You, Zoro, and Luffy had returned to the Sunny to face the wrath of Nami. When Luffy and Zoro had gotten down on their knees in front of her you had joined them, letting the fiery navigator get her rage out. You couldn't argue any of her points – you had wandered off, you had caused a ruckus, you hadn't even needed to do any of it to protect yourself.

Well, no you didn't agree with that part.

"I had to Nami," you interrupted, standing up. "Look, I'll admit if I hadn't let myself get distracted nothing else would've happened, but once I knew I couldn't just do nothing."

"We're not knights, (Y/N)." Nami retorts her arms folded in front of her.

"If I had been a knight back there I wouldn't have done anything." You admit. "Knights obey the orders of their lord, and I can stand here and say that the Archduke of Winternight would've liberated that town, it's not my place to speak for him. I tried to follow Luffy, but he's not exactly one for giving orders.

"So, I decided to be a pirate." You pointed down the gangplank to the boxes and bags that Zoro and Luffy had helped you carry back. "I left what I wanted at the door of every house I could find, and brought the rest back here."

"... What did you leave at their doors?" Sanji questions.

"Swords. Food. Their king sits in the ruins of the scaffolding in the middle of the town square, battered but alive. His guards won't be a threat for days at the least. It takes time for anyone else to get here. If these people rise up quickly, they'll be fine."

"They've been beat down for a long time." Sanji murmurs.

"They have. But today they saw defiance. Kingdoms have risen and fallen on less." You shrug. "You said yourself that you're not revolutionaries." You bow before Nami. "I'm sorry I got distracted, Nami."

Nami rubs her forehead and sighs. "Well, you brought back supplies, and we're not getting run out of the port, so it's fine."

"Supplies? I brought back gold, mostly." You admit. "Sorry was I supposed to- eh?" You look around to see Nami is nowhere in sight.

Zoro tilted his head toward the gangplank.

Walking over to the ramp, you lean against the railing and grin. "Well, I imagine I'm not in trouble anymore." You muse as Nami is positively delighted looking through the loot you came back with.

"What caused you to do it?" Jinbei asks, coming up to stand beside you.

You look up at him and then hoist yourself up onto the rail to sit. It puts you a little closer to eye level with the taller man. "Most of it was my own rage, if I'm honest." You admit. "But you told me about this world and its history, and it was like I was seeing all the worst parts all in one place and... and I mean this world is amazing, and it's beautiful and brilliant, and it's not my world, but look at this island!" You stretch your arm toward the port to the trees beyond.

"The forest is alight with color; the autumn season is in full swing! The color of the corals shimmer in the water, the mountains in the distance are massive! It's breathtaking! To run through those trees, to see what sits in the caves and rocks, to know what manner of creature roams the thickets." You take in a breath and let it out in a sigh. "And then those people. What do you have to do to a port town to strip its color away like that? Was what I read today normal? Was that why no one raged? Had they known days so much worse that they couldn't even muster tears?"

"In my experience all peoples rise up," Jinbei says. "It is often just a matter of when or opportunity. But, your choices aside, how do you feel? I could sense your haki from here."

"Huh? Oh." You twist and flex and bend and hop down from the rail and jump up and down a few times. "Good, apparently. All that practice really helped out, and practicing in those terrible currents was an effective idea." You grin up at Jinbei. "Give me a few more weeks and I might ask to spar with you."

Jinbei's laugh warms your core. "It would be my honor, miss (Y/N)."

Supplies and treasure were stowed, and it was decided that the boat would be moved over to the other town as planned. It was best to leave the people to their opportunity, and keep from shaking things up worse on accident, and so you all relocated. Aside from fish, you had everything else you really needed, so it was a sound decision.

Once the ship was docked again it was decided who would go with Luffy. You turned down the opportunity, admitting that you had already caused enough problems on the island, but also you weren't quite solid enough to keep pace with those that were going.

Luffy, Sanji, Brook, and Franky were not going to be easy to keep up with, and if you exhausted your haki you were just going to be a burden. Besides, all you really wanted to do was walk through the forest that was painted by the season. Usopp and Chopper offered to come along with you, and you accepted the company, and so the next day that's exactly what you did.

"You two are well-versed in plants, but for different reasons." You muse as the two have stopped yet again to talk about some moss or fungus or herb or flower. You were in no rush, and didn't mind the stops, but they had already pointed out so much that it was over-crowding your brain.

Knights were educated in Winternight, but a well-educated knight in your world was an under-educated swordsman in this world. Only because most of your education didn't translate to this world in the slightest. The only thing you found that was the same as you were used to was salt, but then Sanji had given you some "special salt" and you were almost back to square one.

You were just glad the food didn't make you sick, and that there wasn't a language barrier to deal with on top of it all.

"Yeah, there's a decent amount of overlap," Usopp answers you as he points something out to Chopper. "But I cultivate for tactical support, and Chopper cultivates for medical support."

"You're both so dedicated and talented, the crew is lucky to have you." You lean down as you offer your praise, and get the expected reactions. Usopp awkwardly accepts it, and Chopper insists he isn't happy to hear it at all. They're cute. Both unaware of their full worth, but cute.

Something tickles the back of your neck and you stand up and reach out with your haki. You do so as casually as you can, not wanting to worry either of them, but after a moment you realize whose presence you're feeling.

You tap Usopp and point. "I'm going to head over there. I won't be too far away – take your time catching up, there's just something I want to see."

"Sure, we'll catch up." Usopp nods after seeing which way you were pointing. Between his skill at observation haki and Chopper's sense of smell they would've found you no matter what, but it seemed better to let them know instead of just wandering off.

You walk through the forest, enjoying the quiet and the crisp air, making your way to the source of what you were feeling slowly. You didn't want to disturb him, but you were curious. Aside from lifting weights, Zoro didn't do much training on the ship. He meditated, probably working on his haki in a way similar to what Jinbei had taught you, but you hadn't really seen him fight.

The tussle with Smoker and Tashigi hadn't been a full fight. You wondered if you'd ever get to see him go all out, and at the same time you hopped you never would. His countenance was already so severe and fierce even when he was at rest, that you feared you wouldn't be able to stand up if he wasn't holding back at all.

You came to the edge of the clearing and saw him, holding three swords. Your eyes widen a little, you wouldn't have been surprised to see him dual-wielding, since he carried three swords, but you had always assumed the 3rd was either a ceremonial piece, or a spare blade. Instead, it seemed, he had a style of fighting that utilized all three.

The sword in his mouth should be ridiculous. It should be completely worthless and tactically useless. It made your teeth and jaw ache just to see him like that, but the way he stood – the way he moved – the flow of energy that came from him, there was nothing worthless about it. It defied all you knew of swordsmanship and combat, but much of this world had redefined how you saw combat.

His movements when he wasn't off-balance – whatever or whoever Tashigi was to him, you didn't know and it didn't matter, she wasn't here and his movements were like water. Still and calm water, crystal clear and smooth as glass. Small shivers and trembles here and there – places were improvements could still be made, but nearly flawless. The weight of each movement, the ease with which he did it, the soundlessness of his movements even as he moved among the dry leaves.

How could you have associated such beauty to a demon?

You don't know how long you watched him, it could've been hours, you would've stood there for days. The soft shift of fabric, the shimmer of sweat, the glimmer of those three earrings in the cool light. It was a dance for the gods, a pinnacle you had neither believed existed nor even considered traveling. It was all the seasons – no, all the worlds. He was aware of worlds within the space of his swords.

This was the knight that knelt at the feet of the King. The King of Pirates, the King of something. Demons wasn't right, but there was something there, and both titles felt so absolute and irrefutable.

Your haki lurched, twisting in you almost painfully and you nearly shattered your teeth to keep yourself silent against the strangely painful sensation. Turning your back to the clearing you leaned against a tree and steadied your breathing. Haki was the wrong word, something in your core lurched, and haki was throughout the body. Your mana core didn't exist in this world, but the sensation of an overload was what that had felt like. It was unsettling to feel in this world, especially after so long.

You saw Chopper and Usopp coming toward you and walked over to them. The non-existent core twisted in you again and this time it buckled your legs. You didn't cry out, but Chopper and Usopp did.

"(Y/N)!" Usopp moved faster than you expected and kept you from falling into the dirt.

"D-Doctor! We need a doctor! Wait – that's me! (Y/N) are you okay?"

You shake your head, pushing Usopp away as something lurches through your body again, bucking your muscles, and pulling a grunt of frustration from you. It's almost like your body needs to vomit, but something in you tells you that if you give into the urge it'll be bad. Not just for you, but for the two near you.

"Get," you slam a fist into the ground. "Away!"

Usopp and Chopper look at you in concern and both move toward you. You shake your head and swipe your arm through the air to push them back. "Please! Go to -," You feel an oppressive aura pushing back against your body. It's like a weighted net, pushing you down and helping you, falling over you so forcefully you're nearly pushed into the dirt.

"Zoro!" You hear Usopp and Chopper exclaim in unison.

"What's wrong?" He asks, and you can feel the question is directed at you.

You shake your head. "Don't... know." You growl, but there's less struggle in you. "That helps."

After a few long minutes the strange and painful sensation passes and you let yourself lay in the dirt, holding a thumbs up over your head as Zoro eases off whatever it was he was doing. You're covered in sweat, dirt and leaf litter as you roll onto your back, catching your breath while Chopper fusses over you.

"I'm fine little forest spirit," you say with a smile. "I don't know what that was, but I'm fine now. Just a little tired."

"It wasn't another portal, was it?" Zoro questions.

You shake your head. "The pull of winter magic doesn't feel like that, or, at least, it didn't feel like that last time. If that was another portal it wouldn't have mattered, I couldn't move, but it felt like it was coming from inside me." You take a few deep breaths and sit up. "Anyone trying to bring me back home wouldn't risk ripping my body apart to do it."

You dust yourself off and stand up, patting Chopper on the head with a smile to reassure him.

"I promise, I feel much better now." You look over at Zoro and look away. "Ah, sorry for interrupting your training. I'll, uh, I mean I'm going to go back to the ship."

You're really trying to not actually run away from him, but suddenly Zoro was just too close. Chopper followed after you, but Usopp stayed to make sure Zoro got back to the ship. You didn't ask why Zoro would need Usopp to protect him, but maybe he was going to train so much he'd be too tired to get back on his own. You couldn't bring yourself to ask because that would mean turning back toward the both of them.

"You certainly seem to have plenty of energy!" Chopper beams, having changed into his faster form to keep pace with you. You hadn't even realized how quickly you were walking.

"Oh, my apologies. I was... lost in thought, it seems." You admit sheepishly.

"It's fine, I'm just glad you're not struggling to walk."

"No, not struggling to walk." You let out a concerned sigh. "Struggling to think maybe."

"Does your head hurt?"

"Enh... No, there's just a lot swirling around in here." You say, pointing to your chest.

"You... heart hurts?"

You flinch. "Oh, no, I mean... ah, I mean emotional turmoil, Chopper. I-I mean it's been, you know, a bit of an ordeal. But I'm fine! I'm fine. Don't worry." You say hastily and watch as the young doctor's face brightens. You weren't exactly lying, and quite frankly, you weren't entirely sure you wanted to acknowledge the truth anyway.

You were going to get back home someday.

He had said so, after all.

A/N - I got D&D today, and a DMV trip tomorrow ( T-T I detest adulting) so I might not update for a couple days, but I know what I want the next three chapters to do, so I'll be back through those quickly ^_^ ♥