Justice and Piracy (a Zoro love story)

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

Chapter Seven,
"Pirate."

I felt suddenly quite self conscious as the crew gathered to scrutinise me. The two women were beautiful and I couldn't help but compare myself to them. The redhead was taller than me and had a thin waist, she was an extreme hourglass worthy of any pin-up model. The dark-haired woman was of a similar shape and I felt young and childish in comparison.

My body is more proportionate. The measure of my waist is probably just as thin though I curve softly toward my hips and chest, both of an average woman's size and much more convenient for a frontline fighter like myself. The redhead had the face of an ideal woman, her lips were full and her eyes huge and framed with dark lashes. Her clothes were tight and her top had a bright logo across the front, one I didn't recognise. The other had an unusual and foreign beauty look to her that was angular and mysterious. Her skin was quite a few shades darker than mine and her sharp features made her strangely elegant. Her demeanour mirrored this, as did the dark satin of her blouse and jeans.

I fumbled on my bare feet and my clothes dripped. My black hair was drying slowly and began to wave back into place. My grey stormy eyes too intimidating for the soft cream of my pallid skin. I looked away from them quickly.

"Ah! You're bleeding!" Wailed a small horned creature, it was wearing a hat.

I jumped, surprised that it spoke fluently. I pressed against the dull pain in my shoulder, a reflex to his reminder and looked upon the scene that was the odd assortment of this crew. The small, thing? It was not the strangest of them aboard, a large ruffian of a man with pointed jaw and tattooed arms stared down at me, he was much broader that I expected and to top it off, half naked. The next was a young man, probably of Luffy's age, he was olive-skinned and dark haired, utterly terrified and his nose jutted out from his face, it looked strange, but stranger so; the abnormality suited him.

Finally, my eyes caught the tall and pallid white of a ghostly skeleton. It leaned forwards when I made, um, eye-contact? Transfixed upon the dark open holes where it's eyes should be. It wore a dark suit and held a long walking cane. It smiled and I felt my face twitch, with what expression, I had no idea.

"Yohoho! Welcome aboard the Thousand Sunny! My dear Yuki-chan!" He announced, and I froze in place as his skull bobbed with speech.

He bowed toward me and removed his hat to cross against his chest in a polite gesture. I smiled back awkwardly and a slow nervous laugh left my lips. He was pushed out of the way before he could say another word and a tall blonde man took my hand and took a knee, as if to propose on the spot. His expression was cool and collective, when his lips parted a breath of wispy smoke from his lit cigarette evaporated in the air.

"How beautiful!" He began, "Tell me, who harmed you? Yuki-san, I won't let them get away with laying hands on a woman!"

I backed off immediately and the redhead was by my side, shoving the blonde away quickly with a few uttered apologies.

"Ah, welcome, Yuki-san." Chimed the soft voice of the other woman, "My name is Robin, and this is the Mugiwara (straw hat) Pirates, and Thousand Sunny."

She listed off their names as in introduction and they welcomed me, some were warmer than others and I got not much but a murmur from Usopp. I bowed my head with each introduction before being sat down at a table by the blonde and Chopper, the talking animal doctor. I went with the flow with this one, I had no idea what to do or say in this kind of situation. I glanced at Zoro now and again and he would shoot me a reassuring grin. I did not feel reassured. Not after learning Luffy was the captain. That made my head hurt thinking about it.

"Can you take that off?" Chopper asked as he jumped onto the table carrying a medical kit, his trotters clicked on the wood as he walked. He gestured to my coat.

I was almost dry so I unbuttoned the clasp at my waist that held the deep v-neck of my jacket in place. It fell away to reveal a white top that bunched over my neck and draped down each side before wrapping around my stomach. My back was completely bare, all bar the thin strip around my hips that appeared more of a belt than shirt and the soft material that fell around my neck. My breasts were covered by the thin silk that was folded upon itself and held into place by a silver chain that hung as a faux necklace. A single thread stretched between them.

I saw Zoro appreciate my figure before he met with my eyes and looked quickly away. I wasn't able to consider this before I was assaulted by Sanji and his confession of love, he then briefly bent backwards to thumb towards Luffy and Zoro.

"Nice work!" He said to them approvingly.

Chopper pushed him out of the way and started examining my shoulder, there was dry blood crusted to my skin where a bullet had gone right through me. I winced when he prodded it and then he went to turn my hands over in his to note my rubbed raw wrists.

"This looks bad, does it hurt?" He asked me.

"My shoulder's pretty numb, my wrists are a little sore." I answered flatly.

"Are they burns?" Said Nami, they were all still gathered around me.

"Ah no, I was kept in the marine prison. I was more of a hostage than a soldier, that's where I met those two,"I explained. "It's where the seastone cuffs rubbed against me."

"Prisoner?" She echoed, her voice coloured with surprise.

Luffy laughed behind us and I was taken under his arm in a kind of headlock, he looked down at me from under him and grinned, I smiled back.

"So what do you say? Huh. Yuki?" His voice purred, "Join us."

There were a few looks of apprehension between the crew, but Zoro came to join my other side and no one challenged the captain's decision. I thought about it. I could always just sail upon my glass ship, I had my powers back, I felt strong.

This ship's grassy deck gave way to a tree and a rope swing, it moved gently now in the breeze. The air was sweet with the smell of oranges from a small grove of three or four trees in a line. The figurehead was a large golden lion, it almost looked like a sun, the reason for its namesake I was sure. Above the cotton sails was a brightly pained crows nest of red and yellow set high upon the thick seated mast. The helm, unattended was a walnut-coloured wood in high gloss finish.

"Pirate," I mused with uncertainty and then, with a little more intensity, "This is a very nice ship."