A/N: There's a Lilo & Stitch reference in this one. Also, the next couple of chapters will be covering Film Z.
[12 Years Ago; Lavi, Age 6; Luffy, Age 7; Sabo & Ace, Age 10]
"Well, let's just leave it until the time comes," said Ace, causing the other three children to quiet down. "Maybe we'll set out independently," he said.
"Not me!" Shouted Lavi with fierce determination audible in her voice and visible on her face. "I'm going to be with Luffy no matter what!" Luffy grinned at his sister's words, looking at her from across the tree stump that they were all gathered around.
"Oh," started Luffy as his eyes set on the large bottle of sake that Ace carried in his hand. "You stole that from Dadan!" He pointed out, but Ace didn't acknowledge him.
"Did you guys know," Ace asked as he popped open the bottle, "we can become brothers if we exchange this cup of sake?" Ace poured some of the alcoholic drink into each of the four red sake cups that sat on the tree stump before them.
"Brothers? Really?" Asked Luffy. He then looked over to his sister. "What about Lavi?"
"She can be our sister," said Sabo with a grin.
"Yes!" Said Lavi, jumping up. "And I will be the best sister!"
"You'll be the only sister," Ace said as he put down the bottle of sake after having filled all the cups. Lavi puffed up her cheeks and glared at Ace.
"You wanna fight?!" She challenged him. Ace was about to respond, when Sabo cut him off.
"Not now, guys!" Sabo said. Lavi and Ace both huffed at the same time and looked away from each other. Luffy laughed at the pair while Sabo sighed from exasperation. He grabbed his cup of sake and the others followed his lead.
"As brothers," Sabo began as he held out his sake cup. "We—"
"Hey!" Shouted Lavi with puffed up cheeks.
"Let me finish," Sabo said with a chuckle. "As brothers, we'll always have each others' backs." He looked over at Lavi with a grin. "And I know you will too. But it's our duty as big brothers to take care of our little sister." Lavi looked down at the ground and puffed up her cheeks as they started to turn red.
"Ooh!" Said Luffy, holding out his own cup. "My turn!" Luffy's grin stretched wider as he thought about his next words. "Since we're gonna be brothers, that means you guys are gonna have to share your meat with me." Lavi deflated her cheeks and giggled at her brother's words.
"Idiot," said Ace. "That doesn't mean that at all!" Luffy pouted.
"But Sabo said we have to have each others' backs. That means you guys have to share your meat with me."
"Those are two completely unrelated things!"
"Luffy," Sabo said. "You said we have to share our meat with you, but you didn't say that you'll share yours with us."
"Because I don't want to share mine!" Sabo sighed.
"That's exactly what I expected," he mumbled.
"Then I'm definitely not sharing mine with you!" Ace shouted at the younger boy. Luffy pouted again.
"Aww," he said.
"It's my turn now!" Lavi cheered with a grin and held out her cup of sake. "I don't care what people say. I don't care that we don't share the same blood. This is my family." She paused. "It's little and it's broken, but it's still good." The other three gave her approving grins.
"When we become pirates," said Ace, holding out his cup, "we might not be on the same ship, but our brotherhood will always be with us! Wherever you are, whatever you do, we'll always be bonded together! So, from now on, we're brothers and sister!"
They touched their cups in a toast and drank.
[Present; Lavi, Age 18; Luffy, Age 19]
Lavi's night had started like all her last couple nights had—with her seated on the railing on the side of the Sunny, watching the waves of the ocean sway back and forth, lit only by the light of the moon. She held a bag of miniature chocolate fudge cookies in her right hand while she nibbled away at one in her left hand.
Where Lavi's night truly started to diverge from previous nights was when she found herself glancing back toward the deck of the ship, silently hoping that her favorite chef would make an appearance. She had only been with the crew for a little under a week now but spending much of her time in the kitchen with him had caused her to quickly find herself growing fond of the man.
Lavi perked up when she heard a door opening and then closing shut. She turned her head slightly to look at the man that she had been hoping would make an appearance as he made his way toward her with a cigarette already in his mouth.
"Hello, Mr. Sanji," she greeted him with a bright smile and a chipper voice as he stopped right next to her. "Would you like one?" she asked as she held out the bag of cookies to him. Sanji shook his head and refused politely.
"You're quite cheerful tonight," he said, a mixture of confusion and curiosity on his face.
"That is because you are here now, Mr. Sanji," she said frankly. Sanji's eyes slightly widened at the declaration before reacting in his usual lovestruck manner. He took a hold of her right hand in between his, speaking in a melodramatic tone.
"I've been blessed to have a woman as lovely as you say such sweet words to me," he said with hearts in his eyes. Lavi stared blankly at him for a moment before responding.
"May I have my hand back?" she asked. "I was using that to eat."
"Of course, my beloved, Lavi-chwan~," he said, releasing her hand and allowing the girl to eagerly go back to her sugary snack. The usual comfortable silence settled between them. Lavi kept her gaze on the waves swaying before her while Sanji kept his gaze half on the waves and half on her.
"Does looking out at the sea soothe you?" Sanji asked after some time.
"Yeah," Lavi answered without looking away from the waves. "When I was younger, I would sit at the edge of a cliff with my brothers and we would imagine the kinds of adventures that we would get to have when we could finally set out and become pirates." Sanji hummed thoughtfully at her answer.
"What made you want to become a pirate?" he asked after a moment.
"Luffy, of course. I have always wanted to remain by his side. So, if he was to become a pirate, then I would become one too."
"So, you never wanted to be a pirate of your own accord?" Sanji questioned, a bit shocked.
"Maybe?" she said in a questioning tone with a shrug of her shoulders. "I have never really thought about it too deeply. I just always wanted to follow after Luffy. If he had wanted to become a Marine instead, I would have followed him down that route without hesitation."
"You're such a caring person," Sanji said with a lovestruck grin on his face. Lavi turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised and tilted her head. "But maybe you should think about yourself a little more," he said with a soft smile.
"I do not understand," Lavi said.
"You always consider what other people, especially Luffy, want, but do you ever stop to consider what you want?" Sanji questioned. "I would hope that someone as wonderful as you would be able to fulfill all of their deepest desires." Lavi shrugged.
"The only thing that I have ever really wanted is to be with the people that I care about. And right now, that means being with Luffy."
"What about stopping to consider your own feelings?" he asked, his tone becoming a bit more serious. Lavi gave him a questioning look again. "That night on the beach, when you told me that you were having bad dreams, you said that it wasn't my burden to bear. Did you consider your own feelings before you said that?"
Lavi blinked at Sanji, caught off-guard by the sudden question and unsure of how to answer. She pursed her lips and looked away from the man, mulling over her thoughts for a few seconds.
"I—I meant it when I said that it is not your burden to bear," Lavi explained. "My feelings are my own and it is my responsibility to deal with them." Sanji noted that she hadn't really answered his question.
"That doesn't mean that you have to deal with them on your own," he told her. Lavi looked back at him only to be met with his compassionate gaze. She bit her lip in anxiousness and turned back toward the calming waves.
"The dream," she started after a moment. "I started having it after Ace," she hesitated at the thought of her next words. "After he died." She paused for a moment. "I had not had it for some time now, but it seems to have started up again. I think that it might be because I am with Luffy again because seeing him makes me feel so…so…," Lavi hesitated and then trailed off. She looked over at Sanji and held his gaze for an instant that was long enough for him to notice the sorrow and distress that she seemed to be trying to keep at bay. The sight made his heart ache.
"You're afraid of the same thing happening to Luffy, right?" Sanji inquired softly, quickly putting all the pieces together in his head.
Lavi sighed shakily as she looked down at her feet hanging over the edge of the ship. She nodded.
"I am so scared," she told him in a shaky voice as her eyes became glossy. "No," she said with a pause and a small shake of her head. "I am absolutely terrified that I am going to lose Luffy. In my dream, I can never find Ace even though I knowthat I needto because somethingis just not right; and Sabo is there, but then he disappears," Lavi continued, attempting to blink away the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. "But before he does, he tells me that Ace would take care of me if he was not there to, but, but, but," Lavi repeated shakily, closing her eyes tightly as a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. "But Ace is not there; Ace is not here; and now he never will be."
Sanji felt his heart shatter at the sight of the woman before him. Her words, her voice—she sounded absolutely torn to him. The way her shoulders were tensed, and her hands were clenched into fists made him realize that she was doing everything in her power to hold herself together, to not fall apart. How long had she been trying to deal with this burden all on her own, he wondered.
"When I finally find Luffy at the end of the dream," Lavi continued slowly, trying to keep her composure, "he is always drowning, and I always try to save him. And I try so, so hard, but every single time—every single goddamnedtime, I just cannot. I—," Lavi's voice broke slightly. "I always fail to help him—to help any of my brothers. I just—," she stopped herself and gritted her teeth followed by a deep breath to calm herself so she would not start crying. She would not let herself fall apart now, she told herself.
Sanji hesitantly and gently wrapped his arm around the girl to provide her with some comfort. Lavi's eyes flickered open as the side of her head fell against the man's chest, but she let them fall closed again as she found his warmth comforting.
"If that's the burden that you say you must bear alone, that is very unfair," Sanji said softly. Lavi sighed as she inhaled the scent of the chef that had grown accustomed to; she found herself beginning to calm at its familiarity.
"What do you mean?" she asked him quietly.
"It's unfair to yourself to bear a burden as precarious as someone else's life," he explained. "There are a lot of things in this world that are out of our control. What happened with Ace was out of your control as much as it was out of Luffy's." Lavi bit her lip at the mention of Luffy. She knew that she couldn't argue that the situation was out his control. She had always known that. But with the way that the chef worded his statement, she found herself unable to argue that the situation was out of her control as well.
"It's also unfair to the rest of the crew," Sanji continued. "You're not the only one who worries about Luffy. Everyone on this ship wants to protect and help our captain. That's what it means to be a part of this crew. Everyone here bears a little of that burden. So, please don't hold yourself responsible for bearing it all alone. We're all here to help with that."
Lavi's eyes opened wide at his words. She grimaced as she felt tears rapidly swell up in her eyes and then down her cheeks, unable to stop them. Sanji started at the sudden onset of emotions from the girl in his arms.
"Oh no, Lavi-chan. I'm sorry if I said something to upset you," he said in a worried tone. Lavi shook her head at him.
"No, I just," Lavi said in between sobs. "I feel a little lighter for some reason." Sanji sighed in relief at her words. He had never wanted to be the cause of a woman's tears, but this would have to be an exception, he thought. He could tell that Lavi had spent too much time holding her own back, and that she needed the chance to be able to finally let them out. He was satisfied that he could give her that chance.
"I am sorry," Lavi said in between sobs. "I tried so hard to be strong, but I could not do it anymore." Sanji shook his head.
"No, you are still strong," he told her, running his hands through her hair comfortingly. "You are one of the strongest people I know." The pair remained like that for a while with nothing but the sounds of the waves and Lavi's sobs filling the air around them.
Once Lavi's tears had subsided and Sanji had concluded that she was sufficiently calm, he offered to make the girl hot cocoa to brighten her mood. She accepted with a small smile.
Lavi watched Sanji with half-lidded, tired eyes as he moved around the kitchen, preparing her drink for her with the utmost care. When he was finished, and Lavi took a sip of the drink, her eyes lit up.
"This is perfect!" she exclaimed. "How did you figure out how much sugar to add?"
"I've been paying attention to how much sugar you initially measure when you make food," he said, blowing smoke out of his mouth. "It is my responsibility to satisfy the taste buds of everyone on this ship, after all." Lavi sent the chef a bright smile.
"I appreciate you, Mr. Sanji," she told him. Sanji's heart fluttered at the innocent compliment.
"Your words fill my heart with joy, Lavi-chan~," Sanji declared lightly. A silence fell between them as Lavi continued to sip at her drink, but a nagging question in the back of Sanji's mind caused him to break the comfortable quietness.
"Lavi-chan," he began. "If you don't mind telling me, who is Sabo? You mentioned him earlier."
"Ah," Lavi said, taking a sip of her drink before beginning her explanation. "He was my brother. And Luffy and Ace's brother too, of course. He was the same age as Ace and the best big brother I ever had. But the one day an incident happened with a celestial dragon and Sabo was killed," she said softly. "He was only 10." Sanji's heart fell and he frowned at the realization that she hadn't lost one, but two brothers. No wonder she was so fixated on protecting Luffy, he thought.
Lavi let out a loud yawn after finishing her drink.
"You should try to get some sleep now," Sanji told her. Lavi nodded tiredly at the man as she stood up from her seat.
"You too, Mr. Sanji. Goodnight. Sweet dreams," she said as she left the kitchen.
"Only if you're in the them," she heard him say as the door closed behind her. Lavi laughed lightly at the comment as she headed to her temporary accommodation.
