A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, finals are evil! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Oh, and thanks to my awesome beta Tare-chan.
Rejecting Freedom
Chapter 14
An Amusing Day
My fingers ran through the cloth before me, a bright smile on my face. The fabric of the clothing was particularly fine but I knew it wouldn't be practical for someone on the sea to wear. Nami stood next to me, excitement in her eyes as she shuffled through the clothes in front of us, her thoughts about furniture for the ship long gone. It was for the best however, since it was all but impossible to buy furniture for a space you'd never seen before.
A light purple top caught my eye and I pulled it out with a hint of curiosity. I enjoyed the color very much and the fabric was practical, not too heavy to be too hot and not too light to be see-through. It would make a nice shirt while on the ship, but not on land. I always wore more…revealing clothes on land, when I wasn't just in the presence of my crewmates. I had learned long ago that such clothing helped in various ways, the most important of which being distraction. Such revealing clothing also helped to make me seem that much less dangerous, making others underestimate me the way they had for so long.
I heard Nami pull something off the rack beside me moments before her voice sounded. "Do you think this would suit me?" she inquired. I turned my head to look at the bright red top she held with a considering gaze, taking it how it looked beside her skin. It didn't look the best on her, the style not suiting her body but I wasn't about to tell her in such a rude way. My gaze drifted along the clothes before me and I pulled out a green tank top whose fabric would cling enough to hug her curves but to not be uncomfortable.
"How about this instead?" I inquired. She frowned, putting the red top back down and taking the green one from me. She stared at the fabric, feeling it and checking the price tag before smiling brightly and moving it against her skin. She moved in front of the nearest mirror before shooting a glance at me.
"You have such good tastes," she bubbled. I smiled and placed the purple top I had picked up back down, deciding I didn't like it enough to buy it. Nami folded the shirt over her arm and walked back over to the rack. She shuffled through clothes for a moment as I turned back to run my eyes over the clothes. The navigator suddenly was forcing a light sea foam green top on me with a grin.
"I think this would look good on you," she told me before dragging me over to the mirror to show me. I smiled hopelessly and allowed her to match it against my skin with a bright smile. I stared at the top, considering its tone as well as its length. It would stop just above my stomach but looked comfortable overall. I took the top from her with a light smile.
"I think I'll get it," I told her. She smiled, her gaze catching the shoes in the store.
"We should go look at shoes," she told me in excitement. I looked at the shoes selection in question before wordlessly walking over. Nami quickly ordered one of the employees of the store to bring us several pair and I simply listened, trusting the younger woman's fashion sense. I could use some new styles in my wardrobe anyways and it would be nice to have more selection in clothes then the selection I currently owned.
Almost an hour later, we walked out of the store, finally done looking choosing clothes. An employee walked out after us, bags in his hands as he headed to the Galley-La quarters the crew was staying at. The shop had graciously offered to deliver the bags to the quarters for no charge, in thanks for the crew's part in saving Iceberg, no matter that I had been the original one to shoot him.
"I feel good about what I bought, don't you, Robin?" the navigator inquired, her face happy. I matched her smile, feeling relaxed and enjoying the girl's day out with Nami.
"Of course. I might have to borrow some pairs of those shoes," I replied. "If you don't mind," She shook her head before grinning like that cat that had eaten the pet bird.
"Not at all. I'll being borrowing some of yours too," she assured me. Her gaze swept to the shops around us. "Is there anywhere you want to go specifically or should we just walk around and shop where ever?"
I gazed at the shops as well before shaking my head. "Anywhere you'd like to go would be just fine with me," I told her. She pursed her lips for a moment.
"Hmmm, I think it would be fun just try on clothes for a while," she suggested. "I wonder if there are any shops here with dresses," I blinked.
"Dresses?" I inquired in surprise. She nodded.
"Vivi and I did it in Alabasta. It was fun pretending to be someone else," she explained. I smiled in amusement.
"I believe some of the costume shops around here could help us in our search," I told her. She grinned.
"You might just be right," she said. "Let's try and find a map of the city or something to find one. Or do you know of one we can go to?" I did indeed know where one could be found, a location I had unfortunately learned from CP9. Even so, I was quite glad that I knew where one was since it saved us time here.
"We'll need some transportation," I murmured back. "It's quite far away, near the food markets, I believe," Nami grinned before she looked around for some poor, innocent victim to help us find transportation.
I smoothed the dress I was wearing with a light smile, doing my best to ignore how odd it looked on me, the animal print upon it not my style in the least. Nami had picked it with an evil grin, a grin which had faded when I had picked out the dress that could have been a pillowcase out for her. With one last regretful glance at the mirror I went out to see the navigator, whose face was firm. She shook her head.
"Neither of us did very good," she told me sadly. "Let's try again," I nodded before walking over to where the costumes hung and pulled out a costume which reminded me of a fairy tale villain.
"I think you should try this next," I suggested. She walked over and stared at it for a moment before pulling me out a costume that looked like a prince's outfit. She took her costume from me with a grin and handed me the prince one in exchange. I stared at the costume for a moment before walking into the changing room and putting it on. The effect was quite humorous and I walked back out with a smile. Nami appeared with a small smile, as if she was hesitant to admit she liked the costume. Her smile grew at the sight of me.
"I like it," she declared, walking over to look at me. She laughed lightly. "Sanji-kun would be disappointed he missed this if he knew," Her smile grew more devious and she walked over to the princess dresses and took two out, one dark blue and the other a light yellow. "Can you imagine how the crew would react if we ever wore these?" she inquired. I shook my head ruefully.
"I'm afraid of what Mr. Cook's reaction would be," I replied. She frowned at me.
"You started calling everyone by their names but Sanji and Zoro," she commented. "Is there a reason why?" I frowned lightly at her question. My silence made her grin. "You don't have a crush on either one do you?"
I blinked in surprise at that before smiling in amusement. "No such thing," I told her calmly. "I don't have time to worry about relationships," She seemed disappointed but covered it up quickly and handed the blue dress to me.
"Let's try these on," she told me. I stared at the dress before taking it with some amusement and putting it on. When done, I stared at myself in the mirror, then at the dress. It was truly such a silly thing to be wearing, such a useless article of clothing. I walked back out to find Nami waiting, twirling in the mirror with a smile on. She turned to me with a grin.
"You look good in that, Robin," she told me before she looked thoughtful. "I wonder if we could get our pictures taken in these, to document the experience,"
"We could probably ask the people who work here," I commented back. She smiled before ringing the bell for assistance. The woman who worked in the shop had given us our own personal dressing area with plenty of costumes, yet another perk we were given due to the town's gratitude. The worker rushed in, concern on her face that faded when she saw the dresses.
"You two look so beautiful," she exclaimed. Nami grinned and twirled around to show off the dress.
"I know," she replied. "Do you think we could get a picture of us?" The worker frowned.
"I'm afraid that we can't, not unless you agree to allow the store to use the picture as well," she explained. Nami frowned before she smiled wickedly.
"We would get paid from it too?" she inquired. The woman thought for a moment before nodding.
"I believe you would get either the dresses as payment or 5,000 Beli," she said. "Of course, since you are the famous Straw hats, I'm sure the store would be willing to give you a bit more, considering they'd want to use you for advertising,"
Nami grinned. "I like this store," she commented. "I agree. Don't you, Robin?" I smiled, catching sight of a crown. I walked over and grabbed it, placing it on Nami's head.
"This would suit you best in the picture," I told her. She seemed shocked at my actions before walking over and grabbing me a pair of fake glass slippers.
"We should make this a theme," she told me, handing me the shoes. I smiled at her before slipping them on without a word. The store employee looked excited.
"I'll go grab the camera," she told us before running off. Nami sat down on the couch in the room and sprawled out. I sat next to her calmly, adjusting my skirts to show off the shoes.
Nami grinned as she ate, no doubt because the meal was free, bought with the money the costume shop had given us for the picture. A copy of the picture lay in its own bag, where it was being protected by the navigator. The picture itself had made my heart swell, to see a picture of a good time, a good time that I wouldn't have to reflect back to when things finally took a nose dive. The picture's theme itself was ridiculous but good anyways.
I ate my food more slowly, enjoying watching the navigator happily eat than the food itself. Sanji's food was much better, I was sad to say and the fact was odd in my mind. Perhaps the whole thing was in my mind as well, that Sanji's food tasted better only because it was made especially for me and so treated with special care.
As expected, Nami finished her food first and just watched me eat afterwards. She soon seemed to grow bored.
"Hey, Robin, what's your opinion on love?" she inquired. I stared at her in surprise.
"Why do you ask?" I inquired, avoiding the question entirely, if only because I knew that she wouldn't enjoy the answer.
She sighed. "I don't really know. I used to think about it when I was younger, before Arlong came and I've been thinking about it lately all of a sudden," I frowned.
"Is there anything specific that brought these thoughts up?" I inquired, still avoiding the question carefully. She frowned, then sighed.
"I've just been thinking that it would be nice to have someone there in that way," she replied. I thought about her comment for a moment, understanding what she meant but also knowing it wasn't something I would chase after. I was currently just glad to have people around me who I could trust, people who wouldn't betray me when given the option.
Nami stared at me. "So what do you think about love?" she inquired. I delayed from answering from taking a bite of my food and thinking how to phrase my answer in a way which wouldn't crush all of her hopes.
"I'm afraid love is something I haven't ever had time to worry about," I replied. "Even now, I would rather focus on the history of a civilization than whether or not a relationship would work,"
Nami stirred her drink slowly, a thoughtful expression her face before she smiled. "You'd probably be a good mom," she told me slowly. I blinked in surprised before smiling slowly and shaking my head.
"You'd make a better mother than me," I replied, thinking back to my own mother, who had left me to look for history. It wasn't something I blamed her for, if only because I understood her reasons and I could quite easily see myself doing the same thing. I was too attached to my dreams to settle down somewhere long enough to raise a child and raising a child on the seas, subject to attacks was not a good idea. The idea became worse when I considered the child would be persecuted for being my child. If anything happened to me after their birth, I didn't want them to have a life that was similar to my own.
Nami smiled at that comment. "Do you really think so?" she inquired, sounding excited but doubtful at the same time. I smiled lightly in amusement.
"Of course. If you're able to keep our crew in line, a child would be quite simple in comparison," I replied. Her smile grew slightly.
"It would have to be after I mapped the world, though," she commented. "Then I think I'll return to my home and finish my life there,"
"A nice sounding idea," I told her. She took a sip of her drink.
"What are you going to do when you finish your dream?" she inquired. I shook my head and placed my face on my hand, tilting my head slightly in the process.
"I don't know," I told her with a smile. "There is a lot of history still lost in the world. I think I would continue to travel around and document it," Nami's smile slipped slightly, her expression thoughtful but woeful.
"When you've done that, maybe you can come to my village. You'll always be welcome there. I'm sure the rest of the crew will always accept you, too," she told me, making it clear she had just remembered that I had nowhere to return to.
"I'll keep that in mind," I replied. "Shall we pay for this and continue shopping?" Nami frowned at me before nodding slowly.
"Yeah, that sounds good," she replied.
I paid for my book silently before setting it within my bag. Nami had decided to go to another store instead, seeing some clothes that she liked. I had told her I was going to go look at books instead, something she took in stride quite well. We were to meet in front of a nearby store when we were done, so we could continue shopping.
I walked outside and went to Nami and I's meeting place right away. I watched the water for a few moments, standing around and waiting. Nami appeared from a few stores across the way and waved at me. I smiled in response before she was lost in the crowds as she headed over to where I was.
"Damn, I'm tired," a voice grumbled from nearby. I quickly realized it to belonged to Zoro and I turned to find him toting around three babies while wearing quite a short shirt with the words 'mama' imprinted on the chest. It quickly brought a true smile to my face, if only because the moment was so rare and oddly adorable, in a way.
"Looks pretty rough," I commented, false pity in my voice. The swordsman did indeed look quiet worn down, almost slumping on the ground as he walked. The fact didn't surprise me since it was quite normal for children to wear down an adult quickly with their energy. He replied quickly, not looking at me at all and I began to wonder if he had even noticed my presence in the least.
"You're right, why do I have to be treated like this," he complained. My smile grew as I realized he had indeed not noticed me and was replying without any thought in the least. He finally seemed to notice the fact that he was having a conversation with some and turned to me. His face changed in an instant, going from weariness straight to panic. "It's you?" he shouted.
Only moments later I was being forcibly pushed into a nearby alleyway, a smile on my lips at his frantic antics. His face was growing red as he did this, not even seeming to be putting much effort into pushing me. I did nothing, since it was clear he was going to speak eventually but still wanted to be out of sight. He also obviously didn't want to be seen as he was, even if it was rather…cute that he was tending to children. Perhaps he feared the destruction of his tough image, although that was already gone in my mind after watching him with the captain and the little doctor, where his soft side was more apparent.
I waited for him to speak but his words never truly came, only a curse leaving his mouth as his face grew ever redder. In my view of him, it was very odd since he rarely couldn't think of words to explain something, even if some of the words he probably wished he could take back after they were said. I took in his expression, still a smile on my lips and wondering if he was truly embarrassed enough to not be able to form words.
"Robin?" Nami's confused voice called out. In my discovery, I had almost forgotten about her but it also meant that I needed to wrap up this conversation fast, as to not confused the poor navigator any further. I leaned out of the alleyway, looking to see if she was coming this way. Zoro leaned out as well, his face fearful of someone else discovering him. Nami called my name a few more times before walking down the walkway in clear confusion. I decided to join her quickly and walked out of the alleyway, turning to the swordsman before I left.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," I assured him, since that seemed to be the main source of his panic. He seemed almost relieved by the fact, although I truly didn't understand why. I stopped after a step or two, "By the way, it suits you," I informed him, referring to both the events right then and the previous events on the ship. His face quickly became redder, a small expression of shock on his face as he made slightly flustered sounds, once again at a loss for words. I couldn't help but to laugh lightly at his expression before I walked away in pursuit of the confused navigator.
I found her quickly, a small expression of relief appearing on her face as she saw me, no doubt her thoughts going to the worst possible place when she couldn't find me. She, along with most of the crew, still didn't understand that I had no intention of running away ever again. It was an issue I would need to work on in the future, to make sure they all knew I was part of the crew and intended to continue as such. She took in my expression slowly before sending a weak smile my way.
"Where did you go? You were there one minute and then next you were gone!" she exclaimed. I smiled slightly in amusement.
"I'm afraid I found something to interesting to miss," I replied. She stared at me, seemingly expecting me to add something to my words before she realized I wasn't going to add anything to my words. A bright smile quickly came to her face.
"I found a shop we should go into," she told me before pointing off in the direction she had come from. "Let's go!" She began to walk in the direction she had pointed and I quickly followed, but not before I sent another smile in the direction where I had seen the swordsman.
I examined the illustration in the book slowly, eyes taking in all the details. In some ways, I wished I had more light to look at the illustration with, to take in the small details of the symbol for the civilization but I had only a candle to study it by. I didn't want to create any more light because the rest of the crew was already asleep for the night and I didn't want to disturb them. To my surprise, the swordsman even seemed tired, not even bothering to try and train after he ate, he simply going to bed afterwards. The thought brought a light smile to my lips. Taking care of others was hard work after all and although many of the crew sometimes acted like children, they were much less trouble.
A loud noise, which came from the kitchen made me look up in curiosity. The noises continued, sounding much like someone banging something against a wall or some other solid object. I waited for it to stop and when it didn't, I quickly set down my book and went over to the area where the noise was coming from. I almost ran in Luffy, his arms full of food. He seemed surprised but oddly enough acted by stuffing all the food in his mouth, as if to hide the evidence.
Before he could cram all the food into his mouth, he noticed it was me he had run into and not the cook, who would have probably punished him for stealing food from the kitchen yet again. He sighed lightly in relief swallowing some of the food and taking some of it out. "Oh, it's just you," he commented before taking his stash of food to the table and setting it down. I watched in light amusement before returning to the table, picking up my book quickly to make sure it didn't get any food on it as the captain began to inhale the meat before him.
I waited until he was done eating before talking. "You're up quite late," I commented. He looked up from where he was rubbing his stomach in contentment.
"I was hungry," he said, as if that explained everything. He stared at my book. "What's that about?" he inquired. I stared at him for a moment, slightly surprised that he would take interest in the book, even if he had taken some interested in my reads before.
"A civilization that disappeared without a trace some time ago," I told him, keeping it simple, as I knew that his attention span was even shorter at night then it was during the day. His attention seemed to be caught after my words, so I continued. "I'm currently reading about their traditional human sacrifices. They used to capture enemy tribes and cut their chests open so they could remove the internal organs and use them for various acts of worship. As for the leaders of the tribes, they would boil them alive for dinner and eat them as a show of power," Luffy seemed slightly thoughtful.
"What do you think Sanji will cook for dinner tomorrow?" he inquired. I blinked, wondering how he went from my explanation to that.
"I'm sure whatever he cooks will be tasty," I replied. Luffy nodded, a grin on his face. "Although I doubt Mr. Cook will be happy about your midnight raid," Luffy's face fell slightly before he frowned.
"You don't think Franky will give him locks for the fridge on the new ship, do you?" he inquired, worry in his tone. I laughed lightly.
"Perhaps you should send him a request not to," I suggested. Luffy grinned and stood up.
"Yosh, I'll go let him know right now!' he exclaimed. I smiled at him and shook my head lightly.
"If you do that, you'll spoil the surprise of what the ship will look like," I told him. He seemed to think on it for a moment before he sat back down, his face disappointed. "Perhaps you can send a note to the Franky house tomorrow to let him know," I suggest. He brightened back up in an instant, laughing for a moment.
"You're smart!" he told me. "I'm glad you're part of my crew," I smiled in response, my mind responding for me, although the response never left my lips. I was quite glad to be part of the crew as well. I stared at the captain, who was looking towards the kitchen, his face showing his hunger that had developed over the past few moments. To be honest, I had my being there mostly in thanks to Luffy, because he had been the one to change my mind. In some ways, I doubted anyone else on the crew would have been able to convince me since they would have only been able to try and destroy my reasoning rather than calmly ordering me to come. I laughed lightly to myself.
"Thank you," I murmured. Luffy looked at me in surprise, confusion on his face. It made my smile increase, although the smile felt oddly…bittersweet. I set my book back on the table and opened it to the page I had been examining earlier, doing my best to cover the emotions that were threatening to show. Luffy watched me read for a few moments before he grew noticeably bored, yawning widely. He continued to sit there, then decided to play with the flickering candle, as if he was trying to keep me company. He burned himself several times before I closed my book and stood up, faking a yawn.
"I think I go to bed," I informed him. He leaped up immediately, seeming relieved before he yawned again and slumped off in the direction of where the rest of the crew was sleeping. I sighed before extinguishing the candle and following him.
"Goodnight, Robin," I heard him mumble as he crawled into bed. I did the same as I folded myself into my sheets, knowing that I would be up a while longer, my body not tired enough to fall asleep. Surprisingly enough however, as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was able to close my eyes and fall asleep without much trouble.
A/N: Hope everyone liked the chapter and reviews would be appreciated, as always.