AN: CAUTION, SOME SPOILERS FOR Water 7 ARC.

This story assumes Paulie joins the crew.

"Waf fid uu sa is islamd waf calld Nami?" Luffy managed to grunt through the tender delicacy he was shoving into his mouth. Nami rolled her eyes and glared at him. The crew were gathered beneath the trees at the solstice festival of the local island. Chopper and Ussop were marveling in the piles of cherry blossoms. Sanji was hitting on every woman who passed him whereas Paulie was accusing them of being scandalous in their knee-length skirts and fighting his own urge to gamble for more than goldfish at the small booths that littered the fairground. Luffy was, naturally, eating his weight in food that should be appreciated more than gorged on. Zoro was napping at the table, ignoring the music, with a bottle of sake half empty before him. Nami was seated across from Luffy and Robin was staring wistfully at the blooms.

"The island is called Yuumei," Nami repeated for the fiftieth time and lifted her spoon up to eat a bit more of her dinner before Luffy got at it. Luffy, however, was ignoring her and simply eating all of Robin's. Robin, however, was far too distracted staring off at the petals to even notice. Luffy's hand snapped around her plate in a vie for Zoro's sake but was quickly fenced off by Zoro's chopsticks. The green-haired swordsman had one eye cracked open and his captain's wrist caught between his ohashi.

"Oi," Zoro said in a low growl. "Go win some goldfish or something, Luffy."

"I can win what!" Luffy shouted and stood up, a determined grin on his face. "Yosh! I will win a giant goldfish!"

"Dammit, Zoro!" Nami hissed and scrambled out of her seat as Luffy dove out of the hotel's restaurant and into the street. "Luffy! Wait for me! Don't get lost!"

With Luffy gone, the table instantly gained a sense of serenity. Zoro, who was regrettably awake, turned his open eye to Robin as he crossed his arms over his chest. She was turned sideways on the cushion that made up her seat at the traditional restaurant. One side of her face was lit up by the candles on the table, the other, by the blue light from the moon and lanterns. Her eyes were unfocused and Zoro watched as the reflections of the pastel petals drifted across their glassy surface. She was staring off at nothing, but her passive face seemed sad.

"Oi..." Zoro said in a slightly nicer manner than he had to Luffy, but received no response. "Robin." Still nothing—his brow furrowed a bit and he repeated her name more forcefully. "ROBIN."

"What?" The older woman started slightly and her far off vision was pulled back to the restaurant. Her blue eyes searched around momentarily and she realized it was only Zoro and her left. "Yes, Kenshi-san?"

He had originally intended to joke about how she should eat her food before Luffy returned but had changed his mind. His brows creased a bit and he sat up rather than leaning back against the wall. Robin watched him with a politely blank expression and he eyed her before clearing his throat to speak. Robin wasn't like the others, exactly, so his first reaction of 'What the hell's the matter with you' would probably be taken the wrong way.

"Nice night out," Zoro said conversationally. Robin, to her credit, looked a bit surprised but forced a smile and agreed.

"It is."

"So then why were you about to cry?" Zoro asked, his impatient nature with words getting the better of him. Robin, who seemed to expect as much tact from him as this, sighed and stared off at the blossoms again.

"Ohara was like a spring island," Robin said very quietly as she stared off at the blossoms again, wistfully. Zoro frowned, expecting such an answer but mostly dreading it. Emotions were strange, normally worthless things that one had to overcome to be great...openly admitting them was not really his fore-tay. Ergo, it was a very, very, very select few who had ever felt the need to...confide...in him.

"So are a lot of islands." Zoro grimaced the second the thought left his lips. Robin wasn't looking back at him, but her expression was tinted briefly with anger and hurt. How was he supposed to fix that face? Zoro pondered in silence and then, in a rush of courage, repaired his error. "My home island was in East Blue, but even then, Spring rarely came."

Robin turned from the flowers and her dark eyes settled on him. The polite, blankness of her normal stare was missing and Zoro's chest felt tighter as he realized she was paying him her full attention for the first time. In the pause between his words, the drums in the distance sounded and people cheered as they made their way to the dance beneath the lanterns.

"It was either hot or cold there. I remember, of all the years I trained, after she..." He trailed off and the thought was lost. Robin, who was focused on him in her melancholy, took on a look of mild concern. "After my..." Zoro could not decide the word—was she a sempai? A rival? A bully? "After my friend died...I never saw another flower bloom anywhere near the dojo...or any leaves ever turn gold. They would just fall and die, perfectly green to black."

There was a heavy silence as Zoro's expression tightened and he stared off at the flower petals beyond the eves of the restaurant. He had never told that story before, and it felt like Wadou, at his side, was cold...as if it had lost her soul because of it. Silence reigned for a while until the flutes played off in the distance.

"When the official spring of Ohara came about," Robin said softly. "The children would throw the petals up into the air and play imaginary games in which one would pretend to be me...and maraud and destroy the town like a monster." Zoro wondered absently, in the back of his mind, why she didn't mention her mother at all—but it was probably due to the fact that he already knew. "For the longest time, I would have given anything to be back there, in those springs."

Agreement fell lightly across the pair as they sat and stared off at the petals. The tightness on Zoro's chest and the weight that had settled in Robin's eyes were lifted away in the warm night breeze of Yuumei. Drums and flutes called in the background and Robin smiled sadly before looking back at Zoro. As she turned to him, the polite blankness returned and she stood.

"I should go check on the others."

As she stood up, directly before him, Zoro was forced to look up at her face. Her hair, caught in the wind, captured the light behind her and looked almost like a halo. He reached forward, took her wrist, and pulled her down into his lap sloppily. Surprised, Robin had no time to catch herself and fell flat against him. She tried to pull away and look into his eyes, but he wrapped both his arms around her and held her in a nearly painful embrace.

"...even if you pretend," Zoro whispered next to her ear softly, "Remember, I am the only oni on this crew..." Robin took in a sharp breath and went limp against him, resting her forehead against the side of his neck. He wasn't sure if she was hiding from the flower petals, or if she was crying, but either way, he could hear contented laughter softly bubbling out of her mouth.

"You're not a very scary oni, Kenshi-kun."

"Am I supposed to take stock in what a flower says?" Zoro asked in a faux-grouchy voice and released her, but she didn't move. They sat like that for a while but they probably weren't watching the blossoms.