The sun dipped low over the canals of Water 7, painting the wrecked city in hues of orange and gold. The air still smelled of smoke, cracked stone, and seawater.
The once-bustling docks were silent now, save for the soft creak of a ship being hastily repaired, a circus tent of patched sails and laughter rising over a city that had just witnessed chaos incarnate.
Buggy the Clown stood at the edge of the harbor, arms crossed, barking orders at whoever was closest. "Oi! Don't nail the Float Dial there! You're just askin' to send us flyin' sideways into the ocean! Use some sense, will ya?"
A few recently recruited shipwrights, tough, nervous-looking men in overalls, scrambled to follow orders. They weren't sure whether they'd been hired or taken hostage. With Buggy, the line was never clear.
But they had all received good money, and their families were also well-taken care for now. After all, Buggy's men had picked those that had worked on Marine vessels previously.
Urouge stood nearby, watching with mild amusement. "It's fascinating, Clown. You fight like a demon one moment and squabble over nails the next."
Buggy shot him a glare. "It's called dissociation, monk. Try it sometime."
Cabaji wheeled by on his unicycle, balancing a wooden plank on his head while hammering a nail into it. "Captain! Hull integrity restored! Probably!"
Mohji peeked over the railing. "The shipwrights say she'll float!"
"Eh. The hull wasn't that fucked to begin with ~" Buggy shrugged. "As long as she floats, she's fine."
From the canals below, the Franky Family appeared, loud, obnoxious, and covered in bruises. They hooted and hollered as they approached, waving tools. "Oi, clown! You makin' a mess of our city again?" one of them yelled.
Buggy turned lazily, one eye twitching. "Our city? Do you people even have a mayor? What are you, a gang or a committee?"
The leader of the stooges, a square-jawed man with a pompadour that defied physics, crossed his arms. "We're the Franky Family! And the great Franky himself is-"
Buggy held up a hand. "Don't care."
The man blinked. "Huh?"
"I know who Franky is; tell him to burn those blueprints by the way. He's going to get himself in trouble eventually~." Buggy waved him off. "Now off you go, folks. I just came out of a fight; no need for more blood spillage today."
The Franky Family seemed to back off with that, they took his words as a threat, but they didn't attack, mostly due to fear. Not like they had their leader present to begin with.
Franky himself was likely busy with his side projects; everything had happened a tad too fast for him to get involved.
Cabaji snorted. "Captain, I think you just made enemies."
"Nah," Buggy replied, adjusting his hat. "They're irrelevant; their leader is interesting, but not much else."
Robin watched the entire exchange from the ship's deck, her eyes calm but distant. The battle was over, the air was quiet again, yet something still stirred in her chest.
That nagging sense of uncertainty hadn't left her, not even after seeing Buggy fight the government's weapons and win.
She turned her gaze toward him. He was yelling at a shipwright for misplacing a plank, his gestures wild and exaggerated. Paint chipped from his gloves. His laughter echoed faintly through the canals.
And yet… when she closed her eyes, she still saw flashes of the fight. The way he'd cut through Lucci's attacks like it was all a joke.
The way he'd stood bloodied but laughing in front of her. The way he'd treated her, like she was part of the act, not a liability.
Now, as the ship prepared to sail again, she had expected something else. She fully expected to be ushered back on board. She had seen how men in power treated people like her. They didn't let go.
Especially since Buggy knew how useful she could be...
So when Buggy approached her, she straightened cautiously, her voice quiet. "I suppose you'll try to convince me to stay."
Buggy blinked. "Convince you?"
He tilted his head, then laughed. "Lady, the Big Tent's not a prison. You joined willingly, and you can leave the same way."
Robin froze. "…That's it?"
"That's it." He scratched his chin. "What, you want me to cry or somethin'? I'm a clown, not your ex. Also, I ain't ruining my makeup for this~"
"I just thought, after what you did…" Her words faltered. She hadn't meant to sound so small. "You risked your life for me."
Buggy shrugged. "And? You were part of the crew. That's what I do."
His tone was so casual it almost irritated her. "You don't even care where I'm going?"
"Oh, I care about that," he said, tapping his nose. "What I don't care about is holding someone who doesn't wanna be here. But if you're set on leaving, at least don't wander around like a lost kitten."
He reached into his coat and pulled something small and round, a gleaming Eternal Pose. "Here."
Robin's eyes widened. "An Eternal Pose?"
"Yup. An island near Tequila Wolf. "The closest one you can find within the Grand Line." he said. "You know the place?"
Her voice was cautious. "A World Government construction project… a bridge that spans continents, built by slaves."
Buggy nodded. "Exactly. And where there are slaves, there are rebels. Revolutionaries, too. If you're lookin' for people who hate the government as much as you do, that's where you'll find 'em."
She stared at him, uncertain whether to be impressed or unnerved. "You… want me to join the Revolutionaries?"
Buggy waved a hand. "Nah, I just don't want to have to rescue you again. You've got brains, Robin. Might as well use 'em somewhere useful. You can hitch a ride on a Marine ship to the bridge itself; you're sneaky enough and can likely get by with a disguise."
She didn't reply right away. Her fingers brushed the glass of the Eternal Pose, and for the first time in a long while, she felt something unfamiliar bloom in her chest, warmth.
"…You're not what I expected, Captain Buggy."
He smirked. "I rarely bother trying to meet expectations~"
From behind, Urouge let out a hearty laugh. "Hah! If we're handin' out departures, Captain, I'd like to revisit my monastery in the sky!"
Buggy shot him a glare. "You lost a Davy Back Fight. You're stuck till I say otherwise."
Urouge chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Ah, yes. Divine punishment indeed."
Cabaji sauntered by, twirling his sword. "If she leaves, we'll have to recruit another pretty face."
"Good luck finding one willing to join this circus," Robin replied dryly.
Mohji was weeping softly beside Richie, both already emotional. "We'll miss you, Miss Robin! You always fed Richie the best scraps…"
Richie roared softly, as if agreeing.
Robin smiled faintly. "Thank you… for treating me kindly."
Cabaji tilted his hat. "The Big Top may be a madhouse, but it's an honest one."
Buggy crossed his arms, pretending to look bored. "Right, right, sentimental time's over. Go on, Archaeologist, before you change your mind."
Robin looked at him, studying that painted grin, and for a moment she wondered what he looked like without the mask, whether that sharpness in his eyes came from madness or something else. But she didn't ask.
Instead, she tucked the Eternal Pose into her pocket. "Thank you, Captain."
"Bah," Buggy said, waving a hand. "Don't thank me. Thank fate. It's the only one crazy enough to bring us together."
The docks were quiet again when she left. The shipwrights had finished their work, and the Big Top's patched sails now fluttered like wounded wings.
Buggy stood on the deck, looking down at her as she walked along the pier, her silhouette framed by the dying light. "Oi!" he shouted suddenly. "Don't get yourself caught, got it? Or I'll have to come save you again, and that would ruin my schedule!"
Robin glanced back, smiling faintly. "I'll keep that in mind."
Urouge leaned on the railing, grinning. "She's somethin' special, huh?"
Buggy adjusted his hat. "Yeah… too smart to stick around with idiots like us."
Cabaji saluted dramatically. "Then we'll just have to raise the quality of our idiocy, Captain."
"Ha!" Buggy barked a laugh. "Good luck with that."
Mohji groaned from where he lay sprawled on deck, still bruised from the Kalifa incident. "Can I rest before we start the next adventure?"
"Nope," Buggy said cheerfully. "We're headin' out."
The newly joined shipwrights stiffened. "Already? We just finished repairs!"
"Yup!" Buggy said. "You're on the clock, boys. Don't worry, I only yell when I'm awake!"
Cabaji whispered to one of them, "He doesn't sleep much."
They shoved off from the dock, the ship creaking as it caught the tide. The Big Top's emblem, a grinning skull with a dark red nose, fluttered proudly against the fading sun. The crew cheered half-heartedly, exhausted but triumphant.
From the harbor below, Robin paused to watch as the ship drifted away. For the first time in a long time, she felt… safe. Not because of protection or power, but because someone had simply let her go.
She lifted her hand briefly, a silent wave.
On deck, Buggy sneezed. "Someone's talkin' about me," he muttered.
"Probably someone you owe money to," Cabaji said.
"Ha! They'll have to find me first!" Buggy roared, pointing toward the horizon. "Next stop, Sabaody Archipelago! Let's give those rich snobs a show they'll never forget!"
The crew erupted into cheers, half excitement, half panic, as the ship picked up speed, bouncing lightly on the waves, propelled by the new Float Dials and sheer lunacy of its captain.
As the silhouette of the Big Top vanished into the setting sun, Robin watched until it was just a speck of color on the horizon.
Then she looked down at the Eternal Pose in her hand, its needle pointing unwaveringly east.
"Clowns," she murmured, a smile ghosting her lips. "Every one of them."
The wind caught her hair as she turned away, the echo of laughter still faint in the distance, laughter that somehow, impossibly, felt like freedom.