Chapter Text
“And the winner of this New World Yakitori Island Cooking Contest is…Sanji of the Straw Hat Pirates!”
Cheers erupted through the crowd in the theatre and Sanji grinned at the announcement, standing proudly in the sudden spotlight that appeared above him. He could hear his crew’s shouts and cheers over the rest of them, right in front of the stage.
They had only just arrived at this island a couple of hours ago, a fairly bustling and busy city with all sorts of sights, before the lovely and genius goddess known as Nami spotted a poster.
It advertised a contest, a cooking contest to be exact. The only requirement was that it had to be a sailing cook, no one from the island allowed. And the prize was a hefty sum of berri for the crew, and a special prize for the winning cook.
Nami merely had to turn to him with berris in her eyes for Sanji to agree, more than happy to participate in something that would be easy enough and earn money for their always nearly empty wallets. Anything for the lovely Nami-san~
It was lucky they caught it on the day it was happening, and an easy registration later, had Sanji fitted in with twenty three other chefs, all of them coming from various pirates, cruise lines and even a marine or two that had arrived on the island. Only one was from the island itself, the defending champion of the last five years.
The rules were stated, the pots and pans gleamed in the stage lights and they were told to begin.
Twenty four became twelve, and soon became six until three were left standing for the finals.
The Straw Hats were invited closer to the stage along with the crew of a cruise ship for the other contestant. The defending champion seemed to have no one to support them but the final dishes were given and the three cooks had gotten to work.
Sanji would have been lying if he hadn’t been having a blast cooking up a storm and seeing how other chefs cooked. He hoped that after everything was over, he would be able to talk to them, swap recipes and tricks. And even though he wasn’t cooking the food for his crew to eat, he was still using his skills to help them, and it warmed his heart to see them cheer from the sidelines, even if Luffy would be a little loud at times and tried to grab some food on more than one occasion from different contestants.
He had to quickly make something on the side and throw it at his captain just to stop the rubbery arms from appearing on stage.
And now he had won, defeating the long timing winning cook, and he felt his heart swell with pride as the announcer went on and on about something or other.
A man in a suit grabbed his attention, motioning to behind the stage. “If you would be so kind as to follow me, sir, your prize is this way.” He said, bowing slightly.
Sanji nodded as he followed the man. He wondered what the prize for him could be. New equipment? Perhaps special ingredients? He smiled as he thought of what he could do with a prize like those, no matter what he’d make a special feast for everyone tonight.
~
The crowds filtered out of the amphitheatre, leaving the Straw Hats on the stage as they waited for Sanji to return as well as their money prize. Nami could barely stand still at the thought of all those berris, a mental list of what she could do with it already being made in her head. A few upgrades for the Sunny, some more spending money for everyone's allowances, a hefty manager’s fee for seeing the contest poster and letting Sanji participate. Surely Sanji wouldn’t mind.
“Can we leave yet?” Zoro asked, his arms crossed over his chest and looking bored.
Nami whipped her head to glare at the swordsman. “Not until we get our money!” She snapped at him.
“And for Sanji to return.” Robin added, smiling.
The navigator nodded. “Yeah, and that.”
“That was so much fun!” Luffy cheered, eating some of the food that he had swiped from one of the counters. “But we couldn’t eat all the food, so it was boring too.”
Usopp looked over at his captain. “Only you could find something fun and boring at the same time…” He muttered.
The announcer soon appeared before Nami had another chance of snapping at the others to wait patiently, a bag of what she knew was the prize money in his hands. She practically glided over to meet him just a little earlier.
“Here you are miss,” The announcer said, handing Nami the bundle of a hundred million berris. “Your payment for the contest. Congratulations on having such a spectacular chef!”
“Thank youu~” Nami sang gleefully. She could cry as she felt the weight of all the money she held. Perhaps if Sanji asked nicely she would give him some as a reward for his hard work in getting this beautiful bounty.
“Now that everything is settled.” The announcer continued to smile. “We ask that you kindly leave. Someone here will escort you to the exit.”
“We’re going to wait here until Sanji comes back with his prize.” Luffy smiled. “I hope it’s meat!”
The announcer removed his glasses and rubbed them on his shirt. “I’m sorry, you must not have heard us correctly. This is payment, for your cook winning.”
Nami nodded, her eyebrows raised. “Yes, that’s how contests work.” But even though she knew the rules to contests, the way he started to speak made her stomach flip. Something was wrong.
The man nodded. “And since you now have that payment, you are no longer allowed on these premises. We thank you for your understanding and participation.” He gave a stiff bow.
Nami opened her mouth, but Robin placed her hand on the navigator’s shoulder, silencing her as the older one looked at the man cooly. “What do you mean by ‘payment’?” Robin asked, frowning.
The crew looked at her, all confused by her words before turning back to the announcer whose grinned turned more malicious at her words.
“You entered the contest to show that you had the best cook. You won. And we paid you to take him.”
Nami’s stomach backflipped down into her toes and started to plummet into the stage flooring. “Take…him?” She repeated. “You...you can’t just do that!”
“Entering this contest and signing into the registration process makes you agree to these terms.”
Nami felt her face grow hot in her anger. “Where does it say that?!” She shouted, she had read that one piece of paper called a registration in case they were going to swindle the winner out of their earnings, and there had been no rules of the kind on there!
The man then took out a poster, the exact same one that Nami had seen. “On the registration sheet it says that you agree to all the rules that had been noted on this poster.”
“Yeah, and?”
He flipped the poster, the side that had been attached to the building she had seen it on, and there were more words on there then Nami could read. It was all so small and bunched together. What a stupid trick, though she stored it away in case she needed to do something similar.
“You really should be more careful in how you read these contracts.” He said smugly, as if this was a mere formality. Nami wondered how many times he had done this to other crews, and after this they had all but crumbled under everything.
She had signed Sanji up to be a slave…
“I don’t know why we’re talking about words on a piece of paper for rules.” Zoro barked out. “The Cook is staying with us.”
The announcer flicked his finger from side to side. “Too bad, you signed up for this and brought your chef to us. He is no longer part of your crew, the prize money is compensation for you to find another. I suggest you look for one on this island, there are man-”
“Where’s Sanji?” Luffy demanded, no longer wanting to listen to this man ramble on about words and rules.
“That is no longer your concern. As is the will of Master Fordrino. He belongs to him now.”
“Fordrino?”
“The final judge in this fine competition, the sponsor. And a Celestial Dragon.” He spoke the last two words louder, as if to show just who the crew was up against, waiting to see them cower. “Admiral marines are merely a transponder snail away, if you earn the ire of a World Noble such as Master Fordrino.”
It seemed to have the complete opposite effect. A dark and ominous cloud suddenly overcame the Straw Hats. They didn’t care about the fine print, or the Celestial Dragon and his power.
“Zoro.” Luffy called out, staring at the announcer. “Get him.”
“Aye.” Zoro walked towards the man casually, drawing one of his swords.
The man sputtered and backed away, but soon tripped over his own feet and fell onto his backside. His hands flailed in front of him, trying and failing to get the swordsman away from him.
Zoro’s sword was out and pressed against the man’s neck, the other Straw Hats soon surrounding him. The murderous aura they exuded was palable.
“Why does a Celestial Dragon want to hold a cooking contest?” Robin asked, her head tilting to the side.
The man clamped his mouth shut stubbornly.
“Talk.” Zoro demanded. The sword just grazed his neck enough for a thin cut to form.
“Y-yes, well…Lord Fordrino loves food, and wants nothing but the best of the best! So he began searching for the best cooks in the world to serve him. He holds this contest once a year, to see if his own chef is bested and if one of them makes better food, he takes them for himself. He is even kind enough to compensate the victors that must part with their chef.”
Zoro backed off of the man as Luffy came forward, taking the man’s shirt into his fist and lifting him up to his eye level.
“What happens to the cooks?” He asked.
The man gulped. “He…he will be collared and sent to Mariejois where he’ll make a welcoming feast in the master’s honour.”
Luffy glared at the man, his fist clenching tightly on the others shirt. “Where’s Sanji?” He growled.
The man stuttered, flailing his arms about. “There is nothing left for you to do! He is already taken as Master Fordrino’s property, you have no cha—urk!”
Luffy’s grip tightened even further, his nose touching the other’s. “ Where’s. Sanji ?”
~
“A toast! To the best chef in the land!”
Sanji lifted his own glass at the toast and took a sip. He let the flavour roll around on his tongue before he swallowed and took another sip. It was quite nice, light, floral, and not overly sweet. A very strange aftertaste though, like burnt cherries.
“Thanks for everything, but I really should be getting back to my crew.” He said, looking over to the one that brought him here.
The man that led him here waved his hand. “Yes, yes, of course, of course! But first you must meet the final judge and get your prize! He has final say on who wins and was the one who truly enjoyed your food. He is quite the culinary connoisseur.”
Sanji wanted to roll his eyes in annoyance but could only nod. If the guy that decided his food was the best wanted to talk to him, who was he to refuse? Because of him, his lovely Nami got a good amount of money to help her and the others out. And the prize could be something of worth.
He took another sip of the wine.
They had brought him to what looked like a drawing room in a mansion, not like any backstage he had ever seen. Though he had never been to the back of any stage before. He would have to ask Brook about it at some time.
It was highly fancy, he would give them that, taking another sip of the wine. The final judge was apparently the sponsor to this whole thing, and had very expensive tastes, noting the carpet and flooring, the furniture and paintings. No wonder the prize money was so high, the guy could afford it. There were a few other people here that had been part of the toast, stage hands he assumed, but their suits said otherwise. It was odd, how once the toast was over, they all seemed to stay amongst themselves, occasionally glancing at him.
The doors opened behind him and Sanji watched as all those that were inside bowed in complete synchronization. He raised an eyebrow before he turned his head to greet the judge and get this over with. There was a dinner feast to be made.
Seeing who had walked in, made all of his meal plans disappear from his head.
“Ah, so this is my new chef.”
He saw the white suit, the helmet over his head and he felt his stomach plummet.
A Celestial Dragon.
Beside him walked the man that had brought him here, and on the other, was the defending champion. And only now, the scarf the chef had around his neck gone, could Sanji see metal around the man’s neck and his heart quickened at the sight.
“New chef?” Sanji repeated, trying to keep his voice even.
The noble ignored his comment as he walked inside, the doors closing behind him. The cook swore internally, that was the only exit.
The noble waved his hand and the previous champion walked over beside Sanji while the blond tried to figure out how to get out of this mess. He glanced over at the chef but the other didn’t return his gaze.
He could kick the man, Sanji knew. It wouldn’t be the first time they harmed a Celestial Dragon. But he was away from his crew, he wasn’t sure where they were or if they were also in trouble. He would have to play his cards right and slip out, keeping damage to a minimum until he couldn’t.
Also his mouth felt weird now. Why did his mouth feel weird?
“This is your new lord and master, Master Fordrino,” The man that brought him over announced. “You are to address him as Master or Master Fordrino. Is that understood?”
Sanji blinked. “No thanks.”
The man laughed. “As if you have a choice in the matter.”
Sanji smirked with ease at those words. “Sorry, you’ve got it all wrong. I already have a crew. And I’m not leaving them.”
The man walked over to him, a hand raised as if to strike him, but the world noble cleared his throat, causing the other to pause in his step immediately.
“I will forgive these words you have said, since your cuisine was utterly divine and I wish to have you unharmed so you may serve me immediately.” The world noble looked at him and smiled. “You will come to realize I can be a very…understanding master. You could have what you desire as long as you continue to please me.”
Sanji felt his skin crawl. But at the same time, he felt like he was starting to float.
“You are a fighter, but that tune will soon change.” Seemingly satisfied with the silence he had been given, Fordrino turned his attention to the other chef that was there.
The past champion. Sanji could see the man shaking. Or maybe that was his vision swimming, he couldn’t tell.
“Five years. One of my longer running chefs, but it seems you have lost your touch.” Fordrino drawled out, looking unimpressed with the chef. He began to take something out of his robe.
The man looked down, trying to bow. “Master please! Let me have one more chance!” He pleaded.
Fordrino held something in his hand and Sanji could only tell it wasn’t something good as he pointed it to the man. “There’s no need for someone so worthless at making bland food to stay on this earth anymore.”
“Please, Master I beg of y—“
There was a loud bang, and Sanji felt a liquid splash on him. He blinked, trying to form a thought to figure out what it was. Something big and heavy was on him before it wasn’t there anymore. The blond managed to look down and huh, that was a lot of red. At least that guy was quiet now. Strange place to take a nap on the floor but Sanji couldn’t blame him. He almost felt like going to sleep himself.
He blinked, feeling as if it took minutes rather than seconds as a thought drifted into his mind.
Red like that…usually meant blood, right?
The smell hit his senses and he shuddered, blinking hard as he tried to wake up from this fog in his head. But he remained standing still, looking at the blood on the floor with mild fascination.
“The drugs should be working now. Collar him. I can’t wait to brand this one.”
Drugs? Collar? Brand?
He looked back up. One of the suits was coming towards him. He stumbled awkwardly back, his instincts trying to tell him something his brain and body couldn’t understand. There was something large and metal in the guys hands. Something like that other cook had around his neck. It did not look comfortable.
A collar. A slave collar.
He tried to process it as he took another shaky step back. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and managed another thought.
Drugged. He had been drugged.
The wine!
The man kept coming towards him, and his vision was getting fuzzier by the second. He had to do something. A collar was bad. Celestial Dragons were bad. Do something! Return to his crew. Crew? Do something, anything!
Pain exploded through his hand and a wave of clarity reached his mind as he felt the pain shoot through his arm. He casually looked down to find that he had broken the wine glass that he had still been holding and his hand was bleeding. Glass shards embedded in his skin. Huh…well that hurt.
His mind fumbled a bit in thought, thinking that was probably not a good thing to do for some reason but the pain and adrenaline that came with it woke up his mind enough that he spun a leg at the approaching figure, kicking him and the collar away.
Sanji regained his balance as the world spun way too fast, turned to where he saw an exit and ran. Slamming into the door he saw, he opened it and after fumbling to regain his balance, kept running. Even though he could hear his heart in his ears and his blood pumping, he could also feel the shadow of the drug looming over him, slowly getting closer and tearing at him bit by bit. Not to mention the voices of those that wanted to capture him. He winced as he flexed his bleeding hand, letting more pain erupt through his arm, to keep him awake and alert. It wouldn’t last but he had to keep running. Had to get back to his crew. Had to help them in some way find him. He had to run.
~
“Zoro-san are you sure this is the right way?” Brook shrilled out, dodging another attack from the security they had encountered in the building.
“Of course!” Zoro stated, slashing at another body that got in his way. “The cook had gone right, so that’s where we’re going.”
“I believe you mean left, Zoro-san because that is the direction we had picked!”
The swordsman could only sigh in frustration as the skeleton mocked his direction picking skills. He knew where he was going. The others were the one going the wrong way. But it was better to spit up and cover all of their bases to find the cook before he was going to be carted off to who knows where. They just decided to be his cover.
He knew this cooking contest was going to be a waste of time, money or no money. It wasn’t like he was going to have a chance of getting any of it. And now he had to help the cook of all people, because he had agreed to Nami’s stupid plan.
They had met little resistance, but the people they had met so far were mere workers, and some standard security, no real fighters among them. Somehow knowing that made his stomach turn. This Celestial Dragon was so arrogant that he didn’t have any real fire power in case they wanted to get back their cook. It worked out in their favour but it still left a bad taste in his mouth.
Zoro heard something crash in front of them, and he prepared for an attack, his swords at the ready. Brook followed suit, his laughter stopping as he drew his own blade just behind the other.
Until a stumbling idiot ran out of the hall, tripping over his own feet, clad in black. It almost looked like he was going to fall face first onto the tiles, but he staggered enough to keep himself upright. Or enough to make him walk backwards and hit the wall behind him. Zoro couldn’t help but notice the red that seemed to follow the man on the floor and now walls.
“Cook?!”
Sanji lifted his head and blinked slowly at the two, though he made no other move otherwise. Zoro saw the cook’s eye and the blown pupil, the almost vacant expression. He seemed to consider them for a moment, confused by the man and the skeleton. Had he lost that much blood?
“Maaa…Mari…” Sanji slurred out eventually, trying to take a step towards them, but it seemed he barely had enough energy to leave the wall, only one of his feet sliding weakly across the floor, making a squeaking noise as it smeared blood along the way. “Ma…my hand hurts…”
And it seemed that was all Sanji could manage before he began to slide down the wall. Zoro and Brook were upon him before his knees could hit the tiles, Zoro’s hands steady on Sanji’s shoulders as he tried to support the other, a complete dead weight in his arms.
“Oi!” Zoro shook him gently, trying to figure out where all the blood was coming from, his hands wet from grasping his shoulders. His suit was already dark, making it hard to find the source, and Sanji was not helping by basically using him as another wall.
Sanji winced, inhaling sharply through his teeth as his hand was pressed between him and the swordsman. Zoro pried the other off of him to find what was wrong and his eye finally went to the cook’s hand.
Broken glass, dried and fresh blood trickling from the cuts.
The urge to cut something rose significantly.
“Oh dear, oh dear.” Brook muttered worriedly, one of his hands hovering over the blond. “Sanji-san, are you with us? Are you alright?”
Zoro shook him again and that made Sanji lift his head, at least enough to see one eye look at them through his bangs.
“’m fine…” He mumbled out, before he slumped back down.
Zoro rolled his eye. “The pinnacle of health.” If Sanji had enough energy to be sarcastic, he was fine.
Sanji tried to get out of the swordsman’s grip but could barely shrug a shoulder before he fell limp again. “Shaddup…shut…the mossy moss of the…shitty moss up.”
Zoro wanted to remark on the eloquence of that supposed insult but stopped when he heard voices echoing in the halls. The two coherent Straw Hats looked over to the direction that the cook had come out of.
The voices brought back some life to the cook as he shuffled his legs and pressed more into Zoro, trying to walk without realizing there was a clear obstacle in his way. “Been lovely chat…lovely talk. Gotta run. Burnt cherries taste bad.” Sanji tried to stand up to his full height, but only managed to tilt heavily to the side until Zoro got another good grip on him. “The ceilings…pretty…”
“What the hell, Cook?” Zoro exclaimed, staring at the once again deadweight in his arms. Sure the cook was weird but this was a lot, even for him.
Brook looked down at Sanji, who didn’t respond to the swordsman’s words. “I am starting to believe this strange behaviour isn’t caused by blood loss, or normal injuries, Zoro-san.” He stated, his voice low and filled with concern.
Zoro was beginning to agree with the skeleton. The urge to cut some people increased by a hundredfold and wasn’t going down anytime soon.
The voices grew louder. They sounded angry, frustrated as their footsteps clapped louder and louder. The words ‘capture him’ filled the halls.
The culprits that had tried to take Sanji away from them.
“Brook.” Zoro growled out, his eye not leaving the hall. “Take the cook.”
He felt rather than saw Brook gently taking Sanji out of his arms and into his own. His hands freed, Wado appeared in his mouth instantly, Kitetsu and Enma already in his hands. He began to walk towards the hall, following the trail of blood and vowing to leave so much more on the floor.
“I’ll be right back.”
~
Brook watched as the swordsman walked over to the hall, knowing exactly what was about to occur. He would have joined him if not for the fact the one that they had been looking for seemed to not be within his right mind.
He looked over the cook once again, tuning out the screams. Besides the hand that was still partially bleeding, it didn’t seem that Sanji was injured anywhere else. The blood that was on him seemed to have come from another source. Whether that was a good thing or not, Brook couldn’t tell.
What was more concerning was the obvious state Sanji was in. He was looking more and more likely to have been drugged in some way, and was very uncertain on his feet, and uncertain in thought. He seemed to sort of recognize them, but the musician also felt that if it had been anyone to hold him like this, Sanji wouldn’t put in any sort of fuss.
“I hurt…my hand…”
Brook looked down at the loopy cook, who was looking at his injured hand. “That’s alright, Sanji-san. Chopper-san will fix you right up, there’s nothing to worry about.” He said calmly. He knew the cook’s hands were his treasure, but it didn’t seem to be a grave injury.
“He’s gonna kill me…”
The musician tilted his head in confusion. “Who is?” He asked. Sure Chopper would be scared, but he wouldn’t kill Sanji for a damaged hand. Or was he talking about the World noble?
Sanji looked up at Brook, tears in his eyes. The look reminded the other of a child realizing he was going to be in trouble.“Zeff’s gonna…kill me…He’s going to be so mad!”
Brook couldn’t help himself as he began to chuckle softly at the proclamation. He reached one of his hands up to Sanji’s hair, petting it lightly for reassurance, and he watched as Sanji closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. “I’m sure Zeff-san would understand. He wouldn’t want you captured and…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence. To say what might have been the fate of their cook. It pained him to even think about it.
Sanji mumbled something out that Brook couldn’t catch, his eyes half lidded and focusing on nothing. He tried to move his damaged hand, but Brook placed his own gently on top. They shouldn’t aggravate it any further. In return, Sanji brought up his other hand, placing it on the musicians afro.
The blond grinned, no trace of the tears that had been there mere seconds ago. “Blaaack Broccoli…” He declared, his speech slowed but happy. “Fuzzy, Black Broccoliiii…”
Brook gasped, mocking hurt. “Now, Sanji-san, I will have you know I am not broccoli!” He leaned forward. “I am a skeleton, therefore I should at least be cauliflower yohohoho~”
Sanji dropped his hand from the other’s hair, but instead of resting back at his side, the blond moved it to begin poking at Brook’s rib, his fingers lightly running across one of the bones.
Brook started, becoming a bit flustered. “Sa-Sanji-san! Oh…uhm…hee hee...please stop, I’m ticklish there! Ah, but I don’t have skin! Yohohoho~” He laughed anyways, because he honestly wasn’t sure what to do with someone playing with his ribs. He was not a xylophone!
Finally the torture ceased as the cook flopped his arm away from his sides. “He’s not…not going to like me…anymore…Don’t want the helmet.” Sanji mumbled, squirming lightly in Brook’s arms. “Black broccoli…Don’t hurt the rats, you have to…you shouldn’t hurt them.”
If Brook had lips, he would certainly be chewing on his lower one right now, as Sanji continued to mumble incoherently. All he could do for the young man was hold him and prevent any more harm to his hand.
He was quite grateful when Zoro returned, a trail of blood following him, but Brook knew that none of it was the swordsman’s own.
Sheathing his swords, the demon of the east turned back into Zoro as he knelt down to the two, his eye looking at Sanji. “How is he?” He asked. Brook would have joked about how the swordsman actually sounded slightly worried. But he did not feel like facing his wrath.
“It seems he’s relatively unharmed, physically speaking. Besides his hand of course.” Brook stated, looking back at the dazed blond. Sanji’s mouth moved, some noise came out, but nothing resembling words. “It does appear that he may have been drugged, and his comprehension is getting worse. I don’t believe he can walk anymore.”
Zoro sighed looking a little annoyed. “Guess it can’t be helped. You’re certainly a handful, love Cook.”
Somehow knowing that he was being insulted, Sanji lurched forward for a moment before falling back down into the skeleton’s arms, his head lolling to the side to stare in the swordsman’s general direction. His injured and glass filled hand twitched, almost as if it was mad. But due to the movement, fresh blood began to run down his hand again and a pained whine escaped the blond’s mouth.
He watched as the swordsman undid the bandana on his arm and tied it loosely on the cook’s hand, trying his best not to irritate the glass in his hand. “Don’t keep trying to move it, idiot.” He scolded.
Once it was tied up to a reasonable degree, Zoro propped his arms out, and with a delicacy that the musician never thought he would see, took Sanji out of Brook’s arms and began to shuffle him onto his back, the skeleton aiding him. The blond didn’t even stir from all the jostling.
Zoro shifted Sanji on his back, adjusting the other more comfortably. “You’ll have to clear the path for us, Brook. Think you can handle it?” He asked, looking over at the other.
Brook nodded, unsheathing his blade, feeling the rage for these people that had hurt his precious nakama course through his bones. “I will cut through the throngs of people who dare to stand in our way, and make them feel a death that they could never return from!” He stated gravely, anger ringing through his words. He paused before he turned back to look at Zoro. “Ah, but I returned from being dead yohohoho~”
~
Zoro took everything back about what he had said about the lack of security. Apparently the noble had people to spare, and after acquring their cook back, they all made like one of Usopp’s marks, and headed straight towards them, weapons brandished trying to reclaim their master’s ‘prize’.
Now in a narrow hallway, the two swordsmen were surrounded. Brook was doing his best with fending them off, but in such a small area, and with so many foes, the swordsman was clearly overwhelmed and wouldn’t last much longer by himself.
“Damn it, there’s too many of them.” Zoro snarled, catching a glance of the cook on his back. He no longer mumbled out anything and didn’t even stir through every dodge or movement. Zoro was pretty sure he was fine, he wasn’t worried about the lack of any reaction. But for now he had to help Brook.
Slowly, Zoro backed away to the wall. If they were to get out of here, he had to drop the cook and aid Brook in clearing out these cowards.
He tried to be gentle with getting the cook off of his back, letting him lay against the wall. Luckily there were two pillars with decorative items on them to give some semblance of a barrier to the blond. Freed from having the lump of idiot on his back, Zoro went back to drawing his three swords, standing in front of the cook.
The nobles fighters seemed to realize what he was doing and were doing everything they could to separate not only Zoro from Sanji, but Brook from the others as well. All in order for the green haired man to leave his post as he slashed and cut through the fodder, to leave the cook and for them to scoop him up and take him away.
And sadly, it was working.
Zoro grunted with effort as he, once again, stepped back to where he had been guarding the cook, ending the lives of two others that had gotten way too close. He turned, back facing Sanji again as he readied his weapons. Brook was even further away, but still holding his own luckily enough. Though he didn’t know for how long.
It wasn’t until a large club appeared from nowhere and tried to smash Zoro into a pulp that he realized they were losing their ground. On instinct, he jumped out of its way as it embedded itself into the floor, tiles cracking and splintering in all directions.
Zoro cursed, realizing his mistake. He had jumped in the wrong direction. The club now a barrier between him and the cook.
“Damn it!” He cursed, spinning on his heel to attack the larger man that had used that club and to get the others away from that idiot cook!
But before he managed to swipe Enma, the club wielder was slammed away, shooting down the hallway, a blue fishman standing where the other had been.
Zoro grinned, glad for the backup. “Perfect timing, Jinbei!” He shouted, nodding to him in greeting.
The fishman nodded in return, continuing his attack on the enemies. Zoro turned to his own group, ready to give them a piece of his steel.
The extra hand from the ex-warlord had the hallway cleared in no time. Brook’s clothes were ruffled but he was unharmed as he joined the other two, and no one else was worse for wear. Except for the cook, but that was a given for the moment.
“It’s good to see you found Sanji.” Jinbei replied, looking over to the blond on the wall, noting the red stains. “Is he alright?”
Zoro walked over to the cook, kneeling down and preparing the other to go onto his back again. “They drugged him up pretty well, and his hand’s got glass in it.” He explained, looking at the cook’s face, frowning. Something wasn’t right. “Cook?”
Zoro shook his shoulder, noticing the complete vacant expression on Sanji. His eyes were open, but only half lidded, and they weren’t blinking. Zoro shook him again and when there was no response, the swordsman would deny it with his very life that his stomach met the floor. “Oi, Cook!” He shouted loudly.
Jinbei was beside him in an instant, kneeling down and one of his hands quickly moving to Sanji’s throat.
Right. He knew that. It was basic first aid that even he should know.
It was another moment before Jinbei sighed. “It’s weak…but his heartbeat is there.” He said, his shoulders sagging at the good news.
“Damn idiot Cook…” Zoro muttered. This guy was going to owe them so much for worrying the others.
Jinbei didn’t get up from where he sat, looking at the cook with an unreadable expression. Zoro could only watch as the fishman took in the state of Sanji and bristled with rage. He had never seen that look on the helmsman before.
“I am so sorry, Sanji,” Jibei whispered, his voice filled with remorse. A moment of silence passed before he turned his attention to Zoro. “If this is what I believe it to be…he should be fine. But we should still head out quickly and have Chopper examine him.”
Zoro nodded, beginning to put the cook back onto his back with Jinbei’s help. With the sudden movement, Sanji stirred, letting out a soft groan. Zoro felt the blond’s head move on his shoulder and from how Jinbei looked over him, he might have been looking at the whale shark.
“Blue…duckie…” A mumbled voice came from the cook, one of his hands flapping weakly as if he was trying to pet the helmsman from Zoro’s shoulder.
Jinbei blinked. “It is…good to see you too, Sanji…” He replied, nodding in greeting.
Zoro adjusted his grip on the cook. “Let’s head out.” He stated, picking a direction and beginning to walk to get out of this blasted building. The faster they got out of here, the better. This place was making his skin itch.
Brook walked over to Jinbei, bowing to him. “Pardon me, Blue Duckie. I believe we haven’t been properly introduced. I am Black Broccoli. It is an honour to meet you.” He tipped his hat.
Jinbei started, staring at the skeleton for a moment before he too, gave a small bow. “Apologies Black Broccoli, for not introducing myself sooner. It is good to meet you as well.”
“Would you two hurry up?!” Zoro shouted, turning his head to look at the two.
“Of course, Green Marimo.” They both called out in unison, following Zoro.
“Marimo’s are already green!”
“Zoro-san, you are going the wrong way! It’s left! The other left!”
~
She was so stupid!
“Thunderbolt Tempo!”
How could she not have seen this coming? She should’ve known that something was off! That amount of prize money for a stupid cooking contest! It was just food for crying out loud!
“Gale Sword!”
Nami panted, watching as the remainder of the people they had been fighting had been brought to their knees. How was this place so big? Sanji could have been anywhere or he could have already been gone! Taken away by a Celestial Dragon and being forced to cook whatever they wanted day in and day out.
Well…that’s what he normally did on the Sunny, she morbidly thought. So not much would change for him at least…
But he liked cooking for them! And who else could keep up with Luffy’s bottomless appetite?
She shook her head, forming more cool and heat balls as she ran through the corridors. She was going to charge Sanji so much money for making her worry and agreeing to do this stupid contest! At least they had managed to keep the prize money after they throttled the announcer.
“Nami.”
She jumped and let out a yelp when she heard her name. Whipping her head to the side, she spotted her captain, running by her side. They had both gone off in the same direction and she almost had forgotten that.
Luffy smiled at her, bright and cheerful as anything. “Don’t worry, we’ll find Sanji.” He declared. With so much certainty, and so much confidence, she couldn’t help but believe him.
Nami scoffed, unable to hide the smile that began to form. “Of course we will. And he’ll have to cook us a feast, for making us worry about him.”
Luffy laughed. “All the more reason to find him even faster!” He cheered, picking up speed, Nami following suit.
They managed to run into some sort of courtyard and Nami couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer gaudiness and expensive items laid about. If they weren’t so busy and had some extra hands, she would be helping herself.
But then a surge of fighters appeared and she cursed her rotten luck. They didn’t have time to fight all of these people. Who knew if Sanji was even still here! For all they knew he could be already sailing to Mariejois!
On that grim thought, she readied more thunderous clouds to form but stopped short as she saw Luffy not engaging in a fight. She looked back at the soldiers and found that they weren’t trying to attack the two…it looked like they were running from something.
And then at the tail end of the people, Nami spotted a tall skeleton, a whale shark and—
“ZORO! You found Sanji!” Luffy cheered, already launching himself into the remnants of the soldiers they were fighting, knocking all of them down to meet his swordsman and cook.
Nami sighed, feeling the coil that had wrapped tightly around her chest fade. She began walking over to the group, ready to give Sanji a piece of her mind. It was odd that Sanji hadn’t even called out to her yet, perhaps he was—
The coil returned just as tightly if not more so around her heart as she caught sight of the cook. Her hands clamped over her mouth and eyes widened as she stared at Sanji, who looked lifeless across Zoro’s back.
Luffy’s smile disappeared as he, too, looked at his cook. His eyes stopped on Sanji’s hand, blood dripping from his fingers and what looked like Zoro’s bandana. All the warmth left her captain's face.
“Who did it?” He demanded, his voice quiet but the rage simmered in the words.
“No idea, the idiot was like this when we found him.” Zoro responded, adjusting Sanji on his back. There was a bite to his words, and that could only mean they hadn’t found who had done it and ended them yet.
Nami walked briskly over to Zoro, one hand resting on the swordsman’s shoulder and the other running through the blond hair near that shoulder. “Sanji-kun?” She called out to him, hoping for a response. Something, anything at all. She never wanted to hear ‘mellorine’ so much before in her life.
He didn’t even stir.
Brook walked over to the three, his head bowed. “Sanji-san hasn’t been responding to us for awhile now,” He explained softly. “It appears they had him heavily drugged. But he was smart enough to escape and find us before it could take hold of him.”
Nami looked from skeleton to cook as she digested those words. She was glad at least Sanji had a good head on his shoulders for things like this. She doubted a lot of the others would have done the same thing. But that wasn’t what bothered her.
This was all her fault. Of course someone paying that much for a showy contest had to have some ulterior motives, but all she could see was the zeroes, at how happy Sanji was when she asked him to enter, all sunshine as he was in his element cooking loops around the other contenders.
She looked over at Zoro, who was watching her. “What?” She snapped out, not in the mood to deal with him.
Zoro blinked, his gaze boring into hers. “You couldn’t have known.” He stated.
Nami started, her hand that was still on his shoulder dug into the cloth as she made a fist. Since when did this idiot have mind reading abilities?
He sighed, his eye closing. “The cook will be fine, and will probably be glad that you still have all the money. So don’t beat yourself up about it.”
She bristled, ready to deny it all and hit the other for even suggesting that she was blaming herself, but she sighed, her hand loosening its grip and she petted Sanji’s hair once again. “I know.”
She tried not to notice the smirk that was on Zoro now. She was going to increase his debt for that.
“Give me back my chef!”
All the Straw Hats looked over to where the voice had come from, spotting the Celestial Dragon. Soldiers that looked far more experienced then what they had been fighting before surrounded the nobleman.
“You enter my contest, win, and then expect to simply take what is rightfully mine?!” He demanded.
She heard Zoro growl at those words as both Brook and Jinbei stood in front of him, protecting the unconscious cook from even being seen from the noble. Luffy stood in front of them all, though she couldn’t see his face, she didn’t doubt it was one of absolute fury.
The fish bowl wearing man chortled. “Was the prize money not up to your expectations? You water rats always bemoan the fact you seem to have none.” His voice was sickenly sweet, as if he was talking down to mere children.
He continued on, as none of the others spoke. “However, I am nothing if not a benevolent noble. I will forgive all your transgressions if you hand my chef over. And I will double the earnings. That should be able to satisfy the likes of you.”
“Sanji’s not for sale.” Luffy stated. “And he doesn’t belong to you.”
The man scoffed, seemingly unconcerned when Luffy began to slowly walk over to him. “He no longer belongs to you water rats! Your entry to this contest stated thus! I will take back what’s mine!”
Luffy continued to walk over, and Nami felt her captain's Supreme King’s Haki wash over her like a warm blanket. She watched as all but the noble passed out and she knew that was on purpose.
The man still didn’t seem concerned and huffed once again, though Nami could start to see sweat on his brow. “Y-you dare to go against my word, water rat? That chef is mine and I will have him!”
“Sanji’s…NOT YOURS!”
For the second time in her life, Nami witnessed her captain punch a Celestial Dragon square in the face and she could only think he should have done it sooner. And maybe left some for the rest of them.
The four of them stood in silence and waited for their captain to finish his business. Then he turned and began to walk over to them, his hat hiding his eyes.
Luffy stopped short at Zoro’s side, his hat lifting slightly so that he looked at his cook for a moment.
“Let’s get Sanji home.” He ordered.
They all nodded. “Aye!”
~
The wait was agonizing as they all huddled in the galley, sans cook and doctor.
They had gotten off the island as soon as they could find everyone and get on the Sunny. It was through sheer luck and probably because of a still unconscious Celestial Dragon, but no admirals were called and they were able to make a swift getaway.
Now all that was needed to do was wait.
An unremarkable dinner was still on the table, as none truly felt like eating or cooking an actual meal. It wasn’t Sanji’s cooking anyway and the mere thought that they could have never eaten his cooking again if they hadn’t rescued him, left them all with little appetite.
Luffy still ate, even though every five seconds he would claim that Sanji could make this better, much to Robin’s amusement as she had been the one to make the dinner. But she took no offense to the complaints.
“Jinbei.” Zoro opened his eye, having closed it as soon as he had sat down, and stared at the ceiling. “You knew what they gave the cook.” He stated, his head lowering to look over at Jinbei. It wasn’t a question.
When they had spotted Chopper as they were running to Sunny, Jinbei spoke with the doctor as they ran, the other listening intently. Zoro had heard Sanji’s name as well as the two of them looking over at the sleeping cook on his back.
All eyes turned to Jinbei who’s face became more sullen. Suddenly, he looked a lot older than what he was. He nodded. “Tranquillisers.” Jinbei explained. “They use them on slaves. Especially on the stronger ones. To keep them in line. To make them more…obedient. More malleable.” He took a deep breath, his voice taking on a more sad tone. “I had seen my fair share of those under the influence, the damage that it could do in dangerous doses, in the long term... And I swore that I would never see any of my crew members look like that again…and I have failed…”
They all looked at the ex-warlord in sympathy, Robin resting her hand on Jinbei’s arm in comfort. Franky began to sniffle.
“You didn’t fail, Jinbei.” Luffy stated.
Jinbei looked at his captain, eyes wide. “But…”
Luffy shook his head. “It doesn’t matter because we got Sanji back.” He stated. “And you said that Sanji will be fine, and Chopper will say the same thing. So you didn’t fail.”
Jinbei smiled warmly at the younger man. “Thank you, Captain.”
Everyone looked at the infirmary door as they heard a soft click and Chopper finally emerged from the room. They could barely contain themselves as the reindeer said nothing, closing the infirmary door behind him before he turned to the others.
Then Chopper smiled, bright and wide.
“Sanji will be fine!” Chopper announced.
A collective sigh of relief sounded through the galley.
“I think this event took a dozen years off my life…” Usopp groaned, an arm going across his face.
“No kidding…” Nami slumped down to have her head rest on her arm on the table. She’s had enough of dealing with Celestial Dragon’s in her life time.
Robin tilted her head to the doctor as he sat down at the table, taking an empty plate. “Everything went alright, Chopper?” She asked.
Chopper nodded, placing some food on his plate. “The drugs will leave his body naturally, he’ll just need rest. And when he wakes up, he’s probably going to be pretty lethargic for a few days, we’ll have to watch him while he cooks with knives.” He explained. “But there shouldn’t be any lasting side effects besides that! As for his hand, I was able to remove all the glass and he only needed a couple of stitches. It should heal nicely!”
Luffy shouted in joy, raising his mug. “Alright! Let’s celebrate with a big feast!”
Nami sighed. “We can’t have a feast without Sanji, idiot!”
“Oh…right!”
~
The first thing Sanji thought of as he began to return to the land consciousness, was how comfy he was. It was as if all the stars aligned in his position, pillow, and blanket placement, and Sanji could only sigh contently as he nestled back into the bed he was in. He could sleep like this forever.
“Hey, hey Sanji!”
And, the comfiness is gone.
He frowned, shifting as the voice that greeted him made his mind want to wake up a bit more, to be more alert. Then he realized that this wasn’t his bunk bed…where was he?
“Did my singing wake you up? I was trying to sing you a lullaby.”
He was glad he did not remember hearing that as the owner of the voice finally clicked in his mind.
Sanji opened one of his eyes just a slit full before he shut it again, groaning softly at the sudden light. He buried his head more into the pillow to ward off the brightness.
“..uffy?” He internally winced at the sound of his voice. It was hoarse and sounded like he had marbles in his mouth.
He heard his captain laugh as a confirmation. “Sanji sounds sleepy, but that’s okay, you’re supposed to be sleeping.”
Sanji tried again to open his eyes and managed to keep one open with a squint, seeing nothing but a haze of smudged colours. “Wha…a’pen..?”
He heard Luffy huff, the blob of red and black shifting. “Some idiot wanted to keep you because you cooked the best. So we beat him up and got you back.”
That…sounded familiar. He had been in a contest and won. And then they wanted to collar him and he broke a wine glass.
His hand twitched at the reminder and pain shot through his arm and he couldn’t help the small whimper that escaped his lips.
“Hm? Sanji?”
He winced again, squirming in the sheets as he moved his hand again. “Hand…’urts…” He mumbled.
There was some shuffling and he felt another hand being placed softly on his injured one, just enough to make Sanji stop moving it.
“Chopper said you hurt your hand on some glass. But Brook said that was a good thing. And Chopper said he fixed it, so it’ll be fine. But it’ll hurt a bit, Chopper said he can’t give you stuff because you have a lot of stuff inside already and he has to wait for it to get out before he can give you other stuff.”
Sanji tried to nod, to show he understood. He sort of knew what Luffy was talking about. Though whether it was because he was tired or it was simply Luffy speak he didn’t know. And he trusted Chopper.
He wanted to talk more, to hear more about what happened, to cook that feast that he wanted to do, but he could feel sleep calling to him making him go more into the sheets and pillow. He shifted his head, ready to return to dreamland.
“Hey, Sanji?”
“Hmm?” He hummed, wanting to go back to sleep but also wanting to hear what Luffy wanted.
There was silence for a while and he almost wondered if he had gone back to sleep and it was a different time, but he felt a finger poke his nose and Sanji took the extra energy to open his eyes slightly once more.
Luffy was close to his face, taking up almost all of his vision, he looked determined, serious and Sanji almost wanted to ask him what was wrong. But finally, he spoke, his voice soft. “You’re my cook, Sanji and no one else’s, got it? Just my cook.” He declared.
And just like that it was written in stone, to never erode or fade away.
Sanji smiled a crooked, sleepy grin as he felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. But he kept them focused on the sun that was Luffy’s smile. “Just your cook, Cap’n. Always…” He repeated.
He fell back asleep listening to his captain’s laughter and off key lullabies, glad to be back home.