Solstice

Full Summary:

In canon, Luffy was capable of winning his battle with Crocodile only by losing consciousness before arriving at the Royal Tomb. Perhaps Luffy had not taken that well-deserved rest. Perhaps, for whatever inexplicable reason, she loses to Crocodile. Perhaps the only way to save her friends is by binding herself to him for a year. The world is shaken by shockwaves as Luffy learns what it means to submit to a Shichibukai... and the consequences of her actions spiral into the future. For the world. For Alabasta. For the Strawhat Pirates. For Portgas D. Ace. And for Luffy herself.

winter solstice

when the sun has reached its lowest point in the sky; the darkest day of the year

"He disappeared! Where did he..."

"Oi!"

King Cobra's quiet voice echoed through the chamber. "Strawhat girl..."

Robin choked on air as she felt herself being forcefully pushed to the side. "W-what is - " She gasped. "Mugiwara..."

Battered nearly beyond recognition, with bruises upon bruises layering the pale skin, Nico Robin nonetheless had never seen anything as proud as the small back that stood protectively over her at that moment.

Crocodile's eyes narrowed in shock. "How are you still alive?"

"Why are you attacking your own nakama?!"

"Nakama?" He let out a bark of amusement. "Ridiculous. That woman is as treacherous as they come. And I…" He dissolved into sand and reappeared in the air above her with a vicious grin. Robin grit her teeth and met the irises of her personal grim reaper. "I never trusted anyone from the very beginning!"

Monkey D. Luffy welcomed the attack with her foot, kicking it away before the savage edge could meet its mark.

The Shichibukai swung his right arm out, still grinning. "Ho? Are you that impatient for my attention? Calm yourself, little girl, you'll get your turn." A wave of sand followed in its wake, cutting swiftly towards the female D's head as his left flew towards the archaeologist's heart. The girl dodged. Robin tried to scramble away as well, but that changed her fate only by a marginal degree.

The Demon of Ohara's spine arced up as a golden hook speared through her abdomen and emerged through her back, red dribbling from her lips. Her limp body was shaken off of the hook like a throwaway rag doll.

"Bastard!" Mugiwara roared, flying at Crocodile with a flurry of bloody punches. The initial few impacted, to the shock of both former Baroque Works leaders, but the rest he avoided by leaping backwards.

Why does she care so much? Robin wondered idly, as she vomited liquid iron onto the floor.

AN

This chapter does not have many visible changes from canon. Please read the next before deciding to discontinue the story (or, hopefully, not). :)

This will be a little dark, but definitely not as much it could be. It's also the first story where I'll have written explicit mature scenes, which will appear starting chapter 14. Also, because Luffy is Luffy, so... I'm not sure how well that'll go... Ah, well, we'll see.

This story is part of the Sol universe, only with deviation in the Alabasta arc, which will definitely not be happening like this (oops spoilers). Some of the slightly different relationships between Luffy and certain people will be explained in my other story Sol Invictus (the main story), where I explore fem!Luffy's adventures. It won't really play a big part in this story; in fact, it's entirely unnecessary for you guys to read that story to follow this one. Reading it is just a suggestion (and not a particularly strong one) in case you guys are curious about the motives for a certain character's actions... later.

(edit 09/19/2018: apologies if anyone was bombarded with notifications just now; i deleted most the chapters in preparation for deleting the fic, while still keeping one chapter so i could send out an official announcement. i totally forgot that deleting chapters also sends out alerts)