Chapter Text
"We killed him." Lucci announced into the silence.
The sentence rang in his mind as his brain went fuzzy. He felt an ice cold chill go down his spine, like someone poured cold water all over him. His arms broke out in goosebumps and he shivered. Everything went eerily silent in his ears as his gaze started swimming. 'Killed...? Iceburg-san was? How? When?' Franky's knees locked up as he almost buckled to the ground. He looked at the floor with unseeing eyes, gasping for breath.
Franky felt like puking his guts out and like he might faint at the same time. His elder brother disciple was killed and he hadn’t even known Iceburg-san had been in danger. Sure he had been out of town shopping, but after the trip he had heard quiet whispers of him being blamed for shooting some bigwig or something along those lines. He should've paid more attention what had been said and who had been shot, but he had had more important things to pay attention to at the time. Like his house being blown up.
In a sudden rush of noice his hearing tuned back in and his eyes cleared up, as someone yelled his name and he looked up just in time to see a fist come flying to his face. Franky didn’t have any more time to think about his friends' untimely death in detail as he crashed through a wall and soon after got placed into a sack and was kidnapped.
The sentence kept circling back to the top of his mind though, even as he was later climbing on top of the sea trains roof. He couldn't believe that Iceburg-san was really gone just like that. Taken from him and the world way too soon. Franky felt a lump of anxiety clawing at his throat but he swallowed it down and continued on.
They hadn’t even had time to make amends yet. Hell the last time they had spoken, they had just yelled profanities at each other. Franky hadn't had time to set things right or even begin to try and get forgiveness either. Sure Iceburg-san had told him he was happy that Franky was alive, but that wasn't forgiving. That had just been a momentary relief of seeing someone again after you had thought them to have died years earlier.
He could have tried to be kinder back then. 'Why had he just yelled at baka-burg and let him walk away after, never talking to or seeing the man again?' Franky mused to himself. And now it was too late...
Franky kept reminiscing about their memories together. Them both as early teens, running around the shipyard. Not the most safe place for a couple of snotty nosed brats, but it was their home. Him, Iceburg, Tom and Kokoro. Now only he and Kokoro remained.
The sudden remembrance of their old caretaker crossing his mind brought on another uncomfortable thought to him. 'Has anyone even told Kokoro-baachan the news yet? She's gonna be devastated..' Unshed tears pricked at the corners of his eyes at the thought of seeing her reaction to the news. She had taken care of both of them after all.
Franky shook his head to get the burning tears out of his eyes and the grim thoughts off of his mind and continue with the mission. He could think about what to do after the fight was over.