Tranquillity

Zoro woke up very early the next morning to find his injuries mostly healed and Fox slumped on his chest, fast asleep.

"She didn't fix you up completely," Chopper explained, "as she said doing so would hamper your progress as a swordsman. She also said you can do light training so long as you don't reopen your wounds. If you do," the reindeer's glare suggested he believed Zoro was indeed foolish enough for it to be likely "then you are to stop at once and come back so we can patch you up. Reopening your injuries won't make you stronger, but will weaken you in the long run."

The swordsman glanced down at the huddle of floral shirt, plain leggings, white hair and bare feet sprawled on top of him and decided training could wait for a little while. After all, if Fox was as tired as she looked, any action that might wake her up was not to be taken lightly.

He ignored the little voice in his head that told him he was fooling himself; what did it know? He was just tired. Closing his eyes, Zoro drifted off, unconsciously wrapping his arms around the woman lying on top of him and turning on his side so he could tuck her under his chin.

In his sleep, Roronoa Zoro smiled.

Two days later Luffy finally woke up and the various celebrations planned for his victory over Crocodile started. First the banquet, which was distinctly uncivilised as Luffy was stuffing his face with everything he could reach regardless of whose plate it had been on, then a trip to the royal baths. The baths were truly wonderful, washing away all the various aches and pains training had left him. Zoro helped Chopper get clean, as the poor reindeer's fur and reduced reach made it difficult to properly soap himself.

Then Sanji had asked about the women's baths, where Nami, Vivi and Fox were. For some insane reason the king had actually answered the question in spite of Igaram's disapproval and they'd all gone to have a look. Zoro wasn't quite sure why he'd joined in; Vivi was just a kid and the evil witch of a navigator wasn't someone he wanted to ogle as she'd likely charge him for the privilege.

Fox… his brain had shorted out there for a moment.

Once he was peering over the top of the wall he could see Nami and Vivi, but not Fox. Where was she? He looked over towards the opposite end of the hot pool–

Dracule Lisska rose from the water, liquid streaming down her body as her knee-length white hair clung to her back and floated around her hips like silk filaments. She turned towards the noise, revealing stunning yet muscled curves, water droplets sliding slowly down every inch of exposed skin and her chin tilted up, light catching on flushed cheeks, the droplets on her eyelashes and the soft, happy glow in her eyes–

Zoro couldn't help the explosion of blood from his nose that blew him backwards to crash into the tiled floor of the men's baths but he knew that image was engraved in his mind forever. The echoing thumps and splashes on either side of him let him know that he wasn't the only person felled by Fox' beauty; there had been no survivors. Sanji looked completely catatonic, burbling feebly as his toes twitched.

There was a giggle from the top of the wall as Fox' head peeked over the top.

"You know if you wanted to see me naked you could have just asked," she teased with a wicked smile.

"What?" Zoro barked, pinching his nose as Sanji, Usopp, the king and Igaram all passed out from spontaneous blood loss.

Fox smiled, the expression darkly tempting. "Being raised a mermaid, I don't suffer from most of those pesky nudity issues that plague humanity," she said sweetly. "Usually I only wear clothing to avoid upsetting people."

It was too much for the green-haired nineteen-year-old's brain to take: Zoro fainted, hitting the deck just after Chopper and Luffy. The last thing he heard as he blacked out was Fox laughing.

The evening following the Bath-Incident-That-Will-Not-Be-Spoken-Of, Nami decided it was a good idea to leave. The marines had started moving and they needed to get off the island as quickly as possible. The Log Pose had reset, so they had somewhere to sail to as well. Then a palace servant showed up with a Den-Den Mushi, claiming Sanji had someone calling him.

It was the mad okama, Mr. 2 Bon Clay, who had moved the Straw-Hats' boat upstream on the Sandora river, out of the way of the marines.

With a heavy heart Vivi agreed to lend them the assistance of the Duck Squad and waved them off as they climbed out of the window with all their accumulated baggage. Fox waited until last.

"Vivi-chan?"

"Yes, Fox-san?"

The white-haired woman handed Vivi a familiar headdress. "I went looking for Pell's Devil Fruit, as it would have reformed with his death," she said simply. "But I found a wounded bird instead. He sends his regards and will be home soon. Goodbye, princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta."

As the enigmatic woman vanished into the night Vivi hugged the grubby fabric, tears trickling down her cheeks.

On a marine ship floating a considerable distance from Alabasta, the newly promoted Commodore Smoker pondered the situation. He had just heard from His long-time colleague and friend Captain Hina that the Straw-Hats had escaped. Looking at the bounty posters on the table, he considered. Logically, there was no connection between the Phantom Fox and the Straw-Hats. They hadn't recognised him and his presence had been due to his contract with King Cobra. Sparing their lives had likely been done to make it easier to keep an eye on princess Vivi, who would have been destraught at the deaths of those she considered friends.

But.

His gut told him there were no such things as coincidences.

Sighing, he stared at the three posters again as Tashigi joined him at the table. When his sergeant had returned to the ship from Aluberna, he had asked her if seen anyone the capital. She'd stiffened slightly, then looking him in the eye and said:

"I didn't see anybody, Captain. But I did see a sword."

"A sword, huh?" he remembered the assassin's sword, with its Kairoseki sheen and peculiar hum. "Any particular sword?"

"One of the twelve supreme-grade swords!" she'd gushed giddily as she hurried up the gangplank. "It was beautiful! The long-lost Zanchou, the only one of the supreme-grade swords forged from Kairoseki!"

"And you didn't bring it back with you?" he inquired dryly.

Tashigi had blushed. "It was really, really expensive…" she mumbled, eyes dropping to her feet.

"Well at least you know where to find it now," Smoker had relented, understanding what had occurred to his subordinate and quietly grateful that the infamous killer had spared her life.

Now staring at the photographs of Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro and the masked assassin, he wondered what he was getting himself into chasing after the Straw-Hat. First the Legendary Dragon and now the Phantom Fox…

Who was Monkey D. Luffy?

And that's Alabasta all wrapped up.