Sanji's Death Vision

Untitled Part 1

They say you see your life flash before your eyes before you die. But that wasn't how it was for me.

I didn't see the sum total of my life, my birth, my time as a chef's apprentice, my work with Jeff, and my travels with the Straw Hat Pirates. I didn't see my two years with the okama bastards (thank God!) or our journey through the New World.

I saw only her.

I saw the way she looked the first day we met in Baratie.

I saw her radiant smile. I saw her fierce glower. I saw the way her nose crinkled when she laughed. So cute!

I saw the times she cried, and the few times she genuinely smiled at me.

I saw the way she daintily held her chopsticks as she ate, and the way her lips pouted as she sipped a straw to some sweaty, iced drink I made for her. She always complimented my cooking, and I was happiest when making something especially for her.

I saw that cute bikini she wore on Sky Island. I saw the parka she wore on the bottom of the sea...she looked cute even in that. I saw how gorgeous and womanly she had become after two years apart, the sway of her long hair, the curvature of her body, and buoyancy of her...

Oh, the pain! It hurts! It hurts so bad!

I pant and force myself to keep breathing despite the agony. I know, after such a blow, I won't live much longer, but I want to keep looking at these memories. I want to forestall Death so I can keep gazing upon her beauty. She is a goddess, an angel who leads me to the next life.

As I lie here in my own blood, I pray to whatever god there is that I might be reborn as cotton, so that I can be made into an outfit that my dear sweet Nami-swan will wear. Then I could touch her skin all day, and I'd be happy.

I know I've done horrible things in this lifetime. In my last view of sweet Nami, she was frowning at me, a foolish word I said that angered her. I will live with that bitter disappointment through two lifetimes. I don't deserve to be reborn as anything noble, so please...please, Kami-sama in heaven, let me be nothing more than cotton. Even if I am woven into a sock and she stomps on me all day long, I will cradle her delicate feet. Perhaps my soul will give strength to her legs so that she can continue walking beside Luffy where I have failed.

One last vision comes to me as this life fades. It is Nami again, leaning over me, speaking, apologizing, tears swimming in her eyes. Even the way her lids turn pink is adorable.

Is this my last view? Have I died with my eyes open? If I die with Nami being the last thing I see, I will die happy.

I wish I could tell her...show her...just once...what I have always wanted.

Just once.

Just a kiss...

---

Whack!

"I knew you were bluffing!" Nami screamed as she smacked Sanji's puckering lips. "And here you got me all worried."

"Oi, Nami," Usopp pouted, pulling her back. "Calm down."

"He's bleeding enough as it is," Chopper cried out, dabbing a gash to Sanji's head. "You hit him way too hard."

"Oh, my sweet angel Nami-swan," Sanji mumbled. "Fly me to heaven, my sultry seraph. Look, the stars are dancing for us."

Chopper yanked Sanji's eyelids open one at a time. "Hallucinations? He may have a concussion."

"Serves him right!" Nami huffed. "He shouldn't have mentioned that my bra is too tight."

Robin flipped a page in her book. "It is," she said bluntly, shocking the crew members. "Your breasts obviously grew since you left Weatheria. On the next island, we'll go shopping and get you resized."

Brook stopped his singing. "Will you show me what you buy?"

Nami made a fist. "Say something like that again and I'll send you flying like him."

Chopper waved his arms about frantically. "No more fighting! I barely have enough medical supplies for your usual fights, let alone if you fight amongst each other."

Zoro sauntered up and gave Sanji a nudge with his shoe. "Yo! You conscious, ero-cook?"

Sanji slowly sat up. His head was bleeding where Nami hit him, and the crash into the ship's railing hit bad...one broken rib, maybe two. She really had gotten a lot stronger. "I'm okay. Nami-swan," he called over, stopping her just before she could land a blow on Brook. "I sincerely apologize if I offended you. It was meant as a compliment. Really, you don't have to waste money on buying a bigger bikini. These tiny ones are absolutely perfect."

"Agreed!" Brook said, nodding seriously.

Nami pulled back her fist. "Whaddaya mean by that, you sick pervert?"

Before she could punch him, Luffy got in the way. Her blow landed, but the rubber man barely felt it. "When's lunch?"

Sanji sighed, picked up his fallen cigarette, held his aching head, and headed back to the kitchen.

---

Yes, if I could die with her as my last vision, I'd be a happy man. But this, living here, sailing the seas with her, cooking her meals, serving her, waiting upon her hand and foot, fighting to protect her...living for her! That's a much better fate.

I would rather keep on living, all for my sweet Nami-swan!