Sanji was the first to admit that life on the Baratie has become far more interesting over the last few days (interesting being another word for chaotic). Their new choreboy, one Monkey D. Luffy, was a double-edged sword. He was great at getting people to loosen up and get along...but horrible at just about everything else. Sanji wasn't even sure why the brat was hanging around. When the marine had woken up, Zeff had knocked him around until he spat out the truth: the pirates had been in the right.

Sanji had asked but had only gotten a vague "have to wait for Zoro" in response. The cook has asked the green-haired shithead but had got only a monotone grunt in response. Roronoa Zoro was another cat of bags all together. The swordsman spent his days staring at the horizon restlessly. Almost like he was waiting for someone, something.

Then there was the long-nosed boastful sniper, Usopp. The teen spent his time trying to mooch food off the cooks or messing around with Luffy.

And then there was the apple of his eye. The cold mistress who was stuck with those three morons. The mesmerising Nami-swan! She spent her precious time sitting at a seaview table sipping drinks, free of charge of course.

Sanji noticed Luffy in the corner of his peripheral vision and gave the rubber boy a roundhouse kick for his troubles. "Ow," the pirate complained as he rubbed his head, "what was that for?"

The blond cook lit up a cigarette. "Not sure," he admitted, "but I'm sure you did something. Now, back to work."

Luffy pouted before slinking off back to the kitchen. Sanji watched the boy go before moving forward to take the order of some new customers. His movement is stopped when the front doors are smashed it. He whirled around and raised his leg, ready for combat. His eyes lit up when he sees a much healthier looking Gin standing in the doorway.

Gin had arrived the same day as the Straw Hat Pirates had. He had looked remarkably like a drowned rat, he had been a prisoner on Fullbody's ship. His face had been gaunt, his eyes sunken in their sockets and his waterlogged clothing were barely hanging onto his matchstick frame. He had demanded food.

Sanji had been happy to provide.

"Hey," Sanji called out, "I'm surprised to see you soo-"

A large shadow had fallen over Gin as a second man had followed him into the doorway: Don Krieg. "I'm sorry," Gin croaked, "I truly am."

The large man, who was wrapped up in a large fur-lined coat, fell to his knees. "Food" he pleaded, "give me some food.

"Like hell," Patty roared, "Like I'm going to feed Foul Play Krieg!"

Sanji placed a calming hand on the burly man's shoulder. "How much?" He asked the fallen pirate.

"Fifty one meals," the man rasped, "I have fifty starving men outside."

"Oi," Carne yelled out from the kitchen door, "you can't do seriously be considering feeding him?"

"I never let a man starve," Sanji retorted coolly, "choreboy, grab me something from the fridge."

The crowd of terrified customers and stunned cooks parted before Sanji as he calmly walked towards the kitchen. Luffy appeared with a huge piece of meat at the door, a large grin plastered across his face. Sanji took it and began the walk back. "Sanji," the boy yelled at his back, "I still haven't changed my mind about you being my chef."

Sanji noticed Patty reappearing with his special bazooka, his fellow chef pointing it towards Sanji's head. "Sanji." Patty's voice was surprisingly calm. "He will kill us all if you feed him."

Before the blond man could respond, the bazooka was falling to the ground: split cleanly in two pieces. "The pervert of a cook made his decision," Zoro called out from the far wall, "if you have a problem with that...well then, you have a problem with me."

Sanji shot the man an appreciative nod, ignoring the jab at his womanising ways, and placed the meat in Krieg's quivering hands. Tears in his eyes, Don Krieg quickly gobbled up the large slab of meat in a few seconds. "Thank you," the Pirate Admiral whispered as his complexation returned, "thank you."

The next few seconds were a blur for Sanji as Don Krieg's large hand snaked out and grabbed his face, blocking his view The surprised cook was easily lifted up and smashed into the ground. Sanji coughed up blood as the pirate grounded his body further into the floorboards, Sanji's legs flailing for a target.

Then there was a terrible scream and Sanji could see again, through his vision was tinted red. He dimly realised that he was coated in sanguine fluid, he sat up and stared at the surreal sight in front of him. Don Krieg was howling as he rolled around on the floor, clutching the stump where his right hand used to be. The cook glanced down at his lap and realised, with a jolt, the hand was laying on his lap.

"I'll kill you," Krieg spat out with loathing as Gin threw the larger man over his shoulder, "you and everyone you care for." Sanji looked at where the Pirate Admiral was staring: Roronoa Zoro, with his sword drawn but still leaning against the far wall. Sanji nearly misses the food bag that Zeff tossed to Gin as he booked it out of the restaurant.

A rubber hand was stretched out in front of Sanji and he grabbed it without hesitation, allowing it to pull him to his feet. The blond cook looked around as the restaurant was prepared for battle, at the fleeing customers and the irate cooks yelling at Zeff for giving the enemy more food.

Shaking his head from side to side, Sanji joins those preparing for battle. He will not let anyone hurt his home or Zeff, not even Gin.

He never noticed that his darling Nami-swan had left during Krieg's introduction or Roronoa Zoro slipping out after her as Sanji prepared for battle.


She was crying, Nami realised as she stepped aboard the Going Merry. Great big tears that fall down her face and refused to stop, she rubbed her eyes but it only made things worse. The caravel rolled uneasily over the small waves, as if sensing her discomfort but unable to help.

The navigator had considered leaving a letter, but that had been too hard. Plus, Luffy would just chase after and be killed by Arlong, even thinking the name made his laugh echo maddeningly in her ears.

Shahahaha

No, this way was better. Take the ship and treasure and leave. They'd see it as a betrayal. The cunning pirate thief with a hatred for pirates had finally shown her true colours. And even if they did want to go after her, they'd have no way to know she was heading for Arlong Park.

Shahahaha

Nami shuddered and pulled up the anchor. She had told Johnny and Yosaku that Zoro had needed them and they had rushed off, no one would see her leave. No one would know what direction she took the boat in.

Shahahaha

On some level, Nami knew she was being irrational. She knew that Luffy and Zoro could probably take down Arlong, she had seen proof of their titanic strength time and time again. Logically, she knew that they could and would save her from Arlong. But her childhood fear of the tyrannical fishman beat logic in just about every way.

Shahahaha

More tears hit the ground as the navigator unfurled the sails. This was it, the end of her journey with the Straw Hat Pirates. "Goodbye," she whispered under her breath as she moved to man the rudder, Arlong's laugh still vibrating through her head.

Shah-

"Yo."

Nami whirled around, her mind going at a hundred miles an hour. Roronoa Zoro stood behind the railing of the Baratie with an arm lazily raised in greeting, one easy leap away from Merry's deck. His tone and posture were lazily and casual but his eye was serious, boring into hers.

"Z-zoro," she called out weakly, cursing the shakiness in her voice, "this isn't what it looks like."

"Nami." The words are sharp. "Don't lie to me."

The navigator flinched and took a half step back, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. She was aware of the rudder protruding into her back. "Sorry." The words slip out.

The green-haired man is silent for a moment. "I want you to know that you don't have to go. I know you will, but you don't have to."

Nami studied the sheathed sword hanging by his side warily. "And you aren't going to stop me?"

"No. But I will follow you."

Her heart momentarily stops. "Yeah, right." Her voice is filled with false bravado. "The world is a big place. With my head start you'd never find me."

"Under normal circumstances, no," the swordsman agreed, "but I know where you're going."

"Bullshit."

"Arlong Park," Zoro countered.

Nami felt her world screech to a halt. "H-how?"

Zoro ignored her question. "And we'll follow. And between me, Luffy, Usopp and the cook...we'll turn that tower into rubble."

And she was crying again. "Arlong's too much for you." The words rung hollow in her ears.

The green-haired man shook his head. "When it comes to you guys, I'd fight the entire World Government."

And Nami realised that the man in front of her was deadly serious. Suddenly unable to continue the conversation, she turned and gripped the rudder until her knuckles whiten. And Merry begins to move. And Nami's all-consuming fear is suddenly mixed in with a ray of optimistic hope.

Her boys are coming for her.


Bushido reentered the restaurant to find it empty. That isn't that surprising, he can hear the sounds of battle outside: swords clashing, guns being fired and warcries being uttered. The battle for the sea restaurant Baratie had begun.

The swordsman had actually forgotten about Don Krieg. Well, that wasn't quite true. He remembered that there had been an underhanded pirate with a superiority complex that had tried to take over Sanji's home after losing to Mihawk. He had just forgotten the man's name and appearance.

Don Krieg was honestly one of the worst captains he had ever seen, and throughout his bounty hunting days he had seen a lot of horrible captains.

Cruel, dishonest and arrogant mixed in with a short temper. A poster example of basically every negative trait a captain could have. Bushido did not regret cutting off the man's hand. Maybe it would lessen his overconfidence, though he doubted that.

Hell, Sanji had the situation handled. In another few seconds the cook would've calmed down and, with no mercy, slammed both his legs into the man's ribs. But the smirk on Krieg's face had really gotten on his nerves.

Bushido stiffened as an aura appeared on the edges of his Haki. It was one he knew like the back of his hand: Dracule Mihawk. Based off the speed of his small boat, Bushido guesses that the journey that took the Merry half an hour will take Mihawk five minutes.

The green-haired man frowned, the man's aura was different from usual. Usually it was calm, like the ocean on a clear day. But today it is erratic, going through several emotions a second. And more than that still, it is dimmed. Like the man is running on the last dregs of his energy.

Bushido ignored it and marched out the door, worrying about it would change nothing. His visible eye raked over the small battlefield, instantly identifying the major players. Don Krieg is yelling orders from his boat while a doctor fiddled with the bleeding stump, Luffy was fighting against a tincan, Johnny and Yosaku were for once against men of a lower caliber than them, and are thus cutting through waves of them. Usopp was stood near him and was using his sniping skills to their fullest, and the cook was fighting against Gin.

Bushido drew Wado Ichimonji and began carving a straight line towards Don Krieg through the chaos. By the widening of the Pirate Admiral's eyes, he was sure that Krieg has noticed. "Bring me that man's head!" Krieg roared, spittle flying from his mouth, at the few man still onboard.

Before they could respond, their ship didn't exist anymore. Well, that's a lie...it existed, just in two sinking pieces. Bushido's eye widened as a blast of focused killing intent slammed into him, nearly making him forget to breath. Dracule Mihawk is in front of him.

Mihawk's skin was sallow with huge bags underneath his now dulled eyes and he had already drawn Yoru from its sheath. The yellow eyes sharpened as they focused on Bushido and another wave of killing intent is fired at him. "You," Dracule Mihawk growled, "I am going to kill you!"