A/N: Hello and thanks to those who have reviewed so far. Thank you especially to bloodyredsilver for consistently reviewing, and thanks to those who put this story on their Favourite list and Story Alerts.
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Shared Responsibility
"Damn it!" Sanji heard Zoro curse before he dived over the edge of the Merry Go.
Amused, the cook peeked over the edge to see the swordsman gather their spluttering captain up into his arms. As Sanji blew the smoke out of his mouth, he remembered the earnest devotion Zoro declared to his captain after his defeat with Mihawk. The swordsman had practically bawled his eyes out, but that was something the blonde would never hold the swordsman against. When Sanji later found out that Zoro was the first mate, he wasn't surprised in the least.
"Luffy!" Zoro shouted as he threw the rubber man up onto the deck. He climbed up right after him. "If you want to go fishing – wear a lifesaver!"
Sanji watched the captain and the first mate interacting. He knew there was something between them as they sat panting and ringing out their shirts, but he couldn't place what. Luffy laughed and Zoro growled but, there were no apologies or even an expression of gratitude from the Devil Fruit user. To an outsider, Luffy would've appeared to be just an ungrateful little ingrate, but that simply wasn't the case.
In fact, it was just the opposite.
Both Sanji and Zoro had a lot to be grateful about when it came to Luffy, but they never directly expressed it either. Who says thank you to the air for allowing you to breathe it? Zoro expressed his gratefulness differently, almost unconsciously. From Sanji's point of view, the green-haired man made it his sole responsibility to dive after their hammer of a captain but, that was before Sanji joined the Straw Hat Pirates. Whether it was for Zoro for always saving Luffy and keeping his dream alive, or Luffy for promising to find the All Blue together, Sanij wasn't an ungrateful man. Too proud to show it, he has his own way of saying "thank you."
As Luffy stood up to go find a lifesaver, the wind sharply picked up. Sanji watched in disbelief as Luffy's hat was seized by the strong breeze. Then, for the second time that afternoon, Luffy fell into the ocean.
"Ah, Luffy!" Nami shouted in alarm looking over the side of the ship. "Zoro, Luffy just fell into the water again! Go get him!"
"You're kidding me," Zoro muttered as he clenched the ship's railing, and just as he was about to jump into the waters once more, Sanji placed a firm hand on the man's shoulder.
Discarding his cig from his mouth with a quick flick from his fingers, Sanji held Zoro back. With one swift motion, Sanji jumped passed the startled swordsman and down into the water below.
The cook may argue with the swordsman the most out all of his crewmates, mock him the most, threaten him the most, and even compete with him the most, but they were still shipmates and Luffy was also Sanij's captain. He didn't mind lightening his comrade's burden, because first mate or not, the safety of the captain is a shared responsibility.