Nami gnaws on her lip almost tugging at her hair, 'No! Come on say something you stupid brute!'
Even Zoro had slide forward to hear what would happen next, the atmosphere had become tense even in the galley.
Sano could hear the slight rustle of her clothes from standing up, as she took her first step he suddenly blurts out.
"Do you have any siblings?"
Robin freezes in mid-step, surprised the man even wanted to talk at all. She shakes herself out her stupor slowly shaking her head and saying 'No'.
Sano goes silent for what seemed to be forever, Robin could feel that there was something on the surface about to break free, and at this moment she needed only to be patient.
Nami let's out a sigh of relief, "Damn that was close." She mutters.
"Heh, I was about ready to pull out one of my swords to see if I could cut the air with it being so damn thick." Zoro smirks, leaning back into his chair.
Franky and Nami glance a Zoro, 'He has jokes?' Both sharing the same thought.
He let's out a heavy sigh, "I had two younger sisters, twins, Maya and Kaiya."
The past tense not lost on the woman, she sits back down remaining silent.
"My dad was Japanese, that's where I got my name from." He chuckles at what seems to be a memory, "However mom was the green eyed brunette bombshell that described the typical American women. How they got together I'll never know, but I always thought it was peculiar."
"I inherited more of my mom's personality and her hair." Sano runs a hand through his dark chestnut locks.
"While I got dad's eyes. With my sisters they seemed to receive the opposite of me. Green eyed, black haired, girls with dad's disposition."
"What was peculiar about mom and dad's relationship was that they almost seemed to be polar opposites. To make it simple, dad is very similar to our Cap'n. Sunny, ever the optimist, and full of energy, not only that but he was very imaginative, which is what probably allowed him to be an architect and his enjoyment of art. Mom had more of a realist way of thinking and was very intelligent. Sometimes dad seemed a little off his rocker ya know, he'd even surprise me with the things he'd do or say. I guess mom kept him grounded so he didn't float into the stratosphere."
Robin couldn't help but giggle at the possibility of someone else being like Luffy, even Sano laughed at his memories.
"God save us if there is even the slight possibility of there someone being like our idiot Captain." Zoro grimaces.
"Yeah, one is enough." The navigator nods.
"I had a severe case of big brother syndrome, hell I think I still do, must be in my nature."
To Robin it made complete sense, the way he handled Luffy and seemed to enjoy being around children. It made her heart melt thinking about this rough and tumble man taking care of younger sisters.
Sano had finally turned around looking over at Robin, arms perched on the sill of the window putting his weight on them.
"They were two years younger than I was, as I grew up, I somehow knew that they were precious. They doted on me and I did the same to them. Hell, dad would pout saying his little girls loved me more than him, which of course would make mom laugh at the situation. When I finally understood the concept of different genders, I realized that my sisters had inherited more of mom's genes than I expected. And as I said, I had severe BBS."
Robin letting out a full throttle laugh, it was just too cute thinking of him as a child especially as a protective big brother.
Nami unable to resist a long "Aawwwwww" and giggle like a kid.
Zoro rolls his eyes, 'Glad I don't have any siblings.'
Franky proudly smiling understanding what it was like to be a big brother.
"They were practically my shadows, I eventually started calling them 'Kaya', both of their names mixed together so they'd know I was talking to them both."
"Heh, but even then, they were twins so they were pretty much inseparable. Always getting into trouble together and I would bail them out. I'd even take the fall for them if the situation warranted, and they understood not to do something again if I said so especially when I got punished on their behalf."
"I think dad always seemed a little sad when it was just me, I didn't really play around much or get into trouble. Every now and then he'd try to teach me to draw, have a father son moment, but in the end I asked for martial arts classes and he relented, it was the only thing I was really interested in besides watching out for my sisters. But when Kaya was born, they shared the same spirit so all three of them would sometimes get into trouble, and then I'd have to cover for ALL their asses."
Robin grinning ear to ear, elated to hear Sano talk about something so personal with her, and imagining him herding the three mischief makers keeping them in line.
"I never made friends, it was just something I didn't care for. Everyone pretty much just left me alone. The only time I laughed and smiled was with my family, more so with Kaya."
He had gone silent again, Robin could see him still going over his happy memories, she could feel a small part of her being jealous because he had least had some priceless memories. But on closer inspection it was filled with sadness and she realized that it only made the hurt worse. Robin suddenly feeling shame that she would be jealous, and then it dawning that even if it was a short time she had a friend with dear memories. They weren't much different after all.
"I was 15 when it all fell apart, my world had crumbled right before my eyes. We were going home one night...Dad never liked mini-vans for some reason, so it was me and the girls squeezed in the back seat together. I always sat in the middle to keep the peace, and the girls would fall asleep while in the car so they used me as a pillow."
Robin catching her breath in her throat in anticipation.
"Out of no where there was a loud screech, I was thrown around in the back seat of the car, seatbelt barely keeping me from flying out of the car. I could hear the girls scream and grab at me in complete fear. Glass flying everywhere, it cut at me, metal screeched as it twisted and deformed from enormous pressure, suddenly flung in the opposite direction, then another impact and everything had gone silent."
Robin realized that he wasn't just telling his story, but reliving that night at the same time.
"I was so dizzy I wanted to throw up, I only knew that my body hurt. I couldn't say how much time had passed but I heard sirens. Apparently someone had called an ambulance, my vision was so blurry and my head ached so bad, but I could see the door was being opened before I passed out."
"The next thing I knew I was staring at a white ceiling and feeling like I'd gone through a meat grinder. A nurse happened to walk by and see me wake up, she came in to see how I was doing. At first it didn't make sense where I was, but it clicked. Fear clutched at me as I called out for Kaya, then Kaiya and Maya. The nurse frowned at me calling for a doctor.
I kept asking 'Where are they? Where are my sisters? Where are my parents?' but she wouldn't answer and I couldn't stop cursing at her, because I knew good and well she knew where they were."
Sano let's out a slow shuddering breath and closes his eyes, head tilting back.
"I was pissed off, I think I was trying to ignore the feeling of dread that I felt all the way to my bones. The doc came in trying to hide his expression, but I knew damn well something wasn't right. He didn't say anything, he didn't respond until I said 'Don't stand there like a fucking bump on a log, what the fuck is going on!'
His faced paled that I was so livid but brushed it off as shock I'm sure, when he looked at the floor I felt my heart drop to my toes.
'They aren't okay are they?' I couldn't stop myself from asking. The doc only shook his head so I demanded he take me to my family. He finally agreed and led me down to another room somewhere in the hospital. I wasn't even sure where I was going except I needed to see my family.
He...opened the door and I felt a part of me die right at that moment." Sano's voice cracking slightly as it trailed off.
"There was Maya...tubes and hoses everywhere...like a bad science experiment. Her face looked as if someone took a baseball bat to it. I couldn't take my eyes away as I asked, 'Where's everyone else?' But something in me knew the answer. He didn't answer, I thought he was a coward, I didn't even realize it but I was clenching my fists so hard my palms bled."
"'They're dead.' I simply said, the doc seemed to be taken aback by how cold I sounded and how I just knew.
'Yes' he answered...I only nodded and walked into the room pulling a chair close to the bed so I could hold Maya's hand."
"I really couldn't believe it, my sisters so full of life, and to see one of them like this, a vegetable in this bed. It had to be a bad joke, maybe just a nightmare. I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, I lost all track of time. I only sat there holding her cold hand. Remembering her smiling face, how the girls would crawl into my bed when they were scared. At that moment I wanted to crawl into the bed with her and hope that I'd wake up."
Sano continues the tale, "Sooner or later the police had shown up to talk to me, explaining that a truck driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and ran into the front of car causing it to spin, bounce off another car and end up wrapped around a telephone pole. They told me that mom's sister was flying down since she was the emergency contact."
"Everything became a blur since then, the next thing I was in a field of tombstones, watching three caskets being lowered simultaneously. At the same time my heart was being buried along with them. I had fought with everyone to have my sister's in the same coffin, because even in death they wouldn't want to be separated. Strangers would try to give me their condolences, but I ignored them, what the fuck would they know about me, about my family, about how much I secretly loved everyone of them. How much I adored and loved my sisters. I wondered if maybe I failed as a brother and thats why they were gone. Had I angered someone for them to be taken away from me?"
"I stood there watching the plots covered with dirt as cold as I was inside, my aunt took me back home. She had to leave me alone to take care of something with the lawyers, once the door closed behind me I realized how lonely the house was. It was always loud with an undercurrent of energy, sisters running and laughing, dad not far behind with mom yelling from somewhere. It was just as dead in the house as was my soul, and for the first time I cried, I fell down at the front door and cried until I passed out."
Sano let's out a heavy sigh.
"I woke up and somehow managed to walk to the girls room, I sat on their bunk bed, my mind blurry. I suddenly had a memory of the report...I got away with only bruises and cuts, mom and dad died on impact. Then there was something else, something that hurt me the most since I watched Maya slowly die. I was sitting between the girls, they had unintentionally acted as a cushion, the doctors said I would have probably been dead if it weren't for my sisters. It cut at me to the bone, my sisters were dead because of me."
Robin hadn't been able to keep herself from sobbing as Sano wove his tale.
"If maybe I had been on the side that impacted into the pole...just maybe they'd still be alive and living their lives out."
Robin even through teary vision could see his jaw clench and unclench, anger apparent on his face.
"After everything I've fucking been through, shot, cut, stabbed, blown up, damn nearly the harshest training I could ask for, and I'm still fucking alive. Is this some kind of curse? Or should I consider it a blessing...I don't know. But I can never forget it, if I seem to be so damn indestructible, why couldn't it have been me on the outside? If Kaiya and I had switched places...the three of us could have been together, their lives not cut so short."
"I looked forward to the day of them blossoming into full women and walk their own paths. But they'd been cut down before the bud could even form. It just isn't fucking fair."
"Is there a even a God? Is there some sort of higher power that gets it's rocks off watching people suffer?"
Sano voice had grown louder until he was screaming.
"What kind of HEARTLESS FUCK lets children die in such a CRUEL WAY?!"
"WHY NOT ME? HUH? WHY NOT ME? I KNOCK ON DEATH'S DOOR EACH DAMN DAY AND I'M STILL FUCKING ALIVE!"
Tears started to run down his face, "Why not me?" he softly asks. "I'd gladly exchange my life for theirs, they could have made something of themselves unlike me. A calculating killing machine who follows orders...Why can't I find peace? I just keep stealing people's lives."
His voice chokes, "I really am death incarnate...and it all started with my sisters."
"I can still hear their screams in my dreams, it still haunts me. Why them? If they aren't alive for me to protect and care over..what's my purpose? Why am I even STILL alive?"
Sano finally running out of steam, he could only stare down at his hands as if they were covered with blood.
"And here I thought I had already bled every tear I could ever cry." He closes his eyes and wraps his arms around himself.
Robin would never figure out how she managed to in her own emotion filled stupor, but she had wrapped her arms around the man, his clutching at her. Robin's tears leaked onto his shoulder as Sano's spilled onto hers. They had buried their faces into the crook of each others neck, letting the pain flow out.