My votes and readers have split more than half! WTH!? How do I go from 300+ Reads with 20+ votes to less than 100 Reads and -20 votes? I'm really upset, but at least this book is actually really close to ending. Thank you all who've been reading this book up until now. Follow me to the end and I have something special as a token of my gratitude.

"Hello pretty thing, I take it today is the big day?" The question had ripped you from your thoughts. In a good way. A light dust of pink clouded your cheeks as you exited the girl's dorm with a click of your heels against the deck.

You bowed before your close friend. "Yes Franky, and thank you," you gripped at the skirt of your dress to spin around to let the wind get all caught up in the skirt and puff out like a parachute. "I haven't worn a dress since I was a child, you think Sanji'll like it?" You asked in a shy tone, completely unlike your character. You wanted approval from others for a change.

Franky clicked his tongue. "If he doesn't, then I don't know what would please him," Franky chuckled. "So the dress, why wear one now?" That was a good question you had to admit.

"Um I cause... " You huffed, eyes glued to the midnight grey fabric on the dress. Your thighs just barely seen through the lace skirt meanwhile the rest were solid. "You know what, I'm not entirely sure, Sanji told me to wear something nice for tonight. Nami just gave me this and here I am," the truth in its finest.

"She has good taste, that blonde is lucky."

"Oh," you exclaimed looking past Franky to the man leaned up against the wall. "I think that's the nicest thing I've ever heard from you Kid. Th-thank you."

"It's the truth," he shrugged kicking off from the wall. "Your usual assassin getup is sexier, but this comes in as a close second," you were speechless alright. That costume that you formerly worn was that of black leather, skin tight, and shown off your breasts despite the fact a cape normally kept your body and weapons concealed. You hadn't a clue that Kid found you sexy then, let alone why was he admitting it now?

"I... I... Wow... I'm not so sure on how to process that," you hummed with discomfort.

"You may not be mine anymore, doesn't mean I can't admire you," Kid spoke up, he had a hard time admitting to such a fact though. He was uncomfortable for sure. "(Y/n), you look great, you should know that and your blonde partner is lucky to have you."

"How nice of you!" You were drowning in compliments. Getting a little antsy in the mean time.

"You all have rubbed off on me too well, it's sickening," Kid spits.

"Well your change in behavior had gotten you out of that cage right? And the change has kept you on this crew as long as you have. And, I have a sneaky feeling you won't make up with your former crew. Am I wrong?" Kid shook his head as an affirmative. "See it wasn't all for nothing. I'm surprised Luffy hasn't offered you a place with us. I mean you're pretty buddy with Franky-"

"We'll cross that road when we get there," Kid huffed and took his leave. You puffed out your cheeks, unable to really comment on how Kid reacted to the thought of joining another crew. Then again, he's only ever been a Captain. You can imagine that going from Captain to reporting under another man is quite a change. You knew that feeling first hand, and it isn't easy to adjust so suddenly, that's a fact.

"Cheer up kid, forget him, you have a date to look forward to," Franky smirked taking your mind off the underlying problem.

"You're right, thank you Franky," you thanked your cyborg friend for a second time.

"No problem kiddo," Franky waved.

"Wait, before you go and do your own thing," you stopped Franky as he turned to leave. "I could wait, but do you have any idea as to what Sanji has planned for us?" The tension made you so antsy to know. Sanji spent all of yesterday and today to plan a date, it must be good!

"I do but I also don't," Franky admits cocking a brow. "He's spent the last day or so planning a date that the both of you would like. Which, according to him, wasn't easy. I was left out of the loop mostly though, so I haven't got a clue for the most part."

"Awe, I was hoping you knew... I've been waiting for Sanji to come back home for the better part of an hour."

"Awe, I'm sorry," Franky apologized for your misfortune. "That's unlike him to make a woman wait. But I'm sure it's for a good cause, I know Usopp is helping him out."

"Okay, I suppose," you gazed out onto the town from the Sunny. The sun was setting, the natural lights of the day were slowly dying out as the darkness overcame everything. Streetlights and candles sitting within windowsills of homes illuminated the town to a peaceful glow that was easy on the eyes. Franky sighed, watching as you awaited for Sanji's return. He could feel your spirits dampen little by little the longer you waited. Your fragile little heart must not be taking this delay all too well.

"Next time... Make sure you test your crap out first."

"I did... I must've accidentally made the dosage too big when I recreated it," Usopp sighed with his head hung low keeping a distance from his good friend. "Anyways... I deeply apologize for my screw up. I probably wrecked your relationship with (Y/n)."

"You think..." Sanji groaned running his hands through his hair. He took out his foil package of cigarettes before propping one the butt of a cigarette between his teeth. He snapped the trigger to his golden lighter just for it to hiss. A few more strikes of the switch and a flame never accumulated from the effort. "Great... now I can't even light one up," Sanji's nerves were skyrocketing, his blood began to boil. "It's well after midnight, she's going to kill me."

"She's been more understanding since her surgery... But I don't think you can recover from this one. Technically, in a way, you stood her up."

"Again... I know," Sanji glared at Usopp tossing his cigarette at the man with frustration. He began to imagine how hurt you must be, are you still waiting for him back on the Sunny for a date that was supposed to happen roughly five hours earlier? "Your stupid aroma knocked us out for half the day, sometimes I wish there was a rewind switch in real life."

"I feel ya," Usopp sighed once again. Sanji dreaded having to face you after this stand up. But it was something that he'd have to endure if he wants to spare your feelings to the best of his ability. Afterall, he stood you up due to an accident, you're bound to understand right? Right!? Oh great...

"Time to face the beast..." Sanji took a deep breath in to let it out all so slowly. He used your old nickname, the nickname your crazed state was called. The tension was thick, he could suffocate on it. Even his heart was racing a mile a second. The Sunny out of nowhere felt like it was a prison rather than a place to call home. But push came to shove with Sanji exploring the Sunny for you. First the deck, then the kitchen, even the need to sneak into the girls dorm, nothing. Those were the only places you were known to be. If you were elsewhere that meant bad news, you despised change in general. The search continued.

"Hey," Sanji knocked on the door to Franky's Workshop inviting himself in. Kid and Franky looked up from their work as they were working on upgrading Kid's new mechanical arms by the looks of it. Rather than regular arms, now they shared a strange resemblance to Kid's old model and Franky's current ones combined. They had blocky shoulders, blocky forearms as well in gunmetal grey titanium where the inner workings look to be concealed in a protective outer shell.

"Where've you been?" Franky acknowledged Sanji with a concerned frown.

"Me and Usopp got into a bit of a pickle," Sanji thought that was the best and most reasonable explanation he could deliver. Realizing his suit was a bit torn and stained in places especially the knees. Kid rolled his eyes, grunting with disgust and resumed to work on his arm. "I'm here now though... You seen (Y/n)? I can't find her anywhere."

Kid dropped his screwdriver with a growl. "I don't care if you were in trouble or not!" The red head snapped. "You could've called ahead to let her know you weren't going to be there for her," Sanji's heart stung with pain like a bee to it's innocent victim.

"You're not wrong but... Why the hell do you care? This is out of character even for you," Sanji points out.

"I've came to her terms," Kid began. "What I thought was a wolf seeking its prey was actually a weak helpless pup searching for a home... And you abandoned it," Sanji had no words on the subject. Kid was correct in one degree, but Sanji was correct in his own and will stand by it till the very end. Much like when you were poisoned the day you joined the crew, Sanji was made out to be the bad guy, and will stand for his beliefs till the very end with a heart of gold.

"Just answer my question, where is she?" Sanji growled with patience wearing thin.

"No clue," Franky stepped forward to separate the two hotheads before another fight could break loose. Nobody needed another heated battle. "(Y/n) came in here for a while then left to search for Robin or Zoro... You know where to look."

"Thanks," Sanji stepped away. The library was closer than the crowsnest, therefore he shall check there first. He stepped in, the large space quiet and cold as if nobody had resided in there in years. The place needed a cleaning, dust on every bookshelf and book. You think with how often Robin was in here she'd keep the place tidy. Still, he checked around every corner, his heart sprang to life seeing your form lied out upon the couch in a dress almost as black as the midnight sky. "Well that was easier than I thought," Sanji breathed stepping before the couch and knelt down to your level. Sanji loved how peaceful you looked in your sleep, which probably isn't anything new, but it was rare to find something so wild act so tame.

"I won't wake her," Sanji pets your chilled cheek, grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over your beautiful body within its warm stitched embrace. You hummed, twitching your nose within a stir, pulling the blanket to your chest for a snuggle. This alarmed Sanji, he had tried his best not to steal you from slumber, for he cursed at his own chivalry.

"That you... Sanji?" You hummed cracking your eyelids open to less than a quarter of their size. You even sounded worn out, how late did you wait for him?

"Y-Yeah..." Sanji admits although his gut feeling said to run away.

"You look sickly pale... What happened?" You asked curiously.

This took Sanji by surprise, he expected a long list of questions like, where have you been? Or How could you hurt me? And so on... "Usopp wanted to spice up our date by giving us some candles he made some time ago. The fragrance didn't sit in well, it made me sick and pass out... I didn't wake up until maybe a half hour ago, I'm still pretty wobbly on my feet if I'm being honest," you frowned, sitting up from your spot on the couch with a small stretch.

"Unless he's a chemist, he really shouldn't be messing around with chemicals to make fragrances like that," you inform Sanji, grabbing him by the wrist to show you wanted him closer. Sanji sat down beside you, you lean into his side, retracting immediately scooting away. "Usopp knows what he's doing... He made poison."

"What?" Sanji gasped.

"I can smell it on you," you whimper, tugging on his sleeve to rid of his suit jacket immediately. "Law taught me about this, he uses it all the time in my surgeries but also because it was used all the time when I was a test subject. I don't remember the real name for it but everyone referred to it as Dime. It's technically not poison, more an easily abused drug than anything else. It's an oil that can knock out anyone for two or three days.... And if overdosed, which is very easy, you could die! No wonder why you feel so sick!" You threw Sanji's suit jacket off to the side, freaking out, Sanji was at a high probability to die seeing how pale he was.

"But I was only out for almost a day," Sanji corrected, grabbing you gently by the forearms to calm you down, in which, it worked.

"Yeah," you sighed sitting down once more. "The drug is weakened when taken from its original form. You said it was in a candle right?" You wanted your facts.

"Yeah," Sanji agreed unsure of himself. "I know where you're getting at, but if Usopp did poison me, why poison himself as well if he could die? Usopp is too much of a scaredy cat to hurt himself like that," valid point for sure, it really got your gears turning. "(Y/n) as much as I want to side with you, I think this was just a freak accident. Afterall nobody gained anything from us sleeping all day and Usopp isn't the best chemist, more of a reason for us to get one. I think you're just paranoid from being poisoned the first time," Sanji lied a hand upon your cheek, resting his forehead against yours. He wasn't mad, he embraced your mistakes, it made your heart melt.

"Maybe I am paranoid..." You half heartedly agree.

"Don't get yourself down," Sanji grinned. "None of us got hurt, so why don't we all get to sleep?" you grinned softly with Sanji.

"I want you to change first," you pushed on Sanji's chest. "I may not be superhuman anymore but my nose is still as sensitive as a dog's."

"That's a given," Sanji snickered. "I'm not sleeping in my suit anyways."

"Hurry up," you yawned lying back down upon the couch. Looks like you made the sleeping arrangements for tonight. Sanji made sure as he hurried along and changed himself into a t shirt and shorts before coming back to the dead silent library. He disposed of his previous suit outside to air out. You were all cuddled up within the blankets once he returned. Sanji disturbed you by pulling the blankets from your form to join in. He laid himself down next to you, covering the both of you up to conceal you from the cold. To Sanji's surprise you climbed atop him and rested yourself into his chest. His heart beat against his chest in a steady rhythm that soothed you into a steady slumber.

"For a moment there... I thought you purposely forgot about our date," you spoke softly.

"I'd never," Sanji embraced you, resting a hand to your head and entangled his fingers within your soft hair. "We can retry that date again tomorrow..."