Chapter Text
As much as Sanji occasionally missed the nonstop excitement that sailing with Luffy brought, he had to admit that routine was one of his favorite things about his life on the All Blue.
He had his and he did not deviate very far from it.
He woke up early every morning to start prep. He got dressed in his black chef’s jacket and made sure to leave his sleeping partner with a gentle kiss before heading down the winding staircases of the Toubleu .
HIS restaurant.
Even after three years it didn’t feel completely real. Built by Franky with some help from the Water 7 guys, the Toubleu was an impressive sight to see floating on the All Blue. It was tiered, much like the Baratie , with separate levels for dining, storage, and living quarters. There was definitely a Sanji- esque flair to everything. The wood was lacquered a dark, luxurious blue and the ship featured a black swan figurehead rather than the hideous fish Zeff had slapped on his.
And of course, Zoro had insisted that if he was going to live on “ some damn floating eyesore” he would need his own space. “ His” enclosed crows nest sprung out from the topmost, private level where Sanji and Zoro lived. It had Restaurant Toubleu scrawled across its side in elegant script, drawing hungry patrons in from miles and miles of surrounding ocean.
Sanji smiled up at it as he bounded down the final, outdoor staircase that led to the main dining and kitchen level. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet and he was feeling great.
Just like he did every morning, he met with his sous chef to go over the menu for the day. He made sure one of his runners had his weekly supply order and sent him off to the nearest island. He did a walkaround, making sure the dining hall and outdoor area were clean and ready for guests. And then he settled into his personal corner of the kitchen and got started on dough for the various breads they would serve throughout the day.
Routine.
His staff would trickle in over the next hour and start their own preparations. Patrons would start docking an hour after that. Zoro would show up well after breakfast to find Sanji had set aside a plate of something for him. He would eat it quietly on “ his” stool pulled up to the end of Sanji’s workstation before being chased away to “ bathe for fucks sake, Marimo.”
Zoro would kiss him on the cheek before he left and Sanji would wait until he had disappeared to let himself smile.
Unfortunately for him and fortunately for Zoro (who craved a bit of excitement now and again) the All Blue was still just as unpredictable as the rest of the Grand Line. They were also both still wanted pirates with insanely large bounties. Fairly often Sanji’s routine was thrown off by some brave bounty hunter deciding to take them on, a past adversary looking for revenge, a marine raid, or a new band of pirates deciding that the floating restaurant would make a great target.
Sanji assumed it was one of those events when people in his dining hall started shouting shortly before Zoro appeared in his kitchen halfway through his dinner service.
“We got incoming!” The swordsman shouted before disappearing just as quickly.
“ Fuck.” Sanji ripped off his apron and tossed it aside. He dashed out the door, commanding his staff to “Keep cooking dammit!”
The dining hall was swiftly emptying, all of his diners running outside to see what was happening.
Sanji shoved his way through them until he was next to Zoro at the rail.
“Marines?” Sanji asked.
“No.” Zoro jerked his head toward the horizon where a column of black smoke was billowing up toward an otherwise spotless blue sky.
Sanji followed the smoke down to its origin on the water. A speck of a ship was just barely coming into view. Visible flames lapped up the main mast, creeping toward a black pirate flag; the “bones” in the traditional skull and crossbones were replaced with keys.
It was coming toward them, and fast.
“It hasn’t slowed down?” Sanji asked.
“No.” Zoro’s face was hard, staring at the incoming ship. Neither of them possessed Nami’s skill in navigation and judging nautical distances… but they both knew that the ship was already too close to slow down safely.
It was going to hit the Toubleu .
Sanji whirled around, looking over the crowd of concerned diners to the restaurant’s docking area. The restaurant WAS a ship, swiftly gaining renown for its ability to bring the All Blue’s cuisine to all kinds of islands and the seafarers that traveled in between… But it couldn’t go anywhere with its massive docking deck unfolded and there were at least half a dozen ships tied to it.
“ Fuck. ” Sanji said again, shoving back through the crowd. “TAJIO!!!!”
“YES CHEF!?” His small, former marine sous chef appeared at the entrance of the dining hall.
“Is the supply ship back!?”
“Yes chef!”
“Get me three men on it!” Sanji demanded. “Set everyone else to battle stations! If we can’t change its course, you blow that ship out of the damn water, understood!?”
“YES CHEF!”
Within sixty seconds Sanji, Zoro, and three of their crew were flying over the waves in the small supply cutter they kept for short journeys. It didn’t have weapons, but it didn’t need them with a focused Zoro and a panicked Sanji on board.
“I’ll find the wheel. You kill anyone that tries to stop me.” Sanji said as they got closer.
“With pleasure.” Zoro shot him a grin before he slipped one of his blades between his teeth and leapt aboard the burning ship.
Sanji commanded his crew to stay put and then followed his partner. He landed in a defensive stance, tensed and ready to fight. He relaxed a smidge when he noticed Zoro sheathing his third sword, keeping only two out.
“Don’t think anyone is going to try and stop you Swirly.” Zoro sounded disappointed.
Sanji looked around to see what Zoro was talking about. There were pirates everywhere, but they were all dead.
Dead and decidedly…. Crispy.
He didn’t linger on the cause of death very long. His restaurant was still at risk. A quick glance revealed a ship's wheel high on the quarterdeck. He dodged pillars of flame, spreading from the mast to other parts of the ship now, and used a swift kick to set the wheel spinning.
The rudder below let out a massive groan at the sudden and extreme shift in direction. For a split second Sanji feared it hadn’t worked and his throat tightened. But then the bow began to lilt to starboard, sending the ship in a lazy arc, safely away from the Toubleu.
Sanji let out a sigh of relief, short lived before it was cut off by the ear splitting sound of cracking wood.
The mast.
He jumped off the quarter deck and ran.
“This thing’s coming down! Move it, Marimo!” He reached out to grab Zoro’s arm as he passed, jolting to a stop when the swordsman didn’t move.
“ Did you inhale smoke moss-for-brains!? That mast is going to collapse!”
“Look at them.” Zoro ignored his warnings and insults, pointing with one of his blades toward the bodies.
“We don’t have time to play coroner shithead!”
“They’re all facing out. Like they were guarding… that barrel.”
“That’s fucking fantastic. We don’t have time, Marimo.” Sanji pulled on his partner’s arm again.
“What if it’s gold?”
“When did you die and become Nami!?” Sanji bellowed. “We NEED to LEAVE!”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Stop fucking yanking me, asshole.” Zoro yanked his arm free and turned away from the bodies.
The pair turned and walked swiftly back to the railing of the ship. With the crisis averted, Sanji couldn’t help but feel a little thrill creeping up his spine, even as the flames licked closer. Saving the day, a dashing escape from a fiery inferno… Sanji would have to write Usopp about this one for the man’s next book. Maybe-
Sanji felt something prickle his haki just as he was lifting a leg over the railing.
He snapped his head back toward the main deck of the ship, gaze sweeping over the bodies until he saw it.
“ Shit.” He breathed. “Fucking SHIT.”
“What!?” Zoro demanded.
“There’s something in the fucking barrel.”
Zoro whipped his head around too, looking first at the barrel and then the mast. Without saying anything, he darted back into the flames, leaping over blackened bodies. Sanji sighed and let out a silent fuck me before dashing after him.
The bodies were spread out in a cone around a single barrel, which Sanji would have admitted was interesting had the threat of joining them in burning to death not been so imminent. He wasn’t particularly worried about himself, he could withstand some pretty intense heat. But Zoro was far less fireproof than him.
And far stupider.
“YOU IDIOT!” Sanji screeched when Zoro had to stop, hunching over to cough. “COVER YOUR FACE!”
He brought his own sleeve up in a poor attempt to block some of the smoke as he passed Zoro and made it to the barrel. He raised his other fist and slammed it down, popping the circular head off the barrel. It was flung to the side as Sanji prepared to fight whatever, or whoever was hiding in this thing.
He froze when he saw them, both hands falling to his sides.
“Not gold?” Zoro asked, joining him, his bandana now tied around the lower half of his face.
“ Not gold.” Sanji croaked.
Zoro frowned and looked over his shoulder. Sanji felt him tense beside him when he saw the barrel’s single occupant as well.
“ What the fuck ?” Zoro breathed.
Inside the barrel, curled into a ball at the very bottom, was a child.
A glowing child.
“What the FUCK?” Zoro repeated himself.
“I have no idea.” Sanji said, looking up when the mast cracked again. “And we don’t have time to figure it out.”
He swallowed, hard , and prayed whatever the fucking glow was wouldn’t hurt him as he reached in to scoop the kid up.
They were small, no more than two or three years old, and they let out a pitiful yelp as they were lifted. The kid flailed weakly in his grasp and his glow flashed brightly for a split second. So bright that Sanji felt physical pain bloom behind his eyes as he was momentarily blinded.
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Zoro shouted a third time, spectacularly unhelpful. As always, Sanji thought.
“I DON’T FUCKING KNOW!” Sanji shouted, pulling the kid close to his chest so the light wasn’t in his direct line of sight. “But we need to get the fuck out of here!”
Without waiting for Zoro, Sanji took off in a sprint. He pressed the kids head against his shoulder, doing his best to stop it from breathing in smoke even as they thumped and kicked at him. He made it to the railing again when again something stopped him from jumping off and into his supply ship.
Only this time, it wasn’t his haki.
It was a laugh.
Sanji turned to see a man walk directly out of the fire. The flames didn’t seem to bother his bare feet as he stepped right through them. He was dressed in long, pure white robes that also didn’t seem to burn. Rather… they almost seemed to meld with the fire as the man passed.
The only adornment he wore was a thick gold chain around his neck, in the middle of which dangled a golden pendant in the shape of a weird star with an eyeball in the middle.
“You have something that does not belong to you.” The man laughed again, high and nasally. “Give him to me.”
At the sound of the man’s voice, the kid stopped fighting and tensed in Sanji’s arms.
Sanji looked down to see wide, terrified golden eyes staring up at him through greasy locks of white hair. His little hands fisted in the fabric of Sanji’s chef jacket.
“ No.” The kid whispered. “ Please no.”
Sanji looked back up at the man and made a decision he had no idea would affect the rest of his life.
“You know what?” He said, turning to shield the kid with his body. “I don’t think I will.”
