Seven ----

The next morning, Sanji was the first one on the deck. He stopped just outside the sleeping quarters and looked at me. Slowly lighting a cigarette. He walks over next to me and throws his match over to extinguish it.

"Take it you don't sleep much," He says holding the cigarette in his hand and blowing the smoke out the little crack in his lips. I shake my head. He nods and takes another drag. I look over at him. Sanji's song was slow and deliberate. He'd seen a lot in his life that made him think too much. He would waste away his life thinking about what he could have done different in every choice. But there was a defiant love of food in his face. And he smoked too much. "You hungry?" I tilt my head from side to side.

"A little." He smiles a little and nods toward the galley, before bending down and smothering the cigarette on the deck and taking the unused part and trucking it behind his ear.

"Come on. I'll make you something to eat. You didn't eat enough last night." I stand up off the railing. My piccolo in hand, I walk down the steps to the galley behind him. Sanji was nice. That was all you could really say. In a few minutes he had a small plate full of fried potatoes in front of me. I nibble at them while looking out the small galley window. The sea was calm. But it's slightly mellower song told me that there was a storm brewing not to far away. And suddenly I was worried about the droogs and my appetite was gone.

Sanji noticed and after taking a last look over the other's breakfast he sits down across from me. "What is it?" I look at him and smile a little.

"There's a storm." He looks out the other little window. A look of bewilderment crosses his eyes.

"Really?"

"It's gathering to the east." He nods.

"How do you know that?" I look at him and smile.

"Everything has a song. Even the sea." He still didn't look like he understands. "Everything, from a little paperclip to a person themselves, makes a song. I can hear those songs. The sea's song tells me things. Right now there's a storm to the east." Sanji looked intrigued now.

"Are you serious?" I nod. "What about me?" I nod again.

"Yes."

"And you can hear it?" I nod. He looks at the table thinking this over. "Is it good?" I laugh a little.

"It's strong." I look out the window. "But you do think to much. And for a person your age, you've seen to much." He looks at me and nods.

"I know what you mean."

"And… you cook better than you think," I say slower. He looks at me for a second and then smiles.

"Thank you, Blue." I nod. I look back out the window and wrap my arms around my self. Sanji stands back up and walks back to the stove. "Nami should be up and you can check with her on that storm." I nod and continue to look out the window. After a few minute I climb out of the seat and back up through the hatch and then to the front of the ship. There was the big ram head there. I climb out onto it and sit down between the horns. I look to the east and watch the dark clouds as they fused together and made a rather large storm cloud. At the current course we would miss the storm unless it started to move relatively fast and then we'd be in the middle of it.

"Blue?" I turn around slowly and look at Nami as she looked at me from the deck. "What are you doing?" I smile.

"There's a storm." She looks around me and nods slightly then turns around and looks at the table where she had a map fastened to a small table.

"We should miss it." I nod and slide down next to her, looking at the maps she was looking off of. She takes the ruler and a pencil and does a few lines tests the wind and then stands back up confident. "Yeah, we'll miss it." She looks at me and smiles. "Thanks though. Don't hesitate to tell me, okay?" I nod and look back at the storm cell. Then take my piccolo and walking to the bow play a little and close my eyes. Nami shakes her head after a minute and walks off the deck and into the galley.

I look into the cell and sigh after looking through its waters. There weren't any ships under it so I didn't have to worry about the droogs. I sigh again and look back down on the main deck where Zoro was now sitting on the side while Luffy was just running from the sleeping quarters to the galley. Zoro looks at him out of one eyes and shakes his head.

Then his eyes closes again and his breathing changes. Along with it his song seems to slow and die off. I could still hear it but it was all in a low sound that one would play with maybe a Baritone or Berry Sax. He was nearly dead to the world when Nami walk out of the galley. She did a double take on his person and then with a smile on her face tiptoes over to him and just as she was about to pounce, he opens one eye and says something I couldn't hear. Nami sighs and flops down next to him. Zoro didn't really seem to mind and then just goes back to what he was doing. And his song that had risen again, slowly started to fall, but never really seemed to stop twirling in with Nami's song that didn't change in dynamics. Even when she leaned back and rested her head on Zoro's shoulder.

Watching them, listening to their songs intertwine. I knew what no one had to say, what they might not have even known yet. And I would protect what they cherished before they could.

And watching them, made me miss the droogs. Made me miss Atlas. Made me hate Atlas. I could have walked back on that ship and said no, that I wanted to stay. But the damage had been done, the fire was lit and I had to let it burn. Even with all this water, there was no way to stop the sparks from flying. I had to let life run its course.

I would see Atlas again, even if it was after we were dead.