Title: Worth the Trouble
Theme: Punishment
Words: 1,234 (I know, right? I'm THAT awesome; XP)
Rating: K+ (curse Patty)
Warnings: One curse and fluff
Notes: So, the one before this one and this one were really posted several weeks apart, so the first readers weren't subjected to a whole lot of fluff at once. Anyway, this was inspired by how Sanji always feeds people and seems to have an easy time making friends even when he doesn't necessarily want them. And on a side note, I finally watched episode 427, is it? When Zeff smiles at Sanji I had a little fangirl freakout fluff fit. XP
Summary: Only hungry thieves bypassed the cash register for an apple crate.
Worth the Trouble
By Dandy Wonderous
Patty found him in the storage room trying to break open a crate of apples. He grabbed the thief, a boy of only fourteen or fifteen, by the collar of his shirt and dragged him, kicking and flailing, out through the kitchen and into the dining room, cussing and berating as he did so. "Bastard, trying to take our food without paying, huh? I'll teach you!"
Patty took him to the door and punched him hard in the face, splitting his lip and causing his cheek to start swelling rapidly. Then he tossed him out onto the deck, ignoring the thud as he hit his shoulder, hard, on the planks. Then, with a final barrage of cussing, Patty retreated to the kitchen.
Sanji watched all this take place from where he was on his step stool (still being too short to see over the counter properly on his own), working on a curry dish for table nineteen. He saw the boys eyes throw longing glances at the customers' food as Patty carried him past, his face colored with humiliation, shame, and desperation as Patty called him a thief.
The young chef looked away from the scene and stared down at his curry. What kind of thief would bypass money for apples? A hungry one, of course.
He put on the finishing touches and picked up the plate. But instead of putting it on the tray to go to table nineteen, he slipped past the other chefs unnoticed (there were advantages to being short) and escaped through the door to the deck.
The boy was still there, dejectedly slumped against the side of the ship. The little lifeboat he had shown up in, badly weatherworn, floated across from him, but he hadn't boarded yet. He looked up defiantly as Sanji rounded the corner, then his eyes lit up at the sight of the food. He tried not to seem anxious. "What'd'ya want? Come ta kick me out too, huh?"
Sanji fought the urge to scowl at the boy's hostility, instead keeping his face neutral as he shoved the plate forward, like a peace offering. "Here."
The boy twitched as though to grab for the plate, then hesitated. "What're ya talkin' about? I can't pay for that!"
Sanji shrugged, still holding the plate out to him. "I don't care. Take it."
The boy seemed torn between skepticism and hunger. "What kinda poison did ya lace it with?"
"I didn't lace it with anything. Just take the curry."
Finally the boy could no longer fight his hunger. He grabbed the plate and pulled it away from Sanji, then started eating with gusto.
"Slow down," Sanji cautioned. "You'll make yourself sick!"
The boy ignored him, inhaling the food rapidly. Sanji stayed to make sure he didn't choke himself.
Once the plate had been literally licked clean (normally Sanji would have abhorred such behavior, but this time he didn't object), the boy leaned back in satisfaction. "That was delicious! Who made it?"
"I did."
"Get outta here."
"Craphead. I'm serious!"
The boy looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "Ain't you a little young to be cookin' here?"
Sanji scowled and grouchily pulled out a cigarette. "That's none of your business."
The boy seemed surprised that a kid younger than him was smoking, openly even, but shrugged it off. "Well, thank you, then." He stared off at the ocean for awhile, then added hesitantly, "That was my first meal in almost a week."
Sanji grinned around his cigarette. "Then you're lucky you drifted here."
"More like I'm lucky you were here." He continued to stare off into space, then suddenly looked worried. "Hey, won't ya get in trouble for helpin' me?"
"Nah, don't worry about it. I-"
He was cut off by a sudden heavy hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice growling, "Well, what do we have here? Didn't I say he couldn't have no food 'cause he ain't got no money?"
Sanji turned to scowl up at Patty. "It's none of your business," he spat.
Patty glared at him, then looked at the boy. "Oi, you! Get out of here!"
The boy looked apologetically at Sanji, then got up and jumped into his little boat. He started to shove off.
"No, wait!" Sanji yelled. "Don't just leave in that thing, you'll die!"
"Shut up, kid," Patty growled, carrying him, squirming, by the back of his shirt. "I'll take you to Owner, he'll know what to do with you."
He carried Sanji into the restaurant and tossed him unceremoniously into the crew's quarters, telling him to wait for his punishment there.
Sanji sulked on a bed, unregretful but a little afraid. He knew giving the starving boy food was the right thing to do, but now he wondered what Zeff would do to him. He'd never given away a customer's food like that.
After he'd been alone for about a tense hour he started to get really worried. He had expected Zeff to come in and kick him a few times for stealing, but if he still hadn't appeared than Sanji must really be about to get it. So when the door finally opened he nearly jumped out of his skin.
"So, little eggplant, I hear you got in trouble with Patty."
Sanji scowled, trying not to appear afraid. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"He says you stole some food. I know you know better than that." He took a few menacing steps forward, face stony. His peg leg tapped ominously on the floor as he approached the young cook.
"He was starving!" Sanji excused. "He hadn't eaten in a week!"
Zeff ignored him, raising a hand as he drew up to him, and Sanji winced automatically.
The hand came to rest on his shoulder, and he looked up at the old man in confusion.
Zeff was… not exactly smiling, but he didn't look angry like Sanji had been expecting. "I know, eggplant. I saw the whole thing."
Sanji blinked. "So… I'm not in trouble?"
Zeff gave a barking laugh. "No, you're not in trouble." He stooped a little, so he was looking Sanji straight in the eye. "We understand what he felt better than anyone, eh?"
Involuntarily Sanji shuddered; it wasn't something he liked to think about. "I guess so." He was silent a moment, then asked, "What happened to the boy?"
"I got him put on a merchant ship that agreed to take him back to his island. Seems he was on a ship that was wrecked in a storm, and he just barely managed to climb onto that lifeboat."
Sanji sighed happily. "Well, that's good."
Zeff nodded in agreement. He released Sanji's shoulder and straightened, then started for the door. "Now that that's cleared up, we've got work to do. Come on, eggplant."
Sanji hopped off the bed and followed him, stopping when the old man turned to look at him suddenly. "Eggplant. What you did today was right. You never deny someone who's starving food, not even if they're your enemy. You got that?"
Sanji nodded. "Got it."
"Good. Now come on, we've got a full house and all our waiters quit again."
Sanji rolled his eyes. "Wimps." Then he followed Zeff back to the kitchen.
When he glanced out the porthole, he could just see a ship disappearing into the horizon, a lone figure standing at the railing and waving back at him.
The End
That, sadly, is the last of the Zeff/Sanji stuff for this challenge. Depressing, I know…
Yumi: 1) Honestly, "defeat" didn't give me a single angsty thought. Shocking, I know. Lol. XD 2) Oh, me too!!! I would squee happily and die. ^^ Haha, you make money how you can sometimes. XP Omg, that would be CRAZY!!! Hahaha!!! 3) Aww, thanks so much!!! I love this series for this reason, too. Me too, I hope we never see him in pain like this. T_T Oh, good, I like thinking of it that way. ^^
TickleTickle: Woot, dance away!! *dances* Thanks so much! ^^
Everyone else, I will get to replying to your reviews soon! As soon as I remember whose I ended on last time was replying… XP
