This story has haunted me for years, so last year NaNoWriMo I decided to just write it down. It's one of my favorite stories I ever wrote, although it's far from perfect.
This year I sadly can't participate so I decided to give it a revival by translating it into English.
As you may know I'm not a native speaker, so I appreciate all kinds of concrit and comments.
Enjoy! ;-)
P.S.: I finally made my own tumblr, in case you want to chat with me or ask some questions you don't wanna ask here. I will regulary update little previews and hints about the stuff I'm working on, so come by and say hi^^
Prologue
"He'll be here soon," she noted with a small smile while placing the beer mug right in in front of him, "but of course you already know that."
Walking past him her hand traced along his jawline. He nodded without saying a single word and reached for his drink. Of course, he knew that the other one would arrive soon; an aura he would never forget, no matter how much time would pass.
But it hadn't even been so much time. Just two years ago he had recognized that aura for the first time after so many years, when the other one had come closer and closer to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Even now he could recall how nervous he had been, how excited he had been. It had been tough; waiting, caught between excitement and fear. Every mile the other one had come closer, it had become harder to think straight or to think at all. He didn't want to remember how much money he had lost through gambling the last twenty-four hours before the other one had arrived. He even had to sell himself to the slave traders – about three time actually – to pay off his debts. Even the alcohol had betrayed him, not being able to knock him out, so he could have forgotten at least for a few seconds, just like now.
He put down the empty mug, his thumb following the lines of a few water drops.
It almost felt like yesterday, when an unexpected riot had shaken the auction house and he had just known that the other one had been part of it. The first time they had faced each other after such a long time he had expected something, anything; he didn't know exactly what he had expected, but at least something, maybe a wink, maybe half a grin or a stone-cold glare.
But the other one had simply looked at him like he had been some stranger, some nameless bystander, just a suspicious figure, but nothing more.
Unasked another beer found its way in front of his eyes.
"You're nervous?" The woman behind him asked, letting her arms slide down along his neck. He could feel her breath just beside his ear.
"Aren't you?" He replied, sounding way more causal than he actually felt.
She laughed silently, took his empty glass and went back to the counter.
"He's just a friend, right? Don't sweat it."
"Just a friend," he echoed hollow.
Two years ago, he had no time to worry about the other one, after all this idiot and his friends had challenged the world nobles and with them the Marine and the World Government. But it had been entertaining at first, especially meeting the boy, who had been saved by Shanks, the boy who carried Roger's hat as an emblem.
Yes, it had been interesting to finally meet the straw hats, interesting to watch them, reminding him of better times.
They had asked countless questions, some of them for greater, some for smaller reasons. But what had he asked? Of all things he could have asked him, should have asked him?
'How's an octopus get in with a big shot like yourself?'
He had asked after Hachi. He hadn't expected that. He had expected two hands gripping his collar, throwing him against the next wall.
He had expected a rough 'And who the hell are you?' which he would have answered with a surprised 'Silvers Rayleigh', just so the other one would press his elbow against his throat and gnarl 'No, why do you look so familiar?'
He had expected that the other one would have at least recognized him, at least his face or his voice and it had almost hurt – oh well, it had hurt like hell – that the other one hadn't even recalled him in the slightest moment. That was exactly the reason why he was so nervous right now.
Two years ago, he had been beaming with hope that the other one might recognize him, but had been devastated afterwards. After all, if the other one would have remembered him, he wouldn't have waited so long to reach out to him.
Today Rayleigh didn't even dare to start hoping. Two years were long, but not nearly long enough.
"So, what if he doesn't recognize you?" Shakuyaku saw right through him. "Would that be such a horrible thing?"
"No", Rayleigh mumbled and emptied his second beer. "Basically, it's selfish from me to hope he might remember. After all he has a good life; he seemed happy, right?"
Slowly he turned in his chair to face the barkeeper.
"Did he seem happy to you?"
The black-haired lady laughed and placed a cigarette between her lips.
"Considering how many people were surrounding him, he seemed at least quite relaxed."
Rayleigh nodded slowly and put his arm on the back rest.
"You're right. He seemed to trust them."
Shakky tilted her head and met his eyes.
"Are you jealous?"
Instead of answering he stood up and walked towards her, taking her cigarette and took a deep draw. She laughed again but didn't stop him.
"You don't smoke."
His coughing was more than enough confirmation and he slumped down on a bar stool right in front of her, just the bar between them. After a couple of seconds, she turned to the window.
"He's arrived."
An unnecessary observation, of course he knew it, but he simply nodded while she offered him another glass.
"Strange, isn't it? He's ten days early. Usually he ain't one of the accurate guys."
He shrugged his shoulders and took the offered drink.
"Who knows, things can change."
In mutual silence Shakky started wiping the bar while Rayleigh tilted his glass from one side to another.
After some never-ending minutes he could finally hear those familiar footsteps just outside the bar. Heavy boots came closer, but Rayleigh kept his eyes on his glass, yet couldn't ignore Shakky's not so subtle grin.
Finally, the door behind his back swung open and Rayleigh couldn't hinder a smile.
"Zoro," the barkeeper mumbled in perfectly acted surprise, placing an elbow on the counter and taking a fine draft from her cigarette.
"The others aren't here yet?" His voice sounded deeper than two years ago, more mature. "Typical."
The former pirate took another sip.
"You're early," Rayleigh commented without turning around. Heavy footsteps hollowed through the small bar and with a grunt the swordsman sat down beside him.
"You wanna drink something?" The black-haired lady asked and already placed a filled beer mug in front of him.
"Thanks, Shakky. But don't you have something stronger for me?"
Rayleigh could hear the smirk in the other man's voice.
"I might," the owner agreed smiling and leaned towards the pirate before whispering, "but that ain't on the house."
"Oh, so I'm fine with beer," Zoro dodged with a grin and took a deep sip.
He took that moment to observe the former pirate.
It surprised Rayleigh, yet he went along with it and regarded the newcomer as well, noted the great changes – the new scar, the longer hair – as well as the subtle ones.
"Looking good, Silver." Zoro raised his already half-empty mug like he wanted to raise a toast to him; showing his crooked grin, which felt so oddly familiar.
The dark king laughed softly and returned to his whisky.
"No need to be so formal, Zoro. Just call me Rayleigh."
The other one tilted his head and took another sip.
"Nah, I prefer Silver."
Rayleigh bit his lip before shaking his head and emptying his glass.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Zoro, but I'd feel uncomfortable. A good friend of mine used to call me that."
"Who?" Suddenly the other one gripped his shoulder and pulled him around. "I thought I'm the only one to call you that!"
Surprised Rayleigh met Zoro's stone hard face, before it was torn apart by an evil grin.
"You… You remember?"
The other one laughed softly and patted his shoulder.
"Of course, I do. You thought I'd forget you?"
The other one pulled him in a strong embrace and for a moment Rayleigh held his friend tight, before placing a hand on his shoulder and keeping him an armlength at distance.
"Why are you here so early?"
Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"Quick-witted as always."
Then he brushed Rayleigh's hand off.
"I wanted to have some time to talk to you. But I'm mainly here to listen."
Both of them turned back to their drinks.
The former pirate still had a hard time believing, his heart racing with happiness, but he stayed serious.
"You want me to tell you about the One Piece?" He asked.
"Nonsense," Zoro denied, "don't care about that part of the story. No, you know what I mean."
"Roger."
The swordsman nodded and emptied his glass as well.
Seconds later the barkeeper offered him another glass filled with golden liquid.
"Whisky?" Zoro asked with a grin.
She winked at him. "Honey, I got no ethanol or spyritus, but at least this one's on the house."
They talked for hours, Shakky making sure they never ran dry while mainly Rayleigh talked. Sometimes Zoro would question specific things or comment on another one, but most of the time he was simply listening. He only interrupted Rayleigh immediately whenever he came too close to the One Piece or Raftel; it was more than obvious that Zoro didn't want to hear more than he already knew.
The sun had set hours ago, the window on Rayleigh's right showed a soft glimmer at the far horizon. A new day was about to begin.
"So," Rayleigh finished his tale, "that's about it I guess, or do you have any more questions? My tongue kind of feels swollen from all that talking."
"Oh, I can take care of that," Shakky grinned and refilled his glass.
Zorro joined him for another drink.
"So," Rayleigh started again. "What about you now? What's your plan?"
The swordsman shrugged his shoulders. "Drinking to death?"
"Not on my bill," Shakky gnarled jokingly and lifted an eyebrow before lighting another cigarette.
The dark king laughed into his glass. "Sounds good to me but that wasn't what I was talking about."
"I know," Zoro admitted and took another sip, "but there's not much to talk about."
"There isn't?" Rayleigh repeated. "You will continue to travel with the straw hats?"
"Of course." Zoro grinned. "After all I wanna find out all about the One Piece."
Rayleigh smiled as well. "And become the greatest swordsman in the world."
The dark grin of the other one grew. "Exactly."
For a moment both grinned before the former pirate became serious again.
"So, will you tell your friends the truth?"
"Nope." Zoro placed his empty glass in front of the barkeeper.
"No?"
"No."
Stunned Rayleigh stared at the other one who watched his glass being refilled.
"You won't let them in?"
"Didn't I just say that?" Zoro replied and watched him with a dry look.
"I doubt that's a smart idea," the former pirate judged harshly. "We both know that your past will catch up on you sooner or later."
"Certainly," Zoro agreed, "and then I will explain all I need to."
Suddenly his subtle smile disappeared and he looked almost sad.
"But we both know as well that I will have to leave the crew afterwards. So..."
"I don't think so. If you talk with them, I'm sure they will..."
"Nothing will change the past. No matter today, my deeds have been done and I can't make up for them." He emptied his drink in one go. "So I'll be totally selfish here and keep it to myself until I can't any longer."
Rayleigh shook his head and pursed his lips before commenting something he might would regret.
"I know what you're gonna say, Silver. But I want to stay with them as long as I can. They're my friends, so I want to protect them as long as possible."
"So let them in! If I were you, I would clear this mess sooner than later instead of waiting for things to turn bad and endangering myself to leave the crew."
Rayleigh had grown louder; the other one's pig head was purely annoying, but Zoro stayed calm as usual.
"This ain't you're decision. They're my crewmates and the less they know, the better for all of us."
Shaking his head and huffing angrily Rayleigh got up. Luckily Shakky had been thoughtful enough to disappear in the backroom.
"You're right. It's your decision, indeed," he gnarled and folded his arms, "and it's a stupid, a damn stupid decision."
"So what? You're gonna blow the whistle on me?"
Why was Zoro still so calm?
With a sigh Rayleigh turned for the window.
"No, of course not," he mumbled and looked over his shoulder at the other one, who was still sitting at the counter, "but somebody has to tell you how stupid you are."
The pirate laughed softly.
"Don't worry about that part."
"So what about Luffy?"
Zoro didn't even look at him.
"What about him? He's my captain."