Sol Invictus

Chapter Twelve: Sight Beyond Eyes

"Curly brow chef, join my pirate crew!"

"I apologize, my lady," Sanji said, after a shocked pause. Her pirate crew? This little dove was a pirate captain? He was both surprised and not at all - he wasn't unfamiliar with strongly independent women, after all. It suited her. "Though I am honoured by your request, it pains me to say that I cannot."

"And why is that?" a familiar voice asked. "If it's because of me, then forget it. This is a good chance. Just go and be a pirate. We don't want you and your shit food here anyway."

Sanji fluidly rose to his feet and flicked the ashes from the end of his cigarette in one wide, sweeping arc, allowing his arm to drop to his side with the still burning stick held loosely between fingers. No need to waste another cigarette by crushing it between his teeth.

The blond turned to meet Zeff's aloof eyes with a measured gaze of his own, carefully erased of any real emotion. "Shut up, old hag."

Stronger words bubbled hot and angry against his teeth but he allowed himself a slow, barely shuddering breath and reigned in his temper. He didn't want to fight, didn't want to be cut down by Zeff's biting words, not today, not in front of a crowd. Not in front of this crowd.

Sharp, searching eyes dragged over his steely countenance and snagged on the vulnerabilities, an act borne easy from years of familiarity. "You dare refer to me so rudely, you little piece of crap?!"

Bullshit, he thought. The pair had called each other so much worse over less in the past; what was she trying to do? "So what, shitty geezer," he said instead, eyes narrowing. "What're you going to do about it?"

No other words were exchanged as Sanji found himself slammed into the table behind him, solid set wood crumbling like thin caramel art under the force. He shot to his feet in an instant, winded, but not so much that he could not retaliate. Except that something silver was blazing its way to Zeff's turned back. His eyes widened when he realized a steak knife had been thrown up by a plank of broken wood, narrowing in on the back of her exposed neck.

"No - !" If that knife entered the space between the vertebrae of her spine, it could render Zeff's entire body paralyzed; forget repaying Zeff for her leg, he might as well just dive into the ocean before the misfortune that clung to him like a second skin ended up outright killing her.

...or perhaps death would be merciful compared to such a fate, to such a woman.

Sanji kicked forward with an outstretched hand, blunt nails desperately scratching at the air for purchase -

but a slimmer hand had already wrapped its fingers around the handle of the treacherous knife in a tight fist -

Wide blue and brown met for a fleeting, eternal moment.

Then a flying table smashed into Zeff's - no, not just Zeff's, all of theirs, all of Baratie's - saviour and Sanji saw red. Worn, rough woven cloth obstructed his vision as the girl barreled backwards into him, and he could only be relieved that at least his body was there to cushion the fall. He grunted as his back collided with the stone chimney, but the girl was already bouncing to her feet and facing a large figure standing in front of the restrooms, knife dropped harmlessly to the side.

Her hand was bleeding, he realized, a slow, sluggish dripping, and the swordsman who had been seated to her right was beginning to rise to his feet with a dangerous scowl distorting his brows. The other two she had been with - the lady and the long nose - had adopted hostile expressions as well, stirring restlessly in their chairs.

Ah, thought Sanji. If she was a captain, then this must be her crew.

A frown tugging down the corners of her mouth, Luffy noted the raising hackles of her nakama in the corner of her eye. It hadn't hurt, of course. The knife had slipped a little and cut her, but that was something easily ignored, and the table hadn't even left a bruise - couldn't, given who she was. Zoro looked about ready to spill blood though, and that wasn't good; this was Sanji's family. If any of the Baratie cooks were hurt as badly as Zoro was capable of, he would never join them. And if she told her first mate to stand down, if she kept her crew from retaliating at all, the resentment would keep them from properly accepting Sanji as nakama at the get go.

And so she came to an easy solution.

"What the heck was that for," she yelled, grabbing another table and throwing it right back at her attacker. She threw herself behind it and when the other man inevitably smashed the projectile with a swing of his thick forearm, he was met with a fist to his face. It was a careless swing, with none of the vehemence that she would have used against a real enemy, but it met Patty's jaw with a noisy thwack. With a great scowl he snatched her out of the air by her shoulders and threw her into the nearest surface. She flew through a stool and through the bar itself, rolling heels over head into a large group of cowering waiters who shrieked and fell over like bowling pins.

She ignored them and tossed a stretchy leg through the cloud of wreckage, sweeping her foot towards Patty's direction and dealing a hard strike to his shins. There was a shout as he toppled over; she used the parts of the bar that were still intact to leapfrog forward and landed with all her weight onto the larger man's head, driving his face into the wood of the deck with her feet and inciting a large grunt of pain.

Facing the rest of her nakama as the dust cleared, she plopped down onto the man's broad back and grinned a great big grin, throwing out her hand in a cheerful victory sign. Nami was rolling her eyes, a smile playing around her lips, Usopp was giving her a victory sign right back, and Zoro was giving her an exasperated smirk, all swords firmly tucked back into their sheaths. The woman who had argued with Sanji was leaning back onto a wall with her arms crossed, her eyes shrewd and evaluative. Sanji himself had stood back up and was leaning against the stone chimney, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips, his arms crossed in unconscious mirror of the woman.

Patty jumped to his feet, throwing her off with a roar. He cradled the back of his head with a hand and pointed an incriminatory finger at her. "You damn little sea urchin! How dare you attack Owner Zeff - "

"That's it," someone snapped from the direction of the damaged bar. Everyone in the restaurant turned to see Steve scraping into a standing position, a harsh scowl on his face. He undid his waist apron, balled it up, and threw it to the ground. "I'm not staying in this insane place for a second longer! I quit!"

He strode to the main doors of the Baratie and stomped out, slamming them shut behind him.

"M-me too!" a brunet waiter wailed, dropping his apron to the floor.

"Me as well!" Another scrap of white cloth went flying over a shoulder.

One by one the waiters of Baratie began to quit their jobs, each stomping out after the other until not a single waiter remained in the entire establishment. The customers watched their servers go with varying degrees of shock and amusement and irritation plastered on their faces.

"Huh," Luffy said, after a long moment of silence. "That's bad right?"

"This is all your fault, you sea urchin!" Patty shouted at her, spittle accompanying his words. Luffy scowled and wiped off her cheek with the back of her hand.

"It's your fault you dumbass," someone else snapped, smacking Patty across the back of his head from behind. "You've been yelling at the waiters all month. And you picked a fight with this poor young lady for no reason, don't go blaming her for something that you caused."

"Quit your jabbering, idiots," an authoritative voice snapped. The lady from earlier clunked her way over to the trio, and Luffy's eyes flew downwards, properly noticing the older woman's wooden leg for the first time that day. "Or I'll make you clean this entire mess on your hands and knees."

Luffy blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

Wait a second…

"Yes Owner Zeff," said Patty, immediately standing down.

"Che," Sanji replied, turning away with a scowl.

This… this was Zeff? How was this Zeff? Zeff was a man. Zeff was supposed to be a man. Right?

But I'm a girl, she thought. And apparently, Nojiko wasn't. And Zoro, he… maybe that meant Kuina…? Then what did that say about Tashigi?

Eyes nearly twirling with confusion, Luffy registered someone speaking to her when a finger flicked her forehead. She smacked a hand over the spot. "Ow," she said reflexively, though it didn't really hurt.

"Brat, did you hear a word I said?"

"Nope," the noirette replied. She returned the woman's exasperated squinty-eyed look with a cheery grin.

The woman - Zeff - twitched a brow in irritation. "I said, pay your bill. And for the damages. And get me new waiters."

"Oi, owner, this girl - " Sanji began, but a glare from both women shut him up.

"I can do the first one, and help clean, and I'll pay for that one table that I threw," Luffy said. "But that's all, 'baa-san."

"Who're you calling old, you little piece of shit!" Zeff snapped, pecking the girl on the top of her head with the end of her long white chef's hat. Luffy puffed her cheeks out in reply. The ex-pirate captain ignored it, expelling an annoyed breath and continuing, "It's not up for negotiation. Pay for the damages."

Luffy crossed her arms too. "No," she said, her jaw set stubbornly. "He's the one who attacked me, make him do it."

"You terrorized the waiters too. Take responsibility for it, brat."

"I can't get you waiters," the girl began, brows slanted, lips pouting. But then she read the twist of Zeff's mouth and finally got it. "But... I guess I could work for you until you find new ones. If I get free meals."

"Fine. You'll be working here two months."

"Nope. One week."

"I said two months, brat," Zeff said, brow twitching again. She bent her head forward to glare the shorter girl straight in the eye.

"I'm not waiting two months to set off on my adventure again," Luffy protested, lips downturned petulantly. She stared stubbornly back at the cook, back straight and proud. "One week is enough!"

"You try to leave before two months are up, we'll see if you still have two legs."

"Just try and stop me, 'baa-san." Luffy grinned sharply, chin quirked in challenge.

There was violent sort of stillness in the air as both intractable women attempted to wear each other down.

The silence was broken when Zeff smirked and threw a scrap of white over Luffy's head. "Get cleaning, straw-hat kid. Ask your little friends for help, whatever. I don't care. Patty! Back in the kitchen! You tryna put me out of business?" As Patty limped away, she began to clunk her way back to the kitchen as well, but paused in front of Sanji. "And you, eggplant. Grab a broom. You're on cleaning duty with the little girl. And get her a uniform while you're at it. Don't step a foot in the kitchen until everything is clean."

Luffy watched as Sanji's jaw worked furiously, the veins in his neck prominent with strain. His hands clenched and opened and clenched again.

But then he suddenly took a breath and relaxed. Uncurled his fists. Gave Zeff a crisp nod and strode away to the washrooms.

The older woman stared after him for a moment before leaving, her dark eyes inscrutable.

"Guysss," Luffy whined. "Help me out here." There was a pile of debris stacked up haphazardly against the wall, made with the image of a whale in mind; a stool leg jutted out proudly from the misshapen monument, evidence of Luffy's efficient work in the past 5 minutes.

Sanji had been banned from the kitchen because of her, and she didn't want that to last any longer than necessary. Her chef made the best food, after all. (And besides, making food for others was Sanji's lifeblood, it stood at the core of everything he was, and to deprive him of that was so... wrong. It was just so very, very wrong.)

"Nah," Zoro said, leaning back in his seat and throwing back a cup of sake. He dropped the emptied porcelain back onto the table, eyes devilish as he hooked his elbows over the back of his chair. "I think I'm good here."

"Is it an octopus? A monkey?... Crocodile?" Usopp was staring at her creation with an expression of deep concentration, his head turned to the side.

Beside him, Nami rolled her eyes again. "It's clearly a giraffe." Luffy crinkled her nose at the both of them. It was a whale! A whale! "More importantly, Luffy, are we really staying here for a week?"

"Ah!" Luffy exclaimed, glancing up from the remnants of a shattered bottle of wine. "That's right. Nami, are you okay with that?"

The clinking of silverware on china faded into the white noise of the other patrons as Usopp turned his eyes back to the trio. Why would they have issue with a mere week-long delay? No, he could think of a few reasons. More specifically, why Nami in particular?

"This close to Cocoyashi... I'm sure you're feeling impatient, right?"

"Well," Nami began, looking down at her splayed hands and then back up at Luffy. "If we need to wait, I don't really mind it. It can't be helped, after all."

"Nami can take Merry first and go to see your precious people, if you want," Luffy offered. She beamed at her navigator, who looked to be hesitantly warming to the idea. "Or everyone can go with her. I don't mind. I can catch up later."

"But," began Nami, ever the prudent one, "Do any of you even know how to get to Cocoyashi?"

"The wind will blow me in the right direction," Luffy chirped.

Zoro grunted. "I'd find it somehow."

"My team of fifty thousand skilled navigators will take me there!" Usopp crooned.

"That's what I thought," Nami sighed. But then she laughed and shook her head. "I think I'll be able to handle a bit more wait."

Usopp was frowning though. "Luffy, why didn't you just tell the chef lady that it was a misunderstanding? You saved her life! Surely she'd let you off for that, and maybe waive your entire bill too."

She already knows, Luffy thought, remembering the older woman's sharp eyes. There was no way she didn't. But still, it was true what Zeff had told her.

"I made a mess too, so I should take responsibility."

"But it was self-defense! In fact, they should be compensating you, you know, instead of putting you in debt!"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Mou, Usopp, just give it up. Luffy's just too honest for her own good."

Luffy shifted a little in discomfort and something in her gut twisted cruelly because, no, no she really wasn't, and she wished Nami hadn't said that, and that Zoro wouldn't nod along.

Sanji's sudden interruption was a more than welcome interruption from the guilt roiling in her belly.

"Mademoiselle, your temporary uniform," the blond announced, striding into the room and presenting a bundle of cloth with a flourish and a flirty little grin. "If you would do this humble restaurant the gift of wearing its symbol, there would be no greater elation to be known by us meagre cooks. My heart is already in anxious suspense for what is sure to be a beauteous sight!"

Luffy laughed again at Sanji's cheesily embellished words. Here was a guy who didn't mind being the butt of a joke if it made the other happier. It was terrible abuse of his admittedly great grasp of language, and the twinkle in his eye told her he more than knew it.

Even though they had only really met a little while ago, Luffy was beginning to get a grasp of Sanji as a person, a human being, and she was so, so, relieved to realise that she liked who he was. She liked him.

Zeff had given her a scare. If Sanji's mentor was a woman, then Sanji's basest values became... what, exactly? Not the same, of course, he could not maintain the same approach to life as the character she had known; she could see without doubt that Zeff was a predator through and through, and such a weakness would have had her cook chewed up and spat out in ragged pieces. But he was whole and (more than) alive, standing before her with a smile and all eccentricities seemingly intact.

So what had changed between Sanji, the character, and Sanji, the man standing before her? Everything, maybe. Or nothing. Perhaps both.

She supposed she could only really wait for him to show her.

Eleven year old Sanji staggered to his feet, everything in him reeling from violent impact against a wall. The world swayed dangerously before his eyes.

"Your insistence on chivalry is honorable and all, but if you keep holding back, I really will kill you," Zeff told him casually, buffing her nails on her shirt. "There is nothing you can do that will hurt me in the least. In fact, I'll make it easier for you - don't think of me as a woman. Think of me... as a monster. Because I assure you, I am every single one of your nightmares and worse." Dark eyes pierced Sanji through; he felt like an insignificant bug floating in a shitty bowl of second-rate soup.

His hands curled into fists and he ran at her again, leg rising in a roundhouse kick. The pig-tailed woman knocked him over with a wooden peg to the forehead.

"Better. But not good enough. Until you are able to attack me at your full strength, meagre though it is, I won't let you step foot in a kitchen, won't let you cook a single damn thing. In fact," she said, eyeing him coldly. "I might as well cut off your hands now, if you're going to be this stubborn. You won't be needing them, after all."

Sanji's eyes widened and he saw red. He roared, throwing himself at her without regard to anything but the fright that she might actually - and the sheer anger coursing in his veins that the old hag would dare to even suggest - !

She met his kick with her own and a wisp of a grin. "That's the spirit," she said, before proceeding to pummel him into the ground.

Sanji watched as the little raven took her new clothes and bounced off to the restrooms with a grin.

How impossible a girl, to meet his mentor toe to toe like that. It nearly made him want to consider her offer.

He'd watched pirates twice her height and many times her breadth falter when faced with Red-Leg Zeff. It was the reason he'd long dismissed the notion of ever pledging himself under another name - because how could a man conditioned against earth shattering tsunamis be moved by a mere gust of wind? His pride would not be able to stand it. Her, though... maybe... she could almost...

But if almosts and nearlies made reality, the world would be a far different place.

(He'd be dead, for one. As would Zeff.)

The thought sent a shiver down his spine, so he shunted it aside and got to work speedily sweeping glass shards and other debris into a dust pan. The lady captain had been busy at work during the brief time he had been out of sight; all the larger bits of collateral damage had been gathered in a tight pile against a wall, which significantly eased Sanji's work.

Large pieces of wood were stacked in a separate pile for tinder, and everything that could not be salvaged was categorized as trash and bundled in large black bags. He cleared up the remainder of the mess with the ease of practice - in a matter of moments, the deck was entirely cleared of evidence from the brief battle.

Never let it be said that Sanji would stand idly once kicked out of the kitchen. Nothing motivated him quite as well as that, which was probably why Zeff kept using it against him. That vicious old hag. There should be a limit to low blows, ex-pirate captain or not.

"Oi, cook-san," he heard. He turned to see the long nose motioning at him. He considered getting ticked off by the scrawny boy's patronizing hand waves, but decided the kid was really too scrawny to get into any sort of fight with. Though he was irritating. "You saw what really happened, right? If you're the sous-chef, can't you talk to the owner about this? It's unfair for Luffy to have to work off a debt she shouldn't owe!"

"Usopp, you're still on that?" the beautiful maiden beside him sighed. "Luffy says it was fine, didn't she? Besides, it's only for a week."

"But you heard that scary old lady," Usopp protested. "If Luffy tries to leave before two months, she'll lose her leg!"

"As if she'll let that happen," the swordsman cut in. To Sanji's ears, it sounded more like 'As if I'll let that happen'.

"When Luffy wants to leave, she'll leave," the lady added, rolling her eyes. "Out of sheer stubbornness, if nothing else."

Either these pirates had a great deal of faith in her captain, or they were severely underestimating Zeff - a very unwise decision.

Regardless, none of his business. If the beautiful lady with the oranges tresses was in danger, he'd likely interfere, but her captain on the other hand… It was clear to him that she had the constitution of a beast of prey, just as Zeff did. It would be an insult and a half for him to involve himself, uninvited, into a battle of pride; he knew better than to intrude upon the clashing of two predators. In such things, gender mattered none. That had been the first thing the old hag had beaten into him.

The long nose's voice pulled Sanji out of his thoughts. "But still, can't you at least talk to her?"

"Che," Sanji responded with a curled lip. He gestured at the recently cleared floor with a sweep of a hand. "Does it look like she'd listen to me?"

"To be sure, it's weird that the second in command is being made to clean," the lady commented, staring at him with sharp, curious eyes. "If you didn't do anything wrong, why are you being punished?"

He neatly sidestepped her query with a bombastic, "Sa, that's a mystery, isn't it? But my lady, as apology for your interrupted meal, I shall bring you a complimentary dessert. If it would so please you to wait a few moments, I'll return with a treat almost as delightful as your presence!" Sanji swept into a low bow and retreated into the kitchen without waiting for her response. She was beautiful and clever, and he deeply appreciated both traits, but the deck was clean and that was perhaps a bit more personal than he was comfortable sharing.

AN

Here it is, my wonderful darling patient readers! The next chapter! Thank you for waiting so much. I hope you like, and that no one is particularly out of character. Or, in Sanji's case, out of character in a way that is stretching the limits of what a slightly changed past could do.

So, yeah. Zeff being a woman was very important for Sanji's character development. Sanji is stronger because his mentor is more vicious to him (and also because she herself is stronger), but more than that, I just can't have his gallant tendencies clash with Luffy's fights.

There's a story pairing poll on my profile! Super important! (Hahahahahaha make sure you use all 10 ;)

By the way, I guess I forgot to mention this but I have another fem!Luffy fic up called Solstice. It's set in the Sol universe (i.e. this one) and it's an AU of the Alabasta arc. Main pairing is (very M rated) Crocodile x femLuffy, and mentions of side pairings ZoLu, SanLu and AceLu, since it's set in the same universe as this story and all. The Alabasta arc I have planned for Invictus is very, very different to what happens in Solstice though, fortunately for our hero.

I've also started a fic called Through Treacherous Waters, a One Piece and Naruto crossover with all the OP cast and only a few Naruto characters. No femLuffy, and the main character is Haruno Sakura. Involves the Strawhats in high school (minus Robin, Franky, Brook). Lots and lots and lots of university student Law. Also lots of Rob Lucci, Smoker, Killer, Kid, and later, Doffy. Set in a modern world, with nefarious plots and a thriving criminal underworld that Sakura eventually discovers. That is, if I manage to continue up to there, ahahaha...

Please review, I have another midterm on wednesday and I need a bit of a pick me up. ;-;