FicWad

Robin closed the thick book on local history and folklore she had picked up on their previous island with a heavy clap. If they had been able to stay on the island longer she would’ve enjoyed going to study the shrine she had read about, but they had not needed to spend so long on the island. She wasn’t too disappointed, as the book contained more than enough information on it to satisfy her inquisitive mind.


But there was something rather worrying she had discovered from the book. It appeared that this shrine - named after the islanders’ goddess of fertility Salrynn - had some unusual qualities. Robin was no fool; she knew that the island had mostly same-sex couples - many of them with children, who looked surprisingly like both parents. Robin didn’t mind this, but knew that same-sex couples usually carried the burden of not being able to produce children that were genetically theirs and usually adopted or found other means of producing offspring.


If her observations and conclusions were correct, it seemed that ’mating’, as the book had put it, on this shrine bestowed fertility upon the couple, homosexual or heterosexual. She nodded. Another mystery solved. But what worried her was their cook’s sudden illness.


The relationship between the cook and the swordsman was no secret - at least not to those who could read between the lines. Robin sighed as she realised what had happened. They’d obviously not realised where they were or what their actions meant. She almost laughed at the hilarity of it, but then decided that it was no laughing matter. This was serious. She glanced over at the navigator, who was resting on her stomach and still sunbathing, even though it was getting rather late for it now. The archaeologist reached to touch her shoulder to tell her about her revelation, but she was interrupted by a loud snore from the redheaded navigator. She smiled again, before standing to make her way to the infirmary.


She knocked on the door of their little doctor’s quarters, and walked in at the invitation from the other side.


“Hello, doctor-san.” She said, smiling at the small reindeer.


“Hi Robin,” he answered, not looking back at her and grinding herbs in a pestle and mortar, “what’s the matter?”


“I wanted to speak to you about cook-san,” she said, leaning against the door, “I’ve found something out that might be of help.”


Chopper looked at her, blinking, and Robin proceeded to tell him about her discovery.


“Wh- he’s what?!” Chopper bellowed, and Robin hushed the reindeer with a gentle ’shh’.


“I believe he may be,” she said, her voice quieter, “if what the book says is true, it’s quite possible that he and Zoro have… mated on this shrine.”


The doctor’s face turned slightly pink. “Can I see that book please, Robin?” He asked, reaching a hoof out for the book the dark haired woman was holding. Robin handed it to him, and he began flipping through the pages quickly until he found the page on the effects of the ’ritual’, as the book put it.


‘The text on the Shrine - here written in the ancient language thought to be spoken by Salrynn and Her worshippers thousands of years ago denotes - “those who have expressed their love for each other in this Bed of Fertility will soon be blessed with child.” To this day, many of Salrynn’s worshippers - namely the islanders - have mated in this bed, praying for a child and leaving letters of thanks and gifts to Her at the Shrine of Salrynn. All have found their prayers answered.’


Chopper frowned, knitting his brow in confusion. “But- it’s not physically possible for men to bear children,” he began, “it doesn’t make any sense…”


“Well,” Robin replied, “the island did seem strange to me when we first arrived. I think, perhaps, that if what this book says is true, there is obviously something supernatural going on here.”


“Hm,” said the reindeer, “Maybe. But… if it’s true, then I’ll have to examine Sanji, and maybe Zoro too.”


Robin nodded, but soon gained a thoughtful look. “The only problem is, Sanji doesn’t want to admit he’s ill,” she pointed out, “and they might not react well to that,” she added gravely, a hint of worry in her tone.


“Well… what do we do now?” Chopper asked.


“I suppose… you could give him something for his nausea,” she started, lifting a folded arm to hold her chin on her thumb and forefinger, “even if he says he’s fine, you must insist he take the painkillers, as his doctor. Do you know any recipes that could help the unborn child?” She asked, seeming to be working through the obstacles mentally.


“A few,” the doctor replied, glancing over to his bookshelf, “but I didn’t stock up on the right herbs at that island. I didn’t know I’d be dealing with this… but I’ll see what I can do with what I’ve got,” He finished, nodding to himself with a hint of determination.


“Good,” Robin paused, “the next few months should be rather interesting,” she remarked, smiling a bitter-sweet smile.


Chopper smiled back, knowing that he’d have to do his best, for the sake of all three of them.


***



Sanji was having the strangest dream, which, considering the blond cook‘s rather odd imagination, happened a lot. But this one was exceptionally different.


In it, he was sweating. He reached a hand up to wipe the perspiration from his brow, and as he looked before himself, he could see he was on the Thousand Sunny. He figured the Grand Line must’ve decided to change its weather abruptly, as it was quite prone to doing. He walked across the deck towards the edge of the ship, hoping to get a harsh sea gale hit his face and cool some of the sweat that was now dripping off his skin in heavy droplets. No such luck. Instead, he pulled his blue button down over his head and dropped it at his feet, before reaching down to roll his pant legs up to his knees. As he stood, he glanced over the water, and not too far in the distance he could see a small basket riding on the waves.


As he looked closer, he saw what appeared to be a Moses basket. He shouted for the rest of the crew, but no one came. He brushed off his momentary confusion and dived over the edge of the ship, swimming over to the basket and gathering it in his arms, before swimming back to the ship quickly and climbing back on board.


Once on deck, he tried to catch his breath and put the basket on the floor. He sat in front of it cross legged, and lifted the lid off slowly. Inside the basket was a sleeping baby. Sanji stared down at the infant in awe, wondering what was going on and why he had found this child floating on the ocean. The baby had an angelic face, and the cook decided he or she couldn’t be more than a few weeks old. He stroked the sleeping newborn’s tiny head gently, smiling at the feeling of soft curls against his fingers. The child squirmed, gurgling slightly and started wriggling, before a loud scream erupted from its tiny lungs.


Sanji woke with a start, panting and sweating nearly as much as he was in his dream, before slumping back down in his hammock tiredly and closing his eyes again. He then opened them again quickly, sitting back up and clutching his stomach again at another wave of nausea. How long had he been asleep for? He glanced over to the wall where the clock hung - 17:26.


“Shit!” He exclaimed, trying to fight off the sickness he was feeling and standing up far too quickly. He sunk back down in his hammock again at the sudden dizziness that invaded his senses, groaning. It had been just over two weeks since these pains had started, and since then Chopper had been imposing more and more rules on the cook as the little reindeer‘s concern grew - one of them being afternoon naps, which, as Sanji was a rather restless person, he was quickly growing sick of.


***




A while later, Sanji managed to get up without having to vomit more than a few times in the toilet in passing. He walked through the galley door to find that chaos had erupted in his kitchen. Luffy, Usopp and Brooke were at the kitchen sink and accordingly, there were bubbles everywhere.


“Eh? SANJIII~!” Luffy shouted, causing the blond to squint and Brook to nearly drop a plate. “Ah-gomen. We knew you were sick so we decided to do some dishes for you,” the captain explained, grinning like he thought it would get him a reward.


“I thought I’d lend my super-awesome-Usopp-dish-washing skills of doom to aid your recovery!” He got the doom part right.


“Oh,” Sanji said, “that was nice of you. Now get the hell out of my kitchen, I need to cook dinner.”


“Ah, well, Chopper said you’re not allowed to cook,” the skeleton said softly, holding a plate and looking slightly regretful and worried.


Sanji’s brow twitched. “What?” He said, with the tiniest piece of venom he had the energy to put in there.


“Yeah, so we cooked for you!” Luffy exclaimed proudly.


The cook gave a defeated sigh, glancing around his kitchen. There was some liquid even he couldn’t identify splattered on a wall, bubbles on the floor and the worktops, plates and cutlery strewn across every surface, pots and pans that Sanji didn’t even know he had all over the place, hanging on the coat hangers near his head, and to the left of him, sitting lonely in a frying pan, was a fluffy purple… substance.


“What is that?” He asked, staring at it as if it were about to attack him.


“Spaghetti!” Said the captain, with the same pride in his tone that Sanji felt a need to kick out of him. “We saved some for you!”


The cook left the room. It was the best thing he could’ve done in that situation, as he didn’t feel like adding blood to the list of things he had to scrub off of his counters and he was sure Franky would be quite upset if he damaged a part of their new ship. He sat on the staircase leading to the upper deck, yawning and burying his face in his hands irritably.


Still sitting with his face in his hands, trying to fight off the gagging sensation that was arising in his throat, the blond didn’t see the swordsman approaching him with an expression that was somewhere between concerned and belligerent.


“Oi, cook,” he said, “what’s the matter?”


Glancing up at him, Sanji sneered slightly. “None of your business, fuckhead,” he snapped, not in the mood for their nightly tennis match of insults, verbal or physical. He padded his hands around the pockets of his black slacks for his cigarettes.


“Jesus, sorry for asking,” Zoro replied, shifting slightly and wiping the sweat from his workout from his brow with the back of his hand, “well, if you’d rather… what crawled up your ass and died, shit-cook?”


Sanji lit up a cigarette impatiently, as if it would somehow make him feel better. It only resulted in a violent coughing fit, which didn’t happen very often to the chain-smoking cook. “I said, none of your business,” he answered with slightly less venom than before.


Zoro stared at the cook disbelievingly, the coughing making him believe that there was something really wrong with the cook that couldn’t just be slept off. “Have you spoken to Chopper yet?” He asked, trying to mask his concern for the cook but failing miserably.


“No, but thanks to him my kitchen looks like Usopp let off one of those grenades of his in there…” He grumbled, glancing back over to the galley where the sounds of his less intellectually gifted crewmates voices were floating through the walls of the kitchen.


Zoro frowned, and turned to walk away. “Well, he wanted to see you, anyway,” he tossed over his shoulder, walking towards the men’s quarters to change.


Sanji scowled at the retreating back of his lover, hating that that was the same back he had raked his nails down the night before. The cook spat the cigarette that was regrettably making him feel ten times worse overboard, before making his way to Chopper’s quarters.


***



The blond stared down at the pair of pills in his palm with a frown.


“Please, Sanji, I know you don’t want help, but please take them,” Chopper said, and Sanji suddenly wanted to kick himself for being unable to resist the reindeer’s puppy dog eyes - especially since he‘d spent so long making the pills for him. “They’ll really help you in the long run, they’ll stop you being sick, and you’ll be able to cook again,” he finished, looking at the cook with pleading eyes.


Sanji sighed, and reached for the proffered glass of water on the doctor’s desk. He swallowed the pills in one go, downing the rest of the water and slamming the glass back down when he’d finished. At least he’d be able to start cooking again.


“So… what exactly is making me sick?” He asked, looking at the reindeer tiredly.


Chopper tensed up, fiddling with the little tub of pills he’d made up for the man nervously. “Well, I’m not sure yet.” It wasn’t a lie, not quite, because he really wasn’t sure. But he still didn’t think it was best to tell the blond what he really thought could be the reason while he was in his current state, or Zoro, for that matter; it would most likely end up in a fight and that really wasn’t best for either of them - especially Sanji, if he really was… pregnant. It seemed wrong to even think that for the doctor, because all his life he was told that only women could bear children, not men. It complicated the pregnancy, because there was no canal for the child to go through during birth, and that would mean Chopper would have to cut Sanji open and the reindeer really wasn’t very skilled in this area, and he didn’t know if the inside parts were the same as they were for women…


He must’ve been quiet for quite some time, because the cook was staring at him with a look halfway between absolute terror and concern for the little doctor. “It’s serious, isn’t it?” He asked, unblinking.


“No no no,” Chopper said, and he almost regretted saying them because it really was a serious situation. “I don’t know yet, but I’d like to run some tests.” Sanji outstretched his arm at this, apparently eager to find out what was causing the problem now. Chopper slapped himself mentally and pushed the cook’s arm back to his side. “But I think you should get some rest now, because those pills will kick in soon and you’ll be out like a light,” he laughed nervously, patting the other’s arm with his hooves.


Sanji blinked and stood, walking over to the door. “Okay,” he said, “thanks, doctor.”


“Try not to worry too much, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Chopper replied, mentally kicking himself for making it sound like it was nothing and potentially setting Sanji up for a nervous breakdown. If that happened it would surely be the reindeer’s fault, he was sure of it, and then what would happen to the baby? He’d be kicked out of the crew and-


“I’ll try not to,” Sanji answered, forcing a smile over his shoulder, but he knew that it was a lie.


***



The next morning, Sanji woke up feeling rested and full of energy, despite his worrying the night before. And this time, he wasn’t woken by a need to vomit, which was a nice change. There was no pang in his head at the distant sound of Franky hammering away at the ship, fixing some minor imperfection, or at the sound of laughter as his captain chased the sharpshooter around with a towel, trying to whip his ass. Sanji raised an eyebrow at the two, who didn’t seem to have noticed that the cook was awake, and were still running around the men’s quarters playing their perverse little game.


So he got up to dress for the day, before making his to the kitchen to make breakfast, which hopefully his nausea would not interrupt. It would seem that the ladies were not yet up, he thought, passing the currently empty spots where their deckchairs usually sat, prepared for another day of sunbathing after breakfast. He made his way up the small flight of stairs to the kitchen. When he arrived, he groaned when he realised that it was still rather messy, despite his crewmates attempts to clean it the night before. He mentally went over a few new kicks he was going to try out on them. With this in mind, he smiled, and instead of making breakfast, he set about cleaning the place.


About twenty minutes later, he was finishing up scrubbing some dried, unknown substance on the floor on his hands and knees, when he sighed and leant up to kneel. He tossed the washcloth into the sink before standing up again, trying to fight off the slight gagging sensation he got from the soap. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of a deep cough.


“What do you want, Marimo?” He asked, scowling at the swordsman.


“Just admiring the view,” Zoro answered with a smile that dripped with debauch.


Sanji glared at him. “Well, if that’s all you’re here for you can piss off, I’m not in the mood.” He lied, stepping towards the sink and turning on the tap to wash his hands.


The swordsman pursed his lips slightly, knitting his brow. “Aw, don’t be like that, pissface,” he said, walking toward the cook slowly, and wrapping his arms about the cook’s waist, he grinned, placing his hands on the cook’s lower abdomen gently.


Sanji sighed, turning off the tap and drying his hands on a nearby towel. He looked over his shoulder at the other man, raising an eyebrow. “Well?”


“’Well’ what?” Zoro answered, idly stroking his thumbs across the cook‘s belly. “I just wondered what you were doing is all… did Chopper say what was wrong?” He was failing to mask his concern for the other, but it seemed that he had been failing to do that for a long time now and decided that he was far too curious to pretend he wasn‘t anymore.


The blond rolled his eyes, lazily scratching at some stain he knew would not come off. “No,” he answered after a long moment, “but he wants to run some tests, or something… I think I’ll go bother him after breakfast.” He flicked a stray crumb into the sink, refusing to make eye contact with his lover.


“Okay,” Zoro answered, seemingly satisfied with that for now. He was about to ask the cook to tell him when he knew anything, but decided against it. Instead, he looked down at the blond’s belly, rubbing the pad of a thumb against the flesh beneath his shirt gently. Sanji shivered. “You know, your muscle is getting kind of soft here,” he commented, “you’re not getting weak, are you?” He asked, not one to end an encounter with his rival without some snide comment.


Sanji glared over at him. “Would you like to find out?” He asked, tone dangerous. “Chopper made me a nice strong antidote to cure whatever the hell’s wrong with me; I’m not a total vegetable yet,” he finished, shooting a challenging smirk over his shoulder at the swordsman, who returned the look with just as much confidence.


“You’re on,” he said, smiling haughtily at the other, and Sanji felt almost endeared toward the other when he saw the glint in his green eyes at the prospect of a good fight. Almost.


He grinned at him, turning his gaze back towards his hands, which he rested on the swordsman’s tanned ones. “Not right now,” he replied, patting the swordsman’s hands, “I have breakfast to make. I’m sure you’re getting sick of eating whatever inedible concoctions the others have been making this week,” he finished, pulling away from the other.


“Oh, Nami’s cooking wasn’t that bad,” he teased, ducking on automatic at the leg that swung toward his head.


“Get out of my kitchen, teme,” he said, straightening his tie out subconsciously at the mention of one of his ladies.


Zoro laughed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and striding out of the door. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell her, Eyebrow,” he said, his voice trailing off as the door swung shut.


The Eyebrow suppressed a smile, and got to work making breakfast.


***



Breakfast was louder than usual, as you would expect after a week of eating food that was of a far lower standard. Sanji made sure to give the ladies extra, despite their constant insistence that they were watching their figures. Instead, it ended up in Luffy’s stomach, which was growing more and more round as he stuffed his face continuously.


“Sanji, are you feeling better now?” Chopper asked, eyeing the cook even as he ate.


“A lot,” Sanji answered, smiling thankfully at the little reindeer.


“Well that’s good,” Nami said, attempting to cheer the tired-looking cook up. “Hopefully things might fall back into place with decent food on the table again,” she mused, winking at the cook with a grin.


“Ah~ Nami-swan~” he cooed, his eye turning into a bright pink heart. “I didn’t know you thought so much of me~”


Nami rolled her eyes. “Don’t get carried away,” she finished, reaching for her drink.


Sanji continued to grin like a fool, before Chopper cut through the loud sounds of the crew eating to speak to the cook in low tones. “If you’re ready, after breakfast I can run some of those tests,” he said quietly, knowing that the blond was quite eager to find out what the problem was.


“Okay,” he answered.


***



Sanji winced slightly as the syringe was poked into his arm, sucking the blood out of his pale body. The reindeer deposited the red liquid into a thin glass cylinder, which he placed on a test tube rack on his desk. He then put a small blue plaster over the small spot where it had begun to bleed a bit, patting the cook’s arm reassuringly.


“Don’t worry, Sanji,” he said, grinning at the blond. “You’re in good hands.”


The cook laughed nervously. “When will I get the results?”


The doctor tensed slightly at this as he realised that he would have to be the one to break the news to the other, but he locked the worry away for later when he would be able to freak out in peace. “Well… hopefully by tomorrow at the earliest, but if not, the day after,” he answered, trying his best to sound calm.


“Okay,” Sanji said, smiling at the other.


“Please don’t worry so much,” Chopper repeated.


“I’m not, I’m not,” the cook said, “it’s probably just some kind of tropical flu that hasn’t passed yet. Give my body more credit than that, doctor,” he said, smiling and taking a drag on his cigarette.


The reindeer smiled. “But… you shouldn’t smoke if it is a tropical flu, Sanji-kun, it’ll only make it worse.” He said, his concern more for the developing foetus rather than the cook’s lungs at this moment in time.


“Ah, I’ll be fine,” he said, waving a hand at the other. “If that’s all, I have to go make lunch now.” He said, getting up and walking over to the door with a smile. “Arigatou, Chopper.”


“You’re welcome,” the reindeer said, long after the cook had closed the door. He looked over at the sample of blood on his desk, and set to work with his equipment with a sigh.


***



Okay, so this was written in dribs and drabs, so I’m sorry if it wasn’t quite up to par with what you expected >.> Not much of a development in this chapter either, because it wasn’t really right to tell them both just yet - it wouldn’t happen so quickly anyway. Uhm… so yes, I started writing some of the other characters… do you think they were in character? The only one I haven’t written yet is Franky, but I just couldn’t think of where to put him in >_> Maybe next chapter. Thanks for reading, and comments are much appreciated, as I’m sure you know by now ♥

Title: Salrynn's Shrine

Word Count: 4261

Rating: M/NC-17/18 whatever country you're in

Chapter: 3/?

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-sensei. I merely borrow his characters for my own amusement.

Summary: That island had seemed rather nice, normal, and pretty much like all the other islands they had visited so far - inasmuch as it had many pretty girls that Sanji liked to gander at and (unsuccessfully) flirt with. It also had an unusually high number of same-sex couples, or so he had presumed in most cases, and it wasn't until they had left the island some months ago that he realised why.

Comments: Chapter three. I hope this compensates for the total lack of other crewmembers in the first two parts fails at life Thanks for the comments, and enjoy~ ^__^







Robin closed the thick book on local history and folklore she had picked up on their previous island with a heavy clap. If they had been able to stay on the island longer she would've enjoyed going to study the shrine she had read about, but they had not needed to spend so long on the island. She wasn't too disappointed, as the book contained more than enough information on it to satisfy her inquisitive mind.



But there was something rather worrying she had discovered from the book. It appeared that this shrine - named after the islanders' goddess of fertility Salrynn - had some unusual qualities. Robin was no fool; she knew that the island had mostly same-sex couples - many of them with children, who looked surprisingly like both parents. Robin didn't mind this, but knew that same-sex couples usually carried the burden of not being able to produce children that were genetically theirs and usually adopted or found other means of producing offspring.



If her observations and conclusions were correct, it seemed that 'mating', as the book had put it, on this shrine bestowed fertility upon the couple, homosexual or heterosexual. She nodded. Another mystery solved. But what worried her was their cook's sudden illness.



The relationship between the cook and the swordsman was no secret - at least not to those who could read between the lines. Robin sighed as she realised what had happened. They'd obviously not realised where they were or what their actions meant. She almost laughed at the hilarity of it, but then decided that it was no laughing matter. This was serious. She glanced over at the navigator, who was resting on her stomach and still sunbathing, even though it was getting rather late for it now. The archaeologist reached to touch her shoulder to tell her about her revelation, but she was interrupted by a loud snore from the redheaded navigator. She smiled again, before standing to make her way to the infirmary.



She knocked on the door of their little doctor's quarters, and walked in at the invitation from the other side.



"Hello, doctor-san." She said, smiling at the small reindeer.



"Hi Robin," he answered, not looking back at her and grinding herbs in a pestle and mortar, "what's the matter?"



"I wanted to speak to you about cook-san," she said, leaning against the door, "I've found something out that might be of help."



Chopper looked at her, blinking, and Robin proceeded to tell him about her discovery.



"Wh- he's //what//?!" Chopper bellowed, and Robin hushed the reindeer with a gentle 'shh'.



"I believe he may be," she said, her voice quieter, "if what the book says is true, it's quite possible that he and Zoro have... mated on this shrine."



The doctor's face turned slightly pink. "Can I see that book please, Robin?" He asked, reaching a hoof out for the book the dark haired woman was holding. Robin handed it to him, and he began flipping through the pages quickly until he found the page on the effects of the 'ritual', as the book put it.



/'The text on the Shrine - here written in the ancient language thought to be spoken by Salrynn and Her worshippers thousands of years ago denotes - "those who have expressed their love for each other in this Bed of Fertility will soon be blessed with child." To this day, many of Salrynn's worshippers - namely the islanders - have mated in this bed, praying for a child and leaving letters of thanks and gifts to Her at the Shrine of Salrynn. All have found their prayers answered.'/



Chopper frowned, knitting his brow in confusion. "But- it's not physically /possible/ for men to bear children," he began, "it doesn't make any sense..."



"Well," Robin replied, "the island did seem strange to me when we first arrived. I think, perhaps, that if what this book says is true, there is obviously something supernatural going on here."



"Hm," said the reindeer, "Maybe. But... if it's true, then I'll have to examine Sanji, and maybe Zoro too."



Robin nodded, but soon gained a thoughtful look. "The only problem is, Sanji doesn't want to admit he's ill," she pointed out, "and they might not react well to that," she added gravely, a hint of worry in her tone.



"Well... what do we do now?" Chopper asked.



"I suppose... you could give him something for his nausea," she started, lifting a folded arm to hold her chin on her thumb and forefinger, "even if he says he's fine, you must insist he take the painkillers, as his doctor. Do you know any recipes that could help the unborn child?" She asked, seeming to be working through the obstacles mentally.



"A few," the doctor replied, glancing over to his bookshelf, "but I didn't stock up on the right herbs at that island. I didn't know I'd be dealing with this... but I'll see what I can do with what I've got," He finished, nodding to himself with a hint of determination.



"Good," Robin paused, "the next few months should be rather interesting," she remarked, smiling a bitter-sweet smile.



Chopper smiled back, knowing that he'd have to do his best, for the sake of all three of them.



***



Sanji was having the strangest dream, which, considering the blond cook's rather odd imagination, happened a lot. But this one was exceptionally different.



In it, he was sweating. He reached a hand up to wipe the perspiration from his brow, and as he looked before himself, he could see he was on the Thousand Sunny. He figured the Grand Line must've decided to change its weather abruptly, as it was quite prone to doing. He walked across the deck towards the edge of the ship, hoping to get a harsh sea gale hit his face and cool some of the sweat that was now dripping off his skin in heavy droplets. No such luck. Instead, he pulled his blue button down over his head and dropped it at his feet, before reaching down to roll his pant legs up to his knees. As he stood, he glanced over the water, and not too far in the distance he could see a small basket riding on the waves.



As he looked closer, he saw what appeared to be a Moses basket. He shouted for the rest of the crew, but no one came. He brushed off his momentary confusion and dived over the edge of the ship, swimming over to the basket and gathering it in his arms, before swimming back to the ship quickly and climbing back on board.



Once on deck, he tried to catch his breath and put the basket on the floor. He sat in front of it cross legged, and lifted the lid off slowly. Inside the basket was a sleeping baby. Sanji stared down at the infant in awe, wondering what was going on and why he had found this child floating on the ocean. The baby had an angelic face, and the cook decided he or she couldn't be more than a few weeks old. He stroked the sleeping newborn's tiny head gently, smiling at the feeling of soft curls against his fingers. The child squirmed, gurgling slightly and started wriggling, before a loud scream erupted from its tiny lungs.



Sanji woke with a start, panting and sweating nearly as much as he was in his dream, before slumping back down in his hammock tiredly and closing his eyes again. He then opened them again quickly, sitting back up and clutching his stomach again at another wave of nausea. How long had he been asleep for? He glanced over to the wall where the clock hung - 17:26.



"Shit!" He exclaimed, trying to fight off the sickness he was feeling and standing up far too quickly. He sunk back down in his hammock again at the sudden dizziness that invaded his senses, groaning. It had been just over two weeks since these pains had started, and since then Chopper had been imposing more and more rules on the cook as the little reindeer's concern grew - one of them being afternoon naps, which, as Sanji was a rather restless person, he was quickly growing sick of.



***





A while later, Sanji managed to get up without having to vomit more than a few times in the toilet in passing. He walked through the galley door to find that chaos had erupted in his kitchen. Luffy, Usopp and Brooke were at the kitchen sink and accordingly, there were bubbles everywhere.



"Eh? SANJIII~!" Luffy shouted, causing the blond to squint and Brook to nearly drop a plate. "Ah-gomen. We knew you were sick so we decided to do some dishes for you," the captain explained, grinning like he thought it would get him a reward.



"I thought I'd lend my super-awesome-Usopp-dish-washing skills of doom to aid your recovery!" He got the doom part right.



"Oh," Sanji said, "that was nice of you. Now get the hell out of my kitchen, I need to cook dinner."



"Ah, well, Chopper said you're not allowed to cook," the skeleton said softly, holding a plate and looking slightly regretful and worried.



Sanji's brow twitched. "What?" He said, with the tiniest piece of venom he had the energy to put in there.



"Yeah, so we cooked for you!" Luffy exclaimed proudly.



The cook gave a defeated sigh, glancing around his kitchen. There was some liquid even he couldn't identify splattered on a wall, bubbles on the floor and the worktops, plates and cutlery strewn across every surface, pots and pans that Sanji didn't even know he had all over the place, hanging on the coat hangers near his head, and to the left of him, sitting lonely in a frying pan, was a fluffy purple... substance.



"What is that?" He asked, staring at it as if it were about to attack him.



"Spaghetti!" Said the captain, with the same pride in his tone that Sanji felt a need to kick out of him. "We saved some for you!"



The cook left the room. It was the best thing he could've done in that situation, as he didn't feel like adding blood to the list of things he had to scrub off of his counters and he was sure Franky would be quite upset if he damaged a part of their new ship. He sat on the staircase leading to the upper deck, yawning and burying his face in his hands irritably.



Still sitting with his face in his hands, trying to fight off the gagging sensation that was arising in his throat, the blond didn't see the swordsman approaching him with an expression that was somewhere between concerned and belligerent.



"Oi, cook," he said, "what's the matter?"



Glancing up at him, Sanji sneered slightly. "None of your business, fuckhead," he snapped, not in the mood for their nightly tennis match of insults, verbal or physical. He padded his hands around the pockets of his black slacks for his cigarettes.



"Jesus, sorry for asking," Zoro replied, shifting slightly and wiping the sweat from his workout from his brow with the back of his hand, "well, if you'd rather... what crawled up your ass and died, shit-cook?"



Sanji lit up a cigarette impatiently, as if it would somehow make him feel better. It only resulted in a violent coughing fit, which didn't happen very often to the chain-smoking cook. "I said, none of your business," he answered with slightly less venom than before.



Zoro stared at the cook disbelievingly, the coughing making him believe that there was something really wrong with the cook that couldn't just be slept off. "Have you spoken to Chopper yet?" He asked, trying to mask his concern for the cook but failing miserably.



"No, but thanks to him my kitchen looks like Usopp let off one of those grenades of his in there..." He grumbled, glancing back over to the galley where the sounds of his less intellectually gifted crewmates voices were floating through the walls of the kitchen.



Zoro frowned, and turned to walk away. "Well, he wanted to see you, anyway," he tossed over his shoulder, walking towards the men's quarters to change.



Sanji scowled at the retreating back of his lover, hating that that was the same back he had raked his nails down the night before. The cook spat the cigarette that was regrettably making him feel ten times worse overboard, before making his way to Chopper's quarters.



***



The blond stared down at the pair of pills in his palm with a frown.



"Please, Sanji, I know you don't want help, but please take them," Chopper said, and Sanji suddenly wanted to kick himself for being unable to resist the reindeer's puppy dog eyes - especially since he'd spent so long making the pills for him. "They'll really help you in the long run, they'll stop you being sick, and you'll be able to cook again," he finished, looking at the cook with pleading eyes.



Sanji sighed, and reached for the proffered glass of water on the doctor's desk. He swallowed the pills in one go, downing the rest of the water and slamming the glass back down when he'd finished. At least he'd be able to start cooking again.



"So... what exactly is making me sick?" He asked, looking at the reindeer tiredly.



Chopper tensed up, fiddling with the little tub of pills he'd made up for the man nervously. "Well, I'm not sure yet." It wasn't a lie, not quite, because he really wasn't sure. But he still didn't think it was best to tell the blond what he really thought could be the reason while he was in his current state, or Zoro, for that matter; it would most likely end up in a fight and that really wasn't best for either of them - especially Sanji, if he really was... pregnant. It seemed wrong to even think that for the doctor, because all his life he was told that only women could bear children, not men. It complicated the pregnancy, because there was no canal for the child to go through during birth, and that would mean Chopper would have to cut Sanji open and the reindeer really wasn't very skilled in this area, and he didn't know if the inside parts were the same as they were for women...



He must've been quiet for quite some time, because the cook was staring at him with a look halfway between absolute terror and concern for the little doctor. "It's serious, isn't it?" He asked, unblinking.



"No no no," Chopper said, and he almost regretted saying them because it really /was/ a serious situation. "I don't know yet, but I'd like to run some tests." Sanji outstretched his arm at this, apparently eager to find out what was causing the problem now. Chopper slapped himself mentally and pushed the cook's arm back to his side. "But I think you should get some rest now, because those pills will kick in soon and you'll be out like a light," he laughed nervously, patting the other's arm with his hooves.



Sanji blinked and stood, walking over to the door. "Okay," he said, "thanks, doctor."



"Try not to worry too much, I'm sure it's nothing," Chopper replied, mentally kicking himself for making it sound like it was nothing and potentially setting Sanji up for a nervous breakdown. If that happened it would surely be the reindeer's fault, he was sure of it, and then what would happen to the baby? He'd be kicked out of the crew and-



"I'll try not to," Sanji answered, forcing a smile over his shoulder, but he knew that it was a lie.



***



The next morning, Sanji woke up feeling rested and full of energy, despite his worrying the night before. And this time, he wasn't woken by a need to vomit, which was a nice change. There was no pang in his head at the distant sound of Franky hammering away at the ship, fixing some minor imperfection, or at the sound of laughter as his captain chased the sharpshooter around with a towel, trying to whip his ass. Sanji raised an eyebrow at the two, who didn't seem to have noticed that the cook was awake, and were still running around the men's quarters playing their perverse little game.



So he got up to dress for the day, before making his to the kitchen to make breakfast, which hopefully his nausea would not interrupt. It would seem that the ladies were not yet up, he thought, passing the currently empty spots where their deckchairs usually sat, prepared for another day of sunbathing after breakfast. He made his way up the small flight of stairs to the kitchen. When he arrived, he groaned when he realised that it was still rather messy, despite his crewmates attempts to clean it the night before. He mentally went over a few new kicks he was going to try out on them. With this in mind, he smiled, and instead of making breakfast, he set about cleaning the place.



About twenty minutes later, he was finishing up scrubbing some dried, unknown substance on the floor on his hands and knees, when he sighed and leant up to kneel. He tossed the washcloth into the sink before standing up again, trying to fight off the slight gagging sensation he got from the soap. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of a deep cough.



"What do you want, Marimo?" He asked, scowling at the swordsman.



"Just admiring the view," Zoro answered with a smile that dripped with debauch.



Sanji glared at him. "Well, if that's all you're here for you can piss off, I'm not in the mood." He lied, stepping towards the sink and turning on the tap to wash his hands.



The swordsman pursed his lips slightly, knitting his brow. "Aw, don't be like that, pissface," he said, walking toward the cook slowly, and wrapping his arms about the cook's waist, he grinned, placing his hands on the cook's lower abdomen gently.



Sanji sighed, turning off the tap and drying his hands on a nearby towel. He looked over his shoulder at the other man, raising an eyebrow. "Well?"



"'Well' what?" Zoro answered, idly stroking his thumbs across the cook's belly. "I just wondered what you were doing is all... did Chopper say what was wrong?" He was failing to mask his concern for the other, but it seemed that he had been failing to do that for a long time now and decided that he was far too curious to pretend he wasn't anymore.



The blond rolled his eyes, lazily scratching at some stain he knew would not come off. "No," he answered after a long moment, "but he wants to run some tests, or something... I think I'll go bother him after breakfast." He flicked a stray crumb into the sink, refusing to make eye contact with his lover.



"Okay," Zoro answered, seemingly satisfied with that for now. He was about to ask the cook to tell him when he knew anything, but decided against it. Instead, he looked down at the blond's belly, rubbing the pad of a thumb against the flesh beneath his shirt gently. Sanji shivered. "You know, your muscle is getting kind of soft here," he commented, "you're not getting weak, are you?" He asked, not one to end an encounter with his rival without some snide comment.



Sanji glared over at him. "Would you like to find out?" He asked, tone dangerous. "Chopper made me a nice strong antidote to cure whatever the hell's wrong with me; I'm not a total vegetable yet," he finished, shooting a challenging smirk over his shoulder at the swordsman, who returned the look with just as much confidence.



"You're on," he said, smiling haughtily at the other, and Sanji felt almost endeared toward the other when he saw the glint in his green eyes at the prospect of a good fight. Almost.



He grinned at him, turning his gaze back towards his hands, which he rested on the swordsman's tanned ones. "Not right now," he replied, patting the swordsman's hands, "I have breakfast to make. I'm sure you're getting sick of eating whatever inedible concoctions the others have been making this week," he finished, pulling away from the other.



"Oh, Nami's cooking wasn't /that/ bad," he teased, ducking on automatic at the leg that swung toward his head.



"Get out of my kitchen, teme," he said, straightening his tie out subconsciously at the mention of one of his ladies.



Zoro laughed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and striding out of the door. "Don't worry, I won't tell her, Eyebrow," he said, his voice trailing off as the door swung shut.



The Eyebrow suppressed a smile, and got to work making breakfast.



***



Breakfast was louder than usual, as you would expect after a week of eating food that was of a far lower standard. Sanji made sure to give the ladies extra, despite their constant insistence that they were watching their figures. Instead, it ended up in Luffy's stomach, which was growing more and more round as he stuffed his face continuously.



"Sanji, are you feeling better now?" Chopper asked, eyeing the cook even as he ate.



"A lot," Sanji answered, smiling thankfully at the little reindeer.



"Well that's good," Nami said, attempting to cheer the tired-looking cook up. "Hopefully things might fall back into place with decent food on the table again," she mused, winking at the cook with a grin.



"Ah~ Nami-swan~" he cooed, his eye turning into a bright pink heart. "I didn't know you thought so much of me~"



Nami rolled her eyes. "Don't get carried away," she finished, reaching for her drink.



Sanji continued to grin like a fool, before Chopper cut through the loud sounds of the crew eating to speak to the cook in low tones. "If you're ready, after breakfast I can run some of those tests," he said quietly, knowing that the blond was quite eager to find out what the problem was.



"Okay," he answered.



***



Sanji winced slightly as the syringe was poked into his arm, sucking the blood out of his pale body. The reindeer deposited the red liquid into a thin glass cylinder, which he placed on a test tube rack on his desk. He then put a small blue plaster over the small spot where it had begun to bleed a bit, patting the cook's arm reassuringly.



"Don't worry, Sanji," he said, grinning at the blond. "You're in good hands."



The cook laughed nervously. "When will I get the results?"



The doctor tensed slightly at this as he realised that he would have to be the one to break the news to the other, but he locked the worry away for later when he would be able to freak out in peace. "Well... hopefully by tomorrow at the earliest, but if not, the day after," he answered, trying his best to sound calm.



"Okay," Sanji said, smiling at the other.



"Please don't worry so much," Chopper repeated.



"I'm not, I'm not," the cook said, "it's probably just some kind of tropical flu that hasn't passed yet. Give my body more credit than that, doctor," he said, smiling and taking a drag on his cigarette.



The reindeer smiled. "But... you shouldn't smoke if it is a tropical flu, Sanji-kun, it'll only make it worse." He said, his concern more for the developing foetus rather than the cook's lungs at this moment in time.



"Ah, I'll be fine," he said, waving a hand at the other. "If that's all, I have to go make lunch now." He said, getting up and walking over to the door with a smile. "Arigatou, Chopper."



"You're welcome," the reindeer said, long after the cook had closed the door. He looked over at the sample of blood on his desk, and set to work with his equipment with a sigh.



***



Okay, so this was written in dribs and drabs, so I'm sorry if it wasn't quite up to par with what you expected >.> Not much of a development in this chapter either, because it wasn't really right to tell them both just yet - it wouldn't happen so quickly anyway. Uhm... so yes, I started writing some of the other characters... do you think they were in character? The only one I haven't written yet is Franky, but I just couldn't think of where to put him in >_> Maybe next chapter. Thanks for reading, and comments are much appreciated, as I'm sure you know by now ♥