Disclaimer: One Piece is the property of Oda Eiichiro.

Chapter One:

In the beginning, two years seemed like a long time. For Zoro, it was the length of time he would have to endure before he could meet up with his nakama again to pursue their dreams. For Perona, it was the dreadful days she would have to live out on a lonely island with no one except for two extremely un-cute swordsmen who, despite their infamous reputations, were basically strangers. With their personality differences, coupled with their antagonistic history, it was questionable whether coexistence throughout that period was even possible.

In the beginning, two years seemed like an awfully long time…

"Just how much of an idiot are you?"

He scowled irritatingly. "Huh?" He had no idea what she was trying to say, but he most certainly did not appreciate her condescending tone.

Sitting on the bed beside the Straw Hat swordsman, once again tending to his injuries from training, Perona's brow ticked with barely concealed frustration. "You got up again after Hawk-Eyes gave you this cut," she admonished, pointing to a particularly deep wound on his chest. "Then again after this one," she continued, pointing to another. "And if he hadn't called it quits, you would have tried to get up even after getting this one!" she yelled into his ear as she purposely jabbed her finger against the deepest sword wound he had received that day.

Hissing at the pain, Zoro grabbed her wrist on reflex and pulled her hand away. "That hurts, damn it!"

She ignored his complaint. "Are you trying to get stronger, or are you just trying to get yourself killed?" At this rate, this brainless moron might just die before two years was even up.

"That's just the way I fight," he stated. "It's got nothing to do with you."

She screeched. "You ungrateful jerk! Is that the way to treat someone who takes precious time out of her day to put you back together?!"

He gave her a dry look. "Got a problem with it?" Her nagging was wearing him out.

"Argh! You are so not cute!"

Zoro closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as Perona went off on a tangent about how rude he was and how underappreciated she was as she walked circles around his room. When she was still going at it even after a good ten minutes, he finally spoke up. "If it bothers you that much, you can leave. I'll take care of this on my own."

"Like hell you can!" she said heatedly as she stomped her way back to his side, her arms moving on autopilot, resuming her task as she continued to gripe. "You wrap your bandages so loose it's basically useless!"

"I like them loose. When you do it, I can't move," he retorted with a calm and straight face.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO MOVE, YOU DUMBASS!" How, oh how, did she get stuck with this blockhead?

"Then could you stop tying these stupid knots everywhere?" She would keep tying these ridiculous miniature bows along his bandages as though she were trying to decorate him somehow. If she was going to insist on dressing his wounds, she could at least do it properly.

"Shut up! I'm trying to improve your cuteness factor!"

"I need no such thing! Stop messing around!"

"Argh! Not cute!"

Clutching to her umbrella, Perona floated over the part of the forest where she had spotted her target earlier with her Ghost Network, her eyes scanning the area below for the wandering fool.

"There he is!" Upon finding him, she immediately swooped down to meet him. "Oi! Zoro!"

The swordsman looked up at the sound of his name. "What're you doing here?" he asked the pink-haired girl. "Did you get lost?"

"You're the one who's lost, you idiot swordsman!" she yelled indignantly, only to have him stare blandly back at her.

She took a deep breath to compose herself, reminding herself that it would be useless to get mad because, more likely than not, she'd be doing this again tomorrow…if not later today. Unfortunately, fetching Zoro had become a normal part of her daily life on this island. She'd usually have to do it whenever he failed to show up at meal times or, as was with this case, when he wouldn't show up for training and Mihawk would curtly tell her to go find him. She just couldn't understand how he had managed to survive this long with that messed up sense of direction. It was so bad she bet he could get lost out here just trying to take a trip to the bathroom.

"Let's just go back," Perona said tiredly. "Hawk-Eyes is waiting for you. Follow me." She began floating in the direction of the castle. Just to be sure he understood, she looked over her shoulder at him. And, boy, was she glad she did. "Hey! What part of 'follow me' do you not understand?"

Zoro, who was veering off to a path on his right, turned and gave her an irritated look. "I am following you."

She wanted to cry. "It's this way, moron! This way!"

He heaved a sigh. "I don't know why you're always getting so worked up," he commented with what sounded very suspiciously like pity in his voice.

She really wanted to cry. Not only was he incapable of doing something as simple as following her, he apparently had no idea that he was the one with a major debilitating issue…one that she was beginning to think might actually be some kind of medical condition. She heaved a morose sigh of her own. "I swear…guiding your way is harder than trying to herd sheep."

"Did you say something?" Zoro asked as he trailed behind her, unaware of her deteriorating mood.

"No…nothing," she said with resignation. "So, what were you doing out here anyway?" she inquired in hopes of changing the subject.

"Just thought I'd go use the bathroom before training."

Perona turned around and gawked at him with her round, wide, and completely shocked eyes. Then she simply broke into uncontrollable laughter. With one hand holding her belly, she ignored the swordsman's questions about what it was that she had found so funny as the sound of her peculiar laugh echoed throughout the forest.

When she finally calmed down, she wiped a tear from her eye. She hadn't been this amused in a long time.

"…then the princess looked upon the three suitors who had come before her. They were all princes from neighboring kingdoms, equally handsome and equally gifted in the way of the sword. She was unable to decide which to choose…"

Lying on his bed with his eyes remaining stubbornly shut, Zoro desperately tried to remain in a state of unconsciousness.

"…Her father, the king, then suggested that they each present a symbol of their love to her, and she could make her decision based on that. Thinking it was a splendid idea, the princess accepted…"

He furrowed his brows, feeling like he was fighting a losing war against that voice that kept pulling him back towards wakefulness.

"…The first prince brought out a diamond the size of a person's fist and gifted it to the lovely princess. The second prince bestowed upon her a flask filled with water from the Fountain of Eternal Beauty. The third prince took a knife to his chest and carved out his own heart, holding it out to her in his hand…"

He grumbled as he attempted to reign in his annoyance.

"…Moved by the third prince's heartfelt gesture, the princess decided to marry him. The two were immediately wed. However, without a heart, the prince dropped dead right after the ceremony, leaving the princess a widow and the inheritor of his kingdom. The end. Horo-horo-horo-horo!"

He gave up. "WHAT THE HELL KINDA STORY ARE YOU READING?!"

Sitting in an armchair by Zoro's bed with an old book she had found in the castle's library, Perona blinked. "What're you doing awake? You're supposed to be sleeping."

"How can anyone sleep with you reading that crappy horror romance nonsense?!" he seethed. It pissed him off that he was so injured and bandaged up that he couldn't sit up to tell her off properly.

"It's humor," she corrected. "A girl's gotta find a way to pass the time, you know."

"Then go pass it somewhere else!" he grounded out irritatingly.

"I can't watch over you if I'm somewhere else," she pointed out flatly.

"I didn't ask you to watch over me, damn it!"

"Is this your way of thanking someone who's kindhearted enough to make sure that you don't stupidly die in your sleep?" she inquired with a frown.

He glared. "Got a problem with it?"

"You are so not cute!" She huffed an exasperated breath then closed the book and set it aside dejectedly. "Fine. I won't read." She pulled her feet up onto the chair and wrapped her arms around her legs, proceeding to sit quietly.

When the silence dragged on, Zoro clicked his tongue, feeling uncomfortable for a completely different reason. Now she was just creeping him out with the way she was staring at him without making a single move. "You're not going to leave, are you?" he deadpanned.

"No," she said with quiet defiance.

It wasn't like he really needed to be watched over. Vaguely, he recalled her complaints in the early days about not wanting to be alone. "Where's Hawk-Eyes?"

"Don't know. He left this morning and just said he'll be back by the time your wounds are healed," she informed, the despondence still evident in her voice.

They were the only two people on the island right now. That must be why she was sticking to him like glue. What a bother. Zoro heaved an internal sigh. "You can do or not do whatever the hell you want," he finally said. "Just let me sleep."

Perona brightened as she reached for the book again, feeling victorious that she had won this round. "Here, I'll let you choose the next story," she offered graciously. "The Screaming Beauty…The Humandrill's Paw…or The Princess Who Lived in a Coffin?"

He frowned. "Can't you read in silence?" They all sounded stupid.

"Honestly…you really don't know anything, do you?" she said with a shake of her head. "You have to read it out loud in order to fully appreciate the depth of the tales."

"Whatever," he mumbled, deciding it was useless to argue.

When Perona resumed her reading, Zoro made a mental note to get himself a pair of earplugs as he fought to tune her out.

Sitting alone at the long table in a grand dining room befitting an old castle, Mihawk held a glass of wine in one hand and a book in the other, patiently waiting for dinner to be served. When Zoro entered, he spared the younger swordsman a glance. "You didn't cook tonight." It was really more of a statement than a question.

Zoro, who had one arm in a cast and sling, took a seat at the table before giving his short reply. "Nope."

Cooking had been an adventure all on its own. In the beginning, when Zoro was still recovering from the battle wounds he received on Sabaody Archipelago, Perona was the one who had prepared and brought food to him. However, since the Ghost Princess used to live a relatively pampered life, she had no culinary skills and the food she made was terrible. Not only was all meat indiscernible, eating it was akin to eating cardboard. The vegetables were simply boiled and had no taste.

As soon as Zoro was able, he had taken over. His version of cooking was to hunt something from the forest and cook it over a campfire. It was quick. It was easy. But even though it tasted much better, Perona would complain about how unrefined those meals were.

Things changed again once Mihawk had returned to the island. He had the two youngsters follow him to the library where he had pulled out a number of cookbooks, dropped them into their arms, and told them to figure it out. Neither Zoro nor Perona had complained much about it. They were the freeloaders, after all, and, in Zoro's case, the disciple. So, they had therefore taken on the cooking along with various other chores.

Zoro, who actually knew a thing or two about cooking but was just too lazy about it, had taken the lead while Perona would assist. It had taken some trial and error, but they started to get the hang of it over time. More often than not, she would try to arrange the food that he had cooked into some cute fashion on the plate, and they would have an argument over it. Since Zoro was the one who generally did most of the work, he would usually get his way on this battlefield. However, on days like today when his injuries from his training would be so severe that he can't cook, everything would be left in Perona's hands.

"I see," Mihawk said apathetically. "So, we'll be having that again."

"Yup," Zoro confirmed, equally unenthused.

Before long, Perona entered, pushing a dinner cart. She then proudly presented the food to the swordsmen as she set their plates down before them.

Zoro and Mihawk stared down at their plates. There was a mystery meat patty made into the shape of a bear's head with cut vegetable pieces forming the eyes, nose, and mouth. Beside it was the mashed potatoes shaped into the form of one of her ghosts, once again with vegetable facial features, holding an umbrella made out of tomato slices over the bear's head. Both men heaved a sigh as they deadpanned in unison. "…Kiddy meal."

"It's not a kiddy meal!" the pink-haired girl defended between clenched teeth. How many times did she have to repeat this? "It's culinary art! It's presentation! When the food looks good, it'll increase your appetite. Isn't that right?"

Both men just kept looking at their food with sullen expressions, giving a noncommittal grunt as their only reply.

As usual, Perona sat atop an oversized chunk of fallen stone wall among the ruins as she watched the two swordsmen's training session. It was actually difficult for her to remain seated, because the idiot was prone to doing idiotic things. It seemed he had little regard for self-preservation and would always take what she perceived to be unnecessary risks. And because he was that kind of fool, it was virtually impossible for her to remain quiet during these matches.

"Why didn't you dodge, you imbecile!" she hollered after watching Zoro attempt to parry a blow from Mihawk that, at this point in time, he had no chance of blocking and ended up taking a major hit to his right shoulder.

The green-haired swordsman grumbled as he rushed towards his opponent, taking the offensive. "Shut up! I'll dodge when I want to!"

"You should dodge when you need to, dimwit!"

Zoro groaned irritably as he continued to fight. Why must she always buzz around like a fly during these training sessions? "Tell her to stop interfering!" he said to the Shichibukai with a death glare.

"There are plenty of distractions on a real battlefield," Mihawk replied apathetically as he easily avoided another one of Zoro's attacks. "Consider it a part of your training." There was truth in his words, of course. However, even though he'd never admit it, a part of him found the youngsters' bickering somewhat amusing.

Since it would just be a waste of his breath, Zoro refrained from retorting. Instead, he refocused on the movement of their blades. Well…at least he tried to. It was hard when he could see Perona in his peripheral vision looking like she was about to say something with every other move he made. She was too pink and noticeable. He wished she could blend into her surroundings a bit more.

The Ghost Princess watched on in tense silence until she couldn't hold her tongue anymore. "That was an easy one!" she called out with frustration. Really. How could he let Mihawk get him with that simple attack? "Pay attention!"

"Then stop distracting me!" He really wanted to wring her neck right about now.

"I haven't even said anything till just now, you jerk! Don't blame your screw-ups on me!" Just then, it looked like Mihawk was about to slice Zoro's head off, and Perona's mood suddenly swung from anger to worry. "Hey, watch out!"

Zoro blocked with the sword in his left hand and retaliated with the blade in his right. "Just leave already!" Her time would be much better spent practicing how to stop turning meat into cardboard.

Perona gasped with indignation. "Is that how you treat someone who's concerned about your wellbeing?! Argh!"

"Got a problem with it?!"

"NOT CUTE!"

In this way, Zoro continued to fight two battles simultaneously, one with blades and the other with words, until he collapsed and could no longer get back up on his feet.

Perona hopped down from her perch and rushed to the fallen man. "Oi! Are you alive?" He was unconscious, but at least he was breathing. After breathing a sigh of relief, she immediately rounded on Mihawk. "Are you trying to kill him?! Can't you go just a bit easier on him until he's up to your level?"

"This is what he wants," Mihawk replied composedly, completely unaffected by her agitation. "Going easier on him will accomplish nothing."

"But still! It's—"

"If you don't fix him now, he will bleed out," he informed, matter-of-fact.

Perona gritted her teeth, wanting to screech, throw things, and stomp her feet. However, being the only sensible person on the island, she did what she must. Throwing one of Zoro's arms over her shoulder, she proceeded to drag him back to the castle, all the while muttering curses about moronically un-cute and tyrannically un-cute swordsmen.

"Should I get this one…or this one?" she asked, dangling a small chain with a decorative silver bat from one hand and a chain with a silver bear from the other hand.

"I don't care. Just hurry it up, will you? This stuff's heavy," he grumbled as he adjusted the large sack he was carrying on his shoulder.

Zoro and Perona were currently on a supplies run to one of Kuraigana's neighboring islands. It was a trip they would make regularly as required to stock up on various things.

As usual, Perona had insisted that they stop at this trinkets shop. Each time they came to this island, she would purchase a small and, more importantly, cute decorative charm from this place. However, more often than not, she would become indecisive after narrowing her choices down to two or three, and she would ask him to help her choose.

"I wouldn't be asking you if I could decide," the pink-haired girl said, twisting her lips as she studied the objects dangling from her hands.

He rolled his eyes. "Look. If you're going to be here for a while, then I'll go pick up the rest of the things on my own." It would save time.

"NO!" Alarmed, she quickly grabbed onto the fabric of his sleeve, fearful to lose sight of him. She did not want to spend half a day tracking him down again like that other time. "Just help me out, and we'll be done here," she said, trying to persuade him from wandering off.

"Why are you asking me?" he inquired, equally irked and bewildered. If she were asking him to help her choose a sword, then, yes, it would make sense. But he didn't know the first thing about decorative, and therefore basically useless, charms. Nor did he want to.

She blinked. It was her turn to be puzzled, wondering why he didn't know. "I just thought you might have a sense for these things."

"What?" he asked with irritation. Was she implying that he had a sense for girly things?

She shrugged. "Your earrings. I think they're—"

"If you say they're cute, I'll gut you open right here, right now," he told her in a low, threatening voice.

She stared at him as she bit the inside of her lips to suppress her smile. "I was going to say stylish, but if you prefer cu—"

"Fine, whatever," he cut in, not allowing her to finish that particular thought. "This one." He pointed to the bat. If it would help shorten the process, then he'd just pick one.

"Aww…but the bear's really cute…" she said with disappointment.

"If you're not going to take my opinion, then don't ask me, damn it!" he exploded. Not to mention, she already got at least four other bear things from this place.

"Fine, I'll get this one," she conceded as she placed the bear down with a small pout and headed to the cashier's counter. Then she smiled. "That means I'll come back for the bear next time. Horo-horo-horo-horo!"

Zoro cursed under his breath. What the hell was the point of them wasting all that time here if she had planned to get both anyway?

Perona poked her head through the stone wall to check on the recuperating Zoro. The sight of him already standing and doing stretches put a frown of disapproval on her features. She floated into the room. "What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting!"

He threw her a dark glare. "Where are my swords?"

"I hid them," she replied in a breezy tone, smiling without any trace of guilt. Mihawk had made it quite clear that, with the injuries he had sustained from yesterday's session, Zoro would be unfit for training for a while, even going as far as to say that he won't cross blades with the younger swordsman for at least three days. However, knowing Zoro, he probably wouldn't take the hint and insist on doing some personal training in the interim…or even go pick fights with the Humandrills. So, she had taken the liberty of hiding his weapons from him.

"Give them back," he demanded evenly, not breaking from his stretching routine.

"You don't need them right now," she retorted.

"If you don't give them back, you'll regret it."

She folded her arms defiantly. "No."

He finally turned to her then, a devious grin spreading across his features.

She shrank back reflexively. "Wh…what're you scheming, idiot swordsman?"

Suddenly springing into action, he ran past her and was out the door in the blink of an eye. How he was able to move that quickly and fluidly with all those injuries, she would never know.

"Oi!" With a sinking feeling in her gut, she followed him out into the hallway and into her room which was directly across the hall from his. To her astonishment, she arrived just in time to see that idiot standing by the window with one foot already stepping on the windowsill and her precious body carelessly tossed over one shoulder. That ingrate even had the audacity to smirk at her…smirk at her…before jumping out of the window!

Perona's jaws dropped, and she was momentarily frozen dumbstruck. That ruffian just kidnapped her body! She came back to her senses and floated over to the window. It was a long drop to the forest below, and she couldn't locate him through all the trees. Without delay, she floated out and gave chase, screaming at the top of her lungs. "ZORO, YOU BASTARD! GET YOUR SORRY ASS BACK HERE!"

She had to admit that he had astounding physical stamina and capability. He could run faster than her astral projection could fly, even when injured. She couldn't catch up. By the time she finally located him, he was standing in the middle of a clearing with his arms crossed as though waiting for her, a self-satisfied smug look on his face. Her body was nowhere in sight.

"What have you done with my body!" she screeched anxiously.

"I hid it," the green-haired man replied easily.

He did not just say that. "You WHAT?"

"Return my swords, and I'll give you your body back," he bargained. It was really just that simple.

"Show me my body first!"

Zoro raised a brow. "So, we have a deal?"

"Yes! Whatever!" She was far too concerned for her own wellbeing to argue. "Can you even find your way back to wherever you've left me?!"

He heaved a small sigh at her lack of faith. "Just follow me."

(Three hours later…)

"It should be just this way," Zoro said, leading the way.

Floating behind the directionally challenged swordsman, Perona was literally in tears. "Waaaaaaaaah! We've looked everywhere! Even my Ghost Network can't find it!"

"Your Ghost Network won't spot it," he said, matter-of-fact. "It's underground."

She fell silent. "…it's what?"

"I buried it underground," he reiterated.

At that very moment, Perona realized her predicament was exponentially worse than she had originally thought. "You…YOU BURIED ME UNDERGROUND?! WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" She tried to glare a hole through the back of his head.

He clicked his tongue in agitation. "It's what you do when you hide stuff. Besides, something might come and eat you if I'd just left you lying around somewhere."

"But if you bury me in dirt, I'm going to SUFFOCATE, you ignoramus!" She was going to die, wasn't she? Buried alive in some random part of the forest without even a tombstone to let anyone know where the heck she was.

"Don't worry about it," he said, sounding far too relaxed for her liking. "I got it covered. I rolled up a big leaf and stuck it in your mouth for you to breathe through before throwing the dirt over your face."

She wasn't sure which was worse…the fact that she was now sucking on a dirty leaf-straw or that he had been assaulting her face with dirt. Then she paled as she realized something else. "There're so many bugs and worms in the ground! They're going to be crawling all over me! Waaaaaaah!" She had every right to throw a fit at this point. "We have to find me quick! You must have left some sort of marker or something, right?"

"Of course. What do you take me for?"

"What is it? Tell me so I know what to look for!"

"The rolled-up leaf sticking out of the ground."

"…" Perona clenched her fists and her teeth, trembling from barely contained anger. A small rolled-up green leaf in the ground of a vast forest filled with plenty of other green leaves and grass? Wasn't that like trying to find a needle in a hay stack? And he actually thought that that would work? "I…I can't believe you…" She was so livid, her voice was shaking. There really was only so much ridiculous crap she could take in one go. "NEGATIVE HOLLOW!"

Zoro dropped to his hands and knees. "I'm worth less than the gum on the bottom of someone's shoe…I shouldn't be allowed to live…"

"NEGATIVE HOLLOW!"

"There's no meaning to my life…I want to be a tick…"

"NEGATIVE HOLLOW! NEGATIVE HOLLOW! NEGATIVE HOLLOW!"

In the end, they had searched until after sunrise the next morning before they were finally able to find Perona's body. When they returned to the castle, the Ghost Princess did not return the swords as agreed. Zoro didn't make a fuss about it.

Sitting on the stone floor with his back against the foot of Perona's bed, Zoro held the sake bottle to his lips and tipped his head back, savoring the taste of the potent liquid. Perched upon her bed with a needle and thread in hand and various fabrics and materials spread out all around her, Perona was in the process of making a plush doll to add to her growing collection of stuffed animals sitting in the corner of her room. The two of them were sitting together in companionable silence, taking a respite from the usual bickering.

Somewhere in the back of Zoro's mind, it had occurred to him how odd it was for him to be so casually lounging around in a girl's room. However, Perona would be in his quarters so often that there really was no novelty to being alone with her in a bedroom. Whether it was his or hers really made little difference.

"What do you think?" Perona asked, her head suddenly appearing beside Zoro's. Lying on her stomach, propping her chin up on one elbow, she proudly held her finished work out for him to see with the other hand.

He took one look…and frowned. "What the hell is this?"

She gave him a dry look. "It's you. Can't you tell?"

"Of course, I can tell!" He hated to admit it, but the thing actually looked like him…which was why he was annoyed. "What the hell do you think you're doing, turning me into a doll?!" Where the heck was his dignity?

She shrugged. "I got tired of making stuffed animals."

"Well then make stuffed something else!" he griped. "Don't be making a stuffed Zoro! Burn that thing!"

"No! I made it! It's mine!" She glared poisonously at him, silently warning him that there will definitely be dire consequences if he should attempt to take it by force.

After a brief glaring contest, he narrowed his eyes. "You're going to curse me with that thing, aren't you?"

She quirked a brow in perplexity. "What? No, I don't do curses, idiot swordsman." She was the Ghost Princess, not the Voodoo Princess. Then she brightened. "I made one of Hawk-Eyes, too," she announced as she produced a second doll, holding it out with her other hand. "See!"

Zoro spared it a glance and rolled his eyes with a sigh. They were great swordsmen. Pirates! Men to be feared! And here she was, happily stripping them of their pride without a care. He took another swig from the sake bottle in hopes that it would help wash down his irritation.

Perona flipped over to lie on her back. Holding both arms straight up above her, she looked at the pair of miniature stuffed swordsmen in her hands thoughtfully. "Hey…do you ever think how strange it is?"

"How strange what is?" the green-haired man inquired half-heartedly as he continued to drink, not really paying attention.

"The three of us winding up together," she clarified. It wasn't something that either one of them had planned or wanted. She and Zoro had, by chance, been sent flying to the same place by Bartholomew Kuma, and Mihawk had simply come home one day to find a couple of uninvited guests. They didn't have any obligations to each other. In fact, there should have been animosity. The Straw Hats were the ones who had destroyed her life on Thriller Bark. Mihawk, she had discovered, was the one who had given Zoro that really nasty how-was-it-possible-he-didn't-die-from-it scar across his torso. And Zoro's long standing goal had been to defeat Mihawk and take his place as the world's greatest swordsman. Nevertheless, despite all that, the three of them had stuck together. They had developed something of a rhythm around each other and were actually functioning as a unit, as peculiar as it was.

Zoro stared at the wall ahead. He never really bothered thinking about such things, though he supposed he understood what she was talking about. He never thought that his crew would suffer the kind of defeat that they had and end up getting separated. He never thought that Luffy would have to try to rescue, and ultimately lose, his brother without any of them by his side. He never thought that he would bow down to Mihawk and ask to be trained by him in order to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. And he never thought that he'd be able to spend almost every waking moment with this very pink and exasperating fan of cuteness without going crazy. "It's just fate," he finally said.

Now hugging her new toys, Perona stared up at the ceiling as she tried to process his words. Fate, huh? "And?" She craned her neck to look at him, curious. "Do you like your fate?"

He looked over his shoulder at her, a smirk gracing his lips. "I don't hate it."

She turned her eyes back up to the ceiling, blinking contemplatively as she asked herself the same question. True, she had been dealt a strange hand, but…it really wasn't all that bad. She closed her eyes, a small smile gracing her lips. "What do you know?...There's finally something we agree on."

Their days continued in much the same way. Before they knew it, two years came and went…

A/N: So, that's chapter one. Hope you liked! It was originally meant to be a one-shot, but it got too long, so it'll be chopped into three chapters.

It was about half a year ago when I had mentioned that this little story was 'coming together'. But of course, it's like some cosmic rule that whenever you say something like that, life would get busy and make it impossible for anything to come together. XD But now I can finally get it out of my system.

Ah, I seem to be writing for pairings that are getting farther and farther away from 'mainstream'… There are currently under 30 stories devoted to this fandom. LOL! I wonder if anyone will even read this. Heh. If you do, please review for moral support! Thanks for reading!