Not a Monster! Child's Dream!

AN: This part of the story came from xox1melly1xox's "Parallel" from DeviantArt.

For this chapter, I was going for a build up to the romance that you will see later on.

Hope you guys like it. :)

A few weeks after Shanks had left, Garp came back to the island and took Nick with him, to show him what it's like to be a marine.

"There is no way I am going though it!" Nick yells at his grandfather. They are both on a Navy Battleship. "You didn't have to go through that many years of training!"

"Maybe not all at once, but 20 years is the perfect amount to make you the strongest you can be. You have to be strong to join the Marines." Garp said with a little irritation in his voice.

"I am not going to BE a Marine. I want to be a pirate!" Garp punched him in the face after that last statement; Nick went flying and bounced off the wall and landed on the ground a few feet from Garp.

A Marine walked up to Garp, "Admiral, sir, we have arrived at Ohara."

"We're here?" Nick said as his head popped up, while his body was still flat on the ground. He then ran towards the bow of the ship and looked out to see the island.

As their ship made port; Nick jumped off the ship and made his way inland, while holding his new hat on his head, keeping it from falling off.

Garp looked out to see Nick run though the forest, just as a Marine walked up to him and saluted to him, "Sir, wouldn't it be safer if he was escorted?"

Garp laughed, "He wouldn't be my grandson if he needed an escort. He'll be fine. Lets make our way into town."

Another Marine walked up to Garp and saluted, "Admiral, Director Spandine will arrive in two days."

"Two days? Great, now we have to wait for him. Whatever reason he has for asking me to be here is beyond me. Whatever it is, it better be worth our time." Garp said as he was eating crackers.

As Nick was running though the forest, happy, enjoying the sound of all the birds and the sight of the trees and grass. He couldn't help but smile at how beautiful the island looked. He stopped when he saw a little girl sitting on a tree stump.

He was behind her, but he still hid behind a tree. She was hunched over, almost as if she was read a book. Right then he could see that it was when she turned the page.

Nick became curious to see what book she was reading. Makino always read to him when it was time to go to bed, he wondered if the book the girl was reading would be another good one for her to read to him.

As he got closer, his walking was pretty loud; he wouldn't be surprised if she already knew he was there before he started walking towards her. She didn't say anything, so he continued to walk until he was right behind her. Even though she was sitting on the tree stump, he was slightly taller than her. He looked over her shoulder to see what she was reading, and discovered that the book had no pictures like Makino's. He had one hand hold his hat, in order to prevent it from falling on her or cover his eyes. "What are reading?"

She looked up and her face went from irritation to complete shock; seams like she was expecting someone else. She then turned her whole body around to face him, and he backed up. "Its an archaeology book." She almost sounded nervous.

Nick tilted his head in confusion, his hat tilted with him; he caught it before it fell. "Arceology?"

"No, Archeology" she said with a look of confusion on her face. "Has he never heard of the word?" She thought.

"What's that?" Nick says with a curious look on his face.

"There's my answer." She thought before she answered, "It's the study of history. Primarily about what cities were like a long time ago." She almost felt happy to tell him about it.

"Wow. So it's about what happened a long time ago. Cool." He says with a smile. He then sits down next to her on the tree stump.

She was caught off guard by that, she looked to him with confusion. "You're not scared of me?"

Now Nick looked confused, "Why would I be scared of you?"

"Because I'm a monster. At least, that's what all the other kids call me. All the adults call me a demon." She says as she lowers her head.

"You're not a monster. Monsters are ugly, gross and have bad teeth. At least, that's the way they look in Makino's books." The part about bad teeth made the girl laugh a little.

"Why would you call yourself a monster?" His question was answered when an arm poked him on the other side of him, then another, then another. He jumped off the tree stump to see that there were three human arms sticking out of the tree stump; they then disappeared into flower pedals. "That's why." She says with a sad look in her eyes.

Nick's turned to stars, "WOW! That is so cool!" The girl's face went to complete shock. "How are you doing that? Its magic! Or no, it's a trick." He was pacing back and forth with a smile on his face.

"Oh, wait! Its that special food thing right? What is it called, super fruit? No, special fruit?"

"Devil-fruit?" She asks, hoping to help.

He stopped pacing and then pointed both is index fingers at her with a smile on his face, "That's it!"

"You're still not afraid?" She had worry in her voice.

"Of course not, I have powers too." He cocks his right arm back and then swings his arm and his forearm stretches enough so that his fist hits the tree 20 feet away. Once he retracted hits him in the face, making him fall flat on his butt, his hat slowly falls to his lap. She was caught off guard by that action, and started to laugh when he fell. "Still working on that last part." He says with a big smile on his face while rubbing the back of his head.

He stands back up and holds out his hand to her, "My name is Shepard D. Nick."

She hesitantly takes his hand and shakes, "Nico Robin."

Nick couldn't help but close his eyes and smile. She couldn't understand why he was so happy, "What a strange kid."

Her thought was interrupted by the sound of a growl.

"Sorry. I'm hungry. Do you have any food?" He says with a smile.

"Not with me. We can go into town and get something." She replies. "Maybe we can stop by The Tree of Omniscience, while we are there. I still need to return my book."

"Cool." He agrees.

They start to walk through the forest towards the town.

As they were walking around in the town; Nick was eating some of the food that he bought with the money Garp gave him before he left the ship. As he was eating he was mesmerized at the massive tree in the center of town. He offered some food to Robin, at first she didn't seam like she wanted to, but then she took it anyway. She was surprised, "No one has ever bought me food that tasted so good before."

"Hey, Nick? I was planning on going to the Tree of Omniscience. You're welcome to join me if you want." She says, with a little hope in her voice.

He swallowed his food before answering, "Sure. That sounds cool."

They walk up to the main door, Nick still was amazed to how big the tree was, Robin opens the door. "Hello? Doctor Clover! I've come to return–"

"CONGRATULATIONS ROBIIIIN!" all the archaeologists of Ohara say together.

She was completely caught off guard, so was Nick, it surprised him so much he fell on his butt. He quickly got back up and whispered to Robin, "What are they so happy about?"

"I'm not sure." She replies as Doctor Clover walked up to her, his face full of joy.

"The Archaeologist Exam you took the other day! You aced it! From this day forward, you can call yourself an Archaeologist!" After that last statement, Robin began to smile, Nick had no idea what was going on but smiled anyway.

Dr. Clover walked over to her holding a medal, "Here, this certifies that you're a scholar." He hands it to her, he then looks to Nick, "Who is this? I don't think I've ever scene you on the island before."

"My grandfather and I are visiting for a few days." Nick says, with a smile on his face.

"Well, any friend of Robin's is a friend of ours. Please." He says as he leads them to a map of Ohara.

"Listen Robin. Remember well what being an archaeologist means! 'Knowledge' is the 'Past'!" Clover says. "This is the 5000 year old tree! There are numerous amounts of documents that were brought to this 'Tree of Omniscience' from all over the world through out the years. They are irreplaceable assets for all mankind!-"

At that point Nick zoned out of what he was saying and looked around. He had never scene so many books in his whole life, his jaw dropped to the ground. He was pulled out of his amazement when Dr. Clover yelled at Robin. She ran out of the building, Nick looked to Clover with confusion, "What did you say to her?!"

"Nothing you need to worry about, boy." Clover says to Nick, trying to calm him down.

Nick didn't want to hear any excuses, so he decided to run after Robin.

Robin was running and crying, for almost two miles, until she heard a voice call her name.

"ROBIN! WAIT!" she heard Nick call for her.

He finally caught up to her, "What did he say to you?"

"It doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand." She said as she was wiping her eyes. Out of nowhere he gave her a hug. "What are you doing?"

"Makino always told me, 'Whenever someone is crying, a hug always helps'." He says with his arms around her body.

Right then she realized he was right, the tears stopped falling from her face, she didn't feel so sad anymore. Nick let her go and she started to smile at him, "Thank you."

"That's what friends are for." He smiled back.

"I don't have any friends." She says, her eyes lower.

"Glad to be the first." Nick says, with a big smile. She then looked at him, and started to smile again.

They walk to one of the shorelines, lying in the sand, looking up to the sky as the sunset. They were there for about twenty minutes, silent, Nick finally broke the silence, "Hey Robin? Do you have a dream?"

"A dream?" She asks.

"Yeah, a dream. Something you want to do, once your old enough. My dream is to become the King of the Pirates." He says with a confident voice.

She couldn't help but laugh, "King of the Pirates? Huh… Well, my dream is to learn of the 'Void Century'."

"What's that?"

"It's a point in history that has no record. It is said that there are objects called Poneglyph, an ancient stone with ancient writing that tell of all history, including the 'Void Century'. The one with that information is called the 'Rio Poneglyph'."

"And what do you want to do with it when you find it."

"Don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

As the sun went down, it disappeared and a green flash happened. "Did you see that?" Nick sat up fast like a bullet.

(AN: Fun fact; the Green Flash is in fact real.)

"See what?" She asked, looking confused.

"I saw a green flash, I never noticed it until now."

"I didn't see anything."

Nick then realized that he had promised that he would return to the ship at sunset. "I have to go, Robin."

"You're leaving?" she asks, sadness in her eyes

"No. My grandfather and I are only staying for a few days. He said we are meeting someone here for something, I can't remember. I will still be here tomorrow."

"Ok, where should we meet, at the docks?"

"No. How about I meet you at that stump where we first met?"

"Sure."

"GREAT!" Nick said in excitement. He hugged her again

"What was that for? I'm not sad." She asked.

"That was a thank you." Nick then ran off with a big smile on his face and made his way towards the docks.

"What a strange kid, indeed." She thought with a half-smile on her face.

TO BE CONTINUED

On the next "Marvels of One Piece", "A BIG friend! BusterCall Activated!" I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!

Next up is the tragedy of Ohara!

Hope you guys like my story so far.

Please R&R