Chapter 2

This chapter takes place after Enies-lobby events. I'm sure everyone knows what happened during the Enies lobby arc. Robin gets kidnapped, Luffy and the others come along on the prototype sea train, they declare war on the world government, they kick their asses, Merry comes along and saves them etc.

So enjoy!

Later that day…

For as long as she could remember, Robin had always found peace while buried nose deep within a history book. The mysteries of the ancient world never ceased to fascinate her, especially when it came to ancient Hana. There was this one memorable time, when she was still the little girl of Ohara when she had stayed up for an entire three days and nights reading the better half of an encyclopaedia on this captivating island. By the end of the third day, she had fallen asleep from exhaustion on her aunt's dining table during an 'extremely important' dinner with the mayor. The beating she had taken on that day still made her shiver whenever she thought of it. But it was not her fault that Hana was just so interesting.

Today, she had been enjoying yet another book on the history of Hana ... until Franky came along that is and drunkenly spilt his glass of alcohol on to her book. Robin's glare on him turned even deadlier, if that was even possible at this point, as she, again, feebly tried to dry the alcohol from the pages of her beloved book. Hopefully the smell would not stay, though judging from the situation, Robin would be extremely lucky if she wanted her wish to come true. She doubted she was.

After the commotion at Enies Lobby, the Strawhats all came back to Water 7 - with Robin of course – and celebrated by having an enormous feast in the upgraded Franky House. The moment the Strawhats and the Franky family had stepped into the house, they immediately began digging into the numerous amounts of food laid out in trays on the wooden tables lining the wall.

Colourful streamers adorned the metal walls of the house, along with an extensive collection of balloons. In the centre of the room lay a dance floor positioned directly beneath a silver, disco ball hanging from the roof. On it, were several coloured lights which were projected by the many torches hung on a steel structure on the ceiling. At the front of the room was an elevated stage which faced an assemblage of tables and chairs living at the back of the room.

Lying in various places around the room were also several interesting contraptions, which were no doubt, made by the Franky family themselves. Music began to boom from the speakers on either side of the stage as the festivity began.

Robin though, not being one for parties, just chose an empty table in the corner to sit down beside, one that was farthest away from the noise where the music was just a dim hum in the background. Almost immediately after she situated herself on the chair, she began reading the new history book she had bought with Chopper, eating a cake while she was at it.

Thanking the gods that she was one of the first to come in, Robin watched in amazement as the partiers devoured the food like wood mites would to a block of fresh, yummy wood, Luffy being the fastest of course. Robin smiled fondly at the familiarity and the sense of homeliness it brought to her before turning back to her book. Within a matter of seconds everything, down to the last chicken bone was gone, all into their hungry stomachs.

But all feasts were not complete without some sake right?

While Robin had been peacefully enjoying her book, the partiers had also one by one gotten themselves drunk. Some were now sprawled on a table, unconscious. Some had rushed into the toilets to regurgitate the food they had eaten during the feast. Some were even openly flirting with each other, something which was rarely ever seen with the Strawhats and the Franky family. Fortunately none of them had come close to Robin, except for Sanji. Though he had only stayed for a moment before he left to pester Nami, although from what she could tell, Nami seemed to be enjoying his attention rather than being annoyed at it.

But this delicate bubble of peace encasing Robin was broken when Franky had fallen victim to the sake. As Robin just reached the mid-point of the book, a discourteous Franky rudely interrupted her quiet reading. Dazedly, he swayed his way down onto the seat beside her, with a bottle of sake in his hand.

"We had a super day today, huh" he spluttered as he settled into the chair. His face was little red from a sake overdose.

"Yes we did," Robin replied, her eyes not leaving her book for even a second.

"Why don't you join in the fun?" Franky asked taking a swig off his sake.

"I'm don't like parties."

"That's too bad," Franky muttered, "he he, did you see me kicking the CP9s' asses?"

No in fact she had not. She was too busy being captured and having her own ass kicked to able to watch him. Even after she was freed she had her own share of marines to deal with, but she was curious to see how he would react to her next words. He probably would not remember anything she said anyway, seeing how intoxicated he was by the alcohol.

"Yes, you were quite gallant today," Robin commented with a smirk evident on her face.

"Aww, you flatter me," said Franky. His speech was starting to get a little slurred.

The last of the sake in the glass bottle went down his throat in just a few gulps as a lady dressed in yellow bikini top and pants walked past. She wore her hair in a strange square shaped afro and had a yellow pair of sunglasses perched on her abnormally long nose. On her hand she was holding cups of sake on a tray, offering them to whoever passed by her.

"Mozu," Franky called out to her, gesturing towards the goblets on her tray with his empty sake bottle. She made her way over then took hold of a cup as though she were about to hand it to him but promptly let go when she saw the state that Franky was in.

"Aniki, you shouldn't drink too much," she said noticing how inebriated he was, "even if you are half-machine it is still bad for your health."

Franky reached up and snatched a cup for himself straight out of her tray, "Says the person who used to drink a barrel a day," he said as he took a quaff of sake.

"Hey, that was in the past," she accused. Then hurrying off to attend to other drunkies, she said, "Well, enjoy the feast," with a wave goodbye.

"Wait!" Franky called out behind her, "Ms Bookworm here needs a glass too,"

Bookworm? Robin thought. How immature. The lady she assumed was Mozu, walked back towards them and placed a cup onto the table.

"Thank you," Robin said.

"No problem, have a nice night," she replied before hurrying back off again.

Robin took one glance at the cup before going back to reading her book, her index finger absentmindedly rubbing circles along the rim of the cup.

"What are you reading?" Franky asked. Robin could tell by his increased swaying, that he was significantly more drunk than before. Slowly, she shifted her body slightly further away from him, far enough that she would not be hit by his swaying body but close enough that Franky did not notice the change – which was hardly anything right now.

"The Revolutions of Ancient Hana," said Robin, turning a page.

"Revolutions? Really? You didn't seem like the type to be into history. It's so boring," Franky mused, taking another shot of sake.

"Then what type do I seem like?" asked Robin without a second's thought.

"Hmm. You seem like the mysterious, independent type who takes shit from no one. Like a character out of a spy movie and you'd be the lead female. Agent 1." said Franky as he downed the last of his sake in three huge gulps.

Ironically, for the last twenty or so years, that was exactly how she had been living her life, like an undercover agent.

"Aren't you going to drink that?" he asked staring intensely at her cup of sake which she had barely touched.

"No, go ahead," she replied as she pushed her cup towards him.

Nothing could have prepared her for what happened next.

Franky, being so extremely drunk, miscalculated the distance between the cup and his wavering hand. Instead of successfully grabbing a hold of the cup, he knocked it over with his monster-sized hands, spilling its contents straight onto Robin's brand new book. The alcohol soaked the straight through, smudging the words and staining the clean, white pages.

Outraged, Robin felt her jaw clenching, her hands forming into fists. Spinning around as quickly as a top, she prepared herself to give Franky a good beating but abruptly stopped when she saw what he was doing.

"AT LEAST BE AWAKE WHILE I BEAT YOU UP, FRANKY!" she screeched at the top of her lungs. Furious, she hit him on his head as hard as she can but only succeeded in hurting her hand against the metal plating of his head. Her hand throbbing, she pulled it back clutching it close to her chest. Franky did not stir in the slightest. His breathing was unbroken. He showed absolutely no signs of just being hit by the woman who had a bounty twice as large as his own since she was just a child.

"Robin…," she heard a whimper coming from her little reindeer nakama. Whipping her head around, she turned her glare onto Chopper.

"Gah!" he cried out in fear before jumping behind the reliable protection of Sanji's leg. Suddenly aware of all the pair of eyes watching her, reality sank back in as she vividly felt the silence her outburst had created. Feeling slightly self-conscious, she gently took hold of her alcohol soaked book then headed to the bathroom for tissues to clean off the stains.

And that was how she found herself here, glaring holes into Franky's back.

Deciding that she wanted some peace and quiet, she made her way outside the rowdy Franky House for some fresh air. Boring holes into Franky's back with her eyes would only get her so far and it certainly did no good in ridding her book of stains. The atmosphere in the room was also back to its usual merriment, rejoicing in the party as though nothing had happened. Nothing could ever be gloomy when Luffy was around after all.

Sighing, Robin made her way to the seaside, sitting down on one of the numerous rocks littered across the shore. Resting her head on her hand, her gaze settled on the sunset in the far horizon.

The scent of the sea, the feel of the cool water occasionally splashing against her face, the soft crash of the waves against the rocks. Robin relished in this overwhelming stimulation of her five senses. Everything she once thought she would lose was now all given back to her, all credit going to her nakama. Because of her terribly close brush with death, to Robin, everything was thrown into a new perspective.

Only now, did Robin realise exactly how wonderful and how precious life was. Only now, did she realise how blessed she was to able to live freely and unrestrained. Everything she saw, felt or heard now, she treated as though it was a treasure. Even pesky flies and mosquitoes had equal place in her heart as diamonds and gems.

For the next hour or so, Robin sat on the rock, enjoying the feeling of freedom once again. Her face took on a fond expression as she lost herself deep in her thoughts, thinking of how bright a future she would have now that she was safely back with her nakama. Just this morning, she had been completely sure that she was headed to her death but as the day progressed, her fate was completely turned front to back.

"Gee, what a day," Robin muttered to herself.

As the time passed, day slowly turned into night and the sunset disappeared behind the ocean. The blue sky faded away into a jet black colour as twinkling stars popped out one after another. Music was still emanating dimly from the Franky House signifying that their party was still on.

With sore muscles all over, Robin stiffly stood up to head back to the party. Barely taking even a step she suddenly stopped when she noticed the atmosphere changing drastically.

Robin hands clenched tightly on her drenched history book, when she felt an abrupt drop of temperature in the atmosphere. Rapidly, the warmth in the air was sucked out and replaced by an icy, eerie sensation. With a chill running up her spine, she supressed a shiver as she expanded her senses as far as she possibly can. In an attempt to find the source of this unnatural drop in temperature, she created extra pairs of eyes, ears and noses in inconspicuous areas around her.

Her extra eyes told her that there was a man in a marine's uniform standing in the large shadow of the Franky House. His face was concealed by the shadow and the night so Robin was not able to discern it properly. Though judging from the chilliness and the fact that there was no one else in the World Government who possessed this ability, Robin assumed that it was Aokiji.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the stray droplets of water from the splash of the waves smashed into the rocks as a solid – ice. Damn it, Robin thought. She had barely been back for day. There was no way in hell she was going to let herself be captured. She would rather die than leave her nakama again.

With her back still facing him, she crossed her arms in front of her chest as she prepared herself for a fight.

"I'm not here to fight," came a stony voice. Something about his tone just told her that he being completely honest and he really was not here to fight, just to talk. At this reassurance, Robin lowered her arms to her side.

"What do you want with me?" Robin replied, her voice equally as void of emotion.

There was a pause as an inaudible sigh left his mouth.

"You've found them now, haven't you," he asked, thinking back to the time he had killed his best mate, Saul, with his own two hands. Honestly, when he had heard of Robin's impending execution, he had felt compelled to ride his bike to Enies Lobby and smuggle her out like he did on Ohara when she was only a child. He may be a marine admiral but he did not want to let Saul's sacrifice go to waste.

"Yes," Robin replied without a moment's hesitation, "this is where I belong."

A soft smile made its way onto his face when he heard her words then remaining as perplexing and mysterious as ever he soru-ed away into the darkness. Robin continued back to the Franky House with a smile now evident on her face. She really was looking forward to adventuring with her nakama again.

"Make way! Coming through!" yelled Mozu as she rounded the corner, pushing and shoving past anyone who got in her way. Behind her followed a large, buff man who was after the dark blue underwear she was holding in her hand.

Robin spun around towards the source of the noise.

"Hey! It's Franky!" Luffy suddenly called as he jumped of their new ship, Thousand Sunny. Chopper, clearly excited, ran off close behind him.

"Geez… what's the big deal, causing all this commotion," Sanji scoffed despite the distinct smile on his face. "Ah, Nami-san, let me help you unpack that."

"Arigatou," Nami smiled in reply.

Zoro as usual was oblivious to this ruckus and was peacefully dozing off in corner of his own, his three katanas propped up beside him.

With a smile on her face, Robin watched as Luffy came running back laughing, holding a pair of underwear in his hands. Franky trailed close behind him cursing to himself as he tried to retrieve his precious clothing. Thanking her fast reflexes she had built over the years, Robin just barely moved out of her captain's way when he jumped enthusiastically onto the ship.

Coming to a stop beneath the magnificent ship he had built, Franky began to quarrel with Luffy. From their heated dispute, Robin could tell that Luffy seemed to be 'threatening' Franky to join their crew.

A mischievous grin grew on her face as a cunning idea suddenly popped into her head.

"May I try?" Robin asked sweetly.

"Uh…Ok," Luffy replied confused by her question.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she summoned her devil fruit abilities, feeling that familiar tingle permeate throughout her arms. Smirking devilishly, she watched as two long and slim arms sprout out from Franky's legs. She still needed to get him back for ruining her book after all.

… Am I boring you?

I know that this chapter does not contain a lot of story and is mostly Post-Enies Lobby events but I promise that I would get to it in the next chapter. And I am extremely sorry for my inconsistency in the story line. This is my first fic so I may be a little inexperienced with writing. I have been recently given so much home work from school – assignment and other boring stuff - so I may be a little slow in updating. Sorry.

Anyway, I really hoped that you enjoyed this chapter and it would be nice if you left a review before you go. Thank you!