Night and Day

A Post-Piracy Sanji Side Story

By Aoikami Sarah

Chapter Eleven - Music Maestro Please!

Three days later Harmony hadn't seen much of Sanji and if not for his restaurants running perfectly again, she would have thought he up and left. Just after lunch she went in search of him to ask him what he thought about the move.

"That's all," she muttered to herself as she walked through the hall from her apartment toward the elevator. "Just business." She descended a floor and knocked on his door. No answer. "How's it going?" she asked the Sanji in her mind; the Sanji that probably didn't think of her as any more than a little sister. She got back on the elevator and entered the lobby. "How do you like the idea of running the kitchens at the Platinum Lounge, too?" She searched high and low for him and finally gave up.

Dragging herself down to the second and smaller theater in her club she heard the Looney Gen Band warming up for the evening and listened from just outside the front of house. A small grin formed as she eavesdropped on the band then she jogged off toward her own dressing room.

.x.

Mokuhana Gen patted his bassist - a tall, lanky young man with small, round sunglasses - on the back and hopped down off the stage. "Sounds great, jerks!" he called to them affectionately. "See you in a few!"

Gen wore a purple velour track suit, white and black patent leather Creepers and a bright red hat with a black feather jutting out of one side. He was slightly overweight but didn't seem to mind. He swaggered side to side as he walked and had he been using a cane he could have easily been mistaken for a pimp.

Gen was no pimp. He was a former Franky Family member: a dismantler of ships and a scavenger. He was also a singer-songwriter and a Class-A partier. Gen knew how to have a good time and how to share that good time with his audience which is why Harmony kept him on as a steady act in the second theater. He was an excellent entertainer, a good guy and an achiever. Harmony couldn't count the number of times he'd asked her if she'd let him play in her theater, the main stage at the Sea Note. As she approached him, he asked again.

He looked up and saw his employer standing at the front of house waiting for him. "Ha-chan! Gonna let me play in your room?" he called out to her jokingly. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him "Long time no see! You been back a week and we ain't seen hide nor hair o' ya. Too busy with that limp-wrist Krähe I bet."

"Gen-san…" she scolded.

"What? You don't think he's playing for the other team?" Gen made an exasperated sound. "Hey, not that there's anything wrong with that! Now, what can Gen do for you, Princess?" He bowed exaggeratedly.

Harmony giggled. "I want to give you something," she said and motioned for him to follow her.

.x.

The theater at the Platinum Lounge was empty between acts. Gen's eyes went as wide behind his dark glasses as he entered but he said nothing. Harmony led him to the piano in the orchestra pit and turned to face him. "I've got a present for you," she said with a facetious grin on her face. Just before he could shout out with joy, she pulled a piece of paper from her breast pocket and handed it to him. Gen seemed confused, but took the paper.

"A song…?" he asked.

"I wrote it for you and the band. Would you like to hear it?"

He blinked a few times. "Ah... yeah! Sure. Thanks, Princess. You really shouldn't have!" He took a seat in the front row and listened as Harmony demonstrated the song, her flexible voice easily able to fit into the notes she'd written for Gen's baritone.

"Natsu ha kusemono, omae doko na no ka?

Masaka uso da ro! denwa ni dete kure!"

It was a medium tempo song in that semi-old fashioned style that Gen was famous for. It was also light, poppy and cute. Gen knew it would be perfect for his fun, easygoing band.

"Odoru hikari no naka, katamari tsuzuketa

Keitai nigirishime, katamari tsuzuketa."

Harmony quickly wrapped it up. "I know you'll do all kinds of crazy things with it. I imagine lots of 'lalalas' and 'whoa babys'" she said with a laugh. Gen scratched the back of his head and laughed too. She stood and walked past him into the aisles. "So what do you think of this theater?" she asked.

Gen shrugged and pouted. "It's fine."

Harmony gave him a sidelong glance. "Are you sure?"

His pout deepened. "Well, could use some more acoustic tiling on the walls. They tried and failed with whatever that weird wooden shit is over there," he said pointing to the sound baffles. "And the slope is all kinds of wrong. Everyone'd have a head in their frickin' view. Otherwise, looks ok."

Harmony smiled. "Good. We'll work on it." She turned and headed back up to front-of-house. "When the repairs are done you can move in."

Mokuhana Gen was speechless. He stared at his boss as she left, her hands held behind her back and undoubtedly a huge grin on her face. "Oh man! You had me goin'!" He shouted when his voice returned to him. He jumped up and ran to her, picked her up and spun her around. "Princess, you totally rock! I'm gonna go tell the boys!"

Harmony gave a surprised squeal of a laugh as she was spun around. Gently, Gen put her down, kissed both her cheeks quickly, patted her upper arms and ran off for the Sea Note. "See you later, Gen-san!" she called and waved.

Incredibly satisfied with her accomplishment, Harmony hummed to herself and decided to check out the rest of the theater. Up the stairs and around the balcony she found the entrance to the light booth, left open in expectation of her visit. She perused the equipment which was a bit archaic but would suffice until funds had been allocated to invest in an update. She was just about to play with the colorful switches and buttons when she heard voices from the stage.

"… have to get used to it!" a woman's voice urged.

"But Carmen…!" Sanji's voice whined.

"No buts!" she laughed and dragged him out from stage left. Harmony ducked down and watched from the shadows, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Ready?" Carmen asked, striking a pose.

"Oh yes!" Sanji chimed, his apprehension about being on stage washed away by the beautiful woman offering him her arms. He took her by the waist and hand and together they began to dance in the silence.

Harmony's heart started working its way up into her throat but before she could look for a suitable place to be sick in she started to cry. The tears startled her and quickly and quietly she ran from the light booth and didn't stop until she crashed down on her bed back in her apartment at the Sea Note.

.x.

Carmen was ruthless but ever how much he might have complained about her grueling practice sessions, Sanji had hope and that, he decided, was enough. After his tenth session he went to the Nautilus to get a drink and be social before calling it a night. Opus greeted him with a nod and made him his 'usual'. The drink was called a 'Monsieur Kamayatsu', a martini of Opus' invention with vodka, black raspberry liquor and plum wine.

"I'm surprised I remembered how to make that," Opus commented. "It's been a while, Sanji-san."

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Opus," Sanji apologized. "Anything interesting happen while I was away?"

Opus rubbed his mustache and thought for a second. "Oh!" he cried. "I meant to tell you!" He looked left and right and leaned in toward the chef. "I don't usually repeat things I hear my patrons say, but I think it's important that you know. Gen and the band had one of their old friends down here," he said knowingly, giving Sanji a wink.
"You lost me already." He lit a match. "Gen's friends are important because…?"

Opus straightened up. "Sorry. Thought you knew. They used to be gangsters. Sort of. They're from Water Seven…"

Sanji stopped just short of lighting his cigarette. "The whole band are from the Franky Family?" he asked.

Opus nodded. "Their leader was in this very room not a month ago."

"Franky!" Sanji shouted, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. He thought fast. "Shinatura Franky? I love that guy!" he shouted, referring to a singing star who was featured at one of the other casinos in Largo. "Big guy, big arms, star tattoos, blue hair?" he hissed to Opus who nodded. "Holy shit, I thought he was dead."

"So did Gen-san, apparently." Opus lowered his voice even further. "The reason I wanted to tell you this was because he was talking about the Straw Hat pirates."

Sanji let his drink and his cigarette go unattended as Opus recounted what he'd heard Franky say about Robin and the strange man who rescued her. "So Robin could be alive…" he said softly and took a deep breath. "It's not much, but it's better than what I knew. Thanks, Opus," he said, getting up off of his stool and leaving his drink behind. He walked toward the staff entrance and disappeared into the inner halls connecting the bar to his restaurants.

Sanji emerged a few feet from Harmony's front of house and poked his head in the doors. The female house manager began to shoo him out but simply rolled her eyes when she saw the familiar blond twirl toward her surrounded by floating hearts. She pointed to free a seat in the last row and he kissed her hand as he passed by. On stage the Palast Orchestra was just getting into their second set. The band played, but Krähe was nowhere in sight. Just when Sanji thought he'd actually enjoy the performance, a measure before he was to sing, the band leader emerged and stepped up to a large, shiny silver microphone.

"A table near the band - a small one

Some cigarettes, a drink, yes, a tall one

And, waiter, I could use a chaser for my blues…"

'Yeah right,' Sanji thought. 'He's like the cat that ate the frickin canary. Probably trying to think of a way to suddenly have to stay another month right now!' Sanji folded his arms and glowered in vain at the stage.

"Tonight I mustn't think of her. Music, maestro, please!

Tonight, tonight I must forget how much I need her, so Mister Leader

Play your lilting melodies, ragtime, jazztime, swing

Any old thing to help me ease the pain that solitude can bring."

'You gotta be kidding me…' Sanji thought, seething with anger. His shoulders slumped and he contemplated the lyrics harder. 'Oh please, he's not singing at me. That song just happens to be sadly appropriate. Can I beat this Krähe guy? I mean look at him! The suit, the hair, the moves, that voice! I'm gonna hafta work my ass off!' Sanji tapped his foot nervously much faster than the beat. 'And pray he goes the frick away so I don't look stupid by comparison…' he agonized.

"She used to like waltzes, so please don't play a waltz.

She danced divinely and I loved her so - but there I go!

Tonight I mustn't think of her - no more memories.

Swing out! Tonight I must forget - music, maestro, please!" - Magidson/Wrubel 1938

'Ok,' Sanji wondered. 'Maybe he is singing to me. This song is too much…' As it came to an end he excused himself past the people he'd sat next to and left as applause filled the theater. "I'm just gonna hafta do better!" he announced to the house manager who rolled her eyes at him again as he left.

To be concluded!