Warnings: AU, language, character death.

Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Oda-san. I make no profit.

Companion piece to The Other Side. Basically Sanji's version.

Theme 21 Solitude

The house stood on a lonely part of land, with wrought-iron gates wrapped around it to keep the living ones out. He'd been in that house for years now; memories of past lives with pirates, babies, and a war bunker were his only companions. In his most recent life, he was once again the cook named Sanji, to a horribly fat woman named Meredith instead of the straw hat wearing boy from his days as a pirate.

And wasn't that a kicker, when he the fat woman killed him over a simple dessert and all of his past lives rushed to the forefront of his mind. He was a father to two children, both boys, over a hundred years ago. He had been a veteran of Vietnam, dead well before his time because of a stray bullet in a gas station robbery.

He'd been a cook for a pirate crew, in another world, and it was the most interesting thing he could remember. If he was Sanji again, then maybe there was something in this lifetime that he needed to do. Maybe the reason he was trapped inside the house had something to do with the boy in the straw hat.

Maybe he had unfinished business.

The first time Sanji saw him, the boy in the straw hat – which was absent, now that he thought about it – was standing just outside the gates. He didn't look any older than nine, but Sanji could tell. This was the boy from his pirate lifetime.

The boy was peering up at the house with curiosity shining in his gaze and Sanji felt the nostalgic sting somewhere in his body. He remembered the way the boy – his Captain –looked at every adventure they had. He remembered Skypeia and the giant ship crashing down on them from the sky. He remembered their reunion after two years with the rest of the crew, their nakama. He wanted to go outside, but the house wouldn't let him.

He was trapped. This house was his prison, his solitude, until he was reborn again.

The second time he saw the boy, he wasn't so much a boy anymore as he was a gangly teenager. The straw hat was still absent, but he looked the same as Sanji remembered him. There was even a scar below his eye. He was snooping around in the yard, gazing up at the house like he was trying to find a way in.

He didn't know how it happened, but he found himself outside behind the boy, with a lit cigarette between his lips. He could taste the smoke and nicotine and it was like coming home. It scared him because he had never smoked in his life. Well, not this life, at least. The Sanji he used to be did.

He asked the boy his name and what he got in return made him feel like his heart – which hadn't beaten in decades and certainly didn't exist anymore – had exploded. The name brought back feelings – love, frustration, possession, rage, happiness, laughter – and memories of whispered words and soft caresses at night in a shabby boat, hung up high from the rafters in a hammock.

"Monkey D. Luffy, at your service."

And then he shook Luffy's hand and it almost brought him to his knees. Nothing had ever done that to him, not in all of the other lives he's ever had. Only Luffy had that effect on him and he didn't understand why.

Sanji threatened him - "Don't ever come back here again, Monkey D. Luffy. I'll kick your ass if you do." - in the hopes that the raven wouldn't come back. When he disappeared into the house, he found that he couldn't get back out again.

Luffy returned later that night and this time he had climbed onto the window ledge. Sanji was outside watching him from the shadow of a tree, secretly hoping he'd get into the house, just to know what Luffy could see inside it.

The other part – the part not steeped in piracy – prayed that he would give up and come down. That he would leave and ever come back.

So Sanji went to him, gripped his leg, and pulled him down off the ledge. He felt his world spin when the teen opened his eyes and Sanji helped him up without a second thought. His touch felt so achingly familiar, made this deep need twist into his belly and singe his soul.

Sanji lit another cigarette – where the fuck were they coming from? – before reminding Luffy that he'd told him not to come back. The teen asked for his name and Sanji seized up for a moment.

He doesn't know who you are, a little voice in his head whispered. He doesn't know who you are even though he loved you. Even though he promised…

Sanji pulled him back towards the gate again, forced him out of it, and locked it tight. And when Luffy asked him his name as he walked away, some part of him wanted to turn around and make the guy remember him.

"It's Sanji."

The moment the words came out of his mouth, he swept back into that time where he was dying in Luffy's arms and there was nothing Chopper could do. Nothing anyone could do.

"I promise we'll meet again. Promise I'll remember you. Sanji, please don't die!"

"Love you, cap…tain…"

Something was wrong with that house. It swelled with energy whenever Luffy was close to it, like it was reaching out to swallow him whole. It felt like the house knew him; like he'd been inside it, a long time ago.

And then he knew. The house – it was feeding off of him. It wanted Luffy because he wanted Luffy, more than he wanted anything. But that didn't explain why Luffy was so desperate to get inside, no matter how many times Sanji thwarted his attempts.

He caught Luffy at the front door, with his fingers just grazing over the silverware shaped doorknobs. The moment he went to knock, Sanki felt sheer desperation go through him, and he seized Luffy's wrist. The contact sent fire spiraling through his body, lighting up the world behind his eyelids.

"Kiss me." Luffy grinned up at him, his hands gripping at Sanji's hips.

"What did you just say?" The cook gaped at him, cigarette forgotten for the moment.

"Kiss me, Sanji."

"That's what I thought you said. Do you have any idea what you're asking, Luffy?" Sanji forced his hands away and turned back towards the sink, but Luffy pressed up against his back and murmured into his jacket.

"I know exactly what I'm asking."

"Why can't I knock?" Luffy asked him, bring Sanji out of the memory, away from the ghost of the teen's lips sealing over his. It felt so far away now.

After stopping him from knocking and ignoring his questions, Sanji pulled him back to the gate and threw him over onto the safe side, away from that parasitic house. He tossed his cigarette out, lit another one – he seemed to have an unlimited supply of the things – before taking a seat in front of his Captain.

Luffy didn't believe him when he told the teen that he was dead. All he got in reply was laughter, until the showed the boy his wound. He couldn't feel it anymore, but it was visible. Underneath his jacket and shirt was the evidence of his many deaths. There were the stab wounds from his pirate days, the gunshot from the gas station, and the buckshot that took his most recent life, courtesy of Meredith.

Sanji told him not to come back; closed the gate and locked it tight, but he didn't want to go. Luffy had promised him he wouldn't forget –

A hand seized his arm through the bars and he felt the shock again, but there were no memories.

"Can I come back to see you if I promise to stay on this side of the gate?" Luffy asked, their eyes meeting. Sanji didn't fail to notice that they were both trembling, Luffy more so than him. The teen pulled him closer.

"Luffy, I don't think – " Don't let go. Don't you dare let me go.

"Please, Sanji?" Luffy's voice did wicked things to Sanji's mind, stirred up something he'd rather not remember.

"Sanji, please don't die!"

The blonde leaned further into the gate, feeling the burn of the metal even through his clothes. He smirked and brushed their lips together, stealing the teen's warmth for his own. It brought more memories to the surface, ones that he didn't want to push away.

"I'm gonna become King of the Pirates!"

"You never change, Captain." He whispered, okay with the fact that Luffy didn't understand what he meant. He would one day that was for sure. As long as he could get away from his solitude and have Luffy at the same time, he was fine with everything else.