revelations
Chapter Four
Judging by the clock in the infirmary, an hour had passed since Franky entered to speak with Zoro. The cyborg was on a roll, talking with great enthusiasm about his days with Iceburg as apprentices under Tom. Zoro had to admit, the stories were entertaining. Particularly the one where teenage Franky and Iceburg competed against one another in an exhausting series of competitions, vying for a girl’s attention, only for her to reject the both of them.
It surprised Zoro that Franky had not regaled him with some of these stories already. Had he told them to the rest of the crew while Zoro was too busy napping or working out? Had Zoro really missed that much? He shook his head, dispelling the thoughts and tuned back into what Franky was saying.
“Anyway, long story short those assholes never tried to pull one over us ever again,” Franky said with a proud nod.
Before Franky could continue, though, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Franky said.
The door opened and there stood Sanji carrying a tray of food. “Lunch,” he said, offering the tray to Franky. There was a large bottle of cola as well as a fry up of assorted foods. It was not something Zoro would be enthused to eat, but that was the greatness of their cook, Zoro would admit. He catered to what each member would eat and enjoy, even if it meant 10 different dishes. With further thought, Zoro realised it must be quite a lot of work; he had underestimated just how much.
Franky gestured for Sanji to come in. A slight frown settled on Sanji’s features. “Uh, I’ve got to feed the others,” he said, once again offering the tray to Franky.
“Oh, no worries, bro. Just pop it down here,” Franky said, gesturing to the table by the side of his seat.
The frown on Sanji’s face intensified for a moment, before he schooled it into something more neutral. However he didn’t move.
After a few moments when Sanji still hadn’t moved from his spot, Franky cleared his throat. “Everything okay?”
Sanji snapped out of it and entered the infirmary. “Yeah, course,” he said and placed the tray on the table next to Franky. He didn’t cast so much as a glance Zoro’s way—which actually took active avoidance since Zoro’s unconscious body was right there in front of him. What was that about?
Franky took pity on him and clapped Sanji’s shoulder as he was leaving. “It’s okay. He’ll come through,” he said.
Sanji shrugged Franky’s hand off. “You think I care? Whatever happens, happens. If the marimo doesn’t come back then so be it. Just means he was too weak,” he said, with an air of finality as he exited the room, slamming the door as he went. Franky flinched.
Zoro fumed and so wished he could fight the cook. Calling Zoro weak? What a joke. Zoro made a note to pay him back for that comment, once he was conscious again.
He would never admit it, but part of him was kind of disappointed too. He couldn’t believe it. He knew the two of them didn’t have the greatest of a relationship, but Zoro thought he meant more than that, meant something. They were nakama. Sure they fought constantly and had different personal goals but at the end of the day, they had each other’s back, as well as the crew’s. How could Sanji not be the least bit upset?
Zoro was thrown out of his thoughts when he heard Franky bursting into laughter. So much so the cyborg had to wipe cola tears from his eyes. Zoro turned to him and saw Franky looking at Zoro’s unconscious form. After taking a swig of the cola Sanji had given him, Franky exhaled, and slouched back against the chair he was on.
“He’d never admit it but he really wears his heart on his sleeve, huh?” Franky said.
Zoro tilted his head. Were they thinking of the same person? Or was Franky making a joke? Because the only real emotions Sanji ever conveyed, from Zoro’s point of view, were anger (mostly at Zoro himself) and lust (at almost every woman in sight). Zoro rolled his eyes. Yeah. It was definitely just typical Franky being his jokester self. Zoro felt foolish for ever thinking otherwise.
Franky sighed, shifting Zoro’s attention back to the cyborg.
“I remember there was a time when I used to be like him. I adopted a cool facade, pretending to be unaffected by Tom’s death; pretending I no longer cared that I lost my body; pretending that nothing could faze me since I controlled the backstreets of Water 7. But the truth was, I cared. I cared so much. Pretending I didn’t was meant to be an easy fix but I found it so damn hard. I often slipped up—you probably remember as much from when you guys recruited me—but can I be honest with you, Zoro?”
Zoro found himself nodding, but cursed when he realised Franky couldn’t see him acknowledging.
“When I joined you guys, I gave up pretending for good. You all taught me that I was allowed to care, in fact you all encouraged it in some way or another; instilled in me that there is no shame in simply feeling.” Franky wiped the corner of his eye, chuckling softly. “See? I’m just a big ol’ softie.”
Zoro laughed at that. There was just something so amusing about a half metal man claiming to be soft.
“But for real. I hope cook-bro learns that too. And you too, brother. Yeah, you don’t hold back most of the time and you’re pretty direct, but when it comes to certain emotions, your facade isn’t as great as you think it is.”
Frowning, Zoro was taken aback. What did Franky mean by that? Just what was the man alluding to? He was eager to find out more but Franky was getting up from his seat. Franky put a hand on Zoro’s unconscious form’s shoulder.
“Come back soon, buddy. We’re all waiting for you,” Franky said, before giving Zoro’s shoulder a brief squeeze and leaving the infirmary.
Zoro had a lot of questions, but despite that, he did feel slightly lighter as soon as Franky walked out the room. Zoro only hoped that meant Chopper’s hypothesis was correct and their method of treatment was working.
— —
Dinner was mostly uneventful, but Chopper did confirm that the strange scent that lingered around Zoro had lessened after Franky’s visit, so that was good and put the crew in a very positive mood. Zoro, however, was still racking his mind at what Franky had said. He couldn’t have meant Thriller Bark, right? Only a few of the crew had known the truth about that and Zoro didn’t think Sanji would’ve willingly disclosed that to any of the other crew members. Not because Sanji couldn’t trust the crew, but because one, he’d promised Zoro he wouldnt and two, Sanji was selfless that way. He wouldn’t want to impose any trauma onto their crewmates. And of course, third, was the fact Sanji had tried to make the exact same sacrifice but had been knocked back by Zoro.
So, yeah, it was complicated. But it was also more than two years ago now; who knew what rumours the crew had heard during their break apart. There wasn’t much Zoro could do about it now, especially in this spirit-like form.
Dinner finished though, and the talking treatment was to continue. This time it was Robin’s turn. Curious to hear what the woman had to say, Zoro followed her to the infirmary and resumed his position on the bed, atop his unconscious body.
Robin sat on the chair and gazed upon Zoro. She opened her mouth but no words came out. She tried again but the same thing happened. To see Robin lost for words was unexpected. The woman always knew what to say.
Robin exhaled. “Forgive me, Zoro. I’m not sure how I should start, or more accurately how to word what I would like to say.”
Out with it, Zoro thought.
With a smile lighting up her face, Robin said, “Do you remember that time in Water 7 when you were on babysitting duty? Just the image of you in that mama crop top carrying three children gives me immense joy.” She chuckled to herself.
Zoro frowned. “Seriously?” he said, all too aware she couldn’t hear him.
After a few silent moments she spoke again, her features softening. “I still remember how untrusting of me you were when I first joined the crew. I don’t blame you; given the circumstances, everyone in the crew should’ve been suspicious, and it must have been rather isolating to feel like the only one looking out for the crew in that regard.”
Not really, Zoro wanted to say. Sure, everyone else had easily accepted her presence onboard the ship, but Zoro expected that from them; he had sailed with them long enough to know of Luffy’s reckless but charitable nature, but he also knew he could have faith in Luffy. And should Luffy make a bad decision, he and the crew had proven they were capable of coming back from it. His faith in his captain, in the Straw Hats, was unyielding.
“For me, though… It wasn’t until that day at the courthouse, when you all declared war on the World Government, that I finally accepted that I could have a family, if I so chose; that you were all right there, waiting for me, telling me to come home.” Robin smiled. “And the most bizarre thing is that even you, the suspicious swordsman, accepted me as part of this family before I even accepted myself as truly belonging or being allowed here. Part of me often wonders, even to this day, what it was that made me someone worthy of the friendships I’ve formed on this ship.”
“Robin…” Zoro said. He was ironically grateful that he wasn’t expected to respond to this—he didn’t know how. He’d never been the best with words. And Robin rarely revealed her vulnerable side. She was a strong woman, always managing to keep up with the rest of the crew, but even she wasn’t invincible. Her past had hardened her, for sure, but coming into this crew had dealt her a happiness she wasn’t familiar with—Zoro had discovered such one night when everyone, Robin especially, was drunk. She had told of how as a child she sought solace in the books she read, and later in her friendship with Jaguar D. Saul.
Closing her eyes and leaning her head back, Robin sighed. After ten minutes of sitting in comfortable silence, she sat up again, laughing. She looked at Zoro with mirth in her eyes. “Do you remember when Luffy ran around the ship wearing that pink nightgown saying he had found amongst Franky’s belongings? And how you all teased Franky endlessly for a week about it?”
Zoro remembered. The teasing was mostly because the front of it boldly read ‘I like big boys’ which Franky adamantly insisted was not true and it was nowhere near his size.
“The truth is he bought it for me.”
Ah. That answered a few things. Zoro felt the pieces in his head regarding what he knew of Franky and Robin’s relationship fall into place. But the nightgown incident had been so long ago—from way before he started suspecting something was up.
“I’m telling you now because, truthfully, I want the shock of what I’m about to say to hopefully wake you up.”
Zoro narrowed his eyes on the woman.
“Franky and I are engaged.”
Zoro’s eyebrows shot up. What the hell? Huh? He had so many questions. Firstly though he looked down at his body. He was still unconscious. Damn it! The shock hadn’t worked.
“You’re welcome to ask us your questions but I am not disclosing anymore while you’re unconscious. You have to wake up for that,” Robin said and walked to the door. “So wake up, Zoro.” She exited the infirmary.
What a discovery. Zoro shook his head and laid back on the bed. To think that two of his nakama were together together right under all their noses. Did anyone else know? Why was it such a secret? Zoro was sure they had their reasons, but it did leave him curious for answers.
The amount of secrets and honest truths he had heard from his crewmates since he’d been unconscious was frankly astounding. What else could they be keeping to themselves? He would definitely have to have a word with them all when he woke up.
One thing was certain, though, he did feel lighter after Robin had left. Hopefully that meant Chopper’s theory was working, but only time would tell.
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