Next morning Ana woke up, Zoro was not in the bed. Through the window she could see that the sun is high up on the sky. She overslept again. The thought of the last night stole a smile from her. She wondered where Zoro went. With a tiny flame of hope she went to a kitchen. But he wasn't there. His clothes were also gone. She looked for his shoes too, but they were not in front of the door. She had to accept that he went somewhere.

'It's not going to be hard finding a green haired guy,' she thought but suddenly she realized that she didn't notice him before. Was it really going to be easy finding him? She took a box of cereal and sat down. She was thinking about what happened last night. The sex itself was not the problem, it was her behavior. Did he just use her? No, somehow she knew he was not that kind of a person. But she slept with a guy she had just met. That was the problem. She was not that kind of a girl. Always polite and good to everyone, never too interested in guys, she gave in to lust. She met the object of her fantasies and she had to take a chance or regret it afterwards. But why does she feel this way now? What if Zoro thinks she used him?

"Ah my head hurts!"

"Oh honey, are you ok? Go to the doctor if you are not feeling well," Ana's mother said from the door of the kitchen. She had just come home with hands full with bags. She obviously visited grocery store.

"It's nothing, let me help you with that," Ana said.

Her mother's name was Akemi. Though she was already forty-four years old she had a slim and sexy figure. She didn't use her looks much. She fell in love with one man, Ana's father, and after he passed away she decided to devote herself to Ana. Small beads of perspiration shone on her. She was clearly tired, but she immediately took the apron and started making lunch.

"I gotta go or I'll be late for work again," Ana said.

"Well you should be more responsible," Akemi answered.

"Yeah, I know," Ana said and took her bag. She went out said her goodbyes.

It was very warm summer. Sun looked like a blazing circle in perfect, undisturbed blue sky. Ana didn't like working, especially not during summer but she had to. College was quite expensive, and she couldn't drop it now. She was graduating this year after all. But working at a store with minimum wage was something that often made her think about dropping it. Still working in a room with air conditioning was better than sitting home in front of a fan whole day.

"Hey Kasumi, am I late?" Ana asked a girl standing behind the cash register.

"No, you are just in time," she answered. Kasumi was cute, petite girl with dark black hair and set of eyes of exactly the same color.

"Ana, you are here! I can't believe it," boss appeared from behind of the shelf.

"Well, I can't be late every time," Ana answered.

It has been a busy day. People were coming in and out in waves. Every now and then people would start arguing over places. Kids making noise in front of the store, cars, chatter, birds, all those sounds collided and truly made a chaos in Ana's head. It was so warm that Ana thought her blood was boiling. Every now and then she would take a look at a clock. Just few more hours left. She was surprised to see that the store is empty. It must be because of the heat. No one is crazy enough to come out during this time of the day. She turned around to take a sip of water from the bottle when a bell rang. Ana turn around just in time to see a blonde, tall, slim guy entering the store. He had a pretty face, but he also had funny eyebrows that formed spirals. Despite that he looked good.

"My, my, she is prettier than you said she was," Ana heard a whisper.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Just give me a pack of cigarettes," he answered.

Ana went underneath the stand to get the cigarettes.

"Thank you," said the blond man while handing her the exact amount of money those were costing. Ana watched him nonchalantly coming out of the store. She opened a cash register and to her surprise there was a single petal of rose in it

'Did he just open the cash register?' Ana was asking herself. But all the money was there, and what are the chances that that guy left it there? She decided not to think about it and finish her shift.

It's strange how sometimes after a very, very hot day a cold evening comes. That was the case today. It suddenly got cloudy and dark. Some kind of strange wind started blowing. It wasn't as cold as some winds can be, but for some reason it made Ana freeze to the core. She felt like she just got injection at a doctor's office. Her legs were numb and she could barely walk. Cursing the weather and herself for not taking a jacket with her she was walking down the narrow street. Now and then the moonlight would break through the clouds. It was a full moon, silver and mysterious. Suddenly a cold breeze made Ana shiver. She was stopped in her tracks by this gust that hit her like a car. She felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and something warm covering her. It was the blonde guy. He was covering her with his own coat.

"The storm is coming," the blond guy said.

"Um, who are you?" Ana asked.

She was naturally easy scarred and this was the same guy from before. Was he stalking her?

"My name is Sanji," he answered, "I tried staying away from you, but I just couldn't."

Ana knew what these words mean, or at least she thought so. She was slightly turning red when Sanji asked her to accompany him to the coffee shop. It was almost like she forgot that he was a stranger. She followed him. Through his black suit she could see the outline of his muscles. He was rushing her, but Ana couldn't go any faster. Sanji was taller than her, plus he had very long legs which made his steps huge. Finally they entered the shop and sat down. Few minutes later Ana was enjoying the strong, warm and rich in taste coffee. Sanji just ordered a piece of pie and sat there watching Ana.

"So, what do I owe this pleasure to?" Ana asked.

"Well I just entered your store and couldn't help but noticing your beauty," he answered.

Again, Ana turned red in the face which made Sanji giggle.

"You should relax a little," he said.

"I am not used to strangers picking me up like this and giving me compliments," Ana answered.

"We are no longer strangers I think," Sanji said.

"Well, I still know nothing about you," Ana said.

"Hmm, not much I can tell you," he answered, "I never met my parents, I was raised by a chef, who taught me to cook. Right now I am working as one. I like sailing, and I can be short tempered sometimes."

"And how old are you?" Ana asked again.

"My age is not important at the moment, tho I might tell you one day," he answered with devilish smile on his face.

"Well I guess I should tell you something about myself then…" Ana said like she was unsure if she should.

"I am not going to force you," Sanji answered.

"Well I am 22 years old, I live with my mother, my dad passed away 10 years ago, I am student at a local college, as you know I work at a store for a minimal wage, " Ana said.

"I would like to hear more," Sanji said.

"I gave you as much as you gave me, so until I hear more from you I won't tell you more about myself," Ana answered to Sanji's request.

"Fair enough, well I am honest, emotional, for some reason girls say I am player, yeah I shouldn't have told you that," he added after he saw Ana's worried face.

"It's ok, well I like anime, manga, movies, books, I love long walks and romantic places," Ana said.

"Phew, I think I might be falling in love," Sanji said.

"And you wonder why girls call you a player?" Ana laughed and Sanji joined in. "I should get going, my mom is going to freak out."

"Let me escort you to your home," Sanji said and stood up opening the door for Ana.

They walked for 15 minutes. They engaged in such cheerful and fun chatter that they almost passed by Ana's house without even noticing it. They laughed about it when Ana said that she really has to go.

"You could at least give me my coat back," Sanji said.

"Oh sorry, I forgot," Ana said as she gave him back the black coat with furry collar. Again they laughed until Ana decided that she really should go into the house.

Sanji stood in front of her house looking at her bedroom window when lights in it turned on. He was watching Ana's silhouette changing into different clothes. Inside the house Ana felt someone was watching her. She decided to look out of the window but the street was empty, deserted and lonely.


A dark figure was entering the remote part of the docks. No expensive ships were present only boats and some fishing ships, old and rusted. The smell of rotten wood intoxicated Sanji's nose. But as the further he was going, more visible the silhouette of the magnificent ship was getting. It had two huge masts, lawn on the deck and a swing. It was truly the sight beyond this world.

"You fool we had to cook for ourselves," a shout came out from the dark.

"Get off of me," Sanji said when a young man with black hair in a sleeveless red vest, short trousers and in sandals only, jumped on him.

"Luffy, let him go please," another voice came from the dark.

"Oh, ok, you are lucky Zoro appeared." Luffy said.

"So did you do it?" Zoro asked while showing Luffy to leave them alone.

"I did, tho I still don't understand why you wanted me to do it," Sanji answered.

"That is not important, so what is she like?" Zoro asked.

Sanji told him everything about his meeting with Ana. Essentially he knew why Zoro asked him to do it. He was a complete opposite of Sanji. Never able to express his emotions, to tell what he really thinks. Yesterday when Zoro told him about what happened with that girl he couldn't believe it. Who would say that Zoro will break down and do something like that and even show emotion. But it didn't last long anyway. Next morning he just escaped.

"Ah I can't believe I did this for you, you are such a coward," Sanji said.

He was expecting Zoro to react, he loved taunting him and getting in fights with him. It was rough friendship. But Zoro didn't do anything. Again he went into his own world. Sanji wasn't sure if he was happy, surprised or something third by what he just heard.

"Come on, I was hitting on a girl I don't even like for you. You owe me a reaction to this," Sanji kept taunting Zoro.

"Thank you, and to show my gratitude I won't kick your ass for calling me coward," Zoro answered.

"Whaaaa? " Sanji couldn't believe what he just heard, but he decided not to keep pushing Zoro. He could also swear that he saw him smile. Zoro went down to sleeping quarters leaving Sanji staring at a place where Ana was.

Sanji felt strange pain in his chest. Was the origin of that pain the lie he just told?

To be continued.