EPISODE 05 : EAT AT BARATIE!
( Truth Or Drink )

AFTER LUFFY WAS dragged into the kitchen by a burly head chef by the name of Zeff, the remaining crew began to slowly disperse from the small booth and towards the bar ( It is shaped like an open fish's mouth, and Estrella finds it fun to look at ).

She and Zoro share a small two-person couch, while Nami and Usopp are leaning against the booth seats stretching across the open bar.

In between them is a small, luminescent table carrying their respective drinks — Apart from Usopp, who is curled around his bowl of alcohol like a hermit crab.

The loud music blares into Estrella's eardrums, dulling her senses into a puddle of disorientation.

"Pace yourself," Zoro advises Usopp, who hasn't stopped sipping his drink since he got his hands on it.

The sharpshooter shrugs, messing with the umbrella in the corner of his bowl. "I don't even think there's liquor in this. It tastes just like candy."

Zoro watches the man. "Last time I said that, I woke up face down under a table."

Estrella snorts under her breath, eyes shining with hidden malice. "With your drinking habits, I'm not surprised."

The green-haired pirate hunter shoots the brunette a dirty look, but it softens into a sort of funny glare at the sight of her teasing face.

"Was that a joke?" He asks sourly, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

"It was." She nods, her smile growing wider. "Surprised you could tell, since you have no sense of humor."

Zoro's expression switches back to a scowl in an instant, and Estrella grins, exposing her teeth.

Nami is silent, her focus solely on her glass. Zoro is the first to point it out, nodding his head towards her as he raises his voice just loud enough so that the four of them can hear ( Previously, he had been speaking just for Estrella to hear ).

"That glass have gold on the bottom or what?" He asks, raising a thick eyebrow.

The tangerine-haired woman looks up, her face blank and forlorn. "Hmm?"

"You haven't stopped staring at it." The green-haired man continues.

Nami looks at the two of them, taking a deep breath. Her bangs are windswept across her face. "You seriously don't think what Luffy did is messed up?"

Estrella thinks for a moment but gives no immediate reply. Nami's gaze sears into her, as if she's expecting an agreeable answer from her the most.

"Yeah. He should've told us." Zoro agrees. "But in case you didn't notice, we've been making enemies everywhere we go. Psycho clowns, killer butlers. What's a vice-admiral gonna do to us?"

Nami's face crumbles into an unknown emotion.

"Hate to say it, but I agree. Vice-admiral Garp is just another obstacle we would've had to cross eventually. Luffy being related to him just sped up that process." Estrella shrugs.

"No, you don't get it." Nami shakes her head. "I can't get caught. Not when I'm so close . . ."

The words die on her tongue when she catches herself. Her crystalline eyes turn back to the glass in her grip. Estrella can see her whitened knuckles and further on, the tremble of her fingertips.

"Uh, who's ready for another drink? My treat." She stands abruptly, flattening her skirt.

Estrella nods, and Zoro mimics her actions.

"Mmh," The green-haired man slurs. "My favorite kind of drink."

The brunette rolls her eyes at the man. "Drunk already?"

He shakes his head. "Not even close."

"Good." Estrella hands him the rest of her drink. "You can have this. I'm tired of drinking."

Zoro ponders her offer for a moment, before shrugging and taking her glass without much thought. The liquid slides arduously down his throat, searing his stomach as if it were flames.

The man coughs violently, and Estrella slaps him on the back.

"What did you put in this?" He rasps out as soon as his voice returns, massaging his throat.

Estrella shrugs. "I told the bartender to give me something strong. Is it bad?"

Zoro stares at the woman in disbelief, shaking his head. He can already feel the beginnings of a bad hangover.

Usopp disappears into the crowd, and Estrella catches small glimpses of the man as he spins to the music, already drunk out of his mind. Nami returns soon, carrying a bottle of rum and three new glasses.

"He does have a certain grace about him." The orange-haired woman comments as she sets the drinks on the table, staring at the sharpshooter. "Like a frantic, uncoordinated —"

"— Sea slug." Zoro finishes for her, and Estrella laughs into the palm of her hand.

Usopp is twirling, without a care in the world. He smiles, points at his crewmates, and then twirls away. Estrella watches him, feeling slightly envious of his lack of embarrassment — or self-consciousness.

"That's it." Nami chuckles, and her eyes are also on the dark-skinned man, watching him sway to the music with his eyes filled with joy, alight beneath the twinkling lights.

( He looks alive ).

"That's what he's like." The orange-haired woman continues. "Look at him. Like he doesn't have a care in the world."

Zoro's focus shifts from Usopp to the two women, each mirroring that forlorn expression they so often wear. It's like a mask, and Zoro hates how they hide behind it.

"What are you carrying around that's so heavy?" He asks, his arms crossed.

"Nami blinks, her smile bittersweet. "You have no idea."

Zoro's eyes flash with a hidden determination. "I bet I do. I bet I know more about the both of you than you do about me."

Estrella looks at the green-haired man beside her and scoffs. "Yeah, right."

"You're an open book," Nami adds with an incredulous smirk.

"Care to prove it?" Zoro raises an eyebrow.

Estrella thinks for a moment. There's no way Zoro, whose hair color probably seeped through into his brain years ago, knows anything about her. Not even Nami, who is calculating enough to piece some parts of her life together, knows everything.

"Try me." She grins, and Zoro scowls.

He knows she's putting that mask back up, as always.

"I guess something about you, you drink." The pirate hunter pours three shot glasses of rum and places them in the center of the table. "You guess something about me, I drink."

Nami sighs. "Go ahead. Tell me all about myself."

Zoro thinks for a moment. "I bet you grew up in a big city. Running schemes, hanging out in swanky bars like this one."

Estrella sucks in a loud breath through her mouth. Missing the mark, as always.

"You must be thirsty." Nami smirks, but her eyes are cold.

"You're saying I'm wrong?" Zoro says disbelievingly.

The orange-haired woman smiles, her lips turning upwards around the corners. It's a sickening smile, one that guts Estrella from the inside out. A bittersweet tilt of her lips, a crack in her mask.

"I grew up in a small village. Barely a village." She tells them after a sharp intake of breath. "Just a handful of houses in the center of a tangerine grove."

Fitting, Estrella thinks. That must be while Nami smells of faint sun-dried tangerines.

"Drink." Nami motions to the table full of untouched glasses.

Zoro takes one and downs it in an instant. Not even rum can compare to the abomination of flame-like liquid Estrella had previously given him.

"Your turn." He motions to Nami.

"Okay. But I had you read all the way back in Orange Town." She smirks. "I'll bet you didn't have any friends as a kid."

"I had friends." Zoro's answer is reproachful.

"Swords don't count," Estrella adds, and she can feel Zoro shifting against his seat.

"I had one friend." He settles with at last, eyes growing sadder.

Estrella takes notice of the way his large eyes shift into an expression that doesn't suit the 'demon' pirate hunter in the least.

"Hell, one more than I had," Nami adds in, tinges of sourness in her tone.

"Drink." Estrella says lightly, trying to ease the sudden blanket of emotions that settles atop their hearts.

Nami smiles slightly, taking the shot with a wince and a slight cough. She turns to Estrella — The brunette grimaces. Her turn.

"Now you." Nami's eyes gleam beneath the glow of the table.

Zoro shares the same sentiment, staring at the cursed woman with determination twisting a ribbon against his lips, till they are raised ever so slightly in a prowling smile.

"Growing up, you lacked attention. So now you close yourself off in order to hide the fact that you don't know how to reciprocate affection." Nami's gaze grows sharper and Estrella feels dread clawing its way through her stomach.

"Your powers," Zoro cut in, tongue as sharp as his katanas. "You've had them for a while now."

The brunette swallows thickly, raising her eyebrows.

"Is that all you got on me?" She hums, and is glad for the fabric enveloping her trembling fingers.

( Why do they know her so well? Had she not, to the best of her ability, kept herself a mystery? )

"You grew up somewhere small — Like me." Nami continues, and Estrella feels the first dregs of fear crawling up her body.

"I did." The brunette hums, uncharacteristically strained. "My village was small, but the island was big."

Before anyone else could make any more presumptions about her past life, Estrella grabs the last glass and swallows it in one go.

"Wait —" Zoro tries to ask another interrogative question, but Usopp arrives just in time, stumbling and spinning towards them.

"Guys, meet my new best friend." He slurs, raising a limp arm towards the man behind him. "What did you say your name was again?"

Estrella pauses. The bearded man is tall, wearing a sort of cross necklace. His bare chest is exposed, a thin coat hanging on his shoulders. Behind his large, feathery hat is a giant sword.

"Which one of you is Monkey D. Luffy?" He asks. His voice is dull — bored, even.

"Who wants to know?" Nami raises a brow.

Estrella feels Zoro rise from his seat, and she groans. Even by voice, she can recognize the Warlord in an instant.

The number of times Estrella Narváez and Dracule Mihawk clashed back when she worked for the Marines was numerous.

"You're Dracule Mihawk," Zoro says, a tinge of awe lacing his voice.

Estrella is glad that it is her back facing the bearded man.

"I have business with your captain." Mihawk drawls. "If you know what's good for you, you'll hand him over."

"We don't know anyone named Luffy. Right, Zoro?" Nami hisses under her breath, motioning for the green-haired man to agree.

He stays silent when needed, as always.

"I've been following your career since I was a child. It's an honor to finally meet you, sir." Zoro rasps, as though he cannot fathom the man standing before him.

Estrella represses the urge to laugh under her breath. Mihawk is hardly worthy of being someone Zoro is honored to meet.

"Thank you." Mihawk replies blandly, his passive face unsmiling.

"Which is why it pains me to inform you that tomorrow . . . you're going to die. I, Roronoa Zoro, challenge you to a duel to the death."

Estrella turns in surprise. "What?!"

Mihawk pauses his exit and turns to look back at the green-haired man. "I've never heard of you."

"They call me the Demon Pirate Hunter," Zoro replies. "But my lifelong dream is to beat you in a single combat and become the world's greatest swordsman in the world."

"You're serious." Mihawk scoffs. "How are you going to do that, if you aren't even the most feared bounty hunter in the East Blue?"

"Accept my challenge." Zoro steels himself, glaring determinedly at the hawk-eyed man. "You'll see how serious I am."

Mihawk stays silent, but his reply is simple. "Very well. Tomorrow at dawn. And when I'm done with you, pirate hunter, I'll take your captain."

Nami stares at Zoro, and Estrella finds herself drowning in her own thoughts.

"What did you just do?"

‎ ‎

‎

‎

‎

‎ESTRELLA IS THE first to barge into the kitchen in search of Luffy, Usopp dragging behind her in a drunken stupor.

"We got a problem." Is all she can manage to say, the jog from one end of the restaurant to the other having tired her out. Having to carry Usopp along certainly didn't help her depleting stamina in the slightest.

Nami and Zoro are arguing when Estrella rejoins them, Luffy and Usopp a few steps behind her.

"Maybe you can convince him to call it off." Nami suggests.

She's leaning against the table, her knuckles turning white from how hard she's gripping the wood.

"I won't do that." Zoro says in rebuttal, polishing his swords carefully. They're laid out on the table, a polishing stone beside the shining blades.

"Did you see the size of that guy's sword?" Nami groans incredulously. "He will slice you into sashimi."

"What's going on?" Luffy asks as he makes his way inside.

Estrella takes a seat on one side of the table, overlooking both Zoro and Nami.

"I'll tell you what's going on." Nami turns to their captain, fury in her gaze. "Your big, bad Marine grandpa sent a Warlord of the Sea to bring you in, and instead of getting the hell out of here, Zoro challenged him to a duel."

"Which he accepted." Zoro adds in his defense.

"You are a fly to him. Something to be swatted and forgotten." She snaps.

Estrella glances between the two silently. The dilemma seems familiar, in a way that reminds her of Syrup Village.

Whose side will she take — What decision is the right one? Estrella is conflicted.

"Not if I win." Zoro snarls in return.

"You're not going to." Nami looks crazy, her eyes a widened mess and her hair wild.

"You don't know that." The green-haired man says, quieter this time.

"Guys, guys," Usopp interjects, still slightly drunk. "Maybe we need more drinks."

Estrella grabs him by the collar and drags him to a chair in the farthest corner of the room. She presses her finger to her lips.

"Shut up." She says, harshly patting the man's back. He gulps and nods.

"Tell your first mate he'll get himself killed." Nami orders Luffy.

"Not his first mate." Estrella mutters under her breath.

"Tell your navigator to butt out." Zoro replies.

Luffy looks between the two before his eyes finally settle on Estrella. He gives her pleading eyes.

"Estrella? Your opinion?" He asks, a hopeful smile playing on his face.

Estrella sighs. "It's a stupid idea."

The determination in Zoro's eyes seems to crumble slightly. Perhaps as a fellow bounty hunter, he thought she would've agreed with his idiotic suicide mission.

"It's a stupid idea, but," Estrella continues, her brows knotted in thought. "It's not my decision, and it's not my dream. Do whatever you want."

"Maybe this isn't such a great idea, Zoro," Luffy says helplessly. Estrella is little help, as always — He shouldn't have expected her to talk about feelings.

"When you met me tied up on that cross, what did I say?" The pirate hunter asks the straw hat.

"What makes you think I wanna play pirates?"

The green-haired man shakes his head. "No, the other thing."

"I kill your kind for a living?" Luffy tries again.

"No, come . . ." He groans, and Luffy's eyes light up.

"Oh. That you made a promise to someone a long time ago to be the world's greatest swordsman." The captain grins.

"The only way to do that is to beat Mihawk in a duel and take his title." The pirate hunter says. "I intend to do just that."

"Even if you die in the process?" Nami asks, her tone dripping with venom. "Will you please do something?"

Her pleas are left unanswered by both Estrella and Luffy.

"It's his dream, Nami." He says at last with a smile. "I can't get in the way of someone's dream."

"What's it gonna take, huh?" Nami says quietly, her voice slowly rising in volume the longer she speaks. "You want me to say you're the best? You're the best. Okay? You're the best I've ever seen, but you are not better than him."

"And if you fight him tomorrow, you're going to lose!" She cries, and it finally hits Estrella how severe the situation is.

Zoro's battle is to the death. It's not a simple sword fight to prove his worth and boost his ego — It's life or death.

"Why do you give a shit?" Zoro scoffs.

"Because you're my friend, you idiot!" Nami's voice cracks.

Zoro pauses before his eyes turn to pan the room. "You said it yourself. You don't have any friends."

The room grows cold and silent. Nami takes one look around, and Estrella meets her eyes. It's like staring into an ocean of glass. So fragile, yet so sharp.

Nami storms out, leaving the room devoid of her warm, tangerine-colored hair.

‎

‎
‎ ‎

‎

‎

‎

‎

‎

‎

‎ ✣ AUTHOR'S NOTE !

merry christmas !! here's some holiday angst 😊 short chapter but i really wanted to upload it bc im finally getting out of my writers block!!

it may look like estrella's reaction is kinda lukewarm but she's still processing the fact that zoro could actually die 😣 also surprise she and mihawk know each other!!

i think next chapter it's gonna be centered around zoro and estrella bc i want them to have a convo ab some stuff and also maybe ( ??) estrella might try to talk with mihawk but thats still iffy for now ( i just rlly want some mihawk interactions bc he's my bae 😭 )

as always feedback would be very appreciated !! questions, advice, etc, anything goes!!!! i take criticism pretty well so dw ab hurting my feelings

anyway pls lmk if there are any mistakes in the spelling or anything so i can fix it !

also don't b afraid to vote or comment, i will probably (very likely) reply!!!! and if you don't understand something, plsplspls lmk!! i want yall to fully understand what's going on

happy reads!

‎

─── ANNIE