Chapter 6 - Kuzan

~Robin~

'The last few days were amazing.'

She thought to herself as she walked away from the main building of the resort, they were staying in.

Even Garp's comment about Ohara did only slightly dampen her mood.

Of course, she'd always have that incident in the back of her mind.

It was, after all, the turning point of her life.

After that fateful day, she was on the run for years and years, rarely trusting anyone after some harshly learned lessons about human nature, with Croquant, her not-quite-yet lover, being the only notable exception.

When she came out of her thoughts, she noticed, that her subconscious led her to their favourite spot by the sea.

Even though it was nearly midday, a slight breeze cut through the heat, which made the high temperatures much more pleasant.

She closed her eyes with a slight smile as she enjoyed the wind on her face and asked curiously.

"Are you here to kill me? What am I saying, that's not public enough, so first Impel Down and then a public execution?"

She opened her eyes and looked at the man besides her with a teasing smile.

He was slim, very much so, though with nearly 3 metres of height, he still cut an awe-inspiring figure.

His curly, black hair moved slightly in the wind as he aimed a slight frown at her.

"I didn't expect you to be at ease enough to joke around with me after our last meeting."

He grumbled as he looked back to the sea.

She shrugged and answered.

"What can I say. Having people, who support you no matter what, does wonders for one's mental health."

They lapsed into silence for a while.

It wasn't an unpleasant one, though.

After a couple of minutes, the admiral broke the quiet with a statement.

"You were drifting for quite a while.

If you still hadn't found a place to belong, I'd have taken you in today."

He looked at her in surprise, when she started to laugh.

"Fufufu, I'd like to see you try."

She then looked up contemplatively.

"Actually, the island wouldn't survive that, probably."

~Kuzan~

Just as he wanted to retort, he heard a new voice.

"You really know me best, Robin."

'I didn't feel him with Kenbonshoku until he was directly behind me!'

He turned around to look at the newcomer, only to see a rather well known face with a little girl, possibly a sheep mink? sitting on his shoulders.

"Arara, what's the Minister of foreign Cuisine doing in Paradise? Last I've heard about you was something regarding newly developed spice mixes on a little island close to Strumia."

That would've meant, that he was deep in the New World.

The fact, that he was standing in front of him with a lazy smile on his face was somewhat alarming.

The answer he gave was... unsatisfying to say the least.

"Who knows...~"

He said while grabbing the sheep mink girl and putting her on the ground.

The adorable little thing beamed up at the fearsome pirate and thanked him.

"Thank you, Papa!"

Said 'Papa' had a dopey smile on his face before controlling himself.

"No problem my little lamb.

Now, what did we come here for?"

If possible, the smile on her face got even brighter as she answered.

"To cheer up Mama!"

She then turned to Robin, who let out a little laugh as she knelt down to embrace the charging mink.

'Hold up, I think I've heard something ridiculous right now.'

Kuzan's mind was unable to keep up.

"Did I miss something?..." He muttered to himself.

This pulled the fun sized mink's attention, as she tilted her head adorably and delivered a killer move right away.

"Are you my grandpa?"

The marine powerhouse, who was a bit selfconscious about his age, fell into depression while murmuring.

"My feathers aren't white yet, why does everyone think, that I'm old enough to have a grandchild?"

The adorable ball of fluff, whose name he still didn't know, asked Robin.

"So he isn't your Papa? He kinda gives off the vibes."

Robin, who, until this point, had an indulging little smile on her face, let a bit of melancholy seep into it.

"I only knew my mother, and never met my father, little one.

Nico Olvia, that was her name, sadly died many years ago.

So you won't meet any grandparents from my side of the family."

The little girl, who looked sad for a moment, pulled together the cutest brave face he'd ever seen.

"Then we will just have to be even closer family.

To fill those holes they left behind, you know?

I will do my best!"

And then she threw up her fists in an effort to push her point, while still being in the embrace of Robin, which made the scene even more adorable than it usually should be.

'This is ridiculous. I can't keep up anymore.

I also feel out of place, since this clearly is a family matter, while simultaneously not wanting to miss anything this adorable little fluffball will do.'

Determined to put himself back into the conversation, he asked.

"And who might you be, fluffy?"

"You're not my grandpa, that means you are a stranger, and THAT means, that I'm not allowed to talk to you."

She nodded while crossing her arms to get her point across, only to look at Croquant with a gaze, that expected praising.

The dumbfounded admiral then had the questionable pleasure of seeing someone praise a little girl, who was giggling, with head pats and countless 'Well done's and 'That's my little girl's, for refusing to talk with a highranking marine official.

Robin, who saw the stunned look on Aokiji's face, had a good laugh out of it.

Croquant then stopped praising the still unnamed girl and told her.

"This man once saved the life of your Mama, so be polite, please. You can consider him as a granduncle if you want, since he seems to have a vested interest in Robin's well-being."

He threw a meaningful gaze in Aokiji's direction while saying that.

The powerful iceman couldn't quite read it and decided to put it in the back of his head.

He then knelt down, to be somewhat at eye level with Robin's daughter?...

"My name is Kuzan, most know me as Admiral Aokiji, though."

He decided to introduce himself first, that should build some trust, right?

"So... You are the one who nearly killed Big Brother Luffy?"

She asked with wide, fearful eyes.

'Well, that didn't work out.'

He sighed.

"I didn't, though. Didn't even cause any permanent damage."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, before turning back to Robin for help, who nodded.

"He could have caught us all, killed us, even.

Not a single one of us would have been a match for him. It was a scary situation, honestly."

She said this with a vacant expression on her face as she remembered.

Aokiji could feel a glare burn it's way through the right side of his head.

When he turned his head, what met his eyes was the gaze of an angry predator, who decided, that he'd want a pheasant for lunch.

He sweatdropped and threw a pleading eye at Robin, who had emerged from her memories and looked at the situation with clear amusement.

~Merry~

"They are not allowed to know who or what you are, Merry.

Honestly, I don't think it would make any large waves, but it could still spell trouble, should they know."

That's what her Papa told her, so she'd play the naive little girl.

Papa warned her, that they'd meet the admiral, who nearly killed Luffy, so that she'd be able to stay composed.

With Papa and Mama close, she could manage.

Feeling emotions as intensively as she did now was new for her, so she was still adjusting.

If she used the feeling of safety and home, that her Papa gave her, she was usually able to somewhat mute the rest.

When they finally met with the admiral, he wasn't quite what she expected.

He felt lazy in a different way than her Papa.

She could also tell, that neither Papa nor Mama had many negative emotions about the man.

On a side note, Papa had helped her with her Kenbonshoku, yeah, that's what he called it.

This helped her with getting a read on people and, if they are close to her heart, outright perceiving their emotions if they didn't hide them.

In this case, they both held some respect for the marine, not just the strength, that she could feel, tightly restrained by the powerhouse, but also his character.

So, with the safety net, that was the Minister of foreign Cuisine, she decided to mess with him.

Severely.

His reactions were fun and she got to relax with both Papa and Mama while pranking one of the strongest marines at the moment.

Today was a good day!