Continuation to Celebration to a New Year Part 4

Author's Note: This is the end of the New Year's arc. Thanks for all the followers, favorites, and reviews. This part is a bit crazy and mushy and yes. So enjoy the end of the longest chapter ever, for me anyway, and enjoy the New Year!

Disclaimer: One Piece and songs used in this fanfiction do not belong to me. Character Eli does belong to me, forever…

Last Time: The crew was happy and yet confused at this confession. Never had their swordsman opened up so much to any one of them, let alone the whole group, and in front of strangers. The caring that showed in his voice had many of them in awe, those that knew about the hypnosis knowing that they really were his true feelings and then some.

Franky and Chopper were crying loudly within seconds (manly tears bro, manly tears). Nami and Robin were moved and also amused at the sour lemon expression on Sanji's face. Brook and Usopp were just sitting back and basking in the compliments and Luffy had his hat pulled low as he thought through his first mates words. They all had the same thought at the same time, even Sanji, 'He really is the best first mate.'

The two songs that Zoro sang with emotion ringing in his voice were as telling as they could be. The first went something like this:

Swing left, swing right
Bruised and black-eyed
Half a life
Bleeding, choking but not broken
Inside

And in this world of compromise
I hit every curb, every red light
Trying to keep both hands on the wheel
But through it all I'm

Still undefeated
With my back against the ropes
Still undefeated
You can knock me down with mighty blows
But you cannot break my hope

Weak knees, can't stand
Raise up your hands
Don't walk away
Been sucker punched but I'm not down
My feet have never left the ground
It's a fight that I can't fix
Like a cut that needs a stitch
And somehow through it all I stay

Still undefeated
With my back against the ropes
Still undefeated
You can knock me down with mighty blows
But you cannot break my hope
Cannot break my hope
Cannot break my hope, yeah

We're the ones who take the beating
Get back up and we're still breathing
We are the ones
We'll take the hit straight to the face
And never look the other way
We are the ones

Still undefeated
With our back against the ropes
We're still undefeated
We'll break these chains
To let them know they
Cannot break our hope

They cannot break our hope
They cannot break our
They can break us down
But they can't break our hope

As if this song wasn't enough, Zoro started the next immediately afterward:

Feeling my hands start shaking
Hearing your voice I'm overjoyed
I'm sorry but I have no choice, you're only getting better
Maybe you have your reasons
Maybe you're scared, you're feeling down
Are you crying when there's no one around?

Oh then maybe, maybe if you hold me baby
Let me come over I would tell you secrets nobody knows
I can not overstate it, I will be overjoyed

That smile on your face like a summer
The way that your hand keeps touching mine
Let me be the one to make it right

And maybe, maybe let me hold you baby
Let me come over I would tell you secrets nobody knows
I can not overstate it, I will be overjoyed

And if you want, we'll share this life
Anytime you need a friend, I'm gonna be by your side
When nobody understands you, well I do

So maybe maybe, let me hold you baby
Let me come over I would tell you secrets God only knows
I can not over state it, I will be overjoyed
Baby let me come over I would tell you secrets nobody knows
I can not over state it, I will be overjoyed
Yeah I will be overjoyed,
Oh I will be overjoyed!

As the last note rang out, so to did the first firework explode into the night sky. As they exploded into colors of vibrant blue, green, and purple, they pulled everyone's attention skyward except for two. Usopp and Franky immediately took the chance to high tail it back over to the fireworks crew to prepare 'the big one' that they had worked on diligently that day.

As Usopp readied their surprise to go off with a bang, Franky helped the fireworks crew light fuses on the rest of the fireworks yet to be lit. As the air was filled with oohs and ahhs, Usopp lit up the fuse on the final piece watching the flame slowly climb the ignition rope. Suddenly, he noticed the flame bursting, eating up the rope in no time and going off early (almost in his face). Usopp wasn't injured, that he knew of, but he was in a fair bit of shock as Franky made his way over to him.

"Usopp-bro," Franky said while getting into his Super pose, "your gnarly hair is totally on fire, yow!"

Usopp snapped out of his shock and quickly panicked, rolling on the ground while shouting out that he was going to die. He shut up pretty quickly though when Franky doused him with the water in a bucket, set nearby for just this sort of situation.

Everyone else was too busy watching their masterpiece to notice Usopp breakdown. As the firework exploded into the sky it was accompanied by an alarming loud sound of a clock's toll. The image itself was the image of a giant grandfather clock, set at a half an hour to midnight, the current time.

The crew gathered back together as Zoro said his goodbyes to the band as well as the swooning crowd. As they headed back toward where the ship was moored, Zoro noticed a sleepy Chopper rubbing his eyes after yawning.

"Hey Chopper, come over here," he called to the doctor.

Chopper came over and Zoro settled him onto his shoulder, allowing him to ride the rest of the way instead of making him walk. "Thanks Zoro," Chopper mumbled while he took a handful of green hair, "I really want to try and stay awake for the countdown." The small reindeer yawned again, moving the mask Zoro had won onto the other side of his head so he could lean more against the swordsman.

"No problem Chopper." Zoro smiled knowing there was no way that the fuzzy reindeer would make it to the countdown. He began to hum at just a loud enough level that only Chopper would pick it up.

They got back to the ship just in time for the countdown and everyone on the island could be heard yelling out together:

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!"

Nami and Robin turned, seeing Zoro standing there with their small doctor sleeping on his head and started giggling. Chopper was certainly fast asleep, he hadn't so much as twitched during the countdown, and he still had his hand clenched rather tightly in the swordsman's hair. Zoro had a calm, and not the least bit bothered look on his face until he heard the giggling and then his eyebrow was the only thing that moved.

With an eyebrow raising high Zoro looked to the giggling navigator and archeologist asking, "What's so funny?"

"Chopper," Nami replied, "he's asleep on your head."

"So?" Zoro said.

"So, it's, dare I say it, 'cute' swordsman-san," was Robin's reply.

"Oh." Zoro reached up and gently disentangled the reindeer's hand from his hair, "I'll just take him into the other room and lay him down then."

Sanji was furious! The girls were giggling over the swordsman just like the ladies from the crowd were earlier. What was wrong with the world that his revenge got completely turned around on him? Why did it have to backfire so badly?

Robin walked over to the blond haired man and asked quietly, "Did your revenge not quite go as planned, cook-san?"

"No, not really Robin-cha…" It occurred to Sanji that she really wasn't supposed to know about that. "I mean, what are you talking about my dear Robin-chan?"

"We both know about your 'marimo revenge plan' already Sanji," Nami replied with an evil smirk, "maybe you should watch out for the habit you have of talking out loud to yourself. You might also want to watch out when devil fruit power users are your nakama. It wasn't that hard to figure out."

Sanji blushed but otherwise kept quiet, not wanting to further incriminate himself. Darn that green-haired guy anyway!

Zoro carried the sleeping Chopper into the infirmary and settled him on the bed there, pulling the covers up to sit under the reindeer's chin. He headed over to a fairly new cabinet that Franky had built for the storage of the recording dials that he had made for Chopper. In it, the marked dials were shown as 'used' and the blank dials were not yet recorded on. Unbeknownst to the swordsman, Chopper wasn't the only one who listened to the recorded dials when they needed some comfort.

He grabbed a blank dial before pulling over a seat to sit next to the bed and sitting there. The recordings were made few and far between now, since Chopper slept much better and could usually use the pre-recorded dials instead of waking him up to get back to sleep. Tonight though, he felt himself in the mood, even if the small doctor was already asleep. He would record it as a surprise that Chopper could find later. He clicked the dial on, took a deep breathe, and started to sing:

Are you lonesome tonight,
Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart?
Does your memory stray to a brighter sunny day
When I kissed you and called you sweetheart?
Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?
Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again?
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?

I wonder if you're lonesome tonight
You know someone said that the world's a stage
And each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in love you as my sweet heart.
Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance
You read your line so cleverly and never missed a cue
Then came act two, you seemed to change and you acted strange
And why I'll never know.
Honey, you lied when you said you loved me
And I had no cause to doubt you.
But I'd rather go on hearing your lies
Than go on living without you.
Now the stage is bare and I'm standing there
With emptiness all around
And if you won't come back to me
Then make them bring the curtain down.

Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again?
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?

He turned off the recording before marking it as used and returned it to the cabinet. He went over to Chopper, took the mask off the side of his head and then took off his hat as well, setting them both on the nightstand beside the bed. When he went to the door and opened it, he simply smiled and stepped over them when his crew fell in a pile at his feet.

"Yo, I'm heading off to bed now," he told them, "so don't stay up too late partying." (Funny coming from him I know)

The additive in his system was not lasting the full time it would have with his monstrous metabolism and it was burning away and leaving the swordsman exhausted beyond his wildest dreams. He had missed a whole day's naps after all, and between his performance with the dance troop and the one with the band, he was out of energy. The crew just watched him go, knowing to tempt fate and try to keep him from sleep would be suicide.

The next morning around 10 a.m. was when Sanji finally forced himself out of bed. He had only enough time to throw a quick breakfast together before Luffy's psychic food senses tingled and he heard the shout of 'Sanji, food!' which caused everyone to awaken and become hungry as well. Everyone minus their green haired companion wandered into the galley moments later.

Chopper rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he felt completely refreshed, bright eyed, and bushy tailed this morning. Everyone else found they were wide awake and in good spirits as well. Zoro however, woke with one hell of a headache.

The swordsman awoke slowly, as he moved his legs and went to stand his head throbbed with the fires of hell. 'Had he really had so much to drink yesterday? He hadn't had a hangover this bad in years' he found himself thinking. He remembered leaving the ship yesterday morning, followed by practice and Robin's appearance. Then they returned to the ship for dinner, Sanji bugged him to help with the dishes and…THAT ERO-COOK! He had concocted some foolish revenge plan for what was, no doubt, some stupid imagined slight! He had used those curly eyebrows to hypnotize him, HIM!

He had danced in front of his crew! Surprisingly well, but that was beside the point! He had been singing in front of a large crowd! Well, that wasn't any different than singing in front of a crowd with Zander and crew. He made a speech full of mushy things in front of, and to, his crew! Well, he had been meaning to tell them how much he cared. He was overly kind and gentle to Chopper! Okay, even he could admit that wasn't strange or unusual. He hadn't gotten to enjoy drinking his weight in sake! He'd go with that as his reason to kill the cook. Let's go!

"Sanji!" Zoro bellowed as he burst into the galley, "I'm going to pull those curly eyebrows of yours off with my bare hands!"

As he lunged toward the cook, Robin reached out with all her many hands and Franky moved to stop him, followed by everyone else but Sanji.

The girls had forced Sanji to confess what he had done and explain why Zoro was acting so strangely the night before after the swordsman was asleep. They had figured this might be how the morning would go and wanted everyone prepared for whatever reaction the swordsman might have.

Sanji had been unrepentant and yet unwilling to tell everyone the reason for his revenge. He knew that it was a stupid reason to lash out at his nakama, even though it wasn't a malicious use of power.

Luffy had preceded to laugh himself silly, before whacking Sanji in the head with his serious face on, ordering him not to take advantage of his nakama ever again 'Captain's orders'.

It didn't take long for Zoro to calm down. Chopper gave him some of the hangover medicine he had made the previous day and the cook offered a half hearted apology that would have made him angrier if it hadn't had a bottle of good sake attached to it. He also asked the cook to pick up some extra booze for the long journey, including a bottle of his new favorite, and Sanji grudgingly agreed. When the others left to pick up supplies before they left the island, Zoro stayed with the ship. There was no way he wanted to run into any part of the crowd who had been making noise over him yesterday.

The rest of the straw hats blew quickly through town like a whirlwind, collecting supplies plus anything and everything else they could possibly need. When they arrived back at the ship, it was with humor that they watched a large crowd shouting about seeing the swordsman with no Zoro in sight.

Zoro hid in the crow's nest listening to the group of fangirls calling out to him.

"Zoro-kun!" "Sing for us again!" "Dance for us too!" The fangirls cooed and shouted.

This was the first, and hopefully only, time that the swordsman was hiding from what he felt were the fangirls of doom (his doom). None of them had caught sight of him yet and he definitely planned to keep it that way until his crew arrived back. He had a quick second to wonder how they all knew where to find him, and which ship he was on. He found himself wholeheartedly wishing that the source of this leak in information would soon find him or her self in the deepest pits of hell. Hopefully soon, with every girl calling out to him at this moment alongside them as their guide.

"Ah-choo!" Eli rubbed a finger underneath his nose and sniffed, blinking at he force of his sneeze. "Is someone talking about me?"

Hey boss," one of his dancers called, "more of those crazy girls are lookin' for Zoro."

"Again?" Eli incredulously responded under his breath.

He walked toward the group of girls currently trying to set the dancer who called them crazy on fire.

(They weren't crazy…What? They weren't! They were just…overenthusiastic.)

"Ladies," Eli said, "If you are looking for our substitute swordsman dancer with the green hair, I'm afraid you will be sorely disappointed. He is not a regular of our troop and is a pirate. He is leaving the island today, I heard, and is located on the ship at the docks with the lion/sunflower figurehead. The jolly roger is of a straw hat, you really can't miss it. If you want to catch him though you better hurry."

The ladies were gone in a flash before Eli had finished talking. "Do you really think you should keep telling them where to find him boss?" His dancer asked, "He seems like the type who doesn't like extra attention, even if he was acting weird yesterday."

"It's fine," Eli replied, "he should start getting used to it so that after his dreams are fulfilled he can come back to us for good and stay on as a regular dancer!"

The dancer gave Eli a look that clearly said, 'If he finds out that you're the one who told them where to find him, then the next time we see him I'll be out of a job and you'll be dead.'

Eli ignored the look and continued packing as if nothing had bothered him to begin with.

Zoro was now mortified as he watched his crew return to the ship, having to push their way through the even larger group that had the ship surrounded as well as they could. As more and more seemed to show up (whoever told them where he was, was dead, twice!) Nami told Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji to act as buffers and keep them from climbing the ship and causing trouble. The cook was trying to pull the attention to him so that some of them would give up on the swordsman but so far it wasn't working in the least. Zoro was starting to get overly frustrated as his crew was held up from setting sail.

"HEY!" He yelled while jumping down from the crow's nest, "we need those three to help get ready to sail. I have my own job to do as well and you are bothering me, GO HOME!" He said this as sternly as possible hoping to scare them off.

The girls' responses to his scolding varied. Several booed, pouted, and stayed where they were. Some of the more timid or shy girls left as he asked. Some just obstinately stared at him until he just made the decision to ignore them and ran off to find something to do as far away from them as possible.

Once everything was ready to go, they raised anchor and moved the ship slowly out into open water. A line of girls appeared on the edge of the deck and pulled out white hankerchieves, waving them in his direction.

"Do come back won't you?"

"Goodbye and visit again, sweet dancer!"

"Farewell, and sing forever green haired wonder!"

Sanji had had it up to here. Zoro not only had all the wonderful ladies attention but he didn't seem to want any of it either! Sanji was pretty sure his plan couldn't have gotten any worse if he had tried to screw it up.

Zoro, meanwhile, was so red in the face he was liable to explode at any second. Not only was he never coming back here as long as he lives, but he would have to remember not to tick off the cook too much, captain's order or no. He had so much to accomplish. He had no time for fame or fangirls.

So they headed toward the next destination on their journey, action and adventure on their minds. Enjoying the camaraderie of nakama-ship on the journey to fulfill their big dreams.

Happy New Year Everyone! Have a great 2016 and may all your dreams be realized!