Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin

Requested By: Anonymous User

Zoro grimaced as he side-eyed the remarkably giant centipede slowly meandering its way up to the broad trunk of the tree beside him. The long, gangly creature clacked its sharp mandibles as it scuttled over the rough brown surface. It paused, groping its feelers over the tree. Zoro scowled when its thin, wispy antennae inched towards him, followed by the centipede's carapaced body. Zoro grunted a warning when the creepy-crawler began poking at his broad shoulder with its noodly appendages. The centipede froze, feelers twitching in the air; it then apparently decided that messing with Zoro was counterproductive to its survival, so it turned and moseyed along back up the tree. The swordsman growled unappreciatively and glared down at Robin, who was digging in the dirt a few yards away.

"Why are we here in this godforsaken jungle again?" he complained loudly. Of course, he knew why; the Straw Hats simply couldn't ignore a new island once they happened upon it, especially one so wild and untamed as this. It reminded Zoro of Little Garden. He smirked as he recalled the prehistoric island and its pair of giant residents; the memories were a little fuzzy, considering that adventure had occurred over two years ago. This jungle was not nearly as crazy, for most of the creatures were normal-sized, but it still possessed an aura of novelty and lawlessness. Still, Zoro would much rather be tromping around searching for a giant beast to slay rather than nosing through the underbrush for… whatever Robin was searching for. The archaeologist had been too absorbed in her work to answer him, so he gruffly repeated the question.

"Hmm?" Robin hummed inquiringly and turned her bright bluish-purple eyes on him. As she rose from her squatting position, she clapped the dirt from her hands and wiped the lingering particles off on her jean shorts. "We're investigating this island for signs of ancient civilization," Robin reminded him kindly. She then frowned at the patch of dirt she had been excavating. "A few centimeters or so beneath the soil layer is a stone pathway leading deeper into the jungle," she reported. Zoro honestly couldn't care less about ancient ruins or civilizations or whatever, but he refrained from grumping merely to preserve the happy smile on Robin's face. He raised an eyebrow when the tall, thin woman gestured for him to approach.

"What? You need somethin'?" His eyebrow inched further up his forehead when she tugged one of his sheathed katanas from his harimaki. He then grimaced when she began slamming the hilt into the ground, filling the air with a combination of dull thumps and sharp clangs. "Hey!"

"Shh. I'm searching for the path," Robin responded, as if using one of Zoro's swords as a glorified walking stick was a completely acceptable thing to do. Zoro shambled behind her as she pushed into the underbrush, using the series of metallic noises to guide her way. They slowly crept their way downhill, following the stone path that either peeked out at them through the thick grass or vanished under the dirt altogether. Robin would occasionally stop to dig a little into the earth with the hilt of the sword, making Zoro scowl at the prospect of picking muck from the cloth wrapping.

"Stop disrespecting my katana, Robin," he griped as she used the sword to scour an inch-deep trench in the soil to find the stone path again. Robin ignored him and continued to tromp along through the jungle. Zoro cursed under his breath at her disobedience, but had no choice but to follow her through the thick vegetation. Gradually, the trees thinned out, and the puddles of light expanded as holes opened up in the canopy. The stone path became easier to detect, but Robin kept clutching the sword as she marched down the gradually steepening hill. Zoro found a bit more difficulty in picking his way down the incline, and the distance began widening between himself and the archaeologist. "Oi, Robin, don't go so fast!"

As the jungle resounded with a shrill scream and the rush of disturbed leaves, Zoro realized that his warning came too late. As quickly as he could without suffering the same fate, the pirate scrambled down to the base of the ravine. He found Robin curled up at the bottom of the incline, groaning with her hands wrapped around her slim ankle. "Oh, brother," he sighed underneath his breath and jogged over. "Robin? Are you okay?" he asked as he knelt beside her. He wrapped his hand around the back of her head, pushing through the dark strands of her hair to check for blood. He didn't feel anything, so he gently pushed her onto her back, careful not to jostle her too much in case she suffered from broken bones.

"I may have gotten a little excited," she wheezed with a tiny smile. If she was joking, she wasn't in too severe pain, so it made Zoro feel a little better. He brushed the damp earth and half-decomposed leaves from her clothes as he gave her a once-over. "I'm all right, except I think I may have sprained my ankle," she huffed and motioned with her chin to the distant joint. Zoro crawled down to her feet to inspect the wounded area. Robin gasped in pain as he gently teased her shoe off her foot, then flopped her head back against the ground. "Actually, it may be broken."

"That's for Chopper to say," he grimaced. From his lamen's perspective, however, he was inclined to agree. Robin's ankle had already swollen to the size of the baseball and was turning an ugly red-purple color. If by some miracle it wasn't broken, it was severely sprained. Either way, she would not be walking. "All right… Let's get you back to the Sunny."

"What? No! I want to find out where the path leads," she protested. Zoro growled under his breath and glanced at the stony trail meandering deeper into the jungle. This is ridiculous, he thought, but when he looked back to Robin, her eyes narrowed pleadingly. "Please?"

"Ugh, fine!" he agreed disgruntedly. Robin flashed him a pleased smile, then boosted herself up on her elbows so that she could sit up. Zoro plopped down beside her, his back facing the girl, and indicated for her to clamber on. Her slim arms languidly looped around his neck, and she latched one leg around his middle; Zoro gingerly grabbed her injured leg and secured his hand under her knees, letting her injured ankle dangle. "Upsie-daisy," he grunted, sliding his feet in the loose detritus to get himself the best leverage. He pushed his katana underneath her rump, using it to bear her weight. With a drawn-out exhale, he rose from the ground as carefully as he could. Robin's ankle still brushed against his thigh, making her hiss in his ear. "Sorry."

"It's fine." The agony in her voice indicated otherwise. "Let's go!" she insisted with a wave at the underbrush. Zoro had to chuckle at her tenacity, and he adjusted his grip on the sword beneath her body before setting off down the path.

The ground was relatively flat now, so carrying Robin through the jungle was much less laborious than it could have been. When the directionally-challenged pirate began to meander away from the thin stony ribbon waving through the thick green, Robin would gently nudge him back in the right direction. The trees grew sparser and shorter, gradually turning into leafy shrubs no taller than six feet or so. Ferns and bushes and wildflowers dominated the open spaces between their twisting roots. Sunshine poured down from the sky to illuminate the green grass, but as Zoro craned his neck to peer into the distance, he couldn't see any notable landmarks.

"Robin, are you sure this path actually leads somewhere?"

"It must; otherwise, why would there be a path?" the woman countered smartly. Zoro huffed at her snarky remark but dutifully continued to follow the track. With all the sunshine, the temperature of the area was remarkably hotter, and a thin sheen of sweat appeared on his body. His breath soon came in small pants, and the moisture pooled on his brow to begin rolling down the side of his face. Just as he was about to gripe to Robin again and propose they just run around, the remaining forest fell away. "Wow..." Robin breathed as she peered over his shoulder, and though he said nothing, Zoro was definitely inclined to agree.

A spacious clearing stretched before them. The shrubby trees and bushes ringed the area, and clumps of colorful, aromatic wildflowers dotted the carpet of green grass. The stone path branched into a tree-like collection of meandering trails a few feet ahead of Zoro. These diverging pathways led to massive stone structures scattered around the clearing, great hunks of carved stone half-collapsed and blanketed in moss and vines. Though they were clearly disheveled, the sheer size and mastery of the architecture were still imposing, even to Zoro. Robin eagerly spurred him forward, and his legs obeyed without actual responsive thought.

"Whoa," he blinked when he walked up to one of the collapsed buildings. What he assumed to be the load-bearing crossbeams at the front were inscribed with ornate floral carvings. Very faint and flaky chips of colorful pigments clung to the rough gray stone, and Zoro struggled to imagine the building completely intact and alive with bright, imaginative paintings. Eventually, the blurry image formed in his mind, and he had to admit that it made a fantastic picture.

"And you wanted to turn back," Robin chuckled teasingly. Zoro snorted and adjusted the katana, boosting the woman further up on his back. Her fingers clawed into the thick cloth of his clothes as she leaned over his shoulders, trying to prevent herself from slipping off. "See what you would have missed?"

"Yep. A bunch of rocks." Robin huffed and slapped him lightly upside his head, obviously displeased with his dismissive attitude. "Ow! I was joking!" he complained loudly and once again adjusted the katana. "All right, all right, we found out where the path leads. Can we go home now? You're not exactly light, you know."

"First of all, it's rude to insult a lady's weight," she snorted and pushed down on his shoulders as she craned her neck to look around the clearing. "Secondly, just think of it as training! I want to get a good look at all these structures. They're in serious disrepair, but that doesn't mean that I can't learn something from them." Zoro grumbled under his breath as she obediently began ferrying her towards the next collapsed stone building.

"Here's a fact- everyone who lived here is dead."

"Yes, most probably so. And why is that? Was there a famine? A plague? Were they taken, or did they leave voluntarily? There are several possibilities, and that is vexing," she said as he stopped in front of the next structure. Frowning, she patted his shoulder and asked him to venture into the rubble through the man-sized gap between the precariously stacked slabs. She flapped her pretty eyelashes at him with a pleading pout, and that's all it took for him to stoop down to clamber into the half-collapsed building.

Gloom shrouded them like a veil. The only light filtered in through the small gaps in the stones, spearing through the darkness like arrows to punch into the concrete foundation. Robin squinted at the dark ground with a thoughtful frown, drinking in the dust and decayed leaves and shattered ceramics littering the floor. The remains of a woven blanket or rug sprawled over the floor, and Zoro grunted as his shoes became entangled in the loose threads. As he kicked at the stubbornly clinging fibers, Robin hummed contemplatively. "How peculiar…"

"What?" he asked and finally kicked the threadbare rug away.

"Well, everything is in its place. In its prime, this would look like a typical home. It leads me to believe that the abandonment of this place is not a mass exodus." Zoro raised an eyebrow as he glanced around the humble hovel.

"You can tell all that from just one look?" Robin smiled sweetly and patted him on the head, making him huff haughtily.

"That's a skill required of an archaeologist. Now then, on to the next one."

Zoro and Robin spent the next hour perusing the forgotten settlement, flitting from one empty and dilapidated building to the next. The other residences were in similar states of stasis as the first; though degraded, the furniture and decorations remained in eerily lifelike positions. Based on Robin's discoveries of a vast stockpile of medical herbs and a pile of old bones in one household, Robin concluded that it had indeed been a plague that wiped out the small civilization.

"Such a pity," she tutted as Zoro prodded at the femur lying on the stone floor, making it roll a few inches. Teeth and claw marks littered the grainy off-white surface of the calcified bone, evidence that an animal had gleefully devoured much of the corpse. "They buried everyone in this village but had no one to bury them. No one to mourn them." Zoro tilted his head back to squint at the cracked ceiling and the light seeping through the thin crevices. The deep golden hue of the sunlight indicated to Zoro that sunset was not far off.

"We should go," he remarked, and without waiting for an answer, he exited the derelict abode. Indeed, the bubbling sun swiftly drifted down towards the horizon, turning the emerald world around them vibrant hues of gold, orange, and red. "How's your ankle?" he asked with a glance at her face. It had taken on a pallid hue, and a sheen of sweat glimmered on her brow as she laid her cheek against his broad shoulder. She didn't need to answer to tell him that her pain had worsened considerably. "Don't worry. We'll getcha home soon," he smiled reassuringly, to which Robin responded with a weary smile. He set off into the jungle.

"Zoro… The opposite direction."

"Ugh!"

By the time they made it to the shore, the sun was just melding with the sea. With a breathy exhale, he paused in the white sand to stare out at the horizon. At some point in the journey, Robin had dozed off. She slumped onto his back like a koala. As the light flashed against the water, it reflected over her eyes. The bright light slowly drew her into the realm of consciousness, causing her to blink blearily and yawn. As she slowly sat up to look at the horizon, she hummed contentedly.

"Wow. What a beautiful sunset." Zoro wasn't by any means the aesthetic sort, but he was inclined to agree. The sun melted into the sapphire water, scattering light particles over the sloshing waves to make them shimmer like thousands of diamonds. The colors of the sky bled into each other like ink- yellow phasing into red into the deep black of night. At the highest peak of the sky, the stars blinked into existence, and the white moon hung low, awaiting its turn to shine light down upon the world. Robin sighed deeply, then laid her head back on his shoulder. "Do you think that villager saw the sunset before he died?"

Zoro narrowed his eyes, perplexed as to why Robin was so obsessed with the dead guy. Wait a minute…

"This isn't really about the dead villager, is it?" Robin remained silent, only drawing abstract patterns into his sleeve. After a few seconds of silence, she quietly admitted, "No." Zoro knitted her sea-green eyebrows together as he regarded her critically.

"Well then, what is it about?"

"Sometimes I can't help but think I'll die like that. Alone, with no one to grieve me," Robin answered morosely. "Just forgotten in an unmarked grave…" Zoro's eyes widened in shock, and an embarrassed blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Robin, you're one of us, you know," he huffed. He knew that Robin understood that, but clearly, her subconscious was making it difficult for her to process logic. "We'd never let you die like that. I mean, if we were to die, it would probably be all together sinking into the ocean." Robin snorted unexpectedly with laughter, burying her face into the junction of his neck and shoulder as she snickered.

"Thank you. That's reassuring," Robin teased sarcastically. Zoro rolled his eyes and butted the top of her head with the side of his, making her cry out indignantly.

"Hey. I'm not one for pep talks. I'm doing my best here."

"I know," she chuckled and smiled gratefully at him. "I do feel better, actually."

"Good!" He asserted and headed down to the beach. Robin blinked as he unabashedly kicked off his shoes and waded calf-deep into the surf.

"I thought we were going to the ship?"

"Takin' the scenic route!" he laughed. Robin screamed as a wave suddenly crashed into them, soaking them both profusely. Robin boxed him over the head as saltwater dripped from her clothes. Zoro laughed mirthfully as he kicked up his leg and splashed a little more into her face, making her tug at his short green hairs. As the sun dipped below the horizon, gracing the world with the last few seconds of light before fading away, the moonlight washed over them to paint them white. Zoro glanced over his shoulder at Robin, smirking at her breathless and blissful expression. "I mean it."

"Mean what?" she asked while tucking a salt-kissed, damp strand of her violet-black hair behind her ear. Blushing a little, he dropped his gaze to the frothy surf writhing around his knees.

"I won't let you die like that. Alone. Even if it's just the two of us, I won't let you die like that." Out of his peripheral vision, Zoro watched her blink slowly in surprise. She then giggled and leaned in to peck him on the cheek lightly. Zoro released a sound somewhere between a grunt and a squeak, while his cheeks turned the color of the dying sun.

"That was a pretty good pep talk." Mumbling under his breath, Zoro adjusted Robin's position on his back and began walking towards the spot on the beach where the Sunny was moored. Robin purred contentedly and wound her arms loosely around his neck. Her fingers dipped down to paint invisible patterns along his collarbone. When she settled her head into the crook of his neckline, he leaned in to press his cheek against the top of her head. "I'm glad it was just the two of us today," she piped up. Zoro's lips curled into a smirk.

He was inclined to agree.