This is set after Alabasta and is independent of any other story arc.
Summary: Tashigi and Zoro learn that there is more than one path in life that leads you to your dreams, and that sometimes, forgiveness goes a long way.
Chapter 1 The Disgraceful Act
The cabin was dim and hazy, but she did not see it. The chilled night air carried the scent of smoke and the salty sea spray, yet she could not smell it. Nor could she hear the waves batter the sides of the ship, or feel the chill of the air on her sweat-slicked body. She was numb to it, to all of it.
Tashigi sat in the center of Smoker's bed, clutching the crisp white regulation sheets to her bare chest. Silent tears ran like rivers down her face, soaking the sheet covering her lap. The scene from a few short moments ago played again and again in her mind. How could it have all gone so badly?
It was unreal, the way it all seemed to come together, then abruptly fall apart. Tashigi was always the awkward child, the klutz. She was never as pretty as the other girls, or as athletic and talented as the boys, but her father had never given up on her. He was a swordsman, and a great one at that. He trained Tashigi until she was old enough to follow her own paths, which lead her to the Navy, to Captain Smoker, to justice and her purpose in life.
To this day she had never quite known what happened to her the night she was kidnapped. A young girl was never to be walking alone at night in Louge Town, but Tashigi was foolishly overconfident in her abilities. She was walking down an alley, a shortcut home, when someone hit her over the head, knocking her unconscious.
She awoke on the hard, dirty deck of a dilapidated ship. The sounds of flesh meeting flesh, fists cracking bones, and bodies hitting wood echoed in her ears. Tashigi feigned unconsciousness until the sounds of the beatings stopped. When nothing but her own breathing and the lap of the East blue waves could be heard, she tentatively opened her eyes and saw him.
Smoker had saved her. She never got up the nerve to ask how, or for that matter why, but from that day on, she was his. Smoker's battles became her own. His goals hers, his dreams hers. She wanted to be successful and to make him successful, but she was never good enough, never exactly what he needed.
She was a girl. No one took her seriously as a swordsman. No one of any real merit besides Smoker took notice of her, feared her, or respected her. Those who did take the time to recognize her rank and ability did so because she was "Smoker's dog."
Regardless of the rumors, there had never been a personal relationship between them. She was his lackey, and he was on a mission…and she wanted to please him so much, that her every failure hurt. They cut deep like a hot katana through the heart. Roanoa Zoro was a failure. The Straw Hat Crew was a failure, and each one cut deeper by the day.
They were on a hunt; Captain Smoker and his Sergeant Major, to find the only pirate crew to ever slip through their grasp. To Smoker, it was personal that that Straw Hat pirate, his brother, and their crew were sailing the grand line instead of hanging from the gallows. To Tashigi, it was one Pirate in particular that haunted her dreams. Roanoa Zoro had humiliated her, beat her, shown her unwanted mercy, and insulted her. It was her mission in life to take him down and regain her pride…but then there was Alabasta.
Despite herself, she let the Straw Hat Crew go in Alabasta on the rainy evening after the war. She may have been Smoker's dog, but she wasn't blind. Those pirates had done something great. They took out Crocodile. She let them go.
A week later, she received a summons to Smoker's chambers. She knew he had been frustrated lately. He had even taken to a bit of drinking in the evening to calm himself. Everyday those pirates sailed towards One Piece, Smoker became more irate…more unpredictable. Perhaps Smoker had a plan that he wanted to relay…or maybe he just needed someone to blame.
She looked every bit the part of a composed officer of the Navy Armada as she proudly marched to the Captain's Cabin. Her insides, however, were quaking like a jellyfish in a cloud of plankton. Her nose picked up the aroma of cigar smoke as she descended the stairs; little whiffs of smoke escaped from under the solid oak door.
Tashigi raised a clammy hand and knocked on the door. It opened as if on its own accord. More than likely it simply wasn't latched well. Smoker sat on the side of his bed, his head in his hands, twin trails of smoke rose into the air, twisting like dancing sea snakes. Tashigi shut the door behind her. They were alone.
He was on her quicker than she could blink. His hot body pressed her to the door and his steely eyes bore into her own.
"Tashigi…" He whispered her name
Tashigi couldn't breath. Her breath caught in her chest while confusion clouded her mind. She wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss her or kill her, but even still, all she wanted was to please him.
"You think because you are a woman, that you can not please me, Tashigi." Smoker spoke in a whisper, assaulting Tashigi's senses with a wisp of smoky breath.
"We shall see," he growled, throwing the girl on the bed
He was angry, and she could feel it radiating off him like the trails of smoke he often left behind. His movements were rough, jerky, and hungry. Smoker's mouth was hot and fast on her body, his cigars long forgotten, cast to the floor and snubbed out in favor of more tasty prey.
Tashigi tried to keep up, her mind whirling in confusion. She had wanted this for so long, to please Smoker. She strived her whole life to find something she could do to make her rescuer and Captain happy. Perhaps, this is what she needed to be for him. As rough, callused hands stroked and kneaded her body, Tashigi decided that the best she could do was simply let him take of her.
She had no real clue what it was she was doing anyway. When his hands traveled her body, she moved to give him access. When his tongue found her neck, she shivered in shock. When his knees spread her legs, she hid her fear as only the Navy could have trained her to do.
When his thick member tore her open, she bit her tongue to stifle her scream. When the tears began to fall, she covered her face with her hands. When his body jerked in release, she held his face in her hands.
It was over as quickly as it began. Smoker rolled off his Sergeant Major and again sat on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. Tashigi leaned over and ran a hand across his sculpted, broad shoulders, but the gesture was shirked away.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
She was caught off guard; an apology wasn't what she had expected. Again, she reached out to him, but he brushed her hand away from his body.
"I shouldn't have done that…you're my subordinate…and Hina…I…I shouldn't have done that. I think it's best if you were to be transferred. We will dock at Autumn Haven Island. There's a base there. You can help them until a ship is scheduled for Lougetown. I will contact Hina and she will reassign you."
Smoker quickly threw on his pants and lit two new cigars before leaving his cabin, slamming the door behind him. Tashigi sat on his bed, numb.
Her mind was still having problems wrapping around exactly what had just happened. The only thing that rang true was that she was to be reassigned. Hina wasn't an unintelligent woman. She had known Smoker since they were children, and she would pick up that something was wrong. To make matters worse, Tashigi was certain the woman had staked a claim on Smoker. She shuddered as she imagined her new desk job.
There would be whispers among the officers. No one was abruptly reassigned in the middle of a mission unless something terribly wrong occurred. To make matters worse, Autumn Haven was three Islands away, at least a week's sailing in fair weather. It was going to be a long, painful week.
The mere thought of what her life was to become was nauseating. She wouldn't get the chance to fight, to serve justice to those who pillaged the sea. She wouldn't get to hunt down great swords and free them from the grasp of those vile pirates. She wouldn't be able to hunt Roanoa Zoro, seizing his swords and regaining her pride. She would never get to live out her dreams.
Tashigi shakily sat on the side of the bed as she bent down to lace her boots. As she looked up from her task, she noticed a box hidden under Smoker's desk. Curious as to what Smoker wanted to keep from the crewmen, she reached for it, determined to know something personal about the man who had cast her aside like a burned up cigar.
The wooden box was smooth and deep, but light. It couldn't be gold, too light. Tashigi's mind tried to stop her as she fingered the brass latch. It was wrong. It was dishonest. This was something personal, something only his own. However, the heart is a powerful force, especially when broken, and Tashigi suddenly couldn't care less about what was right and what was wrong.
Quietly, she opened the box and peaked inside. There were no maps, no documents, no gold…but it was certainly a treasure. Tashigi gasped as her fingers brushed against the lush flesh of the devil fruit. Smoker himself had eaten the Smoke Smoke fruit. Buggy the clown ate the Chop Chop fruit, and Monkey D. Luffy the Gum Gum fruit. Tashigi's mind went into overdrive as she thought of the possibilities.
The Navy was no longer the haven it had been for her. She couldn't live out her dreams of justice once she was shipped back to Louge Town. Her heart soared as dark thought entered her mind. She could still live out her dreams. She could go on alone. She herself could serve justice and recover the great swords. She could sail the grand line and hunt Roanoa Zoro.
As she crouched over the box, deciding what to do, Smoker's voice drifted down from the deck. He was back, and whatever Tashigi was going to do, she was going to have to do it quickly. Without thinking, she stuffed the fruit in her mouth as she fled the cabin to her own to retrieve her sword.
Her insides churned as the transformations in her body took place. She barely made it to her room before she doubled over in pain. Tashigi clutched her stomach as she tried to stand, reaching her free hand towards her sword, neatly hanging on the wall.
She gasped as she spied her outstretched hand. It was changing shades…pale to tan skin, dark, almost black, and back to pale again. Again, she heard Smoker's gruff voice, and through her pain and shock, she grabbed her sword and left with nothing more than the cloths on her back, the blade in her grasp, and the devil fruit churning in her belly.
Author's Note: Well, I have a few more chapters of this written. Please review. I'll post regardless, but feedback is nice, too. Tashigi and Zoro have to be my favorite anime couple. I'd love to see more fics out there! If you're a fan too, get to those keyboards and type!
Katana-Shigure (lemonnpuff to those of you on zoroxtashigi group)