A/N: OMG YOU GUYS! ^_^ Thank you so much! I'm so happy you guys like this! I was worried it wouldn't be like because it wasn't noticed very well when I posted it for OPBigBang. But you guys are so sweet! Thank you for all the reviews! Work has be really hectic, but I promise I'll keep updating as soon as I can. Enjoy~!
Chapter 3: Nami versus the World! Robin Knows Best!
Sanji was the first to speak into the silence that followed, "I have most of what you need, Robin-chan, but someone needs to get a messenger bird to Chopper. She needs to be examined. Regardless of how the baby came about, all of this stress can't be good for it, or her."
"I know, but he was recently called up to Skypiea. Some sort of epidemic affecting those tiny wings the residents have, a feather-rot that gets into their bones," Robin said, the flame of her anger banked for the time being, and just exhausted in general. "You know how hard it is to get any messages to Skypiea."
Zoro grunted. "Someone'll have to go get him then."
Robin's sharp glare turned on him.
He shifted uncomfortably. "...you know I can't go on my own."
"Especially without your navigator to guide your broken compass," was Robin's barbed agreement, her voice as sharp as her stare.
"I suppose the Old Geezer could watch over things for a while. It'll take him a week or so to get here if Brook would be willing to pick him up." Sanji stroked his goatee, now even more fully grown in than it had been after the Okama Incident, which made him downright refuse to be clean shaven.
The skeleton nodded, "Of course, I would be glad to retrieve Zeff, but I could just as easily travel to Chopper, no? Yohohohoho. I've heard tell that Skypeian ladies are much less guarded about their panties."
A collective groan and Sanji's glare almost knocked the musician from his seat, but all were so used to his perpetual quest for women's undergarments that the comment was mostly brushed aside in favor of the much more pressing topic at hand.
"We could get Usopp to join once we get to Water 7, Bobby." Franky scratched absently at his right bicep. "And the punks under Bakaburg could look after Nams 'til she figures out where she's goin' from there."
Robin turned on her other half. "Nami isn't safe," she said flatly. "In the time it takes us to gather the crew, in the time it would even take to send Brook to get Chopper now, Nami could be dead by morning. None of you understand. Even before she left Raftel, she has been a target. By now, it'll be all over the island, by morning, the Line, and within three days the entire world will know that Nami is vulnerable. You have no idea what it means to be targeted by everyone you meet, everywhere you go. Nowhere is safe. Nothing is sacred. She needs a team she can trust, and right now?" Her glare was hair-raising. "She cannot trust this crew. Not in its entirety, not after what Luffy did and said. We are not enough. And there is no time to be waiting."
Zoro scoffed. "Oh please, as if it's that bad."
She whirled on him and the next thing he knew he was in a choke-hold with the wall.
"Shut your mouth, bounty hunter," she was bristling, "do you have even the faintest clue what it's like to be the prey? To know no shop owner, no elder, no island is safe, to know that every step you take may be your last, to know there is only an everlasting chase, that the only thing to do is run until your last breath?!"
Her eyes were tearing without control. These were painful memories. It had been a painful existence. To have been a child was bad enough, but to be with child and attempt to endure that? It would have been nigh-impossible.
The expression brought an equal reaction from those around her.
"O-oi! R-Robin-chwan..." Sanji reached out a hand, which almost imperceptibly shook. The only thing that could burn through his nicotine that quickly was his Marimo's life being in danger. "W-what about somewhere in the South Blue? No one goes there because it's more ocean than islands. We could take care of her. She doesn't have to face this alone. We may not completely understand what happened between them, but both Luffy and Nami-swan are our Nakama, and we'll move the world before we let one be killed."
Franky stepped up, "He's right, babe. We went into Enies Lobby for you. We took on Blackbeard and his shit. We've taken down the Shichibukai and the World Government. We can take care of her. Promise. It's not like it was back then. She's got a crew that cares for her."
"You're not getting it!" Her voice was rough as she released Zoro, leaving him to cough against the wall as he sank to his knees. "The world is still full of greed! Taking down the worst, most cancerous sore helped, yes, but there is still corruption! There is still greed! There is still cruelty! We all know there are hundreds gunning for Luffy's title and his spot, just among the pirates! And what Marine wouldn't want to capture the greatest thief of all time, Cat Burglar Nami?! They might not hurt her, but the sheer stress would cause a miscarriage, and don't even get me started on the Revolutionaries, much as I like them, all those warriors have no respect for a pregnant woman, and many would pressure Nami, looking for power, or assurances, or something. You know full well Sabo and Dragon have little control this far away from their headquarters. Anyone she meets could sell the right information to the wrong personage and—" she began to sob. "You don't know what it's like! The price of being well-known and powerful is that danger will come looking for you. The sheer numbers will overwhelm us, get around us, she isn't safe! She has to go into hiding where no one knows her!"
Instantly, Franky was holding her, big, strong arms wrapping his flower in the most gentle of holds he could manage. "Shh. We'll get her to safety. I'm sure there's somebody who'll be able to hide her. If... if I thought she'd make the trip, I was gonna say bring her to Skypiea, but that current ain't safe, even without the little one to think of."
"I already have plans, if you don't mind."
The ginger-haired navigator stepped in from the dock with more confidence than she really felt. Though she was certain that her now-ex-husband was gone, the cautions about Zoro and the fear that the others might turn on her as well coiled like a frozen snake in her stomach.
So, she came up with a plan, as usual, "Sanji-kun, if I could have more of the pickles and tuna paste, please?"
"H-hai, Nami-swan!" The blond responded with only a slight hesitation as he handed his lover a mug of the tea from before to soothe the swordsman's throat. Then he gave a few half-enthusiastic hearts in her direction.
Zoro, just about to take a sip, turned slightly green. Pickles and tuna paste?! Swallowing, he gingerly put the cup aside, suddenly not trusting his stomach. He… he was just going to sit quietly in his corner right now. He'd never seen Robin this out of control and it honestly scared him.
The archeologist herself pressed into her lover and did her best to dry her tears. She managed to get back her usual calm with a few snickers, and slightly red eyes. "Oh good. You are our best strategist and planner," she said, though a bit watery. "I'm afraid I'm not at my best for this, with all the memories and emotions interfering."
Nami smiled, and tossed her hair with a bit of false pride, "Of course. We discussed before what would happen if I ever had to leave the island, and as long as we get to them before word does, I can blackmail each and every one of them into being my personal bodyguards for as long as I need. Most of all that one. Though, when we get to Water 7, I'll need to get in touch with Kokoro-san."
Franky frowned ever so slightly, beginning to get an idea of what she had in mind, but said nothing as Sanji waltzed back in with a plate covered in more of the soda crackers.
Zoro tried not to look, the scent of the treat far worse than what his imagination had conjured. "Who's the 'we' that you discussed this with... that you'd have bodyguards better than your own Nakama?"
Robin glared at him again—she'd been over this—and in response Zoro noticeably shifted closer to his lover.
"Never you mind your fuzzy green head over it. It's better if you didn't know. That way nobody can use the information against us. Besides which, they prefer to remain anonymous when they're working. I've already taken the liberty of using one of the All-Blue's messenger birds to send word ahead to be waiting for me." The navigator's nose was in the air, baiting the swordsman as a defense mechanism.
The cook deliberately stepped in front of the marimo, a hand resting on the broader man's shoulder in silent support and restraint that kept Zoro's mouth shut, "Not that it's any trouble, Nami-swan, but are you and Robin-chwan absolutely certain that we can't protect you? I mean, I'm sure whoever you have lined up is capable and all, but there's no one in the world who's stronger than us."
"Only when we fight as a team," Brook suddenly said, standing. "And we have to be a team because with one of our number missing, and the possible infighting, we will appear weak. And our enemies know it, isn't that right, Lady Nami? By the way, congratulations. Though it appears things have changed greatly since I died, I have always been of the opinion a life is a life, and all children are still children who need love and protection. If ever you need me, I am ever at your service."
Most of the others around the room jumped, his presence having been almost forgotten. His face was solemn, and he tipped his hat to Nami. His full, gentlemanly bow was something of a bygone era, but perhaps something that should have stayed rather than faded into the past.
Robin gave a semi-wobbly smile. "Like I said, Nami, we'll take you wherever you need to go."
"Th-thank you, Brook. Robin."
The navigator's voice shook at the first positive statement she'd heard regarding this thing that she'd worked so hard to achieve. It proved to be too much for her fragile state, shattering her previous air of confidence. Her first sign of things not quite being right was the way her face clouded over and the cloak still around her body shifted, indicating that she'd moved the hand she had hidden. Why, oh why, couldn't that have been what he had said first?!
Though she'd thought it over, she had decided she couldn't take any of them with her. Luffy would need them more than she would. She was sure of it. Call it navigator's intuition, but she could sense rough weather ahead. The kind that usually meant people's lives were in danger and, generally speaking, brought the Nakama even closer together than they already were. The sudden tears that accompanied that thought had the redhead whipping around to hide them in the safety and darkness of the Mecha Lotus' galley.
Torn between following his mellorine, and protecting his Marimo, Sanji looked to Robin, "Is she ok?"
The brunette shook her head, but couldn't find the words.
"No, she will not be 'ok' for a very long time," Brook said solemnly. "Children, my friend, are often the breaking point of any relationship. Saying bad things about the miracle of life as Luffy did... well... that not only hurts the mother terribly, it invites disaster upon the infant, and no child deserves to have its life cut off before it can even begin," his voice was low, and if it was a little harsh and thick, it could be blamed on his old-fashioned view of the world. "I'm afraid she may never trust anyone fully ever again. The man she loved and trusted most turned on her. That is not something anyone recovers from easily, if at all. That, I know, has never changed."
"But... and I blame the stupid Marimo for the fact that I am even saying this, we still don't know if Luffy was the one to turn on her first. What if she wasn't..." Sanji paused, "What if, may the Sea ruin my tongue, what if Luffy's right?" Holding up his hands in defense, he pushed forward before anyone could say anything. "I know! I know! She's been our trusted navigator for years, but the possibility still remains that she cheated on him. You all know how trusting Luffy is. What do you think his response would be if that trust was broken? Possibly not even just once. We've all been out living our dreams; can a single one of you actually, honestly, tell me that things haven't been brewing between them under the surface? When he was here Luffy spoke several times about feeling like she was being sneaky and secretive over the last few months. We haven't been near Raftel until yesterday."
"We were in Alabasta, helping to recover the poneglyph." Franky looked to the side, sucking his teeth.
Brook gave them a flat look that was too much like Robin's: it spoke volumes. "Regardless of where the child came from, it is a child. In my time, a woman often, if she found her husband sterile, could and would seek out someone to give her that child without ever truly straying from her husband. As far as anyone was concerned, her husband did father the child even if everyone knew he'd been cuckolded. It didn't matter." His cane thumped the floor with a sound like thunder. "If she did cheat, something I deeply doubt, I do not think it would be a breach of trust so much as a means to an end. Haven't we all done things we are not proud of, things we never have and never will speak of, in order to achieve a goal?"
An almost imperceptible pause took the other four off guard under the skeleton's inky gaze as all gathered in the room knew the answer to that question was a resounding 'yes'.
"W-wait! I'm not saying that! We all know too well the price of Devil Fruit users when it comes to children." Sanji cleared his suddenly tight throat, and Franky sniffed, deliberately not looking at anyone, as the cook continued. "Yes, we've all done things we shouldn't even contemplate, let alone speak about, and of course, the child needs to be protected. All of us here know what it's like growing up without protection. Some more than others," he nodded sympathetically at Robin, "but we can't just lump all of the blame on Luffy. You saw how defeated he was. I think he was confronted with something he couldn't understand, and it made him jump to conclusions. He isn't the sharpest knife in the block. I just think if this was something they'd talked about, he would have reacted differently, and as far as I am concerned, at least having talked about it, there would be no betrayal. It would be an agreed upon course of action. So, either, she was raped and refuses to admit it, or she did betray him by doing this behind his back." Suddenly exhausted, apparently from having to talk down about his beloved mellorine, Sanji sank to Zoro's lap, shaking a bit more violently. "I... I need a smoke."
From apparently nowhere Zoro produced a cigarette, which he put between the cook's lips, and a lighter, which he used to flick a flame into being that he held for his lover's convenience. Sometimes it was just those little intimate details that could offer comfort.
Robin sighed. "Perhaps... but there are some things a woman just... just does not discuss! Not with her husband especially! Child-related issues in particular can be... jarring... terrifying... painful... it hurts bad enough. We've no wish to drag the people we love into it with us."
Brooke nodded. "You both have a point. Perhaps she should have talked it over with him first. Probably so, in fact, but simply put, we really just don't know what the Hell is going on—pardon my language—and the only one who could clear it up is clearly not talking. After what has happened, I cannot blame her. I repeat my earlier prediction: we may never, in fact will probably never know the truth of it."
Sweet, sweet, blessed nicotine flooded the cook's veins as he listened to the exchange among the other three, leaning against his lover. Franky was holding the ebony-haired woman tighter and murmuring something that the blond couldn't hear into her delicate ear. The struggles of the last year and a half would have to be all the more painful for the pair now that conception among their crew had actually been achieved. Let alone the possibility of his precious mellorine being raped. It took him several minutes but by the time he'd burned through half of his cancer stick, the tremors of withdrawal were gone and he was rock steady as ever. So with a final turn to his swordsman that put his nose under the mosshead's chin, Sanji climbed to his feet, looking for all the world like things weren't blowing up in their faces, as usual.
"Robin-chwan, the Marimo and I will gather your provisions together. Then you'd best make haste. As much as we all would rather you didn't, you have made some very important points this evening, and Nami-swan obviously has her plan all worked out. So, what else can we do but give what support we can in the places we're allowed." He gave a small bow, and turned on his heel with a sideways glance to his partner, "Mosshead..."
"M' comin'."
The bigger male grunted as he got to his heavy feet and trailed after his life partner. He still was on Luffy's side, but he was seeing, quite sensibly, that sides didn't much matter. Not while Nakama was in danger, regardless which side was right. He'd have to put his faith in Nami's devious brain. He didn't trust her, exactly, but he trusted her ability to wriggle out of whatever situation into which she ended up.
As soon as the other two were gone, Franky ran his thumb across his lady's cheek, whisking away the tears he was sure she hadn't realized were there. This wasn't completely about Nami, and he knew it, but there wasn't much he could do outside of reminding the amazing woman he lived with that as always they'd get through this crisis the same way they always had. And though things looked bleak at the moment, they'd pull through.
He didn't know what to believe as far as how things had happened but he tended to side with Brook about it. Regardless of how, it had happened, and the intelligent thing to do was to move forward from there in what he desperately hoped was the right direction. Logic stated that with the navigator as the focal point of the whole situation, she'd guide them the way she always did, but that was assuming that the rest of the crew supported her in the way she needed them.
As soon as he was certain that the trembling under his steel covered limbs had settled, he pulled back testingly.
"The Lotus needs a re-fuel if we're gonna reach Water 7 before the end o' the month." The unspoken 'are you ok?' hung between them.
Robin chuckled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "That won't be a problem. However, if we can, we'd best stock as much cola as we can carry. We need to travel as fast as possible. No matter what the plan is, the faster we can implement it, the better." Yes. We can talk later, but we have more pressing concerns just now.
"Right." The cyborg nodded and moved off to the kitchen, pushing the door open with another loud "Ow!" designed to clear the lingering tension in the air.
That re-stocking was probably the fastest, most efficient endeavor the Strawhats had ever accomplished. No one much said anything, and several of the burly cooks that worked under Sanji made a 'bucket line', so to speak, so that the crates of foodstuffs and cola could be handed man to man from storeroom to ship as quickly as they could. The air hovering around the five pirates kept those newcomers from even looking at what they were carrying other than to check for shelf-stability and fragility. So, within the hour, the Mecha Lotus was filled to bursting, her engines fully re-charged with enough left over that if they wanted, and were judicial about rationing it, they could probably make it all the way to Reverse Mountain before needing to stock up again.
As the last crate was loaded, Sanji danced out onto the deck, tiny hearts following his pace. "Robin-chwan, Nami-swan!" He said, holding out a covered tray for the ladies to take. "Dinner, courtesy of the All-Blue. Be swift, my lovelies! Be safe."
Knowing exactly how heartfelt and serious those words were, Robin's eyes were soft, and her voice held more emotion than anyone had heard in it for years, as she nodded her head formally and bore Sanji's gift to the galley in a couple of spare hands. "Thank you, Cook-san."
Zoro watched the archaeologist herd her lover and the sea-witch onto the Lotus and stared, frowning, as the docking mechanism retracted and locked in place. Leaning on the railing, when smoke drifted by, he shifted.
His voice was low, wary. "...this will be a bad one."
"Yeah." The blond exhaled slowly, and as the little flower shaped vessel disappeared into the distance, he called, "You can come down now. Dinner's ready and I know you're starving, even if you don't want to eat, shithead."
A lazy, sandal-clad foot stretched down from the roof of the All-Blue, followed by the rest of the rubber man entirely too gently to mesh with his normally boisterous appearance. His eyes remained glued on the tiny ship getting smaller.
"Aah."