#sanji is like a puppy that follows robin around and she finds him endearing

[beanghostprincess]

frobin saving the(ir) kids from dying and staring at them protectively while they have the happiest and brightest of smiles of relief will always be so important to me

[piratetrafalguy]

20 Years at Sea, Day 16 - Love

Title: Captain’s Love

Rating: T

Summary: You see, Luffy had this sneaky, endearing way of creeping into people’s hearts. Endearing, because he didn’t do it on purpose, or often didn’t seem to realize he’d done it all. Sneaky, because by the time his victims had realized it had happened, they were already too enamored to really care.

His crew mates, of course, are not immune.

Alternately: Just a few of the ways Luffy wormed his way into his crew’s hearts.

A/N: Gah, another late one... -_-’

(Read it on Ao3 here)

For Usopp, it was the first time Luffy had asked, “So, what happened next?”

At the time, the question had come seemingly out of nowhere - Luffy had only just plopped down beside him, after all, and that seemed like a weird way to start a conversation, even for the strange boy he’d just started calling captain.

When Usopp had said as much, Luffy had only frowned at him, as though Usopp was being the weird one, and then poked Usopp in the side. “After you defeated the leader of the giant beetle lord. What happened next?” he’d repeated, referencing the tall tale Usopp had been telling several hours ago, before they’d accidentally almost killed Zoro’s old bounty hunter friends.

Usopp had blinked at him stupidly, surprised Luffy hadn’t already forgotten about it. “T-that… didn’t actually happen, you know,” he’d said finally, staring down at the Merry’s railing so he wouldn’t have to keep facing the captain’s disturbingly wide and hopeful eyes. He’d never been in the habit of admitting his lies, but in that moment it had felt… wrong, somehow, to let Luffy believe otherwise.

“So?”

Usopp had startled, then, and looked up to find Luffy frowning at him again, head cocked and one finger up his nose.

“You… still want to hear it?” Usopp had asked hesitantly, a feeling he usually only associated with Kaya warming his chest.

Luffy had beamed. “Of course!” he’d exclaimed, before wrapping a rubbery arm around Usopp’s shoulders.

There would be other moments after that one, of course; smiles and laughter, bold proclamations, and a hand extended in forgiveness when Usopp still wasn’t sure he’d deserved it.

But for Usopp, that moment would always be remembered as the first.

~*~

For Franky, it was every time Luffy marveled at one of his inventions, sparkles literally dancing in front of his eyes.

“So cool!” he exclaimed, oohing and aahing over Franky’s newest upgrade - a shoulder cannon he did not, strictly speaking, have an actual use for yet, but was sure to be helpful sometime down the line. Probably.

“It’s a beam,” Franky explained, just to see Luffy’s jaw drop in excitement.

“A BEAM~!” Luffy shrieked, positively drooling in delight as the stars in his eyes starting shining even brighter.

“Okay, but was does the beam even do?” Sanji asked, with a skeptical expression both Robin and Nami were sharing.

“Who cares? It’s a BEAM!” Luffy cried, arms pumping in the air excitedly. “Franky, you are the COOLEST!”

It was not the first time Luffy had expressed the sentiment, but it was the absolute certainty that it wouldn’t be the last that made Franky break out into his “SUPER!” pose.

Because for Franky, it would always be his captain’s unbridled excitement.

~*~

Zoro didn’t know the exact moment it happened to him. More than likely, there wasn’t one; his and Luffy’s relationship had never been the same as the rest of their crew mates’, so it wouldn’t surprise Zoro if they were different in this regard, as well.

That being said, while Zoro couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment Luffy had started to worm his way into Zoro’s heart, he did know the exact moment he realized his captain had settled there.

The utter, heart-stopping panic Zoro had felt at seeing Kuma start to lift Luffy’s unconscious form had haunted him for far longer than the pain he’d agreed to take from his captain’s body ever had.

And if that surprising spike of emotion had meant setting aside his own dream for Luffy’s life... well.

Luffy would have done the same for him.

~*~

“She’s a good person.”

She hadn’t realized it then, but looking back, Robin was certain that that was when it had started. She hadn’t believed the words, then - still didn’t really now, if she was being truthful with herself - but they had still left a peculiar sensation of warmth in her chest, a feeling she hadn’t recognized at the time but could easily name now.

Certainly, there were several things that Luffy had said and done since that had shown the depth of his loyalty and care:

The casual way he showed physical affection, or when he would lay his head down on her lap for a nap when Sanji wasn’t around to shout at him for it.

How he seemed to consider her advice more than any other member of the crew bar Zoro.

“ROBIN!” and “Sogeking, shoot down that flag.”

But for Robin, those first few words - “She’s a good person” - would mark the first time she had ever felt love for her captain.

~*~

For Nami, it was the moment she had felt warm, worn straw touch her head.

Because she had understood the magnitude of Luffy entrusting her with his hat - his treasure. Even after everything that had happened directly after that moment - destroying Arlong Park, and bringing the person who’d taken so much from her to his knees - that one gesture would be the thing that stuck out.

Because after all she had done to him - after she’d lied to him, used him, and stolen from him - she’d still been entrusted with his treasure. He’d still trusted her.

You’re my friend, that one gesture had said. You’re my crew mate, and I won’t let anyone hurt you.

Not any more.

Nami had returned the gesture by promising to navigate him anywhere he wanted to go - and by also silently vowing to mend that stupid (precious) old hat whenever it was needed (which would end up being quite often on their long, dangerous journey).

She’d get him (and his hat) to Raftel if she had to strap him to her back and swim him there herself.

~*~

For Sanji, it was much more than jubilant cries of “Sanji! MEAT!”

It was the bright boy who didn’t laugh at his ridiculous dream of All Blue.

It was offhand remarks of “Sanji’s is better,” whenever they ate a dish that wasn’t cooked by Sanji but the rubbery captain recognized as something Sanji had served before.

It was smacking away fingers trying to sneak a bite when they thought Sanji wasn’t paying attention, and puppy-dog eyes demanding ‘pirate lunchboxes’.

It was a laughing boy proudly holding up his newest catch, followed by excited requests for Sanji to cook it.

It was steadfast loyalty, and a bloody, bruised face exclaiming, “It’s delicious!”

It was secret, knowing smirks in the middle of battle, orders that never needed voicing because Sanji could hear them without any words, and a bond much tighter than anything Sanji had had with the brothers he was related to by blood.

So, like Zoro, Sanji didn’t have a definitive moment he could point to and say, “That. That’s when that little shit snuck in.”

(“Sanji! Meat!” Luffy had cried that first day, making Sanji bite through his cigarette to hide his smile.)

All Sanji knew was that - even though he had long ago claimed it was only reserved for ladies (and cooking, and the All Blue) - there would always be a place in his heart for Luffy.

~*~

For Chopper, it was absolute acceptance...

(“But I’m a reindeer! And a monster!”

“Shut up! Let’s go!”)

...as well as unfailing confidence.

“I just don’t understand how you can let yourself get so hurt!” Chopper wailed, flailing his arms as he took in Luffy’s newest assortment of injuries.

Luffy laughed. “Cuz I know you’ll always just patch me right back up,” he said cheerfully, and patted Chopper on the head with his uninjured hand.

And maybe others would hear it as carelessness on Luffy’s part, or just another example of his devil-may-care attitude and reckless nature. But what Chopper heard was, ‘I know you can do it,’ and ‘I trust you, and I’ll always trust you in the future, too.’

“That doesn’t make me happy, you bastard~!”

‘I won’t let you down, Luffy!’

~*~

For Brook, it was the uproarious, uninhibited laughter.

Or, specifically, that first burst of laughter he’d heard from Luffy in the Sunny’s galley, after treating the Straw Hats to their very first skull joke.

Brook had been a bit worried at the time; it had been several decades since he’d been around people, after all, and the looks his soon-to-be crew mates had given him at the joke had not been promising. Except -

“Skull joke!” Luffy had parroted, before cackling like a hyena.

It had grown from there, with an upside-down face grinning at him from the top of a piano (“So… can I join your crew?” “Sure!”). With more laughs and bigger grins, and casual affection in the form of warm hugs uncaring of a sharp, angular body made entirely of bones.

Yes, Brook had lived a great many years, and seen and felt a great many things…

But none would compare to the way his heart had positively burst at the sight of his would-be captain laughing at one of his stupid skull jokes.

(Even if he didn’t have a heart to burst, yohohoho~!)