They were caught in a fight, once again, only because Luffy decided to raid the entire military granary out of a fit of hunger. Everyone took their turns to pummel their captain before they begrudgingly helped to settle the mess Luffy hurled up.
Zoro raised his sword for the second time and nobody dared to challenge him after they've witnessed the first. The men scrambled for their lives, faces purpled with fear and Zoro withdrew his sword, the other two still sheathed. The army of military guards retreated quickly after a short exchange with the Strawhats. They knew better than to waste their lives on such an impossible battle.
Zoro turned back to Luffy, ending his fight without a single bat of his eyelid, and stomped his foot into his captain's back without any reservation.
"Seriously, stop getting us into your shit!"
Sanji joined in from afar, "HAVEN'T I FED YOU ENOUGH ALREADY? IDIOT!"
The rest of the crew took their turns to raise their fists on Luffy once again, especially Nami who had to abandon her shopping spree in the danger of an exchange of fire. Well, all except Robin who merely smiled at the side, watching.
Zoro sighed at their antics, shifting his swords at his side when sudden, hasty footsteps approached him from behind. He had only enough time to turn around, and to have a bloodied man crash into him, sending him falling backwards bewildered.
The stranger panted with shaky, ragged breathes as he struggled to push himself away from Zoro, probably to escape from somebody who had given him the deep, gashing wound across his chest. Zoro cringed at the blood dripping down on his body as the bloodied man forced himself from the ground. However, he didn't make it far until he tripped and collapsed on the ground once again. The clatter of the dropped katana caught Zoro's attention before the sounds of the stranger's pursuer approached.
The stranger mouthed for help and that was the last thing he did before his eyes shut. Zoro could only stare at the man with widened eyes as his heart lurched in an awful reminder of none other than Kuina, his long lost soulmate, a challenge he never had a chance to overcome. It's the Tashigi incident all over again, except this time, it was a man and Zoro chided himself for being so vulnerable. He only allowed himself that split second.
He didn't matter whether this guy was good or bad, he would save a life first before deciding if it was worth keeping. He hoisted the man up his shoulder and turned to Luffy who nodded at him.
Chopper had to exercise his medical skills to the fullest with such deep wounds the man had but he was never one to back down from a challenge. The Strawhats had retreated to their ship quickly after Zoro who decided to help the stranger without a single hesitation. They had set sail from the small island which was their rest stop to get away from the stranger's enemies. Nobody objected to Zoro's decision. However, Nami voiced her concerns over the stranger's identity and the trouble it could bring them. As usual, Luffy laughed it off, and went with the idea of 'when it comes'.
Everyone else waited outside the room as Chopper begin the treatment. Some of the blood had already dried up, plastering clothes with skin and wound. Chopper's brow furrowed with worry as the stranger seemed to have been on the run for several days, wounded. Chopper had no choice but to scissor the stranger's clothes as he winced in secondhand pain. He was exasperated after the ordeal to find another layer of fabric under the stranger's clothes. The inner fabric is a bloodied mess with the large gash across his patient's wound and Chopper could feel the sweat gathering on his forehead. He began to cut up the fabric, something like gauze from what he observed.
He removed the article, and was shocked, but it was not the horrid wound that made him freeze.
Zoro inspected the stranger's katana with interest. It was a beautiful sword, and he was tempted to cleanse it of the stranger's blood. But he shouldn't do anything to somebody else's property without permission. He sat at his usual napping spot, unable to sleep as he thought of the sight of Kuina, injured and collapsed before him. He shook his head. He refused to allow himself such weaknesses especially after Kuina had already left him so many years ago. And the stranger was a man.
He looked towards the medical room and saw Chopper gesturing to Robin who went in after the doctor. He turned away as the thought of Kuina started surfacing again.
"What is it, doctor?" Robin asked, a smile on her lips. She was always ready to help their much adored Chopper.
"Robin! There's something weird here! And I don't know what to do!" Chopper grabs Robin's sleeve, flustered.
"What happened?"
Chopper gestured to the raven to see for herself and Robin shifted to the bed where the injured stranger laid. She lifted the sheets and her eyes widened at the discovery.
"My goodness, looks like the stranger is a woman in contrary to what we thought!"
"And it seems like she was disguising herself! She wrapped cloth around her chest! She even dressed like a man!" Chopper rambled nervously while keeping his voice down.
"Hmm." Robin considered for a moment. "Well, Chopper. I think you should treat her first. We'll keep this a secret for now. Just a little act of kindness."
"Okay. I think so too." Chopper nodded in agreement.
As she tossed and turned in her sleep, the nightmares of her escape eased into a melancholic black and white movie where her past comes back to haunt her. It was a beautiful story, only plagued with guilt when the sight of the bawling boy flashed across her mind. She remembered the day she died, when everyone shared their sorrow for her departure, but she stood in the dark and watched as they cried, oblivious to the lie she set up.
A woman could never make it as far as a man could for the path she wanted. Even father agreed to her plan to begin her quest for her dreams under another identity. Whenever she edged closer to her dreams, the ecstasy would always wash away the guilt she felt for abandoning her previous life. She would always remember the day she was no longer Kuina, but a man who had every right to pursue that dream Kuina never could. And she would always remember a certain promise a certain someone made to her…
Was she too selfish in her way?
"Zoro…"
Robin raised her head from her book. She thought she heard their guest whispered the name of one of their crewmates.
The door opened with a creak. Zoro had come over to change shift for their duties. Robin closed her book and stood up, about to speak when Chopper rushes in hastily.
"Zoro! Remember to call for me if there is anything strange! Don't touch he—him yourself!"
Zoro yawned and waved Chopper away. "I got it."
He strolled over and took over Robin's chair, folding his arms over his chest lazily, looking like he's ready to return to his sleep.
Robin smiled at Chopper who's absolutely worried about the exposure of the woman's secret. They left the room, nevertheless.
Zoro settled down and eased into sleep effortlessly. Hours passed into late night and the stranger began to stir.
Her whole body ached despite the numb tingling across her chest. There was roof above her head and it was bright outside the window beside the bed she was laying on. She was in foreign territory and her instinct was to escape. She could never let her guard down at this juncture. Even if everything seemed safe on the surface. She scanned her surroundings and noticed a man guarding beside her. She froze but was quick to be relieved when the man appeared to be asleep. Her heart lurched when she realised the bandages around her chest had been changed. She ran a hand down her chest. Had she been discovered? She was keen to leave this place.
She crept off the bed as the man carried on snoring. She glanced out the window and was terrified to see the vast sea. She was on a ship?
She gasped. Where was she? Where are they taking her? Her hand was on the door knob quickly but before she could decide if she should escape through the door, a hand was on her shoulder.
"Oi, where are you going?"
She gasped and spun around, but absolutely defenseless without her sword. Where was her sword?
"You shouldn't be moving around!" The man insisted as his hand tightened around her arm. He stepped closer, the shadow shifted and the light from the window casted dramatically across the contours of his face.
Kuina withheld the gasp as her eyes fixated upon the familiar features. Her eyes roamed the moss-green hair she remembered perfectly and the face of the man she knew from the news and posters. The features on the man's face however, were only matured contours of the boy she knew from long time ago.
Zoro noticed the surprise in the stranger's eyes and he could only respond the same when they looked so much like Kuina's own. He allowed himself the liberty to observe the way the stranger's eyes shone from the light outside, just like the night when Kuina told him how it was impossible for her to carry on. Kuina had longer hair but the stranger's short hair could not stop his mind from whirling at the sight of the all too similar features. It was as if Kuina was standing before him, alive and perfectly fine as if she had never left him.
Both of them froze in their movements, caught in their own memory chase when everything dissolved into a deafening silence eventually. Kuina was suddenly absolutely aware of her state of undress, the only thing around her chest the bloodstained bandages. She however, was not afraid of being discovered, but afraid of being seen especially in front of Zoro.
How many years had she been following the rise of his bounty. It seemed that he was so very ahead of her as a swordsman. He was rumoured to be the best, and Kuina would not doubt that. She could almost sense his power just by looking into his eyes.
Zoro chided the weakness of his heart which pounded helplessly at the sight of a face so similar to Kuina's. The only way to stop from dwindling was to remind himself that the person he was looking at was a man. And Kuina was already dead.
They exchanged looks, Zoro determined to steel his eyes upon the sight of Kuina's doppelganger. He stared down at the man he rescued and pulled him back to the bed where he was to rest. Deep down, he knew he was only doing this because a part of him was soft for somebody that looked like Kuina.
Kuina sat down on the bed but her eyes never left Zoro's face. She was surprised by Zoro's left eye, scarred across its closed eyelid. There was an urge to touch it until she felt Zoro's stare. It was strangely stern yet comforting at the same time.
"Rest. You are safe with us." Zoro's voice was a deep rumble in the dim room and it calmed her heart which had been on jittery ends the past few days. It's the first time she's heard Zoro's voice since she left him and it made her miss him even more dearly.
The days passed as they sailed across the sea. The Strawhats were welcoming to the stranger onboard despite his insistence on keeping his identity a mystery. They however, enjoyed his company very much for he was a pleasant friend. Sanji, was however, slightly confused whenever his heart fluttered at the misleading beauty of the male stranger. The others, were all fine.
Other than, of course, Zoro.
Kuina, afraid to reveal her identity kept her interaction with Zoro to the minimum or even zilch. Likewise, Zoro, unwilling to stir up the bitter past, avoided the stranger at all cost. Both, however, yearned the sight of one another and would secretly catch a glimpse of even just a backview.
Robin, Chopper and Kuina had a telepathic pact to keep the secret. Sometimes Robin would smile at Kuina knowingly. Chopper on the other hand, was only nervous upon the topic.
Kuina quickly healed under Chopper's care, whom she was very grateful to. Chopper however, dismissed her thanks after a quick dance of glee, and told her how Zoro was the one to rescue her without a single delay. Kuina smiled as she felt a swell in her chest.
When the day came for the stranger to part after expressing her gratitude, she humbly asked of another request—to fight Zoro.
"Zoro-san, please fight me."
Zoro stared at the bowed stranger with one eye. With the fluttering memory of Kuina speaking his name forced deeper down into the recesses of his mind, he agreed, only for a selfish desire to catch another glimpse of Kuina's face.
Luffy led the rest of the crew to another binge when they reach land. All but Zoro and the stranger they bade goodbye to remained before Thousand Sunny to fufil their duel.
Zoro's hand rested on his sword as his eyes fixated upon the stranger metres away from him. Both of them withdrew their swords and charged at one another. Swords clashed, their tunes a long, arduous symphony until one of them left a gap open towards the other.
The sound of a katana falling ended their duel. Zoro's sword was an inch away from the stranger's throat, his stance firm as the stranger fell backwards from the force of his charge.
Zoro withdrew his sword.
The stranger did the same and bowed. "Please accept my defeat."
Before the stranger could bid farewell, Zoro grabbed him by the arm and asked, "What is your name?"
She blamed the setting sun perhaps, for illuminating the naïve hope in his eyes and the boy she remembered within him, her tongue let slip and she whispered hoarsely, "Kuina."
His eyes widened in disbelief or ecstasy, he has no idea himself, and he threw his arms around the person he missed most dearly. For the first time since Kuina died, his eyes blurred with tears for the one he held felt so warm and real as if she was still alive.
His confused mind later came to reality when he began doubting his own sanity. He withdrew his arms and saw a pair of eyes staring at him hopefully, wet with tears like his own. His heart panged with a terrible ache but his mind told him it was impossible. He wondered if this was just a horrible joke and asked again.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Kuina," She answered this time without fear. "Zoro!"
He couldn't believe it but his heart would, even if everything in the world opposed him. He reached out and pulled her against him. He felt what he had never felt for another surging like crashing torrents inside him. It's been unearthed since she's returned.
He pressed his lips against hers and everything felt pieced back together from the day it shattered.
Zoro would not deny it if somebody says that he's an uncouth man. He was rough and crude like any sea-sailing man would be, yet she gazed at him as though he was the gentlest in the world. And only for her would he be able to be as such.
They held each other for the night, the stories they missed out could never have enough time to be shared. The closest to what he felt now was the vague memory of his heart beating wildly for Kuina when they were still children. Zoro knew nothing about loving a woman for he only loved one girl and it had died the day she did. He kissed Kuina and knew nothing about the rest. Kuina only laughed and kissed him back.
He had only reluctance when she had to leave, again. He finally let go of her hand when she promised him they would see each other again.
She still had a dream to finish and he was not going to stop her.
3 years passed and people often heard of a mysterious swordsman who went by the name of K. People often debated about a battle between the swordsman of the highest bounty with the mysterious swordsman who went without leaving a trace. There were rumours of the swordsman actually being a woman. Zoro only smiled whenever he heard because it meant Kuina was at the top with him, or even better. He wouldn't know until the next time they have a duel.
He no longer cared if he was best when she was the only one that could challenge him. A duel would only matter to him because he could see her once again.
Kuina was one to keep a promise, Zoro knew because the next time he saw her, she was ready to win their duel from the look in her eyes.
He could only feel joy when she appeared before him, a smile on her face and her hair was longer, just the same as when they were children.
But this time, she was not alone.
Zoro was bewildered with shock as she smiled at his expression. The boy holding Kuina's hand stared back at him with the same moss green hair, mouthing his name in childish tones before saying, "Papa!"