Work Text:
Crocodile dreams and the dream is a memory.
He is 25 and Mihawk is his swordsman. They are young and strong and full of ambition. Each small victory is a triumph that brings them closer to their dreams, and they celebrate each one with wine and laughter. They lay blissfully together in the sheets of the captain's quarters and Crocodile has his arm around Mihawk's shoulders, and gives him puffs off of his cigar.
Crocodile wakes up.
He is 40 and he is alone. He is cold despite the desert heat, and somehow more lonely than he has ever been.