Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate!

I'd like to thank all of you who sticked with this story for so long. When I first posted it I would have never imagined that it would be this successful, or continue for so long.

The chapters practically wrote themselves and since working with Rexica, talking to her, I'm positively bubbling with ideas that want on paper. We even discussed children, which wouldn't be exactly sane on a pirate ship but very much hilarious. So yeah, another huge end of the year thank you to my muse and beta Rexica. Do yourself a favour and read her Disinhibition, it's a treat and has a lot more action than mine!

Speaking of action, would you like to read more battles? I pretty much suck at writing them but I noticed that my story is rather peaceful for a pirate story ^^'

Anyway, I'm glad to find you all so understanding of the slow pace things are going here.

Last time Robin and Zoro left from that Shop with a piece of bondage rope and the resolution to try this thing between them, although 'thing' still needs definition. That definition is what Robin is going to search for this chapter and the next.

Everything was back to normal. Or as normal as it could be on the Sunny. It was nice after all this… turmoil, really. Just like before, he would work out in the crow's nest, sweating and grunting and utterly undisturbed by her presence. Just like before, she would read on the couch lining the nest's wall. What wasn't like before was the content. What she held in her hands was no exalted literature, no romance novel, nor was it an ancient text about long lost civilisations. In fact, this was entirely different yet almost nothing had changed. He'd still occasionally enquire about her reading, and she'd still tell him whenever she found something particularly interesting.

What was different was that now it was usually her asking the questions and him trying to find the right words to explain. It was an interesting new dynamic, and at first she had assumed that he was uncomfortable with it, because while he did answer every question, he always insisted she read it up herself, sometimes more gruff than others.

She could have assumed that he deemed himself unfit to teach her anything. Even if it was something that she had no idea about, apart from her own cravings and fantasies. She was, after all, well aware that her intellect tended to intimidate people but quickly came to the conclusion that had to be nonsense in this situation. Teaching her things she did not know about would put him in a position of power over her, and wasn't that what this was all about? It wasn't, she knew now, one chapter further into the book. He didn't want any power over her she wouldn't freely give to him and not necessarily in every aspect of their life. That was all open to negotiations. She would have never imagined that this would really involve so much talking. Of course the only references she had up until recently were relationships that both he and the books she'd read so far called dysfunctional and abusive or actual slavery.

That also answered his behaviour, now that it was right in front of her, black on white under the caption of 'Safety for beginners: Get more than one source of information. If your partner tries to isolate you from sources other than him or herself, you should be careful…' hm, if only she had known that back then.

She closed the book, watching him instead. Who would have thought that this intimidating, gorgeous beast of a man was this… this what? Patient? Considerate? Protective? Discerning? Everyone, really. Everyone who'd ever had a chance to meet him, really meet him. She too, actually, she'd just never expected to be treated in such a way by someone who … wanted to get into her pants, as Nami would say. Hadn't expected to be treated with such respect.

After they had left the shop back on Ikori- island, both refusing any offer the old lady had made them, he had held her hand until they'd reached the main street. She'd known the imposing man to be quite sweet, too. The way he interacted with Chopper could be heartwarming, and she was sure that he had a sweet spot for children in general after she'd seen him in Water 7. Again, she just never would have expected such behaviour towards herself. She had still felt giddy about it when she'd gone to bed that evening. The next day, however, he had made unmistakably clear that he wouldn't even touch her until she had read every single purchase she had made, warned her not to rush into things - like she shamefully enough had tried to back on both Karni and Ikori.

He'd also told her to find out what she wanted and tell him. Hadn't she already? No, she had told him on a whim whatever plagued her steamy dreams lately; she hadn't made an educated decision. All in all, she could surmise that she wasn't behaving like her normal self, not at all. This really was becoming a problem. Maybe she should try a more scientific approach. Usually when confronted with an unknown culture - and that really was what this was, a huge culture with a probably infinite amount of subcultures - she'd watch first.

In this particular situation, it was not an option. Zoro was her only in, and even though she might not be entitled to it, her previous research had made her realise that she did not want to see him with a woman other than herself. Another problem surely was that, with limited time on an island, it would be nearly impossible to find such a secretive society and conduct research in a reputable and reliable way.

The next approach, immersing herself into the culture, again failed at Zoro. He would not allow her to, not without the insight she tried to gain by the experiment. She could, of course, tie a black bandana around her right arm and go on the cruise herself. But just like she did not wish to see Zoro engaged with anyone else, she definitely did not want to be touched by anyone but him. And he wouldn't want that either if his proclamation of intended ownership was anything to go by.

She needed more books. With minimal effort, she conjured a clone in the library, and with another disembodied arm, caught the inkpot Nami had knocked over in surprise just before its contents could spill all over the freshly drawn map.

"I didn't mean to startle you," she apologized, barely concentrating on the irritated navigator as her real self watched her sweaty swordsman wipe down his exposed torso, almost overwhelmed with the urge to lick the salty beads off his bulging muscles.

"Goddamnit, Robin, with that far away look and blush on your face, I really don't want to even think about what you guys are doing up there right now!"

Blushing in an even darker shade of red she apologized again. "We're not doing anything. I just wanted to know about our next stop."

Nami huffed, "Yeah right. You're probably just here to rub it in that you're getting some and I'm not. Well guess what, I don't want to get some!"

Oh my, she was looking quite petulant right now. Bad day, probably. She focused all her attention in her clone, ready to listen to whatever troubled her friend. It was the least she could do, after all. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"As you wish. If it makes you feel better, contrary to your suspicion, I am not getting any. In fact, Zoro requested I do research instead," she offered, with only a hint of indignation that maybe made her attempt at cheering Nami up even more successful. The navigator waited just long enough to find out whether or not she had been joking before she burst out laughing, nearly toppling over. "Wait," she tried between wheezing laughs. "Wait, so you're-" she attempted again, this time trying a calming breath before she erupted in another fit of hysterical giggles.

"I strongly advise you to gain some control, navigator-san, if you die of an aneurysm, we'd get lost and starve at sea."

Still wheezing, she answered. "Yeah, about that, you're telling me that Roronoa Zoro… I mean Roronoa 'cant walk a straight line without getting lost' Zoro, Roronoa 'cut first, think later' Zoro, told you to do research?"

She hummed an affirmative. "Told me to think, too," she added, causing even more manic laughter.

She smiled to herself, having improved Nami's mood. Although she was seriously concerned about the possible aneurysms. "Speaking of aneurysms, I should probably consult with Chopper, too," she murmured only realising she'd said it out loud when the navigator's laughter was suddenly replaced by a mad glower and an excruciating shriek of "What?!"

"Oh, Nico Robin, you will do no such thing. Chopper is a kid, goddammit, you can't talk with him about such things!"

Instead of listening to Nami's irrational objections to talking with a doctor about medical issues, she dissipated her clone and answered Zoro's silent enquiry about the loud bang with which Nami had pushed the observation deck door open and her ensuing yelling with an innocent smile and a shrug.

So, that was it for this year. I hope to see you all back healthy in the next.