AN: One Piece belongs t Eiichiro Oda!

THIS HAD NO REASON TO BE LATE! YES, I AM ANNOYED WITH MYSELF. I'VE HAVE THIS READY TO POST SINCE 8AM! FOUR HOURS EARLY! GENUINELY SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I'm working on my Zoro cosplay and I completely forgot I hadn't posted this yet *sigh*

Hey! ^_^ Ok, a little slip up to mention! I actually meant to ask a question at the end of the last chapter...I have a terrible sense of humour. Anyway, I sat for over an hour going "Who would call their kid Crocodile?" :P It's not really a name, is it? Then I realised that it is a nickname. I'm not saying that Mike Dundee and Crocodile from One Piece are remotely alike, it just appealed to my sense of humour :) Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!


Chapter Four – Trapped in a Car

"Hey..." Robin began awkwardly as Sanji started locking up the restaurant.

"Hey." Zoro nodded back without looking at her.

"Em, I was just wondering...how long have you and Sanji been planning this move?" She asked, changing her wording slightly to make sure that she didn't just sound jealous and bitter.

Zoro eyed her warily for a moment, clearing trying to decide on her motives. She shifted slightly, glancing down at her watch. She could feel her body's shaking increasing. Her hands had begun shaking over an hour ago but she had ignored them. Now she really needed to get home, but right now, these people around her were more important. She could ignore her own problems for them. Nami had been her charge for a whole year while Zoro and Sanji had actually been in her class, so of course she would feel this protective of them. Zoro clearly wasn't happy about the move and there seemed to be more to Nami's avoidance of the subject than she cared to admit to.

"Four months." Zoro grunted, finally drawing her back out of her thoughts. "Law got the offer of a job at another hospital and he said it would be good for me to have a change of scenery. I figured he was probably right. As for Sanji, I think he's using me as an excuse to his old man to escape and start his own restaurant."

"Fufufufu, I am sure he cares more about you than that, Zoro." Robin mused, a small smile creeping onto her lips.

"Yeah, I know..." He sighed, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I think he's being a little blind though, don't you?"

"Hm, definitely." She agreed quietly, shooting a glance at the orange haired girl lecturing Luffy for stealing from the kitchen, only to have Sanji join her in yelling. "Why has he not noticed? I'd thought they were already together while they were at high school."

"No, that was a common assumption though." Zoro smirked, shaking his head at the pouting Luffy. "He's an idiot to leave her behind, but he's never believed me when I tell him that she genuinely likes him. He got used to being pushed away unless he was 'needed'...Don't think he noticed it was always him that she went to."

"She didn't want to let herself get attached to him because of the way he is and now she wishes that she'd said something." Robin nodded, watching Nami and Sanji still standing lecturing the poor boy.

"Not sure what to say to that." Zoro sighed, his attention dropping to his feet.

"I was talking about Nami," Robin reassured, resisting the urge to reach out to touch his arm, "but I do regret what happened. I did say something though, Zoro."

"Yeah, you told me that a relationship with me could never have lasted." He snapped, coughing quietly as Sanji flinched. The others seemed to remain oblivious to their conversation, so perhaps Sanji was intentionally eavesdropping?

"Zoro, you were still a boy." Robin returned as she watched the rest of the group carefully. "You know you were. You have a boyfriend now anyway."

"What? Are you seriously upset about that?" Zoro glared, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"No, just confused...Did- Was I the one that made you interested in men?" She sighed, just asking him straight while she could. She needed to get it off of her chest somehow.

"No...? Look...I don't even know how to explain this...I'm not gay and you didn't make me interested in guys; I don't even know how you could do that." He snorted, clearly amused at her idea. "I don't know what I am, if I'm honest. I don't seem to just 'fall for anyone'...You and Law are the only ones I've actually been sexually interested in...but it wasn't really 'straight away'? I'll admit I'd noticed you had a...How did Sanji put it? 'Great body'? But the thought of actual sex? I kept on getting weird things in my head that looked like pictures out of Sanji's magazines from time to time though? I was kinda more interested in getting to know you and, I don't know, finding out what it was that was so 'special' about you."

"Did you find anything...?" Robin asked, watching him carefully, not even sure what she was looking for.

"Special about you?" Zoro frowned, studying her as he tried to decide if she really was serious. "I'm not supposed to talk about them."

"Zoro?" She urged, not wanting him to stop talking yet. It had been too long and she'd missed him feeling able to talk to her.

"I actually thought I was going to end up alone...It hadn't bothered me before you, but after what you said...I'd never felt so alone. Not even these idiots could make me feel 'normal'." He began, a note of amusement lifting his tone towards the end as he glanced across at them. "If Law hadn't sliced me to pieces, I doubt I'd have 'woken up'...My daydream became my nightmare, all because the woman I'd fallen in love with told me that a relationship with me could never last. It's a pretty harsh thing to say to a nineteen year old who's finally fallen in love for the first time, wouldn't you agree?" He finished, giving her a cold glare that easily rivalled that of the one his boyfriend had given her that morning.

"Ah, Robin~, if you would kindly follow me, I shall take you home~!" Sanji cut in, preventing her from answering, although she had no idea what she could ever say.

"Thank you, Sanji." She nodded, offering Zoro a quick smile before following after the blonde.

Zoro didn't smile back.

"What was that about?" Nami whispered as she suddenly appeared by Robin's side.

"Nami~, I'm afraid I'll have to drop Robin~ off first?" Sanji sang, cutting Robin off again. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or insulted.

"That's fine, Sanji." Nami smiled happily, an almost sad look trapped in her beautiful brown eyes. "Things have been really weird between you, Zoro and Law all evening," Nami continued, turning back to Robin, "has something happened?"

"Ah, I must confess something about when I met Law this morning." Robin replied, trying to seem guilty. "He came to give me a parcel that had been delivered to Koshiro's instead of mine and when he introduced himself as Zoro's partner, I'd been a little surprised...I believe he took my surprise as my being homophobic...He must have said something to Zoro."

"Did you correct him?" Nami gasped, taking hold of Robin's hand as they reached Sanji's polished red BMW convertible.

"Oi, Ero-cook, mind if I get a lift too?" Zoro grunted from behind them, making Nami jump.

"Why don't you call your surgeon boyfriend, Marimo? I'm sure he'd be thrilled to give you a lift, providing you return the favour, of course!" Sanji returned, folding his arms over his chest as he smirked proudly.

"He's working, ass. Now can I get a lift or not? Robin lives opposite my dad, so it's not as if you'd have to go out your way any more than you already are." Zoro glared back, clearly resisting the urge to rise to Sanji's challenge.

"He's working ass? Guess that answers the whole 'which one is top' mystery!" Sanji jeered as he moved to unlock the car. "Get in, Marimo."

"Breathe..." Robin heard Zoro hiss under his breath to himself, making her smile.

"Who is on top?" Nami frowned, surprising Robin. Was it the alcohol or was this what she was really like when the teacher wasn't looking?

"Do we really have to talk about this?" Zoro grunted, his ears a charming crimson as he took the front seat.

"Why not?" Nami teased, leaning forward from her seat behind Sanji. "Are you on the bottom under all those long, flexible limbs?"

"Just 'cause you want to be, doesn't mean everyone else does!" He snapped back, causing everyone to lurch forward in their seats as Sanji slammed on his brakes. They had barely moved a foot from where the chef had started reversing from the parking space. "What the fuck was that about?!"

"How dare you suggest Nami ~ would want to sleep with your boyfriend! She could never be so insensitive!" Sanji exclaimed, lifting his left foot from the foot well to dig his heel into the top of Zoro's leg.

"I didn't mean Law, moron! And you've just proved my damn point! Look at what you're fucking doing! How is that even possible!?" Zoro yelled back, waving his hands in the direction of Sanji's leg.

"Zoro, you should perhaps think before you say any more." Robin suggested calmly, flicking her eyes towards Nami to make sure he understood her.

"Shit...Sorry..." He muttered, glancing across at Nami as he said it, before elbowing Sanji in the shin. "Now get your damn foot out of my thigh!" He snapped.

They sat in heavy silence, their designated driver completely confused. How had he not grasped what Zoro had been getting at? Nami was still uncharacteristically quiet and he had not realised! Robin smiled reassuringly across at the girl next to her, suddenly becoming aware of Zoro staring at her as she did so. She smiled back at him and watched as he turned his attention to the still embarrassed girl. Should she say something to her? Or would things work out fine on their own?

"Hey, Nami, you going to actually speak or are you really that embarrassed? You're worrying Ero-cook and Robin." He grunted, his deep voice filling the car completely and giving the poor girl nowhere to run.

"Why would I be embarrassed?" She returned defiantly, sitting up in her seat.

"Maybe because you started digging into my sex life and ended up practically having the name of your 'crush' revealed." Zoro smirked, pulling back out her reach.

"Nami~, you are actually interested in someone? Is it someone from your course? He better be planning to take care of you! If he doesn't, I'll come right back here to make everything better, ok~?" Sanji slipped in, glancing back at the orange haired girl in his rear-view mirror.

"Oh, he doesn't study anything except his own reflection." Zoro grinned, earning a perfectly horrified look from Sanji and a furious glare from Nami.

"Nami~, is that true?! I can't accept any man for you who'd put himself first like that!" Sanji exclaimed, trying to turn around in his seat to look back at her.

"Just watch where you're going!" Nami lectured, physically turning his head back to look through the windscreen. "No, he isn't. He does take care of himself, but he always puts me first...no matter what he has to go through or give up..."

"He sounds pretty perfect..." Sanji replied quietly as Zoro and Robin shared a glance, both waiting for the blonde to realise who Nami was talking about. "Are you going to ask him out...?"

"Well, actually, he's planning to move away...and I don't want to ask him in case he doesn't...because that's what he wants to do and I don't want him looking back in several years time, wishing that he hadn't given this up for me." Nami answered, slowly lifting her eyes to meet Sanji's reflected in the mirror as Robin gently squeezed her hand.

"I'm sure he could never regret giving something up for you, Nami~." Sanji sang back, an almost hidden note of sadness to his voice as he brought the car to a stop. "Now, Robin~, Marimo, I believe this is your stop."

"As soon as he pulls up at yours, tell him how you feel. Do not just let go." Robin whispered to Nami as she hugged the girl goodnight. "Don't make the same mistake that I did."

Robin pulled back and moved to open the car door, only to find that Zoro was already holding it open. She smiled up at him and waved goodnight to Sanji and Nami as she climbed out of the car's rear black, leather seats. She let Zoro close her door as she threw Nami one last smile. She nodded goodnight to Zoro and began to walk up her path, glancing back over her shoulder as she heard footsteps behind her. She smiled back at the green haired young man following her up the path in his partially unbuttoned dark green shirt and smart black trousers. He certainly looked older and more mature than he had two years previous; was that Law's influence? Or was it just the way Zoro was?

"Zoro-"

"Ero-cook told me I had to walk you to your door, even if I didn't feel like speaking to you." He grunted, cutting her off before she could say anything. "Thanks...for trying to help Nami. Like I said, Ero-cook won't believe me and, as you seen, Nami's feeling a little guilty. She's worried that he's leaving because he's had enough of her 'taking advantage of him'. It's nonsense, but he has always been a bit of a womaniser, at least since I met him...I can't imagine what it would be like to feel as if every girl on the planet was a rival."

"It's not easy. You begin to harden yourself, until someone comes along and says a few nice words to you. Then you realised just how...unfair your life is." Robin explained quietly. "At least we all know that Sanji could never cheat."

"Yeah, he's a good guy." Zoro nodded, turning his back on her. "Law is too. You got me pretty good, you know that right? He spent a long time trying to give me some confidence...I don't know when I started to feel like this, but I know after tonight that Law's right about moving away. I could barely walk into the Baratie tonight, never mind living and never knowing which exact moment I'm going to see you."

"Zoro-"

"This is goodbye, Robin." Zoro called back quietly. "I just have one request; stay away from my friends until I'm gone. It just confuses shit even more when I see you being so friendly and...caring with them."

"As you wish...Zoro."


Hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one is called 'Being Shattered' ^_^


Robin Roronoa-swaaan~, how are you this week? As confused as poor Zoro? ;P

megaME-chwaaan~, and Robin continues to be a threat *whistles innocently* I totally don't have plans for the next chapter 3;3

'guest', hehe, no, that was intentional! XD I seriously have a terrible sense of humour...Glad you enjoyed the last chapter though! ^_^