Straight Forward

Chapter 18: The Beginning of the 'L' Word

Sanji wasn't sure what was going on but the last thing he expected was for Shiloh to be standing there in the alley, arms crossed at the scruffy man standing in front of her. From his ducked down position behind a random barrel, the cook could see the stranger holding up a piece of paper.

He squinted and could make out what looked like a picture of Shiloh with much longer hair filling most of the page, and large words scattered across the bottom. No, he thought to himself with surprise, it couldn't be a wanted poster could it?

"Ain't this you?" The man asked with a smirk.

"It is," Shiloh affirmed with a flat voice. "But I'm not a missing person. I left by choice."

"Ah, but it don't look like that was your choice to make," he said with a cocky voice, taking a step closer to the redhead. Sanji's skin began to crawl. He sensed trouble. "It says here that you're a prostitute. You gotta belong to someone and it looks like that someone wants you back." With a grin, the stranger pointed to the bottom of the page. "Look. Someone's willing to pay a pretty high price for you, girlie."

Shiloh's posture stiffened. "I'm not a prostitute. My contract has been bought so I've changed professions. You've been misinformed."

"You see," the man said as he took yet another step closer. "I don't really care about that part. All I care about is the reward." His eyes scanned Shil oh up and down before stopping at her face. "But if you make it worth my while, I might just forget I ever saw this poster."

Shiloh's eyes narrowed as she uncrossed her arms, hands balling into fists at her sides. Sanji remained crouched, tense and ready to jump in if he needed to. "What exactly are you saying?"

The stranger raised his arm and to Sanji's great disgust, cupped his hand around Shiloh's right breast. "Show me your special skill set and I won't take you back to where you came from by force."

For the second that the redhead didn't move, Sanji was full on prepared and made to jump in there to kick the man right in his ugly mouth full of brown teeth. But the cook's eyes nearly popped out of his head as Shiloh's demeanor immediately changed. Her eyes grew sultry as she stuck out one hip, gently placing her hand on it. With a slight sway in her movement, she closed the distance between her and the stranger, placing a hand on his stubbly jaw.

"Alright," she whispered with a slightly deeper tone in her voice. "You want to see what I can do?"

"You bet I do, Baby."

Enraged, Sanji moved from his hiding place and began advancing towards the two. Shiloh had her back to him and the creepy guy was much too distracted to notice him so he had remained undetected. Even though he was stalking towards them, he had no idea who he was more infuriated with: the stranger, for being a total perverted asshole, or Shiloh, for entertaining him. After all the trouble he went through to get her and Zoro together she was just going to go ahead and betray him by sleeping with any guy who offered? What? Was this really who she was? A small voice in the back of his mind told him that couldn't be right.

Before he could decide whom to go after first, he heard Shiloh say seductively, "You'll be sorry." And then the man was on the ground, clutching at the side of his face. Sanji blinked. The contortionist stood with her fist still raised. "In fact," she said, the amorous voice completely gone and replaced with a threatening growl, "I'll make sure of it." The man snarled and made to lurch towards her but she kicked him dead in the chest, causing him to roll into himself. "You think you could cop a feel just like that without permission, tough guy? Think I'd just give you my body because I used to be a prostitute?" She knelt down and forcibly grabbed the coughing man by the collar. Sanji stood motionless, a little impressed but mostly in shock at what he was witnessing. "Let me tell you something. This body is mine and I'll be damned if I keep letting people like you get away with taking advantage of it. The next time you even think about touching anyone like that without their consent you better remember my face and what I just did to yours."

Shiloh let go of the man who had finally managed to collect his breath. He lay sprawled on the ground for but a second before he jumped up and returned Shiloh's first punch. Before she even had a chance to stagger, Sanji had sent a furious kick right at the stranger's head, all his previous doubt about the girl forgotten. He made to turn and check on the redhead, but she was already at his side, glaring daggers at the barely conscious man. She certainly was a sight, with blood oozing down her split lip and an almost feral ferocity in the way she bared her teeth. Walking right by Sanji, she crouched in front of creep, eyes narrowed and filled with fire. "I hope you've learned your lesson." She grabbed him again by the collar and lifted him slightly so that his torso was off the ground. "Take a nap, you nasty piece of shit." And with surprising strength for someone so small, Shiloh flung him across the alleyway so hard that he connected with the opposite wall with a dull 'thud.'

…

"What happened?!"

It wasn't his intention to worry his beloved Nami-swan, but he should have figured it was going to happen when she spotted the blood running down Shiloh's chin. However, he tried to sound at least a little positive. "Shy beat the crap out of some creepy pervert in the alley."

Nami threw her hands up in the air in frustration as Brook peered concernedly over her shoulder. "What were you doing in the alley?!"

Shiloh gave her a sheepish smile despite the split on the left side of her top and bottom lip. "Beating the crap out of a creepy pervert?"

"Shy, what even- I don't- UGH!" The navigator stopped flailing and stuttering in favor of bringing one hand to her forehead. With a sigh, she asked again with a little more calm in her voice, "What happened?"

The redhead shrugged. "This guy came up to me and said he knew who I was and if we could talk in private so I led him to the alley over there. Then he said some stuff and I said some stuff then he grabbed my boob and then a fight happened."

Brook gasped. "He fondled you?! What a degenerate man!"

Nami's face fell as she moved to pull the smaller girl into a quick hug before letting out a tired sigh. "Well I'm glad you're all right. Just do me a favor and don't go off alone with weirdoes, okay?"

Shiloh let out a small laugh. "But I knew Sanji would follow me."

The cook raised a brow. "You knew I was there?"

"I saw you in the crowd before that guy even came up to me. I tried to wave but you were too busy staring at Nami."

He and the navigator both blushed and looked away. Nami recovered first and cleared her throat with every intention of changing the subject. "Since you're here, Sanji, I'm assuming you and Zoro got everything on my list?"

"I did," he confirmed with a large smile. "I saw Franky and Usopp on my way here and they were already heading back so I had them take everything with them."

Nami smiled brightly. "Thank you. I'm glad I can at least count on someone to do what I ask."

Hearts replacing his eyes, Sanji laughed loudly and proclaimed, "I'll gladly spend the rest of my life doing your bidding, Nami-swan!"

"So, Sanji-san," Brook broke in curiously, "Where is Zoro-san?"

The cook's disposition immediately turned grumpy. "Who knows? He was being so stubborn and useless that I just left him."

Nami's eyes narrowed as Shiloh let out a small giggle. "You what?! Now it's going to take forever to find him! Who knows where he ended up?!" She grabbed him by the back of the shirt and kicked him back towards the way he came. "Go find him!"

"Oh, Nami-swan! I love when you get so assertive!"

"JUST GO!"

He never hated Zoro more than during the times he had to go searching for him. Thankfully the island was small so the area to search wasn't too wide, but it was so filled with buildings that there were just too many alleys, paths, and nooks and crannies to search to be convenient. He had been running around for a good hour before he finally spotted the swordsman sitting on a bench, but the idiot wasn't alone.

There stood Shiloh, face cleaned up and in more casual clothes, hair pulled up into a messy bun. Sanji frowned in confusion. How the hell did she find Zoro before he did? Maybe she had Marimo senses? However, judging by how the girl raised a hand in greeting, the cook could assume that she had just arrived as well.

"Hey."

Zoro nodded in greeting then did a double take. "What happened to your face?"

Shiloh snorted as took a seat next to the swordsman. "That's a nice way to say hello." Sanji didn't know what compelled him to creep around and sit against the opposite side of the short planter wall that the benches were in front of; he really should have just grabbed the pair and brought them back to the ship like lovely Nami-swan had ordered, but he guessed a sense of curiosity had gotten the better of him.

He heard the redhead let out a small laugh. "Let's just say I got into a heated disagreement with someone."

"You got into a fight?"

With a half-sigh, half-laugh Shiloh replied, "Or you could say that." At Zoro's flat stare, she added, "I won." Looking up thoughtfully for a moment, she brought a finger up to feel the cut on her lip. "Sanji helped too."

The green-haired man leaned back and let out a huff. "At least he's good for something."

"Yeah, besides making sure none of us starve to death." Sanji secretly thanked the girl for her acknowledgment.

Zoro shrugged. "Eh." From his hidden position, the cook glared with a promise to get the swordsman back for his ungratefulness later. "So what happened?"

"I already told you."

"I mean how did that happen?"

Shiloh seemed to hesitate a minute, as if choosing her words carefully. Eventually she drew in a long breath and said, "Apparently Scrawly has listed me as a missing person and there are posters around. I'm described as still being a prostitute. This guy saw it and approached me after our little street show. We went into an alley and he said either he takes me back by force to collect the reward money or I sleep with him and he leaves me alone. Then he-" the redhead broke off before continuing slowly and carefully, "He got a little too close for comfort so I hit him. He landed a punch before Sanji came and kicked his teeth in. Then I roughed him up a little more and we left him there."

Sanji sighed. Maybe it was a good thing Shiloh had decided not to go into the details of just how close the stranger got. However, Zoro seemed to sense something had been left out because he turned his head towards the girl, eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion. "I have a feeling you're not telling me everything."

Shiloh shrugged. "I've told you everything that was important."

"But you didn't tell me everything that happened." With a slight growl, the swordsman continued, "You trying to tell me that some guy mouthed off, got a little close and right away you hit him? That doesn't sound like you. I know you don't throw punches the first chance you get. He must have done something to piss you off." When Shiloh didn't respond, he asked, "Am I right?"

Sighing, Shiloh nodded. "Yeah."

"So what was it?"

Sanji wondered how the swordsman would react when Shiloh told him the truth. It was surprising enough that he was questioning the girl about the incident. Fights happened to them so frequently that no one but Nami really cared about the reason anymore. But, he supposed, it was because Shiloh was special to Zoro. Suddenly he was thankful Zoro hadn't been there with him. He had a feeling the stranger would have literally been cut to pieces had the swordsman seen what he had done to his sweetheart.

Shiloh's voice caught the cook's attention once again. "He touched me."

Eyes darkening as they narrowed into slits, Zoro growled, "Where?"

Wordlessly, the contortionist gestured to her chest.

The air became suffocatingly still as Zoro registered what he was seeing. The redhead put a small hand on his knee and asked softly, almost timidly, "Are you mad?"

"Are you not?" Zoro's words had come out in a quietly enraged hiss.

Shiloh's amber eyes directed away from the green-haired man, taking on a faraway look. "I was," she breathed. "But only for a little while. It's not like it hasn't happened before and thanks to those posters, it'll probably happen again."

Sanji nearly backed away despite being separated from the pair by the concrete planter when Zoro jumped to his feet, face contorting from slightly disturbed to downright outrage as if a switch had been flipped.

"The hell it will," Zoro growled, voice barely above a whisper. "I won't let it."

The redhead sighed and also stood, tentatively reaching out to tug at the swordsman's sleeve before he began stomping off. From his hiding place, Sanji couldn't help but wonder at the differences between the strong, almost feral Shiloh he had witnessed in the alley, and the meek, gentle Shiloh he was currently watching. He had to admit, she adapted well to different situations. Sure, she wasn't great at sparring with him or any of the other Straw Hats, but at least they could rest easy knowing their friend could take care of herself in a pinch. Still, when Sanji's eyes landed back on Zoro who looked about as mad as a raging bull, he couldn't help but empathize with his anger. If it had been Nami, the stranger wouldn't have walked away with his life. After all, Sanji fully believed that dishonorable men, especially ones that abused women, didn't deserve to live.

"Zoro, come on," she implored. "Don't waste your time getting so worked up. I swear I didn't let him off easy. You can even ask Sanji."

"That's not the point, Shiloh!"

Frowning deeply, the girl asked exasperatedly, "The what is?"

"The point is I'm pissed off!" Zoro spun to face the girl, teeth bared. "I'm fucking mad so I'm going to go find all those damn posters and tear them down. And I'm going to find the asshole that touched you and cut off his balls! Now let go!"

Sanji sighed. He supposed he should be thankful that at least Zoro was waiting for Shiloh to release his sleeve instead of just pulling away because he probably would have unintentionally sent the small redhead flying if he had done so. However, it was still clear that the swordsman was heated. Hell, he was downright on fire. Sanji had seen Zoro mad many times, but not like he currently was. In battle, the swordsman's anger was quiet and precise, almost menacing towards the enemy. And when it was the blond who got the marimo going, the idiot would shout and threaten and start to fight just like the cook himself would but Sanji knew that the both of them never really fought with the intent to kill one another. They were crewmates, after all. But the current anger he saw on Zoro's face and the bite he heard in his voice wasn't like that. It was raw and unbidden; the hot emotion that the swordsman was usually good at portioning out perfectly to the occasion but in this case came pouring out in full. To Sanji, it was almost unsettling despite knowing and understanding the reason.

Shiloh refused to move, despite Zoro's expectant glare and harsh command. "Are you really going to waste time doing that?"

"Yes," Zoro ground out stubbornly.

The redhead huffed and finally let go of the green-haired man's sleeve in favor of crossing her arms. Much to Sanji's surprise, Zoro remained where he was, though his face was still set in an angry scowl. Shiloh gave him an extremely irritated look. "Zoro, this is dumb."

"Dumb?!" The swordsman repeated incredulously. "What's dumb is that you don't care that there are posters hanging around that give the impression that you'll sleep with men for money!"

"I do care!" Shiloh replied, voice starting to rise.

Uh-oh, Sanji thought to himself, They're having an actual argument. I have a feeling this might not turn out very well.

"It's not like I'm happy about those stupid posters but getting rid of them won't help anything now that they've already been seen. Plus there are probably more on other islands." Taking a breath, Shiloh uncrossed her arms and pushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear. Sanji didn't fail to notice that the action caused Zoro to soften just the tiniest bit. "Look, just trust me," the redhead continued. "I can take care of myself. I know I'm pathetic when I spar with you guys but against some lowlife creep I can hold my own just fine." It almost creeped Sanji out how close Shiloh's words had echoed his previous thoughts. "So please, just forget about the posters and let's go back to the ship."

Zoro's dark eyes bore into Shiloh's amber irises, the pair engaging in what seemed to Sanji like some sort of staring contest for dominance. Just when their silence nearly enticed him to reveal himself and shout at them to figure their crap out later so they could return to The Sunny, Zoro blinked and said in a low voice, "What if I don't want to?"

Shiloh's face immediately hardened. "Then I guess we want different things." Sanji's felt his heart drop. Surely this one incident wasn't enough for the two to call it quits, right?

Zoro turned away and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I guess so."

What?!

With a shake of her head, Shiloh took a step away from the swordsman who was averting her gaze and said flatly, "Do what you want, Zoro."

The blond raised a curly eyebrow. Was it his imagination or was there something more to the way Shiloh had uttered those words?

Silently, Zoro nodded and began to walk away, a tension in his shoulders and a stiffness in his gait.

Not having a clue how the pair had gone from talking to sudden separation, the cook took a breath and brought a hand to his forehead. He almost wished he hadn't witnessed the whole thing because it was now his job to fix it. A small voice in the back of his mind wondered if he actually needed to do that. Would they figure it out themselves or was their relationship doomed to be as short-lived as Shiloh was tall? From the beginning he hadn't thought Zoro and Shiloh would suit each other; was his intuition right after all, despite how well the pair had gotten along until this point? Was their little argument something to worry about or would it work itself out eventually?

He once again thought about Nami being in Shiloh's place instead. If a strange man even so much as lay a finger on his beloved Nami-swan he would make sure they wouldn't live to see another day. And yet he knew Nami, much like Shiloh, wouldn't let such a deed go unpunished. They were in no way weak women. But his blood still boiled at the thought. The difference was that he knew how Nami would respond to such a situation. When it had been Shiloh, even Sanji hadn't known what the girl was going to do, if anything at all. And in the same vein, Shiloh hadn't known that Zoro would get so upset. The cook found himself beginning to feel a little morose. Despite Shiloh having been with them for quite some time, he realized that she and Zoro hadn't actually gotten to know each other as well as he thought they had. In fact, Shiloh had never even seen Zoro in a real fight. She didn't know the Zoro that the crew did. The blond let out a small sigh at the notion. He was going to have to do some damage control.

"Sanji," he almost jumped at the sound of Shiloh's voice calling him and sounding so close. He turned to find her leaning over the top of the planter, looking right at him. She sighed, the hardness from her eyes completely gone, replaced by something thinly veiled that Sanji believed looked a bit like loneliness. "Let's go back to the ship."

He didn't even think to ask how she had known he was there. The cook turned his head towards the direction Zoro had gone. "I need to go get him. You know how lost he gets." He mentally cursed at the concern in his voice.

Shiloh shook her head and grabbed his hand, practically dragging him up and away from his hiding spot. "Let him find his own way back."

Sanji had been too surprised at her firm words to even protest.

Hours later found Sanji standing next to a sitting Shiloh on the grassy deck of The Thousand Sunny. The rest of the crew were mulling about as well, mostly looking towards the island, keeping an eye out for their swordsman who had yet to appear.

Luffy let out a loud whiny groan and flopped onto his back. "Sanjiiiii… When are we going to have dinner?"

The cook rolled his eyes. "I already told you. We can't eat without the idiot marimo."

Usopp joined the complaining captain. "With Zoro's sense of direction, we're going to starve to death."

Jumping up, Luffy put both fists in the air as if ready for a fight. "That sounds like the worst thing ever! Someone go get Zoro so we can eat!"

Sanji didn't miss the concerned look Nami gave the back of Shiloh's head. Despite her rule that Shiloh and Zoro's business was not to become their business, her face shouted her worry for them in volumes. Her heart was simply too empathetic to ignore their problems. "Maybe we should," the navigator suggested. "It's been hours and it's getting late. Who knows what kind of trouble he could have gotten himself in to?"

"Yeah," Franky agreed enthusiastically, "and I'm suuupppeeerr hungry!"

Brook nodded. "As am I."

Chopper sidled up to Shiloh and put a small hoof on her knee. "I'm getting a little worried."

"For good reason," Robin added simply. "We have no idea what wildlife may come out at night at this island."

Turning around, Shiloh rolled her eyes but gave the crew a small smile. "Alright, alright. Enough with the guilt tripping. I'll go find him."

The navigator gave her a slightly skeptical frown. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

Letting out a snort, the redhead replied sarcastically, "I'll probably get into another fight with some pervert or another but don't worry; I'll be fine." She winked at the orange haired woman who had glared and lifted a fist threateningly. "Sorry, sorry. Really though, I can find him by myself. Won't even take fifteen minutes." Getting to her feet, she stretched and began walking towards the gangplank.

Sanji found himself a little relieved that Shiloh was behaving like her usual self. Hours earlier when they had walked towards The Sunny without Zoro, she hadn't said a word. Even when they boarded she had simply sat on the deck with barely a greeting to anyone else. However, he didn't fail to notice that she kept her eyes towards the island. She must have been keeping a lookout for a flash of green hair or the glint of three swords.

As the redhead disappeared off the ship, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Go with her." His heart drummed loudly in his ears. How could he refuse his precious Nami-swan when she spoke to him with such authority?

Quite frankly, it was fascinating to him the way Shiloh searched for the green-haired fool. 'Searched' wasn't even the right word; more like 'followed.' What exactly she was following, Sanji had no idea, but he could tell by the confident way she walked that she knew where she was going. Curious, he asked, "So how are you doing it?"

Shiloh turned confused eyes toward the cook. "Doing what?"

"Tracking the stupid lost swordsman."

"Oh," the redhead replied nonchalantly. "I'm just following his scent."

Sanji made a face. "Gross. I keep telling him that he needs to bathe more than once a week." After giving the air a tentative sniff, Sanji realized that it was stupid to do so because he in no way wanted to catch onto Zoro's stench. Luckily he hadn't smelled anything.

Huh?

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, the girl's words registering in his head. "Wait, what?"

Shiloh paused patiently beside him. "What, what?"

"What do you mean you're tracking him by scent?" He pointed to his nose. "I've got a pretty damn good sense of smell and I can't smell anything. That unhygienic marimo's scent can't be hard to miss."

"It's not that kind of scent. I'm following his scent." The redhead began to walk forward but must have noticed Sanji's disbelief because she continued, "Just think of it like smelling the one cucumber in a batch of zucchinis. Similar, but still different enough to be noticeable."

Okay, the cook thought, that made sense. But since when did Shiloh have such a keen sense of smell? She had been helping Sanji in the kitchen long enough that he was sure he would have noticed such a thing. "I didn't realize you had such a sensitive nose."

With a small laugh, Shiloh raised a hand and waved off the compliment. "I don't. It's just that Zoro's scent has been sticking with me ever since I spent the night in his bed."

Vaguely, Sanji remember a time when Zoro had claimed that the whole ship had begun to smell like flowers because of Shiloh. He supposed it wasn't that strange for the scent of a loved one to cling to one's olfactory receptors. Tangerines happened to be his favorite palate cleanser, after all.

Abruptly, Shiloh stopped and spun on her heel, a blush and an embarrassed frown on her face. "I shouldn't have told you that." Sanji snorted. That's right, the redhead hadn't known that he was awake when she had snuck into Zoro's bed. "Please don't tell Nami. She'll kill me."

"Hmm, that's going to be pretty difficult, Shy," he replied, trying his best to put on a conflicted face. "She is my lady, after all."

"I'll clean the galley all by myself after every meal for a month."

"You practically already do that."

"Then… I'll tell you whenever Nami's in a bad mood so you can avoid saying something that will set her off and get you a smack in the face."

"Deal." They shook on it and continued walking, an amused smile on the cook's face. "So," he began conversationally, "What does Zoro smell like?"

"Um…" Shiloh replied slowly as she looked up in thought. "Kind of like grass…?"

Sanji's fist collided with the top of the girl's head as he yelled, "There's grass all over the place! Are you sure you're even following the right scent?!"

"Ow, yes! I said kind of like grass! Like metal and grass! Metal grass!"

The cook moved his hand from the girl's head to yank her ear. Honestly. "Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth right now?"

"Sanji, come on!" She whined, arms flailing. "I know it sounds stupid but just trust me, I'll find him!"

Releasing the girl with a snort, Sanji pulled out a cigarette and lit it with an expert hand. "Metal grass. Hell, the two of you deserve each other."

The redhead faltered for a moment before looking away. "I'm not so sure anymore. He's probably still mad."

"You know, Shy," Sanji began after exhaling an ashy cloud of smoke. "He has a good reason to be."

His small companion let out a groan. "I just don't understand, Sanji. If I can get over it, why can't he?"

The cook slowly took another drag of his cigarette before answering, "Because he cares about you."

"I know he does," the redhead replied softly. "I just don't get what that has to do with anything. He wasn't even involved."

Sanji nearly dropped his cigarette as his mouth dropped open in surprise. Thankfully, he clenched his teeth together just in time. Since Shiloh had begun pursuing Zoro, he had never doubted that the girl knew what she was doing. She spoke and moved with a confidence that spoke of experience. However, it only took that singular sentence for the cook to realize that the redhead actually still had much to learn. Well, he thought with a sigh, so be it.

"Are you kidding, Shy?" Sanji asked incredulously. "You really don't get it." The redhead gave a confused shrugged as if in agreement. "It did have something to do with him because he's involved with you. Of course he'd be pissed that someone disrespected you."

"I get that," Shiloh sighed. "But I already told him I handled it. Shouldn't that be enough?"

Sanji froze and reached out to grasp the redhead's arm, preventing her from walking on. She turned and focused confused eyes on his. "Whether you handled it or not doesn't matter. He won't be satisfied until he takes action himself."

"But why?"

"Because he likes you, you clueless little fool!" Sanji felt a dull headache beginning to form at the back of his skull. Maybe he was becoming allergic to stupidity. "If someone disrespects you, they disrespect Zoro and you know he's not going to take that lying down no matter what anyone says. As a man, it's his job to defend your honor."

Shiloh made a face somewhere between exasperated and displeased. "That can't be right. Are you telling me you'd take over a fight for Nami even if she were winning all because someone got in one hit?"

"In a heartbeat."

"What if she didn't want you to?"

It took the cook a moment to answer. He had to think a bit about that one. Of course, he would always believe in and obey his wonderful, smart, strong Nami-swan. But if she didn't even depend on him… "I guess I'd feel a little hurt. But I'd do whatever she wanted, of course."

This time it was the contortionist who froze mid-step. Widened amber eyes met Sanji's. "Do you think I hurt Zoro's feelings?"

With a snort, the cook waved a careless hand and replied, "I doubt it." He paused, drawing in a long drag of his cigarette, letting the dry caress of smoke fill his lungs before adding flatly, "His pride, maybe."

Shiloh's gaze seemed to focus on something far away. "It's not supposed to be like that," she mumbled.

"Even if you think so," Sanji said as he followed her line of sight, "That's how it is. Either take it or leave it." He could make out a familiar shadow sitting against the trunk of a tree. "Let me ask you something, Shy," he continued before they approached the prone figure ahead. "If you saw a woman grab Zoro's junk, what would you do?"

Something flashed across the in the redhead's face before she answered gruffly, "I'd probably gouge her eyes out…"

"Now if you didn't see it happen but Zoro told you, and he made sure to let you know that he set the woman straight, what would you do?"

Shiloh remained silent for a minute, head bowed as she stared at her toes with a deep frown. "I'd still want to gouge her eyes out…"

"Would you go after her even if Zoro told you not to?"

Yet another groan escaped the girl as she gripped her head with both hands and turned her face up to the dark sky. "Ugh, yes, I would. I so would."

"Why?"

"Because…" Shiloh began slowly as she lowered her hands. "Because I need to make her pay for touching something she had no business putting her hands on."

"That would be a privilege allowed only to you, right?"

"Right," the redhead immediately agreed firmly. As quickly as the word escaped her, the girl's face began burning and Sanji couldn't help but chuckle at her embarrassed expression. "I… um… Well now I feel stupid." With a grin, the cook wordlessly ruffled the girl's hair. Sighing, she jerked her head over towards where Zoro was sitting. "Let me talk to him alone for a bit, okay? I'll make sure to bring him back to the ship."

"Sure," he replied with a small wave as she began to walk towards the swordsman. However, he made no move to go back to The Sunny. Instead, he walked with his quietest step to a tree closer to the pair, ducked down behind it, and strained his ears.

As Shiloh slowly approached Zoro and crouched down, it occurred to Sanji that the swordsman seemed to be asleep. However, he knew better. The only place Zoro actually napped was on the ship.

"Zoro?" The redhead called softly. When no response came, she leaned in a little closer and gently shook his knee. "Zoro, wake up."

Sanji raised a brow. Was the green-haired man really stubborn enough to ignore the girl in such a way? He rolled his eyes at himself. Of course he was.

With a sigh, Shiloh fell back onto her bottom and crossed her legs, propping an elbow on one knee and resting her chin in her hand. "Well, this is a problem. It's not like I can just carry you back, you know."

"Wow. Look at him faking."

The cook would have jumped at the sudden sound of Nami's voice if it didn't love it so much. "Nami-swan," he cooed quietly so as not to be heard by the couple up ahead. "You followed?"

"I got curious."

"Are they okay, Sanji?"

There, hanging on to Nami's leg, was Chopper. "Chopper's here too?"

The doctor lowered his head and put his hoofs behind his back as he shuffled his feet. "I got worried. I figured I should go with Nami in case one of them ended up injured."

Sanji snorted. "Neither of them would dream of hurting the other like that."

"Of course not," Robin replied smoothly as she popped out of a bush, "But as I said before, we don't know what secrets this island may hold at night."

"Is everyone here?"

"Nah," Luffy replied as he joined them, Usopp at his side. Sanji brought a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "Franky stayed behind to watch the ship."

"What'd we miss?" Usopp asked as he crouched down for a better view.

"It appears that Zoro-san is sleeping," Brook replied as he peeked around a tree.

The captain laughed. "Zoro's being weird!"

Nami promptly shushed the noisy captain with a blow to the head. "No," she corrected. "He's being stupid."

With a long glance at the pair, Robin smiled softly and suggested, "Perhaps there is a method to Zoro's madness."

"Doubt it," Nami, Sanji, and Usopp replied in unison.

"I wonder," came Shiloh's voice, causing the hidden group to fall into silence. "If you're still going to be mad when you open your eyes." The hand on his knee had gone from one quick shake with the palm to constant gentle stroking with her thumb. If there had been any doubt in Sanji's mind that the swordsman had been awake (which there wasn't), it all vanished at the sight of Shiloh's soft touch. There was no way in hell Zoro wouldn't have been able to detect someone that close to him. The cook was also beginning to believe that Shiloh knew the swordsman was conscious. Her eyes were directly on his face as she spoke. "I'm sorry for being so dismissive of your feelings earlier. I got so wrapped up in trying to get you to understand me that I didn't even try to understand you."

"What is she talking about?"

Sanji turned to Nami who had asked the question and the rest who were staring at him with expectant eyes (and eye sockets). Taking a deep breath, he began, "You can ask Shy the details later, but simply put, she got into a fight and when Zoro found out he wanted to take matters into his own hands despite the fact that she didn't want or need him to."

Luffy titled his head to the side. "But there's no stopping Zoro once he makes his mind up about something."

"Like a certain straw-hat wearing captain," Nami mumbled. She gave Sanji a questioning look. "But Luffy's right. And anyway, isn't that something Shy should already know about Zoro?"

Brook raised his bony hand and broke in, "Ah, but there hasn't really been a reason for Zoro-san to show that side of him since Little Shiloh joined us. We've had a pretty long stretch of peace. Well, long for us, anyway!"

Usopp absently patted the top of Chopper's head as he looked up at the sky with shimmering eyes. "It's been so nice."

"It's been boring!" Luffy exclaimed, prompting the sharpshooter to grab him around the head and cover his mouth.

"But I've been making Shiloh read our travel log," Nami explained, ignoring the two scuffling men. "Everything you'd need or want to know about all of us is in there."

What a great idea, Sanji thought to himself as he marveled at Nami's brilliance. He supposed it was only fair though, considering Shiloh had let them see into her memory, the most personal place one could ever bring another.

Robin gave a quiet laugh. "Well, the do say there is no substitute for experience."

The cook nodded in agreement. The buxom historian also had a good point. Though Shiloh could read as much about them as she wanted, the accounts written in the logs had already long passed. The people they were back then were not entirely the same as they were now, Zoro included. Sanji vaguely wondered how Shiloh would react when the day came that she witnessed Zoro in a true fight, the kind that always left the bullheaded swordsman bleeding and with more than enough injuries.

Slowly, the green-haired man sitting against the tree opened his unscarred eye and gently pushed Shiloh's hand away from his knee. "I don't understand you. At all."

The eavesdroppers exchanged uncomfortable glances. Sanji groaned internally. Trust the tactless marimo to say something that could potentially spark another fight.

But Shiloh took his words in stride and let out a small sigh, an almost rueful smile on her face. "It's okay. We can work on that. Where do you want to start?"

Zoro didn't seem to share the girl's compensative attitude because his frown deepened as he asked gruffly, "Why did you give up?"

The redhead raised a brow, the tiny small falling from her face. "On the posters? I already told you, there'd be no point-"

"Not just the posters," the swordsman interrupted with a near growl. "When that bastard Scrawly came aboard you did nothing even though he put his hands on you, spoke to you with disrespect and lied to all of us."

Shiloh crossed her arms and frowned. Sanji felt himself biting his lip. This wasn't going as well as he had hoped. "I explained that to Luffy and the rest of you right after he left. Scrawly isn't worth-"

"You told us when you left home you never even said goodbye to your friends."

"That's because I didn't want Scrawly to-"

"And you kept working for that man even after you had no reason to."

"I didn't know what else to do!" Shiloh nearly shouted.

"You could have stopped! You could have put an end to your suffering and the suffering of all the other women who got suckered into working for that asshole!" Zoro got to his feet, hands clenched at his sides. "You could have killed him. You knew how to snap someone's neck. Why didn't you do it to the one man responsible for destroying so many lives?" He bent over to be eye-to-eye with the redhead. "You keep running away from your duty to yourself, Shiloh, and I want to know why!"

The contortionist got to her feet as well, shoulders back and head titled upwards to send a defiant glare into the swordsman's eye. "Why the hell are you asking me these things now? All because I didn't get worked up over some stupid posters?!"

Usopp swallowed hard. "They're really going at it…"

"Should we do something?" Chopper whispered worriedly.

"No," Luffy answered firmly. "They're going to work it out. I know it."

Sanji and Nami traded skeptical glances and hoped their captain was right.

"Because I don't even know who you are!"

The cook felt his heart drop. Those words struck like lightning and burned ever more so. They were break up words.

Shiloh didn't seem to share Sanji's sadness because she threw her arms out with immense exasperation and shouted, "Are you kidding me?!" She advanced towards Zoro with such determination that Sanji had almost been convinced she was going to hit the green-haired man. "You were the one who said you didn't care about who I was back then and all that mattered was who I am right now!"

"So who are you right now?! A woman who's fine with being labeled a whore all over the Grand Line?!"

A loud, frustrated shout erupted from the young woman's mouth as she grit her teeth. "I'M NOT A WHORE!" The sheer volume of her voice was enough to silence even Zoro for a second. "I'm not a whore," she repeated quietly but with the same ferocity. "So who cares about the posters? They can say whatever they want because I know what I am and what I'm not. I won't let Scrawly's lies hurt me."

The words that fell quietly from Zoro's lips nearly broke Sanji's brain. "But they hurt me."

Within seconds, Shiloh's posture went from defensive to slack with confusion. Her shoulders drooped, hands un-balling from the fists she had formed, eyes no longer hard but wide with incomprehension. "What?" She managed to croak.

"The damn posters hurt me," Zoro repeated, his voice softening. "Because they remind me of all shitty things Scrawly and his clients have done to you." A hand settled on top of the surprised contortionist's head. "It hurts me that you left home without a word to anyone because I know how hard it must have been." The hand moved to rest at Shiloh's cheek. "And it hurts me that you stayed with Scrawly even after your mother passed away because no one helped you and you didn't know how to help the others." His voice grew rough again as he demanded, "So I want you to just do something to make it stop. It's annoying."

Sanji felt as if his ears were playing tricks on him. Never had he heard Zoro admit to any sort of pain, and to finally hear it, and for it to be emotional pain, was almost too much for the baffled cook to take in.

The redhead stood incredibly still, eyes taking in the suddenly gentle swordsman before her. "I'm sorry, Zoro," she said softly. "When we set out to get you I wanted to show you that I was willing to see your point of view. But I still didn't make the effort." She put a hand over the one still lingering on her face. "We should have talked about this before we decided to give being together a try."

Zoro let out a mirthless snort. "Yeah."

"They're going to break up."

Sanji sighed and almost nodded but chose not to when Nami sent Usopp a glare. "Bet you 500 belis they don't."

"The last thing I would ever do is make a bet with you."

"How dare you question my beautiful Nami-swan's honor?!"

"Whoa, Usopp-san, please don't use me as a shield! I'm all bones!"

Luffy silenced them all with a hard "SHH!" just as Usopp cowered behind Brook in an attempt to avoid getting hit by the kick Sanji raised his leg to deliver.

With a sigh, Shiloh sat back down on the ground and gestured for Zoro to do the same without letting go of the swordsman's hand. "Look," the redhead began tentatively, "I'm not the greatest at relating to other people and I don't always think before I speak or act."

The image of the girl flinging herself off the side of The Thousand Sunny after Wado Ichimonji flashed before Sanji's mind. No kidding, he thought. He didn't even want to get started on all her abrupt and often inappropriate comments.

"But I do try to be honest." Sometimes brutally honest, the cook said silently to himself. "Mama always told me that if you don't tell people how you feel then they won't know. So I always did." Sanji remembered the young, emotional Shiloh from the memories he had seen and nodded in agreement. "Then I started to work for Scrawly and every day and night was a lie. I played whatever character they wanted me to be, whether it was Crimson Kitten the dancer during the day or… whatever kind of whore the client paid for at night." Zoro's eye hardened, but he gave the small hand in his a reassuring squeeze. Shiloh met his gaze head on and continued boldly, "I've slept with a lot of men, Zoro. I was treated horribly and I've treated others horribly and there are consequences for all those things. Maybe I can't have a normal relationship with you, and maybe I'll be selfish and get stuck in my own head without thinking about your feelings." The slight shine developing in Shiloh's eyes was not lost on the cook, despite being hidden in the trees so he was sure the swordsman noticed as well. "But if you still want to give it a shot I promise to try my best. I told you right from the start: I'm not a quitter." The smallest of smiles turned up the corner of Zoro's lips. "And I'm not trying to run away from my responsibilities. I want to better myself so I can take care of them properly."

"Well, good," the green-haired man snorted. "I was beginning to wonder."

Wiping her eyes on her sleeve with a watery smile, Shiloh took back her hand to gently nudge the swordsman's knee. "What exactly where you beginning to wonder about?"

"If you just didn't care about yourself."

Sanji couldn't fight the relieved smile that formed on his face as the redhead let out a laugh. At last, the tense mood was beginning to melt away. "Oh, come on! If I really didn't care I wouldn't have knocked the creepy alley pervert senseless."

"I wish I had seen that."

"Would you really have just watched, though?"

"Probably not."

They fell into a silence that was half expectant and half awkward. It made Sanji's skin itch with anticipation. He wished they would just finish talking and go back to being normal. Or at least, normal for them, no matter how annoying it was to the cook.

He watched with sudden interest as Zoro used his thumb to gently caress the scabbed cut on Shiloh's lip. The redhead leaned into the touch momentarily before the swordsman drew his hand back and sighed.

"Sorry…" Came the barely audible grunt.

"Huh..?"

Huh?!

Every one of the crewmembers hidden in the trees except Robin (because she was simply too classy) dropped their jaws. Roronoa Zoro never apologized. Ever.

"For… you know… not trusting you." When Shiloh remained silent the swordsman looked away with slightly pink ears and continued, "I thought you just didn't care what happened to you and that made me mad and I don't exactly think straight when I'm mad so I didn't really listen to you either and I probably should have because if I had I wouldn't have gotten so carried away with my thinking and-" He stopped his rambling just long enough to run a hand through his short hair. "Um… yeah. Sorry."

A small sound escaped Shiloh that caused the girl to cover her mouth with her hands and the swordsman to glare. "I'm sorry," she said as she lowered her hands, revealing a wide smile. "I was just thinking how ridiculous this whole day has been."

Zoro threw his arms up in exasperation. "Right?! I can't believe how stupid I feel right now."

Sanji grinned. "That's quite an accomplishment for him."

His grin only widened as Nami giggled. "That's mean."

"But," Usopp replied reluctantly, "Not entirely untrue."

"What are you guys trying to say?" Luffy asked with a frown as Robin hid a laugh behind her hand. "Zoro's only stupid with directions."

"Luffy," the cook admonished with a sigh, "Aside from in battle, that marimo's got the intellectual capacity of a turtle."

"Turtles are actually pretty smart," Chopper informed them. "Plus they live to be hundreds of years old so they have the wisdom of experience."

"What?!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly enough to earn him a 'shush' from the others. "Zoro's gonna live to be that old?! Awesome!"

Sanji brought a hand to his forehead and wished he could smoke without the scent giving him away to the couple they were spying on. Their captain, though brilliant and wonderfully vibrant at times, wore him out like none other could. "Never mind." A lovely laugh and a kiss on the cheek from a certain orange-haired navigator immediately lifted his spirits.

Apparently he wasn't the only whose mood was improving. Somehow during their little 'stupid Zoro turtle' discussion, the swordsman and the contortionist had ended up sitting side by side against the large tree with Zoro's arm slung around Shiloh's shoulders. "So we're good?" The redhead asked.

"Yeah."

"You owe me 500 belis, Usopp."

The sniper let out an indignant almost-yell as Sanji snickered. "I never agreed to your bet!"

Nami loomed threateningly over the suddenly shrunken down Usopp. "Are you saying you're not going to pay up?"

With a terrified squeal, the curly-haired man once again hid behind Brook.

"Help, I'm being threatened!"

"Usopp-san, please stop that!"

Chopper titled his head and tugged Sanji's pant leg. "I don't really understand what happened."

The cook inhaled deeply and crouched down to be level with the little doctor, index finger up as if ready to lecture. "Shiloh didn't get upset about something the same way Zoro would have so the idiot got all mad and didn't think straight, which honestly, he doesn't do that much anyway. Then I guess Shiloh forgot she's dating the most clueless man in the world and got upset that he was upset. Then they talked and that's why we're all here sitting in these damn bushes and hiding behind these trees and now everything is fine."

If anything, Chopper looked even more confused and even Brook, Usopp, and Luffy had question marks floating over their heads. "Huh?"

A stray hand that could only belong to Robin patted the reindeer's head. "They learned that they still have differences and that they're simply going to have to work through them sometimes."

Three heads and a skull with an afro nodded. "Ooohhhh."

In front of them, Shiloh stood and stretched before turning around and offering a hand to the still seated swordsman. "Should we head back then?"

Zoro grasped her hand but instead of getting up he pulled the redhead down so that she was on her knees in between his, both of his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. It was just intimate enough that Usopp looked away as Luffy snickered while Nami, Robin, and Brook let out soft 'aww's. Sanji made a gagging noise and rolled his eyes. "Not yet," Zoro replied gently. "They can wait a little longer."

With a blush, the redhead made a half-hearted and futile attempt to pull away. "But they're probably wondering where we are by now."

"Who cares?"

"Inconsiderate asshole," Sanji muttered from behind the trees, earning him a glare and hush from Nami who was watching the pair intently and eagerly as if they were part of some sort of stage drama.

"Let's just sit here for a little while," Zoro continued, "And try to salvage what's left of what was a shitty day."

"It wasn't that shitty," the redhead countered as she finally gave up the struggle to break free and positioned herself so that her back was against Zoro's chest. She absently took hold of one of his hands and lifted it to her face, inspecting it with unseeing eyes. "Dancing again was pretty fun."

Zoro let out a sound that sounded somewhere between interested and apathetic and replied. "How did that go?"

Sanji raised a swirled brow and opened his mouth to speak to Nami, but the navigator only had eyes for the stupid couple before them and Sanji didn't want to ruin her fun so he instead turned to Brook. "How did that go?"

"Yohohoho! It was great! Little Miss Shiloh really is a very good dancer."

Luffy tilted his head. "I thought Shy did mostly that bendy contorti-whatsits stuff."

"She decided to stick with more traditional dance." Nami replied without looking at them. "The crowd came for Shiloh but they stayed for Soul King. It worked out really well. We made a lot of money."

Usopp's face brightened. "So can I buy-"

"No, Usopp."

"But-"

Sanji used his foot to push at the small of the sniper's back just hard enough to cause him to stumble forward. "The lady said 'no,' Long Nose."

Chopper brought a little hoof up to his face to stroke his chin. "I should make sure Shiloh is stretching properly before she dances so she doesn't end up with any torn muscles."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that," Brook reassured the doctor. "She was a professional performer before, after all!" The other's except Luffy and Chopper gave him flat looks as a cricket chirped. "Ah, I meant as an entertainer!" The skeletal musician fumbled. "Not as a… the other thing!"

Shiloh let out a laugh as she put Zoro's hand down. "It was alright. We made enough for Nami to be happy. Plus there are a lot of Soul King fans out there so odds are the profits will be steady."

"Huh." After a pause, the swordsman stated slowly, "From what you've told us, you had a lot of fans too when you worked for Scrawly."

"That's not why I did it though."

"I know," the green-haired man replied as he leaned the back of his head against the tree and stared into the darkness surrounded them. "It was to help pay for your mother's medicine."

"No, I mean, yes. Sort of." Sanji could have thrown something at the girl. Which was it?! Thankfully she began to explain so he didn't have to lob something at her head for being unclear and infuriating. "I danced for Scrawly for the money. But I started dancing in general because Mama danced. I wanted to be like her."

An odd sort of chill gripped at Sanji's heart before letting go with a stinging sensation. He remembered all too well Shiloh's memories of wanting to dance and her mother's extreme distaste at the idea. The last thing her mother had wanted was for her daughter to become like her.

Zoro's face fell into near-concern. "Do you still?"

It took a moment for Shiloh to answer, but when she did, her voice was firm. "Of course." From his hiding place, the cook rubbed at his temples. That sort of thinking had already landed the redhead in a lot of trouble, trouble that her mother had tried so hard to prevent. Had she not learned this after all she had showed them, after all she had been through? Zoro's expression showed that he was thinking along the same lines as Sanji. But before he could say a word, Shiloh continued warmly, "I want to be brave like her. I want to be dedicated like her. I want to carry myself with dignity in all situations like her. And of course, I want to love compassionately and strongly like her." Shiloh took a deep and slightly shaky breath. Even in the dark, Sanji saw the welling of the redhead's amber eyes. "I don't want to dance to become her, I want to dance because it connects me to her, even though she's gone."

As the girl wiped hurriedly at her eyes, Zoro leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss at the back of her head. "So no more contortion?" He asked with a slightly teasing tone.

"Don't be silly," Shiloh replied with a snort. "I'll always keep doing that. I probably just won't use it during these performances that Nami sets up. I kind of want to focus and learn more about more conventional dance."

"Learn from who? None of us dance."

"Brook does. He's surprisingly limber for someone with no muscles."

Said musician beamed happily at the praise as the other eavesdroppers turned to him with quirked brows.

With an approving nod, Zoro said simply, "Well whatever you chose to do, I'll support you."

Sanji didn't even need to see the redhead to know she was blushing. He could practically feel the heat from her cheeks all the way from their hiding spot. Robin laughed softly as Luffy chuckled. Usopp just rolled his eyes with a slight smile on his face.

Burying her face in her hands, Shiloh groaned, "Alright, now that you've turned me into a total mess, can we go back?"

"Only if you promise that we won't have any more stupid days like this."

The redhead's hands fell from her face, revealing an expression much too serious for the light mood of only seconds ago. She turned around so that she was once again facing the swordsman who wore a look of confusion at her sudden change in demeanor. "I can't promise you that, Zoro." With a deep frown, the green-haired man crossed his arms, obviously not pleased with the girl's answer.

Sanji spied a small smile curling Nami's delicate lips. Her hand slid softly into his as she whispered softly so that only he could hear, "Zoro still has a lot to learn."

Shiloh took a deep breath and continued gently, "I can't promise you that we won't disagree on some things or that we'll never fight. I can't promise it'll always be easy or simple. And I can't promise that we'll always be on the same page." She paused to take the swordsman's much larger hand in hers and offer a small smile. "But I do promise to always respect your feelings and hear you out if you want to talk. Even if we walk away from each other because we're pissed I promise that I'll always calm down eventually and be willing to figure things out." A blush rose to her cheeks again. "I promise to always come find you so we can kiss and make up."

The swordsman mirrored her blush and looked away with what Sanji could have labeled as shyness but chose not to seeing as he only saw Zoro as mean or stupid looking so acknowledging something so soft on the marimo's face was simply too weird. "We didn't do that…" he muttered.

Shiloh anxiously pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "But shouldn't we?"

A loud sigh from Usopp caused Sanji to turn and stare at the man who was walking away as he pointed to the inside of his open mouth with his index finger. "Gross. I've had enough of their mushy stuff for the day. I'm going back to the ship."

Chopper turned around as well and announced, "I'll go too. There doesn't seem to be anything too dangerous out here after all."

Sanji begged to differ with the retreating reindeer, but he didn't dare say it out loud for fear that the naïve doctor would never leave the pair alone again. There was indeed something incredibly dangerous out there amongst the trees, hovering all around the couple they had been spying on. By the way lovely Nami-swan was giggling softly and the way Robin was smiling knowingly he knew they sensed it too. Whether or not Shiloh or Zoro (or both) had realized or not, the strongest most dangerous force in the entire universe was creeping slowly towards them, an opponent not even muscle headed Zoro could train enough to stop.

Love.

It was obvious in the way that they had worked through their disagreement. Compromise was not something Sanji had ever seen from Zoro. The fact that he had willingly done it with Shiloh showed that his dumb moss-head feelings towards the girl ran deeper than just a simple crush. If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, he was almost convinced that the two would call off their brief relationship because of what happened that day. He believed that neither Shiloh nor Zoro (especially muscle-brained Zoro) were mature enough to deal with the situation properly. But there he had stood in the darkness of the island's forest, witnessing first hand that the two were incredibly able to find their way back to each other. Despite their mutual moments of immaturity, the two of them were actually embarking on a mature relationship, the kind that lasted, the kind that wasn't simply formed out of impulse or whim. With a small shake of his head and a snort at his own thoughts, Sanji found himself just slightly pleased with the dumb couple.

Nami's head on his shoulder warmed his already stupidly romantic heart further, causing him to sigh softly and wrap his arm around her waist. "You know," his beautiful navigator began quietly, "I honestly had no idea what was going to happen when Shiloh told Zoro her feelings." Sanji nodded in agreement. "I never thought they'd actually get together."

The cook chortled. "Neither did I."

"But you helped them," Nami reminded him. "I think deep down you wanted them to work out." The blond had no response to that, mainly because he couldn't disagree. There was no way he would have put so much effort in talking with Zoro and Shiloh if he hadn't wanted to see results. Chefs never picked the best ingredients just to stare at them. Perfect ingredients were to be used in the making of amazing dishes. Granted, he wouldn't call Zoro being in a relationship amazing per se, more like a damned miracle.

"I must admit," Brook suddenly said, "I'm rooting for them."

Robin nodded. "As am I. They'll definitely be interesting to observe further."

With a laugh that was like music to Sanji's ears, Nami replied, "Me too. I mean, I had my doubts but it looks like they'll make it work for a lot longer than I gave them credit for."

"Shall we take bets?" That earned him an elbow in the ribs from his fierce Nami-swan but the jovial light in her eyes made the pain disappear almost immediately.

They fell silent as Zoro leaned forward. "Yes."

The kiss was over before Sanji even had time to blink. In a flash, Shiloh was on her feet with her back to the swordsman who seemed to be re-adjusting the swords at his hip but Sanji could tell he was just fiddling nervously.

Shiloh cleared her throat and suggested, "Should we go back now?"

"Uh… yeah. Back to the ship."

Sanji could have laughed at the awkwardness. It was almost as if they had gone back in time about a month, back when the two were still carefully dancing around their feelings and how to express them. It was almost kind of cute. Almost.

"I told you," Luffy suddenly said. Sanji had forgotten that he was even there because he had been so uncharacteristically quiet. The captain was flashing them a huge toothy grin. "I told you they'd work everything out."

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji replied as he placed his hand on top of the younger man's head and smushed his hat down past his eyes. "You're always right, Captain."

Luffy laughed, either ignoring or not catching the cook's sarcasm as usual. "That's right! Don't you forget it!" He threw one last smile over his shoulder before wrapping rubbery arms around Robin and Brook and steering them back the way they came. "Now let's go back and have dinner! I'm starving!"

Nami rolled her eyes with a sigh, though a smile was on her face. Sanji couldn't help but take a moment to take her in. Everything about her was breathtaking, of course, but his heart skipped a beat as he suddenly remembered that he was on his own journey of love with the beautiful orange-haired woman. What did the future hold for them? Did clueless idiot Zoro wonder about such things with Shiloh? He shook his head. Probably not.

Nami was beginning to pull him back towards the direction of the ship, but Sanji couldn't help take one last glance at Zoro and Shiloh. It could have been his imagination since it happened so fast, but he could have sworn that Shiloh had looked right at him and given him a smile before turning back around to face the swordsman, all previous awkwardness completely gone.

The navigator stopped her steps briefly and asked, "Do you think they'll be able to get back on their own? You know how Zoro is with directions…"

Sanji thought back to the time Shiloh had let Zoro lead her all around a different forest simply because she didn't feel the need to tell him the right direction to go. He was about to suggest that he and Nami go back and walk with them but Zoro's voice stopped him. "Where do we go from here?"

His head snapped towards the green-haired man so quickly that it was amazing he hadn't broken his own neck. Nami, who apparently hadn't heard the swordsman's unexpected question, raised a brow at him before shrugging and letting go of his hand, deciding to walk ahead since Sanji was taking too long for her liking.

Sure, the cook had heard Zoro ask Shiloh for directions on the last island, but that was after nearly two hours of aimless wandering. But Zoro hadn't even tried this time. He had simply asked the redhead, and in such a calm voice too that Sanji nearly pinched his arm to see if he was dreaming.

Despite his surprise, a smile began to form on his lips as Shiloh laughed and grabbed Zoro's hand, much like Nami had done to him. Her eyes were bright as she regarded the (yet again) blushing swordsman. Sanji had to admit, he'd blush too if someone looked at him with such strong emotion. As the words fell from Shiloh's lips, Sanji saw Zoro's good eye go wide before a gentle smile formed on his face.

"Forward," Shiloh told him surely. "Straight forward."

That was all it took for Sanji to being following after Nami. He grabbed a cigarette from his pocket and lit it before placing it between his teeth. From behind him, he heard Shiloh say something that made Zoro groan before breaking into good-natured laughter. He smiled. They didn't need his help anymore. The two dummies could find their own way back.

They'd be fine. They had each other, after all.

And that's a wrap, lovelies! If it seems like there are still some loose ends left, well that's because you haven't seen the last of Shiloh. That's right, there will be more stories coming very soon! Thank you everyone who has taken the time to read, review, favorite, and/or follow. I haven't written fan fiction in a long time and getting back to it has made me incredibly happy. This story was in no way perfect, but it got written and finished and for me, that's a major accomplishment. Thank you for sticking with me, beautiful readers!

Oh, and for the nice guest who asked or anyone curious, Shiloh is about 4'11 (149cm) and around 95lbs (43-44kg). She's quite small.

Again, thank you. Much love to everyone. On to the next one :)