Here come the fourth prompt! I wrote this as I was still in shock of what's happening as it was supposed to be a celebration day for me, so I apologize if it seems a bit rushed or difficult to understand, but I was quite happy with what I came up with. Enjoy!
Rating: T
Genre: Gen, bit of angst but nothing much
Word count: 1876
Warnings: slight spoilers for the recent chapters
They say that the Northern Sea was the sea of Greatness. Whereas East Blue had nothing to offer but tranquility, West Blue provided the most ruthless pirates and South Blue was known for its merchants and commercial products of inestimable value, North Blue was the land of royalty.
They say that no one remember where they came from, or even their names. In some small island so far away from civilization, you could find tiny villages, and if you were lucky enough, an old man hunched up by the years might be able to help you and answer your questions, remembering tales older than him that were passed down to him from his father and his father's father before, tales that were created generations ago. Between his feeble memories and the fact that those stories had been twisted by many interpretations, you would surely waste your time trying to find the origin of those tales. Nowadays, it was better to assume that they were nothing more than myths.
Yet, they also say that there is always a bit of truth in legends.
Had you been born centuries ago, you could have witnessed how magnificent North Blue was. One single family ruled over the ocean and its multiple islands and archipelagos, with a merciful king who never ignored his people and granted liberties and a safe haven, aided by his queen who gave hope to each one of them. Their presence brought prosperity, luxury and peace, even to the simple peasant and they assured that the happiness of their population was enough of a reward, thus refusing any offering. People from all over the three other seas came to visit and witness the glory of the Northern Sea with their own eyes and they say that each heir to the throne pursued the hard work of their parents.
Sanji would like to know who the fuck "they" was because it was nothing like he remembered of his former home.
When Robin was still young, stupid and reckless, when she still thought that one day she would be able to wander around freely with no bounty on her head, she stumbled across quite a peculiar book. She was at the time getting closer to Grand Line and was resting in a surprisingly peaceful island of West Blue. She still avoided the bigger streets and the crowds as her face was known in the entire world and even the friendliest farmer could find the amount of money rewarded for her capture appealing. She had learned that the hard way. When moving deeper into the town's narrow alleys, she spotted an old library that seemed forgotten by everyone. A pity. And also a blessing for her, no one would disturb her. She had a few hours to kill before sailing to the Grand Line.
The front of the book was blank, any author or title had been erased by salt and water. When she opened it, a few sheets of paper fell on the floor. Picking them up, she got to work, a slight bittersweet smile on her lips. Professor Clover would have loved this.
She assumed that the book itself was at least a few centuries old, but those sheets of paper were only decades old according to their condition. The book was written in a language unknown to her, she could only understand a few words she remembered from her hours of studying inside the Tree of Knowledge. If only she had more documents to help her, she was sure she could translate it. For now, she was sure of one thing: this book was a collection of tales and legends from the North. Words like "king" and "harmony" were seen more often than others. Although she didn't have enough skills to understand what exactly those stories were about, she got the gist of it. Nothing was unusual about this book, hundreds like this one existed to help children dream at night.
What was more noteworthy were those sheets of paper. The book had been printed, but those ones looked more like they were from a personal diary or a log book. The handwriting was frantic, sloppy, as if the owner had no time to lose. Thankfully, it was in the common language. This person had been a nervous one, that's for sure, ink blots and erasures stained the sheets. References to pages and paragraphs of the fairy tale book were inscribed all across the diary.
This was the work of a researcher of some kind. Many annotations were scribbled in the margin, sometimes denying what was written in the ancient language, sometimes only question marks were there. Robin's intuition had been right, there was something strange about this. Why use a children's book as a base for an investigation?
The last pages of the handwritten notes caught her attention. This time, the author had taken the time to write neatly. The sense of urgency and almost excitement she could feel in the previous notes was gone, instead she could discern something that sounded like cold acceptance in the way it was worded.
"The royal North Blue from the legends doesn't exist anymore. The royal family is gone, replaced by something else, something else that rules from the shadows and-"
"Nico Robin! Don't you dare run, your bounty is mine!"
Hands sprouted from the back of the intruder, twisting his neck and dropping him on the floor. She had wasted too much time on this island, of course someone had seen and recognized her! More of them were coming, footsteps echoing against the walls. The demon child quickly grabbed her few belongings and ran, forgetting her newly found treasure in her panic. If only she had read further, she would have made an interesting discovery, for herself and for her future family.
"I can only hope that someone will find these notes and carry on my work, no matter how dangerous it is. The Vinsmokes are coming for me, I know it."
It was one of those nights where Luffy insisted that they should all eat dinner outside of the galley and reunite on the lawn of the Thousand Sunny. Sanji himself wasn't really keen on the idea since he preferred to be close to his kitchen and serve his crew as they were eating, but Luffy played the "Captain's orders" card and what could the cook refuse to him when he was pleading and pouting with obviously fake tears in his eyes?
Sanji was not going to lie though, those nights were the best. It was during them that Usopp acted his heroic tales with the help of a gullible Chopper and Sanji secretly enjoyed them. Brook played a light tune or a more rhythmic one with Franky when Luffy asked and even Zoro actually made an effort not to nap and instead bickered with Nami. Then after a few hours, they settled down in a circle and Robin started to narrate her famous horror stories with a mischievous smile on her lips.
After a while, they shared personal stories with open hearts and the others were silent as they listened. All of them had been through a lot of serious episodes in their lives and yet they were all here, alive and protecting each other. Brook mentioned West Blue and numerous musical adventures while Robin had confessed a few times how much she missed her dear Ohara. They didn't say much in response, they didn't need words.
Chopper was sitting in Sanji's lap, genuinely smiling at each other's stories. The small reindeer turned his head to look up.
"What about you Sanji? Didn't you say that you were from North Blue? How was it?!"
"You never told us about your life before the Baratie!" Usopp said.
"I don't know much about the North Blue either, I've just heard a few things like how cold it was." Nami added.
The cook's heart skipped a few beats. His whole crew was staring at him, oblivious to his sudden distress and waiting for him to finally start a story of his own childhood. Sanji swallowed hard, breaking out in a cold sweat. Well, that was unexpected.
"I... I don't remember much about North Blue, I left so long ago when I was very young... Sorry guys. I do recall the harsh cold, but that's all really." He smiled, hoping that he sounded convincing enough.
The whole crew sighed in disappointment (except Zoro because the guy was pretending he didn't care, fuck you very much algae plant)...
"They say it was the land of royalty."
… And of course Robin, because his dear and gorgeous Robin always knew. She was looking right at him, questioning him. No one could escape that stare.
"I'm really sorry my dear Robin, I wouldn't know about that. You probably have much more knowledge than I do!"
He could have kicked himself without hesitation. How dared he lie to one of his ladies? … Technically, it wasn't a total lie. She did know much more than him on what North Blue was like in the books and the rumors. He knew the reality of it and despised it.
Because he remembered, of course, who could even forget that?
He remembered the cold, yes. When they visited Drum Island, he had a familiar feeling of the snow under his feet and the weak light of the sun trying to break through the clouds but never succeeding, of the thin and sick faces of the inhabitants living, surviving with this harsh weather. A cold that drove people mad with hunger, hunger for a better life, but also real hunger because food was always scarce. "They" also say that people of the North loved to sing. However, "they" didn't know the meaning of those songs, but Sanji could tell you that they sang because they had nothing else, because the cold was merciless, biting their fingers and they could only wait and sing for salvation, because the cold is a monster that devours everything.
Sanji remembered, but he didn't say a thing to his crew. He remembered walking among his people, watching them begging and then feeling guilty because he was powerless and himself had everything he needed back in his mansion. He remembered his sister claiming that they shouldn't bother because they were princes and princesses and the Vinsmokes had more important things to do. He remembered thinking what's the point of ruling over your people if they are suffering because you won't do a thing?
He also remembered sneaking past the barriers of the mansion and pretending to be a common peasant and singing with them until his lungs were screaming and feeling happy and free. Nowadays, Sanji doesn't sing anymore.
"Sanji, are you feeling okay?"
Chopper's voice brought him back to reality. Still sitting in his lap, he was looking fixedly at him with worried eyes. Fearing a fierce scolding from a doctor that no one could escape from, Sanji smiled.
"Don't worry, Chopper. I'm just a bit cold, that's it."
