Sanji stood holding the crib in place. Peaking at the twins, he let out a sigh at their sleeping faces. Making sure nothing would move again, he straightened up and slowly pushed the crib back against the wall. Happy with the normal setup back in place,he turned around and saw Usopp carefully putting down some of the toys and bags that had flown from their places. He was thankful that someone was with him when the Coup de Burst went off. Sanji had been surprised that it rocked the ship as hard as it had but, then again, he hadn't ever been below deck when one went off before.

With his hands on his hips, Sanji let out a sigh and closed his eyes, thinking. Usopp watched him as he finished putting a few more things back in place quietly. He didn't want to disturb Sanji and he wanted to avoid the Sanji from moments ago too. Placing the last toy he had on the dresser, Usopp turned towards the room door. Brown eyes darted between Sanji and the door as he started to slowly approach it. He wasn't sure if everything was good for the cook to leave so leaving first was his best option. As his hand touched the door knob, he took one last glance at Sanji before looking back at the door and turning it as quietly as he could.

"Usopp."

He froze. Sanji was still thinking. His eyes are still closed. I'm sure of it. Without turning his head, Usopp let his eyes trail ever so slowly to the blond haired man. He quickly moved them back towards the door upon seeing sharp blue eyes staring at him with crossed arms. He can't see you. He can't see you. He can't see y-

"Where are you going, Usopp?"

Sanji watched as Usopp stood still. He could practically see his eyes watering from not blinking. Taking a few steps towards him, Sanji leaned his head down , blocking Usopp's line of sight.

"There's no way you were about to leave," Sanji leaned a little closer. "Right, Usopp?"

Usopp looked up at the ceiling and gulped. His legs were shaking out of control and he half wished that he wasn't the one that came to help Sanji. Half because he was the best and only option to do it.

"No," Usopp said shakily. Clearing his throat, he took a step back and released the knob. "Me? Leave? No, no,no ." He waved his hands and then crossed them in the sign of an 'X'. "I was just making sure everything was fine after the Coup." Laughing slightly, he reached forward and turned the knob back and forth a few times. "It works just fine. No need for any repairs."

Sanji straightened up and watched as Usopp scratched the back of his head. He could see his smile quiver the whole time.

"Then you don't mind me going instead." Sanji said with a smirk.

Usopp's eyes shot up. "What? No, thats-"

"You said it yourself, Usopp." Sanji held his hand out, pointing at him. "You weren't leaving."

Thinking back on what he said, Usopp started shaking his head. "No." Stopping, he looked back at the door before meeting blue eyes again. "Why can't you just trust me on this, Sanji? " Usopp whined as his arms dropped down to his side. "I'm really trying to help."

Sanji stared at Usopp. He felt bad seeing his usually happy crewmate looking depressed but what was he supposed to do? "I do trust you Usopp." Usopp looked up happily. "I trust that you would do what was best for every member of this crew." Sanji paused as Usopps face scrunched up in confusion. Turning around, he said "Even if that means lie to me."

"Wai-"

Usopp's yell was cut off by Sanji swinging the door open. He closed his eyes, ready to give up but opened them a second later when he didn't hear Sanji leave. Opening his eyes, Usopp stared at Sanji's back before looking around him to see Luffy with his hand up as if he was about to knock on the door. Glancing to the side, Usopp noticed that Sanji was just as confused as he was.

The first person to recover between the two was Luffy. His hand dropped and he stared into Sanji's eyes.

"Sanji." Luffy's tone was serious enough to surprise both Usopp and Sanji. "I need to talk to you."

"Yeah," Sanji said with a slight crack in his voice after a moment. He cleared his throat and continued. "Yeah, ok, no problem there captain. But can it wait until after I see Zoro?"

Though it was phrased as a question, Sanji had already begun to try and leave the room. Luffy took a step and blocked him from going further. This surprised Sanji but scared Usopp. He didn't know what was going on at all.

"Sorry, Sanji," he said. "But this can't wait."

Hearing footfalls in the distance, Usopp stuck his head out the door. Peaking through the small space between Sanji's side and the hallway wall, Usopp was able to make out Franky and Brooke making their way towards them. Quickly sticking his head back into the room, Usopp could only pray to whatever Gods could hear him to make sure this conversation went well.

"What is it, Luffy? I have to get to Zoro." Sanji stared at their captain. He was quiet but seemed to be thinking about something. His expression sent a chill down the cook's spine.

"Sanji," Luffy looked up to meet blue eyes and held them. "You can't see Zoro right now."

Sanji's face went through a series of emotions in a split second. Confusion and anger are the ones that stayed on the surface. "Why?" He said, trying to keep his emotions out of his voice as much as possible.

"Zoro," Luffy looked away and glared at the wall for a moment. He tried to suppress the surge of anger that swept through his body. Taking a breath, he looked back at Sanji. "Zoro defended the ship as best as he was able to in his condition. He's in the infirmary with Chopper and is being looked at." He tightened his hands into fists. It was his fault. "I'm sorry."

Sanji stared at Luffy before glancing at the other members one at a time. When his gaze landed back on their captain, he spoke. "How bad is he?"

"It didn't look good." Luffy said.

"But this is Zoro so it might just look bad." Usopp said from behind Sanji, trying to break the tension.

"Yeah, Zoro-bro can hold his own so I'm sure he's fine." Franky added in. A hand on his shoulder from Brooke stopped him from saying anything else.

Sanji let out a dry chuckle. " So, while I was down here, Zoro was up there going through hell? Is that what you're saying?"

No one said anything. They just stared at Sanji, each one with mixed emotions.

"I knew I should've spoken up when the arrangements were made. He shouldn't have been up there. He should've been here." Sanji said, jestering towards the lower deck. Putting his hands on his hips, Sanji let his head drop. "We should've never come here." He practically whispered the last part.

Luffy stared at the cook's blonde hair. "As captain, I'm sorry for putting you all in danger." When he didn't get a response, he continued. "Chopper should be done with Zoro soon and we will have an answer to how long his recovery will take. We'll all be making sure that his recovery goes well and- " He stopped for a moment and looked at the twins' crib from where he stood. "-and we're all available to help with the twins whenever you need."

Sanji's head shot up. "You're missing the point here, Captain." Usopp placed a hand on Sanji's arm to try and calm him down but was brushed off. "Zoro is injured. Someone should have been here to do something. Someone should have told me at le-"

"There was nothing that you could have done either Sanji." Luffy glanced at the cooks wrapped up hand. "We made the best decision we could at the time. It was a joint decision to leave you both here, with you in charge of the twins and Zoro keeping watch." Sanji glared at Luffy as he spoke. "I get that you're frustrated, but we are too. None of this should have happened."

"Frustrated?" Sanji whispered. He turned to look at the wall opposite the door. "Frustrated, you say." He nodded his head slowly and tightened his hand into a fist. A moment later, he turned back towards Luffy "I don't think any of you understand what I'm feeling right now."

Luffy stared at Sanji, a little confused. He wanted to interrupt him but waited for the chef to continue.

Pointing his finger at himself, Sanji said "I have a responsibility to keep him safe. To keep my family you think I'm frustrated? Frustrated is what I feel when I mess up a perfectly good dish." He paused to take a deep breath. "I'm angry, Luffy. Hell, I'm beyond that at this point. I was here the whole time. I was just below him and didn't help."

Usopp wanted to comfort Sanji but he hesitated. Balling his hand into a fist, Usopp let out a defeated sigh. Today was just a bad day overall and it wasn't getting any better.

"What about the babies, then?"

"Luffy-"

Brooke's desperate voice was cut off by Luffy.

"If you went and helped Zoro, do you think he would be happy? Have you thought of what that would mean?"

Sanji didn't say anything. He just stared at Luffy.

"You don't think any of us feel the same way? We tried to get back as fast as we could and didn't. We tried to protect everyone and couldn't." Drops of blood began to drip from Luffy's hands from how hard he had them balled up. He didn't want to let his anger get the best of him. Not in front of his crewmates who needed their captain right now. " Zoro wouldn't have wanted you on deck and he didn't leave our side no matter how much we tried to make him." An image of the tattered swordsman flashed through Luffy's mind. "Zoro is a pirate and he knows the dangers of that. Talking to him or arguing wont break his resolve. We can't change that." He looked at the floorboards. "We're your family too, so we feel the same. But there's nothing we can do now."

Luffy waited a moment before turning around. "I'll ask Nami or Robin to take the twins for a while. You should go wait for Zoro." And with that, he made his way down the hall.

The remaining members stared after their retreating captain. Usopp looked at the ground and saw a trail of blood drops. Surprised, he stepped out of the room and ran after him, screaming his name in the process. Feeling down, Franky excused himself from the group, apologizing to Sanji and announcing that he would be fixing the deck. Brooke watched the bodies retreat before turning to Sanji.

"Would you like some company while we wait?"

Sanji looked up at the skeleton and nodded. He walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. He stared at the ground for a second before putting his head in his hands. Brooke sat in the chair nearby and just kept Sanji company, something that the cook appreciated.

As they waited, Sanji just thought about what Luffy said. He groaned and tried to bury his face deeper into his hands. He knew Luffy was right but he really hadn't been thinking. He thought back to the drops of blood and wondered if Luffy was okay. Maybe he should make sure he was doing okay after he checked on Zoro.

Brooke just watched the chef from the side. He hummed to fill the silence. He was only a little concerned about their present problem but was sure everything would fix itself. That's how most things happened when you were a strawhat. Glancing around the room, he wondered if Sanji would be able to fix all of his problems in this limited time.

A knock on the door brought his attention back to reality. He watched as Sanji moved quickly to open the door for the girls and thank them. Before he left, he turned to apologize to them and then disappeared down the hall. Brooke left a little slower, greeting the girls and asking if he could help with anything.

"No," Nami said as she made her way to the crib, checking on the twins with a smile. "I'm all good."

As Brooke turned to leave, he was stopped by Robin.

"Brooke," She faced him as she sat on the bed. "I don't want to trouble you, but do you mind continuing to keep Sanji company? You know how he is."

"Why, of course."

Both of them shared a smile before Brooke turned and left. Letting out a sigh, the raven haired women turned to watch the navigator of the ship swoon over the two sleeping babies. She smiled at the sight. Picking up the book she brought with her, she began to read while hoping that Zoro would be better in no time.