【𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨】

ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ

From the ages of 6 to 16, most people get a mark somewhere on their body- almost always on their wrist or cheek. This was a small mark in black, grey or white with a shape representing one other person in the world. This person would be your soulmate, romantic or platonic, and they would share a mark in the same general area.

Once you met them, your mark would turn from a lifeless picture into a golden symbol of pride, detailed with colours that would help represent your soulmate more accurately now that you knew who you were destined to love with all your heart.

Of course, if you didn't get a mark before then, it meant that you had no soulmate. You could always find love with another person who didn't get a mark, but it was upsetting to know that you were not meant to be with any specific person.

Zoro was one of these people without a mark- or so he thought.

He never cared for a relationship, let alone a soulmate. He gave that all up the day he decided to become the greatest swordsman in the world.

When he was younger, he occasionally looked at his wrists or cheek in a mirror, but never saw anything. Unlike others, he didn't really care in the end.

Therefore, he grew up with the knowledge that he had no soulmate. In contrast to many people, he was extremely open about it.

After all, many of the 9, and later 10, Strawhats didn't have a mark- there were 5 of them altogether, his captain being one of them.

It was only during his time training under Mihawk that his knowledge changed.

It was a bad day.
For some reason, he just couldn't train his Observation Haki effectively. He tried to close both eyes and dodge any incoming attacks based on his dormant Haki that he had used back in Alabasta, but he just couldn't seem to apply it. He was relying on his eyesight; every time that he sensed an upcoming attack, his eyes would snap open and directly aim towards his opponent.

His dominant left eye always opened, even if his right stayed firmly shut.

That's why he did something rash.
He didn't really register how dumb it was at the time, but all he knew was that he needed to force his left eye shut. With a katana in hand, there seemed to be only one logical answer.

To keep it from opening, he slashed his own eye. When he went back to the castle to heal up, Perona took it into her own hands to help out and clean his wounded eyelid.

Extremely quickly, she noticed how Zoro had made a big mistake. He most definitely wouldn't be able open his left eye for a few days. Upon further inspection, it became increasingly apparent that he wouldn't be able to open his left eye without the use of his hands for the rest of his life.

He had cut too far into his own flesh in his frustration, and was left with a permanent scar and blinded eye as a result.

When Perona and Zoro realised that he had actually partially blinded himself, she told him exactly what she thought- that he was a complete idiot and that nothing good would come from it.

Well, something good came from it: Zoro mastered Observation Haki far more easily.

However, one more good thing came from it. His cornea was left with a cloudy, milky look. As a result, the iris of his left eye had gone from a charcoal grey to a pale, light grey.
Realising this change in eye colour made him realise something else.

He had a mark, protecting how his cornea looked on that one small area. It was a charcoal grey, identical to his normal iris. Unless you knew it was there, it was invisible.

It resembled a kanzashi -a traditional hair pin- with decorative flowers at the end, though it was quite ambiguous in the cold grey silhouette of his eye.