The Pirate King Is Dead - Long Live The Pirate King

Part 3 of a Four Part Saga

By Aoikami Sarah

Chapter Sixteen - Tashigi and Zoro Get To Know Each Other

Tashigi awoke in a haze later than she usually did and noticed that Zoro was gone. She sat up quickly and instantly regretted the action. Her head pounded. Slowly, she accounted for several other small aches and pains: a bruise on her shoulder from running into a corner when she had charged up the stairs, strained muscles in her lower back and inner thighs and probably more bruising from... She balled her hands into fists and shook slightly. "Roronoa…" she hissed and hurriedly found her clothes.

.x.

Three months before, Tashigi ran down the crowded streets of Rogue Town and relished the irony. In the past she had chased the wanted criminal, Roronoa Zoro. Now, he ran behind her. She turned her head occasionally to be sure he was following. His grimace was just visible under the hooded cloak he wore. Two of his friends were scattered around them, all of them were racing to the pier. Ahead, a phalanx of marines marched up the street. "This way!" she shouted and veered to the left onto a side street. The others followed. On rounding a corner and coming out onto another large thoroughfare, Tashigi stopped dead in her tracks. Zoro nearly collided with her. "Smoker-san…" Tashigi breathed.

"What the…?" Zoro growled and unsheathed his favorite sword. "Tashigi! Is this a double cross!" The other two held back and waited to see what would happen.

"N…no!" she cried.

"Tashigi," Smoker said around two cigars. "Have you made your decision, then?"

She also unsheathed her sword. "There is no other choice. What the government wanted to do might have been the law, but it was not just!"

Smoker lowered his head slightly, perhaps in a bow, but definitely in recognition. "Very well," he said and his body became thick, white smoke.

Tashigi backed up and was surprised to feel Zoro's back press against hers. "I'm sorry, Smoker-san!" she cried. "This is my decision!" The smoke closed in on them, obscuring their vision. Shouts of confusion could be heard from the gang of marines ahead.

Tashigi repressed a shudder as the smoke curled around her. This was the first time she'd ever been attacked by her superior officer. She swallowed hard and gripped her sword tightly. She knew there was nothing she could do to fight him, but she wouldn't back down now.

"White Out!" Smoker's rough voice called from all around her. She felt a gloved hand brush her cheek. "Go," he whispered. "I'll cover you."

"Smoker-san…" she whispered back.

"Run, Tashigi. I won't be able to protect you if you're caught. Take Straw Hat and run."

By the way his back straightened, Tashigi could tell Zoro had heard Smoker's words. She blinked back tears. "Thank you, Smoker-san!" she said and put her hand on Zoro's shoulder. "Roronoa! Grab your friends, please. We're making a run for it!"

"Got it," he replied and they sprinted out of the opaque cloud of smoke, down the street to the pier where the other members of the Mugiwara Kaizoku-dan were waiting for them.

.x.

Tashigi pulled her jeans on slowly, the events of the night before playing back slowly in her mind. She winced as she touched the blooming bruise on her shoulder. Her shirt was where she had flung it in the corner. Her glasses were not, however, where she had dropped them on the floor but placed carefully on the nightstand. Tashigi pouted. "Did he…?" she asked herself, putting them on. "Doubtful," she grumbled and noticed that the only thing of Zoro's left in the room were his boots, sitting unlaced and waiting near the door. Tashigi sat down on the corner of the bed and stared at them. Until now, she had thought she knew what she was doing. On the day she turned her back on the military and fled to the Grand Line with the former pirate-hunter she had made up her mind to not regret her decision. She and Zoro were on the run from those who recognized them, living hand to mouth on bounties, bouncing from island to island for three months. Now Zoro was following rumors and leads as to the whereabouts of a certain swordsman he wanted to defeat. Tashigi was along for the ride.

When they could, they used some of the bounties they collected to stay at an inn. Sleeping in the same room and even the same bed with him was not uncommon and she had gotten used to it. Whenever Tashigi asked him if it was still alright for her to follow him, he always said 'doesn't matter to me. Do what you want.' This phrase both relieved and irritated her. She was glad he didn't turn her away because she had nowhere else to go, but was irked that her presence didn't seem to matter to him at all.

"Doesn't matter…" she muttered. "Then what was last night all about?" The empty room had nothing but silence to answer her with. "Smoker-san, did I do right by leaving you?" she whispered. Tashigi collected her bag and the boots, noting that they were much heavier and larger than they appeared, and left the room.

The innkeeper greeted her as she came down to check out. "Good morning, Miss. Your friend is just behind the inn."

"Oh?" she asked, wondering what he was doing outside without his shoes. "How much do I owe you, please?"

"You're all set," the innkeeper said with a smile.

"Oh? He paid?"

"Yes ma'am."

Her brows pinched together. "That guy…" she grumbled.

Behind the inn, the tell-tale swish of sword meeting air, over and over greeted Tashigi's ears. Even before she saw him, she knew what he was up to.

"Katas?" she asked, dropping the boots a few feet from him.

"Yep," he said, not breaking stride. The muscles in his arms flexed with the movement. His bare feet made soft thudding sounds as he stepped into the stance over and over. Tashigi frowned. She dropped her bag and unsheathed her own sword. He didn't react as she stepped next to him and started in with the same moves: raising the sword over her head and bringing it quickly down to her waist, over and over.

"I apologize for my drunken antics last night," she said simply, looking ahead. He made a sort of grunting sound in reply. "Unlike you, I do not usually let alcohol get the best of me. Rest assured it will not happen again."

Three swishes filled the silence before he spoke. "No?"

Tashigi's pulse rate felt like it doubled. She got out of him what she didn't expect: a reaction. So much for playing it cool. "No. I was not in my right mind and you do not care for me. Therefore what happened last night will not happen again."

Swish, swish, swish, swish.

He stopped his katas and stared at her. "I don't care for you?" he asked as if the phrase was not in his native language.

Swish, swish, swish, swish.

"No. You don't. Your eyes are too far away when they look at me. You said it yourself; 'Doesn't matter. Do what you want'," she quoted him.

"If you know so much, why are you following me?" he asked, confusion and annoyance tingeing his words.

Swish, swish.

"You are all I have left." Tashigi lowered her sword and stared at the long, green grass around their feet. "I do not regret my choice. Mugiwara no Luffy should not have been executed for all the good he's done the world. That would have been unjust. But I do regret having to leave my life behind. I regret having to cling to you for lack of a single friend in the whole world who I can rely on, especially since you don't care." Finally, she looked up. Tears formed in her eyes but her voice did not waver.

Zoro took a deep breath. "You think you know me?"

"Not at all," she admitted.

"I've tried like hell to avoid being friends with you. I thought the cold shoulder trick would work, but you kept at it. Ever since we met all those years ago, I've avoided you. I never needed friends…" he said, closing his eyes. "Until I lost them. I didn't want to go through that shit again."

Tashigi frowned. "Then how do you explain what you did to me last night!"

Zoro sighed and gripped the hilt of the Wado Ichimonji tighter. "When I noticed you were getting loaded, I didn't stop you. Instead, I kept pace. I wanted to get shit-faced. I wanted to forget who I was for a while. I wanted to see what would happen. I wanted…" His posture relaxed a little. "I can't say I'm sorry I slept with you, 'cause I'm not. I enjoyed it. I think you did too. But if I made you upset, I am sorry."

"You…" she muttered. "I am upset, but more so that I didn't confront you earlier. If I had known you could be so blunt…" Tashigi scoffed.

"So?" Zoro asked. The sword he prized and she coveted was still waiting to be used or put away. "You accept my apology?"

"First, I'll put my question to you again. May I follow you?"

He straightened up nervously. "Huh? This a quiz?"

"Would that be alright with you?" she asked, her dark blue eyes staring into his, searching, waiting.

"Do what you want…" he said. "I…" His brows were pinched in a way she had never seen them do before, but looked familiar. He stuttered. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. His hands that gripped his treasured sword clenched and unclenched nervously. She realized where she had seen such a display before. Many years ago when she had questioned Smoker about his feelings for her, he had been unable to put them into words. At last, she felt like she knew him, even if only a little.

Tashigi smiled. "I forgive you."

Zoro let the breath he had been holding out slowly and sheathed his sword. "Right." He noticed the boots and sat down to put them on. Tashigi picked up her pack and waited for him.

"Right," she echoed. "Where to next?"

To be continued…