So, here it is! The not-so-highly anticipated, probably-forgotten-by-most-of-you continuation of Six Months and Counting! This, of course, doesn't need to be read if you prefer the first ending to the alternate one. This tells Zoro's side of the story, and how he survived and such… Hopefully, I will tell it well ^.^ On that note, on with the story!

For Want of a Shoe

-DMTwins-

Zoro sat on his bunk in the barracks with a pile of letters on his lap. He flipped through them, reading some, but mostly just enjoying the fact that he had them, and feeling a little bit homesick –though he would never admit it to anyone but Luffy. He wished that he had the author of the letters with him, instead.

He rolled over and reached under the bed to grab a picture frame from beneath. It was small—pocket sized—and held a picture of Luffy and himself. Zoro grabbed the most recent letter from the pile and read it over once more. In it Luffy had written about how excited he was now that fall was so close. Winter would come soon, and Zoro had told him that they would spend Christmas together.

By now a frown had been etched onto his face, and he reached over and grabbed his reply to the letter. He knew Luffy would be really disappointed when he found out that Zoro wouldn't be able to leave until at least mid-January, or later, if need be. He quickly scrawled the date—August 26th—on the top of the letter and slipped it into an already addressed envelope. He crossed the room to a drop-box in the corner and slipped his letter in.

Zoro returned to the bed and gathered up the letters and stuffed them into his pillowcase. If any of the other guys found them, he wouldn't hear the end of it. They already had a heyday every time anyone even mentioned his boyfriend…

A loud crash sounded outside the door, marking the none-too-graceful entrance of someone into the barracks. Zoro slipped the picture frame into his pocket and walked over to the door to see who was—by the sound of it—tearing the room beyond the door apart.

When he opened the door he was a bit surprised that the room was, in fact, in shambles, but the surprise passed when he saw who the culprits were. They were currently in the process of tipping over a cabinet.

"Aniki!" Johnny and Yosaku said in unison.

"What are you doing?" Zoro asked as he glanced between them, and the small party that was tearing the room apart.

"Someone hid Yosaku's shoes," Johnny said, and Yosaku held up one bare foot as though to prove their story.

"Kohza, Bon Kurei, and Buggy are helping us look for them." He added. Kohza looked up at his name and shrugged.

"They're not in here." He said. He was wearing his usual long sleeved jacket and a scarf despite the heat, though he shrugged it off as nothing because he had grown up in a desert climate. Still, he was a good guy, which explained why he was helping them look. Bon, who was currently dancing around the room, had had his shoes stolen a few times and could probably sympathize, and Buggy… well, he was probably expecting something in return.

"Let me guess… You want me to help you look?" Zoro said, and Johnny and Yosaku nodded enthusiastically. Zoro sighed and closed the door behind him. "Fine… Have you asked if any of the people on watch saw them?" He received blank stares for a moment before the logic of the idea struck them and the two bolted from the room. Zoro exchanged an amused look with Kohza, who shrugged casually, and followed after them.

They crossed the yard, kicking up a cloud of dust as they did so. There weren't many people outside. Most of them were in the Rec. Room, probably lounging in front of a fan in an attempt to escape the heat. Zoro scowled when he realized that the person in the guard tower was one of the newer recruits, Bellamy. He was playing cards with his friend Sarquiss. Bellamy glanced over at them and a look of amusement crossed his face. He immediately turned back to his cards.

"If you guys are looking for shoes, I saw a couple of guys with a pair a few hours ago." He called down to them. "They took them off base," He pointed toward a cluster of rocks and cacti off in the distance, "That way."

"Why didn't you stop them, you flashy idiot? No one's supposed to go off base without reason…" Buggy pointed out. There had been rumors going around base that the enemy was getting closer to their position, and despite the fact that they really had no proof, security had been tightened recently, and many of their fellow soldiers had been on edge. Bellamy grinned evilly and shrugged.

"What? Afraid the 'enemy' is going to attack, are we? Ha, yeah right! Besides, it was funny." At that, both he and Sarquiss began laughing. Buggy flicked him off, which only made them laugh harder.

"Well, at least they told us where they are, right?" Bon Kurei asked, and then blew them a kiss. The two choked a bit and stopped laughing as scowls quickly replaced their amused expressions. Their reaction seemed to satisfy Bon. "Thanks boys!"

It was blazing hot outside, and it was nearly mid-day, making the heat almost unbearable. The rocks that Bellamy had pointed out were only a few hundred meters away, but it seemed like a much longer walk than it really was. Whoever had hid these shoes had way too much energy to spend. Zoro glanced over at Yosaku, who seemed perfectly fine walking across the scorching sand in nothing but his socks. Zoro figured he shouldn't mention it, because he probably hadn't noticed, and if he did notice, he would probably whine the rest of the way.

The rocks were much bigger than they looked from the base, but there weren't many places to hide shoes, and it didn't take long for them to locate the both—one being under a rock, and the other very precariously hung on a cactus.

A shadow flashed over the ground, and Zoro immediately tensed and turned to the sky. A sound, almost like thunder, roared and disappeared as quickly as it had come. The sky was cloudless. It happened in seconds, but it felt like an eternity. He and Kohza, being the only ones of the group to register the sound for what it was, immediately dove to push the other three out of the way. A shockwave blasted a wave of sand over them, and it suddenly seemed much darker than midday.

The silence that was usually attributed to the desert was now replaced with the sound of explosions. Out of instinct from their training, they reached for their guns, only to find that they hadn't brought them with. Buggy swore and pulled a knife out of his pocket, regarding it almost spitefully, as though it was its fault that he'd forgotten his useful weapons. With nothing better to do, the rest searched for similar replacement weapons. Johnny inched to the edge of their cover to glance out, and by the look on his face, he didn't like what he saw.

He drew back and covered his head as another wave of sand and debris washed over them. To a normal person, the first reaction to the situation would be to lament the fact that he didn't grab his gun on the way out of the camp. Instead, it occurred to Zoro that he'd never gotten a chance to send his letter. Another explosion was set off, this time much closer to where they were hiding, and after feeling of almost weightlessness he felt something strike him—or, perhaps, he struck something. Darkness was pulling at the edges of his vision, but he fought it back. He wasn't about to die—he couldn't die. It wouldn't be fair to Luffy…

He'd been thrown onto his back, so he painstakingly pushed himself up into a sitting position. His head was throbbing, and when he brought a hand to his chest it came back bloody. He avoided looking down, partly because he was afraid of what he would see, but mostly because he was trying to focus on finding the others. The air was thick with, smoke, dust, and sand, which made it nearly impossible to see. Through the settling air, he once again located the rocks that he'd ducked behind—they were now several feet away from him. Zoro ducked back down just as a short blast of gunfire split the air. He couldn't tell if the shots were aimed at him, but he wasn't about to check.

He heard a roar from behind him, and, thinking it was another bomb, he braced himself. When the impact didn't come, he realized that the roar sounded more like an engine. Zoro turned to see someone driving toward him from the opposite direction of the base. His first instinct was to run and get out of sight, but it was painful to sit up, let alone stand, and he knew that there was no way he would be able to outrun them, even in perfect condition.

Zoro could see them now, and a wave of dread washed over him as he prayed that he would recognize the driver. He didn't. One of the passengers spotted him and began shouting and waving his gun at him. By now, he could tell very distinctly that they were wearing the enemy's uniform. For a moment, Zoro expected them to shoot him. Instead, they stopped the vehicle a few feet away, with their guns trained on him. The driver began shouting vehemently at him in a language he didn't understand. Zoro was glaring at them darkly, and one of the group—much younger than the others, Zoro noted—took an instinctive step back.

Not really knowing what to do, but figuring it couldn't hurt, he raised his hands to show he was unarmed. They seemed satisfied with this, because they lowered their guns and walked closer and surrounded him, as though they were afraid he would run away despite his condition. They began shouting at him again, this time throwing in weird hand gestures that only proved to confuse him further. Zoro glared and shook his head, hoping they would understand that he didn't know what the hell they were saying. They seemed to misinterpret this, though, because they all seemed to get frazzled and raised their guns again, looking around wildly. One, a man with a scar across his face, didn't seem worried in the least. He smirked at him and swung his rifle over his shoulder.

Zoro flinched, knowing what was coming, as the man brought the butt of the rifle down on him. An explosion of colors flashed across his vision, and his hold on his consciousness loosened as darkness clouded his vision.

As you can see, this will be longer than the other two parts, so it will span over several chapters. It is also a much different genre than the others. Please tell me what you think!