B is for Birthday
Despite the month being February, the New World allowed for sun and rays. And that was essential for one special day. February 6th.
The preparations were a pain. Blake had to ask the entire crew to leave the aquarium bar empty a few days prior to get everything set up. Then, since the crew were a reasonable distance from the next island, he had to get Nami to approve a Coup de Burst, if not the Sunny's new cola engine. Begrudgingly, the navigator agreed for the cola engine.
Then came the problem of what to do when they get to the island. Thankfully, said island had a small department store, but that came with the problem of keeping Robin away from Blake. Unsurprisingly, Sanji volunteered for that mission. Once docked, Blake leapt over the railing to the ground beneath, and made haste to the closest store.
After getting the necessities, the wrapping paper, gifts, etc., the next part was finding a spot on the ship where Robin wouldn't think to normally be, which wasn't a very difficult challenge, but it still proved to be difficult. Ultimately, Blake decided to use Chopper's office to stash his buys, which ultimately made Chopper want to help as well, deciding to spend some Berry on a reference book for Robin.
Of course, with Chopper wanting to help came everyone else's support. Brook offered to keep an eye on the birthday girl, even if he didn't have any eyes, which left Blake a little wary, given Brook's mental stability. Of course, that also meant keeping Robin from finding Brook's body while in his soul form, which he left up to Usopp. Franky decided to put together a small confetti cannon for the party, wanting to make Robin's party the most 'super' one she ever had.
While difficult, Blake had Nami take Luffy and Zoro, begrudgingly, to go and find some casablancas. He had to twist Zoro's arm to get him to go, yet surprisingly didn't need to for Luffy. He wasn't sure how, but...somehow it worked.
Blake volunteered for the night watch, since he needed the time to prepare. After Robin turned in at around 11, Blake had to make his way to the bar.
"Time to make some magic." Blake smirked. With that said, he got to work.
Blake managed to get a good majority of the food prepared, and thankfully since Sanji and Brook woke up an hour ahead of Robin, they helped get the rest of the food prepared and to get set up.
"Thanks for this." Blake said, getting the table in the bar set. "It Robin's birthday, so I want this to go well."
"Oh, it's no trouble." Brook dismissed. "Right, Sanji?"
"If it makes Robin happy, I don't care what lengths need to be taken." Sanji declared. Blake sighed. At least he wasn't swooning over his wife.
"Okay, I told Franky to tell everyone that the aquarium bar's closed for today for repairing." Blake said. "And Sanji, you'll keep the perishables hidden in the fridge and I'll signal you to send down the food via the dumbwaiter."
"And you didn't tell Luffy, right?" Sanji asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"Are you kidding me?" Blake sarcastically asked. "He can't keep a secret to save his life."
After Robin woke up, everyone still wanted to celebrate Robin's birthday. Luffy, per captain's orders, told Robin that she had to stay in the women's room until the crew had everything set up, and no spying either. Apparently that was how it went for Luffy's village, no matter how much, or little, the birthday person slept the night before. At least Sanji made her a pot of tea while she waited.
"Excuse me, Sanji?" Robin asked. "Have you seen Blake this morning?"
"No, I haven't." Sanji lied. He kinda had to, considering that he had helped with Blake's plan earlier.
Robin's face slightly fell as she heard the news. "Oh. I see." She kinda figured that Blake would be at her side throughout the day, being husband and wife after all. "If you do see him, let me know, okay?"
Sanji smiled. "Of course." He left the room, leaving Robin to her own devices.
"ROBIN!" Luffy screamed from the kitchen. "WE'RE READY!"
"YOU DON'T NEED TO YELL, DAMNIT!" Nami yelled, followed by the familiar sound of her fist to Luffy's head. Robin couldn't help but to giggle.
'Never a dull moment, I suppose.'
Robin made her way to the kitchen, where she was bombarded with a pretty interesting setup. A small banner was hung on the wall, with a small bookshelf with some of her gifts were wrapped, obviously all of them were books about something. A quick scan of the shelf only revealed eight other gifts, and the room was missing a Straw Hat.
"Has anyone seen Blake?" Robin asked.
The others, minus Sanji and Brook, looked at each other with looks of curiosity. They would've thought that the other Demon Child would have been here, but they haven't seen him since they turned in last night.
Their looks were all Robin needed, but from the looks of things, they really wanted Robin's party to go on, so she went with it. The food was amazing, courtesy of Sanji, who got Robin a cookbook. Franky got to use his confetti cannon when Robin entered, and Brook sang Robin a song of the West Blue. Nami bought Robin some clothes from the last island they were on, leaving Usopp to regale Robin with one of his 'stories' and Luffy...well Luffy...didn't really have anything planned. If anything, Robin could justify that Luffy's gift to Robin was the party as a whole, but something left off. It just didn't feel the same without having her other half there.
Of course the party was going off without a hitch, but as soon as the food was gone and the gifts were opened, Robin left to find Blake. Naturally, the first place she checked was the mens bedroom, which didn't turn up any leads. She tried the library next, only to find her other comfort; books.
After a couple of hours, checking the Soldier Dock System channels, the crow's nest, and even the bathroom, she couldn't find him anywhere on the ship. Actually, now that she took time to think about it, Blake wasn't really with her these past few days.
By the time the evening rolled, Blake had put the finishing touches on his gift. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he got up. "Finally." He quietly snuck out of the supposedly closed bar, making sure no one heard him. "Now, to find-" He was cut off when he was thrown into the air, only to crash hard into the Sunny's grassy lawn. By the time he opened his eyes, he saw Robin standing over him, an angry stare clearly shown on her face.
"So, I take it you're not happy with me?" Blake asked.
"Now, what would give you that idea?" Robin sarcastically said.
"A lot would." Blake got up and brushed himself off. "Actually, I was about to try and find you." He grabbed Robin's hand and guided her to the kitchen.
"What exactly are you trying to pull?" Robin demanded, trying to stand her ground.
"Cover your eyes." Blake said.
"Not without an answer." Robin stood her ground.
"You'll get your answer when you cover your eyes." Blake said. Robin relented and covered her eyes. Blake gently guided her around to the aquarium bar. "Okay. You can take your hand off."
Robin took her hand away and immediately her eyes widen when she saw what Blake did. The entire aquarium bar was stunning, with little casablancas's hanging in from the ceiling alongside the black and purple streamers. Little clay ponegylphs were scattered throughout, and from the one that Robin picked up, actually has words written on them on the ancient language.
'Under the rage of fire and smoke, one story ended. Yet from the ashes, another began.'
'A wise man once said that it's never a crime to exist. I believe that it's never a crime to love.'
'Some may claim that living's a privilege, but it's always right.'
Robin stared at the small poneglyph in awe. Blake actually took the time, not to mention the cost all of this had to be (though money was never an issue for him), to make this as memorable as he could. He went all out for the woman he loved, as any man would.
Eventfully she gave in and she smiled, wrapping her hands around Blake, "You didn't have to do this. I was perfectly content with spending today with you."
"I know." Blake said, smiling at her words. "Hang on." Blake pulled out a Baby Transponder Snail and called someone. "'K Sanji, we're ready."
"Understood." The snail clicked off as Blake walked over to the dumbwaiter. Suddenly, it made sense why Sanji said that he hadn't seen Blake, not to mention he seemed a little squirrely earlier.
Blake pulled out a small cake out of the dumbwaiter, already cut up and ready to serve, with a candle in it. Blake pulled out a match, struck it and lit the candle. "Well, blow out the candle."
Robin stared at the tiny flame. Blake was really pulling out every possible stop to make this memorable. She smiled as she snuffed the life out of the candle.
"So?" Blake asked, much to Robin's inquiry. "Did your make your wish?"
"It already came true." Robin answered as she pulled Blake in for a passionate kiss.
"Happy Birthday, Robin."
So, in the last chapter I had someone ask me how both Blake and Robin could use the Flower-Flower Fruit. The truth is, they can't. Blake's Devil Fruit is actually the Copy-Copy Fruit, which was used in a One Piece play back in 2012, I think? Since it wasn't used in any filler arcs or movies, it's the perfect Devil Fruit to use.
I actually had a problem coming up with a 'B' word for this chapter. Actually, this chapter was originally going to focus on the fact that Robin shared her birthday with her mother, with Blake trying to help her through the day.
I've got a nice plan for the 'C' chapter, so keep an eye out for it!