Timeframe: After Davy Fight Back

Spoilers: for the Davy Back Fight and immediately after

Rating: K

Warnings: This one's kind of…strange…for me. Wanted to try something new, we'll see if it works out

Edited 8/11 due to my inability to catch mistakes the first time around

Robin awoke in a waiting room.

It was a very pleasant space. The walls and carpet were white and clean, and the chairs were comfortable. A pitcher and cups sat on a little corner table while several newspapers were on a rack that set up against the wall. A reception area with a desk took up an entire wall. The only complaint that Robin had was that the space was dreadfully cold.

There was no one at the desk, and the room was empty. Robin stood with a shiver from her chair and walked around. She felt horribly stiff, but shrugged it off as a result of the Davy Back Fight. It was deathly quiet; the plush carpet cancelled any sound she made. All in all it felt wholly unnatural.

Robin paused at the newspapers. Out of curiosity she picked one up. On the cover was Admiral Aokiji's striking figure. Frantically Robin opened the paper and scanned the article inside.

Admiral Aokiji, in a display of impressive power, has apprehended the young rookie Straw Hat Luffy and his crew. Other notable members of Straw Hat's crew include the Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro (bounty 60,000,000) and the infamous Devil Child Nico Robin (bounty 79,000,000). For more details on this incredible capture see page 4B…

Robin dropped the newspaper in horror. With shaking hands she picked up another, fearful of what she might see.

The Oharan Devil Strikes Again!

Despite the cold, Robin broke out into a sweat. Still, she continued to browse the headlines.

The Great Library Up In Flames! Exclusive Interview with Top Ranking Marine Involved in the Attack!

Breaking News! Desert Country Falls to Traitor Warlord!

Betrayal! A Look Inside the Life of a Pirate!

Slowly Robin backed away from the newspapers. It was lies, all lies. Alabasta had not fallen. The Straw Hat's had never met Aokiji, let alone fought him. This must somehow be related to the Davy Back Fight. Foxy had a large crew; it was entirely possible that this was all sort of illusion set up by a Devil Fruit.

But hadn't the Straw Hats won? Wasn't the Davy Back Fight over? Robin found it hard to remember. Alarm bells started going off in her head. She began to examine the room again, this time looking for enemies. Mentally Robin began reviewing poisons that might account for her memory loss, stiffness, and inability to get warm.

Robin stalked around the room, looking for clues in every nook and cranny. She passed the little end table, and then did a double take. The water in the pitcher and the glasses was frozen. Confused, she picked up the glass of ice. There was no condensation outside the glass, and no sign of the ice melting at all. Robin set the glass down more befuddled than ever. What was this place?

Ding!

At the sound of the bell Robin turned, arms crossed. The sound had come from the desk. Calling upon her power Robin whispered, "Dos Fleur!"

Only for nothing to happen. No arms, no petals, nothing.

"Dos Fleur!" she repeated with more force. But her power still did not respond. Frantically Robin tried sprouting legs, ears, and eyes. Nothing. Her power was gone.

All thoughts of attack faded. She needed to escape and regroup. If the others were stuck here they were all in trouble.

Well, Robin thought wryly, if they had been attacked here there would at least be some sort of blood stain on the carpet.

For some reason, that thought did little to reassure her.

Neither did the fact that there was no door to be found.

This had to be the work of a Devil Fruit, there was no other explanation. How else could she be stuck in a room with no door? Maybe she still was in the Davy Back Fight, and this was all just another game. If so, she was not amused.

At a loss for what to do, Robin approached the desk. Shockingly there was no one there, just a single piece of paper. One line stood out, written in flowery script.

Appointment for Nico Robin in room 6.

Robin turned around, contemplating her clue. She looked up, and stared at a door that hadn't been there before.

With a small smirk, Robin walked confidently through the door. She would play Foxy's game. Anyone who thought that she was useless without her Devil Fruit would be sorely disappointed.

Room 6 was just as pleasant and cold as the waiting room. It was decently sized, with the majority of the space taken by a desk. There were two chairs, one on either side of the desk, one much more impressive looking than the other. The only other furniture was an end table tucked away in the corner, which held a glass and pitcher of ice.

A miniature tree sat on the desk, in the very center. As Robin slumped into one of the chairs, she couldn't help but stare at it. A queasy feeling bubbled through her stomach, and she began to think that this wasn't a game anymore.

The miniature was an exact replica of the Tree of Knowledge.

"Good of you to come, Miss Nico Robin," a pleasant, if bland, voice said behind the tree. At the sound Robin jumped.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you Miss Nico," the voice said. A hand pushed the miniature Tree of Knowledge to one side of the desk. Robin glared whoever it was that was sitting in the impressive chair at the other side of the desk.

It was strange, no matter how hard she looked at the person Robin couldn't quite make out a face. The voice was feminine, and she wore a white blouse and black slacks. Other than that, Robin found it impossible to describe the person that sat right across from her.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Robin demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" The voice asked, sounding somewhat miffed. With brisk, professional movements the person began arranging papers that had not been there a moment ago.

"No," Robin replied bluntly.

"Oh, well you're a bright woman. I'm sure you'll figure it out," the person said before dipping her quill (where had that come from?) into an inkwell. The person began writing on one of her sheets of paper, completely ignoring Robin.

Robin sat back in her chair, contemplating her next move. It seemed that wheeling answers out of the person would be difficult, especially considering the loss of her Devil Fruit. She racked her brain, trying desperately to remember what was going on.

Chopper had been taken, but Zoro and Sanji had gotten him back. Luffy had fought Foxy…and won. The Davy Back Fight was over, and Foxy's crew had set sail. They had gone back to the man and his horse. Then…

Then Aokiji had shown himself.

"Have you figured it out yet?" the woman asked.

"Where are the others? Where are the Straw Hat Pirates?" Robin asked, nearly in a panic. The others were strong, but their power was completely insignificant compared to the Admiral's. In a fight they were doomed.

"Not here," the woman replied as she continued with her paperwork.

Slowly more memories trickled in. Aokiji had frozen the ocean before attacking. Luffy and the others had defended her, and then she attacked. And of course her attack had been useless against his Devil Fruit.

The last thing Robin remembered was Aokiji's bitterly cold embrace.

"Am I…dead?" she asked slowly.

"Pfft. Does it look like you're dead?"

"Maybe?"

"Think about it, let me know when you make up your mind," the woman said nonchalantly.

Robin felt a headache build up behind her temples. Dead people should not be able to get headaches.

"I was in a waiting room," she finally began.

"Yes."

"But now I'm in an appointment in room 6…"

"Yep."

"Am I allowed to ask what this appointment is about?"

"Like many things, it's all what you make of it."

Robin sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I get the feeling you are being deliberately obtuse."

"Perhaps," the woman replied, sounding amused.

"All right, let's try this again. Aokiji…"

"Turned you into a human popsicle, but you knew that already."

"Right. And then I was in a waiting room. Waiting for…?"

"An appointment," the woman supplied.

"And the Straw Hat's?"

"Aren't here. Keep up, you've already asked that one."

"I'm just trying to be thorough. So I take it I'm still waiting for something?" Robin asked.

"Sure, that seems reasonable," the voice said. She seemed to have finished her work and began sorting the papers into different stacks.

Deep in thought, Robin gave the room another look. Bits and pieces started to look familiar. The paneling on the walls looked like it had come directly from the woman's quarters on the Merry, and the chair the mysterious woman sat on was an awful lot like Crocodile's favorite office seat. And the desk, now that Robin thought about it, looked exactly like the one that had been in Professor Clover's office. The office that had been destroyed twenty years ago.

Robin's eyes slid to the miniature tree. A part of her wanted to touch it, but a bigger part of her was sure that something bad would happen if she did.

"So I suppose I'm having some sort of near death experience?" Robin finally asked, "And this is all a dream, or a hallucination?"

"Does it matter?" the voice countered as she continued to stack papers, "This could be real, the great celestial bureaucracy as it were, or the product of a dying mind. Angel, ghost, vision, who knows? You most certainly don't."

Robin chuckled, "I suppose you're right. Although apparently I'm still waiting for something."

"That is why they made waiting rooms," the woman commented dryly.

"If I'm going to be waiting, would you at least tell me who you are?"

"Hmph," the woman huffed, "I am me, just like you are you."

"Thank you for clearing that up for me," Robin said with the barest hint of sarcasm.

"You're welcome," she replied, "Oh, I've been rude. Would you like something to drink?" The woman brought over the pitcher and glass and set it in front of Robin.

"I'm not thirsty, besides it's just ice."

"Are you sure about that?" she said slyly. Robin picked up and inspected the glass. Sure enough, some of the ice was melting. There was still no condensation on the outside of the glass, and while Robin was no expert on the properties of ice the way it was melting didn't seem quite right. Like her inability to describe the woman's appearance, it was something that Robin couldn't quite wrap her mind around.

With a frown Robin set the glass back down. Getting a straight answer out of the woman (who was now putting her paperwork into folders that had somehow been conjured out of thin air) was impossible, so she didn't even bother asking for an explanation.

"I wonder if all near death experiences are this…enlightening," she murmured.

The woman laughed, "I think you're getting near death experiences confused with almost dying."

"Is there a difference?" Robin asked.

"Sure. For example, if one were to sail up a current ten thousand meters into the sky one would almost certainly almost die. However, this does not mean that one would have a near death experience. A near death experience implies that the physical body has been harmed, when it's suffered from a stab wound to the chest or intense electrocution for example. No physical injury is necessary to almost die."

"Like if someone held a gun to my head?"

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, "And I would think that one would remember more from the times they almost died than from their near death experiences. Although, that's just me."

"Of course," Robin drawled.

"I'm glad you see it my way," the voice said. Robin thought that if she had been able make out a face, the voice would have been smiling, "Anyways, we're almost done here."

The woman tapped one of her folders in apparent thought. Robin looked into her glass, to see that the ice was nearly completely melted.

"And where am I going?" she asked.

"My dear, that decision is completely up to you," the woman said as darkness crept at the edges of Robin's vision.

Robin awoke to pain. Chopper, in his human form, loomed over her.

"Her heart's beating!" he exclaimed. Chopper continued to shout orders and dance around enthusiastically, but Robin didn't hear. She was much too cold.

As the doctor rushed her out of the bathroom (why was she in the bathroom? her sluggish mind asked), Robin fell back to sleep.

Robin drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the day. She remembered Chopper fretting beside her, and Sanji urging her to drink a warm broth. Nami and Usopp had checked up on her periodically, while Zoro had stood guard.

Luffy laid on her other side, also suffering the after effects of Aokiji's attack.

What am I going to do? Robin thought. The rest of the crew were scattered about the room, exhausted from the day's events. She, despite her tiredness, was the only one left awake.

It was remarkable; the Straw Hats had surprised her again. Not only had they defended her against Aokiji, they had lived to tell the tale.

Her darkness, her curse, was beginning to show itself. It was unacceptable; these were the only people in the world that had believed in her. She would not allow anything to happen to them. She owed the Straw Hats her life many times over. They had rekindled her dream after it nearly died out. Little Garden, Alabasta, Skypea, Long Ring Island...Robin couldn't remember the last time a group had suffered her presence for so long without coming to hate her.

Which meant it was time to move on.

That, of course, begged the questions: What am I going to do? And where am I going to go?

The last thing Robin heard before succumbing to sleep was a pleasant, if bland, voice saying, My dear that decision is completely up to you.

AN: This is quite possibly my most random idea ever, this fic sprung from the mental picture of Robin sitting in a waiting room during a near death experience. I'm not entirely sure if there was a point to this at all, but I'm sure Robin would approve of the morbid thought process.

Also, I'm starting school again soon, so updates will almost certainly slow down. Sad thought, I know, but grades come first.