Hello everyone,
First I would like to thank Polyamory for commenting and all of you other folks for following and favoring as well. Thank you so much :-)
What you waited for will happen today and I believe you will be as surprised as our beloved Mihawk ;-P

I wish you a great week and see you next time
Sharry

Chapter 2 – Awakening

It was warm. It was soft. It was damn cozy. Those were the first few things he noticed, while his mind wistfully slipped away from his sleep. He kept his eyes closed, enjoying this moment just before waking up. That moment, knowing a new day lay ahead, but delaying it only for a little bit. It was seldom that he could actually sleep in, that was why he treasured those moments. Almost just as much as those, briefly before falling asleep, when the soft rhythmic breathing of the others cast a calm sleeping spell over him.

But he knew that he was not at the Thousand Sunny. For one, it was way too quiet and for second, he was not sleeping in his known bunk, which just for the record was totally adequate for him, but in such a comfortable bed he only did once or twice his life. Somehow he could smell a familiar scent. He did not know what it was. The damn cook would have recognized it for sure; this herb or what it was, but it had a calming effect on him.

Sadly he had to admit, that he was finally awake and it was senseless to hide from the day. With a small sigh he opened his eyes. Where the hell was he?

All he could see was a white ceiling with silver-white applications; looked kind of classy. His sight was still blurred by somnolence and his senses were still dull from sleepiness.

Lavender, this was it. Maybe he was in one of those expensive noble-hotels. But he was broke, that could be a problem.

"Ah. Finally awakened?" He was asked by an ominous familiar voice coming from far, far away. Slowly his eyes followed the direction of the voice and his head fell to the side. His body felt strange, heavy and light at the same time. Maybe he had been drugged. Why else would he not have noticed that someone was present? One second he watched that blurry scheme, puzzled that his instincts had not put him alert already. Slowly his view became sharp.

It front of him sat a tall, black haired man with a white, button-down shirt and black trousers. In one hand he was holding a black file or something like that. He had crossed his legs and balanced on one knee another folder. His yellow-golden eyes starred at him curiously and with slender fingers he stroked his beard.

"You!" He yelled and rose and once. His hand was already searching for his swords.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Confused the Shichibukai looked at him. Where were his swords?

"Uhm. This here would be my house."

Hectically he looked around. His body was still so heavy, his senses still dull. Quickly he observed the room he was in. Noted the small desk, the opened window, and most importantly those two doors. One of them could be his emergency exit. But where were his swords?

"And why did you bring me here?!" He barked and oppressed the urge to reach for his throat. His voice sounded raspy strangely high, like he was sick and hoarse, but he could not allow himself to show any weakness right now. Frowning the black haired one closed his files and paid him all of his attention.

"Would you mind clarifying your thoughts for me, please?"

Confused over the polite words he looked at the older one. Could it be?

"Say, don't you recognize me?" He added calmer than before. He should not be choked up right now. Not by his enemy. But this one was still looking really confused, and then he shook his head.

"I dearly apologize, but I do not recall ever meeting you."

His heart missed a beat. It hurt. His breathing became harsh. It was impossible to hide his disappointment. He was aware, that he had been pretty week at that time, not close being a worthy opponent for the greatest swordsman in the world. But somehow he had hope, even believed, that the other one had seen something in him. After all he had spared his life that day. Had marked him with his defeat that day. So he could remember every single day of his life. Remember who he had been and who he could become. Only because of the others acknowledgement he had been able to pass his own borders over and over again. This recognition had given him courage when he did not dare to do the next step. Had given him conformation, when he was caught by self-doubt. Had given him a reason to live, when dying seemed so much easier. And now it appeared that the other one did not even remember who he was?
"So you have forgotten our fight?" He asked emotionless, without looking at his dialog partner. Why did it hurt him so much? Why was he not capable of pulling himself together?

Out of the corner of his eyes he noted another headshaking.

"I have to apologize once again. But I am certain, I would remember an opponent such as you. I do not believe, we ever had a duel. You might mistake me for someone else." His voice was friendly, polite as hell. So different to back then.

"So tell me, Hawk Eyes," he whispered, "Wasn't it you, who gave me this wound?" He hissed loudly, pulling his shirt aside and showing the upper part of his scar. The other one could not have forgotten this, could he? He Had almost died that day and would always carry this trace of their fight.

The older one on the other hand only blushed slightly, averting his eyes.

"And again I offer my apology, but…" he hesitated, "I cannot detect any injury."

"My ass!" He screamed, starring down at his own chest to convince himself and the other man of the controversy. But there was no scar. No. There was no scar, absolutely no scar.

"But…?" He whispered. "What have you done to me?"

Hawk Eyes observed him concerned. "I do not understand…"

"Stay away from me!" He interrupted him, as he tried to reach out for him. He jolted away, misjudging the size of the bed. Suddenly his hand only touching air and he lost his grip. Rumbling he crashed to the ground. Groaning and cursing he tried to free himself from the sheet.

"My God. Are you al…?"
"Just stay away, you basta…" He lost his words again, when he was finally able to be back on all four. His eyes were fixed at the huge window in front of him. Just on the other side kneeled a distraught looking girl. She followed his look, while her expression went from distraught to panic. Slowly he raised his hand. The child mirrored his motion.

"But that's impossible," he whispered. The girl in front of him looked sickly pale. Thin, weak arms supporting a delicate torso. A huge man's shirt covering a fragile, little body. The gap of the open buttons gave him the view of two little breasts and apart from that a naked body. The face of the girl, seemed, except for the obviously fear in those huge naïve eyes, innocently young. The green eyes widened, like they had seen death itself. Long, just as green, hair floated over her back and shoulders in wild waves. Two strands covering her face, blocking her vision.

Harshly he stroked away the hair. Again the girl did the same motion in the same moment. Like being in trance he reached with his hand for the child, watching, as she did highly insecure the same. Finally he touched the glass, looking at her.

He swallowed hard as he realized what he could not deny. He did not look through a big window. He looked into a mirror!

-Mihawk-

Stunned Mihawk observed the young woman in front of him. Except for his sister he had never heard a girl cursing like this and she behaved fairly strange. What had he taken into this house?

After she had fallen clumsily out of the bed, he had rushed over to her, but her odd attitude made him pause. Tense he observed her, how she starred obviously confused at her reflected self. He could hear her silent, rasping whisper, saw her wild, almost mad look. Slowly he made a step forward, hands raised, like he tried to tame a fierce beast. The moment she saw him in the mirror, she jumped around starring at him hostile.

"What have you done with me?"

Her voice was just a hint, like she was afraid of breaking something, if she would talk louder. She crawled to the night table, missing the force to stand up. Helpless he looked down to her.

"Please believe me. I do not even have a suggestion from where you might know me. I am certain that I met you for the first time in my life yesterday evening. You were lying unconscious in the forest, wearing nothing except for this… this shirt."

She just shook her head and starred at her delicate hands. Desperate he ruffled his hair.

"Would you mind listen? Maybe we can start afresh. As you already seem to know, my name is Dracule Mihawk, also known under the name of Hawk Eyes. And you go by the name…?"

Weakly she pushed his hand away, just meeting his eyes. Briefly she bit her lip, like a stubborn child before nodding more to herself than to him. Amazingly pure looked those big eyes at him and surprisingly soft she said those next words.

"I'm called Roronoa Zoro!"

For a moment the world stopped moving, while Mihawk starred at the woman at the ground. Fierce she looked back, a little spark in her eyes, a sneering grin in her face. Then he laughed loudly. Hollow and cold his voice echoed through the room, while his smile turned into a grimace.

"I deeply apologize, my dearest." He spit every word at her feet. "But I do know Roronoa Zoro. He is a promising, arrogant, young swordsman and first of all he is a man!

She opened her mouth, but he did not give her the opportunity to answer.

"Furthermore…," he added cold, "Roronoa Zoro is dead!"

The girl froze, her mouth still wide open. He could watch as her big naïve eyes gradually became pale and empty. For a second she was far away, her gaze becoming cloudy.

"The fire," she whispered.

But she did not talk with him. It seemed like she had forgotten all about him. But just for a moment.

Before he realized, what was happening with her, she had thrown herself fitfully over the bed and rushed to the door. Her legs budged under her light weight and she could only grab the door handle to keep herself from falling.

"Excuse me!" He said confused, while heading to her to help. But once again she slapped his hands away, clinging to the handle and grabbing the chair to find her footing again.

"I have to go! The others think I'm dead. I have to go back to them!"

She put her weight back on her feet, pushing the handle down.

"What? Who and where to?"

Hectically she spun around, almost falling again.

"I have to go to my crew, of course! They have to be somewhere close to the Senichi islands. That's where I'm heading for."

She was turning around again, but he took her wrist, holding her tight.

"Please, take a rest. The Senichi islands?"

Madly the girl starred at his hand, before she looked daggers at him. She pulled at her arm, but of course she could not free herself from his grip.

"Because the marine base, where we were caught, was there. They could escape, but they could not have come far yet. And now let go of me!"

"Just one more question."
Cold green met yellow; he had to survey what she was saying. Could it be possible somehow? She was talking nonsense, but could it be the truth? But how could she now the details? How could she now that the newspapers were lying?

"How did the strawhats escape?"

One moment they were quiet, but then she answered with a throaty voice.

"I blew up the base, including all soldiers, so that my friends could escape!"

Surprised he starred at that girl, releasing his grip for just a heartbeat. She took that second to free herself and rushing out of the door. He on the other hand looked at the folders on his chair. How could she know that?! The newspapers told about an accident, caused by the strawhats, helping them to escape while they abandoned the swordsman, who had become a defector.

With the next inhaling he chased after her and just caught her in the last moment, before she could fall down the stairs.

"How do you know that?!" His voice was louder than he wanted it to be as he held her hip, shaking her slightly. "How do you know the truth?!"

She pushed both of her hands against him, being far too weak for uncaging herself.

"'Cause I'm Roronoa Zoro!"

"That is impossible!" He snarled, ignoring her little hands.

"It's not. And now let the hell go of me!" She barked back.

"Roronoa Zoro is dead! Besides it is impossible to cover the distance from the Senichi Island to this place this fast!"

She stopped her fight for a second.

"What do you mean by that?"

He could withstand her strong gaze without any problems. "The escape happened the night before yesterday."

"So what?"

"Even the fastest marine ship would take at least a month to cover that distance!"

She grew stiff. "But that… but that's impossible."

"That is what I was saying!"
And then she broke free, stumbling down the stairs. The last steps she could not handle and fell down.

"In heavens name, what are you doing?" He called after her, following her downstairs. What had he taken into this house?

"I don't care," she whispered, sitting up, "And even if I have to cross the whole Grand Line, I'm gonna find the others."

With folded arms he watched the green haired girl, who pulled herself up at the rail trembling. Her knees and palms were bruised, but she had a determined, unbending expression in her face. She would not give up. He watched her thoughtful, could see that she would barely reach the front door, but still putting one foot in front of the other. Headshaking he followed her, placed his hand at her hip again and lifted her up.

"What the hell are you doing?! Let me down! I swear I kill you!"

With an evil grin he went back upstairs, wondering where his housekeeper was at and not even amused by her attempts of hurting him.

"First, I do not take orders by anyone. Secondly, I would love to see you try."

With straight steps he went back the corridor, still ignoring the girl on his shoulder. He reached the room and threw her back ungentle on the bed, closed the door and pulled the chair over.

After putting the folders down, he turned its back to the bed and sat down, leaning his arms one the back of the chair. The girl starred at him angrily.

"And now the truth, young Lady."

Furrowing her forehead she tilted her head, still looking absolutely hostile.

"Believe what you want. I don't care, but I have to leave, now!"

But she did not try again to escape. She probably realized that she had no chance against him. He just shook his head.

"Very well. Let us assume, what you are saying is the truth: How do you, in your constitution right now, want to reach the perished marine base all on your own? Apart from that, the strawhats will be long gone before you would be even close to that area."

She folded her arms sullen.

"And what do you care about that? I didn't ask for your help, so you should be just fine, with me leaving."

Again! Once again this… this child was able to irritate him, to break through his reserve. Intentional slowly he exhaled.

"It would be good for you to show some gratitude. After all I was the one taking you with me. Without my action, you would be dead by now."
"Are you just stupid or won't you get it?"

Her rough, verbal attack made him livid with raging fire, but her next words damped it down at once.

"I don't give a shit, what you have done or not and if you have saved me from death or not. I already did die, got it?!"

With every single world she trembled more. "And my friends are in danger, while I'm here and cannot protect them. They think I'm death and it the best case they aren't as well."
He did not know what to do. This girl in front of him, yes this one girl in front of him.

"So it really is you", he finally said.

She looked away. "You believe me?"

He observed her closer, tried to compare this fragile little thing, having bruised hands and a wild mane, in a large man's shirt sitting on the bed with that bleeding swordsman. That swordsman who, even injured heavily, was still seeking a fight. That swordsman, who was ready to die out of honor. Who knew, that scars on the back were a swordsman's shame.

"I am not convinced yet. But how else should you know, what was written in the folders?"

Confused those green eyes looked at him. "What folders?"

"They contain all reports covering the breakout of the G-6. Of course the investigations are not over yet, but it is better than anything written by the newspaper." He picked up the article from the ground and threw it on the bed.

"What has happened to you? How did you come here?"

The young girl fetched the newspaper shaking.

"I have no idea," she murmured absent, reading hectically those written lines.

"That's not true," she hissed angrily, still reading the article, before clashing it to the ground.

"None of this is true!" She assured. "I would never betray my crew to mess around with those smuggler-guys. And they did not abandon me. I sent them away!"

He could hear desperation in this voice; this desperation he knew just too well.

"I know," he answered simply. But it was enough to calm the other one.

"How?"

"I read those files, you know."

Now he fetched the folders from the ground. After he spent all night, sorting and reading them, he had been able in the early morning to build a picture out of the witness description and technical notes. But he was still missing many details, which maybe could be added by that creature in front of him. He let the folders fall just in front of those bloody knees.

"How could the Navy get that information?"

The black haired man folded his arms as well, leaning back.

"Vice admiral Hakkai survived. He and two or three other soldiers, one of them is a lieutenant. Except for Hakkai, they all still hover between life and death by the burns. But that's the status of yesterday evening, maybe they are dead by now," he added coldly.

The shockheaded girl still concentrated on those documents. Dark shadows covering her face, she was still trembling.

"I have to go," she said again.

"Now, now. Hold on." Dracule sighed and took away the papers. When she reached out for them, he took both of her wrists with one hand and forced her to look at him.

"First I want to know, what has happened to you and how you came to this island."

The eyes of the other shimmered slightly, but for the rest her face was expressionless.

"To put this straight for once and for all. Beats me, where 'here' is and how I came here. The last thing I remember is burning in fire, when that damn tower collapsed. And now I'm here, looking like this!"

She nodded down her body.

"So you have not the faintest clue?" He asked again.

She shook her head. "No, but that doesn't matter, I have to…"
"What do you have to?" He interrupted the girl, without letting go of her.

"Take a look at you. You can barely walk, not to mention setting sail on your own. You will be dead before you reach the shore. You will not reach your crew alive. And even if you were able to somehow make it to the Senichi Islands and the ruins of the G-6, they will be long gone, because they cannot know, that you could have survived somehow."

"So what, oh best strategist in all times, should I do in your humble opinion?!"

The shimmer in those green eyes grew wilder, like she was close to tears. Her voice was a little higher than before.

"I don't have anything except my friends. This is not my body, not my life. I died, dammit! I created this great escape plan, but I did not consider waking up as a weak girl in my enemy's house, okay?"

He let go of her. The girl blushed slightly, ashamed turning away. She seemed really close to a break down. What had he taken into this house?

"Fucking hell!" she whispered. "I wanted to take you down the next time we met. And now? Now I cannot even protect my friends."

Still he observed his discovery, while the gears behind his forehead worked heavily.

"You did protect them," he said quietly. "As far as I know, they are all alive and well."

"Really?"

He nodded. "However I do not know more, than what is written in those files or in the newspapers."
His guest was still not able to meet his eyes, so he got up, sighing.

"Listen well, Roronoa Zoro."

Finally the greenhaired curly-head looked up.

"I do believe you."

He hesitated for a moment, before continuing, not knowing why he was doing that at all.

"And that is the reason why, I will take the lead. You will take a break for now, and maybe a shower would be a good idea, as well as cleaning those bruises."

He showed to the light door at the other side of the bed.

"The housekeeper, Misses Bosatsu will take care of your clothing and organize some food for you."

The other one tried to interrupt him, but he did not allow that.

"Meanwhile I will gather more information about your crew, before we consider how to continue. Is that alright?"

The mouth of the pirate gaped open, but after a while she nodded.

"Very well. So I will set off."

"Wait."

He turned around. "What is it?"

The unlucky being on the bed looked away, kneading the sheet with slender fingers.

"Why are you doing this? You know that my goal is to defeat you, to kill you, still you're helping me. Why?"

He smiled softly.

"Do not pride yourself on that, Roronoa Zoro. The honor of my family demands me to carry on a responsibility I took over. When I took you in yesterday evening, I became responsible for you."

Slowly his guest looked at him.

"So I'll release you from your responsibility. You have no obligation towards me and I don't want to be more indebted to you than I already am."

A soft laugh crawled out of his throat.

"I am sorry, young friend. But you are neither in the position nor do you have the choice. If I would let you leave in this condition, I would disrespect my ancestors. However you are right, saying you are indebted to me."

An evil grin flickered over his lips, as the other one starred at him in shock. Of course he did not care about his ancestors at all, but there were others, he did not want to betray.

"If you want to compound your dept, Roronoa Zoro, I expect, on your honor as a swordsman, to encounter you again on my return. If you leave I will hunt you down and finish off, what God was not able to."

He liked it, this bewildered face. The other could not say a word. Victoriously he walked to the door.

"Oh, and just for the record," he added, "Kanan is a good person. Show her your respect!"
Then he left.

A nudge against the door in his back told him, that his guest threw a pillow against the door. With a satisfied grin he walked down the corridor. This day promised to become interesting.

"Oh, you already awake, Sire?" He heard the familiar voice of his former nanny.

"Kanan," he greeted her, walking down the stairs. She just took of a long coat and her shoes, wearing a long brown dress and carrying a big basket, filled with wood.

"Our guest is awake as well," he continued, taking the basked and going to the fireplace in the living room.

She followed. "Will you leave now, my lord?"

He nodded. "Yes"

He piled up the wood billet, declining her helping hand.

"I probably won't return until late this evening. Until then I will consign our guest in your care. Ensure that this child has something appropriate to wear and ate a bit."

"Of course. I'll gladly take care of that girl. The poor thing must have experience horrible things."

He did agree on that, however he had noticed her happy tone, she did not seem unhappy. He stood up and handed her over the empty basket.

"Despite our guest's height you should act with caution. I assume our new pet is a fear biter."

"No worries." She smiled, rolling up her sleeves.

"I have raised seven children, one of them being you, Sire. I am certain, than I can handle one little girl. So off you go," she urged him to the door, giving him almost no time to take boots and coat before slamming the door in front of his face.

Standing outside he realized that he was still wearing the same things from the day before, but he did not dare to go back inside, so he turned around and head for the day.