Chapter 5

Sanji started to make his way to the kitchen, eager to start cooking again. His back ached from the terrible sleeping condition. He also just wanted to get away from Zoro, whom he left sleeping. Sanji thought about that dream again and he let out a little moan. He just had to keep telling himself that he was not attracted to alphas and would never take one as a mate, even if he dreamed about them.

"Sanji!"

Sanji looked back to see Law walking up to him. One of his smaller children clung to his long flowing coat.

"I need to talk with you," Law said.

Sanji could tell it was serious by the hard look on his face. "What about?"

"Your family. The Vinsmokes."

Sanji sneered. "I don't associate with that name! So, stop bringing it up!" Law then hands him a small piece of parchment. "What's this?"

"That's from your family,"

Sanji read the note and his face went white. It was the one thing he feared the most- getting married by arrangement and for business. And they wanted him to marry that horrible alpha called Blackbeard. No one knew his real name. Blackbeard was a very strong and influential alpha who made all his fortune from ports exporting goods. But why would Blackbeard want him? He could pick many other omegas of high standing and good name, so why him? The only reason he could think of is that his father approached Blackbeard and offered him as an omega 'bride'. He felt like he was going to throw up.

"I don't want the Vinsmokes coming here," Law said. "You can't stay here where they might find you. I'm sure Judge Vinsmoke has scouts out looking for you and asking around by the use of messenger birds." Law laid his hand on top of his daughter's little head. "I have a family to protect," he said, his tone hard and serious. "Everyone knows the Vinsmokes for their cruelty. They can't be trusted. I don't want them here, so you have to leave."

"Wait, what? I have to leave? But I have nowhere else to go! They're not going to find me here!"

Law picked up his daughter and she wrapped her little arms around his neck. "You wouldn't understand," he said. "You don't have children of your own or a mate. If you did, you would understand how I feel, and why I want you to leave."

"Zoro won't let me go,"

"Zoro is not in charge," Law pointed out. "By noble rules, I am a step higher than Zoro, and I'm in charge of all the omegas here. If I'm telling you to leave, there is nothing Zoro could do or say to prevent it. You have until tomorrow to leave."

Sanji narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll just go to the person higher than you, which is Luffy,"

Law's eyes widened a bit but he didn't say anything.

"I'll find him and ask him," Sanji said, turning on his heel. "I'm not going anywhere."

Sanji figured that Luffy would be in the main hall eating his morning meal, so he went there. Sure enough, Luffy was chowing down on the food, which plates were made into an arch. Luffy is another one who eats with his hands. Sanji let out a quick laugh when Luffy lifted his head with big cheeks full of food. It reminded him of a chipmunk. Luffy waved at him with a piece of meat on the bone. Luffy spat out some crumbs when he said 'hi'.

But Sanji was soon joined by Law, who was still holding the little girl. The little girl slipped down Law's long body and wobbled over to climb into Luffy's lap. Luffy finally swallowed the food he had been holding in his cheeks and handed her a small piece of meat.

"You both look like you have bad news," Luffy said, looking from Sanji to Law.

"I speak first," Law said to Sanji. Sanji just waved him off. "Luffy, Sanji here belongs to the Vinsmokes. He's one of Judge's four sons. They know he left the monastery and they're sending out messenger birds to find him. It's dangerous to let Sanji stay here. His family is known to be ruthless, cruel, and strong. Sanji will bring trouble, he has to leave."

Luffy looked at Sanji.

"I want to stay," Sanji said. "My father wants to marry me off! I don't want to be married! And I don't have anywhere else to go,"

"We have a family to protect, Luffy," Law reminded him. "The Vinsmokes are not good people."

Luffy nodded and chewed the bone hanging out of the corner of his mouth. He was thinking. His daughter spun around on his lap and rested against his chest, falling asleep.

"Sanji's not going anywhere," Luffy said.

"Luffy-" Law started but was cut off.

"I want to meet these Vinsmokes. I've heard of how strong they are, and I want to fight them and find out!"

"We can just give them Sanji and be done with it," Law said.

"They can't take Sanji anywhere if I say 'no' to it," Luffy spat out the bone he was chewing and burped. "As long as Sanji stays here, I can write up one of those contracts that makes him a part of my crew. By law, they can't take Sanji away unless I permit it or accept money, and I'll fight them if I have to!" He grinned. "It's going to be interesting!"

"Luffy, we REALLY should talk about this," Law said. "Alone." He looked at Sanji.

Sanji smiled at Luffy and thanked him for letting him stay. Although, he was curious to know what Law was saying. It's possible that Law might convince Luffy to make him leave. Sanji was anxious again. But luckily, he was in the kitchen now, cooking with the others. Cooking always eased his nerves.

"Luffy, we can't have the Vinsmokes here," Law said again.

Luffy rocked back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. "I'm not afraid of these guys. Let them come. I'll take care of them,"

"Luffy…we have a family to protect," Law reminded him. "Sanji is going to cause us trouble."

Luffy rubbed the little girl's back as she continued to sleep. "Nothing is going to happen to our family. I'm not afraid of these guys! What's the worst that could happen?"

Law slapped a hand to his face. "They want to arrange a marriage between Sanji and Blackbeard. That means they're wanting an alliance, which could mean trouble for the rest of us. Both Judge and Blackbeard have strong forces. We wouldn't stand a chance against them as we are now. Again, we have a family to protect. Send Sanji away."

"No one deserves to be married to that bastard Blackbeard. They can't have a marriage if Sanji isn't there."

"Which is why he needs to leave," Law said again.

"No. I'm signing Sanji on as part of our crew. Let this Judge guy and Blackbeard come to me," he boasted. "I'll handle them!"

Law just shook his head and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Zoro spent time in his training room trying to sweat away a hangover headache. He's supposed to take Sanji fishing today. As he lifted the dumbbells, he thought about Sanji and realized the infuriating man was plaguing his thoughts. Zoro wasn't sure what to make of it. He paused in mid-lift as his brain conjured up images of a naked Sanji, his body coyly wrapped in furs. Slowly, the fur would fall to reveal all of Sanji's nakedness for his pleasure alone. He wanted to put Sanji's sassy mouth to better use. He smirked at that image. He'd like to feel those long, slim legs wrapped around his waist or resting on his shoulders. But Sanji was too stubborn, and he didn't want to be tamed. Zoro understood that. The fact that he is even considering anything sexual with Sanji is a recipe for disaster.

Then, Zoro realized he was erect. Painfully so. He slipped his cock out of his pants to wrap his hand around it and start stroking. It was overly sensitive and it felt like he would release any moment. He couldn't help but picture Sanji in his mind. He didn't want to jack off to that bastard, so he thought of Law instead. It didn't ease his erection at all. They had a small attraction to each other but Law was meant for Luffy. He kept going back to Sanji and then he came hard. The release had felt so good that he first gave a moan and then a sigh. He shook his head free of Sanji and went back to training. He cleaned himself up with his sweat cloth and returned to lifting weights.

"Food's here,"

Zoro nearly fell off the bench when he heard Sanji's voice. He turned around to see the tall blonde holding a plate. Zoro cleared his throat and put the dumbbells back. He was hungry, although the last thing he wanted was to be in Sanji's presence.

"Good. I'm starving."

Zoro sat at the table, and Sanji handed him the plate of food and some fresh-squeezed juice. The meat on the plate was venison, and there was a side of eggs and a piece of toast. Sanji said he made all the food himself, and Zoro found it delicious. He tried not to look at Sanji for fear he would let his embarrassment show that he was sexualizing the blonde in his mind.

"Are we still going fishing today?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah, we can."

"Hopefully there won't be any boars around,"

"How is that wound?" Zoro asked.

"It's healing fine. I'm going to have a nasty scar there, though."

"You don't have to talk to me about scars. I actually think scars are interesting. There's always a story behind a scar." He had the scar across his chest and the one over his eye. He had a few more on his back but they were tiny. Sanji took the seat opposite of him.

"What's the story with the scar over the eye?"

"It was a training mishap," Zoro answered while eating an egg. "That's all I'll say about it. The scar on my chest is from my sword master, the one I trained with."

"Hm. Those aren't very interesting stories."

Zoro narrowed his eye at Sanji. "I said they tell a story, not that a story is good or not."

Sanji gave a little smile. "Remember something you told me when we first started talking?"

"No. Should I?"

"You told me that Heaven doesn't want you and Hell's afraid you'll take over. That was more interesting than those two short stories."

Zoro smirked and took a big bite of meat. "It's the truth."

"Well, I don't think you could take over Hell."

"Believe what you want," Zoro said, finishing up his breakfast.

The pond near the castle was small in size but held a lot of fish. Sanji suggested they have a picnic as well. When they got there, the first thing Sanji did was lay out a blanket and place the basket of food on the corner. Zoro was carrying their fishing rods. Sanji was eager to learn how to fish. Zoro patiently taught him the basics of fishing, and soon the pair were sitting on the blanket, holding their rods, waiting for fish to bite.

Sanji tilted his head back a little to take in the sun on his face. The sky was blue with white clouds floating slowly by. When he was little, he often wanted to fly away on a cloud, away from his brothers and father. It was so rare for him to find peace when he was growing up. This peaceful moment made him feel content and relaxed.

But then, he remembered his meeting with Law, and how Law wanted him to leave. Sanji hadn't asked Luffy about anything yet. He didn't even mention it to Zoro. He kept telling himself not to get worried because his family doesn't know where he is right now. Then, he turned his attention to Zoro, who was staring out at the pond.

"I see steam coming out of your ears," Sanji said. "What are you thinking about?"

"Very funny," Zoro said flatly. "I'm not thinking of anything."

Sanji was about to say something else when there was a tug at his rod. "I got one!" He started to reel it in.

"I got a bite too!" Zoro began reeling it in as well.

"I bet my fish will be bigger than yours!" Sanji challenged.

"We'll just see about that!"

They pulled their fish up at the same time. Zoro's was bigger than Sanji's. Sanji frowned at the tiny gray fish still flopping on the line. Zoro laughed in triumph as his fish was much bigger, though not by much.

"My fish could eat your fish!" Zoro boasted. "Looks like I win!"

Sanji muttered to himself and tossed the fish back into the pond. "I'll catch a bigger one next time!" He had a quick flashback of his brothers fighting over the same thing when they went fishing. Sanji could only watch them fighting over whose fish was bigger or better. All he could ever do was watch. If his brothers saw the tiny fish he caught, they would never let him live it down.

"Yeah, keep working on that," Zoro said and put down his rod.

Zoro lies back on the blanket and folds his hands behind his head. He crossed one leg over his knee. He glanced at Sanji for a moment, remembering what happened this morning, and quickly looked up to keep from getting embarrassed. That was something he hated and now he was feeling it. He never liked to feel embarrassed. It was all Sanji's fault.

Then, Sanji puts his rod down and lies down on the blanket next to Zoro. He folds his hands behind his arms as well but crosses his ankles. There was a silence between them. It was Sanji who broke the silence.

"Do you ever just gaze at the sky and the clouds moving by? I used to pick out shapes in the clouds when I was a kid."

"I think every kid has done that," Zoro said. "I prefer star gazing, though."

"I like that too."

"It's almost sunset," Zoro said. "You can go back if you want, but I'm going to stay here until it gets dark."

Sanji liked the idea. "I think I'll stay too. We have food and mead to eat and drink."

Zoro's answer came as a small snore. Sanji looked over at him and frowned, rolling his eyes. The alpha could so easily put his head down and sleep anywhere at any time. Sanji stayed awake just watching the clouds passing by. He was surprised Zoro trusted him enough to let his guard down. He could easily escape right now, and Zoro wouldn't be able to track him down. But Sanji was coming to like this new angle on life, even if he was just a servant. If he wanted to take advantage of his Vinsmoke blood, he could be sitting high above both Zoro and Luffy. He's a prince. Luffy is a lord and Zoro is a swordsman. But he would never do that. He would rather live his life as a beggar than ever be a Vinsmoke prince.

Sanji closed his eyes and didn't expect to fall asleep. But his peaceful sleep slowly turned into a nightmare. He was a young man who had just turned fourteen and was looking for ingredients to try in his cooking. Then, he was approached by his brothers and some other kids. Sanji tried to ignore them, but he was swiftly surrounded. The three other kids, who looked a bit older, suddenly advanced on him. Two pinned his arms to the ground and the third one started to undo the buttons of his vest. He struggled to get away, knowing what was happening. All he could hear was his brothers' mocking laughter and the evil grins of the other boys. He kicked and struggled, but the other kids were just too strong.

The one on top of him was tired of trying to unbutton the vest and just ripped it instead. The right shoulder of the vest and undershirt ripped off. He was bare-skinned on his right side. He begged them not to hurt him, but they weren't listening. Suddenly, when it seemed like he was losing, his father came riding up to them. His father's booming voice scared the three boys away, and they took off running. Sanji was shocked his father had saved him. Judge slid off the massive horse, took his riding crop, and gave each of his brothers a strike with it. Sanji felt a small smile on his face, relieved that his father was protecting him.

'You foolish boys!' Their father shouted. 'How dare you try to lose the one thing of value Sanji has!' The three apologized, and Sanji's smile faded. His father only cared about his omega virginity. 'And you,' Sanji cried out when his father brought the riding crop down on him. He got more whips from it than his brothers did. 'Stop enticing males with your lude omega body! You have one thing of value in this family, so you'd better not screw up!'

Sanji tried to hold back his tears but he couldn't. Nothing was his fault, yet his father blamed him for everything that just happened.

"HEY!"

Sanji jerked awake, slamming his forehead into Zoro's. Zoro reeled back, holding his hand to his head. Sanji did the same, and then yelled at him.

"What the hell were you doing!?"

"You idiot! You were having a nightmare and I tried to wake your stupid ass!"

"You were right in front of my face!"

"You weren't waking up! Ouch! My damn head! I'm going to have a lump there!"

"No you won't because you have a hard head!" Sanji insulted him.

"Yours is no better!" Zoro gave him a push.

Sanji pushed right back. They ended up fighting, throwing punches, and rolling

around in the long grass. They exchanged punches anywhere they could find. Both were not aware of their current surroundings and ended up rolling into the pond. The water broke up their fight and they pulled away. Sanji had a lilypad on his head and his hair was stuck to his face, covering both eyes. Zoro sprouted water from his mouth and coughed.

"Now I'm all wet!" Sanji threw off the lily pad and pushed the wet hair away from his face.

"This is all your fault, Curly Brow!"

"My fault? You started it!" Sanji splashed water at him.

"No, you did!" Zoro splashed water back.

Their water fight did not last long as both men realized how stupid it was. The sun was mostly setting, and they wouldn't have a way to dry their clothes. Sanji opened the picnic basket and made a small plate for both of them. Each had fresh fruit, some nutty bread, and a small cherry tart. Sanji was wet and uncomfortable, but he didn't want the food to go to waste. Zoro accepted the plate and started eating. The mead bottle came next, and Sanji didn't bother to pour it into the cups he had packed. He put the bottle to his lips and took a few sips.

"Hey, share that," Zoro said.

Sanji handed him the bottle and Zoro took a deeper sip.

"Save some for me, you lush," Sanji took the bottle back.

"I see you brought two,"

"Two for both of us to share,"

Zoro took out the other bottle and ignored Sanji's narrowed gaze. He sat back and let the honey wine glide down his throat. He preferred ale, but he would never say no to booze. He glanced over at Sanji who was taking bigger sips. Zoro would have told him to slow down, but he didn't bother. He took a longer sip as well.

"Hey, look there," Sanji pointed to the first star appearing in the sky. The rest of the sky had become a hue of pink, purple, and orange.

They sat in silence, watching the sky grow darker, and drinking their mead. Sanji was starting to nod off. Zoro had laid down on his back after finishing his bottle. Sanji lay down beside him, and the blonde was already asleep. Zoro stared at Sanji's relaxed, sleeping face. The omega was fine to look at when his mouth was closed and his eyes shut. But Zoro couldn't help letting his eyes travel down the length of Sanji's body. Their clothes were still mostly wet, and Zoro's eye focused on a pair of pert nipples poking through the soaked fabric. Zoro quickly turned his face back to the stars. A few moments later, he shook Sanji awake.

"Hey, Curly Brow. Check out the stars,"

Sanji opened his eyes and rolled onto his back. There were thousands of stars littering the night sky. He looked over at Zoro who had just sat up.

"Look out at the water," Zoro said.

Sanji sat up and saw dozens of fireflies. Small flickers of light reflected off the pond, making it look like there were twice as many. Sanji couldn't remember a time when he'd seen something this beautiful. One of the fireflies even landed on the handle of the picnic basket. But his happiness quickly turned into a deep frown as he remembered something from his past.

He was out with his brothers chasing fireflies. Sanji would catch them and then let them go. But his brothers became violent, and they were crushing the fireflies with sticks to get only the glowing part of the fireflies. They waved their sticks around, making golden streams of firefly light flutter in the dark. Sanji remembered crying and shouting for them to stop, but they only ended up chasing him with firefly guts.

"STOP IT!" Sanji suddenly shouted and he shoved Zoro.

"What the hell?!" Zoro snapped. "Stop pushing me!"

"S-Sorry…"

"Why did you yell? I'm not doing anything!"

"It was the mead, okay!" Sanji said, and most likely it was.

"Are you crazy or something? You were staring at that firefly with a stupid, stale look on your face."

Sanji turned away. "It's none of your business."

"Fine. I don't care anyway."

"I want to go back," Sanji said.

"You ruined the evening with your attitude."

Sanji grits his teeth and keeps his back turned to Zoro. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I was just…having a bad memory," Sanji said. "It took me by surprise, that's all."

"...okay." Zoro was satisfied with that answer. "Let's head back."

"Alright."

They returned to the castle in silence and went to Zoro's chambers. Sanji had a mattress now and laying on the floor wasn't so bad. They both fell asleep without a single word.

The next morning, Law was finishing up feeding the children when the nanny came in. Law stood up from the table and asked her what was wrong as she looked concerned. One of his children clung to his leg and another crawled up his back.

"Some men are here," She said. "They are all alphas and they look like they're from another place. They said they were Vincoke? Vincok? Forgive me, my lord, but I don't remember their exact name."

"Vinsmoke," Law said flatly. "Damn it all…I knew this was going to happen! Stay with the children."

Law got his sword, took off his feeding apron, and hurried down to the main hall. He found Luffy sitting in the chair, chomping down on a piece of meat. The Vinsmoke brothers were not inside yet. Law stormed up the dais to Luffy and pulled the meat from his hands.

"Hey! I was eating that!" Luffy complained.

"The damn Vinsmoke brothers are here!" He said. "I knew this was going to happen! I knew it!"

"The Vinsmokes, huh?" Luffy tapped his lip in thought. "Hmm,"

"Let's just give them Sanji before they cause trouble for us,"

"No. I'm not letting Sanji leave here. I said I would handle these brothers. Where's Zoro?"

"Right here," Zoro said, walking into the main hall. "A servant got me up. I have Sanji staying in the room." He went up the dais and stood on the other side of Luffy.

Luffy nodded. "Good. So, bring them in!" He grinned. "These guys are strong, but I'll be the judge of that!" He laughed.

Law grits his teeth. "Can you stop being so cheerful and challenging for once? This is serious!"

"Nah. I'm not afraid," Luffy kicked his feet and folded his hands behind his head.

A guard brought in the three brothers, each with a solid color hair of red, blue, and green. Zoro noticed they all had the same eyebrows as Sanji. Their clothing matched their hair, which Zoro found ridiculous. However, as an alpha, he can sense the threatening pheromone from another alpha, and these three are strong. He clutched the hilt of one of his swords a little tighter.

"We're the Vinsmokes, a royal family," said the red-haired one. "I'm Ichiji. This is Niji and Yonji. And yet, we were treated poorly by your staff."

"I'll talk to them," Luffy said. "But why are you guys here?"

"We're looking for our brother," said Niji, the one with the blue hair. "He has yellow hair. His name is Sanji."

"We're searching all the towns and castles to find him," said Yonji "Is he here?"

"He came, and went." Law stated coldly.

"So, he was here?" asked Ichiji.

"Must I repeat myself?" Law frowned. "He's not here. So be on your way,"

Zoro was a bit surprised that Law didn't turn Sanji over to his brothers.

"Wait," Niji stepped forward. "You're Trafalgar Law, aren't you?" He smirked. "You were called the Surgeon of Death and could fight against any alpha. But you gave in to your omega side and got mated, just as you should."

"Oh yeah, I think I've heard that," Yonji added. "Don't you also have about ten to twenty kids?"

"See? Omegas are all whores- it's true what Father said," said Ichiji.

Zoro quickly drew two swords, prepared to defend Law's honor. But Luffy stopped him.

"I don't know who you guys are, and honestly, I really don't care," Luffy said. "But I won't allow you guys to insult my family or my crew. Now get out of my home and search for your brother somewhere else!"

The three brothers looked ready to proceed but stopped when they sensed Luffy's alpha aura. It was strong, stronger than the three of theirs put together. They watched as Law drew his long sword, and Zoro was still armed with his.

"Fine." Said Ichiji. "We'll go. Let's go, boys."

When the three left, Law bonked Luffy on the head.

"Ow! Why did you hit me?" Luffy whined, holding the top of his head.

"I told you not to use your damned alpha aura!" he said with a flush. "It's…hard to resist it."

"Too much information for me," Zoro said, putting away his swords.

"Those guys were stupid," Luffy said. "Let Sanji know it's okay now. If they come back, we'll just deal with them again."

Sanji was hiding out in Zoro's chambers and peeking out the window. He saw his brothers leaving and he let out the breath he was holding. He slid down to the floor and sighed heavily. They were gone! He was safe! At least, he was safe now. There's no telling what types of tricks his brothers might pull.

"Thanks, Luffy," Sanji smiled. "And I guess that green-haired bastard deserves a 'thank you.'"

TBC