Chapter 7

The wall

Sanji put on his impeccable shirt before buttoning it quickly, checking at the same time that no crease had escaped him. He adjusted his belt on his pants before making sure his shoes had been perfectly polished. Looking closely in the mirror, he fixed his strand of blond hair in front of his right eye.

He looked at himself for a long time through the reflecting surface. His appearance was impeccable, as always, but he wondered if his tired face and his skin, which was a little paler than usual, weren't too visible despite the care he took to get ready each day. Of course, everyone knew he had never slept much, but it wasn't his dark circles that worried him so much. No, what he dreaded the most was his frozen smile and too rigid gestures which had already drawn the attention of the most curious of his crewmates to him.

The cook wasn't stupid. He knew that his behavior betrayed his lack of serenity and if he had sincerely thought that resuming his habits on the Sunny would be enough to appease him, he was forced to realize he had been wrong.

The blond stared at his image again through the mirror. Actually, everyone knew by now. Since Zoro had taken him to task on the deck a few days earlier after their fight against those Sea Kings, no one could ignore that his attitude didn't correspond to his usual self. And Sanji knew it wasn't so much the fact that he had taken a risk by intervening during the swordsman's fight, but the accumulation of disconcerting details that his friends had already noticed. The insane amounts of food he cooked. His unexpected escape during their evening on the last island they visited. And finally, his silence and lack of reaction when facing the swordsman must have been a red flag.

Sanji sighed. There was nothing he could do about it. His return on the Sunny still left a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach and he did his best to ignore it and resume his life as if Whole Cake Island had never existed. In this regard, their adventures on Wano had been a welcome break, although particularly trying. Now that it was over however, everyone was back on the ship alongside Luffy who was heading towards his destiny as the Pirate King more than ever.

This semblance of normality should have reassured him, but on the contrary, it plunged him into an abyss of torment he hadn't suspected. As if the ordinary wasn't enough to prevent him from focusing on the emptiness he felt since he had set foot on this ship he had wanted so badly to get back on. His need to keep busy was inexplicable then, but it was no less real. For the moment, it was enough to contain the restlessness that Sanji felt rising sometimes.

The cook suddenly cast an exasperated look at his reflection before turning to leave the bathroom. He had already put on a show more than necessary and his friends had been really generous to understand him, so he wasn't going to feel sorry for himself again.

Sanji flung the door open and felt the cool morning air rush through his light shirt but he ignored it. He quickly made his way to his galley and locked himself in a minute later. Outside, the day was just breaking.

Nami paused when she entered the galley to eat breakfast. The table was overflowing with tempting dishes and despite their particularly appetizing appearance, she couldn't help noticing their excessive number. She then decided to speak up about it, but when Sanji turned to her a second later, she didn't feel like erasing his beaming smile. The blond was trying to make life better for them in his own way and even though she was beginning to suspect it wasn't just about pleasing them, she didn't want to take that happiness away from him.

The young woman settled for sitting in her seat while the cook placed a magnificent slice of toasted country bread with scrambled eggs and salmon in front of her, as well as a bowl of fresh fruit and a cup of jasmine tea she loved so much. At her side, Usopp, Luffy and Chopper were already devouring fragrant pastries just out of the oven. Robin was enjoying a bowl of cottage cheese topped with honey and fruit while Jinbei was tasting a poke bowl of salmon, avocado and mango, a huge glass of fruit juice still waiting for him. Zoro was given a portion of omelet, avocado and rice soon after and when Brook and Franky appeared a few minutes later, they were offered small caramel or cola muffins along with oven roasted sweet potatoes sprinkled with pomegranates.

While everyone ate hungrily, Sanji brought another stack of maple syrup pancakes to the table, triggering a battle between the captain, the ship's doctor and the sniper while Nami took a sip of her perfect tea.

"The next island will soon be in sight but we won't stay long. We have more supplies left than expected and we can continue to be discreet that way."

"That means no outings?" The swordsman understood, raising his head from his omelet.

"As little as possible," The redhead confirmed, "I know we all need to stretch our legs after all these days at sea so we'll enjoy a few hours on the mainland but no trips to bars or restaurants."

"How's this island?" Usopp wanted to know while Zoro cursed in his corner.

"Fairly ordinary, I think. It's a small shopping destination without particular interest. It has an autumn type climate."

"What about the next one? How long will it be?" Franky asked.

"Rather close, which is why it'd be a shame for us to get noticed now. If all goes well, we can take a few days off over there."

"Awesome!" Luffy got enthused, grabbing five pancakes at once.

"If all goes well," Her navigator firmly repeated. "That means going unnoticed without starting fights or chaos during our next call."

"It's gonna be great!"

Luffy was already imagining the adventures he was sure to live on this still distant island and Nami sighed. The straw hat boy had stood still for almost three weeks and she suspected that his patience was coming to an end. It was even a miracle that he hadn't triggered anything so far, the last days proving to the crew that their captain couldn't wait much longer. Indeed, since their forced encounter with the Sea Kings, Luffy seized the slightest pretext to be entertained and these hobbies became more and more risky.

The navigator had noticed that her crewmates were doing their best to contain him and they suggested all kinds of games, but Luffy was exceptionally good at doing as he pleased and the little control they still had over him wouldn't be long to disappear.

"I managed to locate the Polar Tang and I think I can reach them soon."

Her statement failed to attract the attention of the principal concerned, who was screaming in the ears of his first mate, busy telling him about their next fights. However, the information didn't escape the other crew members.

"How did you do it?" Jinbei wanted to know, curious.

"Thanks to an invention of Franky, I sent several underwater signals using sea currents. One of them ended up working."

"It's very ingenious", Robin congratulated them, bringing her cup of coffee to her lips.

"The signal responds when it encounters a moving object in the ocean!" Franky explained proudly, "It's almost the same mechanism as a sonar!"

"How are you sure it's the Polar Tang?" Usopp pointed out. "The Marine also uses submarines."

"And there are many other moving objects in the sea," Sanji added, puzzled.

"Man-made objects are special," The cyborg replied, "Not only by their materials but also by their behavior and it's by studying the signal which answers us that we can understand its nature!"

"It's quite exciting!" Brook got enthused.

"It seems rather complicated," Chopper said for his part.

"It takes a bit of work but once you understand the logic, it's pretty simple," Nami answered.

"Can we be certain that it is a particular submarine in this way?" Robin asked.

"We can't, it's the only unknown," The shipwright admitted.

"We'll know on the next island. The signal is coming from the east and thanks to the call, we'll be close enough to establish communications," Nami explained.

"What's your strategy? Ask the Heart Pirates to meet us?" Jinbei inquired with curiosity.

"The crew or just their captain but either way, we have no choice," The redhead noted, pointing to the straw hat boy who nearly fell on the table while he was miming a battle to Zoro, a raisin bread in his mouth, "Luffy won't last much longer."

"In the worst case, we'll use the photos Nami-san took to blackmail him," Sanji agreed, giving a bottle of milk to the musician.

"It's not very honorable," The little reindeer pointed out, uneasy.

"We're pirates, Chopper, these methods shouldn't surprise you anymore," The sniper sighed. "What worries me is mainly his reaction when this psychopathic surgeon gets here…"

"Perhaps he'll come with the sole intention of killing us all, or he'll send the Marine after us by disclosing our location," Robin agreed, softly swallowing a sip of coffee.

"This eventuality would be very unfortunate," Brook got amused, grabbing his own glass of milk as the doctor and sniper turned pale.

"Then we'll take care of him," Sanji decided, collecting the first empty plates.

"Luffy's not gonna let you kick his ass; he's got a crush on him!" Usopp reminded him.

"Luffy doesn't like this guy as much as the One Piece," The blond retorted, "If it jeopardizes his goal, he'll ditch him."

"Do you think he likes him as much as meat?" Chopper wondered. "If so, it's pretty serious…"

"We don't know much about their relationship actually," Franky pointed out. He looked at their captain who was gorging himself again as if the conversation didn't revolve around him. In this way, he was letting Zoro enjoy his own meal at least.

"It doesn't matter, I'll take care of the negotiation," Nami interrupted them. She put down her now empty cup, "I'll arrange to get as much information as possible. Besides, whatever happens between them, I don't think Luffy would put us in competition."

"The hardest part will surely be to convince Trafalgar Law not to ignore us," Jinbei noted.

"That's right. I think the photos will be a good enough reason but just in case, I have other elements to put in the balance…"

Scoldi Island was indeed small and largely unremarkable. In the middle of the New World's madness, it even appeared almost bucolic and the crew regretted for a moment not to stay some time. In compensation, Nami increased their allowance and everyone happily rushed to the streets of the city to enjoy it. Indeed, there was no need to keep watch in this quiet place.

The girls went shopping while Jinbei went with Sanji to the market. Meanwhile, Zoro went to the first store to raid their alcohol. Since he wasn't allowed to drink on site, he had decided that he would take everything he could on the ship. For their part, Chopper and Usopp went around the island to collect medicine and new plants while Brook and Franky followed Luffy to the less populated part of the island. There, the straw hat boy had fun racing the biggest animals throughout the forest before deciding to enjoy the beach. The cyborg then suggested building a gigantic sand castle particularly sophisticated and when the tide washed it away, Brook accompanied its dislocation with soft notes of violin.

Upon their return, everyone seemed more relaxed and laughter was heard for the rest of the evening to the dinner dance that Luffy demanded from his musician.

Three days later, Nami grabbed the sheet that the Den-Den Mushi had just transmitted, a victorious smile on her lips. She got up quickly and headed for the galley to join her crewmates. Lunch would be served soon and she had no doubt that most of her friends would already be gathered around the table.

In fact, when she pushed the door open a minute later, everyone was seated and she waved her sheet to show them. "It really was the Hearts' sub and Trafalgar Law will be on the next island. We agreed on a meeting point in a tavern outside the city," She said with satisfaction.

"Cool!" Luffy took his eyes off the food he had spotted on the counter to turn to his navigator, his eyes shining. "You're the best, Nami!"

She nodded, taking a chair next to Robin and Jinbei and her crewmates leaned towards her excitedly to hear the details of their conversation while Sanji was still bustling behind his stoves.

"How'd you do that?" Franky wanted to know.

"Did he set any conditions?" Chopper asked.

"Wasn't he angry?" Usopp shuddered.

The young woman smiled when hearing this last question, amused. "He wasn't thrilled with my suggestion but he ended up agreeing. He's a smart man and he knows he has too much to lose."

"This thing with the photos? It worked?" Zoro wondered.

"It was my main asset," The redhead approved.

"It's stupid, it's just photos. Fake on top of it," The swordsman muttered.

"These photos are completely real," The navigator reminded him, "Only the context isn't specified."

Zoro shrugged, leaving the conversation, and Brook turned to the instigator of the affair. "You had other arguments then?"

"I pointed out to him that our crew consisted of the only person in the world who could read the poneglyphs. I added that if he wanted to learn more about the Will of D., he didn't have that many solutions."

"But we don't know if the poneglyphs mention it, Robin said it herself!" Usopp remembered.

"For now. But would you take the risk of cutting yourself off from these kinds of possibilities if you were him?"

"Uh, no," The sniper admitted after a second.

Robin stifled a laugh and Jinbei chimed in, frowning. "He didn't ask for anything in return?"

"He demands we give him the photos and all related copies at the end of our agreement," The redhead told them.

"You're gonna do it?" Franky inquired, curious.

"A deal is a deal," Her friend admitted, "However, I count on Luffy to create other opportunities if necessary."

"He agrees to intervene… to help Luffy control himself then?" Chopper asked, impressed.

"He refused to make himself available for us to use his rooms but he agreed to meet us on the next island as a means of pressure to make Luffy keep quiet and recover the photos."

"It's an excellent compromise," Brook noted.

"Yes, but unfortunately, I was only able to negotiate two meetings," The redhead regretted, "One concerning the photos and one concerning the information Robin could bring to him."

"It's more than I thought," Jinbei said.

"Never underestimate her," Usopp agreed with a sigh.

"Nami's great for defending our economic and commercial interests!" Franky added loudly, and the navigator blushed because of all the compliments.

"We're gonna see Tra-guy, that's awesome!" The captain rejoiced, banging his cutlery against his empty plate. "I'm hungry, Sanji!" He added in rhythm.

"I'm coming, rubber face," The cook grumbled, busy filling his last plates.

A minute later, the blond grabbed his dishes and turned to his friends, a dazzling smile on his face. "An exceptional meal for Nami-san, the smartest and loveliest of all the Grand Line women!" The navigator had a tight smile in return but Sanji didn't notice because he placed a myriad of fancy appetizers in front of her. "Tartare of scallops with pine nuts and Granny apple. Fine tart of duck and whipped cream of cheese with shallots and chives. Pear balls poached in Porto on raw ham and crispy bacon."

"Wow!" The plates were shining brightly and the navigator chose a scallop tartare before the cook offered his dish to Robin, who preferred the pears and ham appetizer. The rest of the crew then helped themselves with enthusiasm while the blond brought baskets of fresh bread as well as several bottles of wine and water according to everyone's convenience.

"This ham is delicious," Brook noted with delight.

"The duck isn't bad either," Franky assured them, devouring his share.

"Do the scallops come from the Scoldi Island market?" Robin asked.

"Yes, they are! Shellfishes were splendid!" The blond swirled, pouring her some white wine.

"There was first-class seafood," Jinbei agreed.

The starters were quickly swallowed and Sanji moved on without being asked. He put down a dish of pesto-deglazed cod with a Provençal-style vegetable tian, a dish of chicken with lime garnished with tagliatelle of Thai vegetables and a dish of guinea fowl supreme with foie gras and chestnuts. Everyone helped themselves again according to their choice and Sanji added personalized fresh vegetable cocktails to all his crewmates.

"Once again, this is sumptuous," Brook commented, discovering the quantities of food and their undeniable nutritional qualities.

"A true gourmet meal," Nami noted in turn.

"It's really varied," Chopper agreed, sipping his cocktail with relish.

"I got up early, I had plenty of time to prepare everything," The blond told them, serving his captain with a lot of chicken and tagliatelle while the latter was stamping with impatience.

"Impressive," Jinbei noticed while tasting the cod. "You master your art perfectly."

"Thanks so much!"

After a few moments making sure no one missed anything, Sanji headed back to his counter and took out his cheese platter and salad in anticipation of the rest of the meal. He then arranged his products elegantly and began to wash the first empty plates while waiting for his friends to finish eating. As they heaved sighs of satisfaction a few minutes later, the blond immediately grabbed his tray.

"Cheese? It's been three days in a row," Usopp noted.

"The cheese monger was making prices so I took a little more than usual," The blond said.

"Yum!" Luffy got enthused, his right hand ready to plant his fork in the camembert cheese while his left hand had grabbed a bread.

"Calm down, Captain, women first. There'll be enough for everyone, don't worry." Sanji turned his tray towards Robin and Nami before helping the boys to choose. He then rushed back to his counter to take out new bottles. "Red or white wines, ladies?" He asked them, a charming smile on his lips.

"No thank you," The archaeologist declined.

"Me neither," The navigator said, "We've had enough."

The cook hid his disappointment by offering the wine to the rest of the crew but only Zoro asked for a bottle. Sanji then barely had time to refill his basket of bread when he had to clear the plates that were piling up. Finally, when the table was cleared, he grabbed his desserts, the highlight of the meal. "Personalized pastries!"

"Cheese and dessert?" Franky was surprised.

"It's absolutely gorgeous!" Brook exclaimed, seeing the perfectly ordered delicacies.

"You made a lot!" Chopper noticed in disbelief.

"I want some!" The captain yelled.

With a smile, Sanji placed two fig tartlets in front of the girls before handing a huge chocolate and red currant fondant to his captain who was drooling on his napkin in anticipation. The blond offered a strawberry tartlet to the little reindeer, a tonka bean crème brûlée to the sniper, a truffle tiramisu to the helmsman and a yuzu tart to the swordsman. He ended with the cyborg who received a chocolate fondant with salted butter caramel sauce and the musician who was given an apple strudel with porcini mushrooms and custard.

Sanji then rushed to the teapot and the coffee pot he had taken care to turn on a little earlier but when he turned back to the table, he frowned.

"Is something wrong, Nami-san?"

The young woman remained frozen in her seat and her friends glanced at her while gulping their desserts down.

"You need to stop doing this."

The blond paused, his utensils in his hand, and silence suddenly came over the galley. Nami looked down at their desserts. "Strawberries and red currants, how much did you pay for that? We were on an autumnal island."

"Oh, the shopkeeper was very nice, he-"

"Porcini mushrooms, truffles, scallops, foie gras. These are ingredients that are hard to find," She continued, matter-of-factly.

"It's-It's true but I had some money left so-

"So you decided to use your own money again to buy some, didn't you?"

Another silence greeted her words and the navigator sighed.

"I… just wanted to treat you, Nami-san."

The young woman finally looked up and met the destabilized gaze of her most trusty white knight. She shook her head. "Sanji-kun, I know what you're trying to do but you have to stop. Cooking so much every day isn't normal. You're hurting yourself and there's no point. You don't need to feel guilty about what happened at Whole-"

Nami jumped when the blond violently put down the teapot and the coffee pot on the counter and the faces of their crewmates tensed when they saw his hands trembling. Catching their gazes, Sanji turned around to escape them, repositioning his cups which had moved due to the shock.

"Sanji-kun, I-"

"Say no more, Nami-san. I get it." The cook put his last cup in its place and slipped a cigarette between his lips before heading for the exit and closing the door slowly behind him.

Around the table, Nami bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him…"

"I think you were the only one who could tell him," Robin reassured her.

"I wouldn't have known how to broach the subject," Chopper agreed sadly.

"It must be a painful moment for him but our chef is strong," Brook affirmed.

"Let's hope it'll help him to move on," Usopp sighed, staring at his delicious crème brûlée he had barely started. For some reason, he wasn't very hungry anymore.

Trailer parts 3/16

The pace is picking up and the gap is widening between Sanji and the crew…