XIA | (Zoro x OC) - One Piece Netflix FF

6

I run away among the corridors, without the stamp, that ship has sailed already. The important thing is to get out of here. You will think that I messed up, that I could have got away with a few days of imprisonment and go back to my life. But if you knew the stories I heard and experienced, of ordinary people like me, some even innocent, who remained in cell for years because the Marines would not bother to investigate, you would have made the same choice as me.

But something keeps itching while I run. A stinging sensation that distracts me from escape. It takes me a while to recognize it, but then I do: guilt. Zoro may be an asshole, but it's not like me to leave someone behind. So when I'm about to glimpse a way out, my feet without warning backtrack. I'm sure he knocked out every Marine he encountered, but I can't leave without absolute certainty.

Speeding through the bright corridors again, I happen to look out onto a kind of courtyard, similar to the one where Zoro was, and I see Nami and Luffy fighting with half a platoon of Marines. And there's also Zoro himself. The problem is that I glimpse a familiar figure, who should have been at home right now, not surrounded by people who can shoot her. Aileen, on the other hand, as usual, does her own thing and came looking for me.

Ten seconds later I'm already on the dusty square, defeating Marines with some karate moves.

"Aileen what are you doing here?"

"Stupid question. I've heard you might be in trouble" yes. She actually replies. We ate the devil's fruit together and ever since she's been able to understand me and mentally giving me an answer.

"I'm fine. Let's go" but she stands her ground.

"We have to help that guy. He helped me first" she means straw hat. I was sure he was a nice guy.

"Fine". Without further ado, laying low, I help him get rid of Marines as much as I can.

They actually don't seem to have too many problems. Nami is making a clean sweep of dressed in white. Luffy and Zoro are fighting the ax guy. They're struggling a bit, so maybe a little help wouldn't hurt. I wait until no one sees and then I intensify the wind so that Captain Morgan is blown backwards. And then I leave for real.

"Xìa, Xìa wait up!" of course I couldn't make it far. Luffy's right there behind me. I guess I helped too much. I wanted to buy enough time to disappear. But when you can stretch yourself out of a fortress and cover 100 metres in two seconds I guess there's not much I can do.

"Oh, so this is yours" he means Aileen. But I don't reply, since it wasn't a question.

"Glad to see you're alive" I just say. I guess it's the right thing to say, isn't it.

"Yes thanks to her, and to you too I guess" again, I don't reply.

"Hope you found what you were looking for"

"Yeah, we did. And here, I got it just for you, from the safe" he gives me the stamp. And his being naïve kind of irritates me. How can he think I can use it now? Too little too late.

"They saw me fight alongside you and escape so perhaps I'll have a pirate bounty on my head because of you now but thank you" I reply ironically. But he keeps looking at me with a contagious smile. He didn't let himself be touched by my bad mood.

"Sorry Luffy, it's not your fault. Actually, I owe you a thank you for helping Aileen"

"She's so cool. What's her name?" and he bows down to look at her better.

"Aileen, it means bright light in Irish" he stares at her for a second, then he raises his eyes to me, with a crafty smile stretching on his lips.

"I think you two should join my crew" he has a crew? This scrawny kid is a legit pirate? No way.

"Sorry, what?" I'll admit. I would have never seen this coming. But apparently to him it seems the most normal thing in the world.

"She hasn't eaten me alive, and you're a good person. And one hell of a fighter. That's good enough for me" yeah, nice. It's all fun and games, until it's not. I take a step back.

"Look, I appreciate it. But I am more of a land kind of person" is there a polite way to decline such an enthusiastic proposal?

"You're not safe anymore here, Xìa" ok, he has a point. But not enough.

"And I would be safe with you" it's an assertion disguised as a question.

"We've got each other's back" he simply replies. We? Who's we? The girl with orange hair, apparently, and who else? And Pirates by definition are troubles magnets. I don't want any. I have my mission. I'll admit that in this very moment it has hit a bump, but still.

"Thank you, straw hat, but I'm not into this scavenger hunt you're pursuing" I take a step to walk away. He stops me with the most natural sentence in the world. A universal truth.

"But there must be something you want, out there" I sigh, still turned around. And for a second my mind is bombarded with thoughts and flashbacks and images of what has marked my path up until now and I haven't had the chance to even the score yet An open wound that keeps bleeding, and finding the plaster seems increasingly difficult. And it's true that I need a push, but I doubt it could be this.

You can find what you're looking for. Pirates know other pirates.

"I'd rather do it on my own, Aileen" Luffy's smile shakes a bit.

"Are you talking to the panther?" I just look at him, the answer is right in my eyes. I didn't want to give it away like this.

"And she's talking to you, too?" he asks in an even higher voice, full of excitement. And my reactions is the same.

"Woah, this is blowing my mind"

"I split the fruit with her, we were hungry, ok?" I cut the whole thing off in a tone of voice that allows no replies

I like this guy. It makes you like life too

"Can you tell her she's so cool?" Aileen understands human language, she can only reply to me, but she listens to everyone. I'm still not comfortable in telling him though. So I pretend I pass his message along.

Let's go, Xia. There's nothing left for us here. And you've had no new info in a long time.

"Look, we sail in twenty minutes, we're at the dock. I hope I'll see you there. Besides, you're not a really good waitress, you could benefit from a career change" he says, and I feign a little indignation

"It's hard to keep up with your food orders Luffy, you've cleaned out our kitchen" he smiles at us one more time then leaves for his ship. 

Exploring some Luffy-Xia connection. Next chap we'll find a green haired guy again ;)