Archive of Our Own ^beta

The Dragon Pirates have a fearsome name, a disturbing Jolly Roger, a ship with black and red sails and a dragon-shaped figurehead that would make the less fearless tremble... like Usopp or Chopper. Or the wonderful Nami-san. Sanji knew that crossing paths with them would lead to trouble, but he hadn't imagined what kind of trouble it would be.

In all honesty, fighting with this crew is too easy, almost unsatisfying. He only needs to land his most basic kicks to be able to knock out most of them, or alternatively, knock them overboard. Mosshead is behind him and only needs Shusui to get them out of the way. During the heat of battle, their shoulders collide and Sanji exhales smoke from his cigarette.

“I can't believe I had to put my dinner preparations on hold just to face such boring, hyped-up pirates,” the blond says.

“I was having the best of naps,” Mosshead slices the torsos of a couple of pirates and then pushes them away, “but I suppose I could count this as a bit of extra training.”

“If you punched a wall, it would be a more successful workout for you.” Sanji jumps on his hands, opens his legs wide and quickly spins around, hitting a dozen pirates in one fell swoop.

“Then let's end this quickly, so I can go back to sleep!” he says, pulling the sword from another opponent's abdomen.

"I agree. At least you're a little more bearable when you lie down to sleep."

Zoro turns sharply towards him. “Ahhh?! What did you say, shit cook?!”

“Fuck, I knew the moss had clogged your brain long ago, but I didn't think it would progress to your ears!”

“Bold words from a moron who swoons for any woman and bleeds for mermaids!” Zoro replies pushing his forehead against his.

This asshole! He'll be reminded of what happened on Fishman Island for the rest of his life, right?!

“Says the idiot who manages to get lost on a straight road!” Sanjii pushes his forehead forward.

“There is no need to argue about this! You are both idiots!” Nami exclaims, as she holds off an unthreatening female pirate.

Sanji immediately straightens his back, waves his hands and his eyes form palpitating hearts. “You're right Nami-swaaaan, we're just two complete idiots and rude men in your presence!”

“Speak for yourself, Mr. Nosebleed!”

Sanji lunges at him, furious. “Call me that again and I'll kick your ugly ass until the end of the world!”

“Sanji-kun!” His orange-haired goddess exclaims, drawing his attention.

“Yes, Nami-swan?”

“If you're done flirting with Zoro, I have a favor to ask of you!”

“Of course, anything for you!” A moment later realization hits him. “F-flirting? Me and that head inhabited only by moss? It’s not that!”

Nami finally knocks out her opponent and approaches him. “Sanji-kun, our financial resources have been running low since we left Punk Hazard… and I know you can get to the Dragon Pirates' ship and back without difficulty; so, I want you to get on board, search it from top to bottom, and steal all their treasures for me. Would you do it?" she asks, winking at him.

The cook's face turns a glowing red. “I'll do it immediately, Nami-san!”

“Great, I knew I could count on you!”

Zoro rolls his eyes as Sanji jumps as high as he can and uses the skywalk to advance towards the enemy's ship, finally landing on its deck.

Sanji is impressed by the details. The black sails feature a large red dragon emblem, and the mainmast is carved to look like a giant dragon spine. If only these pirates had worked on themselves as much as the shipwright worked on this ship, they would certainly be a great crew by now.

His thoughts are interrupted by the Dragon Pirates who notice his presence and try to attack him. Sanji manages to get rid of them with some well-placed kicks, then enters the ship's cabins undisturbed and finds a strategic room adorned with maps and treasures which he collects in a bag. After that, he goes to the captain's cabin where he steals some golden candlesticks, knowing that he will earn Nami-san's gratitude.

Once he has taken everything precious, Sanji returns to the main deck and launches himself towards the sky. As he observes the Sunny from above, he suddenly sees the captain of the Dragon Pirates release a kind of purple and sparkling fog that advances towards his nakama and envelops them.

Shit!

 Sanji dives towards the ship, then launches a kick that hits the captain's jaw and throws him against one of the masts. The man slips to the ground, but he reaches him, grabs him by the collar and lifts him up to look him straight in the eyes.

“What the hell was that fog? What did you do to my friends?”

He smiles showing his bloody teeth. “It's my power… from the Mist Mist Fruit. The fog I generate is not just any fog, but it can make my opponents harmless!”

"How?!"

“Turn around and you will see it yourself.”

Sanji turns around with his heart in his throat, without letting go of his enemy. That fucking fog has already disappeared and what he sees in front of him is a pile of clothes abandoned on the ground… their clothes!

“W-what… where… where are they?”

Did he make them vanish and transport them somewhere like Kuma managed to do? It must be like this, because the second hypothesis that comes to his mind is much more tragic than this one.

“Look closer, boy.”

Suddenly, from under Luffy's red shirt he sees a... a small hand emerge, followed by another and then a black head.

“Luffy?” he asks, blinking a few times.

He’s literally a child, without a scar under his eye, with his jeans on his shoulders, scratching his cheek and looking around in confusion.

"Where am I?"

Sanji slams the Dragon Pirates captain against the mast, still gripping his collar with both hands.

"You! Did you turn them into children?”

"Exactly! My power is perfect because it can make even the most fearsome adversaries in the new world harmless!”

“You coward!” he growls, looking into his eyes. “Bring them back to how they were! Now!"

“I can't do it, I can't undo what's been done.”

"What?!"

No, that can't be true! It's definitely a bluff!

“You're going to have to deal with a crew of brats!” he says bursting out laughing.

Sanji finally releases his grip and delivers a heel strike that throws him a step away from the railing. When he reaches him, his foot rests on his spine.

“In case you hadn't noticed, your crew was knocked out, and I also took care of the few remaining on your ship. There is no one who can save your ass. So, bring my nakama back to normal, or I'll throw you into the ocean."

The idiot raises his head and looks at him, swallowing nervously. “I already told you I can't do it! I can’t undo the effects of my power!”

“Well, that means the fish will feast on you tonight.”

Just as Sanji is charging a kick to send him out of the Sunny, the man closes his eyelids and yells:

“The power will be gone in a week!!!”

"What?"

“You heard right!” he says, “the effects of my power only last a week!”

“Why do I think you're making fun of me?”

“No, not at all! I swear to you, in seven days they will all be adults again! If you think about it, that's more than enough time to eliminate inconvenient opponents!”

Those words only piss him off more. "Eliminate? We're talking about kids!”

“Who, within a week, go back to being dangerous and unscrupulous adults! If you are trying to make me feel guilty about this, you won't succeed!”

Sanji throws the cigarette to the ground and crushes it with the sole of his shoe, right before his eyes. “You are truly the king of cowards! But if you think I will let you go, you are very wrong.”

“You're not serious!” exclaims the agitated man.

"Oh, yes. I'm very serious. As far as I'm concerned, you could have given me some bullshit just to save your life and run away. I have to take my precautions.”

“Precautions? What precautions?”

Sanji grabs his stunned enemy’s arm and drags him unceremoniously back to the mast, then sits him down. “You will stay here with me for the next days. If the effects of your power don't wear off like you said, you'll end up in the sea. If you were right, I will leave you on the first available island.”

“No, what the fuck, no! I want to go back to my ship!”

“If you have a good crew, they will be able to find you on the island you land on next week. Otherwise... well, you better change your vocation. Piracy isn't for you anyway,” says Sanji as he ties his new prisoner to the mast.

“You wouldn't talk like that if I managed to kill you and your crew of brats!”

“But unfortunately for you, you didn't succeed, because I wasn't here... you know, I was busy burgling your treasures,” he confesses with a pompous smile.

“Y-you what?!” The captain starts flailing his legs, “Damn bastard! My treasures! My precious treasures! Bring them back to my ship, now!”

“Forget it,” Sanji says, opening the bag in front of him, “these will be good compensation for choosing to attack us.”

"Fuck you! Sooner or later, I will get revenge! You heard me? I will get revenge!"

The cook ignores that idiot's threats and takes care of gathering all his unconscious men scattered around the Sunny to put them on a lifeboat. Once he is free from the garbage, he approaches his nakama.

“Hey, Luffy, Usopp? Nami-san? Are you okay?" he asks, bending down on his knees.

Finally, he sees them all get back on their feet and emerge with clothes bigger than them, covering them awkwardly.

"Who are you? How do you know our names?” little Nami asks, confirming that none of them remember him.

“I’m Sanji and I am…”

“A pirate and kidnapper!” exclaims little Usopp, pointing with a trembling finger at their Jolly Roger.

"What? No! I assure you that I am not a kidnapper!”

“But you're a pirate!” little Franky points out. His appearance is… much less robotic than usual.

“I love pirates!” Little Luffy raises his arms elatedly.

“Where is Bellemere? I want to go home to Bellemere!”

Oh God, Nami's about to cry.

“Me too, I want to go back to my mother!” says… Brook?

Sanji's eyes widen. This kid must be Brook. Bush of curly black hair, eyes of the same color, real skin… pale… and a full mouth.

“I want to go back to Tom, and Kokoro!”

Okay, he has to find a way to calm them down or he's going to go crazy this week.

“So, you want to give up this gift trip?” Sanji asks, showing off his brightest smile.

“G-gift?” Nami asks, sniffing at her.

"Yes! You are here to experience the adventure of sailing on a real pirate ship! It was your families who gave you this surprise, and I assure you that in a week you will come back to them!”

As long as the Dragon Pirates bastard hasn't bluffed...

"Really? Did my mom give me this trip?” Usopp seems elated now.

"Of course!"

“Who is the captain?! What's the name of the crew?" Luffy asks.

Sanji looks around and finds his hat. As he mentally apologizes to Luffy, he puts it on.

“We’re the crew, we’re the Strawhats! And I'm the captain!”

“I don't know, you look more like a waiter to me.”

There he is. Who could make such an observation other than the mini moss ball?

Sanji turns to him, and finds him with his arms folded, a slight pout, and his haramaki covering his miniature body.

“I'm just a captain with a good style, not a waiter!”

“For me, you are still a waiter, and a kidnapper!”

Damn Mini-Moss! Whether he is a child or an adult, he must always find a way to irritate him and complicate his life!

“Okay, this means that when I choose a different vice-captain each day to help me out, you won't be included. After all, I'm a kidnapper, right?”

Zoro's gray eyes widen. "No! No! I want to be vice-captain too!”

Sanji grins satisfied with himself. Luckily the child version of Zoro is much easier to corrupt.

“Then try to behave, brat!”

“Excuse me, mister captain?”

Sanji turns and finds sweet Robin's little hand raised.

"Yes?"

“Is it possible to have clothes that are a little smaller than these?”

“Oh, yes, yes, of course!” And now he will have to come up with something to dress a group of… “can you tell me how old you are?”

"Five years!" they reply practically in unison.

Well, he'll have to come up with something to dress a group of five-year-olds. As if this wasn't enough, out of the blue, a reindeer also appears. A real reindeer, like the ones you see in the forests. This must be poor Chopper without his devil fruit… and now he really looks like emergency food. He will probably have to protect him from the clutches of little Luffy.

DAY 1

Sanji had to dress the children in Chopper's clothes, leaving only the heavy winter ones aside. The clothes fit more or less well for everyone, but in particular, seeing Mini-Moss with an orange shirt and black stars is an image that turned out to be hilarious like few others. Actually, he could have given him the awesome little burgundy leather jacket, but he decided to let Brook wear it. At that moment his pout became bigger than a balloon.

Then he had to make the Sunny safer, because even if none of the Strawhats have Devil’s fruit powers, and disadvantages, they are still too young to know how to swim. With Franky's help, he pulled a rope across the railing to make it even tighter.

After that, Sanji was able to focus on dinner, but there was little time left, so he just made some bacon, toast, and vegetable soup, all while keeping his little nakama under control in the galley. He had to give them a lot of paper and pens to spend the time, then, Luffy, Usopp and Brook started to fight using the pens as swords, smearing each other. This means that before putting them to bed, he will have to give them a bath and... maybe, maybe he can rest.

What? No!

He can't rest at all! He is the only adult who can do nightwatch! And he should try to keep the course Nami was following.

Sanji puffs on his cigarette as he runs a hand through his hair. He’s going to have a heavy week. Eight children to take care of, a gigantic ship to keep safe and govern and... an irritating prisoner.

“Aaah! It burns!” Usopp exclaims, making him jump.

“Are you okay?”

"Too hot!"

“Wait, I'll help you,” he turns to the other children who are chatting and eating. “Anyone else think the soup is too hot? Do you want to let it cool down?”

Everyone shakes their heads, so Sanji sits down in front of Usopp and takes the cup in his hand. After dipping the spoon into the soup, he gently blows on it and then feeds the kid.

“Is this better?”

He swallows and nods. "Yes! It's good!"

Sanji smiles in relief. "I'm glad to hear it."

While he is still busy making Usopp eat, he sees that Luffy has emptied his plate and is not asking for an encore. Zoro gets up from his chair shortly after, but their plates aren't empty.

“Oi, why did you leave your soups?”

“Because we are full!” Franky replies.

“Can't you try eating some more? I don't like it when food is wasted,” he says in as calm a voice as possible.

Nami shakes her head. “We're too full!”

“I ate a lot of bacon and toast!” adds Brook.

Well, he should have seen that coming. They are just kids, with smaller stomachs, and obviously they would eat mostly bacon and toast. Next time, he has to reduce the portions and the number of recipes to prepare. Maybe no more than a couple of recipes per meal. After all, this dinner was intended for nine adults, including one who is also worth a hundred.

“Captain Sanji, I don't want any more!” Usopp suddenly exclaims, interrupting his thoughts.

“Are you full too?”

He nods and Sanji breathes a sigh of resignation. He decides to at least finish Usopp's meal, then puts the rest of the soup in an airtight container and keeps it in the fridge.

“Okay, kids, now how about we take a bath?” to his shock and panic, he realizes that only Chopper, who is still eating bacon from a plate on the floor, and Robin are left in the galley.

Fuck! He only had his back to them for a couple of minutes and it was enough to lose sight of them.

“Where did the others go?” he asks worriedly.

“I think they went outside to play,” the little girl replies with a small smile.

“Why didn't you go with them?”

“I was waiting to clear the table with you.”

It's incredible but Robin has remained the same. She is the one who, of all people, most often offers to clear the table or wash the dishes for him. And when she doesn't, Nami-san offers.

Sanji smiles at her and places his hand on the top of her head. “You don't have to worry about this, you're a little girl and it's right that you go and have fun. But first, I need to lay down some rules with you.”

The Strawhats' cook comes out of the galley and sees all his nakama playing and chasing each other on the Sunny's grass. With the large pot and ladle in his hands, he starts banging them together, generating a big racket that immediately attracts the attention of the brats.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing over there?”

“We're playing catch!” Luffy exclaims innocently.

Great. Just the kind of game he can't afford not to supervise.

“Did I tell you that you could leave?”

Franky scratches his head. “But we had finished eating!”

“And what about the others? If there is still someone at the table, I expect you to wait for them!”

Unfortunately, encouraging them to wait for the others is necessary, otherwise the first one to finish (probably Luffy) will always drag the others to play with him, interrupting their meals. And that doesn't sit well with him.

“When we have all finished dinner, or lunch, you can play, but only if I have given you permission. Have you forgotten who I am on this ship?”

Sanji pulls up the straw hat that he keeps tied around his neck like Luffy always does, then puts it on his head. He feels like a big impostor right now, and he's sure to look ridiculous, but he has no choice if he wants the obedience of these imps.

“I am Captain Sanji, and my orders are absolute! Whoever dares to disobey me will go to sleep among bags of potatoes and rice for a night! Did I make myself clear?"

The children stare at him with wild eyes, without saying a word. They probably also see him as a parody of a captain.

“I said, did I make myself clear?!” he repeats with more conviction.

Finally, they respond in unison: “Yes, captain!”

“Now, I order you that from this moment on, you don’t go anywhere unless you ask my permission first! There are no exceptions, not even if you want to pee!”

“What if I want to pee really hard?” Usopp asks.

“You still have to come to me, tell me your needs and I'll accompany you to the bathroom!”

Luffy nods. “Does this also apply to the other thing? The smelly thing?”

Sanji rolls his eyes. “It applies to everything; I just told you!”

“You're a very strange captain,” Zoro comments in the meantime, but Sanji ignores him.

“My second order is that food must be treated with respect, therefore, food wars are forbidden, and it’s forbidden to leave a meal just because you are in a hurry to play, okay?”

“Yes, captain!” they chorus again, and Sanji can breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well. Now I'll take you to take a bath and then we'll go straight to bed."

“Yessss, baaaath!” the children exult, climbing the stairs to reach him. Then Nami stops nearby and looks at him with uncertain eyes.

“Captain Sanji, are you angry with us?”

Sanji understands what Nami is feeling, because he has felt this way plenty of times when faced with his father's authoritarian or severe ways. And he's fine acting like a captain, but he really doesn't want to be like Judge. He bends down on his knees and smiles at her.

"Not at all. I'm just worried, because there are so many of you and I have to keep an eye on all of you... I don't want anything bad to happen while you are here, that’s why I am forced to set you some rules. You understand that, right?"

The orange-haired girl nods.

"I knew it. So would you like to be my first vice-captain?”

Nami's eyes light up and a huge smile spreads across her lips. "Me?! Vice-captain?!”

“Yes,” he replies poking her nose, “starting now. Help me enforce orders and keep them calm when they throw tantrums."

“Will I get something in return?!” well, this question is definitely like Nami.

“Uhmmm,” Sanji puts his index finger to his chin, pretending to think, “I might have a nice gold bracelet for you that I stole from an enemy pirate ship!”

"Yes, yes, yes! I want the bracelet! And I want to be vice-captain!”

“Then we have a deal!”

Having Nami as vice-captain immediately proves to be a blessing. While Sanji bathes a group of rowdy children, she always reiterates his rules and reminds them of the threat to sleep among the bags of potatoes, managing to quickly get them back into line. The only one who keeps being unstoppable is Luffy, but he had taken that into account. He is impossible to control as a nineteen-year-old, he didn't expect anything different in his child version.

So, when the others are having fun and playing with bubbles or water, Sanji tries to clean some ink stains from his captain's face. He pushes back a few strands of black hair to reveal his forehead, the most scribbled part, then scrubs with the sponge vigorously, but the progress is minimal. He realizes that it will take him longer than expected, and yet, cleaning Usopp and Brook's faces hadn't been that challenging!

“Okay, kids, I'm going to rinse you off, get out of the tub and put on your pajamas, then I want you to stay here while I finish cleaning Luffy.”

“Nooo, I like staying in the tub,” Franky protests.

“I know but it's getting late.”

“These are the captain's orders!” Nami reiterates.

While the children snort, Sanji smiles at his vice-captain, then begins to rinse them one at a time, wraps them in some towels and takes care of quickly drying their hair. Luckily Luffy is a child who never gets bored, not even when he stays in the tub alone.

“Why are you covering half your face?” Mini-Moss asks, as Sanji has just started rubbing his small body.

“Because I like it that way.”

Obviously, he will never admit that he doesn't want to see both of his eyebrows and ignore what he has in common with the Vinsmokes. Nobody has to know, after all, they are a dead and buried past.

“Are you missing an eye?”

"What? No!”

The imbecile who will lose an eye is you, he would like to add, but there is a child in front of him, and he doesn't want to upset him by telling him about the stupid things he did as an adult.

"I don’t believe you. Why would anyone purposely choose to see with only one eye?”

“I told you why,” he repeats, moving on to rub his head.

Suddenly Mini-Moss brushes aside his bangs and reveals his other eye. As soon as he looks at him, his little mouth remains half open and his cheeks flushes. He knows what he's thinking, what he's always been thinking since they met. What stupid eyebrows.

“Are you happy now that you've seen that I really have two eyes and two weird eyebrows?”

“They're beautiful,” he comments, smiling.

“What is beautiful?”

"Your eyes! They look like the ocean!”

Fuck. This… he didn't expect this, he almost suspects he is dreaming it, and yet he seems so genuinely sincere as he says it. Is it possible that Big-Moss could also have thought something like that while looking at him? And if he thought so, why the fuck didn't he tell him? Why doesn't he pay him a little harmless compliment every now and then? Why does he always have to be so stoic and unreadable?

Sanji shakes his head. He can't believe that he is now analyzing the words of a child to try to guess if the adult version of him thinks the same things. His crush on him is stupid, it has always been stupid, ever since Thriller Bark. He only loves women and knows that one day he will have a wonderful wife by his side. If only he would stop thinking these illogical things about Marimo...

“Thank you…” he replies after a while, putting aside his personal dilemmas. “Now get dressed, there's your pajamas behind me, near the window. It is red and purple. Do you see it?"

Zoro pouts and frowns deeply. He knows why he reacts the way he does, and Sanji can't hide his amused smile.

"What's up? Don’t you like it?"

“It sucks!”

“Ah-ha,” the blond shakes his head, “you don't say something sucks, otherwise you might offend someone. Like Chopper, since those clothes are his."

“But Chopper is just a reindeer!”

“A reindeer that will one day have human feelings, so try to rephrase that sentence more politely?”

Mini-Moss snorts. “Okay, I don't like that pajama!”

“Much better,” he says, rubbing his now dry hair, “but I still can't change it for you, Chopper's wardrobe isn't infinite! If you can reach an agreement with someone for an exchange in the next few days, then that's fine!"

Little Zoro snorts for the second time and takes his hated pajamas, while Sanji hides his giggle behind his hand, then returns to his knees in front of the tub. He starts washing Luffy again until his face is finally clean.

He rinses him and dries him, but he stops a few times to check on the children who still have energy to chatter and play in the bathroom. Well, at least they understood that no one should move away from him without asking permission... but it’s also true that the most disobedient of the group, and the one who also leads the others to imitate him, is precisely the one he had to keep in the tub.

Who knows if he will be as lucky during this… my God… week?

It's been about six hours so far and he feels like he's cooked a whole day without a break. How can he resist this long, knowing that he won't even be able to take the liberty of sleeping?

He can only hope not to go crazy and stay lucid until the seven days are up. And if he finds out that that shitty pirate has been making fun of him, he won't just throw him into the sea anymore, but he will shatter his bones with his feet!

Sanji sits on the low sofa in front of the bunks occupied by his nakama and holds a soft light. For convenience, he has decided to combine the boys with the girls in the men's quarters, so he can keep them under control in a single room. Robin and Usopp expressed a desire to listen to a story before bed, and Sanji couldn't say no. He himself has always been a child hungry for fairy tales. That's why he now finds himself with a dusty storybook in his hands, recovered from Sunny's library.

“Once upon a time, in the vast ocean of Grand Line, there was a small sea turtle named Tippi. Tippi was no ordinary turtle; it was a turtle with wings! As a child, he had always dreamed of sailing the skies above the waves, just like the seabirds he saw every day. But his wings weren't very strong yet, and Tippi felt pretty useless." Oh, yes, Sanji knows this feeling well. “One day, while he was splashing around an island, Tippi met a pirate captain called Captain Alvaro…”

Sanji continues reading the first story, also trying to answer the curious questions of the children who listened to him. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to put them to sleep, so, he also read a second story, Lia and the mysterious cave. When he finally reaches the happy ending, Sanji raises his head and sees that they've all fallen asleep.

He smiles. They look so angelic now that they are sleeping, and he can't resist the temptation to leave a kiss in each of their hair and whisper "sweet dreams" in their ears.

After turning off the light and giving them one last look, Sanji comes back to the library where he takes a book that talks about navigation and how log pose works. Finally he goes up to the Crow's Nest to take his nightwatch shift. Actually, tonight was supposed to be Brook's turn, but that shitty Dragon pirate turned his day upside down and now he'll have to take care of it for a week straight.

If only at least one of his nakama, besides himself, had been spared from that purple fog, he could now take turns with someone. But no. The care and well-being of his friends rests solely on his shoulders, as does the safety of the Sunny, the daily household chores and the route to stay.

Sanji decides to put his frustration aside, it won't do him any good anyway. He begins to read the book about navigation and takes a look at the triple log pose that he recovered from the deck. All while he checks that the situation outside is always calm.

“A triple point Pose has three separate needles contained within its orb that point to the three nearest magnetic fields, allowing a competent navigator to triangulate the location of nearby land masses…”

DAY 2

The next morning Sanji prepared a more modest breakfast than usual, with pancakes, jam and fruit juice for everyone. As he predicted, the amount of leftover food was much less than the vegetable soup.

After that, he took care of doing the laundry and hanging the clothes on the deck, while the children ran around him and played. But the more the sun rose, the more the temperature rose, therefore, the Strawhats' cook decided to retrieve some sun cream that he keeps in his locker and ordered his little nakama to put it on.

They all lined up in front of him as Sanji bent down on his knees and spread a good amount of cream on their little faces and arms. Last in line is Mini-Moss.

The blond greets him with a smile, but before he can say anything, Zoro immediately reaches out his little hand and hands him a purple thistle.

Sanji's eyes widen. “Did you get it for me?”

He looks the other way with his cheeks as red as tomatoes, his timeless pout, and he responds by just nodding.

“Thank you, that's a very nice thought!” he says taking the flower.

“I'm not giving you this gift to become the next vice-captain!”

"I know that's not why you’re doing it."

"You know it?" he asks surprised.

“Of course, and regardless of your reasons, you are really nice.”

Sanji is pretty sure that the adult version of him wouldn't give him a flower even if his very life depended on it; so, really, he won't investigate the reasons for his action. Mini-Moss is a sweet little boy, and that's all he needs to know.

He's also the same child who saw him as a waiter, or a kidnapper, but, well, he's still Zoro, right?

“Oh, okay… you’re welcome…” he says, rocking nervously on his little feet.

Sanji ruffles his hair, keeps the thistle in his shirt pocket and then takes care of putting cream on his face. He puts one stripe on his nose, two stripes on his cheeks and one on his forehead, then smears them. After taking care of his arms too, he pats him on the shoulder and sends him off to play with the others.

Next, he decides to approach the helm and study the log pose that he now holds on his wrist. He tries to remember everything he read and, more or less, studied during the night. If he's not completely stupid, he believes that the Sunny is staying on course for the island Nami wanted to reach. He really hopes he's not wrong, because if they get lost, Nami will have a reason to punch him.

“Aaaaahhh! Ouch!” Usopp suddenly shouts.

Sanji turns quickly towards the grass deck and sees him on the ground with tears. Behind him is Franky who looks at him questioningly.

He goes down the stairs, quickly reaches them and helps him up.

“Oi, what happened? Are you okay?"

But Usopp starts crying and can't answer, so he turns to Franky.

“Do you know what happened?”

"I don’t know! We were just competing to see who can run the fastest and then he fell!” he responds by shrugging his shoulders.

“He pushed me!” Usopp exclaims.

"It’s not true!"

"Yes, it's true!"

"No!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

“No, no, no!”

“You wanted to win by cheating!”

"NO! You fell because you are slow and stupid!”

Those words make Sanji snap. "Hey! You don't say these things!"

"But it's the truth!"

“You are very wrong! Usopp is a smart child and will soon become an incredible sniper too! I don't like nakama saying bad things to each other and I don't want to hear either of you put each other down, do you understand me?”

Suddenly Franky's eyes start to get shiny and his shoulders slump. Sanji feels a little guilty.

“Sorry, Captain.”

“You don't have to apologize to me, but to Usopp,” he says, trying to sound softer.

“Okay… sorry Usopp.”

“Good, brat. Now let's dry these tears, come on." Sanji pats Franky's head as he rubs his eyes, then turns to Usopp and wipes his cheeks with his hand.

"Here you are. Now it's better. Would you like to do something more fun than running up and down the ship?”

They both nod, so he picks them up.

"Hold fast!"

A moment later, Sanji begins to skywalk up into the sky, climbs as high as he can, then stops and repeatedly bounces his foot into the air, just right above the Sunny.

"Oh my God! We are flying!!! This is suuupeeer!” Franky exclaims enthusiastically.

Usopp wraps his little arms around Sanji's neck and buries his face in his chest.

“I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared!”

"You don't have to be afraid, I'm with you and I wouldn't let you fall for any reason in the world.”

The long nose lifts his head slightly and looks into his eyes. Sanji smiles at him.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes…"

He finally decides to look around cautiously, as if his survival depended on it. First, he looks at the clouds floating around, then at the ship below.

“They all look so small from up here…”

"Almost as small as bugs!”

“I love bugs!” Usopp says, regaining his good mood. Sanji has to make a huge effort to banish the memory of his friend cuddling a giant spider.

“Have you seen the ship? It is so beautiful! Wonderful!" Franky comments. “I would love to build something like that one day!”

Obviously, he is unaware that he himself is the creator of what he is so admiring.

“You will, Franky.”

"Do you really think that?" he asks, meeting his gaze.

“I don't think so, I'm sure of it. Inside you are all the qualities necessary to create something like this, you just have to develop them.”

"I will do it! Thanks, captain!”

Sanji nods and decides to get back on board the Sunny. Seeing him fly greatly excited the other children, who began to beg him to have the same experience.

And he satisfied them all.

Sanji spent the whole afternoon in the galley, giving the kids the most harmless tools he has to let them play nearby and keep an eye on them. In the meantime, he has cooked a series of colorful and nutritious dishes that can conquer even the most difficult palates. He made small canapés decorated with fresh fruit, mini onigiri filled with tuna and sweets in the shape of marine animals. And meat, lots of meat for Luffy and for that speechless reindeer that circulates around the ship. He imagines that Chopper feels completely out of place in this environment; therefore, he promises himself that as soon as he returns to normal, he will spoil him with a large amount of candies.

This reminds him that he must also bring food to the bastard, his hostage, as usual. He heats up the vegetable soup from the day before, adds four onigiri, takes a bottle of water and then arranges everything on a tray.

Before leaving the galley, he stops in the doorway.

“Nami?”

She turns around still chewing a canapé.

“These are your last hours as vice-captain, and so far, you have been excellent! Now I need you to watch the others while I bring dinner to our prisoner!”

“Yes, captain!”

“If someone misbehaves or leaves food to go and play you have to tell me, so they can experience a night among the bags of potatoes!”

“Yes, captain!”

Sanji nods proud of her, leaves the galley and joins the pirate still tied to the mast.

“Uh-oh, looks like someone got some sun today,” Sanji comments, noticing the flushed skin on his face.

“Fuck you.”

“Here, eat.” The blond sits next to him and dips the spoon into the vegetable soup, then brings it closer to his mouth, but he turns away.

“This bullshit is worse than torture!”

“Would eating be worse than torture?”

“Being fed! It's so fucking embarrassing!"

Sanji inhales the smoke deeply and then blows it out. “Pride doesn’t fill the stomach.”

“Yeah, who cares! Free my arms and let me eat like a dignified person!”

“Do you think I'm stupid? I know you would try to escape.”

The captain of the Dragon Pirates bursts into mocking laughter. “Not before I turn you into a brat too, so I can kill you along with the others and then take back my treasures!”

“That doesn't make me want to free your arms at all. Not even if it was just one.” Sanji offers the spoon to the pirate again. “Come on, being stubborn won't do you any good.”

His hostage turns away again, but this time the cook leaves the spoon in front of his face and waits patiently. In just five seconds, he catches that spoon in his mouth and swallows the soup.

“You never told me your name,” the blond muses as he hands him an onigiri.

"None of your business."

“Whatever, I'm Sanji.”

The pirate tsks. “You know you're going to die this week, right?”

“Because you will kill me?” he asks scornfully.

“No, because those brats will suck all your energy away and… there's a fucking navy fleet sailing around here!”

"A navy fleet?"

“I got a tip a few days ago, from a very reliable source. You can be sure that you will come across them sooner or later! You will be alone, tired, they will easily take you out and your precious nakama will end up the same way!”

Don't fall into this trap Sanji, he's just trying to mess you up.

“This means that you will die with us, since you are a pirate too.”

“No, dammit! If you free me, I swear to you that I will return to my ship and come here to help you!”

Sanji bursts into laughter. “You just said you want to turn me into a child too and kill us all!”

“Yes, because I hate being fed and your pity makes me sick! But if you free me willingly, I will help you with the Marines.”

Sanji shoves the onigiri straight into his mouth, silencing him. “First, I want to see my crewmates become adults again, then I will free you. The agreements don’t change.”

The Dragon Pirate angrily bites into the rice ball, chews it quickly and glares at the cook.

“You will REALLY die if you keep taking care of everything alone!”

“You underestimate my abilities,” he says with a grin, “and in any case, my departure wouldn't be a big deal, the important thing is that I can find a way to hide my nakama in case the navy were to show up."

“Are you a suicidal lunatic or what?” he asks, almost horrified.

Sanji shoves a spoonful of soup into his mouth. “You don't talk when you eat, didn't your mother ever teach you good manners?”

Luckily, force-feeding him turns out to be the key to finally shutting him up and making him eat. Too bad now he has a new problem coming… the fucking Marines.

DAY 3

The Marines.

Fucking Marines.

Sanji sees in his head those uniformed bastards invading the Sunny and managing to take little Luffy and the others from under his nose. This is the image that began to haunt him while he was on nightwatch duty in the Crow's Nest. This is why he tried to stay awake all the time, carefully watching the horizon. But now he hasn't slept for two days in a row and to his extreme disappointment, he realized that he had dozed off for an hour and a half in the middle of the night.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

He can't afford these distractions. His nakama are counting on him, because he and only he can prevent disaster from happening. Sanji can handle a fight against an entire fleet of Marines, his training in Kamabakka has made him much stronger than those idiots can imagine, but if he gets caught unprepared and... asleep, it's the end!

He has to do constant nightwatching, without ifs or buts!

“Sanjiiii! It's your turn!”

Little Nami's voice interrupts his whirlwind of circulating anxieties and thoughts.

"Oh, yes! Sorry!" he then realizes that he has a memory lapse, “can you tell me again what I should do?”

“You must ride the broom, come to the woods, defeat Maleficent, and wake me from my deep sleep!”

Right. How could he forget? This game is… a half-realized dream! Sanji would die of a heart attack if Nami asked him to play these roles as adults!

“Okay, I'm coming to the woods!” he announces as he places the broom between his legs and straightens the red towel on his shoulders, which should act as a cloak. At least in fiction he can be a heroic prince, and not a renegade.

“Hahaha! I am Maleficent and I won’t let you awaken Princess Nami!” Robin exclaims as she jumps onto a chair. Her black t-shirt perfectly portrays her cruel role.

“Then fight me!”

"I will kill you!" Using a wooden ladle as a weapon, she pretends to attack him several times and Sanji defends himself with the same utensil.

But after a few minutes, Nami gets in the way. “Okay! Now she hurts you and you faint!”

"Why? I thought I had to save you!”

“No, I woke up alone because… because I have magical blood! And now I will defeat Maleficent!”

Well, yes, this is like Nami… it reminds him of what happened with that creep Absalom.

“Come on, pass out on the ground!”

Sanji immediately obeys and lets the two girls wage war on their own. As soon as he closes his eyes, he begins to hear the sweet call of Morpheus who tries to attract him into his arms and push the external noises away from his mind.

God… it would be so nice to drift off to sleep now. Sleep without worries, without children and…

Hell, no! What the hell is he thinking? If he falls asleep now, who knows when he might wake up! He must fight temptation and open his eyes.

Come on, idiot, open them! Open them!

OPEN THEM!

Like an answer from heaven, a ball comes crashing down on him, hitting him on the head and bringing him abruptly back to reality.

“Ouch!” he exclaims, straightening his back. He turns and sees that his little nakama are laughing at him. “Try to be careful with that ball!”

“Sorry, captain!” says Brook, his new second in command.

Sanji narrows his gaze and realizes that the asshole Dragon Pirate is laughing at him too.

“Hahahaha! Finally, some Karma!” he comments.

“Do you find this funny?”

"Exhilarating!"

“Who laughs last laughs best!”

Sanji gets back on his feet, leaves the broom and his fake cloak, then goes into the library and retrieves all the markers he finds. When he returns to the grass deck, he has a satisfied smile on his face.

“Okay, kids. Now enough with the ball, you can draw whatever you want on our prisoner. Only on our prisoner!” he points out, “I won't allow you to soil the ship, otherwise...”

“You make us sleep among bags of potatoes,” they repeat in chorus, in a sarcastic tone.

Well, a crew of five-year-olds started teasing him in just three days. This is confirmation that he is the worst captain ever!

"You! Stupid, obnoxious cook, pale imitation of a real pirate! I'll make you pay for this too!”

The sight of that moron irritated and now surrounded by brats drawing on him and, on the ropes, is enough to make him burst out laughing.

“I will pray that the Marines will come here, cut off your head and hang it for…”

Those words immediately anger Sanji, who quickly runs towards him and covers his mouth with his foot, without pressing.

“Don't you dare say such things in front of children or I’ll keep all my threats!”

The captain of the Dragon Pirates seems taken by surprise and nods without batting an eyelid.

"Now enjoy your time with my nakama!”

Another day is coming to an end and after having fed the brats properly, having played with them, and having cleaned the kitchen and the men's quarters which were already a mess, Sanji is now in the bathroom to bathe them again. Right now, he is dressing the girls, while the boys are in the tub playing with bubbles and sponges, as usual. They seem to have batteries that never run out, unlike him.

“So, you told me you would like to have braids?” he asks, smiling a little tiredly.

“Yes, can you do them?”

Sanji hums and begins to brush Nami's hair, then lets his fingers slide through her locks as well, to make sure there are no knots left.

“There's only one problem, Nami. Your hair is too short to do the classic braid.”

“You can't do it to me?” she asks, her voice already cracking.

“I can make you an even better one. A thin braid that starts from here,” he places his hand on the top of her head, “and goes down the sides to here.” His hand comes down to her right and reaches the tip of her hair.

“Oh, yes, yes! I love it!"

“Well, did you choose the colored ribbon you want?”

Sanji points to the row of six colored ribbons that he managed to retrieve from the women's quarters, and which are now lying on a small chair in front of them.

“I want the blue one!” Nami exclaims.

Robin, on the other hand, says: “I want the purple one.”

“Fine!”

He combs Nami's hair once more, separates three small locks, ties the blue ribbon on top of the central one letting the rest of the fabric slide down, then begins to braid them. When he gets to the bottom, he seals his work with a rubber band.

“Okay, look in the mirror and tell me if it’s good?”

Nami immediately gets up and approaches the sink, but Sanji notices that it is too tall for her; so, he picks her up and lets her admire the result.

“Woooow! How beautiful!”

"Do you like it?"

"Yes! I love it so much! Thank you!”

Little Nami hugs him tightly and he gently strokes her back while he glances at the children who are still in the tub. It seems like everything is under control.

“Okay, I'll take care of Robin's now!”

And that's what he does, for the next five minutes he carefully combs Robin's raven hair and repeats the same process as before.

“Anyway, Zoro was right about you,” says the little girl with blue eyes.

"About what?"

“You are a very strange captain, I thought captains were just supposed to lead! But you do so many things for us.”

Her words make him smile. “That's because I'm not a real captain. I have this role only for this short trip with you, but my role is that of the cook.”

“Yes, I thought so,” she says, chuckling. “Your dishes are delicious!”

"Thank you!"

Sanji exhales his cigarette smoke from the corner of his mouth, making sure not to get it on her. When he finishes doing her hair, he picks her up and makes her look in the mirror. Her reaction is equally positive.

“Now wait here for a few minutes. I'll take care of the imps who are in the tub and then we brush our teeth, okay?”

“Yes, captain!” they reply in chorus. Just a moment later, they start looking at each other and commenting on their braids.

Sanji joins the playful children, takes care of cleaning them, rinsing off the soap, dries them and puts their pajamas on. Once ready, he lines them up in front of the sink to help them brush their teeth. It's lucky that he's one of the few to remember which toothbrush belongs to whom... especially since Luffy and Mosshead started using his toothbrush by accident, for at least a month!

“Zoro, could you smile?” Sanji asks when it's his turn. As always, he is the one who comes last in line.

"Like this?" He shows him a tiny microscopic smile.

“Like I taught you the other times.”

Mini-Moss widens his smile just a millimeter.

“Will you open a little more?”

He spreads it, but not enough to show all of his front teeth.

“Open more?”

He tries to please him, and yet, every time, it's as if his jaw is set.

“Open a lot! As if you had a lot of fangs and you wanted to scare someone!”

Obviously, this suggestion works immediately. Sanji takes this opportunity to brush his front teeth and reminds him to spit the toothpaste into a glass, then asks him to open his mouth wide and brushes his side teeth too.

“Do you know that you are very cute when you smile?” the cook tells him, rinsing his green toothbrush.

Zoro's cheeks turn red, just like when he gave him a flower.

“You should do this more often.”

“But I smile every now and then!”

Actually, he is right. Zoro as a child smiles, even if he struggles to make those broad smiles that others show off. Adult Zoro on the other hand... after the two years they spent apart, he almost never smiles, and Sanji always thought it was a shame.

“Then remember to keep doing it! At any age!”

Mini-Moss looks at him understandably confused and replies: "Okay..."

Now Sanji gets back on his feet and finally takes the children to the bedroom. As per ritual, he leaves only a soft light, helps them get into bed, tucks them in and sits on the low sofa to read them a storybook.

While reading, he realizes that the letters are starting to double. Sanji shakes his head, but the problem doesn't go away. He then decides to close his eyes for just a moment, and as soon as he reopens them, his vision seems to be back to normal. He hopes that tiredness doesn't continue to play this trick on him, because if he can't read storybooks, he doesn't know what else to do to make them fall asleep.

Thank goodness his brain can cooperate enough tonight. The children fall asleep mid-story, and he can kiss them goodnight and go to the Crow's Nest.

Another sleepless night awaits him, or at least it must be sleepless, because during the previous one he allowed himself some rest that could have put everyone in danger. And if it’s true that there is a fleet of Marines sailing around, he must be awake and prepared. That's why he brought an entire bottle of coffee with him. This is the only elixir that can help him in his goal. Furthermore, he has an almost intact pack of Death cigarettes just waiting to enter his system and calm his anxieties.

He can do it, he has the situation under control. After all, he read in one of Robin's books that a person's body can tolerate up to ten days without sleep and he only goes three! What is three days? Absolutely nothing! And seven? They are nothing anyway. He is strong and can take care of his nakama without too much difficulty.

Sanji clings to these positive thoughts with all his being and lights the first cigarette of this long night.

When he starts smoking the thirteenth, he realizes that only two hours have passed, and he has drunk the coffee three times. He honestly is sleepy, but he won't give up. Because he's strong, damn, he's really strong!

"You are weak! Useless! A failure!" It echoes in his head a voice that resembles his father's.

He ignores it and blows that memory away along with the smoke. Just when he starts to feel the urge to drink some more coffee, he hears someone coming up the stairs of the Crow's Nest... then he sees a little green head appear.

“Zoro!” he exclaims agitatedly. Maybe more agitated than usual. Thanks, coffee. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to be with you."

"With me?"

"Yes. I know you come in here at night.”

“Did you spy on me instead of sleeping, brat?” he asks poking his forehead. Mini-Moss's face turns slightly red. “It's dangerous for a child to climb those stairs. You could have fallen and hurt yourself.”

“But I can do a lot of things better than other kids!”

“Damn, we have mister modesty among us!” he comments, chuckling.

"It’s the truth! I just proved it to you!”

“I know, little tiger, don't worry!”

Mini-Moss begins to wander around the room and brushes his fingers against some of the tools of the adult version of him.

“So, you come here to train?”

"Not exactly. I come here because this room is made to monitor the ocean and make sure there is no trouble in sight.”

Zoro's curious eyes dart to him. "At night?"

"Yes."

“And you must never sleep? Not even for five minutes?”

“Unfortunately, no, do you know how many things can happen in five minutes?”

His little mouth opens wide in amazement.

“Oi! Don't look at me like I have some sort of superpower, it's tiring for me too, doing something like this every night, but in a few days my crewmates will be able to replace me!"

The child's frowns. “Aren't we your crewmates?”

“Ah, er, yes, but you will stay here for a short time, then I can reunite with the people I usually travel with.”

“Are your crewmates nice? Strong?"

Sanji smiles a little nostalgically. “Oh, yes, they are all very strong, they are brave, funny, crazy, they would split the world in two to save a nakama… and the way they fight for their dreams is… incredible.”

“What kind of pirate are you? Super strong and super nice like them?”

“In some things I'm like them, in others... I'm different, for the worse.”

Zoro looks at him confused and Sanji smiles at him. “You don't need to understand. However, they are good people, and I am lucky to travel alongside them.”

“Is there a swordsman in your adult crew?”

The blond motions for him to sit on his lap, and the kid immediately obeys. “Of course there is a swordsman, but not just any swordsman, the future greatest swordsman in the world.”

Zoro's gray eyes widen and shine with wonder. "The greatest?"

“Yes, he is unbeatable, a mountain of muscles and scars who dedicates every hour of his existence to training and defeating anyone who gets in his way!”

“Wow! He must be so cool!”

Well, he kind of expected this. Zoro calling himself super cool!

“He really is, but he's not just that. He is also a generous man, a little grumpy, with a hard shell on the outside and a soft heart on the inside.”

But he doesn't seem to listen to him because he is still daydreaming. “I also want to become the greatest swordsman one day, so I have to defeat him!”

So typical Mosshead…

“I think so, but I know you will succeed. Something tells me you have an iron will too!”

"Yes, I have!"

Mini-Moss looks at him with an excited grin that reminds him so much of his adult version, and this simply confirms what he basically knew. Zoro has always fought for his dream, since he was very young. Sanji on the other hand... dreams, just dreams. He dreams in the Vinsmoke castle. He dreams in a dark cell. He dreams on a desolate rock. He dreams at Baratie. To actually start looking for the All Blue, he had to get dragged by a rubber idiot.

The Strawhats' cook smokes and gets lost in thought, but his little nakama distracts him with a new question.

“Do you know how to fight?”

“I know how to fight. I usually do it with my legs because I need my hands for cooking. That's my only vocation."

“So, you kick people?”

"Yes."

“And you have very strong legs!”

"You can bet!"

“Prove it!”

“Are you sure this is what you want, brat?”

“Yes, please, please!”

Sanji nods, puts out the cigarette that has now reached the filter, moves the child from his lap and stands up. He takes a few seconds to decide what to do, because damaging the Crow's Nest just for a show of strength would infuriate Franky. He chooses to lift the heaviest dumbbell with his foot, kicks it in the air and bounces it repeatedly from one foot to another. He also manages to keep it balanced on his ankle, keeping the leg perpendicular to the floor, finally brings it back to the instep and places it gently on the ground.

“Wow! You are incredible! I’ve never seen something like this!"

Carve these compliments into your memory, Sanji, because you will never hear them from his mouth again!

“Do you want me to lift you too?”

"Would you do it?!"

“Sure, let's have some fun!” he replies smiling.

Mini-Moss doesn't think twice and runs towards him. "What should I do?!"

Sanji opens his left leg slightly. “Sit on the ground and hold on to my leg with all your might. Please, never let go."

"Yes!"

As soon as Sanji feels his small body intertwined with his leg like a koala and his firm grip around his calf, he begins to do repetitions of side leg raises that don’t exceed the right angle. In the meantime, Zoro stays clinging, going up and down like a carousel and bursts into loud laughter. The blond laughs with him, happy to see him so amused. But he almost gives him a heart attack when the little imp rotates his body slightly, reverses his position and finally hangs on his ankle with both hands.

“Oi! You can't take these initiatives without warning me!”

“Lift me up!” he replies, ignoring him.

“Okay, but remember to hold on tight. And don't do anything stupid!"

Zoro nods and Sanji starts doing reps of leg raises again, even going a little higher than before. Obviously, he bursts out laughing and urges him to never stop. However, the silly game continues until Sanji feels the need for another cigarette. And another coffee.

When they sit back down on the floor, Mini-Moss lets out his first yawn. Ten minutes later he falls asleep on his lap and the cook strokes his green locks for a while, watching his face tenderly while he sleeps. He soon realizes that those caresses could put him to sleep too; so, he decides to pick him up and take him back to his bunk. He kisses him goodnight on the cheek, tucks him in, and then goes back to the Crow's Nest. Duty calls him.

DAY 4

This time he didn't fall asleep during the nightwatch. Not even once, not even for a moment. But he is starting to suffer a lot from lack of sleep. During the day, he had to wash Chopper's pile of used clothes, because the children need them. He cooked three Shepherd's pies and a salad for lunch. Then he rechecked the log pose, tried to stay on the right course (but doubts he succeeded), cleaned the bathroom, tidied up the men's quarters, supervised the children who were playing on the grass deck as usual, watered Nami’s mikans and Robin's flowers, fed that Dragon Pirates parasite and made two trays of pizza for dinner. One with just tomato and mozzarella, and another with added tuna, to make Mini-Moss happy.

As always, before going to bed, he made them take a bath, this time much faster than on other days, he brushed their teeth and tried to read a story... but his tiredness didn't allow him to do so. He decided to blather about Alabasta, Princess Vivi, and Crocodile.

DAY 5

The fifth day is the day he begins to lose control of himself. Irritability due to lack of sleep is growing, but he is doing everything he can to keep it under control.

It's not the children's fault that he is in this situation, it's not their fault that he lives as if he has the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. It's the fault of that bastard tied to the mast. Cursed be the day he set foot in the Sunny!

His nightwatch shift went pretty well. He stayed up most of the night and made sure there were no threats in sight, all while he consumed his third pack of cigarettes in the space of twenty-four hours. But then, before dawn rose, he dozed off. Like an idiot. Luckily, he was woken up after only an hour thanks to the screams of the children who woke up early.

He didn't have enough time to prepare something to eat, because Luffy had been pounding his head since five in the morning asking for meat.

So, in order not to waste too much time, Sanji cooked a ton of sausages and simply served milk and cereal for anyone who wanted to eat something lighter.

Once again, during the morning, he cleaned the bathroom, the deck and the men's quarters, leaving the children to play in the library. Then he returned to the galley and decided to leave the door wide open to keep monitoring the imps who are now playing outside, while he cooks lunch.

However, Luffy seems to have different intentions than the rest of the group. Usually, he's the one who runs everywhere with the others, risking giving him a panic attack every hour, but today he decided that he has to stay there, with him, in the galley, playing alone and using a stolen pot as a kind of helmet that he puts on his head.

Sanji's stomach twists at that image; therefore, he immediately takes it off him and reminds him that his pots are not made for playing. Five minutes later, the brat manages to steal another one and throws it everywhere, slams it on the ground, and makes a racket that's starting to give Sanji a headache.

“Luffy, can you please stop?” he says, biting his cigarette and forcing himself to keep his nerves at bay.

The child seems to completely ignore him.

“I already told you before, you can’t play with the pot…”

“But I'm trying to defeat the enemy!”

“What enemy?! A fucking wall?!” Shit… he's starting to lose his patience and he doesn't want to…

“No, captain! There's an octopus there and I'm defending the ship!"

“Do it without the pot!” His voice is rising dangerously, and his frustration is increasing his heart rate.

“How can I defeat a giant octopus if I don't have my cannonball?!”

Luffy throws the pot against the wall again and the noise it generates begins to pound his head painfully, but still not satisfied, he takes it back to throw it again...

At that point Sanji's nerves explode.

“ENOUGH, LUFFY!!! STOP!!!" he shouts, turning sharply towards him.

His black eyes look at him in amazement.

“Now you've really tired me out!” The blond strides towards him and grabs his wrist.

“But Captain Sanji…”

“There is no but! I always warned you that anyone who disobeyed my orders would end up sleeping among the bags of potatoes, you wanted it!”

And so, without even thinking twice, Sanji pushes little Luffy into the pantry and slams the door shut. Then he goes back to the kitchen, stores the mistreated pot and lights another cigarette, because he broke the previous one by biting it in anger.

But as soon as he takes his first puff of smoke, his heart plummets and his guilt overwhelms him. He just acted like a despot, like the man he most despises in the world... like Judge Vinsmoke. And he did it with a child, as well as the person who wanted him with all of himself in his crew and who gave him the courage to chase his dream.

He's the biggest asshole on the face of the planet. And, dammit, he has to fix this!

Sanji immediately reopens the pantry door and when he finds Luffy in tears, he gets down on his knees and pulls him into a tight hug.

"Fuck! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I exaggerated! I… I didn't want to treat you this way… I never wanted to!” he says all in one breath, stroking his black hair.

“Sorry, captain…”

"Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong."

“Am I a bad child?” he asks, sniffling. And Sanji's heart breaks.

"No! Hell, no! You are an extraordinary child, so courageous and full of vitality! Sometimes you have so much vitality that even I can hardly keep up with you! But I didn't want to make you feel bad... it's my fault because I'm a little more irritable than usual... and I acted like a moron even if you didn't deserve it."

He should never have punished him like that. After all, it would have been enough to take that pan out of his hand and replace it with something else. Luffy has a mind so full of imagination that he could invent the most bizarre adventures with any object.

“So, you're not mad at me anymore?”

“No, of course not. Are you mad at me?"

The brat shakes his head, just like his adult version would. Luffy has always been a person who knows no grudges.

“Can I get out of here now?”

Sanji nods, gets back to his feet and holds out his hand. He takes it and lets himself be led into the galley.

“Sorry, Luffy, but I'm really not cut out to be a captain,” he says, pulling his straw hat off his neck. He then puts it on the child's head, but of course it collapses and ends up in his eyes.

Sanji chuckles and hangs it around his neck.

“Are you giving this to me? Am I the captain?” he asks with wide eyes.

“You are, but only if you promise to never lose your hat, and to be more responsible for yourself and others.”

“Yes, I promise! I'll be a good captain! The best ever!"

Well, Sanji really has no problem believing that.

After making peace, Luffy decides to go on deck to show off his hat and announce his new role as captain of the Strawhats. Sanji, meanwhile, resumes cooking. As he mixes the sautéed beef with vegetables, he finally realizes that he has to rest. Even if for a little while, he needs it, otherwise he risks becoming unmanageable with children again... and he would never forgive himself for this.

That's why, after lunch, he joins his hostage to help him eat and confesses to him that he will try to sleep… so he asks him to scream at the top of his lungs in case he sees the Marines.

“Woe betide you if you try to screw me by not warning me,” he tells him in a threatening tone. He's sure he looks so shitty that he's intimidated him enough; so, he goes away confident and gathers the children in the men's quarters.

“I know I've never had you do this before and I know some of you may not even be sleepy, but this is the perfect time for a nap and I think it would do us all good. Now we'll sleep a bit and then I promise you we'll spend the afternoon fishing. Okay?"

They just look at him in confusion and Sanji is too tired to care. He takes that as a yes. Then he lies down on the floor, since the beds are occupied anyway, and takes the storybook to start reading a story... however, his eyes are too tired and the kids say they don't want to listen to it.

Just when he was starting to fear that they wouldn't let him rest easily, he feels a small body lie down next to him. Sanji turns and sees Mini-Moss. Immediately after him, Luffy, Usopp, Franky and all the others joins them with their pillows. Even Chopper curls up at his feet.

“You've never stayed over before, can we sleep with you?” Nami asks.

"Oh. Yes… okay.”

Making them lie on the floor is probably not a great idea, but he will have time to flog himself later for this, when he is a little more lucid. Now he mentally thanks whatever God is up there because not only did the children accept the nap, but they even decided to sleep with him.

No matter how old his nakama are, they remain the wonderful, loving people he has always known. And with this awareness, he smiles and makes a special request.

“Brook, do you know a lullaby to sing for us?”

“Yes, I know at least three! I can sing you my favorite!”

"Okay, thanks."

When the angelic singing of a curly-haired child begins to fill the room, the others close their eyes. Nami and Zoro cling to his arms, and Sanji finally drifts off into a worry-free sleep.

Unfortunately, after an incalculable amount of time, a distant little voice begins to echo in his ears.

“Marines…”

Sanji ignores it and turns onto his side.

“Marines…” says the voice, a little louder.

No, this time he won't let his anxieties wake him up for no reason!

“Marineees!!!” the voice shouts, louder than ever.

Sanji's eyes snap open and look around. The children are starting to wake up.

“Marines! Marines! Marines!”

Shit!

He quickly jumps up and realizes that he is dizzy and still very tired. He shakes his head and rushes out, locking the door of the men's quarters. Then he looks down from the railing and sees that his prisoner is still screaming.

He runs to reach him and looks straight towards the horizon. "Where? Where the fuck are the Marines?!”

“There, right in front of us!”

“What the hell are you talking about? I don't see anything! And you don't even have binoculars!”

“I tell you they are there! We are doomed!"

Oh God, maybe his tiredness is playing a bad joke on him. Yet, the ocean seems free.

“I don't see anyone, on the contrary! I'm pretty sure there's no one there!”

Suddenly the captain of the Dragon Pirates bursts into thunderous laughter. “Oops! Maybe I got too much sun and now I'm hallucinating!”

Sanji turns and glares at him. This asshole interrupted his rest on purpose, to annoy him and take the piss out of him.

“Fuck you!” he snaps.

He keeps laughing amusedly, but when Sanji looks at him more carefully, he realizes that his face is redder than ever... and he begins to feel guilty. Because he didn't just know hunger or thirst on that desolate rock. He also knew the effects of the sun beating down on your head, burning you and wearing away your skin.

Tying him to the mast was an impulsive choice. If he had known they were about to enter a summer island area, he would have avoided it.

Then he lets out a sigh that takes away his anger and decides to solve the problem. He walks away to get a jug of cold water from the fridge, then enters the downstairs closet and retrieves a table and umbrella that Robin-chan uses to relax outdoors. He assembles them together, opens the umbrella and then places everything right next to the prisoner, so as to protect him from the sun.

He stares at him with wide eyes and blinks several times. “What the… what the hell are you doing?”

Sanji doesn't respond and pours the fresh water into a glass, then brings it to his lips.

“Drink, you need it.”

"Hey! The story about the hallucinations was a joke!"

“I know, but I still want you to drink.”

Although muddled, he doesn't let it be repeated a third time and gulps down at least four glasses of water in a row.

“Is this better?”

“Um… yes, thanks.”

“If you need more, don't be proud. Just call me and I'll help you, you know my name."

The Strawhats' cook turns and is about to leave, but the Dragon pirate stops him.

“Sanji?”

"What's up? Do you want to drink again?” he asks, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and looking at him over his shoulder.

His hostage shakes his head. “My name is Morgan.”

Sanji gives him a nod and a small smile, then walks away. When he comes back to the men's quarters, he finds the children now all awake, playing with each other.

Judging by how far the sun has moved in the sky, almost not at all, he must have slept less than an hour.

DAY 6

Sanji is now a walking zombie. He has dark circles under his eyes, messy hair, and… well… maybe his shirt buttons are crooked. His footsteps drag across Sunny as he tries to keep the routine of the previous days, but he is slow, much slower than usual and he hates it. For breakfast and lunch, he has decided to avoid overly elaborate meals because he really doesn't want to make a mess and waste food.

He also tried to clean the galley, but he's sure he did a pretty shitty job, meanwhile he made sure the kids stayed under his watchful eye. Okay, maybe not so watchful anymore, but he's trying hard. In the afternoon, he tried to dedicate part of his time to playing with the kids. Actually, he stood still like a post and let them climb on top of him. Maybe they even used him as a castle tower to tear down at some point, he's not even sure he remembers correctly.

Anyway, it's time to start preparing dinner again and Sanji is heading to the galley, but before he can start climbing the stairs, an alarmed scream makes him jump.

“Fuck! Marines! Marines! Marines! Sanji! Alarm!”

Great. That idiot is doing the same bullshit as the day before.

“Captain Morgan, shut the fuck up! I'm not naive enough to fall for the same trick twice!”

“No, I'm serious this time! There is a navy fleet in front of us! This time you can see it with your own eyes!”

"What?"

His heart begins to beat twice as fast as he takes a single leap and reaches the mast. Then he sees it. A fleet of Marines approaching with cannons deployed.

Shit, shit, shit!

What should he do now?! Think, Sanji, come up with a plan! You're good at this!

Well, so… first step… make the children safe. Where? Down? In the weapons depot? Is it safe enough?

No, wait, idiot! Down is where ships are hit most frequently, especially if the fight gets close! Better somewhere a little higher up, where they can distract themselves without throwing tantrums.

Okay, yeah, maybe now he knows where to take them.

Sanji jumps onto the grass deck and tries to look authoritative enough. “Children, come on, hurry! Everyone grab hands and follow me!”

"Why?" Brook asks.

“Because I want to show you something that you will really like! Right away!"

“Should I bring Chopper too?”

Sanji nods. “Captain Luffy and vice-captain Zoro, help me get everyone to the aquarium, quickly.”

The two children look at him a little perplexed at first, but then they become serious and help him as he requested. Within a few minutes, they are all gathered in the aquarium.

“Well, brats. Now I want you to stay here and count the fish in the aquarium, all of them. Regardless of what you hear from the outside, keep counting! I know how many there are, and if you guess the number, I'll cook you a feast next week!”

"Feast?!" Luffy's mouth is already drooling, and the others also seem interested in the prize.

"We have a deal?" Sanji asks, anxiety starting to claw at his chest.

"Yes!" they exclaim in chorus.

The blond breathes a sigh of relief and then bends down on his knees to talk to Zoro. “Oi, you're the vice-captain of the Strawhats today.”

"Yes."

“Then please, make sure they stay calm and don't do anything stupid. Stay in here until I come back, okay?”

“Okay… but where are you going?”

“I have some bad guys to deal with.”

"Alone?"

"Alone." Sanji gets back on his feet and ruffles his green hair, "please, I'm counting on you. I think Luffy will be more focused on winning that feast!”

Zoro nods like a perfect obedient vice-captain and Sanji takes one last look at the kids, who are piled up on the sofa and are already counting fish.

He leaves the aquarium and locks the door. When he turns towards the horizon, he realizes that the Marine ship is closer than ever and that at any moment they could open fire.

Sanji is tired as hell, has a headache and an unstable mood, but the adrenaline has entered his system and allows him to feel the fire of battle burning in his veins and make him a little more lucid. He knows that these bastards have already recognized their Jolly Roger, he knows that there are bounties on all of their heads, he knows that they will attack, and worse still, they will try to invade the Sunny to capture them... so, he decides to anticipate them and draw all their attention to himself.

He leaps up and walks across the sky to reach them. They fire three cannonballs at him which he manages to avoid. He then rushes towards their ship and hits it on the deck with a Diable Jambe, damaging it and causing panic on board.

Taking a quick look from above, Sanji saw only recruits and a first officer. They're not much of a threat and he can handle them.

His enemies set out to attack him and the cook responds with his burning legs. His kicks are not precise, but they are powerful and merciless, this allows him to knock out multiple Marines at once. His observation haki allows him to dodge a few blows, but his fatigue seems to return in waves, making his reflexes slower than usual and earning him a few too many hits.

Just as he tries to speed up the frequency of his kicks and get this thing over with quickly, Sanji sees that some of them are ignoring him and invading the Sunny.

His plan failed, so he decides to immediately come back to his ship and continue the fight there.

His heart skips a beat when he realizes that those bastards have already started searching everywhere for his nakama, and four of them are heading right for the aquarium.

Sanji runs as fast as he can and gets ahead of them, placing himself in front of the door.

“If I were you, I'd go back to where you came from,” he says, puffing his cigarette towards the sky.

“If I were you, I would surrender!” they respond by pointing their weapons at him.

“I warn you, I'm already in a very irritable mood, save me the trouble of having to kick your ass and get the fuck away!”

"No! We have orders to arrest you and anyone on this ship!”

"And I can't let you do this, so…”

Before Sanji has time to complete the sarcastic threat he had in mind, he hears a sudden gunshot. A pain comparable to a strong punch explodes in his bicep. He turns and sees a fifth Marine to his right, the gunmetal smoking. He then looks down and sees a rapidly spreading blood stain, smearing the sleeve of his orange shirt.

“Fuck…” he comments a little dazed.

In the meantime, one of them takes the opportunity to hit him on the back of the head with the butt of his rifle, making him fall to the ground.

“Come on, let's break down this door! If he was defending it, there must be a reason!”

“I bet the other Strawhats are inside!”

Sanji feels his temples pounding violently in his ears, his adrenaline is fading, his consciousness is trying to slip away... and his vision is blurrier than it was before, but the words of the Marines still give him the necessary energy to get back to his feet and kick hard enough to knock them over the railing and stun them. For greater safety, he also throws himself onto the grass deck and, even if he lands stumbling, he manages to deal the final blow to each of the five bastards.

"Come on! Take him!”

That's right, there are other Marines on this fucking ship.

If he weren't tasked with protecting his nakama, he would probably let himself pass out and be captured just for the luxury of getting some rest. But he can't do it, he has to resist and fight, even though his strength is at its lowest.

“Strawhat! Sanji! You can't do it in those conditions! Free my arm!” Morgan suddenly shouts.

He looks at him confused, then, by pure luck, dodges two punches coming from opposite directions. Probably, everything good that he manages to do from this moment on will only be due to luck.

“Come on, you idiot! You need help and I can help you!”

Sanji has neither the time nor the clarity to ask himself whether he should trust him or not, he simply trusts his instincts and, although a little staggering, runs away and kneels in front of the mast. He takes out a small knife that he has been using these days to make quick fruit snacks for the kids, and he begins to cut the ropes.

Some Marines notice him and try to stop him, but he jumps up and decides to kick them in the most effective place of all. On their jewels.

While they wallow in pain on the ground, Sanji starts cutting the ropes again, but his head is spinning more and more. He closes his eyes for a moment, in the vain hope of finding a more stable world when he opens them again. Obviously, it doesn't work, but he doesn't give up and eventually manages to free Morgan's arm.

“Now stay behind me.”

Sanji nods and crawls to the back of the mast, then sees the captain of the Dragon Pirates extend an arm towards the Marines and exude a shimmering purple fog. The same purple fog he had seen several days ago.

When the air is clear, all over the Sunny there are Marine uniforms scattered on the ground and groups of five-year-olds looking around in confusion.

Now, the last thing he wants is to have other children around, so Sanji resumes cutting the ropes surrounding Morgan's body.

“W-what are you doing?” he asks.

“I'll free you… so… I'll lend you one of our boats and… fuck… you'll get these brats out of my way…” Sanji frowns, considering his words for a moment, “but I don't mean you have to kill them… just… take them back to their ship… and then... try to find your crew..."

“Are you really letting me go? What if I was actually bluffing about the duration of my power?”

The blond stops for a moment to massage his temples. “Please… I don't have the strength to even ask myself these doubts. I simply decided to trust you.”

Morgan's gray eyes fill with amazement. “Trust me?” He sees the ropes finally fall limply onto his legs. He is actually free. So, he stands up and looks at that idiot pirate who is in danger of fainting at any moment.

“Okay, I'll take care of getting them back to the Marine ship, but I don't need boats. In a matter of a minute, I can create a cloud of fog large and dense enough to jump on and carry myself and the brats away.”

“Oh,” Sanji comments, impressed.

“Anyway, before you leave, let me thank you.”

"For what?" he asks, looking at him with half-open eyes. Even keeping his eyelids completely open is hard now.

“For treating me with a humanity I had never received before, despite being your prisoner. Thank you also for showing me how to take care of a crew, even if you wore yourself out for them. At first, I really thought you were the biggest fool I've ever met, but all in all you were an example. Maybe, from today, I can be a better captain.”

His words make him smile. “You're welcome, asshole.”

“Your friends will return to adulthood tomorrow around sunset. I'm telling you so you don't freak out tomorrow morning, when you'll find them still children."

Oh, great, so there are another twenty-four hours...

"Okay, thank you."

“When your captain returns to normal, tell him that the Strawhats can always count on the help of Morgan and his Dragon Pirates! It will be an honor to meet you again and fight alongside you!” he exclaims, his chest puffing with pride.

“I will,” he replies, smiling at him.

He nods and begins to exude a purple mist that circles and condenses just over the Sunny. Sanji, in the meantime, drags his feet to the aquarium door, opens it with a trembling hand and sees that the kids are all still there, safe, unharmed.

That tiny bit of adrenaline still remaining vanishes at that moment, then he collapses to the ground and darkness wants to swallow him. Maybe Sanji himself would like to be swallowed up by it. But sobbing cries still keep him anchored to reality and begin to echo in his mind.

He is afraid.

He is afraid that something has happened, that one of his little nakama has gotten hurt; that’s why he forces himself to reopen his eyes, and what he sees are blurry spots.

“Oni-chaaaan!”

Oni-chan?

“That's blood!”

“Oni-chaaan don't die!”

“Nooo, pleaseee!”

Sanji tries to focus on the images in front of him and when he succeeds, he finds himself surrounded by children who are crying and staring at him desperately. Some of them still call him oni-chan, and Sanji is stunned that they think of him as… a big brother?

He looks at Mini-Moss, who stays a little further away, with tears in his eyes and his mouth sealed. He's not calling him big brother, but… does he really have tears in his eyes for… him?

Sanji decides to sit up and try to calm his nakama.

“K-kids… hey, I'm fine… I’m alive. I didn't want to scare you, but I'm just a little tired."

“You have blood on your arm,” Robin points out.

Fuck, it's true.

Sanji feels a strong tingling that starts from his forearm and spreads throughout his body. The blood stain has spread frighteningly.

“It's nothing, and I assure you I won't die any time soon!”

"Do you promise?" Usopp asks.

“Promise.” Sanji then turns to Luffy. “Captain Luffy and Vice-Captain Zoro, c-can you come closer?”

The two children immediately follow his request, and both show themselves with shining eyes. Sanji suppresses the urge to hug them.

“As you may have understood, I'm not in my best shape right now. I ask you to still give me a big hand to take care of the others, okay? I'm going to treat my wound and you can get out of the aquarium and play... but please, please! Be responsible and make sure no one gets hurt.”

“Yes, oni-chan!” Luffy exclaims.

“Okay,” Zoro says.

Sanji pats them both on the head to calm them down, then gets to his feet and staggers into the infirmary. He takes off his shirt and remembers that, to treat himself, he should clean the wound, disinfect it and stop the bleeding. And he must do it alone, he can't wait for Chopper to become an adult again, even if there are only twenty-four hours left.

He also remembers that the bottle of peroxide had a cherry red cap. He finds it and unscrews it. He tries to read the label and, with an enormous effort, focuses on the letters that confirm that he has taken the right bottle. He dumps a generous amount of peroxide onto his forearm, albeit a bit haphazardly. Then he uses a bandage to dry himself and takes another bandage with which he makes several turns around the wound to seal it. When he deems his work good enough, he tears off the edge of the bandage with his teeth and blocks it with medical tape.

Honestly, it seems like he has some kind of postal package on his arm, but it should be fine.

Sanji breathes a sigh of relief and puts his shirt back on, leaving it unbuttoned. He takes a look at the deck of the Sunny. The Marine children and his prisoner are gone, his little nakama are back playing on the grass. The ship held no damage. Maybe, for this time, he can allow himself to feel a hint of pride.

DAY 7

In just one week the Sunny was attacked by the Dragon Pirates and Marines, he can't be so unlucky to receive another attack tonight, right?

Thanks to this vaguely positive thought in his head, Sanji decided to skip the nightwatch shift and rest in the men's quarters with the kids. Just as they had done the previous afternoon, they lay on the floor together, but this time they made a fort of pillows and sheets. They also wanted to listen to a story and receive his goodnight kiss.

His sleep was blessed and peaceful for three hours, then Usopp burst into tears and confessed that he had dreamed that their loved oni-chan was really dead, and Sanji, to reassure him, carried him in his arms to the galley and gave him some chocolate.

The little curly-haired kid fell asleep again. It was already dawn, so, with the little energy he regained, he cooked a more abundant breakfast, with good quantities of pancakes, sausages, eggs, three different fruit juices and took out leftover biscuits from the previous days.

Within an hour, everyone woke up and Sanji, although tired to the bone, enjoyed his cigarette and his coffee while he watched those adorable brats during their last breakfast. It may seem bizarre, but he knows he will miss them. He'll miss braiding Nami and Robin's hair, he'll miss flying in the sky with Usopp and Franky, he'll miss Brook's childish voice singing them a lullaby. He'll miss Mini-Moss and his loud laughter as he clung to his leg. He will also miss the pranks of his little captain.

These nostalgic thoughts also accompany him when he hangs out Chopper's clean clothes and watches them play on the grass deck, when they all have lunch together and Luffy and Usopp start fighting over the food, when they start drawing in the galley. Indeed, especially at that moment. Because they spent their time drawing the crew, and in their drawings, he is always the skinny blond in the center, with pots and storybooks, and a lot of hearts all around.

Sanji smiles at them with tears in his eyes and decides to hang each of those colored papers on his fridge.

Then he looks at the sunlight filtering through the porthole and realizes that it is a deep orange. His tired legs drag him out of the galley to see if the children are still children, and if everything is under control, but on the deck, he finds his adult nakama, dressed in their classic clothes and their wide smiles.

“Sanji-kun! Sanji-kun!” Nami-san exclaims, waving her hand.

“SANJIII! We're back!" Luffy shouts.

Meanwhile, Franky shows off his typical and bizarre pose. “Bro! We have finally stopped being babies!”

The Strawhats' cook shifts his gaze slightly and sees Mosshead, who gives him a nod and a slight smile, and Chopper who is crying with joy next to him.

Finally… finally everyone is back to normal. He can finally let himself go to tiredness and quiet. And that's what he does.

Zoro looks at the cook's tired visible eye, his pale complexion, his dark circles and the sunset light that illuminates his hair with gold. He finds the strength to smile back, but then he immediately collapses to the ground, and before he knows it, the swordsman reaches him and picks him up. With one hand behind his knee and the other on his lower back, Zoro makes sure his head rests on his chest.

His nakama reach him and look at him with emotion.

“He was really super with us, with all of us,” comments Franky.

“Definitely loving like a parent,” Robin says.

Usopp nods. “I wish my father had been even a tenth like him.”

"Sometimes he reminded me of Bellemere..." Nami adds, sniffling.

Then Luffy crosses his arms over his chest and looks proudly at his unconscious cook. “Sanji is always the best, and when he wakes up, I want him to feel like he's on vacation and spoiled for a few days! Captain's orders, otherwise, I'll make you sleep among bags of potatoes!"

The Strawhats burst out laughing, then take turns kissing Sanji's hair, just like he did when he said goodnight, and let Zoro put him to bed.

“Please, take him to the infirmary. I have to check on his condition and how he treated his wound from yesterday!”

He nods and carries out the little doctor's order. When he lays him gently on the bed, he observes his deeply relaxed expression and his hair spread across the pillow. He still can't believe how happy he's felt around him for the past week. And he always felt those damn butterflies in his stomach… because Curlybrow was so caring, yet so radiant and funny. He was simply beautiful in everything he did.

Maybe he should tell him, sooner or later, that he thinks he's handsome, thoughtful, strong, and all that...

But for now, he just leaves a kiss into his hair and whispers in his ear, “sweet dreams, cook.”