It's...been a while. Sorry. I started school and things got crazy. I'm going to be honest, this chapter was a pain to write (although I loved how it turned out). It took several rewrites, and it's not as long as I had hoped it would. I do hope you enjoy it still. Also, I'm thinking about doing another one of these, maybe a little series that focuses on Sanji and Luffy in another arc. Would you guys enjoy that? And if not, feel free to suggest which of the crew you'd like me to write!

The fourth chapter should be out fairly quickly, since I already have half of it written. Thanks for all your reviews. Even though I didn't get a chance to reply to them, I really did enjoy them, and they kept me motivated through this long break.

Enjoy!

Luffy was dreaming. At least, he thought he was dreaming. Everything was all jumbled and there was a very real sense of missing that didn't make much sit right alongside the feeling of pure relief that shook him to his very bones.

Plus, there wasn't any meat.

It was probably a nightmare. His good dreams usually had meat in them somewhere, and the gnawing hunger in his stomach was enough to tell him that this wasn't a good dream, even if he couldn't quite hold onto anything that was flashing through his mind for longer than a few moments.

"Luffy?"

That was Sanji. But why was Sanji in his dream? Did he know about Luffy's meat problem? That would make sense, right? Sanji was a cook, after all. His cook. Surely Sanji was here to help.

"Luffy, you need to wake up or else you won't be able to eat."

Of course, Luffy needed to eat. He was starving. The only problem was that he wasn't sure how to get out of his meatless dream. Everything was still jumbled together and Luffy didn't see a door anywhere.

"Sanji? Is everything okay?"

"Luffy's not waking up."

"What?! Is he okay? You said he woke up earlier!"

"Calm down, Chopper. Just check him over before you freak out."

"Oh…. You're right. Sorry. It's just…."

"Yeah, you're worried. I know the feeling."

"…Sanji?"

"What is it?"

"Are you alright? You look kind of pale. Have you eaten enough?"

That had Luffy deciding to screw the door. He'd punch his way out of his own dream if he had to. He didn't understand why Sanji wouldn't be feeling okay, but if Luffy was sleeping then there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. So now he just had to wake up.

He struggled, but eventually, the dream faded away, the jumbled mess washing away until he couldn't even remember a thing about it anymore. It took a moment, but he was finally able to unstick his eyelids and pry his eyes open. He stared at the blurry slats of the bunk bed above him without comprehension. He didn't know where he was, he realized, but he didn't bother trying to figure it out. Instead, he turned his head to look for his crew.

They weren't looking at him, but it was Chopper and Sanji that were in the room, sitting next to the bed Luffy was laid up in. Chopper looked worried, but Sanji had a soft smile on his face that he usually only reserved for the times everyone complimented his cooking. It was a good smile, one that Luffy wished he could see more of.

"I'm alright," Sanji said, patting Chopper's hat. "Just worried about our black hole not being able to eat anything."

Luffy's stomach took that moment to growl loudly in protest. Both Sanji and Chopper turned to look at Luffy.

"Luffy! You're awake!" Chopper hopped up on the bed, the doctor gently fussing over the bleary captain. "How're you feeling? Is any area bothering you? Can you move? Are you still sleepy?"

Luffy just blinked at the onslaught of questions before meeting Sanji's calculating gaze. "Meat," he whined. He was so hungry it felt like his stomach was eating itself whole. "Sanji…."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." Even though he sounded disgruntle, there was a relief in Sanji's expression that kept his features soft and warm. And when he held up the spoon with soup, it was with a gentleness that Luffy wasn't sure he'd experienced before when it came to Sanji. "Open up."

Luffy's eyelids drooped, but he opened his mouth anyways, slurping down the soup each time the spoon nudged at his lips.

"Wait, did he fall back asleep?"

"Yeah, I can't really say I'm surprised on that one. He still looks completely worn out."

"Yeah…but he's still eating, Sanji! That shouldn't be possible."

"It's Luffy. If he wants to sleep and eat at the same time, then I guess there's really no stopping him."

"…You look a lot happier."

"Yeah. I guess I am."

The meat was back. It was a good dream, this time. Almost everything was right in the world.

Except for that sense of something missing, but Luffy had a feeling that it would sort itself out sooner or later. For now, he was going to enjoy his meat.

Please let me know what you thought in a review! Thanks for everything friends, and hopefully I'll be posting fairly soon!