Late night on the Going Merry. Sanji was in the galley, having finished work in there for the day. Sitting down at the table, he poured himself a glass of wine and lit the day's final cigarette. Sanji needed time to unwind before going to bed – though he had been finding that difficult recently. Sipping his wine he wondered, as he had countless times already, whether Ace had got his letter yet. And whether he had torn it up and thrown it away if he had. He could have hardly been blamed for doing so, after the way Sanji had treated him. Sanji puffed anxiously at his cigarette. He certainly hoped Ace wouldn't tear it up. Since admitting his feelings, he had become more sure of them every day, though he would not have believed that was possible. Waiting for Ace to reply had given him a breathing space in which to truly come to terms with what he felt, and to get used to the idea that it was a man and not a woman, that he desired so much.
Still, it had been several weeks since he had written to him and he was getting a little anxious – he supposed there was a good chance that the letter hadn't reached Ace yet. Grand Line postal services were, by their very nature, unreliable. But he just wished he knew. All this waiting and wondering was making him really miserable. Perhaps the weather was partly responsible for his mood as well; it had been raining on and off for days and days and there had been several storms. It was raining now, and a chill wind was blowing. Sanji drank some more wine. Perhaps, perhaps Ace had got the letter. Perhaps he had decided to forgive Sanji. Perhaps he was even planning to come and see him soon, if he didn't have anything more important to do. This hopeful reverie was interrupted by a small tap on the galley door. Unused to company at this time of night – or to such courtesies as knocking – Sanji jumped. "Who's there?" he called out suspiciously. "Luffy, if that's you trying to sneak food-" but the door creaked open to reveal, not Luffy, but his brother.
He was soaking wet and bedraggled and looked so utterly exhausted and forlorn that for a split second Sanji almost didn't recognize him.
"It's me, Sanji," he said rather superfluously.
Sanji leapt up and ran to him. "Ace!" In the sudden rush of emotions that he was experiencing, it felt perfectly natural for him to clasp both of Ace's hands. "You actually came!"
"Of course I came," Ace pulled Sanji's hands against his chest. "How could I have stayed away?"
Sanji looked down at the floor. "You would have been well within your rights to, after the way I treated you…"
"But Sanji… what happened that night was my fault, not yours. I shouldn't have come on so heavy, I-"
"But if you don't blame me, then why did you leave?"
"Because you were so upset. I just couldn't bear the thought that I'd caused it, and I felt sure you'd never want to talk to me again…" Sanji shook his head gently. "I just couldn't believe it when I got your letter. I set sail as soon as I'd read it."
"As soon as..? Oh Ace!" Now Sanji knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had done the right thing in asking Ace to come back to him. He flung his arms around Ace and squeezed him tightly. "I was sure you'd have more important things to do," he mumbled, into Ace's shoulder.
"Of course not, Sanji," Ace replied. "Nothing could be more important than you."
He spoke with such simple sincerity, that Sanji was overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of tenderness. This time he felt no apprehension or uncertainty – without even thinking about it, he pressed his lips against Ace's and kissed him passionately. He had not thought it would be this simple. He had thought they would discuss it more: he had had all sorts of speeches and explanations planned out in his head. But as Ace responded to his kiss with a soft moan of pleasure, wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer, Sanji that this was the only way it should be.
They would probably have stayed that way for much longer, if Sanji had not then become aware that cold water was slowly dampening his silk shirt. "Ace, you're soaked!" he exclaimed. "How long have you been sailing in the rain?"
Ace shrugged. "Several days. I haven't really stopped since I set sail."
"Kuso Hiken," Sanji said, stroking his cheek. "There was no need to exhaust yourself for my sake," then he remembered something that Ace had told him once, about food triggering his narcolepsy, and that being dangerous while sailing… "Please tell me that doesn't mean you haven't eaten since you set sail either?" Ace hesitated before replying, which was answer enough. "Ace!" Sanji exclaimed, eyes wide. "How have you not caught pneumonia, or collapsed, or both?" he pulled out of their embrace. "I'm going to get you a towel, and run you a hot bath. And get you some food. You just sit down," As he bustled out of the galley, Ace sat down obediently at the table, smiling a little sheepishly.
Moments later, Sanji was back with an enormous white towel, fluffy and warm. He threw it at Ace, saying: "Take off your wet jeans."
"Yes, Sanji," Ace said meekly, as Sanji went on: "I'll heat up some soup for you," then turned away blushing, when Ace grinned to see that he was stealing sly glances at him during the brief moments when he stood in only his boxers.
Only when he turned to set the bowl of hot, rich soup down on the table did he look at Ace again. He smiled. Ace looked rather cute wrapped up in the towel. As Ace gave up any pretence that he wasn't ravenously hungry and attacked the soup, Sanji lit another cigarette. Taking a deep drag, he placed his hand over Ace's. "Kuso baka," he said, gently, stroking his wrist with his finger. "Never do anything silly like that again, OK?"
"I'll try, Sanji," said Ace, between mouthfuls of soup. "But then," he squeezed the hand that held his. "Am I ever likely to get a letter like that, again?"
Sanji confessed a nagging fear that he'd had since he posted the letter: "I was afraid I'd been a bit overdramatic. I didn't mean to worry you."
Ace squeezed his hand again. "I think probably I was the one who was being overdramatic." They gazed affectionately at each other for a few moments, until Ace's eyes glazed over and he began the slump forward. Sanji managed to shake him gently awake before his head hit the table. "Sorry," said Ace, sweat-dropping.
"I feel like I should have let you sleep," Sanji stroked his face. "You must be so tired. Would you like to go to bed?"
"Well, yes. But I would quite like that hot bath first."
"Oh, well it won't take long, there's plenty of hot water." He paused, suddenly feeling a little shy. "Hey, Ace? You wouldn't fall asleep in the bath, would you? What I mean is – should I sit with you in case you do?" He blushed again as Ace laughed a little and said: "Please do." Sanji took his hand and lead him to the bathroom.
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In the bathroom, Sanji poured bubble bath into steaming hot water. This time the glance he gave Ace's naked, tattooed form as he let the towel drop was anything but sly. Having long ago reconciled himself to the fact that Ace was not female, his desire was rapidly growing now that Ace was here with him.
He watched Ace settle himself in the tub, then helped him wash his hair and scrub his back, letting his hands linger much longer than necessary on the hard muscle, and marvelling at how much he liked the feel of it under his fingers.
When all the shampoo was rinsed away, Ace leaned back with a contented sigh. Sanji sat on the floor and lolled against the edge of the tub, letting his eyes rove over Ace's smooth, naked torso. The more he saw, the more he found he liked. His gaze dropped lower – if only he hadn't put so many bubbles in the water!
"What?" said Ace, seeing Sanji staring at him.
Sanji blushed, but smiled as well this time. "I never would have thought I'd say this to any man, Ace, but – you're so beautiful."
Ace moved forward and pulled Sanji into a deep kiss. Sanji kissed back fervently, not caring that Ace was dripping all over his favourite silk shirt, or that his knees hurt from kneeling on the hard floor, too caught up in the feeling of his body responding to the urgency of Ace's kiss. Gasping for breath, he pulled away and whispered in Ace's ear: "I want you, Ace!"
Ace stood up, grinning again, and reached for the towel. "Then let's go to bed," he said, leading the way to Sanji's cabin, still dripping.
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"Ace, you must be exhausted," said Sanji once they were inside. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather go to sleep?"
In answer, Ace kissed him again, and pressed his body very close against Sanji's, saying: "What do you think?"
"I guess you wouldn't," Sanji smiled, feeling something very hard pressing against his hip.
Ace said nothing more but, letting the towel drop to the floor, he lay down on the bed and gently pulled Sanji down on top of him, undoing his shirt as he did so.
Dawn was beginning to break when they'd decided they were sated – for now – and at long last Ace succumbed to his exhaustion and fell asleep almost immediately, his arms wrapped tenderly around Sanji. Sanji, however, continued to lie awake, overwhelmed by what they had just done, thoughts, images, remembered sensations, spinning round inside his head. Sanji had always thought of himself, with women, as being a diligent, attentive lover who provided for the every need of his bedfellow while she had to do nothing but lie back and be pleasured. But he had found that, with Ace, this overpowering need to perform that had plagued him throughout most of his adolescence was gone. With Ace, he had found it easy to lose himself in the immediate pleasure of what they were doing. It was only now, afterwards, that he had time to marvel at how much he enjoyed being held in Ace's strong arms and yielding to his fast, urgent and expert lovemaking. And to be delighted that Ace had taken as much pleasure from his own subtle, slow, lazy technique. He sighed and stretched contentedly. If anyone had told him before now that it was possible to be this happy, he would never have believed them. If only he had let himself accept it sooner… But no, he thought, snuggling closer to Ace, now was not the time to regret the past, or worry about the future, now was simply the time to be happy for as long as was humanly possible.
Laying his head on Ace's shoulder, Sanji also, finally, slept.
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And let us hope that they will be happy for as long as human possible, because this is where we leave them! I was going to change the title. but it seems to have justified itself, with this "happy after ever ending" (Maerchen means fairy tale in German, if I haven't mentioned that somewhere before).
This is the first story of any length that I've ever actually finished, so you can't tell how proud I am! But please don't let that stop you from sharing any constructive criticism you may have!