Darkness on the Horizon
VI: The Harsh Truth
Written by Takato Metallium
Plot: AU, dark, slash (Luffy/Zoro, Sanji/Usopp, Robin/Nami), mentions of rape, one-shot. Robin might not have much her captain can take away from her…but there is one person who she holds dear…
Disclaimer: I disclaim all rights to One Piece, as it belongs to Eiichiro Oda-san. If I owned OP, Sanji and Usopp (not to mention Zoro and Luffy) would've had sex already. 'Fraid not, kiddies. I only own the fanfic, the idea and not much else.
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Every time she saw those children, Robin could only barely hold back the dark glare from her eyes. The archeologist watched them from the tangerine trees, one hand leaning her forward on the railing as they resumed their afternoon training sessions with their 'fathers'.

She watched Kuina draw her practice bokken on the higher deck near the Going Merry's figurehead before taking a running leap forward and bringing it down hard against Zoro's, watching the green-haired swordsman smile tenderly as the small girl pushed him back as far as she could before he retaliated.

Around the area by the mainsail's mast, Tony was currently doing a handstand as Sanji gently placed weighted shoes on his feet as they hung in the air, his knees nearly doubling from the pressure but managing to hold himself up. With a grunt, he slowly began to turn himself in circles using his hands, lashing out at the training arm pads Usopp wore.

Robin had been gone the night they were conceived, on a small archeological expedition to a site on the island they had docked at, with Chopper as her only companion. Together they had explored the ruins of what had once been the island's capital, and it was only when they came back, when she had entered her shared cabin to find Nami sobbing into the stained sheets of her bedspread. As Chopper had cleaned the navigator up of her wounds and excess fluids on her form, Robin had pressed for information, pressed so hard that it had nearly brought her cartographer to fresh tears.

She had stood there, horror displayed on her face, as Nami recounted the events of the night. How, one by one, the men of the Going Merry – their nakama – had raped her; how they wouldn't stop even as she begged and pleaded to be let go; how three of them would hold her down as one…

Robin snapped herself out of those thoughts, her gaze wandering to the sail, which held the pirate crew's symbol – the Mugiwara Boshi no Jolly Roger. She relaxed her grip on the railing slightly, unconsciously removing the Hana-Hana hands that had randomly begun appearing around her. Looking down at the children and their 'parents' once more, a small, unnoticeable snarl curled its way across her lips and her fingers tightened on the wood she was leaning against, nails digging enough to bury beneath the splinters.

"Thinking about killing them, are you?" The dark purring voice made her turn her head ever so little, watching her captain approach her in a saunter. Luffy smiled – a mockery of his former self – and slid his hand across the railing as he joined her, looking down at the children contentedly. "I wouldn't consider that if I were you, Robin."

"They shouldn't have been born and you know it," she hissed, bearing her teeth as she tore himself from where his arm wrapped itself around her waist, turning to face him. "They're abominations. Bastard children who will never know the pleasure of growing up happily!"

Luffy withdrew his arm, leaning back on the railing carelessly and turning his gaze elsewhere. "They're living what they've always known; they're well looked-after, well cared for. They're happy enough." He looked at her with hooded eyes, tilting his shoulder so it connected with his chin almost coyly. "Or isn't that enough for you? Do you want them to suffer as you did?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Robin turned away, hands clenching as she remembered Nami's tearful face. "How could you have done that to Nami? How could you have breached her trust like that! She trusted you…trusted you enough to die for you!" The historian swung around on her heel, blazing blue eyes glaring at her captain. "Why! How could you do such a thing!"

His smile became cold as he straightened himself, fixing the flowing red jacket so it rested comfortably around his shoulders. Luffy's smile split to reveal his teeth as he approached her, reaching up slightly to take her cheek into his hand. "It's simple, Robin," he purred, so dark and low she had to strain her ears to hear it. "So simple I'm surprised I have to continue to repeat myself every time you ask." He caressed her cheek with his thumb, making her shiver. "Because I can. Because from the first moment I saw her I wanted that body writhing beneath me, begging me for mercy."

His eyes darkened and narrowed, tongue darting out to wet his lips as he leaned in close towards her, smile curling all the more as she tried to lean away, her stomach tightening in anticipation. "Because I knew you cared so much for her," he hissed into her ear, hot breath flowing along her jaw line and exposed neck. "Because in the end…" Luffy paused, chuckling lowly. "…It doesn't matter. You already know. You've asked me so many times before, yet why do you persist in continuing to ask me?" His free hand snaked its way up her body, and Robin had to refrain herself from retaliating.

She couldn't retaliate. Not yet. Never not yet.

"Because as long as we sail under your flag, we're yours," the archeologist whispered, lowering her gaze as her captain neared.

"That's right," the dark-haired man purred, pulling himself away. He looked out over the decking of the Going Merry where the children trained, leaning once more onto the railing. "You're mine. Every last one of you. Mine to break, to bend to my will …mine to use." Luffy looked at her out the corner of his eye, beginning to turn away. "Get that thought out of your head, Robin. You know mutiny will do you no good."

And that was the harsh truth.

– Fin –

Next: Darkness on the Horizon VII – A Swordsman's Honor