Drache woke, shivering and cold, in the gray of the pre-dawn light. She couldn't see much around her, but she fumbled around on the ground until she found her clothes. Her mind was so blurry and slow, she didn't realize why she'd been so cold until she'd gotten her clothes on. She looked around to make sure, then slumped to the ground against a tree and hugged her knees. Zoro had left in the night. She was alone again, with no hope of a repeated show of affection from him.

She sat for a while, curdling in her own sadness, until she finally wiped her damp eyes, stood, and planted her hands on her hips. She'd determined long ago not to let anybody else decide how happy she was going to be.

She walked back to the ship, all the while thinking of her plans. She needed something to occupy her mind in the next stretch of their journey. Though they seemed to have exciting adventures anytime they reached an island or encountered another ship, they could also have painful stretches of inactivity on the ship. Last time she'd made it through with Nami and Robin's lessons. Maybe this time she'd learn from Chopper or Sanji...

And they left Skypiea. After a truncated descent to the waters of a Marine base, a hasty escape, and a few strange and unrelated adventures, they found themselves sitting on the ocean again. Drache had found herself to be of little use on said adventures, except her talents as a biologist had come into play a few times, with some giant sea monkeys and a balloon octopus. Their next goal was to find a shipwright for the poor Going Merry, but in the meantime Drache often would help Usopp and Chopper as they patched holes and supported weakened beams.

Disappointed in her own inability to fight or protect her crew members, she finally came to a decision regarding her training. She approached Luffy and asked him to help her train.

"Sure thing!" he replied, "This is how I train!"

What ensued was a huge feast, to Sanji's exhasperation. This fueled Luffy's endless energy, as he bounced around the deck, hung from the rigging with his rubber arms, and sat at the bow watching their progress. Drache, trying to follow his example, got a stomach ache and very sleepy. Luffy finally asked how the training was going.

"I think your technique doesn't quite work for me, Luffy, I don't feel much stronger."

"Oooooh! If you wanted to get stronger, you should have gone to Zoro!"

Drache frowned. That would be the logical decision. But that would be the most awkward thing she could ever do. He hadn't really interacted with her beyond the necessary since their nighttime tryst on Skypiea.

On the other hand, she really did want to get stronger, and he trained constantly. He must have some tips for a beginner. She finally decided to go talk to him.

She stood in a loose tank top and shorts, just around the corner from where he normally trained on the stern of the boat. She took a deep breath, then stepped around the corner to find a shirtless Zoro doing handstand pushups. She cleared her throat, and he looked over towards her.

"Hold on," he grunted, and continued doing the exercise. She waited there nervously for a few moments, before deciding to sit against the wall and wait for him to finish. She tried to think of something to say after he finished, but her mind was blank, so she figured she was going to have to wing it.

Finally, he lowered one leg, then the other. His muscles rippled under his skin coated with a sheen of sweat. She kept her eyes on his face as he walked over and sat against the railing across from her, put his hands behind his head, and relaxed. "What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you could train me."

"Why me?"

"Why not?" She replied quickly.

He smirked. "Fine," he said, "First I guess we should see what you're capable of."

And he counted how many pushups and situps she could do. He taught her how to do a handstand and timed how long she could hold it. He made her change into her human falcon form and fly around the ship until she couldn't anymore. All the while, he watched, counted, and did his own exercises. He didn't congratulate her or urge her on.

He exhausted her until she couldn't move. As she lay on the deck of the ship, slowly cooling off in the evening breeze, he sat next to her. She turned her head to look at him, and asked, "How'd I do?"

He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't matter. What matters is how well you do tomorrow."

So she went back the next day, and the next, and the next. She was constantly sore, and she couldn't believe how many painful things Zoro could come up with for her every day. On the other hand, her mind so occupied with her own pain that she almost completely forgot about her feelings for him. Almost.

All the while, she got stronger. Each day she was able to do a few more of whatever exercises Zoro told her to do, and eventually he was training her in the martial arts he knew. Though he was a swordsman, he'd also been trained in hand to hand fighting. Though Drache had never done any sports, she'd always been active. Her favorite thing to do had always been to climb the trees and the mountain on her home island, so she'd had plenty of experience figuring out how to make her body move in interesting ways. Zoro uncovered a natural athleticism, and found that she was flexible, strong, and learned quickly, though he would never admit it to her. So he taught her moves that he knew about but couldn't do because he wasn't flexible enough.

One day, as she in the midst of a difficult set of kicking exercises, he interrupted her. "You'll never learn to fight if you don't intend to hurt someone. Here, punch me." She looked at him in surprise. He smiled, "Unless you think you'll hurt me."

She smiled, then took her stance and punched him in the stomach. At least she aimed for his stomach, and put about half the total force she could have behind the blow, but found herself striking empty air. She looked up in time to see a smirking Zoro gently grab her by the shoulder and wrist and use her momentum to pull her to the ground. In an instant, she was on her stomach on the ground, with her arm pulled up behind her, completely preventing her from doing anything. Zoro laughed. "You're going to have to do better than that," then let her stand. She returned to upright with a red face. She had assumed he wouldn't dodge, and when he did, he had moved almost to quickly for her to see. She got back into stance, and, stepping forward as she did so, tried to punch him again. This time she watched his feet, and when they began to move, she stopped her punch and raised her leg and whipped it around to kick him in the side just as he stepped towards it. He, of course, saw it coming and lowered himself to a crouch to avoid it. She missed completely, then staggered as her leg's momentum brought her around. Just as she was about to regain her balance, Zoro grabbed both of her forearms behind her back. She felt his breath on her neck as he said, "better."

He didn't let go of her arms, and she realized she was supposed to try to get out. After a few moments of hopeless struggling against his far superior strength, she paused. Taking a deep breath and relaxing her whole body, she allowed her elbows to bend, stepped back into the space that had given her, and found his arms, still grasping hers, in front of her face. Grabbing his left hand with her right and twisting it off of her arm, she bent her legs to get her hips under his own and flipped him over her shoulder. Unfazed, in the air, he grabbed her arm and brought her down with him.

They landed in a messy pile of limbs on the floor. The whole encounter had only lasted a matter of seconds but she was tired from her day's exertion, and Zoro was not a small person to flip over a shoulder. So she began to disentangle herself from Zoro and stand, only to find herself trapped once again by his strong grip. He easily rolled over and held her in a lock grip, most of his weight on her torso, holding her head and arm through his right arm. She struggled to get free, trying to grab his legs with her own, but he just scooted away, turning them both in a circle. She tried to get her arm out of his grip and he readjusted his hold so she was just as trapped, but this time her arm couldn't move.

Once again, she took a deep breath, relaxed her body, then quickly hollowed her abdominals and pushed away from him with her legs. She got free, barely, and rolled up to a defensive crouch, facing him. He still had that smile on his face. It was infuriating, but she made herself be patient, waiting for him to strike first. He went for a grip on her wrist, lunging forward. She sidestepped and smoothly grabbed and twisted his hand against the direction of his lunge. With the pressure on his wrist, he lost his balance and fell backwards. Keeping the pressure on his joint, she twisted his arm until he was on his stomach on the ground. He growled as she twisted his arm behind his back, then sat on him in victory, laughing.

Her victory didn't last long. He was incredibly strong, and could withstand far more pain than she expected. He pushed himself off the ground with his other arm, bucking her off his back. He sprang up, facing her with a poorly suppressed grin on his face. She knew she'd impressed him, though he'd never admit it. "That's good enough for today," he said, straightening up out of his fighting stance. Exhausted, she stretched out and left.