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In the dark, the only thing she could sense was the echo of a scream. It was so faded that she couldn’t tell if it was calling her name or if it was just a cry of pain or despair. Maybe both. But she couldn’t know.
The next thing she felt was something cold. Cold and wet. It was a droplet. Then another. And another. Until that moment, she couldn’t feel her body, but the drops brought life back to her cheeks.
She blinked a few times to adjust to the light. It was dim. A shadow leaned over her. She could barely feel her body; what little sensation she had was pain. She shivered from the cold. Her clothes were damp. Because of the rain, she mused.
Her mouth opened slightly; she tried to say something, but no words came out.
A big, warm hand ghosted across her cheeks and adjusted her glasses. The shadow took a well-known shape. What puzzled her was his expression. She was familiar with his green hair and the scar on his eye. With his sharp chin and thin lips. She was familiar with the strength of his grasp and the warmth of his broad chest. He only furrowed his brow when he was angry, but he didn't look angry, and she couldn't figure out what his expression meant.
She tried to lift her hand, investing all her spirit into it.
He caught it midway and placed it over his cheek, where he knew she was trying to reach.
“Easy...” Zoro murmured, feeling something dense lodge in the back of his throat.
She adjusted her hand on his face, looking for a way to caress him, and felt the wetness on the tip of her fingers.
Zoro’s first instinct was to evade it, but he settled in the warmth she somehow still possessed. He wrapped his hand around Tashigi's as he closed his eye, letting himself be filled with her scent. The smell of blood was overwhelming. However, a faint trail of lavender, as thin as the thread keeping her alive, persisted, and he held onto that scent with all his might.
“Help is on its way. Hang on,” he lied, wishing there was a little truth behind his words.
Tashigi smiled, reassuring him that everything was all right. Perhaps seeing through the lie.
How could something so beautiful hurt so much? He ached. Even with the blood, the dirt, and the tears, with her glasses crooked and her hair a mess, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The lump in his throat returned, bigger than ever, and he coughed, trying to stifle the scream of pain coming from the depths of his soul. Then, he held his breath before it became erratic. Because, despite not knowing what to do or how to fix her, he didn’t want her to see him helpless. He had to give her hope, keep her fighting until…
Zoro lifted his head from the stone he had been resting on and gazed into the distance, searching for any sign of his crew coming to his aid. There was nothing but rocks and plain soil, and the lifeless body of that Elder bastard somewhere, too. The battle had wiped out an entire forest. Miles of green leaves were lost during the clash. It had been a high-risk and brutal fight. The hardest one yet. He had staked his life on it and succeeded, but not in the way he had expected.
“You won.”
The statement, uttered in that mushy voice, an echo of its former self, brought his attention back to her.
“You doubt it?” He teased her, a soft smile playing on his lips. Somehow, hearing her had soothed him.
“Never.”
He let out a sigh. 'And yet you came,' he wanted to tell her, but it was pointless. It was already done. She had shown up in the middle of the battle, and, against all odds, her presence had been essential to his victory. Nevertheless, he was only willing to risk his own life, not hers.
Even on the verge of death, Tashigi’s eyes shone like stars as she looked at him. Zoro gently kissed her palm near her wrist. His lips had been missing her skin; he had been missing her entirely. It had been a couple of months since they last were together, since he was able to claim her, feel her tremble not because of the cold whisper of death, but because of the pleasure he made her feel. If he had known it would have been the last time, he would never have let her slip away in the middle of the night. He would have never let her go without having her one last time, to get intoxicated by her scent, to hear her scream his name and hold onto her until sunrise. If he had known, maybe he would have told her every word he kept stuck in his mouth when she moaned under him, everything he had been taking for granted since they became lovers. This wasn't the reunion he had been longing for. Was that really how their story would end?
She had arrived at the battle unexpectedly, as if she had sensed the exact moment he had gone down. Looking at her standing there with her sword drawn made his blood run cold. No matter how much she had trained—and he was well aware of her progress—the enemy was far beyond her level. Still, he could tell from her stance, the look on her face, and the way she yelled at him while throwing a blow that made the Elder back up that she knew what she was doing, in what kind of battle she was getting into. She knew she wasn't there to win, but to be by his side.
They fought together as a team for the first time. Having her at his side felt both odd and right. Despite having few opportunities to train together, they blended seamlessly. Tashigi’s presence also helped him recharge and refocus on the reasons behind his battles. He could see his past in a flash: the loss of Kuina, all the battles he had fought, and his friends waiting for him. Luffy’s smile reminded him that he had a place to go back to. There were a few promises he still had to fulfill. Zoro had felt renewed and genuinely believed he could keep her safe. Then, reality hit him as hard as his enemies' strikes.
In the end, he was alone. He had to stay strong and focus on the battle rather than on Tashigi's well-being. Despite knowing how powerful the last blow had been, he had to believe she would be all right so he could end the fight.
The moment he knew the Elder was finally dead, the pain he had endured erupted into agony. But no pain could ever compare to the thought of losing her forever. Under different circumstances, after any other battle, he would have rested, hoping his crew would arrive before his wounds proved fatal. However, her presence had changed everything and he knew he wouldn't find peace until he saw her again.
Zoro had found her tossed like a rag doll, covered in blood and barely breathing. Sandai Kitetsu was stuck in the ground in front of her. The sword that had flown from his hand after his final strike rose above Tashigi like a beacon. When he had lifted her to hold her in his arms, he realized he had been holding his breath. There was nothing he could do. But even if Tashigi was shattered, her heart was still beating and that was all that mattered. Zoro had covered her with her torn coat and gently rocked her until their heartbeats became one.
“That is how you treat your sword while I’m not around? What is Sandai Kitetsu doing there?“ Tashigi scolded him. Her gaze fixed on the sword buried in the ground a couple of feet from them. Resting on his arms seemed to have helped her regain some strength —or maybe it was just his warmth. After all, she couldn't feel much, not even her injuries. Under normal circumstances, it might have caught her attention, but she was on the edge, almost a step away from reality.
“It does whatever it wants”, he complained. "It guided me to you, though," Zoro added. His expression hardened. His face betrayed his unease. He could feel Tashigi shivering more and more. It worried him that the strength she seemed to display might be a sign that her life was drawing to an end.
"So the curse must be real," she teased him, trying to bring him back to his old self—the one who has always been so confident and prickly.
"You bet!" Zoro agreed without a second thought. His eye opened wide in surprise as he began to stutter, trying to correct himself, "No... what I mean..."
"I know," Tashigi said, cutting him off a little too harshly. So, she tried to correct herself the only way she knew: "Come here, I just want to…"
Zoro met her halfway. His back ached when he bent over to her. His body was just as broken as hers—perhaps slightly less so—but it didn’t matter. He would go to hell a thousand times over if it meant sparing Tashigi from any of the pain she was feeling. It killed him to see how hard it had been for her to rise and reach out to him. She tried to hide her agony behind a calm expression, but her tears didn’t lie.
The velvety touch of his lips was something she hadn't expected. Even cracked and dry, they felt like cotton candy brushing against hers. She melted in his mouth like a traveler in the desert tasting water after a lifetime of thirst. Her hands cupped his face, helping her delve deeper into the kiss. A sensation she had craved and needed for a long time. Luckily, his bitter, beer-like taste wasn’t overpowered by the metallic taste of blood and the salty taste of tears that they shared. His unique flavour, as well as the warm strength of his embrace, made it easy for her to melt and keep anything that wasn’t them at bay.
As long as their kiss lasted, there was no room for thoughts of heartache. Their tongues and lips roamed each other's mouths, making up for lost time. The way they shared their passion reminded her of their previous encounters when their allies were asleep and the veil of night covered them. Remarkably, he never got lost when he went looking for her. The mere thought made her blush.
The strength she thought she had regained had been a kind illusion. Her shattered lungs cried for air, forcing her to break the kiss. It was a soft move. They weren’t ready to part.
She began to cough violently and grabbed her chest. Blood mixed with her unrelenting tears. Zoro held her steady until it passed. With her eyes fixed on him, Tashigi found calm. Despite the tears streaming down his face, he wore his bold smirk, and his gaze sparkled with love.
"This rain is too cold," she whispered.
Her shivering had gotten worse.
Zoro cuddled her, resting his chin on her head. She could feel his chest rising and falling with his deep breaths. It was like a lullaby. Her eyes felt heavy. She sensed the warmth in his embrace growing, but she wasn't sure if it was his Haki or if Haki even worked that way.
The sky was a deep, light blue. In a way, it reminded her of the ocean. A few clouds moved slowly, swaying like the calm waves created after the sea hits the ship’s hull. She loved seeing it. She leaned on the rail to feel the salty air and the misty drops of water hitting her, a taste of freedom that the vast ocean provided. Smoker teased her about it; he said she looked like a brat. But the way he said it was always so tender, like if he was remembering the times when she was, in fact, only a child. Tashigi wished she had said goodbye. But she didn’t regret her choice. She was where she meant to be, with whom she meant to be.
A soft smile spread across Tashigi’s face. Her eyes finally closed as she looked at their entwined hands resting on her. His hand was big, tan, calloused, covered in cuts and blood. Hers was thin, pink, and slightly soft, thanks to the gloves she always wore; still, it was just as rough as his. It had been a hell of a battle, but finally, she could let herself…
The darkness surrounded her once again. It stripped away the excruciating pain she had been carrying. Her body felt weightless. But, without repair, the dark also took everything else, leaving only an empty shell of her former self floating in an endless void.
Unexpectedly, a voice broke through the emptiness.
"Tashigi, please..." it said.
The words stirred something in her.
"...don't..." it continued.
Was it possible that she still felt a sense of familiarity with the voice, even though she didn’t know who it was?
"...go... not yet.” The voice insisted.
It was talking to her. She didn’t understand how, but she knew the voice. She tried to find it. She tried to reach the voice but she didn’t know how.
"Come back to me." His voice begged.
Driven by an inner force she didn't fully understand, Tashigi began to swim through the depths of darkness. She hoped to reach the sweet, yet broken, voice that made her heart beat faster. She longed to hold its owner in her arms and put an end to their sorrow.