Chapter Text
One morning, while her coffee was percolating, Robin heard a slew of anxious rambling from the deck. After filling her mug, she came outside to see Nami in a tizzy over her Log Pose. "What is the matter, Navigator?"
"My log pose is broken! Look at it, it's pointed toward the sky."
Robin took a sip of her coffee, it was still too hot. The slight burning sensation lingered on her lips as she explained one should never think that a log pose is wrong.
She met Nami's gaze just to see the girl's confounded expression and grinned.
"What do you mean?"
Robin took another take a sip of her coffee. "It seems the island closest is a sky island."
The young captain sitting atop the Merry's head turned his head like an owl. What did she say?Luffy extended his arms to launch himself over to hear Robin repeat what she said. In his haste, he missed the 'target'. With his full force, he hit the mast and fell into Robin's lap. "There are islands in the sky?"
Robin's face was flushed in embarrassment. "There have been many reports of islands in the sky. I have only read stories about them or heard second hand tales. I think it's true though. At the very least, I hope it is."
Luffy sat himself up in her lap, "Let's go then! It will be our next adventure." Robin thought that his wide grin was brighter than the sun in the sky.
Nami hit him over the head, asking him how they were going to get there. Now that their pose was fixed, to the sky they were stuck out in this part of the sea.
Just a moment after, the deck was covered in the darkness of a massive shadow.
Robin rushed up to the crow’s nest to get a closer look. Pieces of wood began falling from the sky. As she peered up to the clouds, she saw a ship in ruins falling. Once the galleon hit the water 400 meters away from their ship, the sea erupted in a series of quakes. Though the galleon had made its way down, darkness still covered the deck. Robin lifted her head to see giant figures in the clouds. The rest of the crew felt the same fear that she did seeing them.
When the feeling calm returned to the ship, the archaeologist descended the mast to see what had fallen onto the Merry Go's deck. Of the pieces of the galleon that fell onto their ship, there were maps, diaries with fine illustrations, and the skeleton of one of the galleon's crew. No matter the amount of gold or jewels that could ever come to her, nothing would be a treasure to her. Pieces of the past that were hers to record were the most valuable thing.
Luffy always brimming with curiosity asked many questions that it overjoyed her to answer. She called Chopper over to look at the skeleton with her. As if she were a teacher giving a quiz, she asked why the man's legs were slightly bow shaped. The doctor answered her question- it was rickets of course. After she to complimented his knowledge, he waved his arms around, smiled and said, "Aw come on, you big idiot. Me smart?"
He sat in her lap as she explained the diseases of the old era and how to date the age of this man by that. As well as some of the other diseases he had suffered from.
She and Chopper eventually made careful documentation of each piece of the body. It gave her a warm feeling to share this with someone. Though this feeling of warmth 'should' have provided only joy, it gave her a great pain. Chopper reminded her of herself when she would study with Professor Clover. To hide her tears, she kept her head down. I just need to keep working. I won't slip into the past if I do. Luffy patted her head after declaring that the activity had gotten boring.
Usopp had jury-rigged some sub nautical equipment so Luffy could explore the wreckage. Sanji and Zoro joined alongside him, they only accounted their reasoning to prevent Luffy from drowning, but it was quite clear that the men too shared the excitement to explore.
Two wreckage crews claimed the Strawhats were in their territory. Sensing that a squabble may break out, Robin mediated the situation. Of course, to do so required covering Luffy's mouth. She whispered to her crew to trust her and winked. After all, the former assassin was a master of perception & deception. Robin jumped to the monkey figurehead of one of their ships. In just 5 minutes the wreckage crews gleefully towed the Merry Go back to the island they used as their base.
During the three-day voyage to Jaya, Robin wrote analyses for what Masira and Shoujou had uncovered. Robin's explanations and her beauty captured the captains. Sanji did not let her spend any time on those ships alone. He exclaimed he wouldn't let those monkeys look at her indecently.
Though the captains used wreckages to supplement their income, they agreed to hold on to the items Robin noted of the most historical value.
The three crews parted ways as they approached the island. Once the Strawhats laid anchor in Mock Town, they split up to look for supplies and any knowledge that the islanders may have on the sky island.
_
It was after sunset when Robin had returned to the Merry Go. The rest of the crew had presumably returned earlier, as they all sat around their dining table. She smiled to learn that they waited to eat dinner until her return (even Luffy! Though one could attribute that to Sanji's kicks). In just four months, they had defrosted much of the heart that Aokiji had frozen. Robin shook her head as if it could get those tender feelings mixed with dread out of her and smiled at them. She quickly learned that she was the only one who had any success in gathering information. She told them everything she knew as she sat down at the table and started eating.She pulled a map of the island out of her bag and said that they would find the information they sought. If they were to sail through a bay within the island, on the most eastern part, they would come to the residence of a man called Cricket. Her crew only met her with the comment, "How did you find this all out?" The archaeologist giggled, "One can gather a lot of information through casual gossip, a sultry look, or if they can sprout eyes and ears anywhere." After hearing a small groan from some of her crew members, Robin decided to get a rise out of them. "How do you think I managed to be quite a successful assassin?" The cowardly trio looked like they were about to faint. That's enough satisfaction for me. She gleefully ate her meal, and her compliments to Sanji quickly changed the tone of the room. The chef loved to hear compliments about his cooking, especially from women.
In the morning, they set out to meet Cricket, the man who the island of Jaya called a fool.