Reunited
Sanji
Colman and Leta nervously waited as they watched Sanji. They had what little they owned already packed and sitting at their feet. If Sanji won this competition, they were leaving immediately. Before the contest started the boss, of that one gang Sanji spoke to two weeks ago, protested Colman having a substitute. But since it wasn't again the rules Sanji got to cook.
That didn't stop the gang from trying to prevent Sanji from winning. The object they threw at the blonde cook got bigger and bigger with each throw. He easily deflected them all, but it was interfering with his cooking. Soon the time was up. Sanji had to set out his dish and step away from it as the judges made their rounds.
Sanji walked over to Colman and Leta. They all waited. Leta squeezed Colman's hand. After several agonizing minutes, one of the judges stepped up to the microphone. "And Sanji wins!"
Several of the crowd cheered, some were shocked, while the gang was upset.
"He did it!" Leta cried as she hugged Colman. "We can leave here now!"
"Yes," Colman nodded. "Thank you, Sanji. Thank you so much."
"It was my pleasure," Sanji smiled at them. The three then walked over to the prize table to claim what was theirs. Before they could reach it, the boss of the gang and his men stepped between them and the table. "What are you doing? Buzz off."
"This is a joke," The boss pointed at Sanji. "You have no right to win. You have no right to even cook in this competition."
"Bud, let it go," Sanji puffed on his cigarette. "I broke no rules. Now get out of our way."
"Not going to happen," The boss said as he and his men charged at Sanji.
Sanji flipped to his hands and twirled his feet around. He knocked them all away from him and his two friends. He stood back up. All of the gang members were laying on the ground. "Well? Come on. You wanna fight? Then let's fight."
Sanji waited for them to get up, but they didn't. He blinked several times in confusion. "What's wrong? Don't you want to fight me?"
Still the gang members stayed in their defeated positions. Sanji's arms fell to his sides as his shoulders slumped. "You've got to be kidding me! You all are really this weak?! How did you even take over this city?!"
Sanji pulled his eyes from his victims to find Colman, Leta and several others were staring at him. "What?"
"What manner of fighting was that?" Someone asked. The crowd began to gather around him asking questions after questions.
"What are you all talking about?" Sanji asked. "Haven't you ever seen marital arts?"
"No. We fight with our claws and wings," Another person said as he raised his hand to show Sanji his retractable claws.
"I see," Sanji replied, finally realizing that these bird people didn't fight like he and the other pirates did. They fought like wild birds would. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. They are birds after all. That would explain why those gang members were so weak. They've never fought against someone like me. They only look tough."
"We can't thank you enough, Sanji," Colman said. He and Leta returned to his side with the prize money and trophy.
"I'm just glad I can help," Sanji smiled at them.
"Here you go," Colman said, holding out the trophy. "A deal is a deal."
"Are you two going to be all right now?" Sanji took the trophy from Colman.
"Yes," Colman nodded, as did Leta. "We will be leaving now. Is there anything else we can do for you?"
"No," Sanji waved the trophy. "I got what I came for. Thanks again for letting me have this."
"Goodbye, Sanji," Leta said as she gave him a hug. "May your travels be a safe."
"Same to you," Sanji smiled and shook Colman's hand. He watched as the two gathered their stuff and flew off. The monkey took the shard off the trophy body. Sanji didn't noticed. One second he was watching his new friends fly off, then next he was standing in front of a house. "Huh? What just happened? Where am I?"
Sanji looked around. He then called out. "Hey! Is anyone here?!"
A few seconds later, he turned when the door to the house opened. Chopper popped his head out. "Sanji!"
"Chopper?" Sanji asked.
"Neo, Sanji's here!" Chopper ducked his head back into the building. He then came running out of the house soon followed by Neo.
"Chopper! Neo!" Sanji called to them as they ran over. "Are you two okay?"
"We're okay," Chopper replied while Neo hugged the cook.
"Are the others here too?" Sanji asked.
"Not yet," Chopper said.
"Are you hurt? Did you fight?" Neo asked. "I can give you an energy boost if you need it."
"No, Neo," Sanji smiled at her. "I did get into a little scuffle, but got no injuries. The only thing I need right now is to see the kitchen."
"The kitchen?" Chopper asked. Sanji didn't say anything else as he headed into the house. Chopper pointed him to the kitchen and he walked over to it. Neo and Chopper watched as Sanji began to dramatically cry and dance around the kitchen.
"So beautiful!" Sanji cried. He rapidly checked out what the kitchen held, all the food, utensils, everything. "I have no idea what kind of food this is or this is, but at least it's not bugs! No more bugs! I don't have to cook bugs anymore! I'm bug free!"
"Sanji, did you hit your head?" Chopper inquired.
"Sanji funny! Sanji funny!" Sanji turned to face the little orange sprite before him. She giggled and blushed then lacked onto his left cheek. "Sanji cute!"
"What the heck?" Sanji questioned. He plucked the sprite off his cheek. The sprite giggled and got hearts in her eyes.
"Sanji cutie!" Celeste giggled.
"Forgive her," Velocity appeared. "She can be a bit of a loon."
"Okay," Sanji released the little sprite. She grabbed onto his cheek again. "I think we have a lot to talk about."
Chopper and Neo nodded. They all sat down at the table and exchanged stories, Sanji going first after his little bizarre kitchen dance. Sanji puffed on his cigarette as he listened to what Chopper and Neo was telling him. After they were finished he stood up and walked back outside with the others following him. "So that thing is important to Pendulum?"
"Yes," Neo nodded.
"We're taking it," Sanji stated.
"What?!" They all cried.
"What do you mean?!" Elian demanded.
"I'm not going to sit around here worrying about my friends. If that thing is important to him then we're taking control of it and demanding he bring our friends back," Sanji said.
"You can't!" Elian shouted. "It's dangerous!"
"It might be dangerous, Elian, but it's not exactly safe to let Pendulum do as he wishes," Velocity replied.
"Elian's right!" Chopper shouted. "We can't do this! Sanji, no! We really can't do this!"
"Are you sure about this, Sanji?" Neo asked. "I told you that tower is protected. If we attack it Pendulum will come back. And he's strong. Very strong."
"I'm sure," Sanji turned to her. "I know you're hurting because Law and your crew's not with you. I won't let Pendulum get away with making such a beautiful woman cry. We're taking this tower. Now!"
Elian flew closer to Chopper. They exchanged worried looks. Neo followed after Sanji when he started walking towards the tower. "Let's go. Once Pendulum arrives I'll kick his a-"
"NO!" Chopper shouted and ran in front of Sanji and Neo. "I can't let you do this!"
"Chopper, what are you doing?" Sanji asked. "Don't you want to get the others back?
"I do. But I can't let you do this," Chopper's eyes filled with tears. "Not this time."
"Why not?" Neo asked, totally confused.
"I can't let you…I can't let you…," The others stood, still confused, as Chopper cried and tried to get his words to come out. "I CAN'T LET YOU FIGHT! I CAN'T LET YOU PUT YOURSELF AND YOUR BABY IN DANGER!"
"What are you talking about? What baby?" Sanji turned to Neo. She was staring blankly at Chopper. "Neo, are you pregnant?"
"No," Neo whispered. She shook her head as realization of her getting sick, food cravings and being so sleepy all the time flooded into her eyes. "I'm not. I…I-I can't be."
"I'm sorry, Neo, but you are. That's why you smell so different," Chopper informed her. "I really didn't want to tell you like this because you're so sensitive to new things. I really wanted to wait until Law was here, but I can't wait for that if you're going to insist on fighting. I can't do it! I won't let you put yourself and your baby in danger! I won't let it happen! I can't!"
"Chopper! Why didn't you say something sooner?!" Sanji demanded. He dropped his cigarette and rapidly stomped it out. "I've been smoking around her! My clothes are covered with smoke!"
"I'm sorry," Chopper lowered his eyes to the ground.
"I help!" Celeste removed herself from Sanji's cheek. Her hands started to glow orange. She fired the glow at Sanji, removing the smoke from him and making him smell like an array of flowers. "Better?"
"Yeah, that's great," Sanji inspected his smoke free self. "Thanks."
"Cutie!" Celeste giggled and latched back onto his cheek.
"Of course!" Velocity smacked herself in the face. She then pointed at her brother. "That's why you've been acting so weird! I totally forgot you can sense pregnancies!"
"It's true," Elian flew closer to Neo. "Princess, I'm sorry I kept it a secret. I probable should have…Princess? Are you all right?"
"Neo?" Sanji stepped closer to her. Neo's knees buckled as her eyelids slide closed. Sanji grabbed her before she could hit the ground.
"Neo!" Chopper shouted. He ran to her to check her vitals.
"She's fine, Chopper," Sanji held Neo to his chest. "She just fainted."
"We should take her to her room," Chopper ordered. Sanji nodded then picked their friend up. He followed Chopper and the sprites to her room. He laid her down. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing for you to apologize for," Sanji looked at his doctor. "You did the right thing. She doesn't need to fight."
"What are we going to do now?" Chopper asked.
"We'll just wait for the others," Sanji replied. "I won't put her in danger when she like this."
Chopper nodded in agreement. They then settled down and waited for her to wake up. Several minutes later she did. Chopper leaned over her with a worried look. "Neo?"
She didn't say anything as she sat up. She stared down at her legs for a while before pulling them up to her chest and hugged them. Her voice was low when she finally spoke. "A-Am I really?"
"You are," Chopper replied gently. Neo flinched at his answer.
"I'm so sorry, Princess," Elian floated in front of her. "I probably should have told you. I just thought it would be best for you to hear it from someone you knew better."
"No, Elian," Neo shook her head. She held up her hand for him to land in it. She bent her thumb so he could place his hands on her in a hug like move. "You did what you thought was best. I understand. I'm not upset with you at all."
"If you would like to know…you're about a month and a half along," Elian informed her.
"A month and a half?" Neo questioned softly. "That would have been when Law came home from..."
Her cheeks flushed. Velocity landed on her shoulder. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Princess."
"Princess sad," Celeste pouted.
"You and Law have talked about this, haven't you?" Sanji asked carefully.
"Yes," Neo nodded. "But…we've never talked about actually having kids. I know it's because of me and my past. I don't know…I don't know what he's going to say about this."
"There's nothing for you to be worried about," Chopper hugged her. "He loves you. He won't be upset. He'll understand."
Neo could only hug her knees more. The world around her faded away as she retreated into herself. Chopper looked up at Sanji. The cook replied softly while satting down beside Neo, giving her more comfort. "She'll be fine, Chopper. She just needs to let this sink in."
"What she needs is Law," Chopper said sadly. "And that's something we can't give her."
…
Author's Notes: ^_^ Down, down PuddyKatz, easy now. Hee Hee Okay, okay, Elian and Chopper didn't tell her because she's afraid of new things. They both knew it would be better to inform her about it when Law was there. Well, obviously that didn't happen, considering. But she now has Sanji and Chopper to support her until Law arrives. And soon he will. Very soon. :) And the reveal to him will happen! How do you think he'll react? Hmm, I wonder how.