Chapter song: "Lola" by The Kinks

Everything had started with a kiss. Perhaps that was a little cliché, but it was undeniably an accurate statement to describe how the incredible events had begun. It was truly amazing how much could be affected by one seemingly insignificant exchange, all because of the unpredictable nature of Devil Fruits.

The Straw Hat pirates had just docked the Thousand Sunny after sailing through a disastrous storm. It had been a particularly nasty one, even for the Grand Line, and it had left the entire crew just as beaten and battered as their ship. Chopper, Usopp, and Franky had their hands full with patching up the crew and ship alike, and the kitchen was woefully understocked after the long week of storms, typhoons, and freak lightning or hail showers that had delayed their course on the way to the next island.

Most of the crew had stayed behind on the Sunny to get some well-deserved rest after battling the ferocious ocean for the past seven days, but the Monster Trio would never be caught taking it easy upon arriving at an unfamiliar place when new adventures, strong challengers, or delicious local cuisine could be waiting in store for them; Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji headed straight into town and were promptly separated by the distant scent of a meat vendor that captured the attention of their captain, a particularly complicated roundabout (or at least, it seemed that way to the directionally challenged swordsman), and the enthusiastic wave of a beautiful barmaid beckoning for the women-loving cook to enter her place of work.

The bar was seedy at best, but Sanji had already been swept inside by the insistent smile of the lovely lady standing outside the front doors. He hadn't been planning to drink before at least restocking the food and supplies needed to feed the crew over the next leg of their journey, but he simply couldn't deny such a gorgeous maiden her attempt at seducing him into her establishment. He resolved to buy a few beers, chat up some beautiful woman (dancing with at least two), and ask around for information on the island's best culinary delicacies.

He had finished two beers and complimented no less than twelve tipsy sweethearts when she caught his eye—a woman wearing a modest, floor-length dress was twirling her way through the crowd of dancers, her long blond hair floating around a slim, curvaceous figure as she moved in perfect harmony with the music. She was the epitome of the social butterfly, skirting from one dancing man to another and gracing each one with a moment of her time and attention. Sanji's eyes followed her movements for a few short moments before deciding that he must join her for a dance. A moment later, he had gently caught her elbow as she nearly twirled into him during her next round on the dance floor.

"You are an exquisite sight for the eyes, my dear! I couldn't bear to simply watch your performance from afar, so I've come to humbly implore you for a dance," he told her smoothly. Hearts blossomed in his eyes when she turned to look at him from beneath long, dark lashes, and he saw that she had an equally attractive face. It was painted skillfully with a large amount of extravagant make-up that filled the space around her blue eyes, making them appear big and inviting within the colorful pattern. Her lips were painted ruby red to match the trim of her black gown and draw attention to the single, endearing beauty mark above her lip.

"Why thank you, sir. It's not often that I'm payed such an elegantly worded compliment, and it is especially welcome from a handsome, well-dressed man such as yourself."

Her voice was deep and sultry, seeming to come from the back of her throat with an enticing vibrato that Sanji could feel rumbling in his bones. He smiled with pleasure and quickly brought her hand to his face to softly brush her knuckles against his lips. "My lady, your kind words outdo me! Please allow me to make your acquaintance so that I may compliment your beauty and grace even further! My name is Sanji."

She laughed a little behind her hand and said, "I'm Lola. You chose the perfect time to seek my attention, Sanji. I'm celebrating a long-awaited achievement tonight."

"How wonderful! May I ask what special occasion is being honored, beautiful Lola-chan?"

Before she had a chance to answer, the two of them were approached by another man vying for her attentions. Sanji recognized his obnoxiously red hair from earlier and was sure that he had been one of the dancers among the crowd when sweet Lola had been dashing from person to person. The redhead stepped up to her side and took hold of her elbow in a rough parody of the gesture Sanji had used to politely claim her attention earlier.

"Lola, baby! How about another one of your sweet kisses before I call it a night, eh?" The man leaned towards Lola, lips puckered as though he expected her to reciprocate.

"Hey assface!" Sanji snapped, shoving the man back a step with the heel of his shoe. "She didn't say you could do that! Don't disrespect a lady with such a direct attack before gaining her consent. What are you, an animal?!"

The man stumbled backwards, his eyes darting to Sanji's long leg which had practically teleported from the ground to block his advances. He rubbed the spot on his chest where the strong kick had connected and shot Sanji a look of pure irritation. "What's your deal, man? It's just Lola. She likes it."

The cigarette hanging in Sanji's mouth bent as his teeth snapped together around it. "What did you say, bastard?! How dare you talk about her like that?!" He knocked the offending man onto his ass with another well-placed blow, though he hadn't needed anywhere near half his real kicking strength for this drunken ape.

"Oh dear…" Lola exclaimed sullenly, her lovely lips pursing in an attractive pout. "Although I'd like to commend you for fighting for a lady's honor, you diverted my one hundredth kiss after I worked so hard to draw him in! I guess you'll just have to take his place," she told him slyly.

Lola gave him no time to consider her words before she caught Sanji's face in a rough grip and planted her lips firmly against his. His mind reeled when the contact ignited sparks of electricity that flowed into him in a steady current. He froze, too stunned by the odd sensation travelling through his veins to respond with his usual enthusiastic manner. It spread to every inch of his body, leaving behind an odd tingling in the tips of his fingers and toes as she pulled back and smiled triumphantly. "Have a nice life, buddy!"

Sanji blinked, too shell-shocked to realize the subtle difference in Lola's tone of voice as she swept away from him on the dance floor—he only registered the fact that she'd kissed him so intensely and had set his blood ablaze with some sort of strange…magic. That was the first word that came into his mind when he tried to describe the result of their connection.

He had no idea how painfully close to the truth he was.

The log pose would take another five days to set, giving the Straw Hats plenty of time to prepare for cast-off and enjoy the unique culture of Loa, an island with unusually devout inhabitants who all seemed to share a strong sense of reverence and pride for history—not unlike a certain archaeologist aboard the Sunny.

"The natives seem to have a deep respect for the ancient ruins that reside here," Robin remarked, running an appreciative bunch of hands along the tall surface of an impressively preserved stone carving. "It looks as though these artifacts are regularly maintained to keep them from being overrun by wildlife."

"I simply LOVE hearing you talk so ardently about historical ruins, Robin-chan! You always sound so knowledgeable and passionate!" Sanji smiled widely at his beautiful crewmate and hefted their supply pack into a steadier positon on his shoulders. He had offered to come along on her expedition in order to remove any burden she may have had to carry on the long trek through the jungles of Loa. Robin had gratefully accepted his help and wasted no time in putting him to work. Sanji was in charge of the pack full of archeological tools, reference material, and food and drink. He happily laboured for his love as she directed him throughout the many historical sites, assisting her in any way and taking on all of the heavy lifting without complaint.

By the end of the day, Sanji was surprised to discover that he had thoroughly exhausted his resources of energy and had actually found the physical activity strenuous—not that he would admit it to his lovely Robin-chan, who had offered to share the load on many occasions only to be politely declined. It was the man's job to lighten his lady's workload, after all. However, the astutely observant Robin was not to be fooled by his constant reassurances that the work was no trouble.

"Perhaps we should take a short break before returning to the ship," she suggested smoothly.

"That's not necessary, my sweet. It'll be dinnertime soon, and I'll need to prepare you something extra nutritious to replenish the energy you spent during today's expedition." He smiled brightly, his expression faltering as he considered her needs. "But of course, if you feel like you need to rest than please take all of the time that you need!" he amended hastily.

Robin's perceptive gaze shifted to the light sheen of sweat that had formed on Sanji's forehead—she took note of the slowly damping locks of his golden hair that were beginning to plaster to his face from the effort, the barely concealed labour of his breathing, and the nearly imperceptible racing of his heartbeat.

"I'm perfectly rested, thanks to you, Cook-san. Would you like a few of my hands to help transport some of these items?" Robin asked, making arms blossom around his feet as she waited for his answer. She was tactful enough to refrain from mentioning how out of character it was for Sanji to be so visible winded after a few hours of routine archeological tasks, no matter how arduous they would have been for a normal man.

He had noticed a subtle weakness in his body as the day had progressed and wondered if he had accidentally prepared an underbalanced breakfast before leaving that morning—but no, there was no way he had miscalculated something as important as a full, healthy breakfast. Why then did he feel as if he'd just finished a much more difficult workout than he actually had?

"My dear Robin-chan is worried about my health! Such a thoughtful, heartfelt sentiment makes me want to climb a mountain and sing my gratitude for all the world to hear, but then who would be left to carry the fruits of your labour that we worked so hard to collect?" he asked her ardently. Robin's eyes narrowed with suspicion before she returned his smile and politely withdrew her extra hands.

"As you wish, Sanji-kun. Let's get moving before it starts to get dark then."

"After you, Robin-chwan!" He lifted the pack higher on his aching shoulders and followed his crewmate with his typical love-struck expression, carefully masking his trepidation. When the hell did I become so soft? he wondered, as his muscles screamed in protest. I'm sure I'll feel better after a good rest…

The second day, however, proved to be no easier than the last. Sanji awoke with a dull throbbing in his temples—nothing he couldn't handle as he went about his morning routine of preparing breakfast for the crew and herding his shipmates into the galley—but the distracting ache caused him to slightly overcook the last batch of pancakes while he thought about possible remedies for the annoying pain. Luckily, no one noticed his minor lapse in concentration, and the less than perfect flapjacks ended up in the rubber stomach of a very unobservant captain.

"How are you feeling today, Cook-san?" Robin asked over breakfast. Her unexpected question caught the attention of a few members of the crew, but Sanji played it off as casually as he had yesterday.

"I couldn't possibly have anything to complain about when you lovely ladies are gracing my presence!" he said sweetly, twirling his way to the table with two delicious fruit cups for the beautiful females. The sudden action caused a brief spot of gray to cloud his vision, but his smile remained in place as he gracefully placed the dishes in front of his ladies.

"Were you not feeling well yesterday, Sanji-kun?" Nami asked conversationally, tipping a spoon of fruit into her luscious mouth.

He was momentarily distracted by her lips sucking the juices from that spoon, but he quickly replied, "I'm right as rain, Nami-swan! How kind of you to worry about me—I'm overjoyed to be on the receiving end of your concern! Can I get you anything else with your meal? Perhaps some more coffee? Robin-chan?"

The two woman waved him off and returned to their food. Nami's attention was quickly redirected to Luffy as she scolded him from trying to sneak extra food from her plate while Robin turned to quietly watch the swordsman's reaction to their exchange. Zoro hadn't even looked up from his rapidly shrinking pile of pancakes and was seemingly ignorant to the world around him as he shovelled the fluffy circles into his mouth. He didn't comment when their other crewmates addressed the cook's well-being.

"Sanji knows that he can come to me if he's ever feeling under the weather, right Sanji?" Chopper piped up sweetly, though he was only half-focused as he coated his tower of pancakes in enough syrup to drown a man.

"The immune system can always use a little help, so be sure to drink lots of milk to strengthen your bones! I know a thing or two about strong bones being a living skeleton and all. Yohohohoho!" Brook cackled good-naturedly.

"If you're feeling okay than hurry and make me more of these yummy pancakes—with some meat to wash it down!" Luffy demanded through a mouthful of food.

"You're not getting any more pancakes today, you damn rubber glutton! I've already fed you enough to make a significant dent in the stores of flour that I just restocked!" Sanji's foot came down on Luffy's hand, pinning it to the table before he could succeed in stealing from Nami's plate. "I suppose I should grab an extra bag or two before we cast off, just to be safe," he added absently to himself.

Shortly afterwards, the crew began trickling out of the kitchen as their food disappeared. Nami and Zoro were the last at the table when Sanji began clearing the dirty plates in preparation to wash the dishes. The lady seemed to be savouring the taste of her second cup of coffee, while Zoro moodily pushed around the remaining scraps of pancake that had become soggy with sickly-sweet syrup—he didn't enjoy sweet things and was always reluctant to finish the last few pieces. Nami took one more sip from her mug and stood to leave the galley.

"Don't leave a single bite, or Sanji-kun will give you hell like he did last time," she said to him coyly on her way out.

"I'm not gonna waste it. You don't have to tell me that," Zoro grumbled, shoving every last trace of pancake into his mouth and swallowing with a comically scrunched up expression of disgust. "Ick. I'm all done, Cook," he announced, holding out the empty plate towards Sanji, who was on the opposite side of the room filling the sink with soapy water.

"You're so damn lazy, marimo. I'm not your friggin' butler," Sanji snapped in annoyance. He stomped across the room, ignoring the constant throbbing pain in his temple that was increasing with each step, and snatched the plate out of the swordsman's tight grip—or he tried to, but his fingers slipped from the glass edge when the strength in Zoro's fingers overpowered his own. They accidentally released the plate at the same time, and it shattered on the wooden floor, spreading shards beneath their feet. "Shit. There goes a perfectly good plate. You eat like an animal anyways, so you may as well lick it clean of syrup next time so that it doesn't slip," he said hastily, dropping to the floor to pick up the biggest shards.

Zoro watched him with a silent scowl. "Oi," he snapped, suddenly lurching forward to slap the cook's hands away as he was reaching for a piece. "Your hands are shaking, curly-brow. Where the fuck is your head? Even I know not to clean up glass shards with my bare hands. You're gonna hurt yourself, shit-head."

Sanji glared at him and defiantly plucked a few of the bigger shards off the floor, carefully transferring them to the trash bin just to prove that he could do it without injuring himself. "You're imagining things. My hands are just as steady as they've always been. Mind your own business," he said casually.

Zoro narrowed his eyes and watched the other man as he brought over a broom and dustpan to finish disposing of the mess. The cook only made it halfway to the floor, sliding instead into the closest chair as if he had suddenly changed his mind on his next course of action. He paused after taking a seat, leaning against the broom for support with forced nonchalance.

"Why should I clean up after you? Like I said, I'm not your butler."

Sanji winced inwardly, hoping that Zoro hadn't heard the slight gasp that had escaped when a brief wave of dizziness swept over him, along with another momentary spotting of his vision. He stared at his hands, white-knuckled around the broom handle, as he tried to quickly catch his breath. Must've bent down too suddenly, he thought defiantly.

"It was half your fault anyways, shit-cook," Zoro told him, "but you did get the cleaning started, so I guess that's fair," he added, surprising the blond. Suddenly, the broom and dustpan were out Sanji's hands, and Zoro was kneeling in front of the shattered plate as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to sweep the galley floor.

"Wha—?" Sanji just gaped at him. It was incredibly rare for Zoro to agree to do something as mundane as chores without at least the pretense of grumbling in annoyance. Before he could comment on it, the floor was bare and the remaining shards had been dumped into the bin along with the pieces Sanji had collected.

The weirdness continued when Zoro strolled over to the sink, dunked another plate under the soapy water, and began methodically scrubbing away. Sanji must have made some kind of shocked noise, because he turned to look at the blond over his shoulder. "You gonna sit there staring at me all day or what?"

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sanji asked angrily.

Zoro turned back to his task, setting aside the clean plate and adding another to the water. "Are you stupid? I'm doing the dishes—it's my turn to wash." When Sanji remained silent, he added. "Thanks for getting the water ready. You can go now, curly. Take a break and relax for once."

It was then that Sanji understood why the other man had been acting so strange after the plate shattered—he had noticed that the cook really wasn't feeling well like he'd said. The realization left him with conflicting feelings of anger, because the shitty-swordsman had acknowledged Sanji's weakness, confusion, because he hadn't said a word about it other than mentioning his shaky hands, and perhaps even the tiniest bit of begrudging respect for the casual way in which Zoro had offered his help.

Sanji muttered an affirmation and quickly left the galley, pleased that Zoro had his back to him and hadn't been able to see the slight waver in his footsteps after he quickly stood up from the chair. The cook regained his balance and headed to the men's dorm room in confused silence. Since when does the shitty-marimo do me favors so willingly? It's not like I'm dying, he thought curiously.

The headache had returned full-force as he contemplated that green idiot's motives, and Sanji was forced to lie down in his bunk to wait out the sudden pain. It eventually subsided into a dull ache, and he was able to make his way to the infirmary to swipe some of Chopper's pain medication. He'd just been about to re-enter the galley and get a glass of water to help swallow the pills when he heard his sweet Robin-chan talking the swordsman on the other side of the door.

"Cook-san seemed out of sorts to you, too?" she was asking in confirmation.

The concern in her tone put a foolish grin on Sanji's face which immediately turned into an angry frown when Zoro replied, "Yeah. He damn near sliced a finger open trying to handle broken glass when he was shaking like a leaf—he's usually more concerned about those precious hands of his—and then the idiot nearly passed out trying to sweep the shards up."

"I hope he isn't suffering from some sort of jungle fever unique to this island…"

"What the hell, Robin?!" Zoro snapped, annoyed with her typical morbidity.

"We did spend an awful lot of time hiking through the woods. I fear he was bitten by a dangerous arachnid and injected with a terrible poison."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Zoro replied tiredly.

Robin giggled slyly. "Keep an eye on our cook until we can draw some sort of conclusion, Swordsman-san." Her voice sounded much closer to the door, so Sanji hastily began retreating before he could be caught spying on their conversation. He figured he knew what Zoro would say to that—probably something along the lines of, "I'm not gonna waste my time watching over that idiot," or "I've got better things to do than babysit the shit-cook"—so he was surprised to catch Zoro's affirmative grunt.

"Don't I always?"