The Fallen Angel And The Demon In Green

Chapter 13: Untying Knots

The story goes through the Thriller Bark arc, with some modifications to the canon.

Happy belated Halloween!  

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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.