Darkness on the Horizon
VII: A Swordsman's Honor
Written by Takato Metallium
Plot: AU, dark, slash (Luffy/Zoro, Sanji/Usopp, Robin/Nami, Luffy/Usopp), descriptions of rape, one-shot. Zoro muses on things that have been, and things that are still to come.
Disclaimer: I disclaim all rights to One Piece, as it belongs to Eiichiro Oda-san. If I owned OP, Sanji and Usopp (not to mention Zoro and Luffy) would've had sex already. 'Fraid not, kiddies. I only own the fanfic, the idea and not much else.
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Zoro's bleary eyes were greeted by a crimson-red sunrise dipping over the watery horizon of the East Blue as he stepped out of the cabin for the morning's training session. The swordsman rubbed sleep from his face as he observed the glittering ocean before him under the sun's gentle guidance. There were times when he wondered why the sun bothered to continue to shine down on them.

He raised his eyes and looked over his shoulder slightly in the direction of the captain's quarters, arm resting on the hilts of his two swords. Luffy had spent yet another night awake, as he did so often these days, doing something Zoro had no desire to find out about. He could do nothing but stand aside and watch his husband immerse himself deeper into his bloodlust and insanity, only be there to follow his captain's orders.

Husband…it had been a long time since he had thought of himself as such. These days Luffy didn't treat him any different than he did the rest of his crew. They had married on Raftel at the end of the Grand Line, only a couple of days after landing and a week before finally reaching Luffy's long-time goal.

That had been the last time he had seen a smile on Luffy's face; standing at the entrance of the island's temple as a witchdoctor performed the ceremony. A true, genuinely happy smile as he took his sword-ridden, calloused hands in his own rubbery fingertips and said his vows. A truly happy smile as he leaned down to place the long-awaited kiss on his captain's lips, hearing the shouts of delight and congratulations of the local villagers and their crew…

Zoro shook his head with a sigh, leaning against the railings of the starboard with his elbows and looking down at his hands as a light morning breeze wafted over the deck of the Going Merry. With a bitter smile he twisted the golden wedding band snugly nestled around his ring finger, watching the dawn sunlight play across the carefully folded metal.

No…Luffy didn't treat him any different than the others, didn't treat him like he was his husband, didn't treat him like they were married. On the rare occasion Luffy did retire to their room at night, he was either very moody – resulting in possibly the roughest night Zoro ever had – or cruelly sweet; bringing him to the brink only to torment him, to make him beg for it like he was…like he was some whore.

And then…and then there was Kuina.

Not the Kuina of his childhood, but his own beautiful daughter, Kuina D. Roronoa. Zoro buried his head into his arms as he remembered how the little girl had been conceived; how when it had come to his turn Nami had given up on pleading and just laid there in silent tears, taking it. He had hesitated, his grip softening on her hips as his head swam back into focus around the alcohol in his system.

Then Luffy's arms had snaked around his waist, the comfortable weight of his husband against his back as purred words reached his ears, hot breath rolling down his neck as cold hands brushed over his chest enticingly. One slip from his captain's hips had been all that was needed and Nami's body twitched in the thrust, the red-haired woman laying there without a word, dry tear tracks down her cheeks and blood crusting her under thigh and backside. Ignoring the fact that Sanji and Usopp had long since left the room for their quarters, ignoring the fact that it was wrong to have someone under him like this, Zoro was gently but roughly guided by his husband in completing the events of the night.

All the while it had been happening, he couldn't keep his eyes off Nami's face, trying vainly to search for some sign of life in her dark brown eyes, even wishing she would scream at him to get off her, to thrash like she had done with the other two men before she had finally relented under Luffy's grasp.

He had stayed in her room only for a short while after his husband had left once it was done, sitting at the end of the bed with his head bowed to his hands with his legs spread and naked as the day he was born, sparing glances at the navigator every now and then hoping she might say something. Nami's head was tilted towards the wall the bed was up against, her breathing shallow and low, the only sign that she was still alive being the soft rise and fall of her naked chest.

Zoro had finally gathered his pants from where they had been tossed haphazardly across the floor by Sanji when it had all begun, not bothering to pull them on and instead slinging the black slacks over his shoulder. Remorsefully he glanced back at Nami as his fingertips touched the doorknob of her shared cabin, biting his lip as a softly whispered apology left his mouth in the heavy, moist air or the girls' bunks.

Remembering it made him feel as awful as he had felt back then when it had happened, and he pressed his forehead into his hands again. When he looked at his daughter it made him feel sick in his stomach, seeing a bit of her biological mother in her day after day as the small, green-haired angel grew. Already Kuina's hair was beginning to shape like Nami's; her bright dark brown eyes reminiscent of the navigator's and her bubbly personality reminiscent to that of her father's years ago.

So many times when he wished he could have had the courage – hadn't been drunk – that night. So many times he wished he could have been able to take Nami's place to spare the woman's suffering. So many times he wished they hadn't reached Raftel. So many times he wished they hadn't found One Piece.

So many times he wished Luffy was still the cheerful, bouncy teenager he had met and fallen in love with so long ago; tied to a post cross-style in the middle of a field in a Marine station, staring into eyes so full of dreams and happiness he felt as though he could be lost in those depths forever.

But there was no way for his wish to come true.

His honor as a swordsman was broken…

– Fin –

Notes: One more chapter left! For the love of Oda, please leave a review!