Silence. The night was precariously still, the blades of grass and the branches of the trees not doing their usual dance. The air felt dead, with not even a single breeze to indicate any general direction. Along the neverending path, a young swordsman treaches through towards the unknown with only the illuminance of the moonlight guiding him. Wherever it goes doesn't concern him, for he's ready to strike with the three sharpened arms he beared.

Suddenly, noise. Life, in the dead. The swordsman swung around, but wasn't quick enough to see what exactly had startled the bushes. He squinted his eyes for two seconds before turning back to his unknown destination.

Another noise. This time it sounded even closer. He jumped around and took a fighting stance, reaching for one of his many weapons. Fortunately, he was quick enough to see what had been taunting him over this short period of time: a tiny bird with a long, red beak that could only run, probably lost and detached from its family. He felt bad for it, but didn't want to endanger it even more with his presence.

He turned back around and continued following the darkness, but something was off. Everything ahead of him was pure darkness, but there stood a figure ahead of him that looked darker.

"Roronoa...Zoro," a familiar voice called out to him. He recognized it, but wasn't entirely sure if his thoughts were right. "It's been too many years...and two thousand fights later, we've met again."

Zoro lost his breath. It couldn't be? The thoughts and memories all started flooding back as he was trying to process the words spoken by the womanly voice. A cool breeze picked up, disturbing the silence of the dead air and spinning the fallen leaves around the two of them.

"Kuina."

"Heh, so you do remember! After all this time. I knew you wouldn't forget." She had stepped forward, walking into the moon's light and revealing her appearance. She was exactly how Zoro remembered her to be: same blue hair, same large brown eyes, even the same outfit she wore when they had first met. She took notice of the three swords he was wielding. "I see you've taken good care of my father's treasure."

Zoro nodded. "The Wado Ichimonji."

"I see you've also been training a lot too. You're no longer skin and bone from the last time I saw you!" She starting laughing, remembering his appearance as a child.

"I appreciate your flattery, For twelve whole years I've kept our promise. I will be the best swordsman this whole damn world's seen."

Kuina kept on laughing. "Little do you know, I too have been training for that very reason."

Zoro grunted.

"But alas, there can only be one, right ?"

Kuina reached over behind her, pulling out a pair of her own swords. Zoro stepped one foot back, unlocking one of his swords and bracing himself for an attack.

"Looks and all are one thing, but it's all in the technique, and I want to see how much you've got." With that being said, Kuina lunged at Zoro with full force, her arms crisscrossed forming an "X" with her swords. Zoro gasped but reacted quickly, jumping out of the way right before she split the two blades apart.

He lifted his body back up to find a blade dashing towards his face. He used his sword to block the impact, a loud clang resonating through the quiet night air. Zoro was taken by total surprise. He thought she died a long time ago, he wasn't expecting to see her ever again. He had no time to think further on this as her blades swung at him, over and over and over again. He didn't exactly want to fight her, but at the same time he wanted to prove himself. It is his dream to out do every last swordsman out there.

"Hah! Is dodging the only thing you're good at?" Kuina continued striking at an incredible rate, matching speeds with Zoro's defense. She struck once more at the same time he did, now the both of them pushing at each other with similar strength.

"I don't want to hurt you, Kuina!"

"So you'd much rather be a coward hmm?" She pushed herself off Zoro, flipping herself midair before landing square on her feet. "A real swordsman wouldn't ever turn down a fight."

Zoro was breathing heavily, thinking how right she was. If he were ever to be a real swordsman, he wouldn't hesitate to protect his dignity, even if it meant fighting with the ones he loved.

An aura glowed around him as he started preparing his attack. He bit down on the handle of the Wado Ichimonji, holding it in place, as he gripped his other two swords.

Kuina curiously watched his technique, recognizing it immediately. "Santoryu…?"

Zoro bent over, readying himself for his signature move. "Oni...Giri!"

Within a split second, Zoro was no longer standing where he was. He became a blur blending in with the scenery, making him look almost invisible. He transported himself behind Kuina, his arms spread out to his sides and swords pointed perfectly parallel to each other.

Something was missing, though. He was biting all the way down, he could feel his teeth touching each other. The third sword wasn't there.

More laughter came from the girl. "Santoryu...that's adorable." Her speech sounded incredibly muffled, as if she were chewing on something. "Did you come up with that name all by yourself?" She turned around, revealing that now she had the sword in her mouth.

Zoro gasped, jaw dropped and locked fully open. "H-h-h…...how?"

Kuina hadn't said another word. Only smiled and glared straight into his eyes.

His eyes lit up with flames that could burn through an entire forest, and bolted at her with his two remaining swords. He screamed as he ran full force towards her.

Calmly, she stood there, muttering the words:

"Toro Nagashi."

Zoro heard these words and tried stopping himself, but he was already much too close. At close range, he was already vulnerable to the attack. The sword sliced through his chest, cutting across the scars left from his encounter with Mihawk. The wound bled through his shirt heavily, and he collapsed on the ground. He tried lifting himself back up, but the pain had made his arms frail and dropped him back down.

Kuina stood above him, head looking straight ahead at Zoro's original path and the breeze blowing against her.

"H-how did...you dodge that?" Zoro stuttered, blood coming up from his mouth.

The wind stopped. Everything did. Kuina was still standing, but this time appearing cold and lifeless.

"K-Kuina?"

She dropped to her knees, losing her grip of the swords, and her body gave in to the ground.

"Kuina!" Zoro used whatever strength he had left to get him back at least on his knees. "Kuina…" He breathed heavily as tears started forming around his eyes. He began sobbing quietly in front of her, not even being able to look at her.

"Zoro…" her voice was frail and quiet, but she was still very much alive.

"Y-you're alive!"

She opened her eyes, and gave a huge smile. She wasn't bleeding, nor did she sound like she was in pain, but rather in peace. "I...I didn't dodge it. I couldn't possibly have been able to…"

"So you...you took the hit?"

She slowly nodded, her eyes glistening as he could barely keep them open. "I'm so proud of you…you've learned a lot since I was gone…"

Zoro's face was still drenched with tears, but he was still able to form a smile. "I...I promised you. One of us would be the best."

"And you will," Kuina smiled, "but, maybe after another two thousand battles."

Zoro couldn't help but laugh, wiping the tears away from his cheeks.

Kuina reached over for the sword she had taken from Zoro and gave it back to him. "Here, you'll need this for when you become the greatest swordsman alive."

"But...what about you?"

She closed her eyes fully, still resonating a glowing smile. "Idiot, it won't be me, it'll be you. And just know, I'll always be there with you on your journey."

Once that was said, everything fell silent again. The light from the moon dimmed until darkness overwhelmed the area again.

The next moment, it was daylight. Zoro found himself back on the ship, laid up against the railings outside. He looked up and saw the bright blue skies, very few clouds in the air and seagulls flying about.

It was all...a dream? He thought to himself. He stretched his arms outward and stood himself back up, seeing the island him and his crew had landed on.

"ZORO! LET'S GO!" Luffy jumped around, obviously excited to embark on his next adventure. Everyone had already boarded off the ship, and were all waiting on him to wake up.

"Hold on!" Zoro took a moment to put himself back together, quickly waking himself up and getting his swords ready. He hesitated grabbing the last one, however, which was the Wado Ichimoji. He couldn't stop thinking about that dream he had. The sword meant so much to him.

He glanced at his own reflection shining on the blade, and nodded to himself. He grabbed it and tucked it away at his waist, reminding himself of his intuitions of his ultimate goal. His promise. He ran out to the loading area to catch up with Luffy and the gang.

As he ran by, a tiny bird watched him from one of the railings.