Zoro was utterly lost. He was in a new town after all but that was no excuse. Heck, he could barely find his way to the bathroom on the ship. He just blamed it all on bad luck. The others think it's a miracle he could find his way to the deck.

He thought he saw Sanji running after a moving vehicle. But when he neared it, he found himself on one of the parade floats for the Mardi gras. "Where the hell am I?" He jumped off realizing that he didn't belong there. Indeed how could he, a swordsman, join a group of innocent little girls in immaculate white with a pair feathered wings in a float full of daisies?

He next found himself in a dark room full of skimpily-clad ladies making moves on him. They said they only charged 100 Beli an hour and it'd be the time of his life. On other occasions, he'd submit but he was too irritated to give it a thought. "What the hell? This must mean I'm starting to be like that idiot love cook." Disgusted, he left the brothel in haste, without a single word.

"Argh! This is so troublesome. At least lead me to a pub or something." He remarked rather absentmindedly. An old lady overheard him and started a long slow sermon on why he shouldn't drink. "My late husband, bless his soul wherever he may now be, died of consumption –- Oi, young man, come back here!"

"Like hell I would!" Zoro continued on his way until he realized that he had successfully returned to the boat. At least now he knew where he was.

"Swordsman-kun, you're back early." Remarked Robin without looking away from her book.

"Yeah." Zoro replied and reclaimed his spot under Nami's orange grove. Shortly afterwards, he dozed off.

Robin was preoccupied. It was early in the afternoon, the sun was still high up and the rest of the crew was not to be expected until late. She wanted nothing more than to just continue reading. She tried to bury her head in that thick book once again but after a paragraph, she just couldn't concentrate. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the tuft of green hair.

Feeling a bit mischievous and a little curious, she snapped through a hand that appeared from the ledge just beside the swordsman's ear. His immediately awoke and looked around. He raised an eyebrow and went back to sleep.

A few seconds later, Robin, amused, did the same little trick this time just near his left ear. Zoro reacted as before. He looked a while in Robin's direction before shrugging it off. He saw that she was buried in that crazy book of hers. Seriously, does she ever get tired of reading? It was weird that he should think that because a parallel thought was running in Robin's mind. He seemed to have already dozed off. Seriously, when does he get enough sleep?

Robin was just getting the hang of annoying Zoro until an idea popped in her head. All this time she just settled for a pinch here and a poke slap there but what if…

For the sake of pure amusement and to satisfy her curiosity, Robin stroked the swordsman's face. She was surprised to feel the warmth of this cold-hearted entity. He certainly didn't have a heart of gold. He chose to shut away all emotions. He thought that 'if the mind thinks different from the heart, a swordsman's reflexes who'd be dulled.'

For some time, Zoro's sleep has been disturbed. He was exhausted by constantly awakening in caution. This time, he decided he'd not go to sleep but it was all too difficult for him. He had already been nodding off to sleep when he felt a smooth touch on his face. It didn't go away as quickly as the others that preceded it. He raised his arm to touch it. This time, not as hastily. Good, it didn't disappear, at least, not for three seconds. He realized it couldn't be anybody else. He gazed in her direction. She wasn't reading that darned book anymore. Instead, she was looking at him too.

Their eyes met, but only for a brief moment.

Zoro does not recall if he made the first move but it was fresh in his mind how smooth her skin was against his. She smelled like cherry blossoms too. This is better than a thousand Beli. He shook this wicked thought off his head.

"Swordsman-kun, you have succeeded in passing my time." Robin said breaking away from that strong grip, knowing full well that a relationship will be the end of them.

"Now, to act like nothing happened." Zoro suggested. He stood up to assess the mess. WTH?! We can't have been this rough? Wrong. They couldn't have been any rougher. Strewn across the deck were pieces of broken glass from what was once a coffee cup, the table was lacking a leg and even the orange bushes suffered. It looked like the place had been hit by a tornado or in pirate terms, a battle had ensued.

It took some time to clean up. Robin had just discarded the last piece of glass when an all too familiar voice could be heard.

"Luffy, don't rush. She's not in stable condition." A concerned Chopper advised.