Boa Hancock
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Back to Water Seven
Chapter 5
Robin woke up groggily. She felt that she was moving, even though her position was prone. Looking around, the first thing she noticed that it was dark and damp all around, the smell of dead rats permeating the air. The floor was wooden, and moldy at that. Immediately feeling weak, she noticed that her hands were chained in a special rock made specifically for Devil Fruit users. Seastone, she thought as she tried to find a way to converse with whoever was guarding outside.
She tried to check her body for any signs of unwanted penetration. Nothing was painful, and she smiled. Daring to hope once more for salvation, she held steadfast to her belief that she would be rescued.
Robin slept amidst the soft clickety-clack of the train, reveling in the calm before the storm.
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Treading their way through the near-empty dock, they walked towards the Galley-La Headquarters. Some shipwrights dared to stop them since they just vaulted the fence, but seeing their serious faces dissuaded them from doing so. Some of them recognized Aokiji, the former Admiral, but most of them recognized Franky, the cyborg and shipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"A-aniki ..?!"
Perking up at the familiar nickname, Franky stopped and looked behind him. A man with slicked back hair was looking back at him, wearing a two-piece striped suit, the colors dark blue and white adorning it. On one hand he was holding a scroll of parchment, while the other one was holding a clutch bag. Having never associated with that kind of man before, Franky was confused.
"Who are you?"
Putting up a look that screamed Are you serious?!, the man ruffled his hair and put on a pair of sunglasses that only retained its left lens.
"It's me, Zambai!" exclaimed the former second-in-command of the Franky Family. Franky teared up and hugged his former underling, leaving the former almost suffocated.
"I didn't miss you, uwahhh," cried Franky, tears streaming down like a river. "I didn't miss any of you, idiot!"
Aokiji was laughing. He never expected the cyborg to be so emotional. "Arara, looks like we meet again, Zambai."
"Admiral Aokiji, oh I mean, former Admiral," said Zambai nervously, bowing towards the injured man. "Thanks for the intervention 2 years ago, I never got to thank you properly see." Aokiji nodded in response with a smile.
Turning to his still crying former boss, Zambai asked, "what brings you here aniki? Have you found One Piece yet? You've changed a lot, boss."
Franky did a 360 and reverted back to normal mode. "Eh, we haven't yet, Luffy was the one who sent us on this vacation." Well, that answers my question, Aokiji thought, thinking back when he did the same in the cafe.
"We're here to see Bakaburg. Is he in?"
"Oh, the new aniki? Yep, he's in. I'm digging the new secretary he has. I heard she was the captain of a formidable pirate crew. Man, I can still feel the slap she dealt me when I asked if I could date her though," laughed Zambai, his hand on his left cheek.
"What are you doing, anyway?" asked Aokiji.
"Oh, this?" said Zambai, holding up the piece of parchment. "This is the master plan for making Water Seven a floating city. We're nearing completion actually. Give or take a few weeks and we're good to go!"
"He's still into that?" grinned Franky. His brother wasn't one to give up on his dreams, and it looked like he'd almost achieved it.
"Anyway, let's get to seeing Mayor Iceburg, we haven't got all night," interrupted Aokiji. Franky immediately went to the business at hand, and Zambai assumed a serious air. Whatever it is, thought Zambai, it's important.
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Inside the Headquarters, or HQ as the people there liked to call it, the furnishings didn't look that much different from 2 years ago. The same Marine-inspired colors were there, albeit someone had taken the liberty of putting up a few more flowers.
Arriving at the door, Zambai checked if someone was on the front desk. No one was, and so shrugging, he told the two to sit on the couches nearby and wait while he tried to find either Iceburg or the missing secretary.
Ten minutes passed, and Franky was getting tetchy. He wasn't one for waiting on long periods of time, and with a pressing matter to attend to, it aggravated him a lot more. Looking at his companion, he was surprised to find him with a sleeping mask on, snoring. Calming down at the sight, he reminisced to the day they treated each others' injuries.
Luffy was fast asleep in the ship's clinic, since he overexerted himself. Beating a Yonkou was no cakewalk, his back was nearly melted in places. Zoro almost lost his legs once again, or Usopp tried to tell him. Sanji had miraculously escaped the acid Big Mam wielded, but had difficulty walking for a moment.
Usopp sustained a concussion that knocked him out first in the fight, but no one held it against him since he perfectly hit the place where Chopper stated was Big Mam's weakness. Using Brain Point: Scope also took out a lot of Chopper's stamina, but here he was running around, swearing to himself about doing his duty. He was confident in the skills he acquired during the two years they spent away from each other.
Brook was doing his best to help around too, since he would just miraculously heal with milk, and felt fine. The girls were in their room, sleeping. Chopper patched them up to the best that he could, and advised them to just move minimally for about a week. Nami almost had her chest melted off from protecting Luffy, while Robin's arms almost melted protecting Nami. He felt guilty for being made of Wapometal, and almost being impervious to being melted. Just then, his personal Den Den Mushi rang.
"Who's this?"
"Franky? Can you come to our room for a minute? Bring some warm water, rubbing alcohol, a basin, and a towel. If Sanji ever asks what the water is for, tell him it's for disinfecting Luffy. I'm sure he won't mind."
I wonder how she knew Sanji would ask that, he thought as he brought the aforementioned items to their room. Remembering their navigator's fist on his head, he knocked on the door.
"Come in," signaled Robin's sultry voice, ever so pleasant even while bedridden.
Closing the door behind him, he inhaled the sweet mix of tangerine and flowers in the air. Looking at the girls though, he was shocked at what greeted his eyes.
"Wha-what is that?!"
Nami's chest was exposed in the air, ugly discoloration evident in the once snow white skin. Respecting his navigator's dignity, he immediately looked away, seemingly interested in a flower-patterned cabinet he once made.
"It's alright, Franky. Chopper gave his approval and I'm sure Nami wouldn't mind either," smiled Robin. She wore a sleeveless shirt, her arms the same color as Nami's chest. They hung limply by her side, useless at the moment.
"Your arms ..." Franky exclaimed softly as he trailed away. He didn't want to see her, not the one person he failed to protect.
Robin sighed. She understood the simple man behind all the machinery, and she was glad she did. "You still defeated Big Mam all the same. If it wasn't for your Wapometal, we wouldn't have stood a chance -"
"But that's it," rushed Franky, his voice rising. "If I had only realized earlier that her acid wouldn't work on me -"
"No one is blaming you, Franky. No one is," interrupted Robin, her face stern. "All we know is that we won, and that's that. Now, help me take off my shirt and bathe me."
Franky did a double-take. What?
"Franky, you're 36. Surely you've seen a lot of naked bodies in your time?" said Robin, kicking off her bed covers to reveal that she was only wearing the shirt and nothing else.
Trying to silence his loudly beating heart, Franky mixed the alcohol and the water in the basin. Dipping the towel in the solution, he proceeded to wipe her from top to bottom, shirt discarded on the floor. As Franky wiped her ivory colored skin, he noticed different cuts and scars on her body. There were traces of whip welts on her back, reminders of a past she wanted to leave behind. His hand nearing her inner thigh, he suddenly stopped. Robin, who was closing her eyes and basking in the accidental pleasure, looked at him with question.
"I can't do it," said Franky, looking at his feet.
"Why?" asked Robin, though her face didn't betray the knowledge of the eventual answer.
"I'm a man, I can't continue doing this," replied Franky, hoping his speedo wouldn't give him away.
"I have enough trust in you, Franky. You're nakama. Besides, think of it as payback for trying to crush your kintama."
"Really Nico Robin, that was painful," grinned Franky, glad that the tension was slowly melting away.
"I'm entrusting you with my soul, Franky," smiled Robin, her expression devoid of any innuendo. "Please take care of me."
After a few more minutes of bathing Robin while engaging in casual conversation, Franky dressed her fully, enough that she wouldn't feel hot. He looked at his built-in Franky watch, or so he called it, and it told him it was almost time for dinner. Packing up, he started for the door.
"We should talk more often," Robin started, her face giving away looks of radiant joy.
"Yes, lets," replied Franky. With a teasing tone, he added, "you should sleep a bit more though. Nami's catching up to you." When Robin cocked her head to the side with a clueless look on her face, Franky thrust out his chest. Robin smiled, her emotions a mix of mirth and annoyance.
"Anyway, dinner's about 15 minutes away. I'll just ask Chopper to bring it here okay?" said Franky, his hand opening the door. "Good evening, Robin."
"Thank you once again, Franky."
As he was going out though, she called out, "Franky!"
"What?"
"Wake up!"
"I'm already awake, what are you talking about?"
Robin suddenly exclaimed in a male voice that wasn't remotely hers, "I said wake up you idiot!" and punched Franky in the face.
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Greeting his sleepy eyes were his brother and a beautiful pink-haired female. Looking closer, she had rosy cheeks and two braids of hair cascading down her front.
"Wipe your drool, Bakanky. I don't want other customers catching your idiocy," snarled Iceburg. "I don't see you for 2 years and you come back looking even more idiotic than ever?" Aokiji was busy bowing in the background, turns out he froze the sofa he was sleeping on, and he had no way to return it to normal.
"What did you say, Bakaburg?!" exclaimed Franky, though he realized it was true since his drool sunk into the sofa, some of it spilling on the floor.
"How much will they have to pay?" asked Iceburg, directing the question to his assistant and ignoring Franky's outburst.
"Approximately 300,000 Berries sir, not including shipping and handling fees," she replied back with proper courtesy.
"Man, I wish I had excellent secretaries back when I was an officer," complained Aokiji. "It was a sausage-fest in there. At least Smoker had Hina."
"Thank you," bowed the woman. Opening the doors, they all went inside except for the secretary, who closed the door behind them.
"So what brings you here, Franky?" asked Iceburg. He knew it was a serious matter since none of them retained the comedic mood they had earlier.
"This with me is former Admiral Aokiji," Franky began, taking notice of Iceburg's raised eyebrows. "We met, things happened, and one of my nakama got kidnapped. He got hurt, and we're here."
"That's too condensed, but alright I'll take it," replied Iceburg. "I had a clue about Aokiji-san's identity, when he froze the sofa earlier. Anyway ... kidnappings, huh? By any chance, is it a female? And if it is, is it Nico Robin?"
Franky was surprised. His brother was intelligent, but this was on a detective level with his deduction based on a simple statement alone. "How did you know?"
"I'm sure that orange-hair isn't your type," said the mayor. "Also, we've had a rise in kidnappings recently so we've been patrolling the city with the shipwrights. I tried to stop them, but they told me it was alright."
"I have an idea who's behind this. I faced him once in the past, but I don't know how he survived the Aqua Laguna 2 years ago."
"Really? Who is it?" asked Aokiji, shocked that Franky didn't divulge this information earlier.
"Nero. He's a member of the CP9. It came to me when I heard the guy using Geppou, and judging from where the bullet hit you, it was from the same guy. I put two and two together and arrived with this conclusion."
"Nero? Hmm, let me see," said Iceburg. He rang for the secretary, who in turn searched for his name in the drawers until she found it. "Sir, according to this file, he's working in St. Poplar, the Town of the Spring Queen."
"That's your destination then. Lola, go with them."
Franky cricked his neck when he turned to his brother. What did he say ..?
The giggling secretary let out her laugh. A good 3 minutes passed before Franky exclaimed, "YOU'RE LOLA!??!"
Clutching her stomach, she replied, "Bet you wish you'd married me, right?"
2 years really did change some people.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone blah blah.
A/N: Whew, that was long. Anyway, hints of a lemon! I hope I haven't offended some of you people here.
EDIT: Changed some things here.
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