Zoro watches Robin tear her gaze away from the burning flag to look at them, to look at Luffy.

"Are you insane you bastards?" Spandam howls in fury. "Do you think you can survive after turning the entire world into your enemy?"

"BRING IT ON!" Luffy throws back with all the fearlessness of a captain, forcing Spandam to stagger back.

"Robin!" His focus returns to his friend, "I still haven't heard it from you!"

It isn't much longer now; Zoro watches Robin, a slender figure outlined against the brilliant blue – and for a brief moment, his gaze flickers to the sky hanging above her.

The swordsman never cared for the weather because one, he can't fight it, and two, Nami would steer them through whatever shitstorm that got flung their way. It makes sense that he would notice the weather this time, when they weren't on their ship under their navigator's guidance and Zoro did have to fight it, literally carving paths out of waves.

When they decided to set sail without a ship and half their crew, the weather was already plotting against them and Aqua Laguna was the first to rise. The waves towered above the island, higher and larger than the city ever saw, barricading their path to their stolen crew mate. It was a clear challenge to the Straw Hats, daring them to face the worst of what the seas and skies could offer as the storms grew fiercer still. It was a challenge Luffy met head on as he dived right in and the others followed suit, doggedly battling against winds and over waves until they broke through.

And it is, Zoro thinks, fitting that what waits on the other side is a clear blue sky, bright as day and calm as night. All of its destructive power could not stop his captain and now the crazed savagery of a weather has gone still and silent as if in submission to the impossible will and determination that is Luffy.

"SAY THAT YOU WANNA LIVE!"

It's not much longer now, Zoro thinks with deceptive calm as he watches their archeologist grow very, very still. Soon—

"I wadda live!" Robin cries out, despite a lifetime of fear that catches in her voice, and every single one of them relaxes. "Take me with you to the sea too!"

Zoro's answering grin, like all the other Straw Hats', is a vicious, dangerous thing.

The seas and skies learned not to defy his captain. Now, the rest of the world will understand why.