CHAPTER 34

Ari and Zoro's Moment has Arrived! Warlord Makes an Appearance!

Ari and the Strawhats race down the p-way. Two marines block their path, swords drawn, but Sanji quickly disposes of them with a flurry of mighty kicks. Farther down the p-way Ari sees an open door that she assumes is the high-security cell. Her assumption is proved correct both by the placard on the outside and also by the smell of Pheonix's signature perfume: Pumpkin Spice. As correct as she was, the cell is empty and her captured friend is nowhere to be found.

"They must have taken them somewhere," Ari huffs in frustration. She bolts out of the room and runs right into Vice Admiral Momonga. While he doesn't move an inch from the impact, she comically bounces off his chest and falls to the floor. Her hair blows back from the fall giving Momonga an uncensored view of her face. Vice Admiral Momonga drops his decorum and lets out a small gasp.

"You," he rages. He stomps toward her, grabbing her by the collar and holding her there in mid-air. "You are alive." He smiles sickeningly at her.

"You," Ari rages back, gritting her teeth. She jumps out of his grasp and holds her fists at the ready since her other weapons aren't available at the moment. The rest of the Strawhats race into the p-way. Ari doesn't notice. She only has eyes for the monster in front of her. He's the one responsible for all of this. He did this. She's so engulfed in rage and thoughts of revenge that it startles her when Luffy sets a firm hand on her shoulder. She turns her head to look at him.

He looks her in the eye and says, "I got this one."

"But I—"
"You have your friend to save, remember?"

Ari nods, but retorts, "But he—"

Luffy shakes his head and insists. "Your friend is more important than revenge. Go save her. I'll take care of him." He nods toward Vice Admiral Momonga. "Zoro," Luffy says, giving him a pointed look.

"Got it," Zoro says.

A look passes between the two pirates before Luffy jumps into action with Sanji, Nami and even Usopp close behind him. Vice Admiral Momonga fumes at this as he fights to shake the three pirates off of him in order to get to Ari.

These guys… Luffy… Ari thinks. She stands there for a second just reveling in their strength and teamwork as they take turns combating Momonga's attacks. She turns to Zoro with a questioning look.

"We should take advantage of the distraction," Zoro says to her.

Ari nods. She digs deep into her instincts and logic, feeling out where they would have taken her. If Vice Admiral Momonga came from that direction, she must be that way!

They rush past the brewing fight between the Strawhats and the Vice Admiral. In passing, Ari gives Luffy one last meaningful look of thanks. Vice Admiral Momonga reaches to grab her, but his giant palm is graciously stopped by a sniper blast from Usopp. Ari and Zoro turn their heads away from the blast and the pair continue running along the scent of Pumpkin Spice. They pass an unconscious marine on their way and soon after, the scent leads them up ladderwell after ladderwell. In that moment, Ari is glad she spent the last 5 years in hiding keeping up with her workout regime. In the physical exertion, she finds herself pondering Vice Admiral Momonga's real motive for running to the fight below-decks.

Even though the trail of her perfume is proving my instincts right, I know Vice Admiral Momonga. He wouldn't risk leaving her for a second. So why did he come rushing at us? A diversion maybe? But Pheonix's powers… surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to leave her with only some marines to guard her?

They finally come up to a platform with another hatch and when they open it, they are surprised to find themselves on main deck: the weather deck. As soon as they step outside, a horde of marines descend upon them. Their efforts are in vain since they fall to the deck in an instant thanks to Zoro's sword skills. They continue on the trail all the way to the edge of the vessel. Ari looks this way and that, sure she is missing something. The trail is just… gone. Ari gulps and looks down to the menacing ocean below. No… she couldn't have… been tossed into the ocean… could she? She wouldn't survive down there because of her devil fruit powers. Finally she speaks, "Zoro, her trail… it just disappears…"

As weird as it feels to do this, he sniffs the area as well and, sure enough, there's no hint of Pumpkin Spice there.

"You don't think," Ari starts, "they tossed her overboard do you?"

Zoro barely takes a moment to consider this before answering, "Only one way to find out." He takes another look at her before dropping his swords. "Take care of these for me."

Ari nods.

Zoro turns to jump in the water when he recalls he still has another precious piece of cargo in his sash. He hurriedly, but gently, removes the item from his sash and places it in Ari's hands. "And this."

Ari looks down at the shiny object in her tiny palms, shocked at the sight of it. She looks back up to him with confusion, but when she does Zoro is already diving head-first into the ocean below, leaving her questions unanswered for the time being. She looks back to the beautiful instrument in her palms. A flute... and not just any flute either. This is my original one from when I first got to Amazon Lily. Even though panic threatens to take over at the thought of using it again, she feels strangely empowered. She wraps her fingers carefully around it. It's been five long years since I've played this flute… I've been so scared to play anything for so long… hell the first time I played anything since everything happened was earlier this week at the palace. I'm so tired of being afraid. Ari makes a vow to herself in that moment to not be afraid of her power anymore. From this moment forward, she will embrace it with a fervor unlike any other. The rest of the crew is dead… the responsibility for that rests squarely on my shoulders. I can accept that. She looks back down at the sea, anxious for Zoro to resurface. What I can't accept is someone else close to me dying. What I can't accept is Pheonix dying because I'm too afraid to use my power to save her. I am not afraid. I am a pirate captain and a member of my crew is still in trouble. Just hang in there, Pheonix. I'm on my way.

After a while, Ari becomes restless and paces on the deck. Hours seem to pass as she waits for Zoro to resurface. In her pacing, she sees another ship on the horizon, speeding away. A realization dawns on her and she is simultaneously relieved and dejected. They wouldn't have… did they take her on another ship? She squints her eyes, trying to make out any details whatsoever when she spots another ship on the horizon, except this ship is headed right towards them. Wait, that's not a ship. It looks more like a raft.

At that moment, Zoro surfaces and lets out a large gasp. Ari notices that he's returned alone. She tosses a nearby rope over the side to help him onboard and despite the situation, she can't help but like what she sees. His clothes cling to his body as he sways his way up the rope and water streams down his muscles. Ari quickly turns away as soon as he's back onboard to hide her blush. Zoro shakes little water droplets out of his hair and says, "No sign of her."

Ari, finally composed again, takes this as good news. At least this means she's probably alive on that other ship. She gulps. I couldn't make out any details on the ship, but what if they transferred her over there as a precaution? What if that ship is still on the way to her execution site? We can't afford to wait around here much longer. But how are we supposed to catch up to them?

Zoro looks over her shoulder, noticing the raft speeding toward the marine vessel and wonders, "What is he doing here?"

Ari looks over to the raft and sees a single passenger onboard with a massive cross-shaped sword strapped to his back. His raft, though small, is going at an incredible speed. "What is he doing here?" They share a confused look.

Zoro's hands twitch, lonely without their partnering swords and he bends down to rejoin them to his hip. "Well, whatever he's doing here it can't be good." He secures the trio of swords, resting his forearm on them.

Ari nods in agreement, still pondering on where Pheonix might be. Well, at least she's not in the ocean. Zoro was gone for so long, he must have been very thorough. So that means… She looks again to the ship in the distance. Did that ship take her? Who does that ship even belong to? I've never seen it, not that I saw much detail anyway. She nibbles on her lip, wondering where to go from here. She looks back over the side of the ship and notices that a couple hundred feet from where they are now is a life raft. This gives her an idea. "Zoro," Ari says, "help me get this raft into the water."

Without waiting to see if he follows her, she rushes over to the raft and starts untying ropes to release it. He is quick to assist her and in a manner of seconds there's only one rope left that is used to lower it by a pulley-system. They both go to grab it at the same time and his hand overlaps hers on the rope. They duck their heads, both of them blushing furiously. Ari looks up first and for the first time since meeting him, sees him in a completely different light.

I was first drawn to him by his conviction and his ease with his sword. Obviously, I noticed he's attractive, but I've never seen him quite like this. Not even when we were at the cliff's edge. This is different. Something about him right now is tentative, sensitive.

Zoro looks up too and, instinctively, her hand tries to shy away from his. She's shocked to find that she can't move it because his hand is holding pressure on hers, holding her there. She looks up at him and notices that he's much closer than he was before. Inches away, in fact. He looks her in the eye and whispers, "Be safe."

She smiles and breathes, "You don't have to worry about me. I am the Fluttering Swordswoman after all."
His eyes widen as he takes in what this means. Her confirmation is all I needed to seal my suspicions… this woman… He gulps and his eyes look deeply into hers. Initially I set out on my quest to see the Fluttering Swordswoman so I could thank the person who inspired Kuina. I wanted to duel them, even. I wanted to see exactly what kind of person and what kind of swordsman they were to inspire my old rival. All I initially wanted was to thank her, but now… he glances down to her lips. I've never done this before. Is there a technique to it? He looks up from her lips to her eyes, asking permission. She gives him a subtle nod and with him still holding her hand to the rope, he takes his other hand and gently wraps it around to the base of her neck. He leans into her and with the slightest brush, gives her the gentlest whisper of a kiss. It isn't enough though. With the initial touch out of the way, all of his nerves dissipate and, more confident this time, he crushes his lips to hers with a surprising force.

Just as their lips touch for the second time, there's explosion on the horizon. They break apart and look to the source.

It's that ship! "I have to go," Ari breathes.

Zoro nods in understanding and as much as he would love to give her one last kiss amidst the danger surrounding them, he lets her go.

"What are you going about him?" Ari asks, referring to the man on the raft headed their way?

"Let me worry about that," Zoro answers and smirks. "It's about time we had a rematch anyway."

Ari smiles, accepting his answer and gets settled in the tiny raft. Zoro keeps hold of the rope as she does so. She gives him a single nod, indicating she's ready, and he slowly releases the rope one bit at a time. As soon as he sees that she's safe and floating along the ocean, paddling away, he turns back around and finds that his challenger has already climbed aboard. He is standing just a few yards from Zoro and Zoro can tell that he saw everything that just transpired.

The pirate doesn't acknowledge the kiss he witnessed, save for a small chuckle. "It's been a long time," he projects, "Roronoa Zoro."

"Hawkeye Mihawk," Zoro says smugly, "it's been a while."