A/N - Look. I know what I said like... 6 hours ago. But here we are. (and I still have D&D).

You found it difficult to be in the same space as Zoro unless there were other people around. Meals were fine, working together to deal with ship problems was fine, but when Nami sent the two of you to get provisions while you were waiting for the Luffy group to return you had dragged Chopper along with you. If you hadn't already known that Chopper had been born a reindeer you would've assumed he and Zoro to actually be brothers. The arrangement worked out well, Chopper talked to Zoro, Zoro talked to Chopper, and Chopper talked to you. Zoro wasn't one to prompt conversation, so you could use the communication skills you had as a knight.

You could talk to who you wanted, while including the person you didn't want to focus on. It was a court etiquette thing. You weren't well-versed at it, since knights were often only spoken to when they had achieved something worth notice from nobles, but you had ample enough practice. In this way you could talk to Chopper, include Zoro, and never actually talk to Zoro.

It was hard enough just to see him after that day.

He could've been a legendary knight on your world, just from his basic skills and force of will alone. It wouldn't have mattered what his aptitude in magic was, and if haki was any kind of true indicator he would've truly been a magic knight, and not just a knight who uses magic.

Five days came and went, and Luffy, Sanji, Brook and Franky returned from their trip. They had returned with baubles, treasures, stories and more clues about the One Piece. They had been through quite the ordeal, and were equal parts exhausted and banged up, so it was decided the ship would stay on the island for another day or two while everyone recovered. The ship needed to go back through the rough currents again, no matter how they left the island, so it was best to at least give everyone a breather first.

You had asked Nami if it was okay for the ship to return to the first port. It had been a few days and you were curious what had happened. The smaller fishing town you had been in the last few days had spoken about good news, but it was hard to parse from the locals if it was good news for the townsfolk, or good news for the crown. You had assumed for the former, since there was no army of Marines trolling the smaller town for recruits to crush a rebellion, but you wanted to be sure.

You put powder in your hair to the change the color, and let Robin and Nami pick out clothes for you and put on makeup. The only thing you wouldn't budge on was carrying your sword, but you did want to look as different as you could. Of the entire crew you were the one who had become the most recognizable in the small town, so the steps seemed necessary enough. Usually you pinned your hair back to keep it out of the way, but you left it down now as well.

"That's quite the transformation!" Chopper beams as you come out. "I wouldn't know it was you if you didn't smell right."

Animals and scents, okay that makes sense. "Aw, thank you Chopper."

"A proper gentlemen would recognize you." Sanji says, but you can see him looking away as he lights a cigarette.

"Then I hope I don't run into any while we're out." You laugh. "I don't want someone to recognize me."

"We'll be back shortly," Nami says as the three of you leave. "We can grab a couple more provisions while we're out, if it's safe to do so."

It didn't take long to realize the town was almost completely transformed in the last few days. There was more color in the people already, and a lot of people were wearing swords on their hips just like you. Which certainly helped you blend in. There was sound and chatter among the people and fliers were plastered in places all around town – there was to be a series of meetings to decide how the island was to be ruled going forward.

There was someone in the position of king, but from the murmurings on the street it was more to keep up the pretense of everything being okay, should the government or marines arrive unexpectedly.

Well, sink or swim, at least they had taken the opportunity provided to them, and that in and of itself was heartwarming enough. More importantly than that, there weren't any wanted posters with your face plastered all over the place, so you felt yourself relax a little.

After explaining your plan, you left Nami and Robin to do some shopping while you made your way to the scaffold. You promised to carry everything back to the ship, you just wanted to see what had – or hadn't – happened with the space in the last couple of days. All three of you going might draw attention, but on your own you could blend in better.

When you arrived at the town square you were relieved to see that the scaffolding hadn't been rebuilt, but you noticed that people were stopping by a spot and leaving behind trinkets and flowers. You walked over carefully, being mindful to not bother anyone, and when you saw what was going on you had to struggle to keep from reacting outwardly.

There was a heavy axe set against a sword that had been driven into the ground, a sign hanging from the hilt of the sword with a steady flowing script gracing the smooth planks of wood. The flowers and trinkets were gathered around it, and you were certain that something more permanent was going to take its place eventually.

The words on the sign drove home just how loud you could be when you wanted, because the sign read:

I Set My Knightage At The Feet Of My Lord
And Challenge You As A Pirate.

"Arara," came an even voice next to you. You nearly flinched, you hadn't noticed the man approach you, but something about him was comforting. "That's quite the statement for them to memorialize."

"They say that good words make weak men angry," you say, looking up – and up – to the tall man standing by you. He wore round glasses, and muted clothes. Most notably he had a dark green long jacket and a cap over fluffy curly hair. There were hints of bad burn scars on his skin, and something else that caught your attention. "You smell like winter rolling off the mountaintops."

Like winter magic.

"I've never had someone tell me that. I hope it's not unpleasant?"

You shake your head. "Reminds me of home, honestly." You admit, leaning down and setting down the biggest belly coin you have on you by the shrine. "Are you from a winter country?"

"Arara... no, my home island was fairly temperate."

Island. Well, not someone from your world.

"Thank you for the memories then, good sir." You say, disappointment dragging your mood down a little as you turn away.

You hadn't felt him approach you, but you felt his hand reaching for you as you stepped away. You shifted to the side and turned to look at him crossly. It was hard to read his face with those glasses over his eyes, but something about him was sharp. It wasn't like having a knife at your throat, it was like having spikes all around you.

"Forgive me, I just thought it was interesting that you would leave a token at your monument." He says evenly, and you feel the chill slip down your back. "Giving luck to yourself, or to the island?"

You risked a step back. "For the island."

"So honest, I expected you to disagree with me. Is it part of a knight's oath to always be honest?"

The feeling of spikes surrounding you was getting tighter, but if you ran this man would win. You could tell. Maybe it was the haki training, maybe it was just instinct. You wanted to keep him talking, but if you stalled for too long, Robin and Nami would be caught up in things.

You kept your gaze on him, even if you couldn't easily see his eyes through the glasses. "What's your name?"

"Gigantesco Mano!" You heard Robin's voice and suddenly a giant pair of legs sprout up from the ground between you and the mystery man. "Stomp!" You can hear the shattering sound of ice even if you can't see what's happening.

You take advantage of the distraction and run toward Nami and Robin. You stand in front of the two of them and pull out your sword, as the shattering of ice from Robin's attack reforms and becomes the mysterious man again. So, it was a devil fruit like Smoker's, though this man felt far more dangerous.

"Aokiji!" You hear Nami gasp, and you recognize the name.

"The Marine who is not anymore."

"My name is Kuzan," he says as he reforms completely. "It's correct I'm not a marine anymore, but 250 million belly makes me curious. Only Alive made me even more curious, so I wanted to see for myself. I'm not here to collect, I'm just here to talk."

"I refuse." You answer firmly.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask." He speaks lazily, as though he's not even legitimately curious.

You shake your head. "Irrelevant. I have made up my mind regarding the marines of this world, and I don't care if you've quit, resigned, gone undercover, or got kicked out."

"Arara, 'of this world'." He says, and you can feel the tension pull tight in the air. There have been townsfolk who had idled nearby when there was a commotion, but now they seemed stuck in place from the heavy feeling in the air. "Then you truly are from another world."

You berated yourself internally but kept your guard up. You decided not to say anything more, and instead focused on your haki.

"Nami, go." You were going to need those who could hit heavier than you and Robin, and Nami was the fastest among the three of you. She understood well enough and ran.

When Nami moved, he moved, you moved and Robin moved. It was an explosive flurry of activity.

Kuzan didn't reach Nami, but Robin wasn't able to hold him back entirely. Her limbs turned to petals, shattering away into nothing as she shivered and clutched her cold arms to herself. You were in front of him sword buried in a shield of ice, rime frost covered your arms, and heavy blocks of ice were almost swallowing your feet.

Without Robin's aid you wouldn't have been fast enough.

"If this is how it will go, I'll just have to freeze you and go somewhere we can talk."

You weren't cold, but your limbs were stiff from the strange power of his devil fruit. Your sword was also stuck in the block of ice he was using as a shield. You couldn't pull it loose so you let go and moved back – or tried to.

Kuzan was faster than you, and much faster when you were sluggish like this. His hand grabs you and you feel the ice sink into your body. You weren't cold, but you were stuck. The ice was stuck to you, and it was pulsing with haki, it was almost impossible to move, it was hard to breathe. You had been effectively entombed.

A move like this could easily kill anyone else, but being cursed was only a small help. You calmed yourself, if you wasted what little air there was, you'd really be lost. After a moment though, you realized the haki was fading from the ice. It made sense, anyone else would be frozen to their core from such a move, there was no need to keep haki running through the ice.

You ran haki through your own body and forced yourself to move against the hard ice. The ice around you shattered and you stumbled a couple steps forward. You noticed your sword on the ground in front of you and picked it up before turning to see a very surprised look on Kuzan's face and a smile on Robin's face. From the looks of it he had needed to deal with Robin before he could leave safely with you.

She was stronger than you thought.

"We're kind of a bad match." You admit, leveling your sword at him again. "Would that I had your speed and experience, this would be my win easily."

"Arara."

"So... you can't catch me, and even if you could I'm not going to tell you anything, so... just leave." You say, almost laughing at the futility of your request. You can't best this man, and you have no idea if the crew can, should he decide to go all out. Frankly, you didn't want to know.

"Why pirates?" He asks you.

The question takes you aback a little. "What?"

"You're a knight. Why are you traveling with pirates? Why run from the marines? Garp's the hero of the people, of all the marines as a knight you should've been drawn to him." Kuzan questions, taking a step toward you. "So why travel with pirates?"

"They're not just pirates. You can see that right? I've not been on this world for two weeks and I can see it, so surely you have. That other marine has, I could see it in his face. And why not them? Your marines are rotten!" You spit, as though you have summoned the name of the Arundel. "I've seen it with my own eyes. I've felt it in the shifting of the seas. I see it in the hearts of that crew!"

You narrow your eyes at Kuzan even though you can sense turmoil from him. "If your government wasn't rotten to the core, they would not have become pirates."

"They could change this world in different ways."

"You cannot save a ship that is sinking from rotten wood." You assert. "They're changing this world the only way they have left."

"How can you say such a thing when you're not even from this world? How can you be so sure?"

You sheath your sword and stand up straight. "I heard words when I arrived that were so indisputable I had no other choice but to believe them. It had nothing to do with what I said when I arrived, which I'm sure you're aware of, since you know what you know."

Kuzan tilts his head a little. "What did you hear?"

"I'm going to become the King of Pirates." You say, repeating the words Luffy had said to you days ago. "Monkey D. Luffy is going to become – hurk!" The twisting feeling from the other day tore through you again. It was something inside you, and it was going to get out this time, you couldn't hope to stop it. "Robin! Run!"

The memory reaches you as you lose control.

Prophecy.

This was the feeling that brought you to the Red Line.

Bright light exploded from you, shooting up into the endless sky and searing the immediate area around you. Words came from you as you were lifted into the air. You said none of them, but they spilled from you regardless.

"Gol D. Roger, first of the Kings, from him to the next, inheritor of the will is in the heart and soul of Monkey D. Luffy, second of the Kings. The light of the second King will sear the shadows of the world, causing the seas to swell in bounty."

So you say, again and again, over and over. There is no threat from those around you, there is nothing to spur you to flee. The power of the words roil within you, the strength of the prophecy has battered your body and blood drips on the ground beneath your feet.

You can hear someone yelling for you. You want to respond, but winter magic is deep in your soul, after more than a decade of use, and you are incased in a solid pillar of ice as you recede into the deep, dark, impenetrable healing sleep.