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The first time she sees his bare skin in all its glory, Robin can’t help the audible gasp that escapes her throat.
“What’s the matter?” Zoro inquires as he props himself on one elbow, his chin resting in his hand. “We can stop if you’re uncomfortable, Robin,” the swordsman assures, reinforcing that Robin is in control of the current situation.
“No,” Robin answers quickly, her voice filled with determination and assurance. “This is just the first time I’ve seen all of your scars up close,” the archaeologist admits as her blue eyes lock onto Zoro’s brown one.
“I see,” Zoro says, his tone of voice even and not betraying any emotion. “Would you like an explanation of them?” he asks before grasping Robin’s hand in his own.
“Zoro,” Robin laughs as her blue eyes shine with mirth and amusement. “I do believe we were in the middle of something much more captivating,” she reminds with a smirk before she presses a kiss, long and slow to Zoro’s lips.
The swordsman lets out a contented sigh before he forms an answer.
“We’ll have that particular distraction as an excuse for a long time as long as I have any say in it, you gorgeous woman,” Zoro counters, nipping Robin’s bottom lip between his teeth.
Unable to resist the temptation Robin presents him with, Zoro focuses his actions on other activities that require his whole attention. As Robin lies on Zoro’s bare chest, the female archaeologist absentmindedly traces the ghosted outline of Zoro’s scar he received years ago from his first fight with Dracule Mihawk back at the Baratie.
“You have so many on your torso,” Robin whispers, watching Zoro’s face for any signs of pain or discomfort as she maps all the scars on the anterior side of the swordsman’s body.
“Scars on the back are a swordsman’s shame,” Zoro confidently says, grabbing one of Robin’s hands in his own, pointing to every scar on his body in all their various sizes, locations, and stages of healing as he offers explanations for each one.
A few scars exist on Zoro’s body from his time at the dojo training with Kuina, most of them small, completely healed, and seemingly insignificant at this point in his life. Others have come from his time alone as a bounty hunter, though there are far fewer of these scars than any others from his time on the high seas. The multitude of scars on his body from his time as first mate of the Straw Hat Pirates make up the majority of his visible battle scars and injuries. Those he received in the East Blue years ago have nearly all begun to fade, save for the thick, cross-body scar given to him by Dracule Mihawk, Zoro’s predecessor to the strongest swordsman in the world and those to both his ankles from when he tried to cut through his legs to escape Mr. 3's clutches in Little Garden. Each story Zoro tells Robin has his eye either shining with pride or appearing stormy and grief-filled when he speaks of the scars he received from fighting to protect Luffy and the rest of the crew from Kuma on Sabaody two years ago.
Robin still never learns the story behind the scar of Zoro’s missing left eye.
She does not press the issue.
“You fight with the spirit of an unrelenting lion,” Robin whispers, locking her blue eyes to Zoro’s brown one, pulling the blankets up to further cover her bare arms.
“I’ll always fight for my crew, for my nakama, for you,” Zoro assures, that same seriousness in his eye that he had all those years ago when he made his vow to Kuina, then again when he took Wado as his own sword.
“Then I’ll always be here to help you fight and patch you up again,” Robin promises.
The stories of the Straw Hat Pirates, the islands they have visited, and the villains they have fought all converge together as a tapestry of scars on Zoro’s skin. Who better than the crew’s archaeologist to spend the rest of her life learning them all?