I'm going to apologize right now for the filler feel of this chapter. It got a little more detailed than I was actually going for by the time I was done with it. On a different note, a little more of the other crew members here.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

Warnings: Brief Language

I woke up on the examining table again, curled in a blanket with a soft pillow under my head. Pulling the robe to its original state and retying it, I sat up to look around Chopper's medical room. I let out a startled yelp when I saw the swordsman sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, next to the door leading into the long, narrow hallway. He looked like he was asleep, but I knew better than to assume this was the case.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, tugging the robe even tighter.

Zoro grumbled something and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Syla's scout was spotted on the shore during the night," the swordsman mumbled. "So Ussop, Sanji and Luffy went on watch with Franky and I came in here in case anything got past them. Unlikely, but Luffy can be pretty unreasonable sometimes."

"What about the girls?" I said, trying to untangle my legs from the blanket. "Why not ask one of them to stay in here, instead?"

"They were already asleep," Zoro answered. He still hadn't opened his eye, knees drawn up and one arm around his three katana. "The shit cook wouldn't let anyone wake them up, so it was either him, me or Brook. Just be grateful Luffy already put me up to watching you, or you would've ended up with one of the perverts."

I couldn't deny the truth of what he said, but still didn't like the idea of someone watching me sleep. It was just as creepy as the first time. "Where's Chopper?" I asked, noting the doctor was absent from his own room.

Zoro shrugged as he finally opened his eye and sighed, apparently having given up on trying to sleep through my interrogation. "Just went down to the kitchen a few minutes ago. He was here all night too, if you were wondering."

I scowled and swung my legs off the bed, looking around for the slippers I had been wearing the night before and mentally cursing Sanji as I did so. I would have felt a lot better about a guard if it had been Nami or Robin. Still, given the options Zoro had mentioned I was glad it had been the swordsman and not the cook or, I shuddered, the skeleton. Imagine waking up to that face first thing in the morning. Zoro's permanent glower was bad enough.

I eventually located the slippers and put them on, looking up to see Zoro watching me with a thoughtful frown. "What?"

"You're not gonna wear that thing the whole time, are you?" he asked.

I snorted lightly and turned away, untangling my hair as best I could. "This from the guy who walks around in his bathrobe."

"It's a yukata," Zoro snapped. "Not- never mind. Do what you want." He looked away with a scowl.

I had to try not to laugh at him, but it was kind of funny. Maybe his time with Mihawk and Perona had given him some sense of fashion, as I couldn't imagine the old Zoro even noticing what anyone else was wearing. Still, I thought, he had a point. Walking around in Chopper's spare robe probably wouldn't keep me warm for very long.

I looked around for my own clothing but couldn't see them anywhere. Giving up, I headed for the door instead, unsurprised when Zoro got to his feet to follow me.

I made it all the way down to the kitchen without taking a wrong turn. Zoro was right about the ship's odd design, although I would rather cut off a finger than tell him that. Sanji was standing at the counter, chopping something on a board and humming to himself. Chopper and Nami were sitting at the table and Robin was seated at the long bar, a cup of coffee in one hand and small book in the other.

Sanji looked up first, smiled, then immediately stopped humming as the swordsman stepped in behind me and closed the kitchen door. I made my way to the table as the two men wasted no time in starting their early morning barrage of insults against each other.

"Hey Chopper," I said as I took a seat beside the small reindeer. "Do you know where my clothes wandered off to? I can't find them."

"Oh yeah," Chopper nodded. "Nami threw them away."

"What?" I squawked and turned wide eyes on the navigator. "Why?"

"They're too obvious," Nami said. She appeared to be completely unabashed about tossing out my sweater and jeans. "Its best if you don't stand out. At least for now, anyway. I'm going back to the town in about an hour, I'll pick something out for you while I'm there, alright?"

I grumbled a little but knew better than to argue with her. She was right, too. Even if I had to stay inside the ship most of the time, I still didn't want to look too much like an outsider. And I still had no idea what the difference in our clothing actually was. Cloth? Design? Whatever it was, Nami was obviously worried about it so I would let the destruction of my sweater slide for now. It wasn't as good as the panda one, anyway. I smiled at the thought and Nami and Chopper gave me funny looks.

"What is it?" Nami asked.

"Nothing," I said, still grinning at the memory.

She didn't say anything else as Zoro joined us at the table, still looking like a thundercloud, and Sanji began handing out toast and small bowls of sliced fruit with side dishes of cream. It was a simple breakfast, but still really good.

When we were finished, Nami stood up and called for Chopper to come with her as she left the kitchen, presumably heading for the small town. Not long after they had gone Ussop and Brook came in for breakfast next and Robin left to join Luffy and Franky on watch. Their dedication to my safety didn't slip my notice at all.

"Such a lovely and healthy meal to meet my weary eyes," Brook sighed dramatically. "Although, I have no eyes to meet it with! Yohohoho!"

"Can it Bone Bag," Sanji warned. He set food down in front of the two with a loud thump and placed a cup of fresh coffee in front of me with more care. "You're disturbing Renna."

"It's alright, Sanji," I assured the annoyed cook. "I don't mind."

"Ah, such a fair and kind-hearted lady you are, Miss Renna," the skeleton sighed. "As such, you remind me of another beauty from my younger days…"

My attention was turned to the musician as he began telling me about the similarities between myself and a girl he had once known back in his home kingdom. Luckily he only asked to see my panties once and was promptly shut up by two simultaneous death glares from Sanji and Ussop.

Zoro had already fallen asleep again.

Nami returned within the hour carrying several shopping bags and grinning in satisfaction. She immediately pulled me up to the bath and handed over several long bits of cloth, gesturing for me to put them on.

And so I ended up wearing a cream colored dress, made of some kind of wool and with a skirt that stopped mid-calf. The top was sleeveless but this was easily remedied by a dark blue buttoned cardigan or something like it. Nami buckled a wide brown belt around my waist and slipped knee-high boots of the same brown material on my feet. She stepped back to admire her handy work and smiled.

"You look nice," she complimented. "And much more like you could be a random traveler, too."

I looked more like a Western pioneer than anything actually, but kept the thought to myself. "What's with this fabric?" I asked, running my hands down the thick skirt.

"It's still a little cold out," Nami explained. "But I've picked up a few other outfits for you, in case the weather changes. Also some nightgowns and shoes."

I looked at her and felt my eyes narrow, suddenly a little suspicious about her shopping spree. "How did you pay for all of this?" I asked as levelly as I could manage.

Nami gave a light snort at my obvious tone and moved behind me to fasten my hair into a loose bun. "Sanji," she said simply. "He gave me some of his treasure beri to buy your clothes. I didn't really get exactly what he asked for, it isn't warm enough for that, but still, I did okay with it, right?"

"Right," I smiled at her in the mirror and made a mental note to thank the cook at the first opportunity. I realized the effort was more from his perverted side than the chivalrous one, and was glad Nami had been the one to do the shopping, but I was grateful all the same.

We arrived back in the kitchen just in time for the navigator to stop a fight between Zoro and Sanji, again, and order the swordsman out onto the deck, since it was his turn to take over Luffy's watch. Ussop and Brook were also gone.

Zoro stomped toward the door in a huff and Sanji hurled a bag of apples at him, aiming at his head I supposed but also with the intention that they didn't go hungry, before the door closed behind him.

I sat at the high counter with Nami and listened to her chattering on about all the strange items in the shops in town. It was even more remarkable, she said, due to the distance of this island from any main trading port and the isolation caused by the volcanic activity. I listened as best I could while Sanji set chilled lemon cake and cups of green tea in front of us before starting on the roast he was making for lunch.

My mind drifted in and out of the conversation as the navigator continued to explain about the recent shifts in the currents on the seas surrounding us, and what that could presumably mean for the crew's journey. I found myself wandering down a track that took me completely by surprise; as dangerous as this world was, and I could attest to at least part of the threat personally, I really wasn't looking forward to going home again. Not like the last time.

Lifting one hand I scrubbed furiously at my forehead. I was getting seriously attached to these people, which was really, really not a good thing.

"What's the matter?" Nami asked suddenly. Apparently she had seen my frustrated look and was now frowning at me as though I had done something particularly absurd.

"Nothing," I forced a small smile. "I'm fine."

I was saved from any further explanation by the impeccable timing of Luffy, who barreled into the kitchen and demanded to be fed as if he hadn't eaten anything in a week. Distracted by the noise, the navigator promptly forgot about me and rounded on the rubbery captain instead. She shouted at him to not be 'so damn loud', which came off as a little hypocritical although I valued my skin too much to actually say this, and pushed him down on the seat next to her as Sanji patently began to make sandwiches.

Luffy, I thought as I watched him scarf down the small meal in two seconds flat, was actually the one I would miss the most. I had no idea why, though. It might have had something to do with the fact that I had never met anyone like him before, which was probably a good thing for my world but a little sad all the same. That kind of energy was impossible to ignore.

The captain had Nami thoroughly bated into an argument in under ten seconds. I smirked and picked up a few of the empty dishes around me, carrying them to the sink where Sanji had begun the washing from making Luffy's sandwiches. He had gone back to humming, sleeves rolled to his elbows and hands in the hot water.

"Thanks, Sanji," I said quietly, laying the bowls next to the sink. "For the clothes, I mean."

Sanji turned his head to grin at me cheekily. "It's no trouble at all, Renna dear," he said quite happily. "I am always honored to lend any assistance to a lady, especially one as charming as yourself."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at him just in time and settled for returning the grin. "Do you want any help?" I offered. "Sounds like I'll be stuck inside for awhile anyway."

"I wouldn't dream of setting such tasks to your beautiful hands," the cook looked appalled at the thought. "However, if you're bored maybe Robin could find some books for you when she returns, or Brook could play some music?" he suggested.

"Nah," I shook my head. "I wont bother them. But thanks." I left the sink to go back to the bar stool, resigning myself to sit in the kitchen with Nami, Luffy and Sanji. At least for the rest of the morning.

Luffy, unsurprisingly, was quite entertaining and had managed to rope both me and Nami into several different card games by the time Franky came into the kitchen and Nami left to fill in his spot on watch. Sanji had me drinking more tea than I ever had before in my entire lifetime and Franky jumped up at random intervals in the conversation to do his 'Super' dance, mostly for his own benefit but partially for mine.

Lunch came and went, the only crewmembers not joining us being the two swordsmen still stationed at either end of the Sunny. Robin brought their lunches to them and stayed out on the deck with her book from earlier. Eventually Franky and Ussop went down to the lower deck to tinker with something or other, Nami left to the library to chart her maps and Chopper and Luffy had been out the door as soon as the meal was over. Playing tag or something is what they had said.

This had left me alone with Sanji and, although he was good company when he wasn't doting or over-complimenting every few seconds, I was starting to grow increasingly nervous and restless from all the bustle on the ship. Knowing I was the cause of it didn't help any, either.

The one time I tried to poke my head out the kitchen door to see what was going on out on the deck, I came face-to-face with a very agitated green-haired swordsman and quickly closed the door again. It was just my luck to make the attempt at the same moment he passed by.

"Do you have a death wish or something!" Zoro yelled at me through the wood. "I told you not to come outside!"

"I wasn't going to!" I snapped back at him. "I just wanted to look!"

He snarled something unintelligible as I turned away and stomped back toward the bar instead, throwing myself onto the stool with an angry huff.

"What did you say to him, anyway?" I asked Sanji as he busily whisked at some kind of batter in a large bowl.

"What did I say to who, my dear?" the cook responded absentmindedly.

"To Zoro," I waved a hand at the closed kitchen door. "He's been a monster all day, ever since you guys were fighting earlier."

Sanji smirked at me from under his long blonde bangs but didn't pause in his activity. "I'm not sure how that's different from any other day," he shrugged, clearly unconcerned. "He's always been a monster, you know that."

"Yes," I agreed. "But more than usual today. He's only yelled at me like that once before and that was when…" I trailed off as it hit me. Duh.

"When he was worried," Sanji filled in helpfully. He turned to pour the batter into a wide pan, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula. "Yeah, he does that. He's just a barbarian who doesn't know how to handle any kind of emotion or action that isn't 'kill'. Don't let it get to you."

"Can't argue with that," I said dryly and the cook chuckled. "But," I continued, "you didn't answer my question."

Sanji sighed and placed the pan carefully into the large oven, washing his hands in the sink and drying them on a towel before responding. "Honestly, I only asked what he thought of you."

"And he got that mad?" I said skeptically.

"Well," Sanji shrugged again. "I may have also said I was surprised he didn't get you both lost in the woods yesterday and asked why the hell he nearly let you drown to begin with."

Huh. No wonder Zoro was mad. The comment about the woods probably reminded him of our run-in with the dragon girl. I shuddered a little as I remembered his anger and tension but quickly got back on track. "And?"

"And I sort of also implied he was trying to get rid of you," Sanji said in a rush.

"What?" I said, surprised. That would go against what Luffy had told Zoro to do, and I was astonished he hadn't cut the cook in half at such an implication. "And what did he say?"

"I don't know," Sanji turned away to pull a giant cutting board from under the bar. "Something about my eyebrow. The usual."

"I meant the other thing," I pressed. "Not the drowning part."

"Oh, that. Not much, actually. My sweet Nami arrived with you before I could get an answer out of him. Shitty moss head," he added under his breath, although the insult was still audible. He began chopping more fruits on the cutting board, placing them neatly into a small glass bowl beside him.

I watched him work, my mind once again on what the swordsman had told me about Syla and his reaction to the threat of her being so close by. While Luffy and the others were protecting me purely for the sake of keeping me safe because we knew each other, Brook and Franky excluded and more likely just following their captain's orders, Zoro's motives were far more mysterious. Yes, he had to watch me because Luffy said so, but why the hell was he so damned angry about it? I wasn't that bad, was I?

Well, you know. Apart from the whole getting on his nerves almost constantly thing.

I sighed and decided I wasn't going to waste energy thinking about the questionably fathomless and more than likely off-kilter inner workings of the Mind Of Zoro. Grumbling to myself about irritating and algae-infested demons, I focused on the neatly chopped fruits instead.

Unfortunately my little outburst had caught Sanji's attention and he abandoned his work to fix yet another kettle of sweet green tea, no doubt thinking the drink had some kind of mysterious healing abilities. Not wanting to insult him I took it and pretended to enjoy it while trying inconspicuously to find a place to dump it out at the first opportunity.

If I never saw another cup of the stuff it would be all too soon.