The following is the product of an all-nighter, writer's block on two major fiction-works and the ability to name random-arse characters near off the top of my head. Ahead are semi-spoilers for well, the near the entire manga thus far (well, Water Seven really, slight Post Enies Lobby) and the fifth movie: Norowareta Seiken (Curse of the Sacred Sword). Story will be a slight AU-ish while still in canon settings. Character explanations are at the bottom. I do not own One Piece. Oh, and a final note: this is more older teen than regular teen, but not enough to be rated Mature. Just buck up already.
As Fate Would Have It
You shrimp! You're too puny!
Wanna bet! We'll fight for the title of World's Strongest Swordsman!
I don't believe I'm doing this... you're on!
...and so the bond was forged. Years ago on that weathered stoop, two promising swordsmen sealed their pact with a handshake and a grin each. Though they were both too young for such grand ideals, neither allowed their promise to falter. The green-haired swordsman, now in his late teens, sat down on the stoop and stared out at the calm night the summer had brought the sparring field. The swords strapped to his green haramaki near quivered with excitement. In the morning he would leave the dojo for good, not telling a soul where he was headed towards. He wanted to find the strength needed to become the best; something that was rarely found in small dojos in the East Blue. A deft smile found his lips as the warm summer breeze came rushing over him. Everything about his final night at the dojo was perfect, that is until an angered shriek cut through the air.
"What do you mean I can't leave!?" came the female voice from deeper inside the confines of the dojo. "All of the others other than Saga, Zoro and I have left to find our strength and ourselves in the world and you want me to stay here to teach eight-year-old brats how to fail around bokken!? You must be daft!" There was a distinct pause in the shouting, most likely so that the other party of the argument could speak. Zoro heard a hacking cough and the sound of a frustrated groan. A rice-paper door slammed open and shut and a set of angered footsteps could be heard coming down the hall.
"He shut you down again, eh?" Zoro asked as Kuina came barging down the hall. He did not even have to turn his head to know that she was glaring at him evilly. "He doesn't like the idea of you leaving. What happened all those years ago near put him over the edge."
"Oh, shut up," Kuina snapped. She sat down next to Zoro and cricked her neck, sending the vertebrae popping and crackling where she fell six years prior. The female fingered the scar above her right eye from the same miraculous fall and sighed. "I'm telling you Zoro, you are just so lucky that you were born a man."
"Stop saying that," Zoro scoffed. He glanced over at Kuina and grunted disapprovingly. "I thought we were going to fight for the title no matter what."
"I can't exactly fight you for the title if you go out into the world and bring it back when all I've done is taught brats for years on end!"
"Then run with me," Zoro said blankly. The young woman looked at him with large, surprised eyes. "I'm leaving in the morning. Are you in?"
"Really?" Kuina asked hesitantly.
"You're nineteen, right?" Zoro reasoned casually, leaning back on the palms of his hands. "You are plenty old enough to be considered an adult. To me, both of us have been for a while. Adults make their own decisions and I'm deciding on leaving for the world in the morning. Are you adult enough to join me?"
"You mean this, don't you?" Kuina quietly asked.
"Pfft. You have a dream to reach, don't you?" Zoro laid back on the floorboards of the stoop and let out a deep sigh. "Become the strongest and prove to the world that you can kick ass, girl or not."
"That's a lovely way of putting it."
"You never answered my question."
"I... I'll think about it," Kuina said. She stood up and began to walk towards the wing where her room was between Zoro's and Saga's.
"Meet me here an hour before sunrise then," Zoro said before she turned the corner. Kuina looked back to see that the teen was still laying on his back, eyes closed and grinning to himself. She shook her head and sighed. He knew her way too well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Wait, I need to say goodbye," Kuina whispered as she and Zoro pushed the large, heavy doors of the dojo gate open. Zoro groaned out of frustration as the dark-haired woman began back towards the building, clutching the white-hilted Wado Ichimonji in her hand.
"He's only going to deny your freedom again," he whined, fidgeting with the two swords at his own waist. "Let's just go and get it over with."
"Baka. I'm not going to wake him up. Just looking will do. He has been ill for a while after all," Kuina snapped. She dragged Zoro along by the wrist to ensure that he would stay and let him free when they were at the stoop by the sparring field.
"Aesthetics for the sake of your future legend?" Zoro muttered sourly. Kuina shot him a glare and rushed down the hallway to her father's room.
"Someone's up early," smirked a voice, making Zoro jump. He turned around to see Saga standing there in his white sleeping robe. The ivory-haired man laughed when Zoro gave him a scowl. "The gate's open and it's not even twilight. You thinking about running away?"
"Maybe," Zoro scoffed. Saga rolled his eyes and grinned slyly.
"You know, I could have sworn I saw Kuina a split second ago. She going with you?"
"What if she is?"
"Come on mate," Saga moaned. "Don't leave me to care for the old man! He'll die out of worry for his daughter before either of you return. Besides, you're going to get separated and desperately lost. I know it."
"I'm leaving and Kuina's coming with me," Zoro snarled. "I'm not about to let her old man ruin all the chances she has at being a swordsman by turning her into a housewife. She may be my rival, but so are..."
Just then, Zoro was cut off by a blood-curdling scream. Both him and Saga ran in the direction of their sensei's quarters, fearing the worst. They barged into the open doorway and saw Kuina's hunched figure towering over her father's body. The two young men saw blood, dried and cracking, covering the sheets, clothes and person of their fallen mentor. Zoro took a step forward towards Kuina, but stopped when his foot nudged something on the ground. He looked down and saw that it was Kuina's sword, still sheathed and ready to go on their promised adventure.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A week had passed before the old man was finally laid to rest. His wake proved to be longer than any of his three eldest students imagined. People from all over the island came, not just from Shimoshiki Village alone. Everyone had come to pay their last respects to the man who taught many of the area youth and fought alongside the elders as well.
The procession to the cemetery was long and somber. The rain from above came splashing down on the mournful parade, creating a difficult challenge for some of the members. The shower became a storm and finally, only the two teenaged pallbearers and their raven-haired leader were left to place the casket in the vault, none of the others willing to brave the wind and whipping tears from the sky. They came back to the dojo caked in mud and drenched to the bone as the storm subsided. The green-haired pallbearer collapsed against a tree from exhaustion, the raven-haired woman in his arms. It was only hours later did he get up and assisted his white-haired nakama in chopping wood.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Somewhere in the East Blue, a man with blond hair cried over the body of his own nakama. Dark eyeglasses lay on the ground shattered and the maroon mohawk, as well as the head attached to it, remained lifeless despite the sobbing pleas. The blond was thus silenced with a quick piercing stab through his rib cage and into his heart. That day found the end for two bounty hunters as their targets cackled in triumph.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Autumn, winter and spring came and went until summer lazily stretched out once more in Shimoshiki. Kuina had clung to the last remnants of her family's home, refusing to leave as she had originally intended. Zoro and Saga remained as well, assisting their rival in the instruction of younger students. Life went on as usual, finding the three new teachers growing comfortably into their new lifestyle. They still sparred with one another at night and kept strict training regimens for themselves. One day, they had decided, they would draw lot and whoever lost would stay and await for the return of the others. They had one year to train. One year to prepare...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A crowd roared with excitement at the sight before them. The bespectacled strawberry-blond's head was quickly severed, no remorse despite the prisoner's constant protests. The military Captain licked the blade jutting out from his arm and grinned as the newly deceased's companion was led up to him. The dark-haired teen smiled from underneath his straw hat and knelt before the chopping block without complaint or fear. His hat blew off, gently landing at the feet of a tearful young girl, her face mauled by the claws of dogs. She clenched her eyes shut as the Captain bellowed in mid-swing.
"Die you filthy pirate!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kuina drew the first ball from the box and gasped. It was just her fortune that it ended up being red. Zoro and Saga could only gape at the luck they had. Neither man would have had to draw, as the other two balls in the lot were white. The woman's hand shook as she glared at the ball in her grasp.
"Good-bye," she muttered curtly before turning on her heel and running off. The two men simply stood there for a moment before walking off and leaving the dojo grounds, headed towards Shimoshiki and the wharf.
"You kind of have to feel sorry for her," Saga said solemnly after a while. "She has to give up her dream. If we were not bound by a pact, I would give up my spot for her."
"That asshole old man of hers," Zoro spat. "Why did he have to go and die like that? He ruined everything."
"If you talk about our sensei like that, you will have no luck in battle," Saga warned. "Besides, it is destiny. She shaped her destiny by agreeing to participate in our pact. Now we have to honor it by accepting our destiny."
"Something still doesn't feel right about this," Zoro said. He turned around and began sprinting away from Saga, back towards the dojo.
"Zoro! Baka!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The two gaudily painted men scoffed at the redheaded woman, now laying on the deserted street in a puddle of her own crimson life. One plucked from her fingers the map she held with fingers not quite stiff. They left her to lie, knowing the strays at night would eat well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Zoro was thankful that the dojo was a straight shot from where the village sat, otherwise he was certain that he would have never made it back as quickly as he did. The green-haired man barged into the large hallway where Kuina was beginning to lead the students in their warmup exercises, creating quite the scare.
"What are you doing back here?" Kuina demanded. Silently, Zoro pulled her out into the hall and shut the door behind them. Before she could get a single word in, Kuina found herself embraced by two strong arms that refused to let go.
"Saga might be able to leave you and your dreams here," the haramaki-wearing man whispered into Kuina's ear, "but I can't."
"Zo...ro...?" Kuina gasped. She allowed her arms to shakily embrace him, accepting what he wanted.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The former pirate captain grinned with glee as he drove his finger blades into the youth's throat, pinning him to the dusty slope. All around him, his former crewmen raced past him, making their way towards the nearby village. The teen's last gasps for life brought a laugh to his throat as he thought about the young woman who his first mate was pressing at that very moment. Soon he would possess all of her wealth and the easy life would be his forever.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Many people laughed and cheered as the sakura trees swayed in the wind, allowing petals from the branches to float effortlessly through the lighthearted air. Saga sighed wistfully as he watched his two former rivals talk to each other and laugh merrily. They stood atop a low platform, just high enough so that they could see above the crowd. Both were dressed in their absolute best and blushing furiously amid all the excitement.
"Oi, Saga!" called one of the fellow guests. "Do you know when those two plan on taking their eyes off the other long enough to break open that sake casket?"
"Hey, I'm just the Best Man. I don't control those two," the white-haired man replied, laughing nervously. "Knowing how much they can both drink though, it won't be long!"
Damn, Saga thought. Why didn't I leave these two idiots when I had the chance? He observed as Zoro and Kuina grinned before shoving the crowbar into the slits of the crate boards and burst open the sake casket with a resounding yawp in response from the crowd.
As far as anyone cared, it did not have to be official. The crate was open and that was that.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"No Captain! He saved my life!" winced the bloodied man as he stood before his armored superior. The blond man collapsed on the ship deck behind him coughed up more blood on his dapper suit and the cigarette that had once been between his lips fell to smolder out on the deck drenched in sea and blood.
"Move aside," the pirate captain snarled. When his underling refused to move, he simply knocked him out of the way, sending the mutinous one into what was left of the fighting sea-chefs. The muttonchops-donning pirate trained his staff on the blond as the last of his beloved and feared fleet sank behind him, crippled by a bored man drifting off sleepily in a macabre coffin.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The small boy sniffled as he watched on in horror. The dark-skinned woman who protected him from the ferocious Fishmen stood before their leader, head held high and defiant.
"Where is she!?" the enraged creature roared. He backhanded the woman across her face. "Your sister was scheduled to return a week ago! Where are you hiding her!?"
"We are not hiding anyone!" the woman declared in a clear tone. The Fishman spat at the resilient human and turned to one of his underlings.
"Get Momoo."
"Hai!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I'll be off then," Saga said, smiling fondly at his nakama. Kuina and Zoro stood before him, side by side and with their hands intertwined.
"Are you sure you're fine with leaving?" Kuina asked. "The students are all fond of you."
"Yeah, don't leave me alone with her. Who will be there to tell me I'm an idiot when she kicks me out of the bedroom? I doubt the students can do that," Zoro laughed. Kuina snorted and rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed by the jest.
"Let's just hope that was not you being serious, otherwise you're in deeper trouble than I thought," Saga chuckled. He took a few steps away from the couple and looked back in false desperation. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me Zoro? Kuina? Run away with me?"
"Nya... get out of here before I deck you all the way to the wharf you bum," Zoro threatened, using his free hand for a rather rude gesture. Saga laughed as Kuina smacked the green-haired man and stormed off.
"Right. You just remember you're naming your firstborn after me, okay?" Saga laughed as he continued towards the dojo gate. A water pail smacked the back of his shoulders as the two men's final farewell. Saga walked off laughing heartily, eager to start his long-delayed adventure.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The fallen man's lips turned blue as the snow began the natural preservation process on the corpse. Nearby, a red hat blew in the harsh wind, landing in the snowbank that was quickly forming around the bison-man's green-and-chrome armor. In the distance, a man's deep, throaty laughter could be heard through the crunching of bone and sinew.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I leave their fate to you citizens!" a man boomed to a crowded square in the center of a desert oasis city. "As you new leader, I will allow you to choose whether the last of our country's traitors to perish or not!"
"You cannot do this!" screeched the blue-haired woman as she struggled with her shackles. Tears streamed from her eyes, the salty taste trickling into the corners of her mouth.
"Silence you!" snarled the Billions agent restraining her. With one last desperate plea, the young woman turned towards the crowd.
"Please! Listen to me! I've worked for this man to discover his motive! He does not care about any of us!"
"It won't work," said the shackled rebel standing next to the former princess. He looked down at her with the regretful understanding of old friends. Never had he even dreamed of this sort of fate for his childhood companion, let alone her already perished father. He winced as a rifle was jammed into the back of his neck, as well as the princess's, at the resounding hissing and booing of the crowd below. He looked down at the multitude of faces, picking out that of a familiar boy before his final countdown began.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Saga stared at the sight before him, utterly shocked at the destruction that was laying in plain view. An entire village had been massacred and left out in the open. Flesh rotted off the bones of corpses as he walked through the many passageways and makeshift roads through the ruined city. A stone tower loomed in the distance, inviting with the lack of death and destruction. He walked up the tower's granite steps until he came to the top. There he met up with a scavenger-dog gnawing at the femur of a body with long blue hair laying in a twisted state, miko robes shredded by teeth and time. Ignoring the dog's growls, Saga ran all the way down the steps of the tower and quickly found a bush to regurgitate in.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The god laughed as he watched the little ant-like creatures beneath him scatter in fear. For six long years he was their unquestioned leader and now, with the men he called "priests" by his side, he extended his arm and bellowed a mighty command. Lighting came crashing down from the sky around them and bypassed the golden ark completely, headed straight for the below Skypieans. Some of the Angel Islanders prayed for the destruction to stop and salvation of the people.
That made their god laugh even harder.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The inhabitants of the on-edge city panicked. Their yearly sea-threat was coming and their mayor was being burned alive in his own home. No one knew what to do.
"Let me go back in there!" shouted the blond man, allowing his cigar to fall to the ground. "He's still in there! Why did you take me out and not him!?"
"Get a grip on yourself!"the man's cow-licked coworker argued as he held the blond back. "We couldn't find him! If he is still in there, he sure as hell had no desire to be found!"
"Yeah, come on!" shouted another of his coworkers. "We have to get to safety before Aqua Laguna comes!" The blond was pulled along, watching as the home of his trusted boss and mayor collapsed in the flames, a pained expression on his face.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Oh, come on," Zoro groaned, watching the green-haired girl before him trip over her own two feet. "You may be named after your mother's cousin, but you are definitely not her!"
"Sorry Dad!" the girl apologized. She straightened up and held her bokken fast, standing in a steady swords stance."How's this?"
"Much better Ta-chan," Zoro grinned. "Now, how have you come along on those weights exercises I taught you?"
"Really well!" the girl squealed. "I'm almost strong enough to lift the boulder by the stream!"
"Zoro!" came Kuina's voice faintly through the dojo. The swordsman winced and after ruffling his daughter's hair, trundled off in the direction of the kitchen.
"Yes?" he asked, applying a layer of slight irritation to his voice as he poked his head into the kitchen. Before he could think of anything else to say, a rather hot pan smacked him in the side of the face with familiarity.
"Be polite and say hello to our guests!" Kuina demanded, letting her pan-wielding arm drop to her side. Zoro looked and saw Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi and Captain Smoker sitting at the table.
"Oh, hello," Zoro groaned, nursing his injured skull. He sat down at the table and glared at Smoker, who subsequently glared back. Kuina smacked Zoro on the back of the head and shot him an acidic look. The man straightened up and tried to sound a bit more inviting to the guests. "So, to what do we owe this surprise visit? Finally decided to elope?"
"Oi, you know and I know that Tashigi here's like my little sister, so shut up," Smoker snarled. The two men glared at one another again, this time, not allowing either of the women to snap them out of it.
"Tashigi-oba!" squealed the seaweed-head girl as she rushed into the kitchen. "I knew you were here!" She ran up and gave the female Marine a hug.
"Oh?" Tashigi laughed. "How so?"
"I could smell Smoker-oji and his motorcycle's in the yard," the child stated.
"Oh my. You sure are smart for being five, aren't you?"
"Six, Tashigi-oba. I'm six years old."
"My mistake."
"You still haven't told us why you're here," Kuina said, taking her own seat at the table.
"Ta-chan, please leave for a little bit," Zoro requested, not even looking away from Smoker for a moment. The girl happily agreed and left the room, only to stay on the other side of the wall listening intently.
"The World Government's done for," Tashigi explained. "The Blue Seas are the only relatively safe places left. Smoker-san and I have decided that we're going to protect this village as a last assignment from the Elder Stars."
"The government is dead?" Kuina gasped. "How can that be?"
"Vice-Admiral Garp and his son fought to the death," Tashigi explained grimly. "The Yonkou are enraged, as well as most of the Shichibukai. The Revolutionaries have taken hold. Their base is a desert country in the Grand Line called Alabasta where a former Shichibukai now rules. If this world is going to go to the dogs, Smoker-san and I are going to give it everything we have making sure that this place stays safe."
"I do have a husband to protect me now," Kuina sighed. "Your being six weeks older means nothing now."
"We have to," Tashigi pleaded. "Please Kuina. Let us stay here. I am sure your father would have."
"Alright," Kuina said hesitantly. "Just don't tell Ta-chan why you're here. She'd be scared stiff."
"Sure," Tashigi said with a relieved sigh. Neither woman knew it, but the young child sprinted off down the dojo hallway, simply wanting to get away.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"So?" asked the man with orange hair that fell into his face. He watched as five of his nakama craned their necks over the railing of their ship and stared at something in the water. "What is it?"
"It's a boat," said the man donning spectacles and straw-colored hair.
"Tamanegi, the boat has something inside of it!" snapped the black-haired man to his right.
"Piiman, I know that!"
"Shut up you two," sighed the third man. He looked over towards the galley door and called out. "Oi, Rika! Come take a look at this!"
"Come on Kappa-kun! I was just trying to teach Moda-chan how to make my special cookies!" complained the straw hat-donning woman as she barged out of the kitchen, another woman with the same dark hair right behind her. She looked over at Piiman and Tamanegi fighting and sighed. "Ninjin-kun, can you please keep those two under control?"
"Uh, no," the redhead said curtly before returning to his nap. Rika glared at him and marched over towards Kappa and the fifth man by the railing.
"What is it?" Moda asked.
"Chabo saw a boat floating in the water and we think there's someone in there!" Piiman announced, pointing at the water. Rika looked over the side and grabbed her hat out of impulse.
"Holy...! That is someone in there! Rope the boat over!" Rika ordered, sending herself into a slight panic. She calmed down though, once the dinghy was wrangled and Chabo went down to inspect the mystery cargo.
"It's a girl! She's passed out cold!" he hollered up.
"A girl? Is she pretty?" Kappa asked excitedly. Rika punched him in the arm and Moda made a meekly disapproving sigh.
"She looks to be about eighteen, maybe nineteen," Chabo replied. "That's almost ten years younger than us!"
"Six and seven for Moda-chan and me," commented Rika as she twirled a raven pigtail. She watched lazily as Chabo pulled up the teenager. She was a strange one with long green hair that was not tied back and a haramaki sash around her waist in the same color as her locks. Once they splashed some cool water on her, she sprung to life, newly awakened by the shock.
"Where am I?" she asked.
"On the ship of the Mugiwara Kaizokudan," Rika smiled. "My name's Rika. I'm the captain."
"I'm Ninjin, the ship's fighter!"
"I'm Tamanegi and I'm the chronicler!"
"Umm... I'm Moda... the cook..."
"I'm Piiman! I'm the sniper!"
"Name's Chabo. I'm the lookout."
"...and my name is Kappa. I am just a humble navigator, at your service," the man said, bending down on one knee to offer the newcomer a hand. Rika ground her fist into his head and forced a smile.
"Don't mind him," she said. "What's your name?"
"Tashigi."
"Tashigi-chan, wanna be our swordsman? We're in need of one, I mean, now that we're going to be sailing on a ship that's ours you know..."
"Huh?"
"We're going to Water Seven to find some old nutjob named Paulie. Supposed to be the best shipwright alive. We need a ship so that we can find One Piece and bring order to the world. Wanna join us?" Rika asked. Tashigi stood without the help of Kappa and clutched the white hilt at her waist.
"Yes. I will join you."
Author's Notes
Characters
Saga: tragic-hero-ish-well-sort-of-not-really from Norowareta Seiken
The Blond and Mohawk Guys: Yosaku's the blond and Johnny had a killer mohawk. It was freakin' maroon! How kick-arse is that!?
Rika: girl-child from Axe-Hand Morgan's military base town who fed Zoro onigiri
Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman: also known as Carrot, Onion and Pepper, who in this story were hiding from Kuro as they watched their leader die
Chabo: that little runt from Goza who wanted to beat up Arlong. Pfft.
Kappa: boy-child who wanted to join Kohza's rebellion
Moda: milk maiden whom is helped by Ace
Plot
Kuina...?: Yes, now shut up.
OOC Zoro: Kuina's early death in canon molds who he is in the canon, so this is technically not OOC. Owned.
Shimoshiki: yes, that's the name of Zoro's village. Go read Chapter 440.
Sake Casket: crate o' booze that is very handy at weddings
Near Everyone Canon Dies: Well, not Franky. I don't mention him. Dunno why. I mention Paulie though! -Paulie fangirl- I never really write in Zoro or Kuina's deaths either.
Icky Place for Saga: Setting of Norowareta Seiken. The miko should have been his.
Kuina-Tashigi Relation: That beth fanon my friends. Fanon as well as my assumption.
Yeah. Please review. This was near twice the length of normal story chapters that I write and about three times the length of preferred oneshots. I need encouragement please. Five and a half hours of my life just died. Please justify why that time no longer exists. Arigato.