"Really? Then I'll get on it right away!" exclaimed an extremely happy voice who practically had a heart in his visible eye and began walking back into the kitchen, but immediately stopped as something had dawned on him. He turned back around, "Wait… What about Madeline? Is she hungry?"

"I don't know," Luffy replied to him.

Suddenly Sanji's eye changed from "love" struck to a flare of quick frustration.

"LUFFY!" he screamed in an extremely angry voice, "THAT'S JUST RUDE!"

Zoro's right eye opened slightly.

'Good lord…' he thought with as much frustration that was in Sanji's voice.

He shook his head and knocked on Madeline's door with his knuckles.

"Oi, prisoner. You hungry?" he asked her.

He waited for a few seconds before he felt her react for the first time in quite a while. A tapping reached his ears and his sense of touch. The tapping came twice. He paused.

"Is that a no?"

Nothing came that time.

He waited a few seconds, but his impatience got the better of him. He stood up out of his previous relaxed sitting position and glared at the door slightly.

"You have five seconds to answer or I'm coming in there," he stated in a quite voice, knowing that if Sanji heard, he would lose his mind. "And I'm serious," he added.

He heard her yelp slightly at his threat.

"Five," he began.

Nothing.

"Four… Three…"

Still nothing. His eye twitched in annoyance.

"Two. One. I'm coming in."

He grabbed the handle and began to twist it, but he suddenly felt it being gripped and held in place from the inside.

"No!" she screamed out, "I'm hungry!"

"Finally. An answer," he stated as he sighed and let go of the handle.

He turned from it.

"Oi, Sanji! The prisoner is hungry!"

Sanji stumbled as he walked to the kitchen door way. It was as if he had been struck suddenly.

"Must you call the lovely captain a prisoner?" he whined.

Zoro's eye twitched yet again. He sat back down by Madeline's door.

"Stupid Love-Cook…" he mumbled to himself… or so he thought it was to himself.

Sanji then spun around on his heel, slamming it on to the deck. His eye flared up again in anger.

"I HEARD THAT YOU CRAP-SWORDSMAN!" he screamed.

A small giggle emitted from the door as Zoro shot up from his sitting position again.

"SHUT UP NEEDLE BROW!"

Then the "small" giggle began to get louder and much easier to hear and soon becoming a full blown laugh. Zoro looked to the door with an irritated expression.

"AND WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?"

"You two!" exclaimed Madeline's voice as she got control of her laughter.

Zoro slammed his fist onto the door and her laughter picked up again.

"Be quiet!" he yelled.

Her voice then became muffled. He let out a heavy sigh of frustration as he heard Nira laugh from her room. He looked at her then turned, but made a double take just as quickly. Her left arm and right leg had been wrapped up in gauze. He stopped and stared. Her pupils narrowed.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer," she stated coldly.

He glared at her slightly, but decided not to stress her.

"What happened to you?" he asked trying to be as polite as he could.

Her green irises glinted with suspicion.

"Why should I tell you?" she asked roughly, "You don't take requests so I don't have to answer you."

Zoro growled at her reply. He could tell she wasn't too happy with him as she glared back, but her eyes darted over to Madeline's door.

"Madeline, be quiet. I can hear you in there."

She stopped and a few moments passed before the faint sound of knocking on wood came from her door. Zoro wanted to ignore it, but Nira continued to stare. Her gaze actually becoming too much, he gave in and sighed as he turned to the door.

…

I heard him turn on his heel and lean in towards the door. I smiled.

'Alright! I actually got his attention!' I thought happily, 'Now. Ask him, Madeline. You're able to ask questions now…'

I opened my mouth and when I began to speak my voice became small, like a child's.

"Can I please come out?" I begged, "I won't run. I promise."

I heard him growl and I went into a slight defensive position. I guess it had become a habit. I heard the bottom of his shoes scratch across the deck outside my door.

"Oi, Luffy," he said.

My eyes sparkled slightly.

"She promises not to run. She wants out."

I heard a laugh. A loud laugh,

"The let her out!" exclaimed Luffy in a big voice.

I could tell that he must have been grinning wide by the sound of his voice. I also heard Zoro mumble a few curse words that I couldn't quite make out. Then I heard the click of the door's lock and it started to open slowly. I smiled, but my head fell to the floor quickly in guilt as the wooden door stopped.

"You can come out now," he told me.

I did exactly that. I walked out with my head hung and I knew I had to say it as he stepped back a little.

"I owe you an apology…" I told him in a voice full of shame.

"Me?" he asked in a surprised tone.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye and saw him eye me cautiously, but soon he went into a cold state.

"I don't want it," he stated.

I complied.

"I understand."

He turned from me and walked off. I sighed and looked around and I spotted the long nosed young man I had thrown out of the way earlier. I smiled slightly.

"I need to apologize to him too," I told myself in a low whisper.

I took in a deep breath of the salty sea air around me and called upon the loud and demanding captain voice I knew I had.

"You!" I said in a booming voice while pointing at him.

He spun around and started to smile, but that smile quickly disappeared as he saw it was me calling upon him. That made my heart sink, but I kept walking towards him. I took a quick note of his frightened expression and trembling arms.

"M-Me?" he stuttered.

His entire body shook slightly as I stopped in front of him. My demeanor changed suddenly from very confident and demanding to guilty and shameful.

"I owe you an apology too…" I said quietly.

He was clearly thrown off, seeing as though he lost his balance and fell back slightly with a surprised expression which was very amusing in my opinion.

"What?"

"Yeah…" I continued, "I shouldn't have thrown you out of the way like that…"

…

"It's just… we've had some rotten luck and all…" she finished and began to trail off.

"It's alright," he said back to her reassuringly.

She looked up in surprise as to hear him forgive her that quickly only to see him standing up straight confidently.

"I was once thrown across an island by a twenty foot giant and didn't suffer a scratch."

Madeline's eyes sparkled at this.

"I'm The Great Captain Usopp, you know."

She blinked in awe and showed interest in what he was telling her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Sure!" he exclaimed, apparently happy about her sudden interest in him and his "tall" tale, "In fact! I also have eighty million men waiting on my command back home."

"Oh my… Would you mind elaborating on that?" she asked as she sat on the deck, "Please, go on."

"SURE!" he yelled with utter enthusiasm.

He began to tell this tale of a time when he was washed upon the rocky shore of a distant island where giants were inhabited, and he had to do battle with each one with his bare hands and his sling shot, which had never failed him once. He had defeated everyone single handedly.

"And then, the few that were left took me to there leader and BOY! Was he HUGE!" he emphasized while throwing his arms up to show, "Over fifty feet tall!"

As he stood in that pose he looked over to the once intimidating captain and watched her slightly. She laid there on her stomach swinging her legs back and forth with an extremely bright glaze of interest painted over her chocolate brown eyes. He smiled slightly as this site.

"Anyway, he challenged me to a duel, which I bravely accepted of course, and won with barely a scratch on me!"

Madeline smiled wide and so did he as he brought out his sling shot.

"And all I had with me was my trusty sling shot," he told her as he struck a triumphant pose, "Because I'm the Great Captain Usopp!"

"Whoa…" she trailed, "No way."

"It's true!"

"You're kidding me."

"Nope!" he said as he grinned wide.

…

I watched as he smiled, but he was soon called away. My heart sank again. It seemed he was happy that someone was paying attention to him and his stories.

"You know," came my strong alto voiced friend, "he's lying right?"

"Yeah," I replied as I rolled over onto my stomach to look at her.

"Thought so."

"But," I started quickly, defending him, "it was very entertaining to listen."

"Yeah and he probably has a lot more where that one came from," she added while nodding in agreement.

I smiled wide, but it faded as the sound of a gurgling stomach reached my ears. I looked to Nira, but she kept a slightly serious face as she pulled her right arm up to her abdomen. It growled again, but much louder this time and her face became slightly flushed. I chuckled inwardly at her embarrassed reaction.

And as if on que…

"COME AND GET IT LADIES!" screamed a loud, male, sing song voice.

I smiled wide yet again and jumped to my feet.

"LET'S GO!" I screamed enthusiastically as I pushed myself forward into a mild run and Nira followed close behind after giving an agreeing shrug.

As I approached the door frame that leaded into the kitchen, I skidded to a stop and easily slid into a seat and of course, Nira was right there with me.

"Claim this one!" she exclaimed as she plopped herself down into a near by chair with a smile on her face.

I smiled happily, seeing her that way, but it seemed that the "Great Captain" Usopp had to protest.

"Ummm…" he began in a hesitant voice, "That's Zoro's seat…"

Her face then became serious and her green eyes snapped to him.

"Oh well," she replied coldly.

"That's right!" I yelled, supporting her.

She started to smile, but it faded as she leaned for ward and started coughing. She quickly reached for a cloth and covered her mouth and as she quit her coughing spasm and pulled the cloth away both her, Chopper, and I noticed there wasn't as much blood there as there had been in earlier fits.

…

"You're getting better!" screamed Chopper in a happy voice.

"Hn," she muttered, "I'm surprised."

Madeline looked around the kitchen in awe. It was much better than hers in many ways. Her brown eyes sparkled as she swiftly scanned over all of the cooking utensils that were situated on the counter very decoratively.

"Whoa…" she trailed, "Totally sweet kitchen."

The blonde cook looked up from the cutting board, but kept chopping, and grinned extremely wide, apparently very pleased at the fact that she complimented his kitchen.

"Why thank you, Captain Madeline," he replied in his "love" struck voice, "I'm extremely grateful to be graced by your presence in my kitchen."

She smiled at him in a thankful way as she watched him, but then a broad shadow loomed over the table from behind her teal haired friend. Madeline looked back over her shoulder and saw Zoro standing behind Nira with a dark expression playing over his features.

"You're in my seat," he stated with a harsh tone.

Madeline yelped quietly and pushed herself, along with her chair, away from him and his incredibly harsh, negative vibes, but Nira just sat there with absolutely no reaction to him.

"So?" she retorted in a just as harsh, "as a matter of fact" tone, "Take someone else's."

Zoro's eyebrow twitched in irritation and a vein became noticeable on his forehead.

"Zoro!" yelled Sanji's angry voice.

The sound of a steel blade slamming into a thick slab of wood echoed through the room.

"These two are our guests!" he stated in a loud tone, "Be polite and pick another seat."

"Shut up shitty Love-Cook!" the green haired swordsman yelled in reply.

"How about you follow your own advice, shitty-swordsman!"

Madeline started to giggle in amusement at the two of them arguing, but quickly covered her mouth to prevent her innocent chuckle from becoming a full blown laugh. Nira though, groaned as she fell forward and placed her forehead on the table.

"Make me Ero-Cook!"

Sanji prepared himself to reply, but Nira quickly interjected her self before he could and her eyes went to Zoro and held the utmost seriousness in that gaze.

"Enough please," she said as she stood up out of her chair.

Zoro stepped back slightly, apparently shocked that she had stood up so suddenly, but only slightly and took the opening as an opportunity and slid into the seat.

"May I ask what we are eating?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Well…" began Sanji as he easily slid portions of the food onto two porcelain plates. His voice had a hint of disappointment, but it was in himself. "It was short notice and I wasn't able to prepare a very elaborate meal but… I hope this will suffice."

His voice had disappointment in it; his step however had a happy spring to it as he walked out from behind the counter with one plate in each hand. He almost resembled a waiter as he skillfully moved over to Madeline and Nira. Almost. He had much more class in Madeline's opinion.

Nira nodded gratefully to him as she took the plate from him.

"Thank you," she told him and then turned around.

As she headed to the door, she reached out and "stole" the glass of water and silverware from in front of Zoro and he took immediate notice to it.

"What the?" he screamed, "She stole my stuff."

"Get another set then," she said to him as the door shut.

Madeline laughed slightly and cut a small bit of the meat off inserted it into her mouth, but as she swallowed her face showed sadness.

"Oh my god!" screamed Nira from outside.

Sanji jumped slightly and quickly opened the door.

"Do you like it?" he asked, wanting some feed back.

She looked up at him with a blank expression.

"Well?" he pushed.

"It's good!" she told him with a somewhat full mouth.

"I'm pleased that you like it," he replied with a wide smile.

She looked down at the now clean plate.

"Thank you for the wonderful meal," she thanked.

"You're very welcome."

"More please?" she asked holding her plate up to him.

"Of course!" he confirmed and took the plate from her, "I'll get it right away."

She smiled to him and took a sip of her, or Zoro's, water as he walked back in.

He headed over to the counter again to retrieve Nira some seconds and as he did Madeline sighed heavily as she set her silverware on her plate and pushed it away from her. Then the door opened yet again and Nira walked in with her eating utensils and an empty glass in hand. Her eyes went to her captain. She opened her mouth to say something, but Madeline spoke before she could.

"I can't do it…" Madeline stated out of nowhere.

"What do you mean Cap- Madeline?" Nira asked.

The red haired girl stood up and trudged to the door.

"I need some fresh air…" she replied as the door shut behind her.

Nira sighed slightly and turned her attention to Sanji.

"I'm going to be outside."

"Alright!" he said in reply.

"Stupid Ero-Cook…" muttered Zoro.

…

I walked out of the kitchen and moved my green irises over to my red haired captain. I knew she had a lot on her mind, but I also knew a way to help with it.

"Hey, that Sanji in there," I started, "What do you notice about him?"

I saw her very small movements stop as she stared off in thought for a few moments. I mentally laughed. She probably had to find the right thing to reply with.

"He's girl-crazy," she said.

"Yeah, but there is one thing I notice about him the most."

Her brown eyes moved from the blank horizon before us to the corners of her sockets as she leaned on the railing with her chin in her palm.

"What's that?"

"I noticed that-"

I was suddenly cut off by yelling. I paused, but shrugged it off.

"Anyways, I noticed that he… noodles," I finished while wiggling my finger in a worm like motion.

She smiled and laughed at my statement.

"Yeah. I noticed that too."

I chuckled as two terms entered my mind.

"Linguini Garcon," I said quietly.

She laughed a bit more, but stopped shortly after. That usually meant she was thinking about something. I smiled anyway, but my features returned to being straight faced as Sanji came out of the kitchen again with a plate of food in hand and a smile on his face.

"Here you are," he said as he extended his arm to me.

"Thank you," I replied, not being able to hold back a smile.

I started eating when Sanji took notice of Madeline.

"Are you feeling alright, Captain Madeline?" he asked her, "You barely touched your dinner."

I laughed inwardly again upon hearing him call her "Captain Madeline". When it came down to it, he was incredibly respectful and sweet on her.

"She's fine," I answered for her as I swallowed my last bite, "We've just been through a lot."

He nodded while taking the plate from me.

"Well, if you need anything. Anything at all, please come get me," he told us sweetly while emphasizing the word 'me' as he smiled then returned to the kitchen.

I waited until the door shut completely and then I sighed heavily.

"We can't stay."

Madeline smiled slightly at her friend's extremely true statement.

"I know… But we can't leave either…"

Nira sat on the railing beside her friend.

"Yeah…" she agreed sadly.

"Not yet… We don't even have a ship."

"That's true…"

An agonizing pause came between them.

"Do you think she'll be here tomorrow?" Nira asked, trying to make conversation.

"Probably…" replied Madeline.

Another pause surfaced.

"How long do you think we'll be docked for, Captain?" asked Nira again as she stared off into the sunset.

"I don't know, Doc… but we'll have to go searching for a ship soon," she said as she turned and looked up into the starry side of the night sky.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE!

Please review everyone! I would really apperciate it! And so would my co-author!

-Love Maruri