Though it was the middle of the night, neither Zoro nor Kuina were tired after their fight, and so they silently lay down on the grass, staring up at the stars and moon.

"Hey," Kuina said after a while.

"Hey, what?" Zoro said, watching a shooting star pass near the moon.

"What do you think you'll do after you finish training?"

Zoro frowned. "Well, I'm gonna go out to sea, I guess."

Kuina giggled. "No, I mean—where are you gonna go? Are you gonna be a Marine?"

Zoro stuck out his tongue at the sky, his eyes fixed on a particularly bright one hovering above them. "No way! Marines are stupid!"

"What? Why?" Kuina said curiously, also watching the bright star above them.

"Cause—everyone has to take orders from someone above them, right? I don't want that. I want to be the best," Zoro emphasized.

Kuina giggled again. "You'll always have to take orders from someone unless you get taller."

Zoro stuck his tongue out at her. "Well, even if I get a really high rank or something, that'll take too long."

"I see what you mean," Kuina said, now squinting at one of the smaller, dimmer stars, trying to see it better—it was nearly outshone by the moon. "But if I joined the Marines, I wouldn't really mind taking orders if it meant I could get better."

Zoro huffed and looked back up at the sky.

"What about becoming a pirate?" Kuina asked.

Zoro frowned. "I dunno . . . maybe. I'd probably wanna be the captain, though. But I'd be okay with taking orders from a captain if he was a good captain. If he was a bad captain, then I'll just do whatever I want."

"But you don't wanna take orders from someone in the Marines?"

"No."

Kuina giggled. "That sounds kinda dumb."

"What!?"

"It's okay, it's okay," Kuina laughed. "As for me . . . I think I might join the Marines when I'm old enough."

"They should be grateful," Zoro said, trying to find the rabbit in the moon. "You're real strong."

Kuina smiled, though Zoro couldn't see it—he had found the rabbit and was frowning, trying to remember what it was supposed to be pounding. Was it medicine or a rice cake?

"Thanks," Kuina said quietly, standing. "I'm getting tired . . . I'll see you in the morning, Zoro."

Zoro tore his gaze away from the moon. "Hey, the bedroom's the other way . . ."

"I know," Kuina said, holding up her white-sheathed sword. "I need to go sharpen this so that my father doesn't find out we've been fighting."

"Oh, okay," Zoro said, standing up as well. "I'm gonna go to bed, too."

"G'night."

"G'night . . ."

"Zoro!"

"What?"

"Moss-head, get out of bed already!"

Nineteen-year-old Zoro's eyes snapped open and he fell out of his hammock. He rubbed his head and looked up at Sanji, who was wearing a pink apron and glaring at him.

"For god's sake, I was about to get Chopper," Sanji snapped. "Breakfast's been ready for ages, damn idiot. C'mon, before it gets cold."

"Yeah," Zoro muttered as the cook left the room in a huff. "Coming."

He sighed and left the room, unconsciously placing a hand on his white-sheathed sword.