The light of the sun through the window tickles you awake. You glance around the room with blurred vision to see Robin sitting up beside you on the queen bed and Nami and Vivi resting on the bunk bed.
Sanji enters the room with four cups of hot chocolate and places them on a side table that sits next to the door.
"Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes." He announces before leaving and closing the door behind him.
You groan and sit up, still feeling quite groggy. Robin gets up out of bed to grab two of the cups and passes one to you. You sip the sweet drink. Sanji always makes the best hot chocolates.
You are halfway through the drink before you wake up enough to drag yourself up the stairs and slump over the table.
"It's too early" you grumble.
"Too early for bacon?" Sanji inquires as he shifts the pan in his grip, causing a nice sizzle noise. You reply with a quiet happy gasp and he crosses the kitchen with the pan.
"Bacon!" Luffy yells as he sprints across the room and straight towards Sanji, who easily sidesteps him so the black haired boy falls through an open door and onto the deck.
"Hold him back if you want to eat!" Sanji instructs Zoro as Luffy clambers to his feet and charges again. Zoro, who had just wandered up the stairs sacrifices half a second to glare at the blonde before begrudgingly following his instructions and pushing Luffy away from the food that is being served around the table.
One by one the rest of your friends wander up the stairs and collapse onto their seats.
"Maybe some caffeinated drinks would have be more helpful." Nami grumbles, taking another sip of the hot chocolate.
"Eat and get dressed, the marketplace is opening soon." Sanji says and you all dig in. Once you have had your fill you wander back downstairs to change out of pyjamas and into light denim shorts and a thin cotton top. The other girls follow and also change into clothes appropriate for the hot climate. Sanji leads you down the shadowed driveway where you are protected from the early sun. It's a different story once you get to the town. The trees are few and far between, leaving little shelter to hide under. Luckily the air is still cool enough for you to all travel comfortably. Chopper bounds along loyally next to Luffy, not needing a lead as there are only a few cars around.
A massive field in the middle of the town has been transformed overnight into a bustling marketplace. The air is filled with chatter as vendors and customers haggle over the goods that are spread across benches and shelves of the colourful stalls. The aroma of various foods reaches your nose but you can't place all of them.
"First order of business, friendship bracelets." Vivi chimes.
"I think Luffy is more interested in the food." You sigh, watching as Luffy sprints into the crowd and towards the nearest food stall.
"But I just fed him." Sanji groans, vanishing into the crowd in pursuit of Luffy.
"No matter, they can find us again later." Vivi says as she leads the group towards a stall covered in colourful accessories and trinkets. Small handmade objects are scattered along the bench and hung along the walls. You all look through a variety of woven bracelets, occasionally picking one up to examine it.
A particular white one catches your eye. A white band with a navy blue cross woven into one side.
"How about this one?" You suggest, holding it up so Vivi can see it. She takes it from your hand and examines it.
"We'll need eight of them." Nami murmurs.
"I can pay for them." You mention, knowing Nami would be worried about money.
Luckily the vendor had made enough of the bracelets that you can buy one for each of your friends.
You hand them to everyone present and find that you still have three spares. You look around, trying to pinpoint who isn't with you. Sanji and Luffy haven't returned but that still leaves you with one other person.
"Where's Zoro?" You ask.
"We forgot to tie him to anyone!" Usopp exclaims. "He probably didn't even make it to the marketplace."
"Just leave him, we'll probably run into him again later." Sanji says as he emerges from the crowd, dragging Luffy away from the food by the back of his shirt.
"Sanji!" Luffy wails. "Let me eat, I don't wanna starve!"
"Do you even have any money?" Usopp inquires.
"No. Why, do I need it?" Luffy responds.
"Of course not. It's not like you would need money to buy the food you want to eat or anything." Usopp says, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Cool!" Luffy shouts, wiggling and slipping from Sanji's grip so he can take off into the crowd.
"Luffy!" Sanji and Usopp yell simultaneously as they run after him, Chopper also bounding along with an excited bark.
"Let's go find something to do." Robin suggests as the rest of you explore the marketplace.
You examine each and every stall along the many rows where homemade jewellery, sculptures, food and trinkets are beckoning you closer. The vendors are just as interesting as the goods that they are selling. Their hair, clothes and accessories are as colourful as the stalls. You even see a sort of old fortune telling carriage with the large clydesdale horses in front for effect. A few musicians are scattered around, surrounded by golden coins. At the end of the rows of stalls are large entertainment sets for children who would be bored. There are bouncy castles, a pony ride and a magician which all of children laughing and running while their parents browse the stalls.
The only time you see any of the boys before you leave is when you notice Luffy at the very top of a bouncy castle eating some sort of freshly cooked meat while Sanji, Usopp and several vendors attempt to climb it. Nami quickly drags you, Robin and Vivi away.
At midday you all meet at a corner of the marketplace, except for Zoro who no one has seen since leaving the house. Sanji leads you back and everyone, except Zoro, changes into their togs.
According to Sanji there was a walk to the left of the beach that could only be reached during low tide and it leads to a nice spot on a hill. Sanji makes a variety of sandwiches and packs them all into his bag for safekeeping from the ever hungry Luffy.
"What about Zoro?" Vivi asks, seeming rather concerned for the green haired man.
"He'll survive." Sanji mutters.
"But what if he's dead?" Robin inquires calmly.
"Then it's a lot easier for the rest of us." The blonde responds, storming towards the beach.
You all follow him along the slippery rock at the base of a high cliff that stretches on and around a corner, occasionally pausing to examine the rock pools for any sign of life.
There are little black snails across the rocks, moving slowly towards the algae. A huge layer of neptune's necklace covers a whole quarter of the rocky shore and you enjoy the popping sound it makes under your feet.
In one of the rock pools you see a small fish and in another you see a starfish. You are particularly entertained by one that contained several fan worms, despite them technically being pests. As you touch the fans that stick out grasping for microscopic food they suddenly withdraw into a tube, cautiously sliding back out after a few minutes. It's only when you notice your friends were getting too far away that you finally drag yourself away from the captivating fauna to get back on track.
When you reach the rest of the group you notice that Luffy has already run ahead and out of view.
"He's not going to get lost is he?" You inquire. "We really can't lose two people in one day."
"No, it's a very obvious path and I gave Luffy good directions as to where to stop." Sanji explains. "Not even Zoro could get lost on this trail."
"You underestimate him." You joke.
You continue walking along the rocky shore, occasionally having to clamber over large formations of rock where the water is too deep to go around.
As you are climbing up one of these you notice a few small red patches that stand out on the golden sandstone. You touch one and when you lift your finger the red colour is on it.
"Is that blood?" Usopp stutters, looking pale. You raise the finger to your nose and sniff, smelling the strange metallic scent.
"Yes, it is." You reply. Looking on you can see multiple larger spots of blood that lead along the path.
"It's got to be Luffy's" Nami insists.
"Do you think he got attacked by a piranha?" Robin inquires.
"They're freshwater fish." You quickly dismiss. "He probably just cut his foot on an oyster shell."
"That can still be dangerous." Sanji mentions. "Oyster shells cut deep, we should get it cleaned before it becomes infected."
You nod and follow the blood trail along the beach until you get to a steep hill which Luffy seems to have climbed.
"The picnic spot is up there." Sanji directs. "You get a 300 degree view of the ocean from up there."
You grab onto a few loose roots that are poking out of the ground and begin to ascend. You clamber up the hill and to the top where a flat grass platform sits somewhat out of place on the sandstone.
Luffy sits in the grass holding his foot and there seems to be someone else with him.
"Zoro!?" You exclaim. The marimo turns towards you.
"What?" He grumbles.
"When, how... Zoro?" You stutter.
"I got lost." He mutters.
"You have got to be kidding me." Sanji groans as he reaches the top of the hill. "How the hell did you even get here?"
"Shut up love cook! I got here first, go find your own hill."
"I found the spot years before you did!"
"Well I'm here now!"
The two continue to bicker at each other as you help the rest of your friends clamber up to the destination.
"Luffy, are you okay? We saw some blood along the trail." Vivi inquires.
"Huh, I'm fine." Luffy assures, sneaking a sandwich out of Sanji's bag and biting into it. He sits on the ground and you notice a large gash on the bottom of his foot.
"That doesn't look fine." You point to his foot. Nami grabs her first aid kit and cleans the gash despite Luffy's protests, grumbling something about where he could shove his foot next time he hurts it.
Sanji and Zoro settle their dispute and sit down to eat.
"Luffy you can't get dirt in your foot." Nami instructs. "We need to change the dressing often and watch for infection."
Luffy is too preoccupied with stealing Usopp's sandwich to pay attention to Nami's medical expertise.
Eventually the tide starts to come back in so you have to leave. Just before you descend from the hill you snap a panorama of the ocean and where it meets the land. Unfortunately Luffy jumps in the way so his face gets caught in your picture, right in front of the red streaked sky.
"Good enough." You mutter, sliding down the hill and following your friends as they wander back towards Sanji's bach in the dying light of the day.