Chapter Four –

The alarm woke him from a dead sleep. It started as a low rumble in his dream, and then thinned out to a dull whine. Once Sanji opened his eyes, blinking sleepily at the unfamiliar settings in front of him, the rumble grew into a wave of running feet. Everything came back to him in a sudden rush. He lifted his head as he looked at the place with dismay, feeling frustrated and scared – still having no idea how he'd arrived here. The door to the kitchen burst open, and Luffy, Ussop and Chopper rushed in with excited faces – then confused ones as they realized that nothing was set out.

Sanji pulled himself off the couch with a disgusted mutter, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The trio looked at him, trying to be understanding.

"Did we wake you up at a bad time?" Ussop asked cautiously.

"This is the second day, Sanji," Luffy mentioned. I thought you'd be okay, by now."

"Well, I'm not. Okay? I'm not. I'm still here. What time is it, anyway?"

"It's the first hour and a half," Ussop said.

Sanji stared at him blankly, then looked at his phone. It was nearly seven thirty. "Why is it the 'first hour'?" he asked, throat sore.

"First hour of true daylight."

"Oh. Makes sense."

"Sanji…I'm hungry! I'm hungry from last night, too!" Luffy whined, leaning on one of the chairs.

"Okay, okay, I'll start cooking, hold your horses," Sanji muttered, shuffling towards the kitchen. He yawned a few times, then searched for the coffee machine. Once he found that, he had to figure out how to use it. Ussop showed him how, then helped him find the supplies needed to work it. Once he had that going, Sanji saw that Chopper and Ussop were distracting Luffy from the refrigerator. After gathering some supplies, Sanji then started pulling out pots and pans. He made breakfast, the three males sitting at the table, talking about nonsensical things. Robin entered the kitchen with a disappointed expression, but perked up once she saw coffee was ready.

By the time the second hour came, Sanji was serving them breakfast. He kept a close eye on Luffy as he sat down to eat, but everyone kept asking him for seconds, for refills. When he told them to get it themselves, there was such a fuss about it that he left the table with exasperation, wondering why these people were so helpless. He went around the table and gave everyone what they wanted, sat down to eat, and realized that most of his food was gone. Nami asked for a refill on her coffee, Robin wanted sugar, and Franky demanded cola.

He barely had a bite to eat. The food was cold, and there was less of it as Luffy left. He couldn't believe that they all just got up and left their mess there. They clearly expected him to clean it up. Sanji sat there for a few moments, wondering what was wrong with these people. But he was so hungry that he picked the scraps off from their plates and finished it as he went around gathering dishes.

He was mad about the extra work when he realized that Law hadn't shown up. He remembered last night's encounter, and abandoned the dishes to make a quick plate for him. He was finishing up with the sausages when he heard the door close – he looked up in time to seeing the other man leave with a frustrated expression. The table was still a mess, but he set the completed plate down where he'd seen Law eat before, and even left a cup of coffee the way his Law liked it nearby. He finished washing and drying the dishes, put them away, and cleaned the countertops, the table. Law's food had grown cold, and Sanji was too tired to care. He wrapped it up and tossed both the plate and the cup into the oven. Then he went outside, blinded by the brilliant warmth and light of the sun.

Nami showed him where the bathroom was, and he took a quick shower with the toiletries that were supposedly his. Then he wrapped a towel around himself, and washed and hung his clothes out to dry. He wondered how he was going to get home. He looked over at the others – Luffy, Ussop and Chopper playing merrily on the slide and swing, Nami reading a magazine while sunning herself, Robin reading a book underneath an umbrella Franky held out for her while he sunned himself. Brook was playing music from the stairway, and all around them was the wide expanse of seemingly endless ocean.

When he heard his name called, he didn't get up right away. he took his time to put his clothes back on, rearrange his hair into some semblance of order, and then walked down to where the others were sitting.

"Can I have something to drink?" Nami asked, not even looking at him.

"Hot tea, please," Robin requested.

"Hey, bro, we need laundry done. I'm running out of stuff to wear," Franky mentioned, giving him a cringey shrug.

Sanji couldn't believe the gall of these people. "Go get it yourselves. And do your own laundry."

All of them looked back at him with surprise, and Sanji couldn't help but shrug. "What?"

"But that's what you do," Nami stated, lowering her sunglasses to look at him. "You do this stuff, Sanji, because that's your role."

"I understand that I cook, here, but to be your slave? No. all of you are capable of doing it yourselves, just do it."

"But you're on this ship."

"I didn't want to be. I want to be home! I'm not a slave. What do you do for me, huh? Besides order me around?"

All of them stared at him blankly.

"Uh, Sanji, that's just…like, we all contribute to everything, to everybody," Ussop whispered, since he was closer. "I help fix things, here. Nami navigates. Robin mothers us. Franky builds the things I fix. Chopper fixes us. Luffy gets us in trouble. Brook plays all our requests and then some. You cook and serve us when we need it."

"Okay, I understand, but to do laundry? To clean? To – what did you want me doing? Cleaning the aquarium? What's and where's that?" Sanji asked curiously.

"I'll show you," Ussop offered, leading the way.

As soon as the pair walked through the door, Luffy looked at Nami and Robin. "It's like he's not trying to be rude, but he's being rude."

"Wherever he came from, he obviously didn't do too much," Nami muttered.

"Maybe we were spoiled?" Robin suggested. "Our Sanji was overly helpful, very respectful of our wants and dislikes, and he basically scheduled his life around pleasing us. Perhaps we are given a dose of a reality that we cannot help but factor into our own lives. Maybe he's tired of serving others."

"This isn't the Sanji we're familiar with. This isn't the Sanji we know. He's a completely different person. So, where is he? Where did he go?"

"These apples he brought back from the market aren't in any of my books. I've sent a messenger pigeon back to the island to inquire the stand owner of their origin," Robin said. "They are beautiful – they're like the night sky, and the insides are a beautiful hue of blue. I have them saved – "

"Then give one back to him and have him eat one, so he can return home," Nami suggested tightly. "I miss our Sanji."

"I suppose," Robin murmured, rising from her chair. "But the process might be more complicated than we think. It might not work as easily as we want it, too."

"Still…I feel sorry for the sap," Nami confessed. "The way he talks about himself, he's just desperate to hang onto what he has. He's losing it. Maybe this was some sort of lesson, for him. Maybe the universe wanted him to learn something from his actions, and forced him upon us. The Strawhats are capable of performing miracles, you know. By the way…has anybody seen Law, this morning?"

"In the tank room."

Nami winced. "Oh."

Robin smiled.

: :

Sanji was disgusted with the task. He was supposed to clean something like that? the tank was massive, and the fish swimming in it were huge, meaty, and brilliantly colorful. He'd never seen such type of fish, before. But he was expected to drop everything and go clean the tank for these people, and they didn't even have any scuba gear. Not that he knew how to 'scuba' anyway.

Ussop looked at him with a frown. "You did it all the time. At least, the other Sanji did."

"How?"

"Uh, well, he just jumped in and…" Ussop made cleaning motions. "I mean, there's cleaner snails in there, they eat all the waste that's produced and naturally clear out the built up gunk in the corners, but Sanji – you – would wipe it down from the inside, remove the bodies if you – he – found any, and…yeah."

Sanji watched a fish with brilliant dazzling gills flutter over to the glass, bumping into it with an insistent gesture before its scales shot up and open at its sides, like knives. It vibrated in place for a few moments, then resumed its indifferent look, slowly swimming away from the glass before bumping into another fish and repeating its defense gesture.

"I'm like a slave, here, aren't i? honestly," Sanji said, looking down at Ussop with a frown. "Nami talks about me like I'm someone to respect, but I'm expected to do all this dirty work!"

"Sanji, you – you take on heavy responsibilities, yes. Sometimes I feel she takes advantage of you….sometimes I feel that she could treat you better. But most often, it's you that decides to do everything you do," Ussop told him. He reached over, hand on his shoulder. "You serve us all, hand and foot, because you love cooking. You can't stand it if someone complains that they were hungry – starvation is a huge thing, for you. You went through it, yourself, so you keep it from happening to anyone else. And when you assign yourself these chores, that's all you, man. You know it'll be done if you just do it with your own hands."

Sanji crossed his arms tightly in front of him. "I just don't like it. At home, yes, maybe I did dote on my friends and my live-in too much. But I have a line. I keep my own place clean – if people want food, they know where to find it. It's everywhere!"

"Maybe where you come from, food is. But not over here. It's limited. We have to be careful how much we use, and what we eat. You could cook us actual healing meals. They would heal!"

"Like, magical food?" Sanji asked skeptically.

"Yes! Magical food! The point is, Sanji, out here on the sea, you can't let it go to waste. I'm sure you were told how valuable it is to plan and portion out what we have to make it last for much longer than you think you have," Ussop said carefully.

"Yes, I understand, but if you have a guy that's eating everyone else's meals like it were nothing – "

"That's just Luffy. Luffy….we just let him have it. He did so much for us, he's so important to us – that's just how it is," Ussop stressed.

"It's selfish if you're taking all the food that's meant for others."

"It's just…I suppose you'll just have to see it. I can't really explain it! Luffy is our captain, and we're all devoted to our captain. You, most of all. Your relationship with Luffy is very tight."

"We were friends, yes, but…not that 'tight'."

"Well, whatever happens over there, isn't over here."

Sanji sighed heavily. "I want to go home. I'm sorry, this is a nice world and all, but I'm not meant to be here."

Ussop looked at him for a few moments. Sanji had lost his blazer, removed his vest and bowtie, and looked exhausted with swollen features, eyebags and disheveled hair. He was fifty pounds heavier than their Sanji. When Ussop stepped back to look at him, one question definitely stood out.

"Uh, you know how to fight, right?" he asked cautiously.

"I haven't really fought in a years. Not since my brothers found out I was dating – uh, they were…they were really the only ones I fought with."

Ussop stared up at him with shock. "But you…but you kick. You use your legs to fight."

"Yeah, well…I haven't…there's no need to fight where I'm from," Sanji said. "I mean, I can, I guess."

Ussop paled significantly.

There was a low snort from nearby, and both of them looked over to seeing Law bent over a book. Sanji thought it was odd he was wearing a thick sweater with his jeans, considering how nice and beautiful it was outside. The weird smiling face on the front of it was threaded in yellow, the rest of the material dark blue – the hood was furred. He wondered what sort of fur. It didn't match his hat.

"The first battle we come to, and he'll be killed first," Law commented with disgust. "You'll have to adjust your fighting to watch over him. At least the girls know how to defend themselves."

"I'm not saying I can't," Sanji said, hands to his sides. "I'm saying I don't have to. There's a difference. Just…why does it matter, here?"

"We fight all the time, here, Sanji. As one of the most Wanted pirate crews here in the New World, we're constantly defending ourselves," Ussop answered. "Against the Navy, against Marines, against rivals – against enemies. Currently, we're on our way to battle a very powerful man. Kaidou. Law's captain of his own crew, but he and Luffy agreed to an alliance to combat the guy together."

"Why?"

"Don't waste your breath, Mr Nose," Law said, rising from the couch and shutting his book with disgust. "He'll be replaced before we even get there. Or dead. Either works for me."

"Hey, let's work on that optimism, today!" Sanji suggested lightly, Ussop looking at him with a studying expression. "You did a great job of it yesterday."

When he got the middle finger in response, Law leaving them, Sanji chuckled. "I think I'm getting through to him. See, there's one of him in my world, too. We're amazing friends. He's always got really nice things to say about me – maybe he'd be a better replacement for this one. I wish he was here, actually."

Ussop didn't know what to say. As a liar, he knew another when he saw one.

"Uh…right. Well, then. Anyway, so this is the aquarium! I can show you where the cleaning supplies are."

"I'm still expected to do this? What if those fish bite me? They're going to tear me apart in there! no, I'm not doing it. Find somebody else to do it. I have stuff in the kitchen to do," Sanji said, turning and walking away. Ussop hurried after him.

"Okay, so maybe the tank isn't your thing. but we really need laundry done."

"Do it yourself. Nobody had done anything for me since I got here. I'm going to take a nap before lunch."

Ussop watched him go, then looked over at the others. Luffy was sitting on the lion's head, singing to himself while Chopper and Robin looked over some apples on the table nearby. Nami was napping on her back, Brook hovering over her with his teeth wide open; Franky was fixing what looked to be the submarine's door panel, re-fitting it with sturdier sheets of metal.

Law was approaching Luffy, saying something that caused Luffy to look back with a wide grin, and Ussop knew how that story would end. Law would talk strategy and planning, and Luffy would say something optimistic and unrealistic; Law would get impatient and angry, and Luffy would laugh and gesture at Sanji or Zoro to help, but since neither were present at the moment…Ussop knew it was a matter of time before Law decided to kill them all. He just knew it.

He watched Sanji yawn as he headed for the kitchen, and winced. He headed for the men's quarters, clapping his hands with enthusiasm. "C'mon, Chopper! Let's get that laundry, done! We can do this!"

"Sanji was supposed to," Chopper pointed out.

"Is he cleaning the tank?" Nami asked, not moving.

"Uh…no. He said something about preparing lunch," Ussop lied.

"Hmf. Well, if that's it, then," Nami muttered, adjusting her top. "Just as long as he's not slacking off. I'm trying to get as much sun in before the next storm comes. Go get your winter clothes ready."

Once he settled on the couch, Sanji took a nap. He dreamed about being back home. He dreamed that he was pulling off his work shirt and thinking about what he'd make for dinner. But as he walked through the foyer towards the living room, he nearly stumbled on some shoes in the middle of the floor. He crouched to pick them up, then held one for a few seconds, feeling a stillness around him that felt suspiciously like a box. He turned the shoe over and over in his hands and realized that it didn't belong to any of them.

He woke up because he didn't want to see the rest of it. But those ugly feelings remained, and he laid there with his head on his arm, comparing the dream to the actual memory of the moment. He felt thirsty, wanting a cold bottle in hand to wash the bad taste away from his mouth. But that was why he was here in the first place – in order to serve his time in hell, he had to think about his reliance on alcohol. He got up from the couch and shuffled over to the kitchen, trying to put together a proper lunch menu. The dream lingered at the back of his thoughts, and he stubbornly refused to think any further than that.

When he opened the oven to check inside before turning it on, he realized Law's breakfast plate was still there.

"Idiot," he muttered, tossing it and the cold coffee into the sink. He started making preparations, yawning noisily. By the time it was ready, everyone was filing in, looking hopeful. He watched Luffy cautiously, serving him last so the others could at least have something in their mouths before he started eating. That kid dumped the entire contents of his plate into his mouth and looked for more. Sanji retrieved the breakfast plate from the sink, and dumped that into his mouth like he was a garbage disposal. It was amazing how much the rubber boy could eat. With a curious expression, he took off his shoe and held it over Luffy's mouth and watched him eat that with a few chews before spitting it out with a shocked face.

"Dumb ass," Sanji muttered, kicking off his other shoe and walking back to the kitchen to see how much food he had left over. He saved a plate and put that underneath the sink so Luffy wouldn't find it, and when he looked up, the others were all staring at him. "Now, what? you all want seconds?"

"That wasn't very nice, Sanji," Nami admonished.

"He eats everything. I was just curious. Now I'm out one shoe. So what?"

"Yeah, you're right, I kinda do," Luffy admitted sheepishly. "It was just…unexpected."

"That's your own fault for not looking."

"You've got a mean streak, bro," Franky commented.

Sanji wondered why if this was how they treated their slaves. Pirates had slaves, didn't they? They stole people from their boats, from their islands, and then expected them to serve their big demands – they didn't treat slaves as equals. After that, the atmosphere was strangely awkward. They finished their food in silence and then left in the same manner they had this morning. He didn't even get a chance to eat, yet. So he left the mess where it was, made himself a plate, and started eating. When the door opened and Law walked in, he saw the mess and walked right back out. Sanji nearly choked on his food, but he snatched the plate out from underneath the sink and then hurried out after him.

"Here! Here, you didn't even eat this morning, either," he said, vaguely out of breath as he caught up to the other man. "I even had it warmed up and ready for you, but you never came back."

"If I wanted to eat with pigs, I'd sit in a sty with them."

"Look, I'm trying, okay? You people expect weird things at the snap of a finger, and this is my first time serving as a goddamn slave," Sanji said, holding the plate out. "I know you don't like bread, so I substituted rice with vegetables and added some leftovers from last night. It's warm. You should eat it, now, before Luffy smells it."

Law looked to argue, but his stomach growled noisily at that moment. So he snatched the plate from him and walked off stiffly. Sanji watched him go, then called after him, "You look nice, today! I like your sweater, even though it's too hot to be wearing one!"

He returned to the kitchen after a cautious look at the wide, open sky. The ocean didn't seem to end. There was nothing in the horizon. The sun was brilliant, there were no clouds, and the temperature was just right. It truly was beautiful, but he hoped they reached land, soon.

He returned to the kitchen to sit down and eat, but his entire plate was missing. His stomach growled noisily, but he thought positively of the moment. Maybe he'd lose the weight he'd put on this year under these conditions. He went to clean up, then drifted back to the couch to take another nap.

When he woke up, it was dark outside, and he frantically searched for his phone to see if he were late preparing dinner. Once he realized it was only an hour after he'd laid down, he shuffled over to the window and looked out. Then gasped.

Snow coated the entire ship, and was still falling from the sky in thick waves. The clouds were low and ominous, and the chill was felt from where he was. While the sea was restless, moving the ship about with strong jolts, it wasn't as fierce as the storm the day before.

"How is this possible?" he exclaimed, hugging himself. He then left the kitchen, looking for the others. All of them were playing in the snow – Ussop, Luffy and Chopper were making snowmen and having snowball fights. Franky was making an 'angel' while Robin stood nearby. Nami was studying the sky, looking at her bracelet with the weird globes. They all looked as if it were normal, and Sanji decided not to panic. He reached out to catch a few flakes on the palm of his hand.

But that only caused him to remember that time his brothers pulled up to his apartment, leaving their car parked in the emergency fire zone and moving up the stairway with heavy footfalls. It had been the beginning of winter, and they'd just found out that he'd been dating a man, so they had a message to deliver from their father.

He didn't want to think about it, anymore. That was over and done with. He hadn't seen them, since. But then again, their probation status prevented out of state travel.

He lowered his hand and looked to the side when he heard a light scrape of boot on wood. "Hey. How long does this weirdness last?"

Law looked down at the others with much disapproval. Sanji couldn't tell what he was thinking – he didn't know what a Yonkou Kaidou was; he didn't know of this 'alliance' that Ussop had talked about. He figured he should ask tomorrow, if he were still here.

"So, uh, can you translate more of those recipes for me, if you have the time?" Sanji asked, taking a couple of steps his way. "Now that it's snowing, there's not much to do, right?"

Law looked irritated at the request, but he looked over at Sanji with a glare. Then his eyes dropped down to his feet, and he asked, "Where are your shoes?"

"I made Luffy eat one. Don't worry. I lost sensation to my legs some time ago. It doesn't bother me."

"Then you won't know if you have frostbite."

"Couple more minutes, and I'll go back inside. Thanks for the concern."

"It's not concern. You're useless enough as it is, if you lose your feet because of your indifference, that's more of a resource strain on this crew."

"Ah, you're right. Of course. I didn't think of it that way. Thinking about the others' hasn't been ingrained in me, just yet. Look, I come from a place where it's everyone for themselves. Depending on how long I'm here, this is a learning process for both of us. Take it easy, okay?"

Law moved to say something when Nami's surprised shriek and Luffy's loud cry caught their attention. Both of them watched as Luffy flipped over the railing and fell into the water, and this caused a great deal of distress. He automatically looked to Sanji to go in and save him, but this Sanji just watched with vague interest, unmoving. Terror was vocalized with all the crew members as they gathered at the railing, and it was Ussop who tossed himself into the cold waters to retrieve Luffy.

Sanji yawned, turned away and walked back to the kitchen, leaving behind his footprints in the snow. Law looked after him with incredulity, unable to say a thing regarding his indifference. But he saw that Ussop had been successful, and Franky was helping pull them to the deck. With a grit of his teeth and a clench of his sword, Law stalked after Sanji to give him a piece of his mind.