That crash seemed to be fairly close judging by the sound, I wonder what could of landed all the way out here., thought Olvia as she carefully maneuvered her aging body over thick logs and tangled foliage. Perhaps a bird or something was injured and fell from the sky., thought the old woman sadly. She continued walking through the forest towards the direction of the sound, getting farther away from the seclusion of her camp with every step. Or maybe a traveler tripped in all these tangled vines, it can be quite tricky to maneuver through if you're unfamiliar with the area. The archaeologist raised an arm to shield her eyes as the light shining through the gaping hole in the trees' canopy hit her eyes. Blinking she slowly inched forward, her cerulean eyes landing on the small crumpled body of a child. Why is a child all alone in this place? Is she the one that tore through the leaves and branches overhead, but how did she even manage to fall out of the sky like that? She wondered as she carefully approached the body, her intelligent eyes flicking from the girl up into the sky to look for something that could of dropped her and back again.
Olvia squatted next to the girl, using her scarred hands to gently roll her onto her back and examine her. She saw scratches marring her smokey-tanned skin, dirt clinging to the tight mint green shirt and white shorts she was wearing, as well as scattered leaves caught in her messy ponytail of raven-colored locks, but she lingered most on the girl's peaceful face. It was startling, the resemblance, like turning back time to all those years ago when she had held a different little girl in her arms, her own little girl. This was different though, this wasn't wishful thinking that she could change time and give that little girl the life she deserved, one spared from all the pain she had caused her with the choices she made, no this was a not her Robin, but it was close. She continued staring down at the girl, her granddaughter, Roronoa Olivia, hesitantly reaching out to touch her scraped cheek with her damaged hand.
Why, why are you here, alone? Is this some cruel joke of fate for you to land here of all places in this world, with me as the only one to find you? She slid her fingers over Olivia's brow, brushing the bangs aside so that she could see her full face, tears building behind her eyes, blurring her vision and distorting the girl's image. "Olivia, Roronoa Olivia.", breathed the woman. "I can't believe it's you." It had been years since the historian had glimpsed her grandchild in the busy streets of the island she had docked at, watching her daughter chase after the little one before scooping her up into her arms and carrying her back to their crew. She had thought at the time the Olivia was around the age of four or five, which would her ten or so now. You must have gotten separated from Robin and your crew., thought the woman as she tried to reason out the best way to handle the unexpected situation. I can't abandon you here, but what am to do with you once you're awake. I promised I wouldn't get involved with you or your mother, it's for the best, but... She watched Olivia's face twitch, her eyelids fluttering slightly as she appeared to start awaking I'm such a selfish woman, even now, I can't make myself leave you. If just for a little bit, I want to know you, and hear about your family, this Roronoa Zoro, and Robin.
"Mom...my.", moaned Olivia, her turquoise eyes opening slightly, blinking in the harsh sunlight hitting her face. "Ugh, too bright.", added the girl, reaching up to shade her eyes when the figure sitting beside her came into focus. Her bruised body awakened fully upon seeing the strange woman next to her, quickly scrambling out of range as she clumsily unsheathed her new katana and readied for the attack she assumed was coming. She winced as a sharp pain shot through her leg at the sudden movement. She had probably hurt her ankle in the fall, she thought irritably. "Wh-who are you?", she asked, her voice shaking in a mix of trepidation and tiredness.
"I'm not going to hurt you.", assured Olvia, reaching her hands out with the palms showing to the girl in an attempt to calm her.
"Why should I believe you?", shot back Olivia harshly, Gedo still poised to strike in her small hands.
"You awoke unrestrained and with your weapon still in your grasp, do you not think that if I meant you harm that I would have taken precautions while you were still unconscious.", said the historian calmly. "I have a camp set up a little bit away from here, why don't you come rest there and tell me what happened to you.", offered Olvia. She saw the indecision written across her granddaughter's face as she tried to decided whether she was trustworthy or not. It's no surprise she would be hesitant to follow as stranger into the woods, I'm sure people are none too thrilled to see her and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates normally. "You've been separated from your parents haven't you?"
"How...", started the young swordsman, her head snapping up to look at the white-haired woman in front of her.
"You can't be more than ten years old, I assume you have parents and got separated from them somehow. If you'd like, you can come wait with me until they find you. I'm sure you know that's more logical than wondering around this unfamiliar dense forest all alone."
"If you're not gonna hurt or rob me, why did you even bother waiting here for me to wake up?", asked Olivia, cautiously returning her sword to its sheath. "Or are you just some nice obaa-san that wanders around the forest helping people?", added the girl sarcastically.
"Fufufu, no, I just so happen to be nearby when you crashed through the trees and decided to come investigate." she answered nonchalantly, hoping Olivia would drop the matter before she revealed too much information. How much has Robin told her about Ohara, about me? I can't risk tipping her off about anything. I'll need to watch what I say if I hope to keep my identity a secret.
"That didn't really answer my question."
"You...remind me of a little girl I used to know.", said Olvia quietly. It wasn't the entire truth, but she couldn't bring herself to flat out lie to the child. She owed her at least as much information as she could afford to give. "And I couldn't just leave a helpless child alone in the woods.", she added as she turned and headed back towards her campsite, silently praying the girl would follow.
"I'm not helpless.", whispered Olivia under breath, reluctantly following after the mysterious scarred woman. She doesn't seem dangerous and I don't sense a powerful aura coming from her., she thought, climbing over the fallen tree trunks and limping a safe distance behind the woman. Dad and Mom told me never to reveal who I am to strangers since they might be Marines or bounty hunters, but she doesn't seem like either of those. And I doubt she actually knows either of them aside from their notoriety as pirates.
"Be careful.", called Olvia, as she stepped over a thick branch that stuck out at her kneecaps.
Olivia looked up to see the obstacle blocking her path and stopped her footsteps. It was too close to the ground and tangled with foliage, preventing her from shimmying underneath, and the height was too tall for her to climb over, especially with nothing suitable to hang on to and an injured leg. She was about to say that she would find a different path around it when the woman held out her arms to her from the other side of the branch.
"I'd be happy to help you over.", she offered, a sweet smile on her lips.
"I...I still have no idea who you are or what you want.", said Olivia lamely, looking for some reason to mistrust this stranger that had showed her nothing but kindness so far. She could just be the bait to lure me into a trap, I know that. So why am I not afraid of her? I've seen lots of bad people, ones that wanted to hurt me and my family, but this lady, she seems safe for some reason. Why do I want to trust her?
"I want nothing from you, child. All I would like is to aid you in getting back to the people who love you if you would let me.", said Olvia honestly. "I understand your caution, your parents have taught you well to be suspicious of strangers especially when you are alone. There are lots of people that would like to hurt you, but I assure you that I am not one of them."
"What makes you different from the others?", she asked.
Besides the fact that you're my granddaughter? What do I tell you to keep you from running off?, thought the archaeologist desperately."I know who you are.", she said finally.
"What?", asked Olivia, stumbling back from her quickly.
"I know that you're a lost little girl who's scared and alone.", continued Olvia. "I understand that feeling as well, being apart from those you love most, it's the most painful thing in the world. That's why I'd like to prevent you from going through that, I can't tell you why exactly, but...", finished the woman sadly, dropping her eyes to the green floor beneath her boots. Don't go, not yet.
"Olivia."
"Pardon?", asked Olvia in shock, before realizing the girl hadn't been addressing her by name, but rather had stated her own.
"My name is Olivia. My dad told me that telling someone your name was a sign of trust and respect, you've already shown me that you trust me so now I'm doing the same.", replied the girl, coming closer once again.
Olvia couldn't help the smile that broke across her face as she watched Olivia reach out for her, allowing her to gently pick her up in her arms as she lifted her over the offending branch. "This forest has a few more of those types of obstacles on the way to where I am camped. If you wouldn't mind, I can carry you the rest of the way to make sure you don't sustain any more injuries, Olivia.", said the woman hesitantly, her body nearly trembling as she hugged the girl against her chest, addressing her for the first time in her life.
"Are you sure, I mean you're kinda..." The swordsman stopped her offensive speech just in time, her tan cheeks flaring at the comment she was about to make.
"Old?", suggested Olvia with a laugh. "I may be a little advanced in my years, but I'm more than able to assist you in making it to my current home. Besides you are quite light given your age, you should really eat more."
"Hehehe."
"Did I say something amusing?"
"I'm sorry, it's not you, it's just...my mom tells me that too.", giggled Olivia, carefully sliding her arms around the woman's neck as she shook with laughter. "I started training with my dad several months ago in swordsmanship, so I'm burning a lot more calories and energy now than before, but it's hard to take in more food than I'm used to to counterbalance it.", said the girl. "She worries about stuff like that that all the time, I know she's just trying to take care of me, but it's funny to hear someone else say it to me."
"Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman.", said Olvia, her maternal pride slipping into her voice slightly , tightening her grip around Olivia's waist as she continued walking.
"She is.", said the girl quietly, a sad smile on her face.
"Is something wrong, Olivia?"
"No, I..."
"It's alright, you can tell me?", encouraged the historian gently.
"I was just thinking about how worried my mom must be with me missing is all. A big storm hit our ship just as we were docking and most of us got picked up and tossed on the island, but I don't know if any of them are okay or not. My ha-, I can't sense any of their presences.", confessed the girl sadly.
So that's how she fell from so high up, a hurricane wind must of picked her up and knocked her out before it lost all its momentum and dropped her here. "Don't worry, I'm sure your family is just fine. You survived after all."
"Yeah, but we have four devil fruit users in our crew including my mom, I hope they landed somewhere on land.", said Olivia, her face freezing as she realized her mistake. "I..."
"Your parents are pirates, that must be quite interesting.", she interrupted.
"You, you mean you don't want to kill me now that you know that?", asked Olivia, clearly surprised.
"I'm am neither a bounty hunter nor a Marine, so no, finding out that you are the child of pirates doesn't affect me whatsoever."
"So what do you do then?"
"Hmm, I've traveled quite a bit over these last ten or so. Settling down in a place for a few weeks while I do my research before moving on to the next location.", said Olvia thoughtfully.
"What kind of research do you do?"
"Historical."
"Really, that's so cool! My mom's an archaeologist and she's teaching me how to be one, is that what you do too?", asked the young girl enthusiastically.
Robin, I'm so proud of you. You were always such a good girl and so smart, and now you have your own daughter following in our footsteps. You're keeping the work our friends and colleagues gave their lives to protect alive, my sweet Robin. "Yes, I explore islands and learn their history whether from books or locals and if there happens to be historically significant sights there, I'll examine the remains and document my findings."
"Wow, I can't wait until I get to go exploring with my mom. She says after I finish up my studies and become a full-fledged archaeologist that's she'll take me to some ancients ruins she's been to before."
"You're quite ambitious for someone so young." Just like your mother was at your age. I wonder if she's also showed you how to decipher Poneglyphs as well.
"Pirates are always after something, but my dream isn't like most others.", said Olivia.
"Might I ask what it is?", asked the old woman just as she entered the clearing she had made home for the last week and half. She was sad to have made it there so quickly, knowing that she no longer had and excuse to hold Olivia. Approaching the log that was adjacent to the fire she had build, Olvia lowered her grandchild onto the wood, careful of her injured leg before taking a seat beside her.
"I don't want treasure or some title, those things aren't important. All I want is to be of use to my family, to get strong enough to protect myself in battles and be able to fight for them, and make them proud.", said Olivia, her small hands gripping into fists as she smirked down at the ground. "I will get stronger and I'm gonna be a great swordsman and archaeologist just like me parents.", she said determinedly.
"I have no doubt that you'll get stronger, but I'm sure your parents are already plenty proud to have such a smart and sweet daughter.", said Olvia, poking at the fire as she smiled at the girl beside her.
"Hehe, thanks, um, you never told me what I should address you as.", giggled the swordsman.
"I believe you referred to me as a obaa-san when we first met, I'm fine with that."
"I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to offend you or act unappreciative of your kindness.", said the girl apologetically. "Obaa-chan.", she finished with a bright smile.
"I-it's quite alright, Olivia-chan.", whispered back Olvia, fighting to control her speech as emotions threatened to overtake her. I truly don't deserve to hear you call me that, Olivia, but thank you., thought the older historian as memories of the day she had reunited with her daughter played in her head. I've got to hear both of you call me a mother and grandmother, that's more than I could ever hope for. She froze as she felt thin arms wrap around her neck before warm lips pressed against the scarred mess of her cheek. Turning, she saw her grandchild staring down at the ground, her cheeks noticeably red as she withdrew.
"Thank you, for helping me and everything.", said Olivia embarrassed.
She reached out, letting her fingers intertwine with Olivia's perfectly smooth ones, holding her hand as she spoke. "It's no trouble at all."
"Ow.", she winced as she tried to reclaim her seat on the impromptu bench.
"What's wrong?", asked her grandmother worriedly.
"N-nothing, my ankle just hurt for a second is all, the muscles are probably just a bit tense from me spraining it in my fall.", assured the ten-year old. "It's okay though, I've gotten little injuries like this a lot since I started training with my dad.
"Alright, but if you experience any more pain please don't keep it to yourself.", said Olvia, still eyeing her nervously.
"Promise, but that aside is there anything you want to ask me. I feel kinda bad that I keep badgering you with questions without answering any."
"You're far from badgering me, Olivia-chan, but I will question you if you would like and have nothing else to ask of me."
"Can I have one more question?", asked Olivia, the guilt clear on her face.
"Yes, although I can't promise my answer will satisfy you.", answered the elderly woman with a some trepidation.
"Who do I remind you of? You said that's part of why you saved me, right? I just was curious who it was.", admitted Olivia as she stared at her feet.
"My daughter."
"Oh."
"I haven't seen her in a very long time, I made decisions that caused her a lot of pain. At the time I thought I was doing what was best for both of us, but looking back I'm afraid the choices I made were more selfish than anything else.", she said, the words that had been on he mind for years coming out. "Seeing her again and telling her how much I love her will never happen I'm afraid, it would only cause more damage now. She's better now, I won't risk hurting her again.", said Olvia sadly.
"I bet she'd understand if you talked to her. You're her mom, so I'm sure she'd want to see you too and tell you that she still loves you.", said Olivia encouragingly.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Olivia-chan. Things are very...complicated."
"Well I know that if it were my mom I'd want to see her no matter what.", said the girl with a conviction her grandmother envied.
If only you knew what you were saying, Olivia. "So was that all you wanted to know?", she asked, hoping to move on to a less conflicting subject.
"Yeah, go ahead and ask me now so that it will even things out.", she said eagerly, although her eyes still looked at the old woman curiously.
"Tell me, what are you parents like. What sort of things do the three of you do together?", asked Olvia.
"Hmm, my dad's really overprotective of me and my mom, so he spends a lot of time training to make sure he can keep us and the rest of our nakama safe, and he'll normally take a nap after that with me and Mommy while she reads on deck, but sometimes they'll go to their room and I'll stay with Aunt Nami and Chopper.", started Olivia, her naivete making her grandmother smirk knowingly at her last comment. "He's really strong too, and now he's training me so I can be strong like him." She paused then trying to gather her thoughts, a happy smile coming onto her scratched face as she thought of her parents. "My mom's the best, she tries really hard to make sure I'm happy and that I know that she loves me. We read together a lot, mostly historical books now since I'm studying to be an archaeologist and she tells me stories about her and Dad and the rest of the crew from before I was born. She's always taking care of me, tucking me in at night and letting me sleep against her chest after our bath. Oh, and she kisses me a lot and tells me how much she loves me and how important I am to her and my dad. We just do normal stuff together with the rest our crew like restock and go out to eat together.", she finished. "Does that answer your question?"
She sounds like a very happy child who has plenty of people to care for you, and Robin, she's an excellent mother. "Yes, thank you very much." I have two wonderful girls, Robin, Olivia.
"Olivia!"
"Did you hear that?", asked the young historian, quickly standing, albeit with some difficulty with her hurt ankle. "That's Nami's voice."
"She sounds close.", noted Olvia a little sadly.
"That's great! I bet she's with someone else from the crew, you can come back with us and meet the rest of my family."
She saw the excitement leave the girl's face when she didn't respond. "I'm sorry, Olivia-chan, I can't."
"But why? I promise they're not bad pirates like the other crews that stop here, and my Uncle Sanji can cook a big meal and you can stay with us, at least until the log pose sets.", argued Olivia. "You saved me, it's the least I can do."
"No, I can't come with you." My face may have changed with age and the scarring, but she would know. I can't put her through that pain again, I can't come back to life and make her watch me die all over again. I've had my time with them, I won't risk hurting Robin anymore than I already have. "I'm sorry, Olivia, but we part ways here."
"You're not telling me something.", she accused, the hurt clear in her watery turquoise eyes.
"I,"
"But it's okay, I understand if you can't come, you don't have to tell me why.", said Olivia gently. "I can sense Nami and my Mom's presences now so I'll go meet them and make sure we head away from here."
She's so close, Robin, my love. "Thank you.", whispered Olvia, tears finally leaking down her eyes as Olivia hugged her around the waist, the girl's own moist cheeks pressing against the thing fabric of her blouse.
"Goodbye, Obaa-chan." replied Olivia shakily before quickly turning and grabbing Gedo Shikai and heading for the trees. She paused at the edge turning to face the white-haired woman one last time, "I think she'd understand." With that she headed towards the continued calls of her mother and aunt, wiping furiously at the tears falling from her ocean-colored eyes.
She collapsed to her knees, hugging her arms around herself as all the years of solitude sank in. "Robin, Olivia, I...love you.", she whispered, holding herself silently as silent sobs raked her thin frame. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Olivia ran faster, ignoring the pain in her leg as she let her instincts lead her through the trees while her eyes were failing her. She panted as he small body pushed itself faster and faster, knowing she was closing the distance between herself and Robin and Nami with every step. I'm coming, hold on. Mommy, I'm coming., thought the girl anxiously, easily jumping over a protruding root and shoving vines out of the way. She felt the absence of foliage as she broke through into an open path, two figures walking several feet to her right as she let her tears fall again as relief set in. "Mom! Nami!", she yelled, quickly limping towards them as her adrenaline wore off an she realized how fatigued she truly was. "Mom!"
She felt herself falling forward only to have six hands break her fall before she hit the forest floor, and then she was being pulled into a warm embrace. "Olivia, you're alright.", whispered Robin, running her hands over her daughter's body in reassurance before moving them to her cheeks. "I'm sorry, you had to be on your own for so long, my love. Are you okay, Baby?", she asked a little frantically, pressing kisses to Olivia cut face as she spoke.
"I'm fine, Mommy.", replied Olivia, hugging her mother tightly sinking against her chest as the older woman lifted her into her arms, still running her hands through her tangled hair and kissing her cheeks. "I love you."
"I love you too, Baby.", said the raven-haired woman with a happy smile. "I'm so glad you're okay, I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you, my little girl."
"Yeah, you had us worried, Liv. You're the last one we've found, everyone else is either collecting supplies on the ship or out looking for you.", laughed Nami, rubbing her hand on the girl's back as she walked beside Robin.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you guys worry."
"It's okay, Olivia. All that matters is that you're back with us where you belong, my love.", said Robin, hugging her daughter closer as she headed towards their floating home alongside the navigator. "You're home now."
"Yeah, I'm home now.", agreed Olivia, laying her head on Robin's shoulder, her eyes closing as she relaxed. Maybe, you can come home one day too, Obaa-chan. I'll wait.
A/N: A requested continuation of my Olvia one-shot for the amazing LegendaryOrigin. I'm sorry this took so long, but I hope it was worth it. Can't wait to hear your thoughts, ttyl. :)
