A.n I own nothing

Okay Couple of Announcements, First off I would like to dedicate this Chapter to the victims of the September 11 attack in 2001. Today is the Fifth year anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre and deserves acknowledgement.

Second Happy 50th birthday to Star Trek. Star Trek first aired on September 8th 1966, while the original series was corny and not that popular when it first aired. Star Trek spawned 726 episodes, 30 seasons of TV series, 13 movies and a cult. This is one series that sci-fi fans hope will Live Long and Prosper.

Lastly I have decided to skip the Zenni filler arc, I personally did not like it and compared to the Rainbow Mist arc that came after it and the other filler arcs in the series it was just bad. It lacked the overall energy that One Piece as a series as a whole gives off.

This is just my personal opinion on one part of the series and is in no way meant as an insult for Oda and the writers of the One Piece anime. But the Zenni arc will not be in featured in this fic.

The Merry sailed further and further from Alabasta, the crew had managed to avoid and lose their Marine pursuers and now only the calm open sea awaited them. Most of the crew here moping on the deck looking really depressed.

"Whew…looks like we lost them," Zoro said looking back in the direction they had come from. He could no longer see Alabasta, the dessert Country was long out of sight.

Zoro looked over to where Connor was now only just starting to calm down from the recent cannon fire and sea battle that had caused him to panic.

"So where to ne…what the hell is wrong with you lot?" Zoro asked when he noticed the rest of the crew.

The Crew looked at Zoro with tears in their eyes.

"WE MISS HER!" they cried together.

"QUITE WHINNING!" Zoro yelled back "If you wanted Vivi to come that badly, you should have just taken her by force,"

The crew looked at him disappointingly.

"That's horrible…you Neanderthal," Chopper said.

"You're Heartless," Nami said.

"Jerk," Sanji said.

"Santouryuu(1)," Luffy said.

"Luffy that's not an insult," Usopp claimed.

"Yontouryu(2)," Luffy tried again.

"You just added one extra sword, it's still not an insult," Usopp said.

Zoro sighed and started to head to the back of the ship, he knew Luffy and Usopp would be at it for a while.

'I am not paid enough to deal with them,' He thought 'Come to think of it I'm not paid at all,'

"Oh have we escaped from the Marines?" a female voice asked.

"Yeah we're in the cle…" Zoro started but stopped, he did not recognise the voice. He quickly turned to see an unknown woman standing there; he drew his sword.

"AHHHHH! IT'S HER!" Luffy screamed.

The rest of the crew quickly surrounded the woman and drew their weapons and surrounded the intruder. Chopper was hiding behind Sanji who had harts in his eyes, Connor tried to back away and started to panic again.

"Who are you?" Zoro demanded.

"It doesn't matter who she is…she's beautiful," Sanji claimed.

"Don't point those things at me," the woman ordered and all of the straw hats weapons fell out of their hands.

"Oi what do you want? Why are you on me ship?" Luffy demanded.

"My my don't you remember what you did to me? Monkey. D Luffy," the woman accused.

Luffy blinked innocently and Sanji jump on him.

"Oi what did you do you basted, tell me right now or I'll throw you into the sea!" Sanji threated.

"She's lying I did nothing to her," Luffy claimed.

"Oh yes you did. You put me through some very excruciating treatment, so you need to take responsibility," the mystery woman claimed.

This only made Sanji angrier.

"Excruciating treatment…don't tell me…LUFFY HOW COULD YOU DEFILE A DELICATE FLOWER LIKE THAT!" Sanji yelled and tried to throw Luffy off the ship.

"SANJI PUT ME DOWN!" Luffy screamed.

"OH I'LL PUT YOU DOWN ALL RIGHT…DOWN IN THE SEA!" Sanji said as he threw Luffy over board. Fortunately Luffy was able to grab the railing and he pulled himself back onto the ship.

"Sanji I have no Idea what she's talking about. She's Crocodiles partner," Luffy claimed.

The entire crew froze, now they recognised her. While the crew had been trapped in Crocodiles casino, they had been so busy focusing on Crocodile and Vivi at the time that none of them had been paying much attention to her.

"Ex-partner now, you need to take responsibility for your actions," Miss All-Sunday claimed.

"You lot were the one attacking Vivi's country, why should I take responsibility for that?" Luffy asked.

"I'm not talking about that; I'm talking about what you did to me personally; you and the Mentor,"

"Mentor?"

"The man in the white hooded robe who fought Crocodile with you,"

"Oh you mean Alty…what about him?"

"After you two defeated Crocodile I wanted to die, I would have been happy to be buried in that tomb. But you and him forced me to live, I couldn't go with him so responsibility now falls to you," Miss All-Sunday explained.

"Oh…what did you want me to do?" Luffy asked now understanding what the former Baroque Works officer meant.

"Nothing much, let me join your crew," Miss All-Sunday requested.

"WHAT?!" "YES!" the rest of the crew and Sanji screamed at the same time.

"I have nowhere to go or anywhere to return too, so let me join you," Miss All-Sunday said.

Luffy looked at here for a second and then came to a decision.

"Okay you can join but I need to know your Name," Luffy said.

"It's Nico Robin," Robin introduced.

"Great welcome to the crew," Luffy said happily.

"NNNOOOO!" the others cried.

"YESSSS!" Sanji cried happily.

"Don't worry she's not a bad person," Luffy claimed with a big smile.

That night Zoro didn't go to sleep, he did not trust Robin at all. He thought back to the day, Usopp had done an interview with the former Barque works agent and Robin had reviled that she had been working for various different underworld bosses and pirates since she was eight.

Zoro had to admit that no child would be able to survive on the Grand Line or any other Sea by themselves…hell even Connor had his former Masters looking after him. While Zoro could not argue that Robin's skills and abilities not to mention her knowledge of the Grand Line would be highly beneficial to the crew, Zoro could not trust her.

At first Nami and Usopp had been in his side as Robin had won both Luffy and Chopper over by distracting them with her powers, Sanji was a lost cause as Robin was a woman and then Nami had gone over to her side when Robin had produced some Jewels. Usopp had been against her joining as well but quickly found entertainment in her powers and joined Luffy and Chopper.

Once Connor had fully calmed down Connor had avoided Robin as much as he could, but had no objection to her joining. Zoro suspected it was because now Robin had joined she could control the boy. Zoro was against her joining but Luffy had made his mind up and Zoro knew that there was no changing it.

Zoro lay in his bunk trying to determine what to do with Robin but he knew that Luffy would not kick her off and once the Rubber captain had made up his mind then there was no changing it. Zoro herd moaning and looked over to Connors hammock, the boy was having a nightmare again.

A minute later Connor shot up in bed sweating and panicking; he got up and left the men's quarters. Zoro sighed and followed him onto the deck to keep him compony.

Over the next few days Zoro kept his eye on Robin, she never did much just sat there and read, it was a different book each day. When Luffy wanted her to play she would use her powers and entertain them but other than that she did not interact with the crew much at all.

Connor kept looking at her with curious eyes but would look away every time someone or Robin noticed him. Zoro made sure Connor was with someone at all times, if he was training the boy was with Luffy.

On the fifth day the Merry landed on a tropical Island, it was a small deserted Island with a jungle. Luffy was exited to explore and could barely contain his excitement. Sanji spied some fruit in the trees and decided to stockpile them.

"Alright everyone draw a stick the one with the longest stays on the ship," Nami said and held out five sticks.

"Hold on why are you giving orders?" Zoro asked irritably.

"Your right the Captain should be giving orders but do you really think he's smart enough?" Nami asked and pointed at Luffy who had drawn three sticks.

"Why did you draw three?" Usopp asked.

"The one with the most wins right?" Luffy responded.

Zoro sighed Nami was right and he grabbed one of the sticks out of Luffy's hand, Usopp did the same.

"Hey why are you taking my sticks?" Luffy whined.

"Connor, Chopper your turn," Nami said and bent down to the smaller members, they each took a stick.

It turned out that Chopper had gotten the longest stick and he stayed behind to guard the ship. Nami went to survey the Island and Sanji went with her happily, Luffy Usopp, Connor and Zoro were given large baskets to fill with fruit.

Luffy ran off into the jungle with Usopp and Zoro went with Connor. Before they headed off Zoro took one last long look at the ship.

Zoro and Connor wandered through the jungle looking for fruit. Connor was looking at the tall trees, he really wanted to climb them.

"So…what do you think of Robin?" Zoro asked suddenly.

Connor looked at Zoro.

"She seems nice, hasn't said much lately though," Connor answered.

"I noticed you've been looking at her a lot recently, why?"

"I'm…just curious about her," Connor said.

"Have you used your sight on her?"

"Yes, she's white,"

"Just white…what's that mean?"

"I don't know," Connor shrugged.

They continued walking and eventually found a group of fruit trees close together, Zoro used his swords to cut the fruit down, it worked but they were quickly buried.

Once they were un-buried and their baskets full they continued to walk through the Jungle.

"Hey Zoro…what's an Archaeologist?" Connor asked.

"It's someone who studies ancient ruins and civilizations," Zoro answered.

"So that means Robin could read really old languages, right?" Connor asked excitedly

"I guess…why?"

"I was just wondering…that's all," Connor said the excitement in his voice had disappeared.

Zoro felt that there was a something more to Connors question but dropped the subject, they continued on until Connor spoke up again.

"Zoro…you do know we're going in circles right?" Connor asked.

Zoro froze and slowly turned around with embarrassment written all over his face.

That night after dinner was over a campfire and Nami scolded Luffy and Usopp for not bringing any fruit back. Usopp was telling one of his famous stories about how we died getting the fruit only to have it stolen by a rainbow coloured Condor.

Connor laughed at it as Nami beat both Luffy and Usopp up for not bringing anything back. Once Nami was done Connor looked over his shoulder to see Robin was sitting away from the group, she had a candle set up on a small table and was using it as a light source for her book.

Connor stared at her for a minute but Robin looked at him meeting his stare so Connor quickly turned his attention back to the others.

The next few days at sea were relatively uneventful; Luffy did fish up a traveling salesman who tried to swindle his goods to the crew for outrageous prices. But once he heard Luffy's name he panicked and jumped ship leaving his merchandise behind.

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper had fun playing with it and Nami managed to score some very high quality paper for drawing maps on.

The weather turned from good to bad and it started raining so all of the straw hats moved into the kitchen. The rain didn't stop until the next day which was worse because of the heavy fog.

Connor finally worked up the courage to talk to Robin. He wanted to ask her something but was afraid to do it.

"Hi," Connor said shyly.

Robin stopped reading and looked over at the boy.

"Hello can I help you with something?" Robin asked, smiling sweetly.

"I was…just…wondering if…" Connor started nervously.

Robin waited patiently and Connor got more nervous.

"Y…Y…You know what…Never mind," Connor said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Robin asked suspiciously.

"Yep….so um….what are you reading?" Connor asked changing the subject.

"A book series called the Rainbow Mist. It's about a group of kids who discover a rainbow coloured mist filled with adventures and treasure," Robin answered.

"Really sound interesting," Connor said excitedly.

"It is, would you like to borrow the first book?" Robin asked.

"Ah…no…I mean… your reading it so…" Connor said getting nervous again.

"I'm on the fifth book already," Robin assured she got up and left the kitchen when she came back she had the book in hand.

"Here, it's been a dull few days. You can give it back to me later," Robin said and held out the book.

Connor hesitantly took it.

"T…T…Thank you," Connor said softly.

The next day Connor waited until Robin was alone and he returned the book to her.

"Oh finished it already have you?" Robin asked.

Connor looked away in shame, he had tried to read the book but he couldn't.

"Actually…I never started…I can't read," Connor said shamefully.

"Really?" Robin asked.

Connor shock his head.

"Well…I'll have to fix that," Robin said.

Connor stared at her in fear.

"N…N…No that's okay I don't need to learn," Connor said quickly.

"Nonsense, reading is an essential life skill. I suppose if you can't read you can't write either, correct?"

"Yes,"

"All right then next Island I will get some early learning books…but for now I'll just write up the Alphabet and we can start there," Robin said.

She closed her book and got up, she was plaining to see if she could borrow a sheet of Nami's paper; but Connor stopped her.

"Robin I…I can't I'm not supposed to learn that stuff…if anyone found out…" Connor said fearfully, he had seen what had happened to other slaves who had been caught trying to read…they lost their eyes.

Robin picked up on Connors fear and smiled; she bent down and looked him in the eyes.

"Well then it will be our little secret," Robin said.

Connor didn't know how to react, yes he wished he could read and there have been many times that such a skill would have come in handy. But he still feared what would happen if anyone found out, after all slaves weren't supposed to be educated in anything other than manual work.

"Y…Y…You promise?" Connor asked.

"Yes, no one will know," Robin promised.

"O...Okay," Connor agreed "But how will we find a place where we're not disturbed or won't get caught?"

"Leave that to me," Robin smiled.

About ten minutes later Connor was sitting in the cabin with Robin, he had a large sheet of paper in front of him with the Alphabet neatly written on it. Robin was explaining the alphabet and going through the letters, it would have been easier with a picture book but this would do for now.

Connor was very nervous and kept looking towards the door, expecting someone to come in and catch them. He and Robin weren't at it for long because suddenly the sound of cannon fire was herd and the ship rocket violently.

Connor started shaking with his eyes closed and hands over his ears trying to block out the noise, Robin having never seen this happen before tried to comfort the scared boy.

"Connor? It'll be alright," she tried and placed her hand on the boys shoulder.

Unfortunately this had the opposite affect Robin was hoping for and seemed to make Connor panic even more. Robin recognising that she was not helping got up and ran onto the deck to tell the others.

As soon as she came on deck she saw the other Straw Hats running around desperately trying to protect the ship while Sanji steered it. One Marnie ship was getting close and the Luffy and Zoro got ready to fend off borders but then it exploded.

"HUH?!" Zoro asked.

"What just happened?!" Luffy asked.

"That shot came from the main ship," Usopp answered.

"The Marines are firing…on themselves," Chopper said confused.

"We can use this…Sanji quick turn the ship, we'll get away while the other ships are rescuing the survivors," Nami ordered.

Sanji was happy to obey and the Merry sailed off escaping the Marines, once they were out of range Zoro noticed that Connor was not on deck.

"Hey has anyone seen the kid?" Zoro asked.

"He was in the cabin with me when the…" Robin didn't get to finish her sentence because Zoro rushed past her towards the cabin and burst in.

He saw Connor in his panicked state and let out a sigh of relief that he was unharmed. Zoro went back on deck shutting the door, he glared at Robin.

"What did you do to him?" Zoro accused.

"Nothing he just started shaking when the attack started," Robin claimed calmly.

"I'm not talking about that, what were you doing before that?" Zoro demanded.

"I was…" Robin started.

"She was teaching him how to read," Nami interrupted.

The crew looked at her in shock.

"Robin came to me asking if she could have some paper to write the Alphabet down on, I gave her some," Nami claimed.

"Hold on I thought you were going to do that," Usopp said.

"I'm way to busy; I not only have to keep you idiots in line but also navigate us through the most dangerous sea in the world. I want to teach Connor but I just don't have the time," Nami said.

"Connor did not want anyone to know, he was afraid on how you would react," Robin said.

"Of course he would be," Zoro sighed.

"Hey Robin could you teach him to read?" Luffy asked.

"Oh yes, I could teach him much more than that," Robin answered.

"Like what?"

"Well history is my specialty but I could teach him a variety of different languages and even how to read some ancient ones," Robin claimed.

"What about basic Maths?" Luffy asked.

The rest of the Straw hats jaws dropped.

'Luffy knows what Maths is?' they all thought.

"To some extent I would not be able to help him if he chose to pursue it as a career," Robin claimed "Though I am confused why he would be afraid of learning or why he cannot read or write yet,"

"Well…It's complicated…" Usopp said sheepishly.

Robin listened carefully as the others told her about Connors brand, she kept a calm demener throughout the entire explanation and when the straw hats were done she had a very serious look on her face.

"I see, that would explain it," Robin said, she was sickened by the idea of Connors brand.

"I'll need time alone with him every day…a few hours a day should be enough," Robin said.

"For what?" Zoro asked suspiciously.

"For his lesson of course, he has a lot to catch up on. I'll start with reading and writing first and then we'll see how it goes from there," Robin claimed "I'll also need a few things but I'm sure I can get those on the next Island,"

"You're going to teach him?"

"Yes I am, but it might be best if you all pretend that you don't know what we're doing," Robin suggested.

"Okay I can keep a secret," Luffy smiled.

The others gave him very doubtful looks.

A couple of hours later the Merry came upon an Island, Connor and Chopper were looking out over the bow of the ship at the approaching Island. As the Merry sailed inland Nami noticed a lot of rock spires coming out of the ocean.

Soon the Straw Hats noticed a large harbour looking town, the most notable feature was a massively tall looking tower.

"What's that?" Connor asked.

"A light house maybe, there are a lot of rocks and cliffs nearby," Chopper suggested.

"I don't think so," Nami said coming over and the two looked at her.

"It's too tall, there's a massive tarp over the top and it looks like there still building it," Nami pointed out.

"So…what are they building?" Connor wondered.

Nami decided to anchor the ship in a cove nearby, the cove was behind a large rocky cliff so the Merry was well out of sight. Everyone but Zoro disembarked and headed for town.

Luffy ran off looking for a restaurant, Nami sighed and she and Sanji ran after him. Robin, Connor, Usopp and Chopper walked slowly along the path from the cove into town, along the way they stopped to look at rock pools.

Connor Chopper and Usopp were busy looking at some small shell fish while Usopp was telling a story how they were actually giant flesh eating monsters in disguise; Robin was off to the side watching them with a smile.

"Hey you," a raspy voice asked.

Robin turned to see an old man with an odd contraption standing above them. Usopp, Connor and Chopper looked over as well.

The man had an old droopy appearance his face was wrinkled, he had a grey bowl cut and a large moustache that covered his mouth. He wore a lavender button down shirt with a red collar and lots of pink shapes decorating it and a long white lab coat over the top.

"Can we help you?" Robin asked calmly.

"Yes I saw your ship come in and I was wondering if I could ask you a question," the old man requested.

Robin blinked in confusion; she had no idea if she could hello this man as they had only just arrived. The old man took her silence as a sign to proceed.

"As you came in, did you see the Rainbow Mist?" the old man asked.

(1) Santouryuu means Three Swords in Japanese

(2) Yontouryu means Four swords in Japanese, Luffy is not actually insulting Zoro.