AN: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda

Sorry for the terrible summary! :P So, this was a random story that I came up with while listening to Disney songs – if you can guess the film/song/characters you get bonus points! ;P

Chapter One – The Falling of a Crocodile's Empire

Robin watched the man across the room with great curiosity. She had never seen him there before, but there were always newcomers to their town. She watched him talking to a shorter man with black hair, the man's red shirt bold against his black jacket and tie. The man seemed to say something quietly into the shorter man's ear before turning away to walk towards the bar. She moved around the edge of the room, careful not to let the man notice her. She watched as a man with straight blonde hair approached her target, a woman in a tight black dress hanging off of his arm.

Robin watched the three of them carefully. These two were new to her as well, just as the black haired man had been. Who were they and what were they doing here? She certainly had not noticed them before, and Crocodile had not spoken to them. She had kept an eye on him from the start. She was supposed to be a second set of eyes for him, and he expected her to keep his bed warm, but she did not trust him. She could not trust him, not when he regularly disposed of his subordinates so carelessly – she could be next. She noticed him take another sip of his wine, still talking to his upper class 'friends'.

"May I have the next dance?"

Robin turned around, surprised by the man's voice behind her. It was the man from the bar that she hadn't seen before. When had he appeared behind her? No-one snuck up on her, especially people she was curious about. The fact that he was clearly connected to three other strangers made her so curious that she was in fact suspicious of the man asking her to dance. Who were they? Were they just members lower on the food chain that she hadn't met yet? Were they people from the town? Or were they here on another agenda other than to enjoy the ball? Robin quickly glanced back at the bar, realising instantly that she'd lost track of the tall blonde man and his female companion.

"Of course, Sir, you may," she smiled, taking his offered hand.

"I'm Zoro, what's your name?" He asked her, the roughness of his voice catching her by surprise, as he led her to the dance floor.

"Nico Robin. Nice to meet, Zoro-san." She smiled at him, looking into his eyes as she did so.

She found herself being lead around the floor as if they had spent weeks practising together just for this one dance. She kept having to remind herself that she was supposed to be trying to find his friends again, but every time she thought that she'd caught a glimpse of the tall blonde man, the green haired man, who's arms she was in, would spin her perfectly again, causing her to look back at him, smiling every time she made eye contact with him, for every time she smiled, he would blush a little more. She was almost sad when the music ended and she realised they'd once again go their separate ways.

"Zoro!"

Robin turned to look in the direction of the voice, quickly noticing Crocodile standing behind Zoro's black haired friend. Crocodile did not look happy, in fact, to Robin, he looked furious. What had upset him so much? She glanced back at Zoro, noticing Zoro's expression had changed to one of a very defensive nature. She looked back at Crocodile, realising that the two were staring each other down. Crocodile had seen the two of them dancing, and now it became obvious to Robin that even Crocodile did not recognise Zoro, or if he did, he certainly did not like him.

"Zoro-san? Shall we walk over to them?" She asked, taking Zoro's hand to lead him over to the two men, taking the green haired man by surprise.

"Crocodile recognised you after all, Zoro!" The black haired man laughed, much to Robin's disbelief.

"Yes, I did." Crocodile added, glaring at Zoro, "and I see you have met my assistant, Nico Robin."

"Yes, I have. I noticed her watching me so I thought I'd ask her to dance, didn't think you'd mind." Zoro countered.

"Oi, Luffy! Marimo!" Robin turned to see the blonde man, the woman with short orange hair nowhere in sight, near the entrance, "Nami isn't feeling well, so I really think we should head back now."

"Oh, Sanji! Perfect timing! Crocodile just recognised Zoro – he's already asked us to leave!" The man that was obviously 'Luffy' grinned back, given Robin could only guess that 'Marimo' referred to Zoro having short green hair.

Robin watched as the three men left, a strange feeling in her chest. What had happened to give her such a feeling? What had they been up to? Had Zoro just been given the job of distracting her? Or was he distracting Crocodile from something by dancing in the middle of the room, in plain view, and he'd only chosen her by chance? Had he even known she was Crocodile's 'assistant'? It was possible, given Zoro and Crocodile knew each other, but he could genuinely just have chosen her because she'd been watching him, although how had he even noticed? What were the four of them doing here?

...

Robin looked out over the town from her balcony, remembering the night she'd almost been 'disposed of', all because she'd allowed someone she'd been suspicious of distract her. She hadn't made that mistake since, and it wasn't one she'd risked making before. She still didn't understand why she'd let him distract her so easily, but even now when she remembered that night, all she could think of clearly was the green haired man, dressed in his black suit and white shirt, partially unbuttoned, as his black tie hung loosely around his collar. She would never forget the dance with the man that had almost cost her life, even after two years.

Robin sighed and walked back into her room, unaware of the binoculars that had been focused on her, the same binoculars that had focused on her the night before the ball two years earlier. Those binoculars were what were giving her away, and what was causing her to be a target. Those binoculars belonged to the man who had told Zoro of her connection to Crocodile, and what had lead to Zoro choosing her as the woman to participate in his attempt to distract Crocodile.

They were also what were going to cause her to be saved the following night.

Those binoculars belonged to the man who had passed onto the crew that she was an unwilling accomplice to the man that they'd stolen from two years earlier. Had Robin realised those particular binoculars had been pointed on her, she would not have stood on the balcony, for everyone knew their owner could shoot the nail of your pinkie from over a mile away, even if no-one knew who the man was, or what he looked like.

...

Robin walked along the corridor, her tight indigo dress hugging her curves tightly as she walked towards Crocodile's room. He trusted her even less after the events two years earlier, but she was still his right hand woman. She didn't want to be, but she had nowhere to go. She'd spent most of her life wandering, but she'd managed to stay with Crocodile for a number of years now. Even if she wanted to find a future and people she could trust, the best place for her right now was beside the man who threatened her very existence. Robin quietly laughed bitterly at the irony.

She walked into Crocodile's bedroom, her eyes falling on their current captive, Vivi – a young pale blue haired woman whose father ran an organisation that Crocodile was currently trying to take over. Robin smiled sadly at the young woman tied to the chair. She walked over and untied her mouth, curious as to what the woman had to say in her current situation. Robin was always curious about the very different things that people said in this situation, and the girl in front of her seemed likely to give a very interesting speech.

"Vivi-san, my name is Nico Robin," she said, continuing to smile at their captive.

"Well, Nico Robin, you'd be better just letting me go! I won't let Crocodile take over my father's business, I'll keep fighting, but my friends won't let you keep me here! They'll be here to rescue me, and then you'll regret it!" Vivi exclaimed, boldly glaring at Robin.

"We shall see, Vivi-san," Robin smiled back, replacing the gag before leaving the room to go to the ballroom for Crocodile's annual ball.

Robin placed herself at a table in a dark corner of the room, the entrance in perfect view. She watched the couples dancing, keeping her eye on Crocodile as he talked with his usual 'friends' at the ball, every now and then his eyes falling on an interesting looking woman. Robin hid a yawn behind her hand as she wished she could read her book, but that wasn't going to happen. She was at a ball, and she had to pay attention to her surroundings. After the thieves had made off with half of Crocodile's fortune, she'd been very careful not to let it happen again. It was luck that she'd survived that beating, and she knew it.

"May I have the next dance?"

Robin's eyes widened in shock as she spun in her seat to look up at the green haired man. How had he gotten past her? She had been watching the door all night, wary of everyone coming in, but never had she thought that she'd see him again. She stared up at him in disbelief, wondering if his friends had snuck in too. There was one thing she knew – she wasn't going to let him distract her again, whatever his plans were this time. He'd clearly been the leader of the operation last time, making sure he could see everyone while he danced in plain view, the perfect distraction for Crocodile who would recognise him instantly. He'd used her last time, and she was not going to let him do it again.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I do not feel like dancing this evening." She replied, looking around the room, trying to spot his other friends.

"I thought you'd say that," he stated, pulling out the chair next to her. "Do you want a drink? There's no point in looking for them, they're not here – it's just you and me."

"I'd rather not drink, thank you. You've obviously realised I'm working," she answered, her eyes still scanning the ballroom.

"If you'd like to dance, I'm sure we could get to talk without anyone listening in." Robin turned to look at the man sitting next to her in surprise, trying to decide if she'd heard him right as he took a long drink from his glass.

She nodded carefully, wondering what he could possibly have to say to her, Crocodile's assistant, that no-one else could be allowed to hear. Surely she was the biggest risk in the room, excluding Crocodile himself? She let him lead her up to the dance floor, smiling at the fact he was dressed almost completely the same as he had been two years previous, only now he wore a very dark green tie instead. She felt his eyes search her and she looked up at his face, her eyes meeting with the ones that haunted her as she slept. He nodded at her, obviously deciding she didn't have some sort of microphone on her.

"Robin," he whispered into her ear as they started to slow dance, causing Robin to shiver slightly at the way his voice had rumbled as he'd said her name, "you need to leave."

Strong arms stopped her from pulling away as she tried to step back in surprise. She glanced around the room, wondering if anyone had noticed her sudden surprise, glad of Zoro's strong arms when she realised no-one was looking at them. She carefully looked in the direction of Crocodile, glad when she saw him still distracted by the men he was talking animatedly with. Robin sighed, relaxing onto Zoro. She could feel his heartbeat as their chests gently pressed against each other, somehow soothing to her. She lifted her head off of Zoro's shoulder, resting her head against his, feeling a strange warmth to his cheeks, causing her to giggle quietly.

"Why?" She asked after another moment.

"I know what happened last time, our sharpshooter saw everything." Robin gasped, Zoro quickly glancing at everyone around them, but no-one was paying attention to them, "you need to get out of here, before this song ends. I'm going to lead us towards the edge, and then we're going to go our separate ways, but we're both leaving here – got it?"

Robin nodded, resting her head back on Zoro's shoulder. She could feel his heartbeat quickening slightly and smiled, closing her eyes as she felt him slowly leading her. When she opened them again she couldn't believe how close they were to Crocodile – had he meant to lead them this close? Was he trying to get Crocodile's attention? She'd thought they were going to sneak out? Why would he lead them so close? Crocodile would definitely notice them from this distance. She had to do something before he spotted them.

Robin lightly stepped on Zoro's foot, quietly whispering that she was going to lead them a little further away, explaining that there was no way they'd escape Crocodile's eye if they stayed where they were. Zoro grumbled into her ear something about 'trying to lead them to the bar', but Robin was too focused on getting them away from Crocodile to pick up on what he'd said. She got them over to the dark corner of the ballroom, not far from the door and thanked him for the dance, saying loudly enough for anyone listening in that she was tired and was going to go lie down in her room, to which Zoro replied that he was going to have one last drink before he left anyway.

Robin disappeared out of the room, smiling casually at Crocodile as he looked over at her as she left the room, dissipating any suspicion he might have had. She had watched Zoro calmly walk to the bar before she had made it to the door, glad that Crocodile hadn't seen him. A small part of her hoped that he would make it out alive, knowing that whatever Zoro was up to, it couldn't be anything safe for him to feel as if he should warn her.

...

Robin sat quietly at a table outside a nice little cafe in the neighbouring country, sipping her coffee as she read the newspaper. She smiled as she looked at the photos, recognising the black haired man, now knowing his full name to be 'Monkey D. Luffy'. He was the leader, not Zoro. She now realised how obvious that had been, considering Zoro had been the decoy, and she'd barely noticed the black haired man. The black haired man had been the one to stop Crocodile from storming onto the dance floor, and the one 'Sanji' had addressed first.

The two of them had been keeping an eye on her and Crocodile as the woman had robbed Crocodile, the blonde haired man had been the one conveying messages between them and her. It had all been planned out perfectly, but which one was the sharpshooter? It obviously wasn't Zoro, and Robin doubted it was Luffy. That only left the blonde man and the orange haired woman, but which would chose to keep an eye on her and save her life?

She read through the article, reading carefully about the fall of Crocodile's empire and the rescue of Vivi, knowing full well that the article was lying, easily working out the truth. She smiled as she remembered the young pale blue haired woman's words. She'd been right when she'd said that her friends would come for her, and Robin wouldn't be surprised if Crocodile did regret his last move. It had certainly been an interesting game he'd been playing, but he had ultimately lost, and now Robin lived to find another place where she could watch the game of life be played.

Hope you enjoyed this! ^_^ Happy New Year to all my wonderful readers!

This is my first actual One Piece story to be posted properly (The Life of the First Mate will be randomly updated but I'm doing a minor rewrite of a later chapter, one of my favourites, but I realised it focuses too much on someone else that isn't Zoro and, at that point, has no connection to him...awkward...oops? I'm going to make a few improvements to the chapter and change it around a bit ^_^ ) Good luck guessing the inspiration of this particular chapter! ;P Not all the One Piece stories will be like this, promise! :D The next chapter will be up next Tuesday, but I'll be back at uni so it may be a little late – I have to get home to post! :P

Today's One Piece story: 'The Twisting String that is Fate'

Friday's Fairy Tail story: 'Conceit and Crudity'

Sunday One Shot: 'Waiting' (A GaLe/Gajevy)