It had come as a surprise to Sanji that Zoro yielded so easily to him about the bathing, especially after he'd been so stubborn in standing up to Nami-san. At the time, Sanji had naively thought that things would get better. Then, over the next few days, he'd realized that Zoro sometimes looked at him like a hawk, and spent much more time trailing him than was strictly necessary (as in: he spent some time trailing him). There was worse, but he was trying hard not to think about it.

Luffy, in usual irresistible Luffy style, had dragged Zoro off a little while ago. Sanji didn't know where, or what for, and as long as it was somewhere else, he really didn't care. In fact, he was so grateful to his captain for this small mercy that he was seriously considering not beating the idiot to within an inch of his life the next time he raided the fridge.

He was also trying very hard to ignore the conversation that was taking place behind him as he cooked.

"It's like a crush," Usopp said, deep in contemplation. Chopper nodded wisely.

"Yes, it's normal for boys this age to be attracted to strong father figures."

Since pointing out that he was not a father figure would show a bit too obviously that his attempt at ignoring them was failing dreadfully, Sanji bit back the comment and focused on his sauce.

"I saw him test-kicking in the anchor desk this morning, too," Usopp added. Chopper let out a soft "awwww". Sanji felt sick. It was a funny lie. But considering that he himself had once entered the storeroom and found Zoro pretending really hard that he hadn't just been trying to do splits, it was probably not a lie. Something was very, very wrong with the cosmic balance, and everyone who'd noticed seemed to find it incredibly amusing.

Sanji most definitely didn't.

"He still makes a lot of unpleasant comments, though," Chopper pointed out.

Yes. Excellent point.

"You know, at that age, that's how you express your affection."

Or not.

"But that's how Zoro always acts around San..." Chopper trailed off as a new shiny idea presented itself to him. "Hey, do you think maybe-"

"Alright," Sanji interrupted, slamming his wooden spoon on the sink. "Enough of this conversation." He really didn't care how they speculated about what Zoro actually thought of him, but the way things were going they were a step away from deciding that the moronic swordsman had romantic feelings for him. Which was a fun if mildly horrifying thought, and not Sanji's problem.

Except that knowing the two of them, they would then move on to how Sanji might or might not reciprocate said feelings. Or worse, decide that he should, and that it was their job to make it so, for the good of the crew.

Like hell he would let that happen.

"Now let me make one thing clear," he said, glaring at his crewmates. "The next moron who makes the slightest comment on this topic gets a one-kick trip all the way back to Skypeia. Understand?"

They were both nodding meekly when the door opened on Robin-chan, whose beautiful smile seemed a bit more amused than usual.

"Cook-san, I believe swordsman-kun is looking for you."

Sanji closed his eyes in abject defeat.

"Thanks for telling me, Robin-chan," he moaned.

It was a sure sign of how unfair the world was to him that even Chopper snorted in his drink.

Another sign of Zoro's unnatural attachment to Sanji was how often he popped up in the galley a few hours after going to bed. At first Sanji had thought it was because the warm milk he never failed to provide helped the boy sleep. Then, as he surreptitiously glanced at the tired, yawning face, he'd started to suspect that Zoro either kept himself awake, or had found a way to wake up after a few hours. On purpose. Just for the sake of sitting in silence and drinking two mugs of warm milk as Sanji did the dishes or prepared the morrow's breakfast. Then when Sanji was done and indicated that it was time to go to back to bed, Zoro did, and that was it for the evening.

It was as unsettling as any of the other signs that Zoro didn't dislike Sanji's company, but otherwise not really unpleasant. To Sanji it was very much like working alone, really, and he had no valid reason to kick the kid right out when he came. So he didn't, and had instead fit the milk preparation in his schedule, so that he didn't have to go out of his way and Zoro found the warm mug already on the table when he came in.

This time, the drink was cold by the time Zoro, looking especially miserable, pushed the door open. Sanji, who in the back of his mind had been kicking himself for wondering whether the boy was coming at all, reheated the drink with little fuss. It wouldn't be as good, but that didn't seem to matter much.

For the first time, Zoro didn't drink. He just sat there, shoulders slumped and eyes unfocused, as Sanji finished cleaning up after himself.

It wasn't hard to tell that something there was really wrong, and seeing the boy's face like that, he wasn't sure if he could just open the door and wait for him to get the message and leave. So he sat -it felt good to sit after spending so much time standing up- lit up a cigarette, and just looked at Zoro.

It took several minutes, long enough for Sanji to finish his cigarette and decide against having another one just then.

"Did I kill her?" Zoro asked finally, looking straight inside his still full mug. Sanji blinked.

"Kill who?" he asked, because it was the only question that made sense.

"I don't know. The girl." And suddenly Sanji understood. The memories aren't gone, they've just been locked away. "You dreamed of her?"

The boy nodded, still apparently lost in the contemplation of his drink. "I wanted her to not be dead. But she was. And it was my fault. So I guess I killed her?"

From the almost anxious tone of Zoro's voice, it wasn't hard to tell what answer he wanted. But Sanji couldn't provide it, or any other. He'd never minded not knowing, because it wasn't his business, just like the worst eighty-five days of his life weren't anyone's business but his and Zeff's. But now, looking at the expression on the kid's face, he sort of regretted never having asked. Nakama, he felt, should be able to provide that kind of answer. He sighed, and decided that he should have that other cigarette after all.

"Did you talk with Usopp? About your past?" Except in a way it was Zoro's future, but Sanji refused to try to make sense of the whole thing. There was Zoro and a Devil Fruit involved. Trying to think about it sensibly was just a certain path to headache.

Zoro snorted. "Usopp is a liar," he declared as if it was the Truth of Everything. Which in a way it was.

"Found that out by yourself, have you? Yeah, Usopp lies. But what did he tell you?"

"That I'm a swordsman," Zoro said. Still not looking up. "That I beat up a lot of people, and he's only seen me lose once. And," at this he frowned and looked up at Sanji as if for confirmation "that he's the one who taught me everything." Sanji smirked. "That last one was a lie. He forgot to mention that you're a major pain in the ass most of the time, but the rest is true." He got up and went to get a bottle of wine that in normal times Zoro would have shown a lot of interest in, and poured himself a glass.

"I've seen you slash through more people than I can remember," he admitted once he'd drunk his glass. "and I've seen the defeat Usopp was talking about. It was suicide, trying to fight that guy. You knew it, but you still tried, for some reason." Another glass, and then he stopped, because he didn't want to talk too much. "All I can say is, I don't know a thing about a dead girl. That was before I met you. If you've told anyone about it, it's Luffy. And even if you did, he doesn't remember any more than you do. You'll have to wait to find out. Twenty-one days left."

"But-" The boy stopped, and it was so terribly wrong to see Zoro like this, so lost and distressed. Faced with a problem he couldn't solve by growling and shoving his swords up something or someone. He was a man of action, for whom it was easier to lash out and fight than face whatever enemies were within. Sanji understood that perfectly.

"You've had that dream several times," he said. Not really a question. Even as a child, it would take more than just one dream to put Zoro in that kind of state. He didn't know what had prompted Zoro to talk about it now and not before, but it couldn't possibly be the first time. He wouldn't be so shaken, if it was. Indeed, Zoro nodded. Sanji sighed. Not so much he could do. All he knew about being comforted from nightmares was the ritual offering of warm milk, which obviously wasn't enough anymore. That, and the memory, so faint it seemed made up

--of a warm presence against him and a lullaby whispered in his hair as he fell asleep, and the feeling that everything would be alright because Mother was here--

of human contact.

Which was something Zoro would probably never let him live down, but that was in three weeks and right now there was a frightened kid in front of him, who was asking for his help and his guidance. The first time that had happened to him, since people had turned to Zeff at first, and then to Luffy. It was a responsibility he would have done well without, but it was there. Oh well. The Straw Hats Pirates as a whole were bad at thinking about consequences. They were probably famous for that on half the Grand Line. Plus, if the bastard ever mentioned it, Sanji had piled up quite a decent amount of blackmail material in the past weeks.

"You can sleep with me, if you want," he offered.

Zoro bristled. "I'm not a baby!" he shot defiantly. "I don't need that!"

"Of course you don't need it," Sanji said, rolling his eyes. Zoro was Zoro would forever be Zoro. Some things just never changed. "I'm just saying you can."

The next morning, the weather was gloomy bordering on depressed. There wasn't much wind to speak of, but a heavy curtain of rain blocked both sight and smell, and wandering on deck meant getting drenched faster than you could say 'bad idea'. As far as watch duty went, it was agreed after breakfast that the reduced visibility did not justify anyone drowning themselves in the crow's nest. However, as Nami didn't seem too happy with the thought of some enemy creeping up on them, Robin bloomed four strategically-placed eyes on top of the mast.

As a result, she was sitting in a remote corner of the galley, her real eyes closed as she stirred a cup of coffee, when Usopp declared with an air of importance that this was just the occasion he'd been waiting for, and spread a set of cards on the table. They were peered at curiously.

"Did you make those?" Chopper asked in awe after a moment.

"Yes!" Usopp declared. "It has been my secret project for a while, and now that it is finally completed, the Great Captain Usopp offers you this one-of-a-kind game of Happy Crews!"

"And now I know where my drawing supplies have been disappearing to," Nami said without much acrimony, shuffling through the cards. They were a work of art, slightly bigger than the usual playing card format, and Usopp had drawn and colored each of them by hand. "Vivi in dancer's clothes? Is that really appropriate?" she asked suspiciously. There was no denying that the princess had looked good in those clothes, but Nami hadn't noticed Usopp paying enough attention to them to be able to draw them this accurately.

"Ahhh, Vivi-chwaaaan", Sanji moaned in delight over Nami's shoulder. It was clear that the only reason he hadn't grabbed the card from her hands yet was that it was in her hands.

"They're people you know?" Luffy asked curiously. Usopp grinned proudly at him. "All of them are people we met, friends or foes, in our adventures! Giants, gods, flying horses--"

"Weirdos," Sanji commented, discarding the card of Foxy the Silver Fox for a more interesting face. "Heh, that's a good one of the shitty old man. You're more talented than I thought."

Usopp's chest puffed up with pride. "The Great Captain Usopp is skilled in every area! This was nothing! I once drew the portraits of an entire base of Marines in five hours!" He made a pause long enough for Chopper's eyes to widen in unadulterated hero worship. "And now, the last ones!" he pulled out another few cards from his pocket, and Nami noticed that on their backs was a good copy of her map of Reverse Mountain and the entrance of Grand Line. She'd have to fine him for using her maps (not to mention her paper and pencils) without asking her, but she could mention that later. For now, Usopp was picking a card out of the seven he had in his hand, and handing it to her.

It was undoubtedly her, laughing in the sunshine with two straw hat jolly rogers at the corners of the card. Definitely not the pose she would have chosen, but a good one nonetheless. She nodded at him, but he had moved on, and Chopper and Sanji-kun were now both blinking at their own reflections.

By that time, Zoro was having trouble pretending he didn't care about what was happening, and Luffy was almost jumping in his seat in anticipation.

"Robin? Usopp drew pictures of all of us, do you want to see yours?"

A dark eye slit open as the card was put in Robin's hand, but it seemed to take her some time to make sense of what she was looking at. Which wasn't surprising, considering her brain was probably not made to understand the signals sent by so many eyes in such different places. Then she smiled her mysterious smile, and put the card back on the table as she closed her eyes again.

"Is there one of me? Hey, is there?" Luffy finally asked, bouncing with impatience. Usopp grinned at him, slowly put his own on the table, and handed the last two cards to the kids. Even Zoro grabbed the one that was presented to him, and took a peek at his older self. Curious, Nami peered over his shoulder, and chuckled. "Well, that's Zoro, no doubt about it. Not his sanest facial expression, though." But Zoro didn't seem too interested in his face, as he touched his right lobe thoughtfully, looked at the picture again, realized his mistake and tentatively prodded at the other ear, where he found nothing. The holes were still there, probably because he'd been wearing the pendants when he'd been attacked, but he wouldn't be able to feel them.

"You can get the pendants back, if you like," she offered. Zoro scowled at her. But then, he hadn't been doing much else these days. As a grown-up he always expressed intense dislike towards her, especially when money was involved, but she knew it was fake. As a kid, he really did seem to hate her, and she wondered if that might have to do with his own case of hero-worship and the way Sanji-kun was always fawning over her. That was an amusing thought; she made a mental note to ask him when he was back to normal, and turned towards Usopp.

"How did you protect the patterns?" she asked, rather curious. There was no doubt that the paper came from her stocks, but it was thicker than usual, and the colors did not smudge when she experimentally rubbed a card with her thumb.

"I used a secret technique that was taught to me by the Sage Old Masters of West Blue when I was seven!" he claimed. She gave him her best let's-move-on-to-the-facts face, and he sagged a little. "Dipped in artificial resin," he admitted, lowering his voice. "It took me weeks to get it right, even with Chopper's help." Now she was impressed. The resin had solidified and perfectly protected the drawings, but the cards were still supple. "If you lend me some," she offered with the sweet smile that told him there was no way he could refuse, "I'll consider not making you pay for using my paper and instruments."

He gulped, nodded, and took a few steps back. "Now, who wants to play?"

In the end, everyone but Robin-chwan, who was technically on watch duty, volunteered, and it was agreed that since there were too many of them to play properly, they would form teams. Usopp presented the cards of Nami, Chopper, Sanji and himself to Luffy, face down. "You're picking your partner here," he said.

Luffy got teamed up with Usopp. Zoro, to his utter disgust and Sanji's disappointment, picked Nami's card, which put Sanji and Chopper together. Morning dragged into afternoon, the games made longer by Luffy's questions of "oh, who's that?" every time a card changed hands and the ensuing explanation, although most of the time the kid lost interest in the middle of Usopp's lengthy tale.

Despite the inner battle in their team, Nami and Zoro managed to win almost every game, whereas Sanji's determination to get all the cards depicting girls proved to be his downfall, and he and Chopper came in last every time, until Luffy's loudly growling stomach reminded the cook of the time, and he pulled out of the game to make lunch.

They were almost done eating when the ship started rocking. Rushing out, they discovered that the rain had turned to a storm, and with the Going Merry undermanned as it was, they spent all afternoon running around the ship, pulling up the sails, checking for leaks and manoeuvring.

The storm passed by dinner time, but afterwards Sanji was too exhausted to linger long in the kitchen, and he went to bed right after giving Nami-san a Thermos of green tea for her watch. Even then he was greeted in the boys' quarters by nothing but a concert of deep snores, but with the current sleeping arrangements there was always a free hammock for him.

He was almost, but not quite asleep when the steadiest snoring (although not deepest anymore) was interrupted by a gasp, and through half-lidded eyes he saw Zoro jerk upright. Another nightmare. He wondered if the kid would go to the galley despite it being dark and empty, or come to wake him up to get his nightly drink. He wasn't sure he would be able to push himself up and back to the kitchen if that happened. Then Zoro got up and headed towards Sanji's hammock, and the cook half-considered pretending to be too deeply asleep to be awaken. But of course he wouldn't. His duty included feeding warm milk to the first mate, regardless of the time or his state of fatigue or said first mate's age.

But when Zoro reached Sanji's side, he did nothing to wake him up. Instead he stood next to the hammock for long seconds, his face twisted in concentration like he was contemplating the next move of a complex sequence. Then he seemed to reach a decision, grabbed the middle of the hammock and yanked.

Sanji almost fell on the ground from the sudden imbalance, and was about to curse the brat's ears off when he noticed the raised leg. Oh. So that was the little eggplant's deal.

And Sanji hadn't just thought about the shitty swordsman in those terms again. And certainly not in a fond way. Urgh. No way.

Zoro's next move threatened to make Sanji crash to the ground again. The cook sighed. His fault for offering. With a deep sense of impending doom, he shifted in his hammock, reached out to grab a very surprised Zoro and pulled him inside.

There was a bit of flailing, a bit of kicking, and getting Zoro under the blanket required logistics that were a bit too complex for Sanji's current state of awareness, but somehow they managed to settle without either of them falling off. Zoro had made a point to look away from Sanji, which in the morning, when the cook wasn't too tired to think, would probably amuse him to no end. Even when he was craving human contact the moron managed to make it seem like he couldn't care less about it and was just there by accident.

Idiot, he thought, not fondly at all; and only fell asleep when the snoring started again.