Three days earlier
"Sanji, I'm hungry!" Luffy whined from the corner of the kitchen. Of course he had just eaten breakfast less than an hour ago but that didn't matter to Monkey D Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Sanji, the cook of the crew did his best to ignore the black haired boy as he meticulously cleaned his pride and joy before the inevitable demand of snacks and drinks came in from the rest of the crew.
"Sanji, please just a little meat?" He was almost begging now.
"Dammit, Luffy you can have some food when I'm done." Sanji slammed his fist into the counter top. "Now get out of my kitchen!" he raised his leg, threatening a swift kick to his captains head. Grumbling under his breath about meat, Luffy left the kitchen and moped onto the deck.
The sun was shining bright overhead as seagulls called from high above him. Looking out at the endless blue before him he smirked, hungry for the adventure it promised and the hidden treasures it held. The young captains stomach growled loudly bringing him back to reality. 'Man, I'm hungry.' he thought, rubbing his empty stomach.
"Hey Luffy!" Chopper, the talking raindeer-doctor called, waving from the deck. "Come and fish with me and Usopp." He beamed hopping onto the rail, fishing rod in hand. Luffy smiled that infamous grin of his and pulled his hat up, a little less depressed than before. In one movement he swiftly jumped over the banister and onto the rail to join his crew mates.
Luffy, Chopper and Usopp sighed in unison, disappointed at the lack of fish they'd caught.
"Are you boys okay?" The archaeologist of the crew asked, a breath of laughter escaping her lips.
"We didn't catch anything" Chopper said glumly.
"We're a disgrace to men." Usopp added dramatically throwing his arm over his eyes and falling back off the railing.
Robin chuckled quietly once more to herself as she walked barefoot over the cool grass that carpeted the main deck. A warm breeze stirred her raven hair as she stopped to appreciate the fresh scent of summer at sea. Sipping her coffee she walked to the nearest tangerine tree intending to take comfort in the shadow it cast while she finished her book. Unsurprisingly though what she came to find wasn't the peace she desired but a snoring swordsman, arms behind his head, legs strewn across the lawn.
Robin smiled softly as she looked over the man before her. His green hair was blowing gently, short strands falling onto his forehead as he lazily slapped them away mumbling to himself. He was a rugged kind of handsome. The kind of handsome that would have even the most composed woman throw her morals aside. The kind of handsome that had Robin questioning her own morals.
"BOOM!" Franky, the shipwright of the Straw Hats, shouted enthusiastically as he jumped from the crows nest. He landed four feet from Robin turned slightly away from her, one arm in the air and the other resting on his hip as he trusted them into nothing.
"Hey Robin. Watchya doin'?" He turned to look at her a smile beaming across his face. Robin quickly scraped together that composure she'd almost lost and smiled back at him.
"Well, I was going to read my book under the tangerine tree but it looks like someone beat me to it." She gestered to Zoro with her book who was now awake and glaring at Franky.
"Are you kidding me, Cyborg?" Zoro shouted, lunging at Franky only to be met with a shattering kick to the side of his face.
"Quiet down, Marimo. You're ruining a nice day." Sanji growled around the cigarette he held between his teeth. Retaliating to the cooks kick, Zoro unsheathed one of his swords with a threatening gaze, ready to run Sanji down where he stood.
"Knock it off you two!" A loud clunk rang through the ship as the orange haired navigator appeared as if from nowhere to smash the two mens heads together.
"I'm sorry Nami, I didn't mean to make you mad. Would you like a drink?" the blond cook swooned the minute he saw her, curly brows raised above heart shaped eyes.
Zoro huffed and rolled his eyes before trudging his way to the kitchen.
The day had gone as any other normally would on the Thousand Sunny. Three adult children playing games and making jokes, one cook tripping shamelessly over the women on board. A swordsman slipping into sleep as often as he could, an archaeologist feeding her thirst for knowledge, a cyborg enthusiastically fixing things up. A skeleton gracing ear drums everywhere with sweet melodies and a bossy navigator, throwing her weight around while leading her Nakama as safely as she could through the treacherous seas.
"Look at you guys lazing around. Anyone would think you weren't expecting me" Immediately the Straw Hat crew turned, ready for battle. Zoro's hand fell to rest on his katana as Sanji raised his best kicking leg and Usopp fumbled for Kabuto. The man standing before them smirked, his hat throwing a menacing shadow over his eyes leaving only lightly freckled cheeks visible to the pirates on the deck.
"ACE!" Luffy screamed as he launched himself at the man. At his big brother. Ace caught him in a strong headlock and wrestled him playfully to the deck, ruffling his hair.
"Wh.. Ace.. G.. Get off!" the young captain huffed between breaths of laughter. "what are you doing here?" Luffy asked after finally managing to slip out of Ace's grip.
"On official business from White Beard. You're headed where I'm going." The freckled man shrugged. "Can't I stop by and see my little brother and his crew?"
"How long?"
"I've got two nights to kill" Ace answered looking toward the rest of the crew. He was considering asking if that was okay but he figured if it wasn't Zoro wouldn't have sheathed his swords.
"Well" Brook piped up from behind Luffy "I think this is cause for a celebration don't you?" The skeleton looked around at his fellow mates who answered with a smile. Without further discussion Sanji and Usopp quickly ran to the kitchen to grab cups and sake as Brook played a familiar tune on his violin. It didn't take much to convince this crew to throw a party.
"So then Ace what orders are you out on?" Robin asked from behind him. She was sitting on a bench below her favourite tree with chopper curled into her lap. He was a little worse for wear. The party had taken off quickly and the poor little reindeer had bitten off a little more than he could chew.
"The Butcher" He replied casually, sipping his sake. The pirates around him fell silent. One gasped.
"Are you crazy?" Nami screamed, her dark brown eyes filled with fear and rightly so. Only one man had ever been up against The Butcher and lived to tell the tail and if it weren't for the fact that he was clinically insane now, Ace probably would have interrogated him before setting off on this mission.
"What could white beard possibly want with The Butcher?" Robin asked herself. Did Ace even know? Luffy stood up, crossing his arms over his chest, head hung low.
"No."
"Luffy I wasn't asking your permission." Ace rolled his eyes as he continued. "White Beard wants him on the crew. Or at the very least for us to be allied with the Butcher pirates" He explained lazily waving his hand in the air like it didn't matter. But it mattered. It mattered to his younger brother and all of the Straw Hats.
The Butcher was a name that any sane pirate would shudder at. The consumer of a devil fruit that enabled the wielder to control the blood and organs of other humans. The Butcher could hear a humans blood flow through their veins, could stop their heart beating on a whim. Could inflict an incredibly slow and painful death upon anyone without even touching them. That's why the bounty for this infamous pirate was so high, 7000,000,000 Beli to be exact.
No one uttered a word as Ace flopped back on the deck and sighed. Being it quite obvious that the party was over one by one the Straw Hat Pirates filtered off to their beds. Apart from little chopper to wobbled off to the bathroom singing Binks Sake as he went.
Perched in the crows nest with a book in hand and a cup of coffee, Robin gazed out of the large window. The night was peaceful as everyone else slept soundly in their beds. It was Robins turn to be on watch which meant she would be awake until the first person rolled out of bed in the morning. She didn't mind being alone though, or at least normally she didn't. The black haired beauty sighed, her mind racing towards that of a green haired swordsman. She was snapped away from her thoughts of him as the very man stepped through the door. Out of her mind and into reality.
"Sorry." He said, turning away from her. "I didn't know you were up here"
"It's okay. Stay if you'd like" She offered warmly. Zoro stepped inside and then quickly back out again before finally deciding that he'd take her up on that offer.
He couldn't sleep. He rarely could but what else is to be expected when one sleeps all day? Sliding down the wall opposite Robin, Zoro sat cross legged with his hands behind his head. Robin was struggling with the silence in the room. It was heavy and uncomfortable but she'd be damned if she let herself slip even an inch. That's not who she was.
"Reading anything good?" Zoro asked, not really caring. Robin smirked discreetly and nodded. She knew he'd give into the urge to fill the room.
"it's a book on the history of Alabasta. It's quite interesting really. Wrong but interesting." she mused looking over the leather bound book in her hand.
"Wrong?" Zoro was sitting up now, a little more interested than before. He came to sit beside her to read over her shoulder. He screwed his face up when he realised he was kidding himself. He could read but he didn't understand or care for anything written in that book.
"I've read the Ponyglyphs" She reminded him.
"And what do they say?"
"Nothing that makes much sense without reading all the others." Robin turned to look at him as she laughed quietly. It was only then she realised, Zoro must have moved closer to take another look at the book as her nose brushed against his. Unsteady breath on her cheek made Robin aware that neither her nor Zoro had moved. She wondered for a moment if she should throw away those morals she scraped back earlier and kiss the swordsman.