Chapter Text
Franky.
The two women sat together and talked for a long while that afternoon. Her fears would not be quelled in one day, but this had certainly eased enough of them to attend dinner with no issues. Chopper discreetly passed Robin a parcel as everyone concluded their evening.
She made her way to her sanctuary within the Sunny. The library often stood empty at night, except for when Nami got a particular bout of motivation or need to work on her charts. Tonight it was, thankfully, not one of those nights.
Robin found a seat on the bench that circled the room, a view of the stars and the sea greeted her from the window she sat before. She carefully opened the parcel Chopper had wrapped. It contained a note and some small packets that contained some kind of powder.
She read the note with a smile, the little reindeer's scrawling handwriting fully legible, but endearingly messy.
The note read:
Congratulations, Robin!
I promise to keep this a secret if you keep coming to me for checkups and you try to stay out of danger. I know that's not always possible, but that's why I said 'try!' I will do everything I can to keep you two healthy in the meantime. Here are some medicines I read up on. There are some prenatal vitamins that are very important, and I mixed them with some anti-nausea herbs meant specifically for morning sickness (that's what they call your ailment, apparently, even though you may feel it at any time of the day). Take one packet in the morning with your drink to make it taste less yucky. You can count on me, Robin!
P.S. I don't know much about it, but I think you're gonna make a great mom!
-DR TONY TONY CHOPPER
Robin couldn't help but smile, laughing quietly to herself in the dim light. What a sweet little Doctor he was.
"Oi oi, what's so funny?" A voice nearly made Robin cross her arms over her chest, defensively ready to summon some arms, before she quickly recognized Franky's gruff, playful tone.
She wasn't expecting anyone to be here this late, nor had she been prepared to talk to him of all people yet. Robin felt her cheeks flush again, as nerves seemed to not be in her favor.
"Oh, just a note from Chopper," she attempted to dismiss it, folding the note away, "he's just so cute."
"He really is," Franky agreed, taking a seat at the table in the center of the room, resting his legs on the table itself and letting his arms support his head while he leaned back. He had very readily made himself comfortable. "Thought I'd come lookin' for you tonight since I miss ya. Nami said you had some stuff on your mind so I'd probably find ya here - not before tryin' to charge me a fee. I can go if you'd prefer your alone time, of course." He wore a friendly smile, and she knew how much he meant that last statement.
Thankfully it didn't bother Robin, as she was almost always delighted by the shipright's company. "I miss you too," she stated, "I haven't felt too well lately. I apologize for not coming to visit your quarters more."
"Hey now, you don't gotta apologize for that," he stated, "you never have to apologize for that. How are you feeling today?"
"Better, actually," she half-lied. Her stomach still churned, and the nerves surrounding her day had made her muscles weary, but she did have some of her anxieties about an illness relieved. Albeit, replaced with new ones. "I'm happy you came."
Franky's smile widened as it often did. "Oi, that's good! I take it Chopper had the solution. The good Doc always does."
"Something like that," she mused. She smiled back at him, taking in the sight of him as enjoyed doing from time to time. Her eyes were drawn to his hair, recalling her earlier conversation with Nami. It caused a flutter in her chest, and to avoid him noticing her staring, she summoned a flowery hand from his shoulder to tussle his ducktail affectionately. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she sat back, closing her eyes. "He gave me some medicine that should help," she said, focusing on the feeling of his hair.
"Super," he drawled, "can't have our archeologist down and out before we reach the New World, that's for sure."
"Mhm," she hummed, clenching the folded parcel. "It will quell the nausea, at the very least."
Franky seemed to pick up on the fact that she was being relatively elusive - it wasn't uncommon for her to be quiet or vague at times, but even she could admit she was behaving notably quiet. "Not everything, though?" He questioned with interest and of course concern.
Robin opened one eye and fixed it on his. "Not everything," she replied. Her chest tightened considerably as she weighed whether or not she wanted to elaborate, or if she wanted him to ask more probing questions. She even considered changing the subject. Instead she opened her other eye and smiled as calmly as she could, and threaded her fingers together in her lap, holding tightly onto the parcel.
"Well, is there anything I can help with?" He asked in earnest. His smile was starting to fall as concern began to take its place.
She almost shook her head, but stopped herself. "Maybe," she voiced meekly, "I don't know, Franky, maybe." Her words cracked under the weight of her thoughts once more. She had been just fine before, what had even happened? Tears once again threatened to spill over and her lip started to quiver.
Franky was quick to approach, nearly knocking over the chair he had been sitting in not a moment ago in a scramble to kneel beside her. He rested his big hand on top of hers. "Oi oi, it's alright - well, it'll be alright I'm sure," he soothed, "what's goin' on, Nico Robin?"
There was such a genuine concern for her well-being, it pushed her over the edge. If it had to have happened with anyone, she was beyond thankful it was with someone as kind and as wonderful as Franky. Her worry now settled on whether or not he would be pleased. It hadn't even crossed her mind at first, since she naturally assumed any and all responsibility alone. She knew it was his, but him being there cemented that in her mind.
He stayed kneeling beside her, holding her hands and rubbing his thumb against them gently. He used his free hand to grab the one that was still somehow playing with his hair and held it against his lips, doing what he could to ease her troubles.
Logically she realized that it was entirely possible that this sudden uptick in emotions could be attributed to changes in hormones - she read about that in the afternoon, of course. It didn't make the torrent any less strong. He was holding her hands.
"Would you…" Robin struggled to string together the questions racing through her mind, "is being a- Would it…" Her breathing started to quicken, and she realized she needed to calm down, but knowing she needed to calm down was making it even harder.
"Take your time," he urged, "breathe. It's not about me right now," Franky tightened his grip on her hands, "you're safe, you're with me, you're with us." It wasn't the first time he had said those words to her, nor would it be the last. "I'm here with you."
They remained like that for some time, until she seemed to be able to gather her bearings. He kept her hands in his, and carefully wiped away some of her tears with his free hand, her floral appendage dissipating a while before.
Robin smiled faintly, grateful to be catching her breath. It almost seemed silly now that she was coming to, but she sat on a dangerous precipice of it happening again should she not be careful. "Thank you, Franky," she managed, "I'm s-"
"You'd better not be gearin' up to say 'sorry,'" he interrupted, lightheartedness oozed in his tone.
"Okay," she agreed quietly, "I don't know what came over me, but before it happens again, I have to tell you something. I want you to know that you have no obligations here, should it be something you find horrific. I can take care of myself, and I don't want to put an unwanted burden on you, especially when it is not unwanted for me."
Franky seemed to be trying to puzzle together what she could possibly be alluding to, but the poor cyborg was coming up blank. He was an incredibly intelligent man, but when it came to most human matters he struggled. It didn't help that she was being unclear. He blinked at her, nodding his head as if to encourage her to continue. "Alright," he agreed softly.
The words seemed even harder than when she spoke with Nami or with Chopper earlier that day. She really did think the world of this man. "Franky," she began, fighting back the tears and silently wishing they had been dried out by now, "today I found out that…" Every word hung heavy on her tongue, and twisted the knife in her chest just a little more, "Franky, I'm pregnant." There it was. It was barely above a whisper.
The cyborg was definitely shell shocked. Mostly he was trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together in his mechanically savvy mind. That of course didn't take long. His concerned frown began to distort into one of the most genuine looks of joy Robin had ever seen - and their captain was Monkey D Luffy. It was not at all what she had expected, even though she knew how paternal he felt with some of the Straw Hats - namely Chopper and Usopp. The tears had returned to her eyes, but this time it was because his excitement was contagious. What scared her now is that he hadn't said a word.
Franky stood up suddenly, and without saying anything he lifted Robin into his arms and spun them both around. He laughed an elated belly laugh, and she couldn't help but laugh with him through the tears. "Franky," she sputtered, tapping his arm to request she be put down, the spinning not helping with the ever-present nausea. He set her down apologetically, realizing his mistake a little too late.
"I'm so sorry," he cried, tears now streaming from his eyes as she steadied herself against him, "I'm just so, this is just so," he seemed to be building up to something, "so SUUUUPERRRR!!!"
Robin was using one hand to hold herself steady on his shoulder, and the other quickly attempted to cover his mouth, though it was not successful in dampening the noise. Perhaps if she had summoned more arms she could have managed to muffle it, but part of her was enraptured by his reaction to the news. How had she not expected this?
He clasped the hand that was pitifully trying to cover his mouth with his own and covered the palm in kisses. "What was that you were yammerin' on about feeling obligated?"
Her face was puffy from all the crying that she was realizing now she had done for nothing and she laughed, "I just mean that I would understand if you were not interested in having a child," she stated, "much less with someone like me. I also know that my wants may not align with yours, and I have to be okay with tha-"
"Oi oi, I'm beggin' ya to cut that out," he grew a bit more serious, grasping both of her shoulders to look into her eyes directly, "it would be an honor - no, it'd be my pleasure to have a kid with you, Nico Robin. Nothin' obligate about it. You're gonna be the most super mom that has ever mommed." Chopper had said something almost as encouraging in his note too, hadn't he? Perhaps it wasn't so outrageous.
Robin couldn't help but laugh that delectable laugh again, her face heating up for the thousandth time that day. "Well that's assuming we make it that far," she stated, her usual morbidity bringing them both back to a fragment of normalcy.
Franky wanted to answer, but the concerned furrow in her brow made him nod in a quiet understanding. He pulled her closer and walked himself forward so they could meet in the middle. They pressed their foreheads together without a word. Robin reached up to wrap her arms around him, pulling him into a kiss while threading her actual fingers through his hair again.
His hand found the small of her back and held her close, their bodies touching. Their kiss became impassioned, neither wanting to relent or pull away.
They spent the evening in an embrace. Robin's eyelid's fell heavy as the night grew deeper. Was it love that she felt for the man? Moreso than any other person she had been with, she felt safe. Now more than ever. She wasn't sure how she could define it, but to her that was okay.
"Nami must be wondering where ya are," Franky cut through her tired introspection, "and you need some rest, don't'cha think?"
Grabbing her parcel from Chopper and the book she had brought with her, Robin nodded, "you're probably right. She might start to worry. I might have already confided in her," she admitted with a smile, "I believe it falls under what some people call 'girl talk.'"
Franky seemed to blush at the knowledge that Nami not only knew before him, but smiled thankfully that she still pointed him in the right direction. "I'm glad you two have that," he rumbled, standing with a big stretch before sweeping Robin up suddenly. He carried her back to the women's quarters and set her beside the door. He went in for one last kiss for the night, and in the most genuine and quiet voice she had ever heard from him he said, "you've made me the happiest cyborg ever, Nico Robin," he caressed her cheek as he swore, "I won't let either of you down."
Robin's chest tightened again, but this was an overwhelming feeling of affection. "You couldn't even if you tried," she replied, "we can talk more tomorrow, alright? Goodnight, Franky. Thank you."
His hand trailed down her neck to her shoulder, then down to meet her own. He gave her delicate palm a reassuring squeeze. She squeezed his hand back, neither one wanting to let go, but Franky respectfully began walking away, their arms outstretched until they could no longer reach each other and had to let go.
Robin watched him go for only a moment, turning to quietly open the door to the women's quarters. She shut it slowly, attempting to make as little noise as possible so as not to disturb the sleeping navigator. Her effort is wasted, though much to her amusement, when she hears a distant and enthusiastic, "Suuuuuuuuuper!!!" (And of course, a cacophony of shouting for him to "shut up" following from some of the crew.) She hoped to herself somewhat naively that things could stay the way they were now, laughing in the dark.