#EDIT: i've added two clarifying tags after multiple comments about the MCD!!

[swordsmans]

poly philtatos (the most loved by far)

He keeps moving forward at a steady pace, resisting the urge to run because how fucking embarrassing would that be, running because he missed them, and as he breaks through the treeline he shouts, “Oi, oi—what took you guys so long? It's been—”

And then he freezes, because yes, actually—something is very, very wrong.

The Sunny is anchored just off shore, close enough to see the deck but far enough away that the crew has had to take the Mini Merry to make land. Scattered across the beach in various stages of chaos—rolling around, yelling, fighting—are his crew but not his crew, so similar and yet so, so different. They look younger, fresher, and whatthefuck there, on the deck of the Sunny just peering over the railing, he catches a flash of green—his own green hair—

“Ah, fuck,” he grunts, and then immediately turns back around because no, actually, he does not want to deal with this.

pairing: roronoa zoro/monkey d. luffy

word count: 24,853

ao3 tags: time travel; not a fix-it; major character death; spoilers through the end of wano; zoro protects the crew; and his captain; and does not realize they will go to the ends of the earth to protect him too; it’s all fine in the end i promise; mcd is a framing device only do not worry