Zoro glanced at his companion as he followed. He'd just met him, but he was glad this was his captain. Luffy knew how important people's dreams were to them, so he knew his own dreams were important to him. That's why, even after knowing him for less than a day, he had a feeling Luffy would never intentionally get in his way. On the contrary, he felt that simply being around the straw hat boy would put him in situations that would push him beyond anything he could have imagined. He didn't know if he'd be following him forever , but he suspected that if not, it would be for quite some time... What could he say? He liked the boy.
It took them hours to get back to the village, because although Luffy claimed to know the way, his sense of direction wasn't much better than Zoro's. But finally, they arrived at the bar where they had met and enjoyed a hearty dinner, courtesy of Luffy, and drank more than they should have, especially Zoro.
A week had passed since they became future crewmates, and they still hadn't left the island they were on, Yotsuba Island, located in the Yotsuba Island Region. They would have left sooner, but Luffy told them they couldn't go until Levi returned. When Zoro asked who Levi was, the young man simply said it was a surprise.
During their entire time on the island, they explored, trained, ate, drank... and that was about it. Ririka, the owner of the establishment they frequented in Shells Town, where they had stayed on the island, allowed them to sleep in the back of the bar. There was also a bathroom where they could both shower.
Upon waking on the eighth day of their stay, the two ate lunch with Ririka and her three-year-old daughter, Rika. The little girl adored the two boys and was often seen clinging to one of them while they were together at the bar. The four of them ate lunch in quiet silence—well, as quiet as possible with someone like Luffy at the table. The others kept a constant eye on their plates to prevent Luffy's wandering hands from snatching their food.
Just as they finished eating, the group heard a commotion outside the bar and stopped to see what it was. They watched as a contingent of marines led a handcuffed man past the bar's windows.
"Why does he have handcuffs?" Luffy asked curiously, as he watched the man being dragged down the street.
"I don't know, your guess is as good as mine," Zoro replied, while checking some papers he always carried with him.
Ririka sighed at the sight. "That's happening more lately," she said. "A lot of people are being executed for piracy these days."
"EXECUTED?!" Luffy suddenly shouted. He turned to Zoro and jumped on him, their faces inches apart. "ZORO... CAN WE PLEASE LEAVE?!"
"Get off me, idiot!" Zoro yelled, shoving the boy aside. "Why are you asking me? You're the captain... Besides, why the hell do you want to go and watch? We're pirates just like him."
Ririka's eyes widened instantly. She grabbed Rika and began to back away slowly. They didn't seem like pirates to her. They were just children. However, she couldn't deny what she had just heard.
"Shut up, Zoro! You're scaring the poor lady!" Luffy exclaimed, shooting a murderous glare at the green-haired man. "Don't worry, miss..." he began, now addressing Ririka. "We're not pirates," he said, with his characteristic grin.
"Very convincing, Luffy..." Zoro sweated a drop, looking at the still "scared" Ririka, now a very confused Ririka.
"What do you mean?! We're not pirates!" Luffy argued incredulously. "I can't be a pirate for another year! And you're joining my crew, so you can't either! And I want to see it because I've never seen one!"
Ririka listened to the conversation, confused. "Wait... now I'm confused. They're not pirates... but could they be?" she asked. She was going to pretend she hadn't heard what Luffy said about wanting to see an execution just because she'd never seen one. No, she hadn't heard it.
What followed was a brief and concise explanation of what was happening to the two teenagers. Well, it would have been... if Luffy weren't Luffy, or if Zoro cared. Luffy launched into a story that no one could understand, and it dragged on far too long. Ririka was completely lost the whole time, right up until the end, when he said that he and his brothers had promised to become pirates when they turned seventeen. That was easy enough to understand.
Upon hearing that, Ririka was relatively satisfied and no longer afraid of teenagers. She could see how honest Luffy was. It wasn't that difficult; he was absurdly sincere. To be fair, she wasn't afraid at first; it was simply the stigma that pirates were bad people, and she didn't want to be associated with that.
"I see. So you can't start your journey for another year—well, a little less, I suppose." She smiled at the boy. "Thanks for telling me all that, Luffy. You've made me feel much better. Though I think you missed the execution..." Ririka said, secretly pleased. No child, of any age, should have to witness something like that, whether they wanted to or not.
What he didn't know was that both Luffy and Zoro had witnessed dark things in their young lives. The lengths people will go to for status and comfort, human nature at its worst. The cruelty of the universe, playing with things as it pleases, taking before their time and leaving the burden of loss on those who still retain their memories, their dreams.
These two young people had already endured many hardships in their short lives. However, instead of melting under the heat of experience, they had been tempered and would become eternally stronger because of it. In comparison, an execution was nothing to them anymore. Ririka had nothing to worry about.
Luffy got up from his seat and ran out the door towards the local marine base, with Zoro behind him.
.
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