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“Hiya, I’m Luffy!” The younger teen grinned widely, a cheerful greeting so familiar that it made Sanji’s heart ache.
And that was how it all began. The second time.
Sanji’s dreams had always been filled with the sea. The sea breeze against his face, rocking waves lulling him to sleep and a smile that shone like the sun – these were his earliest memories, and they sustained him through another childhood with a distant father and arrogant siblings.
Still there were times he wondered. Why was it that he remembered that previous life, when no one else did? Why was he the only one to have these two lives, similar yet different, warring in his mind?
But then there were little things that would show him that these memories, disembodied though they were, could be a blessing rather than a curse.
He knew how precious his mother’s smile was, how much he had missed that gentle warmth. He knew that he had strength, no matter how his brothers ridiculed him and his father ignored his existence.
He knew that out there, there were more people who would love him – not Vinsmoke Sanji, but just Sanji.
And so he dreamed, of the sharp tang of the sea on his lips, the gentle caress of the buoying waves, and that existence who was warm like the sun.
When he was eighteen-years-old, he met that sunshine.
Sanji’s first meeting with Luffy in this life turned out to be at a stuffy party hosted by socialites, a situation unlike anything he had anticipated during the indulgent moments he had allowed himself to imagine what their reunion might be like. In retrospect though, Sanji really should have made that connection earlier. Revolutionary Enterprises was the Germa Corporation’s biggest business rival and Monkey D Dragon was probably as well-known in this world as he had been in the last, but for much less infamous reasons. Monkey D. Luffy was nothing like what one would expect from the heir of a multi-national business enterprise and everything like Sanji remembered.
Because of that it was really no big surprise that he found Luffy next to the buffet table. Shitty captain wasn’t even rubber in this life, but ate just as much it seemed from the speed he was demolishing everything in sight.
Familiar bright eyes lifted up to him as Sanji approached, and if possible gained even more of a sparkle.
“Hiya, I’m Luffy!” ‘My name’s Monkey D. Luffy and I’m going to be the Pirate King!’
Standing now before his captain, Sanji returned that beaming grin with a smile that shook just a little in sync with his emotions, wondering if it was possible that Luffy couldn’t hear the thundering of his heart in his chest. “I’m Sanji.”
The younger teen’s smile only widened.
“Nice ta meet you! Want some food? These are really good!” This statement was punctuated by a handful of hors d’oeuvres waved vaguely in his direction before they too disappeared into Luffy’s mouth.
“I can make better.” The words slipped past Sanji’s lips before he could think it through, but he couldn’t find any reason to regret them when they had the effect of making Luffy swivel back round to stare at him with huge sparkling eyes.
“REALLY? Will you make food for me next time? Can you cook meat? Sanji, Sanji, I want lots of meat! Can I have meat?”
Sanji swallowed past a sudden lump in his throat. How long had it been since he’d faced that unquestioning, unwavering brightness? “…Sure.” He almost added a ‘shitty captain’ at the end, but managed to restrain the impulse. “I’ll cook you as much meat as you want.”
And that was the beginning all over again.
“Sanji, I’m hungryyyy!” The plaintive cry from the living room broke through the whirr of the kitchen air filter and the sizzling of meat in the pan. Multiple pans. And a whole roast in the oven. And a hearty beef stew on the stove that held Sanji’s attention for the moment as he turned the heat down to let it simmer.
Before Sanji could respond, a second voice spoke up. “Luffy, remember the first rule in this house?”
“Buy lots of meat?”
A distinct snort of laughter could be heard before the voice continued in a long-suffering tone. “It’s ‘Don’t bother the chef’, Luffy.”
“To be fair, I’m all for adding that rule about meat to the list too, Sabo.”
“Rejected.”
“Stingy Sabo!” Two voices chorused in perfect synchrony.
The sound of a friendly scuffle ensued, the unmistakable scrape of furniture being displaced.
A little while later, footsteps signalled the arrival of someone to the kitchen. Sabo sighed, heavily exasperated but also deeply affectionate underneath.
“Sorry about my idiot brother, Sanji. Also the older idiot too.”
Sanji huffed out a fond laugh. “It’s no problem. I’m used to it, at any rate.”
If Sabo found that statement a little odd, he didn’t show it. Instead his grateful smile widened in uncanny resemblance to his adoptive brother.
Not unexpectedly, Luffy’s brother Sabo worked for Dragon, a brilliantly successful businessman at his age. Ace, too, worked with Whitebeard just like in that previous life. In a rather interesting contrast though, Sanji had surmised from snippets of conversation that the brunette had a significantly better relationship with his birth father than he had in the last.
Considering their ill-fated past, it was heart-warming to see the three of them in the same place, joking around and laughing together, comfortable around each other in a way that hinted not at years knowing each other, but lifetimes.
Sanji smiled inwardly as he poked his head into the living room, knowing that the scent of cooked food had already reached the trio. Sure enough, three pairs of eager eyes stared back at him.
His mouth quirked irrepressibly. “Dinner is served.”
“MEEEAAATTT!”
Honestly, it was good to know that some things never changed.
One time turned into another and yet another, and Sanji soon found himself once again drawn irrevocably into Luffy’s orbit. And it didn’t take long for him to find out that he was hardly the only one.
There was Nami(-swan), studying for her final year in Geography at university, whose eyes lit up like gems when talking about cartography and money alike; Robin(-chwan), an Archaeology professor at the university, beautiful smile teasing mysteries; Franky, a SUUUPER marine engineer who worked on contract for Luffy’s dad; Usopp, second year Engineering major interning over the summer with Franky; Chopper and Kaya, first year medical students; Vivi, daughter of an ambassador studying an undergraduate degree in Social Work; Jinbe, karate instructor and owner of a dojo; Brook, part-time violin teacher part-time indie rock musician. It turned out that Law had a younger sister, a charming girl named Lami with a beaming smile that could rival Luffy’s in sunniness. She was classmates with Chopper and Kaya, aspiring to be a doctor just like her parents and older brother. She adored her brother as much as he loved her (Sanji had received many a death glare from the overprotective older Trafalgar for flirting with Lami), and it was painful to think that Law had lost her all too soon in their previous lives.
They each had varied tales about how they had met Luffy, running from mundane to chance encounters that could only be described as fate. And while there were so many things that were similar, at the same time there were so many things that were different.
But well…
“Cook, booze.”
For better or worse, certain things absolutely didn’t change.
“Get it yourself, shitty swordsman. Kuina-san, could I get you a refill or something to eat?”
Kuina shook her head with a small smile, looking between them with unconcealed amusement at their clockwork antics. “I’m good for now, Sanji-kun, thank you. You should just sit down and enjoy the party too.”
“Of course, Kuina-san~”
Both Zoro and Kuina worked part-time teaching kendo at Jinbe’s dojo, while also training professionally to compete at international levels. Both held the title of reigning champion in their respective divisions and it would be hard-pressed or even impossible to say who was better. World’s Greatest Swordsman – no matter in what life, that aspiration would never change for either of them.
And of course, there was still that other thing that never changed –
“Cook, booze.”
“Is that really all you can say?!”
Slipping out to the balcony for a smoke, Sanji took the moment to simply observe the scene that laid itself before him.
In the center of the room, Usopp was showing off some sleight-of-hand with a pack of cards, drawing the excited interest of the younger members of the party. To the side Law was engaged in some deep discussion with Robin, philosophical by the looks of it, Vivi hanging on to their every word in avid fascination. Several of the girls sat around the dining table, laughing and chatting over the non-alcoholic cocktails Sanji had prepared.
Luffy’s two brothers sat pressed shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch, idly flipping through channels on the television while they traded a drink back and forth. Luffy sat cross-legged on the floor in front of them, leaning back against their legs even as he clapped enthusiastically to Usopp’s tricks alongside Chopper and Lami. Turning suddenly, the teen made grabby hands at Nami’s drink, which after a fond eye-roll she relinquished it to him.
It was idyllic, more perfect that anything his mind could have conjured. A second chance, as if to make up for the sorrows and lost opportunities of that other time.
Sanji blew out a slow stream of smoke.
“Would you believe me if I said that I remember a past life, where we all gathered around Luffy just like this?”
Zoro’s response was nothing like the teasing and derision Sanji had to endure back when he had accidentally let these words slip in front of his brothers. This time there was no mocking, not even a sliver of doubt or distrust.
“I believe it.” Zoro grinned as he leaned against the railing next to Sanji, gazing upon the same scene as Sanji. “It’s Luffy, after all.”
And there couldn’t be more truth in those words.
Luffy turned then, spotting them both outside. From the way he waved so vigorously, you’d think he hadn’t seen them for months, not just minutes ago. “Sanji! Zoro! We’re choosing what movie to watch, come see!” And after a brief pause, because no call from Luffy would be complete without it, “Sanji, snacks!”
It was harder to imagine a world where they weren’t by his side.