Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
The New Life of The Nico Family
The trip to Dawn Island took a collective week to reach it. It took 2 days to reach the grand line, a day to reach Reverse Mountain, a day to enter the east blue, and a good 3 days to finally reach the island itself.
During that time the friendship between Robin and Luffy was growing at a high rate with each of them indulging in the others activity; Luffy would usually sit and listen as Robin read a book for Luffy, and Robin would watch him get in eating contests with his gramps and Ace, or tend to his wounds after training with Garp is finished. At the same time, a certain freckled boy was giving Robin the wary looks at every corner seeing her friendship with Luffy as a serious sign of her plotting against them, not caring if he was jumping to conclusions.
Finally the island started to appear in view, Robin's eyes began to widen as she took a look at it.
"Wow, it's so beautiful." She exclaimed loudly.
It was a huge city sparkling like a necklace of pearls; it had huge buildings which were all lit by lights, add to that even from her current position she could see the nicely made cobble streets, and finally the very beautiful castle that was in it. She now was hell bent on reading about the history of the island.
"Mr. Garp, am I going to live there?" Robin asked excited to the possibility of living in such a beautiful place.
"What? Well, unless they accept ex-criminals and devil fruit users, then sure be my guest." Garp said with a laugh trying some humor not knowing about how Robin was a bit sensitive about her devil fruit powers. In fact, he didn't even know she had a devil fruit power to begin with; he just added that part in for humor's sake.
As Robin's eyes began to tear from what she perceived as an insult; her mother came out and seeing her daughter on the verge of crying rushed to her.
"What's wrong, sweetheart. Why are you crying?" Olivia asked frantically as if Robin just lost a limb.
At first Robin refused to answer only quietly sobbing in her mother's chest, then after some poking she finally told her,
"Mr. Garp made fun of my devil fruit powers." She sniffed.
Olivia threw a shell-shocked Garp a terrible glare that demanded to know why he made fun of her.
"Wait timeout. You have a devil fruit power?" Garp asked blinking earning a nod from the little girl.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you had some. And most certainly wasn't making fun of you." He added; sure he made punch his grandsons to a bloody pulp, but he wouldn't make fun of children especially abused ones.
Feeling better that she wasn't being made fun off, Robin now focused on a new issue, "You really didn't know about my powers?" she inquired from her mother's embrace.
"No I didn't" causing his men to faceplant on the deck, as they then jumped up screaming, "Seriously, how clueless can you be? She was using them all week long."
Garp replied by laughing, and then looking at the girl and her mother, "What I meant is that you won't be living there."
"Why"
"Because that's where the nobles live." He said as he punched Ace who was beside him after he exited the haul not a moment ago to prevent him from cursing in front of Robin. "And they aren't too friendly towards outsiders." Garp added
"Then why did we come here?" Olivia asked this time.
"Well, I have something to deliver." He said as the ship came to a halt on the edge of the forest.
He then looked at Ace how was still dazed from the punch he just received.
He informed the boy, "Ace, this is your stop. Jump in the water and start swimming."
"What? Why I have to swim while Luffy gets to walk through the village." The boy hotly inquired angry from such treatment.
"Because the entire village knows Luffy and seeing you would raise some questions that I don't want to answer." Garp answered him
Then he added, "In addition, I'm hungry, and by the time I reach Dadan's house I want to find dinner so get going."
Ace looked at him and glared saying, "Not happening old geezer."
As Garp's temper managed to get the best of him again, he held Ace and kicked him so hard he sent him flying, till he hit the edge of the forest, as Garp yelled "Get going, I'm hungry."
As Ace disappeared into the forest grumbling leaving behind a beyond confused Robin and Olivia, Garp stated, "Let's go to Foosha village."
Currently, both Luffy and Robin were now leaning against the railings of the ship. Both looked at the village; Luffy excited to see his home after his little adventure, and Robin wanting to get a good look at her new home.
The village was decorated from top to bottom with lush green hills and flowers that extended everywhere, add to that the entire village had on each side white-picket fence. The most significant feature was the windmills which moved slowly with the wind as it blew.
Robin looked at Luffy excitement written all over her face only to see that Luffy had a depressed look on his face. She saw him staring at the water below the ship. She then remembered from the first time they met that this place were Luffy's idol, Shanks, lost his arm. She frowned concerned for the boy who clearly felt guilty for what happened back then.
As soon as they reached the docks, Luffy's face lifted up and returned to his old jolly demeanor. He began to jump around excited about seeing his home.
When the marines finished docking, Luffy ran down the stairs; he then looked back and shouted, "Come on Robin, let's go so I can introduce you to everyone."
Robin felt hesitant, but she put that all away wanting to start a new life here, so she ran after him.
As this was happening Olivia was talking with Garp, "So Garp, where Robin and I are going to live?"
"Well, you can have the house that Luffy used to live in before I sent him to live in the woods with Ace." He answered.
"Seriously Garp, why did they every appoint you to take care of the boys?" Olivia asked fully confused about who in his right mind gave Garp the boys to take care of.
"Don't ask me. I'm just as shocked as you are." He replied apparently confused just as her. This answer she actually expected.
"Ok, moving on. So where is the house exactly so I can take my... I mean Robin's… I mean go and see it." The woman corrected herself multiple times. She and Robin had no luggage with them. The former's were at the bottom of the sea, and the latter's the former burned them because they were simply dreadful to look at. She truly did feel proud about beating her horrible ex-in law up.
"You can find it at the bottom of the mountain, right beside the path that lead up to it." Garp explained then he carried on, "For now, I will see to it that some furniture and food are delivered to your new home, so you can get settled. But word of advice, you really need to find a job. Oh yeah, I'll also talk with the mayor and explain the situation; he might be offended at first you're a criminal, but he'll warm up to you eventually."
"You know Garp what you did to me was so amazing. Thank you for such a chance you gave so I can take care of my daughter. Is there any way that I can return the favor?" the woman asked genuinely.
"No problem, and if you truly want to return the favor, keep your nose out of the spider webs." She fully understood what he meant. It was still a tough hit to stomach all at once, but it was worth for her daughter… her daughter… What a minute where is her daughter her mind asked her.
"Robin" she shouted in a panic. She couldn't believe she just got here and lost her daughter.
"Don't worry, Luffy must have taken her to meet Makino" Garp tried to ease her worries.
The woman looked at him not convinced but relaxed a little knowing that her daughter didn't get lost. Then she noticed the color disappear from Garp's face.
"Oh no, Makino is seriously going to chew me out for this idea of mine." He said thinking about the lecture he was going to receive from the woman.
"Well, it did work nicely for me at least." Olivia tried to offer a positive outlook.
"Yeah, yeah, lucky you" Garp grumbled, "You're not the one about to be scolded by someone half your size."
As the adults were talking, Luffy and Robin ran around the village. Robin was shocked to say the least.
The moment they left the ship, people started crowding Luffy and asking him if he was alright.
"Why did you run away, Luffy?" one man asked.
"Yeah, you really worried us buddy." Another stated.
"Did you get hurt during your little adventure?"
"I bet the beat down you took from Garp when he found you was something special, wasn't it?"
"It's alright guys. I'm back now." Luffy said with a huge smile on his face.
Robin always thought that Luffy was like her an outcast in his village, but everyone here seem to like him, but then a question popped in her head. Will they accept her?
As they continuing running on the dirt road, a loud shout grabbed their attention. It came from an old looking man who wore glasses. He also wore a stripped hat, a yellow shirt, and white shorts.
"Luffy, are you mad? How dare you run away with that damn brother of yours? You could've died out there…" The man continued on chastising Luffy for his reckless behavior.
"Well, I really thought gramps was taking me to prison and I want to be a pirate. I can't be a pirate if I'm in jail." Luffy explained.
"What? You still talking about that pirate nonsense. This little scat of yours should've knocked it out of you." The man exclaimed clearly shocked that the boy still wanted to be a pirate.
"No way mayor I'm still going to be king of pirates." Luffy said shocking Robin that he was talking to the mayor in such a manner.
As Luffy ran away, Robin bowed her head and said, "It's nice meeting you Mr. Mayor."
As the girl followed Luffy, the mayor sat down in his rocking chair he had with him, and asked no one in particular, "Who is that girl?"
"So where are we going now Luffy?" Robin inquired.
"To Makino, I'm hungry and want to eat." He said shocking the girl since he alone cleaned the entire fridge of the ship. She wanted to argue but knew that Luffy's stomach was like a black hole; biggest proof the food tent from back on Ohara that was always cleared whenever Luffy visited it.
Finally they reached a building that had a sign saying "Party's Bar" on it. When they entered the establishment, Robin observed her new surroundings. It was a small restaurant like place with a couple of tables with chairs around each one. A bar was also there holding a couple of stools to sit on, add to that there were potted plants on the shelves beside the drinks.
Then Luffy began to shout, "Makino, I'm back."
Suddenly, a loud noise coming from upstairs, like someone running in hurry, attracted their attention. Then a green-haired woman wearing a red scarf with red polka dots, an orange top with long black sleeves with yellow stripes on the chest, in addition she also wore a blue skirt came from behind the curtain in a hurry.
She looked around until she found Luffy, she then rushed toward him and hugged him crying all the time, "Luffy, you made so worried. How could you and Ace do such a thing? I was so afraid that you both died." Makino cried to the little boy.
"Well, we really thought grandpa was going to take us to prison." He said. Makino now was angry. She told Garp his idea was beyond stupid, but he wouldn't listen; she was sure going to give him an earful when he dropped by.
She then noticed someone else with Luffy, a young girl with dark hair who blushed when she was noticed by the older woman.
"And who you might be?" Makino asked in a sweet tone.
Robin still embarrassed; she wasn't used for people to talk to her, answered stuttering, "I'm R-Ro-obin." She finally said as she hid her face behind her hair.
Makino giggled at how adorable this girl was, "Well, aren't you the cutest little girl ever?" she said making the girl blush harder, "There is no need to be embarrassed."
Robin then made it closer to her as Luffy declared, "I washed up on her island, when a storm happened and separated from Ace."
Makino took a surprised look, and said smiling, "So she's your girlfriend Luffy." This statement made both children blush.
"No, she isn't my girlfriend." Luffy screamed.
Robin's face was already hot red so she hid her face between her knees. Makino seeing this apologized and offered the girl a meal.
Robin agreed and went taking a stool near the bar, when Luffy shouted "Make me some too."
As Makino was working, Robin asked her one question, "Why are you nice to me?"
Looking at the girl confused, she asked "Excuse me."
"I mean why you are treating me nice when I'm like him." She said as she flicked her arm causing a row of hands to appear on the counter.
"Oh my dear…" Makino started, Robin now was halfway down the stool waiting for the inevitable 'Get out of here'. She was shocked when Makino said, "so you have a devil fruit like Luffy."
Robin looked shocked and asked, "So you know."
"Know? Darling, I was there when he ate it. He has a bad habit of thinking with his stomach." Makino informed her shocking her even further.
"But I didn't know back then it was cursed." Luffy defended himself.
"Still you should've asked before you ate it." Makino scolded him. She then turned to Robin and asked, "So how did you ate your fruit?"
"Well…" Robin hated remembering her horrible aunt, but she told her anyways, "My aunt that day didn't give me any food to eat, so when I went to the tree of knowledge, I saw a weird looking fruit. I was so hungry that I eat whole thing even if it tasted like dirt." She said sticking out her tongue remembering how horrible it tasted.
"Oh dear, why would she do such a thing?" Makino asked concerned for the little girl.
"She said that I'm a free loader, and I should work to earn my food." Robin said in a sad voice.
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. Here you can eat as much as you want, and you don't need to work for it." Makino said with a smile.
Robin looked at her and wondered; could be there more people like her? She treated Luffy like her little brother, and sometimes a son. She accepted her from the get go not caring that she had a devil fruit. All this kindness caused a tear to slide down Robin's eye. When Makino saw this, she hugged the little girl knowing that she must have had a rough upbringing.
After a while when Makino was handing the food to the children, the doors of the bar opened. Everyone then saw Olivia come in, "Robin, I was so worried for you. Don't run away like that."
"Sorry, mommy…" Robin said in low voice being introduced to being reprimanded by her mom. She then felt her mother hug her and say, "It's alright. Just tell me next time."
The girl nodded her head, and then dove in the food Makino made, Olivia then introduced herself, "I'm Olivia, I'm Robin's mom. I presume your either Dadan or Makino?"
"I'm Makino. You can call me Luffy's surrogate sister of sorts." Makino introduced herself.
"So where do you come from?" Makino asked the other woman.
"The west blue"
"Oh, it must been a long trip here. Want something to eat?" Makino offered politely.
"No, thanks" Olivia declined.
"So where did you live before you left?" Makino asked as she cleaned some glass.
"Ohara Island where the tree of knowledge resides." This time Robin replied excited.
"You seem to like this place, don't you Robin?" Makino inquired.
"Yeah, I really do. It's actually the only place I kinda miss. The islanders weren't so nice to me." She said.
"Oh, don't worry about that here. Everyone will like you especially since you're so cute." She complimented the girl making her blush.
Suddenly, a loud sound was heard courtesy of Garp entering. "Makino long time no seen." He tried to start causally playing dumb hoping she won't scold him.
"Garp…" Makino began, "I told you that idea of yours was crazy." She marched toward him as he began stepping backwards.
"Wait, I didn't know that'd run away. I was honestly doing this for their greater good." Garp tried defending himself.
"By threatening them with jail. Did you go insane? The kids could've died out there." She continuing on leaving the 3 behind blinking as Garp was practically being scolded by someone half his size.
Finally, she stopped in front him causing him to fall over, "Did you learn your lesson?"
"Yes, no crazy ideas"
"Good, now you'll pay for the children's meals. By the way where's Ace?"
"I kicked him into the forest to hunt for food." Garp said while picking his nose.
Makino slapped her forehead. Truly, there was no way with this guy.
She then helped him up, and went to make a couple of drinks for the grownups in the room. She called out for Garp as she prepared them, "You're also pay for the drinks; a true hero would pay for the lady's drink." She said while Olivia laughed at Garp while the latter grumbled.
The green-haired lady then gazed her attention to the little girl, "So Robin since you like libraries, I bet you're going to be a teacher someday? Huh?" She asked as she handed out the drinks.
"Actually, I'm going to become an archeologist just like mommy, and find the void century."
Garp's eyes widen, while Olivia breath got heavier as she was once again transported to that horrific image of her daughter being executed. She was so lost in her mind; she didn't notice the drink in her hand slip and fall. The sound of breaking glass brought her out of her trance.
Looking around, she noticed the worried looks she was receiving. "Mommy, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I am." the ex-scholar said with a forced smile.
Garp, noticing the discussion that was about to begin, told Luffy to take Robin to meet Dadan.
"Alright, grandpa. Come on Robin let's go see Dadan and check if Ace found anything." He said as he took the girl's hand.
She looked at her mom one last look, before she went outside.
As soon as the kids exited, Olivia let her smile fell into a frown. And Garp grimly stated, "What happened on Ohara is more complicated then what the kids might told, Makino."
The barmaid just sat down readying herself for whatever the 2 had to say.
When the children exited the bar, Robin said to Luffy, "I worried about my mom."
"What do you mean?" The boy asked her.
"I mean she seemed really nervous back there when I mentioned the void century?" Robin explained.
Luffy moved forward, and told his friend, "Maybe she's just tired from the trip, or just hungry."
Robin looked unconvinced, but she tried to assume the best. She then began to follow Luffy, but stopped when she heard what seemed to be like a whistle.
She looked around for a while, and then saw the source it was a bunch of kids waving over to her from behind a wall.
She went over to them, and asked "Were you just whistling for me?"
One kid replied, "Yeah sorry about that, but we didn't want the freak to hear us."
Robin tilted her head, and said in confusion though she already had an idea about what they were talking about, "What freak?"
"The one that you were with just a moment ago. Seriously, you should leave him and play with us instead." The boy offered.
Now Robin knew what they're talking about. They're talking about Luffy, "but Luffy's really nice. Why would you call him that?" she said defending her friend.
"Nice? What? He's a monster. He broke my arm when he was 4 years old by just grabbing it; only a monster can do such a thing." The boy retorted.
It was then that Luffy came searching for Robin, "Oi Robin, I found you…" he said before noticing the extra people, "Hi guys, so you met Robin. She's really nice. So want to be my friends now?" he asked with hope in his eyes.
"No way. Go away you freak." The boy said as he picked a pebble and threw it Luffy's head causing the boy to rail back in pain.
"But I just wanted…" he was met by another pebble to the head.
"Ok, I'll leave." He said in very defeated tone, going away his hands on the ground stretching a little as he moved further dragging them.
"See, we told he was a freak. What kind of kid can stretch his arms?"
This whole time Robin was simply watching, and her heart went out for Luffy. She understood now why he didn't care what bullies said about her back on Ohara. He went through the same thing. What really broke her heart was the disheartened look Luffy carried when he went away.
Looking at the kids, she said "I'm sorry, but a freak like me can't be your friend."
"What do you mean?" the boy asked as he felt something tapping on his head. He then heard the screams of the other kids looking at him in fear.
As he turned his head, he saw a disembodied arm on his shoulder. He looked at the girl who waved her arm; the one on his shoulder doing the same only for it to disappear. At that moment, all kids ran away screaming that the freak had a contiguous disease.
Robin then went to where Luffy was sitting apparently waiting for her.
"Luffy, I'm back. Let's go."
He looked at her and said, "Where are the others?"
She looked at him and smiled, "I decided that they weren't worth my friendship."
"But why?" all Luffy ever wanted was to be their friend. Robin was just invited and she refused.
"Because if they don't like you for whom you are, then they aren't worth it." She said as she hugged the boy.
Luffy felt really weird at that moment. His chest felt very warm all of a sudden.
Brushing the feeling off, he said, "Oh yeah, so let's go see Dadan."
Now the children were racing to the top of Mount Coloub, well for Luffy it was racing. Robin was seriously lamenting on the time she wasted sitting around on Ohara not exercising enough; she could hardly keep her breath steady.
"Luffy, so you really live up in the forest?" Robin asked shocked, originally she thought he was kidding.
"Yeah, gramps threw me here, and said that if I want to live another day I won't show my face down at the village." He explained. Then he added "… too much for that matter."
Robin cringed in fear. Honestly, the more she heard about Luffy's abuse the more she grew sick of it. It was dreadful.
Suddenly Luffy came to a halt and began looking around for something, when his eyes saw his target; he went rushing off towards it.
Robin increased her pace to keep up with Luffy; she went through a bush half expecting to see something awesome. What she was met with didn't he stood up to her expectations.
There in the middle of the clearing stood what looked like a shack; run down shack to be more accurate. She looked around and noticed like type of creepy people walking around it.
She was going to back away, when Luffy screamed, "Hi guys, I'm back."
Suddenly all the men looked toward Luffy direction making Robin terribly worried. Her mind went away not able to understand what happened next.
All the creepy looking figures ran toward the little boy hugging him of all things.
They all said in union, "Thank god you're ok."
"We thought you ran away." A man with chicken like hair said.
"We did. I and Ace ran away from here, but gramps brought us back." Luffy informed making some of them go pale.
"Well, it's great that you're back anyway." This time a man with a turban spoke.
"What's with ruckus out there." A deep voice grumbled from inside the shack.
"Boss, Luffy's back." The turban wearing man spoke.
In a flash Dadan came out of the shack, she looked relieved and said, "What the hell were you brats thinking going into the world like that? Didn't that lecture I gave Ace taught you anything?" the lady grumbled. Robin simply didn't like her. She reminded her too much of her horrible aunt.
Luffy simply said at first, "Dadan, I still hate mountain bandits."
She roared back, "WHO THE HECK CARES?"
But then he added, "But I missed you."
This caused the bandit to pull out a tissue and cry into it saying, "Yeah, whatever you say. I don't care."
This tipped off Robin that she did care. But the girl was now even more confused, this lady looked like her aunt, but she seemed to really care about the boys if anything from her reactions.
"It's really nice that you care about the boys, boss." The chicken headed man said.
"Shut the hell up, I don't." she roared then added, "If they go away, who'll go out there and hunt for us?" this remark made all the good thoughts Robin had about her fall away. She was just using the boys just like her aunt Roji used her.
Then Dadan noticed the little girl, and her face gained a new shade of white. She looked at Luffy frantically and said, "Luffy, who's that?" she was terribly afraid of Garp adopting another mini-monster. Ace and Luffy were enough.
"Oh, you mean her." Luffy said pointing Robin.
"Yeah, I mean her." She said lifting him in the air.
"That's Robin. Grandpa brought her with her mom, so they can live here on Dawn Island." The boy explained as the bandit lady let him down hitting the ground with a thud.
"Good. Now where's Ace?"
"Gramps kicked him into the forest to hunt food."
"Well, at least he will come with something back."
"Come on, Robin let's see if Ace managed to find something to eat." Luffy said thinking about tiger soup or better yet crocodile soup.
Robin merely nodded her head, though she was shocked Luffy was still hungry. She came to the conclusion that there is no satisfying his stomach. Maybe it had something to do with his devil fruit she thought.
Luffy then grabbed her hand making her blush, then he ran with her into the thick forest. But as she went in, she shared a look with Dadan.
The turban headed man came and said, "I think you gave her a wrong impression boss. She doesn't seem to like you."
She yelled at him, "Like hell I care! I'm a bandit not a daycare supervisor. People are supposed to hate me." She said though she was a bit hurt at the notion.
As both children were now running deep inside the forest, Robin asked, "Luffy, do you live with her."
"What? No, we used too, but we moved out. We know live in the jungle." He told her. "Also, Dadan is really nice. She saved me and Ace from Bluejam during the Gray terminal fire. If anything, she more afraid of Ace and I hurting her than the other way around." Robin doubted this statement not knowing how real it as.
Then she made a double on Luffy's statement, "Wait, she saved you and Ace." Maybe she misjudged the lady.
"Yeah"
"Also who's Bluejam, and what's the grey terminal fire?" Robin asked.
"Ah, I'll tell you later, ok." Luffy said with a sad voice. Robin decided not to push the matter further hearing the sadness in his voice.
"Wait. If you don't live with her, and you aren't allowed back to the village, where do you exactly live in the jungle?" Robin asked.
"Here" Luffy said as he pulled a bunch of branches away from their sight.
Robin was then met by a high tree, not big as the tree of knowledge but big nonetheless, that carried what seemed to be a crudely made tree house.
"You live here." She said in amazement.
"Yep, my brothers and I built way back when we decided to be self-defiadt."
"Dependent, Luffy" she corrected for him.
"Yeah that too" he said earning a sigh from her.
Her mind that came back to the matter at hand, and she inquired, "You really built it?" she said in awe.
"Yes, we spent days working on it."
"Nice from you Luffy to drop by. What happened for this being our secret base?" A voice from the branches complained.
"Ace" Luffy said happily, "Did you find something to eat?"
"Do you ever think about anything but food?" Ace said as he landed in front of them.
"And yeah, I found something." He said as he slammed the tree causing a large boar to drop by Luffy elating a huge smile from the boy.
"Come on; let's take it to Dadan to cook it." Luffy said excitedly.
"Alright" Ace said, before shoving his foot in Luffy's face saying, "And stop drooling all over it."
Meanwhile Robin stood there amazed by the sheer size of the boar. How did he manage to hunt it, she didn't know. The only thing he had was a metal pipe, but could such a small thing take down such a huge thing?
"Excuse me, but how did you get it?" Robin asked as curiosity finally got the better of her.
Ace at first glared shortly at her, before quickly looked normally back at her. He checked if she sensed anything, but she didn't. Good, he didn't want his gramps to know he was on to him.
He then said, "Yes, I did. I hunted it with this pipe."
This caused the girl's eyes to widen making Ace say, "Why so shocked? We hunted bigger things than this, using pipes only." The girl just nodded her still not comprehending how that'd manage to do it.
Ace then lifted the boar, and ushered for both kids to follow him back to Dadan's hut.
Back at the bar, Makino was clutching the stand to stay up after hearing this horrible story.
"Poor Luffy… poor Robin… to go through that alone" Makino said with tears in her eyes.
"I know it's a miracle they actually forgot what happened. Most children would be scared for life." Garp said as he gulped down his drink trying to ease his nerves after remembering the events that happened.
Makino looked at Olivia. In eyes, she was one of greatest victim aside from the children.
She grabbed the scholar's hands and told her, "Olivia, you're a great woman and a great mother too. I know that you'll love Dawn Island with Robin."
Olivia smiled at the barmaid before she noticed that her daughter has gone too long and began panicking, "Where's Robin. It's already going dark outside."
"Don't worry. I know where she might be," Garp said before adding, "My grandkids are the greatest monsters in the forest, so she's in safe hands."
He then ushered for her to follow him.
Back in the mountains, the children finally reached the bandit's hut.
"Oi Dadan, I'm back." Ace called out for the mountain lady.
"Finally, I'm starving. I'm about to go skin and bones." She grumbled.
"Yeah, I doubt that." Ace retorted before throwing the boar in her face.
The bandit fell over as the children laughed; one of her men then came and took the boar to prepare it to be cooked.
"Go in you brats." All 3 children then walked, but Robin looked at Dadan for a moment.
"Looking for something" Dadan spoke.
"No, I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to join you for dinner." Robin said flashing her, a smile. The lady may have acted tough, but under that exterior of hers there was a nice person. Truly, you should never judge a book by its cover Robin concluded.
Dadan blinked. This girl just thanked her. The only thought in her head was how such a sweet young girl got tangled with hurricane brothers she came to know.
"Yeah, don't thank me. I only did because Luffy would have nagged to death, if I didn't allow you in." the bandit spoke making Robin giggle a little at the tough act she was putting on.
Before Robin can go in, Dadan grabbed her hand and said, "Listen, this a bandit's hut. For you to eat, you have to fight for your food. That's how we do things here. Thought, I give you a warning in advance." The mountain lady told her.
Robin smiled and thanked her again really catching her off guard. Dadan asked herself why all the children Garp brought here couldn't be as nice as this cute little girl.
Dadan then stood up and followed the little girl, readying herself for when the food was finished to get her hands on how much garb she can.
Currently in Dadan's hut, Robin was met by the sight of her very first bandit dinner. It was perplexing to the least if you asked her.
As soon as the boar was cooked, an all-out war erupted in the hut over who gets what.
She and Dadan sat in a corner as the bandits and the boys wrestled for food; more accurately the bandits trying to outmaneuver Ace and Luffy trying to grab as much food as they can.
Robin looked at Dadan who was eating a bowl of rice with a cup of water peacefully. "Is it like this usually?"
"Actually, it was peaceful when the hurricane boys went away for a while." Dadan answered elating a giggle from the girl.
Then she returned to simply watching the boys devour everything in their path.
Luffy looked at her and said, "Come on Robin, you have to try to take something before the food is gone."
"No, thanks Luffy" the girl began, "I'm not really that hungry…" she said. Only to be proven false moments later, as her stomach let out a small growl making blush in embarrassment.
Luffy then came over and said to her, "Why don't you use your powers?" he suggested to her.
"No way!" the girl replied.
"Why, not?" the boy asked.
"It's just… I'm afraid that they won't accept me." The girl admitted to him.
"Don't worry. I use my powers all the time; they won't mind." Luffy tried to ease her worries, as he stretched his arm backwards grabbing a chunk of meat.
Robin looked at him then at the bandits. She remembered all the times she used her powers and how people ran for their lives. She then lamented on how Makino wasn't afraid of her or her powers. So why wouldn't those bandits accept her?
Taking a deep breath, she crossed her arms over her chest grabbing Dadan's and Ace's attention.
All eyes were now glued on the little girl. Suddenly from the ground, arms began to sprout in a row leading to the pieces of meat. The hand nearest to the pieces took one and began sending it to the next till it finally reached the dark-haired girl who simply said, "I ate the hana-hana fruit; it allows me to sprout my body parts on surface I see."
Ace, though still wary of Robin decided to not let the opportunity of teasing his little brother slip, said, "Well, I got to say multiple arms is better than rubber ones." Laughing at the end.
"NO! My powers are awesome. One day you'll see it!" Luffy declared, defending his powers.
Looking back at his brother, "Yeah, keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night." Ace said as he bit on a piece of meat. Then realization hit him like a ton of bricks so he said, "So that's how you were able to take my candy back on the ship?" The girl nodded her head in confirmation.
Robin looked around she was glad that her powers weren't made fun of, until she heard the following.
"No fair!"
"Now, we can't have a full meal."
"First Luffy and this girl"
"Having a devil fruit is cheating"
The bandits all started to complain making Robin feel horrible. She knew she shouldn't have used her powers. That's when Dadan came into the picture saying, "Shut up! The girl played fair, at least on our rules. She had a winning card up her sleeve and she used." She stopped then continued, "And also, are you going to convince me that you clowns weren't going to use your powers if you had some."
This caused the bandits to lower their head in shame and mutter apologizes to the little girl who was stunned not being used to people apologizing to her. Dadan on the other hand, used the distracted state of her men grabbing a whole bunch of meat, and biting into them.
As dinner went, a new presence made itself known in the hut. Olivia barged in looking for her daughter causing the bandits to swoon at the sight of the white-haired lady.
Finally seeing her daughter, she asked her, "Robin, are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
"No, momma" the girl answered at first, before carrying on, "They've been really nice."
Then Makino entered, causing the bandits to begin swooning again, saying, "I see that dinner is at full swing."
Finally, Garp entered the room saying, "Dadan, Magra, and Dogra" he shouted making the 3 mentioned stand in front of him like his men. He then took turn punching each of them.
"Why did you punch us?" The orange-headed lady complained.
"Because you allowed the boys to run away." He asked her.
Knowing arguing isn't going to lead somewhere, she nodded her head. Then Garp looked at Robin who had a happy expression on her face as her mother sat down beside her.
"I take you took care of this young girl…" He said before his voice took a darker tone, "…because she and her mother are under my protection. Any kind of damage that happen to her will be returned to the source ten times over." He finished making the bandits shake in fear.
"Of course, I wouldn't allow a fly to hurt her." Dadan answered quickly.
"Good, I'm hungry." He said as he took a piece of meat.
Olivia looked at her daughter's happy face and smiled. Robin then sprouted a couple of arms taking another piece of meat and handing it over to her mother who in turn felt truly happy that her daughter wasn't ashamed of her powers anymore.
"Momma, look. I can use my powers and people aren't afraid of me." The girl said happily.
"Great, sweetheart"
"What do you mean?" Makino asked.
"Well on my home island, people weren't too fond of my powers; they'd always stare at me, and talk about me when I walk pass them…" the girl started talking gaining everyone's attention.
"…some would call me even a monster. The kids would always pick on me, and I was always alone. My life at home was really horrible. My aunt would beat me up and call me names, and force to work so I can eat." Robin finished and saw crying faces all around her.
Her mother was truly heartbroken hearing first hand at how the islanders were not but horrible to her daughter. Makino was in tears hearing the girl's entire story; at the beginning she thought Robin only came from an abused household but this was too much for a child her age to handle. Garp sighed seeing the similarities between Ace and Robin; both having a rough upbringings. He then took a look at said grandson and saw a weird look in his eyes; the one that often come with stupid ideas like his impel down idea.
Ace on the other hand didn't believe a word she said. In his mind, if his grandpa was going to make a story to gain his sympathy or at least trick him, he should try something else than 'I was abused' tale. It was a cliché any idiot can see through it.
Luffy then stood and held Robin's hand and declared, "Well now, you're with us and we don't care if you powers or not. Right Ace?"
Said brother replied quickly "Yeah" not knowing what he answered.
"For Robin" Luffy cheered making the girl smile, he was then followed by everyone else.
Using the happiness as his cover, Garp grabbed Ace and took him outside to talk. He needed to know what crazy idea was running in his grandson's head.
Deep inside the forest, Garp now stood with Ace, "Spill it, Ace."
"What do you mean gramps?" Ace tried playing dumb only receiving a punch to the head.
"I saw how you were looking at Robin back there. So start talking." Garp stated.
"I know your plan old man." Ace said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"My plan?" Garp parroted back.
"Yes, that one where you're going to use that girl to make me and Luffy into marines. Well, it's not happening. I'm on to you." Ace explained
Garp stood there for a moment; he then exploded into a fit of laughter. His grandson thought that he brought this family all the way from the west blue just to make him and Luffy into marines. He was truly delusional. He promptly punched Ace gain screaming, "don't say things like that again."
"I don't need a little girl to make you into marines because you're going to be ones whether you like it or not." Garp said at first.
"Also, this girl has been through enough; she doesn't need your own failures and self-identity issues to make her life worse." He finished.
"What do you mean?" Ace said in an angry voice.
"I mean don't let your heritage, and own failures blind your judgment Ace." He spoke calmly hoping to get his point through, "I know what happened with Luffy and Sabo shook you up real good accompanied by the life you had, but don't take it out on that girl. Don't let your own problems lead you to hurting others." Garp advised his grandson in a rare moment of wisdom.
Ace nodded his head showing his gramps that he fully understood what he was saying as they headed back to the hut. That was on the outside; on the inside Ace was more convinced than ever with this so-called "scheme" of his grandpa. He just needed Luffy to wake up before it was too late for him. He'll work on that later he said to himself.
Meanwhile at the hut, Olivia walked outside from the partying to take a breath of fresh air.
Someone followed her and said, "Enjoying the stay so far?" Makino asked.
"Yes, this is so wonderful. I hope life continue like this." She said before tears filled her eyes up, "I mean all those good things happening in a row can't be attributed to only luck." She said as wiped her tears away.
"I'm glad you like it," she said at first, then she asked the woman, "But if you don't mind me asking; why did you get nervous when Robin said she wanted to be an archeologist?"
Olivia took a deep breath, "Because archeology took so much from me, to know my daughter is going down this path frightens me. For the last days, I've been having horrible images of her…" the ex-scholar couldn't even continue, such a thought too much for her to handle.
Makino hugged the woman and said, "Don't worry, maybe she'll grow and forget about them." The white-haired woman could only hope that.
They then heard a rustle in the bushes, for it to be revealed it was only Ace and Garp.
"What were you doing out here?" Makino asked.
"I was just talking with Ace about how proud I'm of him because he's going to be a marine." Garp lied.
"As if" Ace said receiving a hard punch to the head.
"You're going to be one whether you like or not." Garp whispered quietly making Ace shake in fear.
"Garp" Makino said in a scolding tone.
"Fine" he answered at first, "Let's go inside and continue the party." He added.
As they went inside, the party carried on for the rest of the night celebrating Dawn Island's latest inhabitants Nico Olivia, and Nico Robin.
Author's notes:
Hi guys welcome back, in this chapter we saw the Nico family interact with their new surroundings, and meet new faces. Also we saw Garp try to reason with Ace trying to remove any idea that he was using the family as a way to make him and Luffy into marines. In the next chapter, this whole situation will reach a boiling point, and Ace will harvest the consequences of his skepticism; also Olivia will finally learn by what Garp meant by he's hiding worse secrets than her.
As always please take care of yourselves, leave a comment telling us what is your opinion on the current chapter, and tell me what arc you're most excited for.
Finally, I hope you all like my work and see you next week with a brand new chapter.