A.N. Sorry for the delay, and sorry for the length of this chapter. But I have like 5 more already written down in my notebook, so I'm gonna try to speed things up a bit.

Ch. 10

Faith and Promise

Zoro awoke as the first rays of the sun crept over the sides of the crows-nest. Of course had anyone set foot upon the ship who didn't belong he have been fully awake in an instant and ready to defend his nakama to the death.

Oh yes… he was just that good.

"Oi, Nami-swan. What are you doing up so early?" Sanji asked as he stepped out of the galley to see the object of his affection standing on the deck, looking out at the island.

"Sanji-kun, I was looking for Robin." Replied Nami. "Have you seen her?"

"No."

"It's not like her to just disappear."

"Unless she got dragged somewhere by Luffy."

As if summoned by Nami, who dared to speak his name, Luffy burst forth from below deck, stretching and yawning. Seeing Sanji, he grinned from ear to ear and yelled, "Sanji, I'm hungry!"

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes." Sanji said as he took a drag from one of his ever-present cigarettes.

"Oh, ok." Luffy shrugged. "Let's push off then, breakfast always tastes better on the open sea!"

"We can't do that yet Luffy." Countered Nami. "Robin's missing."

"Who's missing?" Usopp asked as he and Chopper stumbled onto the deck, rubbing sleep from their eyes.

"Robin."

"What?" Chopper bellowed. "How, When, Why?"

"We don't know, cause our no good lookout was up in the crows-nest, SLEEPING!" Burst Sanji as he found a scapegoat for this trouble.

"Oh, like it would have been different if you had been the one on watch!" Zoro snapped, climbing down from his perch.

"Yeah it would have!" Sanji replied, stepping up to face his challenge. "Because I would have been awake!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Does anyone else smell something burning?" Asked Nami as an acrid tang assaulted her delicate nose.

"The food!" Sanji exclaimed as his one visible eye grew wide. With a quick "We'll finish this later!" thrown over his shoulder at his eternal rival, he bolted for the kitchen hoping to be able to salvage at least some portion of their breakfast.

"Here." Kaicen said, averting his eyes from her nude form as he handed Robin the rag shirt he had been wearing. "It's not much, but it's better

He was right, robin noted as she accepted the filthy garment. It was rancid smelling so baggy that it fell to her knees and might have been white at one point in time. But it was better than remaining disrobed in the dark and dank cell.

"Um… are you dressed yet?" Kaicen asked as he kept his eyes averted. Robin found the gesture oddly sweet. He hadn't peeked more than once, but it was damned hard to stay noble with this attractive woman naked in front of him.

"There." She said as she pulled the disgusting garment over her head. To conserve her body heat she sat on the metallic floor and tucked her legs into the baggy shirt. Smiling at him she asked, "So, you're the mysterious Kaicen Aliotto?"

"Guilty as charged." He replied.

"And Saros is the ghost of the isle?"

"No, yes… I mean." He began. After a brief pause while he collected his thoughts he continued. "It's like this: I was the ghost of the isle, and now he took over the role… I mean… It's kind of a long story."

"Look at the situation." Robin said as she reached back and tapped the handle-less door, which rang with a hollow sound. "Until my Nakama come to rescue me you have a captive and willing audience."

"You place a great deal of faith in your nakama." Kaicen said in a tone that, while not quite derision, was certainly close. "Don't get me wrong, but to do that they would have to find this place, a feat which only four people have ever managed to do. And then, if that wasn't enough they would have to face Saros. Saros! A man who not only is a vice-admiral in the navy, but who also possesses the power of the Kopi Kopi no Mi! A Devil's fruit that allows the consumer to steal and eventually copy the abilities of anyone who has a paramecia type power!"

"That's no problem for someone with no direction sense and someone with no common sense." She replied with her customary slight smile.

For a time the only sound that could be heard was the slow, steady drip of water as it condensed on the exposed metallic pipes and fell to the floor. After what seemed an eternity Kaicen shook his head and laughed. The sound was throaty and warm, and Robin felt that she could get used to hearing it. "Alright then, but you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"That when you leave this place you'll take me with you." He said.

"Alright." She agreed, it really wasn't a difficult request. Maybe now she would finally get to the bottom of the mystery of the island. "When I leave I'll make sure you come too. But before you begin your story I feel that I should introduce myself. My name is Nico Robin." Shifting closer to him she offered Kaicen her hand.

"Oh, I know who you are. Though I never thought I would get the opportunity to meet you. "He said settling into a cross legged position beside her and accepting her hand. Kissing it lightly he relinquished it and looked at her with his emerald eyes, a slight smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "By the way… When Saros steals a power it's not permanent. You should be back to full power by tomorrow's dawn."

"How do you know all this?" Robin asked in amazement. She didn't know how to react to the kiss on the hand very well, nothing like that had ever happened to her before. Navigator-san was the one that men persued. She was young, beautiful and friendly, and Robin was almost thirty. Her time for romance had long passed, and the saddest thing was that it had never even once come around. "How?"

"Cause the bastard did it to me too…" Fumed Kaicen for a moment. But then his frown was gone and with the flair of a natural storyteller he began his tale. "But that's not important right now… Our real story begins 25 years ago, on the day of my birth."

A.N. I've just gotta give a big Gomenasai to all the fans of Zoro/Robin shippers. She's just too old to form any kind of romantic attachment to any of the other Mugiwaras, at least in my humble opinion.. If Zoro was to get with someone I think it would perhaps be Vivi... I dunno, I just like that relationship more.