You know how I said I would update this sooner?

I lied.

Happy (very belated) Birthday to our lovely Prince of Cooking and All Blue, Sanji-Kun!

Disclaimer: Nah, nope, I own nothing!


"It's hot…" Nami groaned, lying on her deck chair. She lifted the book that was shielding her face from the harsh sun up above and glanced in the direction of the other Strawhats sprawled across the deck. All were lying in a similar fashion as the navigator; slowly dying of heatstroke, dehydration, hyperthermia etc.

"Stupid Grandline and its stupid weather patterns." Nami grumbled as she fanned herself. She was going to take a sip from her drink when she realised that she had finished her drink a long time ago. This resulted in putting the ginger in a sourer mood than previously and she resumed her 'slowly dying' position and groaned.

She slowly started to gather up the will to get up and go get another drink (despite a certain cook's complaints that he can bring it for her) and with a boost of forced energy, jumped up from her deck chair and made her way across the deck, towards the gallery, taking her empty glass with her.

"Sanji-kun?" Nami knocked on the door. "I'm coming in~"

As she was about to open the door she heard a squeak and a crash. Nami raised an eyebrow and sweat dropped. Well that was weird.

"Sanji-kun?" Nami asked quietly as she slowly creaked the door open.

All she saw was an empty kitchen with two bins surrounded by potato peels and a small knocked over stool. Oh and complete silence.

"Eh?" Nami looked around confused. The kitchen's empty? But what was that noise before-

A small rustling noise caught her attention and she looked towards the kitchen counter. Peeking out of the very corner was the tip of a furry golden tail. Nami sweat dropped again.

"Sanji-kun, is there a reason you're hiding?" Nami asked, the moment she finished her question the tail disappeared immediately. Slightly weirded out at the situation, she walked towards the kitchen counter and looked around the corner.

Nothing. The sound of the fridge door opening and closing had Nami snapping her head towards the giant fridge and yet still nothing.

Now Nami was really weirded out. She unconsciously reached for her Clima Tact as she looked around suspiciously.

She felt a small tug on her skirt and nearly had a heart failure. She looked downwards on her right side she saw a tray with a brand new drink on top of it, connected to the tray was a pale little hand and connected to the small hand was a round little face with fluffy fox ears too big for its head and a huge round blue eye.

"Oh uh thank you" Nami said gratefully and took the cool and delicious drink from the small… child…

Since when did they have children on their ship?

"Wait. Where did you come from?" Nami stared at the new face. All the little thing did was blink and tilt its head at her. It was actually kinda cute or more like he was kinda cute. Now that Nami has recovered from her initial shock she realised the little boy looked exactly like a chibi version of their resident cook; large grey-blue eyes, a small body and fluffy ears and tails. The only difference between the mini clone and the real thing was that the mini is wearing a black and blue yukata instead of the usual suit.

"Hello, I'm guessing Sanji-kun made you, huh? And I'm guessing you the one that was playing hide and seek with me." Nami smiled at the little clone and began petting the little head causing her to giggle at how soft the ears were.

"I wonder if it's ok to hug you…" Nami wondered to herself, as she continued petting. She suppressed an 'aw' when the little fox hybrid started purring happily at the treatment he was getting. And Nami's self-restraint broke.

Nami placed her drink on the nearby table. The small child blinked up at her, surprised from the sudden stop of the petting and gave a little high pitched yelp when he was suddenly picked up and crushed into the generous chest of the Strawhat navigator.

"Kya~ you're so cute!" Nami exclaimed hugging the chibi cook tightly. She stopped her gushing just long enough to notice the protested noises coming from the Chibi. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Nami released the Chibi from the confines of her chest and held him in front of her. All she got in return was a slight glare and tussled blond hair. She couldn't help but giggle sheepishly at the childish pout.

After the Chibi stopped looking disgruntled he started struggling and Nami let go instinctively. Immediately after the Chibi made contact with solid ground he ran towards one of the cabinets, jumped in and shut the door behind him. Nami seat dropped, Well, seems like Chibi doesn't seem to be a womanizer.

I wonder what happened to Sanji-kun… come to think of it I haven't seen all day, he wasn't even here at breakfast this morning, there was only a plate of sandwiches and a note. Nami started wonder, brow furrowing slightly. And usually he would insist on delivering the drinks himself, did something happen? Did he hurt himself?

With this thought in mind Nami started to exit the gallery to go on a Cook Hunt; maternal instincts acting up and also the usual feeling of annoyance. The navigator had already on several occasions caught the blond cook overworking himself and couldn't help but feel exasperated and yet worried for the cook. When Sanji is tired it affects how he cooks and despite many warnings from both Chopper and Nami, the cook always overworks himself to gain perfection. At first it had been annoyance with how stubborn Sanji was being, insisting he was fine but later grew into worry when Nami had one time caught Sanji drying the same plate for 15 minutes.

She heard a small creak and saw the Chibi peeking out from his hiding place. When they made eye contact the Chibi squeaked and slammed the door shut again. Nami sighed and walked over to the cabinet. She knocked on the door gently and after a few moments the door opened slowly and a pair of fluffy fox ears poked out, followed by a tentative blue-grey eye.

"Hello again." Nami smiled at the Chibi. "Do you know where Sanji-kun is?"

The Chibi gave the navigator a scrutinizing look before slowly coming out of his hiding place and started walking towards the pantry. When Nami didn't move the Chibi looked back at her expectedly.

The Chibi uttered a single word, so soft it was almost a whisper. "Come."

Nami thought she imagined it but followed him either way. She opened the door of the pantry and nearly screamed.

"Sanji-kun?! Why are you lying on the floor?!" Nami exclaimed, running towards the cook, who sure enough was lying in the corner of the pantry and was currently using a sack of potatoes as a pillow and began to shake him by the shoulders.

"Hrmm?" Sanji grunted as he blearily opened his eyes. "What Sami? Let me sleep for a little longer, I'm still sleepy…"

"Sanji-kun it's me." Nami slightly panicking that he didn't realise it was her, "Did you sleep here all night?"

"uh, maybe?" Sanji answered back, unsure himself scratching his head, messing his hair up even more, his ears giving a lazy flick. "I just felt really tired and the hammocks are too far away, so I slept here."

Nami was speechless until she saw Sanji starting to snore softly again.

"DON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP!" Nami screamed and was about to bonk him in the head but stopped when she heard a high-pitched voice.

"I wouldn't bother doing that."

Nami looked up at the Chibi that was standing by the door for the whole exchange.

"So you do speak." Nami said, placing Sanji's head back on his makeshift pillow and folded her arms. "Care to explain?"

"What do you want me to explain? Why he's passed out or how I exist?" The Chibi answered blankly, face impassive and uninterested.

Geez, I take back thinking he was cute. Nami frowned, sweat dropping. His character completely changed.

"Both. First explain why Sanji-kun is so tired." Nami stood up and walked towards Chibi. From a different perspective it would look like the Chibi was being scolded by his mother if only his stance wasn't so relaxed.

"He's tired because he overused his powers, the idiot still unable to use his Fox Orb properly yet so he's regaining his strength through sleep." The Chibi walked back and sat down on his stool again, as he was explaining he went back to his previous task of peeling vegetables. "His power solely relies on how strong he himself is. It's similar to exercising, you go for a run but after an hour you begin to feel tired, you need to stop to rest and regain your strength. The more you run the better you get at it, your speed, your stamina; it all increases. But sudden sprints will just make you tired all the time and will not help you at all. You won't improve, you just damage yourself. This idiot might have done a sprint yesterday."

"Why would he do that?" Nami asked, glancing worryingly at the sleeping cook's direction.

"Because he's an idiot, he has his reasons, I don't know." The Chibi answered, "I don't know what goes on in his head."

"But aren't you created by him?" Nami frowned. "Surely you would know at least something about your creator."

"I wasn't created by him, I am him. I'm him when he was at this age." Chibi answered irritably when he nearly cut his finger. "I don't know what goes on in that 'adult brain' of his and I don't want to. While it's annoying being treated like a child, I'd rather be a child than ever finding out what goes on in that little emo brain of his."

"Wait, you're him? And he is you? And if so, did you just insult yourself indirectly?" Nami asked, bending down to be eye-level with the Chibi.

"Yes I am him and so what if I insult myself? It doesn't bother you in either way." Chibi answered curtly, throwing a peeled potato into the nearly full bin. "I'm a memory that he has of himself when he was 10, see those floating blue orbs that always surround him? I'm one of those blue orbs."

Nami turned and walked back towards Sanji. Last time she had counted (yes she counted, so what?) the amount of blue orbs there were the same amount tails he had, so 6 in total. When Nami counted again she realised there really were only 5 orbs that were floating gently around Sanji. Still…

Nami looked back in the direction of the Chibi. "You are a really bratty child you know that?"

"SHUT UP, LIKE YOU WERE ANY DIFFERENT!" The Chibi shouted standing up angrily glaring at the navigator.

"EXCUSE ME? I WAS AN ANGEL UNLIKE YOU." Nami shouted back, stomping out of the pantry.

"I BEG TO DIFFER."

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU LITTLE-"

"WELL WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU? YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S ARGUING WITH A 10-YEAR-OLD."

"Are we interrupting something?"

A soft voice broke up the argument as both the Chibi and Nami looked in the direction of the gallery door. Leaning against the doorway was Sami with a bemused expression on her face. Standing beside her was a smiling Robin.

"…no." Nami mumbled, embarrassed.

"Tch." Sun picked up his dropped peeling knife and grumpily dumped it in the sink. He walked towards one of the cabinets, picked a new knife, sat back down on his stool and finished peeling the half peeled potato.

Sami looked disapprovingly at the Chibi. "Sun! That is not the way to talk to a lady!"

All she got as an answer was the Chibi sticking her tongue out at her.

"And I've told you before you need to take better care of Sanji's knives." Sami clucked her tongue, walking over and gingerly plucked the knife out of the sink. She picked up a slightly damp dish towel and began to clean the knife gently. "Sanji would have your head if he saw you just dump them in the sink."

"Sun? Is that what we're calling Chibi here?" Nami asked pointing at the Chibi.

"Hey! I'm not little!" Sun protested.

"Please, look in the mirror, I can't believe you're 10." Nami frowned. "Not to mention you act like a petulant child."

"Well, you are rather small for a 10-year-old." Robin noted, crouching down to Sun's eye level. "You seem more of the size of a 7-year-old. It's like your body is lacking certain nutrients it needs to grow to your normal size." And he's also much too skinny for a child to be heathy.

Hearing Robin's words something flashed in the expressive blue-grey eye. Sun gritted his teeth, ears lowering slightly, before tearing his eyes away from the archaeologist's icy blue eyes and reached for another vegetable and silently began to peel again. This silence continued as all three female members gazed at the young cook with various degrees of concern.

"Nami-chan, Robin-san, may I have a moment alone with Sun?" Sami's voice was quiet as she made her request. Robin moved towards the door without a sound, Nami looked in the direction of the fox-girl before following the older woman. It was no use answering; it was never a request. It was a demand.

As Sami heard the door shut she made her way over to the still silent Sun, hair shadowing most of his face. She knelt down and saw his hands were shaking slightly.

"Sun, look at me." Sami demanded.

Sun flinched but refused to look up, hands shaking even more now. Sami started to see clear liquid running down the small face. His ears were lowered flat on his head and the normally soft looking tail looked brittle with all the fur standing on end.

"Sun. Sun. Sun put down anything that's in your hands and hold them together." Sami demanded. To her relief, he listened and put down the vegetable and knife but his hands were still shaking, the clear liquid falling down even more rigorously now. Sun started making soft high pitched whines and cries, ears completely flat on his head and tail puffed up unmoving from its upright position. Despite not seeing it Sami knew that Sun's eyes are currently yellow and dilated from fear. Sami placed her own hands beside each side of Sun's hands. She brought her hands back and

SMACK.

"Ouch!" Sun immediately jumped and began fanning his now stinging hands. "Sami?"

"Back?" Sami smiled gently as she got a slight nod in return. "Glad to see that trick still works. Now take a few deep breaths and follow my lead."

Sami took in a deep breath, making sure Sun was following and breathed out again. This continued for a few minutes of the two breathing in sync. Slowly, Sun's hands stopped shaking, his ears started to perk up again and his tail softened. His eye's slowly turned from a golden fox yellow back into the stormy blue eye.

"Feel better?" Sami asked.

All Sun did was nod.

"Ok, then." Sami stood up and stretched, making a small noise of satisfaction before looking mischievously down at Sun. "I think San-chan slept enough, don't you think?"

"You're not going to ask anything?" Sun asked, bunching his yukata into his fists.

"Why should I? You'll tell me in your own time." Sami said casually. "So, do you want to wake up your useless older self or not?"

Sun immediately took on a mischievous look that was identical to Sami's and nodded his head.

"Well, come on then." Sami gestured towards the pantry door. "Oh, before that, get San-chan's lighter, I'm going to get something else…"


"Sami-sis?" Franky looked up from his latest project, grinning wide and struck his trademark pose. "how can I help our suuuper new crewmate?"

"Hello Franky." Sami replied cheerfully, "I was hoping I could borrow some unwanted wood?"

"Sure thing!" Franky immediately started to look through his supplies. "what kind of wood do you want? We have oak, maple, cherry, mahogany, walnut, rosewood or maybe you even want to use some of the Adam wood?"

"Hmm, whichever one you don't need the most. I only want a small piece." Sami answered, looking around Franky's workshop in interest. The man really could make anything.

"Oak it is then!" Franky presented the small plank of wood with a flourish. "Never hesitate to ask for help ok? Especially if it's from me!"

"Thank you very much! I will take that advice to mind." Sami beamed, taking the plank of wood and made her way to the exit.

"By the way, Sami-sis, what do you need that plank of wood for?" Franky asked out of curiousity.

"Oh, only for a special wake up call." Sami smiled evilly and shut the door behind her. Franky couldn't help but shiver slightly, well she lives up to the profession of a demon alright. Wait, special wake-up call? With wood? Actually I don't want to know.

Meanwhile Sami was happily making her way back to the gallery, tails swishing behind her but went to a halt when she turned around a corner.

"Ah, Sami!" Nami exclaimed when they nearly bumped into each other. "Um, is Sun feeling better?"

"Yeah, I managed to cheer him up." Sami sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "Seems he had a rough childhood in this world too…"

Nami found herself reaching her hand up to her tattoo. She ghosted her hand over the permanent ink embedded in her skin wistfully.

"What on earth was I doing? How can I call myself an older sister when I can't even protect my baby brother?" Sami clutched her arms tighter to herself like a self-hug.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over this." Nami scolded, pulling Sami's hands into her own. "It wasn't your fault, what could have you done? You were as much as a child as all of us were, with little to no idea of what the world was like."

"But-" Sami protested, starting curl in on herself.

"What happened in the past happened, nothing we can do can change it no matter how much we want it to. All we can do is focus on the present and create a better future than the past." Nami forced Sami look up and smiled. "Besides if we change the past we wouldn't have the Strawhats now would we?"

"With the Butterfly Effect and all? Definitely not." Sami smiled, ears perking up again. "Sorry about that, I just couldn't stand seeing Sun so upset, after all he is my brother."

"Sun said he was 10 right? Then whatever happened to him at that time is probably still fresh both mentally and physically to him. Sanji-kun is 19 now, it still hurts but he learned to live with the pain better now, all of us have and I'm sure you as well." Nami squeezed Sami's hands. "You've seen him, acting like an idiot around ladies, wearing his heart on his sleeve with that stupid grin of his, honestly there are times when he reminds me of a weird sophisticated, smarter and 'mind in the gutter' version of Luffy.

"Pff, that's true." Sami giggled. "It's pretty ironic, he was a bit of a perv in our previous life as well, but that may be partially my fault so, what can you say?"

"You made Sanji-kun perverted? Oh god what goes on in your head then?" Nami asked in mock horror.

"Many, many things. Be glad you don't have the super power to read minds." Sami answered very seriously. Both girls kept their straight faces for another few seconds before they both started laughing.

"But I hope he didn't cause you any discomfort before I came along, he was raised differently in this world so I have no idea what he was like before compared to now." Sami asked, quirking her eyebrow.

"Well I guess having two different sets of memories and morals is bound to change a person huh?" Nami mused. "The most he has ever done was compliment us a lot and dance around us, he might not really have a sense of personal space but he never touches us inappropriately, he's too much of a gentleman to do that. Discomfort? Unless you count annoyance then no he hasn't made neither me nor Robin feel uncomfortable. It's honestly nice to be pampered by him. Compared to then and now he actually isn't too different."

"So he didn't change that much, that's good to hear." Sami let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried he was completely different from before and that it might have unnerved you guys."

"It doesn't matter to us." Nami shrugged. "Sanji-kun is still Sanji-kun with new sets of memories or not. If we can't accept him for who he is then we can't call ourselves his nakama."

As Nami was talking, Sami started to smile softly. They really are a good crew.

"I would like to apologise." Sami said suddenly and bowed deeply causing Nami to look at her in surprise. "I'm sorry that I've ever doubted you and not trusting you with my baby brother and for that I'm sorry."

"It's fine! It's fine!" Nami said frantically, waving her hands. "You were only looking out for you brother! We won't blame you so there's no need to say sorry! In fact, I should be the one to say sorry!"

"Eh?" Sami looked up in surprise.

"…Luffy, our captain, well you see," Nami began to explain awkwardly. "He has good institutions on whether you can be trusted or not but he's still one of our youngest members. He can be naïve and childish so the rest of the crew usually observe the people Luffy befriended in their own way to judge if your trustworthy or not."

"So the whole crew has been observing me?" Sami raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"More or less…" Nami muttered, shifting her feet sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Sami laughed. "How about this? You don't need to say sorry then I don't need to say sorry, that's fine right?

"Sounds good to me" Nami nodded and the two girls shook hands on it.

"Geez, all this fuss over you, San-chan, I see what you mean when you said he can be annoying." Sami scrunching up her nose. "Siblings are such a pain."

"Tell me about it." Nami nodded in agreement.

"You have a sibling?" Sami asked in surprise

"Yes, one older sister whom I love very much and yet is always a pain in my ass." Nami answered. Yet despite the biting words Nami still had a wistful look on her face. Sami couldn't help but think about her siblings from her past life as well and both relative sisters shared a moment of comfortable silence. Sami pulled out a cigarette from her jacket and lit it. If the ginger head had minded she didn't show it as Sami took in a lungful of the toxic smoke.

"…Does Sanji call you by a nickname?" Sami asked softly, watching the wisps of smoke disappear.

"A nickname?" Nami thought for a bit. "…Well he added -swan at the end of my name but he does that with every lady he meets."

"Have you heard him add -swan to your name ever since I arrived?" Sami asked quietly.

Nami's eyes widened. Now that she thought about it, he hasn't said it for a while now, recently it was only 'Nami-san'.

"The honorific '-swan' isn't just an honorific." Sami paused to take in another drag of her cigarette while Nami was still stunned. "Swan was the nickname he called me whenever I needed comforting, likewise I call him Duck. I don't know if it meant anything before and was just a nickname but it's a name that means a lot to me and him now."

"So," Sami flicked her cigarette into the sea and smiled brightly. "I'm going to give you a special task."

Nami gulped nervously. There's something behind that smile, I know it. She could literally see the evil intent rolling off of the fox-girl and Nami took a hesitant step back. Sami leaned in, her taller height making her look even more intimidating. The younger of the two was about ready to cry and run when Sami finally spoke.

"Whenever Sanji needs comforting or support and I'm not around, I want you to take my place." Suddenly all killing intent was gone and Nami looked up at the taller girl in surprise. Sami smiled sadly at the navigator.

"We're pirates, everyday could be our last." Sami leaned back onto the wall. "Sanji loves all of you and he'll do anything to keep you alive. If it's to give away his life, he'll do it in a heartbeat and he never asks for anyone else to do the same for him. But I will be that someone that does it."

"I won't give away my life, but if doing so keeps him alive and happy I'd do it, if it's to give away my powers I'll do it, if it's to throw away my pride I'll do it, if it's to betray and backstab every single one of you I would still do it." Sami said determinately. "He's already done so much for me and what I'm willing to do for him pales in comparison to what he would do for you or me or anyone he holds dear."

"So," Sami stands upright again and faced. "If I'm ever not there when he needs me, I want you to take my place."

"No." Nami answered, face blank.

"Eh?" Sami sweat dropped. She didn't even consider…

"Don't get me wrong, I will support all of my crewmates including Sanji-kun without you even telling me." Nami tucked a bang behind her ear and gave a hard stare at Sami. "But I will never take your place. I can't take your place, just like how no one can take my place for Nojiko or vice versa. How like no one can replace Sanji for you."

"Ah." Sami gave as small noise of understanding. "let me rephrase that then, don't replace me but do help San-chan back on his feet. He'll grieve and it will be hard for him so please do anything to bring him back on his feet."

"Like I said, that goes without saying." Nami huffed, turning away. "Seriously, you two are so alike it's scary."

"I thought twins were supposed to be alike?" Sami grinned, Nami only rolled her eyes and walked off.

The moment Nami was out of sight Sami's grin dropped, her eyes shadowed and she clutched the plank of wood even tighter. How much longer?

"By the way Sami, why do you have a plank of wood?" Nami suddenly poked her head around the corner again, causing Sami to make a startled little squeak as she was snapped out of her stupor.

"Uwaa you startled me Nami-chan." Sami breathed deeply, placing a hand over her heart.

"Sorry about that." Nami answered way to cheerily to be sorry. "But really why do you have a plank of wood?"

At this Sami remembered her original objective.

"Ah!" Sami suddenly exclaimed, startling Nami this time. "I forgot! Sun's gonna be mad at me..."

"So," Sun clipped out, vein throbbing on his forehead. "Is there a reason why I was waiting for you to return for 15 minutes?"

"I got distracted…?" Sami answered back unsure, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

What's with this situation? Nami sweat dropped. Sami was currently kneeling on the ground in front of Sun, with his arms crossed. Even when kneeling, Sami was still taller than Sun and yet…Why does Chibi look like a parent scolding a child with their hand in a cookie jar? Also…

"When did you get here Zoro?" Nami asked the swordsman that was quietly observing the scene before them as well.

"I got here when I got here." Was the curt answer. Nami suppressed the urge to punch his dumb face in.

"Why are you here?"

"I got thirsty." Zoro replied gesturing to the mug of sake on the table.

"You know Sanji-kun going to mad, right?"

"Does it look like I care?"

"You will when he locks all the booze away in the fridge next time."

Zoro's eyebrow twitched. "I think he already has."

"huh?" Nami blinked at grouching swordsman. "you mean…?

"That's water."

Nami immediately walked over towards Zoro and snatched his mug up. She took a small whiff and took a small sip. Sure enough it smelled like nothing and tasted like H2O.

"…so I'm guessing he found out you knew where he hid the booze and replaced it with water?" Nami asked rhetorically, a wide grin manifesting on her face. The swordsman stayed silent but the tick that appeared on his forehead was all the answer she needed.

"Got the lighter?" Sami asked catching the attention of the two crewmembers. They turned around and found that the question was aimed at Sun, who lifted a lighter in confirmation. They were also in time to see a huge evil grin appear on Sami's face that gave them shivers.

What is she up to? Was all they could think as they stared at the fox girl.


I'm sorry I ended it here, please don't kill me!

To answer questions!

TheBewingedWolf: Yes, there was some time between their deaths but I won't tell how long :3. The world they lived in before they died is not the One Piece world but our world without One Piece. How they kept their powers are the blue orbs that float around them but more information will be given later on in the story!

No one asked for this but I'm going to give a more detailed description on what Sami looks like! How I picture her is basically my version of genderbend Sanji. As mentioned in previous chapters, Sami is pretty much the same height as Sanji. She's tall and skinny but not the type that looks sticks but more of a lean type with shoulder length blond hair. As mentioned slightly by Nami, I picture her as flat-chested and not exactly curvy. It just seems more loyal to Sanji's body type as a girl, she would still be tall, lean and most of the time these body types are flat chested to me. I know Oda draws his female characters extremely curvy with a negative one waist but this how I picture Sami. Besides she makes up for it in the sass department u

She normally wears a singlet with an oversized long sleeved shirt with a sleeve hanging off a shoulder and her shoes are flats. She always wears black tights with a slit skirt over the top that hide her daggers like how Nami carries her Clima Tact.

Also in this chapter I added in reference to another anime, and I challenge you if you can tell me the reference and which anime it's from! From now on each chapter will have a reference and it will not always be from an anime! I wish you luck!

Well that went longer than expected…

As always, please leave a review!

-Kagu-chan