Note: I actually wrote this a few years ago, you know, back when the Straw Hats were still fighting the CP9 in Enies Lobby, and we were still wondering how the heck the Alabasta movie was gonna turn out. I just found it sulking in a dark, forgotten corner of my computer, among other things, and I figured I should post it now. Let it be my small contribution to the One Piece fandom. Better late than never, right?
Just so you know, English isn't my first language, so please don't be too mad at me if you spot any mistakes (feel free to point them out to me though).
Anyway, enjoy!
One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Oh, and spoilers for up to the Enies Lobby arc, I guess.
one of those lonely nights
She had not lied upon their first meeting. It truly was a nice ship.
Nico Robin gave the Spot-billed duck a pat on the head and heaved herself up to Straw Hat's ship, clutching her wounds as she did so. The pain was gone, replaced by a numb feeling thanks to the medicine she had stolen in Alubarna right before escaping, but she knew she would need to see a real doctor soon. She supposed they had one. It really was a small crew…
She turned on the lights in the kitchen – it was well past midnight – and glanced around. The kitchen was comfortable-looking and warm; Robin immediately knew she would find some provisions which, added to the food she'd stolen along with the medicine, would enable her to survive for a couple of days.
Satisfied, she set out to explore the rest of the ship. In the most luxurious room, she found some clothes and books that probably belonged to the red-haired girl; they did not really fit her, but she was out of option. She helped herself and went to the bathroom.
Robin's mind wandered over as she let the water flow in the tub. She was going to live here for an undetermined amount of time. She had no idea what she was going to do here – she didn't even know if it was a good decision. But her mind was set; she could only hope the pirates wouldn't take too long to accept it, because they'd have a hard time convincing her otherwise.
Well, it wasn't that she particularly wanted to be here, she thought, stepping into the bath. She hadn't even consciously made the decision to come here. She had left the capital in a hurry, before the marines realized who she was, and before long she had found herself looking up at a familiar ship with a sheep's head for a figurehead. Now that she could calmly think about her options, staying here was decidedly the best course of action.
After all, she had nowhere else to go. Her dream and determination were long gone, erased by years of running away and chasing after something unattainable. She was sick of it now, and she'd grown used to the idea that her dream would never come true anyway.
Tired of dreaming as she was, she was still a wanted woman, and she couldn't freely navigate the Grandline without equipment. Then, there was the fact that Straw Hat Luffy was the one responsible for putting her into this mess, both by putting an end to Baroque Works' activities and by getting her out of the crumbling ruins. It was only natural that he would be the next pirate to pay for the crime of crossing path with the demon child Nico Robin.
She bore no ill will toward him, however, though she certainly had been resentful at first. She had given up – she had lost the will to survive in this world! She would have died there, in this place full of ruins, and it would have been perfect that way; a good place to end this life of misery. But he had interfered with her plans, and so she had to postpone dying for a time.
Gone was the pain of being stabbed in the back with a sharp knife, the feeling of the grounds trembling as the ceiling fell on their heads. The quiet of her surroundings made her feel like all of that had happened somewhere far away, ages ago, to a different person. Taking a warm bath after a battle was certainly relaxing. Her mind still wandering, Robin stepped out of the tub, put on the pirate girl's clothes and walked out of the bathroom. She went back to the kitchen and rummaged through the shelves. She found a can of coffee beans and prepared herself a cup. Dark, she though, savoring the taste. Slightly spicy. She recognized the taste, a particular brand from South Blue. Perfect to accompany long nights at sea… like this one.
She glanced outside. The sky was dark, the stars shining brightly were the only source of light save for a few dim light in the distance, coming from the island. A gentle breeze passed through the window. The ship was rocking slightly, and she became aware of the sound of the waves hitting the coast. A sudden thought stuck her, that this was yet another lonely night on an empty ship, still battered from a recent fight, with her previous contracts broken and her future uncertain. The ocean was huge, and her possibilities limitless, but it didn't bring her any sense of freedom. To her, it simply meant that a small chapter of her life was over, and that another was ready to begin, until she betrayed or was betrayed once again. She knew she would one day find herself alone yet again at sea, on a night similar to this one, her mind agitated, wondering where to go next, until the day she reached her goal, or died in the process.
Right after Straw Hat Luffy had let her go, she'd been tempted to just let herself die, but as soon as the thought had crossed her mind, she had known she couldn't do it. Outside, relieved of Baroque Works and free from her obligations, the prospect of death had fully hit her and she'd realized she did not want to go like this.
And now here she was, left with nothing but her memories, the burden of Ohara's last wish heavy on her shoulders and absolutely no idea on how to go on, except maybe-
She sighed.
She'd dealt with many pirates, especially in the past few years, but she had to admit Monkey D Luffy was, by far, the strangest one she had ever met. Maybe her real reason for being here, she realized, was that Straw Hat somewhat intrigued her. Sauro had carried the name of "D", and from what she knew, so had the pirate king, as well as a few great pirate or marine figures that had marked history in a way or another. Every "D" she knew of seemed to have had an extraordinary will, their own sense of justice and a very personal way of viewing the world. There was no doubt in her mind that Straw Hat was one of "them", but she had yet to fully understand what he was meant to do in the grand scheme of things. Robin was an archaeologist, she was curious by nature; the Will of the D and the Poneglyphs, all of this was linked to the Lost Century she had tried to discover since she was a child. She may have given up on her dream, but her natural curiosity made it difficult for her to ignore the questions that still haunted her mind.
Straw Hat was one of those enigmas now. When she had met him, back at Whiskey Peak, she would never have guessed he would effectively defeat Baroque Works, but she had still been interested in seeing how things would turn out with him helping the princess. She'd been glad, even, when Mr 3 had told Crocodile that Straw Hat and his crew were still alive, glad too when they'd managed to escape from Rainbase. Those pirates had not come at Alabasta for glory and gold; instead they'd done the impossible to help a girl, whom they'd apparently just met, to the point of almost dying in the process.
That had been… foolish. Completely unpredictable.
Robin did not know what to think about this. She had to admit to herself, it unnerved her a little to have witnessed for the second time a "D" throw away his life and common sense so recklessly, all for the sake of a friend. She could tell herself that her coming here was a logical thing to do, but as it was, the memories of Sauro kept coming back to her. An unbidden image sprung in her mind, a picture of a giant engulfed in flames, and she almost felt like a little girl again, helpless to stop her only friend fighting and dying for her.
She shook her head.
In any case, all she could do now was to wait for the pirates to come back. She got up to fix herself a small dinner. She felt hungry, but strangely enough, she also felt a bit at peace. Looking around, she noted how the artificial lights of the kitchen contrasted with the night's sky. How the waves sounded in the quiet of the coast. The ship was anchored between the sand desert and the sea, but its smallness made it feel all the more secure in the middle of all this emptiness. It had an air of a welcoming home, and she would enjoy it while it lasted.
.
.
.
The sun was well up in the sky, and its light blinded Robin a little, after spending the whole morning hidden under the deck.
"Don't worry, she's not a bad person!"
Straw Hat Luffy grinned, deaf to his companions' indignant shouts, with the assurance only a naive fool could have. When he turned to her, she realized that he was really serious, that he really didn't care if she was a former enemy, and a new mouth to feed. She felt mostly indifferent about it – after all, it was her decision in the first place. She sat on the nearest chair and watched the scene unfold before her.
She vaguely thought that his grin was slightly blinding, as well.
.
.
.
Robin felt the sea train slide on the ocean, taking her away from her friends, a small part of her now gone. She knew she would never experience one of those lonely nights again.