Instincts [Roronoa Zoro x Reader]

Chapter 18

Zoro looked you up and down, relief flowing through him seeing that you were alright, but concerned as he noticed your bandaged arms and legs.

"Don't mention it." He frowned. "How's your leg?"

"I can manage." You sighed. "What happened to those pirates?"

"Luffy finished them off. Nami wanted to hand them in for their bounty."

You seemed down, not exactly disappointed. It was something else. He could sense grief and dismay. At first he thought it was because you weren't the one to defeat them, but he quickly dismissed that thought. He glanced at his sword and sighed. "Was that stick special to you?"

"...Yeah." You seemed surprised at his words. "It was a gift from a friend. Right before he died."

Zoro nodded, thinking. So just like his sword. He unsheathed Wado Ichimonji and held it up in front of him. "This is a gift from a friend as well. Right after she died."

You tilted your head, then continued. "He had almost the same name as you. Noah."

"That's not similar at all."

"Roro... Noah." He shrugged. He supposed it was in there.

"Her name was Kuina," he added.

"Did she help you train?"

"Yeah. I could never beat her," he admitted. "She was a great swordswoman."

"Huh." You laughed lightly. "I could never beat Noah, either. And it's my fault I never will."

"What do you mean?"

"He died trying to help me when I was in trouble." You paused, taking a shaky breath. "And that quarterstaff was what he left behind as he was dying."

"You shouldn't feel bad about that," he said sternly. "Especially here and now. You're a nakama now. We help each other if they're in trouble or die trying."

You nodded slowly. "I figured that out from Luffy's stories but seeing that now is different. And I appreciate that." Zoro spotted a slight movement of your jaw under your mask.

Zoro smiled. He had a feeling that you would do the same. The fight with those pirates had shown him plenty.

He knew you were probably insecure about your face, as you were still wearing it now, but before joining the fight you didn't have your mask. Despite that, the lack of a good weapon, and the wound on your leg, you had gone in to help him.

He could have defeated them himself, but it would have ended up with more and worse injuries than he'd like to admit, and you had lightened the load a lot.

His captain wasn't the brightest, but he had good instincts when seriously recruiting someone.

He knew he could trust you.

And he knew he cared about you.

He sheathed his sword, then turned to you with a realization. "Could Franky fix it?"

"My quarterstaff? No." You shook your head. "The way it's made is that it's a whole piece of wood and the seastone is added afterward. You can't piece it back together."

"Hm. He can maybe make you another one out of seastone and Adam wood. It won't be the same, but...."

"Yeah." You sighed.

Zoro knew that a replacement wasn't going to be the same, but it was the best he could think of.

"Well," he started, trying to change the subject. "We never finished our spar when we first met. Want to finish that after you heal and test out a new weapon?"

"After you heal, too," you scoffed. Zoro could see the slight movement of your jaw again and realized it was a smile. Seeing that, he couldn't help but smile again as well. "You have injuries as well. But yeah. Sounds like a plan."