A/N: Aww! I've gotten so many awesome reviews on this so far! Sorry for making you guys wait, work was busy as hell lately. OTL Enjoy~!

Chapter 2: Trouble at the Floating Restaurant! Luffy Aboard the All Blue!

Meanwhile, aboard the ship named for a legend, the king of the Pirates paced. He never paced, but he was pacing. He was furious, and though ranting had helped for a short while, now he was full of nervous energy that he just couldn't seem to burn. He rounded on the gathered group of Strawhats, and threw his hands up in the air, fortunately not stretching them.

"Now what?"

Zoro shrugged, stretching his legs out in front of him under the table and leaning back against the wall. "You already kicked her out right? Not much else to do."

Brook, in his strange skeleton way, frowned. Being the eldest of the entire crew, he knew some things about life in general the rest tended to overlook. "In my day, such a thing wouldn't have been so terrible. I'm afraid I'm still not understanding why you're quite so upset."

"She hid it from me! And then denied it when I asked her about it. She admitted she's pregnant but refuses to tell me who, or why, or even when it happened." Luffy frowned at the floor, crossing his arms over his chest, which inadvertently pulled his coat tight across his shoulders with an ominous crack. "If she hadn't been so obvious... how can I trust her, Brook? She lied to me."

The owner of the restaurant-ship sat next to his lover, and took a long, slow drag on his cigarette. "She may not always be completely honest, Luffy, but she's always been loyal. Something about this isn't right," He knew it was stupid question but he had to ask anyway, "Are you absolutely sure she's slept with someone else?"

"How else would you explain it, Sanji!? I can't get her pregnant. No Devil Fruit user can! You know the trouble Franky and Robin went through last year." He was pacing again as the blond nodded, quietly thinking around his smoke.

Zoro snorted and growled like a dog; obviously, if his captain hadn't been utilizing the floor space to pace, he would have been. More than the anger of being lied to; the hurt of Nakama going behind the captain's back felt like personal betrayal. "None of it sits right with me. What's the sea-witch hiding if she's all on the up and up?!"

The cook glared but said nothing, merely blowing a cloud of smoke in his lover's face. He learned years ago that trying to change the mosshead's mind was like trying to turn the tides, but it didn't mean he had to like it, a fact he made obvious as often as he could when topics such as these were brought up.

Brook crossed his legs, looking thoughtful. "...I may be antiquated, here, but... again, I do not see what's so upsetting. Don't you suppose she refuses to admit the father because she either wants nothing to do with him or because as far as she's concerned, you, her husband, the man she loves, is the father? Such things were commonplace back when I was young. It was referred to as 'surrogate fathering'. Or, well, there's the less pleasant possibility..."

He, and possibly Sanji, were the only ones that understood what the 'less pleasant possibility' meant, probably. It was unlikely, as Nami rarely went anywhere unarmed, but there was always the possibility, no matter how slim, she was caught on a bad day unarmed and/or unaware.

To the side, the blond shuddered, gripping the table and his leg sliding underneath to touch the swordsman's for comfort. He spoke softly, as though even referring to it could make it reality, "Raftel is a dangerous place, even with you there, and you haven't always been there."

The rubber man stilled, his face aimed at the floor so that his features were in shadow and when he spoke, his voice carried the deadly calm that told those around him, he meant business, and made it obvious that, surprisingly, he actually did understand what his musician meant.

"She wouldn't admit that, would she?"

"She would never admit that," Brook said before Zoro could get a word in edgewise.

That was a good thing, because the swordsman was lost. What did danger have to do with Nami being knocked up? He frowned, but kept quiet as he scooted a bit closer to his lover, unconsciously recognizing the need for support even if he didn't fully grasp the topic of discussion.

"She knows you would react violently and probably destroy the island that is your home if she admitted that. If such a thing happened," the skeleton was quick to add. "You know how sometimes, when she gets so concerned about an oncoming storm, she'll leave her Clima-tact at home. And Luffy... being so honest does mean everyone in the world knows what your weakness is." Brook's bone-hands wrapped around his cane handle. "The whole world is aware that in order to incite your rage, they need only attack your Nakama. If they wanted to lure you into a trap, all they would have to do is hurt one of us and lie in wait for you to come get revenge."

If his features hadn't been shadowed the gathered three would have seen the way the years-old pain flashed across his face. No matter which one was in trouble, the one that still haunted him, still refused to leave him, was the one where he'd failed. His entire being was made for protecting his precious Nakama, but in that instance, with that one who'd meant so much more to him and had been with him for so long, he'd failed. That moment was etched in his memory such that even now there were days where he swore he could smell the sulfurous gas that had clouded the air, and feel the sheer oppressive heat of the enemy. Truly nothing had changed him, shaped his being more, than Ace's death.

As such, he was beginning to regret the way things had exploded. If she really had been... he shuddered, violently. He'd seen one of the girls that worked at the bar where he always hung out with Shanks come back after having had that happen, and she'd been withdrawn, secretive. He'd even go so far as to say distant. His brain worked quickly, in the manner of confident decision that it always did, re-evaluating the last several months, trying to come up with a way to fix this.

In the silence that was steadily growing heavier, Sanji could do nothing but concentrate on his breathing. To think that his precious Nami-swan may have been... he couldn't wrap his mind around it.

His voice was shaky, and tight. "Is there anything we can do, Brook?"

"We can pray that isn't what happened. But... Luffy..." His empty sockets seemed to look to one side. "...you didn't... leave her alone, did you...?"

It, or at least part of it, suddenly came to Zoro. His body stiffened. Lone pregnant woman. On Raftel. Vulnerable, and obviously so after Luffy's very loud leaving and banishing of his wife. And Nami wasn't all that strong, not really, not compared to them.

"Franky and Robin were there." Luffy squeaked.

His unconscious tilt away from the three seated males betrayed what he didn't say, and Sanji wasn't sure whether to jump the table to strangle his captain or faint. So, he settled somewhere in the middle.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR XANTHAN BASED MIND!?" Luffy winced, and the cook kept going. "This is worse than Usopp on Water 7! He, at least, had places he could go and hide!"

"Nami's smart. She'll be fine. She'll meet up with Robin and then..." The rubber man trailed off, remembering how he'd ranted at Franky before storming off the island.

Suddenly unable to stand anymore, he sank to the floor near the wall, drawing his knees up to his chin, and for all the world, looking like he was half his real age. He'd been so focused, so sure, that she'd cheated on him, had lied to him, but now, he wasn't sure of anything. The king of the pirates had never been so uncertain in his life, and it was a feeling he decided that he absolutely didn't like. It reminded him too much of fear; of being trapped and held down; of being too weak to protect what he cared about. It felt like the way the world had after Ace died. Somewhere in the distance Sanji was still ranting but lost within his own mind, attempting to make sense of things again, Luffy couldn't hear him.

The already white skeleton seemed to go whiter. "R-r-robin? Robin?! Oh God. Oh my word. Oh dear merciful heavens!" He collapsed against a bench, fanning himself. "She's... she's gone. And… we may never get her back. Because you know Robin." His sockets grew darker, seeming to deepen to pitch-black pools. "Robin is the only person who knows every hiding spot and secret place in and out of the Grand Line. If there's anyone who can hide Nami where even we couldn't find her, it would be Robin. And worse, she will be angry with you, Captain. Very angry. And when Robin gets angry..." He left it hanging.

Even Zoro shuddered at the memory of the last time Robin was really, truly, angry. There had been no escape for the sorry bastard—eyes and hands and legs everywhere turning into one massive deathtrap, inescapable, and he had suffered a long, slow, torturous death. She'd been the cat, playing with her mouse, tossing it up and letting it run before sinking her claws, over and over again, until she had tired of the game and finally ended it. Painfully.

"Wh-wh-what do I do!?" The captain wailed, throwing himself at Brook's feet because it seemed the only one who had any sense about the whole situation was the musician.

"Pray," Brooke said softly, hands on his cane. "If we're lucky, we'll intercept them before they get too far out to sea. You might be able to get on their ship because lord knows Robin is not going to let us on. If that fails... I don't know. Nami is a brilliant strategist. She'll work something out and we may never know what it is, never see her again. Especially with you denouncing the child. We may never get the truth of it really. And Robin will want to keep her from being stressed. For if she endures too much stress, you know, she may lose the child."

The potential tragedy hovered in the air like one of the navigator's famous lightning clouds, just waiting to explode over all four of them. Deciding the best thing would be for his hands to be busy with something, Sanji climbed to his feet, brushed a kiss to Zoro's temple, and made for the kitchen itself.

The room they were occupying at the moment was more a small dining room and living room combined with a semi-galley reminiscent of the one that had been on the original Going Merry. It was the first of the private quarters Franky had designed when the cook and his swordsman first decided to create the floating restaurant. To get to the public parts, there was a door on the wall to the right of the table, as well as a second door across the room that led to a small deck that doubled as landing zone for visitors. That way the Strawhats didn't need to come through the restaurant itself to see each other, and Sanji didn't have his often intimidating Nakama scaring away his customers or destroying his property.

"I'm making something, what does everyone want?" The cook took the last long drag from his cigarette and crushed it in the ashtray on the table.

Zoro grunted. "...Takoyaki," he muttered. That was comfort food. "...and dango." And the other was guilt food.

While he believed Luffy in that the child wasn't his, and he still hadn't caught on to what the others were alluding as such things never occurred to him, the fact was that one of his Nakama was vulnerable and he had agreed with, volunteered, to leave her that way. He was the first mate, responsible for the crew: it wasn't right to leave anyone unprotected, let alone one of their weaker members. And regardless of what she had or hadn't done, Nami was still a member of the crew.

Brook sighed. "If you have any leftover soup... I'm not very hungry, Sanji."

"Me either." The captain had curled in on himself, holding his legs with his face buried between his knees.

There was a moment's hesitation, but the cook nodded and left the room to do his own comforting. He couldn't fix the situation. He couldn't leave his restaurant to go look for her, and even if he did, the chances he'd find her were slim. On top of that, what if she had, in fact, cheated on Luffy? Would he even be able to confront her? She was his precious Nami-swan, and if he had ever considered seriously pursuing a woman, chances were that she'd have been his target. That put her a cut above other women as far as he was concerned. So, with nothing else that could be done, especially as the stupid Marines had yet to fix the Den Den Mushi problem that had been caused by the collapse of the World Government several years ago, Sanji did what he did best. He cooked.

Back in the other room, Luffy pulled himself over to the wall with a dejected stretch of his arm, keeping his hat down low. Truthfully, he wanted the baby, even though it wasn't his. There was no greater adventure anymore, he thought. He stared out through a gap between his arms and the brim of his hat, eyes distant and full of sorrow. How could he find her? She was his everything. Would she even want him to find her after the things he'd said? And Robin? How would he deal with Robin when she finally caught up with him again? He'd be stretched to his limits and then some. He was certain that she'd have Franky come up with some kind of torture device to dry out his skin so it wouldn't snap back again, or maybe freeze him so it turned brittle and cracked. He shuddered thinking about the possibilities, and for the first time that he could ever recall, he did exactly as Brook suggested, he prayed. He prayed she was safe. He prayed she would be happy. He prayed that she made it through this, and that Robin would leave his limbs intact. But most of all, he prayed she would come home. As that thought crossed his mind, the rubber man closed his eyes and let the sorrow that had both fed and then stolen his anger spill across his cheeks.

There came a sudden THUNK! THUNK! from the side of the ship. Franky's docking devices latching on—their ships had crossed paths.

Robin needed supplies: pregnant women needed specific nutrition, and she didn't have nearly enough raspberry tea to last to Water 7. But this was where Luffy was, and Robin knew it. She told Franky to guard the door and not let anyone, especially the rubber captain, inside.

"AH!" Luffy's head shot up and clanged against the wall. "She's here!"

He ignored his tear stains as he practically climbed the beam at his back, though he knew the surface would just give the archeologist more places from which to sprout his certain doom. He knew it was too much to hope for Robin to let him explain, and talking to Nami herself after all of this would probably just end up with him in even more trouble than he was already. So, he merely tightened his mouth and braced himself. If nothing else, he'd attempt to escape to the Mini Merry, which was what he'd used to get from Raftel to the All-Blue in the first place.

In the kitchen, Sanji sighed, pulling raspberry leaves out to steep, and collecting an assortment of soda crackers to top with everything from apple slices to a zucchini paste he'd created the last time he had served a pregnant customer. Arranged beautifully on a tray, he brought the previously ordered dishes to his marimo and the musician, before stepping up to the door that led outside, hoping to have it open before his lovely Robin-chwan, in her justified rage, did any damage to it.

Unfortunately the archeologist beat him to the entrance, but was frightfully calm, given the situation. "Ah, thank you, cook-san."

Her eyes flashed though, peering behind him. As long as she had a line of sight, she could bloom her appendages anywhere she could see. She growled when she was blocked by a white-clad bronze chest.

"Step aside, Zoro."

The swordsman held firm. "No. You'll do something irrational."

"Step aside."

His black stare bore into her blackened stare. "I refuse. Out of everyone, you're most likely to kill him if you vent your anger on him. Unless I get a promise not to kill, you'd better just take that to Franky."

A line of arms sprouted, carrying the tray from hand to hand back to her own ship, where an entirely too-cheerful voice cooed from inside, "Ooh! Sanji-kun! Pickles!"

The cook melted a little, a stray heart floating up to twirl next to his ear, but he knew better than to move. Forward lay the chance of crossing Robin's wrath, and backward would mean more of his own beloved would be in danger. Regardless of who the threat was, the blond would not allow his marimo to be injured deliberately.

The stoic woman kept her stare locked with Zoro's for a minute more. Then a dangerous smile appeared on her face—Franky would have been able to identify it from a mile away with a shudder. The 'you have just made a severe blunder and I'm about to take full advantage of it' smile.

"Very well, Swordsman-san. I promise, no killing."

Zoro felt abruptly uneasy, very uneasy. All of his hair stood on end. But reluctantly, he stepped aside.

The archaeologist's stare cut all the way back to where the captain was still backed up into a wall. At that moment said wall sprouted arms. Everywhere, arms. And each one seized a little bit of rubbery flesh and started to pull, until there was a sheet of rubber man from corner to corner of the room.

Luffy gritted his teeth. He couldn't help fighting against the pulling thanks to his nerves about being frozen or dried out, but doing so meant that the action was quite agonizing. His mind ran in a circle of self-blame. He deserved to be stretched beyond his limits for what he'd done, but if he let her do that he could never make up for it, even if it sounded like something impossible to achieve just then.

Sanji took the moment to step around Robin to the dock and greet the shipwright. The two exchanged a nod, but said nothing, preferring to keep their attention on probably the only woman in the world that was capable of killing the king of the pirates without a blade. The silent conversation held the fact that should something be destroyed in the process of punishing the captain, the cyborg would gladly fix it. The blond pulled a hand-rolled smoke from his pocket, and the blunet used his finger-blowtorch as a lighter to sort of seal the deal. Then both were drawn back to the altercation between captain and archeologist.

"Ngh." The rubber man tried to close his eyes, only he found that he couldn't, and he had to breathe heavily through his nose for the way that his lips were stretched to prevent him from speaking.

Robin's eyes were cold as she held him there. So cold they burned. "You, my captain, are a very, very lucky man. One, because I'm really not going to kill you, since you taught me the treasure of Nakama so long ago. But bear in mind, I am very. Angry. With you. I don't know when it's going to taper off, if ever. But the other reason you're lucky is because I'm relatively certain she still loves you. And I will never inflict permanent harm to my Nakama by hurting someone they care about. So," Two of the hands let go of his head, enough he could breathe easier. "I am going to take Nami wherever she wants to go. I might even, after a while, tell you where. Where she goes from there, however, not even I will be aware. And Nami is smart; very, very smart. She knows she and the little one will be in danger if they linger long. You had better hope she lets you catch up, if she chooses to let you know if she's even alive after the baby comes."

Monkey D. Luffy didn't give up, it just wasn't in his nature to give up, but yet, standing there, immobilized, with the love of his life threatening to sail away forever, he found there was nothing else he could do. Any words he said would simply make her run further, faster, because no matter how much he meant them, he knew she wouldn't believe him. So, he hung his head as best he could while still stretched.

"Just... keep them safe."

Zoro shuddered. He couldn't watch this. He couldn't hear it. To have Nakama at odds… again... it chilled him to his bones. Sanji and Franky also looked away, between the fury in the dark-haired woman and the defeat in the proudest man in the world; it simply wasn't something any of them could watch for long. Worse still, the implication that Robin could do what she wanted with the rubber man was more horrifying than anything she had actually done. The cloud of negativity hanging over the group was so cold even Brook shivered a little, the bones of his rib cage making a rattle-type noise in the tense silence.

She released him completely.

"That, I can do. For a time. When it gets out..." her eyes closed, in that instant the pain of the situation obvious in her own frame. "Numbers don't always add up properly captain. Calculations go wrong. Step carefully. You are the one who hurt her and, one day, you will be the only one who can fix it. Not now. The hurt is too new. But one day, soon. Within the year." Her face loomed from the doorway, serious and dark. "You will heal her, because you are the one she needs, the one she loves. But only when she's ready. Am I clear?"

"Aah." Was all he said, rolling his shoulders to work out the kinks and keeping his hat low.

He turned his back to them all, paused for a moment, as though he was going to say something, but didn't, leaving the gathering through the door that led to the restaurant itself. Whether he was going to simply stay out of the way, or heading for the Mini Merry, nobody was quite sure, but the fact was he left, so far that even his aura dimmed out of their senses, for all the sorrow it held before disappearing.