The air of Sabody felt different than before—heavier somehow, as if the island itself remembered the blood spilled and the lives lost in the two years since Marineford. The bubbles drifted lazily around the mangrove roots, catching glints of sunlight like little glass ghosts.
You stood near the coated ship, arms crossed, crimson coat brushing against your legs as the breeze tugged at it. The whispers of onlookers followed you like shadows. The Crimson Witch. The Chaos Empress. Titles you never asked for, but ones the world had written in the wake of Ace’s passing.
Your brother’s absence pressed on you like a weight that never lifted. Two years, and the ache hadn’t dulled—only sharpened, twisting into something darker. The Chaos-Chaos Fruit thrummed in your veins even now, restless, feeding off your grief, your anger, your yearning. You had trained, learned to bend it rather than break beneath it. But some days… the line between control and collapse felt thinner than a sword’s edge.
And then, a familiar voice cut through the tide of noise.
“Oi.”
Zoro’s tone was rough, steady, just like you remembered. He stood there, swords at his hip, green hair tied back, a scar now slashing across the bridge of his eye. Time had carved him sharper, deadlier, but the look in his single visible eye softened when it landed on you.
“Two years,” you said quietly, your lips twitching toward a smirk despite yourself. “You didn’t get lost on the way here, did you?”
“Tch. Funny,” he muttered, though the corner of his mouth curved. He stepped closer, until the bubbles reflected off his swords and the scent of steel and sea clung to the space between you.
His gaze lingered, sharp enough to cut through the façade you wore for everyone else. Zoro had always seen through you—ever since that day in Shells Town when you and Luffy had cut him free and dared him to live.
For the first time in two years, the chaos inside you felt… quieter.
And for the first time since Ace’s passing, you weren’t sure if that scared you more than the storm.
A shout broke the moment.
“SIS!”
Your head snapped toward the familiar voice, and there he was—your little brother, straw hat tilted back, grinning like no time had passed at all. Luffy barreled toward you, arms wide. The force of his hug nearly knocked the air from your lungs, his laughter ringing out like sunlight through storm clouds.
“Shishishi! You’re still scary!” Luffy declared, pulling back just enough to grin up at you. His eyes, though, carried something gentler—relief. The kind that made your throat tighten.
One by one, the crew filtered into view. Nami waved, a smile tugging at her lips as her eyes shimmered just slightly. Usopp was already yelling something about how much stronger he’d gotten, puffing his chest out proudly. Brook’s “Yohohoho!” filled the air, and even Franky’s booming “SUPER!” carried warmth.
Sanji nearly choked on his cigarette when he saw you, dropping into his usual dramatics. “My sweet crimson goddess! Two years apart has only made your beauty more radiant—!”
Nami promptly smacked him.
The crew gathered around, voices overlapping, laughter mixing with the bubbling air. Yet even in the middle of the reunion, Zoro hadn’t moved far from your side. His presence was steady, grounding, like a sword sheathed at your hip.
Luffy threw his arms around both you and Zoro, dragging you into a half-crushing embrace. “We’re back together! All of us! The crew’s whole again!”
For a moment, you let yourself believe it—that the hole Ace left in you could be patched by this makeshift family, that the chaos in your veins didn’t have to define you.
But as the crowd whispered and stared—The Crimson Witch, alive. The Straw Hats, reborn.—you felt the world’s eyes tightening around you again.