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Robin was about to strangle someone. Not with her powers, but with her own bare hands. The normally polite woman was completely ready to murder someone.
It had been two days. Two. Days.
And still, she had no coffee.
Robin, being a person to sleep very little, was completely reliant on coffee. When she forgot to refill her stock at the last port, it was only a matter of time before she finally ran out. Today was the start of day three without it, and along with continuous headaches, she was starting to get snappy with her crew.
She was lying on her bed, trying to ignore the pounding in her temples, when the door opened slowly. She looked up to see the small reindeer hiding in his strange way.
"You're doing it backwards," she said, not even hiding the annoyance in her voice. Chopper flinched at hearing it and hid the right way, trembling.
Robin sighed. "What's wrong, Doctor-san?" she asked.
Chopper took a deep breath and walked into the girl's room, shyness almost forgotten. His voice turned into his professional one. "I think you are suffering from caffeine withdrawal," he said bluntly.
Robin fought back the urge to roll her eyes. "I figured this out," she said, her words clipped and short.
Chopper visibly gulped. "Well, uh, I have some medication-"
"I'm fine," she snapped, glaring at him. Fear filled the reindeer's eyes for a split second, and Robin not only felt bad, but she also felt alarm. He had seen her grumpy before, so what was different now?
"Chopper?" she asked, concern in her voice instead of the sharp tone. "What's wrong?"
Chopper looked up at her, and she saw tears in his eyes. "That's how my herd talked to me before...they..." The boy trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought. Robin felt guilty instantly.
Ignoring the headache that was killing her skull, she attempted to smile at him. "I'll be fine. Miss Navigator said we'll be in port soon, and then I will be able to get coffee. Don't worry."
Chopper nodded meekly. "Let me know if you need pain killers for the headaches," he said before exiting. Robin sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, exasperated. What was she going to do?
"Luffy!"
"Luffy, stop!"
"You idiot! What are you doing?!"
"Get back here!"
Robin groaned and pulled a pillow over her head, trying vainly to blot out the sounds from the deck of the Merry.
"You can't fight them all by yourself!"
That snapped her to reality. Luffy was fighting. An enemy, at that. "Luffy!" she called, racing out of the room. She finally broke out onto the open deck.
Parked a pretty good distance from the ship was a Marine boat, huge and intimidating as ever. Except now there was a panic on both ships.
"What's wrong?" Robin asked immediately, going to the railing.
Nami glared daggers at the opposing ship. "Luffy rocketed over to the other boat without telling any of us. As soon as ee saw it, he was gone. Now what are we supposed to do?"
Robin growled a bit before rubbing her head once more. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse.
Suddenly, one hand grabbed onto the side of the boat. Everyone had just enough time to scoot out of the way before Luffy was flying back onto the boat.
He landed carefully on the deck, looking worn out but relatively unharmed. He had a couple of cuts on him, but nothing serious. In the hand that hadn't rocketed him over he was gently holding a package. Smiling with excited eyes, he walked over to a surprised Robin. He handed the tin to her, practically glowing.
"I got ya something," he said simply, waiting for her to open his gift.
Confused and cautious, she opened it.
It was full of coffee beans.
"I know you like coffee, and we ran out, so I went over and got you some more," he explained, childish innocence brighter than ever.
Robin stared at the boy, her captain. All she could think to say was, "How'd you know?"
Luffy smiled at her. "Shanks used to have withdrawals when the local pub ran out of rum," he said, like it explained everything. His explanation only made everyone confused.
Robin felt irrational tears start to sting her eyes. It had been a long time since someone cared enough to risk his life for her, much less for something she could live without but wanted. She couldn't even form the words of gratitude, but Luffy just grinned at her.
"Lemme know if you need more. I can find another ship. I gotta let Chopper check me over or he'll freak out." In a flash, Luffy had ran away in search of Chopper.
Then it hit Robin.
She crumpled to her knees, tears starting to leak out of her eyes. Luffy whipped around and ran back over like he was on fire, alarm in his eyes.
"Robin! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he asked, kneeling down in front of her. She looked at him with tears running down her cheeks.
"You actually care," she croaked out. "You got hurt just for some stupid coffee. For me."
Luffy had gentleness in his eyes as he realized the problem. "I did," he agreed. He smiled a little. "But I wanted to help you. You're worth it."
Robin continued to choke out tears, blinking to try and clear them up. Luffy readjusted and suddenly hissed quietly. Robin stopped crying suddenly, looking at him in confusion. Then she remembered.
He'd been cut with some swords getting the coffee.
"I may not be Doctor-san, but I am willing to help you since you've helped me," Robin offered calmly, wiping away the remains of her tears. Luffy grinned at her and stood.
"Alright. Thanks, Robin," he said, holding out a hand to Robin. Robin paused a second before taking it. "We can make you some coffee first, though."
Robin smiled genuinely at the energetic boy in front of her. "It's alright," she said truthfully. "I can wait." She had something much more important to take care of first; Monkey D. Luffy, the man who saved her life.