The first letter comes six months after it was revealed their sous chef was born a prince in the north blue. It had been shocking to say in the least to find out their foul mouthed, womanizing, brat of a chef was a damn Prince in another sea. If owner Zeff was surprised, he didn't show it. When the news came out, he only laughed and barked at them to get back to work. The letter was thick and was addressed with Sanji's elegant scrawl,
'To the crap geezer.'
Patty took one look at the thing and laughed, while cracking eggs into a bowl. "That stupid brat. It's for owner Zeff." He grumbles something about it being over three years and sighs. "It's a letter from someone who used to work here. He left a while ago to become a pirate."
"Sanji Vinsmoke?" The cook who collected the mail gestures to the door leading down to the dining area. "The guy whose wanted poster is in the center of the restaurant?"
Patty almost smiles when he says, almost fondly, "yeah." Then snaps "now give that to the owner and get back here. I need you to peel those potatoes." The young cook only nods and runs off.
Patty finds a rather large package over a year later, along with an updated wanted poster. "That little punk." Patty gapes at their sous chefs' new bounty. Black-leg Sanji 935 million. The photo wasn't even embarrassing, if anything it looked as though the brat had posed for it. He shakes his head in disbelief and reaches for the package, only to find a letter once again addressed, 'To the crap geezer,' wrapped in the binding of the package. "Owner Zeff!" He calls out and picks up the package, it was damn heavy.
"What do you want?" Zeff yells down from the kitchen.
"Package for you from the brat."
"Three years without a word now he sends me something once a year." He hears Zeff grumble as the man makes his was down the stairs. "The hell is that?" Zeff asks gesturing to the box.
"Dunno." Patty shrugs and hands him the letter. "This came with it."
He watches Zeff open it and scan the first few lines. Shock-pure shock flashes across his features and he quickly folds the letter up. "I'll-" He blinks, as if trying to get his thoughts in order. "Start the dinner shift without me. I'll be down later." Before Patty can even ask Zeff picks up the package and makes his way back upstairs.
Less than a month later one of the bus boys brought in the morning newspaper and the headline gave Patty a good guess as to why Zeff had looked so surprised from that last letter.
'STRAW HAT CREW CELEBRATE WEDDING WITHIN OWN RANKS.'
Below the headline is a picture of, he assumes, the whole crew. How this group of ten people caused such a stir in the world Patty didn't know, but there they were. All ten of them out on the deck of their ship surrounding and smiling at the two crew members practically glowing in the middle. Patty grabs the newspaper, recognizing the two and gapes. But there he was the golden haired brat he's known for years and the demon of the east blue Roronoa Zoro.
"Owner!" One of the chefs called out. "Sanji is in the newspaper again."
Patty hears their boss grunt from somewhere and begin walking their way, but a part of him knew Zeff wouldn't be surprised by the news.
He certainly was.
That womanizing brat! He wonders if Sanji had always been attracted to men or if Roronoa was just an exception. He turns the page and is surprised again to read that the two people that witnessed the ceremony were two admirals of the marines. One of them Fujitora commented that though he didn't really hear everything the straw hat captain said, it was clear that Roronoa Zoro and Black-leg Sanji were having a wedding ceremony. The other admiral Kizaru complained that they were in the middle of a fight when Roronoa suddenly yelled at their captain to marry him and Black leg. He then argues about who in their right mind would get married while fighting marine admirals.
That causes Patty to pause.
He looks back at the picture.
These fools were seriously fighting marine admirals when they decided to get married? But if the article was focused more on the wedding and not the battle then-
"well!" Zeff's voice snaps behind him, causing him to jump. How the hell had he not heard his boss's wooden leg? "What trouble has the little eggplant gotten into now?"
There was endearment in his voice as Carne says, "If by trouble you mean the fact he's now married to the demon of the east blue."
Patty wasn't surprised when all Zeff said was, "oh. Yeah I knew that. The brat told me in that letter from a couple of weeks ago. Said the battle with the admirals was almost boring after he got married."
Patty fights the urge to ask what had been in the package, and says, "So in order to cover up the fact that these two admirals lost to the Straw hats they put more focus on the wedding?"
Zeff laughs at that and shakes his head. "No. It wasn't just those two. All four admirals went into pursuit of the crew, but they all lost. The brat faced Kizaru and his husband fought Fujitora. I guess that captain of theirs faced Akainu and that former warlord Jinbei faced the other one."
A sense of fear snakes its way down Party's spine.
Shit had that brat become stronger than a marine admiral?
Shit
He would really have to watch the insults when Sanji came back. "Also," Zeff grins again. "When he does eventually come back to beg me for his job back, I better not be hearing any of you calling him a prince or referring to him as a Vinsmoke, are we clear?"
The anger in his voice makes Patty wonder just what the hell had happened, but he echoes the agreement with the rest of the staff.
When Zeff leaves Patty sets down the paper and hears Carne come up behind him. "Begs for his job back my ass." He says as way of greeting. "We all know Owners leaving the restaurant to Sanji whenever he decides to finally retire."
"Would make for a good show though." Carne laughs.
"I guess, but I doubt Sanji would ever intentionally fight with the old man now."
"Would you want too?"
"Not if the damn brat is stronger than an admiral."
"I'd be more concerned about that husband of his."
Shit that's right.
"Did you know?"
"How could I? Every time the kid went to break or had a day off, he would be out in the parlor flirting with the women, or out on the nearest island."
"Roronoa must be an exception."
"With the two women on that ship how the hell did he fall for the demon of the east blue?"
Patty didn't know how to answer that. He had seen the wanted posters for cat-burglar Nami and devil's child Nico Robin and could admit they were hard tens in his book, but- "guess we'll just have to ask the brat when he gets back."
Carne shudders. "Remind me not to ask if he's in a bad mood."
"You scared of the little punk now?"
"I am." He admits, "And if you were smart you would be too."
Patty was, but he would never admit it. Not after all the years he and Sanji had fought. Carne only nods his head once and wanders off. Patty sighs deeply and opens the paper again.
Four years pass and Patty was outside smoking and taking in the fresh air. One of the newer cooks had accidentally started a small fire in the kitchen and they were forced to close temporarily. Zeff had been furious and told the young man to clean the whole kitchen. The cook had only nodded and set to work. Probably just glad he hadn't been fired. At least they hadn't been all that busy. Patty starts making his way back to the door when he hears something slam into the deck below. He races back to the rail and sees a man face down on deck.
No
There's only one blonde who would wear a dress suit in the middle of the damn ocean. "Sanji!" He calls down and hurries down to the main deck. By the time he gets down on deck Sanji is dragging himself up and cursing profusely. This was definitely their sous chef. No one cursed quite like the cooks on the Baratie. "I really hope you planned on making your entrance this bad after being gone for eight years." Patty grins, after realizing he's fine.
The brat had grown up a bit that was for damn sure. His golden hair still covered half of his face, but it was parted on the other side, and it seems the boy decided to grow a small beard. He was still wearing his signature black dress pants and jacket but seems to have started wearing a pair of black gloves. "Why the hell are you soaked? And where the hell is your boat?"
Sanji curses again and shrugs off his jacket, revealing a soaked dark blue dress shirt. Patty wasn't into men, but he can acknowledge that Sanji was no longer the lean beansprout he was when he had left. The brat had filled out to an almost alarming degree in terms of muscle.
Sanji acknowledges Patty with a nod and turns back to face the sea. "Take that large crate to the freezer out back would you?"
This punk kid- Patty glances over to where Sanji had gestured and sees a rather large wooden crate along with a handful of bags holding presumably his belongings.
Again, what was going on?
How did Sanji even get here with everything, and where was his crew?
Sanji's gaze is almost nervous as he murmurs, "Where are they?" He turns to Patty again, who still hadn't moved. "Do you have a spyglass on you?" Without a word Patty removes the device from his inner pocket and hands it over. Within a moment Sanji seems to have found what he's looking for. "Are they seriously having this much of a problem with Smoker?" Patty had no idea what he was talking about and doesn't get the chance to ask as Sanji says, "Luffy can you hear me?"
Had he gone mad?
"Usopp? Jinbei? Can any of you hear me?" Sanji continues; panic beginning to show on his face. "Nami?" He bites his lower lip. "I swear by the gods if I don't hear from any of you in the next minute I'm coming back."
Then Patty hears it, a faint voice saying, "Sanji!" Patty almost smiles at the utter relief that breaks over Sanji's face. "Sanji! The voice says again. "Sorry I think the signal died."
"What do you mean the signal died?"
"I think Smoker is scrambling our system."
Patty can't tell whether the voice broke off or if he just can't hear it anymore.
Sanji laughs, "Yeah I'm fine. Though I miscalculated the fall and ended up in the water."
"Thank the gods you aren't a power holder." A female's voice says. "Glad you're okay Sanji, we'll-"
the voice cuts off again, but Sanji seems to have heard it. "Yeah, I'll see you guys in a couple of months, or whenever you decide to come back this way. Take care." Sanji waves and in the far distance Patty can see a ship.
No
A couple of ships and he understood. Sanji's crew was being chased by a couple of marine ships. He misses whatever was said next, but there was a rather loud shout of "bye Sanji!" Before silence returned and it was just the two of them.
"You sure they can handle it?" Patty finally asks after Sanji finally drops his hand.
"They're the pirate crew who discovered the One Piece and threw the world government into chaos." Sanji turns, giving him a terrifyingly wicked grin. "I think they can handle two marine ships." He shrugs and tosses him back his spyglass, "even if it is Smoker and Hina."
It had been years since the last update but the guy in front of him was worth 2.3 billion. Even if he hadn't known that the look on Sanji's face would've been enough to shut him up.
Sanji stretches and looks at his pile of belongings. "Seriously, take that crate to the freezer, would you? I want to make dinner tonight and I think you'll all enjoy it." He looks up. "That alright with you crap geezer?"
Patty turns around to see Zeff leaning against the rail from the third-floor deck. "One of the younger brats just set fire to the kitchen, but you should be able to get something to work."
Sanji grins again, "glad to see you're still around old man."
"Good to see you too eggplant." Zeff gives Sanji a rare smile and gestures for him to follow. "Come to my office brat I think we have a lot to catch up on."
"Sorry my crew couldn't stop by to say hi." Sanji shoots back and picks up his massive bags with almost no effort.
"It's alright. I can see they're a bit busy. Besides, you can start by telling me where that husband of yours is."
Sanji's face goes cold. "I would if I could."
The venom in his voice has Patty taking a step back from him.
"Sanji." A female's voice echoes from nowhere. "He'll be back. We all know where he was heading and-"
Sanji groans deeply. "How are you all still in range? I know the ship is out of sight."
Patty catches Zeff's questioning gaze and only shrugs. He didn't know what was going on either. "I told you-" the man, God Usopp, Patty recognizes his voice from earlier. "Franky and I perfected the design."
"How far is the range?"
"A good 50 miles possibly further."
Sanji gapes at that, but his voice is steady as he sighs. "Nami?"
"I'm here."
"Thank you, but I will deal with the Marino when I see him again."
"He probably thought he was doing a good thing-"
"That's it I'm turning this thing off." Sanji snaps. "I love all of you, but this is between me and the shitty swordsman." He reaches up to his right ear and almost smiles, before saying, "hey pirate king!"
A child's voice answers back, and Patty is reminded again of just how young most of this crew was. Hell, he remembers yelling at the new pirate king back when he had shot a cannonball through the roof of the Baratie.
Sanji's grin was a proud one. "I will see you when you get back."
"Yeah! I'll be looking forward to it Sanji and thanks for everything."
Without another word Sanji taps his ear and a small green ball falls into his hand.
"Who the hell are you yelling at down there eggplant?"
Sanji holds out his hand. "Two guys on my crew invented it. It's an earpiece for communication. If we're all wearing these, we can talk to each other at any time. These things have saved our asses more times than I want to admit."
Zeff only laughs and turns away from the balcony. "I bet, now are you coming or what?"
"Five minutes and he's already giving me orders." Sanji grumbles but pockets the small ball and heads inside.
The brat spends hours in Zeff's room, Patty assumes talking since they hadn't broken anything; but when he emerged, he was welcomed back with open arms from those who knew him and weariness from those who hadn't. Given the price on Sanji's head their fear was understandable, but he was kind and honestly just seemed happy to be back.
Patty had already warned them not to bring up the subject of Sanji's husband. Something would set him off of course, probably something him or Carne would say or do, but for now seeing him joke with some of the newer staff was almost refreshing. In fact, the only time he saw Sanji's face go dark was when someone had the guts to ask about the One Piece. The whole dining room went silent and Sanji's gaze had gone distant. With the heavy gaze Zeff sent the busboy Patty wonders if even he couldn't get the answer out of him.
Sanji blinks slowly as if coming back, and smiles. "You know, why don't I go and get dinner started? Remind me to tell you all of the time my captain took down Crocodile in Alabasta." With a nod to Zeff Sanji disappears into the kitchen.
"I assume that topic is taboo?" Patty asks after a moment. He was curious as well, but they couldn't make Sanji talk if he didn't want to.
"The rule about his last name applies here too." Zeff's voice echoes across the room. Patty has a feeling Sanji could hear him, but it didn't really matter now. "The eggplant won't talk. I tried and nearly got thrown out of my own room."
There was more silence and then, "did he just say his crew were the ones who took down Crocodile?"
With that the tension in the room vanishes. Patty still wonders just what had happened on that last island to make Sanji look like that. He sees worry on Zeff's face too, but if the owner couldn't make him talk nothing would.
Dinner was frustrating, at least for Patty. He thought himself a pretty good chef. One that even owner Zeff said was getting remarkably better, but it was still nowhere near as phenomenal as the dinner Sanji had just prepared. It was a simple dish of fish, potatoes, and vegetables, but it was the best damn meal Patty had ever had.
Eight years.
The brat had been gone for the better part of eight years, on a pirate ship, while constantly fighting for his life, but he had become a far better chef. Everyone, including Zeff were already on their way with second helpings when Carne says, "what the hell Sanji? You leave and think you're a better chef then the rest of us?"
"I am a better chef then the rest of you." Sanji says, with all the arrogance Patty remembers. Of course, this time the brat was right.
Everyone is surprised when Zeff is the one to ask, "What kinds of fish are these? I don't recognize them cooked."
Sanji sets down his utensils and smiles. Apparently, the brat had been waiting for someone to ask. "The fish on the other side of the table are elephant trout from the West blue and the ones in front of me are rainbow trout from the South blue." It slowly dawns on the staff what he was implying. Sanji had never set foot in either of those seas, at least as far as they knew. He faces Patty, "that crate I asked you to move for me is full of fish from every sea."
Zeff stares at Sanji for so long Patty worries he had gone into shock. Finally, he pushes his plate away and says, "You found it then?"
Sanji smiles again in a way that makes him look like that kid who used to never shut up about the impossible ocean. "Yes, we found it, the All Blue is real."
"And you decided to wait until now to tell me?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise." Sanji argues. "If I had told you earlier you would've been bugging me in the kitchen and digging through the crate to see what I brought."
"So how did you find it?" Someone asks. Either to keep the two from flat out brawling or genuine curiosity Patty didn't know.
Sanji sighs and fiddles with his hands. "We were on our way back to the last island- and before you ask, we were looking for something. We had gotten a call from Dragon the revolutionary asking for aide and at first Luffy didn't want to help his old man. The only reason we actually went was because Luffy was worried about his brother Sabo, who is second in command of the army."
"Family of monsters." Carne says and Patty is inclined to agree.
"So did you have to go back to the island before or after aiding the revolutionary army against the government?"
"After we defeated those damn admirals-" Sanji leans back in his seat and crosses his arms. "It took us about another month to get to the final island. We stayed for about two weeks before deciding to move on. Less than a day out at sea and we got the call from Dragon asking for help to both find something on the final island and come help fight. Luffy agreed and we turned around. Our archeologist Robin had the idea that the item we were looking for was in the sea and under the island. Since the idiot and I were the best swimmers, we offered to go check it out."
"Eggplant you're going to have to be a bit more specific." Zeff chuckles. "Since returning you have referred to at least four crewmembers as idiots."
Patty knew exactly which crewmember went with the brat, but he suspected Zeff wanted Sanji to say it.
Sure enough, Sanji sighs again and says wistfully, "my idiot."
He lifts his hand as if to take a drag off a cigarette and Zeff stands up in alarm, bumping into the table and causing his chair to fall back. "What the hell did you do boy?"
Patty finally notices the gold band on Sanji's ring finger, but something was off. What looks like black snake scales pour from the band and coil around his hand and down his wrist until it reaches the snake's head, fangs out and very unsettling to see, especially on a cook of Sanji's caliber.
A sort of panic flashes across Sanji's face and he quickly hides his hand under the table as if by reflex.
It was useless they had all seen it.
Sanji curses profusely and growls, "Given your reaction crap geezer you know what it is."
"Death's mark."
Sanji scoffs, "you don't have to make it sound so dramatic."
"Am I wrong?"
"No."
"How long do you have?"
"It's not that simple."
"What's not simple? A death mark appears, and the bearer only has so long to live."
"It depends on who gave the mark, and I'm telling you it's not that simple." Sanji snaps, standing up and glaring at Zeff. He's never seen Sanji this upset. Neither, does he think, has anyone else. "There's nothing you can do now anyways, so drop it."
Zeff doesn't back down and Patty had to give owner Zeff props. Given Sanji's power even a part of him wanted to flee. "Who did it?"
"I'm under oath not to say." Sanji bites out and given how much it looked like it hurt to even get that out, Patty believes him. "I would do it again in a heartbeat though." Sanji falls back into his chair as if in defeat. "Look, the battle at Mary Geoise went poorly. We made a terrible first call and it ended badly."
As far as Patty knew the Straw hats and the revolutionary army had won that fight. Apparently, the battle wasn't as simple as the paper claimed given the look of defeat on Sanji's face. Something else occurs to him and he asks nervously, "did everyone in your crew make it out?"
"Yes, but sacrifices were made." Sanji holds up his marked hand for emphasis. "We won and that's all that mattered in the end."
"And the All Blue?" Zeff asks, finally dropping the subject of Sanji's hand. He was still pissed, everyone could tell, but none of them knew what Sanji, or his crew, had to have done to survive this long.
Their sous chef was known worldwide and the adventures he had were known only to his crew. Sanji was right. There wasn't anything Zeff or any of them could do. He was back, that's all that matters.
Sanji smiles again. "We found the All Blue after going back again to the last island. Before we left the second time the idiot-sorry, Zoro and I had found the artifact Robin and Dragon had been looking for and were on our way back up to the ship when Zoro stopped. I turned around, but he was pointing to a-" He sighs, "there's no other way to describe this, a glowing sea current." At the disbelieving faces on some of the staff Sanji scowls. "Look, I know how it sounds, but Zoro and I both felt...something from it. Luffy had called us back but promised that after helping his brother we would come back."
"Let me get this straight-" Zeff holds a hand up to his forehead, as if fighting off a headache. "Your crew has gone to the final island three times now? While other crews have spent the better part of 30 years looking for it?"
Sanji shrugs. "Three times yes, but we probably still missed something."
"That big of an island huh?" Carne asks and Sanji gives him a look.
"It's not a place you can just see once." He finally says. "By the time we went back again Franky and Usopp had figured out a way for out ship to go underwater. The first time we dived we couldn't find it, but I knew what I had seen. At that point-" He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. "Zoro vouched for me, seeing as he had been the first to see it, and we were prepared to keep trying. After all, we didn't give up when we were looking for the island in the sky." It was clear Sanji had wanted to say something else but was avoiding it by bringing up another adventure his crew had.
A sky island though, really?
"We decided to try diving at the same time as when we dived the first time. Robin had been worried that the phenomenon had happened because of the timing of the moon, but we got lucky. Not five minutes down and we saw it. A golden current surrounding the island. We had planned to take it easy and try following it but ended up being caught and riding it. Most of that was a blur. All I can remember is holding on to the railing of the ship. I don't know how long we rode it or how the hell the ship had survived, but we got shot out near what we thought was the last island. It was, but it also wasn't."
"Stop speaking in puzzles Eggplant."
"Look I don't really know how to explain it." He shakes his head. "Honestly, Robin would be so much better at this. Okay the sea reflects right, like a mirror. It was as if by going under the island on that current we passed through the islands mirror."
"So...an alternate world? Or ocean I suppose in this case." Zeff says, thoughtfully.
Patty can't quite believe what he's hearing, did the owner believe him?
"Something like that yeah." Sanji grins and Patty realizes that his voice has changed. He sounds more like the young brat who wouldn't shut up about the fictional ocean. "So, we docked on the island and figured out quickly that it wasn't the same island we had just left."
"How?"
Sanji's face goes dark again. "Trust me, we knew. It wasn't the same and was missing a certain artifact. It was Robin who figured out we somehow ended up in an alternate ocean, as you described."
"And what does this have to do with the All-Blue Eggplant?" Zeff almost chuckles. It did seem the boy was getting a bit off track.
"That was it." Sanji's grin was glowing. "The ocean surrounding the mirror island was the All-Blue. I had never seen an ocean so beautiful, or so full of fish. When we realized where we were, we spent the entirely of the day fishing and swimming-"
"And partying?" Zeff asks on a resigned sigh.
"You know us too well shit geezer."
"Well, your crew does have a reputation."
Sanji just shrugs, "after the shit we had to deal with at Mary Geoise we deserved a break. Not only that, but we had also found my dream ocean. After years of people passing it off as nothing more than fantasy-" He glances briefly at Patty. "I finally found it and was going to enjoy it. We spent nearly half a year wandering that ocean. We found more sea creatures than I will ever be able to name, and a ton of new islands, but never another person."
"I'm surprised you left at all." Carne jokes.
Sanji nods as if to agree, but says, "I fell in love with it, but even if I had stayed it was no way to live. Alone in a mirror world? I would slowly go mad. No. I knew I had to go, but now that I'm back I realize it's enough just to know it's real." He smiles again and this time Patty can see the pride in it. The brat truly was a pain, but Patty would be lying if he said he wasn't happy to have him back. Sanji holds up his wine glass in a toast. "To new dreams and beginnings."
Zeff raises his glass, "it's good to have you back Eggplant."
About a month after Sanji had returned Patty realizes three things.
One, Sanji was smoking significantly less than he used too, but he was having problems with withdrawals, and they came in the form of snapping at every little thing.
Two, Sanji had become even more stubborn than owner when it came to running the kitchen.
Three, Sanji was rich.
Less than a week after coming back he bought a ship. Zeff had argued vehemently against it, saying it was a waste of space, but Sanji had ignored him, resulting in yet another fight. Less than a week after that Sanji had the kitchen redone and paid Zeff the amount they would've earned in the time it took for the kitchen to be done. At dinner one night someone asked him just how much he had. Sanji had only laughed and said that after the final island his whole crew had enough to live as they pleased for as long as they wanted.
"There was one night, long before we fought the four admirals, we all got drunk and made a really stupid bet." Sanji laughs, covering his face with his hand, as if embarrassed. "Long story short one of us ended up getting tied up and blindfolded while another one of us turned them in, got the reward money and came back."
They all stare at him, but Zeff bursts out laughing. Patty was inclined to join him. "I assume you got them back?"
"The following day we found out which ships were heading to impel down and rescued them rather quickly."
"Who was it?" Someone asks.
Sanji downs another glass of wine. How many had he had now? "For the sake of their dignity I'm not going to say. They are my nakama after all."
"They weren't mad?"
"They lost a bet." Sanji shrugs and refills his glass. "They knew what the stakes were."
Zeff is still laughing. "Was this a normal drunken night for you all?"
"That was the first time the stakes were that high, but we did have one night a week we would relax and let loose." He trails off and his eyes go distant.
This had been happening more often as the days went by. The brat was missing his friends. And they still don't know the story behind his absent husband. Shit. There was no one around here the boy can really talk to. Sanji smiles sadly and stands up, "if you would all excuse me." With that Sanji walks out, the door closing behind him with a small click.
"Alright." Zeff stands up and grabs an unopened bottle of wine. "I'm going to go deal with that. Have a good rest of your night." Zeff gives a backwards wave and leaves.
"We're not enough, are we?" Carne asks.
"I think-" Patty takes another swig of his beer. "The problem isn't us. The brat has been through too much, has seen too much. Hell, he sleeps on that ship of his so he doesn't wake us up from his nightmares." The first night Sanji got back they had heard his screams. "After everything they went through no one would be able to just jump back into a normal life."
There were murmurs of agreements down the table. Sanji was doing his best to adjust to a normal life, well as normal as a fighting sea restaurant could be, they would try giving him as much space as he needed.
The next morning Patty enters the kitchen and finds Sanji and Zeff in what looks like the middle of a stare off. "Do I want to know?" He asks slinking across the room to where Carne was leaning against a wall.
"Owner just ordered Sanji to be a waiter today and he's pissed."
Patty looks at the two. Sanji knows how important it is to mingle with guests and he was, grudgingly, the best at it. No. This was about something else.
"I don't want to deal with people today." Sanji argues. "I'm easily recognizable and I guarantee by lunch some fool is going to want to prove his strength and challenge me to a damn fight."
Unfortunately, Patty had to agree with that. At least once a week some idiot would come in and want to challenge Black-leg Sanji.
"I'm not changing my mind Eggplant." Zeff states and folds him arms. It was amazing how owner manages to look down on Sanji, even though the brat was taller and, in Patty's opinion, much more intimidating. "One of the reasons we're so busy lately is because people want to see you. Can't have you hiding in the back all the time."
"And whose fault is that!"
"You're the one who beat that bounty hunter the second day you got back. You announced your presence here yourself. As they say, you dug your own grave, now lay in it."
Sanji looked as though he was going to fight Zeff, his hands clenched tightly to his sides. Finally, he sighs and only straightens his tie. "Fine."
"Was that such a good idea?" Carne asks Zeff after Sanji had stormed out.
"The brat needs to let off some steam." Zeff sighs, "And even if one of you offered yourselves to fight, he knows your styles by now."
"You want him to get into a fight."
Zeff shrugs, "who knows maybe the guy will put up a decent fight." Because they all knew Sanji would rather drown than fight a woman. "Now get to work!"
"Yes chef!"
It had been a quiet morning, and though Sanji was definitely pissed off, he hadn't gone off on anyone. The dining room wasn't busy and most of the staff were taking their breaks, Patty was finishing up a seafood dish for a customer when Carne comes running in, flushed and out of breath. "What's going on?" Patty asks, reaching for his knife.
"You're going to want to come to the dining room. Guess whose ship just pulled up." Carne manages to get out.
He takes a shot, "Sanji's crew?"
Carne shakes his head, "the bounty hunter Mad Dog Shiro."
Patty recognizes the name. Mad Dog was said to have made a name for himself in the east blue. He was formidable, but a fool if he thought he could take Sanji in. "Think he's just here for the food?" He asks.
Carne grins, "You and I both know what he wants."
This could be fun.
Patty sets his knife down and follows Carne out of the kitchen. They're halfway down the spiral staircase when Patty spots Sanji at a table in the corner smiling warmly at a beautiful young woman, who looked to be here with her father? Gods Patty hoped the elderly man in the opposite chair was the woman's family. The woman blushes at whatever Sanji had said and just as he moves to refill her wine glass the front doors are torn off their hinges and tossed in the middle of the room.
"I hear someone from the pirate kings crew works here!" A voice rings out from the now open doorway.
Patty actually watches Sanji sigh, before apologizing to the woman and turning around. "And if it were true?" Sanji slides his hands in his pockets before making his way to the middle of the room. "What would you do then?"
The man finally steps fully into the room. The man looms over Sanji by at least five feet, long black hair wrapped in a ponytail, and seemed to be entirely made of muscle. He was shirtless and was wearing large cut off shorts that showed off a good portion of his legs. At the corner of his eye Patty sees Zeff make his way into the dining room.
"Defeating a crew member of the pirate king would earn me immense fame and glory."
"Is that all?" Sanji looked positively bored. "Look, if you want to eat be my guest, but I don't feel like fighting you."
"And who are you?"
"Did you not even do your research on the pirate kings crew?" Sanji asks in surprise and murmurs something Patty can't hear. "Look muscles I'm-" Sanji cuts off suddenly, his face going from one of annoyance to absolute shock.
A moment later a sword is across Shiro's throat and a voice growls, "you're in the way."
Shiro visibly pales at the almost demonic voice and tries to turn around but is knocked unconscious by the end of the sword. A green haired man with a scar over his left eye and three swords strapped to his side stands in the entrance of the Baratie.
"Pirate Hunter Zoro." Someone murmurs.
Sanji just stares blankly at Zoro before finally crossing his arms. "I could've handled him you know."
"Thought you didn't want to fight?" Zoro says sheathing his sword. "Besides, he was in my way."
"From what? Are you that hungry for food? You couldn't have waited until after I kicked his ass?"
Zoro walks the few steps it takes to reach Sanji and grabs him by his tie. "He was keeping me from you, shitty cook." Without a hint of hesitation Zoro uses his other hand to lift Sanji's chin and kisses him.
