Straight Forward

Chapter 3: Storms

Two weeks stuck in the doldrums had nearly driven them mad. However, the sudden and frequent storms they were encountering every few hours made them miss the stillness. The one they were currently in was particularly nasty, so much so that Nami had told them all they could do was adjust the sails accordingly and ride it out.

With the way the ship was being tossed in the current, it was much easier said than done. Barrels rolled all over the deck, and Brook had nearly been blown away. Sanji swore as Chopper went tumbling and screaming past him. He threw his arm out, just barely catching the doctor by the back hoof.

"Nami-san!" He called over the pounding of pouring rain, "How long is this going to last?!"

"Around ten minutes," she yelled from the helm. "I can see clear skies ahead!

Once we get through this patch, it should settle!" The cook was glad that at least there was no thunder. It ensured that Nami was safe standing at such an elevated area of the ship.

A small blur of red came racing towards him, and he very nearly kicked at it, until he realized it was Shiloh. Impatiently brushing the sopping wet bangs out of her face, she held out two pieces of rope. "Tie yourselves down!"

Taking the rope, Sanji noticed Luffy tied to the head of The Sunny, Usopp and Brook tied to the foremast, Zoro tied to the main mast, and Franky and Robin tied to different areas of railing. Quickly, he pulled the crying Chopper closer to him and wrapped the ropes around their middles before securing them to the nearest rail.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Shiloh beginning to secure herself to the banister of the stairs. The ship gave a hard lurch, causing the cook's stomach to drop as he saw The Sunny's stern rise higher than it's bow. A sudden swear from above made him turn upwards just in time to see Zoro's beloved Wado Ichimonji fall from the swordsman's hip and roll right off the deck.

He opened his mouth to shout, but he froze as he made eye contact with Shiloh. Knowing exactly what she intended to do, Sanji shouted, "Shiloh, no!" Time seemed to freeze as she let go of the rope she had almost secured around the banister. Without a word, she ran to the edge of the deck and dove in after Zoro's sword.

"ROBIN, CATCH HER!"

Taken aback at the captain's sudden bellow, Sanji turned to find him crouched on The Sunny's head, still firmly attached, scanning the massive waves. The blond turned worried eyes to the historian. "Did you get her?!"

A shocked silence stilled the soaked crew when Robin, blue eyes wide, shook her head and replied, "I couldn't see where she went…"

Immediately, the entire crew began to call out Shiloh's name, hoping she would respond and reveal where the sea had taken her. After five minutes with no response, a sense of horror had gripped Sanji so hard he was sure he would vomit. He looked up at Zoro, unease threatening to choke him at the rare sight of the swordsman's worry. Zoro was pale and his visible hand that was holding onto the length of rope tying him to the mast was shaking slightly.

The waves grew higher before they began to recede back into the placidness of still water. It felt wrong and completely unnatural, the sudden change in weather. As if something had pressed an off switch, the rain turned into a light mist just as The Sunny righted itself, ebony clouds cooling to a cool grey.

Before anyone could tell him not to, Zoro had untied himself and began sprinting towards the edge where his sword and Shiloh had disappeared. He was calling her name before he even peered over the edge. "Shy! Shiloh! Answer me, you idiot! Where are you?!"

The idea that they had somehow angered some horrible sea god who was only to be placated with a human sacrifice pierced Sanji's panicked brain momentarily before his wits returned he acknowledged the idea as ridiculous. However, vengeful sea god or not, the cook had been sure Shiloh was lost forever. He was certain that her small little body would have been tossed and beaten like a ladybug in a tornado. So when he heard a small voice say, "I'm over here," he ran so fast over to the side that he nearly fell overboard himself.

Sanji wondered if Zoro was seeing what he was seeing because he was sure he was hallucinating. There was Shiloh, left arm encircled around Wado Ichimonji, the sword tight against her body, right arm extended, her fingers somehow managing to dig into the grooves between the wooden panels of the ship. There were two holes where her feet seemed to have gone straight into the side of The Sunny.

Before Sanji could even act, Robin's arms appeared and lifted the girl back onto the deck. His relief quickly dissipated into confusion, especially when he saw the knives sticking out of the toes of Shiloh's boots. He remembered Shiloh telling them when she arrived that she was unarmed. They hadn't found weapons on her but no one had thought to check her shoes. He took a breath to calm his still slightly jarred nerves and turned to face the redhead. She stood, dripping wet, a satisfied smile on her face. "Are you alright-"

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

He would have been taken aback by the ferocity of Zoro's voice if he weren't so used to it. Usually it was aimed at the cook but the green haired man stomped towards the much smaller redhead who was still clutching his white sword closely. Vaguely, Sanji noticed the rest of the crew beginning to untie themselves and crowd around as well. "Why would you do something so stupid?!"

For the first time since she had boarded their ship, Sanji saw Shiloh scowl. "What do you mean? It's important to you, isn't it?"

There was something about Zoro's anger that Sanji couldn't quite put his finger on. The swordsman was definitely mad, but there was something else in the intensity of his glare, a certain tremor in his voice that wasn't from rage.

"That's not the point! Don't you realize how small you are?! Those waves could have squashed you! Do you want to die?"

Shiloh's disposition changed. She stood up straighter and squared her shoulders. When she spoke, her voice had raised in pitch and volume. "What does it matter if I'm small? I was the only one who wasn't tied yet, and I was the closest to where it went overboard."

"Do you know how many Devil Fruit users we have on this ship? We have other ways to recover things!" Sanji and Robin exchanged an uncomfortable look.

"Oh really?! Even when it falls into the ocean?!"

The rest of the crew stood shocked as Zoro and Shiloh continued to argue. The swordsman had yet to even take his lost sword. "You're not getting what I'm saying!"

"What are you saying then?!"

"That what you did was stupid!"

Shiloh extended her free arm in exasperation. "So what should I have done? Let your sword get washed out to sea forever?!"

"You shouldn't have taken responsibility for something that doesn't concern you!"

"It does concern me! It's my responsibility to do whatever I can for people I care about!"

"THEN STOP CARING!" Shiloh's eyes darkened as she sent the taller man a look of indignation. Zoro took a breath and added quietly, "Just stop. Stop, or your stupid feelings are going to get you killed."

Nami moved to stand between the two. "Okay," she said firmly, "That's enough."

Shiloh brought her eyes to her feet and let out a huff. "Fine," she grumbled as she shoved Wado Ichimonji into Zoro's much larger hands. "I'm sorry." She began to walk towards the women's quarters, and none of them made a move to stop her.

Once she was out of sight, Sanji sent a kick into Zoro's side that made the swordsman fall. "The hell?!"

"You could be a little more thankful, you ass."

Before he could deliver another kick, Sanji felt Nami's hand on his shoulder. "Don't," she ordered. Heat spread down his arm form where she had touched, despite the coldness of her hand and the wetness of his clothing. "I'm sick of the arguing." She sent Zoro a glare as well as he got to his feet. "Everyone just dry off then start cleaning." The cook took a look around. The storm had definitely made a mess of things. Barrels had ended up everywhere and there were bits of wood scattered along the deck. One of Nami's trees had been uprooted, along with all of Robin's flowers. He would take it upon himself to help her plant new ones later. "Check everywhere and everything. See if anything needs to be repaired."

They spent a few hours cleaning and evaluating The Thousand Sunny, during which Shiloh had come back out and began to help. However, the redhead refrained from speaking to anyone. When it was reported that there were no serious damages to the ship and everything was more or less clean and dry, Sanji announced that he was going to get dinner ready. He turned to his usual helper, and jerked his head towards the galley. "C'mon."

Wordlessly, Shiloh followed him as Luffy cheered about the upcoming meal. As the galley door shut behind them, Sanji opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Shiloh's exaggerated groan. She had dramatically draped herself over the table, arm slung across her eyes. "You're not going to lecture me, are you?"

Sanji took a deep breath. "Get up. I don't want you getting the table dirty. We eat there, in case you've forgotten." With a sigh, she obeyed and got to her feet. She eyed him warily. "I'm not going to lecture you." She looked relieved momentarily until he added, "I just want to talk."

"Ugh. That's the same thing."

"Maybe, maybe not. Start peeling potatoes." He turned his back and walked behind the bar counter to begin heating up some pans. "Listen," he began slowly, "I do think that the stupid green haired idiot out there could have been less harsh with you." The sizzling of oil was the only reply. "But he's right."

"What?!" The sound of a potato hitting the ground made him grit his teeth, but the cook knew that it was not the moment to worry about it.

"You should have let someone else take care of it. You could have gotten really hurt out there, or worse."

"Do none of you think I'm capable of taking care of myself?"

Sanji turned, taking in the girl sitting on the other side of the counter. The dropped potato was in her hand, the peeler put down. Her eyes bore into his inquiringly, but not angrily. If anything, she looked slightly offended. "That's not it."

"Then what is it?"

The cook turned to put some vegetables in the pan before lowering the heat and telling the girl, "Those waves were huge, Shiloh, and face it, you're small."

"That doesn't mean I'm useless…"

He could hear the hurt in her voice. "That's not what I'm saying either," he said as gently as he could. "We know you're capable. We know you're willing. We see it in the way you help us with whatever we ask of you. But that doesn't change your physicality. There are times you will have to be careful because of your size. It's not a handicap," he added quickly at Shiloh's glare, "It's simply a fact. Look at it this way; if we had you and Franky stand side by side and then shot you guys with an air cannon, who would fly farther?"

Shiloh sighed and looked down, "Me." The potato in her hands was placed gently on the countertop. "Because I'm small and wimpy."

"Don't get passive aggressive on me, Shy." Sanji shook his head. "You may have to be careful because of your size, but Brook has to be careful because of his lack of weight. Did you see him almost fly off during the storm?"

Sanji couldn't help but feel relieved at the slight upturn in the corner of Shiloh's lips. "Yeah."

"And Franky needs to be careful of his step when he's in the crow's nest because he's so heavy." His eyes suddenly turned into hearts. "And Nami-swan and Robin-chwan need to be careful in the sun or they'll burn their delicate skin!"

Shiloh let out a small laugh, a laugh that put Sanji at ease and made him smile. "I get it, I get it. We just have to deal with what we have, good or bad."

"That's right. We all have our challenges and our advantages." He paused, and when there was no response, he added, "Do you get it now, you little idiot?"

Sanji wondered when he suddenly became the ship counselor. He made a mental note to not be the one to speak to Zoro. Shiloh gave him a soft smile and nodded. "I'm sorry for being stupid."

"Well, we can't help what we are."

"Hey!"

Her laughter cut through the air, and the cook couldn't help but join in. "Seriously though, don't apologize for what you did. Just apologize for scaring the hell out of us."

A moment of silence passed between them and the blonde noticed that Shiloh's eyes had lit up with understanding. She nodded slowly before quietly saying, "I'm sorry."

He turned to attend back to the meal he was preparing with a nod. "Don't forget the others. And go talk to Zoro." At the mention of the swordsman's name Shiloh sighed, shoulders slightly slumped.

"I wish he hadn't yelled at me."

"That's just how he shows he cares."

They once again fell into a silence, with only the sound of food cooking and potatoes being peeled drifting through the air. Sanji was satisfied with their little chat; he had set Shiloh straight and set her up to speak with Zoro with a clearer mind. Damn, he was good.

"Hey, Sanji."

"Yeah?"

"What's Zoro's favorite food?"

An hour later dinner had just finished, and Sanji thanked whatever deity was up there that they had gotten through it without any fuss. After everyone else had filed out, Shiloh had remained. Her custom was to wash the dishes, but that night Sanji agreed to wash them himself, since the redhead had other business to attend to. She had practically bounded to him when the rest of the crew had gone, grinning from eat to ear. He couldn't help but smile. She reminded him of an over exuberant puppy. Carefully, he handed her something small, wrapped in a blue napkin. "Don't squash it."

"I won't," she promised. "I'll protect it with my life!"

Opening the door for her, Sanji chuckled and said, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Good luck."

Shiloh stepped out the door, but not before giving him a softer, sincere smile and whispering, "Thank you, Sanji."

His heart warmed and he shook his head before nudging her forward. "Go already!"

Washing dishes is what he should have been doing, but instead he found himself following Shiloh about five minutes after she had left the galley. He really couldn't help being curious, especially when romance was involved. Granted, Shiloh hadn't the intention of being romantic when she set off to find Zoro, but he supposed her intent to speak with him was close enough. It wasn't as if romance was easy to find aboard The Sunny anyway, so Sanji would take what he could get.

Zoro was usually up at the crow's nest during the evenings, so Sanji climbed the ropes upward and stopped at the ladder to take in the view of endless starry ocean. He didn't spend much time up there, in fact, if he wasn't in the galley, he was usually on the deck catering to Nami and Robin.

Carefully, he climbed the ladder and stopped right before he got to the top so as to remain unseen. For a moment he heard nothing and considered making his way back down, but the sound of Shiloh's voice kept him in place.

"Can we talk?"

Apparently the five minutes Sanji had spent debating whether he should follow or not Shiloh had spent looking for the swordsman, since she seemed to have just arrived as well.

Sanji heard the sound of a weight being put down. "I don't have anything to say." The cook pulled himself up slightly, hoping he could peek out and see what was happening. Already feeling ridiculous hiding on the ladder, Sanji felt an immediate sense of gratification when he saw a huge barbell in front of him. He could peek under it without being seen, the bar hiding his face.

Zoro had moved to grab a different weight. Shiloh was standing near the entrance, where Sanji was observing. "I do," she said calmly.

There was a pause before she took a breath and said slowly, "I'm not sorry for going after your sword." Zoro turned with a glare, obviously not pleased with the return of the cause of their previous argument. Shiloh held one hand up, the other remaining behind her back. Sanji could see the blue-wrapped parcel he had given her in the conceal hand. "Hold on," she said before the swordsman could interrupt. "I'm not sorry for going after your sword. But I am sorry for worrying you. I promise to be more careful next time, and to think before I act."

Sanji stifled a laugh at Zoro's dumb-founded expression. Quiet, sincere apologies were not things that often happened on their ship. Usually, their issues were solved by fistfights or some bumps to the head. At worst, they would stay out of each others' way for a few days and let things tide over before acting like it never happened. He had to admit, if any of the other crew members walked up to him with a smile and an apology, he'd be suspicious.

Zoro looked as if he were struggling to make words. The cook crouched on the ladder hoped that the swordsman would say something in response. He was worried that if he didn't, Shiloh wouldn't get the chance to hand over the small neatly wrapped package. Finally, Zoro nodded and replied in barely a whisper. "Okay…good." Shiloh seemed happy with his response and took a step forward. However, she froze when the green haired man began speaking again, eyes shifting to look anywhere but directly at her. "Then I'll try not to yell at you like that next time…"

Sanji couldn't see it, but he was sure a brilliant smile had lit up Shiloh's face, because Zoro's had turned incredibly red. That was happening more often lately. Sanji couldn't help but think maybe there was hope for the swordsman yet. The cook nearly lost his composure and burst out laughing when the redhead let out an excited squeal, as if it had been building up during the whole conversation.

She thrust out her hand, offering the covered item she held, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "This is for you."

Zoro eyed it warily as he took a few steps closer. His eyebrow was slightly raised in suspicion, but his dark eyes held no malice. "What is it?"

"A peace offering."

Taking the small object, Zoro shook his head with the shadow of an amused smile playing at his lips. Despite himself, it grew to a full smile, or at least as full of a smile as Zoro could give without losing the serious look he always wore when he unwrapped the blue napkin. In his hand was an onigiri that was obviously shaped with much smaller hands than the cook's. "Don't get too excited," Shiloh said teasingly, "I only made one because we just ate, and Sanji didn't want me to use up too much rice."

"Stingy cook," Zoro replied, the insult not really having the usual fire behind it. Sanji stuck his tongue out at the swordsman, knowing full well he couldn't bee seen. It was childish and immature, but he had to let out the giddiness the situation had caused one way or another.

He felt himself grin when Zoro finally made eye contact with the expectant redhead. She had stopped her excited jittering in favor for standing with her now completely empty hands held loosely behind her back. A toothy smile was aimed at the swordsman. "Thanks for looking out for me."

Wordlessly, Zoro nodded and took a bite out of the onigiri. He chewed slowly and thoughtfully before swallowing and waiting a few seconds before saying quietly, "Thanks for saving my sword."

Sanji sent an unseen nod of approval towards the pair, before making his way back down the ladder. He had seen enough to know that everything between the two would be fine. As he hit the open air at the top of the rope ladder, he couldn't help but once again take a look around him. The storm clouds from earlier stretched on behind them, as if they had never been a threat to begin with. Sanji took a deep breath, filling his lungs with crisp, clean air. Behind them was definitely where all storms belonged.