Tomorrow's Romance Dawn (OLD VERSION)

by HazelEyesIsOut1234

The Straw Hats have left Drum, ready to take on Baroque Works in Alabasta. However, upon making a pit stop at a 'mystery island', they come across something they never expected to find: an older Zoro! Now they must locate the rest of the future crew, as well as keep an ancient treasure out of the hands of bounty hunters. (EDITED CHAPTERS NOW ON THIS SITE AND AO3!)

21. Sunday's Child is Full of Grace

Special Announcement! With help from my sister, I will be putting together a musical opening for this fanfic! It won't really be animated, but it will have hand-drawn pictures (courtesy of my generous and talented sister) and it's going to be very cool! She will post it on her tumblr page (I'm afraid it would be taken down on YouTube, what with the song I'm planning to use) and when that time comes, I'll be sure to tell you all. I am planning a very similar project for when I reach the end of my story for an ending credits sequence. Either way, it will be epic.

Important Note: I may take a break from this story after this chapter. I have a reboot of my One Piece story, Once Burned, in the works and I kind of want to work on it. I also have a short One Piece story called Nothing But the Truth up and running, so I may want to finish that. Nothing is definite yet, but keep that in mind if there is a long, long gap between chapters after this one. (Be sure to check out Nothing But the Truth! It's good for a laugh!)

Hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor! This is my longest chapter to date!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Like, at all.

---

SBS 8!

Chapter Question: "What was your initial reaction to Ace's death?"

As I mentioned in a previous SBS, I spoiled Ace's death for myself by looking up his character after seeing a very good drawing of him done by Viria. But let me tell you, reading about something and actually seeing it happen are completely different. When I watched Ace's death, I started crying. It was so unfair. Ace wanted to live, and he was home free too! He was a better person than most and deserved to live, even if the rest of the world didn't seem to think so. And his final words... dang Oda. Why not just cut out our hearts?

As you can guess, Ace's death is a theme with this fic. I'm telling you now, Past!Luffy isn't going to find out about Ace's death. I'm already planning to dump enough on the poor guy without throwing that into the mix. I know what you're thinking; then why did I include that bit at the end of Luffy's first memory dream? You'll just have to wait and see.

---

Chapter 17: Sunday's Child is Full of Grace, but Wednesday's Child Wants to Kick In Her Face

---

Time: Day
Location: The Lesser Ruins

She heaved a sigh and snapped her journal shut. Blinking her eyes, she looked around the area she was sitting in. The sky was blue and the sun was almost painfully bright to her tired eyes.

She frowned. When had the sun risen?

I must have been extremely focused, she thought. I didn't even notice the sun coming up.

With that in mind, she stood up and stretched her stiff back and limbs. She winced; that was what she got for sitting in the exact same position for hours on end, but it was totally worth it. She smiled genuinely at all the papers and notes that littered the ground. Upon her search of the ruins, she had come across several walls engraved with glyphs. She had spent the last few hours deciphering these walls and gained access to a treasure trove of knowledge.

She picked up one of the papers, reading her neat handwriting.

... We of Saṅkalpa adhere to these truths. To find the strength, the voice, and the surrender of the world, we of Saṅkalpa embrace the will that has been granted to us generously by the heavens. The will of presence, the will of fighting spirit, and the will of intimidation. We strive for complete mastery so that we will rise above the common man...

She pursed her lips. She wasn't going to say she was an expert in the subject, but the text's referral to three different wills (as it mentioned multiple times) correlated with what she knew about the three types of Haki. And mentions of the Saṅkalpa... had they originated here, on Kāla? The text went on to give details that she thought some of the others would find interesting, but not as interesting as what the other walls said. The information she had gleaned from those would prove beneficial to understanding and overcoming the trials Kāla kept providing.

Speaking of trials, she wondered if her friends had come across any of the bounty hunters. She hoped they had found a way to regroup. It would be easier to tell them everything she knew and learned if she didn't have to keep repeating it over and over.

She sat back down and picked up her pencil. She still had a lot of work to do... the ruins had so much to offer and she had to learn everything she could. Her friends could do without her for a little while longer...

---

Location: With the Straw Hats' jungle group

The group hadn't moved from the spot they'd stopped in for over an hour. It had also been that long since Luffy decided to climb a tree. He still hadn't come down, and personally, no one could blame him.

Vivi's sudden appearance and her being alone- save for Carue, who collapsed from exhaustion not long after bringing Vivi to them- had carried several implications. These implications were confirmed when she tearfully explained everything that had happened to her group. The battle against Yari, Franky's timely arrival, the ambush in the cove (upon mentioning of Runo again, Nami finally remembered where she had heard his name before- Erity had mentioned her future self was captured by him), and Future Sanji's attack. When she had gotten to the part about her own escape, Luffy walked past where she sat, hugging her knees, and started to climb the nearest tree.

Under normal circumstances, Luffy would have demanded to know the hunters' location so he could beat the crap out of them and take back his comrades. This, however, was not 'normal circumstances.' For starters, he hadn't even known Future Sanji and Tony had been captured until now- he supposed that was the same for Future Nami, but he already knew something had happened to her from the whole triple pose thing. No, his crew had conveniently left that tidbit of information out when they explained who Tony and Lysopp were. They of course had to explain to Vivi their own situation, where Luffy learned Tony had attacked them in a hypnotized state. Tony was free now, but that would have been nice to know sooner.

Second, the crew members that had been ambushed in the cove had been defeated, badly. While Future Sanji's fire attack sounded really cool, judging by Vivi's description Zoro had been horribly injured by it. It had been completely one-sided, just like Sanji's brief fight with Roronoa. Unlike Sanji's fight with Roronoa, the latter hadn't even been trying. Future Sanji, while hypnotized, had been trying. Luffy didn't even want to think about what he could have done to Brook and Usopp. Even before then, his own crew members had practically been tortured by this Yari girl before Franky showed up. Of course, Nami had to mention her own one-sided fight with Erity, and then there was his duel against Vaughan.

Luffy had lost, just as miserably as everyone else. He hadn't mentioned this to his comrades, but he could still clearly remember the last thing the pseudo-vampire had said to him before he got knocked out.

Luffy stood up. He couldn't remember how many times he fell, or how many times he got back up, but this time hurt like the devil. He was light-headed and every part of his body ached.

"Geez, you don't know when to quit, huh?" Vampire Guy said, breathing heavily. "If it's any consolation, I was really trying not to hurt you this much."

Vampire Guy was mostly unharmed, save for a couple bruises and a bleeding lip. He would have had more injuries if it weren't for a technique he kept using to avoid attacks, and another one that made punching him like punching a steel wall. And his punches affected Luffy more than they should- just like Garp's. At least the bounty hunter didn't try shooting him again, instead just using the rifle on his back as a club and creating weapons out of spilled blood.

He now had a big sword made of solidified blood, which really wasn't good for Luffy. It was made mostly out of his own blood.

"I don't think you can take another hit from my Sanguine Sabre," the hunter went on, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I don't want to kill you, but you're not going to stop fighting, are you?"

Luffy was currently attempting to breathe without coughing up blood, so he had no reply for the red-eyed man.

Vampire Guy sighed and gave Luffy a sympathetic look (at least it looked sympathetic in Luffy's blurring vision). "Normally that would be a admirable trait, but in this case it's reckless. There are times where you need to cut and run. You know that, right?"

Luffy had no answer. He instead gave the older man a dirty look.

"Don't look at me like that. It's your own fault for trying to take on an enemy you weren't ready to fight. I don't know what kind of enemies you've been fighting up until now, but the New World, and heck, the last half of Paradise are whole other stages. You're strong but not strong enough to take us on." He shrugged. "I suppose it's this kind of mindset that led to events such as Sabaody. Figures as much. Keep this up and you'll only lose your crew."

Those words echoed in Luffy's head. Sabaody? What was Sabaody? And what did he mean he'd lose his crew?

"Hopefully your future self will be a little more wise. With experience comes wisdom and all that jazz." Vampire Guy stuck out his hand. "Sorry about this. I actually don't like controlling blood while it's still in the body, but I don't have any tranqs."

Luffy finally tried to speak. "You-"

"Head Rush!"

Luffy's head felt hot and heavy, then everything went black.

After that he'd had that horrible nightmare, and then he awoke to find himself with his crew. And speaking of his crew... Luffy looked down from where he sat in the tree. Roronoa was sitting against the roots of the very same tree his young captain was sitting in, while Nami was simply sitting on the ground near Vivi, stroking the still-exhausted Carue's head. It appeared Vivi had just finished being treated for her injuries by the two reindeers, and was now being hugged by both Tony and Lysopp.

"VIVI!" Tony and Lysopp were shouting, rivers of tears streaming down their faces. "WE MISSED YOU SOOOOO MUCH!"

Vivi appeared to not know how she was supposed to react, so she just smiled sadly and patted their backs. "Aw, thanks you guys. I guess it's been awhile since you've seen me."

Lysopp got off her and wiped his eyes. "I'll say! It's been over two years!"

Vivi nodded. "Yeah, and you've changed a lot, Uso- Lysopp. When did you become so-"

Lysopp's face went deadpan. "The next word you're going to say better not be "manly.'"

"... Okay, how about 'grown up' then?"

"... I guess that's better. And thanks for not saying it like you're completely surprised."

"What about me, Vivi? I've changed too, right? Right?" Tony said excitedly.

Vivi looked at Tony, then at Chopper. She kept looking between the two for a solid minute, and then the two reindeer realized what she was doing.

"YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE?!" the two doctors hollered.

"I'm sorry!" Vivi apologized. She turned to Chopper. "I'm sure you've changed a lot, Mr. Tony!"

"I'm your time's Chopper! He's 'Mr. Tony'!" Chopper yelled, pointing at Tony.

'Mr. Tony" was currently sitting an emo corner next to Roronoa. Not that past Straw Hats knew it, but that last time he'd looked this dejected was when he saw his first bounty.

"Have I really changed that little...?" Tony asked himself, obviously depressed. "I thought I'd become a man..."

Roronoa scoffed and placed a hand on top of Tony's hat. "You have become a man. Just not in appearance."

That did little to ease Tony's new existential crisis. Vivi now looked really guilty about hurting the reindeer's feelings. Before she could do anything about it, Lysopp got in her face with a very stern expression.

"Since you're here and from the past, I see it fit to ask something of you in the coming future," Lysopp said, all business.

"Luffy doesn't want us to know too much about the future," Nami reminded him. "Whatever it is, I doubt it's important enough break his order."

"It is extremely important!" Lysopp argued before turning back to the princess. "Vivi, whatever you do... please remember to tell us stuff when we get to Alabasta!"

Vivi blinked. "Tell you stuff?"

"Yes, like about the wild sand storms, the Sandora dragons, the thieving birds, the deadly plants... that stuff!" Lysopp seemed to remembering something awful. "All the cruel dangers of the desert and you kept forgetting to tell us about them! It was ridiculous!"

"I'm... sorry?" Vivi apologized.

"Is Alabasta really that dangerous?" Chopper asked curiously.

"It can be. The desert is a harsh environment and is filled with many dangers." Vivi frowned and turned back to the sniper. "Sorry about all that, Lysopp. I guess I'll try to remember to tell you this time around?"

Lysopp nodded. "That's all I ask."

"With the way you tend to blurt stuff out and worry, I'm surprised this is going to be a problem," Nami commented.

Vivi blushed and looked away. She didn't need to be reminded of her quirks.

"I remember our trip through Alabasta well," Lysopp stated dramatically. "It was as harsh a journey as the desert itself."

"Stop whining, it wasn't that bad," Roronoa told him.

The sniper glared at him. "Not that bad?! It was way too hot, there was never enough water, the camel would only let the girls ride him, and Luffy kept eating hallucinatory cacti!"

"Okay, I will admit the heat and the cactus things got annoying, but in comparison to everything we've been through since then, can you really say it was that bad?"

Lysopp stopped and considered all that, then frowned in deadpan again. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Vivi, having grown up in the desert, had to wonder what her friends had gone through that made the desert look feeble in comparison.

"... Luffy ate hallucinatory cacti?" Nami spoke up.

Chopper held up a hoof. "I have read that certain species of cacti secrete special chemicals that cause hallucinations. They're even used in making hallucinogenics."

"That sounds like quite a story," Vivi added.

"It is," Lysopp confirmed. He looked up. "Hey, Luffy!"

Luffy was startled, but called back down. "Yeah, Usopp-ossan?!"

"I know you don't want us revealing too much about the future, but do you mind if I tell them about this time you ate cactus that made you act weird? It doesn't give too much away!"

Luffy could sense the present morale in the group; it was pretty low. Maybe a funny story was what they needed at the moment. "Sure, that's fine."

"Great, thanks!" Lysopp turned back to the group on the ground. "So we were travelling through the desert, our throats parched and dry..."

Luffy stopped listening- he just wasn't in the mood for a story right now. He kept looking down at the group long enough to notice Roronoa staring at him, but he soon looked away. Looking at Roronoa reminded the rubberman of he said when they argued about who would take down Vaughan.

"You just can't afford to rush into things without thinking, at least not while we're on this island."

Now, after hearing everything and having time to ponder it, Luffy realized both Roronoa and Vaughan had been right. They weren't ready and now he'd lost several of his crew mates, past and future, to the bounty hunters. He had rushed into it and paid the consequences. So much for Operation Save the Future.

Luffy rubbed his head, which was starting to ache. He wasn't used to doing this much thinking.

"Hey."

Luffy looked up and was surprised to see he wasn't the only one sitting on the big tree branch anymore. Sanji was sitting there with him. (Luffy thought someone was missing from the group below.)

"Roronoa wanted to come up here and talk to you, but I told him I'd do it. He shouldn't be climbing trees with that shoulder anyway," Sanji said, lighting a cigarette. He took a deep drag before continuing. "So, going by the fevered look on your face, you've been doing some thinking. Am I right?"

Luffy kept his expression purposely blank. "Vampire Guy's crew captured our friends."

"Yeah, and they're using some of our future selves as 'toys'," Sanji sighed. He smiled bitterly. "Have to admit, I've always wanted to kick the Mosshead's ass..."

But not like this. The unspoken words rang clearly in the chef's voice, and Luffy noticed them the moment Sanji had started talking.

"If we go up against this Runo guy, we need to keep him away from you," the blond man went on. "You didn't do well against that Miss Goldenweek, and Nami told me about the weirdo from Usopp's village. You and hypnotists don't mix."

"... Sanji, how come you guys didn't tell me your future self, Future Nami, and Chopper-ossan had been captured and hypnotized? And that Chopper-ossan was hypnotized into attacking you?" Luffy asked, getting right to the point.

Sanji rubbed his neck. "We had only just learned the former from Lysopp last night. It wasn't that we were trying to keep both from you, though; we figured we'd just wait until we caught up with Vivi's group to go into better detail so we wouldn't have to keep telling it over and over." The chef glanced down at Vivi, who was laughing at something Lysopp just said. She looked like she was doing better from earlier. "I guess that doesn't matter so much now."

"You should have told me."

"What would you have done if we had? Go running off into the jungle again without thinking?"

Luffy, for once, honestly had no idea if that was what he would've done. Before he had been raring to challenge Vaughan again, but now he wasn't so sure. Running off would have meant the group would be split up again-

You will never see them again.

"Luffy? Luffy!"

Luffy shook his head as Sanji shook his shoulder. He must have blanked out. He turned to look at the older man.

"Luffy, you just got really pale," Sanji said with concern (not that he'd ever admit to showing concern for a non-female crewmate). "Are you feeling all right, or do you want me to get Chopper?"

"Sorry, Sanji," Luffy apologized. "I'm fine, I promise. What were you saying?"

Sanji didn't look convinced, but he chose to take his captain's word for it. "I was just saying that for once, future Mosshead is right; we can't going rushing into this like we usually do. We don't want anyone else to get captured or hypnotized. Roronoa also told me to tell you that from this point on, we have to assume that anyone else we come across might be hypnotized too. That way there won't be a repeat with what happened with the shipwright."

Luffy crossed his arms. "What do you care about what Zoro-ossan says anyway? Nami told me you and Zoro don't trust him."

"Nami is as observant as ever," Sanji said without his usual lovey spiel. "I don't explicitly distrust him, but I won't lie; I think there's something off about Roronoa. Zoro and I both think he's hiding something, and don't tell me you haven't noticed all the guilty looks he kept shooting at you in the beginning. He gave you one earlier when you woke up from your bad dream. Brook, Lysopp, and Tony have been doing it too."

Sanji remembered when the elder swordsman had called their crew "overconfident rookies." Now that he thought about it, Roronoa sounded like he knew what he was talking about. In the future, did the crew become overconfident and pay the price for it? It would explain all the guilty looks Roronoa, Lysopp, Tony, and Brook kept giving Luffy, but the chef had a feeling there was more to it than that. He would have asked Roronoa outright if it were not for Luffy's "no asking about the future" rule.

A rule Luffy looked almost ready to break. Almost.

"That doesn't matter," Luffy said a little forcefully. "The crew is all together in the future. Whatever they feel guilty about, we get through it."

The real question was whether he was convincing Sanji of that... or himself. Luffy didn't know anymore, and that scared him. It took a lot to scare him.

"I guess you have a point there. For now, we should be worried about the situation at hand." Sanji stubbed out his cigarette on his heel. "What's our next move going to be? Are we going to try and get our crewmates back, or do something else? Just know that if try the first choice, we'll probably have to rely on Roronoa, Lysopp, and Tony to fight." He shuddered. "Now that's a thought that fills me with trepidation."

Luffy grinned, his first since Vivi's return. "Nah, they're all strong. I bet they could take on those stupid hunters, easy!"

Sanji snorted. "Yeah, sure. All Tony has to do is take that monster form again and squish them."

"Chopper really has an eighth monster transformation? I can't believe I missed that!"

"Be glad you did. That thing was freaky."

Luffy chuckled. He had by no means forgotten his concerns or his worries, but he no longer felt overly depressed about it. Laughing had helped, and he had a feeling that was what Sanji was aiming for.

"There you go," Sanji said proudly. "Look, I'm sorry we kept that information from you. But you need to stop sitting up here angsting over everything; it's completely out of character for you. We'll figure this out like we always do. And if you need to talk to us, do that. That's what we're here for."

Luffy thought about that. Should he tell Sanji and the others about his dreams, and what Vaughan had told him at the end of their duel?

The rubber boy frowned, then looked Sanji directly in the eye. "Sanji, I-"

"OI, GUYS!" Nami's voice screeched from down below.

The chef and captain looked down. Everyone was on their feet- even Carue- and watching a large, full-grown buck (assumably Tony) sniff the ground.

"GET DOWN HERE!" the navigator continued to shout. "TONY THINKS HE'S GOT SOMETHING!"

"BE RIGHT DOWN, NAMI-SWAN!~" Sanji yelled back. He looked at Luffy. "Duty calls. What were you going to say just now?"

Luffy adjusted his hat before answering, covering his eyes. "It can wait."

"Alright. Feel up to getting us down from here?"

"Sure."

---

Luffy ended up wrapping one arm around Sanji's waist and the other around their tree branch. Then, slowly so he wouldn't aggravate his wounds too much, lowered himself and Sanji to the ground. He flinched when his arm snapped back into place, but it wasn't too bad.

"So what does Tony think he's got?" Sanji asked as he and Luffy approached the group.

Tony looked up. "Okay, so I was laying face-down on the grass after Vivi hurt my feelings-"

"I said I was sorry, Mr. Tony!" Vivi interrupted.

"- and I ended up sniffing the ground. While I was doing that, I picked up a scent!"

"What kind of scent?" Luffy asked.

Tony sniffed the ground some more. "It smells like flowers..."

Nami frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "There are lots of flowers around here, Tony."

"... Old books..." Tony continued.

"There's a definite lack of those around here," Roronoa said, a grin slowing forming on his face. He knew where Tony was going with this.

"... And coffee!" Tony looked up again, smiling widely. "There's no doubt about it! Robin was here, and judging by how strong the scent is, it was pretty recently!"

This brought forth a myriad of reactions from the group. Lysopp and Roronoa were both grinning excitedly now, for this was the best news they'd heard all day. Sanji was already in mellorine-mode at the prospect of meeting the elusive "beautiful archaeologist." Vivi, Nami, and Chopper, who had only heard of Robin through comments of her morbidity, were less excited. Luffy remained completely blank-faced.

"... Well, before Vivi showed up we were planning to go after Robin once we met up with the Sunny-Retrieval group," Roronoa remembered.

"This is perfect!" Lysopp declared. "Tony, do you think you can track her with her scent?"

"I can!" Tony assured them. "If this is what Luffy wants us to do, then I can definitely lead you to Robin!"

Everyone turned to look at the rubberman in question, awaiting his answer.

"Well, Luffy? What are we going to do?" Chopper asked.

"Do you want to follow this scent to Ms. Robin, or do you want to start thinking up a rescue plan for Mr. Bushido and everyone else?" Vivi asked with a somewhat melancholy tone.

Luffy didn't reply for a few moments, his hat shadowing his eyes. He was going over the options in his head, and it wasn't long before he made his decision.

"If we're going to take our friends back, we're going to need as many people from the future to fight for us as possible," Luffy said in a low voice. He looked up, determination in his gaze. "Since we have an idea of where she is, we're going after Robin! But like Zoro-ossan said, there's a chance she might be hypnotized too, so we need to be careful!" He clenched his fists. "And most importantly..."

You will never see them again.

That man-bear could shove it. Luffy would see them again. He was going to make sure of it.

"... from here on out, we stick together! No more splitting up! Got it?!"

"RIGHT!" everyone shouted in response.

Luffy pointed at Tony. "Chopper-ossan, lead the way!"

"You got it, Captain!" Tony said. "Everybody, follow me! Chopper, try picking up the scent too, so you can help!"

Chopper entered Walk Point, and soon enough, he had the scent as well. Vivi led Carue over to Luffy and told the captain he shouldn't be walking too much with his injuries before joining the others in following the reindeer. Roronoa hung back with Luffy, helping his captain mount the large bird.

Roronoa gave Luffy a side glance. "You and the cook were talking for awhile. You doing better?"

Luffy nodded. "I'm fine now. I'll be even better when we get our friends back."

Roronoa gave a half-smile and looked away. "Good to hear. Come on, let's catch up."

Carue let out an enthusiastic squawk, and the three ran to join the others... and almost immediately had to go back for Roronoa, who went the wrong way.

---

Time: About 20 minutes later

The path the two Choppers took the crew along went north, and as they went further, the terrain changed. There were fewer trees and occasionally they had to climb over walls of rock. The farther north they went, the more elevated the landscape became.

"Are you sure Robin took this route?" Lysopp asked, pulling himself up yet another short cliff. "Because I really don't think she would have taken the most difficult path imaginable!"

"This is where her scent leads," Chopper replied simply.

"And Robin's really clever," Tony added. "If she knew there were enemies on the island, she would have taken a difficult path just so she wouldn't be easily followed."

"That sounds like something Robin would do," Roronoa commented, helping Luffy and Carue up onto the ledge.

Sanji happily helped Nami and Vivi up the ledge and the group continued walking. As they went, the ground began to flatten out, much to the crew's relief since it meant they wouldn't do much more climbing. But this meant the foliage grew thick again, making sniffing out Robin a harder task. At any rate, another few minutes passed before anyone tried to make conversation again.

"Speaking of difficult paths," Nami spoke up. "Vivi, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it, Nami?" Vivi asked.

Nami held up a piece of paper, which she had been using to mark their path. "When you showed up, we were all completely lost. How did you manage to find us?"

Vivi opened her mouth to give an answer, then just as quickly shut it. She began to look very puzzled.

"Vivi-chan?" Sanji said with concern.

"I... I'm not sure," Vivi admitted. "I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going."

Luffy patted Carue's head. "What about you, duck? Do you know how Vivi found us?"

Carue looked a little confused himself, but nodded. "Quaw quaw quaw, quaw quaw quaw."

"'While I was running with Vivi I found this weird clearing amongst the trees, like a path. I figured it wouldn't hurt to take it, so I did,' he says," Chopper translated, moving to walk alongside Luffy and Carue. Tony seemed to be doing fine on his own.

"I didn't see any path in the direction you guys came from," Lysopp pointed out.

"Quaw quaw quaw, quaw quaw!" Carue said in a little panicky tone. "Quaw quaw quaw!"

"'That's because as I moved along the path, trees behind me moved!'" Chopper translated again. "'They covered up the path I took!'"

"Seriously?!" Vivi gasped.

Nami had broken into a sweat, but she looked thoughtful, "You know... I think something similar to that happened to me..."

Vivi turned to gape at her. "It did?!"

"Earlier, when I got separated from the boys, the way I came was suddenly covered in trees and vines. Not long after that I met Erity and Lysopp."

"And after that, when we were trying to get back to the beach, you said it was like the trees were purposely keeping us from going the right way," Roronoa pointed out. "And then Vivi found us."

"Guys... you're making it sound like the island is alive and leading us around..." Lysopp said fearfully. "I thought we all agreed that the island wasn't alive and leading us around..."

"But it's helping us find our friends!" Luffy said cheerfully. "That's awfully nice of it to do!"

"Shut up, Luffy!" Nami barked. "I refuse to believe the island is alive! It makes no sense!"

"I hate to disagree with you, Nami, but we are in the Grand Line... this place doesn't make sense as a rule," Sanji admitted reluctantly. He gave her a thumbs up. "But I still support you 100%!"

Nami flopped over dejectedly. She was surrounded by morons.

"Uh.. Mr. Roronoa?" Vivi spoke up. "Would you be able to tell if the island was alive?"

Roronoa raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me?"

"Back when we were being attacked by Yari, Mr. Brook said you had an ability called Kenbunshoku Haki that let you sense things'... 'inner voices?'"

"Yeah, didn't Lysopp mention those twins having something called Haki?" Sanji remembered. "What is Haki?"

"It's kind of an enforcement of will," Roronoa replied. "Specifically, Kenbunshoku Haki allows the user to hear one's inner voice, helping them find another's location or predicting their attacks..."

Sanji kicked forward, and for the umpteenth time, Roronoa caught the chef's foot. The swordsman smirked. "... Like that."

"So that's how you keep avoiding my attacks!" Sanji yelled in frustration. "I knew it wasn't a fluke!"

Luffy nodded sagely. "So it's a mystery ability!"

Roronoa snorted. "It might as well be."

"That's so cool!" Chopper awed. "So you can read minds?!"

"It's not that specific, Chopper." Roronoa pushed Sanji's foot away, and Nami caught the chef before he could fall over. Ignoring Sanji's loud declarations of love to the navigator, Roronoa went on explaining. "I know I make it look easy, but in reality my Kenbunshoku Haki isn't as good as other members of the crew. But to answer Vivi's question, if the island was alive, I would be able to tell."

"Is it alive?" Luffy asked curiously.

Roronoa frowned. His silence did nothing to reassure the more cowardly members of the crew.

"... I don't know," Roronoa admitted.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON"T KNOW?!" Nami, Chopper, Lysopp, Sanji, and Vivi all demanded to know.

"Exactly that. I have been getting the vague impression we're being watched... not to mention ever since I got here I've noticed my 'hearing' has been muted. It's like there's a bigger 'voice' muffling all of the other 'voices', but I can't make it out. It's like a buzzing background noise." Seeing their creeped out expressions, he continued, "That doesn't necessarily mean it is alive. For all we know, there just might be a ridiculously powerful Haki user on this island somewhere."

"Y-You mean like E-Eneru?" Lysopp said shakily. He groaned. "'Cuz I really don't need to relive that experience."

"Eneru's Haki was strong, but he had the Rumble Rumble Fruit to back it up," Roronoa said. "I don't think we have to worry about that."

The two future pirates soon realized that they were being stared at by all of the past crewmates.

"Future thing," Lysopp said, waving his hand. "Pay us no mind."

"My point is that there's no way of knowing," Roronoa finished. "That's the best answer I can give."

"Oi, Island!" Luffy shouted suddenly, throwing his arms up in the air. "If you're actually alive, mind giving us a shortcut to Robin?! This trip is taking too long!"

Everyone either groaned or gave Luffy a baleful look. This was no time for messing around.

"What did Roronoa just say?!" Nami yelled at the rubberman.

"What? He said he didn't know if it was alive or not," Luffy reasoned. "There's no harm in just asking, is there?"

"I guess not," Sanji admitted. "But it looks kind of stupid asking an island for a favooOOOOOAHHH!"

Sanji was cut off as the group found themselves falling over the side of a large cliff. It came into their path so suddenly that no one had a chance to prevent the chain reaction of tripping over the side that ensued.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Lysopp shrieked. "TONY, WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN US?!

"I COULDN'T!" Tony squealed. "THE CLIFF JUST CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!"

"THANKS A LOT, LUFFY!" Nami howled, bonking Luffy on the head.

"WHAT? IT'S A SHORTCUT!" Luffy argued.

"NOT IF WE END UP STAINS ON THE GROUND!" Vivi shouted.

"QUAAAW!" Carue agreed.

"I'LL BREAK YOUR FALL, LADIES!" Sanji offered lovingly.

"HANG ON, I GOT THIS!" Luffy insisted. "GUM GUM-"

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Chopper ordered. "YOU'LL STRAIN YOUR INJURIES!"

Luffy crossed his arms and pouted, a remarkable feat given he was free-falling.

"USOPP! CHOPPER!" Roronoa shouted, temporarily forgetting to use their new names. "DO SOMETHING!"

"RIGHT!" Lysopp and Tony responded.

Lysopp quickly pulled on his goggles, pulled a Pop Green from his bag, and drew back the strap of his Kuro Kabuto. "GREEN STAR: TRAMPOLIA!"

The seed hit the ground and immediately grew into a big bubble-like plant.

"GUARD POINT!" Tony called out.

Having seen Chopper take this form before, the group was only mildly shocked to see Tony burst into a ball of fluff. What did most of the shocking was just how big that ball of fluff was- it was enormous! Still, the two future pirates' actions did what they were supposed to. The group either landed on the Trampolia or Tony's Guard Point, softly breaking their fall.

Wow, Chopper thought as he bounced on the Trampolia. I really don't need Rumble Balls in the future...

Once everyone was done bouncing and safely on the ground, Tony went back to Brain Point and the pirates regrouped.

"Okay," Nami said breathlessly, dusting off her clothes. "All in favor of that thing with the cliff being a coincidence and not in any way a sign that the island is alive and listening, say 'aye.'"

"Aye," the crew, save the captain, said in deadpan unison.

Luffy, deciding to not go along with his crew's thoughts, waved his arms towards the top of the cliff. "Thanks for the shortcut, Island! We owe you one!"

"WE OWE THE ISLAND NOTHING!" Nami and Sanji screeched, punching Luffy's head. "WE ALMOST DIED!"

Roronoa stretched his arms and turned to Tony. "How about it, Tony? Was it a shortcut?"

Tony transformed into Walk Point and began to sniff the ground. He only did this for a moment, then lifted his head. "Robin's scent is much stronger now! She's close! Everyone, follow me!"

Tony went dashing back into the forest, and the rest of the group did not hesitate in following.

---

Location: Carrion Bounty Hunter Base Camp, Jungle's Northern Sector

She was running- running as fast as she could, through the jungle and up to the high cliff above Kronos Cove. She had to make it, she had to tell them! They couldn't leave yet!

She made it to the cliff and skidded to a stop before she pitched over the edge. The ship was still in sight; it hadn't made it past the Fog yet! Taking a deep breath, she screamed as loudly as her small lungs could take.

"STOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP!"

In the distance, she could see a figure standing near the ship's stern turn to look back at her.

"COME BACK!" she shrieked. "COME BACK, I CHANGED MY MIND!"

The figure did not call back.

"I WANT TO KEEP MY PROMISE BUT..." She bit her lip, tears beginning to run down her face. "PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO STAY HERE BY MYSELF! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"

The figure facing her turned away, most likely so he wouldn't have to see a sobbing girl anymore. Once he had done that, the ship vanished.

She fell to her knees. Of course they didn't come back- they warned her that if she agreed to this, they would never see each other again. And who knew how long it would take for Saatatya to fulfill his vow? She had been so naive. She had been so caught up in the prospect of leaving home and having an adventure that she didn't think much about how all this would feel.

She fell forward, her hands pressed to the ground. She was crying. She was crying her little eyes out, but what would you expect? She was only a child and no matter how mature she was for her age, this was a sad day.

She was all alone.

Siobhan snapped awake. People used to tell her when she woke up, she really woke up. She sprawled out her body and ended up banging her arms, legs, and head against the cage. The banging of her head caused her to bite her own tongue, and she immediately tasted blood.

She pulled herself together and sat up, spitting out the blood in her mouth. She stuck out her tongue. "Owww... wah do ah ohays do tat?"

"That must have been quite a dream if it warranted that kind of reaction, Siobhan."

Siobhan sucked back in her tongue and threw a glare to the side. Instead of some random flunky sitting in the "guard chair", it was Carrion himself. He was whittling away at a block of wood, only pausing to eat a banana from a pile sitting on a tray on the tent's desk.

She really didn't want him there, but maybe starting some witty banter with him would get her mind off her dream. She always dreamed of that day when she started thinking of Life Before, much to her eternal annoyance. That wasn't one of her best moments and she despised being reminded of it. She had been thinking of Life Before a lot ever since the Straw Hats and bounty hunters showed up. She hated it and it needed to stop! It would only prove to be a distraction later on.

"What are you doing here?" Siobhan asked sardonically. "Don't tell me you've been watching me sleep. As if you weren't creepy enough."

"I noticed my men kept sleeping on the job, so I decided I would take a turn," Carrion replied casually. He started to peel another banana. "They all keep underestimating you, and we can't have that."

The twelve-year-old scoffed. "Weren't you the one who said you could handle a little girl earlier?"

"If the need arises, I could deal with you. That doesn't mean I don't acknowledge that you're stronger than you look."

"What gives you that idea?"

"You have a very commandeering presence, and you're quite sure of yourself for someone who is a prisoner," he answered. "Also, after our little chat, I did some thinking. I remembered Erity mentioned that when she and Vaughan were chasing you, she fell unconscious at some point. She believed you were responsible, despite you being nowhere near her. In addition, Vaughan dropped that little clue about you having too much will for devil fruit powers to affect you."

Siobhan scowled.

Carrion chuckled. "I used to be in the Navy, brat. I know strong-willed types when I see them, but I didn't really look at you until recently. Now, I don't want to think you're capable of such things at such a young age, but I have to be careful. Besides your obvious use to us in locating the Star of Kāla, that's the reason you're still in that cage and not tied up or anything. Simply tying you up in ropes or even chains is too easy to escape from."

Siobhan was actually a pretty good escape artist when it came to ropes and chains, but she wasn't about to let the Boss know that. She decided to change the subject.

"Navy this, Navy that," Siobhan griped. "What is this Navy thing you are so obsessed with? Some of my past visitors mentioned it, but they never went into detail."

Carrion gave her an intrigued look. "You mean you don't know? You must have been on this island for a long time then."

"It hasn't been that long. I've only been living here for a little more than three years."

"Time outside of the island's borders passes differently, but you already knew that."

"Yes, I did already know that. Care to say other things I already know, like how eating that many bananas is just going to make you mosquito bait?"

If Carrion had a response to that, he didn't get a chance to say it. A woman with long, wavy golden yellow hair entered the tent. She wore a pin-stripe suit, square glasses, and carried a clipboard. Siobhan had seen her a few times around the camp- she was Carrion's personal assistant or something.

"Boss Carrion, I have some reports for you," she said in the most boring voice Siobhan had ever heard. Just hearing it made her want to sleep.

"Very good, Saffron," Carrion said. "Read them to me."

"We just received a call on the Den Den Mushi from Mr. Runo. He says he, the rest of the lieutenants, and half of Theta Unit are almost back at camp. He also said they're bringing 'presents,'" Saffron began to read from the clipboard.

"Blast that man. Can't he ever speak straight?" Carrion grumbled. He sighed and waved it off. "What else is there?"

"The other half of Theta Unit has finished salvaging supplies and survivors from the Silverback, and are returning to camp."

By this point, Siobhan was almost nodding off. Saffron's voice was so monotonous. She quickly slapped herself awake, because she actually wanted to hear what was going on.

"Good, good," Carrion said. He bit into a fresh banana. "Anything else?"

Saffron nodded stiffly. "Yes. We've lost all contact with Alpha Unit."

Carrion spit out his banana. "WHAT?! What do you mean we've lost contact with Alpha Unit?!"

"Exactly as it sounds, Boss. We received one call from them, and we quickly lost the signal." She flipped through a few pages on her clipboard. "The call dictated, and I quote, 'We are in need of assistance. We are being attacked by- ack, gack, bleh.' End quote."

The fact Saffron delivered distressing news in her bland voice had Siobhan rolling around on the floor of her cage, peals of laughter escaping her mouth. Carrion, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as amused.

"How... is this... possible?" Carrion ground out. "Alpha Unit is made up of our best men, second only to the four lieutenants and myself. What could have made them ask for assistance?"

"Perhaps some of the local wildlife?" Saffron suggested. "There is approximately a 47% chance they are the cause. After all, we know next to nothing about this island and what lives on it."

Carrion turned to glare at Siobhan, who had finally stopped laughing and was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"What are you looking at me for?" she asked, smirking smugly. "I don't know anything; I've been in this cage this entire time. You say you want help in finding the treasure, but how can I do that if you won't let me out?"

"I have my reasons," Carrion growled. He walked up to the cage and reached through bars, grabbing Siobhan by her shirt and lifting her up. "Stop being so tight-lipped for once and tell me; is Saffron correct about some form of wildlife attacking my men?"

Siobhan rolled her eyes. "Pfft, of course not. Tell me; aside from the occasional Lake King, haven't you noticed the startling absence of fauna on this island?"

Carrion blinked. Now that she mentioned it, he had noticed. Men he'd sent to hunt for food only came back with wild plants and fruit. No animals.

"The animals are all hiding," Siobhan explained. "They know just as much as I do something big is going to happen, and they don't want to get caught in the crossfire. If I had to bet, I'd say it was one of the pirates running around the island. Aside from Feral Freak's toys, you have a number of them unaccounted for."

"There is a 88% chance she is correct," Saffron added unhelpfully.

"Oh wait!" Siobhan gasped falsely. "Wasn't it part of your grand scheme to catch the Straw Hat guy? How's that going for you?"

Carrion snarled animalistically.

"What's the matter," Siobhan taunted. "Upset that things aren't going according to plan, Boss?"

Siobhan started laughing again, but this time Carrion was having none of it. He reared back his free arm and punched her across the face through the spaces between bars. It was powerful enough that blood went flying out of her mouth and nose, smearing the red liquid with the blue face paint she wore. A bruise was already blossoming around her eye.

"Never laugh at me, you little wench," Carrion said in a dangerously soft voice. He lifted her up so they were nose to nose between the bars. "I have half a mind to kill you right now, but I still have need of you. Just remember I hold all the cards, and I will gladly do away with you when I unleash-"

Carrion was cut off by Siobhan suddenly biting him on the nose.

A minute passed, then another. Siobhan was still biting and showing no signs of letting go.

"You're kidding, right?" Carrion asked in slightly nasal deadpan. "I'm a former Marine Rear Admiral. I've been through a lot pain in my life. It will take a lot more than a bite on the nose to make me cry out."

Siobhan responded to that by biting harder. Carrion didn't even last a second.

"ARGHHHHHSAFFRONMAKEHERLETGOTHISHURTS!" Carrion wailed in agony.

Saffron sighed boringly. "You contradicted yourself again, Boss. Anywho, I sincerely doubt she will listen to me. Who made her let go the previous five times she bit you?"

"VAUGHAN!"

"In that case, you will just have to wait until he returns. There is a 62% chance he will be arriving with the other lieutenants soon."

With that, Saffron turned on her heel and left the large tent. Carrion glared at the girl biting his face with a hatred that burned intensely. Siobhan matched the glare on an equal level.

This wouldn't have happened if you didn't get so close, jerkass, Siobhan told him with her eyes.

I can't wait to kill you, wench, Carrion told her with his eyes.

If Siobhan hadn't been biting the ex-Marine, she would have scoffed. Just as she had thought, all that talk of 'relieving' her of her guardianship duties and letting her leave was total BS. Not that she ever believed it- though a little harder to detect than most people's, Carrion's inner voice gave away a majority of his true feelings. The only thing that remained an enigma was why he still wanted Siobhan around if she wasn't going to aid him in finding the treasure.

At least Blood Eyes would be back soon. He was a much better conversationalist and distraction. Kind of like Captain-sama, but not as funny. Blood Eyes was more witty and she liked that, even if it got annoying. It was like talking with Saatatya again... crap, she thought of Saatatya! She needed that to stop or she'd have those stupid dreams again! Siobhan quickly banished the thoughts and went back to focusing on pissing off Carrion.

---

Location: The Lesser Ruins

While the rest of the crew was slack-jawed, Roronoa took one look at the sight before them and rolled his eye.

"Figures Robin would be here," he muttered.

After following Tony back into the jungle, they hadn't walked very long before the grass turned into grayed cobblestones. Of all the things they were expecting to find on Kāla, Roronoa and his crew included, they certainly weren't expecting to find this.

Splayed out before them were structures of crumbling white stone, held up by smooth pillars carved with strange symbols and hieroglyphics. Most the buildings were kind of small, except for an occasional one that stood higher than the rest. Every building was so artfully done that you could tell a lot of work had gone into the place. Standing off in the distance of the area was a large statue of a robed woman. Area-wise, the ruins only covered about the same amount of land as your average-sized village, but the fact this place was here at all was stupefying.

Silently, the crew entered the ruins, with Tony leading in the front with his nose.

"I don't believe it," Vivi whispered, resting a hand on Carue's saddle. "So people really do live here?"

"More like they did live here," Sanji said, knocking a loose fist against a wall. Bits of stone fell from it. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time."

"So I guess we won't find any open restaurants here, huh?" Luffy said with disappointment.

"You always think about food," Nami said grumpily.

"But this is weird," Chopper commented. "If no one lives here, shouldn't there be plants growing all over the buildings and stuff?"

"Good point, Chopper," Nami agreed. "And while these buildings look old, they don't look that old."

"Personally, they kind of remind me of this ancient city we went to once called Shandora," Lysopp said. "Only smaller and more white."

"Usopp-ossan!" Luffy complained. "Don't think just because I let you tell that one story I'm going to let you spoil more adventures! Zip it!"

Lysopp flinched. "Right, sorry."

The group moved ahead, and Lysopp was about to follow, but someone pulled him back. When he turned, he saw it was Roronoa.

"Zoro?" Lysopp asked.

"Keep moving and act natural, but we need to talk."

The two men hung at the back of the group, which was moving much more slowly now that they were exploring the ruins. Luffy and Chopper kept running into buildings to see what was in them, despite Nami's warnings that they may not be stable.

Lysopp crossed his arms and looked at the swordsman. "So, what's up?"

"Since we're probably about to meet up with Robin," Roronoa began. "We should decide right now what we're going to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not like she was these guys' friend back then, now was she?"

Lysopp's eyes widened and he swore under his breath. That hadn't occurred to him in the slightest. He had been so happy to see Vivi again that he hadn't considered how the past crew would react to a certain future comrade's presence.

"... Vivi's not going to be happy about it," Lysopp stated.

Roronoa frowned. "No, she's not."

"And who knows about the others."

"The cook probably won't care. You saw how he was the first time around."

Lysopp snorted. Yeah, that was true. Sanji would most likely start fawning over Robin's beauty within the first five minutes of meeting her. That didn't mean the others would be as accepting.

"I honestly have no idea as to what we should do," Lysopp muttered.

Roronoa gripped Wado's hilt. "Then I guess we'll just have to wing it."

The two men both frowned, but remained determined. They were not looking forward to whatever lay at the end of this, but it had to be done.

---

Vivi noticed almost right away the change in Roronoa and Lysopp's behavior when they entered the ruins. They were acting edgy and... was nervous a good word to use? Maybe for Lysopp, but Roronoa? The princess wasn't sure. Maybe they were just anxious about finding Robin- she certainly was. All of the morbid comments Brook made in her name didn't really do much for her image. There was also the lingering possibility that Robin was under Runo's control already.

Luffy noticed it as well. They were hiding something, and it wasn't like the hiding of a future adventure. It was the kind of hiding that Sanji mentioned, like they felt almost guilty about something. But it wasn't looks of worry or guilt on their faces. These were expressions of anticipation- they were waiting for something. Was it Robin related? Luffy was excited to meet her, because Brook had been awesome and Vivi's description of Franky (a robot man!) made him sound really cool too. How cool was Robin going to be? However, he didn't want the two men to know he was on to them, so he decided to explore the buildings. Maybe he would find something, like the treasure meat they had talked about on the beach.

Luffy exited one of the small structures he had entered- there had been nothing inside except decaying barrels. Everyone had stopped walking and Tony had stopped sniffing the ground.

"What's going on?" the rubberman asked.

"Mr. Tony can't follow Ms. Robin's scent anymore," Vivi answered.

Tony rubbed his nose. "Her scent's all over the place now. She must have done a lot of exploring before we got here."

Chopper sniffed the air. "Besides Robin and us, there's one other scent around here, but it's older. I can't really describe it... it smells like someone young though. A child, maybe?"

"We do know Roronoa's mystery kid is around here somewhere," Sanji pointed out. "Maybe that's her you're smelling."

"Maybe."

"So we have no way of finding Robin's exact location," Nami summarized.

Luffy looked at Roronoa and Lysopp. "Any ideas? She's your crewmate. How should we find her?"

Roronoa shrugged. "Knowing Robin, if she knows we're here, she'll find a way to contact us."

"We could try calling out to her- this place isn't all that big," Vivi suggested.

"That might not be a good idea if she's being mind controlled," Lysopp disagreed.

Tony shuddered. "I really hope she's not and doesn't try to attack us. Robin can be very mean with her abilities. Remember when she did that to Franky?"

The future Straw Hats all took on traumatized expressions and Lysopp joined Tony in his shuddering. It was honestly creeping the rest of the group out that even Roronoa, who was usually unshakable, looked terrified.

"I'm really glad I wasn't around to witness that," Roronoa said quietly.

Lysopp hugged himself. "Just hearing about that later from Luffy was bad enough."

"You guys are lucky. I was actually present when that happened," Tony said, near tears. Then he turned thoughtful. "You know, I don't think I ever checked to see if Franky was fully functional after that..."

"WHAT DID SHE DO?!" Vivi shrieked, unable to take their freaky attitude any more.

The future Straw Hats simply looked away.

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AWAY?!"

Chopper hugged Nami's leg. "Nami, I'm scared."

Nami knelt down and hugged him back. "So am I, Chopper. So am I."

Luffy, on the other hand, started laughing. "Shishishi, Robin sounds like a lot of fun! I can't wait to meet her!"

"Me neither!" Sanji agreed, hearts in his eyes. "I'm always happy to see another beautiful lady join the crew!"

"Hey, what kind of person is Robin, anyway?" Luffy asked the older crewmates. "I mean, she's part of my crew so she must be awesome, but I still want to know!"

The rest of the past Straw Hats could honestly admit they were thinking much of the same thing. Except Sanji- he was just fantasizing about how beautiful she was going to be.

"Robin's great!" Tony answered enthusiastically. "She can be a little morbid sometimes, but she's really nice! She always knows great stories and when she goes book shopping she remembers to look for medical texts for me!"

"And she's really smart and knowledgeable!" Lysopp added. "I can't count how many times she's saved our butts because she knew something about where we were or about the situation!"

Luffy looked at Roronoa, expectantly awaiting his answer.

The swordsman smirked. "Robin's a good nakama. That's all you really need know."

That put some of the crew's fears to rest. Zoro, past or future, was a tough audience. That one comment alone meant he held the woman in high esteem.

The pirate captain chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. I hope we can find her soon."

Vivi agreed with that. Hearing Lysopp and Tony's new comments eased some of her earlier inhibitions, but she would rather meet the woman herself. She was about make another suggestion about finding her when she felt something poke her in the back.

"Carue, stop it," Vivi whispered.

She was poked again.

"Carue, I said stop."

There was another poke.

"Carue!" Vivi snapped.

"Quaw?"

Vivi's gaze snapped forward. Carue, as well as anyone else who could have been poking her back, was in front of her. The duck himself was standing next to Luffy.

Luffy raised an eyebrow. "Vivi? Is something wrong?"

"You're... all in front of me..." Vivi said slowly.

"Yeah." Nami stood back up. "And that's important because...?"

"If you're all in front of me... then who's poking me in the back?"

The princess wasn't sure she wanted the answer, but slowly she turned around... and jumped into Sanji's arms, screaming. The chef couldn't even enjoy the moment because he became scared too.

An arm was growing out of the wall. An arm. And just like that, more arms appeared along the wall. Arms grew out of arms and grew out of arms, encircling the group almost like a net. If that wasn't bad enough, the arms weren't bare. Ears and eyes were on some of the arms, and those in particular got really close to the pirates from the past, as if interested in them.

That was the last straw. They all began screaming at the top of their lungs.

"AHHHHHH! USOPP WAS RIGHT!" Chopper screamed. "THIS IS A HAUNTED ISLAND!"

The girls just kept screaming and both clung to Sanji, who couldn't even enjoy the new closeness because of all the disembodied body parts surrounding him.

Luffy was the only one not screaming. He was giggling like a maniac and even shook some of the hands.

"Awesome! Arms grow out of walls here!" Luffy's widened as he had what he thought was a brilliant idea. "Hey, do you all want to be my nakama?"

"DON'T ASK DISEMBODIED LIMBS TO JOIN THE CREW!" Nami shrieked. She turned to the future Straw Hats. "RORONOA, DO SOMETH- Roronoa?"

The crew stopped screaming long enough to observe the surreal scene Roronoa, Lysopp, and Tony had created. The former two weren't screaming, and Tony... the little reindeer was laughing as several arms growing out of the ground were playfully tossing him up and down.

"Higher, higher!" Tony giggled.

The arms complied and Tony was tossed higher. This made him squeal in delight.

"What-" Nami said.

"- The-" Vivi added.

"- Hell?" Sanji finished.

"Quaw?" Carue threw in.

"COOL!" Luffy exclaimed, running over to where Tony was being thrown. "I wanna try! Throw me, throw me!"

A few more arms popped out of the ground, and this time everyone noticed that when they did, there were small flurries of pink blossoms. The arms lifted Luffy and tossed him up and down just as their brethren were doing for Tony. The rubber boy laughed with zeal.

"Shishishi, this is so much fun!" he laughed. "You guys have got to try this!"

"We're good..." Sanji replied, almost dazed. "What... what is going on exactly?"

Roronoa turned to face them, as if he were just noticing they were there. "Oh, you guys are done freaking out?"

"Screw you, Mosshead!"

"Not even if you paid me."

"Don't you two start!" Nami barked. She gestured wildly to the arms encircling them. "Now be straight with us! What is all this?!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the limbs with the eyes and ears all vanished, dissipating into cherry blossoms. Chopper gave a little excited gasp when he saw them and even tried to catch them between his hooves. The same happened to the arms playing with Luffy and Tony- they disappeared once they had set the two boys safely on the ground. Then two new arms popped out of the wall. One arm had an eye on its palm and an ear on its wrist. The other was bare and waved cheekily at the crew.

"'All this' was just Robin having some fun with you," Lysopp sighed. He turned to the arms. "That was really mean. I hope you know that."

The bare arm waved it off.

"You mean all those arms... they were Ms. Robin?" Vivi asked in disbelief. She then noticed she was still in Sanji's arms and quickly climbed down. Sanji looked sad that the experience had ended.

"Robin ate the Flower Flower Fruit," Tony explained. "She can make any of her body parts bloom anywhere like flowers. She can even create a full-body clone!"

"That's awesome!" Luffy exclaimed. "Make more arms, Robin!"

A pair of arms bloomed out of Luffy's sides and began to tickle him. Luffy fell to the ground, laughing uncontrollably.

Sanji put his hand to his chin in thought. "Any body part? Hmmm..."

An arm bloomed on Sanji's shoulder and whacked him upside the head, then it and the arms tickling Luffy vanished. Luffy made a disappointed whining noise and stood back up with help from Vivi.

Roronoa turned to the arm on the wall that had an eye and ear. "Since we're seeing all your arms, I'm going to assume you're nearby?"

The bare arm pointed over the wall it was attached to.

"You're just behind this wall?"

The arm gave him a thumbs up.

"... Are you focusing on something else at the same time and that's why you're not talking to us?"

The arm gave another thumbs up and disappeared along with its one-eyed-one-eared double.

"I guess that's that." Roronoa turned back to the rest of the group. "So, if you're all done screaming like babies, are you ready to meet Robin?"

"As long as she doesn't do that again, I think so," Chopper replied. He paused. "Hey, was that the bad thing she did to Franky?"

Lysopp shook his head. "Unfortunately, no."

"What are we waiting for?!" Luffy declared, not the least bit interested in what torture Robin had inflicted on Franky. "Let's go meet Robin!"

Sanji enthusiastically agreed, no longer deterred by the frightening experience of the blooming limbs. The girls just wanted to get it over with. Luffy started to move toward the opening in the wall, and the rest of the crew followed.

Lysopp stepped in front of him. "Hold on, Luffy."

"Now what?" Luffy huffed.

"Before you go around that wall and say hi, we need to ask something of you and the others."

The nervous feeling Vivi had been having before returned in full force. "Ask us what?"

Roronoa took over. The look he gave them was the most serious they had seen him, and that was saying something. "When you see Robin... try to keep an open mind. Understand?"

They all nodded, but were unsure of why Roronoa and Lysopp were asking this. Was there some reason they wouldn't like Robin? Besides the whole scaring-them-out-of-their-wits debacle anyway.

"You said so yourself, Zoro-ossan," Luffy said confidently. "She's my nakama. What else is there to know?"

Roronoa smirked, but you could tell his heart wasn't in it. "Just let us go first."

With that, Roronoa and Lysopp walked through the opening in the wall, Tony running ahead of them excitedly. After a few moments had passed the rest of the group entered.

The wall opening led to what appeared to be the remains of an old courtyard, surrounded on all four sides by walls- like a roofless box. The ground was covered in overgrown grass and some random flat rocks, and the walls were covered in ancient writing. In the center of courtyard was a white stone bench, and it was occupied.

The occupant was a woman sitting at an angle, with her back facing them. Her long, silky black hair was tied in a loose braid that flopped over her shoulder. She wore a loose red blouse with quarter sleeves, white capris pants, and since she was sitting with her legs crossed, they could see she was wearing white sandals. She also wore a floppy white sunhat with a red ribbon around the base on top of her head. But all around her were arms growing out of the ground and walls, writing notes of piece of paper or taking rubbings of the wall glyphs.

This was Robin, no doubt about it. The group hung back a little, just in case. There was still a chance this woman was under hypnosis. Roronoa and Lysopp were now standing at either side of the bench. Tony ran up to her and jumped into her lap, hugging her around the waist- this made all the bloom arms dissipate. The reindeer was clearly not discouraged by the possible threat.

"Rooobiiiinnnn!" he wailed. "I was sooooo worried!"

Robin lifted her real arms a bit in momentary surprise, then gently returned the hug. This made the girls, Chopper, and Luffy smile, while Sanji looked on in jealousy.

"I was so afraid you'd been captured or hypnotized!" Tony continued, nuzzling his face against her stomach. He pulled back suddenly. "You're not hypnotized, right?! Let me see your eyes!"

Robin reached up and removed a pair of gold-tinted sunglasses, setting them down next to her on the bench. Immediately, Tony's face lit up.

"Your eyes aren't glassy! You're not hypnotized!" He hugged her again. "I'm so glad!"

She seems nice, Vivi thought. And Mr. Tony really likes her. I don't know why I was worried.

Robin chuckled. "And I'm glad to see you're doing well. I was actually starting to get a little worried myself."

"I'm just glad we got away from the people who were chasing us."

The second they heard her voice, the past Straw Hats' hearts each skipped a single beat, except for Chopper. He looked up at his friends and noticed the stricken looks on their faces.

"Guys? What's wrong?" the young doctor ask. "Why do you all look upset?"

If they heard him, they showed no indication. They were occupied at the moment, processing her voice... a voice they knew...

Lysopp picked up some of the pieces of paper on the ground and whistled. "Wow, you've been busy. Is all this going to help you find the True History or something?"

The woman... 'Robin'... shook her head. "No, I don't believe so. I did, however, learn some information I think you'd be interested in hearing."

"I just happened to run into your dear Mr. 8 a little ways back. He didn't look so good."

Lysopp crossed his arms. "Same here, but knowing you, you probably know more than we do."

"That's a fair assessment."

"This ship is nice."

No way... there's just no way... Vivi thought, sweating. Why would she be...

Luffy was also sweating, and he swallowed a thick lump in his throat. Could it actually be...?"

"We'd be more than happy to exchange notes," Roronoa said to her. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "But first..."

"Yes, I know." 'Robin' gently moved Tony from her lap and onto the bench, then stood up. "We have guests."

She turned around to face the group, and they gasped collectively. Nami's jaw dropped and Sanji's eyes widened as his cigarette fell from his mouth. Vivi snarled and pulled out her peacock slashers. Luffy grit his teeth and tightened his fists, anger filling his being. Poor Chopper could only watch his friends' reaction in confusion.

'Robin' was a tall, curvy but athletic woman in her late twenties or early thirties. She had large blue eyes with wide pupils that were filled with intelligence, and a long, defined nose. She was very beautiful, as Sanji had been hoping, but that didn't change the facts.

There was no doubt about it. It was her.

She crossed her arms and smiled almost mockingly. "The lost time island does not disappoint, I see. I'm sure there's quite a story behind this."

"What are you doing here..." Vivi growled. "... Ms. All Sunday?!"

'Robin... or rather, 'Ms. All Sunday', just removed her sunhat and smiled at her.

Tony gasped and looked between the two women. "Oh no. I completely forgot..."

Roronoa rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This is off to a great start."

Lysopp shook his head in dismal agreement.

---

It was a stare-off between Ms. All Sunday and the Straw Hats. It was as if one side was just waiting for the other to make a move. This was brief, as finally Ms. All Sunday chuckled.

"'Ms. All Sunday', huh? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time." She set down her hat and gave Vivi another smile. "Long time no see, Ms. Wednesday. How have you been?"

Vivi's snarl deepened. "Fine, but no thanks to you."

Ms. All Sunday just continued to give that irritatingly calm smile, completely unfazed by Vivi's malicious tone.

"I don't get it, who is she?" Chopper piped up. "Why are you guys so angry all of a sudden?"

"Remember when we said Luffy has to beat up a guy named Crocodile in Vivi's country?" Nami said in a tight voice.

"Yes."

"This woman is Ms. All Sunday, his partner."

"What?! She's a bad guy?!" But she was being so nice, playing with Tony and Luffy!

"You bet she is," Luffy seethed. "Ms. All Sunday blew up the ship Vivi's tube-haired friend was on and ratted her out to Crocodile!"

"All ancient history, I assure you. I haven't even seen Crocodile in over two years," Ms. All Sunday said, waving it off. "And you can stop calling me 'Ms. All Sunday'; that was just a codename." She placed a hand on her chest. "My real name is Nico Robin, and I am the archaeologist and researcher of the Straw Hat Pirates."

Upon hearing that, some of the anger left Luffy's features, and he was now looking at her with an emotionless, enigmatic expression. Not that the others were paying attention to his face at the moment.

"I remember you!" Sanji gasped. His visible eye turned into a heart. "You're even more beautiful than you were when you appeared on the Going Merry!"

Roronoa facepalmed, while Lysopp muttered, "Knew it."

Ms. All- Robin, gave the chef a warm smile. "Why thank you, Mr. Cook."

Sanji spun around in joy. He had a nickname!

"Knock it off, Sanji!" Nami scolded him.

"Ms. All Sunday is the enemy!" Vivi yelled before turning back to the dark-haired woman. "She's the one who killed Igaram!"

Robin's calm smile melted into a vaguely annoyed look. "You can stop right there, Ms. Wednesday. At the risk of revealing too much about future events, I'm telling you right now that while I did cause the explosion aboard Mr. 8's ship, I did not kill him. He survived."

It was as if someone had poured ice water down the princess's spine. "Igaram... survived? He's not dead?"

"Believe her!" Lysopp implored. "Robin is telling the truth!"

Tony nodded furiously. "Igaram showed up in Alabasta not long after Luffy defeated Crocodile! He even helped clear your dad's name!"

Vivi fell to her knees, radiating sheer relief. Tears started to well up in her eyes. He was alive... Igaram was really alive. She couldn't believe it, but at the same time could. But why had Ms. All Sunday spared him?

"So she's a good guy after all?" Chopper asked. He rubbed his head. "I'm getting really confused."

"No, Tony," Vivi muttered, looking up and wiping her eyes. "Just because she spared Igaram's life doesn't make her a good guy. She's still helping Crocodile take over my country!"

"Must I repeat that was over two years ago?" Robin sighed. The calm smile returned, but a tad more cheerful. "Would it help if I said I was sorry, Ms. Wednesday?"

Vivi snapped. With a scream of outrage she jumped forward, one hand spinning a Peacock Slasher and the other rearing back a Peacock String.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" the princess screamed.

"Vivi, stop!" Nami shouted.

Sanji started to chase her. "Vivi-chan!"

Vivi whipped her Peacock String towards Robin. Her target was no longer smiling; she just stood there and closed her eyes.

CLANG!

The slasher string bounced off a black and red blade, and Vivi felt something big and hairy holding back her arms.

"What the-!" the princess started to protest.

In the time it took to blink, Vivi was now being held back by Tony, who had entered Heavy Point, and Roronoa had drawn his sword to defend Robin. Lysopp had yanked Robin out of the way and the pair was standing off to the side. Even Robin looked like she hadn't been expecting the intervention.

"That's enough," Roronoa said through grit teeth. "Vivi, I know you're upset, but I'm not going to stand by and let you hurt my friend! Now, drop the Slashers!"

The pure authority in his voice made Vivi drop her weapons, and Tony let go of her while returning to Brain Point. Vivi fell to her knees again.

Roronoa re-sheathed Shusui and sighed. "I'm sorry. I should have told you all who Robin was sooner, but I was concerned you would react badly. It disappointments me to see that I was right."

Sanji jogged over to Vivi and helped her stand, not that the princess noticed. Her mind was elsewhere.

"You'll just have to wait and see Robin for your-" Roronoa froze, as if he suddenly realized what he was saying. Then, very slowly, he turned to look at Vivi.

Vivi suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Is there something wrong, Mr. Bushido?"

Roronoa looked away and closed his eye, rubbing his temple as he muttered, "Yeah, that might be a problem. And not just for her..."

That instance made so much more sense now. Of course, his words also implied he had been worried about Robin back then, not just Vivi.

"We know Robin was an enemy in the past, but she's really a good person!" Lysopp said, putting an arm around Robin's shoulders. "We can't imagine the crew without her!"

"Please give her a chance! We promise's she's not bad anymore!" Tony insisted. "She's our nakama!"

Nami's mouth was set in a firm frown, and Chopper looked like he couldn't decide who to agree with. Sanji was tending to Vivi, but did give Robin a conflicted glance. Vivi's face remained stubbornly furious towards the older woman.

At last, Luffy stepped forward and walked over to Robin so that he was in front of her. Everyone watched him to see what he would do.

"Robin, can I ask you something?" he asked solemnly.

Robin removed Lysopp's arm from her shoulders and nodded. "Of course, Captain."

"Why did I let you join the crew?"

The question wasn't asked with ill-intent or accusation. It was asked with genuine curiosity.

Robin crossed her arms again. "You owed me and I had nowhere else to go. Honestly, to this very day I'm surprised I'm still with the crew." She gave a small, fond smile. "I suppose it's just my luck you're so painfully stubborn."

Luffy kept his expressionless face, but also crossed his arms. "I see. There was nothing I could do about it?"

"That's correct, Captain."

"Alright, I understand." He held out his hand. "Welcome to the crew."

Robin giggled, taking the outstretched hand and shaking it. "Thank you."

"What?!" Nami cried out. "You're accepting her just like that?!"

"You heard her. I owed her and she had nowhere else to go," Luffy rationalized. "Besides..."

... The woman who had killed the funny tube-haired guy and was helping Crocodile take over Vivi's country... looked at him pleadingly. All Sunday reached out to him just as Nami had, and to his surprise, he didn't mind reaching out to take her hand...

He smiled softly. "... She's my nakama in the future. What else do I need to know to trust her?"

Roronoa smiled at that, as did Lysopp and Tony. Robin looked a little bit baffled for a moment, then smiled too.

Nami groaned. "You cannot be serious-"

"Oh, Miss Navigator," Robin interrupted, reaching into a backpack laying on the ground next to the bench. "While I was searching the ruins, I found some old gold jewelry. They are surprisingly good quality for their age, so I thought-"

Robin didn't even finish before Nami was hugging her, wearing the very pieces of gold jewelry the former had been taking out of her bag.

"Welcome to the crew, big sis!" Nami said, her eyes now berri signs.

Vivi facepalmed, and Carue mimicked the motion.

Luffy laughed. "See, it's not so hard!"

Chopper stepped out from where he had been hiding the wrong way behind a bush, where he had gone when Vivi tried to attack Robin. "If Luffy trusts her... then I guess I do too."

"You won't regret it!" Tony assured his younger self.

"I know I won't!" Sanji cooed. Vivi elbowed him in the chest in response.

"Okay, now that we're done trying to kill each other, how about we exchange notes about everything we've learned?" Lysopp suggested. "I'm guessing we have a lot to go through."

"That we do, Longnose," Robin agreed. She pointed up towards the statue in the distance. "See that statue over there? Let's meet there and then I'll tell you everything I know so far."

"Huh? You're not coming Robin?" Luffy asked.

Robin gestured to the papers scattered around. She reached down and put back on her sunhat. "I just need to clean up my things first. I'll be right behind you."

"Yosh!" Luffy grabbed Nami's wrist. "Alright, Navigator! Lead us to the statue!"

"Aye-aye, Luffy!" Nami replied, still on her gold high.

Luffy left the courtyard with Nami. The two Choppers were behind him, and Lysopp behind them- though he gave Robin a sympathetic look before he left. Vivi dragged a still love-struck Sanji behind her along with Carue, and completely ignored Robin as they left. The princess was still scowling- she was not happy about this, any of it.

Now only Roronoa and Robin remained in the courtyard. Robin took deep breath and upon releasing it, her smile faded into an expression of unadulterated exhaustion. She slumped where she stood and looked far older than she really was. She was nothing like the confident, mockingly polite woman she had been just a few minutes ago.

Roronoa walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Robin rubbed her tear ducts. "I'm fine- I just haven't slept much of late."

"That's not what I meant."

Robin looked at the swordsman. He was looking at her with concern, but also reprimand for trying to hide her feelings.

The archaeologist gave small, humorless laugh. "You know, there was a time you'd have rather toss me overboard then ask me such things."

Roronoa shrugged. "Things change. Now, let me repeat- are you okay?"

Robin sat down on the bench and began to pack up her things. "I always knew I would have to face Princess Vivi someday. Though I can't say I expected it to be like this."

"I doubt even you could anticipate a visit from time travelers," Roronoa said, joining her on the bench. "What was with that whole witch act you had going there? If I didn't know better, I would think you actually wanted Vivi to attack you."

"Now why would I want something like that, Mr. Swordsman?" Robin finished packing her backpack and stood up. "I assure you, I'm fine, for now at least. I'll deal with the Vivi issue later, I promise. Right now we have other matters that require our attention. Shall we go?"

Roronoa waved her off. "I'll be with you in a sec. You can go on ahead."

"Don't take too long. By then I'll be far ahead of you, and I'd hate for you to get lost in these ruins. You would surely starve to death."

"Shuddup, woman."

Robin laughed again, then exited the courtyard. Once she was gone, Roronoa shook his head and took one more look around the courtyard.

You're far from fine, Robin, he thought. You've started using those names again.

Mr. Swordsman. Mr. Cook. Miss Navigator. All were nicknames she had given them so she would remain detached from the crew and could leave them more easily. And she hadn't used them she since before they rescued her from Enies Lobby.

Roronoa got up from the bench and left the courtyard as well.

Robin wasn't fine- not in the slightest.

---

Next Time:

Chapter 18- The Legend of the Lost Time Island Kāla, As Told By Nico Robin

---

Now, after hearing everything and having time to ponder it, Luffy realized both Roronoa and Vaughan had been right. They weren't ready and now he'd lost several of his crew mates, past and future, to the bounty hunters. He had rushed into it and paid the consequences. So much for Operation Save the Future.

I know Luffy is usually Mr. Confidence, but said confidence has been greatly shaken by humiliating defeat. He's had nothing but victory up until now, so this is a humbling experience.

Luffy looked up and was surprised to see he wasn't the only one sitting on the big tree branch anymore. Sanji was sitting there with him. (Luffy thought someone was missing from the group below.)

This was originally going to be Roronoa, but I wanted to show Luffy interacting with some of his other nakama.

But not like this. The unspoken words rang clearly in the chef's voice, and Luffy noticed them the moment Sanji had started talking.

Aw, Sanji does care!

"Yes, I did already know that. Care to say other things I already know, like how eating that many bananas is just going to make you mosquito bait?"

I read somewhere that people who eat a lot of bananas attract mosquitoes because of all the potassium in the fruit. It's science!

"There is approximately a 47% chance they are the cause. After all, we know next to nothing about this island and what lives on it."

Saffron is actually making that percentage up. She's not nearly that quick at making calculations. This gag comes from when she was an OC for the original version of Once Burned, where she was a loud, obnoxious gambler. She's quite different here.

Tony shuddered. "I really hope she's not and doesn't try to attack us. Robin can be very mean with her abilities. Remember when she did that to Franky?"

I recently rewatched that on my new One Piece DVDs. That poor, poor cyborg.

Sanji put his hand to his chin in thought. "Any body part? Hmmm..."

Oda has confirmed it is any body part, and Sanji's a bit of a pervert. Go figure.

She had large blue eyes with wide pupils that were filled with intelligence...

I know in canon, Robin's eyes are brown, I like how they look in the anime better. It's just a personal preference.