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The mark appeared on her wrist when she was five, right above her pulsepoint, that important pathway that led straight to her heart. The two crossed swords of the Shimotsuki clan with a third darker and more elegant sword crossing them in the middle.
She immediately showed her mother.
“Amazing, Hiyori,” she cooed, lifting Hiyori’s wrist to examine the mark, “Your soulmate has been born.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened. She had heard her mother talk about soulmates before, about souls that were inexplicably tied to each other and true loves brought together by fate.
She was nervous about the whole thing, about being bound to someone so thoroughly and permanently. She was the daughter of Kozuki Oden, a great samurai who had left Wano and sailed on fantastic adventures. She didn’t fancy the idea of being tied down, of being expected to fall in love with someone she didn’t even know.
She had enough expectations of her already, being her father’s daughter.
Her mother hummed, tracing the swords on her wrist, “It looks like your soulmate will be a Shimotsuki samurai, doesn’t it? And look,” she ran her finger down the middle sword, “Doesn’t this look like Shusui? Perhaps your soulmate will be the one to bring it home. Wouldn't that be romantic?”
She seemed excited for Hiyori, thrilled at the prospect of Hiyori’s soul tied to this person, so Hiyori became excited too.
Perhaps they would be someone great too. Perhaps they would be everything she would ever want or need.
After all, her mother was never wrong.
Hiyori didn’t know what to make of the outsider ronin when she’d first seen him. He was strong, yes, and kind enough to save her and Toko in exchange for mere booze. He was reckless too, taking the scythe attack so carelessly and collapsing in the snow as he bled out, but as the daughter of a samurai she didn’t hate that.
While she was bandaging his wounds, the band covering his soulmark slipped, and she couldn’t help but take a peek, gasping at what she saw.
It was the Kozuki clan’s crest, but the crosses in the back had been replaced with a sword and a shamisen, her shamisen, she realized with a start. A soulmark to represent her.
She held her wrist in her hand, running her thumb over the leather band secured tight around it to hide her own soulmark from her clients. She peeled off the band to properly look at her soulmark for the first time in years.
The man had two swords on him, but neither of them looked like the third sword on her mark, Shusui. But then, he’d mentioned something about a third sword, hadn’t he? Perhaps he’d already returned Shusui to its proper place.
He stirred suddenly, his lone eye blinking awake as it darted around the room, eventually landing on her. His arm tightened protectively around Toko sleeping at his side as he sat up, and her heart melted a little at that.
She stared back at him, taking him in fully for the first time. He had a handsome face and messy green hair that probably should have made him unappealing, but only served to add to his charm. He was heavily scarred, the one sealing his eye shut, the one across his chest, and the two circling his ankles being the most obvious, but there were scars all over his body, smaller marks littering his arms and legs and chest, but none on his back.
A proper lady should be turned off by the displays of his violent life, but she had always been surrounded by samurai, always adored the show of strength, and was far from a proper lady.
Besides, he was her soulmate. How could she dislike him?
“Does the name Shimotsuki mean anything to you?” She asked, just to be sure.
“Yes,” he eyed her warily, “Why?”
She lowered her wrist and showed him her mark.
His eye grew wide as it ran over it, his finger coming up to trace lightly over the swords.
“Shit,” he lifted his own wrist, pulling his band down completely to expose his mark, “You must be Momonosuke’s sister.”
She gasped, heart beating harder at the mention of her long lost brother, “You know my brother?”
He nodded, still staring hard at his soulmark, and Hiyori felt like she was soaring. Her soulmate knew her brother, her brother was here after twenty long years and had brought her soulmate.
It was all so perfect. They were going to take down Kaido and bring back the Kozuki clan and save Wano. Then she and her soulmate could live the peaceful life they were always destined for together.
She lay her hand gently over his, caressing his knuckles softly in a way she knew from experience most men liked. She had spent the past few years learning what men wanted, perfecting it, being it for them, and now she could do that for him. She could be anything he wanted.
That was what people wanted from their soulmates, a grand romance. This was the beginning of their love story.
He flinched and pulled away from her, staring at her with his stormy gray eye.
She opened her mouth to apologize for being so forward, to ask how she could be better for him, but before she could he said, “I’m sorry.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion as he continued, “I’m in love with someone else.”
“Your father and I were always destined for each other,” her mother would always tell her, the Kozuki emblem surrounded by a crescent moon bare on her wrist for everyone to see, “Fate works in mysterious ways like that.”
Hiyori clutched her hand tight, “So my soulmate…?”
“Will be someone fate crafted just for you,” she smiled at her, “They will be exactly what you need, and appear in your life exactly when you need them.”
She was still coming around to the idea, but her mother was never wrong. Her parents were happy, and Hiyori wanted that happiness too, even if it was with someone she hadn’t met yet.
“I hope they’re nice,” she looked down at the mark on her wrist for the millionth time, running her eyes across the three swords, memorizing their shape and placement, imagining whoever they could possibly represent, “I hope they like me.”
“Of course they will be nice,” her mother tilted her head, “And who wouldn’t like you? You’re my beautiful, talented daughter, the daughter of a samurai of Wano, a man who sailed alongside Whitebeard and the Pirate King himself. Whoever is lucky enough to have you for a soulmate is fortunate indeed.”
She felt the familiar weight of expectation fall on her shoulders. If fate crafted this person for her, then surely she was crafted for them. But what if she wasn’t enough?
But she was the daughter of Kozuki Oden, the Daimyo of Kuri, sister to the future Shogun of Wano, Kozuki Momonosuke. She shouldered this responsibility along with the others.
She would have to be enough.
“What are they like?” Hiyori eventually asked, the colorful leaves falling around them as they made their way back to Ringo.
Zoro had assured her that he left Toko in safe hands, and since he was her soulmate she had trusted him. Still, she was worried about her friend and could use the distraction.
And maybe she was simply curious about whoever managed to steal the heart of someone who should have been hers.
She glanced down at his wrist, covered again, and couldn’t help but feel slightly jilted. Most people did prefer to keep their soulmarks covered, not wanting any stranger passing by to view something so deeply personal, but it was just the two of them here, just two soulmates. They shouldn’t be hiding anything.
“What’s who like?” He grunted, eye darting around as if he was expecting an attack at any moment.
And perhaps he was right to. Orochi wanted them both dead, albeit for wildly different reasons.
“This person you are in love with,” she said, touching her own covered wrist, “What are they like?”
“He’s,” he frowned, pink blush painting his cheeks, “complicated.”
She pouted. Complicated? Her soulmate had chosen someone complicated rather than the person fate picked out for him?
“That sounds, frustrating,” is what she said, as diplomatically as she could muster.
“He is,” he laughed, the corners of his mouth twitching up in a smile, “He’s the most frustrating bastard I’ve ever met.”
“But you love him?”
“I do,” his face softened, his whole demeanor really, and she realized this was the first time she saw him actually smile, “He’s an idiot, and the most annoying man I know, but he’s also the kindest, and the most loyal. He’s strong too, and an amazing chef. He’ll kick your ass into next week and cook you a gourmet feast afterwards. Well, not your ass,” he amended, giving her a sidelong look, “like I said, he’s an idiot.”
She frowned. She could be kind and loyal and strong, and while she certainly wasn’t a professional, her cooking was good enough, if that was what he wanted. Fate had made them perfect for each other, so why had Zoro chosen someone else, someone who frustrated and annoyed him?
“Who is he? A childhood friend of yours? Someone you’ve known for years?”
Most people didn’t bother getting into romantic entanglements with people other than their soulmates - why bother with the risk that it wouldn’t work out and the inevitable heartbreak that came with it when fate had already picked someone for you where it would? But that would at least make sense, him falling for someone he’d known forever rather than waiting for her. She’d been unsure about that part her whole life, and couldn’t blame him for it.
“No, he’s my crewmate,” he admitted, sounding almost sheepish as he brutally obliterated her excuses for him, “He’s the one I left Toko with, back in the plaza. In case you’re still worried about her. She’s safe.” His eye bore into hers, “I trust him more than anyone.”
More than her. A sharp pang of rejection hit her at the implication.
“Why?” She asked, regret and ache sweeping through her, “Why do you love him so much?”
Her family, her country, her title, she had lost so much already, and now somehow she had lost her soulmate too.
What was it about this man that enthralled him so much that he picked him over his soulmate?
What did he have that she didn't?
“It’s not just one thing,” he sighed and rubbed the back of his head, “It’s all of it. Lots of people are kind, lots of people are loyal, lots of people are strong and can cook. But the way it all comes together, combines and contradicts and mixes into this shining brilliant beautiful mess and makes him, that’s what makes him special.”
He smiled and glanced over at her, “What I love about Sanji is that he’s Sanji.”
Hiyori could only stare, because she knew that look on his face. It was the polar opposite of all the looks Komurasaki had received from all those terrible men, the ones who said they loved her but only wanted her, wanted her beauty or her body or her love.
On Zoro’s face, however, was the look that she would see on her mother’s face whenever she talked about her father, on her father’s face whenever he saw her mother.
It was love. A pure, simple love that brightened everything it touched.
She couldn’t help but smile back. Her soulmate was in love, and how wonderful that looked on him.
Her soulmate was happy with this man, this Sanji, and who was she to get in the way of that?
“I’m glad that you found someone to love so much.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something too,” he said, softer than he’d been with her since they’d met, “Once all this is over. I hope you can be happy.”
She glanced around, at the forest they were walking through, at the country that was slowly being lost around her, and thought for the first time at what she would do after. After Orochi and Kaido were defeated and her brother was made Shogun, at what she would do when everything she’d been working for for twenty years was finally accomplished.
What would she do with herself?
“I hope so too.”
“What does mother look like?” She asked her father, hanging off his arm.
“Eh?” Her father’s face scrunched up, “You see your mother everyday. Surely you know what she looks like?”
“I mean here,” she pawed at his wrist. He had always kept it covered, and she was suddenly struck with the desire to know what her mother looked like on a soulmark.
“I wouldn’t know,” he laughed, “But I’m sure it was the most beautiful mark around. Whoever had it must have been a lucky bastard indeed.”
“Lord Oden,” Kin’emon hissed from where he was following them, the crane soulmark for his wife Tsuru obvious on his own wrist, “You shouldn’t curse in front of the children.”
But Hiyori was too distracted by what her father had just said to pay him much mind. Her mother had always told her about how her and her father were destined for each other, how fate had brought them together. Surely that meant they were soulmates.
“But,” Hiyori rubbed at her own wrist, at the swords that belonged to some mystery person, “Aren’t you soulmates? Mother always says you are.”
“Indeed,” Kin’emon huffed, his arms crossed as he glared at her father, “You wouldn’t want to make Lady Toki a liar, now would you?”
Her father frowned, crouching down so Hiyori could drop to the ground as he reached towards the band around his wrist.
“Your mother was born eight hundred years ago, you know,” he explained, tugging at the laces securing his band, “Even fate isn’t cruel enough to give her a soulmate born eight hundred years after her. Her soulmate was an ancestor of mine, a Kozuki from back then that she never had the chance to meet.
“Your mother isn’t a liar,” he insisted as he let the band fall to the ground and showed her the mark on her wrist, “But she is a romantic. Her soulmark could have been for me, if I’d been alive then, or she’d been born later, so she’s decided it is. It’s more romantic that way, whether fate agrees or not.”
On his wrist were two bones crossed into a T shape and a skull with a white mustache in front of them, surrounded by a cresting wave. Certainly in no way a representation of her mother.
“Most people don’t trust people who marry someone other than their soulmate,” Kin’emon explained as she examined her father’s soulmark, “They find it odd, and treat them poorly. Lady Toki is doing her part to protect her family from further scrutiny.”
“My soulmate is the man who took me out to sea,” her father said as Hiyori gently touched the mark, “I have the utmost love and respect for him, even if your mother is the love of my life.”
“Where is he now?” She asked, finger running over the mustache, a memory of a giant man with a similar white mustache and a kind smile surfacing as she gazed upon it.
“Still out at sea, I’d imagine,” he grinned wide, “having a grand adventure.”
“Do you wish you were still with him?
“Part of me does,” he nodded, gaze wistful as he glanced at the soulmark, “I do wonder what our lives would be like if we had stayed with him.” His gaze goes distant, “But if I hadn’t gone with Roger, I wouldn’t have seen Laugh Tale, I wouldn’t know what I know now,” he playfully mussed her hair, “I wouldn’t be here with all of you, and do what I must for Wano.”
“And mother doesn’t mind?” she looked up at him with wide eyes, “That your soulmate isn’t her?”
“Of course not,” he laughed, “She sailed with us and understands. She loves him too.”
He ran his hand through her hair, cradling her head as she looked up at him, “Soulmates come in many forms, Hiyori, and fate doesn’t always know what’s best for you. Don’t feel bound or trapped by it one way or the other.”
She nodded, because he was a good man who always knew what was best.
After all, her father was never wrong.
The feast after Kaido’s defeat was in full swing by the time she’d found him. She’d been busy herself, having tearful reunions with her brother and the rest of her father’s samurai that were long overdue amongst other things, but even so, the particular man she was looking for seemed to elude her.
She’d finally managed to catch him alone when he took a break from the seemingly endless pile of food he was cooking for his captain: the man her soulmate loved.
Sanji sprung to his feet when she approached him, taking his cigarette out of his mouth as he bowed low and said, “It is a glorious day indeed if such a beautiful lady is gracing me with her presence.”
She could see why Zoro called him an idiot.
“I must thank you,” she inclined her head, “for your help in saving my country.”
“Oh, it was nothing much,” he stood up straight again and grinned, placing the cigarette back in his mouth and releasing a stream of hearts, “I was happy to help.”
“Still,” her eyes darted to his wrist. Between his gloves and his shirt sleeves she couldn’t catch a glimpse of his soulmark. She rubbed the band covering hers, “It’s greatly appreciated.”
His eyes followed her movement, the smile slipping from his face and the hearts dissipating as his gaze darted pointedly away.
“You’re,” he cleared his throat and looked back at her, “Momonosuke’s sister, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she answered, not missing the guilt that crossed his gaze, “You know who I am.”
“Yes,” he nodded, “I know what Zoro’s soulmark looks like, and when we found out it was the crest of the Kozuki family and that Momonosuke had a sister, we figured his soulmate was you. I was a little surprised when he told me he’d found you, but that was going to happen eventually, I suppose…”
He trailed off, his gaze sliding to her covered wrist as he said, almost too soft to hear, “Can I see it?”
She held her wrist a little more protectively against herself, but relented, tugging off her band and showing him the mark.
“Oh,” he gasped and he reached out as if to touch it, but held himself back, instead letting his eyes run over the swords on her wrist, “Yes, that’s him.”
“You didn’t believe I was his soulmate?” She asked, teasing lilt to her voice.
“N-no,” he sputtered out, waving his hands as he backtracked, “No, I believed it, I just,” he paused, rolling his cigarette around his lips, “I just wanted to see what he looked like.”
She traced her finger over the third sword, “I know he at some point had Shusui, but I’ve never seen him with it.”
“Yes,” his face fell, “He was distraught about losing it. Not that Enma isn’t great, and he absolutely appreciates it,” he was quick to assure her, “But he liked Shusui.”
“I assume he must have, if you recognized this mark as him from just one sword.”
“It’s not just Shusui, it’s all of them.”
She blinked at him, then glanced back down at the swords on her wrist. She didn’t think outsiders were that familiar with the Shimotsuki clan and their symbols, so she wasn’t sure what he meant by that, “Because, he has three swords?”
“Well, yes, but those are also his swords,” he reached forward again, but hesitated, “If I may…?”
She nodded and held out her wrist.
The soft leather of his gloves ghosted over her skin as he touched the sword hilt on the right gently, reverently, like he was worried his mere touch would ruin something so precious, “This one is Wado, you can tell by the perfectly round guard, and the spacing between the wrappings on the hilt,” his finger slid over to the sword hilt on the left, “Sandai Kitetsu’s guard is sharper and more flared, and the wrappings are tighter,” he slid up to the blade itself, “and the hamon is flamed shaped, while Wado’s is straight.”
She’d never noticed the details on the other swords, taking them simply as a sign that her soulmate was associated with the Shimotsukis and nothing more, “You could see that just from a glance?”
“Zoro’s swords are important to him,” he said by way of explanation, “And Zoro is important to me.”
He pulled away and she lowered her wrist, making no move to cover it back up.
“Thank you for showing me,” he said in that same soft tone Zoro used when talking about him.
“Yes, well,” she fidgeted, tugging her sleeve over her wrist, “It only seemed fair. Since he’s in love with you.”
A blush spread across his face, reaching the tips of his ears as he raised his hand to his mouth and took a drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke away from her as he let out a quiet, “Yes.”
The silence between them was charged, the tension growing as Sanji tried to find the words, opening his mouth a few times to say something, but came up empty.
Eventually she took it upon herself to break it with, “What about your soulmate? What will happen when you meet them? Will you leave Zoro?”
“No, never,” he placed his cigarette back in his mouth and unbuttoned his shirt sleeve, rolling it up to his elbow, “My soulmate is okay with it. In fact it was his idea.”
Her eyes widened as he showed her his soulmark.
It was the skull and crossbones she’d since learned meant pirates, but with an all too familiar straw hat perched on top, surrounded by a flaming sun.
“Your captain?” She balked, stunned, “You picked Zoro over your captain?”
“I didn’t pick Zoro over Luffy,” he explained as he finished rolling up his sleeves and flicked some ash off his cigarette, “I just fell in love with him.”
She glanced over at the pirate captain. He was dancing with some of the others, smiling wide as he shouted and sang along with the song that was playing.
“He doesn’t care that you love someone else?” She asked as Sanji turned to watch him too.
“I love him too,” he sighed, gaze soft as the smoke slipped from his mouth, “Just not the same way. He’s my captain, I have the utmost love and respect for him. Without him I couldn’t…” he trailed off, rubbing his thumb over his soulmark almost tenderly, “Without him I wouldn't be anything.
“But the love I feel for Zoro is different,” he shook his head as he continued, “I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a love born outside of fate or because that’s just how Zoro is, but it’s all encompassing. Everything he is and everything he does draws me in, and the more I tried to fight my feelings for him, the harder it was to resist.
“And I tried,” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, finishing off the rest of his cigarette and pocketing the remaining butt, “I tried so hard to fight it, to be Luffy’s and Luffy’s alone. But it only ended up hurting all of us.” He opened his eyes, gaze landing on Zoro, and his whole face softened into that look of pure love, “It all worked out, I suppose.”
“How?” She asked, strangely transfixed by his words, “How did you work it out?”
He laughed, “By realizing we’re pirates, and we can make our own rules. Why can’t I love both of them? Why can’t they both have me?”
His gaze turned to her, his eyes bright and blue and she could see how Zoro fell for them, “I’m sorry. I did plan to let him go when he finally met his soulmate, letting you have him, saying goodbye,” he gripped his wrist tight, “But I can’t anymore. I love him too much, and without him what’s the point?
“Luffy’s my soulmate, he’s the one I need, but shit, Zoro is the one I want, and I’m not going to let him go without a fight.”
They stared at each other, steely gaze meeting steely gaze, before she nodded, “Good.”
He blinked at her, “Good?”
“I’d hate for my soulmate to be in love with someone so weak-willed that they’d give him up so easily,” a slow smile spread across her face, “I’m glad he has you.”
Before he could respond, a hand latched to his shoulder, and a few moments later Luffy was rocketing into him. Sanji bent his knees to catch his weight without falling over as he crashed into him, stretchy limbs wrapped several times around his torso, but left his arms free.
“Hey, Sanji,” he grinned at him as he rested his chin on his shoulder, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he nodded to her, “Luffy, this is Hiyori. She’s Momonosuke’s sister.”
“Ah,” he glanced at her, a bored look in his eyes, and dipped his head politely, “Nice to meet you.”
“And she’s Zoro’s soulmate.”
“Oh!” Luffy released Sanji, much more excited now, and bounced in front of her, “We’re soulmate in-laws!”
“We’re, what?”
“That’s what Usopp and Nami call us,” he showed her his wrist, a fish decorated in swirled patterns that matched Sanji’s eyebrow on it, and bumped it against her own soulmark, “Do you want to join our crew?”
“Did you miss the part where she’s Momonosuke’s sister?” He rolled his eyes, “She’s still got plenty to do here.”
“Boring,” he pouted, “Come join us when you’re done.”
Sanji’s foot came crashing down on his head, “She might never be done! This is her home, idiot, and she just pried it away from Orochi and Kaido. Also Momonosuke’s been gone for twenty years! If he’s gonna be Shogun and open Wano, he’ll need her help.”
Sanji flushed suddenly and glanced at her, “I’m assuming. You are welcome to come with us, of course. If you want. We’d be lucky to have you.”
“Thank you,” she said with a smile, touched by the genuine offer, “It sounds fun, but you’re right. My place is here.”
“Well, join us when you change your mind,” Luffy said, not deterred in the slightest as he grabbed both of their wrists and dragged them towards the rest of the party, “Hey! Zoro!”
Zoro looked up from the mug he was drinking, eye widening when he saw who Luffy had in tow, “Uh-”
“Hiyori’s joining our crew!” He said proudly, surprising her and making him drop his mug.
“She is not,” Sanji was quick to clarify, “Luffy just asked.”
“Ah, so she is joining,” Zoro laughed as he stood up.
“I would love to,” she quickly explained, “But I have things I must do here, and-”
“It’s fine, I’m just kidding,” he turned his smile to her, “You’re welcome to, of course, but I get it if you can’t.”
The song changed, and Luffy shoved Sanji at Zoro, who caught him easily, hands going automatically to his waist.
“Let’s dance,” he grinned, grabbing onto Hiyori and twirling her away.
Once she wrangled him into something resembling a rhythm, she asked, “Are you really okay with it?”
“With you joining my crew?” His grin grew, stretching from ear to ear, “Yeah, absolutely! You’re Momo’s sister, and he’s my friend, so you’ll be my friend too. And you’re Zoro’s soulmate, so you have to join.”
Sanji shot him a fierce glare despite dancing too far away from them to hear them over the loud music, and Luffy pouted, “I mean. When you’re done here. Or whatever.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the display, and nodded towards Zoro and Sanji, “I meant with them. Are you really okay that they’re together?”
“Of course,” he frowned, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Her eyes darted to the couple in question. Now that Luffy was behaving himself, Sanji was tucked against Zoro’s chest, saying something that made him laugh.
“You don’t feel left out?” She asked, “Like you’re missing out on something special and important?”
“Sanji is my chef,” he said, “He cooks for me whenever I want and he’ll never let me go hungry. He’s gonna help me become the Pirate King, and I’ll help him find All Blue. He’ll stay by my side for as long as I want, and I’ll want him to forever. That’s all I need from him.”
He nodded towards Zoro and Sanji, “I don’t need what he has with Zoro, and I don’t want what he has with Zoro. Sanji is my soulmate and Zoro is my first mate. They’re happy together, and I’m happy they’re happy. What’s wrong with that?”
Was it really that simple? Fate had given her Zoro, that concept was simple enough, but if it was possible for him to find something more than what fate had in mind for him, why couldn’t she do the same?
“Aren’t you happy Zoro’s happy?” Luffy asked, surprisingly serious.
“I am,” she admitted, “It’s just, I was told my whole life that my soulmate would be someone who gave me everything I needed, and to find he’s already with someone else is disappointing.”
Luffy frowned, “Did you need a lover?”
She stared at him, confused, “What?”
“When you met Zoro did you need a lover?”
She had been the most sought after Oiran in the Flower Capital for the past few years, and had had more than enough lovers to last a lifetime. She’d received enough loving words and caresses to know that love wasn’t always genuine, and even genuine love had its limits.
She had no need for a lover.
“Uh, no.”
“Did you need a partner then? Or a swordsman? Someone to protect you and fight by your side and always have your back?”
Wano was flush with swordsmen, and she’d always had Kawamatsu and Denjiro for that. Now that she had the rest of her father’s retainers and her brother back in her life, that was the last thing she needed, “No.”
“That’s what Zoro is giving Sanji that he’s not giving you,” Luffy explained, head tilting as he continued, “What did you need when you met Zoro?”
She thought about it. The most immediate thing she’d needed was someone to protect her and Toko from Orochi’s assassin, which he had. But more than that, she needed someone to return Shusui and restore the God of Sword’s favor - which he had - bring her brother - which he had - and take down Orochi and Kaido - which he had.
They will be exactly what you need, and appear in your life exactly when you need them, her mother had always told her, and Zoro hadn’t disappointed.
“See?” Luffy laughed, seeing her realization on her face, “Sanji didn’t take anything away from you.”
That was true, but now something was bothering her, “But, what did Zoro need from me?”
“A sword,” Zoro responded, startling her.
She turned to find him and Sanji dancing right behind her, as he lifted his arm, sleeve falling away to reveal his soulmark, and tapped the sword on it.
She hadn’t noticed before, but the sword on his soulmark was Enma.
“I needed a new sword, one that hadn’t already been tamed by someone else.”
“That’s, that’s it?” She blinked, a little stunned that that was it, but she was also relieved that he didn’t need anything else from her, wasn’t expecting anything else from her, “That’s all you need from me?”
“Don’t underestimate a good sword,” he was looking right at her, that soft look back on his face, “And Enma is a damn fine sword.”
“Shitty sword-brained Marimo idiot,” Sanji snarled at him, “Fate gives you the most beautiful and wonderful soulmate and all you need from her is a sword?”
He grinned at him, leaning in to say, “I’m just not as needy as you.”
“You shitty bastard-”
He was cut off by Zoro’s lips pressing into his own. Sanji resisted for all of a second before melting into the kiss.
Her heart felt lighter at the display.
Fate wasn’t wrong, she and Zoro would have been good together. The lost Shimotsuki samurai and the Kozuki daughter forced into hiding, coming together to bring down the false Shogun and restore Wano to its former glory was a romantic story indeed.
But it wouldn’t have been this. She wouldn’t have been able to give him the romantic love and affection that Sanji gave off so easily, nor the push and pull that he seemed to thrive on.
Zoro had taken a chance on something outside of what fate wanted for him, and it was great.
Hiyori laughed loud and joyfully as Luffy pulled the four of them into another rambunctious dance.
She didn’t have to be tied down anymore, not by fate, not by obligations, not by anything. Her country was free, her soulmate was happy, her brother was home.
For the first time in a while, she was free.
And how wonderful it was to be free.