Helloo! I have actually gone through and edited the chapters just recently for my sanity. I am re-tackling this project, and I figured it needed to be rebooted. Enjoy!
By the way, as you'll notice I neglected Brook, and then brought him forth later. It had been my reading/watching at the time of the writing a few years ago, so bare with me on it.
Chapter 1: Defying them.
Zoro's eyes flew open.
The swordsman's mind did a complete 180°, realizing that he was not about to make love to a gorgeous black haired woman, but he was sleeping in the crow's nest of the Thousand Sunny. Having jerked himself awake, he listened to the playful noises of his nakama below. He looked at the window, finding he was completely on his back, having accidentally fallen asleep in crow's nest-training area.
"Ooooh!" An obviously Luffy-like comment was heard down below.
"I wonder who it is!" Chopper excitedly said. Zoro looked down, wondering what they were talking about. A woman with dark hair was on the deck, her hair shining a tint of blue.
"She looks awfully familiar." Nami commented, observing the unconscious woman.
"I've never seen her before." Franky bluntly said, not interested in their 'guest'.
Something of a dark shade of green caught Zoro's eyes. His eyes immediately widened in disbelief. He climbed down to the deck to get a better look. Surely he was mistaken? He leaned over Chopper who was presently checking her for injuries.
"Good God it's her."
"I thought you didn't believe in God." Nami questioned.
Zoro ignored her comment, looking for evidence to prove it wasn't her. Her red rimmed glasses stuck out of her jean jacket pocket, her oddly printed shirt covering everything. But the biggest piece of evidence proving her identity was her sword Shigure by her side.
"Who is she Swordsman-san?" Robin asked, quite curious at his strong response to the woman.
"It's Sergeant Major Tashigi. She's a marine." he said gruffly, looking away from her. "I'd throw her back, she isn't worth the trouble. She wants me like Luffy wants his sea kings; dead and fried."
"Well it's not like she can do that much damage, she's just a single woman" Nami commented, disliking Zoro's cruelty to the woman.
"Fine, keep her if you'd like, but she better be dumped off at the next island."I definitely do not want to put up with her dumb feministic antics, or her challenging me to a fight constantly. Though, if she's gotten any better, than I guess I could use her to train.' He shook the last thought from his mind. Last thing he would want to do is have the woman hovering around him constantly, belittling his life style and demanding his sword Wadō Ichimonji.
Sanji walked out of the galley, interested in the commotion on the deck. As soon as he laid eyes on her, immediately his mellorine babbles started.
"Where did the beautiful buru-beri come from?" Sanji nick-named her immediately, for her iridescently blue tinted hair, "I remember her from Lougetown."
"Perfect timing Sanji-kun," Nami started, "since Zoro just showed his great distaste for the woman, would you instead carry her to the infirmary?"
"Hai Nami-swan!" he excitedly replied.
Zoro looked at Tashigi, noticing her starting to stir because of the commotion. "I do not," she growled, "need help from pirates!"
Rolling his eyes, Zoro knelt next to the woman, and swung her over his shoulder. She instantly protested, weakly beating on his back and kicking his front. "Oi shut it Tashigi."
"Is that you Roronoa! Oh, I'll capture you yet, you just wait and see!" She yelled weakly, trying to prevent him from carrying her somewhere unknown.
"She's funny!" Luffy laughed, amused with the vivacious woman.
"That is funny, seeing as we seemed to have captured you," Zoro chuckled, starting to consider it not being such a bad idea to have her awhile; if not to amuse them. He ignored her calls and the rest of the crew as well.
He threw her onto a bed, and walked away. They found themselves in the infirmary, watching Chopper trying to tend to her injuries. He took his fierce man form, holding her still to an extent.
Zoro returned to the training ring in the sky, trying to ignore the happenings below him. He closed his eyes, and let the sunlight warm body.
'I hope I don't have that dream again, it's really starting to haunt me. Damn her for looking so much like Kuina!' His mind revisited the memories of Kuina, just like they have so many times before. Though, this time, they shifted from Kuina to Tashigi. He was sure in his mind that Kuina would have looked exactly like her.
His eyes opened, and he grumbled to himself. "I'm not going to catch a wink as long as that woman remains on this boat."
"Neh, Zoro, why is that?" A voice asked, the speaker entering the small arena.
"It's not your business."
"Might you have a liking for this woman that you dare not reveal?" Franky dramatically said, striking a ridiculous pose.
"Hn."
"Ooooh! Am I right on the mark?" He immediately questioned the response of indifference.
"She's just bothersome, that's just about it."
"Why is she bothersome? Hmm? Care to explain?"
"...she resembles someone I knew long ago."
"That's so sad!" Franky started bawling, snot clearly visible. "I'm not crying!"
Zoro rolled his eyes at the pathetic sight, and started down the mast.
He wondered through the ship, making his way to the aquarium room that everyone seemed to like so much. His mind emptied, feeling at ease with the blue glow of the room.
Robin also seemed to occupy the room, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere as well. "Swordsman-san, hello," She greeted smiling at him.
"Hi" He responded, sitting on the opposite side of the room.
"So, how do you know this sergeant major we seem have stumbled across?" She started conversation innocently. The smile on her lips gave him no reason to tell her anything, but he did anyway.
"I thought she needed to be saved, though in the end, they didn't stand a chance. I broke her glasses…or something along those lines. I don't remember really." He released a deep sigh, and rested his elbows n his knees as he looked down between his feet.
Robin gave a curious expression; he was not exactly paying attention. He sighed again, getting up from the comfort of the couch. "Ja ne" He went to the men's quarters, hoping to catch a nap without disturbance. After having successfully rid his mind of a particular swordswoman, he fell asleep, hoping that when he awakened that everything had been a dream.
Tashigi continued to refuse help from the rest of the Mugiwaras, claiming it to be 'dishonorable' and 'distasteful'. She was pretty bent on the idea that pirates were scum, and marines were there to clean up. Though she was reminding herself constantly it seemed that they weren't the worst seeing as they helped Arabasta remain peaceful, and prevented thousands of deaths. And they defeated Crocodile who had become very corrupt. She recently found herself realizing that they hadn't technically done anything illegal until they went against the World Government. They only ever seemed to fight bad guys.
They were still pirates. She sighed, realizing that in all of her thinking, she had allowed their pet Chopper to take care of wounds she had received from being out at sea.
"Tashigi, we have no reason to do you harm, so please, just relax." Nami asked of her. Tashigi bit her lip and lay down in the bed, "and we'll make sure that Zoro stays clear."
"I can take care of myself" she grumbled, the crew ignoring her comment. They all left the room for her to rest. Her eyes looked around the room, trying to find something terrible to jump out. Her clothes were being hung to dry, and Shigure was sitting on the chair at the end of the bed.
"What, do they trust me not do anything? These pirates are heavily underestimating me, probably because I'm a woman." She scowled at the memory of Zoro, leaving her to live. "I guess trying to fight a 600 million beri crew is just insane though. They are right in thinking that I am not willing to do anything dramatic."
Tashigi started to evaluate her body, seeing what kind of injuries she had. Her worst injury seemed to be sprained ankle. She sipped from the water glass beside her bed, feeling refreshed; there was still a lot of salt in her body.
She laid her head down, knowing she needed sleep. This pirate ship was safe, if you could actually call it that.