As the Straw Hats continued their journey, Zulu couldn't help but feel restless. He no longer had his quaint little island with his small store to occupy his time. He continued to do his best helping out around the ship and even taking the liberty of assigning crew members new chores, and ensuring the completion of them, but he felt like this wasn't enough.
While he loved the sense of adventure and the camaraderie of the crew, he felt like something was missing. He longed to be able to assist better in battle, for something that would allow him to protect his new family beyond what he was currently capable of.
It was while walking alone along a beach one day and musing to himself that he stumbled upon a lone tree growing away from the rest. It bore a single fruit, a brown swirl patterned coconut. Intrigued he marched right up to the tree and plucked the fruit right off. He realized quickly that what he held was a devil fruit, and delighted he ran off to share his discovery with the crew.
Surely, he thought, someone on the crew could benefit from this! But as he showed them, and while they were excited about the new find, nobody wanted to eat it. Nami proposed they sell it for the extra cash, but Zulu vehemently denied her. It didn't matter how much he argued how it could benefit them if only one of them would eat it, they continued to reject the fruit.
"If you're so insistent of one of us having it Zulu, then why don't YOU be the one to eat it and lose your ability to swim?" Snarked Nami.
Zulu hesitated for a moment; he had never considered taking the fruits power for himself. Nami was giving him a self-satisfied look, he knew she was hoping he'd give in and just let her sell the fruit. Feeling a bit defiant he made a point of locking eyes with her before taking a bite. And promptly spitting it out, dear god it was foul tasting! As he spit a sputtered the surrounding crew started to laugh at his misfortune. However, he soon felt a strange sensation coursing through his body, and instinctively he knew he had the power to turn into and control all things made from wood.
Excited by his newfound powers, Zulu lifted his hand and summoned a small wooden doll. Intrigued, Franky encouraged him to experiment with what he could do. After a few hours of practicing, Zulu found that he could control everything from the doors on the ship, furniture, cabinets and even the ropes; Robin informed the crew how ropes were made from wood fibers after their initial confusion. His favorite ability was creating little wooden constructs from his hands and turning his body into wood, which he called his puppet form.
Over the next week, Zulu would practice his skills by creating little wooden toys for the crew, using his powers to shape them into various figures. Luffy, Chopper and Ussop were especially fond of the toys and would spend hours requesting different shapes and themes. It was thru this that they discovered that if Zulu gave a simple command to the figures, they would complete his requests before becoming still once more.
As he continued to hone his powers, he found himself using them to bond even closer with the crew. Ussop and Franky invited him over to help with tinkering and ship repairs more often than before, Nami demanded more fashionable furniture for their quarters, and Zoro would use his wooden dolls for sparing practice. Zulu found his favorite pass time was using his fruit to help Sanji out in the kitchen, opening cabinets and drawers as the cook bustled about. When feeling ornery he couldn't resist the urge to open drawers at inopportune times to try and trip him up. It never worked past the first time, but it had become a fun game.
One day during a small scuffle with a Navy vessels' crew he was getting pretty irritated at what seemed to be an endless flow of marines. With an arching swipe of his arms and a surge of power Zulu sent the planks under the attacking marines feet rolling over themselves, causing them to be knocked off of their feet and easily dispatched into the ocean.
Blinking at the sudden end to the battle Zulu looked down at his hand in awe. He felt a slap on the back and saw Sanji grinning.
"Well look at that, guess you ARE more than just a pretty face after all!"
"Pretty face?" Zulu placed his hand over his heart in an exaggerated manner "Well I suppose even someone like you would come around eventually."
Ussop noticing their behavior slipped over and elbowed Sanji in the side, "Hey Sanji, getting sweet on Zulu, are you?"
Pushing the sniper off him and glaring Sanji huffed "I was just being friendly Ussop, mind your own dam business."
Heavy hands landed on his shoulders and Zulu's teasing voice piped up above his head. "Don't be shy Sanji, we all have crushes sometimes."
Sanji rolled his eyes at their behavior as the rest of the crew snickered at him. But deep down he couldn't help but worry they might be right.
After their eventful battle the crew partied, drinking, laughing, and bonding. As the Alcohol flowed freely Zulu found himself listening intently to the stories being told by the crew. How they each had hard pasts they had to work to get past to be here today. He felt himself gaining even more of a sense of comradery among them as he realized they weren't so different after all, they all had pain in their pasts, but now they had each other too.
The night turned late and slowly the Straw Hats started wandering off to bed, until there was just Sanji, Zoro, and Zulu still up in the dining area. Teasing soon turned to arguing and Zulu found himself participating in a drinking contest to please the men's egos. Flowing cups turn to loose lips however and Zulu found himself opening up more about his children, about the good memories, and the bad.
"You know Sanji, it's hard to move on from something like that. They were ripped away from me so suddenly, I never got the chance to say goodbye." Zulu said, his voice heavy with emotions and thick with booze.
Sanji listened intently; his eyes fixed on Zulu's face. He had always known Zulu was strong and independent, but hearing more about his children, it became obvious the pain he had been thru to get there.
"I can't even imagine." He lit another cigarette, ignoring the annoyed look from Zoro over the smell of the smoke. "We've all lost people, but they were the ones looking out for us. I don't think I'm even able to fully understand how it would feel the other way around. To lose someone so young that you had put so much love and hope into. It must be hard for you." Sanji mused, placing a comforting hand on Zulu's shoulder.
Zulu nodded slowly, taking a sip of his drink before continuing.
"At first, I couldn't even function, I drank even worse than Zoro. No offense"
"Non taken"
"But eventually I realized that if I continued down that path, I could no longer call myself the kind of father that they would have been proud of. I had to honor them by living the best that I could."
Sanji puffed his cig and smiled, feeling a deep respect and admiration for the man standing next to him. He knew he had been fortunate to not have to experience that form of loss, but he could see the strength in Zulu that allowed him to move forward.
"Well, whatever your reasons, I'm glad you're here now. You're an amazing hand in the kitchen and one of the few crew members with half a brain." He then turned to Zoro, "Full offense intended."
"Get a room" Zoro mumbled as he stood from the table and walked away yawing.
"Fuck off moss head!" Sanji yelled flipping the bird. He then turned and flashed a toothy grin up at Zulu.
Zulu smiled back at him, feeling a sense of warmth and comfort form the cook's words. Despite everything he had been through, he knew that he had found a new family with the Straw Hats, and he was grateful for every moment he spent with them.
The next morning, Zulu woke up feeling groggy from the night before. He stumbled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen, where Sanji was already busy cooking Breakfast.
"Good morning," Sanji said cheerfully. "How are you feeling?"
Zulu groaned, holding his head. "Like I got hit by a ship," he muttered.
Sanji chuckled. "don't worry, I'll make you something for that Hangover."
While they ate the rest of the crew can wandering in. Luffy took one look at Zulu's less than usual proper appearance and burst out laughing. Zulu frowned feeling put out, he did have a hangover after all; everyone should be allowed a day to look like crap, and this was apparently his. Puffing out his cheeks and huffing he turned his body away from the irritating Captain.
It took Sanji wandering over and smacking Luffy on the head with a heaping plate of his breakfast to make the rubber man stop his teasing. Zulu grinned, feeling happy at Sanji's actions. "You really didn't have to do that," he said, grinning while handing his glass over so Sanji could fill his tea.
"Of course I did, he was being an idiot who can't keep his mouth shut, Honestly I've been wanting to do that all week" He said with a smile on his face.
Zulu's heart skipped a beat at the cooks' smile, "Well," he said looking back over at their captain who was attempting to steal Zoro's breakfast now, "Don't let me keep you."
Nami who had been groggily watching raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It was no secret that the two of them had a rocky start when Zulu first joined the ship, and she had witnessed them grow closer together. But she also knew Sanji had always been a bit of a flirt for pretty faces, however this felt different. She decided to keep a close eye on them in the future, if only for some good blackmail.