Knotted
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter Nine: Isn't that exciting?

It had started off as a perfectly normal Sunday morning. Sanji got up around six, unsurprised to see Pudding hadn't budged from where he'd left her the night before and headed into the bathroom to take a shower to get a good start to the day. He washed off, contemplated having some Anyone But Pudding Fantasy Time and settled on that cute Marine girl who hung out with Smoker (just for something a little different), did that, washed off again, and got dressed in the bathroom to avoid giving Pudding a "free show" or make her think he was interested outside of their regularly scheduled time of the week…or really, interested at all.

Sanji's strategy to make one night a week "special" had worked – she only ever propositioned him on Saturday nights and "special occasions", and some weeks she even forgot! It still felt bizarre that he was becoming so turned off by the prospect of sex when just under two years ago he'd been desperate for so much as the chance to just touch a boob, but it was exhausting playing pretend all the time, especially around someone he'd grown to hate. Even just having to hold her hand in public, especially when she curled her hand up to hook her pinky around one of the wristlets, made his skin crawl.

He still tried to pretend she was someone else during this "special time of the week" or try to pretend he was anywhere else…but it didn't always work, and he spent most Saturday nights after they were "done" feeling cold and numb, even with the heat radiating from his wife's body next to him. Hell, pretending she was someone else ran the risk of him accidentally saying the wrong name and he really didn't want to face the consequences of that mistake.

Seven o'clock rolled around and Sanji had Tapioca-chan's morning bottle ready for her – he'd already fed himself an apple, some cold cereal, and a cup of coffee. Checking the temperature of her formula against his wrist (a skill he'd become a pro at), he determined it was fine and headed upstairs to the nursery.

Tapioca-chan was sitting up in her crib, looking aimlessly around her room until she spotted him. She cooed and laughed happily, clapping her hands for either Sanji or the bottle or both.

(It was probably both.)

Sanji smiled and bent down to give his daughter a kiss on the side of the forehead. "Good morning, my little honey bun! This morning, Daddy has a bottle of formula for you, and according to the book we'll probably start you on sippy cups later today!" He put her bottle down for a second and picked her up. "Isn't that exciting? Today's a big day, huh? Who's excited for her first sippy cup?"

Honestly, I'm kind of surprised I'M this excited over a "sippy cup". He'd found some cute cups that had pictures of smiling frogs on them the prior afternoon at the pawn shop for a good deal and had left them to soak overnight. They were kind of cute and, truth be told, his daughter's development accounted for most of the excitement he had these days (at least excitement that didn't also threaten his life or his hands).

Tapioca smiled and laughed. "Da-da!"

As if his arms were now buttered noodles, Sanji nearly dropped his daughter.

"Da-da!"

Sanji slowly lowered Tapioca back into her crib and knelt down, peeking at her through the bars. She stared back, sucking her thumb while she studied her father and his reaction, clearly confused. For a few weeks now Tapioca had been making lots of babbling noises that seemed like she was trying to form words, but this was the first time something was clearly recognizable as a word…and she was asking for him. "Did you just say 'Da-da'?" he asked softly. "Twice? Did you say 'Da-da' twice?"

Tapioca made clapping motions, seemingly thrilled that one of the noises she made finally got some sort of reaction from her father. "Da-da! Da-da! Da-da!"

Sanji fell back onto the palms of his hands and his rear. It wasn't something he was expecting. He'd thought today's big step was going to be the stupid sippy cups but this was unexpected and a much, MUCH bigger milestone. She's…she's talking. His head was spinning. My little Tapioca-chan is TALKING. HOLY SHIT SHE'S TALKING!

Sanji started to laugh, scrambling to his feet so he could pick up his daughter, who seemed happy that he was happy and continued to make that beautiful sound over and over again, nearly making Sanji forget about her bottle. He deftly took a seat in the rocking chair to hold her and rock her back and fourth. It wasn't until she stopped talking and started making what looked like sucking motions with her mouth that he realized the actual reason he'd come up here in the first place and retrieved her breakfast, which Tapioca-chan immediately focused on once it was presented to her. She was done with the new mouth noise, now it was time to eat.

She's talking...and she was talking about me? Sanji gently brushed the hair away from her forehead, watching as Tapioca blinked at him and drank her breakfast. "I'm so proud of you right now, Tapioca-chan," he said happily. Crossing his legs, he patiently let her finish her bottle. You're growing up so fast…how?

It really did feel like it was just a few days ago that she'd been born, but already she was already more than double her birth weight (she'd been about seven pounds at birth and now she was a hair over eighteen) and her hair was getting long enough that Pudding sometimes added small bows or barrettes to her hair. Everything felt like it was going much faster than he had anticipated, and while he would have relished the thought that the baby stage would be over quickly before he came around to fatherhood…now he just wanted everything to slow down.

It almost made him want to stop taking the pills Jinbe was still sneaking him, but Sanji knew that was a selfish and stupid idea. This was the territory of one of the Four Emperors. It was not a safe place to be raising a baby, never mind two (or more). He didn't think it was fair to bring another little one into this mess – honestly it wasn't fair to his poor little Tapioca-chan, either. No, she was probably going to be his one and only, barring some miracle that let him and Tapioca-chan escape from his hell unscathed, then maybe he'd think about settling down with a woman who was certifiably Not Crazy.

And then there was a knock at the door.

-Meanwhile-

"Here comes the birdie! Heeere comes the birdie!"

Cheska clapped and cheered as one of her favorite uncles – in this case, Uncle Usopp – gave her breakfast this morning. Chopper had recently given everyone the okay to start the baby on soft foods like oatmeal and pureed fruits and vegetables. In this case, she was getting strained apricots, and was simply delighted as the sniper made the spoon "fly" around like a bird before gently landing the food in her mouth. She happily swallowed and cheered, wanting more.

"Op! Op!"

Cheska wasn't able to say most of their full names yet. Although she had mastered "Ma-ma" and "Pa-pa" rather quickly, the rest of the crew was "Zo-zo", "Nami" (the only crew member whose proper name she had down) , "Op", "Chaw", "Book", and somehow she'd landed on "Wee Wee" for the Mink, which Carrot did not particularly care for. Briefly, Usopp wondered what Cheska would have called Luffy and Sanji. Maybe "Lu-lu" or "Lu-ee" for their departed captain, and maybe "Ji-ji" or something for their former cook.

Ji-Ji…Jinbe.

Usopp pauses for a moment. He hadn't thought of the fishman in a long time. Come to think of it, Jinbe had wanted to join us at one point, too, but we haven't seen him since before Luffy died…I guess he lost interest…I wonder what she would have called him? "Be-be" maybe? …guess it doesn't matter, he thought sadly.

"Op-op..."

Cheska was pointing at him, probably looking for more food. "All right, you're right, Cheska," he said. He took another spoonful of apricots. "Here comes more apricots!" He grinned and opened his mouth, waiting for her to drop her own jaw. When she did he effortlessly slipped the spoon between her lips. "Yummy, right?"

Cheska gummed at the food, happily clapping and looking for more. As Usopp was getting ready to give her another spoonful, his ear caught a racket in the distance. He paused and looked towards the source of the sound – there was a twinge of familiarity there. This isn't normal hearing…is this my haki again?

"Op-op!" Cheska demanded, displeased that her meal was being interrupted.

Usopp scanned the horizon, focusing on his Color of Observation to get a better look. It wasn't much, not as fine tuned as what Sanji or even Luffy and Zoro had, but after everything that had happened in Dressrosa in his two "battles" against Sugar, his long-distance sight was second to none when he wanted it to be.

His eyes locked onto his target, and he felt his stomach drop. "Oh my God…oh my GOD!"

"Op-op!"

"ZORO! NAMI! I NEED YOU GUYS RIGHT NOW!"

-Meanwhile-

The knock at the door had been a messenger with a summons from Big Mom herself. Sanji was to arrive at the chateau for a luncheon no later than noon. There was a menu on the letter and a promise that there would be a "surprise guest". Sanji grimaced at the prospect – it was probably going to be his father or one of his siblings.

Worse still, he'd had to bring Tapioca-chan with him. By the time he was ready to head to the chateau her mother was nowhere to be found (because of course she wasn't) and, well, while Big Mom would probably enjoy seeing her granddaughter, Tapioca-chan usually cried when she saw the woman (a sentiment Sanji shared with his daughter, though it wasn't one he could actually act upon).

So there he was, sitting alone in Big Mom's throne room with Tapioca-chan. He had his daughter sitting up on a side table, where she was watching him and her favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Monkey, and laughing and smiling at her father. Sanji smiled back, making a few "ook" noises as he tried to make her toy dance for her. She squealed with delight, waving her arms up and down enthusiastically.

They weren't alone for long. Sanji heard the sound of the door opening and closing behind him. Assuming it was his mother-in-law Sanji motioned to stand, but stayed put when he saw it was Jinbe. He gently waved, and Tapioca-chan flailed her monkey in the air as she tried to wave, too – she loved her Uncle Jinbe. The fishman let out a belly laugh as he approached the infant.

"Jib-be!" Tapioca cooed. "Jib-be!"

Jinbe's eyes widened (as did Sanji's – he didn't see that coming). "Did she just…?"

Sanji composed himself and forced himself to laugh, giving his daughter a kiss and a smile. "That's right, that's Jinbe," he said a little nervously. Tapioca squealed and clapped, nearly smacking her father in the face with her monkey (which wouldn't be the first time that happened…that morning). He turned to the fishman with a smile. "You should be honored – that's her second word."

Jinbe took a seat on the floor next to Sanji as he handed the baby to his friend. Tapioca-Chan was delighted, reaching for the fishman's goatee. "She's getting big."

Sanji sighed. "Yeah…she just turned nine months," he said.

"Ah, so you are measuring her age in months," he said with a grin.

Sanji rolled his eyes. "Until she's a year or two old that system makes the most sense." He watched as she tried to stand on Jinbe's knee and sighed. "Looks like she might be talking and walking soon." Tapioca-chan laughed at something and Sanji shook his head, taking her back and sitting her down on his knee. "I'm going to be chasing you all over this island, aren't I?"

Tapioca blew a spit bubble in response. Sanji wiped it away with the sleeve of his shirt.

"So…do you have any idea why Big Mom called us here?" asked Jinbe.

"No, she just left me with a menu, the time, and said there'd be a 'surprise guest', whatever the hell that means," he said. Jinbe nodded, showing Sanji his nearly identical letter. "I don't think she was referring to us when she said the 'surprise guest' thing – she knows we're friends, that would be…weird, even for her."

"Could it be something to do with Tapioca?" asked Jinbe, eyeing the baby nervously.

"No, I don't think so – the only reason I brought her was because I got the summons notice last minute and didn't have time to find someone to watch her for me," said Sanji. At least not someone I would TRUST with my daughter. "It doesn't matter, but it isn't like her – she's usually pretty straight forward when it comes to this, you know? Why beat around the bush now?"

The back entrance to the throne room opened, and the former and would-be Straw Hats could see the shadow of Big Mom in the door frame. Both stood out of obligation, Sanji only hesitating long enough to make sure he had a good grip on Tapioca-chan. "Hello, boys," she said. She leaned over. "And hello my sweet little princess."

Right on cue, Tapioca-chan started to cry. Sanji tried to soothe her as Big Mom laughed.

Once she was done with her amusement over Tapioca-chan's distress, she stood tall and put on a smug grin. "Now, you boys must be wondering why I've called you two here and who my 'surprise guest' is." Both men regarded her with as much resentment as they dared to display, but if she noticed she didn't acknowledge it. "I actually have someone I'd like you to meet with."

Jinbe and Sanji exchanged a look of confusion.

"Consider this a reminder that I am your captain and I control everything that goes on in Tottoland. Lunch will take place in the dinning room behind my throne. You'll be repeating this lunch every three months, two hours at a time – Jinbe will be excused if he is out on assignement, of course. Don't want you boys getting too comfortable and thinking you could disobey me." Big Mom grinned, pointing at a door that led to a room behind the throne room. "And if either of you try anything funny, I promise you: I will do something nasty. Are we clear?"

What the fuck is she getting at? Sanji wondered, still trying to console his wailing daughter.

Satisfied that they understood her, Big Mom headed to the exit at the front of the room. "Remember boys – two hours. I wouldn't keep our guest waiting if I were you." With that she disappeared out of the throne room, though they could hear her cackling down the hallway.

Sanji sighed as Jinbe got to his feet, politely waiting for the young father. "I guess we better see what she wants," he said, gathering up his daughter and her diaper bag. With the threat of Big Mom gone, Tapioca-chan seemed to be calming down, her cries dulling to a series on whimpers. Sanji kissed the top of her head. "It's okay, honey bun, she's gone for now. All smiles now, all right?" he said softly.

Quietly, the two men (and Tapioca) headed towards the back room, wondering who could possibly be waiting for them. With Jinbe involved, it didn't seem likely it was someone from his family. Big Mom wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but she wasn't so stupid to think that either of them was truly loyal to her, so the reminder that she was in charge made sense but…well, who would that be? He and Jinbe weren't in the same division so there wouldn't be anyone other than Big Mom herself who was in both of their chains of command. Sanji racked his brain, trying to come up with a likely suspect.

As they opened the double doors, neither of them could believe their eyes when they saw who Big Mom's "special guest" was. All it took was Sanji's eye catching the familiar brim of a straw hat, and it felt like a pile of rocks had been dropped in his stomach. Tears filled his eyes as he and Jinbe shouted his name in unison.

"LUFFY!"

Author's Notes

…oh boy, has it been a hectic few years. Sorry about the lack of updates guys. Most of this chapter has been done for a while, but getting it finished has been a challenge. Just haven't been able to get it where I want it, as as I've gotten older and the demands on my personal life have increased I just haven't had the time, energy, or will to get much done. Depression is a nasty bitch and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

One of the things I've been up to these past few years is a re-watch of One Piece with a friend of mine, and revisiting older arcs has made me realize there are some things baked in the premise of this story that don't 100% work with canon the way I would have wanted them to, and some decisions I no longer agree with, so part of my next steps with this story will involve course correction where possible and figuring out how to account for things I failed to account for before. Not to mention newer developments have complicated other plot points but that's the risk you run when writing fanfiction for any piece of media that isn't finished (man, that was the nice thing about Ronin Warriors and Chrono Cross fanfiction…).

I wanted to address a couple of quick things before closing out the Author's Note:

The cancer is NOT back, although I did get a PCOS diagnosis and that's led to a pre-cancerous diagnosis. Luckily, according to my gynocologist, it is one of the slowest moving cancers and the treatment has been a cakewalk. I also got diagnosed with a thyroid condition that's apparently par for the course with a lot of cancer survivors but I am just…super duper BAD about taking my levothyroxin. This is probably because of the ADHD diagnosis.

To the best of my knowledge I did not get COVID, I am fully vaccinated, and I've been lucky enough that my job has been mostly good about letting us work from home. No one I know personally has died from the virus, though I have friends who have lost loved ones. I also have relatives who refuse to take the virus seriously – luckily they don't live anywhere near me.

I have not been without personal tragedy. My cat was hit by a car in 2020 and that was just…the worst. At the time she was the only living thing I was allowing myself physical contact with because of the pandemic and to lose her so suddenly and traumatically was a lot. I adopted another kitty a few weeks later. He likes to pick fights he can't win and cost us about $3,000 in emergency vet bills within the first year of having him.

Work has actually been going GREAT recently. The temping is OVER – the last temp assignment I got in 2019 finally led to a permanent hire (no one could figure out why I hadn't been hired before and put in honest to God effort to find a place to put me – it didn't happen IMMEDIATELTY but it eventually worked out!).

I don't want to abandon fanfiction, but I definitely have some personal life sorting out to do. The pandemic did a number on my mental health and while having that ADHD diagnosis makes me understand why I'm a hot mess, it still means I am a hot mess that needs to be sorted out.

Thank you all for your patience these past few years and I hope to start releasing more new material soon, including a bonus "A Force Against Intertia" chapter (yes, really – it'll make sense why when I drop it).

I…I think that might be it. Hopefully the next update won't take so long! Stay safe, happy, and healthy out there!

-Dixxy