Zoro
Zoro was sitting on the porch of the dojo in Shimotsuki Village. He could feel the familiar wooden floorboards underneath him, steady and solid as they had always been. The day was sunny and warm with a cool breeze blowing across the porch. He turned to look at Kuina, sitting next to him with a small smile on her face, a lock of hair trailing across her cheek. Without thinking, Zoro raised a hand and brushed it back behind her ear, caressing her face with his palm. Huh, Zoro thought. Wonder when I got back? Franky must have figured something out, a way Zoro could interact with Kuina and the boys again. It was his birthday soon after all.
Thinking of Yaki and Tori, Zoro realized he could hear the boys playing and looked out at the practice yard at them. They looked a little bigger than when Zoro had last been with them, maybe a year older. Suddenly, the boys turned towards the fence with shouts of, "Uncle Luffy! It's Uncle Luffy!"
Zoro's eyes shot towards the gate. Sure enough, Luffy was walking up, out of the Marine attire Zoro had gotten used to seeing him wear in this world and back into the much more casual wear the rubber man usually wore. Just behind Luffy strode Ace, once again dressed as Zoro remembered from his own world, rather than as the Marine Commodore Luffy had told him about. Zoro smiled.
Upon hearing the boys' shouts, Luffy came racing up to the gate, leaving Ace behind. He stretched out an arm towards Zoro. "Happy birthday, Zoro!"
Zoro looked down at the rubber man's hand. A small box wrapped in green paper sat nestled in it. The swordsman grinned and took the gift as Luffy's hand snapped back. "Thanks, Luffy!"
"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed. "Yaki! Tori! Let's play!"
With that the rubber captain and two boys raced into the practice yard, stretching Luffy's arms and using them as jump ropes. Ace arrived at the gate, spared a glance and a grin for his younger brother's antics, then strolled up and sat next to Zoro on the porch.
"Yo! Happy birthday, Zoro!" the Fire Fire Fruit user said with his easy grin.
"Thanks," Zoro replied, looking at the small green package in his hands. "Any idea what this is?"
"Absolutely none," Ace answered, pulling a small sake bottle from his cargo pants pocket. "I kept your real present safe with me."
"You're the best," Zoro said, taking the bottle as Kuina laughed knowingly next to him.
"Sorry the old man and Sabo couldn't make it. Too busy with work. They send their best though."
"It's fine. Luffy will be more than enough to tire the boys out."
"If they don't tire him first," Ace replied, looking out at the yard. The game had changed to using Luffy's arms as swings as they dangled from the tree in the corner. Over by the gate, Zoro noticed a flash of blond hair and turned to see the cook on his way up the path. His arms were loaded with a basket, a gift, and some flowers. As soon as he stepped through the gate, though, the boys took notice of the telltale squeak and came running over, an overstretched Luffy trailing right behind them.
"Uncle Sanji! Did you bring us some snacks?" the boys shouted excitedly.
"Yeah! Sanji! Snacks!" Luffy shouted with even more excitement.
The cook responded by growling at the boys and Luffy alike, before finally reaching into the basket and shoving some snacks their way. The motion was rough and harsh, but Zoro didn't miss the gentle smile on the cook's face as soon as the three had turned. Tribute accepted, the boys and Luffy wandered over to the shade of the tree to eat, leaving the blond to shake his head in exasperation. Then he turned and held the gate open for a delicate blonde woman Zoro had never seen before.
She looked a lot like the cook, with her long blonde hair and blue eyes. But even from this distance, Zoro could see she had a normal looking eyebrow, versus the cook's swirly one. She was wearing a plain white and blue dress, but the fabric it was made from looked expensive. The cook himself was dressed a little less formally than the last time Zoro had seen him in this world, wearing a simple button down dress shirt with his usual black slacks and dress shoes but the fancy red cape was nowhere to be seen. Nor was his entourage.
The two walked over to the porch where Sanji presented the flowers to Kuina with a bow. "For you, my dear, for putting up with the mosshead for a husband for so long."
"Eh?! What was that, Cook?!"
Before the two could get into a fight, Zoro could feel Ace's hand on his shoulder, but before he could say anything, Kuina stepped between the two combatants. "Not in my training yard, boys!"
"Sanji," the blonde woman put a hand on the cook's shoulder. "I don't believe I've met your friend Zoro before."
"Hmm? I thought…well, in any case, Mom this is Zoro. Zoro, this is my mom," the cook quickly gave the introductions. Zoro didn't miss the look that passed between the two women.
"Now, now, Sanji. You could at least tell my husband that your mother is Vinsmoke Sora, Queen of the Germa Kingdom," Kuina cut in, further distracting the cook from a fight, Zoro realized.
"Oh, no titles today please," the blonde woman said with a friendly smile. Now that Zoro knew who she was, her similarities to the cook made a lot of sense. "We had to sneak out to get this far."
"As you wish," Kuina conceded. "Sora, would you like some tea? I need to put these in some water anyway."
"Oh, thank you," Sora replied. "Sanji?"
"No, thank you, Mom. I think I'll sit with the mosshead and Ace for a bit."
"Okay, but no fighting," Sora admonished, taking the basket of food from her son. She and Kuina fixed both men with a stern glance before they walked inside the house, chatting the whole way. The cook flopped down next to Zoro, tossing the swordsman the gift.
"Here ya go, Mosshead," he said, already lighting a cigarette.
"When did those two become such good friends?" Zoro asked, gesturing towards the door where the two women had gone inside. "Hell, when did they even meet?"
"Apparently happened after you, Luffy, and I left," the cook answered. "Seems quite a few things changed."
Zoro was about to ask the cook for more details when two of those changes came strolling through the gate.
"Robin-chwan~! Vivi-chwan~!" the cook cooed from his perch on the porch. Even in shock with his jaw hanging open, Zoro managed to catch the cook by the collar before he could shoot off to the two attractive women. Never mind the fact that the two former enemies arrived together, how were they alive?
"Cook, what's going-?"
"Hey, Robin! How's the Poneglyph research going?" Ace interrupted. Zoro turned to the man in surprise. Ace was a Marine in this world. The Poneglyphs were banned from being studied. What in the world…?
"Very well, thanks," Robin replied with a smile. "Ohara University is looking to publish my paper next month. My mother thinks the progress we've made is splendid." The Flower Flower Fruit user turned to the princess next to her, whose face turned red with a blush. "And I couldn't have done it without my research assistant of course."
Still in shock, Zoro turned to the cook, who grinned at him. "Told you a few things have changed, Mossy."
It was like a dream. After the two women went inside, next came Chopper with Doctorine. The little reindeer ran up to give Zoro his gift and a hug, then ran off to go play with Luffy and the boys. Doctorine took a large swig of alcohol, gave Zoro a pat on the back so hard he almost fell over, then headed inside to see how Kuina and Sora were doing.
"After all," the old woman said with a conspiratorial wink, "gotta make sure number three isn't giving the mom too many problems."
"Number three?" Zoro asked, confused. Dr. Kureha looked pointedly at the two boys playing in the yard, then back at Zoro. The swordsman's eyes widened. "Kuina's-?!"
"Zoro! You lucky dog! Congratulations!" Ace laughed, patting the shocked swordsman on the back while Doctorine headed inside. On Zoro's other side he could hear the jealous cook mutter curses under his breath.
Franky arrived soon after with two guests in tow. Iceberg Zoro recognized, but the large fishman Zoro had never seen before.
"Yow! Happy birthday, Zoro-bro!" Franky said, assuming his usual pose. "You already met Iceberg. But this is my mentor, Tom."
With that introduction done, Franky changed himself into a tank and went to join the kids playing. Iceberg shook his head, said a quiet happy birthday to Zoro, then headed inside to join the women. Tom laughed loudly and then did the same.
The next person to arrive for Zoro's birthday was Nami, the familiar red head trailed by two other women. One of them Zoro recognized as Nami's sister, but he didn't know the older woman smoking a cigarette. This time when the cook dashed off the porch to greet the women, Zoro wasn't able to stop him.
"Nami-swaaaaan! Nojiko-chwaaaan! Bell-mere-ch-!" Before the annoying cook could continue, the older woman had grabbed both of the man's cheeks in a harsh grip.
"Sanji~san!" the woman said in a sing-song voice, while keeping the cook's cheeks in a punishing grip. "Do you mind letting your mother know we're here?"
"Yews, maw'am," the cook replied, his cheeks still being squeezed. The woman—Nami's mother, Zoro realized—released the cook, who scurried into the house on his errand. A few minutes later, Vivi and Kuina emerged from the house.
"Nami!" Vivi shrieked excitedly and the two women ran to greet and hug their friend. Over by the "playground"—consisting of the tree, Franky the tank, and Luffy as whatever rubber contraption the kids could think of—Franky began to get teary at the emotional display, proclaiming something about the joys and wonders of friendship. Meanwhile, Sora emerged from the house and waved at Bell-mere with a smile.
"Bell-mere! It's been too long!" the queen called to her friend. The chain-smoking former Marine laughed.
"You too, Sora!" Bell-mere declared, walking over to the house. She left a basket of mikans on the porch near Zoro. "Don't eat them all at once, birthday boy."
Zoro frowned, as the two women walked into the house together. Never mind Kuina and the cook's mom. When the hell did the cook's and Nami's mom's meet?! As though thinking of the dumbass would bring him, the cook came sulking out of the house and resumed his place next to Zoro.
"Ah! A gift of mikans probably picked by the lovely Nami-san's own tender hands!" He turned a fierce glare at the swordsman. "You better appreciate them, you damn bastard!"
Zoro felt Ace's hand on his shoulder before he had the chance to respond. "Relax, Sanji. I'm sure Zoro will appreciate every gift he gets on his birthday."
"And I ain't interested in the witch that way. Besides, I'm married." But Zoro couldn't help himself. "Jealous, Ero-Cook?"
Before the two could get into a fight they were interrupted by the cacophony of what sounded like an entire freakin' orchestra. Both men turned towards the gate, in time to see a tall yet lanky man standing there, just lowering his violin. It took Zoro a moment to place the man, but finally the afro gave it away.
"Brook?" Behind the musician—who, instead of his skeletal appearance, looked like his original wanted poster- came several other men, carrying various instruments. It took Zoro another moment to place them. But he could vaguely remember the collection of old wanted posters Brook always kept. The Rumbar Pirates.
"Hey, Brook!" Luffy called, running over from the 'playground'. "Is Laboon in the harbor? Are you gonna play us a song? Can it be Bink's Sake? Please, please, please?"
Zoro couldn't help but chuckle. Even in this world, Luffy was just the same, most excited about a musician showing up.
"Well, Luffy-san, I believe that should be left up to Zoro-san. It is his birthday after all-" Before Brook even got a chance to finish, Luffy was rushing up to the swordsman.
"Zoro! Zoro! Please say you wanna listen to Bink's Sake! You wanna, don't you? Please say you do! Please!" the rubber man whined.
"Hey, Luffy! You can't just-!" Ace began, but Zoro held up a hand.
"Sure, Luffy." Zoro replied to the rubber man pleading before him. He wasn't a huge fan of music honestly, but he didn't have the heart to deny this to Luffy. He nodded to the musician. "Go ahead, Brook!"
"Yes, Zoro-san!" Brook called as the rest of the Rumbar Pirates piled into the practice yard. Soon the air was filled with the sounds of the group playing their lively version of Bink's Sake. Soon, Chopper and the boys joined in with their youthful voices and Zoro heard Ace's tenor singing along next to him. Even the grouchy cook on the other side of him joined in. Zoro smiled at the scene before him, arms folded, but tapping one finger along to the beat.
He almost missed Jinbei's much more sedately entrance, but waved the fishman over from the porch. He was pleased to note that much like Tom, no one seemed to bat an eye at the fishman's appearance.
"Good day, Sanji-kun, Ace-kun, Zoro-kun!" Jinbei greeted happily. "Lively bunch here!"
"Heh. You could say that again," Ace replied with a laugh. "You know how Luffy loves music."
"Indeed," Jinbei replied. He held out a large box, wrapped in blue paper. "For you, Zoro-kun."
"Thanks, Jinbei," Zoro replied, standing to take the gift and moving it to the small pile behind him. The fishman surveyed the scene in the yard and the open door to the main room of the house.
"Looks like everyone's here." Jinbei declared.
"Still missing Usopp," the cook replied. For some reason Zoro couldn't place, those words made him uneasy. Relax, he told himself. Usopp's fine. Maybe it was because last time Zoro had been in this world, he had seen what had happened to Usopp first-hand. But that made no sense. After all, Robin, Vivi, Brook, and Franky were all supposed to be dead and here they were, alive and well. It would be the same for Usopp.
"Ah, is that them now?" Ace asked, shielding his eyes as he peered at the path. It took Zoro a moment but then he noticed the two people walking up the path, one of them with curly black hair. He nearly relaxed at the site, until he realized neither one was Usopp.
"It's not him," the cook finally stated. "I think it's his…"
Zoro studied the two people walking up to the gate. He had seen them both before, though it took him a moment to place where. The one with the curly black hair he finally recognized as Usopp's mother, Banchina. The sniper had drawn a picture of her once and given Usopp's artistic talents, Zoro had no doubt the picture was accurate. The other person Zoro recognized from his wanted poster- Yasopp, sharpshooter of the Red-Haired Pirates and Usopp's father.
Just behind them came a pale blonde young woman. Kaya, just as pretty and frail as Zoro remembered her from Syrup Village. And just behind her…
Usopp. But with the messy, crazed look Zoro remembered from the alternate world…
Zoro woke up with a start.
He was in the bunk room of the Sunny, in his hammock, the blankets soaked with sweat. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, trying to get his breathing under control. A dream. That was all it had been. Just a dream.
The swordsman swung out of his bed to land with a small thump on the wooden floor below. He glanced around, but it didn't look like anyone else had woken up. Quickly, he rushed to his locker, grabbed the data storage device, and rushed out, not even bothering to put on his boots.
Zoro ran across the grass deck, ignoring the wet dew sticking to his ankles. A cool breeze blew across his sweaty skin, refreshing and grounding after his nightmare. He ran until he got to the main mast and the bench surrounding it. He sat down, put on the headset, and turned on the data storage device with trembling fingers.
Kuina filled his vision, from a nearly God's eye view. She was putting the boys to bed for the night. Looking at them, Zoro could tell they were already so much bigger than before, just like in his dream. They would grow up without him. He'd never again feed rice balls to Tori. Yaki would learn the sword from someone else.
Zoro could feel his good eye become moist with tears. He lowered the headset to wipe them away…only to see Luffy crouched in front of him, staring. Zoro quickly wiped his eyes.
"Did you have another nightmare, Zoro?" Luffy asked.
"No," Zoro responded, a despondent smile forming on his face, "Just a sad dream."
"About the other world?" Luffy asked.
"Yeah," Zoro replied, looking away.
Luffy nodded. "It's probably like Tra-guy said."
Zoro could vaguely remember Law and Robin telling him something about that. Because Vegapunk and his assistant manipulated Zoro's mind and emotions so much more than the other two, he would likely feel more of the aftereffects. Dreams. Nightmares. Intrusive thoughts. Delusions. Depression. And as much as Zoro didn't want to admit it, they were probably right.
Luffy pointed to the device still in Zoro's hand. "Does that help?" The swordsman nodded.
"Yes. It's just…I just feel…"
"It makes you less sad, right?" Luffy asked with a gentle smile. "To see them?"
"Yes," Zoro responded guiltily. He and Luffy had already had this conversation, but still the swordsman had to ask again. "Luffy, you're sure you're okay with this?" Zoro held up the device. "It doesn't seem fair."
Luffy grinned. "It's okay. I'm glad Franky was able to save them for you. And I got to say goodbye to Ace. I'm good."
They heard the door to the men's sleeping room open followed by the quiet thumping of hooves and then Chopper was standing next to Luffy.
"Zoro, are you okay? Another dream?" The young doctor asked. Zoro sighed and rested a hand on Chopper's hat.
"Yeah. You don't have to worry, Chopper. Sorry I woke you."
"It's okay. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I'm fine."
Zoro could smell the cigarette smoke before he heard the cook respond with, "Don't lie to Chopper, Mosshead. He's just doing his job." Continuing across the grass deck to the stairs leading to the kitchen and dining room, the cook glanced over his shoulder at the others. "Sounds like it's time for another group therapy session. You guys might as well head into the kitchen before you wake the ladies. I'll make snacks and some hot drinks."
The invitation of food was all that was needed to get Luffy and Chopper to follow the cook. Zoro debated coming up with some excuse not to come along to another of these 'group therapy sessions,' but they were all awake because of him. And even if the cook was gruff about it, he was trying—in his own stupid, swirly-ass way- to help. Besides, not going would be cowardly, Zoro decided.
Once the three were gathered around the table and the cook was in the kitchen working on the promised snacks (Quite the sight, Zoro thought, all of us in our night clothes), Chopper asked Zoro again about the dream. Zoro tried his best to describe it, and then paused at a detail. He was about to let it slide, but the sharp-eyed cook insisted he tell them about it.
"Tom, Franky's mentor. I've never seen a picture of him. I shouldn't have known what he looked like," Zoro explained, "The same with your mom, Cook. And Nami's."
"Those were most likely memories implanted by the World Government," Chopper pointed out. "They would have had detailed records on Tom since he was a prisoner of Impel Down."
"My mom was queen of an infamous kingdom. And Nami's mom was a Marine," Sanji reasoned. "Likely they had records on both of them too."
"But it explains why Dr. Hiriluk didn't appear with me and Doctorine and why Robin's mom wasn't with her," Chopper continued, "Zoro had never seen them so they couldn't use his memories. But the World Government didn't have details on them. So the information couldn't be implanted in Zoro's mind either."
Zoro growled. He hated this bullshit of sorting out the fake information from the real. The cook, passing out the cookies and hot chocolate, took notice.
"Remember what Law told us before he rejoined his crew, Mosshead," the cook said. "Concentrate on the fact the dreams don't add up. Figure out what you could know, even on a subconscious level, like the Rumbar Pirates or Usopp's parents. And separate that from the stuff you absolutely can't know, like what Tom looked like. That's how you'll find the implanted memories."
"This is all part of the process, Zoro," Chopper said sleepily. He yawned. "Going over it like this with us…will help you sort it out."
Zoro waited a moment for Chopper to finish his hot chocolate. "Sounding pretty sleepy there, Chopper. How about I walk you back to bed?"
The young reindeer yawned again. "Okay…"
It didn't take long to get Chopper back to his hammock and tucked back in. On his way back to the kitchen, Zoro could overhear Luffy and the cook talking. He paused just before the door to listen.
"Maybe I shouldn't have given it to him. Maybe it's making him worse, like ripping the bandage off over and over." The cook.
"Sanji." Luffy's voice. "You did what you thought was right. And it makes Zoro happy, knowing that they're okay. And I'm glad some part of that other world is still around, even if Ace or Sabo aren't in it."
"Does it bother you, Luffy?" The cook again. "I had already wanted to leave, but you. Does it bother you that Zoro got to keep them, but you didn't…?"
"You already got to say goodbye to your mom in this world, Sanji. I had already gotten to say goodbye to Ace. We got that. Zoro…he didn't. One day she was alive. The next she was dead. And he never got to meet those boys. His sons. They never got a chance to exist in this world. I think that's why it was so much harder for Zoro to let go. You and I, we were just saying goodbye to our pasts again. To what was. But for Zoro? He was saying goodbye to what could have been." Luffy. His captain. "And I think that's…that's why it's a lot harder for him. But he'll get better. We'll help him get better."
"Pfft. Of course we will, shitty captain."
Zoro didn't bother going back into the kitchen. Instead, he leaned back against the wall, the feeling of the floorboards underneath him reminding him of a wooden porch in a village far away. With the rocking of the ship, the feeling of safety in his gut, and the warmth in his heart, he fell back asleep.
Author's Notes: Whew! Somehow, I think this ended up being the longest chapter of the whole story. I only had the house, the porch, the gate, and the practice yard for locations, wrote an outline ahead of time, and somehow still lost track of where I left everyone. Luckily, I think I caught them all during the reread. There are So. Many. Straw. Hats. You. Guys. Franky's gonna need to build a bigger boat. Trying to make happy scenarios for all of them took up most of this chapter (even Vivi).
-Towards the end of writing Ambience, I already had the idea of writing another chapter where Zoro has a dream where he's with Kuina and the boys in Ambience and thinks it's real, but then wakes up. Then a reviewer requested to know what the other "good" scenarios for the rest of the Straw Hats would have been like. So I thought I'd combine two birds with one stone. Turned out I combined like 10 birds with one stone and it turned into a really long chapter. So. Many. Straw Hats.
-I always thought Sora and Belle-mere would have been great friends had they ever gotten the opportunity to meet. Banchina could join them. They could make a One Piece Mom's club.
-Law left the Straw Hats (well, Robin and Chopper anyway) with some therapy advice. So now the Monster Trio are stuck in group therapy sessions together to deal with their nightmares and issues that came about from being stuck in the simulation (and having their brains manipulated). Chopper mostly runs it. Honestly, given a lot of the Straw Hats' backstories, the Thousand Sunny could use a therapist in general.
-One final fanfic recommendation: Fortunae Gauntlet by Velkyn Karma. Another 'Straw Hats in the dream/alternate reality' fic.