WOw okay it's only been half a year. I'd say I'm sorry, which I really am, but that wouldn't be even remotely enough to make up for the delay. Sorry anyways ;(

I hope you enjoy! (Pls ignore the cliche-ness of a lot of this) (Actually don't worry about it, you can totally cringe cuz I hate me too)

Zoro found that once he hadn't seen Tashigi for about a month, she was slowly starting to slip from his mind. Or at least things were going back to normal. Normal as in he would only think about her when passing by katana shops or whenever they spotted a marine ship. That was how it was after Punk Hazard but before Dressrosa anyways. In other words, still not entirely normal.

But it was better than when she wouldn't leave his mind for hours each day, no matter how hard he tried to get rid of the thought of her. He still felt crazy, but maybe just a little less crazy.

As time went on, his nakama had slowly stopped teasing him. Soon, the month without seeing the copycat captain was over. By that time, Sanji had run out of the surplus of meat they had on their ship, needed to satisfy their captain. Which meant it was supply stop day. Zoro disliked supply stop days. He disliked them mostly because no matter what island they would land on, Luffy would find some way to stir up some kind of trouble, and he'd have his peaceful day shattered. Which is why he scowled when Nami announced that there was an island ahead.

The crew reached the dock of the island, greeted with a very quaint looking town. Zoro, not wanting to involve himself in whatever event Luffy was planning on causing, plopped himself down on the grass of the deck and went to sleep. Only Franky stayed behind as well, not trusting Zoro to protect the Sunny on his own.

A little while later, Zoro woke up to the sound of some muffled shouting from Franky and then to the feeling of wind being rapidly blown into his face. And then the sound of a loud splash of water. He finally opened his eyes, only to see that they were in a completely different location than they were before. He stood up and went to find Franky.

Franky was up at the helm, controlling the sunny now with the wheel.

"What was that?" Zoro asked.

"Oh, Zoro. I noticed some Marine ships coming off in the distance, and had to quickly move us out of view."

Zoro grunted in annoyance. Not the Marines again.

As he turned around and walked down to the deck, a certain someone popped up in his mind.

Zoro scowled immediately, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple.

Why was she always the first person to pop up in his mind when the word "Marine" was said to him?

It's not like she was on that ship.

There's no way they would meet again.

And he was happy that there was no way.

He didn't want to see that woman ever again.

Clearly.

Zoro sat down in the same place he had been sitting before. He tried to go to sleep. Emphasis on the tried part. But no matter how hard he tried, he was undoubtedly restless at the thought of that stupid glasses copycat again. Zoro let out a loud growl of frustration and stood up. He stomped over to the edge of the ship and traveled down to the ground via a ladder.

"Oi, Zoro! Where are you going?" Franky yelled.

Zoro didn't give him an answer, only a lazy wave without turning around. He'd go on a walk and clear his mind. People did that, right?

However 20 minutes or so passed, and, to his complete annoyance, Zoro found himself in the middle of the woods with absolutely no idea where he was.

Goddamnit. Not again.

He chopped down some trees on his right in frustration, then started his irritated walk once again.

Tashigi felt inexplicably drained.

Her unit had been told to report to some random and alarmingly small island which was right near a marine base for some kind of meeting. These meetings happened way too often and they were always forced to listen to the same speeches. Tashigi respected the content of the speeches, but the repetition was getting a bit annoying after 2 years of it.

Her ship landed on the island after a few days of sailing. Once the ship came to stop, she called her unit to the deck. Together, they walked down from the ship and into the island.

Once the meeting was over and most of the captains and their crews were gone, Tashigi and her unit made their way back down through the town towards her ship.. It was a peaceful walk. The town was very quiet, small, but also very pretty. The people seemed to be particularly fond of flowers, since they decorated basically every inch of the place. She was happily enjoying the scenery until a large crash sounded from the opposite side of the town. Tashigi stopped in confusion.

"What was that?" She asked. Her men shrugged at her. They continued to walk when one of her men received a call. He ended the call and then shouted "Captain! The Straw Hats have been sighted on the opposite side of town!"

Tashigi paled a bit immediately. The Straw Hats? Zoro's face flooded her mind and she shook her head rapidly. Not this again.

She lifted her head after a bit and gave a nod to her men.

"Let us go find them then!" She said.

"Yes, ma'am!" Came the reply.

Her men split up into groups and ran off, with Tashigi trailing close behind them. She turned her head frequently, looking into alleyways and into each corner. Suddenly, she heard the shouts of multiple men coming from one of the alleyways. She stopped and turned, running towards the sound. There she saw many soldiers on the ground, unconscious and injured. She lifted her katana, paying close attention to her surroundings.

Her ears perked up when she heard a small shift behind her. She turned around immediately, lifting her katana to block the blow of the two swinging down from above. Her mouth opened a bit as she gaped at her attacker. Roronoa Zoro.

Why was it always him?

Zoro seemed a bit taken aback as well, but his expression quickly changed, a sly smirk spreading across his face.

"Oh, if it isn't captain-chan," he teased. Tashigi scowled.

"That's not something for you to call me," she replied. Zoro grinned.

"No?"

"No."

"Pity."

With that, their katanas began to fly at each other once again. The loud sound of the clashing swords filled the area.

The fight didn't last as long as Tashigi wanted it to, although it did last longer than their previous clashes. She was immediately reminded of Loguetown once Zoro flung her katana out of her hand. It landed a small distance away from them, the tip stuck into the ground. Zoro and Tashigi stood at an uncomfortably close proximity, the blunt side of his katana against her neck. Zoro's jaw stiffened at the sudden impulse to wipe away the bead of sweat sliding down the side of Tashigi's face. He quickly stood back and sheathed his katana. Tashigi watched him, crossing her arms. She sighed.

"How humiliating," she mumbled, looking away.

Zoro shrugged.

"You've improved," he said. Tashigi looked back at him.

"So have you."

Silence.

Awkward silence, to be exact.

Zoro was about to say something when Tashigi received a call on her den den mushi.

"Captain, the Straw Hats have escaped somehow. There are no sign of them," one of her men told her. Tashigi looked up at Zoro. Zoro simply stared back.

"I see," she said. Zoro looked away, running a hand through his hair.

"I'll meet you all at the ship soon," she continued.

"Yes ma'am," her crew member replied.

She hung up the call, and glanced up at Zoro again. Zoro walked over and pulled her katana out of the ground. He handed it to her. She took and then sheathed it. She then bowed and turned to walk away, with Zoro staring at her quite intensely the entire time. Before she could walk away, Zoro suddenly stepped in front of her.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking up at him. Zoro didn't say anything, too focused on and annoyed at the amount of confusing emotions rushing through him.

"Excuse me," Tashigi said, attempting to walk past him. Right after she managed to do so, however, Zoro suddenly asked a question that made her stop in her tracks.

"Why didn't you tell them?"

Tashigi turned around. It was silent for a moment, as Zoro stared at her, waiting for an answer, and she stared back, trying to think of one.

"I don't know."

Zoro let out a sigh as he hung his head, eyes locked onto the ground. A full minute passed until he finally lifted his head. He then began to walk towards Tashigi, his arms crossed. She panicked a bit, stepping back. She didn't get to go far, since her back soon hit a wall. Zoro stopped walking only when he was close enough to put his arm on the wall behind her. Now Tashigi was really panicking. She swallowed at their close proximity, but said nothing. He was watching her with an expression that Tashigi couldn't decipher.

"Do you even know how irritating you are?" He asked, his voice low to the point that it was almost a whisper. Tashigi blinked at him. It was suddenly really hard to find words to say.

"I could ask you the same question," she finally replied. An extended moment of silence ensued. Too long. Tashigi's hands were starting to get clammy and shaky and all she wanted to do was shut her eyes and will the entire day to have been a dream, which wasn't really an option.

The fact that she wasn't dreaming became painfully obvious when Zoro began to lean in, and her heart started to beat alarmingly fast. She kept her eyes wide open and locked with his until he reached the mere distance of a few centimeters. She hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until it was let out in the smallest of gasps. She squeezed her eyes shut. If she was even close to being sane enough at the moment to remember that she was a marine and he was a pirate, she would have definitely stopped him. At least she hoped so. Instead, all she found herself doing was standing and waiting with a thumping heart.

However, instead of feeling what would have likely been the most regrettable moment of her life, she heard the sound of a fast speed projectile flying closer by the millisecond. She then felt Zoro press her tightly against the wall with his body in one swift and sudden motion. Her eyes flew open. She heard Zoro wince and make a small strangled grunting noise. Tashigi felt his hot breath on her neck as he began to breath a bit more heavily.

"Um, Roronoa?" she asked quietly.

"Someone's here," he said as he backed away from her. Tashigi's eyes widened when she saw the arrow stuck in Zoro's shoulder. Resisting the urge to move her hand towards the wound, she quickly pulled out her katana. Zoro pulled the arrow out of his arm without hesitation and waited.

Suddenly, a large wave of arrows flew towards them and Zoro immediately grabbed Tashigi, pulling her behind a wall. One of the arrows grazed Tashigi's leg, leaving a shallow but long horizontal cut. She winced, and Zoro glanced at her.

"Oi are y-"

Tashigi cut him off, not hearing his words.

"Who?" She asked in a whisper.

Zoro shut his mouth and then shook his head.

"How the hell would I know?" He asked back. They heard a few thuds and footsteps. Zoro stepped out from his hiding place and faced the people approaching him. It was a group of pirates, probably those of lower "rank" than him. The one in the middle began to laugh maliciously.

"Roronoa Zoro! Today marks the day of your defeat!" He shouted. Zoro rolled his eyes.

Not this again.

"Boys!" The man yelled. A flood of pirates came flying in from all around Zoro. Tashigi watched as Zoro whipped out his katanas at lightning speed, the glint in his eyes turning murderous just as quickly. "100 POUND CANON!" He yelled.

Tashigi gaped in amazement as men went flying everywhere, yelling in pain. Zoro was getting ready to unleash another attack, when the leader of the group began to attack from behind him.

"Soru."

Tashigi vanished from her spot in the alleyway and appeared right in front of the man swinging his large sword down on Zoro, blocking his attack. Zoro glanced at Tashigi, then smirked. He turned back around and went back to attacking the large group of pirates in front of him.

"Eh? Who's this beauty?" The man asked, grinning devilishly. Tashigi glared at him.

"How disgraceful," she replied, as she swung her katana out from under his and attacked. The man tried to fend her off in his surprise. Another pirate came flying in from her side, but Zoro popped up and sent him flying.

"Thanks," Tashigi said, her eyes still on her target. Zoro smirked.

"Back at you."

It wasn't so bad having her as a fighting partner rather than an enemy, he realized.

Yeah, if you haven't noticed, I really can't write action scenes so I just choose to avoid them haha oops. Sorry fam, if you came here looking for action, you might wanna just give up now, there won't be any.

Tysm for reading! Pls leave me feedback or whatever you'd like to say to me, I appreciate everything :)