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"-ji. Oi Sanji" his eyelids still hadn't opened and he could already hear the sweet but annoying voice of his captain.
His body was swaying slightly in his hammock. The raven's hand was slightly below shoulder height.
Focusing on waking up, he turned to Luffy, placing a hand over his eyes. "What do you want"
It took him about two seconds to answer, quite a long time considering that we are talking about his captain."I'm hungryyy".
He finished opening his eyes with a "tsk" and recomposed his pose in the hammock, sitting down but still with his legs stretched out. "What time is it anyway? No one has woken up yet," and that was not exactly why he was confused. Of course, Sanji was the first to always wake up to make breakfast. But Luffy waking up before the rest was unusual. And they had only been together for two weeks.
"I don't know, '' pouted "but I'm hungryyyy. Hurry up" Luffy was grateful that the looks of his cook couldn't kill, because the one he gave him was scary. "Please".
Sanji sighed, half amused, half exhausted. He wanted to sleep, but his captain was his captain so he finally got up from his hammock. Luffy smiled widely.
"Yay! Sanji's gonn-"
"Shut the fuck up!" he whispered a bit loudly, hitting Luffy on the head "The rest of the cavemen are sleeping and of course my sweet Nami-san is in the next room. She can hear you".
To Sanji's no surprise Luffy laughed, whispering "sorry, sorry". He smiled as he pulled on his jacket. Luffy wasn't sorry at all.
They left the room without making much noise and without letting his stupid captain close the door because that would mean waking up Nami and the rest with a slam of the door.
He paused for a few seconds, realizing that there wasn't even a ray of sun peeking over the horizon. He looked at Luffy in bewilderment "Have you slept?" Luffy nodded, he looked doubtful but was telling the truth. Luffy lying wasn't a problem, because he literally couldn't "So… you got up at night, hungry, and you had to wake me up instead of going back to sleep" he nodded again "Why am I still in this crew full of sociopaths" he whispered to himself as he started to light the cigarette.
Their way to the kitchen finally came to an end and Sanji let out a loud sigh. He rubbed his forehead before releasing the door and walking inside with Luffy at his back. Quickly the youngest sat down on the table and leaned his head against the table.
Sanji went straight to the fridge, mentally calculating a good portion for his captain, nutritious enough but light enough for the idiot to go back to sleep.
He quickly took out the ingredients and put them on the counter. As he searched for the correct knives, he heard a yawn "Are you tired?"
"I'm not" He quickly shook his head and raised his head from the table.
"Sure…" He did not want to press, it seemed that Luffy was hiding some detail from him.
With no more to say, he began to prepare something quick for his captain. And it wasn't until he was waiting for the vegetable skillet to heat up that they spoke again "Who's it's on tonight's watch?"
"Zoro probably. I didn't hear his snoring before in our bedroom"
He said it so convinced that Sanji couldn't help laughing softly "It's definitely him then"
Still on his back, he could feel Luffy's intense look. It wasn't that kind of awkward stare, but he could feel it anyway. "Everything's ok, captain?"
Sanji leaned back against the counter, seeing Luffy's tired gaze. Began to suspect "You're sleepy, aren't you?"
"A little bit, while I was sleeping... I... uh" he pouted as he laid his head back on the table.
"A nightmare? "He said directly, maybe he could help.
Luffy waited a few seconds and, again, that was something very unusual in Luffy. Finally, he nodded still looking Sanji in the eyes "Right, I think it was a nightmare"
Sanji sighed heavily, Luffy was being very serious. It must have been a pretty bad nightmare. But the 'I think' didn't escape from him either. Although, Sanji knew that even if the nightmare wasn't remembered, sometimes the feeling of discomfort remained.
"Don't worry captain" he said in a more cheerful and gentle tone "My food will make you forget it" And in the blink of an eye, Luffy had a plate of food in front of him. Sanji didn't miss Luffy's bright gaze. It would be hard for him to admit it, but that Luffy had woken him up to prepare food for him had been worth it just for that smile.
"Thank you Sanji! It looks delicious!"
Sanji sat opposite and resting his head on the palm of his hand. Not as he was smiling sweetly.
***
Again another silent night at the Merry, but this time the atmosphere was somewhat dark. It was their last night on the Merry. The feeling of abandonment was in the chest of the remaining five. Chopper had stopped crying long ago, falling asleep from exhaustion. Luffy was on the first half of the watch that night, he had insisted on staying awake. And Sanji would be lying if he said he was surprised to find Luffy waking him up at night.
He felt his chest shake quite a bit and quickly rubbed his eyes, wiping away the remaining tears. "What's wrong Luffy?"
"I can't sleep"
Sanji sighed and got up, already knowing what that meant. It had only happened once again since the first time he had to prepare an aperitif for his captain at night.
"Alright, give me a sec" He got up slowly, still breathing slightly altered. He carefully put his shoes on as he glanced at Luffy waiting for him. "Wasn't it a nightmare this time?"
"I think so"
That had surprised Sanji, he thought Luffy was simply bored and needed food before finishing his watch and going back to the hammock.
Without further ado, they left the room and crossed the ship to the kitchen. Again, the boy lunged for one of the chairs, but this time without a smile. It was depressing to see their captain like this.
"Who has the watch? "
"Zoro"
"Did you wake up him already? Maybe that bastard is hungry as well "
Luffy quickly shook his head. "No, mine was over a while ago, but I decided to wake you up first."
Okay, there were strange things here. He didn't know if it had been his drowsy state but now everything made less sense than before. How could Luffy have had a nightmare when he was awake? And why hadn't he awakened Zoro? Again there was the feeling that Luffy was hiding something from him.
"What was the nightmare about? "
"I don't know"
Sanji raised his eyebrow "It was that bad?"
And again the silence before the answer "I think so"
His captain's short answers didn't help, but perhaps it was a touchy subject that Luffy really didn't want to talk about. So he left it.
***
Sanji had realized that Luffy loved watching him cook. It went from being something personal for the cook to being something for both of them.
Luffy would sometimes sit on the chair, sometimes he would talk, sometimes he would just watch. There were even times where he asked about some of the ingredients or preparing a meal, and Sanji would always give him an answer with a smile on his face. He loved sharing his enjoyment of cooking with someone.
Sometimes Robin would sit down to keep them both company. She sometimes accompanied by a book or enjoying the conversation in the same way as the two boys. Always with a smile on his face, listening carefully to his cook and his captain.
Zoro would only ever stop by the kitchen looking for booze. The first time he asked Luffy what the hell he was doing in the kitchen with 'that bastard', Luffy just smiled and replied with a cheerful 'I want to be with Sanji!'. And it's not like Sanji's cheeks turned red as he turned to continue cooking, not seeing Zoro staring looking at both of them with a raised eyebrow and an accusatory look. He also didn't see the smile of the swordsman as he left the door, he could only hear him say 'don't look too much at his eyebrow or you will get dizzy'. That bastard.
And even after their two-year separation, that tradition didn't change.
Once Nami had surprised them in the kitchen at night, talking happily. But she would just watch and pass by going to the crows nest to make her night watch. Smiling to herself. Usopp and Law once tried to be in the kitchen with them once one of the nights on the way to Dressrosa. But they looked like vases on the table, those two were absorbed in their own world, talking as if there were no tomorrow.
But Sanji was still somewhat distraught. He had that feeling every time Luffy woke him up at night. He didn't know where he came from, but he had felt an inexplicable urge to cry. He tried to ignore it, but his chest already started to hurt too much. He didn't want to go see Chopper at first, but while Luffy's group had gone to Punk Hazard, he asked him. Anxiety was the only response he received. Chopper said he was probably under some pressure. He didn't have the courage to say that when Luffy was next to him, that pain vanished. And Sanji was a smart person, he knew that feeling had a name. He did not want to admit it, as it was better to say that it was a concern for his captain. For the nightmares that didn't let him sleep.
Brook had laughed when he had heard Sanji's explanation, and his beloved Nami had given him a curious and indecipherable look, perhaps mischievous.
Love songs didn't leave the ship for a week.
***
The evening was calm, their escape had been a success. Sanji had plenty of time to think and rethink things during his stay at Tott Land. And as he was moving away from enemy territory and they were approaching a worse destination, a strange and new sensation invaded him. It was warm but somewhat distressing. His brain still had to assimilate everything that had happened, everything that he had recovered and what he had lost. But still, despite having been through quite a traumatic experience -so to speak- he was finally happy.
The tightness in his chest was something different. Before it was a mixture of anxiety and warmth. Now the warmth was so overwhelming that it haunted him.
He turned left in his hammock and felt movement in the hammock above before seeing his captain's head sticking out. "You can't sleep?"
"I'm thinking" He tried to sound tired to make his captain think he was about to fall asleep, but smiled slightly and it gave Luffy all the information he needed.
He jumped back out of the hammock and hung up on Sanji's hammock. "A nightmare?" asked Sanji.
Again the silence, in which Luffy again seemed to be analyzing him. Suddenly, he smiled "Nope, this time I don't think so"
Before he could assimilate his words, he jumped straight into Sanji's hammock "You're crushing me idiot. I can't breathe" Luffy just laughed and stepped aside from the hammock, hugging Sanji by the head. Sanji protested a bit at first, but it really felt good for his captain to hug him. He just relaxed and let himself be hugged, resting his head on Luffy's chest and hugging him across the chest.
Since then, Luffy never woke Sanji at night.