title: the place we call home
When All Blue finally unfolds on the horizon, it's quiet.
Nobody ever says a word, it's never discussed, but somehow you end up taking a year-long vacation from pirating. Of course, it's not actually a vacation. You spend the time designing a kitchen, helping Franky plan out the dining room, working out a menu that takes full advantage of All Blue's splendor.
Three months after you first arrived, the restaurant is built. You haven't decided on a name yet.
It's everything you ever dreamed of. But the best part, you think, is not the restaurant. Because you do love the restaurant, but you love the top floor the most. The wide circular living room, stuffed full of souvenirs and games and pictures. The balcony that overlooks the ocean. The nine doors lining the wall.
You love the fact that your crewmates have somewhere to come home to.
Now, you aren't under any sort of delusion. You know they'll never stay for long. They're pirates. They need to be out on the open water, need adventures and hidden treasures, they live for the thrill of danger and the joy of victory. You know because you can feel the wind calling your name, because you're already itching to be back out at sea.
But they can always come back, now, to what you're already thinking of as home.
…
The staff you've hired is capable and trustworthy. They're good, competent chefs. And they aren't half bad in a fight either. You know that the restaurant is in good hands. So when the Straw Hat pirates finally leave, you have no qualms about going with them. You know you'll come back. You have no doubt. That's why when Luffy suggests you stay, you immediately swing your foot out and nail him in the side of the face with your heel.
You snarl at him, with an anger usually reserved for idiotic swordsmen, "Did you really think I would leave? Did you really think that?"
Because he should know by now. He should know the of course All Blue is your dream, but that doesn't mean you're going to abandon the crew. He knows that each and every one of you would fight like hell to be at his side when he becomes the Pirate King. He knows you want to be there when each and every one of your friends, your family achieve their dreams.
Luffy grins at you, because of course he didn't mean it he just wanted to give you the option. You're not sure why he bothered. Naturally, you kick him again. Zoro, the bastard, just chuckles and says, "I told you so." You kick his ass for good measure.
…
It's years later when you finally come back.
The staff are happy to see you again. You're happy to see that everything is still running smoothly. No major structural damage, no earth-shattering problems. Nothing they couldn't handle.
Of course, the issue of no structural damage is resolved as soon as Luffy walks into the room, where he inevitably breaks something. You just sigh and roll your eyes, because it can't be helped. It's Luffy. You aren't going to get him to behave any time soon. That doesn't stop Nami from yelling at him though.
…
They eventually leave, as you knew they would. Strangely enough, they don't leave together. (Later, you asked why. They all looked at you, as if the answer should be obvious, before saying that it didn't feel right without you.)
Robin and Nami leave first. They'll travel together because their goals align nicely. Nami needs to visit every island in the world for her map, Robin has decided to look for any stray poneglyphs she may have missed. You send them off tearfully, but you're happy for both of them.
Usopp and Chopper leave next, a month later. They've decided to go visit Usopp's hometown. Both because Usopp has a million new stories to tell Kaya and the Usopp Pirates, and because Chopper wants to study the medicine of East Blue. Franky ships out the same day. He says that he's going to stop by Water 7 and visit some people, then head for an island he's heard is making a new kind of ship.
It's around that time that Brook decides to stay. You tell him that you used to wonder if he would go on tour again after everything was all over. He tells you that he considered it, but it never quite felt right. So he stays and sings on the raised up stage on the far side of your restaurant. Musicians become a regular part of the hungry crowd you serve.
Surprisingly, it's Luffy and Zoro who leave last. Or maybe it isn't surprising. Out loud, you accuse them of being lazy, though you know it's far from the truth. Zoro grumbles at you, but doesn't explain why they haven't left yet. Not that you really mind. It feels more like home with an idiot to yell at and a kitchen to protect from wandering rubbery hands.
When they leave, you see them off with a kick in the head and a scowl. You wonder why your heart aches just a bit as you watch their backs grow smaller and disappear on the horizon.
…
All of the crew members check in at least twice a year, and you keep track of their whereabouts in the paper. You laugh at the trouble Franky has gotten himself into, worry as Chopper and Usopp narrowly escape a dangerous situation, and smile over every island that gets mysteriously robbed of valuables.
The only ones who don't come back are Luffy and Zoro.
You tell yourself that you aren't worried. You tell Brook laughingly that Zoro probably got them lost. But you can never quite shake the feeling that something awful has happened to them. No matter that they're the strongest members of the crew. No matter that Luffy is the Pirate King and there's almost no one on that would dare pick a fight with him now. You're worried anyways and you can't quite put your finger on the reason why.
…
Luffy and Zoro walk into the restaurant five years after they walked out of it. (The feeling in your chest when you see that stupid green hair is not something you want to discuss.)
They have fresh injuries that aren't quite hidden under their poor attempts at first aide. Luckily, Chopper is visiting. He fusses over them and scolds them and maybe cries just a little bit. You ignore them and head back to the kitchen. You know they'll be fine. Luffy and Zoro are always fine.
By the time Chopper has finished patching them up properly, you've laid out a variety of dishes at the table closest to them. There's a bottle of sake sitting on the table, not the expensive kind, but a little better than the crap he usually drinks. Luffy exclaims eagerly about the food, and manages to chatter on about how much he missed your food even while stuffing his face. You shove your foot in his face and growl at him to eat quietly.
Zoro thanks you, and you have to stare at him in confusion for a second because he's never said thank you to you in all the time you've known him. He mumbles something about food and something about being thankful that he can come back here, come back home, but you're too busy trying to wipe the gigantic grin off your face to listen to what he's saying.
…
When he leaves again, you know exactly why the sight of him stupid green hair made your stomach knot up all those weeks ago. You focus on cooking, and violently tug your thoughts away from swordsmen and stupid smirks and the color green.
…
You finally come to terms with your feelings for Zoro when the girls are visiting.
Somehow Nami always manages to pick up on exactly what you don't want to talk about and Robin finds it endlessly amusing to help her pry secrets out of you. So of course you end up spilling out exactly what's been going on. All at once both women are serious and sympathetic.
Because they love to tease you, but they know exactly when to be quiet and supportive.
…
Strangely enough, it's Usopp you go to for advice.
He doesn't freak out (okay maybe he does just a little bit), and he helps you look at the problem from a different point of view. It's a point of view you almost wish you didn't see. It makes you realize that your feelings are a lot worse than simple attraction.
…
The next time Zoro comes back to the restaurant, you aren't there.
Because the restaurant has become your home, yes, but you're still a pirate at heart. You've been in one place for far too long. You take the better part of a year off to visit old friends and kick in a few heads. It helps relieve your frustrations just a tiny bit.
…
Zoro is still there when you get back. He's sleeping in the corner by Brook's stage, snoring like a broken chainsaw. You wake him up with a swift kick to the gut. He glares sleepily at you, the corners of his lips twitching upwards into something that might be a smile. The expression is immediately hidden under a scowl, and you wonder if you ever saw it at all.
But later, when he lets his hand linger on yours for too long, you know you weren't imagining it. And you aren't imagining the warmth in his eyes either. So you let him kiss you, and you think: Being with Zoro will never be a happily ever after. But we're pirates, we don't need a happy ending.
…
Tales of the restaurant sailing on All Blue have become widespread. Many scoff at it and say there's no such thing. But some people know better. Some people have seen the Jolly Roger flying in the wind.
Those people, they know of the blond chef with a penchant for flirting and magical hands that create food so good, they're pretty sure it could make an angel cry. They know of the Straw Hat pirates, the crew captained by the man known as the Pirate King. They know that death awaits anyone foolish enough to start a fight at their restaurant.
(Because for all the blond is the owner and the head chef, no one doubts that the restaurant belongs to all of them. Because one crew member's dream is as important as the next. Because their dreams and promises belong to each other. Because each and every member of that crew would go to hell and back to make sure that each other's dreams come true.
Because the restaurant floating on All Blue has become their home and they won't let their home be taken from them easily.)
1. usopp is both the person who leaves most often and the person who comes back most often. he spends about half his time at the restaurant and half his time with kaya. sometimes he brings kaya back to visit and they stay for a bit longer than normal before kaya has to leave bc she can't neglect her studies for too long.
2. no one ever quite knows what franky is doing. he just flits in and out and travels around to places and learns random mechanical things and builds stuff and when he comes back, he impresses luffy and chopper and usopp w/ all his cool new gadgetry.
3. luffy is off having adventures and that's pretty much all there is to it. he seems to see the other members of the crew a lot tho. he especially always seems to run into nami and robin, and franky too.
4. robin is still travelling around w/ nami, helping her draw her map of the world and searching out new poneglyphs.
5. zoro ofc eventually becomes the greatest swordsman in the world. and he becomes one of the attractions of the restaurant. sanji jokes that he's a circus sideshow. and next time franky shows up, sanji has time build a big flat deck so if someone comes to challenge zoro they can fight out there. bc there is no way in hell he's letting zoro fight in the restaurant. no fucking way in hell.
6. brook mostly plays at the restaurant and sometimes he sets up impromptu singing contests or dance competitions. sanji complains but he doesn't rly mind all that much.
7. chopper is surprisingly one of the ppl that's absent most of the time. he's off learning new medical techniques and setting up hospitals and treating ppl and curing incurable diseases. chopper is literally so busy. like holy crap.
8. there are always ppl that laugh about the restaurant floating on all blue and say it doesn't exist. but that's their loss.
9. sanji has all their wanted posters tacked up on the wall. they're all going up. even his. bc ppl never seem to accept that this is a restaurant not a fighting ring. they're all "but you're black leg sanji i'm gonna take your head and claim the reward!" and frankly it's rly annoying. sanji beats them up and kicks them out the door.
an: realistically i know the ending of one piece is going to involve a lot more kicking ass and a lot less restaurant designing, but i can dream.