Hey everyone,

so it's friday evening and I hope you will enjoy this little chapter.
I actually have not much more to say, so here we go ;-)

See you monday


Chapter 46 - Monsters

-Mihawk-

"Concentrate!" He berated.

"I am concentrating!" Roronoa growled back.

"Obviously not, otherwise I would not have said anything."

Looking up, the younger one visibly bit his tongue to keep himself from barking back.

No less dissatisfied, Mihawk slowly circled his student again and examined his posture, which Roronoa had been holding by now for several hours. Although it was a very calm and thoughtful exercise, it took its toll on Roronoa, who had to keep his body in a perfect harmony of tension and flexibility, balance and agility, persistence and mobility.

Sweat ran down Roronoa's body, he had thrown the soaked shirt to the ground early in the morning, making it easy for Mihawk to track every muscle tension and movement of his student. Attentively, he noticed every quiet tremble, every hesitation, noticed how irregularly the tissue moved around that scar, saw the small drops of sweat in his hair and how his hackles raised whenever Mihawk stepped too close behind his protégé.

It was impressive to watch the perfection with which Roronoa meanwhile had mastered the basic fighting positions and was able to last for such a long time without cramping or falling into relieving postures.

In a real fight, of course, he would never stay this motionless for such a long period of time, but it was necessary that he was able to retrieve these positions at any time, no matter how exhausted or stiffened his body would be. Especially in a fight against superior or difficult to read opponents, smooth muscle memories were a life insurance.

"All right. You can move on."

Roronoa automatically slid to the next position. Although he had not moved for a long time, his movements had not been uneven or unbalanced, quite the contrary. Slowly Roronoa attained the body control he needed as a swordmaster.

There was little for Mihawk to correct, usually some time had to pass until Roronoa would begin to show first weaknesses, which was good, because they still had some hard days ahead of them.

"It took you more than eight months to safely master the basics of Haki and to control your inner demon to the point where you no longer pose any uncontrolled danger," Mihawk said, placing one finger behind Roronoa's left ear, who didn't dare to move. Between the jaw and skull, he felt firm muscles and tendons. "Your jawline is too tense. Bad mood or not, it will affect neck, shoulders, and back sooner or later."

For a second, the muscles became even more tense before Roronoa began to loosen his jaw by pushing it back and forth. He exhaled loudly, even though he continued to stare straight ahead.

His mood had become even more unbearable during the last few days – if that was even possible – and Mihawk was quite aware that things would not get any better before the appointment with Eizen would be over. The only reason Mihawk was even willing to work with Roronoa at the moment was that Roronoa's ambition of development and pursuit of growth even surpassed his constant dissatisfaction.

The fight between the insatiable greed to improve and his simple annoyance was easy to see, but Roronoa bowed to his master and tried to relax. Still, as even as his breathing and pulse were, the tension in his mind continued to affect tiny areas of his body.

"The forehead," Mihawk grumbled, pushing three fingers lightly against it. "The face is part of your body, each of your weaknesses you will notice here at first."

"I know," Roronoa growled, looking directly at him.

"Then stop making mistakes," Mihawk replied unimpressed. He did not like the way Roronoa was behaving currently, but he could handle it. After all, he had also learned to come to terms with the fact that Roronoa repeatedly ignored and exceeded his own health limits in training, even if Mihawk did not approve of it.

If Roronoa wanted to be stubborn, Mihawk could be more stubborn. He knew that the younger one was just fighting himself and that under other circumstances Mihawk's instructions would be easier for him to follow. But if Mihawk were to be gentler or more considerate, then Roronoa's development would slow down, perhaps even stagnate, and that was the one thing Roronoa definitely did not want, and Mihawk agreed to that. So, he persisted and did not let Roronoa's ill-considered remarks provoke him.

"Even though your Haki skills have developed well so far," he continued accordingly, as if nothing had happened, "we have less than 16 months left to teach you in the art of the sword."

He slightly poked his own temples to tell Roronoa that he got tense there as well and the younger man understood.

"Now that you are able to protect your swords from damage, we must ensure that you become a worthy master for them. Your physical strength is disproportionate compared to your other attributes. In the past few months, we have significantly improved your agility and footwork, and your strategic thinking is slowly improving as well. But your core muscles are still too stiff and your body balance insufficient. We also have to work on your general flexibility, but your stamina has reached a decent level by now."

Roronoa remained silent.

Mihawk knew that he had explained this several times, but Roronoa had the gift of ignoring logical explanations that prevented him from working with his swords or lifting his weights, so Mihawk repeated himself to keep the angry boy in check.

"I know you would rather just train day and night with your swords, but that is not productive. You will see that these exercises here will improve your skills far better than aimless dry practice. Although, of course, I admit that it is much more monotonous than a fight."

"Duh," Roronoa grumbled, then bit his lower lip before his face became expressionless again. Clearly, this comment had just slipped unintentionally.

"Roronoa," Mihawk warned coolly, "I am well aware that you are learning best in a direct fight, but this possibility no longer exists, so you will have to cope with the fact that you have to earn your skills with plain hard work, just like everyone else."

For some time, it was quiet, but then Roronoa said coldly: "You could fight me again."

"We had this discussion two weeks ago and I will not have it again." Harshly Mihawk rejected this proposal and ordered Roronoa to move to the next position. "You know as well as I do that it will be hard for me to maintain my control in a practice match with you and you are far from equal; I would even risk killing you."

"Then just control yourself."

These words sounded almost like a command.

"Do you want to tell me something?" Mihawk asked softly, anger rising in him as Roronoa apparently believed he was in the position to scold him. Roronoa remained silent for a moment. But it was only a moment and then he probably could not hold back any longer.

"All day long you're talking about nothing else," Roronoa grumbled now, without changing his posture, " 'control your posture, Roronoa', 'you have to learn to control your monster, otherwise you cannot defeat me, Roronoa','if your Haki control becomes brittle, Yuro will destroy your swords, Roronoa'. I have to control everything so that I might have a tiny chance to be allowed to be equal to you. But if it's that easy, why don't you control yourself for just once? You want to teach me something about control and at the same time you can't even fend off a few of my punches without wanting to kill me right away? Who of us can't control himself?!"

Breathing heavily, Roronoa left the fighting posture – interrupting their exercise – and just looked at him. For a moment, Mihawk did the same.

"My dear," he replied with a cold grin, "that must have bothered you quite a lot for quite a long time, right? It is interesting what words slip out when you cannot control yourself well."

He saw that Roronoa regretted what he had said, but he did not back down, nor did he turn his gaze away. He stood by his words, had probably cherished these doubts for months, but only the demon dared – or was uncontrollable enough – to say them out loud.

"Of course, you are right. It is very hypocritical of me to criticize you again and again while I can hardly keep my monstrous side at bay."

Slowly Roronoa's gaze turned into surprise, then in amazement and then in...

"But you see Roronoa, the difference between you and me is a small but fine one." He approached the other. "I am the best and you are nothing more than the one who wants to defeat me."

"Well, what difference does that make?" Roronoa murmured, and neither his voice nor his eyes deceived him, but his jaw did, tremling slightly. "Whether best or not, you are someone who can't control himself when you're having fun fighting and yet demand me to do it."

"You still do not understand, I thought Jiroushin had explained it to you."

Roronoa stumbled back and looked at him with big eyes as he lost his balance under Mihawk's aura for a brief moment. Even if he was not loud, it was raging within him; it was taking its toll on him not to punish Roronoa for his daring words.

"I always control myself, so you should not put me to the test if you do not want to look behind the mask."

For the first time, Roronoa hesitated and looked at him expressionless.

Mihawk was furious, Roronoa's accusations were the same he had accused himself of for a long time. How could it be that someone like Mihawk, who was a perfectionist, was talented, intelligent, and ultimately an outstanding warrior in every form, how could it be that Mihawk could never fully control himself?

Once it had broken out, he had trained for years, had withdrawn himself from the world and tried to tame this consuming desire, but it had not been until much later that he had understood that he would never be fully in control, never again.

But these thoughts were now irrelevant. The bold boy in front him had gone too far this time and Mihawk would probably have to...

Roronoa resumed his basic position.

"What are you doing?" Mihawk muttered, disturbed in his thought process.

His disciple closed his eyes and almost immediately he relaxed. Even angrily, Mihawk was impressed that Roronoa could change his mental attitude as if at the touch of a button.

"I want to look behind that mask," he said simply, "I want to be strong enough that you don't need a mask fighting me anymore. I want that when we fight, you don't need to hold back anymore, you don't need to control yourself. But I'm not good enough yet, so I have to train."

Then Roronoa looked at him.

"And when I'm ready, don't you dare hide behind your miserable control. Because I'm not going to do that, understood?" Roronoa fluently went into the next position. "I also want you to finally teach me Haoshoku Haki, or at least how I can better defend myself against it. But I bet that won't come until I've compensated for my physical deficits, right?"

The tension that had crackled in the air disappeared as Roronoa pretended that nothing had happened, and almost instantaneously Mihawks's anger got blown away. No, it was much more than that, it was expelled by something else entirely.

At that moment, Mihawk became somewhat painfully aware; almost like struck by a lightning he realized something he had previously banished to the darkest corners of his mind. Suddenly it was so obvious and clear to him that he did not know how to ignore it. It was like a revelation, like a clear sunrise after a dark night, but it also hurt and took his breath away, and for a brief moment an impotent despair grew in Mihawk, but then he decided not to pursue this thought with all its disarming feelings but nodded slowly.

"Correct, Roronoa." Now he resumed his teaching position. "However, I have told you before that we first have to find out whether you actually carry the quality of a king. Otherwise, any training in this direction would be fruitless."

The younger shrugged.

"And how do we find out?"

"That will be my concern. You focus on your posture. Your left knee needs to be bent a little bit more."

-Zoro-

Both yawned, almost simultaneously, Zoro behind his gloved hand, Mihawk quite blatantly, his feet thrown on an empty chair, between them no less than the filled boardroom.

Zoro sat on Eizen's left, in a simple grey suit and clacking shoes, which caused his feet to hurt like hell. On Eizen's right sat his secretary Rihaku, who did nothing but write notes diligently throughout the session.

The new Fleet Admiral Sakazuki had just ended his lavish reports about the successful relocation of the Marine headquarters, the abdication of the former Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the appointment and abdication of other Vice Admirals and, of course, his own promotion to Fleet Admiral.

It was a boring meeting, in Zoro's bored opinion, and by now he thought he was able to form an opinion. Today's assembly was not about making important decisions or overcoming problems. It served only to prove to the representatives of the various member states of the World Government and to the representatives of the World Aristocrats that the Marines were even stronger after the great war than before.

It was nothing more than a spectacle. None of the said numbers and explained deeds impressed or convinced Zoro – but actually surprising was that he really understood everything that was being said here – and he knew that even fewer of them were true.

Slowly he wondered why he had to be here, and he could see that the Shichibukai was thinking exactly the same. It was a waste of time; time they could have used for training or anything else. Mihawk noticed his gaze and an almost unremarkable grin slid over his bored face, but Zoro ignored it, because Sakazuki had finished his speech and now it was his turn. Accompanied by polite applause, Zoro rose and walked to the podium.

He remembered well how Eizen had once told him that he wanted to use Zoro – no, probably rather Lady Loreen – as a symbolic figure, but he had never expected that this would mean that he would at some point give speeches at the Marine Headquarters, certainly not in front of more than 300 people from all over the world, and even less under the sharp eyes of his teacher.

It was the first speech of importance that Zoro - Lady Loreen - would give. With the words that Eizen had presented to him, he would talk about the recent decision of the five elders, about the appointment of the new Shichibukais and about the preparations for the next Reverie, which would take place in less than two years.

Since it was his first relevant speech, Zoro had practiced a lot until Eizen and Rihaku had been satisfied with him; he had spent more than a week at the headquarters, but now the words easily left his lips, even if he hated to say them.

He spoke as he had been ordered, smiled whenever desired, left pauses when necessary, looked at the person he was supposed to reach the most, and became serious whenever he should be.

But he didn't leave the Shichibukai out of sight for a second. To his quiet surprise, his teacher made no sign of a grimace or just a grin. In the past few days, Mihawk had often been left no choice but to listen to him practice the speech over and over, memorizing it, and the Shichibukai had been anything but helpful. The elder had repeatedly shown how upset he had been about their trip, had interrupted him in the middle of the speech with annoying and unnecessary questions, once he had even thrown a little figure after Zoro, because he had demanded his attention, like a bored cat, or like Luffy.

So Zoro had assumed that this bastard wouldn't make it any easier for him today, but he should be mistaken. From cold, serious eyes, the Shichibukai watched him, his face a cold mask that did not reveal a single feeling while Zoro was speaking.

Mihawk sat at the other end of the room, far from the representatives of the World Aristocrats. It was probably far from ordinary that a Shichibukai was present at this meeting. But most would probably justify it by the fact that the honourable Lady Loreen almost never left the house without her watchdog.

Mihawk had his own conjecture. According to him, this was all about power. Eizen wanted to show the Shichibukai that he could let Zoro dance as he liked it and Mihawk could do nothing about it. The other believed that Eizen wanted to put him in his place.

But Zoro saw it differently. Perhaps this was a side effect of what Eizen wanted, but Zoro didn't think he was just doing it to mock the Shichibukai. For this, the politician had made it too clear that he did not even see Mihawk as a player.

Perhaps Eizen just wanted to show how much power he had over Zoro. Perhaps he also wanted to show Zoro how much Eizen could destroy if Zoro did not obey.

The politician did not know that Mihawk knew who Zoro was in reality, and perhaps he thought that threat would intimidate Zoro. Much more, however, Zoro was occupied by the sword of Damocles, which Eizen let hover over all his friends and allies, and the politician didn't really need anything more to put Zoro under pressure. So it was very possible that Eizen wanted to achieve something totally different by inviting Mihawk as well. But if Zoro was honest, he didn't care. No matter what the politician intended, Zoro would go his way and protect his friends, as he always did.

Slowly, Zoro came to the end of the foreign speech, well aware that most eyes were following him attentively. It was as Eizen had said, people listened to Lady Loreen, wanted to believe Loreen. They were Eizen's words, but only because Zoro spoke them, because Lady Loreen spoke them, they were heard. How he hated Lady Loreen's gift.

Then Zoro saw the last sentence, which he had never said aloud in front of the Shichibukai, knowing why.

"... and I am pleased to inform you that I have the great honor of hosting the forthcoming Reverie. I would like to express my gratitude for this opportunity."

Zoro bowed deeply, could almost feel the burning of the hawk eyes on his skin, and when he straightened up, he swallowed heavily. Under the friendly and partly enthusiastic applause, the Shichibukai stood up and left the room, his chair fell to the ground.

For a second, Zoro wanted to hurry after the other and tell him that he did not have any say in this, but Eizen took the moment to place a hand on his shoulder and grab everybody else's attention.

The damn sword of Damocles!

-Mihawk-

It was unusual to watch Roronoa deliver Eizen's speech. Nothing described Roronoa's change of the recent months as much as this moment. Roronoa, who always described himself as simple and dull, stood here in front of all these sovereigns and spoke with a clear, vibrant voice. Words that he had not even known six months ago came over his lips all too naturally.

But Roronoa did not simply speak these words, as expected by Eizen. For the past few days, he had picked this speech apart, analyzing and questioning every little word, every point, and every comma. Roronoa knew exactly what he was saying, disagreed with much of it – as Mihawk knew exactly – but right now he was eloquence and competence in person.

Oh, how it enthused and infuriated Mihawk.

He was pleased to see that Roronoa became what Mihawk had always seen in him in this matter as well. He liked the discussions with Roronoa and it aroused him how confident and at the same time elegant Roronoa could sound, if he only wanted to. Ever since Roronoa had conquered and become his own monster, he had truly grown up.

At the same time, Mihawk could not stand sitting here, surrounded by politicians, World Aristocrats, Marines, and the nobility of the world. He knew that Roronoa did not like this society – of which Mihawk himself was a part – at all.

Roronoa did not want to be here and yet he did not seem out of place, nor as if he would really dislike it. It was as if Eizen wanted to show Mihawk how much better Lady Loreen fit into his world than in Mihawk's.

He was, of course, well aware that the politician knew only Lady Loreen and not Roronoa, but that did nothing to put his mind to rest. He did not like how Eizen looked at him over his sunglasses, that quiet smile of victory. Regardless of the fact that Eizen did not know what Mihawk knew, he clearly wanted to snatch Roronoa from him, but unlike Nataku, he posed a much greater threat, and even if Roronoa did not want to, he seemed to become more and more involved in the spider web of politics.

However, Mihawk should not worry too much. Eizen did not know that Lady Loreen would disappear from the stage in little more than a year, probably dying from her unknown terrible illness, leaving behind the cold Shichibukai Hawk Eyes. What could the politician actually achieve in such a short time?

Well, that was probably the only thing Mihawk and this politician had in common, they would both lose Roronoa. But Mihawk was willing to accept this if he could protect his little frog by doing so. Satisfied, though not happy with the situation, he left it at that, while he watched Roronoa calmly, who looked over to him every now and then.

But now to the end Roronoa turned away and after his final words Mihawk knew why.

"... and I am pleased to inform you that I have the great honor of hosting the forthcoming Reverie. I would like to express my gratitude for this opportunity."

He almost lacked the air to breathe and then Roronoa looked at him. He had known it, had known that Eizen wanted to do this, and Roronoa had agreed and had not mentioned it even once. Again, he had left Mihawk in the dark. Over and over again, Roronoa broke the promise they had made...

Mihawk left the room without looking back even once.

He knew that anger was out of place, but he could not change it. As soon as Roronoa was concerned, his feelings did not want to follow his rational mind and how he hated it when the other denied him the truth. How he hated that he would soon lose Roronoa, but Lady Loreen should be preserved for Eizen.

"You are truly no longer the man you once were. The perfect, deadhearted strategist lets himself be overwhelmed by his emotions. You should be careful; this weakness could be easily misunderstood by others as humanity."

Mihawk stopped.

"You are the one who should be careful. In my current state of mind, I would not even be able to enjoy putting you down." Slowly, he turned around and confronted the man who had followed him out of the courtroom. "I will not repeat my warning from last time. So better get out of my sight, Nataku."

The cold blade of justice bowed almost apologetically.

"Believe me, Mihawk, I'm not here because of you. If it were up to me, everything between us that had to be said has been said."

"And yet you stand in front of me," Mihawk replied, unimpressed. Interestingly, he noticed that his anger about what had just happened faded somewhat due to the unexpected appearance of the other.

"But certainly not because of you."

"Speak, Nataku, I am not a man of patience. Tell me what you have to say or leave."

The Marine folded his arms.

"I know why you just fled."

"I did not flee, I left, notice the difference."

"Well, yes. Nevertheless, you are..."

"Nataku", he interrupted the other in a cold voice, "I will not repeat myself."

The Vice Admiral raised both hands apologetically.

"alright, alright. But at least let me explain. You know Lady Loreen and I had a conversation yesterday?" No, he did not know that. "She and I waited for a few minutes at the same door, she waited for the honorable Mr. Eizen and I..."

"Was I not clear enough during our last encounter?" Mihawk bridged the distance to the other and stared him down. "Did I not warn you to never get too close to my protégé again?"

"Calm down, Mihawk. Believe it or not, I'm not here to fight with you. We may not be on the same page, but I'm on Lady Loreen's side and for reasons I don't understand you're important to her."

It was ridiculous how soothing this little half-sentence felt.

"Well, Nataku, then speak."

The Vice Admiral looked over his shoulder as a door opened to his right and two soldiers stepped out, followed by some ladies and gentlemen in suits.

"Would you mind if we don't discuss this in open corridors?"

For a brief moment, Mihawk hesitated. He did not like it at all that Nataku set conditions and even less he wanted to endure his presence longer than necessary, but perhaps it was because of the distrust that had just flashed in Nataku's eyes or the way he spoke of Roronoa. Whatever it had been, with a nod, Mihawk turned around and walked away from the Vice Admiral, commanding him to follow with a swift gesture.

In his rooms, he slammed the door shut behind Nataku and looked at him cold.

"Well, we are among ourselves."

That was obvious. No one dared to monitor a Shichibukai, and moreover, all those of any relevance were present in the boardroom, and the only other person who had access to these rooms was, of course, Roronoa, whose room could be reached through a door between the shelves.

Nataku crossed his arms with a soft nod.

"Thank you for your kindness."

"Do not let me regret it."

"When will you realize that your threats are only give you unnecessary enemies? If I wanted to expose myself to your wrath, I would know other ways and means."

Mihawk also folded his arms.

"I am aware, but enough of this. You were talking about a conversation. What do you want to tell me that should not be heard by strangers?"

Once again, the Vice Admiral nodded.

"First of all, I would like to tell you that I will not pursue my desire to free Lady Loreen from your clutches any longer."

"Not that this would be in your power," Mihawk grinned.

But indeed, this admission surprised Mihawk. The other did not sound at all as if he would approve – not that his benevolence had any meaning to Mihawk – yet he was offering a ceasefire. Mihawk wondered more and more what kind of conversation Roronoa had concealed from him.

"So, since I can no longer prevent you from playing a part in Lady Loreen's life," the other continued, between gritted teeth, "I am willing to work with you to save her from even greater calamity."

"You seem to have truly fallen for my companion, Nataku, that you are ready to jump over your shadow for no more than a spark of favor. But what do you think could be an even greater disaster for Lady Loreen than I?"

For one moment, the other remained silent.

"Rishou Eizen."

Mihawk's grin froze.

"I know exactly why you left the boardroom, Mihawk. You also must be aware of it. Rishou Eizen is..."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Nataku. I may not think much of Eizen, but he is a highly esteemed politician, chosen mediator of the World Aristocrats. You should be extremely careful what thought you are so recklessly revealing to a government watchdog."

"Oh please, Mihawk, save this spectacle for someone who cares. You and I, we both know that this man is planning something that goes far beyond communal politics, and while you certainly do not care for the future of the World Government and the world itself, you have to see that Loreen is currently in the eye of a rising hurricane."

With his arm outstretched, Nataku pointed in the direction of where the boardroom was located.

Mihawk was almost impressed that his father's hound dog had noticed the danger posed by the old politician, and he was right: Mihawk was not interested in the future of World Government and the events of the world did not bother him as long as they were so monotonously boring, but as soon as it concerned Roronoa... well, of course he would not hesitate for a second.

"So, what do you intend to do, Nataku? What is the reason for your entrance? What do you want from me?"

Now the Vice Admiral took a step towards him.

"I want to warn you because Lady Loreen did not want to hear me out. She may believe that by working with Eizen she can make a difference, change the world to something better, but Eizen wants to abuse her for something. I don't know what yet, but I suspect it has something to do with the upcoming Reverie."

"Even if I agreed with you on this, Nataku, what kind of action do you propose? Against an act that you do not more than suspect? Are you aware that these doubts alone would be sufficient to suggest a breach of fidelity on your part?"

"And if I am right and we remain inactive, the world order as we know it could be in jeopardy, that and Lady Loreen, so I am building on your support."

Mihawk remained silent and watched the other attentively. With every fiber of his being he despised this man, but he had to admit that he would still prefer him over Eizen, he would at least grant him a respectable death as a swordsman, Eizen could rot in the gutter.

Nataku was not wrong, Mihawk himself had suspected since the day Roronoa signed the contract with the politician that this seemingly insignificant working relationship would have unimaginable consequences, but even then, he had not been able to dissuade Roronoa from his actions, of course Nataku did not even have the slightest chance of being heard by Roronoa.

"But what could I do? I am a Shichibukai, faithful to the World Government," he quoted these ironic words, since hardly any of the Shichibukai bore the title for this motive. "Moreover, even I have little say in the decisions of my acquaintance. Not even I could prevent the further cooperation between Rishou Eizen and Lady Loreen."

He could see his honest words surprising the other, almost shocked.

"So, you agree with me," the Vice Admiral quickly captured, preserving his continuance, "you are also aware that Loreen is dancing on knife's edge, guided by Eizen's threads."

He did not even deny it.

"Once again, Nataku, there is nothing I could do about it, even if I agreed with you."

"Forbid it!" This emotional demand astonished him. It was surprising how much this man wanted to protect Lady Loreen when he was yet to blame for Roronoa's death. "She is your ward or your lover or whatever. You can influence her. You supply and care for her. With her frail health, you, the mighty Shichibukai Hawk Eyes, could surely come up with more than one way to prevent her from working with Eizen!"

"Are you advising me to do something unethical?"

"Oh please, get down from your high horse, pirate. I'm not saying you should do anything to her, but no matter what you do, anything would be better than continuing to allow Eizen to influence her. As I said, she is dependent on you, so forbid it! If you don't give her a choice, she will have to comply."

You think you love someone, but the truth is that you want to dominate, control, own that person.

"Love is a scary feeling, isn't it, Nataku?"

"What?" The other looked at him in distraught, but Mihawk smiled softly as he walked through the room and settled on a sofa.

"An incredibly captivating emotion and so unpredictable. How much good one swears to do out of love and how many wars have been fought for it."

"What is your point, Mihawk?"

"You attribute too much to me, Nataku. I do not have the power you demand me to use."

The elder followed him through the room but stopped.

"What do you mean by that? You are not somebody who exercises modesty."

"Indeed, I am not humble, quite the opposite. But what you want from me I cannot do, even if I wanted to. I may ask, request, and recommend, I may give my opinion and criticize others, but there is no prohibition, no coercion, and certainly no violence with which I could subject my protégé to my will."

Shaking his head, Nataku laughed in disbelief.

"What are you talking about? Loreen may be an impressive woman, but she is only a weak girl compared to you. You could chain her into a tower, and she would never see the liht of day again, so don't feed me off with your excuses."

It was almost like looking in a mirror that showed one's past, Mihawk thought. He knew all these desperate arguments, all the good intentions, that tried to prevent great calamity through small evils, but Nataku ultimately did not know who Roronoa really was. He would never see what Mihawk saw.

"You are not wrong, Nataku, and believe me to admit this hurts me more than I can put into words. I agree with your concerns and would rather know yesterday than tomorrow that this sorry working relationship has ended, but the decision is not in my hands."

"But..."

"In order to achieve this, to enforce my and your will, I would have no choice but to break the will of my companion, as you suggest, and if, for once, I were to be quite honest with you, I would confess that I have played with this consideration more times in the last few months than I would like. But what you do not know, cannot know, is the simple fact that my willpower is not enough to do that."

Mihawk rose again and looked at the other calmly.

"I cannot break this will; the body, of course, shackles would probably be a possibility or any other idea you have. But none of this would mean that Lady Loreen would bow to my will and stop working with Eizen. All this would only mean that I would become the monster you see in me." He walked over to the door. "Even if it may disappoint you, I cannot control my protégé's decisions, I cannot break or control that will, so there is nothing I could do."

Nataku swallowed heavily and turned his gaze away, apparently trying to keep it together.

"You disappoint me, Mihawk, you are certainly not the man you pretend to be."

"If this is a compliment, it is fruitless. Your praise is indifferent to me."

The elder walked over to him again.

"That's it? You will stand idly by while Loreen runs into her own misery and takes us all down with her?"

"I did not say that. You can be certain that I will do everything within my power to save this child from any suffering, no matter the consequences."

Nataku nodded a little more resolute.

"That means that we are still on the same page; at least in this regard I can rely on your support?"

Mihawk laughed quietly.

"We are no allies in a war, Nataku. I have made my point of view clear and if it should correspond with your beliefs in certain areas, then so be it, but there is no more to it."

"Tze, incorrigible." The Vice Admiral walked to the door.

"Nataku, answer me why you have decided to abandon your ambition to free Lady Loreen out of my clutches."

Already pressing the handle down the other looked at him, but his gaze was so different from before. There was a lack of hardness and strife from the previous conversation. For a second, Mihawk felt like the 10-year-old boy of that time again, and then that unassuming smile slid over Nataku's face.

Hello Mihawk, your big sister has already told me so much about you. My name is Nataku, it's a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can become friends.

"You're really still a kid, Mihawk, despite all your years of life experience." He shook his head. "I know when I have to give up, okay? As you quite rightly said, Lady Loreen has a strong will and you can trust her a little bit more. At least in this one point you can be certain of her favor."

"In what point?" Mihawk paused, almost bewildered, as the elder went outside.

"She chose you, you idiot," Nataku said, looking at him over his shoulder, way too soft for all the hatred between them, "and she doesn't seem to be one of those, who reconsider their decisions."