The story goes through the Thriller Bark arc, with some modifications to the canon.
Happy belated Halloween!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The sun was setting, and the ocean seemed in the mood to play rough with the ship. It wasn't a stormy swell, but it couldn't be called calm either. As always, Nami had already taken all the necessary precautions, and she'd assured that the heat, and other signs of the weather, were predicting a mildly peaceful afternoon.
Zoro, after helping to fold the sails at the navigator's request, was now gazing fondly at the shady patch of ground, a wonderful place for a nap. His swords were already positioned beside his body, stretched out as far as possible on the deck, when a blond mane peeked out from the other side of the ship.
She hadn't seen him, otherwise she probably would have retreated back the way she came, and was standing with her back to him, leaning against the railing. Sure, he could ignore her and resume his afternoon plan, but this seemed an excellent opportunity to stop playing meaningless games and sort things out. No one was on deck except the two of them, and there was nowhere to run.
"Oy, have a minute?" Zoro had swiftly positioned himself behind her, taking great care to avoid her noticing.
The swordman's voice made her nearly jump, and her wide eyes were already scanning the possible escape routes behind him. "Zoro!" Iris's voice came out a little choked, "I didn't see you there."
The man just hummed in response. It was clear to the swordsman that something was not right, and he was fed up. Three weeks is a long time, even for his disciplined patience.
He folded his arms, having left the swords on the floor. "So, can we talk?"
As so many times before, Zoro watched as the blonde bit her lower lip, a sight that would drive him mad —as he himself has only recently discovered— were it not for the fact that Iris was clearly making time to think up some excuse.
"It's not a good time, really, sorry." She forced a smile, "I was about to... take a swim." She said, pointing at the sea.
Zoro squinted at her, "The ship's moving."
He had been ready to finally call on the ruse, tired of these situations, but when he heard the absurdity of her pretext, he decided to play along for a while.
"Yeah! That's... what makes it fun!" Iris chirped, "And the temperature today is perfect."
"I see." He couldn't suppress a smirk; Zoro was curious as to how far she would go with this, "Aren't you worried about falling behind the ship?"
"I'll tie a rope to me, so there's no way that happens," she tried hard to sound convincing, "It's top-notch training, really."
You have to hand it to her, Zoro thought, she's a quick thinker. However, her smile no longer fooled him like it used to. There was a time when Iris was an absolute mystery to the swordsman, but today, he could see through her as clear as day. That's why he didn't understand why she seemed to pull away, when it was obvious that she reciprocated his feelings.
"So... yeah," Iris exclaimed, heading for the mast, "I'm busy, sorry."
Zoro stood with a cocky smirk watching as Iris rummaged through the ropes near the mast.
Waiting for him to leave, Iris pretended to look for a specific rope among the many. After five minutes, she recognised that there was no way she could get out of this without actually swimming; he wasn't going anywhere. She kicked off her shoes, defeated, walked to the railing and sat on it, solemnly tying a rope around her waist.
"So, you will jump?" It was obvious that Zoro was teasing her, not believing a word of her poor attempt at an excuse, but she wasn't going to back down from a challenge.
She shrugged, "I told you I was going to, didn't I?"
Behind her, Zoro cracked up a laugh, which took her by surprise. After having secured her rope, she turned and saw him with a similar rope around his waist.
"What are you doing?!" Iris cursed herself as she watched Zoro take off his shirt. Yep, I have dug my own grave with this one.
"You really sold me on this, I want to try it." Zoro's voice left no doubt that he was enjoying himself, and Iris couldn't find a valid reason to protest.
He observed as she sighed in frustration, turned to the railing, and jumped. After a minute, he followed.
"Watch out!" she yelled, trying to put some distance as he emerged right next to her. The ropes carried them both with the boat, so it was relatively safe, unless a giant sea monster came for their asses, of course. She tried hard not to think about that as she figured out how to swim.
Clearly, she had underestimated the aquatic sport; She had to stay afloat somehow as the waves tossed her against the Sunny, and there was nothing to hold on to, except maybe Zoro. But she had been avoiding him like the plague, and there was no way she'd stop now.
Zoro, for his part, found the activity quite entertaining. He mastered all sorts of swimming techniques and took the opportunity to show them off. Though Iris didn't seem to pay much attention to him; she was much to occupied squirming and splashing water all over, evidently never having swum in her life.
So she jumped into the sea without being able to swim just so she wouldn't give in? He laughed under his breath, amused at her stubbornness, which reminded him a bit to himself. After a while, though, Zoro took pity on her struggle.
"Oy," Zoro called for her, "need help?"
"Help?" she panted, and a wave engulfed her whole. Her head emerged after a few seconds, spitting out salty water, "I'm perfectly fine."
"You can't swim, can you?"
"Of course I can! I—" her outburst was cut off as she disappeared underwater and reappeared coughing up, "Okay, maybe I'm a little rusty."
He chuckled under his breath as he reached towards her.
Iris tried to push him away to no avail. "What's so funny!?" the tone of complaint didn't come out as serious as she'd expected, and a smile ghosted her lips, infected by Zoro. He's going to be the end of me. Accepting her fate, Iris entrusted herself into his arms.
Zoro began the lesson. "Legs straight behind you...", "Arms should go over your head...","One at a time..." As he taught her, Zoro maneuvered her body in the water to correct her posture, though one hand always held her from her abdomen to keep her afloat.
Like when they were training, the skin-to-skin contact seemed about to make Zoro's head combust, but he ignored the sensation as much as possible. The ocean water did nothing to diminish the warm, fuzzy feeling triggered by her closeness, the same feeling he had first experienced when she had fallen asleep in his arms all those months ago. Nothing had changed. Except that now he was completely in tune with his feelings, and there was no question in his mind about what he wanted.
Once Iris got the basics down, Zoro relaxed his grip, slowly letting her gain some independence, though the subtle pink still dusted his face.
After a while, Iris was swimming on her own. Zoro followed close behind, of course, but allowed her the space she needed.
"Look! I'm swimming on my back!" Iris cheered.
He scoffed, "Pretty good for the first time." He was happy to see her relaxed for once, "Next time don't jump in the sea without knowing how to swim, you idiot."
"Hey!" Iris splashed water at him, catching the swordsman off guard.
"Stop it!" Zoro coughed, "It went in my eye!"
She gave him a wicked smile, obviously without any intention of stopping, and splashed water at him again when Zoro stopped rubbing his eyes, which started a small water war.
. . .
As she covered her eyes from Zoro's water attack, a strong wave pushed her towards Zoro, who in turn was tossed against the ship.
"Fuck," she muttered, "Sorry."
Her hands were pressed against his bare chest, and Zoro was hugging her against him, both arms around her. They were close, too close. Iris tried to pull back a little, giving him the signal to let go, but Zoro only gave her little breathing space between his arms and him.
"You need to learn tying knots next," he said, pointing his gaze downwards.
"What?" Iris followed his eyes, confused. The end of the rope that until moments ago had been tied around her waist was now floating in the sea. Panic seized her at that moment, and she clung to Zoro like a vine, almost digging her nails into his back.
She gulped when she felt his laughter vibrating through his chest, and suddenly realised how translucent was her white top now that it was wet, and how Zoro's breath fanned over her ear, sending electricity all over her body.
"Oy, take it easy," He wasn't expecting her to react that way, but there were no complaints on his part. "I'm not letting go."
Zoro felt her body relax at his words, and started rubbing circles on her back, trying to calm her further. He could hear her racing heartbeat though, probably going at the same speed as his, and his smile grew wider, hidden on the crook of her neck.
"We should probably talk," he whispered to her ear, wishing she wouldn't break the embrace either. Anywhere else, with anyone else, Zoro would gladly cut off his legs before talking openly about sentimental things. But it was obvious that otherwise they'd be playing cat and mouse for who knew how long.
He could hear her faint voice against his shoulder, "About?"
He rolled his eyes. Leave it to him to fall for the only person more closed off than him.
"Don't play coy." His arm moved to caress her wet hair, "You've been avoiding me."
Zoro noticed her tensing up again before she answered. It was barely a whisper, but he could hear a "Yeah."
Her lips brushing over his skin made him squirm a bit. The swordman gulped, "Is it because—"
A splash of water interrupted him, and two long arms squeezed Zoro and Iris tight together. Abruptly, Luffy dragged them out of the water and into the ship.
Iris shrieked at the unexpected rescue, but was happy to be able to step on wood, sweet wood. Zoro, on the other hand, was already lunging towards Luffy, who seemed to be happier than usual.
"Luffy, you idiot!" Zoro fumed, "Why did you do that?"
The captain pointed at a barrel with two red flags in the middle of the deck, "Come see this thing we found! Robin says it has booze inside!"
Iris could hear Luffy laughing, a stark contrast to Zoro's mood, and decided to take the cue to go hide herself before Zoro could corner her again. However, the inscription of the flags attached to a barrel in the centre of the deck caught her eyes: "Tribute".
-----
The others came to meet around the barrel, and everyone theorised about its meaning. I had a vague recollection of some book in which pirates made tributes to the gods of sea to ensure a safe travel, and Robin confirmed that probably that was the case here.
However, when Luffy attempted to open it, a flash of red fireworks blinded us. The explosion of colour looked like a flare of the kind used to call for help, but it was obvious that this one had a far less benevolent function.
Only seconds later, over Usopp's frightened cries, the wind began to roar uncontrollably, the clouds became opaque, and the sea much more violent. The abrupt storm put everyone on alert, and whatever problems I'd had before disappeared as I ran to the sails after Nami's orders.
Thanks to Franky's top-notch engineering, the Sunny pulled us away from the storm just as I was beginning to get infected by Usopp's panic. However, the scene gave no room to relax. The storm had dissipated, yes, but the sky was still cloudy, almost nocturnal, even though it must have been midday. On top of that, an eerie fog surrounded the ship, making it impossible to see beyond a metre or so.
When I saw that we were safe though, I let go of the rope I had been clinging to and stood next to Franky, who, with a macabre smile, narrated the atrocities that were happening in the sea we had ended up in: the Florian Triangle.
I had read about this area of the ocean, where ships disappear in strange circumstances, but I always thought it was a story to scare children, which seemed to be working, as Usopp and Chopper both looked like they were about to pee themselves. I found myself giggling, even if I also had goosebumps.
As Sanji took his turn to scare us some more, I heard a strange echo from the left, one that had every hair in my body stand on end higher than before. And if it hadn't been for the fact that I heard everyone stifle a scream at the sight, I'd have thought that what I saw was the effect of some toxin brought in by the mist. No, without a doubt, a gigantic, totally dilapidated, pirate ship was next to us, and a disturbing melody seemed to be coming from inside. That thing shouldn't even be able to float as it was, and there was someone singing there?
It was safe to say that no one saw this coming, even Zoro seemed a little out of it for a moment. However, I quickly pulled myself together. After all, I had seen these guys in action, and they could take on anything that was lurking in that old carcass. Clinging to that thought, I smiled confidently when Luffy stated that he wanted to investigate the ghost ship, but it wasn't a big bummer when Nami had to go instead of me. Sorry, sis!
-------
Brook seemed like a funny guy at first glance, but his story made my heart squeeze. Being alone for so long, watching time go by and wondering if one day your luck will change or you'll spend the end of your days in the same place. I could relate to that, even if I wasn't a hundred years old.
After seeing a ghost in our kitchen, discovering that a giant structure attached to an island had trapped the Sunny, and having lost sight of Nami, Chopper and Usopp while they were testing one of Franky's inventions, the rest of us decided to go ashore to look for them.
Before reaching land, though, something happened to Luffy; he was making weird faces for some reason, before Franky tossed him to the wall to save him from Zoro's sword, that magically launched towards Luffy's head. When the captain stood back, he insisted that something was doing that to him. Which could have been a prank but then, I heard Robin scream.
I tried to run towards her, but just before I reached her, something —no, someone— pressed against my chest. I yelled, attempting to cut the air with one of my knives, but then the invisible force grabbed me by the neck. I could feel a hand tightening on my throat, but there was nothing there. Another ghost hand roamed though my body, which gave me an idea of where to kick, and I could swear that I felt something solid against my boot, but I couldn't confirm it because Luffy was quicker. One of his punches went through the air, and the grip on my neck disappeared.
I fell to the ground, coughing. What the hell was that? The sensation of my throat closing brought back memories I would have liked to forget; broken glass, smoke and cries lost to a bitter night. My fingernails dug into the floor, trying to ground me to the present while the wave of panic passed. It was only after a few long breaths that I remembered that the others could see me.
Zoro held a hand on my shoulder, worried, "Are you hurt?"
I stood up a little too fast and waved a hand, signalling that it wasn't serious, "it's not the first time someone has tried to strangle me," I joked, massaging the reddened skin.
Zoro just rose a brow, but said nothing.
From that moment on, Zoro wouldn't leave me alone for a second. Every step we took on the island, he was next to me. I didn't feel overprotected though; he just walked by me, leaving reasonable space in between us, sometimes giving me a glance, making sure everything was okay. And truthfully, there is no way I would complain when everything on this island seems to be built to give me a heart attack.
Along the way we came across a three-headed abomination, an eyesore that Luffy quickly tamed and turned into transport, plus a humanoid tree and other terrors that may haunt me in my nightmares forever.
After learning about the warlord that owns the place and accepting to help the people that hide in the shades, Luffy decided to head towards the spooky castle. I had already forgotten the whole invisible threat matter, and the adrenaline of the thrill coursing through my body far outweighed the fear. A real haunted castle? I was almost as excited as Luffy.
The energy in my body was overflowing compared to Zoro's next to me, who seemed totally unfazed. As we moved deeper into the forest, I was too thrilled to realize that I had been walking a bit too close to him, and I could feel his hand so close to mine, almost touching. It took me a minute to react, but I gently patted his shoulder and pulled a bit back, gaining a raised brow from him.
Walking next to Sanji this time, I hushed the thoughts that shouldn't entertain me while on a dangerous island surrounded by threats and kept on walking. We got to the castle, an old stone building that screamed haunted, to my delight, and entered though the main door, which was open, after Luffy made a hole through the door, that is.
------
A distant voice calls out to me. Usopp?
Maybe I imagined it.
What's important now is the person in front of me. The warm skin of his hand contrasts with the coolness of my neck. He holds me gently, his rough fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, his thumb just below my earlobe.
His forehead presses against mine, and I lick my lower lip as I feel my heart beating hard and fast, on the verge of escaping its cage of bones. He laughs as if knowing, and his timbre makes butterflies flutter in my stomach.
That's it, I can't fight it anymore.
"I love you," I whisper to his lips. Zoro smiles and brings my right hand to his chest, right to his heart, showing me how fast his heart was going. I guess we're on the same page, then.
I lean forward and press my lips softly against his, as my hands cradle his face. I feel his hand come up and grab my wrist, and for a second I fear he's about to pull away, but instead his grip tightens, and the hand on the back of my neck moves to cup my chin as he leans into the kiss. Entranced, I don't even notice Zoro pulling me back until my back hits the mast.
His kiss is soft and slow. It's hard to breathe, but I wouldn't mind dying like this. He tastes like sake and something sweet, like strawberries and cream. It feels like a dream.
Without warning, Zoro pulls away to kiss my neck, and boy, do I feel my legs give way. I don't remember how or why we ended up like this, but the feeling of his smile at every moan that leaves my lips puts my mind blank.
Out of nowhere, a loud boom ripples for miles in every direction, making me shudder. The calm sky suddenly twists, and Zoro looks up in alarm. Again, a voice comes out of nowhere, calling my name. The winds begin to roar around us, and the skies turns dark.
"What's going on?" I cry out, frightened. He doesn't answer me. Instead, his hands rest on my shoulders, his expression suddenly serious.
Something is wrong.
Zoro's eyes suddenly feel different, his smile changes. I can't take my eyes off him, watching his face transform into something inhuman. At the same time, he grabs my shoulders tightly and starts shaking me.
"Iris!"
When my eyes finally flutter open, I find Zoro's face, the real one, hovering right above mine. We both jump and accidentally bump heads from the jarred action.
"You didn't have to jump like that." Zoro complains.
My face feels hot, and I take a second to look around. I'm... in the Sunny? The last thing I remember is being knocked by something from behind. We had entered the haunted mansion, fought the creepy pictures on the walls and went through a passage. After that? I think there was a fight with zombies, but I don't remember much more.
Sucking in a harsh breath, I rub at where the swordman's head had collided with mine, "What's going on?"
Usopp raises a brow behind the swordman, "Zoro woke her up?" He's talking with Chopper.
"It's strange; the others woke up when you said things they liked." The reindeer seemed to be deep in thought, "Maybe she likes moss?"
Before I can feel embarrassed, Sanji storms in, "Marimo, how dare you hurt the precious angel?!" He then turns to me, "Are you okay, Iris-chan? Do you need something?"
"Thanks Sanji, I'm okay." I accept his hand to help me stand.
"That moss idiot hurt you?" Sanji holds my hand gently, "I'm going to kick his ass." Before I can say no, a flash of green pulls him back.
The swordman had turned to grab Sanji by the collar, irritation oozing from his voice, "Yeah? I'll like to see you try."
And so, they started bickering, as usual. For fuck's sake.
I can already feel a headache forming. "Can someone tell me what the hell happened? I just remember an ugly pig trying to deceive us."
Franky's the only one who seems to pay attention to me, "You, Luffy, Robin, Zoro and Sanji got kidnapped and Moria took your shadows."
"My what?" Looking down, I see that there is no shade projected from my body, "Ugh, that's... inconvenient."
As he fills me in on what happened after my disappearance, Zoro and Sanji keep on squabbling in the background, occasionally turning up the volume. I have grown accustomed to their abrupt outbursts, and most of the time I try to break them apart, but sometimes it gets way too heated to intervene, and honestly, I don't care that much. Luckily, when Luffy interrupts to shout that our supplies have been stolen, the duo stops, and we all head for the deck to talk.
On deck, Franky explains to Usopp and Chopper what we had discovered on the island, while my eyes are stuck at the three golden earrings clinking in the wind, framed by those handsome green hair locks. Zoro's leaning on the mast a few feet away from me, head down, providing me a safe space to stare at my heart's content and I can't help but return to the dream from earlier.
"Iris, where are you?" Two fingers snap in front of my face.
"Hm?"
The cyborg looks at me, then looks at the mast, where the swordman's sleeping, and where I had my eyes fixed just seconds ago, "Girl, you need to get it together already,"
"I'm fine, Franky, thanks for the concern though," I roll my eyes, "Are we parting already?"
I hear his loud laugh hovering over me, "have you heard anything we just said?"
"Yeah, sort of. We'll fight Moria, right?" It's more an educated guess than an affirmation.
"Yes, sort of." Again, the cyborg seems to find my situation funny, "Let's go."
-----
God, I'm sure I'll have bruises tomorrow. I wipe the sweat from my forehead as I keep running with Franky, Usopp and Zoro.
Usopp had given us each a bag of salt, as apparently that's how we separate the shadows from the dead bodies, and after that we parted towards the castle. We had been on our way when a red giant, who talked suspiciously similar to Luffy, smashed the bridge we were passing over, and in the blink of an eye the floor beneath my feet disappeared, and my fall was stopped by a not-so-gentle mountain of rocks.
The path ends at large gates, which we pass through without hesitation. The room inside, however, made me stop in my tracks. Whoever had designed it was unfamiliar with the concept of moderation; it looked like a gothic kid had chosen the furniture. I had to supress a laugh when I saw the pink-haired girl, dressed in the same style, that was waiting for us in the centre.
She presented herself and talked some more, but I was focus on the nagging ghosts we had encountered when we first arrived that had reappeared around us. It didn't take me long to realise that we were in danger, and I managed to dodge the cursed fuckers just in time. However, Franky, Sanji, Usopp and Zoro were not so lucky. All of them fell to the ground the minute the ghosts pierced trough them.
I could feel their auras go bleak, though Usopp didn't seem to change much, and I hurriedly tried to pull them out of their stupor, to no avail.
"Hold still, girl!" Perona calls out to me. It was a mistake to turn my back on her.
"Hey!" Perona pointed an irate finger at me when I twirled and dodged another of her ghosts, "I told you to stop moving!"
"Then stop trying to depress me, brat," I glare at her, again leaping to escape her attack.
There is no way I can take her down, as my knives don't seem to impact the spectres, and I can't even get close to her. However, just as I was wondering how I was going to carry four grown men away from her, Usopp stands up.
"How did you...?" the girl seems puzzled for a second, "You dodged like you friend, right? Let's see if you dodge this!"
Usopp takes the ghost assault head on, too fast for any warning. However, to my amazement, he doesn't seem affected.
"That's impossible, how can you be standing?" she voices.
Usopp seems to have found his courage and replied to the girl, "I'm always in the negative!"
I sweat drop, "Then you have been playing dead?"
Usopp limits himself to scratch his head with a guilty smile.
"Why...? Forget it." I take a mental note to kick his ass when we get back to the Sunny. "Just do something," I point to the annoying girl behind me.
While Usopp distracts the ghost princess, I go back to trying to talk some sense into the boys.
"Hey, c'mon, we have to help Usopp."
"I don't deserve to walk the same ground as you," Zoro says without even looking at me.
"You are the strongest swordman I know, please."
No response.
I turn to the blond cook, "Sanji, please? It'll make me very happy." This man likes doing favours for women so maybe...
"I'm less than a worm."
Fuck
"Franky, please. Come out of it." I tug at his shoulder, "I'll get you a hundred colas if you do."
Nothing. The cyborg gives another self-loathing response. Looking above him, I see Usopp talking to the pink-haired girl, and I wonder how long I have until one of those ghosts takes me out too.
What do I do...I rack my brain at full speed for some way out. One memory in particular hits me; a silly fairy tale for kids had a princess in a deep sleep from which she couldn't escape until the prince gave her a...No, it's ridiculous. I'm running out of time though. Maybe... Could it work?
I guess there is only one way to find out. Luckily, no one will know if they don't as they are too engrossed in their self-pity.
Let's make this quick though.
I kneel down in front of the swordsman and grab his chin; his eyes keep looking down, but he doesn't turn away, so I lean over and kiss him gently before he can say something about being a lesser cockroach or something.
The kiss only lasts a split of a second, as I pull away when I see his eyes widening. "Whh?" Zoro's completely flustered when I look at him again and I giggle a bit, though clearly my face is as red as his.
To my delight, Sanji also wakes up, -which allows me to stand away from the puzzled Zoro- but in a much irate state, "Bastard! It should have been me!"
"The fuck you are talking about?" Zoro seems to be back to his composed self and has already unsheathed his swords, "You wanna fight, Ero-cook?"
"Guys!" I get in the middle of what is surely the beginning of one of their brawls, "Now is not the time! Franky is down and Usopp is up against Perona and the zombies all by himself!"
"Your swords are nothing next to my kick, moss idiot!" The blond raged, "Bring it on!"
Despite my intervention, I don't have Nami's magic touch, and the idiots start fighting each other, to the point where, of course, Perona hears about it and sends more ghosts this way. Usopp can't do much to entertain her when these guys are putting on one of their shows, and I can only jump so far. So, it was only a matter of time before one of the ghosts caught up with me, leaving me deflated to the ground, thinking that calling me a bug would be an offence to the insect kingdom.
-----------------------------------
This chapter became sooo uphill. I'm never rewriting an arc again.
Sorry if it got too long or heavy, I tried not to write everything because obviously you've already seen it, but at the same time I needed to establish a framework for the new parts.
Basically, I've been staring at the document sheet for three days until this came out, so Idk.