Chapter Twenty-One: A Bittersweet Reunion

For a brief, yet somehow eternal moment, the two warriors stood apart in silence. Removed from reality, co-existing only in their own private realm, oblivious to the panicked citizens fleeing the scene. They shared a history that no one else could touch, and few could understand. Each tried to read the other's intentions by expression only, though neither was having any success. Zoro had always felt her and him shared a special bond, that they were the only ones to truly understand the other, but ever since learning the truth, that could no longer be said. Her decision to leave, to betray his trust, was one he had struggled with his entire journey. He had wanted so badly to see her without having one inkling of an idea of what he was going to say to her, hoping the words would come naturally when the moment arrived. Now that he was standing here in front of her, only one seemed important.

"Why?"

A vague, esoteric question to ask without context, yet Kuina knew precisely what he meant. It was the only question worth asking, but one she didn't have the answer for.

"Zoro, you know this woman?" Nami asked, who had been standing in lost confusion with the rest of the Straw Hat crew.

"Better than anyone," replied Zoro, although he wasn't so sure anymore.

A sudden, distant crash caught Kuina's attention. There was still a fight to be had. Ace needed her help. This was no time to be playing catch-up.

"Sorry," Kuina said quickly, flipping her own family sword back to Zoro. "But this isn't the best time."

With that she turned away, finding herself running from him once more. It was the cruelest thing she could to do him, yet the only thing. Ace needed her help. She sprinted through the wreckage she had left in her wake, back the way she came.

"Hey! Don't you dare just leave!" Zoro called after her, not aware of her situation.

He chased after her as quickly as he could. While nowhere near her speed, all he needed to do was follow the sounds of chaos and fighting.

Kuina made her way through the wrecked building and the other side, upon a scene that was hard to track, to say the least. She stopped for a moment to get her bearings, surveying the situation like any wise warrior would. Not far in front of her, she spotted a group of Marines headed her way, led by that Marine Captain from earlier, chasing someone she didn't at all recognize. It definitely wasn't Ace.

Just what the hell was happening? Where was Ace? She still didn't know what had sent her flying in the first place.

"Kuina!" came Zoro's relentless, angered roar.

She turned to see Zoro climbing over the rubble behind her, joined by his crewmembers not far behind.

"You're just as stubborn as ever," Kuina said as he drew closer.

"And you're the same difficult woman you've always been!" Zoro said in return, coming to a stop.

"Would you tell us what the hell is going on?" Nami demanded, growing impatient of blindly following Zoro.

"Zoro, who is this woman?" Vivi asked, trying to catch her breath.

"You've got some goddamned nerve — wha? Luffy?" Zoro gaped as he saw his captain approaching, with a small army of Marines in pursuit.

"Hey, guys!" came Luffy's colorful voice, jubilant even when running for his life.

"Oh no, not again!" Usopp cowered, taking a hesitant step back. "It's that same jerk from Loguetown!"

"Kuina, what's going on?" Zoro got in her face, figuring she was involved.

"I'm just as confused as you!" Kuina shoved him back. "I don't even know who the hell that is!"

This was hardly the reunion she had in mind. Zoro had every right to be angry, but now he had grown suspicious of her as well. Their first meeting in a decade, and so far it had been nothing but chaos.

"Surrender, Straw Hat!" came Smoker's deep, bellowing voice. The Marine thrust his fist forward as if he were throwing a punch, but his hand shot out from his wrist at dizzying speeds towards his target, leaving only a trail of white smoke. "You can't escape!"

That's when Kuina spotted a spark of light out of the corner of her eye. The very next second a ball of fire struck Smoker's attack in midair, rendering it useless as it was swallowed whole. The fire roared and whipped about, with a familiar figure materializing between Straw Hat and Smoker.

"There he is," Kuina said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"There who is?" asked Zoro, now even more confused. "Who the hell is that?"

"Just shut up for once in your life," Kuina shushed him, drawing her blade.

The two Logias exchanged glares, now locked in a dangerous standoff, Smoker's eternal grimace a strong contrast to Ace's widening grin.

"You, huh?" Smoker said, realizing his situation.

"Give it up," Ace warned as the fire settled around him. "You may be smoke, but I'm fire. A fight between your power and mine would never end."

"A . . . Ace?" Luffy stared in awe.

"You haven't changed a bit, Luffy," Ace replied with a smile.

An eerily familiar reunion, Kuina thought. She remembered the boy in the straw hat now, from the poster Ace always carried around. She turned to Zoro, who still had a look of shock on his face.

"That kid, is that your captain?"

"Wha? Yeah, so what?" Zoro asked back.

Kuina chuckled to herself at that, turning back to the scene. "What are those odds?"

"What are you going on about?"

"Hey, Kuina," said Ace to his ally, having spotted her earlier. "Do me a favor, watch over my brother, okay? Get him and his friends outta here. I'll hold them off."

"Are you joking?" Kuina protested, looking almost offended. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"I can handle this, I'll catch up with you later!"

"Ace, you can't expect me to—."

"Kuina!" Ace cut her off, the harshness in his voice silencing and startling her.

His tone was unusually serious, one that Kuina had only heard once before, when Thatch was killed.

"He's my brother, and I know he'll be safe with you. I'm trusting you, here."

Kuina was silent for a brief moment, taken aback. Ace had never spoken so plainly with her before. His brother's safety was his number one priority. She looked to Zoro, a man who could aptly be described as her own brother. Why hadn't she been more concerned about him? Ace could handle himself, Zoro was the one who was vulnerable. It pained her to run from a fight, but the right answer was clear.

"Kuina!" Ace shouted, demanding an answer.

"Alright, alright!" Kuina said, feeling like a selfish fool. She turned to Zoro and his comrades now, taking her childhood friend by the arm. "Come on, we're leaving!"

"Whatever you say, mystery lady!" Usopp exclaimed, hurriedly running after them.

"Luffy, who is that man? Is he an acquaintance of yours?" asked Vivi as the crew fled.

"Yeah, he's my brother!" Luffy said with a bright smile.

"Brother? Then . . ." she paused, looking to Kuina now. "Who are you?"

"A friend of Zoro's. I'll explain more later!" said the swordswoman.

"This is all so confusing," Vivi said, failing to make sense of anything.

"Where's your ship? You guys have got a ship, right?" asked Kuina,

"Follow me!" said Nami, taking the lead.

Kuina heard the sounds of battle from in the distance. She knew Ace was powerful, she just had to hope he didn't get cocky and get himself into trouble. Right now, she had her own task to take care of. Nami led the way through the crowded, narrow streets of Nanohana. There was no one following them, but they weren't slowing down.

"Guys, the road splits up ahead!" Nami claimed, worried they might get separated. "Everyone go left!"

At the fork in the road, everyone followed Nami's command and took the left route, or so it seemed at the time. They didn't stop to see if anyone was missing before pressing forward. They never stopped running until they reached the port the Going Merry was docked in.

"Alright . . . this is it, we're here," Nami panted, finally coming to a stop.

The entire crew looked badly out of breath, other than Kuina, who had been specifically trained for long runs.

"Wait a minute," Kuina stopped, letting go of Zoro's arm for the first time since they started running. She looked around, realizing something was wrong. "We're missing someone."

Zoro whipped around, quickly deducing who was absent. "Goddammit Luffy! That moron."

"What? Luffy? Ace's brother?" Kuina said, panicking a bit. He was the one Ace specifically told her to watch over, and now he was gone.

"It's not your fault, Luffy does this kind of thing all the time," Usopp sighed. "He'll find his way back. He always does."

"Idiot," Nami shook her head, cursing under her breath.

Kuina just stared at the irritated crew in wonder, having never witnessed a crew refer to their leader in such a way. "This is your captain we're talking about, right?"

"Yep."

"Uhuh."

"Regretfully."

Kuina stood silent, with no idea what to make of such a seemingly dysfunctional crew. Although, she supposed her and Ace made quite the unlikely pair themselves.

"Let's just get the ship ready for when he finally decides to show up," Nami said, stepping forward toward their ship.

Word of what happened further into town hadn't made it this far yet, but word always travels quickly, and people from every reach of the city witnessed the spectacle of smoke and fire in the sky. It wouldn't be long until the whole city was looking for them, so they had to move fast.

At that moment, Kuina felt a creeping, unfamiliar presence beside her.

"So . . ." came a sudden suave, masculine voice.

The swordswoman spun around to see one of the Straw Hats, a dashing blond man smoking a cigarette, had invaded her personal space.

"What's a beautiful woman like yourself wasting your time with this green-haired jackass anyway?" the man asked, a seductive, shining glint in his eye.

"Uh, excuse me?" said Kuina, taking a large step backwards.

Just as suddenly the Zoro struck the blond man upside the back of his head.

"You perverted idiot, mind your own business!"

"You wanna die, green hair?" Sanji lashed back, getting right in Zoro's face. "It's not my fault she can do ten times better than you!"

"It's not even like that, asshole!"

"Alright, enough!" came Nami's stern voice, grabbing hold of Sanji's ear and squeezing tight.

Kuina, baffled once more, watched the red-haired woman drag the obnoxious blond by the ear, taking him with her. Despite being in obvious pain, the man did nothing to stop her, only pleading for some small amount of mercy.

"I'm sorry about that, he's just a hopeless fool. He can't help himself around women," Nami smiled, apologizing on his behalf. "I'm Nami, by the way. This idiot is Sanji. And your name's Kuina?"

"Yeah . . . that's right," she awkwardly replied.

"So, you know Zoro, huh? That's interesting," Nami said, a devious smile forming on her face. She leaned forward a bit, whispering to the swordswoman."He never talks about his past. Especially not girlfriends."

"I wasn't his girlfriend," Kuina made clear, growing a bit irritated. "We were children."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say. We can talk all about it later. We'll all get introduced," Nami smiled and passed her by, still holding on tight to the hapless blond chef.

"Ow! Nami, come on, not so hard! I'm sorry!" he pleaded in vain.

The rest of the crew followed Nami to the ship, with only Zoro staying behind with Kuina. He came to her side, not saying a word as the swordswoman looked over his crew, carefully studying each one.

"She apologized for that man, but she's just as nosy as he is," Kuina mumbled to herself, loud enough that Zoro could hear.

"Yeah, sorry about that, they're all awful in their own way. Well, except the princess."

"Princess?" Kuina caught that, looking to him in curiosity.

"Oh, uh, nothing. It's just a nickname," Zoro replied, knowing he shouldn't share such a secret.

Kuina eyed him briefly, but she let it go. It was none of her business anyway. "Quite the colorful crew you have. I mean, is that a man-deer?" Kuina asked, motioning to Chopper.

"He was just a regular deer until he ate the Human Fruit."

"I didn't even know there was such a thing. What if a human ate the human fruit? Would it even do anything?"

"Kuina," Zoro stated plainly, putting an end to their idle chatter. "We need to talk."

Kuina looked him in the eye, feeling every grueling ounce of his built up frustrated eagerness. She knew he was mad, and he had every right to be. She had a lot of explaining to do.

"I know we do, but it'll have to wait. We have to get out of here, first," said Kuina, heading off towards the Straw Hat ship.

She soon noticed Zoro's absence, turning to see him standing in place, glaring at her with a look she herself would often give to others. Arms crossed. A subtle, yet pronounced frown. Unsatisfied.

"Zoro, I promise, I'll explain everything. For now, please, let's go," Kuina pleaded with him, casting her arm outward towards the ship. "Come on, we can't do this here."

The swordsman stared in silence a bit longer, but soon relaxed, finally relenting, if only temporarily. Kuina breathed a small sigh of relief. At least he didn't despise her, not entirely, anyway.

"I swear, if you run off again without explaining, I'll never forgive you," Zoro warned as he finally stepped to her side.

Kuina gave a firm nod. "Trust me, Zoro, I was barely able to forgive myself the first time. I'm never doing that again. I promise."

Zoro huffed at that, brushing by her coldly. "You and your promises."

She turned around, watching him pass her by. He left her feeling wounded, reeling from such a raw remark. He didn't trust her, but then, she could hardly blame him. She wouldn't trust her, either. She thought about Ace's reunion with his brother. Their joyous, jubilant smiles upon seeing each other once more. Now she returned to the solemn standoff that had been her own.

How sharply they contrasted.

But then, Ace never betrayed his brother's trust. They had parted ways on good terms. Kuina left Zoro on no terms at all. He spent the last ten years thinking she was dead.

Still, she supposed the meeting had gone as well as it was ever going to go. It's not like she was expecting a warm hug and a wrapped gift. She stepped forward, following in his footsteps.

They had to start somewhere.