Duh I don't own One Piece.

Chapter 3

"So, how are you going with your clothes shopping, Nami?" Sanji asked the next morning.

"Not too well at the moment," she sighed. Sanji brightened at this, but his hopes for a lengthy stay were dashed as Nami added, "I might ask Ichigo where to look. After all, she is a local. She'll know a good place."

"Oh, OK," Sanji said glumly, and with slumped shoulders retreated to the kitchen. Nami watched him go, concerned, but dismissed the thought and went in search of his sister.

"Good morning, Nami!" Ichigo called from her seat atop the figurehead. "Isn't it lovely today? Luffy showed me this wonderful spot last night and I just had to see the sunrise from it!"

Nami grinned as she approached. Ichigo was humming happily as she swung her legs to and fro and seemed perfectly content, a feeling that was contagious. "Hey, Ichigo!" she said cheerfully as she came alongside her. "Fancy a bit of shopping in town? I need some new clothes, and I thought you might know a good place to look."

Ichigo spun and jumped down, landing beside the navigator. "I know a few good places, but can we make another stop as well? I really should go home and tell him where I've been. He'll be worried."

"Who?" Nami asked, astonished.

Ichigo blushed a little. "My boyfriend, of course!"

"He just sailed into town one day," Ichigo explained, leading Nami along the main street of the town. "I saw him wandering about the market and fell in love with him at first sight."

Just like Sanji does, Nami thought, suppressing a grin.

"We've been together ever since," Ichigo finished. "Ah! Here's the place I was telling you about. The lady here does the most wonderful dresses…"

An hour later, the two women left the shop. "Wow, Nami, that's a pretty big order!" Ichigo exclaimed, running her eyes down the receipt.

"Well, we never seem to be able to stay anywhere for very long, what with the bounties on our heads and the trouble the others cause, so I don't often get the chance to stock up on new clothes," Nami said with a shrug. "But this looks like a nice quiet town, so I'm making the most of the opportunity. Besides, I simply adored some of her designs! Did you see the blue one in the window? And the red one…"

The rest of the sentence was cut off as a large hand came down on her shoulder. "You girls from the ship in the bay?" asked a male voice.

Nami spun to find a large, unshaven man towering over her. She stepped back, but it didn't improve the view. "Who wants to know?" she asked, surreptitiously checking the staff strapped to her leg.

"We're… associates of someone who would like to make your acquaintance," came another voice from behind Ichigo. She jumped, and turned to find another, smaller man watching her.

"Who are you talking about?" she asked in a shaky voice, backing away.

The smaller man smiled. "I think you know, Miss Ichigo. Get them, Goro!"

Nami's staff flew forward to strike the big man, but it didn't seem to bother him. "Run, Ichigo!" she shouted, adopting a defensive stance. "I'll catch up!"

Ichigo hesitated, not wanting to leave Nami in danger.

"Look, if it'll make you feel better, go and get help from the ship!" Nami called, looking over her shoulder. "I'll be fine until you get back!"

With her concentration split, Nami didn't see Goro's fist until it connected with the side of her head. She went down in a heap, a small 'oof!' escaping her before her head lolled in unconsciousness.

"Nami!" Ichigo screamed. It was the last thing she had time for as a foul-smelling cloth was clamped over her mouth and the world went dark.

"Nami and Ichigo sure are taking a long time," Luffy grumbled. Nami had forbidden him to leave the ship until she came back, and he had been running the crew ragged with his antics since.

Zolo opened an eye from where he had been napping and said lazily, "Why don't you go and find them then? It'd give us a break…" he muttered, settling back down to sleep.

"Nami said she'd push me overboard if I did," Luffy said sulkily, but was immediately distracted by a game Usopp and Chopper were playing on the deck. He wandered over to look, and Zolo breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's right, though," said another voice quietly. "They've been gone for hours now."

Zolo moaned, and opened his eyes again. "So, Robin?" he groaned. "They were shopping for clothes, and even Luffy should know that women can do that for days on end."

"But Ichigo promised to be back here by noon so she could take Sanji out for lunch," Robin reminded him. "And that was about three hours ago. Sanji's been waiting for her by the rail all this time."

Zolo lifted his head to see the blonde cook leaning on the rail and anxiously staring at the town beyond, a dead cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"His cigarette went out more than an hour ago, but he hasn't noticed," Robin commented.

Suddenly, Sanji straightened. "I'm going to look for them," he announced.

"Nami won't appreciate being interru…" Zolo began, but Sanji cut him off.

"Shut up, Marimo!" he snarled. "Ichigo never breaks a promise. Never!"

And with that he was gone, down the rope ladder and heading into town.

"Have you seen two girls today? A blonde and a redhead?" Sanji asked desperately. The old man he was questioning now was the tenth person he'd spoken to in the last half-hour, but no one seemed to have seen them, and on an island where the people's hair was almost uniformly black, they would stand out.

The old man muttered to himself for a while, then replied that he hadn't seen them. Sanji let him go on his way, and hung his head in despair. How would he ever find them?

"Psst!" someone hissed from a nearby alley. Sanji looked up, but the alley was in darkness, and he couldn't see anyone. "Over here!"

Looking around to try and understand the mystery person's secrecy, Sanji casually slipped into the darkened alley. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Ssh! Not so loud!" whispered someone frantically. "We can't be overheard!"

Sanji could make out a darker, human-shaped shadow, so he pounced on it, holding them by the scruff of the neck so they couldn't escape. "What do you know about the girls?" he whispered fiercely.

The small person he held squeaked and struggled for release. "Let me go!" they begged. From the stray sunlight reaching the bottom of the crowded alley, Sanji could see that his captive was a young boy. "I didn't have anything to do with it, I swear!"

"With what?" Sanji asked in a menacing tone.

The boy gulped fearfully. "They were kidnapped," he gabbled. "They were in my mistress' shop ordering clothes, and then when they left, these two guys attacked them. But I know where they took them!" he added hastily as Sanji's face began to darken in anger. "I recognised the little guy! He works for Yukio!"

"Who is this Yukio?" Sanji demanded.

The boy gaped at him. "Where are you from that you don't know Yukio?" he asked in wonder.

"I just arrived here. Answer the question!" Sanji insisted.

"He rules this island. Lately, he started to gather all the pretty girls on the island to go and live with him in his mansion. He's been after Miss Ichigo for a while, but she's always refused to go to him. They say he resorted to force yesterday, but the man sent to collect her was beaten up and she was taken away by a pirate. I figured it wasn't true 'cause I saw her today, but the bit about force is true because that's what happened!"

"Thanks for the help, kid," Sanji said, dropping him. "Which way is this Yukio's mansion?"

"Up the hill," the boy said, massaging his throat where his shirt had been digging into him. "Why?"

"Because I'm going after them," Sanji said with a grim smile.

"But there's lots of guards and everything!" the boy exclaimed with a gasp.

"Not a problem for a pirate," Sanji said, tossing a grin towards the boy before taking off up the hill, his long legs eating up the distance.

The boy stared after him in astonishment. "A pirate?" he whispered. "Maybe he can get past them and save Miss Ichigo! Or at least, he can help the other guy do it…"