Hey, everyone! I'm really sorry for taking so long to update this chapter, but I've been really busy with a number of things, and it was nearly impossible to find time to write. Now it's all over, though, and once again I'm lazy with lots of time to write, so hopefully the next chapter won't take so long, haha.
Once again, thanks so much for the reviews, you're all so nice, hahaha s2 I love reading your suggestions, so if you have any, feel free to say it! Regarding Robin's age, thanks for both of your opinions, but I think I won't say anything about how old any of the characters are, because, in the end, it's not gonna interfere in the flow of the story. But thanks, anyway! And thanks again for all the reviews!

ABOUT THIS CHAPTER: I think you'll all notice, but I just wanted to state it so that it wouldn't be so confusing: this chapter goes back and forth between a flashback and the current timeline. Hope you enjoy it!

White Lilies
Chapter 3

-1 year before-

Zoro had just arrived with his friends, but as soon as he set out to look for a drink, they all managed to disappear somewhere, like magic, and he couldn't find them – or more importantly, the drinks - anywhere. He'd never admit it out loud, but the truth was that he got lost – it wasn't his fault, though; all of the rooms kinda looked the same, and so did the people inside them; he had a hard time figuring out if they just looked alike or if he was really entering the same place over and over.

The party to promote Iceburg's political campaign was being held in his own house, a modest 4-bedroom suite situated in the southeast part of the city, a rich neighborhood at the heart of the city's financial center. Franky's brother had apparently taken a like to Luffy and his friends, so Zoro didn't find it strange when they got invited to such a fancy party (and apparently, 'the more the merrier' worked for campaign parties), but he wasn't expecting to see so many known faces there as well. Some belonged to people he didn't really wanna run into, like Luffy's grandfather, Garp - he liked and respected him, but the old man would always greet him with a strong pat that could almost break his elbow. Besides, he appeared to be having a heated discussion with an old frenemy, Don Chinjao. Zoro was quick to get out of there.

The next room was very similar to the previous one – he was still suspicious that they all looked the same – but in that, he spotted a man holding a shining silver tray filled with tall glasses. Finally, the drinks. Zoro got two at once, not giving a damn to etiquette. He drank one in one gulp and returned the empty glass to the tray - he was feeling hot and annoyed, and the urge to drink was increasing every minute he spent there.

The hem of his suit was a little tight on the neck, which only made him more bothered. In reality, the whole idea of wearing formal attire was a nuisance – it reminded him of the suffering he had gone through in the previous day. He'd been forced to spend the whole afternoon shopping with Nami and Robin for the occasion – well, Nami was the only one who really shopped; Robin only bought a dress, while the orange haired woman bought thousands of them, and made Zoro carry all of her bags, saying he owed her some money. If that wasn't torture enough, she also forced him to enter a myriad of stores in search for a suit, and made him try on all the ones that the shopkeepers offered. Nami inspected him every time he came out of the dressing room, approving or disapproving his looks, while Robin stood next to her, giggling.

But the rest of the previous day was the true source of his annoyance - after Nami's shopping spree, Robin invited him to have dinner at her house – it was almost an act of kindness, as she knew Zoro was gonna cook for himself that night, and his attempts at the kitchen were always disastrous, to say the least. Robin's cooking wasn't as good as Sanji's, but it was still very good, and after dinner, Zoro ended up crashing at her couch - although he didn't sleep at all; they stayed up all night talking. Far from the boring shopping he was forced to do, the end of his day had been thoroughly enjoyable, but that was the problem: when it came to Robin's company, he enjoyed it way too much. Back when they were dating, it was ok, but now that he was with Tashigi, feeling the way he did when he was with the archaeologist was kind of a big problem.

He stared at the drink in his hand, seriously considering the whole situation. If he had to think about it, his guess would be that he had grown used to Robin's presence, as a friend and as… something else. But was that all? At that point, he couldn't deny anymore that she was evoking some feelings inside of him, and he wondered if he'd ever stopped feeling something for her at all. Their last relationship was over for more than a year, and he was dating Tashigi ever since, but maybe it was the fact that they were going through a rough phase, or because he was spending more time with Robin, but the result was that he simply couldn't get the raven haired girl off his head.

And that wasn't fair with Tashigi.
He finished the second drink and realized he couldn't let the situation go on like this; one more night like the previous one with the raven-haired girl and maybe he wouldn't be able to keep his cool. But if he stopped to think about it, anytime he was with Robin was the same; her presence affected him way too much, and perhaps his relationship would be safer if he managed to spend some time away from her. They had been friends for a long time, so he was sure it was not gonna be easy, and he thought that communicating her of his decision was the right thing to do. Making up his mind, he set out to search for her.

He had to find Robin.

"What do you think of this one?"

"Huh?" he was in the middle of a yawn when Tashigi asked his opinion, apparently pointing at something. He was standing behind her, pretending to look at… what was that again? A wedding portfolio or whatever it was called, but his attention was long gone – at least he'd been a little more patient than Luffy, who had been running around and complaining ever since they got to the office of the company they contracted for the buffet.

"I think it looks out of place when you consider the rest of the decoration" Nami was standing beside Tashigi, furrowing her brows, analyzing every design very seriously.

"Who's the groom here?" Zoro grunted, his annoyance only half-true, "You can't meddle in someone else's wedding"

"Yes I can, especially when said person is too lazy to even pay attention" she spat at him, decidedly. "And besides, Tashigi called me because she knows of my good taste, right?"

Being too shy to say that it was actually because she just wanted a second opinion from a friend, Tashigi shook her head and adjusted her glasses in a clumsy way. No matter how much time passed and how hard life got on her, she'd never lose this almost cute side, and Zoro was kinda glad for that. He held her waist and embraced her from behind, taking a real look at the paper in front of him this time. But when he did, and discovered that they were having all this trouble picking napkin designs, he sighed, his interest starting to fade away again. Why were people so meticulous about every aspect of weddings?

"So, what do you think of this one?"

"It looks good. In fact, they all do, it's just a napkin. What's the use of picking a beautiful design when people are gonna clean their mouths in it in the end?"

"And that's why I'm here" Nami sighed.

"Guys, seriously, where's the banquet?" Luffy asked in a dragged voice, indicating he was ultimately bored and hungry – and that was a fearsome combination, when it came to him.

"It's buffet, and I already told you there's no buffet today, it's just for the wedding" The orange haired girl said, irritated.

"So please, marry soon, Zoro," he said in his suffering tone.

Tashigi laughed, but even though he knew it was just Luffy being himself in his hungry state, Zoro still got a little awkward hearing it like this. He scratched his head; the word "marriage" hadn't quite settled in his mind yet, even though it was getting closer every day.

"Sorry, Luffy, we'll just finish picking this and then we can have lunch" Tashigi apologized with a smile.

"I didn't realize we've been here for so long" Nami checked the expensive looking watch on her wrist. I did, Zoro thought, annoyed. "If we were near Sanji's restaurant, we could eat for free"

"Ahem" the buffet attendant cleared her throat, the way they always did when they wanted to interrupt a conversation "There's a great restaurant downstairs, on the 2nd floor"

"Really? But this part of the town is a little on the expensive side" Nami pouted, letting her head fall in her hand in an exaggerated gesture. "It'd be nice if the groom treated us today, right?"

"Don't even start, you witch" Zoro grunted while Nami and Tashigi giggled at the background. Since when did they become such good friends?

"Food!" Luffy said, happily, his energy magically coming back "Let's go, guys"

"Sorry, we still have to pick the design" Tashigi looked at the raven-haired boy with an apologetic face. "I promise it'll be quick"

"I'm sorry for having interrupted you, but the boy looked so hungry" the attendant was as apologetic as Tashigi.

"He's always hungry, this one" Nami pinched Luffy's cheeks, but then wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him gently on the spot she was previously pinching. Luffy laughed, agreeing to her statement, and wrapped her in a tight hug that lacked elegance, but was his expansive way to show affection. Nami was always harsh with him, but Zoro knew how much those two liked each other. Nami and Luffy had been together for an even longer time than him and Robin – when they were together, anyway -, and the green haired boy always had the impression that he was gonna be Luffy's best man before he could be his. Life liked to play on the unpredictable side, sometimes.

"So, what do you think of this one, Zoro?" Tashigi was pointing at some napkin design stamped on the paper. Here we go again.

As big as it was, Iceburg's 4-bedroom suite was overflowing with people, and Zoro couldn't avoid bumping into them as he made his way to search for Robin. Actually, at that point, he wasn't searching anymore – he was just being carried away by the flow, hoping to find a familiar face or at least someone serving drinks again.

He had no luck with the later, but was relieved to spot a flashy pink hair in the distance. What the hell, it seemed like everyone he knew was in that party. He bumped annoyingly into some people until he was close enough to the girl.

"Perona, what are you doing here?"

"Zoro?!" the girl screamed, a little startled. "I'm the one who should be asking, why didn't you reply to my message? I-"

As soon as he heard her shrill voice, he frowned, regretting it already. Perona was almost like a little sister to him, but her tendency to go on infinite conversations – on which she was the only one to talk – or complain about things, to be more accurate – wasn't restricted to people she was familiar with. She was a very pretty girl, and that night, specifically, she was looking rather neat, and looking at her confident appearance, it would be hard to guess she was such whiny girl.

"Luffy spammed my message box and now I can't receive them – as always" he sighed, answering her question even though she was already whining about something else. "Did you come with Mihawk?"

"Yeah, but that big jerk went somewhere as soon as we got here" she pouted. "And this party is so boring"

"Yeah" he had to agree with that one. "Have you seen Robin?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"None of your business" he grunted.

"So I'm not telling you" she shot him one of her mischievous smiles. "Anyway, where are your friends? You know, I have seen her, Robin, but she wasn't with them, and your friends are already really weird, but she was with that man which was way weirder and I think-"

"Huh? Which man?"

"I don't know, a strange man. I think he knows Mihawk"

Zoro had a gut feeling of who it could be, and he sure as hell hoped he was wrong.

"Ok, gotta go. Talk to you later"

"What? Won't you stay and keep me company?" she pouted.

"No way in hell" he said with a mocking smile, already bumping his way out of that room.

"You're so un-cute!" he could hear she whining, but there were far too many people in that room for him to look back at her. It had been a while since he had talked to Perona and Mihawk. He should probably stop by to see them one of these days.

The room next to that one was less crowded, but there was no sign of the woman he'd been searching – it wasn't a complete waste of time, though, because a man very similar to the first one was holding a tray full of wonderful looking drinks. He got two again, just to be sure. Zoro roamed around for a while – and got lost in the process – until his eyes finally landed on a man in a corner of the room. It was a man he didn't like, and everything about him inspired that feeling – his face, his fancy clothes, his affected smile – but what he would hate even more was gonna be seeing her standing by his side, so he really hoped, as he approached the man, that she wasn't there.

But life was always fucked up; there she was.

Robin was looking simply stunning – he knew his opinion was biased, but he couldn't help but stare at her slim figure, which was looking even better in the black cocktail dress she'd bought the day before. Her hair was done up in a style which probably had a name, but he had no idea what it was called. He only knew that it made her even more beautiful, if that was even possible. And she was smiling at that idiot – though the green haired boy was kinda glad to notice it was her business card smile.

Zoro emptied one of his glasses in one gulp. All of a sudden, the things he thought about saying to her started to fade away from his mind, losing momentum. Hell, why did she have to be so beautiful and always make him so confused? He started to take deep gulps from the remaining drink when it dawned on him that she was indeed with that man, Crocodile. From the distance, he couldn't hear what they were talking about – and he sure as hell didn't want to know -, but the conversation appeared to be pleasant, as both of them were smiling, with Robin occasionally giggling.

He felt an emotion stirring up inside of him, but wasn't sure of what it was. He finished the second drink, hoping that the liquid would smooth whatever it was. But when it didn't, he realized it was stupid to stand there looking at them – and he had been doing that for a while, so his feet started dragging him to the door of the balcony, at the end of the room. Until a voice called him from behind.

"Zoro"

It was a voice that was deep and soft at the same time, a voice he liked so much, belonging to the one person in that room – or that party, that city, that world – he wanted to talk to the most.
Nico Robin was standing behind him, and thinking that she might have seen him staring at her made him a little embarrassed, but he was glad that at least she wasn't talking with that Crocodile guy anymore. On the other hand, now he'd have to face her.

"Hey" he scratched his head, still feeling that uneasy, uncertain emotion.

"It's good to finally see you here. Iceburg certainly knows a lot of people, huh"

He understood the subtle message of her phrase, which was saying how annoyingly crowded that place was. They were, at that moment, experiencing the effects of the lack of space – Robin was standing dangerously near to him – their faces really close to each other, and he swore he could smell her flowery scent even though there were probably hundreds of people wearing strong perfumes in the room.

"It's pretty stuffy in here; do you wanna see the view outside? I'm curious as to what this city looks like from the 27th floor"

Zoro was glad that she, too, hated crowded places.

"Yeah, I was going there just now"

The buffet attendant was right; the place at the 2nd floor was really great. It was more like a café than a restaurant, but the food was delicious, anyhow, and a fresh coffee aroma permeated the ambience. He knew someone who would love this kind of place, but was trying to keep her out of his head.

"Zoro, I know how you'd rather die than spend all day picking tableware designs" Tashigi was sitting on his side at the table "So… I really wanted to thank you"

The boy knew, by her gestures, that she wanted to kiss him, but was too shy to do it in front of Luffy and Nami, so she just gave him a bright, warm smile, instead. He wasn't very keen on public display of affections either, but he returned her words with a sincere smile and a kiss on her forehead.

"It's my wedding too" He tried not to sound too unnatural, although the phrase sounded a little alien on his head "You shouldn't thank me; you should kick my ass if I didn't accompany you in all of this"

"Yeah, you definitely need your ass kicked sometimes" Tashigi laughed, "Especially yesterday; did you know you forgot your keys again?"

"Yeah, I saw them on the table when I got home" he scratched his head.

"Zoro's an idiot," Luffy laughed with his mouth partially full. "Hey, did you get the message I sent you yesterday?"

"Don't spam my box again, you moron, I've deleted it all just the other day"

"I'm going to the restroom, wanna come, Nami?" Tashigi said as she stood up. Why was it that girls always wanted to go to the bathroom together?

"No, thanks, I'm fine" the orange haired girl smiled at her, and her eyes accompanied the other girl's figure until she was sure that she wouldn't hear. "I have something to ask you, Zoro"

Here it comes. There was no need for her to say the subject; if she had to wait for Tashigi to leave before she said anything, then there was only one thing she could be meaning to talk about. But Zoro sighed and asked her, anyway.

"What is it?"

"What about you and Robin?" she asked outspokenly. Nami had always been straight to the point.

"Who told you about it?" his encounter with Robin had happened a week before, so he imagined their friends would be talking about it already, but considering how close Nami was with the archaeologist, Zoro was curious to know if it had been her to say it to Nami.

"Sanji"

Curse him.

"What about me and Robin?"

"Come on, you know what I'm talking about" she snorted. "Really, Zoro, how are you too coming along?"

"Why don't you ask her, dammit?" He grunted. His mind got a little hazy with this conversation, and he wondered if it was a self-defense mechanism to prevent him from discovering how much he was really enjoying her company again – in a friendly way, he reminded himself, like a mantra, nothing else.

"Because I'm asking you"

"We're okay, nothing special" he shrugged, trying to believe in his own words. "I've missed her terribly. As a friend"

"All this time she was missing you too, you know? I guess I shouldn't be telling you this" Nami's tone got as serious as Zoro's. "…Does Tashigi know about it?"

"Not yet" his words came out more bitter than he had expected, and he knew it was because he was feeling kinda guilty about that whole situation. "But it's not like we're doing anything wrong. We're just being… friends, like always"

"Yeah, but you know how you've never been just friends. You always end up falling for her, in the end"

Her words struck him harder than the blows he was used to receive at the dojo. They were hard to hear, but that didn't take the veracity out of them.

"It's not that I always fall for her again; it's that, in the end, I'd never stopped loving her" he said, bitterly resigned. "But it's not like this anymore. Things are different now; I'm gonna get married"

"True, but you don't seem too excited," Nami said, and at Zoro's guilty silence, she sighed. "I'm worried about Tashigi, Zoro. I think you should at least tell her that you're talking with Robin again"

"I don't think she'll be too worried about this part, but I doubt she'll be comfortable with me meeting her after her class"

"You're going out with Robin?" She sounded a little shocked.

"Don't put it like this, it's not going out" he scratched his head, uncomfortable. "We're just going to a café. We're trying to act like friends again, like we always did"

"You know how much I like seeing you guys like this again" she arched her eyebrows, looking at him sincerely in the eyes. "But are you sure you can go on without feeling something else for Robin again?"

The question got him thinking more than it should. He couldn't just blurt out a 'yes' or a 'no', because, honestly, he wasn't sure any of this answers were correct. He wasn't sure there even was an answer for that.

"I don't know"

"See, that's what I'm saying, and even though I love you and Robin as a couple, you're in a huge commitment now with- yes, I think Sanji's food's way better, but this place is still good" Nami froze for a second mid-sentence and, when she changed the subject to something completely unrelated, Zoro understood that his fiancé was probably coming back. He checked with the corner of his eyes and confirmed that he was right.

With Tashigi back, the only thing left from the conversation were Nami's significant looks at Zoro, which only added to his heavy, somewhat guilty mind.

He was glad when he and Tashigi finally got home; the day seemed way too long and tiresome, even though they only had to arrange things for the buffet.

He plunged himself down on the sofa and let his head fall on the soft fabric of the cushion - that was all he usually needed for a good nap. But not on that day. His head was full of spinning, bothersome thoughts, and it was hard to divert from them, so he opened his eyes with a grunt and let his gaze fixed on the white ceiling for a while – not that this helped with anything, but it gave him space to think.

Nami was right; he knew he had to talk with Tashigi about Robin, especially when their relationship was built with mutual trust – something he was aware he didn't deserve after having cheated on her, so he felt that he owed the girl telling her the truth. Tashigi was a very comprehensive person, and if he told her in a straightforward manner that he and Robin were friends again, she might not care too much. Well, maybe she'd feel a little uncomfortable about it, and Zoro understood she had the right to, but he felt that he, too, had the right to act normally with his longtime friend. We're not doing anything wrong; he repeated his mantra inside his head.

His cellphone gave a loud beep inside his pocket, and he couldn't help but grin when he opened the message. Speak of the devil.

"Doctor Clover asked me to fill up for another professor tomorrow, so I won't be leaving until 5pm, ok?"

He replied to her, cursing her timing and the annoying tiny letters of the cellphone keyboard. He couldn't deny that he was happy to see her tomorrow, and tried to reassure himself that it was just because he enjoyed her presence. Everything would be good if he just stopped thinking about her for the moment.

Zoro turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels, without paying much mind to the contents on any of them, in an almost mechanical act. He was pressing the remote control button so fast that he almost missed a channel that was showing a magnificent blade. The intricate design of the hilt caught his attention – just as expected from someone who admired swords so much – and he stopped to really pay attention at the program. Apparently, it was a documentary on a channel about history, concerning old sword designs. Tashigi's love for swords was a match to his own, and he thought she might like to watch it too.

"Tashigi" he called, tilting his head to check if she was at the kitchen.

She appeared on top of the stairs that led to their room and the bathroom. A towel was wrapped in her obviously wet hair, and she was already dressed for the night, wearing small shorts under one of his old shirts that was too tight for him but too big for her. But it fitted her in a funny manner, and he thought she was looking very attractive.

"Huh?" she got down the stairs while drying her hair with the towel.

"There's a sword documentary on the TV" he signaled it with his eyes, and she sit down by his side, adjusting the glasses on her face.

Zoro propelled his arm around her neck and pulled her closer, and she adjusted her position in his chest, both of them still glued to the program. It was really interesting and rich on historical background, and he thought someone else would like to watch it too, but tried to repress this thought as soon as it got to his head, refraining his desire to text her about it. He couldn't think about her…

…He couldn't, but he was. He clicked his tongue, annoyed at himself, and noticed the soft sound of Tashigi's breath on his chest. He didn't even notice she had fallen asleep, she must have been tired – Zoro remembered her coming back from work right before dawn. Very carefully, he took off her glasses and placed them on the side table. The green haired boy let his gaze fall on her for a while; she was looking very peaceful, and watching her sleeping like this made a small smile appear on his face. He knew he liked Tashigi very much, and that his life would keep its steady, calm pace once they were married. A nice life with a nice person, without too much nuisances, was everything he could've asked for.

So why was it that he kept thinking about Robin?

Zoro wasn't sure if he considered the city viewed from the 27th floor anymore plain than he did from down below – in his opinion, it was still the same old concrete jungle -, but it looked like Robin appreciated it quite a bit. She didn't say anything, but her soft smile and contemplative look - very similar to the one she had on when analyzing an old interesting artefact - denounced her feelings.

"Here" he handed her the jacket of his social clothes without even asking if she was cold; her bare shoulders were making him feel cold just looking at her. "I have to tell you something"

"Thanks" she accepted it with a curious look and stared at him after she had covered her back with it, without putting on the sleeves. As he didn't say anything else, she added, "I'm all ears"

But Zoro didn't say anything after that, too. He held the woman's gaze, trying to find the right words to say he had to stay away from her. His mind was like a coliseum – different thoughts were fighting each other to see which one would be the first to come out of his mouth. He didn't want to say it, but he had to, for the sake of his relationship, above everything, but also for his own sanity.

The thought that won the fight in his mind, though, was about something else.

"Why were you with Crocodile?" even saying that name was enough to make his stomach churn.

"…That's what you had to tell me?" Robin smiled wryly, probably expecting anything but that.

"No, but that was bothering me before"

"He's not a bad companion. I know Luffy and you don't like him, but we were just talking about his company and how it deals with old, valuable artefacts. He ended up offering me a job, and I think I'm gonna take it"

What? Zoro thought about blurting it out, but gulped it down and did his best to keep his cool, although it was easy to notice that he was irritated. "But that means you'll have to deal with him often"

"Naturally" she giggled.

"Robin, you can't do that," his voice sounded a little more passionate than it should "This man is really suspicious, he looks like he's involved with dirty money; it could be dangerous"

"You don't need to worry about me" this time she gave him a real smile "Crocodile just looks like a scary man, but he can't do anything to harm me. He doesn't know anything about me or my job aside from what I told him, and besides, he doesn't have a reason to do anything, anyway"

Zoro knew that what she said made sense, but this constant weird feeling was still bugging him. His pride wouldn't allow him to say it aloud, but he knew, deep inside himself, that he was jealous. He grunted to shake the feeling away.

"Anyway, if he ever hurts you, I'm gonna seriously murder him"

Robin giggled at his protectiveness, finding it cute, and embraced his body. She did it in an almost motherly way, but when he embraced her back, he sensed his brain wasn't reacting in a 'family' way at all.

He felt the urge to run his hand through her dark hair, to sense her soft, pale skin. He could be like this for all eternity, feeling the scent of her floral perfume, which was ever so present and made him think that it was the default scent of her skin, and feeling the warmness of her body while the urban noises of the street down below worked as background music.

But that was no good.

"Robin, I can't do it"

"Huh?" her voice was purring in his ears. He swore he could go mad like this.

"I don't wanna be away from you"

As if contradicting his words – and his own will, which desperately wanted to stay in her embrace – he pulled away from her warm body.

"And why would you be away from me?" Her eyes glinted with the smallest hint of suspicion and curiosity.

Zoro sighed, mildly annoyed at himself.

"Because I lose my self-control when I'm around you, dammit"

Robin didn't look surprised with his statement, but stood silently gazing at him. He knew she was trying to conceal her emotions – and hell, she was good at it – but he could perceive a small agitation in her eyes. It had been there for only a fraction of seconds, but it was enough for him to understand that she wasn't as calm as she was pretending to be.

"Zoro, I don't want you to get troubled by me" her voice was very serious.

"Too late for that" he gave a bitter smile. "…I can't stop thinking about you. Ever since we broke up"

Saying those words made him feel like a jerk – it had been reckless, impulsive, and worst of all – true. His pride and sensible side were like a buzzer warning him about his commitment with Tashigi, but in his mind, the words he really wanted to say to Robin were fighting to come out. He swallowed them and stared at her intently.

The agitation in her eyes was now very perceptible. Her expression hinted that she wanted to say something, but was refraining to do so, much like him. At that moment, the green haired boy felt as if every mundane aspect – the noise of the traffic from the street, the muffled sound of the party reaching the balcony, the chill of the wind – had disappeared. It was only him and Robin.

"I know it's stupid to be telling you all of this" Zoro said, still annoyed at himself, his feelings, the world. "But I can't do this crap; I can't say I want to stay away from you when I don't really mean it"

Silence. Robin's scrutinizing gaze was unbearable, making him more guilty about the whole situation. He just couldn't decipher what was hiding in her agitation; was she feeling guilty too or simply too uncomfortable with the whole situation to say something? Thinking about it, he was being really inconvenient: not only was he being dishonest with Tashigi, putting her aside, but also shoving his feelings on Robin without considering if she wanted to hear it or not. His stubbornness always made him a little blind for these types of thing.

"Look, just forget it"

"…I've already tried to distance myself from you, but I failed. You're not the only who's trying hard"

"Huh?"

Her tone was sounding a little different from the one he was used to hear coming from her mouth; it was lacking its normal confidence, giving her true feelings away. Seeing her step away from her usual unshakable pose was peculiar, but not at all bad; it reminded him that Robin was, after all, just like everyone else, even though sometimes he couldn't help but think 'how does she manage to always be so incredible?'

"Zoro, I… I'm honestly confused. I thought a lot about it, but I haven't reached a conclusion yet"

"About what?"

"About us". She said, simply.

"Yeah, I know what it's like" he sniggered.

"What a great pair we are" her coy smile hit him harder than what she was probably expecting.

He didn't know what kind of impulse took over his body – only that it was triggered by that smile - but he found himself hugging her, feeling her warm body once again against his. Thoughts complaining about life's incoherence crossed his mind – why the hell were two people who were, apparently, constantly thinking about each other, not together? – but he shook them away because, firstly, he was trying to maintain the last ray of faithfulness to Tashigi, and secondly, because life had no fault on that matter. He and Robin broke up on their own will.

Robin slowly gave in to the hug, and wrapped her arms around his waist in a very resistant way – he couldn't say that she was more stubborn than him, but the raven haired girl was surely more mature; she knew that situation would bring no good, but it was possible to see that she, too, was giving in to the impetus of her body, instead of the warnings on her brain.

A car was honking like crazy in the large avenue downstairs, and Zoro thought that it was probably the world warning him of the trouble he was getting himself into, but at that moment, he didn't really care. Robin's presence had always been reassuring to him, and he had the feeling that, as long as he was by her side, he was gonna be ok. It was a cliché, sentimental feeling, and that made him realize the words he really wanted to tell her from the beginning. Oh, fuck. Now that they were in that situation, it didn't matter much if he said it or not – they were already flirting with danger, anyway.

"I-" oh, dammit, say it already. "I guess I'm still in love with you"

"That was the worst 'I love you' I've heard in my entire life" she had a teasing tone on her voice, but considering it was Robin, it might as well be her true opinion. Her mouth was still near his ear, and every half-whispered word of hers was driving him crazy.

The green haired boy gave her a fake frown and looked at her eyes. He buried his fingers at her nape, feeling her soft hair, rediscovering the sensation that his mind never allowed him to forget. Robin closed the distance between them, until their faces were just barely touching.

"Are you sure?" Robin said, but as she did, her fingers kept running through his chest, not wanting to let go. He knew that her keen mind had, for once, lost the battle.

Zoro didn't respond. He pulled her waist closer in a gentle way – considering his strength and usual lack of delicacy – and, when he did, their lips inevitably touched. He felt minor shockwaves running through his body as he felt her wonderful, soft lips, a sensation that made him feel electric and calm at the same time. His mouth was needing her, and he could tell that she was the same; she was returning his actions with the same intensity. The archaeologist's hands were wrapped around his neck, and when one of her fingers started delicately tracing a path from the base of his neck to his hair, he started kissing her even more intensely, irrevocably turned on.

When she stopped to breath, he took the opportunity to plant a kiss on her neck, feeling the shockwaves again with the contact of his mouth on her skin. The skin that he longed for such a long time to touch again.

"People are starting to look this way," she said between breaths with a voice that, in his ears, sounded alluring, but maybe that was because he was already bewitched by her spell.

He looked at the direction her eyes were indicating, and he could see that some people were indeed looking at them, although the frosted glass that separated the balcony from the party was probably hiding their identity. People were not interested in who they were, just at the fact that there were people making out in a political campaign party.

"Let them see" he said, kissing her again.

He would hate to admit it, but guilty never crossed his mind on that moment.