Considering that she had spent most of her life in a glorified prison, Yamato thought of herself as multi-talented.
Of course, fighting would always be where her true talents lie but that wasn't all that she was good at. Her father (that bastard) had made sure that she was well educated, for example, and so her reading and writing ability was impressive enough to surprise even the scholarly Robin. She was also quite the sailor given that she'd grown up around warriors of the sea, a fact which had Nami ecstatic as it meant that she wouldn't have to teach the newest Strawhat the correct way to tie the ships running rigging during a storm a million times over unlike a certain swordsman. On top of this, she'd always been one to pick things up quickly, proven to the rest of the crew when Brooke had been able to teach her very rudimentary violin skills in a few short hours, or when she'd cleaned house at poker under Nami's tutelage.
All in all, Yamato had many skills, but dancing was definitely NOT one of them.
Robin's laughter rang clear across the deck and Yamato couldn't help but admire how the archaeologist managed to make it sound polite despite the fact that she was laughing at her for falling onto her ass for the 5th time in as many minutes. She could have sworn she'd copied Robin's routine to a tee, but somehow she'd fallen over again anyway. Grumbling quiet threats in her friend's general direction, Yamato picked herself up from the soft grass (that had given her several sore bruises regardless) and turned to face the still giggling Robin.
She couldn't quite recall exactly how she'd been roped into dancing lessons with the graceful devil child, one too many humiliating tumbles had made her forget, but it was abundantly clear early into the endeavour that it wasn't her strong suit. Still, her pride had overtaken her and she refused to quit until she could at least mimic the moves that Robin had first shown her. She gave a private word of thanks to whatever gods that were out there that the majority of the crew were out away from the Sunny while Robin was showing her the ropes. The way things were going she'd need the whole rigging.
"You were much closer that time. Would you like me to show you again?" Robin asked, voice full of mirth. It wasn't entirely clear to Yamato whether or not the woman was being sincere with her compliment but she decided to be optimistic and take her for her word.
Yamato stubbornly shook her head and got back into position, closing her eyes as she visualised the first few steps of the dance. Left arm up, right arm across the waist, step step, spin… she thought to herself in uneasy concentration, but only made it about a quarter of the way through before she swung her arm much too aggressively and toppled over from the ensuing momentum. This time, Robin didn't laugh but when Yamato looked up at her from the pile of limbs on the floor, she could see the amused smile playing across her lips.
"Maybe seeing it one more time would be useful," Yamato mumbled, embarrassment clear on her face as she righted her orientation for what felt like the thousandth time.
Robin smiled warmly, "Okay, watch closely now," she said, before heaving a great breath to prepare herself. Without anymore in the way of preamble, she launched into action quicker than Yamato could blink and began the slow deliberate twirls of the beginning of the dance.
Yamato had never really been one to appreciate art, but Robin's fluid maneuvers had her captivated. The raven haired woman moved seamlessly from stance to stance, pose to pose with a languid grace that seemed natural, yet utterly alien at the same time and anyone watching wouldn't be able to look away. Robin wasn't a muscular woman but Yamato had no doubt in her mind that she was incredibly strong: she had to be, otherwise she wouldn't be able to move like that. Her limbs became a blur of motion as she picked up the pace and her midnight black hair whipped around her in a flow that had Yamato wondering if it had a life of its own. Nearing the end of her demonstration, the pirouetting Robin crossed her arms in a manner now familiar to Yamato, and filled the air with sakura petals as she activated her powers, very briefly obscuring her form. Once she reappeared, she came sporting three additional sets of arms, each moving with independence in a flurry of chaotic beauty.
"Show off…" Yamato grumbled, but she couldn't deny the quality of what she was seeing.
With a final flourish of the uncountable number of arms, Robin shot Yamato a grin half way between sheepish and playful. "Apologies Yamato, I couldn't resist," she laughed.
Yamato couldn't help but smile in return. "I doubt I could do that quite so well, but I believe that I've got the basics memorised," she said, stretching her arms in preparation for a no doubt flawless recreation. Two steps in she snagged her foot on a patch of rough grass and hit the deck with a resounding thud. She looked up into the smiling face of Robin and glared hard enough to set the deck on fire.
"I'm starting to think that dancing is not my thing," the Oni said in an overly calm voice. Instead of getting back up, she rolled over onto her back, tracking a passing cloud as it floated lazily across the vast blue. She had to admit it was the perfect day for being sprawled out onto the turf. The early morning sun was hidden sparsely by the occasional cloud, peeking at the world from behind them every now and then to bestow its warmth. A gentle wind made sure that the heat didn't overstay its welcome, and for that she was thankful considering that falling on your ass was sweaty work. The waters of the dock that the Sunny filled were calm and inviting: something that actively annoyed Yamato since it wasn't something that she could enjoy. Still, at least it was pretty.
A soft sounding impact to Yamato's left drew her attention, and she turned her head ever so slightly to see Robin, sitting on the grass beside her. She too was admiring the scenery, and a serene smile adorned her beautiful face. "I'm not sure what you mean. You dance with Luffy all the time," she said, her eyes glued to the sky, words filled with humour.
Yamato's first instinct was to blush fiercely whenever the crew joked about her and the captain, but something about Robin's words struck a chord. The archaeologist was certainly not one to speak without reason and while she did have a mischievous streak, teasing for the sake of it with such left field comments wasn't really her style. No, Robin was more one to make annoying insightful comments that left the impression that she knew more about you than you did. It took Yamato a couple of seconds to wrap her head around what the woman was getting at, but when it clicked, she heard herself groan under the weight of her own stupidity.
She wasn't a good dancer, sure. Lucky for her, dancing was similar to something that she was good at.
She propelled herself from the floor onto her feet and once again positioned herself in preparation to copy Robin's choreography, shutting her eyes and taking several shallow breaths to get her heart going. She was moving her body before her brain could have too much input and it was a marked improvement. Before, she had felt slow, sluggish in her actions, but now, the red hot haze of battle was all she could focus on.
It hadn't occurred to Yamato until Robin had hinted at it but combat was a dance in and of itself. The countless duals she had over the years were mere performances and her foes, mere partners. She'd never had trouble staying on her feet in a fight, not since she was a child, so why was she having such troubles with dancing? It was simple really, she was thinking too much. On the battlefield, instinct ruled and in that school she was a genius. Her mind was blank as she swayed through the movements, eyes glazed over with nothing behind them but she knew what she was doing. Her body responded to what she had seen from Robin and executed it with the efficiency of a warrior. Sincere clapping and delightful laughter broke her free from her own spell.
The subdued nature of Robin's smile was undercut by the sparkle in her eyes, and Yamato could see the near-giddiness bubbling underneath the woman's refined outward presence. "See? That was wonderful," she said, tone as calm as ever. She laughed again when Yamato gave several over the top, mock bows. "It was a lot better than I was expecting, I must admit. Did my advice help?" She shot the Oni an almost imperceptible wink.
Yamato nodded slowly, unable to help the smile that she sent back, "Yes I think it did," she chuckled, slumping down next to her friend once more, suddenly exhausted. Dancing may not have been as life or death as combat, but it certainly took the cake for effort required.
Years ago, hell even a few days ago, if someone had told Yamato that she'd be laying in the greenest grass aboard the ship of the future pirate king, having had all her energy sapped by dancing lessons from the demon child Nico Robin, she would have laughed at them. Yet somehow, here she was, running her large hands through soft, freshly cut blades while next to her, her teacher hummed a harmonious tune that seemed vaguely familiar. The calming sounds and the warmth of the morning coupled with the screaming of her muscles had her iching for a nap.
She was 'saved' from what was likely to be several hours of blissful slumber by Robin, who broke the accumulated silence by bursting into sudden, bubbling laughter. It was quiet enough that it was obviously meant to be to herself but loud enough that Yamato couldn't ignore it. She glanced at the archaeologist in curiosity and found the woman staring back at her warmly.
"Sorry, I just thought of something amusing," she said. Yamato didn't reply, only looked at her friend half expectant: she imagined that if Robin felt like sharing, she would, but she was interested nonetheless. Evidently, the normally reserved woman felt so inclined, as she continued, "I just doubt that my younger self would believe me if I told that she would eventually spend her days playing dance instructor. Life can be funny," he smile was wistful: painful memories buried deep beneath neatly healed scar tissue behind every word.
Yamato didn't know much about her friend's past, and what she did know was not pleasant. Her own childhood hadn't exactly been something to boast about, but being alone in the vast expanse of the seas with the world government breathing down your neck, hunting you down at every turn, sounded like true hell.
"You know... I was thinking the exact same thing," Yamato began, then she smiled gently, placing a comforting hand on Robin's shoulder. The archaeologist's small frame looked almost comical under her massive palm. "I'm sorry if I brought up something you'd rather forget," she finished.
The smaller woman looked pensive for a moment, but the pain in her eyes disappeared in the brightness of her smile, "Not at all, I was just being foolish," she said, running her hands through the grass beneath her, tracing patterns in the turf. "Besides, anytime I think too much about my old life, all I need to do is think about my new one,"
Yamato analysed her, looking for the tension in the brow or the tightness in the shoulders that normally accompanied a lie, but the raven haired woman was the picture of tranquility. For all the world, it seemed that Robin truly was no longer scared of her past.
While she couldn't ever hope to understand Robin's traumas (nor would she particularly want to) Yamato could understand her coping mechanism. Everyone on the crew had things in their past that they would rather forget, even their usually unflappable captain, but in the face of their newfound family, none of it seemed to matter. Yamato didn't think she could be truly over 20 years of pain under the thumb of her father, just like she doubted that Robin would ever be truly over 20 years of solitude, and yet together, alongside the rest of their friends, their family, it felt a little more manageable.
Turning once more to look beyond the boundaries of the harbour, Yamato took in every detail of the stunning scenery that she could, filling away the sight into the steadily expanding bank of memories of her time as a strawhat. She had no doubt that her friend beside her was doing something similar. "I like the sound of that idea," Yamato said, the smile on her face only growing larger.