Luffy had been determined. His mind had been made up. He would be the one who defeated the Warlord of the Sea. That was what he'd decided, so that was what would be.

Or... so he'd thought. Several long hours of battle had left him weak and unable to fight. The sand had nearly dried him up. He was lucky to be conscious, if only barely. Nami gently held his head up as she slowly fed him a great deal of water. Sanji crouched nearby, watching the ongoing struggle between Zoro and Crocodile. He frowned as some of the Warlord's words reached his ears.

"You're name's Zoro, eh...? Interesting. I thought I recognized your face."

Zoro glared at him but said nothing. His anger was obvious, as was the reason for it. People had died today. So many people were gone now… all because of this one person. Even Vivi wasn't unharmed. Crocodile grinned and lunged forward. With a soft growl, Zoro followed suit. Sanji's frown deepened as steel sliced through sand to no avail. 'Swords can't cut sand.'

The two swords Zoro held in his hands became trapped in mounds of sand taller than both him and Crocodile. The mounds, attached to the sand-man's arms in place of his hands, quickly swallowed the swords whole and Zoro yanked his hands out as the weapons were cast aside to the far side of the cavernous room in which they fought. The swordsman's expression was almost deadly calm… a look that always gave Sanji chills. If only looks could kill… then this battle would be over. He watched as his crewmate took his sword out of his mouth with his right hand and held it by his side, blade pointed toward their enemy.

Crocodile's grin widened. "Now you look more like yourself."

Zoro made no reply to this odd comment and Sanji's looked on in confusion. 'What does he mean?' The Zoro everyone knew had three swords, not one. 'It makes no sense. How can he think that this is normal?'

Crocodile raised his chin and looked down his nose at his opponent. "Where's that anger, Zoro? That cold fury said to unleash so much power that it can destroy all of Heaven in a single day..."

Sanji watched as Zoro stared unblinkingly at Crocodile. 'What does he mean?' Sanji wondered again. Crocodile looked smug, as if he'd discovered some huge secret that could change the world if only he were to reveal it. Sanji's confusion grew. 'What is he talking about?'

Crocodile's smile grew dangerous. "Perhaps I should draw it out, then…" He raised an arm toward Zoro for another attack. "...by killing them!" His arm swung around to the three injured pirates at the back of the room and unleashed a tidal wave of sand.

Nami screamed and dove out of the way as the tidal wave turned into a lethal barrage of giant brownish-yellow spikes. One such spike stabbed the ground where she'd been just seconds before. Gasping in alarm, Sanji hauled Luffy over his shoulder ran to join Nami in her flight. He winced when sand blasted his injuries, nearly making his already almost broken leg seize up and stop moving. Then, without warning, the sand changed direction and knocked him off his feet. Luffy was sent flying. Sanji couldn't tell if the blow had knocked the captain out or not. Another similar blow hit Sanji and Nami simultaneously, slamming them into each other so hard Sanji's vision went black for a moment. He landed hard with Nami beside him. She was unconscious. Seconds later, Sanji was struck again and everything went black.

伝説の

Sanji woke up quite abruptly from his sleep, vaguely surprised to find that he'd fallen asleep at the table in the kitchen. Puzzling over how he'd managed not to get a neck ache, he stood and stretched slowly. Walking outside, he briefly glanced at the crow's nest where, as usual, Zoro was on watch. Shaking his head, Sanji looked away and headed to the men's cabin to get some sleep. He'd think about his dream later. Or maybe never.

伝説の

Luffy had known from the beginning that there was something special about him. It wasn't for nothing that the future pirate king had asked the green-haired swordsman to join his crew. It went beyond the man's incredible swordsmanship, too. There was some indefinable something about him that always made Luffy sure that he'd made a good decision in picking the swordsman for his crew. This was never more apparent than now.

He may have seemed oblivious to the others, but Luffy wasn't blind, or stupid. He knew something was happening. He knew his first crew mate was changing, maybe for the better, maybe not. No one could say for sure yet.

Luffy looked over at the swordsman, who dozing calmly with his arms behind his head as he reclined on he railing nearby. He knew he'd made a good choice in picking Zoro for his crew. He'd always been a bit serious, sure, and he had, in the past, had a bit of temper and maybe he was reckless at times. but... He also cared a lot for those who were close with him. He was just as protective of the rest of the crew as Luffy was. He was also more intelligent and logical than he used to really let on, he was strong, he wasn't afraid to throw away his life for the sake of any one of their crew mate's dreams... Picked good.

So why this sense of worry, then?

He supposed he understood it. Zoro was changing, after all, even if those changes were often only subtle. Who knew how much he would change by the time this was all done? Who knew if he would even still be their friend once these changes were over? There was never any telling what was going to happen to him or when or why or how big of a change it would be or if they'd even notice the change at all.

But, all in all, Luffy wasn't worried. After all, he knew he hadn't made a mistake in picking Zoro for his crew. He'd always known that there was something special about his first mate. All these strange happenings were proof of that. And still he'd picked Zoro, in spite of knowing just how different he was from most people. Luffy had chosen him with the intention of being his friend and crew mate for life. Nothing would ever change that. ...Right?

伝説の

1,139 words this time. ...And sorry for the delay. Posted 10-17-15.