With his tricks

Unspoken thoughts

We'll all get lost in a web of deceit

"Enough of the drama."

Chapter 3: Sold Into Slavery, Someone Else is Watching

"And so, that's how we got our new crewmember!" Luffy had just finished telling the story of how Serliath was now part of their crew to the rest of their ship members when the door opened. "Ah, Zoro! Nami!" He called, waving towards the two who had just entered.

In the case where all of you are confused as to where the various members are in this small cabin, I suppose it would be time for me to inform you of that little known fact. Sanji is standing, hearts in his eyes as he thinks of all the females who are now aboard the ship. Usopp and Chopper are actually sitting in front of Luffy as they were listening earlier. Robin is leaning against the wall, her eyes glued to her book and Luffy would be sitting on a stack of crates. Serliath leans against the wall beside the door. That done with, we shall return to the story.

The swordsman, otherwise known as Zoro, looked dead beat and thoroughly exhausted. His arms were thoroughly laden with various shopping bags, some of which he had no choice but to carry between his teeth. Perched on his shoulder was Nami, their orange haired navigator and though a little flushed, she was grinning like a cat had caught the canary.

It was just then, the crew members got a vivid image of an orange cat and a green canary, Zoro included. The slim woman in the crimson dancer costume who until now had been leaning against the wall beside the door chuckled softly, "Welcome back, Zoro and Nami."

The tangerine haired woman smiled back politely at their new crewmember, nodding to her, not completely sure what to say. Zoro on the other hand was completely silent, without a single movement of his head nor visible change in his body language. Annoyed at his lack of manners, Nami gave him a sharp jab in his back.

In truth, the green haired swordsman was in a daze. He wore a freaked out expression on his face which remained there until Nami poked him and he was so startled out of his daze that he snapped, "What!" and sharply turned towards her direction, with the intention to give her a piece of his mind, completely forgetting that: She was on his shoulder. The key word is, 'was'. The moment Zoro turned towards their navigator, Nami fell off his shoulder.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Zoro dropped his baggage abruptly in attempt to catch Nami. However, his hands clutched thin air and she continued to fall… to be rescued by a blonde haired prince, or rather their cook by the name of Sanji as he seemed to appear out of nowhere, cushioning the princess's ahem, Nami's, fall.

"Don't you know how to treat a lady with more care?" Sanji snapped, as he helped Nami up, "Nami-swan could've gotten hurt!" He was met with a rather stiff expression; from Zoro who looked highly annoyed, although it was impossible to tell if it was with Sanji or himself. Sanji dusted his pants off as he helped Nami up, "But then, what kind of actions can a person expect from a boorish man such as you, what is all that training you do for?"

Zoro remained expressionless throughout the cook's tirade and Nami finally spoke up, "It isn't his fault, Sanji-kun, he's just tired after carrying everything around the town for the whole day." Only then did the green haired swordsman respond.

"He's right, it was no excuse." With that, he turned and walked out of the cabin. The rest stared after him in surprise, it being the first time in history they could ever remember Zoro actually agreeing with Sanji. Sanji himself had his mouth slightly ajar, 'Was that Marimo-head?' Collecting himself, he turned towards the rest of the crew.

"I suppose I should go and begin preparing dinner now, anything you'd want in particular?" He dusted his hands off as he inquired, already anticipating the answer from their captain.

"Meat!" Here came the simple reply that was given from their straw hat captain who was part of the group who had been just sitting there and watching them. Their new crew member, who up till now had been rather silent suddenly uttered.

"If it is no trouble, Sanji-san, I would like to try one of East Blue's delicacies, where the fish is deboned, is then stuffed with various herbs and spices and is then marinated from the inside." Sanji looked surprised; he had not been expecting any serious request. Running a hand through his hair and trying to look suave, he replied.

"No trouble at all, Serliath-" Anticipating his next words, Serliath cut in quickly.

"I hate the way you slur my honorific by the way." She continued, smiling sweetly, "Thank you for agreeing to my request, I am sure you will perform the task admirably." It was strange, but it seemed as though something had changed about her. It could be that there seemed to be something that sparkled on her lashes as she fluttered her eyes or that that fairy dust or something seemed to follow her every movement and there was just something different about her facial features. Her cheeks were a delicate shade of pink and there was something about the way she smiled…

Stunned into silence, Sanji left the cabin discreetly, not bothering to shout out his usual proclamation on how he would make his meal of love or something similar.

Robin just smiled. Serliath looked around the cabin, "Well, as cozy as this is, I am not particularly comfortable with so many people crammed in a small area. If anyone is looking for me, I will be on the deck tuning my instrument." Opening the door, she paused, "Oh, and would it not be a good idea for someone to go check on Zoro-san?" Their musician walked out.

Nami looked around the cabin. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were at their silly antics again, it seemed that Usopp was now telling the other two a strange story which had begun not long after Sanji had left to prepare their evening meal. Robin herself seemed to be rather quiet and had her nose buried in a book. Nami sighed, moving her bags to a side after which she opened the cabin door and left the cabin room. A small smile curved at the black haired historian's lips.

Somewhere outside on the deck, the red eyed musician sat, wincing as she tuned the off key notes. Seeing the tangerine haired woman leave the cabin door to walk over to the green haired swordsman who was once again training. She smiled smugly, it was just as she had predicted. Thinking back to the afternoon earlier, a small thought crossed her mind that perhaps she should have used aphrodisiac with a little more care. Still, she shrugged, it had only been a negligible dosage she put in the food.

Casting her ruby eyes towards the kitchen galley door, a frown creased her face, that cook from earlier would be trouble. The glamour that she had brought with her from the Celestial Plane would not last the length of time she was planning on staying. Moreover, she glanced down at her own body, glamour could only be used to a certain effect, it could not enhance her endowments or rather, lack of.

Pondering further, her mind drifted off towards the black haired woman from earlier, Robin, was her name? She was a rather beautiful woman although a little strange admittedly. Then a smile curved at the musician's lips as she got her strings to the perfect pitch she wanted them and she began plucking at the strings of her instrument, eyes now focused on the couple further up on the deck. The tune of her song extended her hearing a little further than was normal and she was able to hear them. After all, such were the benefits of one who served the gods.

As Nami approached the swordsman, she hung back a little, not quite knowing what to say. Finally, his arms slowed and he stopped swinging his weights altogether. Without turning around, he asked, "What do you want?"

A wicked smile crept to her lips; well he was the one who asked after all, "About that debt you owe me…" She paused slightly, allowing her words to sink in.

Zoro turned with a slightly panicked expression on his face until he saw her laughing. Allowing a small smile to creep onto his normally stoic expression, he asked, "Didn't I clear it when I ran around Arabasta for you helping that princess?"

"That wasn't counted; I didn't get money out of it!" Nami pouted slightly, something uncharacteristic for her, "Don't forget that bill you chalked up during lunch. It wasn't a treat, I just said I wouldn't charge you interest if you offered me your services for the day…" She paused, looking thoughtful, "Speaking of which, the day isn't over yet."

Zoro grunted, "You just said I would be free of debt if I helped her, it didn't concern me whether you got money out of it or not." He ignored her pout, "Well, what do you want me to do for you now?" He asked, putting down his training weights.

Nami was silent for a moment as she perched herself on the ship's railing, "Why did you leave so abruptly earlier?" She inquired.

"To train. Sanji was right, if I had better training, even a day's worth of carrying items wouldn't have dulled my reflexes." He replied, taking up his training weights once more to begin swinging, seeing how she didn't seem to want to do anything other than talk.

A strange thought entered Nami's mind as she watched the swordsman train but she dismissed it. It stayed there, nudging her. Finally, she voiced it, "Hey Zoro, why don't you give me a foot massage?" Alright, so it had been to receive a full body massage, but she did not think she was comfortable enough with him to do that.

Suddenly, she leaned too far back and she found herself falling off the railing into the sea. She could see that panicked expression on the swordsman's face as he dropped his weights, diving in after her.

They remerged on the deck dripping wet, Nami's clothes clinging to her, as if her tank tops were not already skimpy enough. Zoro blushed faintly, averting his eyes. Nami blinked slowly, this had never seemed to affect the swordsman before. A sly smile crept to her lips, "Hm, instead of that foot massage, what about a full body massage instead? After I take a bath, that is."

She could see the blush growing across his cheeks, she had no idea what had possessed her to say that. Somewhere on the lower deck, a certain musician smiled secretively to herself.

She could not resist it, reaching over; she pressed a cool hand against his cheek, "Why is your face all red?" She cooed, "Do you perhaps have a fever?" Zoro snatched her hand away looking mortified. Deciding that this was the most amusement she'd had for awhile, she pressed on. "Want me to take care of you… in bed?"

Zoro sat there, and then bluntly replied, "Sure." That took her aback and they both sat there in awkward silence, each admitting to themselves that they had gone a little too far. Finally, Nami could not take the silence any longer and asked.

"So, how do you plan on paying for the lunch tab?" Yes, it was rather heartless of her, but it was a topic they could both associate with and something that put them both on equal level. Or rather, a level she was used to, where she was slightly above him.

Zoro shrugged and said nothing. "Well? You know I don't give money for free." She pressed, "And I have a decent idea for how you can pay me back, seeing how you don't have means to earn money anyway."

She could almost laugh at the convoluted expression on his face. "N-no thanks." He straggled out of his mouth. She shrugged.

"What a shame, you know, having your services for the next two days wouldn't be so bad, I hadn't planned on going shopping after today. And you know…" She paused, "If you don't find a way to pay me back, well I can't simply loan my money to someone who doesn't pay his debt."

She could see that Zoro had stopped to consider this. Truly, it was amusing to see the expressions flitting across his face. First there was this expression of no! He would never be this witch's slave…again, and it would be better not to borrow money from her anyway. Nami's smile faded slightly as she read each of his expressions; after all, it was easy for her. She spent so much time with him on the ship. Still, it was not a nice experience for any girl to be called a witch.

He seemed to be pondering the idea however. After all, he would need someone to borrow money from eventually and what were two days? It was good training, no doubt. Finally, he gave a small nod of assentment. It seemed that Zoro did not feel like saying much today, which was with good reason, he was tired.

Looking down at his soaking clothes he sighed, he did not like getting wet. It seemed as though it was always him who was the one diving in to save everyone. It did not occur to him that Nami was a girl who did not need saving. After all, she hadn't eaten the Devil's fruit. Still, it was just such a routine exercise that he had completely forgotten it.

He was utterly oblivious to Nami's gaze on him as he peeled his shirt off his body. Muscles rippled under her gaze in the evening sun as he walked over to the ship railing to wring his clothes dry. "You know, you can catch a cold in those wet things."

Startled out of her thoughts (and her ogling session), Nami looked down, "Yes, I suppose you are right." She agreed reluctantly, tearing her eyes from his shoulder muscles. She stood. "Well, I'll go change now, see you at dinner."

She turned to leave, only to be stopped by a rather large hand on her shoulder. She turned to meet Zoro's gaze as he studied her. "Your smile, it faded earlier." He said shortly and his finger brushed her cheek. In truth, he had no idea what on earth he was doing.

Nami could feel a blush rising in her cheeks, as she turned to walk down towards the direction of her room. She had never asked for any tenderness from a man, although when those things did occur, it seemed as though…

Both were unaware of more than one pair of eyes watching them. A pair of red eyes looked rather pleasantly surprised, 'My, I never expected him to actually do that.' Plucking at a few strings of her instrument, she began to sing.

"O Mortals, what is love that binds beyond the earth?"

Author's note: -Gasp- Do my eyes deceive me? 370 hits and…4 reviews. Right, I admit I was annoyed when I discovered I had over a hundred hits and still just 4, but when the number rose to 370, I felt it was a little ridiculous. It's either my writing is so horrible that no one can bear to review and tell me so or you just can't be bothered to give the author a little encouragement to continue this ficlet further.

If you have a problem with it, tell me so I can address it. It would be better than just seeing my hit count increase and my review number looking so pathetic it makes even me depressed.

ABOUT THE FIC. Aphrodisiac is the explanation for why Zoro acted so out of character in the earlier chapter. Serliath slipped some into his food, a minimal amount. Other things will be explained later.

I believe I may be introducing a new couple soon, Robin and Sanji. Tell me what you all think about it. Though, I've always had a soft spot for Robin and Luffy(has never found a fic for them). Still, something has to be done about that interfering cook.