Anniversary
Disclaimer: - I don't own One Piece
Hi people! Don't really know what got me to write this but now that it's written I may as well post it eh? Hope you like it!
Luffy sighed as his gaze rested on the horizon. The sun was just beginning to set and dinner would be ready soon. At the thought of dinner his stomach growled hungrily, but the rubber boy ignored it for once, turning his sights back to the sun. Normally he would be chasing for food or begging somebody to play a game with him, but not today.
Today was the anniversary of…
No. He didn't feel like playing games today or smiling or laughing; he didn't even feel like eating. Thinking about today made his stomach funny and made everything sad.
Another sigh escaped his lips and Luffy leaned against the railing of Merry. It wasn't like him to dwell on something like this, or even remember a certain day; normally he would be perched atop the figure head, but he didn't even feel like doing that. Looking at the sunset reminded him of her. Almost everything reminded him of her on this day. They used to watch sunsets together sometimes, but that was only if he was done with his chores on time and that wasn't very often as he tended to slack off a lot and get in trouble.
His stomach growled again but the rubber boy ignored it once more. Zoro cracked an eye open from where he was sleeping against the railing of Merry nearby but didn't say anything, shutting his eye again. Luffy didn't really care. Right now all he could really think about was her.
Sanji hummed quietly to himself as he stirred the stew that was that night's dinner. In a separate pot was an extra special serving for the two ladies of the ship which was surrounding by all sorts of traps to prevent any unwanted visitors from thieving any.
The cooks smile faded into a frown at the thought of his idiotic captain. If the boy would stop whining and ask nicely if he could have something to eat instead of demanding it or trying to steal it (trying being the key word) then he might just make something for him.
Sanji poured some of the stew into a small plate and tested the flavour, humming in appreciation as a smile once again crossed his face.
Not bad. Not bad at all. Nami swan and Robin chwan were sure to love it.
With everything ready the stew had nothing more to do but boil for the next few hours, but this truly was the toughest time. Now was the time that Luffy came prowling with a growling stomach ready to pinch anything he could get his mitts on, but there was no way Sanji was gong to let him get away with it. Not after all of the work he had put into preparing the separate stew for his lovely ladies with the love heart shaped vegetables and extra tender meat.
A glance at the clock on the wall caused a frown to cross the cook's features. It was late afternoon and he had heard nothing of Luffy all day. Not a whine, not an order for meat, nothing. That was weird; he hadn't even tried to steal any of tonight's dinner yet.
"Maybe he's not hungry?" the cook voiced aloud before laughing quietly to himself
Yeah right. Luffy not hungry. Ha!
"Maybe he's asleep?" he voiced once again to nobody in particular "Only one way to find out"
Sanji moved towards the galley door and rested his hand on the door knob before pausing for a second. What if this was just their plan to wait until he left the kitchen and then steal the food? But then again, that was too smart for Luffy – but what if he was in league with Usopp and Chopper?
Sanji shook his head with a smile. Nope. They were all too blunt for that, always preferring head on attacks to the kitchen rather than sneak attacks, and when they did think to try and pull off a sneak attack it usually wasn't that sneaky and Sanji tended to hear them coming from a mile away.
Checking over the multiple traps set around the food and satisfied that for the moment his stew was safe, the cook turned the handle and made his way outside, taking a deep breath of the fresh sea air as he did so. His smile quickly faded as he took in the lack of sound around him. Something was up; it was deathly silent. The only sounds were Zoro's light snoring and Usopp quietly telling yet another story to Chopper as the little doctor gasped in amazement. Both Nami and Robin were below deck so where was Luffy?
Sanji glanced around the deck once more as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket, spotting Luffy off the side leaning on the railing of Merry presumably watching the sunset. The sun was almost out of sight now and the sky was getting dark. They would have to set anchor for the night soon.
The blonde stepped forward towards his captain, lighting the cigarette as he went. He was less than a metre away when the boy spoke up in an unusually sombre tone.
"Is dinner ready Sanji?" he asked quietly
"Almost" the cook replied automatically
"Could you keep some back for me to eat later?" he asked without turning to face the blonde "I don't feel very hungry right now"
As if on queue a loud rumble sounded from the boy's stomach, and Sanji's eyes narrowed. What was Luffy playing at? Had the cook done something wrong? Was Luffy mad at him?
"I think it's pretty obvious that you are hungry Luffy" Sanji replied
"I just don't feel like eating right now"
That answer really wasn't good enough for the chef. Images of being trapped with no food on a huge rock in the middle of the ocean and watching Luffy die first of starvation flashed though his mind. He quickly shook his head to rid himself of the dark thought before turning back to the boy.
"Look, it's my job as cook on this ship to make sure that all the crew are fed" Sanji protested "If we were to-"
He didn't get a chance to finish.
"It's my job as captain of this ship to decide when I want to eat so please put some food aside for me later Sanji" Luffy interrupted still not turning to face the cook.
There was no anger in the boy's voice – it seemed almost detached as if he wasn't really listening to anything being said. That only served to anger Sanji further.
"Fine then" he replied as he bit down on the cigarette between his lips, trying his best to keep the anger from his voice before turning the rest of the crew "Oi you lot – dinner ready"
With that said he made his way to girl's cabin and knocked on the door informing them that dinner was ready before heading back in the galley and slamming the door behind him. Usopp flinched but Luffy didn't as much as blink, keeping his gaze ahead.
"Oi captain" Zoro called as he stood up, brushing himself off "You okay? You've been quiet today"
"I'll be okay tomorrow" Luffy replied quietly "Tell them not to worry okay?"
Zoro stood up and stared at the back of his captain for a few seconds before nodding even though he knew the boy couldn't see him "Understood"
With those words the swordsman left and entered the galley followed shortly after by Usopp and Chopper and then Nami and Robin. Luffy stayed behind as yet another sad sigh escaped his lips.
"Hurry up tomorrow" he whispered
In the galley Sanji hurriedly served out dinner to the rest of the crew making sure Nami and Robin's servings came from the separate pot.
"This is delicious Sanji!" Nami praised
"I agree" Robin added
"Thank you Nami-swan, Robin-chwan" Sanji replied happily
He moved to the side and started to package Luffy's helpings so that he could eat it later. Normally when Nami and Robin would give him praise he would prance around the room like some love-sick puppy, but Luffy had gone and put him in a bad mood.
"Stupid rubber brat" he mumbled under his breath as he finished with Luffy's dinner and moved to eat his own
"Where is Luffy?" Nami asked curiously "I haven't heard a peep from him all day"
"He's outside" Zoro answered without looking up from his food
"He doesn't feel like eating" Sanji added bitterly
Normally he would never make such a big deal about things that Luffy did, but when it involved his cooking it really tended to get under his skin.
"Is he sick?" Nami asked causing Chopper's head to shoot up
"Oh no! Somebody call a doctor!" the little reindeer cried
"You are the doctor" the rest of the crew replied automatically making the doctor blush
"Oh yeah" he replied sheepishly before turning serious "Should I go give him a check up?"
"He's fine" Zoro spoke up "He said to tell you not to worry"
"Not to worry?" Nami asked sceptically "This is Luffy not wanting to eat here and we're not meant to be worried?"
"He didn't want to play any games today either" Usopp added "And he wouldn't even play when Zoro offered to play with him"
This caused the whole crew to look up from their meal.
"He wouldn't play?" Nami asked as she looked at Usopp "Maybe he is sick"
"He's fine" Zoro interrupted "He'll be back to normal tomorrow"
"He hasn't had anything since breakfast either" Sanji added, ignoring the swordsman "And he hasn't chased even once for food – I thought he was sleeping"
"Not eating, not playing – this could be serious" Nami muttered "Has he boasted about being king of the pirates at all? Smiled? Laughed?"
Usopp and Chopper shook their heads and worried mumbles spread across the table – that was until Zoro slammed his hands down on them. The room silenced and all eyes fell on the swordsman.
"Problem Marimo?" Sanji asked
"Look" he started in a hushed tone "Luffy is a little bit upset today because today is…"
Zoro trailed off to look behind him at the closed galley door as if Luffy was waiting behind it and the swordsman was about to say something he wasn't supposed to say.
"Today is the anniversary of his mother's death" he finished quietly "He told me this morning when I asked him what was wrong"
"But he was fine this morning!" Sanji protested "He was acting normal at breakfast!"
"Whoo! That was great Sanji!" Luffy called happily as he rubbed his full stomach "When will lunch be ready?"
"In a few hours!" Sanji replied "Go and play or something until then!"
"But Sanji! I'm hungry!"
"You just ate breakfast!" the cook replied angrily "Go and play with that Marimo for a few hours – I'll send Usopp out with sandwiches when their ready"
"Okay!"
"That was only because he hadn't realised the day yet" Zoro explained "As soon as he realised the change was instant"
"Yeah" Usopp agreed "He didn't even want a sandwich when I brought them out!"
"Oi! Nami!" Luffy called from the figure head "What day is it today?"
"Go and check the calendar on the deck Luffy!" Nami replied distractedly "I put it there so you would stop asking me!"
Luffy jumped down from the rams head and moved to stand in front of the calendar pinned beside the galley.
"Oi! Nami!"
"What now?"
"How can you tell which day it is?"
"The days that have passed are crossed out!" Nami replied exasperatedly
Silence filled the air as Nami waited for yet another question from her rubber brained captain which never came. She shrugged assuming he had either figured it out or given up and gone to bother somebody else, happily returning to her latest map.
"I remember that" Nami spoke up
"After he realised what day it was he just walked over the railing and he's been there ever since" Zoro finished "He told what was wrong when I asked and told me to tell you not to worry because he would be fine tomorrow"
The room fell silent as the crew resumed eating. Minutes later Robin spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Don't you think it's strange?" she asked nobody in particular "How we don't seem to enjoy our food as much without our captain trying to steal it?"
Fond smiles found their way to the crew's lips and they poked at their food. A few seconds passed before finally Sanji spoke the words the crew were waiting for.
"So who wants to eat with our captain on the deck?"
Grins broke out across the room as the crew lifted their plates and Zoro picked up the table. They all walked out onto the deck with Sanji in the lead and were about to set up when suddenly the blonde stopped in his tracks causing the others to follow suit.
"What's wrong?" Usopp asked but the blonde shushed him and pointed to Luffy.
The boy had his head resting in his arms as he leaned on the railing. Is face couldn't be seen but from look of the way his shoulders were shuddering, it seemed he was crying.
"Shit" the cook whispered "Now what do we do?"
"He wouldn't want us to see him like this – I think we should go back in" Usopp replied
"Me too" Chopper agreed
Small squeaks started to come from the rubber boy as his shoulder shook harder.
"I can't stand to see him like this" Nami whispered "I'm going over"
"Nami-san!" Sanji whispered as he tried to stop her, but Nami moved forward until she was standing directly behind the rubber boy.
Tentatively she reached a hand forward as the rest of the crew watched in anticipation, worried of what might happen when suddenly Luffy shot up from his leaning position and burst into loud laughter. Nami reeled back with a scream and the rest of the crew watched in shock for a few seconds before anger slowly crossed their features.
"Oi!" Sanji called angrily "Were you just pretending this whole time?"
"What kind of a joke was that to play?" Zoro added heatedly as the two marched to face the boy "That wasn't funny! I really thought you were upset!"
Luffy stared back at them confused before cocking his head to the side lightly.
"Is dinner finished already?" he asked as if he hadn't heard what either had said
"We were just coming out to eat with you because we thought you were upset you little shit!" Sanji practically screamed
"But I was upset" Luffy relied with a smile
"…eh?" Sanji replied confused as the boy beamed at him
"Luffy" Zoro asked "Is today really the anniversary of your mother's death?"
Luffy nodded as his smile turned to a sad one and he moved to lean on the railing once more. Nami whacked Zoro over the head and the swordsman grabbed his throbbing cranium glaring daggers at the navigator.
"What did I do?"
"Idiot!" she hissed back "You made him upset again!"
Zoro was about to reply when quiet chuckles caught his attention. The crew turned too see that once again Luffy was laughing.
"If you were so sad – why are you laughing now?" Usopp asked
"Because you guys make me happy" he replied simply "I used to get really upset on this day because I couldn't stop thinking about my mum and I miss her"
"So what's different this time?" Nami asked curiously
"You guys" Luffy answered with a grin
"But … we didn't do anything"
"Well I was thinking how my mum used to cook me and Ace dinner and then it made me think of Sanji cooking dinner and all the food fights we have" Luffy smiled "And then I thought about how mum used to get worried and angry when Ace fell asleep when he was doing something and it made me think about how everybody gets angry at Zoro for sleeping all the time!"
The crew stared back at their captain without a word until finally Sanji spoke up.
"So if you're feeling better then I guess you want dinner now then?" he asked with a smile
"DINNER!" Luffy cheered making the rest of the crew laugh
Zoro set the table down on the deck and the crew settled down to eat once again. Laughing and shouting as Luffy tried to steal their food. When things calmed down a little, the straw hat pirates settled around the table to sit and watch the stars together. Nami was the first to speak up.
"So when did you think of me?" she asked
"Huh?" Luffy replied "What do you mean?"
"Well you told us when you thought of Sanji and Zoro, what about me?"
"Oh" Luffy replied seriously "Whenever my mum used to tell me off"
The rest of the crew burst into fits of laughter as Nami scolded Luffy for thinking of her in that way whilst giving him a good whack around the back of the head for good measure.
"I don't think I want to know when you thought of me!" Usopp laughed
"Me either!" Chopper giggled
Before long the crew were in their beds and the ship was silent once again. Sanji yawned as he climbed into his hammock. Zoro was on watch duty and all of the kitchen traps had been set for the night. He glanced over at his snoozing captain as a smile crept onto his face. Luffy just seemed to have a way of making people feel special and needed, and the cook could tell that with what Luffy had said tonight, that's how he had made the crew feel.
With one last glance his captain's way, Sanji closed his eyes and settled down for the night.