PART TWO: Quills
Standing aboard the bow of the Black Clover pirate's flagship, the Cutthroat Bounty, the blonde chef and the stone-faced swordsman stood in silence as the salty wind whipped through their hair. Sanji sighed as he attempted unsuccessfully to relight his cigarette despite the breeze making the lighter's small flame dance violently before vanishing. He despondently tossed the paper stick overboard as they sped towards their destination.
"Luffy is never going to forgive us for this…" Zoro muttered with cold certainty. "I wouldn't blame him. Taking off like this without his consent is practically mutiny."
Sanji shrugged. "The first time I met you guys Nami sailed off alone and took Merry with her. We didn't understand it, but there was never any question in Luffy's mind that she was still part of the crew."
"This is different," Zoro replied. "We're sailing into a fight which doesn't involve us. Nami was confronting those who held power over her future."
"Alabasta wasn't our fight either." Sanji stretched his arms wide and instinctively popped a new smoke in his mouth before he even realized it would be pointless to try again.
"We all fought together in Alabasta." Zoro countered.
"Look Moss Head, we can keep arguing until the sun sets, but the fact is, you're right here with me." Sanji crossed his arms. "I'm not proud of leaving the others in the dark, but once we get back and explain the situation they'll understand."
"I should have just knocked you out and tied you to the mast." Zoro glowered.
"Then why didn't you?" Sanji raised a single curly eyebrow.
"I didn't have any rope." He responded without humor.
"I think I know why…" Sanji glanced backwards over his shoulder towards the stern, where Tashigi stood speaking with the other marines. The setting sun cast her in a golden light that made her look even more like an angel than she already did. He knew despite her clumsy behavior that she had a will of steel and the courage of a Pirate Warlord, though her smile as always was humble and shy.
Sanji's eyes widened with passionate yearning and his jaw hung open for several moments as he admired her before Zoro snapped his fingers in the chef's ear to bring him back to reality.
"Stay focused, you moron. If we're heading into battle, I don't need you constantly getting distracted."
Sanji reluctantly returned his gaze back to the open sea before he spoke again.
"Look, I may be a shameless pervert, but just because you're not obvious about it doesn't mean you don't feel anything. There's something about her that makes you lower your shields. I don't know what it is, but it's not just because she's skilled with a blade."
Zoro glared. "Drop it, or I'm putting you over the railing."
"Ah, there's the exposed nerve. Didn't think your armor ever cracked." Sanji smirked. He lowered the unlit cigarette from between his teeth.
The green-haired pirate gave him a withering look and made to leave before the chef spoke again, his eyes still fixed upon the sea.
"Look, Zoro, seriously, whatever your reasons are, I appreciate you being here. I don't know what to expect and if this is what finally kills me, I want to go knowing the others knew what happened and that the ladies will be safe. I needed someone I could trust." He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets.
"You're not going to get killed, you idiot." Zoro wrapped his fist around his katana's handle by his belt. "The smoking will take care of that, but until then, Luffy's going to want to eat as soon as you get back, and you won't be able to use dying as an excuse."
"Are you two having a moment?" Marion asked, suddenly appearing directly between them.
Both men jumped, and Zoro's sword was out and raised to her chin before the words had finished leaving her lips.
"You don't have to transport yourself across the ship!" Sanji snapped and slapped Zoro's blade aside. "Just walk up and join the conversation like a normal person!"
"Normal is so boring," Marion smirked. "Besides, you used to love it when I surprised you."
Sanji cut the abrupt change in conversation off at the knees.
"Did you want something?" He asked bluntly.
"Tashigi just received word from Smoker on the transponder snail. He's got two Marine ships en route to Russet Peak where my other two ships are set to meet us. With five ships we can lay out a plan of attack and sail just across the bay to the old Marine fort. Smoker reports there's a Seastone cell there that I'm sure Rameses will find cozy."
Marion had donned a black and silver cloak after returning to her ship and carried a cutlass by her side with an ebony blade. Since appearing in Sanji's kitchen unexpectedly her demeanor had changed entirely from sassy temptress to rogue pirate commander.
"Rameses and the Chess Piece Pirates will be expecting resistance from us, but you two will be our secret weapons." She continued. She turned to Zoro. "From what I've heard Lady Rook is more than formidable with a blade. She's practically two people when she wields them. Do you think you can hold her off while Sanji, Smoker and I corner Rameses?"
Zoro didn't flinch. "She'll just be another rung on the ladder I'm climbing."
"Love that sullen, can-do attitude," Marion replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"If this scarecrow-looking guy can launch spiked missiles at us the size of fishing spears, it's going to have to be about speed and agility." Zoro crossed his arms and leaned against the rail. "A strong offense will be the perfect defense. Sure, you can disappear, and we know Smoker well enough to know with his abilities he'll have a chance of getting in close, but the best this lanky smokestack can do it keep dodging projectiles and hope for the best."
He nodded his head at Sanji.
"There's another threat he's going to deal with first," Marion responded. "The Bishop is a new member of the Chess Piece Pirates. Very little is known about him other than that he's lightning-fast and moves like a shadow. The thing is, while his bounty is twenty-five million berries, Black Foot Sanji's is more than twice that, and I doubt he can move so fast his feet catch fire."
Sanji idly raised one of his feet and tapped his shoes with a knuckle. "Rubber soles. That's the trick."
"I'll bet Bishop's wanted poster is more flattering." Zoro chided.
Sanji glared sourly and stroked his chin. "Speaking of which, I should get Tashigi to snap a new picture while I'm here…"
"The Bishop doesn't have a wanted poster. No one has seen his face." Marion informed them. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that if we capture all three, Rameses, Lady Rook, and The Bishop, clemency may be granted to the Clovers and the Straw Hats by the Navy. At least short term."
"Now where's fun in that?" Sanji smirked as he finally managed to spark a flame to life and light up his smoke.
Trotting along the beach in his four-legged form, Chopper kept his nose low to the sand as he concentrated on locating the invisible trail his friends had left behind. Following in his footprints, Nami and Robin were scanning the horizon in every direction for a ship.
"Nothing…" Chopper reported somberly, the painful weight of his failure reflecting in his normally warm and playful eyes. "Sanji and Zoro didn't leave the ship in either direction. It's like they vanished into thin air."
"What about the other two?" Nami asked urgently. Her fiery annoyance at the men's disappearance had dimmed to a cold panic that was throbbing in the pit of her stomach, though she was trying hard not to let it show. "There were at least two other people on the ship with them, right? Both women?"
Chopper nodded his animal head confidently. "Definitely. One was the woman who appeared in our kitchen before, I'm sure of it. The other…" Chopper trailed off.
"What is it?" Robin asked.
"It's so familiar… I just can't place it…." Chopper clenched his teeth in frustration. "I know I've smelled her before. I just don't remember where…"
"Normally I would say if the kidnappers were women there's no wonder Sanji didn't put up a fight…" Nami frowned. "But Zoro too? No way. Something else is going on here."
"You said Sanji recognized this green-haired woman?" Robin looked down at Chopper. "If he didn't react by fawning over her, there has to be a history of bad blood there."
Nami crossed her arms and made a pouting face. "Since when has any other woman had more sway over him than the two of us?" She huffed as she glanced sideways at the raven-haired beauty. "I didn't think Sanji would abandon us for any reason."
Robin stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"
Nami froze. "What? No!" She blushed furiously. "Are you?"
"I'm not sure. Should we be?" Robin tilted her head, the hint of a smirk tracing itself up her cheek.
"Well… No… I mean… He's risked his life so often for both of us!" Nami stuttered.
"He's risked his life for dozens of women." Robin reminded her.
"But he always got back on the ship with us!" Nami persisted.
Robin put her hands on her hips and chuckled softly. "You miss his constant gawking affection, don't you?"
Nami made a hissing noise through her teeth. "Sanji is such an irritating smoke-spewing kiss-ass, but… you know, he's always been there! Now that he's suddenly gone… I didn't realize how much I…." She trailed off.
Robin nodded in gentle agreement. "He's charming in his own way, but his perverted style of chivalry has always extended beyond the two of us."
She looked out towards the setting sun.
"I've had men stare at me lustfully my entire adult life, but with him… It's like he's just as excited about making us breakfast the following morning as he is about us spending the night, you know? He's shallow on the surface, but he has a noble type of depth as well, like he'll always have our well-being at heart. He's a good man, even though he's obnoxious."
"I miss him…" Nami sighed heavily as she ran her hand through her hair. "Not just the attention and the food. I actually miss him."
She looked up to find Chopper back in his normal two-legged form, staring back at her. A silence hung in the air between them for a moment.
"Did you two forget I was here?" The reindeer asked.
Nami tackled Chopper, grabbed him by both of his antlers and pressed her face directly into his, glaring daggers at him from point-blank range.
"If you EVER tell him I said that I will tie your pudgy little body to the anchor, spin you around in circles over my head and heave you so far out to sea you'll clear the Calm Belt and wind up somewhere in the EAST BLUE!"
"GAH! OKAY! OKAY! I PROMISE!" Chopper wailed as he yielded in abject terror.
Robin covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled.
"OI! NAMI! ROBIN! CHOPPER! ANYTHING?"
The three of them turned to see Luffy and Usopp jogging up the beach behind them. Nami released Chopper's antlers and straightened up.
"There's no trace of them!" Usopp called out. "And if they're not on the island, whatever ship picked them up must have sailed away at breakneck speed."
Nami noticed the fire in her captain's eyes as he approached. Rarely had she seen Luffy looking angry enough to bite through steel, though whether the rage was directed at his two missing crew members specifically or the mysterious circumstances surrounding their actions she couldn't tell.
"Look…" Nami removed her map from her pack and then took Sanji's note from her pocket. "The note says to wait three days. There's no island anywhere remotely close to here that they could reach in three days, much less a day and a half, that they could sail to and come back."
"Then they must be sailing to specific coordinates on the water." Usopp stroked his chin.
"Or maybe there's an island out there that's uncharted," Robin suggested.
"If that's the case, the Log Pose hasn't indicated it." Nami raised the tiny globe fastened to her wrist to double-check it.
"There's another question that needs to be addressed," Luffy spoke in a stern voice, his tone much darker than it normally was. "If they're not back in three days, what do we do then?"
He looked at each of them for a moment, letting the question sink in.
Nami broke the silence first. "We'll just wait for them."
"Why?" Luffy asked without hesitation. The word fell heavily from his lips into the sand like a concrete slab.
"Because…" Nami paused.
"They're our friends!" Chopper protested.
"They abandoned us without explanation, and then gave us a deadline…" Luffy's eyes seemed to burn angrier even though his stern tone remained the same. "If they're not back by then, all we can do is assume that they're not coming back."
"But that may because they can't!" Usopp stated, clearly alarmed at what his captain was implying. "They may be in trouble!"
"And they didn't leave us anyway to find them or rescue them," Luffy replied bitterly. "You all may have forgotten, but this is my ship, and this is my crew. Maybe I don't always act like it, but I'm the captain, and my rules are law. Two members of my crew are gone, making their own plans, writing their own rules."
"Luffy…" Robin spoke up. "You know Sanji and Zoro. You trust them. We don't know the circumstances. They may be doing this to protect us from something."
"I decide when I need protection," Luffy stated bluntly. "Whatever the situation was, they should have told me. That's why when the sun rises on the third day, we set sail for the next island. We'll find a new cook and another swordsman, and we'll adapt. If they ever find us again, I'll decide whether they set foot on board. Does anyone have a problem with that?"
"I do!" Nami protested after a moment's pause, feeling the beginnings of angry tears begin to form. "We can't do that Luffy! We can't just sail away without even trying to find them! We don't leave our friends behind! I know you're angry, hurt even, but this isn't you! I joined this crew because you were the type of captain who would risk everything for anyone of us, and you've proved that time and time again. Sanji and Zoro may have betrayed your trust, but they're not expendable!"
Nami met her captain's eyes, stone-cold with conviction, and forced herself not to blink. She was breathing hard, trying to catch her breath after her outburst, and with each intake of air felt she felt more defeated, standing against him alone. It was like she was drowning on dry land.
"Anyone else?" Luffy asked.
"I agree with her, Luffy." Robin added calmly yet firmly. "I'm sorry, but at the very least we can give them more time. We need to discover what their motives were before we judge them. I respect your authority as captain, but any captain is only as strong as the people who believe in him. I know Sanji and Zoro still believe in you."
"That's right Luffy!" Chopper exclaimed, far too loudly. "As a doctor, I swore never to look the other way when someone may need help! What if they're hurt and we have the chance to save them, but we just sail away?!"
Usopp grit his teeth before he spoke up. "Luffy… You, Zoro and Nami had every reason to leave me on that beach when you first boarded the Merry. You didn't owe me anything, but you brought me aboard because you said we were friends. If it really was as simple as that, Zoro and Sanji are our friends too. They'll always be a part of the crew, and I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes."
Luffy didn't flinch. "So that's how you all feel?"
"We're confused Luffy. We're worried, and we're upset, but we don't feel betrayed. You shouldn't either." Nami took a step forward, squeezing the letter tightly in her hand.
Luffy adjusted his straw hat and took a breath. "On the third day, I set sail, with or without all of you."
He turned and walked slowly back up the beach towards the ship without looking back. Chopper, Robin and Usopp all looked deflated and hurt, each with their eyes fixed downwards at a different patch of sand. Nami glared at their captain and finally let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. It wasn't Luffy's words that had set them free, but the way his voice had caught in his throat right before he said them. He was hurting just as much as the rest of them, perhaps even more so, but refusing to show it, and the pain of that refusal was driving his actions.
The others could afford to let their emotions guide their decisions, but he didn't have that luxury. He certainly didn't want to leave them all behind, but he would do it. That's who the captain had to be, the one who made the final call because law and reason always had to override emotion in the end.
As much as Nami loved him for choosing to be the one to make that call, she couldn't help but hate him for it as well.
After a near sleepless night below deck in a cramped marine cot, Sanji had attempted to enter the ship's galley to make help the pirate chefs make breakfast for the crew, but they had refused to allow him inside.
"Don't use butter to grease the pan!" Sanji snapped before the door was slammed in his face.
He walked up on deck and lit his first smoke of the day and exhaled the tobacco cloud out over the railing where the wind caught it briefly before it vanished.
Tashigi had assigned Zoro and himself a room to share below deck, but before he had even seen it Marion had escorted him to the entrance of her private cabin.
"This isn't your fight Sanji…" She had stated as she opened the door. "I made you break your moral code and lie to your friends. I don't want you to think that doesn't mean anything to me. Tomorrow we could both be dead…"
She had delicately begun to unbutton her nightshirt and then held out her hand to him, her eyes apologetic instead of seductive, her voice timid instead of teasing. Over her shoulder Sanji had seen the spacious bed, beckoning them both forward.
He had raised his hand reflexively to take hers, and for half a moment his mind had sunk into the joyous, passionate bliss he experienced whenever he was in the presence of a beautiful woman, but just as quickly his mind returned to that night at Baratie. He remembered the blood on his hands and the look in her eyes as she realized she had betrayed his trust.
No, worse…
Betrayed his love.
He kept his expression neutral and slowly shook his head before taking an agonized step backward and away from her.
Marion's face had fallen in embarrassment and disappointment.
He turned his back on her as she called after him.
"How many times can I say I'm sorry, Sanji? God damn you! Any woman now except me? Is that how it is?"
Maybe… He thought sullenly to himself.
He had walked eight feet down the narrow corridor before he felt the moisture run down his chin and realized his nose was bleeding. He pulled out his handkerchief and had held it to his face, trying in vain to prevent the blood from staining his suit.
After taking the corner he had leaned against the wall, his head spinning, his heart racing, his entire body rebelling against him for walking away from her like that. It had been so long, and he had waited so patiently for Nami or Robin to invite him into their warm embrace, but they hadn't, so he found satisfaction by making them smile in other ways. Even if they never would, he was determined never to stop treating them like royalty.
In his mind, physical pleasure wasn't meant to be the end game. Like any great feast, it was another dish to be enjoyed, but not to be appreciated so much that it made you ignore the rest of the wondrous selection before you. It was tasty, but it could never be served as the main course. The most rewarding and nourishing of all entrees was the sensation of them knowing he could be trusted.
Even though he more often left the impression of a shameless, lustful creep, he wanted to be remembered as a gentleman and a hero, not defining his worth on the multitude of sexual endeavors he experienced, but how many women he had stood up for.
He would always be captivated by the view, but he would never betray his code and overstep his bounds. Had he chosen to indulge in what Marion had offered, it wouldn't have been real affection, and he would have undermined who he was at heart. Someone who chose himself over the woman. After what she had done, it was fitting she sleep with a dishonest man, but he knew it couldn't be him.
Refocusing his mind on the present, he placed a foot up upon the railing as the morning breeze tossed his cigarette smoke back up past his face and through his hair. Maybe one day he'd be able to forgive Marion, but not yet. Not here.
Zoro sat at the very back of the ship, his legs hanging off the railing as he stared at the wake trailing behind them, the rudder every so often creaking as it made small corrections to keep them on course.
"You weren't at breakfast…" Tashigi's voice came from behind just him, and suddenly she was leaning out over the railing right next to him.
"I was there. You just didn't have your glasses on." Zoro replied simply.
"Was that a joke? From Roronoa Zoro?" Tashigi raised an eyebrow, not trying to hide her pleased astonishment.
Zoro winced. That had been too familiar. As much as he hated to admit it, even if it was only to himself, the cook was right. Tashigi was different. Not because of who she was but who she consistently reminded him of. With her every gesture, toss of the hair, stern expression or spoken word, he was with Kuina again. It unsettled him.
He had made his peace with her passing after many long years of heartache, and just when he had finished forging that molten pain into iron strength, here came this ghost to test him and turn him into a shaky-legged clueless child again. He was always confident with every step he took, convinced it would make him stronger, faster, wiser… but with her, it was all a fog. He didn't know what the smarter path would be, to ignore the distraction or to accept the renewed challenge and strive to conquer it even quicker.
Like it or not, she was another weakness he had to overcome, and as long as he could identify them, he had to master them and turn them into strengths. When she had approached him the previous day after Sanji had reappeared, he could have denied her request and thrown her off the ship, but he found himself unable to form the words to do anything except hear her out.
He had followed her less out of obligation and more out of furious vexation. He needed to make himself look into those eyes and see her for who she was. A young woman who was most definitely not his former rival, and therefore had no sway over him, but even now he could barely bring himself to turn his head.
"Should you be visiting with me like this in front of the other marines?" He asked, ignoring her question.
She shrugged. "We're on a pirate ship. I can get away with speaking to pirates. I wanted to thank you again for joining us… and I wanted to apologize. I was… um… overly judgmental towards you back in Loguetown. I thought you were just another lawless pirate with no respect for the weapons he wielded, but after what you did for the princess of Alabasta and her people…"
"You have nothing to apologize for," Zoro replied, his eyes still focusing on the ship's wake. "You let us go afterward. I don't think we ever thanked you for that."
There was a moment of heavy silence between them.
"I wish we didn't have to be enemies…" Tashigi said in barely more than a whisper.
Zoro turned his head towards her a fraction of an inch.
"Who said I consider you an enemy?"
"My position and your bounty dictate how we have to see each other." She stammered, forcing her expression to remain professional.
"And yet we're on a pirate ship together, conversing as friends. Even though our motivations may not be the same, at least for the time being we share a common goal." Zoro was surprised how warm his voice sounded. That wasn't like him.
Tashigi sighed and adjusted her bangs. "I used to think everything was so black and white, but I suppose being "lawless" doesn't make one "evil."
"You know who are incapable of seeing the world as anything except black and white? The Chess Piece Pirates. After today, they won't be seeing much of anything."
"Was that more humor?" Tashigi smirked.
It hadn't escaped Zoro's notice that she had shyly been sliding herself closer to him every half minute.
"I have to ask you something." Zoro braced himself and made himself look her dead in the eye, and the shadow of Kuina's ghost was there, staring back at him through Tashigi's nervous, yet determined eyes.
"Okay." She replied simply.
"Would you stay aboard the ship if I asked you to? Don't engage with the enemy, just remain back here out of harm's way?"
Tashigi's eyebrows shot up, and it was clear she wasn't sure whether to be touched or offended by his concern.
"I'm the ranking officer Zoro. These are my men, and I can't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself."
"You're the ranking officer only until Smoker gets here." Zoro countered. "I just… it would be safer if you stayed on board."
"Because I'm a woman?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Because you distract me…"
Zoro regretted saying it the moment the words fell from his lips. He hadn't planned on admitting that, it had just emerged like a caged beast he had so far been able to keep chained behind his teeth, but now that it was free, the only thing he could do was recapture it before it got away.
"I mean… The cook and I can handle this. I don't need any marine blood on my hands, especially yours… I don't need to give Smoker any more reason to hate us."
He averted his gaze back out the open sea again, arms still crossed, poker face still sullen and unreadable. At least, he hoped that was the case.
Tashigi didn't speak for another moment, then her normally timid voice rang out strong like the Golden Bell of Skypiea.
"My duty is to my mission and my men. I'm a marine, and I won't ever ask others to die in my place while I stand by. I'll be on that beach right next to you, and if you don't like that, you're welcome to try and stop me now."
She placed one hand on her sword hilt to punctuate her words.
Zoro felt the scathing heat of her challenge wash over him, and he remembered Kuina's steadfast refusal to yield to every challenge he had presented her. In fact, there had always been a stoic, fearless willingness to accept. Tashigi may not have been fearless, but her will was just as strong. Everything Kuina ever stood for was flowing through the veins of this woman as well, and to deny that would have been to deny what he had admired about his friend all those years ago. It wasn't mere coincidence. Zoro didn't believe in coincidence. Wherever she was now, this was her testing him yet again. All he could do was accept.
"You know, marines and pirates, their codes aren't all that different," Zoro said softly.
He spun around on the railing and stood up, straightening himself to his full height as he turned to face her. He set his hand on the small of her back and his other hand on her left bicep. Tashigi's eyes widened at his touch, obviously taken aback at his tenderness.
"Don't ever lean forward no matter how heavy your blade feels. Keep your feet planted and your stance strong. Avoid the sand whenever possible, it will throw off your balance. Don't fall into your opponent's rhythm. Strike when you can, but don't ever sacrifice your cover, even for what could be a killing blow."
"I know all of that…" Tashigi replied softly, glancing up into his eyes with a guilty look that implied she had been trying to avoid them.
"And now I know you do." Zoro drew her sword from off her side and the young woman let out a gasp like he had just unbuckled her belt and her skirt had slipped. He examined the blade carefully.
"Well-balanced. Sharpened nicely. The weight isn't too much?"
She took the sword back indignantly, her hand brushing his as they made the exchange.
"I'm stronger than I look." She answered with conviction.
"One last thing then," Zoro added as he made to turn and walk off towards the helm.
"What's that?"
"Don't lose your glasses."
He walked down the steps and was halfway across the main deck before his stone-face cracked and the faintest shadow of a smirk played at the side of his lips. Zoro normally only felt a cold storm inside his chest, and he used its winds to drive his actions and its lightning to power his strikes, but for at least a few short moments until he reached the bow, he would allow himself to feel a sensation of warmth as he reflected on the girl's fierce, yet puppy-like adorable brown eyes.
"There's our uncharted island…" Sanji commented as Zoro joined him upon the bow. The two Straw Hats stared out at the approaching spike of hostile rock and dry brush which looked as inviting as a wasp's nest.
"Why is it uncharted?" the swordsman asked without much curiosity.
"I got to talking with one of the Clover Pirates last night." Sanji flicked cigarette ash over the rail. "Apparently, the island spins in a slow circle because of underwater currents. You can't really chart it properly because the island is constantly in motion."
"Sounds like something you would find on the Grand Line…" Zoro shrugged. "So, the Navy tried using it for a while?"
"They did. So did the Black Clovers." The cook confirmed "Can't really blame them for abandoning it. It must be a pain to trying to pinpoint it. Fortunately, Marion figured out the coordinates of where it would be. She actually has a log pose that records it."
"Right… Marion the pirate… Who you care about but apparently don't trust…" Zoro's eyes narrowed.
"Yep…" Sanji confirmed without hesitation.
"This was a bad idea…" Zoro muttered.
"Too late now." The cook responded simply. "The Clover Pirates made sure information was leaked to the Chess Piece Pirates that the remaining ships would meet here before abandoning the Grand Line."
"They'll expect a trap." Zoro glowered.
"Very likely, but they won't be expecting you and me, or Smoker and his men for that matter. Since the island is uninhabited it's the perfect spot for a final confrontation."
Zoro squinted and put his hand over his eyes as he stared at the lagoon. The skeletal remains of what looked to be an abandoned ship was grounded in the bay upon the sand.
"If it's uninhabited, why is there a wreck?" he asked.
Sanji glanced towards the beach as the sound of rapid footfalls across the deck made both men turn around, and suddenly Marion was there in her long coat, cutlass back upon her belt, captain's sash around her waist and spyglass in her hand. There was no trace of the hurt in her eyes Sanji had seen there the previous night.
"Is that one of your ships?" Sanji asked her. "I don't see anyone on board."
"That looks like the Rising Storm, one of the ships we're supposed to rendezvous with, but it's not flying any colors. This doesn't make sense. What would cause them to crash? The lagoon is as smooth as silk."
"Better question. If it's not wrecked, why would your ship run itself onto the sand in the exact spot we planned to launch a surprise attack?" Zoro asked.
"They wouldn't…" Marion replied with certainty.
"How sure are you that it's actually your ship?" Sanji grimaced as his eyes scanned the mysterious vessel from every angle.
Instead of answering, Marion raised her arm to signal the crow's nest and the pirate rang the bell obediently. They waited in silence for a few moments for a response of some kind from the first ship, but none came.
"What's going on?" Tashigi asked as she joined them, her glasses reflecting the morning fire as she took in the view of the ghost ship. She borrowed the spyglass from Marion as Sanji filled her in and she pointed to the sand after a moment. "There are no tracks anywhere on the beach and no sign of a camp."
"So, the crew haven't disembarked…" Sanji began.
"Because they never got the chance. They were attacked." Marion snarled as she turned and began shouting at her crew. "Hard to port! Battle stations!"
Zoro drew his swords and Sanji placed one of his feet up on the railing in anticipation of an attack.
"That's the Rising Storm, I'm sure of it!" Marion snapped with sudden intense certainty and alarm. "I have to check on my crew!"
"Not on your own!" Sanji snapped a half-second before the woman vanished like smoke in the breeze.
"Damn it!" Sanji roared in frustration. He turned to Tashigi. "Any word from Smoker?"
"Less than a mile away with the wind on their backs." She waved her arm and closed her fist and a dozen marines stationed on the ship formed ranks behind them on the foredeck. "I'll prepare the men to row ashore on the far side of the bay."
"Best hold off on that." Zoro hissed through clenched teeth.
"I'm getting that feeling too," Sanji admitted. "We should raise the sails and wait for Marion."
"I'm not the captain," Tashigi responded. "That's not my call."
"Then I'll do it!" Sanji snapped.
Suddenly, Marion was back, her arms encircling Sanji's chest.
"Get down! It's going to blow!" She cried out before Sanji felt a brief blur of motion as they teleported, followed immediately by a blow to his chest as he and Marion landed heavily upon the beach and the air was knocked from his lungs. With an ear-splitting roar that shook their bones, the ghost ship exploded…
Zoro didn't pause to think. Grabbing Tashigi around her waist he hurled himself over the side of the deck as the blast wave hit the side of the Cutthroat Bounty and wooden shrapnel rained down upon them like a thousand piercing needles.
The sea struck him on the flat of his back and he grunted as he lost two of his swords on impact and the freezing water swallowed them. Instead of releasing his grip on the marine officer he kicked hard in the direction of the shore in case the Bounty made to capsize.
Tashigi squirmed in his grip in a sheer panic for a few moments before he realized what she was trying to tell him. He noticed the glint of light reflecting off her glasses as they descended towards the seafloor. He immediately adjusted his trajectory and shot downwards after them, scooping them up in his hand before redirecting them both back towards the beach. He lost sight of his swords. He'd have to come back for them.
His head broke the surface and he dragged Tashigi up alongside him. The young woman gasped and began hacking up seawater.
"Can you swim?" He coughed.
"Yes, but I can't see!" She gasped in a blind panic.
"Here…" Zoro shoved her glasses into her flailing hands. "Swim to shore. I'll be right back."
Before Tashigi could reply, Zoro had taken a massive breath and disappeared again into the depths of the bay.
Sanji was back up on his feet in an instant. From the far side of the lagoon, he watched as the Cutthroat Bounty was violently knocked sideways by the force of the blast and fiery debris rained down upon the deck. They had been fortunate that Marion had decided to change course when they did because had they sailed much closer the explosion would have likely engulfed the ship entirely.
"Zoro!" Sanji called out as he watched the swordsman's head break above the water with Tashigi a safe distance from the wreck. Almost immediately he watched Zoro dive back down into the water and Sanji sprinted out into the shallows to help their bespectacled comrade. In the distance, he could see some of the other Black Clover pirates and Marines leaping over the side and into the bay to escape the onslaught of falling wreckage.
Tashigi clawed her way forward through the icy salt-water and regained her feet right as Sanji reached her and took her arm.
"This way, I've got you."
"What happened?" She sputtered as she frantically wiped at her glasses.
"It was a trap." He glowered. Turning back towards the beach he spotted two more pirates who Marion had teleported to safety as soon as she had dropped him off. Marion reappeared in a flash with a third man before vanishing again with the speed of a lightning strike.
As the men shakily made to stand upright Sanji noticed a blur of motion behind them.
"Look out!" He screamed a fraction of a second too late.
Blood splattered the sand as two swords cut through the first two men as though they were ripe fruit and they collapsed upon the beach like sacks of cornmeal. The third man was clearly disoriented but managed to get his pistol up before a sword skewered him beneath his breastbone. The pistol fired as his body spasmed, but the woman wielding the blades idly tilted her head to one side and dodged the shot, strands of her plum-colored hair fluttering wildly in the bullet's wake.
She wrenched her sword free of the man and whipped it down quickly to angle at her side, sending a fresh spray of blood into the breeze.
Sanji grit his teeth in fury as his whole body tensed, and he found himself unable to react to the woman's onslaught. The female attacker turned to smirked at him with her serpent's eyes and took two steps forward, raising the tip of one of her blades to aim between his eyes.
She had just stopped three heartbeats in as many seconds and hadn't even flinched. No, she was worse than a serpent… Sanji thought. She was the dark maw from which all serpents emerged.
"Love the suit. I'd hate to ruin it." She taunted.
Sanji couldn't bring himself to raise his leg to counter her attack, not out of fear, but of reluctant fortitude. He made to side-step her thrust instead, but the wet sand threw off his balance as the tip of the blade shot past his cheek. Just as she made to pivot and slash him across the throat, there was a blur of motion and a great clash of metal on metal as both of her blades connected with a third.
Tashigi was between them, her own sword drawn and angled perfectly to block her attack.
"Lady Rook!" The young woman called out with fire on her tongue. "You have the blood of dozens of marines on your hands! We have the island surrounded. You will surrender yourself now!"
The woman called Lady Rook smirked. "This little butterfly thinks she's a wasp…"
The swords shrieked as they disconnected, and the older woman rained down blow after blow on Tashigi's curved blade with her own twin sabers. Tashigi lost ground by half a step but held her own, blocking every strike that was dealt her.
"Damn you!" Sanji roared towards the vile woman, furious at the sight of Tashigi in peril. Flipping himself forwards he planted his hands in the sand and spun his legs above him in helicopter blade formation, and with master accuracy, he struck the hilt of one of Lady Rook's swords with his heel and sent it flying.
Before it fell far enough to hit the earth, a black, shadowy figure suddenly sprang forward as if birthed from thin air and swung a sword of its own, striking the falling blade at an upward angle and sending it twirling back into the air where Lady Rook nimbly caught it again by its grip.
Sanji's breath caught in his throat. "What the?"
The woman's shadow slithered along the sand like a trained anaconda and stood upright just behind her as though it was a separate person wielding its own twin swords in a horrific mimicry of its master.
"She's a Devil Fruit eater…" Tashigi hissed to Sanji as she braced herself for another attack.
"Not quite…" Lady Rook quipped. "Let's just say Gecko Moriah owed me a favor…"
She launched herself forward and her shadow followed. Four blades, two silver, and two shadowy black screamed through the air. Tashigi deflected two of the blows expertly but the third sliced her across the shoulder and the fourth knocked the legs out from under her. Sanji launched a furious kick at the shadow but he flew right through it without making physical contact and landed hard on the sand.
Lady Rook made to stab downwards at Tashigi, but a solid elbow connected with her sternum and her cavalier hat flew off. Marion had appeared out of thin air directly between the two and managed to plant a blow into the woman's chest as she drew her own sword.
The villainess took two steps backward to steady herself and raised both of her swords upwards, points forward as though imitating a scorpion. Marion and Tashigi stood side by side, swords drawn and staring back at her.
"You killed my men. I'm going to cut out your heart and nail it to my masthead." Marion's words seemed to scorch themselves into the sea breeze around them.
"You'll have to find it first." The woman spoke with ice to counter Marion's scathing voice. The shadow launched itself around Lady Rook and its swords crashed against the waiting blades.
Sanji watched as Tashigi and Marion masterfully blocked the blows against the villain's self-conscious mirror image as the woman with plum-colored hair made to circle around them.
Sanji grit his teeth so hard his jaw popped. He had an opening. From his position could launch a kick directly into the woman's abdomen before she could counter him with her swords and knock her a good distance away from his friends, but his body refused to comply.
He paused as he heard a young child's voice echo through his head as if calling from the deepest of forgotten caverns:
"I'll never hurt anyone like that… especially you…"
His throat tightened as he remembered her face, eyes swollen, nose bleeding, but a warm smile spreading across her face regardless.
"I know you won't, Sanji." She replied as she hugged him, and his tears wet her cheeks. "You'll be the greatest type of man. One who protects women."
But now Lady Rook was advancing on his friends, and if he didn't do something, his inaction would get them killed.
"God damn it!" He screamed as he saw red and fired himself into the air. Instead of delivering the prearranged kick he swiped his foot roughly through the loose sand and launched a blinding cloud of dust into the woman's eyes.
Before she could react, he swiped his other foot across the sand in the opposite direction, and then continued the pattern, rapidly pelting her with wave after wave of millions of tiny projectiles and obstructing her view, driving her away from the pirate captain and the marine officer.
"Are you still here?" He heard her cough, and with a toss of her cape the air between them cleared and she caught Sanji's outstretched leg with the flat of her blade.
"We're playing with fire while you're struggling to master the flint." She chided, her piercing eyes laughing at him. "Are you a fool or a coward? The Grand Line has no need of either."
"Neither. I'm a cook…" He snapped and kicked himself into the air. He spun his body clockwise, catching her blade tip above his toe and he brought down his other foot with the force of a lightning strike and broke her sword in half.
Immediately one of the swords the shadow wielded evaporated into nothingness, and, caught off guard, it immediately began to fall back in distress as Marion and Tashigi doubled their attack.
Sanji landed nimbly on the sand and stared back at the woman's astonished face as he continued.
"… and I don't leave blood in my wake."
She indignantly tossed the broken weapon aside and raised her remaining blade with both hands and smirked at him.
"You will."
"Sanji!" He heard Marion scream from behind him.
His world suddenly exploded in pain as he felt a blade bite deep into the meat of his left shoulder. His legs collapsed underneath him as he felt the sword twist itself.
He felt an icy sensation run over his skin as the woman's shadow passed over him to reposition itself next to her, his own blood staining the dark replica of her own blade.
"A White Knight's blood is the best kind to spill." Lady Rook's voice filled his wound like poison. "It's like striking oil."
Sanji collapsed forward and his face hit the sand, but he could still hear her voice hovering over him.
"Every drop has value. Best make it last and let it drain from you slowly."
He felt a rush of motion above him and heard Lady Rook's grunt as she was knocked backwards across the beach and her shadow followed comically in her wake like a puppet on a string. He didn't need to raise his head to figure out what happened, because there came the familiar sound of teeth clenching down on metal and he felt a rush of sudden relief.
Zoro had joined the fight.
After Zoro had located his fallen swords at the soggy base of the bay he kicked himself back up towards sunlight and breathed in deep as he tried to collect his bearings.
Across the beach, rifles were being fired from what felt like every direction as a dozen Chess Piece pirates emerged from their hiding places and took aim at the Clovers and Marines leaping from the Cutthroat Bounty.
Zoro deflected shot after shot with the flats of his blades as he launched himself up out of the water and tore across the sand, cutting down enemy combatants left and right and giving what men were still in the water a chance to reach the shore safely.
The Chess Piece pirates wore varying layers of black and white checkerboard patterns, and their uniformity made it easy for Zoro to identify his enemy and dispatch them. As he cleared a path up the beach several of Tashigi's marines were able to find cover behind the scattered debris of the first ship and return fire.
Zoro paused to tie his green bandanna tightly around his scalp and place the handle of his third sword between his teeth. He tasted saltwater in his mouth as he bit down hard on the katana's grip and the ocean that had soaked itself into the bindings ran free as if from a sponge.
"Ten Ton Talon!" He cried out through gritted teeth and struck down three incoming enemies with the speed and deadly force of an eagle's claw impaling a salmon.
Behind him, he heard the Black Clover Pirates and marines cheer as they realized Zoro was evening the playing field and their attackers began to fall. He quickly scanned the beach and spotted Sanji, Tashigi, and Marion on the far side of the bay battling against two figures wielding blades.
He parried a blade strike from another daring Chess Piece pirate and sliced his attacker's sword into four pieces before cutting the man down and putting him into the sand before the ringing vibration of the severed metal was finished echoing in his ears.
Zoro kicked himself upwards off the shoulder of another bewildered enemy and made his way towards his lanky crewmate. From behind him, he heard the cannons aboard the Cutthroat Bounty begin to sing their booming lyrics as what men remained on board targeted the enemies on the beach.
The swordsman had nearly closed the distance when a change in the air tickled at his senses and he pivoted just in time to avoid a heavy metal chain taking off his head. A pirate twice his size moved to intercept him and block his path. The great brute sported a chess pawn with a skeletal face tattooed upon his bare chest and strapped upon his back was the massive steering wheel of a pirate ship with dozens of chains wrapped around it like a ball of twine.
The large man cackled through rows of broken jagged teeth and took another swing at Zoro, his collection of chains clinking loudly against each other like a rusty windchime. The swordsman easily parried the blow with one of his katanas and the chain snapped as he sliced through it gracefully.
Undeterred, the man reached behind him and spun the great wheel upon his back, feeding out more chain as if it were string on a fishing pole, but suddenly a great black mass of ooze splattered him directly between his eyes and he bellowed in furious confusion over being temporarily blinded.
Zoro looked over his shoulder. Standing just behind him was a Black Clover pirate with long slimy black hair and his hand extended outward, a thick slime running from between his fingers.
"Ink Ink Fruit." The man stated breathlessly. "I've got him, go help the Captain."
Without pausing to think twice Zoro tore across the sand, bullets whizzing past him from all sides. He batted them away like flies with his blades.
He watched as the cook was skewered from behind by a shadowy form and he snarled in irritation and rage. He could tell his friend's wound wasn't fatal, but it would slow him down, and they couldn't afford to lose ground.
Zoro kicked himself off a fallen tree and soared through the air, spinning his body like a shuriken star and slamming himself into the attacking woman, knocking her backward.
Zoro hit the sand in a crouching position and launched himself forward again, and to his amazement, the woman parried all three of his blades with a single strike of her rapier. His breath caught in his throat and he had a horrific flashback of the day when Dracule Mihawk had accomplished the same feat using only the dagger he wore around his neck.
"Roronoa Zoro…" The woman's eyes lit up as she leaned into her stance and put more pressure on his blades. "I've been hoping to encounter you." She chided.
Zoro shifted his weight and broke his locked blades free, pivoting sideways and repositioning himself, reevaluating his plan of attack.
The woman idly spun her blade and the shadow mimicked her actions.
"No…" She paused, and the shadow fell silently upon the ground again to follow her passively as any shadow would. "This isn't cutting through weeds, it's slaying a dragon. The glory will be mine alone."
She straightened her back and pointed her single rapier forward with one arm, the point level with his eye. "Three sword style. Keeps you from getting too chatty I see. Personally, I find two blades cumbersome enough, but that's mostly for intimidation anyway. One is all I'll need to put you down."
Zoro's blades ricocheted through the air like lightning strikes, but she fluidly, almost effortlessly, countered each blow without once losing her balance.
"We're practically siblings, you and I." She grinned, unphased by his piercing glare. With her free hand, she lifted her shirt to expose a long blood-red scar that ran diagonally across her smooth stomach.
"Mihawk…" She declared as she let her shirt drop again. "He spared my life. Any deeper and my guts would have painted my feet. I heard you were baptized by Yoru as well."
Zoro normally wouldn't indulge in petty chides meant to delay the duel, but every moment she kept speaking was another moment he could read her body language and analyze her patterns to try to determine her next move. He wasn't sure if he believed her story about Mihawk, but true or not, he had her beat.
He tore off his shirt and let it fall in tatters upon the sand, exposing his broad chest and massive scar which ran from left shoulder to right hip that the Warlord had graced him with upon the East Blue on the day he had met Sanji.
"It seems he saw potential in both of us." She acknowledged. "Let's see which child of Mihawk was correctly assigned his faith."
Her movements were as quick and explosive as a bullet from a rifle. Zoro barely had time to counter her blow before her blade tip embedded itself between his ribs. He blocked her attack and attempted again to rain blows upon her but to no avail. He moved like a charging bull while she glided around him like a coiled serpent. He couldn't defeat her with brute strength. He had to find a way to outmaneuver her, break her focus, and bury his katana in her neck…
Marion tore her scarf free and attempted to staunch Sanji's wound while Tashigi rolled him onto his side so he could better catch his breath.
"The Storm's crew were all dead. There were quills embedded in the deck everywhere." Marion spoke rapidly. "It was all a diversion. They rigged the gunpowder to blow."
"Where's Smoker?" Sanji gasped for breath.
"I'm not sure…" Tashigi answered nervously as she glanced around them. "My men are being overrun…"
"How did they know?" Sanji asked.
"I have an idea…" Marion glared as she watched Zoro and Rook dance across the sand trading sharp metallic blows.
There came a second explosion from the bay, and they all turned to see Marion's flagship The Cutthroat Bounty erupt into flames as massive quills the size of broadswords tore through its wooden shell.
"No!" Marion gasped as she saw her remaining men topple off the ship into the shallows like rag dolls, most of them impaled by the massive black spikes.
"You can't help them! Don't teleport!" Sanji grunted and grabbed her arm. "Marion!" He shouted and made her look at him. "Get yourself and Tashigi to safety. Find somewhere on the island to hide."
"I'm not leaving my men!" Marion snapped.
"We've lost." Sanji groaned as he clutched his wounded shoulder and Tashigi helped him back to his feet. "There's no sense in your dying today. Not when you can vanish and live to fight another day."
"There he is…" Tashigi interrupted as she pointed across the bay.
The massive figure of Juzo Rameses was striding up the beach, his quills sticking out from his upper back at every angle and his overcoat in shreds from where hundreds of razor-tipped harpoons had been fired through it. His parson's hat shaded his eyes but did nothing to hide the man's deranged, manic grin as he walked across the bodies of pirates and marines alike.
"Go," Sanji grunted. "I'll slow him down. You two get out of here."
He quickly scanned the beach in both directions. The Cutthroat Bounty and the Rising Storm were both on fire, the gunshots had stopped, and he couldn't make out any allies who were still standing amongst the remaining Chess Piece Pirates scattered along the beach.
Marion and Tashigi held their ground with Sanji propped between them. Three lowly saplings in the path of the wildfire.
Rameses roared with laughter as he launched a quill from his forearm and skewered a marine upon the sand. The Chess Piece Pirates around him cheered.
Sanji thought of Nami and Robin, and how much he loved them both, and how he wished he could have done more for them before Marion had whisked him away. He had wanted to see Nami's completed world map and hear all about Robin's discoveries relating to the Poneglyphs. Most of all, he had wanted to show them both the wondrous perfection of the All Blue.
"I'm proud to die beside you two," Sanji told the women as he raised his leg at the knee and prepared to launch himself forward. Rameses was getting closer, and any moment now he would finally spot them.
Suddenly Sanji noticed a blur of something, like a fog, glide its way up the beach and envelop Rameses from behind.
"LOOK!" Tashigi cried out.
There was faint a snap of metal as Smoker materialized out of the air next to the towering scarecrow and snapped a Seastone cuff to the villain's wrist.
Rameses roared in fury and swung around, awkwardly firing quills from his back at the brutish marine, but they passed right through him like arrows fired into the mist.
Smoker pulled his Jitte from behind his back and made to stab it into Rameses' torso, but the blunted Seastone tip couldn't penetrate his skin. He spun and delivered a solid punch right into the towering beast's crooked jaw.
"He's got him!" Marion cried out. "We have to help him!"
From behind them, they heard a grunt from Zoro as Lady Rook's blade tip found his upper thigh.
"I'll help Zoro!" Tashigi called out as she ran to him. "You two help Smoker!"
Tashigi sprinted forward and deflected a blow meant for Zoro's neck as the man panted in exhaustion, sweat pouring down his face and chest.
"No room for three in this chess game…" Lady Rook hissed, and her shadow reappeared to intercept the young woman.
"I hate chess…" Tashigi grimaced and pivoted her blade to catch the sun, temporarily blinding Lady Rook and giving her the opportunity to slice the woman behind her knee.
Lady Rook snarled as both she and her shadow swung at Tashigi with their blades, but Zoro blocked the puppeteer's sword with one katana and the puppet's with another. The third blade between his teeth he managed a strike and sliced a cut across the woman's cheek.
Lady Rook retreated three steps and glared at the two of them, the pirate and the marine.
"Okay then…" She snarled as blood trickled down her cheek. "A noble victory is the first casualty. Which of you will be the second?"
She caught the edge of a fallen Clover pirate's blade with her heel and expertly tossed it upwards and caught it with her free hand. Instantly her shadow birthed a second sword of its own.
Zoro and Tashigi launched themselves forward towards her.
Marion teleported herself across the beach cutting down the remaining Chess Piece pirates with her blade and clearing a path for Sanji as he sprinted towards Smoker and Rameses. The Marine was trying to ensnare the monstrous pirate's other hand in the cuff and subdue him.
None of the other pirates were willing to get close as Rameses was still firing projectile quills in every direction trying to impale his troublesome attacker.
Still clutching at his wounded shoulder Sanji ran forward and kicked himself up into the air, aiming a blow at Rameses's head. Then something struck him between the shoulder blades, and he was sent flying sideways to crash into the shallows. He gasped and coughed up seawater as he scrambled back to his feet.
A hooded figure landed in the sand in front of him, and Sanji recognized the stance it took as it slowly raised one leg upwards at the knee, revealing a cloven hoof instead of a foot.
"You must be Bishop." Sanji acknowledged as he gave a half-hearted smirk and raised a new cigarette to his mouth, despite being drenched in seawater.
"And you're the Blackfoot." The Bishop replied in a monotone voice. "I was there at Enies Lobby. I saw what you did to Jabra."
"I don't remember who that is." Sanji shrugged as his lighter sparked a flame and he lit his smoke. "My mind was on saving my friend. Were you one of Rob Lucci's goons?"
The waves crashed in around his feet as Bishop stared him down from under the hood.
"He wished I was."
Sanji ignored the saltwater burning inside his wound as he took a careful step forward.
"You're the first person I've met on the Grand Line who has studied Blackfoot style." He pointed his chin in the figure's direction. "Who taught you?"
The Bishop's cloven hoof gleamed against the sunlight.
"Someone we've both since surpassed." Came the reply.
Marion appeared beside Sanji and raised her sword, but Sanji took hold of her shoulder.
"I've got this. You help Smoker."
"You don't know what he's capable of." Marion glanced at him.
"I know better than anyone." Sanji smirked.
He kicked himself forward and brought up his left foot to connect with Bishop's chest, but his leg was parried by a dark, muscular shin and both of them spun through the air as they each tried to deal another blow. Sanji landed on his hands and flipped himself back into the air. Bishop, perhaps reluctant to land upside down and let the cloak slip, took the extra moment to pivot in midair and land on the cloven hooves. Sanji caught the figure with a hard, right kick to the side and sent the robed assailant catapulting across the sand to land in the weeds.
Sanji spun on his heel to heat the leather and tapped his cigarette against his sole to ignite it.
"I've been looking for someone to kick clear across this island since I arrived." He spoke with fury and charged towards his fallen opponent. "Fortunately for the sword wielder, I don't engage women. But for you… All bets are off."
Sanji landed another blow directly underneath Bishop's chin and set the cloak on fire with his blazing shoe as the figure was thrown backwards again to land hard against the unforgiving parched earth.
The lanky cook hit the sand again and stood up straight, his eyes as fiery as his foot as he marched forward preparing to deal another blow.
Bishop stood and tossed the burning cloak aside, revealing large violet eyes, and petite chin, smooth shoulders, and a pale exposed midriff. The chest was small, but the bumps were visible enough underneath the leather top to confirm what was present underneath.
Sanji froze in his tracks as the woman wiped the blood from her lower lip and stood back up, her cloven feet planted firmly in the dirt.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." She smirked.