Here's a songfic for all. I do not own One Piece, nor do I own Elton John's lyrics. Elton John kick. It ends a little abruptly, but gets the job done. Foosha.
Burn Down the Mission
You tell me there's an angel in your tree
Did he say he'd come to call on me?
For things are getting desperate in our home
Living in the parish of the restless folks I know
Robin looked out on the burning remnants of Ohara, her childhood home going up in smoke and ember. The small child sniffled, bringing her arm up to wipe away the streams flowing from her overworked eyes and nostrils. She shivered at the chill in the air, all warmth being sucked into the icy guide rails floating in the water on either side of her. Robin chuckled slightly to herself, trying to keep her spirits up, despite the roar of the burning island. The laugh was not her own, but that of a giant who sacrificed himself for her. There was an explosion, quickening the effect of the Buster Call's flames. The child covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes tight, wishing everyone she had loved, even not loved, were all safe, although she knew how much of a lie all of it was.
Robin bolted upwards in her bed, sweat beading down her brow. Twenty years older, she still envisioned the day her life changed forever as if the event had taken place only the day before. Sighing, she glanced over towards the other side of the room and was relieved when she saw that Nami was still sleeping peacefully in her own bed against the opposite wall. Thankful that she had not cried out in anguish, Robin stood up and made her way for the kitchen, hoping that a little bit of tea might help her calm down.
Everybody now bring your family down to the riverside
Look to the east to see where the fat stock hide
Behind four walls of stone the rich man sleeps
It's time we put the flame torch to their keep
Franky shifted in his hammock, attempting to find a comfortable position to sleep in. The cyborg's thoughts would not cease, leaving his restless. A week at sea already made him homesick. He wanted to joke around with the members of his former "family", chat with Bakaburg, tease Kokoro's little shit-granddaughter, live on an island that at more than one point in his life, he refused to leave and possibly even rebuild the glorious city of his youth. Now, he was unable do any of that. Franky groaned in a frustrated manner and rolled onto his opposite side.
Was coming aboard the Sunny-go, the ship he had put his heart and soul into, possibly be a mistake?
The snores of his newfound nakama protested against his silent claim. Despite the fact both were asleep, Sanji and Zoro seemed to still be competing over who was loudest, while Luffy almost singlehandedly drowned them out. How Chopper and Usopp were able to sleep through it all was beyond Franky, so he stood up and made his way for the doorway, intent on finding somewhere else to sleep. He knew that there should be at least on place on the ship that was free of the racket. After all, he did design it.
Burn down the mission
If we're gonna stay alive
Watch the black smoke fly to heaven
See the red flame light the sky
"So you were unable to sleep as well?" Robin asked as Franky walked in the kitchen. Franky scoffed at the woman sitting down, drinking her tea and eating some of the cookies Sanji had baked earlier in the day.
"Don't talk to me," he grunted, going into the refrigerator and pulling out a soda. He popped the top of and downed half of it instantly. Franky took his seat at the other end of the table and propped his feet up on the table, avoiding even looking at Robin. He still had not forgiven her. He probably never will. She was crazy to do such a thing to a man.
Robin glanced sideways at Franky, chuckling quietly. She sprouted a hand from the table and shoved his feet off of the tabletop, startling him greatly.
"It's not nice to do that, you know," she said with amusement. "If Cook-san catches you, he'd be furious."
"Let him be," Franky scoffed. "This is the ship I built."
"Yes, but it is his kitchen, you know." Franky failed to answer.
They sat in silence for quite a while. By the time Robin had finished her tea and Franky finished his soda, the two pirates were looking right at one another. The cyborg was completely serious, the early-morning activity souring his attitude, while the historian was more entertained than anything else.
"Yes…?" Robin asked.
"I don't get you," Franky replied. "You're such a mystery to me. What could have possibly possessed you to join up with what are basically a bunch of kids? Granted they're strong kids, but… how come?"
"You joined too, didn't you?"
"To make the pain stop, thank you. If you weren't there, I'd still be in Water Seven, looking for a new swimsuit."
"Sure," Robin smiled. "Sure."
Burn down the mission
Burn it down to stay alive
It's our only chance of living
Take all you need to live inside
"Those government dickweeds must have really had something out for you, huh?" Franky came back. "If you had to join up with these guys, it must have been a desperate situation."
"Are you saying that you don't like the rest of the crew?" Robin asked, crossing her arms indignantly. Franky sighed in a frustrated manner.
"Not at all," he explained. "They're good kids, and that's what I think from the bottom of my heart, but they're still kids."
"Feel a little out of place?" Robin asked. She shrugged casually. "You get used to it. Sometimes, you might even feel like you're a kid again yourself."
"I find that a bit hard to believe," Franky argued.
"For someone who missed out on childhood, I find it just fine." Robin sprouted some arms and served herself some more tea from the kettle. "With these 'kids', I can relax and be myself. No looking over my shoulder, no worrying about how I'm going to make my next escape… nothing. It is the best gift anyone could have ever given me." There was a long pause as Robin sipped more tea, halting the conversation.
"What did you do to deserve that bounty, anyways?" Franky finally asked. "An eight-year-old girl being bountied for seventy-nine million berri always seemed rather suspicious to me."
"I learned to read," Robin said plainly. "It seems to be less extravagant than the reason for your bounty, but it was the reason all the same."
"Reading?"
"Yes. I do not know if the others told you, but I can read Poneglyphs, which is an ancient and forbidden language. I am the last of the historians from Ohara in the West Blue. They never thought an eight-year-old was such a dangerous threat until it was too late." Robin leaned back in her chair and hardened her face in seriousness. "I have the power to take down the entire world."
"With what? A language people don't understand anymore?"
"No, the truth."
Franky studied the woman sitting across from him carefully. He knew that she had deceived everyone else in the crew before, but that Spanda… well… his fervor when trying to make her cross the Bridge of Judgment was more than a convincing back-up argument.
"So if you had those characters in front of you, you could read them?" Franky finally asked.
Yes," Robin nodded. Franky stood up abruptly and walked out of the kitchen. He returned quickly with a piece of paper and a pencil and sat down next to Robin. After closing his eyes for a moment, Franky drew on the paper and handed it to the woman. Robin gasped.
Deep in the woods the squirrels are out today
My wife cried when they came to take me away
But what more could I do just to keep her warm
Than burn burn burn burn down the mission walls
"How can you write this?" she asked, staring at the paper Franky had written on. On it, he had drawn the Poneglyph spelling of "Pluton", perfectly reproducing the characters with ease.
"It was written on the blueprints I inherited from Tom-san," Franky explained. "I never knew what they were or what they meant. I could read the rest of the blueprint just fine though, since it used basic measurements. The words were what always got me."
"Amazing," Robin said, her eyes glinting at the paper, a smirk coming across her face. "The Pluton's blueprints were written in Poneglyphs, huh? That is interesting." She thought for a minute and then stood up briskly. "How much about those blueprints do you remember?"
"Every marking," Franky replied.
"Good," Robin smiled. "I want you to recreate that blueprint, even it is just the Poneglyphs. This needs to be studied."
"Are you crazy!?" Franky snapped, also standing. "Iceburg was almost killed because of that blueprint! Do you really think I want to recreate something like that!?"
"Yes," Robin grinned, holding up her hand, palm upwards and flat. "You know you have no choice."
"Yes I do," Franky scowled. Robin closed her palm tightly and grinned.
"…like grapes," she chuckled. Franky cringed in sympathetic pain, his mind going back to when he joined up. He never wanted to do something like that, ever again.
"See you in the library an hour after first light then?" Robin smirked, walking out of the room. A hand sprouted from Franky's back to pat him on the shoulder and the cyborg blanched.
It was a good thing they were on the same side. It would have been hell to meet her in battle, he could tell.