From one to five (ZoSan)

7. Fear, Part 2

I apologize that last week there was no update. It took longer than expected and I had some troubles with my PC but I'm back with a new chapter! Have fun reading ^-^

-------------------------------------------------

As soon as Fury took a step forward, Zoro was moving himself between the kid and Fury again. He regretted a lot of things and he needed to apologize to Sanji, but first of he had to save the cook. And he was determined to do so.

“If you get in my way, I will kill you,” Fury hissed. “I don't care if you are Nakama or not. I'll just tell Luffy and the others a dramatic story of how you died...”

“So you still want to go back to Sunny?” Zoro asked and it seemed like the question was taking Fury aback. He blinked a few times, before he growled.

“Yes, I need to fulfill my dream still..”

So there he was. The cook's exitement, it really was there. But before Zoro could have pressed on the matter, Fury launched forward and tried to land a kick at Zoro's head. The swordsman evaded the attack, cursed under his breath, then he grabbed the kid behind him and pressed him against his chest, before he started running.

He couldn't fight Fury. Nothing changed from last time, so his only option was to get away from him and take Fear with him. The kid was an easy target, he wouldn't be able to stand against Fury for one second. He was still shaking in Zoro's arms.

“Get back!” Fury shouted and quickly followed them.

“Hey kid,” Zoro grunted in a low voice and he could feel how the kid winced slightly. “You need to help me out a bit.”

“H-how?” Sanji asked hesitantly. He understood that Zoro wanted to help, but he was just so damn afraid. Maybe Fury was right and everybody was better off without him...

“Do you want to get back?”

The kid looked up with a confused expression on his face. “To... to Sunny?” he asked.

“To Generosity,” Zoro answered. “Back to being Sanji.”

The kid hesitated again, but then he slowly nodded. “Y-” Before he could give his final agreement, something hit Zoro hard in the side and he crashed against a tree. He held the kid close, trying to shield him from any damage, but he lost his grip, when the pain paralyzed him for a moment.

Sanji's unblocked hit would've been lethal for most people and it was definitely not comfortable for Zoro. He hissed and tried to get up again, but something pushed him down in the dirt by his back.

“I said, I would kill you, if you try to get in my way! You are damn annoying,” Fury snarled and added more pressure, that Zoro almost expected his bones to crack. The swordsman had to fight back a pained noise and clenched his fists, still trying to get up.

“Zoro!”

It was the boy, who called his name, horror in his eyes. He was still frightened, but this time it was different. “Let him go! He is Nakama! Don't hurt him, please!” he begged.

Fury turned to him, his eyes cold. “I don't need weak Nakama...” he huffed. “I don't need Nakama who want ME to be weak!”

Zoro growled lowly, before trying to turn over with as much force as possible. It took Fury by surprise and his balance suffered from it, that Zoro was able to get him to stumble, before escaping his pressure. Finally he was able to stand up and his hands shot to his swords, drawing two of them, only Wado stayed sheathed.

“I don't want you to be weak, I want you to be YOU!”

Sanji scoffed, not really convinced. He attacked Zoro again, even if the swordsman was able to block the blow this time. He still had the upper hand, since Zoro couldn't really hurt the blonde. At least he shouldn't.

But instead of another attack, Fury drew back. He seemed to know, fighting Zoro would take too long, he still had something else to do. So he suddenly turned around and started running back. It took Zoro a moment to realise, what Fury was going for.

“NO!”

Zoro wasn't fast enough. The kick hit the small boy hard and he screamed, before he flew against another tree. Fury laughed- fucking laughed!- as he watched Fear curling himself into a ball, while sobbing silently.

Shit!

Zoro raised his sword, before sending a blow in Fury's direction. He didn't need to be near the blonde, the attack seemed to move on its own.

Fury cursed and jumped back, but he could feel a cut on his cheek, blood dripping on the grass infront of his feet. “You could've killed me!” the blonde hissed again, but Zoro just looked back at him with cold eyes. He was done playing nice.

“I thought you're tough, but now you're whining like a little girl,” Zoro teased and it worked. Fury growled dangerously and without much efford his legs started to glow like they were burning. Just a moment later he was next to Zoro and aimed his leg at his chest.

Even by stopping his foot with both of his swords, he slid across the dirt. The blonde was really strong, Zoro always knew that well. He would not underestimate Sanji, he knew better than to think it would be easy to defeat the cook.

He just hoped the kid was okay. If he killed Fear with that kick of his, then Sanji was lost forever... Zoro couldn't bear the thought, moreover because it would've been his fault.

Fury wasn't coming down even a BIT. He attacked again and again, but this time he also received some scratches. Zoro wasn't holding back as much as he was before. He realized, he had to be a bit harsher, if he wanted to save Sanji!

But then Fury took him by surprise and Zoro was pushed back against a tree, no way to escape the kick that followed shortly after.

Before Fury could hit him though, a pained noise made its way up the blonde's throat, as something hard hit his head and he collapsed.