It's been forever since I wrote for One Piece. Having an entire year/arc dedicated to your fav helps get creative juices flowing again I suppose.

I originally wrote this for Sanji's b-day back in March, but I didn't finish in time. Now I just want it to be finished before we learn more things about the Vinsmokes and I have to change something else.

Enjoy.

I should tell him, Sanji thinks as he stares at his new captain sitting on the prow of the boat.

He invited him on his ship, after all. If he's going to be sailing with him he has a right to know what he's getting into.

"Hey, Luffy," he calls out.

"Huh?" Luffy turns and gives him his full attention, "What's up, Sanji?"

Then again, Sanji reasons, what good would telling him now do? Luffy's already got one renegade crewmate to worry about. Would casting doubt on another, especially one so new, really be in anyone's best interest? Would Luffy even care? He asked him to join before learning his first name; what would he care about his family name? Would his full name mean anything to him? Probably not. Even if he has heard the name, he doesn't seem the type to care about things like that.

Besides, it's been over 10 years since he left. They haven't come looking for him and he hasn't sought them out. It's a moot point, no need to worry Luffy over nothing.

Sanji lights a cigarette and looks away, "It's nothing, forget it."

And Luffy does.

"Sanji?" their new emergency food supply – no, doctor, pokes his head into the kitchen, "Are you busy?"

Sanji glances around the kitchen. Most of the lunch prep is done; he's just waiting for the soup to simmer, "Yeah, I've got a minute. What's up?"

Chopper jumps up on the bench, "Well, I finished doing the basic blood tests on the whole crew. Did you know that you're RH negative?"

"Uh, yeah," he taps a cigarette against the counter. A doctor who stopped by the Baratie for check-ups has explained it to him before, "That just means I'm missing a protein or something, right?"

"An antigen, but yeah," Chopper scratches one of his hooves on the table, "I mean, medically speaking it's not really a problem. I'll just need to keep extra stocks of your blood on hand since transfusions could be tricky and none of the others would be able to donate to you."

"That's fine. I usually don't lose that much blood anyway. Most of my bleeding's internal, and that's where the blood's supposed to be, right?"

"That's not a good thing!" Chopper glares at Sanji's laugh, "Like I said, RH negativity doesn't necessarily indicate any other medical problems, but it is hereditary, and that got me curious. Do you think you could give me a full family medical history, in case there's something else you inherited that I may have missed?"

"I see," Sanji puts the cigarette in his mouth and lights it, "Did you find any other problems in my blood?"

"Well, no. You're quite healthy, considering," he glances at the cigarette before looking back down at the table, "I mean, it's fine if you can't, Nami doesn't know her blood relatives at all, and Luffy doesn't seem to understand or care. I can get by without, it's not like I need need it, it would just be helpful is all, and -"

Sanji walks over and rests a hand on his shoulder, "its fine, Chopper, I understand." Chopper stops his rambling as Sanji sits down next to him, "I wish I could be of more help, but…"

"You don't know?" Chopper looks up at him with those big, brown eyes, and he's tempted to spill and tell Chopper everything.

He resists the temptation. Chopper may be a skilled doctor, but he's still only 15. On top of that, this is his first time away from home, at sea with crew of mostly strangers. There's no need to burden the poor guy with the full details of his torrid past.

"Sorry, I left home when I was very young. If there were any outstanding medical problems in the family, I wasn't aware of them," Chopper sighs and rests his head on the table. Sanji's hand moves to rub his head, "From what I recall everyone was always very healthy. I doubt there were any medical problems in the family."

"That's okay, don't worry," he turns to look at him, "I'm sure I'll still be able to handle whatever medical problems come your way. Just, some forewarning is always nice."

"For a skilled doctor such as you, even a late diagnosis should be no problem."

"Bastard!" Chopper smiles and blushes, "Don't think your praise makes me happy!"

If Chopper gets a few extra snacks throughout the day, well, Sanji's not saying anything.

"And so, the liar died," Nami says in a solemn tone as she shuts the storybook, "without ever becoming a brave warrior of the sea…"

"Why are you looking at me when you say that?" Usopp snaps as walks away from the stump where they had gathered to listen to the story, "And stop adding your own commentary!"

Nami sighs and places the book back on the stump. Sanji takes a seat next to her, picks the book up, and starts leafing through the pages. It's been forever since he last heard that story.

"You're really from North Blue?"

Nami's voice startles him, and he looks up, "Yes, sorry for never mentioning it, but-"

"Its fine," she's quick to assure him, "It doesn't really matter. I'm just curious."

His heart flutters in his chest. Someone as lovely as Nami is interested in him? The goddess of love must be blessing him if Nami, beautiful, talented Nami, the queen of his heart and the light of his life, is finally falling for him! It is truly a wonderful day!

"My life is an open book for you, my dear," he leans closer, goofy smile plastered on his face, "You can ask me anything!"

She rests her elbows on the table and leans her head on her hands, "How did you get all the way to East Blue?"

"On a boat."

Nami raises an eyebrow and waits for him to continue. When he doesn't, she asks, "Care to elaborate?"

He forces out a laugh, "Not particularly," and looks out towards the ocean, "Sorry, but it's not a very interesting story. I don't even remember the bulk of it that well."

Nami opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by a loud splash near the coast. They both look over to where Luffy had been leaning over the ocean mere seconds ago to find him no longer there.

"Luffy fell in the ocean!" Nami shouts, spurring the rest of the crew into action.

Sanji springs forward and races towards Luffy. They will have to continue this conversation later, or, Sanji secretly hopes, perhaps never.

"Robin!" Sanji shouts as Robin disappears into that floating door. They were so close to saving her, why would she just leave them?

"It's no use," the shitty CP9 agent says, "Nico Robin won't break our agreement."

Sanji growls at him, "How can you be so sure?"

"A long time ago there was an incident. The navy initiated a Buster Call, and a certain island was burned to ash, destroyed so that not a trace of it remained. The only survivor of that incident was the young Nico Robin."

"What?"

"Basically for her, the Buster Call is a nightmare she can never fully erase. That terrifying memory was embedded in her when she was a child, and now it threatens her companions. She has no will to oppose us."

Sanji clenches his fist and grinds it against the floor of the train, "And you knew that? All along…?"

The agent nods, "Of course we did."

"Is there no limit to your depravity?" he snarls as he jumps to his feet.

"It's all for the sake of justice," the agent turns towards the door and gives Sanji one last look over his shoulder, "We sympathize very deeply with that woman."

Sanji snaps, "Don't give me that!" and kicks forward viciously, but the door is shut, and both Robin and the agent are gone.

"Damnit!" Sanji falls to his knees and bangs a fist on the floor.

Behind him he can hear Usopp moving, but right now he doesn't care. He bangs his fist again, and again, and again.

Suddenly Usopp is in front of him, catching his fist before it hits the floor again, "Don't, you'll hurt your hands."

Sanji yanks his hand away and stands up. Instead he kicks out at one of the seats, shattering it. With a scream of frustration he does the same to all of the remaining seats, and, when he's finished destroying those, attacks the rubble.

"Are you done?" Usopp asks when he finally stops. Sanji's out of breath, panting, and shaking all over, but he nods, "Okay. Come sit down, please."

Sanji does so. His breathing is more controlled, but he's still shaking as he reaches into his vest pocket to grab a cigarette and a lighter. After several failed attempts to light it, Usopp grabs the lighter and does it for him.

"Thanks," he says as he inhales the smoke.

"No problem," Usopp sighs, "I know you're angry and frustrated, but we still have a chance to save Robin. Luffy and the others will be here any moment, and we can all head to Enies Lobby together."

"I know," he exhales and runs and hand through his hair, "it's just, those bastards…"

"Yeah. Although, I don't really understand why Robin won't leave on her own," he hugs his knees, "It's not like the Buster Call is something Luffy and you guys can't handle, I don't think."

"It's not about whether we can handle it or not, it's about making Robin so scared she can't do anything. From the sound of it she's already lost everything to this Buster Call once, and now those shitty bastards are threatening to do it again, and she's petrified!" He's on his feet and kicking the pile of rubble again, "They have the nerve, to dig up the parts of her past that would hurt her the most and use them against her! Using someone's traumas and weaknesses like that, it's disgusting!" He lands one last solid kick on the wood and leaves a scorching footprint before returning to Usopp.

"Are, you still talking about Robin?" Usopp asks hesitantly as he sits back down.

"Shut up," Sanji says.

The thought of how easily he could end up in Robin's situation has crossed his mind. What if his family had been in Water 7 instead of CP9? What if he was the one who was forced to leave the crew with no explanation? Would they have chased him down? Of course they would try, but would they have even been able to? His family wouldn't bother with Enies Lobby after all.

"Do you," Usopp's voice interrupts his train of thought, "I don't know, want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"Whatever it is that has you shaking like that."

Sanji looks down at his hands, they're trembling, all of him is, and clenches them into fists. He's scared, for Robin and her Buster Call, absolutely, but he's also confident that they will get her back and everything will be okay in the end. What has him terrified is the very real possibility that it could just as easily have been him. He should say something.

But, "That's something I'd only want to talk about with a crewmate, Sogeking."

Usopp tenses and rubs his arm, "I guess so."

They sit in silence until the Franky Family shows up.

"And here's the galley," Franky opens the door and strides in, "But I'm guessing you've already had a look around."

"Yeah, it was the first room I went in," Sanji admits as he enters and closes the door behind him. They had lost the rest of the crew one by one as Franky gave them an official tour of their new ship, "I couldn't help myself."

"Hey, I don't blame you, it's a super kitchen," he nods as Sanji walks behind the counter, "The basic plans for the Sunny never changed, but I did re-tweak some aspects of the kitchen once you guys agreed to take the ship."

Sanji blinks, "You designed the kitchen for me?"

"Well, most of it was just things you asked for," Franky joins him in the kitchen proper, "The increased size of the oven, the locking fridge-"

"Which is a godsend," Sanji fiddles with said lock and opens the fridge, "I can't begin to thank you enough for it."

"I've seen Luffy eat. I know it's a necessity." He walks over to the counter and pulls out a secret compartment just under the edge, "I also put in about 27 ashtrays like these around the kitchen and dining room for you."

Sanji places a bottle of coke on the counter in front of him, "You're a genius."

"Yeah I'm pretty super this week," he snatches the bottle and starts guzzling the drink, "I am sorry I couldn't make it more like your first kitchen."

"Huh?" Sanji asks as he turns to inspect the cabinets. What did the Baratie have to do with anything?

"I know I do my best creating in areas that remind me of my old master Tom's workshop. It's just the nostalgia, you know?"

"Oh, well, I learned to cook in a restaurant," he shrugs, "It's less nostalgic and more hectic."

"Naw, I don't mean that," he waves a hand; "I mean the fond childhood memories of discovering your craft. I imagine for a chef, it has to do with a mother's home-cooked meal."

"Oh," Sanji shuts the cabinet and leans against the counter. Had his mother ever cooked him a meal? Before the Orbit he was never allowed in the kitchen, his father made sure of that. Whether that was an order specifically for him or if it was for all them he never knew. It's possible she cooked for him, he supposes, but if she did, it was never a meal that stood out to him, "Honestly, I don't have many clear memories of my mother, let alone her cooking."

He turns around when he hears sniffling, "Shut up! I'm not crying!" Franky says, clearly in tears, "A man, a chef no less, forgetting one of the staples of home is super tragic! But I'm not crying!"

"Dumbass," Sanji rolls his eyes and lights a cigarette, "I have this home. Why would I need that home?"

Two powerful metal arms wrap around his torso and lift him into a bone-crushing hug, "Don't worry, Swirly-bro! The Sunny will be the best home you've ever had! There's no need to mourn your childhood."

"I'm not the one mourning!" He kicks Franky's side until he's dropped.

"Bah," Franky runs a finger under his sunglasses to wipe away his stray tears, "I need to go freshen up."

Sanji stands alone in the middle of his kitchen.

Yeah, this home will do just fine.

"Sanji, come look at this."

Sanji's heart is all aflutter. He's still not used to hearing his name in Robin's lovely dulcet tones, but it's the one of the greatest sounds to ever grace his ears and he must be the luckiest man in the world to have the privilege of hearing it.

He floats over to the shelf in the bookstore where Robin is standing and reads the title of the book in her hands, "North Blue Folktales?"

She opens it to the table of contents and hands him the book, "See anything familiar?"

He chuckles as he runs his finger down the page, pausing it on, "'Noland the Liar,' huh?"

She laughs as well, "I find it interesting that this collection presents these stories to be works of pure fiction."

He spies a chapter titled 'All Blue' farther down the page, "Well, what do they know anyway?"

"I agree. Their research is quite lacking for such bold, fictitious claims." Robin leans closer to lean over his shoulder.

He thought he was blessed enough to accompany Robin to the bookstore, but to be here, huddling over a book about his birth sea, bonding over the stories, sharing the most intimate of giggles and sighs, this is truly the definition of a perfect moment. Sanji is falling for her all over again, and, perhaps, dare he think it, maybe she for him? This is surely one of the happiest moments of his life!

And then he spots a chapter titled 'Germa 66,' and everything inside him freezes.

"Germa 66?" Robin reads where his finger stopped, "I've heard stories about it before, something along the lines of a demon army."

"Yeah," Sanji swallows, "Uh, it's sort of a cautionary tale I guess? Kind of like how the Noland story has a moral of 'Don't lie or you'll end up like Noland.' 'Be good and listen to your parents or the demon army will take you away,' or something like that."

"I see," she says, "I wonder if there's any truth to this story as well." When she leans closer to get a better look, he pushes the book back in her hands.

"I need some air," he explains, and quickly leaves the store.

Once outside Sanji leans back against the side of the building and lights a cigarette. He looks up, sees the clouds floating by, and sends a puff of smoke to join them, watching it twist and change shape until it vanishes into nothing.

Robin comes out of the store a few minutes later with a book in her hand, "I apologize. I didn't mean to dredge up any painful memories for you."

Sanji is by her side instantly, "You did no such thing, my dear! I just, didn't want to smoke around all those books."

She smiles and hands him the book, a cookbook, and a quick flip through it reveals that it features all of the island's delicacies, "I won't pressure you, but if you ever do want to talk, I'll always be more than willing to listen."

He takes the book and cradles it like it's a treasure, and considering it's a gift from Robin, it certainly is, "Thank you."

"The fish markets on this island are said to be well known throughout the area, famous for the variety of their wares. Would you like to visit them with me?"

"Of course!" he practically skips after Robin as they head down the street.

He never does take her up on that offer.

"You're an idiot," he tells Zoro for about the millionth time that night. Zoro of course doesn't respond, which isn't that surprising seeing as he's still unconscious.

Sanji fidgets on the most comfortable piece of rubble he can find and looks around the room. The Rolling Pirates and the rest of his crew are scattered throughout the hall, exhausted and sleeping. He glances down at Chopper, head resting at the foot of Zoro's makeshift bed, only agreeing to the much needed sleep after Sanji promised to keep an eye on the moss-head and wake him up if anything happens during the night.

He lights a cigarette and inhales deeply, "Moron." Zoro doesn't move.

"You're worrying everyone, especially Luffy. How dare you worry Luffy. What kind of first mate worries the captain like this?" he taps the ash off his cigarette. "You made Chopper cry too, bastard. I don't think I can forgive you for that."

Zoro is as unresponsive as he's been all night, the only sign that he's still alive the shallow rise and fall of his chest. Sanji shifts in his seat, eyes wandering over the bandages crisscrossing his chest, counting his breaths. The room is quiet save the soft snores of the other occupants. The moonlight streaks in through the holes in the ceiling casting a pale, eerie light wherever it lands.

Sanji puts out his cigarette and moves from his seat to the floor right next to Zoro's head. He leans back against his makeshift bed, brings his knees up to his chest, and rests his forehead against his them.

"Why didn't you let him take me?"

There is no response.

"You're an idiot," he clenches his fists, "He probably wouldn't have killed me, just taken me home. It'd have been horrible, but everyone would have lived." He looks over at Zoro, "It would have been better than this."

There's no response, and Sanji leans his head back so he's staring at the ceiling, "I've never told you about my family, have I? They're very powerful. The World Government wouldn't dare kill me without asking them first. They don't give a shit about me, so they would probably let them execute me, eventually. Unless they'd rather deal with me themselves, but honestly I'd rather be executed."

Sanji sits up and turns around so he's facing Zoro. He crosses his arms on the rock-bed and lays his head on them, "I have two older brothers and a younger brother, you know. They're assholes, I hate them. That's fine, because they hate me too. You'd probably like them." He chuckles, "I'm just kidding of course. They're impossible to like, I doubt they like each other. I haven't seen them in over ten years, and if I never see them again it'll be too soon."

"They're all bastards, but the biggest bastard of the bunch is my father," Sanji shudders, "He hates me more than anyone, including you." He winces and a hand falls to his side, clutching at a bruise left there by a sword hilt, "Especially you."

"My family's pretty fucked up. A lot of people say that, but my family tops the list," he sighs and closes his eyes, "This crew is pretty fucked up too, but in a good way. I'm glad I'm here, with all of you. So thanks for that, I guess." Sanji cracks one eye open.

There is no response.

Sanji goes back to his seat on the rubble and lights another cigarette, "You're still an idiot."

He sits there in silence for the rest of the night.

Sanji stumbles into the kitchen, hair still singed and smoking, and collapses at the table. Nami's electric shocks of love have gotten much more powerful after two years and a clima tact upgrade.

Brook collapses in a seat across from him and pulls out his violin, "Ms. Nami's thunderclouds have improved in ferocity, but I must say it was worth it."

Sanji hums in agreement.

Soft notes fill the room as Brook tunes his violin. "I thought you switched to guitar," Sanji says.

Brook laughs, "A musician of my caliber can switch between multitudes of instruments for whatever the occasion calls for. While I was on tour I played guitar for the most part, however now that I'm back on a ship I feel my violin has been a bit neglected."

"Huh," he sits up and leans back in his chair, "How was touring with a rock band?"

"Interesting, to say the least," Brook chuckles, "I am certainly glad for the experience, but I've been pirate for so long. I must say I prefer this."

"Can't say I blame you," Sanji smiles as they fall into silence once more. Brook plucks a few more notes on his violin and Sanji traces the table's grain before he wonders aloud, "Wouldn't it have been easier to see Laboon again? Touring with the rock band I mean."

"It might have been," Brook says and looks up at Sanji, "but whether it would have been easier or not is irrelevant. The promise was to circumnavigate the Grand Line and return to him from the other side. After all this time anything less than that would shame both me and my dead comrades."

"I see." Of course Brook would never consider leaving them. He's just as dedicated to Luffy as the rest of them.

"I do have to admit, my personal belief is that returning to Laboon is much easier on this ship than with a rock band," Brook laughs, "The music industry is quite brutal. My manager was very strict about setting up tour destinations. I had to pull every string of influence I had to get the Sabaody concert at the right time."

"Did you go to many places? I certainly didn't hear about your music career until I got to Sabaody."

"I'll have you know that I was and mostly likely still am very famous," Brook taps his chin, "The tour took me all over. For the most part we were in the Grand Line, however we did occasionally venture into the Blues," he laughs and sets his violin on the table, "While in East Blue I had the pleasure of meeting Nami's older sister, a bartender who knew Luffy when he was a boy, and an entire restaurant full of cooks who were very happy to hear stories about you."

"You visited the Baratie?" Sanji grins, "How are those bastards doing?"

"Quite well, from what I could tell. They displayed your bounty poster with pride."

Sanji scowls, "They would, assholes."

Brook laughs, "I toured a bit in North Blue as well. If I recall correctly, that's your home sea is it not?"

Sanji's frown deepens, "Well, I was born there, so I guess," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigarette, "But I don't really remember all that much."

Brook hums as he taps his fingers against the neck of his violin, "What a shame. I was hoping that I may have come across your home island at some point in my travels."

Sanji lights his cigarette and inhales the smoke, "The island I was born on was small, very small, and isolated. Only a handful of people lived there and it didn't any visitors. It's not the kind of place for a concert, especially since no one from there really enjoys music."

"You do."

"My home has always been the sea," he chuckles, but it's hollow and he thinks Brook can tell, "It's like our captain says, pirates love music."

Brook looks like he's about to ask some more questions, but before he can, Luffy bursts into the kitchen and grabs Sanji's arm.

"Sanji! You gotta come out here! We just caught these huge deep sea fish! Come and see!"

"Deep sea fish?" he's never seen a deep sea fish before. He grins at the thought of a new culinary challenge.

As Luffy drags him out on deck his mind races through all the possible ways he could cook them, pushing out any uncomfortable conversations that came before.

Sanji taps his foot against the leg of the table as he glances around the room. Shit, they are completely surrounded, and each of Capone's men has a gun pointing right at them. Well, at the others. For some reason none of the guns are pointing at him or the table he's seated at. He files that fact away for later.

He can hear someone crying behind him, probably Caesar, so he doesn't care, but other than that, the room is silent. Just as he's about to get impatient with his host, Capone drops in, quite literally, and appears in the seat across from him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Capone says. Sanji scowls. "Would you care for a nice meal?"

"No thanks," Sanji growls. He just wants this sit down over with.

"Some wine, perhaps?"

"I said no!" Sanji snaps, "Just tell us what you're after!"

"Quite an impatient man, ain't you," Capone mutters as one of his men, the one with the big hands and weird tongue, lights his cigar, "Since we faced each other at sea one week ago the situation has changed somewhat. I have an invitation for you to a Tea Party held by our Mama," he reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out the card, showing Sanji Big Mom's emblem, "The main event will be a wedding ceremony."

A wedding? Sanji isn't expecting that. Luffy picked a fight with Big Mom, why the hell would she want them at a wedding?

"The bride is Pudding, the 35th Daughter of the House of Charlotte."

Unless…

"The groom's name is Sanji, the third son of the House of Vinsmoke."

Sanji's mouth falls open and his cigarette with it. Behind him he can hear his friends' collective gasps and mutterings.

Well shit.