Burning Hearts [SEQUEL INCLUDED]

Chapter 21.5

Zoro

"I swear to be the best swordsman!" "No, I wanna be the best!" "Then, we'll both train hard and whoever defeats the other will be the best swordsman!" "Game on!" My rival, Kuina, and I swore to each other that day. We thought it would not be broken as we got stronger by the days. Until it happened. "Kuina is dead." "What?" "She fell down the stairs and died." Died... I immediately ran to the room she was in and saw her, laying there motionless with a white cloth over her face. Kuina... why...?

"Zoro!"

I woke up to a voice shouting my name. I opened my eyes to see Sanji crouching beside me with a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright? You looked sad in your sleep. Is something wrong?" He asked.

"It's nothing. Just weird stuff. Anyway, how's the baby?" I answered.

"He's asleep. Chopper is babysitting today so we could have a little talk over food," He answered.

I nodded, got up to shower and train for a while. After three hours, I stopped and sat on the floor, thinking about that dream. Or nightmare, if that's what it is. I sighed, feeling disappointed I never got to fight Kuina. If she'd been alive now, she'd have defeated me like Mihawk did.

"Well, some things just happen and they end up dead, right?" I mumbled.

"Who ends up dead?" I turned to see Sanji at the door, wearing a pink apron and holding a plate of seaweed rice balls.

"Oh, it's only you. I was talking to myself." I said.

He nodded and then walked towards me before putting the plate on the floor and sitting next to me. I took a rice ball and bit it. I chewed the food slowly, tasting a different flavour. Something in the rice ball made it frighteningly delicious.

"Sanji." I called but there was no answer.

I turned to where he sat and he wasn't there. I looked at the plate of rice balls and felt disgusted. It was replaced with... deer meat. Chopper. I just dropped the rice ball, ran out and no one was on the ship. I went to check on the baby and was horrified. He was bleeding from the head and a female spirit was there. She had those familiar midnight blue hair... Kuina?

"How can you be the best father if you can't even protect your child?" The spirit mocked, laughing sadistically.

I felt stabbed by the sharpness of those words. She took the baby and I was going to run towards them when my ankle got grabbed by a cold hand. I tried to break free of the grip but the hand didn't budge. I couldn't cut it because the blade passed through the hand like air. I watched as the spirit carried my baby in her arms, smirking devilishly.

"Don't worry. I'll take better care of him than you ever could," The spirit said.

"Give me back my child! I already lost someone precious to a stupid accident and I almost lost someone to a ritual sacrifice. I can't afford to lose anyone else!" I shouted, tears running down my cheeks.

The spirit didn't listen and then waved her index finger forward, commanding the hand grabbing my ankle to drag me off the ship and into the sea. I struggled to swim and felt my lungs shrink and eyes close. No, I still have to... save... the child... Before I went out cold, someone was swimming towards me. They were calling my name.

"Zoro! Wake up! Zoro!"

I woke up, breathing heavily. I groaned in pain as I got up. I noticed bandages all over my body and I was in a familiar place. The dark interior, creepy aura... This is no doubt Mihawk's castle. Why am I here again?

"I see you're awake, Roronoa." I turned towards the door to see Mihawk leaning against it.

"Oi, what am I doing here? The others. Where are the others? What about my baby?" I panicked.

Mihawk approached me and held my shoulders, looking at me as he did.

"Calm down. You're overstressed. The others have gone to get supplies for the ship and they left you here to recover. You were injured pretty severely so it took a while for Law to treat you. Now, just rest." Mihawk explained.

"Baby? What about the baby?" I asked.

"The baby's with Perona. He's fine so you don't have to worry," He answered.

I sighed in relief and laid back down, staring at the wall.

"Oh, how's Shanks by the way? Heard something happened between you two," I asked.

"I... found out he was a trans male so I might've gotten him pregnant." He answered, making me surprised.

"Heh, even the big shots are having babies. How weirder can this world get?" I asked myself.

"Shanks wanted one, anyway. He was jealous of you guys having kids," Mihawk reasoned.

Then, I could hear voices from outside the room. Luffy barged in, almost killing me with his hug.

"Zoro! Are you alright? I was worried!" Luffy whined, crying like a child.

"I'm ok now. Where is Sanji?" I asked.

"Here." I looked behind and saw Sanji.

"Excuse us but we need some privacy," Sanji said.

Mihawk and Luffy nodded and left the room. Sanji then sat next to me and sighed.

"Zoro."

"..."

"Come here." Sanji said, his arms ready to welcome me in.

I sat up and immediately buried myself in his arms.

"I was fucking terrified. That dream scared the shit out of me and I thought I-" I said, breaking down.

"It's okay. We're all safe. Next time, I'm sleeping with you since these dreams aren't going to just go away that easily." He said.

I smiled and dozed off in his arms.

ꕤ

[End]