A Story That Fits With You

A Bigger Bounty

The two clashed swords on deck.

"Hey, can we please do all the sword fighting off the Thousand Sunny?" Franky questioned.

"Franky, just leave them be for now. I'll deal with it if they damage anything." Luffy mentioned.

"That's the first reliable thing you've ever said." Nami added.

"It's going to be over soon anyway." Luffy chose to ignore the blatant snide remarks sent from Nami.

"How'd you know, Luffy?" Usopp questioned.

"Just have faith in Zoro. He'll never let us down. He's just like that." He mentioned once more.

It looked as if Zoro was just toying with Ku, as all he was doing was just blocking and dodging attacks made by the woman. He waited for the perfect time to try and strike, albeit it taking a long time for her to lose concentration and stamina. This woman had really good defense. But Zoro had trained much longer to become a swordsman. He wasn't about to lose to an admiral, he needed to take down Dracule Mihawk, for crying out loud! He needed to win, it was important to.
Sure enough, Zoro found the opening he was looking for when Ku had her sword raised high to try and cut off Zoro's head. He quickly ducked down and spun her off her feet, causing her to let go of the sword that she was holding and fall down, Zoro's two swords, Ichimonji and Enma at both sides of her neck.

"Plus a billion dollars to my bounty, please." Zoro rhetorically asked.

"Heh. You got me. A deal's a deal, but I'll have to..." Ku's eyes landed on the Ichimonji that Zoro was holding.

"Wait...how come you have my sword?" Ku then accused.

"What do you mean? This is my sword! I've had it since the day my friend died." Zoro reminded her, even though she didn't know anything about Zoro...right?

"Oh, you don't know? Well, Roronoa, I have a big surprise for you. You would know me from your childhood. I died when you were training in my father's dojo." Ku responded.

"I still don't know who you are." Zoro shook his head unknowingly.

"Hahahahaha! You're still as clueless as ever. I'm Kuina, Zoro, remember me?" The Straw Hats were shocked. The Kuina that Zoro had told them about...was her? Zoro, however, was not amused by this. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Can everybody just give us about 3 minutes to chat?" Zoro asked the Straw Hats, without moving from where he stood, nor turning his head from this so-called 'Kuina'.

One by One, the Straw Hats departed the kitchen and retreated back to the men's and women's room. Zoro rounded on Kuina with a fierce look in his eye. Kuina received this and sent back the same look to Zoro.

"When's your birthday?" Zoro asked.

"December 10th." Kuina replied simply.

"When did you 'die'?"

"It was the year 1999, the month was August, the day was the 7th."

"What's your last name?"

"...Shimotsuki."

"So it's really you, huh. That's kind cathartic." Zoro confessed.

"Zoro...I'm sorry that I haven't been available that much and I'm sorry that I joined the marines, but-" Zoro cut her off when he embraced her with a warm friendly hug.

"I can't get mad at you. I just wish you told me that you survived. Why didn't you just be upfront with it? Why didn't you just tell me? I don't even care if you are a part of the Navy. You're an admiral, and that's great!" Zoro ranted in a soft voice.

"I couldn't tell you just yet because my mission was to find you. I also...wanted to see how you had progressed through the years. When I heard that you managed to scar Kaido and kill King, I was so happy for you. You were even trained by Dracule Mihawk himself! I'm proud of you for what you have become! Now sit down, I have to tell you a lot of things." Kuina ushered Zoro to sit down.

On his own ship.

"You're probably wondering, 'How on Earth did you manage to survive', right Zoro?"

"Yeah, how though? You snapped your neck! Nobody can get through that!"

"Kashi saved me. He brought me to a boat where I was taken in by Admiral Akainu, who is now-"

"The Fleet Admiral. Did you train with him? I presume you did, because even though I-"

"Now's not the time, Zoro. I still have so much to tell you. I actually ate a devil fruit, and it gave me powers to control Water. It's called the Mizu-Mizu fruit. So even if I fall in the sea or something like that, I can't drown because I'm able to use my powers at those times. I can use the water around me to create a mask how I'm able to breathe underwater, and I can create jets made out of water to propel me out of the water using more water in those situations. Fascinating, isn't it?" Kuina explained.

"Say that again, but say it 10 times slower, I didn't catch any of that." Zoro minuted.

"You really haven't changed, have you, Zoro?" Kuina chuckled.

"You know that I took your sword, right? I can also use all types of Haki, in their Advanced types as well." Zoro gloated.

"I can also use Haki, but I only have Armament and Observation in their Advanced form. It seems that you really do have kingly ambitions. You are one of the people who are chosen for this ability."

"Yeah, I knew that much already, becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman is a tough challenge if I don't even have a black blade. But I'm hoping that I can make this a black blade sooner or later. That would be most opportune with the Haki that I've been imbuing into it lately. That's one of the steps to become the Greatest Swordsman ever." Zoro added, taking a small sip of water and then putting it back down.

"So why did you really come here, Kuina?" Zoro questioned, narrowing his eyes again.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know that you didn't come here just to check my progress on what I'm doing. So go ahead and tell me what the Gorosei ordered you to do." Zoro asked nonchalantly.

"You got me." Kuina put her hands up in surrender.

"Alright, you aren't going to like this. The real reason that I'm here is because there's a problem with the Shimotsuki clan. Your grandfather passed away and now the throne has rightfully been passed down to your father. He isn't cooperating with the World Government. The World Government relies on the Shimotsuki to give their needs to them, in exchange for not attacking them outright. I need you to convince Kashi, who's the current ruler right now, to stop refusing the World Governments demands and get him to side with the Government again, like his father did." Kuina explained.

"Are you kidding me?! You want me to help the World Government, our enemy who's been a thorn in our side for years, get their resources back, which means giving them more strength, and making them MORE POWERFUL? Are you insane? At least the old geezer did something good in his lifetime and rejected the notion of helping the Government!" Zoro exclaimed as he threw his hands up in the air.

"I know that it's a tough request, but-" Kuina was cut off once again.

"TOUGH?! Leaving my friends to go help our staunch enemy is TOUGH?! It's a no-brainer! I'm not helping the World Government, nor am I going back to that wretched family ever again." Zoro departed the room, leaving only Kuina behind. 

"Goodnight." Was all that Kuina heard before the door slammed shut and Zoro returned back to his cabin to have a restless night's sleep.