Afternoon Naps

Disclaimer: Zoro, Robin and the rest of the Mugiwara crew are all creations of the great Eiichiro Oda. I'm just a fangirl who can't get enough moe from my ship, ZoRobin. While writing this fanfiction, I had most of the Ennies Lobby Arc in mind, so a line or two (if you have that good memory) were taken from some of the scenes there. I'm not much of a re-teller of what was happening during what or when Zoro was thinking in this fic. Might as well leave that to you to figure it out.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it.

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Before, it had always been only training. If not on a watch, a typical day would go by exceeding the number of heavy-weight lifts I set upon myself. Sometimes there were distractions, like those Marines catching sight of the ship or someone needing our help. But these were all training as well. I promised a friend that my name will reach the heavens and for that I needed to be strong. So I must train harder.

Then she came. The woman with those deep dark eyes that seem to cut through the recesses of one's soul.

She spoke with a voice that reminded me of afternoon naps, the calm quiet feeling that allowed you drift further away without worries. She glided her way to the deck without the slightest hint of fear in our wary eyes.

"I want to join your crew," she said. The wind gently caressed the black strands of her hair. "Let me be part of your nakama."

In a blink, she was one of us.

One by one she found her way to their hearts. A bag of jewels for Nami. Playthings for Chopper. The captain's a given. Same goes to that cook. Even Usopp, who swore not to fall for her tactics, fell. And I wondered what she will bribe me with and I was already readying myself as she walked towards me.

She gave me a smile. It wasn't something anyone can refuse. And it was holding something back.

I kept my guard. I had always made sure where she was, what she was doing, in case something fishy happened. And days passed, turning into weeks. We had ventured the land on the sky, escaped a Marine fortress, and played games with some good-for-nothing pirates. Still I kept tabs of her whereabouts like a habit that grew and couldn't let go of. I never really bothered to shrug it off; knowing where she was felt like one of those naps that bring back the life out of you after all those one-hand push-ups. It felt as if it had always been like that.

Then one day, she disappeared. Was it because of that official we encountered on that island? I recalled the unusual fear and panic in her eyes. Even after incident, it was still there behind the smiling mask that she had put on. I could tell but I never thought it was that grave. I should have known.

She was gone. There was an annoying feeling that followed after that knowledge, something that I never thought I'd feel again after a very long time. But this was different, unexplainable and it made me more annoyed.

It wasn't out of habit anymore. I needed to know where she was, what she was doing. Why she left. The most annoying thing was: I couldn't get her off of my mind, not since she gave me that smile.

The next time I saw her, she was cloaked in a pitch black determination to push us away. I had never felt so angry at myself for not being able to bring her back, to convince those troubled eyes that everything will be alright. She left, and I was all the more confused.

But we still ran after her, I followed her to where those bastards kept her. And she was there. Crying. Still pushing us away. Crying. She said absurd things, things that I didn't want to hear. It had made me want to jump across the roaring waters and take her away despite her protests.

I was muted. There were many things that I wanted to tell her but didn't know how to. The captain did; he said it all with ease, as if nothing was more difficult and complex. It seemed like going against the world was a piece of cake. The world was nothing. I would also do that if it were for her. Perhaps we all were insane beings after all.

She heard him. She believed in him, in those words that I also wanted to tell her. Tears rolled down from her eyes and I forgot how to breathe as she cried out her heart.

"So that was what it was all about."

From the beginning I was never planning to leave without her anyway.

When was it again, that time when this punk claiming to be the next pirate king wanted me to be his nakama? He looked like just a kid playing around but there was something in him that made me want to believe in him. I had made a promise to be the greatest swordsman of them all, that my name will be heard in the heavens. And in becoming a pirate I became closer to that goal. In joining his crew I had met her.

I was glad I came with Luffy and ended up in that place before her.

She believed in us and with that as our fuel, we fought and had her back. With a new ship and a new crewmate, she came back with a smile that no longer bore any worries. She smiled and gave it her all. And days passed, turning into weeks. I still have an idea of where she was or what she was doing and it was a habit that I couldn't manage to shrug off. The feeling reminded me of afternoon naps that always drive my exhaustion away. It felt as if it had always been like that.