Italics - Zoro's thoughts

Bold- Zoro speaking

Bold Italics - Robin speaking

A Book Bound in Green

As the ship known to the crew as Sunny sailed along the Grand Line, the usual happenings on board went without a hitch. The living skeleton Brook played an encouraging tune on his violin for his compatriots that were fishing. His captain, Monkey D. Luffy, and the ship's gunner, Usopp, were having a contest to see who could catch the most while the ship's doctor, Tony Tony Chopper, assisted them with the net. All the while, Usopp told his wild and outrageous stories to Chopper, which the little reindeer believed and enjoyed. The cyborg shipwright, Franky, was in his workshop, jotting down new ideas and modifications that he could possibly do for this ship. The chef of the ship, Sanji, was busy preparing lunch for the crew and spending extra care on the dishes for the ladies of the ship. The navigator of the crew, Nami, was in her map room, working on maps of previous island adventures and glancing out the window to keep an eye on the ever-changing weather of the Grand Line. Robin, the ship's most knowledgeable person and archaeologist, was lying in her deck chair beneath her parasol, reading one of her old books. Her ears perked as she heard the familiar and repetitious "clink" sound that was construed in the skeleton's music stop. Using her Devil's Fruit ability, she created an eye in the crow's nest, seeing what was the source of the sound. The first mate and master swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, had finished lifting his weights, which at this point were at over a ton, and was crouched over on a bench. A not-too-happy grin appeared on his face as he looked in the general direction of the eye, only to see falling petals from where it once was.

Zoro ran over to the window and opened it up, sticking his head out. His eyes scanned for the woman that had spied upon him. "Damn it. Where the hell did that woman go?" he thought as he looked for her. His ears caught the sound of a person's steps climbing up the ladder into the crow's nest. As he turned his head in shock, he saw the door in the floor open up and in climbed his nakama. He quickly tried to shake off his look of shock as he put his shirt back on. "I hope she didn't see..." he began to think, only to have his thoughts cut off by the older woman, who seemed to have read his mind.

"So, it seems that you like to read as well." she said as she closed the door and stared at him with her seemingly all-seeing eyes. A small smile crept upon her lips as she watched Zoro's complexion change from his normal tanned skin to a more reddish shade.

"Look, it's not what you think. It's just a small book to keep a warrior's mind sharp is all." he said as he tried to come up with an excuse. The problem with his statement though was that she could tell it was an act as she let him know through her stare. He let out a sigh of defeat as he looked down.

"Alright, alright. You caught me. How much are you gonna blackmail me for?" he said, being use to this sort of treatment from the greedy navigator.

"So what were you reading?" Robin asked as Zoro gave he a look of confusion. He thought that she was gonna act like Nami and take advantage of him through blackmail. He pulled the book out of his back pocket and held it up. It was an old book with weathered edges and clad in a faded dark green cover. The title had once been in gold lettering, but a few of the gold flakes remained in the now empty yet engraved title which read Shichinin no Samurai (The Seven Samurai). Robin grabbed the book and opened it up carefully, as the wear and tear on it made it evident that it was a very old book. She saw that it had been read several times over and that the pages were torn in certain places and the words had faded to the point where they were illegible.

"This is a very good book. I have a copy myself still in very good condition. If you want, you can borrow my copy of this book." she said as she handed the swordsman back his book. His eyes lit up a bit as she stated that she had a more legible copy. She walked over to the little door in the floor and looked back at him.

"Who knows? Maybe we can read a book together some time." she said in her velvety voice with a smile as she began to head down the ladder towards the deck of the ship, leaving the swordsman in a world of confusion, elation, and something else. He couldn't understand this additional emotion. It felt as though his heart was light and nearly felt as though it were about to skip. He came back to reality as he heard some commotion going on through the window followed by the shouting of the word "food" by his captain. He set his book behind the weights and hopped down to make his way to the kitchen. As he walked in, he caught the eyes of Robin, to which he replied with a slight nod, selecting the answers to her silent questions.

The End