Haste

Mihawk really couldn't see what had drawn his daughter to someone as young, arrogant and inexperienced as Roronoa Zoro. His determination to reunite with her was commendable, but his bull-headed recklessness was not. The World's Greatest Swordsman had therefore left the angry, injured and exhausted boy to fight the humandrils; perhaps defeat would teach him humility.

Having his injuries tended to by Perona was painful, humiliating and tedious but Zoro recognised that depending on Fox would not do him any favours in the long run. She had already reinforced and strengthened his body to the point that he needed little beyond basic medical care in order to recover from most injuries and grow stronger; nothing short of major organ damage or maiming was worth bothering her for. As it was her power trickled into him constantly through the connection, giving him greater reserves to work with and steadily improving his stamina and recovery time.

Perona still irritated him though.

"Oi! I got a newspaper!" said irritant called out as she returned to the ruins where they were currently holed up. "Your captain's in it!"

Luffy was in the paper? "Show me!" he demanded, cursing his current inability to sit up and that Fox had made him tell Perona to bandage his back and arms too firmly for him to move them until tomorrow. Okay, he agreed a bruised spine was a serious injury but he needed to see this!

Perona huffed but held the folded-over paper over his face. "There; happy?"

Zoro stared, eyes dancing over the type and stopping on the picture. There had to be a message there…

"Hey! Are you not done yet? My arms are getting tired!" Perona complained.

"Just a minute, there's something here!" Zoro protested. "Luffy isn't the sort of guy to do this sort of thing! If Rayleigh's with him it must've been his idea; there's got to be something more to it!"

Fox unfortunately had no idea what it might be, but directed his attention to the ink on their captain's arm as a possible place to start. Zoro looked more closely at the design, then up at Perona:

"Are there any more pictures of Luffy in the paper? Pictures that were taken at the same time as this one? And can you get me some paper and a pencil? Please?"

The 'please' did it.

Fox sat cross-legged on top of Swift Hunter's head and sewed a seam, watching as half a mile away on the small, empty island she'd found in the Calm Belt Edward D. Spadille, her Ace of Spades, burnt the vegetation down to ash and turned the bedrock beneath it into semi-melted mush. In her head Zoro watched as well while they discussed the message Luffy had sent them.

Two years then?

Yes, Zoro answered. Is that okay for you? I want to be there for you, but…

Captain's orders come first, Fox agreed regretfully. Two years is a long time; maybe I can visit. I've still got my own ship and my father insists I'm never unwelcome in his home. She paused. Two years is pretty good, actually. By then the baby will be old enough to leave with someone and I'll have had time to get back in shape.

Leave the baby somewhere?!

We can't take a toddler into the New World when our captain plans to fight his way past established pirates and the rest of the Supernovas to get to One Piece, Fox pointed out unhappily, Never mind that Blackbeard's out here somewhere. I want his head to hang on my wall but I'm going to have to wait. Moth comes first, and getting dragged into Luffy's adventures would not be a good thing for a child who probably will have only just started walking. Our focus would be divided.

Unhappy silence. Fox closed her eyes and shook as bitter misery rocked her, a mixture of her own feelings and her swordsman's.

The baby comes first, Zoro agreed eventually, putting his own dislike of the situation aside. And I agree that the Sunny is not exactly a good place to raise a small child. Who did you have in mind?

Nobody particular yet, but I'm leaning towards Sako and his wives. They have three children already and they're all good kids.

And everyone on the island worships you, so the baby would be safe from pirates, Zoro pointed out. But I want to see them first, even if I can't meet them in person.

A good idea; there're a lot of things I need to put in place before I even consider leaving my baby with them, which would be well over a year away anyway, Fox agreed. And I need to check my old haunts and make sure my safe houses are still safe. Then we need to discuss the whole situation with Kajin and get his input.

I'll call on you once I've defeated these damned monkeys and got your father to agree to train me, Zoro said. Take care, Kitsune.

You too, Asura, Fox murmured back with a wave of pride and affection as he faded from her mind, letting her attention become fully absorbed by what her other lover was doing. She suspected that she didn't have much time before Ace got sufficiently accustomed to the situation to let Zoro talk him into ganging up on her, but wasn't sure she would mind when it happened. Her Kajin had finally got his feet firmly planted on the ground again and was making progress at long last. If her captain wanted her to spend two years improving her weaknesses before they reunited at Sabaody, then Fox could do that. It would give her time to coddle herself through her pregnancy, see her baby weaned and get herself back into fighting shape afterwards. Of course, physical fitness wasn't all that relevant for haki, so she would have plenty of time to play.

Ace would have things he wanted to do as well, but she could work with that.

Mihawk had been terribly disappointed in Roronoa when he returned to the castle four days later, bowed his head to the ground and asked to be taught while dripping blood on the floor. To lose a fight and then crawl before a declared enemy for lessons? He was not worth teaching. When the young swordsman however declared he had defeated the baboons and that the only undefeated enemy on the island was the Shichibukai himself, Mihawk failed to hide his shock. Roronoa however went on:

"But I am not fool enough to believe that I have any hope of defeating you here and now."

"I still do not understand: if you consider me an enemy, then why would you prostrate yourself before me and ask for my teachings? What purpose does this serve?!"

Roronoa looked up and glared. "So that I may surpass you!" he declared fiercely.

Mihawk couldn't help it: he burst out laughing. It was the most ridiculous thing he'd heard since his daughter confessed the full tale of what had happened when she first bedded the warrior who worshipped her.

"You ask me to raise by my own hands the swordsman who will take my life?" he laughed. "You are a strange one for sure!" He snorted. "A ridiculous notion; your actions are nonetheless quite unsightly… It would seem you have found a greater cause than your own ambition." He stared at the boy his daughter had attached herself to. "Did Lisska put you up to this?"

Roronoa shook his head. "She just asked me to ensure she was on hand to put the pieces back together again when I fight you for your title," he said, scowling. "She said-" he frowned, eyes glazing over slightly, "-'just because my shishou made sure I had surpassed him once I'd learned all he could teach doesn't mean I want you to follow my example'."

Mihawk stilled. That did explain why he had not been able to locate the man; he had fought Lisska to the death and lost. And he had done so when she was only fifteen; she had grown stronger in every day since then.

He smiled. This would be interesting. "Ghost-girl! Tend to his wounds!"

"Ah! Don't you dare order me around!" the pinkette squawked angrily.

"We can begin training only once your wounds are healed," Mihawk went on, ignoring her and smiling to himself. This was certainly going to be most interesting; he had never taken a student before. Perhaps his daughter was not as blind as she seemed in choosing Roronoa.

Oddly enough, to write a chapter which features a lot of Fox, Zoro and Ace and their relationship/connection I have to listen to the Talking Heads' album 'Stop Making Sense'. On repeat. It is weirdly suitable.