Disclaimer:
I don't own One Piece.
The story on hand, ‚Runaway' is fan-fiction. I wrote it, because I love to write, but I will not use 'Runaway' in any commercial way.
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I gave it a 'T' for dark memories and angst.
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Author's note:
This is just a oneshot, mainly about Robin's problems, her situation and her feelings. Nothing special, I think.
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Please review!
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Runaway
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"Another cup of tea?"
The landlord smirked at Robin, who briefly nodded. She lowered her eyes, trying to take in every detail of the inn just by listening. The man glanced at her disparagingly and walked back to the bar. Obviously, drinking tea was frowned upon, but she didn't care.
Two days ago she had sneaked out of the ship without telling the crew.
She felt a wave of sadness wash over her as she thought back on her decision. The time on the Going-Merry had been great, the greatest time she ever have had, but the dark shadow in her heart kept her back from enjoying it too much. The shadow whispered to her, told her she was different and could never be right for the crew. That nobody could stop the disaster when she decided to become a full member.
Robin knew, that the shadow never had betrayed her.
But she wasn't sure if she had done the right thing. Her heart told her to stay, but her mind told her to go. She needed time to think, just one or two days to weigh the two options against each other. For the time being she would hide herself in one of the shabbiest inns of the harbor, where the Going-Merry had anchored. Luffy and the rest would try to find her, but she would evade them until she found the right answer.
Perhaps it took too long they wouldn't wait, and then they would leave her behind. If this happened it would serve as an answer too.
She sighed.
Robin wasn't like them. Robin was a criminal, a hunted assasin.
Admittedly, Luffy and Zoro also had prices on their heads, but there was a difference. The both didn't do any crime, but put a stop to the games of dangerous criminals like Crocodile. To Robin it was a bad joke that Luffy and Zoro were set on the marine's criminal-list.
But in her case, it was justified. Robin didn't know, when her dark side would come out again, but she was sure that this would happen again at any time. What if one of their enemies suggested making her dreams come true for the price of her friends? She didn't know how she would decide.
She couldn't expose the crew to the risk.
On the ships she had signed before mistrust was common between the crew members. They had done horrible things, stole gold, and even plundered and destroyed towns. She had belonged to a frightful bunch, everyone on the sea feared.
And quiet apart from the fact, that these things were heinous crimes, it was all so boring.
On the Going-Merry, things weren't the same. Luffy called himself a 'pirate', but he never had done anything to harm good or innocent persons. Not to mention, on this ship all the journeys were fun and the crew was bonded together. The seven crewmembers fought together and won – or lost – together.
Robin didn't had the right to just force her way in and become a risk to them.
When she had joined the crew after Alabasta she always tried to lock up her soul, to hide her thoughts, her wishes, her feelings. And she had hidden it behind her gentle smile, her way to control herself. It was the way she had lived almost her entire life. But when she signed up on the Going-Merry she found out that there was another way. The remaining six crew members were so damn open-hearted and weren't afraid of showing their emotions or their faults.
At first she had been confused about this behavior, but as time went on she began to grow accustomed to it. And after the adventure in the Rainbow-Mist, she knew, that she genuinely liked the crew.
Life had shown her some terrible things, and she had accepted, that she had to do bad things to reach her goals. Sometimes she thought back to Alabasta, when she worked for Crocodile. She had to admit that she had helped him without a guilty conscience because it had seemed to be the only way. She had wanted to get what she had fought for for so long, even if it meant getting it by criminal acts.
Things changed, when Luffy saved her life.
It had surprised her and shocked her, because all had seemed to come to logical end. She had tried to find the porneglyph, which hadn't worked and in the very end she had changed sides and tried to fight Crocodile, which also hadn't work. In a cruel way it became clear to her, that she had to die after her failures. There was nothing more in the world the blackhaired woman could do. After the disappointment of the the alabastian porneglyph, the meaning of her life was gone.
Luffy didn't care.
Whe he defeated Crocodile on his own and saved her life, he destroyed everything she had been. To go with Luffy had been the only way, to find a new home. Robin hadn't had friends, lovers or a place to go before. Everybody hunted her, wanted to capture – or kill – her. At first it it seemed worse that Luffy should let her live rather than die.
As time went by, Luffy, with his childlike kindness, gave her life a new meaning, as well as the other crew members.
That was, why Robin wasn't sure, if she should stay.
She had been a loner, an assassin, used her companions like pawns. And she hated herself for it, but she couldn't change.
She had to go her own way.
"All right. Here's your tea," the landlord grinned, putting a dirty cup on Robin's table and leaving. Robin gave the cup a glance. Nothing more than dirty hot water just like her first 'tea'. She ignored this fact and sipped.
It was better, if she walked away. It was a great life, but it wasn't her life. She just had wait a few days until the Going-Merry sailed away and then she would sign to another ship.
Suddenly there was a noise at the door.
Robin took a glance and immediately recognized the person, who came inside – Nami.
The female navigator walked in, looking around. Robin pulled her cape over her head and looked down, taking another sip of her tea. She hoped, that the orange haired woman wouldn't notice her.
"Ey, what ar' ya searching foa?"
Robin looked at the door. Three men, apparently shabby sharks, stood in the door and grinned at Nami. The navigator turned to the three and hesitated. One of the men, a rogue in better clothes than his companions, made a step towards her.
"I ask ya again, chick. What do ya wan' here?" The whole inn was quiet. Everybody looked at Nami and the three troublemakers.
Immediately Robin felt herself grow tense.
"I'm just looking for someone," Nami said.
"So ya looked foa us, sweetie?" the man laughed, like his two other companions. There was some broken laughter throughout the inn as well. Robin felt the rage grow inside her. If these idiots would do anything to navigator-san, she would kill them.
Robin would… Stop! What was she worried about? A few seconds ago she had decided to leave the crew. Nami could handle this on her own.
Nami got herself in fighting position and Robin couldn't help but notice, that the orange haired woman was afraid.
But what if they hurt her? She couldn't handle this. Not even, that the three would pester her. Suddenly she smiled. This was the answer she searched for. Even if she knew it was better to go away, Robin felt, that she was one of them, and she could never abandon them. It didn't matter, if she was an assassin, a loner or a criminal. She worried about the life of her crew members. She was one of them.
But in this moment Robin decided to wait. No need to act too fast. Perhaps Nami could handle the situation.
Nami gasped and said nervously, "No. I wasn't looking for you or your 'partners'."
"So ya found as anyway," he grinned and made one more step towards Nami.
"Come one step closer and you will regret it!" Nami hissed.
He laughed, "Ya amuse me, girly. We ar' three bad criminals, the worst guys on the island, on the ather side, there's just ya. And I don't believe, anebode here will help ya."
"You're wrong!"
Nami's head whirled around and her features relaxed when she noticed Robin standing in the middle of the inn.
At first the man looked at Robin first in confusion, then then suddenly he broke into a wide grin, "Oh, two chicks... This will be a great day."
Robin smiled at him, "I don't know, if you'll feel that way in a minute."
"Nobody cares what you think, chick."
The delicate ex-assassin smiled again, "Come on, let's relax. I treat you to a drink, and we can talk all this out."
He laughed, "Before or after we do 'things' with you two?"
Robin's smile turned malicious, "Don't set out to make trouble. You don't have a change, darling."
He laughed out loudly and made another step towards Nami – his last step.
"Twelve floret!"
Twelve hands, four for each of them, came out of wall, dragged the three rogues back and hold them tight.
"Never heard of the devil fruits, idiots?" Robin smirked.
The eyes of the man widened. The rest of the inn had frozen as the scene progressed. The raven haired woman bent forward, "Yes, I could do anything I want with you. Break every bone in your body, throw you a few hundert times against the wall… or kill you."
She stopped and listened to him breathing nervously, "But I think, I've done enough for one day. Nami… they're yours."
Nami grinned and stepped towards the three men, and then sent a swift kick between the chief's legs.
Nami grinned again when she heard his scream. Then she turned to Robin, "Let's go."
The ex-assassin gave her a gentle smile and nodded.
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A few paces behind the inn, Nami looked at her companion, "By the way, where the hell have you been? We've been searched for you all over the place."
"I just had something I had to find."
"Hm... have you found it?"
"I think so," she smiled, but immediately her features turned serious, "Nami… Do you think, I'm meant for the Going-Merry?"
Nami hesitated. Perhaps she suspected, what had been going through Robin's mind, "Of course you're one of us!"
"But I'm different."
Nami smiled, "That makes us stronger."
"You don't understand. I'm a criminal. I've done so many bad things in my life. I'm a danger to all of you."
The orange haired woman rolled her eyes, "Do you remember the day, you joined us?"
Robin nodded. Nami went on, "You had told to us that we have to deal with you after Luffy saved you. Now you have to deal with us. To run away is cowardly, it isn't a answer, you know."
"But I went away without saying anything to you."
Nami looked to her in a mixture of amusement and anger, "Ah, shut up and move on! I want to cast off within the next two hours."
Robin smiled, "Fine. Let's leave this island. I think, the sea looks pretty good today."
Yes… I think, I found the answer. It's easy… almost too easy. You're my friends. You are the only ones, who can heal me, and drive away the demons in my soul. I love you, all of you, and I don't want to be a loner again. No matter, what my mind is saying, I want to travel with you across the GrandLine. I can't tell it to you, but I want it. I take the risk of being a danger for you, but I will try never to disappoint you. Besides, someone has to look after you.
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-end-
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Author's note:
I don't know, if I like this story. It's too fast in the end, but the mainpart of the story contains Robin's thoughts.
Please tell me what do you think about it.