Sanji, his hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his black pants, stood by a palace bed, staring calmly into his sleeping crewmate's face, his head lowered so that his hair covered his eyes. "I don't get it. He's not injured." Though his tone was calm, there was a certain strain in it, a tension in his stance that he would probably never admit to.

Nami sat in a wooden chair against the wall beside a dark wood desk. Her chair was right next to the door, causing her to wonder idly if she would get hit if someone suddenly swung that door open. She looked worriedly at Sanji, then dropped her gaze to the bed. "He seemed so tired… Maybe it was exhaustion?"

"No," Chopper answered, his expression serious as he ground some medicinal herbs in a bowl for Luffy. "It's not exhaustion. I don't know what it is."

Luffy had awoken a few hours ago, but his injuries weren't healed yet. Chopper's quick actions had saved him from the poison though, much to everyone's relief. The rubber man sat cross-legged on his own bed, bandages wrapping around his neck and a strip of tape on the top of his right cheek. Most of the rest of his bandages were concealed by his clothes, which he hadn't changed since waking up. Which meant he was still filthy. His straw hat rested atop his head as per usual, and he grinned goofily. "He'll be fine. Zoro's strong."

"Yeah… I'm sure he'll be fine," Usopp agreed tiredly from where he sat on the floor. "Meanwhile, I feel like I'm gonna die…"

Luffy laughed at him. "You'll be fine, too!" he declared merrily.

Their lack of concern almost made Nami angry. She supposed their faith in his recovery was heartening, but… Recovery from what? Something was clearly wrong with him, and even Chopper didn't know what. They could at least pretend to care. She knew for a fact that Luffy cared, even if he was doing a poor job of showing it, and Chopper of course cared as well, but she wasn't so sure about Usopp and Sanji. Luffy cares about all his friends, and so does Chopper, but Usopp never really interacts with Zoro. And Sanji… sometimes I swear it's like watching a cat and a dog, with the way those two fight. She sighed softly to herself. Of course, she had to admit… she was often terrible at showing how much she cared for her crewmates as well. She cared about all of them very much, even Zoro, as much as his attitude and laziness got on her nerves.

A soft knock drew everyone's attention to the room's only door. Vivi walked in. "Dinner is ready." She cast a worried glance at Luffy and Zoro before her gaze settled on Luffy. "I can have someone bring up a tray…?"

"No, I'll just go downstairs!" Luffy replied. He raced out past her without another word, causing Chopper to gasp.

"Wait, Luffy! Don't run! Come back! You'll reopen your wounds!" The little reindeer jumped off his stool in front of the desk and raced after him, his arms in the air in panic. "Come back!"

Sanji shook his head and followed them, leaving a thin trail of smoke behind him as he walked, muttering, "Idiot," as he went.

Usopp followed with a cry of, "Wait for me!"

Nami glared lightly at him. Dying, huh…

Vivi entered the room fully. "Are you coming?"

Nami looked at her and shrugged. "I'm not hungry."

"I understand," Vivi murmured. "I don't feel very hungry either." Nami didn't reply, so Vivi continued. "Would you like anything? Water? A book?"

Somehow, Nami managed a small smile. "A book would be nice." Vivi nodded and walked to the door. Nami stood and followed the princess down the lengthy hallway. They turned a series of corners, through a corridor with one side open to a grassy courtyard below, and finally entered a lone room. Nami's eyes widened. "Oh, wow…"

Vivi smiled at her reaction. "This is the palace library. Most of the books are pretty old, but I think that makes them more enjoyable." She turned to Nami. "You can pick whatever you like. Think of it as a 'thank you' for all you have done for me."

Nami gasped. "You'd be willing to let me take irreplaceable books?"

"Of course!" Vivi laughed. "You'd get more use out of them than me. The books I enjoy are all in my room, anyway."

Nami's smile just about split her face in half. "Thank you," she breathed.

"You're welcome," Vivi replied warmly.

When Vivi left to go join the others downstairs, Nami began perusing the shelves. Rows upon rows upon rows of old books met her hungry eyes, but for the life of her she couldn't find one that seemed interesting. I don't have time to try reading them all. Of course she knew about the saying that advised people not to judge a book by its cover, but she was doing exactly the opposite. She walked slowly through quite a few rows of shelves. Many of the books were simple and brown, but some were bright yellow, dark red, light green, and so on.

She kept walking for a while before finally reaching the back of the large room. She glanced over the last shelf. With a shrug, she started to turn away. Then, in the corner farthest from the door, she spotted something that caught her eye. The book's cover was ornate and highly aesthetically pleasing. The gold color that covered it was shiny even in the room's soft bluish light. She picked the book up off the shelf and ran her fingers lightly over the raised decorations on the cover. This book was different from the others. She could feel it. Smiling softly, she held the book close to her and walked back to the bedroom.

(-)

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Like hell you are. You collapsed, you idiot!" Sanji glared with crossed arms at Zoro, who gazed back with uncharacteristic calm, his arms also crossed. Sanji bared his teeth in a silent display of irritation. What the hell's the matter with him? A warm breeze whispered through the sunny courtyard the two men stood in. Zoro, dressed in a dark gray robe with his haramaki still in its usual place, stood mostly in the shade as he leaned against the palace wall while Sanji stood before him. Sanji shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well? You gonna talk?" Zoro had been unconscious for three days and then he'd just woken up and suddenly been "fine"… The cook didn't buy it for a minute.

Zoro closed his eyes. "There's nothing to talk about."

The incredibly thin amount of patience he had for the swordsman vanished in that moment. His leg swung out. Zoro's eyes snapped open. As expected, a sword made contact with his led, pressing hard, but not hard enough to cut. Sanji pushed harder. Normally they both would have been struggling, leg and sword shaking with effort, but as Sanji pushed even harder, that sword didn't even budge. Zoro's expression shifted subtly, but Sanji couldn't read it. That… bothered him, though he didn't know why.

Nami walked outside then and quickly spotted the two of them. Hands migrating to hips, she glared hard and yelled, "I leave for two minutes and you're already fighting?!"

Zoro glanced at her, and Sanji tried to take advantage of the moment of distraction… only to be sent sliding backward on his other foot. A white sword slid back into its sheath with a soft snick. Zoro leaned back against the wall again and closed his eyes once more.

Nami huffed and dragged Sanji a short distance away by his arm. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "He could be injured internally or something and you're starting fights?"

Sanji was too serious to pull any of his usual stunts on her right now. "No. He's not injured." At her confused expression, he said, "Even he can't deflect my kicks so easily when he's hurt."

"Still," she murmured," something's obviously wrong."

"Or maybe it was," he replied. "Maybe it's over now." He sighed, a puff of smoke escaping his lips and rising into the air. "But then again… he's not acting like himself. Not quite."

Any further conversation was halted by the sudden arrival of Usopp and Luffy as they ran into the courtyard from the town. They had been sent to get some food for the ship, but they seemed to be empty-handed. Luffy, much like Zoro, was wearing a robe now in place of his usual clothes. It was white with a red sash tied around the waist. "Sanji!" he called loudly. "Nami! Zoro!"

"What?" Sanji yelled back.

"We've gotta go!" Usopp called. The duo reached Sanji and Nami seconds later, and Usopp braced himself on his knees, panting hard. "The marines are here," he gasped out.

"Still?" Nami frowned. "I thought they would have left by now."

"With us still hanging around?" Sanji asked in response.

"Okay, you have a point," Nami conceded. She turned to Usopp. "How much time do we have?"

"Not much," he replied. "They're looking for us right now."

A window opened above and Vivi leaned out. "Everyone! Chopper and I packed your things! Come up and get them! Quickly!"

Sanji thought quickly. "Nami, you and Usopp help Chopper get our things. Me, Luffy and Marimo will hold off the marines." He noticed, of course, that his name-calling failed to earn a response from his target, but now wasn't the time to care. The two groups split off immediately, with Sanji's group running into the town. They ran through a street full of markets and his eyes instantly sought out the women shopping there. With great reluctance, he dragged his attention forward. Not the time, not the time, not the time…

Heading through an alley and rounding a sharp corner, they raced through a clearing. "We saw them this way!" Luffy called over his shoulder, leading the way. A few minutes later, he stopped and turned left. "Or was it this way?"

Sanji stopped a few feet behind him, his face taking on an expression of comical anger. "You don't know?!"

Luffy turned around with a ridiculous grin on his face. He placed a hand atop the hat on his head. "Nope. Sorry."

"'Sorry' doesn't help!" Sanji shouted back, causing Luffy to laugh.

Zoro gazed off to the side, one hand resting on his white sword, the Wado Ichimonji. He breathed in, as though to release a sigh, and frowned slightly. "They're coming."

"Huh?" Luffy leaned to the side to see past Sanji.

Sanji turned to follow their gazes. A few moments later, he tensed. A large group of marines surrounded them in a tight circle. He sighed. "Well, at least we found them." He tapped the toe of his shoe on the ground, eager to get the fight started.

A stone-faced captain of some sort stepped out of the crowd to face them, stopping just in front of a row of his subordinates. "This is your only chance, Luffy Pirates. Surrender now."

"No thanks," Sanji replied nonchalantly.

"That wouldn't be fun," Luffy added, gripping one arm in preparation to punch.

With a flick of his thumb, Zoro pushed a sword just slightly out of its sheath, signaling his intention to fight.

"So be it. You were warned, Straw Hats." With that, the Marines surged forward and the fight began.

Luffy's arms stretched and he began throwing punches. Sanji lifted himself into a handstand and spun, kicking out powerfully as he did so. Zoro slashed out with shining steel. Sanji glanced to the side at the swordsman. Despite Nami's lingering concerns that Zoro was hurt, he was clearly doing fine. Still, something was off. It took Sanji a moment to put his finger on it, but when he did, he wondered why in the world he hadn't noticed it before. Strange. He's only using one sword. Luffy punched down the last marine and Sanji stood, turning to watch as Zoro straightened and sheathed his sword. The white one again. Sanji wondered, not for the first time, what was so special about that sword, but his train of thought was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the rest of the crew.

"We had to leave Vivi behind," Nami said by way of greeting. "We didn't want… she can't be called a criminal."

Sanji nodded. "How will we get to the ship?"

"She thought of that," Usopp jerked a thumb backward to indicate the ducks standing behind him.

Sanji nodded again and, without another word, they mounted their rides and began their flight across the desert.

Posted 04-21-15.