A brief silence fell over the room. Robin had no experience with praying for those no longer with you… only mourning them.
”My condolences.”
”He… died for this war. He gave everything that a man can possibly give for this cause, and sacrificed all that he had for us. For you.”
The statement caught her by surprise, as she thought back to the last time that she had seen the Shichibukai- when he had singlehandedly broken apart her crew. Her family. Was that all part of this? All part of a plan? The young man almost turned to face her, but once again he stopped himself, swallowed his emotional instability, and continued.
”This was a story he turned to for relief. When he felt as if he was losing everything, he turned to this verse. He taught it to me, and I will teach it to others. I will teach them that no matter what happens, we can never give up on hope. Never hope. We can give up our flesh and lives, but our spirits… that belong to the cause. We can never give it over to despair. ”
There was an eerie chill in the room suddenly, and Robin felt the intensity of the young mans voice from every ear she had spread in the room.
”My life belongs to none but my crew, Little Preacher.”
He finally turned around- she half expected him to scream out every indignity and frustration he had, but all she could see in his eyes was an anger diluted by curiosity.
”What do you mean?”
”I mean that it was a lovely story, which I can imagine would be of great comfort to one who suffers for the sake of someone else. I have studied the church of the Southern Cross and its popularity among revolutionary circles and nations, and while I find its appointment of simple citizens as saints and refusal to bow to authority inspirational, any message that can be summarized as 'grin and bear it' is something I can do without. If there is one thing that I know… it is that a single primal scream, can do more for a person than a hundred repressed tears.”
She prepared to leave, as she was quite certain that she had just lost her an opportunity to enter the movement in some way. But to her surprise… he laughed. He laughed and wept as if he had lost all sense and reason, and Robin briefly wondered if she would have to silence him and hide the body somewhere secluded when he finally stopped, and looked at her with tears in his eyes and an actual, honest and warm smile on his face.
”He… he told me. Told me so many times that, that I shouldn’t forget. That laughter, that tears, that they’re… they’re the most incredible things in life. You never value them until they’re gone, and if I ever want to shed tears and let laughter roar I, I should do it. He… God, he must think I’m a right disappointment, hiding it all…”
And for some strange reason Nico Robin found her black heart of coal cracking, just a little, by the sight of the boys warm smile (so strangely like her captains) and stuttered confession. She held out one hand towards him, while another set sprouted some distance away to pick up the top hat he had removed upon entry and put it back on his head again.
”No parent would ever be ashamed of their children for laughing from the heart, Little Preacher.”
He took her by the hand as he calmed down, and gave her a bashful smile as he wiped away the tears with his sleeve.
”He?”
”… My father. The one I’m praying for.”
A brief silence fell over the room. Robin had no experience with praying for those no longer with you… only mourning them.
”My condolences.”
”He… died for this war. He gave everything that a man can possibly give for this cause, and sacrificed all that he had for us. For you.”
The statement caught her by surprise, as she thought back to the last time that she had seen the Shichibukai- when he had singlehandedly broken apart her crew. Her family. Was that all part of this? All part of a plan? The young man almost turned to face her, but once again he stopped himself, swallowed his emotional instability, and continued.
”This was a story he turned to for relief. When he felt as if he was losing everything, he turned to this verse. He taught it to me, and I will teach it to others. I will teach them that no matter what happens, we can never give up on hope. Never hope. We can give up our flesh and lives, but our spirits… that belong to the cause. We can never give it over to despair. ”
There was an eerie chill in the room suddenly, and Robin felt the intensity of the young mans voice from every ear she had spread in the room.
”My life belongs to none but my crew, Little Preacher.”
He finally turned around- she half expected him to scream out every indignity and frustration he had, but all she could see in his eyes was an anger diluted by curiosity.
”What do you mean?”
”I mean that it was a lovely story, which I can imagine would be of great comfort to one who suffers for the sake of someone else. I have studied the church of the Southern Cross and its popularity among revolutionary circles and nations, and while I find its appointment of simple citizens as saints and refusal to bow to authority inspirational, any message that can be summarized as 'grin and bear it' is something I can do without. If there is one thing that I know… it is that a single primal scream, can do more for a person than a hundred repressed tears.”
She prepared to leave, as she was quite certain that she had just lost her an opportunity to enter the movement in some way. But to her surprise… he laughed. He laughed and wept as if he had lost all sense and reason, and Robin briefly wondered if she would have to silence him and hide the body somewhere secluded when he finally stopped, and looked at her with tears in his eyes and an actual, honest and warm smile on his face.
”He… he told me. Told me so many times that, that I shouldn’t forget. That laughter, that tears, that they’re… they’re the most incredible things in life. You never value them until they’re gone, and if I ever want to shed tears and let laughter roar I, I should do it. He… God, he must think I’m a right disappointment, hiding it all…”
And for some strange reason Nico Robin found her black heart of coal cracking, just a little, by the sight of the boys warm smile (so strangely like her captains) and stuttered confession. She held out one hand towards him, while another set sprouted some distance away to pick up the top hat he had removed upon entry and put it back on his head again.
”No parent would ever be ashamed of their children for laughing from the heart, Little Preacher.”
He took her by the hand as he calmed down, and gave her a bashful smile as he wiped away the tears with his sleeve.
”Please, mam. Call me Sabo.”
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