The following morning the Strawhats were up early searching for their missing crewmates.
They had noticed Robin and Zoro's absence the night before, but they hadn't begun to grow concerned until they awoke to find that neither of them had returned to their rooms during the night. It had been over 12 hours since anyone had seen either of them, and they were starting to worry.
"Zoro!" Luffy called out loudly as he climbed on top of the ship's figurehead. "Zoro, where are you?!"
He continued to yell the first mate's name and Chopper joined in, crying out for the two of them alongside his captain.
"Forget that cactus head!" Sanji shouted up to them with a hint of annoyance, before his demeanour changed and he began to sob. "This is terrible, where could my sweet Robin be..?"
"Calm down you three." Nami called up to them as she checked each of the rooms along with Usopp, Franky and Brook.
She knew that she had to be the one who kept a level head, especially when her captain and some of the other crewmates were in such a state of panic.
"Our best bet would be to ask around the town, to see if anyone's seen them. If they're not on the ship, then they're bound to be on land." She pointed out, aware that she was practically the only one right now that was thinking clearly.
Just as the crew began making a plan to search the island, Robin walked over to them, still dressed in her clothes from the night before.
"What's all this about?" She asked inquisitively with a small smile on her face as she watched the frantic crew.
Nami responded without turning around.
"We're going to go search for Robin and Zoro on the… Robin!" She yelled out her crewmate's name as realisation hit, and upon seeing that she was back and unharmed, the navigator jumped at the archaeologist, hugging her tightly.
As soon as the rest of the crew noticed Robin's presence, they all rushed over to her as well, bombarding her with questions regarding where she had been.
A few seconds later Zoro emerged, climbing down the ladder and making his way onto the deck. He spotted everyone huddled around Robin and he raised an eyebrow.
"Did I miss something?" He asked in a state of confusion, and Chopper gave a relieved sigh upon seeing that they were both okay.
"Oi! Don't act so calm about it you idiot!" Sanji called out to Zoro angrily. "Where have you two been eh?! I don't give a shit about you, but we were all worried about Robin's whereabouts!"
Zoro glared at him before turning to Robin, who giggled quietly. She decided to keep the fact that they had both fallen asleep together in the crow's nest a secret for now, as she wasn't sure how her and Zoro's new relationship would go down with the others.
"I'm sorry that we worried you." Robin apologised. "I went out to explore the town yesterday evening, and Zoro offered to accompany me. We got back late, and we didn't want to disturb anyone, so we stayed elsewhere."
Zoro smirked at the furious expression that appeared on Sanji's face. What Robin was saying wasn't too far from the truth after all, they just left out a lot of the important details, and slightly changed some of the facts.
"Yeah." Zoro nodded, backing up her statement. "What she said."
It was obvious that the rest of the crew wanted a more detailed explanation that that, but before anyone could question the situation further, Luffy Spoke up.
"Well, as long as you two are okay, it doesn't matter. Anyway, we found out about the next island, so we're gonna set sail!"
He seemed excited to set back out to sea, and it was clear that he was no longer worried about anything. He'd practically forgotten about the incident already, and his attention was now focused solely on their next voyage.
Due to the captain's dismissiveness regarding Robin and Zoro's disappearance, the rest of the crew were forced to drop the subject as well, so the crew disbanded from their cluster on the main deck and all began preparing to leave the dock.
Now that everything was sorted out, Franky went to the lower level of the ship to refuel and Nami made her way up to the ship's helm so that she could help navigate the way.
Meanwhile, Zoro was on his way to the kitchen to go grab something to eat, and Robin remained on the main deck, looking out to sea with a small smile on her face. She was curious about what was in store for them at the next island, so while all was quiet she decided to go ask Nami where they were headed.
Nami, who was studying the log pose on her wrist, looked up upon hearing Robin's approaching footsteps, and beamed happily at her.
"What's up Robin?" She asked as the raven-haired woman leant against the side of the ship.
"Nothing, I was just wondering where we're headed. Is it somewhere exciting?"
Nami was tempted to ask about what the two had been up to the night before, but decided against it, instead focusing on plotting a safe course for the thousand Sunny to take. But she would definitely bring it up with her later – she wasn't letting her get away with it this time.
"Somewhere called Genkaku island." Nami replied as she looked down at her log pose again.
"Genkaku, as in illusion?" Robin asked curiously, and Nami nodded. "I wonder what that could be… It sounds like an interesting island though, so I look forward to it."
"It was the safest path out of the three options, so I managed to persuade Luffy to take that one rather than risking the other two. But I still don't know much about it myself, aside from the name." Nami admitted, and Robin smiled.
"Well, that's okay. After all, not knowing is all part of the excitement of adventure." She replied and Nami sighed, wishing she could share Robin's laid-back attitude.
Sanji was sat in the kitchen, and as Zoro entered the room and made his way over to the fridge, the chef gave him a murderous glare. But Zoro ignored him, continuing to look around for anything he could eat.
"Oi, cook. Is there any food around? I'm starving." He asked as he routed through cupboards, and Sanji threw a spoon at his head.
"Just wait! I'll be making packed lunches soon." Sanji shot back. "Anyway, it's your fault you missed breakfast. You should have come down earlier. Because of you poor Robin missed hers too!"
Zoro shrugged. "If you feel bad for her not having breakfast, then why don't you make her something now? And while you're at it, make me some too."
Sanji growled in frustration. "You can't tell me what to do, you shithead! And I don't feel sorry for her for just that, I feel sorry for her for having to stay with you in the first place! I bet Robin couldn't wait to get away from you. If only she had asked me to go with her, I would have been much better company."
Zoro normally wouldn't rise to his bait, but this time he couldn't help himself.
"Funny, she seemed pretty content to me. It looks like she might like me more than she likes you, Mr. Ladies Man."
"Why you little bastard-!"
Sanji got up from his seat and Zoro unsheathed his sword, but just before the two could begin to fight, Luffy walked in, preventing them from fighting further.
"Oi, Sanji… How long before the packed lunches are ready? I'm hungry…" He complained, rubbing his stomach for emphasis. Sanji sighed and moved his attention away from Zoro and towards the captain.
"Alright, alright, I'll start making them now. They'll be ready in about an hour." Sanji replied as he made his way to the fridge.
He traded one more glare with the swordsman, who just smirked in response as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and got up to leave.