Chapter 28
Zoro
Although he had decided to stay, Zoro didn't immediately move his futon back to the bedroom he and Kuina shared. Somehow, he just wasn't ready for that level of intimacy yet. Sure, he'd been with women before, but those were casual encounters and one-night stands. Both parties understood that outside of sex, nothing else was going to be expected of the relationship. This was different. This was Kuina. Sure, whoever he was in this world had obviously slept with her. Twice for sure. But the swordsman knew, even though he had decided to accept his place here and be Kuina's husband, he wasn't that same Zoro. He couldn't mess this up.
And so he continued to sleep in the common room. And it wasn't long before the change was noticed.
"Zoro-san," Koushiro, Kuina's father, said as he walked to where Zoro was sitting on the porch one evening.
"Yes, Sensei?" Zoro asked out of habit.
"Is everything alright between you and my daughter?" His old sword instructor asked. Zoro's eyes widened and he began to sputter in a panic.
"Th-that's…! We're not…! I-I…Argh!"
"Now, now," Koushiro assured his anxious son-in-law with a laugh, "I remember what it was like to be young and married and in love. And what it was like to be in the dog house too!"
Zoro was fairly certain his face was bright red. He certainly couldn't have felt more embarrassed.
"I don't need to know the details. Truly it's none of my business," the old sword master continued, much more serious, "But Zoro, I remember what a stubborn boy you used to be. When you couldn't master a technique, you'd go at it for days, never resting, never stopping."
"What's your point, Sensei?"
"When you get married, everything's so easy in the beginning. You're in love, everything just flows. You let the little things go. Nothing's hard. It's just you and that other person and you can never imagine anything changing that," Koushiro explained, "But it's not always like that. Those fluttery and passionate feelings dull and change into something else. Something more mature. You and that person, you're still in love, but that love has transformed. And it's not so easy anymore. Things happen. Life happens. Your world changes. And now, it takes work. A lot of work. But if you keep at it, there isn't anything you and your partner can't face together."
Zoro took a deep breath. Work at it? But he never got to have that easy part, where everything apparently flows so naturally and those feelings mature into something else just as beautiful. How was he supposed to…?
Zoro was taken out of his thoughts suddenly by a firm hand on his shoulder. Warm, familiar eyes peered at him from behind round glasses.
"Zoro-san," his sensei said, "What I'm saying is: stop being so stubborn."
With that, Koushiro gave his shoulder a pat and headed inside.
That night, after the boys were in bed, Zoro rolled up his futon, tucked it under one arm, and walked swiftly and silently to his and Kuina's room. He paused for just a moment before knocking on the door.
Kuina slid it open, looking up at him, her dark eyes shiny from the moonlight streaming in from the window.
"Kuina…" he started, swallowing to regain his resolve, "Kuina…c-can I…is it okay if we…?"
"Yes," she confirmed before he could even spit out the question. Then she grabbed the front of his robe, pulled him forward, and kissed him. Before Zoro could think, his arms were wrapped around her, embracing her, and he was kissing her back.
Kissing Kuina was nothing like any of the women he'd been with. She wasn't impetuous and impatient like Perona or fiery and passionate like Hiyori. Her kiss certainly wasn't wet or sloppy or desperate. Instead, her kiss just felt natural, like her lips were made to fit his, like they had done this hundreds of times and it just felt right. Briefly, Tashigi popped into his head and a part of his brain wondered, with her face so similar, if she kissed like this. Zoro told that part of his brain to shut up and never think that way about the Marine woman again.
Kuina's hands were tugging at his shoulders and Zoro belatedly realized they were still in the hallway. Following Kuina's silent but insistent demands, his lips never leaving hers, Zoro slipped into the room, sliding the door closed with his foot.
The next morning, Zoro could not stop smiling. He was in too good a mood and thoughts of the previous evening just made him smile even more. It was a state his students noticed and attempted to take advantage of. Zoro quickly disabused them of that notion.
"473…474…475…" the students counted in unison with each swing of their practice swords, exhaustion showing in their faces and motions.
"Alright! Almost to 500!" Zoro called out, that smile still on his face.
"Sensei…we're tired…" one boy complained, his arms starting to lower.
"What's that? You want to do 50 more?!"
"NO, SENSEI!" the students cried out in unison, their swings becoming more frantic with renewed energy.
After the students reached 500 sword swings, they all collapsed on the ground, huffing and wheezing. Zoro, still smiling, wasn't done yet.
"Alright, let's try this again. Line up!"
The students, even in their exhausted states, hurried to obey their instructor's command. Once they were lined up, every one of them, even the most unruly, did their best to stand straight and slow their breathing. Zoro waited, letting the lesson sink in, before speaking. "When your instructor in the sword tells you to line up, what do you do?"
"Line up, Sensei!"
"Damn right! And do we joke and play in line?"
"No, Sensei!"
"Exactly! You're in the advanced class, I expect you to act like it! Next time you try to take advantage of your Sensei's good mood, it'll be 1,000 practice swings! Got it?!"
"Yes, Sensei!" The students replied fearfully.
"Good!" Zoro said. He still had that smile on his face, but the class of 13-14 year olds couldn't help but notice it had morphed into something more demonic since the beginning of the lesson. "Since we never got to it today, I expect you all to work on your Daishinken kata as homework. Next class will be the test." The students swore they could detect an evil red glint in their teacher's eyes. "And you know what happens to anyone who fails…"
The students gulped. "YES, SENSEI!"
"Excellent." That happy, good-mood smile was back again. The students knew better than to push it this time. They held their discipline and kept perfectly still. "Class dismissed!"
With one final bow, the students quickly scattered. As soon as they were past the gate, they resumed their usual laughter and joking. Zoro watched them leave with a shake of his head, a bemused smile on his face. It was getting close to lunch time and he didn't have another class until much later that afternoon. Maybe Kuina would be up for…
"Hey, Daddy?" Zoro was pulled from his musings by Yaki's youthful voice. He'd been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed the two rambunctious boys were right next to him. Used your Observation Haki lately, Mosshead? The cook's words floated through his mind. Zoro firmly sank them back down. Didn't you listen to a damn word I just said?! This isn't real! Zoro placed a hand firmly on each boy's head. Their heads felt solid. Their hair felt soft. They were real, dammit!
"Daddy? Are you okay?" Yaki asked, placing his hand on Zoro's.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Zoro assured his son. "Did you need something?"
"No, but Mommy says lunch will be ready soon." Yaki answered. Thinking about Kuina, Zoro could feel the smile coming back to his face…
"Hey, Daddy?"
"Hmm?"
"Your face looks kind of like your friend's. The one that came to visit? With the fancy clothes and the yellow hair." Yaki commented. The smile disappeared from Zoro's face. No way was he turning into a pervert like that shitty Ero-Cook.
"Is that so?" Zoro answered, patting his sons' heads.
"Uh, Dad? You're patting kinda hard…" Yaki protested.
"Ouchie!" Tori agreed.
Zoro smiled again, softer this time. "Sorry. Why don't we head in and wash up for lunch?"
"Yay, lunch!" Yaki cheered, throwing his hands in the air.
"Ay!" Tori agreed, mimicking his brother.
"In that case…race you there!" Zoro called out, suddenly sprinting forward as the two young voices cried out protests behind him. He quickly slowed to a jog, allowing the boys to catch up, pretending to struggle in the impromptu race to through the front door. At the last moment, he grabbed Yaki's shoulder, allowing the toddler to pull ahead and win the race.
"Ay! I di it!" Tori cheered happily.
"No fair! Daddy pulled me—woah!" Yaki's protest was cut short as Zoro suddenly grabbed him with one arm and hefted him onto his shoulder. Soon Tori was standing in front of him, his little arms raised up, jumping up and down.
"Me too! Me too!" The toddler demanded. Chuckling, Zoro wrapped his other arm around the younger boy's waist and hefted him onto his other shoulder. The boys cheered from their perches atop their father's broad shoulders as he walked into the kitchen.
Kuina looked up from the table where she was setting down the last couple of dishes. Seeing her husband with their two sons sitting on either shoulder, she laughed out loud.
"Oh my!" she giggled as she walked around the table towards them, "I see they told you lunch was ready."
"That they did," Zoro confirmed. Kuina placed her hands on both sides of his face and lowered it for a kiss. In both ears, the swordsman could hear the boys protesting.
"Ew! Gross! They're kissing!" Yaki cried out.
"Ew! Gwoss!" Tori agreed.
Still holding the boys in place, Zoro cut off their protests with tickling. He could feel Kuina's lips against his as they formed into a smile. Then she pulled away, a mischievous smirk on her face.
"Suppose this is one way to keep them from whining," Zoro explained, then noticed the expression on his wife's face. "What?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing," Kuina replied as her hands slipped to Zoro's sides then squeezed.
"Gah!" the swordsman yelped and jumped back, his arms trapped by holding the two boys. "That's cheating, woman!"
"Yeah! Get him, Mom!" Yaki cheered.
Seeing the playful look still on Kuina's face as she raised her hands again, Zoro turned and began racing out of the kitchen, the boys still on his shoulders. Once he was back in the common room, he set them down.
"New plan, boys!" he whispered to them conspiringly. "We gotta escape the Mommy Monster!"
"Oh no! Not the Mommy Monster!" Yaki agreed, readily accepting the new game, as did his younger brother. His trap set, Zoro smiled with his feral grin. As soon as Kuina entered the doorway, he grabbed her in a tight embrace, lifting her off the floor.
"I'll hold her off! Run, boys!" he called to the kids, who took off running down the hall, shrieking and giggling.
"Zoro!" Kuina protested, trying to be stern. But Zoro could see the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "They need to eat lunch."
"They'll be back soon enough. I just bought us, like, five minutes. Plenty of time for this," Zoro said and then pulled her in for a deep kiss. Kuina seemed surprised at first. Then she began to return the kiss, her mouth opening to give him better access as her tongue brushed against his bottom lip. Zoro gave in kind, his tongue just slipping into her mouth as his hands slid into her hair and around her waist, bringing them even closer together.
Several seconds later, Kuina gently broke the kiss, her cheeks flushed and a stern look on her face. There was a smile in her eyes though and a laugh in her voice as she said, "Impossible man." Then she returned the kiss with renewed fervor, her own hands wandering over his chest and sliding into his robe.
In the end, Zoro's stunt, as predicted, only bought them about five minutes of peace from their rambunctious boys before they were interrupted. But as they sat around the table as a family for lunch, Koushiro joining them with a conspirital wink for Zoro, the swordsman found that he couldn't wait for night to fall.
Author's Notes: Koushiro turns out to be not the greatest dad, but the best father-in-law. Who knew? (Also, does Zoro actually call him Sensei or Shishou or anything at all? I honestly couldn't recall and couldn't find anything.)
-Before anyone asks about the chapter, yes, they had sex.
-No, I didn't write it.
-A bit of headcannon, but I like the idea that Zoro and Perona had a 'friends with benefits' type of relationship while Zoro was training with Mihawk. The concept that Zoro couldn't drink and Sanji couldn't have women, but they could each have the other man's vice for the two years they were training amuses me (Zoro had Perona and Sanji could have wine with his dinner.)
-Will Zoro and Hiyori ever develop into anything? I don't know, but I doubt it, especially given the series' history with relationships.
-Man, thought I exhausted most of the fanfiction recommendations, but remembered one. If anyone's interested in reading Zoro x Tashigi, I recommend A Year in the City by witches_only_work_on_Wednesdays on AO3.