"What do you mean, you're leaving with them?!"
"I meant what I said! I've joined their crew!"
"What in the world could have possessed you to join a crew of pirates? They'll stand in your way, take your focus from your blades!"
"No, they won't! Will you stop treating me like a child who can't make decisions on his own?"
"I would if you didn't keep making lousy decisions! You barely know these people, how can you travel with them?"
"I can do it because I said I would!"
That stopped her. Kuina jerked back as if stung.
Zoro went on. "I know it sounds crazy, and it's at the last minute, but I feel like with them, I'll become a new person! I'll grow!"
"Then what have you been doing with me?" she snarled. "If you think you're the same stupid man who started sailing with me, you're dead wrong!"
"But when I'm with you, I'm constantly second best! I'll always be a redundant little footnote to the grand tale of Kuina the Swordswoman!"
"Damn it, Zoro! Leaving won't make you better!"
"Maybe not. But it will make me different, and anything's better than standing in the same damn shadow since I was a child!"
Kuina felt the tears begin to rise, and cursed herself for her feminine weakness. "You won't have a prayer of ever beating me if we never fight!"
"I won't have a prayer of ever beating you if you can match every advance I make, either!"
Suddenly, the fighting spirit just drained out of both of them. Kuina sat down hard on the chair and buried her face in her hands. Zoro looked awkwardly away.
"You're… really leaving, aren't you," Kuina said dully, voice muffled by her hands.
"…Yeah," Zoro replied awkwardly, careful not to look at the woman who was had been his sparring partner, constant companion, and best friend.
"Good luck."
"What?"
"Don't you dare make me say it again, bastard."
"Well… good luck to you, too."
"Come over here. Before you leave, there's something I've wanted to do for a long time," Kuina said, looking up from her hands. Her expression was grave and serious, and though her eyes were bright, her cheeks were dry.
Unsure of what to expect, Zoro closed the distance between them in a few easy steps. He watched, only slightly nervous, as Kuina unfolded herself smoothly from her sitting position.
Zoro was shocked when he realized that he towered over her. His most vivid memories of her were the other way, back when the difference in their ages had made a great deal of difference. It seemed that this height difference had startled Kuina too, since she spent a couple seconds staring at his chest before looking up with a wry smile.
Slowly and carefully she raised her hand. Zoro tensed, about to ask what she was doing, stopped as he felt the cold brush of her fingers against his jaw.
Feather-light, her hand ghosted over his features, exploring the rough, tanned skin and the crevices and hills of his face. Zoro felt his cheeks warm at such… intimate contact.
With painstaking carefulness, she pulled his head down, toward hers. Confused, Zoro didn't resist, but he felt his brain go numb as slowly, deliberately, Kuina pressed her lips against his.
And then the world exploded.
Zoro snored at Kuina stepped away from him, her eyes bright with tears. Her mentor watched her seriously. She turned. Do you know… if he will remember what he dreamed?
He shrugged. He was her great uncle, and had died before she had been born. I have never sent a dream to a live one before. And you guard him, so that may change the situation.
Kuina sighed and sat on the rail of Zoro's ship, staring at him wistfully. It feels wrong, to make him think of me so long after I died.
Her uncle laughed, and put a strong, wrinkled arm around her thin shoulders. I though you knew him better. Zoro is always thinking of you.
Suddenly, Kuina stiffened, going red. Just… just so you know… that kiss… it doesn't mean…
You love him, don't you? he said sharply. So you kissed him. There's nothing to be ashamed of, Kuina-chan.
I guess so… she replied, hunching down. But I… I feel worthless, watching him learn to cut steel and channel six-armed gods of chaos or whatever. I've stagnated.
The secret to life after death, Kuina, is that the second life is nothing but a hollow mockery of the first. Watching, never changing… Once your mentoring period is over, I'll be moving on. I'll file for reincarnation. Maybe get born as a beautiful woman on a tropical South Blue island.
I'm not leaving until he's the best.
I know. I know… let's go, Kuina-chan.
The old man stood, brushing off the long robes of his angelic office. With a sharp intake of breath, his wings formed, huge and white and feathered. Kuina stood and summoned her own. With one last glance at the sleeping swordsman, the two angels flew away.
Some time later Zoro woke to the yelling of his crewmates, the slight tingle of the angel's kiss still buzzing on his lips.