Sanji looked at the woman sitting next to him, his stomach doing somersaults. It was the right time. He could feel it.
"Takono..." He started, still nervous. He was sure she would say yes, but it didn't stop the butterflies from fluttering in his
stomach. The lady looked up at him, pink hair shuffling softly as it moved according to the gravity away from her glittering
emerald eyes. "How would you like a snack?" He asked. It wasn't what he had meant to ask, but he was getting an idea. Her
pink, full lips curved upward at the ends and her eyes went from glittering to outright sparkling.
"That sounds great, Sanji-kun!"
She said, smiling brightly. He smiled back at her, his chest feeling warm like it always did whenever he was around her. He
offered his hand to her, and she took it. He clasped her small, smooth, warm hand and helped her get up off of her seat on the
swing and she pushed her arm between his side and his arm, then looped her arm around his, in the crook of his elbow. He
started off, heading for the kitchen.
They got there soon enough, the ship having gone quiet as everybody busied themselves with
work or training from being a little bored from being at sea for a few days. He didn't know when the next island would show
up, and neither did any of the rest of them. But that didn't matter right now. There were more important things to think about.
Sanji sat Takono down at the table, smiling at her and telling her he would be right back. He went into the kitchen and started
arranging chocolates and strawberries on a platter, making it look as good as he could. Once he was satisfied, he grabbed the
chocolate sauce and held it over the plate, hesitating. Was he sure it was the right time? Was he sure he wanted to go through
with it?
Absolutely sure now that he had asked himself, he spread the sauce on the platter, using his best penmanship and looked
it over. He shifted a strawberry, and maybe that one chocolate on the side was a little askew so he tapped it so that it would sit
next to the other chocolates and fruits fancily, placed a small box in the middle and decided it was as ready as it could be. His
heart flipped in his chest, then he remembered Takono's beautiful face and the adoration in her eyes whenever she looked at
him.
"TAKONO-SWAANN~!~!~!" He said, dancing out with the platter on his hand, above his head as he swung
toward the table, placing it down on the table gracefully in front of her. He stayed by the table's side, watching, waiting, and
hoping, his heart threatening to thunder right out of his chest. Takono reached for one of the chocolates, her eyes scanning past
the chocolate sauce, the agile penmanship looking a lot like the usual curls and designs that he usually decorated the plates with.
Maybe he shouldn't have written it on the plate in chocolate... But Takono paused, her brows drawing down and she frowned
in confusion. She put down the chocolate she had picked up, then looked at the box. As she reached for it, Sanji went down to
one knee, breathless. She opened the box, her eyes going wide. She glanced at the plate again, and it registered. She mouthed
the words written on the plate, and Sanji repeated them, Takono swinging her head to him as soon as the first syllable was out,
her full attention on him.
"Takono-swan, may I have your hand in marriage?" He asked her out loud, letting her hear it as well as see it. She
looked back at the ring in disbelief. She took the gold ring with the diamond on top, two on the sides and one heart-shaped
pink sapphire on the front and back of the middle, biggest diamond and slipped it on her hand. Sanji held back a sigh of relief
when it fit her finger perfectly, only for his breath to be caught again when he realized that she hadn't answered him yet. He
looked into her eyes and saw her bright eyes brimming with tears. He panicked at first, until she threw herself at him in a giant
hug.
"Yes, oh yes Sanji-kun!" She answered, practically sobbing out her answer in happy tears. He hugged her back,
pulling her off of her chair and just holding her there, afraid to move in case he woke up.
"I love you, Takono-swan..." He whispered softly in her ear. She whispered it back to him just before placing her soft lips on his in a crazed, sweet, passionate and loving kiss, and he almost started crying tears of joy himself. He had heard that this was the best moment of life, and he believed it.