't careful they'd end up bonding. "When you're finished stitching your wound and cleaning your clothes, pour the remaining peroxide down the sink. Carry that handkerchief on you from here on out. If your haki remains too untrained to keep it clean, then the fault is yours."

Zoro baulks, then grins. "Yes sir."