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“This will be our little secret, my love.” A sweet voice whispered to him, hidden away in the small kitchen attached to her room, his eyes looking up at her, at her smile that never dimmed, even on the worst of days. “Your father and your siblings don’t fancy this dish as much as we do, that’s why we never have it on the big table.”
Sanji's eyes still didn’t stray from the way she was perfectly cutting the fish before putting it on the pan.
“The yellow perch is a type of fish only found in our waters, it needs cold weather to thrive and in the whole wide blue, it may have difficulty surviving.”
Sora worked swiftly and before Sanji knew it, there was a plate in front of them, the fish put together perfectly in the middle with an assembly of toppings that made it look very appealing.
He could feel his mouth water and he couldn’t even be embarrassed when Sora giggled at him.
“Go on, baby, dive in.”
Sanji didn’t need to be told twice, he took a fork before taking a big bite, delighting himself in its flavor.
His mom was looking at him with the softest eyes he could remember.
“So, what does it taste like?”
He didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“It tastes like home.”
He didn’t fully understand what was it that he said, but before he knew it, Sora had him engulfed in a big hug, and even at his young age, he couldn’t ignore the way she trembled and the way her voice broke as she spoke next.
“Then let’s make a thousand recipes together.” Sora breathed, her grip tightening. “And we’ll make every single one of them feel like home.”
“Alright!” Sanji said happily, tightening his own arms around his mom.
He soon came to realize, some things just don’t go as planned.
Or at least, that’s what he used to think, before his sister slipped a small notebook in the pocket of his jacket.
Her notebook
Sometimes, when he could take a break from his never ending duties, Sanji would find himself reading the recipes written on his mother’s notebook, over and over, he knew them by heart now.
He liked to close his eyes and imagine her writing them, with that beautiful smile she always sported for him.
He would like nothing more than to make them for his crew.
The downside of it all, was that all the recipes had ingredients almost exclusively found in the North Blue, so he had resigned himself to having to wait until he found the All Blue to be able to make the same dishes Sora loved making.
He really should have known better, for the New World worked in mysterious ways.
“Sanji!” He startled, closing the notebook before shoving it in the back of his locker, his eyes quickly finding the culprit, a scowl taking place on his mouth the moment he saw him.
Usopp raised his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry for scaring you man, but just wanted to tell you we’ll be docking in Cibo island in no time, figured you’ll want to get your list of groceries ready.” He spoke quickly before disappearing, almost as if he was never there at all.
Sanji sighed, once again alone in the room and with one last forlorn look at his own locker, he got up from the bench, taking his list from the pocket of his jacket and scanning it over, just to be sure he hadn’t omitted anything and walked out towards the deck.
Soon enough, he felt the Sunny stop and with it came Luffy’s yells ordering to drop the anchor.
“Alright, the logpose takes about two days to set, so you’ll have until then to get everything you need to do ready.” Nami instructed the whole crew before her gaze settled on their captain. “And for the love of every deity out there, do not, cause any trouble.”
Sanji felt for their beautiful navigator, even more in the wake of Luffy’s careless giggles, he couldn’t even feel bad for his captain when Nami started shaking him by his neck, he clearly deserved that.
His thoughts were deterred, when he felt a tug on his pants, looking down, he found himself staring at Chopper’s face, a small smile adorning it.
“Can I go with you?” He asked him, eager. “I know you need to get the groceries, but I wanted to look for some herbs that grow on this island.”
Sanji couldn’t help but smile at his excited tone. “Alright, you can be my pack mule today instead of the mosshead.”
“Hey!” He heard Zoro complain from where he was resting against the mast. “I’m still going, I want sake.”
Sanji scowled. “I have evenly distributed the budget given by my lovely Nami so we don’t starve until the next island, I am not spending extra just so you can get the fancy stuff, mosshead.”
Zoro rolled his eyes. “Idiot cook.”
“Stupid plant.” Sanji growled back.
“Boys,” Robin intervened, her voice as serene as always. “I believe it’s time to disembark, why don’t you be on your way, I’m sure every minute counts.”
“As always, you’re correct, my beautiful flower.” Sanji bowed dramatically, making her giggle.
“Thank you, dear cook.”
“Alright, let’s get going.” A grunt from Zoro and a small squeal from Chopper later, all while Nami was still scolding Luffy and they were getting down from the ship, ready to start the path towards the main town.
If only.
“For God’s sake, mosshead, that’s the wrong way!”
The island was beautiful, the town, even more so, it was so full of food stalls and markets, Sanji could almost say he was in paradise.
He had found almost every item on his list, all with pretty good deals, if he dare to say so himself, he was almost certain he was going to be able to give Nami some berri back which was bound to make her happy and a happy navigator was a very happy Sanji.
“How many more things are left on your stupid list?” Zoro complained from the back, his arms full of bags, but in his defense, the swordsman didn’t look like he was working a sweat, so Sanji didn’t feel bad about it.
Chopper was walking beside them, nose deep in a book they had found about the local fauna, his small backpack full of herbs he bought.
“This place is amazing!” He chirped. “There’s so many new medicines I can make with the herbs I got, I can’t wait to get back to the Sunny and start!”
“Well, with the way the mosshead over there seems to fancy getting hurt, I’m sure you’ll have a test subject very soon, Chopper.” Sanji teased, making him laugh and Zoro scowl.
He was sure Zoro must have said something to try and get a rise out of him, but whatever it was, it went ignored, for his attention soon was caught by something.
Something he hadn’t seen in so long.
He didn’t know how long he just stood there, but his companions’ voices soon got him back to earth.
“Are you okay, Sanji?” Chopper asked him, worried.
“Did your head get lost in the clouds, cook?” Zoro wondered, a teasing tone on his voice, of course that is, if you didn’t know him, for Sanji, that had sailed with him for a while, could hear the worried undertone to his words.
He was unable to reply, for he was interrupted by the owner of the stall.
“I see you have gotten your eye on my fish stock!” The old man laughed warmly. “Let me tell you, some of them are not so easily found in these waters, for example this one.” He took one fish from the ice, one Sanji knew all too well. “The yellow perch, exquisite flavor, it’s native from–”
“The North Blue.” Sanji finished for him, ignorant to the way Zoro and Chopper startled.
“I see you know your aquatic life well, young man.” The owner said merrily. “Would you care to take a few?”
Sanji’s eyes fell on the price tag and his heart sank at the amount of digits on it. He wouldn’t waste the grocery money on it and he sure as hell couldn’t afford it with his own.
“No, thank you.” He replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Maybe another time.”
It went over his head the way Chopper stepped forward, ready to complain, but was stopped from doing so by Zoro, who only shook his head.
Soon enough, all the grocery shopping was done and they were on their way back to the Sunny, Sanji being quiet for what remained of their trip.
If he hadn’t been so lost in his thoughts, he may have noticed the look that passed between his crewmates, or the way that Nami and Luffy nodded with conviction as soon as Zoro talked with them.
Sanji should have known, his crew would always go above and beyond.
He could barely believe his eyes, he looked from the barrel to the grins sported by each member of his crew before returning once again to the barrel.
“What?” Zoro’s mocking voice came through his ears. “Cat got your tongue?”
It said a lot about his current state that he didn’t even rise to the bait.
“What is this?” He asked, to no one in particular.
“Zoro and Chopper said this fish is from the north blue! And that you seemed to really want it, but you didn’t get it.” Luffy supplied him with an answer.
His astonished gaze soon morphed into a glare that had the swordsman shrugging his shoulders and the small doctors scrambling to hide behind Robin’s legs.
“Don’t try your tough act right now, cook.” The mosshead spoke carelessly. “You know damn well you wanted the damn fish.”
Sanji could feel his temper flaring. “First of all, you damn well know that the price was out of my budget and second of all, you guys didn’t just get the damn fish, you got so many spices and ingredients we don’t need!”
All of them from the north blue, every single last of them.
“But you wanted it, didn’t you?” Luffy chimed in, effectively startling him.
“Doesn’t matter,” he replied forcefully, even as he could feel his resolve breaking. “I don’t know what to do with all of this.”
It was a lie and a damn bad one at that, if the faces from his crew were anything to go by.
“What about the yellow book you have in your locker, isn’t it full of recipes?”
God damn it, Chopper!
Sanji snapped his head towards the reindeer. “How do you know about that, did you go through my stuff, again?”
Chopper slapped both of his paws over his mouth, his eyes widening; thankfully for him, Robin intervened, her hands holding the notebook he knew all too well.
“Pardon my intrusion, dear cook, but I took the liberty of retrieving this for you.”
Sanji felt the fight drain out of his body, taking the offered item with trembling hands he hoped nobody noticed.
He’s not usually that lucky, though.
“So, what is that, Sanji?” Luffy asked him with his usual smile, around him, the rest of the crew was clearly interested in his answer, hard as they tried to look like they weren’t.
“It’s my mom’s recipe book.” He confessed, slightly self conscious at the way everyone went quiet. “Reiju slipped it into my jacket when we were leaving Whole Cake.”
“Really!” Luffy exclaimed, excited. “And why haven’t you made anything from it yet? I’m sure Sanji’s mom was a pretty good cook.”
Sanji let out a laugh, at least his captain got that one right. “She was the best.” There was a catch on his voice and the softened stares on his crewmates’ faces let him know it didn’t go unnoticed; he cleared his throat. “But to answer your question, almost all the recipes had ingredients that could only be found in the North Blue, which obviously I didn’t have.”
Luffy’s smile, somehow, seemed to grow even bigger.
“Well, but you have them now, don’t you?”
And what other answer could he possibly give in the face of those words.
“What would you like to try?”
The resounding cheer that came from his crew made him sigh.
He wouldn’t change it for anything in this world.
Later, after dinner was done and everybody went to get ready for the night, Sanji went out onto the deck, sitting with his back against the mast, a plate resting on his lap.
The first bite of the dish made tears gather in his eyes.
It tasted exactly like hers.
“What was she like?” A voice asked him from behind, before he felt a presence plop right next to him.
As always, his captain always seemed to know when somebody needed him.
Sanji looked up at the starry night, taking in the clear sky, before replying.
His answer came as easy as breathing.
“She was the best, I miss her everyday.” He looked down at his plate again. “She loved cooking as much as I did. This dish was her favorite, grilled yellow perch, it’s been so long since I was able to taste it.”
Luffy hummed. “Well, when you find the All Blue, you’ll be able to eat it all the time.”
Sanji laughed, leave it to Luffy to be so optimistic.
Still, his heart felt light at the easy way those words came out from his captain’s mouth. As always, there was no hesitation, Sanji would find his ocean, there was no doubt of that.
Suddenly, Luffy grinned and before Sanji knew it, a well loved straw hat was perched upon his head.
“Hey Sanji, let’s make a thousand recipes together, when we find your ocean!”
Sanji felt his breath leave his lungs all at once.
Let’s make a thousand recipes together, and we’ll make every single one of them feel like home.
He could feel his lip trembling, an easy smile taking place.
“Yeah captain, let’s.”
He’ll hold these memories close to his heart, he had no doubt of that.
But well–
The future’s looking just a little more bright.
And he’ll be ready for it.