Surprisingly it was Zoro who had asked the question and he smirked as his hand beneath the table came to rest on Sanji's thigh.
"Umm... Well... We haven't really talked about it," she said looking over at Luffy who had a face full of the ham casserole.
Luffy swallowed the entirety of his serving and put his cutlery down on the table. He took Nami's hand in his own and the navigator's face went pink. Luffy let a small grin slide as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Nami would you like to be my girlfriend?" the straw-hat asked grinning after he had asked the question.
His eyes were closed from grinning so wide when Nami placed a kiss on his cheek and whispered "Yes," loud enough for the whole table to hear. The table burst into a sea of "Congratulations," and clapping and other screamed praise.
Zoro was happy for the navigator, he had been with only a few hours earlier. Just as he had found happiness with Sanji he hoped Nami could find happiness with the straw-hat.
She still had Luffy's hat on as people began finishing the food and delved into deep conversation. Sanji stood up to help Chopper collect the plates and then followed him into the kitchen to help him wash up.
"Why don't you cook for us, Sanji?" the little brown haired boy asked.
"Because I've had your cooking before and it was amazing!" he shrieked his eyes sparkling.
Sanji sighed and tousled his hair a bit.
"Wait when did you taste my cooking?" the cook asked.
Chopper blushed his face turning a deep tomato red.
"When Ace used to come on the weekend, and you used to cook for him," the teen whispered.
He knew he'd hit a soft spot with Sanji, bringing up Ace. The little doctor turned away. None of them knew why the two of them had broken up but afterwards Sanji had spiralled into an extensive period of time in which he was in depression; had haunting nightmares, that he denied to everyone; cut himself; starved himself; took up drinking; and began to smoke excessively. At that time no one could offer any help or comfort to him, not even his closest nakama: Usopp. This phase lasted for four months before he gradually became better and was able to actually to get out of bed in the morning and was having less suicidal thoughts.
"Really?!" Sanji said trying to sound like he wasn't dying inside from all the memories Chopper had just brought.
I don't blame him, Sanji thought. He doesn't know, neither do the others.
The little doctor nodded just as the den den mushi in the other room began to ring. At the table, Brook stood up to get it but Sanji told the older one to sit down and he rushed into the room himself.
It had been the den den mushi in the boys' dorm, his in fact and he picked it up to hear the voice on the other end.
"This is a call from the institute of Impel Down. Press 1 if you would like to take a call from "Ace" *BEEP*."
Sanji dropped the den den mushi and sank to the floor in despair. It had been his voice. The voice of the only person in the world he'd ever wanted to kill. Sanji closed his eyes as tears began to spill from them. Ace had been the one he trusted most until he'd taken the most important person in Sanji's life. He taken Mai from him.