For much of the day, the Thousand Sunny seemed much more quiet than usual. Everyone tried to go about their business, but everything they tried was for naught, as their thoughts went straight back to lunchtime.

Nami, especially, had been feeling bad. Perhaps it wasn't so much of feeling bad, as it was a feeling of guilt.

If she had not decided to blab around what she had thought she had heard that morning, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided in the first place.

But how was she to know? She couldn't exactly see what they were doing, but it sure had sounded clear enough.

Sitting at the table on Deck, she reflected on what she had heard, and why she had though the way she did...

--

"I-I don't know if I can do this..."

Usopp's meek voice had been what caught Nami's attention. In the mornings, she was usually one of the first to awaken, and come into the Galley for her coffee.

But Usopp, on the other hand, always seemed to sleep in, at least until either Luffy woke them up or the ship was attacked.

Today, neither had happened. Curiosity got the best of her as she kneeled down, pressing her ear to the door in an attempt to hear what was going on. If she tried to glance in through the porthole window, she was sure to be caught.

"Hold still, Usopp!" Sanji's voice boomed, a hint of annoyance audible.

"B-But I'm not sure...I-I mean...Is this...R-Right?"

Nami's face contorted slightly as she took in what she had heard. It sounded like...But it couldn't be...But those two...

"I said hold it! You're going to drop it! ...There! Now just keep it steady..."

A loud clang and a thump, followed by a string of curses.

"Good...God...What IS that!?"

"I said I wasn't good at this!!"

"Yeah, but THAT is a disgrace!!"

Having heard enough, Nami pulled away from the door and ran off as fast as she could, her face flushed of color and her cheeks a tint of pink.

She couldn't have just heard what she had! No way! Usopp and Sanji...They weren't like that!!

The information burrowed at her thoughts until finally she decided she could no longer bottle it up. Nami ran off to find Robin, trying to rub the blush off her face before she got there...

--

Of course, Robin had just sat silently, listening as Nami told her the story bit by bit. It wasn't her fault Luffy had been eavesdropping, and wouldn't go away until she told him - with a very aggravated face - what she had heard.

It wasn't her fault Luffy had found this new bit of knowledge fascinating and ran off to tell Chopper. And it certainly wasn't her fault that Chopper had asked Franky what Luffy had meant.

In which Franky had told Zoro to explain it the young doctor. During which, at the time, Brook had been leaning near the wall and listened as Franky and Zoro bickered over who should say what, and Chopper tried to calm them down.

Said bickering lead to a few misunderstandings, if one could call them that.

"How am I supposed to explain that the two are fucking around?!" Zoro growled.

"I'M not going to tell him something like that! And how DARE you say it that way! The love shared between two people is much more sacred than that!"

"Like Hell!!"

When the two had finally split up, it was Brook who had begun explaining to Chopper, who, by the end, was blushing as red as one of Usopp's Tabasco Stars.

No one had really meant for misinformation to be exchanged. One might say that the two had been messing around just to get 'needs' off each other's chest.

Another might say that the two of them were deeply in love and had secretly been going at it for months.

And of course, the more gruff - and stubborn - might say that the two of them just liked screwing each other like rabbits.

Love has a different meaning to many. Even those who don't really know what love is.

--

Rubbing her forehead with one hand, Nami sighed and tried to concentrate on her maps. In the back of her mind, she was expecting Sanji to come bursting from the Galley, calling the girls names while holding a tray of fruit drinks.

It was getting close to the late afternoon, which was usually when he served them something. But today, there were no declarations of love, no drinks being placed in front of Robin and her, and no goofy grins and calls of "Mellorine! Mellorine!"

"...Neh, Robin?"

The older women looked up from her book, the same calm look she always had on her face. Nami wished she were that calm now.

"Do you know where Sanji is?" She tried not to sound overly curious, but Robin could pick it up in her voice and smiled her polite smile that always said "I know what you really mean."

"I believe he is in the Galley, trying to think of a way to apologize to Nagahana-kun."

Wordlessly, Nami stood up and headed to the door, looking in through the window.

Just as Robin had said, Sanji sat at the table alone. His eyes were closed in deep thought, and his elbows rested on the table sullenly.

--

'What the Hell was I thinking? Damn it, he's probably moping to himself! He's already suicidal enough as it is! I was stupid! Damn me! Damn me! How am I supposed to talk to him now? He probably hates me now! And if he doesn't hate ME, he hates HIMSELF! He's probably wondering if something is WRONG with him! I have nothing against him! AUGH! DAMN IT!!'

"Sanji?"

Startled, Sanji jumped slightly in the chair, his thoughts breaking away as he saw Nami by the counter, watching him worriedly.

"Ah, Nami-san...I was just thinking..."

"I know...Listen, Sanji-kun..."

"No no, don't say it, Nami-san. I know you are going to tell me that everything is going to be fine. It's not. I know that it's not."

Nami groaned to herself inwardly. He was stubborn when he had his mind made up.

"Can't you just go and talk to Usopp? Stop killing yourself over what you'll say and just say the first thing that comes to you."

"I already did that earlier. And that is exactly the reason why I am sitting here, trying to think of what to say."

Damn. He had an answer for everything.

"Well...You...He..." Nami sighed. What else could she really say? She couldn't speak for Usopp because she really didn't know how he felt about this whole thing, other then upset.

She didn't know what it was like, falling in love with someone of the same gender. To hear that person scream to the Heavens that they would never love them. She didn't know. But that didn't mean she couldn't do something about it.

"I must leave, Nami-san." Standing up, Sanji walked out of the Galley, his face covered with a look of regret.

Nami stayed leaning against the counter and stared out the window by the sink. She wasn't just worried for Sanji, she was worried for Usopp as well.

If his sadness continued, it could bring back those old feelings. Feelings of being useless, not needed and helpless. The same feelings that had prompted him to leave the crew.

They couldn't let him leave. Not again.