One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and TvTokyo, I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. This is a purely fan-made fiction.
"Hey, guys! Anyone who's seen Zoro around?" Luffy asked as he and the rest of the crew were out on deck, just enjoying the sun's warmth. Nami shrugged as she laid on her sun chair, working on her tan.
"Don't know, don't care." She said honestly, a bit of scolding in her tone. "Just relax and enjoy the sun, Luffy. It's such a nice weather…" she sighed in joy and leaned back, relaxing as the sun was shining down on her skin. Sanji was of course fluttering around her with hearts around his head, offering Nami shoulder massage, ice-cold drinks and what-not to please her. Luffy and Usopp just chuckled at the man's slightly comedic attempts to be romantic. The only one who was not amused, but worried and concerned, was Chopper. The little reindeer had been worried about Zoro since he didn't even show up for breakfast. Something was wrong with his favorite swordsman. He just knew it. Chopper sneaked off from the others, and trotted his way to Zoro's cabin. He looked up at the door, then took a deep breath and knocked on it with his hoof.
"What?" a low grunt came from inside the room. "Who is it?"
"I-It's me, Zoro! Chopper!" the boy called back, his voice slightly frazzled as he tried to hide his concern for Zoro's well-being. He heard the door click once, and then saw it slide open. He smiled a bit, but he was still nervous as he trotted inside, seeing the green-haired man sit on his bed, just looking at his nightstand. "Hey, Zoro!" he said cheerfully.
"…" Zoro did not respond. He was just staring blankly at the nightstand, where an old picture frame stood, with an even older picture on it. Chopper managed to crawl up onto Zoro's bed and went up to Zoro, where he peeked out from beside Zoro, looking at the picture.
"What's that?" Chopper asked curiously, but Zoro just sighed and looked away. He was apparently not in a good mood right now. "Zoro? You feeling ok?" the boy asked as he tugged on Zoro's shirt, but Zoro pushed away Chopper's hoof.
"Nothing, Chopper." He said bluntly, trying to not make the reindeer worry about him. But his rather "avoiding" personality made the boy even more frantic and worried. But instead of tugging on his shirt, he sat down near Zoro, looking up at him with a worried look on his face.
"Zoro, what's wrong? I can sense you're not feeling too good." He said as-a-matter-of-factly, tilting his head a bit. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone else. Promise!" Zoro sighed as he looked back at Chopper, who was still tilting his head. Zoro had to admit, it was too cute to resist the urge to not talk about the problem that stung him right now, but he kept it inside as usual, and looked away.
"Nothing's wrong with me, damn it." He grunted, wanting nothing more than to be alone right now. "Just get lost, Chopper. I don't need company right now." Chopper's eyes widened a bit as Zoro was so rude to him; he had never been so rude to him before, but now he just told him to get lost. Why did Zoro have to be so cruel? Chopper resisted the urge to break down and cry, and sat still. Zoro glared angrily at the reindeer. "Why you still here? I told you to beat it."
"I won't, Zoro." He said stubbornly as he went up to Zoro. "I won't leave until I know for certain what's wrong with you. So just go ahead and tell me already." Zoro growled slightly as the reindeer was so obnoxious, but he knew he was just caring for him, so he finally gave up and sighed, turning away from him again and glancing at the picture. "Zoro, please speak to m-"
"It's a picture of her." Zoro said, interrupting Chopper's sentence. The little reindeer instantly knew what it meant, as there could only be one that Zoro would refer to as 'her'; Kuina. Zoro had mentioned the girl a few times while he was around, and he figured she must of meant a great deal for Zoro in his childhood, since it sounded like she was the thing that spurred Zoro on to become a swordsman. "It's been so long since I last saw her, Chopper. I don't know if I'll ever be able to let her go…" the green-haired man sighed a bit as he put the picture back on the nightstand, and then laid down on the bed, staring up into the roof. Chopper felt bad for his favorite Nakama, and so he stood up and gently plopped down on Zoro's chest, to which the swordsman only grunted once, then became adjusted to him sitting there.
"Well, sometimes it's best to keep things inside instead of letting them go; you know what I'm saying?" Chopper said as-a-matter-of-factly, looking down at Zoro. He sure looked like he was depressed, but would not admit it. "I mean, if Kuina-Chan meant a lot to you when you were younger, then you should keep thinking about her. Not let her go. She may be dead, Zoro-San… but she'll always be here for you…" he gently pressed his hoof onto Zoro's shirt-covered chest, where he could feel the man's heart thump with each beat. "Here. In your heart. You'll always remember her as the girl who made you determined on becoming a swordsman. Think about it, Zoro; without her, you wouldn't have become a swordsman determined on becoming the strongest in the world, and then you maybe wouldn't have met Luffy-San, and then you would never have met me, either." The boy smiled a bit as he saw Zoro's mood lighten up a bit. "All you can do is to remember her, Zoro. Remember her, and what you and she used to do together. I bet she'd be happy if you did that." The swordsman slowly looked back at Chopper, giving him a slight smile. The man then took off Chopper's hat slowly before ruffling his fur a bit, making Chopper giggle.
"Thanks, little guy." Zoro said slowly, before sitting up and putting Chopper's hat back onto the boy's head, the antlers popping out on either side of it. "I needed to be comforted for a while." The reindeer giggled again.
"Not a problem Zoro-san!" he squeaked with glee, before jumping off his bed. "Well, I gotta go now! I'll see you later!" he said as he merrily trotted outdoors, closing the door to let Zoro be alone. The swordsman smiled as he looked back at the picture, letting his mind go back to the time when he was first defeated by Kuina in a real sword duel…
Zoro saw how Kuina's katana was stabbed merely inches from his head, into the ground near him. He gasped out in fear, and then looked up at Kuina, who was smirking a bit. "You lose, Zoro." She said, again in that arrogant tone of hers. Zoro could not take it anymore. Time after time, he had been defeated by the same person, and even though his fighting spirit grew with each defeat, he could still feel that he wanted to defeat her, if only once. But alas, no such day seemed to come. He was actually doubting in himself by now, and as he laid there, he began sobbing loudly, covering his face with his hands.
"D-D-Damn it!" the boy shouted as he cried. "I-I can't do anything right! I-I try and try and try… t-t-to be better… b-but nothing happens, damn it! I-I'll never be a great swordsman!" he kept crying, until Kuina spoke;
"At least you can become one, Zoro." She said, sighing as she looked into thin air. The young boy sat up, slightly confused of what Kuina meant, before he saw her crying. "I-I've always wanted to become one too… but I overheard father today…" she gripped her shirt, around her chest area, sobbing. "A-And he said… there's no way a woman can become a swordsman!" she felt really devastated, because earlier today he had heard his father – the Sensei of Kuina and Zoro – speak to one of the villagers, having mentioned Kuina, and her will to become a swordsman, to where the villager had laughed and said 'A woman can never become a swordsman!', to where her own father agreed with the man. It hurt her, more than anything in the entire world, and now she cried because of it. Zoro, however, grunted as he stood up.
"Stop talking nonsense!" he shouted, as the blue-haired girl turned to look at him, her eyes watered with tears. "What do you mean 'you can't become one'? Just cuz you're a woman? That's bullshit! Anyone can become something if they really believe in it! Listen to me…" he went up Kuina, and held out his hand. "Let's make a promise! We'll promise that either one of us train so hard, that one of us becomes the greatest swordsman in the world! Promise on that!" Kuina looked back at Zoro, who was firm on his point, holding out his hand. She just chuckled slowly, wiping off her tears.
"You're an idiot, Zoro…" she said teasingly, but smiled nevertheless, and held his hand gently. Just then, both of them smiled at each other, finding each other as equals as they held each other's hands.
"It's a promise!"
Later that day, as everyone went to sleep, Chopper peeked inside of Zoro's room to see if he was asleep. What he saw, was the swordsman sitting down on the floor with a wooden stick coated in bamboo; a Kendo staff. The reindeer was a bit confused as to why Zoro was doing it, and trotted up to him.
"Zoro-san, what you doing?" he asked, poking the man's back gently with his hoof. "Everyone's asleep, Zoro-san. You should sleep too." He was only caring for the man's health. Zoro turned around to Chopper and smiled a bit.
"Yeah, I know… just lemme finish this…" he said as he turned back, revealing he held one of his swords and carved something onto the handle onto the staff's handle, carefully. Chopper peeked around Zoro to see what it was, and saw it was two letters, each letter being on a sword that clashed with another; a Z and a K.
"That's nice, Zoro-san!" he said with a gleeful smile, seeing that Zoro had found a way to get around his depression. "Now you'll always remember that she is where you find yourself most at home."
"Yeah… in battle." Zoro smirked. "She and I promised each other to become the greatest swordsman… now I am fulfilling both our promises. She'll always be with me whenever I fight someone, and her spirit lives on in my blades." He stood up and placed the Kendo staff on a nearby desk, lit up with candles. At the center stood the picture of Zoro, Kuina and their Sensei, as he put the staff in front of it. Then he blew out the candles, and went for his hammock. "Night, Chopper."
"Night, Zoro!" Chopper called as he went to his cabin, a big smile on his face as he had helped his Nakama feel better about himself, and hoped that Zoro would keep remembering Kuina for as long as he lived.