Chapter Text
Sanji is in the kitchen alone. It’s not lonely, it’s comforting for him. The sound of sizzling pans and bubbling pots and chopping knives.
Eventually Luffy comes in and Sanji is suddenly reminded of how breakfast went yesterday. The first breakfast for the crew after the reunion didn’t go as well as he had hoped.
Sanji had prepared lots of new and old dishes, new ingredients that he was excited to use. He couldn’t wait to see the satisfaction on the crews faces as they are the food.
At first everything seemed normal, actually it seemed better than normal, it was great. People were laughing and eating and of course had Luffy been stealing everyone’s food and shoving it in his own mouth.
Sanji loved seeing the crew eat. But Luffy didn’t swallow. Sanji couldn’t clearly see Luffy but he saw desperation in his eyes. Then suddenly he stormed off.
Robin went after him but when Luffy finally came back he didn’t eat. He talked and laughed but wasn’t eating.
Could it have been an allergy? Was he sick?
“Luffy!” Sanji greeted happily. “Decided to make up for the breakfast you didn’t eat yesterday?” Almost teasingly, but he is worried.
He's chopping some carrots waiting for a response.
”Uh, yeah! Your food is the best Sanji!” The voice is nervous. Even Sanji can tell that.
He lets his ego get the better of him. “I know, the best in the world.” He smiles to himself. “But you’re still not getting anything before anyone else!”
”No, no of course not, I wasn’t even planning on it, haha.” That laugh sounded so uncertain, that Sanji had to double check it was still Luffy.
Sanji speaks up again.”By the way,” he faces Luffy and wow he looks nothing like he’d expect him to. There’s bags under his eyes, which are red. His whole demeanour is just nothing like it should be, this nervous little kid isn’t the confident captain he knows.
“Yesterday, did you eat less than you usually do?” Obviously he wasn’t referring to the breakfast, but at lunch and dinner Luffy wasn’t eating nearly a third of what he had prepared for him, and he had thought at the time that he had prepared too little.
He saw the moment those words sinked in to Luffy, it was meant as a harmless question, but obviously he didn’t take it that way. The next time he spoke his voice trembled and he avoided looking at Sanji’s direction as a whole.
“What? I don’t think so? Maybe it just happened, or something.” His lying face sucks.
“In fact,” Sanji pries further. “You almost looked sick. I’d ask you if the you thought the food tastes bad, but I honestly doubt that.”
He sits at the chair across Luffy. Eyes boring onto his face.
“Do you have any allergies I don’t know of?” Maybe it was just one missing piece that would explain everything. “I’ve been dying to try out new ingredients and recipes so don’t hesitate to tell me if you don’t feel well.”
He was pausing for a second to give an opportunity for Luffy to speak. When Luffy only remains quiet he continues.
“I can call in Chopper to test you for allergies or something if you want.”
”Uh,” Luffy looked even more nervous, tapping his fingers on the table and looking around, everywhere except Sanji’s face. “No I don’t think so, it tasted amazing!”
Sanji sighs. “Luffy, allergies isn’t about how it tastes, it’s how your body reacts to it.”
”I’m not allergic!” He’s quick to answer.
Sanji wonders if Luffy answered so quickly because he knew the answer. Why was he so quick?
”Luffy, if there’s something about the food you need to tell me, I’m the cook here and my job is to feed the crew. If someone isn’t eating then it’s my job to fix that, so please help me.”
“When’s breakfast?” Sanji can’t tell whether Luffy ignored everything he said or decided to eat, whatever it is, Sanji decides to see how it’ll go today.
He hits him in the head with a pan and sighs. “It’s just a couple of more minutes, you can wake up the others if you’d like.” He turns around to finish the cooking and after a while he hears the door to the kitchen close, Luffy walked out.
He’s about done when Robin walks in.
”My dear Robin,” He swirls around and puts down a coffee cup as she sits down. “Here, my specially made coffee, for a beautiful woman like you.”
”Thank you, Sanji.” She smiles at him and takes a few sips.
”By the way,” Robin speaks just as Sanji was gonna start a conversation. “Have you noticed anything different about Luffy?”
Sanji stays still for a second before speaking. “I think I have actually.” He clears his throat. “He definitely not eating as much as he should’ve, for starters.” Robin observes him. “And I have noticed that he’s more distant, you get what I mean, if that makes sense.” He takes a deep breath. “I know it’s barely been a day and I know we all have changed, but Luffy is just, I don’t know, different? He’s barely the same person. He’s almost nervous every time I see him and-“
”Alright,” Robin stopped his rambling. “That’s all I needed to know.” She puts her cup down. “He’s definitely not in the right headspace at the moment, I think he suffers from his brothers death.” She looks at Sanji.
”Yeah, I know. Should we talk to him about it?” He suggests.
“The moment I can see him alone, I’ll talk to him. I’ll see if I can do that after breakfast.” Robin tells Sanji.
The door suddenly opens. It was almost planned, Luffy was right there.
Robin wastes no time on this opportunity.
”Luffy, come sit here.” She kindly suggests, offering him a chair.
But he looks almost disoriented, his breathing quickens and he suddenly looks exhausted.
Robin is about to speak again when Luffy rushes out.
”Well, how great.” Sanji comments. “No wait Robin I didn’t mean it like that!” He rushes to add when Robin walks out after Luffy.
When Robin walks out expecting either, nothing, in which Luffy has sprinted off somewhere, or some kind of breakdown, crying, anything like that.
But what she sees instead is Luffy lying on the grass, asleep. His face is relaxed with a slight smile.
Robin smiles. He probably needed this.