Changes:

A lot could happen in two years, Shion mused as she watched her crew celebrate another battle won. A lot had changed, her friends were still the lovable group of goofball misfits they'd always been...but there was something else now. A darker, harder, edge to their personalities.

Nami had always been a bit pushy but she was downright ruthless to get what she wanted. Usopp was much braver then he used to be, a bonus in her books. Franky had gotten weird, well more weird than usual but he was still just as, out there' as he'd always been. Chopper, Brooke and Robin remained mostly unchanged, as much as things change-they stay the same. Shion laughed as Chopper danced around chopsticks up his nose in time to the tune Brooke was singing. Zoro was still Zoro...just a stronger more...harsh...version of their swordsman.

Luffy was still as odd as ever, but there was something else in him...something undeniable that cemented him as forever and always their Captain, they'd followed him all for their own reasons their experiences turning them from strangers to friends, they'd always been somewhat grateful to him for bringing them together. But after Water 7 and all the events following the dymanics had shifted ever so slightly. Luffy turning from a leader they tolerated to a leader they respected and loved. It might have been circumstance that brought them together but it was love for this young man and each other that kept them together.

Then there was Sanji, Shion mused as she watched him prance into the circle gathered on the deck of the Sunny, trays in hand. His change had been the most shocking to Shion. She still didn't know everything that happened to him in the last two years, but she could fill in most blanks. Sanji was and enigma to her now, and she wasn't sure how to react to it. There was still the shadow of the goofy, smooth talking, foul tempered boy of 19 she'd known. That temper had mellowed from exploding rage to a smoldering flame, he'd always worn his emotions on his sleeve in the past- now Shion found it hard to tell what he was thinking. Everything kept locked tight under the hard look in his eyes. He still had his moments were he was a total goof ball, usually where a woman was concerned-that much hadn't changed. He'd always been the mediator of the group, the one that listened to all angles of a story and never took sides in any arguments or issues unless it was to keep the parties involved from getting too hot headed and saying things that they would regret not being able to take back. But now these interference's were less an explosion of temper as they were a calculated interruption made with a cool head and a referee type tone. A trait he used not just in keeping the peace but in dealing with enemies and tentative allies alike. Maybe it was his extreme Observational Haki or maybe it was a new found maturity but that look in his eyes, that all seeing, piercing, dangerous look... it sent shivers up her spine.

Shion was not sure what to think of him anymore..or of 'them'...if there ever was a 'them'. Their romance had just been blossoming past the awkward stage of initial attraction into a 'something' they had barely had time to explore passed a few stolen, and somewhat embarrassing, kisses and touches before it had so abruptly ended. Shion then spent the next two years telling herself it had been a very silly schoolgirl crush brought on by a mix of his personality, attractiveness and close living conditions. Keep any thoughts of stupid romance away was the only way she'd been able to survive returning back to Crystal Island to train under the harsh fist of "Granny", which was where she went after receiving Luffy's message...keep focused and get stronger. The New World waited. But then, then she'd come back, then she'd seen him again. But he'd been so changed, his little 'issue' with women aside. Shion might have been willing to try to pick up where the left off but even after he'd been 'fixed', at least were the females of his crew were concerned, he'd given no signals it was something he even thought about, let alone wanted to bring the possibility up. So Shion didn't either, maybe it was better that way.

Sanji couldn't believe the changes in the purple haired woman. Her walls were all but gone, her eyes brighter, her smile more ready, there still a knifes edge to her tone and body language sometimes, but she was now a fully active part of their shenanigans rather then an amused (or scared) observer. Her 'Luffy trouble detector' was as sharp as ever but now she seemed more ready to jump in 'feet first' so to speak.

And damn had she always looked that good? She'd grown her hair out giving her face a softer look to it. While she'd never had the curves of Nami or Robin Sanji doubted that now she could ever pass for a boy again. Two years of maturity had brought a softness to her body that hadn't been there before, not to say she wasn't in shape- because fuck was she ever. And much stronger, Sanji wasn't sure how she'd trained over the last two years but it was obvious she had, he'd seen her lift barrels that before she would have struggled to carry with nearly as little effort as Franky or Zoro did. Her shots were more on target, that was thanks to more training with Usopp, and she could spar with Zoro for hours without even breathing hard. He had no idea how to approach this new found beauty of hers. How could he just pick up where they'd left off after 'hell'? When what he'd been so sure was a silly boyish crush on her had turned into so much more over the last two years. How could he tell her that in the time she'd been absent he'd fallen in love with her? That thoughts of her, more often then the others, were what helped him keep the tiniest bit of his sanity during that time? That in his darkest times he say her face in his minds eye and it gave him strength to keep fighting? Oh god did he just think that...how cheezy and cliché can you get? She'd laugh in his face, or worse...think it was another side effect of his psyche and pity him. So he buried the feelings and pretended nothing was amiss. Shion was holding her sides as she laughed when Chopper started his 'chopstick dance'. Sanji handed a cup over to her...their fingers brushed, their eyes met and he froze...for what felt like ages... he might have started to lean in, he wasn't sure. Too soon the spell was broken and the Cook was shaking himself back to the present, quickly retreating back in the Galley. Coward...he chastised himself.

"What has you so amused." Franky asked Robin as the dark haired woman smirked.

"Oh nothing."

"Nothing heh?"

Robin nodded "Nothing unless you want to exclude the dramatics of young love from that statment." Pale blue eyes fixated flitting between Shion and Sanji. Franky followed her gaze, rolling his eyes.

"I say we lock them a closet until they sort it out."

"Zoro tried that, Shion picked the lock and escaped before he could get Sanji in there."

"So we bring it up to Luffy." Franky shrugged. "He'll find a way."

"I think our Captain has his own plots." Robin bring attention to Luffy who watched the two out of the corner of his eye, hidden by his hat.

"Ohhhh noooo." Franky moaned "Luffy's plans always suck and always always go sideways. We need a fireproof plan."

"Leave that to me." Robin's smirk grew as her Captain looked her way.

Franky watched them, a cold feeling of dread entering his stomach as his lover and his Captain shared 'the look'. Robin and Luffy didn't put heads together often...but when they did...he almost felt sorry for the Cook and Swordswoman. He shuddered and decided ignoring the plotting was a much better idea then getting involved in it.