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Another day on the Thousand Sunny was going well, the breeze ran along Nami's shoulders and blew at Chopper's fur. Even Zoro stayed awake to feel the cool air kiss his skin after a couple of weeks in the hot weather.
Sanji held a content smile on his face, scrubbing at dishes after lunch. He didn't force anybody to do dishes this time around because he simply enjoyed his alone time with the wind to keep him company.
Although their peace didn't last, like many other instances the strawhats had attracted attention. With another gust of wind the gunshots came, alerting everybody. Sanji shoved the plates in the cabinet, making a note to tidy it later…
Rushing out and onto the deck and quickly assuming a fighting stance. While Zoro and Luffy had both charged into battle, some of the crew stayed back, or had decided on long ranged attacks. Sanji sighed, using his skywalk to safely travel to the ship and with a graceful spin on his heels he landed with a plop and stomped on a marines head, hearing a satisfying crack.
He fought with grace and couldn't help but admire their captain, with a smile on his face while he knocked the various men into the ocean. His captain, so carefree, so naive to think that everything would go his way even if he was much stronger now. Sanji frowned at the thought and looked away, focusing on his own battle.
The marines dropped like flies, even the stronger ones were knocked down easily by the monster trio and everything seemed to be going great. Sanji could only day dream of the dinner he would make or the amount of meat Luffy would request for a celebration. Despite it being a daily occurrence Luffy wanted to celebrate it.
It was almost like he wished to celebrate being alive and Sanji didn't mind it, not one bit.Although, now he wished he would've paid more mind to it.
A yelp rang out throughout the battlefield and the strawhats froze, their gazes shooting to look at where the horrible sound came from. To their utter horror, it was Luffy, a sea stone net surrounding his body. He was dazed but still complained and requested meat.
Zoro made quick work of his battle and tried to race over but was abruptly stopped when a marine commander stepped in front of him. He gritted his teeth when he heard a big splash, indicating Luffy had fallen into the ocean.Zoro barely caught the flash of blonde as it raced past him and dived into the ocean. He smirked before flinging the commander across the ship and placing his swords down.
He stared at the black ocean, trying to make out any sign of the two crewmates but none came.
Sanji tried desperately to heave Luffy up but the sea stone was far too heavy and the water made it difficult for him to kick. He was grateful when he saw a mop of green coming his way and unknowingly he let Zoro help him up.
Gasping for air, Sanji watched as Zoro cut the sea stone and caused, performing CPR on their captain. Sanii would've just laid back like usual and thanked the heavens for allowing his captain another chance at life but he couldn't. When he looked at the 19 year old boy he saw something missing and he began to panic. Maybe the mosshead hadn't noticed but Sanji did.
His strawhat was missing.
Sanji quickly stood up, bracing himself for another dive into the freezing waters below and sighed. Ignoring Zoro's complaints he dove.
He could barely see anything, but he didn't care, using his swimming skills to his advantage he made his way towards some rubble.
Jackpot.
He saw the strawhat, a bit damaged but not past repair. It was stuck, flowing against the waves. Sanji squinted and focused his eyesight on it, ignoring how his body screamed at him, freezing.
Sanji tried to pry it out but it didn't work. So he pulled again and again but it only did more harm than good. Then he decided to do something stupid, he used his hand.
He would reprimand himself later but he squeezed it between the wood, grimacing and letting out air when he felt the wood lodge itself in between his fingernails. It dug into his palm and he nearly opened his mouth.
He stopped himself in time, focusing all his strength into prying the hat out and using his hand to reach the back to push it out. It worked, and he managed to grab the hat, biting down to keep it in place while he tried to get his hand out.
It didn't help that he was running out of air and that he had to use so much strength to keep himself there, not letting the waters carry him away. His hand hurt and he could feel tears. The ocean covered them up, but his eyes began to warm up. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen and the black spots decorating his vision might have attested to that.
The cook finally managed to get his hand out but the sight frightened him. Blood tricked and swam around his hand, fresh wounds poking fun at him. A cook's hands should never be damaged…
He forced his gaze away and looked up. He couldn't see much but he willed himself to swim, his lungs screamed and pleaded for oxygen and his vision was getting more blurry.
Sanji didn't even register when his legs got weaker or when he saw another blob of green.
He grinned, it reminded him of moss.
When the cook awoke, he coughed, vomiting the salty water that filled his lungs. He made eye contact with the person above him and he was surprised to see Luffy. Luffy! He sat up abruptly and tried to find the strawhat but his thoughts of worry were interrupted when that exam hat was placed on his head. Sanji looked up at his captain, his heart warming up when he knew he saved his treasure but he felt tense when he saw the look Luffy gave him.
"Sanji, you…" Luffy began, staring at the cook and wrinkly letting his gaze fall onto the cook's injured hand.
"Captain… I'm sorry I couldn't get your hat back to you earlier…" Sanji looked down, his lip wobbling. He stared at his bloodied hand and he could barely keep the tears in.
"No." Luffy sighed, sitting cross legged in front of Sanji. "You saved my treasure, and you hurt yours in the process. Don't say sorry."
The blonde stared wide eyed, tears pricking his eyes and he tried to see any hint of anger in his eyes but none was shown. Only guilt, gratitude and sadness was plastered on his face and Sanji bit his lip, trembling. He didn't know if it was from the cold or if he was being emotional, but he didn't care.
"Thank you Sanji, I don't know what I would've done without the straw hat, but it wasn't worth your life." Luffy concluded and that was enough for Sanji to wrap his arms around his captain.
Sanji tried apologising but was quickly shot down by Luffy. "You saved me and my treasure! Don't apologise nishishishi!" Luffy proceeded to ask for meat which earned him a glare.
Although he agreed in exchange for more hugs and Luffy agreed. It wasn't long before Sanji noticed the audience and blushed, they all smiled, some lecturing him and others congratulating him on being so brave. Chopper kept fussing over him but Sanji tried his best to reassure Chopper and himself that everything would be alright. He just hoped it wouldn't hinder his cooking.
"Shitty cook." Zoro glared at Sanji and the cook glared back.
"Hahhh? What did you say idiot moss?" They both had ticks on their foreheads but Zoro quickly calmed down, crossing his arms and plopping down on the deck to sit across from the pair.
"You're an idiot."
"What?!" Sanji nearly burst.
"Why didn't you tell me that's why you went in? I… Dammit cook you nearly died just because you wanted to be brave…" Zoro pinched his nose, groaning.
Sanji's mouth opened and closed like a fish but he couldn't form words. He only stared at Zoro and then back at Luffy, watching both of their expressions morph into something similar. Guilt.
"Idiot, if I did you wouldn't have listened." Zoro glared.
"I would have!"
"Nah you're too stupid." Sanji smirked when he heard Luffy chuckle and when he saw the expression on Zoro's face.
"Thanks for worrying about me Zoro… and for saving me." The cook hid his eyes under the strawhat, staring at the wooden floor.
He focused on the breathing of his crewmates before hearing something that would make him melt in comfort and surprise.
"Thank you for saving our captain."
Sanji grinned and nodded. Sighing. He looked back at Luffy, seeing the same goofy smile on his face and he couldn't help but laugh.
"Luffy, let's celebrate." Luffy's eyes lit up, a celebration meant a lot of meat and he agreed.
"For what Sanji?" Chopper asked.
"For being alive."