It's another day on the Sea Restaurant, Baratie. And the two delinquent cooks, are arguing.

"I've never been more disappointed in you, Sanji," Aoi pointed a ladle at Sanji. "To think you've disgraced the name of the restaurant to this extent."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Sanji sucked in his cigarette before removing it from his mouth. "I'm appalled, Aoi."

"Nani..." Aoi lowered the ladle and crossed her arms. "You think I'm the one at fault?"

"What's going on?" Dango asked, having arrived on the scene.

"Aoi and Sanji are having their routine quarrel," Kevin responded.

"Listen, Sanji!" Aoi tapped her ladle on the edge of the cooking pan on the stove. "You don't add salt to scrambled eggs before you cook them! Just milk!"

The other cooks in the kitchen all anime fell. "That's what you're arguing about!?"

"No, you listen! You add the salt to bring out the flavor that fades while cooking it!"

"I've never heard such shitty logic!" Aoi stepped forward and glared up at him. "You don't add the salt! You let the customers add it after we've served them the food!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Sanji growled down at her. "As a cook, I disregard your words!"

"It doesn't matter!" the rest of the cooks yelled at them.

Sanji and Aoi turned their heads slowly to face them, shadows disfiguring their expressions. "You guys stay out of this!"

The cooks all shrieked, backing away from the nightmarish embodiments.

"There's only one way to settle this," Sanji grinned, rolling up his sleeves.

"I agree," Aoi returned the grin, tying up her hair.

"A contest to see who can make the perfect sunny side up egg!" they both said, preparing for the challenge in front of the oven.

"Your sense of logic is like rotten eggs!" the cooks in the room yelled. "If you're arguing about scrambled eggs, have a contest by making scrambled eggs!"

"Ready..." the teens both said. "Sta-"

"Stop this nonsense, lil' vegetables!"

Aoi and Sanji both flew to the side from a kick to the face. Aoi crashed into the dishes and Sanji flew into the crowd of fellow chefs.

"Come with me, lil' carrot," Zeff dragged Aoi out of the kitchen by the scruff of her uniform.

"Oi, shitty geezer!" Sanji struggled to go after them. "What're you doing with Aoi?!"

"You start opening up the restaurant, lil' eggplant," Zeff opened up the swinging doors and disappeared behind them with Aoi.

Zeff threw Aoi in front of him and she stumbled a bit before recovering the feet from under her.

"What the hell do you want, kuso jiji!?" she rubbed her neck where the collar had dug in from being dragged. "Can't you be a bit more delicate?"

Zeff crossed his arms. "What are you laying around here for, Aoi? If you don't hurry, you'll miss your chance."

Aoi tsked, continuing to rub her neck.

"Don't have the courage to tell Sanji?"

"That may or may not be true..." Aoi avoided eye contact.

"You're still that little brat that hangs around Sanji's feet like a puppy, huh?"

"I just..." Aoi sighed. "I'm afraid to see his reaction."

"That's obvious," Zeff deadpanned making Aoi sag in depression. "Hurry up and rip the band aid off, brat."

"Hai, hai, owner," Aoi smiled.

They both began walking back to the kitchen. "I really wish you would let me fix you up a robotic leg."

"What? And risk being blown to bits?"

"Hey... that hurts... that really hurts..."

Zeff ruffled her hair and Aoi shoved it off her head. "You're messing it up!"

"Just go wait the tables, lil' carrot."

"Che..." Aoi ran a hand over her hazelnut hair to smooth it out a bit before grabbing the cart filled with hot towels and emerging into the main part of the restaurant.

When first of the customers arrived, Aoi handed them the Oshibori as she accompanied them to their table. After running around writing down orders, she saw Sanji in the kitchen. Pausing in her step, she looked through the window to watch in awe as Sanji's hands danced. It was beautiful. Every movement was coordinated and graceful, skillful and grand.

Aoi's eyes sparkled, reminiscent of the sun's rays leaping across the sea.

"Hey, waitress! Come here, pretty!"

Aoi's face turned cold and her eyes dulled. She strolled over to the customer slowly, a dangerous inkling in her eyes.

"We've been waiting for our water for hours," the repulsive man overstated, chuckling. "We're thirsty."

Aoi didn't as much as blink. "I apologize, customer. I'll be right out with some water."

Aoi pinned up the orders up onto the corkboard and picking up the pitcher of ice water, exited the kitchen again.

She poured the water into their glasses and made to leave.

"Stay and talk to us, miss," the man rested his leg on the table, his dirt coated shoes staining the white table cloth. "You entertain your customers in this run down place, don't you?"

Aoi scrutinized him from the corner of her eye. Foul tattoos crawled down his tan skin, piercings on his eyebrow and nose, not to mention the not so hidden pistol in his pocket. Pirate? Or an imbecile looking for trouble.

"Come now," his comrade said, looking just as vulgar. He grabbed her wrist. "Sit down."

Aoi saw the ring on his middle finger and her eyes flickered over to the other guy's hand. Same ring. They both had the same skull and crossbones design. Pirate.

Aoi slid her hand out of his grip and she smiled at them, her eyes not receiving the same warmth. "I have better things to do, sir. And if its entertainment you're looking for, why don't you take a look at yourself? That'll give you something to laugh about."

She began to walk away, but she paused to look around at their stunned faces once more. "Also, if you say another bad word about this restaurant," Aoi's smiling face darkened. "I'll kill you."

The pair sat in shock as she walked away to take care of some new customers that had come in.

"That bitch!" they both rose from their seats to stomp over to Aoi who had been pouring some water for a nice elderly couple.

They hit the pitcher out of her hands and it shattered onto the floor. All the customers looked up from their food to stare.

"Why you...!" Aoi was about to attack when she saw a flash of blond.

The two pirates were pelted with kicks to the face and they flew in the air before landing with a painful crash.

"Sanji!" Aoi said in surprise. "How the hell did you get down here so quickly?!"

"I heard breaking glass," he answered casually.

"That was two seconds ago! No way were you able to get here in that span of time!"

"Sanji! Aoi-san!" Patty and some other cooks were gazing down at them from the stairwell. "What happened!?"

Patty gasped when he saw the knocked out pirates. "Customers! How dare you do that to customers, Sanji?!"

"They were trying to molest Aoi," Sanji said, still casual.

"That's way too exaggerated!" Aoi yelled at him.

"Well, then. Good job," Patty nodded in approval.

"Don't agree with him so easily, Patty-san!" Aoi reproached. She noticed all the diners staring at them. "Ah! Gomenasai! Please carry on with your meal!"

They did so after hesitating for a second. Aoi exhaled in relief then glared at Sanji. "I can take care of myself, Sanji."

"I know," Sanji said, his cigarette releasing smoke into the air.

"If you know, stop continuously stealing my thunder! I have all this pent up energy because you keep beating up-"

Sanji placed a finger on her lips, leaning down and spreading his lips seductively. "You're ruining the peace of the restaurant, mademoiselle."

Aoi licked his finger and Sanji recoiled, taking his finger off her lips. Aoi stalked over to the unconscious pirates and picked one up, pulling his arm over her shoulders. Her vigor from before completely gone. "Help me with the other."

Sanji frowned as he watched her walk out of the room to the outside.

Aoi raked around, searching for whatever might've looked like the pirate's boat. She found a little sail boat with the same insignia on its flag as on their rings and dumped the man inside. Sanji did the same when he reached her and she crouched down and folding up her sleeve to keep it from touching the water, added little circular contraptions to the back of the boat. After securing them, she untied the rope that kept the form of transportation from floating off to sea and tossed it into the boat.

She began to walk away, leaving Sanji bewildered by her actions. He sprinted to catch up to her. "What did you do?"

"Three, two, one," she counted down. On one there was a huge explosion and Sanji whipped around to see the sail boat flying into the air, shrinking as it went farther and farther into the horizon.

"Sugoi! Sanji shadowed his eyes with his hand as he witnessed the boat getting smaller and smaller. There was a miniature puff of smoke. "Ah..."

"That time it was supposed to explode," Aoi said. "I don't what anyone to replicate my work."

Aoi slid her hand into Sanji's and his face flared up in a blush, but it quickly receded when she placed her apron in his grasp. She smiled. "Your turn."

Sanji was rooted the floor as she ran to the spiral staircase in the middle of the restaurant. He finally brought himself back to reality and ran after her. "Aoi! I'm the assistant head chef! Don't just kick me out of the kitchen so carelessly!"

"Well, I'm the Saute chef!" Aoi ran up the stairs two at a time. "And I demand to be one for the rest of my last day!"

"What?" Sanji froze at the base of the steps.

Aoi also halted on the stairs, taking in a deep breath. She slowly turned, smiling sadly down at Sanji. "The Wave Rider is done."

Sanji's eye widened and he lowered the hand he held the apron in to hang limply at his side.

"Oh."

_

Carne almost felt pity toward that brat Sanji. When he had snuck downstairs, he saw that the blond was going about entertaining the guests with an absentminded, compulsory smile. He huffed as he saw Sanji overflow a customer's glass with wine and hurriedly apologize for being clumsy. Carne then headed upstairs to see that Aoi was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at the burner with a glazed look on her usually playful face. Their co-workers were glancing anxiously at her, dancing around her as they cooked.

The stout chef walked up to her and clapped her on the shoulder. She broke out of her stupor and lifted her head to gaze at him. "Carne-san..."

"No regrets," Carne said gruffly. "It's your life, Aoi. Follow your own will."

Aoi sighed. "Easier said than done. I grew up in this restaurant. On this sea."

"And it'll forever be here to welcome you home," Carne told her. "Spread your branches and live your life. We'll be your roots."

"But Sanji..."

"Fuck Sanji," Patty joined in. "Actually, don't. Please don't. Unless you already have-"

"What this shitty cook is trying to say is, stop relying on Sanji hand and foot. You need to make your own decisions," Dango advised.

Aoi still looked indecisive.

"Okay, look at it this way, Aoi," Carne said. "If Sanji wasn't a problem, would you go?"

"Without a moment's hesitation," Aoi answered.

"Would it kill you not to go?"

"Not necessarily..."

"You're lying."

Aoi sighed, under the gazes of all the cooks in the room. "Yes, it would."

"Then you should go!"

Aoi bit her bottom lip tentatively when there was an earth shaking crash from below them. She ran out of the kitchen and down the spiral staircase. She saw Sanji sprawled out, having been thrown across the room and knocking over several chairs and tables. Food and water were spilled and shattered glassware was strewn haphazardly. The doorway was blown to bits and a huge cavity was now the main focus in the entire room.

"Sanji," Aoi called, leaning over the railing. "You dead?!"

"What a question..." Sanji groaned, wincing at a throbbing pain in his spine. "I'm alive."

"Behold!"

Aoi snapped her head around to see the quite bizarre character that now filled the doorway, his crew behind him. She narrowed her eyes as he stepped forward and his edges solidified. The man's red hair was styled in loops after loops, making it look like he was some sort of extraterrestrial. He was shirtless, his chest hair also in those eccentric circlets and he was wearing really tight, violent purple pants. His rubber sandals were a light, faded mint green and perhaps the oddest feature on this organism, was the fact that he was twirling a hula hoop around and around his hip, his arms up in a crane like pose.

"Behold! Are you the people who hurt my dear underlings?!"

The cooks and the customers were all ogling in astonishment at him as he kept swinging his hips around to keep the hula hoop aloft.

"You mortified that this idiot blew you back?" Aoi asked Sanji who nodded numbly.

"Extremely," he said.

"Nanda nanda!? Do I hear the sound of people underestimating me?" he swooned back. "I am the Captain of the powerful Hula Hoop pirates! The one who's name will be resounding with fear and awe throughout the entire Grand and Red Line!"

He struck a pose, his hips still swaying. "Behold! Aloha Loopy!"

"There we go," Aoi dusted off her hands as she and Sanji finished cleaning up the mess the explosion had caused. "All done."

"Listen when someone is talking to you, you jerks!" the man shouted at them.

Aoi turned to him. "We're the victims here. What's the matter with you? Barging in without prior notice."

"Oh, I'm sincerely sorry- to hell with that! You bloodied up my subordinates!"

"That's only because they made a move on my precious Aoi," Sanji blew out a string of smoke.

"Like I said before, they didn't get that far," Aoi snapped.

Sanji pointed his cigarette at the man. "And now that you've damaged this restaurant, damn hoop bastard. Prepare to be served a kicking appetizer."

The man brightened up. "Free food?"

Sanji ran at the man and kicked him square in the face.

"Captain!" the strange man's crew yelled.

Aoi whistled. "Impatient, aren't we?"

"Sanji's raring to go," Dango chuckled, watching with the others on the stairwell.

Sanji jumped back to stand next to Aoi again as Loopy recovered. He wiped the blood dewing on his cheek and he kept up that hip swinging. "Now you've done it, hormonal brats. Behold!"

He rustled around in his pants pockets, the hula hoop going around and around his ankle as he did so.

"Hula Hoop Pro!" he announced, one hula hoop around his neck as he moved the former back onto his hip.

Sanji and Aoi blinked, watching as the man did a sort of waddle to keep the two rings aloft. They burst out laughing, tears sprouting in their eyes as they supported each other.

"Stop laughing!" Loopy barked, enraged.

They kept guffawing.

"Stoppit!" Loopy growled. "Behold!"

Sanji and Aoi's laughing died down and they lifted their heads up to see that he had acquired two more rings and he was swinging them around his wrists, making him look even more ridiculous. The two teenagers fell to the ground, punching and kicking the air, hugging their stomachs from the hilarity.

"I can't breathe!" Aoi cried, laughing her head off.

"Maybe this is how he's going to defeat us!" Sanji was rolling around, tears pricking his eyes.

"Is this guy some sort of joke?" Dango smiled hesitantly as his fellow chefs behind him also succumbed to loud, raucous laughter.

"Don't make fun of the captain!" the pirates growled.

Tick marks were layering Loopy's head as even the customers banged their table and let out gleeful shouts.

"Loop loop no mi! Never-ending cycle!" Loopy pirouetted around, a sort of light emitting from him.

Sanji and Aoi stopped sniggering and got to their feet, not having noticed what the man had done.

"Let's kick this guy back to where he slithered out from," Sanji wiped away a tear.

"Let's," Aoi grinned.

And they both bulleted at the man. Sanji readied a kick and Aoi crossed her arms, readying her weapon. They were ready to make contact when the man was no longer in front of them, in fact he was the same distance as when they had been getting ready to charge.

"Nani?!" Aoi's pupils dilated, uncomprehending what had happened.

Sanji was just as astonished as he lowered his foot in uncertainty.

"Our Captain is the user of the Loop Loop no mi!" a crewmate announced. "It's capable of warping reality, bending the time space continuum, creating a continuous, repeating loop! He connected two paths, making a circle you can never escape. Once you're trapped, you can never get out!"

It was Loopy's turn to laugh as the people around him all reconsidered the man. He kept twirling around, those hula hoops kept spinning. "Now have you realized the danger you're in? I'm the man who you can never catch! I'm the deity you can never touch! That's right! User of the Loop Loop no mi, Aloha Loopy!"

"Didn't Sanji kick you a few minutes ago?" Aoi said, monotone.

The man stood frozen, even his hoops pausing for a second before he recovered his pride. "That's because he caught me off guard, young lady! We weren't even engaged in battle then!"

"Excuses," Aoi replied as Sanji's shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"Enough of this! Behold!"

Aoi and Sanji stiffened, shifting into their fighting stances swiftly. Aoi's eyes widened, as soon as her foot had met with something, she had teleported in front of Loopy, he smirked before his neck hula hoop wrapped around and hit her over the head and sent her flying.

"Aoi-san!" Dango gasped as Aoi crashed into some tables.

"I can also make little loops," Loopy smirked. "Connecting your path to a spot in front of me."

"You little-" Sanji stampeded, a vein throbbing out of his head, but he once again was transported back to where he had been. "Damn it all!"

"Aoi-san, daijobu deska!?"

Aoi struggled to lift her pounding head, grinding her teeth. A trickle of blood snaked down her forehead. "Those hoops... they're as hard as metal!"

"He he..." one of the pirates gloated. "Surprised aren't ya? Shaking in your shoes, huh? That's right! Our Captain's hula hoops weigh a ton and he swings them with greatest of ease!"

"That's our Captain!"

Aoi sat up and stood. Stumbling over to Sanji, her eyes shadowed. "You really can't judge a book by its cover."

"You alright?" smoke escaped Sanji's nostrils as he exhaled.

"This is nothing," Aoi grinned. "Head wounds tend to bleed a lot."

"Now that you've learned something you incompetent cooks, will you accept your defeat?" Aloha Loopy sneered.

Sanji spat out the his withering cigarette and stomped on it. He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a steel cigarette container which he popped open. Aoi, meanwhile pulled out her aviator goggles and pulled it over to protect her eyes. Sanji lit the cigarette, sucked in relish, removed it, and then puffed out rings of smoke.

"Not only did you damage the restaurant," Sanji said softly, although it was heard by everyone in the room. "Spilled the food that we've labored over for at least a week to make, insult our profession and our skills, but..."

Sanji lifted his head and its expression recalled the sight of the devil. "You also injured the woman of this restaurant! That's the greatest sin you can commit!"

"Heh," Loopy sniggered. "And what're you going to do about it? You can't attack, you can't defend. There's nothing you can do!"

"Aoi, watch carefully," Sanji whispered before he charged. "Ooooooooooh!"

"It's futile," Loopy leered.

Aoi's eyes widened as she saw Sanji step on something that glowed a bright pink before he vanished all together and appeared by her side again.

"See anything?" Sanji panted.

Aoi nodded. "I saw," she pulled out a slingshot. "Our victory."

"Oh?" Loopy's eyes halved as he calculated the weapon. "And what're you going to do with that?"

"Blow your head off. As long as we don't step inside your bubble," Aoi pulled back the ammo filled sling. "We should be able to knock you out."

Aoi shot and the spectators held their breath as it flew. It neared the man before his lip curled ominously, Aoi saw and she back flipped away as the ammunition appeared right in front of her face and exploded.

"Naïve! Oh, so naïve!" Loopy twirled around. "Anything that passes my loop will go right back!"

Aoi teleported in front of him again and this time, he didn't hold back. All of the hoops he'd been twirling hit her repeatedly before she was shot back again. Sanji ran to catch her but he too was abruptly in front of Loopy and received the same treatment.

"Behold!" Loopy spread out his arms. "The power of the Loop Loop no mi!"

"Sanji! Aoi!" Kevin yelled from above. "This is bad!"

"Let's teach that guy a lesson!" Patty made a move to attack.

"No!" Sanji breathed heavily as he got to his feet. "He's mine!"

"You quit it, fuckin brat!" Patty thundered. "You can hardly stand!"

"I'll make him pay for hurting Aoi!"

"Enough of this nonsense. Behold!" the man sent the heavy metal hoops flying.

Aoi and Sanji dodged but the hoops materialized right in front of their face. "Shit!"

A resounding clang and they both fell onto their backs. "Aoi-san! Sanji!"

"Loop Loop! Flying Hoop!" Loopy pirouetted. "Behold--!"

Aoi and Sanji tensed, waiting for the next attack. Loopy just kept hula hooping.

"Say something, you bastard!" the pair snarled at him as the silence dragged on.

"This is getting old..." Aoi sat up in her pile of broken plates and scraps of food. "Sanji, you ready to get serious?"

"I don't know. I'm having too much fun getting my ass handed to me."

Aoi smirked. "The tobacco is getting to your head."

They rose to their feet and dusted the food and dirt off their clothes. "You attached yours?"

"They're stuck like a clam on a stone," Sanji responded, grinning.

"What're you muttering about over there?!" Loopy said, irritated that they didn't seem fazed anymore.

"Hm?" Aoi's eyes were wide and unconcerned. "Oh, well, you see, your fruit doesn't matter... er... Sebastian."

"That's was completely off!" everybody, even the customers exclaimed.

"What do you mean my fruit doesn't matter?" Loopy recovered himself. "And my name is..."

He trailed off as Aoi's voice interrupted. "We don't need to worry ourselves on not being able to get close enough to attack, because you're doing it for us."

"What the hell are you talking about, little girl?"

"Each time you attacked, we were preparing for our ultimate attack," Aoi smirked. "See the bombs planted onto your skin?"

Loopy looked down and his eyes popped out of his skull. There were indeed small, contraptions stuck onto him, blinking a red light. "When did these get here?!"

"When you attacked us," Aoi frowned. "Weren't you listening?"

"They won't come off!" the man started jumping around, simultaneously trying to get the bombs off and keep his hula hoops aloft.

"Of course they won't," Aoi grinned happily. "Because I made them."

Loopy was beginning to panic and his followers were just as frantic.

Sanji smirked as he watched. "We don't need to get close to attack, we can kick your ass from here."

"Do you want to set the bombs off, Sanji?" Aoi asked.

"No. You can do the honors. It's cuter when you do it."

"Hm, suit yourself."

"Pl-please don't! I'm begging you!" Loopy pleaded.

"After everything you've done?" Aoi pouted. "Don't think so."

She took in a deep breath. "Bomb-san! Aoi says DAN!"

The bombs began clicking rapidly and the pirates all shrieked.

"Be careful, those bombs might be small but they can blow off a head or twenty," Sanji provoked with a playful smile.

The noise kept going faster and faster, the pirate's hearts kept racing faster and faster, the suspense becoming too much. Their eyes rolled back into their heads and they collapsed from stress.

Aoi stuck out her tongue. "Not."

The customers began to clap and whistle, cheering for the two teenage cooks.

Aoi and Sanji bowed and after the applause died down, set to cleaning up the restaurant.

"I don't suppose you have an invention that'd help us dump all these idiots into the sea at once?" Sanji said as they looked down at the pile of pirates.

"Sadly, no," Aoi removed the aviator goggles from her eyes and let it hang around her neck.

"We'll help," the pair turned to see Kevin and Takahashi behind them. "The others went back to cook."

"Thanks, you two," Aoi said appreciatively.

"Don't drag your feet, you shitty cooks," Sanji scowled, not at all grateful.

"What did you say, junior?!"

"Who're you calling junior?! I'm the assistant head chef!"

Aoi flicked her hand and the fake bombs flew into her hands, like a magnetic pull had attracted them. "Now, now, boys. We should throw out the trash before it starts stinking up the place again."

After they had sent off the pirates the same fashion they did for the pair before them, the bombs, real ones this time, could be seen blowing up when the small pirate ship was a tiny dot in the horizon.

_

Aoi searched around, feeling a bit fraught. It was the next morning and she had woken up alone in the bed. Woken up on the morning she was going to leave this place to join the revolutionaries. She had told Sanji her plans last night after dinner when everyone had retired and they were enjoying a late night coffee. He didn't say anything after she had done speaking and Aoi had begun to get worried before Sanji lifted his gaze from the coffee cup and smiled. They had went to bed together, just like any normal night but something tugged in the back of Aoi's mind, telling her that the blond cook hadn't gotten any sleep.

The restaurant was hauntingly quiet. The waves lapping against the side of the boat and the sun peeking its rays over the horizon, lightening the cold, gray sky. Aoi finished doing some last minute packing and slung the backpack onto her back. She gazed blankly at the cracked glass cup on the sill of the window before she strolled over and picked it up. She filled it with fresh, tiny flowers and placed it on the bedside table. She took in the room one last time. The warm bed where she and Sanji slept since her nightmares kept reoccurring. Even after they went away, they kept sleeping together out of habit. The room was clean, as Sanji wasn't a typical, disorganized teenager. A potted plant near the base of the window that lead out to the balcony. A shelf next to the bed that held a couple of books. The bed itself had a built in compartment where miscellaneous objects were placed inside. Above that were two pictures. One of Sanji and Zeff, the other of the three of them.

She stared at them.

"Sanji! Zeff-san!" Aoi panted, smiling happily as she ran up to them. They had been admiring the restaurant on the docks, waiting for her arrival.

"Oh, Aoi," Sanji grinned broadly, waving her over.

Aoi stopped a little ways away from them and readied a camera. "Ready?"

Zeff placed a cumbersome hand on top of Sanji's head, making the kid glower up at him. Aoi snapped the picture, the flash going off.

"You need to be in the picture too, Aoi!" Sanji shouted.

"But nobody's around to take it!" she shouted back.

"I'll take it for you, young lady," Aoi looked up to see a nice woman smiling down at her.

"Thank you..." Aoi said sheepishly, handing over the camera.

Aoi ran over to where Sanji and Zeff were and the woman took the picture. She smiled warmly. "Done. And congratulations on your restaurant. The villagers don't believe it'll be successful but I say if you set your minds to it, anything is possible."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sanji gave the woman a winning smile.

"Why do I feel like you'll be a feminist when you grow up?" the nice lady teased.

"Because he already is," Aoi said without a moment's pause.

"Such an overused term. I'm a man who vouches to protect all women and girls!"

"Aw, aren't you cute," the lady ruffled his hair, immediately contradicting his announcement of his manhood.

"Zeff," Zeff introduced himself, offering a hand. The woman shook it.

"My name's Chou. My husband and I own the hardware store down the road."

"Hardware store?" Aoi's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Chou gazed at her in wonder. "You like hammers and the like, little miss?"

Aoi hid behind Sanji and nodded shyly. Chou beamed broadly. "Well come down anytime!"

Chou began to walk away. "I pray for your success."

Aoi leaned down to one knee as she slid a hand down faded etch marks on the wood of the kitchen's doorway. She smiled a bit as she read which one were her marks and which ones were Sanji's. She had caught up to his height at around thirteen but girls usually sprouted sooner than males and soon Sanji was gaining height over her again. At age fifteen, they stopped this custom and Aoi was once again standing from being crouched down.

She walked into the kitchen and speculated her sauce pans, the ones only the sauté chef could use. She glanced behind at the galley before going down the stairs and entering the main part of the restaurant. Above a doorway hung her first attempt at calligraphy.

"What're you doing over there, Aoi-san?" Kevin placed his hands on his knees and leaned over to peer at what she was working on. "Painting?"

"No, calligraphy," Aoi stuck out her tongue in concentration. "Done!"

"Oh, what does it say, lil' carrot," Zeff asked, having come over in curiosity.

"No idea, but it looked cool so I tried it out."

Zeff bonked her on the head with his wooden foot. "What the hell, lil' carrot!? Don't just go writing weird characters with black and red paint! What if it's a chant to call the demon?!"

"That hurt, old geezer! Why can't you just appreciate my art without inflicting pain?!"

"If I did that, we would all be dead!"

"Are you implying something, kuso jiji?!"

Aoi pushed in some chairs that were jutting out from the tables and righted some crooked table cloths. She took one sweeping look of the nostalgic restaurant.

"Aoi!" Sanji said in panic. "You're holding the knife wrong!"

He fixed her grip on the knife handle. "If you aren't careful, you might seriously hurt yourself."

She passed by a sign that she had written for recruitment of new chefs as she headed to the main entrance and exit.

"Owner Zeff! Sanji!" Kevin yelled. "Aoi did it again!"

"Who did you pick up off the streets this time, Aoi?" Patty questioned.

The twelve year old Aoi grinned cheekily. "He says his name is Naruto."

"It's Dango!" the chef yelled down at her.

Aoi frowned up at him. "That's what I said."

Aoi closed the doors behind her and turned to see all the cooks and chefs lined up outside on the fin. Some were trying to hide the fact that they were crying and others broke down altogether. Zeff and Sanji were still nowhere to be seen.

"Don't go, Aoi!" Carne bawled. "You're our only happiness in this hell!"

"Bwuahha! Stay, Aoi! Stay forever!" Patty sobbed, throwing himself at Aoi.

"Weren't you guys the ones who were encouraging her to leave yesterday!" Kevin reproached.

Aoi peeled Patty off her and they watched as she jumped into the tiny sail boat, her stuff already loaded into the back. Aoi smiled up at them.

"I have something that might cheer you up," she tossed a lobster shaped bazooka at them and Patty caught it. "It's called the Shokuatari Meatball. It'll send the mobsters that come to attack flying."

"This is pretty neat, Aoi-san," Dango was impressed as Patty tried out the weapon, the front opening up to reveal tiny canons in the mouth.

Aoi smirked in pride. "Thanks. Also, I checked out the mechanics on the Fin and Fish Head and they both looked fine. If there are any problems, contact Stiff Suit Jr. and he'll help with little cost to you. Tell Zeff that I leave the Fish Head to you, Carne and Patty."

Carne and Patty both gasped. "But! You've never let us touch it!"

"And you won't touch it until you have good reason," there was a foreboding nature in her smile. "Right?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Aoi glanced around again, feeling discouraged by the fact the two most important men in her life hadn't shown their faces. "Then... I guess I'll be off."

The cooks muttered to each other, also wondering where the head and assistant head were.

"Aoi!"

Aoi whipped around and her eyes enlarged. Zeff and Sanji stood on the second level of the restaurant. The sun finally rose fully and the rays danced behind Aoi's head and bounced off the ocean. The light both reached Zeff and Sanji's shadowed faces and lit them up in bright, amazing hues. They were smiling in pride down at her, their eyes soft at the sight of her. Aoi's eyes filled with tears and her face scrunched up.

"Owner Zeff! Sanji senpai!" she shouted, her voice cracking a little. "Thank you for everything you've done for me! Thank you for raising me and protecting me! Please keep yourself warm and don't catch a cold! And... And..."

Aoi bowed so low that her nose almost touched the ground. "I'll always treasure the memories we've made together!"

"Look at you, always been a crybaby, until the very end," Zeff chuckled. "And you should be worried about yourself, not about others."

"Aoi, I'll see you again," Sanji smiled. "Where all the seas meet."

Aoi lifted her head and she beamed that breathtaking smile. "Idiot. I'll be visiting from time to time."

She cast off and when the wind caught the sail, taking her further and further away from her home, she ran to the stern and waved energetically at the crying chefs.

"Protect the restaurant! Look after yourselves! And I'll find some leads on All Blue, Sanji! It definitely does exist!"

"We'll miss you, Aoi! Come back to visit soon!"

"Aoi-san, thank you for everything you've done for us!"

"Sayonara, Aoi!"

"Be safe!"

"Is this alright, Sanji?" Zeff asked his pupil. "You didn't get to tell her."

Sanji kept quiet, watching as Aoi became a speck in the distance. "If she doesn't know, that means I'll have another chance to tell her. That means she'll have a safe journey."

Zeff exhaled through his nose. "Idiots. The both of you."

And so, the young cook set off on her journey to find and join the revolutionaries. At age sixteen, a legendary individual sails off to begin writing her renowned story.

Aoi dug inside her pockets and pulled out the little note Zeff had written down for her, stating that the revolutionaries had been spotted near Syrup Village. She beamed, closing her eyes and clenching the note in her fist. She jumped up and threw her hands into the air, whooping in pleasure.

"This is it! Look out World Government! A tsunami's headed your way!"