A/N: No amount of excuses can excuse my behavior and tbh I'm not even going to sugar coat it…I forgot about this fanfic.
It wasn't even 'I got lazy' I just up and forgot it existed. High school got hectic and before I knew it, I graduated.
Upon reminiscing, I happened to stumbled upon this chaotic gem once again and saw all the reviews and literally cried. I'm soooooo sorry I'm not reliable, but I'm also soooo happy you guys are so dedicated. You make me a better person.
To make up for all my wrongdoings I've decided to finish this fic. Thank you for tolerating me until now.
Without further adieu here's the next update of Kingdom Consequences.
** If I still had my hat I'd eat it if you guys were wondering.
(I apologize if my style has changed (I'm trying to keep it consistent) and if characters are OOC. It's been a while /shrugs.)
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"Hmm…" Zeff drummed his fingers on the hand rest of his thrown. The sound, rhythmic and dull, caused the small doctor to stir.
"King Zeff, is something the matter?" The reindeer inquired hesitantly.
The King's expression suddenly hardened, Chopper recognized the action as a sign that the King was now deep in thought.
"Uh, it's just that…you know..." Zeff began to fumble with his words.
Chopper's ears perked up.
"ARGH!"
Immediately the King jumped out of his seat, an action which in turn startled the doctor and prompted him to fall flat on his back.
"W-w-wha, my king?"
Zeff realized his sudden outburst had scared the young doctor. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm down and his irritated demeanor softened.
Immediately he apologized for his actions an act that on the surface would seen un-kingly, but that was just how much the doctor had meant to him… meant to his kingdom.
"I'm sorry Dr. Chopper," Zeff nervously scratched his neck, "I'm naturally hot-blooded, but this is a whole other extreme…How exactly am I going to cover the fact that the prince is not only out of commission, but also coincidently he now has a sister, who so happens to have shown up at the exact moment of the prince's disappearance. Sounds sketchy even coming for me. How exactly are the subjects going to accept this new change no questions asked? They aren't stupid you know…"
"Hmm…" The reindeer scratched his chin.
"-oh and I can't forget about King Franky and Queen Robin and their lovely daughter Nami. They would probably assume my coward of a son ran off and I'm trying to cover his tracks with this elaborate ruse."
"Yikes!" Chopper had to agree with the King there.
"W-why they'd call off the wedding and who knows what would happen to the relations between our kingdoms then~"
The reindeer pondered, 'This is quite a predicament'
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Sanji was bored. The tower was cramped and as much as he would have loved to continue brooding over his ill fortune he decided he would be better off sulking in the comfort of his own room. He got up, adjusted his dress and began his descent down the stairs. He made sure to be extra quiet. It was pretty late and the only castle inhabitants who knew of Sofia were his dad and the wizard.
"Better safe than sorry," He mumbled to himself bitterly.
He was able to make it past the guards easily given the fact that they had been sleeping on duty. Like seriously, he was going to have a serious chat with his father about their performance.
He crept past the castle kitchen, spotting the chef busily cleaning and smiling to himself.
Finally, he got to the stairs on the other side of the castle that lead to his room. Almost home free~
"SANJI!"
Sanji immediately tensed, recognizing the familiar scratchy voice of his close friend and personal guard, Monkey D. Luffy.
"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…" He increased his paced as he shuffled to his room. He was thankful that the dress he was sporting was shorter than the norm, not compromising his speed in the least.
"Sanji~ Slow down~" Luffy cried.
Sanji laughed as he did just the opposite and broke into a full sprint. There was no way in hell he was gonna have to deal with that idiot tonight and while it was commendable he recognized him even as a woman…wait , scratch that whattheactualfuck that made no sense. Sanji did not have time to divulge in his friend's idiocy nor wanted to explain his situation as of yet. He picked up the pace.
"Sanji…Huff… huff…San-" Sanji could hear Luffy's voice getting further away. The boy was clearly tired. He was so thankful for his long legs.
"Gomu gomu no PUUUNNNNCCCCCCHHH~!"
Sanji stopped for a split second as fear gripped him. He had realized his mistake just a second late.
"GAWH!" The impact was immediate as Sanji felt the other man slam into his back messing up his rhythm. Luffy gripped the blonde's torso for dear life and the two were sent tumbling into the railing.
BAAAM!
"Fuuuucccckkk~" Sanji hissed as pain erupted everywhere. If that idiot wasn't already dead he's kill him himself.
Sanji did a double take of his surroundings. He hit his head, but other than the throbbing it didn't look like anything was broken or bleeding. In fact Luffy's body had minimized most of the impact.
"Hehehe…" The other man laughed weakly and dusted himself off. It appeared he was uninjured as well. Sometimes Sanji could swear he wasn't human. No normal person could launch themselves at full speed and come out uninjured like that. He could be made of rubber and that wouldn't surprise the blonde.
"Sanji?" Luffy looked at the blonde, his face twisted up in confusion.
'Crap,' Sanji thought panicking, 'The jig is up'
Luffy cupped the blonde's face in his hands and locked eyes with the startled blonde.
"Sanji, why do you look like a girl?" He asked innocently, his eyes widening in horror.
At that moment, Sanji had too options. He could A) tell Luffy he was actually Sofia or B) he could risk his masculinity and tell the other man the truth. Sanji decided on the former, I mean Luffy was dense there was no way-
"Sanji are you cross-dressing?"
Sanji took a deep breath. "Excuse me, I'm sorry," His voice lacked his usual gruffness thus aiding to his plan, "-but I'm Sofia, Sanji's sister." He made sure to flutter his eyelashes for effect. God, this is gross…
Luffy looked unconvinced and smirked. "You don't have to lie, Sanji," He said, throwing his arm around the blonde. "Your cross-dressing will be our secret. You're really good too, so realistic." Luffy poked Sanji's face marveling at the disappearance of his beard. "Didn't think a womanizer could have such a hobby, Hehehe~"
"W-what? But I'm not Sanj-"
Luffy shook his head, "You're such a kidder Prince," He said as he ushered Sanji into his room, "Go on, you get your beauty sleep, hahaha~"
The door closed behind him and Sanji slumped to the floor.
"I'm literally a woman and that guy is so dense he can't see anything other than me, curse be damned" He shook his head and smiled. "What an idiot…"
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Zeff threw about his hands in exasperation.
"Oh, that stupid boy never fails to screw up my plans"
The doctor nodded in agreement. It had been hours and the king and him were still trying to come up with a solution. They first had to address the Prince's disappearance as well as the Princess's appearance for the first time in nineteen years. They also had to convince the neighboring Kingdoms that this was in fact not a ruse to prevent the wedding, and finally last but not least they had to break the curse knowing full well of the Prince's womanizer nature and general distaste for other men outside his friend circle.
They had a lot on their plate and not enough time to accomplish it.
The two began to pace back and forth, raking their heads for even a glimpse of a solution.
How can we make this sound as normal as possible? How do we keep the public from panicking?
"Oh! Oh! What if the Prince was "kidnapped" " The doctor said, making air quotes around the word 'kidnapped'.
"No no no," The King shook his head, "People would start asking questions and before you knew it, I'd have to send out a search party to search for my apparent kidnapped son. I'd be sending my own subjects on a wild goose chase."
Chopper had to agree there. Not the best idea especially when considering legitimacy. People would be angry and would demand the truth. They scratched that plan and were now back to square one.
"I've got it!" The King exclaimed. A smirk wormed its way onto his aged face, "What if we say the Prince die-"
"No."
"Bu-"
The doctor was stern. "No, King Zeff. No matter how much easier killing off Prince Sanji would make your life as well as the kingdom, we are not killing off your only son, even theoretically. Think of the future complications that would arise once the curse was broken."
Zeff pouted, "Why not~" He whined childishly, "We would not need to worry about breaking the curse if Prince Sanji ceases to exist~"
Chopper cringed remembering how irritable the Prince was. Maybe by being a woman this would lessen- No. While his appearance had changed the Prince was still the Prince through and through.
"No." The doctor was set in his convictions.
"B-but at least as a woman he could marry a decent man and I could finally have him out of my hair~"
Chopper could have sworn he was talking to a child, "No buts King Zeff. No means no. Plus considering the Prince's personality and his known womanizer habits he might just marry another woman."
"Damn it!" The King had glossed over that little tad bit of information, "Little bastard would too. I guess that scraps that idea."
The two sighed in unison. They were going nowhere fast.
Silence fell on the throne room for about the hundredth time until finally…
"Eeep!" The small reindeer doctor exclaimed.
Zeff, surprised at the sudden outburst, almost fell out of his throne.
"W-what?"
Chopper held his mouth holding in small bursts of giggles, "I've got it my king."
A huge grin plastered on Chopper's face as he began to bounce up and down on the balls of his hooves?
Unfortunately at that moment, King Zeff was rather irritated and did not share the small reindeer's enthusiasm.
"What is it?! Out with it!" The King all, but glared at the small creature.
The ferociousness behind the King's words caused the doctor to shrink back.
"Scary~" He said, tears welling up in his eyes. He knew the King wasn't angry at him per say; however, given the course of events, the King's tiredness and annoyance had finally reached its peak so it was no surprise that he was about to explode.
Zeff saw the doctor stand firm even though he was on the verge of tears and felt guilt grip his heart. No matter how angry he was he shouldn't have taken it out on the small doctor. Chopper had been with him the longest and was his closest friend.
"Chopper," He said quieter this time. He placed his hand on the reindeer's shoulder and squeezed it gently, "I'm sorry," He apologized and he meant it.
The doctor felt the King's genuine emotions and forgave him immediately; this was his savior after all.
Chopper wiped his eyes.
"Okay," The doctor continued, "Get this. What if we take a more traditional route on the matter?"
The King repeated, "Come on out with it," this time much softer.
"We could say that the Prince went on a trip."
Zeff scratched his beard, "Sorry to burst your bubble Chopper, but people could say he ran away in order to avoid the marriage."
Chopper held up his hoof silencing the King, "Ubuhbuh, We would say he went on the trip as a rite of passage and that you, the King, called for it."
"Oooohhh, that makes more sense." He nodded in approval, "Go on…"
"-and let's just say hypothetically that during this time, his long lost sister, Sofia, decided to give up her dreams of becoming a nun and came home."
Zeff raised an eyebrow, "Really, a nun?"
The doctor shrugged, "Work with me here, no one's going to question a former nun"
"Uh huh…?"
Chopper could feel himself loosing the King.
"Wait! That's not all! I also have a way to throw off the subjects and eliminate any misunderstandings."
Now this was what Zeff was looking for.
"WE COULD HOLD A BALL!"
"A ball?"
"A BALL! With dancing and music and food and everyone could be invited and we would celebrate the return of Princess Sofia! So simple!" Chopper blushed at his animated reaction "Umm… this is just an idea. W-we can still-"
"Hmm hmm, No, I like the sound of it; we could even invite the royal family of Thousand Suns as well as potential suitors. It's like killing two birds with one stone. On one hand we ease up relations with the neighboring kingdoms and on the other, we work towards breaking the curse."
Zeff stood up and hugged the little reindeer, "Hahaha," His laughter was boisterous and his smile threatened to cover his entire face, "IT COULD WORK! IT COULD ACTUALLY WORK!"
He spun the reindeer around and the two dance about the throne room.
"Hehehe…" Chopper smiled weakly, he had a feeling that Prince Sanji would not share his father's enthusiasm…at all.
A/N: For some reason I wrote a lot on interactions between Zeff and Chopper. It's weird; at times Zeff's like a bully, but then Chopper also sets him straight… Anyway, Zoro appears in the next chapter (already writing it). Ugh~ I don't even like chapter 3, I might re-write it or scrap it all together.
Also, Imma ease up on the hectic author notes for the next couple of chapters (they're embarrassing). They'll be more economical or whatever.
~SoiArt~
^^ Keeping my tag tho, since it's cute.^^