Queen of the Pirates

A Fifty-Year Promise

I choke on the sob that bursts out of me. All that time ago at Reverse Mountain, the people that Laboon is waiting for, only one remains, and now he stands before me as a skeleton. I want to tell him all about our meeting with that precious whale. That Laboon is still waiting for Brook and the rest of the crew he was once a part of. But all the words are stuck in my throat as tears steadily cascade down my cheeks.

"He was still a baby whale at the time, and we couldn't take him with us on such a dangerous voyage. I believe that he would be very big by now!"

"Your friend is a whale!?" Franky questions.

"That's right," Brook glances back at us, and then looks up as if seeing all the memories in the sky. "I can't shake the feeling that he still thinks of us. He may even still believe we will return, playing our usual cheerful music. I don't think he will forgive us for dying so irresponsibly, but after coercing him into agreeing to such a selfish pact, one that we ended up being unable to fulfill, in this faraway place, I can't just die hoping to be forgiven! Because when a man promises to return, HE MUST RETURN!"

I take a deep breath to settle myself, feeling a warmth spreading through my heart. A promise is something that I will never forget, and the fact that Brook has been determined to keep a promise fifty years later makes me like him even more.

"I really must go now," Brook starts walking off again. "Head inside and take the stairs up, then the largest staircase will take you back to your ship." He doesn't wait for our response, and heads off to whatever destination he has in mind.

Franky, Robin, and I look around at each other, and then we break into a run towards the building we were heading towards before a giant spider interrupted us. We head up the stairs, following the direction given to us in order to get back to where the Sunny should still be tangled up in the spiderweb. Franky is struggling to keep his sobs in now, but I don't blame him. He would be an even worse wreck if he knew the full story on how we met Laboon all those weeks ago.

"Franky," Robin huffs out.

"What!?" Franky snaps. "I'm not crying! Don't look at me!" He hides his face into his forearm.

"There's nothing wrong with crying," I softly smile. "It is good to have emotions."

"Why did you ask him that?" Robin asks.

"Shut up! Because I wanted to!" Franky chokes through his sobs. "Anyway, let's hurry! Geez, I really love that skeleton now! You don't run into guys like him every day!"

"That's why Luffy wants him to join us!" I laugh.

Robin softly chuckles, "I agree."

There's something about running with Robin and Franky on either side of me that makes me feel energized. Even knowing that three of our boys have had their shadows taken from them, that we are going up against a Warlord of the Sea, that we have plenty of fights still to battle, I can feel the energy building up within me. My bond with Robin is only continuing to strength, and Franky truly has grown on me every time that he's called me Lil Sis. There's also something comforting about them being adults when I've never been able to have many adult figures to turn to. Even with everything that has gone wrong today, I can't help the smile that has spread across my face.

The loudest groan that shakes the walls snaps me out of my thoughts. There's no way that noise didn't come from a zombie. For the moment, our destination changes as we all nod in agreement to figure out what the hell made that noise.

Then a scream that sounds vaguely familiar fills the air, and we are face-to-face with a hoard of zombies attacking two crewmembers we haven't seen since they left on the Mini Merry. Except Nami isn't with them.