Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Zoro's body slipped past the fields, his feet barely touching the floor. He flew up to a place where Zoro and he also loved. The swordsman, with haste, entered the crow's nest and rushed to the window closest to the moon. The moon was bright but it would not give him the same special power he had the night before. He was weakening and he knew that one blow from either one of the men would be fatal. While the real Roronoa Zoro was made of flesh, skin, and bones, this Zoro was just an image.
The swordsman saw his opaque reflection in the window and chanted the song. His reflection wavered and shifted and finally the true Zoro was on the other side, looking straight at him with concern, "What happened?"
"Zoro," the reflection put his hands on the window, "I have bad news. I am found by my crew and they are out to get me."
Zoro let out a quiet gasp and leaned into toward the glass, eyes flared up in determination, "I want to help!"
The reflection appreciated Zoro's kindness but he shook his head, "No, you must stay there. While here is dangerous, there you are safe from harm."
He saw Zoro's eyes waver and lower his head sadly, "...W-what can I do? I-I want to be with you."
The reflection could not help but moan at the beautiful words. He leaned closer to the window until the tip of his nose touched the glass, "Zoro," he waited until Zoro lifted his head, "I know you never did this in your life, but pray for me. Pray that I will return safe and sound."
Zoro's lips were tight shut but slowly he opened them, "I'll try."
The reflection smiled. He then leaned even further, dipping his whole upper body through the window and into the world where Zoro was. Zoro's eyes widened in mild surprise as the reflection's hands brushed through his green hair. The man pulled Zoro close and pressed his lips gently over his. There was sudden glee forming around the reflection's heart when Zoro's arms wrapped around his back. He deepened the kiss, his tongue entering the willing mouth, and Zoro let out a sweet muffled moan. His hand continued to weave through Zoro's soft green hair, his other hand explored Zoro's bare chest, smoothing his hands over the muscle and flesh.
While the reflection's body was hot with life, Zoro's body was icy cold. The swordsman craved the warmth and writhed as the hands, burning with heat, tickled his bare skin and left a satisfying burn.
The reflection wanted more, but he heard the voices of Luffy and Sanji. Disappointed, the reflection pulled away, hands and all, and smiled, "I will be back." He whispered. Zoro's lips were bruised up from the night before but it formed a wonderfully warm smile. The man planted a kiss on Zoro's hand, and with effortless force he pulled himself out of the glass. The glass rippled and was smooth like a peaceful lake.
Zoro picked up his swords and walked over to the door.
-.-.-
The sky was clear of clouds and the full moon, waned a piece, watched down at the night arena. The grassy field was white from the moonlight and caught fresh dew. The sparkling dew was brushed away as the captain and cook stepped over them. Luffy and Sanji spun around, scanning the whole ship.
"Where the hell is he?" Sanji demanded.
"Up here." The voice was faint but both raised their heads up to see a silhouette of the swordsman standing at the edge of the crow's nest. Without hesitation, Zoro leaped down and landed firmly onto the ground, right in front of the two. Zoro straightened up and noticed that only the captain and cook came to fight, he grinned.
Zoro laughed mirthfully, "Only two-to-one? How sad. I should have provoked more."
"We don't need everyone to fight you." Sanji snarled with his teeth. Luffy seemed to be in too much fury to speak. The captain had his straw hat low over his eyes, shadowing them.
Zoro smiled. He predicted Luffy would act like this. From the time the swordsman joined the Straw Hat crew he and Luffy were close friends, almost like brothers. Since he was Zoro, he also had the mysterious telepathic power to get a picture of what Luffy was thinking. Tonight, at this moment, the captain was out to kill him and rescue the Zoro Luffy knew and loved.
The swordsman chuckled, "Do you want to hear the noises Zoro made when I fucked him? I bet I could imitate his voice real well." This would probably boil all of the blood Luffy had in his veins. He thought he heard a snap from the cook. Odd, maybe he was imaging things.
Unpredictably, Sanji struck first but, Zoro blocked it easily with his sword. His back was open and Luffy kicked his arm out towards the side so he could unleash his whip-like kick.
Zoro saw through what Luffy was attempting many seconds before as if he had mantra. He leaped as the captain's stretched out legs zipped under and past him in a blur of skin color. Sanji also leaped into the air simultaneously to avoid getting hit. In the air, Zoro pulled his arms out with the blades lining each other. He was going to get rid of the more troublesome first. The ship was strong but since it was brand new he did not want any unnecessary scratches. Sanji saw what the fake swordsman was about to do and cried out to Luffy, but it did not reach the captain's ears fast enough.
"Tatsumaki!" A gust of wind from the blades enveloped Luffy like a snake strangling its prey. Luffy had managed to punch some of the wind blades away but the rest came slicing in on him. He blocked his face with his forearms and the wind tore open his skin on all parts of his bare skin and clothes. Covered in fresh blood the tornado did its last magic and sent Luffy blasting away and crashing head first into a wall. The dust cleared and the captain was face down. He was completely still.
"Luffy!" Sanji landed on his heels and rushed over to his captain when a shadow loomed beside him.
A low voiced hushed into his ear, "Haven't you learned to never turn away during the midst of a battle?" Before the cook could react, a loud crack split his ears and his vision blurred out of focus as he was also thrown, but backwards to the opposite wall.
The Adam's wood was sturdy than the wood used to make the belated Merry but it had its flaws. While normal wood broke and served as a somewhat of a cushioning, when slammed into the Adam's wood it only rebounded with equal force. So when Sanji crashed into the wall, it felt like he was pounded with an enormous hammer. Thankfully, he crashed on his side but he knew it would be hideously bruised by the time this was over.
The world spun as he tried to regain his focus. He then realized that the swordsman only struck him across the face with the end of the sword. Warm blood drained down his temple as another thought hit him. If this Zoro was able to throw him this far with just a punch, Luffy must be in critical condition. Sanji's nerves spiked when he heard footsteps. Quickly, he rose while holding his throbbing temple to steady the dizziness. The bastard perfectly imitated Zoro's strides.
The man, Sanji had to admit, was exactly like Roronoa Zoro. This swordsman completely mastered Zoro's daily schedule with the same idleness. However, his style in battling was different, barely noticeable for people who only fought him once or twice. Sanji and Zoro shared countless sparring to the point where Sanji could predict the swordsman's next move just by watching the flex of his arms. Although they fought, never once they hurt the other.
Sanji could tell by the man's eyes, the swordsman was out to kill him. There was no restraint whatsoever.
The blond threw his arms over his head and flipped back, creating a perfect arch. His legs were off the ground and his heel dived toward Zoro's wrist. In a split second, the swordsman leaped out of the way and Sanji kicked air.
Frustrated that he missed for the second time, the cook launched a series of attacks. His feet moved so fast that it blurred especially in the pale moonlight. But, no matter how accurate he tried to kick at the swordsman, he would block it quickly with his sword. The pattern repeated: Sanji kicked with his right, Zoro would block with Sandai Kitetsu, and if he kicked with his left, Zoro would block with Wado Ichimonji. As Sanji assailed attempted hits onto Zoro but the swordsman did not fight back.
"Are you going to even fight me?" Sanji spat.
"Do you really want to end up like Luffy?" Zoro smirked, "You're quite a masochist."
The moonlight cast over Zoro's face and Sanji saw the swordsman's lips were bruised. He did not notice it before when they were in the dining room, so it must have been recent.
"What-" Sanji's eyes flew open and he jerked his head up to the crow's nest. Zoro was up there. His shoes hit the floor as he darted toward the ladder of the crow's nest, but just when his fingers could graze over the coarse ropes, the icy blade of the Wado Ichimonji kissed his neck.
"Where are you going?"
"You sick pervert." Sanji glared over his shoulder.
"Huh?" Zoro raised his eyebrow in confusion. He finally noticed the burning glares on his lip and he chuckled, "Oh, this?"
"Zoro's up there isn't he?"
The swordsman pulled away the sword from Sanji's neck just a little to see where the cook was looking. "Maybe, but I'm not letting you have him."
"You are so sick," Sanji repeated, his voice dark with menace, "How could you do with yourself?"
"How could I?" Zoro leaned back and chuckled, "Zoro's amazing. I can't believe he survived as a virgin for so long." He saw the cook's eyes widen again. His reactions were so off it confused him, "Why are you making that face."
"What face?"
"That face. It's as if I raped Nami." The smile on Zoro's face slowly faded and he scoffed in disgust, "Oh yeah, it doesn't matter if I fucked Robin, Luffy, or even Chopper, you'll be just as angry. 'Because we're nakama.'" Zoro mocked the last sentence with indignation. The blade was pressed into Sanji's throat and the blond felt it break the surface of his skin.
"You're wrong." Sanji retorted sharply.
A vein popped out on the smooth surface on Zoro's temple. He yanked Sanji back by the hair earning a painful cry. The sword was now millimeters deep into the cook's neck and crimson blood trailed down the glistening blade.
"How am I wrong?" Zoro shouted in Sanji's ear.
Sanji heaved through his teeth and whispered harshly, "Zoro's different."
The blond felt the weight leave his back and the sword with it, but he spoke too soon. Sanji was twisted around the thrown against the floor with a loud smack. His back and elbows stung from the force. He glared up but was only met by the tip of the Wado Ichimonji blade. If Sanji lifted his head up, his right eye would likely be sliced open. Zoro's eyes were so wide it bulged nearly out of his sockets. He was furious, Sanji could feel it by the aura emitting from the swordsman's body, but the crooked smile was still on the man's face.
"You know, Zoro and I are alike, but there is one thing we have different opinions on," the sword was poised in place and Zoro leaned down so his lips met Sanji's ear, "I never liked you." The blood the sword had collected on Sanji's wound gathered at the tip and silently dropped into Sanji's eye. The burning sensation lasted a brief second as the cook tried to blink it away. Zoro rose up; his eyes were dark with jealousy, "Morning, noon, night, sometimes in his dreams he thought of you! It pissed me off!" he sneered, "What's so good about you? You're stupid, you smell of cigarettes, and you completely fail at love!"
Sanji felt his blood boiling up to his head. The cook shouted back, "Fail at love? Look at you! Taking advantage of someone with force and then confining them, you call that love?"
"I don't want to hear those words from your mouth, Cook! Chasing after ladies who won't return your love, and completely ignoring the one person who will!" He saw Sanji's face blanched even in the pale moonlight, making his face even whiter than before. Zoro huffed with haughtiness, "I did the right thing. If I haven't done anything Zoro would have been waiting for the rest of his life. I helped him forget: his wishes, his pain, and of course, his love for you." Zoro stood on his knees and looked down at Sanji with smugness, "You should be thankful."
"Hell no!" Sanji shouted and felt the tip of the blade faintly graze over the skin of his eye. He closed his eye, and throwing his arms over his head, he slipped downward, through the space between Zoro's legs. With that momentum, he thrust his knee and struck a kick into the swordsman's back.
There were two loud cracks. When Sanji slowly opened his eye, he saw the extended arm and the fist aiming right next to where Sanji had hit. Sanji let out a breath but his lungs tightened at Zoro's voice.
"A wound on the back is a swordsman's shame..." the swordsman turned away from the cook to look behind, "Remember that Luffy?"
Out of the rubble, the captain had risen. Luffy glared, "You're no swordsman."
Zoro chuckled, "Ah, I see." He then looked back at Sanji and grinned. Suddenly, from the wound Luffy and Sanji inflicted, a earsplitting crack nearly broke Sanji's eardrums. Millions of web like cracks spread all over Zoro's body. His whole body was free of reflecting everything the shards saw: the floor, the sky, the moon, anything close by. Sanji's eye widened in horror when he saw his own reflection in the distorted swordsman's face and those eyes moved on the man's accord.
"Ah! What a shame!" Zoro laughed with Sanji, Luffy's voice mixed together, "I'm going to die and I'll never, ever going to see Zoro again!" As he screamed, pieces of his face broke off, half of his hair and eye crashing to the floor. Sanji saw no organs and blood dripping down the man's face. There was nothing inside the man's head. It was pitch black like the black hole, ready to suck up any light it could find.
Sanji sat up and grabbed a fistful of what he thought was soft, cotton fabric of the jacket but it was now painful shards of broken glass. It dug and pierced through his skin like a hot knife through butter, "No, you are not going to die not telling us where Zoro is! Where is Zoro?"
The figure, not even resembling Zoro anymore, cracked his lips wide open into a smile. Pieces of glass reflecting teeth, tongue, and cheek broke as it collided to the floor.
"Before I tell you the answer, can I ask you one thing?" Sanji didn't reply but the reflection asked anyway, "How did you find out?"
-.-.-
Everyone did their best to crowd around the mirror in the bathroom. Franky opened the door leading to the spa so that at least two more people could pop their heads through the door. With Franky and Usopp in the spa room and Chopper sitting on Usopp's head, they were able to fit.
"Robin, you think that Zoro is in this?" Nami brushed her fingers along the surface of the mirror.
"Yes," Robin pulled her hair back to show her ear, "On the fake swordsman-san's right ear there were holes."
"Holes?"
"Three holes to be exact."
"But, Zoro doesn't have holes-" Nami corrected, but then she realized what Robin was trying to say, "Oh."
"Exactly." Robin noticed that the men were slightly slow on their brain power this evening so she explained carefully, "If you stand in front of the mirror, everything is switched. Right is left and left is right. So if Swordsman-san stood in front of a mirror, which side would the earrings be in the reflection?"
Usopp frowned, "Is this supposed to be a trick question?"
"Just shut up and answer!" Nami snapped.
"...right?" Chopper titled his head to the side. Finally the ladies saw the light beaming in the men's dull eyes.
"So, the fake Zoro is actually the Zoro from the mirror...so how does that have to do with the mirror?"
Robin raised a hand, "If you want to search the whole ship to find Zoro, be my guest. But I think since the fake Swordsman-san is quite a selfish narcissist, he would want to hide the real Zoro somewhere we cannot reach. Even if Zoro was covered in blood and almost to the point of death, he would be out of his hiding place by now." Everyone nodded and at the same time hoped that Zoro wasn't covered in blood. "So, if the reflection Zoro is out here in this world, then the Zoro we want is in this mirror."
"So, Zoro is in the mirror..."
"I don't see him." Chopper moved side to side in hopes that his reflection would move out of the way.
"That's the best place I could think of."
This was when everyone sweat dropped, "How are we going to get him out?"
"This is where we need to brainstorm."
-.-.-
The reflection's grin was crooked when Sanji spilled the last words out of his mouth. The man snickered and his eyes darkened, "Now I hate you much more." Sanji didn't faze. "Fine fine, I'll tell you where he is. Come down here. Can you see I can't stand anymore?"
The cook gritted his teeth but obliged. He knelt down and leaned down as close to the remains of the man's face without getting disgusted.
The man leaned into Sanji's ear and whispered in Zoro's voice, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" Then the man's lips moved as he gave one last final comment to the cook. Sanji's eye widened.
The man pulled away and his face split in a wide grin and the cracks thickened, stretched all the way to the back of the his head. The man used up his last power for his last revenge. When he broke into pieces, many of the shards shot in all directions. The cook shielded his face with his hands and cringed when he felt the glass biting and tearing into his arms. Luffy was meters away from the two but had to block the glass as it cut through his rubbery skin. The sounds of glass falling on the floor were like soft bells and when the pretty sound was gone, they both opened their eyes. Where the man stood was nothing but heaps of broken glass.
"G-glass?" Luffy approached the pile and winced slightly as the glass sliced through his sandals.
Sanji rose up on his knees as he examined the mess. The song the man had said echoed in his mind, "...mirror?"
He whispered it out but Luffy caught the word, "Mirror?" then a smile formed on his face, "Ah, I see! The mirror!"
Sanji gasped. Even though it was hard to imagine what went through Luffy's mind, he knew something completely bad was going to happen.
"W-wait! Luffy!" Sanji desperately called out but Luffy was already gone toward the room where everyone was.
-.-.-
Usopp tapped his hand on the mirror, "Okay, first things first. Don't break the mirror! That might lose our chance to get Zoro out of there."
"Right."
"Hold it!" Nami raised her hand up to her ear, "Do you hear something?" Everyone stopped cheering and listened very closely. It was Luffy's roar, the cry of victory, but why was it getting louder?
Suddenly, the captain was right in front of their face and his right hand was somewhere far back down in the aquarium.
"Gomu Gomu no-!"
All except Robin's eyes were wide with surprise.
Nami screamed, "Luffy no!"
-.-.-
Sanji's eyes snapped open at the heavenly scream of Nami's voice. His happy mood plunged down immediately at the sound of broken glass. The cook's eyebrow twitched and he, along with the rest of the crew, sucked in a breath and yelled.
"Luffy!"
To Be Continued
