Fishy
Sanji had been more than a little amused by Yosaku's panic when the Sea Cow emerged during dinner, though he was certainly wary of the massive creature. He was also perfectly willing to hand over their dinner to the poor starving beast… at least until it tried to take a bite out of him as well. The furious sea animal looked like it was going to swallow their entire ship and was showing off incredibly impressive teeth when Fox stepped out of the cabin and promptly threw herself at the creature, cooing like a girl over a pet kitten.
"Oh, aren't you adorable!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms as far around the Sea Cow's neck as she could reach. "What's your name, precious?"
The animal calmed a little and mooed at her.
"Mohmoo? What a lovely name!" the blind woman said brightly. "You're such a big, strong boy, aren't you?"
The Sea Cow preened. Sanji stared, in awe of the beauty that had tamed the savage beast. Behind him Luffy went back to wolfing down his dinner.
"Where are you from, gorgeous?" Fox asked, petting the massive animal. Mohmoo lowed at her, dropping his head into the water so she could reach more of him.
"You understand it?" Sanji ventured.
"Mohmoo? Yes, he's such a softie really," Fox replied, scratching the Sea Cow under the chin as he rolled over in the water. "He says he belongs to Arlong. I don't think he'd mind giving us a lift to see his captain, would you Mohmoo sweetie?"
Mohmoo crooned happily, now perfectly docile and willing to allow Yosaku and Luffy climb over him and tie the boat to his horns so he could pull it along. Sanji let them get on with it, preferring to prepare more dishes for Fox to eat and bask in her presence.
"You know, I thought only mermaids could speak with the creatures of the sea," the chef said as he served up another delicacy for his lovely guest. Fox smiled at him, making his head spin:
"I have mermaid blood, Sanji-kun. Oh, is this for me?" She carefully lifted the spoon to her mouth. "Mmmhmm!" The blissful moan made the blond chef weak at the knees. Truly, Fox was a queen among women! So appreciative of his efforts and part mermaid as well! This was heaven!
Zoro was a little irritated; today had been rather tiresome. First he had been tied to the mast of Johnny's boat by Usopp and abandoned to the mercies of the Arlong Pirates, then Nami had been difficult and complicated. After she left Arlong Park Zoro had waited a while, incapacitated all of the fishmen remaining on the premises then gone looking for Usopp. Unfortunately Usopp had apparently gone looking for him as well and been caught by Arlong and his officers. The swordsman had been hurrying back towards the compound when a boat with Luffy on it flew through the air and crashed into him, further aggravating the injuries Dracule Mihawk had given him.
Then Johnny had run up and declared that Nami had killed Usopp –which Luffy flatly disbelieved– and Nami herself arrived, denied they had ever been comrades and told them all to go away. The newly-arrived cook didn't help by interrupting and trying to flirt with her. When Nami did not deny murdering Usopp the swordsman tried to attack her in revenge, but was attacked himself by dumbass chef who then insulted him about his loss at the hands of the hawk-eyed Shichibukai.
Luffy acted as though she hadn't insulted them at all and fell over in the middle of the road, loudly stating that he was tired and wanted a nap. Zoro groaned in frustration at the idiocy of the captain he had sworn to follow as Nami exploded in fury and marched off.
A giggle from the tree line as the redhead vanished around the corner caught the swordsman's attention.
"Who's there?" he demanded, drawing his sword.
"Just me," said a white-haired girl wearing a flowery blue long-sleeved tunic and plain, darker blue trousers, stepping into view. "I'm Fox, by the way. Luffy agreed to give me a lift onto the Grand Line so I can get home."
"Where's your home anyway, sis?" Johnny asked curiously as she moved closer, graceful despite the blindfold covering her eyes. That was a great training idea right there.
"Sabaody," Fox said, "Where Paradise ends and the New World begins."
"How'd you end up all the way out here then?" Zoro asked, suspicious.
"I was wandering when I fell afoul of Don Krieg," Fox said shortly, "and now I can't see to navigate my way home." She rubbed the blindfold. Zoro felt bad for her; blindness would put a serious crimp in his own vow to become the strongest swordsman in the world, but if Fox was a navigator then she'd just lost her entire life.
With Luffy dozing in the middle of the road Johnny and Yosaku took the opportunity to say goodbye to Zoro and depart. The swordsman didn't really mind and sat down nearby to wait for Luffy to decide what he was going to do next. Oddly enough Fox decided to sit next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"You're a swordsman, right?" Zoro blinked. How the hell had she guessed?
"How'd you know that?"
"You feel like one. It's nice. And rather familiar, too…" she trailed off, her breath evening out as her head slid down his chest into his lap. Zoro would have moved her, except that Sanji looked like he wanted to explode at the injustice of the 'lovely lady' not picking his lap to nod off in and infuriating the blond idiot was kinda fun.
"Do you think Nami really killed Long-nose?" Sanji asked after a while.
"Who knows?" Zoro replied with a sideways smirk. "Maybe after I called her 'small-time' she got so pissed off that she really did kill him."
"Small-time!?" Sanji lashed out with a foot at Zoro's head. "Nami's breasts aren't small time!"
Zoro raised his sheathed sword to parry, snarling "is that all you think about" but before the blow could connect Usopp appeared between them and took the hit.
"Eh." Sanji sounded a little embarrassed.
"Did you kill him?" came the curious voice of Fox as she levered herself out of Zoro's lap with a yawn.
Sanji was a little offended at Fox' recent behaviour; throwing herself all over the shitty swordsman like that! It wasn't like the green-haired idiot had even the slightest appreciation of her beauty, yet she leant her elbow against his shoulder when Nami's lovely sister came down the road to talk to them, acting as if she'd known Zoro all her life. Worse still, when the swordsman sprawled out under a tree and fell asleep when Nojiko agreed to tell them about Nami, Fox flopped across his lap, snuggled her head under his chin and followed him into dreamland! Why couldn't she cuddle up to him like that?
To take his mind off the injustice of it all, Sanji paid close attention to the story of how Nami had joined the Arlong Pirates, studiously ignoring the perfectly synchronised deep, even breathing of the green- and white-haired members of his new crew.
However in the back of his mind, at a safe distance from his libido, the chef had a tally sheet of all the odd things about Fox he had noticed so far, which were painting a rather intriguing picture. Sanji liked puzzles and conundrums, especially when he managed to solve them before anyone else, and Fox was a really fantastic one. Her gender and beauty were just the icing on the cake.
"Arlong?" The soft, feminine voice was surprisingly carrying, drawing the attention of all the humans and fishmen present. "Formerly of the Sun Pirates?"
"Who might you be, little human?" Arlong snarled.
Fox's face twisted into a distinctly bitter expression. "Not so human as all that, Arlong-san. Ever hear of the Cursed Maiden?"
The saw-nosed fishman paused. "A mermaid's daughter born without a tail due to her father's humanity, then force-fed Devil Fruit on the whim of the nobility, because they wanted to see what would happen," he spat.
"Quite," Fox whispered. "I haven't been around fishmen in years; it feels rather nostalgic to be among such company once more."
"You're the Cursed Maiden? The Storm's Daughter?" A fishman with fins on his elbows asked.
"You know mother?" Fox asked, cocking her head sideways. "Wait… Kuro'obi, right? I remember you."
Kuro'obi blinked. "You're Pearl's little Fox-chan? What happened to your hair?"
Fox grimaced. "Devil Fruit happened. Not being able to swim almost killed me; my hair turning white barely registered."
"And your eyes?" the muscular fishman inquired, muscles flexing as he noticed the blindfold.
"I ran afoul of Don Krieg and a pair of Seastone cuffs. Don't worry though; I'll be well again soon enough," Fox said lightly.
"Why are you here, Cursed Maiden?" Arlong asked.
"Well the guy who just punched you in the face agreed to give me a lift back home to the Grand Line, so I'm tagging along with his crew until he keeps that promise," Fox said, stepping past Sanji to pat Kuro'obi's elbow. "If you end up killing them, could you organise a lift for me, Captain?"
"Easily," Arlong shrugged, "now get out of the way."
"Thank-you," Fox said with a polite bow before allowing the large ray fishman to lead her to the opposite side of the compound from the brewing fight. "And it is good to see you again Kuro'obi-san; is there anything you'd like me to convey home on your behalf?"
Sanji tuned out the rest of Fox' conversation with her escort, turning his attention back to Arlong and the upcoming fight. He knew she was secretly cheering for them; he'd heard that 'if'. Her manners were truly exquisite, to be so gracious to such uncouth brutes as these that had made the delightful Nami cry.