Oh boy... Take a deep breath because there's no going back now.
.:Chapter 19 - Pudding:.
Pink roses spilled from Sanji's arms when he returned to his guest bedroom. He clipped and arranged them into a perfect fan of petals before tying them together at the stems with a perfect bow. Ever the romantic.
A short, purple guard resembling an eggplant stumbled into the room, his stout arms full of bags. Sanji's face lit up.
"Thank you so much," the cook said.
"Ah, he must be planning a romantic meal for his dear fiancée," Brook said before being pierced silent by the steel of Zoro's gaze. "It is indeed a waste," he placated hurriedly.
"I do have some news," the eggplant guard said. "We're holding Strawhat and the cat-burglar captive in the library."
Sanji's smile faltered. They caught Luffy and Nami?
The anxiety-riddled chef carefully placed the flowers back on the table, hands tense.
No, don't stress out. They don't want them interfering with the wedding, so I'm sure they'll set them free as soon as it's over. Big Mom gave me her word, after all.
"I wouldn't cling too hard onto the word of Big Mom," Usopp mumbled.
The plump guard was oblivious to Sanji's turmoil as he continued. "And some of your other friends are causing trouble in the chateau. They say Soul King and Jaguar Mink are going on a rampage."
"~Yoho, I do love a good rampage. However…our beloved Pedro…"
"Pedro…," Chopper also whispered solemnly.
The Straw Hats saddened at the mention of their mink ally and friend. They all knew of his heroic sacrifice, and it hurt every time.
Sanji's eyes widened further at the onslaught of news. Brook?!
"Sweet General Smoothie and General Baritone are apparently guarding the area. Although the intruders have eluded them thus far, it's only a matter of time before they—"
Sanji quickly interrupted. "That's enough."
Brook chuckled. "We eluded them the entire time, actually."
Nami side-eyed the skeletal musician, unimpressed. "Didn't we find you in bed with Big Mom?"
Everyone sputtered, and Brook swiveled frantically between his crew mates. "That is not how she means it! That is not how she means it!" His voice dropped several octaves. "Nami, how could you say such a thing in such a way?"
"He was only sleeping with her," Chopper clarified innocently.
If Brook didn't have sea prism stone cuffs on, his soul would've poured from his mouth in humiliation.
Franky snickered. "You've been holding out on us, bro."
"Is that how you managed to get the road poneglyph tracing?"
"Robin!" Brook gasped. "You too? ~Have you no shame?"
"Can we focus here?" Zoro grumbled. "Brook can tell us all about his poor life choices another time."
Brook's head drooped as Luffy and Usopp giggled at him.
Sanji held out his hands, desperate for a distraction. "Can I have my groceries?"
"Right here, sir."
"Can I use this kitchen?"
Eggplant guard nodded. "Uh huh."
"Pudding didn't show up for dinner tonight," Sanji told him offhandedly. "I should cook her something in case she's hungry."As he said it, he pulled a tangerine from the bag and paused, the look in his eyes changing. "…She's got me really worried," he said, staring at the orange fruit like it held a hidden message nobody else could see.
"I think…who he's really worried about…is Nami," Robin surmised fondly. It was natural that Sanji might show his true feelings through subconscious measures.
Nami's eyes softened. Oh, Sanji…
"Yeah, I heard she's not feeling well," the guard said. "It's a real shame, sir."
Well, Sanji was going to fix that.
Preparing the food was Sanji's top priority. He couldn't allow himself to think about anything else as it would only distract him. Throw him off. He needed to focus on only what he knew, and what he knew was that Pudding was all he had left. She was his last hope.
He couldn't mess this up.
When had the crew heard that from him before…?
Always, it seemed.
Like a toxic mantra.
When finished preparing the food and meticulously sorting the bento into a picnic basket, however, Sanji paused once again. Did a double-take.
"Shoot. I got carried away and made way too much." The portions he was looking at could feed an entire crew. "I don't think Pudding's appetite is this big. What was I thinking?"
The crew couldn't help but smile a little knowing he was thinking about them out of habit, and Sanji was usually not so distracted in the kitchen, a clear testament to how anxious he was really feeling.
Adding wine, chocolate, and tangerines to the picnic basket, Sanji shrugged. "Oh well. If she can't finish it, then I can help." He then imagined her delighted reaction to the meal. Her complimenting his cooking while he preened, framed by pink petals. He looked so cute to her that she grew heart eyes and began to feed him.
Luffy laughed as Zoro rolled his eye. "Whatta moron."
Robin tilted her head with a small smile. "I feel less intrusive knowing our cook often wears his fantasies on his face quite well."
Brook hummed. "Sanji desires to be fed by a delicate hand – hmm, Zoro?"
The swordsman's heart skipped in his chest. "Would you knock it off already! I've never fed the cook." Didn't know he would…like that…
Zoro's thoughts abruptly faltered as Brook suddenly appeared at the edge of his cell, sockets and permanent smile peeking straight at him through the electrified bars. "Is that so?" the skeleton crooned.
"Oi, why don't you just worry about your relationship with Big Mom, you bonehead!"
Luffy cackled harder, and Nami waved innocently when Brook glared at her rather than Zoro. But then the skeleton simply shrugged. "Ah well, unlike certain members of our crew, I am blessed with thick skin. …Which is ironic considering I don't have any skin ~yohohoho."
In an excited hurry now that his fantasies were re-ignited, Sanji grabbed the basket of food and the flowers and danced from the room, singing. "Pudding, I'm on my wayyy!"
The eggplant guard was sleeping by his door now, and he stirred awake.
"Taking off, Sanji, sir?"
"Uh huh. I'm gonna enjoy the one and only beam of light that's left in my life."
Sanji's words grounded the Straw Hats from their lighthearted bickering. They were a mix of sighs and grimaces now. It wasn't boding well that their cook was betting everything he had left in him on someone they knew was planning to betray him.
Sanji made his way toward Pudding's quarters, a gentle smile on his face.
Getting caught up in his dumb ass fantasies again, Zoro figured.
When Sanji got to Pudding's door, the door itself glared down at him.
"And just what do you want, lover boy?" it asked. "State your business here."
"Why is everything alive there?" Usopp all but squawked. It wasn't normal! Were they like the toys in Dressrosa? No, actually, he didn't want to think about it.
Sanji gave the door a big, toothy smile. "I'd like to see Pudding!"
"Permission denied."
His smile faded out. "Huh? Please? You let me in earlier."
"No means no, lover boy. Pack it up."
"Why not?"
"Because Lady Pudding would like her privacy. Go away."
"What could she be doing?" Of course, as he thought about it, a blush painted his cheeks.
Several Straw Hats rolled their eyes this time. Classic cook.
Sanji shook his head to clear it, and then bowed, holding up his gifts. "Give this to her please."
"What is that, lover boy?"
Sanji smiled again. "Flowers. And some food I made for her."
"You prepared that…? How charming."
Sanji lit up at the praise. "Uh huh!"
Zoro couldn't control the warmth his stomach emanated at the sight of the cook smiling like that. Didn't help that the swordsman now knew it was the same smile only the cook's mother could pull out of him during his childhood.
Damn Curlybrows.
And damn that woman he was smiling for, because she sure as hell didn't deserve that face.
"She looked a little unwell earlier," Sanji continued. "So I figured a little food in her stomach would help her feel better."
"It's still a no, lover boy."
Sanji glowered at the sentient door. "Oh, c'mon! Is that all you can say?" He pouted. "Please just give this to her."
"Don't make me slam in your face. Hit the road."
Luffy quirked an eyebrow and scowled. "Man, that door sucks."
With an irritated scowl, Sanji gave up and sulked away. Once out of sight, he leaned against the wall for a smoke, wondering why such a simple request was proving this difficult.
"Because nothing is ever easy for you, Sanji," Usopp stated, matter-of-fact.
"Hell, I'd smoke all the time, too, if I had his knack for trouble," Franky said.
Chopper stubbornly frowned. "No! He needs proper stress relief!"
Wait a minute, the cook thought suddenly. I think there's a balcony outside her room.
He could easily sneak her her gifts. Problem solved.
Outside, the balcony was blanketed in flowerbeds, just as beautiful as the other gardens Sanji had seen around the grounds. However, it was still drenched and pouring and smelled sickly sweet from all the rain. He glanced cautiously down at the picnic basket, the wicker definitely not waterproof. But as he remembered his proposal to the girl he swore to make happy, he knew he had to do this, weather be damned. It would be quick and simple and perfect. She'd be fed and comforted, and that was all Sanji wanted.
The cook strode out, smiling with a faint blush at having someone to dote on again. Someone he could take care of and love, and – this time – who could possibly love him in return. All he ever did was yearn and long for and chase dreams that were always just out of his reach. But to finally — finally — be able to have that missing piece he'd always wanted? He'd never thought he'd be granted something so precious. And if the nightmare he was in was the reason for this random act of luck, then he'd just have to accept that.
So much confliction poured from the listening Straw Hats as they took in every one of Sanji's thoughts in a way only people who truly loved him could. Absolutely, and without judgement.
Yeah, they wanted to scream at him to stop putting his whole heart into everything he did because that risked complete destruction if it backfired, but they also didn't want him to change. Knew that exact passion was what made Sanji…well, Sanji. His thoughts and desires were so deep and so pure and, even believing he wasn't deserving of any of it, he still dared to hope that the next time would be different.
And it was absolutely crushing to know that this time would not be different, no matter how much effort or trust he put into it.
Charlotte Pudding was Sanji's angel in the darkness. The last of any hope he had. She was as forced into this as he was, and she had accepted him. All of him. Even knowing what his brothers had done to him, even knowing what his family thought of him, even knowing he couldn't offer her much…
Twirls…you're offering her you.Zoro couldn't understand how that was considered 'not much'. To the swordsman, it was everything, and Sanji was serving her himself on a silver fucking platter.
Sanji had trusted her with things he hadn't anybody else. Ever. Not his crew. Not even Zeff. When it was all said and done, Pudding still hadn't seen a pathetic failure of a man — she saw someone she believed she could love. And Sanji was going to make damn sure he lived up to that.
The Straw Hats were sickly silent, thoughts spiraling out of control, much like this situation they knew was headed for heart-wrenching disaster.
What part of Sanji's life wasn't a heart-wrenching disaster?!
They were so tired of it. They couldn't even imagine how their chef was still standing. And now — now he was setting this traitorous witch up for the ultimate final blow.
A feeling of foreboding gnawed at Zoro's gut. Even his swords shook. He tried to convince himself that it wouldn't be that bad. That in whatever way Sanji found out about Pudding it was quick.
The extravagant expanse of balcony was lit up by the light filtering through Pudding's bedroom window. An open window. A window that was perfect for passing gifts through.
Sanji thought that had to be a positive sign, right?
But he still hesitated, if only to think his fiancée could get mad if she thought he might be peeping. His blush deepened, but he shrugged it off. "What am I thinking? We're gonna be husband and wife tomorrow. I'll be seeing that sorta thing all the time. Nothing wrong with getting a sneak peek."
"The only sneak peek he'd be getting is her fist to his face," Franky knew.
"Why do I feel this isn't going to go as well as he's hoping?" Nami muttered.
As he approached the window, Pudding's soft, sweet giggle glided from the room.
Good. She's well enough to laugh, at least.
He lifted the flowers to place on the windowsill first as he peered in, ready to charm. What he saw, however, was Pudding shaking behind her hands and — diagonal from her — sat Reiju.
Reiju?
The sight of his sister baffled Sanji at first. But suddenly the air shifted. Pudding's hands dropped as she threw her head back with a laugh. A laugh that was like nothing he'd heard from the girl before.
It was arrogant and deceitful and jarring.
And…were the Straw Hats seeing things? Because there at the center of her forehead was…was clearly another…
"SHE HAS THREE EYES?!" Franky, Usopp, Robin, and Zoro exclaimed in unison.
"Oh, did we forget to mention that?" Brook wondered idly.
Luffy laughed. "Pretty weird, right?"
Sanji froze in place even as he was thrown off his axis. He was unable to comprehend, as she angled more towards him, the cruel smirk he was seeing on this gentle woman's face and the malicious gleam in her once-soft eyes.
"Wait, where'd her third eye go?" Usopp yelped. "Did he not see the third eye?!"
This…this couldn't be Pudding… The woman in that room was a completely different person.
"You can't honestly be that naïve," Pudding chortled, as if directly responding to Sanji's thoughts.
And in that moment, realization hit all the Straw Hats at once. Pudding's simple words had let it all sink in and now their bodies had promptly chilled over. Hearts constricting. Speeding up, only to falter again.
"Oh…noooo…" Nami whispered, eyes widening. "Please, no."
Pudding leaned closer to the pink-haired Vinsmoke she was entertaining, who was now very distinctly bound to the chair she was sitting on. Wrapped tight by one of Pudding's sentient subordinates — a blue jelly-like creature Sanji remembered was named Nitro. When Pudding spoke, her voice was void of any of the sugary smoothness she was associated with. She laughed in Reiju's face.
"You think I'd marry that lowlife pirate? Ha! You must be out of your freaking mind! Not a chance in hell."
Her words hit Sanji harder than a cannon ball.
Every Straw Hat fumed in disbelief.
This was how it happened? Pudding's true motives were being revealed to him…like this?!
"I'm one of Mama's favorites, you know? Especially for my acting."
Sanji was unable to move. Unable to breathe as his heart became a point of chaos. Reality crashed around him heavier than the barrage of rain.
"In fact, Mama cares for me so much it's almost overbearing," said Pudding. "But fool some stupid man from time to time and the old bag is happy. And it was almost too easy tricking the Straw Hats – hahaha!"
The fooled Straw Hats scowled in embarrassment and betrayal. And the other half glowered in their defense.
"Only my closest family knows what my true nature really is." Pudding laughed wickedly. "You people are so gullible! And Germa 66 is supposed to be an evil army? Keep living in your fantasy world, you twits. You deserve this."
Blood dripped from Reiju's leg, splattering onto the carpet as Nitro the Jelly squeezed her tighter, and the magic carpet — Rabian — hovered over her with an amused grin. Sanji wanted to wonder how hurt his sister was… Tried to remember why Reiju shouldn't be bleeding at all with her modifications, but…Sanji couldn't think straight. His mind was a mess, and nothing was making sense.
"Mama only wants two things from you," Pudding told her captured visitor, a hand on her hip. "Your vast army of clone soldiers, and your scientific technology."
"Seems Big Mom and Hollowell have something in common," Franky said. "And our poor brother Sanji keeps getting caught up in their games."
All eyes dropped from the screen to the quietly observant doctor in question and his equally vigilant mind specialists.
Hollowell had the nerve to smirk over his pointy shoulder, handlebar mustache shaking as he laughed. "~Teeshishishi. Perhaps if your friend wasn't such a weak target…"
The distinct sound of steel being unsheathed cut him off.
"The hell did you say," Zoro snarled, ready to push himself further onto his feet. But Sanji's memories were too challenging to divert from at the moment, and the screen of memories had re-captured everyone's attention.
"Do you always listen to Mommy?" Reiju had dispassionately huffed, turning away from Pudding's haughty stare.
"My, such defiance," Pudding sighed, walking back toward her couch by the window Sanji was hidden beyond. The cook's back was stiff against the wall at the edges of the windowsill.
"That is exactly why we don't need you," Pudding continued. "The entirety of the Germa Kingdom is anchored within our borders right now. Like flies drawn to rotting fruit, the political marriage was meant to entice you. It worked so well. You took the bait just as Mama planned. And at the wedding tomorrow, the entire Vinsmoke family will be eliminated."
Pink lightning flashed, silhouetting Sanji's still form outside. His face was hidden in shadow, and the cigarette he had lit inside sizzled out from the rain.
"Oh, this is so bad," Usopp groaned.
"His whole family was duped," Franky realized.
"Germa 66 believed they were the ones playing Big Mom by tying Sanji to her in the first place," Robin said. "But it doesn't seem they were prepared for the chance she'd be playing her own game that could reach beyond their so-called sacrificial lamb. Not wise."
From his shadowed corner, Ashvin snorted at such an embarrassing display by the Germa Kingdom. He pushed his violet glasses up higher on his nose. "Germa has the brains for war and technology, but political strategy seems to be their weak point."
"~Teeshishishi. Quite the pity for them," said Hollowell.
"This was what Pudding told us about in the library," Luffy said, and Nami nodded, however she was more concerned about Sanji's mental state at the moment. She hadn't known any of this happened.
"Sanji's being punished for the sins of the family that disowned him and tortured him," Chopper sobbed. "But this is the worst way to possibly find out about Pudding!"
The Straw Hats' grimaces sharpened, and Zoro's grip around Enma's hilt strengthened.
Inside, Pudding held up a pistol in one hand, and a candy in the other, unwrapping it with her teeth.
"The formidable Germa 66 once conquered the North Blue by force," she trilled. "It's hard to believe that tomorrow your regime of terror abruptly ends with a hail of bullets." Pudding placed the candy bullet into the pistol and cocked the gun. "The wedding will be soaked red with your blood. Bang."
The impending bloodbath amused her to no end.
"By the way, I would appreciate one last favor… Can you make it a point not to create too big of a mess when you die tomorrow? Just be mindful of the splatter. If that wedding cake gets one drop of blood on it, Mama will be livid, and no one wants that."
Chopper shuddered with his own PTSD.
"She'd tear the place down out of fury."
"And she did," Chopper quipped. "But that's not important right now!" His watery eyes overflowed. "Sanji can't be okay hearing all this…"
Pudding aimed her pistol at her bedroom wall and pulled the trigger. The candy bullet penetrated the sweet stone with no resistance, whizzing past Sanji who didn't so much as blink.
Zoro zeroed in on the cook every chance he got. Watching. Waiting for the inevitable.
"See this?" Pudding said, showcasing her smoking pistol. "It's a 36 caliber walker percussion pistol. The bullets it fires are called candy jackets. They are designed to be able to penetrate through the toughest armor and shields. As you can see," she glanced at Reiju's bloody leg, "it works rather well. Even your tempered body can be pierced by these."
The Hollowell scientists were intrigued by such strange technology that was proven capable of damaging Germa 66's. Just knowing there was somebody out there who had already managed it was a promising discovery among Germa's other weaknesses.
Reiju looked away from the harassing Charlotte, which prompted Pudding to antagonize further. She smirked at the stubborn Vinsmoke, changing her tactics.
"Can you imagine Sanji's face when he sees the girl he trusted pointing a gun right between his eyes? ~Delicious."
The Straw Hats grew tense and instantly silent. Not even daring to breathe.
Nitro let out a loud laugh. "It's gonna be so good!"
"That sad sack actually believes that you have real feelings for him," Rabian joined in.
The duo cackled as Sanji – despondent and frozen – absorbed every cruel word spoken.
Pudding joined her friends. "He doesn't suspect a thing!" she chortled. "The poor fool!"
Sanji's body finally moved. His arms slowly dropped at his sides, and the flowers he had carefully collected fell to his feet, sinking into the soggy grass. He tilted his shadowed face toward the sky, frown deepening with every brutal truth. Reality splintering with every mocking laugh.
Sanji...
His memories weren't giving the Straw Hats a clear picture of their cook's face, and they struggled to get a glimpse of his expression. To get some insight as to what he was feeling, because it sure as hell couldn't be good but they felt they needed to know. Needed to see him. The ordeal was much worse than any of them imagined it could've been like. Not only was Sanji learning the truth in such an awful way, but he also had to listen to them ridicule him on top of it all?
"I wonder what kind of face he'll make…" Pudding chuckled. "Oh, I know! Maybe something like…this?" She contorted her face into one of ridiculous shock, and her friends snorted.
"You really nailed it!"
"I can see it now!"
"This is messed up…" Nami whispered, voice barely audible.
It was harsh and excessive and so completely undeserved that the crew felt a collective nausea roll through them.
"Or how about this one… Ready?"
Pudding's smirk faded as her face suddenly transformed into a mimic of the blonde prince's swollen face from after his brothers beat him to a pulp.
"P-P-Pudding my sweet," she mocked, even slurring her words.
Robin closed her eyes and turned away, seething.
Brook glared daggers, never having been more insulted in his long life.
Usopp's teeth hurt from clenching his jaw so hard, and Nami's palms were red from her nails digging into them as she shook.
Franky scowled at how super uncool this was, every muscle in his cybernetic body twitching for a fight.
"Why…" Chopper whispered, quivering. "Why are they doing this?"
Luffy's face was as shadowed as Sanji's. Pissed. Because – it didn't matter who they were to you – you didn't make fun of a person's feelings. You didn't mock people for being kind!
And Zoro…
Zoro hadn't moved an inch. Hadn't breathed. Enma still unsheathed, as sharp and solid as Zoro's good eye was on the screen. The blade rumbled in a silent raging bloodlust the same way its wielder was. Zoro felt paralyzed even as his veins burned.
Reiju refused to even look at whatever faces the heartless girl was making as her two odd friends laughed and laughed and laughed. Pudding walked back over to her with a chilling determination.
"Come on, why aren't you looking? This is hilarious!" She mock pouted. "Don't like us making fun of your brother? Ha!"
Nitro tittered, taking the cigar from his jelly mouth. "Live a little. Laughing'll take the edge off."
"You got nothing to lose," Rabian scathingly agreed.
Pudding's voice dropped as a wicked gleam entered her eyes. "You wanna know how he proposed? It was hilarious. And pretty embarrassing honestly!"
"Oh, are you kidding?" Nami sneered, wrapping her arms around herself and rocking forward. "Don't do this to him!"
"He pulled his face pack off," Pudding told her. "And his whole head was fat and bloated and ugly! Then, looking like some grotesque clown, he had the nerve to say-" she transformed her face back into a mimic of Sanji "—'To my older brothers, I'm just a failure who shouldn't be allowed to live,' or some crap like that."
Zoro's teeth snapped together, fingers twitching for a second blade.
Nitro and Rabian couldn't control their mirth.
"Ahaha! You sound exactly like that sap!"
"That's too much! That expression is on point!"
"A real tragedy," Nitro added before turning to Reiju. "Are you picking up on all this irony here, toots?"
Reiju still refused to acknowledge anything, and Pudding continued her cruel Sanji impression.
"Just about thirteen years ago I somehow managed to escape my hellish prison, only to return and walk right back into it again."
"Too funny," Rabian chortled. "That's so pathetic!"
The Straw Hats seethed. These were Sanji's hardest secrets, and she was callously ridiculing them.
"And then he gave me the biggest puppy-dog eyes," Pudding said, amused face shifting again. "'That's why my adventure will end right here.'" She switched easily back to her regular self. "Groan. Like I give two shits about that loser!"
Chopper choked on a sob, furious and anguished.
Pudding and her friends continued to laugh.
"How pathetic… It was too easy. In that moment of vulnerability, all I had to do was fake some tears and he was putty. Ah, oh well. Men are stupid creatures."
As their howling once again erupted, a bundle of pink roses drowned in the downpour beyond the open window. Sanji slowly – so slowly – pulled his lighter from his pocket. His chin was to his chest, and his blonde hair hung sopping wet across his darkened face.
The Straw Hats still strained to see him.
But Pudding wasn't done.
"And then that fool pulled me close, just like in a cliché romance novel…"
The picnic basket fell limply from Sanji's grasp.
"…and he uttered some trash in a soft whisper…"
Sanji flicked at his lighter.
"She keeps dragging this on for what?" Usopp swallowed the lump in his throat when his voice broke. "Sanji's had enough…"
"…You're my salvation, Pudding," she mocked. "So, if you'll have me, let's get married. Let's get married? Aahaha!"
The trio of tricksters burst into laughter once again, stomping their feet and wiping away tears as if the Vinsmoke prince's heartfelt confessions were the most ridiculous sappy nonsense they'd ever heard.
Sanji's fingers trembled. Flick after flick, there was no catch. Not a single spark.
"Honestly," Pudding sighed, catching her breath. "Could you imagine a more pitiful proposal?" She cackled.
Flick.
Flick.
Pudding sighed, waving her hand to dry her eyes. "Oh, what a riot!"
Flick.
Flick.
"What kind of idiot would want a colossal failure like him?"
The Straw Hats' hearts shattered thinking of their cook hearing that, and something snapped in their swordsman.
Zoro knew he snapped. He felt it in the way his veins pulsed with boiling bloodlust. He felt it in the way his muscles coiled with an overpowering fury. Felt it in the way he had a fierce instinct to tuck Sanji into his chest and slaughter anyone who dared to fucking look at him. And before anyone could register what the hell was happening, Zoro's cell was engulfed in a purple glow.
Nami yelped in surprise, but as the edges of the deadly aura that drifted as if in tumultuous waters paid her no mind, she noticed something else happening… Something odd.
Hollowell and his specialists froze, wide-eyed at the demon they had in their midst. Then, just as quickly, they eased, confident in their hold on him.
Ashvin huffed. "Should have sedated that one like I said."
Nami silently gasped, realizing they hadn't seen what she saw.
Zoro, however, was quite literally growling. If he heard the word failure come out of anyone's mouth around his cook again, it was going to be the last thing that person ever fucking said.
The Straw Hats – weeping and angry and overwhelmed – weren't sure whether to focus on their raging swordsman or the memories of their demoralized cook.
Flick.
Flick.
All eyes went back to the screen.
"Seriously!" Pudding was still chortling at all the mockery she'd thrown. "The nerve of you trying to pass him off. At least bring me a proper prince to marry."
Flick.
Flick.
Flick.
"Give him a damn smoke!" Franky sobbed.
Finally, the lighter's flame caught.
There was a brief moment, at the sight of the flame, when Sanji's fingers stopped trembling. As the tip of the drenched cigarette inched closer to the heat. But then a drop of rain smothered it out with a dramatic sizzle.
A deflated pause.
Another attempt.
Flick.
Flick.
Flick.
Staring down at the lighter now, Sanji struck at it more rapidly. Desperate. Urgent. He needed…he needed something.
FlickFlick
But whatever he needed, he wasn't getting...was he?
FlickFlickFlick
As the rain melted down Sanji's desolate face, so did his tears. Endless torrents as silent and relentless as this pain in his heart. His cigarette, unable to be lit, was clenched around an ever deepening frown that cruelly dimpled his cheeks. The curl of his brows bowed tragically as he could only stare through the glistening pools in his frightened eyes - not truly seeing - at his washed up lighter. At his washed up life. At his washed up existence.
…Flick.
Slowly, he blinked. The pools dripping in tides.
Fl—ick.
No more.
His cigarette would hang moist and unlit and that was that. Helplessness set in, for he had thought he at least had one ray of hope in this world…and it had been a ruse. Fake. It had been cruel and cold and exactly like the life had so long ago tried to escape from. Now he finally realized that he was surrounded by the hell on all sides. Stronger than before. Unrelenting. He was completely and utterly alone. There wasn't a single ounce of happiness destined for Sanji. Not now – not ever. The world dared him to love and then laughed in his face, and Sanji couldn't take it anymore. To anyone he ever attached himself to, he was a disappointment. He'd never live up to anybody's expectations, and maybe it was finally time he accepted that. Accepted the truth. Because it was all undisputable fact at this point…
Nobody could ever…love a failure like him. And he wasn't even worth the effort.
"Sanji…" Robin, Nami, and Chopper wept.
Usopp had his weeping eyes shoved into his knees, and Franky had his hidden in his hands, and Brook had his sockets closed, also solemnly calling out for his friend. There was so much heartbreak involved it would be impossible to peel through every layer.
Zoro's aura had all but vanished, and he stood there, top of his face dark with shadows as his bottom lip trembled under the sharp bite of his teeth. Luffy was watching him. But Zoro… Zoro could only think of Sanji. Because if his depressing ass thoughts had been right, Zoro wouldn't have to be affected by the shitty cook and his shitty life this fucking much.
And as the tears flowed from the crew, so did they flow from the one trapped in his memories.
Flowers – so preciously picked – drowned beneath puddles at Sanji's feet. And if the wicker soaked through and the food disintegrated…what did it matter anymore?
The rain never let up, and Sanji – without even the relief of nicotine – gave up. Forced to feel every bit of his fucking failure of a life.
