Chapter 7: Perona's Return
Meawhile, back on Hanging Neck Island, Perona and Robin have just turned up. Zoro has been preparing for this for the past six months. Still, he knows nothing he can say will make Perona forgive him. He takes a long pull from his bottle of Sake as his wife makes her way up from the shore. Still as beautiful as the she was eighteen years ago when she saved his life. So much more mature now however. Back then Perona had been obsessed with stuffed animals and weird cutesy stuff, and for some reason, Zoro. He still doesn't understand why she cared about him back then, they had been enemies a few weeks earlier, and then he shows up on the island. Battered and beaten she had nursed him back to health, even after he had tried to leave and almost died again. She just kept saving him.
When Mihawk showed up Zoro was still trying to leave the island as fast as possible. He wanted nothing more than to return to his captain. Until he saw the picture in the newspaper and realized he had two whole years. At first Zoro wanted to spend those years doing nothing but training. He had been cold and distant towards Perona for the first six months on the island, showing no gratitude to her for saving him. Then Hawkeye had needed to leave, and Zoro once again found himself alone with the ghostly girl from Moria's crew. It was during this time that Zoro had realized what kind of person Perona really was. She was unselfishly kind, almost to a fault.
She wanted almost nothing more than to care for other people. As a member of Moria's crew she had almost no one to care for, and so had become infatuated with the man who kept her bound. She had never really been a prisoner, but she knew that defying her captain could mean losing her shadow. So she spent years with only a few people to talk to, she practically lived to care for those that neglect her. Zoro pitied her, and he start to feel ashamed that he had never thanked her properly for saving him.
Perona had been cooking dinner every night since Mihawk had shown up, she had been cleaning the castle, and she had been treating Zoro's wounds. Zoro decided it was time to show a little gratitude.
"Oi, uh, how would you like... I mean, why don't we have a picnic today?" Zoro asked through a forced smile.
"Oooh, that sound so cute, let me pick your outfit. Pleeease?" Perona was already planning how to dress Zoro for their picnic.
Zoro had know she would try something like that, but he had decided today would be for Perona, so he gritted his teeth, "sure, just please not something too ridiculous."
Perona had practically squealed with excitement. In the end she had given him a suit to wear, and they had a really nice afternoon on the beach. Zoro will always remember that first date, and the way Perona had lit up. That was the day Zoro had fallen for his wife. Perona remembered too, it was the first time anyone had been genuinely kind to her. The first time someone went out of their way to do something just to make her happy. The two of them had spent the rest of the time Hawkeye was gone acting like a pair of lovestruck teenagers. When he returned to the island, Mihawk immediately picked up on their new dynamic. He laughed hysterically when he realized that they thought they were doing a good job hiding it, and he didn't let Zoro live it down for the rest of the year.
Zoro snapped out of his reminiscence as Perona jumped on him, they kissed with all the passion they had when Zoro had returned from the New World. Robin stood back and giggled, it had always amused her that the stoic swordsmen she had traveled with could be like that with another human. She would always think they were the most adorable couple. Even with Perona's raunchy stories of their bedroom antics fresh on her mind. Perona had given her some ideas to try with Franky when she got back to the Sunny.
"Where is Kohra?"
"About that, he kind of..." The moment he had been dreading was here.
"What? Kind of what, Zoro?" Perona was already mad and she probably just assumed he was on the other side of the island. Zoro was actually a little frightened now.
"Well, Luffy showed up and, uh, took Kohra to train." Zoro tried to sound confident, "before they set sail."
"Set sail for where, Zoro?" Her expression and tone were both void of all emotion, Zoro new he was in trouble.
"Well, Luffy asked him to join his crew and gave him a Devil Fruit, and I said it was ok if Kohra beat me in a duel, so he did. He needs the training Perona, you know that, he has more powerful Haki than anyone and..." Zoro was struggling to defend his position, and already regretting letting the Devil Fruit part slip.
Perona walked away. When Zoro tried to follow her, she used her Hollow power on him. "I should have never been born."
Later that night Robin sat and talked with Zoro. "She'll be ok, you know? I told her it would happen sooner or later, she just needs time to come to terms with it, Zoro," Robin said in a comforting tone.
"I know, I just wish Luffy could have waited until you two came back, if Perona had seen how Kohra fought, seen the way he was acting, she would know I did the right thing."
"He really beat you, huh? That certainly is no easy feat. You weren't going easy on him?"
"Not a bit, Robin, my son could beat me and Hawkeye at the same time if he fought us the day I beat Hawkeye. Luffy seems to think he is destined to be the next Pirate King."
"Yes, he mentioned that when he told us all to take a year off. He said we should relax, but not let ourselves get rusty, because as soon as we started again we would have some of the toughest fights ever. By the end he expected your son to be ready to take the throne. I only worry what that means for Luffy."
