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blacklegsanjiii · 4 months

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Golden

Single Dad!Mihawk raising Sanji that I talked about. Can also be read on AO3 here!

CH 2! CH 3!

Summary: Sanji's hair reminds Mihawk of the tales of Nika's sun. Golden.

“Help us! Hey!” A child’s voice called. Mihawk looked up the impossible island to see a blond boy’s head poking off of the side. “Please! Help us!” The boy couldn’t be older than seven maybe and Mihawk was not a soft man, not by any sense of the word. Yet he laid anchor and managed to get the boy, a one legged man, and their bag of treasure off the island and sail towards the nearest town.

Mihawk was providing the best first aid he could to the man as the boy hunched into a corner on the other side of the coffin ship, trying to give them space as Mihawk wastes a decent amount of really good whiskey on the bastard’s leg. They know each other tangentially, Red Leg a pirate with a long career, Mihawk’s already a decent pirate, an excellent swordsman.

“Take whatever you want as thanks, Hawk-eyes.” Zeff grunts as Mihawk wraps the bandages on his stump of a leg.

“And what could I possibly take that would be worthy of saving both your lives?” He asked with a hint of aggression towards the older man.

“The eggplant,” Zeff nods to the boy, “he’s got a long way to go but he wants to find the All Blue. Decent enough that you could get a protege out of him, shit at most things though.”

“Are you trying to put this boy further in debt to me?” Mihawk asked.

“Not at all, Hawk-eyes. But we were on that island for eighty five days.” Red leg says, fixing him a look. “If you don’t like him, bring him back to me and I’ll do as I see fit. I think you two might get on better than you think.”

Neither Mihawk nor the boy replied to him. Mihawk fixing yellow eyes onto the sea blue of the boy’s. Other than starving and almost being cooked by the sun, to Mihawk’s limited medical knowledge he was fine. His eyebrows curled to one side of his face as Mihawk pat his head and steered them to land. Once docked the first thing they did was drop Zeff off at the local doctor’s who shooed him and the boy out without so much as a word. The boy followed Mihawk as he resupplied his ship, be it small it did have to last him until he got back to Kuriagana and he hadn’t been expecting passengers. The boy helped quickly and quietly, eating the apple Mihawk handed him with an expectant look slowly.

The boy was smart, he wasn’t going to gorge himself sick. He looked around, observing his surroundings but flinching at a lot of the loud noises. Seemingly trying to melt into Mihawk’s coat as to be as unnoticed as possible by those around them despite the eyes Mihawk drew to himself. It was getting late so Mihawk found a modest inn with a room with two beds that he led the boy to. Mihawk had bought him a change of clothes and ordered him to bathe and change which the boy listened to, practically bolting away afraid to make the pirate mad. Mihawk disposed of the boy’s other clothes when he was out and brought food back with him, two plates, both nutritionally dense as he gave the boy the smaller portioned one. They ate in relative silence other than a few mumbled thanks by the child.

“Do you have a name or am I just supposed to call you ‘eggplant’ like Redleg?” Mihawk asked as the boy stacked the plates to return them to the kitchen.

“Sanji.” The boy whispered. Mihawk cocked an eyebrow at the boy who hurried out of the room quietly. “Sanji” was the word for three in North Blue which meant this boy had a storied past or unimaginative parents. Neither of which Mihawk cared for. He hung his coat and hat as the boy reentered just as quietly as he left.

He watched the boy quietly toe off his shoes and climb into the bed furthest from the door, sneaking under the covers and disappearing practically. Mihawk took off his boots and laid in the other, extinguishing the oil lamp and letting himself drift off to sleep. He woke up not long later to small whimpering noises and words coming from the other bed. Mihawk scowled as he sat up and looked, the moonlight putting a cold glow into the room as he listened to Sanji.

“Take it off, please. I’m sorry. Stop.” Muffled by the covers that Sanji had encased himself in and Mihawk's eyes widened fractionally. “It hurts, I’m sorry.”

Softly, terribly softly, Mihawk made his way to the other bed. Sitting on the edge and pulling the covers back enough to find Sanji’s small hands gripping his hair tight enough that he might rip it out with his knees tucked to his chin. Mihawk, unsure of much to do with children, so he tried to pry the boy's hands off his hair which evoked a gasp and blue eyes shooting open to catch sight of the yellow eyed man. Sanji ripped away from Mihawk, on instinct the elder thought, only to begin apologising for waking him up.

“It’s not from the island.” Mihawk stated as he and Sanji stared at each other. One with eyes full of realisation and the other full of fear.

“No.” Sanji agreed.

“Take off what?” Mihawk prodded as the boy’s hands found his hair again.

“Doesn’t matter, it’s gone, they’re gone.” Sanji deflected but Mihawk grabbed his wrists, guiding Sanji’s hands from his hair to his lap. Mihawk accepted his words but didn’t pull away.

“What do you plan to do once you find the All Blue?” Mihawk guided the conversation carefully as he moved up the bed, letting go of Sanji to sit next to him.

“I want to open a restaurant.” Sanji answered quietly. How fitting this boy was rescued by the captain of the Cook Pirates, how unfortunate for Zeff that Mihawk would take Sanji with to Kuriagana so that he could have a well rounded education Mihawk decided. Mihawk nodded as they looked at each other. “Are you going to leave me with him?”

“No,” Mihawk answered, “you’ll be coming to Kuraigana with me.”

“Thank you.” Sanji said quietly as rubbed his eyes and looked to the window. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I can sleep any more.” He apologised and Mihawk nodded. He stood and put his boots on then his coat and hat.

“I could use a drink and you should eat something small again, come along.” Mihawk drawled and Sanji scrambled to follow suit. Somehow still quietly like he had been trained to hide. Putting Yoru on his back they went and found a bar where Mihawk drank wine that looked like blood and Sanji ate the meat and vegetable skewer Mihawk had ordered him.

When the sun rose and the doctor let them in to talk to Zeff, Sanji thanking him for saving his life and Mihawk telling him he was taking Sanji with, Zeff nodded at all of this.

“Be good, eggplant.” Zeff ordered the boy who nodded.

“If your restaurant is still open when he’s older I expect you to give him a job.” Mihawk said before they left. “For experience.” Zeff nodded and they left. It would be a four day sail to Kuriagana, which Sanji learned everything to do with the coffin ship on. He took to it quickly as if clinging onto the words of the swordsman was the only thing that would keep him alive.

When they arrived, first bringing in their haul to the kitchen to be put away immediately. Mihawk then showed Sanji his room to be, the study, Mihawk’s room and his office and the garden. Pointing out other not so necessary things as they passed, all of which made Sanji’s eyes grow wide.

“Thank you, sir.” Sanji said when the tour concluded and Mihawk gave him a curt nod.

“We’ll wash up and start on dinner, you’ll need to know how to cook to open a restaurant.” Mihawk said and that was the first time he saw Sanji smile, even if it was just a small one.

~*~

One of the first things Dracule Mihawk notices about Sanji is he's rail thin. He smokes cigarettes around meal times and snack times so after about a day Mihawk had put it together. He also had no idea where the boy managed to steal the cigarettes from. Or how many because he was going to let the boy have his privacy and they were most definitely stashed in his room, likely under the bed or in the wardrobe. He's so thin Mihawk could name every bone in his body when he looked at him. Sanji is nine, he looks like he's six.

They're taking a bath, Mihawk notes the scars the nine year old has across his body. He's washing Sanji's hair because it's so fine and the boy is so rough with it. Sanji grips his hair so tight and often Mihawk is surprised the boy doesn't have bald spots. It also took a lot of coaxing to even get the child to bathe with him. He'd debated on calling Shanks as he was based in Foosha for the time being and on the last call they had he was hanging out with a kid who had recently eaten the devil fruit his crew was going to sell. Shanks would probably be a lot better at this than him, not that he'll ever tell that to the man but the point remains.

"Head back." Mihawk says and Sanji complies so Mihawk can rinse his hair. Turns out his hair is even lighter than first thought. It feels like straw still, dry and cracked and the ends are split to hell. Mihawk gathers the conditioner and runs it through the boy's hair. Noting every breath hitch and flinch. Mihawk doesn't ask. He's made it very clear to Sanji that he will stop when the boy says. He might kill someone for waking him up from a nap and he is a pirate after all, but he's never hurt a kid. Which is more than most pirates, or really anyone on the Blues can say.

He works it in and lets it sit, he washes his own hair in the meantime, giving Sanji a much needed break from his touch. He feels a shift in the boy's haki, becoming drenched in fear he whips to the boy.

"Sanji?" Mihawk asks and Sanji is stock still, eyes flicking around the room following something but he doesn't answer. "Sanji, I can't help you if you don't tell me." And then he sees it, a bug lands on Sanji and the boy screams and swats at it but not before it bites him? Stings him? It hurts him and flies off before it gets hurt and Mihawk is grabbing the boy who is covered in fear and pain and horror for some goddamned reason and immediately his hands shoot for his hair.

Mihawk is trying to get him to calm down but he's in a full blown panic attack and he's not calming down. He instead gets out of the bath and picks Sanji up and he's so light that it makes Mihawk seethe. He gets them both towelled off and wraps his waist while Sanji gets wrapped into two. He'll rinse his hair out later, Mihawk decides and it could be worse. He treats the sting, pulls the stinger out and all. Sanji doesn't react, he just stares at the ground and now his haki is empty.

"Sanji." Mihawk whispers, garnering no response. He takes Sanji to the master bedroom because Mihawk had found that Sanji's nightmares were intense and if Mihawk wasn't careful he would startle Sanji awake and he had to deal with a boy who had attempted to run away in pure flight mode. Mihawk's hands were rough and calloused from years of sword fighting and it seemed to scare Sanji into a deeper panic if he touched him too soon but this was new entirely.

He got the boy dressed in pyjamas that hang off his wiry frame, wrapped his hair in a towel and laid him on the spare side of the too large mattress that Mihawk had never shared before Sanji came into his life a month and a half but the boy spends more nights in Mihawk's than his own. He dresses in his sleep pants and lays down next to the boy, gently rubbing Sanji's back.

Mihawk is not a soft man. Yet here he is, caring for a child who has seen so much worse than most pirates will ever enact.

Maybe a call to Newgate should be in order.

#black leg sanji #vinsmoke sanji #sanji #dracule mihawk #hawkeye mihawk #golden #my writing #single dad!mihawk

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kamuwrites · 7 years

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In the Bag - Ch 4/10 - a One Piece gen cat fic

Fic Summary:

All pirates have hordes of treasure. It just so happens in this life, cats are the treasure in Luffy’s.

Chapter Title: Premium Food Things

No pairings/General

Word count: 2138

read on ao3

He stretched out on the sole couch of the Kamabakka Kingdom staff break room after a long night of front door guard duty.

Ten minutes into his break, a weight settled on his chest.

He lifted the magazine from his face and smiled. “You tired of the girls already, Sanji?” Gin asked after the longhaired blonde cat.

Sanji continued to purr, ignoring Gin in favor of keeping his engine going.

Gin chuckled and let the magazine shade his face again. They both had a long night.

Luffy found them like that later, napping at the peak of dawn.

“Sanji!” Luffy was considerate enough to make it sound like he was whispering, when his whispering voice was more like a less loud yell. “Time to go home! Say bye to Bandana Guy!”

Sanji yowled grumpily in protest, hating to be handled by men even half-asleep.

Luffy somehow managed to settle Sanji into the cat-safe bag he kept with him at all times. Gin blinked up blearily to witness Sanji curled up like a cranky, growling croissant, curly whiskers and all.

“Alright, alright. Yes, I know, you don’t want to see Zoro or leave Bandana Guy, but your grooming appointment is coming up. Yeah, you can hang out with Nami for a bit.” Sanji meowed and Luffy laughed. “Oi, oi, that’s not nice to say.”

Gin followed them out and dazedly watched Luffy saunter out the club and into the dimly lit streets. Day had yet to break over the rise of the surrounding buildings.

“Watch out for dark alleys,” Gin warned.

“Sure!” Luffy practically shouted and waved over his shoulder.

Gin waved back, yawning from the doorway of the club.

Seriously. He wasn’t certain if he was expectant or dreading the days Luffy and Sanji came over for their twice weekly visits.

Gin stepped aside as a few club members scrambled to bid farewell to Sanji and Luffy with airborne kisses while the two departed for the station. The place was certainly more lively when they were there.

Their story was odd, even by his standards. What they did at a transgender-friendly club was beyond his comprehension until he got the answer from the owner in person.

“He’s our delivery boy,” Ivankov said. “Luffy-chan is also our benefactor’s son. The two facts are completely unrelated, though! The real reason lies with Sanji.”

“The cat?”

“Yes! The dear was a part of the local feral cat colony until Bon-chan found him caught in a raccoon trap near the Baratie. Turns out he had a chip and was part of that busted drug trafficking business under the guise of a kitten mill from a few years ago. I take care of human beings, but I have no expertise in animals! So we almost turned him into the shelter, but I heard about the dreadful things they do to unwanted cats. And there comes Luffy-chan, sweeping us off our feet with his generous offer of a foster home.”

He had stiffened at the news. It turned out he and Sanji were more connected than he had realized.

Gin confronted Luffy later that week. Luffy had to know his involvement in pushing Sanji to the streets.

It was his fault the drug cartel got busted in the first place. It was in his power to stop what Don Krieg was doing to those poor kittens who were only bred for their pedigree and looks. All those cats, rescued or released to streets ravaging garbage because Gin had decided to follow the direction his moral compass pointed. Betraying Don Krieg was worth the relief his conscience felt at seeing those cats up and about outside the confines of their cages.

Even if that nearly came at the cost of his life.

“I believe Sanji was one of those cats. I couldn’t save him or the rest of his siblings. I’m glad someone did,” Gin finished, head hung in guilt.

Luffy was silent for a moment, the only noise in the room being the brush against Sanji’s thick coat.

“That was almost three years ago,” Luffy said. It was worded like a question.

“Yes. Don Krieg decided to...punish me in the following months after my screw up.” Gin hated to talk about the specifics. Only Ivankov and her right hand Inazuma knew. They were the ones to save his life and provide a safe place to recover.

Luffy nodded thoughtfully. “So you released all the cats? Even though they could have died on their own in the streets without their mothers?” he asked.

“...I didn’t think about that at the time. I only had time to release the dozen cages near me before the police arrived.” He remembered he was too busy wrapping his mind around freedom and I need to get (them) out of there.

“That was reckless!”

“Hi pot, I’m kettle,” Gin muttered.

Luffy snickered. Sanji protested his person’s inattention by batting at his hand. Human continued to brush cat.

“Your heart was in the right place,” Luffy said, scritching Sanji under the chin fondly. Due to the distraction of brush on fur, Sanji allowed it. “You’re kind of like Sabo. Selfish and selfless for other people.”

“Maybe not selfless,” Gin said.

“Hmm, sure.” Luffy didn’t sound like he agreed with that, but let it go.

Gin bit his lip. “Fuck,” he said. To be comforted by a near kid was a near low for him.

His mind flashed to Don Krieg and the dark room which he-would-not-speak-or-think-of.

No. Receiving verbal comfort by Monkey D. Luffy was leagues better than that.

“Yup,” Luffy agreed. “By the way, I help because I want to, not because I have to. I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse, but it’s still better than doing nothing, you know?”

“Yeah...You’re right.”

“Don’t worry too hard over stuff that happened back then. We’re all here now,” Luffy said.

He was eternally grateful to so many people; Gin couldn’t possibly pay them all back for what they had done for him. Couldn’t any one of these kind people realize that?

“What can I?” Gin gestured to the space between them, words failing him.

“Good timing! Can you take in Sanji on Thursday? I’m introducing a new cat to the house,” Luffy requested immediately, shaking Sanji off.

Sanji landed on his feet and skulked out of sight.

“Sanji gets territorial?” Gin had read up on cat behavior once he learned he was the most tolerated person in the building on nights Sanji stayed at Kamabakka Kingdom.

“Nah. It’s weird, right? He used to be part of a feral colony but he’s not like that. He’s only aggressive to guy cats.” Luffy snorted and brushed the cat hair on his jeans off onto the floor.

“So why?” Before Luffy opened his mouth, Gin knew the reason would be simple yet ultimately ridiculous. Maybe it was a sixth sense he had developed due to knowing the likes of Luffy, Ivankov, and even briefly motherfucking Dragon himself.

“Weeeell,” Luffy grinned, extending the word out. “The new cat? She’s a girl.”

When Luffy said no more, Gin blinked. “And?” he prompted.

“That’s it.” Luffy popped his lips. End of that trail of conversation.

Gin pinched the skin between his eyebrows. Ivankov warned him Ds had a tendency to explain without explaining anything at all. This had all the signs of such a thing.

“Luffy. Why can’t Sanji be in a house with a female cat?” Gin asked carefully.

“Oh. Sanji goes WILD over females. You have no idea, man.”

“But he’s…” Gin gestured vaguely down to his family jewels.

Luffy’s grin widened. “Yup. Doesn’t matter! The heart wants what it wants! Cat or human, LOVE stops for no one!” Luffy declared, making an unusual stance Gin knew he definitely learned from Bentham.

So. Knowing Sanji went into immediate heat when getting a whiff of a female was definitely feral cat behavior, according to PAWLEASEHELP DOT ORG. Good for future reference.

He was also 99 percent sure Luffy got that last phrase wrong.

“It’s not just cats, though. Sanji LOVES girls.” Luffy tilted his head. “I don’t get why he doesn’t like some of the girls here? Is it because their leg and facial hair itch? I’m kinda envious though…”

Gin strongly suspected the reason was that some of the members were simply crossdressing.

“Yes, I can take Sanji,” he said quickly.

Key to stopping a D tangent: answering to the whim that seemed like the top priority. If the top priority seemed like a near impossibility, he was instructed to make it happen, at all costs. Ivankov stressed this very seriously.

“Great!” Luffy nodded and patted Sanji’s head. “Sanji, we’re late for that grooming appointment. Hopefully Doctor Hip Lady lets us in for a quick snip.”

The following weekend, Luffy had dumped Sanji on him and promised he would be back for him on Monday. That Monday Luffy asked (ordered) Gin to babysit Sanji again on Thursday, when Luffy had his job at the Red Hair in the evening.

The visits rinsed and repeated until Gin felt they had established a schedule. Sanji would hang out at either Gin’s apartment or the club on Mondays and Thursdays.

Gin felt comfortable and brave enough to ask Luffy where he could find discounted cat beds and food.

“I was thinking, if Sanji needed space to cool off from Zoro or the girls, he could crash at my place,” Gin offered, a tad nervous Luffy would say no.

“I don’t like isolating any of the cats, even if they do get feisty,” Luffy said, frowning. He whipped out a sticky pad and the tiniest pencil from one of his many vest pockets and shoved them into Gin’s face. “Sanji likes you, so I think this is perfect! Do you have a cell?”

The catification was cool. The apartment was meant as a housing complex for the nearby chefs of the professional Baratie. It was through Sanji’s charm that Gin managed to get one. The cat was a favorite of the restaurant, having been deemed the unofficial mascot, so he was cleared for entry on the apartment grounds. Catifying his apartment was given grudging approval by the owner and head chef, Red Leg Zeff.

“That cat and I have deep set history,” the man with an impressively large hat and braided mustache (?) relayed after Gin gaped a bit too long at his quick agreement. “The spoiled yam gave me a reason to keep living. Almost died a homeless nobody in the rain when this mangy puke colored thing hops on my chest and starts rumbling louder than a Lamborghini racing down the freeway.”

“That’s—” Gin was shocked.

“Fucking stupid. I knew that lemon was waiting for my corpse to rot before digging in. But the thing was, I had already broken my leg beyond repair.” Red Leg Zeff chuckled and patted the metal limb. “I said, ‘Here, take this useless limb of mine, brat’ and you know what the drenched rug did? He dug his claws in and purred louder. After taking a piss in a puddle a few feet away, of course. Little did I know that he just about near saved my life.”

“No way.” Gin looked to the cat in question. Sanji was currently cuddled up in the lap of a female customer. Her date sneezed away on the other side of the table. Sanji ate up the attention while looking simultaneously smug about it.

“Yes. I never did manage to get a collar on that one. He kept to himself and the ferals that live around these parts. It didn’t feel right, leashing him and tying him down.” Zeff sighed and got up, striding toward Sanji’s table. “I thought, ‘the least I can do is provide him a safe place to come back to’. Should’ve acted faster, frankly.”

Gin grinned. Luffy was certainly someone known for direct and immediate action.

“Ah.” Zeff addressed Gin, Sanji meowing crankily in his arms. “Boy, don’t bring him into the restaurant when you come. The yam is unpredictable for business, as you can see.”

The male customer was yelling about hazardous restaurant etiquette and the woman was flushed happily, obviously enjoying her brief experience with a loving cat. The Baratie chefs were curiously slipping out of the kitchen. A few noticed Sanji in the head chef’s arms. The rest headed over to take care of the dissatisfied customer.

Gin watched their expressions brighten as they hesitantly approached the cat. They reached out and patted Sanji on the head. A few even blushed as they proceeded to enthusiastically kick and beat the crap out of the man.

“You,” Gin said later, “are a very spoiled cat.”

Sanji yawned and continued his 18 hour nap, presumably dreaming up a paradise of beautiful girls and female cats.

#one piece #sanji #gin (one piece)#monkey d. luffy #one piece fanfiction #kamu fic #this chapter isnt my favorite bc i had to cut and leave out a lot what i intended in regards to modern day kamabakka kingdom ://

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thegrandline · 6 years

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Title: from the sea Author: mementomoripontifexmortis Fandom: one piece Rating: teen Character(s): sanji vinsmoke, red-leg zeff, Pairing(s): none Tags: drabble series. female sanji. Author’s Note: this is a drabble series??? that i started 2 years ago and am finally doing something with. cross posted on both ao3 and ff.net. Summary: to market they go

[ch 1] [ch 2] [ch 3] [ch 4] [ch 5] [ch 6]

Chapter Three

With the shipwright building the restaurant, they’ve decided to look around the small island. It wasn’t one that Zeff recognized himself, which meant it wasn’t one he visited which was good because he still had a bounty out on his head. Still, he and Sanju were keeping a low profile. Well as low as a man with a child could in a market full of sharks.

“How about this?” She asked, holding up a set of cabbages. Moving forward, he grabbed them from her hands and checked them, nodding when he found them more than suitable. A smile split her face as he reached to pay the seller. He had been teaching her the basics of cooking and had found that she was a quick learner, taking his words to heart as he taught her to determine if a food item was good or bad.

He patted her head, much to her consternation, before she ran off ahead of him. Zeff gave the seller a small nod before following her as fast as he could. Which wasn’t as fast as he liked; the doctor on the island had said that until he got fully used to his leg he would be at a disadvantage, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t push it.

Quickening his steps as Sanju’s blonde head disappeared behind a crowd of people, he pushed down on the bit of worry that followed – despite the lie they were telling anyone who asked, he was not and never would be the girl’s father – and focused on listening. Over the calls of the stall owners, the kids playing on the streets and the rumble of the overall voices, he could hear her questioning someone. Her voice was careful, but not in the sense of a child who was scared to say something wrong, rather in the way of someone well practiced in speaking.

It surprised him given that his little Eggplant had spent a month ignoring him and the other two months barely speaking to anyone on the first island. Now on this bigger island, she spoke and she snipped at him, pushed his hand off her head, pouted and acted like a child. The change was welcomed but at the same time confusing for him.

“Eggplant,” He said as he moved to stand next to her, his voice disapproving.

She huffed, “S’not my name.”

Zeff shook his head, “Don’t run ahead so quickly,” he said placing his hand on her head again before looking at the wares offered. Cookware littered the table, some of it not as fine as he was used to, but others better than anything he had been able to afford when he was still a pirate. He gave each item a small look over, paying more attention to the better items.

“Your daughter has fine taste,” the stall owner said, giving a quick smile to Sanju. “She immediately zeroed in on these very fine knives.”

He wasn’t wrong. The knife set was fine, close to what he had used on his ship but not as expensive. It was a complete set, something any chef would be jealous of and the wood used to make the handles kept it’s grip even when wet. Zeff turned to Sanju, “Go ahead, pick it up.”

Sanju’s blue eyes widened, just like the owner.

“Sir!” The man said, seemingly outraged at the idea that he would even think about buying such knives for a child. “These knives are for accomplished chefs, not beginners.”

Zeff silenced him with a glare, turning back to face Sanju. “The only way to know if these are good knives for you is if you can handle them comfortably, so go on.”

Her hands reach out, slow but steady and she grasps the knife’s handle, her fingers going white around it. Slowly he reached over and fixed her grip, the way a chef would hold a knife and not like a miniature assassin would. She relaxed, nodding as she moved her hand around.

“How does it feel?”

Sanju bit her lip, confusion on her face. “I like it.”

He nodded again, grabbing the knife from her to check the balance of it before looking to the owner, “We’ll take the whole set.”

The man gaped and Zeff could understand. The knife set they were getting was one that an accomplished chef would by after scrounging money for years, not one that one would – or should actually – buy for their daughter on what looked like to be a whim. But Zeff knew better. This set would be the one she used for most of her life, only getting a new handle affixed on it when she outgrew it. His eyes stared the man down until the man nodded, wrapping the knives up in a roll and handing it to Sanju as Zeff paid the man. She cradled it to her chest, a look of pure joy on her face.

But it was when she tilted her head upwards and gave him a smile, he knew that he had done right. “You have the sense to take care of those, okay Eggplant.”

She nodded, but said nothing as they walked away from the vendor and back into the fray. Zeff kept a hand on her head, the other grasping the bag that held the supplies they had picked up, as he started talking. “The shipwright is wonderin’ what we’re going to call the restaurant.”

“Baratie.” Sanju said simply, her eyes following the vendors. Despite her lack of interest in everything, she had the bad habit of staring at the stalls. He’d have to teach her how to go shopping properly; her wandering eyes showed vendors that they had an easy target and he’d be damned if any cook of his was going to be considered an easy target. Shaking his head, he moved her head to face ahead.

“Anything else you need?” He asked. He knew he still had to take her shopping for clothing, but so far Sanju seemed content in the clothing she owned. He was pretty glad about that as taking her shopping was something he actually felt dread about.

Her face blanked, something he had learned meant she was thinking, as they made their way from the market to the small rental they were living in while they waited for the Baratie to be made. “A cookbook?” She suggested after a moment.

He shook his head, “Got all the recipes you’ll need to learn in my head, but we will need one of those fancy books about all the fish in the seas.”

She shrugged and that was the end of the conversation, her attention drawn away from him as he moved to put things away in the abysmal kitchen. She sat at the small table, hand stroking the handles reverently. “I always wanted my own knife set, but I wasn’t allowed one on the Orbit.”

The Orbit? Zeff figured that was the name of the ship he had attacked and found her on. “I didn’t get my own knife set until I was in my late teens,” he said, “It’s not everyday that someone gets a baby eggplant a set.”

“Shitty geezer,” she mumbled, looking down with a bright glint in her eyes. “I’m not an eggplant.”

“Hm, seems like one to me.” Zeff grinned, “Now, come help prepare dinner, I’m an old man and I can’t do it alone.”

She stood up quickly, ignoring his words besides the dinner part and moved to the kitchen without her chef’s roll. He gave her a look and she turned back, grabbing it sheepishly. “A good chef never goes anywhere without his knives.”

“Got it.”

“Let’s move onto julienne cuts since we’ve got cabbage and can make some nice cabbage and bacon salad.” Moving to grab the chef’s knife from her roll, he told her to wash the cabbage and bring out the bacon, watching as she moved. She was made for the kitchen, he was sure of it. Sure she needed training, but she’d be a better cook in half the time than it took most, of that he was positive. If a bit of pride swelled in his chest, well, Zeff wouldn’t admit it.

#♛;; ❜ bubbles ;; writing ❜#♛;; ❜ writings ;; from the sea ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; fluff ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; family ❜#♛;; ❜ chara ;; vinsmoke sanji ❜#♛;; ❜ chara ;; red-leg zeff ❜#♛;; ❜ writing ;; update ❜#♛;; ❜ alternate universe ;; female sanji ❜

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a11sunday · 2 months

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No one should be judged for loving more than they ought, only for loving not enough. ( sora & zeff )

“ tch… ” the head chef averts his gaze , though the knowing smile on sora’s lips he catches a glimpse of tells him that he’s fooling no one. even the entire crew knows he has a soft spot for the little eggplant , suggested enough by the nickname. though no one mentions it or makes fuss over it , since in their own ways, they too have come to cherish the young boy.

fingertips pinch the braided ends of his mustache, elbows leaning against the railing that encircles the restaurant’s deck— zeff looks to her once more , sighing.

“ you have a good kid, sora-san. even if he does get on my damn nerves. ” as gruff as his voice is, the tinge of fondness surely isn’t lost in translation.

@weatherwltch , meme.

#finally i got to this :'))#weatherwltch #♡ ⧽ zeff x sora.#inbox messages.#( queue. )#ch: red leg zeff.

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favoriteonepiecepanels · 2 years

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#one piece #one piece spoilers #sanji #ch. 58 #the love i have for this man #red leg zeff

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thegrandline · 6 years

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[ch 1] [ch 2] [ch 3] [ch 4] [ch 5] [ch 6]

Chapter Two

He woke with a nightmare, two hours after falling asleep, the sounds of the ocean dragging him down into the waves that held his wrecked home. The girl was the only reason he awoke, her harsh words as she shook him pulled him up and out of the water and back to the land of the living. He blinked at her, confusion in his eyes as she glared at him.

“Eggplant?” He asked, “What are you doing up?”

“You were making noises,” she admitted, her blue eyes were wide and scared as she did so, the slightly bigger than her pajamas that a woman on the island gave her before they left hanging off her frame. “I thought you were-”

She doesn’t say it but he could guess where her thoughts went. Sighing, he sat up, the peg leg tapped lightly against the floor of the boat. She moved back a bit, warily watching him. “I’m fine, little one,” he said as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and patted her head. In the two months that they had spent on the island waiting for the ship to show back up, Zeff hadn’t dealt with any nightmare of his own – Sanju’s, yes, but his dreams had been pretty easy but in the days that they had spent at sea, he had found himself tossing and turning, dreaming that they were still on the Rock. Still starving and lost at sea.

He supposed it was because they were back at sea and they were traveling on a ship that wasn’t his own and he didn’t have any control over, but he tried no to dwell on any of that. It would only be a few more days before they were going to be at an island where they sold boats and other supplies. That’s all he had to deal with. A few more days.

“You’re an idiot.” The girl said, frowning as she moved to sit next to him. Zeff gave her a glare, but she brushed it off instead of cowering and going back to her bed.

“Why now, Eggplant?” He asked after she got herself comfortable laying on his pillow. She didn’t answer, instead fell back to sleep, leaving him to lean up against the wall. Her bed was far too small, something far more akin to a cot, which made since given she was a child, but it did limit him when she decided that his spot was more comfortable and she refused to leave. Zeff stared at her, blinking lightly and letting out a soft laugh.

She seemed to be getting more comfortable around him, which he was thankful of. He wasn’t sure what had happened to her before he found her, but he was sure that it wasn’t anything nice given how she reacted to simple things. Closing his eyes, he listened to her soft breathing and thought of their future.

“People’ll be able to find the Baratie from anywhere in the East Blue.” He muttered, nodding his head. “It’ll be so distinctive looking that nobody’d be able to miss it.”

“Can it be fish shaped?” Her voice asked, soft in the dark room. “Fish shaped is distinct.”

He laughed again, “It is. And I’ll teach you how to be the best chef.”

“And we’ll serve anyone who needs food.” Zeff nodded, even if he didn’t need to. She wasn’t asking him if they were, she was telling. Not that he’d disagree. Even before the Rock, he would never take the food off another ship; it was the lowest of lows to leave anyone to starve and he knew the feeling of starving thanks to his childhood. His poor mother tried her hardest to keep them from having to feel the pull of their empty stomachs but their island was small and poor; the marine base that lived there was ruled by a greedy man who was no better than a tyrant.

“We’ll serve anyone who comes by,” he said, a slight frown growing on his face. Pirates and other uncivilized folks would arrive wherever they put their little restaurant and that meant that when Sanju got older, she’d have to know how to defend herself. He never actually had a woman on his ship due to his disciplinary style and while he would be loathed to teach her as if she was a boy, he couldn’t figure a different way to. She was like him, the little Eggplant, which meant that she’d be a good candidate to pass on his fighting techniques to, but she was a girl and he never fought against women.

“You’re being stupid again, shitty geezer,” she muttered, sounding exactly as she did when she mentioned the fish shaped restaurant; wide awake with a hint of teasing.

He harrumphed, “You’re going to have to learn how to fight off any shitty customers.” She stiffened but he ignored it and continued, “You’re such a string bean though so maybe you can just stay in the kitchen.”

She kicked him, hard. “I can fight!”

“Ah yes, I do remember you coming at me with a pair of knives,” Zeff grinned, turning to her, “Knives are for cooking, so we’ll not be teaching you with those.”

“…just for cooking?”

Her quiet voice threw him slightly before he nodded, “Knives are utensils for feeding a person, they aren’t for attacking or fighting. I won’t have you turning out to be a disgrace of a chef for using the utensils you use for cooking to fight.” Sharp words but they apparently brought comfort to the little blonde as she shifted slightly in the bed.

Silence befell the room, Zeff drifted back into his thoughts, but this time they weren’t consumed with dead little Eggplants, all skin and bones or the Rock that almost killed him and took his leg or the nightmare that was losing his crew and ship all in one fell swoop, it was on the future and his new crew that only consisted of this broken little girl and himself. Smiling softly, he whispered, “Thank you, Eggplant.”

She was a little rough around the edges, but she did know how to comfort him when his thoughts got too much.

#♛;; ❜ bubbles ;; writing ❜#♛;; ❜ writings ;; from the sea ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; fluff ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; family ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; h/c ❜#♛;; ❜ chara ;; vinsmoke sanji ❜#♛;; ❜ chara ;; red-leg zeff ❜#♛;; ❜ writing ;; update ❜#♛;; ❜ alternate universe ;; female sanji ❜

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thegrandline · 6 years

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[ch 1] [ch 2] [ch 3] [ch 4] [ch 5] [ch 6]

Chapter Five

Her question had thrown him, more so than the night after the first time he gave her tough love and hit her upside the head with his leg. It was not a question he had been expecting, something about why it seemed as if the only chefs that managed to stick around was her and him or why he was far more picky with picking out the female staff compared to the male staff as he had had trouble explaining it while teaching her how to go through the small stack of resumes they had received from the last island they went to.

He never expected such a blunt question. And he wasn’t prepared to answer it so truthfully, but Zeff couldn’t bring himself to lie to her.

She had grown so much in the months that he had spent training her in either fighting skills or cooking, but the usual answer he had given when he talked about his reasoning for fighting with his legs was often “a chef of the seas doesn’t use their hands,”. But with her soft voice he had opened up, even if it was just a bit and didn’t fully answer her question.

He hadn’t wanted to tell her that sometimes you met with moments that changed you for the better or for the worse. One of those days had been the day he had met his parents killer out on the Grand Line and instead of using the skills he had gained and taught himself, he had grabbed the bastard’s swords and cut him into shreds, gaining a cut on his forearm that his doctor had said could’ve destroyed his ability to cook if it had been any deeper, but it was in that moment that he felt he had truly done the right thing as his parents child. Even if as a person, it wasn’t.

It was that day that had changed him for the worse, even if it was just slightly.

But, then again, he thought to himself, a day that changed him for the better was when he had gained the Little Eggplant who was as loyal as they came and was one of the few people who shared his dream. Something not even his friends and crew believed in. Even if her becoming a part of his life had made it a bit more troublesome, especially when it came to having to train her due to the violent nature of owning a restaurant on the seas, it had changed it for the better; giving him someone else to focus on.

As Shichirou had said while bandaging him up after one of their legendary fights on the Grand Line, he could be a very selfish man when he wanted to be and it was only because he was such a man as he was – one that could be easily respected and followed, knowing that he cared about his crew in his own way – the rest of the crew had yet to mutiny when it came to following his dream.

Rubbing his face with one of his wrinkling hands, he wondered when did age finally catch up to him? He wasn’t even forty yet and he had himself a child and had retired from his piracy days and had seemingly given up on the All Blue.

What would Shichirou say in such a situation? The man had been a parent himself who had lost his family and had become a pirate for a similar reason as Zeff had – revenge. So what would he say when up against a small girl child with more fierceness in her bones than most men? Who had stood up against a crew of pirates with two cooking knives and a fiery will to survive?

“You’re an idiot Zeff, and I say that as both your doctor and your unofficial psychiatrist.”

He would’ve kicked the doctor upside his head and given him the job to help clean the canons. But the man would’ve been right. Leaning against the railing on the balcony, he wondered when he wandered from the main floor to the upstairs. He hadn’t heard Sanju complaining that he was leaving her to work alone, but at the same time, she often followed him around like an earnest bee, trying to learn all that she could by watching him.

Well however he made his way up there without being caught by the eggplant, he was going to take it.

The ocean called to him, it always had and always would, he was sure of it, but it wasn’t the same call that he remembered it being as a child, one that had driven him to a fervor he hadn't truly understood back then. It was a gentle call, the same his mother had used whenever he spent too many hours watching the moon cross the open sky, unhindered by everything.

A grin crossed his face; when he ignored his mother to instead sit out at all hours, she’d kick him upside the head, telling him off for ignoring her. She had been the one who taught him the basic moves he had based his entire Black Leg style fighting after, she had taught him to respect women. She had even taught him the life lesson he so desperately wanted Sanju to never learn: sometimes life will give you a lesson that will change your entire way of thinking and go against everything you have ever learned and it's up to you to decide how you react to it; either you'll fight or you'll change with it.

It seemed as if his moods were going to keep flipping between good and bad, he thought as he sighed. His mother had never taught him to be a wide-eyed idealist, his father had taught him about the All Blue while his mother had told his father that he was a naive man for falling for such a dream. He could remember his father's reply so clearly in his head, “Well Mahira, you’re the one who fell in love with me”.

His mother would smack him upside the head, but she’d give him a look so fond, that he wondered if there was any true anger behind her kicks when it came to his father.

“Shitty Geezer?” Sanju pulled him out of his thoughts, a look on her face. She had a bump on her head from where he had hit her with his peg leg, but she hardly paid attention to it – and maybe it was high time he stopped himself from thinking on it as well. His mother would've taught Sanju the way she taught him and while she couldn't, he still could and would.

“Where are you learning this language?” He asked as he motioned for her to come stand next to him.

She rolled her eyes but he opted to ignore her, “You said you would teach me navigation after I cleaned up since tonight’s so clear.”

He had, hadn’t he? He barely functioned during the morning which was the time she managed to sneak in requests that he couldn't turn down; teaching her the stars, telling her all about the sights he had seen in the Grand Line, teaching her handstands so she could, and he quoted her one this, “become stronger”. A smile stretched on his face, “A little eggplant like you won’t learn it all tonight but I’m sure we can attempt it!”

She huffed and kicked his good leg, the badly hidden pack of cigarettes she had stolen from one of those pansy-ass chefs who couldn't handle a little fighting outlined in her pocket, “You don’t have to be such a bastard!”

“And you should listen to me Eggplant when I tell you smoking is bad for you!” He said, kicking her in the butt as he turned to walk away from his perch. “You’ll dull your sense!”

“Tch,” She shook her head, a grin growing on her lips as she walked, “An old man like you won’t understand but it makes me look cool!”

“It makes you look like you have no common sense and are being raised in a barn!”

“Hey, don’t insult Baratie, she’s much better than a barn!” Sanju shot, shaking her head again. “It looks like your mind is going, Shitty Geezer!”

“My mind can still remember what a little brat you are, Eggplant!” He ruffled her hair again, it was getting longer and he’d have to ask her if she wanted it cut a bit before it got too long and tangled, given that she barely liked brushing it, instead putting the mess up in a bun. “Now walk faster, I’m an old man and you’ve got a bedtime!”

“Ha! Told you so!”

He kicked her backside again, her flying through the open door and down to the bottom floor, “Do you want to do another midnight swim?”

Zeff listened closely to her, hearing the sound of her sticking out her tongue at her and taunting him. His mother would proud of her and proud of him for teaching her the skills and life lessons that she would need to continue. Life was big on throwing curves and this girl, this girl who changed everything he had believed in and shared a foolish dream with him, was his biggest curve yet.

#♛;; ❜ bubbles ;; writing ❜#♛;; ❜ writings ;; from the sea ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; angst ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; h/c ❜#♛;; ❜ genre ;; family ❜#♛;; ❜ chara ;; red-leg zeff ❜#♛;; ❜ chara ;; vinsmoke sanji ❜#♛;; ❜ writing ;; update ❜#♛;; ❜ alternate universe ;; female sanji ❜

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