Chapter Seven:
Annie watched the cook had seemed to brighten up a little bit and was now serving tables like a waiter they had given him an actual job and Sanji insisted on paying for his room so Annie took a bit out of his pay check to pay for the room not too much though just so that he could still save up for the supplies and stuff he needed for his journey that he wanted to take Annie was in the back cleaning dishes one day when Tom shoved Sanji back into the kitchen
"Annie he's back" Tom said Annie rolled her eyes and looked at Sanji
"Do me a favor and finish these"
"Shiki?"
"Yup" Annie said grabbing her swords from their hiding place under the counter where they chopped up the vegetables before hurrying out putting them on her hips this time figuring it would be easier access Sanji sighed praying that this time it wouldn't be as difficult to get rid of them as it was last time and they wouldn't make as much of a scene. After a while of it being quiet Sanji began to worry so he walked to the little window again and peeked out Annie stood behind the bar watching Shiki and his men who were on the other side of the room all just acting like normal people for now Sanji knew better than this though he knew they'd go ahead and do something that would mess up the day Tom came in to get something and saw Sanji
"What are you doing?"
"I know Shiki he's up to something"
"Same thing he always is trying to annoy Annie into joining his crew"
"What?" Sanji asked suddenly now Tom had his attention Tom was surprised
"Weren't you paying attention last time Cook? Shiki wants Annie to be his crews swordsman he is convinced that the only thing that is standing between that is this tavern and the people in it Annie has worked her entire life to build a haven for good people who have the law against them that's why we created this and why she helped you that day Shiki doesn't get that Annie is just too good of a person to fall for power" Tom said rolling his eyes a little bit before walking away Sanji now stared out the little window at Shiki he still didn't get the Nakama thing did he? It just seemed like no enemy of the straw hat did even after they beat them to a pulp there were some people who could be changed, like Barack works (or however you spell it) and then there were the ones like Shiki; they could and never would change and were just purely evil. Surprisingly they didn't do anything this time it bothered Sanji a little as the group left Sanji walked out again Annie seemed slightly puzzled but then smiled
"too much of an audience" she said Sanji was confused until she motioned with her head to a woman over in the corner wearing a marine uniform Annie smiled
"Miss Lily I know for a fact you are not a marine"
"keeps Shiki out of your hair what are you complaining?" She asked the woman appeared to be in her late twenties early thirties she had long black hair pulled back in a braid and round purple eyes which complimented her light, creamy skin she had a tall slim figure the marine hat rested on her head as she smiled her ruby red lipstick complimenting her features
"Well I do appreciate it you kept them out of my hair" Annie said shaking hands
"Yes and if I'm not mistaken I do see that of Black Leg Sanji in your presence" Lily said Sanji smiled a little and nodded a little bit
"This is Shyanne D. Lily one of the biggest traitors of the marines who got away" Annie introduced Sanji kissed her hand in his gentlemanly fashion
"It is an honor to meet such a lovely young lady like yourself" he said the two women looked at each other before laughing
"He got part of it right" lily said this confused Sanji greatly
"Lily is seventy four Sanji" Annie said Sanji's jaw dropped in astonishment causing Lily to laugh
"Yup and I still look better than you" she said winking at Annie a little Annie couldn't stop laughing at Sanji's reaction
"She has some fountain of youth thing but she won't tell anyone what it is though I say she could get absolutely rich off of it" Annie told him Sanji nodded agreeing with that part Lily shook her head removing the marine hat
"Damn this thing bugs my head" she said before tossing it over her shoulder not really caring at all where it would land
"Any way I should get going I have a meeting to attend to Sanji it was a pleasure to meet you do me a favor tell your captain that Lily says hi" Lily said before walking out the door Sanji looked at Annie who shrugged a little bit
"You weren't serious about her being Seventy four right?" Sanji asked Annie merely laughed walking back out into the kitchen this told Sanji that she was dead serious he then approached the stairs going to the second level Tom grinned
"Where are you going?"
"To wash my mouth out with soap I just flirted with a woman more than twice my age" Sanji said with a shiver and going upstairs Tom couldn't help it he burst out laughing as Sanji went upstairs
Luffy sighed as they finally got to the island they'd have to be extremely careful this was the one with the marine base so they were all in disguise hoping to find some sign of the cook although hopes were small Nami however had other plans she grabbed Robin once everyone agreed to split up
"I need your help with something" Nami said with an evil smile before whispering her plan to Robin, Robin smiled and nodded going downstairs the two girls changed their disguises into some old marine uniforms the girls had gotten just in case of emergency Nami and Robin roamed the town Nami snatched some ID cards from two other marines they saw so that the girls could sneak into the base they got past the gate with no sense of alarm this was a good start Nami smiled and the girls high fived once out of sight of the guards
"You realize if we're caught we're dead for sure" Robin said quietly to Nami who nodded
"You want to find Sanji fast or what?" Nami asked her before bumping head first into someone she looked up and felt the color drain from her face as she came face to face with the infamous Dracule Mihawk he offered a hand to help her up Nami took it nervously he whispered to her
"They don't know where he is, Look for the bear claw and you'll find your chef" he said before walking away Nami was confused as hell but at least they had a lead Nami looked at Robin who was equally confused as she was but now that they didn't have to search for the chef they could at least leave and not have to worry about getting the others into trouble they returned to the ship and when the rest of the crew returned they reported what had happened clearly the first reaction was Zoro not looking happy at all, like more so than usual
"What the hell does it mean to look for the bear claw?" Luffy asked both women shrugged just as stumped as him then Luffy started freaking out
"OH MY GOD SANJI GOT MAULED BY A BEAR!" this also caused Brook, Chopper and Usopp to continue to freak out in the same way causing the others to sweat drop at the stupidity and yet again question how the hell Luffy was captain
"That's NOT what he meant you idiots!" Zoro shouted to get them to shut up before shaking his head though he did have to admit this was mysterious as to what the famous swordsman had meant usually Luffy was good with puzzles too so the fact that Luffy couldn't figure it out without assuming the impossible that Sanji had gotten mauled by a bear in the middle of the ocean Zoro then got an idea
"Nami that pirate haven do you happen to know what government official that is protected by?" Zoro asked Nami was puzzled but slowly shook her head
"No"
"Well what if it isn't a government official but its Mihawk" Zoro said Nami hurried to her maps and grinned
"Bear claw is the name of the island as well as several other places In the towns among the island it's a large island though it would take a long time to search" Nami said
"We'll do it if it means Finding Sanji" Luffy said determined the crew cheered their agreement Luffy hurried to his spot on the figure head now grinning ear to ear his confidence renewed
"WE'RE COMING TO FIND YOU SANJI! DON'T WORRY!" Luffy screamed as if the chef could hear him from where ever he was
I do not own one piece that belongs to Oda sensei I only own the bear claw and its residences not including the straw hat chef