She told her. That witch had told her.
"I'm going to kill you." Zoro threatened as she stalked towards Nami. They were back on their ship, the Going Merry, and out at sea heading towards their next destination.
"Oh, come on, Robin practically knew anyway." Nami replied, waving her hand, though she was also standing slightly behind the older woman. Nico Robin was the newest member of their crew, having joined after their success at Alabaster Island. She was a turncoat, having originally worked with their enemy, Crocodile. However, she had apparently saved their captain and had a turn of heart. Zoro still didn't trust her though. She was too suspicious.
"Only because you kept giving her hints!" Zoro replied furiously, trying to get around Robin. However, the older woman was using her devil fruit power – the ability to produce extra limbs – to block her way.
"Do not worry swordsman, I will not share your secret." Robin said with a small smile.
"I still don't trust you." Zoro replied, turning her glare towards Robin.
"And that is your choice." Robin smiled, patted Zoro's shoulder, then went to go back to their room. Her shield now gone, Nami's eyes widened and she backed up.
"Now, now, Zoro, isn't it easier with more people knowing?" Nami asked, smiling nervously.
"Easier for me to make this decision…" Zoro replied, gripping her sword as a threat. Her vision was blocked, however, by a certain cook.
"Fear not Nami-san, I will protect you from this fiend!" Sanji announced, looking down his nose at Zoro.
"Yeah, you do that." Nami replied and scampered off.
"Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, question-brow?" Zoro side-stepped and Sanji mirrored her.
"It's my business to protect the lovely women of this world." Sanji replied.
"I really, really hate that side of you." Zoro jeered. Sanji narrowed his eyes.
"Well I'm sorry you were never taught any sort of curtesy or manners." Sanji shot back, starting to lift his foot.
"I GOT THIS SANJI!" Usopp cried, jumping in between the two, facing Zoro. "SUPER SECRET TECHNIQUE NUMBER TWO, SEXY MYSTIQUE!" He unlatched the top of his overalls and let it fall forward, showing his bare chest. He flexed his muscles. Zoro stared.
"Luffy, I think it needs a bit more power! Two nipples aren't enough!" Usopp called to his captain. Luffy swung over and swiftly climbed onto Usopp's shoulders, ripping open his own vest.
"SEXY MYSTIQUE PLUS ULTRA!" He roared, flexing with one arm extended. Zoro groaned and walked away, the fight forgotten.
"Quickly Sanji! We need more power!" Usopp called to their cook.
"Like hell I'm going to do something that stupid!" Sanji replied, kicking them apart.
The crew's next destination was an island called Jaya. Their mission was simple, find information about how to get to the Sky Island. Luffy and Zoro eagerly disembarked and Nami begrudgingly followed to make sure the two actually did what they were supposed to do while the remaining crew stayed with the ship.
It was clear the moment that they entered town, that things wouldn't go as easily as they had hoped. The town, called Mock Town, was full of pirates. It seemed there were brawls happening at every moment to the delight of Luffy and Zoro. Nami pulled the two aside and glared at them.
"Alright you two, promise me you will not fight here." She demanded. Zoro scowled and Luffy picked his nose.
"Why would we do that?" Zoro asked.
"Because we need information and if you two go beating everyone up, we will never get it." She replied, "Now promise!"
"Uh huh..." Zoro and Luffy replied halfheartedly.
Nami sighed and they headed into town. It was a rough town, but they were able to find a bar quickly and headed inside to get some information. The trio ordered drinks and sat at the bar. Nami started chatting up the bartender while the other two started downing their drinks.
"Hey, pretty lady." A large, scruffy and slightly smelly man came up from behind them. Nami batted her eyes.
"You want to buy me a drink?" She cooed. The smelly man put his arm down on the bar and leaned over towards Zoro, however, much to Nami's surprise.
"You new to these parts?" The smelly man asked the swordsman. Zoro slammed her beer down on the table and glared past the man towards Nami.
"You witch!" Zoro growled.
"Why are you mad at me?!" Nami asked.
"This sort of shit only started happening since you made me take a bath all the time!" Zoro yelled, still ignoring the smelly man.
"What?! You're mad because of that?! That's just what normal humans do!" She said incredulously.
"Umm... so I just thought you were kinda pretty…" The smelly man mumbled.
"Shut the hell up!" Both girls yelled at the man who slumped away terrified.
"Aren't we not supposed to fight?" Luffy asked, watching the two.
"Don't even get me started!" Nami yelled at their captain, "This is also your fault!"
The door of the bar suddenly opened harshly, slamming into the wall. The customers of the tavern all looked up towards the doorway.
A large muscled man with blonde hair and a scar over one of his right eye entered the room with a commanding presence.
"I heard there was a pipsqueak pirate with a straw hat here." The man said as he entered, looking over the group. Whispers erupted through the crowd. Apparently the man's name was Bellamy and he had a large bounty on him. Bellamy noticed Luffy at the bar, watching him back curiously. He walked over to the straw hat captain and took a seat next to him.
"You Luffy?" Bellamy asked. Luffy nodded and was immediately slammed into the bar counter by Bellamy.
"Nice to meet you." Bellamy grinned until he noticed a sword at his neck. He looked over at Zoro who had drawn just as quickly.
"Hey sweet cheeks." Bellamy leered.
"Dammit Nami!" Zoro glared over her shoulder at the navigator.
"Stop blaming me for making you clean!" Nami replied and grabbed her shoulder. "But hold on, we haven't gotten any information yet!"
Luffy stood up and Bellamy turned his attention back to the captain. Nami tried in vain to ask the bartender about their next destination, Sky Island, but was laughed at by not only the bartender himself but the entire tavern. While they were laughing, another punch hit Luffy's gut and he was knocked to the ground. Bellamy stood over him.
"Pathetic, and here I was thinking to possibly recruit you guys." He spat on the ground. Zoro drew her second sword but Luffy held up his hand.
"Don't fight Zoro." The captain commanded much to Nami's dismay.
"No Luffy! It's okay, you can kick these guys asses! They deserve it!" Nami replied.
"No." Luffy ordered, looking at Zoro who nodded.
The next fifteen minutes were some of the hardest for Nami to endure. Luffy and Zoro were punched, kicked, slammed and thrown around the room. The two didn't move a muscle even as they were spit on. Finally, unable to take any more, Nami grabbed the two in tears and started dragging them towards the exit with the tavern laughing at the trio.
"You idiots!" Nami yelled at them once they were outside, tears in her eyes. Luffy and Zoro stiffy stood, blood dripping from their various wounds and their faces starting to puff up from being bruised. Zoro winced as she leaned over and grabbed some mud from the ground and rubbed it on her face.
"…and what are you doing?" She asked Zoro as she tapped her foot.
"Becoming more manly." Zoro replied as Nami rolled her eyes and started back towards the ship. The two followed.
"What the hell is this?" Sanji asked, pointing at Zoro's face.
"Fight." She replied as they got back on the ship. Chopper immediately freaked out and went to grab his medicine.
"I mean this black crap all over your face." Sanji replied.
"Just some dirt." Zoro replied, shrugging. The cook sighed and went back to the kitchen and returned with a towel in his hand. Zoro narrowed her eyes.
"Come here." Sanji ordered. Zoro started backing up.
"What the hell are you doing..?" She asked cautiously.
"Wiping that shit off your face." Sanji replied, trying to corner the swordsman.
"I'm fine!" Zoro replied aggressively and was able to duck under Sanji's arm and dash towards the other side of the boat. However, she soon found herself unable to move. Several disconnected hands had appeared on the deck and grabbed hold of her, holding her in place. Robin was sitting on the railing off to the side and she smiled at Zoro innocently.
"Oh Robin-chan! Thank you so much~ You are always as helpful as you are beautiful!" Sanji called to her before turning a wicked grin towards Zoro and grabbing her face. "Just hold still." He took the towel and started wiping the dirt off her face, while avoiding her teeth.
"There, much better." Sanji finished his task and looked her over.
"Do you have a particular liking of dirt, swordsman?" Robin asked from her place on the railing. Nami walked over and sighed, her hand on her hip.
"Zoro thinks being dirty means being manly. He got hit on at the bar." She explained, rolling her eyes. Sanji raised his eyebrows.
"By a man?" He asked, tossing the soiled towel over his shoulder and reaching up, grabbing Zoro's face.
"Yeah… two technically." Nami replied, suddenly interested. She sat next to Robin and watched the two, smirking.
"Idiot. You can be clean and manly. Look at me." Sanji told Zoro, "Hmm… lately your hair has gotten longer." He moved his hands from her cheeks up into her hair, checking the length. Zoro started trying to resist as her cheeks tinted pink, but Robin continued to hold her in place.
"That's true cook-san. The longer hair gives a much more feminine look. Why don't you help our swordsman by cutting it?" Robin suggested with a smile. Nami turned to Robin with a look of admiration.
"Sure, can't have him getting distracted during a fight by the enemy making eyes at him." Sanji replied.
"You get distracted by girls all the time!" Zoro countered, but everyone ignored her.
"Robin-chan~! If you could be so kind as to put our idiot swordsman into a chair, I'll go get some scissors!" He asked kindly, and Robin smiled.
"Of course, Cook-san." She moved her arms and the numerous detached arms moved Zoro across the deck into one of their chairs despite her struggle.
"This is a win-win, Zoro." Nami grinned at the swordsman. "You'll get to look more manly, and… well, you know." She waved her hand vaguely in the direction Sanji had just went. Zoro practically hissed back.
A moment later Sanji returned with some scissors and had also put on his glasses. Zoro paused in her struggling to look at him a moment.
"Good, stay just like that. If you move around while I'm holding these scissors, I could poke out one of your eyes. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?" Sanji walked up towards her and again slipped his hands into her hair.
Despite Nami's protests, Robin convinced the girl to give the two some privacy and they headed inside the ship.
"I'm more worried about being burned." Zoro replied, noting the cigarette in Sanji's mouth. He grinned.
"You'll be fine." He leaned in a bit as he tried to figure out how much to cut off. Zoro looked down, unable to look into the cook's eyes. He measured out some hair with his fingers and started cutting. Zoro held her breath. He was so close to her that she could feel his breath. She shivered.
"You cold?" Sanji asked, trimming away. She almost shook her head but Sanji stopped her with his hand. He made his way around her head, trimming off all the ends of her hair, and blowing off the excess hair from her neck. Zoro was gripping the chair so tightly it was almost creaking. She stared down at her lap, willing herself not to move or breath or do anything really.
Sanji came back around to stand in front of her.
"Look up." He commanded, trying to see if everything was straight. She tilted her chin up but closed her eyes. She felt his large hands slide into her hair again on both sides. He tilted her head this way and that, checking.
"I think… we're done." Sanji told her, though he didn't let go of her just yet. At the long pause, she finally opened her eyes. Sanji was right in front of her, holding her, and looking not at her hair but into her eyes. She stopped breathing again. Sanji's cigarette dropped to the ground, abandoned.
"Hey Sanji!" Luffy called, running over. "I heard you're giving out haircuts! Can you cut mine too?" Usopp joined him.
"Yeah me too!" Usopp pulled at his own long hair. Sanji was staring at her. He finally looked away and turned towards the other two.
"Cut it yourself." He told them after clearing his throat. He tossed Luffy the scissors who caught them while also stabbing himself in the process. He reached down and picked up the abandoned cigarette, glancing at Zoro while doing so. She was blushing and holding her chest, with a bewildered look on her face. He left to go start dinner.
One of Robin's detached hands reached over and patted her back in a comforting way before they released her from her spot.
AN: Thank you so much for reading! Things are moving along it seems~ Now Robin also knows! Please review!