The Quest for the Gomu Gomu no Mi
Chapter 3: Stretching Isn't Just For Battles
Well, for starters, I'd like to thank Treestar and Digitaldreamer for you previous reviews on this fic. I was rereading them the other day and it was you two who really helped me get back in the mood write this again, so thanks so much guys. You offered so many compliments and constructive criticism, and I hope that this fic is now up to a better standard. Also, a special thank you to my slavey Shiru, for your very kind compliments.
After sailing for a little over two weeks, the crew were starting to run low on supplies. On any normal occasion, they would have to stop at the next island they came across after a week or so, but now, with Luffy unable to stretch his stomach, his appetite had been cut in half. Sanji had been quite shocked at the first meal they'd eaten after they had escaped the shadow pirates. The whole crew had been surprised, including Luffy himself, when he had stopped at his eighth helping of breakfast. Under normal circumstances, Luffy could pack away from 15-20 helpings of whatever may have been cooked up for his meal. This time, however, the young captain had reached over to grab another slice of buttered bread and had suddenly stopped. The crew had fallen silent, their usual banter coming to a standstill as they watched the dark haired boy, who was also sitting unusually silent, his hand slowly retracting.
Sanji had been the first to ask if something was wrong. The cook had seemed surprised with a hint of agitation lingering in his voice. It was obvious he was annoyed Luffy had stopped eating, as he hated nothing more than wasted food, and the meal he'd prepared for his captain's usually insatiable hunger, was starting to go cold. The answer he had gotten however, had shocked him to silence. Luffy had simply told him, that he wasn't hungry.
There had been an awkward silence after that, where the crew slowly started to resume their eating, throwing an odd glance their captain's way as the dark haired teen sat with a confused expression on his face. Once hand was resting on his flat stomach and a small frown marred his usually happy features. Luffy had never gone a meal without finishing everything, and he wasn't too happy about this latest development. There were still so many delicious things he could eat, but his stomach didn't seem to realise that.
Luffy wasn't the only one unhappy. Sanji was in a fixed bad mood for the rest of that day. The cook had had to store the food in containers which were then consumed during lunch and dinner. Luffy knew Sanji didn't like his schedule interrupted, as it was his job to make sure the crew ate healthily and happily. The young captain felt guilty for that. He had tried to make it up by helping out in the kitchen, but after breaking his 14th dish, Sanji had promptly booted him out.
Meals from then on had been a bit of a learning curve for both Luffy and Sanji. Both had to learn what Luffy's new stomach could handle and Luffy had to learn that he couldn't attempt to swallow a plate any more. At times, the air would become tense and the meals would pass fairly quickly, each member of the crew wishing to get away from the awkward moment where Luffy would stop eating and sigh, offering Sanji an apologetic look before claiming that he couldn't eat any more. The chef didn't seem to mind too much, but he was still unhappy about the food that was being left over.
Other than their little food fiasco, they had run into no trouble, avoiding other ships and keeping a low profile on any islands that they may have stopped at to investigate to avoid the discovery of their captain's current state. Luffy had stayed, at the request of his crew, out of sight when nearby ships sailed too close for comfort, though the young captain had been none too pleased with that. He still respected his crews' wishes though and would retreat into the galley for a small snack until the 'danger' had passed. Though the Straw Hats knew they could quite easily fend off enemies, they had decided unanimously that it would be best to keep a low profile until Luffy got back to normal … that was, if he got back to normal.
Nami couldn't help but let a sigh escape as she turned her gaze to the clear blue sky to watch the puffy white clouds float by. It had been quite a stressful two weeks, and she was glad for the sunshine so that she could unwind and sunbathe on the deck.
As she lay down on her deck chair beside Robin's, her thoughts drifted to her captain. Peeking an eye open, she glanced over to the rams head where said captain was currently residing and let out another short breath, in frustration this time. It didn't seem to bother Luffy at all that he had lost his devil fruit powers. He was still trying to cause trouble and still running around like a maniac, still demanding meat and still rushing to and from the crows nest (albeit a bit slower now that he actually had to climb to get up there) looking for islands. But things just didn't seem right.
The crew had tried talking to him about what he would do if they couldn't find the devil fruit, which was actually a likely possibility. After all, even if Shanks' story had been true, and they found devil fruits washed up on the shores of Sandatei Peak, who was to say that Luffy's would be there? As far as research had gone into devil fruit abilities, only one of each type existed in the world. She had tried explaining this to her thick headed captain, but every time the subject was brought up, the not-so-rubber boy would change it or leave.
Luffy suddenly moved, jumping down from Merry's figurehead and jogging towards the galley. That was sure to spell trouble. Lying back again, the navigator sighed and started to relax under the suns pleasant heat against her skin. All in all, their daily routines had hardly been affected. Luffy was still Luffy, with his ever present grin and endless energy.
A small chuckle escaped Nami's lips as she heard a crash followed by a shout in the galley where Sanji was cooking dinner. From the sounds of things, Luffy had asked if he could help out again and was obviously causing more trouble than help. A gasp escaped her lips as a light gust of wind passed by and her eyes narrowed, focused intently on the horizon.
A storm,she thought, And a big one at that – I had better get the others.
---
"Luffy," Sanji sighed, as he bustled around the kitchen, busily preparing their dinner for that night "If you have to stay in here then you may as well make yourself useful … pass me the spice rack from the top shelf."
"Okay Sanji!" Luffy yelled grinning enthusiastically. Sanji however, wasn't feeling the same excitement.
Luffy had been hovering around the kitchen all morning and afternoon, constantly walking in and out and asking if he could help and if Sanji was being honest, it was starting to bug him. Though he appreciated the fact that his captain wanted to help out, and he knew the dark haired boy was only doing it to try and make up for constantly laving his meals, it truly was tiresome having him around so much. Every five minutes, Luffy would ask the same question over and over and being asked 'is it done yet?' 20 times in a row, really wasn't the cook's idea of fun. He had tried to keep Luffy busy with light chores or simple tasks, but as it appeared, the boy was a walking disaster area. Wherever he went, broken dishes and bent cutlery were soon to follow.
Luffy, oblivious to his cook's distress, ran to the shelf and opened the cupboard looking to the top to find the spice rack. Smirking as he had it in his sights he reached up to grab it only to find it was too high up.
Not a problem,the energetic boy thought, I'll just stretch my arm up there and…
Luffy frowned as his arm refused to stretch before it finally clicked. He couldn't stretch any more. With a pout firmly in place the boy made his way back to the table and slumped down resting his head in his arms, facing ahead and staring at the cupboard spitefully. Stupid cupboard. Why did it have to go and be so high up? When he became Pirate King, he would make it so all cupboards had shelves that he could reach!
"Would you hurry up with those spices Luffy!" Sanji scolded, his back still turned on his pouting captain "It's almost time to add them."
Luffy frowned and sighed silently. He had promised his crew that he could take care of himself without his devil fruit powers and here he was not even able to reach a little shelf on his own. The captain slumped further onto the table as his eyes trailed around the room lazily until finally he spotted the pile of empty crates they used each time they docked on an island, to collect supplies. A mischievous grin lit up his face as a new plan formulated in his head.
"I'll get those spices for you Sanji!" he declared
"Yeah, yeah." the cook replied, too busy to take any real notice of his captain as he whisked around the small galley, "Just get a move on will you?"
"Okay." Luffy replied as he moved a crate below the shelf.
He quickly moved to stand on the crate and reached up to grab the spices, only to find them a little out of reach. With a determined look crossing his features, Luffy jumped down, grabbing another crate and resting it unsteadily on top of the first. With a jump he landed on top of both and grabbed the spices triumphantly, waving them in the air.
"I did it Sanji! I did it! Look! I got the spices! I got the … whoa!"
Before another word could be said, the ship rocked violently from a strong wave crashing against its hull. The wooden crates Luffy was standing on swayed dangerously and the captain stumbled back and forth on the boxes, trying to regain his bearings.
"S-Sanji!" he shouted as he almost fell.
"Hold on Luffy – jump down!" the cook shouted back as he tried to steady the crates "What are you doing up there anyway?"
Before the captain had a chance to move or even reply, the side of the crate buckled and Luffy was sent hurtling downwards. He reached out, trying to grab something that would break his fall, but found nothing and crashed into the deck. The ship continued to rock violently and Sanji started as he heard Nami calling for him to come and help with the ship as a harsh storm had arisen.
"Stay here Luffy." the cook ordered, wiping his sudsy hands on a dishcloth more out of habit than necessity as he made his way to the door, "The last thing we need is to worry about you drowning right now!"
Luffy watched as the blonde ran out the door, slamming it behind him. His lips twitched downwards in a frown at the chef's harsh tone but quickly shrugged it off. Sanji didn't really mean it when he said things like that, and he knew the blonde was just worried for his safety. Slowly, Luffy raised his prize slightly into the air.
"I got the spices Sanji," he muttered, though he knew the cook couldn't hear him. "Can we have dinner now?"
The ship gave a violent rock and the captain was glad he was inside… but what about his crew? Maybe they needed his help? The storm sounded pretty bad – and he was the captain…
Stay here Luffy – the last thing we need is to worry about you drowning right now!
Luffy pouted and crossed his arms. He used to go out and help when there was a storm but now they wouldn't let him! It was like they didn't trust him! He had told them he could take care of himself… but then what if he did fall overboard? Then they'd never believe he could look after himself, and he wouldn't be able to stretch to save himself either. After a moment of thought, the captain decided to stay put and released a miserable sigh.
Straining his hearing, he listened to the bellowing voices over the howling wind outside. He could hear Nami barking out orders and Sanji and Zoro spitting insults back and forth. Robin's faint voice was thrown into the mix as she and Nami exchanged a few words and he could barely hear Usopp. The marksman must have been in the crows nest. He wanted to go out and help protect Merry from the storm. Then again, he could always go out if he heard any trouble and besides, the food was in here.
Luffy licked his lips thinking of dinner and sat up, placing the spices on the table next to him. The shouting continued from outside and Luffy strained to hear what his crew were saying. By the sounds and feel of it, it was a pretty bad storm, but they had seen worse. The ship rocked back and forth and with a violent lurch the bubbling stew in the pot above Luffy, which he had been hungrily staring at, shot off the stove and overturned, landing square on the captain's head and scalding him with its boiling contents.
Luffy hissed in pain as he was drenched with the gravy from that nights stew, though refused to cry out. He quickly pulled the huge pot from off his head and placed it on the side, eyes clenched closed in pain for a second before slowly opening and looking around in horror as the juices rolled around the deck, dancing with the Vegetables and meat that had all been in the pot. Sanji's stew!!
Ignoring the angry red hue his skin was starting to take on and the painful stinging, Luffy jumped to his feet, stumbling slightly as Merry gave another jolt and grabbed a serving spoon from the drawer. The captain then frantically stumbled around the galley, doing his best to scoop up what was left of their dinner. Of all the things Sanji hated, the worst was wasting food – that even topped being rude to women! Luffy had already wasted so much of his meals over the past two weeks, he was sure Sanji would get really mad if he let this stew ruin!
After a few minutes, Luffy had managed to collect the majority of the vegetables and meat, though the gravy had slipped through cracks in merry and seeped through the floor. His upper body was stinging from the burns from earlier, but the captain didn't really mind. His crew were more important right now. They would be hungry after the storm cleared up.
With a sigh, he placed the pot back on the stove and moved to sit at the table, waiting for the storm to die down. Barely 15 minutes later, the ship had slowed to a gentle rocking, slightly more so than normal, but far weaker than when the storm was raging. Luffy had been thinking about how to explain to Sanji that his stew he'd worked on all day was gone. Technically it was his fault since he was looking after the stuff in the galley. Letting out another tired sigh, Luffy slammed his head on the table, forgetting once again that he was no longer made of rubber. He winced in pain as his stinging pink skin hit the cool wood and flung his arms to his side when a crash suddenly sounded. The captain cringed, slowly looking up to inspect the damage. His eyes widened when he saw the shattered remains of Sanji's extensive collection of spices and he knelt down, not really caring if the tiny shards of glass pricked at the skin on his knees and fingers, and tried his best to clear up and salvage what he could.
Sanji was gonna be really mad now!
---
"Hey, magic-eyebrow!" Zoro called tiredly, from the crows nest "Where the hell's Luffy?"
"He's in the galley, you shitty moss-head!" the cook shouted back grumpily. Thanks to Zoro, he'd lost his pack of cigarettes to the sea. Admittedly, Zoro probably couldn't help the fact that the ship had lurched and he'd been sent stumbling into the blonde, but in Sanji's eyes, it was Zoro's fault. Zoro had bumped into him, which had resulted in him slipping. Sighing in agitation, the blonde realised Zoro was waiting for him to say more. "I told him to stay put until the storm was over."
Zoro climbed down to the deck and walked over to Sanji glaring at him lightly. His head was still throbbing from the kick he'd received earlier. It wasn't as if it was his fault he stumbled. That perverted cook was in the way anyway! Huffing, he forced himself to calm. They had more important things to think about now.
"You sure?" he asked seriously "He might have sneaked out to try and help or see what the storm was like. You know how he is."
"Go check if your so worried, mother." Sanji growled, though regardless followed after Zoro as he headed for the galley. "I swear, if he's so much as standing too close to that stew when I get in there I'll-"
Sanji's words died in his throat as he opened the door to the galley and took in the sight before him. The whole place was a wreck! Pots and pans lay strewn all over the floor, there was glass, spilled food – wasted food – all over the place and Luffy was nowhere in sight.
"LUFFY!" the cook cried angrily, blazing blue eyes narrowing in fury. What the hell had Luffy been doing during the storm. He had left him in here thinking the boy could at least prepare the galley so that nothing would be damaged. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"I'm sorry, Sanji." a small voice spoke from behind the table followed by a tired sigh.
Both Zoro and Sanji glanced to one another before making their way around the thick wooden table so that they could get a better look at their captain. As soon as he saw the boy, Sanji's anger faded. Luffy was knelt on the floor, clutching as many shards of glass as possible in his hands as they scratched at his skin and trying in vain to scoop up what was left of his spices. Taking another glance around the room, the cook sighed. He was only angry because he wanted a cigarette; he didn't have any right to take it out on Luffy. Moving over to one of the cupboards, he quickly grabbed up a broom and walked back over to his kneeling captain. Luffy's head was down, focused on the mess in front of him on the floor. It had occurred to him, that Nami was also going to be angry with him, in the last few minutes. After all, she would be the one that would pay for the new spices, and there would be none left for dinner that night. Blinking as he saw a shadow looming over him, Luffy turned and gazed up at Sanji.
"Come on Luffy," the cook ordered, "You've done all you can. Get up."
The young captain complied, standing up and looking at Sanji with guilty eyes. Zoro moved forward, absently tugging at Luffy's hands to take the glass shards away from him and dump them in the bin. With his hands now free again, Luffy pointed to the pot that had once held their stew and frowned.
"I tried to save dinner, but the juice got away." he admitted, twitching slightly as his burning skin stung form the cold breeze blowing into the galley from the now open door.
"What happened?" Sanji asked, taking in the devastation that had been his kitchen once more. "Why didn't you secure everything?"
"The storm came on too fast!" Luffy defended quickly, trying to squeeze out everything that had happened in the space of 30 seconds it seemed. "The ship started rocking after you left and I wanted to come out and help, but you said to stay here so I stayed. I fell over when the storm got worse and then the pot fell on my head. I tried to save the stew and I knocked the spices off the table by accident and-"
Sanji and Zoro continued to listen to their captain explain at high speed what had happened before finally the words clicked in the cooks head.
"Hold on Luffy!" he yelled "Did you just say the pot fell on your head?!"
"Well yeah, but-"
"You mean the pot that had the stew in it? The boiling hot stew?!"
"Well … yeah."
"Aren't you in pain?!"
"Kinda," Luffy admitted, scratching at his developing blisters and wincing "But that doesn't really matter right now."
Zoro and Sanji took in the sight of their captain, whose skin by now was starting to blister and had turned red. His hair was dripping with gravy and even had a stray potato nestled in its locks. How had they not noticed this sooner? Giving an aggravated sigh, the first mate and cook shared a glance, for once agreeing and each grabbed one of Luffy's arms, earning a quiet hiss of pain from the boy and dragging him outside and towards Chopper.
Each crew member slowly stopped what they were doing as Luffy was dragged past, jogging slightly to keep up with his crewmates brisk paces and hissing out a random 'ow' and 'ouch' ever other second as his scalded skin throbbed from the movement.
"He needs medical treatment." Sanji stated coolly, though in truth his heart was beating like a hammer. How could Luffy just sit there like nothing had happened when he'd been drenched with the equivalent of scalding water? Idiot captain, thinking food was more important than his health…
"What's happened, Luffy?" Chopper asked, taking in his captains appearance and ordering him to take his red vest off as Zoro and Sanji explained before Luffy had the chance to babble out his hasty explanation.
Luffy pouted as he removed his vest to let Chopper take a look at him. The rest of the crew had by now come closer to inspect the damage to their captain and see what had happened. Each winced and grimaced as they took in the burning red skin and big blisters covering his skin.
"Are you sure it doesn't hurt too much?" the little reindeer asked for the third time since he had started lathering cream into his captains upper body. Luffy hummed, sitting on the deck to make it easier for Chopper to reach the injured areas and shook his head.
"Nope." Luffy replied slowly, his eyelids closed. It truth his skin was still tingling with small stabbing pains from the burns, but it was nothing compared to what it had been and the cold cream felt like heaven against his heated skin. "Feels nice."
"What were you thinking?" Sanji whispered, suddenly, capturing his captain's attention as he clicked his lighter, obviously wanting to smoke, but not willing to leave to fetch a fresh pack until he was sure Luffy was alright. The young captain's eyes opened again and focused a blank look on his cook.
"What do you mean Sanji?" he asked, eyebrows knitting in mild confusion. "You were outside."
"Why didn't you come and get one of us? Why did you choose some stupid food over yourself?" the cook continued, voice quiet but harsh. He didn't want to sound so angry. Really, he was flattered Luffy would think so highly of his food, even though he already knew the boy loved his cooking. He just wished Luffy would have taken care of himself first, or at least got his skin under some cold water.
"It wasn't stupid Sanji!" Luffy protested, standing up. "It was great! All of your food is great! And besides you said never to waste food so I had to save it!"
"You're more important Luffy!" the cook shouted back, "Never put my food in front of your health!"
The deck fell silent as the cook and captain stood there facing one another. Slowly, Chopper transformed into his man-beast form so he could still reach Luffy's back and continued to rub the soothing lotion onto his pink skin. He tentatively eyed the cook and captain, ready to run should a fight break out.
"I can do what I want," Luffy spoke after a while, his voice cold, though his face calm. "I'm the captain of this ship Sanji, I decide what's important."
Sanji's resisted the urge to gape at his captain. Luffy had never used that kind of a tone with anybody from his crew. That kind of tone was generally reserved for enemies. It kind of reminded him of the way Luffy had spoken to Nami the night they had found out he had lost his devil fruit abilities. His eyes widened suddenly as the realisation hit him.
So it is affecting him more than he's letting on, the cook thought After all, Luffy's had his devil fruit powers since he was a kid, it must be hard, and all of us treating him like a baby isn't helping.
The cook sighed silently and stepped back a little to show Luffy he wasn't trying to challenge his 'authority' as captain.
"Your right." he replied calmly "You are the captain,"
"Great observation skills, Princess," Zoro muttered, earning a growl from Sanji.
"Say that again moss-head!" the blonde spat.
"Make me, love cook!" Zoro growled back, one hand moving idly to the hilts of his three swords.
Before another word could be spoken, the two charged at each other and yet another fight between the cook and first mate erupted. Blows were exchanged and insults thrown back and forth, but before long Nami frowned, having had enough of this. Turning to face Sanji, she sighed and quickly relaxed herself, looking as cute as she possible could.
"Sanji," she drawled, batting her eyelashes seductively, sidling up beside the blonde and adding a little more sway to her hips. "It's getting pretty, late and I'm pretty hungry. Did you finish preparing dinner?"
The cook's visible eye burst into a love heart as he immediately stopped fighting in favour of impersonating a noodle, wiggling his way over to Nami. After spewing out several apologies and promising gifts and luxuries for his carelessness in tending to her every whim, the cook dashed towards the kitchen. Zoro sheathed his swords, knowing very well that the fight was over as soon as the woman had spoken. With an irritated grunt he moved to stand beside Luffy, who was now preparing to pull his shirt back on.
"Luffy," the swordsman interrupted "You can't put that shirt back on, it's covered in gravy."
"But I don't have any other shirts Zoro!" Luffy whined before coughing a little and muttering out his next sentence. "It was my turn to do washing today and, I kinda forgot."
"Forgot?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow before snorting, "Yeah right! You just didn't do it!"
"But Washing is boring Zoro!!" the captain protested, his voice coming out in a childish whine, "Besides I don't mind!"
"Zoro's right Luffy," Chopper interrupted.
"That makes a first." Sanji muttered, though his comment was ignored as Zoro's only reaction was an irritated twitch of his eyebrow.
"That shirt is probably sticky and will irritate you skin if you wear it," the little reindeer continued, completely ignoring Sanji's comment and once again moving forward to start bandaging Luffy so that his clothes wouldn't irritate his scalded skin. "Your skin is in bad enough condition, so doctor's orders are to not wear it."
"But Chopper, I don't have any others!" Luffy whined, before a grin spread across his face, "I know! I won't wear a shirt at all! I'll be just like Ace!"
"No way!" Nami screamed, grimacing as she watched Chopper bandage her captain. "No offence Luffy, but those blisters look gross and I don't want to be looking at them all though my dinner, even if most are covered by bandages."
"Then don't look." the captain replied simply, blinking at his navigators reaction, though squeaked as that comment earned him a clout round the head.
"You're wearing a shirt, and that's final!" Nami stated, huffing in annoyance and glancing at the crew's cook as he emerged from the galley again. "I'm sure one of the other men around here wouldn't mind lending you one until yours is washed, right Sanji?"
"Right my dearest" Sanji answered, not even hesitating as he rejoined the group.
"Idiot," Zoro muttered, "You don't even know what she's asking you."
"I'm sure whatever it is, is reasonable." Sanji cooed, floating around the frustrated navigator "Right my sweet?"
"Sure, sure," Nami sighed, smirking. "I was just saying how you wouldn't mind lending Luffy one of your nice shirts"
"My shirts?" Sanji repeated, blinking in surprise. He hadn't really been expecting that. "Why mine?"
"You don't mind do you, Sanji-kun?" Nami drawled, pouting slightly to add that extra affect and resisting the urge to smirk as the chef swooned over her. It really was too easy to manipulate him sometimes.
"Nami-swan is so generous to offer our idiot captain one of my shirts!" the blonde cried happily, clasping his hands under his chin, a goofy grin crossing his face "He can have one of my shirts, in fact he can have all of my shirts if that's you wish my sweetest Nami-swan!"
"One will do," The navigator replied, rolling her eyes slightly.
Luffy pouted at not getting his way, but said nothing more. He was happy that the crew were acting normal again, for the time being. Over the last two weeks, things had been too tense for his liking. Though they tried not to, they had been treating him different, with more care and caution and sometimes even avoiding him. Luffy didn't mind though. Soon they would arrive at Sandatei Peak and there they would find the Gomu Gomu fruit and thing could get back to normal again.
Sanji, who had run off to fetch one of his not-so-good shirts for his captain, had by now returned. He tossed the garment to the boy with a look that clearly stated 'wear that, or die, and don't complain about it' before turning and entering the kitchen. The crew soon followed, leaving Chopper and Luffy behind as the zoan finished off his captain's bandages, securing them tightly, but not so much that it would rub against his skin. Once they were fixed, he helped Luffy to get the shirt on, not wanting the boy to stretch too much (no pun intended) lest he should irritate the already fragile skin. The two joined the rest of the crew a couple of minutes later and Robin couldn't help but chuckle as they walked in. The shirt that Sanji had loaned Luffy hung loosely on the slim boy.
"Couldn't you have given him something smaller, Sanji-kun?" Nami asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That was the smallest thing I had, Nami-san." The cook replied, also blinking at his captain. The boy looked so much… smaller, wearing that shirt. Nami shrugged and turned back to Sanji, ready for her dinner. Luffy's vest would be washed soon enough.
"So, Sanji-kun," she practically purred, "What's for dinner tonight?"
Luffy resisted the urge to cringe at the mention of dinner. The focus was back on what was left in the pot and by the looks of it, Sanji wasn't too happy. Letting out a frustrated sigh, the blonde cook moved over to the stained pot and glanced inside.
"Well, I had prepared a stew," he mumbled out in explanation, "But there was an accident during the storm and the pot tipped."
"Oh," Nami blinked in surprise, she hadn't really expected that, but then, where was all the mess? Glancing around her eyes once again fell on her captain and the pieces of the puzzle slowly slotted together. "Well, I'm sure you could make something nice and quick for us no problem, right Sanji?"
The cook nodded, smiling genuinely at Nami. Luffy continued to gaze guiltily down at the floor. This was his fault really. If he'd have been able to stretch, then he would have gotten those spices down no problem and could have used his powers to steady himself when the ship rocked. Instead he'd tumbled over and hadn't been able to save the stew. Sanji's voice broke him from his guilty thoughts before he could dwell any longer on it.
"Well, the vegetables and meat were saved, so what do you guy's what me to make of this?" the cook asked, raising a swirly eyebrow at the other crew members. "How do you want them? There's no way I can prepare another stew in time, unless you all want to wait."
"It's ok Sanji!" Luffy grinned suddenly, having remembered something he and Ace used to do as children. "Just mash it all together!"
"What?!" Sanji asked in disbelief, eyes widening. "You want me to take my perfectly cooked variety of vegetables and meat, that I carefully and individually prepared, and mash it all up into a pile of slop?!"
"Yeah!" Luffy shouted enthusiastically, glancing around at his crew as if waiting for their approval on his idea. "Not the meat though, just the potatoes and Vegetables. It's how Ace used to get me to eat anything but meat!"
Sanji remained deathly silent for a few seconds, before finally shrugging and turning back to his food.
"Aye aye captain." he muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he grabbed a utensil from the drawer and began to mash their dinner. Honestly he didn't really mind Luffy's idea, and from the looks of it, neither did the rest of the crew.
The crew sat making small talk whilst waiting for their food. Every now and then, Luffy would glance towards his cook, just to make sure he wasn't mad. He was pleasantly surprised each time to find a small smile on the blonde's face. He didn't know what Sanji was smiling about, but he was glad the blonde wasn't mad at him over their lost dinner. He scratched his head as his scalp tingled slightly, blinking as suddenly the stray potato from before landed on the table. It seemed that it had become tangled in his messy black hair. The crew stared at it in silence for a moment before finally bursting into laughter. The captain happily joined in (after munching on the delicious potato of course), and before long dinner was ready.
Sanji delivered everybody's plates to them with a helping of the 'veggie mash' and some meat. Dinner was over quickly as hardly anybody uttered a word beside Luffy who was happily munching away on his food and before long the captain yawned loudly and said his goodnights to his crew saying he was heading for an early night. Getting up, he made his way out of the room, sandals clopping against the wooden floorboards as he went.
Once their captain was out of the room the crews happy expressions faded, and their tones fell to hushed whispers. They rarely had an opportunity to talk like this, but each knew what the other was thinking.
"He can't go on like this," Zoro muttered, "I know he's strong, even without his powers, but he's trying to ignore the fact that he doesn't have them."
"He needs to realise that he can get hurt a lot easier now." Nami agreed "Just look at what happened today! Somebody needs to talk to him."
"Don't look at me!" Usopp shouted suddenly, before he was shushed by the other crewmembers.
"I'm not really good with words," Sanji muttered "I think shit-head should do it."
"Why me?" Zoro asked, ignoring the insult. "I'm no better with words than you are!"
"But you are the first mate!" Nami interjected "It's your job to look out for the captain!"
"Captain-san does seem to listen to you much better than any other." Robin smiled.
"Fine then," Zoro ground out after a short pause, "But only if this continues."
"Right." The crew muttered in unison.
With that agreement, the straw hats started to clear up, completely unaware that their captain had been listening from the shadows. Dark eyes narrowed slightly as the teen sighed silently. His crew weren't going to make this easy for him.
Well, there's chapter 3 for you. Please don't forget to review. The chapter ength has been greatly improved and I hope the quality has too. Please let me know what you think. Chapter 4 will be up soon, though it may be a little slower than this chapter was. Thanks for reading!
