Remembering the blanket she had, she used it to wipe her eyes and, to her surprise, saw all seven of her crew mates standing before her. They were all shocked, but the most expressive was Luffy, his eyes large as melons and his rubbery jaw dropped to the floor.

“AHHHH! R-R-ROBIN! I’m so sorry-!” he ran to her, wanting to help her up, but
was soon interrupted as he was kicked to ground by Sanji's powerful kick.

“You ASSHOLE!! Look what you did to my Robin-! “

“I said I was sorry!” Luffy retorted, tearing up.

“If ‘sorry’ was enough-!” Sanji lunged toward the young captain once more.

Still stunned, Robin looked at her hands and knees; whatever she was covered in was soft and white, tinged with some orange. Slippery too...

“Whose idea was it to let Straw Hat hold the cake?!” Franky asked.

Cake?

“You know, he would've probably eaten it before she could anyway,” Zoro pointed out, crossing his arms.

What was a cake for..?

“Oi, Sanji! Don’t kill him!!” Nami shouted, pulling the love-cook away from the captain; the two were starting to duke it out one-on-one.

Oh no.. It's exactly as I thought...

“Ahh, no! Robin is shaking! Maybe, somehow, the cake made her sick!” Chopper pointed, his hooves squirming with anxiety. “Somebody call the doctor!”

While Usopp briefly smacked Chopper in the back of the head for this comment ("You are the doctor!"), the other pirates looked over at Robin. She was shaking, and quite violently too. Everyone rushed to Robin's side.

“Oi, R-Robin! Don't get upset, we didn't mean to ruin your birthday-” Luffy placed his hand on her back consolingly.

“WE?!” the entire crew yelled at their young captain.

“Dereshi~~”

Everyone's attention snapped back to the archaeologist covered in cake.

“Dereshishishi~” Robin chuckled heartily. She thought of all of her crewmates' previous reactions, the ridiculous face that her concerned captain made upon dropping the cake, and laughed even harder but she covered her mouth, attempting to stifle her outburst.

Everyone looked at each other, confused.

“Um, Robin…What's a 'dereshi'?” Usopp asked.

Finally settled down, Robin summoned a few hands to help her up on her feet and a few more to wipe off the remaining cake from her clothes.

“It's a laugh, Mr. Long Nose; I'm laughing~” Robin gave her friends a small smile. “But... Mr. Cook, Luffy, everyone... Today's... not my birthday...”

There was a silence as this information sunk in. Then everyone shot Sanji a glance so fierce that the usually unshakeable Robin was slightly taken aback.

She soon learned that Sanji had gotten the date of her birthday mistaken for another and everyone had been so excited about the upcoming celebration that they had gone along with what he had told them. Everyone proceeded to beat up the blond chef for his slip-up, and Robin chuckled, migrating away from the group to take a seat on the stairs just outside the kitchen.

“I didn't even get to taste the cake!” Luffy groaned, pulling on his straw hat in frustration. “It was so nice and big too...”

“There's still some on the ground if you want it,” Sanji snapped, trying to light a new smoke.

“Ah, that’s right..!” Luffy reached for the sugary mess , but his hand was smacked away by Nami.

“Now, that’s just gross, Luffy!”

"But it hasn't been there for too long!" Luffy whined, still reaching for the cake while Nami kept pushing him away, and the others started to laugh at their antics. Sanji noticed Robin sitting away from everyone and dropped down next to her, putting out his cigarrette in consideration.

"Are you alright, Robin?"

Robin leaned her face against her hand and smiled teasingly. "Yes, but I should be asking the same for you," she replied.

"You mean this?" he looked at her, pointing at his fresh black eye. "This is nothing; I'll get them all back eventually," Sanji grinned, then sighed and put his face in his hands. "I'm really sorry, Robin... Well, 'sorry' isn't really enough..."

He noticed the blanket still clutched in Robin's hand and asked for it. "It was an excuse to get you out of the kitchen, but I'll feel guilty if I don't take it..."

"...It's alright, Mr. Cook." She handed it to him.

He sighed. "We all worked really hard on that cake... I even let Luffy participate in making it. Told him not to tell you anything. And Nami offered to put one of her mikans in it. It was going to be really special; a big surprise. But now it's been wasted..."

"..."

"Next time, we’ll make an even better cake; it'll be bigger and even more special. I'll make sure to put all my heart and soul into it. I promise."

“It’s fine,” she said, giving him another warm smile. "I happened to taste the cake a little when it met my face... but I really appreciated everything."

"You did?" his amorous smile returned, and he whispered to himself something along the lines of "Thank goodness".

"Oi, Sanji! Robin! Where are you two?" Luffy's voice rang out from the kitchen. "Come here and have some of the floor cake! It's still really good- Owww, Nami!"

"Sounds like it won't be wasted after all, Mr. Cook."

"Yeah, "Sanji got up, offering Robin a hand. "Come; let's go join them."

Robin nodded and took his hand. She didn't need to be by herself anymore; this life, these friends, and even the cake- It was all so very, very sweet.

/CENTER]