***The following chapter is from Zoro's Point of View.***

"Zoro, I-." thump. "Huh?"

Both of us look around as a rain of Ping-Pong balls fall into the garden with a muffled series of thumps and a few splashes. Confusion strikes before we hear soft pops and there's an eruption of smoke that fills the whole garden. I pull (Y/N) to her feet as we both start coughing and start making our way back inside.

I barely get three steps from the bridge, and I can feel her sag and fall limp against me. I swear in frustration, but the smoke's blurring my vision despite my efforts to not breathe it in. I can't get us both clear of the smoke, but I won't leave her behind.

I can sense someone approaching, it's not my dad, so it's got to be him. The one harassing (Y/N) all this time, that bastard archer. I turn to attack him, to grab the mask off his face and expose him to the gas, but it's sunk into my body, and I can't put any strength behind my movements. He catches my wrist easily, and I sink to my knees. I need to move; I need to stop him. I can't let him hurt her and I can't let him hurt me – she'd never forgive herself.

There's a strange feeling as he forces a mask over my head, laying me down on the ground. I feel like I should recognize something about him, but even with the mask I've breathed in too much of the smoke. Vertigo steals the last my capacity and I sink into the ground, barely hanging onto consciousness, even though I can't will my body to move.

When I see him pick her up, I can feel my entire body panic. The surge of adrenaline is enough for me to stand, but even as I reach out toward him everything fades.

When I wake back up, I'm on the couch in the family room. My head's splitting, and my body aches. I recognize Dr. Marco and there's three sets of hands holding me down before I can even sit up.

"Roronoa," Mihawk says. His voice is sharp, sharp and pained at the same time.

"He took her." My voice cracks, I feel like I'm going to hurl, but I'm too mad.

"He did. Stay still." His tone is irritating, but if I sit up too fast I'll just black out again, and even if I could move freely, I'm outnumbered. Officer Smoker is at my ankles, Dr. Marco has my wrists, and my dad's hand is against my forehead. "You've been unconscious for a couple hours. The doctor has tended to you, and the police are here. You need to listen. Can you?"

I nod.

"We had a lead in the case," Smoker begins to explain. "I was on my way over already when I received a call from Mihawk that (Y/N) had been abducted. Look, I'm not going to piss you off with details, I just need to know if you know someone named Usopp."

I nod again and feel the hands twitch against me as I realize I had tensed up. "Did he take her?"

"I wasn't completely certain when I was heading over here, but there's no mistaking it now." Smoker says. "He left a note."

"I want to read it."

"Sure, he left it tacked to the gas mask he had put on you, and frankly, we wouldn't have a choice anyway." Smoker admits gruffly. "But you have to swear to do as I say, without exception, or we're going to have to come up with a plan B, and you'll be put under arrest for your own safety."

I'm certain I make a face. I don't want to promise anything without knowing anything first, but that's not the situation I'm in and understand that. Realization dawns on me and I sink into the couch, letting myself relax.

"He wants to trade, doesn't he?"

"... He does." Smoker admits, and three sets of hands let go of me at the same time. "You gonna listen to me, or not?"

"Yeah, I'll listen."

"Good. Rule #1 is you don't get to decide anything. We'll tell you what to say, and we'll tell you what to do, and you follow those instructions. With luck we'll come out of this with both of you alive." Smoker practically growls, but he's not nearly as intimidating to me as he's trying to be.

I grunt in response. It's not like I have a choice. Smoker hands over the letter, it's in a plastic evidence bag, but I can still read it.

Zoro –

I'll call tomorrow. You better be the one to answer.
You for her.
I'll prove she's alive when I call.
Hope you still have those three swords you cherish so much.

~Sogeking

"We're going to train you on how to handle the call for tomorrow." Smoker explains. "The longer you can keep him talking, the better our chances of pinning down a location. We're also getting some other gear together. If he wants you, then he's not going to stop with the phone call."

I sit up slowly, there's a look on Smoker's face I don't like. "You're going at this heavy." I say, and even as the words come out, I can feel the room flinch. "... He's done more than just harass (Y/N)."

Mihawk sits beside me, and I don't want to hear what he's going to say before he says it. "Usopp has been killing people. According to what Officer Smoker has found, he's been behind some of the tragedies that had befallen the survivors of Kuro's attacks." Mihawk's eyes sharpen, and his tone demands my attention. "Zoro. He caused the wreck that killed (Y/N)'s adopted parents."

Confusion was first. Usopp was a good guy. A flake maybe, and certainly the biggest coward I'd ever known, but there was no way he could do something like murder. I was more likely to be a cool-blooded killer than Usopp.

"From what I could find, he's responsible for causing at least a dozen accidents in the last ten years." Smoker explains. "We went to his property for a follow up yesterday and he wasn't there. We had reason to enter, and we found... a lot. Piles of articles, maps of the city, photos of residences, and video feeds. He had been systematically stalking and keeping tabs on every survivor of Kuro's attack that was still in the area."

"Were you looking for cameras?"

"...Yeah."

"I'd be impressed if there were any in here." She says, sipping her tea and sinking into the couch. "A few years back I got really paranoid that someone was watching me, and I started checking for bugs every time I got home from anywhere. It was exhausting, but it turned into a habit and I still check every week."

"I thought you said this wasn't ongoing." I grumble.

"It isn't ongoing. That was like... six years ago. Today's the first time since then."

"... He didn't have a feed for her." I say, the memory of our conversation nearly three months ago coming to me.

"He did not. He had a monitor with her name on it, but it was broken. How'd you know?"

"She told me when we first met. She thought someone was watching her and got into a habit of sweeping her house for bugs every day. I've seen her looking around the dojo before, it's been a habit for so long." I don't know if I feel defeated or furious. Right now, I'm trying not to feel anything so I can keep my cool.

"That puts some stuff together." Smoker says finally. "He must've been stalking her directly. She's a librarian, so she was easily accessible to the public. He could've spent hours at the library as often as he wanted to, and no one would've thought he was out of place. With the windfall from the inheritance, he wouldn't have a need to work." The officer's scowl was deep. At least one of us could be angry about all of this.

Mihawk and Dr. Marco convinced me to eat, and Tashigi went over the basics of what I'd need to do during the call for the first time. I'd listen to her drill those instructions into my head over a dozen times between the evening and the next day. She looked so much like Kuina it had been haunting the first time I saw her, but she's been by with Smoker so many times at this point it doesn't bother me.

My only fear is, if things go wrong, will I eventually meet someone who looks like (Y/N)?

I will the thought out of my head and focus. The better I can do this, the better it'll go.

"Okay, repeat it all back to me." Tashigi demands. It's sunrise and I've gotten a little rest, but not much. There's a huge black box in the family room, and the call is going to be routed through it.

"Green answers the call and lets him hear me. Red mutes everyone on this side, but we'll still hear him. Nothing on my end will disconnect the call. Avoid yes or no questions. Keep him talking, even if the topic's unpleasant. Make sure we can verify (Y/N)'s safe. Avoid making any promises. Don't say anything to antagonize him." I stop and think for a second. "Don't panic if I mess up."

"Good. Take a deep breath, it'll be okay."

The waiting was the worst. There was nothing to do since a distraction could throw off the whole process but waiting without distraction meant that my mind wandered. I tried to focus it, I tried to will her safety into reality. She would come home. She would survive this. It would be okay. As long as she was alive, I could face anything.

Memories danced through my head, and it was better focusing on them, than worrying about the call.

"-your voice is like wisteria, or sake." I can feel the heat in my ears, and I don't want her to see it. Not yet, I want to be able to be cool for just a little longer.
"It's calming."

"ANGRY."
"... At me?" I could feel myself panicking a little. I didn't want her to be mad at me, I didn't want to be the source of any of her discomfort.
She scribbled on the notepad and when I can read it, I laugh. I can't stop myself even though I try, I really try, but the words and her face have completely disarmed me.

"You were five." I was angry, angrier than I knew I could get. I wanted to go back in time and kill the man who had done this to her with my own hands. I didn't even want to use my swords, I wanted to literally tear him apart. Blood on my hands, to protect her, seemed a reasonable trade.

"Ah, Mr. Roronoa?" She called out, causing me to turn around. She smiled and pointed to the right. "Unless you're running errands, the dojo's that way." She disappeared into the library without waiting, and I stood on the library steps for a moment, dumbfounded. I wanted to see that smile again. I wanted to hear her voice, no matter what the words were.

The smile on her face twisted my heart. It wasn't anger, but the sadness in that practiced motion hurt me. "I'm sure you can petition for a Rematch because of this, if you want."
Anger boiled in me, I couldn't hold it back. It seems there were some words I didn't want to hear come from her mouth. "Rematch? Over some stu-."

My phone rings, and the entire room is a flurry of activity. I focus on the phone and wait. I don't get to hit the green button to answer it, I have to leave that up to Smoker, and he needs to let the tech team get everything in place before the call starts.

Every second counts. Every word is one step closer to finding her.

He presses the green button and I steady my voice before I speak.

"What do you want, Usopp?" I ask, grimacing inwardly at the anger I can't contain.

"Ah, so you figured it out. It's been quite a long time, Zoro." He says. There's a madness in his voice I haven't heard before. "Did you figure it out first, or did the police?"

"... They did."

"Mm, but you remembered me once they did, didn't you?"

"Where's (Y/N)?" My throat almost dries up before I can get the question out.

"Oh, she's here, she's fine. Come on little warrior, speak up." My body tenses at him calling her a little warrior. She must've done something when she came around, and I'm caught between relief that she's fighting for herself, and fear that he's hurt her for it. "Oh, haha that look she's giving me, I think she wants to try beating me up again. Went a little poorly for you last time, didn't it? You should urge her to speak, Zoro, before I do it."

"(Y/N)," I feel my eyes sting, I just want to hear her voice. "It's okay. You can tell me."

There's the sound of a sharp slap and I can hear her grunt. My fists clench, but I can't lose my cool. If I lash out at Usopp then Smoker will end the call or take it over. Things could go bad quickly and the trace might not complete.

"No bullshit," he warns, his voice hard and stern. "Just say "I'm alive". They don't need to know any more than that."

"I'm alive." I can hear the anger in her voice, the energy. I can feel some part of myself relax.

"See now, she's alive. And she'll stay that way, all through this entire cursed ordeal, as long as you - Roronoa Zoro - come here and retrieve her. Bring police if you want, helicopters, snipers; the marines, for all I care. But if anyone comes in before you, I'll kill her.

"You, and the Wado Ichimonji, Zoro. That's what I want to see before I let her go."

I don't know what to say to this. I can't promise anything, but I want to give him everything he wants if he'll hand her over safely for it. Before I can even reply I hear her voice, desperate and scared, different from before.

"Zoro don't! He wants you to-oof!" The blow makes me flinch, I can hear her crumple through the phone, and my blood runs cold when Usopp speaks.

"You remember where you'd practice your Santoryu, right?" He says quickly into the phone, his earlier collected tone completely shattered. "She's here, so you'll find your way, I'm sure, but don't take too long. I'm not giving this ingrate the blanket back after that, and she'll freeze before the night's over."

"Usopp, don't hurt-." The line went dead. "... her."

"Was it enough?" Smoker asks one of the techs. I don't know what the response is, but it doesn't matter.

"I know where he is." I say evenly. "And you have to let me go."

There's a heavy silence, and after a moment Smoker sighs. "Yeah. Our chances of getting her out of there alive are better if you go in first. We'll get you protective gear-."

"No." I say it so harshly I surprise myself. "I'm safer if I can move freely."

"He's right." Mihawk asserts. "His reactions will be slowed by anything he's not used to wearing."

"Are you really advocating for me to send your son into a hostage situation without so much as a vest?" Smoker's tone was level, but he was clearly caught off-guard.

"I am. He's been training since he seven. Some faith must be put into more than twenty years of experience." Mihawk levels his gaze at me and I return it. I'm glad to know we're on the same page, and I'll have to thank him for his support later.

"... Fine. It's early. We're going to set up a perimeter and get backup in place for you. He said we could come and so we shall. You're going to go in first, with a wire, I want to know everything that's said. The more information we have the more we can control. I know you're not a chatty guy, but if you see something like explosives or traps you have to say so."

I nod.

Hang on, (Y/N), please. Long enough for me to find you.