OKAY THERE WAS A CURSE ON THIS CHAPTER I SWEAR. I have this horrid case of Writer's Block... TT On both stories. And then Horizons got to a hundred and I was all W00T WRITING FRENZY. 8DDD

… And then Tamari reminded me that this story existed and I paused mid chapter to finish this. It was just sitting there, half complete, my mind in some weird slump. Sorry about that, and thanks to Tamari for getting my ass back in gear (again)! xD

In other news: POKEMOOOOOON~

I just got a new pokémon game, and I'm already reserving my own copy of Pokémon White! :DDD NEW GENERATION W00T.

Anyway, all of those lovely comments made me blush so hard~! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA. We're almost to a hundred reviews! A hundred! You guys wanna make it past the ultimate checkmark with me...? :D

And Tamari? Was there ZoNa? … Maybe. :DDDDD Hah, I wish... I suck at writing romance. I never even bothered to try. But if there was any hints of ZoNa... Yay me? Lawlz, sorry. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for ZoNa. So while I didn't intentionally put any hints in there, I didn't go out of my way to ensure that it never existed. This, however, is a story that came with the promise of no romance. So no romance shall there be. D:

… I'll try to tone it down, but it's really meant as pure nakamaship. Plus, Nami still needs some development for her actions further in the story, and Usopp and Luffy are a bit busy at the moment. :x Zoro's the only one not involved along with Nami, sorry.

I don't own One Piece or Aladdin~! Ding!

PS: Oh yeah, and Zoro's rant about nakama and samurai is most likely complete bull. Don't quote me on it, please. :D

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"There's no food here! This foraging stuff is for the..."

~Iago

Day 2

Sanji carefully watched Zeff carve into the cactus, mentally taking notes. First he cut off the top- apparently working from the top to the bottom. It wasn't luck that Zeff happened to grab his remaining kitchen knife. It was knowledge.

Idly Sanji wondered how many times the old geezer had visited the desert before said man grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him in the meager shade of the cactus.

"Here." Zeff handed Sanji a small piece of odd, pulpy substance. Sanji made a face.

"What is that?"

"Water." Zeff held up his own piece. "Chew. Don't swallow." Sanji held his piece up, smelling it.

"Why no-?" Without a word the cactus piece was suddenly shoved in his open mouth.

"Don't. Swallow. It's poison." Sanji choked on the pulp in horror. Zeff rolled his eyes. "Only the pulp, brat. The water isn't too much better, but it will do." Sanji carefully chewed the soft pulp, noting the odd, slimy water crawling down his throat.

When the pulp was no more than dry food he spat it out. Zeff did the same with his own pulp then began walking away. Sanji looked up from his shady spot.

"Where are you going?" He demanded. Zeff motioned for him to follow.

"We need to keep walking, dumbass. There's not a town for miles around. We'll die of starvation soon, after all."

"If you die, I get to eat you." Was all Sanji said in reply. Zeff chuckled slightly.

"Then I guess I'd get to eat you. Too bad you wouldn't make much of a snack." Sanji didn't reply, instead turning up his nose and walking away.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Day 4

"Old man..." Zeff paused in his walking and looked back to see Sanji staggering, obviously exhausted.

"Hn?"

"... I'm tired..." Sanji sat down, breathing heavily. "And thirsty..."

"And hungry, I suppose?" Sanji looked up to see Zeff looming over him. "We both are kid. The only difference between you and me is the fact that you have two legs, a young body, and a lot less need for food and water than my larger self." Sanji didn't know where to look then, instead standing quietly and beginning to walk again. He walked a few steps and stopped, looking back and glaring at Zeff.

"I'm still going to live longer than you, shitty old geezer! I'm going to get out of this desert no matter what!" Zeff nodded tersely and Sanji stormed away. His scowl settled into an approving smirk as he watched Sanji struggle over the dunes, not letting his exhaustion show.

"That's the spirit, eggplant." He murmured quietly. "That's what'll get you All Blue."

He didn't pay any attention to the shaking of his own stump of a leg, even as it dripped fresh blood down the plank.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Day 15

Zeff lay sleeping in the shade of the dune that night, Sanji watching for travelers. Well, at least he was supposed to be. Instead he had nicked the kitchen knife and ran off to a nearby cactus that the old man had somehow missed (probably because it looked somewhat different than the other cacti they used for water), carving a piece of pulp for himself.

"Shitty old geezer. I can survive without his help." Sanji grumbled under his breath as he hacked away at the cactus. "See if I need him." Sanji pulled out the pulp and stuck it in his mouth, chewing. When the last of the moisture was down his throat, he spat it out and began to go back to camp.

Only to stumble when the world tilted. He barely caught himself, breathing heavily. What was that? One step on the ocean and he was-

Wait. Sanji slowly turned around and stared.

The ocean! Sanji was suddenly standing on the beach again, the ocean in front of him and the horrible desert far behind. There was a ship there, the crew all smiling and waving at him, yelling for him to join them.

Sanji was just about to run forward when a plank struck his head from behind, sending his world into darkness.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Day 17

Sanji groaned as a faint light penetrated his eyelids, forcing him to wake up. He was faintly aware of a bobbing motion, almost like he was...

… Being carried?

"Gah?"

"Tch. You're finally awake." Sanji was suddenly plopped back onto the sand, Zeff standing and scowling over him. Sanji held a hand to his head.

"What... What happened?" Zeff scowled even fiercer, pointing at him accusingly.

"You ate a damned Mescal Cactus, you stupid kid. Those things are poison." Sanji gaped at Zeff for all of ten seconds before glaring right back.

"You didn't tell me that!"

"I didn't think you were stupid enough to sneak off in the middle of the night with my knife! You don't touch another chef's knife, fool!"

"You should have let me go then! I was happy there!" Sanji began sniffling. "There was the captain and the chefs and they were all happy and they had food..." A few tears trickled down Sanji's face. "And some of it was in the garbage, because I said it was trash and that no one should eat it. But... But..." Zeff watched him for a minute before turning away.

"We need to keep on moving. There's likely not a town for days. We'll die soon without food or water." Sanji didn't say anything, but picked himself up and tottered after Zeff.

"... And that really was a stupid thing to do, damned kid."

"SHUT UP! You shitty old geezer!"

Clunk!

"OW! Damn it, how does that hurt even worse than a real leg?"

"You trying to fight with me, eggplant?"

Chomp!

"STUPID KID! GET OFF MY LEG!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Day 27

Sanji slowly plodded forward, vision hazy.

"Stupid... I'll..." Sanji glanced behind him to see Zeff limping, his leg bleeding again. The both of them now looked akin to skeletons, having not eaten in weeks. Once Sanji tried to eat the pulp from the cactus and ended up puking most of his body fluids. They'd spent the rest of the afternoon forcing more water down his throat after that.

Sanji took three more steps and stopped dead, eyes wide.

"Eggplant?"

"T-Town..." Zeff peered ahead uneasily. He didn't see- "We're in town! Old geezer, we've been in a town all along! Ha HA!" Sanji twirled on the spot, arms spread wide. He began running in small zig zags, grabbing invisible things and shoving them into his mouth.

"Look! They have bread here!"

"Hey, a sweets vendor!" But the worst part was when Sanji took one look at a nearby cactus, gaping and dropping his 'wares'.

"Geezer... A whole pool of water! For drinking!" Sanji raced forward, fully prepared to dive in, making Zeff swear and lurch forward.

"Eggplant, don't!" Sanji dived.

"AAUGH!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Stupid eggplant," Zeff grumbled under his breath as he removed one of the thorns from Sanji's back. "Some things are too good to be true."

Sanji only whimpered as he pulled another thorn from his arm.

After Sanji no longer looked like a porcupine, the two found a cactus and decided to rest for the night. Sanji stared quietly into the sky before hesitating.

"Hey, old guy..." Zeff only 'hn'ed. "What are you going to do with only one leg?" Zeff followed his gaze to the stars, contemplating.

"... I can't be a pirate anymore," He finally said. "I don't want to, at least." Sanji blinked.

"Why? You still kick hard," He said, absentmindedly rubbing his head. "And I've heard stories of pirates with only one leg." Zeff leaned back, closing his eyes.

"There's a lot more to a pirate than his leg, brat. There's his crew, his... Ah, there was a word for it somewhere in the east. I think it was called... nakama."

"Nakama?" Sanji asked, tilting his head. "What's that?"

"It's a bond between people that goes further than friends, like family, but deeper than that," Zeff explained. "I had nakama on that ship, all of them." He sighed wearily. "I don't want to be a pirate without them. They were all... such good people..." Sanji didn't know what to say to the mournful look Zeff shot at the stars.

"... How did you lose your leg?"

"I told you, it got caught on an anchor." Sanji stared at Zeff in disbelief.

"But if the ship was already sunk..."

"I was overboard before the wave came, dumbass."

"Why?"

"..." Zeff stared hard at Sanji, then shook his head. "None of your business, eggplant." Sanji glared back.

"It's just a simple question, shitty geezer! That just makes me want to know!" Zeff whapped the back of his head.

"Well you aren't going to know, so shut your trap! Go to sleep, we'll die if we don't get to a town soon." Zeff rolled over then, signaling the conversation was over. Sanji rubbed the back of his head, scowling at the man's back.

"Stupid old man. I won't die. Not for at least eighty years."

"Then I'll live for a hundred more." Sanji immediately shushed himself and rolled onto the sand, eventually falling asleep.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Day 43

Sanji stretched his arms to the sky, yawning as he awoke. The familiar pangs of hunger assaulted him, but he was far too familiar with them by now to let them stop him. He groaned and shifted, sitting up to look at the still sleeping figure of Zeff.

"Old guy, let's go."

Silence.

"... Old geezer?"

Not even a grunt.

"Zeff!" Finally, Zeff shifted and turned to glare at Sanji.

"The hell do you want, eggplant?" Sanji glared back, hiding his relief.

"Why do you call me that anyway? Stupid old man!"

"Dumbassed kid. I'll call you whatever the hell I want." Zeff rolled himself into sitting up, gingerly putting weight on the plank. He hissed, blood dripping down the side of the red wood, staining it a darker shade. Sanji hesitated as he looked at the plank.

"Shouldn't... .shouldn't that have been better by now?" He asked meekly. It was obvious it caused the man excruciating pain, but he carefully balanced on his leg and shrugged.

"It'll be fine." Sanji only eyed the blood again. Zeff snorted. "You worried about me, eggplant?"

"N-No! Stupid geezer! Like I'd worry about you!" Sanji retorted, turning away. "I'm just making sure you can keep up with me!" With that he stormed in the direction of the sun, not looking back.

Had he, he might have noticed Zeff's clenched fists as he hobbled over the dunes, or the way the bleeding never quite stopped.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sanji walked along under the sun, unnerved by the old man's silence. Was he okay? His leg had been bleeding for a while, leaving a trail of red in the sands behind them. A morbidly useful way of making sure they hadn't doubled back. Sanji glanced back for the first time in hours, and nearly felt his heart stop.

Zeff wasn't there.

"... Old man?" Sanji called hesitantly. No reply. "Old man!" Sanji immediately turned a one-eighty, racing back the way he came. "H-Hey! Where are you?"

It was sometime later that Sanji found Zeff, unconscious. Sanji's heart leapt to his throat and he raced forward, shaking the man's shoulder.

"Geezer!" He yelled in the man's year. "Wake up!" Zeff didn't stir, and when Sanji found it in him to roll him over he looked pale, weak from the hunger and thirst and loss of blood.

Rather like a skeleton.

"Geezer!" Sanji shoved Zeff's shoulder again, eyes wide. "Hey, don't do that! You said you'd live a hundred years longer than me, you old shit bag!" Sanji nearly cried when Zeff stirred, looking up with bleary eyes.

"... Eggplant?" He asked wearily. "The hell are you doing here?" Sanji glared back.

"You fell behind, dumbass! Stupid old man, can't you keep up?" Zeff chuckled slightly before it turned into hoarse coughing. Sanji hesitated.

"What... what's wrong with you?" Zeff grunted.

"It's the leg." Sanji paused, then crawled over to Zeff's leg, pulling back the pant leg over the wood.

And very nearly fainted on the spot.

Zeff's remaining piece of leg was anything but healthy flesh. It was more of black, green, and red lumps of dead and dying flesh all lumped together in the vague form of a leg, the wood digging in and even splintering into the amputation point.

It was a miracle the old man had been able to get this far.

"W-What the hell? What happened to it?" Zeff didn't even bother glancing down.

"I told you..." He wheezed. "It got caught on an anchor chain." Sanji shook his head, looking away from the leg.

"An anchor doesn't do that!" He yelled at Zeff. "What were you doing in the water in the first place? Everyone else was on the ship except for..." Sanji drew in a sharp breath, looking at Zeff with wide eyes. "... Except for me, because it was too risky to get me in a storm but..." Tears gathered in the corner of Sanji's eyes. "Why? Why would you..."

"Save some brat like you?" Zeff mumbled. "Because... We share the same dream?" Sanji stared at him.

"All... Blue...?" He asked. Zeff smirked slightly.

"I sailed nearly the entire world," He began rambling. "I saw that there was a possibility of such a sea existing. One that has all the fish of the entire world in a single location. But... I don't want to be a pirate without my crew." Zeff muttered. "Even if they didn't believe in All Blue, they were still my nakama..." Zeff suddenly dissolved into another coughing fit, much more violent than the first.

Sanji feared the worst.

"H-Hey! You can't leave me here!" He cried, shaking Zeff again. "Don't die!"

"... You know, there are probably hundreds of people who die like this..." Zeff murmured after he stopped coughing. "Struggling in the desert for weeks, eventually dying from dehydration or starvation..." Sanji silently listened, considering it as well. "I've been to deserts before, to jungles and frigid seas... and I thought that a restaurant in the middle of one of them would be nice." Sanji nodded eagerly.

"You could make one in the middle of the desert! And I'll help too!" Zeff chuckled hoarsely.

"Like a weak kid like you could help me."

"I'll become stronger, just you wait!" Zeff chuckled again, not quite moving.

"Stupid kid."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Day 45

"Hey! Stop! I think I see something!"

"What? It's two people!"

"Are they dead? Victims of the desert?"

"No! They're still alive, but barely! Help me out!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"He... He lost his leg saving me," Sanji wheezed out, pulling himself up. Luffy glanced back, worried.

"Sanji?"

"I won't give this restaurant... to anyone!" Sanji yelled, standing on shaky legs. "And I won't let anyone kill the old man either," He growled out. "I'll give anything to repay that debt! Even if it costs me my life!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Zoro lay quietly in the dark room, thoughts racing. He was laying on a small bed in a small room, darkened to help him sleep.

Like he was going to sleep with so many thoughts buzzing like hornets in his head. Sighing, Zoro looked down at himself. Bandages. Lots of them. He turned his head to the side, where his lamp was sitting on a small box. Whole.

Then Zoro became perplexed as he stared at it, sitting up. He grimaced slightly as he reached an arm for the lamp. Ow. Holding the lamp up, he then examined where it seemed different.

The lamp was still bronze, albeit with a somewhat dulled sheen. It was still about eight inches long; simple and ornate. But what caught Zoro's eye was the long, diagonal streak of silver metal running in an entire circle around the lamp; as though it had been broken in half, from the right side of its handle to the left side of its spout, and melded together with unmatching metal that warped the bronze around it.

Zoro looked down at his bandaged chest again, thoughtfully placing the lamp back.

"Was it really that close...?" He murmured.

"Even closer." Zoro looked up to see Nami standing in the doorway, a small bowl in her hands. Awkwardly she walked over and handed it to him. "Here. I snuck into the kitchen." Zoro's stomach rumbled slightly and he stared down, perplexed.

"... Still not used to that." He muttered. Nami giggled slightly, sitting in a small chair in the corner.

"I imagine not." There was a long, awkward silence only filled by the slight sounds of spoon against bowl. Zoro finished quickly and eyed her.

"... What are your wishes?" Nami gave a start and turned to see Zoro scrutinizing her.

"W-What?"

"If you had three wishes, what would you want? Hypothetically." Zoro said. Nami shook herself.

"Treasure, treasure, and more treasure~!" She said cheekily, winking at him. Zoro wasn't amused.

"Don't lie." Nami held her grin for a second, then slowly let it drop.

"I... I don't..." Zoro snorted at the look on her face, leaning back.

"I've heard thousands of wishes, baka. Somehow I doubt anything you want is quite as shallow as countless masters. Did you know that half of them wished for their own harem?" Nami's eyes widened.

"What?" Her eyes narrowed. "And...?" Zoro snickered slightly.

"I gave them a harem, all right." Nami almost felt sorry for them at the look on his face. Almost. She shook her head, grinning.

"I don't know if I want to trust my wishes with someone with such creative interpretations. For all I know you could wind me up at the bottom of the sea if I wishes for sunken treasure." Zoro smirked.

"Maybe. That's happened, too. Great way to get out of the last two wishes."

"... Oh." After another awkward silence Nami shook her head. "Well, that doesn't matter. You're planning on staying with them, apparently." Zoro was silent for a long minute.

"... Yes... I suppose so." Nami looked at him.

"Why?" Zoro stared back.

"Why not?" Nami looked at him incredulously.

"'Why not?'" She repeated. "Why aren't you trying to get free of both that lamp and them? Why aren't you taking the opportunities that Luffy keeps giving you and jumping out the nearest window?"

"Why aren't you?" Nami stopped short at the question.

"... I have something to do," Nami murmured finally. "And a lot of people waiting for it to be done." Zoro inclined his head.

"I made a promise a long time ago, one that I bound everything I am to." He said. "But there's something in my country that meant a lot more than any promise." Nami looked at him curiously. For someone that preferred death to a promise broken, what could it be?

"What could mean more than that?" Nami asked incredulously, pointing at Zoro's bandaged torso.

"Nakama." Zoro snorted at Nami's look of disbelief. "It holds a lot more volume than it seems. It's a promise between comrades, the ones that will hold your sword when you yourself are unable to commit seppoku."

"Seppoku?" Zoro made a stabbing motion to his stomach, and Nami suddenly felt ill.

"It's our way of keeping our honor... Well, I suppose I'm not a samurai anymore." He added humorlessly. "I should have done so instead of shamefully binding myself to a lamp. I suppose I'm much too attached to life. Ah," Zoro leaned back, closing his eyes. "It'll be fine now." Nami stared.

"How? Do you really trust Luffy that much?" Nami demanded. "The same Luffy that eats everything, whines about little things, and has the strength of a caveman?"

"I do." It was said with such conviction that it made Nami completely silent. "I wasn't sure that he knew the full meaning of nakama myself, he would toss the word around so carelessly, but..." He looked at Nami. "I suppose he uses it so freely because he has every right to. He knows and believes in its meaning, and he won't let anyone cow him into thinking otherwise. That says a lot about a person to me." Nami shook her head.

"He's too careless though. When I first met him, he instantly asked me to become his nakama. What does that say to you?" Zoro eyed her.

"That he thinks you're a good person." Nami flinched.

"I... I'm not a good person." Zoro slowly lay back in the bed, closing his eyes.

"That's not what the captain thinks." Soon soft snores drifted to the thoughtful Nami, and she turned to the lamp.

It was there. No witnesses. She could just take it and make her wishes...

"He thinks you're a good person." Zoro's voice echoed in her mind. Nami shook her head slowly.

"I'm not a good person, Zoro." Nami whispered. She gave the lamp one last glance before slowly walking out the door.

"But I can wait a little longer."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

BOOM! Usopp jerked in surprise as Luffy's leg slammed into the sand, sending up a spray that seemed to pound into everything around. Krieg's eyes seemed to bug out of his head.

"Gin! Fool! Kill that man now!" Gin's hand became shaky as he held the blade under Zeff's throat.

"B-But..." Luffy blinked.

"Why? I didn't attack anyone. Just the sand."

"What the hell are you thinking?" Sanji yelled. "You just missed the Baratie!"

"... I'm going to destroy the restaurant."

"!" Both the bandits and the chefs began yelling at Luffy. The restaurant was why they were fighting! Sanji grabbed Luffy's collar.

"What the hell have we been fighting for? Why have I stayed here all these years?" Luffy stared back blankly.

"If I destroy the restaurant, then they'll have no reason to attack." Sanji twitched.

"Don't you realize how important this place is?" Luffy slapped away his hand.

"So you want to die for it?" Luffy demanded. "Idiot!" Luffy grabbed Sanji's collar. "You don't get saved only to throw your life away! If someone pays the price for your life, then how is dying repayment?" Sanji gaped at Luffy for all of five seconds before shoving his hands away.

"Che. Like you'd know." A strange look passed over Luffy's face before he only growled under his breath.

"You coward!"

"Hey, hey, don't fight." Luffy and Sanji turned to see Pearl come up behind them, a flashy grin on his face. "Unfortunately, you're both wrong. You've had the misfortune of meeting Krieg's Bandits today." He stomped his way towards them. "And you can't do anything about it, because we have a hostage! Pearl Special! Fire..."

The knife fell to the sand in front of the startled Zeff.

"A-GACK!"

"Gin!" Luffy and Sanji stopped dead to Gin slam his tonfa into Pearl's shield, smashing it in half and badly damaging the large man.

"Gin... Why...?" Pearl choked out. Gin barely spared him a glance.

"Get out of my way."

"Gin! Are you trying to betray me?" Krieg roared. Gin shook his head slwoly.

"No, Krieg... I'm not. But can I end this man's life," Gin pointed directly at Sanj. "With my own two hands?" Luffy then muttered something about his 'plan', leaving Sanji to yell at him. Krieg, meanwhile, was livid.

"Have you lost your mind?" He demanded. Gin ignored him, turning to Sanji.

"I want to end your life quickly, Sanji," Gin said calmly. "If only because you seem eager to stay here until the bitter end. As the second in command of Krieg's Bandits, let this be my honor to you, to kill you myself." Sanji twitched slightly.

"Like hell." Gin turned to Luffy.

"And you should have left with the girl and that long-nosed idiot earlier, just leaving behind the genie. You can always get whatever you want as the prince of East Blue." Luffy glared.

"Like I'd leave behind nakama, even to a bunch of weak guys like you!" When the bandits began yelling in outrage, Luffy only shrugged. "You guys are only strong because there are more of you, right?"

Every bandit was sent flying by the enormous slap to their pride.

"KILL THAT KID!"

"RIP HIS TONGUE OUT!"

"WE'LL SHOW HIM!"

Despite himself, Usopp had to chuckle under his breath. Luffy really knew where to hit them. Hard. After calming the bandits, Krieg scowled at Luffy, then grinned nastily.

"So kid, how's that guardian of yours holding up? You know, with only one arm?" Krieg chuckled under his breath when Luffy's head whipped to Krieg, eyes narrowed. Sanji blinked.

"One arm...?"

"Akagami Shanks lost his arm years ago protecting the royal family," Usopp suddenly said. He looked at Sanji oddly. "Didn't you hear about it? It was about ten years ago." Sanji could piece together the story by the dark look Luffy was giving Krieg and his previous words.

He had to force himself not to glance back at Zeff's own missing limb.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Nami changed the bandages on Zoro's sleeping form, making sure to tie them tight. She frowned slightly at the lamp.

"I don't get it. We fixed the lamp, it should fix him." She muttered under her breath. "Was it the silver?"

Crash! Nami tied off the last of the bandages and sat up straight, not noticing Zoro do the same. "What was that?"

"Don't know. Let's go find out." Nami whirled to see Zoro sitting up and reaching for his katana already. She slapped his hand.

"Idiot! You're still wounded! Stay here or I'll kill you myself!" Zoro seemed to contemplate his choices before laying back, scowling.

"Witch."

"Masochist."

Nami raced down the stairs, staff in hand, only to stop short at the sight before her. It seemed that all of the chefs were inside the restaurant. Nami walked down the stairs slowly, then came upon Usopp sitting near a table. She looked at Usopp worriedly.

"What's going on?" Usopp turned to Nami.

"Krieg blew up some sort of poison bomb," He said. "Luffy and Sanji grabbed some antidote masks from some bandits and I..." Usopp chose that particular moment to look down, and Nami followed his gaze.

She giggled slightly, then schooled her features into a frown.

"Usopp, why are you sitting on the bandit that got us into this mess?"

Usopp was sitting on Gin. Or rather, he was sitting so he pinned Gin's arms to his chest, leaving him unable to choke and/or maul his apparent savior. Gin himself was struggling heavily, but Usopp braced himself by the nearby table and was unmoved even as he shrugged.

"He tried to throw his own mask away, so I grabbed him when everyone was running inside. He even asked Krieg to leave the restaurant alone! So he can't be a bad guy, right?" Usopp hesitated, but shook his head. "Luffy and Sanji are still outside. They stole their own masks, so they should be fine. The restaurant is apparently protected from sand storms and such, so the gas can't get in here."

"Let me go! Krieg wants me to die!" Nami stared at the bandit below Usopp.

"Just because someone tells you to die, you'd do it?" She demanded, pointing outside. "Luffy is out there kicking your precious leader's ass, right now! And you still think he's so great?" Gin looked up at Nami curiously.

"Don't you think Arlong is great?" Usopp blinked and looked at the suddenly pale Nami.

"Who's Arlong, Nami?" Nami only fixed her stare on Gin, who looked at her oddly.

"Of course I recognized you. I simply assumed that..." He nodded towards the door to the best of his abilities, and Nami's glare intensified.

"Of course that's why!" She snapped. "Now mind your own business! You betrayed him, so its none of your concern, now!" Gin nodded slowly.

"You're right, you're right... I just," He hesitated. "Will Arlong chase us?" He suddenly asked. "I mean, you should know, right? You're practically his right hand-"

Slam!

Nami shoved Usopp off Gin and shoved her hand on his chest, sending his head back to the floor. Painfully. She grabbed his collar and hoisted him up.

"If you ever," She gritted out. "Speak of that again, I will kill you myself, and save Arlong the trouble. Is that clear?" Gin whimpered and nodded. "Good." Suddenly a bright, cat like smile adorned Nami's face. "And you will accept these nice people's help. You will not go out and be suicidal, because your boss is likely getting the crap kicked out of him by now."

"Krieg... never loses..." He muttered weakly in protest. Nami sighed to herself, turning to the confused Usopp.

"When will the gas dissipate?"

"It should be gone by now." The three looked to see Zeff walking up to them. He pointed to the stairs as Patty and Carne began to open the doors. "You should go to the balcony if you want to watch." Nami nodded and motioned for Usopp to grab Gin.

"I think he needs to see Luffy fight."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Okay, sorry about the long wait! Really! Sorry to you too, Tamari... I really hated it, but I was actually working on this thing the whole time! Honest! Forcing this chapter out was like squeezing out the last of the toothpaste, leaving behind a sad, shriveled container of 'Arabian Nights Inspiration'. So I really don't know when I'll be able to update again, sorry. My inspiration is all lying there pathetic and helpless... TT TIME TO BREAK OUT THE ALADDIN CD! *fwooshes away to find inspiration*

And sorry about the crappy quality of this chapter. I kept redoing a bunch of parts, but it just doesn't seem to be right. Really sorry...

Thanks to Neko11, ShinigamiWanabe, Tamari (especially for reminding me), kallakkala, Mayo2198, blacklightningwolf, cb 0 chan, yuukiwhitewolf, and animeXIII for your reviews! That's a lot of people!

Remember the next to review makes it to the ONE HUNDRED REVIEW MARK! *dies*