"Robin-chaaan! What do you want for tea break todaaaay?"
"Anything that goes with coffee." Robin replied with a smile from where she is reading a book on the deck of the Thousand Sunny. The table she is at is within the shade, away from the harsh sun rays yet also allowing her to enjoy the seabreeze. Franky had really outdone himself.
"Right awaaaay!" Sanji dashed off with hearts in his eyes like usual. It didn't take him long to reemerge from the kitchen with a perfectly brewed cup of coffee together with a sandwich, just as she likes it.
"Sanji! I wanna eat too!"
"Me too! Me too!"
"Robin-chan and Nami-san comes first! The rest of you stinky men can wait!" Sanji snapped back.
Robin tuned out the squabbling in the background with practiced ease as she sipped on her coffee. Her gaze returned to the clouds floating in the sky.
Seven years. It's been seven years since she last saw her husband and daughter. How are they doing? She has no doubts that her husband is taking good care of their daughter in her absence, playing both roles of being Alethea's father and mother. Her husband will definitely be a good father. She, on the other hand…
She is a bad mother. There's no arguing otherwise.
"Robin? You okay?" Chopper asked in concern from where he is sitting on the table and munching on some grapes.
"Hm? Nothing much, really. Just thinking about my husband and daughter."
The silence in the air is palpable, so much that it caught her attention immediately. Everyone had their jaws dropped comically low in shock, especially Sanji. Why the surprise? She's twenty-eight this year, is it so surprising that she would already have a child? Had she not told them about-
Oh wait, she didn't.
"YOU ARE MARRIED?!"
On an unspoken signal, her crewmates collectively yelled at her with comical expressions on their faces. She merely laughed it off.
"Not officially. I am a high profile fugitive constantly on the run, remember? We didn't really have the time to officially get married to each other but other than that? We are husband and wife in every sense of the word."
"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD US THAT EARLIER!"
"Ahhhh! My Robin-chan has already been taken! Who is that lucky bastard?! WHO?!"
"Shut up, shitty cook. Robin obviously deserves anyone better than you, which isn't hard since you set the bar so low."
"You say something, marimo?!"
"Huh?! You want a go?!"
"We have to hear this!" Nami said excitedly as she held Robin's hands with hers, her eyes excited at the prospect of knowing more about her fellow female crewmate. "How old is your daughter? What's her name? Oh, wait. Who's the father?!"
Robin purposely made an audible hum as she seemingly fell in deep thought. Teasing her crewmates is always a fun thing to do.
"All of you should have at least heard of him before. My husband is Hellfire Jake."
"HELLFIRE JAKE?!"
"Who's Hellfire Jake?" Luffy asked nonchalantly while picking his nose with his pinky finger before unceremoniously flicking the booger towards the ocean.
"How could you not know that Hellfire Jake?!" Usopp screamed while violently shaking their captain. "Remember Rob Lucci back at Enies Lobby?! He said Hellfire Jake was the most formidable Cipher Pol agent until his defection! The Island Destroyer Hellfire Jake!"
"Wait! He was affiliated with Fisher Tiger for a period of time, wasn't he?! They were the ones who set Mary Geoise on fire seventeen years ago!" Franky yelled.
"Now that you mentioned it, didn't the Sky People say some hellfire guy destroyed their God of Skypiea with a single move when we visited that sky island thingy? Is that him?" Luffy mentioned.
"He goes by the name of Charred Blade Jake in certain circles." Zoro spoke up, his voice uncharacteristically serious for once. His grip on the handle of the sword around his waist tightened a little at the mention of Jake's name. "He is currently the only one who is able to possibly contest with Hawkeyes for the title of Strongest Swordsman."
"And isn't he-"
"One of the Seven Warlords." Robin confirmed with a bright smile on her face. Ah, messing with her crewmates from time to time is fun.
"He sounds strong!" Luffy exclaimed. "Hey Robin, get him to join us!"
Nami slapped Luffy upside the back of his head, only for Luffy to bounce back without effort due to the rubber properties his devil fruit granted him.
"You idiot! That guy is a Warlord! Why would he join us?!"
"Because Robin's here!"
"It doesn't work that way!" Nami screeched at Luffy before turning to Robin. "Or does it…?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen him ever since I gave birth to our daughter." Robin admitted. "I'm not sure if he is mad at me or… Either way it's my fault. I left them without a word."
"Why?" The crew asked, curious and shocked at the same time.
"Devil Child of Ohara, remember?" Robin pointed at herself with a finger. "We are both wanted criminals of the World Government at that time and strong as Jake may be, he alone cannot protect both me and Alethea against the World Government. And if the World Government found out about Alethea they will only go after her just to get at us. I was a burden to both Jake and our daughter back then, so I decided to leave."
"How are you a burden? There's no way you would be! You are strong!"
"I had only just given birth back then. I was defenseless because the birthing process took a toll on me and the Marines were knocking on our doors." Robin patiently explained. "Jake wanted to take me and Alethea and run but it was impossible, not when I was in that state. So, I snuck off by myself and acted as bait to lure the Marines away from them. We never managed to find each other again after that. I never knew what happened to them until news came in that Jake somehow became a Warlord a few years later."
"Those bastard Marines! Them again! Shoulda punched them harder when we saw them!" Luffy growled as he made a punching motion.
"It's fine." Robin assured Luffy. "As long as they are safe, I am fine even if I will never get to see them again. Besides, the World Government wants me dead and even Jake's status as a Warlord cannot grant me protection due to my Ohara roots. I don't know what he did, but whatever Jake is currently doing to hide our daughter's existence right now is working and I want it to remain that way, so it's best that we do not meet until our daughter is older and has the ability to protect herself."
"Your daughter's name is Alethea, right?" Nami inquired, which Robin nodded.
"Her name means truth. Jake picked it, knowing that my dream is to find out the truth of the world. It's sweet of him."
"I really want to see her one day!" Nami gushed. "If she's anything like you she will be very pretty!"
"And super smart!" Franky added.
"I sure hope so." Robin said with a wistful sigh. "And hopefully Alethea wouldn't hate me for leaving her alone this past seven years…"
Her crewmates, being the nice people as they are, immediately reassured her that it wouldn't be the case. Robin smiled as they did all sorts of things to cheer her up, her spirits lifted.
She still misses Jake and Alethea very much, that is for sure. They had never managed to locate each other on the vast sea ever since their separation but now that she is confirmed to be part of a notable pirate crew, Jake will definitely know about her whereabouts and start to work on locating her.
She smiled.
The day which they will reunite with each other is coming soon. That, she is certain.
"So you are the one sent to kill me this time?" She spat bitterly, her mind working overtime to think of a way to get out of her precarious situation.
Unfortunately, her mind drew a blank. This Cipher Pol agent is just too powerful.
"It's not like I really want to do this." The agent in front of her who is obviously older than her by a few years shrugged. "Tell you what. You use your hand power thing and slap me unconscious, I will just report back to the higher ups that you are stronger than you looked and I failed the mission. How about it?"
She blinked. Had she heard or understood him wrongly?
"Hey, you still there? What are you spacing out for?"
"Why?" She blurted out before she could think through things properly. Why is this boy showing her kindness when the whole world has turned their backs on her? Why him?
"Why not?" He returned her question with another shrug. "I know what kind of shit stains the World Government can be, I know better than to trust their words that you are a Devil Child. It's just not my thing to go after harmless or innocent people, but I have a job to do and I have to complete it unless… I somehow manage to fail the mission because I got careless and got smacked by a gigantic hand or two… Or three… Or more..."
She stared at him, jaws dropped, and the silent staring continued for quite a while until for some reason, she began to tear up.
"Oi, oi, why are you crying?! I have no idea how to deal with crying girls so don't you dare- STOP CRYING PLEASE! I BEG YOU!"
Her eight year old self could not take the stress. She cried even louder.
"So do you understand the principle behind Haki now?"
As she soon found out, the name of the boy and supposed CP-0 agent sent to kill her is called Jake. Somehow or the other, they ended up spending time together on that nameless island with him teaching her some basic combat skills that doesn't involve her devil fruit abilities.
Right on the top of the list is the knowledge of Haki and how to utilise it.
She frowned as she tried to use Haki as he described. It's not easy, but she thinks she is making progress. Hopefully.
"Alright, I really have to go back now before the chief and the others start to think something fishy is going on at my end. You take care of yourself, yeah?"
"T-Thank you!" She said to him when he was about to turn around and depart. He merely shot her a small smile.
"Don't sweat it. Stay alive, Nico Robin. I will be rooting for ya."
When they saw each other again, it has been two years since then.
It's not like he wasn't sent on the same mission to bring her back to the World Government or kill her on sight, but everytime she knows that he has to be close by he would mysteriously lose track of her. She does not need to be a genius to know that he does it on purpose. He's helping her by pretending that he couldn't track her down.
"So, how's it been? Got any luck in your investigations of the poneglyphs?"
That's the first thing he asked her when they met two years later.
"A little." She remembered giving him one of her rare smiles. "Are you here to hunt me down again?"
"Yeah, you know, the usual." He waved it off dismissively. "Just gonna write in my report that I got smacked away by a gigantic hand again. Catching you is much more trouble than it's worth."
"Thank you for everything you have done for me these two years." She said from the bottom of her heart with a slight bow. Like she predicted, he simply waved it off again.
"Just doing what I think is right. Don't sweat it. Say, do you happen to know where Butcher Tristan is? The one with the 2,300,000 bounty?"
"I believed I passed him by back at Stamrior Island." She said with a slight tilt of her head. "Do you need help?"
It's the least she could do for her benefactor and one of the few people in this world who truly cares for her.
"Nah, not really. Don't risk yourself for such a minor thing. The only tricky thing for Butcher Tristan is tracking him down. Combat wise, he doesn't have anything much to write home about. I will be done with this fella before you know it."
He let out a yawn as he turned around on his heels and walked off, but not before waving a lazy goodbye.
"Nice seeing you again, Robin. Do try your best to stay alive."
She smiled again, a smile from the bottom of her heart, something which she cannot remember the last time she did ever since Ohara was destroyed by that Buster Call.
"I will. Thank you."
Mary Geiose set on fire by Fishmen! A Cipher Pol agent is an accomplice?!
Robin blinked twice when she read the headlines of the day's newspaper she received from a news coo. Mary Geiose, set on fire? Who on earth has the guts to do so?
Still, she found herself secretly rooting for whoever had done such a thing. Such a bold act is something that deserves praise. Anything that goes against the World Nobles is a plus point in her books.
Her eyes travelled further downwards the page which she was reading, only to stop short in surprise when she saw just who had been declared by the World Government to have been the perpetrators behind the fire of Mary Geiose. It's been a year since she last saw that familiar face, and the last scenario she expected to see his face again is to see it on a bounty poster.
WANTED
Fisher Tiger. Bounty: 230,000,000 beli
Hellfire Jake. Bounty: 310,000,000 beli
The Cipher Pol agent which was Fisher Tiger's accomplice… It was Jake?
Just what happened in this one year?
"Oh you should have seen it! It was epic! Everything was on fire!"
It was three months since she first learnt that he defected from the Cipher Pol and became a pirate with an initial bounty of 310,000,000 beli. He managed to find her again somehow and the two of them, the outcasts of the world, began to travel around the world together.
She's only eleven, and yet she's wanted dead by the World Government. He's only sixteen, and he has gone against the strongest and most powerful ruling body of the world just to do what he thinks is right.
"Ah, I know! Maybe we should form a pirate crew, how about it? We can sail the world with the sole purpose of tracking down all poneglyphs! We will be giving the World Government the literal middle finger! That will be fun!"
"I don't really trust anyone else other than you." She admitted. She is not comfortable with the idea of joining a pirate crew or joining forces with anyone else that isn't him, period. She's been backstabbed too many times for her to be able to trust another again.
"Hey, it's fine! If we don't need a pirate crew then we don't need one!" He slapped her on the back in his attempt to reassure her. His slightly drunken stupor is supposed to be off-putting, but she doesn't mind it that much if it's him, because she knows that he will never harm her. He had many chances to do so but he had never done it, and will never do it.
She doesn't have any idea why this is the case or why she is feeling this way. She just knows.
"Come, let's go set sail! I'm dying to burn up some Marine ships right now!"
By the time she realised what was going on, she was getting pulled along by him towards the sea where their raft awaits them. She spotted a few Marine ships in sight far out on the horizon of the vast sea under the pale moonlight. They won't be spotting their small wooden raft anytime soon.
That night, the Marine ships burnt brightly.
It was the most beautiful fire she had ever seen.