Chapter 8 v2
A Cook's Duty

Restless, the pirates' feet tapped on the deck with an annoying regularity. Was Luffy a waiter now or did he manage to get the great Zeff to submit to his puppy eyes ? In any case, if short, the waiting was unbearable for the youngest part of the crew. They yearned for adventures and the prospect of waiting, even if it was only for a few weeks, for their rubbery captain to repay his debt was, somehow, unendurable.

And so, out of impatience, the pirates decided to go in the Baratie and see how their captain was doing.

"Twig," Ace called out as the girl was following Nami. "Stay, I'll give you a tour of the Merry."

Eli looked at the freckled young man and then at the Baratie. She already knew the restaurant from top to bottom but had yet to discover her new home; the sheepy ship named Merry.

A nod was her reply. Eli grabbed her baggage and Ace motioned her to follow him and begin with the visit.

From the main deck two sets of stairs; one leading to the bow, and one leading to the lounge room.

The lounge room was the most important of the Merry. It was fairly large but since it served as meeting room, kitchen, and helm, it was rather cluttered. Her eyes traveling around, Eli couldn't help but think that, whoever would become their cook, he would have a hard time preparing anything fancy in such a little space.

The two pirates went out of the room and down the staircases to take a door leading to the storage room, located under the lounge.

Barrels, rations, wooden boxes, and treasure chest all over the place, it was a real shambles. There were also two cannons facing each side of the ship. A door gave access to a small bathroom and, opening a hatch, the pair went down to the women's quarters.

Quite luxurious, the women's bedroom was definitely the most tidy of all the rooms Eli had seen on board. Climbing down the stairs the green-eyed girl felt a warm sensation akin to relief rising inside of her. It was cute, but not too girlie, and definitely welcoming. Soon, she noticed a desk and a bookcase. Her eyes and fingertips gliding upon the edges of the books, she saw that most of them were related to navigation. There also were a few encyclopedias indexing islands, their creatures as well as plants.

A smile made its way to her lips as Eli put her luggage down and began searching through the mess prevailing inside for her own collection of books. Focused on her search the girl startled as she heard Ace clearing his throat from behind her. Somehow, she had forgotten he was here. Looking over her shoulder she saw the young man leaning a bit forward to look inside of her bag.

"Books eh." The young man scratched his temple thoughtfully. "What are they about ?"

"Traveling mostly," Eli said, placing her books on a shelf with care. "I started mine too."

The girl opened her shoulder bag and handed her logbook to Ace. For a minute, the dark-eyed pirates flipped the pages. Silent as he watched rapidly the pages with what Eli could only see as mild interest.

"You draw now ?" he asked, his eyes still on the book.

Eli nodded. "I'm a quick learner."

"You're our chronicler then," Ace said. He shut the book close and gave it back to its owner.

Chronicler... Silently, Eli tasted the title. It was good.

"Yup'."

In the bedroom there were two beds installed against the walls. Eli concluded that the one lacking in bedding would be hers and so threw her shoulder bag on the mattress before walking over to a door facing the staircases.

"You shouldn't go there," Ace said, making the girl looking at him questioningly. "Male's quarters wouldn't suit you tastes." A smirk on his face, he folded his arms.

"I kinda lived with you and Luffy for almost four years," she replied, a brow raising up on her forehead. "I can imagine what it's like."

And since she could perfectly picture the mess as well as the smell, Eli decided not to go it the room. One last glance to her new bedroom and the two pirates walked back to the deck. The tour was over and Eli was more than satisfied. It was a nice ship, small but cozy, and the girl could easily picture a joyous prevailing mood when the whole crew would be reunited.

Trailing up the main mast of the Merry, Eli spotted the crow's-nest and climbed up the rope ladder to reach it. A warm and salty breeze blowing gently, the sluggish fluttering of the pirates' jolly roger filled her ears and the chronicler wallowed the view. The vast open ocean, and somewhere in the distance, Grand Line.

Ace joined the girl and leaned against the crow's-nest, his eyes lost in the azure blue of the sky.

"Freckles," Eli called quietly and his eyes shifted toward her, "how was it ?"

"Spoilers." Ace turned around resting his hands on the nest's edge. "I want to see you freaking out," he said childishly.

"You freaked out ?" Eli ran a hand in her fluttering hair, her eyes still lost in the distance.

"Me ?" He snorted and leaned a bit closer to her ear. "Nop', but you will."

An annoyed sigh and Eli leaned forward, nestling her chin on her forearms. "You were probably asleep half of it." She rolled her head to the side and looked at him. "And since you came back, it means you got your ass kicked."

Slowly, the young man straightened up and fixed his flashy hat. What was that ? Embarrassment ? Eli was gazing at him silently, waiting for a witty retort, but as her jade eyes met with dark ones, she saw something glimmering in his orbs. A glow that was, somehow, unfamiliar and... warm but, soon, the young man shook it away.

"Yeah..."

Curiosity piquing her mind, Eli opened her mouth only to find her tongue laden by an unknown and unpleasant sensation.

She shifted her gaze back to the sea. "I read your exploits... Fire Fist." Unwanted, the gentle tone of her voice was tinged with an hint of sadness.

"Really ?" Ace leaned next to her, his elbow brushing her. "Pretty cool, uh ?" he said, pride and amusement intertwined within his words.

"Who's going to make me swim now...?" Eli asked in a quiet breath.

Ace looked at the girl, puzzled, and, after a few seconds, a shrug was his only reply.

Eli sighed, disliking her unsolicited gloomy mood; she put a smile on her face. "I could still ask Sanji."

"Who's Sanji ?" Ace asked, his puzzled expression furrowing his childish features.

"Our future cook if I'm not mistaken."

Two days later, the Merry was still docked at the Baratie. Unwavering, Zeff made sure Luffy understood he wasn't planning on releasing him until he would have paid off his dept. Eli had fruitlessly tried to appeal for the retired pirate's better feelings only to find herself wearing her waitress uniform, again.

Eli was serving a table when a sudden shadow blocked the sunlight making the customers looking through the windows.

"That's Don Krieg's ship !" one of the customers yelled visibly frightened.

The Dreadnaught Sabre, Eli thought as she observed the ship.

The chronicler remembered stories about that ship. The Dreadnaught Sabre was the flagship of Don Krieg's pirate armada, consisting of a fleet of fifty pirate ships. It was a very large galleon, almost three times larger than the floating restaurant. It had the figurehead of a saber-tooth tiger. Redoubtable and sinister the galleon's sails were torn out, the impressive figurehead and some of the masts were broken; it looked like a ghost-ship.

As she observed the pitiful state of what was once the most feared ship of East Blue, the chronicler recalled that Don Krieg was supposed to be in Grand Line. The newspapers related his depart from East Blue with joy and relief. But then, why his main ship was here ?

Soon after the ship's arrival, Don Krieg himself entered the restaurant. He was a very large man, wearing a dark purple mantle. The pirate would have been quite scary if he didn't look so weak; dark circles around the eyes, his face marked with fatigue, he had apparently lost the ability to stand upright as one of his crewmates was helping him walk.

A blanket of silence covering the restaurant, the customers and staff's attention was focused on the pirate. Wearily, he walked in the restaurant.

"Excuse us. Could you please give us some food and water ?" he asked with a faint voice. "Money is not a problem."

The silence became heavier. Their eyes widening in disbelief the spectators observed the pitiful pirate voicelessly, before a loud laugh ran through the air. Like a shot, Eli stared at Patty. The cook was belly-laughing before the deplorable state of the pirate and, somehow, as his laugh filled her ears, the waitress felt a sting on her heart.

"Impossible ! Is this really Don Krieg ?" Patty said. "The scariest pirate in East Blue ?"

The cook laughed again and Eli's heart felt more and more heavy with every last of his laughs.

"Patty !" she barked, her fists clenched in anger.

A heavy frown darkening her face, she walked over to her comrade, her footfalls resonating throughout the establishment. As she came to a stop in front of him, Patty huffed

"You're too considerate Eli," he muttered before turning his attention to the other cooks. "Contact the marines !"

Eli's eyes widened upon hearing the agreeing replies. Not only the cooks but all the customers were talking about handing over the miserable pirate to the authorities without feeding him, claiming that his weakness was a chance they couldn't miss and finally put an end to his era of terror on East Blue.

"Please help me, I promise I won't cause you any problems."

The plead hushed the angry crowd. Don Krieg was kneeling on the floor, begging for food and Eli felt her heart wrench with pity, she had experienced starvation before she was saved by Joku and brought to Fuschia; and even though the man was once called 'Scariest Pirate of East Blue' the girl couldn't bear to see him in such pain.

That was then that she saw Sanji.

The young man kicked Patty in the head and served the pirate a plate of fried rice. Don Krieg's eyes filling with tears, he thanked the cook in an agonizing whine before devouring the food using his bare hands.

The staff was speechless for a few seconds before an uproar arose. They ordered the young cook to take the food back from the hands of the starving pirate and Sanji did not even look at then. Nonchalantly, he lit a cigarette and slowly huffed the smoke.

"I don't care who he is," Sanji said. "I'm a cook, I feed the hungry."

Her eyes set on the young man; Eli saw that behind him Don Krieg was standing up. In slow motion, she saw him lifting his arm, not quite believing what she understood; he was going to hit the very person who nourished him. On the spot, the girl dashed over to the blond, she wrapped her arms around his waist and a loud gasp escaped him mouth as she pinned him to the floor.

Sanji raised his face and looked questioningly at the girl lying on him. "Elisabeth..?"

But the waitress didn't have time to explain her reaction as Don Krieg was about to attack them.

"Don Krieg !" the pirate's crewmate yelled bewilderingly as he shielded the two youngsters with his own body. "What's the meaning of this ? You promised that you wouldn't hurt anymore here !"

The deceitful pirate stared at his crewmate, scorn in his eyes, he grabbed the man's throat forcibly before glancing around the restaurant.

"This is a very good restaurant..." he said. "So I will take it."

A few seconds after hearing the dangerous threat, the restaurant was deserted by every customer. The only ones remaining to face the pirate were the cooks and the part-time waiters.

With a laugh worthy of the devil, Don Krieg looked at them with disdain. "Listen ! I have a hundred crewmates starving in my ship. Prepare food for them."

Eli felt Sanji stirring from under her and so turned her attention toward the cook. She sat next to him, something akin to grief glimmering in her green eyes as she look at his expressionless face.

"Thank you Elisabeth," Sanji said quietly. He stood up and walked in the direction of the kitchen.

"Sanji ! Hey where are you going ?" Patty yelled.

"To the kitchen," the blond simply replied, not bothering to look at his colleague. "I have to prepare food for a hundred persons."

The cooks gawked in disbelief and surrounded the young man. They blocked his way, and threatened him with large knifes and forks until Zeff entered the room. The chef made his way over to Don Krieg and put a large bag on the floor in front of the pirate.

"You need food for your crew right ?" Zeff folded his arms. "Take this to your boat."

"Ch.. Chef Zeff !" the cooks stammered, astonishment in their voices.

"Zeff ?" Don Krieg's eyes widened "You're Red Leg Zeff ?" His voice bordered on a yell.

"It's none of your business," the cook replied coldly.

"I am so lucky" The pirate laughed. "You've been to Grand Line and returned safely, during that time you must have held a journal, and I want that journal !"

"Wow !" Luffy who had been silently observing the scene from the beginning, took a step toward the two men and looked at Zeff, his eyes sparking dreamily. "You've been to Grand Line old man !"

Zeff ignored the boy, his eyes set on the threatening pirate, he didn't show an ounce of doubt. "That journal is the pride of my crew and myself, I won't give it to you."

"I'll take it by force then," Don Krieg clenched his large fists. "With it I'll go back to Grand Line, I'll find the One Piece, and I'll become the Pirate King !"

"Wait a minute." Luffy pointed a finger at the pirate. "Sorry, but I am the one who's going to be the Pirate King."

to be continued

One more.

I know that this revisions are far from perfect, but in my opinion they are better than what was written before.
Maybe I'll have to work on the v3 in six months, though :P