This chapter's a bit weird to me. I would've never gotten it done if not been for aechfic's amazing reviews. I seriously felt waaaaay too down in the dumps to continue and I apologize for the long wait. Then again, school's back up and my work is very time consuming. AND i have things I hope to draw/read. Luckily, this week is less busy. I'll do my best to get the next chapter done as soon as possible! Thank you everyone for your support. I never thought this fic would get so many...readers. I mean seriously. aechfic, ... I want to send YOU my hugest THANK YOU. If not been for your encouraging words, this chapter would still be unfinished.

So I apologize if it seems a bit off. And I apologize for the lateness. I hope you all enjoy. A little Nami/Sanji goin' on.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, they belong to Eiichiro Oda.


Snip! Snip! The fire came to life, burning the end of the cigarette. Flipping the top back on, he fished for his pants and set the lighter back into his pocket. He laid back on the many pillows behind him. The night had carried on well for the blond. He was completely satisfied with the show, meeting The Princess—who turned out to be a real gem—then had amazing sex with his favorite courtesan. All in a night's work, he thought happily. He turned over to Lady Orange who was now sitting up, rubbing her arm. He glanced at the odd tattoo she bore on her left shoulder, still unsure what the object or objects were. He wanted to ask, but he kept to himself.

The Lady seemed unsettled, even after what they had just done. Her voice, her movements, all seemed a bit rigid this night. Something was bothering her. He sat up and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned to him with an unsure smile. He removed his cigarette from his lips and moved closer to her.

"Something troubling you?" He asked and held her close. She only responded with the turn of the head—away from him. "You know you can talk to me, my lady."

"Oh, how gentlemen-like of you." She sounded oddly sarcastic. What was wrong?

"Mademoiselle… I mean every word of that. You're not yourself tonight. Was it due to The Princess?"

"This has nothing to do with her. None of this does." What did she mean? He gave her a moment and let her go. He took his cigarette and inhaled the nicotine. Women needed time to answer these things; they are sensitive on personal topics. He tried thinking of things to say but came up with nothing. "Can you please put out that damn cigarette? It smells." He instantly plucked it away from his mouth and put the cig out. He tossed the remains in a nearby trash.

"Ah, Miss, you're not yourself today." She turned towards him and shook her head. She smiled and then kissed his cheek.

"You barely know me. But no, I'm not the same accepting person I am when with you. Just a few things are causing a bit of unrest around here." He was curious, so he asked.

"Is your boss making you do something unfair?" He propped his head onto hers. She scoffed and patted his leg.

"You're asking too many questions. But I suppose I can tell you since you don't just up and walk away after sex."

"I could never leave you in such a state unless you tell me you're alright."

"Don't I know it," She sighed and leaned forward, cupping her face into her hands. She then sat back up and turned to him. "If you're very interested, then bark like a dog for me." She smiled slyly.

"Arf." He smiled back.

"Jesus Christ. Your obedience is terrifying. No matter. I much rather you listen to me, than you hit me. "

"I could never hit you. I'd do anything for you." She sneered, rolling her eyes in total disbelief.

"I'd like to see you do something impossible for me then." Sanji gave her a stern look.

"Anything, I said."

"Yeah, right." She rubbed her shoulder, looking down at the bed sheets. "If you could do the impossible, I'd ask it of you now, but I'm sure you'd never be interested." Her eyes gradually made their way to his. Her amber brown eyes seemed to shine more than they usually did. He nodded in her direction, reaching to take her hand.

"Do you…want me to take you from here?" Again, she chortled.

"Take me? Of course not. I actually like my place here."

"You…do? But I'm sure you deal with… horrible customers, maybe ever horrible—"

"I'm fine where I am. I brought myself her purposely. Lady Fleur took me in as soon as I showed on this doorstep. She treats me like a queen, as she does for all the girls. She protects us and if someone is bothering us, she'll take care of it. She's the greatest person I've met in this shit town. I'm glad to be under her wing. Too many low-life assholes that lurk these streets, but they're willing to pay for sex which causes easy money for me." Sanji gulped, not really wanting to believe that Lady Orange was completely fine in such a horrendous environment. "Don't give me that look. I'm being serious."

The blond turned from her and swayed, not sure he was on the same level as she was. He was aware that Lady Fleur had been a generous woman. She once protected even him before when a much bigger customer came in making trouble. Her and her subordinate, Franky, showed the man out of the place and banned him from coming back. She allowed Sanji to have free drinks for the rest of the night and apologized for the inconvenience. The woman was also classy, never forcing her girls to do anything they wouldn't want to. She allowed them to be their own boss in the business field. If they wanted to walk around naked, they could. If they were comfortable with clothes on, then they kept theirs on. If they didn't want to get paid for sex, they didn't have to, at least for a certain amount of time. She made it clear of finances, also telling her girls to please the men extra if they weren't up for intercourse at that time. From this system, she was able to create one of the most endearing team of prostitutes that were healthy and somewhat happy at the very least about their lifestyle. Sanji wouldn't think of leaving in such a merciful setting.

"It's someone else I'm worried about." Sanji perked to attention and stared directly at her. She had been looking down, gripping her wrists. He wanted to let her know he was listening, but wasn't sure if she was going to speak anymore. "I…"

"Lady…" he said under his breath. Her grip tightened around her wrists.

"I can't help him. Lady Fleur can't help him either… "A man? He wasn't so sure about this, but anything for Lady Orange, he reminded himself. "That stupid… Crocodile!" She stressed the named with hatred. Shaking her head vigorously she added, "It's all because of him that he's been in so much pain! And Zoro too!" Who was Zoro? Sanji had questions, but the Lady didn't seem finished just yet. "I can't believe they have to deal with someone so cruel. It's not a way to live…"

"Who is this guy you're talking about? Th-The one who's…" She looked Sanji dead in the eye. She frowned for a moment and then glared.

"Do you mean Crocodile?" She questioned, sounding as if she were about to assassinate him. Sanji shivered and just nodded. I meant the one in need…

"I can only say he's one of the largest assholes I've ever met. I hate him. I hate him so much I wish I could just…just!" She growled and made unknown motions with her hands. This was frustration that Sanji hadn't seen before. "He is the kind of guy you DON'T want to work under! The clear foil of Lady Fleur. He's vile, disgusting and a sadistic. He makes Zoro and the others do embarrassing things on stage! He abuses them and is totally unfair to them!"

"Is Zoro the one in trouble?" he asked with a bit of caution. She rolled her eyes.

"You're not listening are you?" He nodded.

"I am!"

"Then you know that Zoro is, but he's not who I was talking about." Sanji had a hard time keeping up already, but he nodded anyways. "No, but Crocodile is just one of the worst people in the world. I hate horrible scum like him. Did you know he beats those guys to nothing if they don't 'obey' him?" She questioned, placing his palms on her knees and leaning as far to Sanji as she could. He blinked and remembered seeing the hooked man stomping on some poor soul earlier and taking it in to the building.

"I…believe I saw him…doing that earlier." The Lady's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets.

"Did you do anything to stop him? Did you see what the guy looked like? Was he small? Did he have—"

"I was too far away to see who it was. I just know the hooked man was… hurting someone in an alley and when he noticed my friends and I, he stopped and left." The Lady's eyes began to water. She moved back to sitting up straight and closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"See? He's a beast. I can't believe no one's done anything about his cruel acts." Sanji felt regret for not stepping in and doing something about Crocodile's beating. He began to regret not allowing Ace to have let Luffy charge in and kick the man's ass. Was tonight's show really worth it? "I hope Usopp's okay…"

"Usopp?"

"That's him. He's been here for only a year at the most. He's supposed to be hitting eighteen very soon. He and Zoro came here at different times, but for the same reason. They needed money and a place to stay, and got stuck at this place, unable to escape." Did she want him to help both of those guys out, or just this Usopp character? "From what Zoro tells me, he's gone through the worst of the abuse because he's the youngest on their side. I don't think he knew exactly what he was signing up for when he first came…but he hasn't been very talkative at all as the year went on. The first couple of days, he was a bit to himself, but he opened up when Zoro helped him get settled in. He was a chatter box in some ways, but was very quiet around Crocodile. I met him a couple weeks after he settled in and we had fun talking together.

"I remember when we were invited over to the transgender prostitution home for a week, we had so much fun. It was like a huge vacation, thanks to Mr. Iva's kindness. Usopp laughed so much, and Zoro had a great time too. When we came back, things just got worse. I noticed Usopp had a lot more bruises on his face, Zoro stopped informing me of the things that happened. He was angrier and Usopp just got more and more quiet." The Lady cupped her face and sobbed. She took deep breaths in between the cries and wiped her face. "Zoro would just say 'it's nothing. We can handle it.' and Usopp wouldn't do anything. He would just stand there, with a dead look in his eyes. He just wasn't there any more whenever we were able to get together. Usopp doesn't belong here! He shouldn't be in such a place that's stripped him of his true self. I just want him to be taken away."

Sanji reached for the Lady and took her into his arms. He cradled her as she began to weep. She held onto his arms and nuzzled his chest. He wasn't able to think up anything to say to help calm her. He couldn't imagine knowing someone for that long and seeing them literally be stripped of their personality. This Usopp must've been a frail person if he had easily became so distant. The Zoro guy just sounded like someone that was able to take what came to him. He understood where the Lady was coming from. He felt for both of the guys, not sure how he would be able to help out at all in this situation.

"Are they on the other side?" He asked and pet the Lady's hair. She sniffled and raised herself from his grasp.

"You mean on the men's side? Yeah, they cater to the gay community." Sanji shivered. Did that mean he'd have to go on that side? He didn't like the Men's part of the House due to the odd thoughts he would get. Thoughts that made his skin crawl and oddly arouse him at the same time. His visits on that side were to retrieve Ace so they could leave. At times he would find himself watching the show or just watching a few men from afar, somewhat fantasizing things he didn't want to believe he was capable of. "Usopp doesn't really come out to the crowd much from what I know, because he's always hurt in some way. Zoro on the other hand doesn't come out very often, but when he does, it's often special. He's considered one of the specialties because his green hair… and possibly due to his ethnicity. Zoro's stage name is Bushido, while Usopp's is Armadillo."

"Bushido would mean…"

"Samurai. He sports a samurai costume. He's Japanese, so Crocodile thought it would be cute to put him in one." She huffed.

"And Armadillo?"

"…That one…," she rubbed her shoulder again and tilted her head to the other side. "Because Usopp hides. He's vulnerable and easily frightened. You know what an armadillo looks like when it hides, right?"

"It rolls into a ball."

"Exactly. Usopp's done that a couple times in front of Crocodile, so he gave him that name. Zoro told me once that some guys over there thought it was 'adorable' or some shit. We both wanted to hand those jerks asses to them." It made sense, but it sounded a bit degrading. Sanji couldn't bring himself to hear any more depressing stuff. He sighed and placed his hands onto the Lady's shoulders.

"I'll get them out." He said plainly and gave her a forced smiled. She looked unconvinced and brushed his hands off of her.

"I doubt you mean that. I just want Usopp to leave. Zoro, too, wishes for that."

"Then I'll get him out."

"Just because I asked? Or because you actually feel for him?" Sanji already knew that lying wasn't the best way to go.

"You asked. You said I couldn't do the impossible, well I want to prove to you I can."

"Don't. I don't want you getting dragged into this. Also, I rather you help him if you actually WANT to help him."

"I honestly do. I have a feeling he was the one getting beat-up earlier…and I feel stupid for not charging in as soon as I saw it happening." The Lady stared at him for a long while. She studied his expression and smiled to herself. She caressed his cheek and shook her head again.

"Reckless. It's impossible… and if you saved him, you can't come back here." Sanji felt his heart sink. He didn't want it to be that drastic. He wanted to help Lady Orange and prove to her how much she meant to him. He didn't care of her job, he just wanted her to be happy, but to sacrifice ever seeing her again for some kid he knew nothing about? He felt like an asshole for already not feeling up to helping out this mystery kid. He tried to keep a smile on his face, though it was hard to fake it.

"Maybe I can do something. I don't think it's impossible. What does he look like?" The Lady was surprised, though she slid her hand onto his cheek and stared at him for what seemed like five minutes. Sanji couldn't help but feel uncomfortable though he had a reason to not be smiling now. The Lady seemed to be studying his eyes, or at least his right eye—his left being covered by a large tuff of his hair. She then scooted closer to him and set her hands on his knees.

"He's… well he's probably the smallest one you'll find in there. He's tan, has black, crinkly hair and a very long nose. You'll know who he is. His looks are rather unique." Sanji felt himself groaning in his mind. Long nose? What the hell… "But, I don't believe anything will happen just by giving you that information. Anyways, I need to get going to check on him. You can leave the money on the night stand over there. Someone will come pick it up." The Lady then stood up and hopped off the bed. She fished for her clothes that she had tossed aside upon coming into the room. Sanji watched her and sighed. His time with her felt much shorter. It may have been due to all the commotion he was caught up in earlier, or maybe the talk of this Usopp kid just drained the time away. He too got up from the bed and followed suite, getting his own clothing on.

The two dressed in silence, facing away from one another. Sanji's mind had quickly forgotten about the Usopp kid. He wasn't looking forward to helping the kid out, even though he had put up a show of saying how he could do anything. He didn't want to up and lie to Lady Orange, and just say something just to make himself look good. He wanted to show her how much he cared, but this just didn't seem right. He wanted to do something for her, directed at her. Saving some kid from an abusive boss wasn't his problem. He couldn't do anything about it, and that was something he was damn sure of. Lady Orange was right that it was impossible, but he had stated earlier that it wasn't. He was digging up his own grave… did the Lady find that he would actually try? He had to ask, but he wanted to lead her to the answer without questioning.

"What I'm worried about most… is the show he's scheduled to put on." Lady Orange stated. She turned to Sanji, fully clothed and ready to leave out the room. He turned back to her, buttoning up his shirt. "Usopp's never been put up for display yet, and that's kept him safe from most of the customers."

"Wait, if he's been here for almost a year, then why hasn't he—?"

"Crocodile does things differently than Lady Fleur. Instead of showing any new employees as soon as they come in, he'll wait until he feels the new kid can go out and earn money. Since Usopp isn't exactly "whore material", it's taken him much longer to get on stage. But it's not always like that. Sometimes, Crocodile will bring someone on stage just to humiliate them."

"And this is because he thinks Usopp's ready?"

"No. At least, I don't think so. I think he just wants to watch him suffer more." Sanji couldn't help but feel bad again.

"That's terrible. And it's been almost a full year? I can't see how this kid's survived so long." He reached into his pocket and felt around for his box of cigarettes.

"It's because he's strong. If Usopp wasn't, he'd be dead already." The Lady gave Sanji a slight smile. Strong? In what sense did she mean by this? That he was able to with stand all the torture and still live, or the fact that he can take a few more punches than most? "Anyways, I suppose we're done for the night. I need to go out and fish for some more money before Lady Fleur closes us down. She wanted to allow us a break for tomorrow so we're closing early." Sanji couldn't help but hang his head slightly. He hated this point where he had to leave her. He hated thinking of her having to go through men for money, not knowing whether or not she had customers that weren't at all gentle and pushed her around. He had hoped if he met any man that did that to her, he'd be able to kick his face in. He grumbled to himself and picked up his tie then slipped on his shoes. Stuffing the tie into his pocket, he turned towards the Lady and nodded. "Thanks for listening to me ramble. I really don't talk about those things much!" Sanji was pretty sure she wasn't able to. It made him feel extra special that they were able to chat about some personal things, such as the Lady's encounters with other courtesans, her days when she wasn't working, and info on people she's met. The only thing he's never heard her say was her real name. He longed to hear it, but she had refused to get too close.

He understood her reasons but remained forever curious. He longed to at least know what her name was, but had given up a long time ago to find out. He remembered going from courtesan to courtesan, asking if they knew Lady Orange's name. All of them refused to give it to him, for they knew that she wanted to be known for her stage name and nothing more. Standing behind the Lady, Sanji placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them lightly.

"You be careful, okay?" he whispered and slipped his arms around her chest and hugged her tightly. She moved her head away from him, being used to this routine.

"I'll be alright. I always will be." She's such a strong woman. I can't help but get scared anyways. He let her go, trying to keep himself relaxed. She opened the door and walked out the room. She didn't wait for the other, and went down the stairs rather hastily. He took this moment to set the money he owed on the night stand. He stared at the paper money and frowned to himself. Sanji then made his way over to the door and slowly closed the door behind him, watching her disappear into the crowd. Do I annoy her? He didn't like this thought any better than the worry that frequently came up. He had to clear his mind, for now the night was over for him. Reaching back into his pocket, he pulled out his cigarette box. She told me to not smoke earlier… Normally she never gives a shit. Maybe this whole 'Usopp' thing is really bugging her. It wasn't his business, but she had already given him all kinds of information as if she had a tiny bit of belief that he could save her friend. He wasn't sure what he could even do, not to mention he wasn't going to go anywhere near the "Men's House" of all places. He couldn't stand going in there…having to suffer with awkward fantasies that came to mind. No, not going back in there. There had to be another way to see this kid if he was going to do anything.

Sanji sighed, opening up his box of fresh cigarettes and pulled one out. I'm probably going to be here for a while. Ace tends to take for fuckin' ever when he's over there. He took out his lighter and lit up his cig. Maybe another drink would do for him, he thought. Cruising down the stairs, he stopped and groaned. He had to drive back home which took around thirty minutes.

"Shit. What to do, what to do." Maybe another girl to chat with wasn't too bad of an idea. He had thought of talking to the Princess again, but she seemed to be busy with a group of guys who didn't really look like the kind of guys you'd want to have a normal conversation with. They didn't seem to be any trouble, and she was laughing here and there. He passed them up and made his way over to the bar and pulled out his wallet to look through it to see how much money he had left. "Barely twenty belli to spare." He decided to save it up, closing his wallet and putting it back in his pocket. Passing the door to the "Men's House", the door swung open, causing Sanji to stop and stare to see who the new comer, or new comers were. "Well, what do ya know."

A green haired man stood in the door way, holding the knob. He looked around and grimaced. Behind him was Luffy, peeking over his shoulder and waved to Sanji when noticing him.

"Oi! Sanji!" He yelled and in between the green haired man and the door. Sanji waved back, wondering what had gone on for the younger companion. "Hey! Have you seen Ace?"

"No. He was with you last. What makes you think I know?" Sanji smiled. He looked up to see the green haired man had joined them. He raised a brow, skimming the man for his "samurai" get-up. He looked funny to the blond, but he guessed maybe there was some weird sexual connection to his costume. He shivered, not liking the thought. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Bushido! But I like calling him Zoro." Luffy replied, patting the other's shoulder. The man twitched and swatted Luffy's hand away.

"You're not supposed to tell my name to others!"

"Ah, but why not? I think your name's cool!" They sound like they've known each other for a long time. "Anyways, we were looking for Ace and can't seem to find his room. I think Zoro got lost. Told ya we should've gone back upstairs!" Zoro rolled his eyes and pointed back at the door.

"We should get going then. Your brother's probably looking for you in the other room."

"Yeah, you're right. Sanji come with us! We can find Ace faster that way." Go in there of all places? Haha, hell no.

"No thanks. I'll stay here and wait for you to come back. You and your friend here can probably get to know each other a little more, you know?"

"Yeah, but when we find Ace, we'll be going right? If we have to find you after Ace, it'll take much longer! And I'm getting hungry again, so I wanna hurry up and get ready to leave soon!" Luffy whined. He pulled on Sanji's sleeve, still urging him to come along.

"Sorry, Luffy. But I like looking at the pretty girls that pass by, not bulky men in leather. You two can go over there instead and I'll wait here." Sanji tried to pry Luffy's fingers from his sleeve. After breaking free from Luffy's grasp, Sanji stepped back a couple of steps and brushed his sleeves. "Just go get Ace and I'll stay here." Luffy began to pout. He turned towards the door then to Sanji again.

"You really don't wanna help us? What if you start wandering off and we have to find you next?"

"Like I said, I'll stay right here." Sanji then stomped his foot on the floor. He smiled, hoping that would get Luffy to just give up. The younger boy didn't seem to budge—what was wrong with his persuasion today? He noticed the green haired guy seeming a bit fidgety. He didn't like the way this guy was giving both him and Luffy impatient looks. What's this guy's problem? Jeez, is he just impatient or…It finally snapped in. Sanji blinked, giving the green haired man another glance and began pointing his finger at him. "Y-You're… Zoro! Lady Orange mentioned you! Shit, how could I forget?" Zoro perked in Sanji's direction, giving him his full attention.

"You know Na… Lady Orange?" Na…? Her name starts with an N!

"Y-Yeah, I do! I'm a regular of hers… she was talking about you before we departed. You and this other guy…erm, Armadillo or something." Zoro frowned, taking a step closer to Sanji.

"What did she say?" He nearly demanded. Sanji returned the frown, not liking his tone. He huffed, but spoke anyways.

"She was telling me how she was upset with the conditions he's working under, is all." Don't need to tell him everything. Zoro turned away from the blond, having a moment to ponder on why she would even mention the long nosed kid to this guy.

"Why was she telling you about him?" Was it that big of a deal? Sanji glared at the other and grit the butt of the cigarette. What's he using that pissy tone for?

"She wasn't feeling too good. So she told me what was troubling her. Problem?" Why not challenge this guy? He didn't seem intimidating, not to mention they were around the same size. Zoro had reacted to the obvious sarcasm within Sanji's voice. He couldn't help but growl.

"Nah, it's not. I'm just confused as to why she'd ever tell our business to customers. They don't need to be involved in this." His reason, in Sanji's eyes, wasn't at all enough to cover for that attitude.

"She can tell me whatever she wants to."

"Are you trying to start something?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Hey, guys! We need to find Ace!" Luffy butted in. He got in between the two and began waving his arms to grab their attention. The two older men turned their heads in opposite directions, huffing simultaneously. Luffy grabbed both their wrists and pulled them towards the door he and Zoro had come from. "Good! Let's go see where he is!"

"Luffy! Let go! I said I don't want to go in there!" There was no stopping the younger one. He let Zoro's arm go and opened the door. No way was he going to let Sanji slip past this. He shoved the blond inside and hurried in after. Zoro went in last, closing the door right after. Sanji turned back to the other two, scowling at them. "I'm not staying in here!"

"Too bad! We're already here, so help us find Ace!" Luffy turned Sanji forward, pressing onto the older man's back and pushing him further into the "Men's House". I'm gonna kill this kid! I'ma kill him! It was no use; he was already in the middle of the chamber, right under the glass chandelier that hung from the ceiling. He gave up on digging his heels into the floor. The aroma of this place was different from the "Lady's House". It smelled of cologne, sweat, and alcohol. Sanji's stomach began to churn. He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to relive weird fantasies, and neither did he want to see men walking around in leather. He just didn't want any part of the "Men's House". Luffy stopped pushing Sanji when he had finally began walking on his own. He noticed the blond slumping forward with his hands in his pockets. He was grumbling something under his breath, and looking down at his shoes. Luffy tilted his head as far down as he could while walking beside him, hoping to catch a quick glimpse of his smoking friend.

"What are you so mad about? You really don't like this place or something?" Sanji quickly spun his head in Luffy's direction, hissing his name.

"Luffy… I told you… I don't want to be in here!" The boy remained unmoved. He then patted Sanji's back and grinned.

"Aw, we'll get out of here quick soon as we find Ace!" If there was anything Sanji had disliked about this kid, it was his brash actions. Even when someone clearly doesn't want to do something, if Luffy wanted them to do it, he'll make them do it. It seemed as though the world revolved around Luffy. When we get out of here, I'll kick your face in. "Let's go try searching the rooms again! Zoro, you lead the way!"

Sanji watched as the male courtesan looked around and began walking in some random direction. Was this the right way? Or was he just walking where ever? Luffy trotted after the 'bushido' with Sanji trudging along behind.


The ending was a bit odd to me... idk. Anyways, hopefully the next chapter will be more satisfying for me to write...