Chapter 5 - The Cook's Pantry

Sanji and Rei stood in the kitchen, or at least what remained of it. After the whole dining hall and its adjoining rooms exploded from Z's attack, the only things that survived were the appliances, the fridge, which was wrapped in a set of heavy chains with a lock in the middle, and some of the lower pantry shelves. The pantry door itself was completely gone.

Rei marvelled at how the fridge looked practically brand new compared to the other appliances, which definitely showed signs of wear and tear. Sanji saw Rei's eyeline and smirked. "I had to get one that was practically indestructible," he explained.

"Why?"

"You'd be surprised what Luffy would do to get a piece of meat, what a shitty swordsman would do for a drop of alcohol, and what a crafty sniper would do when threatened by the captain."

"Ah." Rei fell back into silence as Sanji continued to rummage through the pantry. She was still feeling frustrated and a little lost at what she was doing here. Not just in the kitchen but with this group of pirates in general.

"If I take this and pair it with that…" Sanji muttered to himself. He crouched low in the pantry and was grabbing jars and cans from it. Some of it was placed on the floor next to him and the rest were returned to their original position. "Ah but Chopper doesn't like this because the fishiness of it is too strong..but I could mask it with…"

Rei found herself envying Sanji. He had such a huge responsibility as the ship's chef. There was definitely a need for him.

"Oy, Rei-chan." Sanji unscrewed the lid from a jar of pickled ginger and stuck his hand in there. He rummaged around the contents for a bit and then pulled out a small, metal key. He tossed it to Rei. "Open up the fridge and grab a couple of lemons for me."

"Pickled ginger?" Rei asked as she fitted the key into the lock of the fridge.

"Morimo hates ginger, Luffy doesn't like any vegetables, and Usopp doesn't like pickled anything," Sanji explained.

Rei opened the fridge and took out two lemons resting on the door. "What about the others?"

"The others ask me when they want something from the kitchen."

He stood up and stretched out his arms over his head. "Ahhhhh," he sighed as he arched his back. He placed a cigarette on his lips and then pulled out a lighter from his pocket. He flicked it open and looked over at Rei. "You know, Rei-chan, food is not only good for the body but also good for the soul."

Rei tilted her head to the side, unsure of where the cook was going with this.

"A good meal will not only make someone feel more energetic, it could also make them feel better and happier," Sanji said, "When a stomach is hungry, the heart feels empty too."

He turned and gestured to his pantry. "I have every ingredient here I need so tell me, what would you like to eat?"

"I don't know," Rei said honestly, "I've never really given much thought to food."

Sanji nodded his head and collected a couple of cans from the ground. "I'd try not to think about food too if your dad was my only source of meals."

He walked over to the stove, placed the cans next to it and then unhooked a large pot from the wall. He turned to Rei. "Lemons please."

She tossed them to him and he caught both with one hand. Rei watched Sanji in his domain. It was like watching a dance. With every beat, an ingredient got chopped, diced, or thrown into the the pot. "They are very lucky to have you as a chef."

"We," Sanji corrected without turning from the stove, "You should say 'We are very lucky to have you as a chef.' You're one of us now."

"I don't know what that means," Rei admitted, "What does being a pirate mean? What does a pirate normally do?"

Sanji let out a snort of laughter. "What do we know about being normal? Even other pirates don't know what to do with us."

"What am I supposed to do here?" Rei asked.

Sanji started to stir the pot with one hand while he grabbed bowls from a nearby shelf with the other. "As Luffy would say, the best is to do whatever it is you like and just do whatever it is you want to do."

"But I don't know what I want."

"I know what you want."

"What?"

"You want to eat," Sanji ladled the contents of the pot into a bowl and put it in Rei's hands, "Now don't break this one. We don't have many bowls left."

Rei blew on the soup to help it cool down and she gave a small frown at Sanji. "That's not what I meant."

"I know." Sanji said with a smile and gave Rei a pat on the head, "But you have to start somewhere so you might as well start small. You're not going to figure out what it is you want that quickly."

"Why not? I'm a genius," Rei said.

Sanji dropped a spoon in her bowl. "But you're also human. Figure out what you want to do now at this very moment and start from there."

Rei thought about what he said and she took a spoonful of soup. It was warm and when it hit her stomach, she could swear she felt it spread throughout her body. She looked up at Sanji. "I want to help. I want to be useful to you guys."

"There you go," Sanji said, "Do that then."

"But I can't fight and I don't have a plan." Rei caught her whining tone and winced. She sounded like a child and it frustrated her.

"Yet," Sanji corrected, "Just because you can't help now, doesn't mean you can't help later. No one is expecting you to save the day every time we get into trouble. Hell, no one expects anyone of us to do that. That's a heavy burden to shoulder. We all do it together."

He tapped his cigarette in an empty bowl and lifted it back to his lips. "You're part of a crew. You have to learn how to work as a team."

"Everyone seems to have a role here," Rei said, "Luffy is the captain, Nami is the navigator, Franky is the shipwright, you're the cook, Chopper-"

"What about that shitty moss-haired idiot? Does every pirate crew need a swordsman?" Sanji countered, "And do you actually think Brook's sole purpose here is to be our musician? He's more than that and so are you. This isn't the Navy or the Army. We didn't go through recruitment or training. We all have our own goals and dreams, none of which involved being a pirate. We became pirates because of one reason and one reason only."

"Which is?"

"Because Luffy asked us."

"Luffy," Rei repeated. She took a moment to let Sanji's words sink in. She thought about her captain's giant grin and his carefree attitude. She pictured him laughing with that Straw Hat resting on his head. Uncle Shanks believes in him and I do too. Maybe that's all I need to know.

Rei took another sip of her soup and this time she completely ignored the spoon and just drank straight from the bowl. She drank every last drop before setting the bowl down on the counter. "Thank you, Sanji. The soup was delicious. I especially liked the brininess with the lemon."

Sanji raised an eyebrow, "You can actually taste that, Rei-chan? You have a very discerning palette."

Rei's face broke into a smile. "And a full stomach now too."

"What about your heart?"

"It feels much better too," Rei said, "Thank you, Sanji."

"Anytime, Rei-chan," Sanji said with a puff, "Anytime."

Zoro watched the Know It All come back from the ship alongside the cook. She seemed to be in a better mood. In fact, she seemed to be in a great one as she helped carry a stack of bowls while Sanji carried a large pot of soup. They were talking about something and from time to time, Rei would break into a small smile.

The sun was almost completely set and there was only faint traces of orange light in the sky. While Rei and Sanji were gone, the Straw Hats were approached by an old man named Mobston and his grandson, Gari. He had informed them that many pirates ships have been attacked around this area by Z and had come to this dock for repairs. He invited them all back to his warehouse that was closer to the dock next to them so they could talk more. The rest of the crew had gone along. Only Zoro stayed behind because he was tasked to inform Rei and Sanji.

The cook was not too thrilled when he heard the news. "What?! They left you behind to give us directions?"

"What are you insinuating, you lousy cook?!"

"The dinner is going to get cold by the time we get to them," Sanji snapped.

Zoro leaned forward in a threatening manner. "They are close by!"

Sanji mirrored Zoro's actions. "Not if you're leading the way."

"Guys," Rei interrupted, walking in between the two. She was short enough to pass by without having to push either of them out of her way, "I can see the top of Franky's head from here. They're right over there."

Zoro folded his arms and followed behind Rei.

"Oy, idiot swordsman," Sanji hissed at Zoro, "Aren't you going to ask me what we talked about?"

"Why should I?" Zoro muttered back.

"Are you sure you don't want to know?" Sanji teased, "Rei-chan really bared her soul to me."

Zoro remained silent but hidden under his arms, his fists clenched.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to tell you anyway. A gentleman never reveals a lady's secret," Sanji said with a sigh.

"THEN WHY DID YOU EVEN MENTION IT?!" Zoro snapped at the cook, who cheerfully ran in front to join Rei.

Zoro was in a foul mood when they rejoined the rest of the group. He was barely listening to Mobston's granddaughter explain the many ships they were paid to help restore ships after they had been attacked by the Navy.

"Many people were totally defeated by Z, lost their way, and abandoned the New World," Mobston said, "Z is stealing the freedom on the sea from those men. Even if aligning myself with the pirates is wrong, I won't accept that."

He smiled at Luffy as he patted his grandson's head. "If you were defeated by Z and still want to face him, I'd like to give you my strongest equipment I have stored."

"Strongest equipment?!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

"Wait a minute," Nami interrupted.

"What, Nami?" Luffy asked with a pout, "He said the strongest. The strongest!"

"Before that, we have to find Z first!" Nami said, "And with Z's attack, our clothes were all burned and most of our supplies too. We have to take care of that first. If we stay the whole time with our cherry festival outfits, we're going to raise suspicion when we go seek out information about him. First we have to gather information and clothes."

She pointed a finger at Luffy to show that she meant business. "We'll come get the strongest equipment after that!"

Luffy grinned, "Got it."

"Nami is small but she's the boss of it all, right?" Mobston's granddaughter commented with a giggle.

"Excuse me," Rei asked, addressing Mobston's granddaughter, "Do you have any big cities on this island or a town where we can get supplies and maybe gather information?"

"This island has nothing besides our docks," she said apologetically, "How about you go the neighboring island? They are very popular for the hot springs and volcanoes. And now there is the sea train passing there, it has a lot of people visiting!"

"When is the next train?" Rei asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Mobston's granddaughter replied.

"Let's all go in the morning then," Rei suggested, turning to Luffy.

"Ow! I'll stay here and keep repairing Sunny," Franky replied.

Luffy nodded at his crew. "Yosh! Tomorrow, we go get information." His eyes lit up when he saw Rei and Sanji, especially when his eyes landed on what they had brought. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them excitedly. "And now...we eat!"