Usopp blinked slowly as he stared over his bowl of soup. He'd been on the same bowl for the past hour and had managed to protect it from Luffy, only to find the whole crew staring at him unashamedly.

"Uh...Do I have something on my face...?" Raising one hand unsurely and running it over his face before quickly looking over his shoulder. Finding nothing behind him he returned his gaze frontward, only to find his crewmates looking away all of a sudden.

This caused the marksman to frown in suspicion, but he was distracted from this as his stomach grumbled once again. It seemed to have settled down enough by now to actually allow him to eat, so he took a few tentative sips.

He pulled back sharply, a look of complete disgust at the taste. His deep brown eyes scanned the table quickly before lighting up. He reached forward and retrieved some barbeque sauce that happened to have been left on the table, grinning to himself as he squirted half the contents into the soup.

He took another curious sip, before letting out a satisfied sigh as he quickly finished off the bowl.

"Mmm, now that was good soup!" Leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms over his head before leaping to his feet, a bright smile on his face as he exited the galley. For the second time that day, he completely missed the shocked expressions of the remaining crew.


Usopp frowned as he passed the stairs, he could hear whisperings. He doubled back, looking around cautiously before noticing the rest of the crew, huddled together behind a few barrels. This confused him, so he crept up a few stairs, peering over the banister to better hear what was being said.

"...so that might have something to do with it." The hushed voice of Nami explained unsurely.

"But why is he acting weird?" Nami's answer was obviously lost on Luffy, as the poor captain was scratching his head and looking completely stumped.

Nami sighed patiently, before leaning forward to explain it in simpler terms to the rubber man, but Usopp had heard enough. He stepped away from his birds eye view of the proceedings, his mind whirling with this new discovery; the crew were talking about him behind his back! Well he knew he'd never been the most popular or attractive of people, but this was a bit much. Being backstabbed and betrayed like this by your own crew! It suddenly became too much for him, and with a strangled cry he sank down to the steps, burying his head in his hands as his body was racked with sobs.


"But why is he acting weird?" Nami fought back a groan as she leant forward.

"Because, Luffy, he obviously..." She was interrupted suddenly by an odd squawk. Frowning in confusion she looked to Zolo, as he'd been on watch last.

"Are we near land already?" At the blank look she received in response she was unable to hold back the groan, was she the only one with a brain on this ship! "Seagulls," She started slowly, not wanting to confuse the clearly oblivious first mate. "always stick close to the shore."

Seaweed green orbs stared vacantly into her own brown gaze, the swordsman's eyebrows knitted together as he tried to figure out the relevance seagulls had to that strange sound.

Luffy had grown tired of waiting sometime during this exchange and had hurried off to find the source of the strange sound.


"Hey Usopp!" Usopp raised his head slowly, his tear filled eyes staring at the boy in front of him, hurt and betrayal obvious in his eyes. Too bad the boy in front of him was Luffy.

"Did you hear that funny sound?" He asked cheerfully. The standard 'Luffy grin' pasted to his face as he waiting eagerly for Usopp's answer, Usopp was always so much fun!

Usopp looked confused at this, before shaking it off an instant later, he had bigger things to worry about right then. He leapt to his feet, storming down the stairs and rounding on the remaining three (human) crew members.


"And your point is...?" Zolo still wasn't getting it, and with a groan Nami leant back against the wall. Zolo was just relieved to have Nami quit her rambling, and allowed himself a satisfied smirk.

"Never fear Nami-swan, I'll make you something to compensate for the strain caused by this ingrate!" Sanji sang out in what he was sure was an irresistible tone, before rising gracefully to his feet and hurrying off to the galley.


Sanji entered the galley, grumbling harshly at himself. He was always doing this, and for what? He didn't even like that silly girl. He leant against a counter, sighing sadly to himself. Blond tresses falling into his eyes as he stared morosely at the sink. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Chanting this mantra to himself before straightening up and turning to the cupboard. He'd already promised Nami a snack, and regardless of the fact she didn't want it, she'd be suspicious if it didn't arrive promptly.
Zolo let out a strange sigh, shaking his head and clucking his tongue over Sanji's desperate behavior. The guy bought shame to men everywhere in Zolo's opinion, however his eyes remained locked on Sanji until the blond had disappeared through the galley doors.

Nami had noticed this and grinned somewhat evilly, she could have some fun with this little obsession, and if she played this right, there might even be some gold in it! Hey, who was she kidding, of course there'd be some gold in it. She leant forward to taunt Zolo when a shadow was suddenly cast over them.

Zolo was pulled from his musings of a certain blond when he heard determined stomping coming from behind him. He instantly tensed up, they couldn't have been attacked or boarded during this ever so short period of inattention could they? He really had to get this fixation under control, after all, you can't be the best swordsman ever if you allow people to creep up behind you! With that thought in mind, he grabbed for his two most convenient swords, holding one in each hand as he spun around to face the shadow that had been cast over them sometime during his spin.

Only to fall to the floor a moment later.


Emma Iveli: Thanks! I'm really glad/surprised that people love this story so much, as I'm still kinda new to fanfic writing, hehe.

Bermuda: Yuuuum, cookie! Grins and glomps/attacks cookie.

AlibisDragon: Fortuantely inspiration has struck me recently, so I have a few good ideas for this thing, as ya can probably tell from this chapter.

Zewy: Adorable hmm? ;) I haven't really seen many One Piece mpregs, and I thought Usopp would be the perfect person to change this. :D

Do y'all think I should make this Zolo/Sanji? Like, just kinda in the background, not wantin' to steal Usopp's limelight! Lol.

Also, thank you to everybody who's ever reviewed any of my stories, you guys are so sweet! And I'm sorry for takin' to long to update. I was like, fully blank for ages! Rolls eyes.

Molly