"The fish aren't biting today," Usopp whined. Slumping over the railing with his fishing rod in hand. Tani was bored out of her mind. Zoro was doing more solo training to hone in on that new steel cutting technique he learned when fighting Mr 1, so Tani was left to entertain herself with a fishing rod... But no fish were biting.

"Ugh!" Nami groaned for the fifth time that morning, she was furiously tapping at the log pose attached to her wrist. "Stupid thing is broken," she growled.

"Miss navigator, what seems to be the problem?" Robin asked politely. Walking over to Nami's side, she noticed that the pose was pointing upwards. Nami gave it a few more taps but let out an annoyed groan and flopped over the railing outside the kitchen area. Her log pose was exposed, and seemed to grab Luffy's unstimulated minds attention. Robin let out a snicker.

"That means that another island with a much stronger magnetic pull has caught our log. A sky island to be exact," she sounded full of wisdom, maybe she's been to a sky island before.

Luffy grabbed Nami's hand and pulled it closer to him so he could take a look at the log pose. His eyes glittering with adventurous intent. Nami let out a gasp and pulled her hand away.

"No no no no no! We are not going to a sky island, because we can't fly!" she stated matter-of-factly. Luffy pouted and crossed his arms.

"But Nami," he elongated her name, "I'm the captain, and I wanna go to the sky island," he said defiantly, with absolution in his tone.

"Who has ever heard of a ship sailing in the sky? Because I haven't," Nami retorted. A smug look on her face as she pointed to the sky. She failed to notice small planks of wood falling from the spot she was pointing towards.

As if the gods had heard her question. A giant wooden boat fell from the sky! Rotten wood and moss covered planks toppled from the boat as it made impact with the ocean below it. Sending an array of shock waves towards Merry. That landing was way to close of comfort. The waves from the ships landing, washed over the main deck of the Merry. Robin made a net of arms to catch anyone who threatened to fall over board.

"Nami! Rule two of the movie hand book. Never ever make a statement like that!" Tani coughed, water sputtered from her mouth. "It's like a jinx, the opposite of what you say will happen... Every... Single... Time," oh man now her jacket was wet.

"I wanna see the ship!" Luffy declared, shaking his head like a dog drying it's fur. Water sprinkled over anyone within a three feet radius. Nami pointed at the wrecked boat that was sinking into the depths of the sea.

"You can't, because it's in the ocean and you can't swim," Nami sounded frustrated beyond words. Robin walked over to the raging red head and pat her shoulder.

"Why don't we try a deep dive expedition?" robin suggested, "It would allow us some insight as to how this boat managed to fall from the sky. As well as satisfy Mr captain's need for adventure," the woman persuaded. Nami rubbed her temple tiredly.

"There might also be hidden treasure," Robin smiled enigmatically. Nami's eyes switched to a golden simmer.

"Alright let's check it out," she declared, her hands clapping together with a devilish grin.

So here the crew was, with three barrels with glass windows installed (thanks to Usopp and his brilliant ability to make stuff), the barrels were hooked up to long tubes that nobody had any idea was on the ship. The whole invention was insanely simple yet complex. It's pretty much the nautilus man but made of barrels.

Tani came running out of her room in her bathers, swim shorts and scorkel. She didn't care what the others said, she's going swimming and they can't stop her. The crew decided that Luffy, Zoro and Sanji would be the ones going on this adventure. So the three of them suited up and looked... They looked ridiculous.

"How are you guys gonna move in those things?" Tani asked while tying her hair back. Luffy let out a gasp.

"You have a second eye?!" he pointed with surprise at the now revealed left eye of the girl. She gave him a look telling him that he was a moron.

"What do you mean I have a second eye?! Everyone has two eyes! Unless you cut it out or something," she replied. Luffy pointed at Sanji.

"Do you have two eyes?" the captain asked. Sanji kicked Luffy over, the poor boy rolled around helplessly like a turtle in its back.

"Of course I have a second eye," Sanji snapped. Zoro just laughed at the whole situation.

"Alright shut up you lot!" Nami said with a commanding tone. "Tani since you aren't connected to these tubes, we won't have any way to communicate with you," she said pointing at the tubing connecting to the tops of the barrels the boys were wearing. Tani gave a nod.

"Don't worry, I've got these guys here to keep me safe," Tani pointed at the three men. They gathered on the side of the boat, not quite sure how to dive in with the barrel on. Tani gave a wide grin, walked to one side of the boat, then bolted to the other side. Leaping high into the air with a "YAHOO!" she straightened herself out into the pin drop position and splashed into the water.

It didn't take the others long to join her. Tani forgot she'd been holding her breath, time to check out this scorkel device! She moved the peach coloured device to her mouth, opening her maw and chomping down on the soft sphere as instructed by the clerk. The soft material moulded around her teeth, then that watery feeling left her mouth and fresh air filtered through. It was weird and would take some time to get used to, but she could breath! This was so cool.

She turned to see Zoro and Sanji giving her quizzical looks, Luffy on the other hand looked amazed. The barrels on the boys made it easier for them to start sinking down, Tani had no weights on her so she would need to hold onto one of the boys, or swim herself which would be tiring. Tani swam to the closest barrel (which happened to be Luffy) and held onto one of his gloves arms, the group of divers sank down slowly.

It came as no surprise that a sea monster would be there, but coming face to face with a giant octopus was not what Tani wanted to encounter. Luffy couldn't do anything stretchy because of the barrel suit and ocean water. Sanji was already tangled up in one of the octopuses massive tentacles. His legs struggling to kick away as it curled around his entire body, it almost yanked him out of the barrel. Had it not been for Zoro and his quick thinking (and swords) that they managed to down the octopuses limb count from eight to zero.

Tani could see that Luffy was talking but couldn't hear him so she just continued holding his arm until they made it to the wreckage. It looks so cool! Way cooler than the rusty, algae covered boats from her time. She let go of Luffy and swam towards a spot that caught her attention.

She swam freely in the ocean, she'd really missed this. You'd think that being surrounded by ocean would let you swim it it often? but you'd be wrong. Most of the straw hats time was spent on islands and running away from marines.

The spot that Tani swam to looked like the broken off room of someone important, maybe it was the captain? She didn't really know but that was her best guess.

She kicked herself forward, floating towards a set of drawers. She pulled them open and found nothing but papers, now too soaked to be of any use. The drawer above only held a small box of bottle caps... All of them looked like familiar brands? Coke, Pepsi, fanta, Dr Pepper? But that can't be right. This boat looks far too old to be from this time era.

The shimmering of bronze caught her eye. She turned her head away from the drawer, only to let out a flurry of bubbled screams. There before her was the skeletal remains of a man? Woman? Who knows, everyone looks the same as a skeleton. The coat and clothes were rotten and tattered. Styled in a way that looked like a classic pirate from her world. Though it wasn't the clothes that caught her attention.

It was the bell attached to the neck.

It had a similar shape to the one Tani arrived with, only her bell is golden, rather than the rusty bronze of this bell. She removed the barely intact string from the skeletal remains of the 'captain', looped it around her own neck and explored the room a bit more.

A shadowy form swam by one of the broken glass windows of the room. Tani's senses raise to high alert, she didn't want to take on a sea king on her own. Hopefully she could apply all those shark defence techniques she'd learned from the movies... Hopefully.

What she didn't expect to see however, was a man? Looked like a man, in a black full body swimsuit. The guy was attaching hooks into the sides of the room, giving a tug to the last one. He hadn't noticed her yet, so she decided to try and very sneakily swim away, if he was hostile towards her then she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle him.

A current formed, the room she was still within was being lifted from the sea floor. The water around the room pulled her towards the brittle flooring of the detached room. She couldn't move, her stomach was plastered to the ground as she was lifted with the room.

"Shit," Tani panicked in her thoughts, she couldn't call for help nor make a signal to the others. Simply put, she was stuck.

Well she was until the line cut.

What Tani wasn't aware of as she panicked in her mind was the shadowy figure of Zoro, who came zooming from the side and slicing the lines of the machine hauling the room up. Tani didn't snap back to reality until Zoro looped an arm around her stunned self and dragged her away before the shadow man realised what had happened.

Zoro was talking, but Tani couldn't read lips very well. Though she did read a couple choice curses. He dragged her over to a small room with an air pocket in it. Luffy and Sanji were already there, their suits removed. Tani and Zoro surfaced, Zoro instantly threw the large barrel off himself with a huff. Tani removed the scorkel and massaged her jaw, that would hurt for a bit.

"Tani check out this cool loot we've found!" Luffy cheered while shoving a bunch of random items into the girls hands. Broken tea cups to rotten wood stools, the boys had collected many items that wouldn't really be of monetary value (unfortunate news for Nami) but they were interesting treasures non the less. Tani held out her find, the little bell giving an uncanny jingle as she shook it. The boys all looked at her with somewhat confused expressions.

"Is that one of your bells?" Sanji asked curiously while pointing at the slightly rusted bell. Tani shook her head.

"I found this in one of the broken off parts of the ship, it was attached to someones neck," she pointed at her neck with demonstration. Luffy grabbed the bell from Tani's hand and shook it rapidly next to his ear, loud and clear for Tani. "I don't get it, does that mean that these bells are just common place? I know Trip has one but she only knows of one other person to have this... Power?" Tani pointed at herself in thought. Does that mean she's not as special as she initially thought? That thought made her feel an ugly pit form in her stomach.

The outside of the room creaked and groaned, shaking as something or someone made contact with the outside. The group glared at the only opening with a range of concerned or battle ready expressions.

"Can we discuss this later?" Zoro grunted, one of his swords already slipping into his grip. "We've got company," he said with narrowed eyes.

Before Tani could question it, three shadow figures jumped from the ocean depths, followed by a large monkey looking man that was at least double the girls height. She didn't expect a fight so here she was, weaponless and barely clothed... Great.

Luffy burst into laughter at the sight of the monkey, deciding that instead of fighting he would just have a pleasant conversation with the monkey man. Who wasn't the brightest bulb of the bunch and kinda just rolled with the conversation while Zoro and Sanji silently watched on in confusion. Tani just shook her head. 

Classic Luffy.

The room once again gave a shake, this time followed by the bellowing groan of something big, that vibrated the small box they were enclosed in. 

There are always bigger fish in the sea. A classic proverb meaning that there's always going to be someone better than yourself... Or in this case there was literally a bigger fish in the sea.

A massive gaping jaw latched onto the small section of the boat that the straw hat group and monkey men were present. Water filled the room as teeth punctured holes in the walls, floor and roof of the safe haven.

"Shit the place is gonna flood," Sanji spat, already looking for some form of an exit. Zoro was securing his swords tightly to his waist, a tense look on his face. Luffy had jumped onto a table with concern pasted on his features.

"We gotta dive now," Zoro commanded. Ducking his head under the salty waves, Sanji was quick to follow behind the first mate. Luffy made eye contact with Tani, who wadded her way over to the nervous captain.

Tani did what she normally did (at this point she might as well be Luffy's designated swimmer). Looping the boys arms around her neck, she attempted to swim out of the creatures mouth. Large, jagged teeth surrounded her in rows of five. Just needed to pass them and they would be out scot free.

Luffy's hold on her tightened, when she turned to face him she found his cheeks swelling as his hold on his breath dwindled. He mustn't have gotten enough air before the water got to him! What was Tani going to do? She still had three rows of teeth to clear before they were out. She inhaled through her... The scorkel!

She plucked the breathing device from her mouth and shoved it into Luffy's, holding her breath as she swam faster to get the hell out of here.

Two rows left...

One row left...

They're out! Nothing but the oceans deep blue surrounded the pair. Tani slowly breathed out some bubbles to watch what way the floated. When the danced upwards, she followed shortly after. Her lungs begging at her for the precious oxygen that she needed so desperately... At least Luffy is holding up.

The waters surface broke, Tani inhaled the fresh air. She couldn't see Zoro, Sanji or that Monkey guy anywhere. At the time though she only really needed to worry about the giant turtle that just ate that whole ship wreck.

"Luffy! Tani over here!" Nami shouted from their left, waving her arms to draw their attention. Tani free-styled over to the rope ladder that Usopp and Chopper dropped for them. Throwing Luffy into Usopp before she too climbed the ladder... Well attempted to climb the ladder. A large black clad hand wrapped around her ankle and dragged her back into the water. The surprise meant she didn't have enough time to breath in before her lungs filled with salt water.

She kicked and flailed in the water with panic, she was so close and now she was going to drown! She could fill the hand of god already grabbing the nape of her neck and dragging her to heaven... No seriously she was being dragged in a direction away from the guy that dragged her here in the first place.

The utter whiplash Tani received from being thrown out of the water and back onto the Merry's deck left her dazed and confused. A ring of her nakama surrounded her, though she couldn't make out who was who because everything was blurry. Though she could make out Chopper's frantic cries of "Call the doctor!".

When Tani's brain finally decided to play catch up, she registered that she needed to cough up all the water she breathed in. So she did just that, all the water sprayed into the air and splattered on the ground around her... As well as Usopp's face (who proceeded to whine about it).

"Welcome back Miss bell," Robin smiled sweetly, offering a hand or dozen to help Tani off the ground.

Tani ended up being tugged towards the infirmary (well the storage room that Chopper used to patch up everyone) and proceeded to do a once over on Tani, ignoring the conflict from outside.

Zoro had gone back for the treasure they found in the wreck because "Luffy would have been upset if we didn't get something from the adventure," Nami was excited to see the treasure, only to realise it was all garbage. Zoro walked away from that conversation with a red cheek.

Sanji on the other hand, ended up being thrown by a current of sorts and landed on the Monkey crews boat. Where they all proceeded to attack him, with no success because it's Sanji. He kicked at least half the crews ass before noticing the Merry approach, he kicked off the enemy ship and sailed through the air. Landing on the Merry's deck with perfect posture.

The day only got weirder, as the sky darkened. Tani walked onto deck with Chopper, the little reindeer grew nervous and held onto Tani's open hand. The pair walked over to Nami.

"What's up with the weather?" Tani asked drowsily, still tired from the excitement of the day. The navigator sighed, turning to look at them.

"I don't know, there was no warning signs for a weather change that I could predict," she sounded stumped. Tani pat her on the back with sympathy. "Wait a minute... What is that!" Nami shrieked, pointing towards three massive figures that loomed ominously in the distance. "Guys, positions! We need to move, right now!" Nami commanded, everyone ran around.

Pulling sails, directing the rutter, tying loose knots. Before they knew it, the crew was out of the darkness and under the bright sunny sky. The crew silently glanced at each other, all of them thinking the same thing.

"What the hell was that all about!" Usopp broke the silence, asking what they were all trying to answer.

"Do you think anybody here knows what the hell that was?" Nami replied, rubbing her temple soothingly. "Now we're stuck here! The log won't set back to whatever island we were going towards before the stupid thing started pointing at the sky," Nami ranted. Honestly she just wanted to find land again and hopefully forget this sky islands thing ever happened.

"Miss navigator, I do believe you'd be happy to see this then," Robin chimed, tossing something at the red head. Nami clapped her hands around the small hour glass like item. It was an eternal pose! Nami looked like she was about to cry with happiness.

"Robin I could kiss you right now!" Nami squealed happily. Her face shifted back to serious as she began setting course for the island of Jaya.

...

Tani was flipping through her photos, deciding which ones she wanted to put up over her side of the women's sleeping quarters. She really liked all of them, even her mystery photos. Picking the best four, she hung them up over her wall and left the rest in the envelope to be stored away for later.

The room was starting to feel more and more like home every time she visited, from the smell of mandarins that Nami brought in, to the now stocked up shelf of books that Robin brought with her. The place felt lived in, and honestly Tani never wanted to leave. Though that was nothing more than a selfish wish, she had someone to get home to.

A loud crash from on deck caused the girl to be removed from her thoughts. She jumped to her feet and speed walked towards the sound of the crash, finding a tangled up Luffy. Tani gave a small chuckle before helping the tangled boy out of the rope prison he made.

"Nami my love!" Sanji's voice cooed, the navigator in question was resting beside her mandarin trees. Sanji twirled around, handing her one of three drinks from the tray in his hand. Nami thanked him with her picture perfect smile.

"Robin my sweet!" Sanji spun towards the older woman, she was sitting on a chair reading some book about a rainbow mist that seemed pretty interesting. The cook handed her the second drink on the tray, showering the newest crew member with love and affection as per usual for Sanji. She thanked him politely before turning back to her book.

"Tani my dearest!" he called out to the girl, she'd just finished freeing Luffy from the ropes before Sanji handed her the largest of the drinks. It was pretty wide with a lot of fresh fruits decorating the creamy top. She gave him a thumbs up and a thank you before her gave her a grin and walked back into the kitchen. Probably to prepare for dinner in a couple hours.

Tani took the spoon that was in the drink and slowly made her way through the top. She could feel eyes burning into the side of her head, turning her eyes she of course found Luffy staring at her with hungry eyes... Oh right it's Luffy.

"Do you want some?" she offered, Luffy wasted no time before grabbing the spoon from her hand and shoving it in his mouth. Now she needed a new spoon... "Uh, you can have the rest then," she said, honestly not really in the mood to get up now that she was sitting on the deck. Luffy gave her a confused look.

"You sure? I thought you liked all this fruit stuff?" Luffy stated, shoving the spoon in his mouth. Tani stared at the spoons handle that hung out of his mouth.

"I can't be bothered grabbing a new spoon," she said truthfully. Luffy pulled the spoon out of his mouth and waved it around.

"Just use this one then," he said like she was being dumb. She could already feel her cheeks heating up.

"But you've had it in your mouth, and sharing cutlery is gross," Tani explained simply. Didn't Luffy know anything about germs and stuff?

"You had it in your mouth before, so it doesn't matter," he replied, digging the spoon into the cream and holding it out for Tani to take. She leaned away, this is something a couple would do!

"No thank you," she squeaked. Luffy pouted before shoving the spoon closer. Why was he so persistent to make her eat it?! "I'll just ask Sanji for another drink, you can finish that one," Tani stated. Luffy groaned.

"You're always sharing your food," Luffy commented, Tani turned to face him at that. "So why is this different?" he asked curiously.

"It just is," she replied shyly, Luffy pulled a face that screamed 'what does that even mean?' so Tani let out a sigh and explained.

"Sharing cutlery is something that married couples or boyfriend and girlfriends do, so it's weird to do it. It's because of all the spit and stuff that's shared on the spoon, it's kinda like kissing and you don't do that unless you're in love," she stated factually. Though this is only stuff she'd seen in the movies, Tani wasn't very informed on the arts of relationships. Luffy huffed at her.

"That's stupid, I don't care about spit or anything so why should you?" he said. Tani blinked at him, of course he wasn't paying attention to the romantic implications of the action. "Plus we've shared spit before, like with that breathing thingy you had," he pointed out. Tani looked at him stupidly... He had a point.

"Uh... Well that was uh.. Well you see that doesn't count because you were going to drown," she countered. Why were they arguing over sharing a drink? Why was Luffy trying so hard to share it with her.

"See! So can you just share this with me before it melts?" Luffy asked with that signature grin, holding the spoon out. Tani finally caved in, taking the spoon and shoving the contents in her mouth. Why bother fighting Luffy when he was always going to win.

In the distance the pair failed to notice the rest of the crew watching them with humorous grins.

...

"So how long until we make it to Jaya?" Usopp asked Nami from his fishing spot. Chopper and Luffy were fishing with him, hoping to grab something to go along with dinner. Nami licked her finger and held it in the air, letting out a satisfied hum she replied with "We'll be there by tomorrow afternoon,".

Tani sat in her usual spot on deck, next to the figure head. In her hand was the bell she found on the sunken ship, her other had a bell of her own. She shook them one at a time. The older bell sounded melancholic and weak, while her bell was lively and full of energy. From what she'd gathered, the bells were almost the same when it came to design, only the colours were off. Who did it belong to? How long have people like her been around for? Was she even special?

"You seem to be lost in thought miss bell, mind telling me what's on your mind?" Robin's soothing voice inquired. Tani looked up at her with a nod. The woman sat beside her gracefully, leaning in her hands with waiting eyes.

"So I found this bell on the ship wreck," Tani handed the bell to Robin. She shook the bell and was surprised by its silence. "It's a special bell that only I can hear, but that's what's got me so curious. It's not one of my bells," Tani then handed her bell over to Robin. The woman looked between the two and Tani could already see the questions on her mind. But first!

"Actually I needed to give you one," Tani stated, Robin gave a curious blink. The younger girl pointed at the bell in Robin's hand. "A bell so I can find you if we ever get split up," she grinned. She'd need to ask Usopp for more string.

"That would be lovely," Robin stated serenely. Her gaze moved back to the bells with examining eyes. Something felt so familiar about them. "You say these are special bells, correct?" she asked. Tani nodded with affirmation. Robin studied the bells, maybe she'd seen them in a book once? Another mystery she had to uncover. How exciting.

"Would you prefer a necklace or bracelet?" Tani asked, pulling herself off the ground to grab Usopp.

"A necklace would be lovely," Robin responded, turning back to the bells in her hands, "Would you mind if I held onto these?" she inquired.

"Oh yeah that's fine, if you figure anything out please tell me. Any information that gets me closer to home would be amazing," Tani grinned. Her whole face lighting up in a way that made Robin melt in its radiance. This crew really was a beacon of joy wasn't it?

Tani walked over to Usopp, leaning against his shoulders. "Can I have some string for Robins bell?" she asked. Usopp nodded, too busy concentrating on his fishing to really pay attention to her. She fished the string out of his bag, her fingers gracing past the gem cluster Luffy had discovered all the way in Alabasta... Wonder what Usopp is gonna do with it.

String in hand, Tani began cutting, sliding and tying the necklace into existence. Before long she was slipping the item onto Robins neck and heading towards the back of the ship for some training with Zoro.

There she found Zoro swinging around a ridiculously large amount of weights, while Chopper was sitting close by when some plants out to dry.

"Hey Zoro, mind if we train together?" Tani asked, already slipping off her windbreaker. The swordsman gave a smirk before dropping the weights.

"Sure, but no hell shoes allowed," he clarified. Tani gave a snicker.

"Why not? Four sword style too much for you to handle?" she joked, Zoro growled at her with a throaty noise that sounded almost inhuman. Tani ignored it, because it's Zoro of course he's gonna be an animal about this.

"Do you want me to train you or not?" he huffed, Tani nodded. Zoro continued, "Your hand to hand combat is lacking, so we can work on that for now," he stated, removing his sheathed swords from his waist and placing them against the railing with the amount of care a mother would with her new born baby.

"Alright, show me how you hold your fists," Zoro instructed. Tani balled her fists and showed Zoro. He gave a hum of approval. Thank you action movies!

"Now show me your starting stance," he moved on. Tani took a stance, though she felt super awkward doing so. Zoro shook his head, he stood beside her and stood in a stance. "Like this," he waited for her to copy him. Calling out a "Legs apart," or "Shoulders down," until he was satisfied with her positioning.

"Now we'll practice your defense, you held out for a while when Luffy was being a complete moron. But there's always room to improve," he sounded like a mentor, who would have thought Zoro would be the caring type... Actually no we can all totally believe that Zoro would be the caring type. His big brother energy is off the charts.

"I'll throw some punches and you need to deflect or counter them," he was patient with his instructions. Tani readied herself for the first hit. In a typical straw hat fashion, Zoro didn't hold back. Tani could already feel her forearms stinging, and though she didn't land a single hit on the guy. He was visibly proud of her progress, even giving her hair a ruffle when they had to finish up for dinner. 

Dinner as always was a chaotic event. Luffy's limbs tangled with everyone else's, food was snatched, drinks were spilt, Chopper started choking on his food again, it was a riot of straw hat crew proportions. Tani didn't miss when Luffy would 'accidently' drop food pieces on her plate. She just smiled and continued eating whatever showed up on her plate, Sanji's cooking never failing to amaze her.

Tani had to take Zoro's shift for washing the dishes after dinner, much to Sanji's protests. He didn't believe her when she said she enjoyed washing dishes.

"A lady as dear as you, shouldn't be washing so many dishes," Sanji protested. Tani gave him an eye roll and continued scrubbing away at the many plates that Luffy had accumulated. Sanji let out a sigh of defeat, at least he had a lovely womans company rather than that brute of a swords man.

"... So why are you so against women in the kitchen? Back home it's almost expected that the woman of that house does all the cooking and cleaning," Tani asked curiously. That was something about Sanji that always seemed to make her curious. The blonde chef thought for a moment before letting out a hearty sigh.

"It's a man's duty to protect and care for the women in their lives, so many of them are fragile..." Sanji stated solemnly, something about his demeanor changed. Like old memories better left unsaid. Tani needed to lighten the mood.

"Well there are plenty of women that can hold their own here. Just look at Nami and Robin, Nami has saved our lives more times than I can count, and Robin has that cool arm devil fruit!" Tani hyped up her crew with no doubt in her thoughts. Sanji sighed while taking the clean dish from Tani to dry it.

"I don't know, it's like I can't bring myself to bring harm to such delicate looking beauties," he stated bluntly. Tani let out a sigh of defeat. No point in changing his fundamental values... Well it'll take time but what can you do.

"If it makes you feel better, I appreciate everything you do for me. Being so weak in a world I have known for less than a year is really scary. It's nice to know that I'm always being cared for," she smiled. A rosy red tint crossed the sheepish man's face as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Oh Tani my dear you're too kind!" his arms were waving around as he cooed and swooned over her declaration. That's the Sanji she knows. She flicked some of the dirty soap water at him, which resulted in an all out water fight. Both of them were wet by the end of the playful fight, but happy none the less.

Tani decided to get changed for her night watch with Usopp. The sniper had something he wanted to show her so that was exciting. When Tani entered the women's quarters, a wave of strong perfume smacked her right in the face. She chocked on her breath, holding her nose as her eyes watered from the strength. Nami could be heard coughing in the room as well.

"Tani?" cough cough, "Tani is that you? I need some help moving my maps before the smell sticks to them," Nami chocked out, throwing a stack of pages at the girl. Tani caught them (barely) and proceeded to run them out of the room while Nami brought out more and more stacks.

Once the room was cleared and both girls were out of breath, Nami smiled with relief and thanked Tani for her help.

"You have no idea how much these maps will be worth once I'm done with them," Nami sighed wishfully. Her cocoa brown eyes glimmering in the candle light. "I'll be rolling in berri,". Tani snickered.

"You sure love your money, no wonder your so good with the budgeting. How you manage to swindle so much meat for the captain is insane!" Tani praised. Nami rested her elbow on the dark skinned girls shoulder.

"I'll tell you a secret, lady to lady," the red head smirked, leaning in. "It's all in the presentation," she informed. Presentation? Tani then looked at the way Nami held herself, chest very prominent, hips slightly tilted up, her face was naturally beautiful with her scattered freckles and bright red hair. She was the perfect woman! "You should try it, men fall head over heels for a lady showing a bit of skin," she winked. Such a sneaky girl, but that's Nami for ya. Wouldn't have her any other way.

"Weakness huh?" Tani pondered for a second. She knew the Nami technique worked on most men, hell it worked on most of the crew. Though one figure stuck out to the girl. "What do you think Luffy's weakness would be?" Tani pondered aloud. Nami snickered.

"Food, literally anything food related and you're all set for manipulating that sucker." she grinned with her Cheshire smile. Tani nodded. "Why you'd ask?" Nami said with a hint of amusement. What she found funny, Tani wasn't quite sure.

"Oh because when you flashed everyone back in Alabasta, Luffy was the only one that didn't have some kind of reaction to it." Tani pointed out. Nami hummed at that, she wasn't paying much attention back then. "Well thank you for the advice," Tani thanked the navigator.

"No problem, and thanks for helping with the maps," Nami replied. Grabbing her maps and moving them somewhere more safe. Tani split away and walked back into the perfume drenched room. It was the strong stuff that Nami got as a gift from Vivi. Tani covered her nose and grabbed the closest jacket she could and ran.

She climbed her way up to the top of the crows nest, she had to keep her eyes on the mast. Focus on something that isn't the height she was climbing to.

"Pwah what is that smell?!" Usopp covered his long nose as Tani climbed over the rim of the nest. Tani rolled her eyes. What a greeting.

"Nami accidentally knocked over that really strong perfume she got from Alabasta and it spilled everywhere," Tani explained. Sitting beside Usopp with a thunk. The long nosed man huffed at her.

"The enemy will smell you a mile away!" he teased, nudging her with his elbow. She snickered and nudged back. The pair falling into a comfortable silence.

"Oh I almost forgot," Usopp clicked his fingers and turned to dig through his bag. Tani peeked over his shoulder and found him pulling out two round orbs with brown string and bells attached to them. "Tadaa! Say hello your Usopp exclusive yo-yo special!" he presented the weapons to Tani, her eyes aglow as she stared at the ocean green yo-yo's. She now recognized the material as the cluster of gems she'd found with Luffy. How did he make these so fast?!

"They're beautiful! Thank you Usopp!" Tani squealed happily, throwing herself at Usopp for a big hug. The sniper stammered but regained his cool and began explaining the general gist of the newly acquired weapons.

"The gem stone was a tough kind that I've never seen before, it works much better as a weapon than as some boring old jewellery. These yo-yo's will hit much harder, move faster and look way cooler than your old ones," he gloated and praised his work. Tani didn't blame him, they looked amazing!

"Thank you so much Usopp! How can I repay you?" Tani couldn't just let him give her something and not have her return the favour! She messed around with the new yo-yo's, trying to get a feel for them. They were slightly heavier, but the smoothness of the material made them fly swiftly through the air. God, Usopp was talented. The sniper gave a snicker.

"More of those chips you keep bringing, I want the biggest bag you can find," he requested. Tani winked at him and continued messing around with the yo-yo's.

...

A small sniffle brought Tani's attention away from her post, Usopp was taking a small nap so she had to remain as vigilant as possible. Tani leaned over the crows nest to find a big pink hat on the main deck. What was Chopper doing up so late at night? Tani decided to check on him.

"Hey Chopper?" she said while climbing down the ladder, startling the little reindeer.

"Ta-Tani? Oh it's you," he sighed with relief. Tani bobbed down to his height, eyes full of concern.

"Is everything alright? You look like you've been crying," she asked with concern. The doctors eyes were red and the tears that stained his fur being a dead give away. He pulled his hat over his head.

"I'm just fine, don't worry about me you jerk," he did a little dance which removed all malice the words would have had. Tani snickered.

"Well if you need any company, you can come up with me for the rest of my watch. Usopp is sleeping and it's super boring," she suggested. Chopper gave a nod, so Tani lowered herself so Chopper could climb onto her shoulders. She climbed up, keeping her mind on the sniffling deer on her shoulders.

She sat herself back down beside Usopp, who was snoring softly. Tani lowered Chopper into her lap and lazily looped her arms around the deer and rested her head on top his hat. God he was warm.

Usopp unconsciously leaned towards the source of heat, that being Tani and Chopper. His head found its way onto her shoulder, his hair frizzled and mixed with her smoother dark brown locks. His arm clinged around Chopper and Tani like a seatbelt. Tani sighed with content.

"Tani?" Chopper's voice was weak and tired. Tani hummed back. "You'd be my friend even if Luffy didn't ask me to join the crew right?" he asked with a hiccup. Tani blinked in shock at such a surprising question.

"Of course I would, we all love you Chopper," she said with conviction. Her arms clinging tighter around the little doctors waist. "You're our nakama, we'd never give you up," she smothered her cheek into his hat. Chopper grinned, his hooves gripping his hats rim and shoving it over his head.

"Thanks," he said with a yawn. Tani chuckled.

"You should sleep, I'll keep watch." she stated, but Chopper was already drifting off to sleep.

Tani looked out at the sea. Her eyes felt just as heavy, maybe she could... Close them... Just for a little bit...

She drifted to sleep wrapped in the warmth of her nakama.