A/N: Final chapter and Epilogue! As before, stay tuned for the afterword (which will go up later today or tomorrow). If you liked this story, it'll be worth your while.

Ch. 31 – Kidnapped Bride

Helena soon noticed some things other than the less cozy bed and the missing bandana. The room was rocking. Why would the palace be rocking? And she smelled the ocean. The ocean's breezes rarely reached as far as her room.

Her eyes shot open and she gasped in shock. This was not her bedroom. Cherry stained wooden walls, small, square windows, plush, woven rugs. She was in the cabin of her own trireme. It didn't take her long to surmise how she had gotten there.

She threw off the covers, stumbling as she tried and failed at first to find her sea legs. A moment later she had slammed open the cabin door, only to see Zoro standing with his back to her there on the upper deck, gazing out at the open ocean.

"Zoro!" she screeched.

"Oh, you're awake," he said conversationally, not turning to her.

"What. In. Hades is going on?!"

"I thought it was obvious," he said. "I kidnapped you."

"You what?!" Helena raged. "How could you…? Why would you…? What about Kuina?!"

"I kidnapped her too," he said proudly, pointing at the lower deck ahead of them.

"WHAT?" Helena cried, running to the railing of the upper deck to see her daughter happily chasing one of Perona's spooks below.

The ghost princess herself lay comfortably on a lawn chair set up beneath a giant umbrella. She munched a bagel sandwich as she lazily directed the hollows in loops around the deck.

"Hey, you hit her with one of your stupid ghosts and you'll be sorry!" Zoro called down to her.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry," Perona called back.

"ZORO!" Helena snapped.

"Yes?" Zoro replied, turning to her.

"Aah!" She quickly turned away. "You don't have your mask, remember?"

"Oh, you're right. One second," Zoro said, turning to look out at sea once more. "Or maybe two…"

A blast of cold air slammed into Helena, and she threw her arms around herself shivering. "What the…?"

"There, we're out of Ilium's waters," Zoro informed her, turning back to her shamelessly. "We just passed free of the summer climate. Now we don't have to worry about that little proviso anymore."

"You smug little…!" Helena started, but then stopped short when she caught sight of his face for the first time in over two years. He was more rugged than she remembered. More mischievous. He wore the same look of confidence, though; the man who never doubted himself.

"What happened to your eye?" she asked, gingerly touching his face. Naturally she had already noticed it was missing, but the scar reached farther than she realized.

"Oh, that's a long story…" Zoro started, but Helena cut him off.

The cold air had just started to get to her, and as she shivered she noticed her clothes, or almost complete lack thereof, for the first time. She had on nothing more than a short, silky night gown. Something she'd never wear in front of anyone but her husband.

"Zoro, you kidnapped me in my lingerie!" she cried, attempting to cover herself. At that precise moment she noticed that the rows and rows of oarsmen, a common commodity on board a trireme, were all staring at her with interest. "Where are my clothes?!"

"Oops! I guess I forgot to pack you some," Zoro replied, smacking his forehead.

"ZORO!" Helena cried in dismay.

"Well, I had to kidnap you so quickly. At least you're not naked."

"ZORO!"

"What? I for one am not complaining," he said, smirking at her.

"ZORO!" Helena shrieked. "You turn this boat around RIGHT NOW!"

Zoro laughed heartily, removing his long green coat and wrapping her in it. "Of course I brought you clothes," he said. "I'm not stupid!"

Helena pulled the warm coat around her, but glared icicles at him without saying a word.

"Ok, ok, calm down," he pleaded. "I'm not kidnapping you for good. Just as far as Saobody. I talked to your father, and he agreed a vacation would do you some good."

"A vacation…?" Helena asked incredulously. "I've got responsibilities back home! I mean, we just fought a small war! It'll look bad if I just leave at a time like this!"

"Not really," Zoro said. "Like I said, your father and I worked it out. He's already planning to tell everyone you are sailing out on a…how'd he put it? On a 'diplomatic mission to seal your ties with a powerful, independent entity.'"

Helena chuffed. "Who?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow at her. "The Straw Hat Pirates. Who else?"

Helena stared at him a moment, completely flabbergasted.

"Well, you said something like that yourself, didn't you?"

"Y-yes," she spluttered. "Yes, I suppose I did."

"Anyway, I'm not missing my daughter's birthday," Zoro went on. "There's an amusement park at Saobody, did you know?"

"Yes! And slave traders, and world government officials, and Zeus knows who else that would love to get their hands on her!"

"Which is why I brought Hector along," Zoro said, waving to the deck below.

The General had just appeared on deck. Catching Kuina as she ran to him, he tossed her into the air to peals of adorable giggles.

"Hey!" Perona snapped. "Bring me some hot cocoa! It's freezing out here!"

"I'm a General, not a servant," Hector said, throwing her a glare before turning back to Kuina. "Isn't that right Little Princess?"

"Higher, Uncle Hecky! Higher!"

"Humph…some royal yacht this turned out to be," Perona grumped. "I'm glad I didn't marry you, stupid bunny. You are so not cute."

"I told you, I'm already married, you weirdo!"

"See, if she goes missing, Hector can possess the whole Archipelago and find her in a heartbeat," Zoro said, placing his hands on Helena's shoulders. "Not that I think anything will happen to her. I mean, she's got pretty fierce parents."

Helena chuckled, half amused but mostly still shocked. "I…suppose a short vacation couldn't hurt," she conceded. "And it'll be nice to see Luffy and the others again."

"That's more like it," Zoro said with a grin. "Now…" He scooped her up in his arms, turning back toward the cabin. "I think it's about time we had our honeymoon. Wouldn't you agree, Ohimesama?"

"Yes indeed," she laughed. "After all, you did just kidnap your bride, Zoro-Kun."

* Epilogue *

Helena marched through the now familiar groves of Saobody, her teeth gritted as she led Kuina by the hand. Where is that idiot? she snarled inwardly.

Kuina sniffled to herself, understandably distraught. After all, her Papa had promised to meet them and had probably gotten lost. Again.

The groves have NUMBERS! She thought. Even he should be able to manage that!

Of course, she shouldn't really be surprised. When they had first arrived at Saobody, she had had to help him find his way to Shakky's Bar, even with Rayleigh's vivre card and the numbered groves working in their favor. Zoro had been delighted to discover that he was the first to arrive:

"They never change," he'd said of the crew with a smug smirk of satisfaction. His wife soon smacked him on the back of the head, reminding him to give her due credit.

Ten days later and they still hadn't seen the rest of the crew. Rayleigh had reported that a few had peaked into the bar that morning – and Zoro had been particular about knowing the order of their appearance – but the fact that she hadn't actually seen anyone made her antsy. As nice as it was to spend so much time with her family, she hated feeling stuck in limbo. Anyway, she needed to get back to Ilium. Her father hadn't contacted her once during the entire vacation. –no news was probably good news, but still!

Her anxiety inadvertently translated itself into undue frustration at Zoro's disappearance. Her more logical side knew that he would turn up eventually, and he'd be able to make this all up to Kuina somehow. The man could do no wrong by his daughter, who still worshipped the ground he walked on. Helena was starting to get a little jealous, actually.

In Grove 42, Helena finally slowed her pace, instinctively pulling Kuina close to her. What was a full unit of marines doing here? And what were they doing on their hands and knees?

Holo holo holo holo!

Helena heard the ghosts before she saw them wreaking havoc on the downcast marines. She looked around and soon found their source, sitting high up on a column.

"Hey!" Helena called up to Perona.

The Ghost Princess floated down to her, a look of surprise on her face. Helena spoke before she could say anything:

"Have you seen Zoro? He promised Kuina he'd take her fishing! – and he said he finally got her a birthday present. He's only ten days late!"

"Are you serious?" Perona gasped, her eyes bugging out. "Zoro and the rest of the crew are being pursued by the marines! They're meeting up with everyone else back at the Sunny!"

Without missing a beat, Helena scooped Kuina up and plopped her onto her shoulders. "Which way?" she asked.

At that moment, General Hector appeared out of the natural wood of the archipelago floor. "Your Majesty!" he cried, pointing a half striped branch. "Hurry! The Straw Hats ship is that way! They look like they're all gathered!"

Helena nodded at them both, then glanced up at her daughter. "Come on, Kuina. Let's try to catch your Papa before he leaves!"

Hector tightened his roots in preparation for battle, turning to face the as yet compliant marines. From beside him, Perona let out a huff:

"Humph, he hasn't even given Kuina her birthday present yet?" she grumbled. "He worked so hard to get it too. Every day back at that stupid game booth at the amusement park…"

"You mean he finally won it for her?" Hector asked.

"If he had better sense, I bet he could have found one to buy in town."

Hector chuckled. "I don't know. That particular color is pretty unusual."

"I guess I can't really complain," Perona went on. "He won a few consolation prizes on the way, and he let me keep one." She held out her new teddy bear. It had once probably been pretty cute, but she'd adjusted it to look like some kind of strange zombie surgeon in a blue bubble hat. No matter how he tried, Hector would never understand the ghost girl's macabre taste.

The marines started to straighten up. With a flick of her hand, small ectoplasmic balls appeared in Perona's palm. "I don't need your help, Tree Man," she pointed out.

"It's my duty to protect my liege and her family. You've got my help whether you need it or not, Ghost Girl," Hector replied. "And that's General Tree Man to you."

He grew to about half the size of that grove's main tree, wrapping most of the marine unit in striped roots and pulling them waist deep into the ground. If he wanted he could shake up that entire portion of the archipelago, but he worried about hurting innocent bystanders, so he decided to keep it simple.

Perona let out a huff and floated back to her perch atop a nearby column. Her ghosts made short work of the rest of the marine unit, but she didn't even seem to care. Sighing, she snuggled the teddy bear Zoro had off handedly let her keep.

"You gave me trouble right up to the end, idiot," Hector heard her mumble. "Guess I'll have to find a new boy toy."

I didn't realize she had feelings for Roronoa, Hector thought, but the thought soon dissipated when she shot him an evil sidelong glance.

"Hey! Don't look over here!" Hector barked, suddenly rigid. "I'm what, twice your age? What's with you and going after married men anyway, weirdo?"

Zoro gazed back toward the archipelago off the port bow, his heart sinking as the moments trickled by, marked by each popping bubble. The rest of the crew had been distracted by something off to starboard – first a marine ship, and then something to do with some ally of Luffy's blocking the way. Zoro didn't really care – he'd sent a message with Hector about their whereabouts, and could only hope the General got in touch with Helena in time. They couldn't delay their departure, after all. Not with enemies closing in from all sides.

Just our luck, he thought. We never get a proper goodbye, do we? He sighed internally, his eye lingering on the archipelago for one final glance. Well, maybe it's better this way.

Just before he turned his attention back to the crew, he caught sight of Helena charging toward him with Kuina waving both hands at him from her mother's shoulders. A grin spread across his face, and he lifted an arm to wave back.

"'Bout time you showed up!" he called.

Helena glared at him as she ran, her mouth pursed in an unamused line.

"PAPA!" Kuina screamed at him like a fan at one of Brook's concerts, waving her arms all the more ecstatically when they made eye contact.

"Got something for you kid!" Zoro called to her, then retrieved her hard won birthday present from where he'd tied it into his sash. He tossed it as hard as he could, glad to see that it could pass through the bubble coating surrounding the ship without much trouble.

Perfect shot! Kuina caught it in her outstretched arms. She was just close enough that Zoro could see the look of wonder on her face. Just as he'd expected, it had been worth all the hard work.

Helena stopped to catch her breath, letting Kuina slide from her shoulders.

"Mama, look!" the little princess shrilled, holding up her prize. "Papa got me a fox!"

"A green fox," Helena observed as Kuina waved the stuffed animal in her face. His wife looked up at him, and a smile finally broke her surly countenance. "That's pretty much perfect. What do you say, Kuina Bee?"

Kuina didn't answer. She was too busy attacking her new stuffed animal. Before Helena or Zoro could react, the dainty little princess had used her sharp teeth to gnash off the fox's left button eye. She spat out the black button without further ado and snuggled her prize, giggling.

"Now perfect," she announced as her parents laughed. "Thank you, Papa!"

Then her mother turned, momentarily distracted by another platoon of marines that had come to attack the Sunny by land. Putting herself between her daughter, husband, and the encroaching men, Helena drew her swords.

Zoro couldn't watch much after that, momentarily distracted by more Navy ships coming from both sides. One of Chopper's bird friends made swift work of one of their sails, while Sanji fended off canon blasts from another. The Sunny had just started to submerge.

They were running out of time. Zoro soon bounded up one of the masts with Brook, preparing to release the sails at Luffy's command.

He chanced a sidelong glance at Helena again as they sank, and smiled. She'd already blasted with her Chariot of Apollo right through the center of the marines, catching more than half of them on fire. And she didn't dance on her tippy toes to put the flames out on her own feet either. Over the short weeks they'd been able to vacation together, he'd helped her train and even increase the range of that attack. If only he'd been able to help her more with haki, but as always, time wasn't on their side.

Zoro jumped back to the deck below as Luffy gave the call to spread the sails. The swordsman caught sight of Kuina as he fell. The kid wasn't watching her mother's heroics. Instead, she stared up at him and the submerging Sunny, her big brown eyes full of tears as she clutched the fox plush to her chest.

It tore at his heartstrings more than he could have anticipated. Leaving her was even harder than leaving Helena!

They were more than halfway under now, which brought him level with the shore. Though he knew the kid probably wouldn't hear him over the din of the submerging ship and the battling marines, Zoro couldn't help an attempt at farewell:

"Take care of your mom for me!" he called, cupping his hands to his face. In all the hulabaloo, the rest of the crew didn't seem to notice.

To his surprise, Kuina nodded energetically.

"I WILL!" she screamed. "I YUV YOU, PAPA!"

Before he could respond, he and the rest of the crew had sunk beneath the waves. The surface of the water closed over them, like a fragmented, liquid mirror, letting in a soft chandelier of sunlight. He found himself smiling despite himself.

He knew he would miss her, but he also knew he was doing the right thing. As Helena said, she and Kuina and Ilium needed him out here, shaking up the world.

"Love you too," he thought to her, turning to face the crew and the adventures ahead. "See you around, Little Moss Head."