Chapter 73

In the shadows

The rain had stopped at the beginning of the afternoon but the weather remained cloudy and relatively cool. This is why after lunch, most of the Straw Hat crew members had chosen to stay inside the All Blue cleared of its customers for a few hours.

Yet when Franky returned to the restaurant after going outside for around ten minutes, he spotted not far from the dirt road which went down towards the village, his captain alongside Sanji and the two other young men whom the blond had introduced as being his cheese suppliers. They had come to drop off their new products to the All Blue cooks and had been unable to avoid the straw hat boy tornado who had rushed towards them when they had passed the restaurant door.

Lunch was almost over at that point but Luffy had immediately spotted the fragrant scents of cheese and jumped in their direction. When Sanji had caught up with him a few seconds later, he had stopped his gluttonous captain from robbing his suppliers by firmly kicking his head and he had taken his cheeses to the restaurant's secure reserves with one of the two men. The other had struck up a conversation with Luffy and quickly, a lively discussion had started, leading them outside when the cyborg had gone out to get the plans he had left on the Sunny. By now, Sanji and the second man had joined them and in view of the straw hat boy's obvious joy, the shipwright was willing to bet they were talking about food.

Franky didn't stop and just nodded at them, eager to show the building he had imagined to Nami and the rest of his companions who were waiting for him. Among the four young men, the conversation continued with passion.

"And afterwards, Sanji cooked a huge dish of lasagna with salmon and goat cheese! It was so yummy!"

"I thought you had just eaten potatoes stuffed with raclette cheese?" Adrien wondered.

"I was hungry! Plus, I also wanted to taste the tuna rillettes with cream cheese!"

Aaron burst out laughing. When this boy with elastic arms had rushed towards them a few moments earlier, he had immediately been fascinated by the character. Then, it didn't take him long to realize that this hungry madman was actually the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates crew that Sanji was a part of. His curiosity had only increased then.

"Either way, you honor our cheeses!"

"Our customers are generally enthusiastic but never as enthusiastic as you," his brother agreed.

"Of course, it's so good!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Sanji!" The blond turned around and saw Amy and Liam coming along the dirt road. At the sight of him, the young girl rushed towards him, visibly beaming.

"You're not gonna believe this! I got an order for jewelry from a lady at the Basterl market today!" She explained, her eyes shining with pride, "Look, she told me that she wanted these bracelets and rings!"

At the same time, she took the jewelry out of her pockets to show him.

"Way to go, my dear, I was sure it'd be a success!" The cook congratulated her, delighted.

"Hey, it's pretty nice," Aaron agreed while leaning over to see.

"Do you sell this at the Basterl market?" Adrien asked.

"I do! I got a location a few weeks ago and every time I sell almost everything I have!" The young girl replied with excitement.

"That's funny!" Luffy laughed, pointing to a necklace adorned with a large asymmetrical pearl in golden colors.

While the cheesemakers examined the jewelry, Liam handed the cook a sheet of paper. "We took a detour to Riuli Island; the meat orders will arrive in two or three days. They need a little time to organize themselves."

At these words, Sanji sighed then stuffed the paper in his pocket while casting an exasperated glance at his captain who had raised his head greedily when hearing the name of the island.

"That meat island was great, Sanji!" He remembered, "Liam and I bought lots of it!"

"That's what I understood; my bill has never been so enormous," the blond grumbled, taking a cigarette out of his pocket to shove it between his lips. "I should have put a limit, you glutton."

"The people were so nice!" His captain added.

"Given the quantities we bought, it was the least they could do," Liam pointed out.

"Sanji, I want grilled meat with cheese for the wedding!" Luffy suddenly begged.

"You serious? We have already planned hundreds of dishes; half of the All Blue's stock will be devoured!"

"Please, it's so yummy!" He whined.

"You're planning a wedding?" Aaron asked, looking up from Amy's creations.

"Oh, yeah, it's gonna be awesome! You have to come!" Luffy immediately invited them.

"Cool!" The cheesemaker got enthused.

"We don't even know who's getting married," Adrien pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

At that moment, the restaurant door opened again and Franky stuck his head outside. "Luffy, come here; Nami wants to show you something! Oh, Amy, if you're here, I think she'll want your opinion too and Liam, Usopp wants to talk to you."

"Really?" The young man wondered.

"Yeah, it's-

The sniper abruptly took the shipwright's place at the door, his eyes wide. "Liam, finally! You and Zoro absolutely have to make arrangements for the security of the ceremony!"

"Yes, sorry, I didn't really have time to-

"Just wait a sec!"

Usopp disappeared and Amy put away her jewelry to head towards the restaurant at the same time as Luffy who was jumping up and down after making the two cheesemakers promise to let him taste their best products.

As soon as the two friends had entered the All Blue, Usopp emerged again. He dragged the swordsman who was walking absently behind him.

"Now that I've finally got you both, I won't let you go!" He then walked towards a corner of the terrace before turning towards the scientist. "It's an emergency meeting, Liam!" He insisted.

"All right…"

The dark-haired man walked away with resignation and alongside the cook, Aaron turned towards him. "I'm delighted to have been invited but who's getting married?" He asked with curiosity.

Sanji brought his cigarette to his lips before taking a drag. "Luffy."

"No way! With who?" He wanted to know, more and more intrigued.

"Nami-san, our navigator."

"Nami… Wait, Nami, the gorgeous redhead?!"

Aaron and the crew had quickly gotten to know each other while his brother and Sanji had gone to put the cheese supplies away. He had had time to remember a few names before being dragged outside by the captain so as not to disturb those who had gathered in the restaurant to work. He now understood what they were working on.

"Holy shit! This chick is so hot!" He exclaimed.

Sanji immediately narrowed his eyes. "Careful, it's a woman you're talking about and not just any woman, so I won't let you disrespect her."

Aaron stared at him, wide-eyed, before bursting out laughing again.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of seducing the bride-to-be! Okay, if she hadn't been engaged to such a famous pirate, I probably would have tried my luck… Although, as long as she's not married, nothing stops me from asking to make her fantasies come true!" He realized, winking at the blond who clenched his jaw.

"Don't even think about putting you in the same league," he grumbled, taking another deep breath on his cigarette to calm himself down.

"Hey, she better jump at the chance! Afterwards, she'll have to deal with the same guy all her life!" The young man tried to justify himself. Sanji cast him a scornful look in return while Adrien rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, everyone isn't like you and some people choose a lasting relationship based on love," he pointed out to his brother with annoyance.

"Hey, what's the harm in enjoying the pleasures of life?" The latter replied, "Some never do, I have to compensate," he taunted him.

"Don't come near Nami-san," Sanji growled while getting rid of his burnt cigarette butt. "Not only would I kill you but the entire crew as well. Luffy would probably be the only one who would spare you actually."

Aaron chuckled, "Okay, okay. I got someone else in mind anyway!"

Sanji shrugged. "As long as it's not Nami-san, Robin-chan, sweet Lily or dear Amy, I don't care," he muttered, lighting another cigarette. "Oh, there's no risk; I'm more of the manly type right now…"

The blond frowned and looked up to find his interlocutor smirking.

"Aaron, that's enough," his brother warned him.

"It's not a lady, it won't bother him," the man insisted, staring at the cook with defiance. Sanji lowered his cigarette to meet his gaze and Aaron let his own drift behind him. The cook turned slightly to follow his eyes before tensing. He recovered quickly though, and faced the cheesemaker who was still looking amused.

Beside him, Adrien shook his head. The blond's eyes flashed.

"Don't you dare-

"What? You're the one who ditched him," he reminded him quietly. "Every time he passes by the cheese shop, he's sad as rain. He needs someone to take his mind off things and I'm more than willing to be that person, that's all."

Sanji dropped his cigarette and roughly grabbed his supplier by the collar of his jacket, furious. "Liam is not a toy so if you wanna have fun, find someone else," he hissed, taking care not to raise his voice too much. "He's not like you and he has suffered enough so if you use him, you'll have to deal with me!"

"Don't mind him, this idiot is a troublemaker," Adrien tried to appease him.

The two men ignored his intervention and continued to stare at each other until Sanji loosened his grip on the cheesemaker who took the opportunity to free himself completely.

"From what I see, you're awfully possessive when it comes to the people around you, Sanji," he then pointed out with a smile. "Unless… it's jealousy?"

"Jealousy has nothing to do with it but the people I care about are my priority and if anyone hurts them, I'll always be in their way. You really don't want to corner me so you need to forget Liam," the blond repeated, staring. "You saw what I was capable of against those idiots in Basterl, nothing will stop me."

Aaron seemed to think about his words for a second before an enigmatic smile stretched his lips. "We'll see…"

Franky opened the restaurant door again and scanned the surroundings. Around one of the tables on the terrace, the sniper gesticulated in front of Zoro and Liam. Faced with the absent gaze of the first and the uncomfortable look of the second, the cyborg understood his friend's state of stress: the security of the ceremony was an essential point to ensure but it remained one of the most unstable in the organization so far.

The cyborg then noticed that the small group of Sanji and the two cheese mongers had moved away from the restaurant. A little earlier, he thought he heard shouting from their side after Amy and Luffy joined them inside, but they seemed calmer now.

In the end, his gaze fixed on the edge of the cliff at the figure of the archaeologist sitting on the bench not far from the cherry tree and he walked towards her. Robin had decided to go out a few minutes earlier under the pretext of quietly thinking about the final details of the ceremony but she had not come back. The shipwright had then decided to make sure she was okay.

Indeed, Franky had noticed for several days that she looked distracted and needed to step aside a little more often than usual. The archaeologist had always enjoyed moments of solitude although she now mingled perfectly with the crew. Her observant and discreet character naturally placed her a little on the fringes of the hyperactive lives of her friends and the young woman took care to cultivate her personal space by taking refuge in deserted places from time to time. The difference was subtle and this was the reason why the cyborg had hesitated before asking his friends' opinions when he had begun to notice her more distant gazes and imposing silence.

But neither Chopper nor Usopp nor Brook had noticed anything and he hadn't wanted to bother Nami, who was already preoccupied with the ceremony. Malek didn't know her well enough yet and he didn't bother with Luffy and Zoro. Sanji neither, but for other reasons: the blond was incapable of thinking clearly concerning women and if he imagined that Robin was preoccupied, he was going to get sick as well and add a problem.

Still, Franky had the distinct impression of regularly seeing a shadow pass through the young woman's eyes before she recovered to smile at their friends and it was this aspect that worried him the most. He didn't want the archaeologist to withdraw like the swordsman because like Zoro, Robin had a tendency to shut herself off and hide her torments. And Franky saw the result on the first mate of the crew: a destructive mix of pain under a mask of coldness. And maybe he didn't understand why, but he saw the ravages all the same.

Indeed, after a short lull, Zoro seemed more defeated than ever now and no one hid their worried glances anymore as soon as he turned the corner of the ship to escape them. Yet Chopper had said that he thought the fencer was on the right track and despite his friends' confusion, they had decided to trust him. And their little doctor was probably right because in the midst of the despair in which the swordsman seemed to be drowning, one of them observed him more calmly than the others: they might have believed the opposite, but Sanji looked neither indifferent nor irritated in front of the swordsman's attitude. His gazes were inquisitive but determined, as if he were trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle he had all the elements without yet being able to arrange them together. At the same time as the others, Franky had understood that the bond between his two companions was not as broken as they had feared and that had relieved them a little more.

It was precisely the blond's attitude that pushed him to want to confront the young woman directly today. Maybe Sanji held the keys to understanding the swordsman better than anyone else, but Franky prided himself on being able to detect the smallest changes in the beautiful archaeologist's mood.

Since she had escaped the poisoning, Franky had kept his word and one evening, he had closed the door of the library behind him while Robin was reading a book. She had raised her head inquiringly when the shipwright had sat down solemnly across from her, but then she had remained perfectly still when the cyborg had opened his heart to the depths of his soul, revealing on this occasion the full extent of his feelings for her.

It was only when he had been about to leave, not knowing what to do with her silence, that she had placed her hand on his and her eyes had finally met his own. She had simply thanked him but the cyborg had perceived beyond the words the full force of the young woman's gratitude. At that moment, Robin had thanked him for being here, but also for offering her this love in such a generous and selfless way, without expecting anything in return. She had pressed her slender fingers on his immense hands and the shipwright had almost had the impression of hearing her confession when her clear eyes had looked into his own. After a minute of silent and unreal exchanges, the cyborg had finally got up and left the archaeologist reading, his heart lighter than ever.

The next day though, another attack had shaken the Sunny and Robin had been hit with a large cut on the face. Franky had thought he was going out of his mind and the second she had walked out the infirmary door, he couldn't hide his worry from her. The young woman had smiled and explained that she had wanted to protect the ship from the ax of one of their enemies. She had placed her lips on his cheek as a sign of appeasement and all the cyborg's tension had flowed away at the same time as he had been certain that Robin had control of his slightest emotions now. And he had been the happiest in the world ever since.

So today, he wanted to make her understand that he was worried about her once again. He didn't' want her to feel guilty or forced to talk, but he didn't want to see her shut herself off. As he reached her, Robin snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed the paper she had placed on her knees. Franky sat down quietly and looked at her notes.

"The best woman's job isn't relaxing, is it?"

The archaeologist nodded, a smile on her lips. "It is a demanding job with lots of responsibility," she admitted.

"You can't have more pressure than Usopp." The cyborg pointed out his friend who was trying hard to write a plan for his still passive partners. "If he doesn't have a heart attack before the wedding, it'll be a miracle."

"Luffy has a particularly unpredictable personality and taking on the responsibility of being his best man is a feat," she agreed. "I'm luckier with our navigator, she takes care of most of the details herself," she then added with another smile.

"That means that's not what's worrying you then."

Robin froze at his side and Franky gave her time to digest his remark, not wanting to scare her. In the end, the young woman put down her pen.

"I'm not as good as I was," she observed quietly.

"You are, everyone thinks you're the same Robin-sis as always."

"Except for you."

"Except for me."

A short silence stretched between them before Franky heaved a deep sigh, "I guess if you wanted to talk about it, you'd have done so by now…" He shook his head then, searching for words.

"It just worries me," he finally admitted. "I don't like it when you've got that distant look, it reminds me of Enies Lobby when you were determined to die hoping to save the crew."

"I don't plan to let myself die this time," she reassured him gently.

"Maybe but… If you become like Zoro, it won't be better. He's almost a zombie at this point and if Sanji didn't seem to know what's going on, we'd all be freaking out."

"Indeed," she admitted, "However, I'm sure that if that happened to me, I'd be lucky enough to be able to count on you."

The cyborg nodded strongly this time while taking care to keep his gaze out to sea. "I'll always be here," he assured her. "Whatever you think and whatever you do."

"Whatever I did?"

At these words, Franky turned his head towards the beautiful archaeologist whose eyes were absently focused on her notes.

"Whatever you did," he agreed. "I know whatever it was, you had a good reason."

"It was a good reason at the time but now, I'm particularly ashamed of myself. I caused a lot of damage, both materially and in terms of human lives destroyed or wasted."

"People have been hunting you your whole life, you just defended yourself," he pointed out to her.

"I took the easy option." She shook her head, "I wanted to hurt because I was being hurt, I wanted revenge. I joined clandestine networks because I was safer there but also because they allowed me to pursue my objective without worrying about those who would lose their lives at the same time."

"You're just human, Robin. Not perfect, but human."

"I am. This is why I feel so much remorse and fear at the thought of facing the Princess of Alabasta in a few days."

Robin didn't pretend to turn towards the cyborg despite her confession and he frowned. "Vivi? Nami's friend?"

"I caused a lot of trouble in her country and I am partly responsible for the war that raged over there. Hundreds of people lost their lives."

"It wasn't your fault. In a way."

"I'm not sure that'll be enough. However, I am aware that one day, I'll have to pay for the crimes I have committed and I will. I owe it to Luffy for being able to accept it today."

Franky shook his head. "I'm sure this Vivi doesn't blame you anymore, she seems like a nice girl. And Luffy wouldn't let her do anything to you anyway. And even if he did…"

The cyborg put a protective arm around her shoulders.

"... I'll support you. No matter what."

Robin nodded gently in return, a smile even tugging her lips slightly. She wasn't as cold anymore, and whether it was the words or the cyborg's arm protecting her from the wind didn't matter. At that moment and despite her fear, she didn't feel alone.

No rest, even for Franky and Robin!

Next chapter, Zoro will face the crew and emotions are waiting for you!