Fifty: The Princess and the Chef
Disclaimer: One Piece and its characters do not belong to me.
1. Ring
It was a girl's ring so it wouldn't fit on his finger, but he kept it on a chain around his neck, and when the sun glinted off the band of Alabastian metal, he thought fondly of the princess who originally wore it.
2. Hero
Vivi didn't mind giving her heart away to someone who gave his all to save her country, expecting nothing in return.
3. Memory
She remembers the way his lips brushed over her hand in greeting; he was the only one on the ship who treated her the way she would've been at home.
4. Box
He packed her lunches with extra care and love, sealing the box with a kiss before letting it leave the galley.
5. Run
Sanji runs through the empty alleys of the desert city, ignoring the pain shooting through his body, because he can't rest until the kingdom is safe; he can't rest until Vivi smiles.
6. Hurricane
"Vivi-chan," he declares with a gaze of utter adoration, "my love for you rages uncontrollably, like a hurricane in my heart!"
7. Wings
Sanji often imagines himself growing a set of white, feathery wings and flying across the oceans until he reaches the balcony of his beautiful Alabasta princess.
8. Cold
Vivi shivers from her perch in the Crow's Nest during her first night watch, until Sanji clambers up to her, devotedly, draping a blanket around her shoulders.
9. Red
Vivi could have cried when she saw how blood soaked Sanji's suit jacket was; she held him, murmured thickly, "thank you".
10. Drink
She had never before met a man with whom she felt safe getting drunk, until the night she passed out on Sanji's lap and awoke the next morning fully clothed and untouched.
11. Midnight
They were still awake at midnight, sitting side by side on the desert sand; her, pointing out the constellations that Chaka and Pell taught her; him, smiling to himself as he realized that Zeff taught him the same ones.
12. Temptation
She can't stop herself from thinking about what could've happened between them, had she given in to her desire to join the pirate crew and go with him to sea.
13. View
She loves to look outside her window at the houses, restaurants, market stands, and desert dunes of her kingdom, but she would love it even more if she could look out and see the ocean and the familiar picture of the straw hat flag.
14. Music
She sang the crew to sleep one night with a lullaby from her land, and the soft, hesitant sound of her voice pacified him more than any professional minstrel had ever done.
15. Silk
The silk sheets of her bed formed a gentle cocoon around their entangled bodies, the feeling soothing to their bare, heated skin.
16. Cover
"You can call me Mr. Prince," he said through the dendenmushi, and Vivi clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out with glee and blowing his cover.
17. Promise
"I'm going to marry you one day," he told her one night while he was half-drunk, and he spent the next day writing out his vows to show her he meant it.
18. Dream
Sanji's wanted to find the All Blue since his childhood, but after he met Vivi, he learned that it wasn't impossible to have two dreams of equal importance; and it was nice to know that even if he never sailed the All Blue, his other dream would still be waiting for him in the kingdom of sand.
19. Candle
Behind closed eyelids, Vivi could see a sudden faint glow growing steadily brighter, and the smell of smoke wafting through the galley made her heart pound; she'd never had dinner by candlelight before.
20. Talent
"How did you make me love you so quickly?" she'd asked, and had received a charming grin in return.
21. Silence
She hadn't honestly treasured the noise during mealtime on the Going Merry, until she remembered the silence of it at home.
22. Journey
It had been the greatest journey of her life – sailing an ocean, risking her life, and becoming a cherished part of their crew.
23. Fire
The pulsating ache between her legs intensified to a hot, blazing burning, and she begged, with hungry lips and tongue, for him to extinguish it.
24. Strength
Sanji respected the fact that Vivi liked to do things for herself, but he still cherished the moments when she turned to him for help.
25. Mask
He forced himself to remain casual as he and the rest of the crew left the palace in the dark of night, but as soon as he was alone, he crumbled into desolation.