Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or One Piece
BLP 29:
Donald sat in the pilot's chair of the Gummi Ship hurtling through space on top of a pirate ship back towards Traverse Town. The Gummi Ship's new extra lasers were doing work against the fleets of Heartless vessels that appeared stronger and more plentiful than ever before. Donald was handling it though, and no one doubted that he could.
"Don't forget! The Hades Cup is currently going on at the Coliseum-"
"Quiet you," Donald snapped at Chip and Dale. "We're in a hurry. Not now. Just plug in the coordinates for the wormhole that gets us back to close to Traverse Town."
Luffy perked up at the sound of the tournament but then leaned back again on the railing of the Going Merry just outside of the Gummi Ship parked on the bow. Chopper was inside of the cabin firing from there as well, but space had become a lot more dangerous after the fall of Halloween Town and required a lot more action from all the defenses they had.
Sora walked around the Gummi Ship and glanced inside to see Donald pulling the sticks to the side and firing rapidly out at Heartless ships. Donald yelled at the top of his lungs ordering Chopper to keep firing, and a high-pitched voice shouted back in response from the Merry's cabin. Sora sat down in front of Luffy on the bow of the pirate ship.
"Hey Luffy," Sora started.
Luffy flashed a small half-smile back at the kid who sat in front of him. It was just the two of them, and Sora glanced away as he felt a bit awkward about this. It had been awkward between them for a few days now though. "I'm, sorry," Sora whispered. He looked back into Luffy's eyes. "I know- I mean, I was wrong. What I said after Halloween Town. I'm sorry." Luffy frowned at him while thinking back on that himself. "I know you care about us."
Sora thought about how Luffy swam up to save him, Donald, and Goofy from Ursula. "Fixing the world order might not be on the top of your things-to-do list," Sora continued with a small laugh. He still looked guilty though and apologized, "But I shouldn't have pushed on so fast that we got separated and didn't work together back there. I- I just got too much in my own head. I thought I was the only one who cared and, and I know that's not true."
"It's okay, Sora," Luffy replied to the spiky-haired boy in front of him. He flashed a smile back at Sora to show he meant it. "And, I'm sad about Jack too." Sora winced and he closed his eyes for a second as Luffy hit it right on the money. Sora felt his chest clench up and he reached for it and curled his hand over his shirt at how much it hurt to think about their friends on Halloween Town. Luffy's eyes widened for a second at that look of pain that covered Sora's face. They had only been on Halloween Town for a short time and barely got to know the people there, but bringing that up really seemed to hurt him. "Sorry," Luffy whispered.
Sora shook his head back and forth though. He took in a deep breath to calm his pounding heart then lifted his head and smiled again at his friend. "It's okay. We've got to work together for now on though. And, I know!" Sora called out and held up his palms in front of him as Luffy opened his mouth. "I know you have one goal more important than anything," Sora told the pirate captain who closed his mouth slowly as Sora said that in a completely understanding way.
Someone was walking up to the bow where they were sitting. Sora glanced towards the older man who slowed at the top of the stairs to the bow. Smoker looked off the front of the ship and hummed while examining just how many more Heartless ships were attacking them now compared to usual. He looked back at the boys though as Sora said to Luffy, "But we can still work together. Even when our other goals pop up. Like saving Kairi. I know you want to help me with that. And, I'll do what I can to help you with Zoro. We're not going to stop caring about them, just because we have other things we need to do."
Luffy nodded his head back at Sora but did lose his smile while thinking of his green-haired swordsman. Sora glanced away from Luffy again and towards Smoker who he added to, "And Tashigi. No one's forgotten about her either, Smoker." Sora finished but his smile that he kept up while speaking to them faltered and lowered a bit.
Luffy lifted his gaze back up and then smiled back at Sora himself. "And Riku too, right?" Sora glanced back at him and forced up a smile of his own.
"Yeah, and Riku," Sora agreed. He was not so sure about that though. Riku isn't someone who needs to be saved. He's stronger than me. He always was, at least. I thought with the Keyblade it was different, but he's being stupid! Using the darkness… What if he's already saved Kairi? Could he have? I- I don't think so. I can feel it. She still needs help. She needs my help!
Riku's not someone to be saved, Smoker thought on even darker lines than Sora. And we need to stop him. I saw that kid go with Maleficent. And the next time we saw him, Riku was already summoning Heartless. Working with Hook as part of the dark organization actively working to destabilize the worlds. And worse, Smoker looked cautiously at Sora whose strength he had watched gradually grow stronger and stronger over the worlds they had been to. If he's getting stronger at a rate similar to Sora, he's going to be a real threat on this next world. Clayton could not handle even a small amount of darkness before being controlled by it. Yet in such a short time, that Riku was able to create a very powerful Shadow Sora to fight us with. He was able to use that darkness as a teleporter between worlds even, when it became clear that Hook's ship would not get him where he wanted to go.
And Roronoa… Smoker glanced towards Luffy too and even felt bad for the pirate whose troubled look matched the others' up there on the bow.
Zoro. It has to be some reason like with Sanji and Robin, right? He heard Usopp's voice echo in his head, "When we all got separated, Zoro got sent much farther back than you did. He got sent back, much farther than I did." Sent back. As in, not an accident. Luffy's dark look got angrier as he thought about what Usopp theorized about it. "I figure, since everyone else seems to have come out at the same time, then this is probably right after Sora's island was... destroyed. Which means, Zoro and I were sent back in time. I'm not sure about it, so don't quote me on it, but I think Maleficent had something to do with our separation from the rest of you."
Maleficent, Luffy thought in anger. I'm definitely. Definitely! Going to kick your ass!
"Where are we going?" Luffy wondered while tilting his head to the side and staring into the sewer entrance in confusion.
"This is how we get to Merlin's," Sora said back to his friend while only glancing at him for a second.
It was only the two of them heading this way together. Donald and Goofy had stayed behind at the ship to help Cid install the navigation gummi they had brought him. When they had brought him the gummi though, Cid had given Sora a weird book and asked him to deliver it to Merlin for him. Sora told Luffy to come along with him, and now the two headed into a dark tunnel together that would lead to Merlin's house.
Luffy tilted his head to the side and thought back trying to remember a 'Merlin.' "He's the wizard, who taught me Drive form," Sora explained and Luffy snapped his fingers with his face lighting up as he remembered Sora saying that before. Sora looked away again in a guilty way, but he added, "I want to introduce you. See if he can teach you as well. We should both be as strong as possible for this next fight."
The only reason I didn't bring you before, Sora thought to himself in a regretful way. Is because I thought it was the only way I could catch up to your crazy strength, Luffy. "It's just up ahead," Sora said softer while speeding up down the tunnel. "Be careful while jumping the rocks though. The water's deep, and I'd rather not have to jump in after you."
"Hey, it's Leon!" Luffy called out and waved towards a man swinging his sword back and forth at the end of the waterway.
"So, you're back," Leon said with a look towards them. He nodded at the pair and then got back to slashing his sword around while Aerith watched him nearby.
"There's been a recent uptick in the amount of Heartless on this world," Aerith mentioned. Sora and Luffy both frowned deeply as she mentioned it. Leon stopped slashing his sword for a second too and bowed his head at what he knew those looks meant. "Oh," Aerith whispered.
"Don't worry," Sora said. He looked up and flashed the two of them a confident smile again. Luffy glanced at him and then grinned in a similar way back at their friends too. "We're not done yet. And next, we're heading to Hollow Bastion. Where Maleficent is!"
Leon's head tilted back up and Aerith looked at them in surprise too. "Our home," Aerith whispered nostalgically. Luffy and Sora spun towards her in surprise and then saw Leon nod his head to affirm that it was true.
"The Heartless there are going to be stronger than any world you've been to thus far," Leon warned the keybearers.
"That's why we're heading to Merlin's," Sora replied. "Come on, Luffy!" Sora spun and started running for the rocks that led to Merlin's house out on the underground lake.
"Good," Leon said, a small smirk spreading on his face for a second at the serious looks on those kids' faces. "They've gotten a lot more mature. And stronger…" Leon frowned as he spotted the girl in pink smiling at him at what he was saying. He started slashing his sword again, needing to get back to training himself if those kids were about to get even stronger.
"Ah! So this is the other keybearer?" Merlin wondered while jogging around his building. Pieces of furniture were bouncing around near him and papers were flying out of drawers and cabinets in a hurry.
"Uh, are you okay?" Sora wondered to the old wizard seeming in a bit of a hurry.
"I am a bit busy at the moment. Apologies for not being able to train with you, Sora."
"Oh," Sora grimaced as Merlin started pouring through some papers that flew up to him. He waved around his wand and made another cabinet fly open with potions and elixirs flying over to him for him to work with. "Well, Cid also sent me here with this book. He said it's yours? It seems like it's missing a few missing pages though."
Merlin glanced over his shoulder and nodded his head. "Ah yes. You can put it over there, and, have a look inside if you'd like."
"'A look inside?'" Sora wondered.
Luffy shrugged back at him. The two walked over to the desk that Merlin had motioned over to. They placed the book down, opened it up, and a flash of light illuminated on the two who yelped in surprise while being pulled into the storybook.
While Sora and Luffy found themselves in the Hundred Acre Wood storybook with Winnie the Pooh, most of the other Straw Hats were in District 2 of Traverse Town fighting their way through hordes of Heartless appearing everywhere around them. "Even destroying the boss Heartless of this world doesn't seem to be doing much anymore," Usopp mentioned with a deep frown at how strong the enemies they were fighting had gotten.
"Perhaps it is," Robin countered him. He grimaced deeper as she finished, "Which would mean that worlds where the boss has not been defeated are much, much worse off."
"And Hollow Bastion being where Maleficent is," Nami said nervously. "The person I'd bet is strongest with the Heartless of any of the enemies we've faced so far…"
"Luffy and Sora have those Keyblades for a reason," Robin began in a more hopeful tone. Nami spun to her friend in surprise as she expected Robin to say something spookier and more ominous instead of bringing hope into this. She smiled though and added, "I think we should trust that whatever chose them knew what it was doing."
"I sure hope so," Sanji muttered. He puffed some smoke from a cigarette he was happy to find a box of back in his room on the Going Merry. It had been a long time trapped under the ocean without his vice, and he was enjoying it even while he fought Heartless alongside his friends. "Sora really got strong in a short amount of time though. Crazy to think that's the same kid we met back on his island." Sanji bit down and then cursed as he chomped his cigarette in half. He could not help himself though as he imagined Sora and Kairi's cute scene on the dock that he had ben super jealous of at the time, though he had had Nami by his side and had that as a consolation back then. A flash of rage filled him for a moment, only for denial to win and prevent him from considering the closeness that Usopp and Nami had seemed to have since he saw them again. The two were fighting close to each other though, and Sanji exploded in a ball of fire that shot off into a nearby alley to go fight on his own where he would not have to see them for a bit.
Back outside the First District of Traverse Town, Chopper sighed and dropped back into his small form from Heavy Point that he had been helping Cid, Donald, and Goofy out in. "If you don't need me then," Chopper said with a sigh as they had finished work on the Merry and were only working on the Gummi ship now that he had no idea how it worked. Cid just waved a hand back at the small furry man who shrugged his shoulders then jogged for the First District to go find his crew and fight Heartless with them.
Chopper jogged into the First District and looked around in amazement at the town. "This world is amazing," Chopper started. He spotted a storefront nearby and his face lit up. "A-hah! I need to restock on the amazing medical supplies these worlds have. The potions and elixirs are amazing. Cure-alls, even… almost. Nothing can cure everything," Chopper reminded himself, though he was still excited because the powerful healing medicines he'd been finding since leaving their world had been the closest things to his dream of a cure-all medicine that he had ever found.
In a hotel in the Second District, a gray-haired man stood in a hallway he had just cleared of Heartless. He was about to enter one of the abandoned rooms to clear it out, when a door farther down the hall opened. Smoker turned in surprise that anyone was using this hotel in a district completely overrun with Heartless. Then he froze. His fists curled at his sides, and his eyes darkened while narrowing down at the muscular figure stepping out into the hallway. His shoulders were broad, his hair was green, and he had three dark sheaths down at his waist.
"Roronoa," Smoker growled. Both of his curled fists at his sides covered in black Armament Haki that Zoro darted his eyes to for a second. The swordsman pulled out a sword from one of his sheaths, and a flash of dark and purple coated the whole blade. It made Smoker's eyes widen as that was not darkness that the swordsman just used to cover his weapon.
"You failed your mission, Smoker," Roronoa Zoro said to the Marine facing him.
"If you want to kill your own captain, do it yourself," Smoker replied to the man who bit down hard at that response. Smoker felt his warning signs all going off, and yet his Observational Haki showed him Zoro continuing to stand in place. Which meant that even without Zoro attacking he could still feel that unnerved by the powerful pirate. "Tell me, Roronoa," Smoker ignored the warning signals and snarled at the pirate. "Where is my Sergeant? Where is Tashigi?!"
Zoro glared darkly back into Smoker's eyes. He had not attacked though, and Smoker was wondering himself why that was. The swordsman in front of him stayed quiet for a few seconds. Then Zoro responded, "She is missing her heart."
"I don't care about that right now. Just tell me where she is!" Smoker yelled.
"You know where," Zoro retorted. Smoker bit down hard, but he did know already and Zoro was only confirming it to him. Then Zoro said something else though and Smoker's fists unclenched a bit while his eyes grew wider. "For some reason, I am the one who found her in the darkness. Floating there," Zoro said. His tone hid it well. His voice was void of emotions towards what he was saying, but the conversation itself implied confusion. "I saw her there. Her face…"
Smoker started grinding his teeth again at the weird way in which this pirate was talking. "Smoker-san! I need to stop that Roronoa. We're going after them, right?!"
"Of course. Tell the men to release the sails…" Smoker thought of his loyal subordinate who had been as intent on catching Roronoa as he had been on capturing Straw Hat.
"Pirate," Smoker started in a low voice. "Bring me to Tashigi now-"
"Where would her heart be?" Zoro demanded to know. Smoker leaned his head back and bit down in fury at the angry voice asking him that. "Do you know, where it would be?!" Zoro growled angrily at him in a way that confused the hell out of an increasingly pissed Smoker. Smoke billowed out of Smoker's back and filled the half of the hallway he was in, and Zoro shook his head while snarling back, "Weak."
A hole blasted in the side of the hotel. Sanji was in shallow water of an alleyway's exposed sewer fighting some floating Heartless that used magic he was dodging around. The remaining Heartless floating in front of him were destroyed by projectile chunks of wall flying from the hotel. Sanji dropped the new cigarette out of his mouth as he saw the smokey man falling with that debris in front of him, coughing with a slash cut across his chest that had blood pouring out.
Sanji spun to the hole in the wall and stared at the green-haired man who stood there in the opening. Looking a decade older. A single sword in his hand wisping with darkness and shadowed over like the top of his face. Zoro turned his head partially to the right, and he looked down into Sanji's eyes.
Through the nearby sewer grate and across a small pond, inside of the house on the island out there, two boys flashed with light while popping back out of the storybook on the desk. "Whoa!" Sora stumbled around but steadied himself by throwing his arms out to the sides.
"Wow, so that's how we get out," Luffy mentioned and then started laughing as they had just been testing different ways to emerge back out of the Hundred Acre Wood. "That was really fun!" He added with a look at Sora who smiled back at him and laughed in agreement.
Sora glanced over his shoulder, but Merlin still looked to be busy on the other side of the room. The wizard had not even noticed they returned into his study yet. "Hahh, well," Sora started.
"Sora!" Jiminy jumped up onto Sora's right shoulder and made the spiky-haired boy glance at the cricket in a top hat. "I took a look at some of those papers we've been finding on other worlds. And the ones that aren't Ansem Reports look a lot like they fit in that book."
"Ah! That must be where Pooh's friends went," Luffy said in realization.
Sora sweatdropped as he had already figured that out when they were talking to Pooh back in the book. He took out the pages that Jiminy Cricket was referring to and looked down at them with Luffy. "Yeah, these are definitely pages that fit in there." Sora hummed and looked at Luffy with his lips pursing, and Luffy's pursed as well. "Alright! Just a bit longer," Sora said with a big smile bursting on his face that Luffy matched.
They put the pages back into the book, and then the two of them jumped back inside to help Winnie the Pooh find his missing friends.
Meanwhile back in the real world, Sanji stared up towards the hole that his former comrade stood inside of glaring back down at him. Smoker sat up in the shallow water nearby and pushed off a piece of hotel that was laying on top of him. He was soaking wet and grabbed at the gash that Zoro just cut through him. "Kah- faster than I could stop him," Smoker growled in frustration.
Sanji heard his voice and grimaced deeper that the Marine Captain he was pretty sure outclassed him could get cut down like that. He wished he still had the cigarette in his mouth to soothe his nerves, but instead he was stuck fidgety and anxious while glaring up at a man he barely recognized anymore. Zoro's dark cloak matched the menacing expression he glared down with. "Swirly cook," Zoro muttered at the sight of the man he had not seen with Luffy's crew last time he checked on them. "So he found you too."
What is that? Anger? Frustration? There was something masked in the monotone voice that Zoro used that made Sanji's feeling of uneasiness replace with a frustration of his own. Is he mad that Luffy never found him? Robin said it had been a long, long time for him. And from the looks of him, he's been out here for years. Did he think Luffy abandoned him? Geez, I hate the guy, but he looks like he spent a fucking decade out in this insanity. I, can't even say I blame him for getting all twisted. "That is you, Zoro. Isn't it?" Sanji grabbed a new cigarette and put it in his mouth, lighting it while stepping forward cautiously and gazing up into the hole in the hotel where his comrade stood. "Luffy still hasn't seen you, from what I've heard. You should go talk to him."
The conversation was serious. Sanji did not insult the man nor treat him like the comrade he once knew. The sight of Smoker's bloody form staggering up near him was enough to deter the blond-haired chef from acting too cocky here. I thought we'd bump into him at the next world. Didn't think he'd come to us. What is he here for? "Or," Sanji stopped himself. His swirly eyebrow narrowed down while the flip of his hair shadowed over his other eye. "Maybe I shouldn't let you see him." He thought of something Robin told him about Zoro and their experiences with him so far. He had Smoker try to kill Luffy. Or, something like that. Is that why he came here? Finish off Smoker because he failed that task? "Oi, are you, nuts?"
"You wouldn't 'let' me?" Zoro wondered.
Chills ran down Sanji's spine. He took in a long drag from his cigarette and then released the smoke out to shroud his face. He spat to the side and rose up his right leg in front of him. His knee bent up in front of his stomach, and his eyes narrowed darkly at the swordsman threatening him to his face. "Shitty marimo. Whatever happened to you out there, it all just started for us. It's not Luffy's fault."
Zoro's eyebrows narrowed down and his right hand curled tighter on the dark blade he was holding. Not one of his three black swords did Sanji recognize. He did not even see the white sheath of the blade that Zoro had sworn his life on back when they first met. It was like looking at an entirely different person, and yet he saw Zoro biting down after what he just said and knew that he struck a nerve somewhere. So he really did wait. Of course he did. I would have- I was. Even though I had to do what Lady Ursula said, I still… I still wanted Luffy to find me. He was the first one with Luffy. Knew him the longest. And, he probably waited longer than any of us would have. And Luffy never came. What that did to him, Sanji gulped at the glare from the swordsman who he seriously believed might come down there and cut him down. Could I even fight back? He's trained for years.
Sanji did not put his leg down despite the doubt he felt in his ability to actually face off against Zoro. Zoro drew another sword, and then the third that he put into his mouth. Sanji growled back towards him and started shaking his leg as fast as he could to heat it up in a new move he needed to test right now. "I didn't want to believe it. But of course you'd fall for something like darkness-"
"I'll be coming for Tashigi," Smoker snarled while stomping up on Sanji's right side. "Whatever you've done with her. Whether you say her heart is there or not…" Sanji darted a confused look to his side at the Marine snarling up at Zoro much angrier than he was just doing in preparation for their fight. Smoker was ignoring his wound completely while balling fists that burst out with smoke while at the same time turning pitch black like Zoro's blades. "I'm going to save my Sergeant."
Zoro rose his right hand up to the side of his head and gripped his temple. He grit his teeth while squinting his eyes closed as Smoker brought her up again. That face he saw in the darkness flashed in his mind. "Rrrrgg…" Zoro shook his head around. He lowered his right hand, but he grabbed the hilt he had put in his mouth and took it back out while gaining a more annoyed and frustrated expression. "I'll see you then." Zoro sheathed his weapons while a dark void swirled up out of the ground behind him. He stepped backwards into it, and his eyes shifted off of Smoker and back to Sanji for a second who stared uncertainly back at him.
The portal closed, and Sanji gasped while dropping his smoking leg that had not turned red hot like he wanted it to. "That was," Sanji stopped himself. He breathed a few more times to calm down, then he turned and looked at Smoker and at his bare chest that had a deep gash across it that was still bleeding badly. "Hey, let's go find Luffy and Sora. That looks, pretty bad," Sanji would not have said anything about it if the blood was not soaking Smoker's toga already so that the normally white clothes appeared more red than white.
Back in the First District, a dark portal opened up in an alley behind Cid's shop. Zoro stepped out of it and shook his head around to clear it. That face filled his mind once more though. His eyes shifted down to his waist and at the three black hilts sticking out past the front of him. The Wado Ichimonji, is... What will I tell her? That's NOT her! Zoro ground his teeth while shaking his head around again. "Ever since she showed up…" he muttered under his breath.
"Z-Zoro?"
Roronoa Zoro lifted his head up and turned it to the side. He stared out of the alley he had appeared in. Standing at the edge of the alleyway, was a short figure covered in brown fur who took a step towards him with shaky eyes rising up with tears welling in them. He looked relieved and happy, and the small reindeer smiled brightly up at his comrade he had not seen since the Destiny Islands. "It is you!" Chopper exclaimed excitedly.
"…Chopper." Zoro recognized him. He looks the same as back then. It made him mad, but he did not start snarling at the cute little creature that nervously stepped towards him though still looking happy. Chopper's face lit up more as Zoro said his name, assuring him that this was indeed his friend and that Zoro recognized him despite looking so, different.
Tony Tony Chopper was being careful. I don't know everything, Chopper thought. But they said something about Zoro being on Hollow Bastion. No one would tell me. They all, kept something from me. I could tell. Chopper gulped. He was unsure what to feel, as no one had bothered explaining this to him. He was fine with that though. Because it did not matter as long as they were going to see Zoro again soon. He hesitated though after stepping towards the swordsman who looked older, and who had different swords and clothes, but who smelled the same as the man he once knew. "Are you okay, Zoro?" Chopper wondered while tilting his head to the side.
"Am I okay?" Did they not bother telling you anything? Zoro opened his mouth to respond. He stopped himself though. What's the point of talking to him? That's not why I'm here. Why did I come? For Smoker alone? Or, was it for Luffy? I could go stop them from ever coming to Hollow Bastion. "You failed to finish them off. What was the problem?" Zoro heard the malevolent witch's voice pestering him as she walked past in the castle's uppermost floor, dragging another unconscious young girl by the arm.
Maleficent had glared out the corner of her eyes at him and mocked, "Don't tell me you still feel some sort of attachment to those fools." That wasn't it. I came here, to prove that. Yet I got distracted again. By her face. Ever since I saw it… That woman's face flashed in his mind once again. Why did she show up before me? For what purpose? I thought, maybe, she was one of the princesses. But no. No connection to the plans. No connection to anything, except, for me.
"The Heartless at Hollow Bastion are in a league of their own compared to what you've faced so far," Zoro warned. He turned his back on the small furry creature and stepped deeper into the alley. "You'd be wise to stay behind-"
"Zoro wait!" Chopper could hear in his nakama's tone the voice of a man about to disappear. He had no idea where Zoro had come from, yet he could tell that the man was going to vanish if he walked back down that alley. Chopper stepped after Zoro while calling it out. "Don't go," Chopper whispered. Zoro stopped himself after turning away and taking a step deeper into the darkness. The alley itself appeared darker past the man in a black cloak who faced away from Chopper but did stop walking when the reindeer called out to him.
"I don't know what you're doing," Chopper started. "Or why you're, with the Heartless…" Chopper winced while saying it but held back any tears. "But whatever your reasons are, you can deal with them while being with the crew, right? Being with Luffy? That's what you told me." Zoro's head lifted up a bit and turned slightly to the right. He looked back through the corners of his eyes at the scared and anxious reindeer who gulped but continued to him despite Zoro's scary look. "'Our true objectives are different from his. We're all trying to accomplish our own goals.'"
What is he talking… Zoro thought back. He's quoting, something. Something I said? It sounds like he's quoting me. I don't remember. That was all, so long ago. It sounds like something I would have said at least. Zoro looked back ahead of him and took a step, and the reindeer's voice got louder as he shouted at Zoro's back, "'…Everyone should do what they can with their lives on the line, and then tell the next guy: "I did what I could! Now it's your turn!"'" Chopper yelled it at Zoro while more tears filled his eyes at how Zoro seemed to be ignoring him. Chopper slammed his eyes shut and yelled out, "'"If you don't finish it, I'll come kick your ass!"' Teamwork, came about like that, right? And that's okay. It's okay to be wild, and independent of each other, but that doesn't mean you can't be with the crew, Zoro. Whatever you're doing! Whatever it is, you don't have to go. Come back, Zoro. Luffy… he misses you."
Zoro grit his teeth and stopped walking at that last line from Chopper's mouth. Zoro please, Chopper thought towards the man's broad back. I don't understand any of this. "I don't know what happened to you after our world fell," Chopper whispered. "But," he forced a smile despite his tears and called at the swordsman, "it doesn't matter, because you're still my friend! You're still a part of the crew. I can help you out, if you-"
"Enough, Chopper. Enough already." Zoro shook his head and glared darkly into the shadows ahead of him that descended deeper into pitch blackness. "It does matter. Ten years, we've been apart." Chopper's eyes grew wider and wider, shaking as he stared back at the man who said that. "I am no longer a part of that crew. If you come to Hollow Bastion looking for a fight, don't expect mercy from me. We are not friends. So keep out of my affairs." Zoro stepped into the darkness and it dropped down into the ground, leaving the alley empty ahead of the Straw Hat's doctor.
Chopper dropped down onto his butt. For Usopp it was three years. For Zoro, has it really been ten? Ten years! The tears that had welled up the whole time Chopper spoke to Zoro fell freely down his face. Chopper's eyes squinted and he bowed his head while gasping out a pained sob. Ten years. Ten years, Zoro? Were you alone, for all that time?
"Hahaha, the looks on Tigger and Roo's faces when you coiled up your body like that. All three of you just started- haha, bouncing all over the place. It sounded like Rabbit was gonna have a fit! Hahaha!"
"Shishi, that honey was good, even though we were in a book," Luffy cocked his head to the side while thinking on how that made any sense. He shrugged his shoulders though and just laughed with Sora again as Sora exclaimed about how they had to get so much more because Luffy ate all the honey they had originally gathered for Pooh bear.
The two laughing keybearers got back to the First District and headed for the gates out of town where the ships were waiting. They had not seen the rest of the crew back in the Second or Third Districts when they fought some Heartless after leaving Merlin's. They might not have gotten the magic training they had planned on getting at his house, but they trained a bit fighting the Heartless and were surprised not to see the others who said they were going to be doing the same.
"Looks like they're up there," Sora mentioned as he saw the top of the Going Merry where a lot of people were gathered.
Luffy swung an arm up to the railing of his ship. His arm stretched out and grabbed hold, but when he glanced at Sora to grab on and pull him up with him, Sora just leapt up almost to the railing on his own in a single hop. Then Sora kicked below him and flipped up in the air with a double jump, before gliding forward seemingly with a lack of gravity that he used to sail through the air in a slow drop over to the pirates. Luffy grinned wider as Sora had learned some cool new tricks in their latest battles, and he rocketed himself up to the deck too and landed over near his comrades.
The smile wiped from Luffy's face fast when he landed. "Ah!" Luffy pushed past Cid and Usopp. In the middle of the ground, Sanji sat down on top of a barrel and was looking off next to it where Chopper was on his knees next to a prone Smoker. Smoker was on his back while the reindeer doctor tried to patch up his deep chest wound. "Smokey!" Luffy pulled out his Keyblade, and Sora already had his out too as they held them up together.
Chopper had some medical supplies he had bought out next to him. He was uncertain how much he would need or if he needed to give some first aid first and prepare the wound, but his eyes just sparkled at the sight of Smoker's closing wound and the blood that just faded away on the man's chest. Not even a scar remained where he had been slashed. Smoker looked down at the closed wound itself while sitting himself up. Usopp's bottom lip lowered, and then he glanced away in jealousy. Really wish one of you guys had been around back when I got slashed, he thought, remembering the terrible wound that took a long time for him to recover from back at the Olympus Coliseum.
Luffy sighed a breath of relief. He lost it though while Smoker stood up in front of him, a dark look on the Marine's face. "How'd you, get so hurt, Smokey? You're smoke."
"What happened, Smoker?" Sora wondered while the gray-haired man stood up before them.
Chopper lost his smile and excitement about the amazing cure magic that was a miracle for a doctor like him to witness. He glanced away and closed his eyes tightly shut. Sanji saw Chopper's look and he grimaced deeper, taking a long puff from the new cigarette of the pack he had been chain-smoking. Sanji turned his head to the captain with a dark look of his own. "Zoro was here," Sanji said in a low voice.
Everyone had gathered on the ship. Cid was the only one not part of their group of travelers who just stood back with a piece of wheat in his mouth that he moved around while looking at these people's faces confusedly. "You know the guy who did that?" Cid wondered. Was about to go get Leon. If some crazy slasher is about. But, doesn't look like it's like that.
"Zoro?" Luffy wondered in shock. He spun back to Smoker and looked at his bare chest, though the wound was no longer there for him to look at. He rose his gaze up to an angry Captain Smoker's face.
Smoker glanced away from Luffy towards Usopp behind him. "Roronoa knows Haki as well," Smoker mentioned to the muscular tan-skinned man in a similar toga only in much better shape than Smoker's. "He, didn't even need the Heartless," Smoker growled. He trailed off in frustration at himself and at his own weakness to have been cut down like that.
Luffy's eyes shook at what Smoker was saying. Zoro, cut down Smokey? Maybe, maybe he thought we were still enemies… Except, that's not, true. Luffy shook his head at his own naively optimistic thoughts that he could not trick himself into believing for a second.
"I saw him too," Chopper whispered.
Sanji puffed out some more smoke. "I barely recognized him," Sanji said. His tone was dark while he glanced into Luffy's eyes then away again as it was hard to say this to the captain.
"Chopper-san, are you alright?" Robin wondered to the small reindeer who could not meet any of their gazes.
Donald and Goofy glanced at each other. Donald opened his mouth but Goofy put a hand over his bill for a second. Goofy shook his head in a clear motion for Donald to wait, and Donald grumbled but held off about saying how they had finished installing the navigation gummi piece. "What did he say?" Nami wondered softly. "Did, he talk to you?" Nami wondered towards Sanji and Smoker, then glanced towards Chopper too who bowed his head more at that question.
"He said he'll be at Hollow Bastion," Chopper started softly. Smoker nodded his head thinking of how he knew that as well. The Marine froze though and spun to the small doctor as did everyone else on the deck though. Chopper added while lifting his head and looking up at Luffy, "Zoro said, 'ten years.'" Sanji rose a hand and made sure not to drop the cigarette he nearly fumbled out of his lips.
Usopp's eyes even grew and shook at what Chopper just said. It had already been 7 for Zoro when we saw each other? I guessed, just two or three. Sure he looked different but, but ten full years now? Usopp grimaced deeper and glanced in to his left a bit to check Luffy's expression. It was rough for even him to consider, so it hurt imagining how Luffy might be feeling right now.
"Luffy," Nami whispered after processing her own shock for a second.
Luffy bowed his head slightly. His hat shadowed over the top of his face. He cut down Usopp. And Smoker. He's been gone for so long. I- I don't know if you're still, the same Zoro… "Hollow Bastion?" Luffy wondered.
"He, warned me that the Heartless there, are going to be much stronger," Chopper said.
A hand smacked down on Luffy's right shoulder. Luffy turned to his side and looked down at the face of the shorter boy who had stepped up next to him. Sora flashed him a smile. "We'll be able to handle it. And you're going to get Zoro back." I have to believe you can. Because I need to help Riku too! Right? "We've got this, Luffy."
"The gummi's installed!" Donald called out, feeling it was a good moment for it.
"Yeah, you guys are all set to go," Cid agreed. "Be careful though," he added with a look over towards Sora who flashed him a more confident smile back to show there was nothing to be worried about. Cid chuckled at that air of confidence that Sora exuded. "Ah, you've got this." He waved them off and started away to climb down the ship and let them get going as soon as possible.
"Are we ready for this?" Nami wondered with a look next to her into Usopp's eyes.
"As ready as we're going to be," Usopp replied back with a sigh.
When we get there, Luffy thought while walking towards the bow of his ship. Nami saw Luffy walking off towards his special seat, and she started calling out to the others to prepare to leave. Luffy stared out past the gates of Traverse Town and up into the stars above. I'll finally be able to confront you, Zoro. But, I'm not sure what will happen then. I don't want to fight you. You've been following us. Hurting our friends. Ten years? What, have you been doing all this time? Zoro?