The mud was ankle deep that day, thanks to the damn rain that had assaulted them the night before. It was ankle deep and fucking cold, and that was more than enough necessary to double the misery in the trenches, filthy water pooling in even the most waterproof of boots, chilling toes, and making every man restless and uncomfortable.

As if they weren't already, having been stuck there, between those narrow dirt walls, for nearly a week now with barely any action.

Of course, restlessness was hardly a good thing when they were supposed to be quiet and still, peering stealthily over the top of the trench wall with guns pointed out into the ruined city around them.

Somewhere out there, the Government's army was lurking, possibly lying in wait for the Rebels to make an attack, but still lurking nonetheless.

Tensions were high, limbs were trembling, and the crunch of Zoro's teeth was loud on the hard biscuit he pulled from his pocket and shoved in his mouth.

Instantly, scowls from his fellow soldiers, weathered helmets swiveling towards him like a bale of angry turtles as every man in his general vicinity craned his neck to glare at him.

Nevermind that Zoro Roronoa was perhaps the best man they had in terms of deadly accuracy and physical combat skills. He was only nineteen, but he'd trained hard enough to assure his skill was equal to or greater than men with over ten years his senior.

And their troop had hardly seen real battle yet, only just rotated for a turn in the trenches, a group of fresh, young soldiers eager to prove their worth and win this damn war, if only so they could go home and finally have enough to eat, finally be free of the oppressive hold the Government had put on them in recent years.

Most of them were farmers, sons of farmers, countrymen that had lived in poverty for far too long while the economy boomed for the rich and privileged.

Zoro was a product of this, an orphan who'd grown up with his father's friend on a rural farm and left for the army as soon as he was able, if only to see the world and give himself a sense of self-worth. And to fulfill promises from his younger days.

Perhaps he would still be training if an assassin hadn't infiltrated a meeting between the Five Elders of the Government, failed to kill any of them, but incited an all-out civil war when the Rebellion, having stayed merely vocal for years, took the event as inspiration to finally launch a physical attack.

Sides were chosen, troops were deployed, and so it had been for months now, with both sides suffering and neither making particular headway.

Although here in the ruins of Shandora, a once vibrant, glowing city that now lay abandoned in rocky shambles, the effects of the war were obvious and rather shocking to the men when they'd arrived.

It hadn't shocked Zoro though, and this was partially why he was able to stand there, gaze trained at the rubble of broken buildings before him, gun poised and ready to shoot at any moment….but going right ahead with his snacking. Because this was life now, and they somehow still had to live it.

He could sense, from behind him, the quiet approach of another soldier whose mere presence caused the man standing on Zoro's right to step aside, the new soldier raising his gun and taking his place.

Zoro didn't look at him, but he could sense, almost from his aura itself, that this was one of the new soldiers, brought over with a fresh rotation of troops only the day before.

They were from a different part of the East, near the sea, and though most of them had blended right in with the rest, there was one that had stood out.

A blond, who seemed different from the others. Friendly, and kind. Zoro had seen him chatting and offering reassuring smiles to some of the younger men, making sure they were getting enough to eat. It seemed he was wholeheartedly dedicated to not only the cause, but caring for the others around him. And in war, even among comrades, that often didn't happen.

So Zoro assumed this guy wasn't going to care so much that he was keeping himself sustained.

"Little loud, huh?" the man murmured beside him quietly, amusement in his voice, and through his crunching, it took Zoro a second to realize the guy meant him.

Zoro glanced over, just briefly, to note the smirk on the man's face, blond waves of hair partially covering one of his eyes. His uniform was so clean, still a pristine, if dull, green that had yet to be battered and sullied by the elements like Zoro's had, and his helmet still had a shine to it.

He looked relaxed as he stood there, even with his gun aimed, and when his eyes met Zoro's, there was a glint of mischief there.

He reminded Zoro of someone, someone he'd lost, as much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, eager to avoid any hint of distracting pain.

Zoro looked away, focusing his gaze back out on the dusty battlefield, at the crumbled stones and broken windows, empty of feeling and devoid of their pasts like him.

"Who's gonna hear me? The dirt?" Zoro muttered in reply, lifting a hand to pick some biscuit from his teeth before going back to ignoring his uninvited companion again.

"They're out there, y'know," he heard the blond justify. "Don't think that they're not. Just because we can't see them doesn't mean…."

He trailed off when Zoro dug in his pocket again, pulled out another biscuit and taking a purposeful bite.

The unimpressed look the blond shot at him was practically just as audible.

"This new to you, pal?" the blond asked, voice level but with an edge of exasperation. "Would you like me to explain to you how war works?"

Zoro gave a quiet snort. As if this guy, who hardly looked any older than him, had experienced more.

"You don't have a scuff on you," Zoro muttered. "Why don't you come back and talk to me after you've spent a damn week in this shithole."

The blond shrugged.

"No need to get snippy," he said. "Besides, think I'd rather talk to you now. Y'know, before we all get blown up or something."

His voice softened then, and Zoro felt a slight nudge from the guy's elbow.

"I saw you tell Coby where to go for his rations yesterday," said the blond. "Thanks. Poor kid's barely eighteen. Has no idea what he's doing."

Zoro frowned, mind working to remember who he was talking about….

It hit him as he stared at a broken window pane that glinted in the sunlight just like the kid's glasses had, eyes wide and intimidated by his surroundings. Zoro had noticed him stumbling about, jostled between soldiers squelching their way through the narrow trench, no care for a new arrival who could barely hold his gun in his trembling grip.

Zoro remembered shouldering him towards the correct line with a grunt because anyone who didn't stand in the right place was just in the way. Space was limited, and many soldiers' fuses were extremely short.

"Oh. Him," Zoro mumbled. "He was asking to get trampled. Surprised you even know his name."

"Of course I know his name," the blond replied incredulously. "We're comrades here - why wouldn't I learn it?"

Zoro shrugged.

It wasn't like Zoro remembered any himself. Not anymore.

Back at the training camp, he had. One name in particular still stood out in his mind. But….now he figured he didn't have much hope of future friendship with these guys. Better to not get attached. That never ended well.

Sometimes the attachment never ended at all….

"Seems like a waste of a time if you ask me," was all Zoro muttered in response, to which the blond gave a little tsk of disapproval.

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine," Zoro's companion replied, the shaking of his head visible out of the corner of Zoro's eye.

And Zoro assumed that was it. He was usually pretty good at getting people off his case, shutting down conversations.

Maybe now this too-optimistic blond would let him have his peace once more.

It was quiet for a long moment, leaving Zoro to believe that, yes, he would. Nothing but the sounds of a crow in the distance, and the occasional murmurings of other soldiers….

"Am I gonna get your name?"

But no. Peace interrupted, and Zoro had to resist the urge to groan at the blond's persistence.

Still, with hopes that it would pacify the man, he grumbled out, "It's Zoro, okay? Jeez. Haven't you ever heard it's polite to introduce yourself first if you wanna know someone….?"

The blond just gave a light-hearted chuckle though and replied, "Guess you're right. Where are my manners?"

Immediately after, Zoro found a gloved hand jutting his way, and his gaze shifted to look at the man, who was smiling and clearly waiting for him to shake it.

Zoro blinked at it for a second, even as the guy started to give an introduction.

"Well, Zoro. My name's Sa-"

But he didn't get to finish because Zoro's ears pricked, hearing the faintest low whistle from above them.

His eyes widened.

And then he reached out to shove the blond to the ground, shouting, "GET DOWN!" for everyone else's benefit, just before the trench, a mere fifty feet away, exploded in a cloud of fire, dirt, and debris.

Screams of both agony and horror filled the air, Zoro raising both arms up to cover his head as he ducked against the wall, closing eyes and only opening them when he heard the sloshing of water behind him as panicked soldiers tried to run away from the explosion site.

The muddy water had a sickening red tinge to it…

Zoro didn't move though because another whistle had sounded, and then, on his opposite side, another deafening explosion, closer this time, setting his ears ringing and a hard shudder through his body when he felt something warm and wet hit him on the neck and back, something that could have been mud….or a piece of a soldier. He couldn't be sure.

What he did know was that if they stayed here, they were just asking to get picked off, and already, when he looked up, he could see soldiers scrambling to climb out of the trench, despite having no clue what lay in the battlefield beyond.

Boots slipped and slid fruitlessly down the muddy walls, frantic cries and pained clenching of teeth, hands digging into the dirt desperately as the surviving men tried to escape before they too were blown to pieces by the sudden attacks. It was every man for himself.

Zoro felt a hand clamp down on his arm, and he looked up to find the blond staring at him urgently, fear, but also determination in his eyes.

"We can't stay here!" he called out, his voice sounding far away to Zoro's ears in the aftermath of the explosions, but Zoro heard him and nodded, getting to his feet and actively closing his mind to the river of blood that now flowed around their boots.

He had to ignore the moans of those injured as well, particularly when he heard more explosions from farther off. Surely the attack wouldn't end until every last one of them was eliminated.

But he wasn't planning on dying anytime soon, and apparently, neither was this blond, who'd already dug the jagged soles of his boots into the wall and kicked off hard to give himself enough leverage to pull himself out.

He did so with a bit of a grimace, and he nearly dropped his gun, the weapon strap almost sliding off his shoulder, but Zoro caught it for him, just before launching himself up too.

They were lucky. The wall in front of them had been pretty dry, making it easier to climb out.

The blond's hands were gripping Zoro's uniform, giving him an extra tug from above to help his ascent, and soon, the both of them were forced to their feet again, knowing they couldn't linger out in the open.

So they ran, feet pounding hard in the dirt, over the cracked road and between the crumbling skeletons of buildings, running as fast as they could, away, just before another deafening explosion behind them nearly sent the both of them crashing to the ground with the shockwave.

Zoro risked a glance behind him when he heard the rain of dirt stop its quiet patter.

There was nothing there anymore, just red-stained dirt and fallen bodies that he thankfully didn't know the names of.

There was no turning back.

The blond man stayed by his side, surprisingly, even as, in his peripheral, he saw the few lucky survivors who'd also made it out veering off on their own, stopping to cower behind broken walls.

Zoro and the blond ran farther than the rest, his companion's lanky legs carrying him swiftly over the rough terrain without tripping or faltering in the slightest.

For all his speed though, he didn't abandon Zoro. In fact, he repeatedly checked over his shoulder to make sure Zoro was still following, and when they finally reached a somewhat dead end at the edge of what had once been a park, the blond pulled him down against a low wall around the perimeter.

"Are you okay?" was the first thing he panted out, his hand, which trembled slightly, clenched tightly in Zoro's jacket sleeve.

"Yeah," Zoro replied, breathing heavily, but otherwise unharmed. "You?"

The blond just nodded, finally dropping his hand to take hold of his gun, peering carefully over the wall, Zoro doing the same a second later.

Beyond it was what used to be a large circular fountain pool, a majestic statue of an angel in the center, now with one wing lying in the stagnant water below, the rest of it badly chipped and marred.

"I know for a fact the Government's camp is out past this park somewhere," Zoro's companion said, his grip on his gun tightening a bit. "Surprised they haven't started marching…."

Thankfully, they had the cover of some miraculously still-standing trees that lined what had probably been a busy street at one point, a few lampposts dotting the edges of the busted walkway.

"If they haven't already, shouldn't be long," Zoro muttered bitterly, scanning the buildings he could see across the park for any sign of movement, the smell of gunpowder and smoke in the air reminding him that they were anything but safe.

He turned to the blond then with conviction.

"We've gotta pick off as many as we can before they get to the others," he stated, the other man instantly balking.

"What!?" he hissed. "There's only two of us! That'll just be suicide!"

"Yeah, well, tough luck. We'll just have to survive. Unless you're set on dying today," Zoro replied simply.

The blond could only stare at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"Right, because it's that easy to survive," said the blond.

Zoro nodded.

"Sure it is. We survived so far."

"Are you crazy?" the blond shot back.

"No. I've just got shit I gotta do in life. Can't die here."

Zoro's companion let out a disbelieving huff, shaking his head and looking back over the wall again for a second before he ultimately met Zoro's eye again.

"Alright, fine. So we survive," he muttered, and Zoro couldn't help but smirk a little.

The blond was no coward. That much was obvious, particularly when the man's lips even turned up the tiniest bit.

"You must have some amazing woman waiting for you back home if you're willing to fight that hard," he said, prompting Zoro's eyebrows to raise.

"A woman?" Zoro asked in surprise, and despite the circumstances, the blond actually chuckled.

"Sure. What, been in the army too long? Never seen one before?"

"Course I have," Zoro muttered, with a scoff and a hint of a scowl on his face when he looked away sulkily. "I don't got a woman."

Another chuckle from the blond, who then asked, "What do you got then? Pigs? Horses? Cows?"

But Zoro only scowled harder, so the other man just shrugged.

"I'm only teasing," he said, reaching out to clap Zoro on the shoulder briefly before he quieted, gaze fixed on Zoro's face, just in front of his ear, where fingers reached up to gently brush at a bit of blood smeared there. Most likely not his….

The blond's expression began to darken again, and he lowered his hand, shooting another glance at the rubble ahead of them.

In that moment, Zoro's eyes had flicked to him, his own hand automatically lifting to touch the same spot the blond had.

He pulled it away, looked at the blood there on his fingertips, and felt entirely numb.

"What are you fighting for then…?"

The blond's voice sounded softly again, and Zoro's gaze rose to his once more.

He opened his mouth….but couldn't say anything for some reason, his heart unexpectedly jumping into his throat as the image of her flashed through his mind.

"Oh, right. I should speak first before I demand answers out of you," said the blond pointedly before Zoro could fumble for too long, eventually closing his mouth and watching a wistful sort of confidence come over the blond.

"I'm fighting for freedom. The freedom for all of us to see the world and its oceans, to finally live as we want, pursue what we want," he breathed. "The average man should not have to live with lesser worth than those with affluence."

The man sighed, before continuing, "I want that...more than anything. I feel like I've been fighting for it for so long….Maybe this war, as terrible as it is, will finally bring about change.…"

Zoro watched the man's gaze cast downwards towards the ground, his brow drawing in briefly as if remembering something tumultuous before he shook his head and looked back up.

"So what about you?" he asked, and the delay still hadn't allowed Zoro to work up the conviction to speak his mind, so he simply answered, "Yeah. I want that too…."

It was true. He did want that, and of course he was here for that, but the face of his driving force was someone more important, someone stronger than the "average man" and he didn't feel ready to tell that to a complete stranger. A stranger whose name he didn't even…..

Now it was Zoro's turn to sigh.

They'd made it this far. And maybe they'd only known each other for a few heartbeats, but given the chaos and turmoil they'd just faced together, Zoro decided perhaps the gutsy blond had earned his next thought.

"You….never finished telling me your name…" he mumbled, almost a little embarrassed, given what he'd said earlier.

The blond smiled a little, quirking a brow slightly.

"Don't think it's a waste of time?" he asked, Zoro rolling his eyes in response, only serving to make the blond's grin widen.

He stuck out a hand again, ready for a proper introduction at least.

"It's Sabo," he said, and Zoro slowly reached out to give his hand a shake.

"Kay…" Zoro muttered, almost unsure what to do with that information before he brought his hand back to his gun and peered over the wall himself.

That was when he jolted, however, eyes widening and his head ducking down lower because he'd seen movement. He'd definitely seen movement beyond the weedy grass and the skeletal trees barely managing to stand in the distance.

"Dammit," he breathed, Sabo instantly sensing the danger too, ducking down as well.

Sure enough, over the rubble came an advancing line of Government troops, their white uniforms covered in dust and dirt, but still managing to stand out almost mockingly well, as if they hadn't a care to hide their advance.

Zoro heard the other man let out a sharp breath. Then he turned to Zoro one last time.

"Well, guess this is it, huh?" he said, and Zoro was pleased for his resolve. It gave him a boost of confidence also.

"Yeah. Follow me. Let's stick together as long as we can," he instructed.

Sabo nodded, then followed Zoro's lead as he carefully stood a little and started to move stealthily along the wall, finally straightening when there was no more wall to shield him, only trees, some of which were too skinny to provide any cover.

But it didn't matter because there was shouting from afar. Someone else must have given himself away. The sounds of gunshots. Another explosion.

And then, fearlessly charging feet pounding across the ground towards them, bringing chaos.

There was nothing else to do but rush into the fray, darting from tree to tree for as long as he could before Zoro met with his first enemy soldier, not even needing to shoot him, simply bringing his gun down hard on the back of the guy's neck, sending him toppling head-first onto a sharp pile of debris.

He saw Sabo clash with another man close-by, but there was nothing Zoro could do to help him as someone else had already rushed at him, gun aimed to shoot.

Zoro got there first, shooting the guy in the stomach with a quick blast, mercilessly turning his gun on several others who darted his way.

They had grenades, Zoro saw, the tiny bombs raising dust and wreaking havoc on the trees they'd just taken cover under.

That glance backward afforded him with the opportunity to notice that others from their own troop had emerged from their hiding places, now bravely fighting in the brutal man-to-man combat that had broken out over the unstable ruins of the city.

He'd only looked behind him for a moment.

But it had been a long enough moment.

A Government soldier stood several paces away, the small beveled shape of a handheld grenade in his hand and a sickly gleeful smile on his face as he pulled out the pin and threw it Zoro's way, just before that smile was wiped away forever with a gunshot to his head, Sabo lowering his weapon shortly after and sprinting towards his comrade as if he could do something.

But the look of growing dread and panic that came over the blond proved he knew. He could do nothing.

"Zoro!"

A familiar voice shouted his name, but Zoro couldn't move, couldn't react, just watched that grenade traveling towards him in a smooth arc, like a deadly bird swooping in on him.

Stupidly, his first instinct was to target it with his gun, just like the clay pigeons he used to shoot at for fun when he was younger.

She had always been so much better at it than him...

A body collided with his, tackling him out of the way before he had the chance to do something so foolish.

He smelled smoke, but not the horrible, stifling smoke that assaulted the air now.

It came from cigarettes, and just before the explosion, he saw a flash of blond hair, far more golden than the sandy color of Sabo's.

And the arms protecting him now…..

He remembered them all too clearly, still dreamt about them nearly every night.

An explosive blast, chunks of dirt and pieces of the earth shooting out in every direction.

Zoro's back hit the ground, helmet protecting his head but still rattling him enough to make his vision go momentarily white.

A slicing sting across the left side of his face and shouts of pain, one from the body currently atop his...

He saw nothing, heard nothing but that awful high-pitched ringing in his ears.

Zoro's face hurt. He could feel blood, his own this time, dripping down his cheek, felt it in his very eye, causing his whole head to throb.

He lay there, stunned beyond mobility, and for how long? He didn't know.

He thought he heard his name being called again, though it might have been his imagination.

No, he could only focus on the feeling of another person's difficult labored breaths against his chest, that nostalgic smell of the person's hair...and the sensation of warm blood seeping into his uniform from the one atop his.

Zoro tried, with all his might, to open his good eye, sit up as much as he could and roll the other soldier's body off him onto the ground beside him.

He couldn't look at him for long, shock already causing his consciousness to fade again, but he saw the man's still face, saw the blood trailing from his mouth, knew he would find brilliant blue behind his closed eyelids.

Zoro rose trembling fingers to stroke over this blond's jaw, over the dark stubble dusting his chin, and over pale, slack lips that he could never forget.

His hand fell back to the dirt, as did his entire body.

And just before his world went completely black, he breathed the one name he definitely hadn't believed to be a waste of memory.

"Sanji…"

Darkness...

Author's Note: This is a fictional AU, of course, but time period is circa 1940s. So think World War 2-esque.