#she only complimented sanji because luffy brought him up

[kuravix]

Why do people think Bonney has a crush on Sanji? Because she called him cool? Can a woman not compliment a man platonically?

A woman can like a man without being a love interest! She's not been swooning or blushing around him. She's a foodie, of course she's going to like a great chef like Sanji!

And why are people so intent on shipping Bonney when there's a strong chance she is actually a CHILD!

[justmediocrewriting]

okay but thoughts on sanji x reader where she gets jealous bcs he flirts with every woman he sees and she’s scared to confess because she doesn’t know if he likes her or just loves to play a flirt

Tell It To Me Straight (Because I’m Going Crazy) {v.s}

Summary: it was just like you to fall head over heels for a guy at first sight, only to later realize said guy was the world’s biggest flirt. It would also happen to be your luck that this same guy would join your crew — and now you had to deal with feelings and other things that were equally as unpleasant.

Genre: angst, fluff

Requested: ✅

Pairing: Sanji x fem!reader

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: insecurities, pining, Sanji (that’s a warning, right?), angst with fluffy ending ❤️

A/n: anon bless you for requesting my husband Sanji. I love this man so much. This actually took me entirely too long to write and I’m so sorry for that, writers block has been hitting me like a fucking train. Anyway I hope y’all enjoy even tho I feel this one might be a bit shitty ❤️✌️

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Red painted lips curved into a smile, hair pulled into a classy updo, high rosy cheekbones, and donned in a dress that hugged every curve just right, the woman was truly beautiful, and when the dim lighting of the tavern reflected off the pair at the bar, you couldn’t help but feel that she looked too good next to Sanji.

It was a reality that was painful but long since accepted by you, the fact that you’d never truly be good enough for the charming man — but acceptance didn’t curb the cinching pain within your chest, or the burning jealousy that flickered to life in your gut and heated the underside of your skin.

You pursed your lips as you watched the two exchange murmured words and laughs, and fury burned hot in your lungs when the woman brought a hand up to swipe painted fingernails along Sanji’s forearm — Sanji, predictably, didn’t usher the woman away, and your next heartbeat was incredibly painful when Sanji instead leaned into the touch.

It was utterly ridiculous, the way you burned with flaming jealousy — and honestly, you weren’t sure if you were more angry with Sanji’s antics, or the fact that they affected you the way they did, even though you had been aware and exposed to them from the start. Sanji was a flirt, through and through, and it didn’t matter if the woman he flirted with was ugly or gorgeous, he just enjoyed the act of it — and this very fact put you in a position where you had to constantly remind yourself that just because he showered you with compliments and called you pet names didn’t mean they were genuine, or that you were someone special to him.

You’d also thought that acknowledging this fact would chase away the deep feelings you harbored for the man, and in the beginning, it actually did, but Sanji always found a way to drag them back to the surface.

Sanji was tall, he was handsome, and he had a way with words that could make any woman melt, you included. When you’d first encountered Sanji at the Baratie months ago, you had been utterly and hopelessly drawn in by these very traits of his, and still to the day, you found yourself stuck to him like a magnet. And it infuriated you from the inside out.

Because you’d never even asked for it, and the only chance at relief had been stolen away from you when Luffy invited Sanji to the crew, and the man actually agreed — and for the past few months, you’d been plagued with so many emotions that it gave you mental whiplash.

The center of this inner turmoil also didn’t help any. From the moment Sanji locked eyes with you, he was spewing compliments and sweet nothings at you, and looking at you with these eyes that made you squirm in both the most unpleasant and pleasant ways; you’d never had that kind of attention from a man, especially not from a man as attractive and damn sophisticated as Sanji, and it was just as exciting and exhilarating as it was flustering. It was no surprise you’d fallen as fast as you had — anyone would, should they get the time to really be around Sanji for a prolonged period.

You had even once considered admitting your feelings to Sanji; the prospect of confession had swirled into your mind the first night of his joining, when the crew was locked on the path to the Conomi Islands to retrieve Nami. You two had fallen into conversation late into the night, swapping muted stories in the comfortable air of the Merry’s galley, and Sanji was so attentive, so alluring, and his eyes… his eyes were locked onto yours, as if you were the only girl in the world, and there was something within their depths, something that had you wondering if he’d felt the same sensation you had when you two had locked eyes in the Baratie.

They had you wondering, entertaining, if he truly thought of you in the same way you thought of him.

But that notion was quickly tossed away the night at Cocoyashi village — because you noticed that Sanji gave those eyes to nearly every woman he met, save for the ones who were underage, and it hit you so heavily that you were not special to him at all that you nearly lost your breath. From that point on, you swore away your feelings for the man, and promised yourself you’d never let yourself be mislead or disillusioned by his flirts and charms again.

Except, things didn’t really go according to plan.

Because no matter how much you acknowledged the truth of Sanji’s flirtatious disposition, it still affected you — you would still feel so warm and fuzzy inside when he smiled at you, or when those soft endearments and compliments slid past his lips, or when he’d softly stroke your elbow to announce he was passing you aboard the ship…

Everything he did made you jittery and warm.

And you fucking loathed it.

“Are you alright?” Nami’s soft voice and gentle touch to your arm broke you from your scathing thoughts, and you tore your eyes away from the events unfolding at the bar to blink at her.

“Uh, what?” You asked, a little dumbly, and the redhead’s brows furrowed a little.

“I asked if you were alright.” Nami iterated, and you took in a sharp breath, a part of you so desperately wanted to flick your eyes over to Sanji, just to see what was unfolding — but you resisted the urge, and instead forced a smile to your lips.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just… spacing out, I guess.”

Nami didn’t look convinced, and your heart stuttered just briefly when she glanced in the direction that you had been previously staring, and a strange sort of look shadowed her eyes. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything else, and instead took a sip of her drink. Now that you’d been pulled back into the present, you were aware of Usopp and Luffy bickering about making “subtle changes” to the Jolly Roger, and you could hear faint snores from your right — sure enough, when you turned your head in the direction, you pinpointed a sleeping Zoro nestled a few feet away from Nami. Part of you wanted to smile, but the thought that Sanji was still at the bar with that woman dulled your ability to do so.

Don’t do it, you warned yourself, but despite the seething voice in your head, you still turned your focus back to the bar, and sure enough, Sanji was still entertaining the woman.

“Jeez, all he was supposed to do was get drinks. Guess we should start sending someone else to do that from now on,” Nami huffed from beside you, and all you could do was nod numbly, because at the moment your throat felt too tight to possibly push words through. Sanji’s lips split into a beautiful smile, and moments later your ears were graced with the rumbling timbre of his laugh, and despite yourself you couldn’t help the shiver that ran down your spine from the pleasant sound. The sight of his dimples and the crinkle in the corners of his eyes made your heart stutter in your chest, and in that moment, all you wanted was for him to be looking at you like that — to be on the receiving end of that smile and those eyes once again.

Just then, in a moment that was equal parts mortifying and electrifying, Sanji turned his head and locked eyes with you; your breath caught in your throat, and for an irrational heartbeat, you swore that Sanji had somehow telepathically received your desire to be looked at and followed the command, and you wondered if your feelings of burning jealousy and desire were reflected on your face. You forced a small smile to your lips and held up your near-empty bottle in one hand while gesturing to it with the other, silently reminding Sanji of the real reason he’d went to the bar in the first place.

Sanji’s expression changed from confused to realization in seconds flat, and you watched in growing anger as he addressed the woman once more and murmured what you assumed was some sort of departing quote; then he skimmed his fingertips over the length of the woman’s forearm before he turned back to the bar and grabbed three bottles by the neck in one hand and turned on his heel to stalk back to your table.

You tore your eyes from his and downed the small bit of liquid still in your bottle; the bitter taste and satisfying burn gave your mind something else to focus on.

“Sorry about the wait, my sweets. Here are your drinks.” Sanji said smoothly, placing a sweating bottle in front of Nami and then placing one in front of you as well. You tried not to look at him, but your eyes were drawn to his long, dexterous fingers by the light shining off his ring in just the right way.

Anger stirred in your gut at the way he apologized for the wait as if it wasn’t entirely his fault. You bit your lip and brought your hand up to grip the neck of the opened bottle in lieu of yelling at the cook, and downed a few swallows as you watched Sanji take a seat just across from you. Your eyes connected briefly, and you seriously wanted to rip out your chest because of the way it bloomed with warmth.

This was going to be a long night.

————————————————————————

You giggled into the skin of Nami’s neck as you both stumbled side by side; your breath tickling her neck caused the other woman to giggle profusely as well, and walking now felt even more difficult than it had before.

Behind you, Usopp and Luffy also walked side by side with one arm slung over the other, Zoro walking not too far behind them and perfectly, irritatingly balanced — screw him and his inability to get drunk.

The leader of your merry little pack was Sanji, guiding the rest of his drunken crewmates with a confidence and swagger that only he could possess. It kind of pissed you off — but it also made you really, really warm at the same time. And a little wet, but you blamed that on the alcohol thrumming through your system. It was easier that way.

By the time you’d all made it back to the docked Going Merry, Usopp had keeled over and thrown up a total of two times, and had to pull a deadweight Luffy to their sleeping quarters. Zoro was quick to follow their lead and enter his own room, with the assertion that he was going to “get more sleep.” As if he needed more.

“You comin’ to bed?” Nami slurred at you, and you shook your head; you were drunk, yeah, but you weren’t exactly tired at the moment.

“I think I’m gonna go hang out in the galley.”

Definitely not because Sanji would more than likely be there, prepping the rations for tomorrow’s breakfast as he did every night. But by the raised brow and smirk Nami sent you, you knew that she knew that’s exactly why you were going.

“Alright, don’t have too much fun.” Nami teased with an affectionate bump of her hip, and you glared at her back as she swayed her way to your shared room. When you stumbled to the galley, Sanji was there, as you’d predicted, a towel thrown over his shoulder as he meticulously separated a myriad of fruits and vegetables and grains. When you entered, he gave you a charming smile, one that made you extremely weak in the knees. It seemed that the buzz of alcohol had taken away your previous irritation with the cook, and all you could feel now was a warm sort of fuzzy fondness for him — one that you were far too used to feeling.

“Hello, love. Looking for something?” Sanji asked, his accent tickling your ears in the most pleasant of ways. You loved his accent; it just made him all the more handsome and charming in your eyes. You returned his smile with one of your own and head shake.

“Nah, not really. Just wanted to hang in here for a few.” You said, padding as gracefully as you could to the sofa. It took some maneuvering to slip yourself behind the hanging table, but you were able to do so without too much fumbling. Getting drunk wasn’t something you indulged in often, and your lack of stability and coordination was a major factor to that, but your drunken mind was just as unstable as your physical body, and you were quite prone to mood swings — that’s what you were going to blame your next actions on, anyway.

“Jus’ like watching you do your thing. ‘S nice.” You mumbled, and the smile Sanji sent you warmed you from your head to your toes, and you didn’t even have it in you to hold back whatever could be showing through your eyes as you rested your chin in your palm and stared at him.

Sanji turned his focus back to his prep, and he worked while you watched in a companionable silence. As he worked, your mind began to race — your train of thought wasn’t exactly clear or obvious, and the track was definitely a little misshapen, but as always, it was Sanji on your mind. You watched his fingers, his face, his arms, his everything, and you just thought about him.

You thought about the soft little smiles he sent you, about the crystalline blue of his eyes, how easy it was to get lost in them. You thought of the delicate Cupid’s bow of his lips, of the way the parted and formed sentences that were perfectly articulated to muddle your brain and chest. You thought of his hands, large and warm and dexterous. Of his caring disposition, of the way he was always so attentive to the needs of his crew. Your heart felt as if it was swelling within your chest, and you had to force yourself to look away from him lest it completely explode.

But Sanji didn’t seem to understand that you were seconds away from combustion, because he had abandoned his prep in favor of leaning against the island counter straight across from you.

“Something on your mind, sweetheart? You seem lost in thought.”

You snapped your eyes up to meet his, and he was looking at you like that again; eyes soft and brows relaxed, lips pulled into that little smile — you swore it must be love on his face. You immediately became angry with yourself, and instead of answering him, you demanded,

“Why do you do that?”

Sanji looked taken aback, and his throat worked in such a tantalizing way as he swallowed a couple times, confusion written clear on his face when he spoke. Your anger was momentarily replaced by a very warm feeling in your gut.

“Why do I do what, love?”

“That. Talk to me that way.” You said, flapping your hand wildly in a gesture. Sanji’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, an action your sloshy mind couldn’t help but track and froth over. His tongue looked so soft and pink.

“Does it make you uncomfortable?” Sanji asked, and in a show of bashfulness that you’d never seen from the cook, broke eye contact to focus on his hands — which he quickly busied one by swiping imaginary dirt from the surface of the island counter he was leaning back against.

“No, not exactly.” You said, lips rather loose from the alcohol. “I just don’t get it.”

Sanji’s brows furrowed and his hand halted in its movement, and rather than waiting for him to respond to that, you began to ramble.

“I mean, it’s just confusing for me. You look at me in this way, and you talk to me like that, all gentle and kind, and it makes me feel special and like I mean something to you.”

Sanji was beginning to look a little bit uncomfortable, but at the moment, your brain only had the capacity to really take your own feelings into consideration — and right now, what you were feeling was confusion and anger, and you needed the answer as to why. So you rose from your seat, knocking your hip into the edge of the hanging table as you did so, but even the shock of pain lacing through your abdomen wasn’t enough to stop your advance. When you were only inches from the man, you rose your hand in a fist and pushed an accusing finger into his chest.

“And you even had me feeling like maaaaybe you felt the same way as me, but was that true? Noooo.” Vivid memories of the night in the galley, when you’d first wondered if what you felt was reciprocated, flew through your mind painfully. You knew your words were slurred and groggy, and you knew you were spilling everything right now, but damn it, it just wasn’t fair.

“It’s not true, and I know it’s not, because you act the same way towards every pair of legs you come across. I-I ju-just—”

You’d started off strong, or as strongly as you could given your drunken state, but now there were tears in your eyes, words cut off by a wet sob, and the anger in your chest had been replaced by a heavy pain. Desperation clawed your mind fiercely, and you just needed to know.

“I’ve been torn ever since we met — I don’t want to feel this way, but you always manage to give me that hope, only to t-take it a-away again. J-just tell me Sanji, please — tell it to me straight, because I’m going crazy!”

Sanji was completely silent, his lips parted in a small ‘o’ as he stared at you with wide eyes. Your finger was still stuck to his chest, and you pulled it back quickly when you noticed, but you kept your eyes fixed on his in a weak glare.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Sanji’s eyes softened and his shoulders slumped with the force of the breathy laugh he released. Sanji hung his head, the laughter still bubbling from his throat. You took a small step back at the reaction, confused and heated with something akin to embarrassment, and the courage that the alcohol had given you seemed to have leaked out at some point, because now all you wanted to do was run; answers be damned.

When Sanji glanced back up at you, bright eyes slightly obscured by wisps of blonde hair, your heart skipped a beat; the smile on his face was small but genuine, and when he spoke, his voice sounded halfway exasperated and half way relieved.

“I’ve been pretty stupid, haven’t I, love?”

Now it was your turn to be confused. You knew you looked a lot like a fish, what with your eyes wide and your lips soundlessly flapping, but your throat just couldn’t produce any sound — and that ability was further stunted when Sanji gripped your wrists in his large, warm hands. Using the gentlest of tugs, Sanji pulled you forward until your nose bumped into the broad expanse of his chest, and his hands released your wrists in favor of sliding down to grip your hips softly.

Your entire body froze, skin buzzing and mind drawing blank, and the only thing you could really focus on was the rise and fall of Sanji’s chest, his warmth, the spicy cedar of his cologne, and the hold he had you in.

“Oh, darling… I’m sorry. I never even noticed…” Sanji cooed to you, chin grazing against the top of your head as he did so, and you were definitely about to spontaneously combust right there in the galley. You couldn’t speak, couldn’t moved couldn’t do anything else aside from simply short circuit in Sanji’s arms.

“I’m just flirty by nature, love, that much is true.” Sanji said, and he gently pushed you back only far enough so he could hook a finger beneath your chin and tilt your head up. Your lips were now a hairsbreadth from his, so close that you could feel every undulation of his breathing. Your heart flipped and twisted in your chest, and your skin heated, your gut tightening in a mix of anxiety and arousal that left your mind reeling.

“But all those other pairs of legs, they’ve got nothing on you. You’re the only girl I’ve got eyes for.”

Finally, you found your ability to speak — but your words were still very weak, dampened by a mixture of utter confusion and disbelief. There was no way this was happening, right?

“If I’m the only girl you have eyes for, why do you flirt with every one you see?”

Sanji’s smile was wide and dimpled, crinkling the corners of his eyes in that way that always sent your belly aflutter, and you could feel more than hear his words —

“Because I didn’t know the girl I had eyes for had eyes for me, too.”

[one-idea]

Is there anything out there yet about a Nika worshiping cult trying to capture Luffy. Because there should be.

Maybe the crew comes a cross an island and the people are way to friendly. It’s giving Zoro flashbacks of Wiskey Peaks and he’s already starting to warn the crew not to trust these people.

But they’re so nice. Offering the crew food (Luffy’s sold)

and taking about a treasure hidden on the island (Nami’s all in as soon as money is brought up)

There are beautiful women who are more then excited to watch Sanji cook (Sanji’s suspicion is gone instantly)

Usopp’s with Zoro, always be cautious. But then they start complimenting the Sunny and Franky is proud to tell them about his baby and Usopp gets roped into talking about his inventions and then people are complimenting him(“come on Zoro-bro lighten up.”)

Brook is entertaining while Sanji cooks, both wrapped up in the tasks and the women around them.

Chopper’s been distracted by all the people complimenting him

The only people still on guard are Robin, Jinbei, and Zoro (no matter how much sake they put in front of him he’s not going to drop his guard. Not when the people seem really focused on his captain.

Robin is indulging the crowd but her eyes are sharp waiting for the Betrayal to come. It’s how she survived for so long and she’s not losing her crew.

Jinbei’s been around for a while and while he starts to drop his guard. (His captain and crew seem content to enjoy themselves, relaxing might not hurt) he hears some whispering of Nika in the crowd. He can’t pin down who is talking or what is being said but he’s not letting his guard drop until he knows their intensions.

Zoro is staying pretty close to Luffy as he watches over the rest of the crew. One of the villagers hands Luffy a drink and he downs it without thinking. And then he starts choking.

His hand goes up to his throat and he can’t breath. There’s no air making its way in. Zoro’s attention is immediately on his captain. Holding him up and trying to figure out what is wrong. The crowd starts to push in towards them and Zoro is quick to draw Wado Ichimonji holding Luffy close with his other hand and calling for the crew.

He can’t draw Sandai Kitetsu yet, she’s screaming for blood and he is to but he can’t give in to that impulse until Luffy is safe with another crew mate and they know what’s going on. It’s the same reason he doesn’t draw Enma who calling for the death of anyone threatening their king. Wado Ichimonji is protective of Luffy, loyal as Zoro and while she also wants to kill anyone who harms their captain she’ll wait until Luffy is out of harms way before demanding blood

The crew quickly gets between the crowd and their captain. Chopper quickly realizing the Luffy’s been poisoned.

Robin demands the antidote, already holding several of the leaders with her devil fruit ability. But the leaders laugh and tell them that there isn’t one. Why would they give him something with an antidote when they were trying to free Nika.

The crew starts to spiral at the first part, there has to be a cure! But then the second phrase registers. What do they mean free Nika?

Jinbei asks, more demands an answer. He can hear Luffy’s struggling gasps getting weaker and weaker and the whole crew is ready to burn the island down if they stop.

The leader smiles and goes on a tangent about how they have waited for Nika and they know he resides with in their captain. And that their prophecy says that to free Nika they need to kill his host.

Right now Nika is suppressed by his hosts consciousness but if the host life is put in danger, if he is about to die Nika will come forward and keep the body alive. They want to bring Nika forward. If they wounded Luffy then Nika would only stay in command until the wound healed. But an incurable poison. Nika will be in control for the rest of time. The sun god will return. And all it will cost is the life of their captain. They should be honored that they get to witness this glorious moment.

The strawhats are losing their minds. They can’t be serious. That’s not how devil fruits work. If they don’t give them the antidote right now they will all die!

Jinbei cuts through all the yelling and tells them they are wrong. He’s seen Luffy at deaths door before and Nika didn’t awaken.

But just as he finishes his sentence. Luffy’s body spasms and he goes rigid before his body goes lax and he fall deathly still. Zoro still has a hold of him and has to witness/feel the whole event as he called out “Luffy!” Alerting the rest of the crew.

For a moment everything is still. Then Luffy’s eyes snap back open but they are a different color. His hair turns stark white, his clothing changes as well. But it’s not like Wano. There is no laughter, no Joy. And isn’t it haunting to look at joyless Joyboy.

He rise up out of Zoro’s hold. He barly looks at his crew and when he does there is no warmth in his eyes.

This is a god that is furious at his host just being taken from him.

This is my base idea. From here I think I would have the crew go on a quest to find a cure for Luffy.

All the while Nika is standing there in Luffy’s place once they leave the island Nika is back to being Joyfull but it’s different from Luffy. They have to stop the god from running off (how do you contain freedom?) he’s laughing and bouncing around but he’s not Luffy. He knows all of them because Luffy thinks of them none stop but it’s that second degree of knowing someone, like meeting a friend of a friend. All of the warmth and love Luffy shows his crew is missing because Nika isn’t Luffy.

[an-au-blog]

In the fastfood zosan au, Sanji only works there because Zeff thinks he should get some work experience before he makes him a cook at hos restaurant.

Zoro knows first hand how amazing his cooking is but the girls don't. Still, they decided to humour him one time while he was flirting with them, and accepted the invitation to dinner. Nami brought her girlfriend Vivi and Robin brought Franky.

They all say on the table, waiting for Sanji to finish up his dishes. They chat for a bit and Zoro mentions that he hadn't eaten lunch so he can have more room for Sanji's cooking. Nami is surprised because in her mind his cooking would be like in the fast food place - bland, basic and uninspired. But when she said that, both Zoro and Franky looked at her with such offence she was shocked.

Sanji finally came out of the kitchen and with three swift back and forth's he set the table. It was the single most delicious meal Nami had tasted in her life. She wanted to compliment him on his cooking but it seemed every time she looked at him he was occupied with his boyfriend.

First he was nagging on him about his table manners. Then he was wiping his face with a napkin. After that it was him just straight up feeding Zoro as if he couldn't do it himself. She was scared how much it could escalate so she decided not to bother trying.

Something she couldn't help but notice was that at some point a black haired kid who's name she thinks is Luffy came over. He started eating everything as of someone would take it from him. And then little by little the rest came.

A short child named Chopper joined. Everyone seemed so happy to see him, it was almost contagious. Then a ridiculously tall skinny man, who looked way too much like The King of Soul - Brook. Turned out he was also a musician... odd coincidence... A guy Nami had seen around a lot - Usopp joined a bit before another oddly familiar face came along. Someone who looked a bit like a politician from the neighboring county that retired a while ago, Junbe she thinks was his name.

Suddenly, with all these people cramped into the small appointment, it made sense to why Sanji made this absurdly large amount of food. And of course, Zoro used the excuse of not having enough place to sit to pull Sanji into his lap. It was an obvious and unoriginal trick but it worked...

During the loud dinner, Nami found out a couple of things. For one - Sanji was actually the foster child of the thrice Michelin star awarded cheff Zeff. Luffy had to pay bail for Ace after he destroyed some guy's car for disrespecting his parental figure. Zoro had asked Zeff for Sanji's hand the very first time they met and he refused to give his blessings ten times before agreeing on conditions that Zoro promised to keep secret. She also found out that the kid in question - Chopper had skipped three grades and wants to go to med school.

Most of all, she was amazed at how homie and welcoming these people were, even though she met half of them for the first time that same night.

[sanjisblackasswife]

Breaking Up with Luffy (ANGST)

Word Count: 2.0k

Black Fem Reader in Mind

CW: Cursing, Yelling, Luffy Calls You Out on Your BS, Reader is a bit over dramatic and annoying, Boa, very bittersweet ending

How dense Luffy can be can really be exhausting

He was too trusting for his own good and though you once admired you now have grown to be annoyed with it

Maybe it was your fault

Maybe you were over reacting, but really? He couldn’t even take your side ?

But IT WAS BOA. You hated her! And Luffy knew this.

Luffy was also very emotionally intelligent, it was impressive how quick he can notice how you can feel, but that didn’t mask how dense he can be handling your emotions.

Boa was once again back and with Luffy, they were on the furthest part of the deck speaking. It’s been a week and for some reason she was still here. She claims it was to “check up on Luffy”, but for what? Y’all JUST reunited a few weeks ago and Boa has been back and fourth coming and going on the ship as she pleases and it began to irk you.

Everybody knew about her obsession with your captain except your own damn captain. The way her touched lingered, the way she blushed when talking to him, the way she would do pretty much anything for him.

It. Irked. You.

She was aware of your relationship with Luffy, which was why you both have had a few heated arguments before. The last one resulting in you nearly drawing your gun at her. It was embarrassing on your end because you never was the type to fight over a man, but this man in particular doesn’t understand when a woman that isn’t his is blatantly flirting and touching all on him and how much it eats up at you.

And everybody is aware of this. So much so that everybody purposely tries to occupy you from seeing the two today to keep things cordial.

“Are you tryna distract me?” Your tone slightly above a tease crossing your arms at Sanji Would was being more than overbearing to keep you in the kitchen with him.

“What?! No I could never! Just keep reading in here, Y/N-San!” He had a cold sweat immediately seeing Boa and Luffy now outside the door giggling and eating together. She brought him a bunch of food as another one of her “gifts” and at that very moment Luffy was tone deaf to everything in sight. Sanji noticed the beautiful woman inch closer and closer their shirtless captain and an instant chill ran down his spine on the possibility of what you’d do.

You shrugged, somewhat naive to what’s happening, you continued to finish your book, giving Sanji a sigh of relief back to his stove. The background noise of the kitchen eventually became tuned out while diving deep into your book. All was well until—-

“OH LUFFY I LOVE YOU!”

It felt like time froze, hearing that unbearable voice, you knew exactly who it was.

“SHE’S HERE AGAIN!?”

You slam your book on the table leaving it behind as you storm out. When you came outside your eyes were met with the same bullshit sight that always led you and Bo to fight

Her breasts smothering Luffy’s face and him not paying any kind to it.

“Oh Luffy! I— oh. MMPH.” Once again . Boa was being too touchy for your liking and it made your eye twitch. Her snarky attitude towards you and you only made you unreasonably upset. The way she’d sometimes purposely touch and cope a feel of Luffy in front of you just for Luffy to laugh at the situation and think you both actually don’t have beef with each other .

“Oh hey Y/N!” Luffy pulled from Boa’s grip to run over to you with his typical Happy Hour lucky smile. He didn’t a care in the world seeing you looking so upset but the tall woman now behind him did.

“Oh Luffy it was so amazing seeing you again! I’m so glad you—-“

Boa’s compliments and heart eyes went through one eye and out the other with you considering you kept getting irritated the longer she lingered on the ship. You wasn’t in the mood to argue with her, but that didn’t stop you from pulling Luffy away as she inches closer by reflex as if you were a child not wanting to share your toy.

Boa noticed this and immediately grumbled in irritation.You clearly don’t understand how angry you make this woman. Your boyfriend just pulled into your touch closer as he ate which in turned made her heart sting, but before she had another dramatic fit an idea came to mind.

“Before I go Luffy I just wanted to let you know that if you need anything just send me a call okay? …and my offer still stands with you about our…little agreement. Remember?”

Luffy furrowed his eyebrows a bit humming in thought trying to remember what “agreement” she was offering. She has made so damn many to him involving getting married who knows what this would be?

“Uh…”

“Oh you don’t remember? Before you left your training we had such an unforgettable night and—“

“OOOOOH! Oh yeah no thanks!” Luffy laughs scaring his head, “Yeah no I’m fine I have Y/N for that!”

It was like Boa nearly turned into stone herself , her face was dumbfounded and her heart was stung, as much as she wanted to cry and plead for Luffy to take her up on her “offer” she had to go but promised to be back soon. The moment she left it was almost as if everybody could breathe again and went back to their devices, but you however dwelled in the whole “offer” situation and how Luffy stated he had you for that.

After lunch Luffy and you were on the Sunny doing your daily fishing routine you both typically started doing when you both began dating. It was peaceful and sweet feeling Luffy happily hun and lean on your shoulder, but you just couldn’t relax until your curiosity subsided.

“Lu?”

“Hm? You caught a fish?!” He sat up ready to help pull your fishing rod, but you grab his wrist.

“No! No not that! I just…Um…okay what did Boa mean by ‘offer’?”

“Huh?”

“When she said you guys had an unforgettable night and—“

“Ohh! Oh That!” Luffy laughs and pats your head. “So before I left she accidentally kissed me and th—“

“She what?” You felt your stomach turn a little, sunk really.

“She kissed me! But she apologized so it was an accident ..anyways she said that we should have one night of uh…” Luffy scratched his head trying to think of the word she used. “What’s that word Sanji uses a lot? Starts with a P?”

Your eyes widen in horror on the possible answer he may say,

“PASSION THATS THE WORD!” Luffy chuckles pointing his finger upwards, “a night of passion, I didn’t know what she meant until she said ‘made love’. At the time I still didn’t understand but I remember that’s what you call what we do sometimes so I said no.”

“Luffy i thought you said I was your first kiss.”

“You were!”

“No.” You stood up crossing your arms, “I wasn’t if that stupid bitch kissed you.”

“Woaaahh!” Luffy laughs a little making your eye twitch in annoyance as he gets up, “you mad?”

“No I’m not mad.”

“Yes you are? You only curse when you’re mad.”

“I’m not fucking mad I’m irritated!”

“Same thing.”

“IT’S NOT LUFFY! Why does she keep coming back we don’t need her help anymore we are GOOD!”

Once again you began to nag and complain about Boa and her presence which always made Luffy Just roll his eyes playfully. He never understood why you were always so mad when she was around but after learning that they both had the opportunity to have sex AND she kissed him you now had a better reason to explain.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is y/n it’s just a kiss. Besides we weren’t dating and I wasn’t thinking about you when it happened.” Luffy shrugged it off taking away your rod to finish fishing, “what?”

“Don’t what me?! You let her kiss you?!”

“I wouldn’t say let..she just did it, who cares?”

“I do, Luffy! You said I was your first kiss! When I asked you about you and Boa you said nothing happened you don’t remember?!”

“It’s not a big deal, y/n calm down and sit with me!” he reached out for you to sit on his lap with a bright smile but all you could do was sit there with a gaped mouth.

Your captain wasn’t the best with words, but damn he could have worded it better. The mere thought of Luffy and Boa being so close made your head spin. And you knew. You knew Boa said it Just to get a rise out of you, and she succeeded because you completely ignored Luffy and headed to your room for the rest of the vending leaving him confused for a moment.

You were quiet all dinner. Not even sitting next to Luffy like you usually do and he seemed not to noticed which piled on to the anger you already had.

He was acting as if he didn’t know you were mad at him and it made you mad.

Were you overreacting possibly?

Even if you were you don’t care to listen to reason right now you’re pissed and want to be alone.

“There you are!” Luffy laughs busting in your room in the late evening to see you buried like burritos in your blankets back facing him. “I thought we were ganna take a bath together.”

“Take it yourself.” Your words are mumbled by the covers. Luffy tilts his head confused at your cold tone, he once again shrugs it off to get in the bed with you to hold you but you wiggle out of his grasp making him whine at your attitude.

“Y/NNNN COMMONNNN IM COLD!” He snatches the blanket off , your warm body now shivering in the cold.

“Luffy for fucks sake—“

“You cussed again. You’re mad—“

“I’m not fucking mad Luffy can’t you ever just read the room?! I had other blankets you could use!”

In your mind your really didn’t want to curse Luffy out. He obviously didn’t deserve it but you’ve been alone in your room all day replaying scene with him and Boa in your head and you just could NOT think about it.

Luffy tries to pull your arm to sleep back with him but you instead pull away to put one some sweats.

“Where are you going?! You don’t have watch duty!”

“I’ll be back Luffy.”

“You always walk away when you’re mad .”

“What?!”

“You do. It’s kinda annoying honestly . Just lay back in bed with me—“

“I said I’ll be back Luffy!” You tried to hide the annoyance in your voice but failed miserably. Was he wrong though? You run away from any issues you tend to have with Luffy and he always calls you out on it. It almost felt like you wanted to cry right on the deck out of frustration. You ended up not sleeping I with him that night. He didn’t seem to mind or ask.

Then one night turned into two.

Then three.

Then a month.

It almost became like you both drifted away. Luffy stopped coming in your room to bother you, you both don’t hang out as much, Luffy seemed normal, you also seemed okay, but every once in a while you felt almost as if you both subconsciously broke up.

He watched you from a distance dancing and laughing with Nami and his cheeks warmed ever so slightly. You have been quieter around him, he didn’t seemed to mind it, but maybe he was over thinking.

But he wasn’t, it’s been 4 months and even though you were still with the Strawhats it was almost as if your relationship has diminished. It was no longer the same between you both, no more fun exchanges, no more inside jokes, no more late night food runs. It was all just

Gone.

And you both ignored how it made you both really feel.

[beanghostprincess]

Thinking back on Sanji × Usopp × Kaya, I have come up with this scenario:

So, it's post final war. Everything has gone down and the Strawhats can finally celebrate their victory and reunite with their loved ones. Sanji and Usopp have been togheter for quite sometime, but part of Usopp still whishes that things had gone differentely between him and Kaya. After all they were with each other at their respective lowest points, being the only people they could fully trust and the only person that Usopp felt comfortable with sharing certain things. (Ninjin, Piiman, and Tamaneg were too young to understand some stuff, like what are you gonna say to a bunch of 5-7 year olds?)

Usopp has talked about this with Sanji, and Sanji is fully supportive of the possible idea of starting a poly relatioship with Kaya. After all Usopp had talked a lot about her and very positevely, and for Sanji its also one more beautiful lady in his life.

So there is this huge post war celebration where you got all of the Strawhats's allies, friends and family. (at least the one who made it after the battle) Kaya happily approaches Usopp in a huge hug. She is so happy that he got to live out his dream, and became a brave warrior of the sea just like he wanted. And of course she also thrilled to met all of his crewmates since she only knew three of them and not even that well.

We get a bit of sn intriduction, untill finally Usopp gets to introduce her to Sanji. And let me tell you: they get along so well. Firstly Sanji greets her in sych a nice polite way. She is used to suitors, she's an heiress after all, but Sanji is different. He compliments her with such nice, soft, welcoming words she had never experienced before. He looks at her in a way no one has ever done before and her respects her as well. She is almos5 ashamed to admitt it, but Sanji made a way better first impression tyan Usopp. (Not that it was hard tho, the guy literally broke into her house lmao)

They start talking to eachother, Usopp doesn't tell her about him and Sanji dating, she wants them to know each ither a bit first. So during the banquet (Luffy is hosting this victory party, of course there is a shit tone of food. And Zeff came as well so its pretty good) They all share the good things about their adventure. Usopp would start listing some of his proudest feats, like finding the only weakness of the ghost princess of Thriller Bark, or ending the 20 years of hortor that the warlord Doflamingo brought upon Dressrosa. This time he doesn't need to lie, he has proved himself as brave, and he believes in himself too. And Sanji would throw in some other bits as well, like the raid on Onigashima and how working togheter ultimately saved Wano.

Kaya is fashinayed by all of this. She is so happy about Usopp growing stronger and more confidentely, and of course about him meeting new people as well. She kinda whishes that she had been there too, to support Usopp and his friends and maybe help out. She will also talk about some of the stuff that has happened to her, like her medical studies and maybe some doctor trivia. She woukd at one point mention some kind of plant that can be used to extract a type of medication but before she can say its name Usopp and Sanji said it in unison. They both knew it because Usopp had experiences with plants in the 2 years soent training, and Sanji uses it as a great substitute for basil sometimes. They all laugh at this coincidence.

After a while tho Kaya and Sanji would start talking a bit more with each other. Even on more simple stuff maybe realated to desing or fashion, considering they both grew up surrounded by luxurious things. (With Kaya being a heiress, and Sanji being a former prince with a charming fashion sense). Usopp just whatches them, and he is so glad that they are getting along. He knew they would have likely liked eachother, after all they were both compassionate, kind, composed and mature individuals who had things in common.

And so, pleased with this, Usopp would come foward, and tell her that him Sanji were dating. Kaya is surprised at first, but she is happy for them, even if she whishes her and Usopp could have somehow been togheter. But then, the two of them would finally adress the elephant in the room, and propose her the idea of polyamory. Because surprise, surorise, Usopp still does love her, and Sanji is really fond of her too.

Kaya is taken aback. She does still love Usopp as well, and Sanji is great as well, they clicked off almost immediately. She tells them that she will defenetely think about it and that it is a possibility that she is willing to take. Usopp and Sanji are happy about this, and after the whole banquet ends (spoiler: its gonna be very fucking long, but it diesn't matter cause One Piece parties are on a whole different level of great and Nami is paying) she will come foward and finally, accept this offer and join their relationship.

Meanwhile the whole crew as well as Zeff and the 3 Usopp pirates (Yasopp still has his I-can't-face-my-child-after-all-these-years desease) are all watching this from afar.

And bonus scene: once Yasopp does decide to congratulate his son about his boyfriend and girlfriend he is chased away from them violently by at least 20 different people. Usopp notices, but pretends not to have and just cringes inside.

I love this so much!!!! I'm always thinking about Sanusokaya. My beloveds. They'd have such a great and sweet dynamic together. I think Usopp looks at Sanji and some things he does reminds him of Kaya. He has a type for sure. And the relationship between Kaya and Sanji would be just,, So cute. They'd be together for Usopp at first, but I think their relationship would obviously grow into something way deeper and intimate without Usopp necessarily having to be around. Kaya sees Sanji as who he truly is and Sanji sees all the kindness in the world in her. Usopp couldn't be happier, really. He's the luckiest man in the world.

[everynicorobin]

Rank the Straw Hats by the most interesting relationship with Robin?

Ooh I like this! From least interesting to most interesting:

9. Sanji

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed when I thought about Robin and Sanji moments and realized there's very few that don't involve Sanji acting like he does around every woman. When they do have talks where Sanji isn't being a weird idiot, there's usually nothing remarkable about them, probably because it's taking Sanji 100% of his concentration to not be a weird idiot.

What I like about their friendship: It's nice that Robin is kind and polite to Sanji even when he doesn't deserve it, like complimenting him after his Davy Back Fight with Zoro, and asking him to make her coffee when she was thawed out after Aokiji's attack, which I interpreted as more her giving him something to do to feel helpful and less to do with her own desires at that moment.

8. Chopper

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Unfortunately, I don't think their friendship is very interesting. Since Chopper never interacted with her when she was an antagonist, he accepted her with no qualms, and their friendship hasn't had much development since the beginning. However, it's nice that despite his immaturity (being the youngest and the most naive), they get along very well as intellectuals.

What I like about their friendship: I know I just said their friendship didn't get much development, but the anime added a very nice filler episode in between Alabasta and Skypiea that showed them bonding a bit, where Chopper was suspicious at first, but warmed up to her by the end. Having watched the anime first, this endeared me to their friendship. It's also really cute that Robin gives him sweets she doesn't want, and the bit in post-Enies Lobby where Chopper is very proud to have not lost sight of her is adorable.

7. Nami

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Like Chopper, I unfortunately don't think their friendship is very interesting. It feels like a very stereotypical "We're the only girls here, we have to stick together" relationship, with both of them enjoying shopping, sunbathing, and generally being "the smart ones" on the ship. One thing I do think is interesting is that Nami was originally bribed into accepting Robin with stolen jewels, but later came to like and accept Robin of her own accord. In addition, both grew up without a mother for much of their lives, and I imagine that Nami has latched onto Robin in part because she misses her own sister.

What I like about their friendship: Despite that I don't think it's very interesting, I like that they get along well. It's cute that Robin calls her Nami-chan sometimes, and I like that Robin, being usually more accepting of Luffy's actions, has the ability to calm Nami when she gets too annoyed in those situations.

6. Brook

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Robin was the only crewmate who didn't have an extreme reaction to Brook upon meeting him, and seemed more intrigued by him than anything. Brook, having been adrift and alone for fifty years, was the sole crewmate who had heard nothing about Robin's dark past, and saw her only as a beautiful woman with a macabre sense of humor. They're connected by their shared determination to live, both brought on or encouraged by Luffy; what's interesting here is that while Robin wants to live, Brook is happy to be alive, and I wonder if Robin still struggles with the happiness part.

What I like about their friendship: I like that Robin is willing to play along with his skull jokes, even though she found them annoying at first. They made a great team fighting Black Maria and her group, and I thought it was really sweet that Brook carried her to safety after the battle. It's also weirdly nice that they bonded over their trauma after being shown visions of their past during that same fight.

5. Usopp

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Like (most of) the others, Usopp was suspicious of Robin at first but accepted her pretty quickly. The two of them make a surprisingly good pair, playing the straight-man funny-man duo with Robin as the funny one and Usopp scolding her or panicking over her grim predictions. Even though Usopp had left the crew, he was willing to risk his life along with everyone else to help save her, even declaring war on the World Government.

What I like about their friendship: They bounce off each other really well, with Robin teasing Usopp pretty frequently and probably deliberately by bringing up the possibilities of death and injury. Usopp might think he's with a more level-headed person if he teams up with Robin instead of Luffy, but the fact is that Robin will go into dangerous situations with little regard for their own safety just as often as Luffy; she simply won't cause as much destruction on the way.

4. Jinbe

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Robin and Jinbe seem to have hit it off right away. They're the more serious/less silly members of the crew, despite that they enable Luffy at every opportunity. Much like the other Strawhats, they made a good team working together for the first time in Onigashima, and they played off each other really well when still disguised in the crowd. I would love to see more of them interacting in the future.

What I like about their friendship: It's really cute that Robin calls him Boss, and I like that she explicitly stated that she finds him handsome, which I feel is something she doesn't normally do with crewmates (of course, Jinbe hadn't yet been invited to join at that point). On the other side, it's unclear what if anything Jinbe knows about her past, but he seems to greatly respect her strength and wisdom, and this mutual respect and admiration means they get along very well.

3. Zoro

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Zoro was the sole crewmate not swayed by her charms or bribes when she first joined, but just a few days later, he gave up his code of not fighting for revenge when Enel attacked her (as he did with Chopper earlier). Later, in Water 7, he was willing to find her and hear her out, despite that he had initially wanted to leave Nami behind when she abandoned them in East Blue. I don't have much to say about their friendship beyond this, just that Zoro's development on his end is nice.

What I like about their friendship: Zoro's change from suspicion to acceptance is lovely. I like that Robin never cared that he didn't accept her at the start, and treated him the same as all the others. Zoro can be smart when he wants to be, and usually catches on quick when Robin's explaining something he didn't know before, making them good conversational partners.

2. Franky

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Franky's first introduction to Robin was a wanted poster with her name on it and a warning that she was a very dangerous person. Despite this, and despite not knowing her personally at all, he threw himself into the Enies Lobby rescue mission, sacrificing himself to separate the train cars to help her get away. He was so furious seeing how she was treated and how she saw herself that he ended up being the first person to tell her that her existence alone was not a crime, no matter what anyone said, and continued to encourage her throughout Enies Lobby. Since then, they've worked well together, tag-teaming to take down zombies in Thriller Bark and having nearly always interesting conversations.

What I like about their friendship: Although Franky is weirded out by her dark imagination, he has a "That's our Robin" attitude about it, not freaking out about it like others. I like that he supports her artistic ability (of which she has very little), and I like that Robin is one of the few people who doesn't call him a pervert or seem bothered by his choice of dress. It's funny that she commented that he hasn't changed a bit when she saw him post-timeskip, despite the obvious changes to his body, and it's nice that Franky, like with other women and unlike Sanji, is more or less respectful when he compliments her.

1. Luffy

Why I think it's interesting/not interesting: Even when she was their enemy, Luffy never once showed hostility to her. Sure, he yelled at her a bit when she took his hat and revealed that she blew up Igaram's ship, but despite that he always seemed firm on the idea that she wasn't a bad person. Likewise, Robin was intrigued by him from the start, and even though she could have easily gone off on her own again after leaving Baroque Works, she chose to join the Strawhats. Despite their apparent opposite dispositions (serious and book-smart vs. silly and not-so-smart), they get along very well and trust each other implicitly.

What I like about their friendship: I like that they both can be singularly focused on a task when they want to be. It seems like they wouldn't mesh well, yet it feels very natural to see them in action together. It's like their personalities balance out.

Unranked/Bonus

Vivi

During Alabasta, Robin blew up Vivi's friend's ship in an apparent attempt to kill him, she taunted her for trying to save her kingdom against the powerful Baroque Works, she easily defeated her and then mocked her before taking down yet another friend, she kidnapped her in order to take her to Crocodile and eventually leave her to drown, and she later tortured her father by stabbing wooden stakes through his arms and then kidnapping him as well. But despite all this, Vivi was not at all horrified to see that Robin had joined the crew, trusting Luffy's judgement as much as any other Strawhat. I would love to see these two meet again so we can get some non-antagonistic interactions between them.

[holykillercake]

Love Ordeal

SANJI X f!READER

word count: 2k

summary: The Strawhts decide to play Secret Davy Treasure and Sanji doens´t stop asking whom you got. 

highlight:  ¨Sanji,¨ you sighed ¨I love you, but if you don´t stop, I will be forced to throw your cigarettes in the ocean and straighten your eyebrows.¨

warning: F.L.U.F.F.

notes: Guys! This a part 2/3 of a request for a fluff where they have a s/o that made them a thing with crochet and how they would react. Also, Secret Davy Treasure is like Secret Santa, but you know. ALSO, there is a surprise at the end! 

𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘, 𝖗𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖘, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊!

¨Just pick one, Luffy!¨

¨But which one?¨

¨It doesn´t matter!¨

¨Hmm, can I pick two?¨

¨NO!¨

Earlier that day, an old lady told Nami that whichever path Luffy chose would always lead to another Winter Island. So with the end of the year approaching and the cold weather, you decided to play Secret Davy Treasure, a great South Blue tradition.

It consisted of the participants writing their names on a piece of paper, mixing them in a bowl - or Luffy's hat - and drawing them.  Whoever’s name you picked is who you will buy or make a Secret Davy Treasure.

You should have guessed that even something that sounded so simple would be complicated in the Thousand Sunny. The crew didn´t seem to understand nor follow the rules of physics, reality, and the game. 

At first, Zoro folded his paper with his name on the outside; then Brook picked himself and didn´t tell anyone. Now you were struggling with Luffy, who couldn´t pick one because A) he wanted to know what was written inside, and B) he wanted to pick more than one. 

While Franky, Usopp, and Chopper yelled at him, trying to make him understand, Brook laughed at the whole situation, and the rest of you wished to die and get reborn as clams. 

Sanji adjusted the blanket around your bodies and hugged you tighter, chatting until the commotion was over.  

¨Will you tell me?¨ he blew some smoke, and you tilted your head to look at him. 

¨Tell what?¨

¨Who you got.¨

¨What? Of course no!¨ you laughed ¨This is not how you play it!¨

¨But we are a couple, Y/N-chan!¨

¨.., and?¨ you sang the word.

¨We shouldn't keep secrets from each other!¨

A cloud of white smoke came out of your mouth when you giggled before snuggling deeper in his arms. 

¨Okaay,¨ Usopp crawled closer to you, defeated and holding Luffy´s hat ¨he will be the last one.¨

Despite your captain yelling that he should be the first to pick, you were all getting tired and opted to ignore him. 

¨Thanks!¨ you used the blanket to cover yourself as you unfolded it.

A chuckle left your mouth when you saw the name written, and the blonde behind you tried to peek over your shoulder. But you were faster to put the piece of paper with the name of your boyfriend inside your bra.

You turned and gave him a peck on the cheek while he pouted. 

You would have one week to come up with a Davy Treasure for Sanji, and you knew exactly what to do, but some butterflies still flew in your belly, wondering if he would like it. 

As a matter of fact, he loved everything you did, from sweet love to extremely salty culinary disasters. He would find perfection in every little thing done by you.

Enjoying your last days on the island of Snow Globe Pole - yeah, almost as bad as ¨Long Ring Long Land¨ - you decided to tour the city, looking for what you needed to make your gift. Or rather, to crochet your gift.

That was the easy part, for you were on a winter island, yarn and wool were pretty abundant. Every style possible of every possible color, anything that crossed your mind was available in the store. It would have been distracting if you didn´t have the colors already chosen. 

But again, so much for an innocent game. So much for a bit of fun. So naive to believe that Sanji would stop asking you whom you picked. 

In his defense, he had gotten calmer during the first night. But after seeing the bag you brought from the store, he became even more annoying. 

Charming, loving, but still annoying. 

¨It´s not Franky, right? His hands wouldn´t fit in it.¨

¨His regular-sized-robotic-mannequin hands would.¨ you looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. 

You could almost see the gasp stuck in his throat and his heart skipping a beat. 

After that, he kept bringing you desserts, offering massages, and doing everything in his power to bribe you. Skypiea Sanji was not the real Love Ordeal. Secret Davy Treasure Sanji was the real Love Ordeal. 

¨Sanji,¨ you sighed ¨I love you, but if you don´t stop, I will be forced to throw your cigarettes in the ocean and straighten your eyebrows.¨

He grumbled ¨I love you¨ back among some other things and marched to the kitchen with flames on the top of his head. You chuckled and went back to your colorful wools. 

Before you chose his gift, you thought about Sanji and the things that he liked or needed. From cooking to smoking and women. 

Cooking for him would be outrageous. You wanted to give him something amazing, and you couldn't compare to him in the kitchen. At all.

Women. You were the only woman he wanted and needed, and honestly, you were the woman for the job. 

Now, smoking. You would not buy or make him cigarettes, obviously. But he had this adorable and clumsy thing of always burning the tips of his mittens whenever he lit a cigarette. 

Because of that, you decided to crochet him one of those fingerless gloves that come with a mitten flap so he could cover his fingers once he was done. Like that, he would be warm and natural disaster-free. 

¨There is orange, Y/N-chan! You got Nami, right?!¨ you jumped and almost stabbed yourself with the hook when he yelled in your ear.

¨Oh, my sweet Davy Jones, give me strength...¨ you whispered ¨There is also purple, Sanji-kun. It could be Brook or Robin.¨ 

He pondered over it a little, frowned, and made his way to the door.

¨Hey!¨ he turned with sad puppy eyes ¨Is this really important to you? To know who I got?¨ he nodded. 

You gestured with your head, telling him to come closer. A big and bright smile appeared on his face, and your heart beat stronger. That smile, you would punch the Red Line broken to create another All Blue for that smile. 

Oh, how you love this cook. 

¨Ok! Just because I am asking I´ll tell you first, ok?¨ he spoke with a lower voice but still sparkly. You smiled and nodded. ¨I got Chopper! And I bought him a new backpack with a lot of compartments for his medical stuff.¨

The way he paid attention to the tiny details made you melt. He was always taking care of others, complimenting the crew - except Zoro - and celebrating even the smallest of the successes. 

He showed you the blue backpack, very similar to Chopper´s current one, but a lot stronger, prettier, and more practical. He would love it, no doubts. 

¨Well,¨ you began ¨I got... Usopp.¨ 

You felt terrible about telling him a lie, but you couldn´t spoil your surprise.

 ¨Since we´re going to winter islands, I don´t want his finger to get tangled when, Uhm... he´s picking his Ketchup Stars, Green Stars, or Let´s-scare-creepy-girls-to-death Stars. I really hope he likes it.¨

If you were not paying enough attention, you would have missed Sanji´s disappointed look, which he quickly hid with a kind smile. 

¨You always think about everything, Y/N-chan. He will love it.¨ he kissed your forehead and went back to the kitchen. 

You waited until he closed the door to cringe ¨You are going to hell, Y/N.¨ 

Finally, the Secret Davy Treasure day arrived. You would exchange gifts and then have a nice dinner if Luffy didn´t make a party out of it. He definitely would. 

But you were also grateful that today was the day. Since you told Sanji that you had picked Usopp, he has been acting a little upset. The other guys didn´t notice, but you did. 

You would always notice. And you had an idea why. 

The gift exchanging rules were pretty simple.  The Secret Davy had to offer information about the person receiving the treasure, and the others had to guess. 

It started with Usopp, whose Secret Davy was Franky. He gave him a bunch of super tools and some colored light bulbs for the ¨Party Nipple¨ idea.

Franky´s Secret Davy was Robin. He gave her a journal with waterproof pages he created. 

Robin´s Secret Davy was you, and she presented you with a beautiful copy of a fictional adventure book since you were always reading them on the ship.

Then it was your turn. You held the gift wrapped in a shiny blue paper and began to describe your Secret Davy. 

¨My Secret Davy is... slightly annoying sometimes.¨

¨It´s the stupid-eyebrow.¨ Zoro said.

¨Shut up, marimo head!¨

You continued after Nami punched them. ¨My Secret Davy always takes care of us.¨ 

¨It´s Chopper!¨ you shook your head.

¨Hmm... my Secret Davy is an exceptional fighter! Really strong!¨ 

¨It´s me!¨ 

¨No, Zoro! It´s me! I will become the Pirate King!¨ 

¨Shut up, you two!¨

¨My Secret Davy is...¨ you looked at Sanji and smiled ¨... loving and caring.¨ 

He looked back at you, confused.  Why would you say those about Usopp? Not that he wasn´t loving and caring, but... still. 

¨My Secret Davy is... the man of my dreams, the prince of my fairy tale, and the love of my life.¨

A minute or two passed while everyone waited for Sanji to say something, but he remained frozen with a perplexed expression. 

¨Sanji-san, I think the treasure is yours.¨ Brook said calmy. 

The cook made his way to you slowly, taking the gift from your hands and opening it gently, without tearing the wrapping.  

Did he get upset because of your lie? 

¨Sanji...¨ you called him, but he kept staring at the gloves. 

You saw his eyes fill with water before he excused himself and exited the deck, leaving everyone staring at you. 

¨I don´t... I´m gonna...¨ you pointed and left too. 

When you entered your room, he was standing, back turned to you. Was he really crying, or you saw things?

¨Sanji-kun?¨

¨You remembered...¨ he turned around, still holding the mittens ¨These colors...¨ 

¨Yeah, they don´t really match, but...¨

¨I wanted it so much, Y/N. When I saw it, I wanted it so much.¨

He rushed in your direction and hugged you tight. He hugged you and you felt all his emotions, you felt the weight he carried in his heart. Not a bad weight, just the weight of missing someone you love. 

You knew that that was the reason he was pestering you so much, the colors. You had chosen the colors that Zeff, Sanji´s mentor, wore. 

The fingers were orange and purple, like his striped shirt. You added yellow details of his hair; the blue of his ascot, and the white of his apron. 

As you said, they didn´t match, but apparently, Sanji didn´t care.

He would always share stories about their lives and cook recipes that Zeff taught him. Despite him always calling him old man or damn geezer, the Red Leg was his father.

¨Thank you, Y/N-chan. I loved it.¨

The sound of him sniffing made you hold him stronger. 

¨I miss that damn geezer.¨ 

¨I´m sure he misses you too, Little Eggplant.¨ 

¨Oi!¨

You squeaked and laughed when he threw on the bed.

¨I´ll show you Little Eggplant!¨

Hey, Guys! SURPRISE! Here´s my first decent art? hahaha THE MITTENS!

I don´t know if the quality dropped. I´m using krita and still don´t know how to adjust the settings stuff when I´m saving a jpeg. Anyway, I hope you liked it!

[tooweirdforyou]

Heeeey!!!! I have another request! It's ver fun idea. Hehe. Can I request headcanons of Law & Zoro (seperate) x S/O? Okay the man are sometimes busy like Zoro is training, Law is busy work ye know. So S/O has a idea! They make a cute plush that looks like them. S/O call their plush Little Zoro and Little Law😂. Example if Law is still working. And S/O is sleeping alone again... Then she put Law jun plush next side where Law sleeps. If Law finally sleep next to her then see little Law in his place. And then S/O say "Sorry Law but little Law has taken place. If Law throws the plush from the bed then S/O say "No little Law! No!" In a funny dramatic way. And they pout but happy that he sleeps or just laying. Or by Zoro same sort of situation but then by that little Zoro has taken the chair by breakfast. It's a example. And how will they react to the plush little Law and little Zoro? Or you can also call Law junior or Zoro 2.0. You can decide. And that's it. Oh and have a nice and safe day.

Law & Zoro’s S/O Replacing Them With A Plush - HCs

A/N : this is actually really adorable— SEE, creativeeeee! 🤍 thank you for requesting! :)

Summary : in which, after being constantly busy and away from their attention-seeking significant other, they find their s/o all cuddled up with a look-alike plush of them. Did that make sense? I’m not good with summaries—

Law

Law was often busy, duties as captain and ship doctor, along with being overworked with paperwork.

And so, obviously, there will be days where you really want attention, missing your lovable surgeon of death.

During these times, you would usually cuddle and play with Bepo, or having joking conversations with Penguin and Shachi.

Until you had an idea. Bepo as a bit of inspiration, of course.

It luckily didn’t take long since you had a lot of free time, but when you finally finished your little creative project, let’s just say you weren’t feeling so lonely anymore.

It was a little plush doll of Law.

When you finished, you would show it off to the crew first, them all complimenting on it and gushing at how adorable it was, and nothing like their captain.

It looks exactly like him, the others would constantly ask to look at it again as you bring it around everywhere.

When Law finally hears the commotion, he’d come over to see what was going on.

He wasn’t expecting the sight of his crew area all gushing at a small toy version of him, much less find out that you are the creator of it and was holding it to your chest.

“Oh, Law, look! It’s a Little Law! Law junior!”

He wouldn’t even know what to say, just sweatdropping at how excited and joyful you seemed.

He’d only pat your head and compliment you on how detailed and accurate it was, secretly hoping you wouldn’t do something like that again.

He didn’t hate it though. He thought seeing how happy it made you was kinda cute.

But he soon learned how troublesome the doll was.

At First, it didn’t bother him that you brought it everywhere with you. It made him happy to know that you were comforted with a mini him around you and keep you company, ( although he’d be pretty concerned if you started to act like it was a real person ).

But as days passed by and Law grew more busy, he would notice how much less you focused on him, and more on the doll. You wouldn’t check on him as much, nor come in with little snacks so he was eating.

The last straw, was when he found you asleep, in bed beside you in the spot he usually sleeps in. You held the plush doll close to your chest, cuddling up to it as you slept soundly.

His brow would twitch at the sight and he’d clear his throat and wake you up.

“Oi, [Name]-ya. Why are you cuddling with a toy?”

Lowkey jealous that mini toy him has been getting more love than real him.

“Oh, Law, are you already finished with all your paperwork?” You sit up, still holding the plush close to you whilst rubbing your eyes.

It was a rather adorable sight but Law has important things to talk about.

“Get rid of the fake me.” He’d be blunt about it, and you would immediately pick up on what he means.

“Come here.” You reach for his hand and pull him into the bed, forcing him down and laid on top of his chest, the plush close to both of you as you tiredly smiled at him.

“Sleep. Good night, Law.”

He wouldn’t even know what to say, and since he can’t move without waking you up again, he’d just lay there and stare at you before accepting it and going to sleep.

The next morning, he’ll have a serious discussion with you about the toy.

Despite your protests, he’ll force you to put away the toy and he’ll toss it aside, even if you insist that it’s like both of yours’ own child.

He’d stare at you in disbelief before rolling his eyes slightly and place a hand on the back of your head, pulling you to his chest.

“If you wanted to have a child, you just have to ask, [Name]-ya. I could easily help you with that.”

-

Zoro

Zoro’s daily schedule consists of three things.

Sleeping, and at least three naps a day.

Fighting / Eating, if there’s no enemies and when it’s time for lunch.

Training. Lots and lots of training. This man lives off of training for hours.

Because you didn’t want to bother him during these times too much, you would spend time in the kitchen with Sanji, or talk with the girls and read the catalog magazines.

But it does become a bit much, and after days of no attention from the swordsman, you grew even more lonely. So you decided to take it upon yourself to solve your loneliness.

You had a bit of help from Nami with it, but you did do most of the work and came up with the idea. Nonetheless, you loved the work.

“How does it look?” You smile eagerly at it, holding it up. Nami just giggles at the sight of it. “Looks just like him!”

And so you would bring it out to show the others, Luffy, Usopp and most of all Sanji laughing hysterically at it, making fun of how stupid Zoro looks, but most definitely complimenting your skills and assuring you it was adorable. You weren’t sure how to feel about them.

Brook and Chopper would think it was super cute and play with it with you, whilst Franky and Robin just smile at it, also complimenting your skills on it.

After Zoro’s done training for the hour, he’ll come down and see the crew gathered around you. Wondering what was going on, he’d come over and see the little toy and furrow his brows.

“Look, Zoro. It’s a mini you. Except this one’s much more cuter than the original.” Usopp teased, the others snickering along with him as Zoro’s eyes narrowed and brow twitching in irritation at their comments.

“I think it’s cute. Don’t you, Zoro?”

Hearing your soft tone would make his heart melt internally, and with warm cheeks, he’d just turn away. “Sure, whatever..”

Secretly wants his own version of you, so he can keep it around with himself.

The next several days, he’s not bothered at all by the plush, other than Sanji’s stupid insulting teasing comments about it, but other than that, he doesn’t really care that you have it.

However, when he decides to relax from training for a day and can’t find you anywhere, he’ll be annoyed, since he’s feeling a little needy for attention right now.

When he finally finds you, you’re hugging the the toy while talking with Nami and Robin about random topics, in the lounge.

“Hey, [Name]! Why do you still have that?”

You’d move the plush onto your lap and smile at Zoro when he comes in. “Because it’s so cute! Zoro 2.0. It’s kinda like our kid, right?” You joke, giggling as you glance down at it.

Zoro just clicks his tongue and grabs the plush from your hands and glare at it before tossing it behind him. “Oi, Zoro! What’re you doing?!”

“Why are you hugging a fake me, when you have the real thing right here?!”

You’d huff at him with puffed cheeks as you pout at him.

Then he’d grab your hand and drag you out and into your room, where he’ll force you into bed and then cage you below him.

He’ll narrow his eyes at you as he leans down by your ear.

“Next time, just tell me if you want to have kids. There’s a proper way to do it, y’know.”

-

These turned into some long headcannons, basically scenarios— hope you liked it! :)

[vemuabhi]

Love me again

Pairing : Sanji X Fem! Reader

Requested by pandawondergirl (wattpad)

Warnings : Angst, hurt, comfort then happy ending

Word count : 2.4K

A/N : According to KST, its Jhope’s birthday! Happy birthday Jhope my sunshine! Cmon guys listen to Daydream for happy vibes (Clickable)

I hope you like the story!

"Y/N! Can you come here for a sec dear", called Sanji as you instantly went towards him, leaving the game in between.

"Damn... Y/N not again!", said Ussop as you just gave him an apologetic look. Luffy and Chopper, just smiled at you when you went into the kitchen.

You saw that the blond was making pastries. You stood beside him and looked at him. He smiled at you and lifted his spoon up, with the small treat with it.

"Say ah~", he said making you blush. You had a crush on the blond for a long time. Maybe from the day you joined the crew. He was so elegant, handsome and very polite. You always had a spot for gentlemen like him. As he instructed, you opened your mouth. He placed the piece of pastry in your mouth and pulled the empty spoon back. "So, how is it?", he asked.

"Its... its really amazing! The way it just melts in your mouth and the sweetness is just perfect", you complimented.

"Awww thanks a lot dear. So... do you think Nami san will like it?", he asked.

Yes you liked him, but... it was one sided. He liked Nami. And most of the times he asked you for help. So, you continued to help him.

"Sanji, trust me. She will be totally be mesmerised by it", you answer honestly as you place your hand on his shoulder and looked into his eye.

"Thanks dear. You always help me", with that he smiled widely at you.

Everytime you helped him, he would give you the most dazzling smile you'd crave for. That smile of his... it was everything you could ask for. Atleast this emotion and smile were true between you two. Atleast he didn't give anyone this smile other than you.

You watched him as he swooned over to the navigator and gave her the pastry. She smiled as she ate it and he melted at that sight.

Oh only if he looked at you. Only if he noticed you. Only if he liked you back... you knew it wasn’t the case and were also thinking of giving up. But, when ever you tried, he needed you and you couldn't help but be there for him. Couldn't stop helping him to make Nami fall in love.

You knew, Nami wouldn't like him in a romantic way. She just saw him as a friend. You didn't hate Nami. You couldn't even. She was amazing.

Once when you all were on Sabaody, the way he swooned over every single girl, made you feel even more jealous. ‘Maybe I need to confess’, you thought. But the way he just made you a nervous mess every time, you even tried to talk to him, made you to go for a second option. 

You took a paper and wrote all your feelings down on it. It definitely made you a bit confident to give it, rather than to say it to him. You gently placed it in his pocket, where he usually keeps his cigarette because you knew he’d definitely look at it, if you kept it there. You then continued to watch him if he shows any reaction of that small love letter of yours and waited and waited. 

You all ate your food and then you saw Sanji... literally crushed that love letter of yours and threw it. Your heart was broken at his reaction. The worst you imagined was, he gently rejecting you. but... this... you never expected. Tears welled up in your eyes and you went to the restroom and cried for a while. You were never the type to cry in front of others. Oh little did you know that it was a nasty drawing handed to him. So he crushed it and threw it way. “No snacks”, he said as Luffy and Ussop stopped to laugh and whined. ‘No more. Ill stop these feelings’, you thought and went towards the table. 

You all then got into the mess, with Kizaru and Kuma sent you all flying to different islands. Sanji who was sent to Okama island, was stressed so he placed his hand in his pocket to take a new cigarette but he noticed a paper which was carefully folded slipped out of his pocket. He bent down and gently picked it up. Then suddenly, the Okama people attacked him. So he had no choice but to place it in his pocket and run away. 

You started to train with the people on the island and had only two thoughts in mind. ‘To get stronger for Luffy and to get rid of these feelings for Sanji’. On the other hand, Sanji read your letter and had tears in his eyes. ‘Y..Y/N loves me?!’, he thought as he read the letter again and again to make sure he didn’t imagine anything. He was overwhelmed with happiness, never in his life he thought he could have a person love him. But, there you were, in every step when together, trying to make him happy. He realised how he also liked you but never knew about his own feelings. 

3D2Y

You came to the island of Sabaody after 2 years to meet your crew. You were more stronger, more confident and even developed your haki skills and were so exited to train with Zoro. While you were going towards the island not long after you heard someone familiar.

“VIVA SABAODY!!! I NEED LADYYY!!!”, he shouted.

Way too close to your heart that you didn’t even had to turn around to look at him. Even after 2 years, just his voice, made your heart beat faster. ‘What the hell?! I thought I was over him’, you thought and paced faster. You didnt turn around, just kept walking. Away from that voice. away from him. You knew this was a futile effort because you were of the same crew. But your heart just couldn’t bare it. But, you couldn’t win against his speed. He noticed you. He noticed you even when you changed. You were more mature and more stronger. But he noticed you. 

“Y/N!! Y/N! is that you?!”, he was shouting as he headed towards you practically ran towards you. Just in a couple of seconds, there he stood infront of you. With his ever charming smile. He looked at you and then fainted with nosebleed. His behaviour was still the same, but this is the first time he ever got a nosebleed seeing you. ‘Only because of some small changes, nothing more’, you thought. You had no option but to carry him to the Shakki san’s bar. You crouched down and placed your arm behind his shoulder and carefully lifted him up with using your devilfruit powers. No matter how much you tried to avoid, your mind kept telling you, how his fluffy hair grew, how he changed his hair to view his other eye, and how... how you still had feelings for him even when you denied. ‘Damn my stupid heart’, you cursed as you reached the bar. You let him be there and left.

After a while, Sanji slowly opened his eyes slowly and got up. He then remembered the encounter with you.

“Y/N!”, he exclaimed as he looked around the bar, only for Shakki san to chuckle and pat his head.

“She brought you here when you were unconscious and left”, she said. He got up right away and thanked Shakki san and left the bar. He went towards the shops to buy food and controlled himself so much not to just stand there talking with the ladies. He wanted to make the best food for the three of you... especially, for you.

He bought food and came over to the ship, only to be fainted with nosebleed right after seeing you and the other two ladies. He woke up after a while and sunny started the journey to the mermaid island. He then without wasting time, came towards you and took your hand in his as he walked away from the chaotic group.

‘Why the hell am I not pushing him away?’, you thought as he brought you to kitchen and stood before you. He took a deep breath and asked, “Y/N, do you... do you like..”, he practiced this for two years and now he became a nervous wreck. You wanted to be cold towards him. You didn’t want these feelings for him. So you said, “Hurry up will ya! I don’t have time”. His face was stunned. He looked at you with a very hurt expression. You were hurt. You didnt like the way you talked to him.

“Ah, I.. I’m sorry, its just that, I wanted to ask you that, is it true that, you..like me?”, he asked.

You sighed and replied, “I.. I used to like you Sanji and yes it was the truth. But I don’t anymore.”

He was shocked. His visible eye was open wide. He didn’t expect this answer from you. He thought you two would date. Now here you were, saying you liked him but you don’t feel the same for him now.

“But... may I ask, why? Did you like anyone else during this time?”, he asked you. 

“No, no one. Its just that, I liked you so much but,” you couldn’t stop, you werent nervous. You wanted to tell him how much you were hurt so you continued, “I was heart broken, when you rejected my confession then-”

“WOAH WOAH! Rejected your confession?! When did I ever do that?”, he questioned with the most serious and confused look.

“You did. You crumbled my love letter infront of my eyes. I never thought you would be the type to just plain stamp on my feelings. Especially you Sanji, you dont even know how much hurt I was when I saw that”, you said as you looked into his eyes. 

“Y/N, what are you even talking about? I wouldn’t do that. You should know it more than anyone else on this ship”, he said as he sighed and placed his hand in his pocket. He took out a pink envelope and gave it to you. You took it and opened the envelope. It had the same folded white paper in it. You teared up as you saw that paper. 

“I saw your letter, when I was thrown away on an island. I wanted to contact you asap, but I didn’t knew where you were”, he said as he came closer to you and gently wiped your tears away. He continued, “Y/N, I’ve kept this letter for all this time and I’ll continue to keep it with me. It’s the first time a person ever said that they like me. And, more over its from an amazing person like you. Did you think, I’d reject you?”

You sobbed even more and leaned your head on his chest. He slowly placed one of his hand on your shoulder and with the other he patted your head soothingly. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry Sanji. I should’ve known. I misunderstood you. Forgive me.”, you said still didnt looked at him. He said, “Its fine. Dont cry. Y/N, I’ve been waiting to ask this, Will you go out with me?”

You stopped crying as he said it. You lifted your head and looked at him. He was serious. He didn’t have any heart eyes or nosebleed.

“Are you... sure?”, you asked. He smiled and said yes. You giggled and nodded. As soon as you nodded he couldn’t control his emotions and hugged you tight as he lifted you up. 

“THANKYOU SO MUCH!”, he screamed as you chuckled. With still you in his arms, he left the kitchen and you both were met with the whole crew staring at you two. He let you down and placed his arm around your shoulder.

“WE ARE DATING!”, he announced making the complete crew jump in joy. Even when Luffy and Chopper didn’t understand what it was but still were happy anyway.

Days went by and you all achieved your goals. You both faced so many troubles, had many memorable moments. The way Sanji dotted on you made you to become happier than ever, because that was what you wanted from him, because he was your prince. You loving and caring for him, made him even more crazy for you, because that was what he wanted the most in his life, and you were the angel of his heart. Once you found a paper on your desk, which said meet me at the beach. You followed the path of rose petals and ofcourse, no one but Sanji would do this.He is cheesy AF, bt you love it though. There you saw, Sanji with a bouquet of red roses. ‘How did he arrange all of this’, you thought as you looked at the beach. He arranged a candle light date. He gave you the bouquet and escorted you to the place. You sat on your chair and he knelt down before you. He held your hand in his and said, “Y/N, you make me so happy every single day. You made me a better person. Time with you is the most precious of all. So, would you give me the honour of standing next to you for the rest.”, he took out a small dark blue box and opened it and continued, “Will you become the Queen of my All blue for life, will you marry me”, he ended as you started to cry.

“Yes, my King of All Blue”, you said as you sobbed and he placed the ring on your finger. You both got up and kissed. Then all your friends came towards you two and congratulated you two. Luffy hugged you two as he nibbled on the food, Sanji made for you.

You couldn’t help but be overwhelmed. He was your prince, now he was becoming your King. You couldnt be anymore happier than this.

After disbanding from crew, you both went to Barratie, for some days to meet Sanji’s family. As soon as you were introduced as his fiance, everyone was stunned. They all celebrated this by making a huge party and you felt blessed for all this. For Sanji, for his family and for everything else.

XOXOXOXOXO

I hope you liked it! Please forgive me for any mistakes.

Did you like the story or the song. Tell me how you feel by giving me a Like, Comment and Reblog. 

Thanks for Reading!

[yukipri]

On the Baratie, Part 5 Epilogue - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Here’s the final part of the Baratie series!

Includes my personal headcanons for Thatch’s backstory in this AU (and possibly canon, as I doubt we’ll learn much more about him sigh).

WARNINGS (actual warnings this time):

＊Trigger warnings for non-graphic violence, gore, unwilling self-harm, mention of thoughts of suicide, and body horror. Canon-typical dark backstory.

Slight ship warnings for: minor Sanji x Luffy, Thatch x Luffy, hint of bg Sabo x Luffy, but not ship-focused.

Continues off of past parts!

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 1

👒🐟On the Baratie, Prologue

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 2

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 3

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 4

~~

They've been traveling together for a while now. With more additions to the crew, Sanji's no longer the newest member. They leave East Blue, crossing over to the Grand Line. Their voyage continues onward.

Fitting into his role as the second cook of the ASL Pirates was easier than Sanji could have ever hoped, and he knows it's largely due to Thatch. Thatch, who, for all his incredible skill and titles and history, turns out to be...a remarkably normal person. It takes less than an hour for Sanji's awe over Thatch being his childhood idol to turn into pure indignation when the other cook professes his love for Luffy, and now their daily proposals to Luffy with food are just part of routine on the Merry.

(Sanji still knows his cooking is amateur in comparison to Thatch's, but none of their crew seems to realize, and Luffy eats all their food with equal gusto. Even Thatch himself only ever compliments Sanji, often with ridiculous faux outrage that Sanji's cooking looks better, which is absolutely false, Sanji would know. But even so, the man sounds so genuinely offended that Sanji can't help but appreciate the lengths the older man will go to in order to keep Sanji from feeling inferior.)

It's during a rare moment of calm, when the skies are clear and Deuce and Nami seem relaxed about their progress, when Sanji decides there's never going to be a better time to ask. He finishes washing the last of the pastry plates from the desserts the crew had just finished devouring (his hands momentarily pause on a plate that Ace had to pull out of Luffy's throat when she swallowed it whole along with the pastry, and Sanji allows himself a moment of imagining that the plate with her slobber is somewhat like an indirect kiss...), before he exits the kitchen to go to his locker.

From the locker, buried beneath gravure magazines of buxom ladies whose beauty will never compare to Luffy's, he pulls out a magazine far more valuable to him, the only one of its kind that he'd brought with him from the Baratie.

Back up on the main deck, Sanji finds Thatch sitting by the mast while watching Luffy and Usopp play with some new contraption the latter made. He looks up when he senses Sanji's approach, grimacing when the movement makes the wind blow his now loose hair into his mouth.

"I need a hair tie if Marco's not going to send me my damn hair wax," Thatch complains, even as he pats the ground next to him for Sanji to sit.

"You could always ask our lovely navigator," Sanji grunts as he drops down, careful not to fold the magazine, which Thatch has yet to notice.

"Ah, beautiful Miss Nami might have one, but her hair's pretty short...honestly more likely Deuce'll have one." Thatch sulks, because he'd really rather get a hair tie from a pretty lady, but as it is, Thatch probably has the longest hair on the crew at the moment, followed by their first mate. "If only our ladies had longer hair...ah, my darling Seastar with long hair..."

Sanji lets himself get drawn into imagining their most dazzling Lady Captain leaning against the rail of the Merry, sunlight sparkling off the waves in the background paling in comparison to her radiance. Her face is shadowed by her trademark straw hat, before she raises her head, causing long, silky strands to ripple around her like dark angel wings, glittering threads of black diamond dancing across her cheeks before she tucks them behind her ear with a small smile--

Both cooks sigh dreamily in perfect unison.

"Hey Luffy, they're thinking somethin' pervy about you again!" Usopp shouts in the background.

Both cooks ignore him, likewise in perfect synch.

Thatch regretfully pulls out of his Luffy Vision first. "So, you got something to talk to me about?" He knows it can't be about dinner, because they'd already started prepping for that.

Sanji blinks, and oh, there's Luffy, with her short hair, still just as lovely, probably doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous, but that's okay because Sabo's stepping in, and the Revolutionary may be batshit crazy but he won't let Luffy hurt herself--and right, he wanted to talk to Thatch.

He carefully brings the magazine out in front of him, and Thatch leans over curiously. The pages easily fall open to the column, remembering the page Sanji poured over countless times. Sanji hears Thatch's breath hitch.

"This you?" Sanji asks, looking at the faded photo of the smiling boy, before his eyes flick to Thatch.

The older man's eyes are wide, glued to the page. Sanji wordlessly offers him the magazine, and Thatch slowly takes it, his hands handling the paper carefully as though worried it'll crack.

"Yeah, that's me alright," Thatch murmurs, eyes scanning the column before his lips twist into a wry smile. "How the hell did you get your hands on this fossil?"

"Found it while we were looking for stuff for the Baratie's collection, some old second hand shop," Sanji says, and it's not a lie, but it's not like he can admit he was obsessed with them and actually hunted for them after obtaining the first ones.

Thatch makes a low sound of understanding, before he starts flipping through the rest of the magazine, pages that Sanji honestly doesn't even remember. "I wonder if this magazine's still even going..."

"It is," Sanji informs him. "It's changed a lot, but we still get it delivered."

Thatch laughs then, shaking his head as he closes the magazine and hands it back to Sanji with the same care. "I'm sure it has changed, after what happened, oh man..."

Sanji frowns. So something did happen.

"So how did the kid in this end up a Whitebeard pirate?" he asks, but he means, How did the boy's adventure end?

"Mm, you sure you wanna know? It's not a particularly nice story, though I suppose it has a happy end." Thatch leans back heavily against the mast, his hand subconsciously reaching up to brush hair away from his face, lingering on the deep, if old scar around his left eye. Sanji wonders if it's related.

"If it's something you don't mind sharing. I'm sure I can handle it."

They're interrupted by a crash, and look up to see Sabo heaving Luffy up back over the rail by the end of her tail. She'd clearly almost fallen overboard, again, but is laughing as carefree as ever, even as Usopp wrings his hands apologetically behind them. Sabo doesn't look mad though, and is stroking Luffy's hair now that she's safely back on deck and in his arms, his face disgustingly besotted.

Deuce and Nami come out of the cabin at the noise, and Ace and Zoro startle awake from their respective naps as well. Deuce takes one look at what's going on, and launches into a full blown scolding session for all three of the members involved, clearly dissatisfied with the way Sabo handled it. It had only taken the first mate a few days in his company before Deuce had determined that no matter how sensible Sabo may seem at times, he's still Another Stupid Brother, and therefore gets the same treatment.

The rest of the crew listening in winces when Deuce hurls a, "Luffy being stupid is one thing, but you're WAY too lenient with her, you foolish Revolutionary!" Nami and Koala cheer him on in the background.

("Told you," Ace mouths, before hastily looking away when Deuce's gaze snaps to him.)

Usopp looks thoroughly chastised and sincerely sorry, Sabo looks weirdly pleased as though being told he's lenient is a compliment, and Luffy looks bored and is searching for an escape when her gaze lands on the two cooks.

"Thatch! Story time?!" is all the warning they get, before Luffy's arms grab onto the mast behind them and the mermaid torpedoes head-first into Thatch's chest. It's a testament to the Whitebeard Commander's sturdiness that all he does is grunt at the considerable impact, even as Sanji winces in sympathy. That'll definitely bruise.

"Alright, yeah story time, if anyone wants to hear my boring old past," Thatch agrees, and Luffy cheers, turning herself sideways and flopping down on Thatch's crossed legs to look up at him with eyes sparkling with expectation. Sanji isn't even jealous, because in her new position, Luffy's thrown her tail across Sanji's lap, and he begins reverently rubbing circles into her soft scales, heat creeping up his cheeks when her flukes flick with pleasure.

Deuce sighs, giving up on his scolding as everyone gathers around the cooks. But he doesn't seem too disappointed, and pulls out his notebook as he joins them, as though he intends on recording whatever Thatch's going to say. Ace plops himself down on Thatch's other side, ruffling Luffy's hair distractedly and hiding his curiosity poorly. Sanji gets the feeling that despite knowing him for much longer, Ace hasn't heard much about Thatch's past either.

"Well, so..."

~~

Thatch was born to a middle class family in a relatively active port town on the Grand Line. His parents ran a modest diner, certainly nothing high class, but popular enough among the locals to almost always have full seats.

Thatch was what they called a "child prodigy." He'd started helping in the kitchen simply because he wanted to do the same things as his parents, but by the time he was seven, he'd already surpassed both of them in skill. His parents decided to leave the kitchen to him, while they focussed on management.

With Thatch behind the menu, the restaurant's popularity grew, drawing more traffic. Among their visitors were occasional food critics, who spread their business's reputation and made it something of a cult tourist spot.

When Thatch was nine, his father came up with the idea that it might be good publicity, for people to know that a literal child was behind their now famous restaurant's food. And in the name of said publicity, he also decided to have the restaurant officially under Thatch's name, although is parents still managed it.

"Child prodigy chef owns his own restaurant," was definitely a headline that journalists latched onto. The berries were rolling in.

Thatch himself, he didn't really care about that. He rarely ever left the kitchen now, constantly cooking, constantly coming up with new menu items, constantly training new chefs as their once small family diner expanded into a chain. He didn't really mind it, he loved cooking after all, but he often wished he still had time to talk to patrons, or explore town. While there weren't any child labor laws in their country, he couldn't go to school or make friends or do anything a normal child might otherwise enjoy.

So when the largest, most prominent cooking magazine sent a representative to talk about a potential column centered around him, Thatch was hopeful. He'd always dreamed of leaving the island, and it'd never seemed like an achievable dream. He wanted to exposure to new things to expand his cooking repertoire, and he wanted to be able to challenge himself as a cook--but more than anything, he also just wanted go and see what might be out there, outside of his diner's kitchen.

His parents reluctantly agreed. At this point, Thatch had trained enough experienced cooks, and their reputation was established enough that Thatch's temporary absence wouldn't damage them. And Thatch knew his parents were drawn by the potential for greater publicity from the column, and Thatch (and their restaurant) possibly becoming a household name not just on the Grand Line, but across the world.

(Thatch never thought his parents were bad people, or even bad parents. He hadn't wanted for anything, and they let him pursue and nurture his passion. That they were business-minded, and had also come to see Thatch as an asset and publicity tool was something he understood. They still loved him, in their own way.)

His parents' only condition was that Thatch return in a few years, before he was fifteen. A "child prodigy" becomes less interesting with age, and eventually becomes "a normal adult." They wanted Thatch back before that, to reestablish his connection to their diner, before he inevitably faded out of public interest, or had to re-establish his identity as an adult cook.

And so at eleven years old, what seemed like the entire town saw off Thatch, who set sail on a small ship manned by experienced sailors, and chaperoned by the journalist who would be documenting his voyage.

For the first two years, the journey was everything Thatch had ever wanted. They would go to new islands, information provided to him by the journalist, and then he would be given free reign to do whatever he wanted, so long as it included food and cooking, which is what Thatch would have been drawn to do anyway. That there were always a handful of adults a few paces behind him, documenting everything he did and forcing him to voice his thoughts out loud, all eventually faded into the background. Thatch got used to voicing his inner thoughts for their benefit. It was hardly a chore, and Thatch was having the time of his life.

But all things eventually change. Due to the success of the column, Thatch's journalist was given a promotion, and the last stretch of his journey before Thatch was to return to his home island was assigned to a new journalist. Thatch had always known that their relationship was strictly professional, and was used to changing traveling companions at this point. It felt a bit lonely that the first journalist, the only person who had remained a constant, was leaving...but he understood.

It's just business, after all.

The new journalist replaced the old one, and their journey continued--or at least, it was supposed to.

Child!Thatch, adult Thatch would later think, was remarkably naive and sheltered for all that he was a veteran cook. He was used to having things being laid out in front of him on a neat platter, for the adults in his life to control all aspects of his life, conveniently convincing himself that it's what he wanted anyway. He was used to the adults taking care of all the details, because all Thatch had to do to make everyone happy was cook. He not once doubted those responsible for his life, and blindly trusted that they would keep everything smooth and safe for him.

Because when one day, thirteen-year old Thatch woke up to see red staining the walls of the cabin, and then looked around to find the corpses of everyone else on the ship strewn around him, it took a remarkably long time for him to process that this definitely wasn't what was supposed to happen.

He was disoriented, too numb to even feel panic or put up a fight when the new journalist came in and tied him up to pass him to the pirates who had decimated the crew.

Pirates. It wasn't the Golden Age of Piracy yet, and although the Roger Pirates and other famous names were often whispered about, most sailors didn't expect to personally run into pirates. Thatch had been warned of their existence, but hadn't really thought much on them, as they had seemed irrelevant to his own peaceful civilian adventures.

The pirates and the journalist had a deal, he gathered. The pirates had wanted to get their hands on the famous child prodigy cook, and were willing to pay good money. The journalist had agreed, and had summoned the pirates to their location. Everyone but Thatch and the journalist had been killed to erase witnesses.

Before handing Thatch off to them, the journalist demanded payment first. Thatch remembers wondering why the journalist hadn't demanded anything before agreeing to the deal--it seemed a bad business tactic.

Thatch was standing right next to the journalist when the pirate captain drew his sword. Thatch wasn't scared, because he knew he wouldn't be hurt. He was an asset. And he probably knew what would happen before the journalist did.

He still remembers feeling the whoosh of air as the sword came, the sound of it hitting flesh, the dull thunk, the loosening of the arms gripping the rope that held Thatch bound.

Thatch thought ah, so human heads can be severed just as easily as fish heads.

Thatch didn't put up a fuss, going with the pirates. It was clear he couldn't have stayed on the ransacked ship, because even if he did, he had no way of manning the ship alone, even if he even knew how. And so he wordlessly followed, and continued to do what he'd done his whole life: obey adults.

And at first it wasn't bad. A kitchen was a kitchen, no matter how dirty, and Thatch knew how to please people with food. The pirates seemed overjoyed with Thatch's skill.

But some part of Thatch really wondered if that's all they wanted from him, and that bad feeling manifested itself as reality soon.

Hey brat, the captain said one day, and dumped a sack of ingredients Thatch had never used before into the kitchen. Turn this into something good. We need to get rid of an entire rival crew, and they're gluttons.

Thatch may never have used them before, but he recognized the things in the bag. They were all things he knew to avoid.

The pirate captain was asking him to make poison.

Thatch was a cook. No matter the reasons why people wanted him to cook, no matter who benefited and what money was passed around, and no matter how terrible the conditions--Thatch was alright so long as he could cook. Thatch cooked so that he could make delicious things that would in the end, contribute to nourishing people. He polished his skills to make that experience better, to make his patrons happier, to make himself feel more accomplished as a result.

Poison...that wasn't something that a cook could make.

Thatch, for the first time, spoke back to an adult. He felt that numb feeling again, over any fear.

I'm a cook, I can't make anything that can harm people. Please let me start preparing dinner. Thatch stated it as fact, and to him, it was.

The pirate struck Thatch. It was the first time he'd ever been hit, because as a child prodigy, as an asset, he'd always been too valuable to damage. But now...

You'll make it, or we have no need for you.

Bars were added to the kitchen, making it Thatch's cell. All edible ingredients were confiscated. And every day, the pirates came in with more ingredients, more demands.

Make an aphrodisiac. Make a date rape drug. Make something that'll make someone lose feeling in their limbs. Make something that'll cause loss of senses. Make something that'll cause crazy hallucinations. Make something deadly, but undetectable in water. Make something that can dissolve guts from the inside out. Make something that won't kill, but cause excruciating pain. Make something that WILL kill, but only after several days.

The pirates didn't want a cook. They wanted a master poisons brewer. Which, Thatch was not.

Every time Thatch refused, they beat him. They threatened to cut off his legs, because why would he need them, when all he needed were his hands? They threatened to carve out his eyes, and the captain stabbed a knife close to his left eye to show how serious he was. They left Thatch with running water, but didn't give him anything to eat, other than the deadly, horrible ingredients they'd left inside the kitchen for him to turn into even worse poisons.

Thatch sorted the ingredients by those least harmful, and kept himself alive by reluctantly eating those first, but knew that the longer this continued, the more permanent and fatal the damage those ingredients would cause.

(He tried to come up with ways to use what he had to nullify effects, but he was just a kid, and it was his first time trying to make actual medicine. His experiments were risky, and often failed.)

Thatch didn't know how long he was in there, his sense of time and self muddled as he survived off of numbing agents and aphrodisiacs and hallucinogens. They barely kept him alive, and made him feel horrible. He tried to remember why it was so important he kept eating them, and rationing them like they were valuable.

In the corner of the kitchen was an ever growing pile of bright, beautiful fruits that he knew would cause immediate agonizing death...but they looked so lusciously juicy and ripe, and it was getting harder to remember why he couldn't eat them.

Perhaps it was the hallucinogens, perhaps it was everything wrong with his body that Thatch had unwillingly caused himself by eating, but one day, Thatch realized he was going through the movements of peeling those fruits, chopping them, squeezing the juices and watching with fascination as they sizzled into the bubbling pot he was brewing. He was too entranced by the concoction to even notice that his hands were burning and blistering, or perhaps they were just too numb.

He added spices, adjusted heat, and hummed. It had been too long, since he had cooked.

Except he wasn't cooking, because this wasn't food.

It smelled quite delicious, Thatch thought, mildly impressed with himself. Something tropical and fruity, mellowed by mushrooms and a great many other herbs. And it looked aesthetically pleasing, with its dancing, hypnotic colors. If he hadn't known what had gone into it, he'd consider it presentable to critics as his next seasonal special.

But now that it was done, and ready to be served, Thatch had no clue what to do with it.

He hadn't thought that far (he wasn't thinking at all), and didn't know how to think about the thing he made, when it wasn't edible.

He supposed he could possibly see if it could melt through the bars of his cell, though he wasn't sure where he'd even go if he could escape. The cell didn't have any windows, and Thatch wasn't even sure they were at an island, they could still be on open water. Thatch might be able to throw it on a pirate, as a weapon. But there were dozens of pirates on board, and not nearly enough for all of them.

He could drink it himself. It would be an escape of sorts, he supposed.

It never crossed Thatch's mind to offer the concoction to the pirates, as a creation to be used.

He stood in the kitchen for hours, aimlessly stirring the pot, watching the brew get darker and darker, its magical colors turning into murky brown. Eventually, it became a thick, black tar-like substance that reflected no light, that looked like a void as Thatch stared into it.

A thin gray haze gradually began filling the room, and Thatch was well aware of it. He was already starting to feel noticeably worse than before. He supposed that was one way of giving himself a time limit: he'd either decide what to do with the brew, or succumb to the fumes first.

He distantly heard muted sounds overhead, and he realized the pirates may be fighting someone. It happened once in a while. But it was usually with other pirates, and he doubted it was the marines, and no civilian vessel would dare get close to such an obvious pirate ship. And well, if it was pirates...that's just more of the same, wasn't it?

Thatch eventually heard footsteps approaching the room, and someone coughing as they inhaled the fumes, now dense enough to be a dark smog that made it hard to see his own hands (or maybe that was the effect of the poison in him).

A creak--the cell doors were opening.

Thatch could barely think anymore, but made a split second decision. He didn't know what the consequences would be, but had a hunch he wouldn't survive long enough to find out anyway, so what did it matter.

He picked up the pot, and hurled all of its contents at the approaching figure.

There was a FUCK! and then--

Thatch won't ever forget what happened when that brew hit a human body.

But as he fell, the last of his strength gone, wondering if he should feel horrible or proud that he killed someone on his way out, Thatch saw the room light up, the black haze vanishing into searing, brilliant turquoise flames.

~~

"And so that's how I met Marco!" Thatch says, voice surprisingly chipper, even though Sanji feels like retching.

"You melted him," Ace says flatly, voice a mix of horror and awe.

"Sure did, if he had been anyone else they probably woulda been a puddle of human goo, and even he got halfway there," Thatch agrees, his hands stroking Luffy's hair harder, as they'd been doing all throughout his story telling. "Though lucky me, to have thrown poison at possibly one of the only people in the world with instant self-regeneration and possibly immortality."

"Was he mad? Pineapple bird-man. Melting doesn't sound very fun," Luffy frowns. She'd admittedly fallen asleep for most of the story, but woke up again when Thatch's hands in her hair got more tense, more urgent. She contentedly nuzzles into his thigh, more interested in making sure that Thatch's alright than in his answer, and she purrs when he crooks his fingers to scritch her reassuringly.

"Oh sure, he was mad for a little bit, but he's a nice guy and was a worry-wort even back then, so he brought me to Pops. And well, it took a while, but we're best buddies now and have been for years! Fancy that."

Deuce was shaking his head. "I still can't believe that stupid crew wanted to take down Pops with poison of all things, and were stupid enough to enter his territory without it even being ready."

"Well, it's not like they could have won in direct combat, and to be fair, back then the Four Emperors weren't that established, and territories in the New World were a lot looser than they are now." Thatch shrugged. "If nothing else, it was a creative angle, if a poorly thought out one, unlike some people's way of challenging Pops." Ace fidgets uncomfortably here, and Deuce snorts.

"You..." Sanji's finally recovering from his queasiness, because fuck Thatch's tale really wasn't pretty, especially from a cook's perspective. "You don't mind fighting, and killing people now?" He glances at the swords strapped to Thatch's belt, and thinks about his own insistence to never use his hands in combat.

"Well, I'd prefer not to do it, same as anyone else. But I don't mind fighting in general, and once Pops adopted me, I wanted to be able to defend myself." Thatch laughs here, and it sounds bitter, making Luffy look up. "Haruta actually suggested I use poison, if I knew how to make one that could almost take down the Phoenix, and, well...that's a no. May have thrown him overboard for that, but he deserved it. I told them I was good with knives, and Vista helped me develop my own style."

The conversation moves on then, the other crew members chipping in with questions, but Sanji sort of tunes it all out. He thought he was over his queasiness, but it's back again. Being forced to brew poison, and being offered nothing but harmful things to eat...fuck. Even Judge hadn't done that...

He feels something wrap around him then, and Sanji looks down, and realizes that Luffy's looped her tail so that her flukes curl behind his back, securely holding him, even as she continues to nuzzle Thatch's leg for attention.

How weak he must be, Sanji thinks, to need his captain's comfort now. But it helps, and he gradually relaxes.

Eventually the others realize that the story's over, and disperse back to their usual tasks, leaving Thatch and Sanji and a snoozing Luffy curled around both of their laps.

"Well, I guess that explains how the boy prodigy's journey ended," Sanji says, reaching over to Thatch's side to run his hand through Luffy's hair, smiling when she hums happily.

Thatch makes a soft sound, that sounds like possibly disagreement. "Well, sure, I ended up joining the Whitebeard pirates, and never ended up going back to my hometown. Everyone thought I was dead anyway, and being on the Moby was better than any restaurant for me, because I got to feed my brothers and travel, at least wherever the Moby goes, and that's still a fine adventure in its own way. But I guess you're right in that with a territory and a literal army backing me up...it's not quite the same kind of adventure, without the trill of the unknown."

Thatch looks up then, and when his eyes sweep across their little ship, and the small crew strewn about it, he looks fond. "But I guess in a way, that's what I'm doing now, isn't it? I may no longer be a 'boy prodigy,' but me traveling with you guys, going back up the Grand Line...it's sorta like that journey again."

Sanji blinks.

"The end of that journey...maybe you're on it with me, right now." Thatch winks.

Sanji snorts. "That's so cheesy," he says, but he doesn't meant it, not really, because he can't deny the giddiness that begins welling up in him at the thought.

Because what adult doesn't still have a child inside them, buried underneath layers of years, still craving those wishful dreams from long ago?

There's a moment of silence, before both cooks break out into laughter, carefree and boyish.

And so their journey continues onward.

~~

~~

Aaand that's a wrap! For this lil story series within this ever growing AU at least!

It may be a cheesy ending, but it still feels like an ending of sorts? which, is something I usually never actually manage to write to, everything I write is usually either short or abandoned....so I Feel Accomplished ^ ^;;

If you managed to get through it all, thanks so much for reading and sticking with this!!!! ;A; I’m definitely extremely curious to know if you have any thoughts regarding my take on Thatch's past, or anything else, because as always any comments are HUGELY appreciated!

Thanks again!

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Black Cat, Part Two

Can this be classed as an epilogue when it’s as big as the main story? This just ran away from me. I wanted to tie up some plot points I couldn’t get in the first part… but honestly, I just wanted to write the lemon that I couldn’t justify in the first part.

Maybe we’ll call this a two-shot instead?

Part one.  This can also be found on AO3 and FFN

Rating: M for language, grief and le sexy times.  Words: 21K, get comfortable. 

A huge thank you to everyone on FFN, AO3 and Tumblr who supported this story, it’s meant so much to me. To those who wrote such wonderful reviews/comments, I cannot thank you enough.

This is for all you lovely people.

Enjoy.

------------------------------------

“Stealth, throw me.” Black Cat shouted, sprinting towards Stealth Black.

He pushed the man in front of him back and whipped his head around to look at her in complete bewilderment.

Did she just ask him to throw her?

Black Cat rolled her eyes, her pace not slowing. “Launch me,” she explained, “on your leg.”

His head turned and found stray criminals attempting to flee the scene, but she could still see him thinking about his next move. They didn’t have time for this, especially as the guy in front of Stealth Black was starting to get up.

“Stop hesitating and do it now.”

Whether it was what she said or that she was still charging at him, he finally got into position. He extended his leg just as she was jumping and when she landed, he launched her with all his might. She understood his hesitation, but at the same time, it’s something that could get them both seriously injured or killed in battle.

She soared through the air, quickly catching up to the fleeing men ahead of her but Stealth Black had overshot it, and she overtook them. As she started to descend, she sent out a strong gust of wind to soften the landing. The men looked stunned at her sudden appearance but before they could fight or flee, she was running at them. Extending her clima-tact she dug it into ground to swing herself around on it and hit one of the guys, sending him into the man next to him. One of them wasn’t expecting it and cracked his head against the pavement.

One down.

The other one was quicker on his feet and was up pulling out a small blade. Aggressively he was attempting to stab Black Cat, growing more and more desperate when she blocked him with her clima-tact. He swept his foot out to trip her, but she dodged it, flipping backwards and pointing her clima-tact skyward to start forming black clouds. The man didn’t stand a chance when she took aim, swinging down and electrocuting him where he stood. He crumpled to the floor in a black sooty mess.

Looking around, Black Cat could see Stealth black finishing up with the last standing criminal. She took the opportunity to tie up the two passed out men in front of her, ready for the police to pick up.

Since Arlong and his gang had been taken down just over a month ago, it had quietened but there were still new organisations attempting to recreate the drugs. They’d been spending their time taking down small drug rings and feeding back to the police.

What had helped is with Arlong behind bars, people they caught were more talkative and just last week one of them had let slip about the type of vehicles being used. What was alarming, is how many of these vans they’d seen since then. They’d started patrolling to look out for them. Some of the vans they had stopped were just civilians and had been very grateful for the work they were doing, but most of them had dangerous men with guns and ingredients for drugs in.

With the last criminal tied, she started to drag them towards the others also bound to leave them with the van for a smooth handover with the police.

“Let me.” Stealth Black said, coming up beside her and trying to take the men from her.

He wasn’t looking at her, but she still rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but remember your ribs? They should have healed by now but took longer because you refused to take it easy.”

After their clash with Arlong, she’d left the clinic before Chopper could give her a run down of Stealth Black’s injuries, but it hadn’t taken long to realise the bad state of his ribs. He had tried to keep himself composed but he couldn’t stop from cringing when he breathed too deeply or moved at a weird angle.

“It’s been two weeks since the pain resided and I’m fine.” He muttered. To be fair, he was right. She’d watched him like a hawk because he’d downplay anything wrong with him and he hadn’t flinched at all in that time.

“Still, let’s have Chopper decide that when you see him later. Get the drugs from the van and we’ll leave it with them.” He hesitated for a moment but knew it was an argument he’d lose based on her tone.

She wished he’d look after himself better, she thought as he moved towards the van.

It was only as she was gathering the tied-up criminals together that she heard something. Was someone calling her name? Her civilian name?!

When she turned, Luffy was charging for her, arms waving frantically above his head and broad grin on his face to greet her. It was him?! How many times had they had this conversation?

Mask on, Black Cat. Mask off, Nami.

“OOOOOIIIIIII!” Luffy shouted, completely ignoring her panicked look and arms flailing to get him to stop. “Naaa-”

Luffy was abruptly shut up as he face-planted the floor. In his single-minded focus to get to Black Cat, he’d missed Stealth Black sticking his foot out to trip him and stop him revealing her identity. Black Cat sight in relief, from what she could see the criminals were still out cold and police and news reporters hadn’t arrived yet.

As she made her way over, Luffy was picking himself up and pouting. “What’d you do that for?” He asked grumpily, glaring at Stealth Black.

“How else am I supposed to stop you running your big mouth? Next time why don’t you bring megaphone.” Stealth Black crossed his arms.

Just as Luffy was about to retort, Black Cat put her hand up to stop anything else being said. “Luffy, why are you out on your own? Where’s Z-”

“Oi, I told you to wait until I stop the car before getting out.” Another agitated voice called out. The three turned to see Zoro walking towards them, a frown marring his face.

Since Arlong had been put away, Luffy had been in awe of the work that Zoro did and had promptly resigned from being firefighter to become a police officer like the green haired man. What Black Cat couldn’t understand is who on earth thought it would be a good idea to put Luffy and Zoro together as partners. Maybe it was punishment for Zoro, make him babysit Luffy but if anything, it just spurred both of them on. She’d heard countless stories of the reckless things they both did.

Yet they were still the best officers she knew. That’s probably why.

Luffy was back to pouting. “But we’d been in the car so long already,” he whined.

Black Cat sighed; she’d been around them long enough to know what was going to follow.

“Ohoooo, got lost did we Marimo?” Came Black Stealth’s teasing remark. She gave him a side eye and she was right; a shit eating smirk was on his face. How that was possible behind his mask was beyond her.

And here came his angry response. “I did not get lost, you pervert! There were diversions…”

Rolling her eyes, she knew one was about to threaten the other and they so did not have time for that right now. “Enough. Stealth put the drugs with them,” she then pointed at Zoro, “they were transporting drugs, feedback for police to start stopping vehicles like this,” and finally Luffy, “use our superhero names, Luffy. It’s the last time I ask nicely.”

The boys did as she asked, although Zoro made a point of grumbling about bossy witches under his breath.

An arm wrapped around her waist as sirens were heard in the distance, “I think that’s our cue to leave,” Stealth murmured into her ear.

She knew well enough by now what this gesture meant; he was about to take off. She nodded and braced herself for what was to come until Luffy interrupted.

“See you guys tonight right?”

They both agreed, confirming the time and location.

Black Cat knew they were against the clock, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Perhaps this time Zoro, you’ll be able to keep up with me when we drink.”

He gave her the reaction she wanted. Complete outrage. “I had work the next day, you know that!” He fumed. When Stealth Black next to her started to snigger, Zoro turned on him too. “And what are you laughing at? One drink and you’re under the table, pervert.”

Whether it was the sirens getting louder by the second or the way she squeezed him as her arms wrapped around him, Black Stealth took off without a word.

.

.

.

Nami and Sanji were walking hand in hand towards the bar where they were meeting their friends. Sanji had used the opportunity to cook her dinner beforehand but she also wondered if it was to calm himself. He was trying not to show it, but he was nervous, his free hand kept clenching and unclenching. He hadn’t met Usopp yet and whilst Nami hadn’t meant to, she’d made it clear how close the two were. It was incredibly sweet to her that Sanji was so intent on winning over her best friend.

He’d passed with flying colours with Chopper and Robin.

In all fairness, Chopper wasn’t that difficult, all it had taken was for Sanji to compliment what a good doctor he was and for someone so young.

He’d met Robin when he’d come over to the apartment Nami and Robin shared. The older woman had been out and came back earlier than expected, so Sanji didn’t have a chance to work himself up. Robin normally appeared quite cold until you knew her well enough to know she didn’t mean it like that. However, Sanji hadn’t been phased. He’d instantly offered her some of the dinner they had left over, heating it for her so she could sit with them and that had been it. Conversation had flowed from there and although Nami was technically supposed to be the host, Sanji had made sure to keep their wine topped up the whole time. Robin had been won over.

Nami was brought out of her thoughts when Sanji squeezed her hand to get her attention. “You should prepare yourself; you’re going to meet the perverts of the group.” He warned, in a mock serious tone.

She didn’t even hesitate. “I thought I already had, that title belongs to you, no?” Nami smiled cheekily up at him and if that had been from someone else, he’d probably swear at them. Instead, he chuckled, amused by her wit.

“I have nothing on them.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll swoop in to save me.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Sanji couldn’t resist that look. He stopped walking and turned her towards him, his hands resting loosely on her waist. When her hands came to rest on his chest and she leaned in, he took the invitation to press his lips to hers. His hands tightened and brought her in closer as her head tilted, deepening the kiss. Just as his tongue swiped against her lips, Nami pulled away.

“Come on, we don’t need to be arrested to public indecency.” Regardless of her warning, Sanji still tried to score another kiss until Nami put her hand over his mouth. “We’re going to be late.”

When they started to walk, almost at the pub, she added as an afterthought, “Also, I know you’re worried about meeting Usopp, but you really don’t need to be. Seriously.”

She smiled secretively, refusing to tell Sanji what she meant by that and dragged him forward by their adjoined hands.

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.

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“It’s you! It’s really you! In the flesh!”

Nami tried to keep an innocent smile on her face, instead of outright laughing but she couldn’t hold it. Between Sanji looking uncomfortable at the overwhelming attention he was receiving and Usopp starry-eyed at meeting the infamous superhero, it was too much. They’d barely taken a step in when Usopp had pounced.

“The way you fly through the air is so cool and the power in your kicks!” Usopp continued to gush. “It’s so unfair that Luffy and Zoro get to see you in action all the time!”

Sanji’s cheeks had gone red by this point, which only added to Nami’s amusement. It was probably mean not to tell him that Usopp was a fanboy when he’d been nervous about meeting him, but how could she miss this reaction from Sanji? The only time his cheeks went red with her was when things got a bit too heated.

“Thanks but the clima-tact you made is far more impressive. How did you do it?” Sanji asked, desperate to get the attention off himself.

Usopp’s chest puffed up in pride at that comment and Nami knew what was coming. Whilst he was her boyfriend, she would happily abandon ship and leave him to suffer this alone. She squeezed Sanji’s hand before pulling away and at his questioning look, she pointed to the bar where Robin was. As she walked away, she could hear the start of a long drawn out tale and she sniggered, the poor fool didn’t know what he was in for.

Approaching the bar, Robin turned, Nami’s favourite wine already in hand and offered out to her. Honestly, that woman had a sixth sense.

“How’s it going Nami?” Robin inquired.

Scanning her eyes from her new position, she could see that Franky (who Sanji had pointed out, before Usopp had jumped them) had now joined Usopp and Sanji, the three laughing at a joke Usopp had told. From the other side of the bar Zoro was drinking with Luffy and Chopper shoving straws up their noses next to him. It was unsettling how quickly Nami and Sanji’s group of friends had meshed together after only meeting a few times. It’s like it was meant to be.

It made her happy, her previously fractured life felt like it was starting to come together.

“Better than I expected.” Sanji caught her eye and gently smiled at her, before his attention was stolen back by Usopp.

“And you and Sanji…?”

Nami’s mood instantly soured at Robin’s comment, it was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. She turned towards the bar and took a long drink from her wine.

“I just don’t get it Robin. At first his ribs were cracked, so obviously that put a damper on things and don’t get me wrong, I can wait. But he’s normally the one that initiates but just as clothes are about to come off, he pulls away.” Nami lamented. “It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t give such mixed signals.”

Nami and Sanji hadn’t had sex yet.

Ever since that night in Sanji’s apartment when she came as Black Cat to give him information, that was the furthest they’d ever gone. His reasoning then had been to get to know each other and when she’d thought about it with a level head, he was absolutely correct. He’d more than lived up to his words from that night. He’d wined and dined her and more. She couldn’t imagine being with anyone else other than him.

Yet, when things became too heated, he would pull away. He would be the one coming to her to cuddle when they were hanging out at his or her place, he would be the one to press just that little closer or give the first grope. When she reciprocated or he felt he’d gone too far, crossed the invisible line that he’d drawn, he would freeze and pull away, making an excuse. We both have work, it’s getting late, Robin will be back soon. He always found a way. But she saw how he was when he pulled away. Breathing haggard, his pupils blown wide and looking on edge. He’d also need time to, ah, calm himself… after he pulled away. He could try to hide his tented trousers all he liked but it was still there.

“Well he seems very interested, so you don’t have to worry there. He looks over at you every couple of minutes.” Robin observed. Nami didn’t doubt it; Robin did have a keen eye and Sanji had no shame in showing his interest in her, even if they were together. Which made it even more confusing.

Nami sighed. “He makes it obvious that he is, that’s not my worry.”

“If I may offer some adv- Are you ready for your interview tomorrow?”

Nami looked at the other woman quizzically, baffled as to why she changed topics so abruptly and just as she was about to voice her confusion, an arm slipped around her waist.

“Sorry to interrupt ladies, but I wanted to introduce my gorgeous girlfriend to Franky.”

Ah, so that’s why.

Nami turned in Sanji’s arm and now in full view, her eyebrows shot up. The bar was fairly crowded earlier and although he was tall, she’d only seen his shoulders and head but now… well. He was wearing the tightest shorts she’d ever seen, and his top was completely unbuttoned, who had let him in dressed like this?

Sanji laughed at his girlfriend’s obvious reaction. He had warned her. “Nami, this is one of the perverts I was telling you about, Franky.” He lowered his voice with his next words so only their friends could hear, “He’s the man who keeps my suit up to date and adds anything… but of course, you already knew that.”

Franky didn’t seem offended by the way Sanji introduced him, if anything Franky seemed flattered. “This guy, he’s such a charmer!” Franky’s hand rubbed behind his head. “But you, finding out who I was, that’s sneaky! How did you do it?”

Sanji interrupted before she could reply. “She was following me; she did have the hots for me after all.” He said teasingly, waggling his eyebrows.

She elbowed him in the stomach for that and rolled her eyes. “Hardly like I can deny it, look at where we are now.”

“Now if you lovebirds will excuse me, I need to buy this lady a drink.” Franky said, looking at Robin and putting his hand at the small of her back to guide her further down the bar. Robin was already at the bar seated, but it was obvious Franky just wanted some alone time with her.

Robin looked back over her shoulder to throw Nami a wink, amused by her stupefied look.

Nami then looked to Sanji for further explanation and was even more surprised that he didn’t look shocked. “Did you know?!”

He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll be honest, I thought you knew. Don’t you two live together? Franky told me about his interest in her, figured she’d do the same.”

Nami was still trying to process the information. Robin and Franky? Since when was that her type but as she looked over at them, she could kind of see it. Robin was quite aloof, and the other man was a bit ridiculous. They almost balanced each other out. Still, Nami couldn’t help but be resentful that she’d missed out on gossip. But then she could almost hear Robin’s voice in her head, you didn’t ask. It was annoyingly flawless logic from the secretive woman.

“Wait, did Usopp know?!” Her gossipy best friend better not have held out on her. They had a pact.

“From what you’ve told me about him, most likely not, unless Franky and Robin want it broadcast.” Okay, he had a point.

“Well, if Franky has Robin’s interest then he must be a decent guy. So, two perverts down, where’s the third?”

“You’ve been spending too much time with the directionless-wonder.” Sanji said. It was meant to sound like a bad thing, but Sanji was actually pleased that she had connected with them so quickly. And she got under Zoro’s skin occasionally, which was just another win if you ask him. “But he’ll be here-” Sanji was cut off as the lights went down and a tall, slender man took to the stage. “-now. That’s him.”

The fairly crowded pub felt like it had multiplied as people started to pack in, moving towards the small makeshift stage.

Nami was standing on tiptoes to try and get a better look when Sanji moved her in front of him, moving his arms to drape across her shoulders. He could still see over her and there was a gap for her to see through. She sent him an appreciative look. “You didn’t tell me he was a musician, is he any good?”

“Luffy befriended him, saying he’d always wanted a musician friend. He’s an odd one but he’s incredibly loyal and occasionally funny, but don’t tell him I said that.” If Brook knew, he’d never hear the end of it or his puns.

“Yohohoho, my my, look at this place. You’ve all come to see me!” The crowd cheered back, arms waving. “This song goes out to my good friends that are here tonight. Get ready for binks sake.”

Nami’s hands came up to clasp Sanji’s arms around her shoulders and they swayed to the song. Sanji was right, the man was good. The previously rowdy pub had quietened so that you could almost hear a pin drop as the sweet notes came from his violin and his voice lulled you to sleep.

They both basked in the rare moment of peace, where they could enjoy each other’s presence, without having to think about their jobs or superhero counterparts. She should be enjoying it but when Sanji’s arms tightened around her and he dropped a kiss onto her cheek, she couldn’t stop her thoughts from leading down that path, the one she tried not to dwell on. Their non-existent sex life.

Although, as she thought about it, it was always him making the first move before pulling away. Maybe he thought she wasn’t ready… but then why not ask? Maybe it was a gentlemen’s code or something he had. Hm, perhaps she’d make the first move, it was her after all that had kissed him first. But then, she didn’t want to pressure him.

Clapping brought her out of her thoughts as the song ended and the previously quiet audience launched back into their rowdy nature. They began to chant, “Soul Par-ade, Soul Par-ade.”

Questioningly, Nami looked to Sanji for an explanation. “It’s one of his most popular songs, you’ll see why.”

And she did. He swapped his violin for an electric guitar and the crowd in the bar somehow became even louder. The peaceful atmosphere changed as everyone started to jump, the energy in the room tripling as Brook took off, fingers moving quickly along the fret of the guitar. Soon the crowd started to jump along to the beat and the heat picked up.

Luffy waved them over, their group of friends coming together to finish listening to Brook’s set. Nami sat down at the bar next to Zoro as he slid her a beer and Chopper caught Sanji’s attention asking about his cracked ribs.

It was 20 minutes later when Brook was giving a bow and exiting the stage. He stopped to chat to people and sign some autographs before he joined them. Luffy was instantly on him, saying how much he’d missed him whilst he was away.

Another 10 minutes and Sanji was deep in conversation with Brook, leading the older man towards the bar to meet Nami.

“Oh my, you are as beautiful as Sanji said.”

Nami could feel heat crawling up her neck, she was used to the compliments she sometimes received but to have it said to her in front a group of people was fairly embarrassing, especially as other people round the bar turned to look at her. “Your set was great by the way. How long have you been on tour?” She asked, changing the topic to give her cheeks a chance to calm down.

That was how the rest of the evening progressed, their friends chatting and catching up. Brook at one point asking Nami about the colour of her panties and Sanji shouted at him to knock it off. God knows how he even managed to slip that casually in, she almost spat out her drink, but she shouldn’t have been surprised, she was warned.

Slowly, their group of friends started to dwindle after that, the evening turning into the night as the sky grew darker. Sanji offered to walk Nami home when she tiredly rested her head against his shoulder, fighting back a yawn. Walking back hand in hand, they chatted idly until they were in front of Nami’s apartment.

It was then that Nami decided to put her thoughts into motion.

Leaning up on tiptoes she brushed her lips against his, her hands coming to rest against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat starting to pick up and she smiled to herself, she didn’t think she’d ever get sick of his reaction to her. Growing annoyed at the soft touches, he pressed their lips together with more force and her hands slid their way around his neck as his came to rest low on the small of her back.

Breathing heavily, she pulled away to look at him. His cheeks were flushed and his bright blue eyes hazy as he looked back at her. “Do you want to come up for coffee?” She asked, suggestively pressing herself against him and biting her lower lip teasingly.

It worked when his gaze lowered to her lips and he groaned, hastily pressing their lips back together. His hands grasped her hips, causing her to gasp and start to walk them closer to the door of her apartment.

When her keys came out, it seemed to wake Sanji up and he pulled back from the kiss. “You have an interview tomorrow, you should sleep.” His hands moved from her hips to rest at her waist, seemingly trying to control himself. She didn’t miss the way his eyes flicked from her eyes to her lips.  “Call me when you’re done, I want to know how it goes. I have my fingers crossed for you.”

Nami was baffled. One moment they’re basically making out on the street and the next he was talking conversationally about her interview, as if she hadn’t just invited him up and he shot her down. It was hard to keep up.

Her mind was still reeling but she realised she’d nodded at him, agreeing to call him. He parted with a lingering kiss and a longing gaze that left her wanting more.

Well that solved nothing and now she was hot and bothered.

She needed to talk to him, she was done tip toeing.

.

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The talk never happened.

It was pushed to the back of her mind with everything that had happened the next day; her job interview, being offered the job, the newspapers slandering Black Cat and Sanji ranting on the phone to her.

The interview had gone as well as she’d been hoping for. It turned out they’d both gone to the same university and were catching up about the professors still lecturing there. They’d been laughing and chatting together before even getting to the interview questions but when the lady saw the recommendation from one of the professors that they’d both been taught by; it’d sealed the deal.

She’d been asked to wait outside for the next stage, but when she was called back in it was to inform her that they wanted to take her on and confirm a start day, should she accept. She did so without hesitation. She’d be crazy not to. To have a job offer on a first interview was something she’d never imagined, she was planning on using this as a test run.

When she left, she was on cloud nine. She’d be starting in a week and would be spending her time predicting weather patterns and climate change to either the government or to research projects. It was something she’d dreamt about when she was younger, and she was being paid for it! No more pouring coffee for her.

She paused mid-step, peering into a news agent when the daily newspaper headline and picture caught her eye. It was her. Black Cat.

Drug gang takedown by Black Cat and Stealth Black. Is Black Cat a new superhero trying to atone for her past or attempting to escape the laws she broke?

After everything and they were still harping on about this? She was starting to feel like her past would never be forgotten. She went in to buy the newspaper, to see what else they wrote and perhaps she shouldn’t have.

Sitting down on a bench near the park, she read what they’d written. They spoke about investigating her, taking her to court and slamming the police for not doing more.

But then, the police were still under investigation themselves. Zoro had told her a higher up had already been fired, although they said he took early retirement. Paid off by a dangerous gang with no intention to do anything about them and then completely let off. And she was supposed to be the criminal?

Her relationship with the police force had been contentious. She attempted to avoid them for the time being. They never had much of a chance to pursue her, she was normally leaving when they arrived, and they had their hands full with whatever her and Stealth Black had rounded up for them. The one time they had seen her, they’d shouted her name in outrage and she’d had to hold back Stealth Black, he’d been furious.

Sighing, she put the newspaper down to try and forget about it for the time being. This should be a happy day for her. She sent a text to Sanji to tell her she was out of the interview and a second later his name was lighting up on her screen.

“Hey, how did it go?” His voice was tight, although he was trying to keep it light. He must have seen today’s paper.

Sanji was very vocal to her about how appalled he was about the newspaper doubting her. He’d offered countless times to make a statement through Stealth Black, but she refused. She didn’t want them dragging his reputation through the mud too.

She paused for a moment, attempting to lighten the mood by being dramatic. “I got the job! They offered it to me on the spot.”

“Nami! That’s fantastic! Let’s celebrate. What do you want to do tonight?” His voice had lightened considerably with her good news.

“It sounds boring, but I’d actually just like to stay in with you.” In all fairness, she did want to but there may have been an ulterior motive there as well.

“If that’s what you want. Come over whenever you’re ready and I’ll cook dinner.” He sang happily.

“Okay, I’ll get changed and head over.” She looked at the time, it was almost 4. “So, based on your previous tone I take it you read today’s newspaper?”

That was all it took, and he was growling in frustration. She couldn’t see him, but she knew he’d be pacing and running his free hand through his hair. “I’d just forgotten about that. How can they still be writing this absolute trash? You’re doing a better job than the police and they still continue to doubt you.”

“They’re dragging the police through the mud as well.” She added.

“They deserve it. This was supposed to be their job, and we’re still cleaning up after their mistake.”

She knew that no matter what she said he wouldn’t change his opinion and honestly, she didn’t want him to. She’d never had someone believe in her so wholeheartedly, he never doubted her.

“At least you’re not going down with me.” She shrugged, relieved they’d left him alone and trying to see the bright side in this.

“I’d take the fall for you in a heartbeat.” He said with no hesitation and complete conviction. Sometimes his devotion worried her, but she tried not to dwell on it, there was no changing him.

She was almost at her apartment, so they wrapped up the conversation and she said she’d be seeing him soon.

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40 minutes later and she was walking down the street towards Sanji’s apartment. She had something that she needed to bring up with him and was thinking about the best way to do so.

He must have been keeping an eye out for her because when the doors of the elevator opened for her on the fourth floor, he was waiting for her at his door. He’d clearly snapped himself out of his mood because he was opening his arms and encouraging her to run towards him.

Normally she’d wave him off, conscious of other people around but she threw caution to the wind and was running towards him, giggling like a child the whole time.

To his credit, he didn’t budge a bit when she leapt into the hug. His arms came around her and he swung her around in circles, her giggles filling the quiet hallway of the apartment complex. When he came to a standstill, he didn’t release her, and she didn’t pull away.

He gave some of the best hugs she’d ever received, they were warm and comforting. He also smelled fantastic, which was a lovely bonus. Whether it was his constant cooking or perfume, he never smelled like smoke, even though he did so regularly. She melted into his embrace, feeling all the tensions from the day slip away.

“Congratulations on the job, my love.” He said, kissing the side of her head.

She pulled back a few moments later and he stepped aside to let her into his apartment. Putting her bag down she could smell orange wafting through the air.

“Desserts done but I wasn’t sure how long you were going to be, so I held off on dinner. It’s still early so it shouldn’t take too long.” Sanji explained.

“That’s okay. Come on, I’ll help, it’ll be quicker this way.”

Sanji never argued against her helping him and she had the suspicion that he enjoyed it. She was no professional chef, but she could cook fairly well, Robin always enjoyed what she made. In all fairness, this was also something she enjoyed too. Sanji had poured wine for them both to sip on as they worked, the radio was on low and they peeled in comfortable silence. It was relaxing.

Cheekily, she hip-checked him when she was finished with the carrots, moving away before he could retaliate to put the peeled vegetables into the pan. Sanji seared the beef and put it in the pot with the carrots, adding the last few ingredients before putting it in the oven to cook.

Once he’d finished, Sanji turned towards Nami to say something but she interrupted him. “So, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.” His face grew serious, it was rare that she started a discussion this way. “I’ve been thinking about going home.” She paused; his face was odd, like he couldn’t pick an emotion. Was he upset? But why would he be? She went over her sentence again, oh. “Wait, no, I mean- visit. I haven’t been home for a while and now this is all done, I wanted to visit.”

Exhaling loudly, he felt his shoulders relax. He would of course never argue against her if she wanted to move back home but in that brief moment it crossed his mind that she might be breaking up with him. They’d been, officially, together over a month, but it still crossed his mind. She was, well, there wasn’t enough adjectives and he- she was out of his league. “You definitely should then, I’m sure your family would be happy to see you. I can patrol as Stealth Black alone.”

Bless him. “Well, I actually wondered if you wanted to come with me. You’ll have to meet them at some point, so why not now?” She took a sip of her wine.

“Really?” He spluttered, trying to stay composed. “You want me to meet your family?” That was certainly a big step but there was hope in his chest.

“Yeah, I was thinking maybe a week? I’ve got a week until I start my new job, do you think you’ll be able to get the time off?”

He shrugged, he couldn’t see why not, off the top of his head no one else was on holiday.

Nami put down her wine glass and rolled her shoulders. She mentally prepped herself. One down and one to go. Time for the biggen. “There’s something else too.” She paused, thinking about how to phrase it. But there was no other way to phrase it, other than, “I took some of Arlong’s money.” She rushed out.

“Okay.”

Wait.

What?

Where was the anger? He was looking at her like she was discussing the weather. “As in, money that I didn’t hand over to the police. That I kept for myself.”

“Yeah I get that.” He shrugged and had the audacity to smile at her reassuringly.

“Why aren’t you angry, or at least shocked? I’m pretty sure what I’ve done isn’t legal. You’re supposed to be a good guy!” She was expecting him to be even a little disappointed or angry and yet here she was angry with him for not being angry with her. If she wasn’t so surprised, she might have even laughed at the situation.

He walked over to her, placing his hand on her neck. She lifted her head to look at him, waiting for an explanation.

“Because it’s you. You’ll have done it for a reason and I’m sure it’s a damned good reason too.”

She breathed out, laughing lightly at his reasoning. She’ll add overwhelming faith to the list. She’d even thought about this today too. Moving his hand up from her neck to her cheek, she turned her head to the side to kiss his palm.

“You ridiculous man.” She said fondly, beaming at him. “But you’re right. It is for a good reason. I want to give the money to my village when I go back home. It’s for everything Arlong took from them. I can’t go back just to see them struggle when know I could help… and I’m not relying on the police to sort this out.” She finished, winding herself up. He hadn’t asked for an explanation, he trusted her, but she wanted him to be in the loop.

“I think that’s great and if you’re really sure, I’d love to come with you.” Sanji’s other hand came up to cup her other cheek and bring her into a soft kiss. It would be nice, Sanji thought. To see another part of Nami’s life that he didn’t get the chance to be a part of.

“Now, tell me more about this interview.”

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Genzo did not like Sanji.

Nami’s father figure made it crystal clear in his critical gaze and steely expression. There was definitely more beneath his dislike, mainly that Sanji was Nami’s boyfriend and the day she decides to return home after years she brings along someone else.

To his credit, Sanji tried to ignore it. Nami could see his nervous behaviours, the clenching and unclenching of his hands, but that was just to her trained eye. He addressed Genzo as sir when they met, extending his hand and giving a friendly smile, not even dropping it when Genzo didn’t reciprocate the smile. Nami kept throwing Genzo looks but the man ignored her.

All was going well before their meeting. Clearly word had spread of Nami’s visit as villagers were approaching without surprise, asking plenty of questions and even teasing her about the man accompanying her. She waved her hand at them, cheeks red as she introduced Sanji to them.

It felt like she’d never left, seeing the faces from her childhood chatting as if they’d seen each other earlier in the day. Sanji fit right in, friendly and genuine as always. She rolled her eyes as he eagerly engaged in a conversation between two elderly women about home recipes they had. That’d be him out of action for a while.

Perhaps it was a good thing because she heard her name being yelled. Turning to look in the direction of the voice, she could see her sister running towards her. Nami chuckled to herself, clearly Nojiko had the same idea as herself, her previously short blue hair now running past her shoulders.

Not a second later and Nami was running towards her, meeting in the middle for a tight hug. Nojiko squeezed her, trying to catch up on years of missed hugs.

Pulling away, she slapped Nami’s shoulder. “You didn’t reply to me with your arrival time, it took someone coming to the house for me to know!”

Nami laughed. “It’s been hard enough getting through the village as it is, I didn’t need a herd.”

“Can you really blame them? It’s been long enough.” Nojiko said.

Sanji had broken away from his conversation with the two women with all the commotion to watch them reunite. Nami didn’t miss the way he picked up on Nojiko’s comment, the length of her absence had been mentioned many times since their arrival. She wasn’t sure she was ready to have that conversation.

Realising they weren’t alone, Nojiko turned towards Sanji. “Hi, I’m Nojiko, Nami’s sister.” Extending her hand.

“I’m Sanji, Nami’s told me plenty about you.” He replied, shaking her hand.

“Don’t believe all the bad things she says, I’m the good one out of the two of us!”

He laughs lightly at the unintentional joke Nojiko just told. “Oh I can believe that.” He sends her a smart smile at the end, no doubt referring to their superhero alter egos and all the grief she gave him.

Nami rolled her eyes at the pair of them. “Where’s Genzo?”

“Well, if you’d told us a time, he’d be here to meet you. He’s back at mine, let’s go.” Nojiko started to walk towards her home with Nami and Sanji in tow, along the way pointing out new additions to their village or filling in Sanji with memories.

And that’s what had led them to this moment.

Nami and Nojiko sending each other looks whilst they tried to disperse any tension, mainly from Genzo. Nojiko engaged Sanji in conversation, asking him how long he’d been a chef, whilst Nami asked Genzo for a word in private.

Once outside the room, Nami settled him with a flat look which Genzo refused to look at.

She rolled her eyes, not in the mood to talk to him about this right now. Something was a bit more pressing and Genzo would come around, he was just being stubborn.

“Don’t make a big deal out of this, but I have some money for you.”

His eyebrows shot up, mainly in surprise. “Why are you giving me money?”

“It’s not for you, I’m giving it to you for the village. After everything,” she waved her hand, vaguely referencing previous events, “I’ve been collecting money, so no one has to struggle anymore. I know you’ll put it to good use.”

He looked concerned. “Is this what you’ve been doing all this time? You don’t owe this village your life, keep the money.” His voice was firm, not budging.

She expected this. “You know I’ve been doing other things; I got my A-levels and degree in that time, didn’t I?”

“And after that? That was years ago, what have you been doing since?” He’d expressed his concerns whenever she called about what she was doing now university was over, he was never impressed by her vague answers. She’d never told them about her alter-ego, the last thing she needed was him to worry or lecture her, which she was somewhat getting now.

“I’ll explain that in a second. Are you going to take this money or not? I will give it to the village, with or without you involved.” She needed to be firm as well if she wanted him on board, he normally knew when to give in and when to push.

He gave in. “I’ll take it but if you ever want any of it, for anything, this is your home too. You deserve some of it.”

“Who says I haven’t already taken my cut?” She winked at him, grinning cheekily.

He laughed, shaking his head. So like her mother, he thought. He’d missed having her around.

“Come on, now that’s over with, I’ll fill you and Nojiko in. Just,” she paused, mulling over her words, “keep an open mind, would you?”

He frowned, now concerned with what he was about to hear.

When they entered the room, Nojiko and Sanji were laughing. Nami’s eyes zeroed in on the photo album, trust her sister to do this in her absence. “Nojiko!” Nami said, outraged.

Nojiko didn’t grace her with a response, just heartily laughed and quickly flicked to an embarrassing baby photo before Nami snatched the album away.

“Nami, you were such a cute baby!” Sanji sang teasingly.

Nami puffed her cheeks, pouting and refusing to look at the pair. Sanji wrapped his arms around her shoulders, attempting to calm her down and only doing the opposite.

Genzo looked on at the scene fondly. He hadn’t heard a great deal of laughter in this house for a while. Nojiko was happy, of course, but not like this and as for Nami. Well. She’d been gone for years and after their Mothers death, she’d barely ever smiled, let alone laughed. Yet here she was, head now thrown back, seemingly laughing at something Sanji had said.

He sighed to himself. This man made her happy, huh?

Their laughter subsided and Nojiko was soon asking a question. “I asked Sanji, but he gave such a boring answer.” Nojiko whined. “You live in the city where the superhero’s Black Cat and Stealth Black also live, you must have some sort of gossip?”

Nami stiffened, not expecting it to be brought up this way. Now she understood. Poor Sanji, having the navigate that alone. She’d told him before coming here that her family didn’t know but she was toying with telling them, if he was okay with that. He’d said to do whatever felt right. She looked at Sanji and he was looking at her apprehensively, but he shrugged. Okay, so that meant it was her call.  

That didn’t stop her from toying with them. “Well, I suppose I might have something good for you.” She took a pause, making Nojiko crane in with bated breath. Even Genzo was, poorly, trying to disguise his interest.

“I’m Black Cat.” She announced, grinning broadly.

Nojiko and Genzo gaped at her, trying to process what she’d just said. Their reactions differed after that. Nojiko threw her head back, laughing and Genzo looked horrified.

“Trust you to do something like that!” Nojiko exclaimed.

“You’re what?!” Genzo challenged, not believing his ears and proceeding to having a meltdown.

Gleefully, Nojiko turned to Sanji. “And that means you’re Stealth Black. So this is true then.” She produced a gossip magazine from the pile of papers on the table, laying it in front of them so they could see the headline.

Black Cat and Stealth Black spotted gazing into each other’s eyes, is this the confirmation that they’re dating?

Nami snorted, she hadn’t seen this one yet. How desperate were they? The photo the trashy gossip magazine had used was the both of them facing each other and talking after they’d rounded up the last criminal. Nothing romantic there at all.

Well, it probably looked romantic to the untrained eye, Sanji did give his full attention to her whenever she spoke and it could be intense, but they didn’t know how much deeper it actually went. Not that she was complaining, for the most part, Nami had never had a boyfriend that paid her so much attention.

Nami and Sanji had discussed whether Black Cat and Stealth Black should reveal themselves as a couple but had decided to postpone it for the time being. They were just starting a relationship themselves and whilst their civilian identities weren’t famous, the timing would be so close, they didn’t want to run the risk of anyone connecting the dots. Rumours flew around like lightening in that city.

It didn’t stop Nami from teasing them, of course. Letting her hand linger on Stealth Black a fraction too long or standing a bit too close and he definitely didn’t complain. Kept her admirers at bay for the time being too.

“How’s that for some inside gossip-”

“You’re parading about in- in that?!” Genzo exclaimed, interrupting Nami and pointing at the magazine accusingly. His daughter, in that suit, in front of all those men in the city.

A thought suddenly occurred to Nojiko, whilst Nami was shrugging at Genzo and attempting to wave him off. “Wait, didn’t you guys just take down the Arlong gang?”

The room went silent after Nojiko’s question.

Any joviality from Nami’s previous announcement died down to be replaced by a heavy atmosphere, as the weight of what Nami had done settled in.

Nami gritted her teeth, refusing to look at anyone. She knew what their expressions would be; sympathy, grief and hurt for her. For what she’d had to go through to achieve this goal.

Looking her Mother’s killer in the eye and pretending everything was okay; her tormenter and the man that ruined their lives. All alone. She closed her eyes, pushing out those thoughts.

Genzo looked troubled and his heart broke. When she’d left, he’d wanted her to live again. Yet she’d done the exact opposite. “That’s what you’ve been doing,” he croaked, piecing everything together. “The money… that’s where it’s from, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

That single answer was deafening, in the eerily silent room.

Nojiko approached Nami, not saying a word as she wrapped her up in a hug. Tears were streaming from Nojiko’s eyes and Genzo joined them, wrapping his arms around both of his daughters. Even his eyes were misty.

Sanji was content to hang back and let the small family have this moment together, it wasn’t his place to get involved. He was proved wrong though when Genzo pulled back, extending his arm in invitation for Sanji to join them. Still surprised, Sanji walked over to stand on the opposite side and cocoon the two sisters in the centre.

Genzo’s hand came to rest on Sanji’s arm.

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Sanji stirred, his hand searching for the warm body that should be next to him and found himself alone. Funny, this hadn’t happened since she’d stayed the night as Black Cat, she’d never had a reason since then to leave without him. He laid there, thinking about how much had changed and could only smile. She was the best thing that’d ever happened to him.

Finding himself now fully awake, he rolled on his to see what the time was. 5.03am bleared at him from the alarm clock. Whilst he wasn’t concerned at first, he was now. He’d just suspected she might be with her sister, but even Nojiko wouldn’t be awake at this time.

Quietly, he got dressed and left the house. The last thing he wanted was Genzo asking questions, technically Nami shouldn’t have been with him and the older man would query that.

When sleeping arrangements had been mentioned, Genzo had made a fuss about Sanji taking the spare room at his house. It was one of those moments where Genzo wouldn’t give, stubbornly looking back at Nami. She’d relented with a huff, muttering about what a prude he was.

That didn’t stop her from sneaking through the window into Sanji’s room later that night when Genzo had gone to bed. Sanji had sniggered, even Genzo should know better by now.  

Although odd, he suspected that she’d be at Nojiko’s and if she was, he’d more than happily give her the time with her sister, he just wanted to make sure she was okay. Nami liked to get up early, but this was extreme for her.

Hands in pockets, he strolled through the quiet village, a stark contrast to the daytime. It was relatively small, but the people were boisterous and busy. He could see why she was so fond of them all, they’d been more than welcoming towards him and were absolutely thrilled to see her.

It was a short walk, he was in front of Nojiko’s house and he could see the orange trees swaying in the gentle breeze when a noise piqued his interest. He was stuck between continuing on but also checking what that could be. Life in the city as a superhero had ruined him as he changed directions, now walking down a little dirt path shrouded by trees. He became alarmed when he could hear someone… were they crying?

The dirt path opened up, the trees now behind him and a vibrant field in front of him. The field cut off at the end to make a cliff edge overlooking the sea and whilst it should be picturesque, what he saw made his stomach drop and heart break. The dirt path continued onwards, cutting through the fields and at the end was a wooden cross with Nami sitting in front of it.

Her back was to him, but he’d be able to recognise her orange hair anywhere. Her shoulders were shaking, and he could hear her sobbing.

That was what he’d heard before.

Sanji had always known this would happen, whether it was here or back in the city. When she’d said she was going to visit her village, he’d kept an eye on her. Since Arlong had been taken down, she hadn’t shed a single tear. Not in grief or relief. He’d wondered if maybe she’d done it when she was alone or perhaps this had been processed when she was younger. But then, to come face to face with your mother’s killer was surely going to bring something up. He’d been as supportive as he could without pushing for anything, letting her go through the motions at her own pace and this was it.

Well, she wasn’t going to do it alone.

Strolling towards her, he sat down next to her. He didn’t say a word, but she did jump and tried to hastily wipe her face.

“O-oh, Sanji. How did you find me?” Her voice cracked halfway through, desperately trying to compose herself.

“Tell me about Bell-mère.” It wasn’t a question and he wasn’t expecting a response, but he didn’t want her to think she had to stop mourning just because he was here.

Nami had tried to keep it together when he appeared, tears still streaming down her face, but no sound came out. When Sanji said her mother’s name, she couldn’t stop the sob escaping her mouth. She was done trying to be strong.

“She-she was so-,” Nami choked out, her chin trembling and hands dragging down her face, “She was so young.” She wailed. That was all she could manage as her body shook and another onslaught of tears started.

Sanji could feel his eyes starting to well up as the woman next to him became distraught. He felt no shame as they started to track down his face and he joined Nami in mourning, what he imagined, was an amazing woman.

Seeing him crying as well, just seemed to encourage the hot tears to multiply and streak down her cheeks. Her head came to rest on Sanji’s shoulder and that’s all he needed for his arms to wrap around her, pulling her to him. She didn’t hesitate as she sat up, shuffling towards him as his arms guided her into his lap. She curled herself up in his arms, tucking her head under his chin as his cheek came to rest against top of her head.

Fully cocooned in Sanji’s arms, they both wept in front of the cross. For Bell-mère’s shortened life, for Nami’s lost youth and for a family torn apart by tragedy.

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Laughter filled the air as Nami finished telling him about a story from her childhood, where Bell-mère would make Genzo flustered to distract him from scolding her. It helped Sanji understand why Genzo was so prudish, he always had been and by the sounds of it, living with these three women didn’t help.

Once Nami and Sanji’s tears had slowed, they’d stayed sat in front of Bell-mère’s cross, enjoying the silence until she’d broken it by reminiscing. The pain was still there, and she knew it always would be. But she hadn’t allowed herself to think about her memories with Bell-mère before today, instead she’d used her image to drive herself forward; too focused on Arlong.

It was nice to think about her again. Her heart ached in sorrow but also in joy for the time she did have with her.

Sanji had sat quietly, listening and laughing with her. Asking questions and soaking in every bit of information she gave him. Her eyes were puffy and red, face drawn but there was beauty in this vulnerability that she hadn’t ever shown him before today. She was beautiful. He wanted to burn this moment in his mind forever.

Unbeknownst to Sanji, Nami was having similar thoughts. She was horrified when he’d arrived at first, for him to see her so weak but now she felt stronger. More connected to him. He knew when to be silent, when to squeeze her just that bit tighter and when to speak. She was thankful to have him.

He was looking out at the sea when she turned her attention to him, a quiet, comfortable lull settling between them and it was in that moment that she realised she was in love with him. She’d felt this before, but it hit her so abruptly in that moment that it couldn’t be overlooked. The quiet letting it sneak up on her. Now wasn’t the time to tell him, but it made her feel content.

Feeling eyes on his face, he turned towards her. “Hi.” He said, bashfully when he saw the look on her face. He’d never seen her look at him like that before.

“Hi.” She replied softly. “Thank you, I really needed that.”

His hands rubbed along her bare arms. “You don’t have to thank me, I wanted to be there for you and I really enjoyed hearing about your childhood.”

Maybe it was the sound of the ocean making her feel at peace, being in front of her mother or her newly realised love for him, but she continued to share unprompted. Perhaps it was all three. “I haven’t dealt with my grief for Bell-mère very well. I remember crying when she died but I never did again after that, until today.” She paused, thinking about the last couple of years.

Sanji nodded, running his hand up and down her arm soothingly.

“I know you caught what everyone has been saying to me. Because I wasn’t coping, I did the only thing I could think of, I left- to avoid having to deal with… all of this.”

“How long have you been gone?” He asked, quietly, not wanting to ruin this moment.

“I got a part time job when I was 16 and completed my A-levels and university degree in different cities… but- it wasn’t enough.” Her eyes clenched. “To think he was out there, doing this to other people and parading around, scot-free, after what he’d done to her.” Memories started to flick through her mind, unwanted memories of the worst day of her life. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“And you haven’t been back since?”

“I couldn’t. I needed to do this.”

“You’ve been gone so long.” He felt sad. Sad for her youth and what little she actually had of it, not only the grief she’d carried with her but shouldering this. He’d never imagined it was so long.

She shrugged. “It was my choice. I called and sent letters.”

He squeezed her and she continued. “I moved around a lot after university, but it was difficult because he’d gone underground. I had my big break when I moved to the city. Usopp and Robin helped a lot and honestly, I don’t think I could have done it without them.”

There was a lot to take in, but his instant reaction was sorrow. His heart ached for her and he wondered if it would ever not after this. There was nothing he could say though, nothing would make it better for her. He still tried though. “I’m just so sorry-”

“Don’t be. Whatever you’re about to be, don’t.” She interrupted softly. “Out of all this has come Luffy, Zoro and everyone, but most importantly you. My life’s good now and that’s what I live for.” And it was true. She’d thought this a lot lately but everything bad that had happened seemed to finally fruit some good news.

“That’s a lovely way to think about it. I’m thankful to have you in my life too.”

They lulled back into silence, enjoying the sound of the waves and the soft breeze.

Nami looked back up at Sanji, the morning sun rising, making his blonde hair bright like the sun and eyes blue as the ocean. He fussed over her a lot but sometimes she wondered if he realised just how handsome he was. From his thick hair to chiselled jaw, it’s a wonder he wasn’t snagged up before she came along. Perhaps fate was on her side after all.

He boyishly smiled at her and in that moment, her brain ignored all filters it possessed, and she blurted out, “Why haven’t we had sex yet?”

The smile melted off of his face and she felt Sanji go rigid underneath her. For a brief second, she wondered if his eyes would pop out of his sockets and hair stand up from the shock.

“ah- uuuh, what?” He asked, desperately trying to compose himself. He’d heard her alright, but he just needed a second.

“Well, you always seem to want to when it leads that way but then you pull away, I’m just a bit confused. I mean, if you want to wait that’s fine! No pressure. I’d just like us to be on the same page.” She could feel heat on her cheeks, but she imagined it was nothing compared to Sanji’s face. His was rivalling a tomato at this point.

He couldn’t be surprised with her asking. When they’d gotten heated the last couple of times, he’d seen the look on her face and knew she was beginning to wonder. “You’ve been through a lot recently and I wanted to give you time-”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve given enough indication that I’ve wanted to.” She pressed

He wasn’t sure how to phrase this, but he sighed, knowing she’d see through anything else. “I didn’t want you to regret it at first, because we’d just dealt with Arlong and I knew you probably wouldn’t be in the right place. I kept telling myself that and then I just freaked myself out the longer I waited. I mean, I built it up more and more, so yeah.” He finished with a shrug, feeling self-conscious.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, squeezing him and she laughed lightly, relieved. Pulling away, she cupped his face in between her hands, “You ridiculous man,” and pulled him in to kiss him. “It’s us, we’re a team, we’ll be fine whatever’s thrown our way.”

“A team on and off the field, huh?”

“Exactly.” She said before pulling him back into a kiss.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be having this conversation in front of Bell-mère’s grave?” He was suddenly aware of where they were having this conversation.

Nami laughed, completely forgetting where they were when she’d blurted out her question. “She’d be lecturing us both for taking so long, especially you, denying her darling daughter.” She winked, teasing him.

He turned to the grave, bowing his head. “I’m sorry Bell-mère, your beautiful daughter will be denied this,” his free hand waving down his body, “for another week.”

Snorting, she shoved his shoulder and he laughed. “Too right, Genzo’s getting old, we don’t want to finish him off.”

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Packing the last bit of clothing, Nami couldn’t help but feel sad. Their time visiting her village had gone incredibly quickly but it’d been great. She’d tended to Bell-mère’s grove with Nojiko, spent some time with the young children in the village with Genzo and cooked with Sanji for her family.

But she wouldn’t miss it too much, the city was calling out to her.

Sanji was putting the last of their luggage in his car, as Nojiko wrapped her up in a tight hug. “Don’t be a stranger.”

“Maybe you can visit us, stop being such a hick and join us city dwellers.”

Nojiko laughed, “Temporarily perhaps, but I like small living.”

Meanwhile Genzo had walked over to Sanji to speak to him. They were out of earshot so Nami couldn’t overhear but based on their faces, it was a serious conversation. Since their initial meeting, Genzo had warmed up to Sanji, considerably thank god. Nami didn’t need that for their week here.

“I approve, just so you know.” Nojiko smirked.

Nami rolled her eyes, about to make a smart comment but Genzo and Sanji had finished saying their goodbyes with a handshake before making their way over to the sisters.

Soon they were both walking towards Sanji’s car, turning around to throw in a wave whilst they still could.

Nojiko’s voice boomed, cutting through the peaceful afternoon air, “Next time I see you, I want a ring on your finger or at least a little Nami or Sanji in the oven.”

Both Nami and Sanji spluttered, whipping around to face a smug Nojiko. Genzo was equally flustered next to Nojiko.

“I’m too young for that!” Nami choked out, shaking her fist in the air and trying to stamp down the blush. Sanji was losing his battle, stuck between flustered and delighted, no doubt at the thought of an adorable little Nami.

“Ignore her, she likes to tease, and she’s got a lot to make up for.” Nami said to Sanji.

His hand reached out to hold hers. “It’s a nice thought. Not for now, but the future perhaps.” He kissed her hand and opened the car door for her. She was too stunned to reply and thanked him as she entered the car, the door closing behind her.

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They’d driven back in a comfortable silence and Nami watched as vast green fields soon started to turn into houses, train tracks and skyscrapers the closer they got to the city.

Making their way through the city towards Sanji’s apartment, they noticed a lot of police sirens going past them every few minutes. They both looked at each other concerned but were interrupted when Sanji’s phone went off.

“Could you get that please Nami?” Sanji asked, eyes still on the road.

Leaning into the backseat for his jacket, she fished around and just as she grabbed the phone, it started to ring. Looking down Zoro’s name was lighting up, she frowned, that couldn’t be good.

“Zoro? What’s up?” Sanji looked at her questioningly, Zoro hardly ever called him.

“Hey, are you back yet?” He asked calmly, ignoring what she’d said. She could hear Luffy in the background shouting obnoxiously and trying to take the phone from Zoro to speak to her. Zoro sounded like he had his hands full.

“Yeah, we’re just driving through the city. Why are there so many police sirens about?”

“There’s a hostage situation downtown. We’ll probably need your help.” He still sounded so calm; how did he do that? Perhaps all the time spent on the force.

“How did this happen!?” Sanji threw her an alarmed look as she raised her voice.

“No time to explain, I have to go.” And just like that, he hung up.

Turning to Sanji, she quickly relayed what little information she’d received, and he was warning her to brace herself as he put his foot on the accelerator to speed towards his apartment.

Bursting through the doors, their luggage abandoned in his car for the time being and trying to find their suits.

“Sanji, please tell me I left a suit here!?” She didn’t want to think about having to make a trip to her apartment right now, considering the situation.

“I picked it up from Usopp last week with the repairs he’d made to it, it’s in the safe, 0307.” He rushed out, going into his room to change into his suit. “You’re clima-tact’s in there too.”

If they weren’t against the clock, she’d probably tease him for using her birthday as the combination but secretly she was touched.

A few minutes later, she left his office, clipping on her belt and was surprised to see Stealth Black already at the door. “And here I thought I was quick; how do you do that?” It was sweet he hadn’t rushed her.

He followed her to the window, checking for anyone around. “Trade secret. When we have some time, maybe I’ll show you.”

She pouted but held on when his arm came to wrap around her waist. Not moments later and they were soaring through the city.

They landed with a bang on a police car outside the bank. Black Cat sniggered when a few officers almost jumped out of their skin, but they all turned their head around to look at the new additions. She could see Zoro and Luffy off to the side, she tried not to look directly at them but almost laughed when she saw Zoro smack Luffy’s hand down when he tried to wave to her.

“What’s the situation?” Stealth Black asked an officer in front of them, diving straight into the matter.

“What’s she doing here?” The officer sneered back, jabbing an accusing finger at her.

Stealth Black started to rile, and she knew that would lead nowhere helpful. She put a hand to his chest and looked towards a different officer. “Well? We’re against the clock here.”

He looked hesitant but answered her. “A lot has happened in your absence. One of the guys you handed in last week was chatty and told us there’s a new leader in Arlong’s place. His name’s Hody Jones. We stopped a van that we’d been warned about and he was in there too. A shoot out started, and they ran into the bank. They’re been in there for 30 minutes; we’re waiting for the negotiation team.”

Black Cat could kick herself. They’d been off relaxing for a week and there was a huge lead that had now led to a dangerous hostage situation. “Do you know how dangerous Hody is?” She’d only heard of him, when Arlong was about he was a small fry, not even worth mentioning. This development was surprising, but if he’s taken any drugs, it might be a different matter.

“As far as we know, not very. Not smart though, to be moving around in the open.” The officer replied back.

“Anyone dead?” Stealth Black asked.

The officer shook his head. “Not yet, or that we know of. We suspect some are probably injured.”

Black Cat was thinking whilst they spoke, trying to strategize how to resolve this with minimum damage. “At least they’re not organized, probably trying to think about what they’re going to do now. We could probably use this to our advantage.” She looked at Stealth Black.

He nodded back at her, now thinking about how to move forward. “Have you got floor plans of the bank yet or know the layout well?”

The snotty officer from the start spoke up. “And have a thief go into an unguarded bank?”

He was ignored.

Another officer stepped forward, nodding and giving them the layout of the bank, drawing rough illustrations in her notebook.

“Stealth, we can use the door on the roof to get in. They’re not prepared, they may not even know it’s there. They’re probably not even expecting us.”

He nodded. “Do we know how many there are?” Asking the officers in front of him.

“There’s probably 6 or 7. Definitely under 10.”

“Okay, leave it to us then. We’ll get hostages out alive.” Black Cat said, her arm wrapping around Stealth Black as he got ready to launch them to the roof of the bank.

Another voice interrupted them before they could. “Why are we relying on a criminal?” The snotty officer again.

Okay, he was getting on her nerves now.

Before either of them could say anything, Zoro was storming over to grab him by the front of his shirt. “Quit your whining. They’re about to go in there and take direct fire, do you want to do that? Are you bullet proof?” He pushed to officer away and turned towards the pair. “We’ll back you up where we can. Take this and keep in communication.” He said, handing them a walkie talkie.

Black Cat clipped it into her belt and smiled at him. A few officers wishing them good luck as they took off. Seemed a few of them were coming around, at least.

Landing on the roof, Black Cat was prepared to move away when Stealth Black tightened his grip on her, his hand moving from her waist down to rub along her rear.

“Did you really just cop a feel?” She asked in incredulously, as he let her go.

“Perks of the job.” He leered down at her, acting like it should be common knowledge.

It was amusing how even in such a tense situation; he was ready to try and lighten the mood. With that reasoning in mind, she let him get away with it.

Bending over the roof, she tentatively looked through the glass skylight to the second floor.

Behind her, Stealth cocked his head looking over the form in front of him, and murmured to himself, “Definitely a perk.”

“I heard that. You’ve had your look, pay attention now.”

He joined her looking through the skylight, they were silent for a second as they observed. “I know you’re blaming yourself. I could see it on your face. We have to live as well.”

“It’s just that-”

“I know, believe me. But we’re only human, we have to rely on the police sometimes.”

She knew he was right. Even she knew it deep down. They were only two people.

Shaking any other thoughts, they both discussed their next move; pointing out rooms on the second floor they’d need to clear and the staircase they could see leading to the first floor. They both agreed invisibility would be key for this, whilst they were still undetected. As soon as hostages were involved, they’d go visible to take the attention.

“We need to speak to Usopp and Franky about bullet proofing you’re suit.” Stealth Black said, his eyes skimming her suit in concern.

“I’m pretty quick on my feet,” she joked but he didn’t look convinced when she looked at him. “But really, don’t worry. We’ve done worse.”

Stealth Black took the lead, after Black Cat had picked the lock on the roof door leading to the second floor. They were slowly sweeping through the second floor, using the heat tracking in their glasses to see if there was anyone in the rooms. Just as they thought, unorganized, everyone was on the first floor.

They were reminded to not be overconfident when they heard footsteps coming closer behind them. They just managed to dodge out of the way, pressing tightly against the corridor walls as one of the hostage-takers walked past them.

Clearly, they were starting to get their bearings if they’d sent someone to sweep the building. However, this was a great chance for them to pick off one of them.

Black Cat extended her clima-tact, electrocuting the man upon contact and Stealth Black was there to catch him before he hit the ground and alerted the others. They tied and gagged him, leaving him in one of the rooms.

Moving down the staircase at the side, they were met with an empty front room. There was clearly panic when the hostage-takers had moved in, chairs thrown, plants tipped over and, by the looks of it, guns fired. Hopefully they were just warning shots. Like they’d suspected, hostages were taken behind the cashier desks, into the large space behind. The officer outside had been correct, with the guy upstairs, there was only seven in total. Black Cat recognised one of them to be Hody Jones and pointed this out to Stealth Black.

“We need a distraction.” Black Cat whispered to Stealth Black. “Draw them apart.”

“Good call, it’d be safer like that.” He pondered. “For once I actually want one of Luffy and Usopp’s toys.”

“Stealth! You genius.” She was turning him around, rummaging through the compartments of his belt. “Luffy is always playing with your belt when he’s around, he must have crammed something in here… and here it is.” Triumphantly, she held up a small wind-up toy Usopp had made of, funnily enough, Stealth Black himself.

“For once, I’m thankful for his snooping about. I’ll go set it off, deal with them and come back.”

“I should come with you for backup.”

“One of us needs to stay here, in case they catch on. We can’t have them shooting hostages.”

“Okay, that makes sense. I’ll move closer in case.” She only wished she could see their faces when the hostage-takers found that small toy and then found the real version.

Moments later and everyone was freezing as a sound erupted from the second floor. The hostage-takers all looking at each other.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“Shit, is someone else in here? Another questioned.  “Where is Tom, by the way?”

“Maybe it’s him? He is doing a parameter?”

“And he’s been at least 10 minutes, the building isn’t that big… you don’t think- y’know…”

“Nah, can’t be. They haven’t been active all week.”

“They have to come back some time.”

“Right, I’ll go check, you two come with me. Everyone be on guard until we’re sure what it is.”

Hm, so they were clever and somewhat organised. Wouldn’t matter though, Black Cat thought to herself, moving along the length of the cashier desks to manoeuvre behind the hostage-takers and hopefully get the attention of a hostage. When half of them ran up the stairs to the second floor, she became visible and peered around the corner, successfully making eye contact with a hostage. She signalled to move to the other side of the room, but they made the mistake of nodding.

“What the fuck are you nodding at?” One of the hostage-takers asked hotly, already paranoid and looked in that direction but found nothing. He started to walk over; gun raised.

He was just at the counter when there were thumps coming from upstairs, thumps that sounded like bodies being thrown around. She pinched the bridge of her nose but flicked her clima-tact and watched as fog started to erupt from it.

“Oh shit. Oh shit. They’re fucking here.” One of them screamed, panicked. “Grab one of the hostages.”

“Move to the back of the room, now.” Black Cat yelled and she vaulted over the cashier desk, clima-tact spinning between her fingers to deflect bullets as they started to fire at her.

The hostages scrambled to the far end of the room.

And chaos erupted.

Black Cat couldn’t get an opening to properly take any of them down. There was only three of them, but they were either trying to hit her or grab a hostage, so they could bargain their escape. She was having to play offence and defence.

A game she couldn’t keep up with when one of them finally clocked her across the cheek and whilst she was stunned, they managed to trip her. The next moment she found a gun in her face.

“You’ll make a nice hostage. Now, where’s Stealth Black?”

“I’m offended, I’m not enough?” Black Cat said, in faux hurt, pouting at the man in front of her. “That’s quite rude.” She kicked her leg up, knocking the gun out of his hand and as the man in front of her dived to try reclaiming the gun, he was stopped by an invisible wall.

Slowly the invisibility faded, and Stealth Black was revealed.

Fuming, Stealth Black shoved the man back and kicked him sharply, sending him into the wall across the room. Turning around, Stealth Black looked to where Black Cat was, but she was gone, already dealing with the two men left before they did anything to the hostages.

“Black Cat, get the hostages out; I’ll deal with them.” He called to her and she nodded, falling back to the hostages.

Running over to them, their faces turned from fear to sheer relief as the situation was becoming less dangerous. “Can everyone walk okay?” Black Cat’s eyes scanning across them, looking for any injuries. They all nodded. “Good, everyone up and let’s go.”

Although the coast was clear, it didn’t hurt to be cautious considering she didn’t know whether Stealth had time to bound everyone upstairs. A normal person wouldn’t get up from a kick of his, but she liked to be sure. At the door, she was ushering out people, reminding them to be quick when they kept stopping, trying to thank her.

She went still as a voice behind her spoke. “You’ve fucked everything up. First with Arlong, then tipping off the police about our vans and now this.” He spat. “Your dead body will be payment enough.”

A gun clicked behind her and the remaining people left inside the building was scrambling away, screaming.

Across the room, Stealth Black stilled at the voice. Finishing off the guy in front of him he turned and felt dread fill his stomach. Black Cat was now on her knees, arms up, with a gun behind her head. And the guy behind her was someone he had finished off upstairs, one of the tougher ones he had a problem with.

Hody Jones.

He knew he should have bound them, but he wanted to get back to her. He could kick himself.

He was about to take off across the room when someone caught his eye behind Hody. Looking back at him was a familiar set of amber eyes, mischief dancing across them. He let out a sigh of relief and instead started to run towards the hostages left.

When the gunshot went off, Black Cat’s image faded away and Stealth Black had huddled the remaining hostages in front of him, using his cape to deflect any other gunshots.

Hody was confused as the woman in front of him faded away but didn’t have a moment to respond as Black Cat jumped behind him, her arms hooking around his shoulders and throwing her legs around to use the momentum to knock him to the floor. She kicked the gun away. Hody was quick to recover, his hand grabbing her ankle to take her to the floor to join him. He was over her in the next instant and she managed to block his fist aiming for her face just in time. Although she blocked it, he hit hard, her arms dully throbbing, and she was starting to wonder if he’d taken the drugs.

Hody didn’t get the chance to attempt to hit her again as a foot hooked into his side, kicking him off Black Cat.

“Are you okay?” Stealth Black asked, his hand extended to her to take but his eyes remained on Hody Jones. He wouldn’t take any risks right now.

She accepted the hand, standing next to him. “I think he’s taken the drug.”

He nodded. “I think so too. He’s the only one from upstairs to get back up.”

Hody started to hack as he got up and blindly ran at them. It appeared he wasn’t as skilled as Arlong and the drug wasn’t nearly as effective. He swung for Stealth Black, but he flipped back, leaving an opening for Black Cat to hit Hody with her clima-tact.

Their time working together had paid off, they fought off Hody in sync. One of them would create an opening for the other to land a hit and vice versa. Hody managed to throw them off a few times but it was quickly over when Stealth Black delivered a powerful kick into Hody’s chest, sending him flying over to the lightning strike Black Cat had set up.

“You should walk out with him, it’ll help.” Stealth Black said, both of them stand over Hody Jone’s battered and blackened body.

“You’re overthinking this.”

Clapping and cheering filled the air as they exited through doors of the bank onto the street, Hody in handcuffs in between Black Cat and Stealth Black. Police moved past them into the bank, to round up the others left inside and take them into custody.

She wasn’t sure how to react. Considering the bad press and hostility she was usually met with; this was a breath of fresh air. A group of children with black cat ears came running up to her, screaming her name and asking her to sign pictures or have photos with her. She must have looked shocked because Stealth put his hand on her back to gently push her towards them and nodded, trying to reassure her.

Bending down, she cooed and awed at their costumes whilst photos were being taken by the press all around her, trying to ask her questions. It was a bit uncomfortable but as the children chattered at her, it was easy enough to ignore. She looked around and Stealth Black was with the police, handing over Hody Jones and most likely debriefing them.

A loud ruckus caused her to divert her attention and she had to supress a shudder at the sight. She’d met this… fan, before. He was… passionate… to say the least, and that was being kind. Whilst she appreciated the backing, in all honesty, he gave her the creeps. With all these camera’s around, she’d have to be polite.

“Black Cat, Black Cat! Do you remember me?” He called, pushing past people to get to her.

“Ah… uh, yes. Zap, right?”

“Yes!” He screeched. “Well actually, it’s Zappa, but you’re so close! You really remember me!”

“How could I forget.” She deadpanned.

“Would you sign this? It’s new, I look at it day and night.” She would never understand how he managed to get such good photos of just her, she was normally with Stealth Black. Maybe he was good at photoshop. She dreaded to think what he actually did with these photos. “You’re a vision of beauty today, is that a new suit too?” He asked, leaning closer and closer, she actually had to tilt backwards to give herself some space.

A familiar hand wrapped itself around her waist, pulling her away and into a warm body. She let out a sigh of relief, knowing she was being bailed out. She didn’t miss the way Zappa’s face became agitated with the new presence, but then she imagined Stealth Black didn’t look much different. A glance up confirmed that. The two men glaring at each other and silently arguing.

“Oh, Zip, right?” Stealth Black said smugly, like he did when he taunts Zoro.

“It’s Zappa, actually! Or Zap, but that nickname is just for Black Cat to use isn’t it cute? She just gave it to me.”

Steam was virtually coming out of Stealth Black’s ears at this point, he always did get awfully jealous. She had no idea why, but he usually handled it fairly well. The tension between the two men was only getting thicker and thicker by the minute. She figured she might as well help out Stealth a bit, and maybe get Zappa off her back. With Stealth’s hand around her, she curled further into him, one arm coming up behind his back to rest on his shoulder and the other resting on his chest to get his attention.

Innocently, she asked, “What is it that you wanted by the way?” If Zappa looked agitated before, he looked downright foul now. Stealth, on the other hand, now looked like he was about to turn into a pile of goo.

He cleared his throat, trying to compose himself. “The press wanted to ask some questions, so I came to get you.”

Stealth Black led her away towards where the press was waiting, holding her hand. “You’re going to out us you know.”

He ignored that comment. “I hate that guy.”

“No, really? You hide it so well.”

He barked out a laugh. “I can’t help it, he’s just so overly familiar with you.”

“He definitely eggs you on too.” She leaned in closer to whisper to him, “But remember who gets to take me home.”

They came to a standstill as he stopped walking and gaped at her. She tugged him forward by their joined hands. “Come on, we don’t have time for that now. Can’t have the press saying I’m tardy too.”

They’d answered a few questions before handing over to the police to finish up. Both of them starting to fatigue, after dealing with criminals, zealous fans and then them. They’d nodded at Zoro and Luffy as they went past, giving a final wave to whoever was still around to see them before Stealth Black launched them skyward bound.

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.

She’d never quite get used to that, she thought when they made it into the apartment, her hair no doubt a bird’s nest on her head. It must have been because Sanji came up to her and tried to smooth it down. She didn’t know whether he was doing a good job or not, but it was so relaxing having someone play with her hair. Her hands came up to rest on his chest but frowned when she felt something damp.

Looking at her hands, they were a brownish colour. “Sanji… are you bleeding?”

She felt him cringe and his hands left her hair. “I might be a little, but really, it’s just a graze.”

“We stayed that whole time afterwards and you’re bleeding?! Bathroom, now.”

She didn’t give him a chance to respond, his shoulders slumped as he followed behind her.

“Sit and take your shirt off.”

“You should take yours off,” he said, voice muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head and sat on the toilet lid.

“Maybe you can do that for me later.” Any previous anger dissolving as she took a look at wound. It really was just a graze.

Nami went to the cupboard over the sink and to grab the disinfectant and bandages. Normal people probably have skincare and other toiletries in their cupboards, but he had medical supplies in bulk, she should probably tell him Chopper would give him a good discount.

Walking back to him, he opened his legs for her to stand between and his hands came to settle heavily on her hips, pulling her in to stand as close as possible. There was a hazy look in his eyes. Knowing him he was now imagining her topless after her comment back to him. She rolled her eyes; he’s bleeding and that’s what he’s doing. He’d need that blood if that’s what he’s got in mind.

She set about disinfecting it and wrapping it. His breath was heavy against her collarbones and his gaze penetrating, it was taking everything she had to focus.

“How did this happen?” She asked as she worked, trying to distract herself.

“It was upstairs, I wasn’t quite quick enough when one of them starting shooting.”

“And you were worried about my suit being bulletproof.” She smirked down at him, she could joke about it now that she knew it wasn’t anything serious.  

“The irony isn’t lost on me, m’love.” He squeezed her hips in retaliation but still looked just as amused as her.

She finished wrapping, bending down to kiss just above the bandages. “All done.”

“I’ve never had a personal nurse before.” Sanji stood back up to full height, leaning over Nami, his gaze intense.

“I’m not surprised, we are expensive.” She winked at him. “I’ll add this to your bill.”

“Worth every penny.” And his lips were diving in to capturing hers in a searing kiss; he couldn’t resist her anymore.

She didn’t waste any time in roaming her hands across his bare chest, the last time she’d had him topless was all those months ago when she’d stayed the night as Black Cat. His hands were pawing at her hips and he was slowly walking her backwards, only pulling away to breath before diving back in. She gasped when her back made contact with the tiles of his bathroom wall and he used the opportunity to sweep his tongue into her mouth. Her hands moved from his chest to around his back to press him closer, if that were even possible at this moment.

Sanji’s hands moved from her hips, one of them running from her behind, down her thigh to bring it against his hip. He repeated this and she jumped to make it easier, locking her legs around his waist. If she thought they were close before, they were even closer now as Nami could feel Sanji rubbing up against her through his trousers. They both moaned when she rolled her hips.

He panted into her neck and started placing kisses there, whilst her hands threaded through his hair. She was going to kill him if she kept wiggling her hips like that.

Her hands were pulling his face away from her neck. “Are we really doing this?” She panted out.

He took a second to organise his thoughts, willing his scrambled brain to piece together what she was asking. Nodding once he finally had, “Well, if you want to of course, I don’t-”

She interrupted him by pulling him into another long kiss that left his legs a bit weak. “We’re going to need a bed then.”

That’s all it took, and he was kissing her fiercely, whilst he moved them both through the apartment towards his bedroom. She was giggling along the way when he stumbled in his haste.

When he laid her down on the bed and hovered over her, he became nervous.

Sensing this, Nami’s hands ran along his arms, careful of the bandage, to rest on either side of his face and bring his ear near her lips. “You said something about taking my top off?”

All moisture had left his mouth and he almost wheezed. Off of the top of his head, that was probably the most erotic thing she’d ever said. Good god, this woman.

She kissed him again to distract him and his hands ran slowly along her sides, squeezing the side of her breast before finding their way to the zip. He slowly dragged it down and as more of her creamy skin became visible, he was painfully becoming aware of something else. “Are you not wearing a bra?”

Shaking her head, she attempted to look up at him innocently, even batting her lashes at him. “I never do.”

“Never?” He wheezed out. This was it. He was going to die. Happily.

She laughed and shook her head. He was such a lovable idiot and as hilarious as his reaction was, this was moving too slowly for her. She bucked her hips up and that seemed to bring him out of his daze.

Sanji’s hands resumed their previous job. He kissed down her neck, to her collarbone and, when he was done with the zip, he kissed the top of her breasts. He pulled the leather away from one of her breasts and teasingly avoided her nipple, kissing and licking around until Nami whined above him. Only then he took her nipple in his mouth and flicked it with his tongue, he was rewarded with the loveliest of moans from her. His other hand rubbing and squeezing the other neglected breast.

The way she was saying his name was heaven and ever since he’d started playing with her breasts, she’d started rubbing against his thigh. Just from that he could feel how warm she was, he could only imagine how wet she was.

“Sanji- mmm- more.”

As if he could ever deny her that. “I think it’s time to get rid of this.” His hands pulled at her leather suit. First, he unclipped her belt, throwing it to the floor.

The hard part was the suit. How on earth did she get this on so quickly? Whatever mood they’d created was quickly diminishing as he struggled. He’d just managed to get it off her upper body and that was hard enough, it didn’t help that he’d stopped to ogle her now free breasts. She’d nudged him to continue when she’d realised.

Boots were unzipped and joined her belt on the floor. It was the rest of her catsuit. Now he was trying to pull it from her legs, and he couldn’t blame the suit for wanting to stay, she had lovely legs, but he wanted to see them unclothed.

Nami didn’t help either, she was now laying down giggling at the sight. “Sorry- it’s- just, your face! And, well, this is so funny.” She managed to get out before fully laughing. This hadn’t crossed her mind when he’d suggested taking off her suit, but it was lovely that they could laugh whilst in the heat of the moment.

Sanji joined her, laughing at this ridiculous situation. She was propped on her elbows, cheeks red from laughing and half dressed, the leather of her suit stuck around her thighs. He imagined he didn’t look much better with one glove still on, no top and ruffled trousers. He couldn’t be any happier in this moment.

“How do you get into this thing?”

Once she’d stopped laughing, she responded. “Lots of practice. You’re more than welcome to help in the future.”

“I’ll help you get out of it.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal. Right, I’ll do this, you get out of your trousers.”

He was supposed to be taking off his trousers, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her. More skin being revealed by the second. His eyes bulged when she took off her thong and shot it at him to get him moving. Trousers and briefs were off in record time after that.

Nami crooked her finger at him and slowly opened her legs for him, inviting him in. As desperate as he was to join her again, he had to take a moment to take all of her in. His eyes scanned up her body, lingering along the way to finish at her face where she was giving him a smouldering look and biting her lip. Okay. This had to be the most erotic thing she’d ever done.

He had to remind himself not to pass out.

Resisting the urge to dive back in, he took his time working his way up her body. Kissing up her thighs and teasingly lingering before moving on to leaving open mouthed kisses on her hip bones and listening to her breath in sharply. He ghosted his lips along her stomach, and she whined at the lack of pressure, arching her back but he didn’t give in, continuing to follow the path between her breasts up to her ear.

“You make the sexiest noises,” he whispered into her ear, placing a kiss just underneath and she shuddered in pleasure. “I’m going to make sure I get every moan from you.”

She kissed him firmly, eager for him to follow through and her hands began roaming down his back, greedily taking in his muscles.

Sanji’s hands slowly moved back down her body, retracing his previous path, caressing and making her gasp until his hand arrived at the intended destination. His fingers played with her lips before running along her slit. He groaned when he felt how wet she was.

Being a professional chef was really paying off for Nami, she knew he had talented hands from watching him cook but he was demonstrating that right now as he stroked her. They’d stopped kissing, their faces still close as their breaths mingled with each other. Sanji was focusing on bringing her all the pleasure he could and Nami didn’t know what to do with herself, moans tumbling out of her mouth.

Continuing to stroke her, Sanji moved down, kissing a path past her breasts, down her stomach until he was reunited with his fingers. He looked up and Nami was looking down at him biting her lips with hazy amber eyes. He smirked up at her before his tongue made contact with her.

She threw her head back when his tongue played with her nub and she moved her hips in rhythm with him, when his fingers entered her. She could feel heat starting to build in her stomach as his pace picked up and as good as this was and he was, she wanted something else right now.

Pushing back on his shoulder he looked up at her worriedly, “Is something wrong?”

“No, no but, can we- you know-” how old was she? Why couldn’t she just spit out the words. She took a breath in to compose herself. “I want you in me.”

Sanji stilled and even his imagination was nothing compared to her actually saying it to him in real life. He climbed back up her body and gave her a brief kiss before leaning over to his dresser to pull out a condom.

With shaky hands he tore it open and Nami’s hands joined him, smoothing over his hands to stop the shaking. She was smiling up at him, so sweetly that he couldn’t stop the smile crossing his face. He reminded himself in that moment that he knew her, they’d been through so much and this would be another thing they shared together.

He breathed out, relaxed at that thought. With the condom now on, he rested on his elbows over her. “You’re sure?”

She nodded back at him. “Are you?”

He mirrored her previous response. “If you want to stop at any time, just say.”

“You too.” Her hands cupped his cheeks and brought him into their softest kiss so far.

He lined himself up and slowly entered her, eyes scanning her face to make sure she was okay. It was a difficult task though, she tasted great but felt even better and he was trying to control himself from just pushing all the way in. He scattered kisses along her face and was graced with her giggling.

Fully settled in, he waited for her to make the next move. She gripped his shoulders and wiggled her hips, drawing a gasp from the both of them. He gave a tentative thrust and was rewarded with a moan, her legs wrapping around his waist to keep him locked in place.

The temperature in the room spiked and Sanji felt like he was going to melt. He was panting into her neck, she felt incredible. So wet and hot. Each thrust rewarded him with a wanton moan from Nami. Her cheeks were flushed, and hair splayed out on the pillows, her hands had moved from his shoulders to run up and down his back.

He pulled away from her neck to look at her face and he wanted to commit it to memory, the pleasure on her face was almost enough to push him over the edge. His pace started to pick up and he could feel himself almost at his end, but he was intent to get her there first. One of his hands moved to stroke down her leg, catching it behind the knee to lift it onto his shoulder and the reaction was instant.

She started to chant his name and her fingers digging into his back trying to anchor herself to something. The small shift had caused him to hit the right spot inside her and she couldn’t get enough of it. She could feel her stomach starting to coil and heat building, what tipped her over was when Sanji started to whisper into her ear about coming and how she felt. She should feel embarrassed but, in that moment, it was exactly what she needed.

Feeling her clench and pulse around him, her cries as she came, was all too much for him and he found himself quickly following after her. His hips bucking to prolong her ecstasy and for him to come.

It was a few moments later when he finally came too, realising he was probably crushing her and leaned back onto shaky forearms so he could look down at her. Her eyes were cracked open, still coming down from her high and he mentally congratulated himself at the blissed look on her face.

“Are you okay?” His forearms and back were begging him to lay down, but he wanted to check on her first.

She didn’t respond, just nodded and gave him a satisfied smile. That was all he needed to see as he laid down next to her, gathering her up to pull against his bare chest. It didn’t take long for her fingers to start dancing across his chest.

He could kick himself for waiting so long to take this step with her. There were very good reasons not to at first. He really did want to know her, and he did have cracked ribs but after that, he’d built it up so much he wasn’t quite sure how to get down from his unreachable expectations. But she was right, they were a team, and this had been better than he’d imagined.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt her shift in his arms, she rolled onto her front propping her chin on her hands over his chest. “Sanji, that was…” Lost for words on how to describe it.

“Amazing, fantastic, annoying that I’d held back for so long when we could have been doing this so much sooner?” His hands now played with the hair falling down her back.

“You forgot to add mind-blowing but that all sounds agreeable too.” And it was true. For all his hesitating, he’d more than made up for it and the longer she laid there, the more she wanted a second round.

“I’ll add it to the list.” Leaning down to press a kiss against her forehead and her eyelids fluttered closed. “You have your first day tomorrow, it’s still early, I can make dinner and I want to put some ice on your cheek.”

It’s wasn’t too sore, but she knew he was right, it wouldn’t be a great first impression to show up with a swollen cheek. She had other things in mind right now though. “Dinner sounds great, but,” she propped herself up and ran one hand teasingly down his chest, watching as goose bumps erupted on his skin, “you gave me such thorough attention earlier and right now, I want to repay the favour.” His eyes widened when her hands reached their intended destination and cupped him.

He recovered quickly. She felt him twitch in her hand and he pounced.

It was a while until they actually made it out of his bedroom but the lure of food and quickly diminishing time hurried them along.

After eating, they were both washing up, even though Sanji had tried to keep her away with the lure of wine and relaxing but she honestly didn’t mind helping. He washed anyway, she just dried.

He was draining the water from the bowel as she was drying the last plate, walking over to put it in the cupboard overhead. It wasn’t a moment later that he was pressing up against her from behind, his hands resting just below her breasts.

Something about her in a domestic setting just did it for him, especially the kitchen. He’d definitely need to take her in here at some point. He turned her around and pressed her up against the counter, lips hurriedly finding hers. It wasn’t long until she was hoping up on the counter and he quickly filled the space between her legs. Sanji’s lips moved from her lips to leave a scorching path down to her neck.

Nami was aware of where this was heading, and that time was getting on. “I’m going to need to sleep at my place tonight, my work stuff is all there for the morning.”

He nodded but didn’t let up from peppering kisses down her neck or caressing her breasts.

“You know- mmm-” letting out a moan when he paid attention to the sensitive area behind her ear. She lost herself for a second, her hands eagerly running through his hair to press him closer. She regained her thoughts when she felt him pressing against her, “- Robin’s not home toni, ah, tonight, maybe you can stay at mine?”  

That got his attention. “Do you mind if I bring some clothes so I can go straight to work from yours?”

“Not at all, grab a bag and we can go. Then we can break in my bed.”

He left her with a kiss and took off across his apartment in haste.

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.

.

Considering their previous evening, it still wasn’t enough for Sanji and in the morning Nami found herself having to bat his hands away when she tried to get up to get ready in the morning. He was definitely making up for lost time or he had a big sexual appetite. The second explanation wouldn’t be a bad thing. But one of them had to be responsible, otherwise they’d never make it out of the apartment.

Getting ready together was easier than she’d expected. She’d allowed him to shower with her, but only if he agreed to behave himself and he did, mostly. Soon enough they were both at the front door, gathering the last few pieces they both needed and Sanji was packing the lunch into her bag he’d made her.

Locking the front door, they walked out to the street and stopped to say their goodbyes, both heading in the opposite direction.

Sanji reached out to hold her hand. “Have a good day and maybe if you’re free I can see you after work?” He wanted to know all about her first day and, if she could come, he wanted to discuss something fairly big with her.

“I should be done by five, when do you finish?”

“I finished at five today too, we’ll see who makes it back to my place first.” He challenged, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“You know I can run in heels.” She reminded him, all too happy to give into the childish competition.

Shortly after they were saying their goodbyes, wishing each other a good day and parting with a kiss far too brief for Sanji’s liking.

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.

.

Whatever nerves she’d had that morning had vanished when she’d met everybody in the team. They’d been so friendly and welcoming. They were just wrapping up a project, so she shadowed one of her colleagues in the morning and in the afternoon, they briefed her on their next project they’d be starting soon. To track the weather was a dream come true. And to think she got paid for this.

Now she was on her way to Sanji’s apartment and replying to a few texts from her friends she’d received throughout the day. They knew it was her first day and had been asking questions and wishing her luck. She was getting out the lift and walking towards Sanji’s door when she sent her last text to Robin. Considering she lived with the woman, she’d barely seen her, both of them involved with other people had taken up their time. Nami would have to arrange a girl’s night for them.

The door opened before she could knock. He’d beaten her home but not by much from the looks of it, suit jacket and tie still in place.

Eagerly he pulled her through the door and wrapped her up in a hug, welcoming her back. “Well?”

“It was great! Everybody was so nice, and the next project looks so interesting.”

They’d pulled apart and Sanji was leading her towards his living room to sit on the sofa. “I’m so pleased for you. Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

Ever the gentleman. But she nodded, asking for a tea and orange that her sister had given to her before leaving. Actually, she didn’t have many of them left. Nami wondered how much it would cost for her sister to ship them to her. Nothing beat the oranges from her grove.

Sanji came back with her tea in hand and orange, a newspaper tucked under his arm. He put them down onto the coffee table, moving around to sit next to her and slowly unfold the paper.  “This might just add to your good mood, it certainly did mine.”

She looked on inquisitively as she was handed the newspaper.

Commissioner of Police officially drops investigation into Black Cat after successful hostage situation downtown.

Nami gaped down at the newspaper, barely believing the words staring back at her. She’d never expected this day to come. Her eyes continued scanning below the title.

This news follows after Arlong’s protégé, Hody Jones, was arrested by the superhero duo just yesterday. Black Cat has previously worked with Stealth Black to take down the illusive Arlong Gang, who were running criminal activity and producing body altering drugs.

She could feel tears starting to swim in her eyes but what finished her was the next sentence.

Multiple sources confirm that it was actually Black Cat who pursued Arlong, working undercover, and Stealth Black merely aided.

Sanji’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and he pressed a kiss into her temple, overjoyed for her. She was stuck between wanting to cry and sheer happiness. To not be affiliated with Arlong was a weight off of her shoulders, to not be linked with that vile man.

For people to know the truth.

“This really does add to my day.” They both leaned back on the sofa, basking in the news and Nami used the opportunity to start peeling her orange.

“You’re getting low on those.” He said softly, not wanted to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere that had settled over them.

It was sweet he’d noticed. “I was just thinking that myself. Between here and my apartment, I think I maybe have three left?” She’d made a point of spreading out her oranges when she’d gotten the chance, she spent so much time in between the two places.

Sanji stood, walking over to the door that lead to his outdoor balcony. “I had a thought earlier, and you definitely know more on this topic than me, but I was thinking you should use one of them to grow an orange tree.” He gestured to outside. “There’s more than enough space for it to grow out here and in the winter, we can just move it inside, just outside the balcony. I’ve been doing some research…”

She watched him as he continued to talk about growing an orange tree and explaining what he’d learned. Whilst it was a wonderful idea and she’d happily talk about this all day; the feeling was back. Just like it had been when he came to Bell-mère’s grave.

It came over her so quickly. For him to take the time and research this just to make her happy. All it took was a tree to push her over the edge.

“I love you.”

Whatever he’d been saying was cut short at her interruption. Did he just hear that right? That look on her face was back again. She’d directed that look at him a few times, but he could never figure it out.

It was so open and warm. And now it made sense, the final piece revealing itself.

It was love.

He didn’t bother to finish what he was saying. He strode over to her, leaning over her to cup her face and kiss her full on the lips, trying to pour all of his feelings into it. “I love you too. I think I’ve loved you ever since I first set eyes on you.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s just the leather suit talking.”

“Have you seen yourself in that suit? But I’m pretty sure I knew for certain the moment you swooped in and saved that boy.”

“I was having a good hair day, so I don’t blame you.” She teased, purposefully ignoring what he actually meant.

His hands came down to lightly tickle her sides in retaliation as he settled over whilst she squirmed underneath him. She screeched when he hit a particularly sensitive spot and as Sanji looked down at her, her eyes watering and crinkling from his ministrations, he couldn’t be any more in love with her.

It was true that he’d known for a while, but he never wanted to say it first. He’d wanted her to come to terms with it and have the freedom to say it whenever she wanted. Before Nami, he’d always been unlucky with love. Whatever relationship he had never lasted with his alter ego, he’d learnt the hard way that balance would always be an issue. But she made it so easy, almost like breathing. To have someone to share all of this with.

He could say with confidence that she was the love of his life.

He let up when her hands started to smack at his and she was breathing heavily. He laid down, moving her so she was resting on his chest and catching her breath, whilst one of his hands played with the exposed skin on her side.

The late afternoon light filtered through the room and Sanji had never been more content. He wanted this all the time.

Maybe now was the time to broach this.

“This is nice.”

Nami hummed back at him in agreement, her eyes closed. She almost looked like a cat stretched out, basking in the warmth, and the irony wasn’t lost on Sanji.

“I’ve also been thinking about something else, for a while now, and maybe I’m moving too fast- and this is completely your decision, I won’t be offended if you want to wait or-”

“Just say it.” Her chin now resting on his chest to look at him, aware that he wanted to discuss something. He was so considerate of her feelings, but he had a tendency to work himself up because of it.

“Move in with me.” He blurted out.

Her eyes widened, not expected that at all and when she went to speak, Sanji smoothly cut in.

“It doesn’t have to be right away, there’d be a lot to sort out. Like Robin, we can give her the time to find a new place or roommate- but I have a bigger place and it’s the same distance to work-”

She cut him off with a firm kiss. He was starting to ramble and as adorable as it was, she wanted to enjoy this moment with him. He followed after her when she pulled away, trying to prolong the kiss.

“I’d love to.”

.

.

.

Love is in the air! Hearts are broken around the city as the newly formed superhero duo Black Cat and Stealth Black are confirmed to be a couple.

Black Cat snorted as she read the magazine headline. Stealth had finally snapped when her fans had almost doubled after her investigation was dropped and she was announced as a superhero. They’d been waiting for her after their most recent gang takedown with all new photo’s, eager for her to sign with Zappa was right at the front. All rumours were put to rest when he’d kissed her square on the mouth, the camera’s flashing to get their front-page shot.

The rest of the crowd had gone crazy.

What still tripped her though was the superhero part. It’d jarred her a couple of times when newspapers used it and people, whether police or fans, used it in conjunction with her name.

She was pulled from her thoughts, when Stealth Black came up to her, wrapping his arm around her and asking if she was ready to go. The radio had just warned them about a highspeed car chase moving through the city.

As they soared through the city, the air rushing past them (no doubt tangling her hair) and wrapped around the man she was sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, she couldn’t help but think…

Yes, she was technically a superhero now and her life had finally found peace; but if a few jewels went missing along the way… well, old habits die hard.

--------------------------------------

And that’s a wrap folks.

I spent ages picking the perfect font to differentiate between the newspaper and magazine headlines... AO3 wouldn't let me use the magazine font, FFN and Tumblr this just chose a different font... *sigh* For anyone that's interested, I picked Lucida Calligraphy, apparently for only my enjoyment.

The idea of a prequel or sequel is definitely something I’m chewing on but not for now. I want to unwind; write some smaller things and work on other projects I have ongoing. I post updates on my profile on FFN if you ever want to check in, or just shoot me a message/ask (FFN, AO3, Tumblr, take your pick)- I’m always happy to chat!

Can you even imagine a cop comedy with Luffy and Zoro? The absolute chaos. I also enjoyed sprinkling in Luffy’s inability to keep a secret. The concept of a secret identity is lost on him.

Do you guys remember me saying I was inspired by the Sam Smith song, ‘To die for’? Do you even know how many times I almost killed Sanji/Stealth Black? My angsty fingers were begging. But I’d made Nami suffer enough and I don’t like writing anything that can’t end happily.

Thank you for waiting patiently for me to write this. Please forgive any errors; I write and eyeball this by myself, I do the best I can.

I hope everyone is well and keeping safe.

Until next time.

[lunnamars]

somebody wants you - chap 2

Chap 2! First part can be read [here].

Can also be read in AO3 e FFNET.

Chapter 1 - loyalty

Honestly, Nami believed that Luffy wasn't a person with good taste for clothes (and for things in general), but the yukata he chose for her was really beautiful - made of a light blue fabric with cherry blossoms scattered all over and a pink obi. But his good taste was really demonstrated in the form of the black yukata he chose for himself.

The outfit was simple, but it looked so good on Luffy that Nami stared at him for a few seconds because she just couldn't look away. The color and patterns of clouds gave the rubber boy a more mature look and she was unable to not give a compliment.

"Damn Luffy, you look good."

The boy just stared at her, blinking and Nami simply turned into a puddle of embarrassment. But, quickly, Luffy recovered and opened a huge smile that distracted her completely and answered simply:

"Great!! I knew you're crazy, shishishi."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Incredibly, the captain had, in fact, behaved during their stroll to the clothing stores and as promised, she took him to a nearby ice cream shop. The redhead always laughed at how he acted when he was taken anywhere that was related to food and again, he didn't disappoint. They just needed to step inside the ice cream shop to Luffy go crazy. She had noticed the place when they passed on the way to the alley full of clothing stores and saw how colorful it was, well lit and said "come and taste all the flavors that the best ice cream shop in the New World has to offer!", which made her think instantly that the boy would love the place.

Obviously, it didn't have all the flavors, but Luffy believed it and was extremely disappointed, shouting at the attendant that this was a rip-off and the cashier girl could only look between him and Nami without knowing what to do. The redhead just gave her an apologetic look.

"Luffy! Luffy!! Okay, calm down. How about getting one flavor of each then? Will it do?", Nami tried to pacify him.

"Seriously?? SERIOUSLY, NAMI?? OE AUNTIE, GET ME A BUCKET AND MIX EVERYTHING TOGETHER!!"

And once again Monkey D. Luffy managed to make random people completely crazy with his hyperactivity and Nami could only find it funny and feel so… at home. It had been a year since they all got together again and this chaotic scene was already so much a part of her life that the navigator didn't know how to live without it anymore.

I love this idiot.

As soon as a completely exhausted attendant handed him a bucket of ice cream, he sat down next to Nami and started to eat with an amused expression, while humming some random song. The two fell into a comfortable silence and he finally calmed down.

A calm Luffy was a rare occurrence and Nami is always amazed. She always tried to take advantage of those moments because they were occasions where she was able to talk to him about various topics. Those were moments when Monkey D. Luffy looked less like a monkey and more like… you see, a twenty-year-old boy.

It's nothing new to anyone that he acted like a moron every day, but Nami knew that deep down, Luffy was very perceptive. Especially about his friends. She wouldn't go so far as to say that there was a brilliant brain inside that head always covered with messy black hair, but to say that he had no sense of the things that happened around him would be a complete lie.

She has always known this, but she's still surprised when these occasions of serenity happened. They started showing up after their two years of separation and the navigator was sure that this was due to everything that happened in Luffy's life after Ace's death. Grow in maturity was inevitable, but if Nami could, she would have given everything to make this growth happen in a different way.

The navigator rested her face in one hand and looked at him. Today he was particularly lovely dressed in a yellow collar shirt, khaki shorts, and a brown boot. The straw hat was on top of another orange one with goggles attached that Nami was almost sure was the same one she had given as a gift years ago. She didn't even realize that he still had the hat, considering how quick he is to lose things.

And now that she was watching him, she really saw how handsome he was. Deep down, no one is able to resist the captain's carefree charm and Nami realized that, in the end, anything Luffy did was completely effective against her. The contagious smile, the stupid humor, the eternal boyish face, the most beautiful innocence she has ever seen. Luffy had a heart of gold and no person in this world could deny that. Not even Torao. The Straw Hat always delighted anyone they meet because of the personality and ingenuity he had.

Gosh, how I love this idiot.

"Did something happen, Nami?", Luffy's voice brought the redhead back to the present and she realized she had been staring at him for a while. He looked at her with curiosity and a certain expression of concern, and she felt her heart warm as she remembered that even though he doesn't love her that way, she's still important to him.

You deserve the world, Luffy and all of us would give it to you if we could.

Nami just shook her head and smiled warmly. He has no idea of ​​the extent of her affection for him and believes he won't ever know. But obviously, she'll always be around, helping him with whatever is necessary and focusing on the captain's dream (and hers at the same time), as well as everyone on the crew, because her loyalty to him is completely blind.

A blind loyalty and an unshakable trust she will have for no one else.

You are the person I trust the most in this world.

"You know you can talk to me, right?"

Once again, Nami must have continued to stare at him without saying anything because the captain's expression started to lose its innocent curiosity and turn into complete concern.

"Yep, I know.", she said.

"So, what are you thinking about? It's scaring me, Nami!"

"Luffy.", she said earnestly.

"O-oe.", he replied cautiously.

"You know that we will all follow you wherever you go, right?", the redhead's voice was firm and stern.

"Yep!"

"You know that we are utterly loyal to you, right?"

"Yeah! I am also with you all! shishishi", he smiled like a child.

"You know that I will only leave if you specifically tell me to go, right? And you know that even so, I won't leave without punching you, right?"

"Yeeeah-! Hey, but why the hell would I tell you to leave, Nami? D-D-Do you want to leave, N-N-Nami?? WHY, NAMI??"

A punch.

"How the hell don't you hear what we say, you dumbass?! I didn't say any of that! I'm just saying that if one day, you want me to leave, you'll have to say it clearly!! I made a promise to you, Luffy and I intend to keep it!"

Nami crossed her arms and glared at the captain. Luffy seemed to mull over something as he finished devouring his ice cream.

"Is there anything that would make you leave, Nami?"

The redhead turned her attention back to him again, but the boy wasn't looking at her. Luffy seemed to be stuck in another reality, as he watched people strolling down the narrow street all decorated for the festival.

"Hmmm… an order from you. And maybe, but arguably, if I got married. I don't know what your rules are about that.", she answered pensively.

"Marry? Hmm, I never thought about that. Do you want to get married, Nami?", Luffy crossed his arms and tilted his head.

"One day yes. It's not my little girl's dream, but I like the idea of ​​settling down with someone in the future. Perhaps having a family, who knows. And since I don't know what you think about this matter, maybe this is an exceptional situation that would make me leave."

Luffy turned to face her without answering for a few minutes. His eyes weren’t focusing on her and the girl assumed that he was still in another reality, but had no idea what he could be thinking. The boy was never a person to mull over things in general, so it always worried her a little. Is he weighing the pros and cons of letting his crew's partners join the Straw Hats?

But the captain's disregard for the matter left a bitter taste in Nami's mouth and a certain tightness in his heart. He doesn't really think of me that way, she thought.

"But don't worry, Captain.", Nami poked his forehead and that brought him to the present, "this is a very distant future. We have a lot of work to do before that, right?"

"But if you marry any of us, the chances would be almost zero, right?", the boy asked while putting his hand on his chin, looking for a solution.

"Well, your logic makes sense, but I have no intention of marrying Sanji, Luffy."

"I wasn't talking about Sanji."

"Nor Usopp."

"I didn't mention him either."

"If you speak Zoro, I swear I will punch you, Luffy."

"I didn't say anything again, you idiot!", curiously, the captain got a little worked up and Nami hesitated momentarily.

"There's no one left."

"I'm no one?"

"Huh?"

Nami's eyes widened so much that she was almost sure her eyes were going to pop out. Does he even know what he's talking about? Was Luffy considering marrying her someday? Or was he just saying that to make sure she didn't leave the crew? The navigator decided it was probably the second option because the thick-headed didn't really know anything about it. He himself said that he hardly thought about it, so it was not possible for him to actually think of her that way.

"Weren't you the one who said that we don't have so much in common, Luffy?", she replied quietly looking steadily at the boy.

Luffy didn’t break eye contact but didn't answer anything once more.

He doesn't even know the meaning of what he just said. Moron.

"Luffy, relax. As I said, it is a future that I just intend to think about after reaching our goals. I don't want you to stick with me out of fear that I will let you down because I won't, okay? Don’t worry. And listen... you must marry someone you like, you dumbass."

"But I like you, Namiii!"

The girl was unable to stop her heart from galloping quickly as if she were in a horse race. She felt like she was starting to blush, but she made a huge effort to force herself to remain aloof. Don’t fool yourself, don’t fool yourself, don’t fool yourself. Even so, she was unable to stop herself from being swallowed by his penetrating gaze and whisper seriously, "I like you too, Luffy."

He raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Instantly, Nami realized the weight of the words that came out of her mouth and her brain stopped working. Despair kicked in and she tried to fix the possible shit she had done.

"I-I-I mean, y-you're my c-c-captain, my m-best friend and I know you like all of us equally, b-but I'm talking about marrying someone you love. You know, someone to have a family."

She gave an embarrassed smile and scratched the back of her neck, hoping that Luffy wouldn't notice the slip-up and question her more about it. To her luck, he expressed no reaction, rested his face in his hands and just turned his gaze to the people on the street again. He didn't look sad, or upset or disappointed. On the contrary, he seemed simply indifferent.

With that, Nami just cast a sad look in his direction while he wasn’t paying attention.

Do you think about me? I wanted you to think of me more than meat.

[vannahfanfics]

Could I request a Nami and Bepo friendship fic with the theme "Mittens," please? I'd just love a cute fic starring my two favorite navigators!

Here it is, lovely! I threw some dashes of LawNa in there just because I know you love them so much LOL. Thanks for the wonderful prompts and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

EDIT: This lovely image was drawn by @searchfortheonepiece whom from this moment forth has all my love and affection. 

Even Polar Bears Need Mittens, Too!

Nami was painfully aware of two things upon waking up that morning. Dirst, the ordinarily comfortable warmth of her bedroom had been replaced by a bitter, breath-fogging chill. Second, the soothing rocking motion of the waves beating upon the Thousand Sunny was eerily absent. Panicked, she threw the covers off herself. She immediately hissed in displeasure and flung the warm, soft blanket back on as the winter air leaped forward to dig into the sensitive bare flesh of her legs with eager teeth. 

She rubbed her palm over her legs to find that goosebumps had already sprouted. Treading more carefully this time, she gathered the comforter around her body to serve as a fluffy shield from the cold and eased out of bed. She hopped around, not wishing to touch the icy wooden floors with her bare feet for too long until she found the slippers she always kept at her bedside. 

After a few minutes of digging, she was able to procure a set of winter gear— slim-fitting, dark jeans, black combat boots, a maroon knitted sweater, a black overcoat inlaid with ginger faux fur, and a pair of maroon gloves with a matching beanie complete with a black pom-pom. Dark colors absorbed the sunlight better and made Nami’s tresses of tangerine hair pop all the more (because a girl always had to consider her image!). 

She walked out into the hall, and it was no wonder it was so cold. Snow flurries buried themselves into her hair, decorating her like glitter, while others spiraled down the current into the hall to flutter lazily down to the iced-over wooden floors. Shivering, she carefully walked up the icy steps out onto the Thousand Sunny’s main deck.

The Grand Line’s unpredictable weather patterns had struck again; the Sunny looked like it had ventured into the Arctic. Snow was steadily falling from the cloudy heavens. It had piled up on the deck about half a foot deep and decorated the balustrade in a fluffy layer. Everything else was completely encased in a sheath of fine, crystalline ice. It wove fern-like patterns within the glass windowpanes, the only reference to the green world in this universe of white and gray and blue.

“Zoro?” she called as she tromped through the snow. Sinking up to her calves, Nami had to take extra-large steps to keep from tripping in the thick icy fluff. The swordsman was often awake in the wee hours of the morning. Yet, he was usually taking an early morning nap around the time the others were awakening, and Nami knew that the dense man could easily sleep through a snowstorm and awaken with hypothermia or frostbite— if he didn’t just wake up a solid blue corpse. 

Thankfully, it seemed the chill had roused him plenty. He came stomping through the snow dressed in a coat, though the lout insisted on keeping his chest bared to the unforgiving winter’s bite. Sanji, with a small snow shovel propped on his shoulder and wearing a blue winter coat lined with cotton, came tromping along after him.

“Nami-swan! Please tell me you know when this damn blizzard is gonna end!” 

“Why does that matter? We can just sail out of it,” Nami shrugged. 

“Not exactly,” Zoro grunted and gestured to the railing of the ship. Nami sloughed through the snow until she got to the edge of the boat and immediately groaned in annoyance. The sea was frozen over in a solid block of ice. Even if they attacked it with pickaxes and tried to coax the Sunny to the faint line of warm blue water hovering at the ice’s edge, it would take days to do so. Nami grimaced at the thought. Who knows how long that’ll take, and it’s cold as balls out here! 

“Guess we’ll just have to suffer,” she moaned. Raucous laughter at the end of the deck caught her attention; she turned to see Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy gathering up little handfuls of snow and flinging them in each other’s faces. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth; they were idiots sometimes, but it always did do her heart good to see them having some good plain fun.

“Hey, why don’t you make us all some hot chocolate?” she called to Sanji. “I’ll see if Law is okay in the submarine, too.” 

While the cook tossed heart eyes her way and dashed off to cater to her whim, Nami walked the edge of the boat until she reached the place that the Polar Tang moored against the Sunny.

After the business in Wano, the Straw Hats and Heart Pirates’ alliance had decided to appreciate their company a little longer (which was more Luffy’s doing than Law’s). Franky had rigged up a handy contraption to allow the submarine to the Sunny without damaging it when they were fully underway, and by combining the natural sailing capability with the submarine’s engine, they had improved their speed by fifty percent as well. 

“Law? Hey, are you guys popsicles in there?” she called as she climbed down the set of ladder rungs leading to the submarine. The soles of her boots striking the surface of the uppermost deck made dull clunking noises. She walked across the deck to the door, preparing to knock, but was startled when it was suddenly thrust open. She instinctively jumped backward.

She pinwheeled as she lost her balance and tipped back, but before she could land on her behind, the submarine’s captain grabbed her firmly by the elbow and hooked his foot under one of hers to brace her. He held her up by the strength of one arm, which brought a hint of rose to Nami’s cheeks and reminded her once more of how strong Law was even though he hid all his muscles under that long coat of his.

“Careful, Nami-ya. I wouldn’t want you hitting that pretty head of yours.” 

Nami’s relationship with Law was an interesting one; one never knew what would come out of their mouths, whether it be purred compliments or insulting jibes. They yipped at each other like a couple of cunning foxes in a perpetual game that dangerously bordered on courtship; it was not uncommon that their words and looks mirrored those of two individuals in a saucy game of “hard-to-get.” 

Sure enough, his mouth curled in that undeniable smirk that just begged Nami to retort with some minxy jibe, but with the persistent cold seeping beneath her coat to nibble at her skin, she decided to save it. Using Law’s grip as a bracer, she straightened herself up and ensured that she had a solid stance on the ice. It was only then that she could get a good look at him and see that he too was not immune to the brisk weather, as he had zipped his coat up to hide his sprawling tattoos and had white gloves on his hands. 

“So, I imagine that we won’t be escaping this climate anytime soon,” he guessed with one glance at the surrounding ice.

“Nope.” She glanced up at the sky to analyze the speed of the clouds. “The system is moving pretty slowly, so I guess that we’ll be trapped in this ice storm for at least a few days or so.”

“Damn… It’s taking our heating system all it can to keep all the metalworks from freezing over…”

Before the two of them could exchange any more words, a snowball exploded in Law’s face and sent him shooting back into the depths of the Polar Tang. The furry bulk of the arriving Bepo provided a soft landing, thankfully. Nami made no attempt to stifle her laughter as the Surgeon of Death came stalking back out, shaking snow out of his face and hair. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who had flung it at him, either. “Straw Hat-ya, you imbecile, now is not the time for games!”

“Trafalguy! Come have a snowball fight with us!”

“Did you not hear me?!”

“A snowball fight?! We wanna play!” came the simultaneous chiming of Penguin and Shachi from the entryway, and Law let out a strangled urk! as the two boys muscles past him to scamper out onto the deck of the Polar Tang. They slid around on the ice like a couple of buffoons for a few minutes trying to reach the ladder, eventually resorting to easing over on their hands and knees.

“Aw, come on, Law, they’re just having fun. We might as well play in the snow; there’s nothing better to do,” she smiled as she listened to his crewmates’ raucous hoots and hollers of laughter drift down from the Thousand Sunny with the occasional stray snowball.

“I don’t play, Nami-ya.”

“Law! Will you come build a snowman with me?” 

As Chopper’s innocent sing-song voice preceded his little furry form and hopeful eyes peeking over the railing of the Sunny, Nami watched Law’s body stiffen. He flushed pink and pulled down his hat, mumbling under his breath for a moment, before he thickly called up, “I’m coming, Chopper-ya…” 

Nami chuckled heartily as she watched Law Room himself up beside Chopper, who jumped up and down and hugged his arm elatedly. Not even the Surgeon of Death can say no to our sweet little Chopper.

“N-Nami?” 

The navigator turned her head as the polar bear Mink abruptly addressed her.

“What’s up, Bepo?” His watery black eyes could not bear to meet hers but flickered downward to train on the intricate icy patterns adorning the wood. His nails clicked lightly as he tapped them together in a nervous fidget. “Would you mind teaching me more about maps?” 

Nami blinked slightly in confusion. In the time that the two crews had spent together, the talented cartographer had been sharing her knowledge of maps with him. Still, she wasn’t sure why he wanted to do such an everyday activity when the opportunity to do something new and fun had presented itself.

“Wouldn’t you like to come play in the snow with us, Bepo?” she suggested with a bright smile. The poor thing couldn’t blush, but she could tell that he was embarrassed from the way he flattened his ears to his head and twitched his massive body.

“I can’t… My paws get cold.” 

Nami had no idea how a polar bear’s paws could freeze but considering the circus troupe of colorful people she sailed with, anything was possible. 

“Everyone else can play just fine because they have mittens, but we’ve never been able to find any in my size,” he lamented while holding up his clawed paws. Naturally, no market would sell mittens for a bear. Poor thing! He doesn’t deserve to have to sit out while everyone else has fun! Nami thought as a pang of pity pierced her heart. She grinned brightly and reached up to grab one of his furry paws with both of her hands.

“Don’t worry, Bepo! Come with me. I’ll whip up some mittens for you!” she assured him before whirling on her heel and pulling him across the deck of the Polar Tang. The bear just silently shuffled along behind her. 

She trekked back through the snow covering the spacious deck of the Sunny. It was falling so heavily that the small trench she had produced just a few minutes ago had already largely filled, forcing Nami to track a new path through the thick fluff. The layer had already thickened up to her knees. Nami pulled out her Climatact to help shovel the snow to wither side to help clear her way, but only with marginal improvement; very soon, her arms were aching. 

“Jeez! You wouldn’t think snow would be so heavy. I’ll have to get Franky to shovel some of this stuff off before our deck collapses!” she panted. Bepo, despite his bulk, seemed to have no problem pushing through the snow; after a moment of watching her struggle, he let out a nervous mumble before lightly tapping her on the shoulder. Nami paused to turn around, leaning on her Climatact for support. His tiny ears fluttered, and his little nails clicked together as he considered something silently for a moment. Then, to Nami’s surprise, he leaned down to pull her gently into his big furry arms.

“U-um, I thought it would be easier this way…” he admitted shyly while scratching the side of his head with one claw. Nami beamed, wrapped her slim arms around his thick neck, and nuzzled her nose into his fluffy cheek.

“How considerate! Thank you, Bepo.” She felt the bear’s skin warm as he did the Mink equivalent of blushing, and his words were an incoherent gush of mumbles. Feeling a burning gaze, Nami glanced over her shoulder to see Law staring intently from across the deck. 

“Jealous?” she called over while sticking out her tongue. Law snorted in derision and pulled his hat down over his face, but Nami could see the haze of pink over his cheeks. “Don’t worry, Law, I’m sure Bepo would carry you too if you asked him!” she laughed while rubbing the top of Bepo’s head through his hat.

“Ugh, Nami-ya, that’s not what I—” he snapped at her, then flushed further. Grumbling under his breath, he whirled around to instead re-focus his energy on the half-finished snowman that Chopper was molding with his hooves. Nami laughed mischievously again before looking back at the polar bear, who was just trying to pretend that Nami hadn’t been so boldly flirting with his captain.

“Mittens, right? Let’s go!”

Bepo carried her the last leg across the deck in record time. He gently set her down on the steps once they arrived, and Nami carefully picked her way down them, holding one hand against the frosty wall to aid her balance. She would hate to ungracefully slip and tumble down the stairs to earn herself a bruised bottom or sprained ankle on a day that promised a lot of fun. 

She led Bepo to her and Robin’s room. His massive frame barely was able to squeeze through the threshold, and he took up a large amount of space, requiring Nami to navigate around him as she searched her belongings for old clothes that she could retrofit into a pair of mittens for him.

“I’m sorry if I’m in the way…” he sighed apologetically and resorted to his nervous tick again. Nami smiled brightly up at him as she rifled through one of her trunks of sweaters.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Bepo. You’re never a bother!” It was no secret that he was a little insecure, and so Nami always tried to do her best to encourage him. He smiled shyly and shuffled his feet, indicating that Nami’s compliments were warming him a little. 

“Ah-ha!” she cried merrily as she procured a lovely yellow wool sweater patterned with black stripes. “It’ll match your jumpsuit, too!” she grinned as she poked at the jolly roger emblazoned on the fabric as she passed him. She walked over to a small sewing machine situated on a table in the corner. 

With how much Nami loved clothes and saving money, she of course knew how to sew, and with the boys tearing their clothes to shreds all the time, she had invested in the small machine to make quick work of the many repair jobs. Bepo lumbered over to stand over her shoulder to watch her work, ears fluttering in curiosity; smiling, Nami leaned back so that he could observe her handiwork.

“You’re going to make mittens from that sweater?”

“Mhmm. There’s no sense in letting this fabric just collect dust,” Nami nodded as she cut out the patterns of the mittens using a large pair of shearing scissors. Tossing the rest of the fabric aside into a little basket for later use, she turned on the sewing machine and put the fabric in place. She felt Bepo release an awed breath over her shoulder as the needle began punching thread into them at high speeds. 

Nami’s nimble fingers guided the fabric to form the seams. In no time at all, she had produced one bear-sized pair of mittens, complete with holes in the fingertips so his claws wouldn’t shred the fabric. His ears flattened to his head as she whirled around in her little stool to hold them up. “Here you go! Try those on.” He very gently took the mittens in his paws before slipping them on, pushing his claws through the added holes and flexing his hands experimentally. He then gave Nami a huge smile that crinkled his already small eyes.

“Thank you, Nami! They’re wonderful! Now I can play in the snow too!” he rejoiced and jumped from foot to foot. Nami giggled and stood up from her chair.

“I’m so glad you like them.” 

“Nami! Will you make snow angels with me?!”

“Of course!” She grinned, then gasped in alarm as Bepo suddenly took off to squeeze out of the doorway and hurry up the steps. “Hey! Not so fast; you’ll fa—” 

She heard a startled yelp followed by a series of rapid thunks that could only be the polar bear Mink tumbling down the stairs. 

She exhaled deeply with a wan smile, shaking her head before walking out to see if he was all right. She found him on his back at the base of the steps in the process of rolling over; it seemed the fall didn’t do much, as he immediately scrambled back to his paws and went shambling up the stairs with an excited, impatient, “Come on, come on!”

“I’m coming!” she assured with another laugh and carefully followed him back up to the winter wonderland that the Sunny had become. For the next several days, the two crews busied themselves with all sorts of winter revelry, and Bepo made sure he showed everybody the marvelous mittens that the gracious Nami had made for him…

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to perusemy Tableof Contents!

[laws-yellow-submarine]

The Rubber Band

So uhhh…that Rock Band AU thing that I kept coming up with headcanons for? Yeah…I ran with it lmao though I’m establishing now that this in no way is meant to be GOOD and is instead meant to be SILLY and ENJOYABLE and FUN! I had fun writing it, even if it only took me like 2 hours haha

Credit goes to @ohpineapples​ for the initial idea (also 2 OCs make a very brief cameo in this, though I only own one, but for the sake of this AU they exist in the same universe and are best friends, if for no other reason than because Skylar definitely would take one look at Sophie and say “We’re best friends now”. She’s the extrovert I wish I was lmao)

Also featured: slight Frobin, because I can’t leave well enough alone lol 

Word Count: 1674, will include a read more but they hardly ever work on mobile so RIP sorry in advance lol

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the silliness! (all lyrics are taken straight from the One Piece wiki so if anything’s incorrect I apologize!)

Battle of the Bands: Sabaody Park City! Prizes awarded to the Top 3 bands! 1st Place awarded title of “Best Band Ever”.

… 

Zoro was by far the easiest to recruit. 

When Luffy had strolled into the music shop, old-as-shit hand-me-down guitar strung across his shoulders, the green-haired percussionist hadn’t had much thought beyond “drumsticks”. This is, of course, because he hadn’t even noticed the other boy come in, an amazing feat considering the volume he exuded; but when Zoro was focused on something, it took a lot to break that focus. In this case, that focus lay on a set of 5B, dark oak, drumsticks. Zoro fumbled with the almost-matching stick in his pocket, older now but no less powerful, similar build though lighter in color. These would go perfectly with it.

And so it didn’t take much to convince Zoro to join; especially after Luffy helped him “borrow” the set.

…

They tried to recruit a band manager next, eager to get the show on the road, but the orange-haired prospect they’d met at the local carnival practically laughed in their faces.

“You call this a band? There’s two of you! That guitar’s strings are tied in place! I’m not throwing my weight behind a couple of idiots who don’t even know how to maintain their instruments! Do you even know how to write songs?” “Why write them? It’ll come to us when we play!” Nami threw her hand over her face. “See, this is why we need you!” The boy smiled at her, brighter than the sun, and she sighed.

“What do you even call this ‘band’?”

“The Rubber Band!” 

She walked away.

…

They’d returned to her days later, a long-nosed, bass-playing, songwriter and a curly-browed keyboardist in tow, guitar strings neatly replaced. She sized them up, weighing the pros and cons, and crunching the numbers, in her head. Finally, she spoke up, dollar signs in her eyes.

“My rate is 70% of everything you make, plus a fee of $500 for every event I land you.” 

“Hey isn’t that-”

“Of course, Nami-swan!~ Whatever you want dear! Nothing is too unreasonable for you, my love!~” The blond, Sanji, twirled around her, hearts in his eyes as he continued asking if he could make her anything to eat. She could get used to that.

Luffy agreed as well, not seeing a problem with it, as of course they’d make plenty of money as they journeyed to become the Best Band Ever. Usopp was the only one to voice any concerns, saying that “clearly as the true leader of this band”, they should negotiate for a lower price. Nami’s glare quickly silenced any further complaint.

…

They played a few local venues, and along the way picked up a curious reindeer with an affinity for the tambourine. Growth was, unfortunately, scarce though, as Nami brought up one day after receiving a call for a gig in the big city.

“Well we’re not getting anywhere without transportation.” She was right. Usopp’s beaten up car had finally quit on them only the week before, and they’d yet to find something up to the task. They sat around a table at the bar they’d just performed at, munching on snacks that Sanji had snuck in. Usopp was working on some new material, as well as their logo (a pirate’s jolly roger with a straw hat, for personality, and to dissuade those who thought Chopper was their mascot), and Zoro placed his freshly polished drumsticks pristinely in their case. Their attention was diverted when a woman approached them, smiling in a way that set them both at ease and on edge at the same time.

“Hello, I just wanted to congratulate you on your set. You played very well, especially you young man,” She said, particularly speaking to Chopper, the inexplicable reindeer. 

“I don’t need your compliments, you dummy,” The boy gushed, blushing at the woman’s words. For her part she didn’t appear offended, and even chuckled slightly at his antics.

“My name is Robin. I overheard you need a way to get around?” Nami eyed her warily.

“Yes…we do, but there’s not enough in the budget to purchase a whole new vehicle.”

“Oh, my husband owns a tour bus. He used to travel with his own group before we met. If it’s no trouble for you, we’d be happy to help.” As she spoke, a large, bright blue headed man walked up, startling the group with his rather eccentric look.

“It would be SUPER no big deal! We’ve been wanting to travel for a while ourselves!”

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, the band quickly said yes, and so finally began their trip to Sabaody Park City for the Battle of the Bands tournament.

…

They’d made only one stop for fuel on the way to the city, inadvertently picking up a probably homeless man named Brook, who was hoping to meet a friend in the city. Though most of the group had warned Luffy against it, there was no convincing the boy otherwise, and so far it had actually proved a fruitful venture. The man, thin as a skeleton, was proficient in music as well, and assisted Usopp with writing songs for the next show.

When they’d finally made it, their first real stop was the venue Nami had booked, in hopes of making some quick cash to prepare for the tournament. Robin had assisted with setting up the stage, helping to fight off Franky from installing pyrotechnics (“We can’t afford to pay for fire damages!” Nami had screamed), and despite Luffy’s insistence she stayed well away from the stage while they played. Along the way, they’d discovered she had a rather lovely voice, and seeing as how Luffy’s voice tended to sound like two whales fighting during a car wreck in the middle of a bagpipe festival, they’d tried to convince her to become the official lead singer. So far she’d shrugged them off, saying she wasn’t one for the spotlight.

For the next week, Nami continued booking gigs, somehow extorting extra money out of each new venue owner, until finally the day of the tournament had arrived. They’d walked in as a group, filing past dozens of other bands. They shuffled up to the signin, Luffy writing in big, bold letters “THE RUBBER BAND” across the paper, taking up at least five slots. They ignored the event coordinators’ griping in favor of finding a seat, as they waited for the event to start. 

One by one, bands began to play; the audience determining who would move on and who was knocked out. The Rubber Band managed to make it through the first few rounds, fumbling slightly in the round before the finals. Until this point, they’d mostly gotten by through Luffy shredding on his beat-up guitar. His energy was infectious, and if he missed a note or played a weird chord, most didn’t notice; but now it was the big leagues, and the competition was fierce.

It was down to three bands, and they watched as a man with red hair screamed into the mic while a masked blond man played the drums. When they finished, the apparent leader taunted the next performer: a tattooed guitarist with a curly blond drummer and a silver-haired singer (and was that a polar bear playing the triangle?). Overall, the semi-finals passed in a blur, as it became apparent just what they were up against. 

Luffy wasn’t discouraged at all, however, and merely used this as fuel to further insist Robin join them on stage. In his mind, if she sang for them they were sure to win! His pleas remained unanswered, until it was once again their turn to take the stage, and the dark haired woman followed them up to the mic. She smiled at Luffy’s excitement, and they all ignored the cries from an earlier band about the “new member”, instead settling into a quick, upbeat rhythm. As the crowd started to get into it, Robin launched into the lyrics.

“Arittake no yume o kaki atsume, Sagashi-mono o sagashi ni yuku no sa, ONE PIECE!” 

It was a song she’d memorized after helping the others work so hard to write it, and learn it, specifically for the Battle of the Bands. Robin was nervous, having never purposely put herself in the spotlight like this, especially so literally. But as the crowd grew more enthused, dancing along with their music, she found herself feeling more and more confident, even beginning to sway with the music in her own sort of dance, smile growing wide on her face. 

“Arittake no yume o kaki atsume, Sagashi-mono o sagashi ni yuku no sa, poketto no koin, soreto you wanna be my friend? We are, we are on the cruise! WE ARE!”

Before the group knew it they were finished, sweating and panting beneath the stage lights, the crowd roaring in their ears as they yelled “encore! encore!” Luffy raised his arms above his head, the biggest smile stretched across his face as he started cheering along with them. The tournament coordinator’s voice came over the loudspeaker, straining to be heard over the loud cheers.

“Well, I think we have a pretty clear winner, folks! Give it up for The Rubber Band!” The crowd’s screams grew deafening, and in the confusion Luffy had somehow snaked his way through the crowd to drag Nami, Franky, and Brook onto the stage with the others.

“Come on, guys! We did it!” 

“Luffy, why did you drag me up here…”

“Shishishi, come on! They want an encore!” He said, ignoring the groans of his exasperated manager. The song started up again, spurred forth by Sanji and Zoro (who seemed to be competing over who could play louder), and those without instruments joined Robin at the front, singing along with the lyrics that, at this point, they all knew by heart.

And with the crowd screaming along, it was pretty clear… 

They truly were the Best Band Ever.

[b-um-ble]

Drabbles

None of these couples are the same, and not all of them are from a k-pop group! I usually always write these at night it’s when most of these ideas pop into my mind. If you’d like me to continue any of them please let me know and I’ll do my best!!

Disclamer:

I am not a writer by any means, it’s just a calming and fun creative outlet for me! I apologize for any grammar mistakes or spelling fails!

Cold

Tags: Fluff

Pairing: Jk x Female

251 words

His fingers glided against her skin, fluttering up the soft, pillowy skin on her upper lip. Tracing up the Cupid bow that leads to her nose he gently lets his fingers find her cheek bone where he caressed it. A soft pink crept from under his fingers where they touched her ever so gently, spreading across her face until she was glowing beautifully. The girl averted her eyes trying to shy away from the man’s stare, his eyes were full of the light he saw in the woman and he bore the biggest smile.

“You know it’s really cold.” the girl spoke her voice quiet bringing her eyes to meet the man’s again. The man she was looking at was very handsome, he had shaggy dark brown hair parted in bangs that hug below his eyes and ears. It was wavy but you could still see his deep brown eyes staring from beneath it,he was marked with a tiny mole under his full lips, and his skin was so warm under the sun. The girl felt her insides flutter as she soaked in his features, his hand still outstretched with his hand on her cheek.

“I know.” his deep voice made her come alive, she brought her hand to place over his letting him feel how icy they had become. He jumped from her touch “ Ah! You really are cold” he laughed before taking ahold of her hand, wrapping it in the warmth from his own hand. “Let’s go inside”

Dashing

Tags: Fluff

Pairing: Ollie x Josh

372 words

Oliver stared at himself through a mirror in the suit’s store he and his partner Josh were at. His threaded suit had fit him perfectly even though he had been worried about the weight he gained over their holiday. Josh seemed to agree on this thought as he didn’t stop complimenting Ollie. These compliments in particular had Oliver quiet flushed, he’s not used to Josh being so publicly affectionate towards him. “ You look great, honestly I don’t know what to say. I’m charmed Ols, I’m charmed.” Trying to not blush in front of the camera, Oliver laughed it off but inside he was feeling rather flattered.

Now it didn’t help that Josh looked just as dashing in his suit, Oliver couldn’t keep his eyes off of him but he tried his best while they finished filming for their JOLLY channel. He did however slip in a few risky compliments towards Josh, earning him a few side glances and awkward laughs. Then at last it was the time for thank you’s and bows as they ended their episode.

“That’s all for today!” the two males said in Korean as they waved at their camera.

The camera was shut off and the suits had to come off and be packaged away for their award ceremony coming up. Josh took this time to express some of his thoughts about this episode to Oliver while removing his suit “ You look damn good seriously Ols. Honestly kind of horny right now.” This took Oliver by surprise as he quickly looked up from unfastening his belt “ oh my god Josh. I can’t believe you’re saying this while we’re still at the store! “ josh had began his typical seal laughing at this but Ollie kept going “ Master suit-nim isnt even a few meters away from us ! They know a fair bit of English too. Josh they probably know what horny means” Josh’s laughter just intensified at Oliver’s hysterics.

“Just hurry up and change Ols, before I decide to jump you.” Josh said as he giggled and continued changing and Ollie did the same.The sun beamed down on both men along with their crew outside of the shop while they packed away equipment.

Comfort

Tags: Angst, Fluff

Pairing: Luffy x Nami

Words: 801

A candle’s flickering flame provided a glowing light against wooden walls connected to a wooden ceiling. It’s reflection shun on a small circular window encased in to the wall. Muffled voices could be heard from different directions, as could the splashing of water and a faint creaking. What couldn’t be heard was the tears falling gently to the floor. A young woman sat with her back against a bed, her head staring between her hands. One was bandaged the other was a little scratched up, wounds from her recent battle.

She reached up to feel her shoulder, her fingers lightly tracing rough scarred skin. She winced from the sting her skin gave in response. Memories flooded into her head, causing her to grasp ahold of her shoulder to tightly squeeze it. Too much has happened this past week, even though her battle was won and she no longer had to fight against ‘Arlong’ , her mind hadn’t had the time to catch up. As she thought the name her fingers began to dig into the skin on her shoulder, a warm liquid trickled down her arm. ‘Why do I still feel this way?’ ‘My island and my family are safe finally... Because of Luffy.” This time as she thought of this name her grasp loosened from her shoulder and dropped to the floor.

She leaned her head back against the bed, a sigh escaped her lips. She closed her eyes and brought her other arm to cover them. ‘I need to sleep’ but she didn’t move until her door swung open, causing her to jump up, tripping and falling on her back into the bed. “What the hell?!” She looked up angrily to see which dumbass with no manners barged into a woman’s room. Only to find her captain looking down at her with a stupid grin on his face.

“Hey-a Nami! Are you going to come eat? “ he asked excitedly , then adding “Sanji told me I couldn’t eat until you did!” He pouted. Nami was too baffled to remember the state she had been in just a few moments ago. Her captain looked at her for a response, but noticed blood on her arm.

“Nami! Did you not treat all of your injuries??” his voice was full of concern “ that’s no good ! We don’t have a doctor yet”

Nami offered her captain a small smile, her hero, the one who saved her. She was truly happy to know him and to join his adventure but her heart was aching right now . It ached for all the pain she had kept bottled inside for so many years. Luffy noticed Nami’s face change for a moment before she spoke

“Yeah, It’s okay Luffy! I know how to treat my wounds, and no I’m not hungry. Just tell Sanji to let you eat or I’ll be mad.” She sat up and weakly shoved him towards the door. “I’m going to sleep, okay?” Luffy stumbled towards the door but didn’t leave, instead he bent over, putting his face right in front of Nami’s.

“Were you crying?” He asked curiously

“No.”

He touched her face which had felt wet then he frowned.

“Oh Noo, the pin will grandpa is going to kick my ass” he sighed with a pout. Nami didn’t know how to respond she just wiped her face off.

“Luffy, I’m okay. I’m really happy that you helped me, and told me that I’m your friend. Just ... a lot has happened.”

Luffy nodded as he sat down in front of Nami with his legs crossed.

“But why were you crying?”

“Are you sad?”

“Just a little “ she confessed but she hurried her face into her knees embarrassed to be.

“I’m sorry” she whispered, why should she be sad after everything Luffy has done for her.

Luffy only smiled as he fondly looked at his navigator, he understood sort of.

“Then it’s not time for me to have this back yet” he gently placed his straw hat on top of her head. “Nami, give it back to me when you feel better okay? I’m okay as long as I know that you have it. I’ll just protect you both! He said confidently. He then stood up dashing outside “ hang on just a second !”

Nami let out a light chuckle before looking back up into her room, her heart had gotten warmer while she gently tugged on the familiar scratchy straw sitting ontop of her head. Then her goofy captain reappeared before her , with bandages and ointment in his hands. He squatted down beside her shoulder before cleaning her wound. “Nami this is going to hurt for a bit but I promise you will be okay! “ he said as he tended to her wound.

Offline

Tags: leading to smut

Pairing: Dan and Phil

Words: 298

The camera’s red light flicked off as Dan pushed the “stop recording” button. He laughed to himself in disbelief while pushing his sweaty bangs back.

“I can’t believe you Phil”

“Hey, at least it was funny right?” the older male said with a smile looking at his partner.

“Yeah well, scared me shitless off a chair again.” He glanced at his boyfriend’s innocent face bearing his usual smile.

“Are you really hurt?” Phil reached over to investigate Dan’s redded elbow before his hand was caught.

“No I’m fine, but I might really hurt you” Dan pulled Phil’s wrist towards him, causing his chair to roll and collide into Dan’s. Phil fell forward his face landing in to his boyfriend’s chest. “Should I make you fall from your chair?” Dan placed his hand under Phil’s chin forcing him to look up at him. Phil merely smiled back causing Dan to finally give in, smiling he leaned in and captured Phil’s lips with his own.

Caught off guard Phil moaned into Dan’s mouth which surprised dan because that made him considerably hard. He growled in response before encasing Phil’s face inside of his large hands, they both allowed the kiss to deepen. Dan got too into the kiss, standing up to loom over Phil’s chair before slightly putting pressure on it causing it to tilt. Suddenly Phil fell backwards hitting his head against the floor causing him to groan painfully with annoyance, “Daan” he whines. The curly headed man knelt down besides Phil to kiss the side of his head then whispering “ I told you I’d make you fall, but since we’re both down here..” his hand grabbed the older’s thigh before he pulled back and laughed at Phil’s blushed face. “You’re so cute, let’s go to the bedroom.”