Chapter 34: Chapter 33 - Internal protest
(Bell-mére POV)
Walking through the door with the now apathetic Nojiko her demeanor immediately changed again when she saw Nami asleep on the couch as she once more started to try and break free from my arms. Laughing at her futile struggle earned me a glare from her. I only laughed harder though while ruffling her hair. "It's ok, let Nami rest a little longer.'
Slowly sitting Nojiko on her feet I ruffled her hair once again. "Wait in here for her to wake up, she might break into tears again if she doesn't see you when she opens her eyes."
After I said that, I picked up the covers on the opposite side of Nami and motioned Nojiko to get under them. Ignoring my actions and looking at Nami, Nojiko had a sad smile on her face. "Would she be that worried about me?"
Sitting the blanket back down and walking up to Nojiko I then pulled her into a hug. "Of Course she would, when she came back earlier she explicitly asked me, "Can you go get big sis Nojiko?" It was the only thing she said clearly through her sobbing.
Looking down on Nojiko I let an envious smile form on my lips as I continued. "If only she would have called me Mom, I'm jealous that she called you family first."
Her smile now changed to a gloating one causing me to ruffle her hair some more before I picked her up against her will and tucked her under the covers with Nami. "I'll go make something to eat for when she awakes, she shouldn't be out too much longer, use this chance to rest because I don't think she'll let you once she's awake."
As I was about to turn around to go to the kitchen Nojiko had taken her arm from under the covers and grabbed my hand. "Is everything going to be ok? We both realized who they were and it seemed like they didn't want to be known."
Her question confused me for a second on who "they" were before I broke into a fit of quiet laughter while staring down at the concerned Nojiko. "Don't worry about that. They could have gotten rid of us earlier and no one in town would have been any the wiser yet they didn't. They wouldn't need to go out of their way to do it when we are alone."
My words didn't do much to calm her as she just seemed to become more worried as she asked another question. "Then what do they want with us later?"
'I wish I knew, I can't even figure out what faction they're from.' Not letting my thoughts show on my face I took her arm and re-tucked it under the covers while glaring at her to make her stay like that before smiling at her for giving in to my silent demand.
"We'll know soon enough so don't worry about it and just rest, it at least shouldn't be anything that will harm us."
'I don't know if I could save you, girls, if that were the case.' Not wanting to entertain that thought anymore, I turned from Nojiko before quickly making my way to the kitchen to distract myself with cooking.
'I think a tangerine cake should be good to wake up to.' Deciding what I was going to cook I started to prepare everything I'll need to bake the cake and then began making the batter. After putting it inside the oven I went to grab some more tangerines but found that the ones I had set aside to make the drizzle were no longer there.
"I always set my tangerines right here when cooking. What happened to them?" Starting to look all around the cabinet and not finding them anywhere I suddenly heard familiar laughter coming from behind me.
"KYAKYAKYAKYA, I look the same way whenever I misplace something, although I guess I did take those tangerines while you were pouring the batter so you didn't misplace them." Turning around I found Emma now wearing normal clothes I had made her instead of the cloak she was in earlier, happily eating one of the tangerines I had set aside while the peels of two others were sitting on the table.
"Don't worry, I'll get more. I'm curious what it will taste like, I haven't tasted a tangerine flavored cake before." Before I could ask her anything she stood up and went to the window to open it, a few seconds later three tangerines came floating through it before sitting themselves In the spot Emma had taken the other ones from.
Looking down at the tangerines I asked her. "What do you want?"
"KYAKYAKYA, didn't I just say I want some cake?" Looking back at Emma who went back to sitting down I narrowed my gaze at her, even if I didn't stand a chance against her I had to make sure my earlier worries were just that, worries.
Smiling widely at me she raised her finger into the air and was about to speak before another voice spoke from my side. "Stop playing around with her and just tell her why we're here."
Looking back at where the tangerines should be I found Robin eating one of them. 'How did she get there and peel that so fast. Also, can neither of them just grab some from the orchard before coming inside if they want to eat?'
Perhaps understanding my thoughts Emma started to laugh again before walking back to the window where more tangerines floated inside and towards the cabinet where Robin was standing. "Sorry about that, I would also be irritated if someone kept eating my ingredients. Also please don't be on edge, it's like I said when we met earlier, I just want to talk."
Stopping her peeling of another tangerine Robin looked at Emma and then scoffed while looking at the tangerine peels on the table Emma was sitting at. "Says you."
'Haven't they both had the same amount?'
Coughing into her hand while waving her other one in the air her head Emma then turned to me. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions so let me answer you in the same way I like to answer everyone else."
Not giving me any time to ask what she meant by that she began to speak fastly. "As you already know we are strong, but after today you probably have a better idea of just how strong we are. Especially if you asked Nojiko what she saw during the fight. Still though with what I plan on asking of you and your family I didn't believe that little bit would be enough so I let you feel a small amount of my Conqueror's Haki to show you first hand." Cutting her off there I raised my hands in the air to stop her before speaking.
"This is probably going to take a while so let me pour us some drinks."
'It's only been a few sentences and yet she's already talking about Conqueror's Haki. I need something to calm my nerves. More so since she said she wanted to ask something of us.' Thinking this I grabbed three glasses and set them down on the table before pouring in some fresh tangerine juice, followed by everyone sitting down at the table behind a glass.
'Why did Robin scoot away from Emma?' Cutting off my thoughts after taking a drink Emma spoke.
"Thank you. Before we go any further I suppose I should ask you a question first. Do you know who the strongest people in this world are?" Her sudden question confused me but I still answered her.
"Whitebeard would probably be the strongest person, and then the other Yonko alongside the fleet admiral and admirals of the Marines. I'm not too sure about the newest Yonko though, his crew is pretty small." Appearing to be lost in thought after hearing me Emma was mindlessly swirling the juice in her cup.
"Shanks is strong, I wouldn't have been able to beat him a couple of years ago." Stopping for a second Emma then smiled widely.
"It would be a different story now though. Not that I want to fight him, he owes me a favor thanks to your tangerines after all." Not giving me enough time to ask what my tangerines had to do with a Yonko and if she was that strong she started speaking again.
"I should preface what I'm about to say by letting you know that both of my parents are strong enough to beat anyone you just mentioned, and I have been trained by them to make me as strong as possible since I was half a year old, alongside Robin since she was 8. I'm almost 12 now, you can probably guess just how strong I've become under those conditions."
'How do you even train a newborn?' Not letting me think any longer Emma went on to explain that they have been and will keep using this island as a place to train themselves and don't plan on leaving until she separates from her parents around the time she turns 18. With Robin and the others following her into the grand line. Once she got here though I stopped her and asked.
"What does all that have to do with today?" Looking as if she just realized something Emma cleared her throat and said something that made me question my ears.
"I want both Nojiko and Nami to join me when I leave."
"What?"
"I want Nojiko to be our sniper and Nami to be our navigator." Once she repeated herself I still didn't quite understand why she made that decision but before I could ask her a voice cut in.
"I want to go with you!" Looking towards the entrance to the kitchen I saw Nami with a shine in her eyes while holding onto Nojiko's hand, she has an elated look on her face while staring at their hands.
'Damn, now I'm jealous, wait, that's not important right now.' Once again speaking before I could though Nami questioned Emma.
"I can make a map of the entire world if I go with you right?" Nodding to Nami's question Emma then added.
"And not of this world." Now confused, Nami asked what we both wanted to know.
"Not of this world?" Raising the corner of her lips Emma put her finger in front of her mouth before saying.
"Only my crew and those related to them can know." Nami was about to try and accept the offer again but I cut in this time.
"I don't know if I can accept your offer, Nami won't even be an adult yet by the time you leave. We also don't even know what you plan on doing once you set sail."
Looking like she just realized something again she cleared her throat a second time before saying something that made me question my ears. "I plan on changing the world from the top down."
"What?"
"I plan on getting rid of the world nobles and the shadow leader of the world government that sits on the empty throne."
(Nico Robin POV)
Walking with Emma out of Bell-mére's house and as soon as we were alone I started to question her. "How did you get her to agree like that? Also shouldn't she have been opposed to what you want to do? She was in the Marines after all."
Smiling widely Emma started to laugh boisterously while holding her hands on her waist and looking into the sky. "Don't be too surprised. She didn't fully agree to my proposal after all. Also just because she was a marine doesn't mean she is loyal to the world government, she just wanted to get rid of bad pirates and although I don't agree with her choice joining the marines is the best way to make that possible".
Thinking about what she said for a minute I nodded at her before also rebutting something she said. "Nami wants to join and Nojiko seems like she just wants to follow her sister in whatever she wants to do. Even if they're just training with us for now, they'll join once we set off even if Nami has to escape from Bell-mere.
Smiling at my words Emma suddenly stopped walking as she turned around and scooped me into a princess carry before I could fully realize what she was doing. "Why are you -."
Putting her finger over my mouth she then spoke. "That cake was good, wasn't it? You must be stuffed so let me carry you back."
"I only had a few slices, I can still walk-." Starting to Hum loudly enough to cut me off she completely ignored my protest of being carried like this while she made her way back to the ship. Not that I tried to stop her despite my words.
Making it back to the ship I once again tried to get down so that no one could see me but Emma wouldn't let me as she booped me on the nose in a playful manner before speaking. "The more you struggle the higher chance someone has of noticing you like this."
Stopping my attempt to get out of her arms and sighing in defeat I decided to hope that no one would see us as I started to make detailed plans to myself on how to get revenge on Emma for this later.
Once we were in her room I let out a long relieved Sigh as Emma lay me onto her bed. "I'm surprised we didn't run across Monet, I was expecting her to tease me."
"Thinking of another woman even though you just entered my bed, how cruel of you." Putting her hands on her cheeks and shaking her head made me start to laugh a little before quickly pulling Emma onto the bed with me.
"Oh, you're so aggressive right now." Ignoring Emma's teasing I buried my head onto her neck so that she couldn't see my face that was starting to burn hotter and hotter.
Feeling Emma shrug before she stopped her teasing I slowly lifted my head to find her staring back at me with a smile on her lips. Making eye contact with her I felt my face go even hotter before I buried it back on her neck and tried to ignore her laughter.
After a few minutes, she finally stopped as she put one of her arms around me and used the other to slowly stroke my hair. "Let's just skip dinner and stay like this."
Nodding slightly to her words that I didn't hear I happily lay there while lost in thought thinking about what Emma had said earlier today. 'A little over six more years and I can finally.'
Smiling widely I tightened my arms around Emma and before I realized it the both of us ended up falling asleep in this position. Opening my eyes in what I hoped for being a few hours later I found Emma was still asleep while we were holding each other. 'Good I woke up at the perfect time.'
Slowly removing one of my arms to not be noticed by her I started to carefully caress the outline of her face.
'She looks so innocent while she's sleeping.' After enjoying her sleeping face for a few more minutes I slowly inched mine closer to hers. As fast as I could I pecked her on the cheek and then felt my entire body go hot as I thought about what I just did.
'It's ok Robin, calm down. She would want you to do that again if she were awake so it's ok.' Convincing myself with those thoughts I was about to do it one more time but as soon as my lips were about to touch her cheek again her head suddenly moved.
Freezing in place I looked down to find that my lips were touching the corner of hers. Quickly separating them from her I was about to jump out of the bed and dash to my room out of embarrassment but I found her tightening her arms around me before I could fully remove myself from her.
"Sorry, but my cheeks can't taste in the same way my mouth can. Too bad I moved my head too much and ended up mostly missing. " Looking at Emma I found her licking the part of her lips that mine had touched.
"I...That…It's just…I" Not knowing what to say to her I felt even more like running to my room but she didn't let me.
"It's ok I'd like it to happen again." Without giving me any time to think she quickly raised her head and gave me a fast peck on the cheek, shocking me but also making me feel something else.
'Why am I slightly disappointed?' Starting to laugh while looking at me Emma then buried her head onto me much like mine was on her earlier before she spoke In a small voice right next to my ear.
"Sorry, but I'll have to make you wait before we go any further. Besides, if what I just did can stun the big bad wolf then I have no idea how she plans on eating the bunny into submission in the future." After those extremely suggestive words, Emma pulled us both back fully down on the bed before pulling the cover over us again and then falling asleep while cozying her face right next to mine.
'Just you wait, I'm just holding myself back right now since you don't want to do it yet. Once we set sail though you'll see how I make you submit under me while regretting all the teasing you've done to me.'
Promising this to myself as I stared into Emma's closed eyes while thinking about what Gauge had taught me to do.
'After tonight I'm convinced that Geina knows that Gauge likes to dote on her while she sleeps, I'll have to take any advice from him in that aspect with a large vat of salt from now on.' Eventually, my eyes grew heavy again and without trying to dote on Emma to not embarrass myself again I fell asleep while leaning my head against hers ignoring my internal protest to doing such a thing.
(A/N - Sorry about missing yesterday's upload. We are now coming up to the final part of the first arc so the actual adventure part of the story will start soon.)
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