Sitting back in the lifeguard chair, Zoro felt a little on edge after the drowning incident. If that's how the workday was going to start, what did that mean for the rest of the day? It was already uncommon enough for someone to drown. He leaned forward against the rescue tube clutched around his middle and anxiously scanned the pool.

A red head who was so pasty he was practically florescent sat on the edge of the pool talking to a man, heavily tattooed in hearts, who was standing in the water, resting his arms on the ledge.

Another man with a very lush afro floated by on in inner-tube.

A guy with the longest earlobes Zoro had ever seen, tentatively dipped his toe in the water before jumping back in fright, and then trying it again. Oh geez. This guy might be an issue. Scared swimmers panic.

Sabo and Koala were lounging at the side of the pool, catching some rays.

It's quiet so Sanji must still be shut out, and those brothers are over at the first aid station. So far so good. Zoro relaxed a little and leaned back in his chair, loosening his grip on the tube so it now just rested on his lap, and released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. From his own chair across the pool, Usopp gave him a concerned look but Zoro just shook his head and waved to let him know he was okay, before settling back into his routine.

"Hey Zoro!" A sharp slap against his upper back jolted him out of his zone, causing his body to jerk forward with a gasp.

"Geez Nami! What the fuck?" Zoro said as he fumbled to catch the rescue tube threatening to fall to the ground. In response, Usopp howled with laughter. Of course. He would have seen Nami coming up behind me. Zoro sent Usopp a murderous glare and to his credit, Usopp quickly composed himself and returned to scanning the pool as if he hadn't seen anything; but his mouth wavered like he was desperately trying to conceal his smile.

"Some lifeguard you are." Nami giggled next to him. "Aren't you supposed to pay better attention to your surroundings?"

"Not behind me, you sea witch! What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be watching the kiddie pool right now? Zoro spared a quick irritated glance towards Nami. She was wearing a red bikini today and had her hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep it from clinging to her neck in the heat. Good thing that idiot blond isn't here right now. He'd be having a field day.

"Don't look at me, stupid. You're on duty. Look back at the pool." She said, flipping her ponytail. "I asked the mothers to take their kids out of the pool for five minutes."

"Can you do that?

"Pssh, says the man who showed up late to his shift meaning no one could go in the pool until you got here."

"Whatever. What do you want anyway?"

"I just came up here to tell you that I'm not watching Chopper today."

Zoro turned sharply in his chair to look at her, anger and surprise clear on his face. "What?! Why not!? You said it was cool!"

Nami sighed and rolled her eyes. "You dummy. Listen when I'm talking to you. I said I'm not watching him today. Not that I can't watch him." She crossed her arms and faced the pool. "If you're not going to watch the pool while I'm talking to you, then I'll watch it."

Zoro stubbornly turned away from Nami. "What are you talking about?"

"That kid is too sweet for his own good. I can't take him to the bathroom or get him a snack because I have to watch the pool, but he just smiles and says it's fine." She said with a soft smile, then adds with a laugh, "Also, he's five and hangs around the kiddie pool all day with the babies. That can't be fun for him."

"He's not a strong swimmer…"

"I know, but he's been taking swim lessons! He's better now."

Zoro sighed. "I just worry… you know? He's my little brother. What if something happens to him again and I can't save him?" Zoro paused. "Woah… I just got a weird feeling of déjà vu."

Nami gave him a weird look before continuing, "Zoro, he's a big boy. He'll be fine. You've been teaching him yourself. Are you saying you're a bad swim teacher?"

"What?! NO! I'm a great teacher!"

"Exactly! So there's no need to worry."

"Nami, I still can't watch him. I can't do any of those things you mentioned either. PLUS I already had someone almost drown today. I have to be extra vigilant."

"Oh yeah! Usopp totally radioed me about that! Sounded intense!" She reached up and slapped him again good-naturedly across the back again. Usopp snicked. "Congrats on your successful rescue!"

"Yeah, thanks I guess." Zoro mumbled. "But that doesn't solve my problem with Chopper."

"Oh please, Zoro. You think I would just come up here and be like 'Hey, I'm not going to watch your precious little brother who I absolutely adore. Have a nice day!'"

'No…"

"Duuuh. It's all set. Robin's going to watch him." Nami jerked a thumb behind her to where Chopper was already standing, talking animatedly next to Robin who was seated at one of the picnic tables, smiling gently at him.

Zoro gave a quick look then internally sighed in relief. Chopper would be perfectly fine with Robin. "Thanks Nami." He said begrudgingly, not quite willing to admit that Nami had one-upped him.

Nami hummed in acknowledgement. "You owe me." She said in a sing-songy voice as she walked away before Zoro could protest.

Zoro ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated groan. "I hope she burns in hell."

The door to the bathrooms suddenly slammed open. "How dare you insult my dearest Nami like that!" Zoro looked over to see a furious Sanji stalking towards him. "She is a beautiful goddess and meatheads like you don't deserve to be in her presence."

Zoro looked around in case Sanji might have been talking to someone else. Seeing no one else around, he looked back at Sanji and scrunched up his face incredulously. "Huh?! When did you get back dartboard brow?

"The lovely Perona was kind enough to let me back in five minutes ago." At speaking Perona's name, Sanji stopped his walk towards Zoro to clasp his hands together underneath his chin and swoon, before quickly dropping them and continuing his way towards Zoro.

"Damn it." Zoro muttered in distaste. He fixed Sanji with a mocking sappy look, "If only you never came back. It was so peaceful while you were gone."

Sanji reached the base of the lifeguard chair and stood on his tiptoes to reach Zoro's level to yell in his face. "What was that you shitty lifeguard?!"

Giving Sanji little more than a tsk, Zoro casually rolled his shoulders away and picked up the walkie talkie still resting on the armrest. Pressing the talk button with his forefinger, he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, and spoke into the device. "Hey Perona…"

The walkie squawked to life as the person on the other end picked up, followed by an exasperated groan. "What is it, Zoro?" Perona asked, irritation evident in her voice.

"Why the fuck did you let the dumbass back in?!" He said, side eyeing and smirking at Sanji while he did.

Sanji's mouth dropped in outrage as he dropped back onto his heels. "You're one to talk, moss head!"

He was cut off by Perona's own annoyed shout. "You said 15 minutes! I kept him out here for 25!"

"Peronaaaa my love!" Sanji swooned at hearing her voice come through the walkie.

"Plus he was being a creep!" She added pointedly in response.

"Well, you've got that right." Zoro said, glaring straight at Sanji. Sanji, to his credit, met Zoro's glare with one of his own.

"Awww poor Zoro." Perona said, voice dripping with fake saccharine sweetness, abruptly followed with, "Your problem now! Bye!" She made a kissy sound into the walkie talkie before clicking off.

Zoro pressed the button again. "Perona! Hey!" She didn't respond. "Damn it!" He slowly turned his gaze to Sanji, who now had a smug look on his face. "What?"

"Serves you right, talking to a precious lady like that."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You were rude to the sweet Perona. That's why she hung up on you."

"You know she let you back in because she was disgusted by you, right?"

Sanji stood back up on his toes with an angry scowl on his face and jabbed his index finger into Zoro's chest "Why don't you say that to my face, ugly moss brain!"

Zoro's grit his teeth and leaned into Sanji's face, pushing against the slight pressure on his chest."I am saying that to your face, you idiot swirly brow!"

"OH YEAH?!"

Their foreheads clashed together.

"YEAH!"

A voice clearing their throat broke through the mounting tension. "Ehm…What are you idiots doing?"

The idiots turned their heads towards the picnic tables to see Nami standing with one hand on her hip and the other gently stroking Chopper's hair like a movie villan's cat. Chopper had stopped talking to Robin when the argument began and had tilted his head to the side as he stared at Zoro and Sanji in confusion. The gentle smile that Robin had been giving Chopper had not left her face, but her eyes now held a glint of mischief.

Sanji broke away from Zoro, waving excitedly at Nami with both hands above his head. "Hi Nami! It's me! Do you remember me?!" She fixed him with a look of mild distaste. "Let's go swimming together!"

"Shut up you dumbass lover boy!" Zoro barked in annoyance, then looked at Nami. "What are you still doing up here?"

A smirk appeared on her face as she spoke with thin sarcasm in her voice. "Oh no reason really. I was just on my way downstairs to the kiddie pool when I heard dumbass over there," she jerked her head in Sanji's direction, "yell my name. Thought I'd come see what all the fuss was about."

"Did you find the entertainment you were looking for?

Nami laughed. "Oooh yeah." She wiggled her walkie talkie at him. "This was perfect, and the sexual tension afterwards was palpable."

"I don't know what you think you saw, evil hag, but—" Zoro threatened before being cut off.

"Don't speak to Nami that way you stupid oaf." Sanji spit at Zoro. He twirled around and began to dance towards Nami. "Don't worry, my dear. I'll protect you from this heathen's harsh words."

"What?!" Zoro yelled, standing up in anger and smacking his head on the umbrella over his chair in the process. "Ow fuck…" he said, rubbing where he had gotten hit.

Sanji burst out into a fit of laughter. "Oh my god. I can't believe you just did that!"

"Shut up!"

"Oh I'm sorry." Sanji said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Sorry that you are a clumsy idiot who made a fool of himself in front of the gorgeous girl you said terrible things about."

"You don't even know the context!" Zoro roared, like a lion who had been poked a few too many times. "That witch pawned off my request to watch Chopper-"

Nami interrupted and gave Chopper a big hug around the neck. "No offense sweetie."

Chopper flicked his eyes away from his rampaging older brother and onto Nami and treated her to one of his sugary sweet smiles. "It's okay, Nami!" He looked back at Zoro and smiled even brighter. "Right Zoro?"

Zoro paused his rampage, obviously taken aback by his little brother's words. His eyes met Chopper's. "Uh… yeah buddy. It is." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm not mad about that."

"Really?" Chopper questioned, with hope in his voice.

Zoro smiled reassuringly at the boy. "Yeah, I'm not. She only did it because she had your best interests in mind."

Chopper turned back to Nami, whose hand was still resting softly on his head as she watched the exchange. "Thanks Nami!" Chopper said, smiling so big his eyes shut.

"Yeah, thanks Nam." Zoro said with a nod in her direction. Nami blushed at the sentiment.

Chopper ignored their silent interaction and continued talking, relieved to hear that Nami cared. "Robin is really fun to hang out with. She already bought me a snickers!" He looked at Zoro in giddy disbelief. "Nami never lets me do that!"

"That's because she's cheap"

Chopper glanced at Nami for confirmation, worry showing in his eyes. "That's because I'm working." She said, fixing Zoro with piercing glare that read, 'seriously?!' while petting Chopper's hair to sooth him.

"First you called the beautiful Nami names for no reason and now you're calling her cheap?!"

A half amused, half concerned smirk appeared on Robin's face. "Oh dear." She said.

Nami face-palmed. "Oh brother."

Zoro whipped his gaze away from his brother and onto Sanji. "Huh?!That's because she is! And," He pointed out, "she made me worry for kicks, you pea-brained pervert!"

"What was that?!"

"Hey guys?" Nami tried to interrupt. "If you're going to fight can you please do it when Zoro is off duty? He's supposed to be watching the fucking pool!"

Sanji swooned. "Nami's so cute when she's angry!"

"Geez! Do you ever shut up?!" Zoro said at Sanji's gushing. "What is with you anyway? You wanted to do my sunscreen earlier!?

"What can I say?" Sanji continued sweet talking. "Love is tempestuous. Why would I care about a shitty lifeguard like you who has no respect for the ladies?"

The two continued to argue as everyone else looked on, dumbfounded. "Those guys are idiots. Don't ever be like them, Chip-Chop." Nami said, not taking her eyes off the idiot duo.

Chopper looked up at Nami. "Which one's worse?"

She thought for a second. "They bring out the 'best' in each other."

"The best? But I thought you said not to be like them."

A hand touched his shoulder. "It's a figure of speech, sweetie." Robin clarified.

"Oh. Okay." Chopper said with a shrug, letting it slide.

After a few more minutes of watching them argue with each other, getting progressively louder and more animated, Nami had had enough. "Ugh whatever. I'm going back to work." She said in annoyance. She flicked a quick wave at Zoro. "Later Zoro. Sanji, stop distracting him."

Sanji stopped mid-insult and the anger melted off his face. "Anything for you Nami-dear! Bye!" He said, waving a floppy arm enthusiastically over his head.

Nami rolled her eyes then knelt down in front of Chopper. "Bye sweetie" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before walking back towards the kiddie pool.

"Anything for you Nami-dear!" Zoro mocked.

Sanji closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, exhaling slowly from his mouth before re-opening his eyes. He looked at Zoro. "I'm going to pretend I didn't heart that because Nami asked me not to distract you." He turned haughtily on his heels then broke into a giddy jog towards Robin, with his arms outstretched. "Robin! My dove! Will you go swimming with me?"

Robin chuckled good-naturedly. "Hello Sanji."

Chopper's gaze flipped between Sanji, who was now fawning over Robin, Robin, and his brother, who was staring in disbelief. "No fair, Sanji! I want to go swimming with Robin!"