Of Straw and Steel

Summary: Zoro was always warned of the dangers of falling for the Captain's daughter. He just never imagined the dangers that came with falling for the Captain herself. Oneshot series on people's reaction to the Captain and First Mate's relationship.

Chapter Warnings: Slight mentions of sexual stuff. Not anything explicit.

From the moment he saw her, he knew it would be impossible to tell her no.

He already was rendered unable to say no to women, but her? She was a complete cutie-chan, after all. It was hard to believe - in fact, he refused to believe - that she was the reason for the large hole in the middle of the Baratie. Whether it was her fault or not, he was more than happy that the blame was placed on her.

Not that he condoned accusing such a girl of felony! Such a sweet, innocent young girl? Being accused of such a crime - it was outrageous! He had been angry at the old man for doing such a thing, of course! It was only that it didn't take long for his anger to fade once he saw her.

Once he saw her, or rather, what she was wearing, it didn't take long for the anger to dissipate. Maybe, just possibly, the old man was doing him a favour.

In the chore girl outfit, the girl looked entirely different from the rumours the cooks had sent bouncing around the kitchen. No, she was beautiful, gorgeous, perfect! He immediately felt conflicted. It would be awful to make a girl of such serene beauty work, but all the same... He wouldn't mind seeing her around for the next few months, really. Especially if she continued to wear that.

Upon his first sighting of her, she was chatting with a small group of people. Friends of hers, perhaps? That couldn't be - why would a lady like her hand out with such uncouth- he froze upon seeing the second woman and he felt as though his heart may implode.

He danced over to the two, of course, coating his love-struck words with promises of his eternal affection for them. Compliments weaved their way into his speech as he worked his charm, and presented each of the lovely ladies with a rose.

He paid no heed to the two men with them, not noticing the glower the swordsman of the group gave him.

Luffy-chwan and Nami-Swan, he learnt, and committed them to memory. Luffy-chwan asked for food.

How could he tell her no?

He hated the way her face fell when he turned his attention from her to the starving man, but what could he do? He was a cook, it was his job to feed the hungry. Surely, his angelic Luffy-chwan could hold out just a little longer?

He still hadn't noticed the glare that the Moss Head continued to shoot at him.

Later, when the pirates showed and decided they wanted the ship, Sanji had knelt down on one knee, pleading her to not worry, assuring her he would come back to his black haired princess alive. Luffy-chwan had laughed, standing next to the idiot moss head and watched as he leapt into battle

Then that swordsman had arrived - Dracule Mihawk, Luffy-chwan's swordsman confirmed - and Sanji had been by her side. She was panicked. The beautiful Nami-swan had taken off with their ship. Surely, Sanji believed, she had a good reason. A noble intention, without a doubt.

Above that, the idiot Luffy-chwan had put her trust in had stepped forward. He, next to the young captain, felt her stiffen. Together they watched as the swordsman fought, and fought again. It made no difference. Sanji scowled as the man stood, so willing to have his life thrown away. Did Luffy-chwan's feelings mean nothing to the knuckle-brained moron?

When the man fell into the water, Sanji turned to grab her, but she was already gone.

So he watched. Her eyes lit with renewed fire he had never before seen in a woman. Of anger and despair, anguish and pain. And fury. She threw herself at the world renowned swordsman with a fury in her eyes that made his blood run cold, made him freeze in place and fall silent though he wanted nothing more than to pull her back and protect her.

The swordsman survived, unfortunately. Sanji wanted to be happy, if only for his Luffy-chwan, but the swordsman had been an idiot in the first place.

"Luffy!" The swordsman's voice cracked with emotion and was followed by the sound of choking on the blood and bile that rose in his throat. Sanji scowled, wondering how he dared address anyone, let alone his captain, in such a way. "I'll... I'll never lose again! I'll become... the world's best swordsman!"

Sanji's eyes, never having left the now-dishevelled lady captain, watched as her eyes softened, her lips turning up into a smile sweet as icing on a cake. A fondness filled her voice as she agreed, lightly reprimanding him in an almost teasing way, as though he had not almost met death for honour.

Later, he watched his dark haired princess take out one of the most feared pirates in the East Blue. When she was thrown beneath the angry waves, he hadn't hesitated a second to dive beneath and pull her up.

He found himself telling a woman 'no' for the first time after that. Become a pirate? For her, he would sail to the ends of the earth and back. Leave the Baratie? His debt was far too great for that.

It didn't take her long to sweep him up into her adventure anyways. As it turned out, he really couldn't tell her no, no matter how hard he tried.

And he truly was swept into an adventure. From the moment he decided to sail with her, he hadn't had a moment to truly breathe. It didn't matter though. For the rest of his days, he would happily sail with his Captain-chwan and Nami-swan. In fact, if it weren't for the suicidal swordsman, his life would be perfect right about now. Usopp, he could tolerate. In fact, he had quite agreeable company for a guy. Zoro on the other hand, was unbearable.

He had already seen how attached Zoro was to Luffy, his willingness to the Captain. Needless to say, it may have struck him with a small amount of jealousy... So, after the fall of Arlong, Sanji made the perfect plan to show just how superior he was to the moron.

Dishes and dishes of food were spread across tables set out by the villagers. The aroma of the feast filled the air, completing the light and carefree air of the village. Music floated around as people danced and drank and simply celebrated their freedom. And yet, the straw hat captain was no where in sight.

Sanji frowned, scanning the crowds of people. After such a battle, there couldn't be anything holding her back from a feast like this, could there? He shifted through the crowds, ignoring the compliments and praise (unless it was from a pretty young woman, in which he took a moment to declare his love for them) until he found a certain liar.

"Where's Luffy-chwan?" Sanji asked, practically singing as he thought about his pretty captain. The sniper glanced up at Sanji, pausing in his story to think back.

"Luffy?" Sanji resisted the urge to send the man a kick for referring to her so casually. "I think she at the infirmary."

"Infirmary?" Sanji questioned, his anger dissipating to be replaced with confusion. From what he had heard, only Zoro was in bad enough condition to have to stay there... "Huh."

He wandered off, and Usopp simply shrugged. He turned back to his fans, instantly launching back into his story of the defeat of Arlong. Sanji rolled his eyes, the excited sounds Usopp made fading into the background as he mad his way for the infirmary.

The village was small and it only took him a few moments to find it. The doctor sat outside, cradling a bottle of sake as he watched the festivities. Either the man didn't notice him or didn't mind his presence, but he easily slipped into the infirmary. Mistake number one. The sight that met him, however, was not what he was expecting.

"Zoro~!" Luffy moaned contently, rocking her hips slowly against his. She, her face hovering inches over that of the swordsman's, was practically glowing with pleasure. So much, in fact, she hadn't even noticed the cook's sudden appearance. She moaned again, causing heat to creep through Sanji's face and... other areas.

Zoro was... Zoro was... defiling his beautiful captain, stealing away her innocence! He found himself unable to respond to what he was seeing, however, except to stumble backwards. It made the second mistake as he accidentally sent something clanging to the ground, effectively drawing both pirates' attention.

Zoro was the first to see him, instantly pulling the blankets up to cover them modestly. He was glaring, and if looks could kill, it wouldn't matter if Sanji had a hundred lives. He'd be dead in all of them.

Luffy had no such reserves, sitting up slightly to grin and wave at him. The action caused the blanket to fall back, revealing her bare chest to him. Despite the consequences, the thoughts that followed could not be stop and he felt a sudden rush of blood flow from his nose. Zoro quickly tugged the blanket back protectively, but it was far too late.

"Marimo... a-and... Lu-Luffy-chwan? You are...?"

XoXoXoX

When he woke up the next morning, Sanji was on one of the infirmary beds. Consequently, the cook had lost far more blood than was safe through means of a nosebleed, and had actually fallen unconscious.

When he attempted to recall what exactly had happened, he found he could not remember, try as he might. Though, from the looks the swordsman was giving him, it might be better that he didn't know.

"Sanji! Sanji!" The rubber girl bounced over to them, beaming toothily at him. "Make me a feast like the one you made before!"

What feast? Though he tried, he could not recall anything that had happened that night. Perhaps he really had been too exhausted from the fight...

"Of course, Luffy-chwan~!" He agreed eagerly. After all, who was he to say no to his captain?

Yes, Sanji just completely blocked out all memories of it. Better to pretend it never happened than deal with losing Luffy-chwan to marimo. This means... -dun dun dun- That Sanji will have more parts. Since I like the idea of oblivious Sanji. Lets see how long it takes him.

I don't usually do AN's but if you guys want to see anyone besides the crews' and Luffy's families' reactions, lemme know and I'll work it in.