One Piece isn't mine. So please don't sue me…
You Left Me Breathless, rated PG.
Vibrant oranges intertwined with shards of crimson and gold. Fingers of flame rose gloriously into the cloudless azure sky, dancing and wreathing like a thing alive.
Which, considering the strange man who'd stood in their midst mere moments ago, it actually was.
Zoro watched, spellbound by the… the… the sheer power of the man before him. No stranger to Devil's Fruit users or to the stories of ones who could literally become an element, the fact that such a person existed barely fazed the awestruck swordsman. No, what got him was actually seeing him, watching flesh and bone dissolve into a shimmering blaze. Not a scrap of humanity remained visible in that pillar of fire. He heard only the crackle of flame hungrily seeking fuel, smelled ozone as sand melted to crude glass beneath the incredible heat. But the man hidden by his logia powers… The brief glimpse he'd caught took his breath away. Sun bronzed skin stretched tightly over the well-toned muscles of a warrior. Not a thin sissy like the love-cook; not all knees and elbows like his boyish captain. Pure male.
Suddenly the flames withdrew into the condensing form of the stranger until all that remained were a few flickers riding amiably on blunt fingertips. The man pivoted, lips curved in amusement, to stare at the frozen Strawhats. "Go on. I'll catch up to you guys later."
For a fleeting moment those dark eyes met his own. Something he couldn't quite identify drew a lazy finger of electricity down his spine: Appreciation? Longing?
The smoke that darted forward to wrap its coils around the stranger reminded him, reminded them all, that they had to go. Leave the stranger to distract the Marines. He'd find them again, like he said he would; then Zoro would figure it out.
Turn around.
Run.
And remember to breathe.
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