Rating: K

Timeframe: Kid!Robin

Spoilers: Nope

"Why, Robin, it looks as if you've found something!"

Robin stopped digging, sticking her trowel in the sand beside her. She looked up to the professor excitedly, waiting for his next order. Professor Clover clucked disapprovingly, his eyes twinkling in good humor.

"My dear Robin, you're the head archeologist at this site. Take charge! What's next?" A sudden gust of wind nearly took the wide-brimmed beach hat right off his head, thoroughly ruining the image of a stern teacher he was trying to project. It was hard to take him seriously anyway in his rolled-up pants and floppy sandals, and Robin couldn't help but giggle.

"Yes, Professor," she said. Looking over her tools, she selected a small shovel. Delicately, Robin scooped little bits of sand away from whatever it was the archeologists had buried on the beach.

This little exersize was a birthday present of sorts. Though it was over a month since she had turned seven, the weather had just turned nice enough to go outside. Even now the late March skies were grey and overcast, threatening rain, and the wind was strong enough to blow away anything that wasn't tied down.

Robin didn't care. Getting out, excavating a site like a real archeologist…Robin didn't know how to describe how amazing it was. It wasn't fun exactly; there was more to it than that. It proved that everyone at the Tree of Knowledge thought she was grownup enough to practice for real, and she reveled in that trust.

And—if she were honest with herself—there was a sort of juvenile enjoyment in playing in the sand.

Slowly a white, knobbely outline was revealed. "It's a skull," Robin said, somewhat surprised. The professor made a strange noise and looked over her shoulder.

"You're absolutely correct," Professor said in a resigned tone. "That's the last time I leave Zadie in charge of anything."

Robin was forced to agree. The Tree of Knowledge's resident expert in anthropology was very enthusiastic about his chosen field of study. If given a chance he would go on for hours about dead people. Which could be interesting, just not all the time.

Setting down her shovel in favor of a brush, Robin began gently wiping away some of the grit. "Well, it's more interesting than pottery."

Professor chuckled. "My dear, I believe you may be one of the few seven year old girls on the planet who would think that."

"Is that bad?" she asked, turning to look at him in worry.

"Not at all," he assured her. "Now, see how you're holding your brush? It doesn't allow for the greatest possible motor control. Try it like this." Gently Professor Clover adjusted her grip. "Much better. Continue on, you're doing fine!"

They were silent for a while, the professor allowing Robin to concentrate fully on the tedious work of retrieving the skull. After half an hour Robin allowed herself a break. Taking off her sandals, she wiggled her toes in the sand.

"You know, I think I could do it faster," Robin said, watching the professor's expression carefully.

"Speed is no measure of quality, Robin. Many a priceless artifact have been destroyed due to carelessness," he said sternly. "There's no rush."

Robin bit the inside of her cheek. "No, Professor, I mean with my…with my fruit."

"Oh," the professor said softly. "Yes, I suppose your Devil Fruit would make the process go a bit faster, wouldn't it?"

"Can I…? I mean, am I allowed to try? Now?"

The professor brought a hand to his chest, feigning indignation. "Tired of my presence already? Why, it's hardly even two o'clock!"

"No! Of course not!" Robin said, horrified.

He chuckled. "I'm just teasing, dear. I am curious though, why the sudden change?"

"Well…" Robin looked at the ground. "It's just that Zadie didn't just put a skull for me to find. There's a whole skeleton here, and I think it's going to rain soon."

"What?!"

Two hours later it did begin to drizzle. With the professor's help, Robin retreaved most of the skeleton out of the ground, although some of its fingers and toes were still missing.

Professor Clover rubbed his arms and shifted from foot to foot. "Robin, I believe your earlier prediction was correct. Do you know what that means?"

Robin rubbed her forehead, smearing grit across her face. "No, Professor."

"It's time we go. I'm not young as I used to be, and the rain makes my joints ache." He pointed dramatically to the Tree of Knowledge. "Lead on, my dear, TO THE LIBRARY!"

She stared at him blankly. "Er, how are we supposed to carry it back?"

"Well, we could…No, that wouldn't work. Darn." Professor Clover ran his fingers through his beard as he thought. "Hmm, we didn't think this exercise all the way through, did we? Just take the skull, Robin. I'll have someone else come out and pick the rest up."

"Okay." Robin grabbed the skull. It, just like the rest of the bones, was a replica. Holding it at eye level, she took in several details.

"What's it telling you?" the professor asked.

"That it's made of plastic."

He rolled his eyes. "What else is it telling you? Besides dead men tell no tales?"

Robin studied it carefully, rubbing her fingers over fake bones. "The sutures are completely closed, indicating a full grown adult; the teeth are in poor condition, which might mean that the person was older or received poor dental care. Umm…" Robin ran a finger over the back of the skull. "The occiput feels weird, but I don't know why." She hated not knowing. Blinking the rain out of her eyes she looked up at the professor, who grinned.

"Very good. Let's walk and talk at the same time." Starting off at a brisk pace, he made his way back to the library. "Do you remember anything about the indigenous tribesmen found in the central East Blue?"

"Oh!" Robin exclaimed, "Weren't they the ones where the women tied their babies to boards when they carried them on their backs? That would flatten the back of their heads."

"Yes, excellent deduction. Extra credit to you."

Robin shook her head. "You had to remind me. I should have remembered."

"No one can be expected to remember everything," the professor said. "Besides, all I did was give you a little nudge in the right direction. You did all the critical thinking yourself."

Even though she disagreed with the professor, Robin chose not to argue. She looked down at the fake skull in her hands and couldn't help but smile. She had excavated it, just like a real archeologist. Her! Even though she was just seven, and Robin knew that there were adults who tried their entire lives to be acknowledged by the Ohara scholars without success.

It didn't matter if it was raining and cold, or that she would have to go home soon and do chores. Robin was positively sure that nothing in the world could take away the happiness that coursed through her.

The next day Zadie led Robin to one of the back rooms. There, set out on a table in anatomical position, was her skeleton. It had been cleaned, and the white bones practically shone. Whoever had retrieved it must have finished the excavation, because all of the fingers and toes were present.

"So, ya got to spend yesterday digging this puppy up?" Zadie asked, crossing his arms. Robin nodded. "Good. The experience'll be good for ya. Although I wish ya could've got the chance to ship it back to the Tree. Handling bones is a very delicate process."

"I'm sorry we left it outside," Robin said softly.

"Psht. Nothin' to be sorry for, girl. Can't help the weather. Now, Clover wants me to help ya analyze this. Have ya done much studying with remains yet?"

"No."

He pulled on his mustache. "Didn't think so. Anthropology is a very specialized branch of archeology. There's a lot to it." He gestured for Robin to come nearer to the examination table. "Now, because we are scientists and scientists are cheap, when we ordered this here skeleton it was nothing more than your basic, generic model. I took the liberty of making a few modifications for educational purposes."

Remembering the flattened occiput, Robin nodded. "Okay. That makes sense."

He smiled at her. "'Course it does! Now tell me, what are some of the things ya can learn from a skeleton?"

"Gender, height, age, cause of death…" Robin ticked off her fingers. "Sometimes pre-mortem health status. Sometimes species, although sometimes the different humanoids can be tricky."

"Good, good, add ethnic group to your list and you're set. Remember, most of the time ya won't have a complete skeleton to work with. Just gotta make do with what ya got, and sometimes ya just gotta give your best guess." Zadie picked up the skull, much in the manner Robin had the day before, and looked at it pensively. "Take this feller for example. We've obviously got a human here, but the shovel shaped incisors and the forward angle of the cheekbones is more often seen in the Long-Arm tribe."

He offered her the skull, and Robin looked at it carefully. "Does that mean the person was of mixed race?" she asked.

"Naw. Well, maybe, I guess, but genetics are weird. Just because a certain characteristic is seen most of the time doesn't mean it's always present. Heck, look around the Tree sometime. We're a weird lookin' bunch, and some of that show's on our skeletons."

Robin put the skull back, and the lesson progressed. With Zadie's help she estimated height using measurements from the long bones of the leg, discussed various ways to determine gender using different bones, and meticulously examined the skeleton for identifying markers. By the end of the day she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Zadie was in the middle of an animated monologue of the effects of activity on the skeleton when there was a soft knock at the door and Professor Clover entered.

"I hate to interrupt, but Robin, dear, it's getting late."

She looked at the clock and was shocked to see it was late afternoon. "Oh, thank you, Professor." Robin turned to Zadie, bright smile on her face. "And thank you for the lesson. It was really fun."

He chuckled. "No problem. You're a good 'un to teach. Some people get the heebie-jeebies once I start gettin' on about dead people."

"But it's interesting!" Robin protested. "You can learn so much from so little."

"All right," Professor said, devious twinkle in his eye. "What did you learn from this specimen?"

Robin went around the table. "From the angle of his hips, the thickness of the jaw, and diameter of the long bones the subject is male. Based on femur length, he was approximately one hundred eighty centimeters tall. There is considerable arthritis of the spine, indicating advanced age." She picked up the skeleton's left radius. "He was probably left handed."

The professor cocked an eyebrow. "Very good."

Robin blushed and set the bone back in its place. "Based on the skull, he was a member of the Nui tribe in the East Blue. The Nui were very superstitious, left handed people were the harbingers of bad luck." She picked up the skull, pointing to his poor dentation. "He would have had a very hard life."

"Indeed," the professor agreed, nodding sagely. "Well, it seems like you have a knack for this. Perhaps we've found your replacement, Zadie!"

"He helped me through most of it. I just listened," Robin said shyly. "And Zadie took a long time putting everything together."

"Yeah, changing up that skeleton was a right pain in the ass, if you'll excuse my language," Zadie said with a laugh. Then he clapped her on the back. "But give yourself a little credit. You're a good listener."

Her blush deepened. "I really should go. Auntie will wonder where I am."

Robin said her goodbyes and rushed out of the room before she could embarrass herself further.

Back at the Tree, Zadie leaned back in his chair, smug grin in place. "Told ya she'd be fine."

"Yes, yes," Clover huffed. "I still say you should have warned me before you buried an entire skeleton at the beach. What if someone else had found it?"

"They didn't," he scoffed. "And you would have had her diggin' up a jar or summthin' boring like that. You shoulda seen her face light up when I got her talkin'."

Clover, having seen that particular face many times before, nodded. "She does possess an unparalleled genius."

"So when're ya gonna have her take her test?" Zadie asked.

"What? She just turned seven!"

"That seven year old just figured out a man's life story based on his skeleton," Zadie retorted. "Ya can't really hold her back forever."

"She's seven," Clover sputtered. Zadie looked at him flatly. Despite his thuggish appearance and rough manner of speech, the anthropologist had a shrewd mind and possessed keen insight. Clover trusted his judgment. "Robin's not quite ready yet," he said with a sigh. "At her current rate, I'd say…probably another two, three years?"

"One."

"What?"

"I bet she'll be ready in a year, year and a half at the most."

"You're kidding," Clover said incredulously.

"Nope. Yer too close to see it. Robin's got more than genius. She's got drive. Ain't nuthin' that's gonna stop her from takin' that test as soon as she can."

Clover frowned. Apparently he had a lot to think about.

After supper Robin did the dishes as quickly as she could and rushed upstairs to her room. She half-jumped onto her bed with excitement, using her power to grab the book Zadie let her borrow. It was an introduction to anthropology, and after her practical lesson today the subject was immensely more appealing. Archeology and ancient ruins were still her favorite, but being able to determine a man's past from his remains was fascinating.

Whoever said dead men tell no tales didn't know what they were talking about.

AN: Written because Robin's past, while full of suck, must have had the occasional happy moment. And because I wanted Clover to shout "TO THE LIBRARY!" while making a dramatic pose. And because finals week put me in the educational mood.

FYI, shovel shaped incisors and the angled cheekbones are characteristics more often found in people of Asian descent (at least, according to my Google search. I could be wrong). Since the most prominent Long-Arm in the series happens to have a Chinese theme, I decided to give the Long-Arms those characteristics.