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If Nami had to describe Robin, she would say Robin was beautiful and mysterious; heavy on the mysterious. Which meant she was untrustworthy—at least at first. After she invited herself onto their crew, Luffy had welcomed her with open arms, of course. He sprouted a large deep purple aster on his hip immediately, opposite from Usopp's long and trailing love-lies-bleeding. Nami made sure to keep a sharp eye on her when Luffy presented it. Robin's reaction was subdued, a slight widening around the eyes before her mask went back up, commenting with a little 'oh my' of amusement. Nami wasn't sure if she believed it.
However, Luffy had given his stamp of approval and if Luffy wasn't so accepting then where would Nami be herself? So she decided to roll with it. Keep her eyes open, obviously, but be as welcoming as possible.
Later on, in what was now their shared room—once Robin was out of sight—Nami looked into the meaning of aster. After seeing how well Luffy nailed the rest of their nakama it would be interesting to see what it said about Robin. It took her a while to find it, but once she did she stared. 'Chinese Aster' was a variation of aster, fuller blooms but they still had the same meanings: 'elegance', 'faithfulness', 'patience', and 'death'. The most mature meaning Luffy had on him to date, the love-related ones on his chest notwithstanding. She hummed with thought. Death was a new one, but lots of flowers had multiple meanings, it didn't necessarily mean all of them was how the person felt about the other. Nami severely doubted Luffy wished 'death' on Robin, so that was just a weird aside.
Months passed and Robin still didn't get any flowers. At least none that Nami saw. On a few occasions in the bath or in their room, she would catch a quick glance of a small bundle on the small of Robin's back. But it was clear that she wanted to keep it hidden and unspoken, with the way Robin frequently turned to hide it, so Nami didn't ask. Flowers on the back generally meant the person wanted them hidden for whatever reason.
Still, not having a flower for the crew was strange. Sanji had followed Luffy's lead and grown a flower quickly although that wasn't surprising with another female member. He took longer for the men of the crew. Usopp held out a little longer before he followed Luffy's example and grew the same variation of aster.
So in the end, only Zoro and Nami didn't have a flower. Chopper couldn't get them himself, a fact that made him melancholy from time to time. Whenever this happened, if someone else didn't already grab him to cuddle with, Nami would offer him her arm where his cherry blossoms grew down her forearm, so he could touch them and feel a little better. It was a visual reminder that he was loved, that he was appreciated. He didn't need to grow his own flowers, they already knew he would have them if he could.
Nami could feel the fact that she wanted to grow a flower for Robin, but it was Robin's own secrets that held her back. She knew what it was like to hold secrets close to the chest, and how much they had hurt her nakama. She didn't want Robin's secrets to do the same.
But then Water 7 happened and they did. There was so much going on, it was hard to keep track but they rallied together. Luffy was firm in his belief of Robin's loyalty and really, how could Nami disagree? Hadn't she been faced with an impossible situation herself? One where she too had no control over the outcome and could only obey orders? Luffy had freed her then, and he would do the same for Robin now. They all would. And as an aster bloomed on the back of her hand, large and dark she felt her heart settle with determination.
Standing with her crew at Enies Lobby staring up at Robin, Nami felt that resolve blaze through her as the flag burned. Luffy would take on any danger for his nakama — as would they all — she knew that with absolute certainty. She wanted Robin to believe that too, as Luffy shouted at her to say that she wanted to live. Nami waited with bated breath, heart surging with hope that Robin would believe in Luffy, believe in all of them.
As they stood, waiting for her answer as tears streamed down her face, Nami's eyes widened. What was that? Before Robin suddenly yelled,
"I want to live! Take me to sea with you!" Nami's hand tightened over her Clima-tact. Flowers, flowers had bloomed all over Robin's neck and collarbones, the colors bright against her dark clothes and so, so visible even from where Nami was standing. Her heart settled. They would get their precious nakama back, no matter what it took.