My Happy Marriage With Monkey D Luffy Chapter 2: Severing the ties before I embark on my, an one piece fanfic

Hello, my patient readers.

Will you believe me, if I tell you I have been writing this chapter bit by bit for the last two years? Please do. I never forgot about this story, it's just when I write omegaverse stories I become so angry that I have be to careful to not let my real-life queer-female rage into the story. A little bit of rage is fine, but not too much, after all, I wanted this story to be fluffy. Alas, with the rise of red-pill nonsense and growing misogyny, this chapter took a dark turn. So the opening part of the story became very violent and enraging.

I wanted to give Sanji a happy life, so what the fuck happened? I thought I needed to increase the torture a bit more for Luffy to realise how much his husband has suffered. Because there will be punishment for the evil Vinsmokes in the final chapter, so I needed to go ham here. Forgive me for putting our meow-meow through the grinder.

So Sanji keeps fluctuating between his numbers, sometimes he says he was locked in a tower for 14 years and in another for 15 years. The answer is 14, but since he hasn't left the Germa empire for so long, to him 15/14 is the same. But it is important for Luffy because of plot reasons.

Hope you liked this chapter, and please be patient with me, I know you want to know what happens next, and so do I. But I am a very slow writer and because my life is going to, well shit because of unemployment and AI eating away at my profession; I am going through a bleak time. So I ask for your kind patience with me.

P.S: Happy Birthday Debora

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Severing the ties before I embark on my happy marriage journey

Even before my tears could dry, my bouquet was taken away from me, and I was whisked away from the celebration and put in my room! Reiju was the culprit, and her waiting staff were her partners in crime. "Why am I here? Shouldn't we all eat together?"

My sister pressed the centre of her forehead like she was fed up with my thought process. "Now is not the time for thinking about the banquet. My guts are telling me to send you away as soon as possible. You didn't notice the air around our father and those three rascals. We both know they hate being outsmarted and played for a fool."

My heart was stubborn as a mule, I had spent hours preparing that welcoming banquet. A part of me wanted to see my very newly wedded husband bite into the meals I prepared. "But—"

With a gentle finger on my lips, my sister cut me. "Shhh! Do you think we have time to eat any more? If they rushed the wedding, that means they have no intentions of staying here any moment longer. Even before you arrived to greet your in-laws, half the wedding feast was already gobbled up from the plate and wiped clean. Girls hurry, pack his basics, we don't have time. And guards, don't let anyone in. Not even our brothers." My sister began wiping my face, "I don't know what that little boy of a husband of yours is planning. I am certain he has no wish to keep you here any longer." Rejiu pointed at her belly, "I am telling you my very hyperactive Alpha guts are telling me to send you away as soon as I can. I don't trust the other three morons we have in this family. We can't be lax, every fibre in my body is telling me if I keep you here any longer, something worse will happen. I will not let you suffer, I want you to leave now. And—" My sister had questions, but she didn't ask, and decided to change the direction of the conversation to something lighter, "Why do you refuse to shave this little beard? Hmm? I am preparing you in advance so that you look decent enough when you step on the ship, okay?" She tickled my chin like I was a cat. "Are you hungry?" I shook my head, I could use a roll of tobacco, though. Hunger was not a priority on my list, I just wished I got to see people relishing the feast I cooked. "You were so cute as a baby, now you look all rough and tough. What a manly and beautiful brother I have." Reiju cupped my face and kissed me on the nose and doused me in her pheromones. I inhaled it all, and I wanted a bit more. For some reason, her pheromones reminded me of my mother's hug. "For protection." All these years, she had been up on her toes, trying to keep danger away from me. "Even this face has lost his baby fat. What a tough face!"

"Omega and tough don't go hand-in-hand, sister."

"Tch, silly boy! You are the strongest Omega in the four seas"

"Can I get a smoke?"

"Are you still nervous?" I didn't reply. "If you want, I can give you one, but—" My sister pulled one from between the folds of her chest and handed one. "It is doused in my pheromones too, hehehehe. Luffy might not like it."

I took it, "I don't like being exposed…" Generally, my pheromones would be doused by the smell of cooking oil, tobacco, and perfume. Mostly, Reiju would cover me in her scent every day and whenever I felt particularly sensitive she would give me rolls of tobacco drenched in her pheromones. The burnt smoke calmed the palpitating uneasiness in my chest whenever my omega guts told me to feel scared. As today was supposed to be my engagement, I had washed and cleaned my hair, and bathed in the hottest water my skin could bear. Now I felt exposed without my armour of cheap perfume smells, thick odour of used oil and my sister's love. "Luffy's smell overwhelmed me, and there were so many alphas…." One of Reiju's helpers tried to reapply the foundation and I squirmed. My face was aching, how much did I cry? "I feel raw."

"Princess, Master Sanji's face is swollen because…" The young helping hand didn't finish her sentence. Because I cried like a baby, even my vows to Luffy were spoken between sobs. My face was bloated now, and my body was especially sore in places that shouldn't be, except for the days when I was on my period, thanks to my new in-laws, who exposed me to way too many alpha pheromones. Being a virgin with no exposure to anyone other than my family's scent had left me weak. They were saving me from the mess I created.

"I think you should wipe my makeup, entirely." I wanted to say, Luffy wouldn't care. It would feel like I was bragging, so I refrained, "I am not comfortable, my cheeks are aching and itching, dear." I pushed aside the hand of the girl holding the makeup brush. "Can I change into comfortable clothes?"

"If you say so," my sister smiled and took my tobacco roll lit for herself and offered me a second-hand smoke. The smell of burnt paper and tobacco calmed me. The heat of the smoke soothed the ache in my chest. "You both go pack his stuff and don't eavesdrop. I have to talk to my brother. And shut the door to the bedroom tight. And place a few pieces of furniture outside as well."

They didn't need to be told twice.

Once we were sure we were alone, I quickly stripped off my clothes behind the wooden partition that belonged to my mother. My sister looked on with eyes full of worry about the exposed shoulder and neck. I couldn't see if there were any bruises on my back, but with her knotted eyes, I could guess. "They will fade, they always fade." That was the nature of bruises, they were first purple, then they became yellow, then brown, and finally, they vanished like they never existed. "Don't look at your brother like this. I am a married man now." I said in jest. Not only that but I was used to being naked in front of her, from the first period to my first heat, she was always there. Yet it felt strange to suddenly change behind the wooden partition because she could still see a lot with those alpha eyes my father operated on.

"Why didn't you let me perform the surgeries on your scars?"

I knew where she was looking. It was not the bruises, but the scars left by numerous incidents that bothered her. I quickly stepped out while pulling on a new baby blue shirt and readjusted the red cape. Likewise, out of nervousness I dropped the Germa brooch, but my sister's eye made me pick it up again. "Sanji relax baby brother."

"I will be okay." There was no point going back and forth with the brooch in my hand. I wore it. "I am already an omega, don't take away my pride as a man. Scars make a man! Women too! Scars make everyone cool. Didn't you see, Monkey Ds all have some scars or injuries? I think I spotted a beautiful lady with a prosthetic hand and a greenhead with one functional eye was being lovey-dovey with her too.

"Because they are a bloody warring family! The peace East Blue boasts of is because this family always protects their borders! Their empire is 800 years old, and the Monkey Ds have never not been in power." In the few history books that Reiju had provided me about this family I married into, I had read how they never toyed with the concept of division of power. Despite having the Emperor and Empress at the top of their power pyramid, each member of the family was an important portfolio holder.

"I will be fine! I don't think they want their omega to be fighting in battles.!" They were one of the few royal families in the world that had omega emperors and beta emperors as well. So it was not uncommon for their non-alpha progeny to go to war as well. How would my father feel if, in future, Luffy decided I should march with him to a battlefield and command troops? The very thought brought me joy, though I had no wish to join any battle. "I can fight though, I have been trained the Germa way after all." But I knew it would irk my father and brothers so much. The Monkey D Family's progressive ways of ruling never sat well with my father.

"You will not!" Reiju gritted her teeth. "Ever fight. I have faith in your abilities to command an army. I would prefer you to be happy, and healthy and enjoy a warm cup of tea with your loving husband in some picnic spot."

"Don't worry." I grinned. "I promise, I will be very happy with Monkey D Luffy."

"That boy loves you, doesn't he?" My sister bit her lips, she was not asking me. She was convincing herself. "Doesn't mean I am not scared. I also feel you will do better with them. Yet…" Her lovely eyes were full of controlled tears. "Yet…"

My sister pulled my palms and put on two golden bangles, I knew them very well. My mother wore them, and though she was an alpha, she got them as wedding gifts from her parents for marrying a superior trait holder than their bloodline. How did Reiju get her hands on those? I thought our father threw away everything that belonged to her, I wanted to ask, but my sister shushed me. "Here. This is more important," My sister slid a pouch between my shaky palms.

"What is this?"

"Birth control." Was I shocked, yes. Not because I was shy, but because it was redundant. "Don't roll your eyes. Generally, it is a mother's job to teach all this stuff, sadly you only have me. So bear with it."

"You know I can't ever get pregnant." Now I was playing with the pink pouch. "It's okay. I don't need them. Father would lock you up for feeding me medicines!"

"Yes, I am aware, but this is for your hormones as well, you have a hard time during heat, I wish I had given you these sooner, but now that I know you will be away! You've—"

[TW: Graphic Violence| Omegaphobia| Use of sexist language.

CW: Sanji is paralyzed by the fear of getting raped by his brothers.

Again no one is getting raped. But I wanted to add the internalised fear every woman and queer person has experienced in the real-world through Sanji.

Don't Worry Luffy and Family Save the Day.

(Cough, cough, dialogues are inspired by real life-red-pill content)]

I heard the multiple doors separating my small bedroom from the guest-chamber break apart. Not a single moment of peace was in my fate, the door was kicked open, my two loyal guards lay bleeding on the floor, and the birth set was here, "What are you telling him? Sister." It was always Yonji, trying to pick a fight that no one had any interest in.

"Leave." My sister commanded as she stood up, "We have guests, leave. Don't create trouble." She pushed me behind her. They were obligated to listen to her. But they were also like a pack of young hyena pups who wanted to contest against a lioness. They never learned. The strongest epitome of the Alpha-verse that our father wanted them to be part of, was not for them. My sister wasted no time and released her pheromone, "Don't create a ruckus. This is Sanji's day, don't make it a bad memory for him."

"We just came to wish our precious Omega a happy married life." Niji was fast— he jumped above my sister to invade my space and stood opposite me. Again, by inching near my face, he grinned as he was happy to have invaded my personal space. Then he took a whiff of me, "What is this smell you carry? Why are you already smelling like the Deviant Monkey D?" I didn't know I was carrying Luffy's smell any more. After all, I had changed into fresh clothes. "Awwww you wanted to stick to him, didn't you? You thought a shotgun wedding would make your departure from our beloved empire easy didn't you?" Niji took more whiffs of the air. "God you stink. This damn bedroom reeks of that deviant. Hey, third, did you already let him deflower?" My sister slapped him away from me.

"Don't speak nonsense, Niji." Reiju continued to barricade me. Her worst fear was here. "If you cannot respect him, don't bother him."

"Huh? This omega is the one carrying the smell of another alpha. Why are you angry at me, Reiju? They just met yet this room reeks." Then I recalled last night he was here running around in my room. "Your deviant husband's smell like this? Was not filling our noses in the wedding hall not enough, he has to cover you in it? What is he so afraid of? So protective of a defective piece." And Niji released his oh-so-great Alpha pheromones.

And I almost puked.

After inhaling Luffy's pheromones and my sister's caring scent. Niji's pheromones made me want to clear my guts out. With my free hand, I covered my nose.

That didn't sit well with the oldest of the quadruplet set.

"Now he can't handle our pheromones, Ichiji and Yonji you see that?" The morons let out their pheromones. They wanted to overwhelm me and Reiju because their pride was hurt. I bit the inside of my mouth to keep me from falling on my knees.

Did they never get tired of spreading their pheromones around like a bunch of young pups spraying everywhere? Do they need neutering? You don't pull your pheromone subjugation nonsense on your family; especially your sibling! Even a dog knew this. "Third, what happened? Our pheromones don't work on you any more?" Yonji asked.

It was working just fine, after experiencing the comfort of Luffy's pheromones, I couldn't ever smell my brothers' lab-created odour. On cue, the other two increased their pheromones flow. They always smelled like spilled cans of paint, but now I could tell they smelled rotten red, balsamic blue and gasoline green. It gave me a headache. As I flinched back, I fell into the chair by the dresser.

"Back it off!" My sister increased the doses of her yellow dock sourish pheromone too, but it was three against one, and her poison pink was drowning. I was going to fall sick if I was in their presence any longer. My father had instructed the doctors to never give me any suppressants or inhibitors in hopes of abusing the omega out of me. Instead, now I was like a bleeding wound, even the slightest exposure to Germa Alpha pheromones pained me.

"What are these bangles? And what's in this pouch?" Yonji noticed and Ichiji rushed to grab my wrist, "Are you a girl? Just because you are an Omega, you don't have to think of yourself as inferior as a beta woman; whose only purpose is giving birth." Did he even hear what he said? I tried to pull away from his grip. I could never overpower him or an average Alpha, despite all the training I was forced to endure. Not only that, but I was tempted to slap him, but I held back. "Why are you pulling back? Do I scare you? What does this pouch have?"

My sister grabbed my brother by the collar and pulled him, but his grip was tight on my wrist, "Ichiji, stop it." She roared, baring her sharp teeth, she didn't want him to hurt me, and she was trying hard to be civil. Yonji flew in her direction, but she sent a shock-wave punch his way, sending him further away. It just disoriented his foot and jaw a bit.

"You can't take Reiju in a fight alone, Yonji! You idiot." Niji laughed. "Our elder sister and our little omega need a coordinated attack."

"Fuck you." My sister gritted her teeth more in frustration. "Stop hurting Sanji."

"Am I hurting him? Can't I even see the jewellery he is wearing and the wedding gift he is holding? You are overreacting, sis." He pushed Reiju with all his might away from me. As soon as she was sent out flying, he tightened his fingers like iron shackles. I didn't like it, my brain knew they were my siblings, but every cell in my body was saying I was in danger.

The worst kind of danger.

"Reiju, you still can't take a joke. Third, he is married, and now he will leave us. Can't we even tease our one and only precious Omega?" Yonji added as he fixed himself up.

My wrist was in pain. Our mother's bangle was getting misshaped and cutting into my skin. I struggled to pull it away. "Let go of my hand, you are hurting me," I asked as firmly as I could without letting my fears shake my voice. "And stop this display of pheromones, people might think you three are jealous because of me."

Reiju came back to rescue me. Not only did she pull me away from the chair corner but tried to reach the door that led me out of my floor. This time she stood in front of me with rage as she did her best to guide me away from them. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs using all the Germa amplification modifications done to her voice, "GUARDS CALL FOR FATHER!" If the injured guards were outside, someone on the floors beneath us would hear her. Then she whispered to me, "Sanji don't lose focus. There, pheromones cannot harm you."

Ichiji took another step towards us, baring his fangs. The venom in his canine was ready to drip. One bite was all it took for someone like me to pass out in seconds. "You think father will care? On paper, we already sold him off. They can't return him, even if we bruised him a little bit. Right brothers?"

"Correct," Niji scoffed. "Sold damaged goods are still sold."

"Oi, what did you mean by jealous?" Yonji asked, fixing his jaws.

"Don't bother Sanji! Enough is enough! Guards call for Father now!" My sister screamed again, I hid behind her again. Yonji was not going to stop, he pushed my sister far away by throwing her against the wall and creating a dent on it. The blood that splattered from her mouth didn't deter her from standing back up to protect me. Then in a blink, Ichiji grabbed my hand again and dragged me closer to him. His angry face was breathing down on me. His face was twisted; as if uncertain whether he should bite my glands off or stab me with those metallic gloved hands.

"Jealous?" Yonji coughed from his place. "Of you?"

"I said because of me, and not of me." If they had paid little attention to language classes, they wouldn't use their pheromones to communicate this violently. "I said, let me go."

"Why will you cause us jealousy? What do you have?" Niji asked while he hawked around the room. "What do you have that we don't? You just met that deviant today and you are already this arrogant?"

"Jealous huh…" Yonji laughed. "Of that little twerp? Come on."

"An Alpha born naturally. Monkey D Luffy is my husband and family don't insult him." I pulled my hand with all my might. "Let me go." I kicked. My aim was Ichiji's crotch, but it landed on the inner part of his leg. Of course, I knew those skeletons were built differently when compared to mine. That didn't stop me, I threw as many kicks as I could, enough to break Ichiji's thigh. Even if I could injure him for a few seconds, I would be able to run. Despite the pain, his hold on me was hard. I continued kicking until the sound of the broken bones entered my ears. "You all are feeling threatened and since you can't fight the Monkey Ds head-on. You are taking out the anger on me. I am always the easy target. You all are inferior to my husband Luffy and this knowledge is eating you away isn't it?" My words were flowing out for the only reason to buy me time while Rejiu recovered enough to fend these buggers off. "You are trying to hurt me because you know I am Luffy's weakness, ain't I? You guys know something that I don't."

"What are you implying? Third." Yonji was stupid, so he didn't understand what I hinted at, hence he had to ask. But Ichiji and Niji looked at me with disgust as their curly eyebrows twisted and turned into a nasty frown. The mockery in their eyes was gone. "What does he mean?" Hearing Yonji repeat his bullshit, I broke into a peal of laughter.

"What a fool." I spat the bile-infused blood in Yonji's direction. "You all disgust me. Especially you," I spat at Ichiji's face. The blood stuck to his, face. "You want to inherit father's empire in future. You can't even tolerate an omega being a little happy, can you? It hurts, doesn't it to watch your favourite chew toy being given away."

"You are crossing a line third." Ichiji's fingers tightened more around the bangle and pressed hard, enough to dig into my flesh and touch my bone. With acute pain came acute realisation: I wanted to be with Luffy.

I had enough of this life.

My eyes looked at Reiju who nodded at me and decided to act as a barrier by releasing her pheromones to the maximum. Her smell cushioned me and cut the cocktail of artificial smells from the three. She took this pheromone burst to punch the three alphas without a sense of empathy. Her punches were so fast that I couldn't notice them landing on the three simultaneously. I wanted to hide behind the partition, but it would only be a brief moment of relief, so I abandoned the idea.

Instead, I tried to run away while she went to punch Niji enough to roll his eyes back into the sockets, and then she followed Yonji in a matter of seconds, but Ichiji held onto me like an anchor no matter how hard I tried to run. Like an anchor, he held on to me.

My sister could only deal with one stupid Alpha at a time. She grabbed Yonji by the hair, who was trying to come after me again. Reiju flung him away, out of the door into the sitting room. Creating a series of dents in the walls of what was my bedroom, sitting room, guest room and waiting room. He fell flat with a broken calf. I wondered for how long he would stay like this, but my thoughts were cut with a butcher knife. In front of my very eyes, what was the only safe space for the last fourteen years was being ruined by these three rascals I had once shared the womb with. The walls of the rooms began to collapse and things I had looked after with care were buried under the debris.

"All you three do is ruin whatever you touch." I yanked my hand away from Ichiji, cutting deep into my flesh and spilling more blood. "Why can't you let me be in peace? What have I ever done to you?" I screamed at the top of my voice. I ran towards the place where the door stood, Ichiji grabbed onto my other hand.

Yonji still continued his confused yapping, "What do you mean Third?"

"Let go of my hand," I repeated. Ichiji was adamant about hurting me. "I said, let go of my hand." I could no longer fight back, I didn't let the three know that the effect of Rejiu's pheromone was diminishing on me. It was not able to shield me any more, as my mind was beginning to lose sense of my body. Their sickly odour was sending my nervous system into an overdrive of fear and disgust.

So I did what I had only read in books about Omega Care and Self Protection. Without any hesitation, I bit my tongue to draw enough blood to fill my mouth. And for a better measure, I bit myself multiple times and triggered a response of life threat in me which would force my brain into producing fear-related pheromones at an accelerated rate. Once my head began to hurt and the scent glands began to swell on my nape, armpits, thighs and I let go of my suppressed pheromones.

When an omega was in danger, their pheromones travelled fast so that they could ask for help.

If my husband was truly the most scary Alpha in this generation like the world claimed to be, now was his time to save me.

The whole room was filled with my pheromones in a blink. Every new wave of pheromones that I released was laced with my fear instincts and the smell of blood. Every pore on my skin was letting my odour out, and I could see it travelling fast.

"What did you mean?" Niji crawled back in and asked me after punching my sister away. My pheromones were affecting them too, not the way I wanted. "You think just because you got a deviant Alpha husband, you think you are safe? Are you releasing your cheap smell for that deviant to pick on? You think he can smell your pathetic odour from beneath a hundred storeys tower?" He stumbled as another wave of pheromones hit them. They were not the only one father experimented on. Once upon a time, I had all the traits of a dominant omega. Even if our father cut it all out, my body remembered it.

"Leave Sanji alone." My sister pushed Niji and Yonji and plastered them to the wall. Still, it was far from enough to keep them away. They kept returning to torment me. Seeing violence wouldn't put any sense into the birth-set, she chose to use words. "Do you have any idea what you sound like? Is this how you behave with your own blood?"

Something in red had flown in from the window, "He is no blood of ours! He is a defective Ome—" The slap landed on Yonji's face faster than any pheromone could ever be released. Then Ichi was sent flying to where Niji was standing. Both went flying out as well.

The moment our eyes met, I let go and gave up on my knees, and was caught by two strong arms, "What do you think you are doing to my husband?" Luffy immediately pulled me into a hug. "Are you okay, my love?" Luffy kissed my crown, "Why are you shivering? Sanji, talk to me!" I didn't realize I went into a panic freeze. I wanted to answer back, but my voice was lost, all I could feel was my tears rolling out. I opened my mouth, but blood was all I offered my husband. "Why did you bite yourself?" Words escaped me and panic overtook me. Breathing from my nose became hard, and my limbs refused to move. He covered my mouth with his large palm, "Breathe from your nose."

In my mind, I said to him multiple times that I was okay, but I was unsure if our thoughts were in sync like last night. Luffy continued to ask me to breathe as I felt every knot in my body go into a shut-down.

My sister joined Luffy, took my unoccupied hand and rubbed it, "Sanji, look at us! Baby boy, you are safe." I couldn't talk or move. Breathing became harder as time passed. "See, Luffy is here." Reiju wiped my face. "Concentrate on Luffy's pheromones." My body didn't want to smell any more pheromones, but my heart knew if I followed the trail of Luffy's scent, I would be safe.

From a corner, I saw the three of them try to crawl my way and I froze up further. I could see it all, but I just couldn't speak. Save me from them, Luffy. Please save me. Please take me away from them. I screamed in my head, hoping he heard it all.

And he did.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HUSBAND!"

Luffy didn't have to move a single step. He did what they were doing to me, he assaulted them with his pheromones. I could feel the heaviness grow all around me. My brothers were unable to stand up. Everything around me was washed by the smell of petrichor. All the rotten red, gasoline green and balsamic blue was squished by my husband's pheromones. I could breathe easily. Though my nose was thanking this, my body refused to untangle, everything inside me curled up further. My veins were burning as if something was scraping the inside of my skin with a rusted fork. Nor could I speak or move, even my tears felt frozen. "YOU WILL NEVER EVER COME NEAR MY HUSBAND!" I saw my brothers still and foaming in their mouths as they passed out one after another. A few seconds later, my sister wobbled on her knees. But she squeezed my hand to let me know that she was okay.

"SANJI! Baby talk to me."

"Son, stop. You are not helping Sanji." I couldn't even turn my head, every part of my body was crystallised and jammed. Luffy didn't look at the person, but he stopped and squeezed my body no further.

"Luffy! Is Sanji okay? Why did you release your pheromones." Finally, two people were in my periphery, Sir Crocodile and Luffy's second brother Sabo.

"Lu, you can't knock out everyone in the castle! We don't want to start a war now." Sabo patted my head, "Look how terrified he got. Don't you want to give Sanji a happy, peaceful life? Sanji, you are safe. Papa is here. He is the strongest Omega in the world. He will help you."

"We have no time to chit-chat, boys. Sanji is on the verge of collapsing." Sir Crocodile cupped my face and shut my eyes.

"How do you know?" My sister asked with concern slipping out. Hearing the voice when everything else was paining me made me feel horrible. What if those fuckers killed her?

Luffy combed my hair with his other hand to comfort me. "Sanji don't overthink. Just try to concentrate on what Papa tells you."

"What do you mean by collapsing?" Reiju asked again.

"Because I am an Omega, Princess Reiju. An omega who had battled for over forty years! Multiple pheromone exposure is one of the oldest tools of warfare among traits. Your brother's little stunt has sent my son-in-law's primal instincts on red alert! He is unmated, unbounded, unmarked omega! His system can't distinguish between safe alpha pheromones and unsafe alpha pheromones at the moment! His body has shut itself in an attempt to protect itself." Sir Crocodile gently pulled me away from Luffy, who dropped his hand from my mouth. Sir Crocodile engulfed me in a secure embrace. "On top of it, this fool rushed the wedding! Do you have any idea, how much stress was he in? Sanji, concentrate on my smell only, we are both Omega. Tell your brain, I am safe. Remind it what being in the presence of an omega does," Sir Crocodile placed a carefully rolled handkerchief over my mouth.

I opened my eyes, hoping to signal them that I could hear them.

The expression on the three faces looking at me turned sour, Luffy was angrier than he already was, my sister was guilty and Sabo was horrified. Even in a frozen state, my brain deduced it must be the blood from the multiple bites on my tongue. I tried hard to inhale, but I couldn't do anything for a while and gaped like a fish without water.

"Sabo take my hook." Sir Crocodile picked me up in his arm with Luffy's help. "We are setting sail, we can't risk pheromone poisoning."

"Sanji has never had to take any inhibitors or pills. I have given his medical report to your wife." My sister tried to stand up but fell. "Prince Sabo, please take him away." I knew my sister was sobbing. "Luffy, protect my baby boy. I will be there with our doctor soon."

I heard Sabo say, "Princess Reiju, we are grateful that you tried your best to save our family member." Then I think he helped her stand up. "We will protect your brother."

"Because of you, Princess, I will spare your brothers' life. What they did today is an act of violence against the royal family of Monkey D, punishable by death only. Next time, I will not stop my son. And Luffy doesn't believe in death as a means of punishment. My son is crueller than I." Only after being pressed close to Sir Crocodile's nook of the shoulder could I slowly smell the warm sand engulf me, and then Sir Crocodile whispered to me. "This will hurt you, forgive me." Sabo took my hand gently, rolled the sleeves up and offered it to my father-in-law. I felt a sharp bite on my wrist and then nothingness hit me.

When I woke up, I knew I was not in Germa.

I sat up, it was a wooden room, full of books. I had a feeling this was not my husband's room either. Despite his clothes, bedsheets and soft toys covering me, I knew we were not in East Blue yet.

Did I make a nest?

Did I go into heat?

The husband was not here, nor was his Omega father, who assured me of safety when he bit into my wrist. My eyes looked to the place where he bit, it was wrapped in clean bandages. I had so many things to ask. Then I looked at the clothes I was wearing, these were not my wedding clothes. I was in a plain baby blue shirt with stripes and matching baby blue loose trousers— which too smelled like my husband.

How long was I unconscious?

The door opened, and a tall shadow fell on my bed, "What an eventful wedding, eh?" It was not Luffy or Sabo or anyone whose name I could remember. All I could tell was she was tall, very tall, and very pretty, and her prosthetic metal hand was cool. After rummaging through my brain, I recalled her as sitting cosily in the arms of a green-haired man on the engagement day. She was being very affectionate to that green-haired guy. Her name alluded to me still, though I knew she was Luffy's cousin. "Ah! You must've forgotten who I am. Can't blame you with so many of us creating a riot." She came closer and offered me a glass of water. "I am Kiku. How's your mouth? You really were attempting to sever your tongue, no? With so many bite marks, you lost so much blood, it terrified us! Thanks to the gods that your sister and our doctor helped you. Otherwise, we would've had to reconstruct the whole tongue."

As I took the glass of water gladly, it was only then I realized how thirsty I was and there was not one acute pain inside my mouth, but many. I gulped down the water to subdue the itching pain. The pain inside my mouth and throat didn't reduce. She again elegantly offered to take my glass, and that's when I saw similar bangles on her wrists. With a hurting mouth, I initiated the conversation, "You are–"

"Yes, an Omega. Too tall, ain't I?"

"I was going to say; married. Because of the bangles."

"Oh, you noticed them? My brother gave them to me as a wedding present. I am so used to people getting surprised that I am Omega. I jumped to a conclusion. Apologies. Even before my hand, they notice my omega smell!" Kiku's laughter was cute, just like my sister's. "You want another glass of water? Your throat must be burning after the number of needles we poked into you." It was true, I was still feeling thirsty and exhausted. "Should I add a mild painkiller?" I nodded. She popped a fizzy painkiller into my water and waited.

"How long was I out?"

"Five"

"—hours?"

"Five days."

"WHAT! OUCHHH!" My mouth hurt so bad. I needed a smoke. The thirst in my throat vanished now my lungs wanted to inhale some burnt tobacco. My fingers twitched to toy with the tobacco rolls and click my lighter. "I thought…." Kiku looked at me with sympathy. "My sister. Is she safe?"

"Safe and strong. She was the one who prepared everything for your voyage."

"What do you mean?"

"She sent you with a dowry! Though technically it is we who should pay for the bride-price! Your sister had prepared a dowry for you separately. And was very insistent that we take it all, she didn't want you to start your life without economic stability."

That's how my mother raised her, and that's how she wanted to raise me. "I had no idea." Because of how my father and brothers saw me, my marriage was a non-issue for me. For the rest of my life, I had seen myself working in the royal kitchen, hosting guests of Germa and spending my nights locked away in the tower until one day I stopped breathing. So I never paid any attention to anything related to money other than the kitchen and food budget. When did Reiju prepare all these? Now I wouldn't get to ask her.

"She told us not to tell you anything before you land, but you deserve the truth, since we will land soon, I can break the promise." Kiku smiled as she handed me the glass of water with painkillers in it. "Elder siblings are selfishly kind, ain't they?" My eldest sibling was indeed very kind.

"Kiku has the prince woken up?" A green-haired man peeped in. He looked at Kiku, then at me with his one open eye, and smirked. His face was unique thanks to the scar that had shut his other eye. From the looks of it and the faint smell coming from him, I could tell this young man was an alpha too. "You are unique as well, Prince Sanji. I am Zoro." He told me with a shit-eating grin. Did he read my mind too? "Your face is easy to read, prince. Don't worry, I am not a radio snail to your transmitter sail. That's exclusive to a handful of dumb Ds who are creepily obsessed with their partners. Not my Kiku." So he was the husband, still until they said it out loud I was going to feign ignorance. "By the way, Kiku, who did his hair?"

"Huh?" I touched my hair, someone had braided it into two pigtails. "What the—" An embarrassing blush crawled up my cheeks. I touched them some more, two perfect fishtails to protect my hair from tangling. "Who did this?"

"It was not me." The green head smiled at me, "Suits you. Luffy will love it." The sarcasm was not missed by my ears.

"What do you mean?"

The rude guy didn't bother to reply to me, "Oi Luffy! Your husband has woken up!"

"Zoro, don't call him! Sanji is still recovering!"

"Too late!"

"Who did this?" Luffy was my last concern as I pointed at my hair to Kiku. Even when I was a child, I didn't let anyone make pigtails on me, let alone braided pigtails! This was so embarrassing. At 29, I didn't want to be humiliated anymore. "Who did this?" I asked Zoro and then Kiku with pleading eyes.

"Not me either. Zoro and I are in-charge of keeping you safe. Uncle Croc and Koby were the ones who changed your clothes while Luffy fluttered around in worry. Koala and Vivi were the ones who administered your medicines."

"Now our duty is almost done since you woke up pretty boy. Now Luffy will protect you." Zoro grinned. "I want a year-long vacation. My back is hurting, all thanks to your selfish husband, Prince."

"How old is this rude young man? I am clearly older than you moss-ball." I asked Kiku who was laughing at this man. "He is as cocky as Luffy!"

"My husband, Roronoa Zoro." Kiku was laughing. "Now that you pointed out, he does look like a moss-ball, doesn't he?" I looked at him again, how did this gorilla of an existence bag this kind and beautiful woman? The gods of love were cruel and sick. "This young man is twenty-one. And he and Luffy are alike, I agree."

"Address me better. What gives you all younger alphas to be this cocky with an older omega like me" I sighed. Zoro heard and ignored my words like a typical younger brother stereotype I came across in novels. So I diverted my attention to his wife. "How do you deal with a brat husband?" I couldn't help myself. After all, my own brat husband was only 19. The more information I had, the better.

"Listen to me, this is an Omega secret," Kiku pulled me closer, she was definitely stronger than I would ever be, and I felt jealous. Then she whispered, "This is a secret passed from one Omega to another since the dawn of the dragons. You don't deal with Alphas, you let them deal with you. If they pout, you pout harder! If they sulk, you sulk harder! And if they act jealous, omegas should behave deranged. Alphas are dumb, they need to be trained. Treat them like dogs." I had a feeling if I did this, Luffy would do something drastic in a bid to help me prove he adores me. "Luffy should be treated like that too."

"SAAAAANJJJJJIIIIIIII"

"Speak of the demon-dog, and he is here. Your husband was kicked out for disturbing your sleep," Kiku murmured. "He has been loitering outside for the last 5 days."

"SAAAAAAAANNNNNJIIIIIII!"

"Lu, don't yell, you are hurting your husband's eardrums!" Zoro laughed, "Don't blame him, Mr. Prince, our youngest lord is a lovesick fool when it comes to you."

A flash of red rushed into the room and jumped into my bed with open arms. With him, the comforting pheromones returned too. I was engulfed by warm arms and the warm scent of petrichor. Inhaling them soothed my heart, as a sign of reciprocation I let my pheromones out too and Luffy was sniffing it all up like a bloodhound. "Honey and spices," he muttered as he gently nibbled under my ears.

"He is still recovering, you brat." Kiku tried to pull him away, but who could move a mountain like him? "Please don't be so jumpy, Lu."

And my young husband was all over me. He was shameless too, he wasted no time in kissing my cheeks, nose, and forehead. Now that we were married, I couldn't kick him for the public display of affection. Also, I had no energy to protest either, I was being crushed by those beefy arms. Then he grabbed my hands and kissed them, "I was so worried! You are so frail! You have to eat three courses of meals every day from now on. Furthermore, you will have to work out with me and sit under the sun to regain some colour on those cheeks, you are so pale! Did you know you have low haemoglobin? On top of it, you lost so much blood." Why was he not addressing the elephant in the room— my brothers? Luffy looked at me softly and shook his head. I forgot he could hear my thoughts. He nodded. Shit. So you want to discuss this later? I asked, and he nodded. "I want you to concentrate on resting and nothing else."

I nodded. What other option did I have? Not that I wanted to revisit the scene of the crime in my head. If only forgetting was easier.

On cue, he decided to distract me from my thoughts, "The braid suits you, my love." He began playing with pigtails. "I will ask Aisha to do more things to your hair." So now I know who was the culprit behind this decision. Aisha is one of the grandchildren of Emperor Garp and Empress Dadan, right? "Yes, she is Robin and Franky's daughter. We will meet them all after we land. Dad and Papa decided it was better to let you rest for now and meet the whole family slowly. We don't want to overwhelm you."

With a strained mouth, I asked, "When do we land?"

"In two days." Kiku stood up, "Zoro, can Luffy take Sanji out on a stroll to the deck?"

Luffy clapped his hands, "Great! Tonight we will talk when we go for a stroll."

"You will not be sharing a room or strolling with him until we land. He has not finished his treatment." Zoro grabbed my husband by the proud red collars. "Your parents have ordered us to keep you away from Prince." Luffy glared, and Zoro continued. "Wife— he is not allowed to be with Sanji until they land. No strolling, no hanky-panky or smoochy-woochy for the love birds, either."

Pushing aside the juvenile language, I had to ask why this moss-ball was insistent on addressing me in such a manner. "Why do you call me prince? I am—"

"Because you are pretty, just like a fairytale prince." Three people replied in unison like it was a universal truth, and my hurting cheeks burned. Then Luffy added, "You are also kind like a fairytale prince." When did I have the opportunity to be kind? When? I sighed internally.

Luffy looked at me cockily, his eyes said he had many examples he would share later. "I will tell you in detail tonight." My husband replied externally after winking. This is unfair, I sighed in my head. I wanted to read your thoughts too. Luffy heard the thoughts clearly and resisted Zoro's pulling. He focused his eyes on me and curled up his lips. "You will once we bond shishishishi!" The word bond made me burn from inside. We were married for five days, and we haven't even kissed properly, let alone consummate! Bonding was only possible after we had perfected physical compatibility. Looking at his young face, I wanted to cry. Luffy was going to devour me.

"No, you will not be visiting, didn't you hear Zoro?" Kiku waved her hand at her husband. "Tie him if you need to, Zoro."

My husband was biting the door frame while Zoro pulled him away, "Sister…." My husband flaunted his puppy eyes at Kiku and her husband.

"NOPE! Uncle Croc and Uncle Dragon have said, you will try to wiggle into Sanji's room by acting cute." Kiku laughed. "I was going to let you off the hook, to be honest, but Zoro's expression is warning against it. So off you pop. Poor thing has not recovered from the pheromone poisoning anyway. Let him rest."

Horror in my mind escaped from my lips. "I was what?"

"Uncle will explain at dinner. Get him out, Zoro."

After a hearty dinner of fried rice and fish curry, I sat opposite my Omega father-in-law and other omegas of the Monkey D family. My sisters-in-law, Vivi, Koala and Kiku. There was another dark-haired woman with a hibiscus in her hair and a young pink-haired teen.

"Don't be startled," my father-in-law spoke. "Luffy can be troublesome. So we decided it is best if you both delay the consummation of marriage until we are certain you are fit to handle him." The word consummation painted images in my head. In each version, I could see myself folded and pressed against an overenthusiastic husband. "After all, it will be your first time, and dumb alphas are hard to handle in bed." My father-in-law shook his head as if he had experienced something similar and didn't wish this fate upon anyone.

"How did you know?" I asked. I knew about odour-changing post-marking and bonding. But how did he know I was a virgin? Did Luffy tell?

"Your father bragged about it," Kiku said softly, but I could sniff the disgust she felt towards my family. "He shouldn't have." Yes, he shouldn't have, but how do you hide the flaws of a defective product? By exaggerating, its superficial qualities. I knew the world outside my tower of Germa was much more open-minded, omegas were not restricted by their second-gender's default settings.

"I am not unaware of what happens during sex."

"No, no…" The woman whose name I didn't know spoke. "I am Viola, Niece of Emperor Garp. So I am your aunt." I nodded to acknowledge her. "Crocodile here is implying, we will make sure you are comfortable and mentally prepared. Sex is all fun and games once you are ready. Otherwise, it can be daunting."

"I think Luffy will not hurt me."

"If he does, we will chop off his cock." My father-in-law sighed. "Why we gathered here is because we were surprised and worried by your resistance capacity. You are impressive."

"Resistance?"

"What your brothers did on the day of the wedding could've hurt you in multiple ways. But it was amazing how you didn't let them overpower you. That willpower is strong, but untrained." I didn't understand a single word. I think my expression revealed so. "My boy," Sir Crocodile took my hand in his, "We will help you train how to overcome the impulse. Right, Vivi and Koala?"

Both my sisters-in-law were quiet this evening. But with a large grin, they nodded to ensure me they were on this plan too. Their minds were occupied with something else they didn't wish to burden me with. "Leave it to us. We all will help you." Vivi looked at me with so much worry, it reminded me of my sister. "Once you master the impulse training, rest will be easy. Remember Koala, how afraid I was when I started training?"

"She was shaking like a reed." Koala laughed. "Sanji will do just fine."

Understanding nothing, I muttered the word, "What exactly is this—" I looked at all of them with pleading eyes. "Impulse?"

"We Omegas are born disadvantageous, it's like our destiny is tied to our womb, isn't it?" The pink-haired teen blushed. "Oh… hi." He was nervous. "I am Coby. Adopted son of her," the teen pointed his finger towards Viola. "So when we are exposed to an Alpha pheromone, our heart keeps telling us to yield, doesn't it?" I nodded, though my exposure to other Alphas was only limited to Luffy and my family, I knew what Coby meant. When my brothers were trying to overwhelm me, everything in me was telling me to submit and cower. "When you were—" The boy looked at me as if afraid to speak further. I shook my head to let him continue unbothered, "When your brothers' pheromone assaulted you, your mind was overwhelmed and your body froze. It is an Omega instinct to freeze as a means to survival. Then you bit yourself to trigger the overflow of pheromones in hopes of catching Luffy's attention." So my body and mind really did think, my brothers were going to do the unforgivable thing. "But you should not freeze, you must not. Even if you have to unleash an avalanche of pheromones, you must not freeze ever. Uncle and I will help you overcome the impulse to give in. It is hard, but not impossible. Generally, untrained omegas give when exposed to more than one type of pheromone, but you stood your ground against three of them, hence we are impressed."

"I thought I was poisoned by pheromones…" I gripped my father-in-law's hand. "I was scared. I was scared. I was so scared that—" I could not dare speak the words my entire being felt. "I—"

"It is okay. You did great. Yes, you were positioned to fail, but you didn't. Too much exposure to multiple alpha pheromones is harmful, especially from one's own bloodline, and can hurt your entire nervous system, yet you came out with minimum damage. Be proud of yourself." My father-in-law patted my head.

"It was smart you asked for help from Luffy and you released your scent. But by the time we reached you, your body was already poisoned by the invasion of three different pheromones. Since you have grown up with them around, it sends your system into overdrive because until that point your body's memory of these three pheromones was safe." Koala patted my head as well.

She was right, no matter how many beatings and torture I endured at the hands of my family, those three had never used their pheromones to harm me to this extent. If Luffy had not arrived, my brothers would've murdered me or worse, they could've raped me if they lost their sense. The very idea of being violated by my own blood made me want to puke. Koala and Coby immediately offered me the bucket. "Now, let us help you."

I never wanted to be in that situation ever again. "Can't Luffy mark me now?" I think I sounded desperate. I never wanted to feel that vulnerable. "Isn't marking and bonding supposed to protect me?"

"Can I bite him?" My husband screamed from outside. For how long was he there? "May I please bite him, Papa? He is my husband, it is my duty to protect him."

"No, you cannot." The Omegas of Monkey D Family yelled like a chorus from a tragic play. "And how did you get out? There was a feast meant to occupy you."

"I smelled Sanji's distress. And his thoughts were loud, I heard him feel pukey." My husband knocked on the door. "Sanji, are they bullying you? Should I break the door?"

"NO!" I screamed, and then my mouth hurt. "Please don't enter."

"Okay." He whined. "I will not leave until your smell settles down. Okay?"

"Why?" I asked all of them, my voice was too weak. "Am I not strong enough to bear his marking?"

"NO!" again in unison the reply came. "NO!"

"Then?"

"Papa, don't tell him! It is embarrassing!"

"Shut up Lu!" Koala laughed. "Sanji will find out sooner or later. Uncle Croc should tell him now."

My father-in-law patted my hand, "The brat has not manifested yet? The marking won't be strong. We need him to manifest first."

"Isn't he the most notorious Alpha of the family?" Everyone avoided looking at me. "My family told me his pheromones were so strong that the enemy bent their knees. I saw what he did to my brothers, he made them foam in their mouths and faint without lifting a finger." Again, no one was looking at me. Why were they avoiding my eyes? "Did he not overpower three lab-created Germa Alphas? Did I dream of it?"

"Luffy is a little different." Kiku smiled clearly in an attempt to ease me and the others nodded without a smile, but the nods were full of empathy for me. "He inherited a power unique to the D bloodline. Hence, he is a little different from the rest of the Ds."

"Eh?" My voice betrayed me like a frog on a rainy day. What did they mean by unique power? My father-in-law sat up straight and looked at me as if trying to formulate the correct sentence that would make me feel less worried. I was not going to stop, "Little? A little what?"

"It is a rare phenomenon," Kiku tucked her beautiful long silky hair behind her ears. She looked at my father-in-law as if unsure how to explain. For a while, they played pass the parcel of information with their eyes.

"Papa, don't tell him…." My young husband screamed like a house cat locked out of the kitchen at midnight. "Sanji don't pay attention to them."

"Shut up, Lu." At last, my father-in-law added with a stoic face, "This has happened once in every few decades, when two dominant Ds mate, their offspring is a mutant. In your case, his parents: me a hyper-dominant Omega mated with his other father, a hyper-dominant Alpha. Since it was a late-stage pregnancy, the stakes and risks were high for his birthing. His other father went a bit overboard with his pheromone bonding session with the unborn to keep us safe. It impacted Luffy's genetic makeup."

"Luffy is a mutant?"

"NO! Sanji, nooooooo I am just an ordinary alpha born with double strength and stamina. There is no mutation. I just am slightly stronger, blame it on Grandpa and the other father who trained me." My husband screamed his explanation and clawed the door from outside. When I first met him, I thought he was like a dog. But he was proving to be a clingy cat. "And how can you be so sure, Papa? Sanji don't listen to them, I haven't manifested my first heat yet, because I am a late bloomer, Kiku and Aunt Viola tell them, wasn't Ace a late bloomer too?"

"Someone get this boy out of here." Sir Crocodile hissed like an angry and tired lioness. "His pheromones are scattering!" It was true, Luffy's pheromones had travelled inside, and this time he smelled more like a rain-drenched forest than petrichor. My body knew this was his pheromones, but my nose was telling me it was not the same odour.

"So this is his puberty-pheromones?" I gasped. The whole family nodded. "I married a child!"

"No! I am an adult! I am nineteen! Papa tell him I am an adult"

"He is not a child, but he is different." Viola added and looked at my father-in-law, "He was born prematurely. It took him a long time to stabilize his functions." I understood they were avoiding telling me something; so I didn't pester. Now my job is not to dig deeper, I don't care if he is a mutant or a kitten going through puberty. I was married to him, he was my mate.

"Yes, Sanji! I am your mate!"

"That's it, let's get rid of the brat." My father-in-law stood up and patted my head. "Tomorrow, let's train you a bit and get you tested once we land. Kiku and Coby, I will trust you with the rest. See you tomorrow, Sanji." Then he walked out, I caught a glimpse of my very immature husband being dragged away by his collar.

The next two days, my husband was kept away from me, not because they didn't trust him, but because they feared his over-enthusiasm would stop me from recovering.

My entire life, I was told being an Omega meant— inferior. Then I saw Coby and Kiku smile at me on the deck housing me. With swords in their hands, they waved at me, asking me to join them on the deck of the ship. I was physically trained to combat in hopes of killing my inner Omega, but mentally I was not taught anything. No one told me that an Omega could resist an Alpha's pheromones, an Omega could stand on their legs instead of cowering when an Alpha exerted their dominance, and that an Omega was allowed to be their own person.

"Don't let the swords scare you," My father-in-law patted my head from behind. Without the intention, I raised my leg to kick him, and he dodged it with a grin.

"I am sor—"

"Don't be, those reflexes will save your life." Sir Crocodile, dropped my leg with a pat on my ankle, "Luffy was correct, that kick was flawless. All you need is more weight to keep you steady and speed. First, we need to increase your core strength." When did my husband have the time to talk? All he did was jump around the ship trying to get a glimpse of me. "We all choose a medium to build our mental resistance. Kiku loves swords and Coby likes them to a degree, you can practice with a calligraphy brush too. If you want, it can be your kitchen tools as well."

My mom's smiling face popped into my head, she had vehemently protested against using kitchen tools for warfare. The only time she would permit it was if I had nothing else. Even the butchering knives and carving tools were not permitted. That didn't mean she didn't impart me with the self-defence knowledge. Until her dying day, she tried to enrich me with as much knowledge as she could in hopes of me being able to cook and kick to keep myself safe. "I know how to use swords and knives, but my mother taught me to protect my hands. So I mostly learned the combat art of kicking people." My legs were strong, I knew it, thanks to years of training and hours of working in the kitchen preparing a meal for an army every day. Stamina was not an issue for me. "Though my mom told me never to use my hands or kitchen tools for anything other than cooking because she didn't want the lingering taste of violence in the food I lovingly prepared."

"Your mother said that? Interesting." Sir Crocodile nodded. "I am guessing she didn't want you to have another reason to be in the training pit with your dumb brothers." Sir Crocodile smiled, "I met her once, you know when she was carrying your sister in her womb back then." My face betrayed me, the stories of my mother were so scarce come by, I would do anything to hear them. "Being a male omega was hard back then, she treated me with kindness and respect in front of everyone. Now that's an alpha I respect, who chooses their status and strength to protect others." That sounded like Vinsomke Sora, alright, being the gentle hand of breeze to everyone. "So, I will teach you everything there is to be taught. Your sister told me you are the strongest Omega in North Blue."

"She was bragging after all, after our mom passed away, my sister taught me the rest. Reiju repeatedly told me, no matter how strong an Alpha, none could tolerate a kick in their groin, especially the ones who carry a cock."

"Don't you worry, Luffy took care of them." Kiku laughed. By them, she meant my brothers. I knew they didn't kill my brothers, but I was certain Luffy didn't let them off the hook. Just like how my brothers had predicted, since I no longer belonged to the Germa Empire. I was Monkey Ds to protect the moment I signed the marriage contract. And Monkey Ds protected their own very well. "Your sister was very, very, very helpful."

"I agree, the women of your family are smarter than the men. Of course, you don't count, you are smart, we know that." Was I? Did I ever get to show my talents?

"Meal planning and budgeting is no joke." Coby chimed in, I guess my self-doubt was evident on my face. "If you leave us to prepare three squares of a meal for this entire ship for another seven days. Be assured we will be eating each other's flesh."

Coby's words stirred things in me, and the image of my sister almost battered by my brothers returned to me. "I want to be stronger like you," I said to my father-in-law. The memories of my three brothers assaulting me with stinking pheromones sent a shiver up my spine. I had tried to kick them, but most landed in other places than their groin. If only I knew about these mental resistance techniques. My determination to defend myself returned, "What do I have to do?"

"That's the spirit." Sir Crocodile laughed. "First we build physical resistance against pheromones of any kind, then we work on physical endurance, then we work on mental fortitude, and finally we work with weapons."

"I would've preferred if you could use a sword. But, it is entirely up to you. You have to find something, material or medium, and use it with absolute concentration and sync with it." Kiku explained as she walked towards us with a towel around her neck. The bite mark on her neck had faded, how long had she bonded with that green brat, I wondered. Her prosthetic arm made her look like a warrior, I could see why that green-headed guy was head over heels for her. "It is similar to meditation, but it's slightly different. Don't worry, you cannot overthink, no one finds their choice of medium on the first day. It took me six months to figure out what kind of sword I wanted."

"More like meeting Zoro made her pick the sword." Coby teased from his place. "Originally, she wanted to give up on sword-fighting and training because she lost her arm. Then she met Zoro, and he bullied her with love to pick up the sword again." The blush on Kiku's face was beautiful. That was a happy woman in love. Because my interactions with fellow omega were so little I didn't realise, when in love the pheromones of an omega smelled much more saccharine than their actual scent. "Coby…" Kiku sighed. "We are helping Sanji here."

"Exactly," my omega father-in-law laughed some more as he overlooked Kiku's blush and ignored her flowering scent of love. Then he put a cigar in his mouth. So according to Luffy, I am his only type, now I could see that I was a little similar to his father when it came to our bad habits.

"May I have one?" I asked shamelessly. "I always smoked cigarettes. I wanted to try a cigar."

"Sure," instead of a lecture about losing fertility and other such nonsense, Sir Crocodile gave me a thick roll of lit tobacco from his brass box. "These are sprinkled with pain relievers for my stump's phantom pain, so feel free to borrow from me anytime you want a puff."

"Thank you." The first drag was great and different from my usual choice of poison. And it was stronger. Yet, I could distinguish the mixture of other herbs in the tobacco. By the third puff, I could feel the itchy feeling all over my body calm down and the stinging pain in my mouth die.

"Coming back to our medium. It can be anything, for me, it's a hook." He raised his hand, he was wearing a golden hook on his wrist. "Even before I lost the hand, it was this hook." I nodded. "For Vivi, it is a retracting blade and Koala prefers bare hands, so don't overthink about it."

"And before you ask if it is compulsory to lose an arm or leg or get a scar to be part of the Monkey D family, it is not. Uncle here and me, we were born in war zones, so these are unfortunate outcomes." Kiku added. Honestly, I didn't think it was a ritual or joining criteria, but the number of scared, amputated and people with prosthetics around me on the ship was not unnoticed by me. "Please don't lose any body part, Luffy will go on a rampage."

"I will not." Truly, I had no wish to lose my body parts. "I don't like pain."

"Once we reach the capital, we will slowly and steadily expose you to different types of Alpha pheromones, and you have to continue building your mental fortitude. Once you grow resistant to handling more than five alpha hormones, then we will move to the next stage: your object or medium to use. Once you settle on your comfort zone and tool, never let it go." Coby declared with his hands on the hilt of his sword. "Then we will spar, hehehehe!"

"These two days on the ship are just a test run, okay? After you land, we will help you with the proper resistance build-up routine."

Like they promised, the two days were spent familiarising, I was made to smell alpha pheromones that didn't belong to Luffy. Every time I felt overwhelmed, Kiku and Coby did their best to ask me to envision a weapon in my head. Every time I failed, they didn't mind, because they accepted failure was part of the process.

But for me, failure was not a simple term.

As an omega, all my life I had to work thrice hard to be considered part of the birth family. If my brothers could walk in the sky in a week's time, my taking three weeks to master the same technique was worse than failing, it was an insult to my father's research and experiments. It didn't matter even if I surpassed my brothers in the art of skywalking later with hard training.

Competitiveness was injected, fed and washed all over me. I was raised to be better than an ordinary, pathetic omega. Now, watching the omegas of my new family cheering for me when I failed without even giving me any nasty words for feedback made me feel sick in the turn.

How could I be so resistant to positivity? I cursed myself.

"Stop being guilty." My husband spoke. "How can you perfect something in two days? Did you learn to cook the bean stew you prepared for me in one day, Sanji?" I looked around, unable to spot him in the deck, I checked my ears in case I was hallucinating. "I am here just above you." I tilted my head, like a monkey he was hanging from above the shade of the deck. My husband was upside down. His life was hanging on the sole confidence he had in his digging toes. The sight of his slipper-clad toes hooked into the edges of the shade made me worry. Did he have an invisible tail that I couldn't see, which he was using to balance himself? Then my eyes landed on his lovely red shirt that had rolled down and was revealing a strong, well-chiselled torso. And on that torso were scars, among them all a cross-shaped one, was spread on his chest like a dead shiny starfish on the beach. "Are the scars bothering you?" He tried to pull the shirt up, but the concept of gravity escaped him.

"No, it doesn't." I rested my hands on my hips. "Why are you hanging upside down?"

Ignoring my question, he grinned widely. "You are so pretty, I knew it, you would shine like a golden bell under the sunlight. The air and the sea are suiting you. How can someone keep you hidden in that gloomy, damp tower?"

"Are you trying to flirt? Or are you trying to console me?" I bet he was taught by the Franky person who taught him all these. "Whatever it is, it is too cheesy."

"No! I am not lying. He didn't teach me." Damn it, he read my mind again. "Sorry."

"Go away." I scolded him without any anger behind my words. "Please."

"Oi, you are not permitted here." My father-in-law threw whatever was in his hand at my husband, who dodged it by swaying like a pendulum. "Can't you stay one day away from him? We will land in another eight hours. Let Sanji practice in peace. After we land, he will have so many events to attend. Now is the right time for him to understand the basics, and you are disturbing him."

"Me?" Luffy was offended. "You have been keeping me away from my husband. Did you forget what I had to do to win his hand? What if his stupid brothers try to kidnap him? What will you do, papa? You didn't even let me bite their glands off! Worry is eating me up!"

"OI! Someone take the boy away." Sir Crocodile looked tired. "I can feel a headache coming."

"What did you do?" Curiosity got me. "Luffy? What did you mean by win my hand? On the day of the wedding, you unnerved my father with similar words. What did you do?"

The blush on his innocent face didn't prepare me for the next words. He scratched his head like a teenager talking to his crush for the first time. "Oh, I burned Germa cargo ships down, revoked business licences in a few places, took over a few agricultural subsidiaries where Germa had the monopoly, also raided a few warehouses where they were stock manipulating with life-saving drugs. Even without a reason, I would have done those, but at a different pace. Impatience got the better of me." My husband was bragging like it was an academic achievement of a young college kid. Was he expecting a gold medal from me? "You see, Sanji, I had asked for your hand in marriage the day I turned sixteen." This was the first time I even heard about any of these things. "Your silly father kept refusing me, so I showed him, how serious I was."

For a change, it was great to hear that someone had humbled my family in every possible avenue. It also made sense why my brothers were lashing out at me on my wedding day. Luffy insulted them and hammered the poster of those insulting movements all over the planet. After doing that, he was also taking out their only stress ball from them. By the look of people near me at that moment, I was certain that was not all he did. "What more did he do?" I asked Coby and Kiku.

"Don't bother." Kiku cut my thoughts by throwing her lovely omega pheromones at me. "You are in no position to stress about his past stupidity. Love makes people bonkers." Then she whistled. Luffy's eyes grew large as if it were a signal to warn him before he crossed the line. "Forgive his desperation, we Monkey Ds are a little cuckoo in the head, ain't we Lu?" She whistled again, it was a specific tune which I guess was meant for only one person.

"Kiku you betrayer! How can you call Zoro? He is my best friend first and your husband later."

"I will do worse if you don't leave." My Omega father-in-law sighed. "Half a day, Lu, half a day. Then you will have him for the rest of your life. I am sorry, prince, this boy has no concept of respect for personal space." Then tapped his hook on the leg of the chair he was sitting on. "You know who else is desperate to be near his omega spouse Lu and has been kept away for 7 days as well?"

Grumpily, Luffy began to move, "Fine, fine, don't call Dad! I am leaving."

"You are afraid of someone?" I giggled as I watched him scuttle away like a child avoiding his school teachers. "I am not afraid of him, I just don't like him. He is a douchebag!" Then he pointed his hand at Sir Crocodile, "That man deserves a better husband. Papa, we can still get you divorced. Just say the word. I will make it happen." My Omega father-in-law didn't bother replying to him, instead, he tapped his hook on the armrest of the chair. It was a morse code for Luffy's alpha father. "Paappapappapa! You can do better than that useless man."

"Don't insult my husband, that's my right." Luffy's Papa smirked. "Leave before he drags you for some water training, boy."

"By my beautiful husband, bad Papa and Kiku the betrayer, I will never forget this! Coby keep Sanji fed okay."

Kiku patted my head. "Let him be. He can be a little naughty." Coby offered me a glass of juice to keep Luffy's promise.

As promised, as soon as I stepped out of the ship. The entire population of the capital city of Goa was at the port to welcome us.

Coby and Koala had helped me dress to impress. They combed my hair, settled it all on one side of my face in a wavy bunch, and tucked a golden comb to hold the rest in one place. My exposed ear was burning in embarrassment. According to the duo, white was my colour, but Luffy argued with them, it was blue. So I wore a variation of the three-piece suit mixed and matched with an off-white shirt, baby-blue vest, and dark blue jacket created in traditional East Blue style. Since I was an outsider marrying in, my Red Germa Cape was added to the fit. Instead of the Germa brooch, Luffy had gifted me a golden one matching his.

"For you," Luffy had pulled me by the waist and attached the brooch to the hem of my velvety cape. "No one will ever harm you. You are family now." The emblem of the House of Monkey, D: The Sun, sat on my collarbone like a paperweight. "You look so pretty."

The sincerity in his words triggered more blushing in my face. The makeup Koala and Coby did for me couldn't keep it hidden. His gaze was so genuine that I tried to look anywhere else, but today he was looking more handsome than our wedding day.

Luffy had dressed up too. Instead of his red and black suit from our wedding day. He wore a muted mauve version of his royal suit, thigh-high leather boots, gloves and a mauve coat with all its military decorations highlighting his broad shoulders. And to make matters worse he had combed his hair backwards like Sir Crocodile, the resemblance between both was uncanny.

Then he took my hand and guided me to the deck, putting a pause to my inner thoughts. That very moment we stepped out the crowd cheered up, what made these people so happy? I was merely an old omega marrying into the family, why were they so happy for me?

My thoughts were cut by my husband soon enough. Luffy whispered into my exposed ear. "Husband, welcome to the capital island of Goa of The East Blue Empire, and its capital city: Windmill." He hooked his gloved hand on my arm and waved at the crowd with his free hand. "Are you nervous?"

"Am I nervous?" I retorted. "I haven't stepped out of my corner of the Germa Castle for more than a decade." After puberty hit me, all my travels were cut down. All my visitors were restricted to formal events, and my friends vanished. For fourteen years, I was locked up.

"Don't be nervous, they have wanted to meet you for three years now." Luffy grinned. "At last, they get to see their pampered prince's husband. Since we are not holding the public marriage ceremony, let them look at you." Because of the unfortunate event caused by my rascal brothers, I was far from feeling better still. So, the entire Monkey D Family had decided we didn't need to go through the motions of holding another wedding ceremony for the public.

"Luffy," my hand gripped his arm. "Have we met before? Every time you speak of waiting for me, why do I feel like it's not about the last three years?" My husband smiled at me, mischievously. "How were you so certain I am the one? What did I miss?" For the last seven days we hadn't got the time to sit and speak to each other. Now I was feeling bad for sending him away during these two days when I was awake on the ship.

"Yes, long time back." Luffy pouted. "You forgot, I didn't." His cheeks puffed up, there were still traces of a childhood in that face. We were a decade apart in age, I couldn't help but want to dot on him. My free hand moved, and I cupped his scar-free side of the face and pulled him closer and rubbed our noses.

"I am sorry, you can remind me, okay."

My little gesture of affection brought a collective aww from the crowd all around the port. All the journalists clicked their cameras like their life depended on it. Zoro, who was acting as my bodyguard, couldn't help but laugh. "Mr. Fairytale Prince, our country welcomes you."

My hand dropped from Luffy's cheeks and focused on the parrot-head, whose face was hidden behind his black helmet. He was dressed in black like a knight. The only thing that made him stand out was his three swords. "Is your best friend going to be this sarcastic?" I asked Luffy despite my eyes focused on his mate. I was not offended by Zoro's words at all, but how could I handle two brats if they were going to stick near me all the time from now on? Kiku was adamant that her husband become my bodyguard until I was stronger and was fit. Luffy didn't oppose either.

"Sanji, please cut him some slack." Coby, who was acting as bodyguard on Luffy's side, laughed softly. He was armoured in similar black metal. "Luffy has been dragging Zoro to all his escapades to pressure your father into agreeing to this marriage. He is happy to have finally pinned you for his best friend. This is him being ecstatic."

The more I learned, the more I wanted to know what these two idiots had done that my tyrant of a father parted with his most disappointing creation. Luffy looked at me from the corner of my eyes, he was reading my thoughts. Immediately, the bad thoughts were pushed aside by me. I was finally married, and I was going to be happy. "Thank you, Mr. Green Knight." I flashed my grin at Zoro. "And thank you, Coby, for being so patient."

"Damn, your smile is shiny." Zoro laughed. "No wonder my wife loves you." From my corner, I couldn't spot his wife or see the rest of the large family. Neither of my sisters-in-law, fathers-in-law or brothers-in-law were in sight. Even the usual guards roaming near me were not anywhere nearby.

Luffy's warm hand squeezed me. "This is our moment. They will join us at the banquet. We have a long carriage ride to the main castle." My husband pointed at the carriage decorated with flowers of all shapes, colours and sizes. Four gorgeous white stallions with shiny coats and trimmed tails were ready to take us through the capital city. "Welcome my love." Luffy took my free hand in his and kissed it. Then he winked at me, "For the money shot." Then he kissed my cheeks and the crowd erupted in cheer and the sound of camera shutter clicking joined in.

Then began the shower of flowers.

Luffy caught many for me and placed them in my arms. A single blood-red rose was tucked on my exposed ear, and my entire body was feeling the pull towards this young man.

"Will you promise to love me until my dying breath?" My words escaped my lips without me realising. I tried to hide my mouth, but the cocky smirk on my husband made me feel like a teenager, too.

"I promise."

The carriage ride to the castle was long, magical and blurry. All I could recall of that eventful day was the endless cheering and showering of flowers that kept getting thrown our way. The path to the castle was covered in a bed of crushed flowers and the overwhelming smell of sweet fragrances. After the incident caused by my brothers, I was sensitive to not just pheromones but ordinary smells too. So I had to rely on Luffy's pheromones to not feel nausea.

By the time we sat down at the banquet, a part of me was exhausted and the other part of me was twitchy. People came and went, greeting me and welcoming me with warmth. Not once did I feel like an outsider. Every prominent family of the East Blue Empire and other seas were present. In a similar blurry state, the conversations passed. Trails of the names of these families and important people entered my ears and left. Similarly, the faces of their representatives all began to look the same to me after a while.

Throughout this dinner, Luffy was cutting the food on my plate into tiny pieces for me. He didn't want me to force myself to eat it all, but he felt letting me have a taste of it all was a must. After all, we only had wedding banquets once in our lives.

The whole family was in awe of their royal cook Pan Fry, and so was I.

Each item on the menu was made to make people appreciate their plate. To my utter dismay, my appetite was so dead. Thankfully, my husband was there beside me. It was a great thing to have him beside me, he was finishing everything I couldn't eat; which was everything. Wasting food bothered me the most, so Luffy being enthusiastic about my uneaten food killed any saplings of guilt in my heart.

"Do you love pie?" Vivi offered from a distance with a lovely smile. "Luffy let him taste our famous family pie. This dish comes from my country of Alabasta. Pan Fry has added dishes from different countries to give you a world-class dining experience." The thought behind the banquet's preparation was greatly appreciated by me. I loved any kind of food as long as it was tasty. My travelling opportunities had been limited, despite the Germa Empire moving around the sea all the time. So I had to settle with cookbooks Reiju smuggled to understand cuisine from other parts of this planet. A part of me wanted to cry that I just simply didn't have the appetite for such a grand feast. Another part of me cursed my brothers for tormenting me so much that I was not even able to enjoy my freedom without the traces of pain.

They had to stain everything that brought me joy.

"Sanji." Luffy gently tapped my toe with his toe. "You are doing great. Don't let them occupy your mind. You are free now. And we will have leftovers, we can eat these foods tomorrow for brunch alone on the balcony?" Every word spoken by Luffy was meant to comfort me. And I was comforted.

"Thank you, Luffy." With a smile, I took the plate that Vivi passed on to me. "Sorry Vivi, I am still adjusting." There was no way in the four seas that I would be rude to a woman, especially someone who was my family now. Nor would I insult a royal cook who had done his best to give me a welcoming eleven-course meal.

The blue haired woman smiled at me with kind eyes, "The filling of the pie is made from the harvest of Robin's farm. She overlooked the fruits and chose them for today's banquet." Vivi pointed at Robin.

Another raven-head woman with beautiful eyes smiled at me and raised her wine glass at me as a gesture of welcome. She was an alpha and the eldest granddaughter of all of Emperor Garp and his first wife. "Don't force yourself to eat, Sanji. We can always prepare for more. My beloved husband has preserved the produce for later. Once you are settled, visit our Island with Lu. We will give you a tour of the farmlands. Franky has worked hard to fix those wastelands."

Besides, Robin was a man with obnoxiously loud blue hair and a lot of metal body parts who tilted his head for me with teary eyes. During the wedding afternoon, I was too overwhelmed to learn the names of my new family. But him, I couldn't forget. Franky was the man who officiated our wedding by stepping in as the priest.

I thought that night I would learn everything about this family, but my brain was failing me after the seven days of travelling. After years of confinement, fatigue was slowly creeping into my mind. So I tried to remember the names of the people whose faces I recognised.

"He is Franky, in case you forgot," Luffy told me as he cut the piece of pie for me. I didn't forget him. He is the man who taught you cheesy flirting lines, right? I said in my head. "The very same." Is he beta? I asked internally again. "Yup." Luffy offered the tiny piece of pie to me and I sucked on it. It was so delicious, but I just didn't have the energy to even chew on it. "We have many betas in the family. Dad thinks we need to keep mixing our blood with others and that's how we ensure stronger DNA, just like our ancestors did. Grandpa agrees with him, hence we go out of our way to fall in love with people from different parts of the planet."

Hearing such words would send my father to an early grave. This family I married into really didn't discriminate between alphas, betas and omegas. I looked at everyone, there were so many people around me and none of their pheromones was choking me. Each of them was in control of their pheromones and had no desire to flaunt their trait status.

Then my eyes fell on Luffy's fathers, who were busy having a serious discussion with the grandparents. There was no resemblance between Luffy's alpha father Dragon and him. Rather, he had features similar to Emperor Garp who was busy tearing a whole lamb leg and Sir Crocodile who was toying with his wine glass. "And I prefer it that way. I don't want to look anything like that Dragon." I didn't intend for Luffy to hear those thoughts. "I don't mind shishishishi." My husband pushed the plate of the pie a little away from me and handed me a glass of water.

"Do you not like the pie?" Ace asked as he gobbled his piece of moist pie and flaunted his empty plate at me. There was no crumb on it. It was squeaky clean. "If you don't want it, you can pass it to me."

"I like it. But this is the first time I have travelled for seven days on the sea. I am not feeling hungry. My mouth hurts a lot."

"That sucks." Ace cast his eyes down and with a grin stretched his hand. "But that means more pie for me. Can I have that pie?"

"Why should he give it to you?" Sabo cut in. "I can have it too. Sanji give it to me." Koala and Vivi shook their heads, which said they didn't know who these uncivilised people were.

"Why should any of you get it? It's my husband's pie." Luffy barked. "If he cannot finish it, I will."

"You little shit, after the stunt you pulled, we missed out on two days of partying! You got married on your engagement day. You owe us more than a piece of the pie." Ace and Sabo shouted at my husband without any malicious bite in their words. For a royal family, they did behave like a pack of starving wolves. They really wanted to have two days of feasting. I can imagine why.

If it took them 7 days to reach Germa, it meant they didn't get a moment of rest, because of certain someone we were on the sea immediately after the wedding was over. Given what my brothers tried to pull, they all must've left angry and famished. As a newly married member, I owed them being civilised. So I took the pie and cut it into three pieces, I sent two their way and I stuffed one in my husband's mouth.

The colour of those dark eyes changed. He rested his free hand on my thigh and gobbled it. Then Luffy stood up and asked his fathers, "Sanji is tired, can we excuse ourselves?"

Sir Crocodile looked in my way first and then at my husband. Then he looked at his husband, who opened his mouth and made me feel embarrassed. "You will not mark him, Lu. Sanji if he tries to get his way with you. Just scream. All of us are gifted with great hearing"

"I was not going to. Do I look like a barbarian?" Luffy huffed and folded his arms in defiance. The silence from his family members didn't help. "I am not a horn dog, okay? I love Sanji why will I rush into marking him?"

"You have been trying to marry this gentle young man for three years now, we cannot believe you at all. Your reputation is tarnished by your own very violent hands, son." Monkey D Dragon smiled with sympathetic eyes. "And no knotting either. You are too immature to be a father."

"We will not have sex." Luffy gently pulled me up from my chair and pushed me out of the banquet hall. "Sorry, my family thinks I have no self-control."

In unison, the whole table replied. "You do not."

I should've been worried when I entered the bedroom. I was not. Monkey D Luffy, my husband of seven days, sent me to the bathroom without a delay. The bedroom tour could wait, he declared as he pushed me inside the bathroom bigger than the bedroom I had in my old tower. So this what royals outside Germa lived like, I mused.

Once he shut the door for me, fatigue hit my knees.

With heavy feet, I approached the wash basin and cleaned my face. The man in white and blue who peeped back at me from the mirror looked so much like me, yet, didn't feel like me.

With each new splash of the cold water, my make-up washed away. The pretty glamour I was carrying vanished, and bare skin revealed itself. The reality of who I was and where I was hit me in the guts. So many things had happened in the span of a week, out of which most of the time was spent being unconscious. I was married and now thousands of miles away from the suffocating tower.

The sense of freedom still didn't enter me.

Stripping out of the clothes, I could see what had become of this body in the full-length mirror. Would he like me without my pretty façade? Monkey D. Luffy was so handsome and young, whereas I was already about to hit the ripe old age of 30.

The reflection in the mirror was honest.

There were scars everywhere all over my body. Would this young man even love anything about me after seeing the welts, the bruises and the surgery scars on me? Wasn't my face all my husband had seen of me until now? Would he want to touch me after seeing how there were still markings of old pain?

If Luffy were to initiate sex now, I didn't think I would even attempt to resist him. The happiness with which I had accepted him at the altar had curled up somewhere in my heart, and now all the humiliation I felt at the hands of my family overtook me.

"Luffy…" My voice broke as I called him.

"Yes?"

"Will you come in?" My mouth gasped for some air. "Please."

"Are you sure? I don't want to listen to your thoughts, I am trying hard not to. It is difficult because you have been high-strung the whole day."

"Yes. I don't care if you hear them from my mouth or accidentally tether to my mind any more." Happiness was my goal. Without an honest beginning, we couldn't be happy. "Please come in."

My husband joined me, he was already freed of his royal clothes and was standing in a pair of loose black trousers and a red singlet donning his broad chest. His hair was back to being unruly as well. He looked so young that my heart ached.

"Can you see my body?" I asked. His eyes had turned so dark. "Do you see my scars?" My husband inched closer to me. Bit by bit, he covered the tense distance I had built. "These are my punishments for being born an omega in the Germa empire." I opened my arms and let him hug me from behind. "Do you still want to make me yours?"

"I saw them on our wedding night, I was there when my family was helping you change. My hope was to delay the conversation until you had become comfortable in your new home." Luffy's broad hands folded around my waist and touched the scar where my womb was supposed to be. His nose rested on my nape where my scent gland was. My back felt the hard chest and thighs press against me. "I should've murdered your father and brothers that day."

Did I want them dead?

Once upon a time I did.

I dearly wished for them to perish at sea so that I didn't need to be constantly cut and stitched. Now I wanted them to be nothing but a distant bad memory. "Death will not erase the past or undo the pain." Gently I combed his soft wavy hair. "I am afraid. I am so afraid of pain. So, can you be gentle with me tonight? That is if you want me."

"Oh, I want you. I want you very much." Luffy licked my nape like a greedy wolf pup. My scent glands pulsated under the touch of his warm, wet organ. Each new lick sent tingles under my skin, and my naked toes twitched and curled up. With a sigh, I let go of my pheromones.

Honey and spice mixed with petrichor all around us.

As his pheromones mingled with mine, my body relaxed in his arms. "I want you more than you realise. I fell for you first, and I haven't stopped falling for you since the day I saw you, Sanji." Even after seeing this broken and battered body, he still wanted me. "Yes, even after seeing your scars, your shivering body and your worried eyes. I want you as you are." Then he turned me around and connected our foreheads."But you are not ready for sex either."

"For you, I can take it all."

"Sanji." My husband kissed my nose. "Not for me. We will consummate when you recover from the pheromone poisoning completely. You are still unwell here." He tapped my temple gently. "It was scary, wasn't it that day when you called out for me in your head?" Yes, it was scary. It was very scary. I called out to him like a prayer. Because more than my sister, I knew you would be able to protect me.

One evening of the encounter had created that trust for him in me. When I bit myself, it was all to get his attention.

Blood called out to blood.

Pheromones called out to pheromones.

Omegas called out for Alphas.

"You trust me, right?" I nodded. "When you were afraid, you made a decision. You chose me to protect you. So I will protect you."

The nod slipped again, just like the words that followed. "I was afraid they would violate me, Luffy." The tears broke free. "I was terrified that I would be raped by my own blood on my wedding day. For that one hour between our wedding bows and me getting ready to leave Germa was my happiest hour in the last thirty years. But they had to muddy our happy day Luffy. How can I not feel hurt? When I close my eyes, I see their hateful faces. All these years, no matter how much they hurt me, I had never been disgusted by them. Now my skin crawls at the thought of ever having shared the womb with them."

"My love." Luffy touched my chin and brushed my goatee. "One horrible day will not eclipse our entire marriage. I will make sure from this day onwards, your life will be filled with little joys, mundane pleasures and loads of sunshine. So tonight, let everything out. All your anguish and all your pain. Let them out."

My mouth ached, but I wanted to say it all. I wanted to scream, I wanted Luffy to see how much I was suffering. All because I had trusted him to hold me while I bare my heart out. "Their hate for omegas is so vile that they didn't even see me as their brother. To them all, I am nothing but a defective omega. We are born from the same parents, why did they have to hate me so much? Why?" Luffy's rough fingers took away the golden comb that was holding my hair. He rubbed my earlobes to make me calm. "Why did they have to treat me like this? Am I not a human being? Don't I feel pain? Does my heart not ache? Was it my fault that my father's stupid experiment backfired?"

Luffy's hands left my earlobes and travelled down. Then he hugged me hard and rubbed circles on my back. The tears I had been holding off for the last two days escaped. "Let it all out, Sanji. Cry. Cry as much as you want. Cry as many times as you need. My arms will always be here to hug you. I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH."

I cried against his chest until my eyes could cry no more. When all my tears were soaked by his singlet, he removed the wet strands of hair from my face and kissed my forehead and nose. Then he gently took me to the bathtub.

CW: Naked People Making Out

"Join me." I grabbed his hand as he tried to move away after putting me inside. With a pained expression, he stripped and joined me. My eyes took in the magnificence of his body. He was short, but he was sculpted like the statues of the ancient gods, about whom I read and saw photographs in history books. When my initial lustful appreciation settled down, I spoke again. "I am sorry this is not how I wanted to start this marriage. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to make love to you happily and not like this."

"Sanji." Luffy pulled me closer and pressed my puffy face against his solid chest, and his hands combed my hair. Detangling each lock at a time as gently as he could. "I have been in love with you since I was a little boy. Do not think I have no patience. My family was teasing you, okay? Sex has never been the motive behind marrying you."

"You have to tell me when this love began. I do not recall ever meeting you."

With a chuckle, Luffy continued patting my head. "All in good time. Let's not overwhelm you in one day."

Melting further in his arms, I decided to be bold. "Have you really never kissed?"

"My family? Yes. On their cheeks, forehead and hands. Romantically? No. I told you. It is only you, I want as my life partner."

I touched his warm lips with my wet, wrinkled fingers. "Not even a teeny-tiny lip-lock?"

With a blush that made him look endearingly boyish, he replied. "No." Then his hands travelled down my back and sat on the curve of my waist. "I was waiting for you. As hard as it is to believe, it is the only truth."

"Then can I have that kiss tonight? The night you came to visit me in my tower, you were so eager to steal my kiss."

"Did you not tell me, you wanted to be married first." Luffy laughed. "And I was teasing you, I had been trying to get hold of you for years. So I didn't know what to do or say to you. My mind went a bit wild, finding you smoking by the window with a messy ponytail made my brain malfunction. It was at that moment I realised why people wanted to touch one another romantically. My desire to kiss you bloomed that very night. As for having sex, I only want to do it to make you feel good and enjoy the joys of pleasure." My mind was suddenly hot, like a loaf of bread baking in an oven. "People have sex to feel the other person's existence. And I wanted to feel your breath against my skin. I wanted your heart to beat for me. I wanted to make you happy that night, and I will do anything for you."

"Eloquent ain't you?" I laughed. "How can you—"

Luffy cupped my face. "Have you ever kissed anyone? Ever?" I rolled my eyes in reply. "I will not let my jealousy dictate me. So fret not, I will not punch that person if you have. My family has raised me to be open-minded."

"Who would I kiss? The day my first heat came, my fate was sealed. I was confined to my tower for the last fourteen years." This was information he had known for a long time, I could deduce by the way his face contorted with anger.

"As a Vinsmoke I was a failure but as a Vinsomke, I was a precious commodity as well. Did my father not brag about my virginity to your family? Like I was some broodmare?" From the facial expressions, I could tell, again, that my father had done more than one such verbal crime for Luffy to want to behead him. His grip on me had tightened.

"It's all in the past now. We are married and you love me! That's more than what I had ever hoped for when it came to my imagination. Even in my dreams, I couldn't ever permit myself the freedom of having a loving spouse." There was no reply, so I continued yapping. "You know, until the evening I met you. My hope for my marriage was a survival fantasy. My only prayer to the gods was to come out unscathed and alive after getting violated and tortured at the hands of my alpha spouse. All my life, I had been told, an omega was nothing but a worthless piece of property that existed to please its alpha masters and then get discarded by their masters."

"Sanji…" Luffy suppressed the anger in his heart by grinding his molars. I could see the veins around his jaw pop. His pheromones were now no longer sweet and earthy. The scent of petrichor evolved and resembled a rainforest ravaged in a storm on a hot afternoon: heavy, musky and warm. The place between my thighs twitched to let him enter me with his cock.

If only I could calm him. I moved my hips, but Luffy shook his head. "Don't…" He bit on my nape lightly. "Not like this. We will not make love like this."

Before he could become more angry than he already was. I bit his neck softly, copying how he did it to me. I licked where his scent glands were. The taste of a salty sweat entered my mouth. Like a cherished but powerless animal in the grip of an apex predator, I tried to comfort him. Stopping the overwhelming release of pheromones occupied my mind. After a while, scent glands began to respond to my licking. They pulsated under my tongue and stopped excreting the excessively angry pheromones. With a chuckle, his little rose rubbed against mine. Like a cat, I bumped it again and again until his anger died a little. "So, can we kiss?"

"If I am bad, don't be upset." Luffy blushed. "I had only planned till marrying you. The rest of it I didn't think through." Hearing those words made me feel so happy. Silly boy, I said as loudly as I could in my mind and saw my husband pout. "I am not a boy."

"Then show me that you are a man who loves me." I climbed on his lap, and the thing between Luffy's legs awoke. I wanted to tease him, but my confidence ended after parking my naked buttocks on his naked lap. So I bent my head near his face and inhaled his scent. He was correct, as much as I wanted to consummate this marriage, my dear husband had yet to manifest his first rut, and we had to follow the chronology of biology. A kiss on the other hand wouldn't hurt either him or me. I let go of the last of the control I had on my pheromones and so did he, his hands travelled up my spine and settled in the layers of my hair.

Then Monkey D Luffy opened his mouth and devoured my lips.

He was terrible at kissing.

I was pathetic.

But, our hearts were happy.

Unlike how romantic books described, kisses were not soft. The noses bumped. Breathing became harder, the pheromones became unstable, and what did one do with the hands? Where was it permissible to touch, and where should I avoid? My hands desperately cupped his face in return because that felt safest, while his hands fondled my skull like I was a dough he was preparing for the next day's meal. Our teeth collided, and he cut his lips on my canine as he tried to be considerate of my tongue injury. I bit on his tongue because I wanted to get the most out of it.

With a shared laughter, we continued kissing. As bad as it started, I was enjoying it. How could I not? Being wanted so badly yet being respected for my choices for not having the courage to move to the next step made me feel loved.

Monkey D Luffy was a fast learner, soon enough he figured out the puzzle of kissing better than me. He brushed against the roof of my mouth, which made me feel things not just inside my heart but the other place between my thighs. Then he gently sucked on my tongue, and I followed his actions. Exploring the warmth of his mouth made my pheromones go wild. As I sat myself on those hard thighs like I was riding a horse, I could feel his cock growing hard by the second. Being wanted by someone you adored felt amazing when feelings of affection were mutual. When I tried to touch him, Luffy shook his head. "Tonight, we just kiss." My heart wanted to protest, but my mouth was hungry for more kisses. At some point I became the sole receiver of the kiss, I let go of my senses and got swayed by Monkey D Luffy's actions. I would go as far as he would take me. With each breath, he pumped into me his pheromones and every time he sucked and licked my mouth, my mind felt lighter.

Kissing him felt like I was walking in a forest where I felt absolute safety.

My heart felt safe.

My body felt safe.

My soul felt safe.

Monkey D Luffy felt safe.

And I was already in love with him.

The next morning, I woke up in a soft bed in the secured arms of my husband from a dreamless sleep.

This was the first time since after my mother's death I had cuddled with someone in my sleep. Reiju didn't enter my tower after nightfall because she didn't want people to perceive me as weak and add to the prejudice mill. My father had no bone of care or kindness for me either. As for my brothers, the less I thought of them the better.

In comparison to the several nights I had spent in my tower sleeping alone, last night was the best. There were no nightmares, no cold sweats, nor did I wake up at odd hours because my body always felt restless.

Luffy was warm and solid. His steady and stable heartbeat went dhap-dhap against my back like a clock's ticking hand. Reminding me to ease and breathe without thinking. His warm breaths that hit my nape were like that of a cat's purring. Lulling me into a comfort zone.

Despite being way taller than him, I became the little spoon and I was not complaining. His legs were caging my legs, and his nose was stuck to the crook of my neck. "Good morning," I mumbled as I pulled on the strings attached to the window curtains beside our bed. The morning sunlight hit my face. I turned my head to check on my husband, who squinted his shut eyes at the change of lighting.

Luffy still didn't open his eyes. Instead, his hold on my waist grew stronger as he pulled me closer in response. His broad chest stuck against my back. Everything he did to me was welcomed by my greedy, aching heart.

"Slept well?" Luffy nuzzled my nape in a positive reply and then kissed my scent gland like it was the most natural thing to do first thing in the morning. The fresh wave of Luffy's pheromone took my mind back to feeling light and fluffy. "You smell so much better than the first evening I met you."

The stress of dealing with my terrible family was gone, and my doctors had given me a clean chit: declaring my pheromones free of the poisoning. All that was left was to recover my health lost because of blood loss. Hence, I was not surprised I smelled better. Furthermore, all the crying that I did last night in my husband's arms unlocked multiple matters of my scared heart and knotted body parts.

"Fresh! Like raw honey squeezed out of honeycombs and crushed spices plucked from Robin's farm." This was a compliment my chef's heart appreciated. All these years as an omega, I had never paid much attention to the finer details of my scent. Reiju would occasionally call it sweet and that was the end of it. Now that Luffy had stripped away my armour of cooking oil, burnt tobacco and aftershave, my pheromones made me an open book.

All around me, my nose could only smell of Luffy: the silk pillow on which my cheek was resting a few minutes back, the silk bedsheets on which we were spread out like two octopuses mating, the woollen quilt under which we were cuddling; everything was drenched in the smell of petrichor. To make sure I had a peaceful sleep, my husband had gone over and above.

After the heavy kissing session, my body gave up. My arms dropped after getting too relaxed, and my legs turned into boiled noodles. Luffy had pumped so many pheromones into me to soothe my crying heart that it just made me feel like melted butter on a crispy toast.

So Luffy had to wipe me clean, dress me up in pyjamas and bring me to bed.

Who knew kissing my very legally wedded husband would send my brain into an overdrive of happiness? If I was being honest, I wanted to do so much more, I wanted to kiss him more, touch him more and inhale his calming pheromones. My body had to stop me from growing crazy.

For more than fourteen years, I had spent my heats alone, yearning for the caring touch of an alpha. Craving pheromones that would satiate this desire to be complete and loved. Now that I had got a taste of this joy, my virgin body and horny mind didn't know how to deal with it.

When you have starved all your life and are presented with an all-you-can-eat buffet, keeping one's mind sane is hard.

"This was one of the best sleeps I had." I turned around, and his sleepy face decided to stick to my chest area now. He nuzzled the exposed area of my collarbones and left trails of soft kisses. "That tickles Luffy." My hands moved to his soft, wavy hair and ruffled it up more to resemble a bird's nest. "Did you like kissing me that much?" My husband nodded. "Me too."

Luffy tried to crane his neck to reach my lips but I moved away. "Nooooo." I giggled. "We have to brush first. Our mouths stink." He didn't pursue his morning goal of sticking his tongue into my mouth, but as revenge, he sent a stinky breath my way, "Eww you stink like a dead rat, Luffy." Not that my morning breath was any better. We creatures of traits were super sensitive to odours of any kind. So no way in the seven hells would I kiss him. Even without opening his eyes, I could tell he was up to some mischief. I flicked his forehead. "Brat, open your eyes."

"Noooooo." He went back to kissing my collarbones and the stretch of the exposed neck. "I am afraid." This morning, his scruffy voice sounded so young and vulnerable.

"Afraid of what?" How could the most feared Alpha in the world be afraid? "You? How is that possible?"

"I am but a human Sanji. If you cut me, I will bleed red too."

"Then tell me my very human husband, what is it that you are afraid of?"

"That this is all a dream." I didn't think it was possible to be held this tightly, but I was wrapped and caged between his arms and legs. "What if I open my eyes, and you are gone!" He squeezed me more. "I don't want this to be a dream. I don't. I don't." He whined like a baby who didn't want to face any possibility of change. "I cannot bear the pain if you are gone again, Sanji. My heart cannot handle it."

"What do you mean by that?" After freeing my hands from his lovely, soft hair, I lifted his chin. "Gone again?"

"Nothing."

"Luffy, open your eyes and look at me."

"Promise you will not leave me?"

"I promise. We married each other, didn't we?"

Luffy opened his dark eyes and blinked at me multiple times. Those rough, greedy hands that he had used last night to cut my meals into small pieces touched my face gently. Each new touch on my face made me blush. From my lips to my nose tip, Luffy ran his rough fingers to make sure the person lying opposite him was the real me. When he was satisfied, the hands shifted back to my waist. With a shit-eating grin, he cupped my face. "Dear me, you are divine. Your hair and eyes look so beautiful under the sunlight." Then he placed a kiss on my neck. "I want your pale skin to turn into a healthy olive because you got to spend so much time under the sun."

An image of Luffy and me sunbathing in a garden popped into my head. Gaining colour on my ghostly pale skin wouldn't be easy, but not impossible. If this is what he wanted, I would do my best to regain my physical and mental health. As he made me happy, I wanted to make him happy, too.

"Okay." I agreed. "When do we start?"

"Today!" Luffy jumped out of the bed and pulled me with him to the bathroom. "Let's have brunch in Grandma's picnic garden."

As promised, the first breakfast at my in-laws was not something fresh out of the kitchen, but instead the leftovers from the banquet. We were sat in the sunniest spot in the private garden of Empress Dadan. This place was where she loved the most. Luffy told me she mostly uses the place to hold tea parties for the ladies of high society and picnics with her grandchildren.

Since she was also a retired war veteran, this was her place of retirement. Last night she didn't want to overwhelm me with small talk, hence this was her way of welcoming me to the family.

Now that my mind was clear, my heart feeling better and my body refreshed, I gladly helped myself to the eleven-course meal from the previous evening. No one could tell the spread before me was leftovers. They were neatly arranged to just cater to two people: Luffy and me.

Luffy on the other hand sat opposite me and munched on a simple slice of bread layered with butter and little sprinkles of pepper.

"You will not eat?" I asked after stuffing my mouth with the mushroom and onion puff pastry. "These are good."

"I will eat your leftovers." He smirked. "And I ate everything yesterday, so I am not missing out."

I didn't oppose him. He knew what he wanted. My mind was lost in the delicacy I was chomping on. The royal cook Pan Fry was indeed a master chef. My mouth could feel all the ingredients and how they unified to create this unique taste. With each new bite, I could cry.

Luffy smiled sweetly and reached out to me with his hand. Then he curled my hair around his index and middle finger like they were spaghetti on a fork. He kissed the rolled-up hair and inhaled my scent. "And I am enjoying the sight of my husband eating delicious food under the sun while his golden hair blew in the wind."

My blush crept up again. "If you flirt with me, I will not be able to eat in peace." Nervously, I toyed with the soft piece of duck meat by stabbing it with my fork.

"Monkey D Sanji…." Luffy let the words out. And my ears burned.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Do you like this new surname?" Did I? I was glad to never be associated with the Vinsmoke surname. "If you want, you can just be Sanji. The choice is yours. Whatever you decide, I will accept."

"I don't understand."

Luffy clapped and an attendant arrived with a tray carrying a paper. "Here." It was a declaration of marriage announcement to be read out to the public and sent to other empires. It was customary to introduce new members of the royal family to the world. We had done it for the extended family of Vinsmokes as well. "Papa never took the Monkey D surname, nor did Vivi. I want you to know this. The addition or subtraction of the surname will not change the status of our relationship. My love for you is not dictated by stupid social norms."

With a deep breath, I took Luffy's hand in mine.

"I think I like the ring of Monkey D Sanji."

TBC

Notes:

From Khepi: Have you reached the end? Congratulations on surviving my fever dream of a writing style.

Khepi's lovely readers, whose patience Khepi is testing: So what will happen next? When did Luffy and Sanji first meet? What do you mean by Sanji being a former dominant omega? What did Judge do to him?

Khepi: You will get all these answers in the next chapter. The next chapter will be dual POV: Monkey D "Lovesick for Sanji" Luffy will enter the narrative.

Khepi's lovely readers: But we want answers!

Khepi: You will get them. I promise.

AND IF YOU ALL ASK ME WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER IS COMING?

I WILL CRY AND BITE YOU!

Only kudos and nice comments can make me write fast, so you know what to do! BWAHAHAHA!

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