Chapter 11: Unusual meeting at an unusual place.

The clock was already turning eleven, when a young red-haired woman slowly stepped out of the shower, drying off the wetness clinging to her toned body. Towels wrapped at the usual places, she sluggishly made her way towards the bed, whilst her eyes struggled to remain open after each heavy step left behind. Narrowly avoiding a collision, the young woman almost hit the nightstand with todays folded newspapers on top of it, not that she really would have. It was her room after all.

Sitting on her bed she let out a long sigh, after instantly changing into her favorite purple cross themed pajamas, before gently entering her comfy and expensive place of relaxation. Her sore body tensed for just a moment, until the soft mattress encompassed her whole collapsing form. Allowing her finally a moment of well-deserved rest.

'Mhhmm, so goood.' mentally moaned Erza, as the pain of todays events was starting to disappear by the second.

The Fantasia Parade just finished about one hour ago and the young mage was to the core completely exhausted, both mentally and physically. She needed to put on an amazing show, her worn out expression hidden behind an iron facade of elegance, as she changed from one stunning armor to another, all in order to appease the joyful citizens.

To think the parade almost wouldn't have taken place, thanks to Laxus's Thunder Palace he so kindly brought out of the closet just for todays event. It would have been a disaster, a catastrophe even and damage the good name of Fairy Tail…. or what was still left of it.

Luckily and unusually, Porlyuscia was present and with her medical expertise she managed to bring everyone to an acceptable state in record time and boosting with enough magic to execute a working last-minute parade. Overall it was a successful day and all Erza wanted right now was sleep to her hearts content and bathe in the moonlight shining through her window, but….

She couldn't yet, as one thing remained to be done, before she could allow herself to enter the world of dreams. It was something she did since she first joined Fairy Tail and it didn't take long until it became an addicting habit, executed each time usually at the same nightly hour. Some could consider it an unusual act and many her age would not even dare to touch or even talk about it. So with her usual stern expression, she reached out with her strong hand and snatched todays paper and read it.

In all seriousness, ever since she escaped the tower, Jellal's threat was constantly hanging in her mind and the fear of losing her friends wasn't one to be taken lightly, especially at that age. It wasn't until she discovered reading newspapers on a daily basis (even if she only laid her eyes on it to get a discount voucher for cake), that she could finally let herself dose off with less uncertainty in her heart than usual.

Everyday. Every single day she silently wished to read a passage or anything really about the tower, it's kidnaped victims or Jellal for that matter. There was once the incident with 'Siegrain', but that situation was cunningly averted by Jellal's devilish mind. A mistake on her part for sure and one that cost her heavily.

Something like this would never happen again and over the next long years she was starting to lose hope. Forcing her to live longer with this burden in her heart, but thanks to her friends, Erza was able to leave that part of her past finally behind.

Speaking of friends, she had yet to receive a single word about Milliana, Sho or Wally.

Erza considers herself a patient person, fitting the image of an S-class wizard, but days were starting to feel like weeks and strained her already stressed-out nerves. She even dialed the Magic Busters multiple times and had more than a lengthy and frankly exhausting conversation with them. Receiving each time the same answer over and over again, no matter what angle she might have tried to tackle it.

'Because of the Magic Councils reformation and its unusual circumstance, your friends are currently in our care until further notice.'

Or

'No, we can't disclose their location for security reasons. Please understand'

Or Erza's personal favorite

'If you have any complaints about our practices, we can redirect you to our Complaint Resolution Center for further questions regarding your dissatisfaction.'

It's a miracle in itself that only three lacrimas had to suffer her wrath, but Erza managed to at least make them promise to immediately call her about any type of update regarding her friend's situations. So there was that, at least.

A yawn escaped her lips, as she was starting to feel sleepier and with half-closed eyes Erza started to read out Fiore's newest news, from the last pages to the first of course. Reminding herself, that if she did it the other way around, the front page's usual more juicy news would overshadow the rest and she couldn't have that.

" Blue Pegasus…. destroys the Dark Guild Crimson Dog…aha"

" Local Man, rich after discovering… vial full of (yawn) magic powder…"

" Heartfillia Conzern…. out of business? Jugde Heartfilla sells all of company's stocks…. and sister companies to rival, huh, interesting….."

" Finder's Crew finally…. in prison…. no sight…. of Captain Morgious (yawn) Wrack, yet…"

" Laxus Dreyer leaves Fairy Tail… claims wanting to spread his wings and find his own path…. Doubts if he will ever return…"

It was always a surprise how quickly such news spread, and it was good to know that nothing about the Battle of Fairy Tail managed to get out to the general public, even if Erza was somewhat saddened about Laxus's excommunication. Not because of him in particular.

Erza couldn't claim she had any meaningful connection with him, as he was an insufferable jerk ever since the first time she met him. No. What saddened her more was the pain Master Makarov must have felt doing something on that magnitude.

It was unimaginable for Erza to…. basically reject a family member. She couldn't like, throw out Natsu, Gray, Happy or even Lucy out of her life, no matter what they might have done. Still that was only half the story. What made the master's situation even more heart wrenching was the knowledge, that it isn't even the first instance he was forced to do so.

She heard it once from a frankly drunk Macao.

Master Makarovs son, Ivan Dreyer, was jealous of Gildarts, for some arbitrary reason and almost killed him when he fought against him. Ivan then proudly declared his victory before the whole guildhall, with the bearably living form of the crash mages backing up his claim. To Erza the mere thought of standing against their ace sounded like a sick joke, but back in the day Gildarts wasn't apparently this invincible powerhouse as she knew him of today and after that sickening incident the Master excommunicated his own son before the whole guild. Rumor has it he hasn't seen him since then.

Another yawn broke out of Erza's lips. It seemed she was getting sleepier by the minute and reminiscing about the past didn't help that matter in the slightest…. At least she was at the final page.

" Major. criminal. hotspot…. destroyed (yawn)…. fallen out of the sky…. JELLAL FERNANDES RESPONSIBLE!" Reading that part out loud, Erza jerked herself awake with her own voice, forcing her body upright, as she was staring intensely at the front page. Mentally re-reading the title again, just to be sure she wasn't hallucinating it, while her hands gripped the paper almost to shreds.

Erza wasn't ready to tackle this topic right now. Mysto-…. JELLAL's recent stunt was still fresh embedded inside her mind and with everything that happened today, she wanted to have at least a good earful of sleep, before considering, why? Why did he appear in front of her at all?

Was it not enough, that he made her life so much harder than it ever needed to be?

Was it not enough, that she feared everyday for her comrades life, had she just slipped up once?

Was it not enough, that he turned said comrades against her by feeding them lies?

Was it not enough, that he almost killed her family to reach his selfish goals?

Was it not enough, that when she was ready to forgive him and help her closest friend shed the darkness encompassing his soul, she was betrayed the next best second and tossed aside?

Was it not enough… that she lost a brother because of him!?

'…Stop!' Steeling her heart, Erza mentally reprimanded herself for her thoughts, as she allowed herself to fall back into her relaxing soft fortress.

Jellal was a demon of her past. A demon, who's bindings have been finally shattered thanks to her guild, her friends, her family…. but, a part of her truly wished, hoped, that he would have changed his way. That the moment they shared atop the tower wasn't just a heartless attempt to manipulate her feelings, but the cry of help she always thought it was.

Gazing at the paper again and with newfound energy, Erza absorbed every little detail contained in the top story of the day. Trying to memorize every ounce of information.

"Rumor has it Jellal Fernandes was seen with a green-haired….. ERZA SCARLET!?" Tearing the paper somewhat, all Erza could do was stare at this line, going over it multiple times on the off chance she wasn't reading it right.

This... this was not something she expected to read and honestly it stunned her…. Why? Why in the fricking world would such a rumor even surface.

Sure, some would say 'It's just a rumor, don't sweat it', but if there's one thing Erza had learned over the years studying newspapers, it was that each rumor contained some sort of hidden truth. Spotting that part was always tricky, especially if it was such outlandish as this.

Was someone posing as her and got… of all things her easy recognizable hair color wrong?!

Leaving that though for latter and reading further, she found out about a battle between those two. This being the reason why Aeraos was taken out of the sky and that Jellal issued an evacuation, claiming that 'Wizard Saints were going to battle'. No casualties were reported and neither Jellal nor the imposter's location were found. Investigations are still pending.

'That's all?!' mentally shouted the mage, feeling deeply exasperated. She wanted to know more about this glaring issue…. Maybe she missed something? There had to be something she glossed over and spending the remaining energy left in her body the young mage re-read this one article over and over again, until she mentally exhausted herself to the point, she unwillingly dozed off. Sliding into the world of dreams, she so desperately sought previously.

.

.

.

.

The salty smell of the vast sea entered her nostrils, while the relaxing sound of waves gently crashed against the wooden ship she was standing on. The wind blew what little air it could push towards the young woman, encompassing her in a blanket of coldness and protecting her from the suns cozy heat.

The tranquility here was so mind robbing, Erza forgot instantly about whatever she was thinking off, before walking around this new place and discover its hidden secrets.

For a ship displaying a pirate flag, it was unbelievable well constructed in her opinion. Every room had something interesting to offer. Erza's favorite being the mesmerizing aquarium, displaying a multitude of color rich and graceful looking fish, some she never ever laid her eyes on prior to this moment.

Whoever designed this amazing place clearly loved his work, as even someone of Erza's limited expertise could see the amount of care put into every little corner of the ship. It reminded her somewhat of the cranky old craftsman who created her treasured Fairy Armadura Armor, where each detail was perfectly crafted to let it shine on its own merit.

Walking around the deserted ship aimlessly, there remained only one place she had yet to enter, and it was the so-called Crow's nest located closest to the sky.

Erza never wondered why it was called this in particular. Why were crows the go to name for it and what relation did it have with ships? Once she meets with Levy again, she will surely ask the petite girl exactly that.

Moving calmy towards the mast, the young woman walked past her falsely colored sleeping self and …..

Weapon instantly summoned, Erza jerked around and pointed the tip of the blade towards the green clad girl. It seemed she hadn't imagined things, as before her sat an almost perfect moss-haired copy of herself, wearing a darker shaded haramaki and leaning against the ships inner hull with tree distinct looking katanas rested around her left hand.

The memories of todays papers returned not long after.

'A green-haired Erza Scarlet was seen with Jellal Fernandes.'

Erza didn't question why she met her on a boat in the middle of… wherever she is right now. She just counted herself lucky to have found her at all and with that in mind, the young mage approached the sleeping imposter carefully. Weapon tightly secured and eyes looked on her target.

"Who are you?" breaking the silence, Erza spoke with her usual strong voice. It was a demanding voice many in her guild feared to face. knowing the consequences that might follow.

"…."

Yet the one before her didn't tremble or even twitch in the slightest and continued napping peacefully without a care in the world. Not that it discouraged Erza. She was an S-class mage after all and has learnt a way or two how to make people talk… or wake them up for that matter.

Blade steadily inching closer and with an iron will, Erza was not afraid to draw blood as it was moments away from piercing the imposter's chest. The young mage had no time to waste with people pretending to be asleep and this trick here worked usually wonders in similar circumstances.

And it didn't disappoint this time.

A hand reached to grab her sword, stopping it in its track, while her own mirrored eyes slowly revealed themselves.

"Is this how you greet every person you meet, young one?"

Hearing her own voice reply was a little more unnerving than expected. On top of that the imposter's grip also increased, yet surprisingly she didn't hurt herself doing so. It was, as if Erza's blade was nothing more than a blunt stick, failing to draw blood along its paper sharp edge.

The young redhead did not falter and stood her ground.

"Who are you?" asked Erza again, not in the mood to deliver witty one-liner for sleeping beauty over here, while she also increased her grip on her sword. "Identify yourself!"

"Who's asking?" a faint smile was seen on the mossheads face. " If you ask for someone's name, you always should start with your own."

Erza was not in the mood for this, knowing full well such tactics are meant to waste time, but sometimes you have to join this game if you want to get something out of it.

"Erza Scarlet." came the levelheaded response.

"Erza, huh?" The imposter repeated, hand reaching her chin." I could have guessed that much. We do look similar enough. Maybe we had a similar ancestor down the line?"

"Cut the games! Tell me who you are, before my patience finally runs out!"

"Me? Well, I once was the type of guy whose name was recognized all around the four seas, but now? I can't say I'm someone important. Just a shadow of the past lingering around longer than necessary."

Erza was not pleased with that answer, but she also knew from experience that she wasn't going to get much out of this topic.

"So be it. If you don't want to share your name, then answer me! What's your relation with Jellal!" raising her voice a little more than necessary, the young mage's gaze drilled seemingly into the soul of her splitting image. Waiting for the reply.

"I only traveled with him for a few days, so I can't say we were particularly close with each other. At best we were acquaintances, but now it safe to say we are enemies."

"What changed? Why were you fighting each other? Can you tell me where he is? Why do you-"

"First, take your sword out of my face. Someone might get hurt if you refuse." Ignoring the slight threat received and being so abruptly cut of, she thought about it for a moment.

Gazing at her blade, she was reluctant to do so, but seeing that the one before her is seemingly more compliant than expected Erza, in a manner of good faith, relaxed her hand and let the sword vanish. She could always summon another one whenever she pleased.

"Speak!" commanded the young mage, crossing her arms. "Why were you fighting?"

Seeing no threat whatsoever, the one before her rested her sharp eyes and moved her hands behind her head, showing off an air of absolute indifference.

"Nothing really. He just wanted to kill me, and I did not agree with his decision."

Erza was not convinced.

"There has to be something you're not telling me!"

Shrugging the greenhead added. "Only that he spouted something about me being his last sin or something like that, but its not like it matters now."

'Last sin?' Erza wondered what Jellal meant by that. Was the one before her a creation of his, designed to further his misguided plan of peace? There was no way to rectify it, so Erza let that detail rest for a later date.

"I see. Then where is he now?"

"Hell do I know. Someone rescued him before I could strike the last blow. That's all? Or do you want to bother me some more with your questions?"

Erza did not appreciate the given tone, but nevertheless she endured her temper and calmly responded with her usual strong tone, while pointing her finger.

"Yes, one. Why do you look like me?"

"That's hard to explain, but something about magic and a tower, but I don't have time for this speech." Standing up the green clad girl stretched her body, before walking past Erza." I have places to be. Till next time."

"Wait!" Erza tried to stop her, but the moment she turned around and grab the girl by the arm, she found herself looking up her own ceiling. Hand outstretched towards it, while the newspaper was used like a makeshift blanket, covering her upper body.

The morning sun was already warming up her body, while she remained petrified a little longer. Trying to process what just happened.

'Was this all a dream? It felt so real' mentally reprimanding herself, she quickly got out of bed and made herself fresh.

The dream still lingered in her mind for the rest of the day, but Erza categorized it as a nothing more than a lucid dream. One where she unconsciously tried to make sense of Jellal's recent rumored ill colored copy of herself, but now was not the time to worry about that. Today was supposed to be the special interview for the Weekly Sorcerer. She needs to look extra ravishing.

So with that in mind, she prepared herself for that and wouldn't think about her dream for quite some time.


A waitress with plain, but mesmerizing shoulder-long hair was walking towards her designated table with drinks in hand. Skillfully ignoring the people staring at her left and right, she gracefully avoided sharing eye contact, as most men and a few women lustered after her passing form, wanting to be acknowledged by her.

Despite not wearing anything revealing, or even anything feminine for that matter, the waitress has become somewhat of a celebrity in the span of a few days.

Where others tried to show-off their curves and bodies in the form of scandalous short skirts or bare-back dresses, this one has opted to wear the standard male waiter uniform. Concealing every aspect of her body in a manner that made people fantasies run wild, just longing to be the one chosen by her, but with her cold hearted and somewhat dismissive nature, it wasn't an easy task to gain approval. Intensifying the feeling just so much more.

"Here's your Cosmopolitan and two Palomas." As quickly as she served the drinks, she was as quickly about to leave, where she not stopped by the customer.

"Excuse me?"

Turning around, the woman didn't even try to hide her dissatisfaction and replied as bluntly as she could manage.

"Yeah?"

The young man was caught off-guard by her reaction and began to stutter.

"The-ee tihing is-I' didn't-" before he coughed into his hand to gather his thoughts and responded in a more dignified way. "I mean. I didn't order this."

"HUH?! What do you mean!? They said that I should bring it here, so don't lie!"

Hearing her tone the young man tensed up a lot. Not bearing the intense pressure and head hanging down, he was about to apologize for his sole existence, where it not for who came to his rescue.

"Excuse me, mister." An angel-like voice echoed behind the shoulders of the green-haired waitress. "I have to apologize for my dear colleague's action."

Beside the waitress another one of equal height emerged, sporting such an innocent smile, the young man felt the need to protect her in every way he can, as his heart melted the longer her gazed into her mind robing looks.

She sported slightly longer hair then her colleague and was dyed in a lightly bluish color that just meshed well together with her light brown eyes. All neatly wrapped above a yellow-white stripped scarf, being the only personalized item not part of her waitress uniform, reaching down towards her chest.

That look of innocence turned towards the first one, before gripping her own face with her open palm, losing somewhat her godly glow in the process.

"Nora… How man times will you make the same mistake?!" she vented out her anger." I said you should go to table six! WHY are you at table eighteen?!"

"You showed me the wrong way." This response was as coldly delivered as the drinks itself.

All the blue-haired waitress could do, was try not to suffocate the one before her and after counting to three, she just let out a long-defeated sigh.

"Just… just deliver it to the three gentlemen near the window." pointing with her finger, the moss-haired girl made her way towards the designated table. Again.

'Tsk. Don't make it sound like it was my mistake, Balsa!' was all Zoro thought while walking to the supposedly correct path.

You would think she wouldn't point towards the wrong table after working here for so long, but then again, he shouldn't be so hard on her. The swordsman dealt with a lot of similar people back in his day, so he was ready to forgive her for this repeated blunder. After all, she was the one who took care after his injuries.

After surviving the crash, Zoro managed to live without getting a serious wound on him… that is from the fall itself. His arm was still limply handing from his side and the one responsible disappeared without a trace. Nothing he could do about it.

But what should he do now? Zoro was for all intent and purposes free to do whatever he wanted, but for the first time in his live the revived swordsman felt…. lost.

'Maybe I should go and find a doctor?'

It was a first step in the right direction and Zoro hoped he would find one soon enough and fix at least one thing with his current situation.

Luckily, after randomly wandering off who knows where and using the sun as his guide. Zoro managed to at last find some help.

Balsa was just outside, lumbering some wood, when she caught sight of him walking down the road. Clothes tattered and wounds visible, it didn't take long for the kindhearted woman to give into her good nature and nourish the swordsman back to health.

Of course, the expenses for his medical fee were quite staggering and she wasn't about to just take this burden onto herself. So after a short back and forth, Zoro reluctantly accepted the job offer and endured the somewhat humiliating profession.

At least Balsa was nice enough to give him some proper shoes and fitting pants, sparing him the torture of short breezy clothes, while half the town was watching him work.

"Here's your order." bending down, Zoro quickly gave them the drinks, knowing and ignoring their wandering eyes and before they could give their complaints of another butchered delivery, the part time waitress was already on his way back to the counter.

' Just a few more weeks of this junk and I'm free to go.' Pouring himself a drink, he took a heavy gulp of his beverage.

The strong aroma of his salvation made the job just so much easier to endure. Balsa reprimanded him multiple times from drinking during the job, but she was at least sensible enough to not withdraw Zoro's employer discount and just added it on his tab. Sure he would need to work a day or two more, but without it he wouldn't even be in the mood to work for another hour or so.

"Drinking again, are we?" and speak of the devil and she shall appear. "At this rate you are going down the drain faster than you can pay your bills! How many did you have already?"

"Ah, shut it!" replied Zoro, while finishing his glass. "Just let me have this!"

"Remember, its only the middle of the shift. Just don't go napping behind the counter again or next time my tray will be replaced by whatever bottle you just had!"

Scoffing at her, Zoro was about to reply when the doors were being violently opened, drawing the attention of everyone present, as a strong gust blew into the hall, accompanied by a thunderbolt illuminating the back of an unknown person.

There in the doorframe stood a hulking shadowy man. The entrance seemingly too small for him, as it cut off half of his shadowy sinister face, while the rain started to pour into the bar.

"Shut the door!" shouted Zoro of course without fear, much to the dismay of the dumbfounded customers. Each one shocked that someone would dare emit such a tone towards this obviously shady and intimidating villain looking guy. Balsa meanwhile was slowly reaching for a certain thing hidden inside the back of her skirt, prepared for the worst.

"Either come in or stay out! Someone will catch a cold thanks to you!"

The one addressed just turned towards Zoro, as if deep in thought, just standing there, while the foul weather continued attacking his back.

It appeared he was seemingly trying to control his temper or else he would have probably rushed in and dealt with this foolish pest.

No one present dared to say anything and time seemingly only continued when the dripping wet man entered the hall with slow powerful steps, clothed in a black fur coat accompanied with a hoodie, protecting him from the terrible weather outside.

"You're right. May bad."

A strong, yet young voice responded, closing the door behind him, and relieving the remaining guests off the pent-up tension in their bodies. Not long after the festive atmosphere of the room reemerged, while some customers were considering requesting some additional refreshments to lift up the mood.

"Yes, yes. I'm coming!" responding to the new orders, Balsa walked past their new customer and let Zoro handle the rest with just one look of hers.

The tall, hooded figure spared another long glance towards Zoro, which was returned with equal interest, before walking past the counter and reaching one of the few free tables. Slouching into them, the newcomer's previous tense body melted like pudding, as he made himself comfortable on the quality leather sofa.

Straightening his posture and making his way towards their newest customer per Balsa silent order, Zoro was ready to take his order.

"Welcome, what will it be?"

The man spared a glance towards Zoro longer than he might have intended, before shifting his head to the side revealing the lower part of an odd-shaped scar running across one of his eyes.

"Well?" pestered Zoro, waiting for the order, while his poorly maintained smile started to crack.

"…" The odd man was silent for just a while longer, before he faced Zoro again. "I would like your strongest drink, please... and if I'm not asking for too much, could you give me some company?"

Raising his eyebrow, Zoro surprisingly considered his request. Would it have been any other patron, Zoro would have just ignored it and moved one, but the way the man looked at him wasn't something along the lines of flirting or anything else of these sorts, but instead a gentle expression adorned the man's face.

His gut told him the man knew something. Maybe Zoro reminded him of his generous body doner, who the swordsman had yet the pleasure to meet… outside of that one dream, but imaginary people don't count.

"If you tell me why, I might consider it." A few people who had their eyes glued on him were dumbfounded at his unusual friendly reaction and spilled some drinks in the process, but Zoro paid them no mind. "It all depends on your answer."

"Hehehe," chuckling to himself, the man responded with a genuine, but embarrassed smile, while scratching his head. "It's just…. you remind me of someone I know, and I really would like to have at least a familiar face around, one who's ready to lend me an ear…. It would make me feel a lot better."

Well, Balsa did order him to take care of their newest resident, but additionally this was a golden opportunity to try a certain thing out. It was something denied in his previous life and only possible in the current circumstances.

"Hmm, only if you buy me a drink!" shamelessly said Zoro, while a grin formed as he attempted to get some free alcohol during the job.

"Deal."

"Good, I will be right back."

Securing the requested refreshments, Zoro made his way back towards the now un-hooded figure displaying his well-formed arms for everyone to see, while his coat rested on his shoulders gave him the perfect look fitting of a mobster boss, not afraid using his own hands for business. Especially considering his lightning shaped scar running down his left eye and short yellow hair, giving him a certain bad news kind of vibe to everybody around him.

Taking the place across him, while serving the drinks, Zoro held his glass high in the air. It didn't take long for the young man to catch on, as he mimicked the greenhead's action, before knocking their drinks in a festive manner.

After taking a good gulp, Zoro was now mentally ready to listen to the large man, but his drinking buddy's gaze was fixated on his untouched drink resting in his hands, before he finally opened up.

"Have you ever done something so atrocious to your family or friends, that you regretted not long after?"

A weird way to start a conversation, but not the weirdest take in Zoro's book.

"Can't say I have. Care to share the story?" leaning, the swordsman melted into the couch, making himself comfortable, before he listened to his buddy's big problem.

"Let's just say, that I knowingly risked the lives of those dear to me for my own selfish ambition." His face morphed into on of disgust. "An ambition that has cost me what I loved the most… At the time I thought it was aiming to make them stronger, but all I did was push those away I deemed to weak to be part of our family."

"Huh, so you really messed up. What happened then?"

"I was kicked out." he told bluntly. "And have taken responsibility for my actions. Now I'm just wandering the world, looking for my place. But… the farther I go, the longer I want to return. I know I can't, but I want to... but there's no way they can forgive me..."

"Did you apologize?"

"…What?" Whatever the guy expected to hear, this response was not one of it as evident by his eye-widened expression.

"Have you asked for forgiveness? Have you showed them how much you regret what you have done?" pressing on Zoro continued, while locking his eyes with the man like a predator eying his meal. "Where you down on your knees, head kissing the ground, begging them to let you stay? Or did you just leave and run away from your problems?"

The man became somewhat agitated and hit the table with his closed fist.

"I didn't run away! I accepted my punishment and moved on. Even if I did, it wouldn't have change nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"….. I don't know." Looking down, as if ashamed the young man just stared into his drink. "But it can't return either way."

Silence filled their table.

Leaning back Zoro took another good sip of his drink. For some reason the young man reminded him of a certain situation he too was once part of. Hoping to give some good advice, Zoro was ready to tell the young man a story from his past.

"Listen, I don't know if this will help you, but I had once an old friend who was in a somewhat similar spot," leaning close, Zoro had all of the man's attention now. "He was part of a certain notorious pirate crew and one of the things he cherished the most was the ship they traveled on. It was a good ship, one they got as a gift from the man's de facto girlfriend, as a thanks for rescuing the village."

"Since when where pirates the one to save villages?" came the understandable question.

"The kind who prefer adventure over treasure." easily countered Zoro.

The buff man thought about the answer for a while, before he satisfyingly nodded. "Fair enough. Continue."

"Now then, the man quickly took responsibility for being the one to fix the ship." a small smile unconsciously formed on Zoro's face. "Even if his skills where severely lacking, it didn't stop him from doing his best and over the course of many dangerous adventures, he made sure it was taken good care of…. but the seas are not known to be kind. It didn't take long before the captain was forced to replace the ship with a new one."

"I guess he didn't like that." said the man, taking his first taste of his drink.

"It was more than that. He was livid. For him as much as for us, the ship was more than a vessel to travel from island to island, but an integral member of the crew and-"

"Wait, you were a pirate?!"

"Skim the details and listen to the story." dismissed Zoro his question. "Anyway, after an intense clash of words, our crewmate in an act of defiance quit the crew and challenged the captain to a fight. The price? Ownership over the ship."

"And what then. Did he kill his captain, or did he accidentally cripple him?"

"None of that, he was out of all of us arguably the weakest member, as his specialty was long range combat like sniping from afar. He had not the best track record one-on-one."

"So he lost?" questioned the man, wondering where this might be going.

"Not before delivering a hell of a battle, but this was the end and for a while we didn't see each other, not before we where about to sail away." Taking another sip, Zoro continued. " Apparently, he wanted to return to the crew, pretending as if nothing ever happened and expected to be returned with open arms, as we were all very good nakama and treated each other more like a family, where each of us was ready to sacrifice their own lives for the others wellbeing."

"And did you accept him back?" the look he gave Zoro was one of disbelief, but hope.

"No, we did not. We couldn't hear him, not until he with all of his heart begged for forgiveness and showing us, that he understood his error. Where his first words anything else then a heartfelt apology, we would have left him behind." Then Zoro grabbed the man's shirt and brough him closer over the table, before increasing his voice. "Listen, I don't know how close you are with your comrades, but know this, if you really and I mean really want to get back, the first thing you need to show is how much you regret your choice. They might not forget your actions, but they might be ready to forgive you."

Releasing his hold, Zoro let the stunned man stumbled back on his seat.

"….and if they don't?"

"Then you haven't tried hard enough!" finishing his drink, the swordsman slammed the glass on the table to emphasize his point, while spilling his drinking partners one. Stunning the man into silence, while also drawing the attention of everyone around them.

Suddenly Zoro felt someone's hand rest on his shoulder.

Turning slowly around he came face to face with Balsa. She was probably livid that he was slacking off… but something was odd. Instead of her usual angry expression, she instead was smiling in a nervous kind of way. Zoro was understandably caught off-guard, as he had never seen her this docile.

"Nora, the boss is requesting your presence at once." she delivered it almost robotically.

'Boss?! What was she talking about? Wasn't she the one in charge here?'

Zoro had no idea who she could have meant.

"Please don't leave him waiting." Balsa said politely in a none threatening manner, while bowing down.

Zoro was stunned, not understanding what has happened to the fierce woman he spent the last days with and it wasn't until his colleague touched his hand in a soft manner, that he snapped out of it.

"I'm coming." replied Zoro a lot more serious, eager to met whoever it was, before addressing his drinking buddy apologetically. "Looks like we can't talk for any longer."

"Seems so. I hope we can see each other again some other time, Nora."

"We will see, big guy."

"Call me Laxus." said the young man, while slightly waving his hand.

"Sure." With that Zoro followed behind Balsa and together they made their way towards a certain room, located somewhere on the higher level of the building.

Standing before the humongous pitch-black door spanning at least 4 meters in width and double the height, with the golden letter's 'VIP #10' imprinted on it, the blue-haired waitress took a big breath, before knocking on the door in a certain pattern.

The sound of unlocking locks was heard, and it took somewhat before the massive double door opened outward. Zoro was surprised when he realized who was inside.

"Your finally here," said a massive figure munching on something and sitting in a massive armchair at the end of the room. "It's good to see you again, Master!"

Gulping down a whole roasted lobster and surrounded by enough food to feed Luffy two times, it was none other than Captain Wrack in all of his flesh and glory, but it seemed he was not the only one present.

Next to him sat a more normal sized person, covered in a white cloak that concealed their identity, but not their obvious disgust by Wracks eating habits. Before Zoro could ask anything, Morgious stood up like a released pinched down metal spring, while dropping the chicken wing in his hands.

"Master, I need your help!" landing on his knees and hands clasping the ground, the captain seemingly banged his head on the floor, as he was waiting for his master's reply.

Balsa flinched somewhat at his action, but all Zoro did was walk towards the giant man and with his non bandaged arm on his waist asked calmly. "What's the problem?"

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I had massive problems trying to get this chapter into its proper form, but alas it's done.

The little scene with Zoro and Erza was the most time consuming despite its size, but it's a little teaser for when they met up for real, so I hope you liked it.

Man I miss it when I pushed out one chapter in a somewhat around a week, but times changed.

College started this month and has taken a big toll on me, so my release dates will be massively impacted. I will try to release one chapter each beginning of the month (not counting next one).

Also I will rework some of my earlier chapters. Just some improvements here and there in the sentence composition, so the content will remain the same.

How well that goes I don't know, but I think 5-6 weeks is enough time to do both of these.

Now I hope you liked it and till next time.

Chapter version v3 : 02.01.2021

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