Hiii guys 8D!

So, this event happens before they go to Thriller Bark. I'm gonna start off the story with what happened to Robin in Enies Lobby, and then get into the main plot. This chapter is from Robin's POV. And there will be a bit of ZoRobin throughout the story c:!

Kk, here we go!

(Oh, and I don't own the display picture. Credits go to whoever drew it, it's amazing!).

I've made the mistake of dropping my guard long enough to start getting comfortable around them. It would be selfish of me to stay any longer. I can't drag them down with me and get them involved in my past. Besides...they would eventually abandon me, wouldn't they?

I don't think I have the strength to go through something like that again. It has happened to me too many times throughout my life.

It frightens me.

As for the strange feelings that have begun forming and slowly developing inside of me towards one of my naka…crewmembers, they will have to be ignored. Forgotten. It's quite dumb of me to even consider such feelings. I'm a 28-year-old woman whose life has been filled with lying, killing, and running away. A woman with a dream that could never be achieved with such a life.

Although, in his case, he is a loyal right-hand man to a fun, caring captain. He has a dream I'm certain he'd be able to achieve. The few things he's ever done for me, and that I think a lot of, were only done to honor Luffy's decision to have me on the crew. He would have done the same things for any other member of the crew. It's silly of me to think otherwise.

I was walking through the town of Water 7 with the crew's doctor, when a large person wearing a white and orange checkered cloak with a mask to cover his face walked past me.

"Cp9," he whispered. I stopped in my tracks, my entire body turning completely stiff.

"I'm going in, Robin!" Chopper called out. I stared at the ground until I pulled myself together and looked back. He had disappeared.

…...

"Robin!" Chopper and Sanji stood on the other side of the small waterway.

"Robin-chan, at last!" Sanji exclaimed. I gave them an irritated expression.

"I won't be staying with you," I told them.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Chopper asked, his happiness turning to concern.

I took a few breaths and looked straight into their eyes. "There is a darkness in my heart that will engulf you all if I stay any longer," I told them, trying to maintain a cold look. Sanji let out a nervous laugh.

"Robin-chan, everything will be fine. Just come back with us," he said. Chopper looked at me worriedly.

"This is where we'll be parting ways," I declared, turning around.

"No! Robin, wait!" Chopper yelled. I started walking away, misery beginning to take over me.

…...

"We had a deal!" I yelled.

"Indeed. And that was to not hurt them while they were in Water 7. We're not there anymore, now are we, Miss Nico Robin?" Lucci answered. I didn't want their help. Why did they have to follow me?! Couldn't they respect my wishes?!

…...

I stood quietly on the edge of the building, beside me the Cp9 members. All the crew members stood across from where we were, looking up at me with determined expressions. Couldn't they just leave? The worst possible scenario would be their deaths. Then all this would've been for absolutely nothing. I gritted my teeth.

"I WANT TO DIE!" I yelled. Luffy looked taken aback.

"Then express what you want here, with us! Not with them up there!" he answered.

"Can't you see I don't want any of you here? Leave!" I shrieked. I swallowed hard. "I'm afraid…I'm afraid of you abandoning me! You'll eventually find out how dangerous it is for me to be near you, and that'll be the end. That's what I fear most!"

Everyone fell silent. I saw Luffy mouth something to Usopp-Sogeking. He then lifted his big, strange slingshot and shot down the flag representing the World Government.

"No way…" I said, staring at the burning flag. Spandam, the sick pink-haired man, freaked out.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" he yelled. "You've declared war against the entire world! You'll never make it!"

"YOU WANNA BET?!" Luffy shouted back at him. He then turned his gaze to me. "Robin. I still haven't heard it from your own mouth."

"Say you want to live!" he told me.

To… live.

I thought wishing for it was forbidden.

I've always been told that my existence itself was a sin. Ever since I was a child, I have had an incredible bounty on my head. Tears began streaming down my cheeks. And why is that?

For surviving. For knowing how to read a certain language. So that they could get their hands on the most powerful weapon in existence.

So even if it was just this once…if I can express my wish… then I…

I breathed in deeply and said it.

"I WANT TO LIVE!" I cried out, surprised that my voice wasn't quivering. "TAKE ME OUT TO THE SEA WITH YOU!"

…...

"You won't be saved," Spandam spat, dragging me by my hair. "Filthy woman."

I was determined to stall and give everyone as much time as possible. I didn't walk, I let him drag me. I tried freeing myself from him, but the sea stone made me much weaker.

We were getting close to the gate of justice when I finally got away from him and ran to the edge of the wall. I knew running away would be useless, so I let myself fall and I bit onto the concrete wall. I felt blood trickle down my chin. Spandam grabbed me and pulled, which only made it worse. He began to laugh.

"Crying? You're crying?" he bellowed. "You're crying because it hurts so much, huh?!"

I will live.

…...

"Come on, come on!" Franky yelled as he tried one key after the other, trying to free me from the handcuffs. He got to the fifth one and it finally worked. The handcuffs fell off and I looked at my hands, feeling a rush of relief. I could fight by their side now.

…...

I was hearing a strange sound. It wasn't a voice exactly, but it sent a chill through my body. It sounded like a creature of the sea. I concentrated more on it until I finally understood.

"Look below," the voice was saying. I glanced around at my nakama and found that they had flustered expressions on their faces, and guessed that they were able to hear it as well.

"JUMP INTO THE OCEAN!" Usopp suddenly yelled. We stared at him silently.

"Are you stupid?! You'd get yourself killed!" Zoro pointed out.

"We'll be fine…we'll be fine!" Usopp said, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Robin, can you get Luffy into the water?"

I nodded and crossed my arms. After his fight against Lucci, he wasn't able to move. His body was exhausted. Arms bloomed from the ground beneath Luffy and lifted him. I made a row of arms leading to the edge of the building and began rolling him away, then threw him into the ocean.

"Follow Luffy!" Usopp cried out. I smiled and did as I was told. Everyone jumped off. I splashed into the water, and I can't say it felt very good. Kokoro, the blonde old woman, happened to be a mermaid. Although I was focusing on holding my breath in the water, I couldn't help but smile. She had Chopper and Luffy in one hand and ended up grabbing me as well and throwing us all out of the sea.

"ROBIN-CHWAN, COME INTO MY ARMS!" I heard Sanji say, but I ended up being caught by Franky. He carefully set me down onto the deck. Luffy coughed hysterically but soon the coughs turned into laughter.

"Phew, that was close! Robin, thank-"

I sprouted an arm from his shoulder and clapped my hand onto his mouth, then slowly got up, as I had been sitting down to rest.

"Luffy," I began, then looked at everyone on board. "Everyone. Thank you!"

They all gave me warm smiles..

"Don't mention it," Luffy answered humbly, a grin spreading across his face.

"Leave this dumb talk for later, we need to get out of here," Zoro said coldly.
"OI, MARIMO! IT'S NOT DUMB, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" Sanji yelled, throwing a kick at Zoro.

"YEAH, MARIMO!" Chopper joined in, biting Zoro's leg.

"IT'S BETTER FOR US TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE FIRST, DON'T YOU THINK?!" Zoro yelled back, trying to shake Chopper off. He then calmed down and looked down at Chopper. "Oi, Chopper," he said. "You can move now."

Chopper's angry eyes turned calm and he let go of Zoro's leg. "Oh, right…I can!"

He turned into his human form and held Zoro down. "NOW APOLOGIZE TO ROBIN!"

I chuckled at their behavior. It was quite entertaining. I wasn't offended in any kind of way though, it was a very typical thing of Zoro to say.

…...

Spandam was trying to shoot down Merry but all his attempts were failing. I walked to the railing and looked up at him. His face was swollen and beaten up. I crossed my arms and sprouted them from all over his body. I then closed my eyes, remembering the way he'd treated me. The way he'd thrown me onto the ground and had carelessly stepped on my face. The way he laughed. I controlled my arms to bend his back. I kept bending until I heard a loud snap.

Farewell, Spandam.

We landed on a small island that was uninhabited and warm, with a forest consisting of very tall, thin trees. We docked Sunny and jumped off, landing into very thick sand.

"It got in my shoes!" Usopp wailed. Minus Luffy and Chopper, the crew and I took our time emptying our footwear. I glanced at Zoro, as I do many times, and noticed him wearing a worried look. I frowned, but decided not to say anything. I rarely took the initiative to start a conversation with him to begin with. Once everyone's shoes were sand-free, we walked into the forest. Sanji and Franky were the only ones to stay on the ship.

A few times, I noticed Zoro grab his katana, grit his teeth, then let go. And although Luffy was still having a good time with his playmates: Chopper and Usopp, I could still see a concerned look on his face as well. I suddenly felt a rush of wind against my neck and I paused. It didn't feel like a very friendly wind to me. I straightened my back and followed the crew deeper into the forest. There was something strange about the island: I could sense a presence. Although I glanced around me every now and then, I was able to see nothing. It was quite unnerving.

After exploring the island a bit further and collecting fruits, we started heading back to the ship. I felt the rush of wind many more times, but decided to ignore it. We were only staying long enough for the log pose to set, and according to Nami, it would take no longer than a week. Once we arrived at the coast, I could feel the presence even more powerfully.

"What the…" Usopp whispered. We stopped in our tracks and looked at him. He had been walking quite quickly to the ship and was ahead of us, but had suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Nami asked. He scratched the back of his neck, then shook his head.

"Ah, nothing," he replied. But when he tried walking again, he was unable to.

"Alright, it wasn't my imagination. There's something stopping me."

I cocked my eyebrow and walked over to him. Sure enough, when I tried getting closer to our ship, I could feel some kind of barrier that wouldn't let me pass. Out of the blue, I felt extremely tired.

"Woah, what the heck!" Luffy cried. "Heh! I'LL JUST PUNCH A HOLE IN IT!"

He grabbed his right shoulder and began to swing his arm. When he threw the punch, his arm didn't stretch. We blinked a few times, staring at him.

He looked just as confused as we were. "Eh?!" he exclaimed, staring at his arm. "Why can't I stretch?!"

I crossed my arms and tried sprouting an arm from the sand. I wasn't able to use my powers either. Zoro unsheathed his swords and tried slicing the barrier, but with no success. We were imprisoned.

"This is really bad," Nami whimpered, breathing heavily. The tiredness had taken over me, and I let myself fall to the ground. Luffy and Chopper looked dazed as well.

"I'm sleepyyy," Luffy said, immediately dozing off, with Chopper draped over his stomach. I was struggling to stay awake, and I felt very weak, as if my strength had been sucked out of me.

"Oi, guys," Usopp whispered, poking me and shaking Luffy. "What's the matter?"

Nami banged her fists against the barrier, calling out to Sanji and Franky.

I finally let myself fall asleep.

Once I woke up, I found everyone else knocked out. Zoro was the only one who wasn't there. I stood and grabbed the bag of things I had brought, and headed into the forest. Something inside me told me it was the right thing to do, even though without my powers my defense had decreased drastically. There was a wind that seemed to be strengthening the deeper I went into the forest. I started hearing the sound of moving water. The feeling of exhaustion was still very strong but I was able to finally get to a river. It was nighttime, and I wasn't able to see very well, but I could make out a person standing on the other side of the water. I saw something glinting. It was Zoro's earrings, reflecting the moonlight. He stood very still, his arm resting on his precious katana. There was a very calm expression on his face.

"Zoro," I called out. He didn't answer me. I walked closer to the river but was welcomed by yet another barrier. My eyes widened. I wasn't able to get to him.

The silence was worrying me. Out of habit, I crossed my arms to try to sprout a few arms from him, but wasn't able to.

"Zoro!" I called out louder. He finally looked at me. For some reason, I got the feeling he wasn't able to hear what I was saying. He then closed his eyes and gave me a reassuring smile.

A light began to form from the ground Zoro was standing on. I dropped my bag, staring at him. The smile remained on his face. I considered calling over the rest of the crew, but I'd been walking for more than an hour to get there, and it would do no good to turn back at that point.

Something began to happen to Zoro. The muscles he'd been strengthening throughout his life were beginning to shrink. His arms and legs became thinner, including his neck. I felt utterly helpless.

"Zoro, get back here," I shouted. I didn't know what was going on, and it felt frustrating. I had read books about this island, and they said nothing about a barrier. They said nothing about a powerful source that deprived you of your strength.

I had placed my hands on the barrier, and once the light faded, the barrier was gone. I was close to falling into the river but managed to regain my balance. Zoro was still standing, but he looked limp. I saw him taking a deep breath and letting it out. Opening his eyes, he walked into the river and swam towards me. But he was struggling.

As soon as he reached the other side, I felt my strength return to me. I hurried over to him and bent down. He wasn't moving.