I don't like Tashigi, but I'm trying to like her. The lines in the summary are from chapter 96 and the first scene is an extension of the Alabasta scene when Tashigi saves the crew, the second is not from the series.

"This is an order."

Her words were instantly met with aghast objections but Tashigi remained firm;they would not touch the Straw Hat Pirates, not here in Alabasta, not now when they were all already battered and hurting from their war against Crocodile. No, they would not be arrested because she would not allow that.

(She could be weak but she would not become a coward as well.)

There were confusion and doubt, the obvious question hanging in the air but she was their commander officer and was not required to explain her actions. Her stormy silence was enough of a hint and the officers quickly shuffled away, stealing hopeful glances back as if she would change her mind.

Tashigi did not. Instead, she stood in the pounding rain as if in guard of unconcious pirates. And when she was sure nobody was listening, save the storming clouds, she spat out the same question into the silence.

"Why?"

The silence that returned was mocking and Tashigi hung her head as she asked the Straw Hat crew the question that choked her throat and burned her heart.

"Why?"

The sharp intake was what forced Tashigi's head back up, her hand instinctively reaching for her sword by her side. Her eyes widened when she saw the source of the sound, and unconsciously, she slid back and crouched foward in defense.

"Roronoa Zoro," The marine officer stared at the swordsman who slowly raised his head to meet the gaze. His gaze wasn't clear, not like how she knew it could be, but it was steady.

"Why?" The pirate echoed her previous question and Tashigi bristled;The question had not been meant for the pirates, especially this one who always mocked and humilitated her. But again, the pirates surprised her; his answer was quiet yet sincere. "Because you have your justice and we have ours."

It should be laughable that the word justice came from lowly pirates, but they had just stopped a shichibukai from tearing a country apart while Tashigi...

Tashigi's gaze flickered to the Wado Ichimonji in the ex-pirate hunter's loose grip before she turned away.

The next time Tashigi gets a good look at the Straw Hat Pirates is with the rest of the world. The pirates have decorated the first page because they have done the impossible for their nakama who was sentenced to death; they have declared war on the entire world.

In the picture, the six crew members stand side by side with the Government flag burning and Nico Robin, the most dangerous woman Tashigi has ever met, is crying.

The entire fiasco is an outrage, a disgrace and so though Tashigi's gaze flickers to the white hilted katana, hanging from Rorono's waist and fitting pefectly against the bright blue sky, she will never admit that the sight of it, lean and proud, takes her breath away.