Chapter Text
The moment he recognized the familiar region, he e for a moment. Surveying the area, he concluded that he'd been through this path before: the same box-shaped boulder with two juvenile cedar trees on each side, thick lumps of snow lining their limp branches reaching for one another.
Yes, he has been here before. He finally accepts that, indeed, he was utterly lost. But it didn’t matter because today he’s a sole adventurer. And being ‘lost' made the exploration worthwhile.
Zoro ventured up the snow-draped hills in good spirits, meandering through the maze of trees cloaked in white, each branch and twigs bowing under the cumbersome weight of snow sitting atop them. He pauses only to admire the brilliant white landscape and is delighted with its tranquillity. He needed it, especially today. The stillness was only disturbed by the crunch of his heavy boots over the ample layers of snow and the occasional whistle of the frigid breeze nipping at his earlobes.
But as the sun melts into the horizon, darkness sweeps through the land. A dramatic drop in temperature and the descending feathery snow swelled and fell heavier, blurring his vision. He pulled the hood of his brown parka over his head to shield his eyes from the piercing flakes while the other clutched at the collar of his coat higher. Within seconds, frostbite cleaved through his exposed knuckles, and he lost sensation over his hands. Nightfall worsened his predicament. It limited his vision, but the frigid gale also battered him against the unseen shrubs and thicket.
The snow inched up to his knees, melting and soaking through his trousers, seeping into his boots and coiling around his ankles, immobilizing him. He blinks, clearing away the icicles gathered at the corners of his eyes. Hunger and exhaustion soon caught up to him, and he began to fret about the need to find shelter if he hoped to preserve the use of his limbs.
An eternity later, the pirate must be hallucinating; up ahead, a tiny amber orb flicker amidst the darkness. He squints.
A firefly? He thinks.
Zoro shuffled closer. Another orb hovered just behind the first. They continue to multiply until two rows of strings of lights gleam faintly in the distance. Upon closer inspection, the lights turned out to be oil-lamp posts flanking and illuminating a snow concealed road that led to-- a two-story log cabin mansion!
Like a moth to a flame, Zoro didn’t know where he was heading, but he couldn’t believe his dumb luck! He plowed through the dense snow; every excruciating step felt like a stab to his legs. Golden light spilled from the tall glass windows that reached floor to ceiling. Like a lighthouse, it promised a safe haven. Warmth, and hopefully food, was only a couple of strides away.
Zoro scales up the broad granite steps to the colossal double wooden doors carved with intricate swirls of briar roses and coiling vines. His fist lifted halfway when one door suddenly opened a fraction.
Before him stood a tall, pale woman with straight plum-coloured locks and the eeriest opaque teal eyes that resembled that of a dead fish’s. He hesitates for a moment until he parts his frozen lips,
“Is this the hot springs?” He hoped his slurred words made sense.
“No.” The woman simply replied.
The cold licked his spine. Shuddering, he looked into an ample fireplace behind the woman, its warmth teasing him. “I need a place for the night. I have money for lodging and food. I’ll be gone first thing in the morning.”
“What’s the password?” Her monotonous voice should spook him, but the childlike question averted his attention.
Confused, he would have grimaced if his face wasn’t numb enough, “Uh… please?”
The woman surprised him by opening the door wider, inviting him in, for which he happily obliged. Zoro shrugged off his coat as warmth instantly enveloped him. The door shut, and the woman appeared beside him. She was very tall, two heads taller than Robin, and papery white that he wondered if she was human.
“Give me your coat and boots,” She reaches a hand. “I will get them dried and get you something warm to wear for the night.”
Zoro quickly complied, and as he handed over his drenched parka and boots, he almost recoiled under the disturbing scrutiny of the woman. He caught her gawking at his hair with the same deadpan expression until she finally sauntered off.
Baffled, he raked his fingers through his hair. The encumbering weight of exhaustion vanished when he finally gobbled in the details of the mansion’s interior. The grand foyer was expansive, with walls and indoor pillars built from redwood. He inwardly rejoiced when he detected a liquor bar featured underneath a grand sweeping staircase of polished oak that crested up to the second floor with an overlooking balcony. Exposed redwood beams ran overhead where a chandelier hangs. Two enormous stone fireplaces set the foyer in a soft golden haze, setting a calm ambiance, contrasting the blizzard outside.
Zoro breathes in a salt-lemon-verbena scent wafting in the air that even winter couldn’t chase away. Walking towards the more enormous fireplace, he felt around its granite frame; Franky would appreciate this . And his mood quickly turned sour. His entire crew would adore this place. He should be with them, but he requested to be left alone for the whole day...
“The cold’s got a bite out here.”
The host’s voice startled him from his reverie. Leaping back in surprise, he turns to find her already materialized behind him.
She passed him a pair of folded black pajamas. “Please put this on. I’d rather not have someone die from the cold in the night before I re-open my inn.”
“Worked up a sweat from the climb.” He nodded. “Thanks.”
She gestures for him to follow and points to one of the doors in the antechamber, “You can change in the cloakroom.” then she goes behind the bar where a steaming hot dinner sits, "And have some dinner when you're done."
His stomach enthusiastically responded. You don't have to tell me twice! He thinks.
The journey had worked up his appetite too.
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Zoro walked out with his used clothes folded in his hands and situated them on the stool beside him. He leaned his swords against the bar. As he dines, the host pours him a shot of hot whiskey and continues to polish through her collection of drinking glasses.
Zoro took a sip and immediately groaned in pleasure, “Mm! This is some good shit!” He chuckles but then clears his throat. Where are my manners? “Thank you for having me. My name is Roronoa Zoro.”
The host’s lips tugged slightly at the side. “Yes. I am well aware.” She lifts her milky eyes from her task, “And I am-”
“Mina!”
A voice from upstairs called out, echoing throughout the expanse of the interior. This was followed by light footsteps thumping down the wooden stairs. Their attention was aimed at the disembodied voice, but the woman, unbothered, focused back on her chore.
“Mina-”
The voice huffed closer, as did the steps. Zoro frowned. The familiar voice tugged at the hem of his attention. He strained his mind trying to remember.
Trotting down the steps was the swordswoman he knew too well. “The firewood seems dry enough, I think, anyway.” She shrugged, eyes still cast down as she descended the steps, “But you’re the expert. Maybe you sh-”
Her words lodged in her throat when her eyes transfixed on the green-haired individual at the bar. The moment she recognized him, she missed her footing and slipped off the polished steps, and came tumbling down.
“Eek!” She yelped as she rolled off to the wooden floor. Quickly, she picked herself up, straightened her white cotton sweater, and adjusted her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
Oh, you've gotta be shitting me..! The pirate could not believe his luck or lack thereof.
The Marine’s eyes darted back and forth at the two people at the bar.
“Surpriiise~” Mina, the host, whispered in a sing-song tone that carried a tinge of playfulness.
“R-Roronoa..?” The Marine gasped quietly, her voice strangled.
Zoro flinched at the anti-climatic greeting. An impressive cascade of swear words erupted within the pirate’s mind. He didn’t expect much from this day, but he didn’t predict it would turn out so… ironic.
The howling gust wailed through the cracks of the doors and rattled the glass windows. The man recalled his struggle traversing through the blizzard. And now he’s finally found shelter from the elements. If the Marine had issues being under the same roof with a ‘criminal,’ she’s got another thing coming. No way was he going back out there.
“What are you doing here?” The woman’s expression turned feral as she prowled cautiously toward him.
While avoiding her eyes, Zoro wiped his mouth and finished with his meal, “It’s a pleasure to see you too.” He responds, tipping his drink to his lips only to find it empty. He pushed the glass to the host, but she left the bar to join the other woman.
“You can have all the drinks you want. You don’t even have to pay for anything,” Mina tapped a pallid hand on the Marine’s shoulder, “After you help Tashigi cut the firewood.”
“Mina-!” The Marine shrugged off the host's hand.
Unconcerned, the host smiled at Zoro, “Get it done before sunrise. It shouldn’t be hard for you.” Then she bent down to the Marine’s ear and whispered, “Remember why you’re here.”
They watched as the elusive woman wandered off and dissolved into the dark hallway. An overwhelming silence soon followed, jarring into Zoro’s eardrums. Unsure if he should do or say something. It’s been nearly a year since they last saw each other, fighting against a common enemy. The society she was associated with was currently on its knees and on the brink of ruin. While this may benefit pirates like the Straw-Hats, and countries previously subjugated by the Marines’ backward ideologies, Zoro couldn’t help but wonder how the woman was coping.
He expected her rowdy soldiers or her irritable superior to reveal themselves, yet nothing but the crackling of the burning firewood disturbed the stillness. And although their circumstances have changed, the tension between them is still palpable.
The woman spun her head, eyes scanning the empty room until she settled her gaze back to him. Her frown deepened, “Are you… alone?”
He was surprised to know their thoughts were mutual, “Like yourself?”
The woman nodded, almost to herself. He bit back a retort, but this wasn’t the time for that. After all the battles they’ve fought together, he figured their relationship would have progressed. And he hopes the woman felt the same way. He wasn’t in the humour for a fight.
“Let’s get started on that firewood.” She started. “Follow me.” And the Marine led him down the dim antechamber, “This is a remote area, how did you end up here?”
“I was searching for the hot springs.”
“You’re a long way from your destination.”
“They... pointed me in the wrong direction.” He rubbed a hand at the nape of his broad neck.
“You got lost.”
“No.” He grumbled. “I was pointed in the wrong direction,” Zoro repeated, his voice came out sharper than intended.
“Sure.” She inclined her head to him, “Call it what you want.” And presented a mock saccharine smile.
He sneered. She sneered back. Zoro wanted to claw her face to shreds. In less than two minutes, the shared murderous tension they felt towards each other was glaring. The air sizzled and sparked between them. Dark thoughts erupted in his mind. They were alone. The place was devoid of surveillance snails.
His conniving eyes narrow at the Marine’s head. No one will ever know. He imagined his large hand grabbing a fistful of her hair and bashing her skull against a red wooden pillar with a pleasant shattering noise. Too messy, he grimaced. He can, however, make it look like an accident. He could put her in a choke-hold; one hulking arm coiled around her scrawny neck. One snap, and it will be over. He can dump her body outside, which will inevitably be six feet deep under the snow. And if her creepy friend asks about her whereabouts, Zoro will simply shrug and say the Marine '- probably got lost somewhere . A malicious grin crept on his face.
“We’re here- ugh! What’s with that look?” The woman flinched the moment she saw the look on his face.
So lost he was in his schemes that he unintentionally let himself be open for ridicule once again. Zoro blinked away his expression and feigned interest in his surroundings. The woman brought him to a spacious lumber warehouse connected to the inn, dried spruce logs piled on top of each other from wall to wall with chains keeping them in place.
She pointed over to a separate pile of logs cut shorter than the rest and ordered him to chop them into quarters and have them stacked inside a wheeled metal crate to be transferred down to the basement.
“And where's the basement?” He asked as he continued to hack at the lumber.
“Don’t worry about that,” She drove her ax down, producing two chunks of smooth firewood, and flung her unbound midnight hair behind her shoulders, sending droplets of sweat in the air, rivulets of sweat glistening her slender neck, “I’m going with you.” The Marine briefly glanced at him until she propped another wood over the board.
Zoro averted his eye as she bent down; the bulge of her bosoms peeked from the gap between her chest and shirt. Confused, he shook the thought away. He should be used to such images with two buxom women in his crew. He focused on the task, rushing to meet his quota until his crate was brimming with enough firewood.
“Why aren’t you with your comrades?” The woman muttered as they transported their crates down the basement.
“Why aren’t you with your comrades?” He deflected the question.
He expected an annoyed response, but instead, the question seemed to deflate her. He secretly watched her from the corner of his eye and saw something in her face that made him think, made him consider. Maybe he should tone down the smart-ass remarks.
“I’m on administrative leave.” She answered. But when the pirate only stared blankly, she sighed, “It means I get to be an ordinary citizen… for awhile.”
“So you won’t be arresting me?” He paused as she narrowed her eyes at him. He slowly broke into a wide grin, “Not that you can anyway..!” Zoro couldn’t help but snicker at his childish attempt at humour.
The Marine only rolled her eyes as petty satisfaction washed through him. They reached the basement and stacked the gathered firewood into open shelves nailed on the walls five meters from an ample metal furnace, the mouth blackened from being overfed with firewood. They continued on the task: chopping firewood and transporting them to the basement until all the shelves were replenished.
With the furnace heating up the entire basement and the labour, the chill from his bones had vanished entirely. Zoro, taking a break, dragged his shirt over his sweaty torso, drenching his shirt in sweat. The fabric clung to him like a second skin, and he reeked of a strong musky, masculine odour. So he peeled the shirt off his head and continued to run the soaked fabric over his sinewy chest and back.
“- must be nice….”
He spun in alarm. The Marine’s obscene eyes swept through his nakedness, roaming over every nook and cranny.
The shock of it flared through him. His face burned hot enough to cause physical pain. He was used to the prying eyes of onlookers, and sometimes he reveled in the attention. But that was because they belonged to bounty hunters, other pirates, or the Marines- bastards who thirsted for his blood. But the look this Marine was giving him seemed a different kind entirely. And how her tongue swept over her bottom lip suggested it may not be his blood she thirsted after.