Chapter 4

Author's Note: Thank you for all the support. Just curious to know how many here are looking forward to more Zosan than KidLaw?

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

The Straw hat pirates looked at their bodies dumbfounded. They were stranded in a time-space dimension.

"Luffy!" Nami screamed and tried to reach for her captain. However her shout was not heard and she was unable to move away from where she stood. Luffy seemed unfocused as he stared into space.

While Luffy remained in his trance like state Nami quickly scanned the area, trying to find the rest of her nakama.

Robin was floating in the middle of nowhere like Nami and she was assessing her situation. Franky was not too far behind Brook. He was firing his weapons in random directions but nothing worked. The bullets disappeared off into the distance and never reached an end.

Zoro's swords disappeared and he had a grim expression on. Sanji was still unconscious and Zoro was staring at the blonde cook with a slightly worried expression.

Usopp was panicking and Chopper was struggling to go towards Luffy. Nami could see that the doctor was yelling for his captain but she was unable to hear him. "What is this place?" she thought.

Zoro was worried for two reasons. One was due to his captain who seemed to be out of it. Something was wrong. From his observations they were all alive in this time-space dimension but they were all captives one way or another. They could see it each other and move about on their spot but not out of it. Sound would not travel either.

The other reason was more personal and probably a secret. Sanji, the shitty cook whom he had a crush on, was unconscious. Zoro knew that the blonde man was strong enough to take care of himself but at times like this when he looked so vulnerable Zoro can't help but want to go to him and protect him from whatever harm might come.

"If only I had those swords I might be able to do something about this…"

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Eustass squinted at the glaring sunlight. He was in the middle of the forest. "How is this possible?"

Des had somehow managed to vanish and Eustass grumbled. He trudged the dense vegetation in hope of running into someone. It was sweltering hot and sweat formed on the man's forehead.

Wiping away some sweat with his arm Eustass suddenly realized something unusual. His mechanical arm had been replaced with another arm that was flesh and blood.

Eyes widened in disbelief, Eustass clenched his fist and let out a choked laughter. There were mixed feelings about him having a real arm.

A thought struck him.

"If I have a real arm then what do I look like right now?"

The destination in his mind changed and he turned a hundred and eighty degrees to back track. Suddenly finding a mirror or reflective surface became a lot more important than finding someone to tell him where he was.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Des watched how Eustass stumbled around in his new form. She vaguely wondered if it was a good idea. "Maybe I should have added a beard or something. Brown hair just doesn't seem to match well with his personality and obviously adding in a real arm had made him distracted from the original objective." The toki-toki no mi user sighed dramatically. "If only he would be more concerned about saving his lover than his appearance…"

Des glanced at a small glowing orb in a jar. The light was growing smaller by the second. "Please hurry Eustass Kid, my powers to retain his soul and keep him from the reaper depends on you right now…"

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Eustass looked at the one of the huge slabs of crystals he found in a cave hidden by the bushes at a rocky mountainside. It was certainly a fine hideout and Eustass knew someone else before him had made this wonderful place theirs already. The captain smirked. "It's not like I cared about what they would think…"

A silver knife was pressed against his neck as soon as the words left his mouth. The voice was as cold as the metal against his skin when it spoke. "I wouldn't be too sure…"

Eustass froze. The voice was familiar but a lot younger. It was a girl's voice instead of the woman's voice he grew accustomed to hearing.

"Nico Robin?"

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

"Where am I?"

The surrounding was filled with nothing but colors that swirled in meaningless patterns. He tried to touch them but they shunned his contact.

"I remember now… I am dead."

The words echoed harshly in the vast silence. Only the colors responded with their never ending dance.

Law thought about the man he fell for. "Eustass Kid… I wonder what he is doing now. Is he crying for me?"

Law felt pain in his no longer existent chest. The thought f having Eustass cry for him was unbearable. "I should have used my ability to teleport him out. We could both be together then."

Law blamed himself for causing misery to the one he loved. "Why did I act before thinking? I am a very calm person… why did I jump in like that?"

Eustass Kid's annoying face popped out and Law scowled. "How can I love an idiot like him so much that I would rather die? It's very unbecoming of me and Bepo would surely not like it."

As Bepo's name, the heart pirates broke down. "I'm sorry…"

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Eustass Kid reflected on his new look. He was displeased. "Hair should be red and not brown…"

Nico Robin stifled a giggle. Eustass was strange in his own way and it was funny how two criminals got along so well.

The girl was wary of him at first but then when Eustass's stomach growled things changed. It became awkward and then turned hilarious as the man tried to make up more excuses to cover his embarrassment.

In the end the both of them settled down on the cave's cold stone floor and munched on some half burnt rabbit meat that was caught by Eustass not more than an hour ago.

Once they had eaten their fill, Robin asked the strange man she just met. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Eustass wanted to tell her his real name when Des spoke to him in his mind.

"Do not reveal anything about yourself or the future otherwise the past will be changed and your destined meeting with your love might not exist!"

Eustass froze. Robin looked at him intently. Sweat started to form on the pirate's had. "I'm… I'm Eugene!"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Eustass's patience wore thinner. "This cocky kid…"

Robin then asked him what he was doing in her hideout. Eustass mentally cursed himself for being unable to answer immediately. Robin grew suspicious and then Eustass sighed in defeat. He was regretting this after all.

"I'm lost alright… I just got washed ashore…"

Then Eustass wanted to hit himself over the head. How did he knew this was an island?

To his surprise Robin bought the lie. "Don't worry mister! I got washed ashore here a few months ago too. The storm out there is terrifying isn't it? I'm really glad I found this place though… the village people can't be trusted. I'm wanted by the marines after all. I assume that you have a bounty on your head too."

Eustass guffawed. He ruffled Robin's hair. "You should not be too trusting with strangers, kid. People are not that kind. The world is a huge place and there are many cruel people around. You won't know who your friend is and who your foe is until they betray you or help you when you are down at your lowest."

Robin frowned. "I don't understand you, mister."

Eustass looked at the younger version of Nico Robin. He patted her on the head. "You shouldn't have to understand this because you are so young. However because of the circumstances for you, it is best you get used to these kinds of things."

Robin's eyes became teary. Eustass felt pity for the small girl. He did something he had never done before. He pulled the girl into a hug.

Robin bawled in the older man's arms.

Her mother had just died and she was allowed to live by Aokiji. Her only friend Saul whom she made recently died because of her. Her entire home, Ohara was destroyed by Buster Call. The small rowboat she sailed away in capsized and as a devil fruit user she nearly drowned. She thought she was saved when a pirate ship of good men fished her out from the waters and gave her a place to stay when she discovered their plans to turn her to the marines for the reward on her head. She had to sink that ship and kill the people who were nice to her in order to live. When she was thrown off the sunken ship she had to fight for a piece of driftwood to cling onto, not knowing if she would make it to the next island.

When she was found on the next island, the villagers were nice to her until the read the newspaper about her and then out casted her. Robin was thankful that they did not attempt to turn her to the marine for the bounty on her head but then she was hurt that society would not want her because she was different and that she had a past that followed her like an ominous cloud wherever she went.

It just wasn't fair for Robin who was barely ten. Life had been bad when her mother went away. It became worse when she accidentally ate a devil fruit. Her friends started leaving her and no one wanted to talk to her. Books were her only companion and even they were taken away from her when Buster Call destroyed everything remaining that she could call home.

With a marine admiral-to-be chasing her with a tempting bounty on her head, Robin had nowhere else to go. Her life after that was worse than hell and she had no one to turn to or share her troubles with. She was always on the run, moving from place to place and hanging out with different people.

Each time she tried to start anew, her past would come back to haunt her and the vicious cycle continues. People betray her trust so many times that Robin shut her heart out. No matter how kind they were they would always turn their backs on her when they knew who she was and what she was capable of.

The stranger she met had spoken the truth which her young mind refuses to acknowledge. She kept on clinging onto the foolish hope that someday someone will overlook her past and see her for who she truly was.

Eustass allowed the girl to cry her heart out. He was sure after this she would cry no more and would be able to live life like who he knew her for - The devil's child, Nico Robin. She was the only woman he never wanted to mess with and never looked down upon. After all they had quite a similar past.

Eustass's Past

The flame haired kid walked down the street. He could hear the whispers of people. They were talking about him again. Eustass could hear everything they said about him. His mother was the only person in his family alive. However she was extremely weak and often fell ill.

In his country all the children with red hair were considered unclean. They were children who were deemed being born after their mother had done it with a man during her monthly cycle. In other words, they were children of whores.

Eustass had enough of this small town. He was the only child with red hair here. His mother often told him that his red hair was beautiful and that he should not heed the words of others who did not know better.

His father was a man from a distant land. He happened to have red hair and everyone there had red hair. Eustass got his hair color from that man. He had never met his father. His mother said he died at sea on a voyage. Eustass never questioned anything more than that and accepted it.

Then the day came when the news of his father came to town. His father was a bandit from the mountains and his mother did not dare to look him in the face when he asked her about it. He had trusted her with everything he had.

Unable to deal with reality of being betrayed, Eustass ran away.

He stole a small fishing boat and sailed away. His boat got caught in a storm and was destroyed. Luckily for Eustass he clung onto a drift wood to a strange island.

On the island, dying from starvation and dehydration, Eustass grabbed the nearest edible thing in the forest. It happened to be a devil fruit and Eustass's life changed drastically from then.

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Des watched as the pirate captain and the girl shared their moment. The darkness in the girl's future had been lifted by Eustass's words. It sounded ironic because Des knew better than anyone else that the girl's future will be filled with nothing but darkness until she finds the man called Monkey D. Luffy.

However that was more than enough to sustain Law's soul for a little longer. The glowing orb now not larger than the size of Des's pinky fingernail before now expanded and grew. It swelled to the size of a baseball and Des nodded. It was time to take Eustass back and send him to another of the Straw Hat crew's past.

Eustass Kid almost screamed in terror as black tendrils reached out to grab him and swallowed him into the earth.

When he opened his eyes he found himself floating awkwardly in the middle of nowhere.

"What the hell!" Eustass spluttered. Des pressed her face close to Eustass. "Don't what the hell me! Do you have any idea how close you were to losing your lover?!"

Eustass was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"If you did not gather enough power for me I would not be able to retain your boyfriend's soul for long enough to swap his time with yours! The size of his soul started off as big as a bottle cap but it went to as small as the size of my pinky's fingernail," Des showed Eustass her pinky. "I need it to be the size of a bicycle tire at least in order to be able to perform the exchange of time…"

Eustass gulped guiltily. "So how big is it now?"

Des huffed and showed him the glowing orb no larger than the size of a baseball. "It will shrink continuously gradually and you need to be fast."

Eustass nodded in understanding. "So who's next?"

Des grinned. "You'll find out…"

Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX

Author's Note: I'm so sorry I took so long to update this! It's not because I don't know what to write but rather I don't have much time:/ My exams are coming up in 2 weeks and I still have no clue what my lecturers were teaching up till last semester. I failed a few tests so I have to buck up… please understand and do let me know:

What kind of ending would you prefer? Sad or happy?

Do you want to see more KidLaw or Zosan featured? Perhaps both or…?

Any other suggestions or comments are always welcomed! ^^

With that thank you for supporting this story… I know it's not that great so thank you for bothering to read and review… :P