Zoro was still in a daze as the dying flames licked the barren ground, desperate for sustenance.

The final battle had barely lasted five minutes. The remaining members of the Yonko, the World Government, the Revolutionary Army and the Straw Hat pirates and their allies. They had clashed on the island of Hitsuzen, it had been a jungle island only a day or two away from Raftel.

Past tense.

The explosive power of the showdown between the strongest parties in the New World had quickly reduced the island down into rubble and ash. Any semblance of beauty gone.

Zoro had faced off against the blind Admiral Fujitora and Mihawk. The fight had lasted two minutes. Zoro had sliced Fujitora's neck open a minute into the battle. The last minute had been a deadly dance of steel against his teacher and life goal. The fight had been intense and they had seemed to be evenly matched.

Seemed to be.

Mihawk had stabbed him through the chest with his Black Blade, Yoru, before moving on. Helpless, Zoro was forced to lie down and watch as a four way battle had erupted between Shanks, Blackbeard, Akainu and his captain. Shanks killed Blackbeard in thirty seconds, the Yonko deftly maneuvering through Teach's sky-shattering blows. Akainu had then killed Shanks from behind, swallowing the red-haired pirate with a tidal wave of burning magma.

Luffy's screams of anguish still rang through his ears.

Luffy had fought valiantly for the remainder of the battle, pushing himself past his limits over and over. Hell, towards the end Dragon, having killed Kaido and the majority of the Pacifistas designed from Kuma, had jumped in to help.

In the end, it was futile. A bloody and bruised Akainu had smashed his Haki-infused fist through Luffy's chest and the smell of burning rubber in the air had been thick. Zoro doubted he would ever forget the feeling of it in his nostrils and in the back of his throat. Dragon had killed Akainu soon after, suplexing the Fleet Admiral so far into the ground that they had ended up underwater.

The battle ended with Dragon and Luffy's brother Sabo fighting Kong, the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government. Kong had grabbed Dragon by the head and squashed it like a fruit, blood and grey brain matter splattering everywhere. Sabo had struck the fatal blow while Kong was still holding Dragon's corpse. Kong and Dragon's remains had been burned to ash by the flames intensity.

From the moments the first shots were fired to the moment Sabo ended the battle, it had lasted five minutes and fifty four seconds. It all felt so fucking useless...he just felt like letting go of all his frustrations and drifting away…

….

NO!

With a shudder, Zoro clenched his fists hard enough to draw blood. If he fell asleep he would die from his wounds. The swordsman commanded his blood-soaked body to move and he slowly forced himself to his knees. He ignored the paroxysms of pain sweeping through his body and his screaming muscles and nerve endings and activated his Observation Haki. There had to be other survivors.

Laughter spewed from Zoro's blood-caked lips as he counted the survivors. Two survivors besides him and, honestly, he wasn't sure he even counted. Two. Zoro reopened his eye and found Mihawk staring down at him. The World's Greatest Swordsman looked down at him, Yoru's shattered hilt in his right hand and a large chunk in his left shoulder where his left arm should have begun. A large pool of sticky sanguine liquid was already forming around Mihawk's boots.

Zoro grabbed Wado Ichimonji from where he had discarded it when he fell, Shunsui and Sandai Kitetsu had been flung away into the ocean from the shockwaves of the titanic battles, and used its weight to pull himself to his feet. He wasn't going to bleed out with Mihawk looking down on him.

He was going to die standing upright. As the other swordsman equal. Zoro ordered his body to stop shaking like a leaf as he stopped leaning on his katana, this was a matter of pride. The two stared at each impassively as the seconds ticked by and their blood poured out. "Good fight," Zoro acknowledged.

Mihawk opened his mouth to respond when, suddenly, a stream of flames smashed into the master swordsman and sent him to his knees. Blood erupted from the Shichibukai's mouth as he turned to face his attacker.

"Fire Fist" Sabo stood there with his palm outstretched towards the duo. The new leader of the decimated Revolutionary Army strode forward, his face grim. "Hold still."

Mihawk tightened his grip on Yoru's hilt. "You're sadly mistaken if you think I'm going to just roll over and die," he snarled.

Sabo sent out another column of fire that plowed into Mihawk's side. The swordsman gasped and fell to one knee. Sabo reached over and grabbed Mihawk's face with his right hand, Haki coating the ends of his fingers, while his left hand went up to Mihawk's left shoulder. "I said hold still."

Sabo's odd behaviour finally clicked with Zoro as Sabo let out small, concentrated beams of fire onto Mihawk's wound. He was cauterizing it."Why?" The Shichibukai croaked.

"There's been too much death already."

A minute later, and with only a few muffled groans from Mihawk, and he was done. Sabo smacked his hands together and turned to face Zoro. "Do you want me to do you as well?"

Zoro glanced at the vertical slash in his chest that went all the way through. "Isn't that just buying time?"

Sabo nodded. "It'll only give you a small skin layer, I'd imagine you'd still die of internal bleeding soon after."

Zoro weighed the pros and cons in his head. He quickly came to his decision. "Do it."

Sabo nodded, the Logia user picked up Wado Ichimonji from the ground and handed it to the swordsman. "I'd bite down on that," he advised.

Zoro bit down on the white hilt. "I'm ready."

Sabo grunted. "Good luck.

A click of two fingers. Fire.

Pain.

The sun was setting when Zoro woke up. Someone had removed his green samurai coat and folded neatly behind him. Zoro tried to move and winced. He felt like Luffy had just fired a Gear Fourth Cavalry Cannon into his gut.

Luffy.

Everyone.

The green-haired man put his head in his hands and cried. The adrenaline from his injury and the shock from seeing Akainu murder Luffy had faded, leaving the sudden realization that he had failed them all and that he was alone.

Zoro slammed his forehead against the ground. "I'm sorry," he wept openly, "I failed you all."

Brook, Franky, Robin, Chopper, Sanji, Usopp, Nami...Luffy.

He'd failed every last one of them.

Zoro didn't know how long he had lain there on the ruined ground of Hitsuzen. Seconds? Minutes? An hour? Time no longer held meaning. But eventually the one-eyed pirate picked himself off the ground. There was something he still needed to do. He draped his coat across his shoulders and staggered forward.

He soon came across Sabo, busy digging a grave for his captain. "Stop," Zoro commanded.

Sabo turned to face him, disbelief and anger visible in his eyes. "What do you mean stop?"

Zoro picked up Luffy's corpse and draped the young man over his shoulder with a grunt. "I meant don't bury him."

Sabo's voice was cold when he spoke. "Give me one good reason to let you drag my little brother away."

Zoro's eye locked onto Sabo's. "I'm going to finish this. Luffy will set foot on Raftel." The swordsman swore.

Sabo's glare softened and and the blond ran a blood-stained hand through his scruffy hair. I-Thank you," the young man muttered, "he'd have liked that."

Zoro nodded and commanded his legs to move. "Do me a favour and bury the others." Zoro didn't turn back to see Sabo's response. He already knew.

"Wait."

Zoro turned his slowly dying body around to face the fireman. "Yeah?"

"He left this for you," Sabo announced, tossing something through the air. The setting sun reflected off the gold as Zoro raised his hand to catch it. He studied the cross pendant now nestled in his hands before putting it around his neck.

Once again, he set off. He walked at an uneven pace, fine one minute and then staggering the next. But eventually, as a crescent moon started to rise, he reached the Sunny.

Or what was left of it.

Zoro eyed the creaking and moaning behemoth skeptically. Was it even sea-worthy? Only one way to find out. He gently placed Luffy's body on the scorched grass before hauling himself up too. Large chunks were missing from the boat made from the mythical Adam Wood. Zoro pulled up the anchor and unfurled the plucked sails. Nami had mentioned Raftel was eastwards from Hitsuzen. The swordsman gripped the half-functioning rudder.

He'd be damned if his sense of direction led him astray here.

He couldn't deny it any longer. Roronoa Zoro was dying. His unresponsive body was draped across the rudder, too weak to even moan. His throat was parched and his stomach felt like it was eating itself. And the chest pains.

Oh God, the chest pains.

His torso was being ravaged by internal bleeding and the thin protective layer of skin Sabo's impromptu surgery had given him was starting to fall apart. He was dying, slowly and painfully. Time had begun blending together but the green-haired man estimated he had been out at sea for about two days.

His heavy eyelid began to flutter shut and Zoro's thoughts began to fade away. Just before his glassy, unfocused eye closed for the last time he saw it. An island in the distance. With a jolt, his eye snapped to attention. It took him a few seconds but, eventually, he clenched his palms into fists. He slowly but surely rose to his unsteady feet, ignoring the fresh paroxysms of pain sweeping through his body.

The swordsman licked his cracked lips and ambled over to the main deck, focusing on not tripping. If he fell, he wasn't sure he'd have the strength to get back up. Time seemed to freeze as he reached the three steps that led down to the grass, they could quite literally be the death of him. Gripping the railing like a lifeline, Zoro slowly made his way down and over to his captain.

Rigor Mortis had set in since he had last lain his eye upon Luffy.

It was surreal. To see the man he had devoted his life to just lying there, pale and stiff as a board. Out of morbid curiosity, Zoro kneeled down on one knee and tried to stretch Luffy's cheek out. Nothing. The pirate quickly withdrew his hand like he had been burned, that had felt wrong. He put his trembling arms under Luffy's back and hoisted his captain up.

Sunny suddenly lurched, running aground as it neared the shore. Zoro hissed as the sudden movement nearly caused Luffy to slip out of his arms. He possessively tightened his grip on the corpse, he wouldn't drop him.

Zoro walked over to a ruined section of railing and, after bracing himself, jumped down into the ankle-deep water. His bones shook at the impact but the swordsman forced himself forward. If he stopped moving now he might never move again.

Zoro's eyesight was faint and blurry but, from what he could see, Raftel really wasn't that impressive. It was an average island with a summer climate in nearly every aspect. The only thing that stood out was the large ornate marble temple that towered out over the treeline. Zoro was sure he'd find it there.

One Piece.

Zoro slipped in a gap between two palm tees. He was glad that Raftel didn't have a proper forest, Zoro wasn't sure he was currently nimble enough to avoid large roots on the ground. Getting to the islands centre was an uphill struggle, literally. The temple was situated on a large hill.

Sweat cascaded down Zoro's body and his breath came out in wheezes as his dying body carried itself towards his goal. He would not falter, not now when he was so close to his goal. He soon reached a grandiose set of double marble doors that towered over his body, they were at least three times his height. The green-haired man coated his right hand in Haki and pushed on the door with all his might. Slowly, almost begrudgingly, it opened.

Zoro couldn't help but admire the temple's interior. While the outside had been all marble, the inside seemed to be made out of the same material the Poneglyphs were made of. In fact, the walls, floors and ceiling of the corridor had hieroglyphs inscribed on them just like a Poneglyph. Robin would have been enthralled by the knowledge held in this place but Zoro had no time to waste.

The green-haired man pressed on. His arms felt like lead but he preserved, Luffy would not soon reached a giant open room stacked with priceless gold and gems. But his attention was drawn to the Poneglyph in the centre of the room. In a stark contrast to all the other Poneglyphs Zoro has seen, this one was white and far larger in comparison. The writing on it, faded and worn, suddenly glowed a bright blue and the sound of humming filled the room. The swordsman ignored it.

Zoro cleared a space amongst some bronze statues, he was sure Luffy would've approved, and placed his captain down in the centre of them. He placed the battered straw hat down over Luffy's face and stood there in silence for a moment. "You did it, you're King...be at peace."

His task completed, he wearily trudged over to the now completely glowing Poneglyph. His thoughts briefly tuned to the fateful day his naive, cocky younger self had met Monkey D. Luffy. He smiled involuntarily as his fingers brushed against the white stone, what he'd do for a chance to redo everything.

The brightness increased tenfold, forcing Zoro to clench his eye shut or risk blindness. The stone grew roasting hot, Zoro's fingers instantly burning and sticking to the rock. The rock's glowing suddenly faded, the humming stopped and there was a moment of calm before the storm.

The white Poneglyph exploded, instantly taking Zoro and the island of Raftel with it. Roronoa Zoro had but one moment to think before his entire body was vaporised down to the atomic level.

Everyone, I'm coming.

The marines stationed at Shells Town avoided the central courtyard of the marine base as if it was a plague. Every last one of them, besides the headstrong Captain Morgan and his foolish son, feared the evil trapped within that place. They feared the demon clad in human skin that was tied up there.

That's why no one was around to notice when Roronoa Zoro shuddered and opened his mouth wide in a silent scream. No one noticed the way he convulsed in the following seconds before collapsing like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

No one noticed when he reopened his eyes: one filled with newfound determination and the other now misty and clouded over.