A/N: I completely apologize for how fuckin' late this is! ; ;

I've been having a really hard time with my depression and stress because I will be moving to a new town hopefully within the next month or so. I know this story is taking forever and I truly appreciate every comment and kudo I get. They mean so much to mean and all the comments are so uplifting, they inspire me to keep writing this story. I thank you all so much!

Nami hummed sadly as she slowly cut cucumbers lengthwise in thin slices. She felt wrong being here in the galley. It was Sanji's domain and she felt like she was trespassing. Still, she had volunteered herself to make meals while Sanji was recovering.

Because who could recover so quickly from letting that happen to them?

"God, why is he so stupid?" Tears clung to her eyelashes. She tried to be angry at him but she couldn't. She was angry at herself for not doing more to stop him. She should have said something more, should have gotten up and pulled him to her. Anything to stop him from giving them his body.

"Nami?" A soft voice called from the doorway of the galley startled the redhead. She quickly blinked back her tears and wiped her eyes. She forced on a fake smile and turned towards the speaker.

"Hi sweetie." She cooed to the princess standing in the doorway. The look on the other girl's face concerned her. "Vivi, what's wrong?"

"I'm concerned about Sanji-san." Vivi replied softly. Using a set of crutches, she made her way into the kitchen. She neared Nami, eyes sad. "No one will tell me what happened to him but I know that something did. He's acting strangely and I think he needs a break."

"A break?" Her girlfriend's words confused Nami. She put the lid on the food she was making before turning to give Vivi her full attention. "What kind of break, Sweetheart?"

"There's a small island coming up soon." Vivi replied as she sat down on one of the dining chairs. "I strongly believe we need to stop there for at least a week."

Nami's eyes snapped open wide at these words. "Vivi, but what about your home?!"

A look of sorrow passed over the princess' features. "Yes, my home is in danger. But so is my friend. I don't know what Sanji-san is dealing with but whatever it is, it's hurt him deeply. He deserves better than that. He deserves to be taken care of and protected. So, I want to go to the island to let him recover from whatever is bothering him."

"I…" Nami paused, closing her eyes and remembering the sounds the blond had made during his session with the guards. It made her sick. "I completely understand, Viv. I'll make the boys head for the island."

"Thank you, darling."

~*~z~*~

How tears slowly slid down Sanji's pale cheek. His eyes were closed, blond eyelashes sticky from the tears already. He lay curled up in a nest of blankets, head resting on his captain's lap. He was barely awake, stress and emotional exhaustion stealing his energy. Still, he could feel gentle fingers card through his hair.

A soft blush painted his cheeks as he felt a blanket be tucked in around him. He felt lost, conflicted. The damage of his biological father's words still resonated in him and conflicted with the soft touches from his captain. He didn't understand why, but he felt safe lying beside the younger teen.

The blond didn't know what he was doing but he wiggled out of the tucked blanket. He rolled onto his belly and pressed his face against Luffy's hip, whimpering softly. His arms wrapped around his captain, trembling as he just laid there.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked, looking down at his cook curiously. He was concerned but it was difficult for Luffy to articulate that.

"I… I don't know," Sanji whispered honestly. He felt all jumbled up inside. He didn't know which feelings were right and which ones were wrong. He just wanted to sleep and not think about anything. He just wanted to sob his eyes out until the exhaustion dragged him down into the depths of sleep.

"Nami and Zoro tell me that it's alright to not feel happy all the time." Luffy offered as he stroked his fingers through the cook's hair. "That it's okay to feel lonely or sad or just not okay when you're upset."

"I feel like a burden, Luffy."

"That's silly, Sanji. Burdens don't cook or make people smile or give really good snuggles when their captain's lonely." Luffy said matter-of-factly. His heart hurt that Sanji was unhappy and he couldn't fix it. He was at a loss and wished he was smarter to deal with these kinds of matters.

"My back hurts and no matter how I lay nothing seems to help," Sanji whispered weakly, playing with a loose string on Luffy's shorts. "How am I supposed to be useful like this?"

"Then take a break!" Luffy offered quickly. Sanji was about to retort but Luffy spoke up too quickly. "Captain's orders. Sanji has to rest and be pampered for a whole week."

"Luffy." Sanji sighed softly, exasperated but Luffy shook his head.

"Captain's orders, Sanji." Luffy defiantly, crossing his arms to get his point across even though Sanji couldn't see him.

"What are you two idiots doing?" Zoro asked softly as he climbed down into the sleeping cabin. In one hand he held a soft ice pack and a small jar of medicinal cream. He raised an eyebrow at the two, walking over to them.

"Sanji's trying to defy Captain's Orders." Luffy pouted cutely.

"What was the order?"

"He's not allowed to be useful for one week." Luffy raised his nose, trying to look regal and in charge.

Zoro rolled his eyes as he sat down, leaning over and kissing Luffy's hairline. He was going to make a usual quip about the cook's lack of usefulness but stopped himself. He knew Sanji was mentally extremely fragile at the moment. Any ill-timed comment could push him over the edge of despair. He had known for some time now that the cook suffered from depression and was honestly impressed that it was so well hidden from the others. Judging by the crap Sanji had said earlier, Zoro finally understood why the other teen was so depressed most days. Smothering the self killed the spirit.

"Sounds reasonable," Zoro grunted instead, kneeling down beside Sanji. "Settle." His voice was soft, gentle. He pulled back the blanket and rucked Sanji's shirt out of his slacks. He grimaced when the cook flinched violently.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Sanji." The swordsman made his voice a bit gentler as he spoke the words. "Chopper gave me some pain meds for you."

Sanji was stiff, starting to tremble. He didn't understand why having his shirt untucked by someone else was so frightening. He whimpered softly, clutching at Luffy's vest. He hid his face against his captain's stomach, trying to calm himself. The tension didn't leave his body until he realized that Zoro wasn't taking off his pants. He felt ashamed and dirty for even thinking that his nakama might try to pull something while he was hurt. They weren't like that.

They weren't skeevy sleezes like him.

"You're safe." Zoro whispered softly as he scooped up a bit of the medicated numbing cream. He gently began to rub into Sanji's lower back. He smirked softly when a trembling mewl of relief escaped his rival. Chopper was a genius with his medicines. This cream seemed to be no different with how fast it was working on the cook.

As Zoro worked, Sanji's mind began to drift. He sniffled and snuggled his face against Luffy for comfort. He could feel his captain's, no, his boyfriend's fingers in his hair. Yes, that's right. He had said yes. They had offered him intimacy and companionship through the form of a relationship and he had accepted.

They were both his boyfriends now.

That was such an odd thing to realize. An odder thing was to realize that he didn't know how to be a boyfriend. Because before the incident with the marines, Sanji had been a virgin in many aspects. He had never had sex, had never even been in a relationship before. He was even terrible at masturbating. Was that even a thing? It just never felt right whenever he had touched himself. But what the marines had done had felt good and Zoro fingering him in the shower had felt extremely good.

God, what was wrong with him? Neither of those events had been supposed to feel pleasurable. The first one was a gangbang with consent under duress and the second had just been a friend cleaning out the filth from the first. God, he was such a gross freak! How could someone as pure as Luffy stand touching him?!

"All done, Sanji." Luffy cooed sweetly, strong fingers massaging at Sanji's shoulders. "Did Zoro do a good job? Does Sanji feel better?"

It took a moment for Luffy's words to register. Sanjie blinked slowly and nodded, hugging Luffy tighter. His back felt so much better, most of the ache was gone. But because of that, he was scared to move and hurt it again.

"It feels wonderful. Thank you both." He whispered softly, nuzzling Luffy's thin hip.

"Don't hesitate to ask for more if it starts hurting again," Zoro grunted softly, pulling Sanji's shirt down again.

"I'm tired and so is Sanji." Luffy said matter-of-factly as he ruffled Sanji's hair. "Let's take a nap, Sanji. Me and you!"

The suggestion didn't scare Sanji as much as he had expected it too. He had slept with Luffy in his hammock with him before. It had always been on nights where Zoro was hurt the worst, which made a lot more sense now.

"That sounds lovely, Luffy." Sanji shifted to get up but didn't get the chance. He blushed softly as Zoro gently scooped him, cradling him close. His blush grew deeper as Zoro pressed a tender kiss to his forehead before walking over to the hammocks.

Luffy smiled brightly and crawled into the hammock first. Sanji was then carefully laid beside him. The young captain immediately wrapped around the cook and snuggled him. Sanji couldn't help his eyes drifting shut as he wrapped an arm around his beloved captain.