Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

Chapter 13: Ace's Warning

"Wow..." Brook whispered as he watched Helmeppo get back up before running, crying from the room, like a two-year-old would do when he didn't want to go to bed. "So even though he barely knew you, Zoro-san, Luffy-san was standing up for you and your honor."

"Hmph, just shows that he hasn't changed since he was a kid," Zoro responded unconcerned, thought he felt a sense of gratitude for him for saying that.

"Get off me!" Luffy called, now pulling away from Coby, though he was still surprisingly gentle so that he hadn't hurt him. However, Luffy didn't seem to realize that everyone was staring at him as he turned to the back door that led to the alleyway, and marched right through it. The Straw Hats knew him well enough to guess exactly where he was going.

"OHHHHH! He's going in to burst you out now isn't he?" Chopper asked, excitement now back in his eyes as he jumped up and down eagerly.

"Pretty much," Zoro shrugged, saying a silent 'thank-you' to Luffy by not letting that injustice go by unpunished as they also followed him to the alley. Luffy was already heading up in the direction of the base when they heard Coby calling behind them.

They glanced back to see him bursting through the door with Rika right on his heels. It was clear that he was going to try and stop him—however they knew that once Luffy made up his mind—no one and nothing could stop him.

"Don't stop me, Coby!" he called back as they stopped running. The two of them were standing side-by-side in the alley with Luffy's back to them. "My mind is made up!"

"What are you going to do?" Rika asked fearfully, wringing her hands fearfully. "Helmeppo isn't going to let this go! He's going to have you killed! Captain Morgan executed people for less than that!"

"Like to see him try," Luffy told her crossly, as he stared down at his fist. "That spineless coward deserved it! I'm going to go and burst Zoro out of that dump!"

"I'm touched," Zoro smirked.

"But Luffy...!" Coby yelled, but fell silent at the angry look on Luffy's face when he turned back to glare at him.

"Is this the kind of Marines you want to join Coby?" he asked him, "Because if not, then you can either sit back and take it... or stand up to them!"

Coby blinked, trying to figure out what he should do. But Luffy didn't seem to expect an answer as he gave them both the thumbs up and without another word, he ran ahead, heading for the direction of the Marine Base.

"Why are we always running?" Nami panted, now tired of this.

"Don't have time to wait around," Usopp yelled, "Luffy had to hurry or Zoro could've been executed a lot sooner than tomorrow."

"Oh, it was much sooner did they try," Zoro said, thinking back bitterly.

"So they really did try to kill you?!" Brook cried in outrage, "After you've been upholding your end of the deal! How dishonorable!"

"Well, it doesn't really matter at this point," he confessed, thinking back to that heart-stopping moment where he was tied, helpless, to that post and had those guns pointed at him. He couldn't have ever rested in peace if he died in such a pathetic way... unable to even defend himself...

Luffy didn't stop running until he reached the wall and easily jumped it to stand on top so that he could look around. After passing through the wall, they saw that Zoro was still tied there—and apparently sleeping.

"Typical," Nami said to him, going closer so that she could make sure that he was only sleeping, "Even held up like this, you can fall asleep."

"You need to sleep as often as you can, because you need the energy to fight at a moment's notice," he told her coldly.