As warm hands caressed her body, Nico Robin closed her eyes with a grateful sigh.
Hot steam filled the private bathing chamber she had been gifted with. The beautiful woman reclined against the side of the tub, head nestled in her arms as those skillful fingers worked to ease out any tension that the bath hadn't already seen to. Her attendants scrubbed lavender shampoo lather through her inky tresses, after which a bucket of hot water was up-ended over her head. Robin's eyes smarted slightly from the suds, and instantly a wet towel appeared to wipe them clear.
She wished idly for a sponge bath, and as if by magic a loofah then rubbed languidly down the lady's graceful neck and clear to the base of her spine. This sensation combined with the skillful massage drew a gasp from her lips. Robin's back arched in pleasure. The pampered pirate sank back down with a moan, luxuriating in the experience. 'Luxuriate'. It even sounded wonderful. Any aches and soreness of the long coach ride were now a thing of the past, allowing her to feel rather pleased with her current position. The rocking of the ship she was in caused the water in the tub to slosh pleasantly back and forth, almost like a jacuzzi.
Being an idol certainly came with its perks.
Well, that's enough for now. No sense letting this go on too long or anyone listening in might think she was weird.
A wave of her hand, and the profusion of arms she had sprouted from the sides of the tub disappeared. Scrub brushes, hot oils and various soaps were returned to their rightful positions before those graceful limbs vanished in a fall of petals. One of the unforeseen benefits of the Hana-Hana Fruit: she was never without servants to indulge her if she so required. How else could a lady be assured of receiving a good rub-down without having to worry about being groped? Sometimes Robin didn't know how other women did without.
The genius archaeologist allowed herself to soak for another minute, idly lifting her long legs and splashing them in the water. She collected a handful of bubbles and blew them out. While some might call this behavior infantile, in truth Nico had never been permitted to engage in such antics when she was young. A harsh childhood hadn't allowed for much in the way of idle amusements. No doubt this was why she had been considered a serious and unlikeable girl long before becoming a Devil Fruit user. The intervening years had seen her grow in ways that would have left those wretched people she grew up with aghast, but Robin didn't care to speculate on whether they would have received her any more kindly as a result.
Her people were long dead. What they believed no longer mattered.
This line of thought left her feeling disturbed and no longer willing to waste any more time. Rising out of the bathtub, she snagged a purple towel and dried herself briskly, shaking out her shoulder-length hair as she did.
Reaching for a light blue velour bathrobe hanging on a hook, Robin paused to examine herself in the full-length mirror. The experience of being a slave in Tequila Wolf hadn't affected her physically to any noticeable degree. This was more than could be said for the majority of the workers she had seen there, that abused and hopeless population forced to obey the will of the Tenryūbito in the seemingly irrational construction of a bridge between islands.
No, instead of physical scars, the last few weeks had seen to wounds of a much more substantive nature.
The Strawhat Pirates had been scattered to the corners of the earth by the power of Bartholomew Kuma. After freeing herself from forced labor with the aid of the Revolutionary Army, Robin had been horrified to hear the news that not only had the Marines triumphed in their war against Whitebeard, but that her own captain Monkey D. Luffy had been forced to watch helplessly as his brother Ace was murdered before his very eyes.
As she slipped on the robe and knotted its ties, a dire scowl worked across her face. Many times in the past Robin had gone to sleep praying that upon awakening she would learn that Admiral Aokiji, the man she first knew as Kuzan on Ohara Island, had died in some gruesome accident or simply keeled over from a massive heart attack. Now she found herself imagining creative and vicious deaths for the other Admiral, Akainu, the one responsible for taking Firefist Ace's life. No doubt wherever he was right now, Luffy was suffering horribly from the trauma of that experience. Were it in her power, she would gladly rip the Admiral's heart from his chest, sauté it over a fire and serve the steaming organ to her captain stuffed in the mouth of Akainu's severed head. With takoyaki in his eye-sockets for later.
And to think Usopp once referred to her mind as a dark and frightening place. It was the world they lived in that was truly to be feared.
Robin tucked her feet into a pair of fluffy slippers, grabbed the book she had been reading and exited the room. When she stepped outside, her escort started and sprang to attention as though he was a soldier on parade and she a general come to inspect him. The sight of this actually served to lift her spirits. One of the youngest men onboard this ship, he wore a hat shaped like a raccoon's head, in the style of this branch of the Revolutionary Army. He had expressed dismay when she insisted on referring to him as Tony, and Robin had made no attempt to relieve him of his confusion. It was a private joke. Almost certainly her crewmate Chopper would have gotten it.
Feeling rather mischievous now, the tall beauty placed a hand on her hip and regarded him with an appraising air.
"Were you listening at the door, Tony-kun?"
His face took on a bright pink shade. "Ma'am, I assure you I was not!"
She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off him. "So you didn't hear anything I was up to in there?"
Tony's head flew from side to side. He seemed bound and determined not to look at anything lower than her neck. "No, Ma'am!"
Robin favored him with a slow smile, drawing up the hood of her robe to cover her damp hair. "Well, if you did, I'd appreciate if you would keep it secret. It was a very good bath."
With that Robin turned and made her way down the hall. Her guard stood frozen for a second before he seemed to recover his senses and hurried to follow.
A girl could get a big head the way these minions of chaos seemed to obey her every whim. Up until recently the shapely fugitive had been unaware of exactly how she was regarded by the opponents of the World Government. Finding herself to be an object of veneration in their eyes had come as a bit of a shock. To them, the people of Ohara had not been demons intent on destroying the world as the rest of the human populace believed, but valiant crusaders who had striven to unveil the truth of human history from the cloud of ignorance the World Government sought to perpetuate. And as the only surviving inhabitant of that fair isle, Robin had unwittingly become the standard-bearer for all who struggled against the very same tyranny that had cost her a home.
Now they were taking her to meet their supreme commander, the legendary terrorist Monkey D. Dragon, father to her own captain. At the very least it would make for an interesting discussion. While Luffy's grandfather had proven relatively benign, he was still ferociously violent enough to warrant respect even among Vice-Admirals in the Marines. A world-famous anarchist like Dragon would probably be even more memorable a confrontation.
The heroine and her guardian passed another pair of fighters coming down some stairs, both bundled up against the intense cold that reigned above deck in these icy southern waters. When they thought her out of earshot, one of the men whispered to his companion, "Smokin' hot!" He was certainly not referring to the way her skin fresh from the bath steamed in this cool air. Robin had very good reasons to not feel entirely comfortable among this crew. It wasn't just that they were diehard guerrillas intent on taking her to meet their supposedly demonic leader. It had more to do with the fact that she was the only woman on this ship of male sailors. Good thing Robin had eyes in the back of her head. Literally. Not to mention at least one meeting her escorts thought she was not in attendance for had actually included a number of Hana-Hana ears unobtrusively located throughout.
Knowledge was power. And while they seemed honest in their claims of having her best interests at heart, one could never be too careful. There was only one company of people on these seas where she truly would feel safe, and at their captain's orders, they were not to meet again for another two years. A lot could happen in that time. Robin only wished that when the day finally came, she would not grieve to learn of having lost any more friends.
Wherever you are, stay safe, Mugiwara Pirates.
At last they came to the cabin that had been reserved for her. It would be nice to slip into something more substantial than this eye-catching garment. There was also an oven in there to keep the air toasty warm, as well as a growing collection of books. No expense had been spared to see to her comfort during this voyage. Even if she didn't know precisely what fate had in store for her, Robin had to admit there might be more to enjoy on this trip than she had first realized. With that she reached out to grasp the door handle.
Standing behind her, Tony noticed when his charge gave a slight gasp and snatched her arm back as though burned.
"Robin-san?" he asked, suddenly wary. "Is anything wrong?"
She didn't answer right away, only stood staring straight ahead with wide eyes. One hand came up to cover her mouth. It looked like she was trying not to scream.
Just when the young warrior was certain there was something amiss, the raven-haired woman gave a laugh and turned back about. Her eyes were shining, and the smile hadn't left her face. Now Tony was thoroughly confused.
"I'm sorry, Tony-kun, I didn't mean to startle you. I just realized what it was I've been hankering for all day."
Robin crossed her arms over her midriff and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. Despite his best efforts, Tony couldn't help but notice how these movements served to accentuate her chest, the luscious cleavage peaking out enticingly from the cross-fall of her robe.
Discipline took a back seat to another part of his brain, and while absorbed in certain erotic fantasies, he heard her cool voice say, "Would you run to the galley and ask the chef to whip me up some Coto Makassar? I really appreciate it, thank you so much, Tony-kun. Bye!"
Before he could think to respond she whipped open the door and stepped inside, shutting it swiftly in his face.
Blinking out of his reverie, Tony found himself somewhat at a loss. What did she just ask him for? Coot Macrosaur? The heck was that? Well, maybe the cook would know. He had best hurry and see to this task. His head still swimming, the ardent revolutionary stumbled down the hall, lost in a daze of unspeakable longing.
With her back pressed to the wooden frame, Nico Robin heard him depart. Only when his footsteps receded did she crumple.
Sliding down on legs suddenly gone limp and weak, before she could hit the floor Robin caught herself with a few arms that came out of the wood. Secure in the embrace of her powers, she pressed a hand to her breast, the racing of her heart acting as a reassurance that she was still alive.
It might be only my imagination. Just paranoia after everything that's happened recently. Wouldn't it be funny if that were true? Especially when Tony figures out I just sent him to get me a bowl of cow-intestine soup. That could start some ugly rumors about my eating habits. Good for a laugh, really. Of course, her only purpose had been to get the boy away before anything could happen to him. The longer he took getting back here the better.
Even if she wasn't alive when he did return.
Slumped in the short corridor that led to her quarters, Robin could see the pot-bellied stove in a corner of the room, hot coals glowing cherry-red through the door's grate. Her breath come out in a mist of frost. The cold penetrated down to the bones, leaving her shivering.
It was then she was certain what lay ahead.
I will not go in there showing weakness. I've faced this devil before, and come out alive every time. True I had friends watching out for me then, and this time…
No. I have to deal with this on my own. For the sake of everything I care for, I will see this through.
She came upright, her supporting appendages disappearing back into thin air. Robin stepped forward, taking it one step at a time. Her arms remained linked over her belly, hands clutching the sleeves of her gown in an attempt to keep them from trembling. Fear and cold together tried to rob her of any trace of dignity in the face of death. But this woman had suffered through far worse, and come what may, she was determined to meet her greatest enemy as the proud heir to Ohara's will.
A pirate doesn't let fear rule them. We are free.
And so she stepped into the cozy little cabin and looked around. A porthole that allowed soft pale light to stream in faintly illuminated the confines of this space. Robin had insisted on having a room with at least two means of escape from it, in accordance with her upbringing.
Books piled in boxes to keep them from sliding about. The stove continuing to put out heat that couldn't seem to reach any farther beyond its own confines. A desk for writing. All this she remembered being here when she left.
It was the figure lounging on her bed that served to rob the room of any warmth, whether literally or figuratively.
Even sitting, he was taller than her, and Robin boasted a considerably greater height than most women. This man made her look like a dwarf by comparison. He was slender, but to confuse this with a lack of strength would get you nowhere fast. There was power in those rangy limbs that could reduce human beings to shattered bits of meat. Dressed in a tailored white suit with a blue dress shirt and canary-yellow tie, he made Robin think of a certain bony acquaintance of hers. He even sported a stiff bush of dark hair to complete the impression. But Humming Brook, for all the fact that he was a living skeleton who preferred to wear black, was one of the most lively and jovial people she had ever met. This man of flesh and blood was more what she thought of when Robin pictured Death: icy, unknowable, and inhuman. He would kill without the slightest hesitation, then go ahead and save a life for reasons only he could know.
You were never very far from a cold grave when in the presence of Admiral Aokiji, the Blue Pheasant.
To be sure, at this present time, there was not much to indicate a threat. Slumped with his back against the wall, it seemed that one of the Marine's greatest powers had fallen fast asleep. His mouth hung slack. A sensory deprivation mask covered his eyes, and the sound of his deep, measured breathing was evident. Completely dead to the world.
Standing in that frigid meat locker, the woman's eye fell upon a small pen-knife resting on the desk. And she knew that all it would take was for her to muster the courage to quietly pick it up, cross the room and plunge the weapon into his jugular, the same way she had killed others in the past. Slit his throat while he slept and watch his lifeblood spew out to splash all over that absurdly white vest. The guy was such a narcoleptic he might never even wake up. Just die right there in her room, his tale finished at her hands, never again to pass judgment on those she loved. It was a fantasy so vivid Robin actually found her fingers reaching out towards that deadly implement on their own.
But that was all it was. A fantasy. She knew from experience that she could not kill this man.
Instead, Robin dropped the book she held so that it landed with a sharp smack on the table.
Aokiji came awake with a snort. For a moment he remained just sprawled there. Then one large hand slowly rose and lifted a corner of the eye-mask. A single weary eye blinked and focused on the image of Robin glaring at him silently. He watched her, as though still trying to equate this scene with whatever dream she had roused him from.
Then the Admiral pulled the mask off fully. Leaning forward, Aokiji rested his elbows on his knees and yawned. He smacked his lips a few times before finally letting his gaze settle on the lovely lady whose room he had entered uninvited. Half-open eyes returned her hostile stare without concern. There was no hint of emotion to be found in his face. They might have been strangers meeting for the first time, not lifelong enemies circling each other for the better part of twenty years.
Robin made no move to speak. It was he who broke the silence at last.
"Did you know I was here?"
She nodded.
"I wasn't snoring, was I?"
There was no way to tell if he was teasing her or not. With him, you never knew. It made Robin furious. "The handle of the door was freezing. There was frost on it too. Even in these climes, it was colder than it had any right to be, inside the ship and with a fire going right behind the door. That's how I knew."
"Huh," Aokiji grunted. His eyes slipped closed, and his head sagged on that broad neck, as though the experience of listening to her answer had exhausted him. Then he gave another jaw-cracking yawn, just as quiet as the first, and seemed to at last come fully awake. When he regarded her now, the Ice Man finally noticed the state of her dress, standing there in a flimsy robe with damp hair and skin still steaming from the bath. Those deep bistre eyes widened briefly in a sort of lazy mortification.
"Ararara. I'm sorry, I came at a bad time, didn't I? You're not even dressed. You'll have to forgive me, it was quite a long ride getting here, and I didn't want to attract attention by staying overlong."
"Then let's make this brief. What do you want from me?"
His eyebrows rose in what might have been surprise. "Don't you want to put something else on? I know it can get a bit chilly near me. I'll wait outside if you like."
"Outside where anyone can see you? I'm not going to get others involved in this. Now answer the question please."
The perennially lazy Marine officer dropped his chin into one hand, chewing his cheek.
"I came to ask for your help."
For all the air of nonchalance, those words took Nico Robin's breath away. Considering recent events, it wasn't unreasonable to have found he was here to kill her. But to ask for her help…?
"Admiral Aokiji, are you drunk?"
It would certainly explain a few things. But instead he shook his head. "No. Maybe I should explain. I assume you read the papers?"
"I did." Robin's own tone was as chilly as the room, despite the fact that she was still trembling violently. "You and your fellow butchers killed a young man for no greater reason than you were afraid of his father's name. Then you tried to do the same thing to my captain. You'll need a lot of explaining to get from there to me helping you."
The sleepy giant tapped a rhythmic finger against his cheek. "This isn't an official visit, so you know. I decided to seek you out on my own. The World Government and the Marines still don't know where you are."
"What about the rest of my friends?" Perhaps it was foolish to ask for any form of comfort from him, but she just couldn't resist.
"They've disappeared, along with their captain. We haven't seen hide nor hair of them since Saobody Archipelago. You were the first to pop up on my radar, and that was just a fluke. I heard that the Great Bridge construction had stalled for the first time in 700 years. Considering how every outfit you've ever joined wound up disintegrating, I thought it might be worth looking into myself. And here you are."
She gave him a look equal parts anger and amazement. "That's the reasoning you went by to bring you here?"
"Eh?" He looked confused. "Why not?"
"It's completely based on your perceived opinion, with no foundation in reason at all!"
The Admiral only gave a shrug. "But it's true, isn't it? All your previous teams have been destroyed. Baroque Works, numerous pirate crews, including the Strawhats…"
Robin stiffened.
"… even the invincible CP-9 fell apart only a few days after blackmailing you into cooperating with them. Maybe it is just my opinion, but I'm sure you can see why I've come to hold it."
"QUIET!"
She was itching to sprout a pair of arms from his shoulders and snap his neck with a sudden violent twist. The accusation of Robin having done harm to the only people to care about her in her entire adult life hurt enough to make it worth the risk, even knowing her power couldn't match his.
Robin liked to think she had herself under control and needn't fear reacting foolishly. But really, it had less to do with herself and more to do with the way he looked at her right then. Cold as frostbite, and deadly serious. His expression defined that saying in spades.
As she watched, he turned his head and exhaled softly. In response, a plume of frost issued from his mouth and snaked in white tendrils across the cabin. Robin stared in morbid fascination as it reached the stove and slipped through the vents in the door. Seconds later, there was a hissing sound, and the hot coals within were extinguished, robbed of all heat and warmth. The room grew even darker as a result.
Like she needed a reminder of how easily he could snuff her out.
"I'm sorry if I upset you." Aokiji's voice said what his face did not, but he made no further moves against her. "My coming here has to do with a desire to keep the world from breaking down any further than it already has."
"Really?" Robin whispered, feeling her teeth start to chatter and clamping down firmly to keep her jaw set. "I would think you and your masters would be very pleased with the state of affairs right now. Aren't you all still flying high from finally overcoming Whitebeard?"
And the expressionless face actually creased in a grimace.
"Some of us are, but that doesn't make our position any less perilous from what I can see. You're a smart girl, Nico Robin, you must have seen the reality of our situation. The Marines lost a great deal of our finest recruits in the Whitebeard War. Don't spread it around, but Fleet Admiral Sengoku is stepping down from active service. Not only that, the Shichibukai ranks are down by half, less if you don't count the Pirate Empress, who never cooperates with us to begin with. Plus the Whitebeard Pirates themselves are still on the loose."
"Even with Newgate himself dead, our job is that much harder. His territories and the citizens who live there are now targets for the three remaining Yonkou, as well as any arrogant misfits who might feel like taking advantage of their loss of protection. That's a lot of new ground for us to cover with far fewer men. Our reputation is sky-high now, but the reality doesn't back it up. The Marines are actually weaker as a result of our victory, regardless of how great that victory seems. And lest I forget, we've got a brand new world-destroying threat in the form of Blackbeard, to say nothing of the monsters he broke out of Impel Down."
That last part came as something of a surprise. "So Impel Down was breached."
He stopped short, mouth hanging open. Then Aokiji hung his head with a sigh. "Ararara. I've said too much. Nobody's supposed to know about that." His wintery eyes flicked up to meet her own. "Well, I guess it's too late now. I had hoped to work up to this. Your friend Captain Monkey D. Luffy did break into the Underwater Gaol looking to rescue Ace. He let loose most of the prisoners, and then Blackbeard waltzed right in on top of that and either killed or freed the strongest of that bunch. Pizzaro, Bosco Shot, heck, even Crocodile is back out in the world."
At the mention of that name, Robin's heart started racing. Crocodile! The man she betrayed to keep him from gaining control of the unstoppable battleship Pluton he so fiercely desired. Luffy defeated him and saved her life in the process, but now he was free. A dry death as merciless as the icy one that Aokiji represented once more swept across the face of the globe. That made two sinister Logia-magicians at large with a personal interest in the knowledge only she possessed. Suddenly Robin could smell the cigar that wicked ex-Shichibukai always used to smoke, mixed with the heavy scent of the pomade he put in his hair. She remembered the way he had looked at her sometimes, like the only thing preventing him from pulling Robin to him and kissing her with the fiercest of desire was the realization that it would cost him her cooperation in pursuit of his goal.
A sharp stab of pain sprouted in her lower back from where he had impaled her, and Robin shuddered not from cold, but at the thought of seeing those flat reptilian eyes coming at her once again, his cruel laughter ringing in her ears.
Wait a minute…
Knowledge only I possess.
Yes, I get it now. I understand what he wants.
Coming down from this epiphany, she felt a smile come to her lips, and the sultry pirate looked at the looming Admiral with something like triumph.
"So that's what you need my help with."
He gazed at her right back, face and body betraying nothing. But there was no need for him to give confirmation. Only one thing could have brought him to her at this specific time.
"You're right, Kuzan." Robin felt a thrill of fear at speaking his real name, but that frigid foe gave no indication of being irritated at the familiarity. "The Marines are in a very bad spot right now, aren't they? There are far more dangerous young pirates cropping up nowadays than there are powerful Marines who can handle them. The Eleven Supernovae are just the tip of the iceberg."
He didn't smile at the pun. A giddy rush of power let the young woman forget how cold she was right now. Like she was holding the cards for once in their relationship. It was a feeling as foreign as it was misleading, and she didn't buy it for a second.
"With so many powerful enemies arrayed against them, just three Admirals doesn't seem like much anymore. You people can only be in so many places, after all. And you're just monstrous, not legendary. Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp is retiring, am I right? I doubt he'd care to stick around with the lowlifes who killed his adoptive grandson. And Sengoku is gone as well. That leaves a rather big hole to plug. It's starting to look like you might have thrown in with the losing crowd. All the lives you've taken on orders, the friends…" she emphasized that word specifically, "… you've lost, and it all might come to no end. The flames of revolution and piracy could overtake the world. Not just far in the future, but soon, in your lifetime, even. That can't be something a powerful man like you would be happy to hear."
Taking a seat at the desk, the triumphant temptress crossed her bare legs and smiled gamely at him. "So you decided to go for the big guns. Your ace-in-the-hole, the one you've been keeping in reserve for twenty years in case things started to go sour."
Lifting a finger, she pointed right at her chest, between her breasts.
"Me."
It might have been her imagination, but Robin thought she caught a flicker of hunger on that ice sculpture of a face. It was both thrilling and horrifying. She soldiered on regardless.
"That's the other reason you've let me live this long, am I right? Because I alone have access to the same thing Crocodile knew could be used to smash any opponent, even the Marines and the World Government. Might as well come out and say it, Admiral. You're here because you want to find Pluton."
Aokiji rubbed an eye tiredly.
"Yes. Will you give it to me?"
There was silence in the room after that. The two of them watched one another closely.
Robin started to flip the pages of the nearest book at hand.
"Why would I do anything so irresponsible as that?"
He bent in a little closer, his mere presence engulfing her in a frozen cage. "Sengoku's recommended me as his successor, from what I hear. If it happens, I'll be able to work things out in favor of your crew. I could get the bounties on them rescinded. They'd be free to live ordinary lives without fear of being hunted by anyone."
"Ordinary lives?" Robin couldn't help but grin, though she had to wonder if her lips were turning blue by this point. "Not a one of them is interested in such a thing. Even if you did forgive them all their past crimes, in no time they'd be guilty of new ones. And it's not for the reason you might think."
She stood up then, facing him eye-to-eye.
"We're not your enemies for fortune or fame, Kuzan, but because you've chosen to defend something that feels the need to call us evil. If we've broken any laws, then maybe instead of condemning us for it, you should question the worth of those laws to begin with."
The bland way he looked at her was all the answer she needed to that statement. It made Robin chuckle as much as she could with each breath now an icicle in her throat.
"But who am I to tell you what to do, right? The mighty Aokiji needn't concern himself with the beliefs of puny mortals who have to fear death at every turn." She tilted her head, considering him scornfully. "Actually, you remind me a great deal of another Logia-user I met on Sky Island. He acted like a god too, passing judgment on others without consideration for their lives, only for what he felt was just. It seems to be a common failing of the breed, always thinking they should have a say in how everyone else lives. I have to wonder if people like you even recognize how truly inhuman you've become!"
"You're getting pretty riled up, I see." And the man-shaped blizzard lifted off the bed. His shoulder-blades brushed the ceiling, causing him to hunch over her now in an oddly disturbing way. He looked more like an animal as a result. For all that she had questioned his humanity moments past, Robin was unnerved by the sight. "Like I said, I didn't come here to antagonize you. I just wanted to see if you might be convinced to give me an easy solution to my problems. Otherwise the next few years are going to be a real hassle for me."
His hand lifted up, and Robin flinched.
"I guess I shouldn't have bothered. You're not going to tell me where Pluton can be found, are you?"
She didn't hesitate to respond, even knowing he might freeze her blood as a result.
"Never."
That hand of his held the power to kill everyone aboard this ship. It hung over her like a guillotine blade waiting to drop. Rather than touching her, however, instead he just rubbed the back of his head.
"Too bad." Aokiji sighed and studied her from his superior height. Then he gave a rueful shrug. "Well, that's really the only reason I stopped by. I guess you'll be wanting to get back to travelling with these new friends of yours now."
"Would you have a problem with that?" she countered.
"Only if I thought they would have greater success in convincing you to part with your secret than me. And I don't. So it really makes no difference."
Arrogant bastard. As if once he dismissed you then there was no cause for concern whatsoever. It made her seethe when really she knew she should feel grateful to still be alive.
Just like that it seemed as though their weird conference had ended. The Admiral turned around and opened the small porthole leading outside. He looked back over his shoulder and threw her a languid wave. "Goodbye, then, Nico Robin."
It seemed impossible that after what he had asked from her they should leave it at that. Perhaps it was this that caused the daring archaeologist to speak up then in spite of any common sense.
"Kuzan."
He paused in the process of leaving. "Yes?"
This was something Robin really felt needed to be said.
"You believe in recognizing patterns in people's behavior. Here's one you might have missed. My captain has met all three Admirals now. Each of you tried to kill him, and none of you succeeded. Since Ace is dead, he has a real reason to hate you. Next time you see Monkey D. Luffy, don't be surprised if it ends badly for you. The Will of D is on the move once more."
Aokiji didn't even bother to look at her.
"I'll be around 'til then," he murmured.
As Robin watched, the man's whole body abruptly turned into ice. A shiver went up that gangly frame, and then the living icicle broke apart into a collection of tiny snow crystals that danced aimlessly about the room. They refracted rainbow light all around her in an undeniably beautiful display. For just a second Robin forgot how cold it really was, enchanted by that alluring forest of twinkling diamond stars.
Then the winter spectacle rushed out the porthole in a soft whisper. Warily Nico followed and looked outside. The sky was a dark gray high above, while on the choppy blue sea below, she caught a glimpse of a figure riding a bicycle across the waves. The ship went sailing on its course, and in no time at all, that incongruous sight was lost to her vision.
Closing the window, the tired young woman drew the blinds and sat down on the bed. Bringing her knees to her chest, she rubbed her arms briskly, trying to stimulate circulation in the wake of the Ice Man's passing.
Eventually a knock came on her door, causing Robin to start.
"Robin-san?" a voice called from without. "I got that dish you wanted! Shall I… leave it here for you?"
It took her a while to remember anything that resembled real human warmth. When she did, the former assassin got up and went to the door. Opening it, she saw Tony standing outside. He took a deep breath upon viewing her and offered up a tray.
"Here you go! Croutons and mamaglia, just like you asked!"
Hot coffee steamed invitingly in a glass press, and the kid had even gone to the trouble of putting a flower in a vase for her. The sweetness of the act did a great deal towards dispelling the deadly chill that had settled in her stomach. Honestly, that nickname suited him better than she thought.
Impulsively, Robin reached up and took his face in both hands. He flinched, probably at how cold her fingers were, but then his eyes took on a look of vapid bliss.
"Thank you, Tony-kun," she whispered gratefully.
Another pair of arms sprouted from her waist and took the tray from him. Tony hardly seemed to notice, lost as he was in the unexpected contact. With that she stepped backward and closed the door on him gently.
A pat of fresh butter was melting atop the cornmeal mamaglia, while the large croutons fairly glistened with oil and herbs. All this was deposited on her desk as she took her seat before it. Feeling suddenly ravenous, she had to hold back from digging in. First Robin picked up the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. She wrapped her hands around the smooth ceramic mug and let blessed heat transfer over into her frozen digits. Behind her, several extra pairs of arms were busily relighting the oven. Flint was struck, kindling took light, and soon a cheerful fire was crackling in the hearth.
Robin took a sip of the nourishing beverage. It was so hot it almost burned her mouth, but she proceeded to drain it regardless. The searing liquid coursed down her throat and settled in her stomach, warming her insides. Somewhat more at ease, she pondered this latest turn of events.
Aokiji probably wouldn't expose her location to the World Government, nor would he follow them to learn the revolutionary leader Dragon's whereabouts. Say what you will about him, he was honest in his intentions; that much, at the very least, you could count on from him. If the Admiral said he came only to seek her help, that was all there was to it. So for the time being she and everyone on this vessel was safe. As safe as one could be, with the world as your enemy, and only a handful of people you could truly trust.
Still, her old nemesis had given her something of worth. Thanks to him, she could be certain the other Strawhat pirates remained at large and conceivably safe as a result. In two years, there was no doubt they would all meet again.
Robin flushed happily at the thought. Taking a bite of her meal, she then flipped open her book again and began to brush up on the various means of performing assassinations.
Something told her she was definitely going to need it.
FIN