Fire, steel and petals

The atmosphere inside the kitchen of the thousand sunny was undeniably tense, with every person on board ensembled inside said room.

Some were more on edge than others, with each person choosing to either distract themselves through various activities, be that eating, drinking or clutching their weapons tightly in their grasps, all in order to overplay the unease they were all feeling and looking for some way to gain back the security and ease they all normally felt whenever they were travelling aboard their ship, their home, or simply observe in tense silence.

Worst of them all was probably Nico Robin, who seemed to have almost frozen solid, leaning slightly against the wall of the kitchen while her eyes never left the object of her turmoiled emotions, a man she had only recently been joking around with as if it was the most common thing in the world.

Now however, she felt thrown back into her past of running and hiding, seeing a hidden blade in every nook and corner, never sure what the next day would bring and if she would survive even further than that.

She had honestly thought she had gotten rid of that part of herself, that almost animalistic survivalist part she had assumed over the years in order to survive, and after having been caught by her worst fears quite literally back on Water 7, it seemed she had only hidden that part of herself deeper inside of her than she had initially believed.

Naively she had believed that she could simply turn a new page and start over completely by joining the Strawhats on their near magical journey over the vast oceans of the Grand Line, indulging in the warmth and friendly atmosphere of the crew, like she had always been apart of their family, and finally be able to forget her cold and calculating persona.

It turns out however that she couldn't. All because a man they had randomly encountered back in Water 7, after returning from Enies Lobby, had joined them who, unbeknownst to any of their crew was actually an agent of the World Government. Or former agent. But it mattered little to her, as it wasn't him as a person that had brought back out her past persona but rather the situation as a whole.

They had all been unguarded, too friendly and almost naïve in their usual fashion, and had picked up someone that could have potentially slit all their throats in their sleep. And that fact alone terrified her.

All the security she had formerly felt on the thousand sunny was now gone, or rather a shadow of its former self. It still was there but it felt simply, less. More faint and illusionary.

With an imperceptible sigh, too faint for any of her friends to notice really, she dispelled some of the tension that had caused her back to stiffen and her legs to tense up in that all too familiar fashion, all so that she could disappear on but a moment's notice. Foolish as that instinct was since, well, she was on a ship after all.

Glancing around the room she took in her friend's appearances and was gladdened to notice that she wasn't the only one who had taken notice of the change that had been sprung upon them so suddenly and changed the whole dynamic that had governed their day to day life until today.

Zoro had, despite retaining his laid back and relaxed body language, laid his left hand softly and imperceptibly on the sheath of one of his treasured katanas, all so that he could draw them immediately if the situation would go south. He may not be the smartest man she had ever met but he was a very instinctual person, just like her captain was.

Sanji, just like Zoro, had relaxed himself while his positioning in the room spoke volumes to her experienced mind that he would be the first to act should the grey eyed monster act against them.

Which brought her mind back to the man that had brought up the whole situation in the first place, sitting with one leg laid over the other in one of the chairs that were arranged around their usual dinner table, undoubtedly aware of the shift in tension in the room.

And next to him on the table laid the reason as to why she now knew exactly who he was, instead of just another incredibly strong man that journey over the Grand Line in disguise of someone mundane.

A newspaper, namely. Displayed on the front page was an article about what had happened in Mary Geoise, and explained why exactly he was travelling with a little girl of all people as a companion. And adjacent to that was a bounty poster, with numbers written on it she thought she wouldn't have to deal with for quite a while longer. And yet here they were, inside the kitchen of their home, dealing with a man that sported a bounty of 1.5 Billion Berry, a sum that would stand out even amongst the ridiculous people traversing the New World.

Once more she exhaled softly, further sinking against the wooden wall at her back, all to calm herself some more, even though she simply wanted to be somewhere else instead, if she could have one wish fulfilled to her right that very moment. It wasn't to be however, she knew.

"Look", the monster… no, the man, she chided herself, began while he looked almost exasperated at the open wariness floating through the air inside the kitchen, before he continued.

"I know this may look a lot like I'm a danger to you all, especially you." He continued, pointing at the end at her, at which she tried to sink even further into the wall behind her, something that wasn't possible unfortunately for her, which he seemed to notice right away as he sighed once more before continuing.

"But I really couldn't give less of a shit about your past crimes Nico Robin, if there ever even were some crimes to begin with. I did tell you the truth back on Water 7 when I said I needed to get to the Archipelago, and you simply seemed like the most convenient way to do so at the time." He finished with a shrug, and Nico Robin came up short for a second in his explanation.

After all, every CP-agent she had come across had, so far, never denied that she had been involved in heinous crimes in her past, specifically in her childhood, which Daz Bonez seemed to imply. At least concerning her earlier years. Was he actually telling the truth? What if he wasn't? But if he wasn't, hadn't he had ample opportunities so far to finish what the world government hadn't managed to finish back on Enies Lobby? She needed to think further on the matter, that much was for sure.

And it seemed she wasn't the only one who remained wary of Daz after his background had been exposed to some level, to which Daz grumbled to himself silently for a second, before standing up slowly and leaving the room, which remained silent for a few moments longer, which was when pandemonium broke loose amongst a few members of her surrogate family.

And while most of the crew seemed to engage animatedly into the discussion whether or not Daz Bonez could actually be trusted, she spied Nami of all people slipping out of the room silently, with none of the others the wiser, clearly going after Daz Bonez.

And despite her every fibre screaming at her to walk into the opposite direction instead of following after the two, her curiosity got the better of her to her silent indignation, a trait she had cursed more times than she could count by now, and slipped out just as silently, chasing after Nami hidden in shadows, leaving behind the kitchen and her spirited families avid discussion that grew quieter and quieter the further along she got, until all she heard were her silent feet upon the wooden floor and her rapid breathing.

And she hoped she wasn't making a terrible mistake by following that man.

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"Daz! Wait! Daz!" Nami yelled once she could finally see the man's broad back appear on the deck splayed out before her, after exiting the lower deck, immediately given a face full of chilling sea wind, which caused her red/orange hair to billow wildly around her head.

Belatedly she realised that the wind had picked up again, and she noted down in the back of her head to check on that later on, so they wouldn't get pulled of course in the next few hours, but then resumed rushing after Daz to make sure he wasn't too agitated by her crew's behaviour.

Passively she ruminated about why she was so worried for the man in the first place, as he seemed more than capable to look after himself, and surprisingly she found that she actually cared for him for some reason.

She wondered then when that had happened and why in the first place? After all, Daz, despite looking a little standoffish and rigid at times, still had an air about him that she couldn't deny she found almost magnetic, if she had to put a word to it.

It probably had something to do with the almost clashing natures she had observed of him, that functioned like a mystery she practically yearned to unravel and maybe even…tame? She came up short at that for a second, imperceptibly blushing once she realised where her thoughts had gone that moment but still couldn't deny that there was some truth to her traitorous thoughts. It still mortified her though. No question about that. After all she had actually never really thought about a man like that before.

Sure, she was a natural tease and had learned over the years of being a thief that men in general were easily swayed or persuaded when she brought some sort of inuendo into her words together with a little bit of provocative body language, and it had brought her to her goals more often than not, but there had never been any real feelings involved into that.

And now that she was for the first time faced with such a situation, she wasn't quite sure how to handle herself anymore. Luckily, she had a rather fiery temper, and it decided to take that opportunity to flare up and saved her from fumbling around helplessly in her flustered state of mind, now having finally caught up with Daz.

"Daz, for god's sake, stop walking away already!" She then demanded of him, while her hair still whipped around her head like she was some sort of demonic syren, who had emerged from the depth of the ocean to hunt down this man before her, smacking him straight over the head in her fervour.

Too late however she realised her error, as her hand struck true upon Daz' head and immediately she began cursing her fiery idiocy while clutching her throbbing hand with her other, all while Daz was looking over at her with mirth written all over his features. He knew she was going to hit him and he didn't stop her! The bastard! But she would have her revenge one day!

"Yes, lil' red? What's got you so riled up for that matter? Poor me nearly had a heart attack after being so surprisingly assaulted out of the blue. And in such a vicious manor at that!" He responded, while tousling her fiery hair playfully, a shit eating grin playing over his features all the while.

She had half a mind to tell him to go to hell, but then her hand throbbed once more and she remember that she was actually worried for him while her earlier thoughts came back to her with a vengeance, causing her face to redden once she looked back at him, acutely aware of his hand still resting upon her head, which sent a warm current through her body.

A new experience but not unpleasant she decided, which caused her to softly push against his hand a little to gain more of that pleasantness for herself. He pulled his hand away however, so she stopped with her actions, immediately mortified once more at her childish behaviour.

"W-well, I…" She began than, finally getting a grip on herself once more, but was interrupted by Daz, who leaned back against the railing they were now standing next to and so she followed after his example.

"If you are worried about me, don't bother. I've been through some shit and a little bit of animosity like that doesn't ruffle my feathers any longer. It's a little annoying to deal with all that caution but I'm not on board for forever, so it's no issue." He explained and Nami nodded mutedly in response.

"Why did you do it?" She continued after a few seconds of comfortable silence between them. Daz' only response however was a raised eyebrow and she belatedly realised that she should probably elaborate on her question a little bit, so she started once again.

"You know, betray the world Government. You worked for them for… how long? 10 years? 15 years?" She questioned and silence once more settled between the two, with only the wind interrupting it occasionally, whipping and whistling through the masts and sails fastened on the deck of the thousand sunny, sounding like a hoarse orchestra of ghastly trumpets, echoing voices from the afterlife, if you were so superstitiously inclined.

"I wasn't quite sure myself until only recently, you know. Despite what you may believe, I'm not a good person. Not really at least. Over the years I've seen so much violence, injustice and unfairness that I've grown somewhat numb to all the things the world Government does and has done. And my education certainly didn't help with that." While he talked, Daz unrolled a small lollipop from some rainbow coloured paper and stuck it into his mouth she noticed, but was more focused on his words and what he had just told her, and she could certainly comprehend how such an environment could have shaped Daz into the person he is today. What a cruel fashion that must've been to grow up in…

"So, it would be a lie if I told you I stopped doing the dirty work for the world government after having some grand epiphany about the wrongness of the whole institution and its machinery. That's why I won't. The truest reason I can actually think of right now is that it seemed instinctually wrong that people like the Tenryuubito actually had power over people that possessed real power. Power to change the world and form the landscape with nothing but the snap of their fingers." Daz explained and she wasn't quite sure what to say to that for a while.

But then she remembered the little girl that Daz was travelling with and glanced up at his carefully calm and expressionless face and somehow knew that he was lying. Or at least a little bit.

"And what about Monika? Was she also just a whim?" Nami answered and although Daz seemed just as relaxed to her as before, something around him had changed to her senses, even though she couldn't put a finger to exactly what that something was. It was still enough for her though, as her instincts had obviously been right.

"Monika… Heh. Yes, you may be right. She wasn't just a whim as I've thought at first. She is important to me, that much is true. But I will not tell you any more than that for now. After all, we are still only just acquaintances, aren't we?" She mused over his words for a second before smiling up at him a response already on her lips.

"Acquaintances doesn't sit well with me though. How about… friends instead?" Daz seemed to still even more at that for but a second before smiling at her in return, his smile though looking rigid and less lively than she had ever seen on a person before. Almost… sharp. But she didn't care. In time she would get him to smile more naturally, no matter how much time that would take. She would manage, somehow.

After that, the silence between the two stretched once more, but it had gained a warmer feel somehow and so they stayed like that for a while. One lively and warm like a fire of vitality, the other rigid and sharp like a blade. And not far away a third party remained hidden, as nothing but an ear sprouting from the main mast which soon vanished in a small flutter of petals, as if it had never been there.