Bound by Blood and Sea || Sanji || Zoro

An Old Friend

Note: Hey everyone, let's just pretend that every character is 2 years older (like after the time skip), even though we aren't there yet in the story.

Luffy helped me up from the ground and I looked around. We were the only ones on deck. I assumed the others had left during our conversation. It was definitely better that way.

I was chewing the inside of my cheek, worrying about how much they might have heard. It would be quite a first impression if they saw me sobbing my eyes out on my first day here. Hopefully, they had left right away because how would they view me after hearing my story? Or at least parts of it. Surely they would pity me and think less of me.

My stomach growled, snapping me out of my thoughts. Why couldn't I stop overthinking everything? It was truly exhausting. I turned to Luffy and asked him: "Do you have something to eat? I'm starving!"

The captain grinned at me. "Of course! I'll make you the best meal you've ever tasted!" Oh god. Please tell me he was kidding.

"No, Luffy! Please don't cook. Your food is terrible! I'd rather eat the leaves of these tangerine trees than put whatever you make in my mouth."

My brother scoffed, offended. "Hey, what do you mean? My food is delicious! And these leaves are actually pretty tasty." I raised an eyebrow at his words.

"No, it isn't! But you wouldn't know since you eat literally anything. And are you telling me you actually ate the leaves of the tree?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" I looked at him incredulously but didn't bother to reply since it wouldn't change anything.

"Anyway, Sanji is the chef, right? So do you think he could make me something?"

Luffy poked me in the forehead, still insulted by my words about his cooking. "Yeah, he'll make you something. But just that you know my food is actually excellent."

"Remember that one time you cooked when we were kids and I was ill for an entire week?" I reminded him.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest, pouting. "That was one time! And I am way better nowadays."

"Mhm sure," I teased him. God, it was great to have my brother back. I really had missed this bickering and fighting over little things.

However, I was still mad that he left me back then. But all the pent-up anger and grief couldn't disappear in one day. Presumably, I just needed time to heal my wounds and rebuild my trust in him.

With my brother on my left, I entered the kitchen, where Sanji was already preparing a meal. My mouth immediately watered at the smell.

The cook noticed us walking in and turned around with a grin. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving!" I replied.
He smiled at me and motioned toward the table. "Take a seat, love. I'm almost done."

I sat down beside Luffy and inhaled the smell of the dish that Sanji placed in front of me. "Here you go, enjoy darling."

"Thank you, Sanji." "Oh, you're welcome. Just let me know, if you need anything else. I'll gladly make it for you."

My eyes sparkled at his words and I gave him an appreciative smile. The cook smiled back, then smacked away Luffy's hand from my food and glared at him.

"Hands off! This is for the beautiful lady. Your food will be ready in a second."

The captain pouted and I couldn't help but giggle. "This expression suits you a lot better, darling." So they did hear my conversation with Luffy and saw me bawling my eyes out. Well, that was just great.