A/N: Hey I'm not dead and I am still writing! Sorry for the long delay I'm super busy with my first full time job and planning a wedding! So lot's of things going on. Thanks for still coming back to read for those of you have been following for a while, and welcome anyone new! Hopefully, I can start writing more often again!

Luffyko ate her dinner with a grin; Sanji had made her another delicious meal, even after she ate his prized fish. She watched him and couldn't help but wonder what the cook was thinking. He had been washing dishes like normal; however, towards the end he had slowed down and taken his time. He also hadn't asked for help, choosing to wash all the plates himself. She looked down at her empty plate and walked over to Sanji giving him her plate. "Hey! I want to dry them, give them here!"

Sanji grinned and handed her a wet plate, "Of course, Lady Luffy!" He grabbed another plate, washed it, and handed it to Luffyko. Once back into his routine he looked over at the small captain. She looked so delicate and feminine the prince in him wanted to protect her and love her. As he watched, she let out an unladylike burp and he sighed remembering his prized fish. He looked down at her arms and watched the muscles under the skin move as she dried another plate. Luffyko wasn't delicate or feminine, she was strong and fairly masculine. She had saved his home, and fought off their enemies, she had no need for a prince to rescue her. Sanji sighed and saw Luffyko tilt her head in worry, "What do you think of me, Luffyko? Why did you want me on your ship?"

Luffyko looked up and saw that something was bothering him, "I think you are a loyal person. You would do anything to help a friend. Plus you are a lot like me, you have a grand dream that you refuse to give up. When I saw how you spoke of the All Blue, I knew you had to be the one to join my crew. You had the fire to go as far as I wanted to go."

Sanji felt his heart clench at her beautiful words, and saw her as a small angel guiding him towards his dream. The prince inside him rose to love her, "Luffyko…that was-"

"Plus your food is so good I could eat it all day until I was as fat as Laboon!"

An imaginary spear plunged into his inner prince killing it, "Well I'm glad you like my food." He muttered out as he watched Luffyko skip off, bored of the dishes. He sighed and continued washing the few dishes left, letting his thoughts wander to Luffyko and Nami. He smiled as he felt his blood race at the thought of Nami coming in to help him with the dishes, his mind wandering down to how she would look in an apron. He thought back to Luffyko and frowned at the lack of appreciation his body had for her. He knew she was more beautiful then many other women, yet the thought of her didn't bring a fire to his soul, only a warm comfortable glow was present. Other women brought the fire, even ones he didn't find as appealing as Luffyko. "Why is she so different…"

"Because it's Luffyko."

Sanji jumped at the deep voice and turned to see Zoro leaning against the table. "What are you doing in here."

Zoro looked over the cook and raised an eyebrow, "Seeing what's up with you. Luffyko has been worried that you're mad at her." He saw Sanji frown and smirked, "What's wrong love cook? Can't get Luffyko to fall in love with you?"

Sanji glared at him but felt a small stab of his heart at hearing that he had made Luffyko worry. "I'm not mad at her, not really. I mean I was mad she ate the fish, but honestly I would be surprised if she hadn't. I just don't understand my feelings towards her."

Zoro looked at her worried and curious. He knew he felt protective of the captain and he also knew that was starting to be more possessive. "What do you mean by that? You don't know if you like her, or like her like her?"

Sanji couldn't help but laugh at the swordsman's face, "No I like her, heck I like her a lot. She saved my home and gave me a chance to pursue my dream. I just don't understand why I'm not in love with her. I see a woman and I can become a prince, when I see her it doesn't happen. I don't understand it."

Zoro watched as he went off into his own thoughts and decided to leave him be. He went back out to the deck to watch his small crazy captain. She seemed to be chasing Usopp around the deck, again. Zoro laughed until he saw the strange man, who had been graciously allowed on the deck, trip her out of annoyance, laughing as Luffyko fell.

Luffyko laughed as she fell to the ground when a painful cramp worked its way into her side. She cringed and pulled a hand to her side as she quickly tried to cover her face. However, she quickly found herself in Zoro's arms, his masculine scent easing her. "Zoro…"

"Let's get you out of the sun. Nami should have a look at you." Zoro replied, worried that there was something wrong with the small woman. He walked through the kitchen and found himself blocked by a very angry cook. "What's your problem? Move she needs to see Nami."

Sanji glared at the swordsman, Luffyko was in pain. Fury erupted and he took her from him, "Go away, you will only make it worse, I will take care of her." He gently carried her into her room and laid her onto her bed and quickly checked her over for fever and injury. "You seem alright, what hurts?"

"My side…"

Sanji frowned and began to feel the muscles trying to massage them out. "How does this feel better?"

Luffyko nodded almost purring as she moved close, arching into his hand as it seemed to magically remove the pain. "That makes it feel so much better."

Sanji grinned and continued working on her side, "I'm glad I can help!" He continued to work until he felt a hard hand grab his and rip it away from Luffyko. "What the-" He looked up and saw a very angry Zoro before him.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Zoro seethed, he couldn't believe that Sanji would try to take advantage of Luffyko. He had just said he didn't feel like a prince around her, or was he trying to lower his guard? "Luffyko isn't just another woman!"

Sanji glared at him and stood up, "I know that, she needs to be treasured! She was hurt, I wanted it to stop and what I was doing was helping!"

Luffyko sat up in bed worried at the two men fighting, but not understanding why, "What's wrong? Zoro why are you so mad at Sanji?"

Zoro and Sanji glared at her to butt out and watched in horror as her confused face became one of sadness, and to both men's surprise she began to cry. "Why are you both being so mean!"

Sanji didn't think it could get any worse until someone grabbed his ear pulling him away from Luffyko's room. "Hey, knock it off, let go of me!" When he was out of the room, he found Zoro had also been dragged out. The culprit was the lovely Nami of all people, "Nami!"

Nami narrowed one of her glares, "What the hell is wrong with you two! You made Luffy cry! What did she do to deserve that?! Go away and think about what you have done!" She glared and stormed back to check on Luffyko leaving the two men glancing awkwardly at the floor.

Zoro was the first to get over the awkwardness; Nami yelling at him didn't bother him as much as it did to Sanji. "Why were you touching her like that, you were leaning over her like a pervert."

Sanji blinked in surprise, realizing Zoro was jealous. However, his surprised look turned to shock, "I was touching her hip…I didn't feel anything…" He grabbed Zoro and shook him like he was terrified, "I didn't feel anything for touching a woman's precious hip! What is wrong with me!"

Zoro pried Sanji's hands away from him and gave him a wary look. "You didn't feel anything? Even with that weird smile on your face?"

Sanji put a hand under his chin in thought and then remembered the warm caring feeling he had. "Maybe I do feel something for her."

Zoro glared and stalked off refusing to stay near the cook. Why couldn't he just go love on Name? Why was he trying to worm his way between him and Luffyko, did he always have to be the center of every woman's attention? He was pulled from his mood when he felt someone sit down next to him. He looked over and saw Luffyko her eyes seemed to be a little red. He sighed, "I'm sorry I got so worked up…I just didn't like him touching you like that. He looked like he was going to devour you. He is just another pervert. You shouldn't let that creep near you. You can't trust him, he only has one thing on his mind. You should really be careful about letting all these strange man on your crew."

Luffyko narrowed her eyes at him as he began to lecture her. "I'm the captain of this ship, I can do anything I want. Besides I trust Sanji, he's been very helpful to his crew! Besides all he was doing was trying to make me feel better! Is that so bad? Sanji is a good person!" She stood up angry and glared at the man in front of her. She didn't understand why he had to be so difficult, what was wrong with Sanji?

Zoro glared at her, why didn't she understand anything he was trying to say? Why was she so blindly loyal to anyone she considered a friend? He looked at the strange duo on the deck and glared, heck she would probably do anything for those two idiots. "You can't trust everyone that easily! They will just take advantage of you. Get your head out of the clouds, what would happen if he was to betray us?" He saw her raise her chin in defiance so he grabbed her shoulders ready to shake some sense into her when a hard kick knocked him away from the captain. He glared up and saw Sanji standing protectively over Luffyko, "What the hell was that?"

Sanji looked at the swordsman and then down at his captain and gently patted her head, "It's okay, he's not mad at you. He is just worried about you getting hurt. Go talk to Nami I will handle this." He watched as Luffy's eyes got big and smiled gently as she walked off looking back nervously at the two. He waited till she was out of sight till he turned to Zoro. "No need to worry, I figured out my feelings."

Zoro looked at the cook uncomfortably, "What do you mean you figured it out?"

Sanji liked the uncomfortable expression on the swordsman's face, "I know how I feel about Luffy. Fortunately for you, I do not see her in that way. Unfortunately for you, I see her as a younger sister. So if you ever hurt her I will kick your ass and drown you at sea. Are we clear?"

Zoro nodded quickly, surprised at the small amount of fear he felt, "Yes sir." He watched as the cook walked off and gave a small smile as he ruffled Luffyko's hair as he began to talk with her. Sanji's expression was that of an older brother and he felt a little more comfortable with the cook being by her. The crew was very caring towards their lovable idiot, however, he didn't trust the two strangers and decided to turn his attention back to them. After all, Luffyko was fine with Sanji and she was too lighthearted to take their guests as intruders. It was up to him to keep her, her ship, and her crew safe. He turned towards the guests and watched them under the sun and slowly fell asleep.

A/N: Hopefully I can update a little more often! I finally have the whole teaching thing down (Sorta!) Thanks for continuing reading!