"Oh you caught us." joked Robin as she held her hands up with a smile as she had been caught red-handed and took a step back from the swordsman. The swordsman took this opportunity to quickly stand up and get away from her as his face was completely red; kids were a lot to thank about so he had just about reached his limit when they were first mentioned, earlier that day. He seemed so overwhelmed that he didn't even notice the crew.
"!?" the whole crew held their breath in shock at this sudden reveal; they had never imagined that something like this would happen.
"W-what?! Since when?" stammered out Nami in disbelief because Robin and Zoro had never seemed that close at all. In fact, she had barely ever even seen them make eye contact with each other.
Usopp and Luffy stepped in with smiles. "Ooooo is there going to be a party with meat?" asked Luffy with a big grin on his face, jumping at the chance for there to be meat. "Sanji you'll have a lot to cook!" he chimed as he slapped Sanji in the back. He drooled as he imagined all the kinds of food there'd be at a wedding.
"You've got to be kidding me-" whispered Sanji, barely audible as he shook with anger. He had been so shocked that his cigarette had fallen from his mouth and to the ground; his foot practically pulverized the cigarette and continued to crush it as his feet continually pressed on it. His fists were clenched and he was biting his lip as a shadow of intense rage loomed around him. If they didn't know any better then they might have mistaken him for a villain.
"Did you say something?" asked Luffy but before Robin could admit it was a joke, Sanji was already griping onto Zoro's shirt which wasn't unusual but this time he seemed practically ready to kill him.
"There's no way…...THERE'S NO WAY I'D EVER LET THE WOMAN OF MY DREAMS SLIP THROUGH MY FINGERS ESPECIALLY TO SCUM LIKE YOU!" he bellowed with his back turned to the crew. Zoro instantly snapped out of his overwhelmed mode to his battle mode as he faced the furious cook. "You! What do you want!?" Zoro growled, snapping back at Sanji a bit cautiously since Sanji was more bloodthirsty than usual. "What's your problem?" he huffed as he tried to push the cook's hand away but the cook strengthened his grip, refusing to let go. He seemed to grow angrier and angrier by the second, almost as if he was on the verge of exploding.
"THERE'S NO WAY YOU COULD EVER HAVE A CHANCE WITH HER AS LONG AS I'M HERE! I WON'T ALLOW IT! SO BE GRATEFUL THAT I EVEN GAVE YOU A CHANCE WITH HER TO LET YOU DREAM!"
He threw Zoro back and quickly turned back towards Robin, grasping both of her hands in his
"Robin, there's no way! Tell me that what you said was a lie! Tell me it wasn't real! That this is all a nightmare! You're wearing my ring and I'm wearing the matching one so obviously we're the ones that're together right, right!? There's no way you would ever go ahead and be with anyone in that way that wasn't me!" he pleaded as he looked desperately into her eyes. Robin was a bit taken aback at discovering this different side of Sanji; it was different in the form that she had never seen him truly desperate about anything. Even with womanizing, it's like his heart was superficially into pursing but not quite all there but this looked like it struck a deep chord within him; in his eyes lurked something that definitely looked like fear. She could recognize it because she had felt it too when she was younger.
-Even if he still is a womanizer.- she thought as she shifted uncomfortably, feeling guilty -I didn't think it'd be taken that seriously but I guess I shouldn't have taken it too far. This sort of panicking….I feel a bit sad to see him this way. It was my fault.- She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. She just had to comfort him. "Sanji, calm down. You're misunderstanding. I needed a way to snap Zoro out of his trance and teasing him seemed fun so I did it and that's when you all walked in." she explained calmly. Sanji stopped shaking and seemed to be filled with relief. "Y-you really didn't mean it-" he doubted, making sure this wasn't all some lie; he had to make sure that this situation was definitely not real and that Robin had no intentions of having that future with Zoro. He needed to hear it again to believe it.
Robin nodded, oblivious to how impacting this was for him. "I did it for my entertainment, his reactions are entertaining besides Zoro would never marry me. He never liked me from the start and only accepted me because Luffy accepted me," she assured him.
"You didn't have to go that far to make me snap out of it!" scowled a still embarrassed Zoro as he peeked at Robin in anger. "I was so stunned that I…..I" he trailed off and looked away. "I recognize that you're a good crewmate and someone good to have around." he huffed toughly in his usual tsundere style.
"Well, you sure took us by surprise." Nami breathed in relief. "For a second there, I panicked about how you guys would make it work. Would you stay on the ship with us or would you live on land?" she admitted as she took a seat and placed her hands over her knees as she smiled brightly at them. "We have enough kids with our captain aboard." she declared unabashedly. Luffy took no notice at this comment while Usopp had his hands crossed and nodded seriously at this.
Sanji, however, was on his knees and his arms wrapped around Robin's waist and his head pressed against her stomach as tears spilled from his eyes; it was quite the sight to see the normally energetic skirt chaser now just as a defenseless, so relieved to the point of tears grown man crying and holding onto one woman tightly. He seemed to have no intention of ever letting her go.
"Don't ever joke like that again," he muttered as if each word was painful. "Don't ever wear matching clothes or stay with a man other than me. He kissed the ring on her finger. "Don't ever take the proof of our love off," he begged as his teary eyes looked up at hers. "I'm begging, please don't! I'll do whatever you want to make you happy just please….don't leave my side." he whimpered as he held her tighter.
The rest of the crew awkwardly witnessed the moment, unsure if they should even be there or leave.
"Uuuh….if you really love her that much then maybe you should marry her." jeered Usopp in an attempt to alleviate the atmosphere. Nami immediately punched him and hissed quietly "Shut up! He's serious about this you know! This is really important!"
Sanji seemed to hear Usopp's comment and nodded as he wiped his tears. "Yes, he's quite right. Let's get married. Robin, I want to marry you. Please be my real wife."
"I...I…" Robin hesitated, happy about the offer but unsure. "You...but you're a womanizer. You're.."
"Robin!" he said sharply, as he finally stood up and held her hand tightly. "I'm serious." he looked into her eyes. "I want to be together forever, only with you. No other woman matters as much as you do to me. I swear it."
-Is he really serious?- Robin wondered. -His eyes show he's definitely serious.- she thought as she looked into his unwavering gaze. -I want some time to think about this...but it looks like he wants an answer right now.-
"If you really wanted to marry her then why did you wait to ask her till now?" interrupted Zoro, voicing everyone's thoughts. "I'm no expert but isn't there usually a flashy proposal? She's my wife for today so I think…..I think she at least deserves that much apart from loyalty." Usopp and Nami froze in horror since his comment was really inappropriate.
-DON'T MESS WITH HIM MORE THAN HE ALREADY IS! YOU'RE THE REASON THAT HE'S PROPOSING! HE OBVIOUSLY SAW YOU AS A THREAT!- they frantically tried to warn him.
Sanji seemed to immediately turn cold and furious again. "Your wife…" he repeated coldly, pronouncing every syllable in disgust. "WELL I-"
The child was crying when he ran to hug Robin. "T-they're both being mean and scary!" he bawled as he buried his face on her breasts as she picked him up and cradled him. "Shh Shh it's okay," she reassured him. "They were both just about to be quiet," she said as she shot both of them a killer glare which caused them to both bow their heads and apologize.
"I'm sorry," they muttered together in defeat but kept glaring at each other.
"She's my wife today." Zoro hissed at Sanji "While we're on the island."
"No, she's not." hissed Sanji back. "I won't let it happen anymore, Nami swan. I'm sorry but we'll have to change partners since I promised Robin I'd be loyal now so I'd like to prove it to her."
Nami looked a bit troubled but agreed. "Okay, I'll cheer you on since I love you both. Do your best Sanji!" she cheered. Sanji swooned. "Thank you Nami swan for being so beautiful and understanding! You're the best! How could I fail with a beautiful cheerleader like you cheering me on!"
Robin sighed. -That's definitely not the beginning of giving up his womanizing habits.-
"Sanji, I want to talk to you in private," she announced, deciding to finally tell him her feelings in hopes that this will settle things once and for all.