She regrets, oh does she regret. When she came with Zoro to be a pirate, she expected an exciting time, sure. Sailing from island to island, facing strong warriors and earning more of a name for herself. But what she did not expect was sailing up a nearly 90-degree waterfall of death and destruction.

If there was one thing that Kuina learned that day, it was that she was the furthest thing from an adrenaline junkie there was, because she was just as horrified as Nami and Usopp. Granted, she knew that Zoro would never let her live this down, but thankfully, he was freaking out just as much. Though it was more over Luffy being an idiot than anything.

"This is so stupid!" she screamed as she held onto one of the mast's.

"This is so awesome!" came Luffy's reply from the front of the Merry.

"Maybe for a monster like you!"

Luffy's only response was to laugh, much to the crew's exasperation.

But of course, things could only get stupider from there. Because there was a giant whale. No, perhaps giant was too generous a term. This guy was absolutely massive, like it could eat a Sea King for breakfast.

"Ah, das a big whale."

"Guys," Usopp's voice called. "I think Kuina broke."

And that was indeed the last thing she remembered because everything went dark.

At first, she only saw darkness. The kind of darkness you got when you snuffed out every bit of life. Advanced darkness. She couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. But that darkness didn't last long, as she began to get glimpses of images. No, not images, memories. Memories that weren't her own. They were memories that belonged to . . . Tashigi.

And as more and more of them rushed past her, she began to feel a tightness in her chest. One of unimaginable guilt. She had tried to justify it before by saying that maybe she merged with Tashigi and that she and her were one and the same. But this felt different. These memories belonged to someone else. Someone who's body she had stolen without their consent. Tashigi had an entire life ahead of her and she had taken it without remorse.

She felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want this. She'd rather be dead than deal with this. She didn't deserve this body. It wasn't hers. She was the one who should be dead.

And that was when she noticed movement in front of her. It was a girl, who looked just like her, stumbling around in the dark room. She wouldn't have noticed had it not been for the occasional flashes of memory illuminating the space, but it was definitely a girl.

She willed herself to move forward and grasp the girl's hand, startling her.

"Tashigi?"

She hoped it was. She hoped it wasn't some trick of the mind. She hoped that Tashigi was still alive.

"Who are you?"

Kuina bit her lip. This was going to be tough to explain. Especially if it was Tashigi.

"My name is Kuina and-"

She explained everything she could. It was only Tashigi's right to know.

The girl, who had confirmed herself to be Tashigi, slumped to her knees, eyes vacant. "You betrayed Captain Smoker?"

Kuina grimaced. "I"m sorry. I just couldn't see myself being a Marine. And at the time, I was so excited to be living a new life that I got carried away."

Tashigi stared down at the ground. "I wouldn't have minded if you just quit. But why? Why are you a pirate? Pirates are scum, pirates are-"

Kuina placed her finger on Tashigi's lip. "Gonna stop you right there, hombre. Pirates can be scum, but not all of them are. If you honestly believe that, you're no better than a cold blooded pirate. Throwing everyone into the same label."

"But pirates are awful!"

"Tell me, Tashigi. You hate when people look down on you for being a girl, right?"

"Well, yes, I do but-"

"So you hate that blanket statement that girls are weak. Yet you're going to label all pirates with a blanket statement of your own?"

Tashigi didn't have a retort to that.

"Listen, now that we've made contact with eachother. I think it might be possible for us to switch who's in control. But you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"You don't attack my friends just for being pirates. I admit, I screwed up your life and I'll never forgive myself for that. But tell me, what do you value more? The marines . . . or your blade?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?! Of course I care about Shigure more!"

Kuina smirked. "Then what's the problem with being a pirate? You still get to fight people. You still get to take swords from bad pirates and even bad marines. As long as you have your pride as a swordsman, is it really a big deal that you're sailing under a jolly roger?"

They stared at eachother in silence for quite a bit of time before Tashigi finally responded.

"And I want you to promise me something in return."

"What is it?"

"That you don't use Shigure. Shigure is my blade."

Kuina merely smiled fondly at the older girl. "You truly are a lot like me. You have my word. I will find my own weapon to use."

Tashigi stood up. "So what do we do now?"

"Well now, we will explain the situation to the crew. And please, when I do give you control, please don't stab Zoro, as tempting as that might be."

"I don't feel comfortable being around that Pirate Hunter, but as long as he doesn't antagonize me first, I will refrain from violence."

"That's fair."

"And that's what happened in my mind," Kuina said as she sat patiently on the deck. She had apparently missed something about a whale and some poachers while she was out, but Zoro said that it wasn't really important, so she opted to believe him.

"So you have two personalities in you?" Usopp asked while rubbing his chin. "That might be something to look into."

Kuina decided to ignore his oddly weird fascination with multiple personality disorder and turned to Luffy. "Is it fine if I let Tashigi take control once in a while? She's promised to do her best as a member of the crew, even if she might not like it."

Luffy grinned. "She's strong like you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I have no complaints!"

Kuina beamed. "Thanks, Captain! Now, say hi to everyone, Tashigi!"

She closed her eyes and when she opened them, she seemed much older.

"I don't like this situation," Tashigi murmured as she gripped the hilt of her blade for security. "But I don't have much room to complain. As long as none of you mistreat your blades, I will begrudgingly accept my position here. And if that means working alongside a scoundrel like the Pirate Hunter, so be it." She glared at Zoro as she said that.

Zoro, in response, merely snorted. "Whatever you say, Kuina copycat."

Zoro died that day.