A/N: chapter 2! Just so everyone knows I converted this original one-shot into a fic... Well more like a hodgepodge of song-fics.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SONG "I Don't Dance" by Lee Brice or the characters created by Eiichiro Oda from "One Piece" ALL RIGHTS GO TO THEIR PROPER OWNERS. THE ONLY THING I OWN IS THE PLOT!
ya'll enjoy and fast release to whoever can guess the next song I'm using! Hint: it's at the end~
Zoro smiled softly to himself.
His fine, grey hair tied back in a ponytail not dissimilar to a sensei he once had many years ago.
I'll never settle down,
Crinkles formed around his eyes and he could see that band playing and them dancing in time to it. Zoro looked up to see the rest of the crew looking at him. They all had the same expression on their faces.
He'd always told you that this song would be perfect for them if not for a minor detail; that guy... Zoro's eyes misted over and he chuckled bitterly.
That's what I always thought
"Who's gonna dance with these two left feet now...?"
Luffy stepped forward, a grim look on his face. "Zoro..."
Yeah, I was that kind of man,
They'd taken him here to cheer him up, maybe get him a little drunk too; no one deserved to be sober at this kind of time.
"Why are they playing this song, Luffy?" The ex-swordsman said with grief clear in his voice.
"..." The ex-captain frowned and then looked to Nami for help. Her long, silver hair shone brightly in the dim lights of the bar.
just ask anyone
"I'll ask them to change it okay, Zoro?" The previous navigator prodded gently.
"No, that's stupid. I'm not going to run from a song, of all things."
The older woman just looked at him with sadness.
I don't dance, But here I am
"You guys go dance; I know you want too," Zoro threw a shot back and then slammed it on the table.
Luffy looked appalled. "But, Zoro! This is you guys'-!"
"Luffy," Zoro's voice cracked, "Please?"
Spinning you around and around in circles
The once infamous captain nodded curtly with hardened eyes. He grabbed Nami by the wrist and hauled her out onto the dance floor.
The ex-swordsman followed them with his eyes and was watching up until the point that Luffy spun her. Then he had to look away. Pain clutched his heart and made it ache in its ever haunting grasp.
It nearly broke him.
It ain't my style, but I don't care
To be honest, coming here was hard; he should've told them...
But how could he? All the memories of this place were happy, sacred ones. Ones they'd all had together.
I'd do anything with you anywhere
They'd come here for all the other- ones. So how could he explain that this time was different? That this time would hurt more than all the other times they'd come here after combined?
He just didn't have the heart to say that this was their place.
Yes, you got me in the palm of your hand
That this is where they'd first met.
That this is where they'd had their first date.
Cause, I don't dance
Where Zoro had proposed...
Where he'd first been forced to dance on the dance floor...
Where they'd always come on Thursday nights, no matter what, just the two of them...
Love's never come my way,
Where they'd had their first kiss...
Where they'd both been so turned on that they had to get it out of their system in the bathroom stall...
I've never been this far
Where they'd both "confessed" to each other after that one particular nasty fight.
Sure, it was the place the gang all went to when everyone could get together about once a month.
Cause you took these two left feet
Sure, it was the place where the whole gang had met up, one by one, until they'd had a crew.
Sure, it had been the focal point of many of their adventures, until it'd burned down and they'd all had lent a helping hand to rebuild the place.
And waltzed away with my heart
Sure, it was the place every single guy had learned to dance for their wedding.
But they didn't know that he and Zoro had been made co-owners of the place after the previous owner had passed.
No, I don't dance, but here I am
They didn't know that Zoro owned the club now.
They didn't know how much it was killing him to sit here without his "partner in crime".
They didn't know that this is where the two of them had gone, by themselves, right after their reception.
Spinning you around and around in circles
"Mr. Roronoa?" The pink-haired waiter-Toby, wasn't it?-asked tentatively.
"Ah?" Zoro responded dully.
"I know you're the owner... And the bartender said not to say anything... But, sir, that's your tenth glass of whiskey..."
It ain't my style, but I don't care
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "So?"
Toby's eyes widened. "'So'?! It's- sir -it's 92% alcohol...!"
I'd do anything with you anywhere
The ex-swordsman smiled wryly. "I know. That's why I ordered it."
"But- aren't you drunk?" Toby looked shocked at the idea that there was anyone who could possibly be sober with that kind of alcohol in their system.
Yes, you got me in the palm of your hand, girl
Zoro laughed a hollow, broken-sounding kind of laugh that sent chills down the waiter's spine. "He hated this part of the song..." He whispered absentmindedly.
"What?"
Cause, I don't dance
"I wish I was drunk, Toby. But death tends to dry people out."
The waiter blinked and then was startled when the bartender showed up behind him and interrupted. "Toby," Law said quickly, "that table needs refills."
The glasses-clad youth hustled over to the table with impressive speed.
Ohhh
I don't dance
"Sorry about him... He doesn't know..." Law apologized with a tip of his head.
Zoro gave a half-hearted, lopsided grin that looked more like a wince. "S'okay..."
Ooh
"Zoro-ya, I've been tryin' to find a way to say this; to bring it up-"
I don't dance, but here I am
"-but I found this, in the back, I tripped on a loose floorboard-"
Zoro wasn't really listening. He was far away; lost in memories.
Spinning you around and around in circles
"-and this was underneath... I opened it. I shouldn't have, without asking first, but I didn't realize- I wasn't thinking-"
The ex-swordsman closed his one good eye and focused on the ever familiar music playing over the speakers.
It ain't my style, but I don't care
Zoro swayed unknowingly to the music.
"It was Sanji's... It's his-"
I'd do anything with you anywhere
He froze. "What did you just say?"
Zoro's eye snapped open and he whipped his head to glare at Law.
I don't dance, but here I am
Law bit his lip and looked down at the yellow envelope in his hands.
"I think," the bartender murmured, "that you should just read it for yourself."
Spinning you around and around in circles
Zoro just sat there, stunned, as Law passed him the envelope and walked away.
It was like an out of body experience; it didn't feel like it was his hands opening the large envelope.
It didn't feel like it was he who was sitting there reading those papers.
As he finished reading it, Zoro grew angrier and felt the grief hit him like a tidal wave.
He stood up, papers clenched in his hand, crumpling them. He strode over to the DJ and told him to announce that the club was closed, then he told Law to do the same.
"Sorry, everyone, but I have to announce that this was the final night for this club and it will be closing indefinitely. We'd like to thank everyone for joining us on this special occasion for one last time and we hope that you enjoyed it! Thank you and goodnight!" The DJ said to the crowd via his microphone.
Many boos and cries of confusion rang out through the crowd. Bouncers began ushering everyone out until no one was left.
The wooden dance floor was empty; the tables lacked patrons; the bar were missing drunks; it was lonely, sad, and bright; the lights had been turned on. There wasn't a soul in sight except for Nami and Luffy who stood gaping in the middle of the dance floor.
They hurriedly made their way to the back room. They were angry and thoroughly prepared to take it out on the owner of the joint.
Nami swung open the door with great force and walked into the room.
Zoro sat hunched over a desk in the corner. The lights were off.
"Zoro?" Luffy called out.
"What are you doing back here?" Nami interjected, "Where's the owner?"
Luffy drew in his eyebrows. "I think he is the owner, Nami." He said solemnly.
"What?! How can that be? Zoro?!"
"He wrote a will, Luffy," the ex-swordsman whispered, choking back tears.
The ex-captain nodded, his features hardening.
"We were going to tell everyone about us owning the bar... But we didn't meet up that year, remember?"
Luffy's lip trembled. "Because Franky and Robin died..."
"Ah, in that car crash..." They saw Zoro's head nod.
"What about after that?!" Nami yelled, "That was four years ago, Zoro!"
"... The year after-" he began.
"-Brook passed away," Luffy finished with tears filling his eyes.
"Yeah... Then your brother died, Luffy, in that fire at that old apartment building and you were inconsolable for a long time... And his funeral where all the firefighters honored him hit you hard, and Sanji and I didn't know how to tell anyone because then Zeff died in his sleep..."
The old man was crying now, his straw hat pulled down over his eyes, "Ah... And Shanks died that same year..."
"It was a really sucky year," Nami attempted to chuckle through her sobs.
Luffy sniffled, "There was that whole fiasco last year, too, with Usopp and Kaya... Their plane wreck..."
They saw Zoro's head nod and his shoulders start shaking from behind. "Then," his voice heavy and thick with his torment, "Sanji got really, really sick... And died from fucking pneumonia... At home, 'cause the idiot refused to stay in the damn hospital... Chopper was so crushed... He hasn't left home since the cook-"
Luffy was on his knees, snot and tears covering his face.
"His will... It was signed that one day when the cook went missing and it took us forever to find him. He escaped from his hospital room remember...? Chopper was so pissed at him; yelled at him and even restrained him to the bed," Zoro laughed and a sob escaped, "he wouldn't tell us where he went or what he was up to. He knew, Luffy...! He knew he was gonna die and he didn't tell us! He just... He sat there and pretended he was gonna be just fine, but he- he knew... He says that he wants this place to die with him; he says that this club shouldn't see anymore death or sadness- that it's supposed to everyone's happy place. He said- he said to have it go like the Merry went..."
Luffy hiccuped, "Ah... Let's go."
They all stood outside. Zoro walked forward with the torch. He touched the tip of the torch to the door and watched the flames lick up the beautiful wooden structure of The Thousand Sunny Club. A fat teardrop cascaded down the ex-Marimo's face.
"I love you." He whispered so only he could hear.
It ain't my style, but I don't care
I'd do anything with you anywhere
Yeah, you got me in the palm of your hand, girl
Cause, I don't dance
Oh,
No..
Oooh…
After all the legal mumbo jumbo, phrases, and jargon that Zoro didn't really understand he found a part of sheet paper that was ripped and taped to the back.
I'm dying, Zoro. I know it; you know it. I'm not going to pretend with you, marimo. Not after all these Sunny is the place we all love more than anything and I know it loves us back; where we were always happy... Usopp told us that story once about stores that form a spirit if there's enough love shown to it. I thought it was another one of his lies, but I saw him-the spirit-today when I came here and ran from the hospital. That's why I've decided that this poor place has seen enough sadness and death from us... The Sunny should die with me, Zoro, so it doesn't have to see anymore of us die. Promise me, my big ugly swordsman, that you'll burn it after I go; like Merry went. And I know I didn't say it a whole lot, but I love you, Zoro. Goodbye, my lover.