In the afternoon, after the croco-shark had crossed the river back to the Flower Capital region, King wore his leather jacket and gloves again, but Robin stopped him before he put on his mask.
"One last kiss before you wear that terrible thing." she requested.
"Terrible?" King laughed, "Yeah, I guess the more terrible I look, the more protected I am." he answered.
"Not against my crew." Robin smiled, "With us, the more terrible the enemy, the better goal they are to defeat."
"Yes," smiled King bitterly. "I have experienced that personally."
Robin rose on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. King ran his hand through her hair and held her to him, sharing with her in that kiss all the emotions he could not express out loud. After they parted, King nevertheless wore his mask, gathered his hair tightly inside and closed the zipper.
"You know I don't really have a choice," he said. "It's not just your crew, Wano is full of people who will be more than happy to jump at the chance and rat me out to the World Government. Not only the samurai, even my own crewmates."
"I understand," said Robin. "I, too, was once in crews like that. They protect you only in order to use your abilities, but never hesitate for a moment when the temptation of the bounty outweighs their benefit."
"Yeah..." King sighed.
Night had already fallen when they saw the camp in the distance. The sounds of laughter and singing that reached their ears made King stop the croco-shark.
"We're here." he said. "I think I'll set up the tent now. You can go on to your Nakama."
"Don't you want to talk to Luffy?" Robin asked.
"Not yet, not now." replied King. "I don't feel comfortable going in there while you are celebrating our defeat." he explained.
"So you want to stay here alone?" Robin asked.
"I'm used to being alone." King replied with a shrug.
"Someone I loved told me once," said Robin, "that no one was born into this world to be completely alone. He promised me that one day I would find Nakama that would protect me. It took twenty years, but it happened eventually."
"I had Kaido." replied King. "I'm still mourning him, you know."
Robin caressed his cheek through the mask and nodded. They released the croco-shark, and Robin helped King set up the tent before turning to go.
"Oh, I haven't finished reading the paper!" She exclaimed when she saw it.
"I'll keep it for you for tomorrow." replied King. "Go celebrate your victory over Black Maria, you deserve to celebrate."
"Thank you," replied Robin. "I'll be back in the morning, or sooner if I can't fall asleep."
King nodded and kept gazing at her as she walked away.
Robin entered the celebration area.
"Robin-chan!" The first to see her was of course Sanji, running to her with a tray and heart eyes, starting to list the dishes he had prepared especially for her.
"Sanji," Robin smiled, "so good to be back."
"Well, Robin, did you find the Road Poneglyph?" Nami approached and hugged her affectionately.
"Nami," Robin was surprised, "You are okay?"
"My head still hurts a little," Nami replied, "but Marco healed the crack in my skull, so I feel much better."
"Marco is an amazing doctor," Robin agreed. "Yes, I found the Poneglyph." Robin whispered the coordinates that were written on it in Nami's ear.
"Wow!" Nami said, "We've already found three Road Poneglyphs, we're only missing one!"
"Really?" asked Yamato who suddenly appeared, "Which one are you missing?"
"We don't know." answered Robin.
"The Poneglyphs were mentioned in Oden's diary," said Yamato, "which ones have you found already?"
"We found the first one in Zou, the second at Big Mom's, and now we've got the third." Robin answered.
"And when you passed through Fish-Man Island, didn't you find a Poneglyph?"
"There was a Poneglyph there, but not a Road Poneglyph." said Robin.
"Strange," Yamato replied, "when Roger and Oden passed through, there was one there."
"Hmm..." pondered Robin, "Fish-Man Island has been under Whitebeard's control most of the time. Maybe Marco knows something?"
"Marco!" Nami raised her voice above the commotion, "Come over here for a second, we have a question for you."
Marco sat next to Zoro, who was still bandaged from head to toe, and passed his flame over Zoro's shoulder.
"In a moment," he said.
He then went over and apologized. "Sorry, Zoro is so badly injured, I can't heal him all at once. So far I have only been able to heal his skull and ribs, and now his shoulder. What did you want?"
"We wanted to ask if by any chance you know anything about the Road Poneglyph that was in Fish-Man Island back in Roger's time." asked Robin.
"The Road Poneglyph?" Marco asked, "Oh, of course. You probably want to read it, Robin. Fish-Man Island is a place all pirates pass through. In the first years after Roger's execution, any pirate crew that managed to cross Fish-Man Island got themselves a copy. Whitebeard didn't like it, so he moved it from there and transferred it to a safer place. Do you want me to get you a copy?"
"I'd be very happy, thanks." answered Robin.
"I'll take care of it as soon as I can." Marco answered and returned to take care of Zoro.
"Robin!" Sanji suddenly exclaimed, "Tell me, did you come back from there alone? The bird-bastard didn't keep his word, did he?"
Robin smiled. "Actually he did. He accompanied me there and back, helped me expose the Poneglyph from the ash it had on it, and even protected me from CP0 agents."
"Impressive... I never expected that of him." said Sanji. "So where is he? What did he decide to do eventually?" He asked.
"He's not far from here," Robin pointed in the direction from which a small flame appeared in the distance. "And he decided... how can I explain it to you... he probably decided he wanted to die in his homeland. He said that if Luffy decided to get there, he would follow him and help him with whatever goal he chose. But if Luffy chose to go somewhere else, he would just come to his homeland to die there. I don't fully understand this decision." confessed Robin.
"And where is it, this homeland of his?" asked Sanji.
"Mary Geoise, he said." Robin answered.
"Pfffft, ha ha ha!" Sanji laughed, "Let him die there, the bastard. There's no way Luffy would go there. We're so close to the last island now. Luffy has to really lose his mind to go mess with the Celestial Dragons instead of finding the One Piece and becoming the Pirate King!"
"That's what I told him," Robin said, "but I feel sorry for him. He's the last survivor of a glorious tribe that according to legend is supposed to help the right man bring the dawn to the world. Many people here in Wano and in Zou believe that Luffy is this man. As an archaeologist, I wouldn't want to see his tribe go extinct a moment before he can fulfill his mission in this world."
"Don't worry, Robin," replied Sanji. "If all it takes is fire and flying capacity, I can fulfill this role better than him."
Robin just nodded and stared at the distant flame, at the lonely, hopeless man sitting there, and her heart went out to him. She only hoped that maybe, somehow, she would find a way to help him.
