Thanks to Jui Bhaskarrao for your review.

Welcome aboard for the new readers.

Enjoy your reading.

Chapter 39

Between us

Sergeant Tashigi was watching the ocean under the bright morning sun. She remained focused at the sight of sparkling waves, trying to forget the fact that she was surrounded by pirates.

She took a few steps down to the deck and leaned against the railing of the Thousand Sunny. She was finally standing on her feet and the funny doctor of the crew had allowed her to walk a little. Her stomach was still sore and she had gained a large scar but she was forced to admit the little reindeer had probably saved her from a certain death. And by extension, the entire straw hat crew, even if one of them was responsible for her injuries.

She sighed, remembering the last three days. At first, she had been completely panicked when she had realized she was on the straw hat ship and she had been quite sure that the worst tortures were going to be inflicted on her but strangely, they had let her recover. A little later, the doctor had explained to her they had been forced to take off to escape but they intended to drop her off at the next island the Log-Pose was indicating in a few days.

Taken aback, she had thought it was a trap to allay her distrust, but she had quickly noticed that no one really seemed to pay attention to her presence and the reindeer was leaving without even closing the door of the infirmary. However, the navigator still took the precaution of confiscating her sword until she disembarked and the officer Tashigi was feeling completely vulnerable without her weapon.

At last, she had begun to observe as closely as possible the room where she was lying while looking for clues about the crew. The smallest detail could be precious and she wanted to take advantage of her unique position to make a full report to her commodore if she had a chance to see him again one day. Unfortunately, she had quickly realized that the infirmary was completely ordinary and was containing nothing but decoctions, creams or pills.

So it had taken her three days to get up, but today finally, she was breathing in the fresh air of the sea for almost two hours and she wasn't getting tired of it. Deep down, she was still unconvinced of the real intentions of the pirates. She couldn't believe they had simply decided to save her life, a high-ranking marine officer, without consideration.

She took a deep breath. The straw hat crew was freaking her out. She knew them all in theory, but seeing them walk around in front of her gave another meaning to reality. They weren't just wanted posters or ruthless fighters. They were all totally insane and she felt like they could kill each other at any time.

At that thought, her gaze turned to the redhead who was sunbathing. Tashigi had almost believed she was the real captain of the ship when she had heard her screaming her orders and threatening the others. Beside her, the archaeologist Nico Robin was reading a book with a serious look. This one was worth tens of millions of berries since her early age and she shivered as she imagined what she could do. A little further on, a skeleton and a cyborg were repairing some part of the deck. They were the most recent recruits and she knew less about them. So she preferred to try to ignore what they were doing here.

The captain of the straw hats was without a doubt the strangest. He was spending half his time laughing and the other half begging for food. This is why the cook was constantly rebelling against his insistence by means of kicks which were leaving the young man disfigured. Finally, she had decided that the most normal beings on this ship were their sniper and their doctor, even if one was a coward and the other a reindeer who could speak. At that moment, she noticed the swordsman was missing, and she frowned before seeing him a little further, asleep like a log, which visibly occupied half of his days.

"Let's eat!"

Immediately, the captain propelled himself with his hands towards the kitchen and rushed past her. She instinctively backed into the shadows and watched the others follow him more or less quickly. She then cautiously took refuge in the infirmary. No one had paid attention to her since she was out and she didn't want it to change. Who knows what twisted idea they might have...

"Great, everyone believes we kidnapped her!" Nami got annoyed, throwing the newspaper on the table.

Franky then grabbed the paper and read it aloud.

"The straw hat crew had once again distinguished itself with its arrogance and recklessness by abducting a few days ago Sergeant Tashigi, deserving naval officer under the command of Commodore Smoker. He chose not to comment on the reasons for her kidnapping by the famous pirate crew. No official ransom demand has yet been revealed. It is not impossible that this act is directly related to the Alabasta events during which the crew members had already been in the presence of the officers in question. Is this revenge or a deliberate act towards this officer? The whole Marine is henceforth on alert and the World Government has ordered coverage for the abduction area. More information to come in our next edition."

He sighed as he put the article down while Ussop had grown considerably pale beside him.

"It's awful, the whole Marine is after us!" the gunner panicked.

"What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?!" Chopper added, terrified.

"It's amazing the hypotheses they can extract from so few elements", Brook noticed. "Why do they get the worst scenarios right away?"

"Because that's what sells", Sanji grunted, putting down the plates.

"Smoker knows very well it was not premeditated, he was the one who found us on this island. They probably must have seen us offshore", Robin pointed out.

"Whatever", Nami grumbled. "The fact is that her abduction premeditated or not seems very likely from an external point of view."

"When will she be cured?" Zoro asked. "So we can disembark her before having more problems."

"Within two or three days, she should recover enough", the little reindeer claimed.

"How long until the next island?" Franky asked.

"Three or four days", Nami sighed. "Couldn't we just leave her right away in a lifeboat with enough food?" she then suggested. "It's an emergency!"

"Leaving someone at sea is already very dangerous, but on the Grand Line, it is to promise her death", the musician replied.

There was silence around the table until the red-haired young woman turned her head towards the captain, who was stuffing himself as if nothing had happened.

"Luffy! Are you listening to us at least?!" she barked. "Your crew's life is at stake! The Marine will hunt us down until one of them spots us!"

The straw hat boy finally looked up and then shrugged.

"She'll be cured at the same time as we approach the next island so that'll be fine."

"Yeah, that's it, that'll be fine!" his navigator was ironic. "What if it isn't?!"

"We should make sure we get there faster", Zoro grumbled.

Nami grabbed one of the buns Sanji was offering her and pointed a finger at the swordsman.

"You're absolutely right, Zoro. You're going to set sails again immediately and I want a report about our direction every two hours to be sure we're not off course ", she then added for the others.

Her friends agreed and, after this decision, everyone finally tackled his share with appetite. For his part, Zoro sighed but got up to carry out the order of the navigator, not without taking away his plate. Like her, he wanted to get rid of their surprise guest as soon as possible, but despite everything he didn't want his meal to disappear.

When evening fell, Tashigi slipped outside again. The sniper had brought her food shortly before and had even offered that she joined them at the table, which she had politely declined. This situation was already quite disturbing and she didn't want to mix more with them. Especially since she had felt the navigator given her suspicious looks when she had been on deck during the afternoon. She was feeling terribly powerless to share this small space with longtime enemies and she had been going through the sequence of events since waking up. She and Smoker had tailed the straw hat crew since a wave of thick fog had fallen on the sea. They had come across them by chance that day but Commodore Smoker had decided to use the situation to their advantage. They knew the pirate ship could be extremely fast and dangerous so they had preferred to follow them to the next island. Everything then had to happen very quickly, betting on the element of surprise, but as she had noticed as soon as she had regained consciousness, it didn't go as they had planned.

Tashigi frowned, annoyed. In addition to their failed attempt to arrest the crew, she was feeling personally humiliated because she had failed to take revenge on the swordsman. To top it all, the latter had behaved as a real cad with her. Not only did she have to beg him to give her a fight worthy of the name, but he then had soundly beaten her and let the cook bring her back to look after her. And now, the entire crew was considering her to be such a negligible amount that no one seemed to care. It didn't make sense and she didn't like being treated like that. She didn't want anyone to be kind around her. She wanted to be acknowledged for her worth up to her merits.

The young woman clenched her teeth before sitting carefully against the railing in the shadow of the figurehead to save her belly. Moments later however, she jumped when an elastic hand hoisted itself up onto the bow head.

"There's a great view from here, you should come!"

The naval officer stared at the captain, who was leaning dangerously forward. She suddenly got up and despite the pain due to her move she put her hands on her hips.

"Why did you save me?" she demanded, clearly upset.

Luffy straightened to look at her, surprised, before jumping beside her.

"Well, you were gonna die, that's why", he explained to her like it was obvious.

"But I'm your enemy!" she strongly reminded him. "My only goal is to track you down and get you locked up in Impel Down!"

The straw hat boy scratched his head.

"Yeah but-"

"Am I so weak that you feel sorry for me?!" she became enraged. "Because if that's the reason I'm still alive, I couldn't bear this dishonor!"

Luffy hurriedly waved his hands in front of him.

"No, no! It's just that Sanji brought you back and I got nothing against you, you're doing your job as a Marine, that's all!"

Tashigi scrutinized him intently for long seconds, trying to read his true intentions as he quietly held her gaze. Finally, he had a huge smile.

"It's amazing how you look like Zoro sometimes!"

The young woman stepped back as if the boy had hit her.

"I refuse to be compared to your swordsman! He's unworthy to carry the swords he keeps in his possession! And then he humiliated me by bringing me here, he felt sorry for me!" she spat with contempt. "He should have finished off me or let me die!"

At these words, Luffy's eyes changed and became suddenly serious.

"Sometimes, sparing a rival isn't mercy."

Tashigi frowned and the young man firmly continued.

"It's even acknowledging them a certain value and giving them a chance to improve. It's respecting them as an opponent."

The young woman stared wide-eyed at him and remained dumbfounded for a few moments, the captain's speech coming to make her anger falter at the same time as her convictions.

"I... I never thought about it that way", she finally stammered. "I figured he didn't think I deserved it..."

"You know, Zoro believes he learns from each of his fights. If you're a good swordswoman, he'll want to take on you again."

Luffy kept his intense gaze in the one of the officer and Tashigi ended up looking down, embarrassed.

"I think you should thank him instead of blaming him", he resolutely concluded.

The young woman took a few seconds to let her emotions ebb under the shock of these last words. She was spending her time training and following the orders of her commodore in the hope of always improving. She had felt like all of her sacrifices had been in vain since her last fight against the crew fencer, but in reality, maybe she was on the right track. In any case, she had to redouble her efforts and not feel sorry for herself. She then raised her eyes towards the open sea and suppressed her shining tears with a determined look.

"I'll do it. I'll do it and next time, I'll defeat him."

She didn't notice the straw hat boy smile as he quietly walked away.

Two more days slowly passed for Sergeant Tashigi as well as for the straw hat pirates. The young woman had understood that the Marine was looking for her, thinking she had been taken prisoner, and she had offered to contact her superiors but the crew had finally refused. So far, they had managed to escape the hunt and they didn't want to take the risk of being spotted. The officer was going to disembark the next day and their lives would be back to normal again from this moment. So they were all impatiently waiting for it.

During her last evening on board, Tashigi positioned herself as usual in the shadow of the figurehead to admire the sea. She was hearing the pirates laughing and chatting behind her but she had learned to ignore it.

"Here, your medicine."

The young woman turned around and saw the little doctor hand her two potions.

"Thank you very much."

Tashigi swallowed them and Chopper turned to the straw hat boy who was approaching to settle in his favorite spot.

"Brook decided to have a karaoke night, are you coming?" he asked him.

"You betcha!" Luffy immediately exclaimed. "That's awesome!"

He made a sudden turn back and ran across the ship towards the other end.

"Do you want to come?" the reindeer shyly asked, turning again to the young woman.

"Thank you, but I'd rather stay here", the officer said, also embarrassed.

Chopper nodded and headed for the stern of the Sunny, where she could already hear screams and exclamations of joy.

She turned her gaze to the open sea and lost herself while contemplating the waves. Definitely, she had landed in a very strange universe. She might have hunt down this crew for quite a while, she had never seen it in that light, in the privacy of their daily lives, and her conversation with the captain got her thinking.

She then remembered the story of Commodore Smoker when he had spent a few hours locked up with them in Crocodile's lair in Alabasta. He had told her how Luffy and his crew had tried to stand up to the Shichibukai with a disconcerting obstinacy. And when they could have let their enemy drown, the captain had ordered his first mate to save him. That was what had reshuffled the cards for her and her commodore. This was in part the reason why they were on the sidelines of the official Marine today. They were still tracking the straw hat crew in the name of the Marine, but they had learned to no longer trust their authorities as blindly as they once did. It wasn't all black or white, good or bad. It was all about nuances and her current situation demonstrated it once again.

Tashigi suddenly looked up when she heard the cook and the swordsman approach from the other side of the deck. She had already seen them fight at least ten times since her arrival, each time stopped by their sickened navigator. They were visibly calmer tonight and could talk normally.

Their presence reminded her that she had witnessed another oddity of the crew when the cook had brought her a cocktail the day before. She had remained perfectly stunned until the doctor came running and forbade her to drink it, alcohol being prohibited during her recovery. The cook had then reiterated a few moments later and had served her a drink with pinkish colors guaranteed pure fruit juice.

In front of his insistence, she had taken the glass with a trembling hand and he had stood there, watching for her reaction until she gave him an awkward smile. Besides, it was true that his cocktail was delicious and she had finished it with pleasure although slightly worried in front of his excessive smile. Of course, she had noticed the blond was treating the two women on board like princesses but she had thought that these were habits due to their presence in the crew, not that it would also apply to her...

As she emerged from her memory, she noted the two men had really gotten closer and she blushed when she understood they probably hadn't seen her given their new occupation. She stood up quietly and disappeared as quickly as possible despite her injury.

What an unlikely crew...

The next morning, Tashigi tightened her grip on her sword she had just got back, staring at the island contours which were finally taking shape. She was so eager to disembark.

"We're approaching the island by its most deserted side and there should be a day of walking so I prepared a snack."

She turned her head and saw Sanji lean at her side like it was the most natural thing in the world and then hand her a small bag.

"There's no Marine base here, but the locals probably have Den Den Mushi", he added.

Tashigi nodded slowly.

"Thank you for everything", she mumbled awkwardly.

She wasn't comfortable in their presence but she didn't forget she owed them her life.

"I hope your fight was worth it", the blond said, lighting a cigarette.

"Yes. In fact, I'd like to see him."

Sanji was surprised by her sudden vigor and he pointed out the mast with his chin.

"He's over there."

The young woman immediately walked towards the swordsman with purpose and the cook slowly dragged on his cigarette as he watched her go. He saw her trying to start a conversation with Zoro who didn't seem to want to make it easier but he soon saw him come to life and a real discussion seemed to strike up, to his surprise. Tashigi had stayed away during her five-days cruising, barely speaking to the crew. Given the circumstances, it didn't surprise anyone, but seeing her naturally engage in conversation with the usual fencer of few words left him wondering.

The blond wondered for a moment what she could say that interested him so much and he felt a touch of jealousy to see them suddenly so close. They were probably talking about their shared passion. No doubt then that they had common points to exchange...

Sanji decided to go back to his kitchen. He didn't want to stare at them so openly or even hear snippets of their conversation. He preferred to keep his mind busy and began his preparation of the midday meal with concentration.

"Are you going to be okay?" Chopper asked, worried about his patient.

"Don't worry. I feel good", she reassured him.

The Sunny had stabilized not far from the beach and everyone had gathered to witness the departure of the sergeant.

"I'll inform my senior officers this wasn't abduction, you have my word", she assured them.

The crew nodded and she stared at them with determination.

"I'm grateful to you for what you've done, but I prefer to warn you, I'll continue to chase you with all my might. All that won't change my will to have you arrested and imprisoned."

"I knew it", Nami grumbled in her corner. "It didn't bring us any benefit..."

"And I'll defeat your swordsman", the young woman added firmly. "I'll recover the Wadô Ichimonji."

"We'll wait for you", the captain defiantly assured her.

Tashigi nodded and jumped nimbly onto the beach. She didn't look back and walked away to the surrounding forest, her sword at her waist.

The rest of the day stretched more peacefully. Nami had quickly unfurled the sails again to get away and the Sunny was still speeding at high speed under the sun which was slowly fading into the sea. Stress was beginning to fall among the crew which had lived these last days in the perpetual fear of being boarded by the Marine and fatigue set early.

Therefore, Sanji found his room as soon as he had the opportunity and he noticed the swordsman was already dozing on the bed. He put down his jacket and took off his shoes before sitting on the mattress and turning to him.

"What did she say to you this morning, marimo?" he asked him with curiosity.

"Hm? Nothing..."

The cook frowned.

"What, was that a fencer-like thing?"

"Yeah."

"So what, why don't you tell me? Can't I understand?" he grinded, leaning a little closer to him.

Zoro turned his head towards his partner and sighed.

"But what does it matter to you? You don't give a damn about it anyway."

Sanji resumed his original position to unbutton his shirt with annoyed gestures. He wasn't going to tell him he had felt excluded from their little conversation or even perhaps jealous of their sudden complicity.

"I wanna know, that's all."

Although the blond was turning his back to him, Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Damn, you're both the same. You always wanna know everything..."

Sanji stiffened but forced himself to breathe calmly. Now he was comparing them... He really didn't appreciate the turn of this discussion. At the same time as furious with himself as with the fencer, he finished undressing while clenching his teeth.

"Forget it", he finally answered in a low voice after turning off the light.

Zoro was satisfied with this answer and he hadn't perceived the underlying anger of his lover. So when he started kissing the blond as soon as he was under the sheets, he was surprised to be violently pushed away.

"What's your problem now?" he got annoyed, seeing his eyes sparkling with fury in front of him.

"Just fucking think, pseudo swordsman!"

Zoro took several seconds before realizing that the cook hadn't finished brooding over the fact he hadn't told him about his conversation with Tashigi.

"Fuck, why do you wanna know so much?" he asked, incredulous.

"I don't!" Sanji replied aggressively, realizing he was less and less credible in his demand.

His crewmate looked at him, disillusioned.

"You're having a nervous breakdown because "you don't"?"

"I just wanted to know like that but in fact, it's you who won't tell me! You're the one who pisses me off with your fencer-stuff!"

Zoro watched in amazement as the blond pushed the sheets away, grabbed his things and got up before slamming the door. He hesitated for a moment to follow him. He wasn't responsible for the cook's incomprehensible mood swings but on the other hand, Sanji had made him understand a few days earlier how much he cared about their conversations which seemed so harmless to him. Even if he didn't really understand how, the cook had shown him that words could contain much more than he could imagine and maybe that was also part of this thing.

So he got up with a sigh and left the room after slipping on a tee-shirt. He didn't have far to go, finding Sanji smoking his cigarette against the front railing.

"She told me about the eleven legendary swords", he said behind him, folding his arms. "She told me one of these swords was lost a long time ago. She thinks she knows where it could be."

"And she told you just like that? I thought she wanted to get yours?" the blond replied in an equal voice.

"I gave her a worthy fight. She wanted to thank me."

"Of course."

The cook blew his smoke towards the stars, stubbornly remaining with his back turned to his partner.

"So?" the swordsman asked.

"So what?"

"What do you deduce from that?"

Sanji turned to him, puzzled.

"What do you mean what do I deduce?"

"Well, you wanted to know and you told me words are important to you, that it allows you to understand invisible things. So what did that allow you to understand?"

The swordsman couldn't be more serious and Sanji wryly smiled.

"I learned that I'm a moron", he admitted, dragging on his cigarette butt.

Zoro raised a questioning eyebrow and the blond shook his head.

"I felt sidelined to see you so eloquent near her, cactus head. It's as silly as that..."

The swordsman didn't laugh slyly as Sanji might have expected and he continued to smoke his cigarette in silence. Red certainly burned his cheeks but Zoro had taken their last conversation seriously and he had wanted to return the favor by being honest.

"It really was about words", the fencer finally sighed, taken aback.

"Yeah."

After a few moments, the cook brought the cigarette to his lips again and gazed at the swordsman who was looking at him.

"To be completely honest, marimo, there's something else... You look weird when she's near. As if you were running away from her or something like that."

Zoro immediately scowled and the blond stared at him, confused.

"What is it, you think she sucks? Yet she was defending herself pretty well."

The fencer grinded his teeth and tightened his arms on his chest in a defense reflex but the cook motioned him to keep going.

"She's okay, she can handle herself. It's just... she's getting on my nerves", he growled.

"She makes you angry? But why?"

"This girl, she..."

Zoro sighed and Sanji finished his cigarette before throwing his butt overboard.

"She what?" he insisted.

"She looks like Kuina", the fencer finally grumbled.

Puzzled, the blond stared at him for a few moments.

"That much?"

"Without her glasses, she looks exactly like her! To believe she's her sister or something like that", the swordsman got annoyed. "The first time I saw her I thought it was her ghost!"

"Oh. I understand your attitude now..."

The fencer suddenly looked down, as if overwhelmed.

"I know it's not her, but it's so... weird. They have the same personality, the same sword technique, the same physical appearance..."

"Life sometimes plays funny tricks", the cook agreed.

"Fuck, you said it..."

Zoro sighed again before leaning alongside the cook on the rail.

"Maybe Kuina would have become a naval officer", Sanji suggested after a few moments.

"I don't know", the fencer said thoughtfully. "She wanted to become the best so she might have joined up but she had such a personality, I don't think they would have kept her..."

"Then she would certainly be at sea aboard a competing crew wanting to face Mihawk at any cost", his partner imagined. "You'd challenge yourselves each time we crossed paths and-"

"It doesn't matter", the fencer suddenly cut him off.

Sanji gave him a surprised look and the one of the swordsman became harder.

"She's no longer here anyway, it'll never happen."

The blond felt a little guilty for having reminded him of it and he shook his head.

"You're right, marimo, it's useless..."

The fencer then smiled playfully.

"I like it when you say I'm right..."

Sanji willingly gave it to him and pulled him in a passionate kiss. He had been silly to feel left out of what Zoro shared with Tashigi. He also had his private field with the swordsman and for nothing in the world he would have wanted to swap places right now.

I could have gone on and on with Marine adventures for the crew but it wasn't my intention. Other kinds of adventures are waiting for our friends. Yet I hope Tashigi among them was fun!

Fun fact, in French Smoker is a colonel but it seems that in English, he's a commodore...