After a few more scenes of comical mix-ups, the pair was finally starting to realize how in love they were. As was tradition for most plays of this type, this crescendo of their love obviously lead to the classic Act 3 "falling out," where the two main characters must have a fight for one misunderstanding or another. The pair found themselves in a lounge, neither expecting the other one to be there, and this was the moment where Brook finally made his debut.

"BROOOOOOK," Luffy excitedly (attempted) to whisper to his friend as he waved. "Over here!" He leaned forward and eagerly shook the shoulders of the poor patron sitting directly in front of him. "I know him!" he pointed as he grinned, immediately forgetting all of the theatre etiquette Nami had just taught him.

A horrified Nami frantically pulled his arms away, emphatically apologizing to the patron in (actual) raspy whispers. "Luffy, I swear to God, I will murder you right here in this theatre." Her tone was as sharp as the glare she was giving him.

Brook, of course, saw them (they were impossible to miss, even with all the lights shining directly at him) and gave them a quick wink just as it was time for him to sing. The ballad was a clever way to bring the two protagonists back together; each lyric was tailor made for their exact situation, assuaging their doubts and emphasizing their bond as they slowly made their way from opposite sides of the stage and into each other's arms.

Everyone seemed to be enraptured in the performance; you could hear a pin drop in that theatre. When the song was over, the house exploded in thunderous applause, which, to Robin's knowledge, wasn't typical for plays; typically the applause is saved for when the lights come up at the end of an Act, but there were still a few scenes left to go in Act 3. He really knocked it out of the park, she thought.

The final scene was (what else) a wedding, with beautiful sets and costuming, and Brook made a surprise second appearance as that same lounge singer, now hired to perform for them. With all loose ends tied up, the curtain closed on a final kiss as streamers and petals fell from the rafters.

Luffy was more than happy to finally be able to be as loud as he wanted, hollering Brook's name and wolf-whistling to his heart's content.

.

.

As Leah and Brook's guests, the crew was permitted to go backstage to meet everyone, so that's where the Mugiwaras found themselves, with Luffy frantically pushing aside cast and crew to get to his friend.

"BROOK. SHIT, you did it! That was so cool! I was SO BORED until you showed up—itaaaai…"

"Don't be rude," Nami hissed, having dug her pointed heel into his foot.

"You guys are a riot," a soft, deep voice grew louder as someone approached Nami. "I can't remember the last time I've had that much fun with an audience." Thick white lashes fluttered over emerald green eyes, crinkling with a smile. "You do the same show 7 nights a week and things get so stale that sometimes you forget there's actually people out there."

Nami hurriedly adjusted her gown and hair. "Well, that's a relief to hear. I was thinking I'd have to issue a personal apology to your stage manager or something."

"Definitely not. Brook bought you guys a lot of goodwill with her, trust me." He extended a hand. "Lucas."

"Nami," she (perhaps a bit too eagerly…) happily took it.

"Pleasure."

"You're amazing," she blurted out. "I—I mean, your performance, you were really something out there! I was so—"

"I don't see what the big deal is." Luffy had come out of nowhere and wedged himself into the conversation, almost completely between the two of them. "It's just standing around talking. I could do that."

Nami's face paled. "Lucas, I am so sorry about him, he is a monumental idiot who I will deal with later," she sent a fiery glare in Luffy's direction. "He doesn't know what he's saying—"

Lucas chuckled, amused. "No, no, it's fine. If I made it look easy, that just means I've done my job. It's one of the highest compliments an actor can get, actually." He quickly winked at Nami, warmly smiling.

What a… graceful answer, Nami thought, her stomach flipping at the eye contact. She didn't even think to question how long Luffy had been listening in on their conversation, or why he decided to do so…

She did not hesitate to aggressively elbow Luffy outside of the little two-person circle she'd made with Lucas. "What I was going to say was, I was so impressed by the chemistry you had with your co-star; I couldn't look away. It was almost like you were… an actual couple… or something…" she trailed off, nervously laughing as she hoped that came across as a joke when she was actually deadly serious.

"Oh, Harper?" he heartily laughed. "Sorry, not laughing at you, it's just… if you knew us, you'd be laughing too, I promise. I've known Leah a long time; we're very different and rarely get along. She's the bratty little sister I never had. Or asked for."

"Oh, wow, hah… That's… interesting…" She started innocently twirling her hair. "You must be seeing someone else, the—" Nami could see Luffy out of the corner of her eye, tactlessly staring at the both of them, bizarrely… quiet?

She sharply turned her head towards Luffy, "Can I help you?" If she could breathe fire, she would have at that moment.

"What, I'm allowed to be here!"

"Yes, but not right here, staring and not saying anything!"

"I'm listening!"

"To what?! I thought you found all this theatre stuff 'boring.'"

He had nothing to refute that point; he'd already admitted it.

"T'ch. FINE. I'm hungry, anyway." With that, he stuck his tongue out and pulled down a lower eyelid as he walked backwards, making his way to the snack table (which was very much for the cast and crew and not for him).

Before they could continue their conversation, however, a large group of the cast and crew came by to whisk Lucas away to the bar for drinks.

"Meet me at the bar, yeah? I'll buy you a drink."

"Yeah, sure, of course!" Stop being so eager, Nami, you'll start looking pathetic, she thought.

"And no, I'm not," he called out as he was being ushered away by the group.

"You're not…?"

"Seeing anyone."

And with that, he left Nami alone to swoon.

.

.

"…so, what are you having?"

After waiting around backstage for a while doing absolutely nothing (she didn't want to come across as anymore eager than she already had), Nami had finally made her way to the bar.

"An Old Fashioned should do it."

He grinned. "I wouldn't have taken you for an Old Fashioned kinda girl, but I like it."

Nami's palms were clammy. She kept thinking there was something wrong with the way she looked and was constantly looking around to find a reflective surface to see herself in.

Nami was used to controlling (Manipulating? Maybe… yes.) men; she found it very easy to do, and (of course) monetarily rewarding. She could not remember the last time she felt… nervous around one of them, though.

"You'll have to excuse me for a second. I'll be right back." She hurriedly rose from her seat at the bar and made a b-line for the bathroom.

Get it together, Nami, she told herself in the mirror as she stood over the sink, rouge compact in hand. At least get it together long enough to get that Old Fashioned in your system… then you'll be right as rain. That's all she needed, surely. A strong Old Fashioned never let her down before.

As soon as that thought wisped across her mind, however, something hit her like a freight train.

Her Old Fashioned. Sanji never brought it to her.

The floodgates opened, a flurry of thoughts overwhelming her as she stared blankly into her reflection, completely frozen even as her compact fell right out of her hands and broke in the sink.

That fucking glass. The broken cocktail glass. Her drink. Robin on the floor. Sanji missing. Sanji late for breakfast. That note, that strange note. Robin's distant behavior. Leah Harper. Robin disappearing. Sanji disappearing. Sanji not reacting at breakfast the other day. Her fruit sandwiches. He forgot her sandwiches.

She snapped out of her stupor, slamming both fists into the counter, making a tremendous, thunderous sound as she incredulously boomed, "They're FUCKING," at her reflection, scaring the absolute living daylights out of the poor elderly woman attempting to wash her hands right next to her.

It was getting late, and the theatre was nearly empty, save for the Mugiwaras and the cast and crew. Robin noticed Nami had spent quite a bit of time at a bar with Lucas, and had already given her a discreet, supportive thumbs up from a distance. The look she'd gotten in return was… interesting? It was as if merely looking at Robin gave Nami pause, for some reason… a general air of… hesitancy. Robin had been ruminating on what exactly this could mean when she found herself listening in on yet another nearby conversation between Leah and Sanji close behind her.

"You are gonna walk me home, right?"

"Normally I would, but it's getting late and I wa—"

"Exactly! All the more reason for you to walk me home so you can protect me. You wouldn't turn down a poor, defenseless young lady, would you~?"

"I absolutely wouldn't, you got me there," she heard Sanji sigh in defeat.

Well, that's Sanji's whereabouts for the evening, she thought.

.

.

She'd decided to walk back to the hotel by herself. She'd had a lot on her mind and wouldn't have been a very good conversationalist, anyway.

That aside… unlike a certain Leah Harper, Robin didn't exactly need protection.

She'd ended up at the hotel's pool, glass of wine in hand as she sat staring out into the water, losing track of time as she bathed in the blue light.

It reminded her of the aquarium bar.

"Thought I might find you here," a familiar, confident voice approached from behind. She could feel his breath near her neck as he leaned in to kiss it, but narrowly avoided it by immediately getting up.

"I wasn't expecting to see you until morning," she said, back still turned to him.

"Oh?"

"I was certain you'd still be occupied with Leah."

"I walked her home, she didn't live far."

"Mm."

His eyes narrowed as everything started to come together. "… is that what all this has been about, you avoiding me like the plague? You think there's something going on between me and Leah?"

She whipped around to face him, positively exasperated, "What do you want me to say, Sanji? Obviously, yes, it's upsetting for me. And it's annoying to be so upset because I honestly don't have a right to be. You owe me nothing, including your fidelity. Whatever it is you decide to do isn't my business. We aren't… together."

Her heart was racing as she let out heavy breaths that rang loudly over the pause between them.

"We could be," he said finally.

"We could be what?"

"Together."

She scoffed, and incredulous smirk flashing across her face as she took a sip of her wine.

"What's that face? You don't think I wanna be with you?"

"No, I'm sure you do. And with all of the Leah Harpers of the world, as well."

"Robin—"

"I harbor no delusions about getting you to 'settle down', Sanji. You're free to do whatever you'd like, with whomever you'd like."

His eyes narrowed again, as he tried to comprehend. "Is that what you think I've been doing these past few months? Just fucking the first thing I see wherever we land?"

"I don't know, Sanji."

His eyes narrowed a third time, this time in utter shock and disbelief about what he was hearing. "The hell d'you mean 'you don't know'? That was a softball."

"I mean it's a possibility, but I never asked. So I don't know."

Sanji stood in stunned silence.

"What should I think, Sanji? You tell me. Are you actually trying to suggest I'm the antagonist here? That I'm completely off-base? Sanji, I know you. I've watched you. Please explain exactly how I am off base for making that assumption based on the facts available to me. Even today, with Leah, I saw it."

"Robin, I promise you you're wrong about this. Has that crossed your mind? That maybe you could have gotten this all wrong? That maybe you could've as—"

"Maybe this was a mistake." The words shot out of her like venom from a cobra, so quick and vile, a biological reflex of defense. There was a part of her that immediately regretted it, that wanted to take it back.

But it was too late.

The silence between them was so, so far from the comfortable silences she had grown accustomed to. The ones where they would lay with each other, bundled up, and he'd run his fingers from the nape of her neck down to the base of her spine, occasionally kissing the top of her head. The ones where she would sit in the kitchen and read while he cooked. The ones where he would play with her hair with one hand and hold her hand with another.

No, this silence was thick. Heavy. Oppressive. Assaulting. It was clawing at her. It was in her throat. She couldn't breathe.

Finally, Sanji broke it.

"Okay, Robin," it was so matter-of-fact, and slightly sarcastic. He almost sounded like Zoro. "Okay," he said, flashing a quick sarcastic smile and exhalation. It was a tone and expression that Robin had never seen or heard him use before. That, and the way he dropped her honorific, violently thrust into and out of her, a jagged knife taking pieces of her with it.

He put his hands in his pockets and walked away.

Robin collapsed back into her chair waiting until she could no longer hear his leather shoes clicking against the cement.

And she cried. She sobbed. She cried harder than she ever had before. Harder than Enies Lobby.

She tried to tell herself that this was the right thing, the only thing. It had to be done; she couldn't do it anymore. She wasn't cut out for this.

But none of it would stop the tears.