Chapter Text
Sanji straightened his tie in the mirror, staring at his own reflection in the glass. He’d thought he’d be looking back at a completely different person now that Luffy was King of the Pirates. Maybe his hair was a little longer and had more of a curl to it, but for the most part, he looked back at his familiar, unchanged face.
The adventure wasn’t over yet, the crew still had promises to fulfill and more dreams to be accomplished. Sanji still didn’t have any leads on where the All Blue was, but this time around the world, he was sure he would find it.
He also had another dream, a different kind of ambition. I’m going to find the love of my life, someone to cherish forever, he thought while looking down at the simple golden ring with three small diamonds. He hadn’t intended to buy a ring, but a random vendor had recommended it for him—the three diamonds seemingly too perfect to pass up as a symbol for his future life partner to wear. He rolled the ring around in the palm of his hand before placing it back in his jacket pocket.
One thing about him had changed that wasn’t visible in the mirror. His options for a partner weren’t as limited, he no longer pushed down the attraction he felt for men like he used to. While it would be a bonus if his person was a beautiful lady, the world was his oyster, every fish in the sea an option, or something like that.
Regardless, he knew exactly where to start, no question in his mind about who was top of mind, top of heart.
With one last look in the mirror, he pulled on the end of his tie to straighten it. Satisfied, he sauntered out onto the deck and stopped. There she was—Nami. Lounging and looking beautiful as always. She was wearing his personal favorite bikini of hers, the one she wore when they first reunited as a crew in Sabaody. This had to be a sign of what was meant to be.
“Nami-swann!~” Sanji sing-songed as he skipped towards Nami, literally floating from excitement. His heart swelled with love thinking about his adventures with Nami and the future ones they would have.
Nami looked up, she had sunglasses on, she lifted them up onto her head, pushing her hair back, “Yeah, Sanji?”
Once Sanji reached Nami, he got down onto one knee and gently took her hand, lifting it into his. His voice was an octave higher than usual, the smoke from the cigarette that dangled from the side of his mouth was producing a wisp of heart-shaped smoke. “My sweet mellorine, I can’t think of anyone else who I would rather spend my life with. Do me the honor of being my wife?”
Nami shot him a puzzled look, “Sanji. You know I’ve promised myself to Vivi. And that I’m not even into men.”
Sanji cupped her hand with his, “I know, dear Nami-swan, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t ask you.” He smiled at her knowingly.
Nami returned the friendly smile. “You’ll find your person. Maybe you have already met them,” she said as her grin turned into a sly smirk.
“Thank you, Nami, for the words of encouragement. Having you as a friend for life is enough for me,” replied Sanji.
Even though he anticipated her response, a familiar sadness tightened in his chest. He turned to walk back toward the galley, his gait considerably less enthusiastic.
As his hand reached the galley door, a barely audible voice drawled, “Well that was pathetic.”
Sanji spun around, his face tight with anger. He knew the voice all too well. “What was that, mosshead?”
“You heard me,” said Zoro propped up against the railing of the Sunny in his usual nonchalant pose.
“You got a problem?” challenged Sanji as he stomped over towards where Zoro was resting and pressed his foot down onto Zoro’s shin.
“If you're gonna ask someone to marry you, maybe make sure they like you first.”
“You wouldn’t understand, moss for brains. You don’t have a romantic bone in your body.”
Zoro scoffed in response. He then whipped the flat side of his sword across Sanji’s ankle to push him off.
“That’s it, moss!” Sanji yelled as he reared up for another kick. Zoro was now on his feet, two swords drawn.
Once they got this far, their fights usually only ended if one of their crewmates stopped them—they were both too evenly matched and too stubborn to stop themselves.
Jinbe and Robin watched the fight develop from the upper deck of the Sunny. Both of them were used to the usual fighting, both able to understand it was the two men’s odd way of showing the other they cared.
“Should we stop them?” Jinbe asked Robin.
“Not quite yet. I like to see how far things can go. It’s like observing two chimpanzees in their natural habitat,” said Robin as she watched on in morbid fascination.
Below, Sanji had kicked his leg straight up to clip Zoro’s chin who managed to catch his leg between two blades. To escape the trap, Sanji skywalked up and wrapped his leg around Zoro’s neck to pull him to the ground.
Robin let out a slight gasp from the maneuver.
Jinbe spoke up, “Surely this has gone on long enough.”
Robin simply held out her arm, stopping him. “Not yet.”
Zoro plummeted towards the ground from the weight of Sanji on his neck and back, but he caught himself in a push-up stance with Sanji straddled over his back. “Surrender, moss!”
“Never!” groaned Zoro, as he flipped his body over, sword slashing at Sanji.
At this point, they were rolling around the deck switching between who had the upper hand. It’s when Zoro’s sword slashed through part of the deck, that Robin finally decided it was time to intervene. Robin lifted her arms across her chest and murmured, “Cuerpo Fleur.”
The upper body of Nico Robin bloomed from the deck next to where Zoro and Sanji were rolling around. “Sanji, can you come help me with something?” the body double asked.
Immediately, Sanji pushed Zoro away, “Let’s call it a truce this time, marimo.”
Zoro rolled his eye, “Whatever.” He replied as he walked away and started the climb up to the crow’s nest.
It took no time for Sanji to go from his heated fight with Zoro to an absolute ray of sunshine ready to fulfill Robin’s request. “Robin-chwan! How can I be of service?”
“I was hoping you could show me how to use the new moka pot to brew coffee.”
“I’d love to, Robin!” replied Sanji, grinning widely, already swooning with affection.
Robin made her way down the stairs and Sanji pulled the gallery door open and knelt down on one knee, arm swung out wide welcoming her inside. “My beautiful and brilliant Robin, let me vow my servitude to you for life as your husband.”
Robin giggled as she passed him by, “Oh, Sanji. Sweet as always, but I’m afraid Franky already has my heart.”
“No worries, my dearest Robin. I could never expect a lady as fine as you to remain available.” He got up and followed her into the kitchen to teach her about the coffee maker as requested.
* * *
As much as every member of the crew wanted to go straight from the New World back to the Grand Line to see the reunion of Laboon and Brook, Nami knew that in order to make the voyage they needed to restock and get ready for their next journey. There was also some poetic justice to going back to Loguetown with the entire crew and starting again.
“Sanji, I'm putting you in charge of the men. You'll need to get everyone proper clothing for the new journey. We're not just some ragtag crew anymore. We are the crew with the King of the Pirates as our captain—make them look like it!” Nami demanded, despite Sanji hanging on every word. “l need to make sure we get the eternal poses we need amongst other things.”
“Will do, Nami!” replied Sanji sweetly, then he turned around to yell at the men in the exact opposite tone, “C'mon you bastards, you heard the woman! We are going shopping. No messing around. No getting lost.” He pointedly looked at Zoro in his final request, who despite standing at attention, looked like he was thinking about something else entirely.
“Who made this guy king of the pirates?” whispered Usopp to Luffy, the captain sneaking a repressed laugh in response.
Sanji’s foot ended up half a centimeter from the end of Usopp’s nose, “I said, no messing around!”
Usopp cowered behind Luffy with Chopper backwards hid behind him.
Sanji seemed satisfied. “Alright let's go.”
Not even five minutes in, Sanji turned to check on the group who were too oddly quiet and, of course, Zoro was already missing. “Goddammit, did anyone see where Zoro went?”
Everyone turned their heads left and right to look for the swordsman, then back toward Sanji as they, in unison, flapped their hands to signal, ‘Nope’.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sanji muttered, “I swear to God, that damn swordsman. How did we make it around the world with him? There were two rules and one of them was not to get lost…” He turned to Jinbe, “Will you take them to the store and I'll find Zoro and meet you all there?”
Jinbe replied with a curt nod, and Sanji immediately turned and sprinted down the street back toward the direction they came. He could have skywalked or used his haki to make finding Zoro easier but it would probably have drawn a lot of attention. Their crew was world famous now and it was best they kept under the radar as much as possible.
Sanji found himself panting after he ran down multiple alleys with no results. Eventually, he ended up back at the main square where the rebuilt execution tower stood, from when it had been struck by lightning a few years ago. At the base of the platform, Sanji saw a streak of the familiar green hair. He charged up to the platform and yelled out, “Oi! Mosshead!”
Zoro turned around in expectation, clearly waiting for when Sanji would arrive. “Took you long enough.”
Sanji's anger washed away as he stood and looked up at the platform, the memories from his last time being here with Zoro flooded back. “Do you think it was luck or did it all happen for a reason?”
“Does it matter?” replied Zoro with a full-toothed grin Sanji had only witnessed a few times before.
Sanji knew exactly what Zoro was thinking and feeling in that moment because he felt it too. It was overwhelming the amount of pride, joy, and love he had for Luffy and the rest of the crew, knowing that they made it here all together... all in one piece. It was too much for just luck, yet it felt too narcissistic to believe that fate found him this deserving of such good fortune.
The two men stood there in an appreciative silence until eventually Sanji broke it. “C'mon, moss, the others are waiting for us.”
Zoro followed along this time, only almost taking a wrong turn once.
* * *
On the shopping list for everyone was:
- An everyday outfit
- A winter coat
- A hot weather outfit
- Formal wear
- Swimwear
- Sleepwear
Sanji whipped through the store and threw clothes that suited each of his respective crew mates in their direction. Of course, he picked out outfits for himself as well. Everyone else also looked through the clothing selection while Sanji flung clothes at them, except Zoro, who found a bench by the fitting rooms that he could curl up on like the cat he was.
Once everyone had what they needed, one-by-one they took turns to model their outfits for the rest of the group.
First up, was Brook. He came out wearing a classy navy blue suit, the pants flaring at the end. He had a royal blue scarf wrapped around his neck bone and a matching top hat.
“I wanted something akin to what Laboon last saw me in,” said Brook as tears welled up in his eye sockets.
Everyone enthusiastically nodded in approval.
“It's perfect!” added Chopper through watery eyes.
“Super!” emphasized Franky, with tears to match the other two.
Luffy came out next in shorts a little longer than the ones he usually wears, with larger cargo pockets in the sides. He had a vest-cape combo in his signature red over his bare chest. Sanji’s heart swelled with pride at the man that Luffy had become, these emotions were seemingly going to be a pattern for him on this new, yet nostalgic adventure.
“Lookin’ good, King of the Pirates!” said Zoro.
“Heh!” replied Luffy with his infamous toothy grin.
The rest of the crew modeled their new clothing and got enthusiastic approval from the group. When Zoro was the only one left, he didn’t move to try on the outfits picked out for him.
“You’re up, moss,” said Sanji exasperated.
“I’m good. What I’m wearing works,” replied Zoro nonchalantly from his lounged position.
Sanji’s eyes flicked up and down Zoro’s body. “No. This nasty old rag needs to go. You heard Nami—new outfits for everyone.”
Sanji swung the clothing picked out for Zoro over his arms and shoved Zoro into the fitting room. He immediately pulled the robe that barely hung on Zoro’s shoulders down and started shoving the shirt he picked out over Zoro’s head.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” shouted Zoro as he resisted and pushed back.
Sanji grunted as he wrestled the shirt over Zoro's head. “Someone has to dress you if you won’t do it yourself.” Sanji was almost chest to chest with Zoro in the cramped fitting room.
“Tch. Let me do it!” snapped Zoro as he snatched the pants away from Sanji and pushed him out.
A moment later, Zoro emerged from the dressing room. Sanji may have done too good of a job picking out the outfit. While Sanji now accepted that Zoro was effortlessly and objectively handsome, thankfully the marimo’s stubborn idiocy kept that from coming within a ten-foot pole distance of any sort of actual attraction.
Zoro’s first outfit was simple—what Sanji picked out played into that effortlessly hot thing he had going for him. He was wearing a split neck tank top, the end of the shirt barely met the top of his haramaki, revealing a sliver of his sculpted torso with any slight movement. It was paired with straight-leg pants that wrapped around his ass in a flattering way. Sanji could never understand how Zoro could look both lithe and muscular at the same time, but this outfit encapsulated that perfectly—from his exposed arms showcasing the taut muscles to the long length of his legs in the pants. Sanji shook his head to stop the train of thoughts in their tracks.
“Not good?”
“No… it’s good,” replied Sanji, who tried to sound unimpressed, but wasn’t quite sure if it came out that way.
“How so?” smirked Zoro, his gaze lingering on Sanji.
Sanji rolled his eyes and scoffed, ready to fling an insult, but Brook responded to the question, “You don’t need eyes to see that you are at least the world’s most handsome swordsman if not the greatest! Yohoho!”
Zoro grinned, satisfied by this response. Instead of returning to the dressing room to change into his next outfit, he went back to his spot on the bench.
“Not yet, mosshead. What about the other outfits I picked out for you?”
“I’ll just wear this out. I’m done.”
Sanji didn’t fight back this time, “Fine, but we are buying the other ones anyway and you will wear them. Nami will get pissed if you waste our money.”
“Tch. Do whatever, curly.”
They swiftly made their purchases and headed back towards the Sunny. Sanji was eager to get back to get started on dinner for the crew.
* * *
Sanji stepped out onto the deck for his usual post-dinner smoke. He propped up against the railing, watching the sun dip below the horizon. It meant another day with his crew, another day they'd made it through, safe, sound, and well-fed.
Usually he felt at peace, but this time it felt different. Being back in the East Blue meant the Baratie and the old geezer were within his grasp. He so desperately wanted to see his Baratie family again, to show them how much he had learned and to prove himself as a chef and as a son. But he knew it wasn’t quite time for that yet. It was hard to imagine how much he will have changed the next time he saw Zeff, when so much already had. One thing he knew for sure, the next time he saw his old man, he would have the love of his life by his side and stories of the All Blue to share with him.
Sanji was so lost in his own head that he was completely caught off guard when he heard, “Deep in thought, blondie?”
Sanji took a deliberate drag from his cigarette, he was in no rush to respond to the moss’ non-question. He slowly blew out a plume of wispy smoke before finally answering. “Wondering how things will be when we end up here again after this next go around.”
Zoro nodded then took a swig from a bottle of saké, one of the better, aged varieties Sanji usually guarded. He typically would berate the swordsman for raiding the pantry, but something stopped him. Instead Sanji stood there with Zoro in silent reflection, Sanji dragged from his cigarette while Zoro sipped his saké. “What’s your plan once you beat Mihawk?”
The corner of Zoro’s mouth curved up into a slight grin, “So sure of that, curly?”
“Yeah. If you can almost beat me, then you can easily take down Mihawk.”
“Don’t kid yourself, I can easily beat your ass but I’m also ready to rechallenge Mihawk. Once I’m the world’s greatest swordsman, I have someone I need to visit,” replied Zoro with a look in his eye as he gazed out over the railing at the endless blue ocean, like he was having similar thoughts to the one’s Sanji was thinking earlier. After the contemplative pause, he continued, “But ultimately, I plan to be the greatest swordsman for the King of the Pirates.”
“Yeah and I guess someone has to feed you guys, huh?”
“Not just anyone, cook.” Zoro turned his head to look at Sanji.
Sanji blew out the smoke from his final drag. He weakly kicked Zoro in the back of his leg. “Shut up, you’re trying to get me to ignore the fact that you were pawing around in my pantry to find that bottle of saké,” Sanji sneered as he turned on his heel, leaving Zoro alone by the railing.
The sun had completely gone down, the night sky was clear of clouds, but the moon was nowhere in sight. Sanji saw two adjacent stars shining brighter than all the others in the sky. It felt like another sign, another symbol of their intertwined luck and fate, that he hoped would follow the crew yet again on this second circumnavigation.