Book One: Treasure of the Heart (Zoro X OC)

Chapter Five ~ Towards Baratie

(A/N: so i decided to skip to the Baratie arc cause that's where we meet Mihawk, and i know ya'll want to see how Zoro reacts when Nicole's little secret is revealed)

~Nicole~

It's been a few days since Zoro and i joined up with Luffy, since then two others have joined up Usopp and Nami, but before all that Zoro and i settled out the little argument we had back at the marine base, i completely destroyed him, now this wasn't the first time either, ever since we first met he's kept challenging me after seeing me fight off a group of pirates and i've won all 36 times since.

Anyway after that we ran into Nami in a town over run by pirates, Zoro got stabbed, he says he's fine now but i still doubt it, then we ran into Usopp in another village that was going to be ransacked by pirates, we stopped them though and got a ship out of it too, the Going Merry.

Currently we were sailing on the Going Merry, Zoro was napping, i was maintaining our swords, Luffy and Usopp were playing around while Nami was reading the newspaper, "Nicole do you know how to shoot a cannon?!"Luffy yelled over to the roof of the cabin where i was along with Zoro "I think you put gunpowder in the cannon first, then the ball, aim, light it up and that's all there is to it, i think"i told him.

"Oh cool! It sounds so simple!"Luffy yelled excitedly "There's a reef south of here that would make for excellent target practice"Nami pointed out "That's perfect! Then that's where we're heading"Luffy said probably a big grin on his face, i couldn't tell being up on the roof and focusing on mine and Zoro's swords.

I thought back to when Zoro told me about his childhood, after our 20th fight, he told me about Kuina and how he was never able to beat her, after telling me everything he asked me if i thought my gender was a hindrance "I never thought that, as a girl it only means i have to train even harder"i told him, then the loud bang of cannon fire snapped me out of it and woke up Zoro.

"Hey what's so loud down there?"Zoro asked "Cannon firing practice but it's not going very well"Luffy said "Like i said let the expert aim the thing"Usopp said and aimed the cannon according to the last shots trajectory and hit a small island on the first shot, i'll admit i was impressed too and Luffy named Usopp the sniper of our little crew, we moved inside the cabin, i handed Zoro his swords back since i was done with maintenance.

Anyway we got to discussing about the fact that we needed something very important before leaving for the Grand Line while the others myself included were insinuating that we needed a chef but Luffy said we needed a musician, his logic being, pirates sing a lot, just then though someone started making a ruckus on the deck, Luffy went out to check it.

"How many are there?"Zoro asked Nami and Usopp since they were looking out the window "Just one"Nami said "Then let him handle it"Zoro said not really interested, i wasn't either until the voice started to sound familiar, Zoro and i went out and saw it was Johnny, we met him and his partner Yosaku a few months back, they are a bounty hunting duo and utterly terrible at it.

"Big bro, big sis, it is you, why are you on a pirate ship?"Johnny asked once he noticed us "Some circumstances happened but never mind that where's Yosaku?"i asked "Well, he's on my ship but you gotta come see"Johnny said going over to the little boat at the side of our ship, Zoro and i followed and looked down to see Yosaku except he was in a terrible condition.

"He's been sick"Johnny said crying his eyes out, Zoro just patted his shoulder and we got Yosaku on the ship "What happened?"Zoro asked "Up until a few days ago he was healthy and full of life and now he keeps fainting and he get's really pale, i have no idea what's causing it"Johnny cried.

"His teeth started falling out and his old wound opened up and kept bleeding, he just got worse and worse i didn't know what to do, so i thought maybe we'd just rest on a little island but then, a cannonball came flying from this ship"Johnny cried.

Realizing their fooling around cause trouble to someone else Luffy and Usopp quickly apologised "Sorry's not good enough"Johnny sniffed still crying "Give it to me straight big bro, is he gonna die?"Johnny asked.

"Can i have a look?"i asked as Nami walked over and muttered something about dumb "Of course big sis"Johnny said, i knelt next to Yosaku and looked at his eyes and tongue, i wasn't a doctor or anything but even some basic knowledge of common illnesses, cuts, broken bones and so forth has come to be really helpful in the sea "He's got scurvy, Luffy Usopp bring the limes we have in storage"i said.

"Right!"the two scurried to the storage area and got some limes and squeezed the juice out of them on Yosaku per my instructions "If we weren't too late he'll be just fine in a few days"i said as Nami, Zoro, Johnny and i stood on the sidelines "Thank you so much big sis!"Johnny cried hugging my middle, i sighed and patted his head letting his snot and stuff get all over my shirt, thankfully i had a clean shirt to change into just like this one, what? I really like this shirt so of course i bought multiple.

Anyway Yosaku came too after a while and started dancing around with Johnny, though of course since Yosaku was far from totally healthy he collapsed again, we put him in the cabin to rest up over night since it was starting to get dark, "Let this be a lesson to you"Nami said doing something or other in her notebook or whatever "Yep this is the kind of trouble you run into when you live on the sea"Zoro said, i nodded in agreement knowing more about this then i let on.

"Which means while we're at sea we really have to think about how to get the right amount of nutrients with very little food"Usopp pointed out "It's absolutely necessary someone on this ship knows how to do that"Nami said and turned to me as i was sitting next to her "Do you know?"she asked "A little bit, mainly how to survive on my own in the sea"i said.

"Right, what we need is a cook, let's go find us a cook"Luffy announced a grin on his face "Good idea, i'm in, we'll have yummy food even while we're out at sea"Usopp said "That's right you got it"Luffy said "A Cook? I know just the place and the food is gonna blow your mind"Johnny said.

"Alright, let's go, where to?"Luffy asked still grinning "Alright but be prepared, this place is close to the Grand Line and i've heard rumors that a certain hawk eyed man you're looking for is there"Johnny said getting Zoro all excited and grinning about finally being able to challenge him "Set a course, north north-east our destination, the sea restaurant, Baratie"Johnny said pointing out the direction and thus we set off.