Silmeria - Thanks for being patient everyone. Enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer - I claim no rights to One Piece or Sentinel.

Chapter Twenty: The Guide with Taste - Part One

The scuffle was short, sweet and to the point. Luffy's strikes were consistent, accurate and without mercy. His opponent, who arrogantly introduced himself as Marine Lieutenant Fullbody was a bit of a pushover and Luffy felt disappointed at the end result, which led to Fullbody being beaten to a bloody pulp and a hole in the roof of the Baratie. The sight left him with a rush of resignation. The last thing he wanted to do was cause trouble, but he wasn't going to let a man attack him unprovoked.

"You're getting better." Zoro complimented, dragging the Marine by the collar of his shirt and giving him a good shake. "Is he drunk?"

"It doesn't matter," Nami uttered, staring up at the roof with a pinched expression. "What we should be worried about is how we're going to pay for the damages. We don't have enough beri to cover it." Nami whirled around to Luffy who gave a grimace at the thought. "It was irresponsible of you to start a fight, Luffy."

"I didn't start it." Luffy protested, startled that Nami would accuse him so quickly and without proof. "He was the one who attacked me - unprovoked. Do you honestly expect me not to do anything?"

"No." Nami let out a tight sigh. "We might as well try and find the Captain so we can apologize and come up with something to make up for the damage."

The Captain of the Baratie, who went by the name of Zeff, was rather displeased to find a hole in his ship and no beri to replace it. He was a tall, stout man dressed in the proper, white clothing of a chef and with a peg leg to boot. To Luffy, he looked rather rough-looking to be a chef, but to each his own, he supposed.

"You board my ship." Zeff began, his mustache twitching in visible distress. "Engage in fighting and put a hole into my roof. Tell me, how will you pay for this?"

"I would like to apologize for causing so much trouble." Luffy murmured, bowing deeply. "We didn't mean to cause the damage, but I'm afraid that we can't pay for the damages. We sunk our funds into our ship, I'm afraid and we just started on our journey."

Zeff grunted, leaning back against the seat and he turned to a younger man that Luffy hadn't noticed before, dressed in a similar outfit. "What do you think, Sanji? Do you think these people are sincere?"

Sanji rolled his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other, regarded them with a touch of amusement. "I'm sure they are, Zeff, but we need to repair the roof and that takes money."

"I'm sure that you have tools onboard, don't you?" Usopp cut in, taking in the proceedings with a wary eye. "I'm pretty good with tools and whatnot, so why don't I repair your roof?"

"It's not that simple...?"

"Usopp."

"It's not that simple, Usopp." Sanji continued. "This ship is coated with special paint and wood that allows us to operate as we should so it's not a simple repair job." Sanji held out his hand in a grabbing motion. "We're going to need the money." Sanji grinned. "Or, you could-" Sanji stilled, turning his head to the door and behind it, a commotion could be heard. It sounded like fighting and Sanji's back tensed at the thought before turning back to the small group of people. 'You drag trouble wherever you go?"

"No." Luffy turned his head towards the door, hearing the arguing grow increasingly louder before Sanji was moving and opening the door only to move back just as a body flew past his face and into the wall next to him. He turned to see Fullbody standing at the entrance to the hallway, huffing, and puffing and with a red face that Sanji would have found amusing if it wasn't interfering with his cooking.

Calmly, Sanji turned back to the Luffy and pointed towards Fullbody as he rushed past him and continued to assault the man who was obviously on the edge of losing consciousness. "I thought you knocked him out? Fullbody?"

"I did," Luffy acknowledged, joining him at the door and was horrified to see Fullbody over a mostly unconscious man. And Fullbody called himself a Marine?

"Do you think I like being in the middle of nowhere and hunting down ignorant fools?" Fullbody snarled, staring down at his subordinate. "You lost that idiots trial and I have to put up with subpar food-"

"Ah." Sanji stepped out of the room, marched toward Fullbody and greeted him with a swift kick to the stomach that sent him flying into the wall. "That's rude." Sanji stepped over the knocked out marine and continued towards Fullbody, with a manic grin that sent a shiver down Luffy's spine. "Insulting his food not once, but twice and that's after you scared of the staff and made me do the damn job. Do I look I wait tables to you?" Sanji planted his foot on Fullbody's stomach and grinned, applying pressure and almost purring at the cry of pain he received. "Not that's anything wrong with that occupation." Sanji lifted his foot off Fullbody's chest. "I almost killed you before, right? It seems like you're in the mood for it again."

"Don't-"

"I think that you've made your point, Sanji, was it?" Luffy stepped forward, placing a hand close to Sanji's arm, hovering it over the appendage. "You know what happens when you kill Marines, right? You'll take Baratie down with you if you don't control yourself."

Sanji huffed, stepping away and moving past Luffy and towards the Captain's Quarters, but not before tossing Luffy a dark look that froze him to the spot.

"We respect our Chef around here, Luffy and we don't respect his food." Sanji nudged his head towards Fullbody's still form. "That's what happens to you when you disrespect us."

Luffy said nothing, narrowing his eyes at the vague threat before turning his attention back to Zeff who looked resigned at the mess that sat at his feet. "Well, Captain? We're at your disposal until the repairs are done."

"We?" Zeff mocked, rising up from his chair and hobbling towards the window before pointing a hand in Usopp, Zoro and Nami's direction. "I don't believe those three were involved in the fight."

"I'm sorry?"

"You're hearing is perfectly fine, Luffy." Sanji murmured, a wicked grin painting his lips. "You caused the damage and you have to be the one to fix it."

"So," Luffy felt wary at the wicked looks, but wouldn't be cowed, Garp was his Grandfather after all. "What do you want me to do?"

Dishes.

On the floor, the counter, sink and even on small carts. Luffy felt dread at the pit of his stomach at the sight of so many plates, forks, spoons, pots, pans. It seemed endless, but he was thankful that there were three other people, but those people looked exhausted.

Luffy turned to see his crew give him a sympathetic look before they were led out by Sanji who tossed back that the dishes needed to be done before he was assigned his next task.

Luffy swallowed, running a hand through hair before releasing a tight sigh and getting to work. He really needs to get with Nami and decided how they were going to earn beri because he had an odd feeling that this was going to happen again.

"So," one of the dishwashers asked with a mild grin. "Are you the guy that blew a hole in the roof?"

"Yeah." Luffy rinsed the plate before putting it in the drying rack and repeating the process. "I'm here until I make up for the repairs."

"Ah," the man winced in sympathy. "You'll be here for the week. It costs at least six thousand beri to repair the roof with the wood and the coating, but it won't be bad, right?"

Luffy closed his eyes at the number and fought off the sting of frustration. Another week away from Alabasta. Another week from finding Ace.

Another setback.

"Don't worry." the man soothed. "You'll be out at least half that time, considering that Captain Zeff is pretty soft. It's Sanji that you have to worry about."

"Oh?" Luffy goaded. "He's a strange one. Is he a Sentinel?"

"Sanji? A Sentinel?" the man snorted. "Of course not, he's a Guide. They call him the Guide of Taste on the Baratie."

"The Guide of Taste?" Luffy scrunched up his nose at the title. What an interesting one. "Why do they call him that?"

"He has a near Sentinel ability for taste." the man responded, eyes gleaming in awe. "You know how Guides and Sentinels work, right? About the senses, emotions, shields, etc?"

"Of course."

"Well, Sanji's sense of taste is on par of that of a Sentinel. He can taste even the tiniest change of ingredients and rumor has it that he's working on his smell, but he's already good at that, yeah? I mean, you have to be a chef, yeah?"

Luffy hummed in agreement, astonished that a Guide of such caliber was here on a ship doing what he loved without consequence. He felt a pitch of jealously and admiration for the man.

"Are they related?" Luffy was curious about Zeff and Sanji, an odd pair indeed.

"Nah," the dishwasher brushed the idea out of Luffy's mind. "Captain Zeff is Sanji's mentor and adoptive father. He found Sanji floating out in the sea and brought him aboard and it's been a rollercoaster ever since."

Luffy felt a rush of sympathy for Sanji. What could possibly cause a child to be lost at sea? Was his home attacked? Did he run away? The more he talked about Sanji, the more he wanted to know about the man. He was quite the vicious, oddball, but that said nothing compared to Luffy who was searching the seas for his own Sentinel and a new home.

"Although," the washer continued, oblivious to Luffy's thoughts. "I always thought that Sanji was meant for something greater you know? He didn't seem like the type to stay on the ship for the rest of his life. He's meant to go out and find the All Blue."

"All Blue?"

"Yeah, legend has it that the All Blue is where all the Blues meet as one and resources are a chef's dream come true. You'll never run out and the salt from that sea is so good it's said to improve any dish that it touches."

"Even sandwiches?"

"It'll be the best sandwich you'll ever taste."

Luffy chuckled, returning back to his task and wondering about this Sanji character and how protective he is of this crew and its captain and it was well earned, but that brought Luffy back to his original thought: What's stopping Sanji from leaving? Was it loyalty? The thought of being alone?

Luffy understood all of these aspects, but a part of him couldn't help but feel sad for Sanji. The chef had every right to achieve his dream of finding All Blue, just as it was Luffy's dream to find a home with Ace. He didn't know what was holding Sanji back, but he hoped one day the man would find All Blue in all its glory.

Just as he hoped to find Ace in all of his courage and fire.