Author's notes at the end.
Disclaimer: I can't even plan a measly fanfic properly, let alone a 700+ chapter series. Thus, we conclude I do not own One Piece.
The siblings mourned the loss of their sister for a long time, and their tears rained down into the ocean as they each made their way home. Those tears sank to the sea floor, a glistening trail of loss across the sand. All who saw it knew the siblings' grief, and took it as their own. They mourned together.
The trail remained until an oyster came across it. It, too, felt sorrowful looking at the tears, but unlike all others who had seen them, the oyster did not leave. Something had to be done, lest the sadness flooded the new world. The pain had to be stopped.
The oyster swallowed one of the tears. It tasted bitter, and the oyster nearly spat it back out again. It didn't do so, however, for its determination was great. It called upon its kind, and bid they all follow its lead. One by one, the tears were all swallowed and hidden away.
Together, the oysters worked to turn them into something beautiful.
Sanji paused in chopping up vegetables for a soup as another stab of pain made itself known behind his eyes. He held still until it passed a few seconds later, before taking a deep breath. And here he'd been thinking that the damn headaches were finally getting better...
No such luck, it would seem.
With slightly more force than strictly necessary, he resumed his chopping. It took more effort than usual to avoid cutting off his fingers, and that just pissed him off further. The headaches had been going on for a while, and were slowly taking their toll. It wasn't even as if the pain was really that bad, he'd dealt with way worse before. The problem was its persistence. The headaches simply would not go away, from the time he woke up to the time he went back to sleep.
Hah, sleep.
He could ignore the constant ache well enough during the day, when he could keep himself distracted, but as soon as he tried to settle down for the night the pain would slam into him full-force. In the end, if he wanted to get any rest at all, he had to work himself to the point where he would simply pass out the moment he dropped into his bunk. In a way, it actually made him glad that his crewmates were so messy, as it gave him something to do.
Even so, the galley downright sparkled and any more cleaning would probably result in him wearing through his countertops. His knives were sharpened to perfection, the silverware polished to the point of blinding anyone stupid enough to look at it in direct light, and the cabinets, fridge and pantry had all been rearranged more times than he was willing to count.
He knew he had reached new heights of desperation when he started to consider taking a page out of Zoro's book and training until he couldn't see straight.
Speaking of seeing...
He really ought to just go talk to Chopper about the headaches, but that would inevitably result in the young reindeer trying to work out what was causing them in the first place, and that was something he didn't know how to handle.
The thing was, he had a some idea of what was wrong. What he didn't have was a way of explaining it without coming off as insane. Oh yes, Chopper, I'm used to seeing things no one else apparently does, and now I can't and it's giving me one hell of a headache, could you possibly fix that?
With a sigh, he dropped the vegetables into the pot and turned down the heat. He would let that simmer for about an hour, so in the meantime he could... what? The bread was already in the oven, and there was nothing else that needed any work.
Unfortunately.
He blinked a few times to try and rid himself of the feeling that his eyes were trying to escape his head. He couldn't really blame them; his head was currently a shitty place to be. Once he was satisfied that he wouldn't spontaneously go blind, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and headed out the door. Perhaps the ladies were in need of refreshments?
Just thinking about the two goddesses out on deck was enough to distract him from the pain.
He didn't get more then a few steps out the door before his captain came hurtling towards him from his right.
"Sanji! Meeeeeaaaat!" Sanji side-stepped out of reflex, leaving Luffy to rocket past him, collide with the railing and, because it was just one of those days, fall over the edge and into the ocean below. Muttering every curse he knew, Sanji kicked off his shoes and followed his brain-dead captain in a single, fluid motion born from routine.
The water was pleasantly cool, and for the first time since leaving Water 7 his headache faded away. He almost forgot what he was doing in his sudden comfort, but swam after his sinking captain nevertheless. He caught Luffy by the wrist, and with a strong kick sent them both up to the surface where the rest of the crew was waiting to fish them out of the water.
Once back on deck, he wasted no time in berating his captain.
"You idiot!"
Luffy blinked.
"Eh? But you're the one that moved!" Sanji spat out his soggy cigarette and tried to stop his eye from twitching too much.
"Like hell this is my fault! What did you think I was gonna do when you came flying at me?"
Judging by Luffy's face, thinking hadn't really entered the equation at all. With a sigh, Sanji kicked him. It was more out of principle than anything else, as he didn't really have the energy to deal with his exuberant captain at the time being. Punishment duly meted out, he headed for the mens' quarters. There was no way he could serve the girls looking the way he did.
Upon entering he briefly debated just slipping into his bunk for a while. Now that his headache had been warded off, his exhaustion was catching up to him and demanding attention. It had been a while since he really slept, first with the headaches starting not long after fleeing from the Marines at Water 7, and then the whole ordeal on Thriller Bark and – nope, he was not going to think about Thriller Bark. It only left a nasty taste in his mouth and a weight at the pit of his stomach.
Shaking his head to rid himself of both unpleasant images and the temptation of sleep, he opened his locker and rummaged around for a dry set of clothes. Because the day was apparently not quite done screwing with him, he managed to accidentally knock a box of his smaller belongings to the floor, where they of course scattered in all directions.
"Fucking hell!"
He knelt down and started to gather his things back in the box, grumbling curses and feeling his headache prepare for a triumphant return. Well, the painlessness had been fun while it lasted.
He was drawn from his tirade when he spotted a small, black pouch closed with string. For a moment he just held still, old memories suddenly on the forefront of his mind. He'd nearly forgotten about that thing... Gently, he picked it up, pulled open the string and tipped the bag. Out fell an ocean blue pendant which fit comfortably in his hand. Flipping it over, he examined the single, silver spiral in the middle.
He chuckled a little then, remembering the day he had received it. He'd felt so self-conscious about his eyebrows that matched the carving all too well. Granny had laughed at that, assuring him that the spiral was not a jab at his appearance.
The pendant didn't hang from a chain, but rather a cord made up of thin strips of braided leather. There were three small, pale turquoise beads hanging on either side of the charm.
It was honestly a rather peculiar thing, nothing like the charms he remembered the old lady making. She had always worked with wood, seashells, leather and string, and at most small rocks worn smooth by the tide. Yet here she had used what appeared to be semi-precious stone for both the pendant and the beads, and he had no idea why she had departed from her usual raw materials. They must have cost her a fortune, too... He felt a little bad about that, as he really didn't think he deserved having such money spent on him. He felt guiltier still about the fate of the blue book.
He could tell his headache was starting to build again and growled. He just couldn't catch a break, could he?
Unable to muster up the motivation to pick up his things just then, he sat down on the floor and brought the pendant up to his forehead. It was cool to the touch, just like the water had been during his impromptu swim, and much to his delight it seemed to have the same soothing effect. His eyes slid shut and for the first time in a long while he let himself simply breathe.
His thoughts began to wander, going backwards through time. Enies Lobby, Skypiea, Alabasta, Reverse Mountain, Arlong Park, the Baratie... all the way back to a small island in North Blue.
While the oysters toiled in silence, their efforts unknown to all, the silver shadows had spread to the far corners of the world and had begun to lift the strange spell of paralysis. Despite being invisible, there was not one living thing that did not feel the energy of the shadows ripple through them.
It was a new thrill, a sense of exhilaration they had never known, and it inspired them like nothing had before.
Where once had been mere existence, a chore of lasting long enough to see the next day, there was now a newfound life.
All that lived no longer endured.
They began to thrive.
The memories had faded somewhat over time, but there were a few that remained completely clear. He remembered spending hours at the harbor before he met granny, just watching the ships come and go. He'd stare out at the horizon, longing to sail to it, longing to live out there on the impossibly blue water.
As he had gazed into space and dreamed, he had caught a glimpse of silver in his peripheral. However, when he had turned around, there had been nothing there.
That had been the start, that flash of something just outside his view. It had kept on happening after that, and it had been annoying as all hell. He had spent ages trying to catch sight of whatever it was, but it had never worked, infuriating him to no end.
Eventually, he had gotten used to it and learned to ignore it. But then he had started seeing them in front of him just before he would fall asleep and just after he woke up, when he was in a state of semi-consciousness. His sight was always just bleary enough to blur out any details, and by the time he had registered what was happening the silver things had already gone.
When he learned to ignore that too, they started showing up at other times, more and more often. By the time he had met granny, they were constantly present and would disappear only if he looked directly at them.
After a while, they didn't disappear at all.
By then, he had already asked several of the orphanage caretakers about them, and even some of the other children, but he had quickly found that no one had any idea what he was talking about. He had stopped asking, and in hindsight was rather glad the caretakers had dismissed it all as the product of a child's imagination instead of taking it as a sign of something abnormal.
He'd only asked granny about the silver shapes because on that day he had been able to see far more of them than usual. He couldn't say he'd been surprised by her answer, however, and had let it be.
And it wasn't even that bad, once he got used to it. The shapes had a mesmerizing quality to them, moving like a school of fish. It was for that reason that he had started privately referring to them as such; in his mind, he called them the Fish. It might not be the most imaginative of names, but he felt it was apt. Hell, the things even looked kind of fish-shaped.
Besides, he rather liked the word in the old tongue.
They had become a part of his everyday life, and had remained so up until leaving Water 7. Not being able to see them all of a sudden was off-putting. He kept expecting to spot them moving leisurely around the galley, dancing over the deck, flitting between the mikan trees... but they never were. The world seemed flatter, somehow, as if a color had been removed, and he constantly felt as if his eyes were out of focus even when his vision was perfectly clear. The effect was disorienting and, he suspected, the cause of his headaches.
So... what had happened back on Water 7 to cause the change?
His thoughts were abruptly derailed by a crash out on deck, along with shouting from various crew members. In the seconds that followed, Sanji realized he was still sitting in the middle of the floor, dripping water everywhere, he'd been there for a while now, and...
"Shit! The bread!"
He changed his clothes in record time, stuffed the pendant in his pocket, tossed his other things back in the box and shoved the box back into his locker, and ran out with his hair still wet.
He didn't notice he had spoken in the old tongue for the first time in years.
Slowly, with new life pushing them forward, those who inhabited the world began to explore ever further. They found places they had never even dreamed of; the tallest of mountains, the deepest of trenches, the stormiest of skies. All were previously uninhabitable, their conditions too extreme.
But now...
Gradually, over generations, some found their bodies more and more suited to live where it had once been impossible to do so. The second sibling's people, especially, began to see unprecedented diversity. Some grew tall enough to contend with mountains, others small enough to hide in the grasses, hidden from view. Some of the differences that began to emerge were plain to see, while others were far more subtle.
And it kept going. After all, a world that can move is a world that can change.
And a world that can change is a world that can grow.
He managed to save the bread, and dinner went about as smoothly as could be expected from the Straw Hats. The problems didn't occur until afterwards, when Sanji was halfway through doing the dishes.
"We've got a storm coming!"
The crew was instantly assembled out on deck, knowing Nami's tone meant business. As the winds picked up around them, the Straw Hats worked to follow their navigator's orders to the letter. Even so, they weren't quite fast enough and were quickly caught in the torrential rain.
"There's no way we'll be able to sail through this... Alright, we're making a detour! Fishman Island will just have to wait!" Nami fought to make her voice heard over the whistling wind and crashing waves. She called out a new heading, and at the helm Sanji and Franky wrestled with the ship's wheel to alter their course.
A wave swept over the deck, bigger than any the storm had thrown at them so far, accompanied by a strong gust of wind.
"CHOPPER!"
Sanji turned his head just in time to see the reindeer fall overboard, with none of the other non-Devil Fruit users close enough to help. With only a quick glance at Franky, Sanji ran towards the railing, grabbing one of the ropes they had intended to use as a lifeline as he went. He tossed one end to Brook, and tied the other around his waist.
"When I tug at it twice, pull us out!" The skeleton nodded, wrapping the end around his hand a couple times and bracing himself against the railing.
"Go, Sanji-san!"
Sanji dove into the water for the second time that day.
It was dark, and he had to actively fight the current. Diving deeper, he tried to catch sight of their doctor, and cursed internally when he couldn't. Too dark, too dark, too damn dark!
He had no choice but to keep going blind, even though he knew how much it diminished his chances of finding Chopper. If he could see something, anything...
He caught a glimpse of silver in his peripheral, a flash of something just outside his view. And then another, further down, a bit to his left. Then another, and another. He swam after them as fast as he could.
He might have grinned just a little bit.
He followed the Fish, and sure enough they led him to where he needed to be. Just in time, too, as he was beginning to run out of air. Grabbing hold of Chopper, he tugged twice on the rope and swam upwards. A second later, the rope tensed and pulled them both up and out of the water.
Zoro had joined Brook, and immediately took the small reindeer from Sanji's arms when they got close enough, making it easier for Sanji to climb over the railing and onto the deck. Untying the rope around his waist, Sanji noticed the sails had been pulled up.
"They're back on board, Nami-san!" called Brook. The navigator nodded, and turned toward the helm.
"Get us out of here, Franky!"
"Aye! Soldier Dock System, Channel 0!" The Thousand Sunny's hidden engines came to life, and set to pushing the ship out of the storm.
After years of continuous effort, the oysters finished their task. Each of the tears had been changed into something new, reborn as something beautiful.
The oysters gathered to find the finest four of their creations, for only they would be suitable gifts for the remaining siblings. The search yielded the most lustrous, smoothest and most shapely of the pearls, and it was the oysters that carried them that set off to find the ocean-dwelling sisters.
The other oysters stayed on the sea floor, their pearls a gift to all who mourned, a reminder that even the deepest of grief, the greatest of pain, and the bitterest of tears could herald a new beginning.
By the time they made it to calmer waters and lowered the anchor it was very late, and everyone was utterly exhausted. Brook was unfortunate enough to have the first watch, and had made his way up to the crow's nest with barely a skull joke. The others had all dragged themselves to their quarters, and this left Sanji all alone in the galley. He was just as tired as everyone else, and part of him certainly longed to simply crawl into his bunk and sleep until they found the One Piece. The other more dominant part of him, however, couldn't bring himself to do so.
He'd seen them again! Even if only briefly, he'd seen the Fish again! His headache had receded, too, although it wasn't entirely gone. Maybe his problems would just fix themselves for once...
He honestly hadn't realized how much he'd missed the stupid silver things, and still did now that they were gone again. It left him restless despite the fact that he was about to fall asleep right where he stood.
He didn't realize he had moved until he found himself outside the aquarium, but decided to roll with it and let his legs guide him to the couches. He didn't sit so much as collapse into the cushions in an undignified heap. He immediately resigned himself to staying there, as there was no way in hell he was getting up again.
For a while he just lay there, staring up at the aquarium. A few slivers of moonlight filtered through from outside, and it gave the scene an ethereal quality. Some fish got caught in the light, giving them a silver sheen. Sanji nearly laughed. He'd known, hadn't he? On some level he'd known that this was where he wanted to be, watching the fish that were as comforting as they were breathtaking, almost like the ones in his head...
They weren't quite the same, of course. The fish inside the aquarium were flesh and bone, trapped behind the glass. The Fish he was accustomed to seeing could not be confined. He'd tried to catch some in a jar once, but found they could pass through solid objects, like ghosts. In a way it was rather odd that they almost never seemed to use this ability, preferring to flow around obstacles instead. He couldn't understand why they did this, but he had nevertheless always admired their graceful movements and even tried to emulate them as a kid. It would sure as hell be helpful in the kitchen to be able to move with such ease...
Another quirk he'd noticed was that the Fish would fade from his sight as soon as they got within a certain distance of a person, and then fade back in again when they had moved further away. He'd never figured that one out, but it probably didn't matter anyway. It was only one of the many unsolved mysteries that surrounded the Fish.
Absentmindedly, he reached into his pocket. He was relieved to find the pendant still there, despite his earlier dive, and carefully drew it out. Its ocean blues and silver matched his surroundings, fitting right in with the rippling shadows of moving water, the gentle motions of the fish, and the low but clear light, and he couldn't help but feel as if he, too, was underwater. The ship rocked like a cradle, and slowly he fell asleep, pendant still in hand.
The siblings still mourned their sister, no matter how many years had passed them by. They became withdrawn, sorrowful even in their duties. They could no longer find the love for their homes, forgot what drove them all to choose as they had. They watched from afar as the world took on new life, unable to look at their sister's final gift without seeing her sickly form moments away from death, without remembering their failure. Their people worried for them, but could do nothing to help.
The oysters found the two sisters sitting in silence, so different from the lively conversations they used to share. The sisters welcomed them, but their hearts were clearly trapped in another time. Quietly, the oysters spoke their cause, and presented the pearls.
The sisters stared in disbelief, seeing their grief transformed. The youngest sister's words echoed through their heads for the first time since her death.
"I do not wish for you to be sad."
The sisters looked around them, and saw not their sorrow, but a world unclouded by tears, vibrant, alive. Oh, how ungrateful they had been! Their sister may lay resting beneath the waves, but her will, her love, her life... they resounded throughout the ocean, land and sky, and it had been foolish of the siblings to forget it.
They would not do so again.
The sisters thanked the oysters for their most valuable gifts, and headed for the surface to meet with their brothers. They gave them each a pearl, and together the siblings wept.
There was no need for interference this time, however, as tears of joy are the sweetest tears of all.
Sanji dreamed of Enies Lobby that night.
He dreamed of the strange feeling he'd had, the sense that something huge was building up as the crew fought opponent after opponent to reach their captain. In the few seconds he had to spare between kicks, he'd looked to the sky.
The Fish were gathering, all headed in the same direction the Straw Hats were, and that was unusual in itself. He had no time to dwell on it, however, and moved on.
It wasn't until he made it to the roof that he really saw what was happening. He'd never seen so many of the Fish in one place, but there they were, swimming slow, large circles around the area. As the Straw Hats took their places and called out to Robin, the Fish began to move faster, with more gathering every second. Sanji forced himself to look away, but he could still see them from the corner of his eye.
He was watching a storm build, and the Straw Hats were in the middle.
Far above them Robin shouted at them to leave, to forget about her, she did not want to be saved, and the Fish moved ever faster. More and more, quicker and quicker, a wall of silver began to rise around them. Surely, the others must see it? They were at the bottom of a whirlpool, in the eye of a hurricane, but somehow he was the only one...
There was a roar in his ears, and he wondered how something utterly silent could be so loud.
Then Luffy's voice rose above it all, drowning out the cacophony in his head.
"Sogeking... Shoot that flag."
A sudden hush fell on the world around him as Sanji watched Usopp lift his slingshot, pull back, and let go, every bit the brave warrior the sniper dreamed of being. It was fire that took off across the sky, but it trailed silver, the Fish moving as if to carry the shot to its mark. Surely, Usopp must hold the heavens in his hands, for how else could he have commanded a shooting star to fly...
And then the flag of the World Government was up in flames and Sanji nearly forgot how to breathe. The Fish danced around the bonfire, celebrating it, and the storm was roaring again, the rushing silver nearly blinding him and how, how could no one else see something so vast?
Around and around and around and around...
Yet even though it threatened too overwhelm him and push him to his knees, shivers racing up and down his spine, he was not afraid, for he realized they were standing in a storm of their own creation. They had declared war on the world, and the world would feel it.
Then Luffy's voice cut through again.
"I haven't heard it from you yet!" Faster, faster, faster, around and around... "Say you want to live!"
Sanji stood straight and kept looking forward, because right now Robin needed to see their faces, to see they were not afraid of her, of her past, of her power. She needed to see they wanted her back, that they would take on the world for her, that she was their nakama and it was high time she came home.
Around and around, higher and higher, a pillar to hold up the sky...
Sanji watched as some Fish moved between them, from Luffy to Robin, and even before she answered Sanji knew their captain's words had reached her.
"I wadda live!"
For the briefest moment, everything held still to bear witness as Robin declared her will for all to hear.
"Take me with you to the ocean!"
As if on command, the storm broke apart and soared outwards. The Fish dispersed as a tidal wave, blanketing the sky for as far as Sanji could see. Somehow, with certainty he had no means of justifying, he knew the Fish were carrying their names.
We are the Straw Hats, and we are not afraid.
Challenge us if you dare!
They all knew they'd shaken the world that day, but none were as acutely aware of it as Sanji.
Down in the aquarium bar, he slept peacefully through the night, with the Fish swimming lazy circles around him.
A/N
So, chapter 2 of "I Have No Idea What It Is I'm Doing", aka The Chapter in Which Nothing Really Happens.
All joking aside though, I am incredibly grateful to those who reviewed, followed and favorited this story. It's highly motivating to know that there are people who liked what I've written! A special thanks to guest reviewer C, your questions are seriously helpful in trying to find a direction for the story. I will do my best to answer them in due time!
I'm afraid I can't really set a concrete update schedule, as I have entrance exams coming up in May and have to study. I promise I will keep at it though, no matter how long it takes!
Once again, any feedback you can give would be greatly appreciated, and let me know of any mistakes in grammar/spelling!