A.N: So, my first fic! This is just for practice, really, and it won't be too long (less than 10k words, probably). It's just a short story set sometime after Franky joins the crew. Yeah, before the timeskip. Yeah, before Brook joins. The Strawhats decide to take a break to go to Alabasta and visit their friend Vivi.

Enjoy!

THE LACE OF HER CORSET

"Luffy, we said we were going to the palace!"

"But I want FOOD!"

"There'll be plenty of food in the palace!"

There was nothing to be done. Their captain had already run off in the direction of the nearest tavern.

The party was as rowdy as it usually was when the Straw Hat pirates were involved. Luffy was stuffing his face with anything within his reach – which unfortunately included all the food plates of everyone in the room. Usopp was chasing Chopper around, holding out the newest edition of the super-spicy Tabasco star, shouting that he needed a guinea pig.

"Noooooooo!" Chopper squealed, running away at full speed, knocking tables, chairs and people over in the process. "Why do I have to be your guinea pig?"

"You're the closest thing to an animal here…" Their shouts were lost in the general racket of the room. Franky was also up to his usual stunts. He'd somehow managed to get hold of a firefighter costume… Except that he was missing the pants, and was wearing only a ridiculous pink thong underneath. But then, what would you expect? Franky was Franky.

Zoro was now on his ninth drink – he knew; he'd counted – and feeling a little light-headed, but he wasn't about to stop anytime soon, especially because a substantial amount of money was on the table, and if he won he'd be able to pay off the rest of his debt to Nami, the evil witch. He gulped down the last swallow and slammed down the mug, a wide grin on his face. The stranger opposite him, a rogue with sunglasses, swayed a bit before doing the same a second later. "Mooooooore!" he bellowed, but Zoro could tell it was just a bluff. By the eleventh mug, he was down, and the swordsman's pockets felt reassuringly heavier.

Next to him, Vivi laughed, her hands clasped together delightedly. "I'm so glad you guys are visiting," she squealed over the music. "But why didn't you come to the palace?"

"Oh, we meant to," Zoro assured, pointing in the general direction of his captain. "But you know him. He got sidetracked as soon as he saw the food sign outside." There was no annoyance in his tone, merely resignation.

Vivi laughed again. "Right. Luffy will always be Luffy. What brought you back to Alabasta, any-" The question was left unfinished as she stiffened up, her eyes fixed on something – someone – at the door. Instinctively Zoro straightened too, senses alert, mind sharp; it was only Robin, waltzing in with her usual swagger. He relaxed and let the drunken haze return, his gaze trailing lazily over her body.

Vivi's eyes widened in horror. "Miss All-Sunday," she breathed, fingers frozen.

Her reaction caught Robin's attention, who walked up to them, an amused expression on her face. "Miss Wednesday. Long time no see."

Zoro was too distracted by her sudden appearance, by the way the smile shaped her lips, to realise the full scope of the situation, until Vivi stood up in a clatter and spun her peacock slashers defiantly. "What are you doing here? I won't let you disturb Alabasta again!"

A stunned silence overtook the tavern, imposing enough that even Luffy stopped eating momentarily. Only then did Zoro remember that Vivi would have had no way of knowing about Robin's addition to the Straw Hat crew. "Phi's our phriend, Phiphi. You phave nothing to worry aphout," his captain assured with his mouth full. When she didn't lower her weapons, he swallowed, and insisted: "Robin's not a bad guy. She saved me heaps of times."

"Really?" The princess still didn't look convinced.

Robin chuckled. "Really." After a tense moment she turned around, waving a hand as she strolled to another part of the room, her hips swaying with the movement. Zoro shook his head and searched for something else to occupy his mind with. Fortunately, the party picked up right where it had left off, and there were many distractions, such as Usopp and Franky's improvised fire sketch on top of a table.

"Fire! Fire!" Usopp sang in a girly voice. Then he assumed a manly stance. "But don't worry, Captain Usopp is here to save you! With his assistant Franky," he added as an afterthought. Franky shook his fist in the air, and a jet of water shot out from it, drenching Usopp completely. "Right!" he screamed. "Water Armour!"

"How did she become part of the crew?" Vivi asked, dumbfounded. "Is she really…? I mean, she was Crocodile's right-hand! How do you know she's not…"

"Yeah," Zoro agreed, rubbing his neck. "I didn't trust her at first either." He didn't say anything else, but his mind added the rest. Though she's not so bad. She knows her stuff. She's smart. Not to mention she's probably the only person in the ship who isn't half-crazy. He watched her cat eyes light up with hidden laughter as she finally noticed Franky in his ridiculous costume. And she's…

He looked down at his empty mug, blaming the alcohol for that last thought.

Vivi remained pensive for a moment, before nodding and smiling again. "Luffy will always be Luffy," she repeated, before Sanji suddenly appeared behind her, eyebrow tilted, and smoothly looped an arm around her shoulders.

"My princess! The time away from you has felt like a knife twisting in my heart with each passing day…" Zoro stopped listening to the moron, who managed to drag her away despite her protests. At moments like these, he really pitied women. He couldn't understand how they didn't smash in the blonde dope's face. But he wasn't really motivated to jump in and help them either. The pair got lost in the multitude, so he leaned back and sighed contentedly, glad for the little bubble of peace from which he could observe what was going on.

Once again, Robin caught his eye. She sat with Nami and Chopper and a lot of other people, playing some card game that looked like fun. Without stopping to think about what he was doing, Zoro grabbed a new mug, gulped it down and casually strolled over. He regretted it immediately when he realized it was strip poker, but by then Nami had already caught sight of him and it was too late. "Hey, Zoro! Want to play?" She was obviously winning, and greatly enjoying it too. The pile of clothes amassed in the middle of the table didn't include any of her own.

"No, thanks," he answered, backing away.

"You can bet money instead if you like!" she suggested hopefully, but he kept moving back. "Or maybe…" she taunted, "Are you scared you're gonna lose?"

Him? Scared of losing? He frowned. "No."

Nami turned to Chopper, mimicking his serious expression. "No," she mocked, and they both burst out laughing, which immediately pissed him off. Greatly. "Admit it. You're not man enough."

That was a challenge if he'd ever heard one. He decidedly stomped over and sat on the empty stool next to Robin's without a word, stealing a look at her from the corner of his eye. She hadn't lost any significant piece of clothing yet, but she was missing one sandal. She smiled her unsettling smile at him before looking back at her own cards, and then he got swept up in the pace of the game.

"You lost," Nami declared triumphantly a while after. "Pay up, or give us that. Your choice." Eyebrow twitching, Zoro untied his bandana from his arm and let it drop on the middle of the table. In the hands that followed another man ended up in his underwear and a girl had to take her shirt off, though she had a bikini underneath. Robin had to give up her other sandal.

Amazingly, Nami got eliminated in the next round early on. By the end of it, only he and the black haired woman were left. He turned his body towards her, openly looking at her for the first time. He hoped to be able to tell her hand from her expression, but as always, what she was thinking was a mystery. "Three," he challenged, knowing that she had no more sandals. She raised an amused eyebrow and nodded. They revealed their cards.

"Hahaha!" the man in underwear laughed. "You know the deal, beautiful!"

Robin didn't show any signs of having heard him. She pursed her lips, still holding Zoro's eyes, and brought her fingers to hover above the lace of her corset. Zoro's eyes followed the movement, the triumph in them gradually turning to something else. Her fingers skimmed it, pulling slowly; and his pupils seemed to grow increasingly darker. But then she smiled and took a bracelet off instead.

Zoro looked back up at her eyes. Well damn. She had done that on purpose.

Right then Luffy smashed into the table, knocking cups, cards and clothing away, and the game was over.

Gah. The alcohol, it was the alcohol. He was careful to steer away from Robin for the rest of the night.

At the same time, he knew this wasn't the first time it had happened, nor would it be the last. That woman had intrigued him since the beginning. There was always an aura of mystery and danger around her, an aura which had made him extremely suspicious when she'd first joined, but which he had been finding more and more captivating lately. She had secrets, intriguing secrets. Most of the time, they made him doubt his decision to trust her – like when they were in Water 7, and the whole CP9 business. But that was what made it exciting. She kept him on his toes.

The party ended, and the intoxicated Straw Hats, save for Vivi and Sanji, who were nowhere to be seen, left zigzagging for their ship. Zoro was dragging a dizzy Chopper by the antler (he had apparently been tricked into drinking some of the strongest stuff) and a sleeping Usopp by the nose. Franky and Luffy walked, tripped and laughed on either side of him, while the girls trailed a bit behind.

Suddenly he let Chopper and Usopp go and slapped his hand on his forehead. "Shit! My swords!" Moans of protest floated up from the two on the ground, but he paid them no attention, grabbing Luffy by the collar and shaking him vigorously. "My swords!"

"You left them with the barman," Robin's calm voice wafted from behind. "You didn't want to trip over them and stab yourself."

"I did?" Relief washed over Zoro like warm rain.

Franky rolled his eyes. "It's the fourth time you ask us. And we've only walked – " he looked behind him – "two blocks."

Usopp got up, rubbing his nose, but then tripped and fell again. He lay sprawled on the ground like that, looking at the stars, not seeming to mind it at all when Nami stepped on his arm as she passed him. "Let's hurry up," she commanded. "I'm sleepy."

"Yeah, me too!" Luffy agreed, nodding energetically. "Usooooooopp! Up! Up!" After giving him a couple of slaps, he started to run on ahead.

"Have any of you heard the story of the mermaid and the tree?" asked Franky, his expression serious. They all groaned. "Once there was a mermaid…"

"We know the story," Nami complained.

"Wait uuuup! Nami, my love!" Those words could only come from one person, and, sure enough, the stupid cook was running towards them, his hand reaching out dramatically. "You are the only one for me! My one and only true love!" As he came closer, they all saw how his face was covered in purple bruises, big like plums.

"What happened, bro?" Franky inquired with great curiosity.

Sanji stopped short, looking ashamed for a second. "Koza found me. But my pain is nothing compared to the love I feel for you! Naaaaamiiiii! Oh, hello, Robin," he greeted, smoothly slowing down his pace as he passed her, flipping his blonde hair back. "Have I ever told you that you are loveliest by moonlight?" She chuckled, amused by his theatrics, and Sanji apparently took it as encouragement, because he snaked his arm around her waist and leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

Before he knew what he was doing, Zoro had kicked him away. It felt oddly satisfying – then again, beating up Sanji was always satisfying. Robin turned to him and smiled. "Thanks."

His heart did a funny thing right there. "No problem," he replied, surprised. Oh yeah. He remembered thinking something about Sanji and women and not bothering to interfere. So why had he...? but a much more urgent thought pushed those musings aside. "Shit! My swords!"

"You left them with the barman," she explained patiently, the flicker of laughter lighting her blue eyes again. "Honestly, by the way you treasure them, one would think they matter more to you than your own life."

"They do," he replied solemnly.

Franky slapped him on the back. "Yeah! There is only room for those three ladies in his heart! They're the only drives of his passion! Right, bro?"

His eyes involuntarily shifted to Robin's for a moment, and there was a pause before he answered. "Right."

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