Chapter Text
It was pouring with rain. The dark sky bathed the green forest in a deep gray.
The light of the moon should have been shining on the treetops due to the time of day, but the clouds engulfed the moon to such an extent that you had the feeling that it didn't even exist. Instead, you could hear a piercing roar caused by the water from the clouds. The forest paths were under water, making them almost impassable.
“This can't be...this fucking bar has to be here somewhere! I've already seen it from our ship!”
Zoro cursed himself. He had been walking through the forest for hours. His black shoes were soaked with water. He had lost his way.
His teeth grinded. Unfortunately, this was the only bar in this small town.
The Straw Hat Gang stopped on this island that morning because Nami had to load the logport. After the daily briefing on board of the Thousand Sunny came to an end, each of the Mugiwaras pursued their hobbies. Sanji went off to get the last of the day's food at the market. Nami and Robin grabbed Chopper and strolled through the small boutiques in town.
Brook, Usopp, Jinbe and Luffy went fishing without a care in the world. Unfortunately, they didn't think to disguise themselves properly. They were frustrated to discover that the navy had already set up camp on the main side of the harbor and had spread out around the town. They quickly bought fake beards and headgear in the town on the way to the beach.
Nami assumed that they must have gone ahead of the navy and that they would have a day's rest from them. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The G-5 ship had been chasing after them for days. Nami was sure that they had lost the navy ship - but apparently it had quickly caught up with them again. To be on the safe side, the Straw Hats had parked the Sunny in a small lagoon and covered it with large leaves as a precaution so that no one could find it easily.
Zoro had always been a loner. He liked company from time to time, but he was happy to have some well-earned rest after a few hours. Besides, he was currently avoiding Nami for various reasons. (He grumbled at the thought of her.) After taking a nap after his hard training, he set off to moisten his dry throat with alcohol.
That was three hours ago. He hadn't expected the walk to the bar to be so tough. The longer he searched for the bar, the greater his desire for the yellow barley gold grew - but so did the frustration of simply not finding the bar.
But he have already mastered frustration - Kuina was a good teacher.
He was glad that he wore a long, dark brown coat made of thick cotton fabric. However, thanks to the masses of rain, this had become virtually superfluous. Water dripped down the edge of his hood, which he had pulled over his head.
And then finally: An old, rustic wooden building appeared before his eyes. “To the pirate plank” was written in large letters above the wooden door. He pushed against the creaking door with the last of his strength.
He looked around and assessed the situation inside the room.
Zoro is the most vigilant and attentive member of the Straw Hats. He didn't really have a choice - after all, he has to watch out for Luffy, who loves danger and likes to run blindly from one disaster to another. As the swordsman is now a much-wanted man, he tries to avoid all possible sources of danger.
***********************************
On the right-hand side of the bar, many guests were sitting at small, U-shaped tables, on which there were many empty jugs. You could tell from the volume and the nature of the conversations that many of them must have reached a high alcohol level. The atmosphere was cheerful.
Zoro grumbled. The only empty seat in the room this time was at the bar. He hated bar seats, as he usually sat there with his back to the other guests and was therefore unable to observe the overall situation. Especially when his senses were clouded.
He took a closer look into the room. There were exactly two seats there. While the right-hand seat was empty, a person was already sitting in the left-hand seat, sipping a glass of whiskey. It appeared to be a woman, as her silhouette made a petite impression. Like him, she was also wearing a long, concealing cloak with a hood so that her face was not visible.
Zoro swallowed as his gaze fell on her sword, which was leaning against the wall beside her.
“Damn it... why is this woman here? I just need some peace and quiet! What am I going to do now? Who knows what she's like today. You never know what she is going to do with you...”
Zoro's fingers and his eyebrow twitched. A drop of sweat ran down his cheek. He weighed up whether he wanted to satisfy his craving for beer today or leave the “pirate plank” again abruptly. He swallowed and clenched his hand into a fist.
He decided to take the risk to sit next to the woman. He had gone to all this trouble to get his well-deserved golden brew. He would not allow a woman to ruin his day even more.
Suddenly, the bar became unexpectedly quiet. The guests turned around, looked at Roronoa and froze when they recognized him. It wasn't a part of his face that gave him away under his pulled-down hood, but his three long swords sticking out from under his cloak.
Zoro rolled his eyes.
“If I had hidden the swords better under my cloak before...shit. Now everyone here recognizes me.”
Most of the guests shivered in fear and began to whisper about Zoro and stare at him. He just sighed. He was used to this by now.
“Hey, you there!”
“Hmm?”
Zoro turned his head to the right in the direction of a young man with a hat, long brown hair and beard, who looked at him disdainfully.
“Roronoa-who? Who are you to make everyone freeze in front of you?”
After all that searching for the bar and because of his wet clothes, Zoro was in a really bad mood. He wanted to suppress his feelings, but it was particularly difficult for him at that moment. If the guest said another sentence now, he would burst.
“Shh, boss! You'd better be quiet!”
His friend was trembling with fear and tried to stop him from saying anything else to Zoro.
“I don't really care. I think you're pretty silly with your three swords. What are you doing with the third sword anyway? Stick it up your ass?”
Now he had Zoro's full attention. The vein in his forehead almost seemed to burst.
Within seconds, the swordsman was standing on a parapet above the insulting guest's head. The latter looked up, completely distraught and shuddering suddenly.
“How did you get over my head so quickly?”
“The sword is there to split your skull open. Would you like a taste?”
The gentleman suddenly screamed in terror and ran out of the bar straight into the pouring rain. His friend remained frozen in place.
Some of the guests made funny comments.
Zoro put his Wado-Ichi Monji back in its sheath and swung himself onto the bar stool in front of the graying, elderly barman.
***********************************
The barman had a deep, prominent scar on his head. Zoro wondered what he must have experienced in his life. Scars tell stories - Zoro knows that very well.
“Roronoa Zoro, what an honor to welcome you here with us. The guest has been annoying me the whole evening - thank you for your help. What can I get you?”
“Two beers please. One for me and one for the lady next to me.”
The mysterious lady looked to her right at Zoro's face.
Strands of blue hair unraveled from her hood. Her gaze was so penetrating that he shuddered.
“Congratulations, Roronoa. You've got all the attention on you now,” the woman said, completely unimpressed, looking back from him back to the glass of whiskey she was stirring with her hand.
Her eyelids were pulled down. She looked sad.
“Do I look like I'm enjoying this? You should know me better by now, Captain Glasses.”
The woman sighed.
"Even at the end of the day, I'm still being chased by a pirate."
"Then why did you picked up just the bar with the most crooks here at this island?", Zoro replied.
The woman grumbled.
Zoro was not mistaken. The mysterious woman was Captain Tashigi. He hardly dared to look at her, but caught a few unobtrusive, fleeting glances. The woman annoyed and fascinated him at the same time and he couldn't deny that he had been thinking about her a lot lately.
A few months had passed since he had last seen her. She had hardly changed; only her dark blue hair, slightly curled by the rain, had grown longer and it was unusual to see her in a green coat and not in her navy outfit. Zoro wasn't a big fan of fashion; but felt that she looked good in it.
He wasn't sure if he was happy to see her or not. They always had a very difficult relationship ever since his identity as a pirate had been blown in Loguetown. Since then, she has pursued him across all the sea routes in an attempt to arrest him - but has so far failed for a variety of reasons. It was almost as if she had given up - even though it was her duty. Was it because their relationship had changed? Neither of them could ever really put into words what exactly was going on between them.
Tashigi paused for breath before continuing. “You don't have to buy me the beer. I earn my own money now.”
Having just escalated the situation with the guest, Zoro decided to take it easy at the bar. Besides, it just wasn't worth messing with her. He knew he'd have an entire navy ship against him if he did.
“That was just meant as a nice gesture. You look pretty down...” Zoro replied. ”So I thought a beer would do you good. You never go to places like this.”
Zoro's blood rushed to his head. The situation somehow overwhelmed him.
Tashigi suddenly also turned red. Was he worried about her? Never in her life had she thought that Roronoa Zoro would buy her a drink. She didn't know whether to thank him or snarl at him.
She struggled with herself. Then she took a deep breath and was about to reply when the swordsman interrupted her.
“Hey... If something's bothering you, we can talk about it. Sometimes it can help. Think of it as an offer.” Zoro just wasn't good with women. But he was a good listener and understand different kind of situations very well.
Tashigi slumped down on her bar stool. Why did the swordsman always have a feel for other people's inner lives?
“Our unit has gotten into big trouble from headquarters. We simply haven't arrested enough criminals in the last few weeks.”
Zoro stared at her, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes widened in astonishment. Then he began to laugh out loud.
“Excuse me?” he replied. “Look around you again. You're practically sitting in the middle of a fish pond. You just have to fish them out of here!”
“Unfortunately, it's not that simple. We can only arrest suspects under two conditions: Either we can identify them from the wanted poster or we have to catch them in the act. The rest is petty crime that the villages have to deal with themselves.”
“I see.”, Zoro replied, sipping his beer, which had just been served.
“I'm actually off work", the swordswoman said. "However, the call from the Department has left me agitated for days and I can't sleep properly. And that's exactly why I'm sitting here, eavesdropping on perpetrators and catching them in the act.”
Zoro leaned his forearm on the bar table. He buried his face in his hand and turned his full attention to Tashigi.
“So I'm practically your biggest fish here in this shed.”
“You can look at it that way if you want.” Tashigi paused for a moment. “Thanks for the beer, by the way.”
Tashigi took a big gulp and almost emptied the whole mug in one go.
“You're welcome - Oioi, don't be in such a hurry!”
Then a great silence followed. The swordsman scratched his head.
“Tell me...what oil do you actually use to care for your swords?” the swordsman asked.
“I use the oil from Tsubaki Abura.”
“The precious stuff?” I've been dreaming about that for a long time. Do you happen to have any of it for me?”
“Are you serious? I'm not supporting my enemy!” said Tashigi, snarling. “Why don't you buy it yourself?”
Zoro turned his gaze away from her and began to ponder.
“Why do you ask, Roronoa?”
“Well, I haven't been able to look after my swords properly for weeks now.”
Tashigi stared at him, shocked and bewildered.
“Why would you do that to your swords? The air on the sea is too rough for the metal. These are just more reasons to take your swords away from you. I always knew you didn't deserve them.”
“Oi! I'm the last person who would neglect to care for swords! I usually put whole hours into this!”
Tashigi crossed his arms.
“You're contradicting yourself, Roronoa. It doesn't add up.”
“I can't help it!” he muttered. He suddenly fell silent and rubbed his head, embarrassed and awkward. He couldn't look her in the face.
“... I lost on a bet. All the money I saved from my bounty hunting days is gone. I'm completely screwed.”
He lost a bet against Nami. He swears to himself that he will never bet with her again.
“And you're buying me a beer here? Aren't you ashamed to do that to your swords?”
Tashigi sighed. “That's why I want to collect swords from all the bad guys in the world. Most owners don't deserve them anyway.”
Zoro grumbled. “Don't make me feel any worse, Captain Glasses!”
Suddenly, Zoro had an idea. Without giving it much thought, he said what he was thinking out loud.
“Then just take me as a prisoner. In return, you'll give me two bottles of your expensive oil.”
Tashigi was completely taken aback and thought she had misheard him.
“Did you seriously just suggest that I shall arrest you?”
Zoro scratched his stubbles.
“Not forever, of course. At night, you'll release me as soon as Smoker reports my arrest to headquarters.”
Tashigi's head was spinning. She didn't know whether she liked the deal or not. Most of all, she felt sorry for his swords.
“You just said that the navy hasn't been arresting enough criminals lately.", Zoro replied. "Wouldn't it be pure prestige for you and your career if you presented me to Smoker in handcuffs?”
Tashigi continued to stare at him. She was at a loss for words.
“Wasn't it always your dream to see me in handcuffs?” Zoro added jokingly.
"Not like what you always have in mind, you pervert." Tashigi blushed. “Besides...How do you imagine that? How am I supposed to arrest you here?"
"Like you always do with your pirates,” Zoro grinned.
His eyes fell on the wooden handcuffs hanging on the wall to the right of the bar.
"Appropriately, we are here at the Pirate's Plank. As befits a bar, they also have suitable original torture decorations on the walls. The bar owner surely won't mind if we borrow a piece."
The bar owner grinned and dried a mug with his towel. "I didn't hear anything.", the white-haired man replied.