Title: Requiem

Spoilers: Thriller Bark

Rating: K+

Music Box: It wouldn't be a Brook-centric fic without a little music. I recommend Ocean's Guide from One Piece Film Z

Robin had always been skeptical of Luffy's insistence that the Straw Hat Pirates needed a musician. Music was nice, she supposed, but hardly necessary for a pirate crew. Then the Straw Hats sailed into the Flordian Triangle and they happened across Thriller Bark, and her opinion began to change.

Brook was so perfectly…Straw Hat-ish that Robin was unsurprised when Luffy asked him aboard the Sunny. His very existence was as utterly bizarre as his personality; it was no wonder he fit in so well with the rest of the crew.

It was interesting to watch his integration with the Straw Hats. Robin herself was one of the newer members, and the Enies Lobby incident made Franky's proper induction into the crew little more than a formality. At times there was an endearing tentativeness in Brook's interaction, like he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to act among the living.

Robin caught him in one such moment shortly before their departure from Thriller Bark. She went to the library for sanctuary against the growing noise on deck caused by her more rambunctious companions. Normally she was not against a little mayhem, but tonight she wanted a little quiet to accompany her reading. She stopped in the doorway unnoticed, watching him with an amused smile.

Brook was scanning the shelves that held the crew's library of books. Over half were Robin's, but with the exception of Luffy every member of the Straw Hats contributed something to the collection. Because of his height he had to bend sharply at the waist to see many of the titles. It was an unnatural position for anyone with flesh on their bones, but Brook showed no signs of discomfort as he tapped his mandible while humming an almost-familiar tune.

A book was tucked under his other arm, and even at a distance Robin could tell it was old. Before she could ask about it, Brook said, "Forgive me if I've interrupted something, Miss Robin. I was just looking for the proper place I should put this book. I'm having difficulty figuring out your organizational system."

"How did you know it was me?" Robin asked, mildly surprised.

"Your footsteps were too graceful to belong to any of the men and too quiet to belong to Miss Nami." He straightened himself and looked at her with hollow eyes. "I may be an old man, but my hearing is quite good…though I don't have ears in which to hear."

"An important skill for a musician," Robin said. She joined him by the shelves. "And I've organized the books alphabetically by crew member. This whole shelf belongs to Nami, Usopp and Franky take up the next one, and so forth. It's the easiest way for everyone to find what they want."

"I see…although I don't have eyes. Yohoho, skull joke!"

Robin suppressed a sigh and wondered how long it would take before he realized his so-called jokes weren't funny. "If you'd like, you could take the empty space on the end here. Do you have many books?"

"A few, but they're mostly music." He hesitated for a moment. "There is—no, never mind. Forget I said anything."

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"It's nothing important, Miss Robin. It's just…I have in my possession books that formally belonged to the Rumbar Pirates. I put them in storage when I returned to life and haven't looked at them since, but…" Somehow a look of sorrow flittered across his skull. "It doesn't seem right to leave them behind."

"They would be properly cared for, if you wish to bring them aboard."

Brook tilted his skull, jaw dropping slightly. "I…well…I don't know what to say. Thank you, Miss Robin!"

"This is your home as well," Robin said kindly. "The library is everyone's to enjoy."

"Home…" he said wistfully, looking around the room as if seeing it for the first time. He began to hum again, a song Robin thought was familiar, but couldn't quite place.

"What is the name of that song?" she asked. "I feel like I should know, but I can't think where I've heard it before."

"I would be surprised if you did. I haven't heard anyone sing The Ballad of Brian the Bold outside the West Blue." He offered her the book tucked under his arm.

"That's where I'm from originally," Robin said. The lettering had peeled off the cover, so she opened it to the front page. Wrinkling her nose at the musky smell of mold she scanned its contents. It was a collection of tales starring the eponymous Bold Brian, a folk hero from the West Blue.

"Is it?" Brook asked, skull brightening. "I had no idea. That's where I spent my youth before becoming a pirate. What island are you from? Perhaps I've visited there."

Robin felt her face go perfectly blank. Of course Brook had no idea. How could he? He had spent the past fifty years isolated from the world.

"Miss Robin?" he asked anxiously. "Have I said something wrong? I didn't mean to offend you."

Robin took a deep breath and forced a small smile. "I have not set foot on my home island in twenty years."

"I am so very sorry. I didn't realize it was a sensitive subject." He brought his hand to his breastbone. "I swear never to bring it up again."

"You did nothing wrong. I'm rather infamous, unfortunately. Most know what happened on Ohara without me telling."

"Ohara…?" Brook asked. "I know that place. The library is one of the crown jewels of the West. What happened to Ohara?"

Robin looked down at his book, preferring the old words to the confusion on his face. A lump formed in her throat, and when she spoke, she couldn't quite suppress her grief. "The library doesn't exist anymore. None of it does."

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's gone. You won't even find it on a map. I'm all that's left."

There was stunned silence. Brook's jaw moved up and down, as if he wanted to speak but couldn't find the words. Finally he shook himself out of his disbelief. "What happened? Was there a fire, or an earthquake, or…or…"

"The disaster was entirely man-made, Mr. Brook, and mostly blamed on myself. I've been on the run ever since," Robin said quietly.

"That's horrible. How could anyone do such a thing?"

"People often do horrible things," Robin said. "Ohara was just on a larger scale than most."

"I am so sorry," Brook said with genuine sincerity. "I didn't know."

Robin closed the book, barely managing a sad smile. "Everyone in this crew has experienced tragedy. You are not alone in that regard. Luffy has an incredible talent of taking broken individuals and putting them together into a stronger whole. It's incredible, really, changing this place from a simple pirate ship into…"

"A home," he finished with a look of understanding. He paused for a moment, then chuckled ruefully. "Did you know, when I was I boy I wanted to be just like Brian the Bold." One bony finger tapped his jaw. "He was supposedly a bard, a traveling minstrel. There is a story here of a time he was supposed to play for a king, but on the way he met a homeless man freezing in the cold. He traded his finery for the homeless man's ragged jacket, then had the audacity to play his music dressed like a ruffian. But the king didn't care, because his music was that good. He was able to do what he loved and make people happy. I wanted—still want—to do the same."

"It's a worthy goal," Robin said.

"But there's so much I've missed, so much I've lost. I am a living skeleton, Miss Robin. How am I supposed to make people happy like this?"

"The same way Brian did with the king, by playing the music you love." Robin placed his book in an open spot on the shelves, near Nami's navigation texts and Franky's mechanic manuals. The hopes and dreams of the Straw Hat Pirates were in some way represented among these books, and Brook's were just as worthy as the rest. "Besides, you have already made the captain very happy. Do you know how long he's wanted a musician?"

"Yohoho, they tell me it's been quite some time," he said.

"And yet he chose you out of all the musicians in the world to join his crew. He waited, and he chose you as the one to play for the Pirate King."

Had he eyes, Brook would have blinked. As it was, he did something with his skull that looked eerily similar. "I…I never thought of it that way. Thank you, Miss Robin. From the bottom of my heart…though I have none."

"Think nothing of it," Robin said, picking out a book of her own. "Now if you'll excuse me, there is some reading I would like to get done this evening."

"Of course," Brook said with a small bow. After rising he tipped his hat, before turning sharply on one heel and exiting the library. Robin settled in a quiet nook and began to read, feeling quietly content.

After a moment he returned, violin in hand. He gestured to it and asked, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Robin said with a small smile, which Brook matched with his most skeletal grin. He began to play the song he hummed earlier, The Ballad of Brian the Bold It was livelier than most reading music, but Brook modified it to fit the mood perfectly.

Yes, Robin thought as she turned a page, she had been wrong before. Music was essential, and she looked forward to seeing the effect it made on the lives of the Straw Hat Pirates.

AN: Oda has pegged Robin as the "mom" figure among the Straw Hats, so I thought it'd be fun to write something mom-ish. That it happened to co-star the oldest Straw Hat, well, that was just extra fun. I think Robin and Brook have the potential to play off each other well, although I haven't seen many stories with the two of them.

As always, thanks for reading.