I have a bit of writer's block and find that writing something new always helps. This is an idea that I've been playing with since January and finally decided to write. It is a multichapter. At this point, I've given up entirely on self-control.

I do not own One Piece.

This fic is rated M.

Sanji was dreaming, he was certain of it. He had figured it out almost right away, but the dream was so good that he saw no problem with letting it go on. Worry nagged at the back of his mind, telling him that there was something important that he should be concentrating on. Now was not the time to be sleeping. But every time he tried to grasp what the problem might be, the dream pulled him away again, strengthening its hold over his mind.

He was completely immersed in warm, cerulean water. Gentle currents caught in and tugged at his hair, splaying it out around his head like a golden halo. When he looked up, he could see the sun playing on the surface of the water, its rays penetrating the waves above in sporadic columns of light. It reflected off of the dust or sand or microorganisms, making the water around him seem almost luminescent. Peering out into the unending blue, Sanji could see schools upon schools of fish. The water was absolutely packed with life. There were the large fatty fishes from the North Blue and the brightly colored species from the more tropical regions of the South Blue. Sanji recognized fish that he had cooked so many times that he knew their flavor profiles by heart as well as ones that he had only ever seen illustrated in books. But for every fish whose name he knew, there were a dozen more that were completely foreign. Sanji found himself breathless, joy bubbling up inside him and giving him extra buoyancy. He wanted to laugh and cry all at once. He'd finally found it. After all of the doubts and the trials and dangers, he had found it, his miracle ocean.

He was in the All Blue.

But it was more than that. He wasn't simply viewing it from the deck of a ship with rod, reel, and net in hand, nor was he swimming in it. Instead, Sanji was experiencing something so unique and impossible yet at once uplifting that he knew it had to be a dream.

He had become one with the water. It was the only way to describe it.

Sanji was completely submerged in the warm blue water, but he wasn't holding his breath and he wasn't drowning. He was simply there, suspended within his dream ocean, surrounded by a world's worth of fish. Sanji felt oddly connected to his scalier counterparts. Life ebbed and flowed around him and the chef found himself completely contented. His dream was everything he could ever have wanted and more. If he really was sleeping, then he never wanted to wake up.

When he finally awoke, it was slowly, awkwardly, and painfully. A pressure headache pulsed behind his eyes, matching each beat of his heart. Sanji furrowed his brow, finding his eyelids too heavy to open as he fought against the pain. It felt as if he had smashed his head against the side of the ship following one of Luffy's poorly executed, but oh-so-effective gomu gomu no escape plans. The pain between his ears made it hard to think and he felt as if the room were rocking back and forth around him. Sanji grumbled to himself, the frustrated sound coming out in a rush of air and inaudible words. Off to his side, he heard paper rustling and pages being turned, the sound stopping momentarily when he had incoherently complained. There was the sound of bolts creaking and metal castors rolling across a wooden floor and then he felt a furry hand across his forehead. Sanji kept his eyes shut and laid still. Context clues told him that he was in Chopper's infirmary aboard the ship, though how he had gotten there was beyond him. As it stood at the moment, he didn't want to let onto his consciousness just yet. It would only disturb whatever work the excitable reindeer doctor was doing, not to mention that he wasn't feeling up to fielding the barrage of questions and worrying that were likely waiting for him.

He waited until he heard Chopper return to his desk before he began to silently take stock of his condition. Shifting slightly under the covers, he felt the twinge of a needle in his arm and had to suppress the groan that threatened to rumble out of his lungs. Based off of his headache, Sanji didn't think that the IV could be for pain medication; and he couldn't feel any bandages or the tightness of healing wounds, so he doubted that it was a blood transfusion. Nutrients, then? Just how long had he been out to necessitate a liquid diet? Sanji took a deep breath to quell the panic that made his heart flutter and his headache intensify. Knowing how long he'd been unconscious would only help so much, given the circumstances. He could ask Chopper later.

With a small amount of trepidation, Sanji moved on in his personal exploration. He clenched and relaxed his hands and arms, ensuring that he still had control, pausing only to count off each finger beneath the blankets that covered him. He breathed a sigh of relief. All of his fingers were there, and all of them were working. Good. Satisfied that his most precious tools were intact, he focused his attention on his weapons. He slowly rolled his hips and hesitantly bent each leg at the knee, arching and flexing his ankles and feet as he did so. He noted some slight discomfort in his legs, a lingering ache that started at his hips and ended with a faint tingling in his toes; but everything was doing what it was supposed to and he still had feeling. So, what exactly was the problem? Why was he in the infirmary?

Sanji screwed his eyes further shut, clenching his jaw as he tried to remember what might have happened. It was strange. He could remember getting up that morning and making breakfast. Robin had come in and they had had a long conversation about the importance of diet in different cultures and climates while she sipped her coffee and he made the batter for homemade waffles. The archaeologist had even recommended a book about the differing effects of fruits and vegetables depending upon where they were grown. He had hoped that it would help him to make better choices when grocery shopping on new islands.

He remembered the actual meal. Luffy had wasted no time in eating his share, a third of Usopp's, and nearly half of Nami's, earning himself a swift kick to the head. Chopper had taken his syrup with a little bit of waffle, must to Sanji's chagrin, and Brook had somehow managed to make a bone joke that referenced both the waffle iron and a spatula. He had been midway through preparing a plate for Franky, who was on watch, when the shitty swordsman had stumbled in, more asleep than awake, and made some sort of jab at his clothing choice that all but made Sanji foam at the mouth.

But beyond breakfast, everything was blank. Did he fall down the stairs as he was delivering Franky's breakfast? That would certainly explain his headache. But, again, there were no bandages or gauze wrapped around or taped to his head. If he had fallen and hit his head hard enough to warrant a prolonged stay in the infirmary, then shouldn't there be some sort of mark to show for it?

His headache gave an extra powerful throb, pain blossoming with renewed vigor at the base of his skull. Sanji moaned and wrestled his arms free of their covers to massage at his temples, letting out a softer groan when he heard the rolling chair fly across the room as Chopper practically fell from it. Hooves skittered across the wooden floor, the clacking sound softening to padding as the doctor transformed into his Heavy Point.

"Sanji! Sanji, are you okay?!"

Sanji groaned again, digging his fingertips further into his temples as if to push the headache out. Chopper's voice was way too loud for his liking. If this was how noisy the world intended to be, then he would much rather fall back to sleep.

"M'fine," Sanji somehow managed to grind out as he continued to try to massage away the pain.

"Sanji, I was so worried! I thought you were never going to wake up!" wailed Chopper, his relieved tears evident in his voice. "I-I didn't know what to do! Nothing was working!"

Sanji groaned again and ground his fingers deeper into his throbbing temples. Why did Chopper have to be so loud? The cook grumbled under his breath, his massaging easing some of the pain, as Chopper continued to babble tearfully about how distraught the entire crew had been. Sanji felt a brief swell of guilt. Just what had he managed to do to himself to have caused his crewmates, especially his darling Nami and Robin, so much anguish? He would have to think of a way to make it up to them. Perhaps some custom crafted crepes, each one made specifically to his lovely ladies' tastes. But first…

"How long was I out?"

Chopper sniffled. "What?"

Sanji attempted to crack an eye open to look at his doctor, only to cram it shut as painfully bright light assaulted it. To his knowledge, the infirmary had always been fairly dimly lit. This was worse than that one time when he had had too much wine with Nami and Zoro and suffered a hangover the next morning. Wait, was he hungover? Stupid shitty swordsman. This was probably his fault.

"How long was I unconscious, Chopper?" Sanji asked slowly, struggling a little to make his tongue work.

"Oh…" Chopper paused for a moment, as if debating whether or not to answer. "It's been almost five days."

"What?!"

Sanji sat bolt upright in bed and immediately regretted it as the room began to spin. He swore under his breath and cradled his head in his hands.

"What the hell happened to me?" Sanji asked into his palms, trying his best not to sound too pathetic.

"Well, uh—"

"SANJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Sanji barely managed to brace himself for impact as the door swung violently open and Luffy excitedly bounced into the room. Rubber arms wrapped around him and the bed shook as his captain collided with him in what he assumed was meant to be a hug.

"Luffy! Don't do that! You could hurt him!" cried Chopper, trying and failing to pry the Straw Hat off of the recently awakened cook. "We still don't know what might be wrong with him!"

"But he's awake!" exclaimed Luffy. Sanji felt Luffy tighten his hold on him. "I'm so hungry! Usopp's cooking isn't the same. Ne, Sanji. Can you make lunch? Can you make meat?!"

Sanji flinched away from the very loud voice that was all too close to his very sensitive ear. He cracked an eye open far enough to glare venomously at his captain.

"Is there even anything left to cook?" he growled. Sanji slumped in Luffy's grip. "My poor Nami-san and Robin-chan. They must be wasting away. With you morons managing the storage, they probably starved." He whined. "I'm a failure."

"I assure you, Cook-san, we survived," said Robin from the doorway, a small smile softening her features as Usopp and Nami pushed past her into the room. "Though we certainly did miss your presence in the kitchen quite a lot."

"You're too kind, Robin-chwan!" cried Sanji, wriggling where he sat, his headache briefly forgotten. He somehow managed to disentangle himself from Luffy and shoved him from the bed. "I'll make something now! I can't stand the thought of you and Nami-swan having to choke down what these heathens call food."

As he moved to climb out of bed, however, Sanji found his path blocked by Usopp and Chopper. The reindeer was wearing his best stern doctor expression, while Usopp looked…guilty?

Sanji deadpanned at the concerned duo. "What?"

"You need to stay in bed, Sanji!" explained Chopper, worry making his voice way too loud. "You were unconscious for a long time and I still don't know what went wrong. Now that you're awake, I want to run some tests and see how much you remember."

"And we can't do that in the kitchen, because…?"

Chopper nervously fidgeted under the combined scrutiny of the entire crew. Through the open door, Sanji could see Zoro watching the entire exchange carefully, his arms crossed over his chest. The smiles had fallen from Nami's and Robin's faces, and Luffy looked oddly serious.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" asked Sanji.

"Don't you remember anything?" whispered Nami.

Sanji slowly shook his head. "I remember making breakfast. Did something happen after that? Did—"

"You fell," interrupted Usopp, his eyes wide. "You just crumbled onto the deck like you died. I don't—That should have been me."

"What?" Sanji furrowed his brow. The others weren't making any sense. So, he fell. How? Did he trip down the stairs? Get in a fight with the shitty swordsman? Cook with bad ingredients? Okay, that last one was preposterous.

"We were attacked by another pirate ship," explained Zoro, still maintaining his guard by the door. "One of 'em was a Devil Fruit user. He hit you with some sort of beam—"

"He was aiming at me," said Usopp, his voice sounding slightly broken. "It should have been me."

"—you just fell," continued Zoro as if Usopp hadn't spoken. "No injuries, nothing. You collapsed."

"They got away," growled Luffy. "If we ever see them again, I'm gonna kick their asses!"

"We thought you were dead, at first," whined Chopper. "You wouldn't move; you didn't seem to be breathing. And then when you were, you wouldn't wake up. Nami even came in here with her new bathing suit. Nothing worked."

"Can I see it now?" asked Sanji, his heart aflutter at the mere thought of the navigator giving him his own personal fashion show.

"Of course not!" snapped Nami. "This is really serious!"

"Oh, yes. My apologies, Nami-san." Sanji pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. His headache was coming back. This was too much to process and he couldn't help but think that he just wanted to go back to sleep. That dream had been so nice. Sanji sighed, lifting his head to look at his crewmates. "But I'm awake now. And I feel fine. Maybe his Devil Fruit power was just making people sleep."

"You're not feeling any other side effects?" asked Chopper skeptically.

"No," lied Sanji. Yes, he had a headache, but that was probably because the others—excluding the faultless Nami and Robin—were being too loud. And he could easily chalk his leg pain up to inactivity. There was no need to make his nakama worry over something so inconsequential. "I actually feel really well-rested. Maybe an extended nap was what I needed."

Chopper frowned and Zoro made a noise of disapproval from the door.

"Look," said Sanji, "there's no use in locking me in here. Let me do my job."

"But, Sanji…"

"Come on, Chopper. Please?" Sanji's patience was wearing thin. He began to swing his legs over the side of the bed. "I'll even let you stay in the kitchen to make sure I'm fine. What do you say?"

Chopper sighed, his furry shoulders slumping in defeat. The others smiled nervously, as if they also thought that Sanji should stay in bed even longer. Luffy was the only one that looked genuinely excited to have his cook out of bed.

"So, can you make meat?" asked Luffy, a wide grin on his face as Sanji climbed out of the narrow infirmary bed. "I'm starving!"

Several days passed and soon the crew, including Chopper, seemed to forget about Sanji's short-lived coma, a fact that the cook was extremely grateful for. It was hard to do his job with his crewmates constantly hovering around, as if waiting for something to go wrong. He stood by his hypothesis that the mystery Devil Fruit user's power had only been to make him sleep. Sanji had decided not to mention his dream or his leg pain, both of which had become stronger since he'd awoken.

The dream didn't bother him in the least. To be honest, Sanji found it refreshing. He had nearly forgotten it in the two years he'd spent on Kamabakka, running for his dignity, er, life. To be reminded of it in such a beautiful way was heartening. He would never tell the others, but he was almost thankful to that other pirate. Having the All Blue back had put him in the best mood that he'd been in since their reunion at Sabaody.

What did worry him, though only slightly, was the leg pain. Just as his All Blue dreams had gotten more vivid over the last several nights, the tingling and soreness in his legs and feet had gotten worse in the day time. Sanji's hips and knees ached, and he felt as if he was constantly walking barefooted over pins and needles. More and more, he had to stop and find someplace to hide—usually in the kitchen—to try to massage away the pain. He didn't want to bother Chopper with it. He didn't have a limp and he could still fight well enough. He and Zoro still had their daily scuffles, during which he'd held his own the same as always. Sanji had resolved to put up with it. Something told him that the leg pain and his dreams were connected. He just couldn't bear to give up the All Blue just yet.

Sanji sighed as he heard a loud bout of laughter come from the deck. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were supposed to be catching tonight's dinner since the aquarium was sitting empty, but it sounded more like they were playing with the bait again. Or, in Luffy's case, eating it. He set aside the salad preparations he had been making, resolving to continue with it as soon as he kicked some sense into his moronic crewmates.

An extra strong throb of pain flared in his hip as he rounded the corner of the counter, stopping Sanji in his tracks. He cursed under his breath and massaged the tender spot. Maybe he should tell Chopper. Whatever. Kick crewmates first.

Sanji found his friends doing exactly as he had predicted. The trio was seated on the rail of the ship, laughing their asses off as Luffy somehow managed to simultaneously play with and eat the bait. None of the three of them noticed as Sanji slowly approached from behind, lighting a cigarette as he stalked up to them. He loomed behind them as they continued to goof off, silently taking note of the pathetically small amount of fish they had caught. Sanji took a deep drag from his cigarette. He could feel Nami and Zoro watching him from across the deck. Good, there would be witnesses.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" yelled Sanji just as Luffy stuck some week old squid tentacles up his nose. "YOU SHITTY BASTARDS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CATCHING DINNER!"

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper jumped about a foot in the air in surprise, knocking over the nearly empty bucket of bait onto Sanji's shoes. The cook glared furiously at his crewmates, his hands clenched into shaking fists as he advanced on them. Seeing the fire in his eyes, Sanji's would-be victims scrambled for escape, pushing each other to the side in an attempt to get out of range of his long legs. Luffy shoved Usopp, who in turn shoved Chopper, prompting the reindeer to overcompensate, transforming into his Heavy Point and pushing back. Chopper's strength sent Usopp flying into Luffy and Luffy over the rail. In an attempt to save himself from the dark waters below, Luffy stretched out a hand, but missed the rail and instead overreached, grabbing Nami by the arm. The navigator reached wildly for something to hang onto, her hands fisting in Zoro's robes, leaving Sanji to watch in wide-eyed horror as his precious Nami-swan was swept overboard along with Zoro and Luffy.

Sanji allowed himself the briefest moment to facepalm—he should have seen this coming—and then dove in after them. The water rushed up to meet him, whipping the doomed cigarette from his mouth as he broke the surface.

As soon as he hit the water, the whole world seemed to become clearer. His lingering leg pain ceased along with what was left of his anger at his crewmates, allowing him to focus entirely on the task at hand. In his peripheral vision, Sanji could see Nami and Zoro attempting to go after Luffy, who was sinking to the bottom of the Grand Line like a stone. He didn't even have to pause for a moment to think and realize that they wouldn't reach their captain in time. In addition to the considerable underwater weight created by Luffy's Devil Fruit curse, the rubberman seemed to have been caught in a current that was rapidly dragging him deeper.

Sanji was off like a shot, swimming far faster than he ever had before. He passed by Zoro and Nami in a blur, confident that they would help each other to the surface and the Sunny as he went after their captain. He reached Luffy in a matter of no time, grabbing him under the arms and in a powerful burst, pulling both of them free of the current and toward the surface. As he swam upward, Sanji noticed two black objects drift past them and realized too late that he'd lost his shoes. Bubbles escaped from between his lips as he swore loudly and audibly. Those had been his favorite shoes, but he had bigger things to worry about. Namely his drowning captain…and the fact that he had just expelled an entire lungful of air yet felt no need to breathe more in. What the hell?

Just as with his dive down to save Luffy, Sanji's ascent was rapid and the pair of them broke the surface beside the Sunny in no time. Ahead of him, he could see Nami and Zoro climbing a rope ladder up the side of the ship as the rest of the crew peered over the side in worry. With Luffy draped around his neck like a very limp, very heavy wet rag, Sanji made his way over to them and helped his captain up far enough to grab a hold of Zoro's hand. As the swordsman turned to hoist up their captain, his eye widened as he caught sight of Sanji.

"What the hell, shitty swordsman?" griped Sanji, pushing Luffy higher up, his arms shaking slightly under his dead weight. "Take him so I can climb up! I lost my favorite shoes for you two bastards! I don't want to ruin the rest of my clothes too!"

Zoro just continued to stare at him, his remaining eye growing wider and wider. About half way up the ladder, Nami paused and looked down, her annoyance vanishing as soon as she laid eyes on Sanji.

"Um, Sanji-kun. Are you going to be able to climb up on your own?"

As flattered as Sanji was at her concern, his confusion trumped whatever hearts may have come to his eyes. Of course he'd be able to climb up on his own. Why wouldn't he?

"I think that Devil Fruit did more than just make you sleep, cook," said Zoro, finally pulling Luffy free of the water.

"What?! I—"

"Look down, Sanji-kun," said Nami.

Sanji frowned, but obeyed, peering down through the murky water. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. Suddenly the vanishing of his leg pain and the loss of his shoes made sense. After all, how could his legs hurt when they had been replaced with a powerfully muscled, long and lean merman's tail?

Ah, yes. A merSanji fic. We all knew it would happen eventually. I'm still undecided as to whether or not there will be pairings in this. We'll see.