# ONE PIECE: THE SWORDSMAN'S LITTLE GIRL

An unexpected addition to the Straw Hat Pirates.

The New World was unusually quiet that morning.

The Thousand Sunny had anchored beside a small, seemingly abandoned island. Luffy had immediately disappeared into the forest looking for food, Usopp and Chopper had gone exploring, and Nami was attempting to convince Sanji to stop spending their money.

Zoro, meanwhile, had found a comfortable patch of grass beneath a tree and was enjoying a rare afternoon nap.

Until he heard something.

A noise.

A very small noise.

Waaah... waaah...

His eyebrow twitched.

He opened one eye.

"...What the hell?"

There it was again.

Crying.

Zoro slowly sat up, looking around. At first, he assumed it was some animal, but the sound was unmistakably human.

He followed it towards a cluster of bushes near the edge of the forest.

And then he stopped.

There, tucked inside a little woven basket beneath an enormous tree, was a baby.

A tiny baby girl.

She couldn't have been more than a few months old. She was wrapped in a faded cream-coloured blanket, her little hands poking out from the fabric. Her cheeks were flushed from crying, and a tiny ribbon was tangled in her dark hair.

Zoro stared.

The baby stared back.

"..."

She hiccupped.

"..."

Then her bottom lip trembled.

And she started crying even louder.

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

He crouched beside the basket, looking around for anyone who might have left her there.

"Oi? Anyone?"

Nothing.

He looked back down.

The baby reached one tiny hand towards him.

Zoro hesitated.

He had fought warlords, survived impossible battles and faced some of the most dangerous people in the world.

But this?

He had absolutely no idea what to do.

"...You're kidding me."

He carefully picked her up, supporting her head with one hand.

And immediately, she stopped crying.

Zoro froze.

The baby looked up at him with enormous eyes.

Then she gave him the tiniest smile.

"...Tch."

He adjusted the blanket around her.

"Don't look at me like that."

She grabbed his finger.

He stared at her little hand wrapped around his much larger one.

"...You're a troublesome little thing."

But he didn't put her down.

## The crew discovers her

When Zoro returned to the Sunny, he was carrying the basket under one arm and the baby against his chest.

Nami was the first to notice.

"Zoro?"

"What?"

"...What's that?"

He looked down.

"A baby."

There was a pause.

Nami blinked.

"YES, ZORO. I CAN SEE THAT."

Usopp nearly dropped the supplies he was carrying.

"WHY ARE YOU HOLDING A BABY?!"

Chopper came running.

"A BABY?! WHERE?!"

Luffy appeared from absolutely nowhere.

"MEAT?!"

He looked at Zoro.

Then the baby.

Then Zoro again.

"YOU FOUND A BABY?!"

"Apparently."

Luffy's eyes practically sparkled.

"CAN WE KEEP IT?!"

Nami smacked him.

"YOU CAN'T JUST KEEP A BABY!"

Robin approached with a gentle smile, peering into the little blanket.

"Oh, how precious."

The baby made a small noise and stretched her arms.

Robin smiled wider.

"She's beautiful."

Sanji emerged from the kitchen, cigarette between his fingers.

"What's all the commotion—"

He saw the baby.

His cigarette nearly fell out of his mouth.

"A BABY?!"

He immediately rushed over.

"MY GOODNESS! A LITTLE LADY! HAS SHE EATEN? IS SHE COLD? DOES SHE NEED A WARM BOTTLE?"

"Calm down, cook," Zoro muttered.

Sanji looked at him.

"YOU'RE HOLDING HER LIKE A SACK OF POTATOES!"

"I'm holding her fine."

"You look like you're about to break your own arms!"

Zoro looked down at the baby.

She was perfectly comfortable, one little fist gripping his shirt.

"...She's fine."

Chopper was already checking her over.

"She's healthy! But she needs milk, proper clothes and somewhere warm to sleep!"

Nami folded her arms.

"Well, first we need to figure out where she came from."

Zoro's expression became noticeably more serious.

"Found her alone in the forest. There wasn't anyone around."

The atmosphere shifted.

Robin gently examined the basket.

There was a small piece of paper tucked underneath the blanket, but it was too weathered to read properly.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Luffy stepped forward.

"We'll look after her."

Nami sighed.

"Luffy..."

"What? We can't leave her!"

Zoro looked down at the little girl.

She had fallen asleep against his chest.

"...She's staying."

Everyone turned towards him.

Sanji raised an eyebrow.

"Since when do you make those decisions?"

Zoro looked at him.

"Since I found her."

## Zoro becomes a father

Over the following few days, something very strange began happening aboard the Thousand Sunny.

Roronoa Zoro, the man who regularly slept through explosions, was now waking up at the slightest little noise.

He had become the baby's unofficial caretaker.

Actually, unofficial was probably the wrong word.

He was practically her father.

At first, he'd insisted he was simply keeping an eye on her until they found her family.

But that had quickly changed.

He learned how to hold her properly, how to prepare her bottles and how to recognise the difference between her hungry cry and her tired cry.

He even learned how to change her clothes.

Although he would rather die than admit how many times he'd put something on backwards.

Sanji found the entire situation hilarious.

"Oi, marimo. Your daughter needs her bottle."

"She's not my daughter."

"Then why have you been holding her for three hours?"

"...She's asleep."

"AND?"

Zoro glared.

Sanji grinned.

"You're a father, moss-head."

"Shut up."

Meanwhile, the baby had developed a particular attachment to Zoro.

She wanted to be held by him constantly.

If he put her down, she'd start fussing.

If he walked away, she'd cry.

And if somebody else tried to take her when she wanted him?

Absolutely not.

One afternoon, Nami was holding her while Robin read beside them.

The baby was perfectly content until Zoro walked past.

Her little head immediately turned.

"Ah! Ah!"

Nami looked down.

"What?"

"Ahhh!"

Zoro stopped.

"What?"

The baby stretched both arms towards him.

Nami laughed.

"Oh, she wants her daddy."

Zoro sighed.

"Don't call me that."

Nevertheless, he walked over and picked her up.

The second she was against his chest, she settled.

Robin smiled over her book.

"She seems to have chosen her favourite person."

Zoro looked down at the baby.

"...Yeah. I noticed."

## Her first proper family moment

It was late at night.

The Sunny was sailing peacefully beneath a sky full of stars.

Most of the crew had gone to bed, but Zoro was sitting on the deck with the baby sleeping against his chest.

He'd wrapped his green haramaki around her little waist to keep her warm, and one of his hands rested protectively against her back.

He wasn't sleeping.

He was simply watching the ocean.

The baby stirred.

A tiny hand emerged from the blanket and found his shirt.

She gripped it.

Zoro looked down.

"Still awake?"

She made a small sound.

He adjusted her position.

"Go to sleep, brat."

She blinked up at him.

Then, very quietly, she smiled.

Zoro's expression softened.

He brushed a little strand of hair away from her forehead.

"...You're safe here."

He paused.

"Got that?"

The baby yawned.

He looked towards the stars.

"I don't know who left you there. And I don't know what happened to your family."

His voice was quieter now.

"But you're not going back to being alone."

He gently kissed the top of her head.

"You're with me now."

From the doorway, Robin watched silently.

She smiled but didn't interrupt.

Because she knew something Zoro hadn't quite admitted to himself yet.

He'd already fallen in love with that little girl.

## The moment Zoro realises you're his daughter

A few weeks later, the crew was sitting around the dining table.

You were a little older now, comfortably sitting in Zoro's lap, playing with the strings on his shirt.

Luffy was making ridiculous faces at you.

"LOOK! LOOK! SHE'S LAUGHING!"

You giggled.

Zoro sighed.

"She's laughing because you're an idiot."

Nami laughed.

"You're awfully attached to her, Zoro."

"She's fine."

Robin tilted her head.

"Have you considered giving her a name?"

Zoro looked down at you.

He'd been thinking about it for days.

He brushed his thumb across your tiny cheek.

"...{{user}}."

Everyone looked at him.

"{{user}}?" Nami repeated.

"Yeah."

He glanced down again.

"Seems like a good name."

You grabbed his finger.

He gave the smallest smile.

"That's my girl."

Luffy suddenly stood up.

"THAT'S IT! ZORO'S A DAD!"

"SHUT UP!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

And for once, Zoro didn't bother arguing.

Because, honestly?

He quite liked being your dad.

And the funniest part? Zoro would eventually become the most terrifyingly protective father on the Grand Line. Nobody would be allowed to upset his little girl. Not pirates, not marines, not even Sanji if he accidentally woke you up.