Justice and Piracy (a Zoro love story)

Justice and Piracy (a Zoro love story) : Chapter One

Chapter One,
"Madness."

My mouth popped open in both surprise and utter confusion, did he expect to walk out of this place? Apparently so. His grin broke out into a crude laugh at my expression and he wiped away the tears that threatened to spill over his cheeks. The noise drowned in thunder, it was incredibly obnoxious. I felt my brows pull together in a dissaproving frown and my teeth grit, my temper spilling.

"Oi-" I cautioned, the rough edge of my voice cut short by his sudden outburst.

"I like you, Yuki" he recited, "So, why don't we get out of this place? I could use a helmsman."

He extended a hand toward me, as if there were inches between us, not bars. His grin ever widening.

I felt uneasy before him, perhaps it was years sitting in the dark, but I was drawn to him, like he was the sun. I mimicked his action and slipped my wrist through the narrow gaps of the cage, the seastone bangles klinking against the bars as I reached out to him. Eagerly he did the same, and even though his body wanted to flinch away from the drain of strength, our fingertips almost met. With considerable effort, his cheek pressed against the bars he stretched as far as he could, grasping hard my hand in his. A gasp escaped me as his pull pressed me against my own seastone cage.

He laughed again, and I found myself elated. This man is insane, isn't he? Maybe I'd finally cracked too?

Our union was rudely interrupted, a key rattled in the lock of the jail door and the door moved smoothly aside following a reluctant groan of steel. I slipped my hand free of him then and retreated into the darkness as the room flooded with bright, artificial light. I squinted, this was too early for the morning routine.

"Is this the place?" The voice was deep and rich, it bounced off the stone walls untill it sounded all around me, I waited, anxious.

"Yeah, yes' ir!" Replied an equally anxous voice, it cracked in an odd place, frightened.

"Oh! Zoro! Long time no see!" Chirped the boy before me, his arms waving in delight.

I rubbed my eyes of the piercing sting and watched as the two proceeded into the room, the first man being held by the collar of his uniform by the second, much broader man behind him. They decended the few steps into the cell and scanned into the darkness. The room was small by marine standards, they had little use for cells here, only for disciplinary needs. It was also one of the lowest buildings within the base, meaning it was naturally cold and damp. Thunder rumbled underfoot and lightning threw the room into strange colours.

It was now that his eyes locked with mine, I stood haphazardly, unsure whether he posed as friend or foe, my hands locked around my elbows and I stood unable to hold his gaze. His eyes were dark under a light green of cropped hair, his mouth turned down in annoyance at his comrades words. Three katana were sheathed to his waist. His sight was drawn away from me as he turned to his friend, marine still clasped tightly in hand.

"Oi, why are you messing around in there, Luffy?!" He scolded, livid.

Luffy, the dark-haired boy smiled back, carefree and overjoyed. "Wari (sorry) Wari (sorry)" he crooned.

And with that he pushed himself to his feet and swung his arm around in a small circle, his fist flung backwards into the wall behind him, a flurry of rock and dust blew up around us and I felt the tremor in my chest. The captive marine gave a weeze of surprise and dropped whatever he was holding, a number of keys jingled together as they bounced across the cell floor. I waved my hands around as dirt turned the stale air ruddy brown and choked my lungs causing me to cough, a moment later Luffy returned into the cramped hallway, patting his shoulders and shaking his hair free of debris. The sound of his escape was lost in a chorus of thunder from above.

"Yosh (alright)!" He announced, seeming pleased with himself, he turned to face me and appraised the cell that held me.

"Oi, let's go!" Hurried Zoro, the marine started struggling in his grasp.

"Just a minute" he replied, winding up his strike for a second time, the marine gave a little squeal and I backed ten feet into the cell, furthest from the blow.

"Oi! What are you doing? I came here to rescue you!" He caught Luffy's fist before he coiled to punch, his voice fierce as he spoke, "Everyone's waiting for us, c'mon!"

"Huh?!" Luffy gasped, "Where is everyone?"

The dust had settled and he could see out across the dire landscape, the ocean lapped against the marine walls as if to uproot the buildings, the sky was at brightest navy blue and swirling thunder clouds raged angrily above. No ships could be seen within the waters, for tidal waves fought furiously in the murky depths. The marine base stretched long across the shoreline and bowed protectively towards a harbour baring only two ships. The cold morning air bit into my shoeless feet and made every breath visiable, a grey vapour from my lips.

"How did you get here? Did you bring a ship?" I demanded, delierious. Was this really happening?

"I swam, Nami said the currents would pull the ship right into the harbour so they're waiting offshore for us," the green-haired man spoke mainly toward Luffy when he answered, "We need to go, Luffy!"

"That's madness!" My voice strained against the sanity I was hearing, "Yes, the tide pulls in so maybe you both managed to make it here, but the current is too strong, you'll need a ship if you want to leave this place!"

He looked at me seriously then, though it was clear by his expression he wasn't sure if he could believe my words. I noted his wet shirt and waterlogged boots, had he been serious about swimming? Madness! The tide would pull him under, maybe one I could believe but two to make it ashore, alive and kicking? I watched as Luffy put a friendly hand on Zoro's shoulder, as if encouraging him to leave me be, Zoro's posture seemed to calm and he tugged on the coat of the marine in hand.

"Is she telling the truth?" He asked the frightened man.

"Yes! Yes! That's Umino Yuki! Our helmsman." He pleaded, "She takes our ships to sea when we need supplies!"

His shrill voice hurt my ears and Zoro motioned for him to let me loose of the cell, allowing him free for the first time. He quickly scooped the keys from the ground and struggled with the door, I held the bars, eager to be out and when the door swung open we swapped places, the marine perched on the edge of my bed. I threw the keys out of reach but this did not deter him, bring free of the pirate was enough, having bars between them even better.

"Let's go!" Yelled Luffy, barreling out through the gaping wall and onto the seafront before us.

I opened my mouth to protest but he was gone, my bare feet scraped across the rough broken stone as I leapt out into the storm after him, my wrist caught in an iron grasp before I could catch up. Zoro held me fast and I glanced up to read his curious gaze, he twisted my seastone cuffs in his hand but did not speak, his eyes conveyed warning and I felt a chill run from my spine before he released me, following close behind as we sprinted down along the coast towards the docks.