The Calm Before the Storm

chapter 4

 The crew reached their next destination within a few days. Those days were occupied by everyone talking about the upcoming wedding as well as fighting off a few marine ships here and there. Overall though the ship was buzzing with excitement. When they reached their next island the first one out of the crew to do anything was Nami and Robin who had unfortunately cornered sanj. He had started his day off making breakfast which everyone enjoyed but now he is backed into a corner of the kitchen by nami and robin with a devious look in their eyes. Sanji was speechless as they docked the ship and the girls quickly grabbed him rushing off the boat leaving everyone in confusion, especially the swordsman as he knew that the look in the womens eyes as they departed the boat meant nothing but trouble. "Um....where are the girls taking sanji and why did they leave so quickly?" luffy asks as he walks up to where zoro and usopp were standing and staring into the distance as they watched the girls and sanji shrink out of their vision. "I don't know but by the look in their eyes it can't be good" said the sniper grimacing and thanking god that it wasn't him. "Well one thing is for sure. There's no helping him at this point. Once they have their mind set on something it's gonna get done" said Franky, also wondering where the three were going. As of the moment they would have to stay on the island they were docked at for a few days for the log post to set so they decided that for the day they would all stay on the boat and wait for them to come back, hoping they would.

Now back to the girls and sanji. As soon as the girls got away from the boat and to the nearest town they let the cook go knowing he wasn't going to run away now since he needed to buy supplies but unfortunately for him that would not be happening anytime soon. As soon as he was released he started bombarding them with questions. "What was that for!?, why did you drag me all the way to town?, and what is with that look? I know you're planning something and I have a bad feeling" said the cook, who was glad to now be free from the women but also scared for what they had in store for him. Nami was the first to speak up and answer his questions, "well we needed to get you off the ship and in town and we told you why we didn't know if you would agree to come so we just brought you. Also we dragged you all this way to get you a nice new suit for the wedding and we need to pick out dresses as well" she said not even missing a beat. All Sanji could do was sigh as he put his hand to his face taking it all in before responding with "you could have just asked. I had planned on waiting and doing this with the whole crew so me and the marimo could pick something out together. I can't just leave him to pick out something on his own. He would probably show up in workout clothes if someone didn't help him" the cook said, now slightly stressed. "Don't worry cook-san we will make sure he has something appropriate to wear but today we are shopping for you and us" robin said with a reassuring smile. This seemed to get the cook to calm down some as he reluctantly agreed to go shopping with them.

After some walking they had finally made it to the tailors shop and began to look around. Sanji told the girls that he and Zoro had decided that he would wear a white suit and the other a traditional black suit. With this information they all set to work looking for the perfect suit. Since not a lot of people wear white suits there weren't too many to try on and the ones he did try on he didn't like and the girls agreed that it just wasn't the right choice so they left the tailors, thanking the nice man who worked there on the way out, and headed to a fancy dress shop so robin and nami could pick out dresses and as a woman of honor she wanted sanji's input since he chose her for the task. The girls began to look as well as sanji since nami wanted him to help her pick out her dress as well.

As they started looking the girls and sanji got seperated in the fairly big store. As he was looking through the racks a kind older looking lady approached him with a nice greeting "hello, are you looking for something for your girlfriend perhaps if so let me show you some new dress we just got in" she said beginning to take his hand and lead him away to another rack of dresses. All he could do was follow as the older women went on and on about the new dresses until they finally got to the rack of new dresses. "Ma'am I appreciate your help but I'm not looking for something for my girlfriend, I'm engaged and I am helping some of my friends pick out dresses for the wedding," he said smiling at the woman. She looked at him questioningly "does your finance have a dress?" she asks, making Sanji laugh at the thought of the tough swordsman in a dress. "No, I don't think he would like that very much" he replied wiping a tear from his eye after laughing too hard, "a look of realization crossed her face after what he said but that did not deter her from making a sale. "Well what about you? Do you have anything to wear yet?" she asks, looking at him smiling. This made him stop in his tracks and think as the woman just stared like she knew what he was thinking. What would people think if he wore a dress instead of a suit. He was a man and expected to wear a suit but then again their wedding and or relationship wasn't normal. Most importantly what would zoro think if he wore a dress. He began to think of the shock the swordsman would have before finally replying to the woman "actually I don't yet". This brought a huge smile to the older woman's face as she led him to a different rack of much older looking dresses "I think that you will find what you're looking for here" she said before walking off again to help other shoppers.

The rack was filled with older style traditional yet modern japanese style wedding dresses. Sanji was taken aback about the woman somehow knowing his fiance's style and what he might like. He began to look but it did not take him long before he found what he was looking for and snuck to a dressing room. Never in his life did he think that he would be trying on a wedding dress but here he is. As he finished putting on the dress he looked in the mirror shocked. He was stunned. He liked the way he looked and the way the dress felt. It fit like a glove, like it was made just for him. He quickly changed back into his usual clothes before paying for the dress and walking off to find where the girls had gone.

He found the girls by another set of dressing rooms with robin holding a navy blue dress waiting outside the dressing room that nami was in. "hello cook-san, ms.navigator is trying on a dress now that we think you will like" she said just as nami stepped out of the changing room in a strapless eggplant colored dress. It was beautiful. "What do you think?" Nami asks, smiling and giving them a twirl. "It's beautiful," Robin said with Sanji also complimenting her telling her it was stunning. "Well I guess that settles that then. This was fairly easy" she says walking back into the dressing room and changing back into her normal clothing. The girls walked to the cashier to pay for their dresses while Sanji waited outside smoking a cigarette and holding a bag of his own.

It didn't take long for the girls to pay and head outside and meet up with the cook. As they were about to walk back to the ship nami noticed the bag that sanji was carrying and that it had the same logo as their dress bags. This piqued her curiosity so she decided to do some digging. "Hey Sanji, what's in the bag?" she asked quizzingly. Sanji panicked for a second before replying with a clever excuse for the dress shop bag. "Oh there was this nice older lady that worked there and we started talking. I told her how I couldn't pick out a suit so she took me to the back where they had a few suits. She said they used to sell them as well but they didn't do as good" he told the girls nervously, thinking that they would see right through his life. Surprisingly they didn't however. "Why didn't you try it on with us?" nami asked "I decided I wanted it to be a surprise" he said trying to throw off the girls again. "How about you try it on for us when we get back onto the ship" robin proposed before quickly but nicely being shut down. "Nope, sorry but no can do ladies. I have made up my mind about it being a surprise" he said, giving them both a wink before continuing walking back toward the boat with the girls following, trying to convince him to show them the suit. Boy would they be shocked when he walked down the aisle. Now it was the others turn to find their outfits for the big day. With Luffy, that is going to be one long day.