Chapter Text
Zoro was 6 years old when the day Mihawk had been dreading finally came.
Uta and Perona were on Sabaody with their grandparents for the summer, enjoying the time on land and their girl-time with Shakky.
They had all quickly learned that Zoro couldn’t stay on the archipelago for longer than a week, after the time he got bored of sitting in Shakky’s bar and wandered all the way to Grove 1.
Ray had lost grandchild privileges for months when his fathers found out, and Mihawk still occasionally had nightmares of the boy winding up in the auction house. And so Zoro stayed on the Red Force, other than when they visited the girls, and the birthdays and holidays that they celebrated on Kuraigana.
Mihawk’s work as a warlord had increased over the years, but his assignments worked well to quell his desire to sail by himself, as well as provide the thrill of cutting down those weaker than him. He didn’t mind taking out other pirates, which is what most of his assignments were.
Occasionally he was needed to escort some person or cargo of importance, which was boring, but still better than the assignment they had given Crocodile- the top secret one he wasn’t supposed to know.
Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates reputations had grown enough now that even some of the stronger pirate crews thought twice about challenging them, and they avoided the New World whenever any of the kids were on the ship, so there were rarely any attacks when Mihawk was onboard.
Mihawk had been on the deck running through drills with his son, taking advantage of the calm seas and balmy early summer weather, when Yasopp called down an alarm of an approaching ship.
He quickly took Zoro’s small hand in his, dragging him across the deck, down to his quarters, despite the child’s complaints.
“Dad,” he whined as they made their way below deck and down the hall, “you just said how good I was getting! I can help!”
The child beelined toward the far wall of his room, where a katana was mounted above his reach, even on his tiptoes.
“Enough, Zoro.” Mihawk snapped. The boy quickly halted his efforts and plopped himself down on the edge of the bed, crossing his arms with a pout.
“I am not having this discussion with you again. You will remain here until I retrieve you- as it has been for the past six years.”
Mihawk did not consider himself a strict parent, other than when it came to Zoro’s sword training, and when one of the kids' safety was concerned. This was both- Zoro must learn when he is outmatched, and whatever crew was crazy enough to be currently sailing up on them would certainly not hesitate to kill a child.
He kept his gaze on the boy, waiting for verbal confirmation that he understood the order. It finally came in the form of a “fine,” that was more of a grunt than anything else. Satisfied enough, Mihawk made his way back to the deck to help the rest of the crew.
He had bought Zoro that katana for his last birthday, but perhaps it had been too soon. It was meant to teach him to properly respect swords as a lethal weapon, to learn to use it as the wielder intends, and to cause no harm unless desired.
The boy had been doing very well in his training, the boy hadn’t exaggerated about that- Mihawk was quick to give praise where it was deserved. However, Zoro still lacked proper humility, and felt that he could take on the world.
Mihawk remembers feeling that way as a child, and along with it, all the harrowing situations his cockiness had gotten him into.
The thing that he and Shanks stressed the most for their children was that they would be able to remain children, and would not have to grow up too quickly- no matter who their parents were.
Back on deck, Mihawk quickly found himself at Shanks’ side, an invisible magnetic force always seeming to bring the two of them together. The same force that always allowed him to find Shanks when they were growing up, even before he had the man’s vivre card.
The redhead leaned into Mihawk’s side, resting his weight against him while they waited for the other ship to get close enough to board. Glancing up from where he had nestled his head, Shanks frowned.
“Something wrong with Z?” It wasn’t really a question, Mihawk could tell Shanks already had a good inkling of the conversation that had just transpired.
“He still insists on fighting,” Mihawk huffed, left hand coming up to cup the back of his partner’s neck, thumb brushing against his nape.
“I am not willing to risk him getting killed in order for him to learn his lesson, but I fear my words are not sinking into that thick skull of his.” Even with his tense mood he couldn’t resist adding, “He takes after his Papa that’s for sure.”
Shanks chuckled, turning his head slightly to place a kiss below Mihawk’s ear. “You say that, but he’s literally your mini-me babe.”
Pulling back slightly to allow his hand to clasp the hilt of Gryphon as the ship was almost within jumping distance, he turned his head to grin at Mihawk.
“Maybe we can get some friends to pretend to attack, have Zoro lose without any risk of serious injury.”
Mihawk returned his suggestion with a quizzical look. “The only friend I have is Crocodile and I still have no intention of ever letting the two of you meet.”
“Aww, Hawky,” Shanks draped himself over Mihawk again with a pout. “I’ll talk to him after, one of these times it’ll sink in.”
Seriously doubting it, but grateful for Shanks nonetheless, Mihawk placed a kiss against his own index fingers before pressing them against the hand wrapped around Gryphon, then jumped over to the approaching ship with a grin.
Shanks followed immediately behind him, his laughter echoing as he flew over to the ship, landing to the left and slightly in front of Mihawk.
He took a step back to give Shanks the floor; he was the captain after all. And Mihawk loved to see him like this- powerful and unflappable.
“What brings you fellows here?” Shanks started, jutting his hip out to the side as his eyes grazed over the crew, settling on the captain. “You were gettin’ awfully close to my ship, and we don’t really take kindly to strangers.”
Mihawk didn’t sense any abnormally strong haki, so this crew must be stupid and cocksure, rather than actually pose any sort of threat. It was a large ship though, and the crew had to be over a hundred strong.
“You got yourself a pretty bounty there Red Hair, but you haven’t really done anything to earn it that I’ve seen,” the captain replied, taking a step forward, hand on his gun. “Figured it would be pretty easy to cash it in, you’ve been getting away with riding on Roger’s coattails for too long.”
Mihawk laughed at that, drawing the attention of the captain who immediately blanched. It seemed he was just recognizing him, and while Shanks feats have, for the most part, remained out of the paper, Mihawk’s exploits definitely have not.
Seeming to finally realize he was in over his head, the captain stepped back through the rows of his crew members, ducking behind them in an attempt at shielding himself, while ordering the others to attack.
The crew stood no chance against them, but there were a lot of then. The two of them easily dwindled down the numbers, not batting an eye at the few that escaped to jump aboard the Red Force, knowing Benn and the others had them handled.
There were only about two dozen remaining standing when everything froze.
Shanks and Mihawk both snapped their heads around at Benn’s frantic call of “Boss!” that reached them from the other ship.
Mihawk’s eyes immediately caught on what had made the first mate so distressed. There on the deck was Zoro, his katana held up in a challenge to a pirate that had just boarded the Red Force.
Mihawk was halfway back to their ship as he felt it fly past him- it had been a long time since Shanks had unleashed his full haki, and his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.
Swearing at himself for the millisecond of distraction, he immediately turned his focus back to his boy.
Shanks’ haki had knocked out every single opposing pirate, and most of the newer members of his own crew. There was a reason Shanks rarely used his full power- it made fights painfully boring.
Zoro had fallen to his knees, starting to cry at the realization of what he had just done.
Later Mihawk would look back with pride at the fact he still remained conscious. It was pride for both the boy and Shanks, as Zoro had the willpower to overcome, and even Shanks’ most powerful haki still was soft for their son.
But now he crossed the deck, sliding away the katana Zoro had dropped with his foot as he knelt down to scoop up his son. He didn’t turn to look behind him as he marched back to the boy’s room, but he immediately felt the warm weight of his partner’s hand between his shoulder blades as he followed behind.
Setting the crying boy on the side of his bed, Mihawk sat down softly next to him, Shanks doing the same on his other side. Neither of them spoke, giving Zoro the chance to collect himself and be the first to apologize.
Glancing around the room, Mihawk caught sight of a toppled pile of books under where the katana hung earlier. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stave off the stress-induced migraine he felt coming on.
The boy was lucky he hadn’t lost an eye, slipping from the tower of books with the blade in hand.
As Zoro’s sobs turned into choking and too-rapid breathing Mihawk spun to kneel in front of him, taking both boys hands in his as Shanks rubbed soft circles into his back.
“Calm my boy, breathe with me.”
Mihawk moved Zoro’s hands to place them over his own chest, allowing the boy to feel it move with his breaths and copy the pace.
He could hear the soft brush of Shanks’ hand on Zoro’s shirt as he changed his motion as well- up while they breathed in, down while they breathed out.
After a few minutes the hands against his chest had stopped trembling, and Mihawk returned to his original position next to the now quiet boy.
“I’m sorry dad.”
Zoro’s voice was soft, but unwavering as he glanced up at Mihawk through tear soaked eyelashes.
“I know Zoro. As you must know that it hurts me that you did not listen to my request.”
His boy reached out to grab one of his hands, pulling it back into his lap and fiddling with his fingers as he gathered his thoughts on what he wanted to say next.
Mihawk smiled softly at the boy, and a glance toward Shanks showed he was looking at their son with a matching expression.
Zoro was still a quiet boy, soft spoken unless he got riled up about something. He picked his words very carefully, and was immensely sincere for a boy his age.
“I know it’s dangerous,” Zoro began, repeatedly pulling back Mihawk’s index finger and letting it snap back to its original position against Zoro’s thigh with a soft thwap, “but you and Papa and the rest of the crew are always protecting me. I can’t be strong like you guys unless I can protect you too.”
“Zoro.” Shanks spoke softly, and both Mihawk and Zoro turned their attention toward him.
“You may be the honorary swordsman of the Red Hair Pirates, but more importantly you are my son. And my son doesn’t need to fight anyone for us just yet.”
Mihawk smiled and pulled his hand back slightly to allow him to place it over Zoro’s instead.
“When you are older, if you wish to fight we will not stop you. But for now, in order to become a great swordsman you need to focus on your training. There are many ways to grow stronger, but throwing yourself into a fight you are not ready for is not one.”
Zoro nodded, sniffling as the tears started again- this time silently rolling down his round cheeks as he pulled his knees onto the bed to curl into Mihawk’s side.
Wrapping both arms around the boy to pull him further into his lap, Mihawk pressed a kiss into his hair, lingering for a few seconds.
“For now it is our job to protect you, and your job to listen to us. We have learned hard lessons. They will be yours to experience for yourself one day, but please just remain our little boy for now.”
Burying his head against Mihawk’s chest, Zoro nodded as he wrapped both arms tightly around his waist. Without glancing up, Mihawk reached out with one of his hands, Shanks’ own quickly finding it and giving it a squeeze.
Zoro fell asleep quickly after that, the stress of enduring Shanks’ haki, on top of everything else, wiping him out. Shanks pulled back the comforter as Mihawk stood, allowing him to place Zoro back down.
Mihawk turned and made his way back to their own quarters as Shanks finished tucking in their son.
Shanks found him a few minutes later, laying on their own bed and staring at the ceiling. He had changed into his night clothes, which consisted of just a pair of thin cotton drawstring pants, as he decidedly will not be leaving the room for the remainder of the afternoon.
Shanks stripped down silently into just his boxers, not bothering to put anything else on since he normally slept in the nude anyway. Crawling into bed, he silently pulled Mihawk into his chest.
Buying his face into his partner’s armpit, Mihawk laid silent for a few moments longer before starting the conversation that he had been dreading.
“Zoro can’t stay on the ship.”
He felt Shanks sigh beneath him, his arm tightening. “I agree. But my Pop isn’t a good option either, he’s going to try and fight people there too.”
Mihawk tilted his head up, chin digging into Shanks’ pec as he looked up at him. “I’m going to take him to the East Blue.”
Shanks raised an eyebrow, but let Mihawk continue. He knew the man well enough to know this wasn’t a decision he would have made lightly.
“Zoro has family there. There’s an island that was settled by families that emigrated from Wano, some were Arashi’s cousins. I just recently recalled him mentioning it in passing, and have been looking into it with the intention of taking Zoro for a visit.”
He stopped for a moment, his throat getting tight at the idea of leaving Zoro somewhere. Resting his forehead against Shanks’ chest, he allowed himself to close his eyes and breathe.
“There’s a dojo there, and a large number of kids his age. It’ll be good for him. He needs to learn discipline that cannot be taught aboard a pirate ship.”
Mihawk felt the soft pressure of Shanks fingers on his chin, tilting his face back up again as his partner leaned down to place a soft kiss against his forehead.
Shanks had a sad look in his eyes as he nodded in agreement. “It would be good for him. I’ll tell Snake to set course whenever you’re ready.”
Pushing himself up further, Mihawk pressed his lips against Shanks’ for a quick kiss before shaking his head. “I’ll take him there myself, I don’t want to draw attention. It may be a village of sword masters, but I want Zoro’s presence there to be a secret.”
After pulling him back in for another kiss, Shanks agreed. “Let us bring you back to Kuraigana at least, the two of you can leave from there, and Zoro can pack the rest of his things.”
Suddenly exhausted himself, and not wanting to think much more about being away from his son for an extended period of time, Mihawk settled back into Shanks chest. The position mirrored how they normally slept, but Mihawk was content to let Shanks hold him for the night.
The conversation with Zoro had gone better than Mihawk expected. The boy cried at first, thinking that his fathers were abandoning him, and then Mihawk and Shanks had both cried, promising Zoro that this was to help him get stronger while also keeping him safe.
After learning of the dojo, and after making his parents promise that he would still be able to celebrate birthdays and holidays on Kuraigana with the rest of the family, he seemed almost excited to go.
Mihawk was internally a wreck, and Shanks wasn’t doing any better. Benn quite literally had to pull him back onto the ship as he was halfway up the railing, ready to jump overboard and swim after Hitsugibune as Mihawk and Zoro sailed away.
As they sailed, Mihawk helped Zoro write letters to his sisters as this would be their primary method of communication from now on. Zoro only had an encrypted transponder snail in his luggage that would allow him to call Mihawk in an emergency.
He had asked Zoro if he wanted to go say goodbye to his sisters in person, but the boy shrugged off his suggestion, stating that he would see them in a few months for Uta’s birthday anyway.
His son was handling this much better than he was.
Mihawk couldn’t stay long after arriving at Shimotsuki Village, needing to leave the next morning so as to make sure no one caught sight of Hitsugibune docked there.
He spent a few hours talking to Koushirou, Arashi’s distant cousin and leader of the dojo, who would be watching after Zoro. He seemed like a kind man, and had a daughter that was a few years older than the boy.
Mihawk chuckled at that. Zoro had been asking him and Shanks for a brother for years, stating that older sisters were a pain because they never wanted to swordfight with him.
At least this Kuina seemed like she would indulge Zoro’s antics.
Koushirou gave them a tour of the village followed by a quiet dinner where Mihawk shared some of his fonder tales of Wano- ones that Zoro had heard plenty of times.
And if during the tour he searched for any 4 year olds that bore any resemblance of what he imagined a spawn of a certain friend of his would look like, no one would know anyway as his search was fruitless.
After dinner Koushirou showed them to the room where Zoro would be staying.
Having rolled out their futons on the tatami floor, Mihawk pulled Zoro close, the boy immediately curling up against his chest. If Zoro felt any of the silent tears that fell from Mihawk’s cheeks into his hair, he didn’t say anything.
Mihawk got up early the next morning, before Zoro woke. He slipped away silently after one last kiss to the boy’s head, knowing he wouldn’t be able to handle a real goodbye.
He kept repeating to himself as he sailed away that it would only be a few months until he saw his son again, but as the village faded out of view he broke down into tears one more time.