Apologies

"Apologies"

orig. 9/24/2011 - finished 11/18/2017

One Piece - Elly x Zoro, adult / rape

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Her legs felt like dead hunks of meat. She could only shuffle slowly, bent over but not yet crawling along the narrow path to the shoreline. Funny thing was she hardly felt the physical pain anymore. Bruises circled her wrists, brutal finger marks squeezed into the pale skin and there were other things wrong - she knew that. But nothing like that mattered. Nothing mattered except getting to the water's edge and to safety.

Chopper was the first one to find her.

"What happened?!" The little reindeer gasped as he shifted form to catch the wounded woman.

"Got hurt," she coughed weakly. She tensed as he sniffed the air and of course caught the scent on her. "Don't tell anyone," she pleaded before passing out. He quickly carried her to the infirmary where a careful examination told him the grim facts of what he'd already known from scent. Now he had a serious moral dilemma. On one hoof, he knew who had done this to her. On the other, she'd begged him not to say. The others had come back as well, drifting in small groups. They had known the island was small and considered safe. Besides, everyone in the crew could usually take care of themselves.

The danger hadn't come from the island, though.

Chopper sighed as he spotted Zoro yawning by his favorite tree on the main deck. "Come with me," he said in a grim voice. Zoro glanced at him curiously but said nothing. The big man followed him to the infirmary and paused while he closed the door quite firmly closed behind them.

"Well?"

"You need to sit." He shoved a stool at the big man.

"What's going on?"

"Elly came back from her walk," the reindeer said quietly. He lifted a lamp close by the cot they were sitting beside. The pale girl was wrapped in bandages across her lower midsection and right arm. The bruises on her flesh were livid and seemed to glow malevolently in the soft light. They were everywhere: her neck, arms, even an odd couple on her legs. The color on Zoro's face paled, tan draining off to be replaced by a sweaty sheen of pale milk. He looked sick as he stared wordlessly at her injuries.

"That's not the worst," Chopper told him.

"Not..?"

"There's more to her than physical injuries." He looked up sadly. "Much worse than some bruises."

"What do you mean?" Someone would have to spell it out for the green-haired man, he saw that. And he really didn't want to be the one to do it. The longer he sat there and fidgeted, though, the more Zoro understood. "Her - her mind. She's really upset."

The green-haired man gargled in the back of his throat. "What?"

"She didn't want me to say what happened," Chopper fussed, staring down at his bottom hooves as they dangled from the stool he was sitting on. "But I need to ask you."

"Ask me what?"

"What did you do to her?"

"Wait..." Zoro didn't know what to say. Chopper was serious; he could see it in his face. The little guy's eyes were full of tears and he sniffed loudly. "I don't know what you're talking about," he confessed weakly. On his part, the doctor saw the swordsman was speaking the truth - he clearly was baffled.

"She was attacked," he said quietly. "I smell your scent on her, and from her bruises, it looks like you held her down a-and," he swallowed hard, his eyes tearing up, "held her legs apart."

Zoro went completely white. His mouth opened but no sound came out. The big man was never at such a loss for words. Something very strange was going on here. Unfortunately, Zoro quickly regained his composure in the form of - what else -- indignant anger.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, jerking upright off the stool. His breathing was harsh and ragged and he kept clenching and unclenching his massive fists.

"Shh!"

"There's no way I did that! I'd never..." He trailed off as a frightened squeak and a thud came from the bed area. Elly had scrambled backwards until she fell, completely unaware of the edge in her haste to get away from him. Chopper reared up into his giant form and stepped between him and the groggily awake woman with his arms spread out.

"I told you to be quiet!" He roared angrily. Nothing upset him more than someone disturbing his patients. It made him unusually brave in the face of the larger man's rage. "Now get out!"

Zoro slammed the door.

He spent the rest of the day in a daze, not even bothering to lift his weights. The haunting idea of "worse than physical injuries" and Chopper crying "why'd you do it?" tormented him. Could the little doctor have been wrong? He was always excellent in diagnosing patients and he did have that superior sense of smell (like she did, he thought wildly). Could he really have done something so hideous and not know it? It all came down to the fact that Zoro knew Chopper wouldn't make such a serious accusation without proof of some kind. The only logical assumption was that he had somehow done this terrible thing. Zoro grimaced and banged a fist on the wall of his special room below the crow's nest. "I don't remember!" he snarled.

A knock at his door startled him out of his rage. He opened it to find the last person he expected to see. She was shaking and pale, but he was oddly proud of her for being so strong as to search him out after such a horrific ordeal.

"All right," Elly said in a rush. "Let's get this over with. You didn't rape me. You were too, ah, excited for that. But you intended to."

He clenched his jaw. "Shit." Visions blurred in his head of what might have happened: him clumsily trying to do something he'd never attempted before and failing. Her afraid of his actions and then disgusted as he came all over her. Any scenario he came up with made his stomach churn. He didn't know exactly, but it had to be bad.

"Yes."

"I can't, uh. Don't know what to do. I didn't mean to do that! I don't remember doing anything!" He paused, then fought back any further outburst. "I would never hurt you," he insisted.

"Not if you knew what was happening," she agreed.

"What the hell happened then?!"

"I have no idea," she sighed wearily. "You ate something, drank something, goodness only knows. Chopper said your ah, fluids, had something odd mixed with it."

"How did he get..." He trailed off as she coughed nervously. "Oh."

"Hey, you two," a new voice called out. Robin's head poked up from the ladder top.

Zoro swore. "There isn't enough fucking room here, what the hell do you want?"

"I think you two should spend some time together," the dark-haired woman suggested mildly. "Off the ship... on the beach, maybe."

"You said what?" Elly gasped.

"Are you nuts?!" Zoro snapped out, eyes bulging.

Robin shrugged. "We're not going anywhere until this is settled, so feel free to do whatever you like." She turned and walked slowly off, her book still tucked under one arm.

Zoro swore. "Great."

"No." Elly was breathing erratically, eyes darting wildly about. "I - I can't..."

"You little idiot!" He shouted at her, knowing what she was thinking: what if he tries it again? And of course the minute he'd opened his mouth he knew it was a mistake. He grit his teeth and swore as she slid down the ladder in a hurry, following Robin. He pelted off after her, barely touching the rungs to try and catch up. When he reached the deck he looked around, baffled.

"She took off down the gangplank to the beach," Robin offered in a mild tone, fashioning a string of arms with hands attached into a large arrow with her ability. He frowned but didn't speak, choosing instead to use all his energy to run as fast as he could.

"Cat?" Zoro had to stop when he reached the sandy beach, however. It was dark, and her trail stopped at the dune grasses that led up to the main island. The place seemed deserted, as it was night and he couldn't see any lights from neighboring towns or anything. There was only a dim flicker a little ways away, and he headed towards it. It turned out to be Elly sitting in front of a fire she'd made. "You're not running anymore?"

"No," she called softly over the crackling of the flames. "I guess we need to talk a little more." He grunted, folding his arms across his chest in a show of defiance but the cheerily burning warmth soon won him over. The big man crept closer and finally sat next to her on the log she had pulled up, holding his hands out to the flames.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, thrusting his lower lip out in a pout.

"I know," she murmured. "I know you didn't mean it." Her ears folded slowly back as she spoke and she sat very still, not knowing where to put her hands. She settled on grasping her legs lightly, trying not to dig her nails into the soft flesh.

"That's not exactly right," he said shortly.

"What?"

He groaned, rubbing the side of his face with a rough palm. "Look. It's not your fault, all right? I'm mad at me, not you. I don't know."

Elly nodded though her eyes were filled with confusion. She took a deep breath and raised her chin slightly. "If you say so." They sat in silence for several minutes watching the crackling flames. He suddenly reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Elly flinched and he frowned, then hastily tried to smooth the lines on his forehead when he saw how her eyes widened. He took a deep breath and tried a smile but she wouldn't look at him.

"Damn it, cat," he groaned.

"You don't have to stop being you," she ventured quietly. "Grumpy, strong Zoro. It's all right." She curled her tail around her. "I'm not really afraid."

"You are," he insisted. "You jump if I so much as move," he huffed. "That's why I got pissed. I didn't mean to do what I did."

"Well..." she hedged. "I'm not really afraid of you, anyway. More, um, what you think."

"I don't think."

"Obviously," she snapped. Zoro's grin was much more natural this time. He slouched down a little on the log and folded his arms in front of his chest.

"All right, what would I think?"

"Oh, honestly," she sighed in a weary voice. "I suppose it doesn't matter now. You know what happened, and that you didn't actually... well, succeed entirely. What you don't know is that I didn't fight the whole time. I want you to know that."

"What?" He seemed to be saying that a lot today. He blinked, stunned. There was no way he'd heard that right.

"I wanted it," she said simply. "I wanted you, Zoro." Her face remained expressionless, her eyes dull. She wasn't even embarrassed.

He placed his hands on her shoulders without thinking, but this time she didn't jump away. "What the hell do you mean? How'd you get all those injuries if you didn't fight back?"

She laughed softly and looked up to stare deeply into his dark eye. "I only fought back when I realized you didn't know what you were doing. I didn't want you if you didn't want me. You know, I might be stupid now and then, but you're completely blind about things like this. Everyone else knows how I feel about you."

His hands grew limp in shock, but only momentarily. "You - wanted...?"

"The feel of your hands all over me, your lips, your tongue," she said dreamily, "Yes, okay? I want you. I thought in the beginning that you wanted me back, but then I saw you were drugged or something, and..."

"You want me?"

She cleared her throat, a dark red blush staining her cheeks at last, yet still answered defiantly. "Are you deaf?"

"No," he murmured slowly. "No, I'm not."

"Yeah, well, that's that. We never have to speak of it again."

"Right," he agreed very softly, and she jerked to the side as his breath tickled her ear. He was leaning close to her, his lips an inch or so away from the lavender fur. She flicked it, and he wrinkled his nose as the tip brushed him.

"What are you doing?"

He carefully reached out and turned her face to meet his, so he could stare into her eyes with the single one he had left. "I'm not drugged now," he told her seriously.

"N - no, you're not," she stammered nervously. She tried to drop her gaze but he tapped her lips with one finger, startling her enough so their eyes met again.

"Are you sore? Does it hurt?" He gently touched one of the bruises on her arm and winced when he saw how neatly his fingerpads fit into the dark circles.

"It's not that bad."

"Are you still afraid?"

"Of you? No." She fidgeted on the log, her eyes never leaving his. The one that was open was such a dark color, and it burned with an intensity that mesmerized her. His hand slipped around behind and stroked her short hair. She blinked several times, trying to process what was happening.

"Do you still want me?" This was delivered in such a low tone she barely heard him.

She swallowed hard, barely able to catch her breath but determined to rattle him as much as he had her. "I want you to do to me what you didn't, before," she answered in a quavering voice.

He pulled her even closer and leaned in so their noses were touching. "You sure?" His tongue flicked out and lightly traced her lips.

"Mnn... very sure." She shivered and closed her eyes.

"I can be gentle, you know." He kissed her softly on her closed mouth and then murmured against it, "Is that how you imagined me?"

"Zoro!" She choked.

"Now I wanna know." He laughed a low, raspy sounding sort of laugh and kissed her again. "Was I slow, soft and sweet? Or," he nipped her neck, "did I grind you into the ground until you screamed my name?"

"Zoro!"

"Like that, sort of. The screaming."

"Whew! Have you ever practised talking like this?"

"Why? I'm just talking." He slipped his hand down until he could caress the base of her tail. "I'm not like that asshole cook. I just say what I think." He stopped, frowned a little. "You went limp, cat... did I find an even better spot to tease?" Since Elly was utterly and completely speechless, he went on. "Good. Maybe you'll answer me, then." He chuckled when she miaowed softly. "Now, kitten, you're almost there. S'not so big a deal, just tell your crush how you fantasized him having you."

At last she found her tongue. "Crush?!" She yelped indignantly. "I love you, moron! And I didn't just have one fantasy, it was all sorts of things." She clapped a hand to her mouth as she finished speaking, aghast. "Er..."

"Ha! Got you." He let go of her tail to concentrate on her rear, pulling her up further on his lap so she could straddle him. "I wasn't sure, you know."

"Wh - what?"

"You really are stupid." He brought his other hand around, clasping her fully to him in an almost crushing embrace. "Why'd you think I did, uh... that, before?"

"Now look who's not saying."

He blew out air in an annoyed rush, his dark eye glaring at her. "I love you too, okay? Idiot." The soft insult finishing his sentence somehow made everything more real and she dug her nails into his shoulders, gasping. This was actually happening!

"What are you waiting for, then?"

"Fuck, kit..."

"Yes!"

He started laughing so hard he had to turn his face away. She whapped him lightly on the back and he stifled himself, though his eye still sparkled with mirth. "How d'you want me?"

"Oh..."

"Yeah, so? It'll be difficult to hold back now, but I can if you want gentle." His lips quirked, a small smile still hinting at the corners of his mouth. "I know you're still bruised up. And s'my fault." The mirth faded briefly. "Not this time, though."

"I know."

"I'll give you whatever you want, kitten." His hands began to move again, cautious, tender touches. "I sort of want the slow, soft route, though. It's our first time. Let's make love."

"Oh my god. Yes."

"Just tell me."

"Like that..."

"This?" Lighter on her than she would have thought possible, his calloused hands pulled her down to the warm sand where he had at some point spread his coat out for her to lay on. She'd been so mystified she hadn't even noticed. He propped himself up, resting only some of his bodyweight on her but covering her completely.

"Oh, Zoro, yes."

"Be ready for me, kitten." His mouth pressed against hers, and for Elly there was just one man and nothing else in the world: Zoro moving slowly, efficiently and lovingly on her and eventually in her.