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There were certainties in the world. Zoro had many certainties. He was going to be the best swordsman. He was going to make his captain the Pirate King. He was going to train until his stitches ripped and fresh blood stained his bandages, no matter how many times Chopper told him not to. He was going to meditate, and he was going to pray.
The crew never talked about religion. They all came from different backgrounds, different worlds. They were intricately different in their beliefs, with one keeping them together. Luffy would be King. They were sure of it. Sure as the sea kings in the waters of the Grandline. Sure as the Yonko ruled over the New World. Sure as the rain or wind or sky. Sure as Zoro was sure that one day his God would return to liberate the people.
No one spoke of their beliefs, but they didn’t go unnoticed. Sanji could often be found whispering while he cooked, a certain reverence to the words. Nami had her notebooks that she kept to herself in private. Usopp could be found knocking on the frames of doors before entering, hushed tones leaving his lips as if asking for permission to enter a room. They all had their gods. Zoro was no exception.
He grew up on a quiet island in the East Blue being taught the way of the sword. He lived in a dojo that was infamous for its successful pupils. His sensei had taught him all he could teach to a kid who had stronger ambitions than himself. He taught Zoro patience and humility. He taught Zoro to pray.
“You must learn to listen. You must learn to wait.” His sensei had told him. And being a kid eager to learn all that he could, eager to be the best—he hated the very nature of waiting. He had yet to understand the importance, the value, and so his sensei told him the story of Nika.
“Do you believe in God, Zoro?” His sensei asked him one day on the practice fields, sun shining particularly bright in the midday sky. It’s heat leaving a red flush upon Zoro’s shoulders and nose.
Zoro stopped his next attack, curiosity getting the better of him, “What’s a god?” he asked and his sensei smiled down at him.
“A god is someone you believe in above all else, someone who will protect you and guide you, someone who is perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness.”
Zoro looked up at his sensei, a wide-eyed curiosity present on his lightly sun-burnt face, “Where can I find this god?”
“Hmm.” He pondered, trying to find a way to explain the concept of God to a child, “He is everywhere and nowhere. He is in all things. He is the light of a new day breaking and the slowly dimming light of the night. He is freedom and peace. He is strength and joy. He is the sun.”
Zoro gaped, “The sun?”
“Yes, the sun. His name is Nika and he guides our purpose. Without him, we surely would turn towards the darkness in the hearts of man. But Nika keeps us humble. He gives us his strength and his courage. He is who allows us to be free, and one day he will return to guide us to a new age. One of eternal freedom and peace for all.” He rested his hand upon Zoro’s green locks, patting it in a way he does with his own daughter as a form of reassurance, “Now then, I want to see that kata twenty more times before lunch.”
And so, as is the way of the world, Zoro learned the way of the sword, and with it he learned about Nika and his promise to his people. And just as he was going to the be the greatest swordsman, he would too in turn be a worthy servant of Nika.
When Zoro had set off on his own, read: lost his way home and ended up wandering for lack of anything better to do, he hadn’t foreseen ending up here—tied to a post in a marine base, starving and burnt from the rays of the sun beating down on him. The rays keeping him company, reminding him of his God watching over him. Reminding him that his god is good and willing and loving and freeing. He will get through this. It’s just another hurdle on his way to be the best, and he would not meet his end here. He was sure of it. He would pray. Nika always answered his prayers.
His savior came to him in the body of a lanky teen in a straw hat. Sandals meeting the dirt in front of his place of imprisonment, unapologetic and unafraid. Zoro was sure he was a sight to behold, dirty, sweaty, smelling of body odor and other questionable scents. Lips chapped and bleeding from where they cracked as he talked, evidence of the lack of hydration. His face was blistering where it burned having no reprieve from the blaring rays of the sun—not that Zoro minded much, but it was annoying nonetheless. Zoro glared at the boy in front of him, daring him to try anything, daring him to laugh and gawk at the helpless state he was in. Instead, the boy smiled, something wide and blinding and confident and free. They struck a deal, and in it Zoro gained a new captain and a new purpose (one he wouldn’t know for months) (One he never wanted but always needed.)
After eating their fill and being run out of the town, Zoro and his new Captain, “I’m Monkey D. Luffy. I’m going to be King of the Pirates!” were sailing endlessly, no destination in mind. (Even if they had one, Zoro was sure it wouldn’t have made a difference, they had no compass or pose) They had nothing but time on their hands, and so Luffy decided to pester his new crewmate with an endless array of questions.
“Where are you from, Zoro?”
“How old are you, Zoro?”
“Why is your hair so green, Zoro?”
His new captain kept babbling, poking him in the cheek, grating on his nerves. But Zoro had been taught the value of patience, and he had that in strides.
“Shimotsuki Village.”
“Nineteen”
“It’s just always been that way.”
Satisfied with Zoro’s answers, Luffy fell silent for the first time since setting out together. He stared at the ocean around them with a look in his eyes that Zoro had yet to place.
“So, Pirate King huh?” The words were a surprise to himself, but he didn’t want to take them back. He was always a curious child. That curiosity never really stopped.
“Shishishi Yep!”
“Why’s that?”
“That’s because the free-est person on the seas is the Pirate King!”
Zoro nodded, accepting this as fact. The conviction in which his captain had stated his reasoning spoke leagues as to the kind of man Luffy was. Maybe, Zoro thought, maybe things happen for a reason.
“Whatcha doing?” Zoro looked up to where their newest crewmember, Nami, sat in her boat alongside Luffy and his’ dinghy and glared. “None of your business.”
She hummed undeterred, “Well clearly it is if you’re that prickly about it. Are you sleeping or mediating?”
He leveled her with a look before closing his eyes again, “I said none of your business, witch.” At the same time as Luffy’s shout of “Zoro’s praying!”
Nami’s eyebrow went up in disbelief, “Praying? You believe in a god?”
Zoro bristled, “What’s it to you?”
She shrugged “You don’t seem like the type.”
The boat turned to a comfortable silence before being broken again by Nami, “Well who is it? Which god do you worship?”
Zoro deigned an answer. Luffy speaking up in his stead, “Nami! If Zoro doesn’t want to tell you, then Zoro doesn’t have to.”
She leveled a glare at their grinning captain. “Fine then.” She turned her curiosity towards Luffy, “What about you? Do you worship any gods?”
“The Maiden!” Luffy smiled impossibly large, spreading his arms wide to the vastness of the ocean.
“The Maiden, huh? I should have guessed. Seems fitting that a pirate worship her.”
“Then you don’t, Nami?” Luffy asked.
“None of your business.”
At the Baratie, where Zoro was nearly sliced clean in half, he saw a glimpse of Nika. It was in the glare of Mihawk’s blade. In the glint in those golden terrifying eyes. In the sun as he lay on his back in the little boat with Johnny and Yosaku, its rays blinding him from anything and everything except its sight. It made his eyes water. Tears running freely down his face as he felt the warmth of the sun in a way he never felt it before. This was a brush close with death, and he was being let allowed to live. He raised his remaining sword to the sky and proclaimed his dream for all to hear. Are you satisfied with that, Pirate King?
The grand line is unlike anything Zoro has ever seen. The crew has only been in its waters for a few weeks before Luffy and his insanity gets them dragged into a coup for a princess and her duck. They’re nakama as Luffy says and so, his whims must be met. Alabasta is hot. Scorching even. It’s sands soaking up the sun in waves during the day, leaving the night to freezing temperatures in its absence. Here they will face hurdles unlike any they’ve encountered before. A warlord is at the head of this country. His influence runs deep. Hundreds of enemies stand in their way. Zoro will cut them all. There’s no time for fun and games here. It’s serious and dangerous and Luffy will prevail, Zoro knows it deep in his bones, but the worry is still there in the back of his mind. He prays to the god of the sun. Surely here, with its desert sands and cloudless sky he will be heard.
He learns to cut steel, prayers answered, and wonders if that will be enough.
Skypiea is beautiful. The soft white clouds are odd in their own right, supporting the Merry like the waves of the blues far beneath them. Here, up in the sky, Zoro feels the presence of his god stronger than ever before. But there’s another god here. One who is nothing like the god he knows. His god is good and kind and powerful and helping. This god is human made deity. This god is cruel and vicious, and while they are strong, strength isn’t enough. He knows that Luffy will win this battle. It’s something he will have to do on his path to becoming Pirate King. If anyone could kill a god it’d be Luffy. The man who inspired him to set out to the sea. The man who finds broken people and makes them whole again, gives them purpose and adventure and family (family). The man who Zoro was growing to admire more and more every day. The man who Zoro would gladly fight for.
Luffy would save these people from the wrath of a vengeful god, and Zoro would be damned if he wasn’t there to see it.
Later, after Luffy’s success, party in full swing, Zoro found himself talking to the natives. Around the campfire they spoke and traded stories of their adventures. Usopp entertaining the locals with his tall tales, Chopper soaking up every word with a child-like abandon. It was here, party in full swing, that Zoro overheard Robin speaking with some of the local historians.
“You called Enel ‘god’” Robin started, ever intrigued by the societies on each island they visited. Her thirst for knowledge was unparalleled, and these ruins they were partying in had piqued her interest the minute she stepped off the ship.
The local shook his head, “No. We never did. He always called himself that. None of us here would ever view that maniac as a higher power.”
Robin hummed “Then I’m very curious as to who you do worship.”
“Nika of course.”
“Nika?” She mused, “The sun god if I am correct?”
“Yes. He is our god. The god of freedom and liberation. And he is good! He answered our prayers and sent us you to save us. That’s what he does best after all.” The local smiled wide and took a large swig of his drink.
Robin glanced up at Luffy dancing circles around the fire, smile playing on her lips, “Yes, he surely did.”
Zoro took a long sip from his drink and prayed.
In Water Seven, they faced trials unlike any they had encountered before. Well, that could really be said for any island they had been on, but this time it was different. Different because Merry’s broken and can’t be fixed. Different because Usopp fought Luffy and left. Different because Robin decided to leave too, and now the pain of having one of their own meet their end has tripled. Luffy hasn’t smiled in days.
Zoro misses it. Luffy’s smile. He always attributed it to a tiny sun, and now there was nothing but darkness. But they would fix this. Zoro was confident they would fix this. They had faced impossible odds before. These odds were not even worth considering to most pirate crews. They, however, were not most pirate crews. They were the Strawhats. Small but fierce with a captain who Zoro was learning made miracles. They needed a miracle here.
The trip to get here was insane to say the least, but they were here—standing on the roof of a building, six strong, facing their wayward captive crewmember. Luffy asked Robin. Had demanded from her an ultimatum. He would save her. Liberate her from the chains of the world government if only she asked. If only she said that she wanted to live. And if Zoro could have forced the words out of her mouth for her he would have. Have faith in Luffy he wanted to say. Have faith that he will fulfill his promise to you. Have faith in him like I do.
And she answered. “I want to live! Take me to the sea with you!”
The battles following her admission were something Zoro will never forget. The damn giraffe was the most annoying and annoyingly challenging opponent he had ever encountered. But now they were here again outside the headquarters of Ennis Lobby watching Luffy battle it out with a leopard. He would win. Zoro knew he would win. But at what cost?
The Merry. She was here. A salvation. A miracle in its own right. And Zoro wondered not for the first time if this miracle was one of Luffy’s doing or one of their gods. (Somehow, Zoro understood that it was Luffy—always Luffy—steadfast, strong, charismatic, noble Luffy.)
They gained a new ship and a new shipwright, although If Zoro was being honest, he thought him a little weird. He fit into their motley bunch though, and Luffy had declared him nakama so that was that. The ship was grand. She was much bigger than the Merry had been, but still small enough for a crew of eight to handle. He particularly enjoyed the crow’s nest, claiming it as his personal gym and hangout. Up in the sky he always felt closer to Nika. The Sunny was aptly named. Her figurehead portraying its namesake, and Zoro would never see faults with sailing on a ship with a sun leading them. He led his life that way anyways.
Luffy declared the figurehead his special seat, and something in Zoro stirred to see the man he had now devoted his life to sitting on the sun he had been faithful to since he was young.
Thriller Bark was the first time Zoro feared the sun. His shadow was missing, trapped in some zombie creature. They had until daybreak to figure out how to beat yet another warlord before the rays of the very sun he worshipped took their lives. At least, Zoro thought, he would be taken by Nika as was his time. But this wasn’t his time. Zoro wouldn’t die here, not yet. Not until he saw Luffy become King. So, the warlord would go down. They would get their shadows back. Save the people who were trapped here too. Luffy liked them and said he would help. Luffy didn’t break his promises. He would find a way. He always did. And they would help him, as is their duty.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was supposed to have been over and done with when Moria fell. They were supposed to party at the return of their shadows, soak up the daylight on their skin unafraid of the warmth. They were supposed to sail out with a new crewmember to another adventure, follow another one of Luffy’s insensical whims. They weren’t supposed to be here, beaten down, exhausted, facing yet another warlord. They had run out of steam. Luffy was knocked out. The crew was strong, but even they knew they were in over their heads. Zoro would be damned if anything happened to them after all Luffy had done to keep them safe. He was the unofficial first mate. It was his duty to step up and protect the crew when Luffy was unable to do so. This was his fight, and he knew it.
The cook tried to stop him. Tried to take his place. Spouting some nonsense about how his head would be worth more than any of them one day. The words sounded like excuses. Zoro had no patience for excuses. He was quick to the draw, knocking the cook out with the hilt of Wado. This was his duty, Sanji had no place here.
A promise was once made. A bargain that Zoro knew he wouldn’t be able to keep. He had said that Luffy would meet his end by his blade if he ever came in between him and his dream. His dream was different now. Luffy had given him purpose and drive and companionship. Luffy had taken one look at his dirty, emaciated, tied up self and claimed him. Luffy was going to be King of the Pirates. He would not die here. Zoro would not let him die here. Somehow Luffy had gone and wormed his way into his heart. He had gone from being someone Zoro would fight for to someone Zoro was willing to die for.
He had lived a good life. It was shorter than he would have liked, but a good one nonetheless. He’d have regrets. He’d never become the world’s greatest, but that was okay. What was it Luffy had said once? If I die trying then at least I tried? Those words felt very real now. This would be his execution. He looked up at the giant of a man in front of him and asked for one request. He would not let his crew witness what he was about to do. He would not let them wake up and the first thing they see be his body. He hoped they would take care of his swords. It was a shame he never got to use Shusui more, she was a beautiful blade. But this was his end. He only wished he could bask in the warmth of the sun on Sunny’s lawn one more time.
Luffy he thought I’m sorry it ends this way. Take care of the others for me, okay? I’ll see you again one day, Pirate King.
Pain. Searing, blinding pain. Then darkness. He wished for the sun.
Sabaody Archipelago was a whirlwind. The Celestial Dragons and their slaves made Zoro sick. The audacity they had to enslave another person when people should be nothing but free made his skin crawl. It went against the very nature of his god and all Nika stood for. He was disgusted, and the auction house was the worst of it all. A central hub to enslaving human lives. People being sold like animals. Their friend, tapped and scared, chained on the stage. Her price had been too high. Buying her would have been the easy way, but they were the Strawhats and they never did do things the easy way. They instead did things they way they needed to be done, whether it was realized or not. Hatchi getting shot was not part of the plan.
And then Luffy did the unthinkable again. He punched the celestial bastard who shot their friend in the face. Zoro sheathed his blade from where he was intending to rip the bastard down himself. He was beaten to the punch, quite literally he might add. From there it was crazy. An admiral was no joke. And they were still healing from all that had occurred on Thriller Bark. This wasn’t a fight they would be able to win.
He felt like he failed. He was still healing from taking all of Luffy’s pain. But the crew. The crew needed him. He needed to get up and run. He needed to. There’s light above him, but that light is not warm. It is not welcoming. It does not kiss his skin like the rays of his beloved sun. This light is dangerous, and Zoro couldn’t fight against it.
Rayleigh. Rayleigh. A Savior. Barley an acquaintance and he was helping them. Zoro saw the way he looked at his captain. It was the way a lot of people tended to look at him. Like something of a wonder. Zoro found himself often times looking at Luffy in the same way. Like he was something special. Like he was everything good in the world that was so unjust. Rayleigh gave them a reprieve, and they’d be damned if they didn’t take it.
Then they weren’t safe. They weren’t okay. Zoro was getting real sick of this bear bastard. What good was that sacrifice for the crew for the jackass to just show back up and tear them all apart anyways? All he could hear were the screams of the crew, screams telling him to run—to go anywhere, directions be damned. He needed to go. He needed to run. He needed Luffy’s help. Luffy wouldn’t make it in time. He needed—
When he woke up it was dark. So dark Zoro couldn’t tell if it was night or if the clouds blocking out the sun were simply that thick. He smelled the wet dirt beneath him. His body ached. His back felt like it had been trampled, and he could taste a metallic twinge in his mouth. He laid there for a while trying to get his bearings. What could he see? What could he feel? Where was the crew? Where was Luffy?
Luffy. A single thought occupying his brain. Was he okay? Did he get sent flying too? Did he have to watch as Zoro lay helpless on the ground? Zoro had never felt so weak. There was a time back in the weakest sea, on a tiny boat, near a floating restaurant, after facing the biggest, most humiliating loss of his life that Zoro had promised he would never lose again. He had raised Kuina’s sword to the sky and promised his friend—his captain—his king to never lose again. And here he was, lying on the cold ground in too much pain to move, away from his crew and everything he held dear.
Nika he prayed Let them be okay. Watch over them in my place. Help me to get stronger so I never lose again.
Nika, Zoro knew, answered his prayers. He would answer this one too— in the form of his sworn enemy taking up residence on the very island Zoro was trapped on. He would bow his head low and submissive, but with no less determination than he did anything else in life and throw down his pride to a man he swore to defeat to be the best so that Luffy wouldn’t be alone again.
Kuraigana was dark. Dark, thick clouds blocked out the sun, but Zoro knew Nika wasn’t far. He would feel his warmth again, just as he would see Luffy again. He just had to be stronger.
When he returned to Sabaody, Zoro took great pride in being the first. He met up with Rayleigh, checked on the Sunny, and spent the rest of the time waiting on its deck, soaking up the sun, for his crew.
And seeing them again? Each and every one of them so different yet still the same, stronger and more ready? It stirred something in Zoro. And seeing Luffy? Oh Luffy. It was like seeing the sun for the first time again after being stuck on the island of darkness for two years. And suddenly Zoro wants.
He has never allowed himself to want. Nika was the god of freedom just as much as he was the god of the sun. So, Zoro always sought to be free. Worldly possessions just weighed him down. The most he owned has always been the clothes on his back and the swords at his side. He never needed more than that. Then a scrappy teen showed up and taught him the true meaning of freedom. Of strength. Of companionship. Of dreams and how to achieve them. Luffy showed up and gave Zoro purpose. Sure, he had always been aiming to be the best, but had he really been trying to achieve that dream by staying in the East Blue hunting pirates to alleviate his boredom and turning in the ransom for dinner? Luffy had looked at Zoro, seen something precious, something Zoro didn’t even see in himself, and gave Zoro a way to chase that dream. Luffy had showed up and instead of laughing in his face, took his hand and gave him an opportunity. One day Zoro would repay him.
Fishman Island was something out of a fairytale. Mermaids and fishmen and this entire world under the sea. It felt like a vacation. But of course, they’d end up wrapped up with some royalty’s business. While Luffy’s uncanny ability to make friends with influential people was in good standing, Luffy’s other even more uncanny ability to find into trouble was in even better so. Like he had a homing signal to the biggest threat. It was something natural and instinctual for him, and with Luffy, instincts were rarely if ever wrong.
Bringing down fifty thousand enemies without a word, Zoro smirked and felt the pride well up in his chest. As he felt the haki roll gently over his shoulders, he watched as fishman around them fell, overwhelmed by their captain’s mere presence. Zoro still felt overwhelmed by him sometimes. But this takedown was reassurance. It was what he needed from his captain to continue leading them forward. It was strength. It was protection. It was freedom. It was something akin to love. (Zoro knew that Luffy loved them all terribly, but this would become his favorite way of his showing of it—a gentle caress of haki among the thousands crushed under it.)
In the end, Luffy promised the fishmen that they would see the sun someday, and when they did Zoro would be sure to tell them of Nika, of His goodness and light and love. Silently, Zoro thought, that because of Luffy, they already had caught a glimpse.
Punk Hazard was hot. Then Cold. Really cold. And also a government base. Oh and there’s Smoker here too. And some wayward samurai? Zoro would have to spar with him later. But amidst the body swapping and other shenanigans an alliance was formed and a new purpose given. Law gave Luffy the opportunity to take down an emperor, and who was Luffy to say no to that?
A welcome reprieve from the insane temperatures of Punk Hazard, Dressrosa was a beautiful country. But there was something very wrong here in this county. From the first moment Zoro stepped foot onto the land, he could feel the distress. The living toys felt sad, their voices calling out for help. He didn’t understand yet how much evil and corruptness was going on. But they had a job to do, and a plan to follow, and Zoro would be damned if he was the one to screw them all up.
Plans didn’t go well with Luffy. So of course, he had to go and get himself involved in some stupid fight in a locked down colosseum. Of course, Law had to get shot. Of course, Luffy had to witness it. Doflamingo signed his death warrant right there. Luffy would find his way out of the colosseum, and Ace’s fruit would be secure. These are both facts of the world. And when Luffy escaped crying in a carp costume, Zoro would hear his crying and understand something bigger had happened. (He wouldn’t meet Sabo until later, but he would find the brother to be a trustworthy man)
Pika was an exciting opponent. It was a bit like playing whack-a-mole while also battling a mountain. A soprano-voiced mountain. But what Pika had in size, he lacked in over-all strength. Well, he was strong, but he threw his size around and dodged attacks too much for Zoro’s liking. It felt like the coward’s way of fighting, not head on. But the battle would end with Zoro victorious, the sky crackling and angry at the top of the plateau—evidence of Luffy’s own battle with Doflamingo.
Nika Zoro prayed Let him be victorious. Let us set sail from here to the next adventure.
And Nika would answer in the formation of a fleet and safe passage to Zou away from the threat of an admiral and with the thanks of yet another kingdom on their backs.
The shit cook took off and Zoro was getting really tired of people lacking faith in his Captain. Luffy was a man that made the impossible possible. He came to broken places and made them whole again. He did the same with people. Zoro knew being with Luffy on the crew meant freedom. Zoro knew being on the crew meant happiness. Zoro knew being on the crew meant having a place to call home. He wished his nakama would stop forgetting that. So Sanji was being an idiot. Luffy would get him back. He knew this, so he didn’t feel a need to go with the retrieval team to Whole Cake. Someone had to watch after the rest of the crew, and since the other obvious choice being Sanji was currently preoccupied, Zoro was needed to go to Wano. He’d deal with the Cook when he returned. Because he would return. Zoro was sure of it.
Seeing Luffy again…well it felt like the sun. His chest grew warm and his cheeks heated. A smile made its way to his face unaided and unannounced.
“Luffy!” He called and “Zoro!” Reached his ears. Suddenly his arms were full of his rubbery captain, Zoro rocking back on his heels in the shift of weight to not fall over, keeping his grip firm on the man in his arms. Zoro was no stranger to burns. He felt the fire of the cook every time they sparred and gained blisters on his shoulders from being shirtless on the deck. But oh, this thing he felt for Luffy? It burned. Seared his soul. Having Luffy back in his arms. Whole and Complete and Smiling? (He had never felt such warmth before)
“Is everyone with you?” (Is the cook back?)
“Yeah! I lost them, but I guess they’re okay!” (Yes! He is! He still needs some time.)
Seeing Luffy again in Wano was reassurance that they could win this fight. Of course, they’d be separated again, Luffy being captured was not part of the plan, but he’d figure it out. Zoro liked the role he had to assume in Wano. He enjoyed wandering. Did it at nearly every island. The others would say he just got lost, but Zoro knew that Nika would always lead him to where he was meant to be. And Luffy would always find him.
A lot happened. They gained and gained more allies. More and more people set and determined to bring about the Kozuki clan back to the throne. And it all culminated here, on the Roof of Onigashima, facing down not one, but two emperors with Luffy by his side. There were others here too, Kidd, Killer, and Torao, but Zoro paid them no mind. He was here for Luffy and Luffy alone. He would watch his back just as he always did, emperors be damned.
Kaido was a heavy hitter. And Big Mom was nothing to scoff at, her homies being some of the most obnoxious opponents they’ve ever faced. Zoro thought it was cowardly to make others fight for you. They had to spilt her up from them. She had a homie that claimed to be the sun. Zoro wanted to tear it apart for the blasphemy. The sun would never act this way. The sun would never bow down and tremble before a mere human. The sun was good and all encompassing with its warmth. The heat from this homie felt artificial, like the essence was there but the soul was gone. Zoro would cut it and rid his god of this thing created in his name. He had some new techniques to put to the test.
Kaido. He was everywhere. And Zoro hurt. So much. This fight felt like a one sided, losing battle. He felt like a cat and mouse. Only he was the mouse. But Mice can still fight back. They’re fast and have nasty bites. They just have to not be caught.
Luffy. Luffy was lying there. There had been several close calls, each of them protecting each other. Working in tandem as it should be, as it always had been from that fateful day a gangly teen in flipflops and a straw hat strode into a marine base. Zoro would not let anything happen to him—his own safety be damned. This was going to hurt. Asura. Then everything went black.
When he came to, he was in immense pain. He was getting real sick of waking up with broken bones, and now he had to trust that Sanji would watch his back until he could figure out a way to get out of this ridiculous full-body cast. And the answer came in a miracle drug that offered even more pain when it wore off. Zoro had played worse odds than that.
King. The right had man of Kaido. A beast in his own right worth over a billion. Zoro would see him taken down.
Luffy’s voice. One that filled a spot in his mind with its continuous warmth disappeared. Zoro immediately felt rage. Rage that the world had taken his King from him. Rage that the demon beast Kaido would be allowed to reign another day. And then denial. Luffy wouldn’t go and die on them. Die on him. The promised each other to be the best, but his voice was gone. Zoro wanted to scream. But just as suddenly as it had disappeared it returned brighter than before.
Luffy always felt warm. It was hard to describe how observation worked for him. Armament was his strength, but observation was a necessity this far into the grand line, so he learned it all the same. He would, after all, be the best. Everyone on the crew felt different to him. Sanji felt like the sea in a way, constantly flowing and cool. Nami felt like the first day of spring. Brook was cold. And luffy? Luffy was warmth. A shining beacon of light. Now? Luffy’s natural warmth was searing. A blinding, radiating glow like fire. Zoro prodded Luffy’s haki with his own and found it to be strong. He suddenly felt the urge to smile, a wide grin taking over his features, elsewhere he could see the others that had felt Luffy’s voice again smile too.
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
He could feel the vibrations along his body in tandem with the
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
He sounded everything out besides the
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
He knew they would win. That Luffy would win. That everyone would be free again because he could feel, could hear, could almost taste the
Ba-Dum Ba-Dum Ba-Dum
When he was younger and still under the tutelage of his sensei and the others at the dojo, Zoro strived to be the best he could be. Learn all that he could learn. Fight every fight he could and come out victorious. But he also learned patience and humility. He learned what it meant to be humble (although he wouldn’t fully grasp those lessons until much later in life) He learned about Nika and what He stood for. He learned to take time out of his day, to pray and in return for his servitude, he would be rewarded in due time. Until now, some miniscule part of Zoro in the back of his mind always believed Nika to be a myth, but when he had his doubts—like seeing the slaves at the human auction house, like seeing the world government execute someone just for the sake of their parent’s blood, like seeing the power of a buster call and all it entailed—He would pray and be reminded of the good. Of Luffy and his ability to make miracles. Zoro knew his prayers were answered. Knew that one day Nika would come and take down all this injustice and slavery. Knew that one day Nika would show his face and liberate the people. Knew that one day Nika would come and bring joy to all. Today, it seemed, was that day.
If you had asked Zoro years ago what he wanted in life, he would tell you that he wanted to be the World’s Strongest Swordsman. He would tell you that he wanted to do as he pleases with nobody to stop him. He would tell you that he wanted to be free.
Luffy gave him that chance. Luffy gave him the freedom he had craved. And in doing so had turned Zoro’s life completely upside down. Had somehow along the way given him a place to call home and people to call family and lead them all with his brightness and strength. Somewhere along the way, Luffy had become Zoro’s personal sun. Somewhere along the way Luffy had gone from being someone Zoro would die for to being someone Zoro was willing to live for.
‘Zoro’
The smile on his face had yet to leave. How could it when he was just so happy? How could it when everything around them, all this fighting and hardship and sorrow and loss seemed so miniscule and beneath them now. He could hear Luffy’s voice calling out to him.
‘Luffy!’ He called, sending his voice out to meet his captain’s ( his king’s,) (his god’s) ‘Nika!’
‘Shishishi! You’ve done well, Zoro! Let’s keep fighting together forever!’
Zoro grinning even wider than before, threw his head back and laughed.
‘As you wish’ He vowed.
“Hey Zoro! What’s with that look?”
“Yeah, bro, it’s kinda creepy…”
“Zoro? Zoro! Stop it you’re scaring us!”
And Zoro laughed.