Silmeria - Thanks for being patient everyone. Enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer - I claim no rights to One Piece or Sentinel.

Chapter Twenty: Two: The Guide with Taste: Part Four

"You know better," Luffy murmured, staring into Sanji's blank gaze before reaching out to cup the Guide's face in his hands. "You know the damage would do to your mind, but I'm sure you didn't mind." Luffy leaned in and pressed his forehead against Sanji's shivering at the cold and clammy skin against his own. "Let's fix you up, huh?"

It was odd, Luffy realized, pressing his mind against a Guide whom he considered a stranger until now. But, he didn't mind, for he was sure that Sanji would have done the same for him if the positions were reversed.

Luffy closed his eyes and took a deep breath before lowering his own shields, flinching when the scattered shards of Sanji's mind slipped inside in an effort to find a new home, but with a gentle push, Luffy guided them back inside and started the momentous task of rebuilding Sanji's shields which, thankfully, weren't as bad as Luffy was led to believe. This could be repaired. This could be enforced.

For what felt like hours, Luffy guided the shards of Sanji's shields back to their rightful place and patched them up as best he could, diverting his eyes from the memories that flashed through their connection- he had no right to watch what didn't belong to him. With a final patch in place, Luffy slipped out of Sanji's mind and back into his own and prepared for the onslaught of sounds which consisted of screams and cannons.

He took a moment to gather his bearings before looking around and spotted Zeff braced against the door shooting him a look of relief. He returned it with a weak smile. As relieved as he was that Zeff was fine, Kreig was still onboard and Nami had absconded his ship.

"Where is Kreig?" Luffy laid Sanji on the floor before rising to his feet. A mind repair was dangerous and exhausting, but he couldn't wait another minute. Not with Kreign running amok.

"On deck," Zeff grunted as he rose to his feet, making his way to Sanji whilst giving Luffy a look of concern. "Are you sure you can handle him? He's not going to be an easy opponent."

"And I'm not going to be an easy target." Luffy shot back playfully. "You take care of Sanji. I'll be back as soon as I can." Luffy slipped out of the room, his lips twisting into a frown. Zeff was right. This wasn't going to be easy, but -

When was anything ever easy when it came to him?

It was simple to find Don Kreig among the destruction that the man created. For a man who wanted to add this ship to his already massive fleet, he found it idiotic to cause this amount of carnage to the crew and the ship itself. The man was strong, Luffy would grant him that, but his brains could use just as much work as his muscles and -

And

That peculiar set of armor.

It was unfortunate that he didn't have a chance to sneak up on the man. It was even more unfortunate that this despicable man was a Sentinel, who heard him even from the near bottom of the ship.

"You're the one who's causing me trouble?" Don Kreig was massive and that armor caused Luffy's brain to tickle with curiosity. How was he to get around it, better yet, what was hidden underneath it?

"I'm going to be the last one who's going to cause you trouble." Luffy shot back, dragging his staff out. "This is the last ship you're going to invade and terrorize."

"And what's a small thing like you going to do with that little stick?" Kreig's cracked lips pulled into a massive, wild grin that spoke of the number of times he inflicted pain and suffering on an innocent person for no reason other than pride and Luffy-

Luffy had enough.

He was never one to charge recklessly, but the image of Sanji slumped over below deck, lifeless, and Zoro almost torn to pieces, caused an irrational rage to surge through him. It was creatures like Don Krieg that gave Sentinels an awful name and made the world look down on them in disgust and fear. It was people like Don Kreig that made their disgust and fear justified. He was the reason why Sanji couldn't truly enjoy his cooking with his shields fully down so that he could feel their joy.

He would bring Don Kreig's reign to an end.

Luffy's first strike bounced off Kreig's armor like a pebble and forced him back far enough to witness Don Kreig raise a shield and fire a barrage of wooden projectiles that, unfortunately, Luffy wasn't quick enough to dodge and one managed to lodge itself in his arm. It didn't stop him. It would stop him from charging again and swinging his fist into a shield that was covered in spikes that tossed him back giving him enough time to dislodge the stake in his arm.

Even still, Luffy didn't think he had an advantage with the shield and gaitlin gun gone. He charged forward, nonetheless, meeting Krieg again and swinging his staff forward, and failing to notice the door behind them creaked open to reveal Zeff and barely conscious Sanji who stumbled on deck and watched, in detached awe as Luffy and Don Kreig fought - a Sentinel and Guide - fighting. It didn't seem right and yet, Sanji felt a burning satisfaction watching Luffy run up the pole and force Don Kreig down on the ground forcing the deck to shudder underneath the man's massive weight.

It was amazing to watch the same man meet his defeat at the hands of a Guide. The same creature whom Don Kreig thought of as helpless and weak. Sanjis' first impression of Monkey D Luffy was that he was he looked down on others and that he was better than other Guides. He knew now that he was wrong. Monkey D. Luffy was a good person. An honorable person. Sanji knew that he was going to be the first Guide to defeat a Sentinel as strong as Don Kreig. He would make his mark in the world restore the reputation of Sentinels and Guides and erase centuries' worth of hate and discrimination

Monkey D Luffy would restore a world that has lost its balance and Sanji had every intention of helping him do it.

"It's good that this ship had some medical supplies." Usopp swallowed, looking down at the unconscious swordsman. Thankfully, the damage wasn't severe and the man would survive, but it didn't negate the fact that Zoro was soundly defeated and it would take a long time to recover from his wounds and that wasn't even speaking on the mental ones.

He knew that Zoro was deeply prideful that the memory of this loss wouldn't fade and that he would train himself to the bone to ensure it wouldn't happen again. The man thought it his mission to protect Luffy even if Luffy was fully capable of taking care of himself despite his designation.

"I hope you won't get yourself killed," Usopp muttered before returning to the deck and letting out a rough sigh at the sight of the Going Merry docked with no Nami in sight. He didn't understand why they would go all the way back to Cocoyasi Village. She had no reason to visit and it was free from Arlong's wrath.

So, why?

Luffy explicitly told him to find Nami and the ship, but she stole the ship so was she really considered part of their crew? He could have easily retaken the Going Marry and returned to the Baratie, but Zoro was too injured to move and he still didn't have answers. He couldn't return to Luffy empty-handed.

"It would have been better if I had stayed and fought than to put up with this mess." Usopp stepped off the small ship and onto the docks, frowning when he saw no one around. Strange for a dock to be silent.

Usopp continued on his lips thinning as he noticed that no one was to be found in the village center. Odd. Where was Nami? Or the rest of the villagers? His worry about the silence increased as he traversed through the village until he came upon an orchid of tangerines and a small group of people. Even without his sight, he could understand that this was a solemn moment, and the last thing he wanted to do was interfere. He had no plans to do so until he spotted a head of red-head in the group and Usopp found his feet moving before his brain caught up with the action.

He moved through the crowd and grabbed Nami's wrist startling her and forcing her to meet his gaze Usopp watched, with a small sense of satisfaction, as her eyes widened in surprise and a touch of fear.

"W-What are you-?"

"You abandoned us," Usopp murmured, caring less about the murmurs from the crowd. "You stole our ship in the middle of that chaos." Usopp's grip tightened his grip on her wrist. "After what Luffy did for you? After freeing this village? You betray him? Us?"

"He didn't have to do anything." Nami snarled, ripping her arm out of his grip. "No one told him to come and play a hero."

Usopp's lips twisted into a confused frown at her words. "I...don't understand." He wanted to reach for her again but stilled his hand. It had been improper to touch a Guide in the manner that he did and he wouldn't repeat the behavior. "Didn't you want to come with us? Your village was free and it was being rebuilt. You have a home to return to if you want, Nami. No one was binding you to our crew."

His words, much to Usopp's, surprise, caused two lone tears to slide down Nami's cheeks. And Usopp wondered, not for the second time, what he had done wrong.

"Nami-"

"It felt like I was abandoning it all over again," Nami murmured, turning her eyes down, her cheeks flushing with shame at the admission. "Why do I get to sail off into the sunset when so many never can? I accepted Luffy's proposal of becoming his navigator. I had no intention of coming home until I achieved my dream of drawing a map of the entire world, but the more I thought about it, the more guilty I felt. Why should I achieve my dream when my home was so damaged and broken?"

"It's not broken," Usopp murmured, smiling in the face of Nami's sadness. He didn't need to be a Sentinel to sense the sadness that wrapped around Nami like a warm coat. "It just needs a little hammer and nails."

"Right." Nami gave him a long look as if agonizing about her next words. "I'm sorry. For stealing the ship."

"Ah." Usopp looked mildly uncomfortable at the return of the subject. "You owe an apology to Luffy more than you do me, Nami. But, for now, we can settle matters here and leave, but I do have a question."

"Yes?"

"Do you have a doctor in town?"

Nami raised an eyebrow, her reddish-brown eyes scanning Usopp up and down for obvious signs of an injury. "Yes. We do. Why?"

Usopp jerked a thumb in the direction of the docks. "Zoro is injured. I've managed to find some medical supplies on the ship, but it's only going to hold for so long. I'm sure he wants to get patched up and back to Luffy."

"O-Oh Of course." Nami turned on her heel and ran in the direction of what Usopp hoped was the local doctor. The moment she was out of sight, a worried frown appeared. He understood Nami's reasoning, but would Luffy? The Guide was kind, but an olive branch would be needed to be extended to ease this particular burn of betrayal and Usopp had a sick feeling that he would be the one to do it.

Not for the first time did Usopp think it better for him to be back on the Baratie and fighting Don Krieg.