Silmeria - Thanks for being patient everyone. Enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer - I claim no rights to One Piece or Sentinel.
Chapter Twenty: The Guide with Taste - Part Two -
Luffy's hands were pruned and cracked and his back was aching by the time the dishes were done but he satisfied that his first day went well. He was even proud to admit that he made friends with most of the kitchen staff. He was even more pleased to learn that the crew considered themselves family and there were even some crew-mates that had been aboard the ship as children and the Baratie was considered home. However, despite Luffy's new friendships and current situation, Sanji still sat at the back of his mind.
The Guide with Taste.
A Guide with a near Sentinel ability for taste and was working on smell as well? Interesting. Luffy didn't know whether or not he found the situation strange or enticing. His entire life he was told that Sentinels were the one with the enhanced senses while Guide's were the ones who dictated as Shields - Protectors of the Sentinels - The world was filled with different sounds, smells that disturbed a Sentinels mind and it was up to Guides like Luffy and Nami to bring them comfort and while Luffy made his peace with his designation seeing Sanji making strides and crossing an unknown barrier made Luffy realize that there was more out there for Guides and that they were meant for more? He wondered what it was like to taste foods to the degree that Sanji did? To smell even the most subtle flavor that was meant to be a secret?
Luffy slowed to a stop a frown marring his thoughtful features. Was he jealous of Sanji? Of having more freedom than Luffy would ever have?
No.
He was envious and felt a rush of pride that a Guide crossed that forbidden line that had been drawn since the beginning of time but as the pride flowed and warmed his heart, so, too, did a cold sense of dread. If people found about Sanji, what would they do?
Turn him in?
Experiment on him?
Sanji was more than capable of defending himself but Luffy couldn't bear the thought of the cook being taken away from his family and doing what he loved. So, Luffy turned on his heel and was set out to find Sanji and explain the situation and his feelings when a loud voice broke the comfortable silence and for once, Luffy wanted to ignore it and continue to his room but when a scream pierced the air Luffy huffed a small sigh and raced towards the noise, throwing the dining room doors open to see a tall, tan-skinned man devouring a meal with a desperate look in his eye.
"More." the man panted, looking around with a crazed glint in his eye that Luffy all but recognized as near starvation, and Luffy flinched when the emotion pressed against mind as the man rushed past him and was devouring other table's food. He stepped forward to put a stop to it when members of the kitchen crew rushed and pinned the man down.
"Let me go! Do you know who I am? Do you know what I could do to you and this ship?"
"Do you know you're about to get kicked out? Thrown into the ocean? We don't care who you are or where you're from. It's wrong to climb aboard a ship and start stealing food-"
"It's not like you would have-"
"You don't know that, do you?" Luffy asked, cutting into the conversation. "You don't know what these people will do for you unless you ask. So, you don't get to point fingers and accuse when you barged and scared these people to death." Luffy folded his arms and regarded the man with a mild look. "Who are you?"
"Gin."
Luffy raised an eyebrow at the sharp, clipped answer. "Gin? That's it? No surname?"
"You don't need one." Gin shrugged as best as he could while he was still pinned. "What's your name?"
"Luffy?"
"Luffy? That's it?"
Luffy's lips pulled into a small, sharp smile of his own as he bent down to Gin's level. "I don't need one. Isn't that what the sea is about? Freedom? Cutting off those chains we had at home?"
Gin huffed, rolling his eyes at the hopeful tone Luffy adopted. "I remember being that hopeful when I set out. I was out to conquer the entire sea and get my name out there-" Gin stopped, a bitter grin pulling his lips. "Where are you headed, kid?"
"Alabasta," Luffy admitted, knowing it wasn't wise to give too much information. "Why?"
Gin shook his head. "You're too young to be crossing that Grand Line, Luffy. It's dangerous."
At the information, Luffy's lips pulled into a sad smile that reached his eyes. "It's dangerous for Guides to breathe in the wrong direction, Gin. So, I'll be fine, but I can't say the same for you."
Gin huffed. "I figured. Where are you dumping me? Right into the sea? I'll feed someone or thing before the sun's set."
"I'm not in the Captain," Luffy stated with regret, already missing Going Merry. "Zeff will have to decide what will be done with you, Gin."
Zeff wasn't too pleased to be called to deal with Gin, scolding Luffy as Gin was dragged down into their small brig. The Captain huffed and proceeded to chide the Guide for calling him for a trivial manner.
"I'm not the Captain," Luffy repeated with a mirthful grin. "I can't decide what to do with your prisoners-"
"Bah." Zeff brushed him off with a mild grin. "You should have asked Sanji. He's the First Mate."
"Oh? He's a Chef and First Mate?" Luffy's lips pulled into a mirthful grin into a soft smile. "I couldn't possibly bother him with this now can I? He has so many mouths to feed."
"And I don't?" Zeff huffed and lead him away from the brig. "Enough about the man. I think your friends are worried about you. They were trying to find you earlier."
"Oh...?"
As Luffy and Zeff turned the corner, Sanji slipped out of the shadows with a tight frown and turned to the brig and pushed it open.
"Wow." their current prisoner remarked snidely. "You don't give your prisoners a single night to stay aboard? That's pretty harsh for a restaurant ship."
Sanji huffed, staring down at the man with a small hint of exasperation before setting down the plates and bowls and pushed them close enough where the prisoner could reach.
"Eat." Sanji commanded planting himself on the floor of the jail cell. "We're docking in three hours so eat your fill before we toss you."
"Why feed me? You don't know me."
"I don't need to know you to feed you." Sanji countered swiftly placing a cigarette in a mouth and lighting with a small smirk. "If this world doled out more kindness than bounties then we would have a better world don't you think?"
"Yeah." the man pulled the bowl of soup closer and reached for the spoon but not before- "Gin. The name is Gin."
"Sanji."
"Sanji." Gin tried around the mouthful of soup. It reminded him of his mother's when she was a child and wondered if it was the same recipe. "Thank you - for the food."
Sanji's lips twitched and it didn't take a fool that he was pleased with the praise. "How is it?"
"Good." Gin swallowed down his food. "It's really good. I...can tell you to put a lot of thought into your food, Sanji. Why aren't you Head Chef?"
Again, Gin was met with a small quirk of Sanji's lips. "I can make a mean dish, but I still have a long way to go considering Zeff's been in the business long before I was born. But, I'm glad you like the food."
Gin nodded, and their conversation faded into a comfortable silence as Gin finished off his food and in his all his years, Gin never thought he would encounter such kindness and he tried - and failed - to suppress the warmth he felt sitting at the bottom of his chest.
He was a Pirate - He didn't need kindness nor did he need a handout, but-
Damn, this food was good.
"Thank you." Gin placed the empty plates closer for Sanji to gather. "So. I'm going to be dropped off at the next port."
"Yeah, so sit tight, alright?" Sanji reached out and gathered the plates before rising to his feet, a new cigarette dangling from his lips. He turned on his heel and left Gin to his thoughts:
About what to do?
Where to go?
The logical conclusion would be to go back to Captain Kreig. He had no home and no other family so going back to Kreig would be logical-
If he had a crew.
Don Kreig, Captain of the Kreig Pirates was once a fifty strong fleet that was now reduced to a measly five ships, and if they could get this ship then-
Don Kreig might have a chance to return to his once fifty strong and Gin would return to his place as a Combat Commander and he would never starve again. He would be home and he wouldn't be begging for scraps-
No matter how good they were.
So, Gin would wait and plan and scheme until they were docked at the next town to restock and he would send a message to Don Kreig to take the Baratie and add it to his currently re-growing collection and then Gin would be home despite the cruelty that he and his crew-mates suffered at the Captain's hand, it was still home and at the end of the day, that's all that mattered, right?
Right?
What mattered was the loyalty that was given - and returned. He made a name for himself alongside Kreig and the money was good and the women and drinks aplenty. People shivered at the whispers of Don Kreig and Combat Commander Gin. He wanted that power back along with the money, sake, and women. He wanted it all back.
He wanted it back despite the death and the carnage that followed Don Kreig like the plague. The exchange for power was worth the peace of mind.
If it was worth it, and he would keep telling himself that until he either met his end by an enemy, illness, or execution.
Gin licked his lips and the warmth at the thought of Sanji's food and kindness settled to the back of his mind again before he shook it off. It didn't matter. It wouldn't matter in the end. He would get off the ship, inform Kreig of it and they would reclaim it together and eliminate those who were on-board and Gin wouldn't have to worry about the warmth that emerged from his chest at the thought of Sanji's kindness.
The dead were meant to be left behind, after all.