Finally after well over a year of waiting...

The Straw Hats were finally together again on their beloved Thousand Sunny. There was a similar ruckus caused by their appearance as there was two years ago when they disappeared from the world. But this time every one of them was far more capable of handling the strength of the Pacifistas and Marines sent to capture them.

After some short goodbyes to Rayleigh, the crew dove below the surface and headed for Fishman Island, underneath the Red Line, to pass through the only way into the New World.

The journey was too perilous for Robin and Zoro to find any time together. An attack by an enemy ship, a stowaway Logia user, Sea Kings, even the legendary Kraken. Before they could enter, the crew also encountered a hostile crew of fishman pirates who were simple enough to escape. After the Sunny finally managed to enter the bubble surrounding the undersea civilization, the unthinkable happened- they were all separated again, mere hours after reuniting.

Robin, Nami, and Franky landed together but went their separate ways to explore the city and find the others. Zoro was separated from everyone, but was quickly found by the Ryugu Kingdom guards and brought to the palace while the guards found the rest of the Straw Hats. Zoro had a feeling that he wouldn't get his time to speak with Robin so easily.

Instead of a calm journey under the sea, the crew was met with their usual battles. Each Straw Hat squaring off against a powerful member of the new Fishman Pirates. All seemed normal until one Fishman decided to attack the wrong Straw Hat: the octopus swordsman Hyouzou went after Robin.

Bad. Choice.

Just before a serious strike could connect with Robin, Zoro appeared from nowhere and intercepted the swords. On the surface, he displayed his normal calmness of focus. Underneath seethed a rage he'd never felt before. Two years of training. Two years of the most grueling combat he'd ever experienced. Two years torturing himself deciding what he felt for that woman. And someone just dared try to take her away from him again. He never let that anger to the surface, but it took every ounce of control not to turn that swordsman into takoyaki. It was just as the dartbrow had said that night years ago- he would go out of his way to protect her, he just knew he needed not to put anyone else at risk to do so.

Robin had her own battle to face, with the very pirate who first tried to strongarm the Straw Hats into serving Hody Jones, but dealt with her foe with no animosity. He was just another hurdle to their dreams, not much of a serious threat after two years training with the Revolutionaries- people strong enough to challenge the upper echelon of fighters that the World Government and Marines had to offer.

The fight ended as they always did, undefeated by their enemies and the people saved from a new tyrant. The crew partied with the people they saved as they so often had in the past, but two slipped away unnoticed.

They locked eyes across the feasting tables and needed no words or gestures to know what needed to happen. They left their places and walked out a side door leading to a balcony which overlooked the Ryugu kingdom.

The swordsman no longer looked a single year her younger. He had bulked up and had defining scars which made him look far older. Robin looked more beautiful than ever and barely looked like she'd aged a day. The two had no words for a few long moments heading for the door, but as soon as they were out in the open air away from the noise and excitement, Zoro made an unexpected move. He grabbed her gently by the hand, pulled her close to him, and the two put their arms around each other tightly, allowing two years of yearning to express themselves through the embrace. Robin's arms were around the swordsman's waist. One of Zoro's arms was around her waist and the other hand found its way behind her head and guided her head into his shoulder where it rested happily.

The two stood silent but for heated breath for several minutes. Robin shed a few tears but held a smile on her face. Zoro's lips never moved, but his heart glowed its own grin bigger than Luffy's rubber face was capable. They broke position long enough to look into each other's eyes but for all the soul searching the two had done to lead them to this first moment of closeness in longer than they'd been apart, neither had chosen any words to say because a simple "I've missed you" would never come near the sentiments either held.

Robin had to express that she had decided her feelings were very general. She wanted to care for someone and be cared for, to feel safe in someone's presence and embrace, to be wanted by someone she wanted and not be pushed into something more than she was ready for. She knew that her feelings were not necessarily for the green haired man in her arms, but he was the only one she had ever met she could consider for what she wanted, and the feeling that he was giving her meant that he would give her no less than what she desired, but she feared he might be feeling more than she was which could hurt him. It wasn't love, but it was more than she'd ever felt before, and she'd only found it with him.

Zoro however had only eyes for her. It wasn't love, he couldn't give you a single reason. He knew that common men would say "she's smart, she's funny, she's beautiful," but he just wanted her back in his crow's nest. He didn't want her to be 'his', only to be in his presence as something more than they had ever been before. Not just to indulge her, but because he wanted her there. If it meant returning to the intimacy, he would happily accept rather than passively letting things happen as he had before. He never found words for what he felt, but he wanted her in his life in a way no one else had ever been or he'd even thought of. It wasn't love, but it was more than he'd ever felt before, and he'd only found it with her.

The two stood occasionally opening their mouths while the other anticipated, but neither could make a sound until Robin looked up from thought and broke the long silence.

"Can we...can we just be this? Whatever we are right now. Just feelings and touch, being exactly where we want to be without there being a why?"

Not that he had really come to expect anything, this was not something he would have predicted. It was so neutral, no declaration of intent, no boundaries pressed. It was just right for what he was feeling for her.

His hand drifted from its place behind her head and settled behind her meeting his other hand on her back above her hips.

"So just be what we are? Two people in each other's arms with feelings we can't explain? Burning with uncertainty but everything feeling it's just right? I would ask for nothing else, Robin."

He did something he had never done before to anyone, not even to her on those nights which caused all of their uncertainty.

He moved his hand from behind her back, stroked her cheek, and the two both moved in for a kiss unlike they'd ever shared before. The fireworks in the background were entirely coincidental with their aiding in defeating a threat to the island and becoming the new guardians of the territory, but they made the moment even more perfect than it had been before.

When breath waned, the two broke apart, tears of joy streaming down Robin's face.

Zoro began to ask, "Will you be returning to our crow's n-"

Robin closed her eyes and a finger sprouted from Zoro's chin and covered his lips.

"I don't want to talk about what we'll do. I just want to do it. You live your life, I'll live mine. Sometimes we'll be together, sometimes we'll be apart. Sometimes we'll be together alone as we were in the very beginning, and sometimes we'll just be alone together."

It was perfect. It was exactly what they both needed. There was a lot of life, danger, and adventure ahead of them, and they would take it all one day at a time. But as long as they were on the same level, both wanting the other however they individually desired, they knew they would get through peacefully. They knew that adventure had a habit of separating them, but as long as they both lived to see each new day, they knew they had a place they could just do as they wanted with the person with whom they wanted to spend their time once they were back on the ship, back on the sea, on their way to the next step of the journey.

It was all they wanted: their dreams, their nakama, and the crow's nest.

Don't panic, I know some of you are not ready for this to be the end after YEARS of anticipation. This feels like the right place for this story to come to its close. If inspiration strikes as the manga goes on, I will absolutely start another story for their adventures in the New World- tentatively thinking of calling it "New World: New Love" IF and only if the manga spurs the inspiration to do so (and for some of you, you know how long it can take for inspiration to strike). I cannot see either of them being with anyone else unless something happened with Robin and a revolutionary during the time skip (can you imagine Robin and Dragon, I'm sure plenty of writers are way ahead of me), or Zoro's connection to Tashigi becomes less adversarial, so that does give a bit more hope that they will drift together unless they live like Brook- a lifetime into far old age never settled down with someone he loved. But until then, thank you all SO MUCH for reading, you took a casual one shot and turned it into a 5 year project that had to take its time to write itself, had it been any other way you wouldn't have this story as it exists today which I hope feels as perfectly wrapped up for you as it does to me. Please feel welcome to read my other works. None of them are as long, but they are generally wrapped up one shots so you don't have to fear the anticipation of waiting years at a time for chapters. It feels like this is a time and place to say goodbye to an audience who has kept me from letting this story die, but if Luffy has taught us anything, it's not to say goodbye only see you later, so I'll see some of you in the comments bar of another story. Thank you all again for keeping this story alive.

-Ishvallan