Cross The Desert! On To Yuba!

They sail up Sandora River slowly, their destination the town of Yuba which happens to be where the rebellion has it's head-quarters in Alabsata. Unfortunately, to get there they're going to have to take a little walk across open desert. Down in the Men's barracks of the ship, Run changes into the clothing that Robin has selected for him. He strips off his shirt, and replaces it with a long sleeved, thin cotton henley. A tan colored cloak follows with a blue and white keffiyeh around his neck ready to be pulled up to shield his face from any sandstorm that they might have the misfortune of weathering. After changing, he heads back up to the deck of the Going Merry. They're close to where they're going to be weighing anchor and everyone is walking around on the deck in preperation for depature from the ship.

"Looks like everything fits, then," Robin says, approaching him as he pulls the sleeves of his shirt up to the elbow. "I didn't think your sizes had changed so I went with what I knew."

"Aw, you remembered," Run says, a smile appearing on his face. "But you know...I think I liked the dancer outfit better."

"Mm, I guess I'll have to hold onto it then. Never know when it could come in handy."

"I could think of a few places." Hearing his name called from the bow of the ship Run sighs and heads in the direction with Robin following. "Aah, what's he up to now?" Gathered at the bow of the Going Merry is Luffy, and Ace, the two chatting happily amongst themselves as if they'd never really parted ways years ago. When Luffy notices the red head approaching he grins from ear to ear and holds up a small scrap of paper quickly.

"Run, look, look!" gushes Luffy. "Ace gave it to me! It's called a--"

"Vivre Card," Run finishes, watching his captain deflate in response.

"Aah, so you already knew. That's no fun." Run chuckles a bit in response, and reaches into his back pocket to fish out his wallet. From within the leather object he produces a slip of square paper and shows it to Ace and Luffy. "So you have one, too?"

"Oi, Run, how come you never said you had one?" Ace questions him. "It could be pretty handy, ya know."

"I've told you plenty of times I have one," Run tells them both quite bluntly. "How did you think Robin always found her way back without fail?" As if to illustrate this point, Robin produces a small piece of paper and holds it out for them to see. "Besides, I never had to give you a piece because we never separated, Luffy."

"Oi!" calls the voice of Sanji, attracting everyone's attention. "Lunch is ready! Come and get it!" Luffy and Ace go sprinting towards the kitchen immediately, leaving the two of them standing there.

"We should probably go eat...between Luffy and Ace, it'll be nothing short of amazing if there's still something left..."

- - -

After lunch which turned out to be rather lively what with Sanji screaming at Usopp and Luffy to quit playing with their food, they'd made a brief stop to send Karoo off to deliver a letter to the king. From that point it was only a little further to where they were going to weigh anchor. Run is a bit unsure as to whether or not he'll be alright but Vivi seems confident that he'll be just fine. The red head sighs and takes a sip of his coffee as he stares past the bow of the ship. While everyone is walking around on deck making preparations for their trek across the desert, it isn't long before someone finally notices something different.

"Aaah! Nami! Vivi! Robin! What happened?! Where did your dance outfits go?!" Sanji suddenly demands, having finally noticed their change in clothing.

"In the desert, it's important to cover up," Vivi tells him. "Any exposed skin will wind up terribly sunburned otherwise."

"Aah...my beautiful dancer girls." While Sanji is facing the end of his world, everyone else hurries up their preparations to disembark the ship. It isn't long until they've reached their drop off point, and Zoro heads to the bow of the ship to drop anchor. Of course, no sooner has the anchor splashed down, than a strange horde of creatures comes barreling out of the water and onto the shore.

"Aww, look at the little guys!" Run calls, attracting the attention of the crew. "They look like they're wearing little sweaters! It's adorable!"

"Are they turtles?" says Zoro, unconvinced himself.

"No, those are obviously seals," Luffy asserts.

"They're certainly cute," Robin says simply.

"Kung-Fu Dugongs!" shouts Vivi, staring at the strange creatures. It begins squeaking out something at them, motioning their way and that with it's flippers.

"He says, 'If you wanna come on shore, then you've gotta beat me'," Chopper translates. "'Or else go to the other shore, cowards!'" Almost everyone is caught off guard by these strange creature's taunting...well, everyone but Usopp who immediately jumps up on the railing.

"Hmph! I'm not just gonna sit by quietly while someone calls me a coward!" Usopp boasts. "Bring it on!" He leaps off the ship...straight into a fierce beating by the dugong. Of course, Luffy jumps from the Merry the very next second and with a single punch beats the same dugong. Rather than being angry it instead bows to their Captain.

"Huh?" Luffy grunts. "What's it doing?"

"It's a Kung-Fu Dugong rules. The loser beings the winner's disciple," Vivi tells them, watching as the whole group of dugongs suddenly bows to their Captain.

"Dahahaha~! Maybe you oughta settle down here and open a dojo, Luffy," Run says as Luffy begins instructing them. "Wow. The little guys take direction pretty well." After his impromptu lessons, and gathering everything that they might need for the trek they're ready to go...even the dugongs are ready to go for that matter.

"Alright! Let's head for Yuba!" Luffy chirps, ignoring the dugongs gathered behind him.

"O-Oi...are you bringing them with us?!" Zoro demands, staring at the large group.

"Luffy, sea creatures can't just go wandering across the desert, ya know," Run adds. "We're gonna have to part ways with the little guys."

"He's right, they could be seriously hurt by the heat and dry air," Vivi tells him. The dugongs, however, don't seem to recognize the danger and instead cling to their 'Sensei'. This seems to make both Vivi and Nami feel bad for the dugongs.

"I know what to do!" Chopper says, as he sniffs around their packs for a moment. "Ah-ha!" From one of the packs he removes a shank of meat and offers it to the dugongs. "Here! You can have this! So, please, stay here, alright?" Rather than respond with words they respond by swarming the little reindeer, much to his immediate fear. "Aaah! Help me!" A number of arms immediately sprout from the ground, and quickly carry the small doctor back into Robin's arms. "A-Aah, thank you, Robin."

"Of course, doctor," Robin replies, and although he's safe from the dugongs she doesn't relinquish her hold on him. It takes quite a bit of food to bribe them all into staying behind, but when everything has finally been settled they begin their trek across the desert at long last. Though he's only spent a small amount of time in the desert Run is already positive that he hates it completely.

"Aah, why is it so HOT?!" complains Run. "Take me back to the snow and ice!"

"Its not that bad once you've gotten used to it, and things could be worse. We could have had to worry about those cute dugongs following us across the desert." While Run is a bit concerned that maybe she's got her priorities a bit backwards he chuckles a bit none the less.

"It's a good thing Chopper was able to persuade them not to follow us." Walking several feet ahead of the rest of them Vivi, Usopp and Zoro suddenly come to a stop at the top of one of the many sand dunes that they've had to climb. "We can't be there yet."

"Oi, what's going on?" Luffy asks, as they slowly climb the dune. Stretched out before them seems to be the remains of what was once a city, now reclaimed by the desert. A number of buildings lie in ruins, and others have long since been swallowed entirely by the ever shifting sands of the desert. If there was life here before, there is no longer. "Is this Yuba?"

"No," Vivi says somberly. "This is Eramalu..or rather, what is left of it." Her hands ball into fists as she stares at the ruined city. "It was once known as the City of Green."

"In the middle of the desert?" Run asks. "Kinda hard to picture."

"It is now." Vivi turns to face them slowly. "The sight of this town is a perfect example of what Baroque Works has done to this country. It's an example of what the people of Alabasta have had to endure." After a moment of silence she turns away. "Let's go." They push forward, walking through the remains of the town slowly.

"Wow! There's nothing here at all!" chirps Luffy, head turning this way and that.

"It's little more than a ghost town now," Vivi agrees. "It's difficult to imagine but up until recently Erumalu was a thriving city full of greenery and people." She explains that although rain was always scarce the people always managed to survive by saving every last bit of water that they could. But, unfortunately for the people of the city, for three whole years not a single drop of rain fell.

"Oi, even if it didn't rain, what about the river we just crossed?" Zoro questions her.

"Yeah! Couldn't they just pipe the water in from the river?" Usopp proposes.

"The answer to that is up ahead," Vivi tells them, leading them forward. She goes on to tell them that in the entire history of Alabasta the rain has never stopped completely, not even once. But even though the rain had stopped across the county, there was at least one place where it seemed to continue raining consistently. That place was Alubarna, the capital of the country, and the place where the king resides. People had taken to calling this rain the 'Kings Miracle', at least up until a shipment of Dance Powder was discovered in Nanohana and bound for the capital.

"Dance Powder?" echos Nami.

"Huh? You've heard of it?" Luffy questions her.

"Only rumors. It's known as a 'rain-summoning powder'. Supposedly, it was created by a researcher in a country where it doesn't rain. By creating a misty smoke from the powder, and allowing it to rise into the air you can artificially create rain. That's what Dance Powder is."

"My, you're surprisingly well informed, Navigator," Robin says, earning a bit of a chuckle from her.

"Like I said, I've only heard rumors."

"Oi, oi, wouldn't something like that be perfect for this situation?" Usopp asks. "I mean, if it can create rain--"

"It isn't without a catch," Robin tells him. "As the name suggests, the country that created the powder was, at first, almost happy enough to dance. Unfortunately, their neighboring country suffered from a drought. The powder quickly, and artificially matures clouds that would develop naturally into rain clouds on their own further downwind."

"Aaah! I get it! By using Dance Powder, you're basically stealing the rain that would have fallen in a neighboring country."

"Exactly. As a result, war eventually erupted between the neighboring countries. Ever since, the World Government has banned both the production and possession of Dance Powder."

"And with Alabasta in the middle of this drought, when the Dance Powder turned up in the capital people naturally jumped to conclusions," Run assumes. "Baroque Works framed him pretty easily." Vivi suddenly stops, and turns to face them quickly.

"Yes, the people fell for Baroque Works plot," Vivi confirms for them. "Look." She motions to what appears to be a dried up river bed ahead of them. "That is all that's left of the towns canal. It used to bring water from the Sandora River, but even it was eventually destroyed. With no water flowing into the city, people were eventually forced to abandon it entirely in search of a greener oasis. Distrust grows daily in the kingdom now, and as a result it wasn't long before the fighting broke out." The wind picks up very suddenly, and the loud howling of it through the deserted town surrounds them.

"What's going on?" Usopp asks, looking around. "Is it Baroque Works?"

"It's just the wind," Run tells him, reaching up and pulling his keffiyeh up over his mouth and nose. "Heads up." Ahead of them, swirling violently, and quickly rushing in their direction is a large dust devil. It runs right over them, the winds swirling this way and that and blasting them all with a nice coating of sand from head to toe before finally moving on. They sputter and spit, and Run scrubs a hand violently through his hair in an attempt to shake out the sand. "Should've worn a hat."

"Look!" calls Vivi, pointing ahead of them. "Someone's collapsed!" They approach quickly, intending to offer help to the person but as they draw close it becomes apparent that the person's days of requiring ANYTHING are LONG over. A cracked, and dusty skull lies half buried in the sand beside a ripped, old cloak. "Why?" Vivi slowly kneels beside the skull. "What did we do to deserve this? Isn't it enough that we have to fight with the environment itself just to survive? Isn't life hard enough for us? Well?" Vivi looks back at them, or more specifically, Robin. "Why did you people pick us?! Why not someone else?!"

"Don't you think that's a question you should be asking Crocodile?" Robin tells her. Vivi immediately jumps to her feet and turns to face them.

"Do you really believe as if you're completely innocent in all of this?! You--"

"Aah, enough!" Run tells her. "I told you before, we can't change what's done." He steps past Vivi, squats down and digs a small hole in the sand to bury the skull in. "Crocodile is the enemy here. Crocodile and Baroque Works. No one and nothing else." In the distance, a sound like thunder rumbles and Vivi watches as a large building collapses. Slowly, Luffy, Sanji and Usopp come stalking back towards the group, the destruction of the building apparently their doing. "We're here to help, all of us."

"Jeez, they act just like a bunch of children," Zoro mutters, watching their approach.

"Luffy," Vivi mumbles.

"Vivi, let's hurry to Yuba," Luffy tells her, walking past her. "I'm anxious to take care of this, now." While the rest of the group follows after Luffy and Vivi, Run hangs back for a moment to say a quick prayer for the dead so that they can rest in peace.

"Oi! Run!" calls Usopp. "You're gonna be left behind at this rate! Hurry up!"

"Yeah, Usopp..."

- - -

"It's so hot!" Luffy complains, using a walking stick to prop himself up. "I can't even sweat! I think I'm gonna melt!" Up and down the dunes, they march ever forward towards Yuba. Between the constant climbing, and intense heat it doesn't seem as if they're going to have even the slightest bit of respite.

"Think about poor Chopper," Run tells him, casting a thumb of his shoulder at the small reindeer that Zoro pulling behind him on a small make shift sled. "He's most definitely not built for desert travel. Aah, speaking of travel, why are there so many sand dunes? I always thought of the desert as being more flat than this."

"Unfortunately, it isn't so," Vivi tells them. "Because of the age of the desert some of the dunes here are over three-hundred meters in height."

"It's too hot," Luffy complains again. "I can't take anymore of this. I need a drink."

"Just one mouthful," Nami says. "We need to conserve water." Of course, no sooner has she finished telling him this than he swells his cheeks up, attempting to hold as much water as possible. Naturally, this results in an argument and then a fight involving Nami, Luffy, Usopp and Sanji which only wastes more energy. After they've worn themselves out sufficiently, they continue onward to Yuba, and though it hasn't been long at all since they've eaten it doesn't stop Luffy from complaining.

"Oi, Sanji, let's have lunch!" Luffy says. "Ya know, a pirates lunch! With plenty of meat!"

"When Vivi says so," Sanji retorts.

"Aah, Vivi, can we eat? I'm running out of strength, ya know!"

"But we're not even a tenth of the way to Yuba yet, Luffy," Vivi tells him. Even so, Luffy continues his begging, and while normally it would fall upon deaf ears Vivi makes him an offer instead. "How about this? We'll take a break at the next group of rocks we find?" Luffy pumps his fists into the air with a jubilant grin on his face.

"Alright~!" Luffy cheers. "Let's hurry to the next rocks! Whoever wins rock-paper-scissors has to carry everyone's stuff!"

"Wins?" Run echos in confusion. "I think you've got some things backwards, Luffy."

"Shouldn't the loser carry everything?" Sanji asks. Regardless, they all participate in the game...with their Captain coming out with an over-whelming victory. It wasn't much of a surprise, actually. Honestly, who in their right mind would actually want to make things more difficult on themselves? And so, Luffy drags a make-shift sled weighted down with all their packs, and supplies, several meters behind them all.

"A-Aah...so...heavy!" Luffy complains. "So heavy...and so hot! I'm gonna shrivel up! I-I'm the winner...so why...?"

"I wonder what would happen if a Rubber Person shriveled up?" Robin muses, staring back at their Captain.

"Oi! Rock's spotted, dead ahead!" Usopp announces, adjusting his goggles for a better picture.

"Alright, break time!" screams Luffy, rushing past everyone towards the rocks in the distance. "Foooood~!"

"I thought that stuff was supposed to be heavy." They push forward after their errant Captain, not in as big of a hurry as him but certainly lighter and quicker of step. Of course, they haven't gotten very far at all when he suddenly comes sprinting back towards them. "Now he's coming back?" Luffy is shouting at the top of his lungs about some sick birds, and calling for Chopper's help. Naturally, their doctor jumps off of his small sled and goes running after Luffy towards the rocks.

"Wait...sick birds?" mutters Vivi, as they follow after the two quickly. "Aaah! Luffy, no! Those are Warusagi Birds!" Of course, when they finally return to the area instead of finding sick birds, they instead find their belongings gone, apparently stolen by the birds.

"Aaah! Our stuff is gone!"

"I'm sorry, I should have mentioned it sooner. Warusagi Birds pretend to be injured to trick travelers and steal their belongings."

"Seriously?!" exclaims Luffy. "That's so dishonest! How could they trick me?!"

"Luffy, you idiot!" shouts Sanji, grabbing him by the front of his shirt. "Is that all you've got to say for yourself?! We just lost three days of provisions and all of our things! How are we supposed to cross the desert without any food or water?!"

"It's not my fault! They tricked me."

"Is a bird smarter than you, Luffy?!" The two break out into a full blown argument while everyone else watches on, at least until Zoro, Ace and Run drop down to relax.

"Relax," Run tells them, heaving a sigh. "The heat is making us all short tempered." They all find a place to sit down, ignoring the arguing pair while they do.

"I'm sure it'll turn out fine," Zoro adds. "At the least, it's nothing that'll kill us so let's just put it out of mind for now." The two continue arguing loudly for several minutes before they suddenly stop, having finally noticed the thieves several meters away from them...as if taunting them, the bird at the head of the flock takes a deep draw from the water they've stolen. This is enough to provoke Luffy into chasing them out into open desert while everyone calls for him to come back. While everyone is yelling, Robin quietly takes a seat beside the red head.

"Well, at least he's going in the right direction."

"We certainly never lack for excitement," Robin says softly. The next second the ground begins to tremble, and loud rumbling sounds in the distance. A cloud of sand rapidly rolls over the dunes in their direction, and from out of it comes none other than Luffy...riding on the back of a camel.

"Oh, what's he gotten into now?" Behind him, a huge lizard bursts from beneath the sand and continues chasing. "Dahahaha~! Look at the size of that thing! I guess that's that excitement you were talking about, eh, Robin?"

"What is that?!" Zoro asks, staring at the gigantic lizard.

"A Sandora Dragon!" exclaims Vivi. "It's the largest reptile we have living here in the desert! It has razor sharp fangs and claws but it rarely has to use them because it has a tendency to under the sand, springing out to swallow it's prey whole!"

"Luffy really has a knack for attracting trouble, huh?" laughs Ace, watching Zoro, Sanji and Run go rushing out to meet their Captain.

"Oi, Luffy, bit off more than you can chew, huh!" exclaims Zoro.

"No, I brought meat!"

"We'll lend a hand!"

"Gum-Gum Whip!"

"Tatsumaki!"

"Epaule Shoot!"

"Sea King's Bite!" The dragon shudders one, and then collapses to the sand motionless. After killing it, Sanji determined that the creature was edible and so they cut off several large pieces and fried them on several nearby rocks. While Luffy is eating, they take this opportunity to question him about the camel. Of course, he doesn't seem to have any answers. He tells them that he simply happened across the animal while being eaten by some 'mystery plant' while he was chasing the birds.

"Well...it's saddled," Run says, looking over the camel. "So, it's obviously not wild. C'mere, buddy." The red head reaches up to pat the camel on the neck and jerks his hand back immediately as it snaps at him. "Or not. Bad! That's a bad camel. We don't bite-- aah!" The red head dodges backwards as it snaps at him again.

"Perhaps he was digested by the mystery plants first?" Robin offers, approaching and patting the camel much to it's enjoyment. Clearly it's not a fan of men. Either way, in the end they decide to keep the camel, who Nami quickly names Lashes, since it'll make traveling to Yuba all the easier...or so they thought, at least until Chopper translated for the camel and made it clear it would only carry the girls...naturally, things wouldn't be any easier...

- - -

One would think that things could only get better after losing everything to a bunch of thieving birds...and they would be wrong. They'd been left behind by the girls as a result of their riding on 'Lashes' and have had to resort to following the hoof prints. If the wind were blowing any harder they might have been totally lost.

"Whooaaa! It's a tsunami!" exclaims Luffy, flailing his arms rapidly.

"What the hell?" Zoro asks, watching Luffy run this way and that.

"Well, what's gotten in him?" Run asks, carefully setting down the sled he's been dragging Chopper on.

"He said he couldn't take it anymore," Usopp explains, pointing back towards the remains of what was probably a cactus. "So, he ate one of this things. For the juice." Chopper looks back at the cactus and immediately jumps off of his make shift sled.

"He ate that?!" Chopper screams. "Those are mezcal cacti! They're used to make hallucinogenic drugs!"

"Aaaaahh! I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy screams, smashing Choppers sled only seconds before collapses.

"Tranquilizer!" exclaims the small doctor sticking Luffy with a needle.

"Aah, of course he ate a cactus," Run sighs, scratching the stubble on his jaw. "Alright, new rule. No one else eat the desert plants." After a few moments the red head scans the group. The girls are gone, that's nothing new since they're riding ahead of them but...they're not the only one's. "Oh, where's Ace?"

"Wasn't he here a bit ago?" Sanji asks. "Did he get separated?"

"Just great."

"Should we try to find him?"

"No. He'll find us, believe me." They managed to follow the camel's hoof prints to catch up with the girls, where they explained why they had fallen behind...of course, when the sedatives finally wore off and Luffy woke up they gave him a sound beating for doing something as stupid as eating a random cactus. They pushed onward until the sun finally began to set, and for the red head this was his favorite time. It wasn't blazing hot but it wasn't exactly freezing either. Unfortunately, they weren't to be granted even the slightest of reprieves as the wind began to howl, buffeting them all with sand.

"Everyone, see that light?" Vivi says, pointing ahead of them. "That's Yuba! But...something is wrong..." They push on, and as they draw closer it became apparent exactly what the problem was. The entire city was absolutely blanketed by a huge sandstorm. Yuba is hardly in better shape when compared to Erumalu, and certainly doesn't appear as if it's ANYONE'S base of operations. In fact, the city appears to be on the verge of being swallowed whole by the surrounding sands. When the sandstorm finally subsides they're able to venture safely into the city, finding it's streets to be deserted and it's infrastructure to be in ruins...well, the streets are NEARLY deserted.

In the middle of the street, standing in a large hole is a man shoveling away at the endless sand. "Are you lot travelers?" the old man asks, not stopping his shoveling. "You most be tired after your trek across the desert. I hate to disappoint but this town is a bit dried up right now. Still, you're free to rest here if you wish. Take your pick of inn's...they were the town's pride once, after all."

"We'd heard that this the rebel army was somewhere here in the city," Vivi says, hiding her face from him.

"What business do you youngsters have with the rebels?!" He immediately begins throwing things at the lot of them. "You brats! Don't tell me you came here to join the rebellion!" It takes him a moment to calm down but when he does he goes right back to shoveling the sand. "Hmph. It doesn't matter either way, I suppose. Those fools packed up and left town long ago."

"WHAT?!" they all exclaim in unison.

"That sandstorm you saw wasn't the first, and certainly won't be the last. Little by little this oasis dried up, leaving what you see before you. Not even the rebel army could have survived if they'd stayed, and so they moved their base to Katorea."

"Katorea? What's that, Vivi?" Luffy asks her. "Is it close?"

"It's by Nanohana," Robin tells him. "Back in the direction we've come from."

"Naturally," sighs Run, tugging his keffiyeh down from his nose to his neck. "I guess we'll have to double back."

"Then what was the point of coming all this way, exactly?" Zoro asks aloud.

"Vivi?" echos the old man, slowly climbing out of the hole. "Is that you, Vivi?" As he draws closer everyone is on guard just in case he tries to hurt her but...she seems to recognize him. As it turns out, the man is named Toto, and is the actually someone she's known she was a girl. He tells her that no matter what he believes in the king, and that he would never betray his people. "Please, Vivi! I'm begging you! Stop the rebellion! You're the only one who can do it!"

"We will," Vivi assures him. "No matter what, we'll stop the rebellion..."

- - -

With the sun setting, and everyone worn out for travel, they picked an inn to bed down in for the night. The room is rather large and has enough beds for the whole crew to sleep in one room comfortably. A mattress would be a nice change of pace from sleeping in a hammock as they did on the ship. But despite their fatigue it only took a single thrown pillow to kick off one heck of a contest, and send the feathers flying.

"You wouldn't think that they'd just crossed the desert by looking at them," Robin mutters, watching Zoro, Chopper, Sanji and Usopp throwing pillows and wrestling each other.

"Dahahaha~! This is pretty normal before sleeping in the mens quarters," Run says, as he pulls off his keffiyeh and his cloak and tosses them across the foot of the bed, and right beside Robin. "They'll wear themselves out and then sleep like babies. What you should be worried about is the snoring. It's loud enough to wake the dead."

"Well, luckily enough I'm used to it."

"Oi, I don't snore...right...?" Just as Run had predicted, it takes only a bit of time for everyone to finally wind down and head to bed. While everyone else seems to have no problem falling asleep, Run finds himself staying awake. Luffy has yet to return from...where ever it is that he's gone, and so after a bit of simply lying awake in the darkness he finally heaves a heavy sigh and rolls out of bed. He slips his geta on and heads out the door in search of his friend. He's barely stepped out of their home for the night, however, before a hand lands on his shoulder. He turns quickly, surprised to find Robin standing there.

"Aah, you know I don't like that," Run tells her, earning a giggle in response. "What are you doing up? I didn't even hear you leave."

"My apologies," Robin says. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk. Join me?" Run nods and follows after her. The two wander the streets of the deserted street slowly, passing by abandoned buildings and hotels. "Run, may I ask you a question?"

"Didn't know you needed permission."

"Do you think that...things might have been different for Alabasta if we had stayed with Shanks?" The red head arches a single brow in response. "If we had returned with Shanks to the New World then would things have changed? Would things have become as dire as they are in Alabasta?"

"Never known you to doubt yourself. But...I think you know the answer to that. You played the hand you were dealt, and you did what you could."

"No, I had a choice. What if I made the wrong one? What if--"

"What if we were both struck by lightening here and now? What if we were struck by a meteor?" Robin looks at the red head in confusion and he offers her a smile. "Don't worry about 'what ifs', Robin. If not you then it would have been someone else. Someone who wouldn't have tried to sabotage his efforts."

"We don't know that."

"So then we keep going. We push forward one foot after the next and come what may. We can't change what's been done but we can stop him before he makes things worse...right?" After a few moments Robin sighs and then nods in understanding. "Good. Oh. To answer your question...sometimes I do wonder what might have been, if we'd gone on with Dad. But I think I most definitely prefer this."

"Me, too..."