Chapter 4: This Peculiar Emotion

The ship known as the Merry Go landed in the bay of the Marine base Navarone G-8. After a series of events to include Zoro sweeping the halls, Sanji competing against the chefs in a cook-off, and Chopper playing doctor with Nami as his nurse, the crew managed to escape from this fortress and arrived to an island where everything was long. And I mean loooooooooooooooooooooooong. While on the island known as Longland, they encountered the Foxy Pirates led by Foxy the Silver Fox, an odd man with an odd hairstyle and a Devil's Fruit ability that is odd yet devastating. The Strawhats battled the Foxy Pirates in a series of games where the winners claim a crew member from the losing team after each round. After two 3-game series, the Strawhats emerged victorious, claiming 497 of the Foxy Pirates, the Foxy Pirates' flag, Chopper, and Robin, the latter 2 had been lost in the previous rounds. Zoro breathed a sigh of relief as he had witnessed the winning back of their archaeologist.

"So, the great swordsman does get worried from time to time." said the older lady as she sat in her lounge chair on the dock, looking over to the younger man as he trained. A smile playfully danced on her lips.

"Oi. I was worried that we would lose one of our nakama." said the swordsman as he set his weights down and wiped the sweat off of him. He kept the towel on his face for a little bit longer, waiting for the redness that had invaded his cheeks to go away.

"Zoro!!" shouted their captain, Monkey D. Luffy, a strange young boy with Devil's fruit powers and a dream of extreme grandeur. "I need to talk with you." said the young man as he began to pull his first mate off to the side.

"Sure thing Luffy." he said as he looked back towards Robin. "We'll finish this conversation later." he said as he continued to be dragged off by his eager captain.

As the duo of Luffy and Zoro went to another section of the ship, the ship's meteorological-savvy navigator Nami walked up and sat down next to Robin. "Hey Robin, I have a question to ask you." said the orange-haired girl as she looked at the raven-haired woman.

"What is it, Kokaishi-san?" responded the older woman as she returned the look back. The current fidgety nature of their usually calm navigator piqued her interest.

"I think I like someone as more than a nakama." said the raven-haired boy as he looked at his green-haired first mate for answers. They had receded to the men's bedroom since it is currently unoccupied by any of the others.

"Wh-wh-why are you telling me this? I don't know anything about this." said Zoro, even though he was battling these same issues currently as well. "Who is it?" asked the swordsman.

"Do you think Sanji is really interested in me?" asked the navigator as she began to blush a bit. She felt embarrassed asking the older woman if the cook/pervert was interested in only one woman.

"Well, that is a very interesting question, Kokaishi-san. Does that mean that you are interested in Cook-san?" she said with a smile as she watched the young girl's skin began to redden like an apple. A chuckle escaped from her lips as she continued to watch the navigator sweat.

"Vivi. It's Vivi." he said, clearly and bluntly. The captain was not known for his subtlety or shyness, but rather his straightforwardness.

"Vivi, huh? When did you realize this?" asked the swordsman as he went over to his bunk and pulled out a bottle of sake.

"What if I was to say that I am?" said Nami as she looked over at the chuckling Robin.

"Well, then I might be able to help you out a little bit more." said the archaeologist as she sipped on her coffee that sat upon the table next to her.

Zoro spat out some of his sake as he heard Luffy's response. "Since you first met her!? You mean when she was trying to kill us, you especially?" said the swordsman as he wiped the spat-up sake from his lips.

"Well, something was different about her that made my heart beat all funny-like." he said as he wiped some of the sake off of his face. "But after seeing how you and Robin act around each other, it made me think about her more than before and..." he said as Zoro stopped him.

"Oi. There is nothing going on between me and Robin." he said with a straightforward face. He was trying hard to hide his conflicting feeling for the older woman and was doing pretty good, or so he thought.

"Well, what about you and a certain swordsman? Don't think that I haven't noticed how you two have been behaving recently." said the navigator as a grin crept upon her lips this time. However, Robin was as calm and collected as ever, so she wasn't outwardly phased by Nami's statement.

"I have no idea what you mean, Kokaishi-san, but as far as Cook-san is concerned, I can talk with him if you like, or maybe even get one of the others to ask." she said as she sipped her coffee.

"Oh, you mean like your man, Zoro?" said the young girl with a grin near the size of Luffy's which caused the older woman to pause in her sipping of the coffee. "I'll wait for a response, Robin-onee-chan." she said with a chuckle as she walked back to her map room, knowing that she had finally caught Robin.

"Anyway, why don't you ask Usopp? I mean, he does have Kaya and he sends her letters and calls her when he can during our visits on islands with the capabilities." said Zoro as he used Usopp as a scapegoat.

"Of course. Why didn't I think of that?" said the captain as he hopped up off of the bed and made his way to the door. "By the way, Zoro. You shouldn't fight them. Your emotions. They are a part of you and will never betray you." said the raven-haired as he ran out the door, hollering Usopp's name.

Zoro began to redden. "What the..." he muttered to himself as he sat on the bed staring at the open door leading to the hallway. He became lost in thought as he went over his captain's statement. "How can a swordsman, who has trained everyday to be tough, allow himself to become soft by this peculiar emotion?"