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Chapter 38

Passage of arms

"Island! It's an island!" the captain shouted at the top of his lungs, drunk with joy.

The crew immediately gathered on the foredeck to see the impressive outline of their next destination looming on the horizon. The air had remained cold and the climate had stabilized towards winter temperatures but they weren't extreme. Taking his binoculars, Ussop confirmed the snow wasn't invading the place although the inhabitants were warmly dressed.

"Provisions are still quite high and the island is considered quiet, we can relax", Nami informed them. "It's free time for everyone."

At these words, enthusiasm intensified among the crew members and by the time they disembarked, the navigator had given everyone a small sum for their personal expenses. Franky wanted to stay on the Sunny to tinker with a new invention, but the others didn't hide their pleasure and they quickly dispersed in the city. This is how Sanji and Chopper decided to visit the fruit tree plantations in greenhouses, Nami and Robin made off towards the stores, Luffy led Brook and Ussop towards a confectionery merchant on the port and Zoro ventured alone into the streets looking for a bar despite the general disapproval.

"I think I'm gonna be sick", Ussop winced, holding his stomach. "I ate too much candy..."

"What are you talking about, you hardly ate anything!" Luffy wondered, swallowing yet another marron glacé with appetite.

"I have to agree with our long-nose friend", Brook sighed beside them. "Eating so much sugar in such a short time doesn't work for me either..."

The three friends hadn't left the port, preferring to raid the confectionery merchant who had rarely made such good deals in such a short time. Then they had sat on the small wall that separated the city from the ocean not far from the Sunny, from where they could hear Franky hammering hard on a piece of metal. The cold was still there, but the sun was warming the atmosphere a bit.

"We spent everything", the sniper grumbled, trying not to move too much as he searched his pockets. "I wanted to buy gunpowder..."

"And I wouldn't have said no to some new strings for my instruments", the musician added. "It's amazing how things tend to wear out after fifty years..."

"There are still pralines and chocolates, you want some?" the captain showed them, putting the bag under their noses.

Brook turned away, groaning, and Ussop felt nausea rising up his stomach. Seeing their greenish looks, Luffy burst out laughing and stuffed the treats in his mouth once more while his two friends were taking large breaths thanks to the invigorating air.

Zoro turned up on a new street. Or what is the same as before? Regardless, there was no liquor store in sight and it annoyed him. Only lots and lots of clothing stores wherever he was looking. Clusters of people wrapped in warm clothes were crowding the pedestrian streets and they were pushing and shoving because of their bulky bags stuffed with new things.

Finally, the fencer shrugged and decided to go back up the stream of people until he would get out of this hell. He would find it.

"Hey, Zoro, are you looking for new clothes?" the mocking voice of Nami suddenly asked behind him.

The swordsman turned around and frowned. Together with Robin and their arms already full of bags, the two young women were gazing at him, smiling quietly.

"I was walking around", he growled, resuming his way.

"Yes, of course!" the navigator kept on, loud enough for him to hear her despite the surrounding noise. "I was sure Sanji would rub off on you and you'd pay attention to your wardrobe after a while!"

Zoro felt himself fume but sank into the crowd. He suddenly felt a force throwing him to a shop front a little further and when he straightened, dazed, he noticed he was now in front of a bar. He then smiled victoriously before pushing the door to enter.

A little further behind him, Nami shook her head and put on her hat again.

"You have no business sense, Robin. With all these people, we could have had bets made on the time he would have taken to find it."

The archaeologist removed her extra arms that had guided the fencer to his destination and smiled at her friend as they continued on their way.

"I suppose we still could do it on the way back..."

"Look, this lemon is absolutely huge!" Chopper marveled.

"With this size, I'll be able to make several lemon pies", Sanji approved, adjusting his scarf around his neck.

The two friends had strolled for a long time in the greenhouses of the small island and the visit had of course ended with a good quantity of purchases of fresh fruit which they now carried towards the Thousand Sunny.

"We're lucky the leaves of these fruit trees are also for sale", the doctor added, tapping his little bag. "I'll be able to make reserves of healing and soothing decoctions!"

"We'll have to store these fruits away from the cold", the cook mused, lighting a cigarette. "We don't know how long this climate will last-"

The blond suddenly froze and Chopper turned to him, puzzled. Without giving him time to ask the reason for his attitude, Sanji grabbed his friend and hold him against the street wall out of sight. Distraught, the little reindeer threw him a mute question and the cook pointed out the next crossroads with his chin. Following his gaze, Chopper held back a frightened cry.

"What the hell is he doing here, that bastard?" the blond wondered in the shade, pulling on his cigarette butt. "Nami-san assured us the place was quiet."

"We have to hurry and warn the others!" the reindeer pointed out with concern.

"Luffy, Ussop and Brook are probably still near the port and if they haven't already been spotted, they can easily reach the Sunny", the cook mused.

"We have no way of contacting Nami, Zoro and Robin!" the doctor got frightened.

"Nami-san and Robin-chan must be in the city center to shop, but regarding the marimo, he'll necessarily get lost somewhere as soon as he understands what's going on", his friend growled.

"What are we gonna do?!" the reindeer panicked.

Sanji threw his cigarette butt and crushed it on the ground.

"Chopper, I entrust you with Nami-san and Robin-chan", he decided with a serious look. "As soon as you have found them, run to the Sunny to get Brook, Ussop, Luffy and Franky. I'll take care of this green haired fool and bring him back."

"Okay, you can count on me!"

Zoro knocked back his fourth glass of sake enthusiastically. Sat at the counter, he was enjoying the excellent drink while a small fireplace warmed the place pleasantly in a corner of the room. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed. The other customers were laughing among themselves or were starting to play cards while exchanging the latest news. The place was definitively ideal and he motioned for the owner to refill his glass.

A few minutes later, a paunchy man suddenly entered the bar and quickly closed the door behind him, his breath short and his face dripping with sweat despite the cold. The owner and the customers looked at him with surprise and the man peeked out the window.

"The Marines are after me!" he explained in a choppy voice. "They canvassed the entire city!"

"Are you sure, Jorsi?" a man sitting at a table with his friends asked. "Why would they be after you?"

"It's because of the last time when I accidentally took several breads from the bakery!"

In the room, the other customers laughed.

"You mean when you stole them? Poor Michel chased you with his rolling pin all over the city!" a woman sneered.

"Of course not, I was obviously gonna pay for it!" Jorsi denied.

The local residents laughed again and the man glanced once more at the window, frantic.

"I'm telling you they're after me!" he insisted. "They didn't send just anyone, I'm screwed!"

"What do you mean?" another man asked.

"I saw Smoker and all his crew!"

There was silence for a moment in the bar, suddenly breaking up the lively conversations and the good-natured laughter.

"The White Hunter doesn't come for petty thefts", the owner replied. "If he's here, it's because there are big fishes around."

Zoro didn't move from his stool and continued to swallow his drink without any emotion. It was just his luck. For once that he had free time and could drink in peace, high ranking Marines had to turn up.

"Here they are!" Jorsi suddenly got alarmed, flattening on the ground.

The fencer finished the contents of his glass while all the other customers were turning to try to see something through the window.

"Search everywhere, they shouldn't be far away."

The swordsman's hand tightened imperceptibly on the counter and he looked for a way out. He had recognized the voice and if she saw him, he wouldn't escape a high-speed chase according to the rule book.

He took out his berries and left them on the table before getting up. He was about to head for the backdoor when the squad of officers opened the door. Jorsi screamed in fear and threw himself at their feet, tears in his eyes.

"I-I intended to pay them back, I s-swear!" he whimpered.

The Marine who had entered first frowned at this strange attitude. Behind him, the voice of his chief intervened while making her way through her men.

"Don't worry about them, focus on-"

Sergeant Tashigi's eyes widened as she spotted the swordsman of the straw hat crew who was trying to back off discreetly. She suddenly unsheathed her sword and pointed it in his direction.

"Stop him!"

The customers of the bar followed her gaze and were surprised to see how quickly the former customer was taking two of his swords to face the whole troop. They didn't take long to rush towards the exit in a disordered flight in light of the turn of events and the room was soon empty of witnesses. Zoro positioned himself in front of the twenty soldiers who were already holding him at gunpoint, determined. The crowd effect could have allowed him to escape, but it wasn't in his nature to refuse a fight now that he was exposed.

"Nitoryu. Hawk Wave!"

The breath of his blades violently repelled the officers who flew away before crashing against the walls, knocked out. Only Tashigi managed to protect herself from the attack, but its strength still forced her to step back. When she opened her eyes, the fencer had disappeared through the back door and she straightened, furious, before jumping after him.

Zoro forked into another alley, frantically looking for a place to hide. He had already repelled Tashigi's assaults twice, but she always made a new attempt. He turned again to the right and began to boil when he saw that he had returned to the city center. He only wanted to find the Sunny to warn his crewmates!

"Come back here, you're under arrest!"

The young woman jumped on his back again and threw her sword against the pirate who ward off her attack with his.

"You're gonna get off my back or what?" he got annoyed.

Deaf to his request, the officer Tashigi rushed at him and he skillfully avoided her. As she was about to catch him on the side, he kicked her away and she collapsed to the ground.

Zoro wasted no time and resumed his race, this time turning left. Unfortunately, because he was totally lost, he was slowing down each time, believing he recognized his environment, and thus giving Tashigi time to catch up with him. There was nothing usual about his attitude and he knew it. Normally, he would have taken the time to confront his opponent and then quietly find his way, but this girl made him so uncomfortable he couldn't consider her an ordinary enemy. And he knew it was all the more dangerous.

"You won't manage to escape from me!"

Tashigi was again after him and she sent a flurry of blows in the direction of the fencer who dodged more or less clumsily. Finally, the young woman caught her breath, perfectly furious.

"Why don't you attack me?!" she roared. "I'm not worth it, is that it?!"

The swordsman winced and shook him off. He had to stop to liken her to his late best friend and he swirled his blade. His assault pushed her back several steps away and the sword brushed her face. Determined, she tried to retaliate, but this time Zoro didn't give her time to do so and his next blow left her staggering against the street wall.

"Is it okay, you had enough?" he got impatient."Get the hell out of here now."

Tashigi refrained from letting tears run down her cheeks. She was feeling perfectly humiliated. She was spending her time chasing him and he didn't even do her the honor of fighting with dignity against her.

Zoro sheathed his sword without another glance and moved away quickly. He then saw some dirt road which was going away from the city and he took it briskly. He was desperately looking for the coast when he saw the cook a little further coming to meet him.

"It's about fucking time, marimo! Where the hell you been?" the blond reproached him when he stopped by his side. "Just so you know we're waiting for you! Smoker deployed the entire Marine, we need to move!"

"I know, curly! His girlfriend is clinging to me!"

"Ah. Well, that's true", he noted when he saw a figure speeding towards them.

He strongly pushed the fencer to the side and bent to dodge a blow from the blade which didn't pass far from his hair.

"Roronoa Zoro! I won't let you go!"

Tashigi darted and Zoro unfolded the Wadô again. He warded off her attacks and gave her back a few blows, exasperated.

"Dammit why don't you let go of me?!"

"Because you own a sword you don't deserve!" she snarled. "And because you're wanted by the World Government!"

Zoro took his breath, bored.

"I'm fucking tired."

He sent her a powerful attack which she narrowly avoided but which threw her off balance and she fell to the ground. The swordsman approached her and rested his sword against his shoulder, staring down at her from his full height.

"I won't give this sword up for anything in the world."

He put it away again and started to walk away with Sanji when she shouted at him, her voice strangled.

"Why are you doing this to me?!"

"I didn't do anything to you!" the swordsman immediately replied, on the defensive, while turning to her.

"Why don't you fight fairly against me then?" she got angry, her throat tied. "As a fencer, you know how dishonorable you're acting!"

Zoro felt his breathing stopped and Sanji looked at him, puzzled. The swordsman had even taken a step back, as if what she was asking him was unimaginable.

"You're too... It's..."

Tashigi stood up, her eyes bright with anger.

"If you dare to say it's because I'm a woman, you're even more of a coward than I thought! What do you think? I'd rather be a man but I didn't have a choice!"

Zoro tensed even more.

"Shut up, this has nothing to do with it!"

"Then fight! Like a man!"

She stood in front of him and Zoro hesitated. He glanced at the cook by his side who shrugged.

"You know what I think of men who dare to upset women, marimo", he said, lighting a cigarette. "However, make it quick. We really have to get out."

The swordsman straightened up and stared at his opponent as calmly as possible. If she wanted a real fight, he would give her one.

"Don't you come crying afterwards", he threatened her in a low voice.

The young woman tightened her grip on the handle of her blade, focused. Zoro then drew his three swords and got into position. Too bad for her if she looked so much like Kuina. He would fight as if it was his best friend and he wouldn't do her any favors because she would have done none to him.

He rushed towards her in a flash and Tashigi barely had time to dodge him, surprised by his speed. She retaliated with all her strength and her sword met the three blades of her enemy who repelled her.

Several minutes followed during which they exchanged blow for blow. The young woman was redoubling her efforts to maintain the pace the pirate was imposing on her and she was quite proud to be able to stand up to him. However, she suddenly felt one of his swords cut deeply into her stomach and she winced in pain. Yet she recovered immediately. She had to deal with three swords with her one blade and she couldn't afford to be distracted for a second.

Little by little however, she had to recognize that her opponent was gaining ground. She was wearing herself out and it was becoming increasingly difficult to ward off the repeated and powerful attacks of the fencer who didn't seem to be tired. She had only managed to scratch his cheek and it didn't even seem to bother him when she herself was feeling her wound twist her insides every moment. Finally, she took a second too long to shift on the passing blade and it slid all the way down her left arm. She gritted her teeth and launched her attack again while the other fencer was continuing his flexible movements all around her, exhausting her a little more.

After a few more moments of fierce struggle, she ended up stuck with her back to a tree, the swordsman of the straw hat crew pointing his sword against her neck. They watched each other for a moment, short of breath, and Zoro finally lowered his blade.

"Now I gotta go."

Tashigi blinked and put a hand to her stomach, noticing on this occasion that her blood was soaking her garment.

"Fuck, you went a little too far", Sanji growled as he approached.

"She wanted me to treat her normally", the swordsman coldly replied.

The blond shook his head and walked over the young woman but she stopped him, her sword pointing into his sides.

"Don't come any closer", she stammered, visibly fighting the pain.

"I'm not going to hurt you..."

The sergeant tensed when she saw him take another step in her direction and she held out her blade a little more. The cook gasped in surprise and froze when he felt the tip sink into his belly. Zoro quickly unsheathed and put his own sword against the young woman's neck.

"You'd better let go of him or I'll pierce your throat", he darkly threatened her.

"It's okay", the blond reassured him while Tashigi was dropping her sword by her side. "Just a ruined jacket."

He went away a bit as she was sliding against the tree to the ground. He then looked at her again and sighed.

"We can't leave her here. She'll lose all her blood before someone finds her..."

"Who cares, she asked for it", his crewmate replied.

"Don't be more stupid than you are, marimo!" Sanji got annoyed. "We don't leave a young injured woman on the side of the road!"

"It's a marine officer who tailed us for ages!" the fencer got angry in his turn.

"I... I'm fine", the young woman muttered, still sitting against the tree.

"See, she's fine!" the swordsman showed him. "Now let's go!"

"We have to bring her back to Chopper."

Zoro stared at the cook, dumbfounded.

"You're totally insane!"

"Do what you want but I won't leave her here", Sanji firmly decided. "It's your fault if she's like this."

"Goddamnit, you were okay with this!" the swordsman shouted, furious.

"I told you to fight her, not kill her!"

The fencer fulminated while watching the blond lean towards Tashigi and lifting her as gently as possible. She was now too weak to rebel against anything. Reluctantly, he picked up her abandoned sword on the grass and followed Sanji toward the Sunny.

"Really, Zoro, have you no shame?" Franky muttered. "Do such a thing to a woman, even if she's a marine officer..."

"I must say it is not worthy of a gentleman but women can prove to be formidable enemies and they should not be underestimated", Brook pointed out.

"She was the one who insisted!" the fencer got angry. "She wanted me to fight without restraining my blows, I warned her!"

"You did good, Zoro. What I don't understand is why you brought her here to be treated", the navigator intervened, annoyed.

"Nami, how can you say that?!" the sniper protested. "They weren't gonna let her die!"

"This girl is an enemy, too bad for her!" the young woman sharply replied.

"I wonder how they knew where to find us", Franky pondered.

"Maybe it's a coincidence", the skeleton suggested.

Zoro went away, grumbling, and approached the infirmary. The entire crew was waiting for them when they had arrived with the cook and their surprise guest.

Shortly before, Chopper had quickly warned the girls and when they had arrived at the ship, Luffy had just opened hostilities with the patrol responsible for watching over the Sunny. The officers had been swiftly knocked out and Franky had opened the sails and loaded cola so they could get away as soon as their last two members returned. Fortunately, the alert hadn't been given immediately and Smoker hadn't turned up until it was too late while the Sunny was leaving the port, all sails out.

Chopper had therefore immediately taken charge of the officer Tashigi who had lost consciousness on the way.

Zoro opened the door and saw that the little doctor had just finished disinfecting the slash on the arm of the young woman lying on the bed and still unconscious. He had first taken care of her stomach injury and had stopped the bleeding. Around them, Sanji, Robin and Luffy were watching silently the scene.

"She has lost a lot of blood but she should be fine", the reindeer explained to them, turning away from his patient.

"Awesome!"

Luffy had always made allowances between his real enemies and opponents who fought honestly to defend their own cause. Tashigi and Smoker were among them and even if they tracked them down tirelessly, he didn't want their death.

"What should we do with her?" Robin asked.

"We just have to disembark her on a rock and Smoker will find her", the swordsman grumpily suggested.

Sanji glared at him.

"Leaving her on the first pebble that comes when she has just come close to death is out of the question, you moron!"

"Oh, yeah and what do you suggest, perverted cook? To offer her tea and cupcakes until she stabs us all in our sleep?!"

"I know what we're gonna do", Luffy calmly interrupted them.

At these words, all turned to their captain, curious to know his decision.

"She'll stay with us until she's healed and then we'll drop her on an island where she can fend for herself!"

Now they have to live with an unexpected guest! Fortunately, she's nicer than Smoker!

Happy Holidays, you all!