Title: Robin's Choice
Rating: T
Characters: Franky/Robin
Chapter: 1 of 4
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Warning: Spoiler warning through the Enies Lobby arc, which ends around episode 324 or so.
CHAPTER ONE
Franky leaned over the rail of the Thousand Sunny, staring at the island where the Strawhat crew was currently docked. At least a dozen other ships shared the harbor with them. The port was filled with shops and businesses that catered to sailors, and it was clear that many passing travelers were taking advantage of the ample trade.
So intent was Franky's gaze on the landscape, he did not notice Chopper standing next to him, staring apprehensively through the rails, until the meek reindeer started to speak.
"Have you seen Robin?" he asked timidly, his voice tinged with concern.
"Nah, I haven't seen her since we docked," Franky replied carefully, his voice unusually flat and unexpressive.
Chopper grasped the rails tightly. "When do you think she'll come back?"
"Haven't got a clue," Franky responded.
The reindeer seemed unusually nervous, fidgeting as he chattered at Franky. "I think she's been gone a couple of hours. I thought she was going to tell me if she went to the town."
"Well, it's not like we were planning on leaving at any particular time, so it'll be just fine. When everybody is back, we'll figure out what to do." Franky pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes, and turned toward Chopper. He did his best to muster a big grin.
Chopper returned the smile weakly, and then let out a deep sigh.
Franky looked down at Chopper. He was a bit taken aback to see the concerned look on the young doctor's face—it almost looked like fear.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Franky told him, giving him a reassuring pat on the top of his hat. "That woman can take care of herself, and this doesn't exactly look like the kind of place where we'd find trouble."
"It's not that." Chopper fidgeted again. "Do you think... do you think Robin has been acting strangely lately?" He looked up at Franky with wide, terrified eyes.
With great effort, Franky managed to smile at Chopper disarmingly, and shook his head from side to side. "You shouldn't worry so much," he told him, purposely evading the question.
"If something is wrong, I hope Robin understands we'd do anything to help her, no matter what," Chopper said fervently. "We're her nakama, after all."
"She knows that," Franky said quietly, shifting his gaze back to the town.
"Right, of course," Chopper said, nodding. He looked up at Franky again. "But where could she be? When I saw you standing here for so long, I kinda thought you were waiting for her."
"Nah, I'm just passing the time," Franky lied, trying to keep his tone nonchalant. "But really, Tanuki, I don't think you should worry anymore."
Chopper nodded slowly, as if trying to agree with his statement. "I know that, I guess. I just feel like lately she's felt kind of... far away." He furrowed his brow. "I can't explain it very well, but she seems so sad sometimes, and I have to try to hard just to make her smile. I don't want Robin to feel miserable."
"The way I see it," Franky speculated, "is that you can't take something that's been broken that long and expect it to get fixed right away." He tightened his jaw immediately after the words slipped out of his mouth. He hadn't meant to be so frank.
"Huh?" Chopper asked him. "What do you meant, Robin's broken?"
"You're the doctor," he said gravely. "You tell me."
"She is healthy, though. Broken, broken..." the reindeer repeated quietly to himself. "What am I missing?"
"Hey, she probably is just fine, and she'll be back very soon, and we'll just feel silly for even thinking twice about it. We just gotta wait it out."
"You're going to keep watching for her, right?"
"I'm not watching for her," Franky told Chopper again, a bit too defensively. "This is just where I feel like standing."
"Oi, Franky," Sanji's voice suddenly appeared behind him, much more closely that he expected. Franky turned around, a bit startled.
"Huh?" Franky asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Just need a quick word with you." Sanji looked down at Chopper. "Chopper, would you mind giving us a minute?"
"Oh… Okay," Chopper replied, his disappointment apparent. "I'll get out of your way," he said sadly as he shuffled away.
After Chopper's sullen departure, Sanji pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips.
"I think you hurt the poor tanuki's feelings," Franky pointed out when the reindeer was out of earshot.
Sanji lit a match, raised his hand up to his face to block the wind, and touched the flame against the tip of his misshapen cigarette. When the end glowed crimson, he shook the match until the flame extinguished and tossed it over the edge of the ship, into the sea below.
"I don't think you're the person who should criticize me for hurting someone's feelings," Sanji replied frigidly.
"Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Franky shot back. He crossed his arms and turned toward Sanji defensively.
Sanji ignored his aggressive posture. He rested his elbows on the rail of the ship and leaned forward, staring forward blankly. "You should know exactly what it means."
Franky tensed. "Look, I know you've been pissed off at me lately, but I don't wanna get into it with you. I don't get why you're trying to pick a fight with me."
Sanji sighed, still gazing toward the town. "I'm not here to fight with you, either."
"Yeah, well, then you better tell me what's going on," Franky told him sharply.
He puffed on his cigarette thoughtfully. "It's about Robin-chan," Sanji said finally.
Franky clenched his jaw.
"I've been unhappy with you for all of the time you spend with Robin-chan. I don't know exactly what's going on between the two of you, but whatever's happening, I don't like it. In fact, it downright pisses me off that she's taken such a liking to you. But if it's Robin-chan's desire, I can overlook that. But there's one thing I can't get past." He turned toward Franky, his eyes burning.
"I won't forgive you for leaving a lady in distress," Sanji declared darkly.
"Huh?" Franky crossed his arms again. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Sanji's face flashed anger for moment. His brow twisted unpleasantly, and he clenched his hands. But the anger dispersed almost immediately, and Sanji let out a deep sigh, running his hand through his flaxen hair. "Because I care so much about Robin, I'll just tell you."
Franky stared at him incredulously.
"You might've noticed I tend to show more a lot more affection toward Nami-san than Robin-chan," Sanji said carefully.
He snorted. "Don't know about that—it seems like you harass them both a lot."
Sanji's brow twitched, but he ignored the comment and continued. "I'm sure everyone probably assumes that it's because I'm more attracted to Nami-san or something along those lines." He took a long drag on his rapidly shrinking cigarette.
Franky nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess that sounds about right."
"Well, whether or not it's true, it's better for Robin-chan if they do. When I approach those women, I might seem like I don't have much control, but in reality I'm always conscious of it."
"I don't know why you're telling me this, but—"
"This is difficult," Sanji cut him off, glaring angrily. "It's against my better judgment, but I'm going to place a bit of trust in you right now, Franky. What I'm telling you is something I don't want everybody else to know about because it might hurt Robin-chan."
The blonde man puffed on his cigarette, bowing his head in thought. Franky stared at him impatiently.
After taking a few more puffs, Sanji finally continued. "I've tried to pursue a relationship with both of those women. And I don't just mean the flirting—I've gone after them with everything I had." He bowed his head slightly in shame.
"Nami-san rejects me without hesitation. No matter what I do to try to win her over, she always blows me of in the end. Sometimes she acts angry at me, but other times she plays along. She'll flirt back, lure me in until I think I almost have her, that this time she's surely changed her mind... Then she'll toss me back out as though I were trash."
Sanji shrugged helplessly, a faint smile on his face while he spoke of her. "I'm not trying to say Nami-san is a cruel woman. She just understands exactly how hard she can push me. She knows that no matter how many times I lose, I'm always still willing to play the game, but that bit of sport is all it'll ever be. Nami-san's a woman who knows what she wants, and right now…"
He trailed off for a moment, and took the final drag of his cigarette. He flicked the butt of the side of the deck, rubbing his temple with his other hand.
"Right now, I'm not what she wants," Sanji said slowly, with great difficulty.
Despite how irritated he had been with the cook a few moments earlier, Franky was moved by Sanji's difficult admission. He could feel tears welling in his eyes. He bit his lip, trying his best to quell his emotions so he could hear the rest of what Sanji had to say.
"Even if I'm not what she wants, I'll still keep trying. And no matter what I do—no matter how far I go—Nami-san is unfazed by it. She has an inner strength that most people could only dream of having." He smiled again, groping at his coat pocket. A moment later, he produced another cigarette that looked like it had been stepped on a couple of times. After lighting it, Sanji continued.
"Robin-chan is also a strong, confident woman," he went on. "But when I tried the same advances with Robin-chan, it was like watching someone remove the scaffold from an unfinished wall. She could barely keep from crumbling."
Franky closed his eyes in contemplation. "Yeah, I think I might know what you mean."
Sanji pressed his lips together grimly. "When she pushed me away, she seemed almost terrified. Her calm, collected composure and her confidence… it's like it vanished instantly."
"Like a different women entirely," Franky muttered.
"Right," Sanji agreed somberly. "I've seen very few women react that way to a man's advances… But those women had all been deeply hurt."
The two men sat in silence for a few moments, lost in thought.
"The first time, I was just stunned. I had no idea what was wrong. After a few more attempts, I realized that I was definitely the trigger. I tried to refrain from flirting with Robin-chan too often. I couldn't imagine what made her feel so terrified-but whatever it was, she wouldn't tell me, and I wasn't going to force it out of her.
"When we rescued her at Enies Lobby," Sanji continued, "I remember thinking 'ah, so that's what happened in her past. That's why she's so afraid to get too close to anyone.' But it didn't take long to figure out that even after all that had happened, even after we had proven beyond any doubt that she was our nakama, she still couldn't handle any serious romantic pursuits." He shook his head. "Even my most charming, gentlemanly wooing made no difference."
A wave of jealously passed over him, and Franky found himself unintentionally glaring at the cook. "Whether you're being a gentleman or not, you shouldn't treat every girl like you're in love with them," he snapped.
Sanji chuckled in amusement, casting a sideways glance toward him. The cook grinned widely, and yet there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes. "Ah, but didn't you know, Franky? I'm in love with every beautiful woman I see."
The blonde-haired man turned his attention back toward the distant scenery. He took several drags on his cigarette before speaking again. "Maybe because of how I am, Robin-chan couldn't trust me."
Sanji suddenly turned his whole body toward Franky, and faced him dead-on. "And yet, she trusts you."
Franky bit the inside of his cheek, trying to mask his expression. He could feel a lump in his throat.
This reaction was not unnoticed by Sanji. He stared at Franky, studying him, his cigarette clenched between his teeth.
"So," Sanji finally began to speak again. "I've admitted a lot more than I ever wanted to, and I've told you some things I didn't want anyone else to know. You're not obligated to tell me anything in return, but I will say this… if there's anything you can do to give Robin-chan some relief from whatever painful thing she's going through, you damn well better do it."
He stared at Franky intentely. His gaze was calm, but threatening. "If something happens to Robin and you did nothing to prevent it, I won't forgive you."
Franky clenched his jaw. Although he did not like to let such a threat pass without any retort, he also did not want to say anything to betray Robin. Wordlessly, Franky turned away from Sanji and headed toward the dock.
"Where are you going?" Sanji called after him.
"Suddenly, I feel like taking a walk," Franky called back, not bothering to turn around.