10. Electricity
Rating: T
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Many nightmares haunted Nico Robin's sleep, but only one of them was attached to a fond memory.
~0~
She stands on the white cobblestones in between two men. Before her stands an absurd-looking man, almost like a caricature of what someone thought a God was supposed to look like. She struggles with the mounting feeling of panic that always comes over her when she is outsmarted and trapped.
"I hate shallow women," the so-called God says, then points at her. His hand lights up with electricity, then a lethal bolt zips towards her. She cannot escape.
~0~
Robin woke up in a cold sweat, somewhat disappointed. She had woken up before the good part.
That dream wouldn't stay out of Robin's mind. All that day she thought of it, until their arrival at the next island pushed it from her head.
"Hold on," said Franky, an abnormal look of fear in his eyes. "Why exactly do we have to go ashore here?"
"Look at the Log Pose," Nami replied, holding it up for verification. The needle flitted and jumped wildly. "This is the right island, but it's not setting because of all the electrical interference."
"But still…" Franky said nervously, "why does that mean we have to go ashore?"
"We need to be on the island, but away from the interference," Nami explained. "That means find a cave or shelter of some sort, and it should set. The researchers on Weatheria warned me about this."
"But…." Usopp interjected, his voice quivering noticeably, "do we all have to?"
Usopp turned to look at the island fearfully. It was Raigame Shima, the island of Lightning Rain.
A few hours later, eight of the Straw Hats could be seen, walking in a close-knit group through a canyon that cut through a hill that shielded the island's interior. Weather patterns meant that it rained constantly on this island, as moisture was attracted from other sectors of the sea, but every drop of rain on the island was supercharged with electricity as it fell from the sky. Centuries of such rain had left the island a blasted wasteland, which looked to be devoid of life.
There was no way to know that, however, and that's why everyone had come along. Chopper had warned that creatures always adapt to their environments, and anything that adapted to live here would have to be especially strong, so they figured there was safety in numbers, especially when those numbers included Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. Only Franky had remained behind, because his body's high metal content meant it was far too dangerous for him to go ashore. Franky was happy to oblige, given some bad run-ins in the past regarding electric shock.
Nami protected the rest of the group from the lightning rain. She had positively charged her Clima Tact, prompting the electricity to seek the positive source, so that it leapt out of the raindrops as they fell and leapt into the Clima Tact harmlessly. The Clima Tact wouldn't protect them if the Straw Hats had any exposed metal, however, so Zoro and Brook had been soundly warned to keep their swords sheathed. But for now, aside from getting soaked, they were all safe.
It is a hard thing to separate a swordsman from his instinct, as they soon discovered. As they walked along, a small rock suddenly dislodged itself from the top of the canyon and came bouncing down among the Straw Hats. They all tensed, but in Zoro's case, that meant clasping Wado Ichimonji, and pulling it from its sheath, just slightly.
As if sensing the presence of a conductive surface, the lightning rain immediately leapt away from Nami's Clima Tact and found the steel of Zoro's katana. High voltage arced through Zoro's body in an instant.
"Luffy!" Nami shouted. She had prepared for this possibility.
"Yosh!" Luffy replied, whipping his arm out and grabbing Wado Ichimonji. The lightning continued to zap towards it as he pulled it away, but it did not harm the rubber man.
Ambient electricity flickered in Zoro's body as he collapsed, his limp limbs no longer able to support him. What happened next, however, surprised everyone.
Nico Robin dove to catch him. It was irrational, and it was out of character for her, but the dream had been on her mind. She had a debt to repay. She should have let him collapse to the ground as he was, the hardened warrior should be able to take simple electrocution and a slight fall. She could have used her devil fruit power to catch him, as it would have been faster, but instead she dove to catch him.
Robin held him in her arms for a time. He coughed, and opened his eye weakly.
"He's a man," Robin said.
Everyone stared at them with varying degrees of confusion, but Zoro smiled at her.
"And you're… a woman," he said slowly.
Robin smiled back, and helped him to his feet.
Author's Note: Yay, I'm 1/3rd of the way done with this! I've enjoyed it so far, and would like to thank PomRania, Tare-Chan, lochrann, JuzSomeone, and anyone else whose name can't come to mind atm for reviewing. This one is an obvious twist on a known ZoRo moment (about which I've written a story already)