"You really don't need to do this." I told Sanji one day. He was offering me a small bowl of fresh fruit after he'd beat up a customer who'd been harassing me. It was annoying really. This was another time I thought I might actually get some action and then Sanji butted in and started treating me like a delicate rose, while he got all the fighting.

I sighed as my words fell on deaf ears seeing as- after you take into account all the damage Sanji did beating up that customer- it wouldn't be long before Zeff came to kick Sanji and throw out he customer. And I'd get pulled into the blame as well seeing as I should have stopped him when he'd thrown the guy's wine in his face. I had been on the Baratie for a few weeks by this point and knew the routine very well.

But I'm going to fast aren't I? Let's take a short trip back to my first work day on the Baratie.

It was a wonderful morning, I had a slight head ache from the wine but I'd had worse. When I arrived in the kitchen Sanji was in dispute with the owner, Zeff, I'd never really met him, or talked to him, though Shanks must said something about me because he kept an eye on me the rest of that day.

I'd caught the words "No way" and "Hell" coming from Sanji, which didn't give me much insight as to the topic of discussion, though I had a feeling that it was about me. I stood in the kitchen awkwardly, "Uh.. Hi."

Sanji stopped yelling and hearts choked the air around him, "Oh Leanah! You're awake!"

"Yeah, people do that in the mornings." I said under my breath. I looked from Sanji to Zeff, "So I start today right? Do I have a uniform or something? Maybe a tutorial that I can do?"

The head chef nodded. "Yes, Sanji here will show you how things are done."

"Oh, yay." I said my voice flat. It's not that I didn't like Sanji, I just didn't enjoy being chocked the hearts that were always around him when we talked.

Sanji- at hearing this- went giddy. More hearts filled the air, I hate those hearts. I thought suddenly, I'm never gonna see any action in this place.

Oh and remember that prickly feeling that I felt the day before? It was still there, only now it was easier to ignore. Speaking of that feeling, when ever Shanks and I bouted back on his ship, I felt that prickly feeling only much much more intense. At first I attributed it to me being psyched out as I almost always did. But now that I was feeling it here, I was having second thoughts.

But enough about my woes, and back to my first day on the Baratie. For a uniform I got a white tie on apron. I liked the fact that it was sensible and allowed me to wear what ever else I wanted, and not some... I don't know... french maid... thing. I was wearing a pair of long black jeans, and a white ruffly V-neck tee shirt. Yes, another ruffly V-neck, which I don't like much, but even with all those clothes I bought way back when (OK fine only about six months ago, but hey, in girl time that's like two years.) my wardrobe choices were limited and well, it was my only clean shirt at the time.

Apparently it was an unfortunate choice if I was going to be working on the Baratie, though everyone else was professional about it, I couldn't keep Sanji from glancing at least once, maybe twice, I can't see him when he's behind me. But at the least Sanji never said anything about it or was anything less then gentlemanly.

I'd like to say that no, I did not get harassed on my first day, or my second, or third, or fourth, or even fifth. No nothing to terribly exciting happened at all. That is, until that day, it started like any other.

I'd get up early, very early, because hey just because I wasn't training with Shanks doesn't mean I was going to slack off, I trained every day until I heard some one moving inside the Baratie. My concentration got steadily better, I could hold Ha-di on it's path for a longer time, or I could sacrifice that extra time to make it stronger. So really it all depended on the moment. I'd created some other new techniques but, I haven't made names for them yet, and before you say anything, yes I do like naming my attacks.

After I heard the door behind me open I quickly put away my swords and turned around, "Good morning chef Zeff."

And depending on whom was there at the door, the response would be: "Oh Leanah, I made you breakfast!" (Sanji), "We're opening soon, get your uniform on." (Zeff), or in the rare case that the Baratie was already open "Hurry up we need you to wait on tables!" (Patty). Thankfully the only person who ever saw me actually doing Ha-di was Zeff, though I'm starting to wonder if things might have been different if Sanji had.

I was able to make and educated guess that it was Zeff, because it was to late to be Sanji, and to early to be Patsy. He grunted. I grabbed my apron off the railing next to me. "As you can see, I'm getting ready and shall be in the kitchen to be ready when the first customer arrives."

He walked back inside, his wooden leg tapping on the wooden floor as he walked. I sighed, he always found a way to sneak up to me when I was practicing, I could always hear Sanji and Patty before they got to the door, but Zeff...

"Cheese, how can a guy with a wooden leg be so silent?" I'd taken to not swearing around customers, and well, now cheese was my all purpose non-swear word. I strapped my kogatana to my hip so it was hidden by my apron, though trying to hide the Amaterasu- which I'd nicknamed Ami- because no matter how much I shift it, it still sticks out. I was going to have to hide it in the kitchen again...

"Heck, I don't think Sanji would care if I could defend myself." I walked into the kitchen and stealthily placed Ami in a space between the door and the wall. Which made it so no one could open it, but no one besides me used that door anyway.

The others were all eating breakfast when I walked in, course I never got to eat with them, because either Sanji would bring me breakfast before hand, or I would just skip breakfast entirely. Today was one of the latter days, well, that is to say I tried to make it of the latter. Sanji, though, had a very different idea. Someone (read: Zeff) had told Sanji that when he didn't force me to eat, I didn't eat until lunch, so he hunted me out that morning and handed me a plate with a variety of healthy breakfast foods on it.

"My Darling, you need to keep up your strength."

I took the plate, "Thanks." I said dryly. He led me to a small table the wait staff frequently used and I sat down, I stared down at the plate of food, then up at the expectant Sanji waiting until I ate it all. I took a bite of it, it was so good I nearly cried. Key word: nearly

"So? How is it?" he asked placing a cigarette in his mouth.

"It's very good." I said keeping my face blank.

I was so sure that Sanji would melt into a puddle of hearts, But Zeff told him to stop goofing off and start cooking. The first customers had arrived.

The other waiters and I drew straws to see who would wait which tables. It wasn't a usual practice, more often then not we would actually be assigned which tables to do, but today we got to pick. The restraint was divided into six parts, Upper right, upper middle, upper left, lower right, lower middle, and lower left. And the straws were colored and cut accordingly. Red for upper, blue for lower, long for right, medium for middle, short for left.

That day I drew the short red one. Looking back, I think that the universe foreshadowed what was to come. Because indeed, I got the short end of a blood red stick that day.

The first customers to be seated in my area was a young man and his girl friend. I could tell by the man nervous air and the suspiciously box shaped lump in his pocket that he was going to pop the question. I smiled at them, "What may I get you this fine day?"

The man ran his thin hand threw his short brown hair. "Um.. ahh. A bottle of wine. And ah... maybe... no wait... umm."

"What my boyfriends is trying to say is that we'd like to have the soup." Said his girlfriend as she twirled a strand of her ginger hair between her fingers.

I gave a small curtsy, "Of course, I'll get your order to the chefs as soon as possible."

I trotted back to the kitchen, I looked through the mass of cooks preparing the high class food for the customers, then spotted Sanji. "Sanji~!" I called in a sing song voice.

He was by my side in less the a second, "Yes Leanah?"

"I need two orders of the soup of the day, A fine wine, and perhaps some sort of cake that says "Happy Engagement" or something."

Sanji was then covered in hearts, "Leanah! You don't need som-"

"Not for me you idiot!" I hit him on the back of his head. "For a customer, the poor guy's so nervous, I figured he might need some help."

Sanji nodded, the spot where I hit his was knotting up as he did so. "Right." He was off, and back holding a wine bottle. "Here, give them this."

I inspected the bottle then exclaimed, "Sanji! This wine is reserved for a customer!"

The chef shrugged, "What do I care? He's just some marine snob."

I sighed, "Oh well." I took the wine and walked back out to the couple. I smiled, "Here's your wine."

I carefully poured the fine wine into their glasses. They picked up the glasses and each took a sip. "Wow," The woman said, "This is really good."

The man laughed nervously, "Yeah it is." He flagged me closer. "Can I afford this?"

"Of course, consider this wine and any extras to your meal on me, after all you want your girl happy don't you?"

The customer nodded intently and smiled, "Thank you."

"No problem, just make sure she says yes." He stared at me wide eyed, then softened and nodded once more.

"What are you two talking about?" the ginger haired woman asked.

"He was worried about the price of the wine madam."

She frowned, "Is that all?" she looked to him, "Stupid face, I'll help pay if it cost too much."

Stupid face? That doesn't sound like a name someone would give a loved one... I stared walking back to the kitchen when the front door suddenly burst open, everyone who was in the house at that moment turned to stare at the ten men standing at the door. A bunch of pirates I assessed by the guns and swords loosely handing from the belts of them men.

In most of the minds of the waiters there were three types of pirates:

Type one: The type that pays for their meals and don't cause any trouble. (of which there weren't many.)

Type two: The type that caused trouble and got thrown out. (of which there were many)

Type three: The type that had no money to speak of and didn't get any of the Baratie's services. (Sanji's on the other hand...)

Judging by the way they were standing in the door like they were kings, I assumed they were Type twos. They wouldn't be around long, all I had to hope for was that they would pick one of the other five sections and leave me alone. But who was I kidding? I practically told the Powers That Be to make them sit in my section.

At first they just wondered through the sections. Of course then they sat down in my section. Ugghh... I hate my luck. I walked over to the men, and through gritted teeth said, "How may I help you?"

One of the men- whom I assumed was the captain- looked at me. He put on what could be best described as the worst flirting smile ever and said in what he thought was probably a seductive voice, "Hows about we get some of you?"

I smiled as sweetly as possible, "I'm sorry, that's not on the menu, perhaps you prefer some wine? Maybe ale?"

"No I think I prefer you." a different one said.

"Ale it is!" I said as I dashed off for the kitchen. I panted in the sanctuary of the kitchen, after regaining my breath (and some of my dignity) I quickly shouted, "Where's the soup for table 12?"

Some of the chefs exchanged glances, others kept to their cooking, and others shouted at each other. A normal day in the kitchen. Sanji walked up holding two bowls of hot soup. "I believe these are the orders for table 12."

"Thank you Sanji." I took the two bowls of soup and exited back out to the tables. I carefully placed one bowl in front of the man and his girlfriend. "Sorry for the wait."

"Oh it's no trouble." The man's sentence was a rush of words, I sighed inwardly, It's going to take some great act of courage from him to even think about saying the words "Will you marry me?"

His girlfriend chuckled, "Yeah, this wine is perfect." I on;y now noticed she had some sort of accent. I couldn't tell what kind but it fit her personality well.

I held up my hands and lightly tapped my left ring finger. "If you nee any more food. Or anything else you might need help with. Don't hesitate to-"

"Hey sweet heart! Where's our ale?!"

"Assssk me." I plastered on a large smile and walked to the table of pirates, "Your ale is on it's way." I let the venom drip from every word. I started to walk away but one of them grabbed me by the arm.

"I don like your tone missy." He yanked me back to the table, "Maybe I should teach you some manners." I stared at him, he never saw my hand move, never saw me draw my kogatana. He probably never realized anything had happened until the thin cut on his arm started to bleed. "Bloody hell!" He screeched as he released my arm.

I briskly walked back to the kitchen clutching my kogatana tightly. I breathed in and out through clenched teeth while sheathing my sword. The chefs were all far to busy to notice me, even Sanji. That was just to darn close. I thought.

I walked back to where the alcoholic beverages were kept and pulled out two bottles of the cheapest ale we had. I walked back to the pirates and set the bottles on the table. "Here's your ale."

The one that I'd cut eyed me wearily as I retreated to another section of the ship and flagged down another waiter. This waiter wore glasses which covered his blue eyes, he had shaggy blond hair was sorta nerdy. "w.. what do you want?" he asked.

"Switch with me."

"What?"

"Switch. With. Me. I want to trade sections."

"And wait on those pirates? No way. Nuh uh."

"Come on! Please!" I begged.

He bit his thumb nail. "Sorry L, but I'm not switching."

I turned to the other waiters, they all turned from me. "Oh come on guys!" I pleaded to them. I sighed, none of these guys had any back bone.

"Hey Lady!" one of the group called. I sighed and walked solemnly to the table. "This ale is crap." he said near slamming the bottle on the table.

I went with the honest answer, "Sorry, I just didn't think you deserved and better."

The captain did not like this comment. "Lovely lady," he hissed standing up, "I'm going to the grand line to get the One Piece, so you'd be wise not to upset me."

"You wouldn't make it passed Reverse Mountain." I spat at him, hit 'im square on the cheek, I was so darn proud.

"You bitch." He said back. "I honestly think it's time I taught you a lesso-"

He never got to finish that statement, seeing as his face was suddenly impaled by Sanji's foot. "That's no way to talk to a lady." I looked at him, his eyes were narrowed and he had his signature cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"How dare you?!" another pirate asked standing up and drawing his pistol. Which he didn't hold for long seeing as Sanji quickly disarmed the pirate.

About six others of the pirates attempted to kill or hurt Sanji. The other two slinked off and attempted to hinder Sanji by holding the other man's girlfriend hostage.

Here's a detailed description of the next few events.

The two pirates grabbed the ginger haired woman, and I'll give her this: I DO NOT EVER want to be on her bad side. She kicked one of them and he doubled over in pain. The other was just a tad smarter and stood in a way where she couldn't do to him what she did to his partner. He held his sword to her throat, "One move and the girl dies."

Sooo original. I thought as Sanji tensed even more. "Hiding behind a lady! I ought to kill you!"

Sanji started forward but the pirate tightened his grip on the woman. "One more step, an she'll be bleedin' all over the floor." The grin on his face confirmed that what he said was true, Sanji huffed, even I knew I couldn't do anything. "Now that I 'ave your attention, I think I'll 'ake my leave," Whoo-eee, now this guy. I thought, THIS guy could be a captain capable of going through the Grand Line. "and," The pirate continued, "I think I might take this lovely lady with me." He said as he breathed down the woman's neck.

I shivered, Changed my mind, this guy needs to die a horrible death. I slipped my fingers around the hilt of my kogatana. But before I could even blink the woman's boyfriend was standing over the suddenly fallen pirate saying, "Stay the hell away from my girlfriend!" He punched the pirate once more for good measure.

"Whoo-eee." I whistled, "now that's the right kind of guy." I said half to the woman, and half to myself.

The woman threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "Thanks." She said. Then releasing him from her hug said, "I couldv'e taken him myself if he hadn't gotten behind my though."

The man laughed nervously, "I don't doubt that.. but... um.. Darling I..." Ok come one big boy! Now's your shot! "I'm glad to see you're OK."

Not what you should have said! I screamed in my head, then I got the idea to cough horribly and carefully put in the words "Pop the question now!"

He took my cleverly hidden advice and got sown on one knee holding his girlfriend's hand. "I uh.. I know we've been dating for a long time now, and uh..." He pulled the box out of his pocket. "I was wondering, Amy, if you would marry me." he gave a weak smile at his girlfriend.

Amy smiled back down at him, "Oh you stupid idiot, if I didn't love you I wouldn't be here now would I?" She took the box and slipped the ring on her ring finger, then kissed him ferociously. I stared at the couple, a happy smile playing it's way across my face.

"What a happy ending." I sighed

"SANJI, LEANAH?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"

"Well... Happy ending for some of us." I sighed again as I walked to the kitchen to explain the pirates Sanji walking quietly by my side. I still smiled, it was nice not getting into trouble alone.