One Piece: Lonely Nights


One Piece © Oda

Blizzard © Me


Summary- It's Robin's turn on watch, tonight, but the archeologist feels lonely…until a certain swordsman comes in, unannounced. Post time-skip. Contains Luffy/Nami and slight Zoro/Robin fluff.


Nighttime on the Thousand Sunny. The ship is anchored in the middle of the sea, so the Straw Hat Pirates don't end up drifting off in the middle of the night to who-knows-where. The crew is just getting ready to settle into bed…except one.

Tonight, it's Nico Robin's turn on watch duty. She is currently in the women's quarters with Nami, who is sitting in bed with Monkey D. Luffy, who, unsurprisingly, is snoring away. Luffy came in because he simply just wanted to sleep with Nami tonight, not because of a candy-induced stomachache or because he was upset about something. A few belly rubs from the navigator, and the captain had drifted off to dreamland.

"Well, Miss Navigator," said Robin as she picked up a book to read, "I'm off to the crow's nest."

"Okay," Nami said. "See you in the morning, Robin."

As Robin left to exit the women's quarters, she turned to glance at Nami, who smiled down at the snoozing Luffy and kissed his forehead as he slept before she turned off the lamp, settled into her bed, and rested her head against the captain's chest, smiling affectionately. Her lover seemed to smile in his sleep, as well.

Robin's smile drooped, slightly, and then she heaved a quiet sigh before she headed for the crow's nest. As she walked, she noticed Blizzard, lying down on the grassy deck, asleep. The archeologist smiled at the slumbering dog, and then, SWUP! An arm sprouted from the wolf-dog's neck and gently scratched his ears, causing him to awaken. Blizzard seemed startled, at first, but when he realized it was just Robin, he greeted her with a wagging tail.

"I see that I'm not the only one who is alone, tonight," said Robin.

Blizzard tilted his head in puzzlement, causing Robin to chuckle.

"Never mind," she said. "Goodnight, Blizzard."

Blizzard yawned before he returned to his sleep, and Robin continued on to the crow's nest, but as she did, she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Chopper, approaching Blizzard. The little reindeer didn't speak. Instead, he curled himself up against Blizzard's side, and then wrapped his big, bushy tail around him like a blanket.

Once again, Robin's smile fell, and she sighed quietly before she climbed up to the crow's nest.

XXX

"Another book finished."

Robin closed her book and set it down in her lap. Apparently, she finished it sooner than she thought, and she just bought it yesterday. Still, she couldn't help but feel rather…lonely. She didn't know why she felt like that, recently. Maybe she was just feeling a bit jealous seeing Luffy and Nami together a lot more than they used to after the two years. Maybe it's because…well…who knows what else?

Suddenly, Robin sensed the trap door opening, and, being constantly on the alert as always, she turned around with arms crossed.

"GAH! Wait! Robin, stop! It's me! Zoro!"

Robin gasped and saw that she had unwittingly trapped Zoro in her many-armed grasp.

"Oh, Zoro," Robin said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's all right," Zoro said. "Uh…do you mind…?"

"Oh, yes, of course," said Robin as she released Zoro.

"Thanks," said the swordsman.

"You do know it's my turn to be on watch tonight, don't you, Zoro?" asked Robin.

"Yeah, but…I just come up here for some late night training," Zoro replied as he turned and closed the trap door behind himself.

Robin once again looked out the window as Zoro sat down on the lounge, right next to her, picked up a 20 pound dumbbell, and started lifting it. As he did, he eyed the book that Robin had finished.

"Isn't that the book you bought the other day?" Zoro asked.

"Yes," Robin replied. "I finished it sooner than I thought, I'm afraid."

"What's it called?"

"It's called 'Rapunzel'. It's a story about a girl who was taken from her parents at birth by a with as a price to pay for an accused theft. When she grew up, she was the most beautiful woman in the land, and her hair grew very long, but she had become desperately lonely because the witch had imprisoned her in a tower with no way out. Then one day, a prince heard her singing and came to see her, and eventually, he uses her hair to climb into the tower and they fell in love with each other."

"Oh, so it' one of those boring 'happily-ever-after' fairy tales, right?" Zoro questioned, bluntly.

Now, normally, one might get peeved at such words, but Robin was used to the swordsman's narcissistic attitude, so she just chortled in her throat.

"So, what happened next?" asked Zoro.

"Well, the witch found out about the prince," Robin continued, "and, in her anger, she cut off Rapunzel's hair and sent her away to live in the woods to fend for herself. When the prince returned, the witch pushes him off the tower, and he becomes blinded when he falls in the thorns below."

"Damn," Zoro cursed in disbelief. "That's messed up."

"After searching for many months, the prince was about to give up looking for Rapunzel," Robin said, "but then, he hears her singing nearby a river, and Rapunzel's tears magically restore his sight."

"How do tears cure blindness?" Zoro questioned. "It makes no sense."

Robin rolled her eyes.

"In these type of stories, love has a way," said Robin. "So, in the end, Rapunzel and the prince had twins together and lived happily ever after."

A pause, but then, it is interrupted by the sound of snoring.

Zoro had, unsurprisingly, fallen asleep. Also unsurprisingly, he is still lifting the dumbbell in his hand.

Robin chuckled and set the book in her lap aside, and then looked to the snoring Zoro.

He certainly looks comfortable, thought the historian. I wonder…

Robin inched a bit closer to Zoro, and then, she slowly leaned her head on the swordsman's shoulder and closed her eyes. Although she didn't intend to do so, this action caused Zoro to wake up, but when he looked to Robin, who had fallen asleep, he felt his cheeks get warm as they flushed a bright pink, and instead of awakening her…he just fell right back to sleep, too…while he secretly draped an arm around the archeologist's shoulder.

From that night on…Robin didn't feel so lonely anymore.

THE END


Another short but sweet one, and this one contains some ZoRo!

Review, please!