"Do I really annoy you THAT much?"

That question, in its usual whiney voice came from behind the blond chef as he stood against one of the many surrounding trees. The cook slowly exhaled the mouthful of smoke before turning towards the source of the voice lazily, his one visible eye studying the marksman before parting his lips to reply.

"SANJI!" A loud yell roused him from his dream and he struggled against the lack of sleep to force open his eyelids. There was a strange weight on his chest, something cutting off his air supply as he tried to wriggle free.

"Get off him already!" Another voice hissed nearby before the weight suddenly left his chest to be shortly followed by a loud thud as something hit the wooden floor.

"But I want meeeeeeeeeeeat..." The first voice grumbled again, growing quieter as though its owner was being dragged from the room.

Sanji smirked to himself sleepily as he wriggled back down into the blankets, intending on returning to his dream before something hard and pointy lodged itself in his ribs. "Get up you stupid cook." A deeper voice ordered before he was poked again, on his cheek this time.

"Get lost shitty swordsman." The chef grumbled quietly, determined to keep his eyes closed as long as possible. A low growling started as the swordsman tried to contain his anger long enough to formulate a reply to the last comment. He was distracted from this when the cabin door flew open and the small, furry figure of the ship's doctor peered in curiously.

"Ohhhh, Sanji. You're awake!" The reindeer let out a happy squeal as his hooves were clapped together happily. He was glad to see the chef had returned to his usual grumpy yet sane self, as the blond didn't seem to like mornings these days. The chef in question merely buried his face in her slender fingers before lifting his head once more in a sudden burst of energy and throwing his pillow at the furry doctor.

"Get out, get out, get OUT!!!" Sighing to himself as the room finally emptied, he sat up in his hammock. He stared at his knees contemplatively before groaning and dragging himself up. Pulling on the few pieces of clothing that had been unceremoniously dumped there the day before; he allowed his mind to roam back to that afternoon.

"Do you really hate me?"

That annoying voice, made even more unbearable as it seemed to echo in his head, along with that last scream as their former crewmate tumbled down the cliff.

He shook his head clear from the unpleasant memories as he entered the kitchen, setting about making lunch while hoping he didn't loose control of himself like he did before breakfast. Especially not as the crew seemed to be watching him even more these days, that piece of knowledge sure hadn't escaped him.

"It wasn't your fault you know." Sanji gasped at the sudden voice, his feet nearly leaving the floor before he whirled around, then relaxed upon discovering the concerned face of Nami staring up at him. "I uh..." His mind started to whir as he tried to come up with a way of fixing this. 'Gotta make them leave me alone, nothing's wrong...I'm fine!'

"It was an ambush Sanji-kun. You know...take you by surprise?" Nami watched his face, waiting for a sign that she was getting through to him. 'Come on Sanji, can't you see we're all worried about you!?'

Sanji sputtered before resuming his 'charming' grin, leaning against the counter nonchalantly. "I don't know what you're talking about Nami-san, now why don't you go and relax? Let me make you something fit for someone of your glorious stature to eat."

Nami stared at Sanji for a few moments before sighing and walking from the kitchen, giving up on trying to talk to him. "Just don't burn down the kitchen okay?" Her soft, gent voice floated back to the chef before the slamming of the kitchen door finally bought him back to reality. He gave a fake grin and an eager nod to the space formerly occupied by the navigator.

"Sure thing Nami-san! Oh..." He realized the area was now empty and sighed sadly, looking down at his expensive shoes before turning back to the lunch he had been working on, a dejected frown now on his face.

---

Meanwhile, Luffy was perched on the ship's figure head. His eyebrows furrowed as if deep in thought; for once.

'Usopp's gone.' With this thought Luffy's usual cheerful demeanor was discarded, to be replaced with a sad acceptance. He'd lost people before, and as much as he hated the fact, he was at peace with Usopp's disappearance. The curly haired teen had been gone for a whole year now, and with a sigh Luffy nodded once; a subconscious signal to himself that they had to move on.

With rare perception, Luffy also understood that the rest of the crew was struggling with accepting all of this. 'Well, I guess I'll have to cheer them up.' This idea seemed to strengthen him, causing him to sit up straighter as he stared out at the horizon. Something in the distance caught his eye: land! 'Perfect, I'm sure that'll cheer everybody up!'

---

"How long until we get there?" The overexcited captain couldn't seem to contain his eagerness over this new plan.

"We should be there tomorrow morning." Nami sighed hopefully as she looked up from the map she'd been peering at before, offering a weak smile to the green head who was currently grilling her about tide currents and speed.

Nami couldn't help but pick up on the swordsman's concern for Sanji, after all, he didn't seem to be taking this well at all.

"And you think visiting this town will cheer him up?" The swordsman barked, causing a slight wince on the redhead's face.

"I don't know Zolo," She started, trying to remain calm as they'd been over this quite a few times by now, "But Luffy seems to think it's a great idea, and I don't think it could make him any worse..."

She trailed off as five plates piled high with posh and elaborately presented food were placed in front of her suddenly. Looking up she blinked slowly, still not quite sure what to make of this new habit of Sanji's, or how to make it stop; he had really been throwing himself into his cooking lately. She let out a sigh at the hopeful smile fixed to Sanji's face, before forcing a grateful smile in return.

"They're lovely...Thank you Sanji."