The Red Line loomed as large as ever. It had been large when she was a child, but if anything time seemed to have made it taller. The exit point for Reverse Mountain thundered down above. An impassable wall of water, impossible to sail up even if she wanted to.

The Baratie. Zeff. They were all on the other side of that wall. Right out of reach.

She turned away.

No going back. She'd made her choice, and she was going to stick to it.

"What do you mean you never met them!" Smoker flung his arm towards the shoddy paint work on the beaming whale's forehead, "That's their Jolly Roger for crying out loud!"

The lighthouse keeper, Crocus, crossed his arms, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Captain Smoker," Tashigi muttered, "Are you sure that's the Straw Hat Jolly Roger…?"

Strauss wasn't so sure herself. There was definitely something in there that looked like that kid's straw hat, but nothing that remotely resembled a skull. Or was that what the pinwheel was supposed to be?

Either way, she could imagine Luffy drawing this. It had his cheerful but chaotic energy in it. A fresh coat of paint over ancient gashes and scars.

If anything, seeing that only strengthened her resolve.

"It ain't a Jolly Roger!" Crocus huffed, "Can't a man give his whale a new paint job once in a while?" He jerked his thumb towards the whale, "Look how happy it makes him."

Laboon bellowed enthusiastically.

No, they'd definitely passed through here. She just knew it. Glancing back towards Smoker's quickly reddening face, she clenched her fists. Part of her didn't want him to be the one calling the shots. Marines and Pirates never mixed well. Once the Straw Hats were found, what was he going to do to them?

On the other hand, what choice did she have?

"Look," Strauss raised her hands, "I know you're not going to tell us where they've gone, but can I just ask one quick thing?"

"I'm not saying-"

"Is their cook alright? You know the one I mean, right? Sanji? Blond hair over left eye? Spiral eyebrows and impeccable fashion sense?" She was babbling. She knew that. But the words just wouldn't stop pouring out.

Please… please...

Crocus froze, eyes narrowing under bushy eyebrows, "What's your relation to him?"

"We're friends." Her voice caught in her throat, "Good...friends. Just tell me if he's doing alright. I beg you. That's all I ask."

Please be happy…

Nobody said a word. Even Laboon realised that this wasn't a time to butt in.

Strauss' heart sank. If there was no answer, that could only mean one thing.

"I'm sorry, Strauss," Tashigi's hand patted her shoulder, voice equally twinged with regret.

"Why're you going after them?"

"Wha...?" The question took her by surprise, "Because I want to ask them something."

"Ask them what?"

"If…" For some reason, she found herself turning back towards Laboon, back towards the scars masked by all that paint. All those scars. How deep did they run? "If…"

"When they left here, they were sailing towards Whiskey Peak. If you set your Log you'll be there in no time."

The three others sat and blinked for a moment, the words not quite sinking in.

Eventually, a grin split over Smoker's face, "Great. Tashigi, ready the men. Aim to depart in 5."

"Huh? Okay then…?"

Strauss lingered behind, bowing deeply in front of the old man, "Thank you… Thank you so much…"

"If you're as good of a friend as you say you are, Miss, I hope you're going to do something about those Marines."

Strauss didn't react to the whisper, too low for the others to hear. Instead, she raised her head, eyes gleaming, "Trust me. I'm not planning on staying with them for long."

~0O0~0O0~0O0~

Strauss gave two firm raps on the door, "Manager Zeff? You asked for me."

"Oh for crying out loud Strauss, I've already told you that you don't need to knock! Come in already."

She winced, but turned the handle all the same, "Sorry Manager. I forgot."

"And quit the 'Manager' business." He sighed, waving a hand, "But forget all that. I didn't ask you to come up here only to give you an earful."

Now Strauss was in the room, she realised that Zeff was not alone. A young man stood before him, tall and lean, and a large suitcase fit to burst at his feet. Turning, he gave a small smile.

She dipped her head back.

"This," Zeff proclaimed, gesturing to the man, "is Dienen. Our new waiter."

"Pleasure to meet you," Dienen smiled, holding out a hand, "Please, call me Dien."

Taking it, Strauss gave it a firm shake. "Likewise."

"Dien, I'd like to introduce you to Strauss. She is one of the best wait staff we've ever had, so if you need anything, I suggest you go to her."

One of the best huh? Strauss smiled. At least that meant that she wasn't going to get laid off any time soon.

She raised an eyebrow at Zeff, "I take it you want me to show him the ropes?"

"Great!" Clapping his hands, Zeff shot to his feet, "Then I don't need to explain anything, do I? He's got an impressive repertoire, so you just need to show him round and introduce him to the chefs."

"Yes sir." She nodded, holding the door open to leave.

"Oh," he chipped in just before the door shut, "and tell the damn eggplant to get his ass back into the kitchen. He's gotten rusty enough as it is."

Right. She'd forgotten that the addition of a new staff member meant that Sanji would get back to cooking. She let out a sigh that she couldn't quite identify. She should be happy. With Sanji off the floor, there would be no more awkward apologies to couples, and no more reconcilliary desserts.

It would be great, wouldn't it?

No matter. Sanji was probably aching to get back to cooking. She could tell from how much he glared at imperfections in the other chef's dishes. Besides, it wasn't as if she would be alone on the floor. Dien seemed pleasant enough to talk to. Chances were she wouldn't notice his absence at all.

Sanji's foot tapped a frantic beat against the floorboards. Damn that Geezer. It was a Wednesday! A day off! He knew that the Shitty Geezer didn't like him and Strauss training together for some reason, but that didn't mean that he could summon Strauss out of nowhere. It left him with nothing to do.

The supply crew had already left, so he couldn't tag along with them like he normally did. He could do some training… but without Strauss he didn't think he'd have the motivation to keep going. An involuntary shudder ran through him at the thought. For someone so thin, he could be really intimidating sometimes.

Right then. He pushed himself off the wall, snuffing his cigarette out on the metal tabletop. This wasn't the time to mope around. He hadn't really had the kitchen to himself recently. It'd be a good opportunity to make sure his skills were adequately honed. Perhaps he'd do some experimenting. Didn't Patty buy some weird spices a while back…?

As he descended the stairs, he caught sight of a swish of long pale grey hair. Sanji grinned. It mustn't have been anything bad if Strauss was back so soon. Now they could hang out together! "Oi Strauss! What did the shitty geezer wa-"

"This is the wine storage through here."

"I see. Which system are the bottles stored in? Name, type, or date."

He faltered. He didn't recognise that voice. Who was that. Skipping the last three steps, he whipped around the corner.

"Hm?" Strauss turned at the sound, "Oh, hey Sanji. I was wondering where you were." Gesturing back to the slim black haired man behind, "This is Dienen, the new waiter. Dien, this is Sanji our sous-chef."

Oooh! Now he remembered. Zeff had mentioned that there would be an interview today. He'd just assumed that it would be another chef.

Sanji grinned. He thought it was an intruder or something. This was okay then. "Well Twinkle Toes-" he nudged his shoulder- "You'd better take good care of the ladies while I'm off the floor, ok?"

Was it just him, or did Strauss stifle a groan? "Sure thing Pretty Boy…"

"You two are really close." Dien whistled, "You two must've worked together for a long time, huh."

A long time?

Sanji and Strauss exchanged puzzled faces. How long had it been exactly since Strauss had joined?

"Three months?"

Strauss hummed, "I think it's only been one and a half."

"One and a half?!"

He thought Strauss'd been here longer than that. A lot longer. He was too comfortable to be around. But Strauss was no longer the lean malnourished person he'd once known. Now that he actually took the time to look, Strauss' arms and legs were beginning to flesh themselves out a little more, and his body already starting to go back to being toned rather than thin. Sanji thought that there might actually be some curves under that shirt now, but dismissed it as being a trick of the light.

Dienen whistled, impressed, "You must have some bond with each other then."

Sanji thought so at least. He liked Strauss. He considered his roommate as an equal. No one else on this boat knew what it was like to nearly starve. They didn't know the value of respect like Strauss did. If he could pick anyone on the Baratie to have his back during a fight (apart from the Shitty Geezer, who frankly shouldn't be fighting anyway), his answer would be Strauss without a second thought.

"Calling it a 'bond' might be a bit strong." Strauss replied before Sanji could say a word. "We are coworkers. Nothing more."

Something inside Sanji deflated at that. He had thought that Strauss would feel the same. They'd had fun eating their evening meals together, and had even spend many nights laughing under blanket piles and cushions.

If Dienen noticed Sanji's expression, he didn't react at all, "Ah, I see. My mistake. I could've sworn that you two were… well never mind."

Sanji didn't like where that sentence was going. Not in the slightest. His affection was reserved for the ladies and the ladies ONLY. In that case, they definitely did not have that sort of bond. He agreed with Strauss on that one.

Best to make a swift exit.

"You guys'd better get going." He raised a hand, "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen. I'll save you something."

Strauss rolled his eyes, "You mean we're going to be your taste testers, right?"

"And?" Crossing his arms, Sanji raised an eyebrow, "Is there a problem with that?"

He snorted, "Not really. As long as it's edible, and not too rich, I'm happy."

"Of course it'll be edible, remember who you're talking to. Should be done by the time you've done with the tour, so drop on by."

"Thanks!" Strauss waved a hand, "See you."

Dienen gave a slight bow, "It was good to meet you, Sanji."

"Good to meet you too…" Sanji trailed off as they vanished into the storage room. Something didn't feel right. He was worried, but didn't have any idea why. It wasn't as if Strauss was going to stop hanging out with him just because there was a new waiter. This guy was way older than them. But they would be spending a lot of time with each other…

Coworkers, and nothing more.

He shook his head. Cook something. Anything. Maybe a soup or a puree. For some reason, he had a very strong urge to smash something into a pulp.

"Do you like the new guy?"

Strauss cocked her head."You mean Dien? He's decent enough I guess. It's hard to tell without actually seeing him work. I can't exactly judge before then."

"No, not like that." Sanji set down his empty soup bowl on one of the flatter sections of the roof, "I meant as a person, do you like him?"

"How would I know?" She stifled a yawn with her hand. It had been a long day, and all she was looking forward to was settling down into her hammock. Not being interrogated. "I've barely met the guy!"

"But what were your first impressions though?"

Geez… he was being really pushy tonight. "Why do you even want to know?"

"I just… I just…" He sighed, holding his head in his hands, "Look, don't laugh at me, okay?"

Well this was getting better and better. She definitely was not awake enough for this. "Okay. I won't laugh."

"You promise?"

"I won't!"

"Since it'll be really shitty if you do."

"I already told you that I won't, so just tell me already!"

Sanji let out a long sigh, "Fine… It's just that…" He trailed off, not quite finding the words to say.

She waited. Words were tricksy things after all. They never went where you wanted them. Trying to shove them into place never worked, that she knew all to well. And if Sanji wanted to tell her something, it must be important.

Her eyelids were drooping a little, an after effect from the catch up training she'd done. But the sharp night breeze was enough to keep her (mostly) conscious.

"Before… During the tour with the newbie… You said...uh… You said that we were just coworkers."

"Yeah?" Was he upset that she didn't call him her senior or something? She thought she made that quite obvious though.

"...Not friends?"

She blinked, more than a little bit confused. Friends? Really?

"It's just… Well I thought that we were quite close. We hang out a lot...and train together and everything… So I figured that it didn't need to be said. But I guess it was dumb of me not to consider your feelings…"

"Hold it."

Sanji froze, finally glancing up to meet her eyes, "...What?"

"Look." She sighed, pinching her nose. This was not a conversation she wanted to have half asleep in the middle of the night. Or ever for that matter. "It's not your fault. I didn't mean to react like that. I...I was just taken by surprise."

"Sorry."

"Oi." Reaching over, she flicked his shoulder. "I just said that it wasn't your fault. So don't apologise."

"So-"

"And don't say sorry for being sorry."

"...Okay."

Strauss pursed her lips. Now she was the one having difficulty figuring out what to say. Finally, she groaned, "Right, so there's no way that this can come out being anything other than completely pathetic, so hear me out."

"Hey," he nudged her, "You said you wouldn't laugh at me, so I won't laugh at you."

"Okay… So…" It hurt. Her throat was constricting in on itself from the effort of trying to say it. Who knew being embarrassed hurt so much. "I've been friend-ly, I've got on well with other people just fine. But I've… never really had anyone I could call… a friend."

She winced just saying it. Agh! It hurt even more when it was out in the open.

Sanji slumped over.

Her face flushed with an equal mix of rage and embarrassment, "I thought you weren't going to laugh!"

"Oh thank god."

She raised an eyebrow, "Huh?" Was he trying to be mean or something?

"It's just… uh…" He chuckled weakly, drumming fingers against his chin, "Well I thought it was because you didn't like me or something, or you found me annoying. So maybe you were sick of my guts."

Oh she was. He had no idea how nauseating he could be when he sensed a female within a ten mile radius. But that was only a passing thing, and she was afraid to say that she was actually getting used to it.

"And, um, I thought I was the only one. Who never had friends, I mean."

Strauss blinked at Sanji.

Sanji blinked at Strauss.

"Pffffffffffft!"

And then they were both roaring with laughter, having to clutch onto each other to stop themselves from plunging into the sea.

"We are so pathetic!"

"I know!"

"I mean, what are the odds huh?"

"Pretty shitty!"

"Yeah!"

Eventually the giggles ceased. They had to, since at this point their chests were aching. Sighing contently, Strauss collapsed back onto the tiles. The laughter had woken her up completely. She couldn't fall asleep if she tried.

"Well. We both broke our promises about not laughing."

"Yup." She smiled, "Not that either of us were going to keep that promise."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

They didn't need a promise or a vow. They each knew what the other had decided, merely from the brush of their shoulders as they stared at the starless sky.

A friend huh? It was nice, knowing that she had someone to watch her back. But then again, Sanji had done that anyway. Maybe they were friends before, but hadn't quite figured that out. Either way, Strauss just hoped she could stay long enough for it to last.

But wait. Wasn't she forgetting something?

Right. "So why were you asking me about Dien?"

"That?" hummed Sanji. "I don't actually know. I guess I was just put off by the whole 'relationship' thing he was about to throw at us."

There went her good mood. "You noticed that too huh?" They winced at each other. Grimacing, she propped herself up onto her elbows ,"Just for the record, I, uh, don't see you as, well, anything like that."

"No. No!" He bolted upright, waving his hands frantically, "Same here! I, uh, don't swing that way… y'know?"

Strange. She didn't think that Sanji of all people would prefer men. Especially considering his attitude towards women…

Oh well. There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for it all. And she wasn't about to start up yet another deep and meaningful topic tonight. This had already gone further than she'd expected.

"So…" He was still staring worriedly at her, "We're good?"

She shrugged, "Yeah. We're good."

"...That means you're doing the dishes, right?"

"Oh come on! I did them yesterday!"

"And I'm now officially your sous-chef, which means that I'm your senior for real this time. So go do the dishes!"

"...Extra training for you tomorrow."

"Bring it."

"No Sanji today either, dear?"

"Not today ma'am," Strauss gritted her teeth, setting the dish down in front of her. Hopefully the couple she was serving didn't notice her twitching eyebrow. Since boy was it twitching. How often had she been asked about Sanji since the WEEK he wasn't there? Too often. That's what.

She hadn't actually told the idiot yet. He'd obviously blow it all out of proportion and use it to stoke his ego. Something that she definitely did not want getting any larger than it already was.

The elderly woman frowned, "Do you know when he will be back?"

Schooling her features into something that (hopefully) resembled a peaceful smile, Strauss regurgitated the same answer that she'd told all the others who had asked, "It depends on the status of our new member of staff. Until then, Sanji will be back in the kitchen preparing meals."

"A pity," the woman sighed, "You two were always so much fun to watch."

They all said that too! What exactly did that mean!?

"What're you talking about?" Her husband waggled his fork at her, "It's much more peaceful without him if you ask me. None of that pathetic womanising. How you put up with that stuff, Miss, is beyond me."

Strauss merely smiled and bowed, wishing nothing more than to move on to another table.

The tap on her shoulder made her flinch. "Strauss?"

Turning, she came face to face with Dien. He tilted his head minutely to the side.

She took the escape. "If you would excuse me; sir, ma'am. It appears that I am needed."

"Oh of course!" They waved her away, "It's our fault for taking up so much of your time!"

"My apologies." Dien dipped politely, "I do hope you enjoy your meal."

As soon as they were out of view, Strauss slumped back against the wall, "This is getting ridiculous."

"You're telling me," Dien sweated, "You think I enjoy people talking about how much they want me to get fired?"

Ouch. She patted his back, "Don't take it personally. He's just been around for a long time. People've grown attached to him." Although she hadn't expected just how popular he was. But customers came to see the fighting chefs, she figured, so maybe they saw his behaviour as a performance. It wasn't entertaining in the slightest on the receiving end though. Thank goodness she'd never actually been there herself. Otherwise he would've gotten a delightful pair of black eyes.

Bang!

They sat up. That sounded like it came from the front door.

A raid.

Strauss shot to her feet, grimacing, "I thought it'd been a while."

"A while for what? Oi! Strauss!"

She ignored him, already vaulting over the banister and landing lightly on the dining room floor.

The pirate captain smirked at her, "Good. We finally get some service. Go be a good girl and bring out everything in your cash register."

She rolled her eyes. Why were they always so rude. Did they honestly think that just because listening to customers was in her job description that she'd blindly obey anyone who walked in? "Excuse me sir," Strauss flexed her fingers, "but I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

Apparently they found that amusing, judging by the number of smirks the pirates were giving her.

"Strauss…"

Good. Dien was here. At least now she had some back up.

"Don't aggravate them. It'll be bad if they get angry."

She froze. Hang on a minute. "Diener, can you fight?"

"Don't be ridiculous, a waiter doesn't fight."

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, getting louder and louder with every passing second. It was fine. She could deal with this. Yeah. Of course she could. She'd fought people before.

"Dien. Step back. Go to the kitchen and tell them what's going on."

She could handle these guys herself for the time being. She must.

"C'mon now." Damn. She'd taken too long. Now a gun was being waved around. "What's the hold up? Just gi' us the money already."

Guns were always problematic. Sword slashes she could predict. Bullet trajectories, she couldn't. The customers who were once eagerly leaning forward for the fight shied back. Not that she could really blame them.

Part of her wanted to agree with Dienen. It would be so much easier to just let them take the cash and run. But she couldn't. The Baratie had a reputation to uphold.

Which meant that she had a job to do.

Flipping onto her hands, Strauss slammed her foot into the base of the captain's jaw. This was no time to exchange witty quips for the customers' entertainment. There was a fine line between amusing and dangerous, and it was already wavering quickly. Feeling the cold metal beneath her fingers, she snatched up the gun and tossed it into the sea. One problem down. So many more to go.

Faster.

She didn't wait to see the effect of her attack. Wrapping her legs around the nearest pirate, she flipped herself upright and used him as a support to swing her legs outwards.

Faster!

He tried to grab her, but she latched onto him first. Grunting, she twisted his arm round until she heard a familiar crack. As he bellowed in pain, she kicked him towards his companions and sent them flying like many misshaped bowling pins.

FAST-!

Bang!

Heat spread through her lower chest, blazing hot and freezing cold simultaneously. Her body screamed. Gritting her teeth, she hoisted herself off the ground (when had she fallen?) and pressed onwards.

"Don't panic," she hissed under her breath, "Just because you've been shot, Strauss, it doesn't mean that you're beat. You can do this."

Ignore the needles that were tingling through her torso. Ignore how much effort it took to suck in a breath of air. Ignore how her shirt was starting to be glued to her skin by something too thick to be water.

Ignore it all.

Multiple pairs of eyes bore into her back. Worried eyes. Excited eyes. But mostly expectant eyes. They wanted to know that they were going to be safe. How scared would they be if they knew that the person protecting them was injured?

They needed a hero to rely on.

She turned back to the pirates, silently begging that the one who'd shot her would be blatantly obvious.

One of the less scraggly members yelped, gun trembling in his hand. A youth, who obviously wasn't used to firing one just yet. She took a step forwards. He flinched.

So it was him.

"If you may." She held out her hand, staggering slightly to the side because of... IGNORE IT!

The weapon clattered to the ground. Strauss sighed. The least he could do was hand it to her. It didn't hurt as she bent over. Not in the slightest. She didn't want to scream her lungs out. No. It was fine. No need to panic. But it was agony… IGNORE IT DAMMIT!

Gun in her hand, she straightened. Cocking her head, she wrapped her hand around the unfamiliar thing. It was still warm, heated by the latest shot it had fired. How disgusting.

"Leave, and maybe I won't shoot."

The pirates whimpered.

She'd never held a gun, let alone fired one. And she wasn't planning to actually shoot someone obviously. But these idiots didn't need to know that, did they.

She gestured the gun barrel once more. "Go on. Even my patience has a limit, and it is being strained as we speak."

As one they sprinted for the door, pushing past each other in an effort to escape. Strauss did nothing, arm still raised to the door. She didn't let it tremble, despite how much it desperately wanted to. There were people watching. They weren't allowed to notice.

Her performance wasn't over yet.

It was only after their ship was a dot on the horizon that she let her arm hang limp by her side. Cool metal brushed against her hip. She cocked her head. Right, the gun. Without a second thought, she flicked it into the sea. She didn't want anything to do with that thing.

No one had spoken yet. The hush still hung over the restaurant, waiting for the confirmation that it was over.

Rolling her shoulders, Strauss smiled. Hand over her heart, she dipped into a bow, "Please excuse the uproar. I hope you enjoy your meal."

"YAHOOOOOOO!"

Guests bounced up from their seats, joining the others in rounds of boisterous applause, whoops, and whistles. They were happy. No one had realised the truth, just assuming that the blood on her shirt wasn't her own. Just as she'd planned.

She kept smiling, waving away the praise and compliments. "Please, if you don't mind I would very much like to go and clean myself up a little."

With choruses of 'Of course', 'Take your time', and 'Yeah, you stink', she made her way towards the staircase. In her path Dienen remained in the exact position he had been since the very beginning, slack jawed and not even bothering to hide it.

He knew. She could tell by how his eyes were trained in horror on that red patch on her stomach. "Can you handle things down here," she murmured while she passed him.

He nodded, struck too dumb to say a word.

"Thanks."

It took both an eternity and a few seconds to climb just one set of stairs. Gawking, Strauss groaned up at the second flight. She wasn't sure she could make it up those as well. But she had to. She had to work. She couldn't get fired now.

"Strauss! Finally!"

Was that Sanji? It sounded like him, but she couldn't actually make him out. In fact, she couldn't make out anything right now. Everything was blurring together into a mass of goey colour.

"We were waiting for you, since you haven't sent in any new orders or collected the old ones… Hang on, is that...is that blood?!"

And now the floor was swimming beneath her feet. Strauss grimaced. She wasn't going to make it up those stairs, was she.

"Is that...YOUR BLOOD! Shit shit shit shit... ZEFF! GET OUT HERE! YEAH IT'S IMPORTANT!"

"Sanji?"

"Strauss! Can you hear me? Never mind, stay with me Strauss, you hear!?"

"You'd better fucking catch me."

And that was when her legs finally gave out.

A/N

So I've had people messaging me saying that they're so glad that Strauss has figured it out. You all are giving her way too much credit... Do you think she'd actually notice? It's a little sad actually.

Anywho, hope you like the chapter! I'm getting into the flow of this now, but I'm not promising regular updates. Sorry. It's what I get for having multiple stories (and possibly planning something original that is obviously never going to be written but oh well). But I'm invested now, so I'm definitely not going to give it up anytime soon.

Thanks for all your comments and reviews! I'm genuinely not kidding when I say that a single positive comment makes my entire day so much better. You guys are awesome, and I hope you know that.

Stay safe and happy!