Zorobin: The Little Things

After Alabasta

Everyone on the Going Merry was in a royal funk after they left the sandy shores of Alabasta, with the hope of a new crew member dying in their hearts. Well, almost everyone. "If you wanted her to join us so bad Luffy, you should have taken her by force!" Zoro stated, matter of factly.

"Zoro!" "What the hell is wrong with you, mosshead?" "Three Sword Style!" Ussop looks at Luffy with confusion. "Luffy, Three Sword style isn't an insult..." "Four sword style!"

Everyone sweatdrops, and a quiet voice asks "Are the Marines still following us?" By instinct, the swordsman said "Nope, we can relax now." He suddenly swiveled around, hand on his swords. "You!"

There she stood, dressed in a lavender blouse, and purple velvet pants. Her eyes were as blue as the sea around them, and they were perfectly framed by her raven bangs. Zoro didn't want to admit it, but he felt something, then and there, as he stared at the woman. She seemed to not realize that his blazing gaze was directed at her, as she was distracted by the cold steel in his hands, and the other crewmates getting into attack mode. Nami whipped out her Clima Tact, Luffy rolled up his sleeve, and Ussop and Chopper hid behind the mast. Zoro managed to pull his eyes away from her for a second, looked around, and saw... "That idiot" he thought, as he redirected his stare from the beautiful woman to someone far less attractive.

Sanji had huge hearts in his eyes, as he looked Robin up and down, saying "Who is this wonderful woman that has graced our lowly ship with her presence?" Robin looked at him and said, "My name is Nico Robin." She looked towards Luffy, and said "I'm here to regain my debt." Zoro could see the wheels turning in Luffy's head. Steam came out of his ears and he said "I don't owe you anything." Robin continued "You saved me, let me join your nakama." Sanji was immediately sold, shouting "MELLORINE", as he ran into the kitchen to fetch cold drinks for the women on deck. After hearing her reasoning, Luffy said "hmmm, so I saved your life, so you want to join us... Ok!" Zoro couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Nami shouted at him "She just tried to kill you!" "Don't worry, she's a good person." Ussop pulled Robin to a nearby table, and started asking her questions. Zoro could tell that she wasn't really paying attention, and was more focused on messing around with Luffy and Chopper. "She's going after the weak minded ones first" he thought, cursing himself for not stopping her. How could he stop her? "Chopper's giggles sounded so joyous" Zoro never wanted to take away his innocent laugh.

He ended up grumbling and watching the scene in front of him unfold. Nami was lured in by the scent of money, and Ussop fell into the same trap that Luffy and Chopper had. He was now a lone fighter against taking Robin into the crew. He made his way to the back of the ship, and sat down to nap. Once it became dark, and Luffy and the others had tired out, she made her way to near where he was. She stood there for a couple seconds, watching him, and said "Why won't you accept me, Mr. Swordsman?" to which he replied, "I don't trust you. Besides, you have Luffy and the others, why do you need me?"

She blushed and said "I guess you are right, Mr. Swordsman." before walking off. Zoro sighed, and anticipated the sleepless weeks ahead of him, where he couldn't relax, and would constantly feel like he was in danger.