"Usopp, I know that you're here! Show yourself!"
Turning around by the mentioning of his name, Usopp was at first not sure if he had heard right. Then he spotted the orange-haired woman dressed in white and dark beige who came storming towards their table, and his eyes widened.
"Nami? Is that you? What are you-"
"Why didn't you tell me that the Clima Tact's power would weaken?"
Being interrupted by such a question startled the marksman and caused him to fall silent for a short moment. Blinking, he leaned back with one hand hanging over the back of his chair while he looked at Nami, who just came up next to him.
"What? I don't understand-"
Once again, he was interrupted. This time by the loud noise as Nami slammed three metal pipes against the table. On the opposite side of the table, Chopper squeaked and took cover behind Ace, who silently watched the scene with great interest.
"I'm talking about these," Nami said while locking eyes with Usopp, a very threatening look on her face. "They just stopped working in the middle of a battle. We were almost killed thanks to that!"
"Well, what the hell do you want me to do about it?" Usopp asked heatedly, trying to put on an equally threatening expression. He failed quite miserably, since the dark look in Nami's eyes was scaring him just as much as it always had done in the past.
Nami obviously still had the ability to be very intimidating when she wanted to. Usopp remembered that he once had said that Nami's scariness wasn't as much an ability as the ones gained from Devil's Fruits, but it was just as effective or even better at times, since she could still swim.
"I don't know! Just fix them! You're the one who invented them in the first place." Nami spread out her arms as she continued to look down at the marksman.
"Yeah, yeah," Usopp sighed in defeat. "I'll take a look at them. By the way, it's nice to see you too, Nami."
The orange-head sighed and flopped down on the chair next to Usopp, where Chopper had been sitting during their breakfast. She cocked her head lightly to the side and leaned her right shoulder against the back of her chair.
"I'm sorry, Usopp. It's great to see you again." She turned her head and seemed to notice the two other pirates by the table. "Oh. Ace, Chopper, are you two also here?"
While Nami was greeted by the other pirates, Usopp picked up one of the metal pipes from the table, identified it as the Cold Tact and started looking for what could be wrong with it. At first, he had to search his memory for the technique he had used when he first constructed the Tacts almost ten years earlier, but as the blueprints appeared in his mind, he found it a lot easier to search for the problem. He realized, however, that he wasn't wearing his improved sniper goggles, and figured that he would have to go back to the ship later to retrieve them before he could make a thorough inspection of the Tacts.
As he was studying the Cold Tact, Usopp could hear someone walking up to his right, followed by the sound of a chair being pulled out. When he looked up, he was met by the analyzing gaze of a pair of iceblue eyes, shaded by the brim of a white and purple cowboy hat.
"Robin!" his voice was a bit louder than he had intended, but Usopp hoped that Robin wouldn't have noticed how surprised he was to see her. "I didn't see you come in. Nice to see you again."
As he put the Tact back next to the other two, Robin sat down to his right and leaned against the table with her chin propped against the palm of her hand.
"Likewise," she replied, a serene smile adorning her face. "And it is nice to see you as well, Doctor-san; D-san,"
She nodded towards Ace, who was trying to persuade Chopper to come out from behind the chair where he was hiding. Looking up in time to see Robin's greeting, Ace grinned widely and bowed lightly in return before he went back to calming the little doctor, who still wasn't convinced that Nami had finished shouting.
The rest of the greetings that followed were suddenly interrupted by a bubbly, amorous, and overjoyed voice coming from the other side of the dining hall. It made a few of the other guests turn around in their seats to see what was going on, while the pirates hardly made any movement as the voice reached them.
"Nami-swaaaan, Robin-chwaaan! How wonderful it is to see you again! With the passing of each day, I have missed you with all my aching heart. I hope that you don't mind that I whipped up a small breakfast, in which I've poured all my undying love for you…"
As Sanji waltzed over to the table, carrying a large tray with food that looked like the breakfast he had served to Ace, Chopper and Usopp – only more delicious – the latter resumed the examination of the different parts of Nami's Clima Tact. While he was examining the Heat Tact, he caught himself wondering how the heck Sanji possibly could have made breakfast for Nami and Robin in such a short period of time. Then Nami's voice pulled him away from his thoughts.
"Sanji-kun? Are you working here? I never would have guessed…"
"No, Sanji-kun owns this place," Usopp chipped in without taking his eyes from the Tact in his hands. "I heard one of the waiters calling him 'Owner' earlier…"
Nami's eyes widened and she turned her head to look at Sanji, who was serving Robin a cup of coffee to her breakfast.
"Sanji-kun owns this restaurant?" she asked with a smile. "That's wonderful!"
"If it doesn't end up killing him…" Chopper muttered as he peeked out from behind Ace's chair. He still looked warily at Nami, but seemed to have been convinced that Nami's anger had gone away.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nami asked, frowning as she looked from Chopper to Sanji.
Sanji sent the doctor a cold glare before he resumed offering Robin sugar and cream for her coffee. The little reindeer caught the glare and hid behind the chair again.
"Chopper just thinks that I'm too stressed, Nami-san," he calmly explained, nodding with a smile as Robin said that she preferred her coffee black. "No need to worry about me."
Nami smiled and turned to start eating her breakfast. As soon as she put the first piece of her omelette in her mouth, her smile widened and she made a delighted sound that sounded almost like a mewing cat.
"It's delicious, Sanji-kun. It tastes even better than I remembered it."
"Only the best is good enough for you, Nami-swan, Robin-chwan."
Sanji smiled softly, picked up the empty tray and started loading it with the stacks of empty plates and glasses that still were on the table after the first breakfast he had served. Turning away, he walked across the room towards the kitchen again, still smiling to himself. It had been a long time since he had felt that happy, and nothing seemed to be able to make his mood drop. Or so he thought. Just as he reached the kitchen, the silverdoors were pushed wide open, revealing a very annoyed-looking Pati.
"More friends of yours?" the mintgreen-haired man asked in a hushed manner, folding his muscular arms across his chest.
The smile on Sanji's face faded instantly, and was transformed into a dark glare as he looked up at his best chef. By some reason, he felt very annoyed over the fact that the older man was almost a head taller than him, and it was hard for him to keep his voice down when he spoke.
"If you have something to discuss with me, please refrain from doing so in front of my guests. Kitchen. Now."
The doors had barely swung shut behind Sanji before the older chef turned towards him, accompanied by Carne and two other chefs. Putting the tray of empty plates on a counter to his right, Sanji looked at his employees, who stared back at him without saying a word.
"Is there a problem out here?" he asked calmly.
"I don't know if you realize it, Sanji, but your so-called guests are scaring the other customers," Carne said after a moment of silence.
"Yeah," Pati said gruffly, still with his arms folded across his chest. "Now, there's not only Fire Fist Ace, Usopp the Liar and Dr. Chopper out there in the dining hall – and we all know that all of them are in alliance with the Pirate King – but now you've let Nico Robin and the woman known as the Tangerine Treasure Hunter stay here as well!"
"I am fully aware of that, yes," Sanji replied in a bored voice. He was so tired of the same old conflicts, and he was only waiting for someone to inform him about Nami and Robin's bounties. "But my question was if there is some kind of problem out here."
A pair of hands, large as cannonballs and lined with thin, pale scars landed heavily on Sanji's shoulders. Sanji hardly blinked as Pati stared into his eyes.
"Listen, Sanji. They're your nakama, I know that, but you of all people should know that they can't stay here. I usually couldn't care less what kinds of people show up here, as long as they're paying customers, not even pirates. But those people are bad for the Sagatie's reputation."
"Are you going to give me this speech every time someone from my old life shows up here, Pati?" Sanji asked coldly, glaring up at the older man. "Because I'm tired of it already."
"Sanji, come to your senses!" Carne snapped from behind Pati. The longhaired man pushed his sunglasses further up on the bridge of his nose and looked seriously at Sanji. "People here are scared, and we're going to lose customers because of them!"
Tired of being lectured, Sanji tore free from Pati's grip around his shoulders. He took a step backwards to get out of the chef's reach and looked darkly at the men in front of him, aware of the fact that all the chefs and waiters in the kitchen plus the three young apprentices were gathering behind Pati and Carne. His eyes narrowed stubbornly as he straightened his back.
"They are staying. If anyone has a problem with that or can't take my word when I say that they are not going to harm the restaurant or the guests, he can pack his things and leave. I don't need cowards on my ship."
For the second time in three hours, Sanji left the kitchen with anger boiling inside him. He emerged from behind the silverdoors and immediately set his course towards the table where his nakama were sitting. As he passed through the dining hall, he noticed that there were a lot of empty tables which he knew had been occupied only minutes earlier. It seemed like Pati and Carne had been right, and it was very disturbing for Sanji to admit that. He only hoped that no one would inform the Marines about the whereabouts of Fire Fist Ace and five of the Pirate King's closest nakama.
When he reached the table, he pulled up a chair and sat down, realizing too late that he hadn't quite managed to get the annoyed look off his face.
"Are you alright, Sanji-kun?"
He looked up and met the questioning look in Nami's eyes, forcing a light smile. The slightly worried tone in her voice made him want to assure her that everything was fine, but he could hardly find enough energy to do so.
"Of course, Nami-san," he said, but the tone of his voice wasn't as light as he had tried to make it sound. "I just had to deal with something back there. As the owner of the restaurant, I have to take care of a lot of small problems like fights between the chefs and so on. There's nothing to worry about."
To Sanji's right, Ace leaned back in his chair.
"I hope that our presence isn't causing the problems," he said seriously, without a trace of the familiar grin on his face.
"Yeah, you can tell us if we should leave," Usopp said, his eyes still focused on the Tact in his hands. "We're not blind, we can see the way your waiters and guests are looking at us."
"No," Sanji sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Why was he feeling so tired all of a sudden? "No, you don't have to leave. There'll be other guests coming later, so don't worry about it."
"Aw, that's the sweetest thing I've heard in years," Usopp chuckled lightly and put the Tact on the table next to the other two. "Nami, I think I can fix these, but I might need some material for the cores. I'll check my own storage later, but I can't promise anything."
"Really?" Nami's face brightened and she threw her arms around Usopp's neck, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Usopp, you're the best!"
Sanji leaned so far back in his chair that the front legs almost lost contact with the floor. He was glad to hear the familiar voices around him. It was soothing to hear Usopp trying to make Nami pay for the repair of her weapon while Chopper breathlessly told Robin and Ace about the many discoveries he had made during the year they had been separated. For a short moment, Sanji felt like he was back on the Going Merry, but then the argument with his chefs returned to his memory.
It was true that having five wanted pirates in the dining hall was going to affect the restaurant's reputation. But on the other hand, there was no way Sanji was going to refuse serving anyone without a good reason. And as far as he was concerned, that someone had a high bounty didn't automatically mean that the person was unacceptable as a customer.
Sanji leaned his head against the palm of his right hand, clasping the left hand around his right upper arm. His headache was returning, and it didn't feel like it was going to fade away any time soon.
A light touch of fingers brushing against his left shoulder made him look up, at first confused since everyone around the table seemed to be busy with their conversations. But as Sanji felt a pair of hands rubbing his tense shoulders, he smiled lightly and let his gaze wander towards the black-haired woman to his left. Robin returned the smile as she met the chef's eyes.
"Thank you, Robin-chan," Sanji said, feeling the tension in his shoulders slowly fade away.
"Doctor-san is right, you shouldn't get so stressed out," Robin said softly, her iceblue eyes wandering from Sanji to the little reindeer, who was babbling on about the improvements he had made on his Rumble Ball.
"For you, Robin-chan, I'll stop right away," Sanji said in an attempt to sound a bit less gloomy. He was met by a serene smile that made his heart flutter; a feeling he intended to enjoy for a moment.
"Damn it, Nami! I'm not going to repair it for free this time!" Usopp suddenly burst out, slamming his fist against the table.
Sanji frowned as he looked at the sniper across the table. The only thing that kept him from flipping the table over the long-nosed marksman was that Usopp was sitting between Nami and Robin. Even if he knew that both women could take care of themselves, Sanji wasn't going to risk hurting either one of them just because Usopp didn't know how to treat a lady.
Across the table, Nami shrugged in defeat, finally agreeing to pay for the repair. That made Usopp calm down again and peace once again fell over the small group. To Sanji's right, Ace and Chopper started laughing at the sight of Usopp's satisfied grin. Once they calmed down, Ace leaned back, one hand sweeping his black hair out of his eyes.
"What were you saying before about West Blue, Nami?" he asked, grinning lightly. "I guess I blacked out again…"
Nami scraped up the last piece of her pancake from her plate and put it in her mouth. She looked thoughtful for a moment, but then she nodded.
"Right. I was telling you about our trip to West Blue," Nami put down her fork nest to her plate and smiled towards Sanji. "Thank you so much for the food, Sanji-kun."
Sanji returned the smile with less difficulty than before, and he nodded gently towards Nami.
"It was my pleasure, Nami-san. So, you've been to West Blue?" he added in a curious tone.
"Yes, I went there with Robin. I tagged along with her in case I could help her find any trace of the last Poneglyphs she's looking for," Nami explained with a wide smile.
"Don't you mean that you went there with Robin just in case she would find any hidden treasures?" Usopp said teasingly, causing Ace, Chopper and even Robin to chuckle a little.
"Oh shut up, Usopp!" Nami snapped, aiming a punch at Usopp's face. The marksman easily evaded the punch, while he did his best not to explode from holding back the laughter he knew would only cause Nami to get angry with him again.
"Anyway," Nami continued, slightly less happily than before. "When we came to the first island after leaving the Grand Line, we found that the only town there had been almost completely destroyed. All the houses at the town square had been reduced to piles of concrete and planks, and all I could think of was how much it looked like the town Buggy the Clown controlled in East Blue years ago…"
"Buggy?" Sanji frowned. "Didn't Luffy kill him just before we reached Raftel?"
"Well, that's what we thought," Nami said, leaning forward with her elbows against the table. "But the villagers told us that a clan of circus-pirates had destroyed the whole village with only one large cannon, and they were led by a blue-haired man with a big red nose."
"I think I remember that clan," Ace said thoughtfully, tapping his index finger against his upper lip. "They had this huge lion that was green and purple…"
"The pirates had left the island two days before we arrived," Nami continued, not taking any notice of Ace's comment. "So there was really nothing we could do to help the villagers - except helping them create temporary shelters where they could live while they rebuilt their homes."
"However," Robin added, her monotone voice almost drowning in the murmur from the other guests in the room. "The village elder gave me a hint that an island in northern East Blue was said to have a large stonecube, which fits the description of the Poneglyphs."
"So after stocking up on food, water and of course some new clothes on the nearest island, we set out for East Blue, and that's how we ended up here" Nami finished, smiling brightly again. "And I'm so glad to see the four of you again."
"Same here," Chopper added shyly. "It feels like I'm home…"
As Nami continued to tell stories of her and Robin's adventures, Sanji allowed himself to relax. The hands which had sprouted from the back of his chair to rub his shoulders had disappeared when Robin joined in the storytelling, commenting or correcting the story where she felt it was needed. But his headache had already faded, and he was happy to notice that he wasn't feeling annoyed over his chefs anymore either. He trusted his nakama, and he'd show Pati, Carne and the others that they could trust in them as well.
Blah, I don't like this chapter... I don't know why, but I just don't like it. Raarr, I don't like writing Nami and Robin, I can't bring out their personality...
Anyway, I hope that the next chapter will be a little more eventful...
FieryKitsune - Actually, I've just started on the Skypiea Arc myself. Kyle, Manti, Kiera and Seraly are characters I made up myself for this story. I like the idea of having a musical duo. I think Luffy would love that, since he wants a musician so bad.
Namibean - I know what you mean, I think the flashback was something the story needed. I needed it as well so that I could determine the whole reason to why they split up in the first place.
Digitaldreamer - Well, I hope that I can bring Zoro and Luffy in soon... I just need to go through some more chapters and maybe even some other familiar characters... -stops before she says too much- I'll see so that I get the next chapter up soon. I promise.