"Meow!"

Nico Robin barely registered the small ball of fur rubbing itself against her leg as she flipped the next page of her extremely thick and heavy tome. Robin yawned. Once, twice. Underneath her eyes, black rings were visible.

"Meow, meeeeoww!"

Robin's right hand jerked slightly, signifying her annoyance, but that was it. Other than that, Ice Queen Robin didn't react to the cat playing at her feet at all. The cat started scratching away at the side of her lazy chair.

The furball wanted something, but Robin couldn't tell what it wanted.

Let the cat scratch away.

Sighing, Nico Robin flipped the page.
There's still so much left to study.

"MEOW!"

Now the cat was getting irritating. Nico Robin lazily sprouted a hand from the floorboards which picked up the cat by the scruff and threw it a good distance away.
The cat yowled.
Nico Robin turned the page. She was already halfway through the book and no way was she letting the cat distract her.

"Purrr."

Robin felt something soft against her leg.
The cat's back. It really doesn't know when to give up.

Sorry little cat.

Robin grabbed the glass of water she asked from the Cook a little earlier, and splashed the unsuspecting furball.

Now, Nico Robin was a woman of insight. She would usually plan beforehand all her actions, consider her options and weigh the consequences. But a distracted and sleep-deprived Robin was a short-sighted Robin.

What she had in mind was to chase the cat away, Nico Robin was definitely not expecting a yowling ball of wet fur to come at her with claws unfurled, spitting and hissing furiously.

Given the epitaph 'Akuma no Ko' by the World Government, Nico Robin was not weak. Not at all. But the demon spawn caught Nico Robin unawares and in a valiant attempt to protect her precious book, Nico Robin went down with a 'CRASH! BANG!' accompanied by her very un-Robin-like screams, all for the sake of the book.

"Nico Robin, are you alright?"

The blue haired shipwright in Speedos burst out of the workshop, blue brows creased with worry and his voice laced with concern.
Franky did not expect THE Nico Robin to be having an epic battle with a half-soaked feline.

Normally, Franky would have had laughed and laughed and laughed. But this was Nico Robin! And Franky could see she was struggling to save her book from the walking ball of drenched fuzz. She must be really, really distracted to a point of she didn't even think of using her Akuma no Mi powers.

Franky shot a net from his right arm. It hit the target dead on. The feline was soon caterwauling, trying its very best to escape the net.

Franky rushed to Nico Robin.

"The book is fine."

Robin announced as she stood up.

"Hey now, you're just as important as the book, if not more. Look at you, all covered in scratches!"

Robin's arms were full of grazes. Some even actively oozing red liquid.

"The scratches will heal in time. The book, on the other hand, is the only copy in the entire Grand Line and is irreplaceable."

"Alright. I get your point. How did the cat get onboard anyway?"

"That, I am not aware of."

Robin yawned once again.

"I shall continue reading."

Robin was about to move towards the lazy chair when she felt Franky's cool metal grip on her wrist.

"What is it?"

"Come here."

Slowly, Franky pulled Nico Robin towards him. Robin followed meekly. The Nico Robin he knew would never let him do something like this. Franky noticed Robin's eyes. The bags under her eyes told him what he needed to know.

Without hesitation, Franky scooped Nico Robin up into his arms.

"Let me go Franky-san. I have to resume my reading." Robin's voice was barely a whisper.

'I understand her thirst for knowledge, but this is ridiculous! To miss out several days of sleep, purely for the sake of finishing that thick book?'

Franky ignored Robin's plea and carried her into his workshop. He slowly set Robin on the sofa and fetched warm water and some clean cloth to clean up her wounds.

Franky slowly washed the raw areas, washing away the blood, returning her arms to the porcelain white it was before.

When Franky was done, he was just about to ask her whether there was anything else she needed when Franky noticed Nico Robin was already fast asleep.
Franky smiled.

He removed his Hawaiian print shirt and gently put it around Nico Robin's shoulders. Robin sighed and mumbled something along the lines of 'Thank you.'

Franky settled on the sofa beside Nico Robin.

xxxxx

Later that night, all the crew members had finally returned from their little trip into town.

"Good night, Mellorine!"

"Night, Sanji." Nami slowly walked away from the galley. She peered into the Robin's and her room.

Hmmm. It's empty, for the fifth night in a row.

'She's been staying awake for four nights straight with no rest. It's time for some rest.'

And so, way past midnight, a worried Nami looked all over the Thousand Sunny for Nico Robin.

Imagine her surprise when she found Nico Robin fast asleep on a sofa, in Franky's workshop, with Franky snoring slightly right next to her.

Nami decided to leave the two alone.

The Cat Burglar grinned, rubbing her hands together, already formulating evil, evil plans to somehow produce profits from this 'incident'.

"Finally."