We're all stories in the end

It was much warmer when you finally woke up, and it took you several moments to realize that you weren't struggling for air.

Your eyes opened, your hand coming up to the mask over your mouth. Oxygen.

For a split second, you were back in that first day, and you had to wonder if this was somehow you waking from a coma or something. If it was all over.

But your eyes landed on Sanji and Nami, and some hot older woman, and the knot in your stomach eased.

Nami noticed you first and you gave her a little wave. A smile lit up her face as she called your name.

Sanji turned to you, all smiles as well at the sight of you awake. He was at your side in an instant, taking your hand. "How are you feelin'? Are you hungry? I can–"

"You're lucky to be alive, girl." The white-haired woman sauntered over, taking a long drag from her bottle of booze. "You had a rib lodged in your right lung. You were basically drowning in your own blood. Not to mention the air leaking into your chest cavity and putting pressure on your heart and lungs. If you'd waited any longer to get help, you'd be dead."

"Not exactly a nice thing to wake up to," Nami said from her bed. But she'd learned pretty quickly that the doctor didn't have the greatest bedside manner.

"At least she woke up." She turned back to you. "The name's Kureha. Or Doctorine."

"Thank...you..." Your voice was far too weak on top of being muffled by the mask, but she still managed to hear you.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sending your captain the bill," Kureha said, leaving the room with a swing of her hips.

You turned your attention to your friend across the room. "Nami?"

Sanji looked back at her. "She's askin' about you."

Nami smiled. "I'm feeling so much better. Don't worry."

You put your free hand to your heart, grinning big under the mask. She was finally okay, just like you knew she would be.

"How about you?" She asked.

You gave her a thumbs up, and she chuckled.

Sanji squeezed your hand, which was thankfully much warmer now. "So, you hungry? Might be hard to eat with the mask, but we can figure it out." You nodded and he grinned. "Be right back."

The both of you watched him leave the room, and Nami spoke again. "I was worried about you."

You knew she wouldn't be able to hear you, so you hoped she'd understand when you pointed to yourself, then to her.

'I was worried about you, too'

Kureha came back when Sanji did, no nonsense as she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out a stethoscope.

Sanji brought a bowl of consommé and placed it on your bedside table with a smile. But before he could say anything, Kureha shooed him away.

"Give us some space. You can come back when we're done."

Sanji's mouth opened and closed a few times, looking between you and Kureha, before he finally said, "I'll be right over there with Nami."

You nodded.

"Blondie asked me if we could get this mask off of you so you can eat. It's possible..." She put the scope in her ears and placed the other end on your chest, checking her watch as she listened to your heart for a minute.

Stronger than before, but not quite at 100%.

"Alright," she said, moving the scope to your back and still listening intently. No gurgling or crackling. "Your lungs sound good. Probably because neither of them are filled with blood anymore." She moved it to the front again, counting each breath.

And you simply watched her as she did, keeping as calm as you could. Aside from looking very good for her age, she was oddly familiar. But there was no way you could've seen her before...

Kureha took the stethoscope off and sighed, standing up from the bed. "Good news, we can switch you over to a cannula. Bad news, you're gonna need supplemental oxygen for a few more days. And to stay under medical observation for at least a month."

You froze, staring down at the blanket as she took the mask from your face. Though not as bad as before, you noticed the difference immediately. It still wasn't as easy as usual to get in air, even when the meds you were on had the pain in your chest at a dull ache.

Moments later, she wrapped the cannula over your ears, placing it in your nostrils.

"Now you should be able to talk and eat without any trouble. Though I wouldn't suggest doing too much of the former."

That wasn't what was bothering you.

"We don't...There's no doctor on the ship..."

Kureha almost looked like she felt bad before replying with a shrug, "I guess that means you're staying here with me."

You looked over at Nami and Sanji, both of them tearing up. They were too far away for you to hear them and know why, but it wasn't your business anyway.

Besides, all you could think about was what Kureha had said.

You needed a doctor.

The Straw Hats needed to get to Alabasta as soon as possible.

As it stood, those two things didn't add up.

Somehow, Vivi had made it up to the castle.

Sanji left with Luffy to go talk to her, leaving you and Nami alone again.

You had another spoonful of broth, carefully savoring it.

You were really going to miss Sanji's cooking.

You were going to miss a lot of things. Like–

"Are you okay?"

Her.

Looking up from the bowl, you found Nami's blue eyes on you.

"As I can be." Your voice didn't sound quite right to your ears, too raspy and quiet. Nami could just barely hear you now that the mask was off.

"You just seem really sad."

"I..." You put the spoon down, tears already flooding down your face. "Doctorine said I'll be okay...But I need to be the under the care of a doctor...for another month or so."

Nami's brow scrunched. "She said you'll be fine. That's a good thing."

"You don't get it." Your stomach turned violently, feeling even worse than that knot in your gut when you'd first woken up in Drum Castle. A sob escaped your throat, your hand coming up to clutch your chest. "I–I appreciate you guys...bringing me with you for so long." You cast your eyes downwards, away from hers. "I'll miss you all so much."

She just stared at you for a moment, the gears turning in her head. "You think we're leaving you here?"

Hearing it out loud just made it worse. Being with them made this world enjoyable, and now you were going to be stuck in a creepy castle on a winter island.

No more Going Merry. No more Straw Hats.

"You can't stay here...Vivi has to get to Alabasta...You guys don't need me."

"Hey, look at me." When you didn't, her voice got gentler. "Please."

Slowly, you did as she said. She only continued once your eyes met.

"No one's getting left behind. Either we all leave this island together, or none of us do. We're not going anywhere without our whole crew. Okay?"

"But Luffy–"

"Luffy will tell you the same thing. He would never leave you here. We won't leave you."

The conviction in Nami's voice...

Even though Usopp had told you that you were part of the crew, there was something about hearing it when you'd been so sure you'd have to stay behind.

After all this time you'd spent with Nami and the others, after all they'd done to help you, how could you still doubt that you were a Straw Hat now?

You sobbed into your hands, the sight pulling at Nami's heart as she watched you. She'd had her moment when she realized she was truly part of the crew.

This was yours.

"What's goin' on here?" Sanji asked as he and Chopper entered the room, hearing your cries. "Are you–?"

"She thought we were going to leave without her because she's too injured," Nami said softly.

Sanji looked at you, heart clenching knowing that you had even considered that. "Well, there's no way in hell that's happenin'. Chopper and I came to get you both out of here before Wapol comes."

You froze.

Chopper.

That sounded familiar.

Frowning, you looked up from your hands and saw him.

Small, furry, big wide eyes.

The cute reindeer in the top hat.

"Oh..." you said softly.

"Right, you were asleep when we met Chopper. He's a doctor," Nami explained.

"And a reindeer," Chopper added in a voice equally as cute as him.

You'd always assumed the reindeer was a pet or something. You didn't know it could talk. Or that it was a doctor.

A strange world indeed.

Chopper ran over to you with Sanji in tow. "Hold onto her." He looked up at you with those huge eyes. "I'm changing out your IV to a walking one. The oxygen tank is on wheels, so you'll be able to bring it with you."

Sanji wrapped his arms around you, keeping you steady as Chopper did what he'd explained.

Sanji helped you out of bed, and you were able to lean on the IV stand for support as they went to do the same for Nami.

"Is Vivi okay?"

"She's fine. We're gonna take you to her."

"Keep her still."

Chopper was going a little bit faster than he had with you, realizing that they were running out of time.

"Careful! You're gonna bruise her!" Sanji said, pulling her away from Chopper slightly.

"You guys!"

"Which one of us is a doctor?!"

"Did you say doctor or dinner?"

Chopper began to growl. And not only that. He started to grow tall and muscular. More like a beast than the adorable little guy he'd just been.

"Whoa," you whispered, taking a small step backward.

Chopper's voice was considerably deeper, matching his new look. "Stop being so stubborn and let me do my job."

"Sanji, I think you should listen to him."

It was probably a good thing he had changed, because in ran two ridiculously dressed men.

"Oh, shit," Chopper and Sanji said in unison.

And the fight began, the two of them taking on the villains as you and Nami hid behind her overturned bed. She took your left hand in her right, and you gave her a smile.

"So, talking reindeer doctor...that a common thing here?" you asked her as the both of you peeked over the bed.

"No. Definitely not."

You watched Chopper brawl with the axe wielding guy.

One thing you knew for sure was that Chopper was going to join the crew.

And apparently, he was a doctor.

Now there were two reasons that your worries had been for nothing.

"You're might wanna get used to it," you muttered.

Before she could open her mouth to ask you what that meant, Sanji took down the–well, you weren't quite sure what his deal was–guy with a slick move that you'd probably seen Black Widow do in an Avengers movie.

He did his superhero landing and winked at the two of you.

Nami's smile dropped, and you snorted in amusement.

The Straw Hats were back on the Merry, gathered in the galley with plenty of food and drink.

You sat on the couch next to Zoro, a hot coffee in hand, feeling more at ease and happy than you had in days.

"Alright, everyone!" Luffy said, holding his mug of beer. "Let's give a warm welcome to our new ship's doctor. Tony Tony Chopper!"

Everyone raised their drinks, cheering and hollering as Chopper stood smiling, hooves clasped in front of him.

And what welcome it was, the crew descending into a joyful celebration of your victory against Wapol and the addition of your newest recruit.

Chopper and Luffy danced together, the grin never once leaving the reindeer's face. "This is the most fun I've ever had!"

You smiled at that, looking up at Usopp where he sat up on the counter, flashing you a grin.

He nudged your arm with his leg. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Me, too," you said, patting his knee.

You picked a piece of fruit from one of the platters that Sanji had left at the table, biting and slowly chewing. After days of broth, you didn't want to go too fast.

As you ate, you heard Luffy. "Miss this? Where are you going?"

Your head whipped in his direction, and there was Vivi looking quite dejected. Just a few hours ago, that had been you.

"Well, when we get to Alabasta, we'll be going our separate ways. You'll drop me off and continue on towards the One Piece."

"Yeah, we are going to find the One Piece." Vivi's eyes dropped. "But not until after we help you defeat those Baroque Works guys and save your kingdom."

"You would really do that?"

Sanji spoke from his spot next to Chopper. "Did you think we were just gonna leave you?"

Nami put her arm around Vivi. "Like I said, I thought you'd be used to our antics by now."

"You're one of us, too," Usopp said.

"And friends help each other," Chopper said.

"They never leave each other behind," you added softly, and Nami smiled at you.

Zoro gave his own very eloquent statement. "Dummy."

Even after Vivi delivered the news of Mr. 0's true identity, the party didn't die out. If things were about to get as intense as she believed, then why not enjoy yourselves while you could?

Sanji slid in next to you on the couch, slinging his arm around the back, careful not to disturb your oxygen. "Something's been buggin' me since we met Chopper."

"The fact that he's cuter than you?" You smirked as you took a sip of your coffee.

"No," he said, leaning in a little closer. "See, I remember the day you arrived here very well, and you definitely mentioned somethin' about a little reindeer in a top hat."

You nearly dropped your coffee, but Sanji was quick to grab it and place it on the table for you. "I, um, I don't know what you're–"

No, you couldn't gaslight your friend like that. Especially when–

"I remember that, too," Zoro said from his seat on your other side.

"Yeah, same here," said Usopp.

Luffy called from his spot over at the counter with Nami, Vivi, and Chopper. "What are we remembering?"

Usopp turned to him. "She's a psychic!"

"I'm not a–"

"Cool!" Luffy put a finger to his temple. "What word am I thinking of?"

Nami grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand down. "We all know it's 'meat'."

His eyes went wide. "Nami, you're a psychic, too?!"

"No, Luffy."

You frowned at Usopp, who threw up his hands. "What? If you knew about Chopper, you must be able to see the future. There's no other explanation."

Pretending to be psychic would be pretty smart, but that would only work for someone with more knowledge of One Piece. You had pretty much nothing to go off of.

Maybe it was time to be honest.

"I'm not a psychic, I..." you looked around at all of them. "Remember how I was saying all that weird stuff...about you all being fictional where I'm from?"

"Yeah, that was funny!" Luffy said, taking a drink of his beer.

Nami spoke carefully. "But you said that was just from shock."

"That was a lie...Once I realized I was really here, I...I didn't want you guys to keep thinking I was nuts."

"We didn't think that," Sanji said.

Usopp raised his hand. "I did. Sorry."

"I know how it sounds, but it's true...You guys are in, well it's a book of sorts called One Piece...and there's an anime–a cartoon–of it. It's really popular...I was never into it, but I know some basic things." You turned to Luffy. "I knew you right away. Everyone knows who Luffy is...You're pretty iconic."

Luffy laughed, not questioning any of this at all. "Whoa! Everybody in another world knows me!"

"I knew..." You gestured to Chopper first. "Cute reindeer."

He smiled shyly.

"Mouth sword guy."

Zoro smirked.

"Orange-haired hottie."

"Really?"

"Scaredy cat. No offense."

"None taken."

"Pervert cook. Also no offense."

"Some taken."

"What about Vivi?" Nami asked, noticing you'd skipped over her.

Vivi was a mystery. Because in all the merchandise you'd ever seen, in all the memes, you couldn't recall a woman with blue hair. A big guy with blue hair? Yeah. But not Vivi.

In any case, you weren't completely sure what it meant yet.

"Beautiful princess," you said, because of course it was the very first thing that came to mind.

Vivi smiled, even though all of this sounded a little far-fetched.

"I know other little stuff....There are jokes about Zoro getting lost all the time–"

Sanji turned to Zoro and laughed.

You gave Sanji a look. "And about Sanji getting nosebleeds every time he sees a woman–"

It was Zoro's turn to snicker.

"Someone gets turned into a donut? I'm not sure what that means...And there's some guy with a funny name and a weird spotted hat–"

"Stop."

Everyone looked at Luffy.

"What you've already said is one thing, but I don't want to know anything else about the future. I want to experience it myself."

"Yeah, but," Usopp turned from Luffy to you, "I also remember something about a skeleton guy. Can we address that? You were joking, right? I really don't want a skeleton on the crew."

"Sorry, Usopp."

He ran his hand over his face, sliding down in his seat. "Nooo!"

"Hopefully it's a nice skeleton," Chopper said, though he didn't like the idea of it either.

"Okay, no more skeleton talk!"

You laughed at Usopp, then took a moment to catch your breath. "...So you guys don't think I'm crazy?"

Zoro answered you with a smirk. "No more than anyone else on this crew."

Sanji moved his arm over your shoulders and gave you a careful squeeze. "For once, I agree with mosshead."

"We have encountered a lot of weird stuff already..." Luffy said.

"Mountains that defy the laws of nature," Nami offered.

Vivi added, "Giant whales."

"Giant...giants," Usopp said.

Chopper grinned. "And talking reindeer."

"There being a world where we're fictional is just par for the course at this point."

Besides, it was hard to argue when you'd clearly known about Chopper.

The soreness in your chest hadn't eased up at all.

In fact, it was hurting more than it had when you finally fell asleep late the night before. And the bruising had gotten heavier, and spread further across your skin.

But none of that seemed to matter that much when you thought about Nami.

She hadn't woken up once since she passed out on the deck the previous night. Her skin still burned, and worse, Vivi had found a sickly infection on her stomach, the black tendrils beginning to spread already.

In your world, she would get some antibiotics and something to reduce the fever. But things were different here, and the Merry had nothing like that. No doctor, and no navigator to help the crew get somewhere for help.

Everyone was beyond stressed already, even those that tried not to show it, and it got worse with each passing minute that Nami didn't wake up.

You took as deep a breath as you could–which wasn't much at the moment–and walked into the girl's room. Partly to get a clean set of clothes so you could wash away all the sweat from training, but mostly to look in on Nami.

Vivi sat in a chair next to the bed, holding Nami's hand in hers and singing softly. She stopped when she noticed you and gave you a half-hearted smile.

"Has she woken up at all?" You asked hopefully.

"No," her thumb brushed gently over Nami's fingers. "No changes, good or bad."

You walked over to the other side and placed a hand on Nami's. "She's gonna be okay, Vivi."

You knew it for a fact, actually. You'd seen plenty of things with Nami past this point, her orange hair grown long down her back and her chest quite...generous, though you realized that last part could just be the anime of it all.

But still, you worried for her. Your friend who helped welcome you into this strange world.

"Besides, she's too stubborn to let something like this take her out."

Vivi laughed softly, and you smiled, giving Nami's hand a squeeze.

"You're in pain," Zoro said, following the clack of your practice swords smacking into each other. "And you're dropping your elbow."

"I'm fine," you replied through gritted teeth as you fixed your elbow's position. "Just a little sore."

That was a lie on par with Usopp. Because maybe it would've been true the previous day. But now? Instead of a dull ache, every breath, every movement felt like a stab in your chest.

Should you have been pushing yourself and training when there was something wrong? Probably not. But you didn't want to tip anyone off that Miss Valentine's hit had hurt you more than they thought. They had enough going on with Nami, you could deal with whatever this was by yourself until the ship reached an island.

Just like you always had.

Zoro accepted your explanation, but that wasn't going to be such a good thing for you, because he continued on as if you were well. And with another attack, a shock radiated through your chest. You clutched at it with your free hand, gasping as you tried not to cry out.

Zoro's brow scrunched as he took the practice sword from your other hand. "I think you're a little more than sore."

You waved him off, becoming acutely aware of the black spots swimming in your vision as you tried to breathe in. "I'm f–"

Sanji's appearance on the deck interrupted you, in his hand a tray carrying one single iced lemonade, complete with a lemon peel garnish.

He didn't even get a chance to say anything before you collapsed to the deck again.

"...and her breathing's shallow. What the hell did you do to her, mosshead?!"

"I didn't do anything."

"She was training with you!"

"...stop," you wheezed. "Stop it."

Sanji's voice softened, and as you opened your eyes, you realized that you were in his arms. That brought back memories. "What happened, sweetheart?"

"Nothing. I'm fine," you lied, but the flinch of pain as you spoke kept it from being at all convincing.

Zoro's eyes flicked to your chest and its small movements, and he remembered. After all, he'd been there when it happened. And Sanji hadn't. "It was Miss Valentine's attack."

Sanji's head whipped in Zoro's direction. "She was attacked?" And then back to you. "Why didn't you tell us you were hurt?"

"Not a big deal," you said, weakly pushing against his chest. "Let me-let me up."

He wasn't really planning on it anyway, but your movement caused another stabbing pain that stopped you in your tracks.

Zoro and Sanji looked at each other, the former speaking. "Don't move."

A cough forced its way from your lungs in spite of the pain, and it took you a moment to notice the little sprinkle of blood it left on your forearm.

Every drop of color drained from Sanji's face.

Not you, too.

Before you knew it, Sanji was on his feet, carrying you back to the room you shared with Nami and Vivi.

Usopp and Vivi did what they could to stabilize you, but since neither were doctors, it wasn't much.

Eventually, you had managed to fall asleep in your hammock, the edge of Zoro's body just visible where he stood guard on the other side of the door.

But when you finally woke up, it was Usopp watching over you and Nami, sitting in a chair between her bed and yours.

You smiled softly as you realized that he was going off on another tale of the great Captain Usopp.

"...There I stood all alone, right before the massive creature, and I–" Usopp stopped the moment he noticed your open eyes. "Hey."

You took a small breath. "Hi."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "The old guy that raised Sanji told us that when someone's in a bad way, you should talk to them. It worked for Zoro, so..."

"How is she?" You asked, but the look of her told you most of what you needed to know. Pale, still out cold.

"She woke up a little while ago. Sanji tried to get her to eat, but she was out again before she could." He looked over at her, then back to you. "She was worried about you..." You turned away from him and he added in a softer tone, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"There's enough going on...without you guys...having to deal with me..." You said between shallow breaths, flinching at the sharpness in your chest. Short sentences had been a lot easier.

"It's not 'dealing' with you. You're part of the crew. And a crew helps each other when they need it."

You're part of the crew.

The words replayed in your head, but even with his sincerity, you couldn't quite believe him. "I'm not. Luffy didn't choose me...I just showed up one day...I'm not like the rest of you...I'm not strong or brave."

"You think I'm brave?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

"You saved us on Little Garden." Without him, you, Nami, Vivi, and Zoro would've become one of that wax freak's sick art pieces.

"I did kick some Baroque Works ass. But I'm not a brave warrior of the sea just yet. I've got a long way to go." He gave you a sweet smile. "We can always figure it out together..."

After a moment of hesitation, you returned the look.

"Did you wanna...finish your story?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

In spite of his exciting tale, you weren't able to stay awake for long.

The next time you woke, it was Sanji that sat in the chair, slumped in it as he faced you and Nami. His face lacked color aside from his red rimmed eyes.

It wasn't a completely unfamiliar sight the last few days. Something about seeing Nami so ill was bothering him.

It made sense when you thought about it. Sanji liked taking care of people, especially those on the Merry.

Especially the ladies.

He, even more than the rest of you, felt helpless.

You had no idea just how deep it went.

"Sanji?" you said softly.

His head snapped up, and his eyes softened when he saw you awake. "I'm here..."

"You look tired. When...when was the last time you slept?"

"You don't need to worry about me, sweetheart. I'm fine," he said not convincing you or himself. "You must be hungry. I'll bring you a bowl of consommé, alright?"

"I'm not–" you stopped yourself, remembering that Usopp had said before. Nami wasn't eating when she was awake, and you had no doubt that that fact was tearing him up inside. "Okay, I'll try."

He gave you a little smile and left the room, and it was just you and Nami alone for a minute.

If only she would sit up and say "Just kidding! I'm fine."

If only.

Sanji came back with a bowl of broth on a tray and you tried to sit up. Emphasis on tried. A hammock already wasn't the best thing to maneuver around in even when you were well, and it didn't help that any movement sent lightning through your chest.

Sanji went wide eyed when he realized what you were doing.

"Wait." He put the tray down and rushed over to you, gentle hands going to help you sit up. "I've got you." He placed your pillow at your back, giving you something to rest against. "Comfortable?"

"Yes," you said, giving him a weak smile.

"Good." Sanji grabbed the tray and carefully placed it on your lap.

"Thank you." You took a spoonful and swallowed it, ignoring the discomfort in your chest. The heat of the broth and the love and care that you knew had been put into making it warmed you instantly.

"It's the least I can do." It's all I can do. He watched you eat another spoonful, then continued in a shaky voice. "You scared me out on deck. For a second, I thought you had whatever Nami has. But your breathin' was..." The sight of you coughing up blood had dredged up even more memories. And Nami's illness had already had him recalling too many painful things. "I wish you would've told me."

You place the spoon down on the tray, suddenly feeling nauseated. This wasn't just about Nami now. He was torn up over you, too. Tears pricked at your eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Usopp told me what you said." Sanji shifted forward in the chair. "I don't know what happened before you came here, or who made you think you don't matter as much as everyone else. But you do. I promise, you matter."

You blinked the tears back, trying to keep your voice steady. "And you...would never lie to a lady."

"Never." He reached his hand up and you put your shaky one in it, letting him give it a gentle squeeze.

Sanji just stayed like that for a while, thumb gently brushing over your knuckles as you had an occasional spoonful of consommé.

Until–

"SANJIIIII! DINNERRRRR!"

You laughed, clutching your chest at the pain it caused.

Before Sanji could address that at all, Luffy burst into the room. "Did you hear? It's dinnertime!"

"I think the whole Grand Line heard you," you said in a strained voice.

Luffy's face stretched out into a grin. "You're awake!" He practically threw himself towards you, and Sanji stood to keep him from crushing you in a far too enthusiastic hug.

"Careful, you'll hurt her."

"Oh, right." Luffy reached out and patted your head a little harder than you were expecting. He gave Nami's hand a pat as well, smiling at her sweetly. And once that was out of the way, his face turned far more serious than you'd ever seen it so far, at least when directed at you. "Never hide another injury from us, okay?"

"Okay."

Luffy grinned again. "Great! Now that that's settled...FOOD!"

The captain dragged Sanji to the galley, but you and Nami weren't left alone. Once again, you could just barely see Zoro on the other side of the doorway, guarding the room.

"...Zoro?"

He didn't say anything, but you could see his head turn towards you ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry," you said softly, picking at a loose thread on your blanket. "Hiding this was one thing...but I shouldn't have trained...Something was bound to happen. It...wasn't fair to put that on you."

Zoro was quiet for a moment, and you started to accept that that that was it. You wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to train you anymore.

Zoro had been concerned when it first happened, and concern became accompanied by anger at some point, but he knew he'd be a hypocrite if he stayed pissed at you for training while injured.

"What you did was stupid. But we've all done stupid things. Just don't do it again."

You let out a breath, corner of your mouth lifting in a smile.

"I won't."

Three days later, the Straw Hats came upon an island. The welcome wasn't all that warm at first, but once Vivi and Luffy pleaded with the townspeople, they let all of you inside.

The problem was, their only doctor resided at the top of a huge mountain.

Neither you nor Nami were going to make it through the night like this and everyone knew it. Her infection had traveled further and her fever wouldn't go down for anything, so she was barely hanging on by a thread. You'd barely spoken in over a day because you couldn't breathe enough to do it, and you'd coughed up even more blood.

Luffy had gotten Nami on board with climbing the mountain, and now it was Sanji's turn to talk to you.

"Love, I need you to wake up." He squeezed your hand. It was cold, and not from the winter weather of Drum Kingdom. "Can you hear me?"

Your eyes fluttered open, and you gave his hand a weak squeeze in return.

"We have to climb the mountain to get you to their doctor. Luffy's gonna carry Nami. Will you let me carry you?"

Blinking rapidly, you struggled to focus on him. Carry you up a mountain? Luffy made sense–he had the weird body of someone with those fruit powers–but Sanji was just a normal guy. He could probably make it himself just fine, but to carry you too? You couldn't ask him to do that.

You opened your mouth, your voice barely there. "Sanji...you don't–"

He knew what you were trying to say, and he was quick to stop you. "I want to. Please let me."

You looked up into his pleading eyes, and with some hesitation, you gave him a near imperceptible nod.

Next thing you knew, you were no longer indoors, but standing at the base of the mountain, Luffy tying your hands around Sanji's neck.

Nami was already tied to Luffy in much the same way. She lifted her head just a little. Enough to give you a small smile.

You returned it as best as you could.

Sanji placed a hand on yours, and the other on Nami's. "We'll get you both to the top. You just have to hold on a little bit longer."

Luffy nodded at him, determined to help his friends.

The icy cold bit at your cheeks as Sanji and Luffy made their way up the mountain. The further up you got, the thinner and colder the air became. You already couldn't breathe much before, but this...you hadn't even considered it. Would you even be able to make it to the top?

Sanji kept climbing, fingers numb and bloodied as he gripped at the rocks. And slowly, he realized your breaths were getting louder. More desperate.

"Hold on! We're almost there!" He shouted to you over the wind.

That was the moment Luffy lost purchase and slid down the mountain, just barely catching himself in time.

"Luffy! Are you okay?!"

Luffy was, but you and Sanji were not. Sanji heard the cracking from above, and rock and ice began raining down.

Sanji lost his grip and fell onto a rock that jutted out from the mountain. He couldn't hold onto that one either, and suddenly, he was free-falling.

If it had just been him, he would've accepted this knowing that Luffy could still get Nami to the top.

But you were on his back.

You were already dying, and he had just made it a certain thing.

"I'm sorry," he said, hoping you could hear him.

Then, Luffy's mouth grabbed Sanji by the coat and he threw the two of you as hard as he could up the mountain.

Sanji had enough time to make sure that he was the one who hit the ground, but the fact that the impact had knocked him unconscious meant that he couldn't stop himself from rolling across the ground and putting pressure on you anyway.

When you finally stopped, blood dripped from your mouth and onto the pure white snow next to Sanji's head, your chest gurgling violently as the pain sent your vision swimming.

After a few days of sailing, the Going Merry finally came upon the next island, Little Garden.

An island which didn't seem to fit the name all that well.

You'd never seen a place so green, so untouched by humans. It had you as eager as everyone else was to explore, even when you heard the roars of some creature out in the distance as it reacted to Luffy's yelling.

With your bag of necessities–including a pirate lunch, courtesy of Sanji–you headed off of the ship with the crew.

Of course, despite the warnings to stick together, everyone promptly began to split up. And you found yourself gravitating towards Luffy's group.

Sanji stopped you, hopeful he'd get to show off his hunting skills. "You know, we could use a judge for our bet."

You glanced between him and Zoro, who was continuing to walk forward, and smiled. "Honestly, I'd rather check out the island than be part of your dick measuring contest." And if you wanted to really explore and see whatever the island had to offer, Luffy was your best option.

Sanji smirked. "If that were the bet, I'd win easily."

"Sure, if smallest wins," Zoro called back to him.

Great. Now you'd done it.

"Good luck. Don't kill each other."

"No promises."

You patted Sanji's arm and headed in the other direction to catch up with the rest of the crew. Who weren't hard to find thanks to Luffy's excited voice.

Usopp turned around and ran right into you, letting out a little yelp.

"Where are you going?" You asked, putting your hands on his arms to steady him.

Usopp laughed it off. "Back to the Merry. I just remembered I've got 'must avoid islands full of things that want to kill me' disease."

"It can't be that bad," you said. Though it probably was considering that the Straw Hats were there. "But suit yourself."

You passed him, then jogged past Vivi and Nami with a little wave as you tried to catch up with the captain.

Luffy caught sight of something and began climing up one of the trees. You stopped at the bottom and smiled up at him. "Find something interesting, Luffy?"

Luffy tossed some strange fruit to you and started cracking one open himself. "These look really good!"

"Are you sure they're safe?" You asked, turning the fruit in your hand.

"I guess we'll find out!" He said between bites, knocking another fruit off of the tree.

And straight onto Nami's head.

"Ow."

"You gotta try some of these!" Luffy said to her and Vivi, mouth full.

"Are you trying to kill us? Get down from there, and stop acting like an idiot!"

"Where's Usopp?" Vivi asked.

"He went back to the ship. Some kind of disease he has."

Nami looked at you knowingly. She'd heard that excuse before.

"I'll find him," Nami said, heading back in the direction of the Merry. She put a hand on Vivi's shoulder. "You just keep those two out of trouble."

"Surely you just mean Luffy."

"Nope."

Luffy dropped down from the tree. "I wonder what's this way. Guys, come on!" He grabbed your hand and pulled you along, and you laughed as you let him.

By the time Vivi found the two of you, you and Luffy had your tongues out like idiots, letting water from the leaves drip down into your mouths.

Once again, the captain had you acting like you were a kid again. And in spite of the fact that were was probably something dangerous lurking on the island, you just felt light.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" He asked Vivi.

"You mean a fern? Yes. Though they're usually not so big."

"Yeah." You placed your hand on the trunk of one of them. "Kind of makes you wonder why they call this place Little Garden. Is it supposed to be a joke?"

"If it is, it's not very funny." Luffy picked a pink berry off of a bush. "What about these? Have you ever seen something like this?"

"Yes, Luffy. I've seen berries," Vivi said with the tired tone of a parent whose child keeps asking 'why?'. Luffy popped it in his mouth, and her eyes widened. "Are you sure those are edible?"

"I think Luffy has an iron stomach," you said to her as he continued along.

He stopped right at the edge of the trees.

And so did you once you caught the same sight.

"Holy shit," you gasped. Hands coming up to cover your gaping mouth.

Dinosaurs. Real life dinosaurs.

Very Jurassic Park.

Vivi was just as shocked when she caught up.

"What about this? Have you ever seen something like this?" He asked, not tearing his eyes away.

"No, Luffy. I've definitely never seen anything like this."

"They have these where you're from?" He directed towards you.

"We did. Millions of years ago. Now, all we have left are their bones." The dinosaurs in front of you were herbivores, you knew that much. So there was no trace of fear as you said, "They're beautiful. This is amazing."

You were quite glad you hadn't let Sanji charm you into going along to listen to him and Zoro bicker.

"It's a prehistoric island. Navigating between the islands in the Grand Line is so difficult that I bet this island has stayed untouched for thousands of years. Since the age of the di–"

"I wanna ride one!"

And that was how you found yourself sitting on the head of a dinosaur, looking out across the beautiful island of Little Garden. This was something you never could've dreamed of experiencing in a million years, and you had no intention of missing out on a second of it.

Luffy stood in front of you, arms wide and hollering in joy.

"You really should get down from there!" Vivi called from below. "It may seem docile, but it's still a dinosaur!"

"Down? No, no way! I've got a view of the whole island up here. You've got to see!"

"I really don't! Please talk some sense into him!"

"Sorry, Vivi," you said, looking down at her. "I'm enjoying this too!"

Luffy dropped down to sit in front of you, and stretched an arm to pull a screaming Vivi up with you. She landed right behind him, sandwiched between you and him.

"It's okay. I got you."

You looped an arm around her waist, whispering to her, "Don't worry. He won't let anything happen to us."

It hadn't taken you that long to realize that you were safe with the Straw Hats, even one hundred feet in the air on the head of a dinosaur, and you hoped that Vivi would eventually figure it out too.

How you went from happily riding dinosaurs to hanging from the ceiling of a weird house, blood boiling with rage, you weren't totally certain.

The fire burning in your chest wasn't you at all, but you couldn't stop yourself from yanking at the solid white mass locking your arms in place and screaming, "FUCK!"

"You really should relax," Nami said softly, her head hanging to the side.

"Screw you!" you spat with another hard pull. Nothing.

You were going to tear those Baroque Works bastards to shreds when you got out.

But Zoro was going to be first at this rate.

"You're funny when you're mad," laughed the swordsman.

"You know what's going to be funny? Strangling you to death!"

Inside, you knew the bitterness on your tongue was all wrong. You didn't hate Zoro or Nami, or anyone on the Straw Hat crew. But at the moment, all you wanted to do was take one of Zoro's swords and gut him with it.

"You really think you could?" He laughed harder, and you screeched at him.

"Fucking ASSHOLE! Now I get why Sanji hates you so much!" You kicked your legs towards him uselessly, as if he weren't on the opppsite end of the room with two other people hanging between you.

Come to think of it, Sanji annoyed you too. His constant hovering, acting like you couldn't take care of yourself. You were doing just fine before you ended up in this hellhole of pirates and assassins. "Ugh, he's just as bad as you are! Why am I here in this stupid world with you morons?!"

"Don't let the cook hear that. It'll break his heart." Zoro giggled. "On second thought..."

"I don't know why you're so upset," Nami said, giving you a dull look.

"SHUT UP!"

Vivi finally blinked awake and took a moment to realize where she was.

Zoro kept laughing like an idiot, Nami thought about cute cat clouds, and you continued struggling uselessly against your bonds and insulting the Baroque Works agents that stood outside the door.

"Do you not realize what kind of danger we're in?"

Nami shrugged. "Shit happens."

"The only danger here is of me tearing all of you limb from limb if you don't shut up!" You growled.

Vivi's eyes went wide. "What is wrong with you three? Why are you acting like–?"

Finally, she noticed the little swirl of green paint on Nami's leg. One she'd seen before.

"Nami, let me see your leg."

"Oh, the cook's gonna be sorry he missed this."

"God! Shut up about Sanji! I wish you two would just kill each other already and save us all the trouble!"

No, you hated when it went past friendly bickering. The last thing you wanted was for them to hurt each other. But the sick feeling in your gut was outweighed by the fire in your veins.

"I mean the paint, Nami. You have to get it off."

"I'm good."

Vivi tried and tried to reach Nami, but she couldn't quite make it. Until she thought of pushing off of you to get some extra distance.

Of course, you didn't like that.

"Get off of me, bitch!"

The toe of her boot managed to swipe through the paint, instantly breaking Nami from her deadly calm.

But Vivi couldn't reach your opposite leg, and Zoro wouldn't let Nami anywhere hear him.

The two of them were effectively on their own.

For a minute there, you thought you might actually be done for.

You couldn't breathe, couldn't see. But finally, you heard commotion outside of the wax, and that was when you knew.

Someone was there to help.

To your shame, you were surprised when it wasn't Luffy or Sanji you saw when the wax fell away.

It was Usopp.

And in spite of the paint on your leg being gone, the sight of his swollen and bloodied face had some of that anger from earlier blooming in your chest.

"Thanks for saving us," Zoro said to Usopp where he laid at the base of the wax.

"Uh huh."

"Let's make this fight a bit more fair. I'll get him."

"We'll get her," Nami added.

A few days of training with Zoro didn't mean you were a master fighter or anything, but you had no intention of standing by and letting them handle everything.

You could do something, even if you weren't a pirate or a master swordsman or an assassin princess.

So you jumped down from the wax cake with Nami and Vivi, sights set on Miss Valentine.

She lifted up into the air, quickly coming back down right where Usopp laid.

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

If things weren't so serious, you would've made fun of her.

Even better, Nami used her staff to send Miss Valentine back before she could crush Usopp.

"Get away from my friend."

"Our friend," said Vivi.

"Oh, please, Miss Wednesday. You were never on my level."

Vivi brought out her peacock slashers, and you? Well, once again, all you had were your fists.

And they had to suffice as you all ganged up on Miss Wednesday.

As Zoro and Usopp took care of Mr. 5, the three of you attacked his partner. Punching, kicking, slashing.

Eventually, she broke Nami's staff and had her on the ground, standing over her. And you did the only thing you could think of.

You picked up a heavy hunk of wax and brought it down on Miss Wednesday's head.

But that also brought her wrath, which she channeled into hitting you square in the chest. Your vision flashed red, and you swore you heard a crunching noise inside as she sent you flying backwards.

You landed just a few feet from Usopp.

"Hits hard, doesn't she?"

"Oh, yeah," you groaned.

You managed to look back over at the fight, seeing Vivi's slashers around Miss Valentine's throat as Nami hit her hard in the face and knocked her out cold.

And you couldn't help smiling at that in spite of the pain.

The Going Merry was finally on course to Alabasta.

The smell of roasted meat and vegetables filled the galley as you sat there watching Sanji work his magic. He barely even looked as if he'd fought two Baroque Works assassins. He was smiling and at ease, as he normally was in the kitchen.

"I can't believe you're cooking dinosaur," you said, chin resting on your hand.

"Neither can I." Sanji had truly felt like a kid in a candy store when he carved up the beast that he had killed. "But there's a first time for everything."

You laughed. "This place is so weird."

He chuckled at that. As weird as the Grand Line was for him, it was surely worse for you.

Sanji grabbed a spoon and scooped up some of the sauce he'd made for the meat, carefully holding out it for you.

"The expert needs my opinion again?" You said, softly blowing on the steaming sauce.

Sanji didn't need your opinion necessarily. He could figure out what his dishes needed just fine. But when he started having you taste his dishes just to get you more involved, he realized that you actually had some real knowledge.

You'd explained that it came from waiting at a very nice restaurant, having to know every single dish like the back of your hand and the best wine to pair with each one to boot.

It was impressive, and it also made him quite happy to know that someone else on the ship could really understand the flavors in his cooking.

So sometimes, admittedly, he'd leave something out just to see if you would catch it.

Sanji held his hand underneath the spoon as you had a taste, humming softly while you thought. It was great, but–

"Needs an acid."

He smiled. "Got it in one."

"And maybe some oregano," you said, unable to hold back your laughter in spite of the dull ache in your chest from earlier.

Sanji took the spoon back and put it in the sink. "I would never disgrace the beast I killed with oregano." He said it with an air of disgust that always made you giggle.

"I thought Zoro said he killed it."

"He's full of shit. I broke its neck."

"Hm I don't know..." You tilted your head, rubbing your chin. "I suppose breaking something's neck would kill it instantly."

Sanji brightened up considerably. "See? You should've come with us and been the judge. Settled it once and for all."

"I doubt Zoro would've accepted that. Besides, riding a dinosaur with Luffy and Vivi was a lot more fun than watching you two argue."

Trying not to think about the worry that you and Vivi had done something so dangerous, he went to work on finishing his sauce. "Speakin' of, I heard you and mosshead had a little argument yourselves."

Your face dropped instantly and so did Sanji's stomach. "I...um, the red paint. It made me really angry. At everyone, but especially at Zoro. He just wouldn't stop laughing."

He'd only heard about Miss Goldenweek's paint secondhand from Usopp, and he later realized that it was why Zoro was laughing like 'boning knife' was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. The color you got was a mystery to him. Until now.

Suddenly, your hands became the most interesting thing in the room as they fidgeted in your lap. "I wanted to kill him," you said so quietly he almost didn't hear it.

He was silent for a moment. Then, "It wouldn't be the first time he's inspired homicidal thoughts. I've had it happen once or twice–"

"It's not funny, Sanji."

Alright, lightening the mood was not the way to go.

Sanji came around the counter and stood next to you, leaning against the surface and placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

"It wasn't you, love. It was the paint."

"I don't know. I have to wonder if...if it didn't just bring out some ugly thing that's already inside of me." You hesitated to look up at him, your eyes glistening. "I hated feeling that way. Saying and thinking those things..."

"You know what I think?" Sanji carefully took your hands in his own, giving you a warm smile. "The fact that you're so upset about what happened says a lot more about you than anythin' that paint made you do."

"Sanji..."

"There's nothing ugly about you, sweetheart." He brought one of your hands up and pressed a kiss to your knuckles. "And I'd never lie to a lady."

Despite the tears rolling down your cheeks, you cracked a smile and rolled your eyes. "You're really something else, you know that?"

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said, gently placing your hands back down and wiping the tears away from your face.

"Your sauce is gonna burn if you're not careful," you reminded him with a sniffle.

Sanji pushed away from the counter and rounded back to the sink. "I'm always careful."

You just chuckled.

There was still a twisting in your gut at the thought of your experience with Miss Goldenweek's paint, but it would be a lie to say that Sanji hadn't made you feel better.

Whiskey Peak seemed a little too good to be true.

Why would an island welcome pirates? Why would they give them all of their food and drink? Why would they open themselves up to the possibility of pirates doing what pirates do, pillaging the town in spite of its hospitality? It wasn't like they knew that the Straw Hats weren't the average pirates.

In spite of the explanations the mayor had given, it just didn't sit right in your gut. Years of experience had taught you to listen to it, especially in strange situations. And it was telling you to leave. Run.

But no one else seemed bothered once the partying started.

Luffy was eating everything he could get his hands on, Usopp charmed a group of locals with his stories, Nami was in the middle of a drinking contest with a nun, Zoro sat at a table all on his own, surrounded by several empty beer bottles, and Sanji, of course, had found himself behind the bar.

He leaned on the counter in front of you, ignoring everyone else who sat at the bar for just a moment.

"What would you like, love? Somethin' sweet? Or maybe somethin' spicy?" He winked.

As tempting as it was, you shook your head. "No, thank you. I'm alright."

Usually, you were happy to try any food or drink he made for you, so it threw him off momentarily. "Are you sure?"

You gave him a smile. "Yeah."

Sanji wasn't entirely convinced, but he let you be as he went to go take orders from other ladies at the bar. Or he tried to at least. Except that he found himself glancing over at you every so often, concern tickling at the back of his mind.

Meanwhile, you were watching as he made drink after drink with a showmanship that was very much in character for him, occasionally looking out at the rest of the saloon.

You jumped slightly in your seat as Sanji came to you again, the calls from the other ladies at the bar going unheard. You spoke before he could. "I promise I'm good. I'd just like to keep my wits about me."

Oh, was that what it was? "I can make you something non-alcoholic," he offered.

"I just don't trust it," you muttered.

You noticed his smile drop just a fraction. "You know I'd never serve you anythin' that would hurt you, right?"

"It's not you I'm worried about." You leaned in closer to him, side-eyeing the others at the bar as you whispered. "Doesn't this place seem weird to you? People don't usually welcome pirates with open arms." Not that pirates were really still a thing where you came from, but you'd seen enough pirate media to know that this was not how regular people reacted to them.

"Things are different on the Grand Line," he repeated his words from earlier with a shrug. "I don't think there's anythin' to worry about here. You should take the opportunity to enjoy yourself before we head to the next island. That's what the rest of us are doin'."

A pretty redhead called for Sanji again, and that was when it hit you.

Everyone was way too distracted. They had just what they wanted. Women, meat, money, an audience. If you were right and not just being paranoid, they probably wouldn't figure it out until it was too late.

Except for the one person who always kept watch–unless he was taking a nap, of course.

"Go tend to the ladies, Sanji. I'll talk to you later."

Sanji called out for you, you were already out of your seat.

Zoro still sat all on his own, silently enjoying another beer. You'd noticed a few people coming up to him at one point, but they'd gotten the message that he had no interest in conversation. You had to hope that he was more open to you.

And that he was clear headed enough to see the same red flags you were seeing.

Zoro didn't react as you slid into the booth with him.

"Hi," you said.

Out of the crew, Zoro was the one you'd spent the least real time with. Sure, there were times where everyone was together, but it was never just the two of you. So you did feel just a little awkward at that moment.

"Finally get bored of the cook? I don't blame you," he said with a smirk, which grew when he noticed that said cook was looking right over at the two of you in surprise.

"Not really. I just...um." You lowered your voice. "Do you also have a bad feeling about this place?"

"Yeah," was all he said before taking another swig of his beer.

Your shoulders relaxed and you let out a breath. It was nice to have some confirmation. "So what are we gonna do?"

"We let the others have their fun. And if something goes down, I'll take care of it."

"And...that's it?"

Zoro looked over at you with a little smile. "Pretty much, yeah."

You scooted a bit closer. "I'm gonna stick with you until we leave. If you don't mind."

"Sure." He wouldn't have really cared anyway, but he just knew that the cook's blood was boiling at the fact that you had left him to go sit with his least favorite person on the ship. And that gave Zoro quite a bit of satisfaction. "Want one?" he said, popping the top off of a beer with his thumb and offering it to you.

"I'm a little worried about eating or drinking anything from this place. They could've done something to it. I know they're drinking it too, but they could have an immunity built up or something." Maybe it sounded ridiculous, but drugs or poison in the food and drink would be an easy way to take care of all of you, if that was their plan.

"The beer's fine." He nodded to all of the bottles he'd emptied. "I'm still alive."

The beers were sealed. It would make sense for them to be safe. "Hm...okay." You took the beer from him and had a sip of it.

The sound of glass breaking startled you, and you looked over at the bar to see Sanji, his face pink with embarassment as he began to clean up the mess he'd just made.

Zoro scoffed. "Some bartender he is. Can't even manage not to break the damn bottles."

"Flair bartending is harder than it looks, you know."

He raised an eyebrow. "What could be so hard about slinging bottles of booze around like an idiot?"

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be that impressive to a guy who uses three swords at once." You leaned back in your seat and got comfortable. "Speaking of the three sword thing, how do you do that? Your teeth must be insanely strong..."

It didn't take too much longer for your gut to be proven right.

Zoro had stumbled out of one of the back doors to take care of some business, leaving you all alone in the main room of the saloon.

A wave of panic hit when you noticed a group of men coming towards you, not looking nearly as friendly as they had with Usopp just a while ago.

"The swordsman left you all alone, huh?"

"Don't worry. We'll make it quick."

You looked around frantically for anything within arm's reach to use against them.

Of course they waited for Zoro to leave.

Of course they were going for you first.

You were the easiest to get out of the way.

The weakest.

But you weren't going to just lie down and die.

You balled up your fists, and the men's laughter at the action was quickly cut short by two of their number being tossed through the doors like ragdolls.

And in walked Zoro, cool and controlled, hands resting on the hilts of his swords. "Gonna need more than two to take me down."

He dispatched two more before you could even blink, and a clapping sounded from the upper level.

The crown-wearing jerk from before, Mr. 9. "Quite an entrance. Unfortunately, what you failed to understand is–"

"You're all Baroque Works. And this whole town is a ruse to get pirates drunk and kill them?"

Mr. 9 laughed. "We also steal their loot."

"For your costume budget?"

"For Baroque Works!"

The assassins cheered, and Mr. 9 addressed them all directly. "The man before you felled our dearly departed Mr. 7. A stroke of dumb luck, no doubt. But I have it on good authority that whoever kills Roronoa Zoro will be fast tracked to frontier agent!"

And that was when the weapons came out.

"Oh man," you said, backing away from the guys who had finally turned their attention away from you.

"There are a hundred of us, and only one of you. I like our odds."

Zoro showed no sign of concern as he pulled out his bandana and tied it on. He locked eyes with you. "I'll take care of this. Just stay out of the way."

You gave him a thumbs up. "Got it."

Getting out of the saloon probably would've been the best thing to do, but you didn't know exactly where anyone else on the crew was. And if you went outside, you could end up running into more agents. If that happened and you had no help, you would be absolutely screwed.

So you pressed yourself back against the nearest wall and just watched. It wasn't like they would bother you anyway, seeing as Zoro was the way to secure a promotion.

"This will be a great workout for my new swords."

The moment Mr. 9 said the word, every agent in the bar went right for Zoro.

The swordsman's movements were lightning fast as he sliced at the agents with ease, taking down at least five before you even realized what happened. Your eyes could barely keep up with him.

This was different than the fight in Loguetown. It seemed he was really letting loose against these guys, as opposed to Buggy and Alvida's crew.

Even though he was literally killing people in front of you, your jaw hung open watching the grace and skill that he did it with.

"Holy shit."

Being blinded by a fake nun, or even facing a huge guy with a mace several times the size of your head, didn't stop him. Zoro fought hard, and you stayed on the edge of things. Until...

"The idiots are upstairs. Go with them back to the Merry," he called to you before disappearing through the back.

Right. You should probably do something besides stand there.

Dodging all of the bodies left in Zoro's wake, you rushed up the steps to the second level. "Usopp?! Sanji?!"

"We're in here!" You heard them call from a few doors away.

When you got there, you found Usopp sitting tied up as Sanji used a dagger to saw at the rope on his own wrists. He paused for a moment, looking up at you with the relief of seeing you alive. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, Zoro was looking out for me." You scanned the room and found another knife lying next to one of the assassins. Grabbing it, you used it to start cutting Usopp free. "He's kicking so much ass right now. I've never seen anything like it in real life."

As happy as Sanji was that you were okay, he also found himself a little irritated that mosshead was the one protecting you while he and Usopp were tied up and helpless. But it was the guilt that caused him to speak. "You were right about this place. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"It's fine, Sanji."

"It's really n–"

Usopp's wrists were finally freed, and he rubbed at them. "Thanks. But for the record, I also knew this town was weird. I had a whole plan and everything."

"Did that plan involve getting tied up and stabbed?" you asked with a raised brow.

"Actually, yes it did. Let me walk you through it–"

Because of the chaos of escaping Whiskey Peak and finally heading for the next island, you didn't get a chance to talk with Zoro again until the morning.

He stood on the deck, looking out from the side of the ship as he had his post-morning nap beer.

You stepped up next to him and rested your arms on the railing. "You doing okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You fought 100 assassins last night. Or did you forget that already?"

"I'm fine. Booze cures everything," he said, taking a swig from his bottle.

"Hm, sure." You rested your chin on your hands. "That fight was amazing, by the way. Coolest thing I've ever seen."

Zoro wanted to take pride in it, but there was still that voice in his head that sounded very much like Dracule Mihawk, telling him that it had been less than nothing. That you didn't know enough about the world to realize that he had a long way to go on his journey. So he just gave an uninterested grunt.

"So, I was wanting to ask you something else."

Zoro finally turned his head towards you, draining the last of his drink. "What's that?"

"Can I train with you? It doesn't have to be swords since that's kind of your thing. I just want to get stronger. I have no clue how long I'll be here, so I want to have a better chance at defending myself..."

You were never going to get anywhere close to his level, or even to the others, but in spite of Nami's assurance that you weren't dead weight, the last thing you wanted was to be a liability like you were in Whiskey Peak. And you were willing to put in the work to change that.

Zoro's face was unreadable as he pushed himself from the railing and began to walk away.

"Meet me back here in five minutes. Be ready to train."

After practically running to the girl's room to change into the closest thing you had to gym clothes, you made it back to the deck in record time.

Zoro was already there setting up some weights. Weights which you noticed were quite large, almost comically so.

"Um..." You started stretching your arms and shoulders as you spoke. "I think those are gonna be too heavy for me."

"I use those to warm up. They should work," he said, nodding towards some smaller dumbbells and plates. "You ever lifted weights before?"

"Never."

Zoro had his work cut out for him, but if you were committed, so was he.

You were almost questioning things a while later when you found yourself lying on a bench, pressing a weight that had your arms shaking and chest aching.

Zoro stood above you, and if you weren't so focused on the bar that could easily crush your throat, you might have been distracted by the view.

"One more," he said.

"O-okay."

Despite the protests of your muscles, you dug deep inside and found the will to push the bar up again and slowly lower it back down.

Before you could even worry about it, Zoro already had a hold of the bar, casually taking it in one hand and allowing you to let go. He placed it down on the deck and you sat up, breathing heavier, sweat trickling down your temple.

"I thought you'd be weaker." He'd only expected you to do one or two reps your first time, but he'd been pleasantly surprised.

"I wait tables," you said, wiping your heated face. "Carrying around heavy trays full of food and drinks kinda helps with strength."

He nudged you to get up from the bench, then started loading more weight onto the bar for himself.

"Rest for a minute. Then we keep going."

"Sanji, could I trouble you for something cold to drink?"

The cook stopped the lunch prep that he was doing the moment he heard your request. "It's no trouble at all, love."

"Thank you."

But the moment he saw the state of you as you walked further into the galley, he paused. Because your skin was glistening with a sheen of sweat that had him thinking some not so gentlemanly thoughts. He cleared his throat, moving to grab a few lemons. "Ah, how about some freshly-squeezed lemonade?"

"That sounds amazing," you said, collapsing on one of the stools. You could barely feel your legs from all the lifts Zoro had you doing, so it was nice to finally sit. "Zoro really wore me out."

Sanji fumbled a lemon and it hit the counter with a thump, making him recall how he'd shattered an entire bottle of booze the night before when he saw you accept a drink from the swordsman. "He what?"

Your cheeks warmed, realizing how that might have sounded. "I asked him if he'd train me. We started this morning."

"He wasn't too hard on you was he?" Sanji asked seriously. "If I need to have words with him, I will."

"Believe me, I know." Surprisingly, they hadn't been in a argument yet that day. You weren't about to be the reason it happened. "It was fine, really. I feel great. Sore, but great."

"You know, if you wanted to train, you could've asked me," he said as he got to juicing the lemons. "I'd be happy to show you a few moves."

"You'd take it too easy on me."

"No, I wouldn't."

You couldn't help laughing. "The first thing you asked when I mentioned training with Zoro was if he was too hard on me."

"That's different."

"Not really." You leaned into the counter, smiling up at him. "I wouldn't mind learning some cool kicks, though."

Sanji smiled back, knowing Zoro could never help with that. "I suppose someone has to make sure you can fight with style. That's not exactly mosshead's strong suit."

"I don't know. He was pretty stylish when he beat 100 assassins all by himself."

"I could've done that, too. Easily," Sanji claimed, still bothered about how the previous night had gone. He couldn't believe Zoro got to do all the fighting while he was tied up.

"You and Usopp couldn't even take two of them," you teased. You were well aware that they had been distracted, and that Sanji refused to fight women anyway.

"I wasn't really thinkin' clearly last night."

"You were, just not with your brain." You rested your face in your palm. "By the way, you really shouldn't let a woman tie you up unless you know her."

Sanji smirked. "That an offer?"

"In your dreams."

Monkey D. Luffy was unlike anyone you'd ever met.

You'd never encountered someone with so much joy. With such a sense of adventure and freedom. His energy made it effortless for him to get you to loosen up and let out your inner playfulness.

Not having to worry about your shit job, or your rent, or having to choose between groceries and the light bill, meant you could relax. Sure, there were even bigger dangers now that you were traveling with a pirate crew, but somehow that felt...easier. Like, in spite of everything, you were safer and more secure than you'd ever been before.

So, whenever Luffy got bored with whatever else he was doing and asked you to do something with him, and often Usopp, you obliged.

That day, the two of you had started with a very chaotic game of two person charades, which eventually devolved into doing impressions of the rest of the crew.

"Okay, check this out!" said Luffy. His grinning face quickly turned serious, left arm hanging at his side, and the other bent as if resting on something attached to his belt. His voice lowered to match his expression. "My name is Roronoa Zoro, and I'm going to become the world's greatest swordsman."

You let out a little giggle. "That's pretty good. But wait 'til you see mine!"

Sitting down on the deck, you rested your back against the side of the ship and crossed your arms over your chest. You put on a neutral expression and closed your eyes.

You stayed like that for a moment, then opened them again as if you'd just woken up.

"Where's the booze?" you said in a deep monotone.

Luffy burst out laughing and slapped his knee. "That's exactly what he sounds like!"

You couldn't help laughing with him as you got to your feet. "Let's do Usopp next."

But the fun was interrupted when Nami announced that the Merry should be coming up on its destination any minute now.

You and Luffy joined her and Usopp where they leaned up against the railing, Sanji and Zoro down on the lower deck.

It didn't take long to spot the mountain in the distance. "Guys look!" Luffy said.

Nami smiled. "We made it."

"Is that-?" Usopp began.

"Reverse Mountain. The entrance to the Grand Line."

"Our journey gets a lot harder from here," said Sanji

Zoro looked over at him. "Harder than warlords?"

"Killer sharks?" Nami added.

"Whoever that lady with the mace was?" Usopp said, making you smile.

"Yeah. But there's nothing we can't take on together! Grand Line, here we come!" Luffy cheered.

You'd been just as skeptical as Zoro was about the possibility of sailing up a mountain.

But somehow, against all the laws of nature, the Going Merry made it up Reverse Mountain in one piece.

Considering how fantastical this place was, should you really have been surprised?

No, because it somehow got stranger.

The ship made it up the mountain, and you had succeeded in your trial by fire, using what Usopp taught you to help the crew. Everything seemed just fine.

Until a giant whale ended up in the ship's path as it went down the other side of the mountain.

And swallowed it–and everyone but Luffy–whole.

"Anyone else getting Pinnochio vibes?" You asked as you carefully walked between Usopp and Sanji, holding up a lantern to light your way.

Sanji frowned. "What's that?"

Right.

"Oh, it's a story where I'm from." You stepped over what you were pretty sure was a human femur, but you quickly ignored that. "This old guy Geppetto makes a wooden puppet and wishes for him to be a real boy. But the wish just brings him to life as is, so Pinocchio has to go on this journey to prove that he's brave and selfless so he can become human. At one point, Geppetto goes to help him, but his boat gets eaten by a whale. Pinnochio gets eaten by the whale too, and he saves Geppetto and turns into a real boy in the end."

"How did they get out of the whale?" Usopp asked. He'd have to get the whole story from you later, since a journey to become brave was pretty relatable for him.

"They made it sneeze. But there's no way that would actually work, right? Do whales even sneeze?"

"We can mention it to Nami when we get back to the Merry. Can't be any worse than whatever that mossheaded idiot comes up with," Sanji said. "So, do the stories from your world get any weirder than a walkin', talkin' puppet?"

"Oh, yeah." You looked back at him and smirked, giving a conspiratorial wink. "I'll have to tell you guys all about the one with the aliens that lay their eggs in your mouth and the babies violently burst out of your chest."

You'd wondered at one point why you couldn't have ended up in a futuristic space-traveling universe. But you quickly realized that you could've easily been stuck in something more like Alien than Star Trek. And that sounded much less pleasant than a life on the ocean.

Usopp agreed.

He stopped suddenly, swearing he felt a pain in his chest. "I do not wanna hear that one! Sanji's already got me thinking about ghosts."

Sanji smiled as he put a gentle hand on your back and led you to walk past Usopp with him. If you wanted to mess with Usopp, he was more than happy help. He would've done it anyway. "Did you know ghosts that haunt shipwrecks are the most vengeful?"

"Yeah, right...Where'd you hear that? Was it in a book? Who wrote the book? Was it well researched?"

You pressed your lips together, barely hiding a laugh as Sanji returned your wink.

"What is a rowle anyway?" He asked.

Usopp looked to you with a smile. "Do you remember this one?"

You took a second to think back, and snapped your fingers when it hit you. "It connects the whipstaff to the...tiller, right? We need it to be able to move the rudder."

"That's Professor Usopp's star student." Usopp raised his hand for a high five, which you gave him with a proud grin.

Sanji remembered you talking about some sailing lessons with Usopp. And clearly they were paying off based on your ability to help with the trip up Reverse Mountain. "We'll have to get you started on some cookin' lessons next," he said with a smirk.

You quirked an eyebrow at him. "We both know you'd do more sweet talking than teaching."

"Can you blame me, love?"

Usopp shook his head. "Let's just find a rowle and get back to the Merry. You guys can flirt later."

One jump scare, a fight with a tackily dressed assassin, and a close call for Usopp later, the whale–Laboon–spit the Merry out and set you free.

And after a lunch with Crocus, the journey continued, albeit with a few extra passengers tied up in the galley.

You laid in your hammock, looking up at the ceiling and thinking as Nami readied for bed, softly humming a tune you didn't recognize.

Laboon wasn't anything like the whale in Pinnochio.

He wasn't bad, he wasn't an enemy. He was just hurting. And the more you dwelled on it, the more it made your chest ache. Tears pricked at your eyes, and you tried to blink them away.

"If you keep staring like that, you'll put a hole in the ceiling." You turned your head towards Nami, finding her sitting on the bed, dressed in a tank top and sleep shorts. Her face softened a bit when she noticed the red rimming your eyes. "You okay?"

"I'm just thinking about Laboon. The whole thing is so sad."

"Yeah," she said, laying down on her side and facing you. "But Luffy did what he does best. He helped him."

"I know, but his friends still left him and never came back. He's waited for 50 years. I...I can't imagine how lonely that's been." You'd been lonely your whole life, but to even think about living through what he had...

"They didn't come back for him, but we will," Nami said without a hint of uncertainty.

"How do you know? I mean, you guys can kick ass, but you've only been doing this for a month or so. And it sounds like even experienced pirates haven't been able to make it to the end like Gold Roger did...."

You had a pretty good feeling that they would make it through the other end of the Grand Line. After all, they were the protagonists of an epic adventure, and what epic story ended without the hero achieving their goal? But Nami didn't have the context that you had, yet she was still so confident.

"This crew may be a little green, but of all the pirates out there searching for the One Piece, I know who I'm betting on. You'll see it one day, too." A little smile formed on her face as she thought about Luffy, and about everything that had gone down since they met at Shell's Town.

"Luffy will keep his promise to Laboon. And his promise to you..."

"Good morning, Sanji," you greeted as you entered the galley just before the break of dawn, softly smiling and rubbing sleep from your eyes.

But Sanji was wide awake as he momentarily stopped his prep and turned to you, a grin on his lips and his blue eyes sparkling. "Good mornin', love."

As you took a seat at the counter, he grabbed the carafe and poured fresh coffee into an already prepared mug. And he gave it a little stir with a spoon before sliding it in front of you.

You picked up the warm mug and took a breath of the scent before giving it a careful sip.

Still perfect.

You'd been honest with Sanji about not being a morning person before, but something had changed. You didn't know whether it was your body clock being out of whack with this new world, or if it was knowing you had pleasant company to look forward to. Either way, you found yourself in the galley early each morning, drinking coffee with Sanji and watching him make breakfast as you chatted about different things.

This day was no different.

"Thank you," you said happily, placing the mug down on the table, yet keeping it wrapped in your hands.

"My pleasure," he went back to his work as he continued, "but I should be thankin' you. Ever since you came along, I've had the privilege of starting every mornin' with that gorgeous smile of yours."

There wasn't even an opportunity for you to say anything in return before Miss Wednesday scoffed from over in the corner where Mr. 9 slept next to her. "I'd much rather be thrown overboard than be forced to listen to this."

"That's too bad. I think you're stuck with us for a while," you said, punctuating it with another sip. You turned your attention back to Sanji. "So, what's for breakfast?"

"I can make you whatever you'd like."

"Hm...pancakes?"

Sanji smiled, already thinking of how well those would pair with the berries he'd bought back in Loguetown. "Pancakes for our lady from the stars, comin' right up."

"From the stars?" Miss Wednesday asked.

You cleared your throat, thinking it probably wasn't great for the scary assassin lady to know that you weren't from around there. Instead, you pivoted. "Hey, I've actually been meaning to say thank you for helping us save Usopp. I've grown fond of him already, so I appreciate it."

Miss Wednesday looked away from you, keeping a straight face. "I thought that all of you staying alive would help our chances of escaping that disgusting whale. That's all it was."

"Right." Your eyes lingered on her for a moment before you faced Sanji again.

And he was smirking.

"So, anyone else you've grown fond of?"

You rubbed your chin, pretending to think. "...Nami. And Luffy."

"You wound me," he said, placing a hand over his heart.