“I don’t trust this, Sanji. Don’t you think this is being too risky? Father’s already upset with you for sneaking this close to the surface last week.” Reiju’s words rang true, as they usually did, but Sanji had already made up his mind.

The waters were warmer in this part of the seas, far from the kingdom that binds him with responsibilities. It was so warm, in fact, Sanji liked to believe he was above the waters, in the sun. 

“Reiju, if you would rather prefer the comforts of our ‘loving’ kingdom, you are welcomed to leave,” Is all Sanji can manage to say in response to his sister’s warnings. He would not be home today, he simply refused to be. 

This was his mother’s favorite spot in the entire ocean, and he had promised her far before her death that he would spend it here with her on her birthday every year.

That was why today–his mother’s birthday–Sanji did not care what punishment he would receive for visiting this holy ground. He had a promise to fulfill.

He could hear the steady swishing of his sister’s tail as she once again expressed concern, “Fine then, I will return to the kingdom. Do not place any blame on me when Father eventually finds out about your poor choices, though.”

The younger one rolled his eyes without a word. He gave his sister a snide glance before turning away from her and swimming briskly to the familiar clear patch of sand in the shallower waters, placing down a coral mat and the sea basket of food he had prepared for his yearly picnic.

Reiju’s presence remained a little longer, before she eventually murmured, “I will… tell Father you are at mother’s grave celebrating her birthday instead of here, so even if they go looking for you, they will not disturb your precious tradition.”

Sanji didn’t respond, only continuing to set up the small picnic. She lingered still, until the blonde could hear the water currents change in his sister’s direction, a small bubbling sound, the shift of movement in his surroundings, swish swish swish , and alas, she was gone.

The lone merman finished his preparations swiftly, ending it by placing his mother’s photograph on the mat, at the spot where she would always sit when they were young.

A fond smile crept onto his face as he settled, plating food onto his worn-out dishes and placing it on his lap. The warmer waters were welcoming and secure to Sanji, and even though it was dangerously close to the surface above, he knew how much his mother loved the light.

Since before Reiju was born, the queen would take whoever would come with her to this clearing, just below the surface, and spend as much time as she could in these waters. 

No one in the kingdom understood why she enjoyed the land outside of the ocean so much, perhaps she wanted adventure, perhaps she wanted to run away from her royal duties. 

All Sanji knew is that she loved the sun, the sky, and everything above and below the horizon.

Sanji, too, loves this place as his mother did. He only has fond memories of this small pasture-like area; when his mother used to sing her children folk songs and draw pictures in the ocean sand. 

In those days, his sister and brothers were not under Judge’s influence, as they are now. 

Sanji remembers the family they used to be; the people he used to love.

The past Ichiji was always reading ancient texts, studying under the sun, leaning into the comfort of his mother as his eyes scanned the words and symbols with obvious interest. 

In those days, Niji and Yonji would collect seashells and compare them based on size, color, and basically any other physical attribute they could come up with.

Reiju would be watching over Sanji as the little blonde guppy would pretend to make food out of seaweed, fish bones, and discarded seashells. Sanji had always wanted to be a cook of sorts, tinkering with ingredients and recipes and wanting to give it to his family as a gift. 

Times were simpler then, when his mother would hold her children close to her and tell them how much she loved them.

Sanji didn’t need to worry about his brothers beating him relentlessly whenever they disagreed or Judge’s disappointed shouting whenever he so much as breathed in the elder’s direction.

Reiju’s eyes weren’t cold and emotionless whenever she stared up at the surface, and to Sanji, the kingdom was home . 

After the queen passed away in an assassination attempt, Judge highly discouraged all members of the kingdom, royalty or peasant alike, from making any visits to this area that lay so close to the sun. He claimed the territory to be dangerous, and soon the Vinsmoke Kingdom began spreading all sorts of rumors of the land being cursed.

In some stories, a creature from the deeper seas lurks around the waters, eating all merfolk and others who approach. Another rumor states that the water itself was poisoned, and all who swam through the area would get sick and die not long after.

The most well-known of the rumors, however, is one that tells of a princess from another kingdom that was last spotted swimming around this area, before being swept up by a surface dweller and was never seen again.

Sanji did not fully believe the credibility of the rumors, no matter how many times his brothers insisted the ghost stories were real. 

But then again, his brothers are not the people they used to be, not after Judge got his hands on them and molded them into the monsters they are today.

Judge was… the opposite of Sora. He believed in the natures of science, the madness of violence, and complete and utter destruction. Where Sora believed in peace with all creatures of the planet, Judge believed that their kingdom deserved to be a titanium fist of supremacy over the world.

His greed for power and lust for change consumed his very being, until eventually he had become the creature he currently was.

Sanji shook himself from his thoughts, because no, he would not be thinking of that man today.

“Happy birthday, mother,” Sanji says quietly to his mother’s photo, even though he knows by now no one will reply.

The young prince loves this image as if it were the queen itself. After all, she had passed away when Sanji was still such a small child. 

In the photograph, Sora is smiling so wide her azure blue eyes are closed tightly and her cheeks are rosy red with happiness. She’s wearing her crown of seashells and pearls atop her golden blonde hair, and in the back one can see she is sitting on her majestic throne of silver and gold.

The picture only shows from her head to the end of her torso, and cutting off before it’s able to reveal her long, golden tail that flurried into beautiful waves of white.

His mother had always looked fragile— thin, webbed fingers that would play with delicate herbs and instruments; long, blonde hair that flowed evenly in the water currents; and a gentle smile that decorated her face with joy.

A sigh of nostalgia leaves Sanji’s lips as he looks at the photo longingly before he begins to speak again.

“You just missed it, mother, but Reiju managed to make it all the way out here today. She couldn’t stay for the celebration but…”

It was enough. He leaves the words unsaid. Because it was so heartbreakingly true, he doesn’t want to hear himself say that the brief moments his sister had been present was enough .

He knows at most it was the bare minimum.

“She’s grown a lot since you’ve last seen her, mother. Did you know she’s planning to study different life sciences to better the kingdom? I know it’s nothing compared to what you imagined for her, but she seems to enjoy it.”

Sanji would never lie to his mother, but even he knew only half of what was said was true. 

Reiju had become a mermaid dedicated to studying medicinal science. Her unreadable face made it hard to believe if she actually enjoyed doing her assigned jobs and studies, but she never seemed to think of her role as repulsive, or complain much about it at all.

The prince sighs absentmindedly as his brain wanders over to the topic of the rest of his family.

Updating his mother about the status of his siblings pained him, since he felt he had failed to protect them from Judge’s control.

Not that he could do much in his position, but it still hurt to know that he was the only one keeping his mother’s words in his heart.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t manage to bring my brothers here at all. You know how they get— especially if they’re left with me .”

The waters around him turned cold for a moment, as a cloud drifted in front of the sun and created a chilling atmosphere to rush over the area.

It was true, his brothers had grown quite distant from him over the years.

The four were quadruplets, princes, and born from the same mother and father through and through, but they couldn’t be more different.

After their mother passed, Reiju and the brothers tried their best to keep up the picnic tradition on their mother’s birthday each year, but slowly, they all faded away.

First it was Niji who made excuses not to come along. He’d complain about how far from the kingdom the spot was, or explain how Judge wanted him to do some obscure task. Not long after the repeated absences, Judge made Niji head of the kingdom’s guard, given that the blue brother was a powerful, blue eel merman who emitted dangerous electricity to those who dare attack him. Niji made guard practice his main excuse for not showing up to the picnics, and at some point he stopped coming overall.

Next was Ichiji, who their father buried in copious amounts of work and errands. Ichiji, who was a strong, fighting betta fish merman with the calmness that could change the world.The eldest of the brothers withdrew the visits when Judge announced that Ichiji would be the crowned heir, not Reiju.

Yonji would simply keep forgetting the date, keep forgetting to show up, until he eventually decided not to attend anymore since the other brothers were refusing to. The shark merman listened obediently to Judge’s orders, and in time the green-haired brother became obsessed with the hunger for power that their so-called father believed in.

And so Reiju and Sanji were left alone to continue the tradition. It wasn’t until 2 years ago did Reiju announce she wouldn’t be going anymore, and Sanji never got the reason why.

When his pink-haired, stingray sister had tagged along earlier today, Sanji had a slither of hope that she would be staying for the picnic, but alas, she left far too soon.

“Things… haven't been the same without you, mother,” Sanji tilts his head to the side.

“Judge is planning something that I’m not sure you would agree with, and of course, my beloved brothers are agreeing to support his decisions,” he complains as he silently eats the meal he had prepared.

The kingdom of Vinsmoke had been seemingly impatient the past few months, and although Sanji was just as much a part of the royal family as his siblings were, Judge had refused to tell him what he had in store for the future.

Judge preached a ‘revival’, Sanji feared a war.

The young prince chewed a few more bites of his carefully prepared meal in silence, savoring the taste, testing its flavor.

The recipe is simple enough– thinly cut sardines seasoned and wrapped in a special seaweed that Eponi had been able to gather for him from the kingdom’s back gardens.

It was true that Judge highly disliked Sanji’s interest in cooking and the culinary arts. However, the prince knew how much his mother adored the talent, and Sanji continued to cook in secret despite the king’s constant threats.

So Sanji sits with his mother for a few moments longer, eating his meal and reporting to her any and all details of the kingdom, of his cooking, of anything he can think of.

As the blonde swallowed another large bite he had taken out of his home-cooked dish, he noticed an odd aura wash over the atmosphere of the usually comforting waters. 

Where there was once life and light felt replaced by dread and oddity.

Sanji’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he tried to comprehend what had changed in the perimeter around him. Although this was the ocean floor, everything seemed to be fearfully still, as if he were in the eye of a hurricane, or perhaps the calm before the storm.

Sanji scans the sand around him in hopes of finding the source of the strange feeling, tail twitching in anticipation.

There’s a moment of horror as his eyes drift over to a large shadow on the ocean floor only meters away from him.

When did that get there?  

An uncomfortable pit of dread crept into his stomach as he tried to comprehend what was casting the shadow. Sanji slowly tilted his head upwards until he could see the silhouette of an unfamiliar shape looming over him on the surface of the waters.

The shadow was almost completely motionless, and a million thoughts raced through Sanji’s mind. 

What is that? A whale? A shark? This place is too close to the surface for any sea creature to be living around, he deduces, keeping completely still in case whatever is causing the shadow is watching him as well.

And because of all of his brother’s teasing and mocking and constant rumors of course the first possibility that ran through Sanji’s mind was the thought that it was some type of horrific beast or unknown ghost. 

More attempts at reasoning race through his brain once again:

How long has it been here? Is something watching me? Is someone watching me? Has it been stalking me? If it starts chasing me down, can I get away?

If the creature was remarkably fast, Sanji wasn’t quite sure his bluefin trevally tail would do much to help him out.

His eyes stay trained on the shadow as he slowly packs his picnic away, moving in a steady manner as to not startle or alert the mysterious figure.

After he manages to tuck his mother’s photo into his satchel, the blonde quickly turns to make his exit. To his horror, the shadow begins following him, and Sanji can feel the adrenaline bursting through his veins as he tries to pick up speed.

The sea floor here is basically bare, covered in nothing but sand, a few rocks, and occasional small patches of seaweed.

Hiding wasn’t an option, but if Sanji could swim out he could possibly get help from the kingdom.

Since he was just a simple trevally, he didn’t have Reiju’s stingray poison or Yonji’s shark speed— instead, he’d have to rely on his experiences and brain to get out of situations like this alive.

As the merman attempts to zip away, he takes a peek above himself to see where the mysterious silhouette currently is, only to realize it’s gone.

Sanji can’t help himself from pausing his run away to check his surroundings.

Where did it go? For some reason being unable to see the shadow is much scarier than being able to.

Blue eyes desperately scan his surroundings again, ears ringing with anticipation as he attempts to spot the shadow on the seafloor again.

Silence fills the waters again eerily before everything unwinds into chaos.

There’s a splitting pain searing through Sanji’s navy blue tail as he desperately tries to swim away. His head spins when he checks it quickly for injuries, only to see a large spear-like object was lodged cleanly into the aquatic limb.

The wound is emitting a cloud of dark blood where the tail has been punctured, and Sanji’s head gets dizzy from just the sight of it.

There’s a struggle as he tries to pry the foreign object out of him, all while the thick rope attached to the spear drags him closer to the strange object sitting on the top of the ocean.

Sanji’s never been to the surface— he’s dreamed of it as a child, but has never been brave enough due to his family’s constant warnings and threats not to go.

Now, however, Sanji really wished not to go to the surface, as his body was helplessly dragged to the very place of the unknown with no consent on his end at all.

He desperately struggles to release himself from the spear’s hold, pulling it harshly, no matter how much it hurts. He can almost clearly see the creature at the top of the ocean now, as he’s dangerously close to emerging from the water into the air.

Sanji pulls and pulls and pulls, until he eventually manages to rip the object out of his tail, but the pain is so intense his vision blurs and his head throbs.

I need to get away . Is all he can think as he attempts to swim farther and farther, but his tail is too weak to move, too weak to do anything . 

And funny, isn’t it? How his brothers and his father had constantly told him he had a weak tail, he had a weak conviction, he was weak .

No matter how many times they told him, however, he didn’t really care. He didn’t need strength to be a strong person, but in this moment, he really really wished he was stronger.

Sanji attempts one more pitiful push forwards in the water, before a net-like object comes into his route, and as he slowly makes contact with the wall of webs, his vision blurs horribly worse, and everything fades to black.

-

An unfamiliar hum floods Sanji’s senses as he comes to.

There’s an unbearable throb beating throughout the back of his head as he adjusts himself the best he can. The blonde attempts to comprehend what’s going on with his body as he wiggles in place uncomfortably.

What time is it? Why hasn’t Ichiji attempted to wake me up if I woke up late today?

The thoughts swirled in his head as his brain tried to swim to the surface of logic and confusion that was overwhelming him tenfold.

Before he can even begin to open his eyes, he immediately notices how numb his arms feel, how shallow his breathing is, how cramped and annoyed his tail is laying— wait, how shallow his breathing is? He was breathing?

The merman’s eyes snap open as he heaves in another breath.

Light is blinding his retinas immediately, burning his eyes as they slowly take in the setting that sits around him.

The first thing that comes to Sanji’s attention is that he was seated in a shiny white bowl of water. It was elongated, and larger than any bowl he had ever seen. Him and the bowl were seated in a tiled room with other strange contraptions besides the container he was placed in.

As he traced the outlines of the walls of the room, he noticed a strange seat filled with water and an odd hole carved into it, as well as an unknown mechanism with a metal handle next to it.

There were rugged pieces of cloth all around the floors of the room, as if attempting to clean up a mess that had previously been occupying the space.

Sanji tries to move his tail, only to be struck with a sharp pain shooting up his aquatic limb.

The blonde examined the appendage carefully, surprised to see it cleanly wrapped with a bandage so that it would stop the bleeding.

Bleeding ?

Suddenly, memories of the day before flooded Sanji’s mind, and a sense of dread took over his body as he realized what situation he was in.

Was he in a monster’s lair? No, that wouldn’t make any sense. Whatever had caught him last night was far too advanced in technology to be the creature of the deep or anything like that.

Could he have been caught by humans? The spear-like weapon from yesterday definitely seemed to be crafted by a human. Additionally, as he was struggling to break free from his injury he was also being dragged to the surface of all places, which is obviously where humans reside.

If that is the case then he was currently in some type of containment cell meant to keep him from escaping.

As Sanji processed all of the new information, the consistent background humming in the room suddenly came to a stop, and the merman could hear voices from outside of the room.

His head tilted as he noticed the door to his cell was cracked open, and he could hear his captor’s voices outside.

Sanji closed his eyes and tried to hear as much of the incoherent talking as he could make out.

“I can NOT believe that just happened. We’re so screwed, we are SO screwed— Luffy, what in the world were you thinking?! Attacking a random guy by jumping from our boat to his?!”

Another voice snickers cheekily, “Awwww come on! That suspicious guy knew he wasn’t supposed to be there! He shoulda seen it coming! He even tried to stab me!”

The worried voice from before comes back, “IF HE TRIED TO STAB YOU WHY DID YOU KEEP FIGHTING HIM?!”

There’s a boisterous laugh from someone else then, “Well, I think it was super of you to try to keep my part of the ocean clean! Especially from scumbags like that guy who tried to illegally hunt marine life with no permission!”

A young female’s voice is next to retort, “Okay, but what next? We have a mermaid in your bathtub , Franky! We can’t just ignore that!”

The loud voice replies eagerly, “Oh! Don’t worry about that, sister. I rarely use that bathroom anyways, it used to belong to the ole Ice-For-Brains.”

The girl sighs, “That… that’s not the part I’m asking about.”

“She has a point,” an older woman’s voice intervenes, “Franky, my love, I believe you’re taking this a little too lightly. In the mermaid’s current condition, Chopper says they won’t be able to properly swim for about 2 to 4 weeks. Even then, our brilliant doctor suggested a form of physical therapy may be required for him to be able to move correctly.”

Sanji hears a significantly high-pitched voice, “Don’t think calling me brilliant is going to get you any brownie points, you morons!” The small voice then coughs lightly before turning more serious, “But Nami and Robin are right— we need to think about the next few weeks. If this patient really is a mermaid, there’s only so much I can do! I’m a doctor for humans after all, and who knows how slow or fast a mermaid can heal.”

“Plus!” The anxious voice interrupts again, “What if it wakes up and wants to attack us or is scared of us or something? What if the government comes after us for harboring a cryptid, mythical creature? What if it’s actually a siren or bad luck omen to keep mermaids in your house? What if—”

“Oh my gosh, Usopp shut up .” A significantly gruffer, deeper, new voice interjects.

Sanji almost jumps from how powerful and demanding it sounds. Whoever the owner of that voice was had to be someone with purpose . 

“I think,” the new voice continues, “I think for now we should just play things by ear. Let’s wait til the guy wakes up before making any assumptions about what comes next.”

There was a silence of agreement before the cheeky voice snickers again, “And I think I’m hungry! Franky! Is there any food?”

The booming voice, Franky , as Sanji had learned recently, chuckles before panicking, “Brother! Thanks for the reminder! I have ribs in the oven!”

The others laughed joyously in response to the hungry voice.

As the voices continued talking, Sanji tried to listen in on more of the conversation.

Despite the earlier attempt, he tried to move his tail again, only to be met with an agonizing amount of pain. This time, the tail flinched subconsciously and knocked over the assorted colorful bottles that were lined across the white bowl of water.

Sanji felt his heart stop as the bottles made a noticeably loud clatter across the tiled floor. His breathing halted in his chest, his fingers trembled with anticipation and fear. Did they hear that?

Before the blonde could begin to breathe again, the door swung wide open, and there was a moment of chaos as Sanji screamed along with a long-nosed young man who had just entered the room. Following behind was another with boyish features, raven-black hair, and a scar under his left eye; a larger-built man with bright, green hair and a stern face; a beautiful redhead with a look of concern; and what looked like a child in a white lab coat.

The odd group and Sanji spent another few moments of screaming in unison until eventually the female sighed loudly, “Alright, guys stop screaming, I think we got the initial shock value out of the way. Let the mermaid breathe.”

For some peculiar reason, everyone (including Sanji) comically did stop as soon as the girl had made the suggestion.

“Wh-Where am I? Who are you? Why do you have me captive?” Sanji sputtered out.

He needed answers, because based on the conversation earlier it sounded like they had some sort of future plan for him, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was.

“Hi! I’m Luffy,” the raven-haired one started, smiling fondly, “You’re in Franky’s bathroom. Oh! Franky’s the owner of this place. Oh! This place is the ‘Sunny Shack’! Oh–!”

“Luffy! Enough, just one answer per question,” the female had her hand on her head now, as if just listening to her comrade, Luffy, was agonizing. She then turned her attention to Sanji and smiled gently.

“Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Nami. We brought you back here because you’re hurt. We just want to help you.” Her words rang with an unyielding truth, and the look in her eyes looked very much like Reiju’s whenever she would treat Sanji’s wounds.

The memory of his sister made Sanji flinch– ah, this woman was trying to be kind to him, since he was far too weak to care for himself.

Like with Reiju, he appreciated the sentiment, but there was an unbearable feeling of self-pity that was laced along with it. The merman hugged himself in dismay, before beginning to ask more questions.

“So, were you the ones who did this to me?” He gestured to his bandaged tail, feeling far too painful to move now.

The others awkwardly looked at each other before the long-nosed man spoke up, “Hi! Um, Usopp’s the name. Anyways, no, we didn’t do that! Promise! It was this guy–” He reached into the bag that was slung around his shoulder before taking out a strange mechanical device with an image on it.

“This guy! See? He’s not one of us.” The man, Usopp , showed an image of another person, a hunter, on a boat in the ocean, with a cage fit for a merman attached to it. There were more spear-like weapons attached to the side of the water-mobile. However, Sanji did not see the net that he had been captured in at the end of the scuffle.

“How do I know he is not one of you, and you are all just manipulating me to trust you just because he is not currently present?” Sanji replied skeptically, “And what of the net that had caught me? Don’t act like it didn’t exist.”

The group shared more glances of concern before the raven-haired man, Luffy, giggled and spoke up, “That net was ours. We were trying to catch the guy with it but it fell into the water, and got you instead. Sorry! Shi shi shishishi .”

The laugh was endearing, and genuine enough, but Sanji was still wary. This group of humans had him in an extremely vulnerable situation right now. He was stuck in a small bowl of water with little room to move, and his tail was also gravely injured.

“I still do not know if I can trust you,” Sanji mumbled, “However, there is a way I can tell if you are good people or not.”

The bizarre crew tilted their heads in curiosity, before Usopp asked, “How can you tell?”

Sanji didn't hesitate, he simply responded, “By letting me taste your blood.”

The surface dwellers all step back in shock, some of them even gasping for dramatization, while others yelled, “ You want to drink our blood? ”

The blonde almost laughs at the reaction, watching as the younger lab coat-wearing man panicked along with Usopp the long nosed human, the beautiful redhead placed her hands on her body as if attacked, and the last of them turned away in hesitation.

Usopp finally is able to reply to Sanji, “ Mermaids drink blood ?!”

“Not always. But we can tell if someone is an ally or a foe in nature by the taste of their blood.” Only the royal family is able to do this, though, Sanji thinks, But they don’t need to know about that .

“Nope! Nonononono– I do NOT want you turning me into a sea monster or something if you drink my blood!” Usopp says, pacing back and forth alongside the little one and Luffy. The smaller one looked just as concerned as Usopp, however Luffy looked like he was joining the pacing because it looked fun. 

Sanji can tell just from this reaction already that this group is up to no good. If one knows they are in the right, they will stop at nothing to clear up the wrong. If they are truly good people, they would accept the terms with no hesitation.

So they are with the man in that photo. I need to escape quickly before–

The merman’s thoughts are interrupted by a strange slicing sound in the room.

“ZORO! Oh my gosh, you idiot, what are you doing?” Nami shrieks as she looks away from the moss-colored man.

His serious expression is not on her though, it is on Sanji. His eyes are focused and concentrated as he struts with confidence towards the merman. It isn’t until he’s within arm’s reach of Sanji does he smell the iron of blood.

The blonde’s eyes trail down the man’s body until it catches sight of the large gash on his hand, as well as the copious amounts of crimson currently dripping from it.

Sanji can only faintly hear the sounds of anxiety bumbling around the two, as his blue eyes take in the man in front of him.

This moss-head, Zoro, as Nami had screamed earlier, was a widely-built man with tan skin and short cut green hair. It was almost funny how the shade looked like Yonji’s, however, it definitely leaned more on the spiky side, as it looked familiar to a ball of moss on the bottom of the sea. Zoro stuck his red-stained hand in front of Sanji, “Here, taste my blood.”

There was a confidence and assurance in his voice that was unwavering and like no other. Sanji had never seen anything like this man in real life. The pure strength and power of will flowing through this man seemed neverending, and something about his eyes of determination made Sanji think of the knights and heroes in storybooks and fairy tales his mother told to him as a child.

The blonde stared at his hand in shock for a few moments, unable to process the events unraveling before him. Zoro’s hand moved in closer, directly in front of Sanji, dripping blood into the water and staining it scarlet.

“Are you going to taste my blood or am I just going to bleed out, twirly brows?”

The merman feels his face heat up in embarrassment, “T-Twirly brows?!”

An annoyed expression had creeped onto Zoro’s face at Sanji’s reaction to the name. The human rolled his eyes before responding, “Yeah, because your eyebrows are like spirals. Also, you never gave us your name, what am I supposed to call you?”

Sanji pouts, “Well, you never formally gave me your name , marimo.”

There’s a flash of irritation in Zoro’s eyes, before he closes them and wipes his face with his non-bloodied hand.

“Are you not going to taste my blood? I’m going to pass out from blood loss thanks to you, swirls.”

The merman takes the human’s hand into his own and mutters, “You didn’t need to cut yourself, you know. Our kind have particularly sharp teeth that can penetrate skin easily enough.” But he holds the open wound to himself and gathers a generous amount of blood in his own hand before tasting it with his tongue.

Everyone in the room is silent for a moment before Sanji finally reveals the result of the test.

“Strong taste of assertiveness… with a hint of honesty, and an overall sense of doing what you want whenever you want. Above all, an ally. You all pass for now.”

There’s a bumbling cacophony of noises after the announcement, with Usopp and Nami hugging each other and cheering, the little boy running to clean up and bandage the marimo’s wounded hand, and Luffy excitedly shouting, “Me next! I want the merman to drink my blood next!”.

Sanji watches them all move in awe before sinking himself back into his spot in the now pink-tinged pool of water.

“So, who is the little one?” the blonde asked quietly, not sure how to refer to the lab coat-wearing boy who’s wrapping a bandage of Zoro’s hand, “And also, who is this Franky you spoke of earlier? Is there a reason I can’t speak to the owner of this building?”

The small boy shyly scratched his head, “I’m Chopper. I’m studying to be a doctor one day!”

“He is also the one that tended to your wounds upon finding you,” a mysterious voice continued from the hallway. Everyone’s attention shifted over to the doorway before a woman with piercing eyes and long black hair entered the room.

“I’m so sorry my husband and I haven’t been able to introduce ourselves to you. We were getting dinner ready. My name is Robin, and my husband is Franky. He’s currently preoccupied with grilling meat outside right now, so he’ll come by later to formally introduce himself.” Her tone remained even and calm throughout the whole introduction, unlike the uneasy shift and pulls from the earlier introductions of the strange group of humans.

Sanji smiles at her before bowing his head in courtesy, “Thank you for taking me in, Ms. Robin. Also… Chopper, was it? Thank you for tending to my injured tail. I probably would be dead if not for your help.”

Chopper bashfully turned away from Sanji, wiggling around like a child while singing, “Awww, don’t think compliments are going to get you anywhere, you jerk!”

The merman doesn’t fully understand the response, but he is quick to laugh it off and look back down at the bloody water.

“How about everyone heads outside to help Franky set up for dinner, yes?” Robin walks over to the bowl of water and reaches down into the water, pulling something upwards, and the water starts draining, “It seems this water is dirty now, so I’m going to clean it out for our guest. Chopper? Could you take another look at his tail now that he’s awake while I do this?”

Sanji has a moment of panic as he watches the water decrease, before hearing the sound of more rushing liquid enter the container.

Chopper is running around with supplies and lifting Sanji’s tail up to examine it while all of this is happening.

Sanji can briefly see the other members of the group as they leave the room one by one. The last of the group remaining is Zoro. His arms are crossed, and there’s an unsteady look in his eyes as he watches the water fill the container. His focus shifts to Sanji’s face after a few moments, and the two share a moment of just staring into each other’s eyes, before Sanji breaks it off and turns to Robin who is now pouring water on Sanji’s body with a small, blue bowl.

After a few minutes of Chopper asking Sanji about how he was feeling, if there are any other injuries, and explaining the pain killers he’s on, Zoro nodded to himself and walked out of the room.

-

Dinner is delightful, to say the least. Sanji was surprised by the new form of meat he had never tried before– a cow was a land animal he had only read about in the kingdom’s library. It was much richer than he was expecting, with excessive amounts of fat and oils coming from it, but Sanji was more than excited to try an ingredient he never had the chance to get his hands on before. He wonders what other land creatures and ingredients he could have access to while he was stuck above the waters.

Upon the meal being planned and mentioned, Sanji had asked many questions about the food and the inventory of which he could see from them.

He had been able to cook with heat before due to underwater volcanoes and geysers, but he had never been able to see fire for himself. Robin was happy to give him supplies while he made his own meal out of what ingredients he had gotten his hands on.

The merman had settled on eating the cow meat seasoned with a variety of spices he had just tried and bread that Robin had given him.

During dinner, Franky, Robin, and Chopper had been the only ones to sit with him and explain the current condition.

Sanji’s tail was injured heavily, as the spear had made an impressive hole through it, but with enough relaxation and time, it should be able to heal enough to be able to be functional again. The muscle was damaged extensively, and there would be a scar once it healed, but Sanji didn’t want to dwell on the downside of the situation, so he focused on the recovery process instead.

Franky explained to Sanji that he was planning to charge the hunter for trespassing on private property, since this land and the ocean a few miles out where they had found the man legally belonged to Franky. The merman was a little overwhelmed with the giant man wearing nothing but a wide open buttoned shirt and a speedo, and his bright blue hair were shades monumentally different from Niji’s. Apparently, the hunter man was outside of the house tied up still, since it’s quite the walk from this house to whatever authorities that would have him charged.

“Basically, what I’m asking you bro,” Franky elaborates through a mouthful of cow-sandwich (Sanji believed that the surface called them… a hamburger?), “Is if you want me to press charges for him giving you the good stab-stab. We don’t have to mention you or whatever, but we can say that he messed with marine life illegally or something that could add to his charges. I wanted to ask you about it though since you’re the actual victim of the crime.”

Sanji sat in wonder as he weighed the options. Because on one hand, yes, he thought it was only right that a hunter get what he deserved, but on the other hand, there was the chance of his and his people’s existence being discovered by the surface if any mention of this was let out. He couldn’t just put everyone in danger because of him, even if the kingdom never treated him quite fairly as well.

“Can…” Sanji chokes out, “Can I see him? The man who gave me this injury?”

Franky and Chopper give each other a quizzical look before agreeing to grab the man from outside.

When Zoro comes in with him, he shows no mercy, basically throwing the guy at the tiled floor while making a disgruntled sound.

“Listen, curly, I don’t know why you would want to meet this guy but he just reeks of bad news.”

The merman only shot a glare at Zoro before looking down at the tied up man.

“Lift your eyes, hunter,” Sanji demanded, “Let me see you for the man you are.”

The hunter looked rather unhealthy, thin as bones, and his clothes were dirty and ragged. He smelled of fish and the sea, much like Sanji. When his eyes met the merman’s they were full of rage, but also, deep down, a slither of fear crept into the brown of his irises.

“What do you want,” the hunter spat out, “Fish man? Do you want to kill me with your very own hands? Or break my leg? It’s an eye for an eye. If you do, I wouldn’t blame you.”

There was a suffocating tension in the air as Sanji only glared at the man. He did consider it for a moment. This man had done nothing but cause the blonde harm. This whole mess wouldn’t be currently happening if not for him being attacked by this man, but for some reason, Sanji didn’t want him to suffer like he just did. On top of that, the man was skin and bones, he looked as if he hadn’t eaten in days, and the way his body shook with both rage and fear told Sanji that perhaps this man was not fully behind the hunting as well. 

Sanji looked at his plate of food. It was the first meal he had made on land, first of what he hoped were many more someday. There was still about half of it left, with half of the cow meat still in good condition and most of the vegetables that he had helped season and prepare still on his plate.

There was a sigh of frustration that left Sanji’s lips, hoping that he wouldn’t regret the decision he was about to make.

“Hunter. What is your name?”

The hunter looked up into Sanji’s blue eyes, face laced with surprise, “Gin. My name is Gin. I have no last name, for my family abandoned me when I was young, and I need not associate myself with people like them.”

“Gin,” the merman mumbled, “Are you hungry?”

Sanji could hear everyone audibly gasp around the house, from the room to the hallway to the kitchen where the people who were eating were seated. The blonde shifted uncomfortably before taking his plate and offering it to the hunter, Gin.

“If you’re hungry, you can eat my food. No matter how bad a person you are, you still shouldn’t go hungry.” The man looked bewildered at the plate, as if it was a foreign weapon or a strange animal. Sanji continued, “As for your punishment for your crimes against me, I think what Franky had proposed is enough. What consequences does he get again?”

Franky stared in awe at the plate of food that Sanji was still holding out to Gin, “A- A fine of over a thousand dollars, or a few months in prison.”

Sanji nodded, shoving his dish into Gin’s hands, “That should be enough for now. I can tell it in the way you carry yourself, you do what you can to survive,” Sanji remembered when his mother had told him and his brothers of a story of a man who had saved her in a time of need, and he always wished to be the kind of hero that would do the same. The merman smiled, ”As for you, please eat this meal, and try to become a better person.”

The hunter’s stomach growled in response, the man’s face going red as he began to eat the dish hungrily and rapidly.

Sanji finally turned his attention to the group who looked at him in confusion. He could see Zoro’s fists were clenched so hard they were trembling, and the hand that was still injured was seeping with blood from how strong his grip was, no doubt ripping open the wound again.

After Gin finished his food, he cried, “I’m so sorry! I had orders to kill a merman and give it back to my employer or he wouldn’t feed me– I’m so sorry, please forgive me!”

The blonde faces forward in his pool of water, turning away from everyone, “I won’t forgive you. But you’re free to live how you want. Remember that.”

Franky and Zoro take him away after that, with Franky announcing that he would be putting the man in his truck and turning him in to the police station on the other side of the island.

From the window of the room, Sanji could see the red beach sky from where he sat, signaling that the sun was coming down. There was still a pit of worry in his gut, as he thought of Judge and his brothers possibly coming to the surface to look for him. But then again, he had a slither of assurance that they wouldn’t, simply because Sanji would disappear often to go on long ingredient trips or just to stay away from the kingdom.

For now, he sank under the water, allowing himself to submerge, before drifting off into a deep sleep.

-

For the next few days, Sanji followed somewhat of a routine with the odd group of humans. 

In the mornings, Robin and Chopper would come in to change his water and check on his wounds, while Usopp would come in to bring him breakfast. While he ate his morning meal, Usopp would ask him questions about the world under the ocean, and Sanji would ask questions about the world above it.

During lunch, Nami would bring his meal. Sanji had it grinded into his bones to treat her with the utmost respect, as she reminded him of the underwater volcanoes in the ocean, which although they were dangerously hot, they were also homes to many of the underwater sea creatures. Sanji would do most of the talking when it came to Nami, as he covered her in praises and sweet metaphors, because she was much like home, like the sea.

For dinner, Sanji’s meal would be brought by Zoro and Luffy, who were wild and crazy and interesting and free. The two came to visit throughout the day usually, with Luffy asking Sanji a plethora of stupid questions: Do you poop? Do mermaids wear clothes? Are you a boy or girl? If you can drink water and breathe air, can you breathe water and drink air?

Zoro often came simply to stop Luffy from berating the merman with too many questions.

When the blonde had initially began living here, Sanji had been quiet, cynical, and skeptical towards the entire group. Ever since he was young, he had heard stories about surface dwellers sweeping up merfolk and turning them into slaves, or exploiting them for their powerful abilities.

His brothers made it a habit to make Sanji cry with horrific details about humans cutting mermaids in half for their tails and scales, humans taking mermaids from the sea to force them into marriage, or even stories of humans pouring hundreds of intoxicating chemicals into the ocean right above merfolk to watch them suffer and slowly die of poisoning.

Reiju was always indifferent when the matter involved surface dwellers– it was no surprise, since she was pretty much indifferent about everything.

The only person who had ever spoken kindly of humans was his mother, and even then he doesn’t remember what exactly she had said about them. All that sat in his memory was her telling a story about a human boy who had fallen into the ocean, and since he was kind to all creatures in the world, the merfolk loved and respected him. When he grew into a man, he had returned home, and promised not to have any of the other humans come and hurt them.

It was a very Sora-like story, as his mother had a habit of telling her children fairy tales to make them feel better, or to teach a lesson on being kind to others.

Judge, on the other hand, encouraged violence and hatred. He egged on the festering anger inside of Niji, lit a flame of aggression and brutality in Yonji, and placed power in Ichiji in ways that only spelt danger. Judge supported all beliefs that humans were bad people, and any story having to do with humans harming merfolk or merfolk harming humans he gladly helped the story spread as well.

As for Sanji… Well, he was interested more in the individual than the people as a whole. He wasn’t his mother, he couldn’t believe everyone had some good in them somewhere. But he was far from Judge, he was not going to resort to hurting others simply because he did not understand them.

Sanji was more interested in the person themselves than the people.

That’s why when Usopp had come in to check on him multiple times a day, or Chopper had repeatedly asked about Sanji’s well-being, or Nami volunteered to stay by his side as his bandages were changed– he could tell from these actions that these were good people.

The only person he couldn’t quite pinpoint as a good or bad person… was Zoro.

At some point throughout the Luffy and Zoro visits, Sanji and Zoro had also come up with a routine of butting heads whenever they were in the same room as each other. For the most part, the bickering was never exactly quite serious. The two just didn’t agree on the little things, and eventually they’d make it the popular topic of the day.

On the first day they had a disagreement, it was an argument about whether the ocean was blue because of the sky, or if the sky was blue because of the ocean. The human was so sure that the sky was ‘absorbing blue from the ocean’, while Sanji had to argue that water is reflective, of course it was just reflecting the sky. The two went on and on about the topic the entire day, until eventually coming to an agreement that they don’t know everything and that’s okay.

The next time it happens, it’s over Zoro’s taste in food. He had been with Luffy delivering dinner when he warned Sanji that the food was disgusting because it was too sweet and too bitter in certain parts. Sanji had found the dish to be delicious , on the contrary, questioning, “Is there something wrong with that tongue, marimo? This tastes amazing .” For the rest of the day, the two bickered about comparing different foods, which was a pointless argument, since Sanji mainly named dishes from the sea that the moss-head didn’t even know of and Zoro mainly named dishes from the surface that the merman had never heard of.

Anytime they’re left in the same room as each other, the cycle repeats with playful banter and witty jokes meant to stab at one another. There is a hint of seriousness to the arguments though, and even if Zoro may be too thick-skulled to tell, Sanji definitely can.

From day one, the two had never had even one pleasant conversation, mainly because of pride, partially because of differing opinions. However, the insults continue to stab each other in this meaningless war, as both refuse to let up that they may be in the wrong.

As the days go on, Sanji can’t help but feel a little pang of jealousy when he sees Zoro with the other humans from the crack of the bathroom door.

Zoro talked silently with Usopp, the long-nosed man patting his back comfortingly while explaining how machines work.

Zoro would hold a sleepy Luffy as the boy clings to him and mumbles into his chest about going on adventures and doing more crazy things.

Zoro helped with the laundry, asking where to fold all of the clothes and helping Robin carry the large piles of clothes.

Zoro would calm down an upset Chopper, assuring him that it was okay to drop objects onto the floor because everyone makes mistakes.

Seeing the marimo treat everyone but him with such care gave him a strange feeling through and through, but he wasn’t about to tell anyone about that.

And Sanji knew that if it wasn’t envy he was feeling, he definitely felt hurt .

This man who seemed to have a deep amount of care and understanding for everyone here could only disagree with everything that left Sanji’s mouth. And of course, the man never showed up on his own accord, he only showed up whenever Luffy or Usopp or Chopper were already with Sanji. It was clear the man had some type of negative emotion towards Sanji, and the blonde didn’t even know why.

Maybe he thinks you're weak for being captured by that hunter .

After a few days of this repetitive routine, Usopp is sitting with Sanji for breakfast, eyeing the way the merman’s tail swishes furiously over the edge of the tub.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask,” the human started, “I hear that in like, fairy tales and stuff that mermaids can like, shift into full humans. Is that not possible for you? Or is it because your tail is injured?”

Sanji gulps down a generous amount of food before he can answer, “When a merfolk reaches 2 deca they are able to transform into a full surface dweller upon demand. However, it requires a proper amount of training and time to be able to learn how to fully do it. While I am 21 rotations myself, I haven’t ever been able to properly train myself to transform.”

Usopp makes a questionable face before a lightbulb goes off in his head, “Oh! 2 deca means like 2 decades– so when you guys turn 20 you can have the ability… and you’re 21 ‘rotations’, meaning you’re 21, but you haven’t ever tried doing it before…”

The long-nosed man placed a finger on his chin as if deep in thought, before continuing, “Hmm… Well, I guess that means Luffy’s theory was wrong and Zoro’s was more right then…”

Sanji shot an annoyed expression, “Were you guys… betting on me?”

The human threw his hands up in defense, “No! No… Zoro really wants to take you to town because he wants you to see all the ingredients and stuff on the island. He had a theory that you can actually have human legs, but he said it was just a hunch. Luffy, on the other hand, argued that you guys probably can’t transform so that’s why you’re stuck in the tub. Although, between you and me, I think Luffy just wants to push you around in a wheelchair.”

The marimo wants to take me to the town…? Sanji is at a loss for words, because he could not think of one reason the man would want to give anything to Sanji.

“Why would that mosshead want to do something like that? To tease me about my lack of knowledge of the surface world?”

Usopp shook his head rapidly, “What? Sanji, he sounded like he just wanted you to have fun instead of being cooped up in the bathtub everyday.”

“....But I thought he hated me?”

An awkward silence filled the room as Usopp took a large bite of his breakfast and swallowed it whole.

“Sanji,” Usopp started again, “I’m not quite sure what’s going on with you and Zoro, but I think you should try to get to know him better. Did you know he was the one to save you? I mean, yeah, sure, I took the picture of the guy, and Luffy was the one to jump onto his boat and started fighting him… but after we had the guy all tied up we were going to leave you injured like that because we weren’t sure if you were a dangerous sea monster or something.”

“Believe me, I am much smaller than even a baby sea monster,” the blonde jokes.

“Yeah, but, we didn’t know at the time, for all we knew, you attacked the hunter first and he was just a fisherman in the wrong place at the wrong time. We just knew he wasn’t allowed to be in the area since it belonged to Franky. We were about to ditch you until Zoro dove into the water and scooped you up into his arms. He held you the whole way back to the beach! Since there was no room for you guys in our boat, he hung off a rescue buoy we had attached to the boat while he never let go of you the entire ride.”

The human’s voice goes quiet, “He even stayed by your side the entire time Chopper looked over your injuries.”

Sanji shifted to adjust himself so he could look at Usopp before looking down at his bandaged tail. The wound had been healing properly, as Chopper had told him the other day, but he couldn’t help but feel somewhat thankful for the puncture. He would never have met all of these kind people if not for it. Additionally, the thought of Zoro being the one to save him in the first place definitely threw him off guard.

“Anyways, I have no idea if I was allowed to tell you that!” Usopp shouted, standing up abruptly and gathering the dirty dishes, “Just try to not be so mean to each other, yeah?”

A skeptical glance is all Sanji can give him before he answers, “Yeah, I’ll try.”

And Sanji really does think about trying as he stared at his reflection in the water. Everything here was so foreign to him– the air, the people, the food… and above all, the kindness . Everyone here has been so kind to Sanji. It was something the merman knew nothing of. Back in the Vinsmoke Kingdom, everyone was to fend for themselves. 

Even when his mother was alive, Judge had always been strict on his children and their lessons in the academy. The blonde can remember the classes in and out, whippings on the arms as punishment, teasing from the other noble students who were smarter than him, bullies chasing him into the castle’s library.

Sanji does not remember kindness in his kingdom, only harsh beatings from his brothers, disappointed glances from Judge, or pitying indifference from his sister. 

The worse it had gotten was on his 20th birthday, when Sanji had been locked in his room while his brothers were given the training on how to walk on the surface for the first time, the one thing Sanji had wanted most in the world since he was a child. 

So how could the people here be so kind to an inconvenient, useless stranger as him? 

How could he possibly repay them for all their kindness? 

All he has done is take up space in one of their rooms, eat and criticize their food, and pick a fight with the marimo on the daily. So Sanji would try to get along with the mosshead– because they had all been so kind to him, it’s the least he could do in return.

Almost as if fate would have aligned it, Zoro was the only one to bring Sanji dinner that evening. The blonde had little preparation for the encounter, as Robin had let him know barely ahead of time that everyone but Zoro would be eating dinner in town that evening because Chopper and Luffy wanted to go.

“Don’t start complaining about the taste of this, curls. I just heated up some food that Robin had cooked ahead of time, I didn’t do anything else to your food,” the green-haired human handed the plate of heated mashed potatoes and lasagna to Sanji awkwardly before sitting down next to the tub with his own plate of food.

The two ate in silence, Sanji agonizing over how to talk to the marimo properly, before he finally decided on bringing up the topic of that morning.

“Usopp told me that you’re the one who saved me,” he started, because he might as well get it off his chest.

Zoro whipped his head around in surprise, “Uso– stupid loudmouth doesn’t know how to keep his mouth closed.”

“That’s besides that point,” Sanji chuckled, “What I’m trying to say is, you saved me, and I never go to thank you.”

The man of the sea took the man of the land’s face into his hands and smiled at him tenderly, “Thank you so much for saving me. I would have been dead without you, Zoro .”

Sanji wasn’t quite sure what the moss head’s reaction would be to the gratitude, but the blonde knew he had meant it wholeheartedly– saving a stranger of a species that the marimo knew nothing of deserved a thank you, at the very least.

“Y-You’re welcome,” is muttered from Zoro’s lips, and Sanji wished he knew what was going on in the man’s head as he saw Zoro’s eyes dart down and to the side before he fully turned around from the tub, sitting on the floor with his back faced towards Sanji.

The blonde tilted his head as he examined the human’s ears glowing bright red. Oh. He was embarrassed at the sentiment.

Another cumbersome silence filled the room again as the two sat in their own respective areas, both bright red and blushing. This certainly wasn’t the reaction Sanji was expecting from the brutish man. If anything, he was expecting Zoro to get full of himself, reacting in a prideful manner, saying something along the lines of, “Don’t thank me. Of course you needed help, have you seen yourself?”

And then Sanji realized the reaction he was looking for was one that his brothers, or his sister, or even Judge would have responded with. 

But this wasn’t them, this was Zoro . The same man who jumped into the ocean to save him, the same man who cut his hand to prove his honesty, and the same man who was seated next to his tub, sitting in ringing silence.

How could Sanji have been so blind? This man didn’t think badly of Sanji at all, he just expressed concern in different ways.

“Is that what this is?” the merman giggled, “Have we just been avoiding and arguing with each other because we were too embarrassed and prideful to have a proper conversation with each other?”

Zoro’s head tilted as he replied, “More like… I wasn’t sure how to begin a conversation with you. I’m not a talkie kind of guy, you know? Most people I meet for the first time are just scared of me and try to leave me alone.”

“I could help you with that, then,” Sanji remarked, “As repayment for saving my life, I could do some talking with you.”

The human gave the merman an uneasy look, still red in the face from the earlier interaction, “Really? You don’t think I’m scary?”

Sanji shook his head. Because it’s the truth, he had seen much worse than Zoro– from sea monsters to dead whale carcasses to Judge’s cruelty. Compared to those, this moss headed human almost seemed cuddly.

“So,” Sanji begins again, and beginning again feels good, so maybe these two needed to begin again as well, “What’s your favorite food, marimo?”

-

For the next few days, Zoro brings all of Sanji’s meals. He initiates it as well, volunteering himself any chance he gets just so he can talk to the merman guest in the bathroom. Everyone else is more than surprised at the sudden change in behavior, well, everyone except Luffy. The cheeky kid seemed more than excited about the relationship upgrade, and expressed a need to always bother Zoro with questions about the conversations he and Sanji shared after the meals.

The two sit and talk about anything and everything they can think of: Zoro tells Sanji of his home, of how he, Luffy, Nami, and Usopp are actually from another country an ocean away, and how they come here on vacations to visit Franky, Robin, and Chopper.

“Does this mean,” Sanji asked through curious bites of his meal, “That Chopper is Franky and Robin’s son?”

Zoro chuckled softly, “No! No– But it looks like that, right? There’s an impressive education system on this island, so Chopper, being the little prodigy that he is, moved here to study abroad. Since he’s still a minor or something though, he lives with Franky and Robin, since they’re a host family.”

“Host family?” From the tub, Sanji peered at Zoro with a perplexed stare, “What’s a host family?”

The man shrugged, “Basically a family or couple or person that volunteers to watch someone who’s too young to take care of themselves.” 

He adjusted himself to see Sanji more clearly, “You know, speaking of family and such, you don’t have anyone waiting for you back where you come from?”

Sanji’s head snapped to look at the floor almost immediately, “I… I have a family, but I’m not sure if they’re interested in my return. They were never the kind to care much about my presence anyway.”

The mood in the room had shifted thanks to the uncomfortable topic, but Zoro was quick to change it, “Hey, so Usopp told me you’re able to transform your tail into human legs if you train hard enough. So I was wondering if there was any way that we could help you… you know, transform?”

Reiju had told Sanji about the process before, so it wasn’t like the merman didn’t know how to transform. Yes, he desperately wanted to go to the surface and learn different things about the culture of the land one day, but he never wanted to travel to land for the same purpose his brothers did.

Judge had locked Sanji in his room on the day of transformation so he wouldn’t interfere. The king had plans of invading the surface in the future, the prince was sure of it, and Judge didn’t want Sanji to have anything to do with it. The mad king only wanted the children that would obey him, the children that were strong enough for him. He didn’t want… He didn’t want Sanji, who was weak, and disobedient, and different from his siblings.

And Sanji knew that was the real reason he had never attempted to come to the surface after his brothers had learned to. He was afraid he would accidentally become what the rest of them were.

“Curls? What do you think?” Zoro’s voice grounded Sanji back to reality, pulling him back into the safety of the tub, far away from the waters where his family resided.

I’m safe here , Sanji thought to himself, I want to be able to walk. I want to be able to be a part of this group who freely roams the surface world. I want to try new food, new experiences, I want to meet even more new people!

“Yes!” Sanji shouted suddenly, causing Zoro to almost jump from where he sat outside of the tub, “Yes, yes,” the blonde repeated, excitedly grabbing onto Zoro’s shoulder, “Please help me learn how to transform.”

“Good,” the marimo backed away, face red from Sanji’s surprise touch, before nodding his head, “How can the guys and I help you?”

Sanji smiled, “Well, from what I’ve heard, there are a few items we’ll need.”

The two discussed the details about the process, what was needed, what they could and couldn’t do based on their current situations, until finally they had devised somewhat of a proper plan. They’d probably need some help from Franky and Robin since Zoro didn’t know where some of the materials would come from, meanwhile Sanji knew even less about the availability of the items on the surface.

-

On the day they had prepared for him to transform, the group seemed pretty excited for it.

Yes, it did take a while for everyone to get the preparations ready, but in the end, Sanji couldn’t help but feel that it’ll all be worth it.

They’ve prepared an area for him on the beach, as Sanji isn’t quite sure he’d be able to transform properly in the small bath tub. As he sat where sand meets sea, he couldn't help but to get a little nostalgic at the way the waves hit his tail and wind blew through his long, blonde hair.

In the distance, Sanji can see Luffy chasing Chopper with a handful of seashells, and on the other side he catches a glimpse of Nami and Robin setting up a picnic blanket to sit on.

“SANJI!!” Luffy hollered before coming to a complete stop next to the merman, “Look at all these pretty shells! I think some still have animals in them though…”

Sanji observed the shells in the boy’s hands before realizing that there were, indeed, a few of them that belonged to creatures who had not yet vacated their homes.

“Luffy,” Sanji giggled, “You need to take out the ones with life in them, they still have a lot more days to come.”

“Okay!” Luffy laughed back, before darting back to the ocean, tossing them back into the sea.

“You handle Luffy surprisingly well,” Robin commented, an energy drink in hand and a pair of violet shades sitting on her face, “Most people feel intimidated by the mere presence of him. He’s quite the enthusiast, if you know what I mean.”

“I think you mean quite the idiot.” Nami mumbled next to Robin, a box of orange juice in her hands instead, while sporting a sunhat and orange sunglasses instead.

Sanji can’t hold back the sound that exits his lips, half sigh, half tired laughter.

“At least he’s fun while being that hyperactive,” The blonde stated. Nami only shrugged in response while Robin took a sip of her drink.

“By the way,” Sanji scanned the beach, “Where are Zoro, Franky, and Usopp? I thought they would be here already? Are the objects I asked for too hard to find here?”

Robin had a moment to think before she replied, “I don’t believe it’s that hard to find. Perhaps Zoro is leading the way?”

Nami sat upright and pulled off her sunglasses, as if in shock from what she had just heard, “No! Nononono- You’re lying, right?”

Worried about the redhead’s reaction, Sanji asked, “What’s wrong with that? Is Zoro going to be okay?”

A temporary look of anger and then panic rushed through Nami’s expressive eyes as she thought of something to say.

“Our beloved idiot Roronoa Zoro,” she gestured to the air for emphasis, “is directionally challenged.”

“...What?” Sanji only stared in dumbfounded confusion.

“Yes, he has an internal compass set to the afterlife,” Nami continued, “A map that leads to the land known as ‘Nowhere’, a brain so miniscule that it has been honed into the planet Jupiter!”

Sanji has to take another moment of puzzlement before he can reply, “I… I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me, Nami dearest.”

Robin lightheartedly laughed, “What our friend here is trying to say, is that Zoro has a tendency to get lost. He denies it with his whole being however, so if you ever bring it up or witness it with your own eyes, don’t be surprised when he attempts to pick another fight with you, Sanji.”

So Zoro often loses his way? Sanji laughed to himself, That’s kinda… cute .

“Yeah, at first it’s funny, until he’s being reported as a missing person at your college campus because the idiot got lost looking for the bathroom in his own dorm ,” Nami facepalmed herself in dismay, “Only to find out he somehow managed in the cafeteria building instead!”

“I don’t mean to interrupt your venting, my darling Nami, but may I ask… What is a college? I’ve heard you all mention it multiple times, but I can’t seem to fully wrap my head around the concept,” the merman asked timidly, tail swishing slowly in the water that continued to rise up and down his body.

Nami’s smile was genuine as she answered, “I’m so sorry, Sanji, I always forget you literally live a different life from the rest of us.”

She took a generous sip from her juice box, “I’m sure you’ve heard that Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, and I come from somewhere other than this island, right?”

The blonde nodded in agreement, because that was as much as he knew.

“Yeah, we all go to the same school together over there, I’m sure you have an education system of some sorts?” Nami’s voice was understanding, talking to Sanji as if he were a child learning how to speak.

Sanji nodded in bewilderment, “Back in the kingdom, we have an academy of some sorts for education. We learn how to read, write, the history of our kingdom, just basic things like that.”

“Alright, that helps a bit with this whole explaining thing,” Nami resumed, “We all met way before college, but in high school we all agreed to go to the same school together. College is like… a giant ‘academy’ with a whole lot of buildings to learn about whatever you want to learn. I’m currently studying there to be a history teacher. Luffy’s there so he can just get his general studies out of the way, but he’s also training to be a firefighter, and Usopp is an honor grad– er, I mean, a really high-scoring student trying to graduate in the technological and graphical design world. I’m not fully aware what he does, since it’s not really in my field of study, but long story short, he’s very smart.”

“And what of Zoro?” Sanji’s question was innocent enough, he really wanted to know. There was already so much buzzing through his brain. A place where you could learn about whatever you wanted to learn? You didn’t have to learn about war tactics if you didn’t want to, or about unneeded politics– could one learn how to cook? To be a singer?

More importantly, Nami named everyone else’s professions, what could Zoro be aspiring to be?

“Zoro?” Nami’s voice wavered, hesitant, “Zoro’s taking a break from college as of this past semester. He was studying in general studies with Luffy and doing professional kendo tournaments on the side, but… well, he’s kind of hit a wall in life and needs the time to think. Actually, he might be staying here with Franky and Robin until he can get back on his feet.”

“Oh, I hope he isn’t burnt out from his studies, I know what that can be like… If you don’t mind elaborating, Nami dearest, would you mind telling me what is…” Sanji thought of Zoro, strong, confident, powerful, “What is ‘kendo’? I’ve heard him mention it a few times but he never tells me what it is.”

“I can explain this,” Robin intervened in the conversation, “Kendo is a practice of swordsmanship found in Japan. On a national level it is considered a very skillful activity, with two opponents facing off in correct body gear and bokken , or wooden katana– a type of Japanese sword.”

A swordsman , Sanji thought, Like Niji.

“LOOK! I SEE USOPP! USOPP! LOOK AT THIS CRAB I FOUND!” Luffy’s voice pierced through everyone’s thoughts as they all looked in the direction he was facing.

On the east side of the beach, three silhouetted figures could be seen running down to where the current group was seated.

“Hey! Sorry we took so long! Zoro got us lost again!” Usopp shouted, finally coming into full view and panting like a dog from running so fast.

“I didn’t get us lost, this island has just changed from the high tide or… something.” Zoro snapped bashfully, walking up to where Usopp was standing.

“Bro, I trusted you! That was not super .” Franky added in, dropping a large sack into the sand next to the group.

“Alright, let’s get this transform thing started, lucky us it’s not even noon yet so if we can get this done in one shot, maybe we can just take Sanji into town today !” Usopp shouted enthusiastically, emphasizing on the last word, causing Luffy (who had finally put down his crab) and Chopper (who was completely wet from running into the water) to shout with him in glee.

“Hey! Don’t go pressuring Sanji to try to rush this process, okay? He wants this over as soon as possible, too, but give him some time to figure it out!” Nami shouted, standing at attention and walking over to the supplies the boys brought over.

“Alright,” Franky started, “We got you your rope, your towels, and umm… this stuff,” The giant man pulled out a multitude of bottles filled with some strange substance.

“Zobberbee! I’m surprised you actually found some!” Sanji exclaimed in delight.

“Sanji, I’m worried about you, though,” Chopper whimpered, “Won’t your injury get worse when you transform?”

“According to what I’ve heard,” the blonde smiled, “My legs will basically be unrelated to my tail. It’s like how there are some animals that just have hidden antennae or ears or eyes that they can reveal if they bend or stretch themselves just right.”

Sanji guided them through the process slowly:

First, they were to use the Zobberbee to cover his tail completely in the weird liquid. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were more than excited to be able to touch the tail, but they also needed to treat it with care, as it was still wounded. 

Next, he was to be completely submerged into the ocean. The beach had pretty shallow waters, but it was easy enough for Sanji to move over into the ocean and go completely under.

Lastly, he would need someone to walk him out of the water. According to what he had read in the books, a merfolk’s first time on land should be with someone who already knows how to walk upon land. The person who already knows has to give them a string or rope, and help lead the merfolk out of the water, to give them the illusion of ‘swimming on land’. In ancient days, merfolk would also use horses or other large land animals to help them learn how to walk on the surface.

For Sanji, he had asked Zoro to be the one to guide him out of the seas, just as he did the day he had saved him.

It was almost funny when he peeked up out of the waves and saw Zoro awkwardly standing knee deep in the ocean, eyes transfixed on the merman coming his way. The green-haired man was twiddling the rope in his hands, trying to figure out the most comfortable way to keep a grip on the rope.

As the blonde felt himself swim closer, he couldn’t help the rising anxiety tearing into his chest. If this didn’t work, he wondered if maybe he was a defect after all, if perhaps the reason Judge refused him of learning that day was just to save him from embarrassment, or if his new group of human friends would think he was making it all up.

For a moment, Sanji wondered how they would react if he gave up instead, swam back out to see, despite the fact just the thought of using his torn muscle and flesh to swim that quickly would result in excruciating pain.

The anxiety hummed into his head, through his bones, into his very being. 

You’re a failure, Sanji, this isn’t going to work .

His eyes trained back to Zoro, who was throwing the rope into the water now. The man had his face of determination locked into the merman’s irises. The rope now only sat a few feet from Sanji as he approached it steadily.

Zoro wasn’t going to abandon him, or hate him, for that matter. After spending every day with him, after seeing the man give up his literal blood for Sanji’s trust, how could Sanji doubt the look of compassion settled in this man’s gray eyes?

Sanji grabbed onto the rope, wrapping it around his own hand, and pulled himself forward, while Zoro continued to guide both the rope and the merman to the surface.

The ocean continued to push and pull as well, sometimes helping them, sometimes against them. Sanji could see Zoro struggle for a moment as he was knocked by a particularly larger one of the small waves, but the man stayed steady and true, pulling Sanji along.

As Sanji began to feel the sand of the ocean floor, his arms reached out for Zoro’s, abandoning the rope to the side. He didn’t know if it was what he was supposed to do, but the trust he could put in Zoro pushed him forward.

Zoro was next to throw the piece of string aside, reaching his arms out and grabbing Sanji by the torso and waist, lifting him up straight out of the ocean.

The larger man tucked his right arm under Sanji and hoisted him above the water, above the ocean waves, to reveal the disappearance of the tail, and two very human-like legs (aside from the fish scales that ran across his thighs, but that could be covered up).

“You look good, curlybrow,” Is all Zoro could say as he stared in Sanji’s blue orbs. The two never looked away from each other as they stood still in the water. The wind and waves breezed and crashed lightly over their bodies, engulfing them in the feeling of being alive, of being human .

And Sanji hoped that he wasn’t the only one that felt this way, he hoped Zoro understood how exciting and different and new this all was to him.

It wasn’t long before they realized they must’ve been in the sea a little too long, as their group of friends began calling them from the shore to come back.

The pair trudged out of the water in this fashion, Franky and Usopp running over with the towels to dry them off.

“Sanji! Your legs look super amazing! Those scales could easily pass as tattoos if you want to just brush them off as that!” Franky said excitedly, wiping a towel furiously on Sanji’s head to dry his long hair.

“Curls, I–” Zoro turned to Sanji, a twinkle in his eye full of wonder, “I think that was impressive. You threw yourself at me and I thought you were drowning, but turns out you were just learning how to walk, huh?”

“Walk, huh?” Sanji echoed, from where he sat on the sandy floor, he held onto Zoro’s hand still, pulling himself into a standing position.

“Whoa! That’s awesome, bro! However, we did bring the wheelchair in case the walking thing is still too taxing on you.” Franky makes a gesture to Robin, who is now standing with an interesting throne with two large wheels attached to it. Sanji could see the benefits in its mobility, and although he wished to walk now that he had legs, he asked for the ‘wheelchair’ anyway.

–

As Usopp had mentioned prior, the rest of the day was still at hand, and Sanji was ecstatic about going into town. Nami and Chopper urged Sanji not to go, as they worried his new body would be too tired from the hour-long drive into town and all of the bustling activities to do once they got there, but Sanji was determined. Luckily for him, Franky brought the wheelchair along as well.

The group took two cars: Franky’s van featuring Franky, Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy, and Robin’s car which carried Robin, Nami, Chopper, and Usopp.

Sanji was pretty nervous about sitting inside of the large, rumbling vehicle. On one hand, yes, it was intimidating because of its mere size and shape, but also because Sanji wasn’t quite sure of the etiquette on how to enter and sit inside of the car. It didn’t take long for Zoro to see the confusion on Sanji’s face, though, since Zoro was quick to come to his side and help him in. Luffy was jumping around the van and telling Sanji about all of the places in town he liked to visit. The excited raven-haired boy went on and on about food, toys, and trinkets he had seen from his last visit.

“Why do you not live in town, Franky?” Sanji asked the driver curiously.

“Believe it or not, that house we live in is the same one I grew up in, Sanji-bro!,” Franky exclaimed, “My old man Tom, my brother Iceberg, and I used to live there with a kind lady who helped with the chores around the house. After my brother became the mayor of the town, he and that one lady moved out of the house into town, and Tom and I stayed here.”

“A mayor?” Sanji had never heard the term before, it must be surface exclusive.

“A mayor is kind of like… a king? The leader of the town,” Franky explained, eyes still fixed on the dirt road.

“A king? So you’re of royal blood, Franky,” Sanji questioned, this was news, “And here I thought you were just a strange surfer man. Also, you say you live with just Robin and Chopper now, right? What happened to Tom?”

“Franky’s not royalty, Sanji. His brother was chosen to be mayor, not born into it. And don’t worry about Tom, Sanji!,” Luffy interrupted the conversation, “He’s traveling the world with some of his friends right now– he actually lives on a boat! It used to be docked on the harbor of the beach outside of the Sunny Shack all of the time until he recently set out on it to travel!”

During the rest of the drive, Luffy began talking about the last time he had come to this island with his two older brothers, and how he wished they could have come again this time. It appeared that both were too busy with their own careers and personal lives to be able to make it though, and Luffy promised that next time he’ll come bring them so they can meet Sanji.

Zoro had sat in silence the entire ride, staring out the window with the occasional nod to Luffy or a glance at Sanji.

“Hey, curls,” the marimo asked, “Can I braid your hair?”

Sanji gave him a quizzical look, for he had never thought the brutish man had even an inch of hair styling ability, but he concluded it to the hour long boredom.

“Go ahead, just don’t go turning my head into a bird’s nest, okay?” The blonde smirked before facing his back towards Zoro to get better access to his hair.

Luffy laughed, “Zoro’s really good at braiding, Sanji, you’re in good hands. He can’t do many other hair things but he really likes braiding long hair.”

The raven-haired man seemed so sure of his own words, but Sanji couldn’t help the bits of doubt creeping into his chest. Zoro’s hair was noticeably short– in fact, Sanji was quite curious how he was able to keep it that short, or if the green-haired mosshead shaved his head completely off whenever it grew too long.

The thought made him laugh nonetheless, with Zoro giving him a questionable glance before going back to braiding the long, blonde locks.

Sanji had to admit, no one had ever touched his hair so gently before. Back in the kingdom, it was common culture to keep one’s hair long. Judge, Reiju, and his brothers all had hair the same length (if not longer) than Sanji’s.

The brothers did little to actually tend to their own hair, on special occasions they’d let servants style it however they want. Reiju cared greatly about her hair– she was always brushing it and putting pins and headbands to keep it in place.

In the past, Sanji’s hair had been cut unevenly by his brothers when he was sleeping, or they would put a crab in it for fun so that it could leave a messy knot that would take him days to get it out. Reiju had always complained whenever he had asked her to help brush his hair, and she would grumble and pull down hard as she brushed, never comforting Sanji as he cried from the pain on his scalp.

Judge could have cared less about what happened to Sanji’s hair. The most he had done with it is comment on how ugly it was whenever his brothers had made a mess of it.

“There. Finished.” Zoro stated proudly, taking out a mirror from one of the cupholders in the van and giving it to Sanji, “I better get a 5 star review.”

The blonde laughed, because he didn’t know what a 5 star review was , before taking the mirror and looking at his reflection.

His hair had seashells and pearls in it, Sanji could recognize them from the ones that Luffy had kept in the car from his last beach visit. The braid was loose and comfortable, but tight enough that he could tell it wouldn’t come out any time soon.

“I give it 5 stars, whatever that means, marimo.” Sanji whispered in awe.

“Good. I worked pretty hard on that– I hadn’t put pins and stuff in someone’s hair in a long time so I was a bit stressed you weren’t going to like that very much.” Zoro shrugged, “And plus, I felt bad about your first day in town being in just a white t-shirt and sweatpants, and on top of that you’re going to be in a wheelchair the entire time…”

“Aww, don’t worry, mossy,” Sanji said endearingly, “I’m sure I wouldn’t know the first thing about human fashion anyways.”

Zoro smiled faintly at the remark, before Luffy shoved his face between the two, shouting, “LOOK! We’re here!”

Sanji was more than surprised at how the town looked.

The entrance to the town is monumental, with a large gate covered in beautiful statues and carvings. Sanji had to take a few seconds of shock to marvel at it, before Zoro was sitting the blonde in his wheelchair and Luffy excitedly grabbed a hold of the back to push him around town.

Sanji felt like he was in another universe entirely.

The town was bustling with people– families with small children, citizens wearing odd outfits walking strange land animals, couples holding hands, and others indulging in foods that Sanji had never seen before.

“Do you like it? A bit overwhelming?” Zoro leaned into hearing distance to Sanji, eyes trained on the sidewalk ahead of them but voice directed at the blonde.

“I love it…” Sanji responded softly. He touched his braided hair affectionately, fidgeting with it since he wasn’t quite sure what else to say.

The group spends a good amount of the day touring Sanji around town.

Of course, the first thing Sanji (and Luffy) wanted was to try some surface cuisine. They visited a local restaurant that had fresh food filled with a variety of flavors and spices that Sanji had never tasted before. Sanji also witnessed Luffy eat one of everything on the menu and proceed to somehow pay for it with money that not even Nami knew where it came from. The raven-haired boy, however, offered Sanji at least a bite of everything as well, asking, “Is it good? Sanji, is it good,” everytime the blonde finished swallowing the food. 

Afterwards, Nami volunteered to take them to a bookstore, since she needed to get her books for her next semester of college soon. Chopper was excited to get something that could help him in his studies in the long run as well, and Usopp and Luffy wanted to go read comics. Sanji got a cookbook, only to discover he can’t read in the surface language of ‘English’. Upon seeing the man so upset, Robin purchased him a book that taught people how to read and even volunteered to help him learn as well.

Next, Franky took them to a building that looked huge. The giant man explained that this was an ‘escape room’ game where the objective was to use clues and puzzles to be able to ‘escape’ the different levels of rooms until you find your way out. The riddles and hints were challenging enough, with Nami, Robin, and Usopp leading most of the more difficult ones.The place wasn’t entirely wheelchair-friendly, so Sanji attempted to walk around by leaning against all of the walls. He eventually was able to accidentally open a secret room that managed to get them to escape successfully.

After stopping at a few toy shops and even getting some groceries, they cool off next to a water fountain in the middle of town, and Usopp and Nami get them all ice cream. Sanji had never had the frozen treat before, so he was amazed at the amount of flavor the cold ball of food could emit.

As the sun began to go down, the group decided to take one big picture by the entrance gate before they headed back home and called it a day. Sanji was amazed at how quick photography worked, as he grew up with special painting portraits being the only way one could properly capture an image of someone or something.

A stranger had taken the photo with Franky’s mobile ‘phone’ and Robin’s ‘polaroid’. The polaroid had printed a copy of their photo right away, and the black-haired woman gladly gave the printed photo to Sanji.

The blonde stared at the photo in awe the entire hour-long ride back home.

He could see Franky and Robin staring at each other lovingly, the larger’s arm around his wife’s shoulders, hugging her tenderly. Sanji could see Nami’s shining pearly whites, and Luffy’s even wider smile. The raven-haired man’s eyes were scrunched closed from how happy he was smiling, and for a second he looked just like his mother did in her photograph.

Usopp was posing in a hero-like pose along with Chopper, both of them mirroring each other in action-like stances. Their expressions were ones of pure joy and childish glee– Usopp winking one eye at the camera and smirking genuinely while Chopper’s tongue stuck out to the side of his mouth and his eyes brimmed wide with excitement.

Zoro was standing behind Sanji, his smile lazy and his eyes relaxed. His right hand was placed on Sanji’s wheelchair handle, and his left was in his jacket pocket. He was doing that thing he did whenever he got embarrassed– his head was tilted to the side where his earrings dangled slowly, and his cheeks were bright red.

Sanji adored the photograph, he adored the people, the time spent, almost as much as he adored his mother and that special place under the sea right below the surface.

By the time they had gotten home, the sun had set and the air was cold.

Zoro helped Sanji out of the car, and the blonde meekly attempted to walk (with Zoro supporting his side) all the way back to his tub.

It didn’t take Sanji very long to gain his tail back– unfortunately with the pain of the injury still present and a throbbing in his poor muscles. Chopper sleepily changed the bandages one last time before heading to bed. Everyone else wished the merman a good night’s sleep before all going off to their own respective rooms, and Sanji stared at the moon from the bathroom window all night until he, too, succumbed to sleep.

–

The next morning, Sanji found it much easier to transform his tail back into legs, and made it his mission to be able to walk without the wheelchair today.

The blonde limped all the way to the kitchen, surprising the few who were currently in there as well.

Usopp and Nami were eating their own respective bowls of cereal, and Robin was cooking a pan of scrambled eggs on the stove. There was no sight of Chopper, Franky, Luffy, or Zoro anywhere.

“Good morning, Sanji. I didn’t expect to see you waltzing out of the bathroom as if you’ve always walked on land,” Nami said cheekily, picking up a cup of orange juice and taking a sip from it.

“Well, Nami dearest, it would seem I’ve picked up on watching the rest of you all walk. However, I’m still not the best at it, so I’m not sure if I can be given any compliments yet,” Sanji paused, looking around the kitchen.

The area was small and cramped, but the atmosphere it produced was comforting. Sanji could smell the aroma of the sea from the opened windows and hear the sound of the crashing waves from where he stood. The kitchen had the basic necessities– an island counter with drawers, a stove, a sink, an oven, and many other items Sanji wouldn’t know how they worked.

His hands twitched in anticipation at the longing feeling of wanting to know how it all functioned– how he could cook with all the materials placed right before him.

But before he could begin to even ask for permission to use this kitchen, he has other important questions to ask.

“So,” he began, leaning against the kitchen sink, “Where’s everyone else?”

Usopp answered, “Chopper was pretty exhausted from yesterday so he’s passed out. Franky and Zoro do like, a workout thing in the mornings so they’re probably still doing that, and Luffy’s a wild card. He kind of just comes and goes as he wishes–”

“FOOD!”

As if summoned by name, Luffy came crashing into the room, the wild excited smile of his glowing off his face.

“Luffy! At least say good morning, my goodness how rude can you get?” Nami shouted, coughing up food she had swallowed too fast when the raven-haired man had crashed into the room.

“ Shishishishi ,” Luffy chuckled, “Sorry Nami! Good morning everyone! Is there food?”

Sanji laughed, before quietly asking, “Robin, beloved, do you mind if I give a try at cooking some food for Luffy? I want to give it a shot, if possible.”

The dark-haired woman gave Sanji a look of curiosity as she placed her eggs onto a bowl of rice, “Of course, Sanji. The kitchen is all yours.”

“Yay! Sanji’s going to cook me food!,” Luffy cheered, throwing his arms into the air, and then he turned to the table, ”Usopp, can I eat some cereal while I wait for him to make me food?” 

The two began to bicker while Sanji opened the fridge and pantry, engulfing himself into the nature of surface foods and cooking. The more he got into the groove, the sway, the ebb and flow of the kitchen, the secret path of ingredients, the mysterious language of recipes, everyone else in the world seemed to disappear. 

It was just him and the food. Time and space could not even compare.

He could hear the laughter of Nami, Usopp, and Luffy in the back as they began their own conversation, he could feel Robin’s eyes watching him from where she sat at the table, and from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Chopper as the boy entered the room sleepily.

With the addition of the doctor, Sanji wanted to make enough food for all of them to be able to have their own share, while still satiating Luffy’s hunger.

After finding out how everything works and making his way through the unique elements, he managed to cook up something he thought tasted worthy of eating.

Sanji also worked hard to make it look edible, adding in more garnishes and spices on top for decoration, but he couldn't help the nervousness getting to him as he presented the dish to the others.

“Here we are! Eat up everyone!” He gave a large amount of the dish to Luffy, before serving a respectful plate to the rest of the group. The crew all stared at their plates for a solid minute in silence, causing Sanji to anxiously comb his fingers through the ends of his long blonde hair. Luffy, ever so the glutton, thoughtlessly shouted, “Thanks!”, before devouring the entire dish like a mad man.

The others looked at him and smiled before all eating at their own paces as well.

Sanji continued to comb through his hair, until he heard, “ MMMmmmmmm! Sanji! More please! It’s delicious!”

He opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) and saw Luffy’s smiling face, holding out an empty plate, asking for seconds. His gaze trailed over the rest of the crew, who were all eating more ravenously now, some slipping in a few words of gratitude and compliments.

The blonde hesitantly grabbed the empty plate for Luffy before putting more food onto it and handing it back to him, “Eat up, you human vacuum.”

Luffy only laughed before taking the plate and inhaling the meal once again.

“Something smells super good in here!” Sanji was surprised to see Franky and Zoro walking into the kitchen, both covered in a shiny coating of sweat.

“Hey, curls, can we eat something, too? I’m starving.” The mosshead immediately said, scratching the back of his head and placing himself into a chair.

“Nope! No– you guys know the rules,” Nami started, “No eating at the table unless you’re showered. You guys look like you jumped into the ocean! No offense, Sanji.”

Sanji laughed at the sentiment, “No complaints from me, Nami dearest.”

He then turned his attention to Zoro and Franky, “Well, you heard her. Franky. Marimo. No food until you are both showered.” He paused, watching their shocked expressions, “Showered. And dressed .”

The two grumbled before standing up and making their way into the two bathrooms (Franky’s and the guest bathroom, respectfully), each mumbling their own complaints–

“This is super not cool– this is my house .”

“C’mon, witch, I’m really freakin’ hungry.”

–

After breakfast, Chopper did a full checkup on Sanji’s tail while Robin occupied the merman by teaching him how to read.

The characters and nature of them were much more simpler than his native language’s alphabet. The letter ‘A’ simply just meant ‘A’. Yes, there were multiple ways of pronouncing it, but it was easier than his own language, which required certain dashes and marks to mean something else, and one wrong line could completely change the meaning of the word or sentence.

Other than directly reading word for word, there were many other tricky aspects of learning how to pronounce, how to spell, and how to change based on phonic sounds. He didn’t understand why adding an ‘h’ to the letter ‘s’ makes it sound like ‘sh’. Back under the sea, they simply had a character that made that sound automatically.

The same confusion happened when he came across the words ‘who’ and ‘why’, since the only difference is the last letter, but one was pronounced with a ‘hah’ sound and the other remained sounding like ‘wah’. 

More questions emerged afterwards– why did ‘wrong’ have a ‘w’ and ‘right’ doesn’t? They both make the same ‘arr’ sound? Why did the word ‘right’ have a silent ‘g’ and the word ‘site’ doesn’t? They both sound exactly the same except for their first letters?

The frustration of not understanding the literature on the first go bothered Sanji more than it should. If it had been one of his brothers, who were far more literate than Sanji was, they would probably understand with no problems, no questions asked, and kind people like Robin wouldn’t have to waste their time explaining the same words and letters repeatedly.

Sanji would just have to study extra hard, and only ask Robin for help if he really, really needed help. Hopefully that day wouldn’t come so soon, as his desire to impress her with his reading skills would definitely patch his pride up quite a bit.

Which had Sanji thinking, how long was he to stay in this little piece of paradise? It had already been well over two weeks, so he was sure that Judge would come looking for him soon. He knew the king wouldn’t search for him out of concern, but he also knew that Judge was all about keeping his reputation up, and the disappearance of one of the princes is bound to dock him some points.

And Judge was not a kind search scout either. The man would wage a war against this peaceful civilization, claiming Sanji was kidnapped as an excuse. He would devastate this land that had done nothing wrong simply because they were surface dwellers.

Sanji couldn’t allow that.

So he had decided, once his tail was fully healed and he could swim again, he'd go back to the kingdom, just to let them know he was safe.

After Chopper had finished his examination, the little doctor wanted to debrief Sanji on the progress of his recovery. He dismissed Robin for the sake of privacy (much to the merman’s dismay), and settled himself on the closed toilet seat to speak to Sanji.

“For the most part, the wound has healed over and the muscles seem to also be mended completely,” Chopper smiled, looking over the notes he had taken, ”However, due to the initial muscular and nerve damage, and the way that you’re tail’s been seated in this tub for the past few days, I recommend some form of physical therapy to be able to get you back into the ocean.”

There is a sense of relief going through Sanji, before he can ask, “So how long will that take?”

The human looked over his notes again, tilting his head as he tried to calculate something.

“Looks like only a week should be good. I’m not exactly sure how fast you can recover, since you aren’t a thoroughly researched species, but it seems as if you heal quicker than most other fish or humans, so it looks as though you’ll be good to go within a week so far. Unless, you know, something else happens.”

Only one week left . The thought terrified him. Sanji honestly didn’t want to go back. He hoped with this physical therapy he could stay 2 weeks, but alas, he doesn’t want to prolong his stay much longer. The fear of Judge hurting all of these people because of him… that was something he wished to never see.

“Also,” Sanji kept his voice steady, thoughts racing through his head, “How am I going to be doing physical therapy? Are we throwing me into the ocean?”

Chopper shook his head before smiling, “Sorry for keeping secrets from you, Sanji, but Zoro and Franky already have that part figured out. I can’t tell you until Zoro does, but for now, just know that we already have that handled.”

Sanji’s head tilted from curiosity, before Chopper was speaking again, “And your therapy can begin tomorrow– no need to go straight into today. Besides, you look like you want to try practicing how to walk, right?”

The blonde nodded, “Yes. Thank you so much for everything, Chopper. You really are the best out there.”

Chopper blushed, “Compliments aren’t going to get you anywhere, you moron!” The human was quick to hop off the toilet and made his way to the door.

“I’m going to go study for my upcoming classes in my room, so if you need anything, just let me know. Also, feel free to practice walking around! It’s not healthy for you to stay cooped up in the bathtub, especially if you’re able to leave it now.”

As the little doctor exited, Sanji already began to transform again, pulling himself out of the water quickly. He was already excited to get out of the tub and practice reading and writing, and if possible, walk around with everyone else.

He was in such a rush to return to his human form, in fact, that he didn’t notice the marimo walk in as his leg took form and he managed to stand up in the tub. Which wouldn’t be a huge problem, if not for the fact that Sanji was now standing very naked in front of a stupefied Zoro.

The two stood there in utter shock for a moment before Sanji sat himself back down into the tub rapidly, legs turning into jelly and back into a tail, screaming, “KNOCK BEFORE YOU ENTER A ROOM YOU BEHEMOTH! Stupid! Idiot! Moron! Jerkface! Mossy dense rock–”

Zoro’s face was bright red from embarrassment, and he was quick to turn his body around to face the door, “Well, curlybrow, maybe you should, I don’t know, make sure the door is closed before you start doing things like that! If you don’t want to be seen naked then don’t–”

The mosshead took a breath, “Just get dressed. It’s my fault. Sorry,” then he exited the bathroom, standing outside like a dog waiting for its owner’s return.

Sanji re-transformed, this time grabbing the towel remarkably fast and putting on the pair of sweatpants he was wearing yesterday. They weren’t the most comfortable pieces of clothing for him– if it were up to Sanji, he would wear one of those flowy skirts or dresses that Robin often wore, that way his new-found legs had some room to breathe.

The sweatpants were formidable, however, in the way they warmed his cold skin, and the way they smelled like pine and mint. The blonde, still wobbly, sat himself on the toilet seat where Chopper had been seated not too long ago.

“Alright, you may now enter, mosshead.”

Zoro’s face was no longer as scarlet as the sunset sky when he re-entered the room, although a slight pink tinge still remained sitting on his cheeks.

Sanji had to hold back the laughter that dared to erupt from his throat when he saw this, and instead held out his hand, “Could you help me stand, marimo? My legs are still weak.”

It didn’t take long for the mosshead to help the blonde up to his feet and trod out of the bathroom together. Sanji had grabbed the reading books and the cook books as well, and when they made it to the living room, Zoro placed Sanji gently onto the couch. Immediately, the curly browed man began studying the learning materials again, enthusiastically flipping through pages and sticky notes left by Robin. The marimo lifted an eyebrow in amusement. 

He had seated himself on a couch parallel from Sanji’s, drinking a protein shake Franky had made him that morning lazily.

“You like reading, cook?” the mosshead stared.

“Cook?” That was a new name.

“Yeah, since you like to cook so much. Anyways,” Zoro walked over and sat next to Sanji, peeking through the various pieces of literature sitting around him, “Why do you like reading this stuff so much?”

“It isn’t really the act of reading that I like,” Sanji admitted, “It’s more like… the ability to learn something new is fun, you know? Stepping into territory that you’ve never even dared to go near before.”

Zoro shrugged in response, “I guess. I tend to like honing the skills I’m already good at.”

There was a sense of understanding as Sanji simply nodded in response. 

“Do you mind if I read this to you?,” Sanji leaned into Zoro to emphasize the importance of his question, ”So I can be sure I’m interpreting this correctly?”

The moss head grinned, “Yeah, sure.”

Time flew by as Sanji read the words aloud, Zoro casually listening to him and giving him advice. Apparently, the moss head had struggled with reading English when he was young as well, and he gave Sanji honest feedback whenever he could. The blonde was more than thankful about the truthful way Zoro treated everyone.

The hopeful conversation between the two was seized when the door flung open and a very nervous-looking Usopp had entered the room quietly. The long-nosed man put a finger to his mouth in shushing motion, then pointing outside with his other hand to indicate danger.

“What’s going on?” Zoro asked, standing up defensively.

“There’s some bad guys outside talking to Franky. It looks like he’s looking for Sanji.”

The blonde’s stomach dropped. Was it Judge? Was it his brothers? Was Franky going to be alright?

“What did they look like?” The merman questioned anxiously.

“A big guy with purple hair and sideburns. He’s pretty intimidating so I came in to help hide Sanji if needed.” Usopp explained.

“Who is this guy?” The merman gaped. Definitely not anyone he knows.

“It doesn’t matter! What matters is that he’s scary and we need to get you guys somewhere safe,” Usopp stressed, “Luffy’s with Chopper and Nami right now fishing by the shore and Robin’s doing her study in her room. You guys are the only ones not in safe places right now–well, other than me.”

“Maybe we can hear from the window what’s going on outside,” Zoro said instead, ignoring Usopp’s pleas to hide and looking over to Sanji for approval. The green-haired man walked past the two and reached over to behind the couch, pulling out what appeared to be a sheathed sword of some type.

“What? Nononono what’re you guys doing? Are you crazy? That guy is BAD NEWS.” Usopp was pulling on Zoro’s shirt, trying to stop him from moving but being dragged along instead.

Sanji said nothing but followed closely behind.

When they got to the window, they noticed the door was also cracked open slightly, so they indeed could hear the entire conversation.

From the window, they could see Franky was talking to the purple-haired man. He had his arms crossed, wearing suspicious clothing, and behind him were several men. Surprisingly, one of them was the hunter—Gin, who was covered in a sad amount of injuries and was being held back by some of the men.

“Don’t lie to me, I know it’s here!” The man had a demanding voice as he shouted at Franky, “If you don’t show me where it is, I’ll check this whole place myself!”

“Listen, bro, I don’t know what you’re looking for, but this is clearly breaking and entering,” Franky stood his ground, his tall figure just barely below the intruder, but still wider than him in muscle to intimidate him, “You guys aren’t even pretending to be the police with a warrant!”

“ Do you know who I am? ” The invasive man muttered, toxicity seeping through every one of his words. Sanji was familiar with that tone, it was one Judge would use whenever Sanji spoke back to any of his orders. His hands trembled at the memory, wondering if Franky was going to make it out of this alright.

“Not really. No,” Franky shrugged, “All I know is that you have no business being here, and it’d probably be best for everyone if you just leave.”

“ Excuse me ?” The man flared up with anger, “I am the great mermaid hunter, Don Krieg! I have intel that my subordinate here, Gin, spotted a mermaid around this island not too long ago, and thanks to my investigation squad, this side of the island is the only place a mermaid would be spotted! Not to mention he was housed and nursed back to health at a small beach house– which would happen to be here, yes?”

“No, I think you have the wrong place.” Zoro spoke up. Him, Sanji, and Usopp had heard enough. This man, Krieg, was clearly not in his right mind. His rising tone and irritated demeanor only confirmed he wasn’t afraid to get physical, and the trio watching (maybe minus Usopp) couldn’t stand by and watch their friend get hurt. Sanji was also sad to see Gin looking away from the group in shame as they stepped out of the house to join Franky. The blonde wanted to see the hunter living a better life, not living as a henchman for a madman.

Then again, it wasn’t like Sanji was much different himself.

“Gin!” Krieg called, “What did the merfolk look like? I’ve heard tales of them disguising as humans before, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one right in front of me right now.”

Sanji tensed. He knew nothing of this man, but if he truly was someone who had been studying merfolk, then there was a chance he might be able to tell that Sanji was one somehow. Did humans have a way to identify people other than by sight? Could they tell by smell? Or by a secret sense?

The goons let Gin go. The man fell to his hands and knees and pleaded, “Don Krieg, sir, it seems… that the merman may have already left. Let’s just leave this island, I think it’s a lost cause, sir.”

Krieg gave him a long stare before turning his attention away from Franky and the group and approaching where Gin was still bowing on the floor.

“...You’re lying to me aren’t you, Gin? You know what I do to liars.”

All of the goons and Gin stiffened. The hunter on the ground tried to reason with the madman, “No! Have I ever lied to you before, sir? I’ve always been devoted and truthful to you.”

Krieg only scoffed, “Then why are you so adamant that we leave?”

Gin remained with his head trained on the floor, his figure trembling, “Because we’re wasting precious time here– you could be following other much promising leads, sir, instead of questioning islanders that have nothing to do with this!”

“That’s enough out of you, Gin. I can tell the truth from the way you behave,” Krieg looked at Sanji, then Franky, then back at his own men, “ This is the punishment you get when you lie to me. Gin, head up.”

The hunter reluctantly lifted his head from the floor to look at Krieg’s face.

All at once, everything and everyone moved.

Sanji was quick to get to Gin’s side, his leg almost completely covered in scales (but not seen thanks to the sweatpants), taking on a punch from Don Krieg, who was wearing golden brass knuckles as he attempted to aim the punch at Gin.

Turned out Zoro didn’t have a wooden sword for kendo at the moment, but instead he had a real katana sword, drawn to defend Sanji from the henchmen. Usopp had his phone out, taking pictures of the men rapidly. Franky’s hand was holding back another man with brass knuckles, wearing a necklace that read the word ‘PEARL’ in all caps.

“Usopp! Run into the house and get those photos to Robin,” Franky shouted, winding up a punch to the man named Pearl, “She’ll send them to good ole Ice-for-Brains. This fight might be fun after all!”

The long-nosed man took no time in dashing into the building quickly, screaming for the woman who was inside as the chaos went into full swing.

Sure, Sanji couldn’t walk very well with his legs, but it turns out he sure could fight with them. Judge had already instilled warrior instincts in the merman since he was a child, so it was easy for him to pick up combat. Krieg’s moves were nothing compared to Ichiji’s spear, or Niji’s sword, or even Yonji’s fist.

Zoro had a light of excitement burning through his eyes, and taking on several people looked like it was nothing to him. Sanji was not much of a swordsman himself, so he wasn’t quite sure how the man was using his sword in a way that didn’t actually cut people, but still doing enough damage to hurt them.

It wasn’t for long until they managed to overcome the intruders, and Franky came over to land a finishing blow to the back of Don Krieg’s head with Pearl’s brass knuckles. Usopp ran outside with Robin as Zoro and Sanji helped tie up the group and pack them into a wagon attached to Franky’s car.

“So what now?” Sanji asked Gin, the only one who got to sit with Franky and Robin in the car. The former hunter shrugged, “It seems that your friend, Franky, has called the mayor to have them arrested. I do not know the next time I will see you, fishman, but this has been the second time you have saved me. Just know I am now twice indebted to you.”

Sanji laughed, “No, no. You already repaid your debt. You didn’t sell me out to your horrible boss.”

–

Lunch was a few boxes of pizza Franky had brought in from town. It was nothing particularly fantastic or interesting, but Sanji couldn’t help the little glow of excitement he had in his stomach when he felt the sauce and cheese hit his tongue. The food was nothing compared to the company though, as Sanji would learn how comforting it was to sit at a table full of friends whose love for each other was real and authentic.

Sanji hadn’t eaten a meal bursting with life and conversation in so long, he had forgotten what it looked like. Laughter, stealing food playfully, casual talk about the activities done today, and talk about what plans were for the future. The concept was all so foreign to him.

His meals at home were filled with cold stares, snide comments, unfinished plates of food discarded simply because they could be, and complaints to servants and chefs that were doing their jobs perfectly fine. The only discussions that were allowed were of training from his brothers, or war plans from his father, or research discoveries from Reiju. Even then, Judge required each family member to request permission to speak in the first place.

But this simple meal with friends that Sanji had only known for a little over 2 weeks was the most amount of happiness Sanji had felt in his entire life.

As he took a substantial bite out of his slice of pizza, the merman thought of how he wanted to make something that would show his gratitude to these people. He was no artisan of great talent or could control his magic in the way his siblings could, but there was one thing he could do. 

He could cook.

So Sanji decided that before he left back to the sea, he would cook at least one giant, final meal for the group as his final sign of thanks to them. It was the least he could do.

When lunch had died down, Robin and Nami agreed to do the dishes, with Chopper and Usopp clearing the table and cleaning up the area around the kitchen. Meanwhile, Franky and Luffy had gone to the shore to go fishing.

Sanji’s hands twitched in anticipation as he watched the chore-doers go about their business, wanting to do something to help, to be of use. However, everytime he asked, he was turned down with a smile, everyone telling him that he was free to do whatever he wanted. It wasn’t long that his fidgeting landed him helpless, watching everyone work so hard, and then his eyes landed on Zoro, who was seated next to him, staring back at him.

“Are you alright, cook? You didn’t talk much at all during lunch,” the mosshead leaned back in his chair, using his legs to tip the seat so that it was balancing on its hind legs, “Something on your mind?”

The blonde began fiddling with his fingers, “It’s nothing. Could you help me get back to the couch? I want to continue reading, if that’s alright with you.”

Zoro’s eyes remained fixed on the blonde, as if still pondering the earlier concern, but he shook it off and helped Sanji back to his feet.

The two then made their way back to the living room, where Sanji picked up the cookbook instead of the learning book, and began reading it out loud. The words in the cookbook had a large contrast to the ones in the learning book, as they were longer, more demanding, more meaningful. Every sentence had a purpose, an instruction, and everytime Sanji read over the names of ingredients he had never heard or seen or tasted before, Zoro was quick to pull it up on his phone to show him a picture of it.

On Sanji’s part, it was almost embarrassing. How could he try cooking something for everyone if he didn’t even know the names of the foods he was to cook? Additionally, he hardly knew what everyone liked to eat in the first place! 

After reading over a recipe for a spinach casserole (he had never heard of or seen spinach before), Sanji placed the shiny blue bookmark that Robin had given him to save the spot for later. The blonde sighed in defeat as he closed the book tiredly.

“Why the glum face? You’re learning to read a completely new piece of literature, curls, it’s alright not to get it on the first try.” Zoro attempted to comfort Sanji by patting him on the shoulder awkwardly.

The merman wearily smiled at his moss-head’s fiddly shoulder pats, “Zoro, I appreciate the concern, but really, I’m alright.”

Zoro’s eyes stayed on Sanji’s, focused and resolute on helping the blonde on whatever was challenging his mind. His aura was a powerfully determined one, challenging Sanji to talk, say something. This man had already saved the merman’s life and taught him how to walk; how could he want to do even more for someone as useless as Sanji?

But Zoro looked at the merman as if he were the entire ocean, the endless sky, the highest mountain, the most precious jewel– how could Sanji not say something to him?

After having an intense stare off for a few moments further, Sanji sighed, “Alright then, marimo, if you really want to help, I would like some information from you… Would you happen to know what everyone’s favorite foods are?”

Zoro’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion before he straightened his back, letting go of Sanji’s hands, and placed his own on his chin to think, “I know Franky likes burgers and Robin likes sandwiches. That used to be the only food they knew how to make for us when we first met them.” 

Sanji takes out a notepad (another gift from Robin) and begins jotting down notes in his home language alphabet. This way, he would be able to work on a recipe for them in secret and also be able to understand it better than the English words.

He can see Zoro’s eyes have closed as he continued thinking, “The witch– I mean, Nami has a thing for oranges and Chopper’s always been a sweet tooth. That kid’s always sneaking sugary samples from the vendors in town. You can guess that Luffy loves meat– for what kind… I think he just absorbs all of it. And I’m not sure about Usopp. Maybe fish? He likes to fish a lot– even back where we come from he’s always going fishing.”

The notepad made a noticeable scratching sound as Sanji furiously wrote down all of the details.

Franky: Burgers, Robin: Sandwiches, Nami: Oranges, Chopper: Sweet food, Luffy: Meat, Usopp: Fish (???), Zoro: …

“...And that’s about it. Sorry if it doesn’t help much.” The swordsman opened his eyes and looked over to Sanji, “Why do you need all of that anyway? It’s not like you can make one thing that has all of those foods in it or anything.”

The blonde didn’t answer the question, he only replied, “And you?”

Zoro’s eyebrow raised, “...What about me?”

Sanji laughed, “What’s your favorite food, mossy?”

“Oh, I like onigiri,” Zoro began, ”It’s a kind of Japanese dish that you have to make using rice and nori. I didn’t think you’d be able to understand it very well since it’s not as western as everyone else’s tastes.”

“Oni…giri? …Western?” Sanji had no idea what Zoro was talking about. However, he had also never heard of ‘onigiri’ before, so he was more than interested in what it could be, “Are you not from the same place everyone else is?”

It was Zoro’s turn to laugh, “Something like that. You see, I was originally an orphan from Japan. When I was young, I was selected for some immigrant program and got a host family–kind of like Chopper with Franky and Robin. In my case, I came from a completely different country to another as well, but to live there until I was an adult and could take care of myself.”

An orphan . Sanji felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He didn’t mean to have to force Zoro to reveal something like that. The guilt must’ve shown on Sanji’s face, because Zoro was quick to place a finger on Sanji’s chin and lift his head up so the two were looking at each other eye to eye.

“Hey, it’s nothing really that sad. My biological parents died when I was really young, so I don’t have any memories of them to be sad about,” Zoro smirked, seeming to dawn on old memories, ”On top of that, I have more fond memories with my host family instead. I had Mr. Stingy Dracule Mihawk and his spunky daughter Perona to worry about more than thinking of whatever happened to my blood family. The way I see it, I kind of feel like I have no parents at all– as if I was born from the ground or something.”

Sanji took a moment to digest the information and then he returned the smirk, “Or you actually did come from the ground– that would explain the grass growing out of your head.”

The mosshead huffed a laugh and teasingly pulled on Sanji’s long hair, “Yeah, okay, sure curly, sure .”

–

Sanji helped Robin and Usopp cook dinner that evening. The two were more than welcoming to the blonde lending a hand in preparing the meal, and Sanji wouldn’t lie that he was more than grateful to watch them correctly use the tools and materials that he didn’t understand how to use that morning.

They had grilled a plentiful amount of fish that Luffy and Franky had caught from their earlier trip from today. Additionally, Usopp taught Sanji how to make rice, since Zoro and Luffy enjoyed eating it with their fish and meat. Robin took it upon herself to make a light salad for those who want to add some green to their diets.

The blonde was tasked by Usopp to read the instructions on a sticky note that had a recipe for a seasoning sauce for the fish and follow them through to make the said sauce. Sanji was thrilled to have his own special mission in the kitchen, however, many of the words on the note were difficult to understand. As Robin and Usopp ran around the kitchen and everyone else helped set up the table for dinner, Sanji found himself feeling a little lost as he didn’t know what certain words on the note were trying to tell him.

Sanji suddenly remembered that Robin had told him during their reading session earlier: if he ever needed help in reading, he could ask her for help .

He doubted he ever would ask, especially since she had already done so much for her already, but he knew that Robin wouldn’t deny him. Just like how the marimo had helped him in telling him all of the crew’s favorite meals before.

“Robin, dearest,” Sanji started meekly, the woman in question turning her head to hear his request, “Could you help me find me read this note? I’m afraid I don’t quite understand all of its contents.”

The raven-haired woman smiled, “Of course, Sanji. Thank you so much for asking for help.”

She quickly gave the salad task to Nami instead, before turning her attention back to him and automatically began reading the note for him.

Dinner was smooth-sailing afterwards, to Sanji’s relief, and not long after he was back in his tub with his tail reformed.

As much as he admired the surface customs, there was an exhaustion that came with learning all of the new things– walking, reading, breathing, even eating was a difficult task when there was so much more balance and gravity up here.

So he couldn’t help how much he enjoyed being back in the water– even though the tub was small, he had grown quite used to it being his own personal, private bed. Today, it was filled with flowers and herbs that Luffy and Chopper had found outside. Robin had checked them and prepared them to be able to make the water smell good and fill the room with an aromatic atmosphere.

Sanji almost jumped out of his skin when he heard someone knock on his door. Judging from the dark outside of the bathroom window, it was already night time, and Chopper had already done a checkup on his tail for the end of the day, so who could be at his door?

“...Hello?” Sanji asked hesitantly.

The door remained closed, and for a second, Sanji was sure that no one was there after all. That was, until Zoro’s steady and rough voice spoke from the other side, “Can I talk to you for a bit, cook?”

Sanji sighed, “Of course, come in.”

There was another pause of silence, until Zoro replied, “No… I’m just going to talk to you from over here.”

The blonde almost chuckled at the awkwardness that was his marimo, but he replied instead, “Alright– what is it that you needed to speak to me about, mossy?”

Zoro was quick to answer, “Tomorrow. You start your physical training and everything. I’m just letting you know I’m going to be there with you the entire time. Also, wake up early too, you’re going to want to be there most of the day to get you back on your feet– I mean– erm– back in the water.”

Sanji giggled, “Thank you for letting me know, marimo. I’ll be awake as soon as I can.”

Quiet again. The merman wondered if Zoro had left him for the night, until he heard a subtle ruffling sound, and his moss-head’s voice, “...Good night, curls.”

“Good night, marimo.”

–

The next morning, Zoro woke Sanji up bright and early, excitedly urging him to go into Franky’s car. The blonde was surprised to see that the only ones awake were him, Zoro, Franky, and Chopper. Thankfully, because of the few passengers, Franky’s car had much more room inside than it did the other day Sanji had ridden inside. In fact, he was able to comfortably lay his seat backwards and enjoy the sunroof that sat atop the vehicle.

In the ocean, the sky always looked distorted or warbled in vision, but here it looked illuminating and crystalline. And Sanji loved every moment of it. He wondered why he never stuck his head out of the water at all as a child.

When the car finally stopped, Zoro was quick to run to Sanji’s open door and help the merman out of the water.

“Li’l doc told us how you’d need an open, clear area that was easily controlled to be able to swim normally again. Something about the sea being too unpredictable for us to be able to help you in case your tail acts up or your muscles don’t work,” Franky was walking over to a large building, and Sanji’s interest grew the closer and closer the man got to opening the door that proved to be the entrance.

“Zoro and I spent every day since, like last week, draining, cleaning, and filling up my good ole swimming pool with ocean water!” Franky opened the door to reveal the indoor pool that lay within the walls of the building, ”This way you can swim in an open space without worrying about waves crashing you over or the tides pushing you away from shore.”

The blonde smiled brightly before dashing towards the large mass of water, diving straight in and allowing his tail to immediately transform once he hit the cool, seawater that lay within.

Sanji could definitely feel the sting of pain from the muscles in his aquatic limb not being used in a while, but he ignored it as he glided carefully through the water.

The pool was definitely not as big as the ocean, but according to the signs around the pool it ran from 3 feet deep to about 10 feet, which was a major update from the small space in the bathtub he had previously grown accustomed to.

Here, Sanji could finally submerge his entire body into the water comfortably– swishing his tail vibrantly as he felt it spin naturally through the flow of the liquid. Thanks to all of the work from Franky and Zoro, it indeed did feel and taste like a still version of the ocean– quiet, concealed, but the same senses of being salty, cold, and alive .

A joyous laughter burst through his chest as he surfaced, flipping his hair out of the water and his face, enjoying the feel of the cool air and the water dripping down his face. He made his way to the side of the pool where the humans watched him happily.

“So?” Zoro asked, sitting down with his legs dangling in the water but the rest of him staying dry, “How do you like the pool?”

The merman smiled, “Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is perfect. I don’t know how I can ever repay you–”

“You don’t have to repay me,” Zoro interrupted, “This was my idea. I wanted to do something for you, there’s no need to always have to repay people for giving things to you.”

The blonde gave Zoro a skeptical stare before shrugging off the strange gesture and diving back into the water. Why is it so bad that Sanji felt the need to thank Zoro with something of equal value? Did he do something wrong?

He didn’t have much time to think it through before Chopper had gotten a hold of Sanji and ran through some exercises that he had put together for Sanji’s therapy.

For example, Franky had set up various obstacles in the pool, and it was up to Sanji to be able to swim above, below, and around certain objects. It was basically a simple obstacle course, however, the merman did feel the strain of his muscles depending on if he would be turning too sharp, or using too much of them to push forwards or backwards. It wasn’t enough to where it felt necessarily painful, however, it did leave him feeling unimaginably poor after the session.

Around lunch time, the rest of the group arrived bearing food and snacks, and they even brought swimsuits to join Sanji in the pool for a few hours of fun. Nami had complained how the place was indoors, meaning she couldn’t get her suntan in for the day, but she quickly overcame the complaint when she witnessed Luffy pushing Usopp into the pool before the poor long-nosed man even got to take off his t-shirt.

Sanji later learned that Luffy, Chopper, and Robin didn’t actually know how to properly swim. In fact, if they ever did desire to go swimming and get their feet wet, they regularly visited monitored pools instead of going into the water, where they could be lost in the ocean. The idea of Luffy not being able to do something baffled Sanji, but he accepted that it was just a part of being human.

When Zoro had finally gotten in the water, Sanji was surprised to see he was, in fact, a very good swimmer. The man seemed to know how to change directions quickly, and was even able to go to the bottom of the 10 feet area and back to the surface with little to no effort.

“What? Is that supposed to be hard, curly?” The man was brimming with delight in his swimming abilities, leaving a feeling of irritation in Sanji’s pride as a merfolk.

“I’m not surprised you could swim so deep, marimo ,” Sanji sighed, “I guess balls of seaweed are supposed to be able to live in the water pretty consistently.”

He could immediately sense the aura in Zoro’s mood change, “Well then, cook,” the moss-head grinned, “Let’s have ourselves a swimming competition, yeah?”

The merman smirked back, “Fine then, let’s do this.”

To almost no one’s surprise, Sanji had won against Zoro by a landslide. The green-haired man was upset, but not for long as Robin brought over the sandwiches they were all to eat for dinner.

“I can’t believe you challenged a literal merman to race you in the water,” Usopp laughed through a sandwich.

“I didn’t notice there’d be such a big difference in speed when one of us needs to keep taking a breath of air and the other can just cheat his way through since he can breath water!” Zoro’s face was ridiculously red from embarrassment. The rest of the group laughed at the usually stern man, and Sanji could feel a piece of him glow at the sight.

After they swam for another hour, most of the group (minus Luffy and Chopper) admitted they were all pretty tired out and in need of a long nap, so they all packed up and headed back into the cars.

Sanji teased Zoro endlessly the entire car ride home, which was only about 15 minutes, but the look in Zoro’s eye made it seem like that was still far too long for him to have to go through the shameful trip back. On the other hand, Sanji couldn’t be happier, and there was something about teasing the other that always landed a feeling of satisfaction in the merman as well.

When they all got home, everyone separated into their own respectful hobbies and pastimes, which led Sanji to want to get back to studying and meal prepping for dinner. Everytime he didn’t understand an instruction or ingredient in his cookbooks, he’d ask Nami or Robin to help him out, which luckily they were very open to do.

Learning how to use the knives properly was fun for the merman, as he had only used home-made knives back in the kingdom, since Judge did not believe a prince should be cooking at all, and just to leave it to the servants. Sanji disagreed with the testament greatly, and had poorly taught himself how to cut the underwater vegetables evenly and carefully. Although the shapes were odd and unsettling in the beginning, he practiced every day until he was no longer accidentally cutting his own fingers and the pieces were all sliced symmetrically and properly.

Because of all of his hardwork in the ocean, Sanji learned how to use surface knives quite quickly, cutting all of the ingredients for the curry he was attempting to make at the moment suitably.

The process of reading, learning, and then actually cooking took multiple hours for Sanji to actually produce a result.

He then used the rice cooker and the skills Usopp had taught him to make a few cups of rice for those who might need it with the curry. Sanji was still used to the idea of ‘bread’, so he also taught himself how to make sandwiches similar to the ones Robin had made earlier for lunch.

By the time he had begun to slow down in the kitchen, he then noticed there were pots, pans, mixing spoons, knives, and various other cooking devices all over the working space. He admitted he felt pretty bad about making such a mess, so he set the curry to simmer and slowly began cleaning up.

After wiping down most of the mess up and throwing away any used napkins, he could feel his legs beginning to give out, and suddenly Sanji was remembering that he was not originally a land-walker. He could feel them tremble and shake from how much they were stinging from the strenuous and long activities he had been doing with them all day. His guilt of leaving someone else to finish cleaning up after him was taking control of him, however, so instead of calling for help he leaned up against the sink counter in order for him to start the last task of washing the dishes.

But when he went to grab for the first cutting board to wash, a hand stopped his own midway, and a chair found its way beneath him as his legs finally gave out.

The hand that had stopped him surprisingly belonged to Zoro, the brutish man was currently shirtless and had a towel around his shoulders, indicating he had just gotten out of the shower. His face had that same unreadable look he would get when thinking too hard about something, so Sanji couldn’t help but ask.

“Wha–What are you doing?”

“You sit there and wash, I’ll dry and put away the dishes. You look like you’re about to pass out, cook.”

Sanji stared at him in utter shock as the other simply grabbed the towel used for drying the dishes and shook it off to make sure it wasn’t dirty.

“Are you just going to sit there and stare at me? Get to washing those dishes,” Zoro’s eyes trailed over to the stove, ”Also, don’t you have to stir that pot over there before it sets the house on fire?”

The blonde panicked as he ran over to the stove and stirred the pot once, looking over the contents to make sure the curry wasn’t burned. Thankfully, the potatoes and carrots seemed unharmed, and the meat was actually perfectly cooked when he came to check.

By the time Sanji had turned his attention back to the sink, Zoro was washing dishes faster than anyone he had seen them be washed before.

Upon realizing that the marimo was planning to finish off the chore by himself, the blonde turned the stove off and quickly ran to wash them instead, practically shoving Zoro away from the sink and taking matters into his own hands. The blonde sat gracefully onto the seat that Zoro had propped up against the sink and washed dishes with a passion he didn’t have earlier.

After the initial shock of being literally pushed onto the floor, Zoro picked up the towel from earlier and began to dry and put away the dishes that Sanji was washing, the two in a quiet battle for who would finish first. It wasn’t until all the dishes were finished did Sanji finally speak.

“Go put a shirt on, mossy, you’re going to get cold.”

Zoro shrugged, “Yeah, sure. See you during dinner, curls.”

He stood a moment longer with Sanji in the kitchen. The blonde hadn’t even noticed until then that Zoro’s hand was resting on top of his own, and the merman flinched away upon realization, face burning probably as red as Ichiji’s hair. The moss-head put his hands up defensively at the sudden reaction, before walking off into the direction of his room to get changed.

About half an hour later, the group all came flooding in as Sanji set the table for them all to eat dinner. As he watched all of them consume the food, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy in being good at cooking an official surface recipe, and everyone seemed to like it as well.

The rest of dinner was like before, filled with laughter and conversation, but this time, the meal consisted of everything Sanji had cooked. He watched with glee as Nami ate with a sandwich in her mouth, giggling about something Robin had said. He watched as Franky had passed out drinks for the group and comically added a large helping of spicy hot sauce to his own helping of food, and as Luffy asked for seconds, thirds, and even more of the curry and rice.

With this, even without speaking in any of the discussions at the table, Sanji still felt like he was a part of the group, as if he had done something that made him a correct piece of the puzzle.

That night went on without much happening afterwards, Zoro and Sanji raced to do the dishes from dinner and the others all helped with other chores to end the day.

Sanji went to sleep in his tub again that night, thinking of all of the things he wanted to say before he had to say goodbye to his new found friendship.

–

The rest of the week proceeded with a similar schedule as that day: early in the morning, Sanji, Franky, Zoro, and Chopper would go to the pool and Sanji would have his physical therapy session. Sometimes it was the obstacle course, sometimes it was simple stretches, sometimes it was a sprint from one side of the pool to the other. The only thing guaranteed was the feeling of overall soreness that his tail would be left with at the end of the day.

After the session, the rest of the group would come to visit– on some days, Nami or Usopp would be missing, as they were either too busy with other things to come or too tired to come. Luffy was persistent as ever to show up any chance he got, he only had trouble with waking up early in the mornings so he could never come with the initial first group because of this.

Usually after they’ve played around in the pool enough, someone (Robin, Nami, Usopp) would call it a day and everyone would pack up into the cars and head back to the Sunny Shack.

Once they’ve arrived home, Sanji would learn a new recipe and cook dinner for the group, and Zoro always came around the end of the cooking period to help Sanji do the dishes. After dinner, everyone helped up with the chores and settled down into their nightly routines, until eventually they’d all call it a night and go to bed.

The cook wouldn’t be lying that he really liked this lifestyle, minus the entire physical therapy part. He wished he could recover so he could show the group how good of a swimmer he really was. He wished he was healed so they could focus on doing other things, like going into town more often or go swimming at the beach instead of the pool.

However, it was all bittersweet, because he knew after he was fully whole again, he would have to return to the kingdom, and the chances of seeing his friends was less than likely to happen.

So far now, he would enjoy the time he had with them, for as long as it would last.

On the second to last day of the week, Sanji decided it was time to let the group know he would be leaving. It was in the middle of dinner, as everyone was having their carefree conversations– today’s contained Luffy asking why some chickens (a bird that Sanji had never seen alive before) lay eggs to have babies but some lay eggs just to lay eggs. Chopper, Usopp, and Nami tried their best to explain to their laidback friend, only for Zoro to barge in on the discussion and tell them a wild folk story about why the world worked the way it did.

“Umm…” Sanji quietly interjected, feeling bad that he was interrupting them, but needing to tell them his announcement now, “I… I have something to tell all of you.”

The voices died down upon hearing the blonde speak up, all of their eyes landing on him.

Sanji swallowed whatever was left in his mouth, “As you all know, tomorrow’s my last day of physical therapy. After it’s all over, I’d be considered completely healed.”

He could see the dots connecting in some of their heads, others still trying to figure out what he was trying to get to.

“Since I’d be completely recovered… I have to return back to my home. Back in the sea.”

Sanji’s eyes were focused on the food on his plate now, unable to look at the group’s faces. There was an unsteady moment in the air, until he finally brought up the courage to look up and see their reactions.

Chopper had tears strolling down his face, and Franky did as well, however he was hugging Robin and howling loudly in sadness. The merman glanced over to Nami and Usopp, who both seemed heartbroken about the whole ordeal, while Luffy was still eating, but noticeably slower than earlier, and he carried a grave atmosphere as the hat that sat on his head covered his eyes. Finally, Sanji focused on Zoro, who had his unreadable expression, glaring at the blonde intensely.

“Is that really what you want, cook?”

“Of course that’s what he wants, Zoro!” Nami’s voice was quick to respond, her voice shaky as if she were about to cry, “Just because we– I mean, you don’t want him to leave doesn’t mean you get to choose for him his own decisions!”

The green-haired man stared at Nami for a second, his eyes hard and focused on some other matter, before looking back at Sanji.

“Curly,” he started again, “Are you leaving because you really want to go back? Do you really have the desire to return home?”

The swordsman seemed to be pressing onto something, Sanji could feel his resolve begin to crumble.

“Wh-what do you mean by those questions, marimo? It’s my home, obviously I need to go back—”

“Curlybrow, why have you never once mentioned your life back at home? You’re quite the expressive one, so you’d seem like you’d talk about home a lot if you had a good relationship with it,” Zoro’s voice was steady, interrogative, but nevertheless the man never raised it in volume as he questioned, “Unless you don’t have a good relationship with your home.”

Crap. Does he know?

The panic finally started to kick in— he didn’t want this new life of his to know what it’s like under the sea. He didn’t want them to know that he was scared of his own family, that he was too weak to fight against them.

“Hah… don’t get so full of yourself, Marimo.”

Zoro tilted his head in confusion. Sanji only continued.

“Are you trying to lecture me about my own home life? About my own family? Or is this about keeping secrets from you? Honestly, how prideful can you get? Not all of us can be as confident and strong as you are,” the blonde hugged himself tightly, “Some of us aren’t allowed to be living so freely all the time.”

Zoro shook his head, “No– what? That’s not what I meant, curls, I just don’t want you thinking that we’re kicking you out of the house or anything. If anything, it looks a lot like you of all people don’t want to go back home.”

This was bad. If Zoro kept giving Sanji that tone, like he was being lectured for making a bad decision, like he was doing something wrong , then he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

The merman shouted, “ Of course I want to go home! What? You think I’m so weak that I can’t even defend myself?” 

Robin was the next to speak, breaking her previous silence, “Sanji, you know we don’t think of you as weak. But I do agree with Zoro–when it comes to your life back in the sea, you never mention your friends and family. Based on your behavior alone, there is an alarming amount of psychological evidence that someone or something may be hurting you, Sanji. We’re just worried about you.”

“Robin, really,” Sanji tried to argue, “ I’m fine . Why would I want to go back home if something back there was trying to harm me?”

“Because you’re that kind of person, Sanji,” Nami whispered quietly. Her face looked as if she was just hit by an epiphany.

“Ever since you got here, you try your best not to inconvenience others, but in the end, you’re the one who ends up getting hurt, right?” Luffy’s voice was resolute. Because there it was, out in the open, the root of the problem.

Sanji was a giver. He gave and gave and gave until there was nothing left. And he couldn’t bring it in himself to take. Because if he took then there was something to lose .

“You guys are just making things up about me,” Sanji shook his head, ”If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. I’m going to call it a night, okay?” 

Chopper whimpered, “Sanji, we’re just worried about you.”

The blonde smiled gently at the little doctor, trying to reassure him with a happy face. He never wanted them to feel so upset, but he couldn’t bring it in himself to tell them the truth.

“Curls,” Zoro tried again, “What’s going on with your home?”

Sanji closed his heart off again, “Please… just… Leave me alone!”

He stood up from the table abruptly and ran outside, never looking back.

–

Before he knew it, he had found himself at the training pool. He wasn’t sure how or why he had appeared here, of all places, perhaps just by pure impulse and memorization. There aren't many places he could have run to anyway, other than attempting to return back to the kingdom, but he wasn’t prepared for that yet. Not now.

The blonde walked into the familiar building, dipping his legs into the water, watching them slowly transform back into his tail. He sat there in silence for a moment, wondering where it all went wrong.

Maybe he was just overreacting. His brothers told him often that he was too emotional anyway– it was his empathy that made him weak. And even though before Sanji would never agree with those types of ideals, he couldn’t help but feel maybe this time they were right.

He watched as his tail gently swayed through the water in front of him, the cool feeling brushing up against his scales and reassuring him. It wasn’t until Sanji had surfaced did he understand the feeling of missing the ocean.

If he was completely honest, he wasn’t necessarily missing the kingdom, or his family, but he did miss the freedom of movement he had in the water. The open space, the ability to float above or dive under a person, without the same effect of gravity pushing him towards the ground, binding him in place.

As Sanji reminiscenced about his life under the sea, he didn’t hear the door to the pool building open. In a panic, Sanji dropped into the water, swimming below the surface, worried about whoever had entered his vicinity.

From where he sat under the water, he could see a figure move to sit on the side of the pool, dipping their legs in the same way as Sanji had done earlier.

“Cook? I can see you in there. I just want to talk.”

Zoro.

Sanji’s head slowly emerged from the clear liquid, his hair sticking to his face as the air clung to his skin uncomfortably.

“We don’t need to talk, marimo. It was my fault for going over the top about nothing. Don’t worry about me.”

The human only kept staring at Sanji, before talking again, “Curls. I’m the one in the wrong. I didn’t mean for you to feel like you were weak. Because you’re not. You know that, right? You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

Sanji scoffed, “You’re a bad liar, marimo, I’m not a strong person at all. Have you seen me–”

“When that hunter stabbed you, you immediately forgave him and let him go.”

Oh? What did that have to do with strength? Sanji didn’t do anything that made him overpowering. In fact, in that situation, Usopp held the power, he was the one with photo evidence against Gin.

“Despite never knowing how, you taught yourself how to walk, how to cook, and even how to read English. Cook, not many people can achieve all of that within just 2 to 3 weeks, you’re amazing for that.”

“That,” Sanji blushed at the compliment, “That was just for my own selfish gain. I didn’t really do much. Besides, you and Luffy had to wheel me around on the first day, I didn’t even know what rice was when I first started to cook, and most of my reading comprehension comes from copying Robin’s notes.”

Zoro paused, “...Why do you always do that?”

“I’m sorry. What? Why do I always do what ?” Confusion was an understatement for what Sanji was feeling right now.

“You always put yourself lower than others. You discredit yourself when you clearly earn praise. On top of that, you just… hate admitting how cool you are.” Zoro sighed, “Did someone make you believe that? That you’re seriously not good at anything ?”

Sanji shook his head. This was hitting way too close to home .

“Why do you care so much, marimo? I’m just a stranger you pity, right? Is that why you saved me? Because you wanted to be a hero?”

The green-haired man’s expression was one of utter shock, “Wha– No , cook. I don’t care about being a hero. You should know that by now.”

“Then why ,” Sanji’s voice trembled, “Why did you save me that day?”

Zoro’s lips pursed into a tight line as he visibly swallowed. The human closed his eyes to find an answer, “I don’t know.”

The man dropped into the water slowly, approaching Sanji and placing a hand cautiously on the merman’s face. He never treated Sanji like he was fragile, he treated him like he was important.

“I don’t know why I saved you,” his voice was barely above a whisper, “But I’m glad I did.”

Sanji frowned, but didn’t pull away from the swordsman’s touch. Zoro’s hand was warm.

“How could you be happy you saved me? I’m just… me.”

The human sighed, “Because I love you, Sanji.”

Sanji . That was the first time Zoro had ever said his name. And in a confession of all things. The swordsman’s thumb caressed Sanji’s face carefully, and Zoro’s eyes were full of nothing but love and devotion to the merman.

“I–” Sanji stuttered, his face glowing a bright red, “I think I love you too, Zoro.”

“Really?” the man in question sounded genuinely surprised, as if he never expected Sanji to love him back. As if he was willing to keep this love unrequited and he was okay with that.

“Yeah,” Sanji continued, “I think I love you. And I think that’s why I don’t want you to know more about me. I wanted this world up here to be all that exists, because I’m scared you’ll think differently of me if you knew who I really am.”

Zoro scowled, “I know who you really are.”

“No,” Sanji tilted his head downwards, ripping his eyes from Zoro’s, “You don’t know anything about me.”

“You’re wrong, cook. I know who you are,” the swordsman’s hand trailed down Sanji’s face, placing his fingers under the merman’s chin and forcing his eyes back to his own, “You are Sanji. My curly-browed cook who also happens to be a merman. He takes care of hungry men no matter how bad they are. And he helps people clean dishes and enjoys learning how to do new things. And he’s everything I’ve ever needed. That’s my Sanji. The one I fell in love with.”

Sanji felt the tears gather in the corner of his eyes, some beginning to pour down his face. It was strange, when Sanji cried underwater, you could never see the tears, which was a good sign because if Judge or his brothers knew he was crying, they’d beat another lesson into him. But here, above the water, tears flew safely, freely. And by the look in Zoro’s eyes, they were accepted, they were welcomed, no, he was welcomed. He was wanted.

“Wow. You really do love me, huh?” Sanji wiped a tear from his face, “But you still don’t know who I was in the past, at the very least.”

Zoro pressed his forehead to the merman’s and shushed him, “You don’t have to tell me today, cook. Not if you don’t want to. I’m sorry for pressing you to do so earlier.”

“And I’m sorry to assume so many bad things about you and everyone else,” Sanji sighed, his eyes tired from crying and his body feeling a rush of relief as the apology slipped out, “I shouldn’t have been so upset about nothing back there. At the very least, I shouldn’t have lashed out at everyone, they must be so distraught with me.”

Zoro’s hand moved to the top of Sanji’s head and began to pat it, “I don’t think anyone’s really mad at you, curls, I think they’re just worried about you.”

The blonde let the moss-head pat him a little longer, “Will you carry me back to my tub? I don’t think my legs can make it. They ran out of stamina on the way here.”

A small laugh escaped Zoro as he hauled Sanji out the water, walking him all the way back home in his arms bridal style. The whole walk was filled with tender quiet whispers, Zoro assuring Sanji that the crew would surely forgive him, and Sanji admitting to Zoro how afraid he was of losing them.

The lights to the Sunny Shack were still on when they got back, and when the two entered, they were greeted with everyone awake and worried, bombarding them with questions.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Why are you carrying Sanji? Did he get hurt?”

“Sanji! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you upset!”

“Zoro! Why didn’t you tell us you found Sanji?!”

The swordsman pulled Sanji closer to his chest from in his arms, as the merman still had his tail out. Becoming overwhelmed with the questions and only wanting to apologize, Sanji tucked his head into Zoro’s neck and muttered, “I’m sorry for making you guys worried. And for yelling at you guys and running off.”

The questions immediately seized upon recognizing Sanji's body language and words. When the blonde slowly pulled away from Zoro, he could see the concerned expressions on the group’s faces. For a moment, Sanji thought he had done something wrong, but his rising anxieties hushed when Nami spoke up.

“Thank you for the apology Sanji,” her face went from one of indifference to a small smile, “We forgive you, for now. But next time you make us worry like that, don't be surprised if I charge you a little something to make up for it.”

“Witch, watch your mouth–”

“It’s okay, marimo,” Sanji laughed, taking the man’s head into his hands, “If everything’s alright here, could you take me to the tub? I’m exhausted and I just want to sleep now so I can spend every minute of tomorrow with you all. It is my last day before I have to leave.”

The group all wished Sanji a good night, and Zoro placed him into his bathtub to sleep. 

“Cook?” Zoro asked, getting ready to head to his own room.

“Yes?” the merman sleepily responded.

“Can I kiss you? It can just be on the forehead, if you feel uncomfortable with the lips.”

Sanji thought only for a moment, “A kiss on the forehead would be nice.”

The human smiled, then leaned over to place a soft kiss onto Sanji’s head.

“Good night, cook.”

“Good night, marimo.”

–

The last day of Sanji’s visit, everyone came with him to his last day of physical therapy in the morning. Franky had packed up his entire grill, and wanted to cook up some barbecued meat for everyone while they spent their last day at the pool. The others brought pool floats, swimming toys, and even some board games to teach Sanji whenever he left the pool to join them on the surface.

Luffy was always one to party, so he was quick to bring out the speaker Franky kept in his car and blast music Sanji had never heard before. The raven-haired man asked Sanji all about food, and made promises of the future, of Sanji meeting his brothers that he loved so much, of Sanji coming to visit their college, of Sanji learning how to dance with his feet one day. Luffy’s smile and optimism was contagious, because Sanji was beginning to believe in a return to the surface one day too. The chances were slim, what with this current trip being dangerous enough as it was, but Luffy always made the impossible feel possible.

Nami was the one to have brought most of the board games. After Sanji’s therapy session was over, she taught him how to play a multitude of card games, how to play Monopoly, how to play Sorry, how to play Guess Who, and then a few rounds of checkers and chess. She taught Sanji how to gamble on some of the card games, and the value of surface currency through Monopoly. Sanji was delighted to have her be so attentive to him, and the way she was so stubborn as to never let her guard down around him made him feel secure, not like someone to look down on, but someone of equal value.

Usopp had been the bunt of their jokes throughout the board games, the other player they always teased whenever he got a bad roll on Monopoly or a bad hand in a card game. He also had brought his laptop to show Sanji things about their college: their planned schedules so far, what they’re all studying, their textbooks. The long-nosed man showed Sanji some posters and logos he had made in his free time as an artist and graphic designer, and told him the purpose and meaning behind each color and each symbol. To Sanji, the craft was similar to what cooking was to him.

Chopper gave Sanji multiple check ups throughout the day. He wanted Sanji to know he was cared for before he had to leave, and he also kept crying and tearing up throughout the day. The merman wished he could have given him more, since the little doctor was the one who restored Sanji to full health. Chopper spent his time riding on Sanji’s back in the pool, holding onto the blonde’s long hair so as to not fall, and even though the tugging on his head was slightly uncomfortable, it was nothing Sanji couldn’t handle. The small doctor’s smile was well worth it.

Franky and Robin stayed out of the pool most of the day. It seemed as though they were focused on other things, which was fine for Sanji. Robin had brought a multitude of groceries and Franky had been preparing and setting up the grill for their last dinner together at the pool. On top of that, he had also placed a long table with seats by the poolside for their meals as well, and another table was placed near a sink on the other side of the pool for cooking. Robin had set up a whole station with the groceries for Sanji to cook up a storm, and the blonde was more than happy to oblige.

After their dinner, most of the crew was tired from playing and traveling the entire day. Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp were practically falling asleep on top of each other, and Nami was beginning to complain how tired she was. Robin suggested they head home for the night, and Franky packed everyone up into the cars– well, except for Zoro and Sanji, as the two wanted some alone time to themselves.

Once they were alone, Zoro and Sanji both sat on the side of the pool together, much like the night before. They began with casual conversation, until at some point Sanji noticed Zoro looking troubled once again, and couldn’t bring it in himself not to ask.

“What’s wrong, marimo?”

Zoro went quiet. He placed his hands in his lap and his eyes trailed down to them as he started.

“Sanji, you’re much stronger than I am.”

“I think you’re mistaken, marimo,” Sanji sighed, “I’m not a strong person at all. You, on the other hand, are the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

Zoro responded with a confused stare.

“Moss,” Sanji started, “Your friends rely on you heavily– you’re the backbone of the group. It could be that you’re unbelievably stupid, but the confidence you have in your choices and decisions are so absolute and sure, it’s hard not to believe in you. You could move mountains if you wanted to, and no one would doubt it.”

The merman began swishing his tail through the water in front of them, “When that scary Krieg guy was trying to hurt me, you were so quick to back me up. You’re a very strong person, marimo.”

Zoro shook his head, “Physically, I’m strong. Some can argue mentally. But what you do, Sanji, is far more stronger than me.”

Sanji’s head whipped to Zoro’s extremely fast it was almost neck breaking, “What?”

“I suppose it’s only fair I tell you,” The marimo sighed, “As you know, I grew up with my host family in a foreign country compared to where I was originally born. When I first moved in and started going to school, I had a hard time learning English and getting along with other kids. The only person I had befriended was Luffy, but he was a neighborhood kid getting homeschooled, so we didn’t even go to school together.”

That makes sense . Sanji had noticed that of everyone, Luffy was the only one allowed to touch Zoro so casually. Everyone else was friendly with him but kept more of a distance.

“My caretaker, Mihawk, noticed I was still a bit depressed about moving to a completely new place, so he tried signing me up to sports to see if I could get along with anyone,” Zoro laughed, “He tried putting me in a lot of different sports– we tried baseball, swimming, soccer, football, and even basketball. I was fairly good at the sports overall, but I never really got along with my teammates. Eventually, I ended up at kendo.”

Zoro’s tone grew soft, “That’s where I met Kuina.”

“Kuina?” Sanji’s voice questioned. He had never heard the name, but it was clear by Zoro’s body language that it was someone important to him.

“Yeah,” Zoro took a deep breath, “In kendo, it was about respect and honor, but also about competitive strength. Unlike the other sports I had participated in, it was alright not to like my teammates, since practice was literally fighting them. Kuina was the strongest member there.”

Zoro smiled, remembering the good memories, “Her father was a teacher of kendo and also owned the dojo we trained at. Because of this, Kuina breathed and lived kendo. It was in her very being. And for once, she was someone that I could not overcome or defeat. I challenged her everyday, any chance I could get, and not once did I ever defeat her.”

Sanji couldn’t imagine how important this person is to Zoro, but he was happy to be able to hear of this before leaving. He had never seen Zoro look so fond of someone.

“We considered each other rivals, nevertheless,” the human continued, “I saw her as someone to challenge, and she saw me as someone to be wary of. She was a few years older than me, so she got to start professional kendo competitions before I did, and even when I entered the competitions, our skills and age difference were so wide that we never really faced off against each other in an official match.”

“Because of this,” Zoro’s tone changed, “We promised when we both became adults, we would face off each other in the big leagues. It made sense since age didn’t matter when we were no longer minors. It was our life long dream to compete against each other one day, a decision of who truly was the strongest–me or her.”

Sanji felt something cold trickle into his veins. A common sign of misfortune.

“However,” the swordsman’s voice wavered, “Once Kuina had graduated high school, she was diagnosed with some type of disease that ate away at her muscles. She began treatment right away, and promised me she’d hold out until I was of age.”

The merman could see Zoro’s fists clench in a rabid emotion, “She waited and waited for me until eventually, she couldn’t stand anymore. As of the end of last semester, when I was finally going to make my official debut in the big leagues, she passed out in the middle of the competition. When the doctors looked her over, they said she’d have to be transferred over to another hospital in another country.”

Zoro sighed, “She was moved over there immediately a day after the competition. The doctors said she was well past her time, and that she may never be able to compete again. On the day they transferred her, I came to see her off… she didn’t look me in the face. She didn’t even say goodbye.”

The blonde watched as Zoro took a deep breath and changed his attention from the painful memory to Sanji, “When I heard the news that she’d never be able to stand again, I couldn’t help but feel it was my fault. She was training herself despite her disease because she wanted to give me a proper fight. After I graduated high school, I could have debuted earlier, but I was too afraid to actually fight her and lose, so I used college as an excuse. She still waited for me and now…” his voice broke off as he paused, “I tell myself I’m taking a break because I need to relax, but I know it’s not true. I’m just running away– I ran away to this place claiming that the purpose was so I could get my head back on my shoulders. But the truth is, I’m afraid. I’d told myself I’m done with kendo. With college.”

“But you, Sanji,” Zoro used the merman’s name again, which was still an odd occurrence, “You’re different . I’m not sure what it is back at home you’re so scared of, but I can tell that it’s something that gnaws at the back of your mind every day, all day. But you’re not like me– you won’t run away. In fact, you’re going back there because you want to face your fears. And I admire you for that.”

Sanji’s hands shook, “Really, marimo? You think that’s what makes me strong? I still don’t quite understand it, but thank you for telling me about Kuina. She seemed like a wonderful rival.”

The merman took Zoro’s hand into his own trembling one, “I still don’t understand why you love me, you strange human.”

Zoro laughed, “Well at first, if I’m being completely honest, your appearance is definitely up my alley. Other than the whole merman part, I was initially attracted to your long, blonde hair and blue eyes that shone like the ocean. Your arms were fit but not too overwhelming, and you had a really nice threatening glare that felt almost fierce.”

My hair . Sanji touched it instinctively. His brothers always teased him since his hair looked identical to his mother’s, and so did his eyes.

“But then past the looks, I actually got to know you. You were kind enough to feed the same man who tried to kill you. You were strong enough to fight that Krieg guy with nothing but your legs. You were curious enough to teach yourself different things. And you’re brave enough to put your trust in absolute strangers who want to help you. Need I go on?”

Sanji was blushing harshly now, he knew it. His ears were burning and even though he was still dipped in cold water, it felt unbearably hot right now.

“And you?” Zoro spoke up again, “What makes you think so highly of me?”

Sanji sighed dreamily, “I can’t say it quite yet,” he paused, facing the man next to him head on, “But how could I not love someone as human as you?”

The merman wasn’t planning on it, but before he could think twice, he found himself taking Zoro’s head into his hands, leaning forwards, and kissing his rough lips.

The contact was jarring to Sanji, as he had never kissed anyone before this, but he tried his best to convey the overflowing amount of love he wanted to give to the swordsman. The two stayed like that for what felt like hours, softly holding each other in the moonlight, before Zoro pulled away and settled on touching their foreheads together instead.

“Curls, I know this might be asking a lot,” the swordsman took Sanji’s hands in his own hands, “But do you think you could come back to us once everything in your old life has settled down?”

Sanji moved away from Zoro then, hands still in his, “You told me your old life, marimo, I might as well tell you mine, but let’s wait until we go back to the Sunny Shack, yes? I think everyone deserves to know, after all.”

Zoro grinned, “Whatever you want.”

The two returned home similar to the night before, only this time, Sanji was walking besides Zoro, hand in hand.

When they finally entered the house, Sanji requested everyone to hear his story.

And so Sanji reluctantly told them everything. From his mother’s death, to Judge’s dictatorship, to his brothers’ punishments, and even bits of his sister’s indifference. He told of his royal heritage and his sheltered life in an abusive home, and what would happen if he wasn’t to return soon.

“This is so stupid !” Nami was again the first to react, “Sanji! You can’t go back there, everything will just go back to how they were , right? You can’t just let those people treat you like that!”

“I wish there was something we could do,” Luffy huffed, “I don’t want Sanji getting hurt. Brothers shouldn’t treat each other like that.”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Usopp explained, “Besides, you know, hoping for the best for Sanji. We can’t go down there in a submarine to help him out, since we don’t want the king to like, think we’re attacking his kingdom or anything like that.”

“Just know this, Sanji,” Robin’s calm voice cut through the chaos like a knife, “That if you ever need a place to go, we will always be here waiting for you. You are always welcomed here.”

Sanji smiled. That was all he needed to hear.

“I…” He hesitated, “I will return. As soon as I can. I don’t want to be with those people anymore, I want to be with all of you. I want to stay here, with the Sunny Shack. But after I settle things with Judge first. I will come back. I promise.”

–

Sanji’s return was much more quiet than he thought it’d be.

The kingdom looked the same as ever– overarching buildings, giant marine life, busy soldiers, servants, and civilians bustling about.

However, from the moment Sanji had entered the gates of the kingdom, a cold chill ran down his spine and an unfamiliar feeling of dread filled his gut. Taking this as a warning sign by some greater force, the merman made his way to the back entrance of the castle and decided to go to his room through there.

There was surprisingly no sign of guards anywhere near his room, which was odd, since Judge was always careful to put many there since he snuck out so often. The unsettling feeling in his chest continued to pester him, but he tried to ignore it as he entered the bedroom he had lived in for his entire life.

After closing the door quietly, Sanji first realized that everything was completely untouched and where he last left it.

Good. At least my brothers haven’t been going through my stuff .

Sanji decided that it’d be best to start packing up anything he would want to keep for when he resurfaced, so he grabbed onto a small satchel he kept tied to the end of his bed and began packing. He’d have to speak to Judge later about his leave, however, he was thinking of some cover up story that would make the man more lenient to his requests.

The merman thought of telling the king he was going to leave the kingdom for good– he could explain his disappearance as Sanji having run away as a test trial, and after realizing the kingdom no longer needed him, he had decided it was okay to leave forever. However, he had no idea what to expect from Judge. The man was not far from being considered a psychopath, and his methods of doing most things were unreasonable and mad.

He wanted to speak to the king after packing his things. If the upcoming events really went south after all, he could always just run away somewhere else, somewhere Judge would not be able to find him under all the seas. Perhaps he could go to the neighboring kingdom, the Charlotte Kingdom, which was rumored to be impossibly stronger than the Vinsmoke Kingdom.

His door suddenly flew open, and Sanji was surprised to feel the sway of the water pushing against his back as it alarmed him of an intruder in his bedroom. The blonde whipped his head around, prepared to fight, when he saw none other than Yonji, smirking like a madman.

“Well, well, well. I knew you were alive.”

Sanji rolled his eyes before finishing up his packing and placing his bag of belongings on his back.

“Yonji, do you know where Judge is?”

“Father’s busy right now, but I’m sure he’s going to want to see you.” The green-haired brother smirked, “Don’t you want to say hello to your brothers first? Ichiji is doing paperwork in his study, but I’m sure he can make some free time for you. Niji’s training in the courtyard, I bet he’d love to see you .”

The threatening tone made a shiver run down Sanji’s spine. No . He can’t show them he’s afraid. He’s just going to see Judge and tell him to stay away from him and the surface from now on. This isn’t about reunion–This is about cutting ties with these people once and for all. The only people he wants to see right now are Judge, and maybe Reiju. He wished to say goodbye to Reiju, at the very least.

“What of Reiju, Yonji? Do you know her whereabouts?”

The youngest of the Vinsmokes huffed in dismay. Sanji knew what his brother wanted. Yonji wanted to see Sanji afraid, but he wasn’t going to get that satisfaction.

“No, Sanji. I don’t know where Reiju is, unfortunately. Oh! But I really think you should say hello to everyone before you get any crazy ideas.”

Before the blonde could even begin to get away, Yonji grabbed him by the arm and dragged him along with him. Sanji knew where they were going– Ichiji’s study. He could recognize the route to that room from the curves and bends in the castle hallways. Seeing Ichiji was similar to seeing Judge. The brother was so foreign and unreadable to the blonde that Sanji wasn’t sure what Ichiji’s reaction to seeing him would be. It could either go in his favor or against it.

“Hey! Looks like we have ourselves a surprise today!” Yonji announced as he swung open the doors to Ichiji’s study room.

To Sanji’s shock, Ichiji and Niji were both in the study today. Ichiji was standing at a wall with a large map on it, and it looked as if he was explaining something to Niji about it before the other two had barged in.

“Sanji?” Niji smirked, “Wow, the prodigal son is actually alive and well! Whoa, look at that impressive scar on your tail, though! You did that yourself?”

The blonde covered over the scar embarrassingly, ears burning as he found himself feeling the need to cry. Why did he have to point that out first?

“Silence, Niji,” Ichiji interrupted, before he faced Sanji, “You’ve been gone a long time, brother. You had a habit of sneaking out ever since we were little, but this was on another level entirely. Come, let’s go speak to father immediately.”

Sanji was surprised Ichiji hadn’t said anything berating yet. He was usually the most aggressive in mind games when it came to teasing, however, then again, Sanji was not as keen on Ichiji as he was on the other siblings.

“Your arrival may ruin Father’s plans, after all.”

All of the brothers traveled down the halls to the throne room, where they saw Judge seated on his throne, currently talking to one of the head engineers of the kingdom. Placed next to him on her own throne was Reiju, who was listening in on the meeting as well. The brothers all knew this was only for their family’s reputation, though, as Reiju was rarely allowed to speak her mind when it came to political matters for the kingdom. Their sister looked as emotionless as ever, her bejeweled crown sitting atop her head and her tail swishing to the side in little bouts of boredom. The king’s appearance was just as large and intimidating as Sanji remembered it, and he seemed enthralled by whatever he was talking to the engineer about.

It didn’t take long for the meeting to end, and Ichiji was grabbing Sanji by the arm and dragging him into the throne room.

“Father, it looks as though our predictions were wrong. Sanji was not killed that day, unfortunately, he survived ,” Ichiji threw Sanji in front of him, straight in front of Judge’s throne.

Judge’s expression turned into the one Sanji always knew of– disappointment.

“What– What’s going on?” Sanji questioned, trying to keep his voice steady.

The king shook his head, “This can’t be! Sanji, you were supposed to die . Just like your mother. You aren’t supposed to be here.”

The man rose from his throne and lowered himself down to Sanji’s level, just to pick him up and look him eye to eye.

“Was this your plan? To make me look like a liar? To ruin everything I’ve built? I knew you were as foolish as your mother, but I never expected you to be so against me that you’d set up an entire plan to dethrone me!”

Sanji shook his head, confused on what the man was talking about, “Your highness, if I may, I was just coming to pack my things and go. I’m leaving the kingdom. I no longer want to associate myself with you or this cursed bloodline any longer.”

Judge’s eyes filled with rage, and Sanji was half expecting the punch to his face, “You think you can just leave ? You ignorant child. After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me?”

Sanji didn’t answer, he didn’t know what to say. What betrayal had he done?

“Father, do I have permission to speak?” Reiju spoke up, her voice stern and cold.

“What is it, daughter?”

The sister shared a glance with the other brothers, before her eyes trailed back down to Sanji, “Brother, it seems you don’t understand the situation you’re in. You see, after you had disappeared, we assumed you had died, as all that was left of you was the picnic and blood as if you were ambushed. Our family held a kingdom-wide funeral for your fallen self,” Reiju swam over to Sanji’s side, looking down on him, “If word gets out you’re alive, the citizens’ trust in Father may waver, since the queen’s death was announced similarly to yours.”

Judge nodded, “Because of this, you must not be seen alive. If you are to run, someone may find you and find the truth after all.”

Sanji flinched, “Then what? Are you planning to kill me?”

From behind, he could hear Niji snicker, “Sanji, my dear brother, you really are morbid, aren’t you? If Father were to kill you then surely someone could tell– the next time he has a blood test with a future ally they could taste the deceptiveness of killing his own child in his very being.”

“Then what do you have planned for me?” Sanji questioned, voice getting slightly more rasped.

“We could prepare a dungeon for him,” Ichiji sounded as condescending as ever, “That way the blood isn’t on our hands if he wastes away or dies of disease. Additionally, we could always take him out and reveal him alive in the far future, to make it seem as if he was kidnapped and we’d freed him instead.”

Everything seemed to blur as Sanji couldn’t believe what was happening to him.

What? I’m going to be living imprisoned for the rest of my life? What would happen if I ran? Would they chase me down? And he knew if he looked for help then they would easily kill whoever it was, because it wasn’t him they were killing.

His breathing rapidly increased as he heard the voices spin in his head, not understanding what was to happen to him anymore. As the figures grew closer to him, his head became incredibly light and he could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness.

His last thought was of Zoro, and the surface, and the light.

He just wanted to be free.

–

When he awoke, he had found himself sitting alone in a stone dark room with nothing but himself and his thoughts. The room had an attempt at a bed in the corner, and the door was made of metal and bars for a window.

This can’t actually be happening . Sanji knew his family was cruel, but he never knew them to be this corrupted.

For the first few days, Sanji spent his time trying to escape. He digs at the walls, checks for loose bricks, bangs on the door, and picks on the screws of the door and the lock of the knob. Nothing he does changes the situation, but he wants to do whatever he can to escape. He was not needed here. He wanted to go back to the surface. 

There are no windows to the outside world, so there’s no way for him to have known if anyone even knew he was down there. The only other signs of life are his one meal brought to him around dinner time everyday. There is a little lock on the window of the door that can be opened from the outside, where a tray of food is delivered to him by a different server everyday as well.

In some ways, the food mocks him. It is all he’s ever wanted in life–not to consume, but to make. It is also the only way he can have any access to the outside world, a tray of food that tasted mediocre, but fed him nevertheless.

After the first few days, Sanji begins to lose hope. He doesn’t believe that anyone will come for him, and he knew that there was no way he could communicate to his surface friends from here. He tries to converse with the servers who bring him meals, but none ever react or say a word. Sanji can only feel despair that he may as well just accept his fate. Reiju comes to visit him after about a week. She doesn’t say anything, but she stands outside his door and just looks at him, as if he were an animal on display. He wanted to believe she was here because she cared for him, but her actions never match her intentions, and he wishes she would just tell him whether she loved him or not.

Love . Sanji thinks of Zoro. He loved him. And just like Kuina, Sanji worried that he, too, would fail to keep his promise of returning to his marimo. The man would probably be waiting for him forever, never knowing what happened to his love.

Sanji also thinks of the others. He practices writing by scraping English letters on the stone walls, and he remembered Robin’s wise words on how to pronounce them all correctly. He thought of Luffy’s stories about his brothers, and he wondered what kind of people Luffy grew up with for him to become the way he was.

Sanji then thinks of his mother. Based on Judge’s reaction, he wondered what had become of her. He always believed that she had died long ago, and he would never be able to see her again. But the king seemed frantic enough to where Sanji wondered if she were also imprisoned somewhere, but Judge was too much of a coward to save her, so he declared her dead.

The blonde picked at his food every day, but ate it all nevertheless. He thinks of Gin. He hopes the man is living a better life now, and not following after horrible people like the Krieg guy. Sanji eats the food as he remembers the words he told him, “ As for you, please eat this meal, and try to become a better person .”

Reiju comes to visit the week after as well, this time she’s the one delivering food to Sanji. The merman doesn’t expect much from the princess. She was never the type to start conversations, and he didn’t need her pity either. So the two sit in silence as Sanji eats his food and Reiju stares at him through the dungeon door’s only window.

“Sanji,” Reiju started, which was a miracle in itself, “I have to ask you a question.”

The man in question swallows the food hard, “What?”

His tone is harsh and angry, but he couldn’t hold it back. Things always turned out like this: Sanji would get in trouble and get punished, and Reiju would come to listen to him vent. In some ways it was a kind gesture, but what he always really wanted from her was for her to save him. Defend him. Do something to help. If not from Judge, at least from their brothers.

But no, she never did.

Reiju asked, “Who are these people to you?”

Sanji quirked his eyebrow as he looked to see what she was holding. It was the polaroid photo of him and everyone at the entrance to the island’s town that Robin had made a waterproof copy of for him before he left.

“Where did you–” Sanji remembered that he had left it in his satchel that he was packing to escape with, he stuck his hand out the window towards her, “Give that back, Reiju!”

His sister only looked at the photo closer, studying it carefully.

“Answer my question first, Sanji, then I’ll give it back to you,” she faced the photo towards him again, “Who are these people to you?”

The blonde grit his teeth. What did she get out of this? He didn’t know what his sister was possibly after. But he feared that she would show the image to her brothers or Judge, so he decided he might as well tell her.

“They’re my friends. From the surface,” Sanji answered shortly.

Reiju stared at the photo again, “What about this one, with the green hair?”

Sanji was taken aback, “Why are you so interested in him?”

“Because he looks absolutely enamored with you, Sanji. Is he your lover?”

She held the photo in a gesture to give to Sanji, and the merman snatched it from her hand hastily.

“That’s none of your business.” He spat as he held the photo preciously to his chest.

Reiju held another tense silence, “You looked happy.”

Sanji sighed, “I was.”

The princess left him soon after that, and Sanji was glad that she at least had the decency to leave him the photo. Knowing how she was, the merman also knew she wouldn’t tell anyone about his surface friends.

As another week passes, Sanji wonders if Luffy and the others have traveled back home to where they go to school. There’s a feeling of despair in his stomach at the thought, but thinking about his friends is the only thing that keeps him going.

He gets into a schedule: every morning he wakes up and practices reading and writing English. Following after, he braids and unbraids his hair about 10 to 15 times, remembering Zoro’s fingers in his hair. He closes his eyes and imagines the beach side, or the training pool. 

Around what he assumes to be noon, he uses pieces of cloth that he had gotten as napkins for his dinners and brands them as different types of surface currency. He remembers Nami’s teachings and pretends to buy ingredients for food. Afterwards, he pretends to then cook the food in any way he can imagine, and has a big feast in his cell.

It’s funny, Sanji thinks, that he spent so much time practicing how to swim again only for him to barely have to use his tail the moment he returned to the sea. If anything, he’d imagine he’d have to use it to run away, but he wasn’t even given the option.

Around dinner, when his meal of the day is given to him, he eats the food slowly and gratefully, and thinks of all the ways he could improve it if given the chance. He imagines how Luffy would inhale the meal and ask for more, only for the kingdom soldiers to ignore his pleas.

Sanji thinks for a moment he’s going crazy with this routine, but surprisingly, he realizes it’s the only thing keeping him from sinking into his own swirling depression.

—

He thought he imagined the clink sound coming from outside. Was someone outside? Were they trying to help? Who could be here to save him? His tail swished messily as he made his way to the dungeon door, surprised to see the knob wobbling, as if someone was picking the lock.

There were more clicking sounds as he approached the door, and for a moment a feeling of fear rushed through him. What if it was one of his brothers? What if they were here to hurt him? Should he be preparing to defend himself?

Clack .

The knob sank slowly to the floor as it was completely disabled from the door. The giant piece of metal swung open inharmoniously, and Sanji was more than surprised to see Reiju standing on the other side, a strange tool in her hand.

She immediately brought a finger to her lips as a signal for Sanji not to make a sound and whispered, “Follow me. I already have your stuff in the back, I’ll help you get out of here.”

Sanji didn’t think twice as he swam quickly to go by her side. The two swiftly went through different hallways and tunnels Sanji had never seen in the castle before, but followed suit anyways. They eventually made it to an exit that was covered in sea algae and long pieces of seaweed.

Reiju took Sanji’s hands into her own, “After you reach the other side of this exit, you’ll see an underwater current that carries a ton of sea life. Take that current and get as far away from here as you can.”

“Why,” Sanji asked, “Why are you helping me?”

Reiju sighed, “Mother only wanted for us all to be happy. Father only wants us to be weapons. Our brothers and I have chosen Father’s side in order to cause less inconvenience. But you, Sanji, were always one who fought for your own happiness. Your own freedom. And I think Father has no right to take that from you.”

The princess paused, and then, “Do those people treat you kindly?”

Sanji nodded.

“Then go to them, if they will take you and accept you.”

The blonde smiled tearily, “Thank you, Reiju,” he leaned forwards and hugged her, “Thank you so much. I don’t know how I could have–”

“So this is where you went, Sister .”

The two gasped as they turned their heads and saw Ichiji, NIji, and Yonji not too far behind them.

“Sanji, get out of here, I’ll hold them off–”

“There’s no need for that,” Niji smirked, “We’re not here to stop you. Unfortunately, the future heir over here just wants to talk to our beloved Sanji before he leaves.”

Reiju kept her hand on Sanji’s shoulder as the blonde moved forward, “What is it, Ichiji?”

The redhead had his never changing expression as he approached Sanji calmly.

“Father is planning on moving the kingdom,” the first son stated, “His engineers have found a method to move the entire kingdom freely so we’ll be a mobile nation. He believes that we’re too close to the surface dwellers, and we should conquer the other undersea kingdoms before attempting to interact with the surface. However, getting the entire country to move with us and go to war means a tremendous amount of trust, and he believes your sense of justice, freedom, and very existence stands in the way of that trust.”

A mobile kingdom? So that’s what Judge’s plan is! Sanji had never considered the idea, it didn’t seem possible.

“So what?” Sanji replied, “You think that’s going to convince me to just sit here and waste away?”

Ichiji didn’t even hesitate, “No. I’m just letting you know that after you leave, there will be no kingdom here anymore.”

“...You’re not going to stop me from running away?” Sanji was confused. Ichiji always did whatever Judge wanted. The man was practically the perfect, obedient son. When the boys were little, he had even once heard Ichiji say he would rather kill himself than disobey a ‘great king like their father’.

“I may be my Father’s son,” Ichiji explained calmly, “But I am also my Mother’s. And she wouldn’t want this. She would have wanted you to be happy.”

“Yeah, and we also don’t want you taking up space in a dungeon where we could be keeping actual prisoners,” Niji said cheekily.

“I think you should just do whatever you want to, Sanji,” Yonji said thoughtlessly.

Sanji shook his head, “What? I’m so confused– WHAT?! You guys tortured me my whole life and now you’re just– going to let me go? This is the perfect opportunity to catch me and beat me up– take me back to Judge and get all the awards and praise from him you crave so much. I don’t– What?”

“Sanji,” Ichiji was hugging him. What was going on?

“Sanji, I don’t understand it either. You know that photo of you and your friends on the surface? Yonji originally found it and showed it to us. We realized we’ve never seen you look that happy before. Never . We asked Reiju to see what your relationship was with those people and…”

The eldest brother trailed off, and then, “We don’t quite know why, but we know Mother would be happy if you were happy. Sanji, all I can say for now to you is… Maybe in another life, we could all have been a real family.”

The redhead pulled away from Sanji and rejoined to where his brothers were, “Take off, Sanji.”

Niji smirked, “Maybe one day we’ll come by to visit.”

Yonji laughed, “And maybe we can learn what’s so great about the surface, after all!”

Sanji smiled back at them, “Yeah, and by then I’ll be leagues better at the surface than you!”

Reiju was the last to speak, “There isn’t much time, Sanji. With all of us here, Judge will surely come searching for us.”

She hugged him one last time, “I’m so glad you found people who are as kind and loving as you.”

Sanji held her one last time, and as he pulled away, he saw Reiju slip him the photo of their mother. The blonde held it close to his chest before grabbing his things that were placed by the exit and swam towards the underwater current.

Maybe he wouldn’t mind seeing his siblings again one day.

—

When Sanji came back to the surface, he noticed the sun was on the verge of setting. As the merman approached the shore, he had to double check when he saw a silhouetted figure standing on the beach. The figure looked out into the ocean, scanning, as if looking for something. When it expressed that it could not find what it was searching for, it turned around and began walking back.

Sanji was unsure who it was, until he saw it pick up the long sword that was seated on the beach next to him.

Zoro .

Sanji could feel his legs kick in as he transformed, him stuttering in the water as he had never swam with his legs before. His pace picked up as he watched Zoro walk further and further away from the ocean.

Finally, when he was sure he was close enough, he shouted, “HEY MOSS!”

The man in question turned his head around and ran towards the ocean, “CURLS?!”

The two collided where sea meets land, and Zoro did what he loved most, he picked up Sanji bridal style in his arms and held him close, spinning and twirling in the waves like a little kid.

Sanji cuddled into Zoro’s chest, feeling content.

He was safe. He was home .

–

Zoro and Sanji moved into a house between the town and the Sunny Shack. Franky and Robin insist they move in with them, but Sanji couldn’t bring it in himself to take up space where others could be living. Zoro had asked his caretaker (who Sanji later learned was an extremely rich man) to buy them a house that met the place halfway. The beach house was right at the shore of the island, so Sanji could go into the water whenever he wanted.

Because of all the moving, Sanji had never gotten to tour the town again. He had intended to sooner, but he had surprisingly really gotten into the whole moving process. Buying furniture, painting walls, setting up his own kitchen– it was much more enjoyable than anything Sanji had experienced.

Zoro had gotten a job at a local dojo that taught a variety of martial arts and weapons training for young children to adults. Master Jinbei mainly taught karate and different forms of tae-kwon-do, but he gladly enjoyed the other arts of self-defense as well. Zoro’s main job was to clean the place, but he seemed to really enjoy watching the kendo class, and for his aching soul, it was enough to make him give Kuina a call. She managed to get treatment to stop her disease for now, but it was still true that she would never be able to walk again. The former swordmaster did promise to come visit Zoro whenever she got the chance.

It took them a good few months to finish the moving process, and by the next vacation time, Luffy and the others had already returned from school to have another few weeks of joy before their next semester.

Sanji finally got to meet Sabo and Ace. They were really different from his own brothers, and they cared a ton about Luffy. Funnily enough, they also ate as much as Luffy did, and as a cook, Sanji was happy to oblige in their hunger.

“We should go to town together! Sanji, you haven’t gotten the chance to go to all the restaurants yet, right?” Luffy suggested one day excitedly.

The group were currently sitting on the beach after having spent an entire day throwing water balloons and spraying each other with water guns.

Sanji nodded, “Unfortunately, the marimo and I have been far too busy moving, so we haven’t had the time.”

“Great! I want to take you to this cool seafood place,” Luffy exclaimed, “It’s called the ‘Barrot’ or something like that. Or we could go to that one place with the live performances! Do you think Brooke will be performing tonight? Or we could go to–”

Nami hit him across the head, “It’s called the ‘Baratie’! BA-RA-TEE-AY!”

Sanji tilted his head at the name, “Yeah, we can go. If we head out now, we’ll be there right after the dinner rush, so there shouldn’t be that many customers.”

Everyone packed up into the cars and made their way to town.

Franky had already introduced Sanji to Iceberg on a different occasion during the move, and the man had actually let Sanji know there were many merfolk disguised as humans living amongst those in town.

So when Sanji stepped back into town he wondered which of the citizens were people and which were merfolk. As he saw how happy many of them were with each other, he realized that in some sense, it didn’t matter that much– as long as they could live in harmony with one another that’s what mattered.

The group made it into the seafood restaurant, and as Sanji predicted, there weren’t as many customers as most of them were leaving for the evening. A waitress guided them to their seats, and as they looked over the menu Sanji couldn’t help but sense a strange feeling. It was as if someone were watching him.

His eyes scanned the area, and lo and behold, he heard a plate crash onto the floor and a woman scream.

“Sanji? Is that really you?”

The blonde turned his head slowly. He’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“...Mom?”

Sora was wearing the same uniform the waitresses were, and was currently standing with a hand over her mouth while tears streamed down her face. An old man with a ridiculously large chef hat and a twin-braided mustache came over to comfort her immediately.

The two spoke to each other softly, before the man dismissed Sora to go somewhere else and then approached Sanji, “You. Little eggplant, come with me to the back, please.”

“I’m coming too,” Zoro butted in, because he didn’t want Sanji going somewhere with a stranger.

The chef rolled his eyes before escorting the pair to the back where Sora was seated.

“You’re Sanji, aren’t you? My son?”

Sanji copied the same gesture that Sora had done earlier, hand covering his mouth in shock and tears welling on his cheeks, “Mom? I wasn’t imagining it? What are you doing here? Judge said you died!”

Sora stood and scooped her son up in her arms lovingly, hugging him comfortingly, “No, no I didn’t. I’m so sorry, Sanji, I’m so sorry for forgetting about you. Where are your brothers? And your sister? Are they here too?”

Sanji wiped the tears from his cheeks, “No… there’s a lot of catching up to do.”

And so Sanji learned what had happened to his mother all those years ago through her and the chef (who Sanji learned was named Zeff).

Sora had gone to her favorite picnic area to collect shells that Yonji and Niji were fighting over. She had also just gotten into an argument with Judge regarding how to raise their children, so she went over to clear her mind when a mermaid hunter attacked her. Zeff was the one to save her, and after he had nursed her to health they discovered she had amnesia from the attack.

Zeff welcomed her with open arms to work in his restaurant, and the two eventually fell in love. However, she always felt like she was missing something important.

“It was all of you. My children. I’m so sorry I forgot about you.” Sora ended the story, tears in her eyes once again.

“Don’t worry, mom,” Sanji assured her, “If you want to know, I’m trying to become a chef! It’s almost ironic that you ended up with a chef as well, so don’t cry about it, be happy!”

Zeff, who had been having an intense staring contest with Zoro, moved his attention to Sanji, “Hey, eggplant, you said you just moved in around here, right?”

Sanji tilted his head, “Yeah, I did. So what about it?”

“You’ve got spunk, kid, I like that,” Zeff closed his eyes and ran his finger over his mustache, ”Are you employed anywhere as a chef yet?”