Zoro already knew where he could stay for the rest of his days on the island. Did he know whether they would let him? Not really, he would show up there as if he was invited, and surprise them that late afternoon, and boy, were they not expecting him to visit them again as soon as Zoro stepped inside.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the flower shop?" It was the first thing Dr. Trafalgar said upon seeing the swordsman barge in the clinic.

Zoro stood sheepishly in his place, unable to look into the doctor's eyes. Of all the places he could think of, he had chosen the clinic: the first place he had stayed in Rustbay. Well, it was reasonable, for Zoro , that the clinic would take him once more. Although the doctor had a look of disapproval on his face, what he didn't account for was…

"Zoro?!" Bepo interrupted the two men's conversation. He just arrived at the clinic's lobby, and as soon as his eyes landed at the unexpected visitor, he immediately hugged the swordsman. Even though Bepo felt happy, the doctor was distressed, seeing the swordsman in his clinic once again.

"Zoro! I missed you so much!" Bepo hugged Zoro even tighter and Law still had his brow raised at the swordsman who hadn't even answered his question.

"Let's just say it was my choice not to stay there, because I'd rather not to…" Zoro pulled away from Bepo's hug for a moment to answer the doctor's question.

"Was it because of that twin brother of yours?" The doctor was quick to reply.

Zoro snickered at the doctor.

"Where the hell did you even get that news? How the hell would I be related to that idiot?"

"Because you two looked alike." Law deadpanned.

"I— Well, it doesn't matter, he wasn't even my brother in the first place!"

"Not my problem, so go back there and explain yourself to the other townspeople who already believe that."

"But I don't know where to stay!" Zoro said, and Bepo agreed, hugging the swordsman even more.

"Use your head, for fuck's sake." Law groaned in frustration. "Explain yourself to Nico-ya so you can stay in her home again. I don't care if you two had a lover's quarrel, you need to resolve that so you can go back and stay there. I don't want the clinic to be swarmed with women again—"

Bepo's ears perked up and he pulled away from his embrace with the swordsman, "Wait, did I hear that, right?"

"Hear what? That I don't want the clinic to be swarmed with women?" Law grumbled.

"No, not that! The rumors! They've been going around since last week! So, the ladies were telling the truth, then? You and Robin are already… you know? When did it happen? Back in Ohara?" Bepo shot a knowing glance at the swordsman. Law rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Meanwhile, that earned a blush on Zoro who only stood awkwardly beside Bepo.

"Nothing happened." Zoro muttered. He didn't want to explain himself anymore, especially when he knew there was no other way but to forget.

"Save those tears, and go outside…" Law scoffed before shoving Zoro out of the clinic, however Bepo stopped him, and tugged Zoro's arms, pulling him away from the doctor.

"Zoro will be staying here again as a patient." Bepo hugged Zoro tightly, insisting on having him stay inside the clinic, and pleaded with his cute looks at the doctor. Seeing his adorable face would surely make the doctor's heart flutter, and give in to the mink's cuteness. Finally, Law sighed in defeat. He really couldn't deny Bepo when he was doing that. And man, did it work every time.

"Fine, fine, the swordsman can stay. But no longer than two days! Like I said, I don't want the clinic to be the center of attention when it's supposed to be Floraleigh." He said before he left the lobby and headed upstairs to his own private room.

There, Zoro was left alone with Bepo. The mink smiled at him and said, "Settle yourself down around here, Law is just stressed that he lost against a woman in a mini game around the town plaza." He glanced behind his back to check if the doctor was still around, and luckily, he was gone already so Bepo continued, but with a whisper. "And just so you know, it was a limited-edition stuffed toy seal!"

Zoro faintly chuckled. "That's why…"

Afterwards, Bepo left him alone so that Zoro could settle in one of the empty beds inside the clinic. Before the mink left him, he asked if he had brought any things with him. Zoro only shook his head. He didn't want to bother Bepo to fetch his things from Robin's home, besides, it didn't matter if he left his things at her place. Besides, in a few days, he was leaving Rustbay for good. Hence, he didn't even need all those clothes the ladies gave him.

When he was left alone, he slid the curtain for privacy, so that he could lie down.

'Why did he care in the first place?' He asked himself. He shouldn't even be thinking about the people he would leave here, but what did he do? He ended up caring and catching feelings at the same time— what a mess he was.

While contemplating, Zoro sensed the clinic's door open and heard Bepo welcoming an unexpected guest.

"It's nice to see you here, Dr. Kureha. What brings you here?" Bepo sounded surprised as per what Zoro heard from his tone.

Dr Kureha… Why was she here? Zoro repeated the question in his mind but immediately dismissed the thought.

"I'm just here to see if the rumors were true. I heard that the swordsman doesn't have any place to stay right now because of some lover's quarrel—"

"It's not some lover's quarrel—!" Zoro was quick to open the curtains, and he saw Bepo along with Dr. Kureha and Chopper. Chopper even eagerly waved at the swordsman with a big grin on his face, "Hello, Zoro!" The reindeer said as if they weren't just together earlier.

It was probably Chopper who told Dr. Kureha… He sighed to himself, still he slowly waved his hand at the reindeer.

The older woman chuckled. "And yet you're defensive, swordsman. But I'm not here for that petty reason."

"Then why are you here, old hag?"

"You can stay with us at our home if you like, Zoro!" Chopper was the one who replied instead.

Zoro shrugged nonchalantly. "Better than nothing, I guess."

Afterwards, he went along with Doctorine and Chopper, leaving the clinic behind.

The next days had been unbearable for Robin ever since she got back from the shop. Her problem? Zo was still bugging her despite not staying in her home anymore, which she was still mad at. She didn't even ask him to work in her shop, but he was still there! However, most of her workers had grown fond of him, which for their sake, she didn't fire him. That led to her own misgivings now that there wasn't a time Zo hadn't showed up when he wasn't needed. He was always in every corner of the shop, and she hated it so much. Sometimes when she was fixing the store displays, he showed up. Then another time when she specifically asked for Ben, he was the one who appeared. And earlier, when she had to ask Erin something at the lobby regarding an order, he was there instead of Erin.

"Why are you here? Where is Erin?" She tried not to sound annoyed.

With how Zoro and Zo looked similar, it was infuriating for her. Sure, there was a difference between the two men but this wasn't Zoro in front of her. This wasn't the man who she had been connected with. Seeing Zo right now, she was much more annoyed by this variant of him. She didn't want to see his face at the moment. Was there even a way to avoid Zo at all costs? She thought as she tried to compose herself, and not let her temper consume her.

Although seeing Zo, he reminded her of Zoro… She missed him so much— she just didn't want to admit it to herself.

"Erin said that I should stay here for a while." There was a grin on his face which she wanted to smack off.

Robin tried not to roll her eyes and immediately left the shop without talking to him further.

So, instead of dwelling too much at the shop, she left to take a break. Besides, the shop wasn't busy at that time since the Floraleigh festival was about to end. There was nothing much to do aside from checking the inventory with Erin. Robin was now free from the shop for a day, and she was also away from unnecessary distractions. By distractions, she meant Zo.

In just one call, she was eagerly joined by Nami, along with Sanji, whom she invited to shop for dresses. The first thing on their agenda was to find a dress suited for the event the following day. The Floraleigh dance. It would be her first Floraleigh dance ever since she moved in several months ago, so she decided to make it special for her first time.

"What do you think of this dress, Nami?" Robin strutted out of the fitting room, wearing a bright floral puffy-sleeved sundress. She turned around with a smile to highlight the dress she tried.

"It really suits you, Robin-chwan ~ ! You should buy it." Sanji cheered.

"Yeah, it suits your body incredibly, Robin!" Nami smiled despite knowing that Robin tried so many dresses but she still hadn't chosen anything.

"But they're all so pretty…" Robin muttered out loud, seeing that there were more dresses displayed around the stall. Nothing seemed to fit her taste except for the dress she was wearing right now.

"Do you want another green dress, Robin? No one's stopping you, you know." Nami teased, showing the exact dress but in green.

"Shush…" Robin only rolled her eyes with affection, and took it from Nami.

Even so, she still bought the two dresses from the shop— the orange and the green one with both similar styles.

Not long after, they went to another stall so that they could continue to find more clothes. The next stall had Robin wanting to try all of them but as usual, she only chose four new dresses and tops while Nami bought thrice the clothes Robin had chosen in the same shop. Poor Sanji would be the one handling the women's shopping bags all throughout the day.

When they were about to head to another stall, Robin noticed something familiar— a green haired man.

The man had the same build as the swordsman, too, she thought. Was she just seeing things—? 'Wait, not this again. I thought we moved past this, Robin?' She mentally cursed. Just because something reminded her of him, didn't mean he would be there once more. He was not some sort of magician or psychic. He wouldn't appear whenever she wanted. After all, it was only her mind playing with her by thinking about him again that moment.

So yeah, that was definitely not him. It was time for her to move on before everything would lead to the worst-case scenario. She needed to prepare herself that for the next few days, he would be gone so… it was best not to think about him again. Maybe they were just a tourist who happened to have the same hair color as the swordsman, nothing more…

She didn't bother looking at the man anymore, and had already stepped inside the new shop. However, someone grabbed her arm firmly, and pulled her outside of the stall which almost made her stumble.

"What the— You?! Let go of me!" Robin shot them a disgruntled look, and unlucky for her, it was Zo.

Talk about her luck that day.

"Ben was looking for you. Why aren't you at the shop?" He asked, eyes with concern— Robin wouldn't believe what she was seeing right now with her own eyes.

"Why would I even need to ask for his permission when I'm the one managing them?" She successfully tugged her arm away from his grasp.

"What if something happened to you?" He bit back.

Robin raised a brow at that. Is he for real? She had enough of this guy. He kept on talking as if she needed him to— which she didn't need at all.

"Look, Nami and Sanji are here with me, so nothing would ever happen and—"

Robin had overlooked a crack in the pavement below her feet which tripped her over. She almost fell head first into the ground but with Zo's quick reflexes, he hastily caught her in his arms. Their eyes met and Robin felt like she had seen this scene before:

It was as if time had cooperated to slow down, letting her savor this moment with him. Oh, how Nico Robin, who had been an independent woman for several years, had yearned for someone to pull her closer in their arms, their tireless arms.

However, this time it was different. It wasn't Zoro who had caught her in his arms.

There was an 'I told you so' look in his eyes, Robin could read it. Yet she rolled her eyes at him. Instead of happiness fluttering inside her mind and heart, it was making her squirm, and she forced herself out of his arms, pushing him away. She actually cringed inside when he did that. She would also rather let her face hit the concrete rather than fall in his arms. She quickly averted his gaze when they both heard Nami calling Robin, asking where she was. With that, she used the opportunity to leave him alone. She didn't even bother saying 'thank you' to him, instead headed in the shop quickly as if nothing happened, as if she didn't see him at all.

Unbeknownst to Robin, someone had seen them with their own eyes. Not the ladies, not the townspeople, but the swordsman himself.

After the events that happened between them, it was hard for him not to think about how to talk to Robin. Pacing back and forth in the room until he was pulled from his thoughts by Chopper when he opened the door to his room.

"Zoro, can you go with me to the market?" Apart from her, Chopper was the only one who could have persuaded him with those words. Zoro was already trying his best to distance himself farther away from Robin although he couldn't resist, and still went with Chopper and Usopp to the market. Which led him to the point where he was now. Standing from afar, he had spotted Robin in the crowd along with Nami and that stupid cook.

It should have been him together with Robin—

'What was the point of avoiding Robin if he kept on thinking that?' He asked himself as soon as he saw her. Despite that, he still wanted to approach her, however… he changed his mind without knowing Robin wanted to do the same.

As he left with Chopper and Usopp to look around the marketplace, he thought he wouldn't see her again, until he actually did. This time, she was with Zo, who showed up all of a sudden. Frozen in place, the swordsman was observing from afar, and Robin noticed that she tripped on the pavement. He was about to run towards however… Zo caught her in his arms. Zoro didn't know what was what anymore but seeing that made him mad for some reason.

' Fucking hell…' He stomped away before Zo could see him. 'What was that look he was giving her?!' He grumbled under his breath as he went back to Chopper and Usopp. It disgusted him, twisted his gut, that of all people, it was Zo!

"Zoro, we've been looking for you! Wait, did something happen?" Usopp asked him upon seeing his disgruntled face when he got back. Yet, the swordsman only ignored him, and continued on walking faster than him and Chopper.

He was also sure that something was wrong, aside from the fact Zo was here, but he wasn't sure what it was except for his unexplainable feeling of anger.

"Mr. Swordsman, will you go to Floraleigh with me?" A lady's voice interrupted him from his musings.

Looking over his shoulder, Zoro stopped in his tracks to see that a woman was standing in front of him with expectant eyes. Together with her was her friend who had the same expectant look.

' Were these the same ladies back then?' He thought to himself.

He was sure that this was the same woman who asked him back when he was staying at the clinic. This lady still hasn't given up at all, however… He shook his head and sighed deeply before saying, "Look, I don't know where and how you got the confidence, woman, but, I'm sorry, I already had someone in mind."

He said the last part abruptly, vaguely realizing for a moment that he had decided to attend the Floraleigh dance. Not paying attention to the woman in front of him, he shortly left after that. As he walked around town, he thought he wouldn;t see Robin, but once again, for the third time that day , he recognized her even in a crowd of hundreds.

After all, his attention would always be caught by the tall, black-haired woman— obviously the one he couldn't remove from his mind for days, for weeks — who was among the crowd along with her friends. He could see her smile, the way her face lit up even without him, and that was for the best. At least for both their own sakes. In that moment, all he could do was observe her from afar, thinking about his decision to participate in one of the last events of Floraleigh.

A choice that he surely wouldn't regret.