Author's Note: Hehehe.. I'm aware that I delayed my last update, so in return, there you guys go.. an early update for Chapter 5.. This should open up the rest of the plot line.. And so therefore, hereafter it should be time for more development.. Stick with me lovelies!

Disclaimer: No matter how much I want to pretend that Zoro's completely mine.. he still solely belongs to Oda sensei.. sigh

Chapter 5

Zoro leaned back into the chair in his office, and turned to look outside the window.

His office is located on the twentieth floor of this business building, and from his position, he's able to see the cars that are parked on the side of the street.

From the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a person in a red blazer jacket wearing a ball cap. His eyes went cold, and his fingers clutched tight on the arm rest.

He closed his eyes and placed a hand on his forehead.

The man's arrogant face suddenly appeared in his mind, and he shot open his eyes and instantly grabbed the phone on his desk.

"It's me. I need to talk to you."

With that, he hangs up the phone, and leaned back into his seats.

When Franky finally made it through the rush hour traffic, and stepped a foot into the bar, he saw Zoro already sitting in the reserved seats. With his back against Franky, he couldn't see his expression, but can only make out that he's constantly drinking.

Franky scratched his head, and made his way over. "Yo~"

Zoro shoved a bottle of beer to Franky without looking, "… Yo? See all of those? Your penalty."

Franky couldn't pick up anything from Zoro's voice, and only laughed as he chucked the bottle of beer in one go. He placed the bottle onto the table as he took a seat across from Zoro, "Come on… just 20 minutes late, I can't finish all those bottles.. I need to drive later too. Can't break the rules, being an officer myself you know." With a wink, he sat down.

Zoro glanced up at him, and returned his attention back to the bottle in his hand. Then he said no more.

Franky glanced around, "What's going on? How come Usopp is not with you?"

"There are things he need to take care of." Zoro looked up at Franky again.

Franky smiled, "And I assume it has to do with why I'm here."

Zoro placed the empty bottle on the table, and picked up a new one, "Luffy came to my office today."

Franky was puzzled. "Say what?"

"He wants to negotiate."

Franky reached for a bottle of beer, and said after he gulped down half a bottle, "Oh..?"

Zoro loosened the tie around his neck, annoyed he said, "Monkey D. Luffy took over the GP-8 gang last year. And ever since then, they have been inching toward our territory."

Franky leaned back in his seat crossing his legs, and nodded, "The only thing that was preventing them from spreading and making visible encounter was -"

"Mihawk. My father." Zoro looked at Franky as he interrupted.

Franky helplessly chuckled and ruffled his hair, "I guess it's finally here."

Zoro stood up from his seat, hands in his pants pockets, "Good luck… So long buddy."

Franky watched as Zoro walked out of the bar. With a sigh he took another drag from the bottle.

10 years of friendship… The day has finally came.

From the moment that Franky decided to become a cop, both him and Zoro knew that the day of them facing each other as enemies will eventually come. But with Mihawk in power of West-1, Zoro has enjoyed the position of business manager and managed to stay away from gang related activities.
But what has to come has finally came.

He silently sat in his seats for the next while. Then he slowly reached into his pocket to take out his phone, and connected himself to the Gang Control Unit.

"Assign four groups to watch over West-1 and GP-8 immediately."

He hang up and looked at the bottles of beer on the table, and suddenly realized with a smile, "Damn… You got away with paying.. Again."

Nami unbuckled her seatbelt. The car door on her side opened, and Sanji reached out his hand with a smile. Nami stared at his hand briefly with wonder. She just finished dinner with the team and Sanji, throughout the entire time, he didn't say much despite everyone was having a blast. At the end, he generously offered her a ride home since other people all carpooled, and only she lived out of the way. It was a comfortable car ride. Sanji listened most of the time with a smile, and only commented when she had a pause. He doesn't have the average aura of a typical boss. Nami felt comfortable talking to him.

She smiled as she took his hand and stepped out of the car. "Thank you, for the ride home, Sanji."

"It was my pleasure."

"I'll see you tomorrow at work."

"How do you feel if I send you out on a scene?" He asked as he walked around the car to the driver's side.

Nami crooked her head, "Out in the field..?"

Sanji winked as he opened the door, "Don't worry, Brook will take care of you."

"Where to?"

Sanji rolled down the window on her side, and leaned in to speak, "Just asking you for your opinion for now. But don't worry, I'll never put you in danger, lovely lady."

Nami blushed at that comment, and waved her goodbye before she turned around to unlock the front door to her building. But only to pause when she caught a glimpse of a shadow in the parking lot. She turned and saw Zoro leaning onto his car with his arms crossed. Seeing her looking at him, Zoro pushed him off the vehicle and strolled towards her.

On his way, he looked over to where Sanji's car was.

They smiled at each other, and Nami lead the way into the building.

Once in her apartment, Nami went into the kitchen and poured a glass of wine, and went back to the living room finding Zoro standing in front of the window with his back against her.

She placed an arm around his waist, and handed over the wine to him.
Nami rested her head on his shoulder. She could smell the scent from a bar, mixed with a faint smell of cologne that she's so familiar with. She tightened her arms around his waist and buried her face into his back.

Zoro kept his eyes on the window and placed his free hand on top of Nami's… as if trying to hold on to the last piece of peacefulness...

~*~
Luffy sat cross legged on the chair. He picked up the steak on his plate with his pork and bit into it with satisfaction. He grinned in the dark, and whispered to himself, "It's almost show time.. Zoro."

His eyes flared with unreadable expression, and took the last bite off of his fork, "What you owed me, I'm about to take back from you, along with interest!"

Yay Luffy~!
He took a lot longer to appear than I have anticipated.. but there he is~! =]
You know the drill~~ Drop me a line or two~