AN: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda!

Hey! Hope you enjoy this chapter! ^_^


Chapter Three – Truly Moving

Robin tried to walk tall as she stepped in through the front door of the Baratie. She smiled to the man at the door and waved him away when he began telling her that they were finished for meals. She pulled lightly at the hem of her green and white stripped dress as she scanned the room for the group of friends. Zoro had seemed to like when she had worn this dress before, but perhaps it had been the wrong choice for tonight? What if he took it as a sign that she wanted to be more than...acquaintances?

She was here to convince herself that she had been right about him, that he would have gotten bored and moved on. She needed to convince herself that Zoro really wasn't the one she had wanted to be standing opposite her at that altar over a year ago. Michael just hadn't been the right man for her. He had been the one to cheat and constantly make her feel worthless. She deserved better, just like Zoro had said.

Zoro was a boy and he knew nothing about her past.

She smiled as Nami suddenly caught her eye. She was wearing a smart little strappy black dress that showed off her tiny waist and giant bust perfectly. Robin nodded to the orange haired girl with a friendly smile before glancing down at her own dress; perhaps she was just a little underdressed. She looked back at Nami to see her nodding her head towards the bar with a happy smile of her own.

Sure enough, Luffy and Usoppe were already sitting there laughing. They may be older and more muscular, but it certainly seemed as if they were the same two boisterous clowns. Luffy was wearing a red vest top and baggy blue shorts with a pair of flip-flops – clearly much to the disapproval of the man working behind the bar. Usoppe was wearing a pair of sandy coloured baggy trousers and orange braces with a white t-shirt under them. Robin laughed quietly as she spotted his heavy pair of boots. Perhaps Nami was the one who was overdressed?

She looked back towards Nami as she began to walk over to the two boys she had met several times in the corridors of the high school. She laughed quietly to herself as she realised her mistake. Nami was wearing a little white semicircular apron around her waist. She was a waitress. Did she work here fulltime? Or was this just a summer job? Robin knew that Nami had made it into university, but that had been two years ago; anything could happen in two years.

"Oi! Will you two keep it down?" A familiar voice snapped. "My old man's getting pissed, so I'm going to have to kick your noisy asses out if you don't shut up!"

"Sanji." Robin greeted the blonde with a warm smile, tensing as Sanji stared disbelievingly at her.

"Mi-Miss Nico?" He stammered, slowly straightening himself up as he continued to stare. "It's very lovely to see you again." He continued, starting to fit back into his old self again.

"And it is wonderful to see you again too, Sanji." She replied, her smile brightening as the young man's awkwardness began to disappear.

He looked rather smart standing there in his suit. She had thought he was a chef here, but clearly not. If he had been, he would have been in a set of chef-whites. His blonde hair still looked as shiny, soft and long, but his fringe now fell over his right eye rather than his left. The few hairs that he had grown on his chin while he had been in school were now an actual goatee and a few hairs now speckled his top lip. His left eyebrow, she noticed, spiralled on the nose-side, rather than the ear-side like his right previously had. Perhaps his eyebrows did not have mirror symmetry?

"I am sorry to say that the kitchen is closed for meals now, however I am sure I could personally make you something light?" Sanji offered, bowing apologetically to her. "We could not have something heavy resting in your womanly stomach this late at night."

"Ah, I did not come to eat, I believe? I met Nami earlier while I was getting my grocery shopping and she invited me. Shall I go?" Robin inquired, glancing over at Nami and wondering why she wouldn't have said anything to her friends.

"No, no, Miss Nico~! I had not realised that you were the friend that Nami~ had met! She had said that I would like the surprise~!" He cooed, spinning up to her to take her hand and lead her up to the bar. "Oi, idiots! You remember Miss Ni- I am so sorry! I forgot that you were married now! You must forgive me, my beautiful lady, but I do not know how to address you?" He suddenly began, turning back to her as the two boys at the bar suddenly turned and grinned at her.

"Do not worry, Sanji." She smiled back fondly. "I did not marry Mr Dundee in the end, so I am still Nico Robin. I believe you will also find that I am no longer your teacher, so you may call me 'Robin'."

"Shishishishi! Zoro used to call you Robin all the time!" Luffy threw in, slapping Sanji on the back and knocking him forward to almost crash into Robin.

"Luffy!" Sanji barked, turning to glare at the laughing boy. "Robin~, if you will give me just a minute, there is something I must do. I'm afraid that means you will have to humour these fools, but I am sure a capable, intelligent woman such as yourself can handle them!" He continued, before dashing into the kitchen.

"Hello, Luffy, Usoppe." She smiled, taking a seat on a barstool. "How have the two of you been?"

"We've been travelling with my brother!" Luffy exclaimed loudly, earning them a few glares. "He's a fighter and he travels all over the world! I'm going to beat him to World Champion though!"

"Luffy, you need to get into the championship for this country before you can move onto the ones for other countries, never mind the continent! Even then, it's almost impossible to get the right to challenge for the world." Usoppe explained to him with an obviously exasperated tone. "Sorry, Robin."

"It is fine, Usoppe – it is nice to see his enthusiasm. I have actually seen very little enthusiasm this past year. No-one seems to truly be interested in history anymore, or anything else. It makes a nice change to hear such overconfidence and determination." She replied honestly, smiling at the frizzy haired boy.

"So, what have you been up to, Robin?" Nami slipped in over her shoulder.

"Ah, Nami." She smiled back at the girl. "Well, after your year left, I spent a year planning a wedding while still working at the high school. I called the wedding off last June and heading off to an excavation site for the summer, as I usually do. Then I went to do a transfer year at another school." She listed almost detachedly.

"Any particular reason for that?" A familiar voice asked, sending a chill down Robin's spine.

"Zoro! Law! You made it! It's been too long!" Nami exclaimed, grinning happily up at the two men as Robin turned in her seat.

"Hey, Nami." Zoro nodded, his eyes not leaving Robin as he accepted the orange haired girl's hug.

"Marimo, did you get my message...?" Sanji asked, an almost apologetic tone to his voice.

"I was just parking up when it came in." Zoro replied, sparing Sanji a reassuring glance before wrapping his right arm around Law's narrow hips, his left still around Nami's shoulders. "Nice to see you again, Robin."

"It is very nice to see you again too, Zoro." Robin replied, holding onto her smile desperately. "I hope you have been well?"

"Fine, thanks." He grunted, his right hand tightening on Law's hip and creasing the taller man's white shirt.

"What are you having to drink, Zoro?" Law asked gently, leaning his head closer to Zoro.

"Just a beer." Zoro nodded, blushing slightly as Law finished closing the gap to kiss him.

Robin watched as Law wrapped his long arms around Zoro's neck, an eye watching Robin closely. He seemed to deepen the kiss and Robin found herself having to look away, unable to keep watching. Why did she suddenly wish it was her kissing him? She had kissed Zoro before and it hadn't meant anything. Or it shouldn't have. She couldn't deny that his kiss had been the best kiss she'd ever had.

She bit her lip as she remembered the hot intensity of their kiss, the feel of him grinding against her, his strong hands all over her body. She closed her eyes and silently cursed her memories for choosing now to resurface. Now was not the time to hunger for him. Now was the time for reminding herself that he was taken. Not that she was truly interested in-

"Two beers, please." Law's voice cut through her thoughts as he spoke to the bartender. "Just remember what I said, Robin." He hissed into her ear. "You try to mess with his head again and I'll see to it that you end up with life."

The evening passed reasonably quietly – quietly for Luffy anyway – as they all sat at the bar long past closing time. Law had never left Zoro's side, constantly guarding him from her. He'd made sure that he was always between them, even going so far as to talk Zoro into going to the bathroom with him. Zoro had looked a little dishevelled when they had returned and Law appeared to have attempted to tidy his tufted dark hair, but had clearly done a better job of tidying himself up than Zoro.

Apparently Law had even decided to be the designated driver for the night. After his first beer, he had changed onto apple juice. He and Sanji had had a perfectly sober conversation while everyone else was merrily chatting away. He kept casting Robin warning glances whenever Sanji looked away from him, only to glare at Sanji every time the blonde shared a joke with Zoro. Robin was almost grateful when Nami had positioned herself between Robin and Sanji and Sanji was currently between Nami and Law. It was harder for the doctor to glare at her unnoticed past two people.

The group suddenly went quiet as Law stood up, gaining their attention, as he answered his phone. He leant over to mutter something into Zoro's ear, earning a nod from the green haired young man. Law quickly kissed him and made for the door in a hurry. He suddenly called back over to the group before disappearing out the door with Zoro's car keys in his hand. Robin turned to look at Nami, who in turn looked over to Zoro. Zoro just shrugged back at her and went back to his pint, suddenly much less interested in Luffy and Usoppe's tales.

"What was that about?" Robin frowned as she watched the green haired young man staring into his pint, looking completely abandoned.

"Oh, em, Law's a surgeon." Nami nodded, still watching Zoro. "I guess he must have been on call tonight. If he is, I'm surprised he had a pint at all. I hope the person's alright."

"Hm, well, if Dr Trafalgar is good at his job, then the person will be." Robin reassured, sparing Nami a glance before returning to studying Zoro.

"Dr Trafalgar? That's a little formal!" Nami laughed as she turned to look at Robin incredulously, gaining Zoro's attention.

"That is how he introduced himself this morning; Doctor Trafalgar Law, Zoro's partner, as in a more serious level of relationship than 'boyfriends'." Robin explained, enjoying the sudden blush to Zoro's cheeks that she could see out the corner of her eye as she smiled at the girl.

"Oooh, Zoro! He's quite the catch, isn't he!?" She suddenly called out, spinning on her stood to look directly at the red faced, green haired young man.

"Shut it, witch!" He snapped, quickly downing his pint and getting up from his stool to move around the back of the bar. "We're buying a place together, so yeah, it is pretty damn serious." He finished, beginning to pour himself another pint.

"Oh..." Nami frowned down at the floor, her hand moving up to rub her arm awkwardly. "I thought you were just going to be renting there...So you really are moving away?"

"Yeah..." He replied, an almost regretful tone to his voice. "We actually found a place just before we got back. We've had the confirmation, but it'll be a couple of months before we can move in. We're staying with Koshiro until then."

The air felt thick and heavy in the awkward silence as no-one dared to look at each other. The realisation of the fact that Zoro really was moving away hung there, slowly sinking in. As Robin let her gaze move to Zoro, she could see that even he wasn't happy about it. She didn't know what she could say to cheer them all up, but she had to say or do something. She had moved several times during her life. Moving wasn't an end, it was a fresh start. She knew without asking that Zoro didn't want a fresh start. He didn't want to leave his friends.

"I'm sure you will manage to stay in touch and everyone will visit, won't you?" Robin smiled more cheerfully than she felt as she looked around the group, earning some grins and shouted agreements from Luffy and Usoppe.

"It's not as if it'll just be the two of you out there for long," Sanji began and Robin almost dreaded what he was going to say next as Nami tensed next to her, "I got the go ahead from my old man, so I'll be moving out there in three or four months to start looking at places for the new restaurant."

"Great, thanks, Ero-cook, just what I needed." Zoro replied sarcastically, a genuine smile hidden behind his smirk.


Hope you enjoyed this! ^_^


I'm really sorry about last week. I hope I didn't upset anyone :(

Anyway, review responses!

megaME-chwaaan~, hope this chapter was interesting! Did he and Law react how you expected? ^_^

Robin Roronoa-swaaan~, it might, you never know! ;D Hopefully they'll be able to finally talk when they get to be alone 3;P Thanks :) They're not sure what's wrong, but they've given me something for the symptoms so I'm actually feeling a lot better this week! ^_^ *tearfully hugs back with joy* I really hope I didn't upset anyone...sorry :(

'Guest', hehe, well now they've met, but it's kinda hard to have a personal conversation with everyone there, right? ;) Maybe you'll get that chat next week!?


So, next week's chapter is called 'Trapped in a Car'! ^_^ See you then~!