Chapter Text
Zoro pulled away from the overly pushy middle-aged girl with irritation and took another sip of sake, hoping that the strong alcohol would quell his inner demons. After all, all that is required of him is to sit in silence, occasionally nod in time with the words of Luffy or Nami and keep his hand on the swords in case the negotiations with Alabastia take an unpleasant turn. Too much and at the same time too little. I want a good fight, the screams of others and the metallic taste of blood on my tongue.
Guilt, regret, pain, anger, hatred, resentment.
He is all this together and each separately.
The fists are clenched until white, the fine porcelain of the masterwork creaks menacingly echoing the half-suffocated moans of the demon, the conversation does not subside for a moment. Roronoa wants to run, hide, dissolve, anything just to be back on their ship on the way to another island and adventure, but all he can get right now is a light, barely perceptible touch on the shoulder and an understanding smile from the navigator. He knows that he is not the only one who dreams about it. He knows that everyone from the team would give everything to return back. Where everything seemed simpler and clearer, and the world was divided only into black and white. Where their dreams still seemed so unattainable, the enemies were powerful, and the chosen path, although dangerous, was still a fun walk.
- You will try. - asks Vivi, pointing to the table covered with sweets. - I don't like to brag, but our new chef is called a real master. - Her gentle smile lights up everything around. - He said he was the best in the whole world.
Zoro hears the grinding of his own teeth, the crack of a broken cup, and the startled gasps of one of the girls, and then... then comes the pain. He hesitantly lowers his gaze down, noticing how slowly, as if doubtingly, blood flows down his palm and how a disgusting red stain spreads across the perfectly white tablecloth. It's quiet for just a minute. Too quiet, as if everyone in the room was waiting for his reaction.
Capt.
Capt.
Capt.
- Hell. - Nami manages to react first and is the first to rush to the frozen starpom, pulling out the bandages hidden in her bag as she goes. - Come here. Come on, come on, don't argue. - she touches someone else's hand, carefully examining the deep, oblong cut. - It looks bad. You need to call Chopper to treat and sew up, otherwise there will be a scar.
- No.
- What do you mean no? - the redhead hisses like an angry cat, pressing a flap of fabric to the wound more than necessary.
- You - Zoro hisses in pain and still feels gratitude looking into the brown eyes opposite.
For years he had wanted no touch other than sharp blows from enemies and clumsy pats on the shoulder, but now that it was all over and they were on top of the world, it was finally okay to show weakness.
- I want you to do it. Like in the old days.
In the old days, when they were still sailing on the Mary, they got into trouble, and Sanji slept next to him, just under the side, sharing the warmth and troubles. Then it was Nami who was the only one who could think rationally in the moments when the deck was flooded with blood and took on the job of a doctor. Back then, every line of scar that stretched meant he was alive, now it would be just a blurry reminder. He became the strongest swordsman, helped Luffy and the team achieve their goals and even visited the cherished All Blue. They visited there. Sanji didn't.
- But I'm not a doctor.
- This does not prevent you from knowing what to do. - And there is so much hope in his eyes that it seems that if the navigator refuses his request, he bursts into tears for the first time in the last five years. - Please. Please. Please.
Nami looks away from the pleading swordsman unable to see him so lost, broken, small. It's like they're there again, lowering an empty coffin into the ground and not knowing what to do next. They don't know how to live when a piece of their soul is taken from their chest and torn out. And Zoro sobs loudly for the first and last time, breaks his nails on the dried earth and curses the silent sea that took away from him the most valuable, irreplaceable treasure.
She remembers the doom in the look and the soft words of curses. She remembers how, after a few days, she stood in the middle of an empty settlement, disgustingly stepping over a headless body and thinking with regret how much she would have to lay out in the nearby port to buy replacement clothes because her nakams were covered in blood while they methodically shredded her those who survived. After that, there was no more pity in the eyes, laughter and merriment, and their names began to be pronounced with trembling and timid respect. Coca's death turned them into untamed monsters, and everyone around them finally realized that the Straw Hat pirates would rather commit genocide than forgive and forget.
- Why? - her voice is barely audible, in the sound of a heartbeat, she trembles. - Why me?
- Because it is right. Because that's how it should be. You sewed up my first wound received on this journey, the wound from which I should have died and did not die, you will sew up the last. It is right.
- But Chopper...
- Nami. - Luffy does not give a direct order, he keeps aloof without risking approaching, and yet in his every barely perceptible movement, in every sigh, undeniable power is felt.
He does not give her an order and nevertheless makes it clear that he will do as the old man demanded and in no other way.
- Let's go. Do that and we can get back to work. - Vivi pushed the navigator, returning with a small first aid kit in her hands. - I could do it myself, but I don't think Mr. Bushido would mind if I got into it. - she smiled faintly, handing a small bag to her friend. - Come on. The sooner you start, the sooner you finish.
The navigator did not even respond. She just looked at her captain as if seeing him for the first time, bit her bottom lip and finally nodded in surrender. She will do it. Help Zoro close this long-gone chapter of their lives and let go of something that will never come back. She would do it for him, Sanji, and herself. She would do that for everyone on the ship.
- If you are sure...
- I'm sure.
- Fine. Fine. - she gratefully accepts a needle with a thread from the hands of the princess. - I will do it. I will, but this is the last time. Do you hear me idiots, this is the last time.
Zoro nods accordingly, unable to look away from the pool of blood. He doesn't know why, but for some reason he is sure that this will really be the last time. Either he will never get another wound or the next one will kill him. He feels it, as clearly as Vivi's regret.
The navigator's touches are gentle, the pain from the needle is barely perceptible against the background of all those wounds received earlier, the children's laughter coming from outside the door causes the first smile in many months.
- Vivi, dear, I know that you are busy - the door creaks. - Still, I urgently need to make it to the meeting, and Aziza and Leila are capricious today and don't want to stay with grandfather. - Kodza lowers two girls, aged three, to the floor and only then turns around in search of his wife. - Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know that we have guests today. Glad to see you again. - the gaze is directed to the empty hall, and the blood-soaked table. - Did something happen? Should I call a doctor?
- No dear, it's not worth it. - the princess picks up her daughters from the floor and kisses one or the other loudly on the cheek. - They will figure it out themselves. you can go I'll take care of the kids.
Kozo once again looks around everyone present with a suspicious look.
- Then good. I will get to work. Love you. - he slaps Luffy on the shoulder, not daring to approach the concentrated Nama and Zoro. - When you finish, let's have a drink together.
When the wound was treated, the tables were cleared, and the children settled peacefully in the arms of a slightly tired, but still happy mother, the conversation that had come to naught returned to its course.
- What did you want to talk about? - Luffy asks with a laugh, showing the kid funny spades.
- I am also interested. - A sip of wine makes us. - Of course, we are glad to see you and Kodza again, and of course we are glad to meet these wizards, but still, the way from North Blue here is not close.
The smile immediately disappears from Vivi's face, and the arms around her daughters tighten like a steel vise. Zoro sees fear in her eyes. The fear that he as an alpha, the strongest swordsman in the world and the right hand of the pirate king himself cannot understand.
- What happened?
- Slave traders. They established a camp in a few days in the south.