What's Not To Love

Chapter 17

Sounds of the waves could be heard from afar. Laughter carried past his ears, riding on the winds. It was peaceful. Zoro frowned before opening his eyes. It was way too peaceful.

Opening his eyes, Zoro glanced around. He wasn't in his room nor was he on the Sunny. He seemed to be on a beach. This made Zoro frown even more. The last time he was on a beach in his dream it didn't end well. Figuring that he wasn't going to wake up, Zoro decided to walk around. At first the path he took was made up of sand, but then it turned to rocks and then to grass. His surroundings were now that of a forest. The sounds around him changed to that of animals. It didn't bother him, though. These sounds were far beyond relaxing to him.

As he kept walking,  baby laughter filled his surroundings. Zoro followed the sounds but he felt as though they were getting further and further away from him. The ground underneath his feet began to move quicker just as his feet started touching the floor less. He was running, hoping to get closer to the sounds. He ran and ran and ran but still came upon nothing. He was about to give up until he came upon a clearing.

Once out in the clearing, Zoro glanced around and saw no sight of the babies and the laughter had stopped. Breathing deeply, Zoro walked further and came upon a Giant rock sitting near the end of the cliff. Walking towards it, Zoro put his hand on the rock and glanced at his surroundings. He stood there quietly for a moment trying to figure things out.

"They're cute."

Zoro spun around quickly. When he turned around, he came face to face with someone he knew well. He stared for a moment before looking at the babies. There was a lump in his throat so he did not talk nor did he go closer. There was no way that this was really happening.

Dai continued to play with his sister for a second before he spotted Zoro. Upon realization, he dropped the toy he was holding and tried to crawl towards the green haired man. This caused Zoro to smile. He stepped closer to the baby and picked him up.

"Come sit with us."

Zoro looked up and saw the figure gesturing to a seat across from Kai. Zoro decided to just go over and talk after contemplating the offer. Zoro walked over to the seat and put Dai back on the ground with his sister. Looking back up, Zoro stared at the figure a little longer before speaking.

"Kuina."

The name felt foreign in his mouth. It had been so long since he's said it.

Smiling, she spoke. "You've matured quite a bit."

Zoro chuckled. "Yeah. I suppose."

The two sat there watching the babies and talking about everything from the past to the present.

"They sound pretty fun if you ask me." Kuina said as she chuckled.

Scowling, Zoro said "Yeah, but the problems are non-stop."

Kuina stared at Zoro's face a moment before laughing. "Something tells me that you're the cause of those problems. You still get lost?"

"No!"

"You Do!" Laughing some more, Kuina began to mock Zoro. "The streets moved when I wasn't looking."

"I do not sound like that." Zoro yelled, with a slight blush on his face. It wasn't his fault that they moved when he least expected them to.

After a moment of laughter and glares coming from Zoro, Kuina finally calmed down. She stared at the babies for a moment more before smiling slightly. Not looking at her old friend, she spoke gently to him. "The cook you spoke about....do you love him?"

Zoro got silent and decided to look at the trees straight ahead. He saw Kuina look at him before looking in the same direction.

"It's okay to admit how you feel."

"Yeah," Zoro began as he looked at the ground. "And what would that do? Would it make everything better."

Kuina furrowed her eyebrows. "No."

"Then I'm not saying it."

Pouting, Kuina turned to Zoro. "You're so stubborn."

Zoro stayed silent, praying (but doubting) that Kuina would drop the subject.

"You know," she started "I once was in love."

Zoro stared and gaped at Kuina. Feeling the gaze, Kuina turned and faced zoro with a frown.

"I'm capable of love too moron."

Zoro swallowed hard before nodding in agreement. Kuina, not really satisfied with Zoro's idea about her, continued.

"Anyway, I met him when I was 8. He came to the Dojo a lot." Feeling a sharp gaze on her, Kuina sighed. "He left before you joined Zoro so you don't know him. Anyway, he was really strong and cute and honest and kind and-"

"I got it." Zoro interrupted.

Kuina turned a sharp eye on Zoro that made him shudder. Turning towards the kids, she continued. "Anyway, he's the reason I wanted to get stronger and so I did. And we dated but we had a lot of problems. They mostly had to do with his parents. I wasn't the ideal girlfriend for him since I was a fighter. It made us break up but we ended up working through our problems and we stayed together until his parents made him move to his grandparents place. They were such assholes."

Zoro stared at the female before him with a look of bewilderment. That wasn't something he would ever think that he would hear from her. The situation was definitely relatable but that still didn't help him.

Kuina turned towards Zoro and smiled. "What I'm saying is that love is a great thing, Zoro. But there are some up's and down's to it." Anyone can run from their problems because it's easier. But staying to fight and work through them is what makes you stronger". My father taught us that and I think it applies to this too."

Zoro stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. "I know but it's not that easy."

"Since when have we had it easy?"

The question struck a chord with Zoro. He tried to think of something to say but came up with nothing. It's true that he didn't have it easy but that didn't change anythin.  At least he hoped it didn't. That would mean he was in the wrong, wouldn't it. A wave crossed Zoro's vision and he heard his name being called. Looking up at Kuina, Zoro went to ask if it was her but the name came again and her mouth didn't move with the words.

"You're gonna wake up, Zoro." Kuina said softly as she brushed the two babies heads.

"But-"

"It's okay, Zoro." Kuina whispered as she looked at him. She reached out for his hand and placed hers over it. "We will talk again. Soon. I'm not sure when but I'll be here. I'll be waiting."

Zoro frowned as his surroundings began to clear. He continued to stare at Kuina, memorizing her features. "You sure? You're gonna be here?"

"Yup." Kuina said as she withdrew her hand. She looked up for a moment before looking back at Zoro. "Have I ever lied to you before?"

Zoro watched as she began to disappear with the surroundings as well. He watched as she kept disappearing. Once she was out of sight and Zoro felt himself waking up he thought one thing.

'Yes Kuina. You have.'