A/N~ First time writing for Mihawk so I'm not totally sure how this turned out but it is longer than previous fics. Also the song is Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen. The version of it in the video above is by The Civil Wars.~

Drip.

Drop.

You awoke to the feeling of rain falling on your skin and rough tile beneath your frame. Blinking to clear your vision you look around you to see a dense forest from a high perspective. Looking around some more you tried to find a place where you could get down before finally finding a balcony. Once down you found that the door inside was unlocked.

Once inside your first order of business was to find out where the holy hell you were! Granted if the insane dream like memory of falling through a chalk drawing of the One Piece logo was real than you did have some idea. You look to your right and found a telescope. Bingo! That should help you right?

Quickly you took the telescope back to the balcony and scanned the forest before settling on a particular sight. Monkeys. Wearing armor and using weapons. Well, shit. It seems that your suspicions were right. You are on Kuraigana Island. More specifically you were inside the castle and home of the greatest swordsman in the world. Dracule Mihawk.

At this confirmation you couldn't help but nervously gulp before taking a deep breath and going back inside. Since Mihawk travelled a lot the chances were high that he wasn't home at the moment. Which meant that any chance of leaving the island was close to zero unless you wanted to deal with the crazy homicidal apes in the forest and leave via the pearly gates above.

No thank you.

But being alone in this huge place also meant that unfortunately this was going to get dull after a while.

~one month later~

You were reading probably your twelfth book from the castle's library and were extremely bored at this point. During your stay here you had already cleaned and organized every room in the castle. You had made yourself comfortable in one of the guest rooms after finding which one belonged to the legendary swordsman himself and though you were extremely tempted you had restrained yourself from entering the wine cellar.

The two reasons you did all this were one, to temporarily cure your seemingly unending boredom, and two to hopefully remain in the good graces of the currently absent owner of the home. Despite the fact that you were already a strangely unintentional trespasser. And were currently wearing nothing but your underwear and one of said owner's shirts that you stole from his wardrobe.

As you finished the book and placed it on a table next to you, you brought the shirt up to your nose and took a whiff. Being the curious fangirl that you are you had wondered earlier what he smelled like the moment you had found his wardrobe. You were definitely not disappointed when you had first smelled the scent of steel polish and mulberries with musk and found it oddly soothing.

In yet another attempt to relieve your boredom again you went to Mihawk's bedroom and picked-up the guitar that was sitting in the corner by his bed. Looking at your surroundings you decided to try and think of a song which could match the atmosphere of the island and castle. When one came to mind you started to play.

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin

Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in

Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

The fairy tale like scenery of the castle which contrasted with its no doubt sad and war-torn history brought to mind a song which was also very dualistic. A song which is so romantic in nature but was actually inspired by one of the most tragic moments in history back home. In a way the song also made you think of the castle's owner with his sharp gaze that was said to lock you in place in a way that was both as terrifying as a predator and as enchanting as a lover. What sort of emotions hid behind such eyes?

Oh, let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone

Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon

Show me slowly what I only know the limits of

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

As you became absorbed in the song you began to relish in memories of watching One Piece back home and the excitement you felt whenever the man appeared on screen. In some ways he became a role model for you much like he had for Zoro. But at the same time it had been different as you had also developed a bit of a crush on the previously fictional (to you at least) character.

Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on

Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long

We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Focusing on the music and the thoughts in your head you failed to hear the sound of the large front door opening and closing downstairs. Dracule Mihawk had returned and feeling a strange presence in his home had opened the door to the castle being a lot cleaner than he had ever before seen.

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born

Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn

Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn

Dance me to the end of love

He drew his attention upstairs where the sound of soft singing and the strums of a guitar could be heard echoing down the empty stone halls. And quietly traced the haunting melody as though bewitched to his own room. Where his eyes widened in disbelief at the wondrously enchanting sight of a beautiful young woman playing his guitar while wearing hardly more than what appeared to be one of his shirts.

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin

Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in

Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the end of love

"That was a beautiful song."

You froze. Having been so into the song you had missed out on his presence before that statement. But now that you could feel it, it was overwhelmingly powerful and impossible to ignore. Slowly you raised your head to the handsome swordsman and set aside the musical instrument. Raising to your feet on shaky legs you bowed and quickly stammered out.

"I'm so-ooo so-sorry for intruding in your ho-home s-sir!"

You weren't sure if it was out of fear, embarrassment, or attraction but the man had you feeling like putty. Looking down at yourself from your bowed position your face then burned a rosy red as you remembered your clothing predicament.

"And for borrowing one of your shirts without permission."

Mihawk chuckled at the display, honestly something about your behavior and flushed face seemed rather adorable to him.

"I take it you're the one who cleaned up around my home."

"Y-yes sir."

"Then you are forgiven. Now why don't you lift your head and come join me for dinner."

~a year later~

Within the next few months after finally meeting Mihawk, Perona and Zoro came to stay in the castle. You were able to keep what you knew of the future events secret as you did not feel it your right to alter their own fates in life. Though your very presence had most likely already done so to a small extent.

You had quickly become good friends with the both of them. Perona had helped you with the clothing situation until Mihawk could take you to an actual store. And Zoro was just easy to get along with in general and often had you to help guide him through the castle.

Zoro had told you about how your friend (who you thought you left back home) had apparently followed you in this world only to instead end up on the Thousand Sunny and cause as much trouble as he could alongside Luffy and the crew. He also apparently had been flirting a lot with Robin before the crew got separated at Sabaody, which honestly didn't surprise you much. Unfortunately for you though Zoro is far more observant than most give him credit for and he quickly picked up on your increasingly growing crush on Mihawk. He teased you for it whenever he got the chance to and it was through said teasing that Perona found out.

Once she knew she and Zoro had begun plans to bring the two of you together. Little did the two of them realize though that such efforts would be wasted.

This was because at the moment your own klutziness had already put you in a very awkward situation. It is sunset and you had been sweeping up on one of the balconies only to trip and fall off while gazing at the view, thus you landed in a tree. Problem was how you landed, you are now currently hanging upside down with your foot caught between two branches. Thankfully you were wearing shorts but the t-shirt you had decided to wear was working with gravity in an effort to expose your bra to the whole world. In other words your hands were too busy keeping you from flashing someone to try and get your foot unstuck.

Then you heard someone walking in your direction and you called out.

"Can I get a little bit of help over here?!"

Once the figure stopped beneath you and you caught sight of a familiar plumed hat your face flushed in embarrassment. Mihawk looked up at you with his arms crossed and his eyebrow quirked slightly. A smirk was on those lips you would love to have a taste of.

"Now how on earth did you end up there?"

"Long story short. I tripped."

He chuckled at the blunt statement bringing out his sword from its place on his back.

"Hold still."

But you didn't even get the chance to move before he had sliced the branch off leaving you plummeting toward the ground. You closed your eyes and readied yourself for impact with the hard ground only to find yourself in the arms of Mihawk. Slowly opening your eyes you found yourself gazing into his own golden orbs as you blushed red enough to rival the man's finest wine.

You tried to hide your face in the man's shirt only to have him grab hold of your chin and gently force your gaze back to his own.

"Don't hide. I can't gaze at the beautiful soul which lies behind those memorizing eyes if you do."

Your eyes widened as he began to slowly lean in closer. Both sets of eyes closing as your two pairs of soft lips met in a moment that just felt so contrastingly explosive and soothing at the same time. One of your hands reached up and touched his cheek as the other laid on his shoulder, his own hands resting at the small of your back and the back of your neck. The need for air eventually made you both pull away as smiles graced your lips.

"I love you."

He reacted to your confession by placing a quick peck to your lips before whispering.

"I love you as well."

You gasped as Mihawk then carried you bridal-style into the castle and into the new future you would share.