Fallen Skies

Pairing: Zosan

Disclaimer: All one piece characters belong to Oda

Warning-This chapter has slight torture.

Zoro leaned his head to the side, stopping Saga from passing his hands through his earring, his ears were still raw and it hurts like hell when touched. The older teen didn't seem fazed by it, but instead touched his own earring.

"This is really important in here. If you take it off... they will kill you."

A few gasps from the newbie's could be heard throughout the room. Saga stayed silent a second before he continued to speak. "These also tell the staff how to treat us. The more you have, the more pain they could do to us."

"But you only have two?" Zoro asked. "Why do I have three?"

"Remember when you got here and there were two males deciding how much you will wear?" Zoro nodded, his eyes unmoving. "They would look at how you stand... and most of all your spirit." Saga went silent, letting the information settle in as the other children in the room started to whisper, but quieted down when Saga started talking again. "One is the lowest and four the highest. From my knowledge, only three people have ever reached four, none lived."

If the room wasn't silent it was now.

"Once a week they will call all of us to a special room. They will make us pay for being here, because we are worthless and we need the punishment."

"Punishment for what?"

"For being in this world and sharing the same air, earth and space." This time the girl with black hair was the one to answer, her eyes dark as she continued to dab at Zoro's split lip, which didn't want to stop bleeding.

"Yes, Maya. We take the punishment because we deserve it."

Zoro had his mouth open, clearly wanting to say something against it.

"You're too young to know Zoro, but once you spend your time in here everything will become clear. We actually have to be thankful for these people for taking us in. We are worse than trash outside this building, and a burden to others." Saga looked at the three-year old in the eyes. "Monsters to some."

That last comment hit Zoro home. He remembered when he was with Banchina and the other kids would call him the green monster and run away from him. He remembered going to his mother's open arms and crying in them... her sad face as she tried to make him feel better.

Was he a burden at that time?

An image of Yasopp and Banchina arguing over him, how she would lock herself in her room crying. Zoro bit his bottom lip, stopping Maya from cleaning the blood that emerged there, tears starting to form on the corner of his eyes but refusing to let them fall.

She was so sad... he was the one that made her sick, always crying for him, having to deal with him, fighting with Yasopp... it was all his fault.

Maya had a stoic expression on her face, waiting patiently for Zoro to get a hold of his racing emotions. Saga however, continued explaining.

"At least they take care of us after they give us what we deserve. And if the punishment for the week before was too bad, they would let you heal for next week."

Zoro wondered what those people could do that could take more than a week to heal, he didn't voice his question as Saga continued explaining. "As you know, each time we hear the bell chime we have to recite our very existence. It is a reminder to all what we are. You have to learn it and keep it forever with you- it is what we are."

Zoro was starting to understand the place more and more. His mother died and he never knew who his father was. Banchina had raised him, but he was a burden to her, this has to be the world's way of making him pay for making a woman like Banchina suffer, this had to be punishment for being born a child of a murdered, this has to be the punishment for being the monster he was.

The three-year old held on to the black bandana after untying it, silent tears falling on it. A mother would love their child no matter, even if they are a monster. He was always a monster, Banchina was his mother... she was supposed to tell him otherwise... but really, he was the burden in her life.

Zoro shook his head. No, I can't think like that. Banchina... my mother loved me and she really did see me has her child and loved me as one...He didn't want to disgrace her memory by thinking like that. No, not after all she had to pass through because of him.

/

As promised, Saga made sure to keep Zoro from the other teens and children that might have wanted to hurt him. Zoro was the only young child that slept with Saga in the sheets. Every morning they woke up and ate, apparently they only ate twice a day, oatmeal for breakfast and bread and water for lunch; they cleaned anything that needed to be clean, and recited their purpose and back to the room.

Until Thursday came around everything changed. Instead of going to eat, they were led to another room. The large group of children separated once again into smaller groups, picked at random and divide into smaller groups to stand in a line, as they were always told to stand. They were standing in an empty hall, facing a door. Slowly the staff started calling each child by name.

Zoro entered the small room when called; when he entered the room it was all white, a man was seated at a desk, papers in hand seeming to be reading.

"Roronoa Zoro... three." The man said finally looking up from his paperwork. Zoro watched as the man pressed a button, and minutes later a tall woman stepped out of one of the many doors that were lined up across the hall. She had a smile on her lips as she motion Zoro to follow. Looking at the man who was calling another name once more, Zoro went towards the woman.

The tall woman led him to the back where the many doors were. Opening the one she came out from, she waited for Zoro to enter before entering herself and closing the door behind her. Zoro stayed standing awkwardly by the door as the tall lady flipped through some papers, her eyes skimming through the words.

The room wasn't big; it had a pole on one of the corners and on the other side a table filled with something Zoro couldn't quite see, because of the poor lighting. The room wasn't dirty, but it wasn't clean either.

"Ok!" She exclaimed, making Zoro jump slightly. "Look at you, so small and cute!" she made her way towards Zoro, a smile on her face. "My name is Sade...OH! What's this green thing on your head?"

Zoro placed a hand on his head, knowing she was talking about his hair. Zoro watched the woman with steady eyes- she was unnerving him for some reason, he just didn't know why. She didn't radiate the same warmth Banchina did when she smiled.

The woman's mouth seemed to darken, her red lipsticks turning slowly downwards, her body becoming less fluent as she reached in front of Zoro. By then she had an ugly sneer on her face. "You little monsters need to be taught to live how you're supposed to!"

Screaming in rage, she grabbed Zoro by his hair and flung him head first to the ground, the boy's head making a sickening sound when it connected. Taking the heel of her shoes, she rammed it as hard as she could to the side of Zoro temple, a grin plastered on her face.

Zoro cried in pain, as he hit the floor, but the agony only became worse when he felt Sade's heel make contact with the side of his head. Unwanted tears formed in his eyes, blood in his mouth from haven't bitten down on his tongue. Zoro looked up at the woman, his head aching and body trembling as blood dripped from his mouth.

"That's much better, on the floor like the trash you are."

Zoro tried to stand up, but soon realized he couldn't, the moment he tried his world went to the left making his body fall back down again. His whole body was aching from the impact to the ground- Sade might be thin, but she was pretty strong.

His eyes widen when he saw Sade approaching him with a rope on her hands. "Why are you doing this?" Her laughter only made him tremble harder. Taking the rope she tied it around both of Zoro's wrists. She lets go of the rope to grab onto his hair, dragging him across the floor as the small child screamed and thrashed trying to get free from her grip.

She dragged him until half way in the room, holding onto the rope around Zoro's wrist, she lifted him up, and hanged him by it on a pole with a hook. Zoro kicked his legs in the air as he dangled from the pole, his fearful eyes on Sade.

The woman went to the table, which was at the far end of the room, seeming to be taking her time as she passed her hands over every material on the desk, her smile growing wider. "I can't wait to use all of these... oh the joy." She closed her eyes looking up at the ceiling, her smile growing wider.

Seeing the woman distracted with her own imagined fantasy, Zoro tried to pull his hands free, however, all that caused was for the woman to snap back to reality and look at him.

"Is my little grass head trying to get down?" A pout formed on her red lips. "And here I thought we were having fun."

Zoro looked at the woman as if she were crazy, (Most likely because she was) Not stopping his attempt to get free, Zoro continued to pull the ropes holding his tied wrist, as the ropes started to cut deeper into his skin, making it feel like they were burning as the flesh rubbed into the rope.

"Tsk, Tsk..." Taking something from the desk behind her without looking back, she started walking slowly towards Zoro's helpless body.

"Stop! Just go away!" Zoro pleaded.

"Oh, but I can't do that, I have to punish you. Look what I have." The woman pulled what she had taken from her desk. Zoro eyes widen as he watched the whip slowly uncurl itself.

The three-year old lips started to tremble. "Please. I...I" Zoro fumble for words, his heart and breathing starting to pick up as his body trembled from both the fear and his aching muscles in his arms from holding his body up.

With a smile still on her face, Sade finished uncurling the whip, letting it drag as it made a rasping sound on the dirty floor. Reaching behind Zoro, she leaned close to Zoro's ear. Zoro's whole being shuddered as she whispered. "You deserve this. You deserve everything. Trash like you are worthless in this world. No one is coming for you...because no one cares."

Zoro eyes widen, letting his head hang as his own thoughts started to betray him. As his thoughts and memories started to deny Banchina's love for him.

Hitting the ground with the whip and seeing Zoro's body jump made a grin form on her lips. Bringing her hand back, she waited, seeing the little body tense. Without any mercy, or any remorse she brought it down across his back, ripping the flesh open with her whip.

*CRACK!*"

Zoro heard as an agonizing scream escaped his throat, his fingers clenching. His back was burning while the noise of the whip was still lingering in the air, along with his scream. Zoro clenched his teeth as another whip came crashing down his back, leaving an angry line. The whip impacts making his small frame shudder by just the blow alone.

"Cry, you waste of space! Cry!"

Zoro couldn't hold the scream that ripped through his throat. He could feel his own body start to rebel against the whips, as he arched his back, wrist burning because of the rope tied around them.

Each whip making him see more and more blurry, each whip hurting more and more. The pain was getting worst as Sade repeatedly brought down her whip, opening Zoro's flesh and allowing blood to run free. Zoro wasn't even sure if he was still screaming as everything was starting to become one big blur.

/

When Zoro opened his eyes, all he saw was darkness. He was lying on his stomach, his head to the side; he moved his eyes scanning where he was, he could see he was back in the room.

Zoro's ears picked up the sound of rain and the rumbling thunder outside. His eyes started to close again, letting the rain guide him to sleep. Before he could close his heavy eyelids, he heard someone address him.

"You ok, Zoro?"

He recognized the voice. "Saga?" Zoro couldn't see the boy, but from his voice Zoro could tell he wasn't too far away.

"How you feeling?"

It was then that a flashback of what happen came to Zoro, the pain following close. Zoro hissed as the burning on his back only got worse; he closed his eyes trying to fight the pain.

"I think she went a little overboard, your back was a mess when they brought you in, but Maya treated your wounds." Zoro didn't have to feel the bandages around his chest and back, he could feel them tighten as he just took a breath. They felt uncomfortable.

"Rest and heal."

"Ok" As soon as he answered his mind went into a blank state. Bringing him into another restless sleep.

R&R