I'm back everyone! With chapter 25!!! I'm in a down kind of mood right now, so I don't know when the next chapter will come. I went to my regional science fair yesterday, but ended up only getting honorable mentioned. So, i'm kind of in a disappointed mood right now. Enough of me! I just want to apologize to a few readers for what happened in the last chapter. That'll all be cleared up in this chapter. So, don't worry! Also, this chapter has pretty random events going on, and they fly by kind of quickly. That's about it with problems, so I hope you enjoy!

Key:

" " - Dialouge

' ' Thoughts

Flashback

OoOoOoO - I think you know what these mean

Chapter 25

'What the hell's wrong with me, damn it?!' thought a certain perplexed author. She gripped a hand to her chest where her heart was and her breathing was a little abnormal. She gulped a few times, and then composed herself. 'Wh-what's all this? What am I getting all worked up for? Th-th-this surely isn't anything.' Saro opened the door and saw Lin standing there, just about to reach for the handle.

"Hey Saro! Is breakfast ready?" she piped. Saro looked at her blankly without an answer, and then gave a stiff nod. Lin smiled at her and walked in, Saro following her with her eyes for a moment before lazily dropping them to the floor. Her hand hung loosely on the handle before she gripped it again and walked out to call the other three still outside.

"Nami, Robin, Luffy! Breakfast is ready!" called Saro, cupping a hand around her mouth to amplify her voice. Three heads turned around, and one jumped up and ran over to her, a grin on its face. The other two smiled and stood up from their lounge chairs, stretching a bit. Nami sent a sly glance at Saro, but just quickly enough for the girl to not notice. She was already back in the kitchen, helping Sanji bring out the other dishes.

"What's with all the white stuff everywhere?" asked Luffy, sliding into a seat beside Lin. Saro slightly narrowed her eyes, but turned around to pick up a plate. She carried two plates of food to the table, set them down while avoiding Luffy's look, and went back to get bowls for everyone. Sanji glanced a worried glance at her, but proceeded to answer while pouring out the stew into bowls Saro had handed to him.

"Saro and I were just kiddin' around a little, and it got kind of messy." The school girl slammed her palms to the table with her mouth agape.

"You were kidding around with Sanji, Saro?!" exclaimed Lin, flabbergasted.

"Yup," she said blandly, handing the last bowl to the cook and grabbing two others to set out. The blond girl was speechless and just sat back down as Saro placed the bowls of steaming stew down. Nami and Robin walked in, having taken their sweet time arriving to the kitchen. Nami slid down into a seat in front of Luffy while Robin sat beside her diagonal from Luffy but not in front of Lin.

"Hello, dear Robin-chan and Nami-san!" said Sanji, pouring the last of the stew into the bowl. Saro reached out for a bowl while Sanji did, with his attention away of course, and he accidentally grabbed her hand, grasping it quite tightly. He immediately turned back and let go, blushing a bit.

"Oh, sorry about that. Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah… sorry," he said quickly, looking at her black eyes. She looked up at him, smiled, grabbed two more bowls, and went to set them on the table. He also grabbed two and handed them to her as she came back.

After all the bowls were set and most of them had been seated, Zoro and the other sleeping ones had finally awoken from their deep slumber.

"Hey, sleeping beauties. Hurry up and let's get to eating breakfast," commented Saro, earning a few chuckles from everyone. She took a seat in front of Lin while Sanji sat beside her. Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper took the remaining seats and everyone dug in. Having already become accustom to fighting for food with Luffy, Sanji managed to get a plate full of assorted foods before Luffy could snatch it away. He handed it to Saro and proceeded to fight for his share.

"Damn it Luffy! Quit being so greedy!" yelled Zoro through gritted teeth. The women, save Lin, were happily eating their food while the guys fought each other for a mere morsel. Noticing her discouraged expression, Luffy stopped and handed her the plate he had filled so high with food, an apologetic expression on his own face.

"Sorry," he said like a child that had just been scolded.

"Oh, it's ok Luffy! I know what it's like to be so hungry all the time, too!" she giggled. He laughed along, everyone else taking the paused time to get a scrap of food. He indulged himself, again, and pretty soon, the plates were empty and everyone sat back in their chairs, full and satisfied.

"Would any of you ladies like dessert?" asked Sanji, standing up with a half bow. They all declined, feeling too full to eat anymore. Except for Saro, who hadn't eaten much in the first place, but would rather not eat it. "Saro, you don't like sweet things?"

"Not really. I would just rather not eat it," she said, standing up and grabbing the dirty dishes. She pilled them up one by one and carried them to the sink while the others dispersed to go and do whatever they felt like doing. Soon, there was only Sanji and Saro in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes together. She rinsed and dried them off while Sanji washed them with the soap. They went on like this for most of the time until most of the dishes were done. After a long time of water running, stopping, the sponge squishing against the plates, and the clinking of them touching each other, one of them finally spoke up.

"Is everything ok, Saro?" asked Sanji, handing her a plate. She took it, rinsed it off, and began drying it.

"Why would you ask that?" she replied.

"Well, you were kind of quiet after I asked you to call Nami-san and the others. And then you didn't eat much at breakfast. I don't know why, really, maybe just a little intuition," he said jokingly. Saro let out a short laugh and placed the plate on the drying rack, grabbing another wet plate from the cook.

"A point for you, detective," she commented with a slight smile on her face.

"So, what's bothering you?" he asked, washing off the last dish.

"Nothing's bothering me," she snapped. She put up the last dish, threw the rag to the edge of the sink, and went to dry her hands with a different clean rag. She heard the refrigerator open, then close, and then a clink of glass against the counter. She turned back around to see a vanilla ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup and a strawberry on top. "What are you doing?"

"I want you to try this. I saw a recipe of it when I was in your world and it looked quite delicious," he said with an innocent smile. "It'll make you look happier too… like you look now." She snapped back, realizing he was referring to her gazing at the ice cream. He handed her a spoon and lifted his eye brow as if saying, "You know want to."

"Fine, but in my defense, I'm only eating it because you want to know if you made it delicious or not," she said, taking the spoon.

"Yeah, sure. Like I need anyone to tell me that. I already know it's delicious," he gloated. Saro dipped the spoon into the ice cream; the silver quickly disappearing into the white ice cream. She pulled it out gently, placed it in her mouth, and her eyes lit up.

'Wow, this is the best ice cream I've ever eaten in my life…' she thought. She let it melt slowly in her mouth, savoring the flavor, and then she slipped the spoon out from between her lips.

"Pretty good," she said, even though it was obvious she loved it. Sanji grinned at her and remarked, "See, I told you I knew it was good."

"Alright, Mr. Cook. Why don't you try some?" she said, dipping some ice cream into the spoon and holding it out for him. He was hesitant, though he had no idea why he should be, but he bent down a little and closed his mouth over it. Just then, the door opened and Luffy had burst in, looking around for his hat.

"Hey, Sa-"He stopped mid sentence. He spotted her feeding the cook ice cream and sort of froze for a moment, and then went about looking for his hat. He noticed it, stretched his hand to it, and snatched it back. "Never mind, got it!" He placed on his head and ran back outside, closing the door. Saro let go of the spoon, it now dangling loosely by Sanji's teeth. It was only silence between them for a moment, though it seemed like a few years had gone by.

'Now I'm feeling weird again. Why's it feel like I suddenly lost something?' she thought. She dangled the glass in her hand, and then placed it on the counter, deep in thought.

"I'm… going to get some fresh air. We can talk another time, ok?" she said, walking towards the door. He nodded and turned away, trying to look like he had duties to attend to. The door shut, and he slumped his shoulders back, staring at the ceiling.

'Now, wasn't that a little awkward? Oh well. At least, I know what I feel now,' thought the cook, pulling the spoon out of his mouth. 'I just gotta hope they do too… Love is such a tricky business…especially playing cupid…'

OoOoOoOoOoO

Luffy bounded over back to Lin, who was enjoying the slight breeze that was blowing by. He walked up to her with a confused look on his face, again feeling weird feelings in his chest. He held a hand there for a short moment, but dropped it, not knowing what else to think about it.

'That's weird. I don't usually get this feeling…' he thought, afterwards, Lin's eyes opened and looked at him. She saw the confused look on his face, and she grinned at him.

'My turn!' thought the school girl. She reached out a hand and tagged the captain, making him stumble backwards.

"You're it!" she said, beginning to run. He laughed and began chasing her around the ship, instead tagging Usopp to join in on the game. A few more running and screaming moments later, Chopper joined in as well, laughing in his high pitched voice.

Saro stood up from crouching under her bed, bringing up her sketch book and journal. She opened the journal, flipping through a few pages, not many been filled out. Her sketch book still only held that one picture she sketched for Luffy.

'Better make use of this… I can't just waste money like that,' she thought, walking out of the room. When the writer opened the door, Lin zoomed by her, followed by an eager Luffy. He stretched out his hand and tagged her as she ran down the stairs.

"That's cheating, Luffy!" she yelled, abruptly turning and running towards him. He tried to skid to a stop, failing horribly, and Lin rammed right into him. They both fell with a loud thud, Lin on top of the captain, and sputtered from the impact. One laughed and then the other followed, Saro just watching the two of them for a moment. The straw hat boy tilted back his head and noticed Saro standing there, staring at them.

"Yo! Saro!" he greeted, holding up a hand as well. She blinked once, twice, and then continued walking past them. She quickly stepped down the stairs and climbed up the ropes to the Crow's Nest. Luffy followed her with his gaze until she disappeared over the edge. His face dropped to a sad expression, thinking about something. Lin, by now, had gotten off of the boy and knelt beside him.

"I'm tired now Lin. I'll play later," he said, getting up. He walked down the stairs and across the deck towards the lion head. He jumped a few times and set himself right on the snout, his legs dangling from the sides. Lin turned her head at the sound of a door creaking behind her, and half smiled at the man who emerged from behind of it with a smile on his own face.

"So, how'd it go?"

"They fell for it," she answered. "Hook, line, and sinker. But, I can't help but feel just a little bad for doing it this way. Are you sure this'll work?" The cook rolled his eyes up to think, rolled them back forward, and shrugged.

"It all depends," he answered, stepping out and sitting down beside her. She shuffled over to sit next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "It should work if our friends are smart enough."

"Saro's super smart except when it comes to this. She's a little slow sometimes," giggled Lin. Sanji chuckled and sighed deeply. She closed her eyes and rested them for a bit while the day dragged on.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Saro dotted the last period of her most recent journal entry, and closed it tightly. She placed it down gently and sighed. Most of the day had already gone it was just the beginning of evening, a sunset on the horizon shining its reddish orange rays on the ship. She stood up and looked down on deck, scanning around with boredom.

"Looks like everyone's gone in for dinner. Whatever," she muttered; taking a glance at the plate Sanji had brought her for lunch and dinner. She wasn't in the mood of seeing anyone in the first place, and he seemed to sense that right away. With another heave of a tired sigh, she sat back down and picked up her journal again, running her hand across the leather cover.

"I should put this up," she said. Just then, as if waiting for Saro to say that, Lin popped up from the edge with a "Hi!". Saro jumped and nearly fell over the edge, sitting back down with her chest rising and sinking rapidly.

"What the hell?! Do you try to scare me into a heart attack?!" exclaimed the writer, eyes wide and angry. Lin only grinned in reply and looked at her sympathetically. "What? What are you looking at?"

"It's nothing. I'll put that up for you if you don't want to come down," offered Lin.

"Uh… yeah, sure. Thanks. Just put it on my bed," she said, holding it out. Lin took it with glee and stood there on the ropes looking at her friend.

"Saro?"

"Hm?"

"You'd tell me if something was wrong, or bothering you, right?" Saro stared blankly, thinking. And then she smiled, patting her friend on her head.

"Yeah. Now, get going. Don't want to miss dinner," she said, shooing the girl away. Lin pouted, but laughed. She climbed down the ropes and soon the sound of her steps faded away. Saro sat back against the wooden Crow's Nest, closing her eyes.

'I'd tell her anything? What if I didn't know how?' she thought. The writer drooped off into a slumber as the sky grew a dark gray color.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Lin, where's Saro? Isn't she hungry?" asked Luffy, stopping to talk with a full mouth of food. Lin closed the door behind her and shrugged.

"She wasn't hungry. I don't think she wanted to come down from there right now," answered Lin, taking a seat.

"What's she moping about? What kind of person stays up in a box all day?" remarked Nami. A few glances were shot towards her, but the question was left in the air unanswered, not that there was an answer to give. Luffy looked out of the porthole for a second, noticing how dark it was outside. He instinctively stood up from the table and walked towards the door.

"Luffy?" said Sanji, not lifting his eyes. But, a sudden flash of lightening and flash of thunder roared afterwards. The ship suddenly began to rock dangerously, knocking everyone to and fro.

"Shit! Saro's still out there!" yelled Zoro, not that he needed too. The door was already opened and swinging back and forth by the force of the winds.

"Shut the door!" ordered Nami.

"But Luffy-"

"Just do it! They can make it to another part of the ship!" she exclaimed.

'This damn Grand Line! I would've been able to tell if a storm was coming! What the hell's going on?!' thought Nami, hanging onto the table. The door was shut by a reluctant Zoro and everyone held tight to something sturdy and decided to wait out the storm.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Saro!" called Luffy, his voice barely audible through the harsh wind and water. He looked towards the Crow's Nest and saw that on side of the ropes leading up to it had been burnt off from something. He figured lightening had somehow stricken it. He ran towards the said still intact and climbed as quickly as he could.

"SARO! I'm coming up there! Hang on!" he yelled again. He saw nothing, but could very faintly hear her crying in fear. He was halfway there when the ropes were struck by lightening again, burning them. He stretched out his hand just in time before the ropes fell to the deck below. The captain bungeed back into the Crow's Nest, flying against the merciless rain beating down on him.

He landed, quickly steadying himself on the rocking ship. He saw Saro crouching by herself against the wood planks, her knees held up against her chest and her hands covering her head. He steadily walked over to her, thunder booming. He saw her cringe, tightening the ball she was in. Luffy knelt down in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, sitting down against the wood planks as well.

"Ju-ju-just what do I-I do?" stuttered Saro almost incoherently.

"It's ok. I'm here. I'll protect you, Saro," he assured her, squeezing her tightly in his arms. She kept her eyes closed even though his body kept the rain out of her face. The warmth of his body kept her from shivering, making her feel safe. She pushed herself closer against him, catching him off guard, but he just kept squeezing her tightly, keeping her safe and warm.

"Luffy…" she whispered; he barely heard her through the storm.

"Shh… I'll protect you… my Saro," he whispered back. They stayed like that, Saro in Luffy's arms, and she kept her eyes closed the whole time… his words echoing in her mind.

'Shh… I'll protect you… my Saro…' Along with those words, she couldn't help but sense a hint of familiarity for some reason. But, she was already too tired and exhausted to care. Soon, she had dozed off, the storm dying away. But, the captain still held his arms around his crewmate, keeping her safe.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"I'll protect you… my…" groaned a young man, collapsing before finishing.

Saro opened her eyes, and looked around till they focused. She stood up, stretching out until she noticed where she was. But, shock filled her mind… along with fear. She turned and saw the older man that had spoken earlier, lying in front of a little girl.

"No! Wake up! Wake up!" she cried, tears falling in streams down her face. In front of her, there stood two adults staring down at them with evil smirks.

Saro watched the scene to her horror before she covered her ears, shutting her eyes.

"No. No. No!"

"DON'T!!" she screamed aloud, suddenly waking up. She covered her mouth, quick breaths entering through her fingers. But, it was only Luffy next to her, and she hadn't screamed that loud. She adjusted her index finger and felt a tear at the edge of her eyes.

'No. No more. No more…' she thought. Shaking, she turned her head to see a Luffy leaning gently against her, lightly snoring. Awe struck the writer, no memory at all of last night's events. 'Luffy?'

"Saro…?" mumbled the captain, his eyes groggily opening up. She felt her cheeks burn up suddenly, but it quickly went away when she saw how he was looking at her with attention. "Saro. You're shaking. And you screamed."

"No, it's ok Luffy. I'm-"He gave her no time to finish. He grabbed her again, holding her tight against him.

"It doesn't matter what's happened to you or what will happen. I don't know a lot about you, but I do know this. I'll always protect you. I promise…" he said, bringing tears to her eyes suddenly. She slipped her arms out and hugged him back.

"Thanks… captain," she whispered, her voice partly choking. "You don't know what that means to me." They stayed like that for a while and then they parted, looking at each other. He smiled brightly like the idiot he always is, and she half laughed, trying not to cry. He lifted a finger, and caught a tear about to fall. Then, the sound of camera shutters went off and Saro's mind turned back to the evil one it was.

"Now, that's a keeper!" said Lin, holding her cell phone pointed towards them. Saro turned her head towards the girl, a glare set in her eyes.

"That's amazing how that little thing can do that," said Sanji in awe. A growl resonated in Saro's throat, signaling that the two would have to be on their guard today for any sudden movements. They scurried away by the water "stairs" that Lin made, leaving the two alone again.

'Note to self: Destroy portable phone device in near future,' Saro told herself. Luffy laughed and smiled at her again.

"Well, maybe I can't protect you from them though," he laughed. She smiled at him, and leaned in against his chest.

"I'll make a promise then. I promise…" she drawled, trying to think of something meaningful.

"Never leave my side," he finished. She blushed at first, but remembered that she was now a part of his crew. His nakama. She nodded in agreement and held out her pinky. The captain followed and held out his, too.

"I promise to never leave your side," she recited, Luffy latching his pinky onto hers.

"I promise to always protect you," he repeated with a triumphant smile. They let their fingers go with a laugh, and the promises were made.

The return of the dreaded camera cell phone and random endings!! AHAHA! -ahem- Yeah, the ending was pretty random. I had another way intended, but this decided to come up instead. I hope that didn't make it worse or anything. Made the chapter pretty long, though! Anyway, I hope that cleared everything up enough. Err... cleared up the recent mysteries at least. There's still plenty to learn about Saro and Lin! You'll just have to wait for the story to keep going! Oh yeah, and this pretty much concludes our mixed up pairing arc. Please review!