Okay, this is just a little doodle I wrote over a couple of evenings, about the first meeting between Zoro and Luffy, seen from Zoro's perspective, with microscopic hints of BOYxBOY/YAOI. So, for those who are terrified of such things, consider yourself warned!!

Anyways, this is just something partially coming from my own brain, but the characters and main-plot all belongs to the great Eiichiro Oda.

So, without further ado, enjoy!

The First Time We Met

I had just started to get a little delirious from the lack of food and water when I first saw him. He was hanging over the wall opposite me with a smaller boy next to him, who was screeching things I'd heard about me before in warning to him. I was already feeling exhausted, my shoulders and arms aching from the strain of holding up my beaten and starved body and with the sun mercilessly glaring down on me, so though I normally didn't care much of what people said about me I just couldn't control my temper just then.

"Hey, you guys.. You're bothering me.. Get lost.." I growled out, successfully freaking out the bespectacled little boy, who went into an frenzy about how dangerous I would be for the other one if he were to free me. The other boy calmly met my stare head on, replying that it wasn't a problem since he was strong himself.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that it wasn't just irritation over people repeating rumours about me that was gnawing on my instincts that told me to get them out of there, neither the slight degradation over being seen in such a humiliating state, but as a little girl climbed over the wall next to the two boys I suddenly realised what my instincts were screaming about.

She ran over the execution field towards me with a bright smile, lightening my mood just a little, and offered me some onigiri that she had made for me. Looking at the two balls of rice that she held out, I could feel my mouth start to salivate even as I tried to get her out of there.

"You are going to get killed, little one.. Go away."

She just smiled at me, telling me how I needed to eat something, and beaming with pride over her first time attempt at making the onigiri

"I made it with all my heart!" she smiled.

I tried to deny my hunger even as my stomach clenched painfully, and as she refused to leave I used harsher words with her, now getting desperate to get her away from me. Her eyes showed her confusion, but as I heard the steel gates into the outer yard groan I knew I was too late.

"You shouldn't be bullying kids... Looks like you're still energetic, Roronoa Zoro."

I knew that grating voice from the few weeks of beatings I'd received so far, and could only look on as the Marine Captain's son strolled cockily over towards me and the little girl. As soon as he saw what she held out, he grabbed one of the onigiri greedily, probably also just to spite me, and chewed on it heartily. But after only a few chews he started spitting it back out.

"Nasty!! It's full of sugar! Onigiri needs salt! Salt!!" he started yelling at the girl.

"But I thought it would taste better sweet..." she whimpered, just before the Captain's son slapped the last onigiri out of her hands and stomped violently on it.

My heart started pounding as the little girl began crying and whimpering over the ruined meal, and I could barely keep my anger in check since I could do nothing to help her with how I was tied down securely to the wooden cross behind me. With a theatrical move, the young man pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket, reading aloud from it about how anyone who were to try and help me were to be executed.

My pounding heart froze for a split second before he ordered one of the men who followed him around to throw the girl out of the place. At least he had the decency to not kill her, though I wished dearly for my beloved katanas at that moment to teach them a lesson in manners. The man he gave the order to was clearly unwilling to do as he was told, but using the threat of telling his father the Captain, the captain's son laughed as the marine man picked up the little girl and threw her through the air and over the stone wall. The captain's son made sure to poke fun at me for still being alive before he strutted out of the place, and all I could do was glare holes in his back while promising to survive the whole month I'd agreed to stay in jail. While I felt frustration over not having chopped off his head when I had the chance to, I knew that I had chosen what I believed to be right at that moment to protect Rika, the little girl who had just offered me her onigiri, even if I wondered if it wouldn't have been better for me to finish off all the marines on this island instead.

As I was contemplating my current fate while trying to preserve what strength I had left, I suddenly felt someone else closing in on me. Looking up I could see one of the guys that had earlier been staring at me from the top of the stone wall surrounding the execution area. He was now standing not too far away from me. He looked to be just a few years younger than me, with a loose bright red vest and blue knee-length shorts hanging off of his thin frame. He almost looked as if he was heading for the beach, wearing flip-flops and a straw-hat. His large eyes still showed no fear of me, just innocent curiosity and contemplation, and I noticed that he had a scar that had to have come from a sharp blade of some sort, running right under his left eye, and I surprised myself with feeling thankful that he hadn't lost his eye when he had received that wound.

"So you're a bad guy?" he asked curiously.

"You're still here?" I asked back.

"Being publicly humiliated... Are you really strong?" he then asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Mind your own business!" I growled back at him.

As he approached me he made some sounds as if he couldn't quite believe I could be much of a man.

"I would have escaped within 3 days." he grinned cheerfully.

He was close enough now for me to get a whiff of his fresh scent, and I became all the more aware of my own rugged state of being. Not even being allowed to be let down to go to the toilet, I had just been hosed down with water after the first few days to clean the worst off of me. I had been hosed down a few times over the weeks, and each time I made sure to try and gulp up as much water as possible, and I was grateful as it also cooled me down and made me feel a tad bit cleaner, but right then I felt exactly how dirty and stiff and sweaty my clothes were, and I knew I reeked with filth and less pleasant odours. This young boy smelled slightly like the salty sea, but even more of sun warmed skin, and surprisingly also with a strong hint of spices that I recognised from different meat dishes I had eaten before, though I wondered if that smell of food was just my stomach messing with my head. At the reminder of exactly how degraded I had to look, and with this boy's casual remark, my pride reared its head.

"I'm different from you," I stated with a smirk. "I will survive just to show them. Definitely!"

"Huh, what a stubborn guy," he grinned as he turned to leave, seemingly accepting my desire to beat the marines in this painstaking way by just getting through my sentence alive.

"Wait a second! ...can you get that?" I asked of him, looking towards the filthy remains of the onigiri Helmeppo, the Marine Captain's son, had stomped into the ground earlier.

"Are you really going to eat this?" the boy with the straw-hat asked disbelievingly as he picked up and tried to brush the stones and muck off of the rice. "It's more of a dirt ball now."

"Shut up and give it to me!" I yelled at him, my nerves raw with his presence and with my hunger and fatigue.

He threw it to me, and I greedily chewed on it, pebbles and all, and even with it being sugary and muddy, my stomach insisted that it was the most delicious thing it had ever received.

"It was delicious. Thanks for the food."

There was something in his eyes that looked like happiness and pride for me as I thanked for the meagre meal, and his smile seemed to soften as he turned again and walked away.

I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness, the lack of food and water tearing down my body and mind, and I knew that I was in danger. One of the last things I had been doing before involving myself in this village's problem by knocking out the rabid pet-wolf that belonged to Helmeppo, and then threatening him with my bare blades, was thankfully eating. But that last meal had passed through my system weeks ago, and to survive I knew my body had starting breaking down my own muscles for the much needed nutrients. Distantly I wondered how much strength and weight I had lost, too immersed in distant memories to really care. As I drifted through my memories of when I first started fighting with swords, I was reminded of my promise to my long deceased friend, and I tried to fight the light-headedness with pure will to live and fight, and with a deep need to keep my promises.

I jolted back to consciousness, still feeling sore from the beatings the spoiled marine son so enjoyed giving me, still with my arms feeling as if they would soon be torn off, still with a numbing hunger and thirst, and still feeling as if worms would soon crawl over the filth that covered my clothes and body. Then suddenly I realised that I had a visitor yet again.

"You again? You have too much free time" I said tiredly to the too-fresh looking young boy before me.

"I'm going to untie the ropes, and you will become my 'nakama'." he said in a straight forward manner, and I wondered if I was still in one of my feverish illusions, thinking that the boy from before actually had just offered to free me, and be my friend and companion.

"What did you say?"

"I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew." he smiled.

I knew then that this was not a figment of my imagination, as that was something I couldn't have imagined. My wounded pride kicked in again, and I refused him flat-out.

"You want me to be a bad guy? How annoying..." I refused to look at him, both from the annoyance of me - the famous pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro - being asked to become a pirate, and from some deeper understanding that I would have a problem refusing him if I were to meet his large eyes too directly.

"What's wrong with being a pirate?" the boy questioned with what sounded like a pout.

"Pirates are scum. Who would want to be one?" I growled

"Does it matter? You're known as an evil pirate hunter." he wondered.

"I don't care what society says. I've never regretted doing anything. I will survive and do what I want to do!" I proudly proclaimed, looking back at him. He just looked at me, his black, shaggy hair framing his face, with his bright yellow straw-hat pushed to the back of his head in a relaxed style.

"Is that so? But I've already decided that you will be my 'nakama'." he then told me confidently, grinning cheekily.

"You can't decide that by yourself!" I exploded.

"You use a sword, right?"
I was so thrown off by the change of subject that I instantly calmed down again.

"Yeah... But that stupid marine son took them." I could feel a grumpy pout wanting to form, which I tried to hide from the boy.

"I'll go get it for you." he then simply stated.

"What?"

"So when I return your sword, you will become my 'nakama'..."

"You really are dense!" I yelled at him, but he just ignored me and laughed as he ran off towards the marine base. I stared after him, wondering if he was serious about wanting to be my 'nakama', and if he was actually planning on getting into the base all by himself and get my swords back.

After some time I could hear some commotion and loud bangs from inside the base, but my attention was drawn back from staring after where the boy with the straw-hat had disappeared to, to where the boy who had been with the straw-hat before suddenly came running over towards me. He could barely reach up to the knots of the rope I was tied up with, but still started to pull at them energetically in an attempt at freeing me.

"Escape, Zoro." he said intensely as he focused on the ropes.

"If you do that, you'll be killed!" I warned him, referring to him trying to untie me.

"I can't stand by and watch these marines anymore." he continued, as if he hadn't even heard me. "I want to be a good marine!"

"Stop! I can't run away! I have just a little over a week left!" I protested.

"You will be executed tomorrow." he cut me off harshly. "Helmeppo never intended to keep his promise. That's why Luffy got mad and punched Helmeppo."

I was shocked to hear that they were already planning my death, but got even more shocked as I realised that this 'Luffy' that he spoke of was the straw-hat wearing young boy that had so boldly declared that I was to become his pirate 'nakama', and that he had already been defending me against Helmeppo.

"Luffy is being chased by the marines right now," the young boy continued, "I'm not telling you to become a pirate, but please... Please help Luffy."

I looked down at this short little boy, his pale pink hair and round glasses, looking too weak to be true marine-material, but still with such a strong conviction in his voice as he spoke of his dreams of being a true marine, and who at the same time wanted me to help this pirate kid escape. I wondered what kind of person this Luffy had to be, to have a wannabe marine kid cheering for him instead of the marines on this island.

"Luffy is the only one who can save Zoro. And now... I believe you are the only one who can save Luffy." he declared in a strong voice.

"Hold it right there!" a deeper voice suddenly commanded.

I snapped my head to the other side of me, and discovered that several of the marines were aiming their guns at the kid and I, and up behind the crowd of marines came the marine Captain Morgan himself.

"By the treason you have committed against me, you will both be executed right here." Captain Morgan declared in his thundering voice.

Luffy's friend froze, before starting to shake with fear, and I frantically tried to think of a way out of the rapidly worsening situation. The Captain started talking about what he believed to be our plans to start a revolution against him, which just made me even more confused and frustrated.

"I've always fought my battles alone, unlike you... hiding behind your troops and creating chaos!" I bit at him.

I wished for my swords, knowing I could easily slice him up even with that humongous battle-axe for an arm that he so proudly displayed, but feeling helpless as I was still hanging to the cross, unarmed and tied up, too worn out to escape. My frustration mounted as the marines took proper aim, and my brain raced back to important promises and oaths I had made that I had yet to fulfil. I felt frustration at the fact that I now was too weak with fatigue to be able to break free from the ropes, something that I would have been able to do easily just a few weeks back, and frustration at the situation as a whole.

As they pulled their triggers, my eyes reflexively closed for the pain I was prepared to feel, but my heart froze in shock and terror as I could hear that out of the blue the young boy with the straw-hat landed right in the path of the bullets, taking every hit head on. As my eyes sprang open at his shout, I saw that the bullets didn't pierce through him, but instead his flesh seemed to somehow stop the bullets and then repel them. I felt a curious mixture of disbelief and relief, my brain not quite comprehending what had just happened, but feeling grateful none the less.

"It won't work!!" the boy shouted with pride, bursting into joyful laughter. "I told you so, I'm strong!"

Everyone froze in shock, not believing their eyes, and being too surprised to react immediately.

"You... What the hell are you?!" I finally burst out.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I'm the man who will become the Pirate King!" he boldly declared.

"What?!" I said shocked. "Become the Pirate King?! Do you understand what you're saying?"

"The Pirate King is the Pirate King..." Luffy chuckled. "What else could it mean?"

"I was surprised too, but Luffy is serious. That's the kind of person he is!" The young boy with the glasses seemed to have regained his senses as well, and looked at Luffy as if he was his one true idol. "He will become the Pirate King and find the ultimate treasure, One Piece!"

As the kid met my eyes, I was shocked to see the deep belief he had in this Luffy, and the unwavering faith he had in that Luffy would reach his goals, no matter how insane they might sound. Again I wondered just what had happened for this seemingly weak-looking kid to be so attached to the boy with the straw-hat. I looked back at Luffy, taking in his slim body, not at all looking as strong as he claimed to be, and his broad, worry-free smile. This was the next Pirate King??

Then he suddenly thrust out my three swords at me, actually having managed to find and bring me all of them.

"Here, your sword. Which one is it? I couldn't tell, so I grabbed all three."

"All three are mine. I use three swords." I told him, gathering my wits enough to start moving my shoulders and arms a bit, trying to stretch the ropes and get the blood flow back in my muscles so I would be able to handle my swords properly and get out of the mess I found myself in.

"You'll take them, right? But if we fight together, you'll owe me. Being killed by the Marines or coming with me... Which one do you pick?" Luffy practically sang his last question, grinning in a way that showed that he knew he'd already won the argument.

"You're the son of the devil!" I almost laughed. "Fine! I'd rather be a pirate than die here!"

If this Luffy person wanted my sword skills this badly, then I figured that I should at least see what he had to offer in return. To become the Pirate King, that was quite a goal, but I could respect that. And there was just something about this guy that told me that I should stick around if I wanted my own goal to happen. Besides, I already owed him a life-debt with him saving me both from the upcoming execution, and from the bullets just now. Well, at least from the bullets, so far.

"Great, you'll be my 'nakama'! Alright! This is perfect!"

Luffy started jumping around on the spot, celebrating by himself.

"I get it, now set me free!" I roared at him. There was only so long that the marines would stay inactive, and I felt too vulnerable with the way I was tied down.

Luffy put down my swords and started pulling on the ropes, without managing to loosen them up at all. In fact, to me it felt like they more or less tightened up. Just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard the marines roar, and I knew they were finally rushing us.

"That is weird, the knot it getting tighter." Luffy stammered in an embarrassed way, totally ignoring the dozens of men running towards us.

"Hurry up and give me my swords!" I yelled at him, my frustration mounting yet again.

"Luffy!!"

As Luffy's friend yelled, Luffy himself finally looked at the commotion behind him, and just in the nick of time he slipped me one of my swords. I instantly used my hands and wrists to twist the sword to cut off the ropes on my one arm, freeing one side, and as my arm came loose I cut the rest of the ropes, and swiped up my two other swords as well. Thanks to me being high-sprung with emotion and adrenaline, this all took place in less than a second, and the clang of swords as I blocked off all the attackers with my three swords felt reassuring, and I felt my control slip back into place again.

"Whoa, cool!"

Luffy looked happily impressed like a little kid seeing a new trick as he stood before me, while I had my back to the gang of marines that were now sweating and trembling with indecision.

"Make one move and you're dead!" I growled at them, actually hearing one of them whimper at the tone of my voice. Making sure that they were all scared stiff, I then put the major part of my attention back to Luffy, deciding to make things clear to him from the beginning.

"I promised to be a pirate. Opposing the Marines will make me a wanted man. However, I'll tell you one thing. I will always follow my own ambitions!"

"Ambitions?" Luffy questioned.

"To become the world's greatest swordsman! If you do anything that would cause me to abandon my ambitions... You will end your life on my sword!" I swore.

"The world's greatest swordsman? That's nice! As the Pirate King's 'nakama', I wouldn't expect any less from you." Luffy just looked honestly happy with my grand ambitions, and I felt a surprising amount of relief again at his easy acceptance of my dream.

"Heh, indeed. It doesn't matter if it's as a devil or a saint... My name will be heard all over the world!" I grinned wolfishly.

"Why are you all just standing there?!" Captain Morgan suddenly thundered from the back. "Execute all of them now!"

"Duck, Zoro!" Luffy quickly ordered. "Gomu gomu no Whip!"

My reflexes took over as I saw what I couldn't believe was happening, as Luffy kicked out with one of his legs which extended so that he whipped away every single one of the marines with one powerful swipe.

"What are you?" I asked as calmly as I could as I stood back up.

"I ate the rubber fruit." Luffy answered with a grin, with his leg swinging in a relaxed fashion after snapping back into shape.

"Rubber fruit?" I questioned. My brain raced, trying to link together what was happening, and somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered some stories about the Devil's Fruits and their powers. I also believed I overheard the marines say something about it while Luffy was struggling with my ropes earlier.

I could hear the marines behind us getting freaked out, saying they were no match for me and Luffy, and thus not being able to take us on by themselves. I could hardly believe my ears as Captain Morgan ordered the men who had complained to execute themselves by shooting themselves in the head.

"What's happening with these Marines?" I growled, wondering what I should do. But before I could do anything, Luffy zipped past me with surprising speed, racing towards the marines.

"Luffy! Crush those Marines!" Luffy's marine-wannabe friend yelled.

I watched as Luffy raced through the crowd of marines, heading straight for the Captain himself. Figuring that this was a good chance to see what kind of a man I had just pledged myself to, I just stood back and waited to see what would happen.

Luffy didn't slow down at all, but slammed his fist at Captain Morgan, who barely managed to block with his battle-axe arm.

"A civilian with no rank is no match for me! I am the Captain of the Marines! Axe Hand Morgan!" Captain Morgan yelled in a rage.

"I'm Luffy! Nice to meet you!"

I almost chuckled at Luffy's answer, especially as I saw that the one who had yelled the most, the Captain himself, was the one who was clearly the weaker one in the fight. Luffy easily avoided his hits, showing some impressive aerial moves, kicking Morgan away from mid-air several times. The way he twisted and spun, even effortlessly changing route while in mid-air, made me think of a graceful, slim panther. Or, with the way he had acted earlier, perhaps a playful little monkey instead. Annoyed with the way my thoughts wandered, deciding to blame it on the lack of food and water, I focused back on the fight as Luffy was now repeatedly driving his fist straight into the iron-jaw of Morgan.

"What kind of Marines are you... Destroying Coby's dream like that!" Luffy yelled angrily.

"Wait! Straw-hat, look at this!" I heard Helmeppo yell from behind me.

As I turned my head to look I could see Helmeppo pointing a gun at the head of Luffy's little friend, and I realised that this was the 'Coby' that Luffy had just mentioned.

"I said wait! Are you an idiot?!" Helmeppo yelled as Luffy kept hitting Morgan.

"Hey!" I said in warning to Luffy, not really expecting such an instant response from him, but he immediately looked to see what I wanted.

"If you care about his life, don't move!" a shaking Helmeppo yelled. "You try anything and I'll shoot!"

Luffy just stared with a serious face at Helmeppo and Coby, before flashing his big grin again, which brought out a surprising response in Coby.

"Luffy! I don't want to interfere with your dream, even if I die!" Coby yelled.

Again I was confronted with this deep belief in Luffy, and my instincts were telling me that I had chosen right this time, in deciding to follow this strange boy.

"Yes, I know!" Luffy grinned widely. "Give it up, you stupid moron. Coby is serious." As Luffy chuckled, he moved away from Captain Morgan and towards Coby and Helmeppo, coming up alongside me.

"Don't move! I said don't move! I'll shoot him!" Helmeppo yelled frightened.

"Be... behind you!" Coby squealed, as I noticed Captain Morgan get back up on his feet.

"Gomu gomu no..." Luffy yelled, totally ignoring Morgan coming up behind him.

"I'm the Captain of the Marines, Axe Hand Morgan!" Morgan yelled while raising his axe-arm, and I quickly readied my swords to defend the back of my new pirate captain.

"Fa..father, hurry up and kill..." Helmeppo started, just to be cut off by Luffy's fist.

"...Pistol!" Luffy finished up his yell as his arm stretched and punched Helmeppo back several feet, his arm quickly snapping back into shape. "Nice... Zoro!" Luffy grinned as he turned sideways to look at me where I had cut my way past Morgan to protect Luffy, making Morgan crash down onto the ground and loose consciousness.

"It was nothing, Captain." I grinned back. I was already starting to like this young boy, who seemed to protect his friends and their dreams no matter what the law or other people would say. I could tell this by how he had ignored the stories about me, choosing to judge me from his own experiences instead, and from how he had defended me while also defending Coby and his dreams as well. Also, it didn't seem like it was my fame and my protection that he was after, since he didn't seem to know much about me except from Coby's wild tales, and he had obviously no problems fighting his own battles. I also understood that he just now had shown me a lot of trust as he intentionally left himself vulnerable while depending on me to help him out. Which made me feel more like an equal to him instead of like a hired bodyguard as I originally thought he was after.

"They defeated Captain Morgan!" one of the marines gasped. "I can't believe it!" another said shocked. "Who are these guys?"

"If anyone still wants to fight us, come now!" I ordered, wanting to wrap it up quickly. But instead of being rushed, the marines tossed away all their weapons, followed by throwing their hats up into the air and cheering with happiness, dancing and jumping around the place.

"What the... Their captain was just defeated, and they're rejoicing?" Luffy wondered confused.

"It's because everyone was afraid of Captain Morgan!" Coby supplied happily.

I started relaxing fully as I realised the fight was over, and just then I got hit by a spell of dizziness and fell over. Having so suddenly used my abused muscles for the first time in weeks, and going on zero food each day, I felt that I had a right to collapse a bit right then.

"What's the matter, Zoro?! Are you injured?" Coby panicked at once.

"I'm hungry..." I groaned.

The news of Captain Morgan's defeat travelled fast, and as Luffy was supporting my weight on the way back into the village we were met by a crowd of ecstatic looking people, fronted by the little girl Rika and her mother. As Rika's mother saw the state I was in, she immediately offered Luffy to have the three of us come over to her inn to rest and eat. My stomach groaned loudly, making Luffy laugh heartily. I could feel his slim shoulders shake under my arm as I was trying not to lean too heavily onto him. He had simply hoisted me up effortlessly when I had collapsed back on the execution field, but my pride refused me to let him help me too much, which resulted in a weird sort of tug-of-war. Surprisingly to me, I lost the fight as a chuckling Luffy threatened to hoist me over his shoulder if I didn't relax a bit. And so I reluctantly accepted his support, fighting myself to not turn red with embarrassment. Now that there was no danger anymore, I became fully aware of how awful I looked and smelled, and it irritated me that I should care at all, which made me even more on edge. Trying to relax, I focused on analysing my new captain. He was a bit shorter and much slimmer than me, but under my arm and hand I could feel muscles like steel-wires move under his skin. I wondered how much strength was hidden under his boyish and innocent look. What also surprised me - which really shouldn't have surprised me at all - was that his skin felt like normal skin, and not like rubber at all where it came in contact with mine. Sure, he had gained the elasticity of rubber and all of its different uses, but it wasn't like he'd turned entirely into rubber. He was still human, with flesh and blood and all. It disturbed me a bit that I noticed exactly how soft and smooth his skin was as well, which made me grumpier still. I also noticed that his hands hadn't taken any damage at all from punching that iron jaw of Morgan, though I could tell that he'd been through lots of training. His hands, though they were a bit smaller than mine, looked strong and battle worn, though compared with my larger hands his still looked less scarred. The scars I could see on him were hardly visible at all, probably thanks to some side-effect of having eaten the rubber fruit. Maybe it increased his healing abilities or something. The only scar that stood out on him was the one under his left eye. As my eyes covertly wandered back to his face, I could see through the corner of my eyes that he had a very boyish face, with smooth skin and eyes that looked dark and large compared to the rest of his face. His nose was small, pointing slightly up at the end, and his chin was small but well formed as well. His smile dominated his face along with his eyes, as his grin would threaten to split his face in half, as if he couldn't properly show his happiness in just a normal little smile. That smile suddenly turned its focus to me.

"Isn't that great, Zoro?!" Luffy chirped happily.

"Huh?" I wondered.

"Rika's mom says she'll feed us all, free of charge!"

I could see that Luffy was really excited about this, and I felt my mood get infected by his joy, as well as feeling better by the thought of getting a decent meal again. Then I suddenly had the thought of getting cleaned up, and so I quietly asked Rika's mother if she would mind lending me her bath before the meal.

"Yeah, Zoro, you really do reek!" Luffy laughed, at which I knew that my face had just turned red from his comment. I tried to pull back from him, but he easily kept his firm grip around the wrist of the arm I had over his shoulders despite my tugging, and the arm he had around my waist to support me never moved. Realising the futility of trying to fight him in my state, I instead resorted to hitting him lightly over the head with my free hand.

"You try staying tied up like that for weeks, and we'll see how much like a rose you'll smell." I grumpily replied to him.

"Yeah, yeah," Luffy chuckled. "Still, it'll be nice to find out what you really smell like." He smiled at me, and I hoped that the dirt on my face was thick enough to hide my continuing blush. I just muttered silently to myself, following the crowd of people, and letting Luffy and Coby deal with those that followed us, and all of their questions.

Down at the inn I was shown to a backroom where there stood a large tub in front of an empty fireplace, with soaps and fluffy towels laid out next to it.

"I'll get the tub filled first, and then I can quickly wash out and dry your clothes as much as possible, if you wish?" Rika's mother offered me.

I got a bit embarrassed, having forgotten that I only had the clothes on my back, and how useless it would be to clean myself up just to get into the same dirty clothes afterwards. I muttered a thank you, and promised to leave my clothes outside the door for her. Even if they were still moist as I put them back on, I would prefer that to the grime that caked them right now. With the tub filled with clear, steaming water, I quickly stripped down, tossing my clothes in a heap right outside of the door, and carefully lowered myself into the hot water. I couldn't hold back a groan of pleasure as the heat worked its way into sore muscles and small wounds, and lazily I chose one of the most neutral-smelling soaps to help scrub off the dirt on my skin. By the time I felt clean enough, the water had turned grey, and there was a layer of dirt floating on top of the water. Standing up in the tub, I used the water left in the bucket next to the tub to rinse off the soap and dirt residue from my body. With a towel slung around my narrow hips, I stepped in front of a small mirror I had noticed in the room. Staring back at me was my own familiar reflection, though a bit bruised. Short, spiky green hair over a squared face, with dark green eyes, a straight nose, a mouth that had an easier time frowning rather than laughing, and a strong jaw. My three dangling eardrops still hung from my left ear. Below this face of mine my broad neck started, going down to broader shoulders, and then there was my battle-worn body. Stepping back so I could see as much of me as possible, I tried to judge how much weight and muscle-mass I had lost. I had clearly lost most of the fat that used to lay just under my skin all over, so my muscles were even more defined now than before. I could also tell that my muscles had suffered a bit, though not as much as I had feared. All in all I wasn't too unhappy, and figured that I could quickly get back into shape with a bit of exercise and lots of food. After all, strength was important if I wanted to keep my vow with my old friend.

The voice of Rika's mother jolted me out of my thoughts, and I slipped open the door enough to accept my slightly moist but much cleaner and much more pleasant smelling clothes. Quickly slipping into them, I then followed the smell of food to the front room, where I came just in time for the first warm meals that were offered. I dumped down in the other chair at Luffy's table, and ignoring the crowd of villagers that were staring in at us through the windows I eagerly started stuffing myself with food. Luffy smiled at me as I sat down, and then started sniffing the air.

"Wow, smells great, doesn't it?" he grinned with a glint in his eyes. My first thought was that he talked about me, but then he started filling up his plate with food, so I relaxed as I decided that it was the food he'd meant. In between my own bites of food I directed questions to Luffy and Coby, wanting to know more about them and the situation. Coby happily told about himself and his meeting with Luffy, making the story sound probably even more dramatic than it had been. Luffy on the other hand just answered my questions honestly and to the point, without any big stories following them like Coby so willingly supplied. Finally feeling full, I reclined happily back into the chair, feeling like a normal person again.

"I'm full! That meal was worth not eating for several weeks!" I happily chuckled, patting my full stomach as Rika and her mother laughed with me.

"Eh? Is that all you're going to eat?" Luffy questioned, having eaten twice as much as me if I were to believe my eyes.

"I don't understand how you can eat more than me!" I protested, looking at him sitting there looking so slim, with a currently bulging little stomach.

"Cause it's good... Right, Coby?" Luffy answered.

"I'm sorry, I helped myself too." Coby grinned shyly to Rika and her mother.

"It's alright, you helped save our town!" Rika's mother smiled.

Rika seemed to have taken a liking to Luffy, and she had told me that she had been saved earlier by Luffy when the marines had tossed her out of the execution yard. I was happy to hear that she hadn't been hurt back then, and my respect for Luffy increased again.

"You were amazing back there!" Rika said to Luffy.

"Yeah, I'm great!" Luffy said without pretence. "I'll become even greater. I'm going to become the Pirate King. I found a 'nakama' too!" Luffy grinned, looking back at me with sparkling eyes.

"So, how many shipmates do we have?" I questioned curiously. "I remember you saying that you were looking for crew members. To become the Pirate King, you probably have a crew already."
"Nope, just you." Luffy grinned.

"Wha-?! Then..." I was shocked, pointing between him and me, indicating that it was just the two of us on this mission of his.

"Yep, us two!" Luffy confirmed to me.

"Can we be pirates with just us two?" I wondered.

"What does it matter, we're strong." Luffy simply brushed off my scepticism, and though I felt a bit flattered by being told so easily that I was strong even by his standards, I still wondered how this would go.

"Ship, where's our pirate ship?" I questioned him sceptically.

"Right over there." Luffy pointed out a window that faced the harbour, where a small fishing boat with a little sail rested.

I leaned on the window sill, looking at the poor excuse of a boat, and wondered just what kind of mess I'd gotten myself into.

"That?" I asked again, just to confirm my fears.

"It's small now, but I'll get us a really big one!" Luffy explained in an excited voice, and I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"How?" I challenged him, but he just kept on dreaming of the pirate ship we wanted.

"I want a pirate flag too! How cool!" he grinned.

I rubbed my temples to ward off a stress induced headache, realising that being a 'nakama' of Luffy's would mean a lot of responsibility would be placed on me.

"Luffy was born without planning abilities." Coby chuckled weakly, sensing my distress.

"Am I really going to follow this guy?" I muttered to myself.

"Well, we'll get more 'nakama' as we go along." Luffy grinned calmly.

"Hey, hey... Where are you guys going now?" Rika excitedly asked.

"That's obvious. We're going to the Grand Line!" Luffy smiled at her. Coby freaked out yet again, spilling juice all over the place as he spit out his mouthful in shock.

"With just the two of you? No matter what, that's impossible!" He squealed. "Impossible, impossible, impossible!"

"Is the Grand Line really that dangerous?" Rika wondered.

"Of course it is! You know that there are two oceans in this world, right?" Coby went on to dramatically explain about the oceans of this world, and the stretch of land - Red Line - and stretch of ocean - Grand Line - that divided them into four, or five when you included the Grand Line itself. "A long time ago, the Pirate King, Gold Roger, obtained everything in the world... It is said that he left the great treasure, One Piece, in the Grand Line... And that's why hordes of pirates flocked to the Grand Line. Now, the place is a battlefield. It's also known as the Graveyard of Pirates."

"I heard from a customer that once people enter the Grand Line, they never come back." Rika's mother supplied worriedly.

"But One Piece is there somewhere, so we'll have to go." Luffy answered calmly with a smiling face, not being worried at all.

"Well, I guess we have no choice." I agreed, feeling excited with the prospects of fighting lots of strong people, and also with the high possibility of a chance meeting with the man I wanted to defeat.

"Zoro, you too?" Coby despaired.

"Who cares, you aren't going anyways." I answered, again wondering about the vast difference in attitude between Luffy and Coby.

"Even though I'm not going, I'm worried. Can't I do that... Because Luffy and I are friends, even though we just met, right?" Coby looked worriedly at Luffy.

"Yep! We're parting ways, but we'll always be friends!" Luffy easily smiled, making Coby blush with happiness.

"When I was little, I never had any friends. Nobody stood up for me and I never stood up for myself... But because of both of you, I've learned to strive for my own goals! I'm going to make my childhood dream come true! I will become a marine!" Coby passionately ended his speech.

"Rather than worry about us, you should take care of yourself. Even though you were forced into it, you still served under the pirate Alvida." I reminded Coby, thinking of what they'd told me about how they'd met. "Don't underestimate the Marines' information intelligence. If they found out, you wouldn't be able to join."

"Speaking of which..." Coby started weakly, just before the entrance door to the inn opened, with several marines marching in.

"Excuse me." a marine spoke up. It looked like the marines had finally managed to clean up in the mess left by Morgan, and decided upon who was to take charge from then on. "Is it true that you guys are pirates?" the marine questioned.

"Yep, I just found a new 'nakama'." Luffy easily answered without any worries. "We're pirates!"

"We are very grateful that you saved us from the clutches of Morgan. However, now that we know you are pirates, we can't look the other way. You must leave this town immediately!" the marine in charge informed us. "We owe you our lives, so we will not contact headquarters."

The villagers immediately started protesting, but Luffy simply met the marine's gaze head on, seemingly weighing his worth as he had done to me earlier, and then broke out into a playful grin.

"Well, shall we go?" he asked me, getting up from his chair. "Thanks for the food, ma'am!" he directed back to Rika's mother.

"Are you guys leaving already?" Rika asked with a sad look upon her face

"Yep." Luffy confirmed, hoisting his bag of foods over his shoulder before heading for the entrance door. None of us looked at Coby, or gave any sign of recognition, as we wove our way through the marines.

"Are you their 'nakama'?" I heard the marine in charge ask behind me.

"I... I'm..." Coby started stammering, and I felt Luffy hesitate a little behind me.

"Just a minute, is he with you?" the marine asked Luffy just as he was about to pass out through the door.

"I know all about this guy." Luffy smiled, turning back while putting down his bag. "There was a huge pirate lady that looked like a duck." he continued, grinning while he imitated a large duck, walking over towards Coby. "She had this big club... She was one ugly looking old hag!" Luffy then started poking Coby, and I understood that he was trying to provoke him intentionally. "This guy served that female pirate for two years!"

Finally Coby snapped, and though I knew that his punch was weak and slow, Luffy seemingly got pushed back from the force of the punch to the face. I tried to hide my grin, knowing that Luffy was trying to help Coby yet again.

"Now you did it, bastard!" Luffy yelled as he punched Coby back. And though his punches had earlier knocked out even Morgan, Coby kept standing up, taking punch after punch. Thankfully, no one else than me seemed to think this was strange. "You bastard! You bastard! You bastard!" Luffy kept yelling as he punched Coby.

"Stop this at once!" the marine in charge demanded as things started falling from the walls. "I will not allow you to disturb the peace of this town!"

I decided to intervene, knowing that it had to stop before the marines understood what Luffy was truly doing, so I stepped up and grabbed Luffy by the back of his vest.

"Hey, that's enough." I calmly said. "Don't go overboard."

Luffy immediately relaxed at my voice, and Coby fell over onto his back breathing heavily, with bruises starting to show on his face.

"It's clear that he's not with you!" the marine yelled angrily. "Leave our town now!"

I could tell that Luffy was hiding a grin under his hat as he put it back on after having lost it in the small scuffle. Without saying a word, I took the lead out of the inn, knowing that Luffy would follow after he picked up the bag again. We strolled down the road towards the sea, and I felt really good inside. Not just because of being free again, or having people being grateful to us, or even the fact that I had just eaten the best meal I'd had in what felt like years, but simply because I realised that being a pirate with Luffy would certainly turn out to be nothing like what I had so far believed a pirate's life to be.

"That was really something back there." I said conversationally. "They might find out about it though."

"I'm sure Coby can handle the rest." Luffy chuckled.

"Well, that was a good experience. Everyone will hate us from now on. The Life of a Pirate." I grinned.

Luffy broke out into laughter at my remark, just as we reached the boat and started the preparations to sail off.

"Luffy!" someone suddenly yelled behind us.

Turning, we saw Coby standing behind us with Rika and her mother.

"Thank you very much! This Marine will never forget you!" Coby yelled, standing in attention, saluting us.

"I've never heard of a marine thanking a pirate before." I grinned, hearing Luffy chuckle heartily beside me.

We quickly finished preparing the boat, and then we were off.

"We'll meet again, Coby!" Luffy yelled, waving his arms merrily into the air in goodbye to those behind us. I almost laughed out loud again as I saw the rest of the marines coming up behind Coby, and each and every one of them joining in the salutation.

Sailing off to the cheers of those we were leaving behind, we soon enough reached the open sea. Luffy went to stand in the front of the small boat, holding onto his straw-hat with one hand to prevent it from flying off, and looking like an excited child as he gazed off into the distance.

"Now we're well on our way to becoming pirates!" he said happily.

"Looks like it's going to be one hell of an adventure." I grinned from behind him, relaxing against the side of the boat as we sailed on.

Luffy almost squealed at the thought of the coming adventures, gripping his hat tighter.

"I will become the Pirate King!" he then stated, with such passion that I found myself starting to believe him.

"You've always rambled on about becoming the Pirate King... Is there a particular reason?" I asked him.

"Nope, no reason." he answered me easily. "But..."

"But?"

"I made a vow... to that man. To form an amazing crew... To find the world's greatest treasure... And become the Pirate King!" he said with increasing passion. "This straw-hat knows it all!" he grinned.

"I see." I smiled softly, surprising myself a bit. To make a vow, and to keep it, that was something I understood and respected.

The sunset was breathtaking, I was free again, and had gained a strong 'nakama' who had dreams even bigger than mine. I found myself thinking that Luffy would make a great Pirate King, with how he seemed to instinctively know that the world didn't exist in blacks and whites, but still managed to navigate through the shades of grey with a built in sense of justice. I felt sure that whatever was coming, it was going to be interesting staying with him.

"Alright, let's go" Luffy yelled into the skies. "Grand Line... Here I come!"

-The End-