I know I'm skipping a lot, but I've just been trying to get to the time skip. I really hope you guys enjoy!

I feel sick to my stomach. I'm dodging but I'm not fast enough. I'm not strong enough. I'm running as fast as I can and he's still catching up like I didn't even move. Just as I run to my left Bartholomew Kuma appears in front of me. I freeze, it's absolutely terrifying. "N-n-no." I mumble as I try to back track. I feel an arm grab me, turning I see Zoro pulling me into his arms. Pulling me close to his chest and holding on to me. Before I can say anything and very quickly I feel us being pushed. I lose consciousness.

Waking up I see that I'm lying on Zoro's chest. It seems he's waking up as well. Blushing I climb off of him. "Where are we?" I ask standing up, as he stands up I gravate close to him. It's a gloomy island. There is a fog rolling in making everything that more eerie. With the cloud cover it's disorientating and hard to tell what time of day it is.

Zoro grabs my hand. "I don't know. Don't wander away Azami." He says gripping my hand tightly. "How did we get here?" Zoro mutters. I grip his hand tightly as we venture further. "How long do you think we were out?"

"Who knows." I answer unsure of everything. "It looks like we're in some ruins."

Zoro suddenly yanks on my hand and stands in front of me. "Get ready to fight." Is all Zoro says just as we're attacked.

Dodging the attacks I realize they aren't human and that they're fighting with weapons. Zoro and I spend quite some time fighting off these animals. We eventually realize we aren't the only people on the island, as well. We run into someone familiar. "What's she doing here?" I ask.

"I could say the same about you two." Perona says haughtily. "This is my perfect island after you two and the rest of your crew ruined everything last time." She says as she crosses her arms over her chest. "You're both pretty beat up." She adds on as she approaches us. I suddenly remember the state that Zoro and I are both in. "Let's get you guys patched up."

Zoro and I both eye her. "Why are you wanting to help us?" I ask almost unnerved by the offer. When we beat Moria at Thriller Bark we in effect beat her. Although I don't really recall seeing her at the last fight.

"Yeah, we beat you." Zoro says uncouth. I elbow him for it. "What, we did." He says matter of factly.

Perona fidgest as we stare at her waiting for an answer. "We're the only ones on this island aside from those animals. How am I supposed to be happy without having servants or people at all!?" She complains rather easily. "I've been here alone."

"I guess I can understand that." I say warily. Zoro grabs my arm as I try stepping forward. "What's the worst she can do?" I ask as I shake his hand off, grabbing it with my own I lead us forward as Perona leads us towards a castle.

Once inside I get the feeling we aren't the only ones on this island. "Are you sure we're alone?" I ask, noticing the lack of dust and other abandoned island things. "This seems kinda lived in." I say looking around the entry hall.

"I've been here alone for days." Perona says kinda sadly. This I understand. The years I was on the run with my uncle I felt alone. It wasn't until I started traveling with the Straw Hats that I felt what companionship was really like. "Swordsman turn around, you'll need to take your shirt off." I glance at Zoro as he turns around. I feel uneasy letting a stranger this close to my back. I pull my injured arm out, leaving my back concealed. "Your shoulder looks really torn up." Perona says, stepping closer to me. Hesitantly she unwraps my shoulder. "What did you do to it?"

I remember not so fondly of the wolf zoan user that used his claws to rip my shoulder apart, the fight with Luffy's zombie, and the pressure bomb that we've gone through. "I've been in some pretty tough fights." I admit with a sigh.

Perona seems to accept this answer. She quietly cleans my wound and rewraps it gently and carefully. "It looks like it hurts."

"Not the worst I've had." I say quietly. After she finishes I slip my arm back into my shirt. Perona and I both turn to face Zoro. "Your turn." I say. Zoro looks at us a little frantically. "You have injuries too." I say.

Perona easily pushes Zoro into a chair. "Take your shirt off."

"What, why?" Zoro asks frantically, he looks at me to save him. I shake my head. I walk over, the closer I get I blush. It isn't like Zoro's shirt is even buttoned up. "It's hard to move in bandages." I push his shirt off his shoulders. His skin is surprisingly soft, under neither though I can feel the muscle.

Perona easily counters. "So is it if you're dead." I nod my head to this.

After some fight from Zoro, Perona has him bandaged back up. The three of us look around the room. "This is your idea of a perfect island?" I ask looking out the window. The island aside from the castle, seems lonely.

"Well not alone." She says. "I only answered where I wanted to vacation. Where would you go?" She asks, taking a seat in a chair at a long table.

I look back out the window. Where would I want to go? Home? Back to the safety of the island's storm and sea? Would I even have a place there? I've changed so much. "I'm not sure." I answer truthfully. "I just want to be free."

"Are you not?" She asks back in a confused tone. "What's keeping you from being free?" Perona asks quietly.

Being in a Shichibukai's crew she should know about slaves. I face away from the window. I glanced at a stony faced Zoro. "Probably me." I answer quietly.

It isn't for a few more days that we learn the reality of the world and whose island we have been squatting on.

…

I watch Zoro train, Perona has been helping me to master my devil fruit. "Why do you think he's letting us stay after everything that's been happening?" I ask her as we take a break.

Perona sits next to me. "I'm not sure." She picks up my hair and idly begins to braid one of my pigtails. "It is strange. Should we really question his kindness?"

"I guess you're right." Since Perona and I have been training and spending so much time together we've actually become friends.

"When are you going to admit you like him?" Perona asks suddenly.

Blushing I turn and face her in shock. "What?!" I ask trying to calm my now pounding heart. "Like who?"

Perona chuckles. "You're not exactly selling your question." She says moving on to my next pigtail. "Zoro. You guys obviously have eyes for each other."

My blush deepens. "Come on, we need to make dinner if we want to eat." I say getting up abruptly. The braids come undone easily as I quickly walk inside the castle that I suppose is home for now.

"You can't say you don't like him. Your face is pinker than your hair." Perona says teasingly. "Azami, you know it is okay to like him." She says seriously. "I can guess why you're the way you are and I can tell you like him."

I stop turning around, I look at Perona's red boots. "What if he doesn't like me that way?" I know Zoro cares about me, I know that when it comes down to it he protects me, that he'll find me.

"Do you honestly not notice how he looks at you?" Perona says walking over to me. "Azami you're going to have to learn to be more confident. Not just in battle but in everyday life."

As we enter the kitchen Perona and I quickly start on dinner, Mihawk's kitchen is surprisingly well stocked. There were many things that the three of us were thrown off by when he returned here to his home. Mihawk's hospitality being one of them, another being how well kept the castle actually is.

After dinner Perona and I head to the bathroom to take a shower. "You know, you should just cover whatever it is that's on your back." She says. In our baths I keep a cloud of mist covering my back. "I don't know what it is, but if you go to such lengths to hide it you might as well cover it."

"I plan on doing just that." I respond honestly. Letting my hair down I step into the shower. After washing I sit in the bath, Perona joining shortly after.

We relax in the bath for a while, enjoying the warm water easing our aches. Hearing a knock on the door we get out and dry off. We get dressed, stepping out I avoid Zoro's gaze, I say "Goodnight, sleep well."

In bed I think about the others wondering where in the world they are, about how they're probably doing the same as Zoro and me. Training hard so that in two years when we get back together we're stronger.