Third Person POV

"We have to stop this," Raya says softly. She grips the hilt of her katana like she's afraid it'll run away from her if she lets go. She makes to follow the path Zoro took to Don Kreig's practically nonexistent galleon, only to feel hands wrap around her waist, pulling her back.

"Luffy!" she protests, looking up at him, her fear very obvious to him now.

"This is Zoro's fight," he says simply, watching his first mate square off against the man Zeff had called the Greatest Swordsman in the world, Hawk Eye Mihawk.

"Can't you see that Zoro isn't a match for that man?!" Raya can feel the panic rising in her chest, the tightness constricting her breathing. Luffy only shakes his head. "We don't have a right to interfere with Zoro's dream."

Raya quiets, and goes almost limp in Luffy arms, her eyes flashing worriedly, trained on Zoro's fight.

"Baka!" she hisses beneath her soft breath.

"Don't worry scary lady," Johnny pipes up, in his infuriatingly stupid pose, hand on his chin. "No one can beat Big Bro Zoro!"

"Do NONE of you feel it?" she snaps, startling the four men.

"Feel what?" Usopp asks curiously.

"That man's power..." Her voice trails off, a shiver running down her spine as a wave of power spills over her again. It takes all she has not to slump in Luffy's arms, allow him to carry her weight, and the pressing concern she feels now for the cocky Swordsman.

"Demon Sword!"

Zoro rushes forward, his merciless eyes locked on Dracule Mihawk. Everyone holds their breath, waiting for the Pirate Hunter to slice the man to ribbons.

Only, Mihawk stops all three of Zoro's sword with the tiny knife in his hand, cutting off all movement for the green-haired Swordsman.

"How can this be?!" Yosaku shouts, shocked his Big Brother, the man he knows bests him in the art of swordplay a thousand times over, has been countered by such a laughable weapon.

Zoro is angrier than he's ever been, but the vast majority of that anger to reserved for himself. How could there be so much of a difference between them?! No one had ever survived this attack, and here was Mihawk, as unconcerned as a newborn child. How can Hawk Eyes be THIS much better than him?!

Zoro backs off of his opponent, only to begin slashing and hacking in a seemingly insane way. But Raya can see the beauty. The grace and the ferocity of his movements. She knows he truly wants to kill this man, with all his being, body, soul and heart.

He wants to do it for his friend, she thinks to herself. His best friend. What could have happened between then that he would go so far against a man he MUST be realizing he is no match for?

"What a crazy skill you've got," Mihawk murmurs appreciatively, simultaneously blocking all of Zoro's strikes with nothing more than his tiny blade.

Of course, Zoro chooses not to respond, focusing all his energy on landing a blow to the infuriating Swordsman. As each hack is carelessly countered, Zoro can see very clearly in his mind, his best friend's tear soaked face. She says softly, "It's good that you're a boy. I want to be an invincible Swordsman too."

He can't let both their dreams die like this!!

Raya watches, horrified, as Zoro leaps back, distancing himself from the strange man. If she didn't know any better, she'd feel relief, thinking he's given up. But she recognizes the look in his eyes, the one she saw so many times in the newspaper. The pain, and the promise he mentioned. And above all, the desire the win, no matter what the cost.

Johnny and Yosaku attempt to jump ship and help their old friend, but Luffy throws out an arm, holding them back. He has yet to release Raya as well, sensing her desire to run and help his first mate. But he knows Zoro doesn't want help, even if his own muscles are itching to jump in and rescue his friend.

"We have to be patient," Luffy says determinedly, his face incredibly serious for once.

"Luffy..." Usopp says softly, surprised his captain is acting so calm.

Zoro readies himself for his next move, his most powerful normal attack. "Lion--" he begins, the swords in his hands held above and behind the katana between his teeth, like a demonic "T". But he is cut off by a pleading voice calling out, "ZORO! STOP THIS! PLEASE!"

He, along with Mihawk and the rest of the bystanders, look over at Raya, still held tight by Luffy's arms. Though now, she is once again frantic to escape his grip.

Zoro, sweating and exhausted, glares at the pink eyed girl. She has no right to stop this fight!

"Don't give me that look!" she cries bitterly. "Don't look at me like you think I believe you're weak! Because I don't! But I also know this man is too strong for you, Swordsman! You can't feel it? How comical we appear next to him? Not even Luffy stands a chance against him! You have to stop this... before you're killed!"

At this, Luffy clamps a hand over her mouth, silencing her next interruption. Tears fill her eyes, as she now realizes just how much everyone on this crew means to her. She's only known them for such a short time, but each one of them have become important to her. They've quelled some of the sadness in her heart, freed her of some of the pain she's felt everyday since her parents were killed. She can't bear to lose any of them, even the annoying Swordsman.

But Zoro is deaf to her pleas, turning his attention back to Mihawk who, interestingly enough, has his eyes still locked on Raya.

What is that look in his eyes? Zoro wonders. Recognition? But how would this man even know Raya, who seems to have not one inkling about his own identity? He decides it doesn't matter, and redirects his mind to his attack once more.

But, before anyone can even blink, Mihawk's dagger... is buried hilt deep in Zoro's chest.

"B-big Bro!!"

"Zoro!"

"Zoro buddy! Are you alright?!"

"Baka!" Raya shouts, the tears falling uncontrollably down her cheeks, watching the blood flowing freely from Zoro's wound. Step back you idiot! Step back!

"Do you want this dagger to pierce your heart?" Mihawk inquires, giving Zoro a curious look. "Why don't you step back?"

"I don't... I don't know," Zoro pants, already starting to feel the effects of he blood loss, though he does his best to hide it. "However," he says, shaking just shy of violently, "if I did step back, I'd feel like I was breaking my promise, and then I'd be unable to stand here again."

"Yes," Mihawk agrees, eyes narrowing. "And that is called losing."

"Ha ha, that's why I can't step back," Zoro says, puffing out a breath.

"Even if it means losing your life?"

"If I have to lose," Zoro replies, his voice strong despite his current condition, "I'd rather die."

Such a strong will! Mihawk thinks. He chooses to die rather than live with regret.

"Tell me your name, kid," he commands, pulling the dagger from Zoro's chest.

"Roronoa Zoro."

"I'll remember that," Mihawk promises, grabbing the hilt of his tremendously powerful sword. "I haven't met someone with such a strong will in a long time. And to repay you, I will face you with the 'Black Sword', the strongest sword in the world."

It is over in instant.

Though Zoro even goes so far as to bring out his secret technique only

available to those who are privy to three sword style, Mihawk merely cuts him down with two quick, almost invisible slashes to Zoro's front, breaking two of his swords in the process.

And then, at least to Raya, Zoro does the unthinkable. He sheathes his remaining sword, then turns to Mihawk, now behind him, and spreads out his arms, as though to welcome a hug. And he is gruesome, with his entire front drowning in blood, a horrible sight to anyone with a weak stomach.

"What are you doing?" Mihawk asks. Zoro grins wickedly, eyes glinting with the pride he's fought for, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. "It's shameful, for a Swordsman to be struck from behind."

"Splendid," Mihawk says, smiling delightedly himself.

And then, he slashes the Black Sword down in one smooth arc, ripping open Zoro's already damaged chest. Zoro falls backwards from the force of the blow, sailing in what seems like slow motion into the ocean, where he proceeds to bleed out at a heart stopping rate.

Times seems to speed up again.

"ZORO!!!"

"Big Brother!!"

Johnny, Yosaku and Usopp take off in their small boat, racing to where their nakama fell.

Luffy finally lets go of Raya, and she slumps on the ground, gaping in absolute horror at the scene before her. Zoro didn't make a single sound. Not once did he cry out in pain or frustration or anger.

"H-he lost," Luffy whimpers from behind her.

"There was never any other outcome," Raya replies, gathering what little strength she has left and rising to her feet. "I've never seen him fight before now, but I still knew he was strong. But I also knew how this fight was going to end. And yet none of you baka listened to me!!"

She rounds on Luffy angrily, and he freezes under her tormented look. "I don't give a damn about his pride," she growls, unsheathing her flashing sword. "I'd rather have my friend alive, and let him hate me for the rest of his idiotic life, then see him die at the hands of this man."

With that said, she dashes across the heavy debris from Don Krieg's ship, heading to the broken piece of deck Zoro and the man had been fighting on.

He watches her curiously as she stops several yards away, her eyes murderous, the grip on her sword frighteningly strong. His eyes flick to the sword, taking in the red hilt, and the gold designs weaved into the steel blade. He knows this katana, almost as well as his own sword.

Where had such a little girl gotten this blade?

Again, Mihawk allows his eyes to meet he girl's, and while they still flash menacingly, he ignores the look and focuses on the color.

What an abnormal pink. Mihawk realizes he's seen this coloring only once before, years ago... It was after one of his famous clashes that echoed throughout the Grand Line.

A pretty young woman with wide amazed eyes, the color of the pink tinged clouds at sunset, and long blonde hair a shade lighter than the girl's in front of him.

He remembers the promise he made his old rival years ago.

"I can't believe you took him on!" the girl shouts, dragging Mihawk from his memories. He frowns at the girl, wondering how this will all go down. "You had to know he wasn't a match for you! And yet you decided to toy with him, as though his life meant nothing! A real man knows when not to fight!"

Mihawk smirks. "You should be telling that to young Roronoa Zoro," he replies.

While Raya knows he's right, that Zoro was the one who acted recklessly, who should have known his own limits, she can't accept his chastising of her friend.

"That's not for you to decide," she growls, brandishing her sword in front of her. She herself understands that if Zoro didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning against this man, then it is downright impossible for her to achieve the same. But she wasn't planing on taking him on in a sword fight.

[Meanwhile...]

"Ah! Big Bro is waking up!"

A groggy and disoriented Zoro barely manages to lift himself up from the deck of the boat. He's lost a dangerous amount of blood, and the bandages Johnny and Yosaku wrapped around his chest are the only thing keeping the tide of red inside his battered body.

"I lost," he grumbles, hand wrapping around the hilt of his white katana. Kuina's sword, the only one to survive Mihawk's assault.

"But you're alive!" Usopp cheers, trying to lift his friend's spirits... and distract him from the scene unfolding on the shattered deck.

"I wasn't good enough," Zoro continues, oblivious to Usopp's for once optimistic attitude. "There was such a gap in our strengths... It seems unreal..."

"That's not for you to decide!"

Zoro's head snaps up at the sound of the familiar voice, forced into a low growl that would send shivers down the spines of ordinary men.

"What's going on?" Zoro mutters, attempting to raise himself up enough to see over the tiny boat's railing. Usopp hurriedly pushes him back down, saying, "Oh it's nothing! Nothing at all! Just Raya goofing around! Isn't that right you guys?...... Guys..........?"

But both Yosaku and Johnny are staring at the suddenly fierce Flynn D. Raya as she stares down Dracule Mihawk, Greatest Swordsman in the World.

"She's crazier than Big Brother," Johnny murmurs, and Yosaku nods his agreement. "What is it?" Zoro asks again, pushing Usopp off him and struggling into a sitting position.

"Shit!" Zoro yells, seeing Raya brandishing her father's sword at Mihawk.

Raya's eyes flick to Zoro, who she sees is well enough to sit up, for only the briefest moment before landing on the man again. She's glad he's still alive, but it doesn't make her want to run away and hide from the big scary man. Really, all it does is make her want to fight him all the more. Why? Well, because she.... Ok fine, she has no idea why she wants to fight this man, who took down Zoro without so much as breaking a sweat. It's just some instinct she feels, and some desire to keep him focused on her. She knows Zoro will challenge him again when he feels he's ready, and maybe that has something to do with it too. Maybe she wants to fight him, to prove to Zoro that he won't be ready to take this man down for a long, long time.

"If you insist on flashing your weapon at me," Mihawk says, automatically reaching for the sword he nearly slew Zoro with, "then I will have to take this as a challenge. And I will not treat you any differently than I did Roronoa Zoro."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," she replies calmly, bending her knees slightly, seeing the barest tensing of his muscles. He's getting ready to move.

"What's wrong with you three?!" Zoro demands, glaring at his three nakama. "Stop her! She's only going to get herself killed!"

Usopp tears his eyes away from Raya, as she narrows her eyes at Mihawk, watching his every movement with penetrating precision, and looks at the now frantic Zoro. "You didn't listen to her advice," he reminds him, flicking worried glances towards the girl. "I doubt she'd listen to yours, or ours."

"That was different!" Zoro insists, clenching his hands into fists. "I HAD to fight him! It was for my dream, and for my best friend!"

"And she is fighting for you, Big Bro," Johnny tells him, casting a sympathetic look at his superior. "There's nothing we can do."

Seeing that the others are convinced there's no way to stop this, Zoro decides he'll have to do it himself. "Raya!" he shouts, and she tenses, eyes still locked on Mihawk but ears focused on Zoro. "Quit it already, would ya?! Get the hell out of there--"

Both Johnny and Usopp throw their hands over Zoro's mouth, cutting off his shouts. He struggles against them, but they manage to keep him quiet. They watch as Raya sighs, just a little, as though breaking out of an unwanted trance. She gives a minuscule shake of her head.

"Keep quiet Zoro!" Usopp hisses. "You'll distract her, and then she really will get killed! You heard Mihawk! He's going full out on her like he did for you in the end! She can't have your screaming in her ears!"

And Usopp's point is proven in the next instant.

Mihawk strikes, moving faster than the human eye seems capable of following. But Raya sees him, throwing up her sword in time to block his downward slash.

There's a collective gasp, as everyone is shocked to see such a small girl able to hold back Mihawk's sword. To be perfectly honest, he is only using about half his strength. But still, to be able to counter even THAT much power... He finds it impressive, and very deserving of her lineage.

Her arms trembling, Raya slides her sword down Mihawk's, not in an attempt to throw him off her, but to locate the "sweet spot" her father told her about. She grins when she finds it, turning her blade so that the sharp end catches onto Mihawk's. This is a technique her father thought up, or so he claimed. It allows the underhanded victim of the sword strike to find enough leverage to keep their attacker from advancing.

"Interesting," Mihawk admits, catching on to her tactic. "But still incredibly pitiful swordplay."

Raya smirks at him. "Good thing I'm not a Swordsman then, isn't it?"

With precise control she didn't realize she possessed, Raya lets the flames suddenly licking along her arms to dance across her blade, careful to keep the temperature low enough that it doesn't sufficiently damage her sword.

The flames shoot from the tip of Raya's sword and fan out, flying for Mihawk's face and torso.

He curses, though quietly, and whips away from her, deflecting the tongues of flame with his midnight black sword.

"What an underhanded move to use in a sword fight," he comments, patting out a small bit of fire on his jacket. Raya grins. "Whoever said I was an honest Swordsman?" she asks innocently. Mihawk actual CHUCKLES at that, surprising everyone almost as much as Raya's Devil Fruit powers did. "True enough," he admits. "But I did think your use of that blade implied that you believed in the virtues of swordplay."

She shrugs. "It's my dad's sword," she says. "If it carries any virtues, they belong to him, not me."

Her father's katana...?

How interesting.

"Well then," Mihawk says, lowering his sword. "I grow weary of this constant fighting. I think I'll focus on keeping that promise now."

Raya blinks, unconsciously lowering her own blade. "What promise?" she wonders. His yellow hawk eyes flash intensely and she almost regrets asking. But then he waves a hand and says, "You'll find out soon enough."

"What the hell is that supposed to--"

Mihawk is suddenly behind her, jabbing two fingers into a spot between her neck and shoulder. She winces, before her entire body relaxes and she drops to the ground, only to have Mihawk pick her up and sling her over his shoulder.

"Damn pressure points..." she mumbles, sinking into unconsciousness.

Mihawk bends down to retrieve her fallen sword, sliding it into the sheath on her hip. Then he turns towards his little coffin boat, starting to stride towards it.

"HEY!!!"

Luffy's cry breaks through the shocked silence. He launches himself forward onto the slowly sinking deck, his face red with anger.

"PUT RAYA DOWN NOW!!"

Mihawk pauses, one foot in his boat, and looks over his shoulder at the lanky boy in the straw hat.

"Hm," he murmurs, narrowing his predatory eyes at the old tattered hat. "So that's the boy you were speaking of before. Funny how these two found themselves on the same crew."

"What are you doing with Raya?!" Luffy demands, ready to throw back his fist and rescue his friend.

Mihawk lowers Raya into his boat before addressing the childish boy. "I've made an agreement with someone," he says vaguely. "It requires me to bring this girl somewhere. Don't worry; no harm will come to her while she's in my care."

He turns away and shoves his boat off and away from the deck. But Luffy isn't ready to give up. He flings an arm behind him, feeling it stretch a good twenty feet, before slamming it forward, aimed at Mihawk's head.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!!"

Sighing, Mihawk blocks to punch with his sword, removed halfway from its sheath. Luffy's fist bounces harmlessly off the blade, ricocheting towards Zoro, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku. Before it hits them, Johnny and Yosaku raise their swords, though the punch nearly shatters theirs.

And in that brief moment of panic, Dracule Mihawk, and Flynn D. Raya, are gone.