User blog comment:HanataSanchou/Chapter 919: Back To The Future/@comment-28995593-20181006223604/@comment-24850639-20181009210523

I was referring to them being together as adults, not now lol. Like when the series is ending in god knows how many years from now, and Oda finally lets some people get together, I wouldn't be opposed to Momo and Tama being a couple. They haven't even met yet I don't think, just something that makes eventual sense to me given their backgrounds.

As far as Kuina goes, I'm perfectly fine with her being dead too, in fact I prefer it. But even as someone who prefers it, I gotta admit that someone as strong as Kuina dying from falling down some stairs seems a rather odd choice for Oda. You'd have to fall down those stairs in a specific way that you ended up breaking your neck or something, there's no reason a fall down stairs should otherwise be fatal. I'd much rather she had died by contracting some kind of sickness that medicine couldn't help, or honestly ANYTHING other than her falling down the stairs. Kuina is way stronger than Aisa, Chimney, Momonosuke, or pretty much any kid we've seen so far, and I wouldn't buy any of those kids dying from falling down the stairs either.

With that said, I see Kuina to Zoro the same way Ace was to Luffy. As much as Zoro and Luffy cared for Kuina and Ace respectively, they still represented obstacles that they would eventually need to overcome. Eventually Luffy's path to becoming the Pirate King was gonna intersect with Whitebeard, putting him on a collision course with Ace. Ace had to go. Sabo isn't a pirate, and in fact we know Luffy's goal will eventually align with the Revolutionaries, so he isn't an obstacle to Luffy the way Ace would have been. This is the same reason I, and plenty of other people feel that Shanks will eventually die, and Mihawk will die before these climactic clashes could happen. He represents a wayyyy bigger obstacle to Luffy's goal despite loving him so much, so either you have another character kill Shanks before this happens (likely Blackbeard) or you actually have him and Luffy fight. I honestly wouldn't be opposed to Shanks vs. Luffy by the way, I just don't think Oda would actually make them fight with real stakes. Kuina represented an obstacle that Zoro would have to eventually overcome. Zoro didn't love her quite the same way that Luffy loved Ace & Shanks, but nonetheless she was still a very close friend who meant literally everything to him. His motivation to get stronger and improve his swordplay were purely due to wanting to best her. It hasn't been revealed yet, but I'm even inclined to believe that headband he puts on when he gets serious is some kind of homage to her. I doubt Oda would have him live so much of his life trying to honor her, just to ultimately end up antagonizing her.