"Zoro... Zoro... Sweetie, you need to wake up!"

Zoro groaned, turning over in his hammock.

"Mom? I'm tired..."

'ZORO!'

Gasping awake he threw back the sheet and scrubbed a hand through his hair. His attention was caught by the orange glow through the window.

Squinting through tired, half-open eyes they suddenly widened as a gasp broke from his lips.

"No..."

Grabbing his swords he dived out the door and dashed to the bell, ringing it loudly before heading for cover.

A cacophony of storming footsteps immediately roared to life as he tried not to panic at the sight of the fires raging through the ship. Memories of that night were returning thick and fast as he struggled to keep his breathing calm.

"COME OUT ZORO, YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE!"

Zoro gasped in horror before clamping a now violently shaking hand over his mouth to silence himself.

No... no, no, no, no, no...

A horrible laugh followed before slow footsteps approached.

"So, this is where you've been hiding? What a dump."

"...WAKE UP!"

Sanji groaned before flickering an eye open tiredly.

"Patty... w-what?"

A strong hand came to pull him up.

"Get up, the Baratie's on fire."

"WHAT?!"

Quickly turning to the hammock across the room he found it empty, the swords propoed up against the wall too were gone too.

"Sanji, where's Zoro?!"

"I- I don't know."

The admission hit him like a gut punch, his stomach churning suddenly in fear.

"Where's Jiji?"

"I haven't seen him."

Eyes widening in horror he sprinted off out the room.

"ZORO?! JIJI?!"

Having dropped two of his swords in the desperation to keep a distance between the two of them, Zoro was down to just Wado.

The slaver captain chuckled.

"And what exactly are you going to do with that? Kids shouldn't play with sharp things, boy, they're not toys. Why don't you give that to me and come back to the ship, then we won't cause trouble for all these nice folk out here?"

"N-no..."

"Speak up boy!"

"I won't come with you, and I won't let you hurt them either."

"Oh yeah, and just how are you going to stop me?"

Zoro readied his pose.

The slaver laughed.

"What are you doing you stupid boy?"

Zoro quickly slashed, Rex dodging each and every attack with ease.

"You're gonna' have to do better than that boy."

Un-expectant of the sheer speed of the slaver he soon found an elbow to the solar plexus and a knee to the stomach which had him falling to the deck hard coughing and desperate for air he couldn't find.

"How pathetic."

The slaver's foot came to stomp down on his arm before a snap followed and Zoro cried out. The move was then followed up by a kick to the face sending him sprawling, his pain threshold reaching its limit.

Tightening his grip on Wado he sluggishly pushed himself to his feet on unsupportive, shaking legs.

Zoro closed his eyes and focused before taking a breath.

"One sword style."

And with that, he slashed.

A few seconds later...

"Guhhhhh!"

Blood spurted from the large cut on the slaver's chest.

Zoro smiled, walking over, sword still drawn.

"Roronoa Satoru and Roronoa Maki – you and your crew killed them in cold blood; I swore back then when you had me shackled on your ship that one day I'd slit your damn throat. Funnily enough you all used to laugh as if I was joking."

He held Wado's blade tauntingly close.

"Do it look like I'm joking now, Rex?"

"Everything I did, I did it because-."

Zoro growled, interrupting the slaver's pathetic excuse with a deep slash to his throat.

"Goodbye, Rex."

The gurgling was the only sound he could hear as he watched the life drain from the monster's eyes.

The second the slaver's last breath passed, a symphony of pain returned with a vengeance.

"Guhhhh!"

Stumbling as he struggled to remain on his feet and supporting his very broken arm, Zoro crossed to a lifeboat hanging from the side of the ship and flung himself into it.

The impact of hitting the floor caused him to almost cry out once again but soon enough white spots began to dance in his vision and he emptied his stomach into the ocean below.

The fire raged on and it sounded like the crew had reached the main deck.

He knew he needed to help but he just-

Head throbbing, the world seemed to spin before he collapsed.

Zoro welcomed unconsciousness as a blessing as he found himself falling into it thick and fast.

I'm sorry.

Standing on the front deck Sanji's eyes were tear filled as he watched the Baratie burn.

The crew had managed to make a good effort so far on taming the flames but still no one had sighted Zeff or Zoro.

Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes for a second before rushing towards the door.

"SANJI!"

But he ignored his crewmates as he entered the burning dining room in a desperate search.

"JIJI?! JIJI?!"

A beam from the roof fell with a thunderous crash just shy of him.

"SANJI! GET OUT OF THERE!"

Lip wobbling he shook his head.

"Not without Jiji... what... what if he didn't make it out?" He hated how childish his voice sounded.

"Zeff would never want you to get hurt because of him, you know that, so please..." Carne held out his hand.

Sanji hesitated for a few seconds before reluctantly heading for the door, the older crewman bundling him into a hug the second he crossed the threshold to safety.

"You dumb little shrimp..." Carne sniffled.

"WE FOUND HIM!" A voice roared.

With a gasp he dashed round the deck, a squeak that would've been embarrassing any other time breaking from his lips at the sight of the Zeff being helped to sit on a crate by the railings.

"JIJI!"

"Eggplant."

Sanji threw himself at his old man who he was sure had tears in his eyes himself before comforting arms came to wrap tightly around him.

A crewman ran over.

"The guys that attacked us are gone, they seem to have fled."

"I heard them scream for Zoro earlier." Another supplied.

"BOSS!"

"What is it?" Zeff asked the cook who had sprinted over.

"There's a body."

Sanji felt light-headed almost immediately as he realised what his crewmate was holding.

Zoro's swords.

"No..." He shook his head. "No, please, no..."

"It wasn't the kid."

Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

"I don't know who it is actually, but I did a sweep of the place and I can't find Zoro anywhere."

It was then that Patty arrived with another bunch of the crew.

"Fire's out boss, it was mainly just the dining hall but even she doesn't look too bad."

Zeff took a breath.

"We can rebuild, what matters is that we didn't lose anyone." He looked between his senior staff. "Patty, Carne; I'll leave you in charge of searching for Zoro."

"Yes Boss!"

No one slept that night.

As morning broke the sun revealed in clearer detail the events of the previous night.

Having forced Sanji into helping out with breakfast, Zeff headed around to the location of the body and began to piece together the timeline which had unfolded.

It was during this search that he discovered blood fingerprints on the side of the lifeboat.

The very lifeboat in fact that Sanji had pulled Zoro up into when the boy first came to the Baratie.

As he pulled back the tarp his eyes widened.

"Zoro!"

The kid was shivering violently in the throws of an anything but peaceful sleep.

Slowly reaching out a hand it just about made contact with the boy's shoulder before a light gasp followed and a blade came to slash across his arm.

Zoro, still armed with the sword, was breathing heavily as he pressed himself back against the far side of the lifeboat.

"Zoro, it's okay, you're safe now; whoever those men were, they're gone."

The kid's eyes seemed to un-glaze before they widened in fear at the sight of his bleeding arm, horror in his expression.

"Come on, let's get you-."

Zoro flinched violently away from the offered hand as if expecting to be struck.

"I'm sorry."

Zeff took a breath.

"You did nothing wrong, squirt."

He continued forward and softly wrapped his arms around the boy before pulling him into a hug. Zoro was initially unresponsive to the embrace before almost collapsing into it a few seconds later, the stress and fear from the previous night leaving him.

"I'm sorry." The kid's voice was almost a whimper.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, none of this was your fault."

And with that, Zoro broke down.

"Just let it out, son, it's okay, you're safe now. We're gonna' protect you."

When he was younger if you'd ever asked him if he ever intended to become a Father then the answer would have been a definitive no. He'd never had an interest in the little squawky shits and hell, that was probably why he never found an interest in relationships either.

Now though, stroking a hand gently through the hair of his now second adopted kid, he found himself thankful to whatever power decided to show him just what exactly he had been missing out on.

He'd been selfish in his younger years, and even worse so in his years of piracy, but after Sanji had dropped into his life back on that rock, and faced with the choice of keeping himself alive or the brat, he hadn't even hesitated to hand over the entire food supply.

Something had changed within him and it was almost scary how protective he became of the clearly abused child who was so excited to help out in their restuarant.

And now he had another one of them too in the shape of the green-haired wannabe swordsman who'd washed up on their shores from a life with slavers.

For Zoro, it was exactly the same as he'd said back when Sanji had first came into his life.

The world had it's chance with them so now it was his turn, and he was never going to let them go.

Well, not until the day their calling came, whenever that may be.

There was an entire ocean out there for them to explore and he just knew they were going to be something special.

One day.

That was all in the future though, so for now, he would cherish the time and teach them all he could for no matter his riches from his days on the Grand Line, his true treasure lay in the boys who had come to call the Baratie their home; a home that they would always be able to return to.

And that was more than enough for him.

Having given the kid time to calm down, he walked him to where the rest of the crew were gathered for breakfast, a hand resting on his shoulder in reassurance.

"Ayyy, there he is!"

"Zoro! Man we've been so worried!"

"Nice to see you, little man."

Zeff looked around for the ship's medic and quickly found him.

"Rye!"

"Yes, Boss?"

"Could you patch the kid up?"

"Of course."

He looked down to find the boy looking confused.

"You okay, watercress?"

"Why?"

Zeff furrowed an eyebrow.

"Why what?"

"Why do they all care so much about me?"

The crew, having overheard, began to smirk.

"Because you're one of our kids too, dummy!"

"Yeah, we'd miss ya' if you were gone!"

He watched as a soft smile came to Zoro's face.

Zeff found a smile of his own.

"This is your home too, Zoro, for as long as you need it to be."

1 Week Later

"Ahhhhh!"

Zoro's eyes flew open as he nearly fell from his hammock in the rush to grab his katana. Looking around to gauge the threat he soon spotted the blonde upright in his bed breathing heavily and coated in sweat.

He's had another nightmare.

"You okay?" He spoke up, voice soft.

A nod followed.

"You wanna' talk about it?"

"Ye-..." The cook's expression changed mid-word before he shook his head. "Nevermind, it's stupid."

"Hey, if you're upset about it then it's not stupid."

Sanji scrubbed a hand down his face before pushing his hair back from his eyes.

"I shouldn't even bother you with it."

"Why, because of what happened to me; that's some shitty logic? It's not a scale you know, even if it ain't as bad as what happened to me that doesn't mean you're not allowed to be scared of it, different things affect people differently, that's just how this crap works. Now come on, spill."

He nodded.

"I just... I keep having nightmares about losing Zeff and that scares me so much because then I'd be alone and I don't know if I can go through that again."

Zoro turned onto his side in his hammock to face the cook.

"Well you've got me, right? I'm not going anywhere, well, unless the old man gets sick of me that is."

Sanji smirked.

"I think he'd chop his other leg off before ever getting rid of you, mosshead."

Zoro smiled.

"Seriously though, I know we shouldn't say it but, even if the absolute worst did happen, I wouldn't just up and leave."

That really caught his attention.

"If that's what you're worried about then don't be, I may not look it but I'm pretty loyal; the old man and you gave me this place when I had nothing left, I'd die for this ship."

Sanji's eyes widened in horror.

"Zoro..."

"It's true, maybe loyalty like that is a good thing, or maybe it's a death sentence, who knows; but considering everything before this place, I don't really care. Zeff said this ship was my home and therefore I need to be able to protect it with everything I have, that's why I'm going to get stronger."

He leant his katana back against the wall.

"No damn slaver is gonna' catch me off-guard like that again. They think they can just waltz over here and take me, hah, I'd like to see them try once I perfect my three-sword-style."

Sanji groaned, slumping back against the pillow.

"What?!"

"You look so dumb when you do that."

"Hey! No I don't!"

"You absolutely do! I mean, who puts a sword in their mouth?!"

"Really cool people who know three-sword-style!"

"Sure..."

"Shitty eyebrows!" He retorted.

"Moss for brains!"

A thump on the wall followed.

"Boys! Pipe down!"

They silenced immediately.

"Sorry Zeff." He quickly apologised.

"Sorry Jiji." Sanji followed up.

They were silent for a few seconds before they both burst out into quiet giggles.

"That was your fault." The blonde whispered.

"As if." He turned to once again lay on his back staring up at the ceiling in his hammock.

Neither of them said a word for a few minutes before.

"I need a job."

Glancing to his roommate he watched him exhale.

"You have a job, idiot..."

"Washing dishes and carrying the deliveries isn't a job."

"Yes, it is; there's literally a name for it, you're a kitchen porter."

"Oh."

The blonde rolled his eyes.

"Well, I need another job that I can actually help Zeff by doing."

"And what do you have in mind?"

"Bodyguard?"

Sanji scoffed.

"Does Jiji look like he needs a bodyguard?"

"I meant for the restaurant, moron!"

"The word you're looking for is security or bouncer then, moss for brains!"

"Well it's not like I know any of this fancy crap!"

"Yeah, like I said, you're an idiot."

"And you're a shitty cook."

"I'm a chef, and at least I know how to cook."

"Sorry about that, I guess the slavers forgot to teach me."

The blonde silenced quickly.

"Shit, sorry, I..." He quickly backpedalled.

"No." Shitty eyebrows shook his head. "Fuck, you never have to apologise to me for that."

"Okay."

"Good."

"I guess we got a little carried away."

Sanji grabbed a cigarette and quickly lit it up.

"Ehh, no more than usual."

A puff of smoke separated them soon after as he quickly wafted it away, trying not to cough.

"Those things are disgusting."

"So's your face and yet I still have to wake up to that as my view."

Zoro faked a laugh seeped in sarcasm.

"Very funny."

The blonde turned back to him, his expression serious.

"How do you do it?"

He furrowed an eyebrow.

"Do what?"

"You know, talk about all that stuff so casually?"

It wasn't something he'd really ever put much thought to.

"I guess it's just my brain's way of trying to keep me sane I suppose."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Well..." He sighed, feeling very tired. "I don't know... if given the choice between making light of all that crap or having to think about my parents then it's not even a competition."

Zoro watched the cook slow, the small cloud still in his mouth after being distracted by his admission. A few seconds later the smoke was freed and the blonde cleared his throat to save himself from a coughing fit.

"Are they?"

"Yeah."

He was surprised when a 'sorry' or some form of condolence didn't follow but he appreciated that one didn't.

"So you were the one who killed their Captain."

Fuck, so he did know.

"Yes."

The weakness to his tone surprised him.

"And it didn't change a thing."

"Zoro..."

"I was so hell bent on getting revenge. Back when I was still on their ship I used to pass the time by thinking of ways to kill him, planned it out to the smallest detail." He paused, taking a breath. "And now that piece of shit is finally dead... so why does it still hurt so much? I don't feel better; hell, if anything I feel worse. I just wanted it to be over."

The blonde noticed the crack to his voice with a slightly raised eyebrow, overall his expression was solemn though, yet reassuring.

"Regardless of who he was, you still killed someone, Zoro, that's always going to leave a mark."

"What was I supposed to do, just let him live in the hope that he doesn't ruin another kid's life like he did mine?!"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't have done it, I'm telling you why you feel like shit."

"And?"

"And it's because you're a big softie who doesn't want to hurt people."

"You're making me sound like a wuss."

"No, I'm reminding you that you're human and being affected by this stuff is normal." Sanji paused. "You're allowed to be sad, Zoro, you don't have to pretend that you're not for anyone's sake, not anymore."

Listening to the cook's words brought a soft smile to his face.

"Go to sleep, shitty eyebrows."

"You're deflecting again." Sanji teased.

He smirked.

Taking a breath he couldn't help but feel the love the crew had for him. It was something he couldn't explain, something he never expected to feel again after the death of his parents at the hands of those monsters. And now...

"Hey Sanji?"

"Yeah?" Came a tired reply, half-muffled by the pillow his face was smushed against as he neared sleep.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Saving me that day, it uh... I have a life now because of it."

Silence followed for a few seconds before.

"The place wouldn't be the same without you, so don't ever think you're replaceable; I wouldn't be the only one who would be devastated if anything happened to you."

Finding his lip wobbling Zoro bit down on it as he tried to keep his composure.

"Now go to sleep before you start bubbling."

"Okay." He forced out.

"Goodnight Zoro."

"Night."