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The battle had taken a bad turn. Luffy and the others were above, fighting with all their might. They were struck by surprise, and there was a pirate whose power was literally to make the ground collapse.
Robin did not remember anything clearly. At one moment, she was growing arms to twist his minions' heads, and the next she knew was a massive rocking underneath her body and Zoro sprinted toward her, screaming his lungs out. He spread his arms to her, but it was too late. She could see their fingers grazing through each other, then she fell into a cave underground.
She must have gotten hit by a rock because everything around her turned into a mixture of spiraling reds and blacks, and when her senses finally returned, she found herself lying on the cold floor of a cave, which did not seem to have seen the sunlight for centuries.
The humidity was what struck her first, then the chills. Then the view of the ceiling, where a bunch of stalagmites grew, pointed at her like a set of oversized daggers, promising a horrifying and messed up death. A thought flashed through her mind, and Robin could not help wondering what might happen if the stalagmites fell. Would she die from the stabs first, or be crushed into pieces while still alive?
She heard swords clanking nearby, and it took her only a few seconds to deduce that it was her swordsman comrade, Zoro. He must have been dragged with her down there, along with some of their enemies. She sat up and examined the situation. By the look of it, Robin realized that Zoro’s rivals were merely some minions of the land-collapsing pirate.
She doubted that any of them could be a match for Zoro, but she still decided to help. The quicker they got rid of these annoying minions, the sooner they could find the way back up. So Robin stood up and grew her arms forward. The minions saw her move, and much to Robin’s surprise, they did not seem to be startled. They remained calm, and changed their position, ready for a strike back.
As if they were well-prepared before this ambush, Robin thought. She retreated her arms, and grew a thousand hands in midair, forming a block of hands that was meant to press them down and keep them in place. That was her plan, but it was interrupted. The minions seemed to know her moves quite well, and gathered in a group, pointing their swords up high, preparing for a strike once her hands fell.
“Careful, Robin,” she heard Zoro scream, and chills started running down her spine as she realized the terror in his voice. She knew he was not someone who got scared easily, so whatever he was trying to warn her about seemed to be a serious threat.
She kept her block of hands up in the air, and glanced at him, waiting for an answer. She saw his mouth ajar, and his lips were about to move, like an attempt to say something. But the words never came out. Zoro’s only good eye suddenly froze, and he collapsed on the floor, holding a hand over his chest.
“What in the–” Robin asked, but she was startled. Wounds, of many types, started showing on Zoro’s body.
“They were– one of them has Devil Fruit. I think it’s like…whatever I do to them will be transferred to me after I come into contact with the sword. Don’t let the swords…touch you.”
His voice lowered, and then he fell completely, lying on his chest. His good eye squeezed shut and his face twisted, he looked like he was in excruciating pain. “Robin…”
That was when the minions struck, all of the sudden. Robin retreated her hands immediately, and jumped to the side, trying to avoid their swords. The Devil Fruit bearer must be one of them, but she had no way to know which. She had to avoid them altogether, or else she would end up like Zoro.
“Hang on, Zoro,” she shouted at him, hoping her voice could reach his ears. He did not seem to show any reaction, and she could see blood flowing from him. She knew he had slashed a few of them, and she knew that Zoro’s strikes were never anything tender, slight, or easy to deal with. Whatever he was suffering now needed to end soon.
Normally the effects of such Devil Fruit stopped with the death of the bearer, so if she managed to kill the right one before all of the wounds he caused to them hit back at him, she could save Zoro. She did not know which one to kill, but she did not need to know that. The minions seemed to stick quite close together, probably to avoid letting the Devil Fruit among them get detected. She just needed to kill them all.
As she sprinted and jumped from their strikes, Robin grew some pairs of eyes around the cave, to make sure that there was no one hiding in the corners and attacking her by surprise. She was glad that those minions were not capable of such a scheme. They seemed to just charge and fight directly, counting too much on the Devil Fruit bearer and their collective fighting ability. Stupid idea.
Robin quickly dodged another attack, just in time to swipe right close to Zoro. She grew a trail of arms in the opposite direction, close enough to lure the minions' attention, but far enough to avoid their sword. At the moment when their attention was divided, she reached down and carried Zoro with her, further away from their reach.
As soon as they had enhanced the distance, Robin retreated her hands and looked up. She saw the stalagmites hanging up above her head again, and her face brightened with an idea.
The minions quickly turned to them and charged forward. They did not seem to realize what Robin had realized. Good. She needed to kill them all in one go without touching, and it would be better to let nature do it, with her lending it a hand. Well, more than a hand in this case, but hands were something that Robin could always afford as many as she wanted.
With a perfect calculation, as the minions approached closer, Robin grew all of the hands she could, up above, around the biggest stalagmite she could use. They twisted and pressed at once, breaking the part where the stalagmite was connected to the cave’s ceiling. She could hear the loud cracking and grew another trail of arms to move Zoro away from the range of the attack. Then another crack.
The minions looked up. It was too late for them. And it was too bad that they could not see the smirk on Robin’s face. Another powerful push from her hands, fueled by her hatred. These bastards hurt Zoro, and she would never let them go away in one piece.
The stalagmite left the ceiling and fell. Robin jumped backward, just in time to avoid getting hurt by the scattered pieces from the fall. She saw blood and no longer heard any other voice. Her instinct told her that they were all destroyed, but she knew that proof had more weight than some mere hunch. She grew some more eyes, scanning thoroughly around, to make sure that the threats were all gone.
She found none. Then, and only then, Robin allowed herself to let down the guard. She turned around, finding herself looking at a badly wounded Zoro lying on the floor like a rag doll. The Mugiwara had been through a lot of hardships and it was not the first time she ever saw Zoro in a terrible state, but it never stopped clenching her heart knowing he was suffering. Without a moment of hesitation, she rushed to his side.
It had been almost half an hour since Robin managed to take Zoro in her arms – her original arms, not the extra ones she grew by the power of her Devil Fruit – and contacted the others above. It turned out the minions brought with them a Denden Mushi, which magically survived her attack, and Robin used it to call her comrades, hoping someone could hear her.
It was Nami that picked up and assured her that they would send Chopper down there as soon as possible. The battle was still going on, so it could be dangerous to bring Zoro up in his state. Their only option now was Robin trying to keep Zoro awake while waiting for Chopper, and once Zoro was tended to properly, they would figure a way out for both of them.
Robin knew that the others were having it rough as well. She said some assurances to Nami, told her not to worry, hung up the Denden Mushi, and turned to Zoro. The responsibility on her shoulders now seemed tremendous, but she was Nico Robin after all. She was used to taking loads of bullshit, although, in this specific case, the load was not anything she wished to ever have to bear.
She knelt beside him, and gently took him on her lap, keeping his head up so he would not choke on his blood. The wound had stopped showing, now that the Devil Fruit bearer was dead, but the current ones were severe enough. Zoro squirmed in her arms, reaching higher, and suddenly opened his good eye.
That gave Robin a surge of relief. He was still conscious, and as long as his mind was there, she knew he would fight for every last breath of his life. Zoro was not someone that could be easily defeated by some wounds. He was a feisty warrior, he had been through a lot more than this, he was not…
Robin’s train of thought stopped, as the word fragile crept at the back of her head. Zoro was not fragile, that was for sure. She never thought of him as fragile – it was hard for anyone to think of him as such. His calm demeanor, his formidable posture, his chilling tone, his remarkable skills with the swords, his stark determination, everything about him screamed a lot of things, but fragility was never one.
And yet there he was, lying in Robin’s arms, resting his head on her chest, gasping heavily as blood oozed from the cuts on his torso. He looked exhausted, pale, with blood scattering all over his body, and, for the first time, fragile. As if one more mistake could break him apart, sending him straight to where her mother Olvia was.
It would be the last thing Robin ever wanted – seeing someone she loved die again.
Robin had tried her best to stop the bleeding – tearing off his clothes and using them as some makeshift bandages, staying close to detect any abnormality or any sign of the wounds getting worse, using her power to grow arms and hands to quicken the process and hold him in the correct position to avoid damaging his wounds further. But she knew they were not enough. Zoro needed proper care and medicine.
“Can I sleep?” Asked him, all of the sudden, breaking the silence between them. His head tilted a bit to the side, leaning onto her touch. His crushed eye was bleeding badly, and Robin used one of her arms to wipe away the blood. His voice was hoarse and weak, his words were scattered along with the ragged breaths. “My eye feels heavy, Robin.”
“You can’t now, I’m afraid,” she grew another hand to stroke his hair. She wished she could do something to ease his pain, or at least let him rest, but she knew that he could not afford to let down his guard now. He had to fight to stay awake and alive. Sleep at this very moment could be a one-way trip to wherever the dead went, and a guaranteed place there for eternity. She could not let it happen. Nobody should die on her watch. Not anymore.
As beads of sweat were running down his forehead, mixing with his blood, Robin knew Zoro could not bear it for much longer. He needed to be treated now. She knew the battle up there was bad, but she was hoping they had some moment to spare. If it were not for Zoro needing someone by his side at this moment, Robin would have climbed up there to find Chopper.
“You have to stay awake, Zoro,” she whispered to him, realizing her voice had gone softer than usual. They were nice to each other daily, but there was always a barrier, a cold tone lurking in their conversations, keeping it at friendly politeness. Now it was put away, melting in her tenderness. Zoro was suffering enough, she just wanted to let him feel something gentle.
She caressed the side of his face, grazing her fingers through his scars, the old and the new and which would soon become ones, and gently wrapped him in her arms, again, letting his weight fall on her solely. “You can sleep later, I promise. But now, stay with me.”
“If you say so,” he mumbled, darting his only eye to her. Robin felt her heart sink when their gazes met. He trusted her, and now she had to make sure that his trust would not be in vain. She was the smartest woman – no, the smartest person – in this whole fucked up world, was she not? She could figure out a way to keep him alive and bring him to safety.
“Stay with me, Zoro,” she echoed and tried to cast a smile at him. That was their thing, smiling, casual conversations, stealing glances, and standing in contentment by each other’s side. Robin had forgotten how they had grown such habits, but it had always been comfortable being with him in silence, during the sometimes-way-too-long trips on the sea, having nothing but her books for entertainment.
Most of their things were off the table, for now, considering his condition and their unfortunate situation. Except for the smile. So Robin smiled at him, like a failed attempt to make everything look normal, to pretend that it was just another unimportant, random occasion where they stayed on the ship by each other’s side, in peace and safety.
“You still owe me too much. Stay alive, so you can pay me back.” She murmured and brushed off a strand of hair on his forehead.
“Do I? Or do you owe me?”
“I just saved your life, and I’m keeping you alive?”
“And I saved yours many times, remember?” He replied with a bloody smile. His smashed lips curled up a bit high, showing the blood on his teeth, and were he not covered with wounds and dirt and blood, Robin could think it was another of his weird attempts to flirt.
“How many times are there?” He pressed.
“How many times?”
“That I blocked the attacks for you.”
“Many. But I didn’t need it, mind you. You didn’t have to. You never had to.”
“No, I did. I had to. From the day we met, I knew that I’ll have to do it, for the rest of my life.”
“Idiot.”
“For sure, I’m never the smart type,” another attempt for a laugh, but it turned out a husky chuckle instead. “Let’s just say…I care about you too much,” his face looked twisted, terrifying, and fragile at the same time as the blood kept flowing, “I can’t possibly let anything bad happen to you. I can’t afford to see you get hurt.”
“You care about me?”
“How can I not? How can anyone not?” Zoro’s glance lingered on her, and he arched one of his arms up to touch her hand, the original one that was cupping slightly at the side of his face. “You are striking.”
She could feel his gaze drifting to the distance, and a part of her told her that he was speaking the first words coming from his head. His senses were leaving him, but if she could maintain this conversation – which had taken a very intriguing turn and Robin had not decided yet if it was something she liked, but her heart had jumped up to her throat – then just let him talk. It could keep him awake.
“You owe me, I owe you. Either way, you have reasons to remain.”
“Indeed. And all of them are about you. You are my reason to remain.”
His words were interrupted by his cough. Robin tried to keep him in place, her hands patting slowly on his chest, trying to calm down the cough while at the same time avoiding hurting his wounds. Zoro seemed paler after it ended, and he looked at her with a worried eye.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” He asked. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he kept up a smile. He tried to be quirky and chill, even in such a condition, it seemed. Robin felt something clench her heart, but she buried the emotion away, maintained the smile on her lips, and caressed his face gently.
“I have seen worse,” she lied, “it’s ok, Chopper knows what to do.”
“I’m not talking about the wounds. I’m talking about my confession. It’s bad timing to tell you that you are my reason to stay alive, considering how I am, isn’t it?”
Robin felt her heart jumping up. Zoro just said it bluntly, and repeated it bluntly, as if it was the most normal thing the man could fish out from the front of his head. His gaze stayed on her, and in a split second, Robin felt like his only good eye was melted into her own. A surge of strong feelings swirled inside of her, mixing up with the worries and fears. It calmed her heart down a bit, then fueled the worries even more.
Where the hell is Chopper?
“Do you really think it’s the right time to flirt?” She said, trying to keep her tone bland.
“What would be a better time, other than when we are on the verge of de–”
“Don’t say that word,” Robin scowled and cut him off, “I’m serious.”
“You’re a scientist, I thought you don’t believe in omens?”
“I’m an archaeologist.”
“Still a kind of scientist, though?”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t believe in omens. But…please don’t.”
“Sure. If you said so. But it’s funny, though, to see you are scared of it. We have been there for…how many times? It should have been a familiar thing to you right now.”
“It is,” she nodded, “I’m familiar. And it happened too much and too early to me that I thought perhaps I have grown numb to it. But I was wrong. It’s always terrible to face. Especially if it’s your beloved people.”
“So, I am your beloved person?”
“You can be. You may be,” she paused, then smiled, “you are. And if you stay alive after all this, yes, you surely are.”
“It’s nice to know,” Zoro closed his eye, and heaved out a sigh of relief, “if anything happens to me, at least the last thing I heard is that I’m your beloved person.”
“Don’t say such an unfortunate thing! I told you so!”
“Can’t help.”
“Shut up.”
“Make me.”
Robin was startled. Zoro just said something… suggestive?
“Your lips are dirty. I won't.” She decided to not let him have all the fun on his own and threw something playful from her side instead. It kept him awake, anyway. “Also, open your eyes.”
“So you are thinking about a kiss,” he followed what she said and looked at her, attempting another smile. He failed pathetically. It looked like a demonic smirk, and he looked pale and horrible.
“Are you that indecent to everyone, or is it just me?”
“I don’t know. Never think of myself as a decent person. But it doesn’t matter. Do you like indecent?”
Robin did not have the chance to answer that. The cave opened when she was still pondering a witty response to Zoro, and Chopper showed up. Zoro was quickly taken care of, then they brought him up, and Robin politely refused Sanji’s offer to help her climb out of the cave. She needed some time to herself, to think about whatever just happened.
And, perhaps, an unexpected answer.
- fin -