Hello everyone out there. I am so sorry about taking so long to update. However, there was a nasty virus that infected my computer so I was stuck unable to do anything for a while and I had to get rid of all my infected files. The chapters and notes that I made regarding this story were all destroyed and there were some other personal problems that caused me to fall into a deep depression after that. I just hadn't had the heart to write at all and I decided to take a much needed break from writing. I went home for the holidays, which has been good for me and so I'm finally feeling up for continuing with this story.

Anyway, I'm back and doing much better. Once again, I'm so sorry for taking so long to update, but I finally have this chapter ready to go, and I hope that you don't mind that it's short. We're picking up with where we left off with Luffy and Zoro having watched the memory of what happened with Kuma at the end of Thriller Bark! With work taking up most of my time and with the realization that I will have to find a second job to support myself, while looking for an internship…? It's just been a hectic couple of months. But I hope that you enjoy what I have planned… and I should warn you, it's just going to be one mystery on top of another here! :)

Floor 23: The Monster From Below

"Z-Zoro…?" Luffy whispered as present-day Zoro shut his eye and looked away, unable to find anything to say.

But for Luffy, was like there was an empty buzzing in his ears as he stared at the scene in front of him. Zoro… he had offered his life in exchange for his own… he offered to die in his stead to Kuma. And he never knew?

Why? Why did he do it? What was he thinking? How could he be so stupid as to make a deal like this? His entire body shook with both shock and rage, an urge to swing around and punch Zoro was so powerful at that moment that he almost couldn't contain himself. The only thing that stopped him from acting on impulse was the sight of memory Zoro still on his knees as he had finished begging Kuma to take his head in exchange for the lives of the crew.

As for present-day Zoro, he felt that all his worst nightmares were coming at once as he merely stood there. There was nothing that he could say that would be able to take away what Luffy had just seen, knowing that all he could do at this point was allow him to see and judge with his own eyes what happened.

Perhaps Kuma had a hint of surprise in his face as those blank eyes merely gazed back down from where memory Zoro sat. But that was just a guess at this point… it was easier to see what memory Zoro was thinking as he glared back refusing to move or turn away as he waited for Kuma to make up his mind. Either way, he had made it clear that he wasn't going to stand by and allow Kuma to take Luffy from them.

Just then, from the rubble, somebody had gotten back to his feet and was now stumbling his way towards them. When Luffy turned to see who it was, his eyes widen in shock to see that it was Sanji… his clothes were blood and ripped, and he was now walking with a definite limp—probably from where he almost broke his leg trying to kick Kuma from before—but he was still awake and now getting their attention as he marched over with his hands in his pockets.

"Real cute, quit trying to show me up!" Sanji called, his voice wheezing slightly as he demanded, "You've got the right idea but what about your dream? You can't accomplish anything if you're dead you stubborn fool."

"You…" memory Zoro snarled back as Sanji walked on past until he was standing right in front of his crewmate and blocking him from Kuma's view.

"Listen you giant oaf!" Sanji yelled even as memory Zoro hissed, trying to stop him, "Hey!"

But Sanji completely ignored him as he barked up at Kuma, "Don't bother with Moss Head here! If you're taking a head, take mine!"

"W-What?" Luffy choked out, feeling as if the world was falling away from him for a second time. What were… how…? Why were they doing this?! Memory Sanji was now trembling—most likely through a combination of fear and effort to keep standing. But he stood his ground as he glared up at Kuma without a trace of hesitation.

"The government may not consider me a serious threat right now, but you'll regret not taking my head once I start making trouble!" he warned, "Now's your chance to take on Black-Leg Sanji!"

"You… jackass!" memory Zoro snarled out, however he insulted him without his usual irritation. This time, he actually sounded concerned for Sanji's life if he continued on like this.

Luffy's face was twitching as he lowered his head, the rim of his straw hat shadowing his face so that any emotion became hidden.

Kuma, meanwhile, continued looking down at the pair of them with those empty eyes as the two men waited for his 'judgement'. They knew that they didn't stand a chance against him… even if they were in a fit state to fight; he was just way out of their league. They also knew that they couldn't stop him from killing them all anyway, but if he was willing to let them all go for just one head… they were willing to throw their pride away and offer up their lives in exchange if only his empathy was great enough.

"Go on and get it over with! The only head you're taking is mine! Forget about these fools! Kill me and get outta here!" Sanji demanded, unable to keep the quiver out of his voice completely. "I'm just as ready to sacrifice myself as he is! I've fed people my whole life! And now I'll feed the worms!"

"Show off," present-day Zoro couldn't help but speak up at those words… his eye glancing sideways at his captain, who was now as still as a statue. This wasn't good… normally it was easy to tell what Luffy was feeling, but here, he may have been trying to get a sign of emotion from a wall.

Sanji kept his eyes focused in front of him as he spoke again, but this time, it was to memory Zoro.

"Hey... do me a favor..." Sanji said as memory Zoro blinked and slowly sat up tall. Once there, he even was able to find his footing and pushed his wounded body to his feet as Sanji went on, "tell everyone I'm sorry that I couldn't say goodbye. I'd hate to put you guys out… but looks like you'll have to find a new cook."

But before Sanji could make his final move, memory Zoro had heard enough. With surprising speed from a man who had been beaten to within an inch of his life, he rammed the hilt of his sword right into Sanji's side. Normally, such a move would have normally just ticked Sanji off without doing any damage, but given his present condition, he felt the full impact and his body just was in no shape to withstand it.

Still, there was no reaction from Luffy as he watched, already knowing that there was no chance that Zoro would allow something like this to happen. But still… why were they willing to die for him? He hated it, he hated all of this…!

Sanji, however, spun about, wheezing painfully as he grabbed memory Zoro by the shoulder as he cried, "Moss Head, you son of a…!"

But it was too much for him for he never even had a chance to finish his insult. He fought to remain conscious, but he slowly began to slump down to his knees, with only his grip on Zoro's arm keeping him even remotely upright. Memory Zoro didn't move at all as he just looked down at him with another blank glare as Sanji finally let go and hit the ground, out cold.

The whole time, Kuma didn't move or make a sound as he watched. Once they were alone again, memory Zoro glanced up at Kuma once more, panting hard as he removed the swords at his side and said, "Now show me you've got some honor."

He then tossed his swords… his dream… at Kuma's feet, showing that he was deadly serious about this. That he was no longer even going to attempt to fight for his own life at this point. His head was free for the taking if he wanted it.

The silence was almost painful as they looked to Kuma… waiting for him to say or do something. At the least, he wanted to make it quick before anyone else woke up and tried to give themselves up. Just when the silence felt that it had stretched on for an eternity, Kuma finally sighed as he said, "You made sure I can't even touch Straw Hat. Not unless I want to shame myself."

Present-day Zoro shut his one eye for only a brief moment as he silently thanked Kuma for his mercy here. They never would have made it out of this mess alive if he hadn't… and this isn't the first time either. He owed the man twice… once for here and the second time when he saved them all at Sabaody. He only regretted that he would never be able to thank him.

"Then you've got my respect," memory Zoro said gratefully.

Kuma's words were as good as a promise to him, and so he made no move when he saw Kuma turn back to the memory Luffy, still out cold on the stone.

"If that's what you want then I give you my word. I won't take Straw Hat's head," he promised as his giant head hovered over memory Luffy's unconscious form. But then he picked him up and said, his voice going darker, "But if you're intend on taking his place… you will experience a living hell."

Present-day Luffy finally stirred at those words, his mouth opening slightly in confusion as present-day Zoro looked away, grief in his heart at what he was about to see.

Kuma didn't elaborate just yet as he picked Luffy up like he was a rag doll and placed one of his hands upon his chest. In seconds, a colossal red bubble in the shape of a paw print seemed to have been pushed right out of memory Luffy's back. One so big, that it was just about Kuma's own size, and it hovered there slightly off the ground before he placed Luffy back on the ground with surprising gentleness.

"I just repelled all physical injury from Straw Hat's body," he explained quietly to memory Zoro, "His exhaustion… his pain. What rests before you is the sum total of his anguish he endured during his battle with Moria."

Present-day Zoro heard his captain's sharp intact of breath, no doubt realizing what was happening here. He didn't seek to deny or confirm what happened here, knowing that he had to let his captain see the full extent whether he wanted to nor not. This was far out of his hands at this point.

"If you truly wish to take his place, you must accept and inflict his agony upon yourself," Kuma stated. "As close to death as you are already, not only would it undoubtable kill you it will do so painfully."

"Zoro… no… don't tell me… you didn't…?" Luffy began and Zoro felt that he rather take a blade to the gut than hear that heartbroken tone in Luffy's voice ever again.

"Why don't you have a taste?" Kuma offered as he pushed a tiny amount the size of one of Nami's tangerines and had it float over towards Zoro. Memory Zoro didn't react at all as the ball drifted over and sank into his chest. The effect was instantaneous and memory Zoro's eyes widen in shock and pain. He began to scream as spasms shook his body and he writhed around in agony. Zoro, past or present, wasn't the type of many would scream no matter how much pain he was in, but here, the scream was unleased as if his very insides were being burned while his bones cracked and muscles torn as if they were trying to stretch out like Luffy's did when he used his Gears.

That one tiny bubble was enough to almost break a man who stood his ground against any foe with unflinching resolve… and the two could only watch as memory Zoro fell forward, blood bursting from his mouth and the agony remaining even after the effects faded.

"Zoro!" Luffy screamed memory Zoro laid on the ground, forcing himself to roll over onto his back so that he could breath, his eyes rolled in the back of his head like the tiniest motion caused him unendurable torture.

Kuma still didn't react at all as Zoro all but had a seizure right in front of him.

"Do you still want it?" he asked calmly, and the present-day Zoro realized that Kuma was giving him one last chance to back out of this offer. He would allow him to leave here if he asked it… but that would also mean going back on his honor and surrendering Luffy just because he couldn't handle a little pain. Like hell that he was gonna let that happen.

It took Zoro several seconds to catch his breath and slowly sit up. Luffy wanted to yell for Zoro to stop, but knew there was nothing he as he reached out a shaking hand, as if trying to take back all the pain that had just been taken from him..

"Just let me... pick the location..." memory Zoro finally wheezed out as he forced himself back to his feet.

Kuma seemed impressed by this and nodded as memory Zoro stumbled away from him, heading away from everyone else in the courtyard. Kuma only followed with the bubble of pain floating after him like how a child with a balloon would. Perhaps Zoro was hoping to postpone this decision as he tried to find a way out of it. But if he had, he quickly realized that there was no other option and no longer any point in waiting if he wanted to handle this on his own without the rest of the crew knowing. Somehow, he managed to lead Kuma area out of sight of the courtyard, and away from his friends and allies to a place that showed a perfect view of the sun rising.

It was a good place to end it.

Memory Zoro just stood there as he silently informed Kuma that this place would do. Kuma understood as he set the bubble in front of him and backed away, without saying a word. Memory Zoro stared long and hard at the bubble as he breathed hard, his eyes glazed over.

"What were you thinking about?" Luffy asked him darkly, as if daring Zoro to lie to him.

Present-day Zoro didn't answer for a moment before he closed his eye and confessed softly, "I was looking back on my life."

"That's not funny," Luffy cut in, his voice cold as ice.

"I wasn't trying to be," present-day Zoro answered back just as coldly. "I didn't know if I was going to survive or not. So, before I put myself to the test, I was just checking to see if I had any regrets."

"Do you?" Luffy asked, still in that same calm voice, his eyes still overshadowed, but there was a definite threat of anger layering it.

Again, present-day Zoro didn't answer as he watched his past self gaze into that ball of pain as he prepared himself for the fight of his life.

"Do you mean right now?" he asked slowly. "Or back then?"

"Is there a difference?" Luffy unfeelingly stated as his hands curled up into fists.

"Right now in the present…?" present-day Zoro went on carefully, "No. None."

"And back here?" Luffy asked, his entire body now shaking with the effort to keep his voice from rising any louder.

"Just before I was about to put my hands in that thing? Yeah… I had a regret. Just one though," present-day Zoro confessed as he opened his eye. "That I may not have a chance to continue our adventures together with the rest of the crew."

"Then why…?" Luffy asked so quietly that Zoro wasn't sure if he heard him. But there was no time to answer. His past self seemed to have had made his peace with the world before he took one last breath and finally plunged his hands into that bubble of anguish.

Present-day Zoro didn't make a sound as he watched the result of what he chose to do that day.

Not that he needed to see the memory to know exactly what happened. With his hands still stuck inside that bubble his body was being torn apart from the inside out. It all happened at once as wounds erupted all over his body when his muscles were torn and his blood vessels popped, squirting blood everywhere while his bones began to crack.

Neither of the present-day Straw Hats moved an inch as the scene played out before their eyes, memory Zoro's valiant struggles to keep his screams inside this time around. But at one point, he could no longer hold it in and a single scream erupted from his mouth—signaling pain that no one man should ever have to go through.

No words would ever be able to tell just the kind of pain that Zoro went through that day—nor the kind of scream that he made at that moment as a geyser of blood erupted from all over his body and splattering all around him as it pooled at his feet. Only that it showed the true depths of loyalty and determination that he must have had to have willing gone through this hell for the sake of another.

Luffy's own head had lowered so much that not even a trace of his face could be seen from the shadow of his hat as the blood continued erupting, splattering everywhere on the grass and rocks around him so that it looked like a massacre of many people were butchered on this spot. Still, memory Zoro bore with his, mastering control of his screams, his eyes glaring ahead of him with such a focused determination that not even hell was going to stop him from continuing forward.

Gradually the bubble grew smaller and smaller as he continued to absorb the pain until the massive bubble was the size of a marble being held in memory Zoro's hands before sinking completely into his body—fully merging with him.

It took several more long minutes before the ordeal ended. But the aftermath was almost as bad as seeing the even take place. If one were to look around him, you could only imagine the kind of horror that one person went through to see so much blood…? How he didn't bleed to death at that moment, was anyone's guess but he must have lost more than half of his blood at that point… and was losing even more with every passing second as he stood there. That's right, memory Zoro remained on his feet the entire time as he folded his arms, the violent spasms that almost ripped his body in two slowly ending. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared ahead of him, not even seeing anything as blood flowed down his body… waiting…

No sooner did the pain finally stop, did Sanji's voice sounded out from nearby.

"No way that guy just let us go! Dammit Zoro what'd you do?!" present-day Zoro looked up to see that Sanji had woken up and was now running this way, trying to find his past self. Thankfully, he was able to find him in the distance, his back to him as the cook looked on with wide eyes before he slid down some stone, making his way towards him. "You really freaked me out there! So what happened to the warlord?"

That was when he finally got close enough to fully see the state that memory Zoro was in, and his jaw dropped open in horror.

"WHERE THE HELL DID ALL THIS BLOOD COME FROM?!" Sanji screamed. But when memory Zoro didn't answer, he began yelling, "HEY! YOU STILL ALIVE? WHERE'D THAT PAW GUY GO?! WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!"

To Sanji's amazement, memory Zoro was able to form some words.

"What happened here?" he croaked out, his body shaking with the effort to stay upright. "Nothing at all."

It was all over now. Present-day Zoro took a few deep breaths before he looked to Luffy, wondering just what he was going to do. At first, he didn't do anything but stand there with his head down.

"Luffy…?" present-day Zoro began slowly.

"You liar…" Luffy finally muttered.

Zoro raised his eyebrows at him, wondering what he was talking about before Luffy seemed to lose it. He didn't see it coming. All he knew was that Luffy's fist had come flying up to meet him and he felt a sharp pain in his jaw as he was sent flying backwards, hitting the ground hard and rolled.

Luffy was panting hard now as he glared down at Zoro, seething with rage.

"You liar…" he said again, a little louder as Zoro spit out a mouthful of blood as he sat up.

"What the hell…?" he hissed, rubbing his sore jaw as Luffy went marching right up to him.

Zoro got back to his feet, ready for a full fight to break out as Luffy stopped and finally raised his head so that he could see it and it caused Zoro to freeze at the sight. Zoro forgot the pain in his face as he saw the furious tears falling down Luffy's face as he yelled out, "YOU LIAR!"

Zoro didn't say a word as Luffy began punching him. Not as hard as he had done before so that he wasn't knocked back, he didn't even try to defend himself as he let Luffy vent, shouting out with every punch, "NOTHING HAPPENED? HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?! WHY DIDN'T I KNOW?! WHY DID YOU DO IT!? DAMMIT ZORO, I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

Zoro just stood there and allowed himself to continue to be used a punching bag as Luffy yelled, tears falling from his face with every hit until he grabbed hold of his kimono at his shoulder and forced him to face him as he roared out, "WHY DID YOU DO IT?! WHY?! TELL ME!"

Zoro wanted so badly to yell back at him. But he knew that wasn't the answer at this moment. He took several deep breaths to calm himself before he forced his voice to stay level as he said, "If it were the other way around, what would you have done?"

Luffy's eyes widened as he let go of him, some of his anger ebbing away at the question. Both of them were breathing hard at this point as they looked at each other.

"That's different," Luffy spat out. "I'm the captain…"

"And it's a crew's duty to support and protect the captain," Zoro finished for him as Sanji went off yelling for the other memory Straw Hats so that they could help his past self. But neither of them were even looking at this point as they focused on their present selves.

"And you think that I'd thank you for getting yourself killed because of me?!" Luffy demanded. "Damnit, Zoro! I never wanted anything like that to happen! I never asked any of you to die for me! How do you think I felt when I saw how hurt you were?!"

"And how do you think that I and the others felt when we saw you strapped to that table in Impel Down after being poisoned?!" present-day Zoro yelled back, finally losing his own temper, "The only difference was where the pain came from!"

"I knew what I was doing!" Luffy shouted out. "That pain was mine!"

"So did I!" Zoro shouted back. "And don't you dare deny it, but I know that you would have done the same for me if it was you. You risked your life time and time again for everyone else. Why do you think that we get so angry with you for doing stupid stunts? Because we worry about you!"

"But… when we first met… you… you made me promise that if I ever stood in the way of you fulfilling your dream then…?" Luffy shot back and Zoro's eye flashed at that memory.

"Dreams change all the time!" Zoro snapped back. "And that was way back then! Back when we first met and before I knew what kind of a person you were! Look, Luffy. That was just who I was back then! Not who I am now!"

He held up his hand and caught Luffy's next punch, and he held it there, forcing Luffy to listen to him.

"Ever since I was a child, I spent all my time travelling alone. I had very few people that I could call friends," he panted. "I grew up in a dojo where I saw everyone as competition. That was where I met my greatest challenger. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't win… not a single time. It was my dream back then to grow strong enough to beat my challenger. Just once… I would have given anything to win."

Luffy was still panting, still frozen as Zoro held up his blocked fist, but he was at least listening as Zoro explained.

"That dream was what kept me going and made me train harder than anyone else," he went on. "But, every time I got stronger…?" He trailed off as he thought of Kuina and a series of all of his defeats at her hands played in his mind's eye in solemn procession before he found his voice.

"Nothing was going to stand in my way," he vowed. "But in the end, I couldn't win and… she died."

Luffy blinked at that.

"She…? She died…?" he asked slowly.

He slowly lowered his arm and stood taller as Zoro stood on guard, ready to defend himself should Luffy throw another punch.

"She… that's right," he confessed. "I lost to a girl. And more than once. I'm not ashamed of it… she was the stronger of the two of us and she also had dreams of being the strongest swordsman in the world. We always fought each other with bamboo swords. But the first time that I ever held a real sword in my hands, was in our final battle. And of course… she won. After that, we promised each other that one of us would one day become the greatest swordsman in the world."

"What happened to her?" Luffy asked, shocked by what Zoro was saying. Zoro was never one to talk about his past, and Luffy never pushed him or the others. Who they were before, didn't matter to him. They were his crew… his friends now and that was the important thing.

"She died the day after our vow," Zoro said bitterly. "She fell… down some stairs and broke her neck. Such a stupid way to go… so… after that, I took her sword and vowed that I would become the greatest for both of us. It's just like how you promised with Ace, isn't it?"

His hand unknowingly went to rest on the white blade at his side, and Luffy's eyes widen at the sight of it, realizing who the original owner of his sword was.

"Then… why were you willing to kill yourself for me?!" he demanded, his anger growing once again. "You made such an important promise to someone and you were willing to throw it all away?!"

"I'm trying to make a point! Dreams change all the time! They either become greater or weaker!" he shouted back. "It was a wake-up call to train even harder! Strive for something greater! Luffy, listen to me. After she died, I trained like a demon possessed to grow stronger. Even though I'll never have a chance to prove myself, I wanted to make sure that my name would one day reach the heavens where she could hear it and know that promise was fulfilled! Aside from some people that I met in my journey in the East Blue, I never allowed myself to become attached to people because I was so focused on my goal. When we met inside that marine fortress and you said that you were going to become the King of the Pirates, I wanted to laugh. I honestly thought that one day, we would just separate and go our own ways, I never dreamed that we would have made it this far! Somewhere I realized something."

"And what's that?!" Luffy demanded as Zoro seemed to be struggling inside himself for a moment.

"I thought the answer obvious," he declared loudly so that it probably could have been heard across the island. "Your dream… has become a part of ours as well! We want to see you become the Pirate King and be there at your side when it happens! That's what friends do, isn't it?!"

He stopped for more air, wondering why he would be so out of breath for not even raising a sword. But Luffy was staring at him at that moment like he had never seen him before in his life.

"That doesn't change the fact that I still stood in the way of your reaching your dream!" Luffy yelled and that was when Zoro realized something. Luffy wanted him to hurt him. He wanted to take all that pain back, as if he thought that he could make up for it. Well, too bad. That was back then, and he would have done it over and over again if it meant keeping him and the rest of the crew alive.

"I'm trying to tell you that promise I made with you was when we first met and I didn't have a clue who I was dealing with!" Zoro shouted out in frustration. "I thought that you were just a big talker who would quit at the first obstacle! We fought by each other's side through hell and back! Don't you dare criticize me for offering my life to an enemy when you risked your life for ours countless times!"

"But why didn't you tell me?!"

"I didn't do it to be thanked!"

"But you and Sanji were…!"

"Don't bring the cook into this! He doesn't have anything to do with it!"

"He was willing to die for me too! I never asked that!"

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO! I DID IT BECAUSE I WANTED TO!" Zoro screamed out, feeling that they were just going in circles. "Look! We did it because we wanted to protect the crew! Kuma was too strong for us back then! No one would have been able to live with themselves if we stood there and allowed Kuma to kill you! Remember how we ended up coming to rescue Nami and Robin when they needed help? How is what we did then any different than what we did here?!"

"It just is!" Luffy declared, unable to come up with a good answer there. The yelling went back and forth and in circles for a time until they were both panting for air.

"Luffy, we could fight about this until the end of time, but the fact is this. You are the captain, you are the heart of this crew, whether you like it or not," Zoro went on in a more calm voice. "And that's not an easy job. The choices you make have to be best, not just for you or any one person, but for all the crew. We… we all need you. You said before that without the rest of us you would have been dead a long time ago. You can't be Pirate King on your own. Well, we all would have been dead too if you didn't step in when we needed a helping hand."

"And you think that I can live with myself knowing that you got yourself killed protecting me?!" Luffy demanded, wiping sweat from his forehead with a shaking hand. "When we first met, your dreams came first, and then you promise me that if I ever…?"

"Oh, for crying out loud! How many times do I have to tell you that doesn't mean a thing anymore," he shot back. "How can we take a promise seriously when we didn't even know each other back then? And what about that other promise I made you?"

"What one?" Luffy demanded, and in his surprise, he forgot that he was angry for a minute.

"The one after I lost to Mihawk?" he said clearly. "Back at the cook's stupid restaurant? Do you remember what I said?"

"You said that you would never lose again?" Luffy asked. "Yeah, I remember!"

"That's right," Zoro said grumpily. "That is the one I made after we fought side by side throughout the East Blue. After having a better idea of who and what I was dealing with. I stand by that promise… which counters the first one."

"No, it doesn't!" Luffy shouted back. "You made me promise to never stand in your way to become the greatest swordsman! And the second one you promised that you would never lose again!"

"Listen to me, you rubber-brained idiot! Because I am only going to say this once," Zoro warned dangerously as his hand rested on his swords and gripped his white one tightly. "I rather lose my swords than just stand back and allow any one of the crew to be killed. And that includes that damn cook, but don't you dare tell him I said that or I will kill you for it!"

"But it was still a promise, wasn't it?" Luffy yelled. "The first one that we ever made! How can I become the Pirate King if I know about this?!"

Zoro was now fighting the urge to punch him now.

"Only if you willingly stood in my way and stopped me!" Zoro countered. "Don't you see? Your dream is a part of mine! And I asked you never to stand in the way of my dream! Well, if your dream is mine, you never stood in my way! I was always allowed to do whatever I wanted! So can't you see? That promise was never broken! Because I did what I wanted! Not because you made me or stood in the way!"

Luffy paused at that, his voice hitching as Zoro rubbed his face with an exhausted hand, wishing that he was better at this.

"If you don't believe me, just look!" he shot back as he pointed to the memory Straw Hats who had come running back with Sanji, crowding around memory Zoro, desperately trying to treat him though he wouldn't move. It wasn't until memory Zoro saw memory Luffy in front of him did he finally relax his guard and collapse, forcing the others to jump in and help.

"They were all willing to do whatever it took to protect you because we care," present-day Zoro said. "And you were all here to help me because that's what a crew does, isn't it? Look out for each other?" Luffy didn't answer as he looked on, barely listening to Zoro as he finished, "Your dream is impossible. But then, so are ours. The life of a pirate is fun, but dangerous and usually short. The moment that we chose to join your crew, we knew that. We knew that we could die at any moment. But how we chose to die is just as important as how to live."

"Still… I don't…?" Luffy began.

"You practically own our souls!" Zoro shouted back. "What do I have to do to show that?! Why else do we put up with your crazy stunts?! So you want to take my sacrifice and just throw it away?"

"Of course not!" Luffy cried out, "But…?!"

What do you say to someone after all that? What could you say to express just what was going on inside?

Luffy didn't have a time to find out, for at that moment, he felt water washing in over his feet and with a startled yell, he jumped back to look down and saw that this dark place they were in was filling up with water at a rapid pace.

"What the…?!" Zoro yelled, also noticing the water.

They backed up to stand back to back, trying to see through this seemingly empty darkness. But it was no good, it was like trying to see through a blackboard for all the good that it did. Meanwhile the water was continuing to rise, and before they knew it, it had risen up past their knees and was at their waists.

"Luffy!" Zoro yelled as the water, salt water, began to sap all of Luffy's strength.

"W-What's going on?" Luffy moaned out, becoming weaker with every second and slumping against Zoro for support. "I don't like this tower anymore… it stopped being fun."

"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing," Zoro said, having to support his captain as the water was quickly rising. He looked upwards to the darkness above and realized that if they could only on, perhaps they could make it back up the tower to the others? He certainly hoped so because the water kept on rising with every passing second and before Zoro realized it, they were treading water, his toes just barely able to touch the bottom. He slung Luffy over his shoulders, having to support both of them as the water kept flooding in and he was soon swimming.

"Damnit! Just how is all this water coming in?" Zoro demanded, glaring around. The emptiness around him and all this ocean water made him feel like they were stuck out in the sea during a storm. For all that he could see was darkness and water. Telling Luffy to hold on, he just continued to kick his legs as the water seemed to continue rising and rising for a fair distance until he was beginning to hope that they would reach some kind of exit before Luffy let out a loud "OW!"

"What is it?!" Zoro demanded before reaching up and to his horror, he realized that they had collided with a ceiling.

"What the hell?! Where did that come from?!" he yelled, his eye widening. Ok… he was trying to calm himself as he thought back. He and the others entered the tower and have just been going up floor by floor, trying to reach the top. He had long since lost track of how many floor there had been, but he remembered his surprise by how far that he and Luffy had fallen through when the floor they were on fell through. They just kept falling down and down… without hitting anything? There was no way that they could have reached the top in such a short amount of time…? This had to be some kind of trick.

"Ok," he said bracingly, knowing that time wasn't on their side. "If we fell through here before, there's gotta be some kind of hole or something, right?"

But with his senses so dulled by this pressing darkness, all he could rely on were his hands to feel around the ceiling for some kind of opening.

Zoro was struggling to keep his head above the water as he held Luffy in one arm, pressing up against the ceiling with his other one. But this ceiling wasn't made out of anything he ever experienced before for not even his unbeatable strength was he able to even crack it. The best that he was able to do was to leave a thin scrape across the stone when he struck at it with his sword. He gritted his teeth, his head quickly running out of room for air as he was now pressed up against the ceiling to keep breathing.

As he focused on slicing about him, Luffy's strength continued to fade and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he began to slip from around Zoro's shoulders.

With a startled gasp, Zoro took what may have been his last breath of air and dove down to grab hold of Luffy's limp form and through it over his shoulder. His cheeks budging with his limited air supply, he stared around desperately for a way out of this mess. He couldn't see were the water was coming from, nor could he see any stairs or doors that had been on every floor before. If he could just find some kind of step, he was sure that he could find the way up and rejoin the others.

But time was running out and so he began to swim, desperately searching about for a way out. He stared about, searching for some kind of opening… if he could find one then maybe it would lead them back out to sea and he could swim out there…?

But were sinking fast and with Luffy as heavy as a bag of rocks on his back Zoro knew that if he didn't think of a way out of here in the next few minutes then they were both as good as dead.

That was when he sensed something nearby… something alive…?

He turned his head and he saw it staring back at him. It was an eye…An enormous golden eye was looking up at him from the darkness and he opened his mouth in a shocked cry that was unheard from the water while the eye blinked once to show thick, armored scales before opening again. He raised his blade, ready to kill whatever it was and find a way out… but that was when he saw someone else there standing in the shadows of scaly skin that was formed around the eye.

He drew his blade, preparing to fight it until he realize what it was.

It was a little girl…?

He was sure of it… to his utter amazement, there was a little girl dressed in a simple cream-colored dress and her dark hair tied back into a pair of pig-tails standing there beside the creature's eye.

At the sight of his sword, the girl was shaking her head at him and this action caused him to stop dead in mid-swing. The little girl smiled suddenly, her gloomy expressing melting away, and that was when he noticed something odd. She was underwater like they were, but it didn't look like she was having any trouble breathing.

A mouthful of bubbles erupted from his mouth, his air almost out. What was he going to do?! He wanted to know what kind of trick this was, his last thoughts suddenly turning to anger at the girl, thinking that she was somehow responsible for this. But the girl had pulled a small flower from her hair that he didn't notice before… a tiny flower with glowing white petals, and she held it up for him to see. Zoro's vision was starting to become fuzzy as his eye was drawn to the flower that she let go of and saw it float towards them.

His lungs were almost out of air and everything was going dark as he saw the flower petals break apart from the steam, glowing brighter than ever and then…? Nothing…?

…

"…?"

"…ro?"

"Z…oro?"

"Zoro?! Hey, Moss Head! Wake up already!"

Zoro came too slowly, his mind so foggy at that moment that he was having trouble remembering anything that happened. Why were the others trying to wake him up? Was there another storm on the way? Or marines attacking the ship? Please, they could handle it, so why were they telling him to wake up from his nap?

He was left with no choice when he felt a sharp pain on his face and his eyes opened in time to see Sanji's shoe in his face from where he had stomped down on his head.

"About time!" Sanji said sourly. "Thought that you were finished there for awhile, Moss Head. Can't say I'm not disappointed."

"Oh, shut it, you crappy cook," he hissed back as he spit up a mouthful of seawater. That was when his memory came back to everything that happened and he sat up at once, looking wildly around for his captain. To his relief, Chopper was nearby and was now pumping on Luffy's chest to get the water out of his lungs. Luffy was coughing and crying as he breathed in the air.

"I really thought I was gonna drown that time," he blubbered out, sucking in all the air his lungs could get.

"What happened to you two?" Franky's voice asked suddenly and after looking around, Zoro realized that they were back with the crew, stuck in one of the stupid floors again. It did little to improve his current mood, but at least they were in a space where he could see a little and the rest of the crew was with them—after doing a quick headcount anyway. "One minute you guys were there and then the next you fell through the floor and were gone!"

"That's what I wanna know," Zoro said, checking his side where his swords were to make sure he didn't lose them. "Did you guys pull us out of the water?"

"No, we found you like this," Usopp said in surprise. "What I wanna know is how you guys got to the floor above us?"

"Wait, what?" Zoro asked as Luffy blinked around with a dazed and confused expression. "What are you talking about? We fell down, remember? Or do you not know how that works?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk about direction!" Nami retorted as she was wringing out her hair, and he saw that they were all soaking wet like he and Luffy were.

"We tried to follow you down but then we were forced up when a flood of water came through!" Brook gasped anxiously at Luffy's side. "The current was so strong that we couldn't fight it! Not that I could anyway since I can't swim but…? Yohohoho! Skull Jok… wait… that wasn't a Skull Joke?"

"Is everyone alright?" Zoro asked at once, and he realized that the rest of the crew were all looking like they had been through a bad storm as well.

"We're all here and in one piece," Robin reassured him as she tried to dry out her bag and her notebook next to him. "Sanji was kind to carry me upstream as I was sinking."

"And I would have gladly have done it again, Robin my love!" Sanji swooned as Brook and Chopper thanked Franky and Usopp for dragging them up with them.

"But you two had us worried sick!" Usopp added was squeezing the water from his hat. "We thought that you two had drowned down there but then the next thing we knew was that you two were already on this floor when we got here.

"What? No, we fell down and into more memories, but that was when the water came in and we were floating up," Zoro explained, "But then there was that eye and the little girl and…?"

That was when Zoro felt something in his hands and looked at it to see that it was… a flower petal?

He held it up to stare at the suddenly darkened flower petals. Before, they had glowed brightly, but now they didn't look anything special but simple flower parts.

"That's what happened to me," Nami answered after she tied her hair up into a ponytail. "I thought that I was drowning, but then I saw this little light shining above me and when I reached for it…?"

She held up a small white petal to show them and soon the others were slowly reaching out their hands to realize that each one of them had a single flower petal. After getting a good look at them all, Zoro told them about what he had seen below… skipping over the part where he and Luffy had been forced to see the memories of the aftermath of Thriller Bark, anyway. He felt Luffy's eyes on the back of his head as he stood up and told them of the girl and the massive eye. The way he described the eye was enough to cause the Weakling Trio to scream in terror as Brook passed out. At least, he thought he did, it was hard to tell with him.

"I knew it! I knew it! It's that dragon! It's doing this! It's haunting this tower and it's trying to eat us!" Usopp screamed, already panicking.

"What?! But I don't want to get eaten! Let's get out of here!" Chopper cried out.

"There is something not right with this island!" Brook whimpered out, hugging himself. "Just the thought sends chills up my spine! Ah… wait… I have a spine… but how do I turn that into a Skull Joke?"

"Who cares?! Don't you realize the shitload of trouble we're in!?" Usopp barked back. "I told you! I told you all that coming here was a bad idea! Why doesn't anyone ever listen to what I have to say?!"

"Because if we did, then we'd never get anywhere?" Sanji offered, but he was looking back down at Zoro with a strange look in his eyes. The two looked at each other silent as the others were talking about the possibility of a dragon here in the tower with them. Then quietly, both Sanji and Zoro glanced at Luffy's suddenly still form.

Sanji glanced back at Zoro, who nodded silently, informing him without the need for words what the memory it was that they saw. Sanji's eyes then turned one to deep concern and knew that they had a lot of explaining to do. But, thankfully, with everyone's attention focused on getting out, they had time to work that out.

"Strange," Robin said thoughtfully as she looked sadly at her notebook, wishing that she could have written down what Zoro said so that she could have notes. "If that dragon was trying to eat us…? Why didn't it eat Luffy and Zoro when it had the chance?"

"Now is not the time for your creepy thoughts, Robin!" Usopp cried, tears flooding down his face. "I want out! I've had it with this freaky tower! Nothing about it is making sense at all! Please! Can't we just find our way out so that we can find the Sunny? I don't care about any stupid treasure anymore! I just want to find the Sunny and leave this island behind."

"As much as I hate to say it, I agree," Nami sighed, resting her chin on her knees from where she sat on the floor, but she couldn't help but have her eyes shining like beri's at the thought of treasure. "At the end, I prefer to live over finding treasure. But we can't get out of this place, remember? We've tried everything before?" She ran her hand over the hard stone beneath her and shivered as she asked, "This stone isn't right. Nothing here is right. Every floor that we go up? And that little girl from before…? You think that she was the one who is causing this?"

"From before…?" Chopper asked in confusion. "Oh, you mean when we first entered the island?"

"Now that I think of it, she did warn us not to go into the tower?" Nami muttered. "I'm starting to think that we should have listened."

As Robin was flipping through her notebook, trying to fix the sopping wet pages, she discovered one entry she made earlier and read it through once more.

"Everyone?" she said suddenly, getting their attention, "Do you remember what the door said?"

"What door?" Usopp asked and Robin called Franky over so that he could give her some light. That was when she read out the words that she had copied from the front door of the tower.

Those of dark, beware the light,

For through these doors, prepare to fight…

Through these doors, a beast of flame and flight.

Beyond here, awaits fire and grief…

Deadly to all but those who accept belief.

Forbidden treasure, beware ye thief…

Danger beyond measure, beware ye slayer…

Enter, now, if you dare…

Enter, now… the dragon's lair!

"Oh, right, I forgot all about that," Franky said thoughtfully. "Wait… you think that it was trying to warn us from whatever is wrong about this freaky place?"

"Those of dark, beware the light, for through these doors, prepare to fight," Robin recited.

"Well, we certainly have been fighting in every way possible but how we kick ass," Sanji muttered darkly, drying out his cigarette lighter, and now growing angry to see that it had stopped working. Just great…

"Beware the light…?" Nami whispered softly before her eyes widening. "Wait. Doesn't it grow bright just before a memory pops up? So maybe the memories we're seeing are the fight that we have to go up against?"

"How can you fight a memory though, Nami-san?" Brook asked in confusion. "We've all tried many times, but there is nothing we can do to change the past, right?"

"Maybe it means to fight against our own feelings of seeing the memories?" Robin offered as she read out the next part, "Through these doors, a beast of flame and flight…"

"Ok, so that's got to talk about the dragon, right?" Chopper asked at once. "I mean, dragons are supposed to fly and breathe fire, aren't they?"

"It also says that beyond the doors waits fire and grief…" Robin added slowly, "Deadly to all but those who accept belief."

"Belief? What are we supposed to believe in?! That we are screwed?!" Usopp demanded. "Please tell me that there's some part that talks about how to get out of here?!"

"Forbidden treasure, beware ye thief," Nami added.

"Oh, of course, you would remember that part," Franky pointed out.

"Shut up!" Nami snapped as she crawled over to look over Robin's shoulder at the barely eligible words. "I'm just trying to figure this out. Ok, so there is some kind of forbidden treasure waiting for us, but to go through this tower, we have to fight against our memories and the dragon while believing in something? Is that what this is about?"

"It's difficult to say," Robin said, still frowning as she looked over the one part, "Deadly to all but those who accept belief. But belief in what?"

"What does the rest say again?" Luffy asked as he was looking at the flower petal that he woke up with. "And what does it say about flowers?"

"Nothing about flowers," Robin said, "But the rest says, Danger beyond measure, beware ye slayer… enter, now, if you dare… enter, now… the dragon's lair."

"And that's all?" Chopper gulped down. "Why doesn't it mention what else is going on here?"

"Maybe the ones who built this freaky place did something really bad and called in a curse from the seas and now anyone who goes in this place is cursed!" Usopp suggested in horror and Chopper screamed out.

"I'm starting to think so to," Nami said, surprised by how calm she was as she felt the soft petal in her hands before sticking it between her breasts, feeling that they should hold onto them for now. Since it helped to get them out of the water, they may be some kind of lucky charm… wait… was it possible that little girl from before was trying to give them some kind of clue?

She suggested this to the others, who all looked at their own separate petals, as if expecting the answers to come to them if they look at them long enough.

"You think that their some kind of a clue?" Chopper asked curiously as he sniffed it, but not picking up any scent, which was odd since flower petals usually had some kind of smell?

"Well, I'm an expert at plants, but I sure don't recognize any kind that this came from," Usopp said as he observed his flower petal. "And why isn't it glowing anymore?"

"I think that someone's playing around with us, here," Sanji said as he looked at his own flower petal in the palm of his hand. "It's like we're just given enough clues to keep us guessing and we just have to make up the rest of it as we go along."

"Or… maybe we all ended up eating some bad mushrooms or something here and we're all dreaming?" Franky offered.

"Are you telling me that I fed the crew something inedible, you walking tin-can?" Sanji demanded in outrage.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Zoro offered.

"Shut up for once, Moss Head!" Sanji shouted as the petal in his hand began to glow again. But it wasn't just his, the others all gasped at the sight of their own piece of the flower began to glow and behind them a door appeared in the wall and opened up wide for them to see stairs leading upwards.

"Oh no," Nami moaned out as Sanji and Zoro both ran to the door and cautiously stuck their heads inside to look up. "Please, don't tell me that we've got to keep going up like this? After what just happened?"

"Well, what other options do we have right now?" Sanji growled, feeling sick of this whole thing. "You know we've got to run out of tower sooner or later. And right now, after trying to drown us all like rats, I'm now aching to run into this dragon!"

"What do you know? We agree on something for once," Zoro said darkly.

It took a lot of convincing for some of the crew members to keep going, at least until they reminded them that they could risk drowning here and soon they couldn't waiting to get up to the next floor. Sanji led the way this time, ready to kick something at whoever was waiting for them at the next stop and what they were going to see next.

Zoro decided to watch the rear guard should anything come up from below them. But as the others all were out of their sights…?

"Zoro?"

Zoro paused as he looked back to see that Luffy was still standing there, tucking his own flower petal into the rim of his hat, his eyes never leaving Zoro's face. The captain and the first mate all both just looked at each other as some kind of understanding seemed to pass between them, forming some kind of connection that neither of them could describe. But…?

"I know…" Zoro said with a nod at Luffy's suddenly stoic expression. "We still have to talk about what happened. But we can wait until after we get out of here. Our first priority is to make it out alive with the crew. Right?"

Luffy frowned, but he ended up nodding as he walked up passed Zoro and climbed the stairs after the others. Zoro just watched on until his captain's back was out of sight and he sighed, knowing that they would talk about this again once they were able to find their way out. Hopefully, he would find something that he could say to prove that they all wanted the same thing. They wanted to just stay as part of the crew… and that was all that the wanted.

But still… how did they end up falling down and ended up at the top after all of that? It was like someone was changing everything inside this tower at the drop of a hat…? Was someone controlling the floors like this? Did they somehow know that there was a memory that he didn't want to see and that they forced him and the one person he never wanted to find out about it to watch it? And that water? What was that for? To get them back to the others once the memory was done? Well, whoever it was responsible for this stupid fun house, he was going to gut them.

He began to climb the stairs as the door shut behind him, leaving the confusion and mystery behind them, as even more was waiting for them above. But with Franky leading the way with his nipple lights, there was nothing but darkness surrounding Zoro until he caught up with the others… he didn't notice the shadowy image of chains wrapped around his body and shackles trapping his wrists appearing for just a brief moment. But as he climbed, the shadowy chains broke apart, leaving only the shackles until he caught up with the others and was in the light again. But the cold illusions of the shackles had already faded at that point and he did not notice anything strange as he continued climbing.

All Zoro felt was that there was a strange weight lifted from his heart… but not completely.