Stand Alone Castle

Author name: Diagon Alley (1/1)

Category: Romance

Keywords: Zoro, Perona, Mihawk,

Spoilers: During Timeskip

Rating: M- Some Sexual Content, Language

Summary: Perona reflects on her time with Zoro. Zoro-Perona. OneShot. Timeskip.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Oda, Eiichiro

Author's Note and Things to Know: Not Beta'd…Sorry if there are mistakes. Takes Place During the timeskip.

Kuraigana was in sight, the island that she had called home for the last two years. Mihawk would want to know what happened on Sabaody Archipelago. She was suppose to have just dropped off the stupid swordsman then left, but had found she couldn't until he was safely aboard his ship with his crew. So she had loitered around the cape to see the idiot get lost….again, but when the commotion sprung up, she knew it was at the very least partially his doing and joined the fray, giving him a chance to leave with his crew. So after two weeks she had set off from island.

Perona sighed, as much of a brute as he was, she would miss Zoro. Part of her ached to follow him into the new world, but she knew her chances of seeing him again rest in Mihawk. Since the Warlord was still the swordsman's goal.

By the time Zoro had appeared on the island, she been alone for nearly three weeks. Part of her had wanted to leave him there, covered in blood and bruises, but she had been alone and it had been terrible. So she took him into the only standing building on the island, a huge castle standing over all the ruined buildings of the past.

So she had bandaged him up and hidden his swords. Just because she didn't want to be alone didn't mean she was dumb enough to give him opportunity to attack her. So she had watched over him as he slept soundly. When he had awakened, he had startled so much she had used a hallow against him, in his weakened stated he just simply fallen asleep again.

The next time Zoro had woken up, she had wrapped him up in so many bandages to look like Bearsy. She missed that stupid bear, but like former underling, he ruined the cuteness by opening his stupid mouth. He meant to leave then, but as injured as he was, she was able to keep him with her hallows.

Perona knew, she should have realized a kept house, stocked with food and bandages, would be occupied by someone, but hadn't crossed her mind until Mihawk had appeared days later. His arrival had not only distressed the swordsman, but her. So while Zoro struggled to get off the island protected now by an army of monkeys, Mihawk gave her the current newspaper.

Even though Mihawk had stated he had seen Moria alive at the battle. The unease she felt told he was probably as dead as the paper had reported. The next morning another paper arrived, this one also held news of Straw-Hat. Perona had rushed out towards the shore to show the green-haired idiot. She had found him resting on some ruins, bleeding again.

She had shown, well held the paper, the ingrate the news. She was surprised on how shocked he had been. He had immediately stood up, walked away from the shore that was so close, and proceeded to beat down everyone one of the apes that he had struggled with just before.

She retreated to the castle and listened quietly as he begged the Warlord to take him under his wing. When she was order to take care of his wounds, she had protested but did it anyways.

After setting his wounds, he explained his sudden change in behavior. His captain had set out a decree; they would meet up in two years time. Zoro, of course, knew this also meant, become stronger. Perona knew he would want that regardless though.

It was nearly a month before Mihawk declared Zoro's wounds fully healed, despite the younger swordsmen insisting he was better much sooner. Mihawk though, was known for his keen sight, had known what Zoro really needed. A week before he had been declared fit, several different types of weights and training gear had arrived, with the normal food shipment the Warlord had delivered.

Perona had found herself also gifted from Mihawk's insight. The morning Mihawk allowed Zoro to start training; both of them had received a surprise. For Zoro, the Warlord had changed the swordsman adjoining room in to a workout facility, with all the new weights that had been delivered.

For Perona, she had received a new wardrobe as well as several basic medical books had been set out. This had at first annoyed her, Hawkeye just assuming she had to continue her care of the swordsman, but as the two started to train, she could not help herself. Part of her hated to see the idiot come back each night covered in bruises and blood.

So the three of them developed a rhythm around each other, Zoro would wake before the sun and start the morning by running laps around the island and weight training, breakfast, training with Mihawk through the day (often skipping lunch). After he would bath, treat his wounds, dinner, then sleep.

Perona would sleep until breakfast, and then while the boys were out in the courtyard, she would read up on stitching sutures, setting breaks, and cleaning wounds. Though they never asked her, she had fallen into the pattern of drawing the bath for both the men, and when Zoro got out tending to his wounds.

It took several weeks, before she had even admitted to herself that tending to the swordsman was her favorite part of the day. Despite the fact he was crass, vulgar, and they argued about most things, she enjoyed telling him stories while bandaging him. Sometimes he would berate her for doing something stupid in the past, sometimes he would sleep through her stories, but most of the time he would just listen and grunt in the right places.

After dinner, he would retreat to his room to sleep, and she would retreat to the room she had set up to practice in. She would practice stitching and bandaging on the cow and pig meat brought in, though she would never admit to it, mostly because it was not cute at all to be doing.

Mihawk, somehow survived on never sleeping, Perona had decided. Zoro during one night of patching him up, had said Mihawk was always up before him, and Perona was sure he was always up later than her. If he wasn't training with Zoro or eating, he was simply reading in his study.

It was after a time that Perona caught herself telling the swordsman more on her personal feelings. Things like she missed Bearsy, and would even take him if he was talking. The things she had like and disliked about Moria's company. Her childhood, during those times Zoro would hardly talk, he would simply listen.

Perona could remember the first night she ended up in his room. She had been dreaming and woken up in a cold sweat terrified. Maybe it was because he was so strong, or maybe it was because he never made fun of her terrors when they talked, but she had instinctively made her way to his chamber.

Once she had opened his door she had realized how foolish she was being, but before she could leave again, he spoke.

"What's wrong, Perona?" It had startled her, he was still lying on side, he hadn't even moved from his position, but he had been aware of who was at his door. She could only assume this was a result from his training. Before she could answer him, he spoke again.

"Just come lay down if you are going to hover." She knew he had not meant it suggestively, he was very good at reading her mood while they were talking, she assumed this was same now. So she simply climbed into his large bed, though was laying as far from him as possible. She was sure he didn't sleep that night, she however, had drifted back into dreams quickly.

This too eventually became routine. The nights she would wake up shaking, she would simply join him in his bed, eventually he stopped waking up to her entering, or at least stopped letting her know he was awake.

They never spoke of her doing this though. She might have if he had brought it up first, but he never did. Perona had assumed he probably was waiting for her to say something as well.

It was a little over a year of living at the ruins of the Shikkearu Kingdom that their relationship changed. It was the day the idiot had lost his eye.

Perona usually made it a point of never watching the training between the two swordsmen. Watching it always gave her an uneasy feeling, she always assume it was because of how terrify each man had the potential of being. They two barely made noise and were so fast she had a hard time tracking them anyways. It was only the sounds of their swords clashing that she was able to catch their movements from time to time. It also was not hard to garner that despite the growth in skill Zoro had in the first year he was till nowhere near the level the Warlord was at.

So that day, when she had gone outside to practice with her exploding hallows it had scared her more than any other day of their training ever had or would. For two people who made very little noise normally, to have Zoro yell out as he did followed by the clatter of swords, caused Perona to lose her concentration completely.

The green-hair swordsmen had dropped to his knees, with his hand to his face. As he pulled his hand away, she could see the incredible amount of blood that he was losing. She felt rather then consciously ran towards him, she must have also shouted because when he spoke he cut across her as if his words were one of his swords.

"Stay back Perona. We are not done yet."

She froze.

"You idiot, I need to t…" but he cut her off.

"Enough. You can treat this later we are done this evening like we do every other wound." With that he picked up his swords and the sparring continued as if nothing had happened. Part of her wanted to scream at Mihawk for allowing the idiot to continue and for not being more careful. Perona had however held her tongue; it wouldn't have served to help the situation. She had known it would only have infuriated the younger swordsman and hurt his pride.

It was then in her anger and frustration that she realized she had become attached to the idiot. Cursing under her breath she had retreated to her room and had sat in the bath until the water was cold.

When she got out, she could no longer he the clangs of swords below her window. That night was the only night she did not draw a bath for the two men she was living with. Afraid that the swordsman and tried to tried his own wounds because of that, she rushed towards his room. In her hurry she had not tied her hair up and left her sanctuary only wearing a night gown.

When she burst into Zoro's room she found that while he had bathed, he had not addressed his wounds. He was simply sitting next to his bed with a towel held to face.

"You ass." She didn't mean it, but couldn't help the words that came out as she set to work cleaning the smaller wound first, leaving his face for last.

"I wasn't sure you were going to come." He grunted out, his uncovered eye watching her as she scowled.

She rewarded the comment by tugging a bit too hard to the bandage on his arm. He winced but laughed at her reaction.

When she finally came to his face, it was her turn to wince. The cut was from his brow down across his eye and to his cheek bone. The area around the cut was swollen that she couldn't see his eye.

"I have to see if he got your eye, try to stay still." She tried to keep her voice even, but she was nervous. She knew without having to look it had gotten his eye, the cut was clear to the bone near his cheek. There was no way she would be able to heal a cut eye.

She parted the swollen area to look at his eye, as a whole it was intact, but there was a strange glassiness over it.

"Can you see me through it?" She questioned letting the area go, and starting on disinfecting the wound.

"I can tell shapes with it, but not distinctions." His voice didn't belay the pain she was sure he was in. She hissed in response and he laughed roughly. It wasn't until she had finished stitching the wound that either of them spoke again.

"If you do something this stupid again, I will not fix it." It was as she opened the door that he responded.

"Perona, it is only an eye, it's not like I am critically wounded. Besides, even with only one left I can tell you look much better with your hair down instead of up in those stupid pig tails." He wasn't looking at her when he said that though. He start turning down the bed for the evening instead.

She had chosen not to respond as her face heated up, and did not join them at dinner. That night she slept with no nightmare, and when she joined the two men for breakfast. She pretended to ignore the smirk that graced the green-hair idiot's face, just because she left her hair down.

A week later, she entered his room as she normally did before dinner, but he was nowhere to be found. Just when she moved to leave, he entered the room.

"Where were you? Is this how to thank someone that takes care of you?" She huffed, crossing her arms. He smirked and sat down.

"I had something to do." His words made Perona scowl. He could at least apologize. She tended to his wounds with a little more force then necessary that night, the whole while he smirked at her.

It wasn't until after dinner that she found out what he was doing. There on her bed was a bear. Sewn exactly how Bearsy had been. Alone in her room she had cried, it was almost identical to original toy Bearsy had been built like. If it wasn't for the fact the color was different on the stripped parts she would have thought he had gotten the original back from Thriller Bark for her.

That night she had slipped into his bed carry her new present. She whispered, a soft thank you, and fell asleep. It was the first night she came to his bed without having a nightmare first.

The next morning when she set the bear in the seat next to her for breakfast, Mihawk just sighed. And in the evening after patching up Zoro's daily wounds, he surprised her again.

"There is no point in going to your bedroom, if you are just going to end up here." He didn't even give her a chance to respond, before walking out and down to dinner. Perona wasn't sure he really needed to, because after dinner she changed in her room and went back to his once she had finished her training that evening. Zoro was already there turned away from the door as he always was, so she slipped as if she would normally and fell asleep.

Six months from the two year deadline, Zoro succeeded in finally marking the elder swordsman. He had been energetic almost giddy when she entered his room to clean his wounds. She was caught off guard by him crossing the room and smashing his mouth against hers.

Perona had frozen. Part of her had want to yell at him, but the part that grown attached to him won out and she relaxed and kissed him back. He tasted of blood and sake, but these where the things she related with him anyways.

It wasn't as if she had never thought about this, she just kept it from her mind most of the time. After that it was all instinct. Clothing was ripped and tossed aside. He lied down and brought her on top of him, but it was still his arms that moved her body. He completely set the pace as she rode him.

It was well after dinner that they stopped. She gave only a parting thought to what Mihawk would think, but she was sure his keen eyes had seen this as only something that would happen anyways.

Once they both cleaned themselves again, she set to handling the wounds from the day. After Zoro went to sleep and she made her way out of the room briefly to practice, before returning to sleep.

After that day, while it wasn't every day they came together they did so often. Some days it would be after training like the first, other days he would roll over when she got in bed from her own practices, and on a few rare occasions he would wake her up early before breakfast.

Perona was glad that even though they were having sex with each other that it did not change the way he treated her. She enjoyed his gruff demeanor, and they still argued and yelled at each other.

A month before Zoro was suppose to meet his crew. Mihawk proclaimed Zoro's training to be complete. There was nothing more the Warlord could teach him in the time they had left. He had explained that it would be four day journey to Sabaody Archipelago, with an Eternal Pose. He gave one to each of them, the one to the Straw-Hat's meeting spot and the other for the island he was on, and while he didn't say she could return. She understood it meant it was up to her.

Perona was sure she would return though. He allowed her to live in his home, fed her, clothed her. It was not like he had to or did not have enough power to throw her out. With Moria gone, she would stand by Mihawk until he told her to leave. He had become like a father to her in the past two years.

She sighed again, and as she walked through the castle doors, it was dinner time. As she entered the dining room, she found her normal spot set at the table. She ignored the empty spot that was screaming at her.

"He's fine. The idiot was playing with the Pacifista's at Sabaody Archipelago. He and the rest of the Straw Hats are headed to Fishman Island."

"As expected," The Warlord commented, before returning to his meal. It wasn't until she had gotten up to leave that he spoke again.

"You will see him again. He wants my head after all." Then he laughed, just as he did when Zoro had asked him to be his teacher. Perona didn't reply, because he was right.

That night when she fell asleep, she wondered how long before Mihawk would want to set out to the new world too, before falling asleep in the swordman's bed as she always did.

Fin