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Tale as old as honey, a moment everybody knows
The tale of Ohara was a tragic one- the story of a country that stood strong for thousands of years, erased from memory not by time, but by force. The World Government that lorded their incomparable powers over the sea and all its’ inhabitants was an incompetent one, but they were certainly thorough in covering their tracks. Ohara was not the first victim of a crime perpetrated in the name of justice, and it would most assuredly not be the last. Despite what was published in the papers and printed in the history books, at least one soul remained to tell their story, to one day set the record straight. Pushed onwards by a will that was not only her own to keep living.
I’m sure that there was heartbreak inside the walls of Jericho
Nico Robin sat on her favorite tree stump, wood long worn down and smoothed from overuse as the young girl turned the page and gasped, surprised at the sudden twist in the novel she was devouring. The heroine she loved so much, saw so much of herself in, was betrayed in the end by the one she loved the most. Robin’s eyes, wide and blue as the ocean surrounding her homeland, shimmered with emotions too complex for an 8 year old to understand while her tanned skin greedily soaked up every drop of the late afternoon sunlight. How could someone the protagonist cared about so deeply, someone she gave everything to, stab her in the back while her head was turned? A cool breeze from off the coast disturbed the scene, ruffling Robin’s threadbare shift dress as it passed through the nearly empty clearing she occupied.
Robin was not alone by choice- no, the young girl longed for friends, for someone to reach out and scoop her up into their waiting arms. A knight in shining armor to save the princess from her ivory tower and set off on an adventure together. But she was no princess, and there would be no chivalrous savior coming for her. The only comfort she had in this lonesome world were her books and the members of the Guild of Scholars, though recently, they had turned their backs on her as well after learning of her dream. It was naive of Robin to think anyone could ever truly accept her for who she was.
I couldn’t believe it, how you could just stop wanting me
Everyone who entered Robin’s life ultimately exited it one way or another. Her mother abandoned her on this island years ago, leaving her behind with an aunt and uncle who couldn’t care less whether Robin lived or died. The other children her age ostracized her for something that wasn’t her fault. She had been so hungry, the pangs in her stomach from days without food driving her to desperation. The enticing pink fruit hanging on the lowest branches above the spot where Robin had decided she would like to die beckoned to her, silent whispers of ‘for you’ caressing her ears. She couldn’t resist. Now, hisses of ‘freak’ and ‘child of the Devil’ followed Robin wherever she went. It wasn’t fair. The other children would have done the same thing in her shoes, so why was she condemned to this fate? Maybe the people in town were right. Maybe she should have just died that day. The price of the Fruit was not one worth paying.
In the days before Ohara burned, hope had somehow wormed its way back into Robin’s life. She had been running, her lungs heaving with each stride as tears traveled down her face. Professor Clover and the other Scholars had told her in no uncertain terms that she was no longer welcome inside the Tree of Knowledge, having committed the cardinal sin of learning the ancient language inscribed on the Poneglyphs. It wasn’t fair. Her mother knew it, the Scholars knew it, so why was she the one condemned? It wasn’t fair! Arriving on the secret beach that often gave her solace, she spotted a giant man with bright orange hair and a beard to match. Saul, as he introduced himself, had washed up on their shores and immediately began providing answers to the questions churning in Robin’s mind that she was too afraid to vocalize. ‘You’re Olvia’s daughter. This is Ohara?’ How had this man known from just one glance at Robin’s malnourished figure? The giant began to construct a raft, with Robin lending many a helpful hand, as he recounted his tale. He knew her mother. Robin had no memories of her parents, her father having died before she was born, and her mother gone only a couple years after to chase after a dream that may never come true. She savored each morsel of information fed to her, turning the words over in her mind like precious stones. While she was happy to know her mother was still alive, a part of Robin, the one she pushed deep down and never allowed to see the light of day, wished the woman had died long ago. Having a dead mother was better than a mother who didn’t care.
You burnt down Easter Island as if it wasn’t sacred to me
Something Saul had mentioned stuck with Robin, her eyebrows raised high as he confessed that the World Government was coming for the Scholars of Ohara. They wanted Olvia and knew her mother was one of them, so just by association alone, every member of the Guild was also guilty. How quickly people were to judge, to take a surface level glance at a situation and tip the scales of justice in a singular motion. Robin shouldn’t care. Professor Clover and the Scholars had cast her aside just like everyone else, but memories of lit candles on a birthday cake and books snuck into her small satchel permeated her mind. She bid Saul a hasty farewell before dashing off back to the place she was barred from ever returning to, brushing past a vaguely familiar woman in a dirtied beige trench coat that complimented her oddly colored hair as she went. Robin burst through the doors of the Tree of Knowledge, panting as she regurgitated everything she had just learned. Professor Clover did not look scared, gazing down on the girl with a fond smile. Robin found acceptance in his tired eyes, and she did not like that one bit. The Scholars all knew what they had gotten themselves into the day they took the Oath of Archaeology, to uphold and preserve the past no matter the price they may pay for it. Suddenly, it was clear to her. They never hated Robin, never meant to treat her as the demon everyone else on Ohara did. They wanted to protect her. And they kept protecting her as Professor Clover looked Robin dead in the eyes as he told her no, her mother was not on the island, lying right to her quivering face. Robin stayed strong then, needing to prove to her mentors that she was brave enough to stand at their side, but her resolve faltered a bit as the heavy wooden doors once again swung open and dozens of men in stark white Marine coats flooded into the library. They told her to run, and while Robin was used to running, her feet stayed glued to the soft grass below, unable to rip her eyes away as Professor Clover and the rest of the Scholars were forced to their knees. The Professor’s tall, imposing figure, forced to kneel in front of a tyrant. A Government dog. This couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be why the world turned and the sun rose and the birds chirped. This was not how humanity was meant to be. Professor Clover, the proud man he was, only smiled as the World Government condemned him to death. His corpse wore the widest grin Robin had ever seen as his cooling body hit the ground, gun still smoking. Before the Marines could notice the small child bearing witness to their cruelty, a set of hands yanked her out of their sight. Turning in alarm, Robin’s eyes met a pair matching hers in shape and color. Mother. Olvia squeezed her tightly, stealing a spare moment just to see her daughter one last time as the Tree of Knowledge, a place so sacred to the both of them, burned.
I’ve seen it, in the poems and the sands
The fear in Professor Clover’s eyes, palpable as Robin had revealed she too could read the ancient language etched on the Poneglyphs just before the Marines entered the library, would haunt her for the rest of her life. ‘You have to live, Robin!’ Would be repeated in her nightmares as the sun hid behind the moon each night, her mother’s voice screaming out, laced with pain as raw as an open wound. Were her dreams, inherited from her mother and the Scholars of Ohara like a priceless family heirloom, worth it? What happened during the Void Century for the World Government, an entity that swore to protect their citizens, to instead slaughter them all like livestock? The Tree of Knowledge and the books within burned all around her, smoke filling Robin’s lungs to the brim. This couldn’t be the end, not like this. The World Government would pay, and she would be the one to serve them the justice they loved so much. Robin had seen it done, she read all about it in the poems and stories she held close to her heart. The path was well worn, written out in excruciating detail by those that came before her; all she needed to do was find the strength to follow it til the end.
I’ve pleaded with the powers and their plans
Her mother pushed her to run, to live, and into the waiting arms of former Vice Admiral Jaguar D. Saul; her only hope of making it out of Ohara alive. Robin pleaded for her mother to come with them, but all Olvia gave in return was a sad smile. She had consigned herself to this fate a long time ago, and would gladly be turned to ash alongside her deceased colleagues. As Robin and Saul made their escape, the giant stopped in his tracks upon reaching the shore. She looked off into the distance where the man’s eyes lingered and gasped, fear overtaking her body. Six massive Navy ships were stationed in their once peaceful harbor, canons all lined up and ready to fire. And they do. Saul managed to shield Robin from most of the carnage, but it didn’t feel like much of a victory as the young girl watched in horror as her savior fell to his knees. She had seen enough people die for her in one day, and couldn’t live with herself if this man was added to that tally. The gods willing, Saul got back up, marking Robin’s first miraculous encounter with what she would later come to know as the ‘Will of D’. They made for the refugee ship where all the lucky yet confused Oharans waited, ready to leave their home behind at any moment now. Robin approached them and winced a bit as cries of horror and ‘get away, Devil Child!’ consumed her senses. Saul looked down at Robin with sad eyes, but the girl simply pursed her lips. She had no tears left to cry, especially not for them. As a pillar of ice shot out towards them, knocking Saul off his feet once again, Robin barely registered a man stalking towards them, too fixated on the evacuation ship suddenly going up in flames behind her. The people who shut her out, who terrorized her for years, all gone in the blink of an eye. ‘Aokiji, please! You know this is wrong! This isn’t justice!’ Saul cried out, pushing Robin out of his arms and back towards the northern shores where they first met. Numb, Robin spared the giant one last look as he was encased completely in ice, finding that she did, in fact, have tears left in her reserves as fate ripped away yet another person from her life.
I tried to rewrite it but I can’t
He gave her a boat. The man that killed Saul and assisted in the destruction of her home island, of everyone she held dear, gave her a boat. Robin didn’t know what to think as she forced sounds from her throat, masking the tears falling freely down her face with peals of artificial laughter. Saul’s last wish was that she would smile again, and find friends on the sea, but as she sat on her small row boat, pumping her arms as fast as her small muscles allowed through the pathway of ice, Robin didn’t see that being a possibility. ‘The sea is vast. Someday, nakama who will protect you will appear.’ Saul had told her before he was consumed by ice, but he couldn’t rewrite history, no one could. Robin was born to be completely alone in this world.
‘If it’s too painful to live, you’re free to die.’ Vice-Admiral Aokiji had told her. No. She couldn’t give up. She had to live.
It’s the history
So Robin never stopped running. Not when a 79 million beri bounty was placed on her head, labeling her the ‘Devil Child’ Ohara always claimed she had been. Not when she was betrayed by the deceptively kind strangers who coaxed her inside their homes with promises of a warm meal and a cot to sleep on, only to call the Marines the very next day. Not when she began to do whatever it took to survive. The blood running down her hands could replenish the rivers on Ohara that were surely dried up from the flames of the Buster Call. Her name became a curse, a bedtime story to scare little children into behaving or else Nico Robin would come to get them.
the history of man
‘Nico Robin. I’ve heard so much about you.’ A low voice, smooth as the chocolates she used to steal from hapless street vendors when she was younger, cooed at her. Robin’s blue eyes, clouded with distrust from over a decade on the run, snapped up to meet the man’s own set, resembling a depthless void. ‘I heard you can read the Poneglyphs.’
She stays up, he’s sleeping like a lamb
She’s 26, and standing at the right hand of a Warlord, one of the World Government’s attack dogs- Crocodile, or Mr. 0 as he was called within their organization. She had been with him for years now, revitalized with new a purpose after wandering aimlessly since she was a child. In exchange for her unique services, Robin was given free rein to research and study as much as she pleased. So what if the body count piling up behind her had climbed into the hundreds? If the ever feared ‘Miss All Sunday’ was so bad, why didn’t that Marine Vice-Admiral, or she supposed he had dropped that ‘Vice’ part recently, come and kill her? Oh, how she wished he would come kill her.
She begs him, he says he doesn’t understand
They set their final plans for Alabasta into motion, sucking the life out of the once beautiful country until nothing but sand remained. Robin wondered if Professor Clover, her mother, Saul, were looking down on her now, what they would think if they saw her. She had managed to squeak out an existence for 20 years, but was her life worth living? Yes, she had found a couple Poneglyphs, with the promise of a third just around the corner, but Robin was no closer to uncovering the mysteries her loved ones had died for, that she had killed for, than she was as a child. In her musings, Robin made the mistake of asking Crocodile if he had any regrets. The man had a far away look in his eyes, staring off somewhere East. He recovered quickly, face flooding with anger. Miss All Sunday wasn’t allowed back at Headquarters for a while after that.
She loves him more than anyone ever can
As Robin laid eyes upon Monkey D. Luffy for the first time, she was perplexed. This wisp of a boy was the one stirring up all that trouble in the East Blue? She grew a hand up from the wooden deck of their adorable little ship, snatching the Captain’s precious straw hat- clearly where his moniker came from, inciting the anger of everyone on board. No one more so than their orange-haired navigator, if the log pose strapped to her wrist was any indication. The girl glared at Robin with such fierce hatred, it was clear she cared much too deeply for her Captain. Something nearly stirred within Robin’s long-dead heart, but she pushed it aside. The girl would learn soon enough to be weary of trusting powerful men. Miss All Sunday turned her gaze back to the princess, Nefertari Vivi. A vicious smile climbed up her face. Little Miss Wednesday was royalty, descended from one of the original 20 families that formed their precious World Government. Oh, Robin would have fun with this.
It’s the history of man
Robin knew from the very beginning of their partnership that Crocodile would betray her like this, whether she revealed what was actually written on the Poneglyph hidden deep beneath Alabasta or not. She always carried a small vial of water and the antidote to his poisoned hook in her coat, just in case. It was quite amusing that Straw Hat Luffy had come to the same conclusion regarding Crocodile’s sand Logia powers, pumping his rubbery body full of water before confronting the Warlord. Ultimately, all the knowledge and preparation in the world still couldn’t save her from being stabbed in the back, blood seeping out from where she was impaled and ruining her favorite white coat. She offered up her antidote to the King as she died, a small penance to pay before she finally gave back the borrowed time she had been living on since Ohara. This was a fitting place to die, slowly bleeding out in front of one of the slabs of stone so many had given their lives for. A stone that would lead to more lives being lost should anyone else discover the secrets they kept. Pluton. One of the ultimate weapons with the power to destroy the world. Maybe the World Government was right. The Scholars of Ohara were devils for even wanting to know this truth. As the ceiling began to cave in all around her, a slender arm snaked itself around her waist. No. For the second time in her life, she was saved by one possessing the initial of D. She begged him to leave her behind, to accept death on her own terms just like her mother did, but the headstrong boy refused to listen to her. Fine. If he wanted to take away her freedom to choose so badly, she would respond in kind. Fair was fair, after all. Robin dragged herself from where the boy deposited her outside of the crypt, eventually making her way to the harbor where Straw Hat’s ship was docked. She leaned against a jagged rock, clutching her wound tightly. Her body would heal- it always did, even when she didn’t want it to. As she slowly stitched herself back together, Robin gazed up at the simply yet effective Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat pirates. She gasped, feeling a tingle on her neck as familiar laughter echoed in the wind. Those damned D’s.
You didn’t even falter
He didn’t even falter, completely unphased by Robin breaking onto his ship for the second time and declaring herself a part of his band of misfits. She had nowhere else to go, and if she was forced to suffer, she would drag Monkey D. Luffy down with her. The Captain of the Straw Hat pirates took it in stride, simply agreeing and accepting her presence. Robin was equally as taken aback as the rest of his crew, exchanging shocked glances with her former adversaries. She quickly disarmed the green-haired swordsman and navigator, not liking the way they were pointing those weapons at her face, and stalked over to grab a folded up lawn chair. Crossing her arms behind her back, clad in the clothes she was borrowing from the red-faced girl glaring daggers, Robin asked their Captain if he remembered what he did to her. He did not.
“You made me live when I wanted to die.” Robin found her voice, sentencing Monkey D. Luffy to life by her side for his crimes.
Unfortunately for Robin, not much suffering occurred aboard the Going Merry, and she often found herself fighting her toughest battles against the slight smile that threatened to slip onto her face more times than she could count. Every single member of the Straw Hat crew, from the easily lovable and trusting Chopper to the suspicious and hardened Zoro, managed to worm their way into Robin’s frosted heart. Luffy, for all his faults, radiated pure sunlight and joy. It was hard not to bask in it, despite knowing better. She stayed with the crew, standing by their side this time as they liberated Skypeia from a so-called god. Robin was rewarded for her efforts with a massive golden Poneglyph signed by one Gol D. Roger, former king of the pirates himself. The people around her wept tears of joy as her fingertips grazed the hardened surface, claiming their centuries-long duty had been fulfilled, and Robin could do nothing but swallow the lump forming in her throat. Her Captain later danced with the people of the Sky Island into the night. Was this her life now, she wondered as she sipped a cup of sake by a roaring bonfire. Two decades of wrongdoing and she was allowed to be celebrated as a harbinger of freedom and justice? A churning feeling in her gut assured Robin that none of this would last.
Didn’t even look back once, did you?
The other shoe dropped pretty quickly after leaving the Sky Islands as Robin came face to face with him for the first time in 20 years. In a cruel twist of fate, Aokiji and the World Government had finally caught up to her just as she had been convinced that maybe, just maybe, life was worth living. The Admiral taunted Robin in that cool, detached way she remembered all too well. He dropped hints, little breadcrumbs regarding the crooked past she had been on the run from for so much of her life. He encased her ice, just like he had done to Saul all those years ago. Even when sweet little Chopper managed to painstakingly defrost her, Robin couldn’t shake the chill that lingered in her bones. This was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. The island of Water 7 was beautiful, and Robin was glad she could witness its propensity to sink and rebuild stronger than ever before she died. A perfect reflection of the circle of life. Of course CP9, the very same organization that ordered the destruction of her home, had come for her. They were here to finally finish the job. Robin found humor in the situation as she held a gun against Iceberg’s head. The World Government, for all their claims of fairness and justice, would stoop to contracting a first-class criminal before ultimately dragging her off to her impending doom just to avoid getting their hands too dirty. The lives of her crewmates for the life of the mayor of Water 7. It was an easy exchange to make. Robin pretended not to hear when the cries of Sanji and Chopper followed her onto the Sea Train heading straight for Enies Lobby. She didn’t look back at them once, as much as she longed to.
So Samson blamed Delilah
“You! This is all your fault!” Spandam, the son of the man who ruined her life, screamed into Robin’s face as she sat chained up next to the infamous Water 7 shipwright and gang leader kidnapped alongside her. She couldn’t believe it as chaos erupted all around them. They followed her here, to the impenetrable government island of Enies Lobby. Against her will, Saul’s words echoed in her mind once again. ‘The sea is vast. Someday, nakama who will protect you will appear.’
And appear they did.
but given half the chance, I would’ve made him weaker too
Robin, pushed to her knees and chained with Sea Prism stone, gazes up at her friends with tears in her wide blue eyes. There they stood, proud and mighty, declaring war on the World Government. For her. What was wrong with them? She already traded her life for theirs! She ensured them all safety with her own impending death. Were the Straw Hats really so weak that they could be taunted and baited into a trap so clearly set by CP9? No. They loved her, and she, despite trying her absolute hardest not to, loved them back so fiercely that she was willing to stop running for them. Running had been the only constant in Robin’s life, her feet never able to rest as she fled from place to place. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper made her want to give it up, to allow herself to smile and let her walls tumble down brick by brick. They were her friends. She finally found them. They made her weaker, yes, but they also gave her the strength to live.
Sirens sounded, trumpets blaring
“Robin! We still haven't heard you say it!” Luffy, her Captain, screamed at her with determination clear in his guileless black eyes. “Say you want to live!”
To live? Memories swirled through her mind, an unending storm of pain that has clouded her entire life. Her existence was a crime, everyone said so. She was a monster, a devil child. She should have died that day on Ohara with the rest of her people. But she was also the beloved archeologist of the Straw Hat pirates. She would be the one to lead Monkey D. Luffy to Laughtale, the place described with such reverence on the Poneglyphs. He couldn’t do it without her. He needed her.
No one allowed her to wish for this before, her hope vanquished ages ago. A dam broke inside of Robin as she witnessed Usopp burn down the flag of the World Government for her, unable to hold back the feelings swelling up within. Though separated by physical and emotional distance of her own creation, she met the eyes of each and every one of her crewmates and found her answer. She remembered the words of the optimistic shipwright she had only known for a handful of hours, somehow able to offer her a shred of hope in a hopeless situation. If it was really okay, she supposed she could say it, just this once.
“I WANT TO LIVE!”
Luffy smiled.
You walked out without sweating
They escaped Enies Lobby. Broken and bruised, but all together again at last. Usopp fidgeted at the edge of the group, still wearing that ridiculous mask of his, but Robin didn’t press. She was too happy to mind anyone’s idiosyncrasies at the moment. They had won.
I’ve seen it, in the poems and the sands
The burning of the Going Merry, the ship that had carried the five original Straw Hat pirates across the East Blue and picked up two, possibly three new members along the Grand Line, was too painful for Robin to watch. It cut too deep, even after all these years. In the flames, she could still see the Tree of Knowledge and the faces of everyone she had lost. If anyone noticed Robin slipping away for a private moment, they had the grace to not say anything about it. Aokiji finds her in a similar situation a few days later, their backs pressed up against opposite sides of the crumbling wall as a celebration rages on all around them. “Have you finally found a home, Nico Robin?” The Admiral asks, his voice betraying nothing. Robin glances around, taking in the merriment around her. Her eyes zero in on her young Captain, dancing joyfully in the fire light once again.
“I have.” She smiles.
I’ve tried to rewrite it but I can’t
Robin should have known better than to believe her happiness could last. Standing in that auction house on Sabaody Archipelago made her skin crawl, surrounded by the debauchery that followed Celestial Dragons wherever they went. The World Nobles disgusted her to no end, and she couldn’t wait to see them all toppled from their throne at the top of the world. Robin knew the Poneglyphs would expose them for what they truly were, and the Celestial Dragons would rue the day they were born once she got her hands on them. Perhaps that’s why she became carried away when meeting Silvers Rayleigh, the once first mate of the former Pirate King.
“What is the ‘Will of D’?” Robin blurted out, surprising even herself as the words tumbled across her lips. She had to know why the people carrying that mysterious initial kept crashing into her life and rearranging it as they saw fit. Rayleigh simply gave her a knowing smile and shook his head.
“It seems that we and those on Ohara were too hasty. Keep traveling on your ship and I’m sure you’ll uncover the answers you seek, young lady.”
Robin collapsed back into her seat at the old man’s words, stunned into silence at the mention of her home island. She kept quiet until they encountered Bartholomew Kuma, when her screams echoed throughout the grove as she watched her crewmates be snuffed out of existence, one by one.
It’s the history, the history of man
The cyclical nature of Nico Robin’s life continued onwards as she found herself on the winter island of Tequila Wolf, chained up once again. Her heart broke for the residents, if one could even call them that, of the island; forced to work day in and day out on a massive bridge that may never be finished. She used to feel that way about her own dream, working towards a seemingly pointless goal without knowing whether or not it would ever bear fruit. That seemed stupid to Robin now as she was faced with people who weren’t allowed to have goals or dreams of their own. Just like all the times before, Robin was saved on the orders of a man bearing the initial D. How did her life become so intricately tied with their clan? She was taken to see the leader of the Revolutionary Army himself, Monkey D. Dragon, who claimed he had been looking for her for a very long time.
“Well, I’ve been with your son, though I’m sure you knew that.” Robin kept her smile sweet and demure, but a woman like her could never pull off that kind of coyness. Not with an impressive rap sheet following her around like a specter and the ever-present knowing look in her blue eyes. Robin wanted to leave Baltigo immediately, but on orders from her Captain, straight from Marineford, she stayed put. They treated her well, even calling Robin the ‘Light of the Revolution’ simply for being the sole survivor of a government-ordered genocide. If only they knew what she had gotten up to all those years on the run. But there were worse ways to spend 2 years away from her crew than training with the Revolutionaries, and friends like Sabo and Koala certainly made it worth her while. Robin hummed to herself at the easy usage of that word now.
She stays up, he’s sleeping like a lamb
The snores of Robin’s crewmates permeated the air of the Thousand Sunny on their first night back together, but none louder than the Captain’s himself. Insomnia has always haunted Robin, and there was nothing worse than facing a new day after a bad night of sleep. She leaned up against the cold metal railing, dark hair falling around her shoulders in glossy sheets. Looking up at the sky, Robin could spot one constellation brighter than the others. Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, and a signifier of rebirth. Of new beginnings. Well, two years was a long time to be apart, and her crewmates certainly had done some growing over that period. Maybe this was the fresh start they all needed in order to move forward. They could never forget what they faced on Sabaody, but Robin would make sure something like that never happened again.
She loves him more than anyone ever can
Robin made her way to the Sea Forest containing the Poneglyph of Fishman Island. Joy Boy. There was that name again. The liberator of the oppressed. The human embodiment of sunshine come to earth. Robin pushed her sunglasses up her face and pressed a finger to her chin. Well, that certainly sounded like someone she knew.
It’s the history, the history of man
Robin finds a kindred spirit in an unlikely place. Trafalgar Law was just like her, though she doubted the younger man could clock her as accurately as she had him. She could see the darkness of a past so jagged and checkered radiating in waves off of his tensed shoulders, plots for vengeance and the promise of justice being served stored within his fathomless golden eyes. She sees it even more as she observes Law on Dressrosa, eyes still empty and unfulfilled as he watches his worst enemy, the man who ruined his life, falls to the ground defeated at Luffy’s fists. Robin lays a gentle hand on his good shoulder, the one that hadn’t had an arm detached from it, startling the man. He’s not ready to talk yet, let alone heal, but she’ll be there for him when he is. And, Robin thinks to herself with a secret smile on her lips, so will Luffy.
He stole her youth and promised heaven
Robin always suspected Sanji was hiding something darker underneath his cigarettes and people pleasing tendencies. No one was born that quick to do , no matter what excuses he gave about years of customer service experience. Vinsmoke Judge and Germa 66 were given the green light by the World Government, able to go wherever they pleased and do whatever they wished, even touting themselves as royalty. Robin clenched her fist. So peaceful countries like Ohara and Flevance were burned to ash and ground to dust under the heel of their oppressors, but regimes such as Germa were allowed to prosper? There would be no justice, no place safe for innocent children until the very last Noble head on Marie Jois rolled. As much as Robin would have liked to be a part of the rescue mission to bring back their cook, she knew full well she wouldn’t be able to keep a grip on her emotions if she came face to face with the Vinsmoke family. Nobody hurt the ones she loved and got to keep their lives. Robin made eye contact with Zoro after they watched the Thousand Sunny set sail for Whole Cake Island, leaving them behind with Usopp and Franky on Law’s bright yellow submarine. Zoro’s murderous expression, though subtle, matched how Robin felt. They were certainly the most blood thirsty members of the crew, doing what needed to be done so the others could sleep easier at night, but the look in the swordsman’s eyes was unrelated. Robin squeezes his arm knowingly.
“Luffy will bring him back.” Robin thinks that their Captain could rearrange the stars if it suited his fancy. There was nothing he couldn’t do, including dragging a wayward crew member back home. Robin would know.
The men start wars yet Troy hates Helen
They were bound for Wano now, preparing for war against an Emperor of the Sea thanks to the hasty alliance her captain made back on Punk Hazard. Robin whole-heartedly believes it will all work out in the end for she was used to witnessing miracles at this point. At times, she wondered why they were doing this. Putting their lives on the line for a country that didn’t allow outsiders like them inside its high walls. But then Robin would lay her gaze upon Momonosuke, just a boy stepping into very large and dangerous shoes. She sighed to herself. He was only 8 years old, the same age she was when she first went on the run. No child should be chased away from their home like she had been, and this was her chance to uphold that ideal.
Women’s hearts are lethal weapons
“Absolutely not.” Law stared down at her in shock at her proposition, shaking his head. The oh-so-righteous Surgeon of Death got a little squeamish at the thought of Robin using her natural gifts for a little reconnaissance? She had to laugh, and she did. Right in his face. Robin was no stranger to doing whatever it took to achieve her goals, and if that included posing as a Geisha in the Flower Capital pleasure house that a certain corrupt Shogun tended to frequent then so be it.
“As the acting leader until Straw Hat returns-” The other Captain was saying, but Robin immediately silenced him as she pressed a single digit to his lips.
“Ah, ah. You’re not Luffy though, so I don’t have to listen to you.” She had become quite good friends with the tattooed man over the course of their time spent together, and again, her soul smiled at the casual use of the word friend, but that didn’t mean he had the right to tell her what she could and could not do.
Robin eventually gets her way and leaves a flustered Law in her wake, muttering something about all Straw Hats being the same.
Though she would never admit it, his worries were founded as Robin barely escaped the Orochi Oniwabanshu with her life, but Law didn’t need to know that. She was Nico Robin, after all. She would always get away in the end.
Did you hold mine and feel threatened?
On the day of the Fire Festival, Robin was feeling confident. They had thousands of allies on their side, including trained samurais, Mink warriors on the night of a full moon, and three very powerful Worst Generation pirate captains. If only they could get along long enough to collaborate instead of bickering. Jimbei, a proud and brave fishman who she very much respected, arrived just in time, having swam all the way from Whole Cake Island just to pledge his loyalty to her Captain. She fights alongside her friends once again, snapping limbs and breaking necks as they fight their way through Onigashima. The Beast Pirates were strong, yes, but she and her crew were stronger. Not even Big Mom could stop Nico Robin in her tracks, but the two men in long, white coats and ridiculous masks that she had seen back on Dressrosa certainly did. CP0 was here for her, to lock her up in Impel Down, to drag her away from her family. She turned to Brook, a reliable crewmate when he wasn’t asking incredibly strange, invasive questions, and barely had to explain herself before they took off. He didn’t want to lose anyone else he loved either.
Hear my lyrics, taste my venom
Robin begins to think maybe they were right about her as she fights against Black Maria. She had defied the natural order of all things since she was a child, choosing to sink her teeth into the forbidden fruit of knowledge and power, brandishing herself a sinner. The Black Widow conjures up images of her past and though Robin knows these are nothing but poor imitations of the real thing, she can’t help but reach out to touch her mother’s face. Enraged, Robin steels herself and unleashes her awakened Devil Fruit powers upon Black Maria and her girls- Demonio Fleur. She relishes in the screams that rise up to her ears like a sweet symphony. How dare that woman try to use her past against her? It’s easy for Robin to snap the Tobiroppo member in half. She is a demon, after all. Robin collapses into Brook’s arms with a sad smile on her face. She would be anything, take on any role, if it meant protecting her friends.
You are still my great obsession
Luffy is not dead. Robin simply shakes her head at the implication that her Captain had failed to defeat Kaido. It just wasn’t possible. Her crewmate’s faces were streaked with tears as Nami, the girl, no, woman , who Robin once thought naive for trusting that straw hatted boy so blindly, stood up to the King of the Beasts. Her brown eyes shone with unbroken resolve, reflecting what Robin still held in her heart. Just as Kaido reached out a hulking fist to strike down their navigator forever, a massive, rubbery hand descended from the sky and yanked the beast out of sight. Everyone, including the unflappable Trafalgar Law and pugnacious Eustass Kid, gasped as they bore witness to what looked like Luffy, but simply couldn’t be, pop his head through the hole in the roof. His unruly dark hair had turned pure white, along with his eyebrows and clothing, and his irises glowed the color of the rising sun. He was also massive, nothing like the boy that stood nearly half a foot shorter than her on a good day. Robin’s jaw dropped as she watched him trade blows with Kaido while laughing, leaping into the air with his arms and legs posed in such a way that she had only seen before on the Poneglyphs. Joy Boy. Joy Boy has finally returned. Robin knew it to be true; she felt it down to her bones and even deeper than that. Her heart began to beat to the sound of liberation.
I’ve seen it, in the poems and the sands
Robin slips away from the raucous celebration following their victory at Onigashima. It was a party hard fought for and well deserved, with her own Captain defeating Kaido and the tentative alliance between Law and Eustass Kid having taken down Big Mom, but Robin had a mission of her own to fulfill. She pokes around the ruins of the old castle before coming across a Poneglyph hidden in the basement, and a fallen Shogun too ashamed to see his people, especially not his grandson. Robin understands to some degree, she wouldn’t be able to face anyone hailing from Ohara if any remained. Sukiyaki opens a hidden staircase after she reveals she knows of the existence of Pluton, a low but necessary blow to get what she wants. Robin takes a few tentative steps down before she realizes they’re being followed. Trafalgar Law stands behind her, his raised eyebrow daring her to try and stop him. She does not, for who is she to interfere with the Will of D? Robin wasn’t surprised when Law revealed his hidden middle initial to her, she figured that he was another member of the clan sent to stir up a storm, but she was taken aback that he was willing to offer up that shrouded information to her so easily. Despite fighting against her Captain and his nakama tooth and nail, it seemed that the Surgeon of Death was finally accepting that they were his friends, and they were not going anywhere. Ultimately, the two pirates had very different reactions as she translated what was written on Wano’s hidden Poneglyph. It was of the Road variety, leading the way to the elusive land of Laughtale. While wonderful for Robin, who already had two others copied and hidden away under the floorboards of her and Nami’s room aboard the Sunny, the other Captain seemed disappointed. She tilted her head. He didn’t seem to be interested in becoming Pirate King, not really. So what did he want? A contemplative expression settled on Robin’s face as she watched the man press his fingers almost longingly against the stone. Perhaps she could finally repay her many favors owed to the D clan.
I’ve pleaded with the powers and their plans
As they sail far away from Wano and deeper into the New World, Robin stands facing the stern of the Thousand Sunny, gazing back at the direction from which they came. Pluton existed, buried deep below the underwater city of the original Capitol, and so did Poseidon, hidden within a young mermaid Princess. Who else knew of the Ancient Weapons, and who had the desire to get their hands on them? Robin was left with more questions than answers after deciphering the messages left behind from the Void Century. According to Sukiyaki, his ancestors had painstakingly crafted 30 Poneglyphs and hid them well around the world, scattered far and wide so the World Government couldn’t get their hands on them. Not even the old man himself knew where they had all ended up. Sometimes, her task felt impossible. She was just one woman, how was she to succeed where all others who came before her failed? Even an entire Guild of Scholars, all collaborating together and sharing the workload amongst them, hadn't been able to accomplish much. Robin closes her eyes, childishly crossing her fingers behind her back and for the first time, she prays to someone, anyone who could be listening, for a sign that she was still on the right path.
She didn’t mean for her Captain to get swallowed up by a giant shark immediately afterwards.
I’ve tried to rewrite it but
Time after time, Robin has watched as powerful men, blinded by bloodlust and ambition, burn the world down all around her, and all she can do is stare. Egghead Island, home to the brightest mind to ever walk the face of the planet and his droves of invaluable information, all destroyed in one fell swoop. Dr. Vegapunk was brilliant, but he had flown too close to the sun. How many more people had to die, how many more Buster Calls needed to be ordered, how many more books needed to be burned before the World Government was satisfied? Robin had spent too much time on Wano that she nearly forgot who the real enemy was. Not Kaido, not Big Mom, but them.
I can’t
“Trafalgar Law, Captain of the Heart Pirates, defeated by Blackbeard during a clash on Winner’s Island!”
The poor News Coo, simply the messenger bearing the bad news, faces Luffy’s uncharacteristic wrath as he bats the bird away with his rubbery fists, distraught as he wails over his fallen friend. Yet another person her Captain loves, taken away from him by the actions of one Marshall D. Teach. The Will of D would always stir up a storm- some fronts more destructive than others, it seemed. Robin was at a loss of what to do. Luffy was so used to saving others, to being their guiding light in times of need, that he took it even harder when he couldn’t. Everything was going wrong, all at once. Were they not owed satisfaction after all they had endured? Sometimes Robin wondered what the real cost of a happy ending would be as she once again felt the icy grip of heartbreak pull her under, her cold reality setting in.
It’s the history, the history of man