tampered | Log, finished

Log, finished

When; Feb. 7th, evening
Rating; PG/-13
Characters; Nico Robin [

maten_rou]
Summary; For her birthday he decides to give her a special keepsake as a gift. From their world.
~~A day too late because none of those dirty pirates told him it was her birthday, argh! D:<~~
Log;
Visiting the beach, a dinner at Pandora's and walking back 'home' through Xanadu. That was hopefully a good enough way to catch up with Robin's birthday a day later. Not that there was anything better to do in the City and it surely would have not been a good idea if he came along to the party they had on the pirate ship. (He still didn't intend to do a single step on it anyways)

When they finally reached their shared apartment he was glad to get the feeling of silence and privacy at least for a few hours. He grabbed Robin by her hand and dragged her down to the couch playfully, placing himself next to her and laying an arm around her, suddenly feeling very tired and weary. "Well, that was the best I could come up with in that short time. You better liked it." he said and put his chin on her shoulder.

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Robin had certainly enjoyed the past two days -- she didn't even know that it was possible to have such happy days right behind each other. The attention and love she had received from everyone around her was just too much she could fathom; she felt like her heart was going to burst simply because everyone cared.

And now, she found herself on the couch in her shared apartment, running her hands through the hair of the man she loved and feeling like she couldn't get any happier than this. "I really enjoyed it, thank you so much," she said softly.

"Glad you did" he said, and he really was. Jyabura had no idea of how to take a girl out properly, he always came up with something... cheap or not classy enough. All that noble and stiff behaviour just wasn't him; if Robin wasn't pregnant, he'd probably propose to do a childish drinking game or the like. That wasn't classy, but at least it would have been fun. Oh well.

There was no birthday without gifts. He had one for her. Since a longer time. But he had no idea if she'd like it. Or if it would simply terrify Robin to her bones. "Mh, you know, I have a gift for you too, but I really don't know if you'll like it." he said nervously.

"Well...I don't know either," she teased, actually curious about this mystery gift, since he didn't really seem like the type to care about materialistic possessions. But then, she didn't care either about gifts, it was just the thought that counted and that someone had actually done an effort to get her something. It made her feel like she was being... remembered, for once, and not as a burden.

Obviously, he wasn't happy about this gift. But then, she could use it better than he. Sometime, maybe. Hopefully... not. It had no use in the City.

"Fine" he said and carefully pulled out a small thing out of his pocket, not even the size of an apple and enwrapped in old rags that smelled like sea water. "I wanted to give you this for Christmas, but that would have been too early. Found it during the three years I spent back at the Grandline. Cost a few cut throats, but when I have track of something, I keep on until I get it" he said while carefully unwrapping it. "It probably is a fake anyways, and even if it's not, they'll hang us both for it" he added and grinned amused. This wouldn't be the only reason they'd both get hanged if they ever returned to their world.

He took Robin's hand and put the thing in it. It was an old, worn-out Log Port, the needle spinning around from one direction to the other, making it utter useless. Barely visible, the inscription read 'Ohara'.

"F-for me...?" was the restrained, almost naive answer as Robin stared at the object in her hand, her other one covering her mouth. She had expected everything but this. Never would she had thought that she'd see that name again, written somewhere else than in her mind or dusty old maps. Yet in her hand was the thing that used to be the way to get to her homeland, her destroyed one, only known from tales or shady rumors.

Suddenly a broad, grateful smile made its way across her cheeks while she fought from crying, horribly failing as she started to sob uncontrollably with her hand pressed tightly against her mouth. She wanted to do nothing more than hug him, but she was afraid of his reaction and continued crying, her breath being cut off by sheer emotion.

Oh no, please, everything but crying. That was exactly the reaction he expected, but it didn't make him happy to make her cry the second time within a few weeks. Even though this time it was some kind of... positive crying or the like. The other possibility would be that she'd smack him for bringing up very likely not so happy memories, but that luckily wasn't the case.

"Yeah, of course for you, silly" he chuckled and actually felt relieved, but still not happy about Robin's tears. "Just don't... no crying. Please?" he said and hugged her. "I really hate to see you cry."

"Of course..." she stuttered, wiping her nose and eyes before burying her face in his neck with a ridiculous giggle. Just moments ago, she thought that she had been at the peak of happiness, but now, she was convinced that this was it -- the feeling she had longed for all her life. It had taken 20 years, but now she had finally gotten it and she was dead set on never letting it slip away again.

"I can't thank you enough..." she murmured, holding onto him tightly with her free hand as if to never let go.

"You don't have to" he said with a lenient smile and stroked her back with his hands. "Still, I hope you'll never have to use it" he added and wondered about what he just said by himself.

"I mean... not that way, but-" he faltered and searched for the right words. "I hear about people vanishing, or rather returning to their own worlds." For him it would be impossible to return and stay for any longer time. Anyoen at the Tower of Justice would get punished for their failure, and if they ever knew what he was doing in the City - if they'd even believe him - he'd be a dead man anyways. "I have no future there and if you'd go, well, I'd be all alone." Kaku disappeared weeks ago and he couldn't care less for Lucci.

"I have friends here, but that's not the same. You have your allies, at least" he continued, then suddenly stopped and asked himself why he was telling her that in the first place, the feeling of weariness growing inside of him more and more.

"People have been leaving ever since I came here," she said quietly. "That isn't going to change. We can't help it if we get pulled back to our world in some way, the deities like to torture, after all. But people also return, so there's always a chance that someone may come back at one point."

Robin sighed and hoped that such a thing wouldn't happen to either of them while the other was still in the City. He was right, she had her nakama, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't care if she'd return to their world with them while he was staying behind. She'd probably be devastated if that'd happen; she didn't want to think about such a thing right now, when things were being so great.

She inhaled heavily and said what almost felt like a confession "I don't want to leave this place without you. I refuse to."

"They return because the City calls you" he said, having experienced it by himself. "It's not only your friends that make you wanna come back. It sounds weird, but you want the City back. No matter how much misery it has caused you, you really... miss it" he tried to explain what would sound weird to anyone who didn't feel it personally too. "You don't miss it if you're back again and suffer under those curses and all, but when you're gone, you do." he added, inwardly glad that he had a lot of better reasons now to stay here.

"Yeah, but you're young and still have a purpose, don't you?" he said after a while. "For me there's no use there anymore. I don't want to hold you back from returning if you really want to." It was the truth, though this situation would very likely destroy him mentally and he hoped for it to never happen. "I don't want to be your burden" he said barely audible, leaning his head against her shoulder.

Robin's expression changed into a contemplative one as Jyabura's words slowly lingered inside her mind; she tried to comprehend and she could, because it seemed all too logical. "I can understand that. I'm quite sure that if I'd leave, I'd long to be back again. I miss our world, but... I've grown accustomed to this one too," she said thoughtfully, letting the Log Pose slide from one hand to another, musing on a possible return to their world. She was actually morbidly curious about what Dorian would demand from her if she were to depend on the woman's services.

His next words, however, somewhat made a hole deep down inside of her as she realized that she would never to be able to accomplish her dream this way. As much as she liked being in the City, for now at least, she wanted to go back eventually to fulfill her dream. Eventually. "Don't speak such nonsense. You're not my burden in any way."

"It's kinda ok. Full of weirdos and curses that fuck with your mind. Lacks ocean too, but yeah. Besides that..." he mused as he counted up the City's negative traits, which were many more than the positive ones. To him the only real positive thing was Robin, but he feared the day in which some curse would make him hurt her. He could never forgive himself that, cursed or not. But besides that, a curse was responsible for the City's only positive trait so far.

"Hmm" he said tired and couldn't believe her completely. Of course he was. Somehow. But a relationship to any other man would make things far easier for Robin. Except maybe with Lucci, but the mere thought of this made him sick. "Good to hear" he said and put his hand on her stomach. "I'll try to take care of both of you."

"I haven't really encountered the more strange inhabitants yet, actually," she smiled, secretly grateful for that since she had heard some rather unnerving stories about certain citizens. "As for the lack of ocean... I would agree. I do wonder what's behind that horizon, though. But the deities probably won't let us explore that because they're oh-so keen on keeping us as their little toys." She didn't mind the deities plus their curses as long as they didn't do any major damage or made her feel uneasy for days after, like the case with that worst fear day. Her thoughts sometimes wandered back to that absolutely dreadful day and it still made her feel very uneasy.

"I'm sure you'd do a lot more than just try, knowing you," she said while sliding her eyes closed with a smile. "Such as beating everyone up who even dares to say something insulting to me or being worried about me all the time."

"If you like to see strange yet harmless citizens, just ask if they're from New York" he grinned. He learned about many more worlds, some more silimar to his own, some utterly different, but that New York-thing sounded so weird on his own, it reminded him of the weirdness of the Grandline. "I think that ocean here is not even stuffed with Sea Kings, but I get the feeling no one can cross it" he added thoughful.

"Well, beating up people is the only thing I can do" he admitted a bit embarassed. It was the only thing he ever learned and did all his life long, most times worse than only beating them, though. "And being worried is normal. You're worried about me too, though there's no reason to" he said and gave her an impish look.

Robin raised her head to look at him with a frown. "New York? Is that another world?" she asked, curious about his sudden knowledge about a thing as... New York. Or different worlds, for that matter. She was definitely interested in all those worlds because some of them were so drastically different; such as Naoto's homeworld, or Isane's. It intrigued her to no end but also frightened in a way, since they were all here to either survive or die, weren't they? "Maybe it's an endless ocean or maybe it's keeping us from finding something out. Either way, I wouldn't recommend on trying to cross it."

"I know that. And that you're good at it," she said a bit proudly, since she was convinced that everyone had something they were good at and in his case, it was simply killing. She didn't mind as long as he didn't brag about it. "And you don't really have a reason to be worried about me either as long as Naoto is my friend," she added cryptically.

"No, it's just a city in another world, silly" he teased Robin and pushed her down carefully, lying next to her. "People can talk about hookworms all day long and cats spread stupidity!" he explained her excited, having such theories on cats since ever. "You don't even wish to know how they celebrate New Year, but they call our world archaic because we use ships to travel! They claim to have ships that can fly!" he continued with a 'Yeah sure, flying ships, you know?'-look.

"You think so?" he asked her with a slight blush, having noticed her tone, but then got distracted by her next sentence. It wasn't all too cryptic as he spent a lot of time with thinking about this too. "That didn't hold him back from attacking you" he said grim, seeing no need in explaining who he was talking about. "You know that I can't tell you he's harmless. He isn't. But he will think before doing this to you again twice, at least. Most probably he'll continue blackmailing you with some nonsense, but that's facade" he added.

"A city, I see," she said, while she allowed herself to be pushed back against the couch; carefully placing the Log Pose on the ground. She laughed at his glee over a place he had never ever seen before, obviously telling her things he had heard from a friend. That city sure sounded interesting though, especially because of the weird cat disease. She chuckled once more. "Well, the Going Merry once flew, too..."

"Yes, I really do," she said softly before looking at him with a smile, bringing her hand up to touch his face. "Yes, I'm aware of that. Yet I do think that Naoto can control him, in whatever way." She withdrew her hand and her gaze diverted to the ceiling after his last sentence, remembering the conversation she had on the network the day before. Of course he was blackmailing her, but she had convinced herself that she was safe while Naoto was her friend. Deep down, though, she knew that he'd do whatever he liked without caring about Naoto's approval anyway. "I... don't know. I really don't."

"Going Merry? Is that your pirate ship? And please, what do you mean by it once flew?" he asked her sceptically, not having the slightest idea of how and, most important, why to make a ship fly.

He wasn't so sure about Naoto's control over Lucci. He didn't doubt she could influence him, but control him? Kaku once mentioned that it could actually be easy to control Lucci, but Jyabura prefered sorting things out with violence instead of weird mindgames he loathed so much. For a moment he wished Kaku was still here. It could be useful, all of a sudden.

With his hand he carefully stroked her cheek. "Look, he's not that stupid. He learned his lesson from the last time. It may or may not be that he's stronger than some of the people around you" he said, avoiding to use 'us' and implying that the fight between him and Lucci still wasn't finished yet, "but he knows that everything he does to you will just reflect on him. He won't risk that again." He remembered that Lucci told him under a curse that he loved Naoto, but Jyabura doubted that Lucci had real human feelings to begin with and didn't trust this all too much.

"Yes, our pirate ship. Making it fly wasn't too hard, we merely placed the ship above a knock-up stream that shot us into the sky. And why... well, we had heard of a land in the sky and its treasure, so naturally, Luffy wanted to explore it," Robin said, recalling fond and not-so fond memories of Skypiea, her first real adventure with the Strawhat Crew. Her only real adventure, as the "adventure" after that wasn't as thrilling or amusing. Far from it.

She still didn't dare to look at him, even if he said such reassuring things -- she was simply too ashamed to be so frightened of something that she didn't have to be scared of. Yet she was and she had every reason to; but Robin didn't realize this and saw it as a weakness on her account. "It doesn't keep him from threatening me or telling me horrible things," she said breathlessly, terrifying images invading her mind involving her loved ones, Lucci and blood. "I can't deny that he scares me. In fact, he scares me witless with just being in this City."

Jyabura didn't even want to ask about lands in the sky. He wouldn't question Robin, but that still sounded a bit too weird. The other topic bothered him too much now.

For a long while he didn't know what to say. All his efforts were for nothing, but he had no right to say she'd be safe with him in this City. He told Robin this before and still she got attacked. He'd bet that the fucking cat didn't even plan it and simply used the chance as he had it. He knew Lucci wouldn't kill Robin. If he wanted to, he'd have done it a long time ago and wouldn't waste his time with blackmailing and whatever. But no matter how often he told Robin that, she couldn't believe him. Well, maybe he was really wrong in the end.

He still had no idea what to say, it all seemed useless and he couldn't keep what he promised anyways. And of course it hurt him that Robin said such things. It hurt him because he failed at everything he wanted to accomplish. Miserably.

Resigned he sighed and closed his eyes, helplessness making him mute this time.

Robin's expression changed into a one of sadness, as she realized that she had said something stupid again. But, as it was exactly how she felt and she couldn't lie to him, she just couldn't say anything else. His silence was slightly unnerving her since he never really grew silent like this unless it was something really bad; yet, Robin didn't see this issue as a huge taboo. She needed someone to who she could talk about it, who wouldn't immediately say "I'll kick his ass" or try to comfort her in ways that would only worry her more. Although his view wasn't so objective, he thought logically and that was exactly what Robin was searching for. Rationality.

She moved in closer and sighed, a small smile touching her lips before a faint whisper left her mouth.

"We'll be fine."

Actually, Jyabura knew that he could take on Lucci anytime. He grew a lot of stronger and Lucci knew this. Kaku knew it too. Hell, they had to learn it the hard way. In the City, no one stayed the same as before. It bothered Jyabura that Robin couldn't believe him, unless she saw it with her own eyes. If she could, at least she could feel safe while being with him for a few hours or days. That's all he wanted.

He leaned over her and gave her a kiss, feeling a bit better as she implied something like optimism for the first time. "We'll be dandy, even." he said and embraced her. "That's not very comforting, I know, but there isn't such thing as permanent happiness. Just think of happiness with some streaks of bad times, not the other way around. It's just... normal."

He was right, there was no such thing as permanent happiness. But how was Robin supposed to know? It was the only thing she was completely naive about and she still didn't exactly know when to feel happy or when not, because a feeling like that felt too fragile to last more than a few moments. Countless times over had it been destroyed and she wasn't going to let that happen again, so she had created an armor for herself to ensure that she'd never feel that emotion again. Unfortunately, her nakama and this particular man had demolished it, gradually, until she could feel happy again. It wasn't such a bad feeling.

And streaks of bad times...? Then her life had been nothing but "streaks" of bad times. It was more like bad times with very rare streaks of joy, but she was glad that it had changed. She still wasn't very... normal yet, but who was? In secret, she was proud of herself to have opened up to certain people.

"Normal... that sounds nice."

"Not that any of us ever had a normal life and not that this would change in the City, out of all" he said with a good amount of sarcasm, but amused. This place was anything but normal.

"Sounds a bit boring though, don't you think?" he asked while running a hand through her hair. The City left Jyabura quite idle, he couldn't imagine to work as anything else but a, well, murderer. Which really wasn't the best job to do in such a place. And the curses weren't exactly what he counted up as good entertainment.

"No idea what the future will bring" he said after a while in a serious tone, still playing around with her hair, "but you said that in the end, everything will be alright again", referring to what she said at the cherry tree in Xanadu. "That is... good to know."

"We'll just have to see, don't we?" she said with a smile, closing her eyes and leaning against him. She wasn't in the mood for any serious talking anymore; the past few days had been too "heavy" in her opinion while she just wanted to enjoy her life. The problem was that she couldn't, but right now, she refused to think of that any longer. Her mind screamed for some rest considering that topic.

"And everything will be alright. No matter what happens, we'll get through."

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Log, finished

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