Navy Holiday: Chapter 1: Finding Home
This is a collection of various pairings and ship (platonic and romantic) for OPMarinesHolidays. Check out the tag on twitter for more great stuff! Tags, characters, and pairings will be updated as we go! This first chapter is Saul and Robin for the prompt Home.
For Saul, it never seemed like he quite fit in the world. Literally in some cases. First, it was in the South Blue. His family liked the warmer environment over Elbaf. They, the only giants on his whole island. A lonely existence, and yet, when he set off for Elbaf, Saul didn't find it much better.
Battle soaked and violent, a love of weapons and war. Not violent by nature, but barbaric by choice. Saul found he didn't fit much there either.
A pirate's life was not for him. Fighting for his own dreams, his own goals held little interest for him. He longed to be a part of something, give back to the world. But a scholar he was not to be. Too big, too broad, too strong. He had no head for dusty tomes and pages covered in ink.
It was Kuzan who asked him if he would join the Navy. On an island in the South Blue, after he had returned from Elbaf. Saul had seen a pirate ship set to cannonball a town, and by virtue of his mere existence, grabbed the ship and threw it away.
Kuzan who stood on the ice-covered water and smiled at him. Unfazed by his size, or his strength.
And so, he joined the Navy, and for a while, Saul belonged. He had a crew, and friends, comrades in arms. He guarded islands and merchants and defended the innocent. The long white coat on his back gave him something to strive for. Here, he thought he could achieve his goals, be a part of something even bigger than his giant self.
Except for the little things. The little things that grew and grew and made this place he'd hoped to be his home not a home at all. The Celestial Dragons with their slaves, the treatment of fishmen, the Shichibukai and the islands that couldn't pay tribute.
But it was the slaughter of those who only wanted to learn that Saul couldn't abide. It cracked open the foundation and let it all to ruin. His friends didn't feel like the same friends, the crew he'd long protected looked bloodstained and vicious. By choice and not by nature, Elbaf all over again.
And Saul once again did not fit. He washed up on the shore of an island with a tree larger than even he. Alone, and heartbroken. The world never seemed to have a place for him.
Until her. Tiny and sad. Too young to be so heartbroken. Robin didn't fit either. Children were afraid of her powers, adults were afraid of her mind. She didn't fit either. It was almost laughable, a disgraced giant of a man and one small, lonely, little human girl.
But that was alright, laughter was good, and with her, it felt like home.
Notes:
The holidays are here, the holidays are here! I get to write 12 whole fics! Let me know your thoughts! As always, thank you for reading and you can find me on twitter at buggyisbest!