Author's Note: Yo Yo~~ I'm back with another update~~! =] It has been quite an interesting week on my end.. first getting a fever out of no where, and then losing my voice from God-knows-what.. I am so glad 'tis Friday *sigh with relieve*
Sunny weather, 2 day weekend coming up, and watching Stanley Cup Playoffs.. weeee life is good people XP hahaha.

Disclaimer: Let's be clear on one thing, who loves Zoro, created by Oda Eiichiro?

Nami looked around the empty office while taking a sip of her coffee. She then reached back to stretch her arm and back.

She has been working with E-Media for a week now. To get use to how things work around this place, she has been staying behind to do over-time nearly everyday.

But she enjoys it.

Writing is not her forte, but she highly enjoys reading. And the majority part of her job as a chief editor assistant is to read, and decide which articles get to be published on the next day's paper, and which news to be sent to broadcast journalism upstairs to be seen on television.
Journalists and reporters are 24-hours standby to anything that could be going on around the city or country.
She can't imagine such a lifestyle.
She likes to have a set schedule of things: to be able to come to work, and then able to go home without the worry of work bothering her.

After taking a short walk to the water station to fill up her cup, she went back to her computer and looked at the last article of the night she has to go through.
Oh she can't wait to go back home to shower and then sleep. She longed a good night of sleep, and it seems tonight she might be able to finish early.

She nearly dropped her cup when she saw the headlines for article on her computer screen.

"Change of leadership in West-1 Gang"

She eagerly glanced through the entire article, and only one sentence caught her attention, "Mihawk passed away this afternoon with further investigation for cause of death. His son and the long-time business manger of the gang, Roronoa Zoro, is said to take over his father's leader role."
Nami clutched on her cup tightly has her eyes widened.

Zoro…

She reached for her phone immediately, and dialed the series of numbers so familiar that she knew by heart. But she paused over the 'talk' key.
She lowered her head, as well as her cell phone.
Nami smiled bitterly to herself, and bit her lower lip to prevent tears from falling down.

~*~
Nami got into the elevator with a sigh. She felt exhausted from a long day of work, and emotionally drained from what she had read earlier this evening.
She doesn't remember how she finished her work, but she's just glad she's almost home now.
She looked up to watch the number lighting up as the elevator made its way to the top of the building. With a soft 'ding', the door opened to her floor.
Her unit is at the end of the hall way.
While fishing for her keys, she walked out of the elevator. But she became cautious when she saw a shadow near her front door. She gripped on a pocket knife tightly in her right hand as she walked up to her unit.
Upon seeing the shadow with more clarity, Nami gasped and flung her hand to her mouth.

"…. Zoro..."

Hearing his name, Zoro looked up from where he was standing.
God, he looked terrible. His eyes are lifeless and empty. He looks like a broken doll that was abandoned by the owner - lost and sad.
Nami has seen Zoro in this condition once. And that was 6-months ago.
Still leaning on to the wall, Zoro reached out his hand.

Nami took a deep breath, releasing the pocket knife back into her purse and pulled out her keys. Her hand took his, and opened the door to her unit.

Once they were in, she led him onto the couch and they sat next to each other in silence.
Finally, Nami said in a soft voice, "You shouldn't be here, Zoro."
Zoro sighed heavily and leaned back onto the couch and rested his head against it. He then said in a rusty voice, "Nami, how are you?"
When he spoke, Nami frowned as she could smell the reek of alcohol.
She got up to walk over to the washroom and came out with a hot towel in her hand. She sat back down on the couch and saw Zoro had his eyes closed.
He looked exhausted. His brows slightly furrowed and there was dark circles under his eyes. She ignored how her heart was aching as she placed the towel onto his forehead, and heard Zoro moaned quietly at the feel of comfort.
Zoro opened his eyes, and stared at the chandelier on the ceiling.

"He knew he was going to die."

Nami looked at him with concern, she didn't understand what Zoro was talking about.
Zoro closed his eyes again in the pain of his memory, "He called me to his office a couple of days ago, and said I'll have to take over soon." he paused, and suddenly opened his eyes. Nami saw anger showing in his eyes. He continued in his low voice, "He controlled my entire life. And he continues to, even when he's dead…" As he closed his eyes, Nami thought she saw a trail of tear glided down his cheek.

She couldn't hold back anymore, and reached forward to gather him in her arms.
She can feel her shoulder slowly getting damp. She gently stroke his back while hugged tight around his shuddering shoulders while he quietly wept.
"I'm good, Zoro." She finally answered the question he asked a while ago.
She could feel Zoro tense up ever so slightly, then he mumbled, "Thank you, Nami."

Nami felt her eyes getting hot, and her vision was soon blurred by tear. It hurts her to see the ever-so-confident Zoro to be like this. She had seen nothing or no one that got past his line of defense, except for two.

Herself… and Mihawk.

She felt a slight vibration from Zoro's jacket that he left on the side of the couch, but he didn't seem to notice. He lied quietly on the couch, with his head resting on Nami's lap. She could feel his steady breathing in his sleep, but his hand never let loose of hers.
While gently stroking his hair, she called his name carefully, "Zoro…" But he didn't stir.

Nami stared out the window to the night light. She squeezed Zoro's hand gently while whispered, "How long have you been feeling guilty for, baby? What happened to us, wasn't your fault."

Do you start to smell something in the air now? 'cause if you don't... sigh I have some work to do in the next couple of chapters.. hahaha
Thank you for all my reviewers who have been telling me about what you think! You guys are more than awesome!
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