Chapter 6 – Dilemma

Well, you know how it goes. During the fight against Wapol and his men, Tony Tony Chopper realizes he is the Straw Hats' nakama and joins them. Well, that doesn't happen here since Wapol is already dead in this story. Luffy, Sanji, and Vivi convince Chopper that they need him with them and that they do not think he is a monster. With Dr. Kureha helping them to convince him, he finally decides to go, remembering what Dr. Hiluluk told him about pirates... And so, they prepare to leave Drum Island...

Yeah, I know it is a pathetic edit, but why should I elaborate? This is a love story, and shall remain as such. : )

Luffy and Sanji helped Vivi get up and walk to the repaired Going Merry. They all stayed at Dalton's house for one night because repairing the Going Merry took so long, except for Chopper who stayed with Dr. Kureha for one last night. Chopper joined them in the morning, and they all prepared to go to sea again.

Vivi sighed happily and looked at the two gentlemen helping her to the ship. "Thanks so much, you two. You saved my life." She looked at Chopper. "And many thanks to you, too. You're the best doctor we could ever have!" Chopper was a bit embarrassed. He grinned. "Thanks."

Dalton-san, Kureha, and a majority of the villagers followed them to the ship. When they reached the ship, they all turned to face the people of Drum Island. "Thank you so much for your hospitality," Nami said gratefully. "Anytime," replied Dalton-san. Kureha cackled. "You pirates sure are something else... Oi, rubber kid. Make sure you take care of my Chopper, understand?" "Yosha!" Luffy said happily in response. "Bye, Doctorine!" cried Chopper with tears in his eyes. "I'll come and visit, I promise! I'll show you how great of a doctor I've become!" Kureha grinned. "I'll look forward to it," she muttered so no one heard her.


"Oi, someone wanna help me with this damn thing?" called Usopp from the little office room next to the kitchen. Luffy and Nami went to see what Usopp needed help with.

The big bookcase that held all of Nami's informational books and maps had fallen. It didn't break, but it crushed the small table. Nami sighed as she looked at the books and maps strewn all about. "What a mess." Luffy grinned and walked over to Usopp. "Yeah, I'll help ya. We have to lift this big thing back up, right?" He indicated the fallen bookcase. "Yeah," Usopp confirmed. "Well, let's get to it!" said Luffy.

They each take a different end of the bookcase and heaved. Nami inwardly smiled. (Luffy could've done it single-handedly. Usopp's so funny...) When the bookcase was back up, Nami sighed again and put her hands on her hips. "Well, let's start cleaning this mess up. Hey, Sanji-kun!" she called sweetly. He seemed to appear out of thin air. "Yes, my sweet Nami-swan?" "Could you please go finish taking care of my orchard? I've planted the seeds already..." "Hai, Nami-san! Leave it to me!" He was gone just as quickly as he came.

Luffy, Usopp, and Nami started cleaning up the room. Or rather, Nami and Usopp cleaned up while Luffy picked some stuff up sometimes and tried to stay out of the way.


"Here is your medicine for today," Chopper said as he handed Vivi a couple pills. "Make sure you take them, okay?" "Thanks, I will," Vivi responded kindly. Chopper started to leave, and Vivi started to get up to get a glass of water, and that's when they heard Nami's shriek. They looked at each other and quickly ran to see what was wrong.
Everyone was in the room in a heartbeat, except for Zoro who was out napping in the sun as usual. Nami looked like she was going to cry. Luffy put a hand on her shoulder and kept telling her, "It's okay, it's okay, we'll be fine..." "What's wrong?" asked Sanji urgently, gardening shovel still in hand. Nami couldn't answer, so Usopp did. He pointed to small fragments of glass on the floor. "See that glass? That used to be the Eternal Log Pose for Arabasta... It got crushed by the bookcase during the storm..."

Sanji's shovel fell from his limp hand and clanged as it hit the ground at his feet. Vivi fainted. Chopper, who was closest, quickly transformed and caught her. Sanji took her out of his arms and looked into her face. "NO!" he wailed. "The shock has made her faint!"

Well, needless to say, the crew got very panicky soon after. Everyone kept asking the same question: "How are we gonna get to Arabasta now?" Luffy was the least worried, next to Zoro who couldn't possibly have been worried at all since he was sound asleep. Luffy finally decided to make a speech.

"Okay, everyone, listen up! We're gonna keep on going! Nami will try her hardest to steer us in the right direction. We'll search the Grand Line and hope for the best!"

"Yeah," mumbled Sanji in agreement, "we have been lucky bastards lately..." Everyone went to different parts of the ship. Luffy and Nami were left alone at the ship's bow.

"I don't know if I can do this, Luffy," Nami said worriedly. "I mean, I think I'm a good navigator and everything, but this is the Grand Line. I need that Eternal Pose..."

"You don't need anything!" said Luffy cheerfully. "You only need your nakama, and we're all here! We'll support each other and find a way through this, just like always!" Nami gave him a weak smile. "Yeah... I guess you're right." "I'm gonna go eat something now," said Luffy, and he walked away.

"Wait!"

Luffy turned to see Nami running towards him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, startling him. "Thanks for believing in me like that. You're real sweet, Captain..." She ran off, and Luffy stared after her, rubbing the spot where she kissed him in puzzlement...

Sanji had watched the whole thing through the kitchen window. He groaned. "I forgot... I told Luffy I would help him... Guess I better talk to him tonight..."


Dinner was hectic as usual. Things didn't even slow down for the newcomer, Chopper. The reindeer man eventually learned that he needed to join in the fray to get any food. It was like survival of the fittest. He was able to use his small form to sneak food off the table while everyone fought, or he could turn huge and knock them out of his way. He generally liked the smaller form better. When dinner was over, everyone's thoughts were back on the dilemma at hand. They all grew grim again and stationed themselves at different parts of the ship.
It was pretty late. It was hard for Sanji to tell exactly what the time was. It didn't matter. Everyone on the ship was asleep, and that's what mattered. With a lot of effort, he dragged the sleeping Luffy off his hammock and out onto the deck. The night sky was clear and beautiful. The air was a bit crisp, but not so cold that one needed a jacket. Sanji sighed. (This is gonna be a long night...)

He proceeded to kick the crap out of Luffy until he finally woke up. "Huh, what, where, when?" Luffy cried when he finally woke up. He rubbed his eyes and took in his surroundings. His eyes fell on Sanji and stayed there. Luffy wouldn't get up from his sitting position, so Sanji sat opposite him using a crate to support his back.

"So," Sanji started. They were silent for a minute. "Soooo..."

"So what?" asked Luffy. "Buttons?"

Sanji fell down anime-style.

"All right, Luffy, listen," said the cook exasperatedly. "Before we start, you're gonna have to stop being clueless, okay?" He sighed. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a long drag and slowly blew out the smoke. "Then again, I can't ask you to stop being yourself..." "Sanji," Luffy said earnestly, "I'll try hard to listen and learn, I promise." "Well, let's see if there's a point first," said Sanji. "Do you like Nami-san or Vivi-chan or both?"

"Well, of course I like them both," said Luffy matter-of-factly. "They're my nakama." Sanji sighed again. "No, Luffy. Do you like them? How about this... Do you love them? Do you know what love is?" "Yeah, I think... That's when a guy and a girl like each other so much, they get married and get some kids, right?" "Yeah... that's one way to put it... Well, when Vivi kissed you, how did you feel?" "How did I feel? I didn't. I didn't feel anything." "Do you find yourself thinking about that moment a lot?" "Nope, almost never." (Good), thought Sanji. (That's one down... hopefully... You can never tell with this guy...) His somewhat triumphant thoughts were interrupted by the look on Luffy's face. He seemed so lost... (What could his problem be? He doesn't care about the kiss. What the hell is he so worked up about?)

"But..." Luffy suddenly started slowly, "I get this weird feeling with Nami now..."

Sanji's head snapped up and he stared at Luffy, who was staring at his feet. "Yeah, is that so? Explain."

"Well... I dunno... Since yesterday, whenever I go near her, my tummy starts feeling weird... My heart starts hurting my chest..."

(Butterflies in his stomach... raised blood pressure... Yep. It's Nami-san. Damn it! Why does it have to be Nami-san? Well, she'll be happy... and that's what matters, right? ...Right?) He resisted the urge to start crying. (Ooooh, my Nami-san... Luffy is so lucky...)

"Hellooooo? Sanji?"

Sanji was startled out of his reverie. "Yeah, sorry... Well, Captain, sounds like you like Nami." "Really?" said Luffy nervously. "Is that... a good thing?"

Sanji strongly resisted the urge to blurt out, "No! It's the worst possible thing in the world for you to take my Nami-san!"

"Y-y-yes, Luffy... It's very good... There's no point in holding it back from you... She likes you, too, buddy." Luffy's heart leapt. "Really? That's... that's GREAT! Wahooooo!" Luffy never felt such a feeling before. It was like he just defeated his strongest opponent ever. It was like eating the freshest meat in the world. It was pure ecstasy.

"But!" Sanji interrupted. "But... Vivi likes you, too." "Well, that's okay. I'll just tell her I like Nami instead of her! She'll understand!"

"NO!" Sanji yelled, startling both Luffy and himself. He calmed down as he took another long drag from his cigarette. "No, she won't. It's called breaking her heart, Luffy. And I don't mean that literally, like you thought I meant earlier. Here... Try to imagine that you married Nami, and you found out she got kids with someone else. How would you feel?"

It took Luffy a good while to answer. He eventually did. "Bad. Very bad." It was hard for him to imagine it, but he could tell he would be most unhappy...

"That's breaking a heart," Sanji said. "There's no pain quite like it. Many people have fallen victim to it. Well, anyway..."

They moved on with the conversation. Sanji taught him everything he could teach in two hours. He taught him how to treat ladies, how to talk to them, comfort them, offer help to them, how to react to certain actions... like kissing.

"And for heaven's sake, Luffy," Sanji was saying. "When a girl kisses you, kiss her back." "Uh, how?" "How? How? How can I explain is the question! Just... go with the flow. Use tongue if you think it's necessary..." "Tongue? What do you mean?" Luffy asked curiously. "You'll... find out," Sanji said, covering his ears in disgust. "Really, I don't want to talk to you about that..." Luffy ignored him. "Have you ever 'used tongue'?"

Sanji brightened up considerably at the question as memories flooded back to him. He actually ended up telling Luffy a few stories... until he realized what he was doing. He quickly shut up when he realized it. "Can't believe I was just telling you all that..." he mumbled. But Luffy had soaked up every single word. Whether Sanji meant to or not, Luffy learned a decent amount from his little stories.

About two hours later, Sanji stood up with a yawn and stretched. "Oookay, Luffy, time to go to sleep."

"Got it," said Luffy with a grin. "Thanks so much, Sanji."

As they walked backed to their room with their hammocks for long-awaited sleep, Luffy said one last thing that made Sanji want to kick him clear to next week. "I won't lie to you, Sanji. I've forgotten a good amount of what you told me." He ducked as Sanji tried to kick him in the side of the head. "But I will always remember one thing... go with the flow. I can handle that, since that's how I do everything else. I don't know why I thought this was any different." He sidestepped a follow-up snap kick to the ribs. "Thanks again, Sanji, you really did help me." "IT TOOK TWO HOURS FOR YOU TO LEARN THAT ONE THING? WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE I SAID!" "Don't worry, it'll probably come back in bits and pieces when I need them... when I'm going with the flow..."

So what do you think so far? I have been reading a romance fic called "Nami's Dark Little Secret", and it blows this one out of the water. I almost wanted to stop because mine looked so bad compared to that one. Well, my story line gets more interesting as they search for Arabasta, so I will just keep going and hope for the best. : )