Destined for Flames (One Piece Fanfic)

Down, Down, Down

Warmth. A gentle, caressing warmth flooding my senses, then the chills return. Then the warmth, then the chills, and so on. A cycle of numbness and gooseflesh crawling over my skin. 

There's air, heated and stale, rushing silently down my throat, filling my lungs, then dissipating just as quickly, only to be replaced moments later.

Then, like fingers crushing my windpipe, stifling that precious oxygen, fetid, putrid water clogging up my throat, prickling the back of my nose. My body jolts on its own, flinging me to the side as the saltwater surges up from my aching lunges, splattering across the coarse wood scraping my fingertips, my cheek. I heave a shuddering breath, punctuated by several agonizingly wet coughs. 

Gentle hands rub small circles into my trembling back, then slip under my arm and guide me upright, though even that slight motion causes my head to reel and I immediately slump to the side, my face smacking into someone's chest. 

Despite myself, despite the furious pounding of my head, despite the distant sounds of gunfire permeating the air, my lips curve into an easy smile, carefree as Luffy's usual display. "Hey, Swordsman. Fancy meeting you here."

I hear him sigh, a simple puff of air carrying his frustration to my supremely amused ears. "You never change, do you?"

"Of course not," I say plainly. Jagged claws rip down the sides of my throat with every word, every panting breath. I touch a hand to my neck feebly, absolutely ecstatic at this new development. "That would defeat the purpose of my renowned charm."

Zoro's knuckles rap pointedly at the back of my head, eliciting both a strangled curse and soft gasp from my thick, dusty tongue - both of which he pays no heed. "Don't try to be funny," he says as he eases me off his damp chest, unceremoniously peeling my cheek from his clingy shirt, and sits me back, hands gripping my shoulders. From his tone of voice, I'd normally suspect he was on the verge of delivering some damning commentary, something poking fun at my inability to escape dangerously stupid situations or my knack for giving Death the brush-off. But no such snide remark comes as his flinty eyes scrutinize my no-doubt shamelessly shabby appearance, flicking over the soggy bandages now glued to my neck, sliding up to the claw marks marring my face.

His hand cups my chin, jerks my head to the side as he leans closer. "These'll definitely scar," he says, expression pensive, giving no regards to how my neck is wrenched at a vexing angle until I (rather childishly) pinch his arm and he flinches back, scowling that trademark scowl of his. Seriously, though, that and his Mihawk-esque smirk should be patented - the look comes alive, achieves the desired effect, only when it's Roronoa Zoro modeling it.

Point is, he's a terrifying individual with the penetrating glare to match, and anyone who fails to understand this is a wondrously blissful idiot. A little like how I was before actually coming face-to-face with the man behind the headline.

"I don't particularly care." The prospect of my losing whatever sex appeal I currently have due to disfigurement is the least of my worries. "If they scar, they scar. Now, onto important shit: Why am I not dead and where the hell are we?"

Zoro, uncharacteristically sullen, sets his jaw. A ticking muscle pulses just beneath the corner of his mouth. "You're better off not knowing who rescued us. Save yourself the mental scarring."

I blink, baffled, but decide it's in my best interest not to question him. 

"As for where we are--"

"We've acquired a Marine ship, Miss Swordsman, and as of right now we're not very far off the coast of Enies Lobby."

That voice. I straighten reflexively, fingers curling around the sodden fabric of my jeans (yet again these people are forcing me to break out a new pair). Zoro, possibly sensing my unease, tousles my hair a moment, pats my cheek in farewell (for what feels like an unnecessary repeat of only hours before), before moving away to speak with Sogeking - or has he returned to being Usopp, yet?