Rating: K
Timeframe: Varies
Spoilers: None

Summary: Books were black and white in a world of grey

Roji scowled as she picked up the book. At first glance she had mistaken it for one of Mizuira's, but closer inspection showed that it was the brat's, probably stolen from the bookstore in town. There was no way the stupid girl could read such a big book when Mizuira was just mastering her ABCs.

It was a collection of fairy tales, the same stories that Roji told Mizuira at night before bed. The brat must have taken it for the pictures. The cover was a beautiful image of a young girl in a red cloak, and interspaced throughout were detailed illustrations of the different stories.

A wave of nostalgia washed over Roji as she flipped through the pages. She stopped at one of the tales and scanned the story. Her eyes widened as she reached the ending. Instead of the version she was familiar with, the evil queen was forced to dance wearing red-hot iron shoes until she died.

"ROBIN!" Roji screamed. A few seconds later the girl descended down the stairs, having the audacity to look confused.

"Yes, Auntie?" she asked.

"What is this?!" Roji said, brandishing the book like a weapon.

"I-It's mine. The professor said I could borrow it."

Roji didn't know who this 'professor' was, and she didn't particularly care. "Then what is doing out here?" she snarled. "I've told you a thousand times, stupid brat, to clean up after yourself!"

Roji threw the book down in disgust, glaring daggers as the girl picked it up and cradled it in her arms as if it were a priceless treasure.

Nico Robin could not remember a time when she could not read. One of her first memories was sneaking off to the library to hide from her family. Even at that age Robin knew that the Tree of Knowledge was a safe place, a haven from the cruelties that followed her wherever she went.

The Tree was first and foremost a research center, and therefore did not carry any fiction in the traditional sense. There was mythology and folk tales, and that was close enough. Stories of dragons and magic and heroes filled Robin's head with hope. She could escape into a world where the clever and resourceful prevailed against evil monsters to live happily ever after.

Mythology naturally lead to history and history to the Void Century. The mystery that surrounded the missing years reminded Robin of the old stories, and while she chiefly learned the ancient language so the archeologists would let her help with their research, there was a small part of her that believed if she was clever and resourceful enough she would find her happily ever after, too.

As an instructor, Professor Clover knew that he wasn't supposed to have favorites. A fair man would be impartial when dealing with those who sought to learn. A good teacher wouldn't spend a disproportionate amount of time with one student compared to the rest.

But when he saw a eight year old girl lying in the middle of the Tree of Knowledge with five dusty tomes that probably hadn't been opened in decades, Professor Clover found it impossible not to feel a surge of delight. If there were still children like this in the world then there was hope for the future.

"I read today that 25-40% of the world is unexplored," Robin said. She had her head propped in her hands, a puzzled expression on her face. "Is that true?"

"I wouldn't know off the top of my head, dear, but it wouldn't surprise me," Clover said, hardly noticing when a disembodied hand turned the page of one of her books. He peered down at her reading material, which appeared to be different volumes of the same encyclopedia series. One was open to a picture of a glacier village in the far north, another detailed the cultures known in the Calm Belt, and a third described ruins found in some remote jungle. "Your focus seems scattered today. What are you thinking about?"

"There's a lot we don't know, isn't there?"

"Yes."

Robin frowned as she looked up at him for the first time. "We have thousands and thousands of books here about the places we've already discovered, and those aren't complete. If there are so many places we do know we don't know, plus the things we don't know we don't know, then how much of history is missing?"

"Quite a lot, I would imagine," Clover said, chuckling as Robin's frown deepened. "The world is a big place, dear. Don't allow yourself to be intimidated by it, and don't allow yourself to be limited by this one library. It is an archeologist's pride to go out into uncharted waters and untangle the knots that bind humanity together."

Reading opened up a world far beyond the shores of Ohara. Robin learned about places where ability users were as common as Roji's temper tantrums, lands where giants outnumbered humans, and secret oceans hidden away in the sky. Unlike the fairy tales she read as a little girl (for by the time she was eight years old Robin could hardly be called little anymore) these stories were true.

Mermaids and dwarves and snake-necks existed. There were sea monsters big enough to eat entire ships. Somewhere on the Grand Line there was a man daring enough to build a train that could cross the ocean. The world was big and full of possibility, just waiting to be explored.

There were less pleasant things, of course. War, hatred, and bigotry had been a part history since the beginning. Robin learned from these things as well, how those who did not study the past were doomed to repeat it.

But what Robin wanted to learn most of all could not be found in her books. Maybe when she had unlocked the secret of the Void Century she could write her own.

It wasn't often that Crocodile caught Nico Robin off-guard, but this time he managed. Sitting by the window of his office with her nose in a book, she didn't notice a swirl of sand take the form of a man. It was a testament to how engrossed she was in her reading material when she actually flinched as the Warlord came up behind her and drug his hook lightly against her throat.

"Ha, ha, ha," Crocodile laughed as she snapped the book closed and gave him a murderous glare. "You should be more careful, Miss All Sunday. You never know when an assassin might sneak in." He set the rounded edge of his hook on her cheek. This time she did not flinch.

Crocodile sighed. The game was no fun if she wouldn't play along. "How are the plans coming along?"

"Fine," she said curtly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

Crocodile let her pass, watching as she left the room. Crocodile was always watching Nico Robin, and she knew it. But she didn't realize what Crocodile saw.

She didn't know that he noticed the spark in her eye when she read. She didn't know his ear picked up the excitement in her voice when they discussed the Alabastian poneglyph. Nico Robin still had a dream, and she had no idea how much Crocodile hated her for it.

Soon Nico Robin would outlive her usefulness, and when that time came Crocodile would take great pleasure in eliminating her.

Books were black and white in a world of grey. There were absolutes in Robin's books that could never exist in reality. There were no what ifs because history was unchangeable.

It was a truth that was both comforting and terrifying as she struggled to survive in a world that wanted her dead.

Luffy was not a reader. Words were difficult and mysterious and most often boring. He did not understand why Robin spent so much time with only a book for company.

That was okay. There were many, many things that Luffy didn't understand, and he accepted that. Robin's books were like his hat: a treasure that not everyone could appreciate. Besides, every once in a while Robin would read out loud to the crew, sharing a little bit with her friends what was obviously so important to her.

Sometimes Luffy wondered if she had ever had anyone to share with before, before deciding that didn't matter either. The Straw Hat Pirates would give Robin what she needed. It had taken her a long time to realize what Luffy knew all along, and now she was free to pursue what she loved.

It started small: a determined promise to fill the library of the Sunny, late nights untangling old legends in search of a new adventure, a genuine smile when presented with a new book. Lots of little changes came together into one startling truth: Robin was a Straw Hat Pirate.

For a long time Robin's only friends were books. They gave her everything that people would not: companionship on a lonely night, comfort when she was hurting, a place to escape when the world threatened to overwhelm her. Robin's books never abandoned her, never betrayed her trust. Books were safe.

But they could not give her what she needed, and over the years Robin retreated further into herself. The written word became another defense, part of her façade of disinterest and apathy.

Something changed when she stowed away on the Straw Hat's ship. Their captain was undeniably an idiot, but the others were surprisingly well-versed in their respective fields. Not since Ohara had she been able to interact with true intellectuals, and she found herself enjoying their company.

Robin learned from the Straw Hats. They taught her how to laugh again, how to live again, and suddenly there was no reason to hide any more.

Robin would always be a reader. She would hear the voices of the generations that came before and seek out the histories that had been lost. The difference was this time she didn't have to do it alone.

AN: Raise your hand if you believe Robin read the One Piece equivalent of the Brothers Grimm as a kid. The original ending of Snow White seemed appropriately morbid, so I borrowed it for the first section.

To paraphrase Lemony Snicket, "Well-read people are less likely to be evil." I'm not sure if I agree, but I can see how books would help keep Robin grounded.