Girl talk.

Enjoy~

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Chapter 16

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"You know... I'm not sure if I find whatever is going on between Sanji and Zoro disturbing or cute."

Robin glanced up from her book on hearing those words. She looked over at the redhead working diligently at her desk in their cabin. "Well, I suppose you could consider it cutely disturbing or disturbingly cute." she offered lightly.

Pausing as she registered what was said, Nami looked up from the map she was working on and gave her companion a sarcastic glare. "That doesn't help."

The older woman gave a soft giggle and a slight shrug. "I think it's sweet. I saw them holding one another during Zoro's watch last night. They looked very content." She could still see the barely there smiles they both wore while wrapped in each other's arms.

She tried to picture it, but the navigator just couldn't see it. "Content... Isn't a word I would use to describe either of them..." Nami admitted before returning to her work.

"Sometimes the only way to quell the fire is with fire. Some things simply... Mesh well." Robin mused as she turned a page in her book. "I'd say this situation has sobered them both up to the fact that things can happen very suddenly on this sea. The two of them share a connection on more levels than simply nakama. They share the need to protect and provide for the rest of us. Naturally with two dominate personalities like that there was bound to be conflict"

Nami paused again and frowned slightly. "That's what I don't get. It has been nothing but conflict between the both of them. Why would it suddenly change now?"

Robin closed her book on hearing the question and let it rest on her lap as she focused her attention on the young lady. "The Cook and the Swordsman..." She had mulled this over for quite a while now, so figured it was time to share what she had discovered. "Sanji and Zoro are on a different level on this ship. They're at a level of power above the rest of us, but just below Luffy. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, but they are evenly matched. They do what they can to protect the ship and crew, but when it comes down to it, they depend on each other to a higher extent than the rest of us."

The red head turned and gave the other woman a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean they cannot operate alone." Robin could see that Nami still wasn't quite following, so decided to elaborate. "We need both of them. And they need each other. When it comes down to it, they know that. They know that while they protect the rest of us, the two of them only have each other to watch their backs. Luffy's usually at the forefront taking the brunt, but that leaves a lot of gaps to cover. We each do our part, but Sanji and Zoro... They make certain they take on whatever the captain cannot. What the rest of us cannot. It's a silent understanding that's been there since they first met, I'm sure."

She reached over to the table beside her and picked up her cup of coffee. "But that also means they have to protect one another even more fiercely." She took a moment to sip at her coffee and gave a soft sigh. "Hm.. I believe they understand now just how much they truly need each other."

"I've... Never thought of it like that..." Nami mumbled with a thoughtful expression. But it soon fell into a frown. "But... Sanji-kun's worried that he won't be able to keep up with Zoro... That his body has limits, and it's only a matter of time before he won't be able to.."

Robin gave a soft giggle and shook her head. "Sanji doesn't have enough confidence in himself. He's no where near reaching his full potential. None of you are. If anything, I'm certain Sanji's the strongest person on this ship."

That had Nami tilting her head in confusion. "Sanji-kun is? What about Zoro and Luffy?"

A smile curled Robin's lips. "Luffy has devils fruit powers and Zoro wields three swords. Sanji fights under his own natural power. Has nothing but himself to block any attack or retaliate. If we went with pure physical strength and endurance without any outside help, I believe Sanji would be on a different standing."

When it was placed in that perspective, Nami was smiling as she nodded. "That psycho is already on different standing."

"Indeed."

"So think they'll get all lovey dovey?"

"We can only hope. That would be most entertaining."

"Heh. So Robin-neechan is a perv too."

"You wouldn't watch?"

"Erm.. Oh look, my map's not done. I best get back to that."

"Hm, that's what I thought."

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"Chopper..? What are you sniffing at?"

"Yeah, and why are you on my special seat?!"

Ignoring his captain's irritated tone, Chopper kept sniffing at the scents that were carried on the breeze. "I.. I smell something in the air... Smells familiar..."

"Is it food? Is Sanji cooking again?!" Luffy asked as he eagerly bounced from foot to foot.

"No, it's not food... It smells like.. Gunpowder and mechanical oil..."

A heavy pout immediately fell over the captain's face as he turned to sulk away. "Aww man.. Why can't you ever point me to food.." he muttered grumpily.

Rolling his eyes at the predictable behavior, Zoro looked back to the little doctor. "Isn't that how Usopp smells half the time?"

"Yeah, but this is different.. It's a higher quality. Stronger... Reminds me of a... Eeep!" Chopper immediately clamped his little hooves over his blue nose as his eyes grew wide.

Zoro frowned in concern as he looked to Chopper seriously. "What is it..?"

The reindeer looked up to the swordsman, suddenly very uneasy. "It.. It smells like a battleship..."

Dark eyes narrowed sharply before Zoro shot his attention over to his captain. "Luffy! Get Usopp's telescope and get to the tops of the trees! See if you can spot any marines heading this direction!"

"Yosh! Oi! Usopp! Gimme your telescopey thingie!" Luffy ordered as he charged off below deck to hunt down the sniper.

As Luffy ran off, Chopper looked back to Zoro nervously. "What if they are heading this way..? Aren't we trapped in an area this small?"

The swordsman glanced around to the rock formations and the thick woods that hid them from sight. "Maybe... Maybe not. They have to find us first."

"So if we can stay hidden we'll be okay?" Chopper asked hopefully.

"We need to find out what they're doing first."

The pair at the bow glanced back to see Nami approach with a look of concentration on her face.

"If they got advice from the locals, I would guess they're heading inland to avoid the storms. That or they heard we were here." Zoro stated as he briefly glanced up towards the closed Galley door.

Sanji was still too injured to handle a direct attack, so that meant keeping out of the line of fire. The idiot blond would ignore all warnings of his own health and try to help out anyway. Zoro knew it would only piss Sanji off, but he wasn't going to allow that self sacrificing bastard to get away with that as easily anymore.

Nami turned her attention towards the small tributary they were anchored on and looked further ahead to where the sounds of the river could be heard. "True.. We'll risk drawing attention to ourselves if we act too hastily..."

"I've got it~!"

Soon Luffy was bounding up the steps from below deck. Telescope in hand, the moment Luffy was on deck he shot out his right hand for the tallest tree he could spot. The moment his hand connected with tree trunk, the rubberman was launched off the ship and drug up into the trees. He hadn't been able to reach all the way to the top, so, once he was clinging to the tree trunk, Luffy placed the telescope casing between his teeth and started to climb. Within a few seconds his head was popping out from the tree canopy and looking around for any sign of the ship.

Telescope up, Luffy turned towards the ocean. At first he couldn't spot anything other than the dark clouds that hovered around the coast in the distance, but soon he caught sight of several white and blue uniforms moving along the banks of the river. "Eh..? What are they doing..?" Now that he focused on them, he saw that each of them were carrying heavy backpacks. "Camping...? Hrm..." Pulling the telescope down, Luffy frowned, quite puzzled.

His head ducked down under the leaves once more and he soon was hurrying his way back down the tree. Once he was close enough, his hand shot back out and grabbed hold of Merry's crow's nest. Slung back aboard the ship, he landed hard in the crow's nest. Causing a loud grunt from him and making the entire ship rock on the water.

"...Ow..." came the slight groan from where the captain's face smashed against the mainmast.

The rocking of the ship was enough to lure out Sanji from the galley where he had been taking inventory. "Oi oi... What's going on?" he called out with a frown.

Zoro's gaze immediately fixed on the blond.

He fought with his first impulse to lie. To insist everything was fine so Sanji wouldn't have to think of the potential threat. But he couldn't and wouldn't do that to his nakama.

"Chopper caught the scent of a battle ship." he shifted his attention to the crow's nest and frowned. "Oi! Luffy! What did you see?"

Prying his face from the mast, Luffy shook his head for a moment before looking over the edge of the crow's nest. "There's a whole buncha marines walking along the river bank! They've all got big backpacks. Looks like they're camping!"

"Camping..?" Sanji repeated with a raised brow as he walked down the stairs to join them on the main deck.

"It makes sense, really." Nami stated as she pulled out the area map from her shorts pocket. "A battle ship can't make it up the river like Merry can. Since the storms are still hitting the coast, that means the neighboring villages are too dangerous to place that many troops at. The only option they really have is march inland and camp out until the storms have passed." she explained as she looked for any routes they could use to get out of the area unseen.

"Then what should we do? If they're moving along the riverbanks, won't they spot us..?" Chopper asked, the worry thick in his voice as he kept giving quick glances towards Sanji. Sanji was still far too pale. It was clear he was still weak from the loss of blood, but the cook managed to pull off a steady posture despite the pain he was still in.

Sanji was fully aware of the worried glances that the others were giving him, but he didn't comment on it. Instead he focused on their situation as he reached for his cigarettes in his pants pocket. "If they're loaded down, then maybe our best bet would be to make to the path more treacherous." he offered before lighting up.

That had them looking to the cook curiously. "What do you mean, Sanji-kun?" Nami questioned with a tilt of her head.

Letting out the smoke from his lungs slowly, Sanji motioned to the woods around them. "Since the storms are supposed to last for a while longer, they're more than likely each loaded up with the supplies to last that long. Plus with the ship being too big to easily maneuver within the harsh storms, it may be worth considering that they could also be carrying any important items that they don't want to get damaged in the storm. Official documents, weapons, that sort of thing." Sanji took another drag before he continued. "In short, they're weighted down. And the more difficult the terrain, the less likely they'll attempt to head further."

When it was explained like that, the situation suddenly changed. "Sanji-kun.. That.. That's brilliant!" Nami turned towards Zoro and pointed at him. "Zoro, take Luffy, Usopp and Chopper into the forests ahead of the marines. Make as big of a mess as you can without getting caught."

Zoro was smirking at those orders and looked to Chopper. "Go get Usopp."

"Right!" Chopper was immediately heading below deck to fetch the sniper.

"I'll start plotting a course incase we need to make a quick escape." Nami announced as she headed for the galley.

"Hahaha! That is gonna be fun~!" Luffy laughed eagerly as he hopped around, still in the crow's nest.

The swordsman glanced up at his captain and snorted in amusement, but another plume of smoke drew his attention to the blond standing next to him. Sanji was once more in that casual stance he managed to pull off so well even when he was covered with bandages. Half lidded eyes staring off into the distance.

"Sanji, I.."

"I know, you don't have to say it. I'm not in good enough shape to handle any serious conflict." Sanji said easily before taking another drag. He held it in deep and blew a few smoke rings. He then glanced over at the moss head and gave a slight smirk as he reached over to give a light slap to the tan cheek. "I won't be there to bail your ass out of trouble, so don't do anything stupid."

Zoro was soon mirroring the smirk as he reached up and placed his hand over the pale one still resting on his cheek. "I'll try to get by without your guiding shit mouthed wisdom."

"You better." Sanji snorted. He then leaned in, uncaring of the fact their captain was watching them with a wide grin up above. His lips barely brushed over Zoro's as he whispered against them. "Be careful."

"I will." Zoro readily answered. He closed the space between them to capture the cook's lips in a tender, yet reassuring kiss.

Sanji let out a soft pleased hum once he tasted Zoro's lips again. It was a taste he was beginning to like more and more, but now wasn't the time to indulge. He pulled away from the swordsman and smiled at the dark eyes watching him. "I'll have some onigiri waiting for you when you get back."

That had Zoro nearly grinning. "I'll be sure to work fast then." He then looked up to Luffy who was doing a poor job of acting like he hadn't been watching them. "Oi! Luffy, you ready?"

"Yesss~! Usopp! Chopper! Hurry up!" Luffy demanded as he finally hopped down from the crow's nest.

He landed near Zoro surprisingly light footed and folded his hands behind his head. Glancing at the two, Luffy merely smiled and said nothing. He couldn't be happier that things were finally better. Perhaps better than ever now that the heart and soul of his nakama had discovered where they stood with each other. His confidence in his crew soared to a new height.

"Usopp! Hurry the hell up!"

His patience with them stayed the same.

"I'm coming, dammit!" Usopp snapped as he was being pushed by Chopper.

The moment the doctor and the sniper were on deck, Luffy raised his hands in the air excitedly. "Yosh~! Let's get going! Lead the way, Chopper!"

"Got it!" Soon Chopper was transformed into his Walking point, and the reindeer leapt off the ship and onto the bank of the tributary.

Usopp and Luffy soon followed, but Zoro only hesitated for a second. Glancing back at Sanji with an unspoken concern in his eyes. When Sanji gave a smile and nodded, Zoro's lips pulled upwards a bit before he headed off.

The cook watched silently as the four headed off into the woods to stop the advancing marines. Once they disappeared into the trees, Sanji let out the deep breath he had been holding and frowned slightly.

"Worried..?"

Sanji glanced back to see Robin approaching him. "Not really. More annoyed I can't be of much use."

The older woman gave a soft hum as she delicately folded her hands behind her back. "You're usefulness isn't limited to your ability to fight, Cook-san. You take care of all of us to the same degree and passion that Doctor-san does." She gave a slight nod of her head towards the trees in front of them. "Navigator-san told me of your idea moments ago of how to keep the Marines away. You've got a very strategic mind. I have noticed on more than one occasion you using that tactical wit to give this crew every advantage it can get. I doubt you'll ever be considered as not much use." Robin stated calmly.

It wasn't often that Robin spoke this much, but Sanji always made a point to treat the woman's opinions seriously and with respect. The fact she was saying such things about him...

A faint blush tinted Sanji's cheeks as he looked away in a bit of embarrassment. "I.. Don't know how to respond to that..." He rubbed at the back of his neck, struggling with his words.

That bit of shyness had Robin smiling brightly. "You don't have to say a thing."

Sanji blushed a bit brighter when caught by that smile. "Eee.. Robin-chan is far too kind..." Coughing slightly, Sanji tried to regain some of his composure. He turned to face the tall woman and attempted his most charming smile. "Well, since I'm otherwise restricted to the ship, would you like some coffee and sandwiches, Robin-chan?"

Seeing that smile pleased her, so Robin easily nodded. "I would love that, Cook-san."

"Yosh~! I'll have it ready for you in no time, Robin-chwan~!" Sanji sang out happily as he headed for the galley. His movements notably smoother without that hitch of pain.

As she watched the cook, Robin hummed softly. "I don't understand what drives you, Sanji..." Her expression softened into a gentle, yet wistful smile.

"But whatever it is... I envy it greatly."

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TBC

Sometimes those that feel the weakest are the ones that are looked up to the most.

Later~