One Piece - Trust Me - Robin/Vivi - 1/?
Title: Trust Me (1/?)
Pairing/Characters: Robin x Vivi
Disclaimer: Does not belong to me.
Notes: This is part one of a post-series fic. For 30_quills. #2, I just want to flee from this nightmare and never return.
There was a war in Alabasta.
After the dust settled, it was easier to see the scars. Long patches of land where nothing would grow, fallen ruins, the rain made it all more visible. For two years Kohza sat in the palace as an ambassador and Vivi learning to lead a country.
Cobra was ready to become a part of the past and step aside for the future.
And in those two years, Igaram had collected all of the news reports and wanted posters, leaving them just outside of Vivi's room where she'd leaf through them for clues. The Straw Hat Pirates travelled so far into the Grand Line that news reports were becoming slim and taking longer to reach the Islands further south. There was a rumor that Straw Hat Luffy had disappeared.
But news in the palace was quick and steady and echoed off of the long hallways and chambers. There were treaties to consider, land permits and sales licenses and weather reports (every drop of rain was important). The palace buzzed with a newly growing economy, only becoming more alive with each day.
Alabasta almost looked green in some places and Vivi was never quite sure what to make of that.
It was a Sunday night when she had the nightmare. She dreamt of a black ocean that swallowed everything around it. Islands and ships and fish, even plucking birds out of the air and devouring them. She was on a small island clinging to handfulls of sand and waiting for her turn to drown.
It was her father who woke her up. The clock said it was just before seven in the morning.
She dangled between wanting to curl into his arms and tell him about her nightmare and needing to show him something more enduring.
"There's someone on the phone." He said from the end of the bed. She couldn't clearly see his face with the curtains still drawn. "It's business and they say they'll only talk to you."
"This early?" She yawned, covering her face. "You can come in Terracotta."
Cobra left the room while Terracotta started drawing the drapes. He kissed Vivi on the forehead before leaving and at eighteen she decided she didn't mind if he did that until she was as old as him.
"Any news?" Vivi asked, squinting as the sun lit up the room.
"You know Igaram is on top of it. He's almost as bad as you are, dear."
Vivi smiled.
The wanted posters had new faces that Vivi didn't recognize. There had been a battle on the sea one week ago where an entire fleet of marine ships was destroyed. Not one word of the Straw Hats, but the name "Shanks" came up and Vivi knew to hang on to that one.
When she finally got to the phone, the voice on the other end seeped through the line like poison.
And suddenly she was Miss Wednesday again. Alabasta was dry and brittle and breaking and people were hungry and dying. All because of three simple words.
"Good morning, princess." Nico Robin said, and the lump in Vivi's throat threatened to strangle her.
"We have no business with yo--"
"I know." Robin said and her voice commanded both ends of the line. "But I have some business with you."
"Why did you want to speak with me, there are plenty of people here to make appointments with."
"I'm on a transport ship and I don't have a lot of time."
"I don't believe you. If you had no time you wouldn't have waited for me to get on the phone. Now tell me the truth. Tell me exactly what you want and I'll tell you whether or not this is going to be something that I can help you with."
"It's about our captain."
In an angry haze she had not made the connection between Nico Robin and Luffy.
She had known that Robin left Alabasta with them thanks to news reports. Nico Robin was a name on the wanted list since before Vivi was born. While Luffy's bounty climbed to the top of the record books, news of his crew was more avaliable. It was now fairly common knowledge that Nico Robin was with them and she, alone, made them into a world class threat.
Vivi always found this interesting through the eyes of the news. Robin made them dangerous. Luffy was dangerous with or without her.
"How far are you?" Vivi asked.
"I can be there tomorrow afternoon."
"I don't trust you." Vivi said. She spoke the words to Miss Allsunday. Whether or not the woman existed anymore felt irrelevant.
"But you trust him." Robin said. "Right?"
Vivi was silent and they both knew that the question needed no answer.
"I'll be there tomorrow afternoon."
---
The sense of unity that overcame Alabasta after the war with the rebels was short lived. There were months of celebration that ended when the reality of competition was realized. The cities were growing and neighbors that had fought together in the war now had opposing businesses.
Further South there were still small groups of rebels who were unmoved by the rain in Alabasta. Groups that hadn't mobilized in time or ones with idealistic leaders who wouldn't budge. Kohza had been sent to speak to them directly, but they had long since stopped calling him their leader. Reports back to the kindgom were that he wasn't sure how powerful the groups were or how powerful they might become. Cobra didn't want to attack unless it was the very last resort.
By the end of the first year, the remaining rebels had completely left the island. Rumors circulated that they were driven out by force, and distrust in the kingdom was murmured behind the peace. Only in small pockets and often in places where the news travelled slow.
But Kohza knew very well that rumors turned hills into mountains.
---
When Vivi woke up on Tuesday morning, she didn't remember her dreams, but she was cold and sweating and felt tremors like she'd had another nightmare.
It rained all morning and even into the afternoon when two escorts brought Robin up the steps to the palace. It didn't stop until the evening when the storm from Vivi's dreams came and threatened to swallow the edges of the island.
Robin talked to her about trust and it was hard to hear her drawl over the beating rain on the windows.
She was positive that Robin brought the storm with her.
Pairing/Characters: Robin x Vivi
Disclaimer: Does not belong to me.
Notes: This is part one of a post-series fic. For 30_quills. #2, I just want to flee from this nightmare and never return.
There was a war in Alabasta.
After the dust settled, it was easier to see the scars. Long patches of land where nothing would grow, fallen ruins, the rain made it all more visible. For two years Kohza sat in the palace as an ambassador and Vivi learning to lead a country.
Cobra was ready to become a part of the past and step aside for the future.
And in those two years, Igaram had collected all of the news reports and wanted posters, leaving them just outside of Vivi's room where she'd leaf through them for clues. The Straw Hat Pirates travelled so far into the Grand Line that news reports were becoming slim and taking longer to reach the Islands further south. There was a rumor that Straw Hat Luffy had disappeared.
But news in the palace was quick and steady and echoed off of the long hallways and chambers. There were treaties to consider, land permits and sales licenses and weather reports (every drop of rain was important). The palace buzzed with a newly growing economy, only becoming more alive with each day.
Alabasta almost looked green in some places and Vivi was never quite sure what to make of that.
It was a Sunday night when she had the nightmare. She dreamt of a black ocean that swallowed everything around it. Islands and ships and fish, even plucking birds out of the air and devouring them. She was on a small island clinging to handfulls of sand and waiting for her turn to drown.
It was her father who woke her up. The clock said it was just before seven in the morning.
She dangled between wanting to curl into his arms and tell him about her nightmare and needing to show him something more enduring.
"There's someone on the phone." He said from the end of the bed. She couldn't clearly see his face with the curtains still drawn. "It's business and they say they'll only talk to you."
"This early?" She yawned, covering her face. "You can come in Terracotta."
Cobra left the room while Terracotta started drawing the drapes. He kissed Vivi on the forehead before leaving and at eighteen she decided she didn't mind if he did that until she was as old as him.
"Any news?" Vivi asked, squinting as the sun lit up the room.
"You know Igaram is on top of it. He's almost as bad as you are, dear."
Vivi smiled.
The wanted posters had new faces that Vivi didn't recognize. There had been a battle on the sea one week ago where an entire fleet of marine ships was destroyed. Not one word of the Straw Hats, but the name "Shanks" came up and Vivi knew to hang on to that one.
When she finally got to the phone, the voice on the other end seeped through the line like poison.
And suddenly she was Miss Wednesday again. Alabasta was dry and brittle and breaking and people were hungry and dying. All because of three simple words.
"Good morning, princess." Nico Robin said, and the lump in Vivi's throat threatened to strangle her.
"We have no business with yo--"
"I know." Robin said and her voice commanded both ends of the line. "But I have some business with you."
"Why did you want to speak with me, there are plenty of people here to make appointments with."
"I'm on a transport ship and I don't have a lot of time."
"I don't believe you. If you had no time you wouldn't have waited for me to get on the phone. Now tell me the truth. Tell me exactly what you want and I'll tell you whether or not this is going to be something that I can help you with."
"It's about our captain."
In an angry haze she had not made the connection between Nico Robin and Luffy.
She had known that Robin left Alabasta with them thanks to news reports. Nico Robin was a name on the wanted list since before Vivi was born. While Luffy's bounty climbed to the top of the record books, news of his crew was more avaliable. It was now fairly common knowledge that Nico Robin was with them and she, alone, made them into a world class threat.
Vivi always found this interesting through the eyes of the news. Robin made them dangerous. Luffy was dangerous with or without her.
"How far are you?" Vivi asked.
"I can be there tomorrow afternoon."
"I don't trust you." Vivi said. She spoke the words to Miss Allsunday. Whether or not the woman existed anymore felt irrelevant.
"But you trust him." Robin said. "Right?"
Vivi was silent and they both knew that the question needed no answer.
"I'll be there tomorrow afternoon."
---
The sense of unity that overcame Alabasta after the war with the rebels was short lived. There were months of celebration that ended when the reality of competition was realized. The cities were growing and neighbors that had fought together in the war now had opposing businesses.
Further South there were still small groups of rebels who were unmoved by the rain in Alabasta. Groups that hadn't mobilized in time or ones with idealistic leaders who wouldn't budge. Kohza had been sent to speak to them directly, but they had long since stopped calling him their leader. Reports back to the kindgom were that he wasn't sure how powerful the groups were or how powerful they might become. Cobra didn't want to attack unless it was the very last resort.
By the end of the first year, the remaining rebels had completely left the island. Rumors circulated that they were driven out by force, and distrust in the kingdom was murmured behind the peace. Only in small pockets and often in places where the news travelled slow.
But Kohza knew very well that rumors turned hills into mountains.
---
When Vivi woke up on Tuesday morning, she didn't remember her dreams, but she was cold and sweating and felt tremors like she'd had another nightmare.
It rained all morning and even into the afternoon when two escorts brought Robin up the steps to the palace. It didn't stop until the evening when the storm from Vivi's dreams came and threatened to swallow the edges of the island.
Robin talked to her about trust and it was hard to hear her drawl over the beating rain on the windows.
She was positive that Robin brought the storm with her.