Fallen Skies
All One Piece characters belong to Oda
"You're up early." Bonney stretched her cramped muscles as she entered the living room. Sleeping on the couch was not the best idea. "What are you making?"
Sanji glanced behind him as he flipped a pancake. "Morning Bonney-san, I'm making a nice homemade pancake with some sausage and toast. I hope it's to your liking."
She smiled as she sat down on one of the chairs. "That sounds wonderful." Taking the book that was on the table, she aimlessly flipped through the pages as she waited for her breakfast. Sanji's voice got her attention, placing down the book on the table, she looked to the blonde, who still had his back facing her.
"Bonney… can I ask you a question?" Not waiting for a response, Sanji continued. "Why is Zoro and Mihawk relationship so edgy? I thought that maybe Zoro would be grateful living with Mihawk than being in that horrid place." The blonde placed the nicely fluffed pancake on the plate and turned off the stove as he spoke. "I was thinking that maybe it was Mihawk who brought the conflict between them." Sanji placed down the plate in front of Bonney, taking the seat next to her.
The pink hair girl gaze was on her plate in front of her. Taking the fork on her hand, she started to poke it before she started to speak. "You're really smart and observant Sanji." She sighed. "It probably was Mihawk who started it, but I won't only blame him. When Zoro first came to live with us, he was… jittery. Any little thing would scare him, or make him freak out."
Sanji nodded, he knew what she was talking about since Zoro had told him last night. He wouldn't blame Zoro for that though; it was something normal, especially with all the things Zoro had to go through at such a young age.
"I thought it was the route of their clashing atmosphere. Sometimes they can't be in the same room together. One either leaves or they end up arguing." Sanji grimace, he didn't know it was that bad. "Now that I think about it, their relationship is like a roller coaster. When Zoro first came it was fine then it just turned down hill, then when we think it's getting better it just plummets again."
Sanji was starting to get little desperate, Bonney was beating around the brush instead of telling him. Seeming to sense Sanji's impatient Bonney smiled sadly.
"Zoro's mom is Mihawk's half-sister, they're related by father side." Bonney took a breath before releasing it slowly. "Mihawk knew about Zoro because Mihawk was the only family he had. And Mihawk... rejected him."
Sanji mouth was wide open. No words, being able to form. A thought came to Sanji, almost making him jump from his seat, "And Zoro found out?"
Bonney nodded slowly. She closed her eyes, letting the past memories flood her mind like the crashing waves.
/
Perona squealed and huffed when she was picked to do the 'finding' in hide-and-go-seek. "Stop being so loud Perona! You got picked so do the finding." Changing her frown to a smile, she looked at her cousin. "Let's go hide Zoro-kun" Taking his hand, she pulled him, as she heard Perona start to count. "1…2…3…"
"Should we be hiding together?" Zoro's voiced in a whisper and sounding muffled behind the scarf around his neck that was pulled to reach over his mouth.
With a grin, Bonney turned to look at Zoro. "You don't spend a lot of time with me, so this is our little time. Plus, Perona would give up trying to find us quickly, like she always does." Bonney's eyes snapped back forward when she heard some footsteps approaching them. She peeked over the couch they were behind, before ducking quickly when the person entered the room.
Zoro looked at Bonney with a questioning gaze, wondering if it was Perona on the other side. With her finger over her lips, she waited patiently.
"-and you did not know about him?"
Both Bonney and Zoro locked eyes when they recognized Robin's voice. Zoro made a face.
"That woman is here again."
"You don't like Robin? She asked in disbelief, whispering back to Zoro. "She's so nice."
Zoro shook his head. "I like her when we are home or when we go out and eat. But not when she carries me to her office. She has this all-knowing smile on her face." Zoro averted his eyes. "And I don't want her to know anything about me, she'll only get disappointed."
Before Bonney could say anything, they both heard Mihawk address Robin from the other side of the couch. Zoro's face lit up when hearing Mihawk's voice, a smile forming on his lips. Shuffling to stand up, Bonney held on to Zoro's scarf and pulled him down, with her finger over her lips again. "I thought I heard Perona."
"Of course I did." Mihawk answered Robin.
"Then why didn't you-" Robin's voice filled the room before being interrupted by Perona, who happened to enter the room at that moment.
"DAAAD" She whined. "Have you seen Bonney and Zoro? We are playing hide-and-seek and I can't find them!"
Mihawk glanced down at his pouting daughter. With a sigh, he pointed upstairs. "I think I saw them go up to their rooms." Robin had a small smile as Perona shuffled from one foot to the next, clearly desperate for any clues.
With an evil smirk now on her lips, Perona started ascending the stairs, only to stop when she hears Mihawk address her. "If you find them, tell them to stay upstairs until I get you guys." With a "yup" Perona continued until disappearing around the corner.
Both Bonney and Zoro had a smile on their lips, knowing Perona was not going to find them there. They couldn't wait to hear her cry.
Robin's smile faded when she turned to face Mihawk. "So why take him now, you knew about him since he was born, yet you didn't take him in..." Robin asked her gaze even stronger than Mihawk's own glare.
The father of two averted his eyes. "The money." Robin raised an eyebrow. "Because of the court case won, Zoro and the other kids that were forced to live there got compensation money. I never wanted him."
Bonney's eyes were wide and her mouth open. Remembering Zoro was next to her, her gaze went to him. Zoro was still crouched next to her, his eyes were wide, his breathing deep, and he seemed to be in another world as his body trembled. Bonney can see the pain behind his green eyes. Thinking that Mihawk took him in because he wanted him, only to find out that was not the case.
Closing his eyes tight, Zoro shook his head as if denying what he had heard. Before he knew it, he was on his two feet pushing pass Robin and running out the front door.
"Zoro?!" Robin screamed in a surprised tone, as she regains her balance. Her gaze snapped back to Mihawk, a worried expression on her face.
Mihawk made an effort to move, but only got one step ahead when he saw Bonney appear from behind the couch. "Bonney, what the hell were you doing back there?"
Bonney's lips trembled. "You knew about him and you just neglected him?" Tears started to run down her cheeks.
"How could you do that?" Wiping the tears forcefully from her face, she went to look for her cousin.
"I don't think I ever saw Zoro smile at Mihawk again." She looked at Sanji.
Sanji could feel his heart start to ache. He couldn't imagine the way Zoro must have felt when he heard Mihawk say does words. To know he wouldn't have even set foot in that institution if Mihawk would have taken him in. The worst part is Mihawk knew about Zoro but didn't care enough to take him in.
The blonde picked up Bonney's empty plate and stacked it with his. In truth, he didn't know what to say. He knew Mihawk would have never guessed what might have happened to Zoro. That Zoro was going to get abused, along with does other children. But just tossing his existence aside, a baby at that time of his own half-sister?
A loud yawn was heard as Zoro entered the dining room, while stretching one of his hands over his head. "Morning." He greeted sleepy, another yawn escaping his mouth.
"Morning to you too, Marimo."
"Morning Zoro."
Zoro stopped in his tracks and glanced at Bonney, puzzled expression on his face. "What are you doing… here?" He asked, pointing to the floor underneath him.
"I know you were pretty out of it yesterday night, but you can't remember me? I was right there by your bedside." A teasing smile washed over her lips. "Well, I wouldn't remember anything if a blonde hottie was on top of me and we-"
"Bonney?!" Zoro's face flushed, even his ears turned red. His gaze went to Sanji, who was laughing into his hand. "Sanji, don't tell me she was there?"
"No, Marimo, but I'm sure she doesn't need any more clue to know what happened after she left."
Zoro's face became even redder, if that were even possible. He grabbed Sanji in a headlock and started to ruffle the blonde golden hair. Sanji still laughing his head off.
Bonney smiled. She would have never thought the person to saved Zoro back then, would come again to finish the job. She closed her eyes. Zoro was much different from how he is now…
"Did you hear Perona? We are getting a new brother."
Perona, who was combing one of her Barbies, perked up after hearing her older sister. "We are?"
"Do you remember that small boy with the red scarf? The black hair lady brought to visit not too long ago?"
The younger sister tapped the Barbie head on her chin. "The one we were not allowed to talk to?"
"Yes, that's the one!" Bonney jumped off her bed, letting the hot wheel cars tumble to the floor after her. "But we can play with him this time. Cause he is staying with us from now on.
Instead of a smile, Perona pouted. "Where is he going to stay?"
"In your room, of course. You're going to move in with me and he is taking your room."
"What? That's not fair?!"
Bonney stuck out her tongue, teasing her sister, as Perona pouted.
"I'll talk to dad and you'll see, I'll keep my room!"
Bonney smiled evilly, before she could say anything they heard a car engine outside. Both girls glanced out the window.
"Too late, he's here already."
Turning on her heels Bonney started heading outside as Perona ran close to her heels, Barbie thrown carelessly to the side.
The moment Perona saw him, she squealed with delight. Robin and Mihawk glanced back to see Perona and Bonney by the steps. Not waiting on being called, Perona was behind Mihawk, peeking from behind him.
"Is that him daddy?" To excite to wait for Mihawk's response she stepped forward, she eyed Robin to see if she could talk to the small kid.
Robin placed both her hands on her knees as she leaned down to talk to Perona. "His name is Zoro. He's going to be staying with you from now on. Why don't you show him around?"
Perona's mouth slowly took a toothy smile. "Hey Zoro-kun!" Zoro flinched when he heard her loud voice, for him to then immediately hide his face with the scarf around his neck. "Don't be scared!" Taking his hand in hers, she ushered him to her room. Leaving Mihawk and Robin to talk in private.
Bonney had a frown on her lips when Perona and Zoro passed her by the stairs, to be able to reach her room- Perona chanting and talking none stop. "This was my room, but you can borrow it until you get your own. I have all my toys in there. You should see my Barbie collection. I got this new one in which she is a nurse, AH! You can play as Kent. That's Barbie's boyfriend…. You don't talk much, do you? It's ok, I like people who don't talk much…
Bonney remembered feeling slightly jealous of Perona and Zoro. Perona would drag him all over the house and he wouldn't as much say anything to her. She did it so much, that Zoro automatically started to follow her everywhere she went. He was like a loyal dog, and that made Bonney's blood boil. It got the older sister frustrated, when she wanted to hang around the new guest, Perona was always with him.
After a while Bonney was starting to regret having Zoro stay with them. Not only would he only talk to Perona but her sister didn't want to hang out with her anymore. Unlike Bonney, Perona loved to do fashion, painting her nails, combing hair and putting on makeup. With her new doll she could do all she wanted with no complains.
Zoro at that time had some pretty weird habits, the way he stood on tense muscles, he wouldn't sleep if not with Perona, the way he would talk to himself, the red scarf around his neck he would never take off and when he sways back and forth on the floor as if lost in thought.
It wasn't until Perona got together with Ace years later that Zoro slowly started to hang with Luffy instead of Perona, which was to Perona's dismay, and the reason why Ace and Perona broke up. But sadly for her, Zoro and Luffy's relationship became close to that of brothers. That is until Luffy had to leave to go Northblue. However, by that time Zoro was less conservative and was more independent.
It was around that time that Bonney learned about Zoro's past through Perona's trembling lip. She didn't know how she got Zoro to open up, but she did. After learning about his past, it was then that Zoro started to interact more with her.
It wasn't long after Saga made an appearance. Saga had convinced Zoro to help him write lyrics and sing with him. Zoro started to hang out with Saga, though she felt there was a setback in his personality when he started to hang with the silver haired friend. She could still remember the first time Zoro had sung. She was in the crowd, and it was Saga's opening performance. The song wasn't as hard-core as he sings now… but the lyrics…
Leave me in chains
Strip me of shame
Caress me with pain
'Cause I'm down on my knees and I'm begging you please as you say
Don't cry, mercy
There's too much pain to come
Don't cry, mercy
M-E-R-C-Y
Fill me with rage
And bleed me dry
(M-E-R-C-Y)
And feed me your hate
In the echoing silence I shiver each time that you say
(M-E-R-C-Y)
Don't cry, mercy
There's too much pain to come
Don't cry, mercy
M-E-R-C-Y
M-E-R-C-Y
M-E-R-C-Y
M-E-R-C-Y
M-E-R-C-Y
M-E-R-C-Y
Don't cry, mercy
There's too much pain to come
Don't cry, mercy
M-E-R-C-Y
M-E-R-C-Y
Don't cry, mercy
Sanji saved him from this...
Bonney smiled at Sanji as the blonde tapped his large spoon on Zoro's head. Sanji just being Sanji saved Zoro twice.
"Well guys I'm going home. Zoro, you want a ride? Perona and Mihawk will be home soon."
Zoro shook his head, as he scratched behind his green head. "I have to help Sanji clean his room."
With a laugh, Bonney stood up from her chair. "Don't do anything while I'm gone." She implied as she opened the door and closed the door behind her as she heard Zoro protest, clearly embarrassed.
Looking at Sanji, Zoro's face flushed when he saw the smug grin and suggested raised eyebrow.
"No, curly-brow."
A/N: R&R Thank you
Song Lyrics: Mercy by Hurts