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Chapter 48

Oral re-take

Sanji opened the aquarium door and froze for a moment as he entered it. He hadn't set foot there since Franky had rebuild it almost three weeks earlier, and he was now remembering that this room had been ruined the last time he had paid attention to it. He didn't know how the cyborg had managed to fix it so quickly or when he had found all the necessary equipment between their various hectic stops in recent times but the fact was that the aquarium was radiant. He had rebuilt the room identically: its red armchairs, its freight elevator connected to the kitchen and its huge aquarium with bluish light. However, he had added a table and chairs as well as a small counter and the blond approved the initiative because the crew members liked to come and take a break there, enjoying the underwater landscape the place was offering.

Getting out his pondering, Sanji went to their fish and seafood reserves. He wanted to prepare shrimp and avocados cocktails for lunch. Taking hold of the shrimp net to grab the crustaceans, the cook remembered he still had tons of apples stored all over the place and he started looking for a new recipe. Indeed, in their haste to go shopping during their last call at the time of his abduction, Chopper and Franky had practically bought only apples regarding fruit. Sanji didn't hold it against them because they had had the good sense to make stock despite the events but he was getting to the end of his ideas and his crewmates were beginning to get tired of pies, sorbets and apple salads at every meal. Finally shrugging after removing enough shrimp, Sanji decided to make stewed apples he would caramelize. In any case, he knew the captain would honor the dish no matter what.

Sanji knew him by heart. He had barely started cooking the apples in anticipation of his dessert than Luffy was irretrievably drawn to the enticing smell of the fruit simmering in the middle of the brown sugar and cinnamon.

"Sanji, I'm hungry..."

His voice was tearful and the blond shrugged while continuing to peel his shrimp.

"You can eat the pie but don't touch the stewed apples. It's for lunch."

"Really?!"

The straw hat boy couldn't believe his own ears and he didn't wait more than a second to throw himself onto the pie that lay on the table before his cook changed his mind.

"Shank you, Shanshi! It'sh too good!" he exclaimed, chewing loudly.

This one sighed in front of his poor manners before turning to watch that his apples weren't sticking at the bottom of his pot.

"You should thank Chopper and Franky. They bought so many apples I don't know what to do with it..."

He then turned to his captain and leaned against his counter after washing his hands.

"By the way, Luffy, have you thought about this dinner with Nami-san?" he asked him while the captain was devouring another piece of pie with gusto.

"Dinner with Nami?" the latter questioningly repeated, noisily swallowing his mouthful.

"Didn't you want to have a romantic dinner last time?" the cook said, frowning.

"Oh, yes! I said I wanted to eat a romantic dinner when you did it with Zoro!" the straw hat boy remembered, suddenly delighted. "So it's with Nami?"

At these words, Sanji put down the cloth with which he was wiping his hands, disillusioned. It might not have been such a good idea to remind him, but he had resolved to give his two friends a nice evening and he didn't want to break his word.

"This is the principle of a romantic dinner", he then explained patiently. "You eat with the person you love and you have a good time."

"That's great!" the captain cried out. "When do we eat?!"

"That's why I'm asking you, idiot", the blond grumbled. "You have to choose the place, date, meal, w-"

"Yeah, well, I trust you! You're a cook after all!" Luffy dodged, laughing as he was licking the now empty dish.

Sanji snatched it from his hand and put it in the sink before facing him again.

"Your meal will be perfect, trust me. But for your part, you better watch yourself. If you behave like a moron during this meal, it can cost you plenty", he pointed out seriously.

"How much?" the straw hat boy asked. "I don't have much money and Nami doesn't like spending so much..."

"No, stupid! It can cost you plenty in the sense that an evening like this, if it's a failure, can ruin your relationship with Nami!"

"Is that so? So that's risky?" Luffy wondered, suddenly worried.

The cook sighed, weighing his words.

"There are always risks but if you control yourself just a little, you'll strengthen your relationship. It's worth a shot in my opinion. In addition, the idea of a dinner seemed to please her ", he remembered.

"Awesome!" Luffy got enthused. "Make us a great romantic dinner, Sanji!"

"I wonder what I could cook..."

"Legs of lamb!" the captain suggested immediately, drunk with joy.

"It must please her too", the blond reminded him.

"Legs of lamb with tangerines!"

"Okay, that's enough. I'll take care of it..."

"Great!"

The straw hat boy then wanted to rush outside but Sanji interrupted him in his tracks.

"Ask her when you want this dinner, okay?"

"Okay!"

Shortly before lunch, the cook had a surprise visit from the crew's navigator, who seemed confused.

"Oh, Nami-san! What a joy to see you in my kitchen!" Sanji exclaimed as she walked into the room when he was finishing arranging his avocados presentation. "What can I do for your service?!"

"Luffy told me you were making dinner and I should come to see you. I didn't understand everything", the young woman said, shrugging her shoulders.

"That guy..."

The blond wiped his hands and motioned for her to sit around the table. He then gave her a large glass of fresh tangerine juice before joining her.

"It was about the romantic dinner he wanted to offer you", he explained.

"Luffy remembered that?" she asked in amazement.

"Well... I suggested it to him and he remembered", Sanji frankly clarified.

"Yes, that makes more sense to me..."

"So what do you think, Nami-san? What would you like to eat?" he inquired, grabbing his notebook.

The navigator remained silent for a few seconds and Sanji looked up at her, ready to write down her every wish.

"Look, Sanji-kun... I'm not sure", she finally said. "Actually, I don't know if it's a good idea..."

"Really?" his friend wondered.

"Look at him", she sighed. "It'll annoy him and he doesn't even understand the stakes of such an evening."

"That's true but..."

"Never mind. That's nice of you but don't bother."

The young woman stood up and Sanji frowned. She hadn't even touched her favorite fruit juice.

"Nami, is something wrong?" he asked her more seriously as she went through the door.

The navigator turned around and softly shrugged her shoulders.

"No, it's okay. Don't worry."

She was clearly not as enthusiastic or determined as usual, which alarmed the cook a little more.

"Is it because of Luffy?"

Nami had a sorry smile but added nothing and left the room.

Now alone in his kitchen, Sanji shook his head. There was so much risk that the captain would screw everything up with his navigator it was even unlikely that anything had happened before. It was urgent that he does something about it.

"Hurry up. What do you know?"

The cook had kept Ussop, Chopper, Franky and Zoro under various pretexts in the kitchen after lunch. Nami was working on her maps in her room, Robin had locked herself in the library and Sanji had already found out from Brook who had the task of keeping the captain busy for a few minutes. The blond was convinced someone had to know what had happened between Nami and Luffy so that the young woman was suddenly so defeatist about her relationship with the straw hat boy.

"I haven't seen anything special", Ussop reasoned.

"Neither do I", Franky added. "Everything was normal between them."

"Luffy pushed her this morning and she almost fell", Chopper remembered.

"He pushed her? What happened?" the crew's cook wanted to know immediately.

"He was running after Brook and he badly drove a bend. Nami wasn't far away and he bumped into her", the little reindeer told them.

"She didn't seem angry at the time", the cyborg remembered in his turn. "It can't be that."

"Nami wasn't angry?" Ussop noted. "This is weird!"

"You're right", Sanji said. "She was probably already angry..."

"You think?" the doctor asked him. "But when would that be?"

"No idea", the cook sighed. "What did he do, this idiot..."

Everyone remembered their memories for a few moments until Sanji nudged the swordsman who was falling asleep next to him.

"Dammit, don't you wanna make an effort to contribute, cactus head?" he got annoyed.

"What do you want me to do about it?" the fencer grunted, opening his eyes with difficulty. "Maybe Luffy realized she's a witch and he ditched her..."

"Shut the fuck up if it's to say such bullshit!" the blond fumed.

"Make up your mind", he mumbled, settling back on his chair.

"Are you having a secret meeting?" Robin interrupted them, quietly entering the kitchen, a book in hand.

"Do you need anything, Robin-chan?" the cook inquired, getting up to meet her.

"I was coming for coffee."

"Don't move, I'll do it for you!"

"Thank you."

The young woman took a seat around the table and Ussop explained the purpose of their meeting.

"Our navigator didn't especially tell me about the captain, but it is true that she regretted his lack of attention to her many times", the archaeologist reported.

"Oh, that must be this story of a romantic walk in the amusement park!" the cyborg then remembered.

"Of course!" the cook exclaimed. "What an idiot, Nami's request was so obvious!"

"Yeah, well, we're talking about Luffy", the sniper sighed. "What did she expect? She even had to make him a list so that he doesn't miss each of his moments with her..."

"It'd surprise me that Luffy becomes very attentive one day", Chopper lamented.

"That would require understanding what it means first", Sanji muttered, putting Robin's coffee in front of her.

"This dinner idea can be a good thing!" Franky got enthused. "If Luffy behaves, he can regain points with her!"

"The problem is, she doesn't even want to have dinner anymore", the cook point out to them.

"Luffy needs to ask her directly. It's his only chance", Zoro suddenly yawned before getting up. "Okay, I'm leaving you. I've got a nap to take."

Sanji then brutally grabbed him by his tee-shirt, forcing the swordsman to stop.

"Wait a sec. What did you just say?"

"That I'm gonna take a nap", the fencer growled, freeing himself.

"No, before."

Zoro sighed before looking for a few seconds in his memory.

"That Luffy has to ask Nami to have dinner with him so she'll see he's paying attention to her?"

There was a sudden silence in the kitchen and the fencer looked at the crewmembers with incomprehension before Franky's huge fist hit the table.

"Super idea, Zoro-bro!"

"Yeah, it makes sense", Ussop excitedly approved.

"You're awesome!" the little reindeer admired him.

"You have more knowledge in this area than I would have thought", Robin agreed, smiling.

The swordsman stared suspiciously at his friends. He didn't like their smirks or admiring looks. So he shrugged and left the room without further ado.

For his part, Sanji had grabbed his notebook and was taking matters into his own hands.

"Okay, I'm going to prepare a dream evening for them before our next call", he decided. "Now we have to make sure Nami-san accepts this dinner so that Luffy can put things right."

He reviewed his crewmates who all confirmed their approval but when his gaze fell on the archaeologist, he had a doubt.

"You don't think it's a good idea, Robin-chan?" he anxiously asked her.

"I am not comfortable with being interested in the private matters of others" the young woman replied in all sincerity.

"But if we don't help Luffy, he's screwed!" Ussop chimed in. "You saw how he behaves with her, he understands nothing!"

"And what does this have to do with us?" she pointed out.

"He loves her but he doesn't know how to show it to her", the little reindeer pleaded forcefully.

"Robin's right, we can't always be behind them", Franky noted. "It's up to them to know how to build their couple. Even if I'm super willing to help them!" he then added with emotion. "These two are so cute..."

The cyborg was about to cry and Chopper gently handed him a tissue.

"Let's do this just once", the cook offered. "Then they'll manage on their own whatever happens."

"In that case, I agree", the archaeologist finally approved. "For my part, I could make sure that no one will disturb them during this evening."

"Super!" the cyborg who had regained all his good spirits exclaimed. "I'll take care to stay the course so that Nami doesn't worry about anything!"

"Perfect. And by then, we'll all redouble our efforts so that Nami notices Luffy as positively as possible," Sanji concluded.

"It's not gonna be easy", Ussop worried.

"And who's going to talk to Luffy to make him understand what he should do?" Chopper asked.

"About that, I've got an idea", the blond said with a smile.

Sanji watched the swordsman who was finishing his push up series on the back deck of the Sunny. He quietly breathed in on his cigarette while letting him start new strength exercises. He knew the fencer had seen him and so he let him finish his training at his own pace.

Since the incident on the San Marsoni archipelago, he had noted without a shadow of a doubt that Zoro was working twice as hard. He was setting himself more hours and more difficulties. The cook wasn't sure he wasn't overdoing it but it was his way of managing what had happened and he respected it. Sanji then looked at his wounded hand, which was now only protected by a light bandage. He had regained all of his sensitivity and mobility for several days already and Chopper's ointments were now helping him to heal his skin.

"You brought a drink, curly?"

The blond returned his provocative look without faltering. If Zoro seemed to want to work hard for his dream, their discussions had returned to normal. Sanji had only just noted that despite the length of his training, the swordsman didn't always come out of it satisfied.

"I'm not coming for this, marimo. If you're good, I'll go get you a bottle afterwards."

The fencer frowned and wiped his forehead with his tee-shirt before walking towards his crewmate.

"Then why are you here?" he growled, coming up to him.

"You have to talk to Luffy", the cook replied, dragging on his cigarette. "Tell him why this dinner is very important for the rest of his relationship with Nami."

Zoro stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Why me? You punish me because I had this idea?" he scowled. "I tried to participate, that's not m-"

"It was the best idea and we kept it", the blond cut him short. "So you're gonna talk to him 'cause you're the one who understands him best. I'm sure you can spread the word to him."

"I don't think so, cook", the swordsman grumbled. "I'm not good with speeches..."

"Luffy doesn't need a speech, marimo. He needs to get why he should pay attention to his girlfriend. If it doesn't make sense, he'll never see any point in it. You know what I mean?"

Zoro sighed. Yes, he knew perfectly well what the cook was referring to. His misunderstanding as to Sanji's need to ask him questions had in fact almost led them to disaster. If Luffy was there with Nami today, there was indeed a serious risk that their relationship wouldn't last.

"There's only you to translate to him what to do, Cactus-kun. The rest of us, civilized beings, can only handle words", he concluded with an insolent smile.

The fencer rolled his eyes before folding his arms, annoyed.

"Yeah, well, we managed on our own so why don't they do the same?"

"You never needed anyone's help regarding our relationship?" the cook asked, raising his visible eyebrow. "Not even when you decided that the both of us might be worth it?"

Zoro stared at him for a moment before heavily sighing again. He was trapped.

"Uh, Luffy, you got a minute?"

"Yeah. What is it, Zoro?"

The captain came close to his first mate, curious.

"Well, uh..."

The swordsman breathed for a long time. Dammit, he should have kept his mouth shut with his dinner invitation! He was the one who didn't care about their relationship, and yet it was up to him to open the straw hat boy's eyes. It was probably the most difficult mission he had ever had to do...

"How's it going with Nami?"

It was lame and not really subtle but he was counting on Luffy's naivety so that he wouldn't notice anything.

"Nami? Everything's fine!" the latter replied with a big smile.

"Oh, yeah? That doesn't look like it."

Zoro mentally slapped himself. Sanji had just told him to act normal and to only suggest the idea of the invitation...

"Really? She told you?"

The captain was looking questioningly at him with his most serious air and Zoro shook his head. Luffy wasn't going to come through this if he didn't tell him the truth anyway.

"No, but it shows. She doesn't look... happy right now."

At the same time, apart from giving her a chest full of berries, he couldn't help but think...

"Oh."

Luffy looked really disappointed and the swordsman suddenly felt sad for him.

"Don't worry... Girls are like that, it'll be fine", he tried awkwardly to reassure him.

"Yeah but Nami's not an ordinary girl", his captain pointed out.

"About that, I agree with you", Zoro sighed, leaning on the railing.

"I wanna do well but I don't know how!" Luffy pouted. "When I wanna give her something, half of the time she's not happy..."

"You can't give a girl a two-meter fish alive", Zoro winced, thinking back to the way the straw hat boy had flung the little sea monster to the navigator some time before.

"But I don't do it anymore; I always look at her list!"

"A list?" his first mate wondered.

"Yes! She wrote everything I got to do in it!"

Zoro kept himself from sighing again. He suddenly knew where the cook's idea was coming from to give him one when they were on the four weathers island. Proof that this stuff wasn't working...

"You gotta learn to rack your brain all by yourself if you wanna keep your girl", the fencer pointed out to him.

"This is complicated", Luffy lamented, letting himself slide on the floor.

"I know. Don't ask me why but some people think we forget them if we don't talk to them and I think Nami's one of them."

They remained silent for a while. Zoro was staring at the horizon and Luffy had sat on the floor with a scowl. Finally, the fencer took place beside him with an uncertain look and grabbed one of his blades.

"Nami, she's like a sword", he showed him. "You need to take care of her regularly and check she's fine or else one day, she won't want to be with you anymore."

"You think?" the captain asked, incredulous.

"Yeah", the fencer continued with more confidence. "If you're not careful, maybe one day she'll tell you she found someone who takes better care of her. Like a sword when her owner is no longer worthy of her."

As Luffy was still staring at him, the swordsman went on.

"It means it'll be over being able to touch or kiss her. She'll do this with someone else."

At these words, the captain finally seemed to realize the urgency of the situation and he opened his eyes wide.

"But I don't wanna!" he got indignant. "What should I do?!"

The fencer shrugged.

"You don't have to be like Sanji and crawl at her feet but from time to time, it'd be nice if you showed her you thought of her."

"How?" he asked, eyes still wide.

"Like asking her to have dinner together, for example."

"Awesome! Sanji said he was gonna prepare one!"

"It mustn't come from Sanji, it must come from you", Zoro patiently explained him. "Otherwise, it's like you haven't thought of her."

Luffy focused for a moment on the words of his first mate and the latter didn't dare to disturb his thinking. Finally, the captain looked up, a resolute look on his face.

"I get it now. I've got to offer her things she likes for us to do it together. That way, she knows I'm thinking of her!"

"That's it", the swordsman approved.

"So cool! Thank you, Zoro!"

The straw hat boy jumped up and rushed towards the navigator's cabin before the fencer could give him the last advices.

Zoro got up in his turn and put his sword back at his waist while shaking his head. He had done it for his captain, because he had allowed him to move forward in his relationship with the cook - albeit without his knowledge - but he promised himself something. Never again would he do the middleman between him and his crazy girlfriend. It was a matter of honor.

"Nami, I've got to talk to you!"

The navigator slowly raised her head from her maps. Luffy had just tumbled into her room - without knocking of course - and wore a determined air.

"What is it? An island in sight?"

"I don't know, but I wanted to ask you something", the captain said, focused.

"What?"

"You wanna have a romantic dinner with me?"

The red-haired woman gasped in surprise and stared at him. She had said no to Sanji, but now Luffy was trying again.

Nami had recently realized how much their relationship was up to her. Luffy certainly had real feelings towards her, but his behavior was a little too much like the one of an automaton. He was following her list's recommendations to the letter but precisely, apart from what the navigator told him to do, nothing came of himself. Nothing proved her that he understood what this relationship really meant and apart from the few kisses they were exchanging - each time on her own initiative - he was behaving exactly the same way towards her as towards their other crewmates. She didn't imagine asking the captain to invite her to romantic walks by the water but she wanted him at least to acknowledge the importance of creating ties other than those he was sharing with the rest of the crew. She wanted to be different in his eyes sometimes. She didn't want him to stupidly please her because she had asked him...

Finally, she bit her lip, undecided about his proposal.

"Well, I'm not against the idea but..."

"We don't spend a lot of time together but I think of you sometimes, you know!"

The navigator opened her mouth like a fish out of water. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It didn't look like Luffy but at the same time, he was looking so serious...

"Do you have any idea what we're going to do during this dinner?" she asked carefully.

"Well, eat first", he said after a second's reflection. "And maybe talk? Oh, and it'd be nice if it was in front of the tangerine trees, right? It'd be pretty!"

Nami stared at him, stunned.

"Y-Yes, that'd be nice", she stammered a few moments later, still dazed.

"So, do you agree?" the captain asked her, leaning in with excitement.

"Uh... Yes. Yes, I agree..."

"Awesome! I'll tell Sanji!"

Luffy ran back from where he had come, leaving the pretty redhead perfectly incredulous.

It's not easy to make Luffy maturing and he'll never be a perfect gentleman but he can progress at his own pace.

Hope you still like it!