Time to Heal

I couldn't help but write this, it was swimming around my head for so long that I couldn't resist. This fic is not a continuation to 'Jealousy', its separate but you could consider it as a continuation if you want.

Did you guys watch the One Piece 3D2Y Special? It was awesome, especially the last like 30 seconds!

Enjoy and Read!


Chapter 1: Sanji

Unlike most people, Sanji did not mind fire. As a cook he was used to the deadly flames and all its heat, not even flinching at the few times he would get burned.

As a pirate, fire was a daily necessity. Ranging from lighting a cigarette to his Diable Jamba in battle or even the fiery wreckage of an unfortunate Marine ship.

It was almost dark and he wanted to get in one last smoke before bed, the only one left in the kitchen besides him is Luffy, who had first watch and had asked for a snack. He complied after much whining from the smaller boy. Soon the kitchen was filled with the rich aroma of the cooking meat and the sizzling as it browned to perfection, the flames of the grill occasionally flaring up.

It was oddly quite, too quite in a room with Luffy in it. The silence usually meant that Luffy was contemplating a sneak attack to take the food. He spared a wary glance behind him to see what the rubber boy was up to, ready to defend the food from the bottomless pit that was his captain.

His heart froze at the sight of Luffy's brown eyes blown wide, his face slightly pale and a hand over his nose as if he smelled something bad. His shoulders rigid with tension and before he could say or do anything, Luffy flinched away from him.

He felt his chest ache at the instinctual movement because Luffy just shied away from him and it hurt to know he did something to cause the wide-eyed, glazed look on his face that told him that the rubber-boy was not completely here and somewhere bad. There was only one thing that could cause such an adverse reaction and the realization of that filled him with dread.

Suddenly, Luffy shot up and bolted to the door, almost tripping over his own feet as he practically flew out toward the deck, a hand clamped over his mouth. By the time he reached the deck Luffy's upper body was pitched over the rail retching out what sounded like the day's entire meals.

"Luffy? You okay?" was the only response he could muster, which was stupid because of course he wasn't okay. Instead he rubbed gentle circles on the sick boy's back, waiting until he was done dry heaving.

"Sanji...can you...air out the kitchen? Please...?" His heart broke in half at the small, pleading voice. Luffy suddenly looked too small and young, face pale and sweaty. And it wasn't right.

"Sure." He didn't dare reject his captain's request, didn't dare to try and question what was wrong or ask what he had done wrong to get such a reaction. He would not hurt the boy more than he already was. "It...smelled bad in there." was the vague answer after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, his curiosity peaked at the small clue.

"Like what?" He made sure that his voice was calm and neutral, as if he was asking about the weather, but not unemotionally. It was the same voice that he had observed Zoro using when dealing with Luffy when the latter was in one of his more morbid moods or when he had a nasty nightmare. As long as he did not make a big deal about the situation then Luffy was more forthcoming with what he was feeling and not hide away from them like he usually did. He drew the younger male back into his arms until he was leaning back on him, giving his (much) smaller arms a comforting squeeze.

"It was like...something…my nii-chan was burning." And his heart cried and broke into tiny pieces at the raw pain and anguish in his captain's voice. And he felt shitty because instead of making his captain's usual shitty meat meal he should have made something else-and he was so damn stupid because he had indirectly hurt Luffy.

Luffy never talked about what happened during the war. It was an unspoken rule that they were to never bring up Marineford or Ace, they would not pour salt in fresh wounds just to satisfy their own curiosity. But on the other hand, this was the first time that Luffy gave a hint to what happened the day the older D died.

But having an idea about what happened did not change the fact that it was painful. What was he supposed to say...?

'Shitty marines.' He cursed silently. Them and their so called 'justice'.

So he settled with something they were both familiar with. Familiarity was safe and would make the tension and glazed look on his Captain's face go away.

"Hey rubber idiot, I have a new recipe for hot chocolate. Want any?" He doesn't comment or draw attention to the small insight about what happened on that battlefield. While he was not familiar with terrible loss, he had seen what it could do to people (Nami and Brook were prime examples) and knows that no amount of time or pity could ever heal a person completely.

Knows that no matter what he said (didn't know what to say) wouldn't change anything and even if he tried he knew that the jumble of words would just confuse Luffy.

But he was a professional cook; he knew how to convey emotions (what he wanted to say, but couldn't) in every morsel of his food. And Luffy understood actions (no matter how subtle) better than anything else. That and Luffy liked hot chocolate.

"Hot chocolate? With marshmallows?" His head whipping around to look at blond with wide eyes filled with the familiar spark of excitement when he was given something edible. His voice is no longer filled with anguish and loss, but his normal, childlike, happy voice that one cannot help but smile at.

"Of course."

He watched with a rare smile as Luffy headed back toward the kitchen, pain forgotten, stretchy smile in its place.

And while they couldn't completely erase or what happened two years ago, but for the boy (man) who was there for his nakama when needed, the least they could do was sooth the anguish and devastation and put back the broken pieces together as best as they could.

And while it would not be a perfect fix, it would be done with the utmost care and attention and love, among comforting melodies and hugs and laughter and familial warmth that was home.

And because he knew how Luffy worked, he knew that a teaspoon of honey in his hot chocolate (that was made with perhaps a little more care than normal) would allow his Captain a night without dreams of burning flesh and long gone family.


Not sure if I like how I ended it, but I didn't want to drag it on. But I'm still pleased with how it turned out. Sanji was kind of hard to write out for me for some reason.

Any way, tell me what you guys think! Review please!